#but i like to think that max is devastated bc of this too and not just the guilt of it

[userastarion]

lol remember when i sent that breakup letter to my friend?

i sent it to tell her how hurt i’ve been by some of the ways she’s treated me, how i haven’t felt important to her for a year, how i wanted to push through it bc we have fun together, and how much it hurt that a) i haven’t met the man who’s her forever and b) she got married and i found out via instagram username change when we’ve been good friends for 18 years. i ended it saying i will never ghost you, i love you, i just don’t think there space for me in your life anymore. all the nutrients for my friendship plant went elsewhere and it can’t survive like that anymore.

her response was to remove me from her socials and have her sister do the same. so i guess i now understand where ive fucking stood with her.

[celestie0]

Some headcanons about Kickoff college!Gojo, please!

hellooo my love i’m so sorry this took me a while i wanted to post ch9 first!

kickoff!gojo headcanons pt.1 unserious & fluffy edition lol

ᰔ these headcanons are based off of my fanfic “kickoff” which is about popular frat boy soccer college athlete gojo lol & there are spoilers below ᰔ for my kickoff readers: most of these are so unserious and/or fluffy (not rly much nsfw) hope u enjoy!!

kickoff!gojo who almost got arrested once for running away from the cops. he wasn’t even in trouble for anything they just started chasing him bc he started running 😭

kickoff!gojo whose primary love language is physical touch and so all of the times he’s had to NOT touch you has driven him absolutely fuckin nuts. positively BONKERS he’s practically been lobotomized by the restraint he’s had to exercise to not touch you

kickoff!gojo whose frat once hosted a date auction to raise money for rush and gojo singlehandedly raised $20k in one night from the bidding bachelorettes (and bachelors)🧍🏻‍♀️he has yet to go on all of those dates he owes them 😅 he runs away anytime his frat president tries to bring it up LOL

kickoff!gojo who is actually a pretty decent student, i mean he’s a business major so womp womp ofc he’s getting by just fine. i think his favorite class he’s ever taken was freshman year econ bc him and todo got into sm shit in that class and it's some of his fondest memories

kickoff!gojo who was literally picturing a life with you on the italian countryside when you were telling him about it. self inserted to the MAX

kickoff!gojo who is always the first to like all of your film photography slideshows on instagram because he has your post notifs on :”) you and messi are the only ppl he’s got post notifs on for 🤣

kickoff!gojo who thought he would be okay with watching your life from afar, through small pictures on his phone, but the thought devastated him more n more w every waking minute

kickoff!gojo who realized that having you wrapped in his arms at the end of ch9 was the closest thing he’s felt to peace since before the night his father passed away

kickoff!gojo who hasn’t really kept too much memoribilia of his father since a lot of the memories are painful for him, but he’s kept that old soccer ball w his dad’s signature n word of love for his mom on it

kickoff!gojo who wouldnt have been able to get through the trauma of losing his father if suguru wasn’t there by his side. he would’ve really lost himself, and would’ve given up on soccer if not for suguru's support. he's truly really grateful for him

kickoff!gojo who knows what his sun, moon & rising signs are because he’s been ran through 🙄 smh. WHORE

kickoff!gojo who plays for charity soccer tournaments on the weekends whenever he can 🫶🏼💕 he loves it bc there’s less pressure to play super well & also he loves getting to meet the people that the events are helping out

kickoff!gojo who has a massive sex drive (he got that athlete testosterone 😔🤚🏼) esp around someone he genuinely likes AHEM YOU so beware that if you start dating him he’s gonna beg you to put it on him at least 15 times a day and you’ll have to reject him 13.5 times

kickoff!gojo who is not ready to be a father at ALL at this point in his life but he’s thought ab how nice it would be to teach his kids how to play soccer someday :”) he’s givin me girl dad vibes tho, and you just KNOW he’s gonna be cheering on his lil girls when they’re tearing through the little league w their sparkly princess tiaras & tutus on 😤 he’d be the little league coach for sure LMAO

also little league coach!gojo would 100% promise to let the kiddos shave his head if they win the championship game 😭 i can just imagine you yelling at him when he randomly comes home bald one day

kickoff!nanami&choso&suguru who would be such protective soccer uncles to yours and gojo's duaghters. not a single boy would ever get NEAR those girls i'm telling youuu. pls pray for them haha

kickoff!gojo who figured out you were mina’s roommate through a little bit of facebook stalking. and yes, he scrolled all the way down to your embarrassing middle school photos. and yes, he still likes you despite seeing them. more, even, when he thinks about it. also, he’s pissed you had a digimon themed 9th birthday party and you didn’t invite him 😒 what’s up w that

kickoff!gojo & kickoff!choso who once illegally played an off-season tourney abroad in spain for a lump sum lmfaoo and it was a pretty decent cut of cash. but shhhh dont tell the NCAA ab that pls or else they’re fucked 💀

this is all i could think of rn haha thank you anon for the ask and hope you enjoyed them <333

[howtobecomeadragon]

Mike feels abandoned by Will for a girl so Mike turns around and does the same thing to Will

2x09 and 3x01, just one episode later

the party is having fun together, Mike and Will are stuck to each other's sides

But then a girl takes them away from the group. Will says yes hesitantly, with Mike's urging despite his devastated face here. Mike goes willingly.

Mike watches Will and complicated feelings about it.

Will watches Mike and has complicated feelings about it.

Both feeling sad!

I think there's something to be said about Mike learning about how things are going to go as they grow up at the Snowball. Lucas left them first to go with Max, and then Will went off with some girl, which hit him even harder for some reason he may or may not get yet. Dustin walked away to find any girl to dance with, which left Mike alone until El showed up.

He was hit hardest by that feeling of abandonment at the Snowball bc he was the only one left alone. He decides to roll with the lesson he learned and make sure to always be the first to bail after that. He runs off with El, thinking that's how he can make sure not to be the one left standing once everyone's run off with a girl. This is made stronger by his fear that he doesn't like girls.

El is there so he clings to her as the girl he can run off with so he's not left alone once Lucas and Will and Dustin find girls to be with instead of being with him.

This also goes along with his projection during the rain fight.

Mike is projecting his own feelings here, and I think a lot of this came from the Snowball. He saw how Lucas left the group easily with Max, he saw how Will (who he was probably hoping to hang out with all night) leave with some random girl, and Dustin, instead of staying with Mike, left to spend time with a girl, any girl. Mike wasn't about to ask any girl to dance, he didn't want to, plus El was there in the background, she'd tried to kiss him again before closing the gate, even though he hadn't really wanted to (he didn't close his eyes or lean in). He had an excuse to not seem like he wanted to dance at the Snowball, but he hadn't expected everyone else to leave to dance. He's the one that wasn't expecting everyone to suddenly need to get girlfriends, and he was the one left sitting at that table alone, wondering when everyone had grown up without him and why he wasn't feeling that same way towards girls.

And Mike is surprised and devastated when he throws that hypothetical future that he wanted but felt like he couldn't have in Will's face and Will says he wanted that too. Even though Will went to go dance with a girl, he's saying now that he thought they'd never have to get girlfriends and they could hang out together forever. But Mike is too far into his facade at this point to backpedal.

I can imagine that a lot of this is stirred up again when reading that Will has a crush on a girl in Lenora too. Mike is right back at that table, watching Will walk away for some girl he doesn't even know.

[callsign-rogueone]

hey cutie! i hope you're doing well! i saw your liam post a while back and bc i seemed to love him and so does literally everybody else, i was wondering (bc im writing a book) what makes him so likeable to people? like why did we all fall in love with him immediately and then die of devastation when he was killed?

hihi!! Liam deserves multiple essays on how amazing he is, but here's some thoughts that I can def expand on later if you'd like, not edited at all (also if I missed anything, feel free to add in comments / reblogs!!)

he has a tragic backstory and he's from a group that you're "not supposed to like". Xaden drags Vi into the marked group, but Liam's the one who truly brings her around on the issue and builds sympathy? empathy? whichever one. for Vi and the reader -- we find out his parents were killed, he was separated from his little sister, both of them are forced to be riders and serve a country that has done terrible things to them and their family...

he has a sweet old man hobby. he WHITTLES. that is senior citizen behavior. I know the hobbies a person can have in this world are a bit limited since their tech isn't like ours but still. he's 20 years old and he whittles for fun. what a dweeb. (I say this affectionately. you all know I will defend this man with my life. and he's very good at it and it makes him happy 🥺)

his whole relationship with Xaden. Liam is this perfect (literally) little puppy soldier that does absolutely everything Xaden asks of him because he quite literally owes Xaden his life (and Sloane's.) that level of dedication is rare. and that he clearly looks up to Xaden (and I HC that he wants to make him proud...)

adding on to that... him protecting Violet without (visible) pushback. he's agreeable to protecting the daughter of the woman who killed his parents and aunts/uncles/family friends etc., most obviously because Xaden asked him to, but I also think he was able to separate the mother and daughter like Garrick did too. he knows Vi isn't at fault for his problems.

he's smiley / laughing / a good time. he's the foil to Xaden in many ways (brothers who look nothing alike, most obviously) but he shows us that not all the marked ones are angry and gloomy all the time. he gets in on second squad's banter, makes jokes of his own...

he's very observant and emotionally intelligent. he knows what's going on b/n Vi and Xaden, and I highly doubt that's because him and Xaden are having slumber parties with Bodhi and Garrick to talk about their crushes (I have to write that now, don't I... the girlfriends having a "girls night" and the boys not knowing what to do with themselves. so they have their own girls night...) he just picks up on all the little things and he knows when Vi is and isn't okay, despite having known her for like... a max of 6 months?

literally mister perfect. he's the quadrant's golden boy. he was forced to be here, but he's top of the class, jogged across the parapet, best time on the gauntlet, dusted everyone. never lost a challenge. I know Deigh is so dang proud of his boy. probably brags to the other dragons about his perfect son <3

Sloane. he's worried about her for next year, he's writing her letters weekly even though he can't send them, and by the time he CAN send them, she'll be in the quadrant herself... yeah, good thing he wrote them in advance... [crickets] anyway, he's a cutie big brother like Brennan, wanting to protect lil sis, and it's clear he loves her so so much <3 (another headcanon of mine that she absolutely adored him and he was forced into all the tea parties and dolls stuff but he did it with a smile. need girl dad Liam so bad.)

and then the circumstances of his death. he died following Xaden's orders (prime directive: keep Violet safe) and while it's been eight months since I last read that scene and I refuse to read it again any time soon, I think he definitely knew that he was putting himself in immediate danger to save her, and he still did it anyway.

that's all I got for now but I am absolutely positive that there's more. good luck with the book!! I did some work on my own today on the flight, inspiration struck after leaving it to sit there for months lol

[x-liv25-jamieswife]

Hcs of the remaining characters dying (nash, xan, etc.)

people's reaction to xander's death

of course! i'll do xander for this one, and nash next (i'm also planning on doing libby and a short one for max). hope you like them!

avery: this is obvious but she would be absolutely devastated. she would definitely spend a lot of time in his old lab playing with his gadgets or just sitting there. she would make sure to visit his grave a lot bc she knows xander gets lonely and bored easily and doesn't want him to suffer in the afterlife. she would not want to get out of bed, but alisa would force her to for interviews and stuff. her grief would be too much for her to hide. her fans would notice and start getting worried for her so they'd send her little gifts to make her feel better. whenever she visits his grave, she brings scones with her to 'share' with xander.

jameson: jameson would start drinking profusely again (just like after emily died). he would leave xander little riddles he wrote near his grave for him to solve in the after life to keep him entertained. he learned how to bake just to make scones to leave at xander's grave. he'd sleep in his room a lot to feel closer to him. he has this really cool glass xander made him (it's up to you what it looks like/what special thing it does), and he makes sure to drink from it whenever he he has alcohol. his grief would keep him from getting any sleep. it got so bad he got prescribed pills to get him to fall asleep bc his body was shutting down.

grayson: grayson and xander used to talk a lot about their dreams and things they wanted to accomplish later on in life. gray would make sure to fulfill all of his dreams for him knowing it would make him happy. he would spend hours studying on robotics and stuff to be able to accomplish his dreams, and he'd make sure everything he did was perfect. i didn't add this in any of my other hc posts, but i think that, if one of his brothers died, he could potentially start drinking or taking drugs. i think that he'd want to find a way to suppress his grief so that he would be able to work and distract himself.

nash: nash would be wrecked (obviously). he'd eat scones even though he hates them just because xander loves them. i mentioned in my sad nash hc post that i think he takes weed when he's anxious and stuff, and i think xander (or any of his brothers really) dying would make him start smoking weed excessively. libby would notice him taking it quite often and would get him help to make sure he didn't get addicted. he's also the type of person to overwork himself when he's nervous, sad, angry, etc. he would be bartending 24/7. i can also see him getting so mad he starts throwing glasses around and stuff at the bar he works at.

libby: i wanted to include her even though i don't really know what to say. i think, over the years, her and xander (and all of the other brothers) would get really close. they would definietly bond over baking, making it impossible to bake after his death without crying. at the same time, baking is libby's coping mechanism so she wouldn't be able to stop. she'd bake scones with grayson and accompany him to leave them at xander's grave. nash's grief would also make things worse for her. she'd be trying to find ways to help him whilst at the same time grieving herself (i mentioned that nash would start throwing things like glasses around to let his anger out, and, although he'd NEVER hurt libby, i think it would scare her enough to convince him to get help)

max: max would be ruined over his death. she'd lose interest in everything because everything would remind her of xander. for example, she'd start to hate reading bc she'd remember all of the time he bought her books. her life without him would become so lackluster that she'd consider offing herself. xander would definitely have made her life more entertaining and worth living, so, losing him would make her go back to her life the way it was before meeting him (we know she has strict parents and is really isolated so the change would really affect her). she'd spend days in bed 'talking' to him, and would have to convince herself he faked his death to be able to keep going. i think she'd also spend a lot of time sleeping in his bed or with avery.

[katlandry]

My unpopular Stranger Things opinion is that none of the main characters need to die. At this point any of the characters dying would only be for shock value, and it would only be good if they die to further the plot and if it makes sense for their arc. Like personally, I love these characters far too much to have them die just so people have died & to be shocked 😭

Imo, the only characters it kinda makes sense to kill off are El, Will and Steve.

El, it started with her and will end with her. HOWEVER, this would also not make sense because this just feeds into Hopper’s fears that he’s a curse which he talks about in S4. He already lost one daughter, he can’t lose another.

Will, it does kinda makes sense again bc it started with him it’ll end with him. However I’m pretty confident he’s going to survive going off stuff that Noah’s said

Steve, it kinda makes sense bc he was supposed to die in S1 and his six little nuggets speech in S4 kinda felt like a goodbye speech but this would also mean that Dustin loses another brother-like figure to him after he *just* lost Eddie and also I don’t really think it would do anything for the plot to kill him

I honestly don’t see how any of them can have a happy ending if any of the characters die either, like they’re all this little found family now and they’d all be devastated if any of them were to die.

Also the show has always been about friendships/family, and overcoming fears, and being able to take on absolutely anything as long as you have good people by your side so killing any of them off just doesn’t make sense to me. I want to see them all go off and THRIVE. I want to see Nancy go off to Emerson, and Jonathan go off to NYU, and the Hopper-Byers family get the happy ending they deserve, and Joyce and Hopper get married, and Lucas and Max go on their date at the movies, and Dustin finally see Suzie in person, and Mike work through his stuff and get to properly talk to his family, and Steve and Robin move somewhere together like the platonic soulmates they are, and Will finally accept himself for who he is whether Mike reciprocates his feelings or not, and El realise she’s a good person and not a monster.

They didn’t go through years of absolute trauma just to die at the end. Like Natalia said, it would suck to go through five seasons of this just to die 😭

[its-all-papaya]

This is truly devastating (I cheered.)

No but genuinely if you do end up writing parent!landoscar I will be your biggest cheerleader. Like oml I am such a sucker for these fics.

I personally adore the fics where they’re still drivers but one of them has a kid. They’ve always got the best mix of angst and softness. But honestly I adored the little blurb you wrote for the kiss prompts so if you end up going off of that I’m sure I’d love it too!

Dad!Lando is a rare gem and I am SAT for it.

- that one anon who talked about dad!Lando earlier lmao

Dad!Lando Anon !!!! welcome back !!!!

i also in theory enjoy the driver/parent combo. i don't think i could do like... irl landoscar circumstances + kid bc i can't imagine bringing a child into the way they exist rn, but i am attracted to the idea of ONE of them being a driver and the other being, like.... adjacent. i was considering this earlier bc i love my kiss prompt situation, but i don't really have a plot in mind for that landoscar outside of that specific scenario. like how did they meet? what else would i even make them do? i invented them for that exact moment and didn't really construct a world for them in my brain... but like. in theory, that oscar could be an f1 driver. and i did think about that earlier while i was at work, and it's cute for a lot of reasons. (i know i just said i didn't invent lore, but the lando from kiss prompt in my brain is a hot little mess, like loves emma SO GD MUCH that he can't stand it and wants to do right by her but like... is also just a scruffy little guy, you know? so like he for sure struggled through her baby years and she for sure loves him so much, but he's not a put-together parent. she's eating store-bought luchables on field trips bc he doesn't have enough forethought to put together a brown bag lunch. her socks probably never match and he learned how to braid so he could do her hair, but most of the time they're running too late in the morning for him to actually do it. but then oscar enters their lives and he's a bit awkward and says he's not good with kids, but his energy is so calm and he naturally just like. diffuses all their energy. combs through emma's hair after her bath and tells her stories about australia while lando scrambles to make her bed in a second flat bc he forgot he threw her sheets in the wash before dinner and never followed up. discusses her numbers and letters with her while lando microwaves instant oatmeal at like 7am. anyway. you see the vision?) i got really off-track, but imagining oscar as the naturally chill "parent" figure while also being extremely intense and dominant on track...delicious. and the first time emma goes to a grand prix she's like absolutely awestruck. oscar is god to her. and lando is like... literally how the fuck are you perfect at every part of your life and i can't even get my daughter to soccer practice on time once ever? anyway. all of that is to say. osc in his racesuit covered in champagne in mclaren hospitality after the podium and everything that goes with it and emma running top-speed across the floor until he swings her into his arms and she's squealing as he kisses her cheeks because "oscar, you were the fastest!" and lando is just. heart exploding. wants to kiss oscar until he can't fucking breathe anymore.

aNYWAY. visit my inbox again soon dad!lando anon ! like in a minute if you want ! i'll yap for another thousand years !

(sorry editing rq bc i realized i could use a max fewtrell mutual friend plot as their introduction in this hypothetical story. unfortunately Drawing Connections.)

[httpiastri]

im the BIGGEST mclaren fan and oscar fan in the world ever and i dont even have the energy to celebrate oscar's first win (yes bc of the fucked up way mclaren did it but wtv not getting into that) bc of how devastated i am about paul. i just want to give him the biggest hug in the world and tell him its ok and that we all still love him. i hope he knows how much support he has and that making mistakes is ok, its only his rookie season no one expects him to be schumacher or senna or whoever, we just want you to be a happy paul aron :(

seeing him banging his head and looking out into the distance after the crash omfg i will jump off a cliff i swear. hes so hard on himself and i was legit sobbing thinking about how much harder he is on himself (probably) this year after what happened w merc and prema. he deserves so much more omg. the fact that kimi ended up winning the race just made me think of the lacy edits too and omfg i cannot. i love kimi dont get me wrong but what are the chances that paul's win became kimi's instead? i js cant.

and dont get me started on that fucking penalty. he already dnf'd i don't understand the point of them punishing him any further did u not see how mad he was at himself?? fuck you fia fuck. you. cz WHY WHAT WAS THE REASON??? i feel like ive never seen them do that to a driver, usually they cause a collision and dnf they just get time penalties but a TEN PLACE GRID PENALTY?? FOR THE NEXT RACE?? THIS LATE IN THE SEASON?? it just seems SO unfair and so harsh. not agreeing w the grid penalties at all esp when the driver alr suffered from their mistakes but the crash w maloney fine i can kind of understand, but ollie's? sorry but i didnt even see them crash that hard? (or was i half asleep? idk i js literally do not remember seeing it) seriously tho wtf.

i hope his friends, family and team gave him the biggest hug ever. he'll come back stronger ik it! we'll get thru this u guys:(

paul nation family group hug 🫂🫂🫂🫂🫂🫂

-🧸

this is very valid :(( it wouldve been easier to celebrate if it had been better with the team and whatever, but now it was so easily overshadowed by everything that happened in f2 and i just 😶

to me, most of my pain is based on (just like u said) the fact that i think he's hard on himself, and wants to prove so much after everything that has happened. i just hope he sees the reality; that he's doing super well, in his rookie season nonetheless, and we're all so proud of him. mistakes is okay, shit happens, even max verstappen made a bunch of mistakes yesterday!!

i didnt wanna look at the clips of him in the car nor hear his radio (ive seen the screenshot of him admitting that it was his fault tho) and i saw the clip of him after getting out of the car and i just...... nope. and esp w kimi winning aaaa it made me so happy but-

god i dont understand the penalties like. yes he made a mistake but zane was also going very very slow (on the slower tyres also) so it was hard for him to tell what zane was going to do. like these things happen within even a fraction of a second and you need to trust your instinct and sometimes it doesn't work out? like obvs i cant compare it to any personal experiences in racing but in my own sport i know the feeling of getting a bad pass etc, and something tiny can mess up the entire timing and feeling and everything? so zane just going slower makes a lot of difference :// it's not common that they do this but ive seen it sometimes but this is just so.... gAH!! esp with the thing with ollie because they didn't even show it, so it can't have been THAT important, right?? so stupid

pls everyone gather around for a group hug! with paul in the middle bcs he deserves all of the love!!!!!!! <3<3<3

(oh and just so you know. "we just want you to be a happy paul aron :("........... you actually broke me with that one, i hope you're happy that im crying bcs of you 😭)

[supermaks]

~personally~ of course as someone who is very interested in 3344 i would love to hear from lewis what his perspective is on max, who is compared more to senna, who is lewis' hero within his senna stannie fan card. like if senna wrote the fucking book max wrote the smash remake. like obviously humans are messy and complicated but like in ur pysche if the guy you "hate" is cut from the exact same cloth (and even sharper!) than the guy you love hmmmm. there's a lot of things to be talked about when drivers talk about who they idolize and why (or don't idolize). but i also love what u posted form that 1991 article bc f1 has never not been messy and human and solely about "wheel" or whatever and that makes it more interesting.

This is such supermaks bait anyway lets TALK about it 🌷

Literally thats the whole thing wid Canada that really stuck wid me after Max broke Sennas most wins oat, like Lewis' lil selfie wid him and his 'this is a pretty iconic podium' and that whole sloppy toppy moment wid fellow old Dawg Nando ((yall remember Nando podiums . damn 🕊️)) like theres a certain gravitas here. Max ended the most dominant streak by an f1 driver in the most controversial, soul crushing devastating fashion and followed that shit wid his own brand of dominance. That is fucking brutal lmfao. U said it like this is thee smash f1 remake this is textbook Senna, we've seen the script, we know what kind of driver it takes to enact the script. Its not gonna be a nice lil driver, its gonna be somebody who has a deep cynicism for the whole thing while simultaneously being unable to not execute it to perfection. That is Senna. It is Lewis. And it is Max. Max is, by all measures, in his current form, wid this red bull team, driving this car, untouchable. Bro is the final dawg. And the way that he still drives bro, that aggressiveness he has, that unwillingness to give up the line, thats every ((good)) drivers' dream to face a driver like that and come out on top because, ironically, thats as close to racing as it gets and it is old school. It does emulate a different time, a time that Lewis not only grew up watching but contributed to himself. It is about 'wheel' in the end but theres also a person in that car that can break you, which is like an extraordinarily human thing.

I've always found Lewis' bias for Senna very interesting because I think prolly until he was 25, and mind u I havent watched every Hamilton title winning season only 2008 and then obvi 2020 was my first so like obvi really influences how I c him, but he had that same restless nature. The shouts Max was getting even in 2021, Lewis got them too, including being a risk to his own peers, being rash, arrogant, etc. But then Lewis moved past Senna, imo, and became ‘Hamilton’, took over his own narrative, his team, made his own legend, wid his own dominant cars, and like he was settling back into that. Max came in at a point where u thought a Senna-like figure had no more space in f1. But Max created room, literally by force, and is also slowly outgrowing that to become ‘Verstappen’. I think thats the thread that wont snap between them, the knowledge that they are the last true protagonists of their respective eras. I have in faith in sharl, I think sharl wid a competent car, a good team, can achieve history too, but I dont have faith in Ferrari. Ferrari cannot perform to that level rn. So u have this monster at 25 whos like alone in his greatness and refuses to act the part. I get why people who dont fw Max's achievements might not like it, but that doesnt keep him from being the racing driver he is. That has no bearing on it, on him. Its a complete fabrication from fans. That is why Max feels so inevitable, and like, genuinely upsets people who dislike him by saying or doing anything because he will always own up on track and like theres an almost existential horror u cause haters wid that type of aura. Lewis is that same breed of driver, so he recognizes it, he knows what it takes be f1's villain. U cant cast a shadow on something u dont stand over.

After Silverstone he said: 'for a long, long time we’ve had periods of dominance. I’m lucky to have had one with my team. Michael Schumacher had it, Sebastian Vettel had it, and now Max’s period has arrived.' Just now in Hungary right after taking pole he said some shit like 'Max was doing 'Max things' in quali' which is a lil crazy to me. 😐 when the fuck did u ever hear Lewis Hamilton refer to a 'Max thing' except when Max has his ((much beloved)) category 5 Jeddah moments or bullies him during fp1 because he liked dared to breathe in his direction. Like since when is 'Max thing' a compliment. Like something shifted here and part of that is Max's inevitability in this car but also like how Lewis perceives that inevitability. Yk personally I cud only ever measure myself thru the people who beat me. In sports truly competition is all that is, u find somebody better and u chase after them. That's what Max did. He's rewriting those same records, because he can. And everybody who was ever somebody in motorsport did the exact same thing, including Lewis. And Senna right up until he died, because of the way it happened too, unfortunately, changed not only how u saw motorsport but also how u saw the person inside the car.

sharl was recently asked about lewis and max and had a very Leclerc type answer that I found very interesting:

Q: You were able to beat both Verstappen and Hamilton, who is more difficult to deal with?

Charles: "Both of them, they have completely different driving styles. Max always goes to the limit, I like his approach. He is aggressive and creates spectacular fights. Lewis on the other hand is very clever. In the way he positions the car after a corner, for example. He is less aggressive but thinks more. If he doesn't overtake you in one place, it's because he's thinking of an easier one in which to attack!"

Like is this not the most senna prost shit you've ever read in your entire life 😭😭. I think it comes down to how u approach a race and what u do wid the machinery ur given and faced wid certain track-specific challenges. Like look at this Spa weekend and you'd think it's the opposite of what sharl described, but it isnt. Max and Lewis can both be very aggressive, they just came up in the sport differently and established themselves wid different cars. Also neither of them about to let checo catch a break djdkdkd. In CONCLUSION ‼️ motorsport in general is a narrative driven competition wid a mechanical element that can make or break anybody no matter how good they are. Max himself becoming part of the mechanical element is unique to him, tho. Its above and beyond. Trust that the driver who became synonym for dominance in f1 is definitely paying attention lmfao

[yesloulou]

No but wait, the “do you miss me” comment was said while Daniel was at Renault and in light of Christian’s comments on Dax’s podcast (Daniel calling him during the pandemic to say he thought he made a mistake leaving RBR, that Christian was right)—it’s even more devastating now. Like is that what he was thinking right then? Filled with so much regret he couldn’t keep a handle on it for that one second and just blurted it all out 😭

i haven't listened to the podcast and i have no proof whatsoever but i actually highly doubt daniel called up christian to say he made a mistake leaving rbr. at least not renault daniel. my wild guess is that christian believed daniel leaving was a mistake so much that he really wanted daniel to see it too. so maybe when daniel perhaps expressed displeasure towards his seasons at renault thus far christian just took that and run with it...

also this is just my opinion but i don't think filled with regret has ever been daniel's state of mind when it comes to leaving rb 😳 like not even during his darkest days at mclaren. i think daniel sees it (the "downfall" or whatever) as a sort of inevitability. he might not have had become wdc with another team but he was also convinced that he couldn't become wdc with red bull and ofc he couldn't just sit there and be a sitting duck.

anyways. i feel like what happened in that do you miss me interview was an extreme case of like. wistfulness and nostalgia? and his feelings towards max must've been very complicated. he saw max as a good friend and a younger sibling (direct quote) yet he also had to leave the team bc of max. leaving rb put a distance between max and him which sucked but not being teammates that directly compete against each other also improved their personal relationship (direct quote x2). it was like. if they had stayed teammates, the competition put a distance in between them. now that they weren't teammates anymore, there is ofc a distance still. there was no way it could've worked. etc etc. i think there was more powerlessness than regret in there. and he must've missed max very much bc if was such an uncharacteristic thing for him and his cool guy brand to be (that level of) emotional on camera. like that.

[chirpsythismorning]

Will Byers Analysis - Between S3 & 4

Something I always think about, is how Will probably didn't even know Mike and El were back together at the end of season 3.

When they had last spoke, part of Will probably thought Mike was talking about something else, which is understandable bc both him and Mike were speaking in code, whether they realized it or not (I didn’t say it/You didn’t have to).

At the very least, Will thought things could go back to how they used to between them; friends (best friends).

When the Byers arrived to Cali, I imagine within the first day, or within the first few days after they settled, it was most likely Jonathan who made the move to phone the Wheelers to talk to Nancy.

Then maybe Will decided he would call Mike once the phone was free or even asked Jonathan to have Nancy just hand the phone to Mike so they could catch up too.

But once Mike got on the phone, something was off. He sounded kind of distant and awkward and it left Will feeling confused.

Maybe Will tried to chock it up as them just needing to get used to living far away from each other, since this distance thing was indeed new for them. They'd been friends for the last decade and hadn't experienced being apart for longer than a week (the week of his disappearance). So, it was bound to be a little weird, for a little while. Right?

But honestly, just thinking about their fight in s3 and the events leading up to it, I wouldn't blame Will for being slightly worried.

Before the rain fight, Will was putting almost all of the time and effort into their relationship. He was fighting for it and Mike was leaving him behind. And that really hurt Will.

And that's what's honestly so incredible about Will's arc in s4, because he's not putting himself through that again.

Yes, he's growing up and he's matured, but he's also come to accept that, based on Mike's actions as of recent (despite what he might have sensed from Mike over the years), those romantic feelings he has for him will NEVER be reciprocated. If he's lucky, Mike will still want to be his friend, and he would be relieved to stay in his life in that way if it's something Mike still wants.

(Which also makes the GA's argument about how they think Will's arc in s5 is going to be about him accepting that Mike will never love him back, fall flat??? Because, Will's already realized that, sis. S4 ending the way it did was in part to make as clear as possible to Will (the unreliable narrator) that Mike cannot love him that way... And so why the hell would s5 confirm that for a second (3) time now? Where is the shock? Where is the value? What is satisfying about that? And why do that, while also holding off on Mike finding out about Will's feelings until the very end? Like... just let that simmer for a second and think about what that actually means in terms of the story going in a satisfying direction that also manages to surprise you... there is literally nothing satisfying about proving Will 'I'm not gonna fall in love' Byers, right...)

So, after about a week since they last spoke on the phone since arriving, a bunch of letters come in the mail: one for Jonathan, four for El, and three for Will (you can probably guess who from the party didn't send a letter to Will...).

And it's as if Will's worst fears are being (re)realized.

In his casual letter exchanges between the party, he talks about DnD and a new art class he's taking with Dustin, joining the basketball team with Lucas and how everything she'd told him about California was right with Max. Super casual catching up with some of his best friends. And yet still, nothing from Mike, arguably his best friend.

And so Will is understandably devastated.

He doesn't understand. Or maybe he does, he just didn't want to believe it.

And so, how Will chose to go about his contact with Mike over the next 'year' makes sense to me (and I support him fully tbh).

I think Will's arc in s4 is beautiful because he has some of the best development of anyone on the entire show. He's not the gay kid being used as a plot device for a heterosexual couple (stay tuned for s5). If anything, we're seeing this character who tried his best to mend his friendship with his best friend (also secret first love) after Mike presumably rejected him (ITS NOT MY FAULT YOU DON'T LIKE GIRLS!), and so, Will is not going to put himself through that again.

He's not going to let himself have hope that there could ever be something more between them, even if he thought so many times before there were moments or signs that Mike could feel the same (BC MIKE DID!!). He has already accepted it's not possible.

He's not going to 'stand in the way' anymore. If Mike wants to be with El, he's going to support them, even if it hurts him and his own feelings.

It's tragic, but it feels so in character for Will and his qualities as a person.

I know a lot of bylers argue that both Mike and Will were in the wrong when it came to them both not staying in touch, and I do agree, completely actually. Especially knowing Mike tried to call Will. HE TRIED. So it's not like he didn't. The miscommunication trope is doing it's magic. We just have to accept that.

And so, fittingly, when confronted, Mike doesn't tell Will he called (a lot). He lets Will think that he barely called and deflects and pushes it back on Will. But then almost instantly, he regrets it. Because it's in this moment he's only now realizing that Will did want to talk and missed him and is quite literally confused why they're not best friends any more. And suddenly it's all clicking. He knows deep down Will has every reason to be insecure, to not reach out to Mike after what happened last summer. It's just that he also thought Will had every right to move on because why wouldn't he, what's so great about Mike? Will could have anyone? Mike was so distracted by his own insecurities that Will had inevitably moved on, while also trying to hide his feelings, that he didn't realize Will actually did miss him. They've both got it all wrong.

As of now, we don’t know for sure if Will called at all, and so me assuming he called first, is just that, an assumption. But I’m giving Will the benefit of the doubt here. (It's also likely the Byers would have called the Wheeler's first because they know their number by heart most likely, while the Wheelers would've had to wait to get their new number).

Based on the story presented though (Will's unreliable narrator POV), he had a lot more reason to doubt Mike wanted anything to do with him. Will literally spent all of s3 fighting for their friendship, even if it meant coming off as slightly clingy and annoying and ‘childish’. And look how that turned out?

What else was Will to do in this situation? Just repeat all of his behavior in s4?

Was he just supposed to call Mike first, write him letters first, even though Mike was showing repeat signs of wanting to distance himself from him again?

And so, Will waits. He waits for Mike to make the next move, just in case his insecurities are right and that Mike doesn't want them to be best friends like they used to be.

One evening, about a month since the move, the phone rings and Will answers it. It's Mike.

Will is obviously surprised and thrilled. They talk for a bit, and yeah it's awkward. But still, it gives Will hope.

Now, it's still not enough to give Will the confidence to reach out first, fearing he'll come off too strong and scare Mike away again, and so he continues to give Mike space. But that doesn't stop this gesture from giving Will the inspiration to try one more thing, one last ditch effort to save their friendship; he's going to make Mike a painting.

So, all while watching El receive a new letter in the mail every few weeks or so, with him and Mike talking once (or if he's lucky maybe twice) a month over the phone, Will spends his time working on the painting, knowing that Mike used to appreciate his drawings when their friendship was at its strongest. And so, maybe this will be the thing that finally fixes things for them once and for all?

All too soon, it's Spring break and they're at the airport waiting for Mike to land.

In the months leading up to their reunion, Will made sure no one saw the painting he was working on, least of all El. Not even because he was scared she might figure out his feelings, but because he wanted it to be a surprise. We also know Will presumably had no problem with the others seeing the painting eventually because he literally brought it to the airport for Mike to open in front of all of them? And so... to him this was clearly an attempt at platonic reconciliation, even despite Will having romantic feelings for Mike. What he wanted was their friendship back.

But suddenly, Mike is standing before him and Will is so excited he can't hold back anymore. I mean, he's been holding back for MONTHS and he just wants to hug his best friend.

But then Mike is being awkward again, almost like he doesn't want to even touch Will at all, contrasting greatly from the last time they hugged during their goodbye only just a year ago (6 months they're so dramatic, i swear).

All this does is prove to Will that, despite them apparently ending on good terms, it seems Mike is just repeating last summer all over again.

Understandably, Will jumps to this conclusion fairly quickly, as his insecurities are being proven right in real time. Mike doesn't want the friendship they used to have. He doesn't want to hug, doesn't want to write to him, barely even called despite writing El a book worth of letters. He wants to talk to and focus on his girlfriend and Will is just an afterthought now.

There's no way he's gonna want this? A painting? Not a chance in hell.

So when Mike points to it and asks him about it nervously, Will panics and brushes it off.

How could he be so naive. Mike is making it SUPER clear he doesn't care about him, not like he used to. And still he's holding onto some misguided hope that maybe there's still a chance for them to be best friends.

How could he be so stupid.

[inchidentally]

@watehry asked for me to a carlando zodiac analysis like my landoscar one <3 (reminder I am not Lando levels of expert at astrology so this is me taking from a bunch of sources)

this one got kind of weird for me though bc the astrology is crazy black and white simple and gave maybe a little too much insight for comfort?? anyway proceed if you still want but also skip past if the parasocial stuff is too weird (it rly kind of was for me in places)

Scorpio and Virgo are a slam dunk as a match in friendship. simple as. Scorpio is ambitious with highly changeable super-charged moods and pretty damn needy. Virgo is all about "optimization" of themselves but extremely forgiving towards other and so self-reliant that it's easy for others to rely on them (sometimes more than they should).

this worked out perfectly for them bc Lando has had so many different needs throughout his career: an extremely young rookie needing a strong leader, a struggling teammate who needed someone to provide all the fun and reassurance, then no longer a teammate who needs a friendship that fits around his crazy schedule and existing friends, and a competitor who would honestly be a lil devastated if Carlos didn't still try and look out for him on the track. Carlos has been able to cater to all of those different things without ever losing himself. he finds Lando fascinating and fun no matter what.

honestly with Scorpio being a Fire sign and Virgo being an Earth sign there doesn't need to be much digging beyond that. their equal passions balance out beautifully and has strong enduring power.

Scorpio's birthstone is Topaz and gemstone is Citrine. Virgo's are Blue Sapphire and Topaz respectively.

a lot of the usual Virgo traits don't uhhh rly apply to Carlos as a beautiful cis man born of extraordinary privilege who has a rarefied hyper masculine sport as his job (he is never 'in his own head' and never over-intellectualizes lmao) he wants? he gets.

Carlos is a solid extrovert with a seemingly undrainable social battery which also counteracts more stereotypical Virgo qualities. but he is also an extremely hard worker who shows intense focus and mastery over whatever he pursues. very very Virgo.

he's also endlessly curious which makes him a great people person as well as a student of his sport and nothing is more attractive to him than someone who is fully open and vulnerable. he would have absolutely no idea what to do with an Oscar for example. they'd both be very happy and respectful in each other's company but only if someone else provides a common topic. otherwise it would be radio silence.

but little rookie Lando Norris who has been starved of the superstar attention he had in his junior career while he toddled around after Fernando? he and Carlos fit together like chicken and breading.

"Virgo wants order while Scorpio wants power" says a whole lot about how compatible they are. they want the same things but in completely different ways. it's why Carlos can factor in helping Lando get a podium and Lando has no problem admitting that Carlos helped him get there.

pitfalls of their relationship are down to the fact that they are so complimentary yet both are strong-willed. Virgo thinks far more logically and doesn't want to compromise by factoring in Scorpio's ever-shifting ambitions and emotions. it's honestly a very good thing that they've chosen friendship/bromance over anything else. they can keep that sweet aspect of romance but without having to suffer the restrictions and complications of a romantic relationship.

and um it might also explain why Carlos was the one to push Lando into finally having a girlfriend. from what I vaguely know Carlos himself had a longtermish gf ? for his McLaren years ?? and he'll have found it easier to deal with Lando's neediness with a gf for Lando to focus on.

not to get too parasocial about real life stuff here but we can all kind of agree that Max F's girlfriends have to accept that his friendship with Lando comes first. or at least equal to them. that's because once Leos find someone happy under their control and protection it's an absolute lock for life. Scorpio Lando wants attention and reassurance, Leo Max wants to be the leader and the rock. Scorpio needs to be in their feelings at will and Leo loves living in the moment. they sort of already found their person in each other oops. but since cis straight people relationships already center around ferda culture it works just fine.

by contrast, Carlos as a Virgo would have his own strict ideas of what his relationships should look like and I'm gonna take a wild guess that his family have inscribed ideals of wives and babies and being a provider into his DNA. when Carlos gets married it's going to have to be Lando who works around the schedule and makes good friends with Carlos' wife. fortunately he seems to be able to do that just fine with Max's partners so I don't see any issue there. (this is what I mean when I said this got very weirdly intuitive about real people)

as long as the Scorpio/Virgo friendship is free and easy for each party to come and go as they need to, they'll literally be bonded as family til they die. I can't read Lando's actual feelings well enough bc he uses so much deflective sarcasm but Carlos and his family absolutely adopted him as one of their own. Lando might take a little bit more of Carlos' generosity than he gives back but that's just their way. I'd say Max F is the bff who will always be there and Carlos is the bff that Lando can meet after months apart and it'll be as if it was just yesterday.

as Lando said they're much better off not being on the same team because they were juuuust on the cusp of the teammate rivalry not being fun anymore. I miss the challenges together but we'll always get carlando content anyway and won't have to see their relationship erode, fail and then heal but never be quite the same again (sorry but like w Daniel). it's also why the landoscar astrology reinforced everything we feel about Oscar being tailor made for Lando as a teammate.

ship/fic-centric stuff

let's get the rough stuff out of the way first: long term romance between Scorpio and Virgo is… tricky. especially both of them being men. I'll go ahead and say that they're much better off having a steamy hot affair for a while but then letting it settle into platonic but extremely deep friendship. you could easily have Lando's main love interest having to accept that Carlos has the same role w Lando that Lando does w Max F.

that being said! the sex is fire. Virgo Carlos would be a confirmed masc top (literally wants to do "power play") bc a feeling of control is so fundamental for him. Scorpio Lando would be raw arousal and want someone he could fully trust. he'd be over the moon to do anything and get as kinky as Virgo wanted.

Carlos would want to shower Lando with gifts and big expressions of love and adoration. while Lando would eat all of that up he wouldn't see it as the same as spending quality time together and sharing the same bed etc. definitely would need to be a chapter dedicated to communicating of needs etc.

Carlos would break very quickly in a secret relationship. it would sap him of everything he wants to bring and receive in a relationship. Lando wouldn't last much longer because his partner denying him romantic love in public would eat away at him. it would either end them or be a catalyst for deciding to be open and damn the consequences.

carlando angst is a whole other level because of how much they both want to remain bonded together. but there's also plenty of juicy fodder: miscommunication (Carlos' fault) jealousy (Lando's) possessiveness (Lando's) a need to be in charge (Carlos) lying for the other's protection (Carlos) wanting more freedom (Lando) caving to societal/familial pressure (Carlos) cheating born of passion or dissatisfaction (Lando) silent treatment (Lando) dismissal of feelings (Carlos) angry words that they wish they could unsay (both)

or the most complicated of all which would be Carlos VERY likely assigning Lando the "woman" role and being unable to have a romantic relationship not based on heterosexuality. don't worry he'd gay sex it up bc sex is His Thing but there'd be specific no-go things for him in bed. this is because of the whole rules obsession and occasional lack of emotional connection problems. this could go really sweet and involve negotiation and self-exploration or it could just be super kinky or it could be really angsty and lead to Carlos almost losing Lando entirely. just know that it'll need solid work shown to bring Carlos out of mainstream gender norms if he even does. he will resist efforts made to rattle the world he's built for himself. if it's dark fic that features social homophobia/internalized homophobia then it could be left as is rather than trying to fix it (as in, they're fighting for their lives or live in constant peril so their relationship doesn't get the attention it needs)

the power balance will always be in favor of Carlos so you'll need to take very good care of Lando and stay in his head most of the time for him not to lose himself completely. think of how Lando always mirrors the vibes of the men he is with at the moment and that a lot of carlando is Lando following Carlos like a puppy.

Carlos will never back down and won't have the capability to deal with fights but he will never EVER reject Lando. if he needs to walk away from a fight he'll state the fact first and do it as a way to clear his head. but he'll always come back. literally Lando could have walked away from him and married someone else but it would just take Carlos seeing his number calling for him to drop everything and be there for Lando like nothing had happened.

Carlos may need to hold all the cards but life without Lando is impossible for him. they'll either be intensely loyal friends in a multiship fic or on a steady track to Carlos putting a ring worth the gross national product of a small country on Lando's finger.

[the-nysh]

Will tank top master be the one to help mumen rider and I just thought of this but given how kind he is I imagine killing a comrade/innocent would be devastating to him

Oh good question....we last saw them in wc ch143 helping civilians evacuate... Where Mumen stepped in to save Lightning Max after he lost his feet, and TTM (supposedly in another location?) was fighting on defense until Accel and his team swooped in ordering him to evacuate...only now we see that Accel's team, who're all wearing the suits, have become puppets turning on their leader! Their situation's become totally compromised; what a chaotic mess! Accel is fine only bc he modified his suit, but...the same can't be said for Mumen?? Who yup, was last seen wearing one of those suits! D: And we know Mumen only wants to help save lives, so if he becomes unwillingly controlled by his suit too, and forced to attack/kill the civilians and comrades he only wishes to save then...what a big yikes!

I can't say if TTM would be there, at the right time/place, to help Mumen when that happens (nor do I think they have the same interactions or camaraderie built up as in the manga) but, and I'm speaking purely on speculation here, it's looking like the only ways to 'save' fellow suit victims is to either destroy the suit without harming the person inside (like how Saitama punched out Blue? did he destroy the suit he was wearing? or is Blue thoroughly k.o.'d) or destroy the sentinel bots who set off the neurological control signal....otherwise good luck getting anywhere near close to the victims held hostage within the suits when they've been turned 'on' into overclocked terminator mode. D: I guess we'll see in the coming wc updates whether Mumen's fallen victim to that same cruel fate or not...

[wet-toast-slime]

kinda a repost, but more a continuation of this post. this will contain spoilers for the game sea of stars, so im sticking it under read more.

So my sea of stars oc, El'orena--

a guilty pleasure, but it is a canon x oc dynamic with slight canon divergency without affecting the plot. In a polycule w. Aephorul and Resh'an, with it being uhhhh obviously complicated w. Aephorul lol. She's also an alchemist who worked with Aephorul and Resh'an, and also drank the elixir of life.

like i imagine her have like been born on a summer solstice and can use sun magic, however she didn't ascend, in the uh, right way per se

bc she also took the elixir of life, she went and studied the stars, the planets and life. where her magic warped into something not quite like solar magic but also more than that

due to ger immortality and magic, shes often (incorrectly) hailed as the mother of stars

it was bc of her own spat with aephorul that she and resh'an realized the dwellers are weak to solar magic during eclipses

she can control life and space, like resh'an can control time, and aephorul can control flesh and bone

so like resh'an, she cant directly involve with aephorul either, so she rushes to worlds he has not reached to prepare them should he arrive

she helped with establishing mooncradle, and training the very first solstice warriors in mooncradle with resh'an's help as the great eagle

she misses aephorul dearly, just like resh'an. but she also knows he's lost to her, and she clings to resh'an, visiting him often as he too can lose himself to time

they still very much love aephorul, but also can not bear to see the devastation aephorul creates and wish maybe one day they'll have the aephorul they love back and not the fleshmancer he is today, albeit futility

her arms are golden prosthetics, actually made by aephorul for her before he became the fleshmancer.

so she would be the "player" or rather the being that visited the archivist at the start of the game, the one that Resh'an would begin to tell the story of Zale, Valere and Garl.

i imagine her as a healer main, high magic attack and defence, and high health but low def and attack. her basic attack does arcane damage

her kills are maybe arcane/sharp damage attack to delay enemy turn

like an arcane attack that is multihit and the more successive hits, the more damage is done along w. heals self a percentage of the damage

dunno combos, but maybe ultimate heals bith hp and mp?? like its mot an attack at all just a healing move

shes really upbeat, and loved to tease ppl

i think she also joins the party w. resh'an, though loses her headpiece because its a bit "impractical" for the journey

she deffo drags resh'an back to the party when he tries to bail, mostly bc it was really lonely w.o him there during my playthroughs lol

she doesn't bathe during her hot spring scene, and instead sits on the bench reading. her scene raises the party's max mag. atk

she does leave the party like resh'an during the final battle w. Elysan'darëlle, BUT stays during the true ending route in the final battle w. resh'an.

but yea that's ;;;;;; kinda all i have at this point lol

[whimsicalcotton]

Hi it's me again and I have more music induced LiS brainrot to share

I discovered Lullaby For Grown Ups by Secret Garden today and even though it's very "cheesy musical number" coded I cannot for the life of me stop imagining Rachel singing this to a tired and weary Max who mumbled something about wanting her to sing something bc she thinks her voice is pretty. Rachel doesn't really strike me as a musical person but I think she'd indulge in it just to soothe Max into getting Some Fucking Sleep and it would actually work. Chloe comes into the room mid-song and is just standing there in awe at her singing voice

The first few verses are basically just Rachel telling Max that she sees her struggle and she doesn't have to wear the world on her shoulders, and reassuring her that everything will be fine. Maybe Max doesn't believe it at this time but she indulges in it because she's so tired and wants it to be true, even if just for a moment. Then the last verse is almost a confession from Rachel that she herself Goes Through It too, and that she gets it on some level. And then by the end of it Max has actually been lulled to sleep and Rachel and Chloe are just quietly looking at each other like 'omg I can't believe that worked'

SDGHDSKDS I just need Marrow!Max to be comforted, girlie needs to be shown so much affection and also needs REST.

me getting emotionally devastated by this ask moodboard

[sick-ada]

CICADA AGENTS MASTERPOST

bc i keep forgetting that i havent actually put much abt my agents on my tumblr and i need to expose the max number of people to my blorbos as i can

going under the readmore cause this is gonna get longg

(this has been in my drafts for over a month)

CB-808 (agent 8, she/her) and Bubbles (agent 8 AGAIN, a SECOND TIME, CAN YOU TELL EIGHT IS MY FAV, he/him)

they're "twins", meaning they both woke up without any memories, saw that they were the only two nearby who looked similar (being the only non-sanitized octolings in the metro) and assumed that meant they were twins

they do all of the tests in octo expansion as a duo! this makes some tests easier (like girl power station) and others much harder (like the one with the dualie squelchers and the grindrails, since they have to share the weapon between them)

this kinda fucks with the computer systems and all their mem cakes are blended (lmao) together. they have to work together to figure out whose memories are whose, to varying success levels

very very very codependent. theyll get anxious if you take the other to another room where they cant see each other. proto (cap3) convinced them to do one test separately and CB got so worked up she punched the side of the carriage and permanently dented it

they didnt try a second time

ON THE TOPIC OF CB DENTING THE METAL: shes freakishly strong, in an artificially-modified way rather than a very-strong-but-normal way

after the splatoon 1 campaign, elite soldiers deserted en masse since nearly all of them were at the concert/final-battle, leaving a gaping hole in the octarian military. in an attempt to fill that gap as quickly as possible, volunteers were "purposed" to become enhanced super-soldiers

(ill probably make a dedicated post abt it when i remember but "purposing" is what they do to make octarians (the stubby tentacle guys) into all the different forms you see in-game. debateably ethical to begin with, SUPER unethical to do to actual octolings)

im bad at timelining but she signs up to this when she's like,,, 13. still kinda blobby

functionally, what it did to her was make her freakishly strong (she breaks the handles on doors ridiculously often) and about 50% more resistance to enemy ink. girls a tank. however, she has trouble regulating her strength and therefore cant superjump accurately since she overshoots her target every time

it's also super painful. she permanently lost her voice from screaming too much and cant speak any louder than a whisper, but she knows octarian and inklish sign languages so she gets along fine

her name is CB-808 bc that was the serial number printed on a livestock tag in her ear

BUBBLES ON THE OTHER HAND. not physically fucked up. mentally though................

his parents were some of the elites who deserted after hearing the Inkantation (in my headcanons it's something that can be resisted, but only temporarily). he wanted their approval more than anything so them leaving him was devastating

hes not actually a dude he just think he/him is a cool set of pronouns. heard someone say "him" once and absorbed it into his gender

he lied abt his age to become a scout/reconnaisance (how you spell that??), even if nobody was really gonna check given the situation after splat1

where CB is built like a tank, he's tall and lanky, and also scarily smart. combined with his lack of filter he'll literally just stare at you for 5 seconds before saying some shit like "oh i see. youre scared of us because of our competence and your perception of our alleigances compared to urs"

captain 3 is scared by him more than CB. as they should be.

his name is Bubbles because he has circular markings on his upper arms and CB is not very good at coming up with names (shes an amnesiac teenager give her a break)

theyre both 15 during octo expansion, and 20 by splatoon3

after reaching the surface they move in with flora (4) and his roommate bola (oc) to form the Leftovers Squad, an inksports team and maybe-gang

these two are wonderfully terrible influences and teach the two of them how to defy authority n shit, it's great, ill talk abt it more in their specific sections

CB mains the dynamo but plays it like a splat roller because she's so strong she can swing it with about that speed. Bubbles mains the e-liter and has nutty aim. the kind of duo that makes people realize theyre ex-soldiers

both of them are too obedient to authority, leftover habits from the military even if they don't fully remember their time there. CB is much worse in this regard, since she was more heavily conditioned to follow orders and Bubbles is observant enough to realize when theyre being taken advantage of

FLORA (agent 4, he/she used interchangeably)

part of the Leftovers Squad! a young punk squid that revels in rebellion and violence and showing people what's what

almost entirely deaf. he had pretty bad hearing to begin with, but loud raves without ear protection worsened it significantly. his hero headset functions as hearing aids but he doesnt usually wear them unless he's on NSS missions or patrols or w/e

came to inkopolis when she was 14, but it wasnt intentional. her parents were the kind of awful perfectionists that expected their children to be equally as perfect, so decided to leave flora in inkopolis bc she did awful in school

he was taken under Bola's fin (get it it's a fish pun theyre fish im hilarious) and became enamoured with the adrenaline-fueled, bloody-mouthed rush of fighting, in and out of inksports

the best way i can describe her is "violent for the sake of violence and gleeful about it". she starts a fight with someone twice her size just for the fun of attacking and taking a beating. probably something wrong with her. i love her with every fibre of my being

has absolutely zero respect or trust in authority -- especially adults, which includes Marie since she's 19 in splat2 and he's only 16

still goes along with her whole "hey go save the zapfish" spiel because A) she cant actually hear what marie is saying B) marie gave her some free fancy hearing aids so she GUESSES she has to return the favour somehow C) she wants to fight some octarian soldiers D) she wants to steal her own zapfish (she succeeds, it gets a tank in Leftover Squad's living room) and E) she thinks itll be REALLY funny to fuck with marie

shes right btw. its hilarious

she only follows orders when it's funnier than disobeying them. she puts zapfishes back in levels she wants to complete a second time. she teaches octolings how to play poker (and how to cheat at poker). she lets a squee-g splat her "to see what it feels like"

if callie wasn't missing marie would NOT put up with his bullshit, but alas.

respects agent 3 even less than marie, when they meet, since at least marie has a sense of humour

he's the one who suggests that CB and Bubbles move in with him and Bola after Octo Expansion. less out of his own goodwill and more out of a combination of morbid curiousity and a sense of "bola has a habit of taking weird inkfish under their fin, walking in with two soldiers will be really funny"

gets hypnoshaded 5 years post-splat2 (during the splat3 campaign) and has to be rescued by the leftover Leftovers (lmao) and Off the Hook. octavio doesnt really convince her to put them on, theres no realistic way he could do that, so he physically overpowers her and puts the shades on

he gets rescued tho! so it's all good and absolutely no interpersonal issues come from it i swear (lying)

Bola (they/them, not an agent)

another member of Leftovers Squad and, arguably, its leader

is about as comfortable with violence as flora (read: very comfortable) but, unlike him, doesn't enjoy it for its own sake. when they do a violence, it's for a specific aim and a purpose, even if that purpose seems inane or petty

theyre the leader of the leftovers mostly because theyre the only one with a goal or any sort of purpose. also because theyre by far the most charismatic of the bunch but mostly bc theyre the only one with any direction in life. the other three are happy to just help with that

(calling it a purpose is doing it too much justice, it's a grudge. a massive fucking grudge against Squidforce as a brand and an institution and a company. they want that thing obliterated)

when they first came to inkopolis (they were like 12), they werent a citizen of inkadia so they had no ID and weren't allowed to do official Squidforce battles, so they went to unofficial/illegal/unregulated turf wars to make some cash

this got shut down by squidforce

they decided "no. fuck this. fuck you, im gonna fuck every single one of you over, die." and swore vengeance about as dramatically as a then-13 year old could. luckily, bola was a very dramatic, kinda blobby 13 year old

they met flora when he came to inkopolis and introduced him to the concept of You Can Just Fight These People If You Don't Like Them

would have agreed to housing CB and Bubbles if Flora had just asked but this is fine they guess

theyll be the last to admit they have a compassionate streak, but they have a soft spot for the underbelly of inkopolis and everyone who lives there, most of which are underrepresented or downtrodden by the system that squidforce upholds

theyre an octoling but not an octarian (citizen of octaria, the nation that lost the great turf war and now lives in the domes) like CB and Bubbles are

instead, theyre a weird subspecies of octoling that went back in the water while the "normal" species of inkfish stayed on the surface. they still have most of the same features as an inkfish, like the shapeshifting, but have more aquatic adaptations like gills and razor sharp teeth and being able to swim in water unharmed (ik inkfish dying in water is only dubiously canon but for my headcanons normal inkfish dissolve like ingame if they fall into water)

they also have sepiism! better described in this post this means their ink/tentacle colours are limited to blacks and browns. their subspecies is more prone to this colour mutation than other inkfish since black is a pretty good camoflague colour if youre in the deep ocean. idk i wanted an excuse to make them look cool dont think abt it too hard

they absolutely despise proto (captain 3). aint no world where theyd trust the militaristic authority figure that orders around the two ex-soldiers theyre trying to teach how to be independent

not to mention the grudge they form against the captain after the hypnoshading incident that i will elaborate on i PROMISE its in the next section

aFTER I TALK ABOUT THE LEFTOVERS SQUAD AS A WHOLE. IF I CANT ESCAPE THEM NEITHER CAN YOU

when they meet, post octo expansion, the twins are 15 and the punks are 16, so theyre 20 and 21 respectively by the time splat3 rolls around

flora gets squidnapped just after splat3 campaign (which lasts like a day for reasons that will be evident once i get to neo 3 and "little" buddy), so proto and the squid sisters are in alterna monitoring the situation and doing cleanup while it happens. this will be relevant later. foreshadowing is a technique where--

a couple months after the twins move in, CB discovers inksports and makes the biggest saddest puppy dog eyes at the rest of the squad until they agree to making a league team together. it's also called the leftovers

CB and Flora love it because they enjoy physically fighting people (CB likes that she doesnt have to be permanently hurting people during it, Flora would like it better if there was a lil permanent injury tbh). Bubbles enjoys it because his sister enjoys it and also because he enjoys using his big brain to do sick predicts and snipe people from across the map where he's nice and safe. Bola only joins at first because telling the ex-soldier, who theyve been trying to convince that you dont need peoples permission to do things, "no" would be counterproductive. they hate every moment they have to fight in a squidforce battle. but then once the team gets well-known they realise that squidforce cant get rid of them anymore and uses their platform to absolutely troll the shit out of squidforce

like when they go on interviews and stuff they constantly mention how shitty squidforce is and "yeah i personally prefer [smaller organisation]'s inksports, they have way better maps and modes, squidforce just has a monopoly so..." and squidforce cant do shit bc theyre the charismatic face of this popular new team and itd be bad publicity

CB and Bubbles dont have real IDs cause theyre amnesiac teenagers who made up their own names. flora and bola get them fake IDs that claim CB stands for Courtney Blitz, making bubbles into Bubbles Blitz

CB often gets called Clam Blitz. CB does NOT appreciate this. Bubbles thinks it's hilarious and only answers people who call him "Blam Blitz" for like a week

Bubbles mains the E-liter but likes lots of different anchors, CB exclusively plays her "splat roller" (a dynamo swung really fast), Flora learnt how to play every weapon from the splat2 campaign and can play basically anything (but usually goes for something close-range so his bloodlust gets put to good use. heavy weapons tend to turn into bludgeons in his hands) i dont know what bola would use tbh. i wanna say a splatana but this is set mainly in splat2 so they wouldnt have those. if anyone is still reading this far pls make suggestions in the notes 👍

CB and Bubbles dont have any sense of money (in my hcs, the domes work more on a communal property + bartering system) so they have no reason to object to pearl giving them inordinate amounts of money. bola and flora have to have a conversation where they ask whether pearl is their sugar daddy. this is agonising for everyone involved.

they used the money to buy an unreasonably large bed that they all sleep on together bc theyre my ocs i make the rules

i promised it was proto next. here *throws them like a javelin through the screen

Proto (captain 3, they/them)

i shld probably start at the beginning for them bc their actions through all the games are the catalyst for a Lot of plot

they were raised in calamari county, their parents were friends with callie and maries parents so they hung out a bunch when they were kids. basically the third squid sister, though they get way too bad stage fright to become idols like the other two

hanging out with those two so much also meant a lot of exposure to cap'n cuttlefish. proto idolised him to no end, decided they wanted to be just like him when they grew up

when the squisters went to inkopolis to become idols, proto became their manager. they were also recruited alongside callie and marie into the NSS when craig decided to reform it. ive never actually watched a playthrough of splat1 so i dont actually know how the plot works other than "craig is there and then callie & marie are there" so the next part is probably gonna be more canon parallel than canon adjacent

also because im just making up random shit about splat1. thats probably also a factor

in this version of canon, the octarians dont steal every zapfish you grab at the end of the levels, only the ones used for the boss levels. all the rest are ones owned by the octarians, mostly bred in captivity cause where tf else are you gonna get the power for running the domes

proto isnt an active agent in splat1, it's callie and marie who go in and do the fighting while proto is the one coordinating them and making plans. their plan is to steal all these extra zapfish to strain the domes' resources and then perform the inkantation during the final confrontation to make the maximum number of soldiers (especially elites) desert, all so they become incapable of stealing more zapfish or launching a retaliatory strike

and cap'n cuttlefish approves so surely that means that this is a good plan and any suffering caused is a necessary evil and it's not like this paranoid old man has any biases or grudges that would impede his judgement. surely not

side note: instead of inner agent 3, CB and Bubbles have to fight inner agents 1 & 2. inner-callie targets CB and inner-marie targets Bubbles because i think the roller-charger parallel is cool

the plan works! elites and soldiers desert in droves, neutering the octarian military capability, and octaria has to focus what resources it has on not starving (which it barely achieves, theres a famine regardless) rather than attacking back. it also creates the conditions for bubbles' parents to leave him and for CB to undergo the extremely painful and inhumane procedures to become an enhanced supersoldier but proto doesnt learn this til octo expansion

the squid sister stories proceed basically like canon, but proto dedicates themselves to agent work while marie focuses on the radio and callie focuses on acting. theyre out investigating the metro with craig when callie gets squidnapped so they dont find out until octo expansion finishes (like a few weeks after she gets rescued)

SPEAKING OF OCTO EXPANSION. PROTO IS THERE THE WHOLE TIME

they dont fight CB and Bubbles, theyre a terrible fighter and a bit of a wimp (and those two are kinda terrifying), instead they watch when they get overpowered and captured by a squad of sanitized octolings (those two got sent to investigate since people kept vanishing when they went that way). they still get the same "youre down here because of me" guilt since they chose to watch rather than intervene

they later got into the metro proper and found those same people but like super amnesia'd and a little traumatised already, even if theyre not sure how much of that was already there, and then they get even MORE fucked up because the metro is fucking Like That

also guilt bc they dont actually help with the tests beyond advice thru the comms. can never have too much of that

they get CB and Bubbles out of the blender by removing their special limiter and spamming splashdown on the top til it breaks, getting exhausted and passing out afterwards, letting tartar control them

the hole in the ceiling gets made by CB throwing a bit of broken blender really hard

usually they would get their ass kicked by either CB or Bubbles, let alone both at once, but the two of them are so exhausted and fucked up and a little injured that the fight is closer than anyone would like. the fight ends when CB grabs them by the ankle and slams them into the floor. think that one scene from the avengers with the hulk and loki

unfortunately, since CB is way too scared and full of adrenaline to properly regulate her strength, she completely crushes their ankle and lower leg. since it doesnt splat them, they dont respawn, and everyone is too preoccupied with destroying the NILs statue to get them to a hospital, the leg wasnt salvageable and they had to get it amputated below the knee

theyre an ambulatory wheelchair user, after that. sometimes crutches instead, but they tend to go for the chair in alterna bc crutches and ice do NOT mix trust me on this. i only had crutches for a couple months but i fell on my ass SO much

anyway they reconnect with callie and marie and things are fine and good and theyre totally not avoiding the twins because marina kept updating them on relevant files she found during OE and theyre struggling to reconcile the idea that these are enemies with the undeniable truth that nobody has had a greater negative impact on their lives than them.

probably would be worse if marina told them the twins were 15. good thing she doesnt!

oh yeah i forgot ages. proto is 17 in splat1, 19 in splat2/OE and 24 by splat3

anyway yeah in their efforts to avoid the twins so that they dont have to think about the wide-reaching consequences of their past actions, they dont actually leave them with any way to contact them while they go check out the Crater. itll only be a quick mission, right? no need to worry about it

alterna happens

then they and the squid sisters come back to cuttlefish cabin to find it completely empty, then discover that flora is still in the hospital after having the shit kicked out of him because he was hypnoshaded and they didnt have any low-tide ink because marie wasnt there and they couldnt contact her and they tried and they tried and why didnt anyone answer and

theres a big cool dramatic confrontation where CB and Bubbles reveal they got all their mem cakes and know exactly who proto is and what they did and would have forgiven if they had been honest but now they cant trust their captain and formally quit the NSS

honestly theres more stuff for proto after this but i ahvent actually figured it out yet.

personality-wise, theyre overconfident in their own abilities and underconfident in the abilities of everyone else, they struggle to give control of anything over to someone else. because why would they allow someone else to be in charge when they know that their own plans are automatically so much better?

as they learn about the actual consequences of their splat1 plan via CB and Bubbles' descriptions of their mem cakes, this confidence falters a bit. they spent so long with that plan being one of their greatest achievements that they cant reconcile with the reality that it had devastating consequences for innocent people

this is not at all helped by Flora, who makes no secret of his opinion on proto. at first he's just fucking with them for the sake of fucking with them, the same way he does for marie, but it gets more antagonistic when proto reacts with genuine anger rather than the good humour marie does. flora absolutely does not take kindly to people trying to exert authority over her so she aims to piss off proto at every opportunity

it is very easy for flora to piss proto off

OKAY I HIT THE CHARACTER LIMIT ILL MAKE A SECOND POST FOR THE REST