#until then i will game. and hang out with my friends. and go on tumblr. and do all these things i like to do. until i no longer can

[front-facing-pokemon]

[commanderyes]

The Commander Says Goodbye

I’m not going to lie, I’m extremely anxious as i’m writing this, out of what these news could mean to a lot of people, and my heart feels heavy enough it could drop down my ribcage any minute from now and squish all my other organs. But I’ve been dancing around this topic for a long time now, and I think i’ve finally reached a point where i can’t ignore it anymore, for my own sake.

I hereby announce Commander Yes has come to an end.

As I’ve mentioned plenty of times before, here and to many other people, when I began this comic all the way back in 2018 I was in a really bad, really low place in my life in every sense of the word, and it was a spur-of-the moment decision to cheer myself up, because Path of Fire had just released and my enjoyment of the game had reached fever pitch and I had been playing Guild Wars 2 alone since as far as launch, and none of my other friends had ever really gotten into it. I guess I just, dunno, cried out into the big maelstrom of the community, one voice amidst millions, because i wanted SOMEBODY to look at what i did and revel in the nerdery with me.

And somehow the snowball began to roll and people wanted more and more of what I could do, and I was being actively reached out to, and, well, some time after that I landed my first ever job, I discovered a lot of things about myself, and I found myself in communities that welcomed me with open arms, and many of the people in there have since become among the best friends I could’ve possibly encountered, kindred souls who i’ve shared joys and sorrows for many years and who I can’t imagine living without anymore.

And all the while I kept making the comics, and with every entry posted every week I’d keep having people stopping to comment on them, and whether they were dumb jokes or personal takes on the story, they’d all share how much what I do kept hitting them in the kokoro, and to this day whenever I play anywhere in the game I still get people who recognize me and thank me for doing what I do. It was wonderful, it IS wonderful, and seeing that response motivated me to keep going, because what did still mattered to people, out there.

But I did always say I planned to keep doing these comics until I ran out of energy for them, and I think i’ve finally reached that point.

Because ever since I actually landed that job I’m exhausted and sleep-deprived every other day, so much so that I only have time to work on the comic on saturdays and sundays, and it gets harder and harder to just sit and draw, and at that point it was just more work, and while I still enjoy and play Guild Wars 2 a lot, it no longer consumes my time and attention like I’ve used to and i’ve been having fun with more personal projects, and honestly the direction the story is taking these days does not sit right with me and it’s hard to find inspiration in that, and this might be borderline selfish but every year I find people care less and less about the comics and it really takes a hit to you motivation when hardly anybody responds after you’ve spent a whole weekend trying to squeeze a five-page comic out.

And, well, I have been doing these for six years straight, and I think that’s a good run. I’m tired, and ready to move on, at long last. Let it be someone else’s turn.

But that’s the beautiful thing about this community, isn’t it? Even if I’m hanging up the hat, there are a whole lot of fantastic artists out there, as we speak, still cranking out works of art, deserving of all the attention they can get. And think of all the artists yet to come! For every story that ends, another story is just about to begin!

The world keeps on spinning, one way or another.

I’ll be closing my patreon shortly after this, but the reddit archives and tumblr blog shall remain for people to browse whenever they feel like (or until they both go in flames, i guess, what social media isn’t about to these days)

I still don’t think I ever was that much of a big deal, but all the same, to everyone who’s ever supported me and helped me be the person I am right now, to everyone who’s been there from the beginning, to all the devs of this game that has captured us for nearly a decade now, to all my fellow players and artists out there

Thank you.

See you out there, fellow commanders. Still the stars find their way.

[glitterjay]

— staring contest

⠀⭒ paring heeseung x afab!reader. friends to lovers(?, makeout, pet names, drabble, mention of alcohol(?, short, semi suggestive content under the cut (minors DNI)

parties like this were often in this side of town. big houses, loud music, it was what you and your friends called the rich kids neighborhood as kids. and here you were now, walking into one of those big houses for a party you were invited.

you had met jake in one of your classes and you had both hit it off instantly. it would be too fast to call him your best friend, but he was definitely making his way up to that title.

you heard about this big party invitation going around, to which jake gladly filled you in. it was lee heeseung's party. ironically, he and jake were really good friends, which made the latter earn a plus one to the invitation he had received.

jake had told you before that heeseung limits a lot who he hangs out with, which just makes him even more popular for his "mysterious" reputation. you weren't going to lie, he was handsome, but you wouldn't try to get to know him if he didn't want to.

once you both made it into the house, jake grabbed your hand to lead you to his group of friends (which included the host of such party) who seemed to already be playing around with each other. "damn jake, i didn't know you had a girlfriend" one of the boys teased.

"she's not my girlfriend, jay. but at least i have a pretty girl to accompany me." the comments made you blush furiously, coughing as if that would make the redness leave your face. "we'll see about that" a voice called. it was the only face you could put a name to besides jake. it was heeseung.

"you're just in time, yun. we were just about to play some games."

-

it had been 3 hours since you arrived at the party. cans of beers flooded the table where you guys had originally started playing beer pong. "i know! why don't we have a staring contest?" the one who you had learned was named sunghoon suggested.

"i think thats a great idea!" jay exclaimed. "jake can hardly look at anything without giggling anymore, this should be easy." as the other two kept pestering jake for his clumsy and drunk behavior, you had felt someone else starting the staring contest.

heeseung's eyes were locked on you. it was as if a lion had just seen the perfect pray. he looked hot. you turned around nervously, trying to find the one who brought you here in the first place.

"jake is long gone. probably playing around with hoon and jay." he said.

your body tensed a little after hearing his voice. it was much deeper and heavier for some reason. "yeah, i guess you're right." you could see heeseung eyeing you up and down, licking his lips. it made you feel insecure for a moment, until you realized how close he had gotten. "i could kiss you right now."

"so do it." you said, feeling bold. heeseung didnt think twice, rapdily grabbing your face and slamming his lips into yours. it was quick at first, but then it turned more romantic. your hands rested on his broad shoulders while his held your face steady.

"your pretty dress kept calling me all night. it wants me to take it off."

i feel like this is sooo bad... | © glitterjay | tumblr

[sturniololoco]

My little cousin's (they can't use Tumblr) - can you do a SLS protective but like she got cheated on so they comfort her and talk to the boy (if you can't that's fine ik it's kinda weird they are weird)

Cheated On

Sturniolo Little Sister (SLS) x The Sturniolo Triplets

SLS’s POV

I don’t know why I ever agreed to come to this party with, my boyfriend, Jack, especially if he’s my even going to hang out with me.

My brothers dropped me off at Matts house, after I promised that he would drop me off by 12 o’clock tonight. Little to my knowlage, Jackhad planned to go to a party.

Where there was drinking involved.

I’m only seventeen, and I’m not stupid enough to go and mess around with things that could get me into trouble.

Jack was the complete opposite.

As soon as we got there, he took his hand off my waist and found some of his friends, and a cooler.

I went ahead and stood in the corner, drinking a Pepsi in a solo cup. This went on for another hour and a half, but I didn’t mind. This gave me an excuse to people watch. And Jack was having a good time, so I didn’t want to ruin his fun.

But it was getting late.

I pulled out my phone, texting Jack that it was already 11:45, and I needed to get home.

About 10 minuets later, I got no response.

across the room, I saw Henry, one of Jack’s friends. I walk over to him, and pull him aside from his beer pong game. He looked mad until he realized it was me.

“Where’s Jack?!” I half yelled over the loud music, screaming, and talking.

“He’’s upstairs, dunno why though.” He’s slurred with blood shot eyes. I rolled my eyes and quickly made my way up the stairs.

Trying to find my way around this mansion was harder then I thought, but I checked all the rooms but the one in the back.

Tired of searching for Jack, who should have been with me in the first place, I harshly push the door open.

I found jack to say the least.

Sucking faces with our high school whore.

They both looked up. The girls face lit up in a fake smile as she or off hi lap and brushed past me, going back to the party, leaving Jack and I Alone.

I didn’t move. Just standing there, not. Knowing what to do. Jack stood, and made his way over to me, grabbing my wrist.

“Baby, I-“ I ripped my hand from his grasp, readjusted my purse, turned from him, and walked out the damn door. I could hear him trying to catch up with me as I walked downstairs, out the front door, and halfway down to the next block over.

My eyes were dry.

“Baby girl, would you just stop and listen for a second, It wasn’t what it looks like! I-“ he started to say, grabbing my shoulder and turning me around.

“Really? Because what I saw was you making out with a girl who wasn’t me, and that’s a pretty hard thing to mistake.”

Jack stood there, moving his mouth, but no sound came out.

But I wasn’t staying any longer to hear his excuse.

“Bye Jack.” I turned the corner and walked down the street. Jack must’ve finally got the message, because he didn’t other following me.

Then it hit me.

The pain.

Tears began to fall and my throat began to ache. I sat on the curb with my face in my hands and began to sob.

Once my breathing was somewhat controlled, I pullout my phone. To call Matt.

It wrung once before he picked up.

“You’re Late SLS/N.” He said when he picked up. Glancing at the clock, It read 12:08.

“I-I know, I’m sorry. I really need a ride.” I say, my voice cracking.

“SLS/N, are you okay? Why are you crying.” I could hear him standing up ad grabbin the keys, telling Chris and Nick to get in the car.

“MattI’m fine. I just need a ride. I’ll text you my locations.” I finished, hanging up the phone, before I break down again.

It’s not long before I see head lights and Matts car pull up. I quickly scramble into the backseat next to Nick. Matt begins to drive away.

“Hey what’s wrong, sweetheart?” Nick asks, rubbing my shoulder.

“Nothing.” I say, wanting to forget that this night ever happened. Wanting to forget what I saw when I walked into that bedroom.

“Really, because that mascara shit all over your face says something different.” Chris says, eyeing me through the rear view mirror. Matt is quick to slap him on the arm while still watching the road.

“SLS/N, you can’t just call me, past your cerfew, crying and looking like shit and expect me not to worry.” Matt says, not doing much of a better job than Chris.

At that I crumple into Nicks side. He pulls me o him while I cry, shushing me while I couch and cry onto his shirt.

-

We get home and we walk into the house. I held Nick’s hand, not wanting to be alone. Mat, Nick, and I all go in and sit on the couch. Chris goes to the bathroom, and comes back with a warm, damp rag. He neels in front of me and whiles the mascara streaks off my face.

“Goddamn, what is in this stuff?!” He says, still scrubbing my face, though a little bit harder. I laugh through my tears and sniffle, regaining my thoughts and ready to talk.

Chris sits on my other side, and they all await my answer to why I was so upset.

“Umm. I-I…Jack cheated on me.” I say blankly, trying not to let my emotions get the better of me again.

“Aw SLS/N.”Nick says giving me a hug, which I gladly accept. “Can I be honest?” He asks me.

I nod.

“He was a fucking douchebag and I hated him anyway.” He states, not breaking the hug. I giggle, squeezing him tighter.

While this was going on, Matt and Chris look at each other. Giving each other a knowing stare.

“Guys…?” I say.

“Hey!” Nick says, snapping them out of it. “Why don’t we have a little movie night to get the sprits back up. Hmm? That sound good?” I nod, standing up and going to get a drink and some candy from the fridge.

Nick’s POV

I waited for SLS/N to walk into the kitchen before I spoke.

“I’m fine with whatever you two do, but if you get arrested, I’m using your own money to bail you out.” I say.

Chris and Matt smile at this and get up, Matt grabbing his keys, and Chris starting to head to the car before SLS/N came back.

I hear the car pull out of the drive way, knowing that they’re on their way to Jacks house.

SLS/N’s POV

I walk back into the living room, only to see Nick, and no one else.

“Nicky? Where did the boys go?” I ask.

“I uh… I think they went to get some more candy. They said we could start the movie without them.” He says, patting the seat next to him for me to sit down. I grab a blanket from the basket in the corner and snuggle up with Nick.

Chris’s POV

Matt and I walk back into the house, me with bruised knuckles and Matt with a cracked lip.

In the living room, Nick and SLS/N are asleep, a show playing on the TV. Matt walks over and gives SLS/N a kiss on her head, then says,

“Im going to bed, Man. I’ll see you in the morning.” He gives me a half hug, then heads to his room.

I lay on the couch, scrolling through my phone, when I hear movement from the other side of the couch.

“Chris?” I hear SLS/N say in a sleepy voice, sitting up and rubbing her swollen eyes.

“hey kiddo. C’mere.” I say, opening my arms as she crawls over to me. She lays her head in the crook of my neck, and I rub her back. She sighs softly and falls back asleep. I kiss her in the head and drift to sleep myself.

-

Matt’s POV

I woke up around 630 today and went out in the living room to wake SLS/N up for school. She was laying on Chris, who was scrolling through his phone. She groaned when I told her we needed to go so I could drive her to school. -

Pulling into the school, I could tell she was getting nervous. I grab her hand and give it a little squeeze.

“hey, don’t worry about him. Everything’s gunna be fine.” I say. She nods, giving me a smile.

“Call me if you need anything.” She nodded again and leaned over to give me a quick kiss on the cheek, before getting out of the car and going into the building.

SLS/N’s POV

Walking into school, I immediately felt better, especially when I saw Jack with a black eye and a busted lip.

My brothers are crazy I thought to myself, shaking my head and smiling. I snapped a quick pic behind Jacks back and sent it to our siblings group chat, then went about my day.

Idk y this was so hard for me to write 😂 I fell like it sound corny! Keep at it with the requests tho!!!

[no1frogfan]

Endless hour

Kita Shinsuke x gn reader

Word count: ~800

Tags & warnings: fluff & angst, long distance relationship

Note: HELLO it’s been like a year since I've written anything or been on tumblr, which is wild. I started this so long ago and now it’s clawed its way back out of my heart. Inspired many moons ago by Laura Gilpin.

Tomorrow, when Kita drives you to the station, you won’t cry even though you’ll want to.

You’ll lean out the window of his dusty truck and take in the morning bustle — or, as much bustle as you get in this small town. At the intersection, two elementary school kids will run past with their bucket hats and matching uniforms and a weathered-looking obaasan will chase after them, reminding them to be careful of cars and watch the road. It’s hardly necessary here considering there’s little traffic, and that’s probably what the kids will be thinking too, but they’ll slow down nevertheless and squirm impatiently at the crosswalk before darting off again.

Their parents will already be at work in the repair shop, or the soba place, or the grocery store, and it will make you nostalgic for the hometown you haven’t even left yet. Wistful for the last honey-dipped days of summer. Scared of what you’ll miss once you’re gone.

The midnight-purple grapes of autumn and the jewel-red persimmons of winter. Grandmother’s warm silken tofu and popsicles after dinner. Sticky kisses stolen in the shadow of the camphor trees. What will ‘Samu’s opening night be like? How many games will you miss? How many wins? How many losses? Aran and Suna won’t hold it against you, but ‘Tsumu might. Your group chat will be active at first while everyone is settling in to their new lives and awkwardly falling into new friends, but as time goes on, as ‘Samu works late, as the boys plunge into practice, as the semester gets underway and you get swamped with homework, the messages will slow to a trickle. And you’ll be across the ocean, halfway around the world. It might as well be another planet.

How will Shinsuke fare without your help with the harvest? Will he have to work through the nights to finish it all himself? How many weeks will there be until summer break? Maybe you’ll even have to get an internship, some work experience, a leg up in the industry that will keep you away even longer. And when you do come back, will he still look at you the same way in a year? Two years? Three? The nights will be long, but the days will be longer. Will it be too hard without him? Hands twisting with restlessness, meals cheerless with one body instead of two. Will you have anything in common anymore? Will you grow apart? Will you find someone new? Will he?

Tomorrow, his eyes will still shine with their perpetual luster. You’ll avoid turning to look so your tears won’t fall, and you’ll hope that the breeze streaming in will dry them.

Tomorrow, the sun will crest the hill, and Shinsuke will glow like your own north star.

But tonight, he leads you down to the paddies.

It is a perfect summer evening. The chirping crickets can barely be heard over the drone of cicadas. The stars drape over the fields like a glimmering veil. The moon hangs bright and full. Or, almost full. It’s waning, and not for the first time, you wish the night could go on forever.

Shinsuke pulls you along the curving paths with no sense of haste. He talks to you about his day, his grandmother, the weather, the harvest. His neck bent and eyes fixed on you with every step, as familiar with the paddies as the back of his hand.

Rice plants tickle your calves, heavy grains dipped low, smearing the moon’s reflection across the surface of the water.

He finally slows near the canal at the edge of the farm. Dropping your hand, he presses a finger to his lips and points to the reeds toward a tangle of frogs in chorus, damp bodies glinting as they crawl over one another, a densely layered symphony of kero keros. Gingerly, gingerly, he bends down, and snatches at one, holding it up to your face with boyish glee. And then you’re both off, running, splashing, leaping after the throng of frogs that burst forth like a clammy firework in every direction, mud whirling, laughter erupting.

Like when you were kids. Like every summer.

You catch five frogs. He catches six.

Somewhere, it is raining.

A sense of serenity swells, spilling up and over and out into the endless dark. You stand there in the paddy mosquito-bitten and mud-spattered, smothered by the humid night. You think of Shinsuke draped over you in the wildflowers, the glide of shoji and the grassy scent of tatami, you think of white grains gleaming. He rinses the mud from his hands, pulls you close with damp fingers, and kisses you until you forget there will be a tomorrow.

[seikoru]

!Nerd Armin h'cs

Since I found out that the dudes here love !Nerd Armin, I felt it was my duty to share my head-canons on him. I have no idea how to use tumblr at all but here it is. All of this is a pieces of my au for a huge storyline armin fanfic with original female character, so…. just enjoy

You met completely by accident. You only went to Wall High School this year when you moved. And you didn't really like the local way of doing things. The whole caste thing, the whole cool dudes/loser thing. it was weird.

You wanted to hang out with everyone, no matter how different they were. Even though you were considered a cool and pretty girl by their metrics.

You first asked Armin for help after another biology class with a hell of a teacher, and he gladly agreed to help.

Armin was immediately very sweet to you. The way he would sometimes adjust his glasses or tuck a strand of hair behind his ear while he was explaining a topic to you…

To be honest, he was a bit frustrated by your lack of results after his help. You were barely getting better grades. He just didn't notice that half the time you weren't looking at the textbook, but at him.

But the more you became friends, the better his character revealed to you. He was known around school as the creepy anime otaku. Was that true? Absolutely. When you first went to his place, you were literally in a pink kingdom where all the walls were covered with anime girls.

Yeah, Armin had never felt the touch of a woman before. He'd had friends like Mikasa, but you… you were something else.

You'd been friends for almost six months until the winter ball was announced. And you literally didn't know who to go with. There were tons of guys chasing you, but they were all like Reiner: idiotic jocks.

The prom was coming up, and you still hadn't found a date. Armin rejected the prom: he didn't like the idea of jostling with sweaty, drunken teenagers to idiotic music in a stuffy room when he could be at home playing video games.

You managed to talk him into going out with you as a friend.

Did you kiss him ballroom night? Yes, you did.

When you, already drunk, said "I want to kiss you", Armin was quite taken aback. At first he just pulled you away and said something like "You need to sober up," but his heart was jumping out of his chest.

When you started convincing him of your sincere affection for him, he became hesitant. Quietly he muttered "I don't want you playing with my feelings".

You asked "Feelings?". He realized he had said something unnecessary, but there was no turning back. So you moved closer, took his glasses off his nose and gently touched his lips with yours.

In a relationship, Armin is the ultimate golden retriever. He smiles widely when he accidentally meets you in the school hallway at recess and is adorably embarrassed when you fleetingly touch him in public.

You're not allowed to spend much time together, lest you bring a wave of bullying on Armin. You had to keep yourselves within the school castes. But you guys didn't like the PDA anyway, so it wasn't a big problem.

Armin is proud of his collection of anime girls on his wall, but he's even more proud of his girlfriend. He always thought you were out of his league, and he couldn't hope for anything more than friendship.

But how happy he was when you would come to his house and sit on his lap while he was on Discord with his friends playing some games.

Armin often caught hyperfixated on his studies and wouldn't get out from under mountains of textbooks. It's not like you like studying much. But Armin is fine with it: he's willing to do ABSOLUTELY ALL of your homework for you.

Socially, he doesn't show how soft he is on the inside. While you were friends, you were sure he only knew how to be sassy. But hell, it turns out he's also good at kneeling in front of you, slowly kissing your ankles, calves and knees, working his way up to your thighs-

And you loved owning that side of him. Supple, belonging only to you. When he stared at you with admiring eyes, and you gently brushed away the strands of hair that fell across his face. He could have tell to fuck off to anyone else without a second thought, but not you.

[bengiyo]

BL 2023 Review

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

I Watched Too Much Again

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

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

I Wrote a Lot This Year

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

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

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

We Started a Podcast!

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

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

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

Favorite New Term: Business Gay Performance

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

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

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

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

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

Thai BL Needs to Finish Stronger Next Year

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Korea Put in the Work This Year

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

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

Taiwan and The Philippines Have Been Quiet for Me

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

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

Japan was Busy This Year

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

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

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

Where Were All the Uncles This Year?

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

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

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

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

Gay Thoughts

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

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

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

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

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

Final Thoughts

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

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

[herearedragons]

herearedragons POE fics and when you should read them

tier 0: zero spoilers whatsoever/so AU'd that it can probably be read on its own

Out Of Water: mermaid modern fantasy AU featuring Aloth, Edér and Selene. the moment you know who Aloth and Edér are you can read this. (tumblr) (AO3)

Anthu: Magnus Archives-style retelling of Selene's backstory in a modern setting, actual Magnus Archives knowledge not required. (AO3)

Dawn Strider: putting Edér and his dead brother in Pacific Rim. the moment you know who Edér is you can read this. you'll get a little more out of it if you know who Lady Webb and Elafa are. (tumblr) (AO3)

Quickest Of His Tribe: backstory one-shot for my death godlike chanter, set way before the game begins. (tumblr) (AO3)

Edérene microfic, no plot, just Ship Dynamic (tumblr)

microfic with Mae's canon divergent version of the prologue (tumblr)

First Mate Set The Sails On Fire (sea shanty) (tumblr)

Aedyran Lasses (sea shanty) (tumblr)

Ondra's Love (sea shanty) (tumblr)

tier 1: once you've finished Gilded Vale you're fine

The Hanged Man: murder mystery longfic following an alternative timeline where Edér is never recruited by the Watcher, and Selene is a cipher detective. canon divergent. for a fully informed experience wait until you've met Lady Webb but the Dunryd Row/Leaden Key lore is mostly in the background tbh. if you can, read it on AO3 because that version is better maintained (I'm going to tidy up the tumblr one soon) (tumblr) (AO3)

The Strangest I've Seen: short fic set in the aftermath of the Buried Secrets quest (tumblr) (AO3)

Edérene microfic set during the Buried Secrets quest (tumblr)

tier 2: finished Caed Nua

Hollowborn's Lullaby (poem) (tumblr)

tier 3: you know who Iselmyr is

Lorenzo/Aloth microfic (tumblr)

A Waelite Indeed: gift fic featuring Aloth and Iselmyr (tumblr) (AO3)

tier 4: you played The White March Part I

and the truth is stranger than my own worst dreams: Mae/Devil of Caroc one-shot (tumblr) (AO3)

tier 5: you played The White March Part II

Cold Water: The Edérene Manifesto, multichapter, technically spoils one of Edér's possible endings but inconsequentially so. wait until finishing the game if you really don't want to know the possible epilogue slides. (tumblr) (AO3)

there ain't language for the things I feel: one-shot, my Mae x Devil of Caroc manifesto (tumblr) (AO3)

not the righteous kind: Maevil microfic that technically can be read at tier 4 but hits better after "there ain't language for the things I feel". (tumblr) (AO3)

tier 6: you know what happened to Iovara ix Ensios

Lorenzo/Aloth microfic (tumblr)

tier 7: finished Pillars Of Eternity 1

every word you shouldn't say (will come bubbling out of your throat): hanahaki au oneshot ft. Selene and Helaine from my friend's brain. two-Watcher sibling dynamics and girls being normal about their crushes. spoils the same epilogue for Edér and one of Aloth's epilogue options also. (tumblr) (AO3)

tier 8: started Deadfire

Leverage: silly minific about Edér getting kidnapped by pirates. technically zero spoilers but like it's just going to be confusing without the premise of the second game. (tumblr) (AO3)

Lady Of Moonlight (sea shanty) (tumblr)

Our Captain The Deadwoman (sea shanty) (tumblr)

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

Am I the asshole for being rude to my friend?

😾 - so I can recognise this

I am the organiser of the friend group. I don’t mind, but Somtimes I do struggle playing a large game of telephone.

I made some very last minute plans to go visit friend A with B, and forgot to tell C until this morning. Sometimes it’s hard for me to be the communicator and tell people what’s going on when.

I told C and appolagised for the short notice and invited him to come visit A with us.

C said he could come along, and asked if they should bring B and D’s stuff with him. I texted back ‘I don’t know, ask them?’

C seemed upset by this and said that they’d hang out by themselves that day.

Issue is - I had a seizure the day before. I have non epileptic seizures, and my brain was completely fried. Hence my fatigue and forgetfulness. I could just about manage yes or no questions, so I genuinely didn’t know. C has their number and Instagram so could ask B and D quite easily.

It’s the first time C has heard of my seizures as I tend not to discuss it openly and only tell people who live with me or look after me. I’ve been trying to be more open about it and to communicate my needs though.

C has left me on read after my explaination, and I feel like a right asshole. I feel like it was rude of me to text that to them. I explained why I was scrambled and said sorry. I am leaving it at that as I don’t want to pester them if they don’t want it, but I am also not a huge fan of the silent treatment.

It is worth noting that C is having a rough time at the moment and I am trying to be very gentle with them as I realise that life is tough for them.

We did used to have a group chat, but C left unprompted. I decided not to dig because it’s none of my business, but I do try to check in with them regularly to ensure they’re ok. It comes off as if they’re isolating themselves.

So. Tumblr - AITA?

[classicconundrum]

i draw so that a 15 year old years from now right out of her deltarune phase scrolling mindlessly for the next thing to draw during history class can perhaps, one day, see my art and say "fuck it lets watch (insert homoerotic show/podcast)"

i draw so that a 25 year old nonbinary person on a 5 minute break from work can scroll on Tumblr and say "people still watch homestar runner?" before mindlessly reblogging as there fingers were trained to do after a life of this.

i draw so that the teen boy who has to pretend to be homophobic around his friends can send the little pictures to his boyfriend because "you like that show right?"

i draw so that 6 years from now the woman I wish I would have had the chance to marry can go on my blog and find all my little pictures and laugh and say "you never changed, did you?"

i draw for my friend, T, who likes every post i make and comments on all of my tiktoks "i agree!" followed by some arrangement of shouting and fire emojis

i draw for my mother who doesn't quite understand what I mean when I go on frivolous rants on what happened in that show or game or podcast or book or fanfic but smiles because its rare she sees me so happy it simply must be shared, and so she says "That totally makes sense" in a sarcastic tone that to one might convey rudeness, but between us has a certain sincerity, a recognition of the mundane, and we laugh.

i draw for myself to look back and squeal giddy because I love the way it turned out

i draw for people who would be my best friend that I never meet because im too scared to comment on there posts

i draw for the people i have known as long as i can remember, the people i likely won't get to see until i die, because they like my art

i draw in spite of those who make me want to quit, i draw because i know they can't stop me, and I don't think they would want to

i draw in spite of my middle school sweetheart that I still text sometimes because I miss when we were friends

i draw in spite of people who called all my art rushed after hours of work

i draw for the boy I wished i would marry because I know he looks at the art I made of him and washes out the part of it that was me, so that its a hollow glass of his own self love, posted to his media pinned as a profile photo, claiming it's nothing but knowing that after it all, he hangs a picture painted by me in his room and my love will never leave his heart.

i draw for the man he will one day be when he pushes the things he did down to unpleasant memories, and he looks at that figure, and knows that at one point, he was loved enough for someone to make it.

i draw for the man one day I will be, looking through sketchbooks full of Homestuck ocs and Mario enemies with nothing but the indication of a smile as I'm flooded with all the love I had for so many things.

i draw for the man T will be one day, hopefully still a friend of mine, finding his silly notes disbursed through my notebooks. his doodles in pages perfectly reserved just for him. you know. cuz I love him.

i draw for the people who will pass my life only knowing the cool eye I was drawing in history class.

i draw for the girl who took up art after seeing the way I put pen to page

i draw for the family that cheers to see another work done by me

i draw for the people who will exist long after I have died so subtlety effected by the art had on so many other artists, so many people, even if they don't know my name, even if they will never see my work.

i draw because its fun and it helps me think and I like thinking of ideas and putting them onto paper and I like how the finished piece looks most of the time.

i draw

[makotaberrie]

when you see your ex at the mall or smth

tumblr gets my ramblings about their dynamic from discord with ashe vvv

"sonic likes shadow, shadow likes hook, hook is an idiot and just wants to be friends with everyone (very much here for a good time and doesn't know whats going on) and maybe sonic and shadow have a fling and sonic breaks it off bc commitment issues, shadow is achy breaky and hangs out with hook and moves on and develops a crush on hook but doesnt do anything bc hook seems super friendly with sonic and thats a sore subject for him. meanwhile sonic regrets the break up and wants to go out with shadow again but thinks shadow and hook are dating"

ive only taken in sonic from game grumps and through fandom until i saw the sonic movie recently; basically idk much about the sonic lore so im still learning about Hook's place in the world/lore. ;;

also, here's hook's first design:

[malt-rants-and-stuff]

@sunnfish okay Take Two!!! hello sunny sunnfish you wonderful sea creature! I was your secret santa for the @ssmygiftexchange! so sorry for the delay on this, my scheduled post was taken by the tumblr void and I wasn't home with my laptop to remake this post haha.

Your prompt was shirashiro college roommates au and prev pres, hanzawa, and tashiro hang out!! hope i was able to do this justice, this is officially the longest oneshot ive posted :)

Now with an Ao3 version, i would recommend reading there because Tumblr messed up some of my formatting and I can't fix it right now ^_^

Summary:

Tashiro and Shirahama are college roommates. It's a relatively peaceful life.

A non-linear story written for the sasamiya & hirakagi winter gift exchange!

As it turns out, moving in with a guy that you’ve known for almost half your life is pretty unremarkable.

Maybe it has something to do with being too familiar with each other. There have been too many sleepovers for the sound of snores to phase him, too many gym classes for the sight of skin to fluster him, too much time for anything to feel awkward between them. And yet…

And yet.

Packing your whole life into boxes is pretty hard, as it turns out. Looking around his room now it seems hard to imagine how it’ll feel to see the whole place emptied out. Cleared of every reminder of himself.

Tashiro tries not to think about it so hard as he turns back towards the closet. He’s never felt the need to go through everything he had stuffed in there until now, remnants of the past mixing with comforts of the present.

He reaches out to grab one of the hangers, pulling it free. His ping-pong jacket, he thinks despairingly, is slowly becoming small on him. His name spelled across the back in white lettering brings him back to when he first noticed. The growth spurts he’s been having refuse to slow even for a moment, and though he likes that some days, it mainly makes him face annoying things like this.

If he leaves the jacket, it will probably be packed up and put away somewhere to be forgotten. He can picture it now, sitting in a box stuffed away as it slowly fades from his memory. It makes him feel sort of heavy. But, if he takes it with him, he’s not sure it would be much better in the long run. Just holding it in his hands reminds him of how much time has passed. Of how fast it will keep passing.

He stands there, gears turning haphazardly in his mind, as he tries to breathe it all in.

Then, a knock.

His eyes dart to his doorway in surprise– knowing none of his family was home right now– only to remember that he’d invited the others to help him out.

Shirahama stands in front of him, knuckles resting against the already ajar door. His slightly bored face and tellingly awkward posture show that he hadn’t expected to be the first to arrive.

“Is your doorbell broken?” He asks as his socked feet pad their way into the room. “I tried using it, for once, but from that look I guess you didn’t hear.”

Tashiro finds himself a little amused by this, as he knows for a fact Shirahama has his own key. Perks of coming over to play games most weekends out of the year. He remembers them making jokes about going into each other's fridges while no one was home when they traded keys.

“Nah, guess I was just distracted,” He says with a casual shrug, placing the jacket back in the closet.

Shirahama gives him a questioning look. “I thought you were moving out, not back in.” His friend jokes as he passes Tashiro, grabbing a couple of shirts from the closet alongside the jacket.

He feels his eyebrow twitch in a way that reminds him a little of Hanzawa; and what a scary thought that is.

“I’m feeling indecisive.” He says, his mouth twisting to match how the word makes him feel. All twisted up and confused.

Shirahama turns to the side to face him, having stacked more clothes into his arms that look to be on the verge of falling to the floor. “About what? If you should take your whole house with you?”

That jacket. If I should re-dye my hair. Growing up. You. The future.

“What if we paint all the walls yellow?” He says instead of the hundreds of things his racing mind pushes forward.

“Yeah, that’s not happening.” Shirahama responds resolutely, his eyes showing no room for argument. Not that Tashiro will let that stop him.

“Or maybe green? Something bright.” He continues on, stepping away from his thoughts to grab the jacket out of the teetering pile and place it to the side. “Actually, scratch that, blue would be great too.”

Shirahama gives him a withering look that has no effect on his enthusiasm. Now that he’s thinking about it, the fact that he isn’t going to make these kinds of decisions on his own anymore is pretty fun. He’ll have a roommate, a friend to work through his troubles with. The thought makes him feel lighter.

“Hey, d’you still want this?” Shirahama asks some time later, long after Kuresawa and Miyano have come and gone. Tashiro looks up from the stack of boxes he’d just finished labeling.

“Oh, yeah I almost forgot!” He says as he takes his jacket, tying it around his waist for safekeeping. He really hopes he didn’t overestimate how much closet space he has.

It’s only a few hours after the final box has been unloaded and the moving van is hauled off when Tashiro makes a chilling discovery.

“Dude, we have no food.” He says, eyes staring at the bleak emptiness of their new fridge.

“Yup,” Shirahama responds as he walks up beside him, handing Tashiro a scrunchie in a sort of placating manner.

Tashiro’s shoulders droop with the weight of his exhaustion. Moving was one of the most tiring things he’s ever done, and coming from him that’s saying something.

Turning away from the depressing artificial fridge lighting, Tashiro turns toward the kitchen counter behind him and grabs his keys. As wrecked as he might feel, the growls of his stomach refuse to be ignored. “I’ll go buy something quick,” He says.

“Ah- wait, I have an idea,” Shirahama says suddenly. Back straightening, he moves away from the fridge of doom over to a bag of housewarming gifts the others had left. It was mostly a small array of gag gifts, little plant pots shaped like ping pong balls and a lampshade shaped like a pudding cup, but in a small container alongside the rest was something else. A saving grace for the hungry:

A tub of butter.

Tashiro looks at it in confusion, asking if his friend was really that hungry.

Shirahama smirks, “With food, no container is ever as it seems.”

He opens the tub’s lid, revealing its contents. Inside is not butter, but a large frozen serving of chicken soup. Tashiro feels his jaw drop as he gasps in disbelief.

Quickly shaking himself of his shock, Tashiro grins brightly. He takes the soup and stuffs it into the microwave, but Shirahama stops him from starting the timer.

“Y’know it would taste better if you put it in a pot instead.” Shirahama says, his hand gently clasped around Tashiro’s wrist in a way that he chooses not to internalize. His fingers are a little cold.

“But it’s already cooked.”

“So? You can still warm it up in the pot. Plus it’ll make it taste closer to how it’s supposed to.” Shirahama retorts, opening the microwave and placing the tub on the counter as he goes to try and find a pot in the sea of boxes.

Tashiro stays behind as he thinks. He hadn’t ever had a reason to go so far out of his way to warm up food before. He feels himself smile a bit, the first change he’ll have to get used to in this new life.

As it turns out, keeping a relatively small apartment clean is a little difficult when you’re living on your own as two messy 18 year olds.

They tried the whole chore chart thing at first, Shirahama said he used to have one at his parent’s house and it worked fine. But, well, it’s a little different when it’s just them.

The dishes are stood in a precarious stack, plates and glasses towering in ways gravity should never allow. Tashiro faces his task with a body radiating reluctance.

He’s been busy the entire week. Classes and work keep him out of the house, and even when he is home he prefers to spend time relaxing or hanging out with Shirahama. He had forgotten about his chore, and now it’s become a problem.

Carefully reaching towards the tower, he grabs the cups first and goes for the sponge right as Shirahama walks out from his room.

He has his hair held back by a headband, because my bangs are a nightmare right now, he’d explained the other day.

He walks towards the kitchen and looks at Tashiro, who has begun to work through the dishes.

“…Need any help?” He asks as he reaches toward the kitchen cabinet, pulling out the chips he’d come for.

“Oh, no I’m good,” Tashiro responds, though the overwhelmed look in his eyes doesn’t match his words.

Hm. Shirahama puts his chips down on the counter, turning towards the sink and stepping up beside his friend. “I’ll dry and you wash, okay?” He says with a smile.

Tashiro blinks at him for a moment, lips parted in an ‘o’, before he nods and sends back a smile of his own.

They make it through everything eventually, though not without some effort and accidental water sprays. They decide afterwards to just do the dishes together, just to save them time.

There's this strange sensation that comes for him one day. The apartment is dark, the steady hum of the aircon welcoming him home, and immediately something feels amiss.

Tashiro kicks off his shoes, only to turn back around and place them carefully on the shoe rack. He always forgets that it’s something he should worry about now. Keeping his home in order was never really a big deal before, it was usually only him spending time there anyways.

Passing through the short hallway, his eyes catch on a small black and red container. He looks around suspiciously, but finds no sign of Shirahama. Crossing the creaky floorboards, he inspects the tupperware and finds a green sticky note pressed onto the lid.

Went to a mixer.

Put this in a pot and try eating real food for once

Tashiro blinks away his shock. His eyes trace over the words on the note. Again, then again.

Thump

Thump

Thump

His hands warm the plastic as he goes to hold it, and a smile breaks out across his face. He’ll have to say thanks later.

Placing his food back onto the counter, he turns to go change. He feels anticipation swirl around inside of him, and even without tasting the soup, Tashiro feels warm.

Tashiro finds out in the second month of living with his best friend that they’re maybe not the best at making their place livable.

“How have you guys been living like this?” Miyano asks, part judging and part concerned. They’re standing in the living room, which consists of a couch, a tv, and a shelf balanced on two boxes that they use as a coffee table. The tv sits on the floor with a console, video game cases stacked beside it.

It’s not like they haven’t talked about decorating. They joked about it before moving, and made plans about what they wanted to do. The plans just… didn’t end up happening.

At some point between the exhausting move-in and the rush of classes starting up, decorating didn’t feel like that urgent of a thing.

But now classes have been in session for a while, and they still haven’t bothered with it.

The click of Kuresawa’s camera bounces off the empty walls. “A total bachelor pad,” he says, sounding just to the left of impressed. “My girlfriend was wondering what it looks like when two college guys live together.”

Tashiro groans at that, knowing that another classing girlfriend ramble is on its way.

“We live just fine,” Shirahama says, and as if on cue the boxes fold into themselves, sending the shelf clattering to the floor. Right.

They decide to go furniture shopping, just to make sure that they don’t have to deal with any more Looks from Miyano or paparazzi from Kuresawa.

Tashiro suppresses a laugh, pointing towards a table with odd looking fish for legs, “We need that.” Shirahama laughs along with him, but shakes his head.

“We have a budget, we’re only getting what we absolutely need.” He reminds Tashiro. His eyes turn towards a yellow and white coffee table that is practically calling for him. He turns away.

Tashiro salutes him, and doesn’t retaliate when Shirahama gives him a playful shove in response. He turns around and walks towards a different part of the store, twisting strands of his hair between his fingers as he goes. He really needs to touch up his roots.

Spotting something on a shelf, he picks it up. It’s a decorative statue, a silver painted hare taking a nap. He smirks and turns around, walking back to Shirahama. “Hey, look, I found you…” he starts to say before trailing off, eyes focusing on Shirahama’s side profile.

His eyes look focused in the way they always do when he’s overthinking something simple. His brows are pinched and his thumb is pressed flat on the side of his lip. Tashiro breathes in the expression, and decides he can show him later.

Laughter reverberates through the restaurant, one table in particular shining with rays of excitement and teasing.

“No, but seriously, how many more piercings can you get?” Tashiro questions dramatically, standing from his seat to stretch across the table and investigate. Hanzawa only laughs behind his hands and turns his head, showing off another new hole in his ear.

“If you ask that every time you’ll keep giving yourself a headache,” says the eldest one at the table, the previous ping pong president in all his red haired glory smirks mischievously and pats Tashiro’s back.

Crossing his arms and dropping back into his seat, Tashiro tries to keep up an air of frustration. It lasts about a second before he breaks out into a smile of his own.

These little meet-ups are a lot of fun for him. It’s not every day that all three of them are in one place. Especially not with their current schedules. It’s a nice break from the busy life he’s been settling into.

He feels his heart warm as he sits with his friends, ready to bring up his latest win in his college ping pong club, when his phone vibrates. Flipping it over, he sees that Shirahama texted him.

Divorce Soon: hey r you home

I left my jacket and this place is freezing

He pauses to consider. He’s not very far from the apartment, he could run there, grab it, and drop it off pretty quickly. But… he glances up from his phone to the two in front of him. He doesn’t want to leave yet. But… looking back at his phone he sees the spam of crying emoji’s Shirahama has begun sending. 

“Hey guys, sorry but my roommate needs me to get him something,” he says with an awkward expression. The conversation pauses as the two process what he said. “Oh sure, you need a ride?” His absolutely genius red haired friend offers, pulling his keys out as he says it.

“Yes!” Tashiro replies as his expression lights up. He tells Shirahama he’s on the way, and they head out towards the parking lot.

Sitting on the edge of the bathtub, Tashiro fiddles with the edge of his shirt. He tries not to move too much, looking back and forth from his hands to Shirahama. His friend has that same look in his eyes that he did back in middle school art class. Focused, determined, trying and failing to keep paint off of his face. Only this time the paint is a bright yellow dye.

They’ve been like this for a while. He hums along to the music playing from his phone. His butt feels a little numb and he has counted and recounted the tiny floor tiles at least a million times, all 173- no, 175 of them. He tries to focus his attention on anything but the gloved hands in his hair.

He carefully reaches over for his phone, switching the playlist to a random one he saw in his recommendations.

It’s not as if he couldn’t survive in silence for a little while. He usually doesn’t have anyone else to do this for him, so silence is kind of a given.

But as he taps the beat into his leg and opens his mouth, no words come out. He lets the silence linger even as Shirahama begins humming the words to a song he remembers coming out in their first year. He thinks about laying on the floor of his bedroom, phone conversations bouncing off his poster-lined walls and music blasting.

He remembers the telltale clicks and clacks from the other end of the call, the curses against ridiculous route mechanics spilling into his ears.

Tashiro feels like this is sort of like those moments, just a little bit more. His legs are longer, his hair can go into a ponytail now, and his world feels so much bigger. His eyes turn towards the boy-technically-man in front of him. His eyes look sharper and his face is more angular.

But, in a lot of ways he feels the same as he always has. The same Shirahama who cried during their graduation, and sat next to him on their first day of middle school. The same Shirahama who bullies him for counting on his fingers, but forgets what comes after 3 when he’s drunk enough. 

The same yet different Shirahama. They match in that way, at least. Both the same, but not fully.

“I… think I’m done?” Shirahama says, breaking their steady silence. Tashiro stands to go look in the mirror. He giggles at the sight of his foil-wrapped hair sticking out at odd angles.

Shirahama laughs along with him, and it really isn’t that funny, but they still stand there giggling like idiots. Tashiro pulls at the corner of his shirt again, turning around and raising it up to Shirahama’s face and wiping away some of the dye.

He drops his shirt and turns back to the mirror, looking at the two of them in the reflection. He watches the way Shirahama’s face stays frozen, and how his whole face flushes like it always has. It’s nice to see some things will never change.

[foreverjustaplace]

The Bear in the Room

AHHHHHHH!! I'm not at all normal about Syd and Carmy. Like not at all. I have been reading and writing fanfiction since elementary LOL, but it's been years and years since I wrote anything. I've devoured just about every single fanfic with the Syd/Carmy tag I could find and then some. I've had this tumblr for over a decade and posted ZERO things. Now I've retweeted every other sydcarmy post and debated sharing my own theories and fics. But it's time. Feedback is welcomed! But be gentle, my darlings, I'm not exaggerating when I say I haven’t written fanfiction in over a decade. I'm nervous. Here's an excerpt from the first chapter, which will hopefully be up soon on AO3. It's called The Bear in The Room and will be a 5+1 Time fic.

5 Times Syd called Carmy "Bear" and 1 Times he calls her "Bear"

Syd is irritated. “Look, Carm. Effective teamwork begins and ends with communication.” She doesn’t tell him she stole that line from Coach K. “How can we build this up to be as successful as we want it to be if you’re not even telling me you’re going to be late? Or, I don’t know, text me if you’re not going to come in at all during our scheduled time.”

“Syd, that was one time. And I didn’t realize my phone wasn’t plugged in properly which is why it died and I couldn’t text you until much later. That’s my fault. I was tired–”

Sydney cuts him off. “Carmy, dude, I’ve literally gotten less than five hours of sleep each night for the last couple of weeks. We’re all tired. We’ve been tired. This shit isn’t new for us. We need you on your A-game. I need you at your best!” 

Carmy runs both of his hands through his hair, and his voice is strained but louder than it’s been all morning. “Syd, you are the one person who gets me at my best. If I’m fucking up out there,” he gestures to the windows behind them as he continues, “I’m doing everything in my power to not bring that shit near you. I give you whatever my best is, okay? You have to know that I want this restaurant to succeed, and I want to get you those fucking stars.” His face redding as his electric blue eyes look into her expansive brown ones. 

Syd’s annoyance is fizzling out. She knows she shouldn’t let it. She wants to keep it at the forefront of her mind. She tries to force herself to keep thinking about how he’s been absent, hanging out with his girlfriend–a friend who’s a girl–Claire–whoever she is to him–but he’s still Carm and she’s still Syd. And though she hasn’t worked on the menu with him in his apartment in weeks, and though the moments of them talking about nothing and everything outside during a smoke break, where he somehow is always just finishing the cigarette he came outside to smoke as she opens the back door and comes to sit right next to him, haven’t been as frequent, she still feels deeply connected to him. 

So all she can do at that moment is bite her bottom lip and swipe her tongue on that same spot so quickly, you’d miss it if you blinked, before hesitantly responding. “You have my best, too, and I—” But she doesn’t get to finish because Fak chooses that moment to push the restaurant’s new door open and boisterously yell out to no one in particular, “Look who I found! It’s Claire Bear and she is going to help us with our GET-THE-BEAR-FUCKING-READY-FOR-OPENING-DAY day!” Syd can’t help but stare at Claire, a beat too long, with her full face of makeup and fancy-looking shirt. At least she put on some closed-toed shoes for today. Before Claire can get out of Fak’s embrace, Syd turns back to Carmen and says, “I need your best to be better,” as she walks off to find Nat.

Soo what do you think? Is it worth posting?

[samptlay]

To My Sweetheart Who Carries A Wounded Heart ~ Info.

Blade & Reader's Relationship

Series Masterlist, Chapter 1 🤍, Chapter 2 🖤, Chapter 3 🤍, Chapter 4🖤, Chapter 5🤍, Chapter 6🖤, Chapter 7🤍

Being childhood best friends, they knew everything about each other and been there for all of the other's milestones.

Reader describes Blade as his soulmate and is the only person throughout the whole series who calls him "Ren."

They met in kindergarten or preschool (I forgot what I wrote for that) and the reader kept on bothering him until he acknowledged her and proved to care for her, and since then has been inseparable.

It goes deeper into detail in Chapter 2:

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52453421/chapters/132797800

Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/samptlay/737693316678828032/to-my-sweetheart-who-carries-a-wounded-heart-ch

Before meeting Levi, (the reader's current husband) reader would call Blade at least 4 times a week and they would go out together 2-to 3 times a week. Lots of people thought of them as a couple, but both the reader and Blade would shut down the idea.

If the two of them were honest, the attraction and romantic tension were there. There was one night that the two had made out under the influence back in high school as seniors, but the two of them both agreed to just not speak of it. (Blade thinks about it every few months.)

However, none of them had ever made a move. And this is because of the phase he went through during high school. During the beginning of their sophomore year, Blade had started to hang out with guys who thought they knew better than everyone else. Guys who thought girls were just objects made for their satisfaction. Though it didn't change the way Blade acted around the reader, he was arrogant and an overall bastard to everyone else.

A bastard with a handsome face that had ladies all over him. He started to smoke and drink (not enough for him to be an alcoholic or anything, this is what also led to the make-out sesh with the reader one night) He had dozens of girlfriends throughout those years and cheated on them all. Even when he found someone he was actually interested in, he couldn't help but give in to the temptation of other females. So in summary, he was a total player who couldn't commit himself to someone for anything.

This behavior sadly faded into his early years of adulthood. He had different girls running in and out of his apartment every few weeks.

*Switching to 2nd POV, sorry.

You always scolded him about it, worried he would catch something or end up knocking a girl up though he always insisted he played it safe. He admired you even more during those times, because you never seemed to judge him for it. However, you were off limits, out of reach.

This also happened to be around the time you and Levi got married. Blade knew he couldn't commit himself to you, so he didn't have anything to say when someone else swept you off your feet. That doesn't mean he didn't feel anything at all. He took at all the frustration of not being there for you on other women, and got into a bad drinking habit.

Not exactly an alcoholic, but still. You let Blade know you would avoid being alone with him for a long while until you completely have your partners trust to come see him alone. Though Blade understood, it still made his heart ache.

It wasn't until he lost his job in a very risky project he wasn't even supposed to be working on in his company, that he sobered up. (Something like in the game.) During this period, he only had enough savings to last him 4-5 months but it would run out quickly. You had tried to offer him help but Levi wouldn't let you, saying you were being "too nice" and on your way to "giving Blade the wrong idea.".

When I eventually got to one month of unemployment, he was at the gym trying to gather his thoughts while in his own little bubble until a man named "Elio" approached him. Apparently Blade had been watched for about a year according to him and had no idea. Elio said that he knew Blade was running out of cash and offered him a job with a salary that would have people bending backs for. The requirements of the job were tight and required his whole life to fall into Elio's hands, but Blade was desperate and broke.

He didn't have time to entertain women or get wasted. The work was definitely sketchy, and he knew all the things he weren't all legal. He's been under-cover, stolen, fought, involved in fraud and more. All of this seemed to wake him up to true adult life and look back at his past self in absolutely disgust. Of course, you were stoked and over the moon about his new found maturity and even seemed to be around more, just because you felt a lot more comfortable & secure. with this Blade.

Yet, you had no idea what caused the change and always pressed him about it, a little concerned about his choice of field since you swore that Golden Watch he had on was more than both you & his savings combined. Each & every time, he gently shut you down and avoided the topic, deciding that this would be the one wall you'd never be able to break with him. After two years, you let it go and to be honest it caused a small strain in between the two of you since you though he didn't trust you anymore, which wasn't true. He was just silenced.

But you two were still each other's favorite person. Even if you were married, Blade was your soulmate. You've texted him at least 3 times a week throughout your whole life and make sure he never feels forgotten, vice-verse.

But as of the last three years, you seemed to be getting worn down more and more, day-by-day. Each month, the amount of times you'd call him crying because of arguing with your husband increase and he swears that he would have kidnapped you himself up and out of that place long ago if you'd let him.

End of 2nd POV.

In conclusion, Blade & Reader are strictly platonic even though there is little romantic tension, it's more of a click when it comes to the two. They never judge each other for anything and if one party calls, the others is zooming over there in an instant, no matter who there partners are.

Note this, Blade has always wished him and Reader had gone out in their early highschoolers years. Then perhaps his whole life would be turned around, as well as having a ring on his own finger.

And if you weren't married as of now, he would have proposed the moment he left his past self behind. But that's not the case. So for now, he'll admire you from where he currently is.

But Reader knows he loves her. And Blade knows reader loves him too.

Taglist: @msun1c0rn @anime1fan2 @skyl8ver, @umi-adxhira, @lovingnahida @immahuman @faellell @uhfhfhfhf @ssecylia @strrawb3rrysh0rtcak3 @markexplanation @meowmeowraven @xdrin

[atelieronthemoon]

I'm back with our September devlog and oh boy, where to even start... well there were some terrible lows regarding scam donations which truthfully demotivated me for awhile, but hanging out with friends lightened my spirits 🥲 With that said, please don't donate if you're going to charge back, it negatively impacts the game and me 😭 

September was a slow month in terms of development because writing is the main focus right now. We'll be writing until December (we're avoid crunching!)... wish us luck 🥲

Art: Kickstarter rewards are done! I need all the keychains and photocards... 😳

Programming: We're back in business. Our programming duo will be working on the updates and changes to the game in preparation for the extended demo.

Voice acting: The most exciting thing that's happened to us this month is our casting call. We've finalized our amazing voice actors whom I'd like to introduce and welcome!

Corey Wilder as Ivan

Harold Ingram as Oliver

and Jason Hall as Joseph

I'll be posting the role announcements on social media soon 🤗 Speaking of social media, we're now on Tumblr and Bluesky, so follow us if you'd like!

And lastly, we're launching a Patreon (will make a separate post) to help us fund some things such as a game trailer for the KS and Steam page while giving you access to our project's behind-the-scenes and the beta build to the extended demo. There is no obligation to join—only join if you want and able to! I'm grateful for everyone's support regardless ❤️

Next month I'll announce the demo's potential release date wohoo! Thank you all for your patience 😘

[atlantis-just-drowned]

could you do Sun and Moon x Reader who works as Music Mans attendant? (Handles maintenance, cleaning the dance floor, putting playlists together, scheduling, ect.) ???

I love all ur work btwwwww 🫶

A/N: Omg thank you!! For your kindness and for being patient with me!! You're my first ask about the DCAs lmao I'm so glad to finally answer this request, I hope you'll enjoy it :]

DCAs x DJMM attendant!reader

Please reblog to show support! Likes don't boost posts on Tumblr :(

Masterlist

I believe with all my heart that you meet Moon first

Well if you can call that a meeting-

Because you have to stay after hours to wash the floors while DJMM plays his own personal playlist

(he lets you listen because you're nice)

At some point during his patrols Moon just goes to the arcade and hide in a corner of the ceiling

The creature is curious

You seem to treat the DJ rather kindly even if he's an animatronic, which is... unusual, for human staff

So, he observes.

In case you are Secretly Evil

You are totally unaware of it but once you're gone DJ Music Man absolutely teases Moon about it

Sun does too

He is witnessing everything and thinks you're cute when you dance on the music

He just wishes Moon would stop being such a creep and just introduced himself

Which he does, at some point.

After weeks of being called a pussy.

Honestly your first interaction together is kinda awkward

Because he's only here to prove he's not actually scared of you so he acts grumpy

Which... you brush off as him having a bad day or something

I mean that's probably it

Right?

You're kinda concerned you did something wrong and annoyed him

But then again you only just met him, how could you have done anything wrong?

He thought he would be left in peace now that he proved he's not scared of you

Buuuut now you're installing some new decorations in the arcade and ask DJMM about him

Like how he usually is, if he's just always grumpy or more calm like you've seen on the posters...

You're being nosy. He's condemning you to Jumpscare Sentence.

You're kinda mad at him for that one but afterward he carries you around to set the higher decorations

Not that he cares okay?

He just doesn't want to risk being accused if you fall and die

(liar)

You probably meet Sun after a while because you get to go with one of the Glamrocks to pick up a toddler from the Daycare for their birthday party

The kid wanted it set in the arcade so you're mostly here to ensure everything goes smoothly

The second you pass the wooden doors Sun sees you

He's so so so glad to finally personally meet you!!

He's heard a lot about you, friend!!

Sun is honestly a lot easier to befriend than Moon

But now the starboy has to put up with Sun rambling about how nice you are and how he should probably try to be a bit kinder to you!!

He WILL jumpscare you again for making him go through the monologue

And that's... More or less how you get to know each others

Moon ends up coming to the arcade mostly to chat with DJMM

Because you know

It's not possibly to see you that he hangs around more often

Like not at all he doesn't care

No it's completely different

It's because the DJ is his friend

I'm also thinking, when you have day shifts and get some time to relax

DJMM lets you go to the Daycare to say hi to Sun :)

Well, more like

He encourages you greatly

By pushing you out of the arcade

He's just glad you're making friends :D

And he probably gets Bluetooth messages from Sun asking about you so he just directly sends you his way

After some time, going to the Daycare during all of your breaks just becomes an habit lmao

You chat with Sun and even sometimes get pulled in a game with the kids

Moon thinks the both of you are dumb

But he will get used to having you around eventually

It just takes some more time

And denial

Lots of denial

Until one day you almost trip and fall but he catches you

And you're all like "see!! you actually DO care a little bit riiiiight? :]"

He is not happy about it at all

Will probably blame you for being too endearing >:(

Troublemaker, making trouble in his head >:(

Meanwhile Sun knew Moon was getting attached all along and wouldn't stop mocking him

But he's genuinely so glad when Moon finally lets his walls down around you!!

They both managed to make a friend!! How exiting!!

And such a kind, caring and beautiful friend, with that!!

They both can't get enough of you for real

Well Sun can't get enough of you

Moon says he has way too much of you but he's a liar

He will never admit this is a lie >:(

(false)

(he will)

(in a very not so distant future)

(maybe)