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mossy-rock-in-a-field · 4 months

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Several weeks ago, my retirement-age mother requested that I play Baldur’s Gate 3 for her because she has trouble with controllers/keyboards and wanted “to see what all the fuss is about with that cute wizard boy.” For context, my mother and I have done this sort of thing in the past with certain RPGs (dragon age, mass effect, etc.), but it’s been a few years since she’s personally requested a game like this. Basically, I control her Tav but let her make all the choices so she can determine how the story plays out without worrying about mechanics. She treats it like a choose-your-own-adventure book.

Anyway, here is a list of some of the things my mother has said and/or chosen to do throughout the course of BG3 in no particular order:

She is (obviously) romancing Gale. She is quite smitten with him and his passion for books and learning; she also thinks he’s polite and qualifies as “relationship material.” She also REALLY likes the things he’s said about his cat so far (my mom is a cat lady), so I know she’s gonna flip shit when we meet Tara in Act III.

She’s playing a normal druid Tav with a generally good alignment. Her favorite spell is Spike Growth because she thinks it’s hilarious whenever enemies walk into the AOE and die. I usually end up having to cast it at least once per battle per her request. Sometimes twice.

Contrary to her alignment, my mother tasks me with robbing every single chest, crate, barrel, and burlap sack we come across; this also includes people and their pockets. The party is always at max carrying capacity. ALWAYS. She doesn’t like selling things because “what if I need them.” The camp stash is in literal shambles. There is no hope of organizing it. She’s got like fifty seven sets of rags and a billion pieces of random silverware.

She MUST talk to every animal and corpse in the game. I think five hours of her total playtime so far (47ish) has been spent speaking to animals as many times as humanly possible. Like, I was thorough in my own playthroughs, but this is on a whole other level.

She did NOT get Volo’s lobotomy, but she did let Auntie Ethel take her eye in hopes of a cure for the tadpole. I did not understand the logic then. I still do not understand it now.

She is far more interested in fashion than equipment stats. Do you have any idea how much gold I’ve had to spend on dyes just to make things match? SO much. Same vibe as that “please someone help me balance my finances my family is starving” tweet but instead of candles it’s thirty thousand fucking bottles of black and furnace red dye.

We broke the prisoners out of Moonrise, but they got on the boat too early and bugged the fight by leaving Astarion and Karlach behind. Wulbren Bongle somehow got stuck in combat mode even after engaging the cutscene on the docks below Last Light; he he kept trying to run ALL THE WAY BACK TO MOONRISE nine fucking meters at a time while I frantically tried to finish the fight with the Warden, otherwise Wulbren would have run straight into the shadow curse. (I would’ve let him go; fuck Wulbren Bongle, all my homies hate Wulbren Bongle. But my mom didn’t know that, and she wanted to keep him safe. So.)

She had me reload a save like eighteen times to save the giant eagles on top of Rosymorn Monastery. Wouldn’t even let me do non-lethal damage just to get past things. I think getting that warhammer for the dawnmaster puzzle took us like an hour and a half alone. (Yes, I know you can use any warhammer, but SHE didn’t.)

She’s started keeping an irl notebook to keep track of her quests between play sessions. She writes down ideas and strategies when she thinks of them during the week, then brings them to her next game session at my house. I think she wrote about three pages on possible approaches to the goblin fortress alone.

She insists that I pet Scratch and the owlbear cub before every single long rest, no exceptions. Sometimes I have to do it multiple times until she is absolutely sure that the animals know exactly how much she loves and cherishes them. She has also commissioned a crocheted owlbear plush from a friend of hers and is very excited.

I’m sure there’s a bunch of stuff I’m forgetting, but those are some fun things I thought of. She’s enjoying the game and is telling all of her retired friends to get it and play it for themselves. She asked me “what is Discord” yesterday and I think my life flashed before my eyes.

anyway shout out to my mom for being neat

Part 2 — Part 3 — Part 4 — Part 5

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #gale #gale of waterdeep #astarion #gale dekarios #laq talks #I talk #she stares at me real hard after she makes a choice too #like squinting to see if my expression gives anything away #if it was a good or bad call #I keep my face blank as shit it’s hilarious #I have not told her I’m writing fanfic for this game #nor will I ever #jesus christ

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forbidden-sunlight · 23 days

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yandere!ceo with villainess!reader scenario [part one]

warnings: suicide attempt/implication, implication of obsessive thoughts or love, workplace toxicity.

There might be potential triggers in this piece. If you do not feel comfortable with reading it, please hit the 'back' button on your phone or laptop and find something much more pleasant to read than a potential series of unfortunate events.

You are responsible for your Internet consumption.

Reblog to support content creators! ❤️

Hey guys, and welcome to another original yandere oc x series, featuring the good-looking prick and CEO of his family's conglomerate, Yeo Jung-Hwa. This is a collaboration between me and the incredibly talented @deathmetalunicorn1. Special thanks to @pinkgoldweebgirl and @witch-of-the-writing-desk for their honest feedback on the earlier drafts of this project.

Part Two

Everyone has heard or watched the famous daily drama, Love and Fortune. Boasting over 124 episodes, it chronicles the romance between a cold-hearted CEO named Yeo Jung-Hwa and a hardworking, kind-hearted employee at his family’s conglomerate named Hyeong Mun-Hee. Of course, no drama is without conflict because that would be a very boring story to broadcast to the world.

Including the male lead’s family opposing the idea that would marry someone beneath his social status, the villainous Park Seo-yun refuses to break off her engagement to him even when her feelings are completely one-sided. In retrospect, Park Seo-yun had been written as a vicious and incredibly stupid antagonist so that Heyong Mun-Hee’s perseverance through such bullying and her devotion towards Yeo Jung-Hwa were highlighted and touched the viewers with her kind heart. At least that is what you believe after being trapped in the world of this drama for…how long has it been? A year? Three years?

It was hard to keep track of time when Being X - that’s the name you gave to whatever is controlling this world like a goddamned puppeteer - would reset everything if you tried to act out of character such as amiably breaking up with male lead so he could be with Hyeong Mun-Hee or trying to overdose on sleeping meds in a desperate attempt to escape. Presently this was your fourth loop, and you were not going to let everything, the hard work you’ve put in, to be all for nothing.

You were going to move forward.

You were going to survive.

You were going to have a peaceful life once this drama is over.

Just say your lines and be ready for the next scene. Right?

According to the drama’s script, the reason that Park Seo-yun worked for the Yeo family’s conglomerate is because everyone thought it would be a brilliant idea for her to see how the business of her future in-laws operated and be prepared to step in if Yeo Jung-Hwa was incapacitated for any reason. In your humble opinion, it is honestly a bad idea for two reasons. One, it isn’t wise to mix business with a marriage, let alone an engagement that is written to be destroyed upon the arrival of the female lead. Two, it just doesn't make sense. Prosperous businesses are supposed to have a qualified Chief Operating Officer, otherwise known as a COO, to implement plans and the direction that the CEO wishes to follow as well as coordinating with other team managers.

But this is common sense from the real world. You are stuck in a drama and currently the team manager of the conglomerate’s financial department. You might have a nice office in the back where you can see everything, but it barely alleviated your annoyance with Hyung Mun-Hee as she hunched over her desk, texting on her personal phone instead of correcting the mistakes she made on the documents you were supposed to hand out to everyone at today’s meeting; budget allocations, projected growths and downturns, including whether Team Leader Kim Dokja will be able to hire a few more employees that he really needs to help with the IT department’s neverending workflow.

You know that this is a pivotal scene in both Heyong Mun-Hee’s character development and the beginning of your downfall. You know that after accusing the female lead of slacking off, forcing her to kneel and apologize for paralyzing your department because everyone worked overtime to cover her unexcused absences, this is when the male lead steps in and protects his darling from being bullied further.

To the writers of Love and Fortune: this example of lazy creativity is why your successful series eventually received backlash and everyone demanded a revamped version. In layman’s terms, fuck you assholes for making your job as the villainess a lot more difficult than it should be.

You already made her kneel and all that jazz in the last two loops and it didn’t do shit. Not this time. You were going to go for a more subtle, professional approach. As long as it seems like you were antagonizing Hyung Mun-Hee because Love and Fortune is written from her point of view, you should be fine. Hopefully. God, you hoped so.

If you actually got through this scene, you were definitely going to reward the team for their hard work with some baked goods for breakfast or a catered lunch. You haven’t used your infamous black credit card since this loop started. Rolling your shoulders back, you inhaled a slow, deep breath before leaning over towards the printer, grabbing the documents that the female lead emailed to you. You pretended to read them over, eyes narrowing and fingers thumbing through all of them until you reached the end. Rising from your seat, you walked out of the office and addressed the staff, calmly.

“Excuse me everyone, but may I have a moment of your time?” Your slightly agitated voice caused all seven team members to stare at you with faces that ranged from confusion, fear, and curiosity. You respectfully incline your head. “Thank you.” You held up your little prop in the air for all to see. “Whoever emailed me the paperwork I am to present at this afternoon’s meeting, please come to my office. I have some questions about the context.”

An uneasy silence fell upon the office, making your heart stink. Shit. You needed to improvise and fast before Being X noticed. You sighed, pressing two fingers to the side of your temple to make it seem like you were starting to feel a headache coming on, which funnily enough you were.

“I’m not going to bite anyone’s head off, I promise. There are just a few things in here that do not make sense and I’d like to understand before I am to present them as the team leader.” Please take the bait, Heyong Mun-Hee. You thought pleadingly with your eyes closed. If you have any self-respect left or at least feel a little sorry for being lazy, stand up and admit your mistake so that your perseverance shines through in this scene. You’ve done it before, you can do it again.

When you opened your eyes, she was still sitting at her desk with wide eyes and a flushed face, clutching her phone as if it were a lifeline. Your eyebrow twitched. You have got to be kidding me. You thought sourly. This isn’t how a female lead is supposed to act, let alone an actual employee of a multi-million won company.

Fine. If she wasn’t going to come to you willingly, then you couldn’t play nice.

You were about to call her out when she suddenly stood up and made a beeline towards your office, passing by you and taking a seat in your office. Huh? Isn’t this a bit rude? Unfortunately your role isn’t to ponder why certain people like common decency. So you turned around, walking back inside your workspace and closing the door behind you. Once you sat down behind the dark mahogany desk that was at least twice the size of a normal cubicle, you booted up your desktop and logged into the company’s bookkeeping program before swiveling the monitor around so that Hyeung Mun-Hee could see where she made her mistakes.

“Assistant Manager Hyeung Mun-Hee, I noticed that there were some miscalculations here,” You moved your cursor over one column. “And here.” You moved it to the right. “Here as well.” You moved it back to the left, right in the middle. “The formula you imputed for Columns H to J is incorrect. I want you to refer to your department manual and make the necessary corrections before sending it out to the other departments. I trust you can handle this task?”

She should be able to. After all, the female lead had a buffer for being extremely intelligent and a math whiz in the script. That’s why she was selected to work here instead of Human Resources, where her communication skills were also top notch. Hyeung Mun-Hee quickly nodded, standing up from her seat and almost bolting back to her desk, still holding onto her phone like a security blanket. Which was a little odd. You don’t remember her being so protective of it in the previous loops.

You reclined back against your chair. Oh well, no matter. Time to see this house of cards come crashing down in five minutes. Too bad it can’t be longer. But the show must go on, right? She might be scripted to fail, but you gave her a chance to correct her mistakes. So in the end, it was truly and solely all her fault, not yours.

Sure enough the phones began ringing off of the hook, followed by shouting from a few of the senior employees. You got a frantic phone call from Research/Development manager Choi Iseul, asking why the promised budget had been cut in half. Closing out the screens on your desktop, you reassured the poor girl that you would look into this matter immediately before hanging up. She really didn’t need the stress right now at four months pregnant.

You stepped out of the office, demanding what was going on. All eyes turned to the leading lady herself, her head down and face pinkened in embarrassment. You blinked. “Assistant Manager Hyeung Mun-Hee, what happened? You did fix the report as I had asked, right?” You controlled the tone of your voice, careful to not show anger and annoyance, strictly professionalism. You were pretty sure that you didn’t sound like a vindictive bitch either. But somehow she took your question as her cue to shout at you, to stop bullying her before running out towards the elevator. And right into the arms of the male lead.

You exhaled a deep breath, running a hand through [Hair Color] tresses before you turned your attention back towards the team. “I need to fix this report and send it off to the other departments or else things will get ugly. I know I’m asking a lot right now, but could you screen the incoming calls? If any of them asks, please let them know I am making the necessary corrections and will email it to them promptly. Disregard the one that they’ve received from Assistant Manager Hyeung Mun-Hee.”

Everyone clamored in agreement before diving back into their work, some already answering the phones and reciting exactly what you asked them to say as you bolted towards your office, slamming the door behind you. Considering that this isn’t your first loop, you had already taken the liberty of creating the correct report this morning before clocking in at the office. The issues were the same, so it took you all but twenty minutes to adjust and send it out to the managers.

The calamity that struck evaporated in an instant, and the phones had stopped ringing. To you, it only heralded the opening sequence of the next scenario. Looking up from your phone, you saw two people walk out of the elevator. The female lead was dabbing her puffy face with a checkered handkerchief, standing by Yeo Jung Hwa himself as he got off his own personal device, no doubt finishing his talk with the CFO about his darling’s little fuck up.

Placing your phone face down on the desk, you watched them glide across the room before the CEO reached your office, opening the door with a frown stretched across his face.

Yeo Jung Hwa. The male lead of Love and Fortune, blessed with good looks, riches, and has been in charge of the conglomerate since he was twenty years old. A classic tyrannical CEO that almost everyone loved to read or watch because they’d see how soft he was around his lover and wanted that same kind of treatment for themselves. You saw him as more of a cunning snake who knew what he wanted and would use any means necessary to get it.

But whatever. Time to get into character. You thought as you stood up, eyeing the male lead apathetically. “Good afternoon, sir. How can I help you?”

“Explain what happened.” He said, amethyst eyes narrowing at you. Yes, he has fucking purple eyes thank you goddamned screenwriters.

You raised an eyebrow. “Explain what, sir?” You asked. “The incident that has everyone in a panic?” Receiving nothing but silence from him, you continued. “It’s been resolved. I’ve already emailed all of the department heads the correct report to refer to at today’s meeting. I did tell Assistant Manager Hyeung Mun-Hee to fix the mistakes I’ve shown her,” You glanced at your employee before averting your attention back to the prick. “But when I looked at what was sent out, she did make a few adjustments…just that it only made matters worse and could have cost the company a lot of money.” You crossed your arms, leaning back against your desk. “Her performance was unacceptable, and she is my responsibility as her team leader. Which is why I would like to have Assistant Manager Hyeung Mun-Hee participate in this month’s upcoming financial seminars. A little refresher for two weeks, using her vacation days, and pass the tests so that there will not be a repeat of this incident again and jeopardize the conglomerate. Or would you see this as unfair treatment of an employee, CEO Yeo Jung-Hwa?”

You watched as the male lead looked over his shoulder, glaring balefully at his lover before he turned back to face you. “So be it. I want to see the results of her tests once they are completed and the lecturers aren’t under your payroll, Team Leader Park Seo-yun.”

“With all due respect, they are under your payroll, not mine.” You said drolly. “I don’t care how long it will take for her to complete the classes or to do the coursework. I want results, same as you. I do want to keep the completion certificates. If she doesn’t do it or chooses not to for whatever reason beyond a medical emergency, suspension with pay. No ifs, ands, or buts. Are these acceptable terms, sir?”

He didn’t like it, you could tell. Any event that separated from Hyeung Mun-Hee would put him in a sour mood and become more of a grouch. Kind of like a child having his favorite toy being taken away because he did something bad. But in this situation he couldn’t afford to have a temper tantrum for obvious reason:

1) Displaying an immature attitude in a professional environment will make him less appealing to the viewers.

2) As previously stated, it was the female lead’s fault that this whole mess happened. He saw the evidence of her major fuck up, the CFO saw it, everyone did. Trying to sweep it under the rug would only incite more rumors of nepotism. He has a reputation to maintain.

“...Fine.” He spat out. You nodded, seeing him turn on the ball of his foot and stomp out of the room. Nope, he is not happy about this. Neither is the trembling female lead standing in front of you. She really was a pretty woman, with reddish-brown hair falling past her shoulders and hazel eyes glistening with tears.

“You’re dismissed. I’ll let you know the seminar schedule once I hear back from HR. Please return to work, you still have two hours left on your shift.” You said, expecting her to go running to the restroom and cry, have a mental dialogue about how things were unfair right now but she will come out on top and preserve as it was written in the script. Except…she didn’t leave right away. She was glaring at you as if you were the most despicable person in the entire world, which you guess holds some truth.

“You said this is all my fault, but it isn’t because I wasn’t trained properly! Where do you get off, saying such horrible things like this?! Just because you are rich doesn’t mean you have a great personality!”

Your eyes widened in shock. Okay, this scene was definitely not part of the drama in the last three loops. And she’s smart enough to know to not say this, even if the door is closed!

Let’s be serious. No one should ever talk to a supervisor like this, even if they are an absolute scumbag and you hate their guts.

“Assistant Manager Hyeung Mun-Hee, you were trained to learn and carry out these tasks during the ninety day trial period after being hired by the conglomerate,” You said as you tried to calm your racing heart. “I showed you the mistakes you made, and it’s clear that you made almost no effort to fix them. If you had, then this incident would not have happened. That is why you are going to sit through those seminars and take notes, or you will be suspended without pay. This is not up for debate. And just because I am rich doesn’t mean you can talk down to people as if you are better than them, myself included. Now leave. And don’t let me hear such vulgar words in here again or I will punish you. Are we clear?”

“You-“

“Are you going to make me pull up your file and show everyone your certificates of completion from those training programs, the proof that you were trained to do your job and you’ve chosen to let others do your work for you?” You asked. “It’s fine to ask for help from others when needed, but you have to take responsibility for your actions or else you’ll never be able to surpass me.”

You watched Hyeung Mun-Hee’s face turn a darker shade of magenta and the tremors in her petite frame increase greatly before she excused herself. You could see the steam coming out of her ears; whether it was from embarrassment or anger, you weren’t certain. So long as she got your message and you acted your part as the villainess, then that should have met almost all of the requirements needed to move onto the next episode. The remaining factors were the viewership score and Being X’s approval.

The viewership score is a daily simple rating system numbered from 1 to 5 golden stars. If the episode reaches 3 and above, you’re clear. If the score is a 2, and Being X did not like your acting or even how everything played out, the loop would start all over again from the first scene. Perhaps instead of puppeteer, it’s more like a perfectionist director whose opinion can also be swayed by the viewership score. If the audience watching this fucked up universe enjoyed what they were watching, they’ll make it known.

After all, more ratings means more money, even if you’re not getting paid for this.

The last two loops where this episode happened, you followed the script to the letter without making any improvs. It didn't work out in the end, as you recalled with a frown at the memory. After being forced to kneel on the floor as you had done to her, you watched the lovebirds embrace. Well, at least the male lead was trying to comfort his ‘pure-hearted’ lover when that bitch smiled down at you from over his shoulder. As if she had won the game and you were the loser. Being X didn’t like the viewership scores back then. Now? Well, that’ll depend on whether or not you’ll wake up to the setting of episode 25 tomorrow morning. It’s either that…or finding yourself in the interview room again with Hyeung Mun-Hee during the pilot episode, her job application in your hand.

Fuck my life. You thought glumly.

Congratulations, Congratulations, Congratulations!

Important things must be said three times.

The viewership score on Episode 24 has arrived!

Taglist: @nunezs-stuff @imperfectbloodmoon @yandere-dark-cupid @justcressida @cassanderasblog @faesdreaming @faux-ecrivain @abelheilonwife @tired-of-life-86 @tonightwrites @ixchelhernandez4 @aiimee9 @swallowtail-lotus @diannaflight @sweetbatherodonkey @strangepoppy @mochinon-yah @classicdummy @lanxianschoenheit @aman3kkun @beardedblizzardexpert @reiivven @majestichugs

#forbidden-sunlight #yandere x reader #yandere male #yandere #yandere oc #yandere oc x reader #yandere!ceo #fem!reader #villainess!reader #ns.fw #yandere manhwa x reader #x reader #tw sui attempt #tw sui implied #tw work toxicity #cw sui attempt #cw work toxicity

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zvaigzdelasas · 25 days

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[BBC is UK State Media]

Truong My Lan is charged with taking out $44bn (£35bn) in loans from the Saigon Commercial Bank. Prosecutors say $27bn may never be recovered.[...]

The evidence is in 104 boxes weighing a total of six tonnes [!!!]. Eighty-five defendants are on trial with Truong My Lan, who denies the charges. She and 13 others face a possible death sentence.

"There has never been a show trial [sic] like this, I think, in the communist era," says David Brown, a retired US state department official with long experience in Vietnam. "There has certainly been nothing on this scale."

The trial is the most dramatic chapter so far in the "Blazing Furnaces" anti-corruption campaign led by the Communist Party Secretary-General, Nguyen Phu Trong.

A conservative [sic] ideologue [sic] steeped in Marxist theory, Nguyen Phu Trong believes that popular anger over untamed corruption poses an existential threat to the Communist Party's monopoly on power. He began the campaign in earnest in 2016 after out-manoeuvring the then pro-business prime minister to retain the top job in the party.

The campaign has seen two presidents and two deputy prime ministers forced to resign, and hundreds of officials disciplined or jailed. Now one of the country's richest women could join their ranks.[...]

Although Vietnam is best known outside the country for its fast-growing manufacturing sector, as an alternative supply chain to China, most wealthy Vietnamese made their money developing and speculating in property.

All land is officially state-owned. Getting access to it often relies on personal relationships with state officials. Corruption escalated as the economy grew, and became endemic.

By 2011, Truong My Lan was a well-known business figure in Ho Chi Minh City, and she was allowed to arrange the merger of three smaller, cash-strapped banks into a larger entity: Saigon Commercial Bank.

Vietnamese law prohibits any individual from holding more than 5% of the shares in any bank. But prosecutors say that through hundreds of shell companies and people acting as her proxies, Truong My Lan actually owned more than 90% [!!!] of Saigon Commercial.

They accuse her of using that power to appoint her own people as managers, and then ordering them to approve hundreds of loans to the network of shell companies she controlled.

The amounts taken out are staggering. Her loans made up 93% [!!!] of all the bank's lending.

According to prosecutors, over a period of three years from February 2019, she ordered her driver to withdraw 108 trillion Vietnamese dong, more than $4bn (£2.3bn) in cash from the bank, and store it in her basement.

That much cash, even if all of it was in Vietnam's largest denomination banknotes, would weigh two tonnes.[!!!!!][...]

David Brown believes she was protected by powerful figures who have dominated business and politics in Ho Chi Minh City for decades. And he sees a bigger factor in play in the way this trial is being run: a bid to reassert the authority of the Communist Party over the free-wheeling business culture of the south.

"What Nguyen Phu Trong and his allies in the party are trying to do is to regain control of Saigon, or at least stop it from slipping away.[...]

faster growth in Vietnam almost inevitably means more corruption [sic]. Fight corruption too much [sic], and you risk extinguishing a lot of economic activity.

10 Apr 24

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ihrtnjm · 1 month

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be alright - pjs

synopsis: y/n and jisung navigate their relationship with fame and fortune. pairing: idol!fem!reader x backupdancer!jisung (nct) genre: fluff, slight angst? content: weird fans, tweets, protective manager doyoung, popcrave LMAO, anxious ji, slightly suggestive comment from reader, implied reader shorter than jisung, otherwise super fluffy stuff! wc: 14,892 a/n: this took me quite literally a year to finish but if you want more of this i’m willing to make a part two! you can tell where i lost steam, but this was too cute i had to finish it! all images not mine!

｡ﾟ❁ུ۪ °ₒ 𓂂 ˚ 𓂂 ₒ ° ₒ 𓂂 ˚˖⋆

as the crowd roars, you take in the energy and adrenaline from the performance. the crowd chants your name, begging for more of you and your presence. you smile back at the audience, gaining yet another roar from the crowd. your backup dancers start to get up from their formations and begin to return to the dressing rooms, but you stay behind to do your ment.

“hello seoul!” you cheer and wave, the crowd cheering back in response. “it’s so great to be here! i’ve had such an amazing time these past few days. your energy is unmatched!” you keep smiling, because the crowd keeps cheering for you. even after being a musician for years, you’ve never gotten tired of the craziness, chaos, and crowds. you reach for your water bottle at the edge of the stage and take a sip.

“my heart feels so full being able to perform in front of you guys. it’s been a while, but working hard to meet you guys is so worth it. i hope you enjoy the rest of the concert!” you bow and wave to the crowd as you head back to your dressing room. you hear a vcr clip playing as you’re rushed off stage. you find your manager, doyoung at your side and the concert director keeping tabs on what’s next.

out of the corner of your eye, you find your boyfriend jisung running the next few dances by himself. you’ve been dating jisung for almost a year – and you don’t regret it one bit. sure, it took some convincing from doyoung’s end (“you’re dating who?!”), but he eventually understood.

you are immediately swept to your changing room, changing into your next outfit. stylists and makeup artists swarm around you as they adjust your outfit. the next few minutes feel like a blur – a good blur – and before you even realize it, you’re headed back to the side of the stage ready to perform the rest of your songs.

you finally make eye contact with jisung, who is on the other side of the stage. he smiles, and waves gently at you. grinning, you wave back at him. jisung has always been your biggest fan – from being a main background dancer to many of your songs, to sneakily going to your schedules acting as your crew (i mean, not wrong), he’s never tired of loving you and your growth as an idol.

“you got this!” jisung mouths at you, giving you a thumbs up in support. in reply, you smile and give him a thumbs up. the moment the vcr ends, you’re headed back to the stage and the song starts. the lights turn different colors and your in ear monitor counts off your music.

suddenly, you're in your zone. you sing and dance around the stage, performing your heart out. moving through the setlist, you go through the motions and feel the adrenaline of performing run through your veins.

–

after the concert your team heads out for drinks, but you opt out to spend the rest of the evening with jisung as doyoung drops the both of you off at your penthouse. as the three of you head back to your penthouse, you’re stopped by doyoung before you head back into your humble abode.

“are you sure you don’t want to go out? you usually do.” doyoung asks you, raising his eyebrow in suspicion. he looks back at jisung, who rests on your couch. doyoung, in particular, has been protective of you and who you date. heartbreak after heartbreak, doyoung can’t help but look out for you. however, this time with much reluctance, he eventually comes around with jisung.

“yes, doyoung. trust me, you guys deserve the break and i’m sure you’re all tired of me. it's been a crazy few weeks for everyone and you especially deserve it.” you reply, slowly pushing doyoung out of your home.

doyoung glances back at you and jisung, who is a bit intimidated by the manager.

“alright fine, but no fishy stuff, you got it? if you even do something to her, you're out.” he directs at jisung, pointing a finger at him. meanwhile, jisung is extremely flustered at the idea of them getting caught doing god knows what by doyoung, eyes wide and cheeks red. you glance back at doyoung with disgust.

“doyoung please, we'll be fine. now go and have fun!” you push him out of your home.

“fine, fine. good night guys, and great job today!” at last doyoung leaves your apartment leaving you and jisung alone. you shut the door and lean on it, giving jisung a cheeky grin.

“thank goodness,” you say with a sign of relief. you plop yourself onto your couch and see jisung fiddling with a small box. you peer over to get a closer look of what he’s holding.

“ji, what’s that?” you ask, shuffling towards him and sitting next to him. he shyly gives you the box, geturing you to open it which reveals a beautiful bracelet. you gasp in shock, holding the box as if it’ll shatter into pieces.

“i thought that since you’ve been working so hard lately, you deserved this. i also have a matching one.” jisung smiles as he lifts up his sleeve to reveal a matching bracelet on his wrist.

“oh baby, you didn’t have to,” you softly say, “i wish i could give you something as well. i love it.” you reach over to hug him tightly. once you let go, you take your hands to his cheeks and kiss him. his hands land on your hips as the kiss gets more passionate. you let go, facing jisung.

“y’know, doyoung would kill you if he saw this.” you joke, letting your fingers linger around jisung’s hair, moving the stray strands off his face. he kisses your cheeks and lastly on your lips.

“yeah, but he isn’t here so it doesn’t matter.” he quietly remarks, ghosting his lips closely to yours.

“that’s true.” you whisper, making the move to kiss him yet again. you feel him kiss your cheeks, down to your neck, and all over you. he shows you that you are loved, and that you’ve worked so hard these past few weeks preparing for your concert. you feel his hands wander around your body and let the touches linger as he leaves each kiss throughout your neck and nape, and comes back up to your lips.

the rest of the night is kept to you two as you order takeout, watch a movie, and play video games with each other. it isn’t much, but after weeks of working your asses off you can’t help but be content with your life and where you are.

–

@.y/n.confessions: [submitted] anyone else notice all these lovey-dovey lyrics and the matching jewelry based on jisung’s posts? don’t get me wrong, i love it, but there’s no way y/n isn’t seeing a certain someone at the moment…

@.y/nupdates: guys, please don't speculate about y/n’s relationships! she'll let us know when she's ready ^^

@.jenonators4evr: okay but if y/n’s dating jeno, then we're gonna have issues 😡

@.PopCrave: Y/N and dancer, Park Jisung are seen on a date at a restaurant in Seoul.

@.y/nista: omg who's the guy that she's with? and why's he kinda 👀👀👀

@.ilovey/n: guys we should just respect y/n and jisung…if you were them you wouldn't like someone all up in your business like this

@.shootersfory/n: WHOS THE GUY THATS WITH Y/N AND WHY ISNT IT ME?????

as he scrolls through twitter, jisung’s brain floods with a million thoughts.

“these tweets are ridiculous. do you think we should say something?”

as he scrolls through tweet after tweet, you’re getting ready for dance practice. you adjust your outfit in the mirror. you head back to the living room couch and sit closely to jisung. you lean over to see what he’s been reading.

“this is something my pr team might have to handle.” you bite your lip in nervousness. he scrolls through the tweets as he rests his head on your shoulder. he knows he will never get the brunt of it. he's not in the limelight as intensely as you are, but he sees the anxiety cloud your thoughts.

“you think so?” he asks.

“i know so.” you reply. “i don't want either of us making a statement that isn't okay with both of us.” you turn back to look at his anxious face. your heart breaks in guilt as you take it in. you never wanted this life for him – you know for sure that it is all your fault. was this the life you wanted to rope jisung into?

after a pregnant pause, “i-i’m sorry,” you stammer, sitting up to face him. “all of this is my fault. i never wanted any of this for you.” you feel your eyes tear up and your voice shake. is this the future of your relationship? is this what life has paved for you?

“honey, wait,” jisung stops, taking his large hands into your face, holding it gently. “it's not your fault. this is just a hurdle we have to jump through. like you said, we can work with your pr team to handle it. you're not alone. we're a team.” he makes sure to keep his eyes on yours the entire time. you look back at him with glassy eyes and sniffle. you nod and kiss him on the cheek.

“ji, you know i love you, right?” you ask him, putting your hands on top of his.

“i’ll love you always.” “now come on, let’s head to practice.”

when you two get up from the sofa and out of the door, jisung turns back to you. “did you see that tweet asking who i was? that was hilarious.”

“it was, but at the end of the day you’re in my bed.” you reply cheekily with a smug smile on your face.

“augh, don’t ever do that again!” jisung says with light disgust, cringing at your comment.

“you know you liked it!” you chuckle to yourself. oh, jisung. you look back at jisung as he stands patiently in the elevator to the lobby. despite all the odds, park jisung has stolen your heart.

–

as you and jisung walk around hongdae in your masks and glasses, you spot an arcade along with photobooths galore. strewn with all kinds of headbands, wigs, and accessories, your eyes widen in interest.

“ji, check it out! i’ve been wanting to do this forever, can we?” you plead, giving your best sad dog eyes you can under your glasses. jisung can’t help but smile at your cuteness. he takes his hands and cradles your face, squishing your cheeks.

“of course.” he smiles, letting you lead each other into the arcade. he opens the door for you, and you take note of the small but kind gesture. you lead him into the photobooth area, and look through the accessories provided by the arcade. you give each other silly headbands and sunglasses, and head into the booth.

you two do cute poses, but the one that truly lights your heart on fire is when he takes one hand on your waist, and one on your unmasked cheek and steals a kiss on your lips. despite the fact that you’ve been dating jisung for a year, he never fails to make you blush. he lets go after the photos are done, and smiles at you.

“now what was that for?” you smile, looking up at him.

“no reason. i just love you so much.” he replies, putting one of his hands on your cheek. even though his demeanor is calm and cool, his heart is beating wildly. he wishes he could give you the world, but yet he feels like not enough. you were more than his world, more than his everything.

“honey, you don’t have to worry about us, y/n. we’ll be alright.” jisung states. “i will make sure we have everything in our favor, and that you get the peace and quiet you deserve.” he takes off all the silly accessories and leads you two out of the booth, with no masks or sunglasses. you two could care less about the world around you two, all smiles.

“i love you so much, ji.”

@.CharmEntertainment: A Statement from Charm Entertainment and Y/N

Hello, this is Charm Entertainment. We are confirming Y/N’s relationship with her partner, Park Jisung. They have been dating for more than one year, and are content in their relationship. We ask that you respect their privacy and relationship. We will be seeking legal action to protect Y/N and Park Jisung against any hate messages and speech. Thank you for supporting Y/N, and we hope that you continue to support her in the future.

@.y/nofficially: hello, this is y/n.

i want to be as transparent as possible, but i also understand this must be overwhelming for everyone. i’ve been dating jisung for about a year now, and this has been some of the best months of my life. i’ve never been happier, and i hope everyone respects our relationship. i won’t apologize for being in a relationship, because no one deserves to be sorry for loving someone. i ask that you respect both our privacy at this time and from now on. thank you to my fans for always being there for me, and words cannot express my gratitude for all the support these past years. i hope you can continue supporting me in the future.

thank you so much <3

@.the__and.y: this is jisung.

first, i just want to apologize for any inconvenience i’ve caused. with that being said, i’ve been in a content relationship with y/n for about a year now, and i’ve been so blessed to be with a woman as amazing as her. she has helped me learn so much, but i won’t apologize for being in a relationship. please respect our relationship and privacy, and thank you to those supporting me.

@.y/n4lyfe: i think we all owe y/n and jisung an apology, we don’t deserve them at all especially for the statements made!

@.idolconfessing: tell me why charm ent ate up with that statement, some companies could never!

@.jisungsupdate: jisung didn’t deserve to apologize for anything! you’re all so foul!

as you scroll through the messages on your fan pages, you can’t help but smile from ear to ear. as you lay on the practice room floor, you read message after message. you giggle at some tweets and posts, not noticing jisung smiling at you.

“honey, didn’t the company tell you not to be on your phone for the time being?” he asks concernedly, sitting up next to you. he strokes your hair, and you dodge his hand.

“jiiii, i’m sweaty!” you whine, rolling away from him. “and yes, they did, but some of them are kind of funny. can you blame me? tell me you aren’t curious about the vibe.” you reply, looking back at him from the floor.

“i am, but i’m just worried about the negative comments. i just worry for you, baby.” he says back, lying down next to you. you look at him with endearment. he never fails to look out for you. you place your phone down, and you move closer to him.

“i’m fine ji, but thank you. like you said, we’ll be alright.” you recall. snuggling closer to him, laying your head on his chest, feeling his steady heartbeat. you close your eyes flutter shut, before promptly interrupted by doyoung.

“y/n, did you get my message about the- ah.” doyoung pauses at the entrance, hand steady on the doorknob. you two immediately sit up and away from each other, flushed with the sudden entrance.

“sorry doyoung,” you mutter with flushed cheeks, “you said you sent something?” you reach back for your phone and scroll through your notifications to see what he was talking about.

“uh yeah, but i’ll just leave you two to do what you were doing,” he replies, closing the door with no hesitation. sure, doyoung has been lenient with you two, but he feels like he is constantly interrupting you two.

“my god doyoung, we didn’t do anything!” you shout back with cheeks even more red than ever, hands resting on your forehead.

“baby, it’s okay,” jisung giggles, “just chill with me.” he guides you back to the floor, and you two resume what you were previously doing.

you two were going to be alright.

if you read this far and enjoyed the fic, reblog and follow me for more!

#nct dream x reader #nct dream #jisung #park jisung #nct jisung #park jisung x reader #jisung x reader #nct x reader #nct oneshot #nct fluff #nct scenarios #nct imagines

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adickaboutspoons · 8 months

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Fuck me, I have more to say about this moment:

And it's gonna get ugly, folks, so buckle in. As important as it is to understand this scene as a moment of Character Growth for Stede? It's also key to understanding Why Shit Went Down the way it did during the negotiation of the escape plan in Act of Grace. So Stede stands up for himself and draws some boundaries. Good for him! Love to see it. And how does Ed respond to "I don't like who you are around this guy?"

And what does he say when he chooses to leave with Jack?

It's a through-line. In this moment, Ed is calling back to the conversation on the beach. I don't think he is being intentionally cruel - to him, what he's saying is more of a reflection of his struggles with feelings of worthlessness - but how can Stede help but make the association; the ONE TIME he draws boundaries with Ed, Ed leaves. Not only does Ed choose to go, rather than stay and respect Stede's boundaries (which, I would argue are completely reasonable here; Don't wantonly kill innocent animals), he is aligning himself with the man that has spent the entire day tormenting Stede ("This" - Jack killing Karl - "is who I am"). Again, I'm not saying that he's being intentionally cruel; I don't think he fully understands how awful Jack has been to Stede. But, surely you can see how, from Stede's perspective, this is absolutely DEVASTATING - much more than JUST the heartbreak of the man that you had so recently made tentative plans to join your life with ("Co-Captains!") breaking up with you. But breaking up with you AND CHOOSING ONE OF THE WORST PEOPLE YOU KNOW OVER YOU.

So now we come to the Act of Grace and the scene on the beach:

No, AFTER that.

Ed proposes a plan to run away together. And Stede... doesn't say yes. In fact, his first instinct is to push back, THREE TIMES.

"But you said there was no escape."

"What about the English? They'll be all over us."

"China? That's quite far away."

Every time Ed dismisses his concerns - comes up with a reason to make the plan A Thing. Ed is clearly not going to take "no" for an answer.

And what happened the last time Stede told him no?

Ed left.

Ed broke his heart.

Ed sided with the kind of person that validates Stede's every insecurity about not being enough.

So is it any wonder that Stede gives in? And not even with enthusiastic consent. With the most tepid positive-leaning neutral responses possible.

"Yeah."

"I think so."

"Mm-hm."

(Which is to say nothing about his body language - the incredulous-bordering-on-disgusted face he makes when he talks about China, his lips pressed together when he says "Mm-hm", the way he starts the conversation leaning in toward Ed, his body twisted toward him, but quickly shifts so his body is angled straight ahead with his head awkwardly twisted to the side to look at Ed)

The seeds of tragedy were planted when Ed left Stede. Because, by doing so, he accidentally reinforced a lifetime of Stede being taught that his wants and needs are secondary to those of others, and that acceptance is conditional on compliance.

#spicy takes that I won't at all come to regret #my modest contribution to fandom #ofmd #our flag means death

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mushroomwarning · 1 month

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A sorta long post on why I believe Lightbulb SHOULDN’T win season 2 and instead, the other three should be the candidates for winners

Before I start this off, PLEASE DONT BE MEAN TO ME WAUGHHH I’m just respectfully sharing my thoughts as someone who loves writing and I don’t even hate Lightbulb. I just don’t think she would make a good winner to make the story feel satisfied! So this isn’t LB neg, okay? Also keep in mind, I haven’t seen S2 in a hot minute so maybe I might get SOME things wrong but I’ll try my best to go on with my side.

Lightbulb

To start off, I’ll say it, Lightbulb as the possible winner of II S2 will be the most predictable and bland of the four possible contenders. Out of the four, she’s the one who’s managed to get the most out of the show, new friends, enjoyable experiences, a new pet, etc. She also has gotten a lot of screen time ( I think? ) and is a fan favorite for her wackiness n such. Yeah, she’s a little sad her friends are gone but she could always go and be with them if she just quit.

Her friends are waiting for her, honestly I’d say that’s a prize enough For her story, being able to go back and be with her friends, enjoying her time with them without worrying about the game anymore. She’s shown to be distraught with TT leaves, just go and be with your friends to stop being in this game that’s made people way more miserable. She’s got the winner attitude but it’s just. Boring. Predictable. Something that would not be that fun by a story standpoint tbh, at least in my opinion

The other three, I feel would make great winners in their own ways.

Baseball

I’ll start with Baseball, definitely an underdog and a guy nobody expects to win. That’s why he would be a wild card as a possible winner! It would shatter people’s expectations completely, but here’s the twist…If Baseball were to win, it could possible tie back into his story with Nickel. with Baseball probably thinking Nickel would pressure him to share the prize with him and his thoughts of how much of a doormat he’s been for others, Baseball could make his own decision without others influencing him, giving up the prize and giving it to the second place winner, which could be Suitcase or Knife it doesn’t matter.

THAT WOULD BE COOL WOULDN’T IT? Something that ties together Baseballs story thematically eh eh?

Knife

Anyways, Now onto Knife. He’s different from the other three in that, while he hasn’t lost anything like Suitcase or Baseball ( if I remember correctly), unless you count his dignity, he hasn’t gained anything either, unlike Lightbulb. He’s very much a pretty intelligent and strategical person, very much someone who could easily win if it played his cards correctly. There’s also a bit of a lesson he learns from S1 to S2, due to Trophy.

He learns to become less rash, mellowing out after Trophy gave him a bit of a reality check to the way he acts, even if the way he showed him wasn’t the best in the slightest, Knife learns to control his temper, mellowing out and instead uses his smarts to advance more in the game without relying on others and even gives advice to people Like Suitcase, Pickle and Microphone as he goes on.

He learns to be a better person and would honestly make a good contender for first, to reward him for his growth and change, or maybe second place if you want to show his new found humbleness in regards to his emotions

Suitcase

As for suitcase, while she’s sort of predictable as well, she isn’t as predictable as Lightbulb due to the events that she’s gone through and honestly is sort of the most deserving thematically to win out of everyone. Unlike Lightbulb, she’s lost a lot, not really gaining many friends excluding Balloon and gained mental health issues due to the treatment Nickel was giving her. This game has not treated her well in the slightest and she gains growth as time goes on, learning to stand up for herself and speak on her own.

She very much deserves the prize but at the same time, I don’t think she would care if she won or lost. She’s lost a lot and learned from her experiences in the game

Conclusion!

BUT YES. these are my reasons for why Lightbulb should not win. The others have very nice thematic reasons for why they could win but Lightbulb basically gained way WAYY more then they have out of the experience

But yeah, my ranking would go

Lightbulb- not a winner, Fourth place

Baseball - First place ( gives up prize) or Third

Knife - First or Second place

Suitcase - First or Second place too

#sorry if the grammar or spelling is off #object show community #osc #inanimate insanity #ii lightbulb #ii baseball #ii suitcase #ii knife #please be nice and respectful on your opinions..#Martin nonsense

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suhnshinehaos · 1 year

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treacherous (finale !)

...a spin-off to crush culture ! synopsis : after a couple of instances of accidental matching clothing, yangyang finds himself in a dating rumor with possibly the most famous person on campus : yn, the bassist of an up and coming band. yangyang doesn’t seem to have a problem with it. unfortunately yn, who has also built up a reputation for being cold as winter, does. pairing : liu yangyang x gn!reader genre/s : university au, student council + band au, fluff, angst, humor

act three, part fifteen : i choose you

previous ➤ act three, part fourteen treacherous ➤ masterlist

song rec : i choose you by adam melchor

a/n. apologies it's a long one, but it is the finale sooooo

from reese, with so much love <3

oh wow... what a journey this has been. i can't believe this was supposed to be a short little spinoff to crush culture, at the time i did not expect it to grow into something this huge. it has been such a pleasure to write gy and yy's growth, both as individuals and with regard to their relationship. it's going to be tough to no longer write for them, i'm going to miss them a lot. not just gy3 but the band and the council too, and the little moments of relief that they provide.

thank you for joining me on this rollercoaster ride. i would love to know what you think, especially now that this series has ended. it's almost 10 pm here and i'm still battling a little cold, but i was too excited to wait until tomorrow to post hehe. hope you're all doing well and taking care <3 until the next one, my dear readers.

#🌙 — treacherous!#wayv x reader #nct x reader #yangyang x reader #wayv smau #wayv imagines #wayv fluff #wayv scenarios #nct fanfic #nct imagines #nct fluff #nct smau #yangyang imagines #yangyang smau #yangyang fluff #yangyang scenarios

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cleolinda · 8 months

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(For our purposes, listen to it without the visuals first.)

I wasn't going to keep posting about Unreal Unearth, but something happened yesterday.

It's been five months since I first heard this song, and I'm still astonished by it. You know the tiktok skit about the Star Wars wedding music, and the guy is grooving along until the Imperial Death March filters in, and then he's kind of alarmed, like, wha—? And then he realizes it slaps anyway and he keeps dancing? That is "Eat Your Young."

It's the morning of March 17th. The EP with the first three singles from the new album has dropped. I've got my phone blasting the song on the bathroom counter, I don't understand half what the man is saying nor did I expect to, I'm cheerfully mumbling along in the shower, grooving along,

wait they did what for a war drum

Get some Pull up the ladder when the flood comes Throw enough rope until the legs have swung Seven new ways that you can eat your young Come and get some Skinning the children for a war drum Putting food on the table selling bombs and guns It's quicker and easier to eat your young

What the fuck, this song goes so hard. That's the chorus. The conceit of the whole album is that it loosely follows Dante's Inferno, so this is the third circle of hell, gluttony. Hozier himself says that he wasn't specifically thinking of Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal—

“I don’t know how intentional the reference to Jonathan Swift was in this. That essay [Swift’s 1729 satirical essay A Modest Proposal in which he suggests the Irish poor sell their children as food] is such a cultural landmark that it’s just hanging in the air. I was more reflecting on what I felt now in this spirit of the times of perpetual short-term gain and a long-term blindness. The increasing levels of precarious living, poverty, job insecurity, rental crisis, property crisis, climate crisis, and a generation that’s inheriting all of that and one generation that’s enjoyed the spoils of it. The lyrics are direct, but the voice is playful. There’s this unreliable narrator who relishes in this thing which was fun to write.” [Apple Music album notes]

—and I believe him. The song's not a suggestion, a proposal; it's an invitation to atrocity in progress. I also believe he probably wasn't thinking of Greta Thunberg's iconic speech at the UN Climate Action Summit, not specifically, but that's what I hear in the song, like the flip side of a coin:

You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And yet I'm one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you! [...] You say you hear us and that you understand the urgency. But no matter how sad and angry I am, I do not want to believe that. Because if you really understood the situation and still kept on failing to act, then you would be evil.

I feel like on some level, even coincidentally, "Eat Your Young" is the answer to the question, what would you sound like if you were that evil? Who would you be? I can think of a dozen possibilities just off the top of my head or looking around my blog, from something as petty as studio executives mangling trees to deprive striking workers of shade (while hoping they lose their homes), all the way up to the US school-to-prison pipeline. The National Rifle Association keeps politicians in its pocket while the US has more mass shootings than days in a year, Nestlé fucks shit up around the world as a way of life, even ChatGPT sucks up water while threatening jobs—and for what? And yet, I promise you most of these things weren't the inspiration for an Irishman’s song—some of them hadn't even happened yet. There's just that much fresh You Would Be Evil to go around. I am certain that Hozier wrote the song partly about (as one article puts it) "Ireland's housing crisis: Millennials, a generation sacrificed," given that time back in the day when he helped occupy a building—a housing crisis happening in multiple countries. There's so much of the world I'm not touching on. I can stuff a paragraph with links and it's utterly inadequate.

I haven't even mentioned war.

There's an overwhelming sense this decade of the future being fed into a meat grinder. That sense is in this song. What would it sound like to be in the head of someone who didn't give a shit about anything but profit? Well, it might sound like this.

And if you haven't heard it, well—I'm going to sound absolutely out of my mind after saying all that, but "Eat Your Young" has a beat and you can dance to it. It's sexy. And I'm certain that's on purpose. You get seduced into the sound of it, as if by something demonic, something that enjoys sucking down the future and is not going to stop. And the sheer fucking catchiness of the song keeps you listening to it—thinking about it—when maybe you push away the dry headlines we get everyday. If you let this song stay in your head, it becomes a lens. Five months later, I still think about it when I read the news. Maui was on fire and tourists stayed. Within days, the prospect of developers swooping in to buy up land reared its head. If there's something still to take, there is ground to break, whatever's still to come. Get some.

I was born in 1978 —I'm late Gen X. In my forties, I'm young enough to worry about the future still; I’m neither so rich that I can just plan to retire to Mars, nor so old that I can know I'll be safely gone before the world might go up in flames. But I'm also not my nephew, whose school year just started back up, or the neighborhood kids who race him home down the sidewalk in the afternoons. Yesterday, he had his very first mass-shooter lockdown drill. He’s six.

I think music can put the feeling back into numb fingers, and I think that's why "Eat Your Young" works so well—Hozier calls the song fun and playful, and I think you have to have that, something you can live with rather than just switch off for your own mental survival. We need music to feed spirit at protests; we need something to keep our feet moving. Don’t give up, don't close your eyes and slip away. Those kids, they have dreams we could try to steal back for them.

Since I mentioned Maui:

Why Hawaiian sovereignty has undeniable context for the Maui fires

The Climate Crisis and Colonialism Destroyed My Maui Home. Where We Must Go From Here

How You Can Donate and Help Support Maui Communities Right Now

The Maui Strong Fund

#music #music discussion #hozier #long post #eat your young #Spotify

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cinamun · 1 year

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Named after one of my favorite books and albums, Things Fall Apart is an epic tale of lust, greed, betrayal, vengeance and, above all else, growth.

This story never started as a legacy nor was it intended to be anything other than gameplay. However, these characters evolved and, as such, so did their stories; each intertwined and forever impacted by the others.

Written, played and photographed by The Watcher circa 2015. This story is best read/viewed on a laptop, tablet or PC.

Should you choose to continue, please note that this story is rated MA for Mature Audiences and contains strong language, violence, adult themes, strong sexual content, nudity and a variety of triggers appropriately tagged for depression and abuse in all of its forms. This story is not suitable for anyone under the age of 18 (DNI).

Pictured above is the original cast, from left to right:

Elise Farrow ~ Juan Rivera ~ Darren Drake ~ Indya Williams ~ Jerrilee Coleman ~ Dr. Jules Carter

As you make your way through their lives, names will change and you'll find that new characters emerge for either good or sinister reasons.

Shall we begin?

Act One

Act Two

Act Three

Chapter 22: A Thin Line Between Life and Death | Chapter 23: And Then There Were Four | Chapter 24: Illusions of Independence

Current

Pictured above is the current (2023) cast from left to right

Elliot Mahajan* ~ Darren Drake Jr. ~ Indira Dior Drake ~ Jayce Carruthers ~ Hope Diamond Carruthers (Drake) ~ Indya Drake ~ Darren Drake Sr. ~ Jerri Coleman

*Deceased

Bonus Content

Story Commentary | Story Extras

In case you need a palate cleanser at any time, check out my Globetrotter Challenge or The Greenwoods for a little Rated E for Everyone fun!

Buy me a coffee?

Posting Schedule

I typically post story updates/episodes on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. I post in the mornings (US CST) and reblog in the evenings.

Author's Note:

This story has been a labor of love, writing is a hobby and so is gaming. Combining the two has helped me in ways I cannot put into words. I am thankful to you for enjoying this hobby with me. Writing urban fiction using the sims, for me, will forever be inspired by mochasims, rest in paradise, dear friend. Mocha created a community for Black storytellers where one didn't exist anywhere in the Sims Community and paved the way for other Black writers to follow with her epic tale of Men and Stilettos and of course Kasim's adventures!

I will be forever grateful for the safe space she created to tell real, Black ass stories. Much love sis.

Reactions to Mocha's passing:

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#ts4 #ts4 storyteller #ts4 story #black simblr #black sims #simblr #black simmer #sims 4 storytelling #sims 4 story #mobile navigation

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finelinens · 8 months

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allow me to think out loud for a bit

it absolutely kills me every time i see people talking about sapnap and kick saying things like "bench creators who are tied to sites that have fully platformed bigoted views and individuals" and "centered around transphobic racist homophobic stuff."

do you not browse the internet beyond your faves? do you not know how many conservative bigoted people are extremely successful online? on the platforms YOU use? this is a 2021 report about right-wing extremist twitch streamers. some of them have been removed from the platform now, but many remain. some examples of conservative or alt-right people on twitch include alex zedra (2A activist, trump supporter, 519k twitch followers), donut operator (2A activist, pro-cop, right-wing, 518k twitch followers), keemstar (is keemstar, 135k twitch followers). before his ban 7 months ago, adin ross had 7.25m followers on twitch.

the number of right-wing voices on twitch has reduced over time due to stricter community guidelines! but don't worry, you can find them all on youtube. the platform we all use every single day. (here is a 2020 study about radicalization on youtube [there are many], and a convenient list of 100 conservative youtubers.) you don't even need to seek out the channels, just watch youtube shorts for a few minutes and a white nationalist will pop up sooner or later.

i take issue with some of the conduct i see on kick and in its community guidelines, just as i take issue with some of the conduct i see on twitch and youtube and in their community guidelines. your anger at kick is understandable and justified, but it's also somewhat misplaced. i understand that you want a tangible conclusion to your frustration with the state of things, but that will not be attained by mass-qrting scottsmajor telling him to ban sapnap from future mccs due to his contract with kick. that will give you some momentary catharsis from what feels like a just achievement, but it doesn't accomplish much when it comes to the key issue of right-wing extremism being so common and accepted (or even encouraged) online. you genuinely have good intentions in your heart, i believe that. but this issue is simply not that surface-level.

campaign for sapnap to be banned from mcc if you'd like, but that will accomplish absolutely nothing for the goal of deradicalizing social media or making it a less volatile and dangerous place. it will simply take it slightly out of your direct line of sight. but it will still be there. if you're unwilling to, for example, recognize punz's growth from when he used a transphobic slur three years ago and allow him to continue growing in an encouraging environment, then i fear you may not be well-suited for the act of helping people deradicalize just yet. as said in the following link, a callout is not an invitation for growth. it's the expectation that you've already grown. this is the culture we're trapped in now.

"most of us want all of this violence to stop, but we don't know where to begin. and most of us stay silent, because we're afraid that we'll become the next target. so even if something feels unfair, we're silent. and if you're unlucky enough to have something that you regretted captured on a cell phone or in a tweet, you're walking around with an unexploded 'gotcha' bomb just waiting to blow up your life. or your career. or your reputation."

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victoria-writes · 2 months

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I will never forget you.

Pairing: Legolas x Reader (gender neutral)

Summary: Legolas proposes to you and reassures you that he wants to be with you. Fluff & Angst with a happy ending + bonus ending

Word Count: 1605

Notes:

Reader is human

No gender or pronouns used to refer to the reader. Reader is briefly mentioned to have short hair

MENTIONS OF DEATH (reader's). Don't read if you're not ok with thinking about your own mortality xoxo

Read it on AO3 here

Story:

It has been months since you moved to Mirkwood with the prince following the disbandment of the fellowship and destruction of the one ring. Sometimes your mind would drift to what could’ve happened had the ring fallen into the wrong hands or if any other evil lies dormant, waiting for the opportune moment to strike. You could never sit with these thoughts for long, though. Legolas seemed to have a sixth sense for when you needed to see the good in the world again. Today was one of those days.

“Come, there is something I wish to show you”, the elf smiled as he stretched his hand out, waiting for you to take it from your place sitting in a wooden chair inside the royal palace.

“It better not be another elk giving birth in the woods. I’m still traumatized from your idea of ‘the beauty of nature’”, you grimace at the memory still not extending your hand.

“No, no, nothing like that. I promise”, he chuckles softly.

“Fine”.

Legolas had brought you to a clearing in the forest, surrounded by old-growth trees and wildflowers. White queen anne’s lace, forget-me-nots, and flowers whose names you did not know, who only seemed to grow near where elves trot, filled your eyes. This is not the first time he’s found a quiet spot in nature to take you, and it will surely not be the last. While overlooking the rainbow of colors seemingly dancing in the field in front of you, you sneak a glance at the elf from the corner of your eye. He stands confidently with his hands behind his back next to you and smiles. If it were anyone else looking at him, they’d think he was completely at ease. Anyone but you. The look in his eyes said “Do you like it? Do you? Please tell me you like it.”. He always wanted to impress you, whether it be shooting three arrows at once when one would suffice, wearing his nicest clothes (“Legolas why are you wearing your ceremonial attire?” “Don’t worry about it, father”.), or finding the best places to take you. Be still, your beating heart. For a nearly 3,000 year old elf, he acted like a lovesick teenager.

“It’s absolutely beautiful”, you finally say after a long silence. Legolas releases tension in his shoulders he didn’t even realize he was holding.

“I knew you would. Let us sit in the grass.”, he guided you so that he was sitting with your back against his chest, his legs on either side.

You felt your tongue form teasing words about him taking you on a hike to a remote spot just for a cuddle, but they faded away as he wrapped his arms around your sides and began to plant soft, slow kisses on your neck and shoulder. You melted into his warm touch.

“May I braid your hair?”

“Yes, but there’s not much to braid.”, you reply. You had recently gotten a haircut and felt as though Legolas may be disappointed. He was very enthusiastic about your new look the first time he saw it, but now you fear he may not enjoy it.

“Nonsense, I shall make many small plaits instead”.

“Alright”, you relaxed into his hands as he began to weave strands of hair behind you. You closed your eyes, as you reveled in the feeling of the sunlight on your face as he worked. All was quiet aside from the occasional bird chirping or squirrel running up a tree. A warm feeling took hold in your chest and you couldn’t help the smile that formed on your lips. You were safe. You were happy. You were in love.

Millenia seemed to pass before Legolas announced he was done. True to his word, he had formed many braids in your hair. He may have gone a little overboard with just how many he made, but he just loved the feeling of being so close to you and never wanted it to end.

“Thank you”, you whisper as your turn to face him, giving him a peck on the lips. You move your hand to feel the back of your head, itching to feel the braids your lover gifted you. Soft. Your fingers feel something soft. Something thin and soft.

“Forget-me-not flowers”, Legolas clarified, seeing you trying to decipher with your fingers, “I thought them appropriate”.

“Why is that?” “They are gifted to one whose presence you enjoy, so as not to forget them, as the name implies. I could never forget you and I hope you would not forget me. Each past day with you is a beloved memory and each day to come cannot come soon enough. I treasure each moment with you. I feel myself drowning in my affection for you. No, peacefully swimming. I adore you. I cannot bear to be without you.”, he says softly as he holds both your hands and kisses each one, never breaking eye contact.

“Oh, Legolas”

“Meleth nîn”, he uses his hands to guide you both to your feet. As you look up into his bright blue eyes, he whispers “Please allow me to never be without you. Allow me to walk beside you for all the days we may share together before death takes us. I have lived millennia without you. Now that I know what life is like with you in it, I never want to go back. I want you with me, always.”

“Are you asking me-?”, you begin as he kneels down in front of you and pulls out a ring from his pocket.

“Y/N, will you marry me?”, he gazes at you with hope in his eyes as he lifts the ring towards you.

“Yes. Yes. Yes!”, he quickly puts the ring on your left ring finger and you pull him into a harsh kiss. You and the elf wear matching smiles as you kiss long and hard.

“I’m so happy, Legolas…but is this what you really want?”, your smile drops as your nerves hit you. “Of course, my love. Why do you question my intentions?”.

“It’s not your intentions that I question. It’s just that you’re…you”, you vaguely gesture at the elf.

“I’m not following.”

“You’re a prince. I’m poor. You’re an elf that’ll live thousands of years. I’m a human that’ll be lucky if I make it to 70.” “I don’t care about that.”

“Your father won’t approve.” “I care not what my father thinks. His opinion of our union will not sway me.”

“Then what of my mortality? One day I will die and leave you alone.”

He sighs before he speaks, “I must admit I have thought long and hard on this subject. The thought of your death pains me to no end.” “Exactly. Our marriage would be short-lived in your long lifetime and I will become nothing but a memory to you, one that will fade one day.”

“What are you saying?” “I’m saying you love me now, but one day I will die and you’ll move on and I’ll mean nothing to you. One day you’ll laugh at how you ever loved a silly human”, tears began to well in your eyes, shame overtaking you as you finally let out the fears you’ve been harboring all this time. Your gaze drifts downwards, unable to face your elven lover. Legolas’ eyes widened in realization, shocked at your true feelings. He manages to compose himself and lifts your chin up with his index finger.

“Meleth nîn, look at me. Y/N, please.”, he whispers his request.

“It is true that my life will continue when yours ends.”

Hot tears began to run down your cheeks at this.

“But”, he swipes the tears away with his thumb, “You will always be a part of it. Even when you are gone, I will love you. You have shown me love that I did not think was possible. When you are gone, I will visit your grave with flowers each day. I will braid my hair and miss the touch of yours. I will never remarry. I will walk the paths we have taken together. I will meditate in this very spot, remembering this moment. I will never forget you. In life and in death, we are connected. I love you”.

“And I love you”, you barely choke the words out through your tears.

“Knowing all this, my silly human,”he teases before turning serious, “Will you marry me?” “Of course, I’ll marry you, you ridiculous elf”.

You both grin as Legolas lifts you up and spins you in his arms. When your feet are planted on the Earth again he kisses you deeply. As you feel your lips on your own, you imagine a thousand more kisses each day with him for the rest of your days.

Bonus

Many moons have passed since your passing. Legolas meant every word of his promise and has done all that he said. Before he rests each night, he reads the book on his nightstand, your favorite book of poems. He recalls reading it to you on nights your eyes were too tired as he pet your hair while you laid on his chest. When he wakes each morning, he glares at the large empty space beside it, wishing it were you. Although his heart pangs at the loss of you, he finds joy and comfort in revisiting your old haunts, his favorite being the spot where he proposed to you. Today, our elf wanders into the cemetery. “Hello, meleth nîn”, he smiles as he places a bouquet of freshly picked forget-me-nots on your grave.

#angst and fluff #human reader #legolas x yn #legolas x y/n #legolas greenleaf #legolas x reader #legolas #lord of the rings #lotr x reader #lotr #the lord of the rings #lotr x you #lotr x y/n #legolas x you #legolas/reader #legolas/yn

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thebroccolination · 1 year

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I never hold budget issues against a series that was made with love.

Sound engineering issues abound in most Thai BL series. I don’t have industry experience, but I think a lot of those issues stem from a very short postproduction window. Most series are filmed over a few months and then they’re put together in even less time—usually while the series is airing. Nuchy, director of Not Me, was editing some episodes the night before they aired. Not because she wanted to, but because she was under a strict, tight budget and didn’t have the time to do it any earlier. She’s gone into minute detail about the budgeting issues they faced, and it’s nowhere more obvious than in how the writing unspooled toward the end of the series—where they had episodes cut mid-production and didn’t have time to course-correct or edit or reshoot properly.

Meanwhile, shows on Netflix or Amazon or Disney take much longer to film, and postproduction takes even longer. Spending hours picking through each minute of footage for accidental clothing noises or unexpected sounds or muffled voices or echoing rooms takes budget. So does paying everyone to come back and reshoot a scene when you can’t remove those sounds.

Recently we found out that Prem wanted to add a pool-related scene to the end of Between Us because he thought it would enhance the story, but the production had already wrapped filming at the pool. So Prem offered to pay most of the cost of renting that location again because the production just didn’t have the money to do reshoots on a whim. Prem understands that and still wanted to shoot the scene because Between Us is a passion project about characters he loves. And New, the director, covered the rest of the cost as well as the cost to hire everyone back for that one scene.

Like most series, there have been sound issues in Between Us. But I’ve noticed more of them in the past few episodes than in the first five, likely because they had more time to work on those. During the homophobia scene in episode seven, Boun’s mic was under his shirt, so when he hugged Prem, his dialogue was muffled. The fact that they kept that take doesn’t mean they’re lazy or they don’t care—I have no idea how many other takes they had, or why they couldn’t use a boom mic instead, or what other technical issues they were having. I suspect they didn’t have the time or resources to correct it.

What I do know is that there has been a metric ton and a half of love put into this series by every person involved, and for me personally, that’s all I want from any series. A series can be as well-produced and dazzling as can be, but if there’s no heart in it, my interest in it plummets like a rock. I’ve dropped better funded series because they’re flashy and pretty but there’s no heart in them. They’re purely a vehicle to launch their actors into the larger marketing scheme.

So, y’know. Win’s changing roots, sound issues, etc., none of it makes a dent for me, and it’s why I never mention them even though I’ve noticed. That’s surface-level stuff that doesn’t make a significant difference to me. The acting, the story, and the character growth—that’s what I came for, and I think that’s what they’re excelling in. Boun and Prem have loved WinTeam for over three years, and it’s clear from their every scene together that they committed every iota of feeling to their performances.

They could have dropped Between Us at any point. Their popularity was skyrocketing before they even started filming, and the only reason they were only playing side characters in other series for so long was their commitment to Between Us. They love the story and the characters so much they both agreed to effectively put their careers on hold. They kept their popularity on a steady increase by doing promotional, sponsored work while they waited for their passion project.

It’s passion that I love. I’ll always love a story told with sincerity over a series that took thousands or millions more and lacks emotional depth. Everyone’s priority is different, of course, and some people value both production quality and emotional depth equally.

I’ll always look the other way with production shortcomings if the people telling the story are telling it with their whole heart.

#between us the series #between us #winteam #bounprem #not me the series #thai bl

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mapoeggplant · 6 months

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skip to loafer chapter 56 analyze + brief shima study // spoilers

summer vacation is over, which means we’re all coming back to tokyo. for some, it’s time to bask in the memories they created, however for others, the harsh reality comes creeping in again.

one thing that i absolutely love about takamatsu’s way of constructing a chapter is how she easily mixes the youth of the characters (the girls talking about crushes) with the obscure subplot she has been creating up to now (shima’s backstory). the change between subjects isn’t harsh or out of place: everything happens in a simple flow, ending in a calm scene to tie it all together.

so, let’s start from the youth: it’s amazing to see how mitsumi was the step that the other three girls needed to finally be free enough to be a teenage girl, something they prevented themselves from being before. she’s the one who manages to ease their worries and let them be free to talk about things teenage girls should be talking about — and they decided to choose one of the cutest subjects ever: crushes!! makoto being the one to bring this subject up just shows how she grew and how much she trusts the girls, since she was always apprehensive to touch on certain subjects. and this talk was the perfect opportunity for mitsumi to get a little more courage to talk about her relationship with shima with the girls, and choosing to do that in tokyo shows how much she cares about shima, since she doesn’t want the girls to think badly about him at any point.

ok, now let’s jump to the subplot, the one that i love to analyze so much. well, we all know that i had a gut feeling that shima didn’t say anything about the trip to his mother — first because we saw nao-chan talking to all the parents, minus shima’s, and second because, by the little we know about shima’s mom, it’s easy to say that she would never allow shima to go there empty handed. so i can’t say that i was surprised by the outcome of the confrontation.

i think first i have to focus a lot on shima's reaction towards his mother. the scene opens with shima entering his room and noticing that things were not the way that he left before the trip, showing from the beginning a breach of trust. even if his mother had the best of intentions (like, for example, keeping her son's room tidy), it is difficult for shima to understand this act as something affectionate and not as a way of showing that she doesn't trust him.

after that, we have the big showdown. there is no way to defend shima in anyway with the way he acted and what he did. he traveled miles from his mother, without her having any idea about it. this is extremely dangerous, any parent would be desperate to receive news like this after days. i don't blame her, on the contrary: i think she’s more than correct in confronting him about this.

but for shima, this concern doesn't come from a loving side, from a worried mother. shima still sees his mother as that manipulative and controlling person he grew up with and had so many conflicts with, so hearing all of this only a desperate need to get out of this situation as fast as possible. she already broke her son's trust as soon as he entered the house, so it's very easy for him to assume that this is another one of her controlling attitudes.

but there is an interesting point in all this. after the fight, shima begins to reflect on her mother's changes and asks a very important question: am i still mad at her or am i just being stubborn, like a child who expects something in return?

this shows a maturity in his character, as it is the first time he stops to analyze what all this means inside his chest. would it be rebellion? love? distrust? a cry for help?

shima's relationship with his mother is still something that requires a lot of growth and development for it to make a significant change. in my opinion, it won't happen now or in 5 chapters, but much later, something like an ending to shima's arc, a way to embrace all of his growth. it’s as if she represents the beginning and end of his journey.

aside from his mother, now we have two new pieces to this puzzle: the unknown man and a very new image of shima (the image of him walking with other boys, on the panel where he thinks about his feelings towards his mother). what we have left is to have an idea of how many pieces we still need to assemble the final image. what happened? who was responsible? is this the man who ruined it all? or he was just another victim of the circumstances?

(something that is not related to these questions but that made me think was the fact that ririka sent him the photo. could this be a form of provocation or just a way of finding comfort?).

crabs are no longer shima's only concern at the moment. his harsh and difficult reality came back to the surface with full force. and i, who thought we were close to the climax of his arc, am shocked to realize that we are nowhere near halfway there.

to finish: mitsumi's speech about how tokyo is finally being a new home for her. this is something that makes me so happy, that brings me so much peace, especially with nao-chan's happy and relaxed face next to her. tokyo is finally mitsumi's second home, and she's happy to be able to return to it.

another month and another amazing chapter, another reason to be so excited for what's to come. this is takamatsu-sensei's power. thank you for reading me rambling and for all the nice messages you guys have been sending me 💛 it means the world!!

#chapter analyze #skip to loafer #skip and loafer #skip to loafer chapter 56 #chapter 56 analyze #mitsumi iwakura #sousuke shima #feels like I keep getting more unhinged with my analyzes #like you don't have to write all of this girl #calm down #anyways I can't #I love them too much #no one gets shima like me sorry (by voices in my head)#and I'm still stuck in sensei's basement #duckmetas

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hothammies · 2 months

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an analysis of clothes in st (part i) - the meaning of yellow within the party

so, this analysis is one that has been in the making since before s4 came out - i literally had to dig through old discord messages to look for what i was talking about two years ago. i'm hoping to make this into a series because i loved analyzing the outfits back then and i wanted to share what i thought about them! the costume designers put so much thought and effort into all the clothes and i'd love to try to understand why they chose what they did for specific moments. heads up! - this analysis series will mainly cover the party members. outfits are important within the entire context of the show as well, so i may include other group members from time to time. however, my primary focus on st has always been the party members, so i'm gonna be giving them the main focus in all of the posts.

let's start with my favorite meaning for the clothes: yellow.

when party members wear yellow, they tend to be in situations where they are trying to fit in or act normal, typically when regarding relationships, but could also be within society, a situation, or in general. i have four examples of yellow being used as a signal that these characters are put in situations where they're trying to fit in / act normal - one of max, one of the entire party, and two of mike. let's start with max!

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example one: in s2e3, we watch max trying her best to fit in with the boys when dustin is showing them dart. despite her attitude when they first meet her, she obviously does want to be friends with these guys regardless. in this episode, max wears a yellow hoodie while all the boys wear variants of the same neutral grays/whites, dark blues and reds, showing the difference between max and the other party members. she has not "earned" her keep yet, and she's trying to fit in but she is not yet in the know of the upside down.

even el is wearing similar colors to the rest of the boys, another clear sign that she is "in" the party too, despite being away from them. they did something similar in the previous episode as well, where the boys + el wore matching costumes (boys were ghostbusters and el was a ghost), while max wore a costume that didn't have her fit in (michael myers).

all of the current party members have the colors gray, red and/or blue that tie them all together in that scene, so max's yellow hoodie makes her stick out like a sore thumb. a side note is that mike and will are the only members to have all three colors on them, and matching color outfits between couples tend to be common in the show.

example two: in s3e1, the opposite happens. everyone in the party except dustin is wearing a combination of blue and/or yellow. dustin is wearing primarily green, which i will explain the meaning of in another post. all i'll say about it now is that the color green most likely has to do with being comfortable or confident in your own identity.

will, however, is a special case, because he was actually not wearing yellow in that scene, only blue and a stripe of red. personally, i thought it was to set up how will's growth that season wasn't completely about societal expectations regarding romantic relationships like the rest of his season group. his character arc was much more about having to grow up and understand change when he doesn't want to because of the trauma he'd experienced the previous seasons. this is actually also reflected in his clothes - will is the only one that season to not wear any new colors (he only wears the three primary colors -> red, blue and yellow) while the rest of the party got to wear both secondary and primary colors (mike wore teal, el and max wore many different colors, lucas wore purple, and dustin wore green + orange).

back to the party - in that scene, the couples also match each others outfits. mike and el's have the same color scheme, being mainly blues with a small hint of yellow, and lumax having the perfect blend of yellow and blue together. this may be a stretch, but its a possible hint to show that lumax fit together, while mike and el don't.

the party members that were dating each other wearing yellow that season was to show their attempts to act normal via relationships. season 3 was also the one that the duffers kept referencing as the summer of love, despite all the couples that season being dysfunctional.

examples three and four: now, we're at the section of mike wheeler, my favorite closet case. he is the main reason as to why i noticed that there was a small pattern with the color yellow being used in the party's wardrobe.

i think we've all noticed that mike has a tendency to act very... straight when he's wearing the color yellow as his main color. this can be seen in both s3 and s4, especially during the episodes where mike is hyperfocused on his relationship with el.

when mike was wearing the first outfit in s3, he was searching for a way to make it up to el because he lied to her. though he was trying to act normal or learn to be normal for their relationship, he wasn't doing a great job of it. during that entire section, mike was going through the motions of learning how a straight man is supposed to act, with lucas by his side giving constant straight man advice. he was also not getting it.

now, onto what is possibly my favorite outfit in the entire series - mike's s4e2 outfit. first of all, he's wearing a yellow shirt over a purple undershirt, presumably for el because that's her favorite colors apparently. obviously, mike is not himself in this outfit, but he's trying to fit into this california tourist look for his girlfriend.

in this outfit, mike was trying extremely hard to only focus on being el's boyfriend and not will's best friend. we know how that went, and this outfit helped us realize how badly mike was doing trying to follow that mindset.

before s4, we were never given any indication that mike's style would be like this. michael wheeler should not be wearing an outfit that has a yellow hawaiian shirt, the color purple, a visor and sunglasses, and flip flops to top it all off. it doesn't fit his normal style that he's normally been shown wearing throughout the show, being button ups, polos, and for that season, black jeans and chuck taylors.

he was intentionally put in an outfit that did not follow his true identity. the shirt, thus the outfit and the het identity that mike was attempting to fit into, was literally called a "shitty knockoff" by argyle.

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i'm positive there are way more examples that can be used, but these are the ones that stuck out to me the most. i'll leave off with some ending thoughts:

we as bylers have always considered will's main color to be yellow, but from what i've noticed in each season, the majority of his outfits have blue, same as mike (matching couple's colors)! in fact, s4 was the first time where the majority of the season had will wearing yellow, probably because of how he was dealing with his crush on mike at the time. i'd like to point out that the main colors that lucas and max wear are also the same, being red.

i'd love to do another one of these, the next one probably being about the color green because i think i have a grasp on the reasoning behind that color. other than that, i still really need to analyze the colors of their outfits again because i think the party's clothes specifically are most indicative of their behavior. since they are the youngest group, they are the ones who are the most volatile and it's reflected in everything, especially their clothes!

#stranger things #the party #byler #<- target audience #this analysis is for the byler nation #byler theory #byler analysis #st analysis #byler proof #i'd love to do more of these honestly #it's fun as hell #not art #sammi's brain was used

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