#also there’s actually a lot of showing and not telling

[standfortheangels]

@euphorbic

It doesn't really follow the same pattern as these, and I don't know if it'll help, but I myself was cured of a really bad spider phobia. As a grown adult I would be reduced to tears if I got stuck somewhere with a spider, and I genuinely used to think, 'If I got trapped in a burning building, and there's a spider- even a tiny one or a dead one- between me and the only exit.... I'm dead.'

I got fixed through gradual exposure therapy (which worked Amazingly btw, I Highly recommend it) and there were a couple of moments that I want to highlight, because I never in my wildest dreams expected them.

Being a step-by-step thing, I went from looking at pictures of spiders, to watching videos of them, to sitting with a real one in a jar in the room, and so on.

At the video stage, my therapist had me watch one video on a loop until I calmed down and could watch it without fear. It was of a spider falling into a full sink, flailing its way to the edge, and climbing back out using a flannel that was left there. And then it would show a real close-up as the spider brushed the water droplets off of its gross, buggy, hairy body and head. At least, that's how I felt the first few times. But one loop around, I suddenly realised that the way it cleaned its head.. it was doing the exact movement my dog does when she cleans her face with her paws. (She's a weird dog. I swear poodles are half feline) For a brief moment... I looked at that spider and saw my sweet little pup, and then had to tell my therapist "I just thought that spider looked CUTE." in, honestly a bit of a 'what have you done to me' tone, but we had a laugh about it

The next moment was a bit further on, and happened at home.

As someone who had this phobia since childhood, I don't know how many times someone told me this, and I'm sure you'll have heard it too;

"It's more afraid of you than you are of it."

I used to hate this phrase, because it didn't help at all. Also because, I think they were underestimating how afraid I actually was. But one day in my room, I noticed a little spider on a houseplant of mine. Normally, this would be a disaster. I don't kill spiders- it's not fair that it should die just because I'm afraid- but I was WAY too scared to be able to catch them and put them outside. So I would just sit there, terrified, but staring at it because I was also terrified of losing sight of it, because then it could be Anywhere. I would sit afraid, moving away if it got too close but never looking away, just waiting for someone to rescue me.

But this time, I was in therapy. This time, I'd learned that I could desensitise myself if I was patient. So I sat on my bed and watched it. And once I wasn't very scared anymore, I edged closer. The spider went around the stem/trunk of the plant, so I had to lean forward to look around and keep watching it. It froze for a second, then went to the side I couldn't see Again. I moved to see it again, and I saw it's legs moving a lot, and it turning to look in different directions. It was like it didn't know what to do or where to go.

And then I realised.. it was panicking. It wasn't just wandering around this plant being a mindless little bug thing- it was going where I couldn't see it, on purpose. It had noticed me, and was trying to Hide. This tiny creature saw a massive Human closing in on it, and now it was frantically trying to get out of sight.

I sat back immediately, and felt so bad for it. In that moment I realised, that old phrase wasn't Just there to dismiss or deny my fear- it was true. This spider was genuinely terrified. And all the times I'd felt completely trapped by my fear meant I knew exactly what this spider was going through. And I wanted it to find somewhere it could feel safe again. I wanted it to know I wasn't a threat to it, so I moved away and stopped staring. It was eye-opening, to say the least. I'd never stopped to actually consider whether spiders have emotions or not before, but watching that one proved to me that they definitely do. They really are just. Little animals, that don't want to be in our space, like any other wild animal. It took a while to process and sorta shifted my view of them entirely. And for the first time in my life, I felt okay losing sight of a spider in my room.

A group of rough looking boys walked past me today and all I heard of their conversation was “he’s got that anxiety disorder bro so I went with him so he’d be more comfortable” and it made me realise the world isn’t all that bad

[drchucktingle]

Hi Dr! Is Lucky Day about depersonalization or dissociation? I'm excited to read it either way !

this is a very good question i usually do not talk about my horror novels too much before they come about for a lot of reasons, but right now i am really in the LUCKY DAY headspace as i prepare for it to come out and prepare for my next summer tour and all that, so i will say a little.

there is a movie called ONLY GOD FORGIVES starring buckaroo ryan gosling (kind of a follow up to 'drive') and the director nicolas winding refn said in interviews that the idea came from a feeling he had of 'wanting to get in a fist fight with god'.

i always found that to be really interesting to take this sort of abstract WHAT IF that is very emotional and profound but also kind of simple, like a myth, and tell that story.

so my version was 'what if a bisexual who is told they dont exist came face to face with actual non-existence?' it was a sort of thing where i just thought 'oh you think bi buckaroos do not exist? i will show you non existence'

all of my horror, from CAMP DAMASCUS to BURY YOUR GAYS, usually has 3 or 4 BIG IDEAS that weave together and create a larger theme or message. (the stories are also always kinda never quite what you think you are gonna get). LUCKY DAY is very much the same.

so it is a story about this bisexual buckaroo facing down nothingness, but it is a story about fate and luck and question of is there good vs evil, or is there just something vs nothing? it is also about processing grief in a world that does not 'make sense'. question of how do we move forward when there is so much tragedy all around is. and i will also say it is my ACAB book with a lot of stuff about police overreach.

AND WITH ALL THAT SAID IT IS ALSO VERY FUN

it is the most fun you will have while existentially processing grief

PREORDER LUCKY DAY NOW IT REALLY HELPS SUPPORT AUTHORS YOU LIKE

[cheeseceli]

Late wait

Pairing: idol!Lee Know × Gn!reader (established relationship)

Genre: fluff, domesticity, drabble

Request: Lee know with a "waiting for us" kinda vibe. Just being together in their own place with lots of domestic fluff. Dancing whenever, seeing movies whenever...

Warnings: mentions of food, Minho is an idol, the cats and the boys are here as well, reader and him live together

A/n: I simply love to write domestic moments | daily click

Minho finds it funny how the most beautiful things in life are always the simplest.

Coming from someone whose life is full of luxuries, he could understand why someone would be skeptical about his statement, but he couldn't be more truthful than that.

He already saw thousands of different people, dressed in fancy suits and drank expensive wine. The places he already went to were sometimes covered in gold, and if not, they'd have a red carpet and sculptures everywhere. He's not going to lie and say these things are bad, or that he despises them. On the contrary, actually. However, when you live a life of "too much", you learn how to appreciate what is simple.

His cats stepping on his face to wake him up. All the times he went somewhere random to camp. Seungmin's burnt barbecue and Felix' brownies. You. All the things that made his life easy.

As much as he loves all those things, maybe he should highlight you a little bit more. It's only fair, since you are the one who plays the major role in making him feel alive.

When Minho thinks about you, he thinks about how he loves to wake up early before some morning schedule and see how you're sleeping peacefully next to him. You always ask him to wake you up before he goes, but he never finds the strength in himself to disrupt your dreams. You have a whole collection of little notes he put next to the bed, apologising for not saying bye, but promising to bring food whenever he's back.

He also remembers dance nights. As he is a professional dancer and an idol, he thought he wouldn't want to move a single muscle the moment he gets home. However, whenever he comes home to you singing some random song on the radio, it's impossible to not hold your hand and start swaying according to the rhythm. You don't know how to dance. When he's with you, he suddenly forgets how to as well. In the end, it's just two fools in love, dancing how your heart tells you to.

Movie nights where none of you had luck picking what to watch, so you'd just sleep mid the boring show. Cooking homemade dinner and noticing you ran out of all the ingredients, so you have to run to the market. Visiting his parents every Sunday. Staying in the entire weekend with the cats because that's so much better than going out.

There are dozens of little moments like those that Minho could talk about. None of them was particularly special - they were all things that happened every day. Maybe that was the magic of it. Living was easy with those moments, with you.

Now he was coming back home. The day was full of different events. Tiring, extravagant, but nice. He was smiling. But now he only wanted to come home to you. He knew you were staying up late so you could welcome him and ask him how the day was. And as much as you've waited, he'd hug you with his entire being and never let go.

Masterlist | you'll probably like: kiss me (more)

Reminder this is just fiction!! I'm not trying to portray real life and you shouldn't believe that this is how the members actually are. This is just for the vibe and the delulu!

Taglist (open!): @yuyubeans @dandelions-143 @sleepyleeji @jinnie-ret @sheraayasherrecs @rockstarkkami @urlocalmultigroupfan (those I couldn't tag are in bold)

Dividers by @adornedwithlight | images 1, 2 and 3

[bunnithechubs]

insecurities out in the open.

transcript below.

C: Now what are you doing down here so early, mi amor. K:I couldn’t go back to sleep after feeding Mae. C: And your shirt? K: It got too hot so I took it off. Do you mind massage my back for me? C: Anything for you, mi amore. Least I can do after my son is putting you through it this pregnancy. K: laughs Mae’s pregnancy was so smooth. Hopefully it calms down.

C: You look beautiful like this. K: Like what? Exhausted and sleep deprived? C: No. You look beautiful when you don’t hide. You’re always wear clothes that hide this beautiful body. K: I’m … still getting used to seeing it change. I didn’t pop until third trimester with Mae. I’m already showing and we’re not even at the second trimester. C: Mi amor, you’re growing our child. Give yourself some grace and credit. K: I’m working on it with my therapist. C: And I will be here to support you and call you beautiful every day until you believe it. Hottest mom on the block. K: laughs Thanks, my love.

C: How does your back feel? K: Much better. I think I have to strengthen my back and core before giving birth. C: I can help you with that. I’ve got a few ideas. K: smacks head playfully I’m being serious! C: laughs okay, okay. We can do it whenever my dad comes over to help with Mae. K: Thank you… speaking of your dad, are you dreading seeing Vinny and him today? C: Abso-fucking-lutely. Those two are an echo chamber of bad ideas. K: I wish I could be there but I have a deposition today. If I wrap up early I can come by. K: No worries, amor. I’ll have Mae there to soften their defenses.

K: Just remember that even if they don’t listen you tried at least. C: sighs I just wish they would actually listen to me instead of thinking I’m trying to tell them what to do. I just want this fucking cycle to stop before it’s passed down to the next generation. K: Even if it doesn’t, you stopped it for Mae. Your mother would be proud of you and I think we’re slowly getting through to your dad. C: He only listens if you say something… Me? He acts like he knows what he’s doing.

K: I love that your dad is scared of me. I’ve never even given him reason to be scared of me. C: I think he’s more scared of the power you hold. If he does anything even the slightest bit toxic you would encourage me to cut him off and he knows I would do anything for you. Which means he would also lose Mae and we both know how much he adores her. K: Well tell him he either gets Vinny in check or I will be mad. C: Oh he’ll start actually parenting then.

K: Whatever the outcome, be proud that you put in that hard work and broke the cycle of broken men raising broken kids. Mae and all our future kids will not suffer the way Vinny and you did. If Vinny decides to follow that path then at least our nieces or nephews will have us to protect them. C: It’s moments like this that I thank whatever is out there that they sent you to me. K: You give me a lot of credit. C: I owe you my life, I just wish I could show you how much I love you…

K: Then how about you let your body do the talking. C: We have about an hour before Mae is up, mi amor. We’ve done nastier in less time- I have faith in you. C: I love pregnant horniness. K: Shut up and take your pants off.

[thehollowwriter]

Ayo just wanna add my two cents here

The reason Arcane season 1 was so well written and incredible at show don't tell is because it balanced it with properly explaining things to the audience via character dialogue and whatnot. There were lots of people who didn't understand what was going on because they didn't get tons of exposition, sure, but that doesn't mean show don't tell can't be done poorly nor does it mean plotholes or inconsistency or criticism can be waved off with "show don't tell"

Show don't tell is a writing *tool*. A TOOL to help you tell a part of the story or piece of information in a more concise, less clunky way. It can help you understand characters emotions or feelings without using words. A character doesn't need to sit and say "wow he sacrificed himself for us" because the audience understands that already without dialogue. Show don't tell is an excellent tool when dialogue isn't necessary to understand what's happening.

It is not the only way to tell a story. And you cannot properly tell a story at all without some form of tell. That's how storytelling works.

Plot points and conflicts that came out of nowhere? Random character choices that make no sense? Put of character behaviour? Those are not "It's show don't tell you didn't nust pay attention" problems. Those are basic storytelling problems. It's one thing if some people didn't pay attention to what was being told, but entirely another if nothing is being shown. If there is something that's being shown? It doesn't help if it's hard to find or nonsensical.

Subtext is fantastic, but you are not telling the story well if I have to micro focus on a character's brief expression in the background of a flashback scene to understand a current plotpoint or character motivation. (A bit of an exaggeration, but you get my point). You can't have subtext if there is no text or if the text is impossible to read.

And also subtext means nothing if there's a legitimate plothole or poor writing or lack of character motivation. As op said, the word document is blank! The text is a scrambled mess! Or nobody thought to make sure the text made sense in context of the plot or characters. The text forgot what character it exists for!

Furthermore, sure, while a lot of criticism towards Arcane Season 1 was bad faith and due to poor media comprehension, that doesn't mean every possible criticism is wrong because of "lack of media literacy."

Yes Arcane is great. But it's not above criticism. It's not flawless. And trying to frame people who criticise it as media illiterate or homophobic or whatever is just stupid. Especially since part of media literacy is engaging CRITICALLY with a piece of media.

Show don't tell is a good writing tool, but it's not the only way to tell a good story nor does it automatically make a story good. And just because the last season did subtext well doesn't mean this one did either.

Think about it like this. Can I understand what's going on or what a character is thinking or intends to do without dialogue? If the answer is yes, then go right ahead with show don't tell. If the answer is no or "yeah but only if you look through it frame by frame" then you either need some dialogue or better hints.

Show don't tell only works if there is actually something being shown that can be understood without dialogue. Arcane Season 2 did not do show don't tell well, if they did it at all.

"You want everything spoonfed" sir, the plate is empty. We're starving

"It's about subtext!" sir, the microsoft word file is blank

"The microexpressions!" sir, that was a micro-microexpression

"Show don't tell!" sir, the theater is closing, there is no show

[lovely-parasite-04]

Iced Coffee, Detective?

Agnes!Agatha Harkness x Fem!Reader

Prologue of ?

SUMMARY: One of the victims of Westview goes a little further than everyone else to be nice to the town hero, Agatha Harkness, or Detective Agnes O'Connor. She doesn't know what she's getting into when the Detective asks her to come in for "further questioning."

WARNINGS: Mention of murder (its only like a sentence), Agatha being Agatha

NOTE: This is mostly experimental because I hardly ever write and when I do, it never sees the light of day. However, I am In Love with Agatha, and I never see anyone write much about when she was under Wanda's spell. The experimental part is that this is meant to be comical and reader doesn't immediately start out with a big fat crush on Madame Harkness. It's also more on the simple side in terms of plot. I'm posting this first little bit to see how people enjoy it, and if it gets a lot of attention, I'll try to write more.

"Large Americano for Agnes?" I shout from my corner behind the counter, swiftly setting the paper cup down as I see the familiar brunette make her way towards me. I turn to begin making another order, but stay put to ask the older woman, "Any new cases, detective? I heard you on the phone over there talking about a lot of work to get back to. "

Agnes (Agatha) takes a large sip of her iced coffee, testing the flavor and swallowing, before responding with, "I'm not supposed to talk about the investigation and I don't entertain rumors about how the victim passed." She barely made eye contact with me, but I'm shocked she didn't immediately leave after receiving her order. She is usually in a hurry to get her coffee and go.

"Oh... of course. Sorry." I have no idea what she heard me say, because I didn't mention anything about a victim. I know I don't necessarily have to play along with her delusions like I do; most people simply tell her to have a nice day and direct her towards the door, but I can't help but be fascinated by what she is going through.

Seeing it from the outside, anyway.

I was among the rest of Westview during the Scarlet Witch's spell. Just the thought of it sends a shiver down my spine. Losing control of everything but your mind can be terrifying, wanting to say something but saying something else. Being frozen in time until you were needed for a plot point for a completely deranged woman. Losing track of time and wondering if it will ever end.

Agatha Harkness had been a town hero, stopping Wanda Maxifmoff and freeing everyone in Westview. But now she was stuck in the same spell with no end in sight.

Her Nosy Neighbor character lasted for about 2 years and everything seemed to be normal. She would gossip with her closest neighbors and those who volunteered to check in on her and bring her groceries, and she pretty much kept to herself. However, her characters have started to derail into different "genres". The first shift the town noticed was around Christmas last year. She seemed to be acting out a Hallmark movie, following around this one guy while pretending she was just bumping into him and trying to show him the "true meaning of Christmas."

It was funnier to watch than any actual Hallmark movie I had ever seen. The guy was married with a family, and continued to tell Agatha as such until she shifted again. That was when I made the observation that in Agatha's delusions, she doesn't always hear exactly what we say. It's like her brain can't comprehend anything that doesn't fit the little world she's made, so it makes something else up entirely for her to play off of.

I'm also convinced that she is controlling her delusions now. Maybe not intentionally, but I no longer see the hold Wanda had over her. Maybe this spell that Agatha is under is different from ours. She has no control of her mind. We only had control of our minds.

I feel bad for her, and I'm really intrigued by her as a person in general - I mean she's a fucking witch from 1690's Salem - so I steal any chance I get to talk to her. It helps that she is a regular at the coffee shop I work at.

Back in the moment, I need to move to the other end of the counter to finish this new order, and I'm positive she'll walk away once I do. I simply say, "Have a nice day!" And start to step away when she surprises me again.

"You knew her, huh?" Holding the coffee close to her chest and mouthing at a straw she slipped in while I was lost in thought. She follows me around the counter, not bothering to mutter anything to the other customers she runs into along the way. Her whole focus is on me.

"I...knew who?"

She heard me that time, giving me the full name of someone I'd never heard of before.

"Oh, her? Yea. Yea, me and her go way back."

  I'm a sucker for improv, okay? What's the harm? Even if she found out I was lying, she can't hurt me. She lost all her magic. Right?

"If you don't mind, I'd like you to come with me back to the prescient, so I can ask you a few questions about the girl and the nights leading up to her death."

Well, fuck. My boss would never let me leave for this. A real cop, sure. The town cook? Absolutely not. "I'm sorry, detective O'Connor, I'd have to wait until I get off work."

"Relax, hon." She said condescendingly "Let's just wait until you get off work -" What a great and completely original idea, Agatha. "I'll give you my card and you give me a call later today, okay?"

She proceeds to hand me an index card with the name Wanda gave her, Detective Agnes O'Connor, above a phone number. On the back is her house address. All handwritten.

  Bless her heart.

  "Okay- I hope you don't hand these out to everyone..." The last part was more of an outside thought, and thankfully Agatha didn't seem to hear it anyway, waving over her shoulder and exiting.

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

[sturnioz]

Okay hear me out............ so i love bunny a lot and I have a love hate relationship with frat boy!chris. And it's ur au so ur in full control but I have an idea.....

So Bunny is incredibly passive, which honestly mood, but I was thinking what if Bun stands up to chris one day after a few drinks or honestly just stress..... like she knows she wants to be loved, kissed and cuddled. Some guy from another frat asks her on a date and for the first time in a while she feels seen by a man who doesn't just want her for sex.

She doesn't respond to chris for a week or two and he gets extremely fed up so he uses nicks phone to text her and trick her into coming over. And when she does he like corners her and asks wth her problem is. And she tells him she's seeing someone (not dating yet it's only been 2 or 3 dates)

Chris is obviously really annoyed about it but refuses to show it.

This proves her point to him. And she tells him that she wants a relationship and he isn't willing to give it to her and as much as it hurts her she understands.

Chris being his petty ass self does whatever he can to fuck up the relationship so Bun won't actually stop fucking him cause we all know he cares even if it's just a bit and even if he won't say it out loud Bun is his and no one else's.

This doesn't even have to be Canon but I'd love to read ur take on this. Lol i just need some angst while also seeing that chris has some sort of feelings for Bun.

Thank you for ur time🥰🥰🥰

wait this is messy and i love it.... i love it bad.

[mythicmanuscripts]

hello!!! love your blog!!

Could you talk about what intense subdrop is like with Aegon, Aemond, and Jace? like what makes them drop, and what happened/how it went the first time it happened in front of the reader? with lots of soft aftercare? thank you!!!

Of course I can anon! Absolutely. So I definitely have spoken vaguely about subdrop with all of the main three but I don't think I've ever sort of just given overviews of it? So for each of them I'm gonna write a bit about what I think their general triggers for subdrop would be and what they'd need, etc cause then I think we can have a really nice groundwork to discuss some of the stuff further. So let me know if any of these thoughts inspire you! Or you can always apply them to an AU as well.

I'm also happy to share or hear thoughts about other characters for this as well :)) Anyway, there's some non-graphic NSFW content in this answer so if that's not your think then feel free to scroll on by otherwise, enjoy!

AEMOND:

So with Aemond I think he'd only experience subdrop a few months into your relationship, when you've already had sex multiple times and he's already showing his submissive side quite a bit. I think it would only start then because until he reached that level of comfort he always had his walls up?

Even though you were praising him and commanding him and giving him aftercare, he still stayed guarded. Make no mistake, he loved every single moment with you, but despite knowing that his brain still takes longer to catch up to the fact that he's actually allowed to properly let go. As a result, you get lulled into a false sense of security where it seems like the only aftercare Aemond wants is for you to help clean him up and dress him and cuddle a little bit. He was always up and about within an hour after the scene had ended. But this wasn't because he was fully recovered, this was because he had never let himself fall fully into you and so had less to recover from.

It's when you finally does start to do that when this arises. I think the trigger event for him fully lowering all his walls might actually be when you start to indulge him in non-sexual submission? You have him kneel while you read to him, watch him from the bed while he folds your laundry, etc. It's the praise and safety he feels in those moments that allows him to give himself fully later.

He drops hard after the first time he stopped trying to hide. You noticed a difference of course, he was much louder than before, much clingier too. He's just so expressive. Of course you praise him for it, telling him how pretty he looks and sounds like this.

But then the scene is over and you immediately get up to begin drawing a bath for him. When you return with the bucket he's curled up in bed, crying softly to himself.

Needless to say, a much more involved routine is created after that moment. But even with that, subdrop is something he never really grows out of? Doesn't matter how much he loves you and how perfect the aftercare routine is, the bottom line is that he's used to always being on high alert and sometimes he's going to drop when he has to come back from finally giving up that responsibility.

AEGON:

Aegon is another one that just lives to please. Before you he would try to please his mother and father and the whole bloody kingdom, but from the moment he feels the satisfaction of knowing you are pleased with him.... well none of the others matter anymore.

Of course you love that about him, and you always make sure to give him both enough commands and praise. But Aegon's problem is that he doesn't only want to please you, he also wants and arguably needs your attention and time? That's where his conflict comes from. He never ever wants to be a nuisance to you, but despite that desire he still needs to be kissed and held and comforted, and of course he also needs to be dommed.

He tries to balance those two needs but if one must be chosen over the other then he will always choose to serve and please before he chooses the attention. This is a recipe for disaster of course, especially because it forms a very vicious cycle where he needs you more because he's so unsettled because he hasn't pleased you but not having pleased you only makes him need the comfort worse and so it goes.

The solution to this isn't to try and strike a balance between domming him and commanding him, but rather to just stop the cycle completely? There's nothing that turns Aegon's mind off more than when you take over fully and he just does as you say.

Now when you start to see the signs, start to see him looking for things to do with you, hovering over thresholds of doors uncertain if he should come in and spend time with you, then you act. You actually have to be very firm with him, tell him that you're the one in charge so he doesn't get to decide what you do with him. That coupled with staying at his side for a few days sorts him out, at least for a while anyway.

JACAERYS:

His subdrops tend to have one of two main triggers. Firstly, and most obviously, is when he cums and can't do anything else. He gets better at lasting longer and feeling less sensitive afterwards, but there will always be times where his orgasm takes the wind right out of him and he's left unable to do more than just whine and grab your hand. He always feels so guilty, especially at the start when you're still getting used to being able to tell what stimulation will send him over the edge too quick. He feels like a complete failure and that tends to trigger a drop most times, which unfortunately you can't really mitigate the risk of because he's just wired like that.

The only way to comfort him is to promise him that you will let him please you once he's recovered? He won't allow himself to have your comfort until you've told him exactly what he can do to you once he's recovered.

The second trigger is actually something happening outside of your relationship? Jace can't separate those two parts of himself. When he feels he hasn't lived up to his responsibilities as prince then he carries that feeling into the bedroom, and no amount of love and praise can get him out of that headspace. You've tried simply telling him that you won't dom him that night and you can either have vanilla sex or do no more than cuddle but this backfires because he sees it as another rejection.

At first you had no idea how to lower the chances of that trigger for subdrop because you can't change his duties to his mother and the realm and you certainly can't talk him out of scening at all without making it much worse. The only thing that helps is when you give him very detailed instructions for very easy tasks. You watch him closely as he makes the bed or folds the clothes or takes out and repacks the bookshelves, etc. It's always tasks that are very easy but that's the point, the point of the command is so that Jace can do something 100% correctly and receive praise for it.

[wukyma]

I'm very curious about your Posepoli AU if you are OK with sharing facts about it ? Maybe what you have in mind? Or what Poseidon have in mind withvhis proposition 🤔 I can't only imagine the crew reaction

Also I'm in absolute love with your art ! The way you color? Your Odysseus ? Incredible. Make me think about fairy tales book illustrations you know ? And don't let go on your design of Poseidon ? He look so cold and distanced, it's actually genius!

Oh, thank you so much 💖 It means a lot! I loved illustrated fairytales as a kid and had a similar book of Greek myths, so that's probably where the style comes from, hehe

As for the AU... I lied shamelessly in the other post and speedran through coloring the panels and imma show y'all everything today!

If you haven't seen the previous one go check it out first

SO, Polites lives. But now he has to cope with the consequences of their recklessness,,

⬇️⬇️⬇️ cut because yapping again

The wind bag gets opened, and they're faced with Poseidon seeking revenge,,

Odysseus' apology isn't accepted (who even apologizes like that??), but Poseidon doesn't get to strike him —

Polites steps in and asks for them to be spared.

The god almost laughs in his face because that's an utterly ridiculous attempt, but decides that there's no harm in amusing himself a bit. Yet, no matter what Poseidon thinks about the man and how much he despises his ideals,, Polites is very different from most mortals he met, with his unshakeable belief in a better world (that realization happens much later in the plot, at the moment he's just pissed off)

So, yeah. Poseidon gives them a challenge: if they find another way around the storm, continue their journey without harming or killing (as per Poli's ideology), and get home, he will spare everyone, even Odysseus. The one who's formally "responsible" for holding up their end of the deal is still Polites, and he gets a kind of seal/tattoo as proof that neither side will go against the terms (yay ✨️aesthetics ✨️)

Forgot to mention: the whole crew is alive — 600 men making their way to Ithaca!

Next stop would be Circe's island,,, guess who will become besties? Ehehwhe

Things I believe are important to mention:

Poseidon REALLY doesn't like Polites in this AU (well,, for now) and wants to see him fail, then drown the fleet and be done with it

His main motivation here wouldn't be to avenge Polyphemus, but to prove that Polites is wrong (same as with Odysseus, but more intense)

Get ready for tons of mockery in the next part ( ；∀；)

I headcanon (not just in this AU but in general) that Polites, Perimedes, and Elpenor are also very close friends!

Odysseus is oblivious about Poli's feelings towards him (dude is mole-blind when it comes to that), but Eurylochus knows

Umm, so that's it for now! See y'all next time, because telling things without throwing pictures in seems meh... However, that's up to you, too. I can continue as it is and draw the scenes you'd like to see and/or choose later :3 Just write how u think would be more okayish i guess??

Bonus thing: congrats on reading till the end lol. there is one inconsistency in the comic above. at the sketch stage I flipped 3 of these panels, and they don't match with the other ones (seen in the details) first one to guess (say the nr order, idc) gets to request ANYTHING epic‐related from me :D

[ask-the-rag-dolly]

can we know what was planned for the rest of phase 2 and phase 3 ( if anything ) ?

SO . to roughly summarize the events , that was a fake jax to show that 00's Bullshit Mindfuck Powers (BMP) also work in reality . however before that was revealed , 00 appears to guilt out of ragatha for doing that , and also reference the ... nasty asks i got about how people think she's annoying and frustrating . it's an entire scene

after that she goes through the door and ragatha believes at this point that it goes to the circus only to find that it was just Paint . she briefly abstracts as a joke , tries to go back to caine and ann only to get lost . finds bubble who becomes her companion for this portion , somehow lead to phone call #3 and that's where the coherence ends

for the stuff that'll eventually connect :

an encounter with fake zooble

a fake gangle to actually complete the sock puppet collection

fake kaufmo as well

has a talk with an imaginary ann

phone call #4

DOPPELGANGER ??!!!!!!!!!???!!!

we find out that caine's infected it's just that his code is able to quarantine it but it's beginning to not last long . oopsie doopsie .

The Murder

this all sounds fucking insane i'm sorry . the nature of planning out a story for an ask blog is that you can't really make your stories not sound like mad ramblings . this one relies a Lot on actions having consequences so i have to make sure i'm telling a story that's still loose enough for the audience to participate .

phase 3 is a Weird one because it's the loosest . i did not have an ending planned because the ending was supposed to be Created here ... and um ... well ! welly well well .

it will start with ragatha trying to get caine to the anti-virus and finds zooble there who will call her a STUPID BITCH for literally Exploding Herself in phase 1 and uh . she'll eventually reunite with everyone else . and pomni .

[acid-ixx]

Hey, how are you? I hope I'm not bothering you.

I want to tell you that I love the way you write and I hope you are well and taking good care of yourself, that you drink water and sleep well.

I also just wanted to show some drawings I made of my version of the reader from the a&a series.

I was inspired by some other cool fanarts

The scars may not be very noticeable, but they are there, the one on the mouth was because I love Ezio Auditore (from Assassin's Creed) and I just felt like it looked great.

I hope you are well, remember to drink water.

P.S. Sorry for the Google Translate English, English is not my native language 👉👈 xD

— masterlist !

oh my god, they look so absolutely handsome here !! <33 thank you so much for sending this in, i appreciate it a lot. the scar on the mouth is actually brilliant i (might) just incorporate it into the fic. i love the entire composition, especially the second drawing with the finger guns, it reminds me of the brutus au, inspired by jinx so of course it's imperative that i mention it!!! you guys are honestly so creative with your very own portrayals of the main character, each unique trait is presented into the art very well.

i love how depressed they look in the second pic too 😭 that's probably them contemplating the current state of their life after another hour trying to ignore dick's incessant messages (i, too, would be sitting in a corner after my tears have dried up from crying while my phone buzzes off showing me another one of dick's desperate attempts at reconciliating an already irreparable relationship.

once again, thank you for sending this in! fortunately, this wasn't buried under a thousand asks.

[hippolotamus]

Hippo New Year

tldr: what a fucking year. best wishes for 2025 and all that. the end ✨

expanded version:

actually, I'm delighted to report that, personally, this year was pretty uneventful. an absolute blessing compared to last year. although i lowkey adored the mini explosion of pygmy hippos 🦛 fandom on the other hand... hoo boy what a shit show. but that's not telling you anything you don't know. it definitely still had its highlights tho! take a speedrun with me, besties (under the cut because apparently i ramble a lot)

@this-is-bwr had a hell of a year, most notably by starting an original work that is nearly finished its first round. i'm so fucking excited and seriously don't think i could be more proud of you (although you will inevitably prove me wrong by doing some other incredible Thing) 🖤

@stereopticons finished and published an incredible, highly anticipated Schitt's Creek fic that's been in their WIPs for 2 years. Love a good exes-to-lovers with a healthy dose of miscommunication and meddling? go read gather up the avenues. you won't regret it, promise. i love you so much and look forward to our next year together. 🦦❤️🦛

learned i'm tumblr married to a witch (affectionate). when @bidisasterevankinard first brought up the idea of Buck and Tommy getting together, i was... (don't hate me) skeptical. definitely more in the 'ok, sure, we'll see' realm. oops. love you the mostest, babe (please don't divorce me) also, she graduates uni this year and has worked so fucking hard and i could not be more proud 😘💙

additionally, @diazsdimples became my tumblr husband! it has been such a fun year with you, James. From collabs we may or may not ever finish to Alfie and BEST to Ballet AU and Teddie... 2025 is shaping up to be a fucking delight. 💞

@dr-shortsighted-owl... YOU OWLFICIALLY BECAME DR OWL THIS YEAR. WHAT?! I know it's been a Journey™️ for you and it was amazing to see this happen for you. Also, I don't go here but if you're into fic for Jojo's bizarre adventure... she's your owl. 🦉❤️🦛

@eddiebabygirldiaz... jesus, what a year in fic for you (one day i'll catch up, i swear). but i really want to highlight that Ryan is making an original work(!!!) that i am legit frothing over. when it comes out, don't ask me what my plans are... i'll be reading that. so excited, dearest bee 💞🐝

speaking of original works, i'd be remiss if i skipped over @rewritetheending, who released margins earlier this year. I was instantly endeared by Alex & Elijah's story. i'm not exaggerating when i say that i think about 'Tell me about more.' every single day. i don't actually think i could coherently articulate the impact that had on me. it cut deep. well 👏 done 👏 and I can't wait for Adrian & Beau's story

psssst! did you know @spotsandsocks surpassed 1m words on ao3???? And she makes the cutest lil dragons 🥰 Spotty, I am eternally captivated by you 💞🐉

@doctorkinney, yes, Nolan, you are in fact my beloved. always 🪿💞🦛

@slightlyobsessedwitheverything i feel like you're (the most) singlehandedly responsible for helping turn me to the deep dark waters of multi-shipping lol I was already getting there but talking BEST, BuddieTommy, BuddieShannon, BuckShannon, etc has been incredibly cathartic and some of the most fun i've had this year. 💞🐝

also in the multi-shipping lane, huge hat tip to @bucksbignaturals for sucking me into the SalTommy void and deeper into Jeddie. what a ride 😅

@filet-o-feelings first of all, you joined the Dark Side and gave us such a sweet BuckTommy fic. Second, giving you so much love and hugs for all that's happened this past year, and all of the crossing all the things Amazing things yet to come

@daffi-990 gave us some truly remarkable Buddie reads this year, most notably stuck now so long, we just got the start wrong aka rival firefighters. so proud of you for finishing this one. it was an instant bookmark for me and everyone should definitely read it ❤️🚒

@steadfastsaturnsrings you are an eternal ray of positivity and i absolutely adore you for that. i love exchanging EddieShannon HC with you and hearing about your fic ideas. 💞 🪐

gonna give a big shout to @theotherbuckley for your amazing BuckTommy art, gifs, vids (that had me wheezing), fics and tweets (Chris calling oblivious Eddie out will always be gold to me) 💜

i feel like i could go on and on and on about every single one of you. in case you haven't guessed by now, cheerleading/providing yells is kinda my jam. while the beginning of the year (and beginning of April for some reason... idk... strange 😅 ) saw some moots disappear, this year also brought brand new friends that i'm having a blast getting to know. Looking at you @swiftiefirefighters, @mmso-notlikethat, @half-oz-eddie, @peppermintquartz, @inell, @herrmannhalsteadproduction, @lavenderleahy…

and ofc my eternal love and devotion to @elvensorceress 🐥💞🦛 @giddyupbuck @midsummersmorn @lemonzestywrites @bi-buckrights @beyourownanchor6 @bucksbiawakening @monsterrae1 @your-catfish-friend (positively feral over what's coming in the pipeline from you) @actuallyitsellie @statueinthestone @thelikesofus @wildlife4life LOML @lizzie-bennetdarcy @rmd-writes @welcometololaland @djdangerlove @wikiangela @thekristen999 @diazheartsbuckley @dangerpronebuddie @tizniz @kitteneddiediaz @a-noble-dragon @freewayshark @theplaceyoustillrememberdreaming @imtheiliad @singlethread and many more i couldn't fit here 🫶 😘

[livingfiction]

Okay Aarons Angels and Pierre princesses (just came up with those- they sounded cute ☺️) our love is a hot topic on Twitter (X-I will never call it that) right now because of his J HUD tunnel video and of course while all of us are salivating at how good he looks and his third leg here comes some annoying ass bitch(s) trying to ruin the fun 🙄 first off ppl saw ONE picture of this man with a white woman (the 2nd pic) and all of a sudden he doesn’t like black women. Like I understand that’s it’s annoying and tiring seeing celebrity black men, whether they be actors, athletes, singers, etc., primarily with non black women. And I get that even in tv shows and media it’s hard to find a black woman that’s not biracial or ambiguous looking as love internet or main character (that’s a whole other story) but I wish ppl would stop projecting this on to every black male celebrity we find attractive. I’m not naive. I know that if you look through a man’s dating history (which I have no desire to do with Aaron tbh) or even his likes and follows on social media you can tell his preference. But making assumptions like that off of ONE picture is just ridiculous. And also it really seems like ppl get a kick out of telling black women that the BLACK man they’re thirsting after would never look their (our) way. It’s like “ha ha y’all think a good looking black man would actually like you black bitches” and honestly it’s so disheartening. Like we’re not delusional (I am a little for this man but I still got my sanity 🤭) we know that we will never meet or date this man but damn why can’t we enjoy shit in peace as black women. I could understand if he was saying negative shit about black women specifically or seemed to go out of his way to exclude black women but I haven’t seen that from him. It’s like ppl can’t wait to tell black women that we are no more than support tokens or meal tickets to our race of men and that the only interest they have in us is “pandering” so that we’ll support them and give them money. Plus I haven’t seen Aaron do any “pandering”. He’s just been doing regular interviews and talking about his work. He hasn’t went out of his way to “cater” to any particular group in my opinion 🤷🏽‍♀️ I know this is a lot but this shit just really annoyed me man.

[seriouslysam8]

Selcouth Sneak Peek

Chapter Eight

They stepped out onto the balcony. Sirius placed a hand on her lower back, steering her away from the rest of the party goers. His hand dropped when they found a secluded corner away from all the drunken wizards and rich snobs that had more money than they knew what to do with. He turned, leaning his side into the railing. Tegan mimicked him, her head cocking to the side. 

“Tell me everything I should know about the Weasley family,” Sirius said, his eyes searching her face. 

“They are the nicest and warmest family I have ever met,” Tegan replied with a soft smile. “My daughter is best friends with Ginny and she’s also dating Ron. I’m invited to every single event that family holds, which, trust me, is a lot. They have ongoing Friday night dinners where almost everyone always shows up. They are invested in each other’s lives. Ginny actually lives across the pond from her parents’ house.”

Sirius nodded. “Any entanglements that came to life after the war?” he pressed. “Even if it’s a third cousin twice removed, I need to know.”

“No,” Tegan said in a sure tone. “They’re a good family, Sirius. Extremely loyal to one another. If you’re lucky enough to enter their orbit, they’re fiercely loyal to you as well.”

Sirius shoved his hands into his trouser pockets. “So, I’m being a paranoid git for nothing?”

Tegan’s brows lowered on her face. “Definitely,” she replied with no hesitation. “Was that really a question?”

Sirius rolled his eyes, a sigh escaping his lips. “Harry wants to move back to England to be closer to James and Ginny.”

Tegan smiled. “That’s great!”

Sirius’ face pulled. 

“You don’t want him to?” Tegan asked. 

Sirius swallowed, his gaze flickering to the sky. “I just worry for his safety in England.”

Tegan touched his arm, causing him to look back at her. “It’s not like it was before,” she assured him, her thumb brushing against the fabric of his suit jacket. “Voldemort’s followers aren’t causing issues.”

“Yet,” Sirius stressed, his eyebrows shooting up. 

Tegan dropped her hand from his arm. “Sirius…”

“You don’t believe he’s actually dead, do you?” Sirius pressed, his lips thinning into a straight line. 

“There was a body,” Tegan replied as though that meant something. 

“I’ve heard stories from people who attempted to kill him and spells that should have done the trick barely made him flinch,” Sirius said in a low tone, his eyes flickering around them to ensure no one would overhear.

Tegan sighed. “Those are all stories.”

“Dumbledore doesn’t think so,” Sirius added, his arms crossing over his chest. “He believes it’s only a matter of time before he reappears.”

“So, what? You think Harry goes back to England and some Death Eaters will reincarnate Voldemort?” Tegan asked in an incredulous tone, her head shaking. “Do you know how mad that sounds? No magic can bring back the dead.”

“They could if he’s not actually dead,” Sirius explained.

Tegan frowned deeper, her dark eyes boring into him. “And the body that was burned was what? An illusion?”

Sirius stared at Tegan. Knowledge was a dangerous thing to have. Trust between two people seemed nearly impossible to maintain. Except, Tegan kept the secret of Harry being in England. She contacted Sirius first instead of saying James looked like a Potter to people she was extremely close to. Having an Auror like Tegan in his corner would be beneficial. Dumbledore always said it was good to collect strong allies, ones who could obtain knowledge and have skill sets that you may lack. 

Sirius wasn’t stupid. He knew what he brought to the Order all those years ago. Knowledge of pureblood circles, who were friends and who were enemies. He knew their secrets. He heard their gossip. Being a Black was beneficial in that way. Sirius grew up with the very wizards that had been rallied and radicalized by Voldemort. He understood what motivated them, what enticed them. 

While over the years Sirius lost access to that information, now he had an even more important connection that Dumbledore wanted access to: Harry. Sirius allowed it, needing Dumbledore’s resources and knowledge to keep his godson safe. Sirius doubted that Harry would even be alive at this point if it hadn’t been for Dumbledore’s connections. Watching Harry waste away at such a young age from the Horcrux slowly chipping away at him had been the worst years of Sirius’ life. 

[mallowmaenad]

TLDR; All signs point to this being fat kink content and shaming/failed weight loss is a common trope in that scene and the bogus health info is part of this/the result of it being an afterthought. A lot of fat people have been embracing the fetish scene online and that group probably wouldn't be offended by this coming from a low brow harem anime. I think the manga art looks great but I like that they made the characters fatter in the anime as someone who's into this stuff and also as a fat individual who far outweighed elfuda for most of the manga.

so like, I'm pretty sure in all but being explicitly stated, Plus Size Elf is meant to be fat fetish content, a lot of the story beats are mainstays in such kink material (miraculously winning a lifetime supply of your favorite food, clothes spontaneously ripping, being cursed to stuff your face or get fatter, etc.,) and a trope that the series focuses on is failing to lose weight and relapsing on a diet or exercise routine and gaining it all back. Just a day after taking a break from her diet and eating fries as a treat Elfuda miraculously undoes all of her progress, sure this displays things like shaming the cast for their bodies and lack of self control but if you wander into any corner of the fat kink sphere (which knowing myself you've already dipped your toes into) a lot of people find this hot as fuck. There is endless amounts of content catering to this where characters in art pieces will comment on and tease the subject for their obesity or recent weight gain, and even gainers themselves find themselves turned on by these otherwise negative comments. It's not dissimilar from girls getting called dumbass, floozy, slut, whore, or airhead in bimbofication porn.

The "health occult nonsense" I think is partially the way it is because despite weight loss being an element of the story and the goals of the characters, it is not the intended focus. We don't actually care about how much meth Walter White is selling in Breaking Bad and by comparison the viewer is not meant to pay attention to the exercises and other health practices the characters are participating in and they abandon the whole post-episode workout advice thing pretty quickly. I'd even go far as to say that the health side of the show is purposefully written to be ineffective. (Though I will at least say, swimming is good exercise for heavyweight individuals as it puts less stress on the joints than things like jogging)

So like, I guess in its nature as fetish content, Plus Size Elf is inherently objectifying, it's certainly not deep or well-written, remove the fat and health elements and its a very flat monster girl harem anime. Something in its favor though, is as of late a lot of plus size people and allies, especially on tumblr, have been embracing sexualization and kink content as it subverts fatphobic expectations and depicts fat bodies as desirable.

I do personally think the art in the manga looks better in the anime but I like the anime a lot because if you compare a lot of characters side-by-side to their anime and manga designs, for the most part they're far fatter in the anime. I remember getting into the manga and telling my friends "Plus size elf my ass, I'm like twice her size."

i know its literally the fat fetish ecchi but i think Plus Size Elf might be the most body diverse anime cast ive ever seen

[waitmyturtles]

Final Thoughts on Spare Me Your Mercy, Thailand's Biggest Queer Show of 2024*

(*domestically!)

Due to the holidays, I was behind on watching last week's finale of Spare Me Your Mercy, but I got it in, and I'm glad I did.

I am mucho on the record that I thought, throughout this series, that the romance portion of this series was done weakly. I throughly enjoyed and appreciated @clairedaring's objective and appreciative commentary throughout the airing of this drama to provide all of us with context about novel!SMYM versus series!SMYM, helping us to understand what of the many bits were missing between the two versions of this story.

There has been a nice lot of debate online about the ultimate success of the telling of the SMYM story in drama format, both pro and not so pro regarding the script. There was also quite the revealing interview with the screenwriter Lux Sirilux, who revealed that the show's design purposely excluded NC scenes to favor more time being spent on the euthanasia ethics debate (thank you so much to @clairedaring for reblogging so much, I wouldn't have these references without you!).

I want to note that even despite the recent holidays, that the heightened online burble of debate around SMYM indicates to me -- like the ensuing debates after the airing of the 4 Minutes finale -- that the story of the SMYM drama format didn't land for everyone. If it was universally successful in its storytelling from all the classic narrative markers, then much of this debate would not be happening.

I first entered the SMYM world understanding that it was a part of a storytelling trilogy of sorts, connecting Sammon's previously adapted stories in 2020's Manner of Death and 2022's Triage (I haven't reviewed Triage yet, but I watched it in 2024 and it is absolutely one of the five best Thai BLs I have ever watched.)

To go back to the Lux interview quickly, and to note fan commentary in defense of Lux's position: what Lux Sirilux posits is that the show essentially decentralized NC scenes and intimacy in favor of giving the script more time to dwell on a debate about euthanasia -- the ethics and morality of being a part of a person's death, and the ethics of a person deciding to die in the first place. The defense of this position essentially stated: well, because the show wasn't intended to be about romance, then why criticize it on its romantic context?

When I think back to the show's original positioning as a part of the MoD/Triage trilogy, I think to myself: the couples of TanBun and TinTol were absolutely central, as romantic pairs, to the success of those two stories, and both shows absolutely balanced their mystery elements so as to leave us fully satisfied on two (!!) genre fronts. At least, before SMYM premiered, to be excited about the TorJJ/KanTew coupling was therefore a reasonable expectation.

As well: there was a lot of implied attraction and romance in SMYM. A lot!

All these scenes! And we had more.

As soon as this show started airing, I was pulling for it to work as well as Manner of Death and Triage had. And I was side-eyeing to my drama homies about what I was smelling, when I started to feel like SMYM was NOT working. While a defense that the show was never meant to be a romance is... an interesting postscript to ponder: I don't buy it, because many elements that were clearly designed to otherwise communicate romance actually failed. I squinted heavily at the middle episodes of this series, really wondering, ".....so......are these guys.... DATING? Just feeling things out?!"

If these elements weren't actually intended to be in the show, the attraction between Kan and Tew, then -- why did we get them?

What was missing, narratively, for me? It was emotional context based in the reality of how I understand intimacy to function between two humans -- an understanding that, in the very best of art, I don't need to suspend in order to make a narratively unsuccessful show otherwise work.

The progression of emotional (let alone physical) intimacy was choppy in this series, to say the least. @clairedaring gave us the very important context early on that the novel version of SMYM had two volumes -- the first of which focused on KanTew's dating, before the ethical clashes of euthanasia entered the picture. If we had had that narrative context in the drama, the drama would have worked wonders, and I believe the crew was working throughout this debate in the writing process, from how the script turned out.

The script here did not work, because even if romance was intentionally deprioritized to focus on the euthanasia debate -- many episodes still spent too much time on KanTew, without giving us viewers an emotional journey for us to understand where they were in their emotional intimacy. And I posit, because the script seemed to be so indecisive, that the euthanasia debate got lost for much of the show as well. Up until the end, in the final episode, with that utterly fabulous attic scene.

If only the show had the strength of dialogue and conflict as that attic scene! I wrote yesterday that Tor and JJ will win awards for the whole series, based on that scene alone. That scene finally held the full and holistic scope of the tension between Kan and Tew totally bursting out in all its glory.

Let me just note, though, that we had to get through the first half of the episode to get to that scene -- a first half that really, REALLY made Kan look like an AWFUL LYING SCUMBAG to Tew (HOW COULD YOU LIE TO TEW LIKE THAT IN YOUR HOSPITAL BED, KAN, AND TELL HIM THAT HIS PAIN HE WAS FEELING WAS GUILT, YOU MF'ING ASSHOLE, okay I got it out of my system). Really, with all the lying Kan was doing to Tew about Tew's mom, I was praying that Tew would do the full COPS treatment on Kan, "Bad Boys" and all.

Kan was, in my absolutely personal opinion, ultimately rendered unforgivable during that first half of the finale (regardless of my personal thoughts on the ethics of euthanasia) simply because of his disingenuousness to Tew. The penultimate conversation in attic between Kan and Tew was a phenomenal encapsulation to the ethical conflict that Kan and Tew had danced around for the entire series -- and it highlighted, to me, again, where the script had failed the show, because it actually put a spotlight on moments when the EXCELLENT and FASCINATING nuances of the euthanasia debate in Thailand were sidelined for weak attempts at romantic development. (The socioeconomic nuances, the inequity in health care nuances, the impact that terminal illness has on caretakers, all of them! GAH!)

My takeaway from all of this is that the crew of this show did not hit the exact and delicate formula of deciding what the crux of this show should have been about, despite the commentary we received posthaste from the screenwriter. While the intention of that commentary indicated that the euthanasia debate was supposed to be the only center of the show -- too much time was spent showing us KanTew moments, and those moments lacked context and clarity to give us viewers an understanding of where they stood in their engagement or relationship at any one time. Thus, I do think the postscript commentary from the crew was also a touch disingenuous, regarding the success of the narrative itself as art.

And — I believe it was also disingenuous to the two previously adapted Sammon stories of Manner of Death and Triage as well, as both of those dramas were able to hold both mystery and romantic storylines to excellent ends, with wonderful touches of intimacy along the way (MaxTul couch scene, my beloved). There's more to say, as other people have noted, about writers deprioritizing intimacy to tell "another" story, as it were, but that's a debate for another time, that I think speaks to where Thai BL is going in general.

But otherwise, while I think SMYM was ultimately narratively unsuccessful (that last "I love you" and the rushed close were just brutal), I'm not surprised about how well it did in Thailand. No one can argue with the star power that Tor and JJ hold in Asia — the show was always going to do well, no matter the artistic success of its narrative. I just wish the show had lived up to the caliber of acting and writing that Tor and JJ got to display in that attic at the end.