#he's insensitive but overall a good guy | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

trippinsorrows · 15 days

Text

with me + part five

authors notes: hi! you guys are so freaking awesome and sweet and like gawww, so grateful for such kind words and support!

so i realized that i used the wwe names for jimmy, jey, naomi, etc. that was my bad. i'll be using their real names moving forward for the sake of flow and consistency.

also keep forgetting to state that current timeline is 2023. like, this chapter is fall 2023. everything, so far, post breakup for joe and reader has been 2023. i plan to follow that timeline, so make of that what you will.

i hope this chapter isn't too boring to people!

warnings: fluff, language, suggestive content

song inspo: with me by destiny’s child

words: 5.7k

tags: @pixiedust4000 @southerngirl41 @yolobloggers @msbigredmachine @wonderingfashion

“So, are we just going to continue to ignore each other?”

You’re not sure how, but you sense his presence long before he even says anything. And instantly, your mood is dampened, not that you were in the best spirits to begin with. You didn’t get much sleep the night before, for reasons you cannot fathom. But, it’s annoying as hell, especially when you have an ex turned fuck buddy who can’t seem to get a fucking clue ready to confront you outside of your daughter's preschool.

Sighing heavily, you pull out your phone to play around with your lock screen, because you really don’t have anyone you need to message in this moment. But, he doesn’t need to know that. “Not now, Amir.”

“Because you’re so busy?”

“Because I don’t care.” One thing you’ve learned about yourself over the years is that once you’re annoyed with someone, there’s no filter on your mouth and you cannot be held liable for what comes out of it. “Now, please, go away.”

He just looks at you, sun shining down on his waves and chocolate complexion. It’s unfortunate outside of his looks that he’s an overall trash partner. Decent friend. Shitty boyfriend. “You always do that shit, you know? Pull and then push. It was kinda cute when we were kids. Now, it’s just annoying.”

You were standing outside of Callie’s preschool, waiting for the kids to be dismissed, waiting for your little girl to come running out with a smile on her face, request on the tip of her tongue. It’s usually something small like wanting to show you what she learned in school. Lately, it’s been the same.

Can I call Joe?

A part of you feels bad for the amount of calls he probably gets in one day just from Callie alone. She took your offer for her to call him whenever he was available to another degree, not that he minded. He took as many as he could, listening to her talk and talk about whatever happened to be on her mind in that moment. And you let her.

What kind of mother would you be if you stopped her from talking to her dad? Even if she doesn’t know that’s who he is.

It’s been almost two weeks since he left, and she clearly misses him. You often overhear her asking about when he’s coming again. You also receive those questions. It’s something you and him discuss via text but haven’t landed on a date yet.

Communicating with Joe is also something that’s still an adjustment. It’s not as difficult or uncomfortable, because it’s almost entirely about Callie, but still.

“If that’s the case, why do you bother?” You manage a less insensitive tone, even if you know good and well you’ve never led this man on. Amir has always heard and believed what he wanted to believe. That was the problem. He never listened to you.

“Because I fucking care about your annoying ass, duh.”

His delivery, the tone, and cadence. You laugh. It’s probably inappropriate at the moment, but it does bring a smile to his face as well. “Softie.”

He moves closer to you, arms crossed. “I’m serious, Y/N. You know how I feel about you. How I’ve always felt about you.”

Leaning against your car, you respond as calmly as you can, “and you know I’ve always made it clear I’m not looking for anything more. We had our time, Amir. It didn’t work out. Now we just help each other get off. I don’t know why you keep trying to make it more than what it is.”

“A date. One date,” he implores. A waste of time, because your answer is no. It’s been no and will continue to be no. “You haven’t even given ‘adult’ us a chance.”

There’s a headache in your near future, one that’s reminiscent of past ones only Amir seems to induce. It’s interesting how he went from indifferent asshole to clingy asshole. You almost miss the earlier version.

Chocolate was supposed to be good for the soul, so why was he so draining to yours?

“Amir…..” You try to pick your words carefully and be mindful of your tone. “This is getting real old. I think we need to stop messing around, because we’re clearly not on the same page.” The next part is something you probably shouldn’t share, but you call yourself trying to be open and clear. “Calista’s dad is back, and we’re trying to navigate coparenting, so—”

“What?” He stops you, shock written over his handsome face. “Are you serious? You’re letting that motherfucker back in ya’ll life?”

This time, it’s his tone that jumps, accusatory and harsh. You immediately grow defensive. “You don’t know him.”

“God, why do you defend him like this? Is it that Stockholm Syndrome shit? He left you. He left you and his kid. What kind of man does that? And you’re just letting him back in? Just gonna jump back on his dick? Letting him around Callie? She’s old enough now to remember when he decides to leave again. I don’t get how you don’t see that. You her mama. You supposed to look out for her.”

And now, you’re done trying to be nice, trying to be mindful that he’s still another human being with feelings. Because one thing you never have and never will tolerate is someone insinuating you’re not looking out for your daughter. You’re not perfect, but you know that you’re a devoted, dutiful mother.

“It’s obvious comprehension isn’t your strong suit, which I should have known based off the fact that I always had to help your dumbass do your homework back when we were in school.” All bets….off. “My baby? My life? My pussy? All my business. You don’t get to judge the decisions I make for my child nor the role that her father has in her life. That’s between me and him. Keep your nose out my fucking business. Don’t worry about me hitting you up anymore. That’s dead.”

Your rose will do just fine. Hell, there’s gotta be at least one other eligible bachelor in town you could fuck if absolutely need be. But, you know damn well you won’t be messaging Amir anymore. He comes with too much baggage. It’s not worth it. You refuse to let a nigga whose height starts with a 5 stress you out.

True to his nature, he starts gaslighting you. Typical Amir. “There you go overreacting and shit.”

“No, I’m not. You’re trying to question my parenting when you don’t know shit about shit.”

He sucks his teeth, rolling his eyes. This was why people used to say you had a temper in high school. Because of him. Because he loved to tell people what you said but never what he did. Always tried to make you feel crazy. Truth be told, you’re stupid for even opening that door with him again, even if it’s just for sex.

“Whatever, Y/N.” He turns to walk back over to his car. You really wish his damn sister would change her work schedule so she can pick up her son instead of this asshole. You’ll catch a case fucking with his dumbass. “I’ll wait for your text.”

He’ll be waiting. “Fuck you, Amir.”

You should be more mindful of your language at a damn preschool, but Amir has managed to get under your skin, something that hasn’t happened since you were in college. You know a good part of it is because you’re sleep deprived, but you also know it’s partially because of his dig at Joe.

You understand the optics seem to indicate that he’s a deadbeat, but you’ve expressed to Amir countless times that it was a complicated situation. He didn’t know the specifics, but you made it clear Joe didn’t abandon you or Callie. That’s just the narrative Amir keeps running with, and now with Joe being back in your life and especially in Callie’s life, you’re not gonna let it continue.

“Mommy!” Your head snaps to see and feel Callie run up to and hug her body against your leg. “Boo!”

Shit. Did she hear any of that? You hope not and paste on a smile that’s hopefully authentic enough to sell that everything is fine. “Callie Bear.” You lean down and pick her up, kissing her cheek. “Did you have a good day?”

She nods and starts explaining the activities while you buckle her into her carseat, trying your best to calm down and not give away your high stress levels in that moment. Callie is super perceptive, and you don’t want to ruin the obviously great day she’s had.

And sure enough, as you’re putting on your seatbelt and starting up the car, the golden question is shouted with pre-excitement.

“Can I call Joe when I get home?”

Smiling at her through the rearview mirror, you answer, “yes, you can.”

In the almost two weeks that have passed since Joe’s departure, not one day has passed that Callie doesn’t asks to call Joe or just outright helps yourself to her iPad to call him. Sometimes several times a day during the weekends. And she’ll talk to him for as long as she can, as long as he’s able to hold a conversation with her. You’ll give it to him, he’s done an exceptional job handling all of it. On some level, you wonder if you should set some restrictions or time parameters, but how do you limit how much a daughter interacts with her father?

Callie rejoices at your approval and requests for you to put on the Disney playlist you made specifically for her on Spotify.

The drive, no more than 10 minutes, consists of the two of you singing along to a few Disney tunes. It’s a bit of a tradition between you, a way to bond via your shared love of Disney. A love that ties not only you to her but to the women before you. Your mom and grandma.

Arriving to your apartment complex, you decide to leave your work bag in the car. It’s Thanksgiving break. You most likely won’t do any work until the day or two before having to return.

You do carry Callie on your hip and swing her bag around your shoulder, walking the two of you up to the second floor. Sometimes, you regret not accepting the apartment they had available on the first floor. The older you get, the less your joints like to cooperate, your almost 15 years of cheer probably taking a toll on your body.

And just age in general.

But your regret quickly turns to a level of gratitude when you reach your door.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

Dropping Callie to the floor, she’s of the complete opposite reaction, gasping and smiling broadly.

“Look mommy, more boxes!”

The smile is strained but you manage to maintain it, sticking the key in the door, unlocking and pushing it open.

She walks in, and you place her bag on the floor near the door, one foot keeping it open. “What do you think it is?” She asks as you pick them up and bring them inside, kicking the door closed behind you.

You know exactly what it is. What it all is.

Gifts.

From Joe.

In his absence, you’ve had several deliveries waiting outside your door when you got home from work and picking Callie up. And all of them were for Callie, gifts of variable nature but all of them things she loves. Disney, stuffed animals, dolls. Essentially anything that could make a 4 year old feel like she’s won the lottery.

She’s literally bouncing on her toes, already with her kids scissors in her hands.

When the hell did she grab those?

“Can I open them, please? Please?”

A part of you wants to say no, save them for christmas gifts, though you’re almost entirely certain he’ll have another set of gifts for her then. And it seems almost cruel to make her wait over a month when she knows there are presents waiting for her.

“Sure, but….” You scamper into the kitchen and grab your adult size scissors, returning and showing her. “Let mommy cut them, and then you open them.”

You don’t need this child accidentally cutting herself. Again, medical bills are not in the budget, especially around the holidays. Money’s already tight to some extent.

Not that….not that it’d be much of an issue with Callie. You’d never fix your moth to ask Joe for anything, especially not financially, but if it was something involving your daughter, you’re pretty sure your tune would change. It would still bother you to ask for help, but you know he’d have zero qualms helping you out.

He’d probably pay for it in its entirety.

Your proposition pleases her. “Okay!” She places her scissors on the nearest flat surface and sits down, legs crossed, bouncing impatiently.

Chuckling, you glide your scissors across, careful not to open anything. You want to save that moment for her and your plan.

Once done, you place the scissors on the kitchen island and reach for your phone. “Wait before you open, baby.”

Immediately, she frowns and scowls, “whyyyyyy.”

Rolling your eyes, you sit on the floor too to be at her eye level and open Snapchat. “Okay, now.”

You hit record and watch intermittently through and outside of the screen as she opens the boxes, smile permanent and excitement palpable. She especially gets excited when she pulls out a freaking box of the new Little Mermaid and all of her sisters. More….dolls.

“Look, mommy!!!” She then grabs a doll who has a surprisingly similar complexion and curl pattern to hers, holding it against her face. “She looks like me!”

“She does,” you agree, realizing it’s a customized American Girl doll. Damn. Those things can run up to $200. You weren’t stupid, knowing Joe’s probably spent more money on Callie alone in two weeks than you’ve spent all year, but just how much has he spent?

It’s when she opens the final box, surrounded by nothing but toys and packaging that you’re already dreading having to stuff all this in your trash bin, “what do you say, baby?”

Callie hugs the American Doll close to her chest and directs to the camera, “thank you, Joe!” She gasps and adds on, “I miss you, but mommy said I can call you tonight!”

You hold back your giggle and agree, adding, “after she helps mommy clean up all this.”

Her smile drops, pout returning, “I hate cleaning.”

Snickering, you mutter, “you and me too, sis.”

You end the video, save it and enter Joe’s chat to attach the video, adding a message.

You: You’re spoiling her, Joe. 😫 This is the third delivery this week alone.

You’re able to clean up some of the packaging and throw it away before your phone chimes with his response. Callie has grabbed the amount you expected her to grab and discard. Her attention span is trash at the moment. She’s a child surrounded by toys. It’s expected.

Joe: She's my little girl. Of course, I’m gonna spoil her.

Joe: There should be another one by the weekend. If not, let me know.

You sigh aloud, this man is gonna have your place looking like freaking KB Toys.

You: Omg

You: ….You know I live in an APARTMENT, right? Just where the hell am I supposed to put all of this stuff?

It’s sweet he’s so keen on gifting her these things, but he also has to realize you’re not living in a mansion in Malibu. And despite having a child who leaves messes wherever she goes, you do your best to keep your place tidy.

If you didn’t know Joe, didn’t see how easily he connected with Callie, you’d maybe accuse him of trying to “buy” her love. But, you know that’s not the case, know that he clearly just wants to make her happy. You just hope he knows that he does that all by himself, no gifts needed.

Joe: She has a whole playroom.

You: Yes. Playroom, not Toys-R-Us.

Joe: 🤷🏽‍♂️

You: 🙄 You’re aggravating.

He doesn’t say anything after that, so you decide to finish cleaning because at some point your child wandered off, most likely to her playroom to add all her new stuff with her slightly new stuff. Taking advantage of the alone time, you also decide to text your mom to figure out thanksgiving plans. Specifically, what drink, dessert, and/or condiments she wants you to bring because you damn well know she won’t ask you to cook.

She still hasn’t forgiven you for that accidental fire that one year.

And it’s when you’re sitting on the sofa, also starting to think about black friday plans that your mind wanders, your anxiety grows out of nowhere.

You’ve taken the approach to not have any say in Joe’s relationship with Callie, to intervene only when absolutely necessary. And as that hasn’t hasn’t occurred, you’ve not done so. You let him and her do their thing. But a small part of you wonders if you should put some parameters around Callie. She calls him several times a day, Joe, who spends more time on the road than there are days in the year.

You know he wants to establish a relationship with her, but that can be done with boundaries. Anxiety getting the best of you, you grab your phone and shoot him a text.

You: Is it okay if she calls you today? I know it’s been a lot, and if too much, just let me know. I’ll talk to her.

His reply comes almost immediately this time around.

Joe: She can call me 100 times. I don’t care. I wanna talk to her.

And instantly, the anxiety is almost non-existent. Deep down, you know this is what he wants. He wants to have interaction with her, and incessant Facetime calls are the only option with his crazy schedule, so it’s what he takes. It’s what he wants.

Pleased and no longer stressing over an issue that was never an issue, you lock your phone and place it back at your side. A quick glance at the clock reminds you that it’s almost time for Callie’s bath.

A couple minutes later, your phone dings with a text notification. From Joe.

You open it right away.

Joe: This weekend. Don’t tell her. I wanna surprise her.

You have to read it a couple of times before it registers. He’s coming back in town. This weekend. As in less than two days. You’re excited at this, happy as well. For Callie. But also, for yourself. Why? You haven’t a clue, well, maybe there’s a slight clue, but you don’t want to acknowledge that right now.

You simply want to focus on the fact that you’re happy your daughter will be happy her dad is town.

Who cares that you will be too.

________

Joe’s just walked out the bathroom, having showered and almost entirely prepped for bed when his phone rings.

Moving over to the hotel nightstand, he’s surprised when he sees Callie’s smiling face filling his screen. A glance at the clock in the corner of his phone reads 11:06, which means it’s 9:06 her time. Well past her bedtime. What is she doing up?

Curious, and regardless, he answers the phone. It takes a second for the connection to finalize when it does, he’s instantly smiling, mostly because it’s Callie but also because of her setup.

It’s obvious she’s under a blanket, a flashlight in the corner illuminating the space, a stuffed animal in her lap.

She’s the first to speak, her voice both loud and hushed in a way only she can do. “hi!”

“Hi, sweetheart.” He can’t help but ask almost immediately, “what are you doing up?” As he told you, he’d talk to her 24/7 if he could. And even though this call is unexpected and appreciated, she’s also a 4-year-old kid who needs her sleep.

Her little shoulders lift in a shrug. “I can’t sleep.”

Nodding, he follows up with, “where’s mommy?”

“Sleeping,” she answers with a level of disappointment. “I don’t wanna wake her up. She had a bad day.”

“Really?” Joe moves around so he’s laying on the bed, on his side, phone propped on the nightstand. “How do you know?”

“Cause–cause she was yelling at Mr. Amir, and–and he was yelling at her too.”

Joe hasn’t a clue why, but that instantly upsets him. Who the fuck is this Amir person, and who the hell does he think he is to raise his voice at you? Around Callie of all people.

“Who is Mr. Amir?” Joe hates asking her all of these questions, but it’s also hard not to.

“The basketball coach at the school for big kids.” She’s caressing the fur of the stuffed animal in her lap. “Aunt Mariah said he was mommy’s boyfriend when she was a big kid.”

“Really.” It’s not really a question as much as it is a general statement. Joe doesn’t know why he’s suddenly annoyed, not with Callie, but the entire situation. And definitely this Amir person even more now. He’s an ex. He dated you. It shouldn’t make him feel any type of way, but it does, and he hates that shit.

He hates a man he’s never even met.

“I don’t like Mr. Amir,” Callie suddenly announces with a scowl. Same, kid. Same. Joe looks at her, seeing so much of you in her right now. He knows you’ve mentioned how you see a lot of him in Callie, but when she’s glowering like this, she’s 100% her mama’s daughter. “He made mommy mad today.”

“Has he ever been mean to you?” Joe has to ask, because he’s also realizing a part of him is upset at the thought of Callie being around men. You’re a grown woman and allowed to do what you want, but bringing men around Callie….that’s an absolute fucking no.

He doesn’t give a damn if he’s only been in her life for two weeks or two minutes. She’s his daughter, and outside of himself and family, who you date should be kept far away from his daughter.

Joe mentally prepares to have this conversation—potential argument—with you.

“No,” she answers, slightly calmer. “He doesn’t like Disney.” She says it like it’s a sin, like it’s almost inconceivable for anyone to not like Disney.

Playing along with this, Joe gasps, grateful for the distraction that is Callie’s intricacies. “He sucks.”

“Yeah, he sucks,” she agrees, nodding. Joe has to keep his smile to himself. “Do you say bad words?”

The randomness and topic change take him by surprise, but he’s learning that you weren’t exaggerating when you said Callie was filled with incessant, unrelated questions. “Sometimes.”

“Mommy does too,” she reveals. “Grandma says Jesus doesn’t want us to say bad words, but I heard grandma call Ms. Beverly from church a bitch.”

At that, Joe can’t help his laughter. Her delivery, the punctuation she puts on the word ‘bitch’, to how she seems to not even process that she’s just said a bad word. It’s hilarious. “Well, sometimes grown ups say things we shouldn’t, and you just make sure you’re not saying things you shouldn’t.”

“Okay,” she agrees, almost sheepishly. And then, a yawn. “I’m sleepy.”

Joe knew she was from the moment she called, but he had a feeling she just needed to get the whole Amir thing off her chest. She doesn’t seem like the child who likes to or even can hold things in, which is preferable. “You should try to go to sleep then, sweetheart.”

She wipes at her eyes, expression suddenly saddened. “When are you coming back? You’ve been gone a really long time.”

He’s torn in this moment, wanting to tell her that he’ll be there this weekend but also not wanting to get her hopes up in case something comes up. There’s few things that could come up to keep him from going to see her, wrestling be damned, but still. Life has a way of lifing. So, he goes with the safe yet disappointing answer.

“Soon, I promise.” She’s clearly indifferent to this answer and doesn’t say anything, instead shifts on her bed, moving to lay down. “You should really try to sleep, Callie.”

Eyes starting to blink, clearly her exhaustion catching up with her, she asks, softly, “will you stay with me till I fall asleep?”

Her request tugs at his heartstrings. “Of course, sweetie.”

Seemingly pleased by this answer, she closes her eyes, and he watches. He stares at this tiny human whose existence he only learned about not even a month ago yet would do anything to make happy. Joe thinks about Callie constantly, finds himself smiling at the thought of some of the Snapchat videos you’d send him of her in all of her randomness. She was so entertaining, so full of life, a genuinely happy kid. His kid.

And it’s why he’s going to find out more about this Amir guy and why Amir is having any type of interaction with his daughter.

________

Joe: You should know she called me last night.

You’re in the middle of perusing early Black Friday deals, needing to budget for that now and taking full advantage of Callie being down for a nap. However, you frown, reading his message, not understanding why he’s stating the obvious. You were there when she asked for the iPad and when she returned it after the call was finished.

You: I’m aware….

Joe: No. After that.

Your eyebrows arch together, confused.

You: What? when?

Joe: It was 11 my time, so 9 yours.

You gasp, typing away, wondering how the hell she snuck in your room and managed a whole ass Facetime call without you hearing shit. Were you really that damn exhausted?

You: What the hell was she doing up at 9? What did she say? No wonder she was crabby this morning.

Joe: She said she couldn’t sleep.

You: A bad dream?

Joe: Naw, said you got into an argument with someone named Amir earlier that day and didn’t want to bother you….I think it was bothering her.

Your stomach twists at that. You had a feeling she’d overheard the incident with Amir, but you prayed that you were wrong. Clearly, you weren’t.

Joe: Who is Amir?

You pause at Joe’s question. Why is he asking this? What business of his is Amir? Irritation washes over you, but is waned by realizing he’s probably asking because of Callie. As her father, he has a right to know if you’re with someone, because for all he knows that someone could be around his daughter.

You really are trying with this co-parenting thing.

You: A lot of things. A pain in the ass being the most recent one.

You: We dated in high school and college on and off. He’s the basketball coach at our local high school.

It’s more information than probably what’s necessary, but there’s this small, conflicting part of you that wants him to know you have no ties to Amir. That there are no feelings there and haven’t been for literal years.

That you’re not with Amir.

Joe: Are you dating him again? Why were you arguing around Callie?

The interrogating is getting old, but you’re trying to play nice. Coparent peacefully. His delivery is off, but he has valid questions.

Sorta.

You: No. We just….we fuck around from time to time. He tries to make it more than what it is. Was about that.

You: I was waiting for her to be released from pre-school, and he picks up his nephew for his sister. It just happened, and I didn’t know/mean for her to hear.

Honestly, you’re more worried and concerned about Callie and how to approach this with her without making her feel like she was in trouble. Yes, she knows damn well she shouldn’t be on the iPad that late at night, but can you really be mad at her for talking to her dad about something that upset her?

Joe: You bring him around her?

You absolutely can be mad though at her dad who’s about to make you cuss him out next too. All of the questions are becoming too much. He gets to be concerned, but he doesn’t get to micromanage and invade.

Feeling petty and recalcitrant, you type out a reply that you should probably think twice before sending.

But fuck it.

You: No. I only ride his dick at his place. 🙂

There’s a small ounce of regret for being so crude, but not a whole lot. He knows how you are, or he should, at least.

To some extent.

But your phone rings again, and you find yourself staring mouth agape at his reply.

Joe: You may ride his dick, but you had my kid. Clearly, only one of us knows how to please you.

Your face is burning hot, and you hate how you shift in your seat. Why the fuck would he say that? You want to say it’s inappropriate, but you also opened this door.

Is he entirely wrong?

Slapping away that wild ass thought, you focus on the real conversation at hand here. It takes a couple of rewrites before you ultimately decide to change the subject.

You: I’ve never bought any man around her and never will that’s not you, if that’s what you’re asking.

You’re grateful to see he’s also agreeing to change the subject.

Joe: It is. Thank you.

Rolling your eyes, you send a text back, getting back to being annoyed at his 21 Questions. This is a two-way street, and since he’s opened this door, why not?

You: You know that goes both ways though. I don’t want her around any bitches.

Joe: Seriously?

Joe: There’s no one for me to bring her around.

You…..you don’t know how to feel about that, don’t know how to feel about the bit of relief you feel at this message. Why should you feel relieved? Even if there was, that’s his business, and he’s allowed to….do whatever it is that he does.

It reminds you and brings you to your next topic.

You: What about your wife? We need to figure that out as well. She’s eventually going to need to know about Calista and will probably be around her at some point. I get she’s your wife, but I’m Callie’s mother, I need to be there whenever you wanna introduce Callie. I need to be involved in that process as well.

He doesn’t reply.

________

Joe doesn’t really get mad.

Not often at least and definitely not outwardly.

It’s always been his thing to never let anyone have access to that “button” that triggers his anger, and for the most part, it works well.

Except for when it comes to you.

You’ve always been able to trigger many things for him, anger being one of them.

He knows he should have spoken to you in person about the situation, or even over the phone. But with the craziness of his schedule and differing time zones, he just decided to message you, and while it didn’t go horribly, it didn’t go great. He knows you’re annoyed with him.

Hence your crudity.

Joe also refuses to admit that the thought of you fucking this kid pisses him the fuck off, even though you’re not together, even though he has no right to be upset.

But goddamn that doesn’t make him any less upset or annoyed at the thought of someone else touching you.

“Uce?” Jon asks, standing at the door before inventing himself in Joe’s locker room for this week’s Smackdown. “You ready to talk man?”

At that, Joe looks confused. “Talk about what?”

“Whatever it is that got you all worked up.” The twins have always been very perceptive, even back when they were all kids. Joe might be good at hiding his frustration from others but not them. The difference between Jon and Josh though has always been Josh has the wherewithal to not say anything.

Jon hasn’t caught on to that just yet.

“I’m fine,” Joe dismisses, hoping it’s enough to dead the conversation, even though he knows better.

“Lie detector determined that was a goddamn lie.” Jon can be pushy, but he means well, and truthfully, Joe doesn’t have a strong desire to outright shut down this conversation. A different perspective is always beneficial.

Usually.

So, he explains it all, starting with his call with Callie and ending with the text exchange between him and you.

“I see,” Jon nods, clearly absorbing all of this information. Finally, he concludes, “so you’re jealous.”

That’s the first thing to evoke a genuine laugh out of Joe since his exchange with Y/N. “I’m not jealous.”

“And I’m not a twin,” Jon dismisses. “Look, Uce, it’s obvious you still got feelings for ole girl. You ask me, I don’t think you ever got over her—”

“I didn’t ask you.”

“--Now you sitting up here annoyed cause she fucking Coach Carter nephew instead of doing something about it.” Joe rolls his eyes. “I mean have you even told her about you and J—”

“No,” he interrupts, swiftly. “Not yet, at least.”

Nodding, Jon speaks again after a minute of silence. “All I’m saying is ya’ll got the history, got the connection, got the kid too! Don’t see why you need to be letting Jesus Shuttlesworth steal your girl.”

At that, Joe chuckles. One thing his cousins will always be good for, especially Jon, is comedic relief. Even some sound advice from time to time.

“Thanks.”

Joe is, surprisingly, thankful for the equally surprising advice from his cousin. He’s not entirely sure if he’s really jealous or just overreacting for a reason he hasn’t quite uncovered, but he is starting to lean more on the side of he does still have some level of feelings for Y/N.

It’s not a complete shock. He had a feeling when he reacted so strongly to just seeing your picture. It was the whole Callie situation and finding out how you kept her from him that made his vision murky.

But, as his relationship with her strengthens, the clearer he can see.

The clearer his feelings are becoming. Now. it’s just a matter of figuring out what to do with said feelings.

And find out where you stand as well.

Joe remains quiet, thinking more and more how this might end up being an eventful trip.

#roman reigns x black!reader #roman reigns x black!oc #roman reigns #roman reigns fic #black writers #arisnotebook

114 notes · View notes

blossomthepinkbunny · 3 months

Text

Poor rendition of queer characters in HH and HB

Here I am again talking about queer representation in Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss, this time just more generally. Because it's always a little weird to me when people claim HH/HB to have good queer representation, when in actuality most of the queer characters are either just blatant stereotypes or get mishandled somehow. And with Helluva Boss recently winning the Queertys - Web series reward I think that this is probably a pretty good time to acknowledge that kind of stuff (as people have done before).

TW: Sexual assault, R@pe (when referring to the actions of characters)

Blitzø (Pansexual): is very sexual and seen on screen multiple times either having sex or just having had sex. Pretty much fits the general stereotype of queer men always being sexual and also the stereotype of pansexuals just sleeping with everybody. Like, he literally screwed the mutual Ex of his coworkers even though he knew how much that guy hurt them.

Stolas (Gay): also mostly sexual (from how he was introduced) and he is in a pretty terrible "relationship" with Blitzø, which includes coercion, SA, Power dynamics and fetishization. Another very sex-driven queer man. Also just great proof for the people assuming that queer relationships are inherently predatory, unhealthy and never work out.

Moxxie (Bisexual): is often forced into a very feminine role because even in relationships with women, queer men always have to be pointed out to be feminine and putting a guy in a dress is funny I guess.

Fizzarolli & Asmodeus (Queer): they're actually better than a lot of the other characters here but there is still some of that uneven power dynamic going on with them and there are obvious issues with their relationship. Overall they aren't too bad though. They didn't get that much sexual focus and what they got is kinda warranted since Ozzie is the Lust demon. But there is that one scene with Fizz stepping out of his car with Dildo confetti canons (I think) and that was sorta weird, since in an episode before that they presented Crimson as being homophobic and stereotypical for assuming queer men are all obsessed with dicks. Which is just interesting because thats most of the queer men in Vivzepops stories.

Chaz (Queer): just a sexually abusive asshole because we definitely needed more predatory queer men in this show.

Sally May (Trans mtf): basically the single recognized trans character in both shows and she only had one line. After that they made fan merch for her which consisted of her in a bikini with her bulge being drawn pretty visibly (multiple times). Of course there's nothing wrong with Trans people who don't have surgery but it's just a tiny bit weird to me that fanservice merchandise is what she got reduced to, when something like that wasn't even the joke of the only line she had in the show and because she hasn't recieved any kind of focus after that.

Angel Dust (Gay): now there is a lot of stuff that could be said about Angel. On one hand he is another very sexual gay man whose screentime often just consists of sex jokes and references. On the other hand that's a big point for his character. How he tries to act confident in his sexuality when in reality it's the main source of his problems. Though he does often harass other men in the show and that's just so unnecessary. Talking about Angel mostly leads into discussing if he is good representation for SA victims or not, which is something I don't want to talk about that much because I feel like it's not my place to judge that as someone who never has experienced SA. I'm gonna say that I do find Viv's treatment of him outside of the show insensitive (with the pro-shipping, diminishing Valentino as an Abuser and general sexualization of the characters) but as far as the portrayal of him in the show goes I've heard different opinions and you should read the discussion's of actual r@pe survivors about this topic if you want to know about more about it.

Husk (Queer): I don't have anything to say about Husk. He is a very refreshing queer man in these show's and there is nothing bad about him I could think of right now.

Valentino (Queer): for him I mostly want to talk about how he is treated outside of the show which doesn't sit right with me. He is a villian in HH so it's understandable that he is gonna do effed up stuff. I also like that the show tries to make a point about how men get sexually assaulted too (wether they succeeded in that inside the show I'm not gonna judge too hard like I said). But there are a lot of people who not only sexualize him, but also his actions and his relationship to Angel and from what I know Viv never really spoke out against that. She actually interacts with people who do that stuff and I it's just kinda gross.

Vox (Queer): I also don't have a lot to say about him. He and Val are a couple so he is dating a r@pist but he is also a villain so you can't really expect more from him. Especially since he would still be interacting with a r@pist even if they weren't dating.

Alastor (Aromantic, Asexual): is obviously not interested in relationships or sex but his identity is pretty much ignored by a huge amount of the fandom. Vivzepop never say's anything about people blatantly invalidating him like that. It seems to me like she doesn't care about characters who can't be involved in shipping but still wanted to have more diversity in her show so she just called him AroAce. In Hazbin Hotel he isn't bad representation though. His sexuality is never the focus but thats fine, it's mostly just the treatment he gets outside of HH which I don't like.

Charlie (Bisexual): doesn't have a lot to her sexuality. This is something I talked about pretty lengthy in my other post, specifically about the lack of Sapphic content in both shows, so I won't go into too much detail here. Her relationship with Vaggie would probably be the best in both shows if it wasn't for the fact that they both never get the real spotlight as a couple. And there is that thing in Vivzepops stories where the women are pretty much sexless without men and that's obviously something that is generally an issue when talking about the lack of Sapphic representation (which is also a topic heavily tied to sexism). Charlie's portrayal isn't necessarily stereotypical but that's just because there is nothing to her identity in the show.

Vaggie (Lesbian): like I said I already talked about the Chaggie relationship so now I wanna focus on something I didn't even mention in that post. Her name literally being Vagina and that's apparently funny because she is a Lesbian so she obviously likes Vagina. That's just incredibly stereotypical and also excludes Trans Lesbians and Asexual Lesbians who don't want sex. The whole joke was that Adam named her that because he is obsessed with sex and he's a jerk. But her name was always Vagina even in the pilot (from what I know Adam wasn't conceived then and neither was the idea that Vaggie even is a former exterminator).

That's all the queer characters I could think of. I hope I didn't miss any.

I thought about including Millie here too. But she was also already included in my other discussion post and I still don't know if she is canonically Bisexual of if that is just a headcannon so I didn't put her here.

I'm just gonna say that i don't have a problem with queer men being sexual (or any queer person in that regard). But it's pretty much every one of her queer male characters. This is especially bad when a lot of the relationships are toxic as well.

I just think too many characters fit stereotypes and to me that isn't good queer representation. If you like the depiction of queer characters in HH or HB that's good for you and you don't have to agree with me. But you also can't really deny a lot of this stuff and you can't expect others to just be fine with bland, hurtful and sometimes even toxic representation like there is in these shows.

#hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel criticism #vivzepop critical #hazbin hotel critical #hazbin hotel critique #vivziepop #helluva boss #helluva boss critical #helluva boss critique #helluva boss criticism #queer representation #queer rep in media

77 notes · View notes

thatoneguydownthestreet · 2 years

Note

Can I request headcanons for Idia and Malleus (separately) with a trans ftm s/o?

FEM ALIGNED DNI

Idia shroud

I'm going to be completely honest here. I think he has a small level of internalized transphobia that he needs to work through

I mean he's not going to call you slurs or anything, but...he doesn't completely see you as a guy IN THE BEGINNING

He just doesn't get it? But he kind of gets it?

He knows what it is and knows it isn't a choice, but he doesn't really understand that it's not a choice

He should be good after someone sits him down and explains the science behind it (probably ortho)

he still might ask a few insensitive questions

Please bear with him PLEASE

If he sees you getting annoyed or upset in any way with him over it he'll use ortho as a search engine to figure out all the terms

"Ortho. What the hell does FTM mean??"

Ortho would like to kindly redirect him to the urban dictionary

After all that, thing go overall smoothly

You're his boyfriend and he loves you, and he means it

Would pay for your testosterone and surgeries

Seriously, let him because he is stacked with dough that he doesn't know what to do with

Malleus Draconia

Lord help him

This man is clueless

Goes to his daddy for help

Lilia has a slightly better grasp on it

Slightly

Now knows the absolute basic science behind it

Still doesn't know what's happening

Finally goes to you

Bro doesn't use internet and has way too many questions so prepare to become google.com itself

Malleus listens to you and your explanations and weird analogies to try and explain

Leaves the conversation not really understanding but fully supportive

You're a boy? Ok! He has a boyfriend? Ok!

Just kind of takes it as another weird human thing

You explained dysphoria to him, but he still wasn't prepared for the reality of one of your "Bad days"

Lowkey starts panicking when you start crying

Gives you one of his jackets, your drowning in it

Will probably say some shit like

"Why don't you just use magic to fic it?"

"...buddy"

Anyways, it turns out you don't need to worry about surgeries because he just took care of that for you with a flick of the wrist

Congratulations you now have a d-

He loves you. You're his boy. and that will never change

____________________

All of yall better drink some damn water before I find you.

#twst x male reader #malleus draconia #twst malleus #twisted wonderland x male reader #twisted wonderland x reader #malleus draconia x reader #malleus draconia x male reader #trans reader #malleus x reader #malleus x male reader

432 notes · View notes

erikaogrady · 12 days

Text

Just watched the premiere of My Adventures with Superman and I have some thoughts.

I enjoyed the first season a lot when I watched it initially but I’ve soured on it since reading a lot more Superman comics and reading JESNCIN’s posts critiquing it (which you should all definitely check out, they explain all of their points much better than I could).

The first big issue I have is them having Jor-El reveal that Krypton was a conquering empire. The first season hinted towards that interpretation but I assumed/hoped that was just going to be a misunderstanding to make Clark conflicted about his heritage, but having Jor-El come out and confirm it means that’s just what Kryton was like. There’ve been a lot of interpretations of Krypton, some of which portray it as sort of a dystopian society, but it’s always been isolationist rather than a conquering empire. And if Krypton is a colonialist entity then you cannot effectively portray Clark as a refugee which this show really wants to do. Sure, they make it clear that Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van didn’t send Kal-El to Earth to invade it, but Krypton is dying due to the their own colonialist actions. Clark isn’t the survivor of climate disaster or genocide trying to find safety in a new world, he’s the last of a conquering people trying desperately to distance himself from Krypton’s legacy.

Another big concern I have is in making Kara Zor-El a baby when she leaves Krypton. One of the most notable and interesting things about Supergirl is that she, unlike Clark, remembers Krypton and lived through its destruction. While Krypton and its culture are all theoretical to Clark they are Kara’s lived experiences. Removing that history from Kara feels like a huge missed opportunity to explore more immigrant experiences, which this show is trying to do. If Kara had retained her history we could have seen a different side of Krypton from her perspective that could have served to flesh out the planet’s culture and perhaps shown that there are people on the planet who don’t agree with the planet’s colonialist history. But the show seems entirely disinterested in portraying Krypton as anything other than unsympathetic, which just doesn’t work if Kara and Clark are meant to be refugees misunderstood by Earth.

My third issue is Jimmy’s exchange with Lex about finding his own path. This could have been worked if Jimmy didn’t know anything about Lex and just saw a guy looking down and wanted to help him, but Jimmy knows that Lex is actively against Superman simply for being an alien, so why would Jimmy want to help someone he knows is actively publicly racist towards his best friend? That in addition to Lois telling Clark she’s not sure if they should find his cousin because she doesn’t trust Kryptonians other than Clark, feels like another example of these versions of Lois and Jimmy being weirdly insensitive of Clark’s experiences of allegorical racism. Which is weird when they’re both supposed to be people of color.

Overall it feels like the people behind this show did not think about the implications of any of the changes they made to Superman lore. In general I’m not somebody who cares to much about changes made in adaptation, I just want a good story, but every change made here actively works against what they’re trying to do thematically. There are so many comics that handle Clark’s status as a refugee and an immigrant in really compelling and effective ways (like Superman Smashes the Klan) but My Adventure of Superman feels like it’s working against itself.

Anyway, go check out @jesncin ‘s tumblr, they have a lot of great analysis of the show, and also go read Superman Smashes the Klan if you want a modern Superman story that handles immigrant themes better.

-https://www.tumblr.com/jesncin/737954867195314176/a-failure-of-asian-lois-lane-pt-2-my-adventures

-https://www.tumblr.com/jesncin/747518315382063104/i-hope-superman-fandom-as-a-whole-will-one-day

-https://www.tumblr.com/jesncin/749324579544186880/my-response-to-the-potential-of-exploring-an

#maws spoilers #maws season 2 #maws

17 notes · View notes

am-i-the-asshole-official · 9 months

Note

WIBTA if I blocked/ghosted this guy I can't quit?

so I've(nb25) known this guy(m29) about 8 months, but we haven't seen each other that many times. maybe 10 total. It's just a friends with benefits situation but he's very generous, he's splurged on hotels in the city for us we didn't really need, expensive meals, he's also just given me pocket money straight up before. He will kind of do whatever I want, all I have to do is mention it and he will make it happen. i mention I wanna see the ocean at 9pm and he's driving us around to find a beach that's open. i mention a food im craving and he's already ordering it, etc. he's not rich either, he lives with his parents(I think it's more for cultural reasons than financial) but his job pays pretty well I guess. he talks about the money and I think he's trying to impress me but I know so little about money and still rely on my parents I don't even really have the context. he's constantly trying to impress me with stuff like that or how much he can bench press and i find it super off-putting and don't respond to it. He's been nothing but nice to me I think, but I think he's got issues and he can't really open up emotionally. I am very suspicious of how "nice" he is and I find his positivity to be really invalidating sometimes.

Recently I got mad at him for an insensitive comment, and while I was chewing him out he just smiled at me and kept saying "I like you". It really irked me and I felt like he wasn't taking me seriously, even after asking him why he was reacting that way he just elaborated saying he liked me because I stick up for myself ? I was upset so I kicked him out of my place, it was the middle of the night. He left with a smile on his face still. it creeped me out and I almost felt like he was gonna come back and kill me while I was home alone.

I know that I'm not into him. not just that but I actively think he's annoying, and his toxic positivity thing really gets on my nerves. Ive explained that to him and he still wants to hang out. every time were together, our dynamic gets worse. im not mean to him, but I don't hold back when I think he's making something up to sound cool/nice or being fake. he says he likes my honesty and often puts me on a pedestal for it, and im constantly having to take myself off the pedestal bc im just a human being, capable of lying and inauthenticity.

He knows I don't want a relationship and I don't think that's what he wants either? hes never asked. i know he's dating and looking for someone though. I don't even really know what he meant when he said he liked me.

Every time I see him, I end up feeling like I don't wanna see him again. I find him really annoying and end up feeling really alone with him. ive tried to break it off before which he respected but would still DM me on insta occasionally, and it's bad but eventually I just went back to him bc I liked the way he was nice to me and spent money on me. it's really pathetic but it makes me feel worthwhile? but I want to stop seeing him. and im thinking, he doesn't have my phone number and I could just block him on Instagram then Id be done with it. I think we're bad for each other and that I probably frustrate him more than he shows, I think he tried to make me jealous recently by talking about some "beautiful blonde girl" he slept with, who didn't have a "good heart" like me or something. it felt weird and negg-y. overall just really weird, bad vibes. Would I be the asshole if I just blocked him ? i have a feeling that the only other way this will stop for us is with something worse than that.

What are these acronyms?

#aita #am i the asshole

86 notes · View notes

weepingwriter · 1 year

Text

Proxy Headcannons

TW: I couldn't find anything but please feel free to comment if I need to edit!!

–The Proxies Overall–

Their working with the Operator has allowed for all three to gain enhancements of their normal abilities.

All of them are stronger than average and faster than average

They can regenerate so long as they are close enough in proximity to the Operator.

They have better hearing than most normal humans.

They are ranked above pastas. The system is a hierarchy so very few proxies actually exist under the Operators rule, but many pastas exist.

—Brian Thomas—

This man is massive. He stands at the towering height of 6’6” and weighs around 220 lbs. This man could crush your head like a watermelon between his thighs if he really wanted to.

Out of the three proxies, he probably has the best relationship with the operator. This isn't because he has a good relationship with it, but because he is the one who fights his control the least.

“Hoodie” is just a persona of sorts that Brian puts on when he works. He does this as a way to cope with the reality of how his life has changed since he started working for the eldritch being.

For him it’s like acting. He steps foot into a character and steps out as soon as the job is over and his mask is off

He only wears his mask and hoodie when he’s working as well, this feeds into his dramatization of his work.

This isn't to say that Brian is still his same bubbly self as he was in college. This life has still hardened him. He has become a paranoid, harsh, shell of himself.

Brian tends to be the most manipulative out of the three. He can play Mr. Charming and gain the trust of others easily. He will use whoever he can to get whatever he wants.

He’s very good at reading people. He tends to be a rather social butterfly and makes friends much easier than Tim and Toby.

He definitely blames himself for dragging both Tim and Jay into this life.

His favorite weather is when there’s lots of thunderstorms and heavy rain. It tends to help him sleep better at night.

His favorite genre of music is probably old country. Think Johnny Cash and George Jones. He despises most new country though. If he’s not listening to that then he’s probably listening to 90’s grunge.

He prefers to use CDs and cassette tapes rather than phones or computers. He just enjoys the aesthetic of it a lot.

His favorite game is Mario kart, specifically on the Wii.

His favorite food is biscuits and gravy. He’s a southern boy so it’s a comforting, cheap meal that he can make rather easily.

Probably the best cook in the house when he does cook. He doesn’t do it very often because of lack of supplies however.

—Tim Wright—

Chronic smoker. Like a pack-a-day kind of guy. It’s the first thing he does in the morning.

Funnily enough he still brushes his teeth after every cigarette if he can. If not, he’s chewing on a stick of gum right after.

Big man as well, but definitely shorter than Brian. He stands at around 6’0” even and weighs near 210 lbs as well. Think of your typical strong-man build

He’s the shortest of the proxies, but he makes up for it in brute strength. This man is like a fucking tank, he can and will run someone down if he gets the chance.

He probably fights the operator the most when it comes to allowing it to fully take over. He’ll do his job as asked so long as it allows him to stay in control of his body.

He definitely has the shortest temper. Ever since he was forced into this life Tim’s limits have been pushed and he tends to lash out on whoever he can in the moment.

He also tends to be rather insensitive even to his work partners' needs or emotions. In his mind, this world is do or die, there’s no room for thoughts and feelings about how these things work.

Tim enjoys alternative music, more on the softer early 2000’s rock side, but he’s also grown rather fond of Brian’s country music as well. His favorite band is probably three days grace or breaking benjamin

He tends to hum little songs through the day when he’s off duty, often when he’s doing mundane tasks like chores and whatnot to fill the silence. Sometimes, if he can get his hand on one, he’ll still practice the guitar on days off.

Very very private man. He doesn’t like talking about his past, his problems, his life, his anything. He’s got walls around him stronger than steel and very few people are allowed in.

For a while he held a lot of resentment towards Brian but he had since gotten through it. Sometimes when they fight however he does bring up their past in fits of anger. He never really means what he says though.

Is by far one of the most loyal men you will ever meet in your life. No matter how many fights with Brian and Toby he has he will remain by their side and stick up for them in any circumstance. He does not take kindly to anyone shittalking his teammates.

An early bird. Tim enjoys having the mornings to himself so he can sit outside and sip on a cup of coffee. Because of this, he tends to be in bed by 10 pm at the latest to make sure he gets enough sleep.

His favorite time of the year is spring. He doesn’t like when it’s too hot or too cold outside. Surprisingly, he does like to look at flowers as they remind him of his mom and his life before all this.

His favorite flowers are magnolias

—Toby Rogers—

Toby is the second tallest within the group, standing at the height of 6’2”. He weighs about 155-160 lbs. He absolutely loves to pick on Tim because of their height difference.

Tends to be the most hostile to new people due to his lack of social skills. He’s rather untrusting and wary, especially of older men.

Is rather indifferent about his facial scarring. Really the only reasons he will cover up with a mask or bandage is if they’re out in town and they need to be inconspicuous.

Despite him being on the leaner side Toby does have this abnormal strength about him. Definitely has a sleeper build. When out in public he tends to wear more loose clothing that hides his physique but at home it's all tank tops and muscle shirts for training.

Has a lot of sensory issues. He hates to be in loud or crowded places for long periods of time. He’s learned to get over it with time, but being at home in his room is definitely his preferred place.

He cannot stand the texture of some clothes. If it doesn't feel right then he literally will not wear it. Same goes for certain blankets or sheets even.

He spends a lot of his free time either reading or drawing. Toby has a rather overactive imagination so he really immerses himself into his fantasy worlds that he creates

Toby by far has the most difficult relationship with the operator. This isn’t because he fights like Tim does, but simply because it takes the worst toll on his body and mind. Because of the lapses in memory and overworking of his body Toby ends up hurt or drained for days, sometimes even weeks after missions.

He definitely is the most okay with the work they do. He doesn't really feel any guilt or other emotions when it comes to his victims. To him they don’t really exist outside of this little vacuum of work. He barely even recognizes them as human.

Toby definitely is the clingiest out of the boys as well. He has his few select people that he enjoys being around and he tends to linger around them when possible. He’s not one for much physical touch with friends however, he just needs to be able to see them.

His favorite genre of music is probably metalcore/electronic metal. He really enjoys Bring Me the Horizon, Linkin Park, and Motionless in White. He however will listen to just about anything and has the most diverse playlists in the house.

His favorite season/weather is Winter. Toby loves the snow and how crisp and soft it is. He could spend hours outside when it snows.

Toby is actually the usual cook in the home. Despite his usual depiction, he has a rather steady hand especially when he’s concentrating on something. His tics tend to be more verbal anyways than physical.

This man is scarily fast. Genuinely if he had gone to high school he would likely have been a track star. He can run a mile in just under six minutes. If a victim does manage to escape from his teammates, he's on their asses faster than they can blink half the time.

Toby has very few memories of his life before the operator. He knows faintly of his family and their names but he cannot remember faces or voices. Trying to make him remember anything further often leads to rather bad episodes for him, so Tim and Brian do their best not to bring up his past or ask too many questions about it.

#marble hornets #creepypasta #slenderverse #tim wright #ticci toby #hoodie marble hornets #creepypasta headcanon #slenderman proxy

103 notes · View notes

comradekatara · 1 year

Note

Hi, hope you're well.

How would you rate the gaang + others by how out of pocket they are?

gonna rank this by the meanest thing they ever said in the show

aang: ”you know zuko, i don’t care what anyone else says about you, you’re pretty smart” – i love this bitchy backhanded compliment so much. 8/10

katara: “the stars sure are beautiful out tonight. too bad you can’t see them, toph” – probably the meanest thing anyone says in the entire show??? 1000/10

sokka: “hey, don’t feel too bad, you’re only late by 100 years” – funny joke, but also a pretty fucked up thing to say to a twelve year old! 9/10

zuko: “that’s nice, but this isn’t air temple preschool; this is the real world” – this is the meanest thing he ever said imo bc he's being culturally insensitive towards aang, but i think we all know zuko is out of pocket most of the time. 12/10

toph: “you have to admit, you are more in touch with your feminine side than most guys” – this homophobic microagression is frankly not even that hurtful because aang isnt gay and if he was he wouldnt be hurt by this comment regardless. toph surprisingly in pocket????? giving her a 5/10 overall bc it was rude of her to call katara a mom, but also she didn't mean it like that so i can't blame her too much

suki: “i lost someone i cared about too. he didn’t die, he just went away” – this is a pretty fucked up thing to say actually! like, hello??? suki???? maybe not the time to flirt???? 9/10

azula: “make sure they get your good side” + "i think your friend just said that, genius. and since you can't see, i should tell you, i'm rolling my eyes" – mocking burn victims is not cool, but saying out of pocket shit to your sibling is significantly less egregious. still, her ableism towards toph is fucked up (but not as fucked up as katara's!). 7.5/10

mai: “you miscalculated. i love zuko more than i fear you” – she said the exact combination of words to make azula go crazy and she knew it, but considering the circumstances, it's allowed. 4/10

ty lee: “mai finally gets to wear makeup that isn’t totally depressing?” – ok she actually gets a full pass for this one bc she’s flirting. 0/10

#yourlocalamoeba #asks #the gaang and #to no ones surprise ty lee has the most tact and katara and zuko have the least

187 notes · View notes

loudmound · 6 days

Note

What don’t you like about the remake? I gotta know

anon i fear you are going to open pandora's box with this question.

since it was revealed in 2022, i will say that my very passionate, fiery, and searing hatred for its very existence has definitely simmered, and what i hold now in my heart for it is a very... cautious disdain.

i'll do my best to break it down for you.

PART ONE: BOOBER TEAM LOL

so... for starters, bloober team, the developers behind the remake, has had something of a muddied history with riding off the coat tails of games past, airlifting concepts from them wholesale, and layers of fear was no different in that respect. there's also the can of worms that is their survival horror title "the medium", which is basically bloober's silent hill 2 before the sh2 remake.

spoilers for the medium, but what can be gleaned from it thematically deeply concerns me as a sh2 fan, i.e. the notion that a victim of csa is simply too far gone and either the player character has to kill her or herself with the adage "you cannot save everyone". not to mention the fact that said victim's abuser was framed in a far more sympathetic light than she was, framing his predatory behavior as a monster controlling him from the inside. it's disgusting and insensitive, simply put.

this theme of "if you're mentally ill or suffer from trauma, you're beyond help and simply better off dead" also appears in their blair witch game, which is... great. from jump, i have had less than favorable opinions on bloober team, not for the quality of their visuals or their gameplay, but what stories they're most interested in telling, and how they go about telling them, exactly.

now, to blanket state that every single person on bloober team are hacks and frauds and don't have a shred of integrity telling the stories that they do would simply be ignorant and incorrect. i wholeheartedly believe that there are individuals working on the sh2 remake right now who want it to be the best that it can be and Very Much Want It To Be Good. it's a shame that these individuals who don't have much in way of creative control are getting thrown under the bus, too.

i can, however, maintain that opinion while also finding their backlog of games prior to the upcoming remake very disconcerting and have that inform my overall level of distrust in their integrity wholesale.

PART TWO: PRESS X TO CRY

i don't think there's anything that makes me more miffed than thinking about when the first remake trailer dropped.

so, we see our friend jim rush into the bathroom, seemingly out of breath, and wash his hands in the sink. we then get a shot of those hands, trembling with fear. he then takes thumb to palm, rubbing circles into them, presumably as a means to soothe himself. we then get him looking into the mirror, seemingly confused and out of place. he touches his face, much like he does in the original.

now, i understand that the notion of jim's emotionality has been a hotly debated topic. some people like it. some people don't. and i'm one of those people who doesn't. at least in this particular vein. in the original sh2, the cold open we get with james slowly approaching the mirror, shrouded in shadow, running his hand over his face as if he doesn't think he's real immediately sets the tone. we don't know who this man is or why he's here. as far as we know, he's just a random guy looking for somebody. namely: We Do Not Know He's Guilty Of Anything.

jim, however, is OOZING of guilt. he literally washes his hands, for christ's sake. anxiously washing his hands of his deed. the fact that it's more obvious that he's a guilty man from the start rather than further re-contextualizing his behavior throughout the narrative and to the reveal is a very classic blooberism.

bloober has a very bad habit of being... heavy-handed when it wants to implicate. saying what something is without saying it outright. this can be found in the most recent release date trailer, where angela desperately tells james that "[she'll] be good for him" ('him' being her sexually abusive dad, of course) in a scene which looks like she's in front of the giant mirror. in the original, it's apparent that Something's happened to her, but we're not sure what until the abstract daddy boss fight later in the game where she says "or you could just force me. beat me up like he always did."

it's not that sh2 wasn't ever blunt or heavy-handed with its storytelling, of course, but it's a matter of when it's appropriate to forego subtlety. eddie, for example, doesn't make vague allusions to or sugarcoat the abuse that he experienced as a fat person, and that's fitting! being candidly violent and more outward in contrast to angela who for the most part is very withdrawn and meek works very well. sometimes, being blunt is the best course of action for optimal characterization/narrative progression.

also, on the topic of jim... i call him jim simply because he does not read as james to me. he's a new individual that's operating within a james-like role; he's just... simply a different person. he's very, very gritty, and VERY visibly neurotic. to me, he's very much anxiety tunnel-visioning: hyperfocused on one thing that everything else seems to fall by the wayside.

i never got the implication that he was dissociating like the original james is, of which i think is a core trait of his, and probably informs a lot of why i do not read jim as james. this is a very take it or leave it kind of opinion, and it's not that i feel super negatively about jim's characterization, either. it's just... idk i don't think screaming and crying while falling to your knees is a very james thing to do. james fell to his knees silently after he screamed, comparatively. shrug.

it's like... james is a herding dog and jim is a sighthound. same animal, different kind.

and then there's maria. but i wrote a whole post on that already, so you can read that here. people have also written numerous think pieces about why her redesign is so nothingburger, too, so i'm not the only one who thinks this way, either.

angela in the remake is alright. i have my gripes, but she's okay. what concerns me the most is the VERY PERTINENT lack of eddie. he has been very notably absent throughout this whole song and dance, and it's getting fucking ridiculous. WHERE IS HE BLOOBER. I KILL ANOTHER HOSTAGE THE LONGER YOU KEEP HIM FROM US.

PART THREE: CONCLUSION, AKA NEVER TRUST A COMPANY WITH YOUR HAPPINESS

all and all, i don't have very high hopes for the sh2 remake, not because it doesn't look good, play good, etc.; the way that a game plays, and even more so how a game looks doesn't matter to me so much as how the narrative is executed. the remake, photorealistically, looks great! the environments are very rich. that's all well and good.

but, again, looks alone cannot sway me. it's nothing that i haven't already seen before done by games past. i'm not excited for a sh2 that looks like a re2r or a re4r, simply put. there was a style developed within the limitations of what the ps2 could handle, and with the massive upscale in technology and photorealism above all else, it's undoubtedly lost. while a matter of taste, of course, i just find myself very straight-faced looking at what teasers we have of the remake. i'm not amazed, nor am i amused! it's as simple as that.

and also, we should mention that at the helm of it all, konami has been milking the silent hill franchise for all it's fucking worth. maybe the members of bloober team are trying to genuinely make a good game for once, but konami wants that money at the end of the day, if the spectacular failures of games past, as well as silent hill themed experiences such as ascension are anything to go by.

also also, this remake is never gonna satisfy every single sh2 fan. that's just the truth of the matter. i think some people are really gonna love it and some are really gonna hate it. realistically, i'll be very meh on it. i can find some things to like about, but that's really it. if i'm cherry-picking things i enjoy about something i'm largely reticent on, i wouldn't call that enthusiasm in the slightest. would you?

anyways, thank you for reading. i hope these answers suffice and satisfy.

#anonymous #answered asks #stormy shouts #enough of a shoutfest to warrant that tag #silent hill 2 #silent hill 2 remake #sh2 remake

19 notes · View notes

chloecherrysip · 1 year

Text

This is probably starting to get annoying, but here are a few more scattered, silly thoughts about the mario movie. :)

(Did I go see the movie again for the 4th time in theaters last night? YES. Is that an excessive amount of times? YES. Have I spent a ridiculous amount of money at this point? YES. Do I have any regrets? NOT EVEN THE TINIEST BIT, NO.)

Trust me, I would be totally honest if I was starting to get bored, but I'm really, really not??? I had a really tough, busy week and I just wanted to be able to relax and have a good time and it was delightful as always!!! I left feeling so much happier. I'm already thinking about going to see it next week again! No one and nothing can stop me!!!! Other than possibly my bank account, LOL.

Obviously the reunion hug takes the lion's share of the focus, but I just want to express my undying love that Luigi and Mario share MULTIPLE hugs before we even get there, and that's not even counting moments at the beginning and the end where they have an arm around each other in kind of a half-hug! They are wonderfully, unabashedly affectionate and it's the best thing in the world!!!

As much as the family is teasing Mario & Luigi about their commercial, I DO appreciate that after their dad's insensitive comment and Mario leaves the table, all the adults genuinely look a little taken aback and stare at the dad (except the grandpa who is in his own little world lol) as if to say Wow, Not Cool. Like, it seems like saying something like that would even be a step too far for the uncles! I just like that there's subtlety and layers to the family stuff, and no one is portrayed as being 100% a jerk (even if some of them have some jerk-ish qualities like the guy stealing food from poor Luigi XD)

ALSO: in fanworks, I've seen several people allude to the bedroom Mario's shown in as being only his bedroom - I was watching those scenes closely this time just to confirm to myself (because I'm annoying about being as accurate as possible, haha), and it's DEFINITELY both his and Luigi's room! It goes by quick, but you can see another bed with green sheets in the far corner of the room clearly in at least one shot, both in the Brooklyn version and in the Mushroom Kingdom version. For some reason, it just tickles me that it's SUCH a small little inclusion and not really necessary, they could have just left it ambiguous whether they actually share a room or not, but nope, that detail is there if you are looking for it! :)

Y'know, even when Mario is dragging Luigi into a dangerous situation and jumping down through what is essentially a WHIRLPOOL into the sewers, he STILL stands at the bottom and waits/watches to see that Luigi makes it down safely after him before moving forward. OVERALL A SILLY THING TO DO but, as he always does when it comes to Luigi, Mario has those extra moments of care and attention. :)

Peach going on and on about how small Mario is will always just make me smile, I'm sorry XD IT'S TRUE (and I love how he's just like "yeah, yeah, make fun of me if you want" and moves on to the important stuff without actually getting mad, it's clear he's heard it all before)

I JUST LOVE MARIO IN GENERAL. I LOVE HIM IN THIS MOVIE???? I LOVE HIM, ALL HIS LITTLE MOVEMENTS AND MANNERISMS. HE IS JUST THE SWEETEST, BRAVEST LITTLE MAN AND HE DESERVES MORE APPRECIATION

I might make a separate appreciation post but here is a shortlist of little things I love: his little "I don't want to eat this" wiggle-dance when first trying to eat the mushroom, the bashful way he kicks up his feet and holds his hands behind him when he's standing next to Peach in the Flower Fields, the way he just cutely, awkwardly WAVES HELLO at everyone wherever he goes (in Toad Town, through the crowd as they're leaving the castle, even to the Kong Guards), how he's genuinely excited to see Donkey Kong's kart for a split second before DK's "I hate you" comment, how he saves DK in the water with NO hesitation at the risk of his own life because he is just a deeply good person, etc etc etc.

As much as I deeply wish that this movie had an actual scene where Mario gets to talk more about Luigi to his new friends and the dialogue wasn't always operating at Maximum Efficiency, I DO appreciate that there are still those couple of beats where you are explicitly reminded that Mario is doing this, ALL of this, for Luigi's sake and only that. The one that got to me this time is when Peach and him have that sidebar before the DK fight where she's like "this is a REALLY bad idea" and his retort is: "well, do you have another way to save my brother!?" And then you see him go on a little face journey where he's calculating things before agreeing to the fight and proclaiming that yes, he WILL win. BECAUSE HE WILL DO ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING FOR HIS BROTHER AND IF THE ONLY WAY TO REACH HIM IS TO FIGHT AND WIN, EVEN IF NO ONE BELIEVES IN HIS ABILITY TO DO SO, THEN BY GOD, HE'S DOING IT. ANOTHER REASON THAT I LOVE HIM!!

The aesthetic of the shattered Rainbow Road pieces glowing in the ocean around DK and Mario (and then inside the eel) is genuinely very beautiful and I always love the effect of it!

I'M SORRY, I CAN ALSO BE VERY CRITICAL OF THIS MOVIE IF I WANT TO, BUT HOW COULD ANYONE - ANYONE - WATCH MARIO AND LUIGI WREAK ABSOLUTE HAVOC AND DESTROY BOWSER IN PERFECT, EFFORTLESS UNISON WITH THE SUPERSTARS MUSIC PLAYING AND NOT FEEL ABSOLUTE JOY??? That sequence is actually perfect, and the music is even MORE perfect. Every time, I hear it, I feel exhilarated and light as air and like anything is possible! HOW COULD YOU NOT THINK IT'S MAGICAL??? HOW??? [STANDS ON TOP OF A MOUNTAIN AND YELLS] HOW????????

Something that I have never noticed until this last rewatch and caught me genuinely offguard is that when Bowser's in the jar and Mario makes the "told ya I'd get you a turtle!" comment to Peach, if you're paying attention to Bowser, he actually does a "hardy-har-har VERY FUNNY" fake laugh as he's being all pouty, and I laughed outloud at that.

ALSO IN GENERAL, I AM SO PROUD OF THIS VERSION OF THE CHARACTERS AND THEIR WILLINGNESS TO PUT BOWSER IN ACTUAL JAIL!!!! HE DESERVES JAIL!!!! Like, I get that we're all very sweet and forgiving here and he's usually allowed to just slink away in most of the games, but seriously, HE COMMITTED VARIOUS WAR CRIMES FOR INCREDIBLY STUPID REASONS, THANK U FOR PUTTING HIM IN JAIL

The last scene with Luigi and Mario doing their handshake and then Luigi just full-on playfully poking Mario in the belly before running off is the CUTEST thing and also has the most Younger Sibling Energy of basically anything in the movie, lol. He also does it to him in the opening scene! I loveeeee ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

#mario movie #mario movie spoilers #super mario bros movie #this movie has clearly become a comfort film for me. it just makes me happy!#will i make another post like this? WHO KNOWS but i'm sorry if you're sick of it lol #cherrysip hc's & rambling

74 notes · View notes

multifanlol · 1 year

Note

Hi✨ could you do basic dating headcannons for Shelly Marsh? Just some cute stuff she would do in a relationship? If not your good 💕 have a good day/night ✨

Hii! And yes! I love Shelly smm she’s so underrated i swear-

Also have a good day/night for you too!

Dating Shelly Marsh headcannons gn reader

Shelly would be extremely clingy to the point it might be considered a little too much-

The reason she is clingy probably is cause your her first official long term healthy relationship (jeez that’s a lot-) like i swear she’s had a boyfriend before but i don’t think it lasted long and she would of met you irl and there was the older guy she dated we don’t talk about that-

She would also be really insecure like how she said it herself no one else in school would go out with her so she’s be afraid of losing you so expect a clingy and loving girlfriend-

I feel like you’d get her to be nicer to Stan 😭 by nicer i mean not kicking him every time he looks at her overall she’d still yell at him and all that stuff but there siblings lol (i have some-)

She would be very embarrassed introducing her family to you maybe okay with her mom but def not the others

Although you didn’t wanna pressure her into meeting them you still tried asking every now and then although you do end up meeting them! And well-

Sharon loves you-like she fr loves you and thinks your perfect for your daughter as long as you aren’t badly influencing her she’s okay with you!

Stan was afraid you were gonna somehow be like Shelly but when he meets you, oh boy he loves you alright-probably sometimes wants to hang out with you when your not with Shelly 😭 Shelly is still annoyed about that

Randy however….i feel like he’d be overprotective no matter your gender 😭 like if you were male he’d be the “typical” fathers being protective over there daughters and if you were any other gender he’d be kinda insensitive but what do you expect from a middle aged white man? Although he warms up to you just takes a while-probably quicker if he realised you liked weed-

Probably forces you to listen to her records of singing and well while it may look like she won’t care she REALLY hopes you like them-

I can see her being overly affectionate like she’d def want pda at all times at least not at the length of making you uncomfortable like hand holding, at least an arm around you or her shoulder, kissing on cheeks, etc

Sometimes vents to you about her family, her school life being vulnerable and you just sit there comforting her 🥹

She’d really appreciate you like nobody has ever really loved her like this before-

She would however make you feel loved just as much as you do for her like if you were insecure like her she’d remind you everyday your worth everything to her but she’d do that in general whether your confident or not :)

I can see dates mostly being at usually her house, or go see a movie whether you like it or not doesn’t matter for her as long as she’s there with you

Def has the cute but corny nicknames like “baby” “cutie” etc it just proves her love to you-

Def shows her love with touch more then words like hand holding everywhere you go, etc

Both of you jokingly gang up on Stan 😭 lightheartedly of course on your part and only with little stuff like using the tv, Xbox etc

Sometimes you guys just have sleepovers no matter your gender and just talk and stuff yk it ends with you both cuddling likely asleep watching one of those corny romantic high school movies 🤭

Def forced you at least once to listen to her music like i feel like Shelly probably listens to those singers like Brittany Spears, Taylor Swift, LORDE, etc if you listen to them too you would both just sit in her or your room in there for an hour just listening to all of there songs 💀 if you didn’t though then that’s okay too she’d listen to music you like every now and then too-

Overall i think that’s it couldn’t think of a load since Shelly’s more of a side character therefore we don’t see her a lot and can’t tell what she would do these are just speculations

Anywayss i hope y’all enjoyed and have a good day/night! Comment more headcannons/requests!

#south park #South Park x reader #Lorde Randy Marsh #Shelly Marsh #Shelly Marsh x reader #Character x reader #Multifanlol

87 notes · View notes

ben-wisehart · 1 year

Note

hi! do you ever feel like the bingqiu fandom is binghe biased? like a lot of the time its giving.. “wow binghe is our little precious bun who deserves the world and more! ..oh and stinky neet loser sqq is so blessed to have him lul” it feels unfair towards sqq :( it makes me sad hes no ones fave but thats okay like whatever right? but even when its bingqiu hes treated like an afterthought. like we have binghe fans criticising sqq for not doing more, sj fans are frankly delusional, sqh fans think hes “too mean” to their precious hamster, liushen fans only like him bc hes a good hole/dick for lqg (obligatory “not all men” lol) idk i only follow a handful of svsss twt accs because no one seems to like him, he feels either tolerated or treated as a gag character lol 🥹

i just dislike a lot of fanon bingqiu i think? i read all the books before hopping on twitter and i see some absolute rancid takes on there like the woobification of Shaun(tm) qinghua and jiumei.. which is easy enough to avoid tbf so whatever floats their boat idc. but when i follow bingqiu accs, it feels like OC x OC rather than ~bingqiu~ if that makes sense? like i LOVE the manipulative crybaby domtop x flustered thin face subby pillow princess they have going on!! and fanon bingqiu is just.. not it? and obv id never send hate or anything (i just block and keep it moving) but it makes it kinda sucky when the fandom is already teeny tiny and a large chunk of the fandom isnt what i envisioned/expected i guess which is so odd! when they essentially erase canon!! if it’s like some queerbaity ship or whatever, people can characterise them however they want but its like CANON how they act/are in bed/etc and its all taken away!!! idk im probably just whining sorry 😭

(i included all my thoughts here sorry for the spam!!)

hey, thanks for stopping by!! I definitely know what you mean with regards to SQQ, but I will assure you that there are very much still plenty of dedicated "sqq mains" out there. My sphere of influence on twitter is heavily biased toward people for whom sqq is their favourite character, so maybe I'm not getting a representative sample of the fandom overall, but he's definitely a very well loved character and has more than his fair share of people who do him justice in their writing and for whom he's their primary blorbo!! I remember posting this on reddit a while back and more than half of the responses (though admittedly a small sample size) had him as their fave. So, I don't think he's without appreciation!

But with that said, I do get where you’re coming from. I’m not gonna talk about readers who take his actions in bad faith and actively dislike him (HOW??), but as you’ve said, even among people who do like him, we don’t always understand him as well as we could. Most fans do get on some level that he’s an unreliable narrator, but it’s still very common for people to take him at face value and completely miss his depth. He’s a funny little guy with amusing narration, but he’s also kind and selfless, and he’s also smart and witty, and obnoxious and annoying, and frankly pretty insensitive, and deeply, deeply traumatised—and a million other things! He has layers.

I think all popular characters in fandom will inevitably start getting boiled down to a few key traits. And as somebody who’s been writing fic for 15 years, it’s really hard not to let your own biases colour your portrayal? I absolutely do it with SQQ!! I focus on his kinder, warmer aspects and downplay his flaws, I’ll readily admit that. We all get drawn to a favourite character for a certain trait, and that trait becomes the grit around which our interpretations form. If you’re somebody that likes silly characters, you’re going to write SQQ and dial his silliness up to eleven. If you like kind characters, you’ll write SQQ with emphasis on his kindness. None of these traits are OOC in and of themselves, but if you start to only read fanfic and don’t revisit the source material, you can get lost in what’s popular and forget all the depth that actually made them interesting in the first place. And once you’ve grown attached to a particular version of the characters in your head, it can be really hard to let go of it. I don’t really know where I’m going with this, but I'll add that I think protagonists are just particularly prone to this happening because they're usually the one the audience relates to most.

Idk if any of that really addresses the stuff you were talking about. You mentioned dom top Binghe/pillow princess sqq and to be honest I’m kind of reluctant to talk about this in depth because I’ve received negative comments in the past for supposedly being anti-bottom Binghe, when all I’ve ever said on this matter is that I think it’s a bit weird to insist that “I’m scared of hurting you so I might as well let you do it” is proof that Binghe is canonically a bottom. The fact that someone found that statement so threatening to their view of the characters that they would go to my ao3 page, click on the first fic they saw that happened to feature bottom SQQ and leave their holier-than-thou anonymous opinion there is just bizarre to me.

To be honest tho, it tends to be Binghe characterisation that puts me off moreso than Shen Qingqiu. The only SQQ characterisation that truly bothers me is when people write him as willing to hurt Binghe, or willing to do anything with underage Binghe, but there is a LOT of Binghe stuff that I’m sensitive too. Idk if you read this thread of mine but like, even my friends whom I love make “Binghe stalking/imprisoning/"atticwifing" SQQ” jokes and these bother me way more than any random stranger saying SQQ would get off on spanking Binghe.

And like, it’s kind of hard because objectively, Binghe is a very dark character, so it doesn't feel particularly OOC to say he would do those things, but it's about framing. It bothers me when the emphasis is on how fucked up he is and not how hard he's trying, because it implies a level of futility that I just don’t think is there in canon. To me the beauty of him is in how much doing right by SQQ doesn't come naturally to him, but he ultimately decides to do it anyway because he wants SQQ to be happy. (I feel it needs to be said that I don't mean this in a judgy "if you write dark Binghe you don't understand him and are a bad person" way. Just that I myself can't handle that, and I strongly disagree if you think it's where Bingqiu's relationship is headed).

but idk, I've found my corner and I'm very happy here. I actually don't read fic as often as you'd think, mostly because I am sooooo picky, so I totally get where you're coming from :) but the fandom is still decently sized and very diverse, so there are always going to be at least a few people who share your feelings, if you can find them!

#svsss meta #anonymous #askbox #thank you for sharing your thoughts!! im sorry it took ages to reply #and that I mostly went on a tangent. again. idk what I'm saying half the time

54 notes · View notes

vampirepunks · 3 months

Text

Sam Porter Bridges' MBTI + Enneagram Typology (pt. 1)

MBTI: ISTP (Ti-Se-Ni-Fe)

Enneagram: 9w8

Instinctual Variant: sp/sx

Tritype: 963

(Higgs analysis)

MBTI Analysis

Like Higgs, Sam's MBTI is pretty easy to identify right off. Words I frequently hear to describe ISTPs: quiet, gruff, grumpy, grouchy, closed-off, etc. There are tons of these guys in fiction. Arthur Morgan, Daryl Dixon, Jim Hopper, John Wick, etc etc that should give you a sense of the archetype at hand. That good old, salt-of-the-earth, jack-of-all-trades, reliable tough guy who's a real softie deep down behind a facade of aloof moodiness and outward dissatisfaction.

ISTP describes Sam very well. He's resourceful, observant, direct, authentic, independent, steadfast, spontaneous, unapologetic, insensitive at times, private/reserved, and skeptical. For the most part, ISTPs are straightforward and easy to get a read on. True to type, Sam is usually grounded in his present reality, doesn't tend to leap to assumptions or go along with them when others do, relies on his own experience and resolve, and he approaches life with a level head. Behind that initial impression, ISTPs are one of the most difficult personalities to get to know deeply... or at all. They march to the beat of their own drum, keep their emotions locked down tight most of the time, and are very slow to trust. Prying and prodding doesn't work with these folks, unless you're looking to provoke an aggressive reaction, in which case you'll likely get it. Given his aphenphosmphobia, this goes triple for Sam for the broad majority of Death Stranding's runtime; we see a few examples of other characters pushing him to the point that he bites back, i.e. telling Deadman off when he brought up his wife and child.

Most of my character analysis leans on Sam's internal monologue from the Death Stranding novelization, as it's a very detailed peek inside his head, into his mind's inner workings and his overall emotional tendencies. Keep that in mind going forward.

ISTPs are one of the most introverted personality types, alongside INTJs, and are often social hermits, lone wolves with little regard for social norms and accepted rules. They're easily frustrated by a world built on social conventions that are based in emotional values, so they move through it at their own pace and keep their heads down. ISTPs are staunch pragmatists, quietly navigating life through material sensibilities and their own unique creativity; they're driven by instinct. Like ENTP (see: Higgs) they're attracted to novelty and freedom. And, believe it or not, ISTP is just as rebellious as ENTP, they're merely quieter about it, preferring to keep it to themselves unless pushed otherwise. The best concise example of this shared rejection of societal values that I can think of is Sam saying "covering the world in cable didn't bring an end to war and suffering, don't be surprised if it all comes apart when you try to do it again" vs. Ludens (essentially Higgs' perspective of the game in song form) saying, "a world covered in cables was never wired to last, so don't act so surprised when the program starts to crash." Looking closely, Sam and Higgs actually have strikingly similar worldviews, and Sam spends much of the novel wondering if Higgs has a good point beneath his madness, admitting only to himself that he understands the position Higgs is coming from. In spite of himself, a big part of Sam agrees with Higgs and empathizes with him. ISTPs are often dismissed as morally bankrupt, when in fact they always have their own moral code formed by their dominant logic and deeply-buried sensitivities. They're liable to snap if they're backed into a corner and have their personal liberty or privacy infringed upon. Autonomy is king to this type, so it's unsurprising that many ISTPs end up anarchists and libertarians.

Function Stack Breakdown

Ti (introverted thinking): Don't mind me, gonna copy a little bit of this from Higgs' post... shhhhh... Personalities ruled by Ti act based on logic over emotion, processing the world through what makes sense and where their curiosity takes them. They love puzzles, problems in need of solutions, and detail-oriented issues. However, in the ISTP, a major roadblock to the satisfaction of a good day's work is the involvement of other people. They prefer to work alone, or in small groups/with a close partner, as they're quickly exhausted by interpersonal politics. You point an ISTP to a practical job, they'll grumble about it and then gladly do it, by themselves, thank you. This is self-evident in Sam; as a solo porter, he's a rarity of self-reliance, which in the Death Stranding universe would be suicidal if he wasn't a repatriate, and it's still risky af. After all, the primary reason most porters have partners is to maintain their sanity, keep an eye out for chiral contamination and MULE syndrome, etc. It's stated multiple times that portering alone is ill-advised and only possible for those with a very strong force of will, which Sam of course has in spades. Sam's primary function of Ti manifests as independence of thought, as mentioned above. In describing Higgs as a truth-seeker, Sam acknowledged a value the two of them share, as Sam has a sharp eye for lies and a significant urge to uncover deeper truths about the world, other people, and himself. He's highly critical, filtering his observations through a cool and collected lens of rationality, not bending to the speculations and blind optimism shown by his colleagues, investigating matters on his own with careful footing, waiting for evidence before drawing conclusions. I.e., he thought it incredibly naive of Bridges to place such high hopes in the hematic weapons they created using his blood, based on the fact that they seemingly counted on them working as intended without testing them first. Unlike ENTP Higgs, Sam's Ti doesn't take second place to any idealism or restless imagination. Instead, his logic leads him, giving him the stick-to-itiveness to finish what he starts; he isn't intimidated by the minute details of a task, he just does what he has to do and gets the job done. Because Ti is constantly questioning everything at all times, genuine, earned trust is invaluable to ISTPs. Having a person they can be completely themselves with, entirely open with, someone who gets it, is a breath of fresh air to the ISTP, and is a precious rarity to them. Once you lose that trust, you'll likely never get it back. See: Sam and Bridget Strand.

Se (extroverted sensing): You can think of the latter three functions in a cognitive stack as "serving" the dominant function, which is especially true in the case of Ti-Se. Se's role as a function is observing and being present in one's external world, taking note of outward details and external sensory information, which is then fed through Ti to analyze and draw conclusions from. Secondary Se produces keen senses and a high degree of awareness. Thanks to the Se function, ISTPs remain in tune with their environments, notice details others might miss, and react quickly to threats and other stimulus. Unlike personalities that lead with intuition, ISTPs process the world in concrete terms, with few applied metaphors, projected meaning, or comforting illusions, taking the world as it is, not how it could or should be. This gets interesting when the tertiary function is properly developed.

Ni (introverted intuition): Ah, Ni, my oldest and closest friend, being an INTJ myself and thus Ni-dominant. I'm well-equipped to explain this one. Ni is more or less the opposite of Se (just as Ti and Fe are opposing forces in many ways), painting a layer of personal meaning and subjectivity over everything encountered in the world, highly concerned with personal insights and metaphorical/artistic value. Ni is extremely sentimental, clinging to the past with a fierce nostalgia, trusting one's own viewpoint and experience. Interestingly, even when it works unconsciously, Ni influences the ISTP personality further towards independent thought and the instills the innate desire to color outside the established lines in life. Ni seeks personal truth above all else. As mentioned in the Higgs post, the tertiary function is a point of conflict for all personality types, and it doesn't usually develop until middle age unless significant trauma work or self-awareness development occurs earlier in life. (Yeah, I copied that from the prev post, sorry not sorry). And... just like Higgs, Sam has both. Thus, his tertiary Ni is reasonably well-developed, though he does't share much of it with others... at all. He exhibits a well-tuned sense of what certain symbols and ideas mean to him, e.g. from novel: finding a worn-down bone on the Beach, getting incredibly sentimental about how nothing and no one gets the privilege of decaying anymore, feelings sad that life instead is erased from the world in such a brutal manner as necrosis/cremation/voidouts/etc. ("They weren’t returned to this world.") He gives into the urge to lick it on impulse (Sam do also be licking things!!), I presume in an effort to feel connected to the past, as well as curiosity. (Ugh, I love him.) Ne and Ni are extremely detached by nature, despite being defined by their creation of a desire to feel like part of the world, a craving for a sense of rightness and belonging. In the ISTP, Ni shapes the closely-guarded inner world. Hopes, dreams, self-esteem, the deepest of emotions: things ISTPs are extremely private about and protective of, only ever sharing with a select and trusted few, if at all. Ni operates in a going-between manner, using past experiences and insights to predict future outcomes and look forward with a sense of uniquely personal wisdom, which Sam employs quite often with his views on death, connection, humanity, so forth. There's a hushed sort of reverence and respect to his private inner world, buried beneath a layer of messianic guilt, shown in his attachment to history and relics of the pre-Stranding world. There's something so sadly ironic about a man who is the so-called "bridge to the future" holding deep sentiment for the past. Moving on... *sniff.* something in my eye... One more key function of Ni in the ISTP: deduction. Above all, Ni seeks patterns. It draws lines between things like facts, events, and symbols, interpreting their meaning. In a well-developed ISTP, the Ti-Ni axis works from a healthy basis of belief founded on logic, attaching significance to details to form a bigger picture. Example: Sam telling Bridges to study the blood on his broken boots, based on the fact that the BTs reacted to it "more than once." Ni plays a support character to a scientific approach here. Pattern -> deduction -> idea. The Se-Ni axis plays a similar role, as Ni contrasts established insights and sentiments with sensory information, connecting dots between things that might otherwise seem unrelated. Observe, then scrutinize; Ni helps Se to see the forest beyond the trees.

Fe (extroverted feeling): You can think of Fe in terms of group morality, the "us" contained in a person's principles. Because of Fe's role as a Ti-dom's inferior function, ISTPs can come across rather Fi-adjacent, being the rugged individualists they are. True, both IxTPs and personalities with strong Fi move against the grain in society and with their own principles, but in the ISTP, nitpicky, critical, skeptical, distrusting, reliable Ti dictates the approach. Thus, Fe is an awkward bedfellow, its nature highly empathetic, people-pleasing, and to an ISTP, inconveniently warm and fuzzy about things like community and partnership. As the inferior function, and therefore the point of insecurity, discomfort, and stress, ISTP's Fe makes them rather connection-averse; they're capable of great empathy, fellow feeling, and can get caught up in the idea of group harmony (more on that when discussing Sam being enneagram 9), but it's likely to leave said individual feeling drained and moody. Push an ISTP too far, too quickly in this area, and they're liable to leave and never come back... Oh look, that's exactly what Sam did the second time he left Bridges at the end of DS. Still, like any personality type, ISTPs grow and become happier people when they confront their inferior function and learn to occupy it in a healthy way, rather than solely relying on it as a rescue function in times of stress. Sam benefits from forming connections and nurturing this side of himself. Being the bridge, the rope, the strand. Doing so, and forming a strong connection with Lou, enables him to cope with his aphenphosmphobia again. (I say "cope," not "cure," it came back once, it can come back again, speaking as an agoraphobe whose issues come and go with variable severity. Lots of factors at play with phobias.) As an ISTP, Sam needs a balance between personal space/freedom and connection/community to be his best self. This is doubly true in light of him being enneagram 9.

Final thoughts before moving on

ISTP and ENTP share a lot of similarities in their emotional needs, as well as their general attitude about life, but they differ in taking a passive vs. active role in society, so it's no wonder Sam and Higgs have a natural sort of sun/moon dynamic... But let's focus on just Sam. Firstly, he's a classic example of the "grumpy but soft" trope, which is undeniably lovable. ISTPs don't form a large array of deep personal attachments, so the ones they do have are extremely valuable and lifelong if trust is maintained. This is a personality that would jump in front of a moving train without hesitation to protect a loved one. Lucky for Sam (and us), he'll survive! Heh. Seriously, though, ISTPs are loyal and devoted as fuck once they're committed. If you've played Red Dead Redemption 2, take a long look at Arthur Morgan (also enneagram 9!) and you'll see what I mean. While they aren't the best communicators, still waters run deep, and ISTPs are a wellspring of insights, an individualistic set of principles, and strong emotions with love and fierce passion to give. They’re unfortunately prone to getting bogged down in others’ expectations, doing what’s expected of them when they’re unhealthy enough to cave under pressure and slip into people-pleasing habits, doing as they’re told/asked, which fundamentally goes against their rebellious nature. Sam throwing himself headlong into the role Bridges expected of him (twice!) despite not believing in their ideals or methods is a key example. In such circumstances, ISTPs retreat into themselves and trudge along miserably, spite growing all the while. Hence Sam being crabby but subdued for most of the game, only to lash out fiercely at Higgs when provoked and then verbally unload all of his personal resentments—none of it having to do with Higgs!—while hitting him in the final fight.

ISTPs often have a thrill-seeking side (see: Sam laughing and cheering on the ziplines) because they love to cut loose, forget their problems, and have fun. Room to play, both intellectually and physically, is a core need. In these moments, ISTPs radiate joy and crave adventure. They love to joke around and laugh, for once, when they finally have an opportunity to do so. They’re not above playing devil’s advocate and indulging in a good debate if they have the spare energy for it. As an ISTP, Sam is headstrong, creative, and far more vulnerable than he lets on.

(part two: enneagram deep dive)

Tag list: @goldenbridgessss @pylonium

#mbti #enneagram #personality typology #sam porter bridges #character study #death stranding #logan.txt

9 notes · View notes