#Thanks all for the fun comments and interactions and additions!!

[dekariosclan]

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[sieveyourtea]

Born Archivist AU Wrap Up Post

Image ID below the cut. Art by @dcartcorner !

Series Summary:

Agnes Montague was a failure, the ritual poorly planned and even more poorly executed. But for the Ceaseless Watcher and the Avatars who have learned from this mistake--perhaps things could be different...

...Jonathan Sims, John as he prefers, is eleven years old when Mr. Bouchard comes to see him.

A massive thank you to you all. For reading, especially for commenting, and for all the support in getting this over the finish line.

If you're interested in reading or seeing more art, please check out the links below the cut. You do need an Archive account to read!

My ask box is open, I'd love to chat theories, questions, and thoughts anytime! Please don't be shy!

What to Know:

Child of Illumination is a fic series with three primary story arcs that follows John Sims from age eleven to his time as Head Archivist of Magnus Institute after being adopted by Elias Bouchard and Peter Lukas.

All three main arcs are rated T and suitable for those who can enjoy the same sort of content as in the podcasts. CW's are provided on individual chapters.

The Main Story:

Part One: Child of Illumination:

Agnes Montague was a failure, the ritual poorly planned and even more poorly executed. But for the Ceaseless Watcher and the Avatars who have learned from this mistake--perhaps things could be different...

...Jonathan Sims, John as he prefers, is eleven years old when Mr. Bouchard comes to see him.

Image Id at the end. Art by @sarcasticscribbles!

Part Two: Shadow in the Hunting Grounds

Agnes Montague was a failure, the ritual poorly planned and even more poorly executed. But for the Ceaseless Watcher and the Avatars who have learned from this mistake--perhaps things could be different.

Jonathan Sims, John as he prefers, has lived with fathers for six years. Like for a lot of other young people, University presents a time for self-exploration, and a first occasion of being out on his own without someone...Watching quite so closely.

Image ID at the end. Art by @sarcasticscribbles!

Part Three: Blood of the Covenant

Agnes Montague was a failure, the ritual poorly planned and even more poorly executed. But for the Ceaseless Watcher and the Avatars who have learned from this mistake--perhaps things could be different.

Jonathan Sims, John as he prefers, has spent three years working as a Lead Researcher at the Magnus Institute. For someone for whom home has had a less than solid definition, the Institute offers a chance for safe place for John to finally answer the questions that have followed him for as long as he can recall.

Being able to work alongside his father is simply an added bonus, of course.

Image ID at the end. Art by @sarcasticscribbles!

Art:

COI wouldn't be what it is without the amazing artists who have brought it to life!

Official Scene and Summary art is by @dcartcorner who does exceptional work across the board.

Official Covers for all three main stories are by @sarcasticscribbles who's art is one of the reasons I started to engaged in fandom at all!

Official additional art of some choice scenes as done beautiful by @mxwhore who I cant thank enough for their amazing work!

Other creators who have made art related to COI include @obscuravoid, @the-awful-dread-that-leaves, @novae-viking, @basilikum7, @hemi-demi, and @moominmammaonhero1n!

Please, go and show them some love! I will post an Art-chive into the series on A03 as well to link back directly to all of the amazing work that's been made! If you've made something and don't see your name here, please let me know!

Additional Content:

Part of the fun of the series are the additional side fics. They cover a range of topics from John's interactions with various people, time spent with Peter and Elias, and the horror content that makes TMA what it is. There are all flavors, from G to E, and all can be found at the hyperlink above.

These are NOT necessary to understand the story and do NOT contain critical plot points. They're simply for fun! .

A special shoutout to @selinko for a lovely set of memes that absolutely made my day and continue to do so!

FAQ's:

The following are just some things that have come into my inbox the last couple of days in particular!

Can I make fanart of this story?

Sure! Please tag me, I'd love to see and spread the love!

Can I make other fanworks of this story?

Sure! Same as above, please tag me. I'd love to see and spread the love!

Will you be writing more?

I may do additional side pieces, but the main story is happily done. I have a total of 105 fanfics, 104 of which are Magnus if you're interested!

Can I send you questions/thoughts/songs/things that made me think about the story?

Yes, my ask box is open and there is an anonymous option. I will delete rude asks, but otherwise am happy to answer. Any spoilers, I'll put below a bar.

Image IDs:

Cover Art: A painting showing John Sims at the center, playing chess with an unknown opponent. On either side above him are Elias Bouchard, surrounded by books, and Peter Lukas, holding a stack of playing cards. Together, they hold a crown of gold and green eyes over John's head, framed by a spider-web window. At John's feet are three animals--a lion, a cobra, and penguin, looking up from a base of fire that shows Agnes Montague, Tim Stoker, Martin Blackwood, and Sasha James respectively. 

First Cover: Cover Art of John giving a statement to Gertrude the portrait. He is 11-13 years old, wearing square glasses and talking to her as if she is an old friend.  

Second Cover: A family style portrait of Elias Bouchard (aged around 40), John Sims (aged seventeen to eighteen), and Peter Lukas (aged around 50) years old. 

Third Cover: John Sims and Peter Lukas are playing a round of cards. John is debating whether or not to be on this hand with chin resting in his hand. Peter is holding a 2 of diamonds and a 7 of clubs, considered the worst draw in Texas Hold 'Em. Elias Bouchard, with a faint green light around his eyes, watches from behind John's shoulder, the whole viewed over by a Portrait of Jonah Magnus with the same faint green light. 

Thank You!

Thank you all again for letting me share this story and journey with you. After one year and nineteen days of writing, I am very happy and rather proud to say the series is complete. It's my longest fanworks project by a mile and wouldn't have been possible without all of your lovely support.

With all the love in the world, Sieve signing off.

[hauntedrain]

Part 3: Unexpected | Max Verstappen x Fem Reader |

✮▹A/N: So sorry for not posting life has been BUSY. Hope you like this though, its potentially the last or second to last part of this series.

✰▹Warnings/Notices: use of pictures of Max and kelly. Pretty big time skip from part 2. NOT EDITED.

Part 2: Here!

liked by MaxVerstappen, Mclaren, Y/N L/N & 17,567,577 others

F1: Its race day!!!! follow the link in bio to keep up live!

click to view all 11,245,578 comments

Y/N has posted to their story!

Liked by 12,345,686 others

MaxV1Updates: Max has been spotted with content creator Y/N L/N. Both had social media thrown through a loop after their interactions with each other online a few months back. Is Y/N officially the newest addition to the F1 WAG's?

view all 6,786,667 comments

user1: OMFG Y/N

user2: Im actually crying wtf.

user3: Im sorry but this is straight out of the book oml.

↪ user4: No cuz its so cute and so unexpected too.

Y/N: Damn ive made it on a f1 updates page. IM WINNING.

↪ user5: MOTHER EXPLAIN.

↪ user 6: I was surprised too.

Liked by Y/N L/N, MaxVerstappen1, F1, and 12,577,697 others

RedBull: Another win in the books! Lovely and successful race today. Getting ready for next weekend!

click to view all 7,567,567 comments

user10: PLZ LET THE OTHERS CATCH UP PLEASE.

Theo: Tu–tu–du–du Max Verstappen

↪ Lorelei: Let's shake it to the max Put your hands up, hands up Take it to the max

↪ Y/N: Please stop ive heard that non-stop since I've learned about f1

Y/N: he's a cutie tbh.

↪ user11: Y/N your on main stop.

↪ Y/N: posting this on every platform brb.

↪ RedBull: Glad to know you find our driver cute.

liked by Theo, Lorelei, MaxVerstappen1 & 23,345,567 others

Y/N: Middle slide him and I?

click to view all 12,345,423 comments

user12: GURL PLEASE JUST CONFIRM IT PLEASE

user13: im sorry but how tf did she come from just making videos with her friends for fun to potentially dating a 3x WDC?

↪ Y/N: Its called being Y/N. its a lifestyle !

↪ user14: LMFAO

MaxVerstappen1: she's kinda a cutie tbh.

↪ Y/N: first time ive ever seen you say cutie.

↪ MaxVerstappen1: Yeah and its the last time

↪ user15: PARENTS

Y/N has posted to their story! Max Verstappen has posted to their story!

liked by Y/N, RedBull, Lorelei, Theo, & 26,456,567 others

Maxverstappen1: First personal post in a while huh? anyways lovely view on slides 2 & 3.

click to view all 14,345,764 comments

user19: Y/N Y/N MY WIFE

↪ Y/N: I had no clue I was married but sure.

user20: THE VIEW.

user21: PLEASE WHAT. SADAITE ME BEFORE I GO FERAL.

↪ MaxVerstappen1: Oh.

↪ Y/N: um. okay !

user22: im sorry but this is so cute like wtf. she makes max not look like mad max.

↪ Y/N: did you ever think he was? He's the biggest dork to walk this earth.

↪ RedBull: As having to be around him 24/7, I can back this claim up.

↪ user23: REDBULL PLEASE DO A VID WITH Y/N PLEASE. IT WOULD BE GREAT CONTENT.

↪ Redbull: Working on it right now

↪ Y/N: CAN I BE THE SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER FOR A DAY PLEASEEEEEEEEE.

user24: max hard launching?

Max Verstappen has gone live!

Y/N L/N has gone live!

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ taglist: @holy-macncheese-balls @loloekie @cherry-piee @bloodyymaryyy @mangotaitai @the-untamed-soul @trouble-sistar @stinkyjax @minkyungseokie @weekendlusting @m0cha-bunny @formulanni @alex0808 @charizznorizz @imsiriuslyreal @bruhhhhhhhhehhhhhhh @67-angelofthelordme-67 @eugene-emt-roe @moonyzsworld @lpab @evie-119

Comment if you wanna be tagged (for what I believe is the last part) <3

⭒❃.✮:▹A/N: IM SO SORRY FOR NOT POSTING, I had so much to do but hopefully you like potentially the last or second to last part of this series. love you guys and thank you so much. Much love.

[vg-k]

✼　｡ﾟ･ ⌛ 𝒲hy did I do this event?

- Well, first of all I saw several blogs doing events which made me want to do one too, since I think it will be something fun. That's why I plan to use this event as a way to interact more with the blogs on this platform and get to know each other better.

✼　｡ﾟ･ ⌛ ℋow the event works

- You will have to make a moodboard with one of these icons. (You can decide the style, in addition to using any other resource, it will only be necessary to include one of these images).

- You are completely free to include a photo of an idol, whether from gg, bg or soloist

- examples: 🍮1 👩🏼2 🍦3

✼　｡ﾟ･ ⌛ ℋow to join

- Reblog this post and tag 3 friends or a blog that you like

- Comment joining in your language, if you speak Spanish comment "unirse", if you speak Portuguese comment "participar" and tell something about yourself (it could be a talent you have or something you like) (It is with the intention of getting to know each other better :)

- use the hashtag #vg-k  𝒯 ell me: event and tag me in the post. Having done all that you will be officially participating

✼　｡ﾟ･ ⌛ ℐmportant

- The more creative your moodboard is, the more chances you have to win -You can edit the images if you want, use dividers, gifs and everything you want

- The event will end on February 29, any entry to the event after that day will not be taken into account.

- The results of the event will be published in my account, a few days after the event ends.

- Winners please dm me, to claim prizes

✼　｡ﾟ･ ⌛ 𝒫 rizes

- All prizes will be personalized and made by me

- Winners will be able to decide if they want their prizes to be published or sent privately.

- 1st place: 100 reblogs on my reblog account @gojofetish + 3 custom wallpapers + 5 custom moodboards + 3 insta packs and 3 twitter packs + 3 headers + 2 packs of 5 locs + 3 packs of dividers in this style 🕊

- 2nd place: 80 reblogs on my reblog account @gojofetish + 2 custom wallpapers + 3 custom moodboards + 2 insta packs and 2 twitter packs + 2 headers + 1 pack of 5 locs + 2 pack of dividers in this style 🕊

- 3rd place: 60 reblogs on my reblog account @gojofetish + 1 custom wallpaper + 3 custom moodboards + 1 insta pack and 2 twitter pack + 2 headers + 1 pack of dividers in this style 🕊

- 5 special mentions (They would be the people who were in 4th, 5th, and 6th place) : 20 reblogs on my reblog account @gojofetish + 2 custom moodboards

✼　｡ﾟ･ ⌛ tags ! I tagged them because I like their blogs.

@baesol @jenfaery @bambicito @fuckici @yeritos @iluvrei @japnz @froopis @wonflirtz @wiotas @7hyein @fairymiese @umiena @jeonqham @jnthri @v6mpcat @misdior @tyunlouv @p-oisn @i04rei @yoonitos @gigittamic @y-vna @jeonzio @l-unitas @poeticore @sugarino @tookio @y-unjis @alfaire @deaimachi @i-kyujin @menhpy @h-aewo @jkghost @florietas @dollijongs @s-heon @koosuvi @i6gyu @muruffin @wonysela @gaecoo @eun-luv @giraisol @galavande @v6que @huesudos @flwzai @yeossemble

Thank you from now on for participating.

[n3ptoonz]

Okay but like the whole save a horse ride a cowboy thing… for Arthur?

'Snake on a Train'

THANKS FOR 300+!!🖤🖤❤️❤️

Pairing: Arthur Morgan/F!Reader

Fandom: Red Dead Redemption II

Warnings/tags: Smut; Explicit, i'm writing this like i'm from the old west bear with me it's really fun, post chapter 6 MEANING he's alive and DOES NOT have TB. never caught it. we live in delusion round these parts. dialogue driven y'all know me i love me some interaction, implied breeding knk, cowgirl, barely proofread writers block is fucking me up

fr tho read this in a southern accent shit is kinda funny i had way too much fun LMAO

i got so many arthur requests then realized i used THIS theme so i'm using this ask i hope those who sent in will find this!!

Word count: 2300

Never trust a "runaway" O'Driscoll ever again. You was on the run now, away from those freaks and needed a proper escape at least for the time being. Why you chose to not accept Arthur's offer of joining the gang was beyond you. You knew each other well in Blackwater before they had to leave, he suggested you join since you'd be a great addition and trustworthy, but you declined. Later on you were picked up by a "runaway", he sold you out and now you're high tailing it to the nearest escape.

You stumbled across a particularly high end looking train that looked like it was headed west--aka opposite way from this shit. Your initial intent wasn't to rob it, yet. You just needed a quick getaway from this madness. Quick and sneaky you were getting into the back past a few guards. You found an abandoned ticket under a seat and stuffed it in your pocket, walking around until you found an empty cart that looked quite fancy.

You kept your head on a swivel and constantly looked out the window for any suspicious activities when somebody barged in. You quickly stood up and drew your revolver when you realized who you laid your eyes on.

"...Arthur?" you said. His eyes adjusted from the sun reflecting off the window when he heard his name escape from your lips, recognizing your voice almost immediately.

"What are you doin' here?" you both inquired in unison.

"Put your damn gun down I ain't here to rob you." he said sitting down on one of the two seat chairs covered in leather. You slid it back into the holster with curious eyes still on him. Just how long had it been? Why was he here?

"You normally waltz into carts that aren't yours?"

"Ain't that what you did?"

...he had a point.

"Maybe, but I had a reason."

"You sayin' I'd hop onto a nearby train for no reason?"

"I ain't seen or heard from you in almost a decade, Arthur. I don't know what I know anymore. Where's the rest of Blackwater's finest?"

Arthur just leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. There was a deadpan look in his eyes as he recalled everything that went down in the last two weeks. All the betrayals and chaos started to montage in his mind all over again; how he was this close to death, but managed to escape somehow.

"Dead, on their own, or all the above. Remember John? I helped him and his folks get out. The others...well I don't rightly know where they are. And quite frankly I don't care."

You sat in front of him as you processed his words. What's understood don't need to be said, and you knew this well.

"Is that why you're here?" you asked. It felt like a question with an obvious answer but you honestly just wanted a confirmation. It wasn't like him to just run off, at least from when you last seen him.

"In so many words, I guess. Although I didn't expect to see a woman of your caliber running away from your bullshit either. I'd like to know too, if you don't mind."

"Oh hush that up." you waved his comment off dismissively, "I was sold out."

"Well I'll be. You know I always wondered what you were doing or who you decided to hang with if not us. Who in their right mind would sell out one of Blackwater's most wanted?"

In your time together you always had a playful relationship, but you could tell in his tone there was slight bitterness or sarcasm. Truth be told he started to feel some type of way when he realized you declined him just to end up with some other gang that clearly didn't give a damn about you.

"Watch yourself." you warned, your tone half serious half playful.

"What? You didn't want to be around folk who had your best interest that's fine. I won't say I told you so."

"When the hell did you tell me so?"

"The day before we left." he answered without hesitation. "The night we spent together? Ring any bells?"

Damn. You tried to forget that night since the day he had to leave and you too shortly after. You didn't want to remember all the fun you had. You didn't want to remember his hearty laugh at your stupid jokes. Hell...you didn't even want to remember just how good he treated you. He treated you like a lady, unlike most of the men you came across. All it took was one heated kiss, and you both were hooked. But also knew it couldn't be given both your circumstances.

When he offered for you to join you wanted to jump at the opportunity. So why didn't you? Because, well, you loved the man. You thought your own feelings would hinder the morale of the group somehow and break it apart, and you wouldn't dare that be on you. Plus you couldn't really tell where he stood. He's a guy who treated most people with respect despite how he grew up.

Back then he mentioned how people like them were hard to come by and that most gangs were either just downright pieces of shit or cultish. So he in fact did tell you so, and you tried to forget that as soon as possible. Didn't want any sort of thoughts of him clouding your mind or else you'd go crazy.

The only reason you two didn't get intimate that night is because he respected you and your boundaries. He still does. He didn't want it to feel like he was grasping on to the nearest thing to fuck with and then dip. That's not the kind of man he was nor will he ever be.

"What does that night have to do with why I'm here now?" you tried so hard to seem like it didn't completely take over your thoughts, but this is Arthur Morgan for christ sake. He's damn good at reading people.

"It can mean just about anything, sweetheart, but I know it meant something to you just as much as it did to me." he said. The tone of his voice sounded a bit like he was trying to convince himself that was the case. If it wasn't, he wouldn't know what to do.

You sat back in your seat but that didn't take away the feeling of his gaze pouring into your soul. "It did." you said looking down at your hands

"Then why decline? Was it me? I know it's not my lifestyle because we lived the same way."

"I didn't want to get in the way, alright? I knew you'd be gone often and would be out for days at a time while I worried if you'd come back in one piece. I've been there and done that. Wasn't doing that again."

Arthur leaned back up in his seat and ran his hand over his face, sighing. He didn't want to come off so strong, but he felt real feelings for you and didn't know how to process it properly. The woman who's been on his mind since the day the gang left Blackwater sat in front of him and he felt like a lost puppy all over again.

"Okay." he said softly, "Was I on your mind at all?" he continued looking down, mumbling under his breath but you still heard him.

"Everyday since." you said standing up. He slowly looked up at you with those pearly blues that never failed to capture you. He was just so relieved that it wasn't just him. That it wasn't one-sided. Grabbing his hand you pulled him up to meet your eyes--like he wasn't visibly looking down at you.

"I thought about you so damn much I guess I had to distract myself by running with some undercover O'Driscolls. I figured out who they was too late and voila, lawmen breaking down my door."

Arthur shortly chuckled upon hearing you explain more of your situation. To him it was unbelievable, and he never thought he'd hear that name ever again especially after seeing Colm swing.

"This evening is full of surprises. How do I know this isn't some big scheme to take me down once and for all?" he said while wrapping his arms snug around your waist and his voice grew more rugged and deep. Oh how he missed this. What this is, who knows, and who cares?

"I don't need some big scheme to take you down." you said placing your hands on his biceps, squeezing just a little bit. He smirked at this action and pulled you closer.

"That so?"

You hummed in agreement, and it didn't take long for you two to finally lock lips together after a bit of playful murmuring here and there. And just like that, you both were taken back to that night. That heated kiss you shared was the absolute highlight of your lives, and you intended to relive that again and more.

It's like you never left but kissed like it's been forever. He ran his cold palm up your back to hold you while the other unbuttoned your pants. Even after almost ten years, he didn't miss a beat. He still got it. Are we surprised? You followed his lead and kept one arm around his neck while the other attempted to pull him free.

His hands were quick and nimble like yours, so next thing you know your pants are on the ground and you're sitting comfortably in his lap. You was now clad in a loose collar shirt and underwear and his shirt remained unbuttoned at the collar. Your mouths never stopped dancing throughout this whole process too.

Arthur just kept groaning into your mouth at every subtle grind on his thigh. This was only the second time of you two getting together like this, yet it feels way more than that. That same drunk feeling from the night made its return and wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

You pulled back so you both could catch your breath, holding his face and running your thumbs over his stubble that was soon to becoming a full beard.

"I missed you...so damn much." you said in a tone just above a whisper.

"I can't imagine more than I have..." he replied while toying with the hem of your underwear. "Would you give this old outlaw the honor of... having you? All to myself?" he asked, looking deep into your eyes. You could feel him fully hard and his hands trembling a bit, but he still wants to hear it from you. One part is confirmation, but the other? He would easily gain satisfaction from knowing you want to give yourself to him.

"Well...I've saved a horse...and I plan on riding a cowboy," you whispered and smiled against his lips before leaning back in. Arthur chuckled into the kiss, wasting zero time pulling them panties to the side and slide right on in.

Your breath hitched as you eased on down his thick shaft. "That's my girl." he whispered, right next to your ear so he could physically feel you clench against him from his praises. You gripped his shoulders as your eyes closed shut, expelling light whimpers here and there as you set a place. He placed his hand on your back once again to encourage you, feeling a little smug at your struggle to keep up.

Best believe you weren't no bitch though; you swallowed thickly and kept on riding him. The ambience of the train was quickly fading as you two became lost in your own desire.

Were you expecting your orgasm to approach so quickly? Honestly, it made sense. Arthur knew all the right things to say and touched all the right places that churn your butter.

He was also nearing the end, and yet he had such a genuine smile on his face. He grunted with every time you sank back down into his lap and this meant he simply could not be happier. He's been dreaming of this moment forever, and finally. Finally, the woman of his dreams is having the time of her life because of him.

To keep yourself grounded you pulled his head up to rest your forehead on his, "Please, cum inside me," you begged. Your climax was seconds away from hitting you and you wanted to reach bliss at the same time.

You ain't have to tell him even once with how quickly he followed suit. Your hips slammed right back down into his lap as you both tried to stifle your cries of pleasure, still mindful of other passengers.

After you both calmed down in each other's arms, you cleaned yourselves up and plopped back down onto the two person couch you had just gotten intimate on. You held his bicep and laid your head on his shoulder with a content smile on your face. His the very same.

"You sure know how to get down for someone I ain't seen in a long time." he said playfully, looking down at you.

"Who said I ain't got none in a long time?" you replied a little too fast for his liking, looking up and seeing his expression comedically fall to a straight one. "I'm just messing, I wouldn't dare risk having anybody else's kids but yours." you continued casually before shutting your eyes. You had to stop yourself from laughing at the sound of his heart rate getting faster through his chest.

He chuckled, looking out the window at the scenery become painted with the pinks and yellows of the sunset passing by.

"You are something else."

[bengiyo]

BL 2023 Review

I wasn’t sure how I wanted to write about BL for this year. I was originally going to do a The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly framework for it, but that feels meaner than I actually am about it. Instead, I think I’ll just write out some sections and unpack some things I felt along the way.

I Watched Too Much Again

Last year I engaged with about 92 productions around the world. This year it was 99 (I tracked stuff I completed here). Sure I dropped 18 of them this year, but goddamn. The problem with watching as much as I did this year is that I worked full time this year and also maintained a separate hobby. I also continued my twice-weekly watch sessions with my friend Emily, so there are an additional 100-ish watch sessions in here of rewatching, plus a few other rewatches (Theory of Love and My Ride most notably).

One of my struggles at this point is I’m far too familiar with the genre, and find myself feeling impatient and irritable with shows that aren’t to my taste the way I used to. Throughout the late summer and fall I found myself increasingly grumpier about the genre, and it didn’t get better until I had a holiday and basically slept a day to get some energy back. I also found myself growing apart from fans I’ve known and followed a long time. It’s been a difficult year for me as a long-time fan because my tastes, habits, and friendships in the genre have changed even if the amount I watch hasn’t really.

I Wrote a Lot This Year

I recently converted my watch tag away from my gaming internet persona to just my shortname, so all near-1000 of my Stray Thoughts posts can be found under #ben watches now. I’ve also been going back and adding #ben writes to some of the standalone pieces that I really liked. In reviewing them, the pieces I’m happiest about are my ode to Framboise from Kabe Koji Nekoyashiki-kun Desires to Be Recognized, my post begging everyone to watch La Pluie, my post about what it means to actually like queer men, my SBS ep 10 post that ended up being wrong, my post about the Lavender Scare and Be My Favorite, my Tokyo in April is… post about the breaking of the BL line,

However, the two posts I am most proud of is my half-joking response about why I think tagging each other back and forth across Tumblr in our writing is so important. and The Knowing: Being Queer in BL because I had so much great conversations with folks as a result of both of these posts.

Looking back at my own blog, this is probably the most active I’ve been in my entire time on this website, so thank you to everyone who interacted with me this year, because it really is people talking to me that gets me most inspired to write things down. Big shout out to @lurkingshan who will bug me repeatedly until I blog something that I said in passing.

We Started a Podcast!

After hanging out with @shortpplfedup since Bad Buddy, she got inspired and really wanted to bring something different to the BL podcasting sphere. I had time, and liked talking with her enough, so we started @the-conversation-pod. Now we’re a full year into it and planning out future stuff. It’s been so much fun being able to get things off my soul and break poor NiNi in our recording sessions.

From this year, I think my favorite episodes we did were The Moonlight Chicken Episode, the Eighth Sense episode, the ITSAY Anniversary Episodes,  The Wedding Plan episode, , and The Holiday Clip Show. Huge shout out to @ginnymoonbeam for anchoring the transcription process, and @lurkingshan for editing.

The VIIB Awards will begin airing soontm so look forward to that.

Favorite New Term: Business Gay Performance

Let’s be clear, Bump Up Business is not good. It is an obvious BL cash grab from OnlyOneOf that seeks to comment on the fake nature of BL while doing everything it can to trick the audience into believing that the BL pair is real.

Before we got deeper into this year, I was a big fan of a certain pairing, and then their fans took it too far and it affected the way I engaged with their performances and their work. I like that we have a new term for “fanservice” that communicates that you understand that this is for work. (thanks to NiNi for this comparison) I can look at the latest behind the scenes video from Last Twilight and say that I think Sea really understands the work they’re doing, and he and Jimmy have a very relaxed and mature version of BGP without feeling like I’m feeding into shipping.

Do I think they’re dating? No. Do I like the way they fake it? Absolutely!

I can look at one of @respectthepetty posts about Yin and War having personalized, color-coded mics, and we can talk about the next level BGP between the two and both communicate that we know that this is a performance.

It actually makes the extra PR work fun for me again, because now I can just shout “BGP! BGP! BGP!” and it not feel like I’m giving myself brainrot.

Thai BL Needs to Finish Stronger Next Year

Let’s get into some of the show stuff. This year was defined for me by Thai BL starting strong with good premises and then squandering them by not focusing on the details that mattered or leaning into baseless melodrama. Time for some reads. Some of these shows were generally good, but they failed at these things:

609 Bedtime Story: The world building crumpled in the back half and both endings are flat.

A Boss and a Babe: Cher is a pro gamer who worked for a gaming company and there was no plot point about this at all, or collaboration between the two groups.

Bake Me Please: Why was a show about cake so lacking in flavor?

Be Mine SuperStar: You had a real opportunity to explore a fan and idol romance and had Punn show so little growth. I hope the footage of First’s range is helpful now that Ja is out of BL.

Be My Favorite: You redid that whole amusement park date and muddled so much of what the hell happened on that day.

Between Us: You had years to make this interesting. Why are there five pairs and why is the end of this a JC Penny catalog photoshoot?

Dangerous Romance: What the fuck happened to the Sailom we had in episode 1 and 2 before that gun incident?

Hidden Agenda: Tee, what the hell was this? Twelve weeks of this?

I Feel You Linger in the Air: You may be the most beautiful show, with some of the most impressive performances of the year, but you absolutely botched this ending. Finish the goddamn season next time.

Love in Translation: I love you, but that whole kidnapping plot was so stupid at the end.

Low Frequency: I like your OST. That's about it.

My Dear Gangster Oppa: No examination about how gaming friendships become close quickly because of the combination of anonymity and teamwork (shout out to @twig-tea for this excellent summation).

My School President: Saving your gay commentary for the final episode felt like a conservative choice. I want more from you next time.

Naughty Babe: You retconned your own characters to tell a worse story. Unforgiveable.

Never Let Me Go: You didn’t know if you wanted to be a high school BL or a mafia story. It was difficult to watch.

Only Friends: I cannot believe you did Boston like that at the end. Either give Force’s character a clear personality next time, or keep him enigmatic; half measures make him and Book look worse. Sand was absolutely embarrassing. Boeing was a waste. Ending on all of them paired like that felt so unearned.

Step By Step: You forgot to ground Jeng’s external dreams at the end, so the final two episodes are just frustrating.

I’m glad I got that off my chest. We can go into the next year now.

Korea Put in the Work This Year

I really like the efforts from the various Korean studios this year. I really hope we get a Strongberry joint next year, but I want to acknowledge that we had 18 Korean BL dramas I watched this year, and at least three of them I think are must watches: Our Dating Sim, Sing My Crush, and The Eighth Sense. Beyond that, I think Love Tractor, Unintentional Love Story, and A Breeze of Love are easy recommendations.

It’s really impressive how the complaint for me this year with Korean BL is not about them using their time poorly. It’s more about normal drama concerns, where I think characterization is a little weak, or a theme doesn’t land squarely. This rapid iteration from the Korean studios is really impressive to watch, and I’m excited to see what some of the recognized players do next year.

Taiwan and The Philippines Have Been Quiet for Me

I wasn’t really able to connect with much from the Philippines this year except for The Day I Loved You. I never wrote about The Day I Loved You, but this beautiful and heart wrenching show is one of my favorites from this year. I wasn’t too keen on the Oxin Films offerings of this year, and I’m still chasing down the ones from The IdeaFirst Company.

As for Taiwan, this new BL project from the end of the year just isn’t hitting. Kiseki: Dear to Me also ended up really hurting me with the way they used Wayne Song and Huang Chun Chih. I love that angry little man with the white hair, but I’m still salty about Wayne and the general mess of that show.

Japan was Busy This Year

I watched 16 new shows, a few older ones, and a few movies this year from Japan. We haven’t gotten this much from them ever. I continue to love the Drama Shower project from MBS, and my beloved What Did You Eat Yesterday? returned this year. We had pretty stellar outings with Our Dining Table, If It’s With You, and I Cannot Reach You.

I think a third of the Japanese BL I’ve tracked on MDL actually released this year. That’s huge.

Still, I am going to side eye Minato’s Laundromat 2. You were the show that let me down the most this entire year. More than Only Friends, more than Step By Step, and even more than Kiseki. You absolutely blew it. You were telling a great story about a man with an acute case of internalized homophobia coming out of his shell and learning to love his younger partner and you blew it for stupid amnesia nonsense. I will never forgive you for this.

Where Were All the Uncles This Year?

Really, without Jim from Moonlight Chicken, and without the men from What Did You Eat Yesterday? we had an alarming dearth of older gay characters passing on knowledge and wisdom to the youngsters this year. What the hell happened?

Rare Dynamics Won: Second Chance Romance and Friends to Lovers!

We had so much second chance romance this year. It’s really my favorite version of gay romance because gays don’t always have ideal settings when they’re young. We had Our Dating Sim, Individual Circumstances, Jun & Jun, The End of the World With You, Tokyo in April is…, Be My Favorite, Love Class Season 2, and A Breeze of Love. I am satisfied.

Friends to Lovers is actually so rare in romance and we have so many to choose from this year! The best examples are I Cannot Reach You and Sing My Crush, but we also have one of the pairs in Love Class Season 2.

Gay Thoughts

I had a couple of ongoing thoughts this year about queerness in BL.

First, I want to return to my post about Sing My Crush and La Pluie, and how I assert that Men Need to Be Angry Sometimes. More than giving men grace to be righteously angry or upset about things, along with letting them express it in ugly ways, I really want to get into how we engage with these shows. I will stop engaging with moralistic reads on characters in 2024. I will no longer engage with asks, reblogs, or meta gripping the fandom where we're judging the moral fiber of the character.

The question that really only matters for me at this point is: Is this act from the character justified from their characterization, the narrative, or genre conventions; and is it interesting? Whether or not the character is good or bad reeks of the lame arguments about good and bad representation, and I am not watching BL like I’m being graded in Sunday school.

The second thing I really want to acknowledge at the end of the year is that the gay sex is finally getting better again. I watched The Novelist this year, and we have taken so long to get back to the space that show took us on the portrayal of male-male intimacy. We are in the genre about people with dicks. It should feel like it. There should be a masculine component there that feels specific to queer intimacy.

I will acknowledge 2 Cutie 2 Pie, A Boss and a Babe, Be Mine SuperStar, Bed Friend, Candy Color Paradox, For Him, I Cannot Reach You, Kiseki: Dear to Me, La Pluie, Love Class 2, Love in Translation, Love Mate, Middleman’s Love, Naughty Babe, Only Friends, The End of the World With You, Tokyo in April is…, and Wedding Plan for your contributions.

Final Thoughts

I like how broad the genre felt this year, and I enjoyed how much speculative fiction is entering into the conversation. I don’t know how I feel about there being five vampire stories in the works next year, but overall I’m glad that we’re getting more experimental concepts. I’m burnt out on the college engineering BL, and would like to see more shows about working adults.

Despite how grumpy I was for at least three months, I think this has genuinely been one of the best years we’ve ever had in the genre. I made a lot of new friends in BL this year, and I’m excited to see what comes next. Thank you all for spending some of your time with me this year and I’ll see you in the next one.

[thebarontheabyss]

can't believe that TBOTA is one year old 🥺 I still remember the day where I come across your story somewhere like one year ago or something all from a comment I made on a tiktok post about an old somewhat interactive fiction about my fav fandom I used to read and some kind stranger recommend me to try dashingdon 😭 at first I was skeptical since the site looks sketchy as hell but I give it a go and press any random story that looked interesting enough and guess what it was TBOTA!

This was truly a fun addition to my life and I'm glad I've got to see you grow and becoming a better writer from one update to another, Happy the abyss day!

(P.s,Sorry for the rambling, literally can't help myself after seeing your latest post lmao 😭)

Omg I remember your first ask saying it was your first dashingdon game!

Thank you, I was very lucky to have you stumbling upon the story as well! ❤️

[blorger]

I was wondering if you'd share your thoughts on this:

I feel like Narcissa is really a family person with how she cares for Lucius and Draco but I wonder though how come she doesn't seem to care that much about Bellatrix? Because isn't she Narcissa's family too? Despite Bellatrix caring for Narcissa too, it looks like Narcissa prefers to be a Malfoy

And why though between the Blacks and Malfoys as a blood purists and supremacist shouldn't Narcissa think that being a Black is better, they even practice interbreeding than the Malfoys to keep that purity and the Blacks definitely talk on being superior too than Halfbloods and Muggleborns

The Blacks seems more powerful a d with more prestige with it being the only Noble and Ancient house so I was wondering why do you think Narcissa prefers the Malfoys and being a Malfoy than the more prestigious Black

Thank you for the question my fellow hp nerd! I very much enjoy being enabled and your ask sent me down a fun research hole :))

Warning, verbose answer below (also, I went somewhat off-prompt, sorry) :

I agree with you completely when you say that Narcissa is a family person, the few lines she has in canon are all about just how much she's willing to do for her household; it's just that she's thinking of her nuclear family (Lucius & Draco) so much that we never get a clear idea of her views on her birth family (the Blacks).

I find Narcissa to be a very fascinating character: she's introduced to us as someone who very much fits within her family unit, especially in terms of superciliousness:

(from GoF: Harry meets Narcissa for the first time, at the quidditch world cup)

And yet, in the very first scene we see her actively participate in, this person who has insofar been mostly defined by her pride is shown to be extremely willing to debase herself in order to protect Draco:

(from HBP: Narcissa is pleading Snape to help Draco in his mission)

Furthermore, even though her primary objective when going to spinners end is to protect Draco we still get glimpses of the love she holds for Lucius:

and

(also from HBP)

I generally don't care for comments jkr makes outside of the books and I tend to disregard any post-canon addition she makes but I do think this comment of hers is key to understanding her character:

(from pottermore)

This, I think, puts her at odds with Bellatrix, who is the very definition of a fanatic. Bellatrix herself says she considers giving one's son up to the cause to be the greatest of honors:

(also from HBP)

This is a significant difference in worldview and I think it affects the relationship between the two. While Bellatrix is a true believer, Narcissa just isn't and is therefore perfectly willing to abandon the cause in favour of keeping her family intact (which is exactly what she ends up doing in the forest in DH).

We never hear Narcissa's opinion on Andromeda's disownment but we do hear Bellatrix's:

and

(DH, Voldemort orders Bellatrix to kill Tonks)

Bella is not only willing to murder members of her own family on the say so of her leader, she considers being allowed to do so to be an honor; I honestly think that Narcissa would be incapable of that.

Narcissa gives the impression of an extremely composed person who keeps her thoughts very closely guarded (as an aside, this is why I'm very much in the camp that she's the one who taught Draco occlumency and not Bella) but I do imagine that she feels affection for her sisters (both of them).

Bellatrix is introduced to us as someone larger than life, a boogeyman-like figure. She's a fearsome duellist and a truly violent person and most people we meet in the story seem to fear her. Narcissa doesn't.

From Narcissa and Bellas interactions in the Spinners End chapter of HBP, I get the impression that the two still share a sibling bond, even after the decade Bella spent in Azkaban. Not only do they call each other by their nicknames :

but Narcissa doesn't hesitate to hex Bella, an incredibly dangerous and unstable person, as if she knows she won't be in any real danger because of it:

And she's shown to be right, because Bellatrix never once retaliates. More than that, even though she's more than capable of overpowering Narcissa and taking her away from spinners end by force, she doesn't. Bellatrix simply follows her sister to Snape's house and doesn't hesitate to help her when the time comes to make the unbreakable vow.

Bellatrix, it seems, truly cares for her sister as much as she's able to (on account of her being a sociopath). When Bella is defending herself to Voldemort in one of the excerpts above she is quick to fold Narcissa (and, curiously, only Narcissa) in her defense (" we - Narcissa and I - have never set eyes on our sister"). In that excerpt, Voldemort is trying to gauge the Malfoys' reaction to the news of Tonks's marriage just as much as Bellatrix's (and presumably Rodolphus's, though he's mostly a non-entity in the books) but she only seems concerned about herself and Narcissa.

As to why Narcissa might identify more as a Malfoy than as a Black, I honestly dont think she sees the world in that way. Narcissa, to me, is not a true believer. Her character reads to me as someone deeply invested in maintaining the status quo (because of her position at the top of it) but, just like Lucius, I imagine she doesn't particularly care about blood politics the way someone like Bellatrix or Walburga does.

We never get a precise read on the hierarchy of the pureblood families but we do know that the Malfoys are considered to be amongst the richest and oldest (this again comes from writings outside of direct canon). I personally get the impression that Narcissa did not move up or down in the social hierarchy by marrying into the Malfoy family but very much made a lateral move, as befitting a lady of her status.

I don't think Narcissa takes pride in being a Malfoy insomuch as she takes pride in being at the very top, with no thought as to the specifics. She cares about being Lucius's wife and she cares about being Draco's mother but she is never shown defending the Malfoy name itself.

Similarly, I don't think Bellatrix cares much for the Black family as an institution either. We hear Kreacher talking glowingly about both Narcissa and Bellatrix but we never hear either of them talking about the most ancient and noble house of Black; this, to me, gives the impression that they aren't terribly interested in it.

Bellatrix is too much of a rabid Voldemort follower to care about her old life (besides the fact that it identifies her as a pureblood), as is shown by the blatant disregard for her own husband. Just for fun, I checked the books for all mentions of Rodolphus Lestrange and not only is Bellatrix never shown interacting with him, she's never even shown talking about him.

You know who mentions him by name in the book? it's only three people: Sirius Black (when talking about the Lestranges being in Azkaban with him), Lucius Malfoy (when ordering the death eaters about in the department of mysteries) and, surprisingly, Tonks (who injures him in the battle of the seven potters).

The Lestranges, as a couple, are mentioned together only twice before Bellatrix is introduced as a separate character and after that they are referred as such just to talk about their shared Gringotts vault, not exactly couple of the year material.

In conclusion, while I do think that Narcissa cares for Bellatrix, she is much more invested in the well-being of her nuclear family and does not give a flying fuck about either the Malfoy or the Black family. She cares about the status she receives from being part of them, sure, but it's a transactional interest and not a point of pride.

Similarly, Bellatrix cares mostly about what Voldemort wants her to care about but she is still able to value Narcissa, and only Narcissa, outside of that (even though she is obviously lower in priority than Voldemort).

[storkmuffin]

Hello! I literally just came back to Tumblr after a several year hiatus because of the tiktok drama, and stumbled across your posts. It's been really fun to see your thoughts, especially getting a bit of cultural context here and there has been wonderful! You've written a lot about what you like about each member, but I'm curious about how you feel about their relationships with each other, especially as a baby atiny. I find their interconnected friendships really interesting, even outside of a shipper context (and I am curious about how you feel about that as well!) I have always had a huge weakness for found families lol

Hi! Welcome back :D Thank you for reading and commenting!

TLDR for what follows: I take a much harder, colder stance on the 'found family' narrative they keep pushing with Boy Idols than perhaps befits an Atiny about Ateez, but I do have my reasons.

I take the view that first and foremost, Idol groups are business working groups. I'm a little bit (okay, a lot) skeptical of what's presented as 'family' and 'friendships' among these people, generally speaking, because Kpop Idols are just following Korean norms of social interaction for coworkers.

Hopefully this isn't boring but I need to just use myself as an example: I am the 'leader' of my working group of 5 people in my department that has about 70 people in my Korean company. I report to 3 levels of bosses but mostly they let me 'run' the group. My one group-mate is the same age as me, the other three are younger. The woman who's the youngest (our maknae, though not by a lot) - she's a baseball freak. The rest of us dgaf about baseball, but whenever we have our monthly 'bonding' lunch (obligatory, by the way - I'm given a monthly budget that I have to spend eating with this group, all together), all of us take turns indulgently asking her about baseball news, and ooh and ahh and pamper her in her baseball speeches. Do you see what I mean? This is just how we behave. It probably looks like family, to a Westerner, but truth be told, we are none of us actually friends.

The fact that Hwa and Wooyoung have both called their CEO Father freaks me out, by the way. Absolute heebie jeebies, though this too is a feminist, gendered thing. Sexual harassers pre-MeToo always said they'd 'forgotten themselves' because they felt like they were 'family' with the woman they raped or molested. It sounded just as insane in Korean as it does in English, but that was an accepted excuse until it totally wasn't.

In addition, one of the requirements of Boy Idols is that they provide emotional succor to their almost entirely female audience (I am organizing my thoughts and what I've learned through research about why this is for another post). Korea is an exceptionally family-focused society, but that is often exploitative and terrible for women. (Which is why so many women keep saying they don't want to marry and form families - the potential personal burden is ruinous.) So Boy Idols showing what a 'family' can look like when nobody is a woman - when even the 'mommy' or the 'bossy big sister' or the 'baby sister' is all men - and are shown to always, in the end, get along, is the non-sexual equivalent of BL fiction, which I think functions to let straight women 'escape' from misogynist heterosexuality and enjoy the concept of male sexuality in an ultimately quite straight way. Boy Idol groups being 'found famliy' gets you to enjoy the nice things about a voluntary family completely denuded of even the possibility of misogyny, because women just don't exist in the story at all.

Further, because so many megastar Idols have committed suicide in recent years, and because the people who were in training for years and ultimately didn't make it also tell nightmare stories about their lives, it's become necessary for Idol groups to advertise that they are not toxic workplaces. So I see the 'miraculous getting together of pairs of friends to make a successful kpop group!' mythos as part of that counter-narrative, as well. My bet is that the 연습생 world, like any sort of prep situation in Korea, is fucking hostile. It has to be. In the normie world of just college prep, people don't share notes or pretend to be civil or anything other than competitors. Your failure increases my chances of success, type of deal.

Part of the Ateez self-narrative about how they came together to me also just seem pretty typical of people who are in the performing arts in general, as well. The School of American Ballet takes in little kids to train them, and if they manage to make it through many cuts over a number of years, they then debut with the New York City Ballet or American Ballet Theater, where they will compete against and/or partner with each other until the end of their usually short (like 10 years or less) careers, trying to get to the 'top.' The kpop Idol industry follows this system of 'growing' its own artists, often in boarding schools or specialized institutions, just like ballet dancers. It looks different because the cultural context is different, but the essence is the same.

I've seen all the K-Atiny flutterings about, THIS IS FATE and stuff, but given that K-Pop Idol has really specific physical requirements, it makes sense to me that as they got older, the kids who were really determined to do this as a job and also were not kicked/ flunked out would eventually all meet and some to become friends.

The fact that Mingi followed Yunho, and Wooyoung followed Yeosang to this small venture that had never launched an Idol group before can be seen in two ways, I think. One is that they are best friends, in a pure, childhood way. It's so sweet and moving that it doesn't feel quite real, and doesn't fit with how you expect people who in essence wanted to be child stars and then rock stars to be like. It makes them very lovable.

But, just to be the ultimate cynical bitch about it, the paths Ateez took may have more to do with the fact that Mingi-Yunho and Yeosang-Wooyoung are the tall and short versions of being 2% Off the Idol Standard, to my Korean eyes. These two sets of friendships may have come from sharing the same problem - of being almost, but not quite, 'right' or 'ripe' for debut.

Mingi and Yunho, despite the fashion for tall Boy Idols, seem to have not made the cut to become 연습생 (prep students? how do kpop international fans call this?) at any of the big houses nor get recruited off the street. And that makes sense - Mingi is in the 짐승돌 (Beast-Idol) mode, which has fallen out of fashion for some time, and Yunho suffers from being too standard and initially appears indistinct as a result.

Yeosang and Wooyoung seem to have fallen into a different kind of 연습생 hell - good enough to get a spot, do well enough not to get kicked out, but not have enough of what it takes for a 'big house' to include you in an actual group that will debut. Yeosang often being a mild person who doesn't react in a lightening fast way would have disadvantaged him for sure. Wooyoung is so handsome but like, if you compare him to say, Felix of Stray Kids, he also looks just so manly, which would have made him difficult to place. To drop out of Hybe 연습생 to try out this thing with KQ, which had never done it before speaks of a certain desperation.

Other than HongJoong, who did a really weird and unusual thing of making a company build a program around him, the 99z were all up against a fast approaching deadline of aging out of being able to debut, since they have a hard stop at age 28 each, and one of the key ways to cultivate a hardcore Korean female fandom is to have them participate in 'raising' you. Can't do that if you debut at 25, you know?

Almost 7 years later? First, they've achieved wild success, together, when none of them were necessarily the most likely to succeed, and they definitely are NOT with the company most likely to successfully launch an Idol group. That's gotta be great for bonding. Second, only the eight of them can actually really understand wtf that life is like - the hardships or pains that come with what otherwise just looks glorious. Third, all the psych studies agree that singing together and dancing together with other humans makes you love them more, and feel more bonded and more belonging, and doing singing and dancing together is these people's full time job. Fourth (sorry the cynicism is back), if they can't make it work within this group, they will have a hard time pursuing show business careers in the future. You have to have 'good character' as an Idol to not be decimated by the anti-fans, and an essential element of 'good character' in the Korean style is knowing how to be a good member of a collective. And fifth, what KQ and Ateez are doing vis-a-vis each other (Company v Contractors) as well as inside Ateez is a sort of positive-reinforcement of Mutually Assured Destruction with all this family talk. They're family and brothers and the CEO is their DAD and their producer Eden is their big brother so ... when the 7 year contract deadline rolls around, KQ shouldn't stomp on Ateez, Ateez shouldn't stomp on KQ, and the members should not go for broke as individuals. I think that's part of it.

[neewtmas]

After checking my masterlist, I realised today (April 10th) marks one year since I posted my first l&co fic!

That came after a several year long hiatus from writing (and I didn't know if I would ever come back from it) and I'm so grateful Lockwood & Co sparked my creativity and desire to write like it did.

Some of the fics I released in this year I'm immensly proud of, and they were all so fun to write.

But of course, I would have never managed to keep up my motivation to write if it weren't for the lovely feedback I got from this fandom.

Reblogs and comments are hard to come by nowadays unfortunately, but every single one I got made me so incredibly happy and I want to thank everyone who took time out of their day to read my writing, especially if you then even took additional time to let me know how much you liked it🩷

I don't see my obsession with L&Co dying anytime soon, so I'm looking forward to another fun year of writing, reading, and interacting with a lovely and kind fandom🥂💙🖤🧡

[myokk]

HELLOOO 💋

I simply felt like it so I'm just gonna hop in here and tell you, —

You're amazing and talented and so kindhearted I can't even comprehend it.

— You're amazing, cuz you're so positive, creative and open towards everyone, you write for us and feed us even when you have little time and that's a true sacrifice. 🦅🦅 & every single one of your posts radiate that positivity and THAT IS SO GREAT, YOU ARE ! 💖 (I'm just adding in a whisper, that I REALLY love it when you post your drawings with a snippet from your fic and when you just make a yapping post !!! You don't even have to ask !!! ♡)

— You're talented, cuz HELL JUST HOW CAN SOMEONE WRITE AND DRAW LIKE YOU DO ??? Your writing style swept me off my feet and your drawing style— *chef's kiss 🤌💋* each one of your drawings are so magnificent even when they're only "small 5 min doodles" (I'm not buying that /jk ♡) you're just so talented, that you can throw together a masterpiece in mere minutes ✨

— And you're kindhearted, cuz you were born that way 🥹🙂‍↕️ you're a literal angel. 🤍 You always have such a positive attitude towards everything, it's contagious! You make me smile with every post of yours! ✿ You're just so kind to literally EVERYONE and I love that about you so much, you're simply so lovable, I just wanna run over to you and squish your face and hug you! 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️🫂🫂

So basically just...

LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU MADDY ��

AND I'M SO SO SORRY FOR YAPPING THIS MUCH 🙏🫂 feel free to ignore this ♡ ;)

— I don't even introduce myself anymore, I always bombard you with asks, sorryyyy 😖❤️

LUCY😭😭😭😭😭 where do I even begin…🥹♥️♥️♥️

YOU ARE TOO SWEET AND KIND TO ME !!!!! WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE SUCH AN AMAZING MESSAGE🥹🫂🫂🫂🫂🫂 I’m crying…(but in a good way dw🫶♥️)

Im so happy you like my writing and my art so much😭♥️♥️ I feel like I’m just starting out with both & I’ll keep posting regardless bc I have a lot of fun with it, but it means so much to me when I see this message!!!🫶

I love that I joined this community and have received so much support since I started🥹♥️♥️ I always try to return it when I have the time because I ALSO love seeing what everyone else posts!!! Sometimes I feel guilty bc I don’t see everything, or have the time to read everytbing, but I always try to spread the love because supporting and leaving comments is MY FAVORITE THING !!!!!!!!!!!

Especially this month i have been so extremely busy (🥲) & I have no time bc who knew that getting and moving into a new house 45 min away was going to be so much work😭😭 in addition to still working full-time and dealing with some sick dogs AND being sick myself all month bahahahahahahahah. But it’s always a highlight of my day to come on here in the mornings and at night for a bit, see what you all are up to, and contribute some oneshots/art of my own when I’m able to!!!!! ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

ANYWAYS AFTER THIS THURSDAY I WILL BE A FREE WOMAN !!!!!!!!!! And hopefully I can start posting and interacting a bit more again🥹🫂♥️

LOVE YOU SO MUCH LUCY🥹♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️ IM SO HAPPY YOURE PSRT OF THIS FANDOM & THANK *YOU* FOR EXISTING🫶🫶🫶

[hyperions-light]

2024 Writing Roundup

Yeeeehaw it's writing roundup time! Thank you for the tag @uchidachi! <3

words posted: 41,838, plus miscellaneous amount of words on Tumblr

additional words written: uhhhh apprx 22,700, give or take. Probably give, bc I'm not counting any of the meta on here

fandoms: All published is for One Piece, almost everything unpublished is Dragon Age + there's some original something for Elden Ring (probably not going to clean that up tbh)

highest kudos: The Road(trip) to Hell is Paved With Questionable Decision Making at 103... which, yeah, it's the most accessible of them lol

highest hit one-shot: catalyst at 513-- pretty good, considering I only posted it at the end of October. Maybe cheating because it needs a sequel? But I haven't written it, so for now it remains an OS

new things I tried: I did two zines and three events (BB, Corazon Week and Fight)! They were fun, but I'll probably mostly focus on making my own stuff this next year. And I expect to mostly be hanging around the DA fandom, as opposed to OP

fic I spent the most time on: I doooon't know, but I think it was the ascent? High concept, difficult to write and wrangle into something resembling what I wanted. Good exercise, though.

fic I spent the least time on: I think it was resentment-- I do really love this one, actually, but I didn't spend too much time on it because it came together in like a day? Even the editing was quick.

favourite thing I wrote: Probably it deepens like a coastal shelf, which is an AU of someone else's fic lol, so very niche, but I loooove writing about terrible people and family drama. And I got to quote poetry. And make people cry <3

favourite thing(s) I read: I've really loved reading all of your fics that you all keep sending for BW fic comments Saturdays! And I enjoy hearing about everyone's Rooks, too <3 I don't feel it's fair to do 'best of' fics but I thought I'd pull a few that have lower interaction rates for various reasons; the BW fandom is soooo talented, though, my recommendation is to give whatever sounds interesting to you a shot!

pray for rain by mafalda_157 who I believe is @darethshirl on here? Elgar'nan/Solas, Mythal/Elgar'nan, dubcon + politics with especially strong character voices

Five, Seven, Five by theharellan, @queenaeducan Really beautiful and poetic Solas&Cadash!Inquisitor gen fic

The Memory of Her Scent by Vespaer, @vespaer77 Angsty Solavellan between games, gorgeously written

Mien'Harel by bodysnatch3r, @bodysnatch3r canon divergence Felassan/Solas, really stunning prose and well-realized world. Also recommend the Heistverse series, for any Hobbit enthusiasts!

(please don't take this as like... me not endorsing the other fics, I'm really enjoying reading everyone's <3 I just went off the top of my head + pulled stuff I think may have been somewhat overlooked. Also I am not even done with last week's set yet)

In every other fandom I peruse I am an Old Man Yaoi enjoyer, so I also will always recommend A Reflection of Starlight (reread) for Les Mis, and, for those of you interested in OP fic, the works of spaceliquid, ArgelTal (@chaoticargeltal-- they wrote this fic based on a prompt of mine & did an incredible job!), and Harmonica_Smile/Rescue_Remedy (@chromatic-lamina) who all write beautifully <3

writing goals for 2025: Need to finish that original thing I'm working on by... August?? I should check lol. And then I need to publish as much of this DA stuff as I can that's sitting in drafts lol... will the foursome be first?? unclear

new works: idk, Leth's thing I'm writing, probably some Lucanis&Bellara stuff, some Neve/Rook/Lucanis, and the Rook/Teia/Viago/Lucanis WT: speak of me in the language of reverence

tagging: I'm actually not sure if it's going to let me tag anyone else BUT @covertleathers, @thedissonantverses, @taashyvashedan, @chromatic-lamina, @wardensantoineandevka, @biowaredisasterbisexual, @mageofquandrix + anyone else who would like to do this!

[thefrontofmymind]

ex!reader x matty healy ig blurb

FC: Heather Baron-Gracie

a/n: added on blurb

~~~

rass1975 via instagram stories:

yninstagram via instagram stories:

~~~

yninstagram we look kewl

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ynfan1 OMG YN AND MATTYYYYY

ynfriend sexy beasts xxx

>trumanblack thanks xxx

ynfan2 the goth council has come together to decide all our fates

bedforddanes pale bitches x

>yninstagram ill fuck u up

trumanblack im cool. yn did my makeup, its cool.

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1975fan1 i am frothing at the mouth rn

yninstagram fit

1975fan2 i so wish i was at this party it looks so cool

rass1975 Yeah yeah. You look cool get over it

yninstagram shut up i'm busy

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ynfan1 so prettyyyyy

ynfan2 I LOVE THIS

trumanblack fit

>yninstagram didn’t i just fucking tell you to shut up?

1975ynfan1 ok loving this tension,,,,

1975ynfan2 wait is that matty’s guitar???

>1975fan1 OMG I THINK YOURE RIGHT

nme Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Dirty Hit Records ushers in a new era, with the addition of YN on their roster. This news comes after apparent months of negotiation (and close friend of Matty Healy on her side!) New interview in our next issue!

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1975ynfan1 this has totally convinced me that theyre together why tf would they do a whole photoshoot together if they weren’t

ynfan1 am i the only one who doesn’t like the way they worded this? Like she’s such a good artist, the fact that she’s friends with Matty doesn’t mean anything! She got that record deal on her own merit

1975ynfan2 omg they both look so hot in this

1975fan1 goth parents

yninstagram throwback to when we were allowed outside

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ynfan1 where are you quarantining queen???

>yninstagram with a close friend babyyyy

ynfan2 so sad you had to postpone the tour :((( i was going to toronto

ynfan3 will the new album be postponed too??

>yninstagram hopefully not. Still set for later on in the year ❤️❤️

ynundates yn today performing at Reading Festival!!!

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ynfan1 ok so we haven’t seen her in TWO YEARS and she’s back and a platinum blonde????

ynfan2 newalbumsoonnewalbumsoonnewalbumsoon

>ynfan3 ikr SO PUMPED

ynfan4 did anyone catch a video of when she said something like ‘im in a different place now than when i wrote all these love songs’ and then i didnt hear the end of what she said???

>ynupdates its on our page! The full quote is “I’m in a very different place than when I wrote all of those love songs. Me and him aren’t together now so…Expect a breakup album soon!”

>ynfan5 omg poor yn :(( (though i wonder who she’s talking aboutttt)

yninstagram officially here to tell you that blondes don’t always have more fun. and i’m on tour in North America in three months get ready.

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ynfan1 AAHHH SEEING YOU IN NEW YORK

>yninstagram SEE U THERE BB

ynfan2 PLEASE come to asia!!

ynfan3 when is the album???

>yninstagram beginning of next year!!

ynfan4 yn looks so pretty with black OR blonde hair!!

yninstagram first show lets go

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ynfan1 the COOLEST fit

bedforddanes good luck mate.

>yninstagram thanks mate.

ynfan2 cant wait to see you in Milwaukee!!

1975ynfan1 does anyone else think its weird that yn and the 1975’s tours match up cities like 4 times???

>1975ynfan2 probably just a coincidence, there’s only so many cities in america

>1975ynfan1 idk its just yn and matty havent interacted in so long and it seems like theyve both gone through private breakups recently,,,,got me thinking

>ynfan3 maybe not the best to speculate on people’s private lives?? Lets just leave them to it?

yninstagram new single out now. Not Another Rockstar. its cool.

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ynfan1 omg wait the caption??? Is that a matty reference???

>ynfan2 idkkkk IM HERE FOR THE DRAMAAA

ynfan3 yn is straight up ethereal

charli_xcx so proud of youuuuu

>yninstagram Xxx

yninstagram london r u ready??

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ynfan1 so jealous im not there!!!

ynfan2 obsessed with this makeup!!

pollymoney looking lush!!

ynfan3 come to nz!

rollingstone “Growing into different people can hurt, but it’s always the way of life, we just have to move on” - YN talks touring post-covid and new album! Link in bio!

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yninstagram thank you for having me.

ynfan1 need to punch whoever she was talking about with the quote in the article ‘I was badly hurt by my ex, he’s said some horrid things about me when I thought our breakup was pretty amicable.’

ynfan2 i remember when yn was just starting out and now look at her!!

ynfan3 mother was mothering in this shoot

yninstagram what happens on tour, stays on tour. this includes going to bed at a reasonable hour and being on vocal rest for 20 hours of the day.

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ynfan1 saw you in Lisbon!! Best concert ive ever been to!!

ynfan2 omg obsessed with that top…

1975adam the joys of tour life hey?

>yninstagram dont i know it?

yninstagram new album, Nothing Matters, is out tomorrow. this is such a personal album for me, showing the deepest parts of myself. 

To you (you know)

Even though we spent months tearing each other apart, and we’ve both said some questionable things in retaliation, you know I’ll always hold you in my heart. I was at my best with you and I hope one day we can reach a point when we can be friends. I miss you and all the funny things you tell me when you stoned off your nut and barely knew how to speak anymore. 

Thank you, darling. For everything.

limited comments

charli_xcx beautiful album baby. top of 2023!

ynfriend love it!!

rass1975 well done mate. Its a good’un

trumanblack love it.

>yninstagram x

[bonesandthebees]

FINALLY CAUGHT UP ON ROSE AFTER FALLING BEHIND IN THE SUMMER YAY

im really enjoying tnt duo AND NIKI AND PUFFY👀👀 its great

the rainduo fall out was bound to happen, we knew it, but somehow this coldness and quiet and uncertainty between them hurts so much more than any anger could

its the fact that what split them was just slow distancing and loss of trust and the one wilburs lie that they both knew was a lie but didnt acknowledge, like it was never really said out loud, just shown through smaller things like having lessons apart

schlatts assassination in reaction to crimeboys attack and wilburs injury is very based, phil is protective and spiteful af and i love that for him

everything going amazing on the crimeboys front, the bonding definitely got much deeper after that assassination

and the dynamic going on dhdhdhhdhdh like wilbur is attached to tommy, but hes also under phils tutoring and so hes working on securing his place, manipulative even on tommy, you can see he sees the world through a different lense, hes grown a lot in that sense in the three years

theres a thin line between wilbur caring for tommy and manipulating him bc hes kinda doing that to help him secure the throne but also its still manipulation and its just so DELICIOUS to read, im obsessed

also his cane, rhdhhdhdhdjdjdh, just the fact that he has a cane changes the image of him in my mind and i love it sm

the forever reminder of his and tommys fates getting tied together

its really cool that it feels quite balanced, like im kinda inclined to think that tommy will get the throne just bc wilbur is our pov, but its still feels like everyone has a chance (well not quackity rn, but that doesnt mean he still cant win and for it to work)

like i know you, i know its not gonna be that simple

but its also not like im rooting for just one side, they are all kids who have been uprooted for the chance to be a ruler, but there will still be two left with nothing at the end of this (that is assuming no one gets killed which i wouldnt rule out too)

aaaand thats all the thoughts i have now that i didnt put in the comments (wanna bet that im gonna remember three more things as soon as i send this?)

i hope you kick the sicknesses ass soon and are enjoying arcane, happy and calm holidays bones

EILEEN HELLO I'm finally getting to this <33

it's funny I actually wasn't planning on making the puffychu as explicitly romantic until I was writing that scene and then I was like fuck it why not. like it was going to be implied no matter what but I wasn't planning on directly pointing it out that's just kind of how the scene went and I'm very happy with it because I think the tntduo dialogue there is so fun

godddd writing rainduo like that hurt so badly. writing them as being so unfamiliar and cold with each other compared to just a few chapters ago when they were so close- ouch. my heart.

you do not fuck with phil or his kid that's the lesson to be learned here. like there were probably more reasonable options besides outright killing schlatt but. phil was pissed lmao.

i'm sooo glad you're liking the crimeboys dynamic it's such a fun one for me to balance. because they're so brotherly now and wilbur does genuinely care for tommy but he's also so outright manipulative and it's a bit chilling to write sometimes. and while logically wilbur knows this isn't 'right', a part of him is desensitized to treating tommy like this because of how he's been raised. it's what's expected of him and how he was taught to interact with people thanks to phil.

very glad you like the cane addition :D I'm trying hard to balance making sure it's not just disregarded/forgotten about in a scene and using it as a way of showing wilbur's emotions in any given moment. but also wilbur is our main pov, the fact that he's a cane user is only one part of who he is as a character so I don't want it to seem like I'm mentioning it too much. it's just a balance I'm trying my best to strike.

I'm so glad the battle for the throne feels balanced! I really want to emphasize how niki (and quackity as well, to an extent) are both far better suited for the throne, but neither of them have the backing that tommy has being supported by the consil, the keeper of knowledge, and the consil's son. it really evens out the playing field.

but yeah, the tragedy is that none of them should've been put in this position in the first place. sam should've been man enough to choose an heir when they were a child (tbh he should've just chosen niki outright the only reason he didn't was out of obstinance) so now he's got these young people ruining their relationships and struggling to play political games because of it.

I'm so glad you enjoyed this chapter!!!

[blorbocedes]

HEY so i have deep dived into brocedes (going on... 3 days now?) and the one thing im rly struggling to find is an accurate brocedes timeline with links to everything (and i mean EVERYTHING- their promo vids, them eating cereal tgt, lewis on nicos website at 18 etc). i've scrolled through ur acc (its been so helpful!!) but some of the links no longer work i can't pinpoint on certain dates (greek trip?? what year was that?? when did they race each other in italy?) so i js thought id ask if you could help me figure that out lol also i am happy to read any in depth essays of brocedes and their progression as childhood bsfs, to teammates, to rivals, to strangers, that you have on the backburner bc i genuinely am a fan of all things brocedes atp (this is me shamelessly asking for a master post like the one u did w the post 2016 timeline- yes im happy to wait esp since there are sm new things to comment on (SPAIN 2023??? OMG!!)) ANYWAY altogether thanks for everything youve done for me as a brocedes newbie 🫶

hi! I'm gonna try to find some primers and stuff for you. the thing about brocedes is a lot of it you have to find out for yourself, and that's part of the fun. you won't find one masterpost with every single link unfortunately, but my blog has a pretty good aggregate of most of them.

there's a lot of useful links and basic rundown here, one of the major primers

the Greece story timeline is vague cause they've both mentioned it multiple times, and it's a major staple in their canon. here it says 14.

here is the post 2016 interactions primer post

Nico and Lewis talking about snowboarding at 17, so they were friends after they were teammates, and here's them partying as young adults (bc Nico and Vivian got together at 18)

the iconic kellog's picture! and here's how kelloggs lore followed them

here's an essay that's freaking pivotal!!!

here's additional lore I've collected, such as them living in the same building, their childhood shenanigans.

there's a lot of individual lewis blogs where you can find out more about his karting years, and for nicology I personally go to @fzxy40 for more nico insights.

this is when they raced each other in Italy so you can trawl through karting records to find it

And now, in 2023, we have Lewis bringing up Nico unprompted talking about how karting with him was some of the best times, and Lewis and Nico both stuttering fidgeting as Nico interviewed him for Spain 2023

as for promo! my pinned tweet is a great compilation of their skits, you can look up more on YouTube like the cringe merc commercials they did together.

there's a lot of lore on my blog you can check the archive for, and I'd be happy to help you otherwise if you're looking for anything specific!

[saintsenara]

Just read your meta on Tom Riddle & sexual abuse - brilliant as usual. I interpret Billy Stubbs the same way. I was wondering where in canon you're getting that Voldemort had an irregular heartbeat? The only thing that's coming to my mind is the visions Harry had in ootp where it says his heart is beating faster but that's not even real. Sorry this is the most niche question ever lol but I have an obsession with Voldemort's body

thank you very much for the ask, anon!

it's something which i've arrived at via a leap from deathly hallows - in which the locket-horcrux is mentioned as having a pulse which "beats irregularly alongside [harry's] own", which beats so fast that - from voldemort's perspective - it feels like it's "banging outside his chest", and which is also described as rattling, racing, etc.

the locket is the only horcrux which seems to have these pseudo-bodily functions - and it also, when harry opens it, has eyes. this is, i think, largely a narrative device to hint to the reader that harry is also a horcrux, by allowing us to picture a horcrux as something living - and the locket gets the honour because it's the only horcrux we spend any meaningful amount of time with in either of the last two books.

[the diary - the only other horcrux harry spends any real time interacting with - doesn't get any such description.]

the locket's abnormal heartbeat is - of course - clearly intended by the doylist text to illustrate [just like the comment in goblet of fire that voldemort has unnaturally cold hands when he touches harry] the abnormality of voldemort's mutilated soul, and the way this has ruined and corrupted his body.

but this doesn't align with how the text understands the soul as separate from the body - the mutilation of voldemort's soul should, by the series' own logic, have no affect on his body [other than - maybe - on his eyes, "the window to the soul"].

and so i think it's fun - as someone committed to the idea that voldemort's fear of death and obsession with magic is made worse by a certain physical fragility - to accept the idea that all horcruxes feel semi-"alive" [as in, they all have these pseudo-bodily functions like pulses] but also to imagine that the locket's irregular heartbeat is something voldemort has always had wrong with him, rather than something caused by the damage he does to his soul.

an irregular heartbeat which is generally too fast - as the locket's is - might be a sign of something called atrial fibrillation, which can be either temporary or chronic. triggers for any manifestation of the condition can include:

physical and emotional stress [from - y'know - living in an orphanage, never having your cavernous grief over that fact acknowledged, and potentially being a victim of sexual abuse].

chronic lung conditions such as asthma [voldemort's soft voice is because he's a respiratorily-challenged icon, change my mind].

pericarditis, a temporary heart condition often triggered by a serious viral infection, like influenza [which might have nearly finished off a child who was already sickly, only making him more afraid of dying...].

smoking [which everyone did in the forties], not eating properly [the man is famously thin], and frequently being incandescent with murderous rage [no explanation needed] are all additional things that wouldn't help... as would not bothering to take your health seriously because you can't die.