#then you'd be scared for real

[zenathezee]

Do I think Luigi Mangione is the shooter? No clue. I do not possess the skills to find the real killer or to evaluate the authenticity of the evidence provided to the public by the police. Everything they've found seems pretty damning, but unfortunately we cannot trust a lot of what we learn right now

Do I think regardless of if he did it or not, he is in danger of being Epstein'ed? Yeah. There's a chance people in power will not want to risk him spreading his rhetoric further and would rather risk him becoming a martyr for the class war than let him be a mouthpiece. Companies are removing their executives from their websites because they're scared of copycats, but maybe if this shooter is silenced, it'll scare off some of them

[bugsbenefit]

Mike's og character design having a birthmark is really cool i think but also related gripe i have with the show is them not giving him a scar post s3 which would have been in the exact location the birthmark would have been in originally. perfect set up and then they fumbled the prime opportunity to make a homage to their original idea

the show always picks and chooses when to be medically accurate. like how Steve never needing immediate medical attention after the multiple blunt hits he got over the head is an actual miracle. but it's easy enough to suspend disbelief on that since people get knocked out and get back up again in movies all the time. everyone's used to that

but actual bleeding wounds are a lot weirder to just magic away especially when Jonathan and Nancy both got lasting scars from something as clean as a knife cut in the same show

face skin already scars incredibly easy to begin with and on top of that the cut Mike gets is the opposite of the clean knife cut J/ancy made. that's from getting his face forcefully smashed into a metal pipe and giving it's bleeding like that (unlike Max who only got bruises, no broken skin from hitting the wall) he seems to have either hit a valve/edge or the blunt force was That much. that wound lining is going to be jagged as fuck either way, no way that heals cleanly irl (only upside here is the mall being built as a cover for a new military base so the pipe's at least not rusty, small wins. low tetanus risk who cheered)

i get why they'd ignore it from a technical perspective. giving a character facial scars is always tricky since you need to make sure it's in the exact right place every day with how obvious even small placement errors would be. i get they avoided the hassle. still, fumble imo, would have been really cool. kind of more surprised i've not seen more fans go with medical accuracy on this, that's things fandom usually jumps on. i've seen no art and like one fic go with that scar now that i think about it

anyway that's the closest canon got us to the birthmark territory but then they didn't L

[batsplat]

It actually kills me that Pecco is Valentino’s #1 protege bc I kinda feel like had they both met in like…2000 (let’s say they were the same age somehow) I feel like the mutual vibe between them would’ve been kinda like…“hm this guy SUCKS”.

Do u agree? I can see younger Vale being a little intrigued by Pecco, & Pecco being a little starstuck (like younger Casey) but I just think their vibes are so incompatible. Particularly compared w the other academy boys, who I think are slightly better fits…(except, hilariously, I would also say Luca is another kind of outlier).

IDK. Anyway thank u for all your amazing answers & historical knowledge batsplat <3 I so appreciate all the time you take to answer these questions & lay out the full surrounding context to things <3

first off, thank you!! that's really lovely!! secondly. hm this is a fun one I hadn't really thought about. the thing about the young casey comparison + what his relationship with valentino looked like is that he is six and a half-ish years younger than valentino... which feeds into why he's so starstruck. that's a very different dynamic from being valentino's direct peer, I feel. I kinda think the problem you have for any italian in vaguely that same age bracket is that it's just going to be tough to handle being so completely outshone by valentino. like, let's not speculate about results here because that's a fool's errand - in terms of actual popularity, there just isn't really any rider you could put alongside young valentino for that to be a remotely equal contest. and that inequity is worse if you're italian... you're not even going to have your home crowd rooting for you, right. the media attention will be 98% focused on the other guy. melandri's a good case study here, as a guy who's just a bit younger than valentino and highly rated in his junior years, but whose own relationship with valentino seemed to kinda sour over the years for various reasons. melandri is admittedly a bit of an odd bloke in his own right and is also a bit odd in the way he talks about valentino, but he's spoken a fair bit about how tough it was feeling like nobody in italy gave a shit about him with valentino around. which must be tough! there's 'working in silence' and then there's being 'practically invisible'... and that does also inevitably affect the relationship I reckon. you have to have an ego at pecco's level - and that kind of ego would always take some bruising if you have to come up against valentino in his full pomp

in terms of their actual interpersonal dynamic, it's always important to remember valentino got on pretty well with basically almost everyone!! especially in those early years, you don't even really have the same wariness of potential rivals. like, once he gets to the premier class it's more or less 'biaggi' and 'not biaggi'. he never has any issues with his title rival in 2000, kenny roberts jr. he's always gotten on very well with countryman and 1998 title rival capirossi, who he remained good friends with even when they were kinda *hand wiggles* title rivals in 2006. capirossi should have been more of a title contender that season and could well have gone on to win that title, but he got taken out in catalunya through no fault of his own - so not really any time for tensions to develop, which makes it a bit tricky to judge what that might have done to the relationship. when valentino and him have a tight duel in sepang later that season and valentino puts on a rather stern last lap defence to win that race (got to be one of his most underappreciated rides, he has like three classic race wins in 2006 I never see anyone discuss), capirossi climbs on his lap during the podium ceremony. so, y'know. capirossi is admittedly a way milder character than pecco, but it is notable how fond he remains of valentino throughout. though unlike pecco he does play into one of valentino's core weaknesses - valentino's fondness for having a little guy around. if you shave off ten centimetres from pecco then he'd basically be set for life

that being said, I agree they probably wouldn't be particularly close lol. prime valentino is probably a little too much for pecco, like you imagine they'd be cordial but pecco's just a tad reserved and wants to assert a bit of autonomy. which actually places him in a pretty decent position for that relationship to not blow up completely in his face - you kinda feel like he'd straddle the line between not being as abrasive as biaggi and not having *gestures vaguely* whatever that was between valentino and sete. the nicky hayden principle, right - who got through two teammate stints with valentino and actually beating him to a title with that relationship completely intact. cf hayden saying that valentino never played any mind games with him, that valentino didn't change his behaviour towards hayden depending on the points gap etc. valentino might "know how to play people", but he's not doing it with just anyone

some of this does inevitably depend on how much of a competitive threat pecco is in this hypothetical timeline. and if you actually put him in the dani/casey/jorge age bracket then all bets are off. it's basically the opposite of what I was saying with casey and jorge, where you'd imagine valentino-the-mentor-figure would have been an incredibly helpful presence for those two guys specifically. the thing about valentino is that he's very adept at being both valentino-the-rival and valentino-the-mentor-figure, but those two roles just look completely different. decent mentor all things considered, considerably less fun to have as a rival. and with pecco... I mean, you're basically dealing with a less prickly less neurotic casey-type, aren't you. pecco has the edge over casey in that he's not quite as... you know. how do I say this diplomatically. I don't think pecco would spend half the season complaining about valentino 'moaning and whinging' and then feature valentino's name on his title-winning shirt, let's put it that way. even with the italian factor, I reckon he'd manage to be at least 2% more normal about valentino, which probably would also help make the dynamic with valentino a bit more normal. and I'm sure valentino would come up with some horribly inventive ways of tormenting pecco and I do reckon he's absolutely up to that task, but I don't think something like laguna 2008 specifically would be the way to go about it. doesn't feel like you could quite blow up that relationship with a single race. the thing about laguna 2008 is that it's very bespoke casey torture, like that does not hit nearly as well against any other rival. ... I just realised I spent a good five minutes daydreaming about what advice I'd give valentino to crack pecco, which. anyways. let's cut it off there. but yeah, that would've been quite a fun match-up actually - specifically because pecco is such an annoyingly excellent defensive rider. arguably better at that than any of valentino's major rivals, which given valentino's MO you'd think would throw up its own distinct challenge

where the casey example IS instructive is in reminding you what an annoyingly charismatic bastard valentino is. I kind of feel like if you can have that kind of an effect on baby casey, you probably can make any of these undersocialised brats fall head over heels for you if you have a good swing at it. there's also the interesting question of what happens to pecco if you take away the vr46 support structure (obviously we're assuming he's still making it to motogp). my sense is you take away a little bit of... not his self-belief, exactly, or even his confidence necessarily - just a sense of security, of comfort in his own skin. I do reckon it makes him a bit more casey-ish in some aspects, just a touch more brittle and likely to take things personally... but, well, obviously we are now in the realm of very far-flung speculation. idk! whatever the exact age permutations between him and valentino would be, my sense is that valentino is charming enough and pecco is susceptible enough to being charmed that it's not like. open revulsion from day one. and to some extent, pecco's canonical willingness to let valentino hog the spotlight would stand him in good stead - it's like when casey said he didn't want to be the next valentino... these aren't necessarily guys who would even want that kind of attention on them. which does feel like a different dynamic to melandri doing his own showy celebrations. they DO want to be liked, maybe more than either of them are willing to admit, they both have a similarly pronounced sensitivity to being misinterpreted - but I don't feel like pecco would be killing himself with envy over valentino's reach in italy. maybe just a little bit, because that is probably normal in that situation... but I reckon he'd work through it

anyway, yeah. my thing is I don't actually give anyone a particularly high chance of surviving valentino's initial charm onslaught unscathed and I... don't feel like pecco would be an exception to that? the closest exception is jorge, but valentino never tried to charm him - and also jorge was still aggressively deeply weird about valentino so I'm not sure that's the template. cf how jorge still not managing to shut up about how fantastic valentino's celebrations were even when they were in an actual title fight. so yeah, idk. I don't see any reason why valentino would react that negatively towards pecco, who definitely comes across more like casey than he does like jorge and wouldn't immediately register as an active nuisance to valentino. I don't think they'd be FRIENDS and maybe they wouldn't match each other's vibe particularly well... interesting question actually if they'd have better or worse interpersonal chemistry than casey and valentino. maybe a bit worse? pecco's perhaps somewhat more guarded and world-weary from day one, so maybe a tad better at just keeping his distance and playing things by ear. pecco's natural wariness would probably do him quite a lot of good there and just make sure things... maybe get a bit unpleasant between him and valentino but never actively terrible. maybe the closest analogue would be a snippier, slightly brittler version of dovi, actually. two guys who get on pretty well but just move in different circles - with relatively restrained open animosity unless the competitive situation demands otherwise

[dragonsruby]

I need to share with y'all this picture that my brother took.

We've never seen that cat before or since.

[biillys]

yo merry christmas i'm thinking about christmas at the hargrove-mayfield's house throughout the years

wanna think about their first christmas together as a family, maybe before neil and susan even got married, or maybe just after. wanna think about what susan got billy for that first december 25th that they knew each other and what neil bought for max. did neil just pass that duty off to susan and stick his name on the from: section of the gift tag or did he put effort in and actually go to the shops and try and find something, specifically for his new step-daughter.

wanna think about the following few christmas' in california where billy never heard from his mom, never even got a fucking christmas card, but max heard from her dad; spending the time between christmas breakfast and christmas lunch on the phone, thanking him for the present he sent in the mail. wanna think about susan listening in, hearing her ex sounding distant and barely focused, agreeing with everything their daughter says, and biting her tongue; half relieved max hasn't picked up on the fact that sam's handwriting and her own is exactly the same, and half mad that sam's willing to take the credit without even blinking.

wanna think about their last christmas in california where they don't even realise it's their last one there; billy hitting his stride in being the worlds moodiest and most hard done by teenager, max following quick in his footsteps. wanna think about how all the gifts hand-picked by susan would be too lame and embarrassing to be thankful for, both kids screwing their nose up at most presents. maybe billy and max exchanging small gifts that christmas becos they haven't been at each others throats all year, only some, and susan thought it would be nice.

wanna think about their first christmas in hawkins, with things still so messy and uncomfortable and rough, but somehow settling into it like it's their new normal. wanna think about it being cold as fuck, none of them prepared for hawkins winters, and everyone walking on eggshells around each other and pretending it's fine. wanna think about max growing up and officially moving into her teenage years and billy counting down the days until he leaves them, adulthood so close yet still so fucking far. wanna think about them all sitting down for christmas dinner and billy barely being acknowledged, things still so tense even though it's been almost two months since everything went to shit, and max forcing out answers every time susan tries to keep the conversation flowing, her doing her best to carry the christmas spirit.

wanna think about a world where there's no living nightmares, no government conspiracies, and no death, but billy still spirals out of control anyway, feeling trapped and cornered in an unfamiliar town with unfamiliar people, his only solution to lash out and fight, anger and violence and distrust being all he knows. wanna think about max coming to the realisation that there's bigger monsters than her asshole step-brother, that maybe billy isn't the start of everyone's problems, just always somehow the end of them. want her to trace the line back to the source and realise neither of them ever stood a fucking chance.

wanna think about a christmas where billy's eighteen and max is fifteen, and they still live on cherry lane, and neil still fucking sucks, and susan still fucking tries, and everything's still awkward, the four of them never quite becoming the family unit their parents try to pretend them to be, but maybe billy and max get along these days, in a way they never could when they were younger, them going from being against each other to realising it's team up or be picked apart.

max gives him a present she saved up for for months, maybe as they're all going to bed, and billy raises an eyebrow at her before sighing and unwrapping it, still too fucking stubborn to be able to say thank you, but somehow brave enough to reach a hand into his room and grab out a present he got for her, and it's unwrapped cos he hasn't wrapped a present since his mom left, so max does her little sister duty and tells him she loves the wrapping and effort he put into it, before actually looking at what he got her, and he walks into his room and closes the door before she can even acknowledge it for the gift it is.

wanna think about billy eventually moving out, but not making it far; too fucking broke to live out his dreams of going home. wanna think about neil clapping him on the back on moving day and telling him he's done good, that this is what growing up is. graduating school, getting a job, moving out, providing for yourself. that's what makes a man. that it was rough there for a while, and he was worried, but he's glad to see his son's shaped up and straightened out finally, thanks to his solid parenting. wanna think about billy having no idea how to react, thinking that's the closest he'll ever get to his dad saying he's proud of him. wanna think about max helping him move and helping him chose a couch, claiming it has to be comfortable enough to sleep on when she crashes there on school breaks. want billy to tell her to get fucked, but buy the couch she picked out anyway.

wanna think about his first christmas out of home, and how how he probably feels indifferent about it at best, and pain about it at worst. christmas was never like the movies growing up, no matter how much susan tried, so it's not like being alone and having no decorations or presents is going to hurt, but he has enough memories of his mum, and a few moments over the years from when max and susan tried, and there's such a build up and fucking atmosphere about it all in hawkins that he can't escape it even if he tried, and he's starting to realise maybe he's really fucking lonely.

wanna think about neil calling him up and billy answering, cos now that they don't live in the same house and billy's finally taking responsibility for his own life, neil's like a whole new person. he wants to do father-son shit like talk about cars, offer advice about fixing the kitchen sink, tell him when to hire someone to fix something and when you should be able to fix something yourself, wants to watch sports games and crack open a beer on a saturday afternoon, and billy makes up reasons to say no most of the time, but sometimes he caves and says yes, cos there's a small part of him that's always wanted this. wanna think about neil calling and asking billy when he's coming over for christmas, saying that susan's cooking his favourite. wanna think about billy not even knowing what his favourite is, but saying he'll be at breakfast by 7:30am before he can stop himself.

wanna think about billy staying 'til afternoon and max raising an eyebrow at him, muttering don't you have a home to go to? while they clean up after lunch, but then neil offers him a beer, so he ignores her, and listens when his dad says he's welcome to stay for dinner, too. wanna think about billy and max smoking a joint out the back while their parents end the day with a christmas movie, and max turns to him and asks him what neil's deal is these days, and billy shrugs her off, too stubborn to look at it all too closely.

wanna think about billy pulling some money out of his wallet cos he has some now, and he didn't have time to get a present, too busy working overtime, but he has cash, so that'll do. wanna think about max handing him a new zippo, then somehow unearthing a whole-ass wrapped present, and when he opens it, it's a set of cheap fake glass cups, becos billy doesn't have any yet and every time she comes over she has to drink something either directly from the bottle in the fridge or remember her own drink bottle, and it's a housewarming gift, asshole, and this isn't my house, billy thinks, this isn't my fucking home, but it's also all he's got, so he finds a place for them in the cupboard above the sink, and max hunts them down the next time she's over first thing.

wanna think about christmas' in their future, when max moves out, when they're in their 20's and 30's, maybe billy keeps coming home, finding an uneasy peace with his dad reserved for special occasions only, the only few times of the year he's willing to lie to himself and pretend things were never as bad as his memories made them out to be, or maybe everything eventually crumbles, and billy finally gets to put some real distance between them, and finally then, he can breathe and stop pretending.

maybe max continues going, her seeing her mom try and so she puts in the effort to try as well, and maybe that works for a while, maybe even a lifetime, but maybe it doesn't, and by the time both her and billy are closer to 30 than 20, the only family they see on christmas is each other, and billy never wraps her presents, and max only gets him practical things, and they drink and bitch most of the time, but it's so much easier to exist in each others space when they don't have to act and pretend and play parts.

[kaasiand]

I grew up playing some metroidvania Flash games (the Robot Wants series in particular is what I remember most fondly) but had never played any Metroid game up until now, so I started playing the 2D Metroids last week when Zero Mission came out on NSO and I went through them all in release-ish order (ZM as my starting entry, then NES, GB, Super, Fusion, AM2R). I absolutely loved Zero Mission, Super and AM2R (I liked the others a bunch too; imo Fusion's linearity felt justified by the story progressing as you played and also just this raw feeling of constant tension) but then I really did not like the way Samus Returns felt 1-2 hours in (of all things they kept from the GB original it was the fucking screen crunch, and the circle pad just does NOT feel good for this; movement felt wayyy too sluggish in a way that feels typical of 2.5D games to me, and the shooting combat just got completely replaced by the melee counter which I did not like) so I just kinda skipped it and moved on to Dread (which I'm still playing now) and while I enjoy the way Samus's movement feels a lot more (minus the stupid trajectory-locked walljump from Fusion), I don't think I like the game's overall design all that much.

Literally every fucking attack deals 100 damage so you don't get any room for error whatsoever during boss fights, because you can only take like 5 hits before you die; tanking your way through damage always felt like a risk for higher rewards or a way to get something you weren't meant to get earlier on, but now the numbers feel cranked up wayyyyyy too high. You don't get to try and figure out a boss's attack patterns halfway during the fight and learn AS you fight, instead, you have to die a million times when you almost figure something out but failed the execution because every single action requires you to hold three buttons simultaneously and juggle these button combos around constantly. And the game throws a boss at you literally every 10-20 minutes and locks you down one-way paths every single time so the game barely even lets you explore, like, this is literally just a boss rush game at this point and half the bosses don't even reward you with anything. Super and ZM felt like they were actively INVITING me to break the game and go against the game's intentions and even made me wish to replay the games at some point in the future to take things on differently, and I totally understand what made those such genre-defining games. Dread just completely isn't what I was hoping it would be (also where the hell is this game's MUSIC)

[flowercrowngods]

it keeps dawning on me, on a daily basis, that i might actually genuinely be homeless soon

[todayisafridaynight]

any hopes for kiwami 3? like things u wanna see added or changed stuff like that

if they dont keep kiryu's goofy walk stance and the hoof-like walk sounds i dont wanna play it

[aeolianblues]

The duality of life is so crazy. I was back on campus today, I’ve been feeling pretty ancient all week because it’s been frosh week which means I have to deal with the fact that this year’s class graduates in 2028 (that’s not a real year) and were born in 2006 and 07, years that I can remember writing in the margins of a school notebook.

I'm walking around campus for the beginning-of-year campus clubs fair, and it's all, people love me, people think I'm cool, people are coming up to me saying they like my fit, in the meanwhile I'm internally getting jumpscared thinking wait; these incredibly well-dressed kids are approaching me whilst I'm shovelling fucking peanuts into my mouth out of a bag in my tote bag

There comes a point when you officially get Older and become invisible to cool young tiny things, and then you can do whatever you want because they sort of stop noticing you. I've been feeling a bit old this week, I'm at Big Person work, everyone around me is like half a decade younger, we're at quite different stages in our lives, I've been thinking. But I also have the sort of face that would pass me for a 19 y/o clearly, because these kids all have pulled me in like I'm some sort of counter culture bohemian trendsetting cool kid, and whatever the hell that means, it's definitely instantly made me feel a lot younger and connected with 'the youth'

[discoreptile]

Beasties of Greenhollow soundtrack! Some tracks on this are from older projects like elphame but all of them have been reworked in some way. Most of them are entirely new. Enjoy!

[selfinflictedgunshotwound]

how do terfs grapple with the fact that they're white supremacist losers who think that women are weak essentially like adult babies but that they also bear the apparent brunt of all human pain... liiike ok which narrative are we going with

[kitklone]

Brother in Need (Firelight to the Rescue!) Ch. 1

ao3 link (see for tags and notes!) Summary: Amidst the illuminated streets of Nueva York, Miguel and Gabriel's evening stroll takes an unexpected turn when they engage in a heartfelt conversation, prompting Gabriel to contemplate a daring proposition.

Warnings: Spoilers for Spider-Man 2099 (1992), Suicidal themes

It was a relatively peaceful evening in the upper city, a rare break from the usual hustle and bustle of Nueva York. The soft glow of streetlights and the illumination from surrounding buildings created an artificial dusk, obscuring the natural night sky. Miguel and Gabriel were making their way back home after visiting their mother, who had once again found herself in the hospital despite being in relatively healthy condition, prompting her sons to pay her a visit. These kinds of hospital visits have become a routine they'd grown accustomed to. Today, Gabriel had decided to accompany his brother on the way to his apartment.

“Can I ask you something?” Miguel's voice broke the silence as he walked a step behind Gabriel.

"Huh? Yeah, sure, I guess," Gabriel replied, still walking. As he talked, he slightly tilted his head in his brother's direction while his gaze remained fixed on his path.

Miguel’s words carried a hint of hesitation as he finally asked, "Why do you still talk to me?"

Gabriel responded with a casual shrug and kicked an empty can that lay in his path. “’Cause you’re family-”

“But why?” Miguel cut him off abruptly. “I’m a dick- I don’t listen to you, I ignore your calls- I’m a terrible brother… why the shock do you still care?”

Gabriel, with no intention of contradicting his brother's self-deprecating statements, instead leaned into the narrative.

"…aaaand you engaged my girlfriend after cheating with her on your first girlfriend. You also managed to become my current girlfriend's number one crush, you're an absolute pro at ignoring Mom's calls, oh and..."

He blabbered on, listing more and more examples reinforcing Miguel's self-deprecation. Gabriel maintained a mocking, unserious tone throughout, as if thoroughly entertained by his brother's shortcomings. Each point was emphasized with a nod or a chuckle, as if he'd had enough of Miguel's self-pity and was resorting to a different strategy. His gaze fixed on his hands he raised a new finger for each new point, as if relishing the opportunity to emphasize how horrible a brother Miguel was.

Miguel let out a sigh and facepalmed in exasperation, coming to a halt. His reaction prompted Gabriel to stop in his tracks as well.

“Oh my god. See what I mean?” He muttered, shaking his head, briefly rubbing his temples before he continued. “Why do you forgive me for all this?!”

Gabriel turned to face his brother.

“I don’t”

His response was blunt and straightforward, his gaze never leaving Miguel's eyes. Miguel paused, his face displaying a mix of disbelief and frustration.

“… what?” He said as he stopped rubbing his temples for a moment. “The shock you mean you don’t?”

“You’ve said it yourself. Because you’re a dick.”

Miguel stared at his younger brother, dumbfounded. Confusion and frustration etched across his face as he tried to make sense of Gabriel's unexpected agreement.

“But then why do you remain in contact with me? Care about me? How… you’re not making any shockin’ sense, Gabe!” Miguel voiced his bewilderment.

Silene hung in the air between them. Gabriel withdrew his gaze, burying his face in his hands, and let out a sharp exhale.

“Just shut up already, will you?!” Gabriel suddenly yelled out, his frustration boiling over.

He turned to face Miguel again, his hands, which his face was buried in just a second ago, curling up tensely in front of him from the frustration.

“It doesn’t matter ‘cause you’re my shockin’ brother!” He continued as he grabbed Miguel by his shoulders and rattled him before letting go and shifting his gaze to the ground.

"Well—my biological 'half' brother… technically…" he muttered. "…But that shouldn’t matter cause…" Gabriel returned his attention to Miguel, maintaining eye contact, his voice beginning to tremble.

"We still grew up together Miggy... you were the one who was there for me, protected and held me when things were dire between mom and dad, you... you!— “ He stopped as he struggled to find the right words to express his feelings.

Miguel met Gabriel's gaze with remorse and sadness painted on his face. He took a deep breath and began rubbing his forehead.

“Look I’m… sorry. I didn’t realize everything I was putting you through. I just…“

Miguel's voice wavered as he inhaled deeply, then looked at his brother.

“… I don’t want to be like this anymore. I don’t want to always be so shocking… selfish.”

Gabriel interjected, a little frustration remaining in his tone. "I know you do.”

“Wait, what do you mean?” Miguel responded, his curiosity piqued.

“No mames, dude! You’ve been running around in a costume riskin’ your neck out for others including me. I don’t recall the last time you’ve ever acted this… selfless… there’s obviously something inside you that’s changed… or wants to change…”

Miguel nodded slowly in response, thinking over his brother’s words.

“You got me there, Gabe. I…. want to be better…. But quite frankly, I don’t know how.”

Miguel paused. He hesitated, his fingers nervously tapping against his thigh as he struggled with whether to share what was burdening him. This wasn't something he'd ever discussed openly. He was more accustomed to keeping his emotions locked away. But seeing the concern in Gabriel's eyes, his brother's insistence to break through the walls he had built, made him reconsider.

 “While we’re already on the topic… Can I tell you something?” Miguel finally managed to force the words out.

Gabriel nodded encouragingly, a sense of understanding in his eyes.

Miguel paused again, the discomfort of revealing his inner turmoil evident in his furrowed brow.

“...¿sabes por qué lo que hago? The reason I’m Spider-Man?”

Gabriel shrugged, displaying his curiosity.

Miguel hesitated for a moment, his gaze resting on his younger brother. With a sigh, he decided to take the plunge.

"...I don't enjoy being Spider-Man. ¡Ahí lo tienes, lo dije!" Miguel admitted before biting his lip, anxiously awaiting his brother's reaction.

"I mean, I get it, yo tampoco lo haría. Sounds tough and all," Gabriel replied, trying to understand.

Miguel shook his head.

“No-” he clicked his tongue in annoyance, “no that’s not what I mean… I mean I don’t like the superhero stuff at all.”

He sighed again, realizing how unpleasant it felt to voice his inner turmoil.

“I don’t like… saving people… or stopping villains. I don’t like doing what’s right. I don’t like helping people who are helpless.”

His voice began to break and crack slightly as he spoke.

“…I just hate myself. I hate my life. Odio lo miserable que se siente.”

Gabriel remained silent, not knowing how to respond. He withdrew slightly from his brother as he tried to process this revelation.

Miguel sighed once more, the weight on his chest feeling unbearable.

“I know it sounds so- so stupid. I know it does. But this has been killing me… I just…”

He rubbed his eyes, his head throbbing with emotion.

“I’m just so… I don’t like being Spider-Man. I don’t want to be Spider-Man. I don’t want to be your goddamn half-brother. I don’t want Tyler Stone’s shocking blood running through me. I don’t want to be anything. I just want to be nothing.”

Gabriel noticed his older brother’s eyes watering, shifting his head away in an attempt to hide it. Surprise rose within him. It’s been years since Gabriel had seen his brother in a state this vulnerable. Did he actually manage to get him to open up?

Suddenly, Miguel felt something pressing against him tightly. He realized that Gabriel had wrapped his arms around him in a tight embrace, his face buried in Miguel's shoulder in silence. Miguel's eyes widened in response, tears silently falling from his eyes as he was taken aback by his brother's reaction. Uncertain of how to respond, he simply looked down, letting the hug happen.

Gradually, Miguel sensed Gabriel's body tensing up in pulses. Was he crying too now? Gabriel had always been the more sensitive and empathetic of the two, so Miguel didn't question it. Instead, he looked down at his younger brother, realizing that he didn't feel as alone anymore. He closed his eyes and finally returned the embrace, wrapping his arms around his brother tightly.

He didn't want to let go. He closed his eyes as tightly as he could and started quietly sobbing, the weight of the past few months finally catching up to him all at once. He sobbed into Gabriel's shoulder, allowing himself to let go and release the pent-up emotions he had been carrying.

Eventually, they let go of each other. Miguel looked down at his brother and sniffled.

“Ugh I know… it was stupid. I just…”

He wiped the tears from his eyes and sighed.

“I’m so tired of everything. I’m tired of people depending on me every second of the day. I’m tired of being needed. I just… I just want a break. I want to not do anything for anyone for once.”

His head turned, letting out a frustrated grunt that displayed his annoyance towards himself. His face contorted with self-disgust, one corner of his upper lip curling upward in a sneer.

"Despite all… this,” He gestured towards himself and then Gabriel, suggesting he was referring to their exchange, “you still think I'm a horrible person, don't you?"

"Maybe I could take over for Spider-Man every once in a while," Gabriel followed up, once again evading his brother's self-deprecating remarks. He said it in a somewhat joking manner, but beneath the humor, there was a hint of genuine consideration. He buried his hands deep in his coat's pockets, inadvertently making himself appear smaller, and shrugged.

Miguel looked him up and down with a stern expression before letting a dark chuckle escape him.

"You? 'Taking over for Spider-Man'?" He repeated his brother's words in a mocking tone. "Deja de mamar." He shook his head. "You couldn't handle the pressure, Gabe." He continued with a condescending tone. "Shock, you couldn't even handle growing up without me. How did you think you could handle being Spider-Man? No, you couldn't. I'm sorry, but you can't."

Miguel's repetitive words made it clear he still saw his brother as the young, and impressionable kid who had stayed behind with their mother while he spent majority of his teen years studying to eventually work at Alchemax.

“How would you feel if you were the reason someone died? Would you be able to handle that?” Miguel's anger flared. He aggressively closed the distance between them before jabbing his finger at his chest. His breath came out in short, sharp puffs, his eyes flickered with a fiery red tint as the streetlamps reflected in them. His fangs were more pronounced than ever as his upper lip curled up in anger.

Gabriel was taken aback by Miguel's sudden aggression. He instinctively stepped back, creating a bit of space between them in an effort to defuse the escalating tension, but also due to his intimidation. His initial surprise was quickly replaced by frustration at how condescendingly he was treated though. His brows furrowed, and he exhaled sharply as he stared Miguel down.

“And what makes you think I’d be able to handle you dying in battle?” He finally retorted in a less intimidated but rather upset tone.

Miguel raised an eyebrow in surprise of his brother’s reaction before shaking his head.

“Who cares if I die, Gabe? As bad as that sounds, and I know it sounds horrible, I don’t care about what happens to me.” His voice was cold. “I’ve already put people close to me through hell. I have no friends, I’ve failed my family and my fiancée not to mention I’m a genetic abomination… what more is there left for me to do here.” His voice cracked at the last part.

Gabriel gritted his teeth angrily. “You just don’t get it, do you.”

"No, I don't think you understand," he snapped angrily into Gabriel's face before tilting his head to the side again, much like he had done earlier, trying to hide his teary eyes.

"I don't think you really understand how miserable I am here, and how much better off everyone would be if I..." He turned away completely before he could finish the last sentence.

"IF YOU WHAT, GOT OFF AND KILLED YOURSELF?!" Gabriel suddenly shouted, Miguel's body tensing in response as he was taken aback witnessing his normally sensitive brother lash out at him like this. The weight of both of their words hung heavily in the air.

“Yes.” Miguel simply muttered in response, still turned away from his brother, his temper starting to fade now as he sighed. “I didn’t want to admit it but… yes.” He turned his head slightly to the side, his gaze still fixed on the ground. "I don't want to be here anymore. I'm done doing the superhero gig, and I'm done being anyone's son or... brother. I'm just done." He shrugged.

Gabriel remained standing there, still dumbfounded.

"You were right, you really are a cabrón egoísta."

Miguel let out a dark laugh, his voice raised this time. He turned back to his brother entirely, crossing his arms and straightening his back, causing him to loom over his slouching brother as he met his eyes.

"And what are you going to do about it, huh?"

Gabriel's breath was stuck in his throat, unable to follow up on his brother's last question.

“I-“

“That’s what I thought. Nothing.”

Miguel looked down and sighed, his head beginning to pound again. The silence between them was deafening. Neither of them spoke up for a while until Miguel asked, “What do you even see in me?”

“Can you just shockin’ quit questioning everything... It's tiring…” Gabriel muttered in response, his arms crossed and his gaze fixed on the ground as he refused to look his brother in the eyes after what he’d just confessed.

Miguel sighed and kept looking at his brother. “Fine.” He looked up, glancing around before continuing “Let’s just… keep going now… I need something for this stupid migraine… or maybe a drink.” He laughed bitterly.

Gabriel simply nodded with a blank expression.

“Alright.” Miguel said as he began walking in the direction of his apartment, not looking behind him to check whether his brother was following him or not as Gabriel buried his hands back into his coat’s pockets and followed up behind him.

As they continued walking, now in silence, Gabriel was lost deep in thought. There was no way he'd let his brother destroy himself like this, not on his watch.

[kakusu-shipping]

I’m kinda insecure about one of my f/o’s because, 1. He’s a teenager (and I’m an adult), and 2. He’s kind of a meme character. I’m worried people will think I ship myself with him as a joke, but I’m not. I really, really like him!

This is the Internet and it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks ever.

Well that's my go to response anyway, but I do understand the hesitation, especially with a canon minor character, feels like you gotta dance around certain people for that, and it makes the whole thing feel kinda exhausting. Though I'll say, it's probably not as scary as you think it is, it's easy to fall into this hole on the internet that if you make even the slightest misstep people will scream for your head, but it's really not that bad, I promise. Maybe I'm just lucky though, or off most people's radar.

The other half though, the worry people think you're self shipping with them as a joke? Honestly, if people think that, it's probably fine all things considered? Like I get it kinda sucks not being taken seriously, kinda hurts, but at the end of the day your F/O knows you're serious, and you know you're serious, and that's what matters.

Every character is someone's unironic Fictional Other. There are people out there who'd unironically want to Marry Shrek, or Nagito Komeda, or Sans Undertale and the Oncler together. And like!!! Good For Them!!! I love that for them!!! Shrek and Sans love them back!!

So if you're comfortable with it, take a deep breath, and love loud.

[3-oclock-tea]

Guys I cannot consume normally

[curseofbreadbear]

i like to think that cassie has a deceptively strong competitive spirit. she'll be the sweetest kid until she starts playing a game with anybody. god forbid you ever play fazer blast or try to race her in the raceway bc she will Destroy you

[oldworldbluez]

I am no longer asking