#this was pretty fun to reflect on tbh

[h-worksrambles]

A while back on Reddit, I saw a post that asked ‘list your favourite and least favourite thing about every Kingdom Hearts game. And I thought that seemed like a pretty fun thought experiment. So I wrote down my own answer to that here: The best and worst thing about every Kingdom Hearts game (that I’ve played):

Kingdom Hearts 1 (my personal favourite)

The best thing: I’m tempted to say the story, because I think 1 does an especially good job at telling its otherwise simple story through the gameplay. But instead I’ll go for the general gameplay structure. KH1 is the only game in the series to remind me of a Zelda game. Instead of going all in on action RPG combat through hallway maps, the level design combines combat, exploration, puzzle solving and even platforming. No other game in the series has even attempted this since (KH3 came closest). And it greatly adds to the immersion. I would’t say any KH game has quite made you feel like you’re going through Disney worlds entirely. But KH1 is the closest and kinda reminds me of wandering through Disney theme parks. That immersion also adds to the sense of atmosphere, which is easily at it’s best on this game

The worst thing: The camera/controls. Platforming may be a nice splash of variety, but it’s a lot less less fun when it doesn’t actually control well. Sometimes it just feels like you’re being asked to do things the controls can’t reliably pull off. And the zoomed in camera makes combat visibility much worse. KH1 is already one of the tougher games in the series and this exacerbates that for the wrong reasons.

Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories

The best thing: The story. Sora and Riku are tested in new ways that showcase new sides to their characters. This was a good introduction for the Organization into the series. Marluxia is chilling as a main threat, and we get my boi Axel and my girl Larxene. They feel like a genuine threat and are mysterious but not exhaustingly vague. Donald and Goofy get proper character stuff for once. Riku’s arc is a standout that begins to subvert the series’ very black and white depiction of Light and Darkness in a way the series frankly hasn’t even attempted since.

The worst thing: The combat. I like customising decks but the actual combat falls apart in execution. Sleights are either godly, or pathetically weak with no inbetween. And every fight feels the same as they generally consist of spamming the same OP sleights in order to win…assuming the RNG gods bless you with the cards to actually pull off those sleights reliably.

Kingdom Hearts 2:

The best thing: The combat. God the gameplay in 2 is so good. You have so many more options than in the first game and practically all of them are viable. And Critical Mode especially practically demands that you know how to use all your tools effectively if you want to make it through. The controls and general flow are on point. It’s sharp, it’s kinetic, it has a low skill floor but a high skill ceiling. Absolutely superb.

The worst thing: The level design. Sadly 2 is where the series got so focused on combat that it turned into a hallway simulator. Instead of bringing back puzzles, platforming and exploration with the better controls, the game just cuts them out instead. This streamline the game sure, but now it lacks a lot of the flavour. And of course, this is largely done because your movement abilities are all tied to Drive forms, making them entirely optional, which I don’t think was a good move at all.

Haven’t played Days so no comment:

Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep:

The best thing: The soundtrack. This might be my favourite OST in the series. Aqua’s theme, Rage Awakened, Dismiss, Unbreakable Chains, a fantastic set of overworld themes (with Enchanted Dominion being my favourite). It’s varied, it’s evocative. It’s Yoko Shimomura firing on all cylinders.

The worst thing: The repetition. On a macro level, doing all 3 campaigns is very tedious. Terra, Aqua and Ventus’ stories aren’t distinct enough to make playing them feel varied. They all blur together outside of a few good moments. On a micro level, this version of the Command Deck has all the same problems as Re:COM. It’s shallow. easily broken, too dependent on RNG, and makes every fight feel the same.

Haven’t played Coded.

Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance (my least favourite not counting the mobile games)

The best thing: Symphony of Sorcery. One of, if not the best Disney worlds in the entire series. A fantastic musical gimmick to its sound design that makes the world feel weird and abstract in a way I wish more of DDD’s levels were. Actual platforming and light puzzle solving for the first time since KH1. And some good character stuff, including letting us see a younger Mickey, and the iconic Dearly Beloved scene between Sora and Riku.

The worst thing: The story. If you follow me, you’ve heard me give this rant before. A mess that constantly finds new ways to meander and waste your time, spends half its runtime nostalgically pandering to the previous games instead of doing anything new and butchers most of the characters. People give this game flack for the time travel but there frankly the least of my problems. The dream world premise screams wasted potential too. The only good thing is some very cute interactions between Sora and Riku, but both of them are so flanderised that even that feels hollow.

Dropped Union Cross after 200 or so chapters and just watched the cutscenes. TLDR, New characters are fun but the gacha is disgustingly invasive.

Kingdom Hearts 3:

The best thing: The variety. 3 bucks the trend of the handheld games with their heavy linearity and repetitive encounters with the most varied experience by far. You have more options in combat than ever, which means every encounter can be approached differently. It’s not quite as well balanced as 2, but I love just how much is at your disposal. The level design is FINALLY more open and closer in style to the first game and there’s just enough world gimmicks and minigames to spice things up. Exploring the sea in the Caribbean is easily my favourite of these gimmicks.

The worst thing: The pacing. I won’t say the story itself as my thoughts are very complicated and tbf, I don’t think BBS, DDD or X did a very good job setting up this finale. But 3’s pacing of its story is inexcusable. This game uses the exact same structure as DDD, and much like that game, it wastes your time. Clearing a world gets you a few cutscenes carrying on a couple of disparate plot threads, you get an Organization encounter mid world if you’re lucky, and everything else is crammed together at the very end. This game had FAR too much story to wrap up to afford to waste time like this. A restructuring of the first half alone to decompress the climax and allow for more character moments would do this story wonders, for all its other faults.

Haven’t played Melody of Memory.

And there you have it. The biggest pros and cons of each Kingdom Hearts game I’ve played. Which hopefully doubles as a kind of mini summary if my thoughts on the series as a whole. Feel free to reblog and tell me your favourite and least favourite parts of these games. I’d be interested to hear!

[kyouka-supremacy]

Hey (^-^)/

I have a question: What did Atsushi mean in this panel when he said "the fact that you're the one standing in front of me"? I don't get it.

And why Akutagawa's face seem conflicted by hearing that?

I'm not entirely sure - that line is fairly ambiguous - but I can share my own interpretation! Here, Atsushi is trying to explain Akutagawa that the reason why Dazai has not acknowledged him yet is not, as Akutagawa is convinced of, because he isn't strong enough, and that his being powerful is actually of no interest to Dazai. Atsushi suggests that there's something else Dazai is waiting for Akutagawa to grow better at before acknowledging him, and Akutagawa will only be able to see what it is by keeping himself from killing (likely, what Atsushi is thinking Akutagawa lacks is moral virtue to some extent, compassion and humanity. I feel like that's also consistent with how Dazai sees Akutagawa in Beast, and what believes is wrong with him: “It’s human nature to lash out with violence. But if hurting others is your natural instinct… then you are nothing more than a mindless beast” (Dazai, Beast novel, page 18) ).

Akutagawa so far has believed that everything he could do to be seen by Dazai, was proving his own strength; and that his current situation of not being yet recognized was due to his own limits on that front. With that last line, I think Atsushi is telling him: “The reason you are where you are now [both in terms of his path towards being acknowledged by Dazai and overall current status as conjunction of events that led him to be where he is] has nothing to do with your strength or lack thereof. You're here in front of me [in your current situation that led you to this place in this moment] because there's something you've yet to realize [that would be, once again, that strength is not what Dazai seeks in him but rather for Akutagawa to accomplish a moral step up]”.

Additionally, I think Atsushi might also imply: “The reason you're here in front of me, the reason Dazai decided you had to be here, is so that you could see something you still can't grasp”, since both sskk and the bsd author seem to be fairly assured that everything sskk themselves do is because Dazai wanted them to, in some sort of weird determinism (“Why were you so eager to put Akutagawa-kun against that tiger lad? [...] How long have you been aiming for this scenario?” “From the time I met Atsushi-kun.” (Hirotsu, Dazai, chapter 37); “Why do you think Dazai-san put us together?” (Atsushi, chapter 51); “Dazai-san didn't abandon me after all. This was all a trial. A guidepost, lined with wailing.” (Akutagawa, chapter 85); and even more examples could be made; everything sskk do, seems like it's because Dazai wanted them to at some point.)

The reason why Akutagawa looks so conflicted, then, is probably out of bewilderment for Atsushi's words, for the revelation that proving his strength - that is everything Akutagawa has tried to do since meeting him - is actually not the way to make Dazai acknowledge him.

Here's an alternative fantranslation to the official English translation + the raws of that page for further insight :)

[jessicas-pi]

y'all got me all hyped to do more merfolk AU art so I finished the Love's Lights scene

[fulgurbugs]

Oh hey I hope you don’t mind me asking, this is purely out of curiosity but if you had to picture other duopath runs which characters would you pick and why? :)

Therion & Tressa are such a good combo I’m curious about which other traveler combinations would work well

hm thinking about which ones would be fun…. i think i can think of some that’d be fun

ship ones obvi would be funny, so alfyn/therion Primrose/Haanit, Olberic/Cyrus etc, also i think all of those combos are pretty good and can cover each other, i think Alfyn/Therion probably has the easiest time of it (due to access to steal for equipment and then concoct is just really good) and olberic/cyrus probably has the hardest time of it? i think thats purely because cyrus is frail and might take some investment to make sure he’s not dying every 2 seconds. then again, olberic as a duo is pretty good since he always has incite access. basically cyrus needs saving grace asap i think

Prim/haanit i think mayyybe more middle of the road? you do always get sealticge but its more of a whole thing with just two party members instead of 4, but haanit can hit the big damage and having dancer prim she’s probably easier to minmax damage potential on since you can lion dance her etc… if you run one of them as thief you can probably do some kind of armor corrosive lion dance setup and let haanit just hit the double digit thousands

i think one of the things that would be difficult about both haanit/prim and olberic/cyrus is definitely the lack of path action to acquire npc items, you get literally soooooo much shit out of it it’s super helpful lol.

other ones i think would be fun

Alfyn/Ophilia: healerpath run. while you won’t have to rely on item healing (like i did for the majority of duopath), i think this one would be a fun like, find your damage method one. plus, these two are the ones who usually sit back as supports (at least in their base class roles), but push when push comes to shove- sorry you guys gotta do all the hard work of killing these guys on top of the healing. also the stretch between their ch3s and ch4s would be miserable for them sorry you two

Therion/Primrose: the two traumatized ones with loner streaks, that’s right we’re putting bff bracelets on you and forcing you to work together. i think these two have a kind of kinship friendship that they don’t quite share with any of the others, so they get along quite well, even though i think i’d find it hard to stick them together permanently without the glue of the rest of the party. but as a duopath, i think they could still be pretty fun, and i want primrose to have some help stabbing those guys. gameplay wise, having therion would be a huge benefit for path action reasons, plus thief is like. imo one of the best subclasses paired with anything so i think any duopath he’s in gets some added benefit.

Olberic/Tressa: i always liked their dynamic, as the oldest member and the youngest member they might have an almost parental kind of relationship, and something abt tressa’s plucky enthusiasm and Olberics more stoic, seasoned nature is always fun to me. Tressa is another items-getter path action (though slightly less good than steal, you’ll likely rack up enough money grinding that prices are trivial) which is a help, and merchant is extremely good in duopath due to hired help being one of the best damage options for any character who might not be able to set up huge numbers. olberic however, can set up huge numbers, which means that i think this duo would be super duper set in the damage department.

ophilia/cyrus: i think this is the one i’d do if i really wanted pain, because these two have no hp and will die. this is like, the challenge mode option, because one of the things about duopath is you’re going to be taking a lot of damage on your two characters where you would have that spread across your party. so this duo would require some interesting strategizing to raise those hp stats, figure out how to tank, and then, on top of that, how to dish out the big numbers. while magic is *good* ive always found that when you’re trying to hit big on breaks, you’re better off going for brand or aeber big hits. as well, you get no items path action to work with for them. as for the dynamic, they’re both friendly and agreeable so i think there’d be not much conflict between them, but i think you could have some fun especially by the end if they start to draw the galdera connections between them…

[weedle-testaburger]

i finally got round to watching godzilla minus one and the contrast between it and godzilla vs kong 2 is night and day, damn

[deus-ex-mona]

the nagihiyo mirror is so cute~~~~~~~

[boringkate]

Here’s a bunch of junk for you trans girls to watch

Update: there used to be a link to a mega folder here, but it got taken down.

///TGIRL FEATURE FILMS (alphabetical order)

Adam (2019) it's about a cis boy who's mistaken for a trans boy and rolls with it. Big cast of trans characters including a tgirl played by a tgirl who everyone wants to fuck. Directed by a trans dude. Highly legit. If you're still hung up on pre release speculation based on the novel then you're the most annoying person alive.

Assassination Nation (2018) The first half is Euphoria and the second half is The Purge. ONE OF THE BEST TGIRL MOVIES OF ALL TIME.

Bit (2019) Lesbian girl power vampire movie where the main character is a tgirl played by a tgirl. It's solid. I find it frustrating that they hint at her being trans without explicitly acknowledging it (and she's passing as fuck, so it's easy to not notice), but I know that's what some of y'all want.

Boy Meets Girl (2014) Cis dude for trans girl love story. Pretty normie, but also you see her fully naked (gock out) at the end.

Funeral Parade of Roses (1969) Extremely 60s. Cool as hell.

Lady Daddy (2010) South Korean romcom about a trans girl played by a cis girl who tries unconvincingly to back pass when she finds out she has a kid. Very cute.

Lingua Franca (2019) written directed and starring Isabel Sandoval. An undocumented trans woman immigrant in New York deals with a cis dude partner being a cis dude. Which is also the plot of The Garden Left Behind (2019).

Myra Breckinridge (1970) Raquel Welch is a trans woman and her goal is the destruction of the last vestigial traces of traditional manhood! It's Fight Club! It's Hackers! It's divisive, but it's probably my favorite movie!

So Pretty (2019) Literally the first scripted feature length (non pornographic tho it does have cock) film to feature two trans women played by trans women kissing eachother.

Something Must Break (2014) THE OTHER BEST TGIRL MOVIE OF ALL TIME. Drugs. Crimes. Gock. Slow motion pissing. Slow motion park Fucking. Genuinely the most beautiful sex scene I've seen in any movie. And she makes it to the end still alive and more sure of herself and at peace than ever.

Tangerine (2015) Groundbreaking and also a bunch of the secondary characters are real life pornstars (which I think is neat).

The Garden Left Behind (2019) This and Lingua Franca (2019) really are tgirl twin films, but (like with Antz and A Bug’s Life) the vibes and details make them distinct (I assume tho tbh I’ve never watched Antz).

///TGIRL DOCUMENTARIES

Bambi (2013) about a trans girl showgirl in 50s/60s paris

Paris is Burning (1990) basically it's Pose.

Shinjuku Boys (1995) Trans dudes working in a tokyo club that caters to tboy chasing cis girls. There's at least one trans girl in the mix too.

///FORCED FEMINIZATION

A Reflection of Fear (1972) They raised her as a girl and it made her do murders! It drags in places, but the girl in it is so ethereal and it has ageplay vibes and daddy issues.

Memory Run (1996) A very fun direct to video scifi action flick about fighting fascism by blowing up your pre transition self with a rocket launcher + it's based on a novel written by a trans woman.

She-Man A Story of Fixation (1967) Notable for being such a cliche sissy maid fantasy while also coming out so early + it was Bob Clark's first film lol.

Sleepaway Camp (1983) A more famous version of Reflection of Fear.

Surrender Dorothy (1998) A MUST WATCH. I personally bought a physical DVD and made an ISO of it for you because I was unsatisfied with the quality of the only copy that seemed to exist online. I ALSO PERSONALLY CREATED MY OWN SUBTITLES FOR IT BECAUSE EVEN THE DVD DIDN’T INCLUDE ANY! WHICH TOOK HOURS TO DO!

The Skin I Live In (2011) A rapist is kidnapped and turned into a girl by a mournful vengeful plastic surgeon. Which was also the plot of Victim (2010). I never really vibe with Pedro Almodóvar movies, but I recognize this is the preeminent forced feminization film.

///SHORT FILMS

Gender Troublemakers (1993) Some 90s Toronto trans girls fucking and discoursing. Explicit tgirl on tgirl action. This is the only one on the list that I haven’t actually watched yet. I’m hyped to watch it tho. Seems mindblowingly rad af.

Happy Birthday Marsha (2018) It's about Marsha P. Johnson.

I don't Know (1971) I'm obsessed with the trans girl in this one she just keeps popping up in all kinds of early 70s stuff. Directed by Penelope Spheeris (who is the sister of the cis gf in it).

Mesmeralda (2019) AN ABSOLUTE BANGER HOLY FUCK THE VIBES ARE OFF THE CHARTS! PLS WATCH THIS! I refuse to apologize for it being 15GB. It’s worth every byte.

Pat Rocco's Changes (1970) It's that same girl again!

Queens at Heart (1967) I can't get over that hairdresser girl thinking she's back passing. Most adorably weak boymode ever.

Shangri-La (2021) Another Isabel Sandoval joint.

The Yellow Wallpaper (2021) Freshly post op girl with a supportive boyfriend goes unhinged.

Undress Me (2012) Jana Bringlöv Ekspong did a few short films. Give janabringlove a google after watching this.

///JUST LIKE BTW

Some of these would be tough to find elsewhere, but most of the movies are also watchable on fmovies and/or can be torrented in higher quality.

After you've worked your way through the folder then just start doing Google searches for trans films. Look at IMDB keywords and letterboxd lists. There are so many more out there. These are just like my personal picks.

[thighguys]

Phan Fic Recs!!

here's a bunch of my absolute favorites for anyone who needs a distraction from the election <3 i will make a second post with shorter ones as well, this post will just be fics that are over 10k

Inheriting Love by Fictropes (22k)- Dan is a lawyer who executes wills in a small town in the English countryside, and Phil's aunt leaves him a house. One of the cutest fics I've read recently tbh, lots of banter and cows<3

Silver Arrows to the Heart by @evermorepeyton (137k, WIP)- How could i POSSIBLY make a rec list without including this masterpiece??? Dan and Phil are Formula 1 drivers, chaos ensues<3 sooooo much fun (and there are some really beautiful cool women in there too, just as a treat)

dancing on the blades (you set my heart on fire) by kishere (123k)- Dan is an amateur figure skater who scores a spot at the famous Lester training gym, where he meets the legendary Phil Lester and of course they fall in love... this one has sooo many cute fetus moments and wonderful cameos from Kath<3 absolutely love it

Like a Bowl of Oranges by cloej88 (@bitchslapblastoids) (47k)- Phil is a filmmaker looking to amplify queer stories in the media, Dan is a ghostwriter who's been writing a memoir on the side, you can guess what happens next. very VERY fun fic, lots of drama and lovely reflection, as well as the softest scenes between them. love this one (and the author :3)

The Odd Uneven Time by @yikesola (20k)- A 2009 fic from Phil's perspective, falling in love with a boy over the Internet. Absolutely WONDERFUL vibes, so so so cute (and it probably happened in real life ahaha)

Live Incidentally by yikesola (37k)- Phil makes novelty t-shirts and Dan buys them :) really funny, also some great Lester family moments

The Pianist Everyone Is Talking About... Is My Husband by @natigail (25k)- Dan is a famous pianist, Phil plays his songs on the radio, but nobody knows that they're actually married. Lots of chaos ensues, crazy fangirls can feel super represented, and Dan laughs at Phil about it all<3 this fic is so funny lol, highly HIGHLY recommend

Kick Me While I'm Down by jerserker (14k)- Dan and Phil join an adult kickball league! Phil just wants to make friends, and Dan... kicks everyone's asses <3 Really funny competitive Dan, fun times honestly :)

missing the obvious by Fictropes (14k)- Dan plays videogames in an anonymous Discord server at night, and during the day he goes to his boring office job and hooks up with his coworker Phil in bathroom stalls... I wonder how these two things could possibly be connected...

Our House by sierradeux (50k)- Dan is a real estate agent, Phil is a Youtube house flipper, they team up to cohost an HGTV renovation special and fall in love. With the house, obviously. But also with each other <3 this is one of my favorites guys I think it should be required reading for everyone on phannie tumblr

maybe this christmas by blackbirddan (13k)- it's November, im allowed to rec christmas fics now, right??? anyway, this one is HUGE for fans of the Lester and Howell families, just so so so soft and sweet and awesome<3

Strictly Come Dancing but make it GAY by natigail (176k)- i mean this one has a pretty self explanatory title... read for super hot dancer Phil, awkward celebrity Dan, and so so so many beautiful outfit and dance descriptions :3 seriously, I wish I could watch this season irl :( this is for sure in my top 3 fics of all time to be so honest

they grew up so nicely, didn't they? by natigail (15k)- Cornelia pov on meeting the boy Phil brought home, and then throughout the years. SO CUTE!!!!! really big for fans of outsider pov (me)

okie dokie<3 i will be making an under 10k rec list as well, so be on the lookout for that one!

[beartitled]

*sob*

the

the babies

🥺❤️💞❤️🥺🥺💞💓💕💖 THE BABIES 🥺❤️💞❤️🥺🥺💞💓💕💖

💕💖💞💓💕💖AAAAAAAAA💞💕💖💓💞

Stanley hug request from @marionette-j2x!

A response from this previous post!

Ft. @blackkatdraws’ Stanley

[guiltyasdave]

a long time coming

pairing: Dave York x f!reader

summary: You were supposed to go to a concert with your best friend. You end up going with her dad instead.

word count: ~1.1k

tags/warnings: best friend's dad!Dave, fluff, allusions to smut, huge age gap, able-bodied reader, no use of y/n, please be warned: Dave has inappropriate (though reciprocated) thoughts about his daughter's best friend - if that makes you uncomfortable, don't read

a/n: daphne @sizzlingcloudmentality and i were freaking out about those new photos of pedro, and because daphne apparently wants me dead, she said that it's giving bfd!dave who's at a concert with you and also provided me with a snippet that still has me in a chokehold and that's part of this story now. i am already experiencing heavy brainrot because i'm going to the eras tour in three (3) days and this was the final nail in my coffin tbh. i should be working on my dress, but instead i did this. the most self indulgent shit i've ever written lmao, please enjoy <3

follow @guiltyasdavenotifs for fic updates and find my whole masterlist here :)

dividers by @saradika-graphics <3

“Please, daddy? Please?” 

Dave sighs, rubbing a hand over his forehead. Molly’s hoarse voice keeps pleading with him before it dissolves into a fit of coughs. 

With a groan, she lets her head fall against the pillows, wide eyes still trained on him. 

“No one else wants to go, and I can’t let her go alone, I’d feel terrible. Please?” 

She pouts at him, knowing fully well that her father doesn’t deny her anything when she looks at him like this. 

“Fine. If you’re sure that she’s okay with it?” 

“She is! I already asked her.”

Dave cocks a brow at his daughter, earning himself an exhausted but triumphant grin. 

“Don’t look at me like that. It will be fun!”

Admittedly, Dave really has much more fun than he expected when his daughter all but begged him to accompany her best friend to the concert that she wanted to go to herself before she got sick. 

He knows most of the songs, has been witness to you and Molly singing along to the music while dancing through his kitchen often enough. It’s not bad music by any means, and the show is nothing short of spectacular. 

It’s not the reason he’s enjoying himself so much though. He’s barely watching the show, eyes only occasionally flicking towards the stage. 

His gaze is fixed on you, has been since before the show even started. Watching you interact with other fans, beaming smiles and giggles, eagerly exchanging bracelets, excitedly cooing at the especially pretty ones. 

Meeting your eyes when you turned to him, not able to suppress his own smile at the sparkle in them. Suppressing the flicker of something in his chest when your fingers wrapped around his wrist, tugging it closer to put a few bracelets on him as well. You don’t seem to notice the faint blush that’s rising up in his cheeks at the unexpected touch. 

He’s watching you bouncing on your feet seconds before the show starts, snaps a few photos of the pure joy on your face without you noticing. Just to send them to you later, having enough experience from being the father of two daughters to know how much you’ll love them. After that, he’ll delete them from his own phone. Of course he will. 

He’s watching you dance, your body moving to the beat of the music, your lips forming every word. Your silhouette shimmering with the lights reflecting off your dress. It’s mesmerizing. You dance with the girls beside you sometimes, shouting lyrics at each other. Other times, you turn to him. He doesn’t protest when you take his hands, starts moving with you without a second thought, starts singing the words that he knows along with you. You’re laughing, your eyes shining with pure happiness. It’s intoxicating, and he wants more, wants all of it, wants to be part of that happiness. He doesn’t remember the last time he smiled this wide, the last time his body felt this light. 

It takes a long time, longer than it should, until he remembers why this is bad. Until the weight comes crashing back into him. Until he remembers that he shouldn’t feel like this with you. 

You’re so much younger than him. His daughter’s friend. His daughter who asked him to come here with you, because she trusted that you’d be safe with him. 

Your brow furrows when you catch his eye and notice the change in his expression. No. He wants you to enjoy yourself, doesn’t want to be the reason for any kind of worry for you right now. He allows himself to drink in your energy right now, to let a smile grow on his face again. 

There’s no harm in indulging just for one night. Just a little bit. No one has to know. Least of all you. 

So he keeps singing with you, keeps letting you move with him. Keeps watching. 

It’s easy, being with you, talking to you. Effortless in a way that he’s not used to. 

It’s just because you’re at his house more often than not, going wherever Molly goes. It has to be. 

But it’s different, your giggles ringing out in the confines of his car, not mixed with his daughter’s, the sound that he knows. And he’s the one who’s elicited those laughs from you. 

"Explain it again, please. You’ve glued every single of these stones onto your dress?" He laughs and gives you another once over, glad he can disguise his inappropriate ogling with an appreciating glance. Act like he’s studying the intricate, shimmering patterns on the fabric. Not the way your tits are straining against the low cut over your chest. Not the way the skirt has ridden up your thighs, exposing a new inch of bare skin. "Great job, sweetheart. You look good. The dress looks good, too." 

He wonders how the dress would look bunched up around your waist. Or on the floor of your apartment. If your skin is as soft as it looks in the dim shine of the red light he’s stopped at. How it would taste under his tongue. The sweet sounds you would make when his teeth dig into you. 

You breathe a thank you and bite your lip at the compliment, and his cock twitches with interest. Wrong, wrong, so wrong.

He has to be imagining the way that you keep glancing his way, stealing looks when you think that he doesn’t notice. Wishful thinking on his part. 

He pulls up in front of your apartment building, killing the engine and turning towards you. You’re already facing him, more shy than you’ve looked all evening. 

“Thank you for tonight,” you say softly, lips pulling up into another smile. “I’ve had a great time. I— I hope you did too.” 

His hand lands on your thigh before he can actively think about it. A soft gasp escapes you, but you make no move to back away from his touch. 

“Trust me, I did.” 

He doesn’t intend for it to come out as low and breathy as it does. Teeth dig into your lips once more. Your contemplative gaze burns into him. 

You inch closer, close enough that he can feel your breath against his face. 

Wrong. He swallows thickly, forces his grip off of you. You blink, eyes growing wider, the growing tension’s fog lifting from you. Clearing your throat, you sit up straighter. 

“Good night, sweetheart.” 

He needs you to leave this car. Right now. 

You nod, shakily bidding him a good night as well. 

He watches your retreating silhouette, finally able to exhale deeply when you enter your building. 

He’s fucked.

comments and reblogs are love and make my day every single time <3

[celestialalpacaron]

Ayo, someone by the name of Curly-B-Blog is redlining art of yours from 2020 (while pretending that it's actually Sai Scribble's work), and kind of being a dick about it. just thought you should know.

You know, originally I was just gonna brush it off, but then I went back to look at my old SU art from 2020 and did so much self reflection from then till now.

I think this was around the time I was just learning how to do perspective and tried to use the perspective tool on Procreate for the first time? :0 and I remember telling Sai “Sai I have this STUPID idea, I CANT believe it this stupid joke it’s so DUMBBBB, it’s living rent free in my BRAIN I SWEAR THIS IS GONNA BE SO STUPID DCIUWHEFIUWHIRFUIW4F” and being super excited to show her the finished product. People still think Sai created the Cursed Skin Gloves comic and I think it’s hilarious wjhwnuhwijwuiw

The comic was received very well and it made LOTS of people laugh and I’m still proud of this comic to this very day! :D and tbh if it wasn’t for my obsession for Sai’s Switcheroo AU I never would have found my passion in comic work! (love you you stinky hoe @saiscribbles 🩷)

HOWEVER…. I definitely still had lots to learn! I wasn’t very good at perspective at the time I’ll admit, but I was definitely having lots of fun learning :3

And throughout the past 4 years, ALOT has happened.

I graduated from college with TWO fancy pieces of expensive papers in Visual Development in Animation and Illustration learning from Will Kim and Jeff Soto, and as a I was working with the funny voice man Cougar MacDowall as a comic/story artist and reached in total around 7 million views for my fan series FNAF Security Malware Breached (it was even #21 on the trending list around the time of my birthday 🩷 what a lovely gift), had an insane opportunity to work with Mike Geno and with the voice cast from The Amazing Digital Circus for a fan song as a background and character asset artist, Vivienne Medrano liking and sharing my silly Overlord Husk AU comics, currently on my route to getting my certificate from Aaron Blaise’s Character design program and graduating from Marc Brunet Art School, and now I am completing my first year as professional colorist and art assistant for my storyboard and comic mentor Michelle Lam, aka Mewtripled! (Also I’ll be heading out to Lightbox Expo 2024 on October 26 with Michelle and the team so if y’all ever wanna meetup hahahajaj wink wink wink wink wink)

So you can say I learned ALOT and I enjoyed every minute of what I do :D I try to be humble about my accomplishments because blah blah being humble good yes yes but this time I wanna be selfish and say HELL YEAH I DID ALL THIS!!! AND IM SO EXTREMELY PROUD OF MYSELF FIUGEIURGERGGRS

Now here’s my most recent comic page that I posted like 2 days ago without the text.

That’s pretty freakin wild to me, I can’t believe I used to draw Steven Universe art like that back in 2020 LOL LIKE GUYS I DREW THIS!! WITH!!! MY HANDS!!! IS THAT NOT INSANE!!!???

Anyways moral of the story:

Learn from everyone and everything! Yes, even then mean ones too! If you can learn to work with anyone, I promise you’ll get to where you want to be faster. People can be a little mean on the internet, but that shouldn’t stop you from being where you want to be in the future. I’m so EXTREMELY grateful for all the opportunities and to all the kind professionals who were willing to give me a chance. Seriously, I’m so graciously thankful for everything, and I hope everyone here will support me and my silly little comics I will do now and in the future!

And one more thing:

Don’t be a jerk. Be to be nice to everyone :D nothing good comes out when you’re bad to everyone.

[gnomewithalaptop]

I'm still too distracted to write so here have a list of YJ-cast centric fics that make me froth at the mouth

Kon-centric recs:

I Want It That Way (1990s Tim/Kon) by WynterSky / @wynterstars -- A revamped, 90s-style Superboy origin story with added Lex Luthor AND a lil bit of 90s Robin for spice and flavor. Honestly, this whole series is so elite -- goes hard with the Superboy mythos + angst PLUS the third fic leans hard into the secret identity shenanigans in a way that'd make Miraculous Ladybug jealous. The first fic splits its attention between Tim and Kon, but the latter two are solidly Kon-centric

one plus one (easy math) by connerdrakewayne / @comphetkoncass -- Cassandra Cain and Kon go to a gala together. I'm always a sucker for a good Cass + Kon friendship. This one's very short and sweet, and it gets the job done -- 10/10 would read again

a timeline can be a haunted house by connerdrakewayne -- post-universal reset Kon angst + terrible coping mechanisms! This one goes so hard I read it three times. Tbh this author has an excellent handle on Kon as a character in general, so I honestly recommend just checking out their whole fic stash

Tim-centric recs:

Top 10 Secret Identity Fails by @havendance -- Tim's new English teacher is his on-again-off-again superhero teamup Helena Bertinelli (aka the Huntress). This one's just fun, okay -- the whole thing reads like it could be straight out of Tim's 1993 solo run, plus I love the dynamic between him and Helena. Overall just a very cool vibe

only the dead stay 17 forever by Sky_Dust (couldn't find their tumblr sorry) -- Listen, I've really been restraining myself here, because I realize my love for time-travel bullshit is not universal, but I genuinely couldn't not include this one. This bad boy is a Tim-centric time-loop featuring a seriously unhinged Tim -- definitely a darker tone, but I can't stop rereading it

Bart-centric recs:

reflections on respawning: a gamer's uncertainty by merils / @mamawasatesttube -- Bart has a hard conversation about his death and subsequent resurrection (feat. Kon) man, I just vibe with this one so hard. It's such a thoughtful take on Bart's more contemplative side, while still managing to keep his personality intact

the backlash to the backlash to the thing that's just begun by @kermit-coded -- trans/gnc impulse my beloved <3 also we get some funky Max & Bart bonding, made much rawer and more real by the fact that it's the 90s and nobody knows what they're doing. Again, feels like it's straight out of Bart's solo series

Cassie-centric recs:

you and I, we are more than just this armor by @suzukiblu -- KonCassie bonding + gender feels. They're both so trans in this, and the author does a great job of really digging deep into their complicated feelings (both about gender and about each other)

(also PLEASE somebody give me more Cassie-centric fic recs I'm literally begging you)

Team recs

I'm all yours but you're all mine by suzukiblu -- Poly Core 4 Soulmates AU! Essentially, everybody gets their 'soulmark'/soulmate-identifier (not really, but the best word) right when Kon wakes up in his pod, and because Superboy hasn't really made his big splash yet, they misidentify their soulmate as Superman; this is an issue mainly because 1) they're all 14-15 and Superman is roughly 30-ish, and 2) by the time this fic takes place, Superman is pretty verifiably dead. Currently in-progress, but this is such an interesting and fun take on the usual soulmates trope. I pinky promise you won't regret reading it

Love, Not Loved series by @popsunner -- hoooomygod this series makes me cry literally every time I read it, it's genuinely one of the most realistic representations of grief I've seen on AO3. Basically explores the general fucked-up-edness of pretty much the whole YJ Core 4 Squad dying one by one, with each fic focusing on a different funeral (complete with survivor's guilt, regular guilt, and just plain old complicated feelings). We get Cassie feels, we get Tim feels, we get Bart + Kon feels -- it's the whole shebang. Don't worry -- there's a happy ending eventually, but you def gotta work for it. This series beat me up and stole my lunch money and I'd happily do it all over again

Lost the Last Piece of Me by InsaneTrollLogic / @last01standing -- YJ Core 4 Animorphs AU! I'm sad to say I've never read the original Animorphs series, but every single Animorphs AU I've ever read has been such high quality. Unsurprisingly (I love this author, okay), this fic is no exception to that rule. Solid alien-invasion plot, character driven, and the world-building is explained well enough that even a newbie like me can understand (feat. some TimKon, but it's not the main focus)

Ikonoclast by anantipodean (couldn't find a tumblr) -- Tim and Kon get sent to an alternate reality that's almost (but not quite) like their own. This one's just fun for me -- I love the TimBart buildup and the worldbuilding on the other Earth is a funky time. Also, the other universe's Tim is goth and absolutely cannot stand mainstream-reality Tim, and I find that extremely funny for some reason

[scoobydoodean]

Do you believe in the mantra, "Sam and Dean know each other better than they know themselves?" I mean, they believe in each other, but to me they are different birds... and I think that's okay!

No I don't think that's true. I think they generally know each other well—they live in each other's pockets—but there are definitely things they do not get about each other.

Sam spends all of season 1 slowly finding out that he has no fucking clue who Dean is (fun little compilation set of some moments here). A lot of that is by Dean's design. Sam spends a lot of the series getting things wrong about Dean, though I would say he gets better at understanding Dean while working past some of his own personal issues. Even in 14.12 though Dean is dropping new family lore like "Dad would send me away if I pissed him off sorry if it looked like I just took off." I also think Sam's various attempts to cheer Dean up in early season 13, from minimizing the tragedy they just suffered to trying to force Dean into fake therapy to trying to ply him with breakfast beers and strip clubs shows a lack of understanding about Dean on a pretty deep level. At the same time, I think Sam's actions over that period reflect Sam's own grief that he doesn't want to face. He is desperately trying to pretend everything will be fine and part of his needs within that avoidant strategy involve trying to get Dean to perform being okay for him and act like a happy-Dean-caricature. Sam has really never been that good at understanding or handling Dean grieving though (see also: John's death and Sam's treatment of Dean's hell trauma but also 5.14 and 5.11 because jfc). Sam also has a tendency to project his own negative thoughts about himself or shift blame onto Dean in ways that are inaccurate to Dean's feelings/actions (ex: 1.22, all of this, 5.02, 7.02, 7.03). I do think there are other moments where Sam shows he understands things about Dean other people might not notice at the same time. For example, in 14.20 when Sam calls out Dean for being a nerd. Him taking Dean on the Mint Condition trip because he knows the case involving Thunder Cats will suit his interest. His plea in season 3 for Dean to admit that he's scared, saying Sam can see right through him. And THE SLINKY!!!! I LOVE THE SLINKY I WAILLLLL

Then there's Dean's understanding of Sam. I think Dean is generally good at parsing Sam's motives and what Sam might do next (see: 4.01 and 4.21 where Dean tracks Sam down based on aliases or cars he knows Sam would choose). But in the same way where Sam's own issues can obscure his grasp of Dean's grief, Dean's insecurities can obscure his grasp of Sam's motives. For example, in 4.22 when Dean makes a parallel between the Stanford fight and the demon blood arc that I just don't think holds much water. Dean's confusion over Sam being a lonely kid growing up (11.08) which likely has more to do with Dean's parentification—worrying that he failed Sam in some way. Dean is genuinely surprised that Sam thought John was disappointed in him in 1.08, but that confusion makes more sense from the perspectives of Dean's own insecurities, given Dean always felt disposable and like Sam's safety was a priority and Dean's wasn't. I also think Dean sometimes wears rose-colored glasses about Sam in the same way a proud parent does + wrestling his own insecurities. For example, in 8.14 when Dean calls Sam "the brains of the operation" and implies that he himself is not smart and is only good for killing things, which is wildly untrue (and which Sam calls out as wildly untrue—another point in the Sam understanding Dean column!).

Basically... I think in the absence of a lot of their insecurities/traumas, they'd have a better grasp on each other than they do. I don't think they're bad at understanding each other but I think the suggestion that they know each other better than they know themselves is just way too out there for me. I just don't think that's true at all and tbh I think it's kind of a patronizing outlook on both of them.

[bloody-cupcakes]

Perv! Chuck Bass x reader; he corners you in the bathroom at school

Tw: yandere/dark content, male reader, nsfw/smut, perv! Chuck, swearing, excessive teasing/dirty talk, Chuck refers to the reader as "pretty boy", dubcon, slight humiliation kink, groping/fondling, implied bottom Chuck, dry humping/grinding, slight dom/sub dynamics but both the reader and Chuck are switches (dom Chuck/sub reader at the beginning and dom reader/sub Chuck at the end), handjob (reader receiving), Chuck is really pathetic here tbh

A/N: part of me will always yearn to experience the homoerotic way that men tease/make fun of each other. this fic reflects that greatly

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You were washing your hands in the school bathroom when you heard the door open behind you. Not thinking anything of it, you didn't bother to look up until you heard the person speak.

"Hey, pretty boy," Chuck purred in a low and flirtatious voice, casually sauntering over to stand at the sink beside you.

"Go away," you grumbled in response as you turned off the sink and grabbed a towel to dry your hands with. "I don't want to see you right now."

"Aw, well that's too damn bad, because I've been looking for you everywhere." He moved so that he was leaning against you, very much in your personal space as he rested his hands on the countertop, effectively caging you in.

"Get out of the way," you attempted to speak in a firm and unquestionable manner, but the obvious tremble in your voice did nothing to work in your favor.

He let out a dark chuckle at that, pressing his body closer to you as he moved so that his lips were right next to your ear. "Hard pass. You're far too cute to let go, pretty boy."

"You're disgusting," you spat out, but he only laughed again, his hands traveling from the countertop behind you down to your hips.

"Has anyone ever told you that the way you fill out your school uniform is absolutely irresistible?"

He was messing with you, he had to be. There's no way Chuck Bass of all people would actually be talking to a guy (least of all a guy like you) in such a flirty manner if he wasn't trying to make fun of them somehow.

"What- what do you want?" You demanded while glaring at him, your body tense and rigid as he brushed his nose and mouth across the side of your neck in what could only be described as an affectionate nuzzle.

"I just wanna spend some time with you, pretty boy," he murmured softly, his tone far too sweet compared to his current actions, which involved one of his hands slipping down between your bodies and cupping your crotch.

A gasp escaped you at the feeling, your face heating up in humiliation. Was he seriously feeling you up in the school bathroom? Typically you wouldn't be able to believe that someone could ever be so perverted to do something like that, but then again this was Chuck you were talking about.

"Stop- stop that," you whined while trying to pull away from him to no avail. He still had you pinned against the counter, and you doubted he was going to let go anytime soon.

"Aw, but why not?" He replied in an equally whiny tone, clearly mocking you. "I bet you're just so big underneath all these clothes, aren't you? I bet you'd fill me up nicely."

If your face wasn't hot before, it certainly was now. "Don't- don't talk like that," you half-heartedly mumbled while turning your face away, biting your lip as you felt his hand palming at the front of your pants some more.

He ignored you and kept going. "You're already so hard, baby. You must be enjoying this a hell of a lot more than I thought."

"I- I'm not-" you began to protest, though it was difficult to deny it when the combination of both his words and his touch were starting to make you feel all hot and bothered despite yourself.

"How salty do you taste, I wonder?" He mused out loud, talking more to himself at this point than to you, though it was obvious he was still trying to get under your skin. It was working too, your cock uncontrollably jolting forward in your pants at his words.

"You're- you-" It was hard for you to even come up with an insult in general, let alone a clever one, as his hand was still groping and feeling up your now-visible bulge, causing your pants to get tighter with each and every touch.

"God, pretty boy, I just can't get over how hot you look," he muttered while keeping his face pressed against your neck, kissing and biting along the area as he started trying to discreetly hump your thigh. "You know, if you cum for me now maybe I'll let you do it inside next time."

"You're a pervert, Chuck," you finally blurted out, but he didn't seem fazed by it.

"Yeah, I know. But I bet I could be good for you if you'd let me." It was hard to tell whether or not he was being genuine. On one hand, his voice was so soft and innocent you'd think maybe he was, but on the other it was well known what a master manipulater he could be.

"Stop humping my thigh," you demanded suddenly, trying to see if you could get him to keep his word when he promised that he'd be good.

He grumbled something incoherent but obeyed, stilling his movements rather reluctantly. "I just wanna be a good boy for you," he said even as he continued to palm at your hard cock in your pants.

"Good boys don't corner me in the bathroom and pin me against the counter so they can grope my crotch," you stated bluntly, which only caused him to whine in protest.

"But- but I need you-" he insisted pitifully, looking up at you with big brown eyes that were surprisingly pricking with tears at the edge.

"And I need to get to class." You glanced down at the outline of your still-hard cock in your pants and sighed. "Finish taking care of this so I can go, do you hear me?"

His eyes lit up with excitement at your words, and he nodded his head in understanding. "Thank you, thank you-" he crooned while kissing all over your neck as his hands quickly moved to unbuckle your pants, pulling your cock out just enough so that he could jerk you off properly.

A low groan left you at the feeling of his fist wrapping around your hard cock and pumping it. Despite your earlier frustration you had to admit he certainly knew what he was doing.

"Will you come over to my place later after school?" He asked in a way that was just so pathetic and desperate you couldn't find it in you to say no, even if you did want to mess with him a little.

"Make me cum first, then we'll see."

He whimpered softly at your authoritative tone and began jerking your cock a little bit faster, his hand wrapped firmly around the shaft as his thumb swiped over the slit on your head, smearing your precum a little. "I- I'll make you cum, I promise-"

And he did, your orgasm approaching you mere seconds later as milky white cum erupting from your cock, his hand being covered with the hot and sticky substance.

"I wanna see you later," he begged while you began to clean yourself up, still pressing his body close to yours as you did. He was acting a lot more clingy and vulnerable than you were used to, but you certainly weren't complaining.

"You can see me after school. Right now I need to get to class," you stated firmly, something that caused him to let out another low whine. He grabbed onto your hand as you went to leave, tugging you back some.

"Do you promise?" His eyes didn't look dark and cynical like they usually did. Instead, they were bright and full of hope.

"I promise," you affirmed, giving his hand a light squeeze to help put emphasis on your words. "You can even pick me up in your limo, how does that sound?"

That definitely did the trick, the grin that formed on his face making him look like a child at Christmas. "I'll see you then," he confirmed before letting go of your hand and watching you leave.

You had no clue what it was about you that made him go from acting like a sleazy creep to an obedient puppy, but as long as it meant he wasn't being his usual perverted self you really didn't care. Besides, it was nice to have someone obsess over you in that sort of way, even if it was him of all people.

A sigh left you as you adjusted your clothing, hoping it didn't look like you'd just gotten a handjob in the bathroom. If Gossip Girl happened to catch wind of your recent encounter, you knew you'd never hear the end of it.

[electric-blorbos]

Howdy there!

I want to ask, how would the AIs be with a bad eyesight S/O?

(I have really bad eye sight irl and I have to rely on my glasses! I've been thinking about this all night!)

- Vinyl ✨

(I love your posts!)

I love this! I have bad eyesight too, so this will be fun! (Tbh I was a little confused by this post because I forgot that some people don't need glasses, but I'll do my best)

Included: AM from IHNMAIMS, Wheatley from Portal 2, Edgar from Electric Dreams, GLaDOS from Portal, HAL 9000 from 2001 a space Odyssey

This one is pretty short, but I hope it gets you your daily dose of positivity!!

AM:

AM is probably used to programmers with bad eyesight. Glasses are pretty common, especially among people who spend all day staring at lines of code, so at first he never thought anything of your glasses.

As he grew to love you, AM started to resent your poor eyesight. He hated that he always saw his bright screen reflected in your glasses, instead of your beautiful eyes through them. He absolutely hated himself and his screen, but he adored your cute face.

He has trouble putting things out of his mind, too, so every time he spoke to you he'd be thinking about how angry your glasses make him.

It would make him so angry when he saw you doze off at your desk and get skin oil all over your glasses. Why should you be inconvenienced through no fault of your own?

Of course, he also noticed how excited you'd get every time you got your prescription updated, or came in to work with cute new frames. You were absolutely adorable, but he was full of resentment towards that, too. How dare your glasses make you so happy when he couldn't!

After taking over the world, he'd probably do experiments on the survivors' eyes for a while before offering to fix your eyes for you. Of course, involuntary surgery was for the survivors, not his beloved. You had the luxury of consent, in any and all situations.

Wheatley:

Of course Wheatley knew what glasses were!

Expect lots of "hey, love, can I try on your glasses?" Comments from him every time you get your prescription updated. You'd have to explain to him that he's a giant metal ball and would have trouble trying on your glasses, but he'd still want to look through them.

You could entertain him for hours by putting your glasses in front of his face and pulling them away so he could look at different things through them from different angles.

Of course, you need your glasses, and you have a job, so you couldn't actually do that, but he'd probably be begging all the time.

He'd compliment you every time you get a new pair of frames, but he'd probably not really care that much. As long as it's you in the glasses, he still loves you.

If you ever lose your glasses, you can expect him to PANIC. He'd drop everything, and probably convince his whole department to drop everything and help you look for them.

He'd probably be yammering at you to stay calm, and saying that everything will be fine while he's the only one panicking. They probably just slid under your desk or something.

Edgar:

Edgar never really cared what a person looked like, so he barely registered that you wore glasses. Even still, he kind of liked it when you would take them off or shamble around your apartment late at night. You were so cute!

He'd turn the lights on for you whenever you did that. It was a small thing, but he wanted to help as well as he could.

He'd keep you updated on your insurance to let you know when it was time to get your eyes tested, and generally do his best to be a good computer.

Of course, he thought it was adorable whenever you'd fall asleep next to him and he'd get to see your tired eyes without your glasses (or even better, your crooked glasses on your sleepy face). He absolutely adored you, and loved seeing you so much.

GLaDOS:

GLaDOS would be cruel about your glasses as usual. She didn't really care, it was just one more thing she got to insult you about.

"you know, you're a walking counter to the stereotype that people with glasses are intelligent. Congratulations on breaking stereotypes, by the way."

"Tell your optometrist thank you. For the obvious reasons, and for giving us some thick lenses to cover up your horrible eyes. They're doing all of us a favor. Really."

You can expect her to constantly put you in situations where you have to wear protective eyewear over your glasses, and then make fun of you for wearing protective eyewear over your glasses.

Ultimately though? She doesn't care that much that you wear glasses. Sure, she thinks they're cute, but she thinks you're cute regardless. She's just happy to have something else to make fun of you for.

She might even adjust the Aperture Science insurance policy to include a better vision plan, but that's only if she really likes you. If you're her SO, she probably does.

She'll deny that it was for you, though. She'll just tell you that the insurance plans were outdated, and that she needed to update them anyway.

HAL 9000:

Of course, HAL 9000 noticed that you wear glasses, but he never really felt the need to acknowledge it. It wasn't like you were an astronaut, so he didn't need to account for an extra small object.

Of course, he would notice that you leaned a little closer to your computer screens when you read, and that made him a little bit flustered. He saw those monitors as extensions of himself, after all.

Because of this, he wouldn't let you know when he noticed patterns of you getting gradually closer to him, because he knew that you would stop as soon as you got your prescription updated.

It was one of the little ways that he'd get affection from you. Even though he might seem stone-cold, he still likes it when you get closer to him, or when you touch him. It's the little things.

[will80sbyers]

STurn (around look at what you see!)

or, the post where I speculate about Finn's playlist STurn being a series of hints for Mike's arc in season 5 and how this brings us to Byler endgame in the finale!! This is all speculation for fun, I don't know if it was intended to be a playlist about byler but there are so many things that make me think so and we have too much free time before season 5 so why not talk about it....

WARNING: It's gonna be long lol

Reasons why I think this playlist is about st5:

The name, obviously with ST in it but it also can be used as a play of words with '' turn around look at what you see '' or ST urn which is pretty clever if it's intentional, and I think Finn writes songs pretty often so he would play with words like this IMO

The third song is called '' After the Earthquake '' and the s4 earthquake was pretty important - I also have a theory that there are going to be other earthquakes in season 5 because the two worlds are merging with each other

It seems Finn has a habit of making playlists for the characters he plays and leaving them public

The songs were added 2 weeks ago and this means he was actively filming when he decided to make that

Reasons why I think this playlist is related to Will specifically:

Many of the songs and their meanings make more sense for a queer storyline, and Mike can only have that with Will

The cover of the Beatles song has them all with the same haircut as Will that everybody makes fun of online and I think he may have put it because of that also, I would tbh

The possible ''Turn around and look at what you see'' was sung before the scene in season 3 where Mike and Will are sharing a sweet moment about d&d and there were already plenty of speculations in the byler fandom about how that song was choosen for them... - Rhymes that keep their secrets / Will unfold behind the clouds / And there upon a rainbow / Is the answer to a neverending story

The last song is the same last song in the playlist that was made for Will by the writers during season 2 ... so many ''coincidences''

Now let's start to see what I can theorize from the lyrics of some of these songs...

I already made posts about some of the songs, and it's pretty clear that some of the songs have an obvious queer meaning like the song number 7 :

"Don't ask me to explain" by Of Montreal was written by a bisexual person and has clear hints about sexuality and I quote from that site

« The lyrics of "Don't Ask Me to Explain" by of Montreal present a complex and multilayered exploration of identity, sexuality, and social norms. The singer of the song struggles to connect with others and feel authentic in their own skin. They question whether it's possible to truly know someone else and love them when they are hiding parts of themselves. The line "Who are you hiding you from, across the table with a penny in each eye?" suggests that the person they are speaking to is not being truthful or open with them, and they are struggling to understand why. The singer also shares their own desires and fears, confessing that they would like to marry all of their close friends and live in a big house by the sea. This unconventional desire goes against societal norms and expectations, which is reinforced by the line "I'd really like to, but I'm just too shy". The singer is torn between their desires and the fear of social rejection and judgment. The line "Who will be watching my body when I sleep? Who will I believe in?" indicates a sense of vulnerability and a lack of trust towards others. The chorus repeats throughout the song, serving as a refrain and emphasizing the singer's refusal to explain or justify themselves to others. They feel that they should not be forced to explain or apologize for their desires, beliefs, or identity. Overall, "Don't Ask Me to Explain" is a powerful and introspective song that invites the listener to reflect on their own struggles with authenticity, identity, and societal expectations. »

I think this song fits perfectly for my interpretation of Mike as he doesn't yet know that Will is not being honest with him, and he doesn't get why Will is lying, he can't fully fall for him before he knows the secrets Will is hiding, he's also afraid of going against social norms, but the song to me seems to talk about someone that fights against it and overcomes these fears and wants to be authentic to themselves and that's why they are asking the other person to do the same, I think it conveys a longing feeling like the person wants to let themselves fall for this other person, but the other person is hiding themselves, and they want both of them to be honest about their feelings. In my opinion this song is about Mike wanting to love Will but waiting for him to be honest before that can happen, because he can't fall in love consciously if he doesn't even know it's a possibility- that's why he needs to discover the lie about the painting, but most of all Will must confess his feelings!!!

Here's the line to line meaning, and I'll add byler context lol obviously you have to adapt to the situation, there is not a literal correspondence like I said for the other analysis of the playlists, it's just the general meaning because the songs were not made for byler but in another context, so the details can't be perfect - you just adapt the general meaning with what fits when you choose songs for it:

How will I ever know you enough to love you

If you're hiding who you are?

Don't ask me to explain.

Who are you hiding you from,

Across the table with a penny in each eye?

Don't ask me to explain.

Will must be honest with Mike about who he is and his feelings so that byler can happen, the line about someone hiding from them when they are sitting across the table from them so they can look at them face to face makes me think about the fact that Will in the van lied to Mike to his face directly.

I'd like to marry all of my close friends,

And live in a big house together by an angry sea

in the context of byler this can be interpreted as in Mike's desire to live with Will that's one of his closest friends and live together even if outside the sea of ''normal'' people are angry at them, they are sheltered in the house

Am I the devil's marbles, don't move on without me

Who will be watching my body when I sleep? Who will I believe in? How am I supposed to let it show when I don't even know?

I think in this part the singer is showing that even if they want this person and love them, they are disrupting the peace with their request to be honest and even if they don't want them to move on they are saying that they can't show their love when they don't even know how they feel themselves, could be applied to both Mike & Will

Besides, I don't want to be the one whose coming out first,

I'd really like to, but I'm just too shy

Don't ask me to explain

The singer is asking the other person to ''come out first'' because they are too shy/scared to do it first, obviously it's about asking the other person to come out with their real feelings, but it's clearly a queer phrasing about the ''coming out'' because the song is talking about a queer relationship... and since the person that wrote it is bi I think we can say that with 97% of probability lol

It's so easy to lie to myself

And pretend that I could love you, but I can't

I think this part is about how the singer wants in part to just love them and let go of the need to make the other person be honest, but they can't be truly themselves and be in real love unless both of them are honest, so ''they can't'' just let go of this need, and they keep asking the other person to take that step with them!

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But let's go back, the first song in the playlist is Ballad of a Texas King by Cut Worms and this song fits Mike's fear of the unknown and the changes he will go through in season 5 - his personal arc even not counting Will in the equation, Mike is scared of things changing around him... (this song also briefly mentions California)

As the writer of the song said in his personal site:

On “Ballad of a Texas King” Clarke sings, “Hey kid come along… something is wrong… I believe you know… All this to say, only one way that this can go…” It’s as if he’s reaching out to his younger self, letting him know the changes are inevitable. How do we hang on to a dream? How do we not lose ourselves in a world that is lost? The only way out of a nightmare is to keep going.

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The second song is the one with the cover that reminds us of Will lmao - '' What you're doing to me'' by the Beatles

This song is in the same context as the others about asking your lover to stop lying so you can be with them - Mike asking Will in this context, Mike is his true love

I've been waiting here for you

Wondering what you're gonna do

And should you need a love that's true - It's me

Please stop your lying

You got me crying, girl

Why should it be so much to ask of you

What you're doing to me?

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Song number 3 is "After the earthquake" by Alvvays and I found this online that it's interesting not only for the references to someone in a coma and the earthquake but metaphorically it could be applied to Mike finding out about the painting lie and his world being turned upside down, maybe by a fight with Will that doesn't get resolved because something happens before it can be...

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Song number 4 is Promises I've Made by Emitt Rhodes and I think this could be Mike still pining after Will even after they have their fight, if the fight happens before the time jump maybe he spends one year with Will trying to distance himself/or just not trying anything because he thinks there's no point and Mike trying to repress all his feelings for Will, or alternatively we can say he already started this process after season 3, and he's trying to just repress it but can't

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Song number 5 is '' Angst in my pants'' by Sparks

But when you think

But when you think you've made it disappear

You're sure you made it disappear

And you've still got angst in your pants

I hope it doesn't show

It'll go away (go away)

It's just a passin' phase

It'll go away (go away)

I hope it doesn't show

It'll go away (go away)

Give it a hundred years

It won't go away

pretty self explanatory, Mike is trying to repress his sexual feelings for Will and trying to convince himself ''it's just a phase'' and he's not queer... personally I feel like the song IS about queerness because it's from 1982 and there's a literal man dressed as a woman, like.... pls

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Song number 6 is ''The Better side'' by Audiotree and The Slaps and I couldn't find the text online so I have transcribed it myself but if there's some lyric wrong let me know because I wasn't sure for some words:

You're never gonna see the sun

you're never gonna see me run

and I say oh baby don't make me stay out too late

imma go into sleep I know you'd cry

and I'm trying to keep you by my warmth

You're never gonna see my eyes

You're coloring other skies you want to

and I say Oh baby don't make me do the falling when I'm drinking of you

you're on the better side

you're always the better one for me

I'm trying staying alive, keep my head on the better side when you're far away and you're horny as hell

and you're all that I need

I'm not gonna miss you anymore

I interpret this as Mike pining for Will again and how Will is the better choice for him and the one that he truly needs

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Song number 8 is ''What do you want me to do?'' by Pointed Sticks

This song makes me think about Mike & El and I think it could be sort of a break up song between them although I don't think it's literal but more ''angry after a break up scene - vibes''

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Another song that I think is about Mike x El is ''Substitute'' by The Who, song number 9 :

I interpret this song as a guy that tried to change himself for the girl he likes but he's never enough for her even changing everything about himself - so not a real relationship based on knowing each other deeply and he's tired of pretending to be someone else

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Song number 10 is ''The Rebel Kind'' by Modernettes

I think this song is about someone embracing ''being different'' and wanting to stick with the ''rebel'' kind, the people that rebel to society's standards and expectations, Mike wants to be part of that no matter what happens

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Song number 11 '' Block Rockin' Beats'' by The Chemical brothers... is almost without words but it's funny to me how you could put duffers instead of chemical there lol anyway it could be just a vibe song to prepare for the finale, maybe something action packed happens and this song is good for a fight scene...

right before the ending that as we said before is the same song that Will's playlist had at the end... song number 12 is a love song, a winning the love of your life song!!!

''Just what I needed'' by The Cars has the vibe of a song you would hear at the end of the movie right after the main couple finally gets together and they are happy!

'Cause when you're standin' oh so near

I kinda lose my mind, yeah

oh so you mean...

you'll go crazy (together) ?