#now one thing that may be kind of pointless but I still wanna do is get silent orchestras ego gift on one of my guys

[arolesbianism]

Tiphereth suppression finally complete babeyyyy

[number1mingyustan]

- Cuffing Season-

Your Impact

boyfriend!mingyu x fem!reader

Warnings: established relationship, size kink, switch!reader, switch!gyu, dom!reader, sub!gyu (he just has a hard time admitting it), unprotected sex (riding), light bondage, scratching, kissing, cursing, pet names, overstimulation, multiple orgasms, lowkey brat taming

Summary: Mingyu would actually do anything for you

Word Count: 2.8k

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(a/n: i don’t usually write the dudes being submissive but idk i kinda love it now 💃🏽)

“You know that boy is totally whipped for you right?” Your friend Mai says.

You and Mingyu are currently hosting a barbecue with some friends. Mingyu has finally gotten things better with the company, so he's not working as much. He doesn't have to go in for work at all today, and he figured he'd spend it with the people he loves.

He insisted on hosting and almost went out a bought a new grill just for it.

"What?" You say, turning your head to look at her.

"Mingyu... I'm sure he'd do anything for you. I've never seen a man look at a woman the way he looks at you," she says, eyes locked on the

Mingyu stands in your backyard with a beer in hand. He's wearing a black muscle tee and conversing with some friends. He looks so good even when he's not trying.

He notices you staring and turns his head the slightest bit to your direction before shooting you a wink. Your face grows hot. Even though it's nearly four years into your relationship, he still makes you nervous.

There's truth to her words. Mingyu has never shied away from showing you how much he loves you. Even earlier this week when he was two steps away from buying the pointless new grill, all you had to do was tell him you didn't need it and he listened to you.

"He'd only do anything for me because he knows I'm right," you joke back.

You laugh, but truthfully her words have got you thinking.

__________

"You okay baby?" Mingyu asks as he brings the last tray of food inside. "You've been quiet lately."

All your guests are gone and it's back to you and him. You're standing at the sink washing some of the leftover dishes.

"Yeah," you give him a small smile. "Just a little tired."

Lie. You're not tired at all, you've just got something on mind that you can't shake. It's what Mai said earlier in the backyard.

"Mingyu... I'm sure he'd do anything for you"

Anything.

Anything entails a lot, and it's got you thinking all kinds of thoughts. There are a number of things that have crossed your mind, but you've never been confident enough to think he'd actually go along with it.

"Well I'll finish cleaning up and you can go upstairs okay? Get some rest baby," he places his hand on your arm gently.

"You don't have to–"

"Nonsense," he cuts you off. "Mostly everything is cleaned up already. It's no worry."

He kisses your cheek and sends you on your way upstairs. But rest is still the last thing on your mind and you've already got an idea brewing in your head.

________________

When Mingyu enters your shared bedroom upstairs, you're nowhere to be found. He strips himself down to his underwear before sitting down on the bed.

The door is closed, but he notices the light is on in the bathroom connected to your room.

And moments later, you walk out in one of his t-shirts.

"There you are," he says, large hands pulling you over to him by the waist.

"Gyu," you say. "You'd do anything for me right?"

"Of course baby, what's this about?" he asks, voice laced with worry.

"Like anything anything," you clarify.

"Yeah baby, what is it?"

"I was just thinking you know... I wanna be in charge tonight. Let me tie you up," you suggest.

Mingyu blinks a few times in disbelief. He'd actually started to worry and you're just horny. He crosses his arms.

"What are you on about?" he asks.

"I just wanna be in charge for once," you inform him.

"I let you be in charge on your birthday every year baby," he sighs.

"I know... and it's my favorite day of the year."

He groans. "Baby..."

"Please? You said you'd do anything for me," you remind him.

"Yeah but I didn't think you meant–"

"C'mon baby..." You pout, pulling off his t-shirt. It revelas the lacy red set you were hiding underneath. It distracts Mingyu for a moment too. He loses his mind any time you wear red. Especially this set. "You love me, and you said anything"

"C'mon Gyu, I know you're not gonna pass up an opportunity to fuck me. I'm even wearing your favorite set." you say.

"I never said all that," he raises an eyebrow.

"Well... then we're not fucking unless I'm in charge," you say.

"You don't mean that," he frowns.

"And if I did?" You ask, pushing him down on the bed so his back meets the sheets.

"You're so cruel," he sighs.

"And your ego is fragile," you say.

"No it's not," he grumbles.

"Yes it is baby, your ego is the only thing getting in the way," you push your hips down against his. "You want this so bad. I can feel it."

"Not true"

"But you're already so hard, Gyu," you smirk.

"So what?"

"You're into this"

" 'M not," he lies.

"You are!"

"No... you're practically naked and sitting on my lap, of course I'm turned on," he defends.

"So you're not even the slightest bit into the idea?" you ask, subtly pulling out a silky rope.

"No," he lies.

"Not even a little bit?" you ask as you begin tying his hands above his head.

"No"

"So then why'd you just let me tie a pretty bow with your hands?" you grin.

"You're just sneaky..." he groans.

"True," you say with a smirk. You reach around yourself, unclipping your bra and allowing it to fall. "But you could've stopped me, and you didn't."

This time, he doesn't even bother responding. His eyes are scanning your body shamelessly. He's fucking throbbing in his underwear. There's already precum drooling through the material.

He can say he's not into it all he wants, but his body tells a different story.

You're nearly satisfied with yourself. You've got your big, strong boyfriend tied up nearly about to cum untouched in his underwear. Someone so large and dominant like Mingyu in a position like this? It swells your ego. All you have to do now is get him to submit to you.

You begin leaving wet kissing along his skin, starting at his neck and making your way down toward his V-line. Your hand finds its way to his very prominent bulge, slowly palming him through his underwear.

"You're so hot... fuck," he moans.

You grin, pulling his underwear down and allowing his cock to spring up and rest against his stomach. "Glad to see you're finally giving in."

" 'M not," he protests. "I called you hot, didn't say anything about being your little bitch boy."

"Oh but you are my little bitch boy," you smirk.

Before he can get another word out, you're wrapping your lips around his cock. You take his entire length in your mouth, allowing his tip to hit the back of is throat before withdrawing your mouth completely and leaving him squirming.

"Fuck's sake," he groans.

"Such a pretty cock," you say, swiping your thumb across the tip. He lets out a hiss. " 'S big and pretty Gyu... just like you.

"D-Don't say stuff like that," he whines.

"Why? Scared you might like it too much?" you bite down on your bottom lip.

"No... it just doesn't suit me," he pouts.

"You don't think you're pretty?" you tilt your head to the side.

"You're the pretty one," he compliments.

You grin. "Thank you baby." You press a quick kiss on his lips. "You're pretty too though. So pretty and big, I love it. I only say it cuz I mean it."

He groans.

You lick your lips before sliding your damp panties down your thighs. Once they're off, you're quick to toss them onto Mingyu's face with a giggle.

"Baby girl..." he groans.

He tugs on his restraints, but it does nothing.

"Feel how wet they are?" you ask.

"Uh huh. Just for me?"

"Yeah Gyu, only pretty little bitch boys get me that wet," you giggle. “Gonna gag you with those next time.” You toss your panties onto the floor somewhere. “But for now… I wanna hear you. Gonna make you my bitch. Have you moaning and crying for me.”

He groans again, cock throbbing at your words. Much like Mingyu, you too have started to grow a little impatient. You lift your hips, holding his cock against your slit.

"You want it?" you ask.

He nods.

"Use your words Gyu," you tell him.

"Yes," he says.

"Good boy"

He doesn't have time to comment on the pet name because you're already sinking down on his cock. He can feel the stretch of your cunt accommodating to his length.

And fuck, it feels so good.

You're fucking him like a mad woman, circling your hips and bouncing on his cock. His tip is nestled deep inside of you, pushing in further and further with each bounce of your hips.

"Holy shit," he moans.

Your hands grip his shoulders for support.

"Love it when you ride me," he admits, tilting his head back.

"Yeah?" you smirk. "You should let me do it more often."

"Nu uh," he protests.

"How come?" you pout.

"Don't wanna," he strangles out.

"Don't wanna what, huh? Don't wanna watch my tits bounce in your face? Don't wanna stretch me out while I'm on your lap? Don't wanna Fill me up without doing any of the work? What is it Gyu?"

"Fuck you're driving me crazy," he groans.

"Your cock is so big Gyu... swear it was fucking made for me," you moan. "Always stretch me open so good"

Just when he thinks it can't get any better, the rhythm of your hips changes. You're circling your hips differently and it feels incredible.

You're spelling your fucking name on his cock.

"You're mine," you breathe out. "Say it Gyu."

"You're mine," he groans out.

"Nu uh," you stop moving, planting yourself on his cock.

He groans, tipping his head against your shoulder. "Fuck... please keep going."

"Say it Gyu," you tell him.

He groans again against your shoulder. "Don't do this to me."

"C'mon Gyu, 's two words. It's not that hard, I promise." You say.

"Fuck me..."

"I will baby, just say it first. I promise. You know I don't break my promises," You assure him.

"Fuck," he groans again. " 'M yours, I'm fucking yours baby”

"Good boy," you start bouncing again, picking up in speed.

"Don't say that..."

"Why? Scared you might cum too soon?" you tease.

He moans out in response. Being completely honest, you were right. He could already feel how close he was, dangerously close. Your stamina has never been this good and he's mentally cursing himself because if you don't stop soon, he'll cum before you.

But you're just as needy as him. You won't stop any time soon. Matter of fact, this position is perfect. It allows you to press your clit against his pubic bone, providing you with another layer of friction. You're in a blissful state, feeling every stretch of his cock and thoroughly enjoying your ride.

"C'mon baby... you can't tap out on me now," you tease. Mingyu is fucking losing it. Every time you move, you're reminding him that you're the only one who can fuck him like this. He feels like his balls are gonna burst, the feeling intensifying every time your ass slams down against him.

" 'M going dizzy holy fuck–" he moans out. "You're fucking crazy."

"I know baby... your big cock just makes me crazy. Feels so fucking good, I'm so lucky." you moan.

He squeezes his eyes shut tightly. You're bouncing on his cock faster and he's really lost it.

"There we go. Cum for me baby," you encourage, each roll of your hips pulling more out of him.

"Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck! Slow down!" he cries out.

"Nu uh, you've already been difficult enough. Take it." you demand.

"It's too much!" he cries out. " 'S too much! P-please."

He can't stop it from happening. His cock is throbbing inside of you and you're just not stopping. He's pumping a huge load inside of you and his cock is so sensitive.

He can't take it. You're really not stopping either. Your thighs are sore and your body is begging you for a break. But you're too determined, heart set on overstimulating your big stubborn boyfriend until you cum.

"Hurts... it hurts," he rasps. "Fuck y/n it's too much."

He's restless beneath you, desperately tugging on his restraints to no avail. In his efforts to break free, he's pushing his hips up, fucking himself into you deeper and overstimulating himself more.

Mingyu has never expereinced this feeling. Never felt anything remotely close to this in his life. Overstimulated to this extent and submissive? You are a different kind of woman. As much as he wants to say he hates it, he fucking loves it.

If he was going to do anything for you before, he'd do anything times 10 right now. He loves you so fucking much. He's so lucky to have you. You're like a goddess to him.

You grab his face, holding him by the chin and forcing him to focus on you. "Look at me."

When his eyes meet yours, that's how you know you're broken him. A fucking tear falls from his eyes. One... then two... then three. He's fucking crying. You got your 6'2 dominant CEO to cry over your pussy.

"Fucking take it Mingyu," you growl. "You hear me?"

And then he fucking whimpers. He nods weakly, obeying and fully submitting to you.

Holy shit you're so hot. Mingyu feels pathetic right now but it's turning him on so fucking much. He never knew you had this side to you and he fucking loves it. He wants this experience tattooed onto his brain.

His eyes are still shining from the hot tears spilling. "Wasn't so hard now was it?"

All he can manage is a head shake. His cock is still throbbing inside of you, it stings in the best way possible. He can feel his body going numb. Each bounce goes straight from his cock to his head, making him feel like he might even pass out. But he doesn't want to stop.

You're scratching at his chest as you feel yourself growing closer to the edge. The pain only adds to the pleasure.

"Oh fuck! You're so hot Gyu, cock feels so good. I'm gonna cum!" You cry out. "You wanna make me cum? Huh baby?"

He manages a weak nod before you untie his restraints. He wraps his arms around your back with the little strength he has left. The closer contact allows you to rub your clit against deliciously.

"Go ahead baby, fuck me how you've wanted to this whole time," you rasp.

With his hands on your hips instantly, he tilts his head back, fucking his hips up into you desperately. His thrusts are so sloppy, but you're both so sensitive it feels to be hitting just right. He can feel his own cum dripping down his cock and he's beyond overstimulated. He can't stop fucking into you even though he's so sensitive. It feels so fucking good.

Mingyu's vision goes white momentarily when you cum. It brings a second orgasm out of his that he didn't know was possible. You squeeze around him too good, completely milking him dry of everything. Your body convulses on top of his as the blissful feeling takes over.

You've never cum this hard. And once you do, your body finally gives out, collapsing on Mingyu. You're both breathing heavily as your bodies reach exhaustion.

"Fuck..." he rasps. "You gotta hop off baby. 'M so sensitive."

You give him a weak nod before lifting yourself off of him with shaky legs and falling next to him on the bed. His cock is still semi-hard, throbbing and red.

"Where the hell did that come from?" he asks suddenly.

You lick your lips. "I've always wanted to be in charge."

"You've never put it on me like that on your birthday," he pants. "You're fucking crazy."

"Yeah," you smirk and grab his cock suddenly. He lets out a loud his and jerks back. "But you loved it."

"Fuck! Okay okay... maybe I liked it a little bit," he finally admits.

You press a quick kiss on his lips. "I know."

You swipe your thumb across his damp cheeks. "Can't believe you cried."

He weakly pushes your hand away. "Shut up."

"You big baby," you tease.

"Stop it. You're not allowing to bring that up. Ever."

You grin.

"I'm serious."

"Okay you big baby."

"Stop it!" He reaches his arms out, pulling your sweaty body closer to his.

You lay there for a moment together. It's nice, being in his arms like this. But your body is tired and you're starting to feel sleepy but you haven't showered yet.

"Gyu."

"Hmm?"

"We have to shower."

"No we don't."

"We do. We're all sweaty and gross."

"Baby..."

"C'mon, we can go to bed right after I promise."

"Okay... only cuz I know you don't break your promises."

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© number1mingyustan - Do not repost without permission.

[dreamofbecoming]

part two, this one is still mostly stobin and pre-steddie. the first part does provide some context, although i imagine you could figure most of it out yourself, but i'd recommend reading it first anyway!

ao3

part 1

platonic stobin, mentions of steddie

rating: t

wc: 3k

---

The conversation dies down and Steve goes back to filling bottles to hand off to Robin, eyes on Dustin where he's still goofing off with Munson. Good, he should get to have as much fun as he can. This is what he should be doing. What they should all be doing. Steve hates that these kids have to be fucking…soldiers so much of the time. He hates that he can't do anything to shield them from it. Not that they'd let him if he could.

Maybe Robbie has a point, about regular teenage life stuff being pointless right now, but god, what the fuck? Why should it have to be? He's 19! He can't even buy a drink yet! Robin is still in high school!

Fuck it. They should get to be kids and think about stupid pointless stuff, too.

"So I know you said you didn't want to talk about your love life, which is fair, but if I keep thinking about dying I'm gonna lose my shit, so you wanna talk about mine?"

She raises an eyebrow at him. "Oh, are we talking about how fucking weird shit has been between you and Nancy?"

Ah, fuck, that backfired almost immediately.

"What? No. Definitely not. Ok, it's been weird, but it's not a thing, ok?" She looks even more skeptical than before. "It's not! I mean, ok, maybe it is," she snorts at him, which. Rude. "But it's just like. Regular weirdness, ok?"

"What the fuck is regular weirdness?"

"You know, like, exes who haven't talked in a while in a high-pressure situation weirdness. The kind of weirdness anyone would be having in our shoes. Normal weirdness!" He throws his hands in the air, agitated.

Munson looks over at the sound of his raised voice, lifting an eyebrow and smirking. What is it with everyone raising their eyebrows at him today? He's being normal! Normal and regular! It's not his fault everything around them is weird and that makes his normal look weird by comparison. He's not doing anything wrong, so get off his nuts already! Geez!

Steve isn't sure how much of that very normal and regular monologue shows on his face, but it must be some because he can see Munson laughing at him as he goes back to playing keepaway with Dustin's hat. Bastard.

"Ugh! No, I don't want to talk about Nance. Like I really super don't. There's nothing there, it's done, it's over, there's nothing to say."

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to talk about that debacle in the bus either. Six kids, Steve? Really?" Oh Jesus. He was really hoping no one had heard that.

"Bobbie, please, why are you torturing me?" He rarely deploys the Sad Eyes on Robin, mostly because they don't work especially well on her, which is insane, because they work like an atom bomb on literally everyone else. He may have left King Steve behind him, but he has plenty of skills left over from those days, not to mention he looks as good as he always has. He knows what he's working with, ok?

Anyways, this is a moment to pull out the big guns, which means Sad Eyes are a go.

As usual, they aren't as effective on Robbie as they are on other people, but she does know him well enough to realize that if he's pulling them out, it's out of desperation, so she takes pity on him anyway. Whatever. He'll take the win.

She sighs, and rolls her eyes indulgently, but she's smiling just a little. He can tell. God, he loves her. He'd burn the world down for her, is maybe going to have to. He doesn't know what he'd do without her.

"Alright, bubba, I'll bite. You want to talk about your love life, but you don't want to talk about Nancy. Whatcha got for me?"

And, oh. Shit. This is the part where he's going to have to say it out loud. He hadn't planned this far, mostly was just anxious to get the swirling feeling in his chest out into Robbie's hands because he knows she can keep it safe, mostly just trying to wipe that awful, scared, defeated look off her face, but now he has to actually do the thing. He has to say it out loud, on purpose, the way he hasn't since that day in her bedroom when his whole world shifted a little to the left, and she was the only thing holding him steady.

Fuck. Ok. He can do this. It's just Rob. No one else is close enough to hear them, and Robin will always keep him safe. She'll never let him be alone.

"So, uh. You know the, uh, the thing? That we talked about that one time?"

"Yeah, we talk every day, I'm gonna need a bit more than that, bubs."

"The, uh. The thing we decided we didn't have to talk about right away? Because it wasn't important? Or, no, it was important, but it wasn't, um. What did you say? Relevant. It wasn't relevant to my everyday life?"

"Relevant to your…oh! Oh shit! The thing! The thing we talked about! That thing!" Her eyes are wide and so so blue and her hands are flailing a little, like she wants to pat him down for injury even though that's not remotely helpful. He carefully takes the bottle out of her hand and stuffs the rag into it himself, setting it on the ground where she can't dump gasoline on herself. She smiles a little sheepishly.

"So what about the, uh, the thing?" She lowers her voice like she's in a goddamn spy movie, leaning close and waggling her eyebrows. She's so ridiculous. He loves her so much.

He gives her a pointed look. She shakes her head in response, looking confused. Jesus fuck, she's gonna make him say it.

He tries one more time, bobbing his head at her to try and make his facial expression more forceful. He doesn't miss his old crowd, really, he doesn't. He does, however, occasionally miss being around people who were constantly alert for even the smallest social shifts, who he could have a whole conversation with using nothing but subtle changes to the shape of his mouth or the width of his eyes. He loves Robin and Dustin more than life, would kill or die for them, has proven it several times over, but Christ on a cracker they wouldn't know a social cue if it whacked them in the head with a hammer.

She's still furrowing her brow at him, so he sighs, and gives in. "I think it's maybe become…relevant. I promised to tell you right away, remember?"

Her eyes go even wider than before, and she thwaps him in the chest with the back of her hand. Hard. Ow.

"Dingus!" She's whisper-shouting, but he still doesn't think anyone is close enough to hear. "What the hell!"

"Ow, Robbie, Jesus, watch the open wounds!"

She flutters her hands around his middle, like she can fix his bandages through his jacket. She does look apologetic, so that's something.

"Sorry, sorry, fuck, sorry! Are you ok? Sorry. Just, what the hell! What? Who? When?!"

He smirks at her. "What, no why or how?"

"I'm going to set you on fire with one of these cocktails if you don't start talking, Dingus, I swear to god!"

He's laughing, she's so much fun to rile up. God, he hopes he doesn't have to miss this. He hopes he gets to keep this much, at least, when they're done. He'll probably go crazy otherwise.

"Ok, ok, I won't tease, I'm sorry. So I guess, to answer your questions, uh…I found a boy to crush on, who the hell do you think, and I promised to tell you right away, didn't I?" He counts them down on his fingers while he answers them, because if he can't act like a little shit to her then honestly, what is even the point?

"Right away…holy shit. Holy shit! Steve!" She looks frantically out at the field, where Munson has now knocked Henderson over and is sitting on him, wearing his hat and crowing victory, while Dustin flails wildly on the ground. Thank fuck neither of them are looking this way, because holy hell she isn't subtle.

"Robbie, don't look, what the hell! Do you want him to know we're talking about him?"

"Oh, so we are talking about him? Eddie "The Freak" Munson?"

He cringes a little at the reminder of his earlier dismissal. "Alright, ok, so I maybe didn't give him much of a chance at first, but the Upside Down changes things, you know that! It did for us, right?"

She looks thoughtful. "I guess, yeah. So go on, loverboy, what do you like about him?" She's grinning and waggling her eyebrows again. Ugh, this may have been a mistake. She does owe him for the Tammy Thompson thing. Still, there's no one alive he'd rather talk about this with, and he has to talk to someone, or he's going to explode, and they have a…wizard…demon…thing…guy to kill. Whatever. They have killing to do, so he needs to get this off his chest so it's not clogging up his brain.

"He has…really nice eyes. And really nice hands." Robin lets out a soft "Oh, ew," before he glares at her and she motions for him to go on. "He's funny, and weird but in like, a charming way? Kind of like you, but different. The way Dustin is weird and charming like you, but different, you know?"

"You have a thing for nerds, Dingus."

"Ugh, maybe, yeah." His mind drifts back to Eddi- Munson. Gotta keep calling him Munson, at least until they get out of this. Can't afford to be distracted. "He's scared out of his mind, but he's coming along anyway, which is the kind of brave and stupid this whole group kind of runs on. He thinks he's a coward but he's not. Going back to school instead of dropping out is brave. Trusting us is brave. Acting like he does even when everyone hates him for it is brave. I wish I had been brave enough to do that, you know? Maybe I would have dropped the King shit earlier. And he's good with the kids, which you know I'm weak for. I don't know, Robs, I just…I want him to like me, you know? I want him to be impressed by me. Is that stupid?"

When he looks up, Robin's eyes are wide and shiny. She looks surprised, and a little scared. That's not good, probably, but he can't take back anything he said. He meant all of it.

"It's not stupid, bubba, it's not stupid at all. I guess I was thinking…I don't know. That it was like an adrenaline thing? Like a 'you're hot, we're in danger, I'd rather think about making out with you than dying' kind of thing? Like what Nancy was clearly doing with you earlier, you know?"

"Ugh, Robbie, I so don't want to talk about Nancy right now, please," he groans.

"Yeah yeah, I know, whatever. I just mean, it doesn't really sound like that's what's going on with you, for Eddie, right now. It kinda sounds like you, you know, like like him."

"Like like him? What are we, 12?"

"You know what I mean, Dingus, it just sounds like there are actual feelings here, not just sexy thoughts."

He shifts a little on his stool, feeling kind of exposed, but it's ok. It's just Robin. "I mean, yeah, I guess I kinda do? Have feelings. Or maybe I will? I'm kind of trying to hold them off, I guess, until we get out of here, you know? I barely know the guy, honestly, but also every time this happens I end up bonded for life to someone new, so why not him this time? I mean, the first time with the demogorgon even got me and Nancy back together, and we were like, donezo, for real, after that thing Tommy did to The Hawk. This shit is better than superglue, you know?"

Robin barks out a laugh. She squares her shoulders and puts on her best announcer voice. "Do you have trouble making friends? Looking to join a new crowd, but can't find a way in? Try Hell Beasts! Our near-death experience package will create lasting trauma that will bind you together forever! There's no escape now!"

The two of them collapse into giggles, drawing the eyes of several their friends scattered around the field.

When she composes herself, Robin gives him a soft smile. It's one of his favorites. Almost no one ever sees it but him, and not very often. "Well, I guess we had better all make it out of this in one piece, then, huh? So we can do all our sad gay pining together."

"I dunno, I think maybe I have a shot," he says thoughtfully, eyeing Edd- no, stop it, Munson, where he's flopped on the grass next to Dustin, chatting happily.

Robin boggles at him. "What the fuck do you mean, a shot? Are you- oh god, are you just gonna tell him? Steve!"

"Wh- Not right away or anything! And not for sure! I have to figure out if he's flagging on purpose first!"

"If he's whatting on what?"

"Oh come on, you remember that one zine that talked about the, uh. The whats it. The code! The hanky code, that was it!" He snaps his fingers in victory, triumphant.

She's still looking at him like he's grown a second head though, so maybe not.

"I don't know, maybe you skipped that one? From what I could tell it was more about men anyway. I think they mentioned that ladies use, uh, caribou. The clip things, you know?"

"Caribeeners? Dingus what the hell are you talking about?"

"It's this thing, right? That like, gay people, gay men, I guess, use to like, signal each other, kind of. It's basically like, you wear a hanky in your pocket, and what color it is and what pattern is printed on it and which pocket you wear it in tells people what kind of sex you like."

Robin looks even more shocked, if that's possible. "What does that even mean, what kind of sex you like?"

Oh, right. Lesbian virgin. Fair enough. "Like, do you like to uh. Give, if you know what I mean. Or receive. Do you like blowjobs, or handjobs, or like. I dunno, weird stuff. Like spit or whatever."

She's waving her hands frantically, her face screwed up. "Ahhhh lalalala that's enough! That's plenty of information, thank you!" He holds up his hands in surrender. She asked.

"Anyway, what does all of...that...have to do with you having a shot with," she switches back to her not-at-all-subtle stage whisper, "Eddie?"

"Haven't you noticed he's had that bandana in his pocket the whole time?" She whips her head around so fast he's surprised he doesn't hear her neck crack. Jesus, Robin.

"Would you chill out? You're going to make him look over here and then I'll have to let Vecna eat me because there's no way I'll survive the humiliation if he hears us, Robin!"

She glares at him. "Don't even joke about that, Dingus. You're making it out alive or I'll kill you myself."

He knows he's smiling adoringly at her, and if Henderson is looking he's never, ever beating those "in love with Robin" allegations, but whatever. "Noted, Buckley."

"So, what, you think he might be...like us? 'Cause of the bandana?"

"I mean, maybe, yeah? I might be crazy, but I also feel like he was definitely flirting with me earlier. Like in the Upside Down, and also at the trailer, you know?"

"Now that I think about it, that "Big Boy" thing was super weird. I figured it was just Eddie being Eddie, they call him The Freak for a reason, right? But I guess that could have been called flirting."

"Right? That's what I thought! And when we were down there, he was like, all up in my space, and he gave me his vest, and he seemed annoyed when I talked to Nance, even though he was trying to push me back to her. Which was insane, I didn't tell you this part Robs, oh my god. I was fully staring at his lips, just laser focused, like I would be on a girl I want to kiss, right? And he won't stop telling me how Nancy is definitely still in love with me and I should get her back! What the hell! Who does that? So I don't know," he sighs, feeling a little lost. "Maybe he isn't into me after all. But I have to at least check, right?"

"I mean, I don't think I'm the right person to ask about that, bubba, but if it goes sideways, I'll burn his house down if you want." She wiggles a molotov cocktail at him, grinning.

"Jesus, Bobbin, alright. Let's, uh. Let's call that Plan B, yeah?"

"Roger that, captain!" She gives him a stupid little salute, and for a moment he's back at Scoops, before everything went shit-shaped, but she's still his Robin, and they're safe and alive and nothing hurts.

And then he blinks again and he's sitting on an overturned bucket in front of a stolen RV, making molotov cocktails with his soulmate, watching his baby brother and the guy he might maybe sort of have a crush on tussle in the grass, hoping against hope they all live to see morning.

He picks up another bottle.

part 3

[corviids]

hi y’all :) i just wanted to say something because there’s the really off putting energy within the lucemond fandom right now so i wanna say my piece more so for my peace of mind.

i’m ready to just move on from all this. while i am still hurt and confused why any of this had to happen in the way it did, and i think it was highly inappropriate for it to transpire as it did, there’s really no point in getting hung up on it. fandom is suppose to be a fun and enjoyable thing and it isn’t fair to let a few bad actors ruin it for you — i had to think about this for myself over the past two days. does all of this suck? yes, one hundred percent. but i don’t wanna let the fear of what people may be saying about me behind my back dictate how i behave. i have every right to exist in fandom spaces.

in general, i just want to have fun on here. writing and drawing and talking with y’all is fun and has genuinely helped me through some of the worst months of my life in recent memory. this fandom and the content i’ve made for it means a lot to me and i don’t wanna (nor intend anytime soon) to leave that behind.

drama is very stupid in my opinion. i’ve for a long time insisted that it had no place on my blog bc this is suppose to be a positive space and what bugs me the most is someone forced my hand on it. that all being said, it’s stupid and pointless. don’t let other people ruin the things you enjoy — and this applies to anything.

i wanna get back to rambling and having fun talking with you all. remember just to be kind to each other and if someone bothers you, just ignore them.

rant done, i’m getting back to doing my thing

[cat-of-starlight]

Ok-

In the wake of the new Limbus Brainrot because Canto 4 ended, I've been seeing a certain... Dante related theory... making the rounds again and I wanted to post my thoughts about it.

Putting it under the cut for length reasons- No specific spoilers?, I just don't wanna blast people with the text wall lmao

I gotta say, I really hate the Dante = Ayin theory. Desperately.

Not any hate to the people theorizing- not like that, I just already have a deep hatred of [x person is actually y person]/Reincarnation/etc. theories.

Why, you may ask? Well, in the case of this theory specifically, I have three main reasons.

1 - The vibes of the two characters themselves

Important note, I actually like both characters. I know some people have A Lot to say about Ayin, and honestly so do I (Probably different things but yea), but I generally don't mind him as much as some other people seem to.

I also love Dante.

And Specifically, I'll say- I like them both for Incredibly Different Reasons. Different enough reasons that I feel that mixing the two would ruin them both. I mean sure, Dante CLEARLY has something going on in the memories they can't yet remember, but honestly? Ayin already had his arc. HAD his chance in the spotlight- a whole game of it. I wouldn't mind a cameo, or reason for him to be important in some way, but I'd be crushed if all the reasons I've come to love Dante were smothered by "oops all Ayin"

I feel like it would make it almost... Pointless? "Oh yea this character may have had their whole character arc, but surprise! They aren't REALLY their own person and are instead this dude who already had his character arc!"

2 - They/Them Dante Supremacy™

Now, considering that the meme They/Them Dante post that I made blew up and is now my most popular post on my blog, I think its safe to say where I stand on the Dante's Pronouns part of everything-

I think it would be kind of... dismissive of that to make "Oh yea they were they/them to hide their identity" Because uhhh. Their identity is already hidden. We can't see their face. Literally anyone could have their head taken, a clock replaced, and that outfit slapped on and it generally wouldn't matter-

I feel like it kind of would send the message of "They can only count as they/them because their everything is hidden and we can't tell anyway" which??? No??? Even once Dante's actual head gets revealed, if people start switching calling them to whatever gender they look the most like and the game still uses they/them I'm Going To Bite People.

3 - ??

The least plot relevant, and the most just vibe based is- I just kinda feel like this type of reveal in writing often kinda feels like a cop out? I mean, I'm sure there's probably a well done version of one of these, but I sure as hell haven't found it yet-

I mean, in a BIG city with TONS of characters, there is SO MUCH plot that a character can have, without needing to jump back to a character that they already have. Sure- Project Moon Protags often have a Big Reveal, and its often Shocking- but does it really need to be a rehashed reveal from the first game? "boo he's old news get new material" ya know?

--

Anyway yea. I don't like the theory- Never have from the first time I saw a post about it.

If you like it, feel free to keep on with it- I don't mean this to say "If you theorize this, you suck" or anything, I just keep seeing it, and felt the desire to put my own two cents in~

But yea, keep on with it if you like it? Maybe tag it something specific and I'll just block the tag lmao

[siramay-the-showgun-dragon]

DR3 episode 10 Makoto Vs Munakata BREAKDOWN

recently someone else made a post about Makoto's feral-ness during the showdown he had with Munakata in episode 10, of course it's quite cool, but i feel some may take it the wrong way so i wanna set the record strait and also gush about stuff i love in that scene that people may not notice so first lets lay some context

future arc episode 10: prior to this Munakata has gone on a downward spiral of insanity being a knight templar and that his way is the right way and that he must kill all despair meaning everyone he even practically killed Juzo and even before his full berserk mode he was highly aggressive and hostile towards Makoto not listening to his words at all and belittling him, in short at the time he was far from "a reasonable folk" and Makoto at the time just had his girlfriend friend Kyoko die in which Munakata challenged him to a once and for all face off, in which Makoto bears his will and steady's himself, though being open about the pain in his heart of her apparent passing and this is important as his heart is his most powerful weapon ok now lets start

so we start with the precursor as Makoto walks to Munakata and they think over their ideologies. and how Munakata wants to pull a "kill them to save them" with Makoto and everyone cause he thinks despair must be destroyed and you know its interesting cause then Makoto says

i remember it shaking me how steadfast and determined he was, to stop Munakata at all cost but i just want to point out something from here on out that i feel is very important to what we shall be seeing

Makoto Planed all this

not the before stuff i mean as soon as he walked in that room he knew what he would say and what he would do, he had his end goal in mind he even says so near the climax with the doors but even before that he planned what would happen prior it may not seem like it due to how he always seemed on the losing side and sure he probably didn't plan to get beaten up so much but he still knew what he would do and how he would do it, and people don't talk about that much but this all shows how Makoto is much more intelligent then we give him credit for, but I'll explain as we go on

so then we start Makoto steps on glass to alert Munakatas attention, you can tell it's on purposes as there's no indicator of uncertainty or fear on Makoto's part, it's to say "i am here lets end this" as when Munakata speaks makoto still stands strong not faltering or fumbling. then he says "i wont hesitate anymore" makoto will face munakata head on and do what he needs to but even then befor anything he trys to talk down munakata saying how killing eachother is pointless and that they can still work together

of course munakata doesn't listen but no one can say Makoto didn't try

and that's when the chase begins, but who's the hunter and who's the hunted? that's what one must ask

so though munakata attacks makoto runs out closing the door as it's revealed in the end makoto knows munakata can't open doors and uses this to his advantage drawing distance and gaining time to make his next move, as

open door which of course Munakata knows is a set up,

but jokes on him makoto knew he would know it's a set up, or not, it's a win win either way because if he didn't know

deep fried zealot on the barbie! but since he did know he survived which leads to the next phase of makotos plan. and if any of you are wondering why makoto would do such a thing

he was always feral! he just didn't have much chance to act on it because he's polite and sees the good in people, but even he has his limits, so you best start appreciating the kindness Makoto shows in you when he does, well on to phase 2!

cause munakata survives with his sword and shoots makoto with tengans weapon which hurts of course so makoto runs off as his blood leads munakata exactly where makoto wants him to be he even says so

of course makoto knows about the fire extinguisher and he dosent just mean that but I'll bring that up in a second as we see makoto look around waiting for munakata who comes in soon after and makoto is hidden now holding the fire extinguisher to bop munakata on the head! which fails, he also throws it but that fails, now one ask if this could kill munakata but from my research it seems it would only hurt maybe konk him out as for something to hit your head and kill you it must be about 24 kg (52 lbs). for it to be lethal from arm length and the average fire extinguisher is around 5-10 pounds and as much as i like to believe makoto is this

hes more likely this

so that fire extinguisher is more then defiantly not killing just gonna sting maybe knock him unconscious which would be a win, but he failed but dont worry! this leads the phase 3! which brings up how before he threw it he planed on using it for its intended purpose, (which is a important part of phase 3)

because though it gets thrown away and jammed in the wall it BLOWS UP HITTING MUNAKATA IN THE BACK AND MAKEING A SMOKE SCREEN EVERYWHERE! which disorients and distracts munakata for makotos phase 3!

JUMP HIM AND PUSH HIM IN THE HOLE!

which leads me to point out something genius The dud fire extinguisher? It was the same one that Asahina tried to use to cover their escape in episode 2. Likewise, the hole in the floor is the one Great Gozu smashed for an escape route in the same episode. In "fighting" Munakata, Makoto made use of observation, deductive reasoning, and a pretty good memory; skills that he'd honed in his own Killing Game, which Munakata had earlier derided for being too orderly compared to fighting in the real world.

which of course leads to the kicker as they are both down the hole, munakata apears to have makoto right where he wants him right there in on a silver platter for a kill, but on the contrairy, makoto has munakata right where he wants him as makoto reveals he knows munakats forbidden action, and thus makeing it so munakata cant kill him and has to listen. moral of the story

munakatas like "your plan faild i am not dead" makoto:

this of course all leads to the epic confrontation scene

it was with empathizing and saying these words to munakata did he finally pierce his heart and get munakata to back down...

so much for useless platitudes ay munakata?

[asordinaryppl]

A3! Main Story: Part 4 - Act 15: PAINFUL RE:BAKE - Episode 21: Sugarless Boy

Keiku: ?

Keiku: I’m kinda busy, as you can see. Long story.

Vulgar young man A: Hel…

Vulgar young man B: P-Please… stop…

Omi: I can’t overlook such a one-sided fight.

Keiku: …

Vulgar young man A:  –gh.

[Running]

Keiku: Ah, they ran away.

Keiku: Wanna fight in their stead, Onii-san? TYSM in advance.

Omi: I’m not looking for a fight. There’s just something I want to ask you.

Omi: You’re the one who’s been going around calling himself “Nachi of Wolf”, aren’t you? Why do such a thing?

Keiku: This was his turf a while back, wasn’t it? I saw it on the internet, so I made it my username.

Omi: … I’m the former boss of “Wolf”.

Omi: Nachi was my best friend. He’s gone now. Don’t use his name so lightly.

Keiku: Huh–

Keiku: … Damn. He’s dead?

Keiku: … Using a dead guy’s name should be fine, tho? Might just be a coincidence anyways.

Omi: There are people who will be sad and hurt to see their loved ones’ names be used so lightly. Myself included.

Keiku: … That so?

Omi: Why are you doing this?

Keiku: Communication.

Omi: What?

Keiku: Ain’t this what we call diversity in communication? I mean, saying somethin’ hurts is easy to understand… yeah?

Keiku: My understanding of my own emotions and others’ is sorta vague.

Keiku: It’s all a fog in my head, and I don’t get much about myself or others.

Keiku: But, y’know, when I hit and get hit, I feel the pain, and my mind becomes clear. That’s easy to understand.

Keiku: That’s why, you can hit me too, Onii-san. I’ll hit back tho.

Omi: I don’t do this kind of communication anymore.

Omi: … It’s true that the Wolves resorted to violence in the past.

Omi: But it was never to hurt someone else. It was always only to protect ourselves.

Keiku: ‘s that sophistry?

Omi: Well, I can’t say it’s always the right thing to do. But I do know that doing things that only hurt others is pointless.

Omi: You should find a different method of communication. There has to be something other than violence.

Keiku: For example?

Omi: Getting to know each other, for example.

Keiku: Huuh, let’s get ta know each other, then…

Keiku: This mark on my face’s been here since I was born…

Keiku: Like I said before, I’ve never been in tune with either mine or other people’s emotions. Even my parents were creeped out ‘cause they couldn’t tell what I was thinkin’.

Keiku: And ‘cause they were such perfectionists, this mark made me defective in their eyes, and they couldn’t even look me in the eye.

Keiku: They got drunk once ‘n told me I look like a half-baked cake. Apparently some part of me’s sorta undercooked.

Keiku: I didn’t really get what those people were thinking, but…

Keiku: I did get that my family’s not the perfect shit you see in manga and anime.

Keiku: But it ain’t like I was abused or neglected. They sent me to a regular ol’ high school, and gave me more pocket money than most people get.

Keiku: They’d buy me anythin’ if I said I wanted it.

Keiku: That’s why, I can’t tell what they’re thinking. I don’t really know what I think of them, either.

Keiku: Not just them, but everyone around me. That’s why I want my communication to be easy to understand, at least.

Keiku: I’d say that’s pretty much the only thing that gives me a reason to live.

Keiku: Are ya gonna take it away from me, Onii-san? This lil' something that gives me a reason to live.

Omi: … It may make you feel better for a moment, but nothing comes out of violence. Nothing is born out of it.

Omi: If you don’t find a different reason or way to live, you’ll keep this emptiness with you forever.

Keiku: Can ya guarantee I’ll find it?

Keiku: Maybe that worked out for you, Onii-san. But it sounds too much like survival bias to me.

Omi: ——

Omi: (I discovered theater under the pretense that I did that for Nachi. And I ended up finding a reason to live and a place to belong.)

Omi: (But all that happened because I got lucky. I can’t guarantee the same will happen if this boy takes up acting.)

Omi: (But still, maybe I should show him what gave me a place to belong and a new meaning in life–)

Keiku: …

Omi: ?

Keiku: … Siiike, I’m just fuckin’ with ya.

[Keiku hits Omi]

Omi: –gh

Keiku: C’mon–

[Omi blocks Keiku’s attack]

Omi: Stop!

Keiku: You can block that? That’s a former boss for ya.

[Keiku grabs Omi]

Omi: —Ugh.

Keiku: In the end, I’ve got no idea what the difference is between the violence you guys were doin’ and what I’m doin’, y’know.

Keiku: Ain’t this what we call meddling hypocrisy? Nothing ya say resonates with me, I don’t understand.

Keiku: This is my failure of a life, IG? Gotta take the L sometimes, or something.

Keiku: There’s no way I’ll ever understand ya, so don’t come near me again.

[Keiku pushes Omi away]

Omi: ——

Omi: (Failure... of a life?)

Keiku: TY for the fight.

Omi: Wait– what’s your name?

Keiku: Keiku Karashina. What a half-baked name. Bet it tastes bad. (1)

previous episode | masterpost | next episode

NOTES:

(1) keiku here is making a joke based on how parts of his name sound like food, namely karashi and cake

[minniepetals]

Hello I hope this does not come off as rude or overly harsh which unsolicited criticism often tends to be but there are just a few pet peeves I have with cmar.

Y/N has literally been hurt by so many people which is kind of odd considering she is "pretty" and the daughter of a mafia leader tho one who doesn't care about her. Still there is no way it wouldn't have given her privilege even if it was hidden that she was her daughter ppl definitely will be hesitant to hurt to hurt her.

Also the reasons why she hates these people are all the same that they hurt her and/or harrassed her which is fine but it gets so repetitive.

Also earlier in the story its very unbelievable how a sweet girl like yn so insecure of her emotions would end up as this weird emo like no emotions gal. Like ik the whole point is that she has been hurt so much that she became this way but even when oneself is trying to survive by blocking out emotions they preserve a bit of their past selves not intentionally but just naturally. I just feel that yn is so bland now, the "oh i don't show emotions unless I am having a mental breakdown" just seems overplayed because if she is having so many panic attacks on the regular she is DEFINITELY an emotional person and one who shows it too since she's kinda bad at hiding them from anyone who looks at all more than 2 sec at her.

The healing arc should definitely be here yet cuz yn is not dumb and since pointless revenge is not giving her peace she should try something else? Like it honestly feels like Tumblr teens who post edgy things about mental illness but don't wanna heal from it cuz that's their only personality trait.

Again, I did thoroughly enjoy the first half of cmar and I send this with no ill intent. I just wonder if you can elaborate a bit of your thought process for the above so that I can read the rest of the chapters without being annoyed by these things.

first of all, thanks for your input because obviously i'm not the greatest writer out there and getting to know this part of my writing helps me out a lot! and of course, i can definitely walk you through my thought process without spoiling too much. it's gonna be long so i'll leave it under the cut

the thing with being pretty in this context, and it's kinda a theme with the mafia world in cmar, is that the pretty ones (i say pretty ones because seokjin and jimin are also considered pretty and went through some similar harassment) are taken advantage of by their beauty. like attracting creepy old men for example and sure there's that privilege of turning people over to your side but that comes with the issue of trusting whether their intentions are good or not -- and y/n is always on the edge. she also hates the spotlight and attention and only uses her pretty privilege to an advantage if she needs to for a mission. not to mention the men in the mafia world are pretty much psychopaths who gets upset easily. you can only do so much with a pretty face. a pretty face may attract easily but being pretty isn't the reason people stay with you or will always take your side. and at the end of the day, these men live off power and control.

y/n hates a lot of people but the whole thing with her revenge arc isn't her going after people that have only harassed her. her first man was her father and you know the story with that. the second was daejung, who had kidnapped her when she was only fourteen and that traumatized her. jummy, though was abusive, wasn't her target, it was his brother ying, who trafficked children and the reason why she went after him was to save those children. leehyun was a predator who got her to fear the touch of men. nari wasn't even a part of the list because yeah she harassed y/n but that was all. y/n doesn't only care entirely about the people that only harassed her, it goes a little deeper than that. and now our next target is karl who (spoiler alert) is behind the reason to y/n's first and only reaper who died (aka nakyum), and the other ones i can't explain cuz they're not revealed yet lmao. but all in all, her hit list are individual people that have done her wrong through different reasons.

i guess it's fair for you to say that our y/n has gotten bland. that is of course your view and i can't change your perspective on her personality. it's a bit harder to explain since not a lot has been revealed about what went on during that mysterious ten year gap (with her shift of personality), but i guess a good reason i can give is the fact that most of the storytelling is in y/n's perspective, which means whatever she says or think may or may not actually be accurate information. aka her outtake on not wanting to be an emotional person but her actions contradicts her thoughts. like if you were to read things through mingyu's perspective, he'd definitely agree with you saying she's an emotional person because he's there to witness her breakdowns, etc. y/n on the other hand likes to pretend she doesn't care about anything and tries to shut her emotions off but, again, her actions contradicts her wants and beliefs. and the same goes with her emotional thoughts, her panicked thoughts, etc. for example on the inside, we can read through her thoughts and the things she's saying like when nari's guys went to touch her and she's internally panicking, along with when karl touched her. we can read her thoughts because, again, the story's mostly in her pov, but from an outsider's perspective, she looks calm and cool and aloof but you may or may not see or understand that because you, as readers, are deep into her thoughts so it's easy to understand her from within because we've gotten to know her a lot, but again, a lot of her panicked state (when in front of people she doesn't trust) occurs internally. jungkook and the boys have come to know and understand her a bit more so they can identify it better now but previously they only thought of her as an emotionless dickhead.

the healing arc is dragged on but i would say for good reason because, well, i guess there's some important points that i haven't touched on yet that i feel should be addressed before we head for her healing. there's this quote that two anons sent me that could sum up a good explanation to your criticism here and that's: "Sometimes we don't want to heal because the pain is the last link to what we've lost." as well as: "I am destroying myself so other people can't , and it's the worst kind of control, but it's the only form I know" and maybe this might not be a good enough explanation but i feel like when it comes to people who's dealt with lots of things, it's not easy to just "give up" on what they're doing and head to healing. it's easier said than done. i wouldn't say she's similar to an angsty teen but she's definitely immature in her own ways and that's partly because, in a way, she's still grappling with her lost childhood. her revenge is pointless, yes, and she knows it's not giving her the peace she wants but maybe she's hurting herself on purpose, maybe she can't just "heal" because hurt is all she's known her entire life, because it's the only thing she's used to.

idk if i've elaborated enough but that's a bit of my thought process. if i went on any longer, i'd probably accidentally spoil major stuff lmao and i think this is long enough oop- but i hope that even if none of this changes your mind, you can understand a bit of my perspective (as best as i tried to explain it haha) 💗

[mr-president]

I really like your take on Levi, and now I wanna hear what was your Marxist critique on Levi.

Levi being transfem is interesting, though I can't really detach from Levi being tranmasc because the brainrot said so. I am aware there are trans men who also crossdress so it would seem like an interesting idea to have Levi dress in a feminine manner (probably courtesy of Marina) as a way as to not only distant himself from his past but also help him understand that he doesn't need to conform to society's standard of what a man should be. Wouldn't be surprised he initially accepted conscription because he tried to live up to that standard.

transmasc levi is a perfectly valid interpretation as well! if a character speaks to you in some way that makes you connect deeper w them, then kudos rock n roll my dude :3

anyway, k so basically the Marxist critique was like “levi’s suffering as a child soldier is somewhat presented as a depressing, unchanging ‘fact’ of reality is kind of disingenuous and peddles the harmful idea that everything awful in this world is ultimately unchangeable, and any attempts to change it is ultimately pointless.

‘because the funger world has the old gods who (though they have supposedly left) hold ultimate dominion over every event, then everything levi and to an extent all characters suffer is merely a machination of their existence. because the old gods exist, there is a sort of “reason,” the series posits.

‘and yeah, this is somewhat true to our reality because the systems that govern our world are quite intricate, vast, and unknowable—like a god beyond our comprehension— but it’s just that, a system, not a rule like the old gods of funger.

‘basically, Funger does this thing that i hate with most series where deeply bad shit happens and says “well, that’s just the way things are” to some extent—most attempts by people to break out of the cycle just repeat it once more, as per design.

‘levi—and every character’s suffering—may be resolved on an individual level (as they are in my interpretations bc i’m a whiny pissbaby who likes happy endings), but that still doesn’t really aid in addressing the root issue, does it? because that “root issue” is often ultimately presented as a result of otherworldly influences, beyond comprehension.

‘another Marxist critique is how the narratives of history have been ritualized, the world is ultimately controlled by the “Great Men” of history who decide how the next century should proceed. that’s literally how the New Gods operate, and though it’s mostly to emphasize how history continues to repeat itself, Funger doesn’t really acknowledge how humans have made real change. not through some kind of “great man” who was just Better than every other Guy around to cause any sort of change but

‘in a sense (and a potential counterpoint to my critique), you can interpret the ending A of Termina as a Marxist revolution—a collective movement of the people to unite as one and overturn the previous regime. the characters who get absorbed into Logic describe the process as something warm, like sleep, as they become something infinitesimally greater than themselves. the events of the festival can be metaphorically interpreted as a set of workers being pushed to their breaking point—individuals who have been largely cast out of their society and isolated from their work who now have “nothing to lose but your chains.” but i’d have to see where Mr. Haverinen takes Logic bc this interpretation is already super shoe-horny.”

But I didn’t go with this “opinion” mainly bc it doesn’t really address Levi too much and also bc I don’t really like presenting this opinion as something holistic. Like, this isn’t how the Funger-franchise is meant to be interpreted, and it’s point of view on suffering is less of a critique on class, power structures, the narrative of history, etc and more a reflection on a basic human condition: life sucks. Sometimes, you can’t do anything about it, but you persevere anyway. Here’s how you can use it for the better. But ultimately, this shit sucks, and sometimes that’s just the way it is.

It’s less concerned with solving problems and more focused on sympathy, suffering as empowerment, learning from it, that kind of thing. And I’m okay with just interpreting it as that bc that still is meaningful in its own way, and I think you get the most meaning out of a work of you view it from the perspective of how it’s meant to be interpreted.

Not to say that critiques or different POVs are completely irrelevant—the contrary actually. They reveal the deeper complexities abt the work or provide a fun reinterpretation for the sake of it. But ultimately, I didn’t think I’d be giving a genuine analysis if I analyzed Levi with this heuristic.

tldr; not everything needs to be disco elysium, unfortunately

[numetaljackdog]

what i'm listening to 2/5/2023 (song notes under cut)

spot. link//yt link

Laura Les - Haunted: haunted. by laura les.

Radiohead - You And Whose Army?: this is just here as a placeholder to let you know that i'm still listening to amnesiac on repeat, especially since i got the cd. at this point it's become a contender for numero uno on march's album ranking. stay tuned, folks

Carpenters - Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft (The Recognized Anthem Of World Contact Day): #ToddGirlMoment. the carpenters are such a fascinating duo to look at with the heavy amount of retrospect we have access to now, and this is such a strange little blip in their discography. a warm, swelling progressive space rock anthem from the nicest little pair of easy-listening siblings in the world. karen carpenter was truly one of the finest vocalists of the time, and she brought this song to life in such an electrifying way... <3

RAYE - Escapism. (feat. 070 Shake): a few of you may have already seen me raving about this song but like. SERIOUSLY. this is an unbelievably good pop song, full to the brim with hooks. even if i don't relate to the lyrics in any way, i'm just pleasantly in awe of the polish on the thing

Godsmack - Voodoo: links to this post. even their shittiest songs are shitty in a way that pleases my ears

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Thrift Shop (feat. Wanz): HE WAS KINDA RIGHT is all i'm saying..... like yeah man buy the cheap secondhand clothes and look fresh as hell doing it....... i've had mackle on the brain since i found out he's coming back. i'm all for it, i feel like white rappers are getting a little too comfortable with taking themselves seriously. like jack harlow wants us to believe that he's fucking or whatever. macklemore's gonna set everything straight

Cats Millionaire - Other Twilight: i can't even talk about this song it just makes me cry. that is not a joke i'm literally like a twilight kin or whatever and this song sees me in an uncomfortably real way. anyways

Iron Butterfly - In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida: i was watching the one hit wonderland episode about this band and it just kind of overtook me. that happens a lot. #ToddGirlMoment. anyway this is such a great and boring piece of 60s doomy psychedelia, with an awesome riff and countless minutes of pointless solos. it kind of sucks but it definitely rips

Lil Yachty - the BLACK seminole.: i still don't fully know how to feel about this album. the critical community seems to be rejecting it, saying that it's a shame to see so many rappers try to "escape" their own genre. i think there's truth to that, but i also think this is just such a wild left turn of an album that it doesn't only feel like an escape attempt, and i think it's a little unfair to yachty to treat it as such. there's some decent material on here! and this opening track specifically just has such a great vibe, even if it is derivative

Snot - Snooze Button: this band/vocalist are revered on r/numetal but i've yet to really get into them. upon hearing this song, though, i was sold. nu metal that's properly pissed off about encroachment upon workers' rights? like ya even gotta ask

Maneskin - Gossip (feat. Tom Morello): this album fucking SUCKED and not in a fun way like i usually talk about here. i'm really disappointed in this band, though not so much surprised. anyway this single got stuck in my head, and i really like tom morello's signature guitar tone, so here it is. don't listen to the record

Lil Yachty - Poland: it's just silly innit. here's a draft i was gonna post at one point: "some people will praise the new class of rappers that have 'punk energy' and then get so mad when rap demos that are clearly rough around the edges or even unfinished become big hits. sorry baby seems like maybe you aren't as keen on raw, scrappy punk energy as you thought" <referring to this song and "just wanna rock" by lil uzi

Powerman 5000 - Operate, Annihilate: insert post that just says "powerman 5000." these guys were such a fun band, man. if you ever happen to encounter this album ("Tonight The Stars Revolt") in the real world, pick it up and have a look at the inside. it's styled as like a retro magazine with all kinds of awesome cyberpunk stuff, it's sooo cool. this is one of my favorite album tracks, the whole record is pretty solid

Die Spitz - Grip: screaming furious riot garage punk for puppy girls. love it love it. i wrote a review of this ep on rateyourmusic but i can't figure out how to copy a link so. suffer in ignorance

Chuck Berry - Roll Over Beethoven: did i make a post about this? i don't think i did. but i didn't save the draft either. here's the thing: the beatles covered this on one of their early albums. and it was SHIT. it's such a raucous classic rock banger, written and performed by a legend, and after hearing the terrible cover it makes me appreciate the original that much more

Bailey Zimmerman - Rock and A Hard Place: i'm telling you, listening to all this top 40 is normiefying me. feels kinda good actually. did you know that normies are happy sometimes? like just naturally? it's crazy. anyway i've been enjoying a bit of pop country recently, and you may have also seen me having nice words for newcomer bailey zimmerman. we'll see if it lasts

U2 - Mysterious Ways: nothing to say. catchy song. it's like this band is good sometimes or something.

YoungBoy Never Broke Again - Black: man this album sucked too... but what a rager of an opening track. that weird scream thing he does at the beginning is so stupid, i love it. i'll never listen to this album again

the pillows - Strange Chameleon: as featured in hit yuri manga "hello, melancholic." READ IT. i also think it's really interesting to hear a damn solid britpop record from a japanese band

this isn't strictly music but i've also been watching some old-school mtv programming. felt noteworthy. okay bye

[bi-bard]

my predictions for who i'll write about in stories inspired by the songs that might be on the deluxe edition of Noah Kahan's "Stick Season"

So.

Noah Kahan has been busy working on the deluxe version of Stick Season... and teasing it on his TikTok.

Just for a bit of fun, I wanna give some prediction on what I think each song we've heard (so far) will inspire me to write because we all know that I'm going to write stories for them.

Again, this is just for fun. This is not set in stone because I don't know the whole songs... or even which of these are going to make the album, so... yeah.

It's just using clips from his videos.

Also, this starts from the most recent audio shared and then goes down the list of videos.

SPECIAL NOTE: I have absolutely no idea how many of these are actually going to end up on the deluxe album. I simply don't. I just kept going until I got tired. Sorry.

---------------------------

"Medicate / meditate / swear your soul to Jesus / throw a punch / fall in love / give yourself a reason..."

I think this will end up being a Dean Winchester imagine. I think somewhere around season 10 to season 11 because I think that's where we see the most distinct moments of Dean truly seeing himself as something bad and undeserving of love and forgiveness.

"I ain't proud of all the punches that I've thrown / In the name of someone I no longer know / For the shame of being young, drunk, and alone..."

Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto from The Bear. That boy is damaged and messy and I think this song is going to be a great way to look at the pitfalls of the behavior that we see from Carmy in the show.

"So pack up your car / put a hand on your heart / say whatever you feel / be whoever you are..."

I don't have a specific fandom, but I'm looking at a found-family story where the reader says goodbye, either to what they knew before or to their found-family. Mostly because this song reminds me of the scene in Supergirl where everyone is saying goodbye to Winn. I'm juggling between something like Titans or something like Doctor Who.

"I saw the end / it looked just like the middle / got a paper and pen / and a page with no space...."

this story is going to be so personal to me. i can already tell. I'm leaning toward a superhero story or a Supernatural story. A life after being with these people. Maybe that life was scary and seemed pointless, but now that their free, they have to deal with missing what was familiar and the guilt of not feeling grateful enough to something better.

"There's a tiny tourist trap a few miles off the interstate / and I watch as it empties out..."

I don't have a character in mind, but I have an idea that it'll be a very tearful goodbye and kiss and shit. Maybe a reunion too? Maybe?

"Quietly you're coming home from work / Forty hour week minus commute / for a dream of planting flowers on the porch / For now, my love, store-bought will have to do..."

I want to write a childhood friends-to-lover kind of thing, but I'm not sure what it'll be yet. I just know that much.

"I'm the tall glass of water you lost in your kitchen / I'm casually cruel like a senior prediction..."

This could also play as a childhood friends-to-lovers story, but I am not nearly as sold on that one. This one is such a strange one to me. It's very nostalgic but also angry?? I don't know. I'm still thinking about it. I'm kinda thinking that Hannibal might work, but there may be another Hugh Dancy character that would fit better, so I make no promises...

"County line, I'm counting down / mailboxes until my house / This place had a heartbeat / in its day..."

I'm leaning toward Doctor Who on this one. I don't know which Doctor it'll be, but I think it would work out well.

"I hear you call / me somewhere only we know / I'll hold out hope / when my eyes open, you'll show..."

This will be a very sad story. I can promise that. It's about grief and it's very complicated process. I have every intention of writing for that.

[fujimiiiya]

Oemgee, so it's just about those screenshots? Iirc aren't they old posts? Weird that anon brought it up now while seems like they are indeed one of your followers. Tbh, I won't be able to follow twitter I feel miffed about, sending those kinds of asks while still scrolling through yours. That's quite an M...ngl

There are many accounts I follow also do that actually, they ss accounts and show them to their followers to DNI, and I frequently see the comments under that thanking them for sharing the info so they can block them as well. I think last anon probally lives in such a safe space, i dunno, if they never saw that. Or he's just too sensitive maybe, as long as you're not directly attacking them when they never interact with you, i think it's still normal? Not overboard. You're definitely not the only one doing it so i dunno why anon is so harsh to you when they keep seeing your updates here...it's really weird to me...

those info you shared actually helpful to me coz I also wanna block people that I may come across and feel annoyed about. Might as well nip them in the bud. I don't really wanna support my NOTP or antis of my OTP too, even if we do like the same characters, even if we never interacted before. I saw those posts of yours got some likes which meant those who felt the same might feel the information shared to DNi with those twitter accounts helpful. I think you should just ignore this anon...it seems pointless to keep engaging with that anon when they can't actually show anything...

Lmfaaoo yeah, it's just funny to me that they just disclose through those asks they have been stalking account they dislike. Idk why people can do that.

I'm glad if my info can be helpful to like-minded peeps.

Yeah, I wanted to share information and I agree, I see many ppl doing them worse than I did. That's how the things are when posted, people see it from different perspectives but if they misinterpreted the sentences and be disturbed, it's not the OP's responsibility to damage control what they felt...I cannot take them seriously when their 1st accusation was already because they misread my post? I suspect anon is probs one of those twt accounts I blocked in the past and made another alt/priv account to keep seeing my contents and even now crossing to here bcs they can be anon. If they were that heroic, they will comment under my posts back then, not bringing up now after months and hid behind anonimity. I only recently link my blog here to there and now I got these asks, which means they came from twt and is too afraid to get blocked by me it's why keep being anon. But they tried to dodge it and said they being anon out of respect not to disturb those people they referred, which is contradictory since they were the ones bringing it up again after a long time. That anon also seems very sus and I can sense a bit hypocrisy in them too, but whatever they wanna say.

[roguegrove]

okay, i need to talk about this straight up right now. it's gonna be long, it's gonna be honest, and probably pointless, but i wanna talk about it.

this? it sucks. it sucks so bad and many of us were fooled. including me.

the thing is, it should have been obvious. but social media moves fast, fandom culture is thirsty for more always, and people have their own art styles and journeys. hell, i'm on an art journey spurred by this community, myself.

and yknow what? art is HARD. bottom line, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. it comes naturally to some, but i promise you that the only reason someone might be "better" than someone else is practice. well-meaning people often talk about "talent" in art, but i don't believe in it. ANYONE could have my skill level or better if they had devoted the same kind of time i did to learning, and i think most artists would agree.

you see inconsistencies in art a lot, especially when someone is learning something new. heads and body parts weird sizes, a particular area that doesn't get as much attention as others, sometimes even whole bits are missing. and all of that is replicated in AI generations and easily overlooked as well as easily masked.

but the thing you will not find with a fan artist who LOVES a character enough to post so many pieces of them? big character details being wrong or changing every time they post something. and i'm not talking style things. i'm not talking about deliberate choices.

my alarm bells went off for fridaypls's work pretty early on, but i ignored it. i really loved a lot of the choices they made in posing, in ideas, and even though there were a bunch of details that just felt wrong, i ignored it. i thought maybe there was a reason, that maybe i was being critical or mean by being a little off-put about some of it.

but if you love sam winchester enough to pump out a shit-ton of drawings of him, you're gonna know what side of his nose that little mole goes. if you love halsin as much as it seemed like friday loved halsin, you're gonna know where his scars and tattoos are. and you might not draw them the same way every time, you may drop one or more for a particular piece if it's not meant to be canon. but you don't put out multiple pieces where the details move so much that they're on the wrong side and swap back and forth between pieces. you just can't care enough to spend that much time on something and not notice that consistently.

if you scroll back through friday's blog (if it stays up and you still can), you can SEE that they cared about these characters. before the art is a lot of meta, a lot of commentary. it's clear there was a love there.

so explain to me how this happens:

the bottom is an official rendering of halsin, just for reference.

art is about observing and then translating, right? so what do we see? the tattoo missing details we can let slide because the thing is damn complicated and getting the general idea is enough. but the placement? get the fuck out of here. it flip flops back and forth between each image. the scars? some are missing entirely, some are, again, on the wrong damn side.

i thought this must surely be a choice, and it is. but not the choice i was thinking. this isn't about style, this isn't about playing with a character: this is about pumping out art quickly that will catch people's eye.

if you really want me to nit-pick, i can. if you want me to talk about the broader inconsistencies or the way things are hidden, i can do that too. but the op and the people who have been looking into this did a great job on that already. i could talk about it all, but i'm trying to make a much simpler point.

my point is that people who love characters will not be so flippant about their defining characteristics. we're the ones who OBSESS over them, scour the internet for every detail. we eat that shit up.

you know what doesn't give a shit? AI generation. AI isn't even generative, it's basically just editing. it's editing a bunch of information together to try and make something "new". and when you edit, what happens? pruning details. you take out what you don't think is important. but you know what else AI can't do? fucking THINK. it doesn't KNOW anything. it doesn't KNOW about halsin's she-bear scars and why that's important to him, so it doesn't CARE where they go.

god, now i'm actually pissed. i'm pissed someone who seemed to love these characters as much as we do would let that happen just for clout and money. it sickens me. like damn, bro. you could have at least taken the time to fix that stuff while you were slapping on filters. if you traced over AI, at least fix the GLARINGLY OBVIOUS bits. couldn't even be bothered, huh?

man, i just want AI to do my laundry, not try and replicate passion. why are we even here with this crap in general?

eta: do not even get me started on astarion renders. do not.

Normally I wouldn't bother making a post like this but it came to my attention yesterday via a twitter thread that tumblr user fridaypls is using AI elements in their fanart. Now, if they were doing this because they didn't feel entirely confident in their artistic ability, and they were just doing this for fanart they posted online, then I'd shrug my shoulders and go "eh, whatever"

However, I then found out that fridaypls is selling this fanart and even making posts like "buy my Gale print and get Tim Downie to sign it" and I just can't sit idly by whilst someone makes profit off AI 'art' and there are so many other artists (myself included) trying to make a living off our own art.

The tweet thread about the use of AI by fridaypls can be viewed here and here but I'll also copy and paste some of the examples under a cut line in this post.

So far on twitter, fridaypls got wind of the thread going around about them and they deactivated their account rather than take accountability. I'm probably going to be blocked by them for making this post, but I encourage you to reblog this and spread the word and please, PLEASE don't buy artwork from someone using AI generated images. There are so many other hardworking artists out there making amazing fanart and merch that you can give your money to instead.

Examples from twitter:

[j3scax]

Okay small rant time.

I'm getting real tired of like, social media atm. Idk if it's like, my own fault or the fault of the world or whatever but it just feels like everything is somehow so much more aggressively aggressive and in your face. Maybe when I was younger I just didn't realise, but it feels like recently all I see is drama, hit pieces or identity war shit.

I fully understand politics and such are important, as well as trying to help people understand why something may be problematic. But sometimes it feels so extremely overbearing. A lot of my YouTube feed is just "___ is over" or "___ is horrible" rather than like, random video essays I watch pretty much all the time. Most of the videos I watch aren't these kind of drama videos, I may watch an odd Moistcritical video now and then but other than that I wanna watch a fucking hour long video about Venus or something. It's why I appreciate channels like Wendigoon so much, even when he does get dragged into drama (which mind you is the personification of pointless drama I'm seeing) his channel just stays the same as always, I can just sit down and listen to him talk about some random cool niche thing.

Some social media platforms have always been like this, for example Twitter - that has always been a shit hole so it has always been easy to circumnavigate that kind of community since all you need to do is not to go on Twitter. But now it's just fucking everywhere and it makes me feel like shit. I'm tired of it all, and I don't care for it anymore. It feels like no matter where I go I have to deal with this shit, and although you could argue this stuff is important it surely isn't that important if I can talk to my friends or meet people irl and never get onto these subjects or topics. Sure it might come in passing like "Oh did you hear about ___" but that's the extent of it.

It also feels like no matter what your opinion is online you're somehow wrong to someone. You could give an extremely well detailed, well reasoned and well thought out opinion and you'll just be criticised just because mob mentality. And the inverse is true, it gives people with unreasoned opinions that are genuinely terrible to have a platform to share them. I've always said this is just the issue of free speech, if you allow people to freely speak there's going to be bad or negative opinions, but this shit shouldn't be constantly peddled to me on platforms like YouTube when I don't engage in the content.

I just feel like everything is more hateful and everyone seems to need to take sides on something, and if you even dare not to comment or remain partial (either because you don't care, don't want to involve yourself or believe you're not educated to give your opinion) you're somehow worse than fucking Satan himself. Yet even if you do give your stance you're still somehow hypocritical or a bad person. I just hate it and I genuinely don't think the internet used to be like this. I might be talking out of nostalgia. But pre-COVID compared to post-COVID just feels so much more noticeable to me.

I remember my time on social media back in 2019-2021 and while there were still some of the things I've discussed, it was nowhere near as obvious. Sure you had your niche areas of hatred like the DreamSMP, but as someone who never really engaged in the fandom or community I never really experienced the negatives of it and it wasn't as pushed into my face. That's how it used to feel to me, stuff like this would be relegated to just one area or fandom, rarely did stuff spread out of their own communities - and those that did spread out gained the reputation of being toxic with people knowing to avoid them. But now stuff begins to feed over into everything, and I mean everything. I could just be watching a streamer or whatever - someone who doesn't need to be or wouldn't be involved in said issue - and they'll be interrogated on every single view they have on every piece of drama. I was peddled a fucking GODZILLA drama video a couple days ago, a fandom I have never interacted with once or engaged with on YouTube.

I'm tired of it. Just because other people want to engage in a constant hate spiral to ruin their lives, want to constantly make money off of milking every topic of note, doesn't mean I want to. And if you ever express an opinion like this, suddenly you're a bad person, or you're defending whoever in whatever drama, or you're ignorant for ignoring current issues. Yes. I think knowing about and educating people on current issues is important, and I'm not saying it's bad to inform people or report news, but this shit is all I'm fucking given. Like I said earlier, you'd still have drama videos or exposés back before COVID, but it wouldn't constantly be in your face. It isn't like the News where you can choose to interact with it or not.

Even then, I'd still argue that the only issues that really matter are problems that relate to you - and these are the issues we should push people to research or interact with. We should push people to look into whether their tax money is being misused and we should educate them on it. We should educate people and give news to people about what is happening in their war torn home country. We shouldn't be constantly pushing people and forcing people to decide whether Mr. Beast is a pedophile or not. As someone who has no care for Mr. Beast, I don't fucking care and I don't want to see it or hear about it.

That's my little rant over.

[kpoptarotastrology009]

thank you so much its very kind for you to let me ramble but idfk it just feels like i wasted this life but it was never going to be truly great in any situation it seems ie: pandemic, wars and so on. somedays i just wish i hadnt existed at all wouldve made it easier then other days i think i shouldve just went for something but tnen im like there really wasnt the opportunity there no matter what i think of. idfk maybe the gov govs will finally actually fix shit from now on for the rest of the world cause its like trying to look in a pile of horseshit for what i would like to do rn it all seems bleak or pointless cause theres not much liveliness anymore maybe just sheer stupidity, its more so what i wouldve liked to have done back in the good ole times when things wouldve been a bit less harsh on its ppl. again a time machine would be much more useful or just a grave that i could bury myself in one and pretend i never existed. i feel like a boomer stuck in a millenial body out of place and wondering where the time has gone and why i have wasted so much of it. i do think i wouldve suited any other non internet era bc i keep comparing myself to others and what theyve all done with themselves. tbh im also constantly torn between hating capitalism and all that it stands for is a load of junk that i do not want to care for and just thinking i shouldve had a short but fancy life lol.

I may sound creepy or something but I was going through the exact same situation a month ago and I guess it's still within me but a month ago I couldn't hide it and ignore it but now I'm better with ignoring it you wanna know how ? I had a problem with my age too and I have a dream that I wanna achieve and it's hard to do it now but I didn't give up I really wished I could go back in time to do what I can do but I couldn't and this is the reality but you know what ? I didn't give up and literally working all over again even if it's impossible I stand up for myself and I said no matter what's going to happen I will do it , I will fight for the things that I want until the last moment , I know some people will say some bad things about me but i don't care I will do it no matter what , that's why I cleared my mind first , then I start thinking and searching in media and everywhere of things that can help me even a little bit , ( that was really hard as I'm a really lazy person but I should've do it or now that I consider too late will be the too late for the next years if I don't move asap) and then start doing everything step by step but with putting the work on it ...

And what I want you to see from my experience is that's what you should do , don't give up on yourself please and if you wanna talk about it in private or messages or sending asks I will answer everytime because I feel you , because I've been through that and I'm still dealing with it and I've been even through a hard depression for my reasons and that killed me but I stand up for myself because staying in the middle won't help me with anything and I will just stay my whole life regretting that , and you should do the same thing for your own rights and always remember that there's people that cares for you and loves you and that you're not alone ♥️♥️♥️♥️

[girlvinland]

I love seeing/reading things in which Ciaran and her Blades are keeping a close eye on Ornstein after NK leaves due to the fact that everyone is secretly like...what’s he gonna do what’s he gonna DO.