#and are ultimately good for everyone in it.

[hyde-the-toad-bard]

Man I'm a writing mood today:

Skyrim was a game I played so much on the Ps3 it broke because of the memory limit. To this day Skyrim has an unmatched level of sheer atmosphere. It's one of those games that invites you in and never tells you how long you stayed. You never ask. You've already eaten the lotus flower. You've done nothing of substance. You probably aren't even having any fun, but you're in Skyrim. You're just... taking it in.

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate was my introduction to the monster hunter series, and while 4u consumed much more of my formative years, 3u was the hook that really introduced me to games where the challenge and mechanics were the point. Sure I played lots of platformers even back then, but Mario never encouraged me to push myself, to plan ahead, and to prepare for its difficulty. One could argue that it was Monster Hunter that prepared me for the life changing event for me that was-

Dark Souls is in my late teen years, so it's at the edge of these formative years, but from the time I first rolled credits, I have never been the same. This game shaped the way I look at and talk about games today. It shaped the kind of games I seek out. It shaped how I see myself, and planted the seed to my views on self improvement and change.

Sly Cooper was one of my earliest experiences, and probably is responsible for any furry proclivities I have, and Sly 2: Band of Thieves is the best of the series. I would play for hours even after there were no more missions to do because the hubs were not only fun to explore, but to navigate. The art style made the environments captivating to look at, and what makes a good sly game to me is how well I can picture how it's hub worlds looks. Sly 2 is also back from a time when games would always throw some complete curve balls in their mission design. Oops, you're playing asteroid now. Oops, you're playing tower defense for this mission and only this mission. Oops, you misunderstood what "Lead Rajan" means because you were 7 years old and jumped right in front of him 4 times, wondering why you failed the mission.

Super Smash Bros is a party game. Alright now that I've riled everyone up I'd like to explain why I only played 1v1 no items for over 3000 hours on ultimate. The game absolutely had depth, but I didn't know about that for a long time. Super Smash Bros Brawl was the least viable competitively, but none of the other games in the series come close to its presentation. It's music goes harder than my nipples in Chicago, and it's story is oodles of fun to go through, especially with the project m mod installed. In fact, playing through its story was the first time I went over 24 hours without sleep. Worth it but not a great idea. More than any of that though was how child me engaged in the paratext of the game. I fondly remember someone lazily clipping the game together over the audio of Yugi and Kaiba's first duel. I remember building levels to build a story. I remember building levels to make a miniature mission system. I remember building levels inspired by songs I liked. I engaged with this game in the most unintended manner possible, and I sometimes wish I still had that unbridled capacity to not give a shit about what the game is and make it what I want it to be.

[w2soneshots]

Hello I was wondering if u can write a George Clarke fan fic based on the sidemen charity match and also I REALLY LOVE your writing it’s so amazing like I can never stop reading it like damnnnnnnnn

My man -George clarkey

words: 0.8k+

warnings: none!

summary: you watch George play in the sidemen charity match… along with all the trials and tribulations before and after the game.

notes: heyyy! Thank you love🫶🏼. I’ve done a match fic for Harry and I had a few people ask for a George one so of course I’m delivering, because he looked gorgeous🙂‍↕️. I hope you enjoy girlies!!💘💫

Liked by arthurtv, behzinga and others

y/username: my man scored at Wembley today!!🥹💗

-comments-

georgeclarkeey: 88th minute babyyy

max_balegde: don't you mean OUR man?!😌

-> y/username: hahaha of course Max😂

y/nfanpage21: he did so well omfg

user: THE MULLET. I'm gonna faint

"Good morning darling," George greeted you just as you opened your eyes. He stood looking down at you, already fully dressed in his kit. "I've got to go to breakfast but I'll see you before we leave," he said before pressing a kiss to your forehead, "love you."

You spent your morning slowly getting ready and he returned to your room just as you finished. You smiled as he walked towards you, arms extended for a hug. "Good luck baby. You'll be fine... don't stress too much," you whispered reassuringly before he hugged you tighter and then pulled back.

He let out a deep breath. "I'm shitting myself." You chuckled quietly. "I'm sure you won't be on long enough to fuck it up anyway," you joked. He playfully squeezed your hip. "Go and enjoy it. I'll see you afterwards. I love you," you spoke softly. He nodded then turned to leave, though he stopped himself, gave you a long kiss and only then did he leave.

y/username posted a new story!

"Oh my god. There he is!" You shouted -a little louder than you'd meant to- as you spotted George on the field, warming up with the rest of the sidemen team. Max perked up next to you and began filming him. You looked at the zoomed in screen and laughed loudly when you saw the picture he'd just taken. "That's hilarious, please send it to me."

y/username posted a new story!

George wasn't in the starting eleven for the game, but after a little while he was finally subbed in. You, Max, the two Arthur's, Bach and every fan girl in the stadium cheered when his name was called on the intercom.

You watched intently as the game progressed. It was a little bit hard to fully keep up with what was happening, since you were so high up, but your eyes just followed the brown, curly mullet.

When it reached half time everyone that was in one of the friends and family boxes headed inside to get some food. You were sat opposite max when you received a message from George, "everything good? x" You smiled slightly at your phone. "Just enjoying the free food. You're doing so well, everyone's cheering you on babe! xx" you replied swiftly.

y/username posted a new story!

After half time, the game continued. Goal after goal was scored and it was unbelievably close. Everyone was on the edge of their seats. Just as it was nearing the end the score was even on eight all.

Tobi took a kick from the corner and then just as you thought it was going in George followed and kicked it into the net. "Ahh!" You all stood and cheered, your hand covering your mouth in shock.

You watched the screen to see the close up video of him celebrating, Chris and Will hugging him as well, even know they were on the opposite team. You were close to tears seeing how happy he looked. He'd been so nervous so you were glad he got his moment.

y/username posted a new story!

Unfortunately Theo scored just before the game finished, equalising. It went to penalties and ultimately the sidemen's team lost, though it was all for charity and you weren't really bothered about the final result since you just wanted to see your boyfriend.

y/username posted a new story!

y/username posted a new story!

You didn't see George after the game since he went back on the team bus with the rest of the players and you got a taxi to the after party with the Arthur's, Bach and Liv so you only got to see him once you were both back at the hotel.

When you finally saw the players walking through the doors your eyes searched the crowd of black and red kits until you saw him. A bright smile spread across the both of your faces when your eyes met.

The minute he reached you he flung his arms around you and sighed into your shoulder. "You were incredible George," you whispered. "That's made my year," he replied gently. You pulled back and kissed him, which is something you don't do often since nether of you are big on pda but it just felt right.

y/username posted a new story!

y/username posted a new story!

The rest of the night was spent celebrating and getting slightly pissed. As soon as you and George got back to your room and your heads hit the pillows you fell straight asleep, back against his chest; his arm wrapped around your middle while the both of you soundly slept, after one of the best days ever.

[writer-freak]

Twst birthday headcanons

Characters: Leona, Vil, Idia, Lilia and Cater

A/n: So today is my birthday!!!! And I wrote some headcanons for my favorite twst boys and how they celebrate with you <3

Leona Kingscholar

You wake up with Leona's arms around you, sunlight barely shining through the curtains because he made sure they were drawn shut the night before. He’s not a morning person, and if it were up to him, you wouldn’t get out of bed at all.

"Tch. You’re already awake? Go back to sleep, it’s your birthday. No one’s expectin’ you to be up this early." He grumbles, pulling you closer.

Eventually, after lots of coaxing (and maybe a few bribes in the form of kisses), you are able get out of bed.

Leona’s not the type for big parties, but he does something thoughtful in his own way, like making Ruggie organize you a romantic picnic in the botanical garden. He doesn’t even complain when you take loads of pictures with him.

The day ends with you lying in bed the same as that morning, Leona holding you in his arms, muttering one last “Happy birthday, herbivore,” before drifting off to sleep.

Vil Schoenheit

Vil insists that you start your birthday right, which means waking up in silk sheets, with a a perfect breakfast that is perfect in taste, aesthetic and nutrition because you only deserve the best.

He personally supervises every step of your morning routine, making sure your skin is flawless and that you’re as radiant as ever. "It’s your day, and I won’t have you looking anything less than perfect."

You’re going to to be pampered the entire day (even more than usual). A shopping trip? A spa day? A private dinner with an exclusive menu? He’s thought of everything.

His gift is something incredibly personalized, maybe a fragrance he designed just for you, or a limited edition item from your favorite brand.

At the end of the night, he sits with you on the balcony, sharing a quiet toast to another year together. "My darling, every day with you is a gift. But today, the world itself should celebrate you."

Idia Shroud

The morning starts with you waking up alone, only to find that Idia technically never slept. Instead, he was up all night setting up the ultimate birthday gaming experience for you.

"G-Good morning! Uh—sorry if I woke your up, but look! I made a whole list of games that fit your tastes, and we can play all day, no interruptions."

He isn't the type for regular parties but maybe he set up a virtual surprise where NPCs from your favorite games wish you happy birthday.

His gift? Probably something like a customized controller, or even him buying you any game skin you want. He tries to act nonchalant about it, but his ears are burning red when he gives it to you.

At the end of the night he shyly offers you to lean against his shoulder while you continue gaming. "I-It’s fine if you wanna sleep here. I mean it’s your birthday, so… whatever makes you happy."

Lilia Vanrouge

You wake up not because of an alarm, but because Lilia is already hovering over you, grinning mischievously. "Rise and shine, birthday star~!"

He’s so excited. Probably already made breakfast especially for you (though whether it’s edible is another story).

The whole day is a bit of chaos and fun, he drags you to some kind of adventure, even if it’s just sneaking into different parts of the campus for fun.

His gift is maybe something sentimental like a charm with protective magic or a handwritten letter filled with reasons why he loves you.

The night ends with him humming a soft melody for you, coaxing you to relax. "Another year older, another year more wonderful. You’ll always have me by your side, my dear."

Cater Diamond

You wake up to your phone blowing up, Cater’s already posted a barrage of cute birthday messages and pictures for you. "Gotta make sure everyone knows it’s your special day, y’know?"

He wanted to really make your day special for you so he hid little gifts all over for you to find. Each one has a cute note attached, making you feel extra appreciated.

His actual gift? A scrapbook filled with memories, photos, little doodles, messages from your friends. He loves seeing you smile while you look at each of the pages .

At the end of the day, he insists on a sunset selfie, just the two of you, with the golden light making everything look unreal. "This one’s for the memories, babe. Here’s to another year of being iconic together!"

Divider by: @saradika-graphics

[0bnoxious0range]

There’s this idea bouncing around my head that Andrew and Jeremy are more similar than one would think.

You have the obvious things: they’re both blonde, gay, have a shit relationship with their siblings, play exy, and had to somehow deprogram their respective ex-ravens. But where the similarities shine, I think, is someplace where they also diverge.

If you really think about it, Andrew and Jeremy want the same thing: to belong. And, okay, everyone wants to belong to an extent, but (although it manifests in these two characters very differently) there’s an undeniable yearning for acceptance and understanding and connection that colors the actions of both Andrew and Jeremy.

For Andrew you have the promises of protection that are less about control or paranoia and more about his desire to keep the people he loves cares about close to his chest. And why might he do this? Because Andrew’s never had people close to him before, he’s never been someone's lasting choice (12 foster homes; 12 rejections), so he makes that choice first and makes himself indispensable in hopes that he will stop seeing people walk away from him.

Jeremy does a version of this too. He throws himself headfirst into catering to the needs of his teammates and friends and coaches so they think of him as Jeremy the helpful captain or Jeremy the thoughtful friend and not Jeremy the fuckup that ruins everything good or Jeremy the selfish cokehead. And why might Jeremy run himself ragged in this pursuit? So the people he cares for don’t think of him the way he can’t help but think of himself. The way his family thinks of him. Because the truth is Jeremy has also never been someone’s lasting choice, even though blank checks and glistening appearances may veil it on first glance.

There’s poetry in how differently Andrew and Jeremy present themselves and how differently they go about filling the gaping hole in their souls that are, ultimately, shaped the exact same. Sparkling smiles don’t hide the pain, and dead eyes don’t hide the longing.

[dimonds456]

Gonna say something controversial.

Ford Pines is a nuanced character who is neither good nor bad. Absolving him of his crimes is actively a detriment to his character and does a disservice to the storytelling of Gravity Falls, but defining him exclusively by his mistakes without taking the time to understand him is a purposefully bad faith take that actively makes your enjoyment of the show worse.

He is neither a good or bad person, because "good" people and "bad" people aren't real. There's just people. And people fuck up sometimes.

If no one fucked up and if no one held onto those fuckups sometimes out of sheer desperation, the world of fiction would be way more boring, unengaging, and dull.

Ford Pines is a mess and I don't want him to be sanitized or demonized. I just want him to be a mess.

Thank you

[jubileebloom]

As much as I appreciate the people defending Ford in the wake of TBOB's release, and discussing the importance of avoiding victim-blaming and being aware of a person's environment, there's something specific that rubs me the wrong way about some of the things I've read.

The thing about abuse is that takes agency away from its victims. This is actually something that broadly applies to different forms of trauma, as I've just been going over in one of my classes on Adolescent Development. My professor for that class specializes in trauma-informing and training, so she has an entire unit on trauma as part of the syllabus, and one of the things she emphasized was that giving people agency and control over their own choices is critical to helping them recover from a traumatic event.

When it comes to Bill's possession of Ford, the lack of control is even more literal. Ford literally has his body puppeted by a demon, and his mind altered as well. Others have taken agency from him to a lesser extent—Stan limiting his choices in education, Fiddleford potentially using the memory gun on him, as another analysis post I can't find did a really good job of breaking down—but it's not as all-encompassing as Bill's abuse, and Stan and Fidds both make better choices later in the series. Bill refuses to.

But I'm getting off topic. My point is, Ford's loss of agency is one of the most crucial pieces of his character arc. It's why he lashes out so strongly when he returns home, against his will, to find that his identity has been stolen. It probably factors into his need to be the "hero", to be the one to defeat Bill. And even though he ultimately isn't that "hero", and he does let the Mystery Shack continue to operate, he does ultimately get more of a choice in the matter. He chooses to go along with the plan. He chooses to go with Stan on their long-overdue adventure.

But there's something else he does too. He apologizes.

Why is that so important? Because in regaining his sense of agency, he also undertakes the accountability that goes with it. He isn't solely to blame for everything that happened to him, or even necessarily every choice he made, but he did make bad choices.

And that's the thing that bothers me about some Ford analyses and defenses. Some people go too far and say that Ford isn't to blame for anything that he's done. Not only is that untrue, but it is once again stripping him of his agency. He is an adult capable of making his own decisions, and ergo capable of making bad decisions. And we need to accept that, without infantilizing him or blaming everyone else around him.

One of the things that compels me so much about Gravity Falls is that is generally does strike this balance pretty well, of personal agency vs. external circumstances. (There's also an excellent analysis post out there somewhere about Dipper and Mabel's agency, how the show doesn't force them to fix the problems of their predecessors or burden them exclusively with saving the world, but does still let them have agency and power in the fight and in Stan's recovery.) There are so, so many things that happen to the main cast that are mostly outside of their control, and also bad decisions that a lot of them have made that cannot be excused, at least not fully, by their circumstances.

And the beautiful thing about that agency is that these characters are also able to use it to become better people, to regain control over their lives, to take back power after it was taken from them. But you have to let them, and that includes letting them be people who messed up, owned up, and worked to make it better.

In fact, I think the reason that Ford is so quick to own up to his mistakes when it comes to Bill is because that's one of the ways he's taking back his power. He's incredibly stubborn when it comes to holding other grudges, but with Bill, he readily admits to Stan and Dipper separately that he's made some "terrible mistakes", to use his words. And he isn't to blame for falling for Bill's manipulation—Bill was the one actively manipulating—but no, he should not have summoned him to begin with. That doesn't make him deserving of anything Bill did to him, but by admitting to the mistakes he did make and working on a way to defeat Bill, it's letting him take back some amount of control in the whole situation. He can't make Bill change his ways, but he can own up to and correct the things he did wrong.

He does overcorrect a bit; I do think he blames himself too much for "falling for Bill's flattery." But generally, I like how he also doesn't try to blame Bill for every single thing that went wrong with the whole portal deal, like he (initially) did with some other situations, especially everything with Stan.

Anway. Let Ford make mistakes. Let him be wrong sometimes. Let him have his agency.

[shigayokagayama]

hello!! i just saw your post about teru’s character arc and dynamic w/ mob and was blown away - i never EVER noticed the heart eye panel. i was curious if you had a deep character analysis of teru/would be willing to share your opinions on teru’s arc? at risk of sounding completely media illiterate i feel like most of teru’s arc went completely over my head watching the anime and i would be curious to hear your thoughts (if you would like to share)!

oh it's totally not your fault, a lot of teru's arc was already pretty subtextual in the manga and the anime cuts a lot of the small details that give you the context to put the whole thing together

im gonna put my own interpretation of his arc under the cut because i could literally talk about this kid for years

ok so basically, teru's starting point as a character is "im special and important because of my powers because i have to be special and important or my life is empty and meaningless"

the entire construction of his social life; his overachieving in sports, his popularity, his place as the shadow leader of a middle school gang- all of that exists to prop himself up as the main character of the world and distract himself from how crushingly empty and devoid of connections his life is. hence-

this fight is what dismantles the idea that his powers make him uniquely special and enlightened, but it doesnt really do anything to actually built an internal sense of self confidence. his realization that he is an ordinary person doesnt come with "and that's okay because everyone is", it's just a reshuffle of the heirarchy he has viewed the world as. now instead of himself > everyone, it's mob > himself > everyone.

the fact that he knows special powers don't make him special is his new point of false confidence- he isnt uniquely enlightened because he has special powers, he's uniquely enlightened because he knows those powers don't make him special

and while the 7th division arc serves some challenging of this worldview, it's not really until wd arc that it actually gets dismantled.

to...

BUT this isnt the end of it. teru's notion that he is uniquely special and important has, by this point, been thoroughly dismantled. however....

other people....

by necessity no growth can really occur within broccoli arc for anyone but mob and dimple. since everyones memories of this arc get wiped, it serves as a good setup for where everyone's characters arcs are left to go before we get into confession arc. teru has been left in a place where, while his place in the "special and important people" hierarchy has been dropped, this has left mob at the top of an unreachable pedestal. dimple's prior efforts to convert teru through force, with the cookies and insisting himself as god, were fruitless. being controlled like that only made him angry. it was only through teru's idolization of mob that he was able to replace himself in that already existing spot in teru's psyche

so going into confession arc, teru has this unshakable, almost literally godlike image of mob in his head, which leads him to the same mistake so many people in this arc have to work through.

this isnt him. he's perfect. he doesn't make mistakes. he would never lash out and hurt anyone. he would never-

once civilians are in the picture is the moment it clicks for him. and then we get this wonderful mirror that kills me to think about.

so many of the parallels in these fights (which. i dont feel like finding all of them) culminate in this. because ultimately, they are very similar conflicts. both represent the dissolution of their respective personas. confession arc is a crossroads in mob's brain: to spend the rest of his life restraining his powers and- by extension, his identity- for the sake of other people, or to let his powers run wild and push away all these people whom he sees as only liking the fake him ("mob").

the breaking point, murderous intent, the point at which this fight goes from simply trying to push the other way/push the other into fighting back, is the assertion of the other's normalness. teru pushes back with the violence of a commoner, mob pushes back with violence that can only be exerted by an esper. teru cannot accept his powers do not make him uniquely amazing, mob cannot accept his do not make him uniquely horrible- uniquely despicable- uniquely unlovable.

which brings us to heart eye panel.

because this is the moment that teru sees mob for who he truly is- for a human being with flaws who's capable of having ugly emotions and losing control and lashing out- and still loves him.

and through this teru, despite his uglier emotions, despite whatever he's done in the past, is a person who is capable of being loved. he doesnt need to be the best esper or the best at sports or the best in his class to stand out, to be paid attention, to form genuine connections.

the people close to you will love you despite your flaws, will understand when you're going through hard times, will offer support even when you push them away. they dont just love the perfect image of you you try to present, the non confrontational person who doesnt speak out for themselves, or the overachiever who's always good at everything. they love you.

[burntblueberrywaffles]

While I appreciate the sentiment… I think this is not totally true.

Some of us just CANNOT write things out; trust me I’ve tried; and you know; I’m a poet; and I’m GREAT at it; I’ve even won some prizes; but a story?? At MOST; If im feeling some divine inspiration I’ll get something like a 1k one shot; but a longer story? Absolutely not

And me getting the inspiration to do something is not just needing the base idea- I need to have ALL of it in mind; scene for scene; line for line; because I’m pretty good at coming up with very wide plot outline and prompts; and I’m a very active member of my fandom when it comes to giving out story ideas to my writer friends; but ultimately I am just incapable of writing it myself.

And while doing things like drawing fanarts or writing poetry very enjoyable… trying to put together an actual story feels like pulling teeth.

I definitely agree with the overarching sentiment of the post; which is; please don’t be afraid to try! Every creator you love did it for the first time at some point - and you might just discover that you’re much better at it than you would’ve thought!

But if you’ve tried; and you’ve found that it’s just not one of your skills? Or that you actively hate every second of the process; and it’s just not fun at all for you? I think that’s perfectly ok. Not everyone has to be a fanfic writer; and doing things like coming up with prompts; being a beta reader; commenting on fics you love, making rec lists, and so many others are all essentially components of fandom! I think a fandom is a community that thrive from tons of different people with different sets of skills come together 🫶

“why isn’t there any fic about (x)?” there can be a fic that is precisely about what you want to read. just start writing that fic for yourself.

“but I’m not a writer” every writer has had their first time writing. most writers start with writing something they want to read. your work doesn’t have to be perfect, because having 1 fic that is precisely about what you want to read, even if it’s not perfect, is still better than having 0 fics about what you want to read.

[witsserviceablesubstitute]

Even if Henry was legitimized he'd never be considered Hans or Radzig's equal. He'd still be a bastard, he'd be pecked at constantly by lords who'd want his land and he'd have to try three times as hard to gain support of his people. As a favourite to someone everyone knows is secretly his father, nepotism is expected, it's wink winked and nudge nudged. As a bastard given tangible power— those congenial attitudes could turn to contempt and envy real quick.

A desire for Henry to have a higher social status misses the point to me because the point is that all these social structures suck. I mean, it doesn't matter that Henry and Hans aren't considered equal because they are ultimately equal to each other— Hans' flirty jokes about upstart peasants withstanding (Henry likes it).

Saying that though, I think Lord Henry would be capable of getting his subjects onside and withstanding being pecked at by neighbouring lords. That could be a good fanfiction, actually. Hans hearing increasingly improbable things about the Bastard Lord, feeling both contempt and envy, then meeting him...

[ooblegoodle]

Everything Sucks Timeline Document, dated April 21 2019

Key

❓ Subject to change

⭐ Pivotal event

Volume 1

Noctober 5th, 6016 - Wednesday

Barry is admitted to the hospital. ⭐

Barry receives his first treatment.

Barry, Uni, Caroline, Hemera, and Jay all escape and intrude on the Noctober music festival. ⭐

The patients are returned to the hospital.

Volume 2

Noctober 19th, 6016 - Wednesday

Cleanup day

The patients escape to the City dump and encounter escaped patients.

Funfetti and Puppy head to the dump.

The patients, including former ones, are all captured.

Pepper is left behind. ⭐

Volume 3

Noctober 21st, 6016 - Friday

Biannual hospital inspection

Barry meets all the patients.

The health inspectors and social workers determine the hospital to be safe.

Bright T. Howtlook promises to help out the patients somehow. ⭐

Volume 4

B plot

Ovember 8th, 6016 - Tuesday

Yearly talent show

Uni brings her puppet to life and it wreaks havoc on the hospital.

The puppets are contained and de-magicfied.

A plot

Ovember 8th, 6016 - Tuesday

Alex is in the hospital after a suicide attempt. The doctor recommends that he be transferred to Sparklecare but Dodge disagrees based upon the events of the festival. Jay's mom overhears and says it was a good decision.

Nurse Fortune takes them to the AB and introduces them to everyone. They have a meeting without Tilly.

Volume 5

Jecember 11th, 6016 - Sunday

Amber, Shirley and Ivy arrive at the CCT police station and ask about their son. They meet Fuzzy on the way out.

Fuzzy takes them to Barry's dorm and they then proceed to Wedoncare.

Charles directs Barry's family and Fuzzy to the AB headquarters.

Fuzzy reaches out to Brigh, and they devise a plan to contact the patients.

Volume 6

Bebruary 18th, 6017 - Saturday

Brigh delivers a pamphlet to the hospital that contains a link to the AB site. From there, Jay and Tilly get into contact.⭐

Jay and Tilly start working on plans.

Bebruary 19th, 6017 - Sunday

Evidence begins being collected.

Bebruary 27th, 6017 - Monday ❓

Lee dies. ❓

Bebruary 28th - Arch 15th

Other minor patients die. ❓

Cuddles is grooming Uni. ❓

Volume 7

Mapril 4th, 6017 - Tuesday

Hemera compiles all their collected evidence onto a phone. It takes several days.

Mapril 8th, 6017 - Saturday

Evidence is finished compiling.

They set up the groundwork for the escape plan to deliver the evidence to the AB. ⭐

Mapril 10th, 6017 - Monday

Delivery day

Uni tells the plan to Cuddles.

Hemera and Miley die delivering the evidence. ⭐

Volume 8

Saugust 6th, 6013

Uni is frequently throwing up after experiments from Cuddles.

Ame confronts Cuddles.

Ame attempts escaping with Uni, but ultimately dies.

Uni attempts suicide. ⭐

Volume 9

Mapril 10th, 6017 - Monday

Uni attempts again, breaking off her horn. Mood saves her life.

Mood goes and tries to kill Cuddles, but he ends up killing her.

The evidence reaches the AB, and they start organizing the police report. ⭐

Volume 10

Mapril 11th - Mapril 15th

Doom is frantically searching for Mood. Cuddles says he has her locked up somewhere.

Uni goes missing.

Mapril 16th, 6017 - Sunday

Tilly hacks into the security system and the patients go into the security office with Rem. They see Cuddles going into an underground room through a cafeteria door. The patients go down there.

Tilly and Aidan drive to the hospital after losing contact with the patients. They find everyone locked up and with Cuddles.

Cuddles unveils TPP to them, and has it kill Aidan and Chip. ⭐

He tries talking Uni into suicide, but fails. The patients break out.

Volume 11

Uni and Barry get out of the building and go to the police station and get arrested.

The AB contacts social media influencer Dane Shaw Skin, who makes the hospital go viral. The police finally listen and are on their way.

Doom sets the hospital on fire from the top floor and orders Cuddles to get everyone out. Cuddles ends up killing him and throwing him in the fire. ⭐

Patients and staff are scrambling to get out.

Toxic fumes start leaking into the air.

Volume 12

The patients all get out.

The hospital fire is contained by the fire department, but it burns to the ground.

Staff, including Cuddles, are all arrested.

Patients are reunited with their families.

[elodieunderglass]

does killie ever make his own clothes? I know he has zero imagination but he also likes to be dapper and can't buy off the rack so maybe it would force his hand? is derek crafty enough to help him / make clothes for him?

I love that everyone looks at Killie and goes, that little fuck needs a fibercraft hobby. I find this surprising! What is it about his having zero imagination that makes us want to see him sew? Much to ponder.

We did have fun as a joke rotating him in the Great British Sewing Bee but I don’t think he did very well, even if a sewing machine is a horse. And he might take up unnecessarily aggressive quilting in retirement in a sort of multidimensional chess battle with his enemies and rivals in the quaint Cotswold village of his retirement.

He definitely outsources a lot of emotional labour to his tailor. He does not mind paying a professional for their expertise, and mostly lacks the vocabulary to describe what he wants, from colour palettes (he seems to be a Deep Autumn??) to the precise degree of sluttiness of his waistcoats (somehow managing to have them be sluttier as part of a layered outfit than his completely see-through white base layers that genuinely do show nipple.) so what exactly would make him try his own?

I think ultimately it’s more fun and interesting to ask “what would MAKE a character do this” than to say he wouldn’t. I cannot imagine him being good at it or doing it willingly BUT it would be fun to force him into a position where he had to try.

I don’t see Derek as especially crafty but he probably has more of the qualities of someone who takes pleasure in it, where with Killie everything would be this FIGHT FOR HIS LIFE. Again, what would make him do it?

Maybe some kind of costumes…?

[milessunflowers]

pls pls pls wag!isack or wag!arthur

fuck it we ball why not both

wag!isack hadjar x f1 driver!male!reader

wag!arthur leclerc x f1 driver!male!reader

synopsis: headcannons on how i think arthur and isack would be as wags

author's note: WAG!ISACK AND ARTHUR!!! WAG!ISACK AND ARTHUR!!! GUYS IDL IF YOU CAN TELL BUT I WAS SO EXCITED FOR THIS BECAUSE THEY ARE JUST AALBFWKKSLSD

ISACK HADJAR!

he doesn't go to many races since he is more focused on his writing degree

but he is always live streaming the races from his devices

and totally not live tweeting it

he gets heated if you get a penalty or crashed into

will literally call his friends and just blow off steam in french

and his friends are just like "uh, yeah, totally dude"

he always texts you right after the race and makes sure you're okay if you crashed

and if you win/score points, he's throwing parties to celebrate over facetime

not a man of very encouraging words, but he is very sweet with the words he does gives

he is more of a man of action i feel

definitely tells you he is proud of you but shows it a lot more

wither way, you adore it

plus a lot of his writings involve you

youre his muse

you literally skip a race to go to his graduation

you surprised him there with a set of new pens, notebooks, and even a new laptop

hes just so happy to see you that he practically drops his degree/diploma to hug you

when isack does start going to more races, the fans are absolutely delighted

they ask for his autograph since you only talk about how amazing he is and how he's going to be a bestselling author one day

and he's super friendly to the fans, especially since he stops you so they can get your autograph too

the fans love him more than you now

which to you is the best thing ever

because like who wouldn't love your amazing boyfriend?

ARTHUR LECLERC!

he goes to every single one of your races

always in the garage/hospitality

everyone knows him and sre extremely friendly with him

they adore him honestly

and he's like such a good energy to keep in the garage since he's just so happy

plus he's learning to become either an engineer or a teacher

i couldn't choose because honestly both work for him

plus he would just be the cutest, most sweet teacher out there, am i right?

anyways

so he is also getting hands on experience in the garage (between either helping with the car or babysitting the grid's kids)

and he always has a blast, especially since you are an amazing racer

but if you happen to dnf or have a really bad crash, his entire body just tenses and his face is just stuck in a fearful expression

when you are cleared by medical, he is clinging to you and not saying anything

hes just holding on tight to you for the longest time before he tells you to stop giving him heartattacks at age 24

that makes you smile and forget about the rest of the race

he is also really sweet with the fans and makes sure you spend some time with them (even if you already do) because they support you

and he trades bracelets with them, i feel, because he is just obsessed with them

he has a whole collection in a jar in the entry way to your flat

you even add some in there for him

once more, your fans start to like arthur more than you

so you turn it into a competition (that you ultimately lose)

its all fun and games and makes you both happy

TAGS! (if you want to be added lmk!)

@op-81-lvr-reblogs, @koalapastries, @justaf1girl, @ghostking4m, @spoonfulofmilo, @seonghwaexile, @alex-wotton, @raizelchrysanderoctavius

[overthinkit-underscore]

AN EMPIRE OF FRIGID NOTHING (SPECTRE)

"Which came first, the Chicken or the Egg?"

There are two major ways to interpret how Voice Hatching works:

The Voices Spawn. The manner in which the Decider behaves, the things they experience, and the trauma they endure influence the Voice hatched upon their death. Their personality, philosophy, and perspective are informed by what Quiet collectively has gone through. The Egg (previous iterations of the Decider) hatches into The Chicken (Voice).

The Voices Always Existed. The options provided to a player are reactions to their environment and circumstances, adulterated with the impulses and personality of nascent Voices waiting to hatch. The Chicken (Voice) lays The Egg (options the Decider picked in the previous Chapter).

There are more than two ways to interpret how Voices operate, and most you ask this question to will say something in-between these two black and white options. Ultimately, it's inarguable that a Voice is always influenced in some manner by events preceding their hatching. It is not that fact of influence the debate is centered on, but the interpretable extent. The fact is openly supported by the text.

Certain Voices will take credit for actions taken in the previous Chapter (ex: Cold claiming to have killed Damsel in Burned!Grey) or the previous life (ex: every Voice, bar Hero & Cheated, in Razor's Chapter IIIs), and many others will remember events long before they hatch (ex: Smitten recalling the entire narrative up to Chapter III - The Thorn, Cheated recalling everything that happens before Chapter III - The Wraith).

With this background information in mind, we can examine the events in Chapter I - The Hero and The Princess leading into Chapter II - The Spectre mindful of how specific choices made by the Decider or certain events they encounter may influence Voice of the Cold moving forward.

[FOR CONTEXT: [Take the blade] once at the cabin, hereby accepting the Narrator's premise and following His word.] Voice of the Hero - She’s so coldly beautiful… is she really a threat to the world?

The Narrator - You step forward, your grip tightening as you steel your resolve. The Narrator - You lunge forward without a moment’s hesitation. The Narrator - You feel flesh easily give way and look down to see your blade already sinking deep into her heart. Voice of the Hero - But is it over? Really over? - Of course it is. She’s dead.

The Narrator - You did kill someone. Greater good or not, something would be very wrong with you if you didn’t feel at least a little bad. But it was for the greater good. One of these days, that will sink in and help ease your guilty conscience.

The Narrator - You open the cabin door, ready to return to a world saved from certain doom.

The Narrator - Only, a world saved from certain doom isn’t what you find. Instead, what you find is nothing at all. Where a lush forest stood mere minutes ago, the only thing in front of you now is the vast emptiness of some place far away. Voice of the Hero - What… happened? The Narrator - Everyone is fine, it’s just that you and the cabin are now far away from them. Don’t worry. You’ll be safe here. This is good. Everyone is happy. You’ll be happy.

- I was kind of hoping I’d get a better ending for saving the world. The Narrator - This isn’t an ending. In fact, now that the Princess has been slain, endings are a thing of the past. No… this is the beginning of eternity. Your reward. The Narrator - This is what’s best for everyone. Trust me. The Narrator - Time passes. You can’t be sure if it’s days, or months, or years or even decades. It’s all a wonderful, boring blur. You’ve never been happier.

Voice of the Hero - Pst! Hey! We’re not just going to stay here forever right? Voice of the Hero - Are we really happy, or is He just telling us that we are? - Hmm, okay maybe I’m not happy. And I’m not just saying that because you’re the last person I talked to. Voice of the Hero - Good, because I have an idea to get us out of here. Though you’re probably not going to like it. Voice of the Hero - The blade. We can use the blade to get out of this.

The Narrator - Do you hear that? It wants to take this happiness away from you. It wants this wonderful place to end. Voice of the Hero - Do you not? There’s more for us to do, and the only way for us to do it is to take that blade and use it. The Narrator - Don’t you dare. - Anything to get out of this hell. Voice of the Hero - Thank you. The Narrator - I made this happy little place for you! Is this not a good enough reward for saving the world? An eternity of bliss? You… you ingrate! The Narrator - Fine. Whatever. For the first time since time stopped meaning anything, you throw open the door to the basement and walk down the stairs. The Narrator - You pick up the blade, you stab yourself, and you die. The Narrator - The end. Nice knowing you.

a set of directions from the Narrator, dutifully carried out by the Decider without the slightest hint of doubt, ignoring their conscience until faced with an utterly detestable "reward" for their compliance. critically, the timelessness perceived in that moment between opening the door to stare into the abyss and slaying oneself to be rid of the stagnation is so dilated in Quiet's perception that the Princess's corpse is reduced to a skeleton by the time the Decider plucks the Pristine Blade from its ribcage.

i could commentate further on this, or i could include one particularly noteworthy dialogue screenshot ---

- (Explore) Wouldn’t ‘using’ the blade… you know, kill us? Wouldn’t we be dead? The Narrator - How astute. You’re absolutely correct. Using the blade to kill yourself would kill you and you shouldn’t do it. Voice of the Hero - In a sense, we’d die, but looking at things from another angle, are we even really alive anymore? This place… it’s nothing! It’s absolutely nothing. It’s just the same thing, constantly, forever. Voice of the Hero - I know this is out there, but trust me. I know using the blade will work.

--- and let Cold speak for himself on the matter:

[FOR CONTEXT: in response to the Narrator saying we're only here because we died, which probably only happened because we didn't listen to Him] Voice of the Cold - Oh, we listened to you plenty. We slew the Princess, just like you asked us to. And then you locked us away in an empty void for eternity. So we slew ourselves, too.

[FOR CONTEXT: in response to the Narrator asking what would've happened to the world we left behind had we failed to slay the Princess] Voice of the Cold - It doesn’t matter, because we didn’t fail to slay her, and if she’s really back, which I doubt, it’ll be just as easy to do it again. But after that nasty trick you pulled on us, maybe she’s not the only one around here in need of slaying.

[FOR CONTEXT: in the cabin with Spectre, talking to the Narrator about the ghost-Princess after having talked to Him previously in the woods about the looping] The Narrator - What do you mean, ‘after’? Voice of the Cold - You already know what we mean, don’t you? So why don’t you go ahead and tell us? Are you going to try and lock us away in a timeless void again? Because I didn’t much care for that. The Narrator - I’m not going to lock you anywhere. Voice of the Cold - What an interesting choice of emphasis.

- (Explore) If anything, the world ended after I slew her. When I tried to leave, everything was gone. Voice of the Hero - That’s a good point. How do we know we didn’t have things backwards? Maybe slaying the Princess was what ended the world, not the other way around. Voice of the Cold - Yes, maybe this whole thing was a trick to get us to end the world. And now we get to go through the whole charade again wholly aware of what’s waiting for us at the end. Voice of the Cold - But that’s assuming she’s alive in that cabin. We did kill her, after all.

Voice of the Cold - This is boring. He’s clearly not interested in talking, so let’s just do as He says and maybe He’ll stop bothering us.

Cold is interesting because, as I'll point out later (both in this analysis and whenever i seek out Cold's other appearances), you need to read between the lines and in the negative spaces quite often to gauge what he's thinking. here, though, back in the woods again, Cold's an open book. "we listened to you and you locked us in an empty void for eternity. i really didn't care for that. it was a 'nasty trick.' we slew ourselves." note that Cold isn't expressing regret or remorse for anything that happened. he doesn't feel guilty about [Slaying the Princess], and he's outright convinced we're capable of doing it again. note twice, though, that Cold doesn't think we need to. he's fully convinced that her death sticks, even if ours didn't. he isn't readying up, either. it's just a job to him. (Something he was asked to do. a task, some dirty work. he holds no real opinion on the act of [Slaying the Princess], not here, and not now.) A job that, as he's seen, has no good rewards. In fact, the end result of completing this task is not something he wants at all. But he also really, really, really wants the Narrator to shut up, and trying to talk to Him isn't getting anything done.

[maxleyrosebud]

In AEGM , there’s a brief moment where Max gives a quick saddened expression after he is happy about persuading his dad to join the Gamma’s . This moment in the movie is often seen as Max feeling a bit guilty for wanting/tricking his dad to get away from him. And this is of course, a valid interpretation to be had. It is what a lot of people assume to be the case when watching the movie.

But is this moment really about Max feeling guilty or could this brief moment be towards something else?  Some may say it’s even about Bradley but is there really some truth to this? 

To know for sure I think it's important to look at the scenes that led up to this moment for proper context and to see how Max ultimately acts after this scene to see if there really could be any other cause for Max’s sudden disheartened reaction. 

So let's start off when Goofy first attends Max’s college.

When Max see's Goofy enter his classroom , Max screams , is absolutely horrified and ( jokingly) wants Bobby to kill him . Even screams “NOOOOOO!” at the top of his lungs after everyone in class laughs at his ordeal for having his own dad attend college with him. 

This was supposed to be a fresh start for Max and he wants to be popular and make a good impression on everyone , but Goofy’s unexpected arrival has now potentially jeopardised all that. 

But after Max understands Goofy’s situation of being fired and needing a degree to get a good job  , he sympathizes with him and gives Goofy ground rules to follow. Even defends Goofy's arrival to PJ and Bobby when they fear he will get in the way of the X games and their social life on campus.   

“Look, I talked to him and laid out all the ground rules. No interfering with the X games practice. No hounding us about schoolwork. No coming into our room unannounced. And no acting like a father. Especially mine. He's got his life , I’ve got my life”- Max to PJ and Bobby 

However , Goofy pushes the boundaries and neglects these rules, causing Max to feel embarrassed and annoyed by his father’s constant interference in his life. It’s becoming a problem for Max and it’s getting in the way of his own goals and reputation.

This goes on for days or weeks until one day at the library , Max tries to sneak away from his dad.

Goofy catches him though and asks where he's going to which a nervous Max quickly try's to figure out a excuse as to what he is doing. He then comes up with the idea that Goofy needs library card. A perfect cover up and a perfect way to distract his dad.  

Once Goofy is distracted with Miss Marpole , Max actively tries sneaking away again and even jumps over one of the library stalls to get away unseen. 

Now that Goofy has someone else to latch onto and is completely distracted , Max Finally has a chance to get away from his dad once and for all and is more than happy to do so with no regret or feeling of guilt whatsoever.  

“Come on guys , we're out of here!”- Max to PJ and Bobby 

This is probably the first moment since Goofy arrived at college that Max has had time away from his dad and he willingly takes full advantage of this with a smile on his face when making his getaway.

Once at skating boarding practice , Max is impressing everyone with his skateboarding skills and Max couldn’t be happier.  

He finally got a moment again where he feels popular and validated , just like he did when he first skated past frat row and things are really looking up for him.

That is until out of nowhere Goofy shows up in the middle of the ramp and Max accidentally collides into him, causing both Max and Goofy to be swung into the air and Max falling off his skateboard. Goofy however manages to land on Max’s skateboard and accidentally ends up taking Max’s spotlight by impressing everyone with his own skateboarding skills. 

Everyone applauds Goofy , something everyone was doing to Max moments prior , making Max annoyed and snatch his skateboard ruffly away from Goofy.

Due to Goofy’s actions, Max has now had enough of skateboarding practice for the day and is ready to leave but then Goofy suddenly proposes that he should join Max’s skateboarding team.

Max at first is bewildered that his dad would even ask him something like that, especially considering what he just did moments ago even if it was unintentional.

And so having enough of his dad's constant medalling , Max makes it perfectly clear to Goofy through his firm tone and disapproving body language that he isn’t going to let Goofy join his team as this is the one boundary that he isn't going to let Goofy cross.

“ Dad, as fun as that sounds. There are no, openings on my team. Kay.”- Max

At this point , Max’s patience with his dad is wearing thin. He is already annoyed that his dad isn’t listening to the ground rules and that his constant presence is medalling in with his social life. And when Max finally gets a break from his dad , a moment where he can be celebrated for his skateboarding skills again,  Goofy accidently takes this moment away from him by impressing everyone with his own skills , making Max get more annoyed/frustrated with his dad than he was before . 

Max then walks off with PJ and Bobby to which Bradley takes this as his opportunity to make Goofy an offer to join the Gamma’s. However , Goofy lets Bradley know that he is more interested in staying close to Maxie than joining his team. Bradley tries to make Goofy realise that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity but in response Goofy infers that Bradley doesn't understand the bond between a father and his son.

Overhearing this conversation, it’s clear to Max that Goofy isn’t going to leave him alone unless he thinks of another way to keep his dad away but for good this time. So as Max watches the conversation unfold ,  he cunningly comes up with a plan to get rid of his dad once and for all. Looks pretty satisfied and happy about it too. 

"Guys, I have a plan."-Max

Once Bradley and the Gamma’s leave Goofy alone , Max convinces his dad that he should join the Gamma’s as they need him more than his team does and that they will both still see each other at practices and events all the time. Goofy asks Max if his sure about this decision to which Max happily approves by telling his dad to go for it. 

“Go for it dad”-Max 

Goofy then catches up with Bradley and joins the Gamma’s , now following Bradley’s lead as they leave the skate park. 

Max and his friends watch as they leave and Max is seen smiling and content with what he has just done. But as PJ and Bobby celebrate , Max suddenly looks briefly sad when the scene starts to come to an end ? 

It’s very odd as this change in demeanour only lasts a few seconds in the actual movie but for some reason this display of emotion from Max isn't actually addressed later or? 

Every scene leading up to this moment has implied that Max should be rightfully happy. So why would Max suddenly look sad about finally getting rid of Goofy when all he has wanted up to this point is to do just that.

Max didn't feel guilty when he pushed Goofy on to Miss Marpole in the scene previous to this one, so what's changed?

Shouldn't he be feeling … relieved? Over the moon even?

Well , if it was a brief moment of guilt it was Very short lived as in the next following scene Max is overwhelmingly ecstatic/happy that his plan had worked and he even wants to celebrate with PJ and Bobby by making a nacho toast with them.

“A Crunch to us. I can’t believe it. It worked. We unloaded my dad and now we can focus on winning. Let’s do it, to it !”-Max 

Then later on during the scene , Max happily see's Goofy dancing with Miss Marpole and makes a point to Bobby that even if the Gammas can't keep Goofy away, then Miss Marpole surely will. Even gives Bobby a high five as a sign of approval/victory to his own statement.

"If the Gammas don't keep my dad out of our hair, his new girlfriend will."- Max

So clearly , Max isn't sad about ditching his Dad or tricking him to keep him away. As long as somebody is occupying his dad away from him then it's all good in his eyes.

So , uh … what happened then? Why is there a sudden whiplash of emotions here ? Did we miss a scene? Did Max just quickly get over it? Shouldn’t Max be asking PJ and Bobby for reassurance that he did the right thing if he really felt guilty over his dad?

Well, with everything leading up to this scene it would be reasonable to suggest that Max shouldn't be feeling guilty.

Goofy has over stepped Max's boundaries despite Max putting ground rules in place and Max can only be so patient and tolerant of Goofy's interference in his life for so long. Max is desperate to get away from his dad , and now that Goofy is out of the way , It makes absolute sense that Max should be happy and relieved about this change as Max believes he will only benefit from it.

So if we are to go with the notion that Max's expression isn’t guilt, then what was Max’s expression really about ? 

One interpretation could be , Max suddenly realizing that Goofy could be a threat to him in the X games but I don't think this is the case at all. At this point in the story , Max doesn't actually think Goofy can out best him at skateboarding. In his words he thought his dad was “the most athletically challenged man in the universe”.

And when it’s time for the actual qualifying rounds , Max sounds/looks condensing when wishing Goofy luck, as if Goofy will need all the luck he can get.

And when Goofy replaces Bradley as a last minute substitution , Max is surprised at first at the sudden change but is confident that Goofy will make the Gamma’s look bad. 

"(chuckle) This is gonna be good"-Max

It's only when Goofy performs really well that Max is rather shocked that Goofy proved him wrong and could out best him. 

So what else could it possibly be? ...

Well … as you've probably already guessed , what I'm going to propose is that Max’s saddened expression is actually addressed towards Bradley …  

Let me explain why this could be the case through a character/Story perspective.

After Max walks off from telling Goofy he can’t be on his team , Bradley swoops in to offer Goofy a place to be on his team instead. 

The following scene goes as follows.   

“Mr. Goof! Your performance was, without a doubt, the most breath-taking display of alternative sport inventiveness... yet to be paralleled by mankind!”-Bradley  

“Gee! Ah-yuck. Thanks. Whatever you said”.-Goofy

“The Gammas, the number one team in the history of the College "X" Games, have an opening on our team. And it has got your name on it, buddy! Be a winner. Join us.” - Bradley

“Hey, welcome to the team.”-Tank 

When Max first skated past Frat Row, people were impressed by his skateboarding skills and the one and only Bradley Uppercrust the Third gave Max a chance to be a Gamma.

But now the tables have turned where it is now Goofy impressing everyone with his own skills and just like Bradley had done with Max, Goofy is also getting the opportunity to be a Gamma. Keep this in mind as these two scenes are meant to mirror one another as through out the movie Goofy is slowly taking Max’s place on campus.  

So as Max is leaving , he can hear this whole conversation between them both but it's only after Bradley asks Goofy to join their team, that we see Max’s reaction. 

He stops in his tracks , shocked and turns around perplexed with a raised eyebrow by what is happening. 

In this moment , Max has just overheard that Bradley , the same guy who had once complimented him for his own skateboarding skills and given Max the same opportunity to be Gamma , is now doing the same to Goofy , someone who just stole the spotlight away from him moments ago. 

When Max was first given the offer by Bradley, Max looked touched and thrilled that Bradley wanted him as his first draft pick

and when Bradley asked him what he thought , Max claimed that he couldn’t believe it and looked immensely happy. 

“No way. You want us to be Gammas?

Ha! You guys, you hear that?- We're gonna be part…”- Max

Before attending college, Max hadn’t intended on becoming a Gamma  ( probably due to not thinking it was ever going to be a possibility) but when Bradley , the College X games King , the president of the best frat house on campus and a actual royal , was so impressed by Max’s skills that he chased after Max on a skateboard all the way down to the bean scene , just to ask him to be on his winning team , well of course this gesture meant a lot to Max.

Max had even spilled hot coffee on the guy by accident and Bradley still wanted him.  

And because Bradley rejected Bobby and PJ, who are in Max’s eyes serious athletes , Max knows what a big deal an offer like this is and knows full well that Bradley isn't just going to let just anyone be a Gamma. 

So the idea that Goofy , the person who just gained applaud and admiration from everyone else moments ago ,  is now being seen as someone who is good enough to be a Gamma just like Max had been, is now being given the same opportunity he once had from Bradley, well ... this is obviously going to be something that Max is going to take to heart and take great intrigue in. 

But as the conversation between Goofy and Bradley unfolds , Max is more focused on how he can get his dad away from him than how he might be feeling inferior to his own dad at this moment. 

So after Max persuades Goofy to join the Gammas , Max gets to witness the Gamma’s welcoming Goofy to the team , Bradley presenting Goofy with his own Gamma Mu Mu pledge Pin and Bradley calling Goofy “Brother Goofy”, making him an official Gamma. 

“Gamma Brother Goofy, let me present you with your Gamma Mu Mu pledge pin.” -Bradley

Then as Bradley, Goofy and the Gamma’s walk off , we cut back to the moment where Max and his friends are happy with their plan succeeding but of course Max gives that saddened expression just before the scene ends. 

With all this in mind , what I'm going to suggest is that this isn't a sign of guilt but rather a disheartened expression of Max feeling inferior to Goofy.

It's also of Max feeling a sense of sorrow that Goofy gets to be what Max could have been if things had turned out differently.

Knowing Max's Character , It’s no secret that Max tends to be insecure about feeling replaced/inferior . He has quite the history of it throughout the Goof troop show and the first Goofy Movie. 

Some examples

E65 Buddy Building - Feels like he's going to lose PJ as his best friend to a body builder named Coop.

S1 e71 Educating Goofy - When Goofy attends his school , Max feels like Goofy is taking everything away from him

The Goofy movie - When Roxxaane suggests that she can just go with someone else to the party , Max panics and lies about going to the Powerline concert when he's actually fishing with his dad. 

So it's easy to see how Max could be feeling like he has been replaced by Goofy as a potential draft pick for Bradley.

Obviously, just by comparing how Bradley acts and talks towards both Max and Goofy , we as a audience know that Bradley doesn't actually think Goofy is better than Max and is only using Goofy for his own gain. Bradley even admits later in the movie to Max himself that Goofy was never Gamma material but in this moment , this is just how Max could be feeling towards this situation.

When they met , Max could see and tell how much Bradley really wanted him as a Gamma,

but now that Max is no longer a option , Max is dealing with the unexpected scenario of seeing Bradley choose someone else. Something Max probably didn't think he would have to deal with as he didn't think Bradley would be able to find any better competitors than himself.

And when it comes to my other reason where Max feels saddened at seeing Goofy living a life that he could have had , I feel like this goes well with the overall theme and conflict between Max and Goofy, which is Max  wanting Goofy to get his own life and Max becoming resentful that Goofy is becoming everything Max strived for and wanted.

When Goofy beats Max in the qualifying rounds and takes away all the admiration and validation that Max wanted for himself, Max feels like Goofy is living the life that he wanted and strived for. This was supposed to be how life was going to go for Max but now Goofy gets to experience it for himself instead. 

So when we take this theme into account , it makes sense that Max would feel disheartened at the idea that Goofy gets to be a Gamma with Bradley as this was something that could have happened to him if Max didn't turn Bradley’s offer down.  

If Max had accepted Bradley’s offer , he could have been in the same position as Goofy is in now. He could have become a Gamma , he could have been given a Gamma Mu Mu Pledge Pin by Bradley , he could be the one following Bradley around campus as Brother Max. 

But due to circumstance , he had to turn the offer down due to PJ and Bobby not being allowed to join. A decision he doesn't regret for the sake of his friends but now that he see’s Goofy living out a life that he could have had , it probably dawned on Max in that moment what he actually did and that he gave Goofy a life that he could have been his if things turned out differently between him and Bradley. Goofy even had permission to join after turning Bradley down where as Max didn't.

Additionally , both the library scene and the Skatepark scene are very similar in terms of Max trying to get away from his dad and pinning his dad on someone else, but the only difference between these two scenes is that Max looks sad after pinning his dad on Bradley/Gamma’s but not when he did the same thing on Miss Marpole.  

So in a sense , Max’s expression is about Goofy but it's really about Bradley. Or at least that's what I think.

Regardless of what interpretation anyone has , it's all valid. People even suggesting that Max is pining for Bradley from a far is fine as it all depends on your own perception. And if you want to believe that Max was actually feeling guilt towards Goofy then that's fine too.

This was just my take/analysis on the scene and I hope it was at least a interesting perspective to think about.

[marrymepickering]

Adding onto this as someone currently studying to become an athlete trainer and whose goal is to be one at the highest professional level.

Look at it from a reverse view- How would you feel if someone treated you differently because you didn't have a lot of money or a high social status? One thing I've learned from being a student athletic trainer, witnessing care from the high school level to the professional level, is that everyone is treated equally. Sure, the one that are the most sick or injured get treated first, but healthcare professionals are supposed to treat them all with the same humility and respect.

I have had multiple conversations with athletic trainers in the NHL and the ECHL about this similar topic. Yes, they are at a high level and yes, they are being paid to perform. But if you look at how athletes are pushed by fans, teammates, and even themselves (especially during championship runs), it can be damaging in more than one way. An athlete's mental and physical health are at risk in these kinds of situations and can ultimately make their job and my job (as an athletic trainer) ten times harder. Not that I'm trying to make this about myself or take away from the main point, but treating athletes like your own personal circus can effect those who work closely with them as well.

"Oh well they chose to play a professional sport!" Okay, so? Does that make them less human? How would you feel if your boss told you that you were never allowed to take a sick day or something similar? Wouldn't feel too good, would it? So why do we treat professional athletes the same?

I'm also someone who is very committed to finding out how CTE can be studied and potentially caught/diagnosed before death. There needs to be changes made in how fan and organizations treat their players, but there also needs to be an improvement in equipment research. If you can make a helmet, glove, shoe/skate, etc. just a fraction safer than it already is, then that's one step in the right direction. (I did right a short essay about how to make the sport of hockey safer is anyone would like me to post it)

I bring a kind of “athletes are human people and not commodities” energy to sports fandom that guys who talk about sports on tv and the internet don’t really like

[starcurtain]

2/?

Kaveh and Alhaitham make sense, emotionality is indeed closely associated in Western culture with femininity, and low emotion and rationality with masculinity. In the eastern culture to which both characters belong, such patterns do not play a special role, and therefore this part of the fandom may perceive characters and their interaction differently, through the prism of other views (which becomes noticeable if you choose other languages on ao3 and look at the ratio of top/bottom tags). But it cannot be denied that the game is aimed at a wide audience, not just those players who are close to the culture and traditions of a particular region, and the creators understood how the Western audience sees the emotional presentation of the characters. But even here there are many intra-fandom distortions and the desire to make an "ideal" heteronormative pair out of them, which are not conditioned by the canon.

As for the parallels between Kaveh and his mother, no less parallels were drawn between him and his father, it's just that the fandom focused only on what he was interested in, presenting the situation as if he looked like his mother and not like his father, because they wanted to associate him with a feminine figure, not a masculine one. At the same time, Sachin said that Kaveh reminded him of the man he once knew (his father), but he (Kaveh) was made of more durable material. In the picture from the meeting with friends, he practically repeats his father's pose from an old drawing, and it is also clear that they are similar in appearance. In character, if not closer to his father, then at least he has no less traits from him than from his mother. His mother was described as rather withdrawn, unsociable, and focused primarily on work, while his father was altruistic, open-minded, somewhat naive and idealistic, and willing to help everyone, which ultimately led to his death. Even his desire to help Kaveh's mother was in key ways different from Alhaitham's motivations, because he was basically described as a man who primarily sought to help people, rather than "understand" them. That is, the interpretation of Kaveh's resemblance to his mother as emphasizing his "femininity" is primarily the view of fandom, distorted by the desire to fit the character into a heteronormative framework, intentionally emphasizing one part of the information and ignoring another part of it. If we look at the whole context, he was described as the son of his parents, who inherited traits and talents from both of them.

In terms of appearance, Alhaitham, while indeed "inexplicably ripped", is also more sexualized than Kaveh, and fandom often tries to "turn it around" by dressing Kaveh in tight and provocative clothes, and Alhaitham in loose and practical ones, but this does not correspond to the canon.

Sincere passion, especially in relation to one's work, is in principle not a stereotypically feminine trait, it is associated more with the archetype of yang than yin. Gentleness and tenderness or deliberate theatricality are considered feminine, but none of this is typical of Kaveh in the canon.

When paired with Kaeya and Diluc, Diluc is more stereotypically masculine in appearance, character, and behavior, but at least early on, he was often portrayed as smaller, shorter, and more outwardly cute than Kaeya, which shaped the tastes of a certain part of the fandom.

Sampo and Gepard, also a very popular couple, are not oriented towards a heteronormative pattern, and each of them exhibits different qualities.

-----------------------------------

I think your takes on many of the characters are very fair, and you have a good understanding of the characterizations that aligns well in many cases with how I personally understand the characters too!

The fundamental discrepancy in our thinking about this seems to boil down to whether or not you see fandoms as perceptive enough to choose the "preponderance of evidence."

I completely agree with your point that both male characters in Hoyo's ships often have masculine and feminine traits. Each character Hoyo creates definitely is three-dimensional, with a blend of interesting and oftentimes conflicting personality elements.

So I'm not trying to say "This character has all the masculine traits and this one has all the feminine traits" at all. Instead, I think fans overall are making their judgments--and applying their heteronormative lenses--based on the criteria: "Which one of these two male characters is more feminine than the other?"

Of course, as you note, what is considered masculine and feminine varies significantly by culture, which accounts for regional differences in shipping preferences, but I think in most cases, Hoyo has a clear pattern of giving one character a greater overall number of feminine traits than the other in their MLM ships, allowing for a pretty standard level of heteronormativity.

It's not "Alhaitham has no feminine traits." It's "Kaveh just has more feminine traits than Alhaitham," in essence. I believe that, for the most part, fandoms predictably label their top/bottom (or husband/wife) dynamics based on that central criteria--who is more feminine. (It's also why Phaidei is more popular than Myphai--Mydei just was given more feminine traits by the devs than Phainon was. That doesn't mean Phainon has no feminine traits--his sweet-hearted friendliness comes to mind easily--just that he has fewer feminine traits than Mydei, and therefore gets stereotyped into the "wife" role less often by the fandom.)

Going through some of the examples you mentioned:

Kaveh definitely is projected on his father as well as his mother, you're right. The entire Parade of Providence event was about us coming to understand how similar Kaveh is to his father. But this parallel is matched equally by his parallel to his mother in his hangout. If we're keeping a tally of "feminine versus masculine traits," being compared to a masculine parent and then compared to a feminine parent basically cancels each other out. 😂 Simultaneously though, Kaveh is given other traits stereotypically assigned to men as well: He's an alcoholic. He has a quick temper. He's a STEM major lol. Despite being incredibly kind-hearted, he can't read the room well and doesn't actually have good emotional awareness, often failing to understand the feelings of others until they're spelled out to him.

However, he still has (in total) more stereotypically feminine traits than Alhaitham, and that's what counts for the fandom's purposes. He's "pretty"--long-haired with braids, cute hairclips to pin his wispy hair down like a schoolgirl--wears significantly more jewelry than Alhaitham, cares about aesthetics and "beauty," has a more delicate-looking frame, etc. etc. His emotional outbursts at Alhaitham intentionally make him come across like a nagging wife, especially when he makes demands about their furniture, and his character stories confirm that he essentially does all the housework (although it finally seems like Alhaitham is picking up the slack a little more recently, if his birthday media was anything to go by). Kaveh operates on principles of kindness that come not from a patriarchal sense that he is wiser than others, but from the more traditionally feminine self-sacrificial brand of generosity. You mentioned "deliberate theatricality," and while I don't think Kaveh's is deliberate, I do think Kaveh's "accidental theatricality"--shouting, sighing, falling into despair over the slightest setbacks--is definitely coded as a more feminine approach to life (i.e. "hysteria") than the traditional stoicism expected of masculinity. More than any of that though, the narrative puts him into a rescued-princess role because he literally was "saved" by Alhaitham.

So no, it's not that Kaveh is the most feminine character ever; it's just that he's more feminine than Alhaitham.

Regarding Kaeya and Diluc, I'm not sure I can speak, because I don't personally ship it, so I don't have the greatest awareness of the dynamics the fans of that ship prefer. However, my thought is that this ship's statistics might be more profoundly impacted by culture than other ships--in particular, I get the sense that Kaeluc is much more popular in eastern countries than western ones, which definitely impacts what is considered "masculine" versus "feminine." I'm not from an Asiatic country, so I can't speak with any degree of expertise, but one of my guesses would be that Diluc's aggressiveness runs contrary to some expectations of masculinity in eastern countries, where there may be a greater sense that an ideal man should better control himself and mask his grief, marking Kaeya's outwardly stoic response and ability to hide his vulnerability as the more masculine personality.

Frankly, the reason I didn't touch ZhongChi is because, despite the fact that I love it, I actually think the devs regretted their decision to originally begin baiting that ship and have since hit the brakes hard. We haven't gotten a single sliver of new in-game content for ZhongChi since the end of Liyue's archon quest, not even a passing cameo of them together. Compare this to Alhaitham and Kaveh who are still getting new content even though Sumeru's plot has been done for two years now and I feel like you'll see what I mean. I think the devs realized they were playing with fire using a figure symbolic of China itself in MLM ship tease, and they walked back to avoid any repercussions.

Personally, I feel ZhongChi's popularity really has little to do with the game itself and much more to do with a confluence of outside factors (it was the first "tall male" MLM ship in Genshin Impact that wasn't colored by the whole "brothers" situation, giving it huge appeal not just for the eastern audiences but much more so with the western audiences; basically, part of ZhongChi's popularity is that it was just "Not Diluc/Kaeya" lol). I love this ship a lot myself, but I'm not sure ZhongChi is a good example of Hoyo's intentions, given that it seems like they really regret ever going down that path in the first place.

(I think ZhongChi may also be another ship heavily impacted by cultural differences--it might be interesting to examine whether fans perceive Tartaglia or Zhongli as the "top" more often by their specific country; my thought is that Zhongli's particular brand of elegant maturity and outward "emotionlessness" marks him as especially masculine in eastern countries, while Tartaglia's aggressiveness and bold behavior come across as more masculine in western countries.)

Regarding some of your other points, re: Ratio's bath and Alhaitham's tight-fitting clothes, I don't mean to sound rude at all, but this feels like a slight misread to me. Ratio's scenes in his bathtub and Alhaitham's tight-fitting clothes aren't intended to feminize these characters--they're being sexualized foremost for women, not men!

This:

Is the exact same thing as this:

Kafka isn't "masculine" when she is sexualized to appeal to men, right? So I promise, Ratio isn't "feminine" when he is sexualized to appeal to women.

Same thing with Alhaitham's tight clothes. When Alhaitham shows up in artworks looking like this:

You're not supposed to see him as feminine for the mere act of being sexualized--he's being sexualized for the female gaze. He's drawn this way to highlight his masculinity (abs, pecs, etc.), rather than diminish it, in an effort to appeal to female players. It just so happens this works on lots of bi and gay men too, but women are the primary audience here, and this kind of skin-tight design asserts, rather than dismisses, masculinity.

(By the way, not saying Ratio and Alhaitham don't have feminine traits, because they do! I just don't think the moments where they are sexualized for the female gaze are good examples of those.)

Regarding Sampo and Gepard, I think you have valid points that neither of them particularly conforms to heteronormative standards, but I also get the sense that Sampard was baited mostly through missable moments (I think Sampo's voiceline is probably the most overt tease for this ship?) and then it was really not emphasized much further by the devs--like a "Isn't this funny?" kind of thing, rather than getting a full-blown Alhaitham/Kaveh or Mydei/Phainon treatment. I think the objective was just different between Sampard and ships like Phaidei/Haikaveh; it seems less about selling the characters and more about just adding a bit of flavor to Belobog overall. (I'm so sorry to say it, but Gepard in particular is veryyy boring if you take the potential of a forbidden romance out of the picture; then again, maybe that's just me lol.)

Regarding your points about Sampo's cross-dressing, though, I actually think there may be another factor at play here:

Sampo is a trickster archetype character (i.e. Loki, Puck, or the Cheshire Cat). He's part of the Masked Fools, obviously, but more than that, he exhibits all the classic traits of trickster characters:

He is of ambiguous morality, helping us sometimes and opposing us in others

He is unpredictable and a "situation inverter"--when things are going bad, he appears to solve an otherwise unsolvable plot problem; when things are going well, he shows up to cause trouble

He's a comedic character who nevertheless has obvious hidden depths--he knows things he shouldn't

He's a thief and a conman, but also portrayed as having soft spots and helping those in need (think Robin Hood)

One of the key aspects of trickster archetype characters, however, is that they push boundaries, refusing to be confined to one side (neither good nor bad, neither kind nor cruel). Sampo is both literally a boundary pusher--he can cross the otherwise uncrossable seal between Belobog's underworld and overworld--and also a figurative boundary crosser--how much is Trailblazer willing to put up with him?

But one of the most important boundaries that trickster characters cross is gender. One of the most common traits of trickster archetype characters is cross-dressing or even complete shape-shifting to take the form of the opposite gender (think fox spirits shape-shifting into brides, Loki shape-shifting into a mare, etc.). Sampo's cross-dressing is perfectly explicable if you approach it from the context that he's representing an archetype of characters for whom the physical form is a tool of the trade rather than a central aspect of identity. Sampo's appearance, even down to Sampo's gender, is a facade, in essence.

There's a bigger conversation to be had about trickster archetype characters here and their portrayals in Christianized traditions versus non-Christianized traditions, but one of the other common traits of tricksters is that they are overwhelmingly male. (There are also female tricksters, of course, but they are significantly rarer than male trickster figures in global mythology.) Because this is a role so often given to men, we can choose to interpret male tricksters assuming femininity in a couple different ways:

Tricksters are "edgy" figures that are meant to make people uncomfortable by pushing boundaries; they are meant to be a cautionary tale that actually reinforces gender norms by showing men examples of what not to be

Tricksters are "comedic" figures that are not meant to be taken seriously; their play on gender is regarded as ridiculous, and their cross-dressing or shape-shifting usually ends with them being humiliated or punished, again reinforcing typical heteronormative gender boundaries

Tricksters are actually early examinations of desire, both acceptable and socially unacceptable, expressed in time periods before cultures understood principles of psychology; the fact that they are overwhelmingly male yet so often transform into women represents a historical grappling of men with enforced masculinity versus homosexual desire, so on

Whatever the case, the cross-dressing of male trickster figures can be a key part of queer-coding, but it doesn't usually lend itself to a serious queer narrative. More often it serves just to make the cross-dressing man the butt of a joke (ha ha, look at the buff guy in drag); in Sampo's case, the joke was getting everyone's literal wig snatched.

And regarding Argenti, maybe this is controversial of me, but...

Argenti is the most masculine character in Star Rail. Yes, I said it.

It's just that modern players don't understand him this way, because the type of masculinity that Argenti represents is culturally out of step with modern times.

He comes across as bizarre even to other characters in-game because he's a walking, talking caricature of feudal era knighthood. He's not even a reflection on the real behaviors of actual feudal era knights; he's a one-for-one, completely "play this trope straight" example of the pulpy, romanticized portrayals of knighthood which became popular in Europe in the 1300s.

He's not an accurate knight; he's the main character in a dreadful chivalric romance set in space lol.

He's an absolute exaggeration on every trait that "knights in shining armor" are supposed to have:

He's loyal to his lady (Idrila) to the point that it's hilariously obsessive

He's chivalrous to the point that loops back into inconveniencing everyone around him

He's mindlessly dedicated to his sworn oath

His fruitless search for Idrila is literally note-for-note the chivalric romance's "hunt for the holy grail" or "rescue the princess from the dragon"

He's an over-top-level of beautiful that makes him appear otherworldly, but it's also comedically performative (again for women's sake), with roses and spotlights appearing on him just for effect

He's Galahad. He's Roland. He's Don Quixote tilting at windmills.

Basically what I'm saying is that Argenti is literally "that guy on the cover of every trashy romance novel about knights":

(I'm sorry, Catherine Kean, I have no idea if your books are actually good or not; you're just my unfortunate example.)

Argenti's supposed to come across as weird because he's literally in the wrong genre, but I really do not believe he's supposed to be seen as traditionally feminine.

Boothill, on the other hand, is coming from a cultural tradition (cowboys/the American West) infamous for toxic masculinity--but also, because of that, rife with queer connotations. "Cowboy culture" basically entirely eschews women, who are background figures in Western media at best. Cowboy tales classically center men and only men, examining the complex relationships between them, which lends itself to lots of both intentional (and unintentional) homosexual tension. Brokeback Mountain didn't make so many ripples for no reason. 😂

I'm not a Boothill expert, so I don't have the receipts to show for him having numerous feminine traits to accompany his cowboy masculinity (the pink gun does come to mind though lol), but I think it's important not to forget his role in the story: Boothill is both a man on a mission of vengeance and a victim. In painting him as the sole survivor of his people's massacre, we see the same powerlessness as Aventurine was subjected to--initially, both were helpless victims to the same man, stripped of their right to bodily autonomy (Boothill's lore is a bit of a mess, if I recall, on whether he became a cyborg willingly or not).

Being a victim is obviously not inherently feminine, but the role of "victim" is so often assigned to women in media that it can be read as an emasculating position regardless. Simply put, it isn't manly to be defeated by your enemy and made powerless before him.

Thus, the fact that Boothill has lost everything and has never been able to achieve his vengeance and get back his "power" (thus, symbolically, his masculinity) from his oppressor is always a part of the conversation with this character.

I also feel compelled to note that there was no woman directly involved with Boothill's daughter; he found his daughter as a baby and raised her without any relationship to a woman (except his own adopted mother, Graey)--I think this is actually another point in the favor of Boothill having more feminine traits than Argenti; as shitty as this is, being willing to care for a literal baby is still seen by a lot of people as "women's work."

Anyway, I completely agree with your point that there is a lot of nuance to this issue--frankly, too much for tumblr posts to encapsulate--but I think that there's enough consistency to the design choices on the devs' part that I personally feel we can say Hoyo does have a clear pattern, and that clear pattern largely plays is safe with baiting ships that remain within the boundaries of a heteronormative sphere.

This is only my perspective though, limited as it is by my own frames of reference!