#fuck em they'll learn on their own

[teathattast]

You can close your eyes

It's time to hypnotize

Baby don’t you worry

Girl I’ll be there

I’ll love you till forever

[astonmartinii]

false start | lewis hamilton social media au

pairing: lewis hamilton x fem swimmer reader

some people are getting a bit too ahead of themselves

MASTERLIST | TIP JAR

.・゜゜・ part of the aston martini summer olympics ・゜゜・．

espn

liked by fernandoalo_oficial, lillyking and 509,455 others

tagged: yourusername & lewishamilton

espn: the 2024 paris olympics kick off tomorrow and we'll be keeping a close eye on the pool. and despite being one of the biggest names in the sport and the fiance of seven-time f1 world champion lewis hamilton, we don't predict to see y/n y/ln on the podium this summer.

view all comments

user1: when will y'all learn?

user2: i swear they did this back in 2021, saying she wasn't good enough any more and then BAM she won double gold and they were suspiciously quiet after

user3: i hope she dunks on their heads again

charles_leclerc: STOP UNDERRATING HER I SWEAR TO FUCK

user4: bro hasn't even started as lewis' teammate and he's already ready to throw down for y/n

charles_leclerc: i have been a fan of the queen since before i even started in f1 - no one disrespects her in front of me

user5: espn better be shaking in their boots after that

lewishamilton: 😐

user6: the king has spoken

user7: it's an emoji babe

user8: real lewis fans know that this is worth a thousand words

user9: the picture with the double gold is going to hit like crack i fear

user10: best believe i know that they'll tag espn just to be messy

user11: i'm sat. i'm so sat. the cinema workers have told me she doesn't compete for a couple days but i'm simply so sat

yourusername: ⏳

user12: OKAY SLAY

user13: i need these golds like i need air

user14: okay queen i need you to run back the celebration from last olympics

user15: time to become an honourary aussie for a couple weeks to support y/n

user16: LET'S FUCKING GO KANGAROOS

user17: run me my passport australia

user18: when will lewis get his australian citizenship

lewishamilton

liked by georgerussell63, charles_leclerc and 1,459,833 others

tagged: yourusername

lewishamilton: go get em'

view all comments

user22: gIVE ME ONE CHANCE PLEASE GOD PLEASE

user23: sorry to everyone else at the games, but the hottest couple has arrived

user24: tiktok girls PSA: if i don't have ten alchemy edits of them on my desk by tomorrow morning THERE WILL BE ISSUES

yourusername: for you sir, anything

yourusername: ugh your ✨ title ✨ is so hot

lewishamilton: let's win and then put it to good use 😉

landnorris: do you people mind?

yourusername: why are you always in our business? don't you have your own little guppy to follow around in paris?

lewishamilton: he's just lonely? or not? i can't keep up with his relationship drama

landonorris: EXCUSE ME?

yourusername: you're excused? we've been together for like eight years we aren't used to whatever drama you've gotten yourself into

lewishamilton: eight years, six months and 237 days :P

user25: first espn and now lando? they're not holding back this summer

user26: fucking around and finding out is what summer 2024 is all about

georgerussell63: good luck y/n !!!

yourusername: thank you georgie :)

georgerussell63: and i checked, i don't think there's any gb swimmers in your events (other than the relays) so you'll have my full support

yourusername: thanks?

lewishamilton: he's a little confused but he's got the spirit

user27: i need y/n to win and come to the paddock with her medal for zandvoort

user28: i am seeing it and i need it to happen

olympics

liked by lewishamilton, pierregasly and 893,209 others

tagged: yourusername

olympics: never in doubt, y/n y/ln takes gold in the 100m backstroke final!

view all comments

user29: RAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

user30: suck on that espn

user31: espn admin come outside rn please i jUST WANNA TALK

lewishamilton: @espn KEEP MY (soon to be) WIFE'S NAME OUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH

yourusername: that was so hot

lewishamilton: you wiping the floor with the whole pool was so hot

lewishamilton: but then again you're hot doing literally anything

yourusername: says you mr model

lewishamilton: i got a few things i wanna model for you ...

yourusername: is it my gold medal and nothing else ?

lewishamilton: how did you know ???

user32: so winning a gold medal really does make you horny on main

user33: some of us lived through them with no PR managers, this is tame

user34: they're one couple where it really wouldn't surprise me if something got leaked

yourusername: can confirm it tastes as sweet as it did in tokyo

oscarpiastri: could you hear me cheering? i was so loud :)

yourusername: funnily enough, no

oscarpiastri: oh :(

yourusername: but i felt it in my spirit!

oscarpiastri: good :) because i think i have slightly deafened your husband 🤷‍♂️

lewishamilton: my ears are still ringing but i'll take it because you were supporting y/n

yourusername: awwww you cuties

user35: yall saying that kimi antonelli is lewis' grid kid but it's clearly oscar

user36: if i watched lewis put yellow and green glitter on oscar's face on live tv it's not a conversation to start with

yourusername

liked by georgerussell63, jensonbutton and 1,459,783 others

tagged: olympics & lewishamilton

yourusername: gold in both 100m and 200m backstroke is more than i could've ever dreamed coming into these games, thank you to my family, friends and wonderful fiance for their support. and to the others, you know who you are, be careful on all those false starts you keep making ;)

view all comments

user38: where are you ? LET'S BE HAVING YOU !!!

user39: her winning the golds regardless isn't enough i need a gun

espn: ... i'm sorry?

lewishamilton: YOU SHOULD BE

espn: sir, i am just an intern who posts what i am given

yourusername: well now you're making me feel bad

espn: i can give you my boss' email?

lewishamilton: YES PLEASE LET ME AT EM

user40: bullying works?

lewishamilton: i'm so so so so so so proud and so so so glad that everything lined up for me to be there and witness your excellence in person 🙇🏾

yourusername: i love you so much and couldn't have done it without you, all those facetime dates and missed anniversaries are worth it in the end

yourusername: although i am looking forward to following you around the world again for a bit

user41: thank fuck you're not retiring ????

yourusername: who said that ??? @espn was it you again??

espn: not this time i swear!

yourusername: i can confirm that i am not retiring, us terrorising all the youngsters in our sport is kind of our whole bit

lewishamilton: although some people could learn to walk away - cough @fernandoalo_oficial

yourusername: really?

lewishamilton: beef waits for no one

fernandoalo_oficial: well i personally was cheering on y/n, you can choke

user42: how does y/n look so good even after racing?

yourusername: getting laid well and often 👍🏼

lewishamilton: you're welcome

yourusername: i love you 🥰

lewishamilton: i love you more

fin.

note: hope you guys enjoyed!! swimming is always my favourite olympic sport (i also swam for ten years so that's probably why lol)

[miscellaneous-marios]

Play Mario & Luigi: Brothership

I promise this will be my only post like this and funnie pictures will continue as normal right after this one, but I need to tell as many people as I possibly can about M&L Brothership (without spoilers)

This. Game. Is. A. Masterpiece.

This game helped me remember what video games AS A WHOLE mean to me.

To say this game has a ton of love put into is an understatement. Every single aspect of this game, it feels like everyone behind it truly cared about this project and gave it their all. Gameplay wise its a ton of fun, super polished and the battles are so satisfying I never get bored of em. Story wise, I havent gotten this emotional about a games plot since Super Paper Mario. They do an extremely good job at making you care about every single character you come across. Even simple, one-time NPCs have more thought put into than you'd expect. There are so many fantastic characters both design wise and personality wise. Theres tons of new enemies especially late game and they have complex movement sets that actually change depending what other enemies are around it. Even bowsers minions have very creative moves. For instance, shy guy has a move based on the flag game in mario party, and true to their name they will look nervous when trying to attack you. It feels like the people who made this game have loved mario all their lives and its a breath of fresh air.

The game may appear a little slow at first, but it keeps on introducing fun new mechanics that keep it fresh the entire way through. Despite what some reviewers say (fuck you very much IGN) it is NOT tutorial heavy. In fact its almost the opposite. This game trusts its players to figure out a LOT of stuff on their own. They dont stop you in the middle of big boss fights to make you practice incoming attacks, you learn with trial and error. They'll do some tutorials here n there in the first few levels but after the first lighthouse you're pretty much let free. And let me tell you, the game gets VERY challenging. Some of the attacks can be brutal!!! And if challenge isnt your thing, they let you change the difficulty after dying a couple times.

Oh, and I wont spoil anything, but the story gets like, Majoras Mask levels of dark in the late game. It even gets kinda straight up disturbing. It's nuts.

Play this game. Please!!!!

[lu-is-not-ok]

In the roadmap of this season, the new .5 shown is one seemingly related to the sweepers. Given each of the .5s/second .5s were ones that setup for their next cantos I am wondering what sort of info you wish to glean from it?

I myself am rather interested in sweeper lore generally, so more about that, and perhaps the dynamics between them will again parallel Gong Lu's family. I wonder if Dante’s autotranslate for distortions will allow them to speak with the sweepers, they do seem to be standing in front of them in that teaser image.

I am. So excited anout that intervallo.

So here's a brief list of things I'm excited for, plus maybe a few silly predictions cause why not:

Since we're dealing with Sweepers, we're likely going to be in the Backstreets of whatever District Canto 8 is gonna take place in. I'm really excited to learn more about the worldbuilding for the Backstreets. Plus you fucking know Rodya is gonna have some shit to say about the class disparity, as is often the case.

Sweepers are in this interesting place of having Family-like structures, but having them work in a similar way to Bloodfiend Families - in that one can choose to become part of a Sweeper Family rather than being forced into being born into it. Considering how Fanghunt Hong Lu is the way he is, I hope facing that idea of choosing one's own Family so directly will elicit some sort of reaction out of Hong Lu.

An introduction to a new faction. I doubt they can make Sweepers into IDs (they're not like power armor where you can have the helmets be conditional, nor are they like prosthetics where you can only have a part of the face be replaced), so if they go with Event Identities we're gonna need something else for those. I'm personally hoping for a Syndicate because I like em.

Partially related to the above, I'd love to see a plot that at least partially parallels/references the Sweepers chapter in Distortion Detective. For those who don't know, there's a short arc in DD where Moses and co end up stuck out in the Backstreets during the Night and are forced to weather the waves of Sweepers while looking for shelter. Moses is able to tell they'll be unable to survive through all three waves of Sweepers, so they try to get the people already in hiding to let them in. Eventually, someone does - a group of Thumb members, causing Moses and co to have to make a deal with them to stay overnight. I'm hoping the Intervallo will have some sort of parallel to that, where the Sinners will be forced to make a deal with someone (potentially the faction used for Event IDs hopefully) to survive the night.

In general, some sort of Hong Lu nuclear bomb is inevitable. Something with the same dramatic impact as the Don Quixote being a Bloodfiend reveal at the end of Warp Express. My bet is on a proper reveal that he's a runaway, and that his previously stated reasons for leaving home (alongside perhaps some other things he's said) were a complete lie all along.

Which, speaking of Hong Lu being a runaway. Here's my silly prediction for what setup they could use for the Intervallo's plot that I've been rotating in my head for a bit now. Imagine, if you will, Hong Lu recognising that the District the bus is heading into is his home District. Imagine the panic that would stir within him. What if, in the middle of the night, Hong Lu does what he's tried once before and attempts to run away again. He disappears from the bus, and similarly to that one mini episode where Heathcliff almost got lost to the Backdoor, Faust is immediately concerned over retrieving him. Especially if being turned to liquid by Sweepers is one of those things Dante might not be able to rewind.

[monstermoviedean]

let's talk about the bridge.

[spnwiki links known filming locations when available. in all three episodes, this is listed as the spur 4 bridge, lower seymour conservation reserve. it may appear in more episodes, but i'm not sure.]

the bridge appears in 05x02 (good god, y'all!), 13x18 (bring 'em back alive), and 15x20 (carry on). now. do i think this specific bridge was specially chosen each time to communicate a certain message? with respect to the crew, nah, probably not. do i think you can read a pattern here? ooh, yes. tl;dr: you cannot cross the bridge. merely standing on it means the rules have just changed in a reality-bending, fucked-up-beyond-all-repair sort of way. attempting to complete the crossing is an acceptance of the new rules.

in 05x02, the bridge appears as dean and sam are driving into river pass, colorado, the town controlled by war. the bridge is broken. they drive halfway across the bridge and stop. this is the first sign to sam and dean that something is seriously wrong here. this is no normal demon hunt. this is a problem on a scale larger than they can grasp. there's a literal gap between them and the town! they have to leave the car (/home) parked on the bridge and hike in. they are entering uncharted territory.

when they do, they find people killing each other and seeing demons where there are none. war is altering reality and playing people off each other. jo attacks ellen! rufus attacks sam! the townspeople turn on ellen and dean! you can't trust anyone! but actually...you can. none of them are demons. the danger is real, but it's not what it appears. and no one has ever come across anything like this before.

so what do sam and dean learn? the apocalypse is here. there's no going back. the rules have changed. the tactics they've always used don't work, because they are in a new reality now. and they accept that. while they can't physically walk/drive across the bridge, they do complete the crossing of their own volition. they accept that their world is different now and they will adapt to it.

in 13x18, dean and ketch are in apocalypse world walking near the bridge. they see a group of angels leading a group of shackled, hooded prisoners across the bridge.

two of the prisoners are executed by the angels right there. they do not cross the bridge. they die playing by the same rules they always have. it's the apocalypse, and they'll fight, but the angels are the angels and it's tough to win as a human. when i started writing this post i thought charlie had crossed the bridge, symbolizing her entrance into a new reality. but she doesn't! the angels fly away with her, without any of them ever crossing the bridge (below are back-to-back screencaps. sorry for the lack of visual but trust me on this)

charlie doesn't fully cross the bridge. she gets halfway across and then the angels fly her somewhere else. dean is hoping she finishes crossing. if she does, it's like she's crossing into his world. maybe this charlie will be just like the charlie he knew and lost. maybe he can save her. maybe he can undo it. but she doesn't cross and he so he can't get to her!

when he and ketch eventually catch up with her at the silo and escape, charlie hears about dean's universe and chooses to stay in hers. because it's hers. charlie's reality has been fucked with, certainly, but she chooses to accept the reality she knows and stay in it (for now at least). she's not outright rejecting the new reality of parallel universes, but she's also not letting the new reality dictate her actions. it's her home, it's her fight, and she's staying. she doesn't complete the crossing.

so that brings us to. deep sigh. 15x20. dean drives onto the bridge, ostensibly in heaven. he drives about halfway across. and stops. he does not cross the bridge. he gets out of the car and hesitantly walks around the front of it. i won't show you all the screencaps but he touches the car and stays pretty close to it as he walks.

the last one is about the furthest point he walks across the bridge, give or take. he doesn't go far from the car (which is a good strong symbol of dean's reality and home). you can see there's two vertical posts in the space between him and the car. when the final shot zooms out from him and sam, they are magically further across the bridge, about halfway across, about five vertical posts away.

dean standing on the bridge means the rules have changed. his world is different now. he cannot go back. this especially works with the next scene, which is the one of the cast and crew in our world saying goodbye. now, can you say that dean dying and going to heaven is the change? sure. but he doesn't cross the bridge. he doesn't accept it. could you say that simply means he's in denial about his death and apparent ascension? i guess. "but what about sam?!" shhhh, not right now.

i think it works much better as dean recognizing there is a new and unknown reality on the other side of that bridge, and instinctively knowing that there is something wrong. that he doesn't want to accept that reality. that if he finishes the crossing, he will be accepting it and will be unable to go back. and sam just appearing out of nowhere, seemingly materializing onto the middle of the bridge without actually taking steps to cross it? somehow moving dean with him so they're both further across the bridge? well maybe that's not real. maybe that's a trick to try to get dean to cross. maybe his acceptance of the new reality will sever his connection to his actual reality - war destroying the bridge in 05x02 certainly did that for the townspeople.

i know others have talked about dean crossing the bridge as an acceptance or an ascension, i'm nowhere near the first person to come up with that. but i do want to call attention to the previous iterations of the bridge. a broken bridge sam and dean cross, only to find war beyond it, an enemy the likes of which they have never seen. a bridge charlie is nearly forced to cross, but which she's taken away from before she can complete it (which would be more likely to lead her to jump realities). and a bridge dean starts to cross, but doesn't. a bridge that appears first in dean's reality, then in apocalypse world, then in dean's heaven, and then in our world, with jensen dressed as dean saying goodbye. and nobody ever crosses that bridge. it's a false promise. you can't do it. all you can do is stand on it and hope you'll be okay, even though you can't go back.

[marcusrobertobaq]

I got the impression people calling that mf "RK900" or "Nines" like he's a completely different thing makes people forget he's just a Connor but the complete version, canonically "machine" Connor (just like the one we meet) - and we all know how "machine Connor" scheme goes. Maybe blue eyes should help the guy to be taken more seriously for some reason (i guess it works cuz mfs insist dude's just a freaking tank or 100% different from "Connor" all the fucking time) but still the same shit.

It's just more of the same, y'all fall for Amanda's propaganda too easily. That dude is a Connor but finished, CL already got almost everything they wanted for Connor series in the 8º gen (dude must be the final prototype), now it's about polishing and mass producing for the contract.

Seriously, ain't got nothing new here.

Thinkin about RK900 again.

It’s super high tech right? So imagine it’s got like a spider sense type of thing where it can react to dangerous situations real quick.

if it was to go deviant, the danger sense just turns into a weird anxiety. It’s constantly on high alert.

Bonus: its LED is always either yellow or red. Occasionally it’ll be blue but that’s like super rare

[catbountry]

Speaking as Straight White Male it is beyond tiring to see every minor viral social media post turn into justification for "actually this is why men are radicalized!" Like im sorry they thought the Bear was a safer option, im sorry that poisoned MnMs was something that hurt your feelings and so on but holy shit get some perspective. i had my little "Not all men!" phase too bu i was 19 or something. learn empathy, learn that "Men" is a demographic and not you personally. it always feels like some flavor of a lack of reading comprehension, like that time when there was that thing where there was a thing of people thinking toxic masculinity meant that all masculinity is toxic.

it seems so unreasonable to say "the way to stop white men from radicalization is for women and other minorities to take them by the hand and ask them to nicely consider them people" rather than "dudes need to learn to tamp down on their knee jerk reactions to group criticism and being exposed to people out of their demographic"

The fact that you were 19 years old and had that as a phase but got out of it. That's the thing I'm pointing to, and I feel like I've not done a good enough job at highlighting that as my point. It's not even about a lack of reading comprehension, I think a lot of people who retreat to the internet for most of their socialization are more likely to be lonely and recruited. How many fucking Twitter memes do we need to have of people reading far too much into innocuous statements to prove that yeah, it is a lack of reading comprehension, but a lack of reading comprehension is not something that happens in a vacuum. And there are people who are very eager to sell people bad ideas based on those misconstrued readings because they speak to a feeling of disenfranchisement.

When I talk about this sort of thing, it's in a preventative way. Most people don't arrive at being a moral and righteous person all on their own; usually they fuck up along the way, have to apologize, readjust their views with new information and new perspectives. Having been in anti-SJW spaces, and having that phase last far longer than I'm comfortable with... I wouldn't have gotten out if I hadn't had people who liked me push back on some of the dumb shit I was saying. Granted, I was not some kind of neo-Nazi; I was an edgelord and a transmedicalist who constantly felt like Padme in that one Star Wars meme; the one of her in the field with Anakin. It was a lot less of a leap to come to a lot of the views I hold now. But if those people around me had all cut me off? Who fucking knows how much worse I could have gotten? Who even knows if I'd still be alive, typing this right now? I got into those spaces in the first place because people proclaiming themselves to be progressive were bullying my friends and I, on top of me being depressed and then traumatized by losing my dad. I was a fucking mark.

I'm not coming at this from the angle of "oh, if we just hug and kiss all the horrible Nazis they'll realize how righteous we are, uwu," I'm coming at it from the perspective of wanting to be the kind of person I had around me that got me out to people who were in similar positions to myself. I'm not seeking these people out. I have no desire to do that. Hell, I don't even think most people should do this, but because of my own personal experiences... I at least have to try if I'm having an otherwise benign conversation with someone and they say something off. I at least want to see if they're just speaking out of ignorance and they're not really all that married to these ideologies, in which case they could be rehabilitated, or if they're just fully on board with the fascist incel shit, in which case I can't do shit for them.

I want to be the kind of person for people that I wish I had around me that could have helped get me out sooner. And if they don't want my help? Fuck 'em. I want to try and make up for some of the damage I did because it feels like the least I could possibly do. And if that means steering someone away from that pipeline before they reach the point of no return just through a pretty casual encounter through just being stupidly patient and nice? I'll try, because that's just the type of person I am. Forget everything I said about suggesting other people doing this because doing this has burnt me more times than I can count. But I think I have helped keep some guys normal, even if it's only in a very small way.

You can think that I'm stupid or naive for even bothering. I don't care. But I'm still friends with former KF people who helped me get out and we support each other. It's a lot easier to learn empathy when it's demonstrated to you.

I'm sorry, I just... this subject touches on a lot of very personal stuff for me. It's why I even bother with it in the first place.

[also-fours]

the hi-fi rush situation really bums me out.

we had this game that looked super unique, everybody loved it, it won tons of awards

and then it barely got any marketing, feels like it only got as popular as it did thanks to word of mouth and the initial shadow drop, was deemed a "failure" despite selling what many companies would consider a success back in the day, (because it didnt sell call of duty numbers, probably.) and then its studio got shut down

the studio was just starting to spread its wings, start making shit that could inspire their peers, other devs, to start making different things and experiment

and they fucking killed them

it's gone

i mean, maybe they'll make their own studio, i've heard something like that's happened a couple times with the yooka-laylee devs and sonic mania's dev team

but i dunno

as much as i love games like spider-man and god of war (and i mean literally just those two, like, anything else sony does aside from ratchet and clank im not into) i wish they didnt worry so much about modelling photorealism

the obsession with stuff like that is what's made game development so expensive and unsustainable at this rate

i know this is tumblr so the first reaction im gonna get to saying something like "i like spider-man and god of war" at least in my circle is "GOOD GLAD THAT IT'S BECOMING UNSUSTAINABLE FUCK THEM" but like. i actually like what these games had to say and what they brought to the table.

"spider-man had nothing to say it's just a stupid marvel game cash grab and god of war is a generic over the shoulder game"

if you're going to tell me something like that, kindly, please don't interact with this post

like, please?

thank you

anyway, i want games like that that...don't have to upgrade their graphics every time and. waste everyone's time.

genuinely with how they both looked in 2018 i'd be happy with them just. not changing the graphics at all

but uh. sadly sony knows their audience, haha

there'd be hell to pay if they did that

(i hate mainstream gamers)

and as for everything else that xbox and playstation are doing right now, i still want them to do something different

and microsoft killed off the developer that could've inspired others to do that

soooooooo fuck. what now. are we just gonna be stuck in this position forever.

probably not, i mean, again, with how expensive games like spider-man 2 have gotten to produce and the amount of people in and out of the industry screaming that you gotta CHILL THE FUCK OUT, we won't stay like this forever

it might get better

maybe when we get a new series of spider-man games they can have a visual style similar to spider-verse, wouldn't that be rad?

...i mean. judging by the leaks, they might already be experimenting with that...

or something like shattered dimensions have y'all seen that game? looks fantastic, go look it up, they made four different dimensions of spidey and all of 'em have their own unique visual style inspired by their books

sorry im getting off topic

im juat rambling at this point

i just hope people learn the right lessons from hi-fi rush.

and that the people who made it find a way through and can still make great things

thats what i hope for at least

...anyway at least we still have fortnite and its really fun art style--

[waitmyturtles]

THE MORNING AFTER: ONLY FRIENDS, EPISODE 7 ("YOU GOT TO KNOW WHEN TO HOLD 'EM / KNOW WHEN TO FOLD 'EM") EDITION

Whew, baby. Well, I found this episode particularly brutal.

I've been noodling this week on the following theme: the mundanity of toxicity. The everyday-ness of bad in people. I think this episode captured this well (cc @lurkingshan, @neuroticbookworm, and @bengiyo, who all got a little preview of this thinking).

But I caught some other themes in this episode, too, which I'll quickly hit and list:

2) The elements of life, and 3) Gambling.

As a devoted meta writer, writing about Only Friends is hard. Because: I want to think that there's a lot more to what I'm seeing. I am certainly missing cinematic references that Jojo and team are making (I haven't watched Queer As Folk, for instance). Mew's face popping out of the bathtub? That has me wondering if I'm missing a cinematic reference there.

But at the same time, I wonder if by just observing the Only Friends crew, that I'm picking up on enough. When I was in my twenties, living in New York City, going to college...I was still trying to figure people out. I was absolutely SURROUNDED by people, and I couldn't help but think, everyday -- what is it that makes these people tick?

And I found myself regularly shocked at how mean people were. Very often, I'd just be like -- what the actual fuck, why are you trying so hard to be a massive dick? And, who knows -- maybe people were thinking the same thing about me.

That was when I was young. I just -- I didn't know that much about people. Really, what I didn't know -- and what I really NEEDED to know, and what I learned about myself in that decade and the next -- was how to manage myself around anybody, so as to preserve myself from any unpredictable pain that might come from someone else. In other words... I needed to fucking grow up.

Part of that self-management was trying on identities. Could I fake being a stronger person? Sure, I definitely tried. I tried with clothes, with new slang, with trying new activities, with drinking. That's just normal for a lass in their twenties.

The Only Friends crew -- they are assholes. Many of them were trying on change a couple of weeks ago. Mew experienced a HUGE identity shift during this episode.

But what they all embody to me, in this moment in their lives, is a kind of everyday toxicity -- a self-absorbed perspective, so tunneled internally into each and every one of them, that none of them are realizing that the energy they put out is colliding and having effects on others.

Like -- it's kind of shocking and twisted to watch. But when I think about it, when I remember what it was like to be in a huge city and to be in college and post-college: there's a part of me that remembers being CONSTANTLY surprised that people were just massive jerks, everyday, and again, who knows -- I think people likely thought that I was a jerk, too, for thinking of myself and leading myself with my life.

People, most people, grow out of these stages, as they get older, get more experienced in their years, maybe get more political in their dealings with others. I can't condemn this group of university students fully, as I hold hope (I'm a mom, damn it) that they'll grow into more fully robust and empathic people. But they ain't there yet. I'm not sure my turning stones gives me more insight to them than in relating to my own experiences as a former twentysomething. It has me thinking, as someone who loves turning those stones in my beloved dramas.

That all being said. Those two other themes in this episode have me thinking -- the elements of life and gambling.

We saw Mew play with fire (fucking finally, my man). And we saw lots of water -- water in the pool, water in the tub with Sand and Ray.

Water puts out fire. Mew tries to fake-drown (lol) Boston in the pool. Later on, Mew lets Boston know that he (Mew) can take Boston down, but won't. Mew is trying to control the fires that he's lit, and the ones that have already been burning.

My question to Mew is: do you know how to do what you are doing, or what you want to do?

I don't quite think so, and I think that "Welcome to Las Vegas" shirt he was wearing at Boston's house indicated as much.

(Uh, first of all, chain life, Book! MORE, MORE!)

Mew has decided to become a gambler. Let's think of all the metaphors! Mew has decided to roll the dice and possibly move past the pass line. He's decided to play his odds. He even STACKED his odds -- going to a new gay bar, enticing Drake Gap, going back to Gap's place, stealing the sex tape from Gap's computer, threatening Gap with reporting him for a crime, going to BOSTON'S HOUSE, TALKING TO BOSTON'S DAD, showing Boston the copy of the sex tape, THREATENING BOSTON, MAKING BOSTON BEG, showing MORAL SUPERIORITY OVER BOSTON, throwing the flash drive at Boston, and walking away. Like, if that were a metaphor for actually playing craps, first of all, lol, the pit guy would check Mew's ID, get him a players' card, and encourage him to move to the high limits room, being like, WHAT is this motherfucker DOING, but we want him doing more of it, he'll make us more money -- once he starts fucking things up.

Mew's trying on a new identity. He already was on the road to it, getting that LASIK for Top. He's just continuing to move forward with it. He's going to play with nastiness, but still try to come out on Top.

Trying on new identities. It is so normal when you're young -- I did that. Trying on what fits for whatever reason you are feeling at that moment -- if you're rebounding, if you're healing, if you're bored. Mew is embarrassed, maybe even ashamed, maybe even regretful that his first relationship ended up as a failure.

And now he's figuring out how to recover -- by taking a gamble, and playing with the exact same mundane, everyday nastiness that he's seen in everyone around him.

P.S. Ephemerality and permanence? That fire burned the memory that Top tried to create with Mew (cc @twig-tea and @lurkingshan here). And, gambling? SO ephemeral. Buh-bye, money and pride. Ray switching back and forth between Mew and Sand? Ephemeral crushitude. (SAND. SMDH. I KNOW RAY'S DAD SAID SOMETHING TO YOU, BUT STILL, SMDH.) Nick turning on Boston. Boston begging Mew to hold back on the permanent impact of the sex tape on Boston's dad's career.

And the ephemerality of movement: the clothes in this episode said it all. Las Vegas, NYC, Stanford. These young folks can just... disappear if they want to. And they just might.

(G'DAY, EPHEMERALITY SQUAD! @ranchthoughts @slayerkitty @distant-screaming @twig-tea @neuroticbookworm @lurkingshan @clara-maybe-ontheroad @thatgirl4815 @chickenstrangers @wen-kexing-apologist)

[hyenahunt]

Obbligato: The Punishment of Kaname Tojo - 7

Writer: Akira

Season: Spring, two years ago

Characters: Jun, HiMERU

Proofreading: Remi + 310mc (JP) & Skyress (ENG)

Translation: Peace & hyenahunt

Jun: You're talking in third person now, huh? What's going on, your pretty lil' face trying your hand at acting or something?

[Read on my blog for the best viewing experience with Oi~ssu ♪]

Time: A few days later

Location: In Reimei's Labour Camp room

Jun: (And in the end, nothing changed one bit.)

(Every last thing was pointless and meaningless, all amounting to nothing.)

(Even though Kazehaya-senpai worked himself to the bone at the cost of his own health, Reimei Academy continues to be a living hell. In fact, it feels like it's just getting worse.)

(With HiMERU as their figurehead, the Special Students have been snatching away work meant for Kazehaya-senpai, and they're living their best lives getting to perform to their hearts' desire.)

(It's plain to see how carried away they're getting. They're all kicking back and laughing, looking entirely too pleased with their success.)

(And to make things worse, they've been treating us Non-Specials even more harshly than before.)

Jun: (It's ironic, really. All Kazehaya-senpai wanted was a future where everyone could live in peace and harmony together.)

(But until a lil' while ago, the Specials were getting their jobs stolen away by the Non-Special gang of the Catacombs)

(So they’re probably hanging onto a grudge over that, ‘cause they've gotten crazy aggressive with us these days.)

(They'll openly curse us out even in front of others, and they even get all rough and violent with us. The hell's the police even doing? This is obviously all kinds of fucked up.)

(The Specials straight up see us as enemies, now.)

(They treated us like servants in the past, but now they treat us like literal vermin. Like it's a given they'd wanna crush us underfoot the moment they so much as catch a glimpse of us.)

(But despite that, weirdly enough, Non-Specials refuse to run.)

(Do they think we're gonna turn the tables on 'em once Kazehaya-senpai recovers and makes his comeback?)

(I don't really hang around the other Non-Specials, so honestly, it beats me what they're thinking...)

(I sure hope they're not getting up to no good, though...)

Jun: (They've been meeting up in the Catacombs just as usual, and it kinda seems like they've got something shady in the works.)

(I'm getting bad vibes from it all... Thanks to Kazehaya-senpai, Non-Specials got to experience what it's like to stand on the stage, even if only for a moment.)

(They got to learn what it's like to become an idol.)

(To have your dreams come true, surrounded by a dazzling radiance...)

(They got to know the joys of being alive.)

(But then everything changed, and everything they were supposed to have in their hands was stolen away by the Specials.)

(There's no way they wouldn't come to start resenting 'em.)

(Even those who'd given up and figured that this was just how things were — they got to realise that actually, it wasn't.)

Jun: (It was 'cause of Kazehaya-senpai that the Non-Specials came to learn the taste of success, and lots of it. They learned that even without being a Special Student, they could achieve success, and become happy.)

(And that’s why, more than ever, they’ve started to resent the fact that we’ve got these Special and Non-Special labels forced upon us.)

(Non-Specials have started to question Reimei's unreasonable system all over again. Everyone's stress is building up from being forced to follow it.)

(This place is a powder keg waiting to blow and something's gonna set it off any time now.)

(Y'know, HiMERU, once someone realises their hard-earned gains are being stolen away by an intruder, it's only human nature that they'd resent them.)

(That's why Special Students have just gone harder in oppressing us Non-Specials, isn't it?)

(But in the same way, Non-Specials have started to resent them right back. They see 'em as the enemy who kicked them off the stage, and bear a grudge against 'em for that.)

Jun: (Up 'til now, that wasn't how things always were. Sure, we never really liked each other, but it's not like we were straight up enemies.)

(We just saw each other as someone unpleasant who we had to coexist with. Now, however... both sides see the other as a detested enemy.)

(Even though all Kazehaya-senpai wished for was love...)

(The very opposite happened — it was hatred that built up instead.)

(For these two factions, festering with mutual resentment, Reimei Academy is the tiny cage in which they'll face off.)

(This place is a ticking time bomb...)

(And it's gonna go off with a terrible explosion the very first chance it gets.)

(It's a disaster waiting to happen — one that'll blast everything to bits.)

Jun: ......

(But y'know, that might not be too bad. I mean, maybe this shitty dump of a school should get blown up and reduced to nothing but rubble —)

HiMERU: Hey.

Jun: ...!? Woah, huh?

HiMERU?

HiMERU: .......

Jun: H-huh? What're you doing here? You returned to the Special Student dorms ages ago — don't tell me you'd forgotten something here at the Labour Camp and came back to get it only after all this time?

HiMERU: Tch... So you know of HiMERU?

Well, it'd be a surprise if you didn't know of him by now.

I was the one who facilitated his rise to the top, after all. In fact, it'd be an issue if he wasn't a household name.

Jun: His rise... You're talking in third person now, huh? What's going on, your pretty lil' face trying your hand at acting or something?

[ ☆ ]

✦✦✦✦✦

← prev ✦ all ✦ next →

[walpu]

Aventuriene is one of my favorite character and a favorite make character. Honestly, I'm not a fan of male HSR characters. I love Luka, but now Aventuriene scored him higher. Blade and Dan Heng are interesting but I don't super love them, I do like em though. At first I dislike Dr. Ratio becouse he seemed to me judgemental, but then I realise I misunderstood him and Penecony even made me love his character. I know that's lots of fans Sino for Jung Yuan and Sunday, but in my opinion they are to overted and I think their design is boring.

Now here is what I love about Aventuriene. At first, I liked his design but I was also neutral to him. I wasn't fan of his personality but after watching the play troughs (since I'm taking a break from playing the game) I changed my mind. I like how realistically Aventuriene is written. I realize that there still others HSR characters written realistically, but honestly Aventuriene is the male character that is written like a real person, and not just as fan service. Of course that's is my personal opinion and I understand if you have the different one.

I genuinely think that Aventurine is probably the best written character in hsr. Since 2.0 it was pretty obvious hoyo handles his character well, the leaks only confirmed it, but holy shit, they did so good in 2.1. They managed to deliver his story and make him sympathetic but without overdoing it to the point when it feels like a tearjerker. Like, you look at him and think "yes, it's a very realistic trauma response. yes, he has a lot of conflicted feelings about pretty much everything, from his religion to his own life and I would probably feel like that too". Honestly I'm so happy Shaoji was the main writer for Penacony arc even if he caused me a lot of stress lmao

I remember the first time I saw Aventurine's design I thought he looks cool. I also remember me and my friend joking that he looks like he's Reigen Arataka coded. I named him mr scammer and all that 💀 People make mistakes okay. Then I learned he's from the IPC and said yeah you lost me here I don't fuck with capitalists. Then the whole "slave" tattoo discussion started and he caught my attention again, then the 2.0 happened and well.

I like the rest of the male cast too tho and for a very long time Gepard was my favorite, so I didn't plan on pulling for Aven since I already have a blonde preservation bbg. Well, things change 💀 I get yiu about Ratio, I wanted to punch him the first time I saw him but like. Affectionately. He was funny af to me. I like the way they handle his character so far tho and I honestly have a lot of thoughts about his arc.

I think the thing with a lot of hsr characters, both male and female, is that we didn't have enough time with them yet. Which is not a bad thing since the story has basically just begun. It may be more noticeable for the male characters since its fewer of them tho. Plus the Lofu storyline was a bit messy in general tbh, I hope they'll handle it better in the future. Since we now have the POV switch mechanic, there are a lot of great opportunities to let us understand the characters better.

[taradiddled]

Ada: Ughhhh. You seriously talking about still trying to make yourself this Perfect Person in your kids' eyes? I really don't recommend it, goony. If you try to be perfect to them, it's only going to make you feel like shit when you can't be perfect.

Ada: One of the flaws of modern parenting is that it places the parent on a pedestal in the eyes of the child. Sometimes, it's unavoidable, but if you can let your kid see that you're just as much a mess of a person, it can actually be pretty helpful, for both your sanity, and the kids'.

Ada: Eva and I weren't shy about screwing up in front of the kids. They saw us mess up. They saw us make mistakes. But we didn't make a big deal about it. Just went, 'Oops!' and said that we'd try again and do better. Sure, we kept some really private stuff close to the chest, but we discovered early on that, if you can't be an absolute mess with your family, then who else can you be a mess with?

Ada: I can't tell you the number of times my kids had to suffer through knowing about the number of times I got explosive diarrhea from one of my food experiments. Or when Eve would accidentally stick herself with her spears and arrows, and we needed to revise another lecture on weapon safety. Eva and I actually started to enjoy using our screw-ups to teach the kids better. Made it so we could laugh at ourselves and be motivated to do better.

Ada: It wasn't until I got to Heaven that all those screw-ups got pushed back in my face like there was something wrong with me. Like...they weren't lessons on the dumb things you can do as a mortal, but like...warnings. Failings. Something to be ashamed about. And that really fucked me up, Lucifer. Having all those things pointed back at me like that.

Ada: I don't want that for our kid. And I know you don't want that for Charlie. So, when you're teaching them, and they mess up, you need to try and let them know about the times you messed up, too. Let 'em know that you've been there, you've tripped up shit, and you can help them try to not trip up shit in the future. They'll learn from yours and their mistakes, and the lot of you can use that shared experience to grow stronger.

Ada: It's not going to be easy. I'm going to have to kick my own ass to be open with myself again, after so long. But it won't be so bad if you and me do it together. Show these kids that you can be absolute fucking dumpster fires, and STILL go and do better.

[thebluestbluewords]

hi it’s itsalwaysforyou!!! for the valentines prompts i would loveeee a jal + ‘spending their night walking through the city together’ if you’re up for it!!! <3

❤️ @itsalwaysforyou youuuuu get my initial unedited Jalentine’s thoughts!! They’re meant to be about thirteen here. It’s more bantering through their city than walking, but they’re together and it’s written and that’s the important thing!

*

February 14, fifteen years since imprisonment. 

"You're being stupid." Jay insists, swinging around a chimney. "We can totally take on a bunch of pirates for the after-whatever candy spoils. We don't need to wait for them to grab it all and re-hawk it or whatever." 

"Melt it down into mush," Mal says, around a tongue that feels a little mushy already. "Stew it into pink slop. Cover their potato shit with it." 

"Candied potatoes," Jay echoes back. "That's what we'll do with it. Steal their stuff and make potato bombs with it. Candy outside, wet potato inside." 

"You've been hanging out around that kid too much. That. The one. With the stuff." 

Jay hops over the gap between the roof of the slop shop and the used broom store. "The one with the stuff? Very descriptive, killer."

Mal eyes the gap carefully. If they weren't trapped on the isle, if she had the magic she can feel boiling in her brain sometimes, she'd fly over the gap like a proper dragon. She'd have wings, and horns, and everything she could ever want, if she had magic. 

As it is, stuck on the isle of leftovers, she hops over the gap without magic. If she wasn't on the isle of the lost, she'd probably be trapped in some stuffy castle in the moorlands wirh her mother, learning the ways of evil, instead of out on her streets. So really, who cares if she doesn't have magic. She's got more freedom than any of the Auradon girls they catch on TV sometimes, and she's got Jay. Her partner in crime. 

And they've got a candy heist to plan. 

"Whatever. You know the kid I'm talking about. The one with the--" Mal makes a motion towards her own purple hair, trying to wrack the name of the kid Jay's been obsessed with out of her sluggish brain. "The hair. The. DeVil!" 

Jay lifts an evil eyebrow at her. "It took you that long to come up with DeVil?"

"Shut up, I'm not the one who's been following him around," Mal snaps. "It's not like it's an inconvenience to me or anything, when you're off following him all the time." 

Jay's smile gets bigger. "I'm recruiting. Potato bombs, seriously. He's got the biggest explosions out of anyone in weird science."

"Like you'd know." Mal scoffs. "You haven't been to school in a month." 

"School's for sidekicks." 

Sidekicks, and villains, and any kid without somewhere better to be. It's not like they have options, on an island the size of Mal's pinky finger. "Yeah, and that's what I'll demote you to if we don't get this candy before the pirates get their hands on it. We move in early," Mal suggests. "Jump to the barge from the bridge, before they're docked. We can pretend we're with the pirates." 

Jay laughs around the mouth of his bottle. "Argh, me hearties," he says, with enthusiasm. "Avast. Belay." 

Mal laughs too, because they're alone right now, and it's not like Jay's going to mock her for being weak enough to find humor in something. "Perfect. We'll blend right in, they'll never suspect a thing." 

"Except for how you humiliated the leader of their gang, and they hate our guts, so they'll definitely catch on to us right away." 

Mm. 

"Except for that," Mal agrees, taking a drink from her own bottle of warm, sweet cider. "Fuck the pirates." 

Jay laughs again. It's a low sound, one that makes Mal want to do terrible things to him. "Fuck 'em," Jay says, laughing around the words, like he's not hurting just as much as she is, like they're not just two broken chips off their parent's shoulders. "We could do better." 

The memory of their pirates is too raw for Mal to stop herself. "I'm better. Than them. You're better." 

There's a half-smile slipping onto Jay's face. He looks strange and handsome in the light of the moon, which is the best light they get, up on the rooftops of their city. "You're drunk." 

"Not that drunk." Mal admits. She's had half a bottle, and it's not the cheap stuff that'll fuck you up in a shot. They're drinking tonight because it's fun, and because they're maybe, possibly a little bit lonely together, and because not even the isle of the lost can escape the messaging of the stupid, silly Auradon holidays about love. "I could fuck you. If you want." 

"You mean it?" 

They're closer together than they're supposed to be. Villains don't care about each other, and they don't have relationships, and they don't break up with pirates and rebound with their remaining gang members, and-- 

Jay's mouth is hot and wet, and if this is what she's not supposed to have, than Mal might not be a very wicked villain at all.

[wahhbajack]

As I've mentioned before, I'm a pre-licensed counselor. I've got a lot to learn, obviously. Long post ahead. Just some reflection.

The more I learn about borderline personality disorder, the more I hate how they're villainized (though, i can empathize with those who have been harmed by the impact of actions and words). They're quickly becoming one of my favorite populations to work with despite the challenges presented.

Don't get me wrong. They absolutely have cognitions and behaviors that are both self-destructive and generally destructive, especially to those they enter a relationship with. They do tend to be narcissistic. They're defensive. They cannot regulate emotions. They're triggered by invalidation while struggling to validate those around them - especially if they don't agree.

I'm making a workbook on DBT with an entire section that focuses on BPD (which DBT was originally made for). The workbook is for after I receive training on DBT. This means A LOT of hefty research on my part so I can do the best by the population.

Everything they do is a learned protective behavior. Everything they do is for self-preservation. Right down to splitting. These behaviors often lead to them being wrought with guilt and shame. They know no identity of their own. They give everyone what they want to see until...boom. They explode. Typically caused by a perceived threat or a lack of emotional awareness causing negative emotions to build up to a breaking point (if someone with BPD believes this is wrong, correct me. I can only go off of what I learn from clients or research. I don't have the disorder. Ik y'all ain't a monolith so not everything's gonna be the same).

My absolute favorite thing is that the ones I've worked with do not want to be coddled. They know something is wrong. Relationships don't last. People leave. People seem hurt by what they say or do and they don't know *why*. Yes, they'll make others the villain. They want to unlearn that mindset (again, the ones I've worked with).

If the therapist agrees with everyone else being bad, that's on the therapist. I typically validate (not enable) then meet them with a mild challenge to prompt reflection. Perhaps a lil "How would it feel if someone did/said that to you?" I fucking LOVE the lightbulb moment. The gasp of the dots connecting in their minds. I feel so proud of em every time.

People with BPD just need the right skill set and they need to learn it in a safe space with encouragement.

And gods damn it, I'm gonna provide that safe space, and I'm gonna encourage the shit out of them to learn the skills they need.

[skaruresonic]

I like how people act like only SA2 and 06 are good portrayal

Y'all are sleeping on him and Metal in Rivals 2

But seriously, it's clear they don't think much of Shadow other than "SA2 nostalgia" and "Team Dark". His individual aspect is ignored, same for aggression and stoicness

Shadow's char arc also can't be understated

Heroes he wakes up, amnesiac. Only midway he starts questioning the doctor given the Shadow Androids seen at Bullet Station, but the priority for Omega and Neo Metal were huge. He's super quiet most of the game in terms of cutscenes

Shadow 05 his disassociation with the world was so big, he legit wasn't gonna save the people from Black Arms initially. Only cuz Black Doom told him he knew him and memories flashing back he shifts course to discover himself. Canon course he's mostly just getting Ems amongst the war effort. Fans hate it cuz the concept of noncanon endings being individually determined + gameplay fucking up how you can't restart mid path immediately, but Shadow's individualism is very strong. In the end he learns enough to realize he needs to move on, become a new person of himself

With that experience Battle GBA he sees himself but potentially worse in Emerl, and that scares him. He brashedly tries to stop it, but learns from Sonic, Rouge, and Emerl to accept himself, and other aspects of humanity. In the end he grows, to accept himself, and the betterment of humanity regardless how stupid they can be

With all that by 06 he's complete. He's no longer self doubting, and despite aggression and some ego, generally doesn't fuck around. His begruding comradery is own that is earned, but he'll still be civil at minimum. He calls out Meph for trying to trick him, he grew wise from when Black Doom tried that shit.

06, Rivals, and R2 shows that he's still closed off if it's distracting, but he's self invested in saving the world. Not for Maria (incidentally it and 06 show he has minimal personal qualms with Eggman, unlike Sonic if the priority is elsewhere, which given 05's gaslighting is interesting)

His interactions with Metal are great, a notable level of respect rising over the course of the game. He can respect Rouge, but isn't afraid to fight her if she's harming a mission. Interactions with Sonic and Knuckles are civil, though similarly if they distract, they'll be pushed out with fisticuffs

Colors DS he even accredits Sonic's abilities, of which Omega has trouble comprehending

Forces he says 1 thing to Infinite attempting to assasinate him that fans randomly act like he's an asshole cuz???, then spends the game helping in the war effort, trying to find Omega, and being civil to Sonic, 6 month oddity plot hole aside

Really the only bad canon to lore game rep of him is Free Riders, and that's mostly due to him having no real reason being there. If it's to show him actually enjoying his life something Knux tries after SA2 that fans don't like it kinda failed with how he very much doesn't want to be there

But overall fans can't accept him not being woobie, not slapped in a trio, not Maria angsty, or being individualistic. Or realize the entire arc he went through

I see people acting like he needs a mediator every appearance, and that's super insulting to his char dev and intelligence

06, Rivals, and R2 shows that he's still closed off if it's distracting, but he's self invested in saving the world. Not for Maria (incidentally it and 06 show he has minimal personal qualms with Eggman, unlike Sonic if the priority is elsewhere, which given 05's gaslighting is interesting)

Yeah. Which you'd think would suggest that Shadow is a naturally reticent person, but I guess that's not good enough for a certain number of folks.

---

Forces he says 1 thing to Infinite attempting to assasinate him that fans randomly act like he's an asshole cuz???, then spends the game helping in the war effort, trying to find Omega, and being civil to Sonic, 6 month oddity plot hole aside Because Shadow bullied poor tormented Infinite uwu. Never mind that Finny-boy didn't give a single shit that his squad got killed, and in fact seemed annoyed by it. You can tell no one in this Chili's finished Forces because nobody really talks about how he stuck around HQ at the end of Forces, an unusual departure from his typical habit of peacing out at the end of the game.

--- His interactions with Metal are great, a notable level of respect rising over the course of the game. He can respect Rouge, but isn't afraid to fight her if she's harming a mission. Interactions with Sonic and Knuckles are civil, though similarly if they distract, they'll be pushed out with fisticuffs Yeah, didn't Metal rip the Emerald out of his chest and Shadow was like "Don't do that, you'll destroy yourself?" Very interesting interaction. I also remember Shadow noting that Metal didn't receive a radio signal in the jungle. The fact that that tidbit takes place at the beginning of the game implies he began the game thinking of Metal as just a device and slowly came to view him as a partner through working with him.

Conversely, Shadow once threatened to knock Sonic out in Rivals 2 for nothing more than simply being in his way; it's not automatically OOC for him to be aggressive on occasion. It's actually pretty funny when people are like "Sonic and Shadow are besties" because Shadow threatens to beat Sonic's ass almost every time he claps eyes on the guy. xP

--- While I can't precisely vouch for or against '06!Shadow, it's more than a little illogical to clamor for more SA2!Shadow-esque characterization when A.) the guy is all about moving on and B.) he was essentially brainwashed for most of that game.

---

But overall fans can't accept him not being woobie, not slapped in a trio, not Maria angsty, or being individualistic. Or realize the entire arc he went through

Which is ironic, because most of the games practically smack you upside the head with the idea that Shadow acts of his own accord. You'd almost have to ignore the games in order to claim he has friends and is besties with Team Dark, because despite his bonds with them, he's not attached to them at the hip.

---

Personally speaking, Battle!Shadow is my favorite portrayal for a number of reasons. Shadow is still grappling with existential issues from past games, sure, but the game doesn't confine his personality to just that. The other characters treat him with respect even when he's being something of a dick. He's allowed to move on from his past in a much more organic and coherent way than in ShTH. He's given closure, and instead of simply discarding the past entirely as if it didn't matter, he manages to process and integrate it. He finally understands Gerald's wishes for him and his place in the world. He's able to give Emerl the last Chaos Emerald without the need to hang onto it in memory of Maria. And yet - I say this with nothing but the utmost affection - despite this character progression, he's still something of a petty little bitch. He barges in on Sonic and demands he hand over Emerl - no words bandied, as he's not a conversationalist. Rouge has to twist his arm for a thank you for dragging him home so he, you know, didn't die from being all "I can take them" (gets knocked out). He's every bit of "macho" that folks complain about in 2010-era Shadow, and all of this is presented in a largely neutral manner by the narrative. Shadow challenges you to fight everyone else before you throw down with him, because of course he does, he's the ultimate life form. When Emerl activates the Final Egg Blaster, his attitude is so gloom and doom that Rouge yells at him to brighten up. xP Even at the end of his story, when Emerl is waxing poetic about his Real Boy Emotions(tm), Shadow manages to remain prickly. His last words before bouncing? "This is ridiculous! I am leaving!"

I love how Shadow is allowed to have flaws that make him legitimately dislikable and off-putting on some level. And the sense I get from the "'06 and SA2 are Peak Shadow" crowd is that these flaws wouldn't be present if we received the kind of characterization folks wanted. We'd have Shadow, but a sanitized version. (To be clear, it's not that I think '06!Shadow is bad, per se; he just seems to lack those rough edges that make Battle!Shadow so endearing to me.) We can't have Shadow flexing on his strength, otherwise he'd be too macho and arrogant. We can't have him boast about his superior abilities without it actually being overcompensation stemming from some sort of personal insecurity. We can't have him be misanthropic because that's mean and what about Maria, huh. (Yeah: what about Maria?) We can't have him be aggressive towards Sonic for even understandable reasons; we can't have him being a party pooper. Let him hug his friends, Sega. Let him crack jokes. At some point, you're just like "So do you even like Shadow, or...?"

[murder-cookie-dust393]

https://www.tumblr.com/murder-cookie-dust393/721889413598150656/screaming-i-just-got-big-big-idea-ok-listen?source=share

Please do a expand on this...I want to learn about the babying because it sounds adorable and the poly sounds cute...I adore em too!

Also I like your yandere cookie posts! They have interesting ideas!

Ooh sure-

Tw: mentions of murder + threatening, overly obsessive affections

I'll start with platonic:

Wow- we have a young married couple Mint Choco and Cocoa- and they're both obsessing over the same cookie. Now some of this can depend on MC's age- but for the sake of simplicity, we'll say they're younger.

Now, with MC being younger, it could only even be a few years and the two will baby them. Cocoa loves drinking hot chocolate, right? Well, if MC is ever cold, she's literally pulling out something to keep them warm (a fucking blanket even) and handing them a mug of hot chocolate. She'll coo over them and pat their head, treating them like a child.

Mint Choco will be less expressive about it- if MC is ever feeling sad or unhappy he's either whipping out that violin and playing something or he's there to listen and give advice. He tends to invite them to anything he's playing at- literally anything. Now, whatever hobby MC does, Mint Choco is a full-on support machine. Any photos or products made from that hobby are hung up on the fridge 100%.

But here's the thing- if MC is like a child or just younger than teenage age, the two will make themselves MC's parents. At first, it's some subtle things- like buying anything MC wanted or needed But then, it becomes more extreme. For example, if MC's real parent or parental figure makes them the slightest bit unhappy, Cocoa and Mint Choco will ask if they wish to stay over for a few days. So they can murder the parents and take MC as their own child.

Istg Cocoa will try to get MC to call her mother in some way or form-

Now let's move on to romantic headcanons:

So here's how I think they'll develop feelings; basically, one of the two finds MC kinda pretty and rambles their thoughts to the other- so that in the end they're both hooked.

They'll coordinate "plans" together of getting MC to like them back- for example, Cooca could invite you to a little tea party (hot choco party?) and Mint Choco is playing his violin as entertainment. Oh look, why is the mug of hot chocolate handed to you have marshmallows arranged in a heart?

If by any chance MC is already in a relationship, Mint Choco will try to distract them with his music while Cocoa goes to murder or at the very least threaten their partner so that MC is left alone (she has a big ass mug for a reason).

They're very lovey-dovey with MC, constantly complimenting them and sending constant reminders that the two of them have feelings for MC.

In secret, when MC is not around or the two are just alone, they like to share each other's thoughts and observations of them. Constantly gushing over them like some crazy fans.

(Well- this is what I got for now-)