#so it was kinda fascinating watching them vibe off each other

[ennaih]

Every Film I Watch In 2023:

242. What Happens Later (2023)

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - We In A Slump, but help might be coming from a very strange source

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

Sept 2024 Week 4

Ongoing Series - Thai

Jack & Joker (Thai Mon IQIYI) ep 3 of 12 - I don’t have a lot to say except that the plot is somewhat predictable but the show is still very engaging. War is fantastic. I’m enjoying it a hell of a lot.

Monster Next Door (Thai Thurs Gaga ) ep 10 of 12 - The second leads are getting better in this one. I understand where they are coming from, which makes their conflict so much more understandably painful, and honest to a friends2lovers trope. The main couple is kinda standard college relationship drama, but they are cuties.  

Kidnap (Fri YT) ep 4 of 12 - How is Ohm so damn gorgeous? Meanwhile, babies’ first argument. And it’s sponge bath time. Q has got to be wondering if Min is as meticulous with all kinds of care and attention to detail all......the......time. Somebody here in the hellhole said something about this being "the most BL to ever BL." And I think they’re right. At least right now. Although, watch out, we got us a new contender from the east.

I Saw You in My Dream (Weds Gaga) ep 11 of 12 - I do love the continuation of the perversion, in a good way, of the punishment trope from last week's episode. Oh, has the show finally remembered its title? NO SINGING. 

Addicted Heroin (Thai Tues WeTV) ep 7 of 10 - More kidnapping and an attack and now there’s a girl involved and somebody’s going to China and I don’t understand anything! And I don’t really care. Is this how the actual book originally went? Because it’s wild. Also TOO MANY of flashbacks. I guess they got a bit of a boyfriend era, and the claiming during the water fight was cute, but otherwise...... meh

Love Sick 2024 (Thai Sun iQIYI) ep 2 of 15 - One shouldn’t make comparisons, of course, but all I can think about is how amazing Captain was as Noh in the original series. Thus this show is mostly just making me want to rewatch the original. It’d be an interesting twist to have Aim be queer instead of a damaged cool girl slut. Was the helmet hand letting go a foreshadow of the iconic bookstore hands letting go? Also, I gotta say for the second episode of a series there are already too many flashbacks. Why are they using filler when they have so much content crammed into so few (comparable) episodes for a series? It’s annoying. Stop it.

Live in Love (Sun Gaga) ep 4 of 5 - This show has some interesting, if heavy handed, things to say about shipping and trolling, but also predatory/proprietary female behavior. It’s fascinating to see it tackled head on, if handled in a profoundly clumsy manner. I’m not sure how I feel about it. That said, most of this episode was actually an advertisement for a resort in Phuket. 

Bad Guy My Boss (Thai Sun Gaga) ep 2 of 10 - I'm getting What's Wrong with Secretary Kim? vibes from this show. Only this is WAY more bullying. It’s very old-fashioned 90’s billionaire romance novel only gay. It’s never a good sign when I’m watching two boys kiss and I really want one of them to just bite the other ones lip off instead.

Battle of the Writers (Sun YT) ep 9 of 12 - No ep this week. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Sugar Dog Life (Japan Sun grey) ep 8 of 10 - Gosh it’s so frikin adorable. Baby got sick. He has SUCH A CRUSH. And such a courageous little confession! Yay! Can’t wait for next week. 

Teenager Judge (Vietnam Sat YouTube) ep 1 - sure, yes this is, in fact, just Ba Vinh doing his thing with pretty boys again. And yet...... There is a REASON this leapt into the standings guns blazing. So it’s high school set but it's stepbrothers trope. (My, aren’t we popular this year?) I know, but I NEVER get tired of this trope. We got us Bach (BV's sullen tsundere) and Dat (babygirl meets bully). It’s GREAT how the brothers' dynamic is entirely different at school than when they're at home. My ear isn’t trained for Vietnamese, but I think Dat is using different pronouns depending on his location (his personality entirely shifts when he’s at school). I’m not sold on the Bach character, although I always trust BV to serve in the end (at least we know the kisses will be good), but Dat is utterly in love, a touch spicy, and reasonably complex. The surrounding cast is good too, my favorite pretty boy is there playing top dog (woof), and one of the besties is out gay (YAY!). The plot of the show is...... well...... absent. Nothing happened. But if we are aiming for Love Sick slice of life style BL, I'm game. Subs are appropriately terrible and confusing. But I like it A FUCK TON so far, so I’m gonna keep it in rotation. Nice to have Vietnam back in play. What a shocker.

2024 has been a year of upsets.

Love is Like a Poison AKA Doku Koi: Doku mo Sugireba Koi to Naru (Japan Tues Netflix?) 3 of 10 eps - I weirdly enjoyed the farcical music and the utter absurdity of the court case. I also liked how it highlighted what a good team these two are. Frankly I don’t mind a bit of an antihero sleazy lawyer + conman, it's engaging. I’m getting wholesome out of Thailand. I don’t really need it from Japan at the moment. Also I don’t believe for one second our conman actually is serious about the relationship. Conmen gonna con. I'm reminded of the scorpion and the frog fable.

First Note Of Love (Taiwan Mon Gaga) ep 8 of 12 - I love Orca so much. I do not love the autotuned version of Orca, but I knew what I was in for with this particular show, it's in the title after all. I did laugh a whole lot when Laing used kha. Hon, I don't think that word means what you think it means......

The On1y One (Taiwan Thurs Gaga) eps 11-12fin - I never thought I’d say this, but the pacing was off in the penultimate episode. Taiwan, and its chronic misuse of flashbacks strikes again. That said we eventually got a "lock in" trope and Wang being the biggest little flirt shit in the cafe OMG!!! Of course, you shouldn’t use a girl to torment your bf, but it was so well done, I can’t really complain. Meanwhile, teacher kisses. And now I understand exactly why they’re present in this narrative. Clever. Bummer of a burden on that ending though. I cannot see how they’ll manage to stick this landing. [That was ep 11]

AND NOW EP 12 - doomey doomey doom

Not the water bottle trope! Argh the teenage lust of it all. Just stop it. Wang is so smart he knows exactly how bad he has to be to leave the class. And his bf certainly knows that too. And......

......

So that was not an ending and I’m not happy about it and no one is surprised. Even I’m not surprised. I’m just disappointed. Even tho I suspected this was where we were headed I'm disappointed. That’s it. That’s all I got. How do I review something that was such a crushing let down?

Conclusion:

Based on a Mou Mou novel + the Your Name Engraved Herein team, this is old-school coming of age BL and it was bloody fantastic. Tsundere seme to beat all tsundere (smartest + tallest + bestest at everything but people) meets socially-ept cutie smart-ass uke. They're living together by end of ep 1 and start kissing by end of ep 2. A stellar tense slow burn stepbrothers trope that ate my life and than just belly-flopped the finale. What I'm left with is epic levels of disappointment and well...... at least nobody died? My standard "fatally flawed" rating for any BL is 4/10 so I guess that’s what I’m giving it. 

Before you ask me for the stats: Taiwan does not have a history of second seasons. I went ahead and ran the numbers and the odds are certainly not in our favor. I put the chances at 2%.

Yes, I contemplated a revenge rating of 2/10 but even I'm not that mean.

It's airing but...

The Hidden Moon (Sat WeTV) ep 1 of 10 - This is a supernatural romance (my ghost boyfriend trope) by Violet Rain (I Feel You Linger). A man is hired to write an article about an old mansion in Chiang Mai being converted into a café. He sees the ghosts of people who died at the mansion, falls in love with one of them. Was substantially recast. I loved IFYLITA except the ending so I think I'll let this one run it's course you can tell me if it's work tracking down... if they managed to land it. I have my doubts.

In Case You Missed It

Falling For My Boss is vertical format (nash) short from Korean BL about a happy-go-unlucky man who keeps losing his flower shop business because of romantically misbehaving employees (apparently it's a thing). When his best employee brings in a new boy he's worried she's falling for him, but it turns out it's his own heart on the line. He a clueless softy and The Boy is a lost broken sweetheart, making this a gentle little snippet of a show. There's a baby linguistic negotiation, some hung slinging, awkward handholds, and everyone is very pretty. For me the absence of kisses and the vertical format were more annoying than the length, which felt fine but many viewers will find too short. I enjoyed the 30 minutes of cute. All of which makes this a solid 7/10 from me. It was originally only available on this one ap in very short form with ads so I wasn't gonna bother. Then some kind soul cut it together without ads and stuck it up for download. Say thank you.

Oddball recommendation next: This podcast episode touches on some stuff we see in Thai BL so I think it's worth listening to. Journalist Dominic Faulder on the Complex History Between Thailand & Myanmar

Happy of the End (Japan Gaga) - Completed its run. A boy is disowned for being gay, dumped by his boyfriend, and ends up in a dysfunctional co-dependant relationship with his would-be kidnapper. We were due for another messy JBL and it's exactly as expected. I do not like it at all and DNFed. Gossip round the hellhole is that was a solid decision.

Marriage Equality Law has officially been enacted in Thailand...

Yes the actual law. Goes into effect Jan 22, 2025

Next Week Looks Like This:

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

Coming Oct 2024:

10/3 Fourever You (Thai iQIYI?) 16 eps - New directs Earth (UWMA, 12%) + Pond (Century of Love, 180 Degrees), Bas (Gen Y, 2 Moons) + Maxky (Why You… Y Me?) and other familiar faces like Bever. Sampler pack university BL from Wabi Sabi that looks like it's trying to be a gay Boys Over Flowers (4 older med students hot boys) and I'm not mad about it. Trailer Not sure who's distributing this but my guess is iQIYI since they had the last few from this house.

10/7 Every You Every Me (Thai Gaga) 10 eps - Jade and Chin have lived over a thousand lifetimes. In each one they somehow manage to fall in love with each other. (This pair, TopMick was piloted in a My Universe ep, that was one of the only ones I liked.)

10/10 Eccentric Romance (Korea ????) 12 eps - Silkwood’s 2nd Thai/Korean colab, that has been in production since 2022 which is a LONG time in the BL world. I'm worried but I like the concept: friends of 10 years who’ve been hiding feelings for each other enter the same university. Plus MURDER.

10/10 Gangster and His Boyfriend (Korea ????) 8 eps? - Kim Dong Bin (famous trainee & idol reality competitor, yeah that happens) stars as a fallen idol who unexpectedly becomes entangled in a gangster family. Discovers that his friend’s father is responsible for the murder of his entire family years ago. I don't know much about this one, neither does anyone else and I'm not sure where I got that release date so……

10/21 Love in the Big City (Korea ????) 8 eps - Adaptation of Booker-nominated famous coming of age novel of the same title by Park Sang-Young. Cynical yet fun loving student writer Young pinballs from home, to class, to Tinder matches. He and Jaehee, his female besie and roommate, frequent nearby bars where they push away their worries about life, love, and money with soju. As time passes Jaehee settles down and leaves Young to face his problems on his own. Young finding comfort in the arms of the series of men, including one whose handsomeness is matched by his coldness and another who might be the great love of his life. Not really BL. Stars Kim Go-eun (The King: Eternal Monarch), Noh Sang-hyun, and Nam Yoon Su (The King’s Affection). This already released as a movie and isn't very well regarded, this date is supposedly an international release as a series. I'm wary of it being BL.

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

I got nothing, The On1y One drove me into a funk.

(Last week)

Streaming services are listed by how I (usually) watch, which is with a USA based IP, and often offset by a day because time zones are a pain.

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @sunflower-positiiivity @rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly @renafire @mestizashinrin @bl-bam-beyond @small-dark-and-delicious @saezurumurmurs

Sigh, Tumblr in its infinite wisdom doesn't like too many at-ings.

[sapphicseasapphire]

I apologize in advance but I'm going to ramble incoherently for way too long in this ask.

I just got caught up on a lot of cryptid AU stuff and Sky and Groose's relationship is very interesting to me. At first I was like, "????" but then you explained in the post and now it makes sooo much sense and I actually really really like it. I have DID and his whole situation with two halves of a whole becoming one is so fascinating. (I went through something similar so I'm very interested in this kind of stuff.) I love the birb boi very much and I'm happy he's your fav 'cause he's mine too. :3

(The alt who went through, essentially the same thing as Sky, may or may not let me write fanfic of the two meeting & him helping Sky adjust, would that be okay?) Wild. Can I talk about Wild? I've been dying to talk about Wild. Cryptid Wild touches something in my soul. Just. The silence. The curiosity. The innocence. The tragedy. The wanderer. The watching from afar. The Lost Boy. I just. Ajkhshtrsj. He makes me feel deep and profound things and I adore him for that.

I want to give him a giant hug and just hold him for a while and tell him he's not alone and that it'll be okay but I get the sense that he would NOT vibe with hugs or contact out of the blue. (You can't stop me from hugging Sky though, birb boy's getting tackled off a cliff. HE HAS WINGS IT'S FINE. :D)

... Has Sun ever ridden on Sky's back before? How would Sky feel about that?

I want my favs (Sky & Wild) to interact but idk how close you plan on them being or how much interaction you plan on having between the two of them. I don't even know what kind of dynamic they'd have in your AU if any, they both seem kinda lost in their own heads/situations.

They're kind-of inverses of each other, now that I think about it: Wild's trying to grapple with being someone he can't remember, and Sky's trying to grapple with being TWO "people" he CAN remember! A memory vacuum and memory overload... man now I want to see them talk about that.

How much does Wild think about who he was before? Sky's kinda smacked in the face with it, but Wild seems (fittingly) very distracted by the moment. But is it distraction, avoidance, or both? He still has the soul of Link (... right?), but he no longer remembers what that means. Does he want to? Does he feel overwhelmed even thinking about trying? adkutfkuvluyvlig. Too many Wild thoughts. ♥

Also why doesn't Legend like Wind turning into his water form (I forget what it's called)? He looked freaked out by it and asked him to not do that; why? Did I miss something? /gen, I don't think I've caught up on everything yet.

Anyway thanks for this AU sorry for the novel-length ask I just had a Lot of Thoughts. :)

Bro all I ever do is ramble too long, don’t even worry about it. I love getting asks like this.

LONG ONE, under the cut!

Okay I’ll try to break this up to answer all of your questions and ramble a bit haha!

SKY AND GROOSE! Yeah, there’s a lot of tension there. Sky is… an entirely new person. He has the memories of both Link and Aepon, but he interprets those experiences differently than either of them would. Link and Aepon both had entirely different mindsets, so of course the result of their fusion would be left to interpret things on his own.

Link never cared enough about himself to care about what Groose said to him/did to him. Self sacrificing to a fault and very forgiving. (Kind of by design, too. Hylia needed her Hero to be willing to risk his life for the good of others). Aepon was Link’s other half, his Goddess given protector, and thus he had the traits that Link lacked. He was a strong, proud bird. He cared enough about Link to care what Groose had to say about him. And then he was kidnapped! And Groose just kept hurting Link! And Aepon’s!!! Not!!! Having!!! That!!!

And so Sky was very conflicted about Groose. His Link half wanted to be friends! His Aepon half wanted nothing to do with him! And then Groose… said some very unkind things. I think that Groose is a very defensive person. When he feels hurts or threatened in any way, he lashes out. He had been at a point with Link where they were close! They were friends! They faced the end of the world together! And then suddenly all of that changed and Groose doesn’t understand why. Just. Suddenly Sky started giving him the cold shoulder. And that… hurt. And when Groose is hurt? His first instinct is to punch back.

So Sky was on the fence and Groose started falling back into old habits, just being so so rude. He called Sky a monster, treated him like he was just some thing that had stolen his friend away from him. And if Sky was undecided before, that pushed him right over the edge. Sky is not fond of Groose.

And you’re more than welcome to make any kind of fanart or fanfics! Just so long as you tag me so that I can see them!!

(Sun has not ridden on Sky’s back, but he wouldn’t be opposed! He loves taking people on flights! It’s just that he was only home for three days after Demise and he hasn’t been to his era in so long. Kind of tragic that Sky’s spent more of his existence away from home than he has actually on Skyloft or even in his own era. But in the future! After the Cryptid Adventure is done! Sky will fly with Sun! Now, Sun does still have Aria, but they’ll take turns haha!)

WILD!!! He does not vibe with hugs. Pretty much ever. Anyone who grabs him, he will immediately take that as being restrained and he will run away. He is a FREE SPIRIT!!! He’d like to keep it that way.

Sky and Wild do interact! Like, a lot! I think there’s this misconception going around that the Cryptids don’t like Wild? Particularly I’ve seen it with Legend haha! But no!! Wild is so loved! The others are annoyed by his constant thievery but to be honest, it’s kind of endearing! When Wild is focused on one of the members of my Chain, he’s SO focused on them. He’s caring, he’s genuinely very sweet. AND he can be bribed with cool rocks and colorful leaves so. Winning.

Sky and Wild have this whole arc surrounding the Master Sword. Sky’s inseparable from the blade but Wild… he knows something’s not right. He wants to see what will happen if he takes it away. (Sky will not let him steal it).

And… okay. So. Wild struggles so much with the whole being Link thing. He is definitely 100% avoiding it. He spends all of his time running away from Flora, but he’s really running away from who he used to be. He has no memory of ever being mortal- his life is completely irrelevant. Link and the Child of the Mountains are separate. WILD WOULD LIKE TO KEEP IT THAT WAY. He does not want to remember. He does feel overwhelmed.

Still… there are certain things that he cannot run from. And that bothers him SO MUCH.

LEGEND AND WIND!!! What’s Legend’s issue with Wind’s natural form? Please don’t hate me, but Legend is being racist. I have a lot of lore written out about their dynamic and the circumstances that led them to this point. Here’s a post about the War! And here’s a post more specifically about Wind!

But basically, to sum it up. There’s this big war that spans across the timelines between the Mer and Aquili. In Legend’s timeline, the Mer won and he was taught to hate “Sea Monsters.” He was chased from his home by an Aquili scavenger and was never allowed to return, and so he had a very deeply seated hatred AND FEAR of Aquili. In Wind’s timeline, the conflict is still ongoing but it’s not as extreme since Hyrule flooded. He lives on an island of refugees- Mer and Aquili who fled the ocean to find peace. Because of this, the war is distant to him. Something that he’s not connected to. Although… in loosing ties with his people, he’s lost ties with his culture.

I actually have so much more to say about Outset Island in my au! I’m planning on making another big lore post soon where I can go in detail about it!

And I promise that Legend will come to his senses! Soon!

Thanks for sending in this ask! I love rambling about my guys! I hope this helps?

[sorenphelps]

All the artwork I made for the fanfic Crazy Ex-Boyfriend by @amethystheart2421 for this year's @rsbigbang!

It was a wild run, we got paired up quite late due to our original pairs dropping out of the Bang, and even though it was already December and time was running thin, I decided to make this whole deal a way bigger challenge than it supposed to be... So I ended up drawing all 7 fantasy sequences, trying to mimic a different style for all of them, and finishing both versions of the banners I had in mind. I know, I know, but I swear even I wasn't aware that I am such an overachiever either!

Also, I usually like to hide little details as easter eggs on all of my artwork, so naturally this was the case with these too. I'm gonna list them one by one, also share a little story about each piece, sort of like a "directors cut werk", just so we stick to the screenplay motif. The numbers in brackets lists the order in which I drew the pictures.

The banners (1.,9.): I haven't watched Crazy Ex-Girlfriend the show, so I really had no idea about this whole thing, hence my initial idea of re-drawing one of the official promo posters of the show as the banner. But then Nicole shared the first scene with me when we got paired up, and also told me that her original artist wanted to draw the stargazing scene, which I also really liked. I sketched out both versions to see which one would look better, and also to warm up a bit for this version of the characters. (Nicole also shared some faceclaims, so except Sirius' and Lily's design, I tried to stick to her vision as much as I could.) The Netflix poster was considered the final one for quite a while. The stargazing banner was the last piece of artwork I finished, which I also edited to be used as Chapter dividers. I liked the idea so much I actually referenced the starry sky on the other pictures too. On the Netflix banner, Remus' socks and Sirius' suit handkerchief (how do you call those things in English, gahh) both have the starry pattern.

The western (3.): By this time it was decided that I'd do all fantasy sequences in a different art style, but I couldn't really come up with any specific style which could have fit the western vibes, so the characters are drawn in my own usual style, only the colouring is different. I tried to go for a sepia effect, without using a filter, I think I could pull it off well enough. I was considering to draw Sirius as a Native American for this, because I just don't see him as Caucasian in general, and also, Black Dog sounds like a badly translated indigenous name... But I discarded this idea for the sake of "historical accuracy" (and to save time, haha), as I think they wouldn't visit a saloon this way. I added the starry sky pattern to Sirius' handkerchief and... scarf? (I really should learn how certain textil items are called in English...) There is a wanted poster in the background with Voldy. And I swear I didn't mean to draw Remus looking this horny, it just kinda happened by accident! He is sure VERY fascinated by Sirius'... pistol.😜

The Star Trek (6.): My original idea was to draw like usual and just add so many lensflares to the picture that it's not visible if I copied another style or not. But in the meantime I started to watch Star Trek: Strange New Worlds with my bf and also found out that there is a new cartoon too, so it was then settled. This style is very different from my own, but it was so much fun! It was weird not to draw every single strand of hair in excruciating detail, actually that was the hardest part, haha! I struggled a bit with the placement of the lensflares too, the first version had too many and too bright, it had a disco vibe rather than a spaceship. I wanted to add easter eggs to the background screen, but I was running out of time, so there's only one light blue star similar on the screen! Also now I know that the uniform colors are not really consistent in Star Trek, and Remus’ might have had to be gold as Captain…🤷🏻‍♀️

The Disney (2.): This one sparked the first idea in my head after I read all fantasy scenes Nicole kindly shared with me. When I first sketched this, I still had no idea that I will end up drawing for every chapter and the style copying was not settled either. It started with this piece, I had the vision of the wolf chasing scene from Beauty and the Beast, and we were discussing whether it's plausible to collect berries during the winter or not... I've tried to make the final piece look as classic Disney as I can, and since I could pull it off, it was not a question anymore whether I'd try to do this with other styles for the other scenes. Retrospectively, this one was the easiest to make, apparently my usual style is not that far from Disney (I grew up watching those movies, so it's not a surprise), but I had to really focus on drawing the animals, it's been ages since I last drew any! (The trick is to give them eyebrows, and bam, it's Disney style!) Sirius' armour, clothes and sword has the star, and I also designed his own "crest" with the black dog and a star on his shoulder plate. The whole concept of the picture is Sirius' side being very bright coloured, while Remus' with the scary wolves in the background being very dark. This might have worked better if it was not set in the winter, but I wanted to stick to the Beauty and the Beast vision I had.

The Comicbook (4.): I was very excited for this one, I really like the looks of the old Batman the animated series, and the way some of his comics are drawn. It's such a unique style, I really like the simple shapes and bold contrasts. Well, it turned out I am very bad at this! I struggled quite a bit trying to capture what I had in mind, but I couldn't even come close to it... So I kinda cheated a bit because I just traced the lineart directly from the reference pictures of Batman comic books I found online. I tried to make Remus less buff, but it looked very weird, so I let him keep his muscular Batman body instead. I drew the wolf mask and the whole Sirius panel, and the coloring went smoothly after I finalized the lineart, even though I only realized that I switched the colour schemes of Remus' superhero outfit when I looked up the quotes for the comic panels, oops. Overall I like how it looks, but I am not that proud of it as I had to "cheat".

The Hobbit (5.): I've probably spent the most time with this one! I actually really like Martin Freeman as an older Remus FC, so I was quite excited to do this piece. My original idea was to mimic John Howe's style, as he is the Tolkien illustrator god, but his level of skill and mine are very very far from each other... and as I struggled a lot with the Batman piece, I felt like going for a smaller challenge. That's why I decided to have a go at Alphonse Mucha's art nouveau style. Turned out it was the worst possible idea! 🤣 The whole point of art nouveau is depicting attractive ladies in an ethereal way... But if you switch the ladies with a fat hobbit, the vibe def won't be the same! The first version just looks so extremely absurd, it's both awful and hilarious. By the time I could fix the pose so it wouldn't look as ridiculous, the final style looked nothing like art nouveau... I still have no idea what style it is now, not my own or any of the ones I tried to capture, that's for sure. I considered adding the star pattern to that tablecloth, but I decided that the lupin flowers in the foreground and the whomping willow-like tree are enough reference for this pic! I like how it turned out in the end tho, I think I could do justice for the watercolor-looking coloring technique, and the end result looks a bit like a fancier version of old children's book illustrations... Which is essentially what The Hobbit is, so it all sorted itself out by the end.

The Anime (7.): I like anime (I'm a little picky about them tho), so it was not a question that I would give this style a try! I am a huge fan of cyberpunk (the genre), so initially wanted to do that, I'm such a slut for Ghost in the Shell and I really like the aesthetics of the Akira posters, but after reading the actual scene, it was not really fitting. So I saved the cyberpunk AU for later, and went for the post-apocalyptic vibe instead. Obviously anime had a great influence on my art style, so similar to the Disney one, it was not that much of a challenge to mimic it. However I'm not that good at drawing backgrounds, and oh boy, I really made myself get over this obstacle with this series of pictures! Also as I was more comfortable with this piece, I actually added the starry sky pattern from the beginning to the scarf/blanket Remus has on this picture!

The Sitcom (8.): The original idea was to copy Hanna Barbera's old family cartoons' style, but as my deadline was very close and after reading the scene I realized that it will have a shitton of characters, I quickly abandoned my original plan. So this one is drawn in my own style, sort of, the designs of the characters are more aligned with Nicole's vision (sans Sirius, Lily, and partly Peter). The hardest part was definitely to figure out how I could fit 10 characters into one picture, let alone sitting in a living room! Also, I had to actually draw the living room too, considering perspective and scaling... Something I am not that good at. In the end the coffee table is maybe a little too big, but I needed that to hide the legs of the characters sitting on the sofa, haha! Also, the sofa is the Millennial Dark Green Velvet Sofa, because I also want to have one and it really emphasizes the general existential dread! (Just kidding.) Also also, I just realized that I have no idea how to eat tacos without making a mess (they are not that popular where I live). I added the starry sky pattern to Sirius' shirt, and gave a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles T-shirt to Peter, as he is talking about that in the scene. I wanted to squeeze in further references to the newspaper Remus is holding, but it was too tiny. The star from Knight Sirius' armour is in the background on the bookshelf. Also that globe just makes no sense but I had no better idea how to fill the empty space 😅. Molly is holding a mug with "BEST MOM" written on it, and I intentionally made Marlene's eye colour the same as Remus', who btw should have worn a bathrobe according to the original scene, but it was too late to fix that by the time I realized it. All in all, I am quite satisfied with how it turned out, it has the necessary sitcom vibes. And it is kinda a record for me in terms of number of characters drawn (the most was 12, but that one has no background, so I'd call it a tie!)!! I am very proud of myself for pulling this piece off, it really is the achievement of the year!

TLDR; (I mean really, my rambling is just too long!) I am happy that I was paired up with Nicole, working with her was such a creative process! My absolute favourite thing to do is work on AUs, and she has provided me with the opportunity to do so, I am grateful! It was truly a pleasure to participate in this (even if it's not that clear from all the complaining I just had above, haha)! If you ask me nicely I might show you the cursed first version of the hobbit picture!

[dropthedemiurge]

Got prompted by @pinkkop but also partially this might end up as the controversial Thai BL post because the range of characters I'd defend with the passion is very wide for me:D

8 BL BOYS I WILL THROW HANDS FOR

Uea (Bed Friend)

This show isn't jokingly called 'A Tale of 1000 Traumas' for no reason, I mean – there is only so much one young adult can go through, and Uea has been through... well, almost everything. Tagging hurt/comfort fics on AO3 will result into red triggers all around. What fascinates me in this character is his resilience, too. He managed to go through everything with the sheer will power and knowing his own worth, what he deserves and what he does not. I am so glad the show made an active choice to send him to therapy and give him a considerate and loving boyfriend! He really needs both.

Sky (Love in the Air)

Again, no surprise that everyone would want to protect Sky. The acting was also chef's kiss in this show, I know I shouldn't be but I absolutely enjoyed seeing Sky getting triggered and sent to the red-lit room in his mind because this was pure cinematography, but irl I would just hug Sky with consent and never let him go. And kick Gun until he never rises up again too. I think Rain should've been given full freedom to avenge for his best friend. But this is also why I'm writing all these skyrain fics – because they are safe space for each other and I want to keep seeing it.

Rain (Love in the Air)

Ehem, like I said– the show has not declared it loudly but he's one of the most ADHD characters in Thai BLs if I ever saw one. He does not deserve to be mocked for his struggles and airheadness. I wish we saw more of him playing into his strengths beside taming a dom, instead of being infantilized by the show sometimes. Don't ask me to dive into full analysis though, I only could watch the PayuRain half of the show once so I'm going off vibes I remember, but I absolutely adore Rain and love reading fics that focus on his ADHD headcanon and how others understand and help him. And also those platonic BDSM tendencies he has with his best friend Sky.

Kawi (Be My Favorite)

For this guy, I would not fight the show or narration because they treated both characters and viewers with care, gentleness, wise teaching and love (Max is a harsh brat but that's his personality). I would actually fight the fandom: from people who hate-watched this show and refused to acknowledge it was amazingly done further than 'i might've liked it but ew screw this actor and novel the show was inspired by amiright don't judge me for liking it jk lol' to some individuals who missed the beautifully developed and portrayed close bond (aspec on at that, I'll stay firm) that spread across >10 years and different timelines and reduced Kawi to immature whiny weirdo who's scared to fuck Pisaeng ten times a day instead of one, idk. This show is a gem with many life-lessons and Kawi has one of the strongest and fascinating character development in Thai BLs that I've seen. Hands are being thrown.

Boston (Only Friends)

The creators of the show said the series didn't have any intentional message, but considering how many long discussions and poured out frustrations we had with some people, Only Friends definitely did Boston wrong. So what if he's a proud slut, should the show punish him for it while praising 'righteous' characters high on their horses? I don't think so. My guy was constantly filmed illegally and threatened by his hookups and friends, he's very hesitant about falling in love but he tried his best with clearly spoken offers, poly views and limits. I also see Boston kinda neurodivergent and/or demiromantic based on many lines he said about himself and his own view of people and relationships in the series. Nick might not be fully compatible with him, and I would throw hands for both of them, but if those two would communicate better, there would be no need for the OOC "twist" at the end. Their story could be beautiful, sad and realistic, instead Boston being kicked down in the street dirt by everyone after opening up about his heart and fears made me angry.

Akk (The Eclipse)

These descriptions just keep getting longer and longer? Oops... I don't think I need to explain the desire to protect Akk – this guy has not stopped crying since a mischievous and passionate newbie managed to break through his 100m thick wall of composure, pokerface and sheer will to survive. And also through all the manipulation Akk faced from the people he looked up to. Akk and everything that he went through managed to rip my heart out, and I'm not kidding. If you're repressed, oppressed and/or struggling with money, desire to make your parents proud and can't help but feel 'disapproved' feelings for someone – meet Akk, he's very relatable. I'd protect him and you too.

Thua (The Eclipse)

*clears throat* I did say this post would get controversial. I can and I will consider 90% of the people who hate Thua as lacking media literacy :D But without getting into useless fandom discussions, Thua is a poor teenager that needs love and support to be able to find himself and his own voice. He's stressed out by a harsh step-father, constantly facing homophobia and mocking in school, has suicidal intentions and the only good friend who opposed homophobic students and teachers, who showed him safe space and helped reach out to his mother, encouraged him to speak out loudly... went behind everyone's back, started dating the main "bully" of the school who threatened every queer for months and decided to support him while silencing students' and Thua's voices. At least that's what Thua experienced from his POV. Would you throw hands? Thua did, and while I may not agree with how he handled the situation, I can't hate him. He finally stood up for himself and his own, tried to change the system, and I'd fight Suppalo school for him too.

Black (Not Me)

There's someone who doesn't need my protection at all! A second before turning into bloody merciless activist-fighter who doesn't shy away from murdering capitalists and cops, I would still want Black not to think he's better off alone. While antagonistic sexually-tense exchange of comas with his ex-best friend can count as one of the most delicious type of romance that happened in subtext not text, he still deserved to seek solace in his ex-girlfriend and (ex? they were so close, why Gram does not care about him at all when he returns? we'll never know) other activist friend's company. Also, fighting with his life to change something in how the country works and hearing 'nah, your twin is better, he knows how to fight with social media so we achieved more with him than with you' from his mentor and Black deciding that he should again ditch everyone he cares about...noo:( I need spin-off about him where he gets everything he really deserves.

[ilovemedia]

My headcannones of each doctor who regenerations prounons (i wrote this at 12:40 pm don't judge me):

1st: any-he never paid much attention to the human concept of gender and prounons. So you can imagine his confusion when people in the 21st century asked him about his preferred prounons. he would simply shrug say he didn't mind

2nd: they/them-when they regenerated they seemed to like it better when their friends and/or enemies would uses they/them so they just kinda ran with it. I can see them doing resurch and finding the prounon fascinating. also they just give off that vibe (its the hair and recorder lol)

3rd: they/them- basicicly fuck gender. 3 is already very politically soooo. they also give me a they/them vibe from their more colourful and regel clothing. Also i can totally see the 3rd doctor saying something like "I have much more dire things to worry about then your petty human obsession with gender and such...that being said they/them works efficiently"

4th: he/they- a mix of not giveing a shit and the fact that they actual like how it sounds. I feel like he still wanted they to be used while referring to them but also liked he so when they found out alot of humans uses both he was like "oh fuck yeah" and jumped on that bandwagon

(Skipping a few cuz I haven't watched all of the doctors sorryyyyy)

8th: she/he/they- its the hair (and the clothes), this is when they dress more flamboyant agian (atleast before the time war). She gets super happy and smilely when people use her other prounons other then "he".

War: any- has got no time for that so they just wings it with what ever ppl call them (but even without the time war he would uses all)

9th: he/him- I would say he/him with a dash of "I don't really mind". Someone might call him they or she and he would just shrug and smile, but his preference would lean on he/ him.

10th: they/he- i feel like as soon as they regenerated and saved the world they looked through a dictionary and went "Oooo they/he sounds good, dont mind if I do". Switching it up this time around

11th: he/him-likes he/him alot and is not sure why, just feels good. Gets giddy when ever river calls him handsome

12th: they/them- this grumpy scotish grandpa useing they/them feels so right to me. 12 was the doctor to confirm that time lords don't follow gender roles so I think its appropriate to give them they/them prounons. Also they rerlized that their regeneration fitted they/them more becues of clara stricticly useing those prounons until she found the time to ask.

13th: all with a preference for she/her- loves how all the prounons sound when referring to her. Does favour how she rolled off the tongue tho but most ppl just uses she/her for them anyways.

[sillyromance]

🩹,💗,❗️?

Good day, dear anonymous!

🩹 - healing vore:

I think it's very interesting concept which has a kinda joint base with comfort vore but still stands out of other vore scenarios as a unique thing. There is a mix of two directly opposite actions: sending someone inside your stomach and... healing their wounds with this! Using such unusual combination, artists get an endless amount of angsty and comforting scenarios - and also a great push of their imagination limits: their characters can possess anatomical features no one ever thought of before. As for the action itself, it's just very good for a pred to know that they won't ever feel lost or helpless in case their prey friend get into trouble which can lead to the latter being badly injured. The prey feels safer too when knowing their big pal is around... Sensations are pretty enjoyable as well: the feeling of your ache being instantly eased by the miraculous liquids, combined with a soothing vibe of the cozy stomach massaging you is unspeakably beautiful...

So, I definitely love such way of healing!

💗- the most favourite trope:

Well... I suppose: a gentle pred/ a kind and submissive prey. If there are these two, I will love any scenario from safe to fatal. Although, there is one I love the most:

Safe vore/reformation:

A prey comes home after a really rough day; the pred sees it, however, their little friend doesn't admit it. Instead, they just head to their room and start working again - or go to the kitchen, seeking for something to eat... Meanwhile, they big partner watches them silently for some time. The pred hasn't dined yet. But they know perfectly what they want for a snack right now - so, the big guy grabs the shorter one in a nice, tight embrace, saying the prey they were going to dive right in without any delay. The latter tries to protest at first, but quite soon they submit to the gentle cooing and warmth of the pred's hug: the little one sleepily thanks their partner and, finally, gets swallowed up; settling in the warm belly, they gladly sense their sore body relaxing and their mind clearing as tender walls move around them, the gurgling mixing with the pred's calm breath and heartbeat and creating a comforting symphony of natural peace which helps the prey to doze off. The pred feeling good for their friend and for themselves smiles and rubs their visibly rounded stomach which is lovingly churning over its favourite meal...

❗- discovering vore:

I'd say it has been a long way. I remember when I was four me and my father often played a game: he was a monster and I was its prey who had to avoid being eaten. Of course, everything was just for fun: we messed around a lot, giggling and encouraging each other; he often wrapped himself up in a large blanked to seem bigger and "scarier" and then "attacked" me in the darkness with a "monstrous roar". Usually, everything ended up with him "devouring" me which he always loudly announced while I was still laughing after a great session of tickles. I think, that's how the fun began...

The older I got, the more I felt that something strange was going on with me. I was fascinated with snakes who could swallow their victims whole. Sometimes my grandma asked me to read aloud some fairytales - but if it was Red Riding hood, I couldn't help but lowered my voice as it was coming to the "tense part" because I felt quite uncomfortable about it. Especially, because I saw that exact scene in a way I wasn't able to really understand.

But all I knew was that I liked it. It was just... special.

There were other things too; but it is too much to tell. If shortly, there were thoughts. They came to me periodically; and when they did, I sank in them for an hour or two. Then I was trying to imagine myself as both a pred and a prey - and what it should feel like to be one or another.

Once I decided to search in the Internet for something that could satisfy my needs... And there it was. Vore.

I won't lie if I say that I was scared at first due to my mind, basically, connected vore with cannibalism (the mistake many people make when they come across it for the first time)... I literally suffered after I figured out it was I seeked for. Consequently, I tried to block this part of my nature by completely denying it. But things were getting only worse: I couldn't concentrate on my usual businesses, I felt terrible, I was reading and watching EVERYTHING vore-related, even if I didn't like it at all - but I just had to ease the painful pangs attacking my brain. So, after some time, I gave up. I thought it was the best option because that way at least I wouldn't go crazy about the things and I would be able to go around my day without uncontrollable "hunger" I had for vore. That's what saved me.

Slowly, I understood that I wasn't bad or weird. I was simply built like that - like many other nice people, and there was nothing in vore that would really mean harm to anyone. My mom who was aware about my problems supported me as much as she could - and she accepted my interests without any negative words about it. After giving myself freedom, I could study and filter the information I was consuming and, finally, I discovered what I TRULY liked. I calmed down at last. That's when the blog was started which turned out to be the finishing dot in the book of my struggles.

Now, I'm into vore from the bottom of my heart - and I'm not ashamed of that! As many say, it's OK to be different since there is no threat to others. Our features are what make us - us. It's the truth we should never forget about.

[cant-get-no-worse]

i am always very intrigued by the neymessi relationship. thoughts on them?

Hiya people! I'm currently having a good chuckle because as I read your asks, I see mutuals celebrating the neymessi overtaking cressi on ao3 party. Uncanny. World colllides. Anyways. Imma rant now, you just gave me free real estate!

Disclaimer : this isn't me parasocially psychoanalizing the friendship of two grown ass men I've never seen nor talked to, this is just me covering bases of funny thoughts me n some friends have been entertaining about it. It's senseless ramble and fun and I gotta make profit off of those hours I spend looking at them interact aight.

First of, whatever I could say about it, in the end, everything condenses into this, really: it's a beautiful human bound. Akin to those unlikely friendships brought together by football — kinda makes you think this god wrenched sport isn't so wasted after all. Then you see Harry Kane's face, and you deflate, but that's a whole otha thang (sorry Kane mutuals) (the bloke is coming to PSG anyways).

It's all the more fascinating as we partially saw it develop in real life, and its 'public' aspect is well documented, from the tweets of Neymar all the way back in 2011 fan girling over Messi when they hadn't even met, to the countless footage of games, backstages, documentaries, interviews, little snippets here and there. Let's go over some aspects in an orderly manner.

Similarities between Neymar and other dudes

You can kind of wonder how Leo, introverted as he is, could have ended up entertaining a decade-long friendship (spent apart for four whole years) with such guy as Neymar, a whole five years his junior. And then you look at Leo’s other myriad of friends over the course of the years: Ronaldinho, the whole Brazilian squad of Barcelona who took him under their wing because they liked him, Kun Agüero, Rodrigo De Paul and Leandro Paredes. All extroverted, a bit immature/impulsive, loudmouthed, joyful dudes, and then you realize the guy just has a knack for befriending such people. It just compliments his character. (I’m not adding Luis Suarez to the bunch cause while Luis is impulsive, loudmouthed, extroverted, joyful, he is also a whole other vibe, much more settled/mature, it’s a whole other thing. Could rant about it for hours too. That Messi/Suarez friendship is so genuine, easy, weird, and amazing).

What’s the diff with Suarez

So talking about Suarez, I think the best way to start discerning a relationship is to oppose it to others. The easiest way being here opposing the Messi/Suarez and Neymar/Suarez to the Neymar/Messi. They’re all friends, but the duos don’t work the same way, and it’s obvious. Messi/Suarez are besties, they share the same age, interests, mate, families, whatever. Messi brought him on his honeymoon. Like what the actual fuck. Anyways. Suarez/Neymar reads more like a friend/brothers relationship, were they liked to mess around, fuck around and make fun of each other. You’d think since Suarez and Messi are rigorously the same age, Messi and Neymar’d have a similar relationship. But na. You just can’t look at it and state Messi/Neymar relationship is only brother like. They are brothers, but not only. There’s a shit ton of layers, due to the circumstances of their meeting, their career trajectories, what they represent, for their countries as for football, the roles they had to assume towards each other at FCB in the beginning, but also due to their characters. So what’s the layers?

Childhood/idol

The whole « child gets to play alongside the idol he used to watch on TV » boat has been sailed already by a ton of other players from all leagues, it’s one of the joys of this sport. It’s very sweet, to see how much Neymar used to hop on Twitter to unabashedly fanboy alongside other people over a Messi performance or to even just wish him a very enthused happy birthday (the proofs are there and he hasn’t even deleted them lmfao, the boy was relentless). What I like about it, however, is how little that behavior faltered over the course of the years. Younger players generally tone down the whole idolizing stuff, whether because they’re disillusioned about it (don’t meet your heroes, eh), because they’re just getting used to it, because it’d be awkward, they reserve it when they’re asked about it, in shorter commentaries. Neymar didn’t. Quite the contrary; it’s like playing with Messi only heightened his esteem for the other’s abilities, and to this admiration of the professional side, a personal layer of first-hand appreciation, by becoming a teammate and a friend, was added. Ten years later, placing a bet on Neymar name-dropping Messi on his interviews remains the safest money gambling you’ll do in your life, alongside betting on Pep doing the same (Pep’s odds are admittedly a bit higher, but the man is just batshit insane.) How little Neymar cares about how his admiration is perceived by others or by Leo himself, how unabashedly awed and praiseful he remained of Leo’s skills. Leo himself said he found it a bit embarrassing at times, because Neymar would say it to his face, but at the end of the day, it was just flattering and endearing to receive compliments from a friend and a fellow good player. That side of their relationship could have become, as some put it, embarrassing or awkward, a star-struck teammate who never grew out of it, but because of the sheer sincere nature of both their character (albeit a transparency showing through different ways, Neymar’s being the most flashy) – a trait that seemed to have been key in the establishment of their friendship – they managed to make it simply impossible for it to be embarrassing. They’re completely candid with the other about that, have been since day one, and the result is one of the healthiest child-turned-teammate-of-idol relationship you’ll get to witness. It’s utterly touching, and extremely human.

Brazil/Arg superstars & Countries rivalry

The other obvious aspect is the whole Brazil/Argentina dichotomy. This one is the thing that get a lot of imagination fuming on the internet due to the cinematic parallels/star crossed/movie-like narratives you can appose and romanticize. Barring every other consideration, I just think it’s so fitting it’s almost laughable. The resemblances in career path – two players from arguably the two countries the most insane about football and with the greatest football legacy, star boys turned 10 and figures of their respective selections, compared to an early age to the two ever looming figures of Maradona and Pelé (although Messi probably in a more glaring way, with Maradona himself stating outright the succession thing and Neymar’s comparisons being split between Pelé and Ronaldinho’s profiles). Their friendship threw a bridge over that eternal rivalry, bridge that became all the more obvious the more years passed and the more they became the centralizing figures for their NT and faced each other on the fields. The two teams trash each other on the ground, but respect prevail between players – not just Neymar and Leo, btw, that goes for seemingly every player, given that a lot of them crosses paths with each other at club level. In any case, I believe that mutual respect condenses itself in the 10’s relationship. The video of Leo refusing to engage in a song mocking Brazil (2023 Arg-Panama WC celebration) (keeping in mind trash-singing culture is widespread in Latin America, much more so than Europe; singing such songs isn’t necessarily personal, it’s just… tradition, and especially when you’re Brazil and Argentina and you just beat the other) and in another instance (after the 2021 Copa America) actively discouraging teammates to drop the subject tells you everything you need to know about the amount of care/respect the both of them hold each other to.

Mentor

There’s the whole mentoring role to it, too. When Neymar arrived in 2013 in the team, Leo had established himself already. Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta, all remained the older mentors of the team, but in term of talent and path, it kind of became obvious that Neymar could become Leo’s protegee the same way Leo was Dinho’s. The first steps were hesitants, as we all know, what with Neymar needing time to fit in a whole new league and continent, the infamous locker room chat, but after a year or so the ball got rolling (ha-ha). Imo, eventually (perhaps not in the first years, but from 2015/2016, at least after the 2014 WC) Leo seemed to have fully settled/grew into this kind of mentor-mentality and wanted to help Neymar get his BO and stuff. That’s partly why the 2017 departure could have left a bitterness aftertaste or at least a feeling of failure to have completely achieved what Dinho did on his part. See how eager he was to help Ousmane when Dembélé arrived.

Complementary play and MSN balance

On the football side, I mean. Not much to say. They’re probably the two guys with the biggest reserve of pure, raw talent of the 21st century (I mean from 2000 til 2023, as far as we know). It’s ridiculous how those two guys ended up playing together. At 20 years old, people were asking if Messi was one of the greatest players of all time, and at 21 years old, Ronaldinho said that Neymar would surpass Messi. Talent doesn’t necessarily equal chemistry on field, tho (cough side glance at you know where cough), yet they made it work, thanks to Luis who provided the final balance for it all. Funnily enough, people always praise MSN as being completely devoid of ego, as if they’re some kind of saints individually, but that’s not true. They have some ego, they’re just good dudes. Ego isn’t a bad personality trait. Most top athletes have it, it pushes you. Those guys just knew where to place it, how to handle it, and they were just too good of persons individually, and too good friends mutually. They were selfless with each other, and it was so damn refreshing to see, and it's something that perpetuates still at PSG.

Physical proximity/chemistry

Do you hear that? That’s the horde of Ao3 writers barreling towards, foam at their mouth and keyboards at their fingers, wide eyed. Quick, shut the door. Oh wait, I’m one of them. YOU’RE TRAPPED. HAHA.

Na, about that, it’s just of those things that happen. Their chemistry and instinct to touch is obvious, if the hundredths of pictures and compils with Ariana Grande screaming Save Your Tears in the background wasn’t enough to pass the hint. But honestly, there’s nothing more to see here. Some players get more physical than others, just because. Some people get more physical than others, just because. That’s chemistry. Football, like all sports, take you from the lowest point just to lift you up with an adrenaline rush the very next minute. Unlike other sports, however, it’s a team sport, so you play, you work through it, you win, you celebrate not alone, but with other people. Much more so when you’re working as a unit, like Neymar and Messi were with Suarez as the forwards, tuning to each other’s mind/bodies to get the chemistry running and the goals flowing.

Seeing them together uncannily reminded me of one of my own relationship with someone in my entourage. We disliked each other, and then kind of overnight, unexpectedly, became friends, and started touching each other. There wasn’t anything sexual about it, it was innocent in all forms, but there was just this instinctive, mindless move of putting arms around each other’s shoulders, holding hands, or whatever. There was genuinely nothing to see here, it’s just the way our friendship/relationship worked. It’s an intrinsic part of it, a constant. Touching holds more than a thousand words. You can imagine how such a medium of communication is exalted through sports, where physicality is everywhere and the first language everyone speaks.

Whether in 2015 or 2022, take any video, they’re always going to be jumping to each other. There’s some degrees of variation; sometimes, most times, it’s to celebrate, it’s euphoric and lively and flying about, others it’s a touch on the shoulder, the hair, the waist. Whether as a teammate checking on the other because of an injury (generally it was due to Neymar being bodied by opposition players), diffusing a situation (Neymar getting worked up over another player), as friends gossiping, as opposite players (Leo asking for a yellow on Ney and then both touching to level the situation), a hug or touch on the thigh (2015 UCL celebration), a gentle touch on a knee during training for no other reason than it’s a natural instinct and it’s an relationship in which it’s normal, whatever. Sometimes they hug to celebrate, sometimes it’s loaded (see 2021 CA final). I can’t explain it, just browse about and you’ll see plenty. It’s also the eyes — Neymar can be caught looking unabashedly at Leo with the same adoration as a kid. His platonic passion is just one of a kind. Leo will be found staring amused, tender or just lost in thought. It’s endearing. The eyes, chico. Once again; it just works.

There’s not much to see or read here, it’s just because it is. Marco Verratti doesn’t have a relationship as personal with them as they do and yet the fucker will always find a way to touch them thighs or shoulders – because some people are just physical like that. Also because he’s an Italian hooker. But that’s a whole other story. Ramos and Modric have insane chemistry in the same way. A handful of teammates pairs have that kind of thing going.

They also don’t convey it like the other people they’re physically close to. You just watch Messi and Suarez interact and touch (and they do! A lot!) and it’s not the same as when Neymar and Messi do. Messi and Agüero, Messi and Piqué (cough), Messi and Pedri, Neymar and Mbappé, Neymar and Dani Alves, Neymar and the whole fucking world cause he’s that touchy mf. Each one of these ways of touching tell the depths and subtleties of the relationship lying behind, you could ramble hours about two people like I’m doing but at the end of the day you just look at how the both of them touch and look, and you get it. (i direct you to cara's blog!)

It works for them, as it works for lots of human beings. We touch to convey stuff. They lived through tough and euphoric times with their club, had the weight of the two arguably most prestigious football selections on their shoulders, went through boring training sessions, flights, team drama, tax evasion stuff (cue laughter), they’ve been evolving in the same world of money, public and fast-paced life for years. Add to that the personal relationship - friends, teammates, mentors, opposites, etc. They’re on a common understanding ground. They touch. That’s the wordless language.

Extrovert/introvert

The extrovert introvert thing, blabla. It’s just endlessly entertaining to see them interact because it seems like a stark contrast on paper, but in reality, they kinda even each other out. Neymar is his usual outgoing, ray of sunshine (Galtier’s words, not mine), fidgeting, energy-filled dude, and Leo’s calm, dealing with his shit on his own terms, perfectly okay with not talking, but also perfectly okay with gossiping and joking about. That’s one of the most underrated aspects to their friendship, imo. It just seems, from 2013 to now, that they just have tremendous fun being around each other. It’s not the same kind of energetic, very showy-pranksty-physically fun you can see Neymar have with other Brazilians or Suarez or Mbappé etc, because of Leo’s character, it happens in a different way (the energies match differently). Whether at Barca, on an international pitch or at PSG, each time they are seen being around each other, you just know there’s gonna be a picture of them cracking up over dumb shit. Every time. Clockwork. It’s kinda amazing lmfao.

The 2017 – 2021 era

Now you’d think they’d be close during their days at FCB because of circumstances; you have a coworker, you surprisingly get along fine, you become friends, then one of you leave works, and slowly but surely the relationship or wish to reunite get fainter and fainter. It’s just something we experience a lot, and it’s also something you see in football a lot due to transfers (cue that tumblr post about a player transfering is like selling your child). Players become friends, friendships get severed because of space and time and the impossible schedule. The thing with Ney and Leo is that all throughout 2017 – 2021, they not only seemed to have maintained a friendship, but above all a fierce wish to play with each other again. Multiple accounts from that period of time say Leo reportedly asked for Neymar to be brought back by the board each time they asked which improvements/suggestions the players (and esp Leo, given his influence at FCB) would give. Neymar stated multiple times and publicly (in a typical Neymar fashion) that he wanted to play with Leo again. It’s like they’d found the perfect partnership, on and off the pitch, and they were both wanting it again.

The Barça to PSG transition

Now the PSG era!! It's quite fascinating, for you could consider the dynamics to have been inversed: Leo was the one arriving, Neymar was the experienced one on these grounds. There’s no football mentorship going on, for Neymar didn't have to teach Leo how to play, Leo having enough experience to just about integrate himself anywhere, but there is the mentorship in adapting, if you will – to a new league, new country, new teammates. Similarities in situation plastered everywhere, eight years later. You can kind of see why it can be easy to go mad at how this entire relationship do seem like a written story filled with parallels cause the author is so keen on it.

In the first year, Leo was seen hanging with the Latam - Neymar, Paredes, Di Maria, Icardi etc - (and Marco Verratti, cause the short fucker is just likeable like that) to the point where there really seemed to be "clans" within the locker rooms. I don't think it's necessarily true, rather it was just a bunch of close friends (two of which he'd just won the Copa América with) and shameless admirers of him who were all too eager to help him adapt, esp given Leo's character - he just isn't one to take the first step towards others, normally, even less so in a foreign country/club where locker rooms dynamics are already up and going. I don't remember which PSG ex player said he was quiet in his corner and didn't make no waves. Then after Di Maria and Paredes' departure, it seems Neymar really took on that role.

See the videos of training or games from 2021 – 2023, a rough 80% of the time they remain glued to each other, with others tagging along (Verratti esp). They do the exercises together, they warm up alongside, they go in and out of the pitch talking, they wait talking (see : the Riyadh XI game). The difference with FCB times are quite stark: in Barça they would have other friends to be around to here and there - Suarez, Busquets, Alba, Piqué, Alves - while it seems at PSG they're revolving around each other. Not that Neymar doesn't have friends; he's befriended the whole locker room, but he did once slip in whatever interview that Paris had never managed to be really home. It's nothing dramatic, but an interesting insight. Leo on the other hand is perhaps not very interested in entertaining personal relationships with the other players outside of professionalism – once again Verratti seems to be an exception, they stick a lot together esp since Neymar’s injury —, so it’s just natural. So it was about falling back/gravitating around the most familiar thing you could find, made all the more obvious after the Di Maria/Paredes departure. They know each other, it’s a relationship of transparency and trust (as aforementioned) and fun, and they'd always wanted to play with each other again. At that point, it's not a new friendship where they just know each other for two years on surface, are unsure about each other, or prompt to unstability or smth. They've been friends for a decade. They've been through very emotional moments in club and in nation (2021 CA Final), it's not just being coworkers. Old habits die hard, etc. Imo the core of the relationship didn't change, but the setting and circumstances did add closeness to them - Leo is just fine/most comfortable being with Neymar and Verratti mostly, and the two are too happy to oblige because they love him. Makes for a wonderful midget trio, of which we unfortunately didn't get enough.

Conclusion

I like it. As you could probably guess from the Bible-length commentary I just pumped out. It’s just refreshing to see a relationship as genuine as these two, seemingly coming out of the blue, that somehow continued through time and space separation. The absurd resilience of such bound makes it seems so effortless for them to be friends, due to the fundamentally good/true nature of their respective characters, and I treasure it dearly, even more so after having followed/seen other friendships from different players be broken up over shit. It’s a caring, genuine, trusting, tender, fun, complicit relationship, and one I think will go on beyond the end of their football careers – in other forms.

[thehollowwriter]

Trying to pick one I've not seen answered in some way or other so far has been a fun little challenge so here we go~

🐺 what relationship does your oc have with Jack?

🍎 what relationship does your oc have with Epel?

🏹 what relationship does your oc have with Rook?

Ohhh boy, this one's gonna be interesting. Thanks for the ask, Cyan!

At first? Finn is neutral to Jack. He doesn't know this fluffy first year at all, and he's quiet enough so that's fine. He gets some amusement out of it when Jack is roped into Chapter 3's chaos, but that is quick to fade after the destruction of Azul's contracts.

He's pissed. He's so so pissed and the neutrality towards Jack is absolutely shattered, and he has it out for this guy almost as much as Leona, Yuu, Grim Ace, and Deuce.(Finn is not very mentally stable atp so..)The only reason he isn't as angry with Jack is cause Jack was kinda just swept up in things most of the time, and he's not malicious. If there's any possible opportunity to make Jack suffer, even if it's just an inconvenience, Finn is going to take it.

Jack finds Finn creepy and untrustworthy and dislikes him almost just as much as the Octavinelle trio. When Finn used Ace's voice to lure him and the others right to the tweels, it was almost like something out of a thriller. The way Finn honest to Seven tried to blast them after Azul's overblot did not help matters.

Unfortunately, neither of them like each other at all. It is unfortunate because if it weren't for Azul's OB, they would've had a chance of getting along.

He finds Epel kinda funny, to be honest. He's not sure what is specifically, but he finds Epel really entertaining. He does appreciate Epel's ambitions, even of he may or may not think it's... odd. He talks about Epel with Vil a number of times, and can understand the potential Vil sees in him. Finn is curious to see what this little potato will grow into.

Epel, meanwhile, is cheering to the rooftops because, oh, Great Seven, there's finally someone shorter than him around! He doesn't mock Finn for his height, but he has a habit of pointing out Finn's shortness when other people are around, as some kind of way to 'prove' he's not the smallest.

Other than that, the creepy vibes he gets from Finn does freak him out, and he wonders if Finn is secretly some kind of fae to give off those vibes. He attempts to challenge the other first years to "poke" Finn, although that never went anywhere.

Finn is neutral to Epel apart from some mirth at his antics, and Epel is really freaked out by him.

Oh. Oh, Finn does not like Rook. No no no nope nope, please, for the love of god, get this creepy human away from him. Rook calling him 'beauté silencieuse' was something that threw him off once he figured out what it meant, as he's unused to being referred to in a positive light, nevermind being called beautiful, by strangers, especially humans.

He found Rook's antics entertaining when he first came to NRC, and even interesting since he learned a few things, but when Rook started stalking Jade, Floyd and Azul, Finn was protective and weary, and honestly considering eating him.

When the stalking extended to him, it was really awful because the feeling of eyes on him/being watched triggered a panic attack. He despises Rook and frequently implies to Vil that he should be stripped of his position as vice dorm leader.

Rook, in true Rook fashion, finds Finn utterly fascinating. A quiet, unconfrontational (is that a word?) student, a walking mystery. Yes, he feels that sense of dread just like everyone else, but all it does is fuel his curiosity and need to know more about Finn. Finn, so we'll behaved an poised, with a restrained violent and sadistic side that made Rook's skin tingle.

And when he discovered Finn was an incredibly rare species of shark mer: a cookie cutter shark? Ohhh, he doubled his efforts to learn. He was delightfully surprised to discover that Finn was romantically involved with those three Octavinelle students. Why, love is such a beautiful thing, is it not? He is excited to observe the four of them and their unique ways of showing love further.

Finn is considering turning himself into sushi (this is a joke), and Rook is endlessly fascinated and curious. Send help. Please.

Tagging: @distant-velleity @krenenbaker @theleechyskrunkly @skrimpyskimpy @officialdaydreamer00 @the-banana-0verlord @minteasketches @whspermy-name @oya-oya-okay @cynthinesia @kitwasnothere @boopshoops

[hjemne]

Ilsa, I’ve seen you posting a lot of Trigun and well I’m intrigued by it, to say the least. But just for giggles, would you try to convince me why should I watch it? 😆🤚🏻

AHHHHH!

I didn't think Trigun was going to worm its way into my brain so much but here we are. There is so much to love about it and I adore so many of the characters for a billion different ways. The character type of someone who is made into a killing machine and then is slowly convinced to accept love and forgiveness is my favourite and is all over trigun. So many characters see themselves as monstrous but choose to do what they see as right for the sake of / with the help of their friends. There are moments of silliness and of tragedy, all with an incredibly interesting setting which slowly gets revealed.

Because of the recent release of Trigun Stampede, the community is really active rn (esp on Tumblr!) and it's really cool to see so many incredible fanarts, comics, fanfics and discussions being made. It's very fun to be part of a very active fandom, but also one that is 25 years old and has fanworks that are older than I am.

I really love it, and I would recommend it, but unfortunately I also have some caveats which I gotta mention.

What you gotta know before getting into Trigun is that there are 4 different canon versions and each one has its problems. I wish I could recommend X version as the definitive and best, but that just doesn't exist which is very annoying.

1) Trigun Maximum: the manga

Good: incredible nuances to characters like Wolfwood, Knives, Livio/Razlo. Vashwood subtext is off the charts and their dynamic is incredibly fascinating and central. This is the most detailed and complex story of Trigun and has lots of themes, characters and plot points that don't exist in other versions. Has elements of sexism and sexual violence, but (imo) to show how shitty the world is, rather than to revel in the misogyny. The tone is tragic, with equal mix of hope and pain.

Bad: the female characters of Meryl and Milly get massively sidelined in comparison to their depictions elsewhere. It's a very long manga and has (imo) pacing issues that limit the impact of emotional moments. The art style is beautiful, but notoriously difficult to follow, especially in the many long fight scenes (particularly bad in volume 5). There's lots of disagreement about 'correct' translations and it can be hard to tell which character is doing/saying/thinking what at points which can make it confusing and frustrating to read at times.

Overall: 7/10, I would recommend but maybe not as your first bit of exposure to Trugun

2) 1998 anime Trigun

Good: the silliest of Triguns with some great voice acting. The friendships between Vash, Milly, Meryl and Wolfwood are very sweet and engaging (although it would have been nice to see more of the four of them together). It's a fun overview of the Trigun story and has a very entertaining mix of comedy and serious emotional moments. Lots of hijinks and lots of fights. Milly and Meryl are core characters and get time to shine (it is impossible not to love Milly). This is personal preference but the animation style is kinda goofy in the way it changes styles to exaggerate characters' feelings which I love. The first 12 ISH episodes are very Saturday morning cartoon vibes without being too inane and childish.

Bad: because it only had the first couple of volumes of the manga to adapt from, the mid-season tone shift and later fights feel rushed, a little confusing and ultimately lead to a less satisfying conclusion than in trimax. The misogyny is noticeable, especially in the first couple of episodes, though is limited to a couple of comments in some episodes and doesn't (I think) make it unwatchable. The antagonists are rushed through and it's hard to work out who the 'main' villain is. Tone change is quite abrupt. Wolfwood is a less developed character with a less intense (back)story, Livio/Razlo doesn't exist at all etc

Overall: 7/10, this is what I'd recommend you start with. It has pacing issues and uncomfortable sexist comments, but I think they're outweighed by the strengths of the main casts relationships and the pure entertainment value of it. Not the most satisfying ending, but they were constrained so :/

3) Badlands Rumble (film)

Good: animation is SO crisp. Wolfwood is at maximum chest exposure and actually his character is pretty interesting here. Milly and Meryl are back, but in limited roles. Some interesting world building and Vash and Wolfwood go thru their divorce arc TM which is dumb and funny and angsty.

Bad: Wolfwood is far too pale. The first half an hour is made almost unwatchable by the decision to make sexism and sexual harrassement a way to pad out the runtime. Vash is such a creep it just makes for uncomfortable watching.

4/10 don't watch if you're not already invested, and honestly do yourself a favour by watching the opening scene, then skipping to the 30 min ish mark and watch knowing that Vash has some very tough dried meat in his front coat pocket.

4) Trigun Stampede anime

Good: really cool 3D animation and music. Has Wolfwood's manga backstory and some manga characters like Livio and Crimsonnail, but with very different characterisations. I really liked the episode looking at the childhood of two orphans and how their love for each other was manipulated against them both. Much bigger focus on Knives than the original and more elaboration of his motivations and plans. Zazie is SO much better here than in the original anime. No uncomfortable sexism yay!

Bad: I... don't like tristamp very much. The characters are watered down from their manga versions and Knives is just kinda evil because he was en evil child, rather than the much more nuanced version in trimax. Milly doesn't exist (yet) and they added in a new character Roberto whose role in the story is (or at least was to me) obvious if you know the basics of the hero's journey structure. Everyone has been twinkified and Wolfwood doesn't even have his tits out smh. Vash just comes across as having less agency and his motivations feel weak. I really just dont like a lot of the character decision here BUT to be fair, that's because I'm comparing them to the manga. But also, a main plot point is someone taking over his brother's body so that his sisters can get pregnant and it definitely still feels weird in context. The focus on the two brothers makes other dynamics a little weaker, and has led to a lot of incest-y fandom things which is ehh.

5.5/10 there are some things it does very well and it's very popular for a reason but I personally think the characterisations are disappointing. It's trying to strike a weird balance between being its own, new thing and also nostalgia for original elements, leading to some questionable pacing and plot choices. It doesn't even have Midvalley the Hornfreak.

I would love to be able to talk about Trigun with you and be passionate about the elements of it I love, but also I don't want to recommend it without giving you a fair picture of the parts I'm more critical about. I genuinely love the world building and characters, which are expressed best in the less accessible form of the manga but are also found in the animes. What I'd recommend is watching the original anime first, but also you might need to give it the benefit of the doubt for the first couple episodes which is where the dodgy 90s sexism is most obvious. I'd be super interested in hearing your thoughts and reactions to it if you did watch it, and also please bear in mind that my complaints about tristamp are personal and there are many who love that version so don't take my negativity as fact.

[mrsaguapapi]

Ch 1 Ch 2

Chapter 3

Hidden Desires

Namor came and stood in the doorway; I'm assuming to watch us fight.

Gotta be quick

Before they could advance toward me I clasp my hands together and release,

"Ignite" I declare.

A barrier of fire appears in front of them; they would be seriously injured if they tried to cross it. I may have kept them out but I trapped myself in with Namor. Before I could do anything both my hands were grabbed and pinned to the ground. Namor was on top and looking over me.

He looks me in the eye and whispers to himself, "Such a pretty girl what a waste"

I roll my eyes, " Oh please" I use my legs to grab him and roughly roll him over, so it was now me straddling him. My legs pinned his legs and I grab his hands this time.

"You're a real piece of work you know that?" He struggles under me trying to move. He was confused by my strength, I get the vibe he hasn't been overpowered like this before. "Never been bested by such a pretty girl before huh?" I tease. He was pissed and began to struggle under me.

"Why are you this strong?" He practically hisses

"Pilates?" I quip back jokingly "I'm sorry, I will admit I am enjoying this" I laugh "Look, I don't want anything from you or your people; who by the way are scientifically extraordinary, beautiful really. I understand you want to protect them, so I will and never come back," Before I could continue the voice speaks yet again,

Paal áanteni', Cha' u bin (my son, let her leave)

"Ba'ax na'? (Mother?)" The look on his face was utter shock but there was also grief in his voice.

Mother?

"You heard her this time?" I pause "Your mother led me here, I don't know why and respectfully I don't care anymore. I just want to go home now. I have people I protect and care about too." I release one of his hands and put it to my heart.

"I give you my word that no one will know of this place"

He relaxes slightly, "Wakanda didn't send you did they?"

"The Wakandans know of your existence? I am very close with Queen Shuri and she hasn't uttered a word about you. I hope that brings you ease." I release his other hand and get off of him. Standing up I extend my hand to help him up.

He hesitates but eventually accepts. He doesn't let go of my hand and pulls me closer to look down into my eyes, in a low voice he says, "please extinguish your fire."

With a wave of my other hand, the fire dissipates.

Without breaking eye contact or letting my hand go he says, "You are a fascinating creature Ki'ichpan (beautiful girl)."

There goes that energy again.

The tension is thick, and if I'm being honest I kinda don't want to let go of him. Still looking into my eyes he speaks," We will see each other again."

He releases me. For a while, I stay in that moment, never breaking eye contact, never moving. Eventually, I reach into my bag to grab my sling ring and open a portal to my room. Before I step through I leave him with a few words,

"I'll be in Wakanda in 2 days for Shuri's official celebrations as Black Panther, you and your people should come. Maybe we can continue our conversation or have a proper fight; I'll go easy on you" I say with a hint of amusement and step through the portal closing it behind me.

I let out a long sigh of relief and fold over in exhaustion. My body was on high alert for a while so it felt good to finally relax. My stomach begins to growl so I check the time, "5 o'clock. Time to cook I guess"

Almost forgot I hung up on Peter, this should be fun

I make my way to the kitchen and begin prepping for dinner.

--------

When Peter gets home he lectures me for a good 30 min over dinner. He means well, it comes from a place of concern; I'm the only family he has left so I get it.

"Peter I am sorry for scaring you, but I managed myself well. You know if it came down to it I still would have won a fight. Takes me 2 seconds to deplete someone of all the water in their body, It would not have been a fair fight for them." I say taking a sip of wine.

"I know Millie, I just don't want to lose you. I can't really replace you with another 300+-year-old witch with amnesia." We laugh, "But seriously you're all I have left."

"Okay, Okay," I raise my hands, "I hear you; I'll be sure to be safer next time."

"Good" he pauses, "Sooo I met someone interesting today too"

"Oh, yea? Interesting how?"

"Yea she was watching me fight from a distance."

"Ooo a girl? You talk to her" I lean in and ask.

Peter clears his throat, "I did. I'll spare the details, but she was pretty descriptive of what she thought of me." he blushes.

"Oh my god. You have your first spidey super fan. Is she hot?" I obnoxiously ask.

"I mean she wasn't not attractive. I'm not sure how to feel if I'm being honest"

"Well if it's because your heart is still with MJ that's totally understandable. I still mean what I said about yall finding each other again, but.." I finish my wine "In the meantime, Peter have some fun. You're 18 go out, kiss girls, kiss boys! Who cares just don't come home with a baby yet." I exclaim. "If you wanna fool around with this girl do it, no judgment here"

"Okay, pump the breaks, Aunt May 2.0; there will be no fooling around here. I swear that was literally like May giving me the sex talk all over again" he laughs "I'm just conflicted I guess. I also think she may be a villain"

"Gasp! Do tell"

"Yea she goes by the name 'Black Cat' and was wearing a black leather catsuit and eye mask. Pretty strange"

"Hmmm. I like her already. Keep me updated" I laugh

Peter stands up to clear the table "I'm never telling you anything again." he laughs.

"You love me!" I reply as I start to help clear the table following him into the kitchen.

"So tomorrow I will be spending the night in London and then I'll head straight to Wakanda. You'll be good here by yourself until I pick you up for the party? Need me to prep dinner for you?" I ask

"No ill be okay, gonna work on some of my tech and chill here. What's in London?"

"Dick Appointment with a Knight"

"Okay don't know how to respond to that, have fun I guess?"

"Oh, I will" I chuckle, "Alrighty I'm off to bed, I will most likely be sleeping all day, so ill miss ya in the morning" I give him a bear hug "Goodnight"

"Goodnight see ya in a few days Mills"

-----------

I usually don't enjoy my dreams; it's a control thing I'm sure. My dreams usually turn out to be pretty boring like grocery shopping or going to work, nothing eventful.

Tonight is not the case, I find myself on that same Yucatan beach; this time in the middle of the night. I'm wearing nothing but a long sheer robe and sitting on a giant beach towel to keep sand off of me. The only light here was coming from the moon and stars; it was all I needed to fully see. People don't realize how light pollution takes away this experience from so many.

"Enjoying the view?" Namor suddenly appears sitting next to me.

Looking at him I smile, "Yes my love, as always"

My Love????

He takes my hand and puts it to his face; I begin to caress his cheek ever so softly. After I do this for a few seconds, he snakes his hand through my robe and begins to take it off.

"This is not necessary." He finishes fully exposing me "This is better"

I move in closer to his face just enough that our lips can lightly touch, "What shall I do for my King tonight"

He roughly pulls me into a kiss. It was like he hadn't seen me in years like he was afraid if we stopped now he'd never get to again. He grabbed a handful of my hair and firmly pulled my head back so he could get access to my neck.

Instead of rough kisses like before he softly kissed and sucked on my neck. He let go of my hair and pulled my chin to make eye contact with me.

"I've missed you Ki'ichpan (beautiful girl)."

The Vibe:

Labrinth – McKay & Cassie (Official Audio) | Euphoria (Original Score from the HBO Series)

We continue to kiss this time slowly and passionately; we were taking our time enjoying each other's taste. I start to lay back pulling him with me so he could be on top. He was sure to never stop kissing me on the way down. After a few minutes of making out, he begins to move down my body leaving kisses sprinkled with licks and bites. When he gets to my breasts he was sure to make eye contact with me when he took my nipple in his mouth.

While doing this his hand was on my other breast massaging and teasing my hard nipple. Between him playing with my breast in one hand and licking and sucking the other, I wouldn't be able to take this much longer.

I bite my lip to stifle my moans, Namor notices and moves his hand from my breast down to my pussy and begins to caress my clit. I couldn't help but cry out from the sudden sensation change.

"Let out your moans, I want to hear what I do to you" He begins to spread your folds and plays with your entrance, eventually and painfully slow, he inserts a finger and then a second.

Fuck this feels so real

"Milleanyia my Queen, you are so wet for me already. Is this what I do to you?" He teasingly asks.

"I yearn only for your touch my King"

Namor Starts to move his fingers in slow thrusting motions, thoroughly exploring my sweet insides. I begin to look desperate, he was torturing me at a steady pace.

"Your distressed appearance only turns me on more," he picks up the pace a bit "You feel so good" he praised. Increasing his pace even more he could feel your tight walls wrap around him. I begin to cry out in pure uncontrollable pleasure. I tried to speak but no real words came out, just broken sounds.

Oh god, I'm so close

He takes his free hand and lightly squeezes my neck while making eye contact.

"Cum for me, cum for your king" He demands.

"Oh god," I yell out. "Don't fucking stop" he pumps his fingers so hard and deep inside of me that he pushes me over the edge. A melody of loud, breathless moans left my mouth as my orgasm crashed into me. My tight pussy was squeezing his fingers and he was enjoying every second of it. Finally coming down from my high he slowly pulls his fingers out of me and puts them in his mouth licking every last drop of my essence.

"You taste amazing" he proclaims, "ready for the rest of me?"

And with that, I abruptly wake. I raise up in shock my sheets clinging to my bare sweaty skin.

"What the fuck was that Millie?"

[heloflor]

Probably my hottest Mario take: I might actually like the 1986 Anime Movie more than the 2023 Movie. Yes the 2023 one is a better movie overall while the 86 Anime didn’t age well and is filled with plot conveniences and random things happening just because, along with the bad animation, questionable voice acting, weird soundtrack and sound design, but idk I still really like it.

It’s just that there’s something very charming about that movie. It came out a single year after the first Super Mario Bros, back when there was little to no lore about the Mushroom Kingdom, and it really shows in the way enemies are used and random characters exist but also you can tell they made an effort with the little they had. It’s like watching the very beginning of the franchise, way before it became the phenomenon it is today, and there’s something about it I really like.

I’m also fascinated by the way Peach and Bowser were written in it. This was the first time these two were given a personality past “evil bad guy” and “damsel in distress”. And not only are they both great in the little screentime they have, but these new personality traits, given one single year after the creation of those characters, remain to this day their personality, albeit with a few small tweaks (Bowser being a dad becoming a huge part of his character, Peach losing her temper in most versions). Kinda funny how these two are the biggest highlight of the movie despite only being in it for like 5 minutes, but still, love what was done with them.

And when it comes to comparing it to the 2023 Movie, I actually find it hilarious how many similarities the two have, including having the exact same skeleton for their story. It’s been 37 years yet Nintendo is still writing the same thing, I love it (more on the comparison here).

Oh yeah and because I just know there are some people who will go “the hell you like about this movie?!”, here’s an actual list!

- Literally everything about the intro is great once you get past the weirdness of the Mushroom people coming out the TV. We get Mario playing the Famicom, Peach managing to defend herself for a while before getting overwhelmed, Mario being hilariously chill about all of this, Mario more than willing to fight Bowser until he sees just how enormous Bowser is and gets intimidated, the back and forth between Peach and Mario hiding behind each other, that moment where Bowser gets rid of Mario with one finger and then smiles about it followed by a beat and then Peach starts throwing furniture at him, the Game Over screen, Luigi reacting like you’d expect. Just. Everything about this scene is great!

- The wooden title cards look amazing. It’s a small thing, but I love the “fairytale” vibe it gives the movie. And now that I think about it, that might also be why I’m being so nice with this movie, since fairytales do tend to be small stories with little going on and not always making sense, making it easier to forgive its flaws.

- The shop scene is also very solid in showing us who Mario and Luigi are as people and how they play off of each-other. On that note, I like their dynamic. It’s a bit of the usual bickering siblings who would still do anything for each other, but it works.

- The meeting with the wizard guy is also solid with the way Mario and Luigi react to things. It’s a bit of an exposition dump, but you can tell they try to make it entertaining. Plus, it works for how simplistic the story is (yes I’m giving this movie a lot of slack).

- The travel montages...yeah I’m gonna be honest with this one, it sucks. I do like how they use them to show the different power-ups they get, but it’s still very boring and I skip them when watching the movie. Except for the last one on the airship, that one is pleasant.

- Luigi tripping on mushrooms. Do I even need to say more? But yeah that whole sequence with the paratroopa is nice (once you get past the fact that a turtle made a bunch of birds). And I like how clever Mario gets to save himself and Luigi from the babies.

- I’m not one to care about people drawing smut of cartoon characters, but the internet is sleeping on those Toads. That’d actually be hilarious if the main takeaway the fandom had of this movie were to be the Toad girls. And on an unrelated note, their designs is more original than the Toads we get now!

- The whole sequence with the Piranha plants and the Lakitu honestly bores me and drags on a bit. The Piranhas might also be the worst animated part of this whole thing. I do like how much of a selfish bitch the Lakitu is though. Idk, that’s a fun character in their shittiness.

- The scene in the cavern is fine. I like how the Hammer Bros is used as that intimidating guard, and we get to see Luigi be the one to solve the issue this time around! On that note, I love that Luigi’s love for money isn’t only for jokes but is at times used as a plot point (him later on flooding the castle and finding Mario’s star). Mario’s daydream is also pretty cute.

- I probably watched that scene between Peach and Bowser a dozen times since I re-discovered this movie this year. I adore the way they are characterized, especially in the context of this being the first time they’ve been written this way. Bonus points for Bowser who has no rights being as adorable as he is in this. Ultimately this scene doesn’t really advance the story, but I still love that we got some insight on who these two are at such an early stage of the franchise’s existence.

- The underwater scene is also a slug to go through, though it’s interesting to see how they used the Cheep Cheep. Also Mario dressing up as a ballerina while the dog references that one queer music star is a yes.

- I find the third act of this movie to be honestly solid. Sure there are some contrivances with the fire platforms room and the water somehow destroying the castle, but I still like it. Granted it might be due to how much screentime Bowser gets here. Speaking of which, it’s actually surprising that Bowser turns down Peach when she promises to marry him if he lets Mario alone, with Bowser refusing because he knows Mario might be trouble since he already ate two of the power-ups. This is probably top five smartest things Bowser has done in the entire franchise. This isn’t an insult to Games Bowser btw, I fucking love this dumbass, and he is kind of a dumbass when interacting with Peach in this movie as well!

- While the ending is hated for a reason and I do find it dumb as well, it’s still incredibly sweet how Mario accepts it and wishes happiness on Peach.

So overall, is the 86 Anime good? Ehh, not really. But if you’re able to get past all the weird shit going on, it’s very charming as a piece of Mario history, and it’s especially funny to see all the small things that end up becoming a core part of the franchise. And because of that, I can’t help but like it more than the 2023 Movie, even if the 2023 one is an overall better movie (I’d give the 86 Anime a 4,5/10 and the 2023 one a 6/10 in terms of movie quality; but in terms of enjoyment the 86 Anime is above the 2023 Movie for me)

[clouds-of-wings]

Since my epic Studio Ghibli Summer is officially over, here's my ranking of the films I watched (which, I know, isn't every movie Ghibli has ever made):

Spirited Away (My favourite! (Also IMDb's favourite, apparently, and the Oscar winning one.) The spirit world looks so fascinating and I can't help being a sucker for 'The monster is just misunderstood'. And, well, 'a neglected child wanders off into a dream world', you know... There's so much going on visually and in terms of subtext that Japanese people probably understand much better. I watched this in the cinema when I was 12 or so, the perks of growing up with weebs as friends.)

The Cat Returns (This one has the best action. Also, talking cats! And a girl gets transformed into a cat! And it's like a sequel to WotH. I watched this one first, which makes it even better - WotH also reveals the backstory of the Baron. I actually can't decide if I like this or WotH better. This one is a bit more light-hearted and fast-paced where WotH is meditative and melancholic, but they're both great in their own way..

Whisper of the Heart (This one just spoke to me. It's about a girl who's fascinated by objects in a second hand store - it's basically about me! On a deeper level it's about... well, many things. Among them: growing up without support for your dreams - even though her family is at least nice to her, but they just don't really get it - and beating yourself up for not being as good at following them as someone who gets a lot more support. Something to think about.)

Porco Rosso (My sister raved about this, which maybe makes me biased, but I liked that it was more adult than the other films, and it just has a certain charm. I wonder how they came up with the premise. 'Hey, let's make the main character an anthropomorphic pig!' - 'So like a furry?' - 'No, he's under a curse!' - 'What's the curse?' - 'Fascism :)))')

Kiki's Delivery Service (I totally like this one for its looks. Such a beautiful vision for what European cities could look like. I wish they did! To me this was probably the most visually appealing film apart from Spirited Away. The end was really funny. Yaaay 100 people just died when a zeppelin crashed into several buildings, but this one random boy survived, party time!)

Ponyo (I mainly enjoyed the very counter-intuitive combination of Wagner and a children's movie about a talking fish. Also the mother is such a huge badass, it made me giggle. I wish we had gotten more backstory about Ponyo's parents though, that was the part that really interested me.)

(Continuing the list at number 7...)

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Castle in the Sky (Kinda cool. Looks kinda simple compared to the later films, but I liked the story.)

When Marnie was here (I would have liked this better if I had watched it earlier in the summer, but I was already getting fed up with the Ghibli overload by the time I got around to it. Usually I like films that are like puzzles, where you have to gather clues and figure out what's happening. I kinda half-figured it out before the plot twist.)

From up on Poppy Hill (I mainly like the unconventional (by Ghibli standards) soundtrack)

My neighbour Totoro (This one is probably very good, but not my taste. I found it kinda boring, but I was more in an 'urban' mood anyway and even skipped most of the other more rural films.)

Howl's Moving Castle (This one I had watched before and it used to be my favourite. Then I read the book this year and the book and the film ruined each other for me. Epic fail on my part! Not the fault of the film really, but all I could think while watching was 'They completely changed this from the book!' The typical Ghibli vibe seemed too sugary when put on a book with a more cynical tone, only the book also seemed too cynical when seen through the lens of the film. I watched the film and also thought 'So this is how it could have been if the characters hadn't been so selfish and judgy to each other all the time!' As I said, epic fail on my part. Now I can enjoy neither.)

The Boy and the Heron (Surreal = Good. Watching this after 13 other Ghibli movies = It just doesn't impress me anymore.)

The Wind Rises (Nothing happens, kinda. I know, a lot happens, but also... kinda nothing.)

The Princess Kaguya (I don't get what's supposed to be so great about this. It's too long and the plot is predictable. I did like the end.)

The secret world of Arietty (This one I actively disliked. It seems to not be in the Ghibli spirit, which is of course up to me to define /s The housekeeper is Evil For No Reason, something I hadn't seen in other Ghibli films. I don't like evil aunties and grandiose speeches about the importance of family. There was something so conventional about this film, it was like something made by Disney.)

[herofics]

Heyy just saw ur response! Im the anon that requested the song fic! So I came up with a request based on the song! So it would be a Dabi x fem! Reader, where if Dabi is in his early twenties the reader is 18. She’s a UA student (I read the fic where u wrote about that lol) but she sings in underground clubs to make extra money, and she sings Older by Isabel LaRosa and Dabi is in the crowd and when she hears her sing he falls for her so he talks to her after the show. Sorry for making this sooo long 😭

A/N: The fic mentioned can be found here (at least I think it’s this one). God it was painful to read with all the typos, but it’s an okay fic otherwise. This is kinda like a prequel to that one, ignoring the whole timeline and the fact that Dabi was not with the League yet when he was in his early twenties. So this is how him and the reader met. No worries, this is not long at all compared to some of the stuff I get, sorry that this doesn’t really play on the song and that I kinda rambled again, but I think it ended up okay anyway

You’d sung at this particular club a few times before and while there were some regulars there every time, only one of them had really caught your attention. He always wore a hoodie, so you’d never really seen his face, but what you had seen was badly scarred. You were intrigued and wanted to know more about him, but every time you went to look for him after your set, he was nowhere to be seen.

Dabi had been watching you for a while. He hadn’t approached you yet, since he had just been content with watching and listening to you. Your voice was amazing. Sometimes he felt like you were signing to him specifically, especially with your last song for that night.

You had finished your set for the night, with a few new songs this time, and you noticed someone waiting for you in the backroom when you went to get your things.

“You’re not really supposed to be here, the backroom is only for performers” you noted.

The guy turned around and you realized he was the one that was always watching you from the bar. He had strikingly blue eyes and black hair, and even though he was quite badly scarred, he was still very handsome.

“Hey sweetness, I liked your set” he said.

“Thank you, I’m glad you liked it” you smiled as you started packing your make-up and clothes in your bag. “I wanted to change it up a bit so I changed up a few songs”

“I especially liked that last one” he smirked.

He wasn’t giving you a creeper vibe, but there was something oddly fascinating about him. You just couldn't quite put your finger on it.

“I’ve seen you before, you know. You’ve been at this club almost every time I sing here” you smiled, as you finished packing away your things.

“What can I say, you’re a joy to listen to” he shrugged.

“Glad to hear that!” you beamed.

“How about it, wanna go grab some food with me and chat?” he asked.

“It’s the weekend and I have nothing better to do, so sure. What do you have in mind?” you asked as the two of you headed for the back door of the club.

You walked to a nearby ramen place and sat down.

“You know, I never do things like this. You could’ve murdered me or something” you chuckled as you looked at the menu.

“Oh yeah, some freak would’ve loved your ass. Goin off with a guy like me, just like that” he grinned.

Dabi wasn’t really sure how the hell he had gotten you to come with him. It’s not like he had any nefarious intentions, but you really should’ve been more careful. He could’ve been some freak with bad intentions, and not just an admirer.

“I didn’t catch your name btw?” you inquired.

“Does it matter? I doubt we’re gonna see each other after this anyway”

“I’m not gonna lie, that’s a bit disappointing” you sulked.

“What’s your name then?” Dabi asked.

“Does it matter?” you asked with a smirk, mirroring his earlier words.

“No, not really” he shrugged.

“Hmmm, well you don’t look that much older than me, so where do you go to school?”

“I go to the university nearby, how about you?” Dabi lied.

“I go to UA, the hero course actually” you said proudly.

You might be of some use to him after all, other than just entertainment.

You talked late into the night, all the way until the restaurant closed, and even after that you walked around for a while.

“I think I need to be getting home, but I’d love to get your number”

He considered it for a moment, but since he had enjoyed his time with you, he decided to give you his number.

“Let me put it into your phone. You can put yours into mine too” Dabi said and handed you his phone.

You exchanged numbers, and parted ways. When you looked at your phone, you noticed the name he had put his number under.

“Dabi, huh” you smiled.

[gunsatthaphan]

i'm a different anon but just read the 'FK chemistry and the eclipse being/not being as much of a hit as other OS2 lineup' ask and i had to chime in. i just watched the special commentary they did on the show and there are things that i noticed about them like:

the absolute trust the director and cast have on FK as the leads, trust on both them as people and on their acting skills;

the sheer chemistry FK have despite only being paired now. they have been in the same shows down the line but never been put to act against one another until the eclipse (CMIIW) yet they just clicked once they play as akk and ayan. quite a testament of how close they already are as friends even outside of work, and the respect they have for each other as on screen partners. and;

their acting really pulled the strings on the show because yeah lbr the writing could do with a little bit of work but FK saved them. literally carried the whole show on their backs.

i usually don't care much about actors in dramas i watched but i found myself really falling for first and khaotung's off screen selves (or at least the parts that they allowed us to see)

I couldn't agree more anon 🥺

It's not surprising that everyone is confident in them as the leads, they both have a solid and diverse filmography that proves that they understand the craft and they have proven to being able to create chemistry with pretty much anyone so obviously if you put them in the same show and as a pair at that, it's gonna work. everyone knows that. nothing about this project was risky except for the budget probably lol.

I'm not sure how long they have been friends; I'm not getting a besties for life/attached at the hip vibe from them like with some others *coughjoongdunkcough* djgkhd but you can tell that they are close. they have very different personalities but that's what makes it interesting and that's what blends in with their chemistry on screen. It's just fascinating to watch them interact because they're so unpredictable lmao like what kinda outta pocket shit are they gonna say to each other today dkjshd

I love it.

I love seeing them act together because it works so well but I also hope they get more chances to explore more roles individually in the future because they deserve as many opportunities as possible 🥺

xxx

[peakyswritings]

Referring to what you said about Nina loving to hang out with Heaven, I got really curious. Of course they would be Tommy’s bane, and I am convinced Heaven would sincerely adore Nina’s fierce temper and rebellion. However, taking into account that Heaven is cold, blunt, often pass off insensitive and is an actual murderer would she still want to get close to her? What would she think about her? (Hope it doesn’t sound egocentric, no worry I’ll do a realistic and long-ass analysis about what Heaven would think about Nina 🤭)

Hi Shark! It doesn’t sound egocentric at all, don’t worry! OCs are part of the fandom and meant to be shared, they become actual characters that we grow to love, and it’s genuinely fun to imagine them interact with each other. It’s like building our own little world

Now to answer your question - Nina is quite a wary person, she doesn’t trust people easily, and she has to figure them out before opening up to them. But at the same time, she follows her instincts a lot, and she’s rarely wrong. If she senses a red flag, she’s right 9 times out of 10. As strange as it might sound, she doesn’t sense a red flag with Heaven - but bear with me, I’ll try to unravel the reason as clearly as I can, but I need some background first.

Like with all people, Nina would be wary at first. She’d notice of course that there’s something going on with Heaven, but despite the eerie vibes and the coldness, she wouldn’t perceive her as a bad person. Her eeriness wouldn’t scare her, quite the contrary, she’d be kinda fascinated by it. As for the coldness, she wouldn’t be too fazed - Nina herself has an ever-present frown on her face and looks rather unapproachable. And as for the bluntness - Nina always appreciated sincerity anyway. I think she’d also be really curious, although discreet, and once she’s established that she’s fine overall, she’d grow to actually like her. She’d like the way she carries herself, her strong character and the way she doesn’t take shit from anyone. I feel like Nina would have a strong feeling of respect towards her.

As for the murder part - she wouldn’t look down on Heaven for being a murderer, and it wouldn’t scare her. She grew up in a violent environment: she saw violence in the streets of the village, she saw it on women, on men - innocent and guilty, for all sorts of reasons. Sexism, power, war (when starving people during the war were literally fighting for basic survival supplies). Not to mention that her own family is a family of murderers after all, they’re in the Mafia, and even though they’ve always tried to keep her out of this stuff because she’s a woman, she’s well aware of what they do. Tommy kills people as well, she knows it. And they might be even worse than Heaven to some extent, since they kill out of personal interest, cause they benefit from it. She doesn’t condone murder in any way, but she’s coherent in that sense: she can’t excuse Tommy and her family and blame Heaven. But even though Nina is not a stranger to violence and is used to it in some sense, it doesn’t mean she’s indifferent to it. So Heaven’s ability to kill in cold blood and find some sort of “enjoyment” in it - as you’ve showed in the moodboard - would leave her perplexed, she wouldn’t really understand it and THAT might put her off. But again, she wouldn’t judge, because Heaven’s traumatised. But this aspect is something I’m analysing below cause I need a separate paragraph for that ⬇️⬇️

Now that the general stuff has been laid out, I’m going a bit into the depth of it. As I’ve said in a few occasions, Nina has a huge level of empathy and is extremely sensitive, even though she never shows that side of her as she perceives it as a weakness. But it leads her to be more understanding of people’s feeling and motives. And Heaven’s story is heartbreaking. She didn’t murder because she woke up one day and decided so, but because her family has been butchered. She watched her mother and sister burn at the stake - which is atrocious - and her father hang, and she was almost executed herself. And she was a kid. Everyone would go crazy after going through something like that. And Nina’s heart breaks for the little girl who so brutally found herself all alone in the world. So not only she doesn’t judge her at all for what she did, but she also admires her for even surviving something like that. And correct me if I’m wrong, but as I’ve come to understand Heaven kills when “triggered” (her family’s murderers, Charlie’s abductors, etc.) - we don’t see her going around and kill people just like that. And that’s further proof for Nina that she’s not bad at heart.

And lastly, Nina kinda understands how being desperate can lead to violence - she experienced it, although on a much smaller scale, when she pointed a knife at Stefano’s throat at the age of seventeen. So, again, she can’t find it in herself to judge Heaven.

It’s safe to conclude that Nina would be Heaven’s apologist n.1. To lighten up the mood, kinda like in that TikTok trend, the one that goes “What about the people he murdered?” “What murdaaa?”

And let’s be honest the little shit that is Nina would be really happy to have a partner in her mission of giving Tommy an headache

Thank you so much for the question, Shark! This was really fun and interesting to do🤍

Heaven is reader in Shark’s series Heaven in your eyes

Nina is the OC from my series Heart, Body and Soul