Not to be embittered intelligentsia on main but - oh wait, this is my Embittered Intelligentsia sideblog, full steam ahead
It’s not hard to find praise for Sly 4. Scrolling through Youtube comments and the like, you do see people saying it’s their favourite, or even defending it as “underrated”. But - and maybe the Youtube comment section is the wrong place to look for this - there’s no depth. It’s just “I like Sly 4 :)” and that’s it
And that’s valid, y’know! That’s allowed! You don’t need to write a correctly-cited essay every time a piece of art makes you feel good
But some of us like writing correctly-cited essays on art. And what I’m getting at is I don’t think Sly 4 has that kind of following.
Sly 4 is slick. It’s got strong gameplay and smooth graphics and more fuckin blast processing. And the story does function on an immediate level (he said charitably). But unlike the original trilogy, which had at least some thematic substance, it’s all just superficial. Try to dive deeper and you’ll just crack your head on a rock.
In other words, “I like the Penelope twist!” is a subjective statement. It cannot - and should not - be backed up by argumentation.
But “The Penelope twist is good!” needs argumentation to stand. And I don’t think anyone is about to supply that argumentation.
Keith has undiagnosed BPD , it’s not something he can recognise or tell you he has , to him he just has anger issues & is bad at coping with abandonment . He’s not the best at keeping it from greatly affecting him , although he does adopt a few self care practices to help ground & calm him .
I would like to preface this with credit to @lgcykpt for not only the meme header but also talking about her BPD experiences to help my understanding & guide my own research . I would also like to ask that if I am offensive in my portrayal of this ( despite my best efforts not to ) to call me out either in my ask box or IM’s , anywhere I can see it & I’ll adjust accordingly !!
First I’m going to go into the symptoms he displays & how they affect him daily , then i’m going to go into what actually caused it’s development , the rest is under a read more bc it got Long .
VERY EMOTIONAL ----- This doesn’t mean he cries at the drop of a hat or anything , he feels like anyone else does , just more intensely . If to him , a situation warrants anger , he feels fury . If it calls for sadness he feels depression , grief . Things hit him & they hit him hard , imagine feeling far more extremely than you should & for far longer until you abruptly switch to another strong emotion . Naturally this will wipe him out & as an introverted person he will tend to withdraw & try to deal with this on his own ( either listening to his soft music , or training , he is tired but he won’t sleep , this is another headcanon for another day . )
EMPATHETIC ----- Yes , he is . Before you try to fight me on this , he is in tune with other peoples emotions , he picks up what they are feeling without them needing to tell him . His problem is in that he doesn’t know how to relay that to them & provide the support they need . For example , in s4 when Lance comes to him basically saying he feels like he’s useless now ; Keith picks up on it & he understands , he tries to help , but it just doesn’t come across in a way that’s helpful . This is something he will learn in time because he genuinely does care & wants to help , he just doesn’t know how to comfort with words , as communication is a huge problem for him .
FEAR OF ABANDONMENT ----- This isn’t a strange concept to Keith’s character , he has & always will feel a strong worry over being abandoned , to the point of creating that abandonment for himself ( from freezing himself out of the team to join the bom , to avoiding Lance & genuinely believing Lance hated him because they are ‘Rivals’ & taking the teasing / rivalry far more seriously than intended ) . Being abandoned by his mother was the main driving force behind the development of his bpd . Then in his later crucial years his father left , shiro & matt left ( imagine being told the last people you were close to on this earth are dead , yeah ) this all built up to a complete & utter weakness to the notion of being abandoned .
This also plays into a hyper-vigilance re: rejection ; any notion of someone not being 100% committed to a relationship or other commitment can trigger a very strong emotional reaction . Usually it’s anger because he directs all negative emotions into that because to him it’s slightly easier to understand & express ( he yells , he trains , he hits things ) . This is also a huge part of his difficulty trusting people & skewed sense of self worth , they all tie into this & are why he keeps people at arms length for far longer than he logically needs to .
ANGER & IRRITABILITY ----- Another not strange concept is Keith’s anger issues . I’ve touched on this in most of all the other points but anger is an emotion Keith can handle better than others , i’m not saying he’s levelheaded about it , more the opposite . Keith understands anger , it’s a simple emotion & one very easily expressed ----- he’s angry , he hits things , he’s slightly less angry . He will also yell at people because of the sheer strength to which he’s feeling these emotions . An impulsive guy to begin with , if you put him in a high pressure situation ( even one that’s just high pressure to him ) he can snap & lash out with harsh , loud words & actions . He will use his anger to fight enemies , however & say it with me now ---------- Keith . Is . Not . Abusive . He has never & will never take his anger out physically on someone he cares about . Get that disgusting trope / stereotype / bullshit away from me .
IMPULSIVE & DISORGANISED THINKING ----- He will jump between doing x then doing y without seemingly much thought at all . This falls into the black & white / splitting way of thinking . He’s either all or nothing , he loves a person or he hates them , he’s ready to fight or he just doesn’t care . Obviously because he’s ultimately human , he doesn’t do this all the time or to the same degree with everything , but it happens . He knows it’s not rational but at the time it makes all the sense in the world , so it’s hard to monitor . His impulsive & dangerous behaviour is another sign of bpd ; always being ready to jump into a fight where the odds are against him , reckless & risky driving / flying , not backing out of any sort of challenge ect.
WHAT CAUSED IT ? ---------
In growing up Keith never learned to cope properly , with his mother leaving & then his father . He didn’t have the constant parental presence required to learn this emotional maturity & thus he’s stuck in a state of impulsiveness & very outward reactions to things that don’t always warrant this . He feels emotions very strongly ( overwhelmingly so ) & has no real healthy way , besides his music , to dispose of it . So he lashes out , he trains , he takes his anger out on whatever he can in hopes of not taking it out on anyone he cares about . However the sadness , the lack of self importance , the fear , he sits on that , he doesn’t know what to do with it & it shows . While it wouldn’t be able to be diagnosed before 18 , he has always shown these symptoms to a point because he is still meant to be emotionally developing & also has experienced trauma from a young age which makes it all harder for him to adjust to on his own , thus the development of the disorder .
He has never really had a strong sense of self & it’s an element that plays an important role through his entire narrative . He’s always been different & doesn’t know why until he learns the origin of his blade . This is the beginning of his healing from part of his trauma , it’s a long road & he will never be the Keith he would have been if this trauma didn’t exist in his life , but he will eventually find a place where he’s better & more emotionally stable . Ultimately what defines it as bpd is that all these symptoms he never really grows out of due to lacking that emotional maturity he should have learned / been taught but never did .
Side note : His Galra temperament does play on this & make his experiences more extreme than they would probably be if he were fully human .
