#''but that's not what the definition of th-'' SHOW ME ONE WORD IN THE ENTIRE LGBTQ JARGON THAT HAS A SET IMMOVABLE DEFINITION & NO VARIATION

[gender-euphowrya]

how tf are there still people acting like other people calling themselves 'pansexual' kills thousands of bisexuals a year

[bloodfiendarling]

𝓫𝓪𝓭 𝓽𝓮𝓪𝓬𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓪 𝓫𝓪𝓭 𝓼𝓽𝓾𝓭𝓮𝓷𝓽

pair — rich student!reader x lecturer!ratio

wc — ~600

contains — dom reader, sub character, cock can be seen as a strap, written with mtf reader in mind, porn with little plot, college au, blowjobs (reader receiving), teacher x student (both adults), blackmailing, dubcon, power imbalance, picture taking

i cant get him out of my head all week .. oh my god . i need a hot lecturer to suck me off bad .. euhg ... gomen ... ive been staring at pics of him .. and now i cant sleep because of him . ratiosama , youre so pretty .. please let me hit . pleas eplease please please plea

you flip through the pages lazily, looking bored out of your mind. the book you were reading.. agh, how boring. you couldn’t understand why ratio found it so interesting. and ah — seems like you found the page he left himself off on.

“so,” you used your leg to push against your professor’s head, making him choke a little before adjusting. as soon as your leg relaxed ratio finally slipped your cock out of his mouth, coughing — you made sure he didn’t move an inch. “what’s so interesting about this book, anyway?”

he stayed quiet at the question. not a talker, huh?

well, you understood his reasons. he’s been failing you for so-called incompetence. purposely screwing you over just because he didn’t like you.. well — at least you managed to get him into his position. choking on your cock in your dorm of all places. maybe not having roommates was a good idea.

all because you had some suggestive pictures of him you got.. with your own ways. not like it mattered how. “sooo, ratio..” placing the book down beside you on the couch, you lean down and grab onto his face, forcing those reddish-pink eyes into a death glare. “you gonna improve my grades or what?”

he just looked at you with that same, pissed off face. the one you’d see whenever you passed him by the hallways. yeah, he really wasn’t a talker. hah.

you sighed, waving your phone at him — showing off those pictures again. you swore you saw his eye twitch. “you want me to spread this, or, like —”

you turned your phone around, adjusting it onto his face — making sure the position was clear as day. dr. veritas ratio, between someone’s, no, his student’s legs to take cock like a good boy. it was almost amusing.

“what are y—” he almost wanted to lash out. but he knew better — not only was his entire career in your hands with just a few pictures, but you had daddy’s influence. you could most definitely ruin his life even more. only blackmailing him was probably a relief with what you could be doing to him. “you gonna comply or not?”

he nods — rather reluctantly. it felt horrible to obey. he wanted to do at least something to somehow defend himself, but it’s not like he can. “so be a good boy, will you, veritas?” prying open his mouth with one hand, the other was tangled onto his dark, purple hair, positioning it better so he could suck you off.

“you pissed me off, you m’gonna make you do more, yeah?”

with those words, you forced him to bottom out on your cock. he choked and coughed — but god did his throat feel good. you could see those pretty eyes rolling back with his brows furrowed, both hands on your thighs to push himself off only for you to get rougher.

you guided his head, bobbing it up and down your dick. even if you could tell he was inexperienced with his mouth — damn it still felt nice. that soft tongue of his swirling around your cock, messily coating it with his saliva. after you’ve gotten a good pace on him, he started doing it on his own accord. it felt kinda nice to be forcing him down your length, but this is fine.

finally — he was able to spit out your cock — coughing again. “aghck– hnnng..♡” suddenly, he looked like he was the one trying to seduce you. looking up with those eyes, drool running down his chin with his tongue lolled out like a pathetic little doggy. you didn’t know — nor care, if it was intentional or not — you could not just pass this opportunity and not snap a pic. was this a prestigious lecturer or a slut? you almost couldn’t tell.

oh you’re sure you’ll be seeing him like this more often.

hsr masterlist ♥︎

[yo-yo-yeonkai]

AND THEY WERE ROOMATES - KANG TAEHYUN - NSFW

Taehyun x AFAB!reader

Genre: smut

Warning list: Roomates!Taehyun, dom!taehyun, sub!Reader, fingering, degrading (bad girl, dumb, slut, whore), praise (good girl), use of rules, talk of punishment, deprived of the dick she deserves, use of "sir', not proof read yet,

Word count: 1,255

Summary: You only put on your roommates shirt (to tease him) and you were only minding your business (you were definitely showing your body off) and he got cocky and claimed you were doing it purposefully (you 100% were, you needed him)

A/N: Early post for Taehyun’s birthday because I’m too busy to post on the day. Happy birthday Taehyun!!!

"You sit around in my shirt all day, panties out, nipples hard, and expect me not to stare, doll?" Taehyun scoffed, easing closer and closer to you.

The situation you were currently in had only ever been a fleeting dream, a thought that would stain your mind a dirty red, you had never thought it would actually come true.

Currently, you were sandwiched between your sofa and Taehyun. This, of course, was entirely your intention when you put on his shirt, no trousers... but his words and actions still had your mind going blank and shivers racking through your body. When you'd imagined how this may go, you'd never expected Taehyun to be so dominant, or frustrated by just a top.

His hand teasingly ran up your leg, fingers barely grazing your skin, almost like a tickle. You were so sensitive, shaking for him already pathetic. Sparks igniting your skin with want, need.

"it's so baggy, but even then it doesn't cover you properly. Every time you bend over I see your perfect ass." He pauses, running his hand further and further up your soft leg, only just reaching you knee. He was taking his precious time with you, making you wait.

"It hangs off your shoulder you know...I think you'd look better all marked up for me" he finishes, hand reaching the plush of your thigh and squeezing. Not gently like you'd expected, no, he dug his fingers into your skin, he wanted to FEEL you.

You couldn’t think of much but him, but you knew this was strange, even for a flirty Taehyun. He'd rendered you essentially useless with his stupid touches, and sultry words. "Tae, what are you doing?" You whispered, lacking confidence to raise your voice at him when he was so very close to your body. Scared your voice might break and he’ll know how desperate you are for him.

He leant over you, pushing you further into the sofa. "What's it look like I’m gonna do doll... I'm gonna fuck you~" he chuckles. Your thighs act subconsciously and squeeze together, encasing his hand in the soft plush of your thighs. A sigh escaped him as he spoke, "oh? And that's exactly what you want isn't it? Such a bad girl" He draws closer, expectedly.

He was looking for an answer, but you didn't have one, you were wordless, such a dumb fucking slut. He had you wrapped around his finger, but you just couldn't figure out how to comply.

He tuts, pushing his hand higher up your legs until he reaches your clothed cunt, panties wet with arousal. "Answer me slut~" He ordered, seemingly unsurprised by how soaked you were. He just knew you've been walking around the flat all day just thinking about him fucking you, such a naughty little thing-

You chocked on your words, but you got them out like he wanted, "y-yes... I was hoping the s-shirt would catch your attention" you admitted, looking away from him in embarrassment.

He grabs your face roughly and forces you to look at him, his eyes were a deep black, no twinkle like normal. He was hungry, and you would be his meal.

“it's rude to look away from someone whilst they are speaking to you. You really have no manners, huh? First you tease me with this fucking shirt, next you can't even answer me, then you look away from me whilst I'm talking. I'm gonna have to teach you some manners huh? Teach you how to be a good girl?" He pushes his fingers past the brink of your panties, the tips of his fingers instantly coated in the pool of desire between your legs. A gasp instantly slipped from your lips when he circled your clit. "Not gonna answer me slut?" He groaned, eyes darker than you'd ever seen them.

"I'll be a good girl! Fuck me!" You whine, grinding down onto his hand. He leans back so he's sat in between your legs, gripping your hip to hold you in place "first lesson, stay still. I'll fuck you how I want, you’ll take it how I give it… understood slut?".

"Understood" you whimper, nodding pathetically as he begins to sped up. He hums in approval "if you break a rule I'll have to punish you, do you understand that?" He asks once again. You nod at him, once again but quickly remember you need to respond "yes Tae" you whine.

He hums in thought before quickening his pace with his fingers, brutally fucking you dumb. He leans back over you, hand resting next to your head to hold himself up as he whispers in your ear "from now on its yes sir, you got that whore?".

You whine at the sound of his demand and moan "yes s-sir". His lips quirk up so sinfully, god he loved the sound of you calling him sir. He couldn't take the distance anymore, he finally closed the space between your lips as he kisses you. Each move was calculated, mastered like a skill.

His tongue slipped into your mouth as you moaned, seizing the chance to further take control of you, to use you like a puppet. Your tongues twirled together, until he quickly pulled back and bit your lip. Droll slipping from the corner of your mouth and lips swollen from kisses, you whimper "s-sir, please- wan' your cock" you beg. You were utterly pathetic, utterly adorable, perfect... absolutely perfect.

He tuts at you "is this not enough for you doll? Do you need more? Do I not make you feel good enough?" He asked, but it was all a trap, questions to make you trip up so he could punish you. He begged you'd slip up and break a rule so he could have you laid over his lap begging for him to stop as he spanks your pretty ass. He needed that.

"Feel s' good- I just need you" you whine, hands coming up from gripping the sofa to touch his abs, gently running your fingers down till you reach his joggers.

He tuts at your action, using his spare hand to grip both of yours, restraining your movement. A sly smirk spreads across his face, he'd finally caught you doing something else wrong, but technically it wasn’t a rule, so he can’t punish you yet. But he’ll make it a rule. You’ll do it again and he'll punish you, for your own benefit of course. 

"next rule, don't touch me, unless I give you permission. It's a privilege you have to earn by being good for me~" he teases, bringing your hands up to his face and licking your wrist teasingly.

"Sir, please, I need you" you begged once again, trying not to wriggle as he begins to finger fuck you again. "You don't get my cock till you follow all the rules. D'ya understand that whore?" He tuts, and suddenly the realisation dawns upon you, it sounds like you won't be getting his cock at all today.

You nod at him "okay, I'll be good, so good" and by that point you sound so dumb and needy for his cock that he's almost willing to give it to you, but he'll stay strong. He needs to teach you a lesson first. Bad girls who tease him don't get what they want, even if it's what he also happens to want. He wanted to fuck you stupid, drill you into the sofa, but not now, maybe later tonight-

[instarsandcrime]

Feathers On a Hearth

Did I just write a 2,000+ word Huskerdust snz fic because I have no impulse control? The answer may not surprise you. Hope you enjoy!

Edit: Someone asked for a follow-up and well. Part 2 I guess!

--

“A day off?” Angel Dust slapped his upper hands on the counter, lower firm on his hips. “Whaddya mean a day off?!”

“My, my! Such a reaction!” The Radio Demon hummed from behind the bar, “I thought you’d be pleased that Husk asked for some relaxation time.”

“Of course I’m happy! That’s the problem!” The other fumed, picking nervously at the hem of a glove. “The bastard never takes his fifteen, let alone twenty four hours to himself. Even after the whole extermination shit went down and the hotel’s name was back up in lights, he opened up shop the next day like nothin’ happened!”

“Hm.” The Overlord’s fingers stilled above a wine glass, drifting into a trance. From a distant white fuzz of radio that traveled with the hotelier, Angel Dust heard bits and pieces of unknown voices, clipped nonsense like jagged edges of glass against a chalkboard.

Unknown help NEEDED uSefuL For meat.

“Alastor?” Angel Dust finally piped up, and his host seemed finished ruminating on the world’s most ominously displayed conclusion.

“I would love to uphold Husker's wishes for privacy. However, if it satiates your curiosity in any way, feel free to convince him otherwise.” Alastor snapped his fingers, and a door somewhere above unlocked with a sharp click, "The poor thing hasn’t come out of his room all day, and I admit it’s a bit disquieting to not have our bartender at the ready. Always waiting with a refreshing drink and a silver tongue...”

Pencil thin brows furrowed. Okay. Okay, fine. Either fuck over Husk’s boundaries– not a fan of goin’ down that road again– or risk it and make sure he’s okay. Regardless.

“Is this some kinda sick way of showin’ that you care about him?” Angel Dust squinted suspiciously.

A howling laughter cut the air like a knife. “O-oh! Ohohoh my! Th-that– ahaha– H-heavens, no!” Alastor wheezed out. “I want to see how badly this trainwreck goes! It's been quite a show to watch such a beloved actor even think about rubbing elbows with a washed up, wrung out has-been like Husker!”

Angel's face twisted, blushing scarlet with anger at a cackling studio audience that filled the bar. He couldn't help it-- whatever cadence, whatever tone, he'd heard the same exact laugh plenty of times with every tug of a chain. “I don’t get what Charlie sees in a creepy, sadistic fucker like you. But y’know what? I hope you get to the top. I hope you get everythin’ you want. Because when you look down from your sad, dinky little radio tower, no one is gonna be there to watch.”

Flashing his last two arms just to flip Alastor off with his entire being, Angel Dust spun on his heel to storm up the steps. And all too faintly, he heard one last little hiccup of a broadcast. He stopped at the haunting swell of violins, nearly tugged backwards by the sobbing of a woman reaching out to embrace her savior.

Thank you. 

The tapping of Alastor’s staff and his hushed string of curses were nothing compared to the smug smirk that nearly split Angel’s face.

“Hey Whiskers, it’s me!” A knock echoed on Husk’s freshly crafted door, pentacle etchings still bonded to the knotted wood. 

His calls were only met with silence.

“C’mon, I ain’t gonna try anything. We’re past all that and you know it.”

The silence persisted. A louder knock. Shit. Alastor was definitely not the type to play a prank, and Husk definitely wasn’t the type to stay quiet forever.

“You okay? You ain’t bleedin’ out on the carpet, right?” He worried his bottom lip, running a thumb against sore knuckles. “...Husker?”

“I heard you the first time.” A gruff voice answered. Oh thank fuck.

“Then what're ya waitin' for? Let a gal in, would ya?”

“Can't.”

“Alright, fine. Then I'll do it myself.”

“No!” A tornado warning seemed to go off the second the doorknob was even slightly turned. All sorts of bits and bobs were haphazardly knocked about in a cacophony of noise. Somewhere along the way the chaos settled for a brief moment, ragged breaths building and building until--

"Ht'shhuh! Hut'CHNX! HHHT'CHNXT'uh!" The sound of shattered glass pierced the air, and Angel Dust nearly jumped in place at the sharp yelp that followed.

"Hey, what the Hell!?"

“I'm okay, don’t-- kaff kaff! don't move. I’ll come to you.” Husk croaked. The door finally crept open and– oh.

“Oh. Oh, wow.” The spider whistled at the sad sight before him. “Ya look like shit.” 

 Or at least, the little bits that poked out. The bartender’s bedsheets were wrapped around him like a patchwork cocoon, making every second standing a heavy, tangled effort for the shivering bundle. Underneath the makeshift hood that covered his head, the fur on his face was matted with sweat, a single claw pressed just below a flushed nose. His eyes were squinting through a bleary fog, as if it took his entire being just to concentrate.

“Nice t’ see you too. Listen. I’m obviously sick, so if you need somethin’ from me just grab it and go.”

Okay, rude. This was not the kind of hot mess Husk usually was-- at least, not six months into their trauma bond. And strange enough, his room was no different. Card collections, casino chips, beer bottles, all the little things were flung every which way. But the most bizarre was a trash can haphazardly stuffed to the brim with red and black feathers, peppered by wads of clawed-through tissues.

“Uhhhh.” Angel Dust's brow furrowed at the sea of half-broken junk, “I don’t need nothin’, but I’m pretty sure if I did then I'd need to ask a gravedigger first.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake– then what do you want?!” Husk snapped. Angel stilled, surging through ten different emotions at once. But the sickly  demon only landed on one, eyes wide with overflowing guilt. He hunched low, retreating towards his bed with wobbling steps. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to– I. I’m just not feelin’ right. Snf! But I'll be better by t-tuhh-tomorrow. Jus’…just forget thihhh-this ever…ever ha-happened.”

Angel Dust watched on in disbelief, mouth slightly agape. Maybe Charlie, Princess of Friendship, could have calmly negotiated with the bartender. Maybe she could have sung a song to magically solve a lesson of the day. Maybe she could have shown love and kindness and all the redemption bullshit that he'd come to respect. But Angel Dust was not Charlie. Angel Dust was Angel Dust. So, with all the love and kindness in his heart, the spider stepped a foot on the blankets and yanked his friend backwards. And caught off guard, Husk released the claw that kept a worrying tickle at bay. 

"Hhhuhh...huh! Hup'shhhoo! Hup'SSHHHUH! Sh-shihhh-shihht nohhh-not agaaaiihhhh…Heh! HETCHHH'HOO!" A pair of wings involuntarily flapped at the small fit, sending a small firework of feathers into the air. Patchy, bare spots that once balanced the owlcat sent him stumbling on the ever-tilting floorboards. And suddenly, body moving before his mind could, Angel Dust hurriedly caught the other in a low dip. Tangled under his partner's shadow, Husk’s red-tipped ears folded until they practically pressed against his skull.

“Snff! Uh. Thanks.” He swallowed.

“No problem.” Angel echoed, stopping to blow a feather from his mussed bangs.

“...You can let go now.”

“If I do, are ya goin' to fall before you even touch the bed?”

Husk's pause lasted a second too long.

“That's what I thought. Now, I’m gonna lead with your shoulder and your waist. And it'll just be touch and nothin' else, cross my heart.”

“Hey, you– kaff! offered to help me out. If there’s an issue that you’re lookin’ for, I couldn’t see one if I tried.” The other mumbled, unsure if he could get any redder.  “But thanks for the heads up, Ange. I mean it.”

Gently the spider guided him with four sturdy arms, the third pair growing to snatch up his shed blankets along the way. Looking down, Angel’s heart suddenly squeezed as the cat in his hold immediately fought sleep at the touch, head lolling against his chest.

“Soooo. You can molt?” Angel squeezed his shoulder playfully.

“...Mm. Sucks, but I always push– snff! Ugh, push through it.” Husk grumbled, scrubbing his eye with a paw to force himself awake. Looking anywhere but at his helper.

“Oh, please! You know I ain’t stoppin’ here, right? I’ve fucked a lotta demons with wings and I gotta say, those bad boys ain't gonna pity ya anytime soon. 'Specially paired with that cold've yours.” He pushed Husk onto the mattress, ignoring the soft grunt that followed. “Now lay down.”

Finally relenting, his patient rolled onto his stomach, pressing a pillow over his head to muffle his thoughts for two entire seconds– or at least while his back and nose had stopped itching something awful. Because without realizing it a warm smolder had filled his chest, sparked at the onslaught of attention. It was the cold. It was just the cold. It was not the sheer audacity of being needy for once in his miserable life. Goddamnit, when had he suddenly become so needy?

“Good boy.” A voice whispered gently, breath hot against his bare back. Yep, that's nausea. Definitely nausea and nothing else. Husk quickly stomped out the growing flame before it could spread any further. Unfortunately, a different sensation crawled up his nose, and he pressed the feather-stuffed fabric against his muzzle. Desperate to not deal any more damage. He was supposed to be the hotel’s bartender. He was supposed to be Angel Dust's bartender. It was his job to look out for the struggling souls around him, not the other way arou-- 

"Huh! Hhhhuuhhh...F-fuck."

"Need help?"

“Wh-whuhh— Snff! What?” Craning his head, the tip of a discarded feather tickled the rim of his nostrils, and whatever pained torture Husk would have had to grin and bear was swapped with another.

"HUP'CHOO! HUT'CHHHOO! Hhhuhhh...hhhuh!...hah hhahhhhHTCH'HUH! Hhhhhuuhhh.......hhhuhh.....hguhh...snff! Ow." Between ragged gulps for air, he heard the thump of books and bottles fall from the high shelves above. He didn't even want to look at the state of his room right now. Instead he blindly grabbed for a tissue, sharp trumpeting blows intertwined with flustered apologies. 

He regretted even thinking about opening his eyes. He would have rather sneezed himself into a second death than deal with the disaster that regularly re-disorganized itself. But vision clearing, he blinked back shock as Angel Dust already had a mop in hand, cleaning supplies at the ready. Steam curled against the cat demon’s cheek, and he turned to see a rag was already soaking on the nightstand. Mystified, the bartender watched as his patron stop mid-task to slide it forward, a welcoming smile on his face. The bowl seemed to move in an oddly nostalgic way. Like the film strip of a memory that didn’t quite catch the light.

Or the offer of a refreshing drink and a silver tongue.

"...This is stupid." Husk finally broke the silence.

"Ugh, I know right? The books are no big deal, but whisky's gonna be a bitch to get outta the carpet. I'll have to grab Niffty before it stains--"

"No. I mean, you don't need t’ clean up after me. I...I-I can do it myself." Husk mumbled, pushing himself upright– or rather, made a daring attempt before collapsing back on the mattress.

Angel Dust stared. Really stared. Throwing aside the handle in his palm, he rested two right hands on his hip. “Husk. Sugar. Sweetheart. Babydoll. You dragged me kickin’ and screamin’ outta bad days plenty of times. What's wrong with me doin’ the same for you?”

“Oh c’mon, we both know that I can do all this bullshit myself. Cleanin’ my room. Washin’ my wings. Why do you need t’ be my personal assistant for the day when you're so busy dealin’ with the studio! 'Specially with Him bitchin’ and moanin’ and runnin' you ragged! I see you stumble through the door at three in the morning, clutching your stomach like it got whittled to nothin’! He orders you around like a goddamn dog on a leash, and then you come home to what? Take care of another asshole like me? Why should some shitty ex-overlord get the same kinda treatment?”

--rubbing elbows with a washed up, wrung out has-been--

Oh.

Oh that motherfucker.

"You--" Angel Dust felt his blood boil, chasing away the ghost of radio static that crawled under his skin. “Are you fuckin' kidding me?!”

Husk jolted, fur puffing in surprise as Anthony pulled him onto his lap. “Stop bein' a dumbass! You deserve this. You deserve to be pampered. If ya think I’m here because I feel pressured and not because you’re actually– oh I dunno, worth bein’ cared for– then let me make things crystal fuckin’ clear for you.”

“Kid–” Overgrown pleas were cut at the stem, body going limp as a steaming cloth trailed down bone dry wings. And as dark thoughts began to drift, the spider rested his chin on the crook of Husk’s neck. One by one he plucked every warped thought with every warped feather.

"You ain't forcin' me to do nothin'. You ain't payin' me as a client. You ain't no toxic ex. And you definitely ain't like Valentino. So get it through your thick skull-- I don't hang around ya 'cause I need to." Cupping a flushed cheek for good measure, Anthony ever so slightly tilted a hypnotized gaze his way. "I do it because I want to."

Faces flushed and heavy-lidded with bliss, the actor forgot himself, bathing in the silence. The peace. The safe haven he called Husk.

The other, very predictably, pulled back to sneeze.

Husk buried his muzzle in a tissue before he could give his drinking buddy-- friend-- partner-- whoever the fuck was in front of him at this point in time an impromptu shower.

"'CHNX! CHNXT'hhhooo...hhhuh! HUH'ASHHHOO!" He cautiously peeked open an eye, blinking back shock when his wings didn't snap open. Instead they continued to lay there, well-washed and preened to perfection. So with a shaky breath he lit the spark in his chest, allowing it to burn gently through his ribcage like it was a small, rusty hearth. Swallowing down a soft purr before it could escape.

"Wait, wait, wait." Yanked back to reality Angel Dust grabbed the cat demon’s shoulder to spin him around, looking him dead in the eye. "Am I crazy, or do you sneeze in triples every time? That’s. Adorable."

"Oh shuuhhh…hhuh!" A blur of a black and red feather swept under his prickling nostrils, fanged smirk kissing the base of downy barbs between lithe fingers.

"Hhhhuh! You s-suhhnofa-a-aahh!...hhhah…” Husk held his breath like his afterlife depended on it, desperately scrubbing at his muzzle to quell the angry itch. Startling when Angel’s lips pecked the tip of his raw nose.

Shit.

“F-fuhhhcking ch-ch-chhheater– Hhhept'choo!" Husk doubled over into the nearly-shredded tissue.

"Oh my goodness, bless you!" The spider demon cooed teasingly. "One."

"Sh-shuhhht…sh-shu-shut the fuck uhhp-- HUP'CHHH’hhoo!"

"Yeesh! That was a big one. Two."

"Guuuuhhh...g-gonna kihh-kill youhhhuuhhh-hhuh-huh-hah! HATCH'HHHOO!"

"Hah! I knew it! Holy shit, that’s so cute!" Angel Dust gushed through bouts of uncontrollable laughter-- rudely interrupted when a pillow smacked him square in the face.

[rey-jake-therapist]

I can't believe some ppl are actually upsetti spaghetti about the difference in treatment between brimby and galadriel and they're really reaching in their arguments about it. I guess calling out his gaslighting and lovebombing of Brimby triggered some unspoken competitiveness to prove that the only reason galadriel didn't get treated with the same degree of brutality as Brimby is because sHe'S a GuRL! And violence on a woman would instantly make Sauron lose his sex appeal. Um, wtf. Like we watched the same episodes right? They both got stabbed, only the intent behind each one was different? Sauron torturing Brimby for whereabouts of the rings vs Sauron holding himself back at first cause he was being an smug ass. Sauron lost control vs Sauron wanted to do some shady shit with that crown. He could've stabbed her multiple times without sword once she was pinned. He could've aimed that crown right at her heart, her face, her throat. I really don't understand why they think it's a contest. It's not because she's a woman, it's because Sauron's entire aim was different. (2/2)

Yeah I mean, for me these kind of people lose me the moment the person claims that Sauron wanted to kill Galadriel and Celebrimbor, because it's clear as day for anyone with a minimum of media literacy that he wanted to kill neither of them.

He killed Celebrimbor in a fist of rage because Celebrimbor hit the same sensitive spot that always makes him lose control (the image Sauron has of himself), not because he refused him the Nine. Did we see the same episode ? He wanted to torture for much longer, until he told him where were the Nine ! He threatened to extent his life, where's the murderous intent in that ?

Sauron was pissed that he killed Celebrimbor before getting the info, and he cried because deep inside he knew that Celebrimbor had told him the truth : that he was the slave of these rings, just like he was the slave of Morgoth and would always be.

As for Galadriel, clearly some people were off on some errands when Sauron showed he could just wave his hand to kill people, if they believe that he wanted to kill her. He had multiple occasions to kill her during the fight but toyed with her for a pretty long time. He could have used magic and be done with it, but stuck to the sword and the crown so they'd remain equal, even after she turned him down and pissed him off.

But tell me he wanted to kill her again.

Season 3 can't happen soon enough for people to understand that the intent was not to kill, but to possess. And I don't see where they see a treatment of favor "because she's a girl" when the subtext behind the stabbing is very clearly rape (I don't censor the word so people with a trigger can have this post muted). And I find the stabbing scene sexy because it's not a rape scene per se, but the subtext is what it is. It's definitely not "cute", and it definitely doesn't make Sauron a better guy than he is with Celebrimbor.

Talking about "queer erasure" is disingenuous, btw. One relationship was coded as a romance, the other was not, despite it being in all points an abusive relationship. Sorry that the relationship coded as romance is the m/f one, and that most people will choose to follow what the show says I guess ?

Not to mention that the majority of the audience will always be more invested in the CENTRAL RELATIONSHIP of a show, one we know will endure as long as the show does, than in a short lived one. Celebrimbor was going to die in season 2, and we knew who would kill him and what he'd do to him before, I mean... I found nothing to invest myself in, personally. All I could do was watching with a fascination mixed with disgust how Sauron was slowly but surely trapping Celebrimbor in a cycle of abuse I knew all too well. Maybe because it hit home way too hard, I admit I found nothing sexy, let alone romantic in there. Guilty as charged !

Now I'm going to block anyone who insists on making Haladriel something they're not, and/or who post these braindead takes. I'm getting less and less tolerant about what I subject myself to, especially online.

Sorry if I sound rude and a tad annoyed, I saw this at 6 am and responded accordingly to my mood 😅

[thebardisabird]

this is the first request ive ever made, but how would the boys react to a classic Bimbo reader? with classic blonde hair, pink clothes, expensive bags and nails, stuff like that😭 this may be a bit strange so dont answer if you dont wanna, i was just curious. thank you so much lmao 😭

We know her, we love her, she’s that girl!

So Osomatsu immediately goes gaga for you. I’m talking heart eyes, drooling, unable to think coherent thoughts kind of enamored. From your pretty long eyelashes, to your super short mini skirt to pink boot heels - he can’t seems to pick a spot where he wants to look! Every single inch of you sings sex appeal and he’s listening very intently. He knows he definitely cannot afford you tho - so he might pull off the same stunt he did for Chibimi and just about sell his soul to get a date with you. (Honestly when I think of all the characteristics you describe matched with Oso I think of @girlymatsu ‘s oc Erina-chan who is super cute and fun, please check them out, you can tell they put a lot of love in their art and you'll absolutely love their oc)

Karamatsu sees your fashion sense and instantly wants to be the Ken to your Barbie. You have this it girl factor that draws him in and with the sway of your hips and the wink of your pink, glittery shadowed eye, he’s completely under your spell. If you so choose to give him the time of day, he pays you compliment after compliment, and will take you out on a date to get coffee or a nice meal depending on what you’d like. If we’re talking about a classic bimbo trope where you’re a little on the less well-read side, then he might find it cute that you don’t really know how to pronounce some of the words of the meals or coffee drinks and he’ll try to use the opportunity to teach you some fancy words. You actually find his poses and flowery speech kinda funny, because he sounds like a poem out loud.

Choromatsu has no idea how you're even talking to him right now. He's seen you plenty of times and never ever imagined you would even say two words to him other than like... "Excuse me" if he was standing in your way. You are so far removed from all the things that encompass his life. Yet when you tell him that his favorite has super cute outfits and that you were thinking about becoming one yourself because you love the idea of all the glitz and glamour it brings, he short-circuits. You're already so gorgeous, to think of you being in cutesy outfits and dancing around? And he's allowed to talk to you? Associate with you??? The man is ready to die happy. But not as happy as when you dress up in his favorite idol's outfit - only it looks ten times better on you because your bigger chest and ass. While you don't exactly understand his love for anime, manga, and other more nerdy things, you humor him because he's just so cute when his little froggy face lights up the way it does!

Ichimatsu is intimidated entirely by you and will actively go out of his way to avoid you. You are like a beacon of light far too bright and undeserving for him to ever even get close to. Luckily for him, you notice one day that he's looking into the window of a cat cafe and you finally tap him on his shoulder and ask about whether he likes cats or not. It takes about everything he has not to throw up on the spot, but he is seriously questioning his life and whether or not some god above is about to smite him. You try to explain to him that you actually really love kitties as you point to your kitten paw choker and show him your baby pink matching kitten paw nails. At some point he realizes that you're not fucking with him and he slides out of fight or flight mode and into general nervousness. It takes a while before you can actually get him to speak (you're literally such a bombshell against his disheveled-ness, he feels very grateful that he's conscious enough to give you short answers instead of fainting like his body wants him to), but you eventually give him your number. When you part ways, then he slumps to the ground, but with the tiniest of smiles on his face.

Jyushimatsu actually makes you nervous. It's very clear that you're super attractive and bubbly, but there is a genuine sweetness to him that makes him stick out from all the other meatheads who try to normally get your attention. The yellow clad matsu isn't very subtle about staring at you and your appearance, but you honestly don't mind it when he says things like "Your hair reminds me of the sun!" or "You look like a pretty pink cloud today, haha!" The guy is just so adorable it makes you giggle. And when he smiles right back (even bigger than his usual grin), it makes you blush a bit. You end up leaving lipgloss on his cheeks all the time because you just find him so cute.

Todomatsu can't get enough of you once he gets to know you! You two feed off of each other's cutesy personalities. And since pink is both of your signature colors, you guys end up matching outfits a lot. Though the price to pay with you two being so matchy-matchy is that everyone else literally cannot stand being around you two lol. But that's fine to either of you because you both just chalk it up to them being rude and jealous and you pay it no mind...it's either that dynamic orrrrr you end up hating each others guts because only one of you can be the cutest in Akatsuka. Though that scenario ends up in an enemies to lovers situation because even though Todomatsu says he can't stand you - he definitely admits to himself (and only to himself at first) that you are positively gorgeous and the only person worthy of being at his level of pretty in pink.

[cethlyarlo]

Shin's Belt

I really rather like that the symbol on Shin's belt is that of the alchemical symbol for chaos. Let me tell you why:

Chaos represents the concept of everything doing everything all at once; existing together, in tangent, or not at all. It represents all paths and what lies beyond what was made to believe is set in stone. The definition of chaos is not particularly the opposite of order in this circumstance, but it can be used that way.

More clearly, chaos provides an opening for new beginnings; to disrupt what is stagnant or what doesn't feel right to present alternative pathways. Chaos is needed to undo pressures, expectations, norms, etc. so that an individual can learn to be themselves; to grow and change as needed.

It's very much not the evil or negative symbol pop culture and Hollywood would have you believe. I've even seen it used to refer to Satanists, which is very much not true. Dark practitioners can and do use this symbol, but this symbol does not represent them. They don't own it nor can they control it/assume authority over it. It's not exclusive to one group either: anyone can utilize it however they see fit and like with most things, that could go in any direction. We will be focusing on the balance between the negative and positive aspects of chaos here in this write up.

That being said, on to why this symbol is important for Shin's character arc:

Firstly, Shin is devout and loyal to Baylan; her Master and depending on how you look at it, potential father figure. He's everything she's ever known and his own views, teachings, and opinions have been pressed on her since she was young. There's nothing particularly wrong with that, seeing as that's usually how parenting/teaching goes, but it isn't allowing her to see beyond that. The box is small and she finds herself unable to think outside of it due to her loyalty to him.

When Baylan begins to refuse to tell her crucial details about his plans and goals, she begins to question him and her idea of him. This is the beginning of chaos' disruption over her life and as the show progresses, this disruption continues to grow. It's a butterfly effect, if you will; the seeds of disarray have been planted and they have the potential to grow into something exponential.

She comes into contact with Sabine Wren, who has lived a very different form of life compared to her own and I believe the simple interactions between them helps to spur the questions she suddenly has about her life in general. There are things and people that can and do live outside of the box in her mind and while she's probably aware of this, she hadn't truly understood what that meant until this point. With her master's increased elusiveness and the lack of answers, plus the eye-opening revelations that witnessing bits and pieces of Sabine and Ahsoka's relationship (I.e Seatos), the seeds of distrust and further questions begin to take root and sprout. Her mind is opening to other things; the walls of the box are beginning to crumble.

By the time they're on Peridea, Baylan's motives are entirely unclear and somewhat unpredictable to her. She's confused by him and what he wants. Chaos is taking greater hold of her now; her life is changing so quickly and in directions she can't forsee like the arrows of the symbol that gesture to all directions simultaneously. The seeds begin to uncontrollably grow into trees regardless of her attempts to reconnect with him.

Then he abandons her.

Without a word on where he went, Shin's found herself alone. The walls of her box have been destroyed, the wound made worse by Ahsoka's offer to help. Chaos has upended her normalcy, her comforts, her mental and emotional stabilizers, her trust, her view of self; her life. What began as seeds have rapidly grown into a sprawling forest and now she has to deal with the wreckage.

The change is for good though. With Sabine and Ahsoka stranded with her, she has the opportunity to step into her own person. She now has the opportunity to find herself; to make her own decisions, to spend some time with other people like her. She has the ability to learn and grow free of her box and the restrictions that had been pressed on her since joining Baylan, however long ago that happened to be.

Shin gets to be her own person now, and she can do whatever she wants with that :)

Edit: I realized I forgot to mention the little dots within the wheel!

Symmetrical to the Norse story of Hati and Skoll [who were sons of Fenrir (and Fenrir is the son of trickster God Loki and Jötunn giantess Angrboða)], the wheel of chaos on Shin's belt sports two little dots which I believe represent the sun and moon [and thus the wolves that chase them; Skoll (the one who mocks) and Hati (the one who hates) respectively]. As it goes, the celestial bodies rise in the East (right quadrant on the belt) and set in the West (left quadrant on the belt). The little dots are doing just that. The dot on right I believe represents the moon, or Shin, and that the dot on the left represents Baylan. The moon is rising and the sun is setting, showing that Baylan's time in her life is ending and her own time is just beginning.

Either way, it's a very hopeful symbol in my opinion :)

[ladylooch]

Hiii! How about recently starting a relationship with Nico before the summer break, and obviously not traveling back home with him since it is far too early to meet the family. But now he is back in the States with his entire family and they are dying to meet you but you are still a little apprehensive about it all. 😊

Nico's New Girlfriend

A/N: Ooo I hate how long this took. So sorry, anon! Thank you for your patience 😘

Word Count: 1.3k

Warnings: None!

Nico is barely awake on the phone screen in your hand. You are both watching the final episode of Ted Lasso together via FaceTime while he is back home in Switzerland- 3,900 miles away, not that you’re counting. His eyes are droopy, long lashes extending out to dust along his cheek bones. He promised if you two watched a show together, he would be able to stay awake longer. Poor thing has been training so hard. His eyes were sluggish when the opening credits began.

“Nico. You should go to sleep.” You say, startling him back awake.

“I’m not sleepy.” He mumbles back, widening his eyes and looking back at his TV. 

“You are. And you need to be up early for your Nashville flight.” Nico sighs, running a hand through his hair as he sits up, clicking the TV off.

“It’s hard knowing I’m going to be flying over you and not seeing you.” He grumbles. Nico invited you to attend the NHL awards with him this week, but it all felt too soon. You both discussed it at length. But your apprehension won. This is so new and meeting his whole family on a massive, public scale while being photographed with him felt like too much. How would you live with those pictures out there forever if things were to end? You shiver again at the uncomfortable thought of losing him.

“I know. I’m sorry.” You bite at your fingernail regretfully.

“It’s okay. I want you to be comfortable. Maybe by Christmas.”

“Definitely by Christmas.”

“Good, Nina makes the best hot chocolate with whipped cream and nutmeg on top.” Nico sighs as he remembers it. “I can’t wait to share you with them. You should know they have been asking about you. They told me I should beg you to reconsider.” You pout at him, loving the way his eye crinkle in the corners with his small smile.

After many more attempts to get Nico off the phone, he finally agrees to go to bed. You go about the rest of your day in the afternoon, doing some shopping and preparing for the week ahead at work. You fight off the Sunday scares by going to bed early.

That night, while you’re sleeping, a Hischier you haven’t met drops into your Instagram DMs. 

Hi Y/N, it’s Nina, Nico’s sister. I am sorry to introduce myself so abruptly, but… I think you need to know how sad Nico is that you are not joining us in Nashville. He won’t say anything to you because he does not want to put pressure on you. But he wants you there. He feels his success this year was because of your support. He wishes to share it with you, whether he wins or not. Please reconsider! I’ll help with whatever I can!

You smile, biting your lip at hearing from Nina. Nico loves her. And talks of her often. He is convinced you two will be best friends. To hear from her with such a heartfelt and honest confession does something to your reservations. It cancels most of them from your brain and before you even know what you’re doing, you’re booking a last minute flight to Nashville. The price and fees are outrages and the flight time is shit, but damn, Nico is worth it.

It takes assistance from one of the WAGS to get in touch with a Devils’ employee who can assist with getting you close to Nico for the surprise. The NHL Awards are sure to be locked down with security and you need to be sure you can see him. You suit up into a simple black dress that isn’t eye catching, but fancy enough that you can walk into the arena with him. Your pass is tucked safely in your clutch to avoid being stolen. Your hair falls in curled tendrils down your shoulders and a pair of strappy sandals help give you some heigh to push your way through the crowd. Once you’re at the fencing, your fingers fiddle with the picture of Nico in your hands for him to sign.

The Devils nominees all arrive together. You smile, watching as Nico awkwardly navigates around, showing his suit, doing interviews, and shifting around from foot to foot at all the attention. Fans scream his name from every direction. His family searches the crowd for you while Nico tends to his captaincy duties. Fans line the bike rack all around you. They press you further up against the rack as other players walk by, signing and posing for pictures. They can grab whatever they want from these other players. You only care about one. 

Nico gets closer, nibbling his lip and signing every thing thrusted in front of his face. He’s so gracious with fans, even when he doesn’t want to be.

“They deserve the best from me.” He told you once before when you were stopped multiple times while out at dinner. He had offered to say no to these interactions when you were together, but you loved watching Nico in this setting. The way he takes time to ask follow up questions and makes sure the picture turned out right or giving hugs when asked. 

And that’s how you know he will come to you without any effort on your part.

You don’t say anything as he gets to the kid right next to you. He barely is looking up anymore, just trying to sign as many things as he can before the NHL representative pushes him into the arena. He reaches for the picture in your hands as his family stops behind him to watch you two. Nina makes eye contact with you excitedly while pulling up her phone to film the interaction.

“Do you think I could have a picture?” You wonder, leaning a bit more forward. Nico snaps up at the sound of your voice. He grins, electricity jolting through you at being the recipient of that awestruck look.

“Babe…” He is in disbelief but smiling so wide his dimples pinch perfect slits into his cheeks. “What?”

“Surprise!”

He can only stare back at you. His hand is paused with the picture between you, marker hovering. Fans call out his name insistently, but he can’t pull his eyes off of you. You step onto the bike rack, reaching out for him to move closer. He does wrapping his arms around your waist as the security guard is getting ready to yell at you.

He buries his face into the nook of your neck. You press your nose into his hair, closing your eyes to ignore the hundreds of cameras taking pictures of you. Those pictures are posted on social media stories across a handful of platforms. It won’t take long for the fans to find you. What scared the shit out of you a week ago now gives new life as you realize why Nico wanted you here so bad. Its so obvious in the way he holds you and cradles your face when he pulls away to kiss you.

Nico Hischier is in love with you.

“I can’t… tell you what this means to me.” 

“You don’t have to… Nina did.” Nico sighs, looking over his shoulder at his sister. He leans back down to hug you again, murmuring that he still isn’t quite sure this is real.

You make eye contact with Nico’s family over his shoulder. The four of them watch their beloved boy crumble into soothing contentment with his new girlfriend. Nico knows he should let you go, but he can’t yet. You feel like home even though he just left home.

His family, the people he adores and honors every moment of his life, know exactly why Nico feels so content now. 

They could see it in the way he talked about you so far this summer. It’s why Nina reached out and Jack smirks as he walks around you two to continue to sign autographs.

You’re the one. Indisputably. And now the rest of the world knows it too.

[beatingdrumspouringwine]

Dionysian Festivals in History

You'll never believe who procrastinated on their thesis by writing this. (It definitely wasn't me, if anyone's asking.)

One of the more common difficulties that comes with being a Hellenic Polytheist (or, really, any follower of a pre-Christian religion) is a lack of knowledge about how certain festivals were practiced. This problem is especially true in the worship of Dionysos, where many of the practices were unwritten about, due to either common societal knowledge of them, or a more mysterious aspect to them.

I'm going to go over a crash course of historical festivals to Dionysos (using @thegrapeandthefig's Attic Calendar, as is usual), and explain what each festival is, and how it would have been celebrated historically.

We start off at the start of the Gregorian calendar year with Lenaia. This year, it took place from the 22nd to the 29th of January, which translates to the Attic calendar as the 12th to the 19th of Gamelion. There isn't too much information known about what the festival specifically entails, although there are some hints about it on what are known as Lenaia vases. The vases show scenes related to Lenaia and Anthesteria, but scholars are able to differentiate it by looking at what is depicted on the vase (if it's wine, it's Lenaia). Obviously, the drinking of wine was a pretty important part of the festival, as Dionysos' epithet "Lenaios" means "he of the wine-press". There may also have been elements relating to Dionysos' infancy.

The beautiful thing about Lenaia is that it was so vaguely celebrated, historically speaking. There was wine, and perhaps some plays put on, but other than that, a lot of the festival can be left up to the practitioner.

After Lenaia comes Anthesteria, falling this year on February 20th to the 22nd (Anthesterion 11th-13th), and about which there are a good number of resources. This festival was supposed to be* a springtime festival, which was separated into three days: Pithoigia, Choes, and Chytroi, which can be translated as "Jar Opening", "Jugs", and "Pots". It is strange that Anthesteria covers so many themes - new wine, love, and, at the end, death. However, the article Athens' Festival of the New Wine, by Noel Robertson, offers some important insights on this. It seems that the festival commemorated the myth of Icarius and Erigone, which, for the sake of space (and my own time), I'll link to here: Britannica - Erigone. In short, this festival follows their gift of wine, the drinking of this new wine among the mortals, and Icarius and Erigone's deaths at the hands of shepherds, who did not understand the gift they had been given.

Pithoigia: As the translated name suggests, this is the day of the opening of the wine casks which, up until that moment, had been *fermenting throughout the year. From these casks, the Athenians would libate the first wines out to Dionysos. This was also a day where wine was enjoyed by all, not just by Dionysos - Robertson mentions that in ancient Athens, this was the day during which the wine was mixed.

Choes: Choes is day two, which is the day of Jugs. For lack of a better word, this was the most boisterous day of the entire three-day experience. People of all ages and social classes engaged in wine-drinking contests, while in secret, rites were performed in which the wife of the current king was married to Dionysos. There *was also a tradition in which public shrines were roped off, although this seems to be related to the story of Orestes, who was considered to be an unclean man. Strangely enough, despite the boisterous and celebratory connotations of the day, it was also considered to be an unlucky day.

Chytroi: This third day of Anthesteria likely commemorated the deaths of the two followers of Dionysos who were given the gift of wine-making from Him: Icarius and Erigone. Icarius was killed by shepherds, who believed him to be poisoning them, and Erigone killed herself after finding her dead father. This is where the (with *context, somewhat grim) tradition of swinging at the Anthesteria comes from. This was also the day in which the wine was ritually mixed. This, from what I can gather, means that the wine wasn't necessarily mixed for use among mortals, but rather mixed and consecrated to Dionysos Himself.

Ultimately, Anthesteria is an incredibly complex festival, and I've barely scraped the surface on it in this post. The days are a bit mobile in celebratory orders as well, as it seems that many of the fine points of the festival can be moved around.

The next festival we encounter in the Athenian calendar is the City Dionysia, or Greater Dionysia. This year it falls on March 19th-25th (Elaphebolion 11th-16th). Thankfully, this celebration is one with a lot less ambiguity about its traditions, mainly because it's turned out a lot of things which have stuck around in the world, and remain to this day, such as the Greek plays. In short, this was a large festival which took place in Athens, and involved the production and showing of multiple comedies, dramas, and satyr plays. As the patron of the theater, obviously Dionysos' name was attached to it.

Beyond the theatrical aspect of it, many sources show that Dionysian processions were a pretty big part of the historical celebrations. To be perfectly honest, my view on it is almost like a weeklong Dionysian Mardi Gras.

From here, we have a massive jump of almost half a year to the next festival, which is Kybernesia. This year, it takes place on September 10th, or Boedromion 8th. I have my own hot takes on this long span in which there are no Dionysian festivals, but that's going to wait until another post in which I can truly unleash my full opinions upon the world.

The Kybernesia is celebrated in the modern day as a Dionysian festival, but in all the academic sources I found, it is listed as an Athenian naval festival. One source says that it linked to Theseus after he sailed from Crete, which would maybe explain the potential Dionysian connection, as it was on this journey from Crete to Athens that Theseus abandoned Ariadne on the shores of Naxos. However, if anyone else has a more in-depth source on a Dionysian connection to the Kybernesia, I'd be really happy to see it!

At some point during the month of December was held the Rural Dionysia, which is similar to the City Dionysia, but just... more rural, more rustic, perhaps a bit more rowdy. Its celebration was determined by various local governments, so there's a lot of flexibility on when it can be celebrated. According to @thegrapeandthefig's calendar, "Popular choices [for celebration] include the 7th, 8th, 11th, or 14th."

This is where the current list of Dionysian festivals on the Attic calendar ends. However, it's definitely not the end of celebrated Dionysian festivals in general. There were plenty more outside of Athens which don't have as many resources on their historical celebrations (Lampteria being one). I might go over these festivals in some other post, but for now, y'all get the Athenian calendar!

*supposed to be in spring refers to the fact that, for most folks living in the northern regions of the Northern Hemisphere, it's almost definitely still winter when the Anthesteria rolls around.

Sources:

Lenaia:

Wikipedia - Lenaia

Sarah Pierce - Visual Language and Concepts of Cults on the "Lenaia Vases"

Anthesteria:

Britannica - Anthesteria

Noel Robertson - Athens' Festival of the New Wine

William Nickerson Bates - The Lenaea, The Anthesteria, and the Temple [Limnais]

B. C. Dietrich - A Rite of Swinging During the Anthesteria

City/Greater Dionysia:

Britannica - Great Dionysia

Kybernesia:

Valerij Goušchin - Athenian Synoikism of the Fifth Century B.C., or Two Stories of Theseus

Stephen D. Lambert - Parerga III: The Genesia, Basile and Epops Again (just a note: if you read through these resources, the information on Kybernesia is hidden in the footnotes or only mentioned once in the text.)

Rural Dionysia:

Leonhard Shmitz - Dionysia

Credits:

Thanks to @just-another-dionysus-devotee for suggesting this as a topic! It was really fun to research this topic!

And the divider design in this post is from @cafekitsune

[fwoopersongs]

[Book Rec + Reaction/Thoughts] The Lantern and the Night Moths 灯与夜蛾 by Yilin Wang

An anthology of translated poems by five modern or contemporary poets and accompanying essays by the translator, @yilinwriter.

You can find the pronunciation guide and list of corrections here!

The cover art, a beautiful expression of the tone of this collection, is by Taiwanese artist Ciaoyin (check out her gorgeous insta!). I'm looking forward to the arrival of the physical book as my tab absolutely does not do it justice xD

Anyway! The official release date is 02 April 2024 though there have been some very thoughtful reviews by early readers already. Here, here, here and here.

(It was an ARC that I received too… though in the time it took to put this together, the ebooks have already gone out to readers >.< typical snail yj!) 

Instead, I’ll tell you who I think would be interested in this book or might benefit from reading it, then share things that are cool about it from the perspective of a bilingual hobbyist translator + lover of ancient poetry and lyrics.

Who should read it?

If annotations, translator’s notes and reflections spark joy for you...

If you’ve ever read poetry translations and been intensely curious about what goes on under the hood...

If you’re a translator yourself wanting to hear another voice...

Definitely check this out!

Also if you’re CN+EN bilingual and have ever read something in English that references Chinese terms and concepts etc. except ONLY in English, pinyin or wade-giles and been utterly frustrated by the ensuing guessing game (like me) Fear Not.

That will not be a problem here.

I really appreciate how Chinese words are used naturally where needed for concepts and quotes - they are also translated for those who can't read Chinese so no one is left out. It made this book of and about translation (and more) super comfortable to read! The solution is so simple, so direct, so rarely used that I am amused.

Oh, but do note that the Chinese characters are in simplified though!

The poems are organised by their writers who are listed here by order of birth year, not appearance in the book:

秋瑾 (Qiu Jin, 1875 to 1907)

废名 (Fei Ming. 1901 to 1967)

戴望舒 (Dai Wangshu, 1905 to 1950)

小西 (Xiao Xi, 1974 to _)

张巧慧 (Zhang Qiaohui, 1978 to _) 

Altogether, that covers nearly the last 150 years up to now. I’ve never really been into poetry by poets in such relatively recent times, in part because I’d been holding on to this stereotype of them spurning Classical Chinese and ancient poetry in the first half of the 20th century (not entirely true, as I came to realise xD). It made sense and was understandable, but felt sad.

Yet am I the target audience for this book?

Very much so.

In ways I didn’t think I would be too! It was so much fun to experience this both as a reader and a translator that I thought I’d share it here, where we are appreciating Chinese poetry together.

If you didn’t think you’d enjoy modern Chinese poetry, hey, give it a chance!

Oh yeah - on the way home a while back, I was talking to a friend about translation and was surprised to hear that her impression was that it ought to be a straightforward process. Like isn’t it a 1:1 conversion? At some point, ‘what’s the difference between something google translate might return, and how you would say it?’ was asked, and oh that was a delightful question to my ears! I showed her one of my comparison sheets where an original text is laid out alongside multiple translations line-by-line, briefly explaining some common and unique choices and how the people who had translated those probably arrived at the various interpretations. She was pretty amazed to see that the answer to her question was: very different. Hey, it’s a complicated process!

But there’s only so much one can explain in the space of a train ride. That’s why The Lantern and the Night Moths is a book I would also rec to someone like this friend of mine - open minded and curious but never having the chance to think about or encounter the craft of translation.

Like Yilin says, ‘the meaning of a word cannot be fully expressed in one single translation, nor through a series of translation attempts’. She then explains why with great attention to detail and some solid examples from one of the poems with word choices loaded with subtle connotations :D

What's interesting about it?

Okay, for one, Yilin shared a playlist of music that she listened to while working on this book. Here is the link to the spotify one and the one on youtube. Check them out! They sure put me in the mood to read xD (favs: 别知己, 小神仙 & 去有風的地方) Afterwards, this made so much sense like - ah! an audio moodboard.

She's also putting together these adorable mini profiles of each poet along with a cmedia and tea rec to match their vibes. Go see them on her instagram xD

Now to business...

structure

What really helped keep the reader’s focus was the way each section is organized, how the poems and accompanying essay were presented and finally the short bio of each person right at the end. 

The poets are first introduced through five or six of their poems, works well suited to this purpose. Their voices, distinct through the vision, ambition and emotion of their words, are brought across by Yilin’s sensitive, thoughtful and poetic translations into English. These translations were also creative and transformative in a way that made so much sense after reading one of her reflections on the process, how she ‘must guide it with gentle hands to ensure its spirit is kept alive and intact during this transformative, and often excruciating process’. A rebirth into another language!

Personally, I’ve come to think of reading translations as looking at a work through another’s eyes. So it’s delightful when the translator’s presence is discernible, and even more so when the reader is given insight into their intention and process via commentary. 

Yilin’s essays coupled with the poets’ bios at the end provide a means to go back and appreciate their works in context of their circumstance and inspirations. Similarly, to read the translations with a changed perspective.

I don’t know how much of a thing this is with translated poetry anthologies in English - can count the number I’ve read with both hands lol, and they’re all of the ancient chinese poetry variety - but I really like this design.

drawing on poets who came before them

Remember how we’re always recognizing traces of inspiration from ancient works (to them) in poetry of the various dynasties? 李商隐 Li Shangyin of Tang for example, was influenced by 楚辞 Verses of Chu and folklore and mythology such as that in 山海经 Classic of Mountains and Seas, 李白 Li Bai frequently references poets and history of the 魏晋 Wei-Jin era, and 王维 Wang Wei was clearly familiar with Buddhist scriptures which were translations themselves! 

Just like the late Táng poets whom he praised for boldly deviating from the voices before them, Fei Ming used popular references and tropey shorthands ‘in contexts utterly different from the original, reimagining them anew’. Dai Wangshu, too, ‘boldly re-envisioned what modern poetry could look like by revisiting the classics’. In fact, in his very relatable ‘To Answer the Visitor with Classical Imagery’, I see Li Bai’s 春夜宴桃李园序, Qu Yuan’s 离骚 and lots of - as the title says - classical imagery, as if pulling out painting after painting to describe a feeling.

And Dai Wangshu’s faith in the translatability of poetry, that ‘poetry isn’t what is lost in translation, but rather, what survives it’ reminds me of what a friend, @xiakeponz, said that I agree with so much - because readers can ‘experience something in their own individual way through (your) shared humanity rather than language alone’.

poetic tradition and beyond

Between the lines of contemporary poets Zhang Qiaohui and Xiao Xi, I can really see the charm of plain vernacular, how it can be beautiful, incisive and clever in turns. Even as it seems to have moved further than ever from the structure and language of literary Chinese, the themes that inspired common motifs remain a part of life. Mother and divinity, homesickness, finding oneself, tributes to admirable spirits and the issues that trouble society - just in a new form and with different ways of expression.

Qiu Jin

So many FEELINGS about what Qiu Jin was doing - ‘I awaken the spirits of women, hundreds of flowers, abloom’. I would love if she could see the world now. So many things for her to rouse and fight against, but at the same time just as many to be proud of. I am so in awe of her, but now hearing her loneliness and struggle there is a soft spot in my heart for those too. 

conclusion

So so so…

Qiu Jin’s admirable fire and lonely resolve. Zhang Qiaohui’s precious ability to express beauty in the mundane and in pain. Fei Ming’s utter delight! He is having so much fun and when* I’m vibing, I feel it too. Xiao Xi’s critical eye and keen observation of the world. Dai Wangshu’s whimsical charm and passion for translation. Finally, Yilin Wang, the connecting thread wound through them all, bringing them together so that we may be acquainted. 

*Reading his poetry is like unwrapping a seamless, many layered present. A gift that keeps giving - if only you have a key 😅 Fortunately, Yilin has halved our struggle 🤣

I’ve had such a great time with them all. And if you come, I hope you will too!

[projectbluearcadia]

Uuu, Looming Question Mark

Annelie: Lucifer, this is entirely unnecessary.

Lucifer and Annelie stand together in Jozankei, staring out the hotel window at hills of white snow.

Lucifer: What is?

Annelie: You did not have to book an entire floor of this hotel.

Lucifer: I thought for sure that you'd be proud of me for not booking the entire hotel.

Annelie: What are we even going to do with that amount of space?!

Lucifer: Well, Simeon is using one of the rooms, but trust me; we will use all of that space.

Lucifer grins.

Annelie: ...oh, my... Lucifer! Be nice to the hotel staff!

Lucifer chuckles as he pulls Annelie close by the waist, lightly kissing her nose.

Lucifer: Where is your dirty mind at? I only meant we'll be getting a nice tour of everything this hotel has to offer...

Annelie: Oh, no, you are not gaslighting me into thinking my brain went there before yours.

Lucifer: ...gaslighting?

Annelie: You outdated old- nevermind.

Ignoring the fact that I'm almost as bad as you are.

Lucifer: No, no, explain it to me, right now.

Annelie: ...

Actually, did I even use that term right?

Annelie unlocks her D.D.D. and opens the urban dictionary. Lucifer seems hurt when he reads the first few entries.

Annelie: I didn't mean it that way. Th-There's a more playful definition used on the internet, I swear. Less severe. Not intended to... y'know. Do that. Uh, young people joke. Making fun of their own trauma.

Annelie scrambles as Lucifer looks at her.

Annelie: L-Let's not talk about stuff like that, and um... I heard we can go camping! Want to go camping?!

Lucifer covers his mouth, his shoulders shaking as he turns his head and laughs. Annelie freezes for a moment before she makes a face at him.

Lucifer: I'm sorry, Annelie; I know that's not what you meant.

Lucifer takes hold of her hand.

Lucifer: And while sitting next to an open fire with you sounds nice... I did come here for the main attraction, you know. I imagine it will be quite pleasant to soak in the springs.

I have my doubts, given that it's the middle of winter, but I'll take your word for it.

Annelie: You do know that most, if not all, of the baths are separated by gender, right?

Lucifer: There are plenty of private baths I had to choose from; don't think you can escape just because the human world thinks it can restrict me.

Annelie suddenly reaches behind Lucifer and squeezes his ass, making him let out a soft, surprised sound. A soft blush scatters over his face.

Annelie: Escaping? Who is?

Annelie leans up towards Lucifer's ear.

Annelie: Did you already forget it was my turn?

Lucifer: I did, but I'm not complaining. Do your best, honey.

The pair laugh together like maniacs.

[ meanwhile, in Simeon's room ]

Simeon: Well, since they should be alone together for most of this trip, I don't think we'll have any incidents... so, now, I just have to make sure I don't panic about Luke.

Simeon: ...

Simeon: Solomon, forgive me.

Simeon tries to call Luke.

Luke: Simeon?

Simeon: Yes, hello.

Simeon breathes a soft sigh of relief.

Simeon: Is everything going well?

Luke: Simeon? Simeon, I think you accidentally pressed the mute button. The little bulb-thing, at the bottom?

Simeon: Oh, this?

Luke: Hell-

The call ends as Simeon presses the button to hang up. He shortly gets a call back, and he smiles with recognition at the screen his D.D.D. shows. He presses the volume and power button at the same time.

Simeon: Huh? Wasn't that right? Or, no, maybe it was like I had to pick it up like this...

Simeon starts fiddling with his D.D.D., and he drops it as a hotel attendant catches his attention. She stares down at it for a long moment.

Attendant: I apologize for startling you, sir; I came to greet myself properly. My name is Sato Kurome.

Simeon slips into an easy smile as he turns to look at her fully. She blushes.

Simeon: That's perfectly fine. I was just... I'm bad with technology.

Simeon gives her a light chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck. A thud echoes against the wall, distracting both parties before a masculine moan ripples through the space.

Simeon: ...

Kurome: ...

Lucifer: Not so rough... please... a little slower. Please...

Kurome suddenly wipes under her pinkened nose and clears her throat.

Kurome: I can... direct you to a kiosk... if you like?

Simeon: Yes, that would be lovely. Thank you.

Simeon lightly knocks on the wall in slight, petty revenge before leaving with the hotel attendant. Simeon offers a single glance backward, towards the brochure he had taken before he leaves.

Yukitouro (snow-candle way)

A snow art festival held in the mystical surroundings of Jozankei Shrine in the deep, snowy valley. Yukitouro is an event that can only be experienced in the crisp, clear air of this time of year.

[dr-spencer-reids-queen]

Hopeless: Part Two

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~2.3k

Summary: You and your lawyer try to fight your unlawful arrest but it's not looking good. The entire team feels your loss and tries to concentrate on the case at hand. None of them can predict the outcome.

Warnings: canon violence, canon language, canon talk of death, methods of kill

Season Five Masterlist

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Criminal Minds. All credit goes to their respective owners. If there are any warnings that exceed the normal death/kills from the show, I will list them.

x

The talk with your lawyer has taken up almost an hour but you're not getting anywhere you thought you'd get. You see all the evidence piled up against you such as the weapons that came from your home. All the murders happened when you weren't out of state with the team, so you can't use that to back up where you've been. Whoever did this must have been watching you for a long time to know when you were home and when you weren't. Even when you were without Spencer. You're completely alone in this. No one is going to help you.

"I'm going to say this again. I didn't do this. I am an FBI agent who swore to protect people. I put everyone before me. I am an empathic psychic. I am surrounded by death every day. I see things no one should see. I use my gift to help others and to bring justice to those who deserve it. Why would I go out of my way to take lives when I promised to protect them? Why would I put the man I love through that pain?"

"I hear you. Based on what you're telling me, it sounds like you didn't do it. However, a jury isn't going to go off your word. They're going to go off the evidence. The evidence all points to you. I don't want you to panic. I'm very good at my job. All we have to do is find inconsistencies with the evidence to sway the jury into looking in the opposite direction."

"How likely is it to be declared innocent?"

"I'll do whatever I can to make that one hundred."

"What's the best case scenario? I need to know all my options." Steven looks a bit apprehensive so you try to convince him. "Please, Steven. I have to know."

"The best case scenario is you get to go back to work, and they try to figure out who did this. This becomes an active investigation, one which I believe they'd ask the FBI for help. A less fun option would be you're proven innocent, but you lose your job in the process." 

Your bottom lip trembles at the thought of losing your job for something you never did.

"What's the worst case?" you whisper.

"The worst case is you go to prison for a very long time."

You put your head down on the table and just sob. Meanwhile, there is another murder so the team heads over there to check it out. There are more victims in a public place this time instead of in someone's home. These unsubs don't care about anything or anything. They will slaughter anyone they want and ruin everything in the process.

"Did anybody see anything?" Hotch asks the detective.

"It's in the middle of the damn parking lot. The security camera only shows the door."

"Who's the lady over there?" Derek asks.

There is an older woman talking to an officer about what she witnessed or found.

"A manager. She discovered the bodies when she came by to open up for the breakfast crowd."

"I'll go talk to her," JJ says and leaves.

"Any idea who the victims are?"

"Judging by the driver's license, one of them's a waitress here. It says Jessica Miller, and the other one's probably Doug Taylor."

"You can't tell for sure?" Derek asks the detective.

"Honestly, you can't make an ID by looking at them."

"They're definitely getting bolder. These kills were in public. If this is supposed to be about symbolism, it's not anymore. This is a blue-collar restaurant and the victim is a waitress. There's no ideology behind this. It's about violence and power."

"They actually sat here and drank beer after the murder," the detective says in disgust.

"They're telling us that they don't care. They're like those outlaws that ride into town and let you know the only way to stop them Is by killing them," Spencer says.

"If that's what they want, I know plenty of cops who'd be happy to oblige."

"Detective, we need to keep our heads," Hotch sighs.

"Meaning what?"

"Meaning that this level of nihilism, this randomness, it can have a mirror impact."

"Are you warning me not to go after some kind of revenge?"

"All I'm saying is this level of brutality is almost like a challenge from the unsubs and trying to drag everyone down to their level. It's a natural reaction."

"I'm just doing my job."

"Let's head back. We've got our profile."

The team and the detective head back to the BAU so that the team can give the profile. Penelope greets them as soon as they step out of the elevator but her eyes are drawn to Spencer in the back. His eyes are cast down and he looks so sad. He hobbles past her and she looks at Derek and Emily with concern.

"How is he doing?"

"Not good."

"You have company, Derek."

There is a woman off to the side looking at Derek eagerly. He breaks off from the group to talk to her while the rest enter the bullpen to give the profile out.

"These men are completely disenfranchised. They feel like they have nothing to live for, and they're looking for anyone or anything to blame. There's a lot of anger out there. Times are tough, but even so, these men will stand out. They'll look to provoke confrontation. They don't steal from their victims. They don't sexually assault the women. This is about violence for violence's sake," Hotch begins.

"It's almost contagious. It's twisted, but it's got its own momentum. What we need to do is figure out how these men came together. We feel certain that they have some connection to Southeast D.C. They go unnoticed and don't seem out of place. We have no prints from the crime scenes, so we believe the unsubs wear gloves. DNA testing could take weeks, and we don't have that kind of time."

"The majority of the population of Southeast D.C. is black, but if the unsubs work in this area, they could be any race. Because of the physical nature of the murder and the amount of control these unsubs exert over their victims, we believe that these unsubs are large or at least extremely physically fit. They have a pack mentality. Canvass the local bars and restaurants and see if there's a group of men who fit this description," Rossi says.

"These men will be obsessed with the media coverage for any chance to relive their crimes. So, stake out the past crime scenes. There's a good chance that they'll revisit them. They most likely come from troubled backgrounds like broken homes, or youth detention centers. They probably bonded over their anger, and now it's like they've become one person. It's their whole identity."

"See, these guys, they think of themselves as some type of gangsters, like society's rules don't apply to them. They equate violence with power and respect, and that goes for self-respect as well," Emily says.

"What could they possibly get out of killing innocent people for no reason?" a female officer asks Emily.

"People like this, they're not like you and me. They don't feel empathy. In a way, they only feel alive when they're creating fear and chaos."

"Thank you," Hotch concludes the profile. He ushers the detective to the side to speak to him privately. "Detective. I just wanted to say that at the crime scene, it was not my intention to accuse you of being unprofessional."

"Yeah?"

"It's just that I know what it's like to work a case that makes you question humanity, and it's not the worst thing to remind yourself to rise above it a little, or we lose ourselves."

"I appreciate you giving my team the profile."

Things aren't going as smoothly as Hotch had hoped, and things aren't going smooth for you either. Once you and Steve were finished talking, two officers came in to talk to you with Steve present. You're trying really hard not to show signs of anxiety, so you sit on your hands to prevent them from tapping the desk, and you cross your legs so you don't bounce your legs. Steve is here to prevent you from answering certain questions that can incriminate you or make you look bad, so he'll jump in when he needs to.

"Where were you on the night of September 2nd?" Officer Sparks asks.

"At home."

"Can anyone confirm your whereabouts for that night?"

"No, I was home alone. My boyfriend was out with his best friend, Derek Morgan."

"Where were you on the night of September 4th?"

They keep asking you where you were on each night of all seven murders, and the only answer you have is that you were alone for all of them. Some nights you were at home, some nights you were taking a drive, and one night you were at the gas station. You paid cash, so there is no receipt showing your card number or anything.

"So, you're telling me that you were alone for all seven murders with no one to back up your whereabouts, and we found your DNA on all seven victims. Your hair and prints were found not only on the victims but on the murder weapons as well. You're sticking with the story that you don't know who these men are?" Officer Arnolds asks.

"The murder weapons are items that she owns. Of course, there will be prints on them. Are you not ruling out that someone could have stolen those items from her place of residence?" Steve jumps in.

"Oh, we're keeping all our options on the table. I'm just confused as to why Chase Williams has her hair on him when she claims she never met him. Do you think the wind just blew her hair from her hairbrush to his body?"

You can't say anything about that.

"Don't you think it's convenient that the murders took place when she wasn't out being an FBI agent?"

"The murders and her whereabouts are a coincidence."

"A coincidence? That's the story you're sticking with?"

"It's not a story," you blurt. "It's the truth. I didn't kill these men."

This isn't going well, and you're not sure if these officers are going to listen to reason. It seems to you that they have everything they need to make this a closed case. A closed case with a potential suspect is better than an open investigation with no suspects. It's hard on the team since Penelope can't look into your case. She has all the details on her computer which is just a click away, but she hesitates to open the files. Hotch's words come back to haunt her so she turns away from your file and focuses on what he asked her to do. Once she has the information, she leaves her office to go to his.

"Sir, I've got something. I've been monitoring social networking sites to see if the unsubs communicate electronically. There's a text that's blowing up. I sent it to your phone. There are over a thousand hits already. It's a plan to vandalize cars and restaurants around Dupont Circle."

"When does the text say this is supposed to happen?"

"Tonight at nine."

"Dupont circle's not in the unsubs' usual comfort zone," Rossi says.

"It's not like these unsubs to share control," Hotch calls the detective to warn him of the attack. "Detective Andrews, this is Agent Hotchner. I just sent you a text to which we've been alerted. ... Right. Absolutely. ... We're on our way."

The riot happened at nine as the text predicted, but it's not the cause or the works of the unsubs. Police were out tackling people and arresting those left and right for participating in the riot. A lot of fights happened between local police and the rioters. Detective Andrews at officers at every entry point who were filling their wagons faster than they could bring them to the holding cells. When the people started resisting the law, Andrews ordered his officers t start making arrests.

A lot of people got away from that riot but more ended up in jail. The events bleed into the next day where the officers are still in the midst of going through the families and processing the rioters.

"Did Garcia come up with anything?" Hotch asks.

"Yeah, she was able to isolate the first two cell phones in the chain."

"Detective, we don't think our unsubs are in there, but we'd still like to interrogate the possible ringleaders."

"I don't think so."

"We need to eliminate them as suspects."

"We can handle it on our own."

"We're not saying you can't--"

"Is there a problem?" Hotch cuts off Rossi.

"You guys had my men out there canvassing bars looking for adults when I could have been doing gang sweeps and going through juvenile records."

"That would have been a waste of your time."

"In case you hadn't noticed, those are kids out there. We don't believe last night's riot Is connected to the murders."

"How could it not be?" Andrews asks Emily.

"Because the unsubs we're looking for are older. They operate entirely out of Southeast D.C. They exercise extreme control over their victims, and violence is up close and personal. None of what happened here last night fits the profile."

"Enough with the profile. I got probably a million dollars worth of damage. I got two cops injured."

"Which was probably made worse by police overreaction."

"Meaning what?"

"I warned you. With cases like this, people get too emotional."

Andrews steps closer to Hotch but the younger man doesn't back down.

"You're here as a guest of my department. If you're so sure none of those kids are the killers, why bother interrogating them at all?"

"Because we need to be certain. If we're right, if this is just some sort of teenage dare, I guarantee you that the unsubs are going to respond very quickly."

"I appreciate your insight, but we'd like to take things from here on our own. Thank you for everything you've done."

If local police kick the FBI out, then they have to leave. Hotch doesn't like it but he doesn't start something he knows he can finish.

"You're gonna want to start with these two names," Emily says and hands him a piece of paper.

x

Follow my library blog @aqueenslibrary​​​​​​ where I reblog all my stories, so you can put notifications on there without the extra stuff :)

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL

June 2023 Wk 2

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Step By Step (Tues WeTV & Gaga) ep 7 of 10 - I really adore the family/household dynamics in this show. All the relationships between siblings are so well executed. All the tension and sub text and covert glances in the first “modeling” sequence was so good. I really want to watch the BL within this BL. Bruce is THE BEST. Jeng shutting down everyone with a cool few words is genius (especially given the curt sharp flat way he speaks Thai). Why does nobody have parasols or sun hats or sunshades or sunglasses or anything? I’m actually not mad about seeing an attempted reunion with the ex, bc we are getting to see both that (and how) they once were good together, and also the cracks that drove them apart (and will not allow them to ultimately be together a 2nd time around). I do feel sorry for Jeng, he moved too slowly and lost the 1st round. The captions were not good in the trunk seen, but trust me it was totally hilarious. 

La Pluie (Sat iQIYI) ep 7 of 10 - I finally figured out why I am so tense around this show. In openly taking to task and challenging the soulmates trope, this narrative is telling viewers not to trust it’s core trope - which means we cannot trust the main couple to end happily, nor can we trust those characters who believe most strongly in fated mates (Pat & Mai). This means I, personally, not only can’t rely on an HEA but (as someone who also does not believe in soulmates) I am not entirely sure I even WANT an HEA. This has NEVER happened to me before. It makes me uncomfortable because that’s a core part of my identify with these shows. I mean, good job La Pluie, but also.... huh. Back to this ep: Uh oh. The crush is obvious and the soulmate knows what’s up now. The sex scene twist was v interesting, v gay, and v unusual in a BL. Unfortunately it’s still a BL so the faen fatal just HAD to appear. Will there ever be one out of Thailand where this trope doesn’t show up? Next week is the tried & true uke damsels off into the woods alone. Sigh. 

Our Skyy 2 (Bad Buddy & 1k*) eps 12-16fin - Jimmy, baby, why so hot in an engineering smock? Please have mercy. Aw, Marc is back in yet ANOTHER BL. Definitely the current record holder for most BLs at any one time. (His filming schedule must’ve been insane at the beginning of this year!) PatPran are still great, and their eps this had me hooting with laughter (startling the cat). I forgot how much I enjoyed this show and cast. (Ohm looks great with longer hair, but also he’s lost a lot of weight. I hope he’s OK.) OhmNanon give pitch perfect LTR energy. Throwing EarthMix into the, erm, mix is fun if awkward. NO SINGING. 2 damsels in the forest! Also PatPran = geniuses at mock fighting. So much flirting. It was all quite adorbs. But me-thinks Chief & Tian have been eating moonlight chicken. Full review below. 

Be My Favorite (Fri YouTube) ep 3 of 10? - was enjoying it up until the last bit, why so digusted by smooches? Bad GMMTV no green tea for you. Trash watch here! Rollercoaster about to go DOWWNNNN. 

Luminous Solution (Sat Gaga) ep 3 of 6 - I still only like the high school characters + Dome (WHY so gorgeous?). Is he a magical spirit too? Also, the subs were well off kilter. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Our Dining Table AKA Bokura no Shokutaku (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 10 fin - God they’re so cute. This show used the manga as a storyboard, so I knew the “crisis of faith over possibility of loss” would happen. Still in live action this felt tonally off. While understandable given Yutaka’s character, and ultimately particularly important for the dad and a relationship with the family, I don’t know we needed it in this BL. The book does have a better ending second scene, but it wouldn’t be possible to do it on screen easily. Ultimately, this show had a simple, touching, quiet end to it. That’s very like the show as a whole. I did love it - it’s been top of my list all along. Full review after the special airs. 

Love Tractor (Korea Weds iQIYI) eps 1-2 of 8 - I LOVE IT SO MUCH. IT IS EVERYTHING. SHUT UP I AM FERRIL FOR THE BEAUTIFUL CITY BOY AND THE YOUNG FARMER. Come on. Korea. SRS? Plus some language play? I just go die now. 

Star Struck (Korea iQIYI & Gaga) ep 7-8 fin - Man this was a difficult show for me. I know we’re supposed to identify with HanJoon but I really felt for YooJae. I’ve been in his position more often than I care to count, and it’s terrible to lose a friend because they caught feelings and you did not. It’s an awful thing to hold a friendship hostage on condition of a romantic relationship. Especially if the other person is not sexually interested in you! All that said, the boyfriend ep was okay. Not sure I believed in this relationship, but it was cute enough. The final ep was (how do I put this?) a loser. We spent a lot of time with terrible home lives and then a semi happy for now final scene? Whatever. Full review below. 

Vian the series (Vietnam YouTube ) ep 6 of 12 - somehow I keep missing this one, I’ll catch it next week. 

Naked Dinner AKA Zenra Meshi (Japan Fri Gaga) ep 9 of 12 - I think the Taiwanese boss is my favorite character. Japan rarely (if ever ) trots out the faen fatal trope. I mean I named it with a Thai word for a reason, it’s not from origin yaoi at all. Yet still there she is. Sigh. This show. 

Stupid Genius (Vietnam Fri YouTube) ep 1 of 6 - RL Studio (Stupid Boys Stupid Love) bringing us yet another high school set VBL. It’s actually not bad. I see a lot of common faces whom I’ve enjoyed in past VBLs. 

It’s Airing But ...

House of Stars (Thai Mon iQIYI) 12 eps - I bounced at ep 3. Will binge if told it is worth it at end.

Stay (Pinoy YouTube) 7 eps - It’s mostly in English and set in LA so I’m not bothering but the first one did drop.

Ever After (Pinoy ????) - I got nothing. 

Takumi-kun Series 6: Nagai Nagai Monogatari no Hajimari no Asa (Japan Sun ????) 10 eps - NO ONE ASKED FOR THIS and no, I have no idea where to get it, why would I? (Say it with me everyone: Oh Japan, must you?*)

Boys Love Omegaverse (Japan ????) - honestly tho? Who tf cares? You’ll still tell me if you find it, because inquiring minds... Irony of this airing at the same time as Takumi-kun. Full circle much, Japan? 

Tin Tem Jai Special (Thai ????) - honestly I checked Gaga & iQiyi in my territory (craptastic hotel) and neither had it listed so I quickly gave up. I mean OF COURSE I WOULD LIKE TO SEE Lee Long Shi in a bathtub, who wouldn’t? But... 

Just because I didn’t watch the special doesn’t mean I can’t gank Lee Long Shi wearing nothing but soap bubbles for you. 

I’m not a monster. 

Ended This Week 

Our Skyy 2 final 4 eps thoughts: This was an interesting combination, and don’t get me wrong I very much enjoyed it, but it felt like the story was carried by PatPran’s characters while the setting and narrative followed an ATOTS arc - ultimately disjointed. OhmNanon are so bold and vibrant they’re too stark a tonal contrast to EarthMix’s more refined and elegant approach, so for me the screen presences and the style of story clashed. It was like a bouquet made up of tulips & roses: they are both flowers and they’re both pretty, but I feel like they actually belong in different vases. Still, enjoyable. And I got a crying kiss. Always makes me happy. Definitely the best of this bunch, and probably the best Our Skyy (and I genuinely loved both the NLMG historical installment and SOTUS.) 8/10 

Star Struck. A friends to lovers story that felt more friends to tolerant yet disinterested partner. It was more about challenges with parents and class strife. I would’ve been disappointed if the show hadn’t come out of nowhere so I had no expectations. But as KBLs go, don’t bother. 6/10 

Next Week Looks Like This:

Starting:

6/15 Tokyo in April AKA Shigatsu no Tokyo wa (Japan Gaga) 8 eps - Based on a yaoi, this is a reunion romance that takes place in an office. Japan does Our Dating Sim? Yes please.

Still Coming - June 2023

6/22 About Us but Not About Us (Pinoy movie from 2022 on Prime) - A professor grieving the loss of his partner meets an ambitious literature student.

6/24 Why You (Khmer BL ????) - Billed as a horror romance, not sure if this is a movie or a series where it will air... nothing except that it exists.

6/24 Tie The Knot AKA Under the Same Sky (Pinoy movie on Prime) Trailer - I guess Prime is coming for our Pinoy BL? From OXIN Films (Rainbow Prince), announced for 2022 based on a true story, Briggs's family runs a bridal business but he has never had a chance to fall in love until he meets Shao, a groom to be.

6/25 Dinosaur Love (Thai iQIYI) Trailer 5 eps - from Ultimate Troop about a uni student, Rak, whose partner cheats on him with Rak's best friend. This gives bad boy hazer Dino an opportunity to hit on Rak at last. From The Yearbook people so I will not watch this as it airs. After Remember Me? Never again with them.

2023 forthcoming BL master post (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED)

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

Bruce is so damn fantastic in this show.

Consent comes in all different forms. (both Step by Step) 

Fight fight fight!

Sex sex sex blow job! (both La Pluie) 

Smartest boy in the show. 

Not enough InkPa... never enough. Never never never! 

Love the suit.

All from the Our Skyy 2 BB + ATOTS cross over. 

(last week)

Current Kpop earworm? IVE’s I Am

[littlespoonevan]

Hi, can I please ask for some of the essays about the cemetery talk and what we were supposed to take away from that scene? If you feel inclined, that is 💕

well i don't know if i can write an essay exactly bc tbh i still don't know for certain what we're supposed to take away from that scene. but i do know the tone of it was completely different to anything we've ever seen for buddie before and it also lasted so much longer than most of their scenes have before??? like i just went back to rewatch it to refresh my memory and it's 3 minutes???? that is an incredibly long scene for two characters to have in an ensemble show when they're literally just talking and it's not strictly moving the plot forward

but to try and break it down a bit:

i find it fascinating the way eddie reacts to buck talking about natalia. that weary, almost irritated, "really?" when buck admits he'd met up with her followed by the "dating somebody you rescued, you know what never ends well." it's So Different to the snarky way he used to react to taylor. like when he'd make comments about taylor you knew he was mostly joking or at worst, just being a little bitchy. but he sounds genuinely frustrated when buck brings up natalia. the closest thing i can compare it to is that it's a more muted version of "his fiance's abby" and we know eddie knew how deeply buck was affected by losing abby so it feels a bit like eddie is potentially annoyed bc he knows buck will probably get hurt again???

then you have buck saying the whole "i think she sees me" bit which echoes so much of buck's overarching storyline and his struggle with love in the past. and i know some people call this eddie's 'oh' moment but i definitely don't consider it an "oh i'm in love with him" moment. i feel like it's more of an "oh he doesn't see that i see him too" moment, if that makes sense?? and i think there probably is a bit of frustration with that for eddie given that the will scene is eddie as loudly and demonstratively as he can saying "i see you" y'know? nevermind all the little ways he proves he knows buck

and tbh i think my favourite part of the scene is actually the last 60 seconds because first you have eddie saying "you haven't been the same since it happened, but then again how could you be?" and it's just!!! 1) it's literally him proving he does see buck and probably knows him better than anyone else and 2) there's a very subtle hint of realisation in his voice when eddie says "how could you be" as if he's been convincing himself buck is fine this entire time (maybe post-couch nap) only for him to now realise buck really, really isn't.

tHEN he says "you don't have to be anything for anybody" and it might be my favourite words to ever come out of his mouth tbh because it's just once again emphasising the gentle way eddie lets buck be?????????? "i had to do it" "i know you did", "you knew i wouldn't" "i knew you wouldn't". eddie is So Good at offering buck a reprieve whenever he needs one and he's usually the person best able to break through all the noise in buck's head to make him understand that he's fine just existing as himself.

aND THEN eddie makes the comment about how going through near death experiences change a person and all i can think about is how after eddie's near death experience he made the decision to tell buck about his will after keeping it a secret for a year and how he never actually answered buck's question about why he kept it a secret in the first place and i have to ask, eddie diaz what changed in you???????????

combine all of that with the fact their outfits mirror what they wore in 5x14 and the absolute irony of eddie saying dating someone on a call never works out only for him to pursue marisol two eps later and just- i don't know if they pivoted bc there was a fear season 6 would be the end of the series or if the last few eps were always supposed to go the way they did but this scene in 6x15 raises so many questions and i feel like i don't have the answers to any of them skjahd

[amewinterswriting]

Ame Reads: Charmed Life by Diana Wyn Jones

I'll be honest - this one was a reread for me. I read most of the Crestomanci books as a child and could still remember the broad brush strokes of the plot.

What I couldn't remember was just how skillfully written it was and still is. While the book is marketed at children as young as 10, and the plot moves quickly because of this, it never feels rushed or oversimplified. In fact, I've read adult and young adult fiction with less complex plots, character motivations and language.

(Spoilers after the cut and discussions of themes which does include familial abuse and mentions of death)

I remembered that Gwendolyn was not a nice person (to put it mildly). I didn't remember exactly how much of an evil little shit she is. In any other children's story, it would have been easy to paint her as selfish but simply that, in the way many children can be. She sees that her brother has something she doesn't (magical power) and takes it from him simply because she wants it for herself. But the story makes it explicit that she planned the sacrifice of her own brother and she even casually mentions that they will need to kill him multiple times due to his extra lives, showing that she has thought about this for months in detail and clearly has not had any hesitation or stirrings of guilt whatsoever.

In a more subtle way, the story does make it clear that Cat has been abused by his sister for his whole life - Janet, Julia and Robert all comment on it in various ways, even if the word 'abuse' never comes up. Crestomanci and the other adults are also aware but unsure of what exactly to do, especially as they aren't entirely certain that Cat isn't a willing participant in Gwendolyn's plans. For a book written in 1977, aimed at children, it's really quite radical that Diana Wynn Jones even hinted at abuse within a family unit, let alone an older sibling as an abuser.

Reading as an adult, the way in which Cat and Janet are profoundly let down by the adults is also radical and quite tragic because it's very understandable how it happened. Crestomanci is aware of virtually everything the whole time (or very early on) and yet the whole plot is Cat and Janet trying valiantly to fix the mess Gwendolyn's left them in without any adult help because they don't know the adults can be trusted and the adults think that not revealing what they are aware of is the best for everyone involved. Everyone is doing what they believe is best given the information they have, but everything could have been resolved with a few short conversations and more trust shown from both sides. And I'm really glad Janet gets to point out that Crestomanci should have talked to them sooner and he doesn't brush her off.

Other surprisingly dark things in hindsight - Gwendolyn summoning the 'drowned life' of Cat as a petty power play not once but twice, and Cat not realising why exactly it gives him the heebie-jeebies but having a very strong reaction to seeing his own drowned corpse (understandable) each time. Except that the second time, it's accompanied by the other times he's died, including at birth. A giant foetal corpse is not exactly something you expect to see in a children's book!

Anyway, I'd love to see the Chrestomanci series adapted into a television serial that really takes it seriously. Like the recent (ish) adaptation of Pullman's His Dark Materials that the BBC still hasn't finished. Hour-long episodes, I reckon, something like Charmed Life as a two-episode special to introduce the world and concepts (and Janet waking up in Gwendolyn's bed would be the perfect place for a cliffhanger at the end of episode 1, let's be honest) and then take an episode for each book in the series so while the episodes could be watched in any order, watching them all will give you more information about who reoccurring characters are and what they're doing.

In the meantime, I definitely think I'm going to dig out the rest of my old books and go through the rest of the series myself. Diana Wynn Jones' writing is complex enough that it really demands a second look. If your only exposure to her work has been through (the magnificent) Studio Ghibli adaptation of Howl's Moving Castle, consider this your sign to delve into her works, too. Charmed Life is an excellent starting point for the whole Chrestomanci series but you really can read them in any order, as the plots of each book are self-contained, with some characters making regular appearances throughout.

[sugoi-and-spice]

Chapter Seventeen - Two Truths and a Big Fat Fucking Lie

Rating: Explicit - Minors DNI

Summary: Tomura Shigaraki was her dad's boss's son. He was the creep that stole girls' underwear and tried to grope her in his room. But it's not like he could get her Dad fired just because she wouldn't sleep with him, right? ...right?

CW: Quirkless!AU, Explicit Smut, Dub-Con, Coercion, Blackmail, Cheating, Sexual Guilt, Humiliation, Unhealthy Relationships, Virginity Kink, Groping, Power Play, Hate to Love, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Animal Death, Slow Burn, Misogyny

Read Full Chapter on AO3

[excerpt]

Izuku Midoriya didn’t think much of it when one of the bathroom doors was locked. Didn’t think about it all actually, the team “dinner” was a crowded event after all, it was perfectly understandable for the single stall facility to be occupied by one of his other teammates. 

No, he just moved on to try the other bathroom door. But before he could touch the handle, it opened, a puffy-eyed Ochaco Uraraka emerging from the other side.

“D-Deku!” she squeaked, rubbing at her eyes to try and hide the tears away, “I-I’m sorry, were you waiting long?”

However, he’d definitely caught them, his brows furrowing in concern, “No, I just got here.” 

“Oh, th-that’s good…” 

“Are… you okay?” he prodded gently.

She quickly overcompensated with her smile, “Y-Yeah, of course! Why do you ask?”

“Well, I guess… You kind of look like you’ve been crying or something.”

She waved him off, again, way too enthusiastically. Way too fake, “Oh, no, no, no! It’s just irritation from the water, I’m fine! Really!”

He wasn’t so sure. It’d been at least three hours since anyone had gotten in the water, let alone her. Any “irritation” should’ve been gone by this point. But at the same time, he didn’t want to push her when she was so vehemently denying it. They were friends, he had to believe that if she needed to talk to him about it, she would. 

“Oh… Okay…”

“Well then, excuse me…” she said, dropping her head and hurrying past him.

That really should’ve been it honestly, he had no place to pry. But something about this whole thing just didn’t feel right.

“Wait, Uraraka!” he called, turning heel and jogging after her.

He caught her just around the corner, a few short steps from the entrance back to the dining room.

“If um… If you’re ever not okay and you need to talk, just let me know,” he smiled, “After all, we’re friends right?”

She stared at him for a long time, at a complete loss for words. But before she knew it, her lip started to quiver, her eyes started to burn. And finally, she dropped down to the floor, head in her knees, with a not especially quiet wail.

“Waaaaaaaghhhhh!!!!!”

“O-Oh no, I’m so sorry!” Midoriya dropped down next to her, guiltily and frantically trying to calm her, “I shouldn’t have pried! If nothing’s wrong, nothing’s wrong, I believe you—!”

“I completely choked out there!” she cried, stopping his panic in its tracks.

Midoriya frowned, “Uraraka…”

“All my individual times were total crap, and I almost lost us the entire relay! And in front of all those recruiters, too! I couldn’t show them anything that I was made of!”

“Hey, that’s okay,” he cooed, patting her back, “It’s the first meet of the season, there are plenty of other chances.”

“I just don’t know how I’m gonna be able to come back from this,” she breathed, “Every time I think about swimming in another meet, all I can think about is how that might be my last chance, and then I completely freeze.” 

Midoriya’s brows furrowed, “Woah, what? Why would the next meet be your last chance?”

“Something Senpai said,” she answered, “About how the recruiters don’t care what we do and that we only have so many chances to to stand out, so we gotta make the most of them.” 

Midoriya almost couldn’t believe his ears. The upperclassmen on Uraraka’s relay team were all so nice and supportive, it was hard to even imagine that type of harsh, pressure-building advice coming from one of their mouths. 

“I know she was just trying to help,” she continued, “But it totally got in my head and now I’m wondering if maybe it’s all just downhill from here.”

His typical bashfulness around his dear friend and classmate was momentarily forgotten as all he could think about was comforting her. He took her hands in his and squeezed.

“Uraraka, you’re an amazing swimmer. And you’ll have as many chances as you make for yourself. There’s no way this is the end for you.”

She smiled softly at him, genuine relief warming her stomach, “...Thank you, Deku. Honestly.”

Uraraka excused herself soon after that, saying that she really should get back to the table now before Asui worried. To be honest, he still didn’t feel great about the situation as he made his way back to the bathrooms. He knew that there wasn’t anything he could actually do to alleviate her hurt, and it was frustrating. But he also couldn’t understand why on Earth their upperclassman would give Uraraka that kind of “advice”. It didn’t make sense, not unless she was trying to— 

No, no, no — that was a ridiculous thought Izuku Midoriya. She wouldn’t do something like that, no way… Right?

As he opened the door to the bathroom, the other one suddenly opened next to him. A guy, some supposed friend of said senpai — he was pretty sure that his name was Shigaraki — came out. He looked around carefully, clocking Midoriya with a bit of irritated surprise, before pointedly closing the door behind him. Then he stalked straight down towards the staff exit.

Huh. That was weird. 

For a couple of reasons, actually. For the shiftiness about him of course and the way that he hurried out the back. But also for the fact that Midoriya could’ve sworn that he’d left already.

Continue on AO3

Like my work? Please consider contributing to my Ko-Fi!