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place-called-space · 2 months

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it’s finals week and i’m genuinely dying trying to write all these final projects and essays for my classes but... there’s a smutty one shot idea for our favorite lawyer that’s been rattling around in my brain for ages and i’m not sure if i can ignore it for much longer🫣

it'll be my first relatively plotless one shot that i'd post on this hellsite but there's been such a drought of matty fics recently that i feel compelled to feed and water the masses

i probably won't get around to actually writing it until after this week, and we'll be lucky if i post it by the end of next week, but for now let me set the scene 🫶🏼

content warning: dom/sub dynamics (orgasm control/denial, ruined orgasm, edging), semi-public phone sex? (matt’s in his office with the door closed but it’s implied that karen and foggy are in the next room), masturbation (male and female, but neither of them actually cum), fingering, reader is ✨sexually frustrated✨ so she slips into subspace easily, body worship/fantisization? (reader has a very active imagination and she actively imagines several naughty situations with matt), reader’s wet dream (not super detailed, just mentioned in passing)

it feels like it's been weeks since the two of you have spent any real time together.

the firm has been busy with some high-paying client that they're not in a financial position to turn down, so it's been all hands on deck for the better part of the last month. matt has to leave before you get up, but he nudges you awake to say goodbye, pressing a kiss to your forehead and letting you know if he has a lunch meeting or not so you can call and hear his voice for a blessed 30 minutes.

and because the universe hates you, matt's duties as daredevil haven't eased up either. all you've been able to get out of him is that he's been staking out one of the smaller crime families in hell's kitchen that have been looking for an opportunity to gain more power. he hears whispers of smugglers and arms deals and he barely has time to scarf down some eggs and toast-

(carbs and protein to hold him over until he can turn in for the night and warm up the plate you always left for him)

-before he's sheathed in kevlar and leather, shouting over his shoulder to not wait up for him before fleeing out the roof access door.

and of course you miss him.

you used to make coffee for you both as he got ready for work, chatting idly about that crime docuseries karen had recommended and getting matt to translate the legal jargon. you'd loop his tie around his neck, tightening the knot before pulling him down for a kiss, passing him his briefcase before sending him off to work.

he'd come home after work, smiling as he came through the door because he'd been able to hear your voice from the lobby as you made dinner, singing along to one of his favorite vinyl records. soft jazz and pasta sauce and you would smother his senses as soon as he stepped into the apartment and as soon as he shucked off his shoes and set his briefcase down, he'd round the kitchen island and wrap his arms around your waist from behind, nuzzling at your neck and peppering your skin with kisses, reveling in the delighted giggles you let out.

but with his new schedule, the apartment seemed so empty.

you were eating alone and washing one set of dishes, sleeping in a bed too big and too cold for just you. you missed the way his arms would wind around you as you slept, the fearsome vigilante that struck fear into the hearts of criminals throughout the city suddenly becoming a cuddle octopus, greedy to feel your skin on his.

you missed all the small, sweet things about him, the romantic moments that would make your heart melt... but you also missed the steamy, intimate moments where your hands would wander each other's bodies, unwilling to be separated for even a moment.

it had been weeks since you'd had sex, and you missed the way his cock split you open, the low, hoarse growl his voice would become as he crooned poisoned honey into your ear, the delicious mix of praise and degradation turning your brain to mush.

you could feel your own impatience building with each night you went unsatisfied, a dull ache beginning to throb between your legs as your body struggled to adapt. you'd gone from cumming at least once a day to nothing at all in the blink of an eye, and you were having trouble adjusting.

waking up to an empty bed for the third week in a row had nearly sent you into a fit, your panties already soaked through from the remnants of a blissful dream where matt had tied you up, your legs bent and spread wide as he toyed with your puffy folds, his fingers slick with your arousal as he'd slowly slid them inside you...

fed up, your hand had already dipped below the waistband of your sleep shorts, your fingers barely brushing your clit, a soft moan leaving you as your body finally got some relief-

but then your phone rang, matt's handsome face beaming up at you. taunting you.

you answered the phone with a breathy call of "matty" because you knew he'd heard you and two could play at that game, and the low octave with which he says your name makes you moan again, pleasure sparking to life in your core as you sink two fingers into your drooling cunt.

matt calls your name sharply, clicking his tongue in disapproval.

"naughty girl," he admonishes, his voice somehow both sweet and condescending. "so impatient. i'd wondered how long it would take you to break, but i didn't expect it to be so soon."

you whine into the receiver, your anger melting away as you remembered you hadn't been the only one suffering these last few weeks. it must've been nothing short of torture for matt to wake up to the smell of your arousal, his rapidly swelling cock nestled against your ass, aching and eager to satisfy the primal urge to mark you in every way possible. and yet, every morning, he'd forced himself to ignore it, to take a cold shower and hurriedly get dressed, pressing a chaste kiss to your forehead before shuffling out of the apartment, still half-hard.

the thought only made you more desperate for him. god, did you wish he was here with you, with his much thicker fingers stuffing your pussy, stretching you out and prepping you so you could take his thick cock. you wanted him under you, breathlessly kneading the flesh of your tits as you bounced on his cock, your eyes rolling back as his impressive length dragged against that special spongey spot inside you with each smack of your hips against his, your cunt squeezing him tight and drawing out the pleasure for both of you.

but the apartment was empty and his side of the bed was cold, his scent faint on the silk sheets you both adored. a pang of loneliness hit you then, wanting his skin on yours and his voice filling your head with mindless praise.

frustrated tears stung at your eyes, but you were determined to make the most of this. you had him on the phone, you had a shot at getting what you wanted. all you needed was a few more words from him, maybe a countdown if you were lucky. you were so worked up, you could probably cum just from him reading you the new york penal code.

so you beg.

"please, matty," you whine prettily, another breathy little moan leaving you as you begin to pump your fingers in and out of your dripping pussy, the friction delicious after so long with nothing. "i need-"

"what you need," matt cuts you off swiftly, his voice so dark and commanding even through the phone that your body freezes, "is some manners. i enjoy spoiling you, sweetheart, but that doesn't mean you can cum without permission."

the whine you let out this time is significantly more petulant than before, the sound high and needy, but matt quickly curbs your bad attitude with another click of his tongue, his disapproval clear.

"don't be a brat," he says, patronizing and confident in his control over you. "just because i've been busy doesn't mean i forgot about my sweet girl."

the pet name makes your breath catch in your throat. matt hardly ever called you that. he'd always preferred the softer, more affectionate nicknames. sweetheart. darling. the occasional honey and sweetie.

but sweet girl? that coveted term of endearment had always been wreathed in coarse shadow instead of suave charm, cooed in the low, dangerous tone of the Devil.

your cunt clenches around the fingers you still have buried within yourself, though they had long since stalled their movements, and matt, damn him, somehow knows that he has you hooked, a satisfied purr meeting your ears.

"there we go," you hear him murmur, pleased. "there's my sweet girl. so good for me, i didn't even have to tell you to stop. no punishment for you, then, but you'll still have to earn your reward."

the breath that leaves you is half desire, half relief, already squirming on the bed. surely he just wanted a show, something to hold him over until the work day was done and he could come home and have his way with you. your moans would replay in his head all day, your breathless cry of his name making his cock twitch beneath his desk every time it echoed through his mind, his thoughts muddled and disjointed as he struggled to focus on the case.

"tell me what to do," you plead, your own thoughts already growing fuzzy around the edges, dizzy with anticipation of the climax he was sure to grant you. "miss you so much, matty... i wanna be good…"

matt groans low on the other line, an excited shiver running through you as you hear the barely audible "fuck" accompany the distinct sound of his belt unbuckling.

"need to hear you, sweet girl," he hisses. a shaky exhale leaves him next, and you imagine he's just freed his cock, the vein running along the shaft throbbing. the tip is probably flushed a dark pink and probably already leaking salty precome, his balls heavy and full from almost a full month of not satisfying himself.

christ, was your mouth watering?

"go on, sweet girl," matt tells you, his voice hoarse. "keep touching yourself. make yourself feel good."

far be it from you to disobey a direct order.

your fingers began thrusting once more, your low, breathy moans becoming high and whiney within minutes, not making an effort to silence yourself. matt wanted a show, so you were going to give him one, noise complaints be damned.

it doesn't take long for the knot within your belly to tighten, your body teetering on the edge of a long-awaited orgasm. you were practically half-delirious, so grateful for the pleasure that you'd already begun expressing your gratitude, your thanks garbled and slurred but genuine nonetheless.

you don't hear the mean, condescending bark of laughter, too caught up in your own ecstasy. you were so close, your forearm burning and your cunt beginning to pulse as you neared the edge, your jaw falling slack as you prepared for the monumental release of pleasure-

"stop."

your body obeyed without consciously thinking about it, your fingers slipping out of you. your poor cunt clenches and flutters around nothing, feeling achingly empty as your pleasure stalls and curdles, spoiling like milk in the sun.

you lay there for a moment, your chest heaving as you try to figure out what happened. your pussy was sensitive and tingling, still pulsing weakly with a ruined orgasm that had given you no satisfaction. you wanted more, damn it, but most of all, you wanted him.

"matty," you cry brokenly, vision blurry with frustrated tears. "why did you... why..."

Your rambling was slurred but audible to your tormenter, his delighted chuckles making you shudder.

"sorry, sweet girl," matt said, not an ounce of remorse in his voice, "but i wanna be there with you when you cum. i need to feel that pretty pussy squeeze my cock, need to hear you moan my name as i fuck you."

he lets out a strained groan, and you imagine he has his fist wrapped tightly around the base of his cock, preventing himself from reaching the pinnacle he'd so cruelly snatched you away from.

you hadn't cum, but neither did he.

you whine at the thought, your pussy still fluttering weakly. you sniffle quietly, still mourning your ruined orgasm, and there's a burst of static, like he'd just sighed.

"you did so well for me, sweetie," matt murmurs, his tone no longer mean, but warm and loving. "i know it hurts, but i'll make it up to you tonight. i'll make you feel so good, you'll forget this ever happened."

though your eyes are still glassy with tears, matt's subtle switch in temperament did wonders for your mood, the promise of pleasure soothing your wounded pride. you sniffle again, working up the courage to meekly inquire, "promise?"

matt hums again, and you can imagine the pleased grin on his face as he purrs your name, the sound of his voice making you melt.

"i promise."

a/n: my brain literally couldn’t focus on anything else while i had this mf rattling around in there. this will be an actual oneshot at some point where we actually get some gratification, maybe even a two-parter! depending on how fried my brain is after cranking out multiple 2k word finals, it could be posted in either 5 days or 5 years or anywhere in between.

i do actually like writing guys i swear �� but i’m a humanities major so i do a lot of writing for my degree and my free time consists of thinking about the roman empire (for my major) and reading greek philosophy (also for my major).

glad i got this out as proof of life, didn’t mean to be horny on main but there is no other valid response when it comes to mr. murdock. i hope you guys enjoyed and let me know what you think!

- estrella ★

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ghoul-slime · 11 months

Text

Star Pupil

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 3,388

Pairing: Aether/Dew/Phantom, Phantom/Dew, Aether/Phantom

Tags: Threesome, dirty talk, anal sex, fingering, teaching, possessive Aether (kind of), power dynamics, PWP, Phantom might be in over his head but he is trying

Summary: Aether may not be going out on tour with the rest of the ghouls, but that doesn't mean he can't teach Phantom how to properly care for Dewdrop in his absence.

Or basically: Aether teaches Phantom how to fuck Dew real good.

Missing Aether and coping by writing smut. First Ghost fic and not beta read, have mercy.

or read on Tumblr here:

It’s the day before they leave for tour. Instruments and equipment packed and ready, buses and flights scheduled, and passports and paperwork in order. Every mundane detail taken care of. There’s just this one last thing. One incredibly important thing, since this is the first time Aether won’t be out on tour with the rest of them. Right now top priority is making sure his Dewdrop will be well taken care of in his absence.

And that’s how Phantom ends up in Aether’s room, sitting on his knees at attention on Aether’s bed with Dew spread out in front of both of them on the sheets. Phantom is anxious but eager. Eager to show Aether how much he can trust him with his most precious ghoul. Just how good he can be for him, for their pack.

Dew’s naked, propped up on two pillows, skinny little legs casually splayed open, leaving all of him on display. He looks unphased.

Phantom, however, is sweating bullets. He’s nervous and more than a little bit self-conscious. He’s already achingly hard in his pants. Has been since the bedroom door closed behind him.

“What are you waiting for?” Dew quips, snapping Phantom out of his stupor. “Take your fucking clothes off already.”

Phantom turns to Aether, helpless. Aether chuckles and reaches to pull Phantom’s shirt off over his head for him.

“Be nice, Dew,” he chides. “He’s gonna be taking care of you for the next few months.”

“Yeah, him and everyone else on that fucking bus,” Dew laughs, sounding pleased with himself.

Aether reaches out and tickles the sole of Dew’s foot, earning him an indignant squawk followed by a playful kick to the shoulder.

“Alright, let’s get started” Aether starts. His tone so far is gentle. Like he’s about to teach Phantom some complicated guitar riff and not how to fuck his little ghoul boyfriend straight into next week.

“Lucifer, fucking finally.” Dew rolls his eyes and props himself up on his elbows to look down at the two other ghouls.

Aether chuckles again. “He’s going to be a brat every time. But with a little practice,” Aether pauses to dig a bottle of lube out of the bedside table drawer, talking about Dew like he’s not even there.

“You’ll fuck the attitude right out of him in no time.”

Phantom takes in the sight before him. Dew is stretched out on the bed, slim legs spread and cock lying half-hard against his belly. Shiny silver rings threaded through pink nipples, peaked and pebbled in the cool air of Aether’s bedroom. Phantom’s eyes roam up his chest to the long blond hair spilling past his shoulders and pooling around his head. He stops at Dew’s face, where he’s grinning up at Phantom, sharp fangs on display.

Predatory. A challenge.

Phantom thinks he’s up for it.

“Lesson one,” Aether interrupts Phantom’s dumbfounded staring with a clap of his hands. “Kiss him.”

He gestures towards Dew with a nod of his head. Aether’s tone and facial expression have gone serious, and Phantom leaps to comply, crawling towards Dew on all fours until he’s hovering just above his face. Dew is still grinning up at him and Phantom can see just how beautiful the smaller ghoul is. Sharp cheekbones and icy blue eyes, a remnant of his past life as water ghoul. Now that he’s this close he can see the lightest dusting of freckles across Dew’s forehead, just near his hairline.

Phantom takes it all in as he leans in for a kiss, brushing plush lips against Dew’s. Dew opens up easily for him and Phantom kisses him lazily.

“Get your tongue into his mouth,” Aether snaps after only a moment, unimpressed.

Phantom gasps and deepens the kiss, leaning further into Dew, licking into his mouth, past his fangs, feeling Dew’s tongue move wet and hot against his own. Dew hums into the kiss, opening his mouth wider to let Phantom in deeper.

“Good,” Aether continues, satisfied. “He likes when you get rough with him. Bite his lip.”

Phantom complies, nipping Dew’s bottom lip between his fangs. He’s rewarded with a groan from the little ghoul.

“Now spit in his mouth.”

Phantom whips his head around toward Aether so fast his neck hurts. He half expects Aether to laugh, tell him he’s kidding, but his expression remains unchanged. He turns back to Dew, who’s grinning up at him again. The little ghoul closes his eyes, opens his mouth and sticks his little pink tongue out. Waiting patiently for Phantom to do as he’s been asked.

All the blood in Phantom’s head rushes straight to his cock and his vision blurs, suddenly lightheaded with how hot Aether’s command and Dew’s immediate compliance make him. His eyes don’t leave Dew’s mouth, wet and open and waiting for him. When he spits, spatters of saliva hit Dew’s tongue and chin. Dew swallows and Phantom immediately dives in for another kiss, tongue swirling into Dew’s mouth, fangs nipping at his lips.

“Good,” Aether repeats himself, shifting on the bed, adjusting himself in his pants. Phantom beams, hearing Aether’s own breathing start to pick up. Dew’s still propped up on his elbows, pupils blown out, lips pink and shiny with Phantom’s spit.

“Look how wrecked he gets just from kissing,” Aether chuckles lightly. “Now imagine how he’s gonna be once you get that fat cock of yours into him.”

Dew whimpers softly, spreading his legs wider as his smug little facade begins to falter. Phantom can see a thin sheen of sweat already breaking out across his small body. He wants to dive in, kiss him even more breathless. Tangle his hands in Dew’s hair and pull. Lick into his mouth and bruise those lips with his own. But he’s here for a lesson from Aether. Wants to be his best for Dew, to take care of him well enough to make Aether proud. So he sits back on his haunches and waits for the next direction.

“Now take your pants off and get yourself between his legs,” Aether commands.

Phantom jumps up and shucks his pants and boxers, hard cock bobbing in the cool air of the room before he climbs back onto the bed and scoots himself between Dew’s spread thighs. Dew’s watching him with hooded eyes and his bottom lip trapped between sharp fangs. Phantom positions himself and Dew watches engrossed, with a blush that spreads across his pretty face, down his neck, and all the way across his chest.

“Get your hands on him. All over him,” Aether continues. “He likes his nipples played with most.”

Phantom skims his hands up Dew’s lean thighs, travels them up over his sharp hip bones and across the soft skin of his stomach before coming to rest on his little pecs. He can feel Dew’s nipples, stiff beneath his palms. He rolls both buds between his thumbs and forefingers, dragging a low moan out of Dew’s mouth.

“Now play with the rings,” Aether tells him. “Pull on them. Don’t be shy now, he likes it to hurt.”

Phantom gasps again, tugging on the silver rings gently.

Aether clicks his tongue in annoyance.

“Harder.”

Phantom pulls harder and Dew groans with it, cock kicking, fully filled out and starting to glisten wet and shiny-sticky at the flushed tip.

“That’s right,” Aether goads, “Squeeze those little tits. Get him nice and worked up.”

Phantom squeezes and tugs, massaging Dew’s tight little chest and tugging at his nipples. Twisting the silver rings between his fingers.

“He can cum just like this, you know,” Aether interjects, sounding proud. “Just from having his tits played with. Get him worked up enough and he’ll be squirting all over you before you can even get anything inside him.”

Phantom and Dew both groan in unison. Dew’s cock kicks again, dribbling a glob of pre onto a wet spot pooling just under his belly button. Suddenly Aether has a hand on Phantom’s shoulder, pulling him back and off Dew.

“Not tonight though,” Aether drawls. “You wanna fuck him, right? Look at him. He’s getting desperate for it.”

Phantom nods furiously, cock hard and dripping. He feels just as desperate as Dew looks. So wrecked and they haven’t even fucked properly yet.

“Gonna have to prep him first though,” Aether interrupts. “So here’s your next lesson. He’s small and he’s tight. So tight you won’t believe it. Gonna have to work a couple fingers into him before he can take you. Gotta be careful though,” Aether squeezes Phantom’s shoulder again, “Don’t want him cumming too soon on those long fingers of yours.”

Dew groans again, and Phantom’s eyes snap back down to him. Dew is staring up at them both, jaw slack and chest heaving. His thighs are spread wide around Phantom’s hips, and Phantom can see his little pink hole fluttering with anticipation.”

Aether trails his fingers down Phantom’s arm before placing the bottle of lube in his hands.

“He’ll be wet inside already,” Aether starts.

Phantom turns to look at Aether, who is grinning down at Dew proudly.

Aether turns back to Phantom shrugging. “Ex-water ghoul,” he explains nonchalantly.

“He’ll be wet, but he likes it messy. Sloppy. He wants to feel it dripping down his thighs, smeared across his cheeks,” Aether explains, still talking about Dew as if he isn’t even there despite looking down at him fondly.

Aether turns back to Phantom, expression stern again. “Now get your fingers inside him before I lose my patience and do it myself. Start with one.”

Phantom scrambles to uncap the lube and squirts a generous amount directly onto Dew’s twitching hole, watching it dribble down and pool between his cheeks on Aether’s sheets. He runs the pad of his index finger through the slick and around the ring of muscle, petting softly before slowly pushing his way inside Dew’s burning hot body. Dew’s eyes roll back with it, groaning at the intrusion.

Aether’s right. Tight. He’s so tight, Phantom thinks to himself and pushes his finger deeper, all the way in, up to the last knuckle.

Dew keens with it, arching his back off the bed, canting his hips up. Stiff little cock straining into the air as Phantom pets inside him with one long finger. Sliding out and back in again, watching with rapt attention at how eagerly Dew takes him. He fucks him like this, with one finger for a few more strokes, marveling at the way Dew feels inside. Hot and wet and so tight.

“Another finger,” Aether directs.

Without hesitation Phantom pulls out and slides a second finger in alongside the first. Dew takes him in easily. He presses in deep, working Dew open. Scissoring his fingers, crooking the pads to pet all the way inside him, pulling sweet little gasps and sighs from the smaller ghoul’s mouth.

“Hmm,” Aether contemplates from behind Phantom’s shoulder. Making a show of sounding unsure, like he’s considering something.

Phantom stills his fingers, feeling Dew’s hot body throb around him, and turns to Aether.

“You know,” Aether muses. “Your fingers are so much slimmer than mine,” He holds one big hand out to emphasize. “I think you might need to get three, maybe four of yours into him before he can take you.”

With that Dew lets out a deep, shuddering moan, hands reaching up to toy with his own chest. Pinching and rolling taut nipples between his fingers. Phantom feels him twitch around the fingers he still has buried in his ass.

Aether quirks an eyebrow and grins, all fang. “I think he likes that idea.”

Phantom nods stupidly and pulls out, pressing back in with a third finger. Dew stretches around him, shiny pink rim swallowing his fingers up. He fucks him like that again, wet squelching sounds filling the air as he works Dew open wide.

“Good. Good. Four fingers now,” Aether instructs. “And make him hold his legs open for you so you can really get in there.”

Dew immediately reaches down to hold his legs open, not bothering to wait for Phantom’s input.

Phantom scoots in closer and pulls out, reaching back to drizzle another glob of lube onto his already shining wet fingers. He smears more lube around Dew’s ass, rim twitching and fluttering as Dew holds himself open. Waiting.

He slips two fingers back in, then three. Fucks in and out a few times before crowding four fingers together and pushing them inside Dew slowly, watching with slack jaw as Dew opens up for him.

Dew’s head is thrown back. His chest heaves with concentration as Phantom pushes in and out with four fingers, pulling him open. Preparing him just like Aether told him to.

Aether hums in appreciation. “You’re doing so good. Look at that. Can almost get your whole hand inside him, can’t you?”

Phantom whimpers, free hand flying to his cock, squeezing the base. He’s gonna bust if Aether keeps talking like this. The feel of Dew’s hot body around his fingers and Aether’s filthy words are too much to take in together. He stops, shaking, breathing loud and heavy and trying to bring himself back under control.

“Yeah,” Aether continues, relentlessly. “Yeah he can take it all, your whole hand. But that’s a lesson for another day. Maybe next tour.” He laughs.

And with that he claps Phantom on his bare shoulder, the shock of it causes him and Dew yelp simultaneously. He wrenches his fingers from Dew’s body with a thick, wet sound and Dew yelps again.

Aether leans in to growl into Phantom’s ear, “You’re going to fuck him now. Just like I say. You’re gonna take real good care of him for me and he’s gonna be so, so good for you”

Phantom inhales and nods. Steadies his breathing and waits for the rest of Aether’s instruction.

“Slick yourself up. And let him see, he likes to watch. See you get that big cock nice and wet and ready for him.”

Phantom scrambles for the lube again, fumbling as it slips through already slippery fingers. He grabs the bottle, face burning, and squirts far too much directly onto his straining cock. He’s embarrassed, afraid Aether will chide him, but instead Aether rubs his back, comforting.

“Good,” he soothes, gentle again. “Just like that, he’s gonna like that so much. Feel how big you are, how wet you’re gonna get him. He’s gonna be so wet and so messy and so fucked open by you. You’re doing so good for him. For us.”

Dew’s still holding himself open when Phantom lines up, blunt head of his cock wet and sticky and sliding through the mess of Dew’s ass. He cants his hips up, pushing in, sliding inside so easily and taking in all the breathless little moans Dew gives him as he bottoms out.

Phantom isn’t going to last long, he knows it. Not like this. Not with the way Dew’s hot little body feels so tight around him. Not with the sweet little noises Dew makes with each thrust of Phantom’s hips. Absolutely not with the way Aether is steadily feeding filth into his ear. Pressing his body closer to Phantom and growling dirty things directly into his ear as he desperately rails Dew on Aether’s bed.

“Mmm so good,” Aether drawls. “Taking care of my Dewdrop so good, I’m so proud of you.” Phantom feels Aether’s breath in his ear as he talks. Goading him to fuck Dew harder, mattress squeaking and headboard rattling. “You’re gonna wreck him all tour, aren’t you? Keep him nice and satisfied for me?”

“How about it?” Aether continues, “Fuck him fast and hard, bent over whatever surface you can get him on in the dressing rooms? Squeeze some bruises into those little hips? Make him go out on stage with your cum dripping down his thighs? Or maybe you have him ride you in your bunk on the bus, grinding down slow and deep onto your cock late at night? You’ll have to be careful though, he’s loud and you won’t want to wake the others or they’ll want to join in,” Aether grins. “Or what about hotel room nights? You’ll lay him down sweet and soft in those crisp clean sheets and eat him out, taste him on your tongue for as long as you can, until he’s sobbing, crying, begging for you to fuck him.”

Dew groans on the bed, whispering a litany of soft little pleas and curses to himself as Phantom fucks in and out frantically, spurred on by the future Aether paints in his mind. He’s close, and by the way Dew is wriggling on his cock, grinding down and spasming around him, he must be close too.

Aether interjects again. The lesson isn’t over yet. “Fuck him harder. Go on, give him what he wants. Fold him in half and get those legs of his up by his pretty little face.”

Phantom pushes in blindly, folding Dew up, pressing him in half and pushing his knees down until he’s all but folded in half. His hips never falter, fucking frantically, the sharp sound of his skin slapping Dew’s wet ass as he fucks him as hard as he can. Dew wails with it, letting go of his legs and scrambling to jack himself off in time with Phantom’s thrusts.

Aether has one last trick, crowding his way closer to Phantom. Nosing into his temple, inhaling his scent. Phantom feels the metal loop of Aether’s nose ring as he nuzzles into the shell of his ear. “Give me your hand,” Aether growls, tugging lightly at his wrist until Phantom shifts his weight to support himself on one hand as he continues fucking hard into Dew.

Aether guides Phantom’s hand to Dew’s belly, just below his belly button and presses. All three of them groan in unison.

“You can feel it, can’t you? Feel yourself inside of him?”

Phantom nods frantically, sweat dripping off of his forehead and splattering onto Dew’s skin below.

“Yes, yes,” is all Phantom can manage. This is it, he feels his orgasm barreling toward him, with every stroke of his cock inside he can feel himself through the taut muscle of Dew’s body, Aether firmly pressing down on his hand. Dew is still jacking himself frantically, head shaking back and forth on the pillow as Aether pushes down on his belly.

Aether leans in, grabbing Phantom’s head and turning it toward himself. He crashes his lips against Phantom’s, tongue pushing in and kissing him wet and deep before pulling back away.

“Come inside him now,” Aether commands, and suddenly Phantom can’t see straight, vision blurring and going dark around the edges as he cums with a shout, pressing in and shooting deep inside Dew’s quivering body.

He comes to just as Dew follows, clamping down on his still twitching cock and wailing, crying out “Aether, ohhhh, I’m - oh no Aether.” Dew’s babbling as his orgasm wracks his body, repeatedly crying out Aether’s name as he jacks every drop out of himself, splattering his chest and neck, a few stray droplets hitting himself in the face. Landing on those pretty pink lips.

Without waiting for Aether’s instruction Phantom dips down to kiss Dew, lapping the remnants of his release from his lips. Dew kisses back immediately.

When Phantom turns to Aether he sees him grinning down at Dew. His face is flushed and he’s sweating. He leans down to give Dew a kiss of his own, and Dew reaches up immediately to wrap slender arms around Aether’s neck, pulling him in, kissing him deeply.

Phantom sits there dumbly, softening cock still buried inside Dew.

He watches them kiss for a few moments more before pulling out. That seems to get their attention again. The shit-eating grin has returned to Dew’s flushed face.

Now it’s his turn for Aether to grin at him. Reaching out to ruffle Phantom’s sweat damp hair. He cups his chin and looks him in the eyes.

“You did so good,” he praises. “I know you’re gonna take such good care of my Dewdrop for me. There’s just one last thing for you to remember now.”

Phantom looks at him, wide-eyed, still gasping for breath.

“Fuck him all you want, but it’s gonna be my name he screams every time he cums.”

THE END and then Phantom and Dew both got on their knees and gave Aether a big old wet nasty sloppy blowjob as thanks for such an informative and thorough lesson.

#the band ghost #nameless ghouls #dewdrop ghoul #sodo ghoul #aether ghoul #phantom ghoul #aether/dewdrop #phantom/dew #aether/phantom #aether/dew/phantom #ghost fanfiction #aether/dew #dewther #ghoul-slime fic

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rathayibacter · 4 months

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RATHGAMES

hey yall! just added community copies for all my games that were falling behind on em, and figured it'd be a good time to go over everything ive released so far!

KATABASIS: after your death, you wash ashore in a sunless, brutalist afterlife. use your emotional baggage from life as weapons and tools as you explore this tangled purgatory and try to find a way to escape.

DISPARATEUM: there are an infinite number of worlds in the Disparateum, and the Named City connects them all. explore a city where museum hallways turn into fractal labyrinths, where outdoor markets are held in dreams, where stories are ruled by a council of dragons, where your internet connection is routed through a giant spider, where mirrors hide cruel secrets.

BXLLET: bullets are precious in the apocalypse, despite everyone's efforts to move on from them. with one bullet, you can decide who lives and who dies. with five, you can unlock strange and alien powers. with twenty, you can rule the world, or wipe it out again.

(ive also got RXLOAD, a love letter to all the fantastic BXLLET supplements written since the game's release, and DXMON, a collaboration with Jon East to adapt BXLLET's mechanics for a Chainsaw Man-inspired setting)

CHARCUTERIE: three zines, each about 40 pages long, each with a heaping handful of small games, writings, doodles, and other projects.

ive also got some smaller projects under the break!

STATIONKEEPING: a small index card game for carrying around in your back pocket. slowly repair a space station as you live your life, and occasionally meet friendly aliens or connect your station to someone else's.

NOT WEAVERDICE: a super small Worm proto-ttrpg. i feel like rigid, strictly-defined point-buy power systems go against the strange, flexible, deeply unfair powersets present in Worm, so i made a short guide to making strange, flexible, deeply unfair powersets fun to play with.

MORTAL POPBAT: a 600-page funko pop wargame. build your army and brutally wipe out your enemy's POP!batants. if you actually play this, let me know so i can point and laugh.

WINTERGREEN: a ttrpg campaign that fits entirely in a mint tin. help a small frigid community in a series of short, interconnected quests.

#ttrpgs #KATABASIS #Disparateum #BXLLET #Charcuterie

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ostrichmonkey-games · 3 months

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Hi! I would like to try my hand at making my own ttrpg, but I have NO idea where to start, tbh.

Do you have any tips? Do you know of anywhere to discuss designing this stuff?

Hey that's super exciting! TTRPG design is a ton of fun and can be super rewarding!

So some general advice, based on what I've learned and also have heard from others.

Start small! Smaller than you think! Diving straight into the deep end with a big ol' fantasy heartbreaker is the road to never getting anything done. So scope out something that you know you can finish. Maybe that's a new class or playbook for a game you already like! Maybe it's an expansion or set of new subsystems! Maybe it's an adventure (though adventure writing can be it's own can of worms, but don't let that stop you hahaha)!

If you want to go bigger, maybe look at hacking a system or engine you like! I'm a huge fan of LUMEN as a fun to pick up and experiment with engine. Also, the LUMEN SRD (system reference document) is a very nice set of "how to do LUMEN games", which is very helpful. There's also other open systems/engines/SRDs like 24XX, Caltrop Core, and Breathless that could be great to look into. Powered by the Apocalypse and Forged in the Dark are both fantastic engines/systems to design in, but are also much harder to really get the hang of (and while Blades in the Dark does provide an SRD, it's a good rules reference, but not a great "how to" reference).

If at the end of all that, you decide on making your own bespoke system, go for it! See what happens! Try and figure out the focus on what you want your system to do (generalist games are always harder to make, imo), and then really dig into that. But I think starting with SRDs/hacks/expansions is going to be a way better start than trying to do everything from scratch.

Make something and don't worry about ever sharing it! This is also just general artistic/creative advice, but the first things you make prooooobably won't be your best and that's okay! I have loads of early design material and scraps that will never see the light of day, but working on them I learned a lot! If you do want to share things, it's fine to just share it with friends, you don't need to worry about publishing or any of that. Just remember to stay focused and work towards finishing something, because then you can start on the next thing. And the next thing after that! TTRPG design is a skill that takes practice. You can try focusing on one design idea in one project, and then work on a different design idea on the next to build up your skill set.

Play, read, and run a lot of different games! It's like with writing, the more you read, the better a writer you can start to become. You learn a lot about ttrpg design by interacting with ttrpgs. If you don't have regular groups to play/run things with, then try and read a lot of different games of all different systems and styles! All that you're absorbing is going to give you fuel for your own designs, and sometimes you learn something really cool from unexpected places (like, I could not have imagined the impact that learning about a lot of OSR design stuff would have on my own design, even though I don't consider myself a strictly OSR designer).

Don't worry about what other people are making! This is just the "two cakes meme", but even if you find out someone is working on something similar, it is always worthwhile to pursue your own vision.

This is getting long, so I'll wrap up that section and move on to the second question.

I think there's a pretty solid community of TTRPG designers here on tumblr these days, so you can try getting discussions going here! I also do a lot in various discord groups. I personally really like Plus One EXP which is very friendly to newcomers and has pretty active design discussions (I also publish some stuff in print through Plus One, full disclosure).

If you're looking for more spaces, asking around there probably wouldn't hurt either.

I'm also always super down to discuss TTRPG design at like, the drop of a hat. So feel free to shout in my inbox anytime!

Best of luck on your journey, and can't wait to see what you do!

#ttrpg #indie ttrpg #ttrpg design

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childotkw · 4 months

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Any tips on how to write a dissertation? I’m in my final year of uni & cannot stop procrastinating 😢

Oh god, I've never had to write one before and it's been a hot minute since I was in university 😅

For procrastination though? Yeah, I can provide some tips on how I try and combat it.

Begin saying "no" aloud when you catch yourself procrastinating

I find this starts slowly changing what type of tasks I drift towards and helps me break out of the headspace. Saying it aloud also makes it stick better for me. Makes it more official so my little gremlin brain actually listens.

Pace yourself

Break the work down into smaller (much much smaller) segments so they don't seem as daunting. Rather than looking at it as a chapter, or a page, or a paragraph, go right down to a sentence. Finish one sentence, then another, then another. Sentence by sentence, you'll find yourself chipping through the project a lot faster because you're focussing on individual trees without getting disheartened by the size of the forest.

Have breaks

Don't burn yourself out by trying to power through everything. Build breaks into your timeline and try and stick to them.

Have a reward / punishment system

This sometimes works for me. Depending on what you, psychologically, respond better to, implement a system to reward or punish yourself whenever you successfully avoid procrastinating / when you don't succeed. I respond better to rewards, so I give myself a little treat when I avoid procrastinating and complete the work I'm doing. You might respond better to a punishment - e.g., "I won't watch this episode of my show because I procrastinated for x hours", "I won't read this fanfiction of the rest of the week because I didn't finish xyz of my project", things like that.

I will say to be especially careful with the punishment side of things. It can be a slippery slope because this is a kind of conditioning and you should be aware of how it might backfire before attempting anything of the sought.

Set realistic timeframes

What I mean by this is set yourself a goal of "for the next ten minutes, I will only work on x" and then commit to it. If you work to a specific cadence (i.e., I often do 20-5-20, 20 minutes working, 5 min break, 20 mins works). This can be a great way to keep yourself on track.

Accept that it doesn't need to be perfect

This go through a drafting phase. Your first go through doesn't need to be perfection. Once you push through that mentality, you'll have an easier time getting your initial draft done. Then you can go through and edit.

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

Hope these help!

#anonymous #personal #i am a terrible procrastinator so i definitely try and use these when i can hahah

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investmentassistant · 8 days

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How to stay motivated when you feel like giving up

Feeling like giving up is a common experience, especially when faced with challenging tasks or long-term goals. However, maintaining motivation is crucial for achieving success and personal growth. Here are some strategies to help you stay motivated even when the going gets tough.

Set clear and achievable goals

One of the main reasons people lose motivation is because their goals are too vague or unrealistic. It's important to break down larger goals into smaller, manageable tasks. This way, each small accomplishment can give you a sense of progress and keep you motivated. For example, if your goal is to write a book, start by setting daily or weekly word count targets. Achieving these smaller milestones can help you feel a sense of accomplishment and keep you moving forward. Additionally, make sure your goals are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. This clarity will give you a clear direction and make it easier to track your progress.

Create a routine and stick to it

Establishing a daily routine can help you stay on track and maintain consistency, which is key to developing good habits. Allocate specific times for working on your goals, and stick to this schedule as closely as possible. A well-structured routine can reduce decision fatigue, as you won't need to constantly decide when to work on your tasks. For instance, if you plan to exercise, study, or work on a project every morning at the same time, it becomes a part of your daily rhythm. Consistency helps build momentum, and over time, these regular habits can significantly contribute to your long-term success.

Find your «why» and keep it in focus

Understanding the deeper reasons behind your goals can provide powerful motivation. Ask yourself why you started in the first place and what you hope to achieve. Keeping this purpose in mind can help reignite your passion and commitment when you face obstacles. Your «why» is your ultimate driving force, and it's essential to remind yourself of it regularly. Write it down and place it somewhere visible, like your workspace or a daily planner. Reflecting on your purpose can help you push through tough times and keep your eyes on the prize.

Surround yourself with positivity

The people and environment around you can significantly impact your motivation levels. Surround yourself with supportive and positive individuals who encourage you to keep going. Avoid negative influences that drain your energy and enthusiasm. Join groups or communities with similar interests where members share their progress and support each other. Engaging with like-minded individuals can provide a sense of camaraderie and accountability. Additionally, create a positive physical environment by organizing your workspace and eliminating distractions. A clean, inspiring space can boost your productivity and motivation.

Take breaks and practice self-care

Burnout can quickly sap your motivation, making it crucial to take regular breaks and practice self-care to maintain your physical and mental health. Engage in activities that relax and rejuvenate you, such as exercise, meditation, or hobbies you enjoy. Scheduled breaks can prevent exhaustion and keep you focused. For example, using the Pomodoro Technique, where you work for 25 minutes and then take a 5-minute break, can improve your concentration and productivity. Prioritizing self-care helps you recharge and return to your tasks with renewed energy and enthusiasm.

Use a reward system to stay engaged

Rewarding yourself for small achievements can boost your motivation and make the process more enjoyable. Create a reward system where you treat yourself to something enjoyable after completing a task or reaching a milestone. This can make the process more enjoyable and give you something to look forward to. For example, after finishing a challenging project, reward yourself with a favorite meal, a movie night, or a relaxing activity. Celebrating your successes, no matter how small, reinforces positive behavior and encourages you to keep going.

Stay flexible and adaptable

Life is unpredictable, and sometimes things don't go as planned. Stay flexible and adaptable, and be willing to adjust your goals and methods if necessary. This resilience can help you overcome obstacles and keep moving forward. It's essential to understand that setbacks are a natural part of any journey. When you encounter challenges, view them as opportunities to learn and grow. Adaptability involves being open to new strategies and solutions that may be more effective. Embracing change and remaining flexible can help you navigate through difficulties and continue progressing toward your goals.

Quick tips to stay motivated

Visualize success. Imagine yourself achieving your goals and the positive impact it will have on your life. Visualization can create a mental image of success and inspire you to take the necessary actions to make it a reality.

Stay organized. Keep a planner or to-do list to track your progress and stay focused. Being organized helps you manage your time effectively and ensures that important tasks are not overlooked.

Stay accountable. Share your goals with a friend or mentor who can hold you accountable and provide support. Accountability partners can offer encouragement and constructive feedback, helping you stay committed.

Stay positive. Focus on the positive aspects of your journey and celebrate your progress, no matter how small. Maintaining a positive mindset can boost your motivation and help you overcome challenges with a resilient attitude.

Maintaining motivation can be challenging, but with the right strategies and mindset, you can overcome the urge to give up. Remember, every step you take brings you closer to your goals. Stay persistent, stay positive, and keep moving forward.

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geehollow · 2 months

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*waves arms* I HAVE IDEAS for future Loki things. I briefly thought about writing some fics but lmao I've got enough stuff to write already.

(In the spirit of the MCU taking things from the comics and taming them down) We see Kid Loki from the Void wandering the new branches of Yggdrasil. He is not sure what has happened, and he doesn't know why he has this affinity for walking between the worlds (nice that Loki's Tree could be the reason every Loki is able to walk the "hidden paths"), but he does have The Wanderlust and he is also homeless. His alligator friend has found a magic pond, he Does Not want to return to the Void, his native timeline has been pruned for what, centuries? He's all alone. He has thought about finding a timeline with no Loki but the thought of trying to add himself into a Kid Thor's life makes him feel weird because Unresolved Issues. And then the magpie comes, first in his dreams, then out of them. The magpie talks, and is a trickster, and the Kid calls it Ikol. The magpie tells him they have to retrieve the flaming sword from wherever it was left (hmmm how does Ikol know where it is?)–first adventure–then rescue a lonely Loki, the one that would become Classic Loki after hiding in the asteroid after Infinity War–second adventure, or perhaps the last one, because hey if Thor really had to be stuck with a child, it could have been Kid Loki–and whoa there's so many adventures to be had. If some people ever figured out a Loki can power the whole fucking universe, a smaller one would be a smaller battery but an easier one to get. Ravonna Renslayer could pop up again. Kang, of course. Isn't the MCU gathering Young Avengers? Kid Loki's in the playing field, hooray, can't wait for the bad handling, hooray... wouldn't it be awesome if the "big bad" of the new phases was actually The Loki Who Sits In A Tree Of Time and the TVA trying to stop everyone from causing multidimensional wars, of course it's from the pov of those trying to travel through dimensions so they're not aware it's dangerous and those trying to stop them look evil until the whole picture is revealed to them.

Anyway, on-screen it would've been an easy guess because it would've been voiced by Tom Hiddleston, but Ikol the magpie is in fact the Loki that sits in the Tree, and projects outside of it (didn't Tom Hiddleston say it would be "unwise" to consider Loki's journey done?) to not be lonely and to watch out for the child he'd met. Like in the comics, only the Kid can see him.

The cameos Stan Lee used to do could be Mobius hanging around occasionally talking "to himself" if you know what I mean. I want him randomly dropping by in every single new movie, occasionally together with B15, Casey, Brad Wolfe, Ouroboros or someone else from the TVA.

(The fic title would've been The Kid, The Magpie and The Flaming Sword 👀)

#loki #mcu loki #loki series #marvel things

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thenamesblurrito · 2 years

Photo

A commission for @pluralsword for the lovely fic Addendum over on AO3, following Arcee on her gender journey! Some snippets are under the cut, including the bit this illustrated scene is from.

The torn metal thread shreds of the Crystal City Messenger newspaper fell from my hands. My body shivered and I felt bellows build up in my voice box unreleased.

“We have truly entered a world of madness- we are dead, dead peoples,” I muttered at my doorstep in the empty residential hallway.

The front-page article and first two sentences ran over and over in my mind. THEOCONOMIST FORM-ESSENTIALISM MADE LAW AFTER TAMPERED PUBLIC POLLS. Nova Prime endorses the theoconomists favoring form over aesthetic and orders the demolition of all aesthetic archives, programs, and organizations in the name of ‘freedom,’ and ‘moving on.’ We write with urgency – because of our reporting over the millennia against the reactionary rise, maintaining of records, and projecting of voices of the decreasing population that still connects to gender or anything like it, we are among the news groups hereby outlawed-

In my wordless scream of frustration and his of terror, I severed his head from his neck and immediately charged towards the door, deflecting the shots and cutting down the handful of bots in front of me, while taking scatter blasts to my back in yells of pain-

Blasts that fell silent as the hauler’s metal screeched and tore from rocket explosions at the front, spinning us wildly. I stood alone, legs bent and jumping about, while the rest tumbled.

I was about to run- Don’t run- and instead began to bear down on each with my blades in rapid succession while I bled. Four stabs through sparks by the time the remaining eleven stood back up in the back corner gravity had left them in, near me, and I sliced through the group’s torsos in four blows with a triumphant yell, as all fell to my blades beyond their experience or technology.

I sputtered, exhaust fumes coming out of my transforming seams in nervousness in my chair in her brightly lit office.

“You can say it, you know it as I do, and we’re here for you, just like people were for me,” she got up from her chair and stood in front of me, her sturdy shoulder stacked frame’s firm graspers towards me. “Can I hold your hands? Would that help?”

“Yeah...” I reached out and held her own, feeling her fingers gently find an easy grip around me. “It’s nice to actually be able to trust a doctor and a friend with understanding me and my body, that of a linked trans gal.”

"Sibling, you shouldn't be here," Galvatron crossed his arms and leaned on the wall. "This is far too dangerous, not in a combative sense, but that of you against the world," He frowned. "Including danger from your supposed patron and protector."

"You mean, the only person who has done right by our kind with any sort of power to protect us?" I stared back. "You showed up now to tell me that? No hug, no gladness to see me?"

“Hang on m’am I’m messaging a medic named Safety he’ll be right over with his team-” Phreaker replied.

I was flabbergasted. “Phreaker!”

“What? Just finished talking to him, sorry about that lady,” Phreaker transformed back and extended an arm. “I’m way smaller than you, but you can barely stand, and you need a friend. Lean on me.”

“Why did you use she pronouns and gender terms that some have associated with women? I haven’t told you my pronouns or my gender or terminology therein,” I stared at his cube of a face.

I spotted recent Cybernought tracks in the direction of my heading. No no no this is bad!! =”ANODE! LUG! Can you read me??”=

I slowed and reached the residue point- there was a crater with a shattered shield staff in the middle, and pink blood everywhere.

I transformed, crouched, and spotted split off pieces of Lug’s chest and torso armor.

“Hey Arcee, what’s up? Surprised to get a call from you after our last conversation,” Windblade’s holodisplay visage smiled at me, wings outstretched.

“I’ve been playing around with Earth mode reformats to choose.” I sent her communications table the file scans of considered alt modes and altered files I had tinkered with. “And actually found some euphoria from the shapes I’m considering, but I realized, I realized I didn’t want to be alone right now for this, I wanted someone who would understand to be present.”

“So, after all these millions of years, after all your labor for a radical revolution and then for survival in the wider galaxy, why in the stars would-” I fumbled over my words, the weight of my title and path of peace pressed on me, as I looked on at Arcee and Windblade, the old and new wiser than me, and both our future. “Why would you, an ancient trans woman anarchist, join up with the Autobots and work as my right hand, and even a commander in my stead?”

“Hey, hey, Arcee, Aileron told us what was happening,” Lug rubbed my back stacks, as did Anode from my sitting position where Aileron held me. “I know it’s a lot sometimes when we visit, and especially the occasion today.”

I let their rubbing and embrace anchor for me a moment, and then whimpered out: “come around so I can hug you- let me try to stand-”

Aileron helped me up, and the four of us hugged close. Lug’s head nuzzled on my waist, Anode leaned her head on my shoulder, and Aileron touched the three of us with her arms and torso. We had a quiet, lovely moment.

“Reading Anode and Lug’s journals again I see,” Prowl sat across from my cell bar’s door. “I have to ask, what do you of all people see in them besides curiosity? A change of spark, historical inclination?”

“It’s how they lived with the resources they had, and how strong they were with so little material,” I turned my head, and put the journal down. “They had in abundance things I didn’t value that only they could make- their euphoria, their companionship, their epistemes, their memories, their family. Resources I lost understanding for their true meaning long ago and am trying to retrace, (rest of quote removed due to spoilers)

Aileron's drippy face looked up at me as Gauge and Sideswipe held her hand, and Ailering, Greenlight, Anodes, Lugs, and Lancer hugged her. "I know we'll be family again too, Windblade..."

"I know we will," I smiled and joined the embrace, letting her chest rest on my head. "I have no doubt."

"Aunty, do you think-," Gauge wrapped an arm around me. "Do you think if our world had been happier- if we had not had 12 million years of empire- that her life would have been able to blossom more than it did? To never have been so alone?"

#commission #Arcee #arceeleron #anode #lug #lugnode #aileron #transformers #tf idw #macaddam #friend stuff #getting idw designs accurate is like. why yes i will be spending sO MUCH TIME on the lining here

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bengiyo · 1 year

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BL 2022 Review

I debated how I would go about reviewing this year, and quickly tossed out any sort of list approach. Anything like a top 10 or 20 would feel disrespectful to many of the smaller projects I watched this year that had something worthwhile to discuss. Instead, I’ve decided to talk about BL with major topics that stick with me as I review the 80+ shows I watched this year.

Reviewing the totals, as of the writing of this post I have completed, attempted, or am watching three shows from the Philippines, 49 from Thailand, five from Taiwan, 20 from South Korea, one from mainland China, 14 from Japan, and five from the West, for a total of 79 completed or watching plus 13 attempted. This included other QL projects as well. I’m reviewing a list of all BL projects from this year and the number was approximately 131. We’ve never had more choice than this, and I absolutely cannot watch this much again next year.

In this long essay, I plan to talk about what I enjoyed out of the actor chemistry this year, the ways BL has become more political, how specific and powerful coming of age narratives continue to be in genre, the ways BL used the supernatural to talk about grief and loss, the intergenerational relationships appearing in genre, the expansion of the genre into adulthood, the ongoing competition amongst college narratives, our first forays into GL, and the continued divide with the West. That’s a lot, so I’m just going to put all of that behind a cut.

First, Some Thanks

Before we get started, I want to give shoutouts to the clowns I got to know this year and who have been so much fun to engage with this year since we met on Bad Buddy. In no particular order: @shortpplfedup, @kyr-kun-chan, @liyazaki, @elnotwoods, @flukenatouch, @gilly-bean, and so many more whose handles I always forget outside of our other chats. Also a shout out to the 180 Degree Longitude Passes Through Us fandom. We were tiny, but I loved interacting with all of you.

The Boys Who Were Ready to Risk It All

I don’t always require the boys to have high levels of heat in my romances, but I do like believing that the characters genuinely desire each other. With Japan reentering the genre with their specific brand of reticence, and with Korea clearing the lane for their own form of clean romance*, I was not surprised to see Thailand turning up the heat in their shows to compete. All-in-all, this was an absolutely stellar year for chemistry across the board.

Starting with the Philippines, I noticed that I watched far fewer shows from them this year, but two in particular made me BELIEVE. In Gameboys 2 Elijah Canlas and Kokoy de Santos continued to display the absolutely electric and believable desire between Cairo and Gavreel. You could feel how suddenly their attraction came on, and the desperation of their quarantine bubble’s time ticking away as they tried to make being a couple work. I especially enjoyed how they explored their differing levels in sexual experience and readiness before delivering one of the better bed scenes of the year.

Meanwhile, in Sleep With Me Janine and Lovi made the first time between Harry and Luna look genuinely fun for their characters. The morning after sharing between them was one of the most comfortably intimate things I’ve seen all year.

Thailand offered up a wide array this year, from the extremely light or chaste La Cuisine and 21 Days Theory; to the passionate in Dear Doctor, I’m Coming for Soul and Triage, to the shows-with-something-to-prove in KinnPorsche, Love in the Air, and Love Mechanics. However, I’d like to highlight how much I genuinely believed in the sexual desire from Mile and Apo in KinnPorsche, Boy and Tod in Ghost Host, Ghost House; Zee and NuNew in Cutie Pie; both Boss and Noeul, and Peat and Forth, in Love in the Air; and Mos and ISBANKY in Big Dragon. No disrespect to Yin and War, but we already knew they could bring it.

With Apo and Mile, we saw expressions of sexual acts and desire from guys in this genre that it almost feels taboo for the genre to use with its preference for top/bottom acts. “A blowjob in a helicopter” became a “jumping the shark” joke for this year for a lot of valid reasons, but Kinn and Porsche engaging in mutual masturbation and oral sex was the most refreshing part of the sexual chemistry of that show.

Tod and Boy gave such a believable show of wanting each other that it gave me flashbacks to ITSAY Episode 3. Pluem’s clear love for Kevin’s legs, and their frank conversation about sex and readiness, along with their language play about making each other equal with English pronouns, made them one of my standouts for the year. Beyond that, the way they quickly fell into casual intimacy in the latter half the show elevates it above much this year.

We knew Zee could deliver on heat from Why R U (2020) with Saint, but I was surprised by how effectively he arrived at that same level with newcomer New Chawarin. I still think about the kitchen scene where Lian lifts Nu-Kuea onto the counter to stare up at him with open love and desire as he reassures him that he is everything to him. Thai fans jokingly review bombed the kettle model used in that scene for interrupting it, that’s how intense that scene was.

As usual with MAME, Me Mind Y casts for high heat and chemistry well, and clearly has an effective process for building up physical comfort between their casts, because everyone brought so much enthusiasm to their scenes that they literally let Boss and Noeul take charge of their own bed scenes. During my watch, I praised the way they used angles to allow for some actor modesty, and it’s clear everyone had fun working with their partner. Truly something special. There is a lot to unpack with Love in the Air, and I don’t think it’s for everyone, but in terms of heat, the cast delivered.

Speaking of shows that didn’t really work for me, I wasn’t a fan of Big Dragon. That being said, ISBANKY and Mos were absolutely willing to go there physically with each other, and managed varying levels of emotion and intensity in their intimate scenes across the season. I didn’t want to end the year without acknowledging that.

As expected from Japan, they were about as chaste as I expect them to be outside of their darker BLs, but we have a few things worth mentioning. The final minutes of episode 4 of Old Fashion Cupcake was the most sexually charged interaction to come out of Japan all year, and I’m glad it happened between characters in their 30s and 40s.

I was proud of Minato’s Laundromat for delivering a satisfying pair of kisses in the finale, and confirming that the characters were finally getting it in in the final shot. We also got some solid bed work from Sora Inoue and Komiya Rio in Eternal Yesterday, but the fact that Koichi was dead probably excused that for Japan’s weird relationship with onscreen intimacy. Finally, we almost hit something really interesting about first desire in Takara-kun to Amagi-kun, but the show backed off and never went back.

While we’re talking about heat and Japan, I’m going to vent for the final time that the show was called Mr. Unlucky Has No Choice But to Kiss!” and yet they didn’t give a satisfying kiss! Something MBS kept experimenting with this year was having a dubcon or asymmetric emotional kiss very early in their shows, and then not delivering on a good couple one later. It felt a bit cheap and manipulative, and I’m quite glad we didn’t get that in Eternal Yesterday nor so far (as of episode 2) of Color Candy Paradox.

With Korea, this was as @absolutebl calls it, the year Korea learned that boys can kiss. We returned to To My Star 2 this year for a very messy BL that I loved for the chemistry between the leads. Hwang Da Seul did it twice with the pair in Blueming.

Watcha showed a willingness to go there with Semantic Error with the Parks that was a real relief after the forgettable kiss in Light on Me the previous year. Strongberry proved again why they’re one of the best with both couple dynamics in Choco Milk Shake, the Cherry Blossoms After Winter pair were willing to go there, and the branded pair from Kissable Lips did it twice this year with Roommates of Poongduck 304. Holland and Han Gi Chan did a decent job in Ocean Likes Me, which was significant for me because Holland is a Known Gay. Seriously, Korea came to play this year.

*NOTE: Because of the impacts of military occupation in the first half of the 20th century, I don’t often comment on Korea’s particular brand of kissing or heat levels. If they’re still sorting out how they want to be perceived when it comes to intimacy and romance, I’ve elected to stay out of that cultural conversation and praise what I enjoy only.

BL Got Political

Across the board, it felt like BL realized it could not longer remain politically neutral and remain relevant. Almost every Thai show went out of its way to call for marriage equality this year, with the standouts being Cutie Pie for its entire focus on marriage and Big Dragon with a memorable lament about the issue. From Japan, Cherry Magic: The Movie elegantly illustrated why marriage is so important for queer couples.

I want to highlight the shows that went a bit further and explored some queer themes beyond the ongoing struggle for marriage equality in Thailand.

In 21 Days Theory, we had a side plot where Q’s gay uncle traveled with Q’s mom to talk to their father off-screen about Man’s queerness and start rebuilding their relationship.

180 Degree Longitude Passes Through Us focused on the way bullying and internalized homophobia leave wounds that shatter the people connected to that trauma, and became one of my standout shows of the year.

My Only 12% asked what the value was in queer media that leaves queer people feeling sad and broken at the end by questioning the role of Love of Siam (2007) in our history.

Papa & Daddy 2 challenged the artifice of rainbow capitalism and how only an acceptable brand of queerness is allowed to make money.

DNA Says I Love You explored a section of the alphabet mafia that we rarely touch upon (I don’t want to spoil it).

Both Not Me and The Eclipse challenged the structures of Thai society.

Outside of BL, Koisenu Futari did not mince words in its demands that aromantic asexual people should not be forced to form procreative units for the sake of others happiness.

We accelerated rather quickly on this, but it’s good to see that the makers within the genre know the score.

The Summer ‘22 High School Extravaganza

Starting this summer, we were treated to an amazing series of shows exploring first love in high school with Minato’s Laundromat and Takara-kun & Amagi-kun from Japan; About Youth from Taiwan; 21 Days Theory, My Only 12%, and The Eclipse from Thailand. We didn’t let up into the fall with Eternal Yesterday, and the currently-airing My School President.

There were so many shows this year, but statistically, the high school shows made up such a small portion of the genre overall. I appreciated how all of these shows tackled the commonalities of coming of age.

With Minato’s Laundromat, we got to see Shin struggle against the barriers that said he couldn’t care for someone older than him, while Minato struggled with the way he’d refused to let himself mature from his own internalized homophobia.

We got to experience first desire and intense infatuation in Takara-kun to Amagi-kun, and how you’ll need the help of your friends to manage that intensity.

We had an absolutely adorable pair of couples falling in love in About Youth in the gentlest of these shows. Truly, this is a show so enjoyable that I have watched it more than once on my own.

My Only 12% explored the reality of falling in love with your best friend, and having them finally fall back years later as you also come to terms with your own queerness.

The Eclipse tackled the institutional and long-term effects of internalized homophobia across nine different characters and how they were all impacted by it.

21 Days Theory gave us a somewhat messy process of falling in love, but gave us support from a queer elder that let the show end up being shorter.

My School President is shaping into the much-needed successor to Lovesick and is turning Bad Buddy into a blueprint.

Finally, Eternal Yesterday tackled the grief of losing your first loved one unexpectedly to tragedy with a grace I think only Japan could pull off.

Yes, there were a lot of high school shows this year, but I think they were among the best offerings this year.

Ghosts! The Supernatural as Allegory for Grief

With BL reaching for higher concepts to stand out in the crowd, supernatural stories opened up spaces for shows to explore impossible romances and grief within the genre. I wrote extensively about how Eternal Yesterday tackled this, and how it is beneficial for some viewers to unpack their feelings. Even though I didn’t enjoy all of the shows I will mention in this section, I want to reiterate that I don’t ever want creators to stop trying to reach a strong thematic core with these supernatural concepts.

Thailand displayed a specific notion about posthumous bureaucracy in both Dear Doctor, I’m Coming For Soul, Something in My Room, and Ghost Host, Ghost House. All three of these shows expressed a ton of rules about the afterlife for ghosts that I couldn’t always track, but has felt specifically Thai. Ghost House stood out for me amongst these offerings with the way Kevin continued to mourn his friend who died in the US, and how the ghost of his friend continued to protect Kevin without his knowledge.Something in My Room ended up feeling like a weaker version of He’s Coming to Me (2019).

Japan relied on magical forces to draw people together in Mr. Unlucky Has No Choice But To Kiss! and Cherry Magic: The Movie. The yin and yang dynamics about unluckiness and luckiness led to a truly enjoyable pairing between the leads. Adachi not losing his powers until he was truly ready to connect to Kurosawa ended up being far more enjoyable than I expected. Meanwhile, in Korea, Color Rush 2 without one of the leads ultimately left the series feeling incomplete on a somewhat disappointing note.

Korea has had three different reincarnation stories this year with First Love, Again; Choco Milk Shake, and The Director Who Buys Me Dinner. Choco Milk Shake ends up being the weirdest, what with Jungwoo’s pets reincarnating as very hot human men to try and help him manage his loneliness. In the other two shows, one partner is either immortal or has full recollection of his previous lives as he tries to reconnect with the other partner.

Kissable Lips tried out vampires, mostly unsuccessfully. Without enough time, it didn’t get to explore some complex themes about long-lived beings. Interview With the Vampire will be the queer vampire show that gets remembered this year for the toxicity of their failed marriage and the abuses therein.

We had two different time loop shows with Triage from Thailand, and Once Again from Korea. I enjoyed Triage more for the way it showed how hard it is not to love someone when you become obsessed with them, but there was something special about the painful way Once Again doled out a sliver of hope.

Vice Versa managed to tell something interesting with the body swapping across universes concept, even if I found myself frustrated with one of the leads. Self also attempted to use the supernatural with a character losing his reflection, but it ultimately felt like a plot delivery shorthand.

Whew! For all the talk about the number of high school shows we got this year, we had more supernatural ones.

Finally: Adults to Take To Brunch

We had a lot of standout adults this year that I want to highlight. Inter-generational queer relationships are extremely important to me. No matter how loving and supportive families may be, most queer people are going to be raised by straight people. We have to venture out to find our people and each other. So, being able to find that within your family or within your own community is so important. As such, these are the characters from this year I’d want to take to brunch and hang out with.

My favorite pair this year are Cheep and Dej from My Ride. The breakfast they share with Mork and Tawan in episode 8 about how maintaining a long term relationship is not so much about amorous love and romance, but more about trust, commitment, and communication. The frankness with which they discuss how they don’t always get along, and yet continue to choose each other, was so stellar. I hope someday to have a love as durable as theirs.

I also want to mention Uncle Man in 21 Days Theory. I suspect the show introduced a gay uncle to accommodate its short run time. They needed a queer presence to explain Q’s familiarity with queerness, and Uncle Man’s advice and guidance saved us a lot of navel gazing as a character came to understand himself. Regardless, at one point in the show, Q gets jealous of Man because he thinks Man is flirting with X. Man pulls his nephew aside and reads him to pieces for being so irrational, and reminds Q that he’s not interested in boys. It was such a stellar moment that has stuck with me for months.

Framboise from Kabe Koji Nekoyashiki-kun Desires to be Recognized is probably my favorite character of the year. From his first appearance, he radiates queer self love and joy. He is so excited to be amongst his people and connect with them, and them to each other. He gives solid advice in the few interactions we had with him, and he’s so determined to make sure Mamouru joins in with other creators. I have so much more to say about him, but know that he is what I aspire to be. (Gif credit to @liyazaki, used with permission)

Alex from My Tooth Your Love needs to join us so he can have a break from holding the entire restaurant together. Alex may have been stern, but it was so fun to see a character set in where he was in his life while helping take care of others. He also deserves to be teased for being so fond of a baby gay.

Mama Xu from About Youth is also invited to the brunch. Not only has she managed to keep her son in good spirits after the painful loss of his father even as her brother terrorizes them, she also does that while staying out of his business.When Ye Guang came to her for advice about Qi Zhang, she kept her advice nonspecific enough that she didn’t invade their relationship. I love her, and she deserves to be pampered.

Though he had such a small role that they only named him Uncle, Uncle from Choco Milk Shake needs to join us because of the way he’s clearly supported his nephew without judgment for years, even knowing that a deep melancholy gripped him.

While talking about My Tooth Your Love, all of the 30-somethings that got together this year are welcome at brunch, including Xun’an and Bai Lang from My Tooth Your Love; Nomoto Yuki and Totoko Kasuga from She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat; Togawa and Nozue from Old Fashion Cupcake; the entire adult cast of Papa & Daddy 2; Seo Joon and Ji Woo from To My Star 2; and the entire adult cast of Plus & Minus.

Lian and Yi from Cutie Pie are not invited because they are too wrapped up in the lives of young 20s folks and will bring the wrong energy to the brunch. Speaking of which, we’ve invited enough people that this has turned into a luncheon.

QL Got Jobs This Year

One of the real joys of being part of the genre for so long is seeing enough money enter the field that we can afford to leave the school settings. This year, we finally started seeing office romances more often.

Scrolling through my watch list reveals: 609 Bedtime Story, 180 Degree Longitude Passes Through Us, Accomplishment of Fudanshi Bartender, Candy Color Paradox, Check Out, Cherry Magic: The Movie, Choco Milk Shake, Close Friend S2, Coffee Melody, Dear Doctor I’m Coming for Soul, The Director Who Buys Me Dinner, Even Sun, First Love Again, Gameboys 2, GAP, Ghost Host Ghost House, Happy Ending Romance, Kabe Koji Nekoyashiki-kun Desire to be Recognized, KinnPorsche, Koisenu Futari, Love Stage!!, Meow Ears Up, My Ride, My Tooth Your Love,The New Employee, Ocean Likes Me, Oh! Boarding House, Oh! My Assistant, Old Fashion Cupcake, On Cloud Nine, Physical Therapy, Plus & Minus, Rainbow Prince, Roommates of Poongduck 304, Senpai This Can’t be Love!, She Loves to Cook and She Loves to Eat, Sleep With Me, Sky in Your Heart, Tinted With You, That’s My Candy, To My Star 2, Triage, To Sir With Love, The Tuxedo, Vice Versa, War of Y, and What Zabb Man!.

That’s 47 shows; that’s more than half my watch list. We can talk about how much stuff happens in school settings, but we had some options this year!

In a real relief for me, we started to see more workplace romances or romances starting between adults. Early in the year it started with My Ride for me, and then the slate of Korean shows. I suspect it comes down to where it was pragmatic to shoot. In Seoul, there’s probably office space for rent for these sorts of productions because of kdrama, whereas Thailand seems to have a disused campus that hosts many of the shows. Still, I count at least 16 that involve people falling for people they work with.

A special note for the Philippines: Rainbow Prince was fantastic. Yes, the production values are way lower than most people’s tastes, but that show was so funny. They absolutely committed to being the first BL musical, and the songs are a ton of fun. That show has “a heart so big it could crush this town.” It even does the classic musical thing of giving an antagonist one of the better songs on the set.

Looking at the projects being advertised next year, we might see non-school shows take the vast majority. What a time for us!

The College Shows That Didn’t Suck

Where I found that the high school shows have done a fantastic job this year, the college shows were really hit or miss for me. I’m not sure if it’s because that particular setting has run out of intriguing ideas, but I want to highlight the shows that I think didn’t suck.

First up: Thailand. You’re My Sky felt like the first true post-ITSAY pulp. They really reached for solid production values and tried to bring a higher level of cinematography. I also think they handled the three relationships really well. Many folks dropped it, but it was a quiet gem of this year for me. Cutie Pie was a bit of a slog sometimes, but I still recommend it. Mark and Vee are not my favorite pairing, but the new version of Love Mechanics was still well done. It needed a side couple though.

Next: Japan. Despite my gripes, Mr. Unlucky Has No Choice But To Kiss! was actually a really fun watch. Obviously we can’t end a year without acknowledging the continued parody fun of Absolute BL 2.

Finally: Korea. Semantic Error is going to be one of the banner shows of this year when we refer back to this year and talk about how people got into BL, what with the way it brought K-pop fans into the genre. Blueming gave us another stellar entry from Hwang Da Seul (To My Star). While I don’t really enjoy stepbrothers pairings, Cherry Blossoms After Winter was compelling. Love Class held its own, even if it wasn’t exactly to my taste.

Finally, though it isn’t exactly a school show, DNA Says I Love You is a really special show from Taiwan worth checking out.

LET’S GO LESBIANS! We Finally Had Multiple Quality GL Offerings

We finally started seeing GL productions on the field. Surprisingly, Korea has had the most offerings. I’ve watched She Makes My Heart Flutter and Our Relationship Ended Before it Began. My favorite pieces so far are Sleep With Me and GAP.

Sleep With Me worked so well because of the way they focused on disability and how it impacts romance. The queerness mattered to the storytelling, but it doesn’t spend much time in angst about that, when their material concerts are so much more present. I’ve been shouting for months for more people to watch it, so please sign up on Gaga and watch it. You can check out the first episode on YouTube.

GAP is still airing, but oh my goodness am I having fun with the costuming on this show. There is a specific lesbian gaze to this show that has been so refreshing to experience. It’s even unlocked all new tropes with us with “let me put this lipstick on you so I can taste it.”

She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat feels like the lesbian little sister to What Did You Eat Yesterday? Unlike WDYEY, the pair are not together at the beginning, but it has been a darling of a show that I really hope NHK continues next year. I do love the shows where everyone cooks.

In Koisenu Futari, we got to see two aromantic asexual people build a platonic support system together while dealing with a lot of unwanted allosexual scrutiny. This was one of the most vital things I watched this year.

While there aren’t a ton of offerings yet, it’s been an encouraging start.

Meanwhile, In the West

Though it pains me how many Western fans of queer media will not cross over into BL, there were some things from the West I enjoyed this year.

Closest to BL, I enjoyed Heartstopper and Young Royals. Both fit into the same coming of age space BL loves and were easy recommendations for people who enjoy high school romance.

Probably my favorite show was Chucky. That the Chucky character has been terrorizing victims across five decades is amazing, and I’ve enjoyed how some of the queer themes always at the core of the series are now front and center. A young romance between two boys undergirds much of the drama of the first two seasons, and it's a rare American show that became appointment television for me.

The biggest surprise of the year for me came from HBO with Our Flag Means Death. Obviously, we all know that pirates are gay culture, but I was not expecting HBO to be this explicit and play a textual romance out between Rhys Darby and Taika Waititi as Stede Bonnet and Blackbeard respectively. It also featured an explicit open relationship between two other crewmembers, and had a clearly nonbinary character aboard as well. All of this is handled with a comedic grace that felt so easy.

Also distributed by HBO is the Canadian show Sort Of, in which a trans-nonbinary nanny deals with the fallout of one of the parents falling into a coma. I first saw it at TIFF 2021, and it is really just so good. It’s hard to really sell in text like this, but it’s a fantastic show.

Finally, of what I watched, AMC gave us an adaptation of Interview With the Vampire, that shows a gay romance souring into something truly toxic over decades. I had a few qualms with specific choices the team made, but this show was absolutely compelling.

While I’m impressed with a few of the offerings we have here, I’m still not sold on Western queer storytelling funded by the major distribution systems.

So…What’s Next?

That’s the real question, isn’t it? I think, for me, I’m going to have to be more discerning next year. Watching this much stuff really isn’t sustainable for me anymore, and it means I’m going to have to pick my winners, because I find I have little time to catch up on shows. I also enjoy the week-to-week interaction about shows too much to be late to the party.

Overall, I’m genuinely encouraged by what I’ve seen teased so far for next year. GMMTV is getting more confident in its post-school storytelling, and is doubling down on using veteran talent instead of newbies to lead their shows. With their original stable starting to age up, they’re trying out more high-concept stuff. The Midnight Series begins airing this week, and I think will be our first glimpse of what’s to come.

Beyond GMMTV, Star Hunter Entertainment and Domundi seem like they’re going to hold strong for the coming year. Me Mind Y also doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. That means we’ll be covered on high heat and genre stories as well. Finally, Wayufilm is still active, so we’ll continue to see them experiment.

Unfortunately, I don’t see Korea taking a big leap forward yet. They seem satisfied with the 20 minutes max for their shows and at most 8 episodes. Still, I expect them to dominate the low-heat shows that focus exclusively on romance.

I’m not sure what to expect from Japan after this year of BL o’clock ends for MBS. My only hope is that the relationships with GagaOOlala and Viki don’t end, and what new productions do come out Japan make it onto both platforms.

I worry about the Philippines getting too walled in. I haven’t been able to watch a production from The IdeaFirst Company easily in a very long time, and I don’t know what’s going on with their international distribution anymore. I’m still watching to watch Pa Thirsty and Two and One. I have hopes for Oxin Films’ next productions, but they always seem to be working on a thin budget that delays their projects.

I’ve also fallen off of Vietnamese productions for now. The fundraising pushes are too much for me.

That’s all from me. It’s been the most enjoyable year in BL I’ve ever had, and maybe all of queer media. It’s so fun seeing different kinds of BL fans in the space now find their niches, and to see fandom wars moving off my dashboard as people find other people to engage with instead. We passed supersaturation a long time ago, so I hope the bubble doesn’t burst any time soon.

See you all next year!

#bl end of year wrap up #bl series #thai bl #taiwanese bl #japanese bl #korean bl #pinoy bl #Ben watches

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maccreadysbaby · 18 days

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Hi 😁 Was there a scene you had in your head that you just couldn’t wait to get to? In either 100 Days or 100 Ways? What (if anything) was the central inspiration?

Soooo a hundred days literally sprung forth due to the domestic abuse scenes between Bentley and his dad 😬 I was experimenting with writing characters and circumstances I didn’t usually fool with and out came that poor poor child, little did I know he was gonna take off into batman land (originally bentley was a metahuman with pink hair and fire powers…)

So, like a psychopath, I like to think through an entire storyline and at least grasp a little of each part before I actually start writing. So usually my inspirations are more like themes or a character concept than actual scenes that come to mind. For example, my whole inspiration for a hundred days was the general idea of a young child who is working his way out of being puppeteered by an abusive and manipulative father. And, of course, this kid needs a found family — Enter Batman

since a hundred ways was a sequel, it was more fueled by scenes than concepts. (the first one I ever really wrote for a hundred ways was Bentley, Asten, and Nico running for their lives in the woods from Keene.) for example, I would just think about him as I lay in bed and imagine him doing stupid crap like breaking into a cabin with his friends. The very first scene of a hundred ways that I wrote but didn’t post was Bentley, Asten, and Nico stealing Dr Keene’s phone. It was a character dynamic and dialogue study that ended up fueling a whole story. (I often practice with characters I already have, hence why I was using Bentley.)

to make a long story short, I can’t really pinpoint any specific scenes I was super excited to get to, im pretty excited about them all as im writing lmao. But I can say Bentleys entire story sprung into life thanks to me experimenting with characters who deal with domestic violence, and the rest is me making him have terrible luck and an even worse father lmao.

To make a long story short, I didn’t really have favorite scenes as I was writing, but here are some of my favorite smaller scenes throughout the story:

The scene in a hundred days where Bentley is starting to get comfortable and makes jokes about Dick’s name

Damian and Bentley doing the science project together in the first one 🫶🏻

Jason helping Bentley fix up his hand

When Bentley realized Tim stayed in his room after his nightmare

Bruce helping Bentley through first day of school nerves

Nico’s breakdown

Asten’s parents’ deaths :(

When Bentley starts bloodbending the Secret Keeper

#batfamily #batman #oc; bentley #oc; bentley whittaker #oc; nico allen #oc; nico rockefeller #oc; nico #oc; asten #oc; asten evans #mb; a hundred days to become a wayne #mb; a hundred ways to become a wayne

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roo-bastmoon · 1 year

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Let's talk about Yoongi and Taeyang

youtube

My thoughts and impressions of this episode are below the cut to avoid spoilers for folks.

Okay so first of all, let's all agree that our Lil Meow Meow was going THROUGH IT. He started fanboying before he could even get to the introduction and he was consistently twitterpated throughout the entire show. Adorbs.

I won't recap everything, but a few things stood out to me as significant insights into character.

Taeyang mentioned he used to eat only one meal a day. (As someone recovering from disordered eating, I have VIEWS about this but let me hush up and stay on topic.) Then he said when he served in the military, he had to eat three meals a day and do physical labor, so he gained 10kgs (22lbs). Which by the way is still a healthy weight. And he said he had to "work hard" to lose it again. I hate this. I hope all our boys come back from their time in the military used to regular meals, regular sleeping hours, a regular BMI and stick to it. They will have the power to reshape the standards of the industry if they refuse to make themselves fit into a smaller space. Just my opinion and I doubt I'll be changing it any time ever.

Taeyang said Jimin re-recorded their song 15 times. As far as I know based on the documentaries and Masterclasses I've watched from other famous musicians, singers, and songwriters, studio time is precious, even if you own the studio. Recording is expensive. A great deal of time is spent after recording on mixing the best takes to get to one master track. But our Jimin seems to have wanted to get it perfect all in one. He really does hold himself to a standard higher than most Grammy winners; I'm not kidding.

Yoongi then of course praises Jimin for his work ethic. The praise, THE PRAISE, Y'ALL. I LIVE. Jimin keeps working even when he cramps up in pain, our dear artist... Remember when he couldn't go to Jin's birthday party because he was recovering from muscle cramps? We called it; it was because of choreo.

Interesting how in the same breath, Yoongi compared Jungkook's organic genius to Jimin's effortful genius. I'm a huge Jikook fan but I don't want to make this out to be a shipping moment, because honestly it's just about styles of approach to work. And this isn't the first time we've heard this about Jikook as a unit. We hear it from members, producers, friends, choreographers, collaborators...

Yoongi also is sure to rat Jimin out about how much he mimicked and idolized Taeyang as a teen and it's like... you're saying this while admitting to doing the exact same thing and knowing all his songs, but still, it's super sweet. It reminds me of when Yoongi admitted to writing fanfic, lol. Even better is how Taeyang mentions several times he knows all of BTS' work. That's a discography of 200+, my friends.

But seeing Yoongi praise both Jimin and Taeyang so highly makes me wish that this episode came out before VIBE released. Maybe his trusted perspective would have softened the resistance many people felt toward supporting the project.

Especially because Taeyang really comes across as a good guy. He seems humble, considerate, grounded, a team-player, sensible, deep-thinking, and kind. He also seems to be focused on being a family man, making good music, and becoming a role model for the next generation. Now yes, both times I've seen him this way, he's appearing on TV to promote his single. But as far as we can know a celebrity while they are in front of a hot camera, I feel like his character is genuine enough, and I trust the tannies when they say they ALL admire and respect him deeply.

BTS has been around in the industry long enough to know when people are full of shit. And yeah, there are some seriously problematic assholes in Big Bang. There were legit scandals involving drugs and sex trafficking. I won't be rushing out to consume their products. But they did play a part in shaping BTS and Taeyang shouldn't be painted with the same brush just because he landed in the same group. He seems like someone who might have matured out of a lot of mistakes, like appropriating hairstyles or speaking on subjects outside his lived experience. I'm willing to give him a chance, here, in 2023, to get it right.

I also appreciate how honest and vulnerable Yoongi was and continues to be the moment he gets a few drinks in him. Talking about being so nervous without his members for That, That that he wanted to throw up. Mentioning the fear and disappointment when news of their hiatus caused all hell to break loose. Stating openly and without any qualifiers that he loves his members. To me, this is healing.

Yoongi was also adorable as fuck, let's face it. Giggly, blushing, toe-tapping, squirming, gushing, flirting Min Yoongi managed to ask Taeyang if he could produce a song for him (as if anyone in the world would say no thanks). And Taeyang is like "come over to my house and eat dinner with Jimin, I'll cook kimchi jiggae for you guys."

Oh and by the way, Taeyang and Joon apparently go to dinner and hang out and go to museums? AND WE WOULD NEVER KNOW. Do you know why? Because unless they choose to share aspects of their personal lives with us, WE DON'T ACTUALLY SEE THE MAJORITY OF THEIR PERSONAL LIVES. So just because you don't see evidence of members hanging out doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Everyone needs to chill about this with regards to Jikook. They went to ground around the same time that bullshit insurance premiums "scandal" broke and they've been to ground since. That's all.

Side note: Considering the shitstorm online earlier this week because Taehyung followed T-Top for a few hours on Instagram, I'm wondering if 2023 is the year most of the tannies stick to work-only promotions for their social media. You get burned enough, there's no payoff in sharing your vulnerable sides with strangers. It's such a shame, because we had a window to their inner landscapes, a glimpse at their real personalities and their real lives, but ruiners ruin everything. So a special Fuck You to people sending them hate for following or working with people you don't like. Know your place as a fan. Feel free to protest with your pocketbook but don't you dare talk shit and spread hate.

I digress. Back to Suchwita.

Taeyang advised Yoongi to surround himself with good people (members, staff, friends)... people who can tell him no. They had a great talk about staying realistic and humble, reminding themselves all things come to an end, being normal and grounded.

THIS is what makes BTS so easy to champion. They are uniquely talented, clearly the most hardworking, and even have streaks of artistic genius. But they forever remain set in a beginner's mind. They are the top dogs in their industry with an underdog mindset. I love this about them enough to set alarms to vote for awards and buy multiple copies of their work so they chart. I, Roo, who has never been to a popular music concert in all her 43 years; never been a groupie of anyone; never owned a piece of merch--I want them to succeed because I know they will never take it for granted.

And they keep it simple, even when it comes to how they work. Now, as someone who writes for a living and does bullet journaling every day as part of my therapy, I cannot tell you how delighted I was to learn that Yoongi writes with a pen and Taeyang with a typewriter. I am exactly the same. There's something intimate about it. I type more than 95 words a minute for work but it's not the same when crafting something personal. I also write original works better away from a designated work space--it's too much pressure to sit in a sterile environment and try to create. Real, meaningful words come from real, messy, organic moments in life. I just loved this level of detail in their conversation.

All in all, this was just such a great episode. I feel like I got to know both men better, was shown real insight into their mindsets, learned about their lives and work, and so I felt excited about VIBE.

Speaking of VIBE, we still need lots more sales to help Jimin get to Hot 100. Please contact accounts on twitter to get a gift card, make another itunes or amazon account, and buy it again, if you cannot persuade others to buy-in. Jimin worked so hard and wanted this so badly. I'm deeply troubled that ARMY couldn't cough up a buck-twenty-nine for him. It's like With You all over again. Unacceptable.

We are up against Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, and Sam Smith. We need the sales to get the points. We have a day and a half to get it right. PLEASE buy it.

We also only need 1.2 million more views on YouTube to get it to 50 million in its first week, so please stream today and tomorrow!

youtube

Consider it practice for next month, when PJM1 drops. Because by all accounts--from everyone who has ever worked with Jimin--he deserves it.

If you got this far, thanks for reading. Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!

Yours,

Roo

#yoongi #min yongi #taeyang #jimin #park jimin #jimin vibe #suchwita #jimin bts #yoongi bts #suga bts #jikook #Youtube

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andypantsx3 · 10 months

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Hello,

I wanted to ask how to keep yourself motivated to write these long series?

Hello my love!!

The answer is that I don't always!! I cannot advocate enough for the importance of taking a break from something you're getting burnt out on. I see a lot of people beating themselves up for not being able to power through things and just finish them up, but in my experience that only hurts your creative process and leads to you disliking the work!! And the most important thing about writing fic is not finishing it, it's enjoying it, because it's a hobby!

For example, I accidentally took nearly a year-long hiatus from incendiary because I find it tough to write and review due to the seriousness of some of the undertones!! And I think doing so was absolutely the right call, because I was able to keep writing by working through and completing other, easier projects like fingerprints and Deceiving the Duke, which let me build my confidence back up to return to incendiary recently!!

I think it can also help to write little drabbles or one-shots in between chapters of a longer fic, to help scratch the itch for diversity! Which leads me to another point:

You want to spend time identifying what is the appropriate length of a fic for you at this point in time. I have aspirations of writing like 160K word fics like @/ofmermaidstories, but I find that I get antsy as I get close to the 25K mark and start wanting to work on something else.

So instead, I've slowly been building up the average length of my fics over time (like, cover shot was 16K, savvy was 17K and conspire was only 13K(!!) compared to my most recently-completed fics Deceiving the Duke at 30K and fingerprints at 38K). But this is only because I started from the bottom and learned to close out fics on a smaller scale first; it makes it easier to gradually work your way up to writing a longer fic if you're doing it by adding maybe only one chapter or 1K extra at a time!!

The last point I will make is making sure you're planning your fic in the way that is most helpful to your process. For me, I can't continue to write if I don't have a full roadmap ahead of me, and don't know which points I should be hitting chapter-to-chapter. So I have to make sure I plan my fics out in advance to the appropriate level of detail in order to ensure I'm equipped to keep going. On the other side of things, some people think that planning a fic out too much is akin to already writing it, and they lose interest in completing it, as they already sort of feel it's concluded!! So I would think about what level of planning will help you stay motivated, and make sure you're sticking with that!!

Anyway I hope this helps!!!! Sending you my absolute best vibes and cheering for your success!!

#ask andie #writing advice

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cosmicgrapevine · 7 months

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A Not-So-Brief Summary of my Novel's Worldbuilding, Characters, Plot, and Themes

@tototavros was asking for a more comprehensive summary of this project at some point, so here goes. This is a rather 'organic' project and some of the details have changed over time and will continue to change, but I'm pretty solid on most of it at this point.

This sideblog is for my posting pieces from and other content related to my WIP manuscript Through the Grapevine, an urban fantasy novel set in the late 1990s that straddles the YA/New Adult border in tone and content. While the first novel is a fairly self-contained narrative, I am writing and marketing it as a 3-4 book series.

Metaphysics: While this mostly isn't relevant in the first book, if you pan out wide enough it turns out that our universe is only one of an uncountably high (but not infinite: something something maximum number of vertices in an n-dimensional something something) number connected by a structure known as the Viabract or Great Vine. The number of universes able to support life at all, let alone a civilization of intelligent beings, is much smaller--many universes are tiny, half-formed, or incomplete 'junk dimensions'. "Our" universe has a reputation for being unusually safe, stable, and predictable, in part because our stricter physical laws make magic more difficult to perform, and magic is ultimately a force that borrows against metaphysical stability, especially on the large scale.

The Viabract is the ultimate source of all magic, although that magic manifests locally in different ways, and skilled supernaturalists can use it to travel between dimensions. The interior is a series of interconnected tunnels to which normal notions of size and distance don't really apply. The only (arguably) living beings native to it are agglomerations of pure magic called Mires, which in their natural state look something like overgrown amoebae but can possess other beings to give themselves 'real bodies' and grant significant power to their hosts. (A non-sapient possessed animal is called a Halfmire, while a sapient possessed animal is a Fullmire)

Main Characters: My two POV characters are Melanie Kitz and Tabby Jelenski, high school juniors at a Catholic school in Chicago who have been friends since childhood. Melanie's parents, Fred and Janet, are a Chicago PD detective and a social worker for Child Services, and thus she's led a fairly privileged life. She is ambitious, hoping to get into a good college and start a career in politics or activism, and prefers to follow the rules and keep her head down.

Tabby's parents, Steve and Rita, are divorced and estranged: her paternal uncle went to jail for laundering mob money through his pawn shop, which ruined her parents' already tenuous relationship. She lives with her abusive mother, her father moved to the suburbs to live with said brother once he got out of jail, and while she deeply despises her mom she's not on great terms with her dad either. She is adventurous and reckless, planning on running away to anywhere-but-here as soon as she's done with school. She rebels against her mother through petty crimes and sleeping around with neighborhood boys.

While he's not a POV character, Lynd's arc is nearly as important as the other two. He shows up one night at Melanie's house, looking for her paternal grandfather Florentino, a man she thought had been dead for decades. He claims to be a representative of an ancient order of demon-hunters called Marksteppers who live in the wilderness and forsake human civilization, and his 'clan' seeks help from Florentino, who is the most powerful living Warden, a different school of magic (broadly speaking: Wardens are rules-magic engineers, Marksteppers are spirit-magic shamans, and they do not work well together). It is soon revealed that Lynd has ostensibly arrived in search of some information, but really wants to leave his old life behind and see what life in the 'normal world' is like.

Lynd is of the Ash Clan of Marksteppers, one of nine 'Great Clans' that rule the others and whose members are significantly more powerful. While 'normal' Marksteppers are basically human, Great Clan members are closer to demigods: they don't age, can't reproduce, and the (more or less) only way to join a clan is to kill a current member and inherit their powers, thus taking their place.

Setting: All three wind up in Kahoti, Florida, a private suburb north of Tampa built, funded, and operated by Florentino. Wardens' chief magical tool is Wards, a form of defensive magic which borrows energy from the Viabract and uses it to create barriers. Historically, Wards could only be applied to single structures, as they relied on a physical anchoring point and their power could not be transmitted through empty space. Florentino is a pioneer in Warding larger areas: his first big breakthrough was (ironically) magic-proofing Walt Disney World, using the rides, monorails and the like as vectors for Wards. By the '80s, he had mastered his craft enough to build an entire community with enough space for 30,000 people, all fully Warded and protected (real life inspirations include private and/or planned Florida communities Seaside, Celebration, and Golden Oak).

Plot: Once they settle down in Kahoti, the trio joins the Lost Kids, the in-training demon-hunting group at Kahoti High (this is, at its core, a Wake Up Go to School Save the World story). The central enemy in the story is Blackmires--Mires which seem to be created artificially, hijack hosts instead of symbiotically bonding with them, and can be transferred from one person to another with the old memories intact, none of which normal Mires are supposed to be able to do.

The mastermind behind their creation is Gerald Scutaro, aka The Centipede, a former mafioso who found a way into the world of magic and used it to benefit his organization, until he got too powerful for his own good and his fellow mobsters tricked him into a Vegas trip in the early 1990s where they gave him the Rasputin treatment and left him for dead. He survived, however, to meet Anna McCarthy, current Lord of the Sumac Clan of Marksteppers. Along with another Sumac, they invent Blackmires by combining normal Mires with the Sumac Clan's signature Black Water, a substance that in small doses makes people uninhibited and hedonistic, and in large ones mutates them into monsters that the Clan Lord can control.

McCarthy and Scutaro's ultimate plan is to gain possession of two bractoscopes, items that superficially look like mirrors but are actually portals into Warded areas that they couldn't access otherwise, use them to funnel their troops into Kahoti and take it over from the inside. And that is not just for its own sake, but to secure possession of a valuable territory for the coming actions of all nine Great Clans: an attempt to summon their creator goddess back to life and turn Earth into a fortress against their extradimensional enemies. (This is not an 'Evil Plan' necessarily: some Marksteppers and humans alike think that it will lead to a new golden age for Earth as a center of interdimensional travel, and Marksteppers in general are fond of humanity and see themselves as its protectors.)

On the more interpersonal level, Melanie was already an ambitious young woman, and learning that she's the heir to her grandfather's vast empire and a prodigal (grand)daughter to this new community only heightens that aspect of her. She learns how to use this power to the benefit of all while still keeping her morals intact. She struggles in understanding her grandfather and his work; he is at turns capricious, downright cruel, and deeply merciful. Tabby and Lynd, meanwhile, quickly find themselves falling in love with each other, their shared outsider status and being targets of suspicion deepening their bond. With Tabby's help, Lynd assimilates quickly to this new world, to the point where she fears he'll lose the spark that brought them together in the first place.

Other Characters: Florentino Cervantes himself is my flashy, sun-soaked spin on the mentor character, a wizard and business baron whose two trades mutually support each other, and who mostly farms out the mentoring to his subordinates. Travis Barrett, an aggressive and vicious hunter, is his second in command, and is secretly Melanie's older brother: Florentino forced Fred and Janet to give up their firstborn to him in return for leaving their lives entirely. Since the Lost Kids meet primarily at school, most of their adult support doubles as school staff, including Gary Hansen (dean of students), Amanda Vernon (physics), and Lou Bonifacio (driver's ed and assistant baseball coach).

Gary's daughter Fawn and Lou's nephew Jordy are both 'lifers', with Fawn specializing in infosec and cover-ups and Jordy being more of a front-liner with a magic-infused baseball bat that can turn into a massive magic-fueled sledge. Kenny Boyd and Anthony Nicks began their training in middle school. Anthony is the team nerd of sorts: tech whiz and loremaster with perception-altering powers, while Kenny is a cynical metalhead and skateboarder with the ability to control metals. Finally, the 'Pool Crew' consists of Drew, Jevon, Conrad, and Corey, who answer directly to Travis and whose preferred magic is the gun kind. Jordy's girlfriend Shanti Khatri had a spot on the team for a minute, but was kicked out and memory-wiped for targeting her classmates with mind-altering magic.

Of the bad guys: Ernest Brunswick is a 200-year-old English aristocrat who gained Markstepper-immortality at age 30 or so, and the chief chemist in the creation of Blackmires. He is estranged from Scutaro and McCarthy when the story begins and seeks to undermine them. Other agents include Dale Patterson, the first Blackmire who could successfully travel from body to body, but given he was a white supremacist before being transformed, insists on possessing only white men, and Rachel Bosart, a one-hit-wonder pop singer from the '70s who is looking to ride Scutaro's magic into a younger body. While none of the students start out demonic (in the non-mundane sense at least), the bad guys do get their claws into Shanti and star pitcher Ryan Hyde as well.

Themes: The most central theme to this story is freedom vs. safety, exemplified by Tabby and Melanie respectively. Wards provide safe havens from demons, but must be carefully controlled and are not open to everyone. Personal choice is also a major factor: destiny and chosen ones do not really feature here (although some characters think otherwise), and emphasis is repeatedly placed on how all three tritagonists choose to learn more or go deeper. While I'm trying to avoid going all Ernest Cline, 90's/y2k nostalgia is a factor as well, playing up the pre-9/11, pre-Columbine sense of freedom and optimism, as well as one of the last eras where having a social life didn't require being constantly plugged into the internet.

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