Welcome to First Click, an essay written by The Verge staff in which we opine on lives lived in the near future.

A ton of things happened at Google I/O, but somehow the biggest news from last week was never even mentioned onstage: the latest version of Android will kill the blob-style emoji and replace them with circular ones that are more consistent with those from iOS, Twitter, Facebook, Samsung, and more.

Many people, including some of us here at The Verge, said this was long overdue. But I say nay! To me, this is A Very Bad Move.

As I briefly said in last week’s episode of The Vergecast, I adore the blob emoji because they’re cute, unique, and show a lot of personality and expressiveness. While we can argue about the cons of Android fragmentation, one of the many reasons I like Android is because you actually have so many options to show individuality with the phone you use. I remember when I was in high school during the pre-iPhone years, there were tons of different cellphones to choose — from the ubiquitous Motorola Razr to the music-centric Sony Ericsson Walkman to the QWERTY keyboard Sidekick. Like our clothing choices and brand loyalties, our smartphone makes a statement about who we are.

I’m one with the blob, the blob is me

And though it’s true that a lack of standard emoji across the web means messages can get lost in visual translation, for me, that’s not how I necessarily see or use emoji. When I type in an emoji during a conversation, it’s not because I want the receiver to “see” how I’m feeling — it’s because that’s how I see myself in the context of that message.

Take the sweat drop face emoji for example. This is one I use often (don’t ask) to emote nervousness, but now the Android O version looks legitimately ill, and much sadder than its iOS counterpart.

The kissing face is another I use often. I love the blob version of this emoji because even the little arch from Android 4.4 reminds me of myself — a short, petite person who has to literally arch and tilt my head up to give my significant other a kiss.

Same with the weary face emoji and the way it literally droops down and shows tiredness.

Beyond that, aesthetically, the flat colors on the emoji look great. I don’t need emoji to look realistic or multi-dimensional. (In fact, I think most of the new ones look super dated and generic.) I just want them to be pleasing and cute to the eye, which Android O’s versions are not. Look at what they did to the poor bunny emoji!

What happened to the ears!?!? It looks like a bear got thrown in a tub of bleach and is now pretending to be who it’s not.

It is admittedly strange how attached we can get with what’s really just a bunch of glyphs, but the fact that they virtually represent us is why the people who love them are so crushed to see them go. Why can’t we continue to be a bunch of goofy, misfit-looking blobs? Wasn’t it you, Google, who said to be together, not the same?

You’re the company that, by some strange fate, brought us this emoji:

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Own the weird.

All my blob lovers say it with me: I’m one with the blob, the blob is me ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ.