#drop your reviews and comments below!

[ghoultrifle]

There's a First Time For Everything Chapter 2 - Fighting With You

WC: 1.8k

Summary: Dewdrop buys the toys he's been so curious about, with only a few breakdowns along the way. Set immediately after the previous chapter.

Notes: Fun fact! The toy reviews are almost all verbatim reviews from the lovehoney website :) isn't that fun! thank you to the unnamed friend who reignited my passion for reading sex toy reviews ashdfklhsg

I'm going to give a very slight warning for dubcon. Nothing happens, but Dewdrop gets in his own head about what might happen. Of course, Rain would never.

And a big thanks to @everybodyshusband for proofreading and hyping me up <333

Read below the cut or on AO3

“‘m ready,” Dewdrop whispers into Rain’s neck, pushing the larger ghoul off his lap, “Wanna get the feeling back in my legs,” he chuckles.

“Are you sure, Dewbug? We can wait if you want, I’ll still love you even if you never end up buying anything.”

Dewdrop grabs the water ghoul’s chin, bringing his head down to eye level, “I’ve never been so sure in my life, especially with you here,” it isn’t entirely the truth, but Dewdrop is feeling better than before, “Anyway, what is your opinion on what I sent you?”

Rain pauses before dragging a stack of filing boxes next to Dew’s chair, perching on them to watch the screen. As Dewdrop logs back in (his password is rainisgay69, ironic for someone who on some level of his dysphoria-ridden brain believes rain is secretly straight), their eyes are accosted with the bright screen illuminating the now dark room, a lilac dildo front and centre on the screen. The description reads, “Realistic Silicone Suction Cup Dildo - Perfect For Beginners”. It’s veiny, a respectable length and girth, nothing that would rip the ghoul open, but enough for him to feel the stretch, to feel full. It looks respectable, with the bonus that Dewdrop could definitely throw it into a strap on the rare occasion he does want to top; he could finally stop stealing from Cirrus.

Dewdrop flicks through the photos, capturing the length, girth, and the size comparable to a hand. Rain’s cock begins to stir at the last picture, remembering that one day he may be lucky enough to hold it, to fuck Dewdrop sweetly and gently with it while he rubs and flicks at the fire ghoul’s small dick, wringing out the most lascivious moans as Dew finally experiences divine pleasure. But this isn’t about him, so Rain wills the blood to return to his head so he can give a coherent response to his mate.

“Fuck, baby, it looks perfect,” he coos, planting a chaste kiss on Dewdrop’s cheek. He can’t help the sly comment that leaves his mouth before his brain can catch up, his mind preoccupied with the image of the toy against Dewdrop’s auburn curls, “Gonna look so good against your dripping cunt, heard ginger and purple go well together.”

The darks of Dewdrop’s eyes widen, and Rain’s face drops as he realises what he just said, “Shit- fuck- I’m fucking- I’m sorry Dewy that wasn’t the right time. I promise I’d be fine if you bought this and it just sat on the shelf forever. Or- or if you didn’t even buy it. Actually, I’d be fine if you banned all sex toys. You coul-”

A firm but gentle slap to the face interrupts the water ghoul, “Alright, wrap it up Sappy Steve. Save it for when I’m actually panicking, okay?” he chides, “And I’ll take that as a ‘yes’.”

He briefly glances at the top reviews, struggling to believe what he’s reading:

“I have recently celebrated my 70th birthday and this gave me the best orgasm of my life.”

“This is amazing. I can't believe how satisfying it is for a transgender person. I love to sit on it.”

Dewdrop laughs so hard he has fresh tears spilling down his face. That’s a new hobby unlocked: reading sex toy reviews online.

“See!” Rain exclaims, pointing at the screen and nudging Dewdrop’s shoulder, “You’re not the only trans person who wants to get fucked nasty with a toy,” the water ghoul is beaming at the review, hoping it will ease Dewdrop’s apprehension about it all. They’re having fun but Rain won’t pretend he hasn’t noticed how the other’s hand has been trembling as he navigates the website, how Dewdrop’s taking deep yet rapid breaths, his free hand worrying the ring on his middle finger.

The basket icon lights up as Dewdrop’s informed he only has to spend £15 more to get free delivery, “Might as well get the vibrator too, then?” he shrugs weakly, voice catching in his throat as he navigates to the second link he sent Rain earlier. “POWERFUL Vibrator - For Internal and External Use” it reads. Dewdrop re-examines it, looking at each photo in turn, breath turning shaky as he thinks about using it, putting it inside him, where no object has ventured before. As he thinks about the hard plastic sliding in, surely cold and rigid, perhaps he’ll be so dry that it will hurt, and he’ll just have to grin and bear it for his Rain.

The desk begins to shake slightly as Dewdrop’s knee bounces up and down with a fevered pace. His thumb is in his mouth, biting at the skin around his nails, leaving it red and sore. It’s getting to him. This is real. In just a few days he’ll be laying with Rain as he freaks out about it all. Now he’s told the water ghoul he wants it, he feels pressured, like he can’t say no anymore. Because if he says no, then he’s clearly leading Rain on for something that will never happen, and Rain really will break up with him this time. Why would he be with someone who is clearly never going to get over his fear of penetration? Perhaps Rain is straight and just waiting for Dewdrop to realise he is a woman after all, and when he finds out that Dew is just a man who’s scared of dick, he’ll run to the mountains, screaming a warning to everyone: Don’t Date Dewdrop.

A third set of tears begin to tumble their way down his cheeks, a small waterfall flowing with each blink the ghoul makes. His eyes are glassy, he can no longer see the offending toy on the computer, just a set of blurry white pixels laden with illegible text, Rain must have scrolled it down. Rain brings the fire ghoul into the warmest hug he can muster, peppering kisses to his neck. There is no sexual element to it, just pure love for his mate. His mate who he wishes he could take all the dysphoria from and suffer through it himself if it would mean a better life for Dewdrop. His mate who loves Dewdrop in a way the fire ghoul cannot even begin to fathom.

He truly believes he’s unlovable on a fundamental level, that his identity makes him some freak in between man and woman, that no guy would want to fuck him or be fucked by him, and no woman would take his pathetic excuse for a dick, even if he did want to top. It’s solidified in Dewdrop’s mind that Rain is only with him for his own sexual gratification, and now that Dewdrop wants to explore his own pleasure, he’ll be left to figure it out on his own. The image of him weeping as he forces a dildo into himself, cold and alone in his bedroom, is being seared further into his brain with every second that passes. Until he’s brought back to reality by Rain’s shuffling arm.

Rain decides against a tissue; Copia clearly had no regard for his own skin since the tissues in his office may as well have been constructed from sandpaper. Instead, he brings a bunched-up sleeve to Dewdrop’s eyes, catching the tears as he calms the sniffling ghoul beneath him, rocking them together in a soothing motion much like his mother would do in the pit. Words wouldn’t do Dewdrop’s pain justice; consolation would feel inadequate and pity, well, is just that and Dewdrop deserves better. He’s sure that if he reached inside the fire ghoul’s mind for just a moment, it would be more than he could ever bear. So, Rain opts for silence. The kind of silence you could sit in for eternity. The kind of silence where the world is at peace; there’s no buzzing of electricity, no shuffling in the quarters, just the sound of a gentle breeze creeping its way in through the poorly sealed windows, whistling hello as it sings its song. Rain rocks them for what could have been hours, Dewdrop isn’t sure, the sun had already set by the time he started.

Fresh air stings Dewdrop’s eyes. The flood has stopped, Rain’s sleeves near-soaked as the fire ghoul blinks the last of the hot tears from his weary eyes. His own sleeve is drenched in a thick layer of snot as he wipes his nose, the water ghoul looking on in a weird adoration for his mate. If Rain could watch him do that and still love him, then maybe there was hope. As he squints his eyes to focus on the screen, Dewdrop’s confronted with the reviews for the vibrator:

“My clit is tingling like a mo fo!! Thanks lovehoney. What a piece of cum equipment.”

“It took longer to get the item out of the packaging than it did for my wife to cum.”

Okay, maybe it isn’t quite so serious. As hilariously honest as the reviews are, it does spark something in Dewdrop- the curiosity at what these toys feel like, at how they’re so much better than just a set of hands. There must be a reason the vibrator gets a 4.7/5 on the ‘orgasm rating’. Dewdrop hesitates over the button that would add it to the basket, “I’m scared, Rain,” he admits with a sigh of relief, finally putting words to it.

“Then do it scared, spitfire,” the water ghoul replies, “Want and fear can coexist. If you truly don’t want to then I support you, droplet, but it sounds like you’re just conflicted. I think when the time comes, you’ll be glad the toys are ready for you, just like I will be.”

Dewdrop melts into the larger ghoul’s embrace. Rain has somehow managed to reach into Dew’s brain and lay his feelings bare on the table, raw and sensitive. But he’s right, about everything. Dewdrop does want it, he is scared, and he should buy it anyway. “Fuck it,” he smirks, stifled only slightly by a sniffle, as he adds the item to the basket, heading to the checkout page, a fuck you to his dysphoria. Copia’s bank details autofill and Dewdrop doesn’t complain; he’s not been left with much money since being charged with sourcing the pack’s weed on tour. Before he gives himself a chance to second guess his actions, he completes the order.

The thick tension that had filled the air dissipates in an instant, Dewdrop slumps in his chair as Rain idly braids a loose plait into hair, whispering praises to his love, “So proud of you, droplet. Whatever comes of this I want you to remember how brave you are for getting this far, okay?”

“Brave? In what world?” Dewdrop huffs.

“In this world, my love. In this world where every day is a fight between your mind and your body. In this world, where today, your mind won. And in this world where your mind won’t win every day but where I’ll be here, always, fighting with you.”

[zedecksiew]

THE BLOGGIES 2023: NOMINATIONS OPEN

If tabletop roleplaying games were a hydra, blogs would definitely be one of its heads.

Probably the smartest, zaniest one? The one with the unexpected ideas; the silliest quips; the most devious schemes; the most profound observations.

The OSR / post-OSR style of play arose on blogs. I was inspired to make roleplaying games because of a blog post (this one, by Patrick Stuart, specifically).

Beyond the actual playing of games with friends, blogs are the most important part of TTRPGs, to me.

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Last year, Prismatic Wasteland hosted the inaugural Bloggies.

64 excellent posts from across the TTRPG blogosphere were considered. A celebration of our community, our psychic brain-trust---the many heads of this, our TTRPG beast.

All the nominees are worth perusing. Winners list here.

My post, "D&D's Obsession With Taxonomy", won Best Blog Post of 2022. (Thank you, everybody who voted!)

Because I won, it falls to me to host this year's Bloggies.

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Nominations are now open for the BLOGGIES 2023!

Is there a blogpost about TTRPGs from the past year (December 2022 to December 2023) that you think deserves attention and recognition?

Tell me about it! Drop a link to it, tell me why you like it, tell me which category it falls under:

Theory---broad criticism, observation, and analysis about TTRPGs (its cultures, its aesthetics and texts, its politics, etc);

Gameable---cool stuff (monsters, subsystems, bits of design, etc) you could grab and add to your own games;

Advice---ideas, tricks, and procedures for making your games better / easier / more fun, basically adding to the play-culture;

Review---specific criticism of specific books / games / systems / adventures / products.

Drop your nominations in the comments below, or in this Xwitter thread, or wherever else you can get in touch with me on the Internet. Do this before the end of 31 December 2023.

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How BLOGGIES 2023 Will Work

Here's how I am thinking of running things:

25 Dec 2023 - 31 Dec 2023: Nominations open!

1 Jan 2024: Nominees shortlist announced!

First week Jan 2024: Public voting for Best Theory Post!

Second week Jan 2024: Public voting for Best Gameable Post!

Third week Jan 2024: Public voting for Best Advice Post!

Fourth week Jan 2024: Public voting for Best Review Post!

First week Feb 2024: Final round of voting for Best Blog Post Of 2023!

"Imperfection is a feature, not a bug, of blogging," as Warren said about the Bloggies, last year. I am but a single person. I will be copying much of his methodology.

I will be whittling down the nominations I receive to a shortlist of 64 posts (16 per category bracket), via personal judgment. No blog will be represented more than once per category---except for reviews (3 posts per blog).

Public voting for each category will happen in four rounds (16 / 8 / 4 / finals). Winners in each category will face off in a four-way vote for Best Blog Post.

Voting will most likely happen on Twitter, same as last year. (I am loathe to do this, but Twitter is still the social-media network most TTRPG people are on, sadly. But am also considering Google Forms. Thoughts?)

Month-long voting gives us the space to celebrate / argue over all the work our community has turned out this year---and gives me time to create prizes. (Am thinking of making linocut prints, inspired by the winning posts.)

Finals being announced in February just before the Lunar New Year justifies the header art above---as the Year of the Rabbit gives way to the Year of the Dragon.

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Here we go here we go here we go!

[son1c]

onward and upward?

falling stars fic masterpost

The evening sky was awash with delicate ice cream clouds. The wind had curled them into fluffy orange cones, and as the night rolled in, they soon became sprinkled with stars. There were no flickies up this high; it was just the manta ray battleship sailing through the atmosphere with Sonic at its helm. Most of his excitement from their great escape had worn off by now, but he still wore a smile on his face as he lazily pushed the yoke forward, pressing the ship onward.

Periodically, the sensors in the cockpit would blink or ding. Sonic glanced at them every time they did, and made sure to review the various buttons and knobs around him as well, but everything was fine. He sat back in the pilot's chair with his feet kicked up on the dash.

Rouge had given him the coordinates to her casino about an hour ago, and Sonic, liking the sound of crashing at a place with good music and lots of fun, had entered them into the ship’s navigation system immediately. But they were still a ways off from Night Babylon.

Far below the ship, the desert sands surrounding Scrap Brain Base created a cocktail of color. It was no more interesting to look at a second time than it had been the first time. Sonic was just glad he didn't have to endure the nighttime chill as it blew across the dunes again. Inside the cockpit, it was warm, and the soft yellow glow of the overhead lights kept him alert even when the sun disappeared under the horizon.

Shadow was perched on a section of the ship’s dashboard that didn’t have any controls on it. He sat with his back to the window, leaning forward slightly with his elbows on his thighs. His brow was creased, and his mouth was turned down in a small frown. Every so often, he rubbed one of his inhibitor rings, his mind elsewhere.

His thoughts lingered on Scrap Brain Base. So much had happened while he was in stasis, and he hadn't been there for any of it. He was still reeling from Sonic's transformation into a Robian. Supposedly, that was fixed now, but the blue hedgehog still bore the scars from the Roboticizer. His body remained segmented by dark lines even though he was back to being flesh and fur. And his eyes…

Shadow looked away when Sonic turned his head from the window. The hedgehog's bright green gaze followed him out of the corner of his eye, however. And Shadow could still feel it on him even when Sonic didn't say anything.

The sound of wind rushing by the outside of the ship grated on Shadow's ears. The dark hedgehog gripped the edge of the dashboard. He suddenly felt claustrophobic inside of the cockpit, but he knew the relative openness of the rest of the cabin wouldn't alleviate the pressure on his chest.

So, Shadow stayed where he was. And he said, "I had a dream."

Sonic blinked. He tilted his head to the side and asked, "Yeah? What about?"

"It was about…" Shadow's grip on the dashboard tightened. "Your words from the forest. Something you said then stands out to me now. That comment about a golden figure… while trapped in stasis, I believe I saw the same one."

Sonic shifted in his chair. "For real? You recognize it at all?"

"It might've been you."

Despite his verbiage, Shadow spoke with certainty. Like he knew it was true without really knowing. He watched as Sonic's eyes widened, the weight of Shadow's words sinking in right away. But then Sonic's eyes closed and his mouth stretched into an amused grin.

"Nah," Sonic said. "Couldn't've been the same one. I mean, unless I was lookin' in the mirror… how could I have seen myself?" He dropped his legs to the floor and turned in his chair. He was facing Shadow fully now. "You saw me. I saw you. Not sure what the color change is about, but that's what I'm gettin' from this."

Shadow thought about the misty face he'd seen in his dreams. The grin it wore and the attitude it radiated, so strong even through the ether. When he looked at Sonic's face now, he got the same feeling.

"The Doctor said we fell from space," Shadow said.

"He also said we fought a giant lizard," Sonic said. Then, he shrugged. "I'll buy the first part. But that second one's kinda rocky. Our new pal's gonna need to back it up before I start believin' it."

Rouge. She was out in the cabin with Omega, presumably working her magic and keeping the bloodthirsty mech from blowing a hole in the side of the hull. She had her work cut out for her considering the zoo's worth of badniks that made up the rest of the ship's passengers, but since no alarms had gone off yet, Sonic assumed she was succeeding in her quest to keep Omega from reenacting the opening cutscene from Sonic Adventure 2.

Shadow was quiet for a moment. The weight on his chest persisted, a horrible reminder of all the things he couldn't change. “The you that I saw in my dream,” he began, “what if you can never return to that state again?”

Sonic looked at Shadow with those eyes. Those unnatural, glowing eyes that threatened to crush the dark hedgehog into pieces. And he said, “That’s the fun part. Stuff comes and goes. Not knowing what I’ve seen or what I’ve been for the last time is just part of the adventure!”

Shadow toyed with his earring. Despite his initial reluctance to wear it, he was glad he still had it, and that it hadn’t been lost back at Scrap Brain. “Your point of view is admirable,” Shadow said slowly. “But it’s on this that we differ.”

“I’m not sayin’ you gotta agree with me,” Sonic said with a wave of his hand. “That’s just the way I see it. When everything’s temporary, everything matters. So I gotta take it in while I can, that way I don’t have to worry about missin' it once it’s gone.”

Shadow’s hand fell from his earring. The star shaped jewelry twinkled when it caught the light, and Sonic smiled at it. At Shadow.

“Even so,” Shadow said, shuttering himself from Sonic’s smile with a scowl, “the Doctor will pay for what he took from you. If you won’t seek retribution, I'll do it in your stead. This, I promise you.”

Sonic reached out and patted Shadow’s shoulder. “You say that like you’ve got somethin’ to prove,” Sonic observed. “Well, I’m tellin’ you right now that what you’re trying to do, you’ve already done. There’s no promise in the world that could mean more than stickin’ with me when I didn’t have two legs to stand on.”

Shadow shook his head. “That was a favor repaid, nothing more.”

Sonic fiddled with his own earring. His gaze turned back toward the window, and the night sky beyond. “If you say so.”

“I do,” Shadow said stiffly. A tangled web of feelings churned in his gut. He chose to focus on the one that he was most familiar with: anger. "This goes beyond what was done to you. The Doctor crossed both of us, and now with that cheap copy…" Shadow's anger was joined by disgust as he remembered the expressionless face of the Shadow Android. "I won't allow such an insult."

Sonic tapped his thumb on the yoke. "I get the feeling he's a fan of fakes," Sonic said. "I mean, come on--you remember that fake we saw of me on the way in, right? Maybe it's just his M.O."

This didn't help calm Shadow. "He'd be wise to think twice before dedicating his time to tawdry mirrors. They'll all end up shattered in the end."

Suddenly, one of the sensors on the dashboard started to go off. Unlike the routine beeps from before, however, this time the screen was lit up bright yellow. Sonic and Shadow both leaned over it to see what it said and found that it warned of an anomaly on the lower deck.

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Man, Mr. Ivo sure skimped on the specs for this thing. That could mean anything!"

Shadow got down from the dashboard and began moving toward the door. He said, "Stay the course. I'll take care of it."

Sonic snorted. "Leavin' me on the bench, huh?" He thought back to how he'd left Shadow to secure the ship with Rouge and Omega while he went after Buggy on his own a few hours earlier. "Guess I deserve that," he conceded. "But take Omega with you, yeah? He could use the fresh air."

Shadow paused at the door to the cockpit and glanced back over his shoulder, but Sonic had already turned back toward the dashboard, his fingers trailing over the buttons curiously. So, Shadow pulled open the door and exited the cockpit, leaving Sonic to fly the ship alone.

What he didn't see was Buggy slipping through the crack in the door at the last second. The little robot could be quite opportunistic, that way.

Out in the main area of the ship, badniks crawled and skittered like bugs. A collection of caterkillers curled around the support beam in the middle of the cabin, while a pair of monkey robots tossed a crabmeat back and forth like a football. Four buzzy bombers seemed to be having a race around the meager airspace, circling the cabin as if they were Nascars on a track, with a group of rollers attempting to knock them down by throwing each other up at the ceiling to intercept them whenever they looped back around.

And then there was Omega, still in his corner. Rouge was with him, and so was his number one fan, the wasp robot from the basement. It was anyone's guess why he hadn't squashed the pesky thing yet, but it probably had something to do with Rouge regaling him with tales of her more violent plunders over the years. It was like Cocomelon for the war machine.

Shadow walked up to Omega and said, "You're with me. There's a problem on the lower deck."

"NOW IS NOT A GOOD TIME. THE BLOODSHED WAS JUST GETTING STARTED."

Rouge smiled coyly. "And there's more where that came from," she said. "After we do some snooping!"

Shadow raised an eyebrow at Rouge's use of the word 'we.' But ultimately, it didn't matter to him if she tagged along or not, so he didn't comment on it. Then, he turned away from her and headed toward the back of the cabin.

The hatch that led to the depths of the ship was by the tail of the manta ray. Shadow had to weave around the menagerie of lollygagging badniks in order to get to it.

Rouge and Omega followed closely behind. Omega kept his eyes glued to the floor as he walked so as not to see the badniks. If he didn't have to look at them, it was easier to pretend they weren't currently sharing the same space. Although, the buzzy bomber's trills as it said goodbye broke the illusion for a little bit.

Once the three of them were all standing around the hatch on the floor, Shadow knelt down and unlocked it. Then, he grabbed the handle, and heaved. The circular hatch was large--about twice as wide as Omega--and made of solid reinforced steel. But it was like a paperweight to Shadow, and he lifted it up easily. With one hand, he held the hatch over his head, his face now pointed downward so he could peer into the ship's maintenance shaft.

There was a ladder that led down one side, but it quickly disappeared into inky blackness. At the bottom of the shaft, there were no lights, so it was completely dark. A faint wind rose up from the passageway as well, and it rustled Shadow's quills.

The hedgehog turned to his two companions. However, before he was able to say anything to them, Omega jumped down into the shaft. His mechanical voice echoed up to Shadow and Rouge.

"IF THE PROBLEM HAS A FACE, I WILL TEAR IT OFF! YIPPEE!"

Rouge shook her head, but she did so with a smile. Then, she offered her hand to Shadow and said, "Let's skip the ladder, shall we?"

Shadow looked at her hand. A kind gesture.

He didn't take it.

"After you," he said, gesturing to the ominous darkness at the bottom of the shaft.

Rouge brought her hand back to her side. Casually, she said, "Ladies first, hmm? How very noble of you." Her face betrayed nothing of what she might've been feeling. And if she stretched her wings and dropped into the shaft a little too quickly, it was only because she wanted to get on with their "snooping," as she'd called it.

Shadow watched her disappear with a frown. But he didn't linger on it. And after taking a breath, he jumped after her and Omega, with the heavy hatch slamming shut above him.

[owlsandwich]

Are you looking for an alpha/beta reader?

I am putting a tentative feeler out into the world to see whether this would be helpful to anyone.

I have been interested in getting into alpha reading / developmental editing for a while, but I want to get some practice in so that I can build a solid offering. It would be aimed at people who have a rough manuscript draft, but for some reason they are finding things just aren't working with the story and would like an outside view.

I have done this kind of thing twice in the past. I write up a c15 page report looking at plot structure, pacing, character arcs, themes, and giving my suggestions. It would not be a line edit, so I wouldn't be looking at spelling, grammar etc. Obviously this would be for free, as it is practice for me too!

Here is an example of what I did for a friend (this was a bit more casual than what I would do for someone else, but it gives an idea of the report structure):

I'm mostly familiar with fantasy stories, though the above was a sci-fi, so I am comfortable looking at those as well. I don't think I could give very good advice for surrealism or literary fiction, as I am not familiar with those genre beats. At the moment I'm looking for drafts with a word count under 100k as well, due to the time taken to read them.

Full transparency: I have no qualifications in writing, but I have self-published one book and hope to self-publish my second in the next few months.

Some nice things people have said about my work are below.

Praise for The Mechanics of Magic:

We are proud to announce that MECHANICS OF MAGIC by W.B.J. Martin has been honored with the B.R.A.G. Medallion (Book Readers Appreciation Group). It now joins the very select award-winning, reader-recommended books at indieBRAG.

Best fantasy novel I have read for years. Having read fantasy on and off for more years than I care to remember I thought the genre was dead, this book gives me hope that there are still writers out there who have a good imagination with decent writing skills.

Brilliant read, loved every moment of it. Well written suspenseful storyline with intriguing characters and visually descriptive settings making you feel like you're there.

Beautifully written with a gripping storyline

I couldn't put it down! Great book!

Praise for Burning the Darkness (not yet published, but a version is available on AO3) I am doing my best to keep comments anonymous here, but I wanted to share some of the lovely things people have said :):

[...]one of the best works for vampire lore I have ever read here and I can't get over it.

[...]this is such an interesting characterization/character arc[...]I almost want to share this with one of my old English teachers or write a formal essay about it

[...]beautifully paced and your world building has been extremely interesting.

If you're interested, please do drop me a message! Again, this will all be free, as I'm using it to test whether I can build some kind of report standard and to feel out a rough turnaround time. If you do find I am helpful at all, I might ask for a review at some point in the future if I decide to do this more 'professionally'.

[warcorrespondence]

review: jump into the fire

@yeats-infection/fluorescentgrey’s jump into the fire is one of the first webgott fics i ever read, and it permanently restructured my neurological pathways. it’s absolutely one of those stories that cleaved my life into two discrete eras, a Before and an After. this is THE premier webgott modern au to me.

fandom: band of brothers

pairing: webgott

teen and up, 9449 words

we’re in phoenix for this one, folks.

jump into the fire is based on the below youtube comment and it's such a strong execution on a good prompt:

web is doing an american literature phd, lieb is a geology student and also a rock climbing enthusiast (most of which serves the modern setting but all of which feels 100% canon). at a party one night they share what is deemed, and aptly described as, The Best Kiss Ever.

the author expertly handles side characters, which is so much fun in a fandom like band of brothers where there is such a multitude of characters (the baberoe b-plot, and the exploration of the babe/lieb friendship, are glorious. i will never, as long as i live, recover from the I lieb you text exchange). the writing is so rich and vivid that i wish i could make a home inside of it, par for the course in a fluorescentgrey fic. sensory detail and crisp character analysis and economy of language all come together in some kind of holy trinity of storytelling. here’s an excerpt that gives you some idea and, i hope, kicks your interest up to 100; the rest is simply unmissable.

“Lieb,” Webster said. His own voice echoing in the cavern of his skull. Echoing basically out of another place and time such that at first he did not quite realize it was himself that had said it. Liebgott cracked an eyelid. In the purplish light the redness in the white of his eye seemed a deep blue. He pressed his tongue against his canine tooth, as though he were going to let the characteristic smirk stretch across his face but had thought better of it at the last minute. It was immediately clear that he understood something that Webster realized later he had been trying to say, even if he himself wasn’t exactly sure what it was. The entire world sharpened like a pencil into this narrow point. The space between them which was shrinking. There was a kernel — an atom — of raw, pure truth at the center of this space and they each reached for it, towards each other. And the sun sank its last drop of light into the molten core of the world. Thence the best kiss ever.

if you’re, like me, a fluorescentgrey ride or die, stay tuned for forthcoming reviews of their other bob fics. i have lots to say!

x 🔔

[noodyl-blasstal]

Review-tribution - Best Served Cold Chapter 6

Day 6 of @tazsapphicweek so it's time for chapter 6 of Best Served Cold!

Read below or on Ao3. Missed the start? Here's ch 1, ch 2, ch 3, ch 4, and ch 5.

-

Sloane leaves Davenport a message, she’s very concerned about a company trading under the name she has trademarked. Hopefully he can help her sort out the confusion when he’s back from his voyage.

–

Raven doesn’t check her phone until the morning after their date. She’s alternately furious and delighted to see what they found. Thank goodness for friends, she could never have proved this on her own. It’s too early to tell Istus yet, they need some more evidence behind them, but they’ll get them. They can’t be allowed to get away with this. They won’t be allowed to get away with this.

–

It doesn’t take long to swap out the QR codes. Hurley and Sloane easily dupe and switch out the posters.

It turns out that one of the benefits of owning your own website is being able to delete the negative reviews.

It turns out that when ‘you’ direct everyone to a different website which you’re not in control of, your 5 stars perfect rating (from names which, on a quick cross examination by Hurley, largely match the ones on the complaint emails) drops quite dramatically.

Worst customer service I have ever experienced If I could give this place 0 stars I would. The owners were so rude and the portions are tiny.

Weird texture Everything is just so powdery? For the price they charged me I expected more. I won’t be going back.

Do they even want customers there? I have never been so aggressively negged by staff members before. I called my therapist when Ieft.

They wouldn’t let me take anything branded The staff said that they didn’t want their brand to be associated with me and wouldn’t let me have any of the cups with the logo on. It wasn’t even that nice! If they don’t want to be associated with me then I certainly won’t be back.

Hurley approves all of the new reviews. There’s a carousel of terrible feedback on the main page now, she set it to cycle through the comments. She’s sure that there’ll be an influx of good ones once they realise, but they don’t seem to have yet.

–

“Hey, Raven! Look.” Hurley turns her phone round, delighted smile on her face.

“Hang on, let me get my glasses.” Raven is so glad she finally caved and got a chain for them, no more forgetting where she last put them down... Well, she’s so glad Istus found one that was tiny bones and ravens and therefore was too good not to use. “What am I looking at?”

“Facebook.” Hurley says, like that will mean something to her.

Raven looks blankly back at her in the hope she’ll explain.

Hurley doesn’t even roll her eyes, which Raven appreciates. “It’s The Good Lick Store’s Facebook page. They made one when they realised… somebody…” Hurley looks side to side shiftily… “had made another website and they must have figured that whoever it was would also nab their Facebook page if they didn’t set it up. People are leaving reviews. Lots of them. They can’t delete them on there either!”

“These are bad.” Raven says, scrolling slowly through the list of complaints about quality and customer service. She’s smug to see how many people recommend going to Happy Scoops instead.

“They’re really bad.” Hurley confirms.

Raven loves to hear the joy in her voice. The last few weeks have been a stew of tension and worry, it’s nice to feel like the tide is turning. Hurley’s joy bubbles over into a laugh and soon Raven joins her, it’s irresistible.

–

Sloane snuggles into her side as Hurley presses send on the email.

“And you’re sure that’ll be anonymous?” She asks.

“Absolutely.” Hurley says. “All of the evidence, but no way of knowing where it came from.” She doesn’t bother trying to keep the smug tone out of her voice. They all deserve a win, and the management company deserves to know the truth about who has been ‘complaining’ about Happy Scoops.

It doesn’t hurt to add screenshots of the reviews, but that’s just for her own gratification.

Sloane plants a kiss on her shoulder. “You’re a brain genius and I love you.”

Hurley closes the laptop and pulls Sloane into her lap. “I love you too.”

–

“Istus! I’m so sorry, I heard what happened.” Cherity looks genuinely bereft.

“Thank you so much for your kind thoughts, Charity, but I’m afraid I don’t quite follow?” Istus hands over Cherity’s usual cone.

“You know, dear, the…” Cherity looks to the side furtively and whispers “... the fro yo people.”

“Oh, well, you know, there’s plenty of space for two businesses.” Istus tries to smile as brightly as she usually would. There’s no need to trouble customers with this, no matter how friendly they are.

“No no, what they did. We know it was them who cancelled the events. Ziad told us in the group thread.”

“The what, sorry?” Istus stares blankly.

“They posted something on the wrong Facebook account, and Ziad took a picture and sent it, and then Mustafa told us about how confused you were about the cancellations and we put it together. May the gods have mercy on their souls, but we certainly haven’t in the comments. Anyway, goodbye dear, I’ve got to pick up Mercy from play group, but we’re with you!” Cherity drops her bombshell and leaves.

–

“Raven?” Istus asks. “Do you know how to make Facebook happen?” She shuffles the sparkly, cloud shaped mouse of their elderly computer again to see if that can speed up the ever spinning wheel on the screen.

Raven creases her brow as she looks up from the book she’s reading. “Is this a test, beloved? Do you think I’m some kind of replicant?”

Istus takes a deep breath so she doesn’t accidentally sound terse. It is definitely an out of character request, but she needs to work out what’s going on. “No. I just need to get on. Cherity said something odd today and I just want to check what she meant.”

“It’s definitely a website. You have to type in the bar at the top for those.” Raven says, letting her glasses fall on the chain and pushing herself out of the seat. Istus has long since stopped teasing her about the grumbling noises when she does it (since she started doing them too, in fact).

The computer finally chugs to life and lets Istus click on the kind swooshy fox that takes her to the internet (Kravitz let her pick her favourite one, and the fox was much more fun than the coloured ball). “This one?”

“I think that’s the google bar which is different. But try putting facebook in there anyway?” Raven leans down, uncertain, one hand on the back of Istus’ chair, and squints at the screen.

Istus types ‘Facebook’ into the bar and waits.

“Do you think we should get a faster one?” Raven asks as they both watch the spinny wheel on the screen.

“Maybe we can ask the boys?” Istus muses, leaning back to rest against Raven as the computer screen goes black and then starts to load the next page.

Raven rubs her chin against the top of Istus’ head, and Istus smiles up at her despite the fact that Raven can’t see. It’s easy to send up a thought of gratitude for this moment. Istus spends a lot of time thinking about the future, it’s a good thing, it’s why her business has lasted so long, it’s why they have the house, it’s how they can afford to retire if they ever get round to it. But sometimes, sometimes it’s important to stay in the here and now, and being here with her wife is a wonderful now to stay in.

“There we go.” Raven points at the screen. “You need to log in.”

“Huh… where’s the little book got to?” Istus cracks the desk drawer.

“I’ll tell Kravitz on you.” Raven’s smile is evident in her voice.

“You wouldn’t!” Istus plays along as she shuffles papers aside. “My love, how could you betray me like this?”

“But if you write your passwords down then everyone can steal them.”

“I don’t have anything to steal in the computer.” Istus finds the little book rammed right at the book. “Anyway, Taako gave me the book because he was sick of us calling to get them to do the reset thing.”

“A wise man.” Raven nods.

“Shall we use yours?” Istus is fairly sure hers doesn’t work anymore after the time she kept mixing up the order of the numbers and exclamation marks Kraitz said she needed.

“Go on then.” Raven reads her the details and Istus types. It’s a well practised routine.

“I’m in!”

“What are you looking for now?” Raven leans back down to peer with her.

“Well, Cherity said that The Good Lick Store posted something strange in the wrong place.” Istus types the shop’s name into the search bar, proud not to have to ask this time.

Their name pops up next to their logo - Istus has begun to think it more garish than fun as time goes on… though that may be more to do with the shop’s owners than anything else.

“I don’t see anything.” Istus says.

“Try scrolling down?” Raven suggests.

Istus moves the mouse down, nothing happens.

“I think you use the wheely bit.” Raven points.

Istus tries again and the page shoots by until there’s a blank spot and the loading wheel comes up again.

“Maybe try a tad slower?”

Istus moves the wheel gingerly the opposite way and Raven fully drapes herself over Istus’ shoulders.

“Hmmm, maybe they deleted it.” Istus shrugs. “Nevermind.”

–

“How many fish?” Carey asks Killian

“Not that many.” Killian smiles the smile of someone who has hidden an amount of fish very north of not that many in a frozen yoghurt shop.

Carey smirks and nods. “...and I assume you’ll need a shower, you know, because of the not very many fish juice.” She wiggles her eyebrows.

“You can’t talk about fish juice and seduce me!” Killian groans and pretends to push her away, pulling her closer instead.

“Can’t I?” Carey grins happily as Killian groans.

“It’s you, not the fish juice.” Killian scoops Carey into her arms.

“To the bathroom!” Carey points the way.

–

Sloane smiles, grimly satisfied with her work. She slips away into the shadows.

–

“It’s just terrible, what happened to the sign.” Carey says.

“So awful.” Killian nods.

“Sadly there’s no leads on who was responsible.” Hurley shakes her head. “I’ve been trying to figure it out all morning, but there’s simply no evidence.”

“Such a shame to see mindless vandalism like that.” Sloane shakes her head. “What is the world coming to?”

Raven barks a laugh and tries to quickly cover it with a cough. “Mmhmm, terrible.”

“It is a little bit funny.” Istus says, primly. “Such a shame those letters were in the sign in that order.”

Raven looks up surprised.

“Of course, no one here would have stooped so low.” Istus narrows her eyes at them all in turn. “But hopefully they can repair it easily enough…” There’s a long pause and Istus adds in a stage whisper. “Did any of you get a photograph?”

–

It takes three days before the sign is repaired. Raven makes sure to pass by at least once on each and every one of them. Partly to glare at the twins through the window and partly to enjoy the sight of the queues dwindling. The sourness on the faces of the hosts increases with each visit.

–

Raven’s busy scarfing down a sandwich between appointments when her phone ba-bings, then pings again, and again.

Istus’ Army Hurley: Quick! Everyone! It’s happening Hurley: Check this out!

The link she sends next takes Raven to a statement.

We are a group of concerned locals and we’re calling for a boycott of The Good Lick Store. They have been sabotaging other businesses (see screenshots attached). They created a fake profile to reduce other business’ revenue and, in the process, took away a community lifeline. They selfishly put profit in front of people. We’re not going to stand for it, and you shouldn’t either. Don’t let yourselves be used to harm the businesses who are there for our community!

Underneath sit three screenshots of posts from The Good Lick Store’s new Facebook page, clearly written as if they were Happy Scoops (cancelling yet more events).

“Incredible.” Raven laughs to herself as other messages begin to pop up.

Sloane: YES! Killian: Take that, dick store! Killian: Carey says “wahoo with three exclamation marks at least” Raven: Good job Hurley Hurley: Not guilty! It wasn’t me. Raven: Then… who? Carey: Yeah, who’s our saviour? Hurley: Customers Hurley: I messaged the page after I saw the post, it turns out it’s people who come to the events, they’re furious. Raven: OH. Istus did say that Cherity mentioned something about Facebook. We couldn’t find anything though. Hurley: They’re obviously angry about being lied to, but coming after Istus? It’s never going to be good PR Hurley: Wait, Raven, you went on Facebook????? Killian: Are you reading the comments? Please read the comments Hurley: Incredible Killian: I think it has broken Carey, she just keeps snort laughing. Raven: How do I get there? Hurley: Hang on.

A screenshot pops up in the chat.

Francisco ‘A boycott won’t be hard, the ice cream’s shit anyway.’ The Good Lick Store ‘It’s not ice cream, it’s frozen yoghurt.’ Francisco ‘Sorry, my bad. It won’t be hard, the frozen yoghurt is shit anyway.’

Raven: You’re not supposed to argue with people on the internet, Kravitz said. Hurley: Kravitz is very very right. Sloane: I’ve gone on a deep dive. Did you see their statement? Hurley: Share with the class?

A screenshot quickly follows. The Good Lick Store believes in quality, belives in luxury, believes in pursuing your dream. Our dream is to bring you sophisticated flavours, challenging topping combinations, and real-world business practices. We believe in our product and we believe in challenging our competition. In business there’s always a winner.

Sloane: But wait for this

Another screenshot of the first comment. Aoife: ‘Well the winner’s not you, is it?”

Sloane: Do you think they’re feeling good about their life choices? Hurley: Snrk Carey: Get’em! Raven: Has anyone showed Istus yet? Killian: No! Don’t! She’ll feel bad for them. Hurley: They don’t deserve cheer-up cake Sloane: Or restorative cookies Raven: You make a good point

-

Enjoying the story? Find the final chapter here.

[leomonae]

What is this drama with dhampling I'm so confused but I like drama

I'm not bothering to look anything up for my summary, so no guarantees on complete accuracy. Explanation below the cut since I highly doubt anyone not directly involved is going to care about any of this.

Right, so basically @dhampling put up a post asking for BG3 fic recs the other... day? Week? Idk, I'm bad at time, it was recently, anyway. They asked for recs, various people reblogged and responded, including someone who recced a few members of this discord server I'm in - smaller creators, writers who haven't had much of an audience/exposure for their fics, and were pretty happy about the recognition. At some point, dhampling deleted their original post on the subject, leaving a message on their blog about how they didn't want to name names/get pulled into drama or some such - making a pretty vague statement that raised more questions than it answered, basically.

Some members of that discord server I mentioned were a little miffed about this, since to their minds it was removing one of the ways they might get more people finding/reading their fics. I, personally, was rolling my eyes at the incredibly vague nature of the non-explanation and questioning why they didn't just delete the thing and leave it alone after, if they didn't want it being made into some big deal somehow. Since the discord server is private/invite-only, some of us expressed said frustrations in a vent thread therein. Other people, including the person who'd reblogged and given some recs of the server's members, attempted to speak in dhampling's defense a little - they're young (which I guess they disliked being said about them once they found this out?), we don't know what prior experiences they've had in fandoms and some people can get vicious sometimes, the OP's original post may be gone but the reblogs are still out there so it's not a huge deal anyway, etc etc.

Then at some point soon afterwards, someone in the server shared screenshots of the aforementioned venting with dhampling, who apparently strongly disliked it/what was said? I know the server owner tried reaching out to talk to them without getting a response, and I gather that they blocked a few people, but as far as I was aware, this nonsense was pretty much over. Guess not, though!

Oh yeah, and around the time we were discussing the matter in the server, I went and commented on dhampling's "I deleted my post" non-explanation to say that it didn't really tell us anything at all and questioning if it was something personal or an issue with one of the stories or what, since a) I am a naturally curious/nosy person sometimes, b) a couple of my buddies were fretting that they might have done something to offend this person somehow, and c) why not?

And no, dhampling, if you were including me in the whole "I want an apology" thing you just posted, I will not, in fact, be offering one. I decided the other day upon review that I have no actual issues with anything I said at the time, and given that it was a handful of friends expressing some mild frustrations to one another in a private server, where they had every reason to expect their words would remain private rather than ever getting back to you, I don't really think anyone there owes you an apology anyway.

Sometimes people get annoyed with others. Sometimes they say so to their friends privately, rather than going and being rude to the person who annoyed them or whatever. This is normal, healthy, interpersonal behaviour. Nobody was plotting to come harass you or what the fuck ever; there would be no harm done here at all, including to your feelings, if someone from our server hadn't decided to disrespect our own members' right to have their private comments not shared with someone outside without their consent.

So let's drop this non-issue, already, huh?

[theiasthesis]

REVIEWS

Hey there! If you're here you're one of two people

A) You're trying to see if I'm a safe and reliable creator, who can provide you with a good and valuable service

B) You put your trust in me to provide you a service, and you're here to make a review!

Welcome to my reviews page. Here, you can comment down your experiences and results for any free or paid services I have provided for you. You can also drop a review in my asks!

If you're having difficulty writing a well written review, below are a list of questions you can answer!

What service did you get?

How was the quality of it?

Was there anything unique and different to other peoples services?

Was it worth the price?

Did it change your perspective?

How was your personal experience with me?

Would you recommend my service to anyone?

You can also check out reviews that I've posted right here!

[my-mt-heart]

I’ve seen your posts about how the fandom needs to be louder in their promotion of Caryl so the official accounts take notice of what Carylers want. In the run up to TOWL Andy and Danai (during promotion) and clips of Rick/Michonne from the show were going viral almost everyday because fans would post things without depending on the official accounts’ promotions. There are tweets with 100,000 likes for example, which reached people who aren’t into TWDU.

Is there anything the Caryl fandom can share to build the hype for this couple & their show?

I only mentioned Richonne because that was a show rooted in love, as opposed to Dead City where the two main characters are in conflict.

For argument's sake, let's assume all of that engagement was genuine. The promotion for TOWL was leaning very heavily into the Richonne fandom's desires for their favorite characters/couple, which motivated them to post more. It's a catch 22 for Caryl. There are things their fans can post that'll convey where their interest is, for example, Caryl/McReedus photos and clips highlighting their burning chemistry. Nostalgic photos and clips like Daryl holding Carol outside the barn as Sophia's walker comes out is considered one of the most iconic scenes of the series and would get the flagship's GA talking (remember when Netflix posted it on their SM?). Same goes for the Cherokee rose scene. Fanart like bassel's and our dear @kryptoniancape's below is always enjoyable and there's a wonderful Caryl podcast called @9lives2mics that we can boost.

But. For Carylers to build a lot of hype and at the same time drown out the toxic voices who are more than ready to review bomb just because they hate Caryl/Carol, official promotion needs to strike the right cord with all Carylers whenever they do decide to do their job give us new content. No, they can't promote canon that hasn't happened yet on the show, but they can lean into the tag that worked the first time around, "to find home is to find each other," which suggests that Daryl and Carol are in fact each other's person. Raise us up and we will raise your show up.

Where are our McReedus interviews to give us insight into Caryl's emotional journey? Where are our photoshoots of them on the bike together and our Caryl keyart so we can have visual representations of their chemistry? Giving us content we're excited about will motivate us to post more content, which will draw more attention from the Carylers who left and from other onlookers.

Trigger us and we'll call you out on it. Not all of us, but even mixed reception as a result of shipbaiting, friendzoning, and sidelining Carol will ruin the momentum. Maybe it gets the Richonners "buzzing" in our place, but scaring away the Carylers who are on the fence right now is nevertheless a bad move. Carylers are the fans AMC should be able to depend on season after season. Fans who criticize Carol or undermine her importance as a main character or in Daryl's life are more often than not the same fans who have been validating the friendship positioning strategy on social media posts because there's always humor attached to it. Take a look at some of these posts and the nuances should be clear. These are fans who openly hate Carol or do not understand the importance of Carol's story or don't connect with Carol's story. These are not the fans who will ever pay a dime to watch "The Book of Carol." Instead of garnering audience for the show, it's turning away the target audience because a lot of these comments are making Carylers feel unheard and turning them away from the official accounts.

If the trailer is dropping tomorrow, that's a good opportunity for Carylers to post about what they love and what they want to see from Caryl's story...

Romantic canon

Daryl and Carol both striving to get back to each other

Equal representation

The Heroine's Journey for Carol

And/or, what's not working and what's giving them pause.

nunbaiting

the title

friendship positioning

the title

relegating Carol

the fucking title

Our voices have an impact. Case in point, when we wanted to give Melissa the choice to come back. There's a tendency to talk about what we'll settle for and I understand that feeling, considering how toxic and difficult it can be to navigate social media when the official accounts don't do anything to stop that toxicity from spreading. But it's important to talk about why Caryl's story matters to us and what we want to see from it because it sets the future trajectory of the show and it puts the power back in our hands. When you're loud, people hear you.

[sholiofic]

July Break Bingo: Reincarnation

Prompt: Reincarnation 500 words, Biggles +/ EvS, bittersweet

The park was brilliant in the sun, filled with flowers and skateboarders, the sky a deep blue bowl above. James bought an ice cream cone from a vendor, and licked it while checking his phone as he walked, reviewing his handful of job applications. He wasn't unhappy that none of them had so much as snagged an interview.

He really didn't know what he wanted to do with himself. He was fresh out of a stint with the RAF that he hadn't much enjoyed, it simply hadn't been what he wanted, even though it had felt like the only thing to do when he was eighteen. And now he was at loose ends, with a pilot's training .... on aeroplanes he couldn't fly in the civilian world. It was very frustrating. Somehow he felt it ought to have been different.

He could get a commercial pilot's license, he thought; he had the training and the flight hours, it was just the necessity to learn on civilian aircraft that he was lacking. He did love the freedom of it, the sky above and below him, as if in some way he had known it for longer than he had been alive. He might be able to enjoy that. It wasn't quite the thing he wanted -- but it almost was, it felt closer than he'd been in a very long time.

When a hand closed on his wrist, jolting him out of his thoughts, he reacted with military training, dropping his ice cream and seizing the other man's arm as their eyes met.

The man staring at him was older, hair shot with grey, eyes bright and wild and stormcloud blue-grey. He wore a suit that was oddly old-fashioned, quite out of place in the park with its skateboarders and teenagers. And his face was filled with a strange excitement, a sense of recognition that jolted James down to his core.

James let go of the other man's wrist before he could break it, and wrenched his arm free. "If you're giving out pamphlets, just hand it to me and go," he said, because what he couldn't quite understand was why that face looked so familiar, when he knew he had never seen it before.

"You won't believe what I'm handing out," the other man said quietly, falling into step with James. He had a neutral accent with something underneath, some hint of other vowels that, for some reason, had James's heart clawing up to try to hear more. "But I've been looking for you for --" He hesitated, as if snipping off some comment at its base, and then went on, "Come get a coffee with me. Let's talk. I think you might be looking for something to do with yourself -- aren't you? I can make you an offer you might like to consider."

James glanced at him. Then he said, "You owe me an ice cream."

A quick sharp smile broke across the austere features, making them very briefly beautiful -- and James thought, for no apparent reason, of a place he'd never been, a wide open expanse of desert with blue sky above and sweeping dunes below. Then the stranger (or was it a stranger?) said, "It is you. Yes, damn you, I'll buy your ice cream. Lead on, choose the place, I'll go with you. Wherever you go."

[sereneskin]

𝙐𝙣𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙚𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙍𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙆𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙣 𝙎𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚

Hey there, skincare enthusiasts! Are you ready to dive into the world of Korean skincare with me? 🌟✨

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Follow along as we explore the best Korean skincare products, share step-by-step routines, review the latest trends, and chat with experts. Whether you're looking to achieve radiant skin, battle acne, or simply pamper yourself, K-beauty has something for everyone!

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Got questions or want to share your favorite K-beauty tips? Drop them in the comments below. I can't wait to hear from you!

[silverskull]

Shades & Hues

Part 2: Hues of Happiness

Tim and Lucy often have happy kisses, but sad hugs on-screen. What if we flipped that idea and wrote a two-shot?

* She’s in his arms, wrapping herself against him tightly, and he pulls her close, dipping his nose into her hair. He can smell exhaust, and cigarette smoke, and the unfamiliar shampoo from the apartment she shared with her mark, but it’s her - it’s her - and she’s here, with him, and he can feel her ribs below his fingers, her eyelashes fluttering against his neck, and nothing else in the world matters.

(Full fic below the cut, or click here to read and bookmark on AO3)

“Lopez is my plus one.”

“I asked her first!”

“I asked her nicer!”

“So what does that make me?”

“Minus one.”

Lopez and Harper grin and chortle - yes, chortle - clinking their champagne glasses giddily together over the fancy linen tablecloth. They’re dressed to kill, Angela in a flowing white pantsuit, Nyla in an unexpectedly pretty pink cocktail dress, and they’re determined to make the most of the free bar while it’s still available.

Grey gives an amused snort at Tim’s other elbow, shaking his head at the detectives and slicing into his seared steak. Tim grimaces, poking his fork at a lump of potato stuck to the side of his plate.

“You’re just gonna let your minions disparage a senior officer like that?” he asks, knowing before even finishing the question that Grey has absolutely no intention of siding with him.

“They’re free agents tonight, Sergeant,” Grey chuckles. “They’ve earned their place here. You only got a seat at the table-”

“Because you slept your way to the top!” Angela interrupts, with a wild toss of her head. Tim feels his jaw drop open, aghast, and his fork clatters loudly against his plate before falling clumsily into his lap, spattering potato everywhere. Nyla finds this particularly amusing and she cackles loudly, throwing her head back and leaning against Angela for support. Tim scowls, swiping her napkin and dusting himself off irritably.

He wasn’t one to shy away from a celebratory night out. He quite enjoys the opportunity to dress smart and eat well, particularly when the company is good. He remembers Lucy quizzing him relentlessly after his first date with Rachel at Ravenna. She’d started with some circumspection, commenting on the reviews page in the newspaper he’d been browsing, or spending hours in the shop talking her way through an imaginary buffet for herself and Jackson, that just so happened to have all the same dishes as Ravenna. He’d let her ramble on, knowing full-well that it was driving her crazy, until she eventually broke down and asked him outright.

“How in the hell did you know so much about a restaurant with two Michelin stars? What are you? Some sort of moonlighting food critic?!”

“You sound surprised.” His smile was smug, and he knew she knew it.

“No! Well… yes.” She jostled in her seat, fiddling with her seatbelt. “You just never seemed like the type who likes…” She trailed off, pursing her lips thoughtfully. It irritated him.

“Likes what? Good food?”

“No! I know you like good food. A guy who likes…” She paused again, following the track of a delivery bike as it swooped past them at the traffic lights.

“Likes what? Spit it out, boot!” He thumped the steering wheel for emphasis, glaring at her as the lights changed and the cars in front of them rumbled back into life.

“Likes culture, I guess,” Lucy finished, with a shrug. “The finer things in life. You… you still surprise me.” She turned to appraise him, her lips tugging down at the corners as she fought a losing battle against a smile and as the shop moved forward, a beam of sunlight caught her eyes, turning her irises from dark honey into molten amber. He looked away quickly, clearing his throat.

“Yeah, well, I’’ve got layers.”

“Like an onion?” she smirked.

“Like an ogre,” he growled, pressing a little too hard on the gas pedal.

She settled back into her seat, readjusting her belt and tipping her chin up. “Well I think that underneath all those layers, you’re just a big softie.”

He’d added dumbbells to the bottom of their warbags before she arrived the next morning.

“Oh lighten up, Timothy, it was only a joke!” Angela waves her napkin at him across Nyla’s lap, snapping him out of his reverie. Harper plucks her own napkin back daintily, scrutinising him thoughtfully.

“You should be honoured to be here at all. These awards are for people who do actual police work, not just smashing down doors and waving ‘round riot shields,” she says, spreading her napkin neatly back over the pleats in her dress. “If it wasn’t for Chen, this table would be exclusively diligent detectives and top brass-” she gives Grey a solemn nod, “-and you’d be on door security with Nolan and the rookies.”

The aforementioned Nolan picks that very moment to catch Tim’s eye from his station at the entryway, waving cheerily and completely ignoring an influx of inebriated off-duty cops heading towards the bar. Juarez, at least, gives them a stern glare, but she’s almost a foot shorter than all of them and hidden in the shadows cast by the elaborate lighting. Tim scowls, turning back to his plate and tossing his cutlery into the middle of the potatoes.

It’s over an hour later when the speeches begin, and Tim can feel himself slowly begin to petrify into his seat, his legs restless and antsy, and his hands tingling from repeated applause. Harper had raved about this ceremony, swirling her embossed invitation around in the bullpen, and noting that only the crème de la crème of Law Enforcement ever got invited to it.

The California Law Enforcement Agency Gala Awards. What an atrocious mouthful. 

Apparently Harper had attended before, nominated for her UC work in years gone by, but she’d lost out to a Detective Fry, who, in turn, had gone on to all but run the Undercover school in Sacramento. Harper held no ill-will, instead lauding the merits of a night of great company, fine food and - best of all - a free bar, paid for by the agencies themselves. Previous nominees were sometimes honoured with invites, and Harper had been drawn this year, and she preened smugly around the station for the entire afternoon after opening her mail. 

He’d seen her invite so many times during the day that, upon arriving home that night and opening the mailbox, he immediately recognised the thick card and gold embossing on the envelope he pulled from within. It was dark out, and he’d had to unlock the door and find the light switch while Kojo tangled himself around his ankles enthusiastically, but he was soon able to see it clearly. He’d turned the envelope over in his hands, tracing the golden bear above the seal, the name imprinted in dark ink along the front.

Detective Lucy Chen

The next day at work, Harper nearly exploded with pride when he showed it to her. She’d set about calling contacts and negotiating deals to try to extract Lucy from her op ASAP, and even succeeded in securing them a video call that very evening. Lucy was pleased with the news; amused at Harper’s enthusiasm and proud of her own work too, but mostly she was happy to see him. To see Tim. She’d eventually persuaded Harper to let them speak alone, and he plugged a pair of headphones into the screen, letting the music of her voice wash over him while he drank in her face.

She’d already been awarded the highest marks in the LAPD for her Detective’s exam (he’d promised her he wouldn’t take revenge on Prim, once she’d let him in on her secret; but it didn’t stop him from wishing for the guy to stand behind the wrong door one day, and get smashed right in the face) and now she was up against nominees from agencies across the state. Officers just as clever, hardworking and brilliant as herself.

Tim, of course, thought there was no need for all the fuss, and said they should just give her the prize directly, no questions asked. Grey and Harper stepped in quickly, reminding him that the fact that the awards were being held in LA meant more of her colleagues would be present to cheer for her. As if to drive home the point, Nolan signed himself and Juarez up for security duty the moment the requisition went out, and Thorsen traded Smitty a crate of ridiculously expensive IPA to take his place when the list had filled. Grey got invited as station Sergeant, and Harper latched onto Lopez as her plus one.

Which left Tim, miserably waiting to hear back from Lucy for days on end.

And, in the end, she’d found no way out. Nyla reminded him, half-heartedly, about ‘dope time’, and Lucy ruefully highlighted that it wouldn’t be a good look to drop an op in order to attend an awards show. He’d initially chosen to decline the event altogether, but then a request came down from the Captain, and subsequently the Chief of Police, that all nominees needed to either attend in-person or assign a representative, and, as her partner, Tim would have to show up for Lucy.

Which was how he had ended up here, now, listening to the same Chief of Police drone on about the challenges of modern policing, the responsibility to be seen as fair representatives of the justice system, and the bright future ahead for police agencies, with such an outstanding bunch of nominees in their presence tonight. The woman wouldn’t be winning any prizes herself, for speech-making at least.

“And, at last, what you’ve all been waiting to hear. May I present to you, from across the entire state of California, the ten nominees for this year’s CLEA Exhibition Award!”

Raucous applause breaks out across the room - the bar has been open for over four hours at this stage - and Angela elbows her neighbour (a young officer who’d travelled all the way from Eureka, and was desperately seeking Lopez’s approval) to imitate her sharp wolf whistle. Eventually, they quieten down enough for the Chief to begin calling out the names, but she’s only on the second one when the room bursts into noisy cheering again.

It’s Lucy’s name - Detective Lucy Chen - and her colleagues from the station are spread all across the room, clapping and whistling loudly the moment she’s mentioned. Tim feels the warm glow of pride, and he allows himself a moment to smile fondly at her photograph when it appears on the screen at the back of the stage. He stays looking at it as the rest of the names are called out, basking in her warm smile - one cheek dimpling in shy amusement at the photographer, a small strand of hair drifting across the other - and he wishes with all his heart that she was actually here. With him. Hiding her face in his shoulder at all the attention, or steadying his anxious foot-tapping with a soft hand on his knee.

“And, of course, though there can only be one winner, I want to be clear that the contributions of all ten nominees is valued, honoured, and will be upheld up as a standard of achievement for the Force for years to come.” Chief Coleman was stacking away the last of her note cards, tapping them firmly against the wooden surface of the podium, and grimacing quickly against the spotlight into the depths of the room. “I also want to note that neither Detective Abdul nor Detective Chen could be with us tonight, due to work commitments. In their stead, we welcome their husbands, Doctor Karim Abdul and Sergeant Tim Bradford.”

Lopez and Harper pitch immediately in opposite directions, cackling madly, and Tim feels a hot blush rise along his neck as his colleagues in the shadows whoop and hoot merrily. Grey gives him a smug side-eye, but says nothing, and Tim rolls his shoulders back, picturing in his mind’s eye the little velvet box buried behind a loose board in the back of a dresser at Genny’s house, that not even his sister knows about. 

They’ll all find out, when the time is right - he’s sure. But he’s still waiting for that moment.

Waiting for Lucy.

“And the Exhibition Award for exemplary achievement in California’s Law Enforcement Agencies for this year goes to…” The Chief pauses to break the seal on the envelope in her hands, and Lopez, aided by her new minion from Eureka, begins a drumroll on the edge of the table. Tim’s eyes are fixed on the screen, but he notices, in his periphery, Thorsen enthusiastically joining in, slapping his hands against the wall behind him and grinning from ear to ear. Despite himself, he feels a thrill of nerves; a rush of anticipation.

The Chief pulls out the card, and her lips quirk into an amused smile. “Detective Lucy Chen!”

The room erupts in applause and cheers, even the tables of guests from out of town giving in to the excitement of having a local winner. Tim feels hands patting his back, his shoulders - someone even dares to ruffle the back of his hair. He’s not surprised - of course she’s won, of course she has! - but in the commotion he nearly forgets that he has a job to do. Grey and Harper think for him, practically lifting him out of his seat by the elbows and propelling him across the room towards the stage. His feet catch on the legs of someone’s chair and he stumbles, taking a moment to apologise and straighten his tie before swallowing his pride and heading for the podium.

The path through the crowd seems endless, but eventually he trots up the steps to the stage, where Coleman shakes his hand firmly, her face serious and her eyes dark.

“We’re extremely proud of Lucy,” she says, gripping his hand tightly. “She’s a remarkable woman.”

He can’t help a quick smile. “I know.”

And then he’s on his own, staring into the blinding glare of the spotlight and almost forgetting the single notecard in his breast pocket. He reaches in to pull it out, feeling the sweat on his palms sticking to the paper, and he recognises Angela’s shrill whistle from the hidden sea of people before him. He takes it as support, takes courage in it, and begins.

“I can honestly say that on the first day I met Lucy Chen, I never pictured a night like tonight anywhere in our future. She was a hot-shot from the get-go. A woman with no quit in her. Endlessly aggravating. I even thought at one point it was a personal attack from our Sergeant, him sticking her with me.” He swears he can hear Grey chuckle from the middle of the room. “But Lucy was also kind. Thoughtful. Compassionate. She gave people grace in their hour of need - none more so than me.”

His mind flashes back to any number of moments in their first months together - his shooting, Isabel’s return, Andersen’s death - and he remembers his own dawning realisation that Lucy’s presence wasn’t just some flash-in-the-pan whim of a privileged kid.

“She had potential - real potential - and she was ready and willing to learn from all of us around her how to hone that potential, and become the officer that she is today. And she went through hell…” His voice catches, the fleeting sensation of hot sand under fingernails sweeping over him, and he has to swallow hard against a lump in his throat to keep going. “She went through hell to get to where she is today. The fact that she is still a member of the LAPD, and not only succeeding, but thriving, is a testament to her incredible talent, her skill, her capability, and her enormous heart. I am proud to accept this award on her behalf, and - with the greatest of respect to all the other nominees - I know that there is no-one more deserving.”

The crowd applauds again, and he steps back from the podium, noticing a small shuffle beside the tables at the foot of the stage. Thorsen has somehow wound up near the steps, and he’s apologising to someone as he edges past their chair, shoving them calmly but firmly to one side. Tim wonders why he chose now to start making a nuisance of himself, but he plasters on a smile and gives a quick nod of gratitude to the audience. He turns to thank the Chief too, but her chair is empty and there’s a sudden flurry of action in the wings opposite him. A young man with a headset scurries towards another man at a laptop and whispers hurriedly in his ear, covering the end of the mic with one hand. Tim is immediately on edge, and his smile falls away, his skin prickling into sharp goosebumps.

He’s just about to leave, turning to head for the steps and calculating how quickly he can grab Thorsen’s spare gun, when Coleman appears at his elbow and grips his arm tightly.

“We must take a photo, Sergeant Bradford,” she says, pulling him firmly back towards the centre of the stage and seizing his hand.

“There’s really no need-” he begins, looking around for a way out and catching, instead, the bright pink of Nyla’s cocktail dress at the side of the stage. There’s a dazzling flash - a camera somewhere below them - and he blinks against the stark spots in his eyes, shaking his head to try to clear his vision, and it’s only some remote modicum of ingrained obedience that prevents him from pulling away entirely from the Chief’s grasp and running for cover.

There’s another flash, and he’s suddenly aware of a low murmur running through the audience, a hum of suspicion, but he doesn’t have time to acknowledge it before Chief Coleman drops his hand and leaves him, confused, in the centre of the stage. She walks back to the podium, tipping the microphone briskly back down to her own height, and he checks quickly to the side to see Harper, still in the shadows, and grinning broadly.

“Ladies and gentlemen - colleagues from across the state.” Coleman’s stern voice gets everyone’s attention quickly and the murmur dies down. “It seems we have a small change to the order of events tonight. I’ve just been speaking to one of Detective Chen’s handlers, Detective Harper, and it seems they’ve had a breakthrough in their case. I’m sure you’ll be as delighted as I am - but nowhere near as delighted as Sergeant Bradford - to welcome to the stage…” She turns and smirks at Tim. “Detective Lucy Chen.”

His heart drops at the same moment as his jaw, and he has no time to think before Harper moves to the side and there - right there, in leather and denim - is Lucy. 

His Lucy. 

A little dishevelled and a little uncertain, but smiling with her whole face - her whole heart - and twirling her fingers nervously. Lucy. Chief Coleman urges her forward, and all Tim can hear is the blood rushing through his ears, and his hands reach out for her before she even moves. 

And then, with just a few steps, she’s in his arms, wrapping herself against him tightly, and he pulls her close, dipping his nose into her hair. He can smell exhaust, and cigarette smoke, and the unfamiliar shampoo from the apartment she shared with her mark, but it’s her - it’s her - and she’s here, with him, and he can feel her ribs below his fingers, her eyelashes fluttering against his neck, and nothing else in the world matters. He wants to ask ‘how’ and he wants to know why he was left out of the loop, but all of that can wait. For now, all he needs is her breath against his skin, her pulse hammering away against his chest almost as fast as his own, and the utter contentment that he feels in knowing that she is here, safe, at home, and with him.

It takes him a moment to recall where they are, with his fingers tangling in her hair to draw her head back and his thumb tracing along the sweep of her cheekbone, but then he remembers. He realises the rushing sound in his ears is the applause from the crowd, and he can definitely hear Angela’s piercing whistle taunting him from the floor, but he really can’t bring himself to care. He catches Harper’s eye as she saunters off the stage, and she waggles her hand at him, pointing conspicuously to her ring finger.

“I missed you.”

Lucy’s voice draws him in like soft honey, and he allows himself another moment to indulge in her presence, to soak up the familiar beauty of her face, and the smile she wears just for him. He pulls her into his chest once more, pressing his lips against the crown of her head, and then the Chief is rolling her eyes at them and waving her hand to get them off the stage. He grins, turning Lucy towards the steps and handing her the sparkling award. She lets him direct her, and he has a split second while his back is turned to the crowd to dip his mouth to her ear unobserved.

“Marry me?”

She comes to a dead halt, her eyes locking on his, and he grins, linking their hands and drawing her knuckles to his lips.

The crowd is still cheering, and Coleman is beginning to look a bit peeved, so he tosses her a quick salute and tugs gently on Lucy’s hand. She comes to, wobbling into a faltering walk behind him, before following him down the steps and off the stage. With the spotlights out of his eyes, he can see their friends, their hands raised as they clap for her - for them - and he leads Lucy towards their table, where he can see Nolan and Juarez already standing behind an extra chair.

She doesn’t have to answer him tonight. She doesn’t have to wear the ring he picked. She doesn’t even have to say ‘yes’ - at least, not yet.

But he needs her to know he missed her too.

And he needs her to know he loves her.

And he will always be here, ready to welcome her home.

Always.

AO3 link💖

Back to Part 1!

[troped-fanfic-challenge]

TROPED TIMELOOP

Welcome to TROPED TIMELOOP, a special TROPED Multifandom Fanfiction Challenge!!! This will be a traditional four-round, but with a timeloop-y twist! Every round will have a theme and four tropes, but with the added requirement that you must include the Time Loop Trope! Let’s see if you’re up to the challenge and join us for this special event!

How It Works:

This is a Multi-Fandom Event & No Sign-Ups are Required! If you would like to participate, we’d love to have you! Just take a look at our prompts when they are released right here on the TROPED tumblr, and get to writing! You will submit your fics to an AO3 Collection that is linked in our reblog!

The Writing Periods will be on a rolling basis, with new TIMELOOP prompts dropping between the Summer Solstice and Autumn Equinox! If you are inspired for a round later in the event, you can still submit a fic to be included! We will simply drop the next prompt, but nothing will officially close or end until the end of the full Writing Period, on September 23rd! Fics will be accepted into the official collection for the entirety of the event! **You will write four or more (4+) separate fanfics inspired by each round, but you do not have to participate in each and every round.**

Read and Review! Once you’ve submitted your own fic, take a look at the others in the competition! Please try to read as many as you can! Take some notes, and leave some kudos/comments for the authors! This is not a requirement for participation, but it is highly encouraged and helps make TROPED build a strong community!

Voting! For this challenge, we have decided to host a more objective voting-style for you. We will have the Longest Fic, the Shortest Fic, the Most Timeloops, and other Objective ‘Challenge’ Winners for each round and for the event overall.

TIMELINE:

Writing Period Dates: June 21st - September 23rd!

Round One Prompt Released: Wednesday, June 21st at 12:00am

Round Two Prompt Released: Saturday, July 15th at 12:00am

Round Three Prompt Released: Tuesday, August 8th at 12:00am

Round Four Prompt Released: Thursday, August 31st at 12:00am

End of TIMELOOP Writing Period: SATURDAY, September 23rd at 11:59PM PST / SUNDAY, September 24th at 2:59AM EST

Winners Announced: September 24th!

*All times are in Eastern Standard Time (EST) unless otherwise specified!

Rules:

If you are a veteran to our TROPED Challenges, the rules below are mostly the same as before, but any newbies joining the fun should definitely take a look below!

This competition was created to get creative and put out different fics into the world, and to create a fun, positive fandom experience for everyone! In order to ensure that we achieve that goal of a positive experience, here are a few rules and guidelines that must be followed! The requirements for the fics entered into the competition will be:

Must include Characters from your specific chosen Fandom

Must fit the Theme of each round! While this event is all about the time loop trope, each round will have a clear cut theme for you to use in your fics!

Must use ALL of the tropes selected for each round! We have selected four tropes to go with the time loop trope. Explanations for these tropes will be released in a Google Doc for you. Don’t forget: Part of the fun of TROPED is taking the prompts and turning them on their head! Our definitions are baselines for what the trope or theme MUST include, but it’s just a starting point! If you have an idea for a trope or theme, and you aren’t sure if it fits, please message us!

There is NO Word Count Requirement. You may write as much or as little as you like as long as you incorporate the prompts, including the time loop trope!

All ratings G through E are welcome! Please be aware that some fics may not be everyone’s thing! Write what you like, but the challenge is public so just keep that in mind! Since we are requiring Smut in one of the rounds, please be sure to follow the TROPED rules that pertain to romantic/sexual relationships in your fic. (No rape. No incest. No underage. No negativity. No plagiarism.)

Links for this event can be found in the reblog!

[louies-for-louies]

Given the recent launch of Louis’s 28OP merch line, and given that it seems he is likely to continue regularly dropping merch, and also given the spectrum of financial situations among Louis’s fans, An Idea has occurred.

What if individual Louies who are financially secure were willing/able to purchase a desired item of 28OP merch for individual fans who are not able to do so?

Participating would require submitting your legal name and address to a form so that fans who are willing to buy are able to be matched with fans who want to receive. However, this could be completely uncoupled from fandom handles and identities, so that there’s no possibility of your legal info being connected to your fandom presence. (There is still always a risk in giving your information to a stranger on the internet, of course - this blog would do the matching, but could take no responsibility or liability for the results of that risk.)

Alternatively, fandom handles could be submitted on the forms so that mods can ensure the persons participating are who they say they are and are members of the fandom and not opportunistic trolls. (This is safer in the sense that it introduces a review process, but less safe in that it requires you to trust the mods with your fandom identity in connection with your legal identity.)

Please read *all* answers below, and then respond to the poll below with your thoughts:

[ginalestradezine]

Project Update - Please Read!

Hello everyone! We have our results for the interest check and the future of this project. It's a bit lengthy, so we put it in the read below for your convenience.

We first want to thank everyone for the support of this project and the enthusiastic Gina fans we found! Your comments on the interest check were so full of love and we loved reviewing them!

With that being said, we do need to get straight to the point. Unfortunately, in short, we cannot make this project a zine. We could not find a formatting mod that had the experience we needed. Without a formatting mod, there was no way we could make this project a reality.

With a bit of discussion about realistic expectations and projections if we were to move forward as a zine, we realized what the best call was. We'll need to drop the zine concept entirely.

We know this isn't the easiest news to hear, and trust us, we are trying to take this news the best we can. We are very sad that this isn't going to be the goal we envisioned. However, our overall goal is to make more Gina focused content. So, we are going to. We have decided to move forward with another event that everyone can participate in!

We did get enough interest in the prospects of a Gina Day/Weekend (Gen Themed). We will be running a small poll here to figure out what times work for most people in the next couple days.

With that, we hope that everyone will join us on that day/weekend to do so! We'll run the poll shortly and we wanted to thank you for all the support for this project so far! It has been truly appreciated.

The Memory in East End Mod Team

[waitmyturtles]

Turtles Catches Up With Old GMMTV: Manner of Death, and What is a BL Edition

[What’s going on here? After joining Tumblr and discovering Thai BLs through KinnPorsche in 2022, I began watching GMMTV’s new offerings -- and realized that I had a lot of history to catch up on, to appreciate the more recent works that I was delving into. From tropes to BL frameworks, what we’re watching now hails from somewhere, and I’m learning about Thai BL's history through what I’m calling the Old GMMTV Challenge (OGMMTVC). Starting with recommendations from @absolutebl on their post regarding how GMMTV is correcting for its mistakes with its shows today, I’ve made an expansive list to get me through a condensed history of essential/classic/significant Thai BLs produced by GMMTV and many other BL studios. My watchlist, pasted below, lists what I’ve watched and what’s upcoming, along with the reviews I’ve written so far. Today, I cover Manner of Death, a MaxTul crime show that leads us to wonder if we can call it a true BL.]

FINALLY! Yeeeeeeah! I’ve waited a while to get this one out, and I’m so excited to finally drop this review: this is going to be a fun one. Let’s pour one out for the retired homey, Tul Pakorn, as I dive into Manner of Death! (MaxTul after a weekend of PerthChimon and FirstKhao, huh? GIMME!)

So, first things first: I cannot remember who exactly recommended Manner of Death for inclusion on the OGMMTVC watchlist. I APOLOGIZE. I am going to GUESS that it was a combo of @manogirl and @miscellar (and if I’m wrong, friends, please forgive me, and whoever really suggested it, give yourselves flowers in the comments so I can give you a high-five!). In any case, though, as I’ve mentioned previously, @manogirl gets the OGMMTVC Trophy for Hyping a Homey To One of the Best Ships Ever, for real -- MG, your repping on MaxTul has paid DIVIDENDS in my life, DIVIDENDS! I LOVE MAXTUL. I love them, your honors! And they are important, historically, for reasons illuminated below. 

Okay, ha, with that out of the way, Manner of Death as a show gets included on the OGMMTVC list because, as was discussed in the comments of my review of Together With Me, MoD may or may not be a BL by way of the “rules” of the genre. The majority commentary on MoD established that MoD was a show that had BL elements in a crime genre-based show that served as an influence for future genre shows in Not Me and KinnPorsche. 

Now, I will note, during my MoD liveblogging, that @true-unicorn-queen came thru to say -- actually, it IS a BL (thank you, TUQ, for jumping in the comments!). I am really going to enjoy digging into this, and I think there are some good examples that serve as evidence on both sides of the argument. A little outline to help us out, maestro:

1) The frame of this piece is going to center on whether we call MoD a “genre” show of another kind that’s not TECHNICALLY a BL (like a crime story, or a workplace drama), vs. whether we call it a BL because there were quite a few BL tropes in it, and I’ll also talk about 2) Why I think this argument works by way of who worked on this show (and who may have influenced this show), 3) The general excellence of the acting of this show (...okay, we’ll gently poke Tul a bit, ha), and 4) Touching a bit on the conversation of whether or not MoD impacted future genre shows,

along with some other floating bits about MoD and its wild ending, ha.

Off the bat, I think this show worked because it played with successful elements of BOTH the crime genre AND the BL genre. It was like, fusion television. The actual twists and turns of the mystery (I will try to not give away too much if you haven’t seen it yet!) were FABULOUSLY done, and I love suspecting everyone during stories like this. Hell, I was suspecting Oat, for heaven’s sake!

So regarding the is-it-a-BL-or-not conversation: I’m not a person who dabbles in binaries and hardcore definitions. I really think art is best when it is dynamic and NOT definitively binary -- when art is influenced by many things, by many elements, by many tentacles. (You’ll notice that this is why I LOVE this OGMMTVC project.) I really felt that I enjoyed MoD, purely as a fan, in part because this show used the best elements of the crime and BL genres to construct a story that was exciting, that was SMART, that was driven and crisp -- and most importantly, that was not DRAGGED or HELD BACK by EXPECTATIONS of EITHER genre. 

I myself would not call MoD a BL, in part because I don’t want to set up expectations that it needed to MEET certain elements of the genre in order to CALL IT a BL. BUT -- to @true-unicorn-queen‘s point -- maybe I GET to call it a BL, because it used BL tropes so well? I’m not going to quibble in this too much (and honestly, if folks have thoughts on this, jump into the comments, because I think the conversation around this will automatically be fascinating and interesting).

I want to also add that MoD shares many elements with another well-known crime show that is also not a BL, but arguably BL-adjacent -- Jojo Tichakorn’s 3 Will Be Free. 3 Will Be Free is ABSOLUTELY NOT a BL. But what 3WBF established -- on GMMTV! -- was a show that was not CENTERED in queerness or a queer romance story. It was, instead, INCLUSIVE of queerness as a GIVEN of the environment and community in which the show was set. I thought this was groundbreaking for the GMMTV network.

Like I wrote recently about YYY, and akin to 3WBF, Manner of Death, very importantly in its writing, did not hew to a NEED to CENTER the burgeoning queer romance between Bun and Tan -- which I think many would argue is a necessary element of a BL. Their relationship was an important ELEMENT to the show, but it wasn’t a CENTER of the show -- until the end, when we got a bunch of fan service flowers..... and fuckin’ gun whips with a proposal, but let’s leave that alone for another sec, HA. 

I really liked YYY for its macro-level commentary about what BL creators and performers face, by way of pressure, of NEEDING to include and/or CENTER a relationship in a BL. The character of Porpla served as a symbol of that internal and external pressure on BL shows to be ABOUT the romance.

Manner of Death just... didn’t deal with that. The center of the story was: who killed Jane? That was it. It was a murder mystery, first and foremost, with two dudes falling in love as a side story. 

I’m shaking my head in wonder at this, because Manner of Death did the love side story much differently than 3WBF, all while paying homage and respect to the inclusion of queerness within the show itself. How did the show do it? 

As y’all know from my MoD liveblogging, I totally marveled at how WELL this show included some important BL tropes. We had tender gay uncles AND a side couple IN THE SAME SCENE! ThatSorn were a NATURAL side couple, great chemistry, GREAT comedy, and BunTan totally knew what was up with them. Utterly cute! And I cackled at some other tropes, including BunTan choosing to MAKE OUT instead of checking the LAPTOP THEY STOLE from BUSTING A CAR WINDOW, lol. 

The inclusion of these tropes was done VERY well, VERY sophisticatedly. Unlike 3WBF, where I did not expect to see BL tropes -- because 3WBF’s crime story was clearly not a home for BL tropes, at all -- I LOVED SEEING THEM in Manner of Death. It was like seeing old friends again. 

I wanted to know what was up with that. So to MDL I went, and found that Title Nirattisai is MoD’s screenwriter. I knew I knew that name, and I went a-clickin’, and went -- AHHHH. 

Title is the screenwriter of He’s Coming To Me. THE SCREENWRITER OF *HE’S COMING TO ME!!!* And he, along with Au Kornprom, wrote Dark Blue Kiss. As we know -- they are both Aof Noppharnach shows of the highest order.

WELL, WELL, FUCKING WELL! That solves THAT mystery. Why is the writing of Manner of Death so great? Why does it balance a crime genre story so well with the very best of BL tropes?

It’s because we have a writer in Title who defied and/or played with BL tropes in HCTM and DBK. HCTM, as I’ve previously established, was WELL AHEAD OF ITS TIME by way of storytelling, mood, and BL genre subversion. DBK was the first GMMTV BL to focus on an ONGOING and ESTABLISHED relationship -- à la Still 2gether, later in GMMTV’s history, but a decision that goes against the grain of your usual BL assumptions in seeing a relationship BEGIN, complete with flirtation, with longing, with yearning, etc.

Title is a screenwriter who is CLEARLY comfortable with playing outside of the boundaries of BL expectations -- HCTM is DEFINITIVE of that position. Again, I wondered broadly why Manner of Death was just such a GOOD and watchable show. It’s because its writing was flowing, seamless, and SMART. And I think Title knew, that by centering the show in CRIME and MYSTERY, as opposed to romance, that he could actually play around with expectations of BL romance in a new and singular way. 

This is some cool-ass shit. 3WBF established that you could lead a crime story and include queerness. Manner of Death took this a touch further, and brought BACK the very best of BL tropes within a crime frame. BRILLIANT. And, listen. I have He’s Coming To Me on the OGMMTVC list as a BL. If we continue to extrapolate this argument, then -- I might contradict myself, and agree with @true-unicorn-queen, and maybe call Manner of Death a BL. In the end, I’ll give this argument to whoever wants to pick it up, because for me -- MoD was just a good damn SHOW that used mystery, BL, and romance tremendously well in its composition. And that’s why I think it was so successful. 

(One last tiny note on this: let me not forget to note the director of Manner of Death is Ma-Deaw Chookiat, the director and screenwriter of Dew the Movie. He, like Title, is certainly someone who plays on the very interesting fringes and intersections of the BL genre.)

For my pure simpy pleasure, I also thought MaxTul were way better in this than in Together With Me, Max especially. (As I’ve now established -- MoD was an excellent show itself, with the script of Together With Me being shaky at best, except for dear Yihwa.) I previously noted that there were some little fumbles in Tul’s acting in MoD, but nothing that kept me from enjoying the show. But Max was REALLY damn good. AND: listen. I mean, I love how jocky both of these guys were in the show, but Max REALLY did fighting and gun stuff and like, physical crime stuff VERY well. It was exciting -- he didn’t seem like he was doing it for the first time. If the show felt like it nailed CBS primetime shit like, I dunno, Hawaii Five-O or whatever, by way of its fight scenes, then I call that a win. I CLEARLY don’t normally watch those kinds of shows, HA, but I’ll watch a crime show if it has MaxTul in it, dammit!

Really quickly, on the point about whether or not MoD had an influence on future genre shows like Not Me and KinnPorsche: I will await my Not Me viewing, and my rewatch of KP, to make that final judgement, and I promise I’ll include MoD analyses in both those reviews. I think this is an important conversation to have continuing over the course of the OGMMTVC project, because aligned with this conversation is still a lingering awareness and analysis of the pressures that BL creators face and struggle with vis à vis romance, as I mentioned before. This is a struggle that continues to this day, as we most recently saw in Tee Bundit’s Step By Step, and whether or not that show was meant to be a romance, a workplace drama, and/or a macro-commentary on BL and BL expectations. I’ll be watching Not Me for the first time -- and I was not aware, at all, of any of these kinds of pressures when I first watched KinnPorsche. I’d like to go in fresh with both shows to be aware of what they WEREN’T doing by way of tropes to create very unique art, and to understand if and how Manner of Death opened that door.

One other floating point: à la A Tale of Thousand Stars that follows Manner of Death, MoD is centered in the rural town of Viang Phra Mork, showing off Thailand’s gorgeous northern scenery. I actually didn’t fully put this together until I had moved on to ATOTS on the OGMMTVC list, but as I was watching MoD, I loved that over the course of the show, many of the characters, especially Rungtiva, were shown wearing more ethnic Thai-inspired clothes, just like Khama and the villagers in ATOTS. I love that over the course of the OGMMTVC, we have gotten to see more and more deep dives into Thailand and Thai culture (Moonlight Chicken being another excellent example). Y’all who follow my blog know that I’m particularly interested in tracking Thai politics and Thai cuisine in our shows, and any bits of Thai culture that I can glom onto in our shows is so welcome. I loved it, and I’ll refer more to this in my ATOTS rewatch review. 

Finally, oh finally: MoD’s ending, HA. FIRST OFF: I mean, THE WEDDING, GAH. COME ONNNN. What a lovely farewell to MaxTul. At that point, I think it was assumed that we’d see them one more time in Transplant, but alas. But I really loved that we got to see BunTan in full-circle commitment.

And that proposal. Y’all. Y’ALL. I. WAS. DYING. So not only did that proposal NOT NEED GUN WHIPS, LOL, but as @kattahj pointed out to me, the proposal included GIVING SORAWIT/SORN A GUN, which, HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. 

Listen. I didn’t get into the actual deep meat of the show itself, of the UTTER success of the mystery story, in part because I don’t want to give it away for folks who haven’t watched it yet. But -- if you haven’t watched it, please watch Manner of Death. It’s a wonderful break from the BL norm, done absolutely wonderfully by a stellar screenwriter in Title, acted very well by Max, acted very attractively by MaxTul, and the supporting cast was spot on. I know I’ll be checking out Triage at some point to say my final-final farewell to Tul Pakorn, and I wish him all the very best in his next career. We’ll see Max and Toptap next in The Outing, and while that show looks -- confusing? -- I’ll definitely be following it for Max, to see what’s next up in his career. (I hope his health is doing better.) MoD kicked ass, with that classic MaxTul heat, crime, intrigue, AND romance, and it was an utterly successful show that’s absolutely worth celebrating.

[We’re truckin’! I’m making process on my review queue: we have my A Tale of Thousand Stars rewatch review dropping next week, with Lovely Writer after that, and then a double-review of Last Twilight in Phuket and I Promised You The Moon. I’m also going to squeeze in a review of The Warp Effect on Thursday for that Only Friends-flava.

Not Me, 55:15 Never Too Late, and Bad Buddy/Our Skyy 2 rewatch on the horizon. Boom boom boom!

List below. As ever, feedback to ya gal is welcome!

1) The Love of Siam (2007) (movie) (review here) 2) My Bromance (2014) (movie) (review here) 3) Love Sick and Love Sick 2 (2014 and 2015) (review here) 4) Gay OK Bangkok Season 1 (2016) (a non-BL queer series directed by Jojo Tichakorn and written by Aof Noppharnach) (review here) 5) Make It Right (2016) (review here) 6) SOTUS (2016-2017) (review here) 7) Gay OK Bangkok Season 2 (2017) (a non-BL queer series directed by Jojo Tichakorn and written by Aof Noppharnach) (review here) 8) Make It Right 2 (2017) (review here) 9) Together With Me (2017) (review here) 10) SOTUS S/Our Skyy x SOTUS (2017-2018) (review here) 11) Love By Chance (2018) (review here) 12) Kiss Me Again: PeteKao cuts (2018) (no review) 13) He’s Coming To Me (2019) (review here) 14) Dark Blue Kiss (2019) and Our Skyy x Kiss Me Again (2018) (review here) 15) TharnType (2019-2020) (review here) 16) Senior Secret Love: Puppy Honey (OffGun BL cuts) (2016 and 2017) (no review) 17) Theory of Love (2019) (review here) 18) 3 Will Be Free (2019) (a non-BL and an important harbinger of things to come in 2019 and beyond re: Jojo Tichakorn pushing queer content in non-BLs) (review here) 19) Dew the Movie (2019) (review here) 20) Until We Meet Again (2019-2020) (review here) 21) 2gether (2020) and Still 2gether (2020) (review here) 22) I Told Sunset About You (2020) (review here) 23) YYY (2020, out of chronological order) (review here) 24) Manner of Death (2020-2021) (not a true BL, but a MaxTul queer/gay romance set within a genre-based show that likely influenced Not Me and KinnPorsche)  25) A Tale of Thousand Stars (2021) (review here) 26) A Tale of Thousand Stars (2021) OGMMTVC Fastest Rewatch Known To Humankind For The Sake Of Rewatching Our Skyy 2 x BBS x ATOTS (review coming) 27) Lovely Writer (2021) (review coming) 28) Last Twilight in Phuket (2021) (the mini-special before IPYTM) (review coming) 29) I Promised You the Moon (2021) (review coming) 30) Not Me (2021-2022) 31) Bad Buddy (2021-2022) (thesis here) 32) 55:15 Never Too Late (2021-2022) (not a BL, but a GMMTV drama that features a macro BL storyline about shipper culture and the BL industry) 33) Bad Buddy (2021-2022) and Our Skyy 2 x BBS x ATOTS (2023) OGMMTVC Rewatch 34) Secret Crush On You (2022) [watching for Cheewin’s trajectory of studying queer joy from Make It Right (high school), to SCOY (college), to Bed Friend (working adults)] 35) KinnPorsche (2022) (tag here) 36) KinnPorsche (2022) OGMMTVC Fastest Rewatch Known To Humankind For The Sake of Re-Analyzing the KP Cultural Zeitgeist 37) The Eclipse (2022) (tag here) 38) GAP (2022-2023) (Thailand’s first GL) 39) My School President (2022-2023) and Our Skyy 2 x My School President (2023) 40) Moonlight Chicken (2023) (tag here) 41) Bed Friend (2023) (tag here) (Cheewin’s latest show, depicting a queer joy journey among working adults) 42) Be My Favorite (2023) (tag here) (I’m including this for BMF’s sophisticated commentary on Krist’s career past as a BL icon) 43) Only Friends (2023)]