#more like ben hottie

[tom-whore-dleston]

Side Effects of Soldier Boy

Pairing: Soldier Boy/Ben x f. reader

Word Count: 391

This fic contains: smut, literally PWP, drug use, unprotected sex, dirty talk, swearing, degradation, Soldier Boy doesn't pull out

Summary: Soldier Boy tries to keep you quiet during sex.

Notes: Wake up babes, Jordan discovered a new hottie to write about lmaoo Anyways, I know Soldier Boy is a walking red flag but unfortunately, I see the world through rose colored glasses hadshghsdl This is another submission for @flashfictionfridayofficial's prompt no. 239: Seal it Tight. Lowkey, I've been on a role with these quick fics, I don't want it to stop.

Sex with Soldier Boy was addicting. You would say it was more addicting than the cocaine that coursed your system. The blow was essentially the gateway drug to Ben.

The side effects: uncontrolled moans and orgasms that made your soul leave your body.

The two of you found yourselves in a rundown motel room, where Ben plowed you into the mattress at superhuman speed. His strong hand clasped over your mouth, in hopes to seal your cries of pleasure from the outside world. Considering how cocky of a bastard he is, it was bold of him to assume that simply covering your mouth would keep you quiet.

“Mmm, baby, those moans are so pretty, but so loud.” The supe grunted through clenched teeth. Your eyes rolled to the back of your head as Ben’s pulsing cock stretched your walls. You gushed around him, causing each thrust to echo through the dainty room.

“God damn, even this pussy is loud,” Soldier Boy chuckled, making you throb. “Think you want the neighbors to hear me fuck the shit out of you, huh?” 

His dirty talk was no help to hushing your moans. Yet, it did push you closer to that sweet release you craved. With Ben being the instigator he is, he knew damn well what he was doing. 

The pit in your stomach was growing and it was only a matter of time before it exploded. You pumped your hips up to meet his and he took this as a signal to deepen his strokes until his balls slapped your ass. You were one step away from the edge when Ben removed his hand from your mouth to throw both of your legs over his shoulders.

“Fuck it, let the neighbors hear you. Let ‘em know how much of a slut you are for me.”

That euphoric bliss finally washed over you like a crisp ocean wave. You could have drowned under the wave but a kiss from Ben brought you back to shore. The handsome supe slammed into you one last time before filling you with his seed. He crashed onto the empty side of the bed, fingers lazily tangling between yours. The two of you laid there, staring at the cracked ceiling while catching your breaths. Just as you were coming down your high, you already itched for another hit.

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header credit: @saradika | divider credit: @firefly-in-darkness

#flash fiction friday #fff239 #soldier boy #the boys #the boys series #jensen ackles #jensen ackles soldier boy #soldier boy x reader #soldier boy x female reader #soldier boy x you #soldier boy smut #soldier boy fic #soldier boy fan fic #soldier boy imagine #jensen ackles x reader #jensen ackles x you #jensen ackles x female!reader #jensen ackles fic #jensen ackles fanfiction #the boys fanfic #the boys fic

[yoonisweakforthishero]

Hey Yoon!!!!🥰

I saw the request open so if you don’t mind taking my request can you do a one for Eunjang + Union boys who has a girlfriend who is very beautiful and get hit on by boys all the time.

Thank you!!😊

𓇻 When you get hit on all the time

Feat. Gray, Ben, Gerard, Alex, Donald, Jake, Wolf x gn!reader

Warnings. suggestive for donald

A/N: Hi anon! Thank you so much for requesting! I didn't know what to write for a while but hopefully this is good :> I hope you enjoy!

Gray yeon

Ever since you started to date him, Gray has constantly talked about studies and how you should apply to the same cram school to “increase your grades.”

But his intentions involved also giving himself an excuse to spend more time with you.

You eventually gave in because well.. he does have a point… A little bit of studying could certainly help your grades.

He always seems to have extra classes which means that you usually tend to wait for him so you can walk home together.

“Hey sorry y/n did you wait for a long time..?” gray would suddenly pop up, always feeling bad to make you wait after him.

“Not at all! Let’s go already!” You grabbed him as you got up and ready to go, smiling at him reassuringly.

Gray hasn’t really told you this before but he’s glad you’re in his life. Simple moments like walking together always seem to remind him of how lucky he is to have you.

As you were walking home together, some guys started to check you out. Not an unusual thing in your life but it still is very uncomfortable every time.

One of them chased after you. “Hey sorry, I was just wondering if I could get your number? You’re really pretty,” He said, bowing down as he presented his phone.

You can tell Gray feels jealous or uncomfortable because he suddenly became stiff. Honestly, if looks could have killed, I assure you he would have been dead.

“They’re taken,” He assured the guy coldly, taking your hand immediately. “Come on y/n… Let’s go this way,” he would softly whisper to you, pulling your hand a bit.

After you have gone a bit far, you start to recognize the street you’re in. This is the way to Master Arcade.

“I must be lucky to have you since everyone else can also see your worth,” he would tell you while holding your hand closer, he smiles at you and pats your forehead.

“A game of Tekken?” he would ask you, getting some coins out. “Oh you’re so on! I have been practicing lately so I can take you out!” You point to him as your sudden competitive spirit comes out. 

He looks at you softly as you pump your fists into the air walking into the arcade.

How was he this lucky to have you love him? 

Ben park

I know Eunjang is an all boys school but for the plot we will ignore this fact :>

“Hey, you heard? Apparently there’s a hottie in class 1-7.” A group of guys commented “Yeah, I heard they look like they came from a tv drama.” They would whisper to each other. 

Curiosity will eventually kill these cats because they were on their way to see who the pretty hottie is that everyone is talking about. 

“Woah! They’re absolutely beautiful,” They chatted as they would form around your classroom door. “Dude you should totally go ask for their number. You’re one of the most popular guys,” 

“Yeah.. You know what? I will.” The group started to hype each other to go ask for your number. “Wait! But guys if the rumors are also right.. Then… they are dating Ben Park..” The last words rolled off his tongue slowly, warning the others as if trying to avoid a stirring storm.  

“Really? Well I mean… Do you see him? Cause I don’t so” He started to state it cockly. “I’m getting their number if it’s the last thing I do.” He started to comb his hair with his hand, preparing himself.

“Oh.. well it might be the last thing you do then,” a voice stated from behind. Startled by this, the group turned around to see none other than Ben Park at the entrance of your classroom with a plastic bag. 

 Trembling the group realized that maybe this could certainly be the last thing they do. Maybe they should have been careful on what they say if they don’t want it to come true.

“We.. were just about to leave,” one of the guys mentioned as they started to slowly move out of the place. 

“Unless you really want it to be the last thing you do, don’t come back to get their number. They’re already taken.” Ben looked back at them to stand his point. They didn’t even dare to look back and all Ben could hear was whispers from them. “Shit dude, I told you they were taken.”

Like a lightswitch, his sudden dark person turned into the overgrown puppy you know. “Babe! I got us some snacks and drinks!” He announced as he got into your classroom. 

“Thank you! Also you didn’t get into another fight right? I heard some noise outside the classroom again.” You asked him as he took the chair in front of your desk, your hand on his cheek checking for any wounds.

“No… But y/n. I do have a question..” Ben slowly asked as if he was entering a dangerous area. He held his head with his hands and looked at your table, refusing to look into your eyes. 

“If hypothetically.. Some guys that were actually good looking came and gave you their number.. What would you do?” His eyes finally lifted up to look into yours.

“What? Where did this come from? Ben, you know I have eyes for you only. As long as you want me to, I will always love you.” You stroke his cheek affectionately trying to melt away any worries or insecurities he might have.

“Well then that’ll be for a long long time won’t it?” He smiled softly at you and you could almost see an imaginary tail wagging perked up at your response. “Yeah it certainly will be for a long time,” you chucked at his fast mood switch. 

“Come here babe!” He called out to you as he grabbed your wrist to pull you out of your chair and into a big hug.

It stayed that way until the teacher had to literally drag him out when break was over because he refused to let go of you. 

Gerard Jin

It’s no secret that you’re beautiful and it’s less of a secret that Gerard likes to admire your beauty. 

Gerard’s gaze has been stuck to you ever since he first saw you. He always admires you like a painting in a museum.

Sometimes it isn’t noticeable that he’s admiring, because of his broccoli head no one really knew where his eyes were looking.

Other times, it’s a bit noticeable and you would make accidental eye contact. Always end up with him blushing. 

The funny thing is that now that you're dating, he still blushes after you catch him staring at you. 

Another thing is that since he also cut his hair, it's so easy to tell when he's looking at you.

"You're staring at me again.." you would call out to him. Sitting down next to him, you can see he laid down as he nuzzles his head with his arms. 

"... You're beautiful," is all he would say. If you turn to look at him, you can see him becoming nervous.

It's honestly cute how nervous and shy he still gets even after dating you for a bit now. 

"Oh.. I almost lost track of time because of you. I need to head to my part time," he started mentioning. "Well then let's go together!" You pat his head, signaling him to stand up. 

Maybe because of the slight difference in height, it always felt safe to walk around him with. No matter where you went.

Suddenly a group of guys would come up to you. "Hey, we were wondering since you're pretty if you would give any of us a shot?" One of the guys at the front asked you.

Overwhelmed by the sudden attention, you were unsure of what to do. "They are really pretty aren't they?" Gerard would softly laugh as he put his arm around you. 

Gerard trusts you so much that he feels like he doesn't need to reject guys for you. He knows that deep down you love only him. 

Grabbing Gerard's hand and pulling yourself closer to him, you rejected their offer. The guys looked disappointed but they didn't try to persuade you any further. A no is a no and they understand that.

The trust that this guy has in you is so strong that not once has he ever doubted you. He knows many guys are trying to date you and yet he trusts that you respect the relationship enough to never give your number. 

Every time someone flirts with you, he just holds you close. That's all he needs to know you're still there with him.

"How about I get you delicious chicken after my shift?" He would ask sweetly. "Employees discount! Plus Ttosikki Chicken is the best," He added, his mouth watering just at the thought. 

"Chicken is a great comfort food don't you think?" He would say as he stops for a moment to peck your forehead for a moment. 

Close to him, you can hear his heart beating for you only.

Alex go

Alex Go saved a whole universe in his past life. Or at least that's what he kept thinking when the most gorgeous person said they have feelings for him as well. 

I mean what other reason would there be for this literal divine figure to like him. 

Even Ben got jealous that Alex has such an amazing person. "Man, you really scored with y/n.. So lucky.. When will it be my turn," Ben would tell him the first time you guys started dating. 

Yet at least Ben respected your relationship unlike other jerks who would not only swear they could totally win your heart if they tried but also beat Alex and put him in his place.

At first he tried to ignore it but the insults were starting to get to him and eventually he got into more fights than he needed to. 

Ben was worried. More than anything, you were especially worried because you would always see the aftermath of the reckless fights he would get in.

As much as you hate it, you would always bandage his wounds as best as you could. Always begging him to please stop getting into so many unnecessary fights.

"Are we still up for pool?" You texted Alex just to make sure something didn't come up.

"Yeah of course. Can't wait to see you :)" Alex texted back as he put his phone in his pocket and hurried into the pool hall that by now he's probably a VIP customer.

You moved your way to the pool hall and as soon as you opened the door you saw Alex already waiting for you at the table the group always plays in.

“Game on y/n!” Alex greets you as he grabs your hand and leads you toward the game.

You could pick what the loser and winner gets and he wanted a kiss every time he won, really making him concentrate in the game. 

He just kisses your cheek when it’s your turn to throw you off balance and it worked the first few times. Cheating? Yeah possibly but not according to him. 

When it was his turn, the door suddenly fling open which startled the both of  you. It also caused him to completely miss the shot and the ball going the opposite direction he wanted it to.

A bit annoyed but nevertheless tried to ignore them but them on the other hand? It was clear that they were interested in you two. You specifically.  

One of the guys starts to approach your table and starts leaning against your pool table. 

“I’m making the first move when it comes to talking, so I’m expecting you to make the first move when it comes to kissing.” He says as his body suddenly leans towards you, giving you a sly smirk.

“Back off prick.” Alex pushes him back and gets in between you. He is not taking this disrespect and right in front of him as well. The nerve of this guy. 

“And who are you supposed to be? I don’t have time for idiots like you.” The guy starts laughing at him and that was the last straw Alex needed. 

A fight broke out and you tried your best to control it. Eventually Alex beat them but he wasn’t in the mood to play anymore. Besides being ashamed of how easy it ticked him off, he left without another word.

You followed him, calling out to him trying to get his attention. Eventually he stopped and you were able to reassure him.

“I’m sorry y/n..” He whispered to the point you almost didn’t hear him. “Alex.. You know I care for you a lot so I get worried when you get into fights like that. I love you a lot and don’t want to accidentally lose you or anything.. You know?” You told him gently. 

That hit a spot for Alex. He understands that feeling better than anyone else. “Yeah.. I know..”

“So promise me you won’t get into any more unnecessary fights okay? I treasure you so I don’t want you ruining that beautiful face of yours or I’ll personally throw hands!” Lifting your pinkie, he kisses you instead.

“I promise.”

Donald Na

Being in a relationship with Donald is a bit difficult at times.

That’s because he doesn’t go around saying you’re his partner or anything because he knows how easy of a target that would make you. Him being the Union leader and all of that. 

But he still gets jealous whenever someone tries to make a move on you. Which unfortunately for him are very often.

This is why he always makes sure he creates time to spend with you. Always, If he can’t go announcing you’re his partner and to leave you alone. At least he can spend more time with you in private. 

His favorite way to show everyone that you’re taken without necessarily having to announce it is to mark you. 

He loves to put them everywhere on your body, your neck, collarbone, back, chest, and even stomach. 

It shows everyone you’re his without people questioning it. 

You were on a business dinner with the union when one of the guys that you’re trying to negotiate with won’t stop flirting with you. 

You do subtle glances at Donald to see if he’s looking… Only to make eye contact with him every single time. 

You try to play off the flirtiness and try to come across as professional but this guy just wouldn’t stop. 

“I think this meeting is over. We’ll call you again next time to discuss things.” Donald called off the meeting suddenly. Most of the guys confused left. 

Along with everyone else you tried to leave, when Donald called you. “Not you y/n.. I believe we still have many things to discuss,” he would say in a way that would give you shivers down the spine. 

“Donald.. You know I wasn’t flirting,” you tell him and he nods. “Yes I know.. Come here for a second,” he says as he pats the seat next to him. 

When you got close, he brushed your hair away. You gasp at the cold sudden hands.

“Oh.. I see,” he mentioned quietly. More to himself than anything as if taking a note. 

“It seems like the marks are fading away y/n…” His fingers tracing the marks slowly. 

“Don’t you think it’s time to redo them?” He got close to you enough that you could feel his breath on your collarbone. 

“You have time for me.. Correct?” 

Jake Ji

Jake loves to spend time with you even when you’re both not doing anything particularly together but still in each other's company. 

You can tell when he gets jealous because he whines and gets all clingy.

You get flirted with a lot so it happens often. You've gotten used to it by now. 

“Y/nnnnn, you still love me right? Even if those guys would have given you their number you would still only call me right?”

Although, there was an incident way before. Which honestly halved the people who now flirt with you.

He almost beat to death some assholes who kept harassing you when you said no to them multiple times. One of them even tried to corner you so you couldn’t run away from them anymore. 

It was relieving to see your boyfriend but when you saw a face that even struck fear to you, you felt unsure on what to do or say. 

He beat them up to the point they needed to be hospitalized but if you didn’t call out to him that day maybe they would have been in a cemetery rather than a hospital.

Really it took you completely by shock because you only knew one side of Jake up til this moment, which is the aloof and outgoing guy. 

Easy to say, most if not all the guys who knew about the incident refused to flirt with you.

Yet those who didn’t, well we pray they don’t trigger something in jake to repeat the incident.

Well today you were on a small picnic with him, he was lying down reading his newest manga that he picked up. 

A guy came up to you “Hi sorry to bother but my friend over there thinks you’re cute and he’s too shy to come ask for your number.” He said as he pointed to a group of friends who were elbowing one blond guy. 

“Ah, sorry but I already have someone,” you would just reply as the guy bowed down and retreated away. 

You turn around to look at Jake, a tiny bit worried about his reaction, only to see that he’s just staring into the other guy’s soul.

“Jake…” You called out to him as you waved your hand in front of his face. “Y/n to Jake?” you call out to him softly. 

He just tilts his head to meet your eyes. “Y/n,” he called out to you in a serious voice.

“Do I not look like your boyfriend enough?” Is the very next thing that comes out of his mouth. 

“What-” Before you even got to question him, he added another question. “Should I wear a shirt that says I’m y/n’s boyfriend?” He looks a bit too happy at the idea.

“Jake no-” “Jake yes!” 

After the quick exchange he went back to reading his manga. The only difference is that now he’s laying on your legs. “You love me right?” A sudden question that Jake asked after a moment of silence.

“Jake, of course I do. You know that. I love you and no one will ever take your place. Ever.”

Days later, you realized… he wasn’t joking about the shirt. 

Wolf Keum

You have been dating Wolf for a little bit now which means he has definitely noticed the amount of people that try to gain your number are a tad higher than average. 

Honestly, he wasn’t trying to be possessive or come out as jealous all the time but the amount of people always checking you out was starting to be irritating.

One day, he noticed a guy who seemed way older than both of you was eyeing you. Something in his brain just clicked.. and he started to count.

‘1.. 2…’ and before he got to 3 the guy stopped looking. A sound of disapproval could be heard from him as you looked over wondering what was going on in his head.

From then on, he applies the 3 second rule to you as well. Now anyone that looked at either him or you for longer than 3 seconds would find themselves in Wolf's hands on an alleyway the next night. 

It was late at night and Wolf suddenly texted you. “Sleeping?” Based on past experience, this either means that he’s in front of your house or that he was thinking about you and can’t sleep. 

You look at your window to see a purple hair standing. He looked up to see your face as he waves and smiles. 

Welp, time to get your coat. Meeting him outside, you wonder what he was up to this time.

“Are you hungry?” He softly put his arm around as he looked around. “Convenience store trip?” He asked again. 

“Why not? Let’s go for it!” You told him as you leaned into his body warmth.

At the convenience store you got yourself some cookies and some snacks while Wolf didn’t get much snacks but only a drink and some cigarettes.

You sat on the table outside of the convenience store. There was a bit of wind but not enough to be too cold. In some form it was actually comforting.

Wolf smoked for a bit away from the table. He didn’t want the smoke to constantly be bothering you when you’re trying to eat. 

Yet that’s when a big tall man came up to your table and was starting to flirt with you. You were starting to look uncomfortable as the man sat down on the chair where Wolf was going to sit. 

Wolf noticed and he started to count. “1…” he got up from his crouching position “2..” he put out his cigarette and started to walk towards the table. “3…” he got in front of the guy and smiled. Well, well, well, what a good reason to pick a fight with this new prick. 

He took his glasses off and put them on the table as the guy got up from the chair. “Are you deaf? I said, what are you smiling at?” Wolf didn’t hesitate as a punch immediately landed on the guy’s face.

 Taken back a bit the guy tumbled backwards, he quickly recovered to land a hit on Wolf but it didn’t seem to affect him one bit. 

Wolf only walked closer to him as the guy suddenly got nervous at his opponent. He punched him again only to get no reaction again.. 

Wolf got close and landed punch after punch after punch. When he was no longer reactive, Wolf was a bit disappointed in how quick he gave up. 

“That’s it? Where’s the guy who tried to rob my girl? The guy who got all up in my face?” He said as he grabbed the guy by the hair, only to let him go and kick his head. 

“Wolf..?” You called out from behind. “Nothing to see here, I’m done anyways. Sorry to keep you waiting,” he mentions as he gets close to you. Noticing he has blood on his hand he tries to clean it up.

“Tell me if anyone else bothers you,” He says as he hugs you. His heart was still pumping from the adrenaline he got from the fight.

“Anyone who dares to look at you for longer than 3 seconds.. I’ll put them back in their place because they clearly forget where their level is”

#weak hero #weak hero webtoon #ben park #gerard jin #gray yeon #weak hero manhwa #weak hero x reader #gray yeon x reader #donald na #wolf keum #jake ji #eunjang gang #union #ben park x reader #alex go #alex go x reader #gerard jin x reader #wolf keum x reader #donald na x reader #jake ji x reader #writing #requests open

[starker-raving-mads]

For You: Part I

This is for @spiderlinging who decided this level of angst needed to exist.

Have thoughts on a follow up, unsure if I'll do it.

Edit: decided to make this multi-parted.

Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI | Part VII | Part VIII | Part IX

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It had been a week since the last battle with Thanos. A week since the Blipped had returned everyone, a week since Peter awoke to Dr. Strange leading him through a portal straight into battle.

A week since Tony died.

It's all Peter can think about. The only thing he can think about. Not how traumatizing two battles back to back was, not the chaos and insanity of war, not even of how happy he should be that May and Ned and MJ are actually okay.

Instead, it's Tony, Tony, Tony. His thoughts had revolved around the older man for years now, so it wasn't new. But normally it was excitement, arousal, anticipation, joy. Now, though, it's hugging him as he felt like he was being ripped apart by the Blip. The joy of finding him and being dragged to him in a fierce hug, mid-battle, the billionaire's hands running through his hair. His voice, soft and full of this sort of grieving happiness.

"Peter," he'd said, "oh god, Peter."

And finally it was Mr. Stark's face as he sat dazed against a piece of wreckage amidst the chaos. How blank his eyes were, how little of the man was left, barely hanging on.

That face haunted his dreams, the emptiness filling up his nightmares.

And now here he was, at a lake house he could've never seen Tony living in, with people around him crying and mournful. Like they'd lost a friend when Peter felt like he'd lost a limb. Like his whole heart was being shoved out onto that lake with the last part of Tony Stark he'd ever get to see. Behind him, Happy was talking quietly to Morgan, Tony's kid - Peter's goddaughter, apparently.

He never knew you could make a dead person a godparent before, but there's a lot of things Peter never knew.

Like the thing is - Peter thought he knew grief, knew loss. His parents when he was a kid, Uncle Ben just after he'd gotten his powers. These were huge, space-taking people in his soul but losing Tony? Losing Tony was worse than anything he'd ever experienced before. He felt bad about it, sometimes. Because shouldn't his family have been the ones that meant the most, hurt the most? But then again, Tony had been everything. He'd always sort of thought he loved Tony in the way someone might love an idol, like his feelings were somehow offset by hero worship and being a teenager but it was so much more than that.

It might've started off that way, but after years of knowing him, being his friend through tough times and glad ones - it morphed along the way without him really noticing it. Got deeper, got more meaningful with every lab session and every time Tony said, "Just stay the night kid, you know where your room is. Aunt Hottie doesn't need to be woken up at 3AM with you coming home anyway."

The teen thought he'd cried every ounce of pain from him in the week since the battle, but as his eyes misted up again, he turned and headed around the back of the cabin. It was empty of people on this side and he slid down in the corner where the porch extruded out of the building. Hands covering his face, barely aware of the rotting, damp leaves under him. He just needed a minute to get it together. Just one minute and he'd -

A sound of footsteps approaching, light ones, made him stand back up again and wipe his face free of tears. He knew from experience that his eyes would be a horrible red against how pale his skin was, but there was nothing to be done about it.

Around the corner came Pepper in her funeral clothes, looking at him blankly. It was clear she'd been looking for him but he couldn't figure out why. They just stared at each other for a second, neither moving, and as the moments ticked on he got increasingly uncomfortable and awkward around this powerhouse of a woman he'd never really spent time with.

"Sorry, I just needed to step away for a - "

"He did it because of you, you know," she said, voice as neutral as her face. He blinked at her.

"I'm sorry, what - ?"

"He did it for you." And there was the anger. Her face transformed with it, skin flushing a red that clashed with her hair in a way that was still, somehow, beautiful. It was easy to see why Tony picked her out of everyone. Before he could say anything, she continued. "He told me," she said, tears clouding her voice, nose stuffing up with emotion, "that he'd figured it out. Figured out how to save everyone."

She laughed and it was the most hateful sound he'd ever heard. Shaking her head, smiling in a way that said 'fed up', she said, "But I knew. I knew he didn't do it to be the savior of humanity. His ego was always big, and he was always willing to sacrifice if he thought the price was worth it." She stopped again and stared at him, face contorting.

"He saved a lot of people," Peter agreed, spidey-sense screaming at him and he didn't know why. Every hair on the back of his neck stood on end, and he felt like he was being bombarded. It was nauseating.

"He didn't save people, Peter," she screeched, stomping toward him, hand fisted around a cloth handkerchief, finger pointing at his face. "Tony's ego was always enough to think he could save the world," she continued, voice as mad as a wolf's growl, "but he didn't do it for them. He did it for you." She hissed out, "He kept your picture in the kitchen and just stared at it - all the time! Stared at it like you were some missing part of him and if he just looked long enough you'd reappear." She laughed again, rolling her eyes.

Behind her, a crowd was appearing. Sam and Bucky first, eyes scoping out the situation like the heroes they were. Then Happy, peaking around. The other teenager - Harley, Peter remembered - was further back, near the trees, watching with a ducked face, riveted.

"Tony saved the universe," she agreed, voice even more watery. "But he didn't do it for them - he did it for you." She had moved forward enough now to jab her finger into his chest. "He could've killed everyone with his stupid time travel bullshit," she spat, jabbing harder. "He could've undone reality with it, he could've made it to where Morgan never existed." She sobbed and the anger started to drain from her, head bending. "But it didn't matter as long as he got you back." She sobbed again and as much as his heart was rending itself atom by atom by what she was saying, he couldn't fault her anger, her rage, her sadness.

He stepped forward and she dropped onto him, letting him hold her weight up as she continued to sob.

"He did it for you."

And Peter had never heard anything worse in his entire, fucked up existence.

How was he ever going to live with himself now, knowing this.

How?

#ironspider #peter parker x tony stark #starker #tony stark x peter parker #iron man #peter x tony #peter parker #spiderman #tony stark #pepper potts #tony stark x pepper potts #angst #no beta we die like men #for you fic

[count-alucard-tepes]

Count Alucard, May I ask, what is it that attracted you to the OP Hotties? Did you like Akainu because he’s magma? Do you like Ben because it’s more quiet? I must know!

Alright all have different reasons so you have to bare with me while go through all of these😂😂😂

Kizaru ✨: he just oozes sexy sugar daddy that would make you melt the moment he talks to you! I’m amazed I liked him so much later than normal😂

Akainu🌋: the type of guy I’d end up marrying because he’s stern and to the book..and I’m batshit crazy and all over the place😂 I love him so much and we both love gardening and have sexy tattoos on the left sides of our bodies of flowers too! That’s my baby daddy of all time!

Ryokugyu 🌱: he’s just so fucking sexy and has the zero fucks energy, I love him and need to know more about his tattoo!!! Love his devil fruit power too!

Fujitora 🐅: he’s a fan favorite but he’s a cutie too and has a heart of gold!

Sir Crocodile 🐊: literally the first villain in OP to steal my heart and I didn’t want it back…he’s just so fucking hot!

Doflamingo Donquixote 🦩: the flamboyant sex God who wears pink and has BD energy! He is fucking everything! I am ready to risk it all for Doffy!

Benn Beckman 🔫: he’s just so fucking hot and protective, I want to know everything about Benn!

Katakuri Charlotte 🍡: a total badass who loves his family and donuts! That’s husband material right there!

Killer🔪: the hair, the body, the blades! He’s just so freaken cool, I literally want to make him blush!

Kaido🐉: I want to be his wife, he’s just so hot omg! He just seems like a guy who would love you till the end of his days!

King 👑: tall, dark and sexy…with wings and white hair! I’m literally eating out of his giant hands!

Queen👑: he’s just the guy I want to party with and get VIP tickets to Onigashima!

Izou🔫🔫: he’s the most beautiful man I have ever seen and I can’t deal! He would talk my pants off.

Dragon D Monkey 🐉🐒: he’s so mysterious and unbelievably cool, not to mention sexy af! I need Dragon in my life!

Oven Charlotte 🍞: he’s just such a goof ball but I love him so much!

Buggy🤡: he is literally going to be the pirate king! And his beautiful hair omg!

Marco the Phoenix 🦅: he’s such a cutie, totally husbando material and he’s a doctor!

Eustass Kidd🤘🎸: I love his aesthetic and he’s really cute! I love his red hair too!!!

Rosinantè Donquixote aka Cora-San💕:

Oh he’s such a sweetheart and stole my heart! He just deserves all the love in the world.

Who’s Who ❤️‍🔥👹: I just need him to get me pregnant because he has no right looking that hot in his leather outfit and sexy pink hair and being a kitty! How dare you, sir!?

Gecko Moria🦇: alright Prime Gecko Moria could get it any day! Enough said!

Iceburg💜: he’s so funny and his hair and lipstick is everything! I love him!

Gild Tesoro⚜️🏅: he’s just so fucking fine! I would risk it all to be his sugar baby! He’s rich, he’s hot, he’s single, no kids and he’s strong…yeah, I’m sold!

Rob Lucci🐆: he’s stoic and super sexy! He turns into a big sexy kitty! I can’t deal!

#one piece #sir crocodile #one piece akainu #akainu sakazuki #crocodile one piece #donquixote doflamingo #one piece kizaru #king one piece #killer one piece #rosinante donquixote #aramaki ryokugyu #rob lucci #fujitora issho #fujitora one piece #benn beckman #Katakuri Charlotte #katakuri one piece #izou one piece #kaido one piece #queen one piece #eustass captain kidd #monkey d dragon #charlotte oven #buggy the clown #marco the phoenix #gecko moria #gild tesoro #iceburg one piece #who’s who one piece #kizaru borsalino

[the-conversation-pod]

Work, Bitch

This year, BL is trying to grow up and explore what dating looks like once you're outside of school. In this episode, we pit former collaborators Cheewin and New against each other with their pretty much opposite takes on workplace romance.

Ben and NiNi talk Bed Friend and A Boss and A Babe.

"Now get to work, bitch!"

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Listen on Google Podcasts

Timestamps

The timestamps will now correspond to chapters on Spotify for easier navigation.

0:00 - Welcome 1:16 - Intro & Trigger Warnings 2:50 - Bed Friend 41:28 - A Boss and a Babe 1:26:09 - Cheewin vs. New

The Conversation: Now With Transcripts!

We received an accessibility request to include transcripts for the podcast. We are working with @ginnymoonbeam on providing the transcripts and @lurkingshan as an editor and proofreader.

We will endeavor to make the transcripts available when the episodes launch, and it is our goal to make them available for past episodes. When transcripts are available, we will attach them to the episode post (like this one) and put the transcript behind a Read More cut to cut down on scrolling.

Please send our volunteers your thanks!

0:00 - Welcome

Nini

Hello, hello! Your QL fandom aunty and uncle are here with giant sunglasses, brown liquor in a flask, a folded five-dollar bill to slip into your hand when no one is looking, lukewarm takes, occasional rides on the discourse, deep dives into artistry and the industry.

Ben

Lots of simping! I’m Ben.

Nini

I’m Nini.

Ben

And this is The Conversation. About once a season, we plan to swan in and shoot the shit on faves, flops, and trends that we’ve been noticing in the BL, GL, or QL Industry. Between seasons, you can find us typing way too many words on Tumblr.

1:16 - Intro & Trigger Warnings

Ben

And we're back! Office romance is shaping up to be the trend of the year, with more shows this spring vying to put their stamp on the subgenre. In this episode, we pit former collaborators Cheewin and New against each other, with their… pretty much opposite takes on workplace romance. Nini and I are discussing Bed Friend and A Boss and a Babe.

Nini

Two more different shows I think you could not find. We've got Cheewin versus New, they worked together on Make it Right and Love Sick, they have… diverged? And they have fallen into two very different categories, I think, as auteurs, so this should be interesting. So let's get to it. 

Ben

As with every episode this season, we recorded our reactions months ago — or a week ago — and we'll be back at the end to give you our final thoughts and wrap up our feelings on the entirety of this whole workplace nonsense. So: get to work bitch!

Nini

For this episode we wanted to put in a trigger warning, because we will be talking about Bed Friend, and that's going to include discussions of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. So… we just wanted to give y'all a heads up about that — we will put the timestamps in the show description.

2:50 - Bed Friend

Nini

Let's start with Bed Friend. Ben, what is Bed Friend about?

Ben

Bed Friend is a workplace romance involving a friends with benefits dynamic that places a known player, King, in pursuit of the office hottie, Uea. What starts off as just kind of a, kind of sexy thing where Uea’s like, ‘I'm too pretty for you and I don't deal with playboys,’ becomes this really earnest exploration about how lingering trauma can impact your ability to form meaningful relationships with other people, and about how you can create really healthy boundaries with someone in a way that prevents you from actually helping them the way they need to be sometimes. What started off as a show that was advertised to us as just the sexy friends with benefits show ends up being the sexy ‘love can heal all wounds’ show.

Nini

I don't know if it's fair to call it ‘love can heal all wounds,’ I think one of the things that I like most about Bed Friend is that it's clear that love is not what's healing Uea — it's what's driving him to heal himself, I guess? But love in and of itself is not healing. And…dick is not magical, as you are so fond of saying.

Ben

That is true! That is one of the most important things to get from this.

Nini

Yeah, and I like that Bed Friend does not treat dick like it's magical. Uea’s having a great time, King is having a great time, Uea is learning things about himself, and he’s willing to do things that…maybe he never thought he could do before. But King is not fixing him, and I like that. He is fixing himself. He is saving himself: it’s one of my favorite things about this show.

Ben

This was a really unexpected show for me — I was afraid that this was going to be kind of a porn without plot story at first? I was not expecting Uea’s reticence with King to have… a decently grounded basis, and then for some of his other romantic and sexual hangups to be really well grounded. ‘Cause sometimes when they use trauma in these stories, it feels a little pat, like they want to make sure that they have these bits in here so they don't get accused of just writing a boring show? But I think all of Uea's trauma is handled well. 

I guess we should drop our trigger warning here for the Bed Friend discussion? We will be discussing the plot and themes that happen in it in its entirety. So this will involve physical, emotional abuse of a child, sexual abuse and assault of a young person and a child, as well as workplace sexual assault by a superior, and other intimate partner violence from an ex — so this is going to get a little bit difficult if those topics are difficult for you. These are interwoven into the core nature of the plot and the way the characters are understood, so it's going to be hard for us to talk around it.

Nini

Yeah, and I don't think we should talk around it, because I think one of the things that Bed Friend wanted to do is that it did want to explore some of that trauma in a healing way? But in order to heal, you have to… go through. It's a difficult watch in a lot of ways. But I understand why they felt they needed to show what they did. A lot of takes that I've seen talk about, that it was trauma porn, or that it's not realistic that somebody would be traumatized so many times in so many ways, and I'm here to tell you, as sad as it is, it's not unrealistic at all? People who are… looking for victims find people who have been already victimized.

Ben

Right, and predators are good at finding weaknesses in the security net around their target. So…one of the moments that stands out to me is with Uea’s ex — I don't remember what his name is, but fuck that guy. Everyone had been hanging around Uea because they knew that this guy was gonna start some stuff, like he shows up and tries to accost Uea during the day. Jade is the only smart person ever in BL, because he calls the building security to come snatch the dude. But like, they know he's going to show up later — everybody asks Uea the right things, like ‘should we file a report, do we need to get a restraining order for this guy?’ Uea’s like ‘no, his dad's a politician, don't worry about it.’ 

But then later, Uea ends up having to stay late at work because — Mongkol ain’t doing shit, so Uea and Jade are carrying too much work. And he catches Uea in a vulnerable moment when he thinks no one else is around. That's the kind of shit that happens to folks, is they're being stalked by these awful people, who know, like the one brief period where the people who are trying to look out for you blinked, or looked away. And let me tell you, James is very good, because it's been weeks since that scene, and I am still haunted by his voice as Uea calls for help in that moment. That is probably one of the most affecting scenes, from a trauma perspective, that I've ever experienced from Thai dramas—and, period. I am still haunted by James's voice.

Nini

This show took everything that happened to Uea incredibly seriously. That, to me, was one of the really good things about it, because the show wanted to say ‘Look: we want to talk about this and we don't want to talk about this in a shallow way. We want to talk about this in a real way. We want to talk about this in a way that might be helpful to people. We want to talk about this in a way that might be healing to people.’ And I think, because of that, the show took it incredibly seriously. 

So, while the show technically—and, ah, when I say technically, from a technical standpoint, in terms of the techniques of filmmaking—it is not the greatest, I really respect the show, because it, I think, mostly accomplished what it set out to do. And what it set out to do, as well, felt worthy to me. I can't really ding this show. I can ding it on editing, I can ding it on sound. There was one full effect that had me cracking up towards the end…but in terms of ‘if it accomplished what it set out to do, and if what it set out to do mattered,’ I think that Bed Friend ticks those boxes.

Ben

She's also dinging it for overuse of the OST.

Nini

I don't even want to get started.

Ben

[laughs] She’s texting me every week, y’all! Like ‘I hate this song!’

Nini

So much! And then worse than the song punching through every moment that is supposed to be like, very romantic and everything, they sub the lyrics of the song. So not only is it punching through aurally, I have to look at what they're saying, and it's so on the nose, because the line they always come in on is ‘I want to be more than a friend’ or some shit like that? And I'm just like ‘ahhh this again!’ 

Technically, from a filmmaking perspective, this show is not great. There are like a couple of moments in the direction that are interesting? But from a technical standpoint the show is not great. Acting wise: Net and James together? Whenever they're in a scene together they're present, they're there, they make it real. When they're acting outside of that, it's a little wibbly sometimes. James is generally pretty good? All the things that he has to convey he conveys. Net is also… pretty good, James is slightly better than Net. All the things that need to be conveyed they convey. But, when they're working together is probably some of the best work that they do in the show.

Ben

You can tell that these two have been working together for a long time, and that they're very close, and that there's a lot of trust between them. But I agree with you, I think there's a lot of…early Thai BL tendencies in this, and I don't want to be rude to Cheewin on this because, that's my boy, but…everybody feels really stiff sometimes, the blocking is so limited sometimes, like nobody really gets to move around much.

Nini

The blocking’s kind of stiff, like they hold on moments that don't really make sense to hold on, it feels in some ways theatrical sometimes? In a way that doesn't always work on screen because it feels—you're right, stilted. This is part of Cheewin’s style, and it works sometimes, like it worked great in Secret Crush On You, it does not work here so much. But I don't feel like it detracts from the story.

Ben

It doesn't. Like we talk about pulps and like, prestige stuff, and like GMMTV kind of always sits…closer to the prestige end of that spectrum? Like this is probably like two notches below that.

Nini

Yeah. It's like…reaching for a prestige story, with pulp filmmaking techniques.

Ben

Yes. It's in about the same place that I think You’re My Sky sits, in terms of production stuff. Like where they wanted to be good, they were very good. Like they used a lot of their best efforts on the action of the bedroom scenes, whereas You’re My Sky used it on its sports scenes. Which is appropriate because You’re My Sky is a sports show, and this is a friends with benefits story. I feel like that comparison works for me because You’re My Sky is punching way above its weight, in terms of what it’s trying to do.

Nini

I don't know that, in terms of production quality, that Bed Friend sits about the same place—I think it's maybe slightly lower than that in terms of production quality? Mostly because of the…color and the sound. You’re My Sky has way better color and sound.

Ben

That's true. So you're the more romance oriented of the two of us. I think you should unpack the arc of their romance? Before we maybe unpack it more specifically.

Nini

When they do these high heat, more explicit BLs I always like to see how they're utilizing sex scenes and how they're utilizing sex to tell the story. Using sex in a romantic story is always really interesting to me. I've written about this with Kinnporsche and Cutie Pie and now here: I think it's really important that every time we see them have sex, it's a different flavor, something different is happening with them emotionally. Something has changed between them, or something is different between them? And so you can track the actual progress of the emotional relationship through the sexual relationship, which I find is really interesting. 

So, King and Uea start this relationship—King has always had a little bit of a thing for Uea and Uea won't give him the time of day because Uea thinks he's a player. Part of that as well is that Uea is…basically catnip: Uea is very, very pretty. He gets a lot of attention—at work, outside of work—and he is just not interested in all these players, and he has put King in that box. They go out for some work thing, and Uea gets stonking drunk. King takes him back to his place, and Uea kind of hangs on to King and…they have sex. There's no other way to describe what happens [laughs], they have raunchy drunk sex.

Ben

I think what happens for King and Uea is: Uea was exhausted by his own life, and he uses… sex to cope with that in those moments? And he knew King wanted him, so he just chose King at that moment. King reacts to it by being embarrassed by it. Despite the questionable nature of their first encounter, that's not what King wants their dynamic to be.

Nini

There’s a lot of speculation that King was in love with Uea from the beginning—I don't necessarily believe that? I think that he has always been interested in Uea, that he is intrigued by Uea, he is definitely attracted to Uea. I don't think that he, at the beginning of this all, that he's already in love with Uea and that he sees this as his chance, which is the conventional wisdom on what happened there. That doesn't feel…correct for me somehow. 

King's philosophy on love and sex is that he…enjoys sex, he doesn't see a reason to deny himself sex, he's always honest with his partners about what it is. He's never been in love, but he knows that when he does fall in love that he will be faithful. He's not going to be a player when he's in love. 

Uea doesn't believe that. Uea has all these…rules, that come from his trauma, like when he was growing up, when he realized he was gay and he was starting to be interested in boys, his mom called him a slut, she called him all kinds of things, locked him in a bathroom.

Ben

Inflicting a permanent fear of the dark on the poor boy.

Nini

Yeah, so he feels like, if he is more sexually free and open then he's exactly what his mother always said he was. It is part of his entire architecture of himself, that sex is something to be indulged in in a relationship. It is not something that you just go out and do, you have to be in love to have sex otherwise you're a slut, like…he's internalized those messages from his mother. 

So his philosophy of love and sex is entirely different from King’s. And how they even get on the same page, how they even get to the point where they could agree to start this friends with benefits relationship is because Uea has let the wall down and King is like ‘okay, you have let the wall down, I'm just going to put it out there and ask for what I want, and let's see what happens’ and Uea is at the point he's just like, ‘you know? Why the fuck not. If I'm gonna be a slut then I'll be that.’ That's where Uea starts. 

King's happy to get into this because he thinks, ‘okay well, Uea doesn’t like me, he is never gonna have feelings for me, I'm not going to end up in a situation where I'm with somebody who's going to start clinging to me, that's fine, I can just have really good sex. I already know that we can have good sex because we had good sex, this is gonna be fun and interesting, I’m attracted to this dude, why not?’ 

Uea’s thing is — he falls in love too easily, because he has to equate love and sex in his mind. When he has sex with somebody, he has to end up in a relationship with them, and that hasn't been working out for him, because all these dudes, they just want to bang him and leave. Or they want to bang him and victimize him, or…all these other things. So his conceptions of sex and love are warped. He falls in love too easily, whereas King does not let himself fall in love. 

So the way that they end up together is that they create this this relationship, but there are all these rules. The most important rule I think is Uea saying, ‘okay we'll sleep together, but: if you're sleeping with me, you can't be sleeping with anybody else.’ So that fulfills Uea’s need to not feel like a slut, while still being sexually free. King’s like, ‘the sex is good, I…don't necessarily need to go somewhere else if I'm getting it here. This is fine.’ He accepts the rule, and because he accepts the rule, they can't behave like they would normally behave? Because I get the feeling that King gets bored? And he can't get bored, because if he gets bored, it's gonna be the end of the thing with him and Uea. Uea isn't going to just fall in love with him, because in his head it’s like, ‘oh this is only sex. It's fine.’ So they can't behave the way that they would normally behave in relationships? And it means that they have to be real with each other, in a strange kind of way. And that's where it starts, and that's where it develops from And that took me so long to get out.

Ben

I think what works really well for me, and why I got it for Uea, was he and King have an ill-advised encounter, something I generally enjoy in BL because—I know gay people! It's messy. King doesn't let Uea blow him off, and makes sure that they go and get tested. And that immediately starts to…I don’t want to say demystify, but it doesn't make it this whole thing. King is like, ‘yeah we had a great time, but we probably shouldn’t have done it that way. So that we can both feel okay moving forward, we should do this step.’ and it becomes a little after-school-special-y, but I really like the way it's incorporated into, ‘sex is normal, Uea, we can—we have to do these things so we can move forward.’

Nini

Yeah I did like that, I like the way that King treated that so matter of factly, and because he treated it so matter of factly Uea had to treat it matter of factly as well, like he couldn't be…afraid of it, I guess? King treating it so matter of factly made it feel okay. It made it feel normal. It made it feel like something that he could do. It made it feel, ‘okay, all right, maybe he's not a total irresponsible human being’ kind of thing? So it starts the softening. I agree it does start the softening towards King.

Ben

I like how as they get closer to each other, the complications from Uea’s trauma come up in a way that doesn't immediately get explained to King. And I like that King…asks up to a line. He knew, kind of, what was going on with Pock—he did not know what was going on with Uea’s family for a long time, and it's the fact that King doesn't push, and respects these rules, that kind of gets them into trouble at some point? Because King gets just a little bit jealous and thinks that Uea maybe wanted Krit's attention? And says some nasty things to Uea, because he's not sure how serious Uea is, because Uea’s always playing aloof with him.

Nini

I like that King knows where the boundaries are, and he knows when he has crossed one, and he pulls back? I also like that he makes mistakes in doing that. So many commenters, so many people, have labeled King “green flag,” and I have real problems with the green flag label, as applied to people or characters, as opposed to actions or behaviors. And one of the reasons that I have a problem with that label applied to people and characters is some of what the commentary was around, for example King, having that fight with Uea about Krit, who is his boss who is harassing him. Everybody’s like ‘well. why would he do that, he should know better’ and the thing is that no, he's human, he doesn't know what's happening. He's having these negative feelings, he's jealous. He's never been jealous before, because he hasn't cared about anybody in the way that he cares about Uea. He's in this weird place where he feels like he knows Uea, but there's clearly stuff that Uea isn't telling him, that is feeding into his insecurity. He likes Uea, he wants to be with Uea, Uea isn't giving him anything to go on, and he is almost afraid to ask? 

So he’s… having these negative emotions, and he's expressing them in a negative way, which is so human, but it just becomes a thing like, ‘oh, red flag red flag’ I'm like no, he's not—people are not green flags, behaviors are green flags. And some people are going to deal with a situation in the right way, and deal with another situation in the wrong way, and then realize that they've maybe dealt with that situation in the wrong way and correct themselves, which is what King did. 

But like the whole green flag discourse, I don't like it, it just makes me uncomfortable.

Ben

I'm going to beg all of you to let go of Calvinism when you watch these shows. You have to let go of predeterminationism when you're trying to deal with real people. People do things: they are not the things they do. It's really really unhealthy to project so much onto these characters. This need for them to be an idealized version of the person you either want, or want to be. It's… not good? You have to appreciate that people are complicated, and like yes, it's fiction, but one thing about fiction versus reality is that fiction has to make sense for us to enjoy it? 

Our lives don't always…but it is not unreasonable for King, a character we know has fallen desperately in love with Uea, to be frustrated that Uea doesn't seem to be acknowledging the feelings that King is expressing, within the confines of the box Uea put them in. That's an ugly moment, and King is wrong, and he knows he's wrong. But I feel like a lot of people got hung up on this moment, and they couldn't reconcile the version of King that's really kind and gentle with Uea and understanding with Uea and patient with Uea, with the version of King that gets frustrated about how maybe sometimes Uea doesn't always appreciate that.

Nini

We talk a lot on this show about how we are always refreshed when characters are allowed to be wrong. And this is another instance where I was glad that they let that sit the way that it was, that King was wrong. And King was shown to be wrong, and he had to go and apologize and make up for it, because he was wrong. And then because he was sincere in his apology and his making up for it, they were able to move past it. It's not that it suddenly becomes right, or that King is suddenly an awful person or whatever it is. But it's the fact of the process: I had an ugly outburst that came from an insecure place. I knew it was wrong when I was saying it, but it came out anyway.

Ben

And here's how I'd like to make up for it: first, I got that motherfucker fired! [laughs]

Nini

In the grand scheme of the plot of the show, it ended up for most people being a blip—and that's the other thing I don't like about the green flag label, because it's something that happened, and should be, like, acknowledged to have happened and discussed to have happened. But because people like the King character and think that the King character is a good person, they gloss over it. So you have two reactions to it, either people get really into the idea of it and ‘oh my god why did they do that,’ and ‘they ruined the character,’ or they get into ‘I'm just going to pretend this never happened,’ and neither of those is a great way of dealing with it. [laughs]

Ben

I really just despise that kind of —

Nini

Yeah I, I don't, I don't like that. 

Ben

But we should talk about character motivations, and the ways they express their motivations, and how the character's motivations and the actions they take in the story contribute to the overall narrative that's being told here, and the kind of ideas that the show is asking us to play with as a result. And it's so frustrating when we have to go “This character is a good person, this character is a bad person.” I don't like the finality of the tone when people say that sometimes. 

Like even with Krit, and whatever Uea’s stepdad's name is. Krit was making vile choices, but like it's important to remember that he's consistently making the choice to do that, like, he's not out of control of himself. He's not a monster in the sense of, ‘he is this antagonistic force that's acting on Uea and other members of the plot.’ He's a person in power who's used to getting what he wants and abusing it horribly, and choosing to do it consistently, not only to Uea but other staff members as well.

Nini

This is the thing where you label characters villains — to me I've always said villainy is cruelty. So the fact that he's consistently and continually making the choice to behave the way that he does and he's never apologetic about it. That, I think, would cross him into the line of villainy. But I'm acknowledging that this is a character…engaging in actions. The actions are negative, but it's the consistency of the negative actions and the unapologeticness for the negative actions, which are what cross over into villainy.

Ben

I really liked Net and James's overall chemistry in this show. Like what works so well about them is, because sex is such a big deal in this show, there's a moment really early on, around episode 3 or 4 I believe? When Uea’s had a particularly difficult day on his…sister's birthday I think, and he goes back home, has a terrible encounter with the stepdad.

Nini

It's his birthday, actually.

Ben

Ah, eww! [sighs] He goes to King's place, and while King is excited to get one of their three sessions in a week—as part of their rules—ah, he senses something is wrong, right away. And he dials back the encounter, encourages Uea to take a bath and relax and calm down, and then brings him a cake to celebrate his birthday. And that was one of those moments where things felt like they started to turn for me, because they didn't exactly have sex right away that time. And that felt just as significant as the sex that they were having.

Nini

I did like that scene because Uea comes in basically hot and sweaty, hell bent for leather. He comes in that door and he's ready. He's feeling bad, he wants to feel good, so he basically attacks King [laughs] as he comes through the door and King is like, ‘not that I don't like this, but are you okay?’ which is huge.

Ben

And then Uea admits that he isn't.

Nini

And then Uea admits that he's not okay, so it's huge on both their sides. It's on the one side, Uea is seeing that King actually cares about him as a person, in turn Uea feels now more open to admit something internal or deep in himself. He is not okay. And then King takes care of him not being okay, and then King does something for him that he couldn't have possibly known was going to touch him in the way that it touched him. But because King is being thoughtful in that moment, it ends up being exactly the thing that Uea needs, because he could not have known about the birthday cake trauma that Uea has. 

Basically Uea has never had a birthday cake. He celebrated his birthdays by himself, with a candle on an empty plate, and King could not have known that getting Uea a birthday cake would be one of the most thoughtful, amazing things that he could have done for him. But it is. And Uea, he’s so—you can see it on his face, it's some of the best acting that James did, and James did a lot of good acting. The way that he looks at King when King brings him that cake? It's awe. There's no other word to describe it. It's absolute awe.

Ben

It was really good. There's been a couple of times where I really like the way James as Uea looked at King. When he brings out the cat ears—great acting by Net in that scene, because Net plays King as extremely aroused with anticipation about this, and also a little bit nervous? And the way James responds as Uea, where Uea sinks into like his kind of aloof thing of mild annoyance, as he sees the cat ears after handing the glass off? Absolutely fantastic.

Nini

But the way the moment turns when he looks at King, and he sees that actually, King's nervous about this. Because this is a very vulnerable thing, to open yourself up to share a kink with somebody. You don't know how they're going to react to it, it's an incredibly vulnerable thing. And so he sees that King is being vulnerable with him in this moment, and he's almost holding his breath?

Ben

While panting? While panting heavily? [laughs]

Nini

Somehow at the same time holding his breath and breathing more heavy, I don't know how he's doing both at the same time, but he's accomplishing it, right? But basically Uea sees that King's really nervous about this and he's like, ‘Okay, he is being open and vulnerable, I am willing to do this.’ That was a major turning point in their relationship. Kink became a major turning point in their relationship—the fact that King asked for it, the fact that Uea saw what King asking for it meant, and the fact that Uea responded to King asking for it with a, ‘I will do this for you. And I will enjoy this.’ And then they did enjoy it!

Ben

It's maybe me, but it's implied that I think they switched that night too.

Nini

It is heavily implied. Of course they never exactly say what they're doing. You know there's always a lot of hand wave around the sex in these shows, even when they're pretty explicit, but it's heavily implied, that yes. That the vulnerability extends beyond the kink itself into other kinds of vulnerability within the sex.

Ben

They were so giddy the next day at work—that really sells that scene, too. The followup of them being kind of like—embarrassed is the wrong term, but like they were giddy with each other.

Nini

Giddy is the exact right word. They're not embarrassed, they feel aglow. It's very clear that something shifted between them that night? Their relationship feels different the day after that. And there is a moment where they're at the office, and they're kind of smiling at each other and King like calls Uea on the phone so he can, you know, have the conversation with him. And he asks him to go away with him, and he nearly says ‘I love you’ on that phone call. I think I understand what reasons that he holds back from doing it, I think at that point he's ready to do it but he wants to do it in a really romantic way? So he holds back from it. But… at that point, like if he had said that to Uea, and if he had asked Uea at that point, ‘will you be my boyfriend?’ Uea would have said yes.

Ben

I think that's the biggest thing with King is, he gets in his head a little bit? And I think every time he wants to say it to Uea, he thinks Uea will reject him or scoff at him. And so he doesn't say it.

Nini

But I don't think that's what that was in that moment, I think he held back in that moment because he wanted to make it a bigger deal. He didn't just want to say it on the phone at the office. Because I don't think in that moment that he thinks that Uea will reject him. In other moments, definitely, but not in that moment.

Ben

I don't know. It's one of those moments where I just wish he really would have said it then? Because it would have saved us all a lot of trouble.

Nini

[laughs] Oh boy, but then the show would have also been shorter.

Ben

Speaking of which! I like how the last two additional episodes give us the chance to see Uea coming down from the high state of tension he's existed in for a long time. Like seeing the stepdad go to jail, and seeing Krit no longer at their workplace, having the boss say, ‘this horrible thing happened to you, we're going to pay for treatment to help you manage this long-term.’ Getting used to his regimen with his medicine. Being open with King about that. And then being able to enjoy a version of his life where all of the people who hurt him the most have been removed from the equation.

Nini

People called the last two episodes unnecessary and fluff; I don't subscribe to that, I think that they were very important, especially episode 9. Episode 10’s a little fluffy, but episode 9, I really think that that was all really necessary stuff. If for nothing else, for the fact that Uea gets to go to therapy. That the therapist or the psychiatrist has prescribed him medication, that he is open about it, that he is now in a place where he can tell King the things that have happened to him? And that King reacts to them in the way that he reacts to them—he's very focused on Uea, and the fact that Uea’s sharing this with him means something to him, and he's not going to retraumatize Uea by making Uea’s shit about him. 

Bottom line is, I think Bed Friend was absolutely worth it. It is a lot of triggers, a lot of trauma, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it because of that? But once you give all the necessary trigger warnings and everything, and it's something that you feel like you can handle, I would recommend watching it. I gave it a 9 because the editing was on crack and ayahuasca, I swear to god.

Ben

I gave it a 9, I don't think the workplace stuff was used consistently. I felt like they had to consistently go back to be like ‘oh right, this is a workplace show, we need to do something at the office.’

Nini

The workplace stuff wasn't integrated well, and it's a real shame because the workplace story is so crucial to the rest of the story? And I just find that it wasn't integrated well at all, and then they had those two weird characters, and they used them as comic relief that didn't quite work? Bed Friend’s a 9, it is a ‘recommend with warnings’ show.

Ben

I think the warnings are necessary but not because I think they're handled poorly? You just shouldn't be blindsided by them as they come into play.

Nini

And the show does blindside you with them, to be fair. If you're not prepared for it, they seem to come out of the blue. But that's also part of what the show is trying to do, it's trying to show you that you can't tell. So I, I appreciate the show using it like that. But at the same time, nobody should be blindsided like that.

Ben

I liked it, sincerely.

Nini

Yeah, I think it's a good show.

41:28 A Boss and a Babe

Nini

The second of our workplace BLs that we're going to talk about this season is A Boss and a Babe. Ben, what is A Boss and a Babe about?

Ben

A Boss and a Babe is about this character named Cher who is a new intern at a fairly small-ish gaming company. While there he ends up befriending the CEO of this company and getting deep into this guy's sad gay feelings. The two of them develop a consensual workplace relationship that everyone frowns at. A lot of different things happened, but eventually the two of them make it and are on a marriage track now. Kind of a hot mess of a description but, but it's a hot mess of a show. [laughs]

Nini

That was surprisingly concise for you, I was about to say.

Ben

There's a lot to unpack! But it's a mess!

Nini

I think we're in agreement that this show had problems. [both laugh] But—but—we still had enjoyment from this show, I think. Let's start with what we liked. What did you like about the show?

Ben

I like the cast. Force in particular is very good at expressing fondness with just his face. I also really enjoyed Book getting to play a manic pixie dream boy in this one, because he has just such an ethereal quality because of how bright his skin is, and…the way like, light reflects off of him? But if you use, like, a softer lens he tends to glow. And so, because he seems a little unreal when you just stare at him sometimes, it was really good to make him an almost hyper-real character? And he plays high energy actually really well. 

I actually liked Mike in this, I'm not always a fan of Mike? I thought Mike played Jack really well, overall. I can't remember the name of the actress who plays Oi right now, but she's so funny. [laughs] Like, you can see the cast struggling to hold themselves together with her around, I thought that that was a real delight. 

I liked the way the show looked overall? Because New, despite all the things we're gonna say about him later in this episode. He's very good about using money effectively, and this show was consistently decent to look at. Speaking of decent to look at, Thor looked great in this show? My goodness. It was nice to see Thor in a glow-up after playing such a sad sack in The Warp Effect.

Nini

I also like the cast. I think that everybody was playing at a fairly high level. I enjoyed the work that they were doing, I enjoyed the interplay between the cast—because this is a cast that had a lot of interaction, and I like the way that the cast dynamics worked out, whether it was Gun and Cher, whether it was Cher and Jack, whether it was the gamers, whether it was the workplace gang. Whatever configuration it ended up being, the energy and the interaction between the members of the cast in every permutation was really good. 

I actually enjoyed the core story. I like the idea of a sad misunderstood dude, who, everybody thinks that he's grumpy and terrible, but he's really just sad and awkward—him coming out of his shell because somebody just pays attention to him and is kind? I like that central conceit. I like the idea of you know, being kind to somebody as an initial outpouring rather than in reaction to something? I like that Cher just looks at this sad guy, and is just like ‘No!’ [laughs] and it just goes from there. 

I like how self-aware all of the characters are. As much as…there's like a screwball energy going on, and you know there's a lot of ‘who's on first’ and weird dizziness, all of the characters are really self-aware. They interrogate their thoughts. They come to conclusions about themselves that are mostly correct. They have big blind spots, yes, but the way that it works is that they can't see something about themselves, but somebody else who's in their circle can see it and can tell them about it, and they're close enough and open enough that they can listen? In the early parts of the show, it's a lot about perception and how people make up stories in their head about people that turn out to not be true?

Ben

That works really well.

Nini

That works really well in the beginning half of the show, I think. I like Force and Book, I like Gun and Cher as characters. The thing of this story is, this is an incredibly inappropriate workplace relationship [laughs]. This is a CEO and an intern! In any sense, this is incredibly inappropriate, but you still have to want to root for them, and you do, from the beginning. Mostly because Cher doesn't give a fuck about this job.

Ben

That’s actually something you and I talked about around episode 2 or 3, we're like, this dynamic would not work if Cher gave a single shit about this job.

Nini

He does not, and that's exactly why it works. It's just like, ‘I'm just here to get a signature on a piece of paper and then I'm out, going on to live my life, so whatever happens here is just bonus.” And part of the bonus is you got yourself a boyfriend, well done! 

I like all of this, I like the character development, particularly for the central characters, so for Cher and for Gun. That's really the only characters that do get developed, and that's one of the things that we're going to talk about when we talk about what we didn't like. 

Anything else that you really liked about it?

Ben

I liked how queer a lot of the dynamics felt. I liked that Gun felt like he was begrudgingly still best friends with his ex, because that [laughs] is super real in queer circles, because there's just not a lot of us who we can rely upon, so like, it isn't always easy to just be like ‘I'm over this person!’ and then you sort your friends and just move on. 

I liked the way Cher came into his own…sexuality. I like that Cher was stunted a bit by the uncomfortable histories that had defined his first really big love? And I really liked the way Three and Zo were used in this show. I liked that even though they're kind of an overly sappy kind of obnoxious BL couple, they're presented as an ideal that a lonely gay man hopes that he can have someday. And we got to see Fluke be like a goofy gay dude again! With a newbie who clearly was having a bunch of fun palling around on set.

Nini

I love Zo as a character. Zo is the youngest of the characters but he's definitely the mom friend.

Ben

I actually liked the gaming stuff, too. I played a specific video game, at a very high level for a very long time, and so I get the amount of practice and determination in the way you get heated about stuff. Like when Three has that huge angry blow-up and storms off, I'm like, I've been that captain. And they were playing for real money, and they did win real money. And as we know some of these characters genuinely needed that money, so there was quite a bit on the line for them.

Nini

But you see here's the thing about this now, and we're, I guess, starting to delve into the parts of the show that I didn't really like. This stuff is happening mostly in the background, which is fine, like this stuff doesn't necessarily have to be foregrounded. But all of these emotions and all the things that go along with it, they're not given thematic heft in the story, and that's a complaint I have about some of the secondary plot points, and towards the end, even some of the primary plot points in the story. 

So, what didn't work for me? I don't know if I can talk about what didn't work for me without cussing New out, and I want to get like a good stretch of time to cuss New out. [both laugh]

Ben

Alright, so I guess I'll talk about some things that I really struggled with. I think the primary frustration I have with A Boss and a Babe is the problem I have with a lot of pulps. It feels like there are three or more pitches, that were haphazardly consolidated into a single script. Like, clearly they wanted New to do a workplace show. But someone else around them really wanted to do a show about gamers. And so they compromised by doing the gamer story as part of the friend group, and they made the workplace a game development studio. Okay. 

But the problem is that, like with so many of his scripts, I just don't think New cares about all of the things that he has to execute in the project? Like he always cares about the gay ideas, like—like Gun is a lonely gay man who is lonely because everybody intentionally misunderstands him and makes up stories about him? The sheer presence of constant homophobia, and the surveillance of being a rich dude who, anytime he does anything apparently makes the fucking papers is…like, totally palpable. And Cher responding to everyone in the village he grew up with thinking that he's the reason that his best friend, who he loved, died—is horrible! And I totally see him responding to that by projecting this aura of positivity and confidence as a way to cope. And like these ideas play out really well early on, but they don't really know what to do with the follow-through for that. 

And then on the other end of the weirdness with that is…the reality of what happens to Tian is not given the kind of focus and respect that I think it needs to in the story. And like, as always with this, like there are a lot of ideas I like. Like Thoop not really knowing how to deal with the fact that he is financially reliant on Cher, but not able to tell Cher about what happened because of a sense of loyalty? And then being mad at Cher for moving on from Tian, because he's carrying around a whole secret about Tian. He's being loyal to her memory. So Cher is not going to be loyal to her? Because he wants to go mess around with this dude? 

Like, I get it after the fact, but with so much of New’s stuff, I feel like I'm discovering the emotion of why I cared about this after it's resolved, not while it's building. That's the problem with A Boss and a Babe, is I'm constructing a functional narrative after the fact. And then there are bits that he uses that he just discarded. Like, Gun has huge feelings about the fact that he fell out with Thyme, and they have a couple of really ugly fights in the show that I thought were actually really well executed. But then, even after it's revealed that Thyme didn't really do anything wrong, there's not really any closure there for the audience on that particular plotline? And I'm like, why was Drake even in this show?

Nini

I feel like I have a very strong sense of who every one of the characters is, and what motivates them, what their goals are, what some of their dreams are, I feel like I have a very strong sense of who these characters are. And that's partially the writing and partially the acting, which is how you want it to be. But I feel like the story writing is at best inconsistent and at worst pretty weak. And I feel like that's New all over. I want to get to a point where we can really have the New discussion but I don't want to like, supersede the show discussion with the New discussion, even though they are related.

Ben

The question really is like what is A Boss and a Babe about? And it… is about too many different things. Like it doesn't really plant its feet anywhere. And that's what's really frustrating. Like, I can't really sum up the show, say, ‘this show is about a sad lonely gay man and the manic pixie dream boy that showed up at his job and fixed his life.’ Because like sure, that's kind of what happened, but it’s also not…it's difficult. 

Like there were a lot of complaints about the character writing being inconsistent in the show, and it isn't, it's the plotting that's inconsistent. They don't know what they want to put these characters through. There's this whole reveal about like the mole plot that's underpinning a big part of the season, and we thought that it made most sense for Jack to be the mole, and for there to be some sort of complicated history between Jack and Thyme. And I feel like that was definitely in the script at some point, and got yanked late, which is why Drake doesn't appear in the final episode.

Nini

You've given like one conception of what the show is about, which is Gun’s perspective. But if you flip it and look at it from like Cher’s perspective, the show is about a kid, who’s had a rough go of it, but decided to put on a brave face and tough it out, learning that he doesn't have to do that all the time? And being able to actually lean on somebody. Because even with his friends, like, Cher puts on this happy face, and it's only as time goes on, and he starts interacting with Gun and those walls start coming down, that he's even more open with his friends about certain things. That's another conception of what the story's about. 

Again, like you said, there are all these different conceptions of what this story’s about, but there isn't a definitive, ‘this is what the story is’ kind of idea. Even in the plots that should integrate but don't: Gun owns, Jack works at, and Cher is interning at a game development company; Cher and Jack and their friends are on a gaming team. And those things don't interact at all.

Ben

I thought there was going to be more about the digital age stuff, with the fact that Cher runs an ASMR channel, and that is just sort of like a throwaway to establish that Gun was maybe already curious about Cher, for other reasons?

Nini

And then they tie that back to like, what Cher and Tian wanted to do before everything went to shit, which was that they wanted to get into that whole like…digital content space, and then that just falls away?

Ben

What we have arrived at is, this is a script that could have done with maybe three more months of cooking.

Nini

It's not even just the amount of time. It's that [sigh] New—I'm sorry I'm just gonna have to go for it. Okay— 

Ben

Go for it, sweetie!

Nini

New Fucking Siwaj, man, like. I feel like New always does this to me. Now, Ben is a big fan of New Siwaj. I don't know that I would call myself a fan of New Siwaj, but I will say that New Siwaj to me is a very interesting auteur. And the reason that New Siwaj is an interesting auteur to me is that he has really solid ideas. I feel like…the things that he wants to talk about are things that need to be talked about, and the way that he conceives of them, and the way that he thinks about them, I think is really interesting, but. 

I want New to go to the gym. Do an upper body workout. So that he can carry his ideas further than he does. Because I don't know if his arms are weak, I don't know what it is, he just can't carry his ideas forward. He gets distracted by shiny things, he gets bored I think with some of his ideas like halfway through… You know what it is? It's that meme of drawing the horse, where the front end of the horse is like really detailed and like…

Ben

[laughs] And then he ran out of time.

Nini

…very well done, and then the back end of the horse is a stick drawing? That's how I feel about New Siwaj. I feel like he starts out with all the best intentions and he actually has really good ideas, and the things that he wants to talk about are interesting things that I would like to see portrayed in media and portrayed in these stories that he wants to tell. I feel like he then, once he has started doing it, he just wakes up one morning he goes “Eh” [laughs] 

And that's like it and then he’s just, like, phoning it in until the end—like that's how it feels, like all his work feels like that to me. And this is, to me, classic New Siwaj. Classic classic classic New Siwaj stuff. Because all the stuff that he normally wants to talk about? It's all here. New loves a sad gay. 

Ben

That's why he's my favorite.

Nini

New loves a love interest sort of barrelling in. New loves a supportive friend group. New loves a ‘figuring out and then discovering your sexuality’ story, where you're supported without being outed, where your friends are like ‘well we know, but until you tell us we don't know nothing.’ Like these are all hallmarks of New, if you look at all New Siwaj’s work, if you look at Love By Chance if you look at Until We Meet Again, if you look at My Only 12%—if you look at these things, A Boss and a Babe is very obviously a New Siwaj show. It fits in with all the themes that New Siwaj enjoys like exploring in his shows. 

And just as well as that, it is plagued by all the New Siwaj problems. He absolutely needs to collaborate because New on his own, he has great ideas but his execution is so spotty. New is great at a scene. Scene work? He's one of the masters. When I look at specific scenes, and then a number of those specific scenes, the scenes that he was really interested in getting right? And how he constructed them, and how he directed them, like I see the talent. But then, he puts those scenes together haphazardly, whether it's in an episode or an arc or in the entire story. It doesn't flow the right way. He can't construct, to me, anything longer than a scene. And then, I feel like he doesn't storyboard, so plot threads like, they come up and they go down and they disappear and they reappear and there's no throughline to a lot of the things. He loves third act left field bullshit which—why? Why, after I have gone through this story, we are now in the third act and something is coming that never was never a part of the discussion, suddenly coming in and taking over the whole story. 

I want to love New Siwaj's work. Because New Siwaj has good, interesting ideas. When he is actually interested in seeing those ideas through? He can do really well, and then also when he's collaborating with other people on his ideas? It works really well, because they temper the worst of his bullshit. But when it's just New playing in a sandbox by himself, it feels very dilettante. Sometimes he just feels like a bored rich kid. 

It's so upsetting! I want to shake him! I want to be like ‘Sir! Snap the fuck out of it, you can do this!’ [laughs] ‘You can do this, you just need to focus.’

Ben

I don't think it's about, like him needing to focus more or work harder. He feels like the usual issue that really talented and gifted people have? Of being so used to being able to do so much on their own, they don't know how to work with other people? Or ask for help at the things that they're maybe not that strong at. I don't know that he's a great collaborator because…since Make It Right, it's basically just been him doing his own thing. And I would really just like to see New either as a producer guiding a team, or working with people that he saw at his level, and being forced to cooperate with them more. 

Because you're correct, like, he starts strong but he doesn't finish strong. And that's what we'd love to see from his work for once. We usually love his work on the front end of some of the big ideas that are being constructed. Then we get to the back end and we're like oh my god what the hell is going on here? Episodic structure is incredibly important. Individual episodes have their own internal arcs that make those episodes distinct in the overall narrative. And A Boss and a Babe has none of that. Cannot tell you what happened on A Boss and a Babe episode by episode. One of the things that Nini and I are usually pretty good at is highlighting specific moments where they fit in the story. Nini tends to remember them by episode exactly. And we just don't have that with A Boss and a Babe, at all, like…we could not tell you when moments in this show happened.

Nini

One of the things that came up in the clown server when we were yelling at each other about the show is how…disarranged it feels? Even the things that we're mad about, like we’ve come to the conclusion that you could have kept all of the elements in the particular plotline—if you had just arranged them differently, the whole thing works better? 

Where things happen in the narrative is equally as important, maybe more important than what happens in the narrative. And part of the problem is that where things happen in the narrative is just screwed, and that's a storyboarding issue. In the pre-production phase, and in the post-production phase, I would love for there to be somebody sitting next to New who just says ‘no.’ Somebody who can just overrule him [laughs] on certain things about structure and organization? Because I think structure and organization are his real weaknesses in terms of his filmmaking. I don't think he lacks for ideas. I don't think he's untalented at the actual process of production? His shows always look good, they always sound good, the camera work, the scene work, it's always good. But the story's just…eugh! Need somebody to just yank them together. I would love to just recut this entire show.

Ben

The biggest thing for me is like, Jack needs to be the mole. And he and Thyme need to have been exes. Because the problem is, in a show about workplace romance, the side couple is used for gay things, not workplace things. Like Three and Zo are lovely, and I think Fluke and new baby Ohm are cute and have a good time, but they only work well for the romance between Gun and Cher. They don't really work well for the…questionable romance of doing something at work. And that's the part that's been really frustrating. 

The show is particularly irritating because…it's not great? I don't know that it's like, bad. Like, we've had worse shows.

Nini

I don't think it's a bad show.

Ben

But like, this show brought out some real frustration with me with fandom itself, in a way that I usually ignore, but I found myself super duper irritated about along the way. Some of the things I get frustrated about is people using the tools of criticism inappropriately, just to say they don't like something. Like you don't have to pathologize not liking something, rather than just saying it's not for you. Like, this show’s kind of a goofy mess, and…the character work is solid, but it never seems to be working with whatever the plotting is going on. There’s an easy way to say yeah, this show's just not that great. 

But the problem that happened for me with this show was, one of the big ideas in the show that they tried to hold on to for at least the first 3 or 4 episodes, was that people are going to perceive you a certain way, regardless of what you do or say. Like as soon as they look at you and go ‘you're gay,’ they're going to start using slurs for you in their head, and it doesn't matter…what you do or say at that point. They've decided who you are. There was a great moment in like the first episode where Cher cuts down these catty girls at work for being homophobic about Gun. And there's the whole notion about the way Cher’s village is wrong about him. 

And it was frustrating for me in a show that's being very loud about how people are not who we see them as in the brief bits we get about them—a fairly adult thing to maybe look at? And it was super frustrating to see the characters in the show just get reduced to like, ‘if Gun's a grumpy mean boss, why do we never see it?’ Like that's maybe the point. Maybe he's not a grumpy mean boss, and people are misunderstanding him and reading into minor interactions with him way too hard. And the same thing with Cher. Like, ‘why is Cher perfect?’ He's not perfect. He just doesn't acknowledge his own failure, and doesn't care about when he fails. It was genuinely really upsetting to see this done to, like explicitly queer characters? 

Because for me, it begs the question of: when do you love gay people? Do you only love us when we're funny? When we're bright, shiny and chrome? When we're entertaining? When we're sexy? What if we're not in a good mood, and we don't want to be sunshine for you today? And it feels like a lot of that got leveled against Gun’s character in a way that I personally took offense with. He wasn't an ideal gay, and so we have to dislike him, or pick apart his characterization—and it was the same for Cher. That he got stunted, in his sexuality, by everything that went wrong with Tian—which I think should have been like pulled out way sooner—and so he's discovering his queerness slowly and not really wanting to take a huge leap on that. 

I just feel like both of these characters were not given a lot of grace. It's not the first time I feel like fandom has really struggled with complicated gay characters. And it's becoming a sticking point for me and is making me kind of sore, in some of the interactions we have around here.

Nini

I too am always annoyed by misuse of the tools of critique and criticism, because I am a person for whom words mean things? [laughs] And so, when you say things like ‘the writing's bad.’ I'm like okay well, you're saying that the writing's bad. So like tell me, okay, what are the markers of bad? Is it inconsistent? Show me where it's inconsistent. Is it this thing? Show me where it's this thing. 

I can always accept, ‘yeah I just didn't like it.’ I mean I'm not saying I'm not going to judge you, [laughs] but I can accept ‘I just didn't like it, wasn't for me.’ Okay fine! I cannot accept, ‘because I didn't like it, it must be bad.’ I do not like that, I've never liked that, because to me it just feels intellectually dishonest? It feels intellectually dishonest to look at something that perhaps you don't like, or more often that you don't understand, and to say ‘because I don't like it, it must be bad.’ We don't really talk a lot about fandom on this show, but I think, around A Boss and a Babe, like, it got to me? 

I'm an adult, people's opinions are their opinions, I try not to let people's opinions piss me off, but I got quite pissed off. [laughs]

Ben

Generally I think people are allowed to be wrong on the internet. And I usually try to just be like, whatever, someone's just being wrong on the internet. It was frustrating for me this time because, there are messy parts of this show, but one of the clear ideas is that Gun is a gay man and the world has made him feel lonely. And it was so upsetting to see fandom be just so mean to him. I don't usually be like, ‘oh no leave my blorbo alone,’ like, I'm rarely that person. This is like, the first time that's really happening to me, I was like, ‘why are we being so harsh to a character who's just enamored with the manic pixie dream boy who thinks he's a little too severe and is determined to make sure he has a good day?’ When’s the last time someone cared if Gun had a good day? 

The takes felt really unkind. And I did not like that at all. Is this how you feel about the rest of us? I don't get to interact with a lot of other boys in fandom all the time, but goddamn y'all! Is this how you feel about gay people? Shit!

Nini

It felt reductive, and I don't like taking a character where the complexity is there, and reducing that character to some kind of archetype in your head, because this is what you feel like you were promised.

Ben

The show makes a whole point about how people are gonna actively misperceive you. And like, we were so close to getting it. They're like, ‘the show keeps saying that he's a mean bad boss but I don't see it’ and I'm like ‘you're so close, come on. Come on! You got this.’

[both laugh]

Nini

I think that there's one choice that was made that, if that choice had gone differently, I think it would have rammed home the theme better? And that would have been, if they had actually followed through on the Thyme thing. Because the thing that was coming through to me in the writing, and I think you and I talked about this—Thyme felt righteous, which made us think that we're going to see that he was also being misperceived? And that just sort of fell away.

Ben

That's another real disappointment. It's why like I gave the show a 7. Like it's very watchable, and I think the characters are amusing enough, and the work is fine, but like—not completing the Thyme storyline, losing the thread about how perception impacts you—and like you said, like, we had a team of gamers and a gaming company. And not a single crossover really felt like it happened between that? Feels like a huge missed opportunity.

Nini

I think it was episode 8 or 9 when I think things started to go off the rails.

Ben

It was when they had like the whole, like, Cher’s not talking to me, I'm gonna go talk to him right now. I'm like ‘oh I like that,’ and then he pulls Cher into the bathroom and they have a reconciliation, and then they get outed and they're like ‘oh no, new problem!’ and then like, ‘my mom is here now, she solved it!’ Wait: what? How? Who did she kill? [laughs] 

And then…and [laughs] and then they're like ‘okay so I guess we're done with that, all right, I'm going to break up with him now.’ Wait—wait a minute!

Nini

Around episode 9 is when the shit started, basically. But up until then, I felt like I had a clear sense of the narrative, I felt like I understood what the show wanted to say, I felt like the directions they were going in made sense. And I feel almost like the rug got pulled at that point. There's still stuff in those later episodes, mostly the stuff between Gun and Cher—when it's not being yanked around for narrative purposes—there's still stuff in there that feels really legit and emotionally honest. Like in the later episodes, I think 10, 11, and 12, Gun and Cher’s, like, physical and emotional relationship? 

Aside from all the, like I said, narrative yanking around, it felt really grounded, really solid, like every time I saw them in a scene together I felt connected to it. And I understood where it was going. And then in between those, like all kinds of weird decisions got made.

[both laugh]

Ben

Speaking of like, good scenes with Cher and Gun. The scene that I think I liked the most from them—was again like, when we talk about New is good at a scene, like this is a scene he's been wanting to do for a long time—it was Cher taking initiative in bed, where they have like married sex?

Nini

That was such a good scene.

Ben

And there was a really great delivery of—what's the line? It's like, ‘Is it okay if I start it?’

Nini

Gun is like, “You're starting it?” and Cher is like “Can I?”

Ben

Yes! And like, that was such a layered line. It was…really fascinating, to see them negotiating what sex was going to mean for them. And there's a great delivery later, where Gun in his afterglow is being especially affectionate with Cher, and Cher’s like ‘you always say that whenever we're doing it’ and he's like ‘and I mean it when we're not doing it too.’ 

And that's again, a line that I really loved, of New trying to hammer home that—like sex as intimacy does not mean that it's only about that particular component. He's got a lot of deep ideas about the way gay sex is perceived, and how that impacts the real intimacy going on in people's lived relationships, that I was like, ‘I'm really into this’ but as always with New, like I'm really into the ideas he has about being a gay man, because he and I are about the same age. So like, everything he's thinking about I'm also thinking about.

Nini

The way that New interprets sex and intimacy—he uses sex within intimacy, not intimacy within sex? Watching Gun and Cher be physically intimate. It's not hot? But it feels very loving. It feels very married, it feels very settled, it feels very much like coming home in a way? It feels like the characters are really having a great time. Even though, I'm not in that great time exactly with them, if you know what I mean? Like I look at it like, ‘awww!’ I look on fondly. It's like, y'all really love each other and y'all are having so much fun. But it's not hot. 

Aside from like the lived-in-ness and the lovingness of the intimacy between Gun and Cher, one of the things I really enjoy is just looking at Cher’s journey with his sexuality and with his comfort with physical intimacy. Because he does go along a journey that I think is very well depicted in the show. The first time they kiss it's incredibly awkward, because nobody intended to kiss anybody. It just kind of became like a dare, and a dare, and a dare, and then they did it and then he was just like ‘oh! do I…like this?’ And then the next time you see them be intimate in any way he's like ‘I think I like this.’ And then the next time there is a sense of, ‘I definitely like this’ and the last time you see them it's like, ‘yeah, gimme that body.’ It's a very interesting way to map the progression of Cher's comfort in himself, and also the progression of time. Because that's another problem I have with this show, is that I cannot measure the passage of time in any way in the show. It's horrendous.

Ben

Gun is being really patient in a way that I thought was really endearing, like you could feel the gay age gap there. They're not that different in age, but Gun has known himself longer, and you can see him giving Cher the time and space he needs to sort where he falls out on this. Like there's that moment when he kisses Cher in bed—he asks if he can kiss Cher and they kiss—and he asks if he can do more. And that is really sweet; there's a balancing line there. Guns like ‘I'm not a sexless dude, there's a lot of things I want to do with you, but I'm excited to see what you want to do too.’ And I just really liked the way that unfolds. 

Like sometimes when they do sexual awakening in movies and shit, they put a lot of emphasis on that single encounter, and this becomes like this huge movement for them. I like that Cher needed to try gay intimacy multiple times to sort himself out. Because it was also his first encounter period, so he's also working through, what does sex feel like for him? And I wish we'd have spent more time on that.

Nini

I feel like I am good with what we got, because I feel like it got the point across? Yes, more would have been good, but I don't feel like I was missing anything.

Ben

I get you.

Nini

I feel like I understood where they were going with that and it landed well. I understood the point of it, I felt the progression, and I enjoyed it. I also like the way that Gun played it as well. In the early episodes one of the things that I really like, is that Gun gives Cher this space to unpack all the feelings that he had about Tian. He not only listens, but he also offers Cher the comfort of saying, ‘you loved her, she loved you, you were good for her.’ 

So much of BL there's that idea that, when you find your great love, none of your other loves mattered. And one of the things I really like about this show is that it says well no, your other loves did matter, they do matter. Not because they ended, did they cease to matter or never really mattered. They mattered to you, they shaped you, they were important to you. And I like that, not only that the show invests in that idea, but that the characters invest in that idea as well.

Ben

I liked early on that Gun was explicitly touch-repulsed.

Nini

I don't think he was! I think he said that, but I—again, one of those things. I don't think he actually was.

Ben

But like, it's a gay thing. He actually does enjoy touching quite a bit, but impacted by homophobia where you have to pass. And so you don't want people touching you, particularly boys. It never ends well. You end up touch-starved as a result, because you never touch anyone. But you tell people you don't want to be touched, because it prevents you from having uncomfortable moments with people that you just don't feel like managing. 

That's probably when I first fell in love with Gun. Because I was like oh, baby boy, come on now. [laughs]

Nini

I fell in love with Cher from the beginning. He is so fierce, from the beginning, about saying to Gun: ‘I am not repulsed by you. I care about you.’ This is somebody that he doesn't really know. The kindness in the way that Cher lives his life—because everybody has been so unkind to him—the radical kindness that he's expending in his life. He's reaching out to the CEO of his company just because he seems sad, and he's like ‘you don't have to be sad with me, it's okay, I like you, even if nobody else does.’ There's something about that that really touches some of the deepest parts of me. I had a very visceral, very emotional reaction to that, and that's when I like really fell in love with Cher.

Ben

It's really frustrating with this show, because there is some really interesting stuff established on the front end. I'm like ‘really excited to see where some of this goes!’ and it didn't go anywhere that we thought was really enjoyable or cogent. And there were a lot of messy bits. But man like, Cher and Gun, Three and Zo, Tub, Jack, Oi…even Thyme, and Porsche? There were really, really great established characters. 

Like we've talked on this podcast before about how, when a show ends I can't remember the name of the leads. But I have a strong recall of the names of these characters, because I think they had really distinct voices that I thought played well with each other. That is a strong point about this show. 

The big thing that I think is a big part of the discussion now: A Boss and a Babe kind of used their workplace setting as backdrop, not really as a dramatic tool for generating scenarios for drama? What do we actually want from workplace BL?

1:26:09 - Cheewin vs. New

Nini

All right, Ben, so now we've talked about Bed Friend, and we've talked about A Boss and a Babe and we had a lot to say about New when we talked about A Boss and a Babe, but we didn't talk so much about Cheewin when we were talking about Bed Friend. 

So let's give the people a little insight into Cheewin. How would you describe Cheewin's work?

Ben

Man…[sighs] Like I keep getting caught up in how Cheewin and New very much have really strong feelings about the same stuff. I think Cheewin leans more into being like, a chaos gay than New does? Cheewin also seems to care a lot about including femmes. He loves his femmes. And he seems to enjoy comedy I think, a lot more than New does. New really loves big cry your heart out dramas. That's probably the biggest divergence that I've noticed with them. 

Like I think Bed Friend's a little bit different for me with Cheewin, because it's far more s—like, seriously toned than I'm used to seeing him stick with the whole time? He doesn't undercut any of his dramatic tension with a lot of goofy comedy.

Nini

I don't know necessarily that you could say that he doesn't, because I think some of the parts of Bed Friend that we noted sort of stuck out like a sore thumb were when Cheewin tried to do comedy. Cheewin seems to tend more towards a comedic bent; New loves a sad gay. [Ben laughs] 

The other direction I think in which they've diverged has been in terms of their approaches to…sex and heat? Cheewin's work is very high heat stuff, most of the time, and New is the exact opposite. The way that New uses sex is very different from the way that Cheewin uses sex to tell stories.

Ben

I would agree, I think New is a little bit more precious about it than Cheewin is? [laughs] To put it mildly. But I think Cheewin…uses sex really well in the work. Like it's fascinating just seeing the two of them after all of these years, like I was not expecting both of them to release workplace set shows in the same year, so that we could sit here and compare them? 

I think in both cases, like you can see some of the things that they both fall into, like—I don't necessarily know that they both cared about their workplace the whole time? Like, the workplace served as a starting point to tell a bunch of their stuff. But then it becomes about the other stuff, and the workplace stuff falls away. Other than the plotline with the manager with Uea, the workplace of Bed Friend mostly serves as an impetus to make the characters interact in public, in front of other people. And we talked at length about how A Boss and a Babe does not necessarily maximize the potential of its workplace setting.

Nini

I would argue that both shows cared to some extent about their workplace setting, because there were plot lines that happened that could have only happened in the workplace setting. But Cheewin’s show focuses on peers, co-workers. Same age, same level of responsibility, nobody's above another. Whereas, I don't feel like New necessarily wanted to explore a power dynamic, because he demolishes any power dynamic between Cher and Gun fairly quickly. I don't really have a sense of why New went for the boss/employee.

Ben

I think New wanted a reason for them to be a bit careful about how they handled those sort of things? But I gotta be honest, in terms of doing workplace storytelling, I kind of like when there isn't like a huge gap separating the people from each other? And so we can focus more on why these two particular people either like or don't like each other right out of the gate? I thought that that was a lot more interesting to play with, like I liked that Uea was resistant to King because he thought King was unreliable and a player.

Nini

There's so much to compare in terms of the stories, and granted these are both adaptations from novels, so these are not original stories. But there have been some changes made to the novels’ stories by these auteurs. And I look to the changes to see where the auteurs might have wanted to say certain things, or what parts of the story they bring to the surface, versus the parts of the story that they leave in the background or they jettison. 

It’s really interesting for me that Bed Friend is a more or less faithful retelling of the Bed Friend story. There are one or two changes, but Bed Friend more or less is a largely faithful adaptation of its novel. I have not read the Boss and a Babe novel, but from what I gather, more changes were made to that than Cheewin made to Bed Friend.

Ben

I think because Cheewin was dealing with a story about a survivor, he may have felt more of a sense of duty to not making too many changes to that? To not undercut or erase what the original character went through.

Nini

That makes a lot of sense. 

Overall, I just find it so fascinating — these two guys worked together on Love Sick and Make it Right, then went in completely different directions. And I kind of want to see what they do next, if they're going to find themselves somehow aligning again, or if they're going to now completely diverge.

Ben

It's really fascinating just thinking about these two, because they start off in the school room where a lot of early BL is, and now both of them are very much pushing their work beyond those settings. Like you can feel them growing up inside of their work as well. 

Both of these guys are very good, working on the drama within the romance. Like these guys still have incredibly potent ideas about how the formative experiences that queer men go through have lasting impacts on them. And that's been fascinating to see them continuing to do even as they get older. Like neither of those guys have lost that, and that continues to be the things that I notice the most in their work.

Nini

That is going to wrap us up on Work, Bitch! Our workplace romance episode. All right! We out. Say bye to the people, Ben.

Ben

Peace!

#bed friend #a boss and a babe #lgbtq #podcast #thai bl #the conversation #ben and nini's conversations #on art #season 3 #summer 2023 #summer series #new siwaj #cheewin tanamin #Spotify

[billybennet]

Plus One Chapter 3

Jean-Ralphio Saperstein x reader

Summary: You have been secretly dating Jean-Ralphio for a while… How will the parks department take it when you bring him to Leslie and Ben's wedding?

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3

Masterlist

A/N: this is not canon compliant

It had been over a year of you seeing Jean-Ralphio steadily, but you had yet to let him or yourself tell anyone about what was going on. Even Tom didn’t know yet. 

“Gather around everyone!” Leslie announces, stepping into the office. She hands out envelopes to everyone.

“What are these?” Larry asks.

“Open them!” Leslie urges. You all do as told, and inside you find wedding invitations. 

“Oh my god!” you and Ann exclaim, rushing to give Leslie a hug. Leslie laughs almost maniacally. You examine the invitation again and notice that the RSVP is only for one person. You bite your lip, “Leslie, can I talk to you?” you step to the side.

“Yeah, of course!” the two of you step outside the office, “Is something wrong? Can you not make it?” 

“No no no, actually I was just wondering if I could have a plus one?”

“What?” Leslie looks around helplessly. “Do you have a boyfriend?”

You mull that over in your mind for a second, “Kind of, I don’t know, but I want to introduce him to you guys.”

Leslie smiles widely, almost mischievously. “Yeah, of course, I’ll tell Ben.”

~°✷°~~°✷°~~°✷°~~°✷°~~°✷°~~°✷°~~°✷°~~°✷°~~°✷°~~°✷°~

Leslie and Ben’s wedding was quickly approaching and you had yet to invite Jean-Ralphio or tell him of your plans.

The two of you sat on the couch in your apartment, eating take out and watching bad reality tv, when you turned to him, “Jean-Ralphio…”

“Yes baby?” he had taken to calling you every pet name in the book. 

“What would you think of going to Leslie’s wedding with me?”

“I didn’t get an invite,” he frowned.

“No, I mean like, you would be my plus one.”

He perked up at this, “Really? So we’d go, like, together?”

“That’s what I said isn’t it?” you giggle.

He sits up and presses a firm kiss to your lips, “Would we get to tell people about us?” You nod, “Tom?”

“Yes, but not til the wedding,” you press a firm finger to his chest. He nods excitedly, pulling you into another kiss. 

~°✷°~~°✷°~~°✷°~~°✷°~~°✷°~~°✷°~~°✷°~~°✷°~~°✷°~~°✷°~

You fussed over Jean-Ralphio’s shirt collar, trying to steady yourself for the wedding. What would they think? What would Ron think? Jean-Ralphio leans down and places a kiss on your nose, before pulling away to jump up and down excitedly. 

You smile at him, “Ready?”

“Ready,” he slips his hand into yours, dragging you out the door. 

You look around in awe at the venue which is decorated with red and white flowers and accents. It’s very tasteful yet pretty. You attempt to release your hand from Jean-Ralphio’s grip to wipe the sweat from your palm, but he squeezes it tightly. You spot April and Andy sitting near the front, and tug Jean-Ralphio down the aisle to the few open seats next to them.

“Heyy,” you say nervously as you approach. 

“Y/N and… Jean-Ralphio, heyyy,” April says stalely. 

You scooch down the row to the open seats. 

“Jean-Ralphio?” you hear Tom before you see him. 

“Hey! Tommy-T!”

“What are you doing here? I thought Leslie didn't invite you?”

“She didn't! I’m here with Y/N though!” he points to you excitedly. 

“Whaaat?” Tom exclaims.

“What?” Ron states from down the aisle, you turn, mouth agape as you try to form an answer or explanation, but you come up with nothing. 

“Ron-” Ben interjects, having arrived at the same time as Ron. 

“This imbecile?” 

“I-” you start.

“Ron, not today please,” Ben pleads. Ron grunts and proceeds to sit in the front row. 

“What's going on?” Andy asks, causing April to smack him on the arm. 

At the reception tensions were high between you and Ron. You almost clung to Jean-Ralphio more than he clung to you. 

“So like, when did this,” Tom gestures between the two of you, “happen?”

You turn to Jean-Ralphio, opening your mouth to speak, but he beat you to it, “Well this little hottie first caught my eye at the Snakehole-”

“It’s been about a year,” you cut him off.

“A year? How have you kept this from me for a year?” Tom asks, more directed at Jean-Ralphio. 

“Well I wouldn't be able to bang her if I told you, so it was a pretty easy choice,” he grins down at you. You look back up at him and shake your head, smiling. 

“Awwe you two are so cuteee,” Leslie coos. 

You hug her, congratulating her again on the wedding. Then hug Ben, “Thank you again for keeping this a secret.”

“Of course,” Ben smiles at you. 

“Ben knew?!” Tom exclaims. 

“Accidentally,” you explain.

“I knew it would work out with the two of you, you're meant to be together,” Ben says, pulling Leslie into his side tightly. 

“I disagree,” Ron pipes up as he approaches the group. “I think you are making a terrible mistake,” he directs at you. 

You falter, looking down at the ground. “Oh c'mon Mr. Swanson,” Jean-Ralphio punches his arm lightly. 

“No son, you listen to me, you have been nothing but a horrible friend and business partner to Tom, and I don't expect you'll act any differently towards Y/N, so I suggest you leave before you ruin her future.” Everyone pauses, looking between Ron and you.

“Do you think I’d bring him here if I didn't see a future with him?” you look up at Ron, but your vision blurs.

Jean-Ralphio turns to a caterer quickly, whispering, “Do you have anything circular? Like a ringolo? Ouh! Or a ring pop? A ring pop would be perfect!” The caterer walks away, shaking her head. 

“You’re throwing your life away,” Ron states. 

You felt the floodgates open, rushing off to find the nearest bathroom or corner to cry in.

“Y/N,” Jean-Ralphio tries to grab your arm but you slip right through his fingers, he looks at Ron with sad eyes. 

“Not cool Ron,” Leslie scolds, running after you. April and Andy had been keeping their distance, but when you and Leslie passed, April was quick to follow.

“Did you really have to do that now ?” Ben asks Ron. 

“I can't let her do that to herself,” He gestures at Jean-Ralphio.

“You know she loves him, right? And there's no way you'll change her mind on that.”

“She doesn't love him,” Ron dismisses. 

“She's been hiding her relationship with him for almost 2 years, because she was scared of what people would say, and you just made her worst fear come true. Think about that.” Ben walks away.

You find a bench outside in a secluded enough place and let the tears fall. 

“Y/N,” you hear Leslie say in a soft voice, as she rubs you back soothingly.

“Don't listen to Ron,” April grabs your hands in hers, “He's a stupid man.”

You laugh a little through your blubbering. 

“It’s true, Ron doesn’t know anything about your guys’ relationship, none of us do.”

“Well I know that that fool knows enough about you to get your stupid hard coffee order right,” April says, which makes your heart swell with love. “Annndd that he somehow managed to get you to ditch my wedding.”

You look up, shocked, “How did you know?”

April shrugs, “I put it together after the coffee incident… You were acting weird that night.”

You laugh, full and hearty. 

“See? Ron doesn't know anything!” Leslie says, standing abruptly. “Now let's get back in there, and tell him that you're not giving up on love.”

You release one of your hands from Aprils, and reach out to squeeze Leslies. “Okay.”

When you returned to the reception the men had scattered. You spot Tom getting a drink at the bar and split from the girls. “Where's Jean-Ralphio?” you ask him. 

“I don't know! I feel like I don't know anything about him anymore!” Tom sighs. 

“Tom, you still know him better than anyone, and it was my fault he couldn't tell you. I really held it over his head that I would end it if he said anything.”

“I know, but still! I feel betrayed…” he downs his drink.

“C'mon,” you loop your arm through his, “let's dance.” You drag Tom to the dance floor as Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance With Somebody plays. The two of you dance for a few songs, and you have so much fun you almost forget the ordeal. 

Then the music stops abruptly, “Can I have everyone's attention please?” you lift your head at the sound of a familiar voice. “I just wanted to say- what a lovely wedding, congrats to Leslie and Ben! And also… Y/N…” Jean-Ralphio starts, “This past year and 8 months have been incredible, and I don't just mean the sex, I mean, you have made me a better person, and you make me want to continue to get better.”  It feels like your heart is beating out of your chest. “For you, I want to be better for you, and as a promise that I will do that, I want to ask you,” he hops down from the stage and into the crowd, stopping in front of you and getting on one knee, “Will you marry me? Cuz you really the beeesssst!” he sings the last part. You look at him, then the ‘ring’ in his hand, then back at him. The crowd holds their breath. 

“Yes.” Jean-Ralphio jumps up, the crowd cheering as he tackles you in a hug and peppers you with kisses, you giggling away. 

“Here,” he grabs your hand.

“Is that a napkin ring?” you ask. 

“Yeah- but I'll get you a real one! I just gotta talk to my dad- you know how he is…” he rambles, but you stop him by pulling him into a deep kiss. 

“Let me do the talking.” Jean-Ralphio nods in response.

#jean ralphio saperstein x reader #jean ralphio saperstein #parks and rec #ben schwartz

[episodicnostalgia]

Star Trek, 106 (Oct. 13, 1966) - “Mudd's Women”

Production order #04

The Breakdown

Captain Kirk sees a small ship flying around that he doesn’t recognize, so he decides to play space-cop and harass it until it’s engines burn out; this results in the vessel’s destruction, while severely draining the Enterprise’s own reserves.  Apparently Kirk’s instincts are correct though, as the ship’s captain is revealed to be a shifty moustachioed tasteless-Irish-caricature, which (in accordance with 1960’s standards and practices) means he is also not to be trusted.  The individual’s name is Harry Mudd (initially going by the alias Leo Walsh), and a quick investigative hearing reveals that he’s a small time ex-con flying without a licence.  While this latest infraction is enough to convict him, it’s Mudd’s “cargo” that creates real complications.  You see, before he was interrupted by Kirk, ol’ Harry was in the process of transporting three TOTAL HOTTIES to some planet where they could find a husband.  These women aren’t just your average babes though, they are so hot that literally EVERY man on board is pitching a tent just looking at them (save for Spock).  Indeed, the men are so horny that they’re unable to form complete sentences; even the ship’s computer notices. 

So what’s causing every male crew-member to reach cartoonish levels of sexual arousal? Perhaps the women are Orions in disguise? Mind control probes? Telepathic manipulation?  None of the above. It turns out all three ladies are just taking pills that bring out their “full sexual potential”, and (as we know) men can’t be held accountable for their actions when in the presence of a leggy dame operating at 100% babe-fficiency. You see, normally each of these women are naturally HIDEOUS …which is to say they’re still gorgeous, but with no make-up, and perhaps in need of a slightly better skincare routine (at most).  Without the drug none of these gals would ever be able to catch a man on their own, since apparently the 23rd century has attained even more unrealistic beauty standards than the ones we presently have.

The rest of the episode follows kirk as he tries to negotiate with some miners for the crystals he needs to power the Enterprise.  Since kirk’s security measures are apparently non-existent, Mudd is able to remotely broker a deal with the miners, bartering his freedom in exchange for his mail-order brides (should Kirk refuse to let Mudd go, the miners would withhold the crystals etc).  Since the miners are all jonesing to get laid, they agree to Mudd’s conditions, leaving Kirk no choice but to play along.  From there things get more ridiculous as Eve (one of the ladies in question) runs off, presumably sick of lying/being treated like a piece of meat.  She quickly gets lost in a sand storm until Ben (the lead Miner) finds her, and brings her back to his place.  But when Eve’s beauty-treatment wears off, Ben is appalled by her slightly dry skin (as anyone would be).  Cue Captain Kirk, who shows up with Mudd just in time to clue everyone in about the truth of the future brides’ condition (using one of the pills on eve as a demonstration of Mudd’s ruse).  It’s only when Eve’s beauty is restored that Kirk reveals the pill had been swapped with a placebo.  We are told that the only thing Eve ever truly needed to be beautiful was the confidence to believe in herself, which doesn’t explain how her acne cleared up in mere seconds, but that’s all we’re gonna get.  This explanation is apparently good enough for her and Ben to talk things out from there, and presumably live happily ever after on a remote planet with no available marriage counsellors, or even other people.  Ben arranges to give Kirk the Crystals he needs to power the Enterprise, and everyone parts ways (except for Mr. Mudd, who will be handed over to the rightful authorities)

The Verdict

There are so many things to unpack in ‘Mudd’s Women’, and I certainly don’t expect to do a thorough job of it here, nor have I the interest. It’s clear that the intention behind this episode is to highlight something about inner-beauty over physical vanity, but it badly misses the mark while spewing forth one outdated stereotype after the next.  Most of the missteps are all pretty obvious, ranging from a depiction of women whose worth are all dependant on finding a husband, to the portrayal of leering men being openly regarded as nothing more than natural and unavoidable (Mudd all but invokes the phrase “boys will be boys”).  Additionally, Harry Mudd’s Irish brogue would almost certainly be regarded as offensive and in poor taste if this were made today, which is doubtless why Rainn Wilson opted to forgo that particular characteristic when he portrayed Mudd on ‘Discovery’.

I will concede that most episodes from a series filmed nearly 60 years ago are bound have some problematic elements, but some are more egregious than others, and ‘Mudd’s Women’ belongs in that categorization.  Perhaps if the episode had been more clever I might have given it points towards entertainment value and creativity, but even there I found the whole ordeal almost as dull as it was silly.  Oh well, you can’t win ‘em all.

½ a star (out of 5)

Additional Observations

This is the first time (according to production order) that we get to see Spock ‘n Bones verbally sparring, which is the only reason I didn’t give this episode a 0 star rating.

Uhuru’s still in gold, and the universe remains as-of-yet out of balance.

The Episode opens with kirk being like “We’re chasing a vessel because it’s suspiciously running away when we chase it”.  But like, who wouldn’t?  Do Starfleet vessels even have the authority to perform random searches of independent starships?  Perhaps they do and I’d just forgotten, but I’d just as easily chalk this one up to a case of “the writers were making it up as they went”.

Harry’s relationship with “his” women feels very human trafficky, which was apparently a concern raised by the studio when the script was put forth as a potential candidate for the pilot. This matter is addressed with several lines of dialogue which establish that each of the women are traveling with Mudd of their own volition, but I’d still characterize their relationship with him as suspicious, at best.

#star trek the original series #star trek production order #mudd's women #retro review #star trek review #Harcourt Fenton Mudd #harry mudd #star trek tos #star trek #captain kirk #james t kirk #spock #bones mccoy #60s tv series #60s tv #60s tv shows #classic television #THAT hasn't aged well #episodic nostalgia

[the-entitie]

One of the things I will always love The Amazing Spider-Man for is the movie's depiction of Flash.

Don't get me wrong, the other renditions have thier merit but consider:

When Peter just got his power, just started feeling powerfully, just became stereotypically attractive, just got his eyes fixed, just starting to get his life together, just got everything he could wish for in his analytical mind. Ben dies.

He loses another Father, no matter how inconsequential, no matter how hard he tried to do something, he missed it.

Then the whole Flash and Peter fight over 'blonde hottie' and yes cliché but,

Peter has flash by the collar, up off his feet, and is so fucking angry. At himself, at loosing, at the death, and at that greedy money hungry fighting boss but Flash says one thing.

"Makes you feel better, doesn't it?"

Something along those lines,

1- This makes Flash a complex character. Yes, he is now "the abuser becoming the abused." but it's also the complete opposite for Peter, who becomes "the abused become the abuser" and as horrid and morbid as that alone is (and as much of it is bull) it makes Flash a real fleshed out character. He isn't cracking knuckles, making bruises, drawing blood, or being harmful and angry because it's fun. It makes him feel better. It probably made the people who raised him feel better.

2- In some way or another, Flash understands pain. Whether the pain he causes or the pain of grief. And the way he copes, or uses that fear, that grief, that anger, that useless feeling of 'why didn't I stop it?' By creating more pain he can control. So Flash is sympathetic. He is giving Peter the release he needed.

3- He could have been taught this reaction. Maybe it's generational. So he sees his overworked and sad parent hurt him, or his environment and somewhere somehow it helped Flash when he did it. Maybe it's from something else, but he is creating and / or continuing a cycle of abuse.

4- [it isn't that deep, and Flash is just Sadistic and likes seeing pain.] Point still stands, but you know.

And all it took was one line.

#tasm #the amazing spider man #flash #peter parker #spiderman #not_writing #authors_notes

[canirove]

Red & Blue | Chapter 18

Previous chapter | Next chapter

Masterlist

6 months later...

"I can't believe I'm actually doing this."

"You'll be fine, don't worry" Aaron says, putting his hands on my shoulders. "Just take a deep breath. Inhale... Exhale."

"It doesn't work."

"You've only done it once."

"Whatever" I say, getting free of his hands and starting to walk in circles again. "Why am I so nervous?"

"Well, you only get married once" he shrugs.

"If you are lucky" I reply.

"You and Mason are."

"If you say so..."

"If you are not sure about it, we can always run away and go back to the hotel."

"I don't think they'll allow that. Did you see the officiant? He looks like he would run after us and bring us back."

"He looked a bit scary, yes. And that's our cue" Aaron says, the music starting to play. "Shall we?" he says, offering me his arm.

"Let's do this" I say, taking a deep breath before walking into the small chapel.

A Vegas wedding. I can't believe they all convinced me to do it.

"It isn’t a real wedding" Leah said. "Think about it as a big party before the season properly starts, an opportunity for everyone to dress fancy."

And they all have indeed chosen some very fancy outfits. Since both Arsenal and Chelsea teams did the pre-season in the US, the guests are a mix of their men and women teams, friends and teammates all together on our last free day before going back to England.

"You look beautiful" Mason says when I make it to where he is standing, Leah by his side.

"You look very handsome yourself" I reply.

"Alrighty, let's start this party" the scary officiant dressed as Elvis says. "We are gathered here today to marry these two hotties. But before we get into the actual business, does anyone have anything to say against this union?"

"Chilly, I can't see what is going on. Can you move the camera a bit more, bro?" Declan says somewhere. He isn't here, his team doing pre-season in Europe, and Ben is facetiming him so he doesn't miss it.

"Should I ignore that?" the officiant asks.

"Yes, keep going" Mason says, trying not to laugh.

"Okie dokie. So, British dude. Do you take this hot British chick as your future wife?"

"I do" he says with a smile that is all dimples.

"British chick, do you take this British dude as your future husband?"

"I do" I say, trying not to think much about it.

"Great!" the officiant says, clapping his hands. "Do you have rings?"

"Oh, yes" Leah says. Because she actually took us to a jewelry shop this morning to get some wedding bands.

"Then go ahead, dude. Make her your Sam. Or your Frodo. Whatever you like best."

"I am the Sam of the relationship" I say, offering Mason my right hand. We don't want to wear them on the left and have people talking about it.

"Then I guess I'm the one who saves the world" he says, giving me his hand.

"Debatable" the officiant says. "But, by the power the State of Nevada and the online course I took have given me, I now pronounce you wife and husband! Ladies first" he winks. "You may make out!"

After that, Mason and I kiss, and everyone in the chapel stars clapping and cheering.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━    

"Should we start calling you Mrs. Mount?" Aaron asks with a teasing smile.

"I'm not changing my last name. Fake wedding or not" I say.

"Yes girl!" someone that sounds like Kai says. We are celebrating at a club, everyone scattered around.

"What about the kids?" Aaron asks again. "Will they have both your last names? Can I be the godfather on one of them? I know Declan and Mason's brother also are options, but..."

"I think I preferred you when you kept making jokes about our sexual life" I say.

"Oh, I'm gonna keep making those, don't worry. But now that you are married..."

"Fake married, Aaron. Fake.”

"Words. It doesn't matter. Are you moving in together? A married couple should live together. And..."

"Mason, can we leave, please?" I say, ignoring Aaron's rant. "I love him and I don't want to have to kill him or something. Not on our fake wedding day."

"We could call a taxi and go back to the hotel. Start our wedding night."

"That sounds perfect."

"Wait, where are you going?" Aaron asks as Mason and I get up from the sofa where we were sitting.

"Back to the hotel. We must practice how to make those babies you want to be the godparent of" I say.

"Oh, yes. Yes, yes, yes. Enjoy your wedding night" he winks.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━    

"I don't think we are gonna have a wedding night" I say, resting my head on Mason's shoulder, the movement of the car making me feel very sleepy.

"I don't need one. And it's a fake wedding, remember?" he says, kissing my head.

"It is."

"We can have a wedding morning, tho."

"We'll see" I say, trying not to yawn. "If you bring me breakfast in bed..."

"Deal" he chuckles.

"Good. Now I'm gonna take a nap. Wake me up when we make it to the hotel" I say, curling on my seat.

"I will. Good night, fake wife."

"Good night, fake husband."

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━    

#mason mount #mason mount imagine #mason mount x reader #mason mount fanfic #football fanfic #football imagine

[loveourfuture-c]

benvi s4: who's gonna confess first and why is it devi

Listen it is so going to be Devi. Not only does it show that she is actively choosing Ben but it also shows how much she has grown.

One of Devi’s big fears is abandonment, of loving someone so much only to have them leave. When her dad died it not only hurt her extremely deeply because she loves her dad so much, and she lost her father; Devi also watched her mom lose the love of her life.

Devi’s whole cheating thing in season 2 wasn’t born out of a selfish desire to have two boyfriends, it was born out of the FEAR of getting too attached to one of them before having to leave. (Also distraction from her grief and trying to cope with another sudden upheaval of her life but that is for another post).

Loving someone that much only to lose them, scares the shit out of Devi. (I think it scares everyone tbh). One the big things that drew her to Paxton in the first place was that she assumed she was never going to have to worry about that. Their relationship was always going to be that superficial “bang a hottie all night long” dream and that was okay with her. Paxton even told her in season 2 that they “would just enjoy the short time they had together” (this is paraphrasing I can’t remember the whole quote). Now to be fair I think Devi ended up liking Paxton more than she originally planned and when he bailed out before it got deep, it was sort of a relief to her. She probably even expected it to happen.

On the other hand, She had Ben telling her he was all in, that he was willing to do long distance. He was ready and willing to put in the work to make a real relationship. This little declaration was a sign to Devi that a relationship with Ben had a great potential to really hurt her. So her decision to cheat was essentially her abandoning him before he could abandoned her.

Coming up on season 4, Devi has now been through a tremendous amount of growth. She has opened herself up and has been willing to actually be in a real relationship. When the relationship ended badly she was able to open up to her mom and ultimately be okay.

When she finally tells Ben she loves him, it is going to be because she is no longer afraid. She is willing to open herself up to that potential hurt because she knows that it will be worth it. Devi currently loves Ben and has for awhile, she just doesn’t know (and is scared) of the fact that she loves him. I want the moment she tells him to be so emotional and her just laying her heart out in the table, ready to get hurt. If season 3 taught us anything is that life is short, you never know what is going to happen.

Part of Devi’s journey is learning to appreciate all the beautiful things that are happening in her life right now. She is learning to sort of live in the moment and not be obsessed with the future. (Her and Ben both have had to learn this! Paxton on the other hand has had to learn to care more about the future. Food for thought.)

In conclusion, Devi telling Ben she loves him would be a beautiful and perfect way to round out her character growth. I really hope it happens.

#never have i ever #benvi #this is sort of a mess #sorry I hope this makes sense #went off on a tangent there #devi vishwakumar #ben gross #paxton hall yoshida #kay answers #ben x devi #Nhie season 4 speciation sort of #I know some of this has been said before but I’m saying it agian #nhie meta

[luckydiorxoxo]

That you're hashtagging rogaine next to Evans is killing me rotfl, I'm ESL and sometimes I struggle to conceptualize my feelings in English lol but your last anon found the perfect words to describe the whole situation and the fandom. All I know by now is I don't care. I'm closer to Chris' age than most of you, therefore an old hag in his eyes, and I thought he was kinda a decent guy for Hollywood, it turns out he was nothing but a creep so what can I do about it? Nothing, except not watching his films. This narrative that there are so many unhinged fans while he's not being really harassed or stalked in real life and has security is also annoying. As to the moving on part, it's really not that difficult. There's Pedro, Sebastian Stan (always picks better gfs),Ben Barnes, Andy Garfield.... It's not like there's a shortage of hotties in rice cake's age range who have kept more or less all their hair ..

Oh you caught the reference! 🤭😂

it's not so much a narrative but real if you see the wild comments these crazy fans leave all over the place especially social media. Omg remember that cringey letter on Twitter 😖

It's not too far fetched to think that people's words turn into action. I mean look what just happened to Drew Barrymore. Either way, you're right he has security for this reason!

I love me some Andrew Garfield and Sebastian Stan right now. It's like a flashbulb came on in my mind.

Some people may never move on from their delusional thought. Some people will never be okay with what Rogaine does.that's just life.

#Chris Evans #rogaine

[colossalsharks]

[Scrap spoilers maybe?]

———

I went to see Scrap with the wife. Our expectations were probably a 5/10 because indie films are usually a huge hit or miss. But I gave it a five b/c Hottie McHot Pants is in it and the wife agreed to the rating. Well, we kinda feel foolish now because the film was actually fucking great. Wife got emotional a few times, especially during the fertility-related conservations. But the overall delivery, the humor…it all felt honest. And real. Not actually something from a movie but real life. My admiration for Anthony Rapp came back in full force and honestly, it was such a pleasure to see him in something that was relevant (?) meaningful (?) to me at this point in my life. Again. But he’ll always be Mark Cohen to me.

Vivian Kerr. Christ she was great. Her delivery of Beth was so raw and real and even though it was hard at times to continually like her and support her self-destructive behavior, I like that she kept fucking up and it didn’t immediately fix itself. Actions have consequences and I’m glad that she learned that the hard way. And I’m glad Ben, the enabler, didn’t stop enabling her but she learned to do what was right on her own.

However, this did scare the fuck outta of me for parenthood. To go through the grueling fertility process and the ups and downs and drugs and time spent and effort and tears and everything else…only for it to not work. God, that was heartbreaking to watch. But it wasn’t even that, it was the fact that the film discussed the social aspects of families and family planning and IUI/IVF. The lack of control in the entire process. The motherfucking waiting. The social resentment of other families. Seeing people perceived as fuckups just have noncommittal thoughts and processes to conception…and then birth a child with no issues. It was kinda like an out body experience. We went through it but to see it on a massive ass screen? Then to feel slightly validated because Stacy (Lana Parrilla) is asking herself what kind of mother she’s gonna be? Why are they doing this? Not being able to handle another round? Fearing disappointment? Afraid that her marriage would fall apart if she didn’t birth a child? Seeing Beth shirk her responsibilities as a parent when that’s all Stacy wants and doesn’t understand how a mother could do that? Yo that shit got me fucked up.

Also, nothing like a movie highlighting the struggles of family during a huge new life chapter. Highly recommend paying to see something so you can hurt your own feelings.

On our long walk back to the Path, wife and I said that we couldn’t watch it again until the baby was born. We already have so much anxiety lol. We also said we would only watch it again from the comfort of our home because we want to dissect everything lmao.

Overall, 8.5/10. The delivery, content, and acting was 10/10. The time jumps confused me and I thought it was my goldfish attention span, but wife thought the same. I wish there was a little more clarification on the timeline of things but that’s because I’m anal retentive and need to control and know everything. Would purchase the DVD or whenever it comes digitally and add it to our never ending collection.

#scrap #Vivian Kerr #Anthony rapp #Lana Parrilla #khleo thomas #soho international film festival #nyc #beth Anderson #Ben Anderson #Stacy Anderson #Angelika film center #the village #village east #scrap the film #scrapthefilm #honestly was thinking of madam zeroni the entire time #lmao

[initiumseries]

You’re right, it’s definitely the size of his irises in proportion to the whites that makes Ben Barnes look so possessed.

Also seconded on the Paul as Stefan and Stefan only because ngl outside of that he gives me the ick and it’s not just because of his personal life, it’s literally his appearance and I cannot for the life of me explain why. I just think he looks skeevy and I hate the beard and whatever he had done to his face isn’t working for me. Still miles more attractive than Ian tho bc Ian is still wearing those hats and is re-living the glory days of when he was supposed to have had good hair but he just looks unkempt.

LOL possessed! I swear to god, that man is not what humans look like.

Ian looks haggard as HELL lol. Idk if it's drinking or what.

LOL, honestly, this pretty much describes how I feel about Paul in other roles lmao. Big time ick. The beard gives bum and I don't love it. Now that he's not required to be chiseled and sharp and hero hair, everything about his is just so...basic? Like...it's just not giving hottie or smouldering, so I'm not particularly interested, and he's like...the exception to the beard rule, it does not work for him, and also manages to erase his jaw? So now he just looks weak jawed and I can't STRESS how much a weak jaw is a turn off for me? So, yeah, Stefan ONLY please lol because, be serious:

And sure, we can argue that Paul is older in the second gif, and that's actually not the problem? It's that, without the bulk, and with this RIDICULOUS side part, he just looks like...the least hot version of a dad he could possibly embody. I'm blessed, folks can keep it.

[entity-of-the-opera]

lnd opinions but they get longer as i go

i like ramin’s voice more than ben’s, but ben plays the phantom better

sierra > anna

once upon another time has the worst flow of lyrics in the whole show it sounds so clunky

beauty underneath reprise is unnecessary it’s just another ensemble number that doesn’t actually add anything. still a good song tho

as much as i love that one boot where meg hold christine’s dead body, raoul coming to hold his wife is 100x more impactful. like while the phantom and gus are having their moment, raoul just. silently holds chris. and i love it.

in relation to the last one, i want to see a production where raoul AND meg hold christine

cutting the phantom out of the meg/mme giry arguments about the show makes no fucking sense because it’s just giry blaming MEG for the phantom not being there is so stupid and i hate it

OLC fleck is a gothic hottie smash

cutting the “raoul please… don’t drink anymore” line was the worst decision the revision team could ever make fuck them

raoul’s alcoholic tendencies and anger at christine are justified. his actions aren’t ok, but he’s coming from a place where it’s understandable.

#achilles speaks #love never dies #hot takes

[phanfictioncatalogue]

Cheating Ex/Partner Masterlist

a weekend away - elskerxeven

Summary: Phil's boyfriend dumps him just before the romantic weekend away he'd planned for them. Unable to cancel his bookings, Phil asks the only person he can think of, his best friend Dan...

Beautiful Liar (ao3) - withawhimper

Summary: A devastating revelation from a cute stranger sitting in the bar where Dan is supposed to be meeting his boyfriend rocks Dan's world- but it turns out that might not be such a bad thing

Blessed Be The Boys Time Can't Capture (ao3) - Lazerphan

Summary: Dan is the quiet boy that nobody really notices, and Phil, the school’s badboy, breaks up with his cheating girlfriend

Close to Me (ao3) - Yiffandquiff (paradisobound)

Summary: Dan is a bartender at a local bar on Christmas Eve when a new customer walks in and asks for something strong. Hours later, he finds himself in the midst of a one night stand with the new customer that leaves him feeling something new the night before Christmas.

Collab (ao3) - QueenOfAllCorgis

Summary: Phil is heartbroken that his boyfriend of six years is cheating on him. With the help of Louise he finds the identity of the mystery man and decides that he isn’t going to let this Dan guy be fooled like he was.

Die Young - poetictragediess

Summary: Pastel!Dan came to the bar with his husband to unwind, but ditches him for the punk hottie across the bar with the tattoos and piercings.

(TW) Don't Jump (ao3) - orphan_account

Summary: Dan and Phil meet by fate.

Flowers (ao3) - phoreverphan

Summary: Dan never talks to anyone at uni, so when he sees Phil’s boyfriend buying flowers for someone who isn’t Phil, he sends a secret note

Dan is the quiet boy in university. He’s never seen at parties, he doesn’t speak in class, no one has ever seen him smile. When Phil walks into the campus flower shop, he finds that Dan is the clerk. Dan starts talking (slowly) and they (slowly) fall in love.

Fuck Away The Pain (ao3) - Misha_with_wings

Summary: Phil’s boyfriend cheats on him leaving him a mix of sad, angry, and a million other unidentified emotions.

Luckily Dan was always there for him.

Heartbreaks - dxnhowell

Summary: Dan finds out that his girlfriend was cheating on him the whole time they were dating. He comes home and is in tears, Phil comforts him and finally tells Dan how he feels about him. 

How do you Sleep? (When you Lie to Me.) (ao3) - CactiPhan

Summary: Dan is about to be married to his longtime boyfriend Henry, but plans change when he walks in on him cheating on Dan. The only person he can run back to is his best friend, who he was blind not to see was perfect for him.

It Wasn’t Acting - klusterf-ck

Summary: Heartbroken after catching his boyfriend - Oliver - cheating, Phil decides to leave him but then two weeks later, the doorbell rings and there stood his now-ex-boyfriend claiming that he wants Phil back. Phil denies Oliver’s pleas, leading him to become more aggressive but after secretly listening in on the conversation, Dan decides to interfere.

I've Got A Dark Alley (ao3) - drxpdead

Summary: Dan and Phil are strangers who meet while trashing their ex-boyfriend's car - who cheated on them with each other

Popping Corn With Your Ex-Boyfriend's Ex-Boyfriend (ao3) - spencerwrites

Summary: Phil goes to the cinema by himself and finds his boyfriend with another boy buying tickets for the same movie he wanted to see. Phil and Dan both dump their boyfriend and go see the movie together instead.

Revenge Is The Sweetest Thing (ao3) - orphan_account

Summary: Dan finds out his boyfriend PJ is cheating on him with a guy called Phil Lester, after getting in contact with Phil he finds out about two other men that his boyfriend is cheating on him with, Ben and Andy. The four of them meet and plan to get revenge on PJ for what he has done, by embarrassing him in many different ways, filming it and uploading it to YouTube. But what happens then if Dan and Phil fall in love along the way?

Ripple (ao3) - cafephan

Summary: Phil has a cheating boyfriend. Dan is a poet, facing an ultimatum.

Wild Tale (ao3) - Nefertiti1052 (Succubusphan)

Summary: Dan’s wedding to long time sweetheart, Robert, was the day he had been planing for a long time. What could possibly go wrong?

Will You Be My Valentine? (ao3) - spacekidwithapen

Summary: Dan's husband cheats on him... On Valentine's Day... With Phil. But things don't turn out as expected when Phil takes a liking to Dan.

#phanfictioncatalogue #phan #phanfic #phanfiction #cheating tw #cheating #cheating masterlist

[bl-bam-beyond]

PLUS...2 MOONS FRANCHISE

Well I drank the pink milk (figuratively speaking haha) and watched both series recently.

I kinda liked both cast for the most part but I'm a nitpicker sometimes when someone re-tell a story but make changes. It's my LOVE BY CHANCE 2: A CHANCE TO LOVE ILLNESS.

How someone (MAME) can dismantle a perfectly good story only to completely re-tell it while simultaneously using a main character from the first one to continue telling the first story sorta. But I digress (Moving on...)

Anyway, 2 MOONS stars 5 members of a band called SBFIVE and was release in 2017. The main character of Dr. Phana was not a part of the SBFIVE band.

ITTHIPAT THANIT [Nickname: GOD] apparently quit of a series meant to have 3 parts. And it seems almost systematically the rest of the cast was not to be in the 2nd Part 2MOONS2

Then another band emerged as the recast. Well I guess they debuted after being casted in 2MOONS2. 2MOONS2 was released in 2 years after the 1st Series in 2019. The band OXQ (ORIDINARY X QUAKE) debuted in June 2020 under Motive Village. The group disbanded the same year presumably due ongoing controversies as each member left Motive Village.

So 2MOONS3 The Ambassador is set to recast the roles again. According to MYDRAMALIST 2 members of the cast have been chosen. The role of Ming set to be played by Chris Chen [Nickname: EIFFEL] a Thai-Taiwanese singer and the role of Forth set to be played by PUMIPAT PAIBOON [Nickname: PRAME] but who knows.

Anyway, after recently watching both series here's my opinion of the cast.

Dr. Phana

First played by ITTHIPAT THANIT aka GOD

Then by BENJAMIN BRASIER aka BEN

In my opinion this one goes to GOD. Both brought their own thing to the role. Both are handsome but GOD just seemed better to me. For me I think Phoom/Pavel should've played Phana. PAVEL has that leading man appeal like GOD. Plus they match hotness wise. Don't get me wrong BEN is definitely a Hottie.

Wayo or Yo

First played by SURADEJ PINNIRAT aka BAS Then by TEERAPAT RUANGRITKUL aka EARTH

In my opinion these two were evenly matched. I liked both of them so much. I did see a YouTube video of Bas wishing the new cast well but crying because he held an attachment to the role he could no longer play. I'd say Earth did him proud. I also read Earth statement as he was the first of the second cast to dropout.

Ming

First played by WARODOM KHEMMONTA aka KIMMON

Then by ARCHEN AYDIN aka JOONG

Okay, this one for me was hard. Having fell in love with JOONG from his role of Khabkluen on STAR IN MY MIND I was hoping to like him more as Ming and I did. So this one is a draw. I liked both of them.

KIT

First played by PANUWAT KERDTHONGTAVEE aka COPTER

Then by KORNCHID BOONSATHITPAKDEE aka NINE

Well this was a close one for me. Nine was a better Kit for me. Copter was good but Nine was just a little better. Copter was favorite until I saw the 2nd series. Both very good but a slight edge to Nine.

Forth

First played by DARVID KREEPOLRERK aka TAE

Then by NARET PROMPHAOPUN aka PHOOM/PAVEL

Okay. This one was a draw as well. I loved both of these portrayals of Forth very much. But like I said earlier I think Pavel would have matched or been better than GOD as Dr. Phana. That being said I think he was terrific as Forth.

To Be Continued...

#PLUS #BOYS' LOVE SERIES 2MOONS & 2MOONS2 #CAST COMPARISONS #JUST MY OPINIONS #My GIFS #GIFS by ME #PHANA-WAYO #KIT-MING #FORTH-BEAM #TO BE CONTINUED