#I myself only learned about it in school from a short story about a boy lost in siberia

[bluerosefox]

GHOSTS WITH HEARTBEATS

When Jason had been going to Gotham Academy, he had (for a good reputation for the media and to help him catch up on his penmanship, remember he had been on the streets and dropped out of school before getting picked up by Bruce for a while) signed up for a penpal project for 'less privileged people' to write to.

(Although Jason was annoyed the penpal project stayed within the states and only selected a middle of nowhere town, he knew the Richie Rich Elites would never subjugate their 'Heirs' to actual kids in need of learning how to read and write)

But Jason didn't mind his penpal.

Danny Fenton was a riot to talk, err write to in all honestly.

From his dry punny humor (and boy can he give even Dick a run for his money in the pun department but hey using some of them actually got Dick to warm up to him a few missions ago) and death jokes so many death jokes, to his nerdy love for space Jason enjoyed writing to Danny.

Even the short stories he would write about a ghost kid protecting a small town from other ghosts was interesting to read. He really liked the different kinds of ghosts there could be. Granted some seemed very OP like that Clockwork dude.

Jason liked writing to Danny, and even after the penpal project was over they had plans to keep sending letters, maybe even exchange numbers soon...

But then he died by the hands of the Joker.

The letters leaving Wayne Manor may had decreased but the letters being sent never did or at least until a few years ago.

Then Jason somehow returned to the land of the living.

Got taken by the LoA, tossed in the green waters and turned into their Pit Raged weapon for a while before leaving them behind and setting out for his revenge against the Joker and to force B's hand.

And becoming a Crime Boss for a while too. Can't forget that.

Point being with all this going on, the old warm memories of exchanging letters with Danny Fenton was pushed into the back of his mind and forgotten about for a while.

It isn't until one afternoon at Wayne Manor that while roughhousing with Dick, who had Jason in a brotherly headlock as they walked down a hall to one of the sitting rooms, that while Jason had slipped out of Dick's hold had stumbled into a hallway desk that had a few things on the top of it, one of the things being a small box that tumbled off when Jason hit it.

The box lid opened and out of it spilled out a good number of letters.

"Shiii-p, dang it Dick!" Jason said when he looked at the mess he accidentally made and stopped himself from swearing, the place might be named Wayne Manor but everyone knew this was Alfie's domain and no swearing was a rule within his halls.

Dick only laughed and teased only in a way a sibling can do "Hey not my fault your as big as a tank Jaybird! We should get you some caution signals if you keep bumping into things!"

Jason flipped him his favorite finger, thankfully Alfred only knew when they swore thus it did not summon him, and bent down to the letters.

His hands froze when he recognized the hand writing and the address it was sent from.

"From: Danny Fent Nightingale

Amity Park, IL"

To: Jason Todd-Wayne

Gotham City, NJ.

Wayne Manor"

And when Jason opened the letter. He really wasn't expecting what was written inside.

"Jason.

I'm finally leaving Amity Park. I can't be there anymore, not after everything. I'm too tired, and emotionally hurt. Everything is just to much. And I can't keep doing this to myself. My parents still can’t understand there is nothing ‘wrong’ with me or why I refuse to let them take care of Ellie, I refuse to let her live the way Jazz and I did, Jazz has to much on her plate already with her own life and college but she’s been hounding me to reach out to mom and dad, Sam refuses to listen to me when I tell her I want to be more than ‘Phantom’ in Amity Park, and Tucker is so busy trying to get into a good college and job we barely have time to talk nowadays. And don’t get me started on Vlad, that fruitloop’s been breathing down my neck since Ellie’s deaging.

Despite how much of a hellhole you like to call it, I think Gotham might be my, no mine and Ellie’s best bet of living some kind of life, especially now since the whole deaging she had to go through, she needs an ectoplasm rich city as well and since she has no actual papers because she was my clone and I remember you saying Gotham has people who can create new identities and-

I’m rambling again, to letter you again. I really need to stop it.

I can’t keep pretending you’re going to read these.

I know you’ll never read these. You’re gone. I can’t even find you in the Realms no matter where I look.

I’m sorry. For using you as, well, a way to vent my life for last couple of years. I shouldn’t had done it but it helped me.

Believing my friend was still alive and getting my letters I mean.

Again I’m sorry.

This will be my last letter to your ghost, pun unintended.

Goodbye Jason. Wish us luck in your city.

-Danny Fen-Nightingale...."

The sent date on the letter was roughly eight years ago.

[lowkeyrobin]

could you write a walker x transmasc!reader oneshot? if not, that is fine aswell! - 🗡️

of course I could!! just beware any random shit because I don't know much about being transmasc and I did a lot of research on reddit and tiktok for this for like mannerisms ans shit ; thanks for requesting and I hope you enjoy! ; for any regulars on my blog, ik I've enforced the gn reader only thing but I updated my rules list, where I'll only do trans masc/fem readers on request. that doesn't mean request a thing and add one of those solely for a set of he/him or she/her pronouns though. ; post writing robin and this was actually so fun to write LMAO I hope you like this even tho it's so short

WALKER SCOBELL ; the boys

summary ; youre transmasc and properly come out to walker and co + some stupid shit for two parts

warnings ; language

disclaimers ; idk shit about awards shows + imagine middle school auditorium seats for the first part

word count ; 723

masterlist

You, Aryan, Walker, and Leah sit in the audience at the 2025 Emmy Awards, chatting before the cameras turned on to watch the proper show begin. You and Walker sit together, with Aryan and Leah right behind you. The thick, tan, plastic chairs were going to do a number on your ass later. For a million-dollar award show you'd think they would upgrade the seat situation a little bit.

Leah and Aryan sit forward in their seats, holding a conversation with you and Walker, both turned around in yours.

"No, and like, you will not be calling me that, thank you!" You laugh and smile, "If you get your grimy hands on my legal name I will actually throw myself away. I am a man!"

"Wait, what?" Walker questions, eyebrows furrowed. "Legal name?"

"I changed my name" You clarify. "Cause like..." You look yourself up and down, hands following your gaze. "Y'know?"

Walker blinks, pushing his blonde curls away from his face. "Wait... you're trans?"

You nod, a playful yet unbelievable smile on your face. "How did you not know?"

"Even I knew" Leah comments, glancing at Aryan, who nods in agreement.

"I thought it was kinda obvious." You chuckle, seeing his surprised reaction. "I had to keep correcting people about my name like, a million times"

"I never knew you had another name? I thought it was always Y/n!"

"This is going on my story"

"Which one?"

"The Boys"

Walker smiles, his right arm slung over your shoulders as he watches you caption and post the picture you'd just taken with him on your public Snapchat story. It was titled The Boys, meant for you and all your close friends.

He was glad to see that you considered him one of your close friends, but also on such a deep level, though it was just a title to you. He saw the deeper meaning that you didn't. Like an over analyzing reader to a writer. He was happy you also considered yourself a boy, that you could happily parade that around and feel comfortable with your identity. He truly couldn't be more proud to see you happy and smiling in this moment.

You look back up at him, a cheesy smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

"What's that look for?" You ask, a little confused.

"Nothing" He replies, patting your right shoulder blade as he moves his arm around a bit. "We should definitely make a playlist and put it on your story for people to listen to" He suggests with a slight shrug.

"For what?" You ask again, a little puzzled as to where this was going."

"Just cause"

"Okay, Mr.-Won't-Explain-Shit-Scobell"

"You just went on a five minute tangent trying to avoid the word homophobia"

"I was testing the waters with your gaydar, cause apparently it was broken the first time"

"I don't have a gaydar! I'm just, like, here! I'm just a guy"

"Look at this handsome man! Dude, wear purple more, I'm so serious"

"Okay, I see you, Y/n!"

"Fix your tie!"

"I'm trying, I'm still learning! I didn't have this chapter of boyhood"

"Here-" The blonde mumbles, reaching forward to fix your black tie.

You tilt your chin up, giving him easy access to the cloth wrapped around your neck. Leah and Aryan watch, smug looks on their faces.

You send them a glare, trying not to alert Walker to it. He quickly reties your tie, sending you a thumbs up as he backs away. You quickly thank him, a warmth heating up your cheeks, physically unnoticeable.

"Walker, you look like a divorce lawyer." You comment, stuffing your hands in your purple pockets.

The blonde dramatically scoffs, a hand rested on his heart. "You're so mean to me! You're not welcome to the next boys sleepover"

"I don't wanna be a part of that dorky shit anyways"

"Okay, meanie"

"What are you, twelve?"

"...Did you just attempt to quote me?"

You shrug with a side nod.

Leah speaks for you, "Yeah, he did"

"How do you know?"

"He told us that he was gonna try and quote you at least once today" She chuckles.

The three look back at you, lining your jawline with your finger, clearly sucking up your tongue.

"Dude, stop mewing, we have to go out there in like, a minute"

[happypotato48]

List of Thai BL dramas i've watched with short opinions about them i guess :P

Thai BLs that i finished:

A Boss and a Babe. It's cute for what it is, i loved the gaming friendships and i'm a sucker for forcebook. 7/10 need more unhinged energy from book.

A Tale of Thousand Stars/Our Skyy 2 : Bad Buddy x A Tale Of Thousand stars. this show reminds me a lot of early to mid 2000s lakorns. it's a beautiful by the book love story, i appreciated that a bl got to take a spin on this kind of quiet thai story. 8/10 loved it but still too vanilla for my taste.

Bake Me Please. Guide Kantapon is the cutest man alive and CAKES! that it, that all i have for this show. 6/10 it's a show that exist.

Be My Favorite. damn fluke gawin is so pretty what was this show about again? :P i'm kidding, i actually really liked this show. i watched it when i had zero knowledge about bl industry, i was oblivious about krist's controversy and i find krist acting to be charming and think kawee is very relatable as a cringe fail human myself. 8.5/10 this show made me want to collected weird thingies.

Cherry Magic (Thailand). oh boy this show. it's was everything to me also the only show so far that i've written extensively on this site. here is my personal feeling about this show. 9.5/10 would kill for taynew.

Cooking Crush. what! the fuc$! look look, i just learned that both offgun are older than me. when i first saw the show i thought they were some rookie actors with how young they looks. watching cute bl is gonna be the death of me. anywho this show is supercute don't have a lot of thought about it though. 7.5/10 cutting half a point cause of no samsee x metha.

Cutie Pie/Naughty Babe. what a fuckin legend of a series. all the characters have zero braincells and somehow all the rich pretty boys are engaged to each other and by arranged marriages nonetheless. wtf is this fanfic version of thailand and where can i get hit by a truck and get isekai to it. 7.5/10 still haven't watch Cutie Pie 2 U, i hope it get dumber.

Enchanté. this show is so dummmb it should've go full camp reverse harem yaoi nonsense but it didn't and ended up being kinda boring. 6.5/10. meh, i'm still a sucker for forcebook.

Last Twilight. UGHHH!! i'm still so mad. this show was going to be THE SHOW for me then ep 11-12 happened i legit mentally check out halfway through ep 12 and i basically blocked the ending from my mind. this show came out at the right place and the right time for me, the first 9 episodes helped me through a very tough time in my life. the story of two people helping each other finding their way out of the dark was very compelling to me. ughh. 5.5/10 (9/10 for ep 1-9) P'Aof why are you like this!!

Laws Of Attraction. yassssssss this show slay(literally :P) the show is a breath of fresh air for me despite how very lakorn of it is. i'm glad that there is a bl that feel this soapy and campy cause like i do love my angsty and innocent school bls but the industry really need show like laws of attraction. jamfilm also were very great in their roles espically film, charn is the most babygirl corrupted cute evil lawyer of all time. 9/10 no note headempty only charn's evil smirks in my mind

La Pluie. now, this is a romance. this show is one of the most romanctic media that i personally have experience. i loved that the show took the cheesy premise of soulmates and work it so well to do both deconstruction and exploration of the trope. i think using rain, thing that isolated people as a narrative tool for love connection is absolutely brilliant. last but not least pat is just the perfect bl love interest, he's an very idealized character but he do feels like an actual person. i want to give a shout out to Pee Peerawich the way he said "มันหนาวอ่ะ" in ep 8 sent me, the raspy voice, the eye twich and combo those with a back cuddle, sir! you just commited a mass murders with that move. 9/10 plz i need season two with my baby boy tien.

Love in Translation. the unhingendness of that first meeting is probably my favorite bl meet cute. look if you don't get into a fistfight with the guy you destined to be with then what is the point of life. this show fake date is very well done it's doesn't feel forced like in a lot of other bls and it make the growing attraction feels very genuine and it pay off in one of the best sex scenes in all of bl, yang is such a freak and i loved him for it. 8/10 the last two episodes did got slightly off the rail for me but i still enjoyed the show.

Moonlight Chicken. one of the most beautiful shows i ever watched. when watching this show i can feels, smells and tastes everything it depicted. from the comfort khao man gai to jim's loneliness, from alan's heartbreak to liming and heart's midnight motorcycle ride. this show gave me all the feels and i still can't completely shake it off. 9.9/10 this show is a healing.

My School President. These boys!!!! i can't, i loved these boys so much, all the boys, YES ALL OF THEM! this show is on the opposite spectrum of Moonlight Chicken for me. while MC give me the good heartaches this show give me unbridled joy it's like heartstopper on cracks. i absolutely adored tinn and gun and the show relentless optimism about thier first love. love is awesome no matter the romantic, familial or platonic kind and i think this show hit the marks with all three. 10/10(i'm super bias but fuck it idc i even liked the singing) this show made me started watching thai bl and it always will have a place in my heart.

My Ride. this show is lacking in intimacy but making up by being all heart. could this show be better if they fleshed out and explore more of tawan and his cheating bf's relationship, maybe but i'm happy for what we got. 8/10 mork and tawan were very cutie patootie, i don't remember much about the het and the side couple were just st ok.

Step by Step. man trisanu is exactly the same height at me and i want everyone to know that is the only reason i started this show🤣 . i feels like this show have a lot to say about stuff but i kinda got lost staring at man trisanu while watching. one thing i really loved is the very fem *ตุ๊ด coworker who got to be a real character not just a jokey sidekick and having a loving relationship with a hottie. 7.5/10 can i get more man trisanu in bl plz.

Triage. asshole doctor stuck in a timeloop for him to find the meaning of life, yes plz give it to me. i loved stories about assholes who need to better themself for love and other junk. tinn and tol are both grumpy bitches and i just loved that the show use the timeloop to soften these nerds. at the end i just want to wrap them in blanket and let's them cuddle each other forever. 8.5/10 the last ep is bit convoluted but i forgave the show for that cute clocktower kiss.

You're My Sky. i started this show for my boy suar and he did not disappointed. the pining and the longing for an older boy who been there for you most you life, chef kiss. this show also very beautiful to look at. 8/10 i'm kinda meh about the side couples, i do think they all got the "good ending" for their stories.

Thai BLs that i didn't finish or gave up and skipped to the ending:

Bad Buddy. Oh boy, am i gonna get murder for this??? sorry but idk why i didn't wholeheartedly love and give this show my undivided attention. i watched this show very weird and out of order, i started with the last ep than just watch other episodes in bit and peice. i think i've seen 70% of this show. plz forgive me this is the first thai bl i tried to get into but can't. maybe i need to give this show another chance and watch it properly. or idk maybe cause the way i watched it, it's ruined for me forever. 6.5/10 i loved the rooftop kiss plz don't kill me.

Dangerous Romance. this show is trash and not the good kind, how this show depicted relationship between a rich asshole and a poor boy feels very gross to me. i fast forward a bunch and gave up after the not just dumb but very cruel breakup. 4/10 it's watchable if you ignore the plot and the chatacters.

Hidden Agenda. wow this is the most nothing show that ever nothing for me. it's a perfected white noise while playing chill video games. i stopped watching after ep 8 cause look like there going to be a dumb break up, i have no desire to revisit this show. 5/10 joongdunk were kinda cutes.

The Miracle of Teddy Bear. this show is too god damn long with too many side plots the one and a half hour per episode killed the momentum for me. i liked the show and do think i want to revisit and finish it one day. 6/10 for now.

Vice Versa. why are they giving jimmysea this show. this show is so boring for me, i gave up in episode 6. 4/10 gmmtv give my babies better shows!!

Thai BLs that i've watched all the sex scenes and have no intention of watching the actual show:

Kinnporsche: heheehehhehehe everyone were so hot, too bad i don't like rich mafia story. mile being a nepobaby also significantly killed the mood for me. 55555/dead bodyguards (idk how many there are but i don't care) the ost are bangers though.

Venus in the Sky and Love in the Air. cringe gay sex for the wins. 69/420.

ok, whoo that was a lot. gonna pin this cause i don't think anyone want to read all that in one sitting. i think i'm gonna make another post for non thai BLs in the near future. thanks for reading my unhinged opinions hope i'm not gonna get moider for it 55555555.

[bogkeep]

it was always a strange dichotomy. every middle school classmate i had told me i'd be a millionaire when i grew up, a Famouse Artisté. it's easy enough to imagine as a teen, i suppose: skill equals fame equals money. i was doubtful about this prophecy, not because i wasn't confident in my ability to draw, but because it was hard to imagine a world where i'd be paid for it.

it was an ice breaker game at summer camp. horrible one, really - everyone in a group were given a character profile. now we had to imagine that it was the zombie apocalypse, and the helicopter to safety was two seats short and we had argue why we deserved a spot. the character i got was an asshole doctor of some kind. i don't remember if i argued my way into the helicopter or not, but i do remember the feeling that's been hanging over me my entire life - if the apocalypse happens right now, i have nothing to contribute.

there's something really painful about it. i have cultivated a skill for my whole life, i can make art and tell stories that are entirely unique to me, there is no way to get someone else to create in the exact same way i can, and yet - i've contributed more to capitalist society by sitting in an empty hotel reception for eight hours a day.

which made me develop anxiety, to boot.

i illustrated two children's books. they're some of my best work. the contract i signed was industry standard and the indie author who had hired me was incredibly kind... but even after stock sold out i had earnt little more than some pocket change.

in high school we had an outing to dig our own snow caves that we would spend the night in. in teams, thankfully. i have so little physical strength to speak of, most i could do to help was clear away the snow rubble and toss it outside. i know, i know, my classmates reassured me it was an important job to do, i was an invaluable member of the group, sure - but it's that feeling, you know?

what would my task be in the communist solarpunk commune?

a person cannot be useless. it's a human being. they just exist, no ifs and buts about it. one can only be useless in the eyes of an ableist, capitalist society that sees no value in being alive beyond production and profit.

sometimes i receive messages from internet strangers to tell me something i said - often several years ago - was helpful to them. maybe it was a throwaway comment on a forum. maybe it was replying to a question they could've googled the answer to. maybe it was an encouraging reply to someone's artwork. turns out it mattered to someone. huh.

of course you can learn new skills. i have learnt plenty over the years! i have also learnt that there are limitations to what i can do. that some of the obstacles i face are not in fact obstacles everyone faces. it's not that i can't break tasks into smaller steps, it's more that half of those steps are going to be "rinse your hands because you Touched a Thing and now you're going to have to touch Another Thing." i wonder if that's adding to my cognitive load or something.

i was never raised to be a man, so by all accounts i do not understand why i'm so haunted by the spectre of toxic masculinity - what would i do if i was a medieval peasant and a war broke out? what if i was in a pre-historic hunter gatherer society and i was expected to hunt? what if i was a humble farm boy discovering the sword of the chosen one and the world depended on my non-existing courage to face certain death?

look, it's stupid. these are not scenarios i will find myself in. besides, pre-historic humans depended on community and taking care of each other. that's how we survive.

i'm not useless and i decided to make peace with being useless anyway.

we're surrounded by digital clocks. we can't really escape them. do we need watchmakers? would they save me a spot in the zombie apocalypse helicopter? no, don't answer that. i'm just happy i found something that requires a light touch and an observant eye.

[dysfunctional-doodle]

YPI PROJECT BEAT MY ASS AND I’M SUPER TIRED BUT THE TOO MANY TURTLES COMMENTARY GRIND NEVER STOPS ‼️‼️💯💯💯

betrayal…. (playing uno is 100% more worth your time than patrol, can confirm, best game ever, played a game with 20 people in a german exchange (but it was kinda quick since we only had one pack of cards and. well. 20 people))

HELL YEAH, WE’RE MAKING PROGRESS!!!!! (i have a feeling this might get a bit angsty…)

😭😭😭😭 (speech to text is really annoying i get the struggle)

y’know, of all the turtles to slander clothes, i didn’t think it’d be him

god noooo the feels 😭😭 (i never quite experienced the bad-teacher side of the neurodivergent experience (my physics teacher was crazy supportive despite the fact i never scored higher than a 40% in his class) but i would get a loooottttt of shit from classmates,,,,,,, sucks ass i feel for mm mikey)

gotta keep expanding your horizons!

ok but. of all the turtles………

love it when this happens

taking action! (also hold on 2012 mikey is an adult in his timeline???)

sighhhh i hope tech stays with the mikeys forever because their dynamiccccc 😭😭😭

not sure if i’m ready for the angst that is most likely coming our way. BUT i’m excited for it

Happy you liked my insane rambles again!

Referring to what you said about teachers, I have personally had some struggle throughout school with the way they teach things which I kind of use to write the issue mm mikey is having, very loosely. Though I don’t have a neurodivergency diagnosed (though a lot of people have kind of told me that I most definitely probably have big ADD or something similar rattling in the old noggin so idk) I learn much differently to what schools want. I am a very hands on learner, and really struggle with visual/auditory classes. It’s like being told how to write a good story but not actually doing it - I just tune out, or it is difficult to get it to “click” unless I explain it to myself in a weird way that actually makes much more sense to me. Once this “click” happens it’s great, I have no issues, but I have a lot of questions and thoughts that others don’t get prior to this point that I’ve unfortunately been disregarded for, as my teacher just didn’t want to explain and deemed me as stupid and needing extra classes because I didn’t learn in the same way. Not to brag but I’m pretty intelligent without even studying so this was a slap in the face for me.

So yeah, I kinda based at least some elements on this experience, though obviously a lot is also made up/fictionalised.

Wow that was a ramble

Anyway, you also mentioned Mikey’s age? I don’t think I’ve ever properly written down the ages outside of a discord I am in that talks about this fic, oops. In short, the timelines are not linear, but rather dotted around the place. A breakdown:

1987 are the ones where I’m not 100% sure on what to age them as, but I imagine around 17 - 19, all the same age

Rise boys are about 6 months - a year after the events of the movie

2012 are about 20 - 22, a few years after their final series (with Mikey being an extra 2 years ahead due to Dimension X)

2007 are what I believe are their cannon ages at 21? Takes place a few months after their 2007 movie (I also consider the 90s movies to be from the same universe due to the details present in 2007)

2003 are a few years after the crossover movie, making them the oldest at around 25 (Mikey being 24 due to him being a few months or so younger when they were sold)

Mutant mayhem boys are literally a couple of weeks after their movie

Bayverse boys are a year after their second movie

Hopefully that clears things up a little :)

[absolutebl]

Recommendation for something to watch and complete on a off day? I am also off today. Something soft and full of love preferably....

10 Soft BL's to Binge In A Day

(Since I don't sleep and watch high speed I binge full length Thai BL but I'm assuming you want something shorter than that, so I've limited myself to a 5hr runtime.)

1. Semantic Error (Korea Viki) - Sexy older boy discovers pouty younger boy has outed him as a slacker, starts out bullying him, accidentally falls madly in love. Korea hits it entirely out of the Parks by doing a university BL with everything we expect from BL just done exactly right. Korea's signature quality executed perfectly with added bonus good story, great pacing, stunning visuals, and fantastic chemistry. You cannot ask for more from a BL, let alone a KBL. Full review.

2. Seven Days (Japan grey in 2 parts Seven Days: Monday - Thursday, Seven Days: Friday - Sunday) - one of the best live action yaoi mangas ever made. The leads have excellent chemistry although it’s low heat, there’s still more kisses than Cherry Magic. Popular first year Seiryo has a policy of going out with any girl who asks… for one week. On a lark, third year Yuzuru tests to see if that policy also applies to boys. Seiryo agrees that it does. Along the way they accidentally fall in love. All the angst is just teen confusion. 

3. Our Dating Sim (Korea Viki) - I enjoyed every aspect from the casting to the very simple premise to the quietly smooth execution. Sure it’s very low stakes, but that makes it high domesticity and extremely warm and gentle. This is a fuzzy blanket of a story. Do we call this cozy BL? Why not? This one is going to live in my rewatch pile, I can tell already, and you know what’s best about it? Every single episode is in that pile. There’s no skipping with this one, it might be good natured and calmly sweet but it’s tight and the pacing is excellent. It perfectly suited KBL’s short-length tendencies. Full review.

4. Light On Me (Korea Viki - Korea does an elegant pastiche of traditional live action yaoi but all tropes are cleverly deployed to bolster one of the most riveting love triangles ever put on screen… and I don’t like love triangles. LoM strategically tailors classic BL tropes to 2 different semes resulting in pristine pacing, plot, and character development, explicitly serving narrative (not just to tick boxes). LoM is a master class in this trope drops. (If you write fanfic or romance you should study this show.) Full review.

5. Takara-kun and Amagi-kun (Japan Gaga & Viki) - I gnawed on my knuckles and squealed a lot with this show. Reserved cool kid who must learn to communicate to keep the tiny disaster nugget he’s madly in love with. It is beyond charming: soft and gentle, packed with cuteness and high school angst, thirst, & yearning. Was there plot? Not really. Was it emotionally tense and paced well enough for me not to notice? Absolutely. Did I enjoy the hell out of it? Oh yes. Full review.

6. HIStory 2: Crossing the Line (Taiwan Viki) - super low stakes sweetest story of the bad boy who falls hard for the senior on the volleyball team and then works to earn his love. You know it’s Taiwan so the kisses are great but in this case it also ends well. Only trigger is that the side couple is the stepbrothers trope, and some don’t like that.

7. Cherry Magic (Japan indie subbed) AKA Doutei dato Mahoutsukai ni narerurashii - the sweetest, fluffiest, most charming bit of adorable ever, full of found family and pastry and serious slapstick, the characters are utterly bonkers, but cute about it. 

8. Wish You (Korea Netflix or Viki, you want the movie version) AKA WISH YOU: Your Melody in My Heart - low stakes high pining romance about a pianist who falls in love with a busker who is on his way to being the next big idol. 

9. Restart After Come Back Home (Japan indie subbed or Gaga?) - this one is perfect if you just want a beautiful loving movie, and one that is well filmed and complex enough to appeal to those who don’t normally watch BL or romance (if you have a reluctant partner). 

10. You Are Ma Boy (Vietnam YouTube) - is there angst? Nope even what could have been angst (a gay idol) doesn’t materialize, it’s just cuties in a cafe confusing each other with cat & mouse games. The side het couple is a touch disturbing, tho. 

Also Old Fashioned Cupcake, it's a bit more complicated than soft but a FANTASTIC binge watch.

(list updated May 2023, not responsible for ones that come after that date)

[slayingfiction]

What would your advice for just-starting-out young authors be?

I love new writers! I’ve never known a better way to escape my reality and live a thousand different lives.

I started writing when I was young, maybe 12 or 13 years old. I am now 25, and very much consider myself to be a child, but still, in my 10+ years of personal writing and classes, here are some of the best tips I can give anyone who is new to writing, regardless of age.

Read. Read. Read. Then read some more. The easiest and fastest way to learn how to write is by reading and studying how other people have written their stories. Study their balance of dialogue vs description vs action. Study the words they use and what they’re choosing to describe. Study the scenes that make you feel something, or pull you to the story even more, and dissect it until you understand how to do it.

Daydream. At night, in the morning, before and after school, during school, during work. When people are trying to talk to you, just daydream. Image worlds with populated moons. Imagine worlds with multiple human-like species all living in the same area. Image a boy who goes home and cries to his adoptive vampire parents, and girls who practices knife throwing every night to prepare for the apocalypse that no one sees coming. Dream of everything and anything because that’s how you keep and improve your creativity. Eventually you may even write something with it.

Write for yourself. Always start by writing what you enjoy, and love your characters and your stories. Everything about your first draft should be because you love the story, not what other people like. You will never please everyone, so start with yourself, and build a community with the ones who love your story as much as you do.

Do it on your own timeline. If you want to write a book in a month, edit the next and publish right after, do it. If you want to write the first five chapters of 8 books without finishing, do it. If, like me, you want to write your first novel at 18 years old, and 7 years later still not feel ready to publish, that’s ok! You are not falling behind anyone else, you are exactly where you should be on your own path.

Practice. Your writing will improve with practice, that’s how it works, it’s how it always works. No way to skip right to publishing a first draft and becoming famous for it. Practice and just keep writing, you will improve.

Challenge yourself. While you may love fantasy or romance, or maybe all your story ideas are too big for only one book and they all end up being series’, you need to try new things. Write a mystery short story. Write poetry on how you feel. Write one page on how you could survive a zombie apocalypse as long as you have your coffee in the morning, it doesn’t matter, just try new things. Trying new things is how I wrote this haiku: Take a deep inhale, Breathe fresh air into my lungs, I savorfreedom. Is it the greatest haiku ever? No, but it makes me happy, and reminds me that I can write, good or bad, and still be proud of myself.

Keep all your projects. Good or bad. Look back on them years later and think, yeah that was terrible, at least I’m better now. Or maybe think, this wasn’t as bad as I thought it was. It’s a progressive journey. You can take your time. DONT EVER SHAME YOUR YOUNGER SELF FOR THEIR WORK. THEY TRIED THEIR HARDEST AND WROTE AS BEST THEY COULD. WE ARE PROUD OF OURSELVES, NOT EMBARRASSED OR SHAMED. Whether the work is from years ago or days go. Be kind to yourself, no one else owes you that.

Compare. Compare to popular novels, compare to your friends stories or to people online. Compare and see if your character are developed enough, or if your story makes sense, or if it’s relatable. When comparing however, keep in mind that your written style will be different than all others writers. Your first novel will not be the same as an author’s 10th book that just went viral on TikTok. It takes practice and time. Compare for style, technique, structure and plot. Not for popularity, worth, importance, and don’t feel down thinking that someone writing at a higher grade level makes them better, it doesn’t.

Share your work. If you are embarrassed, use a pen name. That’s perfectly fine. Put your work out there and get feedback. Having one person saying your story is (negative criticism here) is going to happen, don’t freak out. It doesn’t mean your story is flawed and should be tossed. If most people are saying that, then maybe it’s time to revisit the story and plot. Getting feedback from people reading your story is important, you want to ask specific questions so you don’t get generic answers. Get real reviews from real people, the mean voice in your head doesn’t get a say.

Learn the difference between perfect and done. I know, I know. Perfectionists around the world just scoffed and thought ‘I would if I could’. Here’s the thing, it’ll never be perfect. A word won’t be right, you can’t find the right way to convey an emotion, your choice of vocabulary isn’t up to your standards, I get it. You want your work to be absolute perfection so that everyone loves it and no one can say a bad thing about it, but it doesn’t work that way. Instead make it to ‘complete’, then nitpick some details, then it’s done. Done is good, it’s where you want to be.

Self-publishing? Pay for a professional editor and a graphic designer. It makes a difference, I promise.

There’s lots of others, but I would say as a writer-starter-pack, these should get you started, then you will learn lessons all on your own, or find them as you’re writing later on. Truly, just have fun, and the rest will come with time.

Happy Writing!

[irontragedyreview]

One of those manga that I consider deserves an anime adaptation is Ao No Flag/Blue Flag. It’s short but above all I like how it touches on issues related to sexual orientation. Touma and Taichi’s story is tender but above it’s builds little by little, in the same way that the relationship between Taichi and Futaba is also beautiful and it doesn’t feel that she is the beard or  the middle of Taichi and Toma love.

Taichi learns and changes with Futaba and they push each other to improve, Taichi with Futaba learns to get out of his comfort zone, which had been one of the reasons why he and Touma had drifted apart, Taichi stops hanging out with Touma because he believes that they are in different social circles in high school, even when Touma tried to get closer but there is only so much he can do. His friendship with Futaba and subsequent love relationship doesn't feel bad because it’s built in a way that develops a relationship between two people who begin to enjoy each other's company, but above all who are there to support each other in overcoming their fears, even if in the end they end up with different people.

However, I feel that the end of the manga feels rushed in presenting you with certain events, both Touma and Taichi's relationship, and Masumi's revelation as bisexual. I would like to focus on Masumi more than any other character because honestly a cliché part of my heart was hoping that Futaba and her would end up together, especially because of the level of devotion that Masumi had towards her. Also in the end when  I saw her  married to a man, it left a bad taste in my mouth because she had settled for the easier life that represented hiding her sexuality. Of course, this doesn’t really happen, from the few words we see from Masumi's husband we can understand that he’s aware that Masumi likes both men and women and it doesn’t make him jealous or insecure because he trusts Masumi and her choice to be with him. In my blog there is a post (not mine) talking about this topic. At the beginning I also saw Masumi's marriage as her deciding to stay in the closet, especially because throughout the story the way she describes her feelings for Futaba and how she had tried to go out with boys but without feeling right. All this leads us to think that Masumi is a lesbian, which is why I would have liked one chapter before the ending with a broader development of her sexuality. Although, I want to say this I consider that knowing her bisexuality feels rushed but I don't feel that it’s wrong or queerbating because I can find myself in Masumi, I don't feel that it’s wrong to show that we’re still not completely clear about our sexuality while we’re teens, as a bisexual woman I remember going through a process to accept that I liked men and women. It was a big "I can't be a lesbian because I like guys" but it was also "I'm not straight because I like women too”, getting to a point where both thoughts coexisted and didn’t repel each other took me a while, especially because at the time I didn’t know the word bisexuality. I think that despite everything, Masumi is a good character to feel identified in the discovery of her sexuality because I can understand how her crush with Futaba canceled the possibility of perhaps feeling something romantic or even sexual towards others,  it makes sense that her feelings for Futaba occupy a space that perhaps didn’t allow her to fully explore other relationships to fully understand other aspects of her. That's why I think that once her crush with Futaba ended and had the opportunity to meet other people, she was able to discover herself.

[katebvsh]

Tagged by @gardenofdelete998 to share 3 fun facts about myself (thank you! How are you?Hope you’re doing ok!) ✨

1) I am learning how to sew and make my own clothes! I had to take a break from this due to my PhD studies (related to fashion and skincare) but once I get that over with I really have some concepts I want to try executing (!!!) so for now I’m expressing myself through my sense of style and cooking and writing short stories/anecdote things.

2) When I was 12 years old I read “Lord of the Flies” (it wasn’t for school, I read it on my own volition) and became deeply invested in Simon’s character. When he was finally betrayed by the other boys I completed missed the biblical allusion that he’s a Christ-like figure and refused to continue reading it for around 6 months. Once I finally finished it became my favorite book for a long time in spite of all this (my current favorite book is The Good Apprentice by Iris Murdoch, which shares some similar ideas)

3) I have an enduring love for plants and mushrooms. If I hadn’t gotten into linguistics and fashion ect I would probably have become a botanist or a mycologist. I don’t express that side of myself too much on this blog but I really love ecology and biology. Spending time in nature is healing

Anyone who’d like to participate is more than welcome to do so (only participate if you want to!) But I will mention some of my mutuals here : @iconomiccc @imtheswanqueen2010 @bunnyxbimbo @cathriana @birdsex @newyorkkiss @vodenanimfa @stoneware @aespuma @ithvka @inmyvelvetdream @bahrainimermaid @lunarmountains @brokebitch2006 @serenrdipity @mielgirlfriend @melivora @orreur @yougoththis @brutalistarchitecture2 @kremlint @clearbreathing @legrandmeavlnes @the-shania-twainsaw-massacre @artemisinfurs @artemisiasea @pearly-moonlight-melancholy @bahrainimermaid @stlamb @achselzuckenn @icried4you @iamnotbright

[mikuni14]

2023

Three clarifications: 1) all my opinions are completely subjective and based entirely on my feelings, 2) I definitely left out a lot of what I wanted to write, and I will probably remember it after the New Year lol 3) The Sign wins all the best categories, BUT the series isn't over yet. I included it in my list anyway (I also included Twins)

Unfortunately, 2023 is me continuing the trend started in 2022, i.e. dropping the series, sometimes even just before the finale. There are about 35 series I dropped this year (!!!!!). Some of them I literally stopped watching the moment MLs appeared on the screen, like Dinosaur Love. Sorry but nope. Why is this happening? Perhaps because of the huge number of series. Before, I watched everything, even the worst productions, because I simply had no choice. Now there are so many new series, also so many great older series that I can come back to with pleasure, that I don't regret dropping something, that in the past I would have forced myself to watch until the end. Life is too short to waste it on mid series 🤷‍♀️

My list:

Perfect relationships: Our Dating Sim, Jun&Jun, The 8th Sense, Love in Translation, MickTop - My Universe, The Sign, Twins, Our Dining Table, Sing My Crush, um, Destiny Seeker 😄

Perfect relationships minus this one thing (usually an awkward kiss, sorry, this is very important to me): Unitentional Love Story, Laws of Attraction. WHY. These are not Sotus times, it's 2023, there are no excuses, learn to kiss, it's the easiest thing to DO

Many series disappointed me, but most of all, the one in which I had such great hopes: Chains Of Heart, come ON, this series had EVERYTHING to become one of the best series this year!!

Characters most harmed by the plot: Boston and Babe. I will also never forgive Between Us for what they did to the most awesome couple ever: WinTeam

Interesting series that pleasantly surprised me with how different and unique they are: Be My Favorite, Bake Me Please

Series that I have watched until the end, that are a complete waste of time and that I have bad memories of: Step by Step and La Puie

Characters that were just plain awful and that I would avoid in real life: first and foremost, of course, that EUN JI bitch and Tae Hyung (The Eighth Sense) also Sangin (Sing My Crush), practically everyone from Only Friends, Phat and Saengtai (La Pluie), Pat (SBS), Wen (Moonlight Chicken), Charlie. I'm not writing about terrible parents, there were a lot of them this year

The craziest series I've watched anyway: Till The World Ends 🥳

It's been a year of shows about workplace romance, but only a few managed to portray it in a good, even cute way without creepy power imbalance: Jun&Jun, ODS, Love in Translation, probably Cherry Magic (still airing)

New stars✨ that rocked my 💖: Daou (LiT), Babe (The Sign), Frame (Twins), Guide (IFYLIA, Bake Me Please) and Mark Pakin, my king 👑

My obsessions this year: Jae Won (The 8th Sense), Charn (LoA), Yang (Love in Translation), Im Han Tae (Sing My Crush), Sprite, THARN and Phaya. Overall, 2023 was full of characters who were a wonderful mix of pathetic and crazy in love and who made me feel like 🥺😍😭🥳. These were the men (and boys) mentioned above, but also Yoon Tae Joon (Unintentional Love Story), Cheng (Chains of Heart), Pisaeng (BMF), Tinn (My School President), Mick (My Universe). I love all of them 💖

Hot guys 🔥: ok, there were a lot of them this year, but definitely Chi Jun (Jun&Jun), Yang (LiT), Im Han Tae (SMC), Palm (NLMG), Songkhram (Destiny Seeker), Way and Alan (Pit Babe), Yoon Tae Joon (Unintentional Love Story), Mark Pakin in all his roles, obviously Tharn and Phaya ✨

Characters that I always look at with fondness, that I watched with real pleasure,, who brought only high-quality content and made this year better for me: Tharn, Phaya and their friends (YAI), Tinn, Charn and their friends (NAWIN and the girls), Mick (MU), main couples from SMC, Jun & Jun, ODC and LiT, Our Dining Table, Yoon Tae Joon (Unintentional Love Story), MR. TIWSON 👑, Peach, Sprite (every time I write the names Peach and Sprite I crave a fruity drink 🍹)

Hottest scenes 🔥: everything that is happening in the PhayaTharn universe so far, and

With so many series from Thailand, surprisingly few made a huge impression on me, the same in the case of characters or couples that I was obsessed with and which I would happily rewatch many times. I was even more surprised by Korea, which, with an incomparably smaller number of series, still created real gems, fantastic couples and interesting, liked characters. It was Korea that gave me probably the most interesting character this year: Jae Won. Although Thailand shot a Tharn-shaped arrow straight into my heart at the very end of the year 💘

It was a very good year, hope 2024 will be even better. What I wish for myself and all of you, my lovely jellyfish bolsters 😘😘😘😘😘

I wanted to thank everyone here for being so awesome this year, everyone who wrote great reviews and funny posts and notes, everyone who worked hard to gif the best scenes and who promoted the series fiercely. I watched many of my favorite series only thanks to your gifs. I love you all so much, you are the best! 🥰

[loserchildhotpants]

I'm 5, my father is exhausted by my disabilities, and is in the house, but disappears from my view. I don't see him, he doesn't speak to me. My only sign that he cares about me is that he draws me perfectly rendered Loony Tunes shorts on my napkins, which I find in my lunchbox every day at school. The kids at school are so jealous. I think that even though I seem to annoy him, he must love me still, so I'll keep trying to be good for him.

I'm 8, my father doesn't smile anymore, I can't remember if he ever did, he doesn't draw things for me anymore, but I hug him when he comes in the door after work even though he never hugs me back, and I pour his wine for him because I think it will please him. He doesn't stay in view for longer than it takes him to finish his dinner and wine.

I'm 9, my father's temper is a red-hot, violent animal that I feel prowling around the house at all hours. I am scared, all the time. He sometimes makes vague comments alluding to that he'd like to hurt me, if he knew he could get away with it. I make myself smaller.

I'm 10, my father tells me my art style is cheap and immature, and if I don't learn to use references, I'll never improve, and anyway, I'll never be as good as my friends or sibling.

I'm 11, my father tells me often that I need to lose weight, and I can't be wearing those sundresses (my mother picked them out, I thought they looked pretty, but I guess not).

I'm 11, my father scares my sibling and me so much, after a sit down with my mother about what to do if she ever 'goes missing,' my sibling teaches me what to do if my father ever comes upstairs to kill us both. My sibling is 16 years old. They're prepared to die to protect me long enough to escape that house, if it ever comes to that. I'm grateful.

I'm 12, my father snorts derisively at the assertion that I'm really *just* friends with Kevin, Joe, Chris, and David. He tells me that I'm 'not the kind of girl a good man would marry.'

I'm 13, my father shows me all the love and affection I've ever wanted from him, then drops me entirely after 9 months of that because he was only showering me with attention to piss off and confuse my mother.

It occurs to me then that he knows how to be a dad to me, he knows what I want and need from him, he just chooses not to be my dad, because he doesn't like me.

I'm 14, my father gives me an analogy about a man that comes home everyday to a wife that hits him in the head with a frying pan and he asks me 'who has the problem,' in the story. I say, 'the man.' He's baffled, and asks me why in the world that would be my answer, and I ask, 'well... why is a man continuously returning to a place where he gets hit in the head with a frying pan? He's clearly unwanted there, I mean... how many times does he need to be hit in the head before he takes the hint?' -- he storms away from me, visibly irritated.

I do not realize at that time that I've not sympathized with him where he wanted me to.

I'm 14, my father puts down two bottles of wine and takes off on his motorcycle in the middle of the night, Christmas Eve. I don't remember if he returned by the next day or not. I was angry with him. I don't remember if I was angry he returned, or angry he left.

I'm 15, but I turn 16 at midnight, my father remains silent and stoic as I disclose what details I can manage to verbalize about my CSA. He never says anything to me about it. I think he doesn't believe me, and my mother later tells me just as much. She will go on to remind me of this throughout my life, especially when I wound her pride. It hurts each time.

I'm 16, my father tells my relatives at Christmas dinner something along the lines of that I'm 'easy,' I always have been, what with all 'those boys,' I've always kept around me. I look to my mother with tears in my eyes, silently beseeching her to do or say something, anything in my defense, but she begs me to please just stay quiet. I do.

I'm 16, my father tells me he would have beaten me throughout my life, had he known my mother wouldn't have left him for it. I realize I was right to feel so unsafe all these years - I wasn't imagining his desire for violence against me, that desire to harm me was so powerful, it was another resident in the home. That silent animal did prowl around me.

I'm 16, my father physically intimidates me for daring to presume it was okay to crack his bedroom door open in the night, because our elderly dog wanted to sleep at the foot of his and my mother's bed. I stand toe-to-toe with him, but I cry and shake as soon as he stomps back to his room.

I'm 17, my father's birthday arrives, and I write him a heartfelt letter about how I would love to see him draw again, and I hope my gift of sketching pencils and a leather bound sketchbook will encourage him to return to his greatest passions. He puts a potted plant on top of the sketchbook and never uses it, my card is somewhere in the garbage.

I'm 17, my father, after being prompted to reassure me that he really does love me, instead tells me he hates me and has always hated me. We are in public, with several other people. My mother tells me to not make a scene and to please just finish my dinner.

I'm 17, my father rambles about his perpetual victimhood. I tell him I don't want to speak to him anymore. Ever. We don't need to. We don't need to do this, and I don't want to. I tell him he's hurt me more than my childhood molester ever could have. He looks gutted, he cries and asks me, 'how could you say that to me?' and I tell him, 'because you were supposed to love me.' He asks to hug me, but I don't let him.

I'm 18, my father leaves without saying goodbye to me, despite me leaving a note for him to please give me a chance to say goodbye before he leaves. I don't know why I thought he would. I'm still disappointed he doesn't.

I'm 23, my father saves a holiday from being absolutely ruined by my mother's narcissistic tantrum. I tell him that she tells me often that he's never believed me about the CSA. He assures me he always has believed me, but I don't know. I don't know. We hug before I leave. I don't know how I feel about it. I don't know.

I'm 24, my father sometimes sends me shit I don't need or ask for in the mail, I tell him to stop. I wonder if this is another attempt at one-upping my mother. I don't want him to send me shit. I'm not asking for it. I don't need his help or his attention, I don't want it. He backs off a bit.

I'm 25, my father calls me maybe once a year, I think it's mostly to check I'm still alive and to pretend to his side of the family that he knows anything about what's going on with his children, because they ask, and he never has any information. I give him an annual rundown of my achievements, so he can tell my aunts and uncles and cousins that I'm still out there, doing things, I guess.

I'm 26, my father insists on getting into a political debate with me on the phone that quickly devolves into shouting, because we are morally antithetical to one another. He wants to play 'Devil's advocate,' and I tell him, 'the Devil doesn't need an advocate, and if he did, he wouldn't choose you.' I hang up on him and don't speak to him for two more years.

I'm 28, my father calls me twice in the same year. It's fine. We're civil.

I'm 29, my father calls me maybe four times in the same year. At some point, he asks me what he ought to do, because he agreed to see my mother for a dinner, which he didn't want to do, but she loudly cornered him at a relative's funeral, and he felt pressured to accept. I tell him honestly that he shouldn't go, that she hasn't changed, she's still toxic, she's still awful, and he doesn't owe her anything anymore.

I tell him that for the safety of his own emotional well-being, he should construct a polite text message and tell her that he's sorry for the late notice, but he won't be able to make that dinner.

He seems really relieved to have someone tell him that. He seems surprised that I ever noticed he was mistreated by her.

I don't mention that he also mistreated her, because that's not the conversation that we were having right then. I can hold compassion in more than one place, which is not a skill he taught me, not a skill my mother taught me either, and was not an inherent trait about me.

I learned it on my own, on purpose.

The calls are still few and far between, but more pleasant; we avoid inflammatory subjects, I don't ask questions I don't want the answers to, we build a little bit of rapport. It's fine.

I'm 30, my father sends a birthday gift to my husband (who he's always been awful to), later in the year, he compliments my nature photography. He has begun mailing me things again-- harmless things, really. Things I even like to receive in the mail. I'm a bit of a family historian, and he sends me an authentic copy of the New York Post from 1974 with articles relevant to his personal history, which I know next to nothing about. He's friendly.

I'm 30, my father is calling and texting a bit more frequently, and I speak to him today.

Today, I tell him he's being very compassionate for taking care of his ailing mother when she never took care of him, that this is gracious of him, and I don't mean to applaud martyrdom or anything, but his bandwidth of sympathy for her is commendable, and she's lucky to have him there to take care of her in these late years, even if she's a bit too senile, and was always naturally a bit too cold to ever appreciate it, even when she wasn't senile.

I guess he feels seen.

I joke with him, I make him laugh, we chat, and it's fine. It's nice, even. When we commiserate about how similar my mother (who we are both No Contact with) and his mother are, and how the Devil we know is so much easier to seek out in the world than what we don't know we don't know; I tell him I'm sorry he made such a long investment in a woman that ultimately reminds him so much of his mother, but that if it's any consolation, both his kids turned out pretty funny.

He tells me that my sibling and I are the only good thing to come out of his horrendous marriage, and I don't know that he's ever said anything so kind about me or my sibling before.

When I get off the phone with my father, I'm 30 still, and he's still my father and not my dad, I still don't have a dad, I still wish I did, and I'm not exactly feeling nostalgic, but wistful in a very strange way, and bereft in an even stranger way.

I have trouble crying, historically, but I feel like I might. I don't know why.

He's a cat that sits just out of reach.

Sometimes we orbit the perimeter of what I need and want from him, but I'm scared of him, and I don't think he likes me, still. I don't know if I've made him proud, and I don't want to ask, because I won't believe him if he says he is, and I don't want the answer to matter to me anyway.

He's still a stranger. I know him a little bit, though. Could I have known him anymore than I do? Or was he always going to remain out of reach, this way? I don't know him because he didn't want me to know him. Does he want me to know him now? Is he a safe person to know?

Now that I'm an adult that evidently holds compassion for him, does he feel now that it's safe to connect to me, to show me affection?

What part of this do I mourn? If I get too close, will he swipe at me?

He's a street cat that was kicked and beaten and burned his entire life, and it didn't make him gentle. It didn't make him kind. No one taught him how to be gentle or kind. Whatever peace he's achieved, it's been against the odds.

I used to be angry with him, but I'm not much anymore. I'd be lying if I said I didn't hold an ounce of resentment, but the past is just that, and there's nothing to do about it now.

Right?

[doberbutts]

Ask game: 9 and 17?

A story from my childhood:

Hmm I've told quite a few good ones on here. I think I've never talked about this one on tumblr before.

When I was in 2nd grade, I had a truly evil teacher. She hit us, scratched us with her nails, came up with cruel games and crueler punishments. She mostly targeted myself, a Korean girl, and the boys (the girl and I were the only poc in the class). When I say truly evil I mean it- she would grab us by the back of the neck with her deliberately sharpened nails and squeeze hard enough to leave marks. One day she did that to a boy with short enough hair that his parents noticed- they called the other parents of the class who checked their kids' necks and found similar marks. She'd always told us that our parents knew about what she was doing and told her it was okay, and that we'd be punished worse for telling anyone because then everyone would know we'd been bad. Surprise: our parents did not know.

ANYWAY that's not the story but rest assured she did get fired for this after all the parents raised a huge stink about this woman.

In 3rd grade my school was aware that they now had a bunch of incredibly traumatized 7-9 year olds who needed some extra help because they'd been terroized for several months, and devised a buddy system with the school's nicest teachers. Mine was my actual 3rd grade teacher and she was such a beautiful and lovely soul.

I spent many weekends working on homework sprawled out on her kitchen floor, eating fruits and sweet treats she made herself, chasing her very fat orange cat around, helping in her garden. She- I feel- embodied what an elementary school teacher should be. Genuinely, I don't think a nicer person exists. I have one particular memory of sitting with her on her patio, me covered in dirt due to whatever garden activities I'd been up to, eating cool watermelon and drinking iced water, asking her a million questions about all the different things I'd learned in class and seen in the garden and heard on the news etc. And her ever-present patient smile as she answered my questions in her own gentle way.

The year after, she went on extended leave due to "a health problem". She never came back during my time at that school. Later, in high school, I was at a Christian camp thing and bumped into her there. She looked like she'd aged about 25 years. I called out to her, and she heard me say her name and told me in a very wobbley and halting voice "I know you were one of mine, but I'm sorry, I can't remember your name. It's the cancer, you see."

She died a few months later. She had brain cancer. I cried when my mom handed me her obituary. I was just talking to my mom about her the other day, how I remembered chasing her cat around during that summer.

The moral of the story is, I guess, that you never know the impact you'll have on someone's life. I don't know if Ms Metzler ever thought that I'd be sitting here thinking of her more than a decade after she passed. Or if she knew just how much she helped me recover from the woman before her. Or if she knew that her garden, her patio, her bright orange cat, and the cool tile of her kitchen floor would make such an impression on me that I still remember them vividly even after a brain injury. She didn't remember me at the end. But I'll remember her forever.

3 things that make me happy:

Vanilla or cinnamon scented candles

Lofi playing softly in the background

The warm pressure of a dog laying on me

[buffyfan145]

Really enjoying the Von Erich family's podcasts and learning so much more about the family and stories Kevin tells. 😀 First though, for the fellow AEW fans it seems even more likely Ross and Marshall have signed. Last night during live Q&A with their dad Kevin they mentioned they have something to announce for July 20th, which happens to be the kickoff of AEW's Texas Residency for "Collison" and ROH. Also when Dustin Rhodes was on last week he even said how glad he was the boys are with them now at AEW. So seems likely we'll be getting lots of news with them this summer. 😏

Now onto the movie it's very interesting to hear the family's comments on it. For myself I only knew the basics of their story so I loved the movie, and that seems to be the divide between if you knew the true story or not and if you liked the movie or not, and if you can judge the movie as a fictional movie on it's own.

Overall they are supportive of it and of the cast. They feel the actors did a great job with what they had, but are unhappy with how inaccurate some of it is, especially dealing with Kerry, Fritz, Doris, and Pam. None of them were accurate.

They've extended invitations to the cast/crew to be on the podcast and hoping they do. Kevin and Zac apparently text each other all the time so we'll see.

They wish they could've been involved to help develop the script.

They do feel Zac, Harris, and Stanley did the best and Kevin, David, and Mike were portrayed correctly, as well as all the wrestling scenes being so realistic. The sibling bond between all the brothers was right, especially between Kevin and David as irl they were pretty much like twins and inseparable.

To them Holt nailed Fritz' look and voice, but again he wasn't as villain like as the movie made him and some of how he was, was actually Fritz' father they called Baba/Meaner Fritz. They also left out Fritz' uncle Ross (who Kevin named his son after) who raised Fritz for the first ten years of his life till Fritz' dad came back, and they were much closer than Fritz and his dad.

They also said Chris is in the movie and it's Jeremy's character. They praised Jeremy's acting but that wasn't Kerry's personality at all but Chris's. Chris wanted to be so much like his brothers but he was short and had health problems. Also took Mike's death the hardest, which Kerry's daughter Hollie pointed out that is very similar to Jeremy's character Carmy on "The Bear". So they feel Chris and Kerry were mashed up for the movie but what we saw was really Chris living out Kerry's life.

Kerry's daughters and ex-wife were really upset with how his story was portrayed as it wasn't correct. The only things that were was about the Olympics, getting into wrestling after that, winning the title in honor of David, and the motorcycle accident. Kerry's real personality was the funny, light-hearted one, and was also a photographer. He also deeply loved his girls and his wife. His addictions were left out of the movie too and that's really what drove him to end his life. They also think another actor should've played him and possibly an actual wrestler, with Jeremy playing Chris.

Also Kevin and Pam went to school together but didn't date till he left college from that football injury and moved home. They actually reconnected at a Willie Nelson concert. LOL

They do think too the other wives, girlfriends, and daughters should've been in it. Ross and Marshall are actually the youngest of the grandchildren, and there were 5 girls before them. The family dynamics changed too once the granddaughters were born and all the men became much more doting on the girls. David also was alive for the first 3 years of Kevin's daughter Kristen's life so he did get to be an uncle.

They also wanted to see more of the brothers traveling to other countries and wrestling there. Kevin and David actually both first went to Japan in the late 70s too as a tag team.

Kevin, Kerry, and David also faced each other in the ring once when The Freebirds didn't show up one night at WCCW. This would've been so fun to see and Kevin said they had a great time actually fighting each other.

They do have interest in making a miniseries in the future to tell their story accurately besides Kevin writing a memoir. However, these things take years so it would be a whole new cast/crew, but I likely will watch too if it happens.

[8bitsupervillain]

Higurashi When They Cry Hou Ch. 7 Minagoroshi pt. 9

I'm sure they went with calling the chapters chapters because it sounds better than episodes. Or at least that's what I'll be convincing myself is the case, but it is somewhat annoying to me that they also call the chapters within the chapters chapters. It makes more sense to call them that instead of sections or parts or whatever word you might choose, but it just is silly to me. I admit that maybe I'm the only one this bugs, but I don't really care. I'm allowed my petty annoyances.

During their lesson about learning the cheating method in mahjong an unexpected character makes their return.

In this chapter's version of the timeline this version of Akasaka made it back to Tokyo in time to stop his wife from dying by falling down the stairs. Him and the missus are on a vacation near Hinamizawa, and Akasaka mentions that he'll be in town on the day of Watanagashi, and that he'll be there to help Rika come hell or high water. In case she needs it. Akasaka then promptly leaves the story and hasn't been seen or mentioned again since his reintroduction here in chapter four. Not to reveal too much info, but I'm near the end of chapter ten (I presume it's near the end anyway, Watanagashi is just about to happen) and Akasaka basically just amounted to an extremely brief cameo. Also I can't really justify why, but he just looks a little weird in the console art. This is going to sound like a really weird pull, but have you ever seen the screenshots of that one gacha game where the girl falls in love with the horse? He reminds me of that anime horse boy.

The remake and original arts for comparisons sake.

Despite his extremely brief appearance Rika takes Akasaka's appearance in this timeline as an extremely good sign that things are indeed turning around for her. It's all coming up Rika, ain't nothing gonna break this good luck streak of hers!

I'm sure this is nothing. Looks like things aren't turning up well for Rina however. Her scheme to fleece Rena's dad out of his fortune up in smoke she seems to have got herself caught up in some very bad circumstances.

This all sounds extremely familiar.

Realizing instantly something bad has happened to Satoko, Rika swings by Satoko's house which has stood abandoned for the last year after Satoshi hypothetically killed their aunt. There he finds Teppei's come back and has taken Satoko to live with him.

Given how the rest of the chapter up until this point had more or less been speedrunning the previous chapters I thought it was going to do the same things with the new version of events from Tatarigoroshi. I was very much mistaken. What I thought was going to be a relatively brief compression of events winds up taking five chapters and nearly fourteen hours worth of time. It becomes the majority of the chapters running time and I feel it just grinds the overall story to a halt.

Rika, finding that Teppei Houjou has come back, she decides to go to Irie and Takano in an effort to have them help her deal with the Teppei situation.

And so Rika Furude uses her doctor and military contacts to enact a plan to assassinate Teppei Houjou. It is, in my opinion a pretty funny turn of events that this small child was able to brow beat two grown adults into swift action.

Funny thing about this brief discussion of Satoko's medication is that it actually gets forgotten and becomes an important plot point after a while. A short while later Takano comes back to inform Irie and Rika what her and Okonogi discussed. Before moving on I just have to wonder briefly if this Okonogi is the same Okonogi who shows up in the future timeline of Ange Ushiromiya in Umineko. I know that this guy was mentioned briefly in Tsumihoroboshi, or at least there was a "lawn maintenance" company with that name before Rena took the school hostage. So it makes me wonder if there actually was something to Rena's extreme paranoia about her getting followed during that chapter.

What kind of military hit squad is this that it takes more than half a year to kill just some random dork ass? Earlier statements from Irie claimed that these guys were basically the best at what they do, but they still need six months to a year to just put two in some random yakuza thugs skull?

I wonder if this is part of some ploy on Takano's part? We only have her word for it that she talked to this Okonogi guy and they determined they could only do it around Christmas time ("Merry Christmas Satoko! Here's your present, a freshly assassinated uncle Teppei!" "Yaaaaayyy!"). I don't know what possible reason she could have to screw over Rika and Satoko like this, but I can't help but feel that might be what's going on here. That for whatever reason Takano is unwilling to actually use the Mountain Dogs for this job. Maybe it's a subtle foreshadowing that despite ostensibly being in charge of Takano, the Mountain Dogs, the whole thing, Irie is actually being undermined and slowly disregarded. Again, for what reason I don't know, maybe Takano is somehow, someway plotting to kill Irie and take over his research?

Rika takes the news poorly.

[rydersmediareviews]

“ ...When I wear my favorite clothes, I feel at ease. It's the only time I don't see a version of myself I hate. ”

Boys Run the Riot is a manga series written by Keito Gaku. It intrigued me because I learned of its protagonist, who is a young transgender man. The representation seemed good and I knew it wouldn't take too long to read, so I decided to give it a shot.

The protagonist of Boys Run the Riot is Ryo Watari, a 16-year-old high schooler who is a transgender man. He becomes friends with Jin Sato, who is a transfer student and an outcast.

Jin is the first person who Ryo comes out to. After this, Jin tells Ryo about his wish to create a brand that sells unique clothing. While Ryo is initially hesitant about this idea, the two decide to go for it. This is with the help of a classmate, who is the sole member of the school's photography club. After some pondering, Ryo comes up with the name for their clothing brand: Boys Run the Riot.

The main characters in Boys Run the Riot are somewhat relatable, and they're very lovable. As a transgender person, I especially found myself relating to Ryo.

There are a lot of relationships throughout this series, both good ones and bad ones, with peers and with superiors. I found myself loving the advice that the main characters got from their superiors throughout this series. Not because it was always wise and thoughtful, but because it was messy and they often contradicted themselves. The adults are struggling with how to live correctly, just as the teenagers are. It's hard to be queer, and it isn't much easier to try running a business as a high schooler. Even as the boys received advice from their elders, they formed their own opinions and did things their own way.

The youth in Boys Run the Riot are fairly realistic. I've never been to Japan, but the way Ryo and Jin are treated is reminiscent of what I'd seen in an American school. In addition to this, the main characters are generally realistic when dealing with conflict. They all react differently, and they almost always act in a way that is immature.

As a transgender person, I long for a relationship like that which is between Ryo and Jin. While the focus of this story is on Ryo, the two are equally supportive of each other. Jin isn't just there as a character to support Ryo.

Ryo struggles with coming out to people—a relatable struggle for all transgender people. In regards to this, he acts in a way that I would consider realistic. There were times when Ryo's dysphoria and anxiety struck very close to home for me. I don't consider myself a very empathetic person, but I found myself feeling emotional for Ryo.

I loved Boys Run the Riot very much. However, this doesn't mean that it's free from my criticism.

As an American, I don't know much about Japanese tropes and stereotypes. However, I have consumed a lot of Japanese media regarding transgender people. With this being said, I have noticed that most of the transgender people in Japanese media are sexually assaulted. Why this is, I do not know.

While the series is altogether easy to understand and follow, I got completely lost at the bonus story. I still don't know whether that was Ryo or a new character.

Overall, I enjoyed reading Boys Run the Riot very much. It kept my attention and it kept me engaged. It was mostly easy to understand and follow. The characters were likable and mostly realistic.

I rate Boys Run the Riot a perfect 5 stars.

“ ...My neck's so slender. My face looks so young. I'm so short. My arms and legs are so small. ”

[brb-on-a-quest]

What's one of your favorite childhood memories?

Hello, friend, good to see you, even if you do hide in the shadows. Hope you are well. <3

Let me tell you about a time I fell in love with storytelling all over again. I grew up on stories; I loved having my dad read to me when I was little (we read Narnia books, the Hobbit, the Lord of the Rings, Robin Hood, etc. I loved *all* of it). I loved the stories of found families and tight friendships like it was my bread and butter because I hadn't made any friends I could get closed to bc family moved around a lot (a decision I don't resent my family for now, but despised as a kid), and I wasn't really *that* close to my family either due to probably a variety of factors, not excluding mental health issues. I won't delve for the sake of length, you get the point. I was a sad and lonely child and my closest friends were imaginary. Anyway back to more concrete events:

We had just moved from Florida to Virginia, which is about 1000 miles away and over 13 hour drive (for context), and we had just started a new co-op (think like homeschool school, but it only met like once a week, it was one of the ways we'd start building up a new social circle or something). And one of the classes I took in was something music (more likely theater? related but that might have a different semester) and the first week of this co-op I remember they gave us a bingo card with a bunch of famous movie soundtracks and they told us we were going to identify the movie based on the song alone.

I got 2/20 or something bc I hadn't even heard of most of these movies bc i just hadn't been exposed to it. It was things like Batman, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, maybe spongebob- pop culture stuff that I just hadn't seen. So everyone else was getting excited and I was feeling more and more out of the loop and alone.

I swear this turns happy at the end, bear with me, anon. They play the final music track and I don't recognize it at all but it fills me with such great joy and a call for a new adventure that I hadn't even realized music could do that before (we didn't listen to a lot of our own music growing up, it was mainly whatever my parents found appropriate or what my dad liked).

It was How To Train Your Dragon. Test Drive. John Powell. And then like the musical scores, they showed the scene it was from. A boy and his dragon racing, flying through the air. And I fell in love With the characters arcs per se, but I could tell there was a deep lore there and a story of friendship that I craved so much. It was also right up my alley with stories my Dad had read me so there was also that. But like the music was fantastic, I really liked the visuals at the time (i usually hate most 3D animation films, HTTYD is the exception), and I craved the story behind it.

I saved up money from Birthday and Christmas and ended up buying it. And I watched it. And I fell in love even harder. Cause, in some sense, I related to hiccup too much. I was a creative person, like he was, I had very little friends like he did at the beginning, we had similar senses of humor at some points, and he was fascinated with knowing and learning things. And he had a big dragon friend and i again craved that friendship deeply. So he added to the crew of imaginary friends and I went on many imaginary adventures with Hiccup and Toothless and told myself so many stories that I wish I could remember now for writing inspo.

I ended up moving from Virginia to middle of nowhere Midwest US (not saying where in case the Fey Find Out), and I did end up meeting my IRL Toothless. A little bit scary on the outside at firsts, but with an actual heart of a silly, goofy, dragon. (brb, im getting emotional just thinking about it. It'd be about 7 years now? Coming up? I may be bad at math. I feel old and happy and content.)

So yeh, in short it was a very much right place, right time kind of story and film. I still watch it a lot whenever I need a comfort film that's not as long as LOTR or something. I love the soundtrack and all of the things about it. Sorry, this was probably way longer than it should've been but IDK how to describe my love for this story without giving you some context.