#mostly i just...if i'm writing a story entirely based around sex i don't see the point of vilifying the act

[richeeduvie]

Can someone please explain to me the whole baby thing? And dog bone au? And all these aus im so confused

DOG AND BONE!AU BASICS

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.

This is asked every five months and I'm happy to explain it each time! I'll put it in the pinned post! This is a long one so sorry yall

So Dog and Bone is the title to the AU for a self-insert x Roman Roy fic compilation. There's no actual series yet…sorry, I know! How long has it been? But these fics range from entire one-shots that center around a plot that can lead into another one-shot/drabble, with the content of said piece becoming important to the whole AU, to just cute, fluffy or smutty drabbles and blurbs. Most of them are based on requests. Your request could become a big part of Dog and Bone!

BABY

Baby is the name for the self-insert. Fics will flip from a second person to third person POV, so you'll see her referred to as 'Baby' a lot. I don't consider her an OC because there's no and will never be a physical description of her and to be honest, I only started to referred to her as Baby so I could write third person POV fics when I'm lazy and don't want to go heavy in internal monologue, which is what I do for second person POV fics. I never use 'Y/N' for her or any self-insert. But many see her as other people and not themselves and I love that too!

Personality-wise, you'll find her to Roman's soulmate. Although she is still a victim of being out-of-touch due to her wealth, she's managed to be kind and respectful and just something that Roys don't have outside of her. She's the ultimate nepo baby with Logan just giving her some vague career path at Waystar to keep her around. She mostly works in marketing and spends her days with Tom and Greg. So, the story of DAB (lol). Baby is the childhood best friend of Roman (and Shiv). In the AU, Baby's biological father was Logan's best friend and business associate. She met the Roy family when she was five and when Roman when almost seven. She was meant to be the best friend of Shiv, but Roman stole her one day when Shiv when to get more toys and baby Baby was on the swings. His sister is still pissed about this to this day.

Nothing much has been mentioned of Baby's bio dad just yet, but it was a one-time thing (so understandable is yall don't remember) that we see Logan giving Baby the medal her father gave him after his funeral. He's dead and apparently fought in a war, or maybe just liked collecting medals as much as Logan did.

So, facts about the dead dad:

Maybe was a veteran

Was hinted to have given Baby an eating disorder

Died when she was eight

Possibly kept her away from her mother

Logan's her godfather, but it was Frank to take her in after her dad had passed. Frank ON TOP!!!! PAPA FRANK!!! Baby's mother is very distant and she's really only seen her for a few holidays throughout her childhood. I've always imagined her to be those wealthy hippies feigning spirituality and did maybe try to get Baby in terms of custody, but didn't try a lot - not even after Baby's father died. So, Baby gets to stay with the Roys with Frank being her guardian. With this, it's just co-dependency and possessiveness growing.

Roman and Baby don't really have friends outside of each other. They do everything together and eventually start doing relationship sort of things together. They take each others virginities. Roman gets panicky and painful in the muscles if Baby has to leave him for more than three days. It's great, but nothing's official.

They live this way until Roman gets with Tabitha.

Now, you may be thinking 'Why does he begin a relationship with Tabitha if he's so possessive and seemingly satisfied with the situation he has with Baby?' Well, I have two fics that'll help you to explain Roman's stupidity:

Why Does Rome Still Date Tabitha (They Don’t Have Sex, but Still) Kendall Wins!AU Confession

The latter of the two is a bit more personal and truthful for Roman. It can be noted that as much as I am a GerriRoman supporter, their relationship does not happen in the DogandBone!AU. Only because one, frankly, I don't know how to or have the desire to thread it throughout the story because I already kept Tabitha's plotline…which is Roman's downfall. You will see. And two, you'll find that Roman and all of the Roys, really, have a lot of themselves changed all because they have one genuine friend that's cared and loved them since childhood so that big part of Roman's plotless plot-time in canon is gone here. Grace didn't happen as well because Jesse Armstrong said so lol.

As I said, the genuine friend line applies to all of the Roys (excluding Logan, except for his AU…), but it really applies to Kendall. Going back to the point where Baby and Roman are fourteen/fifteen and fifteen/sixteen, he gets sent away to military school. I made it so he's only there for two years to which Logan just doesn't care to send him there anymore because I want Baby and Roman teenage puppy and needy love for as much as I can get it. During this time, Kendall has this belief, this kindness to take in Baby when she's at her loneliest.

and…so…Kendall and Baby's whole thing?

The link above sums up their whole situation but I'll elaborate a bit more here because there's Tern Haven. Tern Haven happens in the OG!DogandBone!AU and KendallWins!AU, the grooming situation happens in every AU.

Of course, Roman comes back and Baby sobers up for the most part and leaves groomer Kendall's ass in the dust! It's when Roman starts dating Tabitha decades later that Kendall, who never actually made a move on Baby, brings hell and tragedy to the family. Baby's not so keen on continuing to have sex and the weird thing she has with Roman as he is with Tabitha around, so she becomes lonely and thoughtful in the need to reconnect with friends, maybe start dating herself. She's there during Tern Haven and can't go to Roman's room to hang out, Tabitha's there. She doesn't bother Shiv and Tom, she could talk with Frank, maybe? Maybe, but she makes her way to Kendall's room.

And whatever high horse Kendall put himself on for not doing anything with Baby, maybe not being in love with her - or at least having no awareness about it, whatever was starting with Naomi, it's gone when Baby enters that room.

Again, Tern Haven happens in Kendallwins!AU and the OG!AU. The only difference is that after, Roman is either successful in pulling Baby away from Kendall, or he isn't. This is where it can get confusing as it can with all the AUs because there's so many little splices of moments within content that really helps you understand how things happen but I can say that the Kendallwins!AU is just sad, scary, and dark.

But enough of that!

OG!DOGANDBONE!AU

After Roman's successful in getting Kendall away from Baby, he immediately breaks up with Tabitha and they heal from what happened. Kendall declines quickly during this. Logan dies and they get married after the GoJo sale. They have Baby Jr. On occasion, we'll have fun and write them having two more kids, Baby Jr Jr and Roman Jr, but they aren't canon - or they at least would get a canon fic like Baby

FICS TO HELP: Romulus Sneakers | Dad Frank feat. Baby Roman Call Them Brothers Back in Town Bone and Her Heart Roman’s a Friend Stealer While you were sleeping Touch Me (I'm Sick) Date Death | Part One Date Death Part 2 Babied (He Loves It) Violet, Blue, Green, Red To Keep Me Out Phone Call Home Baby Baby in “I went to Market” Baby in ‘Too Much Birthday’ After the GoJo Sale Telling Roman She's Pregnant

BABY JR

Baby Jr is an unrealistically perfect angel of a child that belongs to Roman and Baby in their AU and was born a preemie with a slew of health problems, but because I love her so much, it's becoming a running joke for her to just exist in every AU, somehow. if Baby's there, Baby Jr's there. She's named fittingly. You'll see her a lot in smaller blurbs and fics. Another running joke is that she hates Kendall in every AU, though she's barely mentioned outside of the OG! and Loganwins!AU.

JUST MY FAVORITE BABY JR FICS:

Baby Baby's First and Last Day at School Bear Baby Jr! Baby Jr Doing Something Dangerous Connor Taking Baby Jr Fishing Baby Jr seeing Baby Roman with Glasses

VARIATIONS OF THE OG!AU

They aren't mentioned a lot anymore because we don't get so serious about them and it was more just to have fun with the story, but the OG!AU does have some variations to how the plot goes. You have Baby and Roman having Baby Jr before season one where Tabitha and Tern Haven are things that obviously never happened:

If Roman Knocked Baby Up Logan Bullying Baby Jr YoungBornBabyJr!AU With Roman Forcing Baby to Marry Him Roman Drunk and Loving If Roman Knocked Baby Up in Their 20s If Baby Jr was Little in The Pilot Logan’s Baby Jr Favoritism Where’s Your Daughter?

Then, you have Baby dying and Roman killing himself to leave Baby Jr an orphan: Come Time, Baby Jr Missing Mommy.

Or you have Baby AND Baby Jr dying to leave Roman killing himself after his last moments of suffering…which, I can't find, but do we really want to read that?

If you don't want to suffer, it can end simply as a nightmare Roman had in the night. Here's another Nightmare Blurb.

LOGANWINS!AU

Listen. I CANNOT be the only person who has consistently written for Logan. I CANNOT! But I do and Baby is unfortunately the victim of a joke turned into a horniness for an old, old man.

Logan doesn't actually have a fic establishing the Loganwins!AU. Everything that's longer than a blurb are moments that already take place after they've gotten together. Tern Haven does not take place here because it appears that this…intimate relationship takes place before season one. Roman doesn't get together with Tabitha in this AU because he's really fucked up about his soulmate having sex and marriage with his…Dad. His abusive Dad. Baby Jr does exist here! This started as a joke to get people grossed out over old man Logan cock, I played it so I was DISGUSTED to appease any requests that were sent in. I really was. I don't know what happened. But a lot of what is written expands past Logan x Reader and more about the AU itself, which happens with Kendallwins! and the OG!AU too.

FICS TO HELP: THE OFFICE CONFRONTATION Mondale The Second Baseball Sick Baby Jr Mom(my) Siblings and Baby Jr Buzz off! Sister Shiv Recital Alone Baby Jr How Does The Relationship Begin? How Does Logan Propose? Are Baby and Roman Still Close? Pregnancy Announcement in the AU They Bought a Cat Who's Baby Jr's Godfather? Panty Stealer Roman's Twitter Argument

You guys are lucky I can't find the smut fic I wrote. But it's here on this blog. Somewhere.

Nvm here it is my bad: Reflections.

AFFAIR!AU

There's the Loganwins!AU, then there's the Affair!AU, which was established pretty recently. It's where Baby begins an affair with Roman while she's married to Logan and Baby Jr ends up being Roman's daughter, not his little sister. As much as I have accepted my great enjoyment in indulging the Logan lovers, I do think this is Baby at her most Succession.

She gets the benefits of being Logan's wife and his favorite wife, a cute daughter, Roman at her heel, whining for her to really be with him but knowing he'll never leave her at her denial. She's horrible, a whore. A baddie winning.

FICS TO HELP: Baby Jr being Roman's Daughter Roman and Newborn Baby Jr Baby in the Affair!AU Roman revealing she's his to his siblings "Dada" A Slight Confrontation How does it start? In Dad's Bed

GROOMING SITUATION (OG!AU and KENDALLWINS!AU)

So, I explained most of it above, but these are the fics to help understand just how messed up DogandBone!Kendall is. He's a different man, guys.

(Also Stewy was there. Stewy was her friend. A flawed twenty-something year old who didn't care enough to separate himself from Kendall when noticing the red flags of him and Baby, but he denied, denied, denied. But he also gave Baby some sense of being…ya know, a kid…cause he saw her as a CHILD)

Tern Haven:

Tern Haven EXTENDED TERN HAVEN More of Tern Haven (…Yay…)

Ken's Groomer Era:

Sleepover Drugged Up Heart Does Baby go Clubbing With Kendall? The Birthday (Big One) Kendall being Confused That Baby's Not Jealous More of Ken being Confused That Baby's Not Jealous Sleepover 2 Kendall's Birthday Gifts....

The Aftermath:

Smacktalking During Too Much Birthday Bad Bit

There's more, of course. There's always more.

KENDALLWINS!AU

After Tern Haven, Kendall has Baby. He's won Baby. He gets more addicted to drugs while making her dependent on them. He turns her into nothing - and just for him. He's scary and paranoid when it comes to Roman. A variation of the AU would be the Babydies!AU, where she accidently overdoses after he leaves her alone. It's a lot. This is not a fun AU, guys. But I like to write it!

FICS TO HELP:

Housewife Thing Waystar Press Conference Accusing Baby Jr of Not Being His Roman Trying to Get Baby Back From Kendall A Slight, Brotherly Confrontation Daily Does of Horror (Heroin) Mention of Heroin Handsy Baby and Kendall and Pills Panty Stealer Brother Roman's Dick Pics Saying Roman's Name Flower Delivery

THE OD FICS:

No Time Needled Memories

NOW....

SHIV'S AU

Shiv's AU isn't even a win!AU, technically. We haven't really dabbled in the idea of her winning. Just more of her yearning, but all in all, this woman wants Baby soooo badly. Too sad she has the guilt of being a woman. And her father. And Tom. And the denial hot on her skin.

Calling Shiv Shiv

TOM'S AU

Apparently the man can get obsessed and they haven't even kissed in his AU, yet. Fitting considering the shit he pulls with Greg. It's Baby at her most guilty due to her friendship with Shiv.

KARL'S AU

No.

STEWY'S AU

I give crumbs and only crumbs. But we're getting something started with Wedding Bells (Part One)!

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.

I hope this helps! xoxo

[nerevar-quote-and-star]

For the story ideas folder "You Drew Stars Around My Scars" have definitely caught my eye!

Also hope you are doing good, Elm!

First of all, Crys, hiiiiiii! I'm doing okay! I hope you're well! ✨ Second, I just want to thank you for asking about "You Drew Stars Around My Scars" and to apologize for the person I'm about to become.

Are you ready for it?

"You Drew Stars Around My Scars" is a The Elder Scrolls V/Baldur's Gate 3 crossover that will likely never see the light of day for several factors, such as the number of WIPs I have, my original novel, school, and, oh, the fact that I've never played BG3 My MacBook Air cannot handle those demands. DESPITE THE EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES!, I just think the game is neat and have been sucked into it in part by Astarion. Mostly Astarion . . . okay, entirely.

Background information: Ever since I started writing Keeping Count, I knew Bishop was lifted from Neverwinter Nights and that it was a D&D-based game. And I guess that's why someone mentioned Astarion as a palette cleanser to me a few months ago, shared universe and all. And my initial perception of the character was so cool that I vaguely entertained an alternative Keeping Count where Astarion shows up, seduces Leara from Bishop, and probably sexy stabs Bishop or something. And then I didn't really think about it again. For months.

Then my brain went back to it and Astarion and BG3 and I cried a bit when I realized that my laptop couldn't play the game. I'm fine. And you know what? @cosmermaid is right: Leara deserves a better companion than freaking Bishop. Also please forgive my minimal BG3/D&D knowledge, 95% of which I've absorbed since like last Monday ish.

SO! "You Drew Stars Around My Scars" features Leara getting picked up by the Mind Flayer ship post-Sovngarde and taken via dimensional travel to Faerûn where, following the crash, she joins the usual party on a quest to get rid of the parasites. This Leara is very specifically taken after the planned Chapter 15 of Keeping Count for Reasons. Can Leara use magic in Faerûn since she's not able to draw it from Aetherius? No idea. Can she Dragon Shout? Also no idea. Transdimensional magic mechanics are weird. Regardless, Leara probably mentions something about being Dragonborn and gets weird and confused looks because her definition of Dragonborn is totally different from that in the Forgotten Realms. Linearly, I have no idea what would happen, but overall, Leara and Astarion both suffer trauma from following people who hurt them and they have complicated relationships with sex. They could have what could be a very cathartic relationship. Or I think so, anyway. Also, I kinda want to know if vampires react differently to the Dragonblood.

Symbolism in the story could heavily involve stars and light. Leara means "Light of the Sea" while Astarion means "Little Star". Leara is dependent on the stars for her magic but she's lost them, while Astarion wants to walk in the light even after the parasite is gone. There's no balance and it has to be found. They're both so cold and have lived in the shadows for a long time. There are dark versions of themselves they don't want to be anymore.

There's the possibility that, given her background in the Blades and Dominion, Leara might see through Astarion's mask in Act I. But she'd end up helping Astarion (and probably not giving on that she's on to him until later) because she's a bleeding heart. Two other very important things about this underwhelming but brain-rotting story: First, Astarion wouldn't ascend. We would need a Leara Disapproves sticker because she would not be for Astarion doing that. The second thing is, well, since motherhood is an extremely important part of Leara's character, I did pick out a name for a possible child. If Leara and Astarion had a daughter, her name would be Ilmarien, derived from Quenya, Ilmarë, meaning “starlight”.

Because after all this time, Tolkien elves still make the most sense to me.

[variousqueerthings]

AND LAST OF S5: THE BIG BANG

Soooooo I don't dislike it. All the kid!Amy stuff I really really like even!

but does it stick the landing?

sexism rank objectification (female character is ogled/harassed/turned into a sex joke by the doctor and/or a lead we’re supposed to root for and/or the camera): 7/10

sexism rank plot-point (lead female character is only there to serve plot, not to have her emotional interiority explored, or having her emotional agency ignored by the plot): 5/10

interesting complex or pointlessly complex (does the complexity serve the narrative or does it just serve to be confusing as a stand-in for smart, this includes visually): 6/10

furthers character and/or lore and/or plot development (broader question that ties into the previous ones, at least two of these, ideally three should be fulfilled): 7/10

companion matters (the companion doesn’t always have to be there, but if the companion is there, can they function without the doctor– and overall per season how often is the companion the focus or POV of the story): 3/10

the doctor is more than just “godlike” (examines the doctor’s flaws and limitations, doesn’t solve a plot by having it revolve entirely around the doctor’s existence): 5/10

doesn’t look down on previous doctor who (by erasing or mocking its importance, by redoing and “bettering” previous beloved plotpoints or characters, etc.): 6/10

isn’t trying to insert hamfisted sexiness (m*ffat famously talked a lot about how dw should be sexier multiple times, he sucks at writing it): 5/10

internal world has consistency (characters have backgrounds, feel rooted in a place with other people, generally feel like they have Lives): 6/10

Politics (how conservative is the story): 6/10

FULL RATING: 56/100 (if I can count….)

Better than Pandorica Opens!

OBJECTIFICATION: Not too bad, good start. Amy is wearing (most of the time) the same outfit as last episode, and River is also just vibing

PLOT-POINT: This episode is ostensibly all about Amelia Pond's first Moment with the Doctor as an eye of the storm, and I like that

but Amy never really talks about it or does anything related to it. she does have a bit where she says she doesn't regret their journeying, but for some reason she's the main person who never really seems to... feel anything about it, like actually this genuinely was sorted back in end episode 1 for her

and the whole purpose of her having had this encounter is to bring the Doctor back from non-existence. there's a version of this story, where Amy's conflicted feelings about being abandoned, and even tbh about marriage are at the centre of the conflict

River is just there to be mysterious, you'll see later what's going on with her... maybe...

COMPLEXITY: A lot of forwards and backwards in time and the Tardis is exploding and we still don't know why, in the end they're baaasically running through a museum and the Doctor hooks himself up to the Pandorica and yeets himself into the heart of the storm

It's not egregious/it's possible to follow... there are unanswered questions.....

I also think it's hilarious that after all that supposed set-up, Rory just... takes him out of the box again. Into the box and out of the box

CHARACTERS/LORE/PLOT: I need to ruminate on this a bit. getting married as plot is not a bad thing. I'm not a massive fan of the Amy/Rory romance and how it progressed (mainly because it mostly didn't and then suddenly shifted into a slightly different parallel universe where they're madly in love), so I'm not sold on Amy's adultness being centred in marriage

but this is not only a M*ffat thing. this show is very based in alloromance. it's just whether it makes sense that Amy... wants this... or if the plot just decided that now she does

do I think characters got closer? kinda yeah. Amy and Rory are married now, even though Rory is still characterised as permanently unsure of where he stands with Amy's "moods" (angry moods, sexual moods, sad moods, etc)

Rory: Are you okay? Amy: Are you? Rory: No Amy: Well shut up then!

I was kinda struck by how venomous she was at him, and then they hug and it's fine, but that's kind of what it feels like between them a lot of the time

Amy: are you just saying yes, because you’re scared of me? Rory:... yep

anyway, it changes things for the next season perhaps, now they are firmly married and not in the "will Amy or won't she" boat

and the Doctor came to the wedding! didn't disappear when he was called!

there is plot To Come that is set up... why did the Tardis explode? what is the Silence?

COMPANIONS MATTER: they're there for most of it, there's this whole backstory of Rory protecting the Pandorica for 2000 years, which is the basis of Rory and Amy now being this epic romance, and taken on its own it's pretty cool

Amy is there to experience things happening, so that she can remember it later on, and then she gets married, because in the end all of s5 is centred around the Marriage Of The Ponds and Amy learning that she can grow up (get married) and have adventures with the Doctor and those things don't cancel each other out

the Doctor does things and they all follow

“GODLIKE” DOCTOR: eh, the Doctor solves everything and everyone's just tagging along, but I like the "we're all just stories in the end" bit. the Doctor is also just a story

PREVIOUS DOCTOR WHO: not much of previous Doctor Who in this so... not terrible technically

“SEXINESS”: Why is Amy doing her whole "I'm gonna snog the Doctor" schtick? There's this bit also where she and Rory make out for ages and the camera lingers on it, because now they're passionate lovers, and fine, I guess, it's not the worst thing M*ffat has done

I am deciding to add River's whole... making the Dalek say Mercy. it's kind of a fantasy badass moment where she's being badass with a gun

and here I'm unsure whether to put Amy making Rory afraid or not, because it's definitely a M*ffat fantasy, but it also relates to Amy's whole... why this a good relationship? anyway. we'll put it here, because I'm sleepy, fuckit

Amy sauntering up to the Doctor and saying "We haven’t even had a snog in the shrubbery yet" is unfortunately just. it's in my brain

INTERNAL WORLD: we've met Amy's aunt! in that other world where the stars don't exist and the Universe is ending. and we've met Amy's parents! (wonder if we'll see them again)

it's kind of rebuilding things after episode 1 already gave us something of her life, but none of those character reappear. it's also hard not to know what comes next, which is.... nothing with any of this

especially considering Amy not remembering her parents is presented as a Big Deal in this episode, so her life is now straightened out (I was going to say normalised or returned to the ideal status quo, and realised all three of these are hiding the truth, which is that Amy's life is normative now -- she got married at last, and she has two parents like Normal)

POLITICS: Nothing much one way or another in this

FULL RATING: 56/100 (if I can count….)

I think this episode is defined by being not the worst of the season. It's strongest suit is not being super offensive, but it's also not extraordinary. Its weakness is in the companions again. Are they there to experience the Doctor doing cool stuff, or are they there to have narratives centred around them? How does Amy feel about her entire existence being bait? About being helpless to do anything in this whole thing that revolves in some way around her memories? she just kind of bounces into whatever the plot needs someone to do, never being particularly affected by what came before

[novelconcepts]

All of your fics are wonderful, but this fwb hit me hard and I’ve been trying to figure out why. I think it’s because of how you handled the casual sex and Jamie’s ‘fuckboi’ persona. It felt real in a way that fics in the genre often don’t. Having sex within 20 minutes of propositioning someone you don’t know? Very real. Often awkward. But real. Having lots of partners and not feeling bad about it? Real. Agreeing to a non-exclusive relationship of sorts? Real. Sure they both caught feelings and experienced jealousy because of the feelings, but I love that you never once made them hold it against the other. And I love that when they finally talk things out, Jamie doesn’t express regret for her sexual history. It was what it was. It worked for her. Now she wants something else. My life pre-Covid was a lot like Jamie’s pre-Dani—I don’t really experience romantic attraction, but sex is great—so it was just nice to see this reflected in a fic without the author unintentionally (or intentionally) moralizing about casual sex. So thank you.

One thing this show is really, really good about with these two characters is steering clear of shame as a driving force. Never does Jamie try to shame Dani--about her prior relationship, about her guilt, about the things Dani thinks is crazy in her own head--and Dani is exactly the same way; Jamie’s history comes up because she tells the story, and never again, never to be used as a weapon against her. Shame and jealousy, which are normally so prevalent in queer narratives especially, are both conspicuously, carefully absent from their story.  In writing a FWB story and still keeping it true to them as characters, then, that had to stay the same. Casual, consensual sex between adults is perfectly fine--and in fact, if either of them had a problem with it, the skeleton of the story wouldn’t have worked at all. Feeling romantic attachment and jealousy on an internal level, too, is very normal and human; I just wanted to be careful not to weaponize those things. At their core, these are women who stand on equal ground, even if they sometimes don’t see eye to eye or haven’t fully communicated yet. I wanted to really preserve that, no matter what--and try to do the same in all stories with them at the heart. And the bit about not expressing regret for history--that’s very Jamie in the show, as well. Her entire monologue is very much “the past happens, and then it’s in the past, and this is who I am now”. I really like that about a character who is, surface-level, rough and complicated. I feel like we don’t see that kind of character making peace with their past choices, or errors, or traumas quite in the same way very often.

[jojotichakorn]

my thoughts and opinions on "lovely writer": criticizing the critic

tw for discussions of age gaps, rape, and sex

before i turn into the mean and constantly dissatisfied archer that we all know and hate, i just want to say that i liked this show. i think it's great, actually! gene and sib are appropriately cute, the premise is nice, and the attempt at criticizing the industry is... well, an attempt, which is better than nothing. moreover, "lovely writer" came with gifts because it gave me my new favorite character, so you can't go telling me i'm trying to completely obliterate it or something.

besides, this specific post isn't going to get into analyzing the show as a whole anyway. i won't be talking about any irrelevant plot points, cinematography, sound design, or anything like that, though i could probably write a post just as long as this one about that side of things as well. however, i am here to specifically look at the problematic things that were both criticized by the show and included in the show without any criticism. i'm going to talk about the more serious side of things here, which means i'm going to get serious. and i'm going to be harsh. very harsh.

gene and nubsib: yes's and no's

overall, the relationship between gene and sib was a fair attempt at showing something complex, yet ultimately quite healthy, which i appreciate. there were some things i was especially glad about. the fact that sib dated other people before settling on getting together with gene, for example, makes the whole situation a little less codependent. however, as much as this show prides itself on not wanting to romanticize problematic relationships, there are at least two major problems with genesib.

the age gap (and why it was not needed)

i've tried my very best to give this entire concept the benefit of the doubt. at first, i was convincing myself that they were simply close childhood friends, then i was trying my best to believe that even though sib did have a sort of crush on gene (which sometimes happens to little children), gene only saw him as his younger brother, but eventually, the show gave me no choice, but to deem the entire storyline problematic, because they did their best to romanticize that relationship - from gene's dad seeing the "early signs" to the counting and kissing the cheek turning to counting and full-on lip-locking in the last episode.

i could go into how this could all easily be mended if little sib was shown as kind of obsessed with his older friend, but gene was shown as not being anywhere near interested in the kid. but the real question is - why was the age gap needed at all?

i've researched the age of the boys during the flashbacks to the best of my ability and it seems that gene is 11 and sib is 6 or 7. if sib was the same age as gene (or maybe just one year younger, but not any more than that), not only would none of it feel weird, it would also be quite appropriate to explore that first glimpse of romantic feelings some of us experience exactly around that age. i don't think it's necessary for sib to be much younger than gene (children can be just as impressionable at 11 as they are at 7, and as for gene being surprisingly nice and helpful and the other kids not wanting to play with sib, he could have easily been - for example - bullied by his peers instead, which would have the same effect).

moving forward to the present, i don't think the lack of an age gap would affect the storyline that much either. even if they desperately needed sib to be a university student, they could have that one-year difference i've talked about before, which is not as significant. sib could be in his last year of uni, while gene could have easily written his very first novel during his university years, which would actually make more sense (since that guaranteed him employment and freedom to write after he finished uni; and i would rather believe that he had time to write his first novel in-between classes than in-between shifts at work, which he would surely need to have if he started writing after finishing university).

so that brings me back to my initial question - why was it needed? and much like the show often does, i will leave this one up for your interpretation because i do not have any sensible answers myself.

the issue with sex and consent

"but archer!" - i hear you exclaim - "lovely writer is known for explicitly denouncing rape romanticization in bls, how could there possibly be any problems with consent here?" and i hear you, my dear reader. and you aren't incorrect, "lovely writer" is indeed very explicit at calling out bls for having rape scenes (and i do appreciate that). however, as i'm sure you know, there are different ways in which consent can be taken from a person, and there are different non-consensual acts that someone might perform. for example, there are many different forms of coercion, such as the person being persuaded until they feel like they have no other choice, but to say yes. touching someone or kissing someone without asking for permission are also non-consensual acts. i can go on and on, there are many examples outside of what so many people consider rape.

now, what if i tell you that though there (thank the gods) has been no rape present in "lovely writer", not all scenes with gene and sib are consensual? well, that's what i'm telling you because it's the truth. both the first kissing scene and the scene where gene and sib "try out different poses" have clear coercion in them. the entire "joke" of the scene before gene and sib's first time is literally built upon the concept of "a person is trying to run away from someone, who wants to have sex with them" and it is NOT funny. the later reveal of gene actually looking up how to have sex seems to be there on purpose, to show that everything that's happened is "ok" because gene was thinking about it. as a sensible person, i will only accept actual enthusiastic consent and not someone possibly maybe probably considering it. not to mention that right before having sex, sib asks gene one last time if he is sure, which is great, except it is immediately followed by "i'm not going to let you change your mind anymore", which - daily reminder - you are allowed to stop having sex at any point during the act if you start feeling uncomfortable with it. that's absolutely normal.

now the problem that we seem to run into here is that "lovely writer" appears to think that it's ok to push someone to the limit until they either finally agree or confidently and loudly disagree. the drama has repeatedly shown us that actually forcing someone to have sex is not ok; however, persuading and otherwise coercing someone, as well as taking an approximate guess of them wanting to have sex based on some marginally related factors, is ok. i would like to once again remind everyone that all of that is not ok.

one more issue i want to bring up in connection with sex is something i wish was common knowledge: it is NOT supposed to hurt during your first time. whether you are planning to have vaginal or anal sex for the first time, it should not hurt. and if it does, something has definitely gone wrong and you need to stop. you are not supposed to experience any pain or discomfort during sex, including your first time (outside of desired and therefore intentionally inflicted pain, but that's not what i'm talking about here). i have seen this misconception brought up many times in bls along with the other person "thanking the person who got hurt for bearing the pain to bring them pleasure" and absolutely none of that is normal. stop. please, just... stop.

criticism of the BL industry

there are certainly quite a few things i liked about the way "lovely writer" criticized the many problems that surround bls. i think they dealt especially well with the fan aspect. the breaches of privacy that are considered normal, the toxicity of social media that encourages people to comment on other people's personal life, harass and stalk them - all of that was shown in its full glory (or rather horror) and clearly condemned. it was also interesting to see how easily everyone around sib fell into the routine of having to hide genesib's relationship, just because "that's what's supposed to be done in these situations" - even tum did that without thinking twice.

however, i have not spent the past three years hating gmm for a show trying to criticize the industry not to focus on criticizing the production company and everyone professionally involved with the making of bls. don't get me wrong - they didn't completely overlook that side of things, but i found the way they approached it dissatisfying.

like yes, tum fights with his sister (aka sib's manager) and calls her out for her terrible actions, and the publisher (bua) eventually apologizes for what she did, but all of that feels a bit too... personal. i do not care about these individual stories. i care about you saying that the whole system is broken because it very much is. i wanted manner of death but with the bl industry, and instead, i got an "uwu the fans are demanding we do this, and our hands our tied" (which is a lie) and "uwu i'm just trying to make money" (which i mean... if you feel ok milking even more money than you already have by doing something unethical and immoral, then be my guest, but also go fuck yourself). besides that, i didn't see any criticism of tabloids or exploitative celebrities either (both of which we had examples of in the show), and that was kind of disappointing.

coming back to the fans for a moment, i also think that the criticism of real people shipping was entirely unsuccessful. we basically mostly got an "oh, what if this person's partner thinks they are actually dating", which... if a bunch of people on the internet who do not know your boyfriend personally and make all their judgments from screenshots and their imagination can convince you that your boyfriend is cheating, i've got some bad news for you and also a number for a therapist. partly i know why it was so complicated for them to get into it properly - the issue with real people shipping is an issue of privacy, boundaries, the perception of celebrities, acceptable interests, and many other complex topics. however, it's better to not criticize something than to criticize it badly and inaccurately (because the latter usually leads to even more encouragement of whatever you were attempting to criticize).

aey: the flamboyant villain

aey certainly starts as a promisingly complex character, but the farther we go from his backstory and his family, the less complex and the more evil he gets. eventually, the trauma he goes through is no longer enough to give him a get-out-of-jail-free card, and he loses all remaining sympathy after sexually harassing gene and pretending to drug sib. and i did start this post by saying that i am not to analyze any plot points or characters from the show here; however, i'm saying all this to prove a point that aey is a clear villain in the show. this is further cemented by the fact that by the end of the show he loses the only two people who cared about him, and the very last moment with him in the show is literally just him crying for about 3 minutes. there was no redemption arc, no pity, no revenge - he was left alone and broken, clearly punished by the narrative. and i've got a bone to pick here as well.

one of the first things that we find out about aey is that he is gay, and quite openly so. he is repeatedly described as very feminine by many characters, he flirts with men, he talks about being good in bed, and his entire character is built upon being gay (half of it directly, and the other half due to the fact that his entire backstory and therefore personality is also built upon the fact that he is gay). he is - for the lack of a better term - the gayest character in the show and the only one who is loud about being gay not because he is in love but simply because it is a part of him and he doesn't want to hide it. and he is the villain. not the disgusting publisher or the terrible manager - no, this guy was specifically chosen to ruin everyone's lives. and i can't say i'm particularly happy about that. *british voice* seems a bit homophobic love

not quite queer enough

as i said, aey is openly gay. gene and sib also eventually say that they are gay, gene's father teep is queer, so are tiffy and mhok. but it just doesn't seem to come up as much as it would in real life. the only time anyone has a problem with any of the characters being queer is when we deal with the parents. but knowing actual queer thai actors in real life, we are all aware how hard it can be for them, but it has not come up even once for aey, gene or sib (with genesib only being a problem because they are a "non-shippable couple"). being queer is far from being a non-issue in the industry, and i found it incredibly weird that it was never brought up (and i would also prefer if they brought that up instead of showing the unaccepting parents plot for the millionth time).

same goes for the lack of conversation around queer people on set. i think we all have a wonderful example of how much better a bl can get simply when it involves a queer director and/or screenwriter (gods bless p'aof), gay actors, etc. i also thought it was a missed opportunity that gene being a gay man writing a bl novel was never highlighted. if anything, everyone made a big deal out of him being a man writing a bl - never mind that he is a gay man that is far more qualified to write bls than a straight woman.

in conclusion, there are simply not enough queer issues talked about here for a show that is about queer people facing difficulties while making a queer drama.

tiffy and tum: the good, the bad, and the ugly

overall, tiffy and tum are quite cool. outside of my own personal feelings, i really liked the clear reversal of gender roles they have going on: he knows lots about make-up, she knows nothing about it, he knows how to sew, she knows how to repair a car, etc.

tiffy is also a nice addition to the precious few queer girls we have in bls. however, the way her being bi is executed... it isn't great. when she first talks about dating girls to tum, she says things like "even though i look like this" (implying queer girls have a certain look?) and "maybe it seemed normal because i was at an all-girls school" (which wtf does that even mean?). i think the worst thing, though, was when she assumed tum was gay. my best guess is she thought so because she initially thought that tum and gene were a couple; however, she should be the first person to know that just because he likes men, it doesn't mean that he doesn't like women or any other gender. even though there was nothing explicitly leading me to make this conclusion, this whole thing did kind of feel like the old "flipping the switch" stereotype (meaning, she used to like women, but now she likes men, and both of them can't happen simultaneously).

make it make sense

i think i've never been more confused in my entire life than when i found out that the director of "lovely writer" also happens to be the director of "th*arnt*pe". and if at first, i was asking a lot of questions about this peculiar individual, who went from working on the worst rape-romanticizing show we have ever had to a show that explicitly states that rape is not normal. but the more i thought about it, the less i was interested in him, and the more i was interested in whoever made the decision to hire him. there are dozens of different directors that have worked specifically on bls, and even more that haven't. yet out of all those, you decided to choose this one. the dude, who before your show has only directed the show with the biggest rape-y vibes. that casts a particular kind of shade on the entire show that i simply do not like.

conclusion

at the end of the day, i think what "lovely writer" tried to do was very interesting. it succeeded in some ways and failed in others. frankly, i think this show could have easily been made better if someone queer was involved in making it. that's always true, but especially so, when we try to talk about the issues of making a queer drama. either way, it's certainly a good start to this conversation; however - as i said - i'm still waiting for my manner of death but with the bl industry. this was unfortunately not it.

[lavenderbexlatte]

Hello!!! Welcome to 🦋 anon's probably-way-too-overthought analysis on the m&m series in light of the new part. I have stopped crying and had about 24 hours to think, and I have discovered I have many thoughts, and this will probably be way more detailed than it should be.

The first thing I would like to address are some of the accusations Chan made at the end of the most recent part. (While I understand that they're supposed to not quite be accurate because of their obvious root in insecurity, and a lot of what I'm saying may just be like "yeah, obviously," I still would like to tell at the character a bit but I can't so this is what I have.)

Claim #1: "You fucking came at us at that party with your little girl-dom agenda and the guys fell for it, hook line sinker!"

This one's fairly self explanatory, no she didn't. They literally came onto her, even him, with his "There’s that pretty blush," and "Whatever you want it to be," lines. (And while yes, it's very likely that he was just trying to play it cool, but there's no way she could've known that, I'll come back to this later.)

Claim #2: "Nobody fucking asked me what I wanted!" "Nobody asked if I was sure that I wanted…"

Also mostly false, but he does have a tiny bit of a point. Yes, reader did grab his hair without asking, which is a little iffy, but she didn't actually rough with him until he goads her on. But I would argue that the reader is actually the ONLY one who asks him what he wants, if he's okay with things. While there may have been a little bit of discussion on the decision to approach the reader that we didn't see because of perspective (him saying this is kind of telling me that there wasn't, or at the very least not enough, maybe even some pressure for this to be the moment), or maybe Changbin said something while reader is with Jisung on the couch, after that, we don't see Jisung and Changbin check in with him at ALL, and there's not really an opportunity any other time for it just not have been noticed by the reader. As his partners, and the ones in the situation who have the full knowledge of Chan's situation, it should've been their responsibility to make sure he was alright throughout the process, even if they're not the ones in control for this situation, ESPECIALLY if they're going to keep this information from their Domme for the night (which really, I would say, wasn't a good idea, but no one is required to out themselves so I'll leave it alone).

HOWEVER, the reader does check with him, several times. She asks for boundaries/hard limits/etc before they even start anything, and while again, he's not required to say "hey, having a sexuality crisis, first time with a girl, kinda nervous," and he may not want to tip off Jisung and Changbin that something's wrong, that would be the time to say something like "I'm not feeling anything rough tonight, if you could be gentler that would be great." She asks them if there's anyone that doesn't actually want to fuck her. Also, she implements a safeword system (which she specifically calls him out to make sure he's okay with), which they weren't even going to USE, and asks them at least twice throughout the scene for their color, and Chan specifically if he's okay at least two more times besides that. Actually Chan almost makes fun of her for asking so many questions, so I think this claim is just another part of his insecurity-fed delusion that she's conspiring to ruin his life, or something, but again I'll come back to that. My point is that despite being the only one who doesn't know his situation, reader is also the only one who checks in with him.

There are a few other things he said that I took issue with, but those are the main two.

Next; Chan's delusion that reader is like conspiring to ruin his life. (Really like how you depicted this by the way, though I may be thinking wayyy too far into this.) I remember watching some video when I had one of my mental health/disorders hyperfixations. The video was about schizophrenia, and while I definitely don't think Chan has schizophrenia, one of the things the video talked about was types of delusions, and this kind of reminded me of one of them. I don't remember what it's called, but it's basically a delusion based around one idea, and then you force the world around you to fit into that idea. One example of this that I can think of is Azula from ATLA. Towards the end of her arc in the TV series, she starts seeing hallucinating her mother everywhere, and you get a peek of her fixed belief that her mother is behind everything that has gone wrong in her life, which is expanded upon a little bit in the books. Obviously Chan's not experiencing delusion to the extent that she did, but I did see some (albeit much less intense) parallels that were interesting. See, if he only talked about how his boyfriends seemed to like the reader more than him, that would be one thing, but he brings up his mother as well, which even though they did speak, it's a little out there to say that your mother likes someone she's talked to once more than you. That, combined with his insisting that the reader is playing some sort of game makes me think of that a little.

Of course this was only at first, when I was like "wtf, where is this 'my boyfriends like you more than me' thing coming from?" And then I reread the first few parts for this monstrosity of an ask that I'm writing rn. While at first I thought that this was entirely out of left field, when I read through the first few parts, especially the second one, with the knowledge that he felt that way, I noticed a few things you had put in there.

For the majority of the scene, or at least the first good chunk, the reader deals with Jisung and Changbin alone, leaving Chan by himself to watch. Obviously, as we see the reader's perspective, we know that it's because she found Chan's attitude intriguing and wanted to be able to deal with that one on one (at least that's what I got from it), it's easy to see now how to someone who's already insecure about their relationship and themselves, that would read as someone replacing you. Especially when Jisung, with no ill intent, but still, outright rejects his help in favour of the reader, and once again, he is left out, only this time it's accompanied with the sting of knowing (or at least feeling) that your partner didn't want you involved.

Now I kinda want to go character by character, and idk, talk about what I think they did wrong? We'll see, I'm not going to edit this so here we go.

Jisung and Changbin : Honestly, looking back on 3racha's first encounter with the reader, they really should have done better as Chan's partners. Like I said earlier, as the ones who knew Chan's situation, and the ones who likely pressured him slightly into he whole ordeal, it was really their responsibility to make sure Chan was okay with everything that was going on. That, and them feeling the need to sneak around with reader behind Chan's back doesn't sit right with me. I get that they have an open relationship, but there's a difference between having an open relationship and hooking up with someone your partner doesn't like, and actively trying to hide that you're hooking up with them. Their relationship boundaries may be fine with that, but idk, something feels off about it.

(I couldn't figure out where to put this and you may have already addressed this but it's my little theory/headcanon that Chan actually suspected it was reader at Jisung's place, and when there wasn't anyone there, he kinda gaslighted himself afterwards, idk. With the new knowledge it feels likely.)

Also, knowing that they were together for a while before Chan joined the relationship I think explains so much about the communication issues they seem to have with him. While I do think Chan has trouble communicating his feelings about things, I think their established communication and knowing eachother really well doesn't help. I may just be making things up at this point, but I feel like they have trouble with communication with Chan specifically, maybe forgetting that he doesn't have the same time/experience thy have with each other? If that makes sense?

Chan : oh boy. I've gone into a lot of detail already, so I'll try to keep this brief. Obviously, I think he has a looooottt of insecurity he needs to work through. If I were reallllyyy analyzing this I would say maybe a past cheating partner(?), but unless that's relevant to the plot I'm not sure if that's just me reading too much into this. Also mentioned before, COMMUNICATION ISSUES. One thing that would prevent half of the issues with this series is Chan communicating with his partners, though I suppose that wouldn't be near as much fun to read. Or just communicating I'm general, like I said, he had a plethora of opportunities to communicate to reader if he wanted something different, and didn't. So, yeah. Honestly I think he causes most of his own problems, but I feel like we knew that.

Reader : Now. I spent most of this series completely on the reader's side. Last night after reading part six, I was like "oh my god. He's right!" But then I took a while and thought a lot about it (as you can see), and honestly, I think reader probably did the least wrong out of everyone. Yes, the hair thing was a little iffy, like I said earlier, but once I went back and realized that he was actively participating and egging her on, I don't think that's necessarily something she did wrong. Beyond that, she did the most in regards of communication (at least during sex, after is another story), even more than the partners themselves. I think she did the best she could with the information that was given to her. She saw three guys approach her as a unit, and while yes, she didn't ask before engaging with Chan, I don't think it's really her fault for assuming that they were all interested as a unit as well. She had no reason to question any of their sexualities, why would she? She sees three partners approach her in unison, why wouldn't she assume they were on the same page? Anyway, all that to say, I think reader is the most innocent of all the main characters so far, though I may feel different after sitting on this for more time.

Anyway, here's this unedited brain dump, loved the new part, enjoy. Or not ig - 🦋

i've been sitting on this for like a week bc it's just so long and amazing??? and i have no idea what to say?? 🥺🥺

the bit about chan having a sort of delusion that reader is out to ruin his life in a pointed, conspired way is VERY interesting. their dynamic is actually something that i pulled from myself, in a way. i'm really superstitious about dumb things. i hate, like, bumping into someone or accidentally saying something that hurts someone's feelings bc i know that that karma/vibe/intention (whatever you wanna call it, i'm not spiritual just paranoid) is gonna come back around.

reader is the opposite. she's just walking around doing things and thinking about herself, and then being shocked when there are equal and opposite reactions to the stuff she does. i overthink everything, so reader doesn't think nearly enough.

but lemme say

that the best thing you said is how jisung and changbin are absolutely not the innocent bystanders that everyone seems to think they are 🤐🤐 most readers LOVE those two. but think about it...what are they trying to accomplish, here? 👀

[fumbling-fanfics]

Lewis Tan x Reader...

Prompt/Idea: Fuck her like her ex is living in the apartment downstairs.

This wasn't a request, just something me and @crushed-pink-petals chatted about. Then I started writing and I was forcing it so I forgot about it and then I saw it when I wanted to write and now I'm happy with it. So moral of the story, write what you can and leave them on ice for another date.

Warnings: Smut

**********************************************

Lewis pressed you into the couch with his body as you kissed. His mouth moved from yours, across your jaw, finding the side of your neck as he ground his hips into yours. You moaned into his ear as your hands went under his cotton t-shirt, feeling the heat of his skin, and the movements of his muscles beneath.

Your drew your nails lightly down his back under his t-shirt . He released the skin of your neck, and groaned into your neck. “Take this off.” you breathed, tugging on his shirt. His mouth released your neck, no doubt to return at a later point to finish the love bite.

In a split of a second, his shirt was gone. Then so was yours. Lewis managed to shimmy you out of your jeans. Then his jeans where gone - boxers too. You're not sure when you lost your underwear. Maybe you weren't wearing any.

Lewis always managed to make the simple moment toe curlingly intense. Which made you wetter and everything a hundred times more sexy.

He cupped the side of your face, his thumb hooking into your mouth as he balanced his weight on his elbow and forearm while his other hand disappeared down between you both.

As soon as you felt his fingers brush along your stomach - you knew what was coming, Lewis knew you knew what was coming. Your fingers trembled on the back of his neck in anticipation. Your heart pounder in your chest as you felt his hand dip between your legs. He cups you, dragging his fingers between your folds, gathering your arousal in his hand. He uses it lubricate himself, drawing his hand up and down his length from base to tip.

If you could repeat the feeling of Lewis entering you you would. It makes you stomach muscles flutter like butterflies.

He holds still to savour the feeling of being in you. How you dance around him, trying to pull him deeper.

His other hand, now finished between you both, slide under your lower back, and as he slide into you he tilted your hip upwards. It wasn't even that big of a tilt, but as usual it just has your eyes rolling into the back of your head and your fingernails scraping against the back of his head. Lewis shudders.

"You want me to stop" Lewis grinned, his hips still moving in that way that meant you couldn't catch your breath. You couldn't speak, just pulling Lewis closer to you. His stomach against yours, his chest against yours.

There was the sound of knocking on a door, but you could no longer see the TV so you weren't sure if it was the TV or actually someone at your door.

"No" For a moment you were lost in the movement of his hips and the dirty things he was whispering into your ear.

The banging on the door sounds again. Now it was obvious that the noise wasn't coming from the TV.

"The door"

"Ignore it" the banging is more impatient, obvious it's was not knuckles against the door but a palm.

"Someone is at the door. Open the door" Lewis doesn't stop immediately. He changes the angel of his thrusts watching as you fall quiet with a gasp.

"No" he grins pulling your hands from your mouth, the moan mixed with a curse shuddering out as you came.

"Good girl" he praises with a kiss on your forehead. You can't help but whimper when he pulls out, getting up off the floor. You really didn't remember being on the floor, you thought you were on the couch.

You want to get up too, cover yourself with the quilt that's under you. But your body says no.

Lewis gets up to answer the door. He knows you're mostly hidden by the couch so he doesn't need to wait for you to cover you up. He already knows exactly who's gonna be at the door.

"Hi" Lewis grins opening the door wide. Wide enough that the person can see into the apartment, but also see that Lewis is naked. Butt naked.

"Erm-" your ex quickly averts his eyes up to the hallway ceiling. It's one thing to see another man naked. It's another to see him with a hard on and naked. And a very different thing to see another man who is dating your ex naked, hard and most definitely still wet from having sex with her.

"How can I help you?“ Lewis smirks. It's the smirk that somehow doesn't get him punched in the face.

Your ex is your ex because well according to him - things change. Which in the interest of self preservation you didn't fight, you can't force someone to stay with you. But now there was a seed of doubt growing in your ex's mind as he caught Lewis' physic in the corner of his eye. Did you break up with him because he didn't look like Lewis?

Ripped was almost an understatement. He was cut and your ex suddenly wanted to know what his secret or what Men's Health routine would get him on his way to looking like Lewis.

But then everyone knew abs where made in the kitchen. So what was Lewis eating… Apart from you (and very well by the sounds of things)?

And Lewis' dick. While you're ex was not in the category of small or below average, he certainly was not packing the way Lewis was. He wanted a better look, for comparison purposes later, so risked moving his gaze from the ceiling to the floor.

Did you and your ex break up because of his size and performance? Another seed of doubt. Because when he thought about it, he didn't technically break up break up with you, it was more like a break that got out of hand, right?

And there's a tattoo down there too! Like it's the world's dumbest placed tattoo. But your ex also thinks it's the coolest tattoo, the tattoo that no doubt says 'best dick of your life' - a nice preview before the main show. Maybe he could get a tattoo down there, but then hell was also more likely to freeze over. Plus he wouldn't look cool like Lewis did.

Lewis extends a hand, in an implied 'good talk' way. "I'm Lewis. Lewis Tan" your ex doesn't know why, but he extends his hand too, shaking Lewis' hand.

Why was he shaking hands with the naked guy who was now banging (and very well by the sounds of things) his ex? He was probably gripping the hand he used on you minutes earlier.

You're ex mumbled his name, cursing himself for not saying his name with more umph. With his chest. "Cool, well we'll try and keep it down"

Try. Try. The way Lewis said try, your ex knew he wasn't going to 'try' and do anything. He'd probably just end up being louder.

"See ya" Lewis shut the door before anything else could be said.

"What did they say?" you're ex's girlfriend asks as he returns to the apartment from his failed telling off. But he didn't hear, he was too busy thinking about Lewis. And you. And we'll mainly Lewis.

"Babe! Did they say they would be quite" he snapped out of his trance.

"I think so"

"You think so, they either said yes or no!"

"Well I only spoke to Lewis"

"Whose Lewis?"

“Y/n's new boyfriend. He answered the door. Naked"

"What!“ your ex moved to the kitchen sink to wash his hands. Not out of offence, just out of the thought that he couldn't really go around with possible traces of you on his hands.

“He opened the door and he was naked. No clothes on. Just a hard on… That lasted the entire chat, it didn't move once"

In the moment of silence the muffled moans and cries of pleasure could be heard again. This time it sounded like you and Lewis had moved from the living room to the bedroom.

"Are you fucking serious" your ex's girlfriend shouts up at the ceiling, stamping a foot.

"To be fair it's not that loud. The walls are shit, remember we heard all of that Golden Girls Marathon from Ms Yeatman's apartment"

And it wasn't really. It was just while you're ex and his girlfriend ate dinner in front of the TV, they realised they probably should have picked a show that had less silent intense moments where only looks were shared between the characters. The show just wasn't the same when the moments were punctured with "Oh my god" or moans that made both blush.

You're never sure why you take the lift in your building anymore, it's painfully slow. But then again you're exhausted and are only leaving the apartment based on Lewis' promise of pancakes.

On hearing that word you threw on a pair of leggings, flip flops, a top and Lewis hoodie and stumbled into the lift.

It's only when the doors open and you see your ex that you remember the other reason you don't get the lift.

"Y/n" he mumbles. You just give him a slight acknowledging nod.

You stay where you are and let your ex take the wall furthest from you. It's not really an awkward silence, but it's not an not awkward silence. You're praying he doesn't speak.

Eventually the lift slows to a stop and the doors open slowly.

"About last night" you look at the gap and wonder if you should try and squeeze through it.

"Yeah, sorry. But don't worry, you won't have to deal with it for much longer-" the gap is wider so you chance it.

"Yep, I'm moving out" you keep a couple of steps ahead, seeing Lewis' figure outside your apartment entrance.

"What? When?" you push open the entrance door without answering. "See ya" you skip up to Lewis, trickling his sides. He spins around tackling you in hug like he hasn't seen you for a while.

"Let's go before I have to answer questions about me moving out" you whisper as you tuck yourself under Lewis' arm. "At least he didn't stare at you dick" Lewis grins. You ugly laugh.

"He did not!" you snort

"He did too"

"Well it is a nice dick" you shrug.

"Maybe you wanna look at it after pancakes" Lewis cocks his head your way, his cheeky grin accentuated by his glasses.

**********************************************

Tags: @ellixthea @lovelymari4 @chaneajoyyy

@honeychicana @beaminglife @amelatonin @themyscxiras @crushed-pink-petals @lady-olive-oil @jojolu @endless00paradise @est1887 @cajunpeach @melinda-january @profoundlynerdywolf @deathonyourtongue @designerwriterchic @itsbqueenthings @alicesfracturedmirror @joebob15274 @write-fromthe-start @islanddgal @tarashari-tfp @dc41896 @princess-evans-addict @amethyst-dreams-and-candy-canes @islanddgal @c-cqat

[lightcomingthroughthedarkness]

What I don't understand is some Bellarkes insisting that there's a point to B/E still existing and JRot didn't write them out of pure spite. I get it they are new in the fandom. But I'm not gonna act like there's a love triangle that blocks Bellarke after S5. It simply isn't a love triangle. Not to mention, JRot tweeted "heh heh heh" everytime B/E interacted on screen, even when the sex scene aired. He purposefully wrote that relationship to spit on Bellarkes and serve to CLs. It's just so clear

I just want to make one thing clear before I answer this. I can dislike Ec.ho while also not belive that everything Jason does is to spite me or the fandom. Just wanted to put it out there, lol

Anyway, lets get to it. This is long.

1. Bellamy is emotionally cheating on Ec.ho yet he yells at Ec.ho for not being emotionally open with him.

2. Bellamy is not being emotionally open with Clarke, yet he yells at Ec.ho for not being emotionally open with him meanwhile he is also staying emotionally unavailable to Clarke too.

3. Clarke is unaware of any romantic feelings that Bellamy might have for her. Simply because Bellamy is not emotionally open with her about said feelings. And when he has done something or been called out for having feelings for Clarke, she has not been there to hear it or see it. Now, we all know Clarke is a fucking legend, but she’s not a damn mind reader.

4. Bellamy has no indication that Clarke has ANY romantic feelings for him at all. Why? Because Clarke took a step back when she saw that Bellamy was with Ec.ho. And then Bellamy continued to CHOOSE Ec.ho over Clarke SEVERAL times. Clarke does not feel like it is her place to say anything to a man that is in a serious and commented relationship. Therefor, even if Bellamy had feelings for Clarke, he doesn’t know if she returns them. 

5. Ec.ho is clueless. Girl is void of not only a personality but apperently also of the gift of sight and hearing too. She has no thoughts, no worries, no idea, no opinion, no nothing. 

What is absolutely true, nonny is that B/E is DEFINITELY blocking Bellarke for a REASON. If they had kept Bellamy and Ec.ho friends/family then it would have shown us what we’ve all been screaming about being enough; Bellamy becoming the kind of leader that forgives and understands people and still reaches out to “them” in order to make an “us”.

I mean look at all the other relationships on the Ark after the time jump. Harper and Monty were still together. Raven was forever alone, like always. Murphy and Emori were...Murphy and Emori. They still only had storylines with each other mostly. And all of them managed to develop familiar bonds to the members of the group. 

The only difference in those 6 years, was Bellamy’s relationship status. By showing Bellamy as part of a family, you had already given Bellamy that development, but we never got to see it (big mistake). So why did we need Bellamy to be in a relationship with Ec.ho at all?

Their names are Octavia Blake and Clarke Griffin.

Those two women are the ONLY reason why Bellamy “had” to be in a relationship with Ec.ho. Octavia hated Ec.ho. Yet Bellamy made her his family AND started dating her. Here’s the thing with the Blakes; you didn’t need Ec.ho to be Bellamy’s girlfriend to kick it to Octavia. Just the simple fact that Bellamy made his own family and chose Ec.ho to be part of that family was the biggest problem for Octavia. That Bellamy had grown as a person to let someone like Ec.ho be part of his family, even though what she had done to Octavia. Bellamy needed to leave Octavia for his new family for Octavia to understand what she was losing. So that was as much of B/E that we needed for that story to be told. Bellamy choosing his family based on love and support and Octavia working through her idea of what family is based on blood or love. 

So why did B/E need to stay together after that and why are they still together? Because B/E need to block Bellarke. That is the ENTIRE point of B/E. There’s no love story. There’s no development. Jason refused to have Bellamy and Clarke both single and then not have them act on any feelings. And if you keep Clarke and Bellamy both single and they act on no feelings or the connection they share, then they truly would only be platonic soulmates. There would be no romantic subtext for Bellarke and we’d all get the answer to that question. Jason is clearly not willing to give that answer, so he needs something to block Bellarke. There’s no other way around it. And because Ec.ho’s existence allows Jason to tell SEVERAL stories. (family, found family, The Blakes, Bellarke). That’s the reason TT was made a main cast member. They needed to lock her ass in, so that Jason would be able to tell this story. And it’s important for all of us to understand that Jason WANTS to tell this story. You and I might hate it, we might have wanted another story but this is what he wanted and decided to do. 

And what is also true, is that Jason is an ass. He’s a Hollywood writer and he sucks at social media. Yes, he has made comments during B/E scenes and made fun of fans. I assume he does that because fans can be very horrible to him, so he dishes it out too sometimes and acts cheeky with it (although he’s not and he is part of the problem too). And also, Jason knows how unpopular B/E is and again, he thinks he’s funny and makes comments to rile people up. Lol lol lol, indeed. 

My PERSONAL opinion is that I just do not trust Jason to follow through on Bellarke or give them an ending I see fit for them. Jason never has to give a direct answer to what Bellarke are. He can still keep doing what he is doing. Ambigiously writing them as soulmates but leaving it up to the audience to decide what that means. B/E is not the hill Bellarke dies on because B/E has a better story or development. Absolutely not. But that doesn’t mean that when the final credits roll, that Bellarke has become what fandom expects. I’ll only believe it when I see it on screen and not a moment sooner. 

You can argue that this entire thing is not good storytelling or the development would have been better told if Jason had written other stories. I can agree with that. I still think Bellarke should have been canon in season 4 and I still think season 5 and season 6 lack quality even though I still love Bellarke. It sucks when TV shows choose to do stuff with the story that we don’t agree with. But it doesn’t mean that an entire TV show, a business, a place where a lot of people work on, is written after fandom drama on stan twitter. What Jason IS doing, in order to not answer the Bellarke question, is to make people unsure of the story onscreen. There’s a major gaslighting situation with this show and the fandom and even Bob Morley had an opinion about that. Both things can sadly enough be true. Jason doesn’t write his entire story around fandom drama on stan twitter but he is absolutely gaslighting people too in the name of protecting his creation/story, before he is ready for people to see how it ends.

And here’s the thing, we can all have different interpretations of this. God knows a lot of fandom has given up and don’t believe in Bellarke anymore. And a lot of people have not given up and still trust Jason. And we need to just let everyone do what is best for them. We’re not going to change people minds and we don’t need to fight about it either. It’s not gonna do us any good. We can just see what happens in season 7 and by 7x16, we might get an answer to what Bellarke are.

[inthroughthesunroof]

Okay, just because @fthgurdy asked nicely... 😁😁😁

Tag is going to be "#sunny reads the Witcher". It's a relatively long series, with very long hold times at the library, so we'll see how far I actually get. I have a habit of not finishing these things. (Sorry @thoughtfulfuri , I haven't forgotten about Princess Tutu.)

I'm about halfway through the first short story in The Last Wish, which as far as I can tell is the right place to start reading. This story is the one the striga episode is based on. Behind a cut for minor spoilers...

Wait, I'm on mobile and there are no cuts. Damn you Tumblr.

Oh well. These are actually minor spoilers, especially if you've seen the Netflix series, which I'm going to assume you have.

.

.

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The very start - which appears to be a prologue - is a straight-up male sex fantasy with no plot or characterization. It's not an auspicious start. It reminds me of a dog that looks around the room to make sure everyone is watching, and then lifts its leg and pees on the couch. The message is clear: this is written by and for men. Women are here brush their breasts across men's faces. Uggos not welcome. I'm sure no man who starts a book this way thinks this is what he's saying, but in our cultural context he really, really is.

It's not the worst male sex fantasy I've ever read. It's not degrading and it's the kind of fantasy where she's so into him that she's the active partner. Which mostly tells you how low the bar is - looking directly at you, GoT. Most books I'd bail out right here, as I'm clearly not the target audience, but I'm engaged enough with the franchise that I'm willing to just roll my eyes and keep going.

I don't object to cishet male sex and power fantasies existing (except for the mysogynistic ones, which is the great majority of them), I just think they should be shelved in the romance section next to everyone else's sex and power fantasies. If this were written from any other POV it would not be a franchise with multiple video games and a flagship TV show marketed to all audiences.

Anyway. The scene after that is Geralt arriving in a town in the best brooding male power fantasy style. Some locals try to pick a bar fight with him. He draws his sword and kills a couple of them. The locals react entirely sensibly by screaming, vomiting, and calling the town guards, who promptly arrest him for murder. I... Am intrigued by this, actually. Geralt in the TV adaptation tries hard not to be a monster. This guy doesn't care. We'll see if the consequences of this stick with him, or if it's going to be forgotten by the end of the next scene. I hope it sticks with him.

There's a couple of other things that defy the usual fantasy expectations as well. People are actually telling the monster hunter what he needs to know instead of just making a couple ominous statements and scuttling off. It's not the smoothest exposition I've ever read, but it's a refreshing change.

The writing is a bit florid, but no worse than many others I've read. There appears to be some awkwardness due to the fact that I'm reading a translation, but it's also refreshingly outside the usual American style.

I'm looking forward to reading more. Hopefully there will be fewer random sex scenes and more genre busting going forward.

[dreamstorym]

A few artists that I follow are jumping on the world-building train and I thought I would too! I've been wanting to share some species lore on centaurs for quite some time but just haven't gotten to it.

What you are about to read applies to centaurs in my universe, you may use my lore but please remember to give credit!

This has proven more difficult than I had anticipated though...

Anywho, if you can get through this upcoming word vomit, I hope you enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Centaurs are a demi-human race with the upper body of a human and the lower body of an animal though, this is not limited to horses. This lore post is primarily referring to horse centaurs.

The hair on their head is usually the same color as their tail. A centaur’s lower body varies in the same color patterns of any horse from base colors of bay, chestnut, black to duns, appaloosa patterns, roans, champagne variations, pinto patterns, and greys. The hair on their body tends to gently fade out when meeting with their raised torso. Most Centaurs' upper bodies are hairless, excluding facial hair and the hair on their heads. Few male centaurs have chest hair.

Centaurs are herbivores; Their diet mostly consists of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and eggs. Meats are hard on their stomachs.

They particularly love anything salty and adult centaurs love wine.

Biology -

The average height of a centaur is 8.8 ft. but heights can vary drastically between different subcultures, genders, breeds and species. So it's not really an average.

The average lifespan of a centaur is 70-100 years of age. They are commonly air longevity is caused by and toned their diet and healthy lifestyle.

If a Centaur were to gain too much weight, they wouldn't be able to wipe their own bottoms after using the toilet.

There are many different kinds of centaurs: Ponies, deer, zebras, horses, donkeys, ponies, etc.

There are also more mythical variations such as unicorn centaurs, aka Centicorns. Scientists aren't entirely sure if there are pegasus and alicorn centaurs though.

The following terminology is used to describe centaurs of various ages:

-Foal: Offspring of either sex from birth to 4 years old

-Colt: A male centaur from the age of 4 to 17 years of age. Yep, it's a pretty wide gap

-Filly: A female centaur from the age of 4 to 17 years of age.

-Mare: A female centaur 18 years and older

-Stallion: A male centaur 18 years and older

History -

For centuries, centaurs were a violent, militaristic race that lived around the art of combat. While Stallions developed into being muscular, vulgar, violent beasts who only saw raw strength as valuable, Mares favoured technique and became refined, though prideful, warriors.

When they were first discovered by humans, they were quickly enslaved

In history, they were mostly unconsidered as humans in society and were commonly treated like enslaved farm workers and mounts.

In later years, they took deep pride in the art of archery. Colts often used it as a way to show off their skills and strength in front of potential mates.

Centaurs also served as soldiers and knights. They also continued to work on farmers even when they weren’t in captivity.

Clothing -

Now, the age old question: Should Centaurs wear pants? And if they should, how would they put them on? Well, for all of you who have been wondering and still haven't gotten your answer, this video(youtu.be/n5ESSI2U48g- you only need to watch till 0:22) demonstrates a centaur filly successfully putting on her pants.

Centaurs commonly prefer to online shop for their clothing because shops that tailor to Centaurs aren’t very common.

Centaurs can wear tops from any store as their upper bodies are human and they can therefore fit human shirts and jackets..

The most common choice when it comes to bottoms are shorts and skirts as they still offer enough liberty to run, unlike pants that cover the joints and dresses that they may trip on

For horseshoes, the most common, everyday material is rubber. Elders and more old-fashioned centaurs may wear metal horseshoes and there are gold horse shoes for special occasions. Centaurs are also capable of wearing special centaur boots that come up to the knee.

Centaur Equestrian -

The sport of Centaur Equestrian is much more popular nowadays that regular equestrian.

Equestrian is very common and more popular than traditional equestrian. Most Centaurs get into sports when they’re young and compete in teams of 2, the mount and the rider.

Riders and Mounts generally tend to be in close relationships such as best friends or lovers.

Equestrian organizations are very wary when it comes to teams made up of an adult and a minor and generally don’t allow such combinations. If a team like that were trying to compete, they would organize an investigation to look into the matter and make sure there was no slavery or traficking invovled.

Though these sorts of situations are more common when colts or fillies are involved, they still may organize investigations for suspicious activity even when two adults are involved.

There are 3 subcultures of Centaurs: Stags, Countryfolk, and Wilds

Stag Customs-

One of the questions I'm most frequently asked(for Special Week in particular) is: Can I ride her?

The answer is a big, fat NO! Stags see the act of riding(especially bareback) as a sacred thing, as sacred as sexual intercourse. If word got out that a Stag was bribed into letting a biped ride them bareback, they would be labeled as a whore or a pimp.

They believe that only a bipedal spouse should be able to ride bareback and if riding for sport, there must be a saddle separating the rider and the mount.

Stags are the most domestic, civilized, and modern of the centaur subcultures. They are the smallest subculture of all the groups.

Males are required to wear bottoms to cover their manhood(if they don't want to go to jail).

Females are a different story though. If a female's tail is long and voluminous enough to cover her womanhood, she is not required to wear bottoms. Though if her tail is cut short or her menstrual menstrual period is on, she will then wear bottoms., usually pants.

Most stags work as soldiers in the military, compete as as equestrian athletes or in centaur pageants, or join a breeding program and mares may become wet nurses. They do perform modern jobs as well.

Countryfolk Customs-

Countryfolk are more southern, traditional centaurs. They are the largest subculture of the Centaur race.

The countryfolk filly shown is @hubedihubbe 's OC, btw.

Now as for countryfolk, they don't see riding as such a big deal. In the country, any biped can ride as long the centaur is okay with it.

Countryfolk commonly live on farms in the countryside.They usually work as farmers and/or pull wagons and carriages.

Centaurs from this subculture make up the majority of the athletes in the centaur equestrian circuit, especially in rodeo.

They wear shirts and other tops but go bottomless. They most commonly wear old-fashioned metal horseshoes.

They are firmly set on traditions of hard work and can be pretty stubborn at times and look down upon beings who are lazy.

Countryfolk and stags don't primarily get along as they live by different values and beliefs. Countryfolk scoff at the stuck-up, hoity-toity stags that become lazy and too domesticated.

Countryfolk courtship traditionally involves gifts. As they value the harvest, gifts tend to be flowers or food. To give a present you grew or made yourself is a very meaningful gift indeed. Centaurs in love may bake treats, write songs, arrange bouquets, plant gardens or build houses-- all specials gifts for that special somebody that's caught there eye!

Wild Centaur Customs -

Wilds are, as their name suggests, wild centaurs. They're the second largest of the Centaur subcultures in the world.

Wilds are somewhat hostile towards outsiders who aren't centaurs, especially scientists.

The knowledge that is currently known about Wilds is commonly provided by centaurs who grew up in wild herds but then became Stags in adulthood.

They greet others with subtle nods and gracious bows to the highly admired.

Wilds wear no clothing at all, not even horseshoes but mares and fillies wear clothing on their chests to reduce movement if needed.

The wild filly shown up above is an example of the varied results that often occur between Centaurs as of result on a very wide gene pool. She is partially based off of Pocahontas and Rain from Spirit, you know, the horse movie about the wild mustang.

Wilds live in nomadic herds of 5-30 centaurs. The leader is the strongest of all the stallions and he protects the herd. The lead mare(either the lover of the lead stallion or the strongest mare) leads the herd and chooses locations.

Being the biggest and strongest, the leader has first pick when it comes to mares. Mares have the chance to decline if not interested, thought this rarely occurs.

Wilds encourage rogues and lone centaurs that may be roaming about to join their herds. They encourage the new blood and genes that the new centaurs bring.

New Stallion members are allowed to challenge the leader for his spot. They compete in a series of challenges and duels and the winner becomes/stays the leader.

If the new member loses, he is allowed to stay within the herd but most stallions don't in order to avoid embarrassment and hostility.

Male and female members of most herds may go as they please and some herds even allow them to return.

Wild herds do not have schools and fillies and colts are taught how to survive in the wild by an appointed instructor within the herd.

Mares most commonly find the strongest, largest stallions as the most attractive(usually the leader), though--as with all races--there are obviously different preferences between different mares.

Weddings -

Traditional Centaur weddings are very similar to modern ones. The slight difference is that instead of rings, the bride is given a headpiece and the groom receives an ear cuff that is permanent unless the couple should divorce.

Centaurs from all the subcultures usually incorporate these traditions in their ceremonies.

If there is a marriage within a wild herd, the honeymoon consists of the herd running behind the bride and groom as they choose different routes and locations.

A traditional honeymoon for countryfolk and more adventurous stags will consist of trekking in the countryside. Going camping, unplugging from electronics, living on the land for a few days. Going back to the roots of their wild ancestors. They usually have some sort of guide accompany them.

Most upper-class stags go for the traditional honeymoon of a cruise or going to a resort.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well that’s all for now folks! I enjoyed doing this and if you got through all this info, thank you so much and I hope you enjoyed!

If you still have questions, feel free to ask something you may not be sure about in the comments!

If you have a race that you’re interested in knowing more about, write in the comments your suggestion for my next lore post!

[argylemikewheeler]

Actually nvm I'm gonna go off a bit.

Because I can totally see the beginnings of hints of Billy being queer coded-- mostly through his character being homoEROTIC not just coded in having a queer experience (compare Billy's strangely intimate shower scene with Steve to Will's conversation with Jonathan about not liking things people tell him he should). Billy is being created to have internalized homophobia, and that's very obvious. Will is being shown to be discovering himself, but not entirely sure what to make of it (although I like to think that he Knows). So I have two concerns with possible outcomes of s3

1. Billy is gay, Will is straight. (For this, I'm assuming Will's sexuality question IS answered and it's made that he's straight.)

This is a problem for me because while Billy has every opportunity in the writing to be a possibly interesting gay character to interact with the reputation/assumptions of him in Hawkins, he's an awful person. He charged a middle schooler with the intent of seriously hurting him and nearly did kill someone his own age (where in many of THOSE interactions are seen as sexual charged as well). This added layer of internalized homophobia isn't enough "sad backstory" to forgive Billy and I hope the duffer brothers don't use it to do that. I don't want Billy's emotional coming out/self confession to be used as a blanket to cure his Bad Traits. Gay people can be bad too-- we aren't perfect and shouldn't use a minority label to cover up our privileges and biases (or violent racism).

Also? Will is an average kid in Hawkins. His coming out would speak so clearly to so many people who grew up just kind of... Stumbling into their sexuality revelation while the world kept spinning (and crashing) around them. Will having interest in Mike or another boy would show such an interesting side to this boy that has dealt with possession and near death. His sexuality isn't anything but another facet to his childhood-- his coming of age story would involve awkward snow ball dancing, "crazy together", and some alternate dimensional monsters. He'd get to showcase a Positive gay childhood without it all BEING about being The Gay Kid. He's also the Kid Who Survived The Fourth Fucking Dimension, who's also got a crush on Brian from Algebra.

2. Both Billy and Will are gay

My only issue with this is pretty simple: they are created to complement each other in some way. If the duffers write Billy gay too, I don't want to see the two of them leveling with each other and seemingly having shared experiences.

They've already coded Billy's sexuality to be linked to physical intimacy and sex. Billy's is shown as an unhealthy and unpacked response to his unwanted sexual desires and interests in the men he's supposed to be Better Than and competing with socially (Steve). Billy is unmistakably sexually charged with all interactions- even fighting someone nearly to death.

Will is not. Will has a crush on Mike (i say this from all of the bts notes and general observations). A crush, a growing of feelings based around developing relationships that form when you hit puberty. You start to realize friends can have hierarchy in your life-- which ones are closer to your heart, and Why. It's a development to see Will go through as a regular kid AND as a gay kid.

Billy's arc would involve cutting through layers of homophobia taught to him by his father and his environment. Having these two characters interact as if equals would blur the two mindsets and representations.

Will's coming out is as Average as Mike having feelings for El in season 1. Billy's is shown as something boiling under the surface and causing unhappiness. I don't want to see Will look at Billy as his Older Gay Role model and see him channeling frustration, (which is undoubtedly in Will's future too) into rage and anger and self-loathing. I also don't want Will's coming of age to be shown parallel to sexual frustration. That's unnecessary, inappropriate, and not at all what his arc is doing currently

It would be a great disservice, I think, to take the very genuine representation created (AND NOTICED BY FANS) and have it just be used to show Will as "Strange" while having violent and sexually charged behavior be "explained" by Billy being gay in a small town.

And that's the that on that

Big fear: One of the big risks of S3 is making Billy gay but not Will

Ohhhhhh boy. I have so many goddamn feelings and opinions on this issue, sweetie. Fucking SAME. This is the One Big Fear. I’m not gonna go off (just yet) but I definitely think about this possibility and get Angry.