#but this is of course genuinely important

[burgerrat]

Harley Sawyer x Reader

NOTE: reader is gender-neutral. Scenarios are often sporiadic.

( Because there's little to none and it upsets me greatly how out of character people write him as or label him as yandere, in the few writings there are about him. So I'm going to try my hardest to keep him strictly canon. )

Pre-Experiment 1354.

At first he might come across as grouchy, irritable even.

Then, there is interest. Genuine interest. He wants to study you, see what makes you tick.

Realistically, Harley seems to be quite literally incapable of caring about anyone that isn't himself in a normal way most would expect. His form of feeling 'love', in his mind, is really just a sugarcoated form of saying "I need you alive, you are useful and resourceful to keep."

He does not feel love in the traditional way, that doesn't mean he doesn't care for you. He just does not feel.

His way of showing love is through acts of service, verbal affirmations and gift-giving. He keeps a list of what you like, your interests, and important dates.

Complimenting him or any sort of praise instantly sends dopamine in his brain. Inflating his ego. Automatically in his best mood.

And boy is he smug. He doesn't even attempt to hide it.

He'll keep a facade, perhaps not even tell you about the kind of 'workplace' he's part of at Playtime Co., he needs you to trust him, and you can trust him! He needs you.

Although he uses emotional manipulation, it is not done with malicious intent. He seeks to build a meaningful relation with this person that he wants by his side.

You can sometimes tell he's very... robotic with his behaviour, his gentle voice can only make his charm go so far.

But god does he try, he doesn't even get mad and threaten you for forgetting to take out the sweet pickles in his sandwich! Instead politely reminding you that he dislikes them😁

His perception of having a partner is a very alien concept to him. It feels like focusing on his work for another Bigger Bodies Iniciative experiment, there's that same passion behind to get to know you. He carefully constructs a face to seem normal for you, and studies your behaviour in the back of his mind. Observes you, takes note of what you tell him, etc.

He acts like he's studying a future guinea pig for Playtime Co., honestly. Yet the thought of using you never even crossed his mind.

Physical contact is another thing that feels alien to him, you can feel him stiffen when you hug him, he remains frozen for a few seconds before reciprocating. You can get a small glimpse of his almost-robotic attempt to recreate genuine human emotion. He'd start sputtering incoherently when you'd suddenly give him a peck on the lips.

"No, don't worry, you don't need to ask for my consent, I allow it, you and only you are allowed. I was simply unprepared."

You of course get concerned everytime he freezes or doesn't respond right away, thinking you've crossed boundaries since he noticeably grows tense. But he's always reassured you that he does not mind, he merely gets surprised.

The one time you've managed to aggravate him is by being so insistent on making sure he was consenting because of his initial reactions. He wouldn't audibly admit "Yes I like you holding my hand, hugging me, kissing me." But he WILL angrily tell you something along the lines of "I do cherish your displays of affection. Believe me, you will know if something upsets me."

It's a half-joke half-genuine warning. He's aware of his inability to get along with most people because of his anger.

With you... he's making an attempt to be less volatile. Even at work his shift in behaviour is noticeable when he thinks of you.

He genuinely struggles to grasp the concept of why he'd allow himself to have a loved one at all, having internal fights with himself about the 'pointlessness' of it, realizing the hypocricy of it given his disgust at others for feeling sympathy for his experiments.

He eventually comes to terms that he is allowed to have a loved one because he deserves to be appreciated for his work and how hard it is to share his workspace with people who are objectively inferior and incompetent.

He makes sure to keep this relationship secretive as humanly possible. The last thing he needs is for Leith or anyone at Playtime Co. to discover he has a weakness. He has a loved one too.

Although he doesn't show it, and you need constant reminders from him, that he does enjoy physical contact, he's just kind of like a ragdoll. He allows it but doesn't often reciprocate, and when he tries to- it's often awkward and very automatic like he's trying to copy what you're doing, he prefers to recieve contact rather than giving it. Again, it's another thing that fuels his ego.

He doesn't understand you fully, your compassion, your display of emotion, your sympathy.

And it's what draws him further in, mixed with disgust at how 'lovable' you are. It makes him question himself (not in a moral/self-reflection way, oh no no no, more of a 'why do I like this? This is counterproductive for my work. But I like it.' way) and it makes him question human nature, what it is that draws us to seek closure in such a way towards one another.

He might get vocal about that. And you're going to end up getting a semi-pessimistic philosophy lesson, all because you wanted to cuddle.

Post-Experiment 1354.

Remember his ragdoll-non reciprocative behaviour when you'd initiate physical contact? Suddenly he regrets not having indulged you more often, or asked for more.

Probably laughs at himself over the irony of how he didn't value simple things he had daily access to, and now that has been taken away, and he resents that.

Should you be able to find him in this state, in however way you managed to dig so deep into the foundation to find him, and should you be able to still see him with the same eyes you did before even in the state he's in, discovering what he'd done. Well, you'll make his (metaphorical) jaw drop.

After the shock, there is an uncharacteristic fear. Because of the Prototype, it must know you are here just as well as he does, but it does not know your connection to him, and he must keep it that way.

You refuse to go? He'll go on a long-winded monologue about himself (of course), how stupid one must be to refuse to run away from danger, proudly boasts about his work, it's purpose, long story-short: he fully tears off the mask. Because what he wants is to get you out. He doesn't want you to leave him, but you are useless to him if you are dead.

You want to stay? Even after all of this? With the state that he's in? Being only a brain, lungs and liver inside Vital System Center machines?

He laughs. Starts genuinely pondering your sanity, and survival instincts.

As you approach the large machinery containing his mind, visible through the glass, his laughs grow silent. Waiting.

"Do you think yourself a hero? Coming to rescue the beast?" He'd condescendingly ask you to break the silence, dead-serious and mildly irritated that you'd be that stupid to risk your own survival for him.

"I don't. You deserved it."

Silence. Then, laughter booming through the lab.

"My, my! And here I thought you were always such an understanding golden heart. What happened to the old Y/N?"

You two argue. He's very mad at you for being so stubborn on staying with him even though now you know in full detail of just how evil he is. As if your relationship with him can ever go back to normal like before.

You are within his grasp, in his lab, deep down an abandoned toy factory. He could turn you into his next, newest experiment, he could feed you to Yarnaby, he could dissect you and keep you alive just like himself.

Yet he doesn't.

Something in his evil, metaphorical heart stirs.

You, the only person that he could tolerate. Could get along with. That he felt... something for. Something worth keeping.

"I've missed you."

Make no mistake, he says that with absolute seething spite. He hates the sentence he just uttered from the speakers.

But alas, it is a bitter truth.

Silence

...

He can't feel per-say your arms wrap awkwardly around the giant machinery containing his mind, but he sees it through his cameras, ever so-intently observing you; he heard it, as your clothes' fabric brushed and pressed against the metal.

Another incredulous laughter rasped from the speakers.

Though he can't feel it, it... warms him, in a way, that you still somehow find it possible to 'love', to care.

"I wonder... perhaps, somewhere deep down, we share a kinship of depravity? Or maybe you're just blindly loyal as my dear Yarnaby?" He'd playfully mock.

One thing is for certain though: you intrigue him. He doesn't understand you, your affections towards him, and it makes him want to keep studying you.

His mechanical vessels are a bit trickier to 'cuddle' with, if at all. You're welcome to try, Harley won't stop you, just be careful not to open a wound that'll require stitches.

He does appreciate the effort. And this time, unlike when he was human, he initiates contact first.

His hand reaches for yours, guides you to touch his screen. Although he can't feel it, he tries recreating the sensation in his mind.

You hear him sigh often when he feels content. And/or hum.

He might grumble incoherently in the typical old man fashion and try to pick at you in his typical, eloquent way of speaking, if you try to point out his hypocrisy towards his carelessness for others having loved ones.

[monsterhigh-bloodhex-brainrot]

I'm Gonna Ramble About the Home Ick Diary

This diary has occupied my brain space for a decade. I used to carry it around in my purse and take it everywhere so that I could whip it out to read whenever I felt like. I love it with my whole heart, and I have Thoughts. So if you're interested in listening to my Habbey rambling 10 years in the making, sit down.

Firstly, this diary is one of the only pieces of media we get from Heath's POV. We get a couple Gory Gazette articles and the one diary entry that came with the figurine collection, but this is by far the longest and most in depth look we get.

We are given the information that Heath literally has a reserved seat at the E.R. which is hilarious.

But as for actually important things, we get a big one here: Heath struggles with his powers. Many people, both in universe and out assume that Heath is just a lazy slacker who doesn't care, but this isn't true - at least not in regards to his powers. Can Heath slack off when a subject or activity doesn't interest him? Absolutely. But when it comes to causing trouble with his powers, he is trying SO HARD not to. He cannot control them, and they are receptive to his often strong and changing emotions.

We also see in the previously mentioned Gory Gazette article that Heath's "class clown" persona is just that. It is part of his genuine personality, don't get me wrong, but it's not ALL of it, and he often feels boxed in by it being all anyone wants or expects from him.

We also see in the next entry that Abbey is struggling too - Heath's difficulties controlling his powers are affecting her schoolwork. Even so, when Mrs. Kindergrubber takes her aside and asks her if she wants to switch partners Abbey refuses. Because despite the struggles, she cares for Heath, and so she's willing to try, even if it means putting her grade at risk.

So, Abbey invites Heath to try to work on his powers.

This is the only time anyone in the entire franchise has ever actually tried to help him, instead of just chastising him. (Unless there's some really obscure thing I'm forgetting/haven't read lmao.)

So they try, for hours before Abbey finally throws in the towel, and says:

"Is no use, I am failing first Monster High class ever, and you will never learn self-control."

Abbey is blunt - often times overly so. This is one of the main things she struggles with. And while I do not think she meant for it to be at all, this did come off as pretty rude. I know that in her heart she is also trying her hardest. It's one of the things they have in common.

But I wouldn't have been surprised, honestly, if after these hours of him trying too, after how much it's been established that this is not easy for him, Heath got upset with her for this statement.

But he doesn't.

Instead, he sees how upset she is, thinks about how failing this project will affect her, and despite it taking all his focus to just not melt his desk, he is able to concentrate his fire enough to perform the task at hand. Because he cares for her, too.

They're both willing to recognize when the other needs support, to set aside their own feelings for a moment - and be there for the other, even if it's not easy.

And of course, after Heath succeeds, after she sees the effort he is putting forth, Abbey invites him to spend more time together. And their project ends up being a success - Heath does well for the final presentation and all turns out good.

So this diary does a few things for us that are important to their characters and their relationship (which would later be solidified.) It allows us some insight into Heath's world and struggles that we had not seen before, and it also allows us a couple of the (relatively few) instances where we see him be serious. Because contrary to popular belief, he can be.

We also see them hitting kind of a rough spot -a small one, but still - and working through that, supporting each other despite it.

And we see how they mirror each other. Neither of them are really understood by most of the student body - whether by words or by flames, people tend to assume malicious intent or callousness. Despite this perception we know that they are both constantly trying. Trying to mitigate whatever damage, trying to be understood.

And they do understand each other. Heath understands that Abbey's words aren't malicious, that she's sweet and he sees the emotion behind her icy exterior. And Abbey is one of the only people who actually allows him to be serious, to be more than just "the funny guy" or "the idiot". She understands him enough to try to support him instead of just writing him off as being reckless.

So yeah, I have a lot of thoughts, and this probably isn't the best worded and I'm probably forgetting stuff. But this is just a little insight into the ESSAY about this diary that has been running around in my brain for years, and why this diary is so crucial to these two's relationship.

Fangs for reading <3

[bobthetacocat]

There's a note on the ground...

This is something I wrote for google-drive-submit, the final capstone in the Susie ARG project, posted on my Tumblr by request. It's a collection of a few thoughts that had crossed my mind since the project ended that I wanted to share. This is something I could talk about for a lot longer, so I promise to not take up much of your time.

I think this is obvious, but the vast majority of things discussed in the Susie ARG do not relate to CCC 12 at all. Susie says as much herself.

This naturally brings up the follow-up question: why do this at all? If none of this matters to the canon, why put so much time and effort into it? And I guess that's a question you can realistically ask of all of SiIvaGunner. Rips take time to become as high quality as they are, right? Why do it at all?

The artistic process is kinda mean like that. It's a lot of hard work for something that feels so… ephemeral. Dust that falls through your hands when moved wrong.

Susie had a few things to say about the channel, the overarching canon, and its people. She said almost everything she desired to say… except she left one straggler she didn't wrap up in time. Kind of a shame really, I think it's one of the more important ones. It's hard to say what that piece would've looked like if it was finished, but after consulting with Susie, I'm sure it would've looked something like this:

"My father said to me that that things tend to repeat themselves, given enough time. Sentience creates understanding, and understanding creates symbols, repetition, abstraction into things we can understand. How fitting, I suppose, that there are plenty of quotes like this…

Have you ever thought about where that lighthouse shows up? It's different every time. To SiIvaGunner it's a landmark of his home, to the AI universe it's a connection to the AI mainframe, to all those other little universes it's one thing or another; and of course, to you it's iconography, a picture to be adapted. Endlessly exploitable, as the deftest symbols tend to be.

I can't help but notice these types of things everywhere… somebody says a random phrase here - "intriguing", "nice", "reverb", there's a million examples - and it manages to travel across the universe and back again. A character talks over here, and their idea shows up somewhere else. Mr. Rental exists in one world, and a place is named after him a universe and half a planet away. Ideas conglomerate, and reform, and repeat; and one domino can add onto what anything means if it's the right time. This isn't a unintended side effect of the system, that's just how these things are here, a world of repeating and combining ideas together.

Then again, in the real world - your world - SiIvaGunner himself is a repetition of symbol, no? His better half. And he, in turn, is a repetition of someone else, who probably was inspired by someone else… so I suppose this was inevitable, in a way."

Out of a morbid curiosity, I decided to go back and look at my first reaction to the release of Prologue and Episode 1 of the CCC in 2016, since I'm lucky enough to still be in that Discord server. It was the kind of reaction you would expect from a 13 year old: making jokes, making unrelated jokes, bad jokes, jokes, so on. But don't misunderstand me - I was excited, and I was glued to the screen.

Fast forward, now - it's 2024. I just turned 21. Episode 11 has finally released, and it's a stellar job, genuinely. I'm in the middle of conceptualizing the Susie ARG, a project dedicated to the nuances of this thing that's been a part of my life for so long... and here I am, making the worst joke ever about how Haltmann couldn't just get Susie with a piano from Super Star Symphony. And putting it onto my pitch document! What am I doing?! Am I stutipd??? I feel like the "what would you tell your past self" thought is pretty cliche, but I'm not sure how I would tell my past self that I'm just doing a higher caliber of the same stupid shitposting he was. I think he'd find it funny, though.

SiIvaGunner's lore has never been the most popular thing on the channel. It feels almost condescending to explain the main reason why in detail - SiIvaGunner's main export is high quality rips. People aren't really coming for the story. But I think there is a second reason worth addressing: SiIvaGunner lore is hard to follow. This is also obvious, but I think the reason it started getting hard to follow is more nebulous and interesting. My current reasoning is that the characters stopped having predetermined story arcs and started living lives, if that makes sense.

Wood Man is patient zero of this. His defection from his predetermined box was relatively simple - an offscreen penchant for movie making. This turned Wood Man, an otherwise dumb side character completely fabricated for the sake of his master's bidding, into, like, a guy. Wood Man & Robbie Rotten turned him into a more complex person, with something from him that we hadn't seen before and he hadn't told anybody. He discussed the time dilation, and everything that implies, and how the world's time moves along. Then he got teleported to The Lost Rip, and the whole predetermined box fell apart completely. He escaped being a dumb side character, and got to do his own thing. He started knowing people offscreen, he started filming more movies, having the chance to hang out and be somebody and mature. He started living. Until… well, you know.

Wood Man's whole deal is emblematic of the tricky thing with the wielding of the passage of time in correlation to real life - the longer time has gone on, the more opportunity our side characters in the SiIvaGunner world have had to live their lives outside of the script and break their boxes. Dr. Andonuts spent so much of his time working, being a character behind the scenes, until he was compelled to come into the light. Joke-Explainer probably spent years wandering Grandiose, doing her own thing, living her life, interacting with people; checking in once a couple of years until we caught up with her for channel host. Haltmann had way more time than he would've to become committed to finding his daughter, and Susie had pretty much her entire existence as a Figment to watch from behind the scenes, until… well, you know.

And it's like, how do you condense that? If your 6 year old nephew turned 15 when you weren't looking, how do you compartmentalize the hundreds of off-screen stories in your brain? You don't, right? These type of things reward being around from the beginning, in a story that has broken its predefined end, and with characters that have had the chance to live autonomously. And that's probably bad for some of the newer viewers, but maybe that's better for some of the characters.

By the tail end of the project, I realized I was a lot like Susie. Not in the literal sense, duh, but in the metaphorical, as a watcher of the story with a lot of opinions, who suddenly got to have those opinions known on the grand stage.

Susie started to sound more and more like me as time went on - or maybe I started to sound more and more like Susie? I'm not sure - as the character got situated in her place. I hope that hasn't been too obvious as you've been reading this document, but it probably has.

Susie and I don't agree on everything. We probably disagree on most things, realistically. But here we had one shared goal - to walk forward with this thing we've been watching for so many years.

All we had to do was try and find the right words.

[thebirdslostitswings]

James in Crimson Rivers is actually so relatable

Like I would blindly sacrifice my own life without a second thought too if I had the idea that it would bring back the brother of the man who I for so long nurtured back to health and life and meaning. If I thought that, well surely he couldn’t take a loss as grave as his brother and, well sure regulus’ life is more important than mine. If I genuinely heard his name and my name together in the tribute and without even considering my own survival shoved it aside for him. If I made absolutely no effort to be cocky about the fact that I was literally throwing my life away for some man who had only been cruel to me since he was 11. If I sat in a bed that wasn’t mine and mourned the soul and spirit of a man still alive but soon to be dead- that man being myself of course.

Like don’t worry James I understand how spent you were that entire time. How you went about several grueling days with the notion that you would not see your best friend or your parents ever again. That you would not come back from those games alive, but that you would withstand it, throwing away your own morals in the process, all the way up until the end just so Sirius’ brother could survive. Because no matter how cold or mean that man was to you, no matter how many times he let you know he’d have no hesitation killing you, you still valued regulus black more than yourself. And you still knew that Sirius black needed his brother more than you could have ever conceived he needed you.

james in Crimson Rivers is actually so relatable

like I would also immediatly fall in love with regulus if he'd ever thrown a snowball in my face because he wanted me to pay attention to him

like don't worry reg you have all my attention can we kiss now?

[egg-emperor]

Do you ever find yourself being genuinely upset when eggman loses, or do you see it as an important part of the formula/part of the characters charm? As a fellow eggfucker I flip-flop between these constantly and I want to hear your take.

I flip-flop too, it's an inevitable needed part of the plot and without it, we wouldn't have his admirable resilience and determination to keep following his dreams no matter how many times he fails, as "he never gives up" is even listed as a strength in his Sonic Jam bio

His confidence, determination, and belief he can do it is unwavering no matter how many times he fails. He'll assure with complete certainty that he will realize his dreams of world domination and there's times he's said he already has his revenge planned and won't fail this time

So most of the time it's not sad as it's expected but of course when you love Eggman so much you'll be like "aw man" every time if you're the type who will still root for him because you fully support his evil dreams and would love for him to own and rule the world hehe

But the couple of times where he is more visibly upset and grumpy I'm like nooo :(((

Like when he was so upset with his plan being ruined in Adventure that he tried to say fuck it and just blow up Station Square and when the missile was a dud that lead him to try to detonate it himself, fully knowing he was going to die with it with his "I'll take the whole city with me" line

And the time he looked really sad and grumpy for a moment at the end of Unleashed after his massive world scale plan and how proud he was of Eggmanland just for it to be ruined.

Then he exploded into rage when SA-55 wouldn't stop rubbing it in while he was especially sensitive after his defeat and he'd been riling him up all game and it makes the most sense for him to express his sadness through anger too

And the time he was trying to keep it together and get back home before his day could get any worse after losing in Lost World but then found out he lost half of his mustache and that was the tipping point for his anger and he looked so upset to lose such a prized possession of his

That's how you know his mustache is real, he put so much effort and love into growing it and it was ruined, he was devastated

My poor boy, I'd kiss his cute round cheek that's much more visible with half a stache missing and tell him he still looks handsome no matter what 💜

Like yeah he's fucked up and evil and the world is better off in terms of health and safety when he's defeated but have you considered that he's handsome and precious and lovable and funny and I adore him and would happily give it all away for him and I never want him to be sad ever??? Fuck everyone and everything else Idc dhsjfndkghdg

But yeah the feelings are mixed because it adds a lot to his charm by emphasizing how this man can lose thousands of times and keep getting back up and trying again. It serves an important narrative purpose and strengthens his character

I mean holy shit. Give this man the props and respect he deserves for always pulling himself back up and going another round

Plus I like to imagine getting to tend to and comfort him, help him feel better after his defeats and fully agree with him and hype him up to further boost his determination when he says he'll win next time and that makes me happy again 🥰

[jackieshaunaslovechild]

MistyWalter Relationship Analysis

NOTE; hello hello welcome to my analysis of the relationship between misty quigley and walter tattersall from showtime’s yellowjackets ! please be aware that this post contains spoilers for season three - proceed with caution.

**SEASON TWO**

Walter is first introduced to us as his online alias ‘PuttingTheSickInForensics’ on the citizens detective community. He and Misty hold a small conversation back and forth regarding the disappearance of Adam Martin. Walter is almost immediately set up to mirror Misty, in that they are equally as interested in solving complex cases. Furthermore, they mirror each other personality-wise. Both of them are social misfits who do not have a lot of genuine friendships. Walter appears to be more content with this fact than Misty, who is desperate to cling to the final fraying threads of friendship she has with the remaining survivors of flight 2525.

Walter manages to track Misty down to her place of work, and leaves her a blank piece of paper as a message. They return to conversing online and Walter informs Misty that he has identified a man who he thinks could be related to the Adam Martin case, inviting her to join him on his boat to interview him, not aware that the man (Randy Walsh) would know Misty. From this point, the pair become almost a contrast of the many fictional detectives from literature we know and love. Building from this, Walter even claims that he is ‘Moriarty looking for his Sherlock’. For those who are not familiar with the detective series by Arthur Conan Doyle, Moriarty is the sworn enemy of Sherlock Holmes. Walter could have claimed that he was the Watson looking for his Sherlock, as John Watson is the close friend and companion of Sherlock Holmes, but he specifically chose to compare himself to Moriarty. This indicates that there is something more to his character, and further proves the point established earlier in this essay that he and Misty mirror each other. In embarking on this journey of investigation together, Misty and Walter become even closer, and their parallels become even more apparent.

At the end of season two, we see Walter return to Camp Green Pine, even after Misty has told him that she does not want him to be there. The fact that he showed up again shows that he genuinely cares about Misty, and may have even developed romantic feelings for her, given how desperate he is to be involved in her life. Of course, Misty’s vision while in the sensory deprivation tank does also confirm that he holds romantic feelings for her. A critical perception of this could be that he is simply trying to get close to her to find out the truth about what happened in the wilderness, as she is arguably the most vulnerable when it comes to not having many people in her life she can trust.

Both characters are clearly willing to breach the law if it helps them get to where they need to be. For example, Misty held Jessica Roberts in her basement to stop her spreading lies about the events of the wilderness. Another example is Misty helping to hide Adam’s body to keep Shauna safe. In terms of Walter, not only did he impersonate an FBI agent, he also murdered Kevyn Tan so that Jeff’s ‘confession’ wouldn’t land the Yellowjackets (and Misty) in trouble for the murder.

One of the final scenes of season two shows Walter telling Misty that the Adam Martin situation has been dealt with, though due to obvious reasons, Misty couldn’t care less about it. The way that she almost crumbles into Walter’s arms is such a vulnerable moment for her character. At this point in their relationship, he is the only person who would not judge her for this display of emotion. He holds her close to him in that moment, the physical embrace being symbolic of their inner likeness. Misty having Walter there with her in one of the worst moments of her life is so important for their bond.

**SEASON THREE**

As the season opens, Misty and Walter appear to be living together with a stable routine (cleaning out Caligula’s cage every Wednesday). When we first see them interact this season, Misty is listening to a breathing exercise in her bed, and Walter comes to talk to her about the meetings about murder board and how he finds it interesting. He informs her about the funeral for Natalie and then leaves her alone, recognising that it is not his place to interfere. He also places down the key to Natalie’s storage unit, saying that he “wasn’t even sure if he should tell [her]” about it. It can be argued that he is just looking out for Misty here, as Nat was her best friend in the modern timeline and it may have been too much for her to handle, considering her responsibility for the death in the first place. However, when he walks away from her after giving her the key to the storage unit, he smirks suspiciously, which adds to the theory that he has further plans for her. In a less critical view, this smirk could also just be that he is happy that he found something to get her out of bed.

Later on in the first episode, Misty is walking back from the bar after going to drink whiskey in Nat’s jacket. Misty has lost her phone at this point, she left it in the bar. Walter claims that the bartender called all of her saved contacts and nobody picked up until he got to W. This cannot be correct as you would need to unlock a phone to access saved contacts, and Misty Quigley would never not have a password. This is something that both Misty and Walter would know, but due to Misty being drunk, she is not thinking straight and doesn’t question it, which works for Walter’s plan to keep her isolated from her ‘friends’. I believe that Walter tracked her phone to the bar and lied to her so that she wouldn’t get mad at him and refuse to get in the car.

Following the ‘sleepover’ at Shauna’s house which ends at 11pm, Walter presents Misty with a harsh truth about her friendships. Although this is not something she wants to hear, it is not a lie, a real friend would not have let Misty drive herself home after questioning if she had a drinking problem - not to mention that she had been knocked out with sleeping pills - in all fairness, Shauna did not know about this part, but she still allowed Misty to drive home drunk. Walter’s response to this and his concern for Misty is extremely valid, however Misty views it as a personal attack on her and her friendships. Walter’s friends are never mentioned or shown in the show, that is if he does actually have any. The only person of note in his life is Misty. This is pounced on by drunk Misty, and she genuinely views this conversation as him trying to isolate her from her friends. This is a turning point in their relationship which will hopefully be developed more in future episodes.

[galactic-magick]

Flirting Failures PART 2: Mr. Milchick x Reader

Link to Part 1

Words: 1.1k

(Thank you so much for all the love on Part 1! Still gender-neutral reader, use of Y/N, and no S2 spoilers)

-

You feel something on your face as you go up the elevator, bringing your fingers to your cheek at the familiar ding. It’s wet, and your eyes feel watery. Was your innie just crying?

You switch your things from your locker, head up the stairs, and run to your car as quickly as you can, pulling out your phone as soon as you shut the door.

You click on Seth Milchick’s contact, something you do probably way more often than you’re supposed to. But you don’t care much for those particular rules, especially because he’ll tell you things that you can’t find answers for anywhere else.

“Y/N! What can I help you with so soon after your workday?” he asks.

“Why was my innie crying? I came up the elevator with tears actively streaming down my face. Did something happen to them?”

You’re very protective over your innie, a feat you’ve found is actually pretty rare in the severed community. Other people you’ve talked to don’t even see their innies as an extension of themselves, just a different consciousness to experience everything they don’t want to, something they don’t even see as a person. But you genuinely care about this other version of you, and you’d hate to find out they’re getting hurt in any way.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make them cry.” Seth responds. “You see, your innie tried to...flirt with me today.”

You can’t help but chuckle a bit at that.

“Well, it’s good to know my innie also has good taste, at least. What did I do?”

“You…” there’s a beat of silence, as if deciding whether to respond to your comment, “I can’t really say specifics, but I let them down gently, since there’s rules against co-worker relationships. But maybe they took it harder than I thought.”

Now it’s your turn to be silent.

You try to get the situation straight in your head, setting aside the initial humor of it all. Your innie made a move before you did, got rejected, and was so distraught they were brought to tears? And now every time you go back in that elevator, you’re sending your innie back to face the man who broke their heart?

Of course your innie would have the confidence you never could. You’ve been crushing on Milchick since you met him, but you never pursued anything beyond talking to him on the phone every so often. And now that you know your innie has feelings for him too, wouldn’t it be unfair for you to have something with him that they can’t? You’d be, what, stealing him from yourself?

Your thoughts are tied in impossible tangles, so much that you nearly forget he’s still on the line. What are you supposed to say?

“Y/N?” his voice cuts through.”

“Sorry, I just…” you exhale. “I feel bad for them.”

“I know. And for the record, I didn’t want to let them down.”

“You didn’t?”

“No, I—“ you hear muffled voices. “I have to go. Important meeting with Ms. Co-”

He hangs up.

-

You’re almost done with you file now, and honestly you couldn’t care less.

You should be excited to win your first prize, but none of them appeal to you anymore. What is a perk worth when you can never experience the depth of human connection? What do you care about some stupid material object or party when there’s no escape when it’s done?

You’re not quite sure why it all hit you so hard yesterday. Something about pretending to fancy Mr. Milchick made you realize you actually do, and how much you’ve actually wanted to experience love in this life. All of your friends in MDR do too, really. Irvings excessive visitations with O&D lately haven’t gone unnoticed, nor Mark’s longing glances at Helly. Heck, even Dylan talks about his fantasies of how many women his outie must be pulling. You all crave love and escape to some degree, and none of you can have either of them.

Is this to be the rest of your existence? Just sorting numbers? Never experiencing sleep or the outdoors? Waiting for the next round of 8 hours?

“Y/N? May I have a word?”

You look up, entirely not thrilled to see Mr. Milchick in the doorway. Still, you do as he says, following him into the hallway.

“I wanted to tell you that I got a call from your outie yesterday. They said you were crying on your way up the elevator. I thought we resolved the issue, there was no need to cry.”

“Really?” you raise your brows. “You called me out here just to tell me when I should and shouldn’t cry?”

“No, I—“

“Right, because we can’t leave, can’t have more than two vending machine snacks, can’t ask what we’re doing, can’t explore the floor…Oh! And we can’t cry whenever the fuck we want! Is there anything else you want to tell me we can’t do?”

He takes a deep breath.

“I meant I was confused. I assure you, I didn’t intend to hurt your feelings.”

“Look, I’ll keep my promise of backing off so you don’t get in trouble. But I never promised to not have feelings. You told me you care about me, and that made me a little emotional, okay? Are you going to send me to the Break Room again for that?”

“No, I’m not.”

“Then how about you leave me alone for a little while.”

You walk past him back into the office, and he doesn’t follow.

“What’s he going on about now?” Dylan asks.

“Just checking to make sure I’m behaving, I guess.” you shrug, getting back into your seat.

“Why wouldn’t you? You don’t actually like him, do you?”

“None of your business, Dylan.”

“Fuck, are you serious?”

You ignore him, binning a few more sets of numbers.

“Y/N! Tell me you’re not fucking serious!”

You aggressively push down the divider between your desks, giving him the middle finger before pulling it back up.

-

Seth never called you back after that day, and you’ve chosen not to bother him for answers again just yet. He’ll tell you when he’s ready, right? Won’t he?

You find yourself thinking about your innie again. What are they really like? Do they act the same way you do? Talk the same way you do? Seth tells you bits and pieces, but you don’t really know this other version of you. And will you ever?

What if your innie is your better half? What if a life in a controlled environment makes you a better person?

What if he likes you better in there than out here? Or the other way around?

You didn’t consider this specific consequence of the procedure when you agreed to it, that’s for sure.

-

(Let me know what you guys think of the switching innie and outie POVs! And let me know if you're interested in more parts!)+

[dustorange]

This is a critical & discerning point you are making! Nightwing #100, and other Rebirth-era comics (and also that earlier Injustice comic where Dick is Deadman), but mostly this specific panel from TT’s run, was exactly what the original post was kinda subtweeting. It’s just such a departure from preboot and even N52 Bruce&Dick relationship, where everything felt so much richer and topsy-turvy. Part of the enamoring part of the relationship was the possessive, jealous, urgent, strained, almost articulated but not quite exactly articulated parameters of it. Every label fit sort of wrong: Every label sort of fails for the depth of the relationship. So it’s as much metatextual as it is like intratextual and diegetic for Dick, and to a lesser extent Bruce: What ARE THEY????? Dick has other parents, and Dick has other (though lesser) teachers and mentors, and Dick has other quasi-brothers, and Dick most certainly has other best friends—so where does that leave his sort of totally sui generis relationship with Bruce, which precedes much of that, is in many ways more important than all of that? I think Dad-Son got settled on as How To Define The Relationship because it’s a straightforward way to “Respect” Bruce’s primacy in the DC world (alpha-male, patriarch, authority figure). Of course it is also their relationship! They are like a father and son—and not just “like,” they are a father and son. But they’re also not exactly that at all. And they’re also so many other things. The Batman & Robin dynamic, for every different matchup of characters, is a totally one-of-a-kind relationship. And Dick and Bruce especially lean toward the best friend/brother side of the spectrum really hard, such that they’re pretty much equals.

Part of the reason the Dad-Sonism didn’t get leaned into before was probably the hesitancy to lean thematically into Family for Batman, lest he look Old, but like having those guardrails, those You Cannot Say Thises, like made the relationship so much like more innovative and special and rare and rich and deep and interesting. Such that TT delivering on the explicit “Dad”—MUCH LESS EMBEDDING THAT “DAD” INSIDE ANOTHER HERETOFORE RARELY AND ONLY VERY PRECIOUS AND PRECARIOUSLY SAID THING, “I LOVE YOU”—feels too easy and flat and like disappointing. It makes it feel much less big and one-of-a-kind. And frankly it rubs away a lot of the patina that made the Bruce-Dick relationship so compelling. Not that an I Love You Dad from Dick to Bruce couldn’t ever be done. But also specifically in there context of a run from someone, TT, who obviously sincerely personally and deeply loves Nightwing and who received A LOT OF WILD AND UNWARRANTED CRUELTY but who also didn’t stick the landing, frankly, on the depths and catches and snags of Dick’s character, it feels like a clumsy, sort of unbright unrich and unchallenging presentation of something madly cool, tormented, and complex. Thats sort of aside from another point which is that stating something so flatly as this snaps closed the cool narrativological inside-the-text YEARNING for the relationship to be exactly that way because it’s like well, now they have it. It’s so tough because they DO LOVE EACH OTHER SO MUCH and they ARE A SON AND A DAD. So it’s all true, and yet: That can’t be how it works. So the line is like cheap and not very touching or captivating, the way it’s intended to be. And it feels like just sort of the latest branch we’re hitting on the fall down from the top of the tree in terms of DG’s recent characterization free fall from someone genuinely organically respected as a leader to someone sort of plasticky and comic-reliefy and told-not-shown as a leader such that it feels like a lot of the Magic and History and like functional storytelling emotional Core is gone from what he is now, when compared with preboot and even pre-Rebirth stuff

Something critical is that probably the real dick grayson would absolutely never ever casually call BW Dad to his face, and truthfully even post-adoption in GK#17 the father-son thing is only like 49% of the Bruce & Dick rs although dick absolutely does lasso bruce into conversations as in “oh my dad does the same thing!” when hes having conversations w total strangers faraway from anywhere on the eastern seaboard where word could never get back and associations could not be made BUT WITH ALL OF IT SAID THAT DICK WOULD NEVER CALL BRUCE DAD TO HIS FACE, in Bruce’s like deepest, most potent fantasies, like daydreams and nightdreams and also canonically that issue where bruce is in that feartoxin dreamscape world in Batman/superman #65 where his parents are alive and bruce is romantically stable and dick is his son, Dick absolutely, and invariably, calls him Dad. But that element absolutely isnt on the table in the real world at all. It isnt even that Bruce Wants That—he doesn’t want a change to the very precarious working current order, not even a very small one bc its very precious & risk aversion reasons—but it’s also like a satisfying recognition of some real under-the-surface order in the world that bruce perceives but which just isnt in play in the real world. But it is something explicit and certain in Bruce’s head and something that Bruce is aware of. And sometimes he like closes his eyes and thinks of it or something.

[itsmelloww]

MacTavish

This is so unnec istg i reach at every opportunity, but i loooove names/surnames etc so just been googling stuff ok

Got really into Soap randomly over the past week, which led to a manic obsession with OG Soap, Cap MacTavish (MAN.) so i've been deep diving into him.

Of course i had to google his surname (feel free to correct me btw im just having fun here)

So MacTavish means 'Son of Thomas' , which in Gaelic is 'MacTamhais' which comes from the Gaelic personal name 'Tamhus', which is pronounced as Tavis, hence, MacTAVISH. (Mac means 'son of' in case that wasnt clear)

So the MacTavish were actually a pretty prominent Clan in Scotland, and due to their history, the surname can signify or allude to the below:

People of courage and resilience

rich heritage of bravery and familial loyalty

association with wisdom and maturity

---

I can imagine most Soap fans have gone through the journal, but i strongly recommend really digging into it cause Captain is just... such a perfect description of the above traits. Reading that made me think if it was intentional, using that surname. Captain MacTavish was genuinely nothing but a hardcore, handworking guy, super brave, super resilient and you could tell he genuinely cared for others - his strong feelings about loyalty (whole page in his journal), and how he writes and feels about Roach and Price. It's very evident where he stands and he comes off as such a clean person, his mind not fogged, he knows where he stands and whats important to him.

He also comes off as very mature overall, trying to always stay in shape, pushing out distractions, staying focused , while he naturally has to be intelligent to be where he is, and his intelligence really comes off in his planning, how meticulous his notes are, etc etc.

UGH I love Captain MacTavish so much , i genuinely think he's fascinating.

Like i said, lowkey reaching cause ofc im going to relate him now to these few points i pulled from online (its like the zodiac lol), but i really think its fitting!! COD has many fascinating characters but Soap actually blew me away, that journal was such an amazing addition i swear it added so much colour to him

And i keep talking about Captain Mactavish, and he feels quite different to me when compared to Soap (the Sergeant) , but Soap himself also feels like he fits that description perfectly. Guts of steel, and he's loyal too as hell too.

Ugh, getting emotional really. 10/10 characters. love.

[trainsinanime]

This might be something you would have an opinion on:

A good train game?

Not *simulation* I know Train Simulator exists, but more the high level build a network, plan routes, upgrade engines over time, manage train composition etc.

I'm not super deep into that, to be honest, I haven't updated my trains in video games review website in well over a decade (and it's mostly broken now, I gotta fix some coding there one of these days).

But I can give you some weird answers:

Factorio is not a train game, but it has trains, and the later you go into it, the more trains become an important part of gameplay. Personal play styles will differ, of course, but I love to spend a lot of time tweaking the train network. That said, there's not a lot of depth to the train systems there. No real scheduling, route finding is fully automatic, you can't set up any truly complex stuff (no automatic shunting). For the record, I play with enemies off, except at the moment I don't play at all because Gleba seems too daunting (I'll get around to it one of these days).

I know a lot of people like Transport Tycoon Deluxe and its modern open-source reimplementation OpenTTD. I have never played it and so have no opinion on it.

If you want a really weird answer, "JB BAHN" or "Bahn.exe" is a German (English is also available) 2D rail simulation program that has an utterly bizarre hold on my mind. It's positively ancient, dating back to the 1990s, and older versions still required DOS. The UI still looks like Windows 3.1. The website still uses frames. The graphics aren't retro pixel art, they're genuine old pixel art, looking like someone took the style of a communist illustrated children's lexicon and reproduced it in MS Paintbrush (not Paint, that came later). It's objectively awful… and if I start playing it, I don't stop for thirty hours (average). Part of it is that it's very mechanical, you can spend a lot of time just redoing the same steps over and over. Part of it is the very intricate depth of its scheduling and shunting system. Want to build a classification yard? Want to build a station where the locomotive runs around its train? Want to build a station where the locomotive uncouples and another couples to the train to continue the journey? All possible, with the slight caveat that everything is a massive ordeal. I love this game. Don't play it.

Cities Skylines. The 1 version, not the 2, which I haven't played because it has no Mac version (neither does JB BAHN, I haven't played that in years). The railroad system simulation is entirely surface-level, incredibly janky, part of the traffic system that is even more janky in all its other parts, and there are a lot of obvious missing features, but hey, you can have some fun with it.

I don't think this is helpful but this is the best I got, sorry.

[randomalistic]

Wait you guys are actually buying Disney products I thought it was a joke

(READ TAGS FOR FULL CONTEXT Sorry it’s long dies

[greensagephase]

Hiii, pooks! Yes, I see that in your recent ask with more art it states he's a kingpin variant, which I find so interesting! Also, I love that he's still a very sassy man despite being strict, hehe!

Second, oooh!! I love how you changed it to Miguel being the one who created rapture! You don't have to answer, but this just brings other questions to mind (I'm so intrigued by the lore 🤭🤭), like whether he has produced the drug to spread it all over, the way it's canonically a known and abused drug in Spider-Man 2099's universe? Or, is Tyler the one who starts producing it once Miguel creates it? But anyway... Tyler... 😒 I'm glad to hear mafia Miguel gets his revenge (we hate Tyler in this house!). Also, is Tyler still his bio dad in this AU? I know I'm asking too much stuff, I'm sorry 😭 but I swear it's because I'm curious. If you wrote a fanfic or lore post, I'd read it, but eeee! So mans becomes a villain after this - I feel him (honestly it brings to my mind how our og Miguel doesn't become a villain after everything he goes through 🥲)!😌 Also, another question on his senses being enhanced, for research purposes...🤭 Is he stronger than the average human man because of rapture? I'm thinking about how for Kira, her suit is what gives her her strength (I remember you telling me that some time ago), so... 🤭🤭 Asking for a friend. 😌

About his scar, I got you :)) I initially thought about that, but then thought about Kira giving it to him, haha, and him wearing it proudly because she gave it to him.🤭🤭 But it definitely symbolizes the violence he has experienced as a mafia boss. I genuinely love that detail for that, showing he hasn't gone unscathed and it's not easy being in that world. I think that's important because sometimes in these kind of stories the characters don't have any kind of scars or haven't experienced personal losses, which makes it unrealistic as that type of life is a highly dangerous and unstable one. But EEE, Kira is going to make him HURT, hm? We love the angst!😭

And aww, pooks, of course! As I said, if you wrote a fanfic or something of the sorts explaining everything, I'd DEVOUR it! 🥰🥰

ALSO, IT'S IN MY INBOX, POOKS!! As soon as I saw it, I was B U Z Z I N G -- Like, every time I see it, I feel like I'm about to magically learn how to do somersaults because of it, but hear me out! I didn't want to ignore your previous asks.😭 I always try to answer asks as they are sent, like in the order they come in because I don't want anyone who has sent asks before to see that I'm answering some asks before theirs when it's noticeable that I skipped theirs. Like, say when I update a fic or write something and I get an ask about that specifically. The previous asker would know I skipped their ask, which was sent a day or so before I made an update, you know? Or, in your case, you'd know I skipped 3 of your asks to get to the NC art one. I'd never want to make you feel like I don't care about your other asks non-related to NC,🥺so I try to be fair :)) I will be skipping the one about the drabble of Miguel and Dulzura kissing under the mistletoe, so I can work on it! But only because it involves writing, so the next ask will be about the NC art and GIRL! *SCREECHES* 🤭🤭I will save my reaction for the ask :))

🤭

Hiii, Lara pooks!! 🥰 I’m finally answering this ask that’s also been in my inbox since December (I’m sorry).

Not one, not two, but THREE works! I’m honored! May I say that the first one made me giggle because of how sassy he is? “Ya. The only problem? It’s a shitty plan!” I love this sassy mafia man! Also, God, he looks so good while telling whoever he’s talking to about their bad plan.

Okay, so when I first saw this ask, the second drawing on the bottom half of the first panel got me like??? 👀👀 Because I had noticed the green eyes in the previous ask from the half of the drawing comparing 25yr old and 35yr old Miguel. When I first saw the first ask, I thought maybe you were playing around with the eye color (green), and then you dropped this ask and I was like, “WAIT! This is actually a thing” when I saw that this Miguel has green eyes. And now you’ve revealed that he discovered rapture (in the latest ask you’ve sent, which I have yet to answer. I’m so behind with notifications🫠), so now I have questions that hopefully you’ll answer in future art! So, 25-year-old Miguel was working at a lab and he discovered rapture… And that’s why now in his mafia era, Miguel has green eyes! Did he take it willingly, or did something go wrong? And if he did take it willingly, why? How did he go from a geneticist to a mafia don? I have questions, Lara, and I hope we learn more in the future! 😭 🙏🏼

Also, I love the second panel so much! I love how I can tell 35-year-old Miguel looks so much more mature, not only by the white streaks of hair, but also in his face lines. Mwah! I loved that detail, and I need 35-year-old Miguel in my life, like yesterday, please!

I’m not gonna lie, the last panel had me barki- I mean, screaming! The way he’s sitting there, so powerful and handsome? Bout to ask if his lap is taken, or if I may take a seat. 😩 The hair? Sir, please, let me just run my fingers through it! Also! I hadn’t noticed mans has a scar on his eyebrow?! It’s only because of this colored drawing that I realize it’s a scar, and not like, something he decided to do to his eyebrow for himself (you know how some people specifically shave a line off?). Now I’m curious how he got it! Was it Kira? 🤭 Also, the way the light makes his eyes look so pretty?? I wanna gaze into them forever. 🥺

Aughhhh, Lara! Your art! You’re always cooking, and I thank you for that and also for continuing to share your OC and variant Miguel’s lore. It always inspires me to work more on my own, but I never do lol. 💀Maybe in the future! But, thank you once again for sharing your art with me! 🥹 I’m going to hopefully answer the rest of your asks this week. I was hoping to answer more this weekend, but I started feeling under the weather on Saturday. Anyway, feeling alright now, so I should be able to answer my asks and catch up.

I hope you had a wonderful weekend, pooks!💖

Alondra��️

[gudvina]

In regarding to Effie/Hayffie (just briefly mentioned but i will include it) I feel like Katniss being a limited narrator (in the sense that she doesn't take a third party approach, and tells her story from the point of view she held while living its events) is something that's important to take in consideration.

What we do know of book Haymitch and book Effie (more so the latter) is limited to what Katniss sees firsthand.

Solely speaking about Effie, Katniss tells us a few things:

1. she's compassionate towards her and Peeta, and towards other victors too ("Oh, not Cecilia..." and her talking about Chaff)

2. Haymitch has an habit of defending her, and she does the same in the limits of her capacity

3. She is very observant; she sees that Katniss isn't able to sleep and gives her sleeping pills. She cares.

4. She was the one who proposed the tokens for the 75th HG.

Of course we don't get her full point of view or opinion, but that'd because Katniss genuinely didn't know, nor does she know about what happened to her in MJ until Flavius, Venia and Octavia tell her.

There is a lot that's said between the lines, that's easily forgettable but that make up her character and give us more context about what goes on with her.

Again, she's a character that's highly open to interpretation, because we don't know anything about her apart from these little tidbits Katniss shows us, and so it goes with Hayffie, if we want to make a stretch.

We only know that they often bicker, but we also see her defend Haymitch's role as a mentor, ally with him for Katniss and Peeta's sake and, again, we are told Haymitch will defend Effie.

And we are also told, in the end, that Haymitch and Plutarch take great pain to keep her alive.

Can't stress enough that the interpretations are endless, but the idea of Effie being more than a morally grey character (like an antagonist, or worse, a villain) is a stretch, given what we do know about her.

[crehador]

completely forgot to say in my other post but TIME SKIP AKIYAMA HELLO?????? bonding with the future father-in-law already i'm absolutely obsessed with this

[muirmarie]

it's crying about jenkins and eve hours again (it's always crying about jenkins and eve hours let's be real)

[parachutingkitten]

Yeah, the body of the post was kind of half of a joke. A sort of "lol, Lloyd can't seem to teach the very basic fighting techniques that you apparently just need to do a training course a couple times to master." Like, I do understand that Arin is overcoming a mental block when he's with frak, but at face value, it is kind of funny how little actually happens within the span of a couple seconds, and suddenly Arin is able to do what Lloyd couldn't train him to for like two seasons now. But the tags were definitely more sincere.

Whether or not Kai likes teaching, he did willingly do it, and seemed to find some purpose in it, at least at one point. He did successfully teach all those kids how to fight effectively, he can clearly convey how to perform techniques successfully, at scale. And the mentoring we see him do with Wyldfyre is all extremely positive and effective. I'd argue him not teaching Wyldfyre spinjitzu is a pretty great move. He recognized that pushing her too much would have her lose interest, so he doesn't put too much on her. Unlike Arin, I do think Wyldfyre learning spinjitzu by this point feels unfeasible for her (with a healthy training schedule that is). But also, I think DR Kai just seems more well rounded and mature than Lloyd. He's got life a little more figured out. Also, throughout the show he always tends to have some great advice for his peers. Even if it's not directly teaching, he just knows how to talk to people. Not to mention, he's not going to have those self confidence issues that a plaguing Lloyd. So I do think he's a viable option to become a full fledged Master, or at least in a better position to handle the responsibility than Lloyd is at this point. But, Cole is a good option too. My only hesitation there is that we haven't really seen any of his training first hand. He acts much more as a parental figure than he does a mentor.

But also, I genuinely think it would be a cool and subversive thing for the show to do, if Lloyd's arc was about realizing he doesn't need to be the one center stage. If the pressure of being a master is too much for him, then maybe he shouldn't be one. It's okay to step back. To get help from others. Maybe he isn't naturally talented at conveying tangible information, and that's okay. If he sees the team as family, maybe it's more important for him to step into that fatherly position more fully, because being both a full time teacher and a parental figure can be a very thin tightrope to manage, and certainly isn't something everyone should attempt. Like, I think it would be a really great moment of humility if Lloyd were to realize part of why he's so stressed about becoming a Master is because he's refusing to delegate any of that responsibility. His self worth is tied up in how closely he can emulate this idealized version of his uncle (an impossible standard to reach), and that's a bad thing. In some ways, if he does succeed in his goal, it would feel kind of hollow, because it's proving his paranoia about living up to expectations right. If we can get Lloyd to a point where he is comfortable passing the baton to someone else, without feeling like a failure, without it degrading his self worth, THAT (to me) would be character growth. Not to mention it would be a cool parallel if he handed the role over to Kai, because it would be a direct inverse of Kai's true potential, realizing he needed to step back and let Lloyd prove his talents, and now Lloyd gets to return the favor by letting Kai prove his. The franchise comes full circle, you know?

Maybe Lloyd just shouldn't be a master.

He's clearly not very good at it. He's been trying it since season 5, and his first real students both take FOREVER to make any progress. Sora takes a whole season to unlock her powers, but apparently isn't taught spinjitzu in any of that time- the literal first thing we see taught to any of our characters in the original show. Arin somehow makes backwards progress with Lloyd, and then after doing like three poses with his friend seems to get it instantly.

Like... seems like he's just not very good at teaching. Maybe he should hand the position over to Kai, he's got a natural knack for it, a lot more experience, and a much higher success rate as far as I'm concerned. Master Kai for the win.