#both bc i 1. latched onto him for silly reasons

[ofthehands]

TCM Disability Week, Day 7: Headcanon.

@texas-chainsaw-fanworks

Artist's statement + rambling + a transcript of the text below.

Text : "Enright seems unphased by most of what's going on. He's slugging down the Mezcal- sweating. Enright's eyes shake in his own private nightmare. He sees chainsaws all around him: splintering the walls; hacking up through the floor; shattering the furniture. The chainsaws' rampage goes on and on insanely. Enright doesn't flinch. "

I recently got my hands on a copy of the TCM 2 original screenplay, which has a lot more characterization for Lefty. The passage above is an expert from the screenplay which kind of plays into my headcanon. I'm not sure it's 100% a headcanon bc of the original screenplay but I'm still counting it. I think Lefty suffers from alcoholism (or like. More properly SUD) and psychosis caused by some kind of underlying condition. In my mind it's PTSD with psychotic features since his symptoms seem to relate to/ revolve around the sudden traumatic loss he experienced (hallucinations of their weaponry, paranoia about the killers' awareness of him/ ability to find him. And in my reading of the og script he and Sally both show a lot of dissociative symptoms, which is common with PTSD, especially severe PTSD, which co-occurs most commonly with PTSD with psychotic features.) I find Lefty's particularly psychology interesting because hes one of very few tcm characters who shows a lot of symptoms of mental illness on screen without being an outright villain.

I tried to portray all that by painting his expression in the scene the text is from, and dripping it all with melted crayon, which both creates a blood spatter- like pattern, but also, like the script text which is on a separate piece of paper, creates another dimension/ layer of the paper that exists on a different plane from Lefty himself. Something he might feel and might perceive, but is on a different plane from himself.

[angstflavoured]

I saw your post and I do agree that Wheatley canonically was a bit of a selfish you-know-what.

However, I thought I'd give my two cents on this topic (just know that these are MY observations from looking at the Portal fandom past and present).

I feel like it's important to keep in mind two things:

Wheatley (and his many human/android versions) first skyrocketed in popularity during 2011-2012, the years when (a) the Portal fandom was gaining far more traction during Portal 2's release compared to that of Portal 1, and b) when many facets of online communities like Tumblr (which, yes, included the 'Tumblr sexyman' trend - there's a good video that goes over the basic characteristics and the history behind this trend: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=us5Y_Kba7To&t) were developing alongside this traction. These led to the ongoing creation of many Wheatley versions, all with variations in both character design and the magical thing called ✨CHARACTER INTERPRETATION✨.

People within fandom culture tend to latch onto different characters for a whole slew of different reasons. Portal example: The personality cores (canon and fanmade) appeal to many people because of, well, their various personalities and the fact that we can look at them and go "Oh my gosh, I can relate to this" or "Oh, this one reminds me of this person".

I agree with your point that some canon details may have been forgotten:

Wheatley was, in fact, designed to be an idiot. Enough said.

Wheatley acting like Chell was going to abandon him when she never indicated that.

Wheatley accusing Chell of bossing him around, which in hindsight was pretty much projection on his end (prior to the chassis btw).

The ONLY thing I personally disagreed with was this quote from another post you made: "and no dont you dare tell me it was the chassis that made him that way bc its not and if you think that you have zero media literacy". Now I definitely agree that some people within fandom culture in general either ignore or reject the concept of media literacy all together.

However, I feel that phrase (combined with how aggressively you stated your pretty valid points) comes off as way too harsh. I also fear that some people may misinterpret your points to mean you've seen nothing but "wholesome interpretations" of him and you want to argue that the "losercore" interpretation of him as 'the best/canon one', which I doubt is the case.

Some people like to have complex interpretations of the character. Some people prefer more canon stuff. And some people just like to see the character as more wholesome or silly because they see it as their comfort character to insert their own interpretations onto (i.e. What if Wheatley had a good relationship with Chell, and was actually controlled by the corrupted chassis only to feel guilty afterwards?).

If you want some interpretations either more in line with canon Wheatley, I have some recommendations for you to check out:

USB-Dongle Wheatley/Ask Android Wheatley: He was VERY popular on Tumblr during 2011-2012, to the point where his creator dedicated a whole RP/ask-blog that is now unfortunately defunct. HOWEVER, if you dig deep enough, you can find reblogged art both from the artist and the RP blog on here. The more wholesome moments are only confined to some of the responses within the RP blog, but most of his canon character is still intact.

Negaduck13 Wheatley: Probably one of the most canon interpretations of the character I have seen on Tumblr. Aside from the few instances of him being sympathetic, he is pretty much a silly, cowardly jerk. (Just know that his design was recently reused for a collab webcomic series the artist is working on.)

Dragon.lunatic Wheatley (Insta): From what little I have seen of him, he also seems to be more in-line with his canon self.

Also the "THE PORTAL 2 FANDOM IS IN SHAMBLES !!!!!!!!! I WANNA TEAR MY HAIR OUT" comes off as incredibly 'doom and gloom', which I believe you didn't intend to do.

Yes, the Portal fandom has had its weird moments (e.g. that one argument some people that "All artists' Wheatley designs look the same" when some of them only shared a few traits but were still unique in their own way), but I don't think it was ever "in shambles" to begin with.

In fact, I've only seen it continue to evolve to amazing creatives like yourself. The Portal fandom has lasted for over a decade, it's only just changed slightly with a changing internet culture and even more epic people to continue its legacy.

I apologise for this long info-dump, but I enjoy your interpretation of Wheatley just as much as many others. I just thought I'd give you another perspective as someone who has looked through the history of the Portal fandom for a good few years now.

Hope you have a nice day/evening. 👍🏻

(On a much lighter and completely unrelated note, I wonder if an archive dedicated to the fandom's history and some of the AUs/artists would be a good idea...? :] )

dawg sorry what 😭😭😭😭 i know most of the stuff that youre saying, i dont need links to the definition of a tumblr sexyman. what is going on. im 23 and have been on tumblr for a few months under a decade.

what i said is what i meant, i dont really care if its harsh. my whole point was that its NOT "an interpretation" of his character. that IS his character. he is selfish and mean from start to end. if people did the very least of giving him a redemption arc--like Blue Sky did--thatd be a different story. in that he was VERY 3 dimensional, while still being EXTREMELY flawed and holding onto his basic character traits. it was very much WHEATLEY.

ive been in this fandom for almost 5 years and have consumed MOST of the big fan content for it. i know all of this and was keeping it in mind when saying what i said. at the end of the day, i cant police anyone. if they wanna write him OOC and make him nothing like how he is in the game, then they very well can. its just really fucking boring to me. A lot of the stuff i love in the fandom was made in 2012 bc people who like it now are very very young and dont understand his character. they FUNDAMENTALLY do not understand who he is.

again. this isnt interpretation. this is CANON. this is me listing CANON TRAITS. with CANON LINES. its not "how i see him." that was the entireeeee point of my post.

Literally him saying shit like: "Am I being too vague? I despise you. I loathe you. You arrogant, smugly quiet, awful jumpsuited monster of a woman." hes literally telling her this ISNT cute little game, he just WANTS HER DEAD.

he tried to kill her UP UNTIL HIS VERY LAST MOMENTS WITH HER. and he had always been this way. people who think the chassis made him evil, its like--its a just a scapegoat to excuse everything he did and say it wasnt his fault and that he was under the influence of something else. it deminishes his ENTIRE CHARACTER down to dog water. which, to me personally, really sucks! because if you just interpret him as a nice, polite guy who is super respecful and decently smart, then it just isnt him. its a random guy with Wheatleys name that people can plug into xreaders.

every fandom does this with the fav character, im just upset about wheatley atm. this is just an inevitable thing that happens, but its SOOOO frequent in the portal 2 space that its a little aggravating.

[gazeboarcade]

Where, besides Tumblr, can people find you doing fannish things? (Obviously only mention sites and usernames you actually want to be found at. Don’t expose your secret identities on my account.)

What other names have you gone by on these platforms, including Tumblr, if any?

When did you join the IT fandom? And what got you into fandom, to begin with?

What are your favorite ships, or characters, if any, and why? What do they mean to you?

In what ways do you participate in fandom? (ex. Posting memes, reblogging/commenting on content, writing fanfic, making fanart, creating fanmixes, etc.)

Do you have any in-fandom inspirations? Other members of the community that drive you? (And if you have the time/energy, in what ways do they inspire you?)

Name and link some of your favorite works, please!

Do you have any works of your own that you feel particularly proud of, or wish more people would’ve consumed? Please provide links if possible.

Have you ever participated in a fannish event (ie. IT Week, a fic Big Bang) or applied to be a part of a fanzine? If so, which ones, and can you please link them?

Without any form of bashing or lashing out, what is something you feel this fandom is missing?

GOSH this is a lot of questions, lemme give it my best shot.

1.) I sometimes still post art on my art instagram, but I prefer not to cross the beams of that and my tumblr so much. If someone rlly wants the handle tho, feel free to ask. 

2.) If this means like...nicknames, too many to count. One of my first URLs was something like “pensword,” which was a reference to Percy Jackson!

3.) I was KINDA in it in 2017 when the first movie came out, but it didn’t hold my attention too much. In September 2020, I really got into IT, tho! I got into it because I realized it was coming up on a year since I saw the second one in theaters (during a wind advisory night in the city I go to college, on Halloween). For a couple of silly reasons (my ex belittling IT a little and me being weirdly internalized homophobic abt it) I was scared to enjoy it publicly haha

4.) My favorite ship in the fandom, ofc, is Reddie! I am kinda basic so I also really think Ben and Bev are sweet. I also really liked Patty and Stan together in the book... they were so achingly sweet together that the bath chapter made me cry for a HOT MINUTE.

Richie is my all time favorite character for reasons I could probably write like 50 pages on! Some of those reasons are like super-duper personal lol so I pull punches on just dumping them on my blog haha! I just really really related to him for a lot of reasons (the humor coping mechanism and the werewolf thingy, to name a couple) so it was only natural I latched onto that boy and went full send kinnie moment!

Eddie is my second favorite bc I love him and wanted the best for him (I don’t want to start disc horse on tumblr, but my gf and I have schemed abt who should have kicked it at the end and it ain’t him). I also have a soft spot for kid Ben in the book, bc I really thought he was a sweetheart (I mean, cmon, walking around whispering Bev’s name? Adorable! Hiding away in libraries? Relatable!)

5.) I’ve done a bunch of stuff! This blog has a ton of IT content. I have made a bunch of fan art (most of which hasn’t been posted sdjbvkdsjbvk). I have written a couple fanfics (a finished oneshot and one unfinished longer one that will...probably stay that way). I have a reddie playlist on spotify, too.

6.) There’s been a few people who’ve done some IT stuff I’ve really liked! Uhh @stitchyarts  wrote some fics and has done some beautiful art to go with it that I really liked!! @skelesocks did some HELLA charming art, tho is now mostly Queen blog. No shade there, I have a Queen blog, too, lol. Ask for the URL if you want it. Both of them focused on the miniseries tho.

There’s a couple artists who have done Reddie stuff I have really liked, too, which is super inspiring. here’s a few of those: @trashcanprince @mxgicdave @meowsteryyy ..... tbh fave IT blog of all time tho has to be my gf, em, @dr-kaspbrakmd , bc she got me full swing obsessing and also it was a big bonding thing for us early into the relationship *pauses for crowd to say AWWWWW*

7.) Assuming this means fanfics, like I said, a lot of Stitchy’s works, especially Tinted Windows and TV Guides (which now i rlly want to re-read lol). I kinda have a hard time with fanfic reading bc im picky and sometimes it’s better to daydream my own stories. The other Reddie fics I’ve liked will make yall get the shepherd’s hook and yoink me off stage for public indecency for sure so I’m gonna leave that to ur imagination <3

8.) I feel positively heinous and pick-me trying to get ppl to read my old reddie fics that I wrote during the crushing weight of crippling lonliness so no. they r also not rlly that good so you’re welcome <3

9.) No actually! I have thought about it. I have also schemed the idea of starting my own reddie zine and being super choosey about who gets in but that’s just me wanting to curate content I like lollll.

10.) uhhh decorum, understanding of complex relationships/emotional situations, and the common sense not to fetishize gay men <3 that sounds rlly snotty but there’s some activity tm in this fandom that yucks me out big time. Also, I wish more ppl would have seen the miniseries/read the book but that’s just me being choosy.

Anyways, I’ve been running my mouth for WAY too long but I hope this answers the questions you had good enough!! Thanks for asking!!

[whyamistillwatchingtheseshows]

Idk if you’re still taking requests, but i had this really cute kinda cheesy thought about MingKit’s 1 year anniversary and how Kit would spend the whole day pampering & loving his boyfriend bc even tho he might not be touchy with other people, Kit wants Ming to know he loves him just as much as Ming loves Kit

Three things were on my mind when I read this ask again. Yes, I read through it once, but then came back to as I thought up a way to work this plot. 1: Damn the SOTUS feels with that gear! 2: Chocolate covered strawberries. 3: I shamelessly watched a JoongNine fanvid and in it there’s one of those damn silly games where they have to hold an object between them. Joong lifts Nine into his arms [and I swear the little shit knows what he’s doing] and even before the object is being given to them, Nine is basically using his hand against Joong’s neck/chin the way I’ve already imagined Kit doing to Ming. His hand is there angling Joong’s lips to his for a “kiss.” Is this character bleed a wish granted? Is this glorious fanservice? Because neither boy is panicked well that is until their mouths betray them when answering the questions. For the record, not that you wanted to know this anon, but I think Nine has soo much queer energy [so I do imagine the little shit knows what he’s doing] and no one will change my mind about that. Forgive me for the rant, but the inspiration for part of your fic came from the source: 

Ming couldn’t believe he bribed an Engineer for a gear. He wasn’t part of that program specifically because it was optional for students pursuing an Engineering degree. The meaning of the gear shifted, more often than not representing an Engineer’s heart rather than being just a token of their hard work accomplished under pressure from a “hazing” team. Ming wanted a gear for the former reason, a representation of his heart now hung from a necklace that he was going to present to Kit as a gift for their one year anniversary. 

When they were at dinner Ming nervously handed over the little box. Kit opened it and read the little note. I love you. Here’s my heart for safekeeping. He only smiled at Ming and attempted to latch the necklace. His fingers fumbled so Ming jumped up and fixed it on his neck for him. Kit looked up at him and smiled. At the dinner, nothing was given in return, which Ming didn’t expect, but it did catch him off guard. 

Back at the room, Ming kicked off his shoes. He plopped onto the sofa. Kit sat with him, propping feet into his lap. Ming apprehensively pulled them away, but Kit wrangled them back. He pressed his thumb into the ball of Ming’s left foot. The boy let out the loudest groan Kit ever heard him make over the year and that was saying something. Kit massaged the left one for a good ten minutes, then he moved to the right foot. Ming was now laying down, his head against the arm of the sofa. His eyes were fluttering closed and soon enough Kit heard snores. 

–

That was the end of their anniversary day. It wasn’t a big spectacle, but the one thing Ming enjoyed seeing was Kit now adding the necklace to his morning dress routine. For some reason he always put it on before he put on a shirt and then he pulled it from underneath to situate the gear against his chest. 

“Are you going to get dressed?” Kit could see Ming staring at him through the mirror. Ming jumped out of the bed to wrap arms around him. Kit smiled. “I have an anniversary surprise for you anyway. So get dressed.” 

Ming raised an eyebrow but did as he was told. Soon enough they were in Kit’s car driving to a destination unknown. 

—

They arrived at the beach. The same beach where Ming first realized that he was going to chase after his now stubborn boyfriend. From the back of the car [Ming had no idea it was there], Kit procured a picnic basket. Kit sheepishly grinned at him when Ming leaned against the back of the car admiring him. “Surprise!” Kit playfully said. “A beach picnic.” Kit had the basket in hand, Ming in the other hand. As they trekked through the sand, Kit lost his footing, the basket tumbling out of his hands and Ming falling with him. They both cackled as they immediately felt beach sand filling every crevice possible. Ming had fallen on top of him. Kit looked up at those beautiful eyes that mesmerize him every time. Every day for the past year those big brown eyes filled him with love. 

“Now that I have your heart for safe keeping it doesn’t mean I have to treat you like something fragile right?” 

“You being fragile with someone or anything? Ha!” Ming snapped. “That doesn’t seem right, because the KitKat I know plays rough.” 

“Does he?” Kit ignored the nickname. Which did he prefer? It’s been a year and he can’t make up his mind about “Kitty” or “KitKat”- in reality the best sound was when Ming simply and excitedly said, “Kit!” Ming couldn’t get in another word because with impressive strength he rolled them over so that he was on top. 

Could they make out on the beach all day? Yes. They could. Kit aimed for it, but the passerby would probably gawk. Kit reluctantly pulled his lips away. Ming chased them back, gripping hair to “force” one more kiss. Kit didn’t want it to end but he escaped. Ming sat up on his elbows watching Kit as he grabbed the toppled over picnic basket. Hopefully everything was fine. So they had to eat with their hands because the silverware got sandy. Who the fuck cares? It was mostly finger food anyway, because feeding Ming chocolate covered strawberries was next on the agenda. 

—

Ming licked chocolate from his lips. He remembered when Kit had been too shy to even remotely share a drink with the same straw. Now, on a public beach he was feeding him. Ming couldn’t ask for anything better. This was the best. There was only one more strawberry. Kit reaches for it and bites off the leaf. He then puts part of the strawberry in his mouth, chocolate end facing Ming. He immediately bites half of it into his mouth, their lips touching a little bit. As they finish their bites, lips connected to share a strawberry and chocolate flavored kiss. 

–

Later that day, Ming become busy with a study group, leaving Kit to his own devices. That only meant he had a chance to decorate the room. Several hours later the bedroom door opened and Ming received a face full of balloon. 

“Happy Anniversary!” Kit exclaimed. He rounded the room. It looked like someone’s art exhibit as he admired the pictures of them on the walls. They were temporarily hung there, because Ming assumed Kit didn’t want to ruin the dorm walls. Still the gesture wasn’t lost on him. The gesture, in fact, made tears well up to the surface. When Ming found the last picture on the wall, it was a recent one. From yesterday at the beach. When the heat died down from the kiss, they leaned in for a picture. Kit would never forget the grin on Ming’s face when he surprised him with a quick cheek kiss as he snapped the picture. How in the world it came out a perfect shot baffled Kit, but he wouldn’t complain that much. 

Here’s to the old memories and here’s to creating the new. I love you, Ming, the back of the photo read. An empty frame sat on the desk. Ming could see the top left corner adorned with an Earth charm and the right held a Moon charm. He wondered if the frame was custom made or store bought. He didn’t ask. Either way it made him happy. Really happy. Arms wrapped around his waist from the side and his arm automatically slid around Kit’s shoulders. 

“Can I put it in the frame?” Ming sniffled. Kit nodded as Ming released him to work open the back of the frame and slide the picture in. He positioned it on the desk so that it can be clearly seen by either one of them if they sat there to study. Kit squeezed him harder. 

“I know it’s late,” he muttered. “This gift. I hadn’t finished planning it by the time we had dinner on our actual anniversary night. Then after that dinner my plans were stalled.” He joked and before a word could pass from Ming’s mouth, Kit pressed his lips to his boyfriend’s. 

Ming lifted him in his arms and to Kit it always felt like floating on a cloud. As if the ground were lost underneath his feet and he could fly. Ming pulled back a second, tears still threatening to bubble over. Some of them did and Kit wiped them away. “I love you so much,” Kit whispered when he leaned their foreheads together. Ming pulled them apart to regain composure, fearful that more tears would stain his cheeks. He pinched Ming’s chin and slowly leaned up for another kiss. As usual, the little shit didn’t lean down, so Kit was on his tip toes. He took the opportunity to jump into his arms, a hand caressing up his neck and turning that beautifully chiseled jaw to capture lips. 

Kit made a silent vow for the future to come: Whether it was an anniversary or not, Kit would find a way to show Ming how much he loved him.

[lovelytonys]

to jump in with the lovely peter q support, one of the reasons i love peter is for the same reason i adore tony stark--they are both such painfully HUMAN characters. They both feel so intensely, and even though both of them try to hide it and distance themselves from their emotions (tony using sunglasses and sharp words and sharper smiles, and peter using sarcasm and jokes to hide and deflect), they both shoulder so much and when they break they b r e a k (part 1)

“(part 2) and it is just such a real, visceral, human reaction, every time. Was attacking Thanos when they almost had the infinity gauntlet off of his hand and mantis just barely had a hold on him a smart move??? No, of course it wasn’t. But the thing about humans is, when we are in enough pain and grief, we ARE NOT SMART. So it wasn’t a smart move, but it was a /genuine/ one, and a believable one, in my opinion at least.

Sorry for rambling omg, I just honestly love Peter Quill and he has so many parallels with my sweet pure love of my life Tony Stark and people are constantly blaming both of them for ??? having emotions??? that aren’t rational??? as if rational and emotions are something that ever go together???”

Ok so I copied & pasted parts 2 & 3 of this message because I love everything this person’s saying & wanted to share! Get ready for a ramble though bc letting me talk about Peter Q’s emotions is like opening a floodgate. 

Peter Quill is a silly character, sure, but he delivers really powerful and resonant moments because of his emotions, I mean, gosh, just watch GOTGV2 and try to tell me at least some of that isn’t sticking with you bc dang half of my babe Quill’s scenes haunted me at night for a week??? Anyway, I think comparing him to Tony as you did above is a really interesting thought to entertain, mind if I pitch in my two cents? They both certainly do feel fiercely but I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that Peter hides his emotions, like, WAY less than Tony does. Sure he sometimes tries to act tough & cool but he totally wears his heart on his sleeve like 99% of the time, no matter what emotion he’s feeling. We’ve actually SEEN Peter Quill OPENLY CRY twice that I can think of in GOTGV2 alone, for one thing. And besides that, when he’s happy he smiles big and when he thinks something’s funny he laughs loud, he doesn’t always just smirk and hold it back. When he’s angry, he screams from his throat and his face contorts with the emotion. When he’s enamored, he’s the human version of the heart eyes emoji. The difference between Tony and Peter Q is that while both feel intensely, Tony typically shows a lot of emotion in subdued ways while Peter just lets it out. Tony’s emotions are typically more…outwardly focused and sharp, I guess, while Quill’s emotions are typically a lot more outwardly…messy. Even in their comparable Violent Angry Rage Fit scenes, I think Tony’s anger was more focused than Quill’s was. Tony said “did you know” in a focused whisper, Quill just kinda yelled at Thanos & cursed at him. Tony focused his anger into a mission, which unfortunately was trying to kill Bucky, while Quill barely even focused his anger and just, like, punched Thanos in the face. Am I making sense? Do these characters come across the same way to anyone else or am I totally off the mark lol

So I love what you said up there- “It wasn’t a smart move, but it was a genuine one.” You state it perfectly right there, and honestly that sums up Peter Q pretty well. It’s why I latched onto him so quickly and strongly. A character who is so open with emotions will always steal my heart and when people started attacking Quill for pretty much that reason, well, I couldn’t just sit back and watch.

[suguru]

Assumption: Akaashi is annoyed by Bokuto whereas Kuroo can handle Bokuto better

my claim: Akaashi and Kuroo act similarly (almost the same way) towards Bokuto but people tend to interpret Akaashi as more “cold” towards Bokuto because he’s a more stoic character.

Spoilers for: the manga (owls vs cats), the short comic (”super forgetful”)

Evidence underneath the cut:

Introduction:

I’ll start off by saying that this isn’t about pairings (I’m not as biased because I ship both bo//kuroo and bkaka as well as bkakaku/roo), this is about interpretation of relationships. One of the things that always strikes me in this fandom is how Kuroo is always portrayed as the “silly goofy one” who’s always in with Bokuto’s antics and Akaashi is a bystander that watches, judges them and is often the most annoyed.

People tend to overlook though, that Kuroo is just as harsh-if not harsher than Akaashi on Bokuto. Kuroo’s actions in matches especially are more hostile but I’ll put that aside because it’s a match and not casual. 

What I’m going to show is that Akaashi is actually just as nice maybe nicer to Bokuto than Kuroo is. 

Evidence:

1. Kuroo catches onto Akaashi’s teasing and uses it to tease Bokuto more because he knows it’s a soft spot.

in the first picture here you can see Akaashi probably not realising his teasing, I just imagine him being really blunt and stating a fact and Kuroo uses the chance to rub it in - 

also he rubs it in a bit more in a later chapter:

of course it’s just harmless teasing, it’s not like he’s attacking Bokuto but I found it interesting that Kuroo latched onto something he knew riled Bokuto up and used it again later.

2. Bokuto and Akaashi “can’t joke around” as much as Kuroo and Bokuto can 

this is a bit of a weak point but I thought it was interesting how Bokuto and Akaashi taunt/tease Kuroo a bit here:

But other than that, we only see bokuto/akaashi interact in practice and match settings with a snippet of them eating lunch together in a later chapter and Akaashi’s main aim in a match is to keep Bokuto working at his best so Akaashi has to stay focused himself but also keep Bokuto focused.

But anyway, Akaashi seems to only be more “tired” of bokuto and kuroo’s “jokes” when he’s not in on it, for example “solia k rabu”

Here Akaashi’s seemingly unimpressed with Bokuto and Kuroo fooling around but in the “super forgetful” short

Akaashi seems to respond to Bokuto and reply seriously as if either taking bokuto seriously, or joking back in his own way either that or he doesn’t understand and is trying to respond logically (either way it’s cute that Bokuto asks akaashi to ask him what’s wrong imo lol )

and here:

Akaashi’s obviously teasing but again it seems to be at Bokuto’s expense so it can be seen as a little mean but honestly, Akaashi’s making sure Bokuto learnt his lesson as always but I’d count it as banter.

3. Akaashi is “manipulative” (in the tumblr callout post sense)

Well, on what basis? That he tries to prevent Bokuto’s mood from shifting into something negative for Bokuto’s (and the team’s) benefit? We already know that bokuto’s mood swings won’t affect the team because they can function perfectly well without Bokuto doing most of the point scoring so at this point Akaashi is only trying to keep Bokuto in a state where he is at his best (which is the best for Bokuto’s state too.)

You see here that Akaashi praises Bokuto when Bokuto does well but also

he makes the team praise Bokuto too (can I point out Akaashi has to ask them to praise Bokuto like I’m sure they would have anyway but I thought that was interesting). 

I assume Akaashi does this either because 

a) he doesn’t want Bokuto to seek praise only from him

b) he want bokuto to hear praise from many people 

I’m leaning towards a) with a bit of b) because i think deep down Akaashi doesn’t want Bokuto to become to reliant on him? maybe? I mean if that’s true then Akaashi is actively trying to move away from being “manipulative”

Akaashi notices when Bokuto is distressed and he’s the only one in Fukurodani who thinks of a solution to try and make it better:

>AKAASHI is the one to ask for a time out >AKAASHI is the only one who doesn’t get angry at Bokuto

> AKAASHI is the one to think of a solution  and you know what it leads to?

4. Akaashi is mean to Bokuto

Akaashi has a few moments where he knocks Bokuto down a few pegs or acts irritated e.g.:

(I also like to think that he can see what’s coming in this panel so he’s bracing himself)

(Akaashi sensed Bokuto got complacent and tried to get him back to being more alert possibly? also notice kuroo sneering)

(look at akaashi scampering off, he knows what he did the little shit)

ok ok so we can see Akaashi being a little shit but what about Kuroo?

(is he angry bc he lost? is he angry bc bokuto is so happy? i think he’s just as petty as akaashi but there you go)

he insults bokuto in this panel^ but it’s barely malicious

^Kuroo taunts Bokuto as much as Akaashi does

and then here’s my claim, Kuroo and Akaashi act similarly towards bokuto, especially because of these panels:

^they both comment on his exaggeration and they both make the same facial expression at Bokuto’s offer to teach Hinata a feint.

Final Thoughts:

Kuroo and Akaashi’s relationship with Bokuto differ incredibly. Akaashi has to spend practically every day with Bokuto therefore he is more used to Bo’s “Unpredictability” and knows how to handle him, this means Akaashi has to stay level headed. Bokuto’s personality is all over the place, it’s unpredictable so Akaashi has to be calm and stoic. Imagine if Akaashi was more emotional? He wouldn’t be able to support Bokuto nor bring out the best in him because Akaashi being emotional would probably panic Bokuto more and Bo wouldn’t be able to trust in Akaashi’s word so much (see above how easily he accepted Akaashi’s solution when he forgot to spike crosses). This doesn’t mean Akaashi is irritated with Bokuto - which doesn’t mean he can’t get irritated, it just means he’s not in a permanent state of irritation. If Akaashi truly didn’t care about Bokuto then he wouldn’t be trying so damn hard to keep him happy.

Sadly, just because Kuroo shows more varied emotion, he seems to be seen as “nicer” to Bokuto. Kuroo can be just as “judgemental” (see mangacap above), he’s very critical of Bokuto (see above) and he’s naive enough to think that if Bokuto’s out of commission then it’d be easier for Nekoma to win (does this sound like a Nohebi tactic or what? :) ) Though he can joke around with Bokuto easier when they’re relaxed. I feel like he doesn’t take Bokuto as seriously because of Bokuto’s goofy personality but it often dawns on him that he should because one of the main reasons Nekoma lost to Fukurodani is because Kuroo underestimated him. 

Conclusion:

People think Kuroo’s nicer than he actually is and Akaashi is meaner than he actually is and it leads to people thinking that Akaashi uses Bokuto whereas Kuroo and Bokuto are just pals.

im petty as hell and wasted too much time on this

forgive me it is like 2 am so this might not make sense at all lmao