#Swallows by the Sea

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Fidelia Bridges (American,1835-1924) :: Swallows by the Sea, 1906

Watercolor and gouache

* * * *

“The human heart is like a night bird. Silently waiting for something, and when the time comes, it flies straight toward it.”

— Haruki Murakami

[alive on all channels]

[spiderbends]

Postcard from Gone by Leila Chatti

hbd dazai thanks for giving me an excuse to draw shoes

[azzayofchaos]

In a small fishing town by the edge of the cavernous sea, the lighthouse stands a watching sentinel.

—

Fun fact! I came up with a sea-gets-creepy au a few weeks before season 10 actually stated. Apollo blessed me I guess. That, or I got conveniently possessed by the ocean at the same time.

Alt versions below the cut!

As the new moon rises the void sea crawls slimy and burning from the fathoms unto the horizon…

[stinkyeggbow]

Sea swallow me,,,

[letmeinimafairy]

A new wip - finished painted pieces for a commission, it will be another necklace. Can I just teleport to a nearest sea shore and make things from found objects and forget about the clusterfuck around

[faaun]

what draws you back to your country what draws you back to your land when i was a kid i told myself if i ever left iran i'd never go back 2 years into living in the UK i started looking at news on iran again 10 years in and i visited it for the first time again and today i heard an iranian mother talk in farsi to her child on the train to london the way my mother used to and i wanted to cry i wanted to ask her whether they're still cutting the mountaintops whether the lakes are still drying today i showed the person i was with pictures of waterfalls and palaces and forests and snow-white north something odd pulls me back with increasing force i can't ignore it ever again

[kukuandkookie]

People keep claiming Chinese BL manhua really only have stories featuring toxic male leads, so I offered to give recommendations with green flags... Someone finally said yes, so here's what I typed up in response!:

I Ship My Rival x Me:

One of my personal favourites!

Based on the hilarious novel, commonly known as I Ship My Adversary x Me and also has an audio drama adaptation on MaoEr FM. Basically a story about two actors who are seen as complete rivals by everyone except the actors themselves, which annoys the main character (Wei Yanzi) enough that when he discovers there are actual fans who ship them instead of pit them against one another, he’s so excited he sort of starts shipping them too (in like, an abstract, theoretical manner lmao). This of course causes shenanigans as he actually gets to know the person who people ship him with/pit him against, Gu Yiliang.

Gu Yiliang is a true sweetheart and the greenest of green flags. He’s a complete puppy and I love him. And this means, naturally, the only misunderstandings in this story are of the hilarious kind (you’ll know what I mean if you read it lol). 😂

This one actually used to be available officially in English on the Bilibili manhua’s international app before it got shut down, but it recently got picked up by Seven Seas, the company behind a lot of official English translations of danmei (Chinese BL)!

Touch Your World:

A literally colour-blind boy (as in, he cannot see colour at all and only sees things in black and white) discovers someone who he can see colour on. This person is a designer who has suffered past betrayal and trauma that has caused him to shut himself up and grow much more on edge, but this chance meeting draws both parties out of their shells.

Pixiu’s Eatery, No Way Out:

Not a green flag top in the traditional sense, but here we meet the mythical Pixiu: an ancient Chinese mythical creature who now runs a restaurant. While he’s a penny-pincher with a temper and he doesn’t get along with his love interest at first (a ghost named Wen Xi who he finds suspicious due to Wen Xi’s ties to a past rival of his named Taotie), Pixiu and Wen Xi eventually grow, quite naturally—and hilariously!—into a found family.

The Wife Is First:

Based on a novel of pretty much the same name (and is written by the same author as the popular manhua and donghua, No Doubt in Us (a heterosexual body-swap romance, which also has a subtle gay side ship)). Here we meet Jing Shao just as he’s about to lose everything: once a royal and a powerful general, he has been betrayed by all those around him…except the husband he has never treated well.

As such, when we first meet him, we actually witness his—and his husband’s—deaths. But then he awakens and finds himself back in time to the night right after he was forced to wed this husband of his, and Jing Shao vows to treat him well from now on because he stuck with him through thick and thin despite everything.

Don’t Say You Love Me:

A high school romance with a supernatural twist: Lin Yutong was confessed to by his best friend, Qin Weiyun, at their graduation party. When he drunkenly freaked out and ran away, Qin Weiyun was hit by a car during the chase…

Devastated by his loss, Lin Yutong quickly wakes up to find himself back at the start of his high school journey, right before he meets Qin Weiyun… And this time, he wants to keep Qin Weiyun safe.

But his overly familiar attitude at first gets the wary Qin Weiyun a tad suspicious, because he’s actually quite an aloof person.

The author and artist of this one is also behind another popular manhua titled Your Dream Is Delicious, which is about a demon named Yi Kui who discovers he enjoys eating the nightmares of Lin You. This eventually leads to them—you guessed it—falling in love.

It’s Not That I Want to Wear Women’s Clothing:

Our main character is hired to crossdress to help this CEO get over his gynophobia (fear of touching women) without him knowing. Naturally, this leads to an awkward romantic journey of both identities of our main character getting close to this CEO…who at first glance seems like the typical cold and aloof CEO type, except he’s actually quite a sweetheart.

Salt Friend:

A slice-of-life high school story about the “school bully” named Tong Yang who’s actually a crybaby and the aloof person named Xiao Zhen who discovers him crying. While the two don’t seem like they’d get along at first glance, this quickly becomes a friends-to-lovers story that navigates family drama alongside the romance.

How’d I Get a Heroine’s Script?:

A transmigration story with a twist. Chao Yi is wheelchair-bound but finds himself eventually as a young lord in what is basically a palace drama (court politics, intrigue, family drama, all that good stuff). His System, Qin Que, tasks him with wooing the difficult 7th prince, Gu Yunheng, who smiles on the surface but is quite cold in actuality.

Despite the two getting off on the wrong foot—mostly because Gu Yunheng is really hard to get close to—they soon end up as unlikely allies…especially since there’s a lot of secrets, such as regarding the death of the body Chao Yi’s occupying, the scheming princes, and even Gu Yunheng himself.

See You My King:

Zhang Li, a student interested in what is basically ancient Egypt, goes on an expedition to the ruined civilization and nearly loses his life. Except at the same time, he discovers an ancient tomb with a statue that actually comes to life and saves him…

And this statue even follows him home. This statue is sweet and loving despite its inability to speak, and Zhang Li grows attached to it (or him)… But then the statue falls apart and Zhang Li is devastated.

In wishing for a miracle to bring them back together, the statue’s stone heart sends Zhang Li back in time…to when this ancient civilization is still present. And that’s how he discovers his stone statue is the “tyrant king” of this region, and as cruel as he seems at first glance, both this king and Zhang Li eventually grow close and unfold the different sides to one another that makes them inseparable in the face of all kinds of threats.

Trapping the Foxy Doctor:

A doctor and a psychiatrist meet…except it doesn’t seem like a perfect love story at first glance. Not because the doctor is traditionally foxy (seductive and/or cunning), but because he’s so silly and on-the-nose that he initially kind of rubs the psychiatrist the wrong way. Except, of course, with the kind of sunny sincerity displayed by our doctor Zhi Banyi, you can’t resist him for long…

And the psychiatrist, Lin Li, is himself quite a polite soul despite his complex upbringing. As such, the two end up together through a series of cases where they have to collaborate and help clients, with a lot of shenanigans sprinkled in between (including the fact Lin Li has a side-job live-streaming as a woman—and “she” just so happens to be Zhi Banyi’s favourite streamer lol).

Pirouette Into My Heart aka Salad Days:

You know the “he was a skater boy and she did ballet” kind of set-up? Well here we have a boxer and a ballet dancer…and hey, “can I make it any more obvious”?

This one is basically a feel-good story of the century. It’s childhood friends to lovers, and it’s soft and cuddly and encouraging, as we follow the main character, Jiang Shen, in achieving his ballet dreams. And on every step of the way, he’s accompanied by the boxer Bai Jinyi, who’s also chasing his own dreams.

The draw of this one is that while there’s obviously conflict to drive the plot along, it’s ultimately a comforting story, so you get all warm and squishy inside reading it. Bai Jinyi and Jiang Shen are very supportive of one another, as is everyone around them.

There’s even extras at the very end that swap the classes of the two main characters, which makes for a similarly compelling AU. 🤭

Beryl and Sapphire:

Not always BL but often is. What do I mean by that? Well it’s a story that can switch to any universe even as the characters stay the same, and some worlds are just one-off gags while some are whole story arcs. The original manhua features stick figures, so if you really want to experience this one, I’d recommend the donghua. The first season also cleverly shows the main characters as actors in the OP, which explains all the world-switching pretty easily haha.

Don’t Pick Up Boyfriends from the Trash Bin:

Unfortunately I’m not sure the manhua for this one is still ongoing, but the original novel (all about transmigration and hopping multiple worlds) 100% features a green flag top.

The Guy Inside Me:

I know the title sounds sexual lol but it’s actually a joke about how it’s a body-swap story. 😆

The original Chinese title is “This Question Is Too Difficult”) and of course, the author also wrote Fake Slackers, which has two very smart students act like terrible ones due to not wanting trouble.

Falling to Where I Belong:

The thing about this one is that the top is 100% a total green flag... It's the main character that's more of a red flag, in the sense he at first only asks the top out to humiliate him due to a misunderstanding.

But it's still a heartfelt story filled with regret and growth, and I did really like the portrayal of Cheng Feichi. Personally I think the manhua humanizes him a bit more than the novel since we didn't really get his POV in the novel that often, but I did hope for even more emotion in the ending... Still, it was a satisfying read, and while I would like to comfort the main character, Zhen Yeming, over his regrets, I really want to just give all the good things to Cheng Feichi, who definitely deserves it after everything he went through.

More Than Brothers:

For the "non-freaks" out there, they're not actual brothers, don’t worry; not adopted brothers either. Just a guy who saw his younger friend as his bro…until this friend disappeared from his life and apparently got into a bad crowd… Except in reality he is being harassed and is struggling to leave his abusive family.

The Protagonist Just Wants to Fall in Love:

Kind of a classic in the transmigration genre, except now we get multiple worlds in multiple arcs. Our protagonists are Systems on their final mission, aiming to become human by the end of it, and their task is to guide their protagonists away from the path of "darkening" (essentially corruption).

And each and every one of these systems do so by getting their protagonist to fall in love with them lol.

Unsurprisingly, my favourite arc so far—in the manhua at least!—is the historical one between the advisor and the emperor, but the third—and currently ongoing as the time of me writing this—world between two university students who started getting close during military training and by playing games is also quite cute.

And okay, man I could really keep going, especially with the manhua that are based on novels, but this post is already really long asjakfl. It was, in fact, so fucking long YouTube wouldn't even let me post it at first until I cut it down AMFKGSJDFGS.

But I still want to at least give a shout out to some of the manhua with pretty healthy, green flag tops/gongs!:

Like Han Yuan, despite the characters not getting along at first and Yu Han being rather aloof to the spoiled Luo Linyuan, is still quite sweet at its core. Lovely Allergen is as well, even with their "brotherly" relationship being the forefront of the conflict between Song Yu and Yue Zishi.

Another kind I wanted to bring up is the ones where their worlds or stories are dark, but the characters aren't necessarily. Like The Film Emperor, He Insisted on Being My Patron has a very green flag gong (he's such a puppy!), but he and the main character are up against the reddest of red flags of a villain LMDFKGSJFD.

It's also not a manhua I think people who want green flag leads would necessarily enjoy, given that beyond being "darker," it also goes into the territory of fan service-y and "problematic" nsfw content, but again, the male lead is really quite sweet to the main character despite the shitty situation they're in.

And I thought of Bu Chonghua from Tunhai aka Swallowing the Seas (another one based on a novel), since the main character there, Wu Yu, comes to see Bu Chonghua as so good and just that he pushes him away because he feels like he can't dirty such a man with his own darkness, both in his past and personality. It's a trope I really enjoy.

I'll briefly mention some ⚠️ spoilers ⚠️but the reason I wanted to highlight it is because: the latest chapter of the manhua has Bu Chonghua overhear Wu Yu saying he likes Bu Chonghua, and this is after Wu Yu disappeared and Bu Chonghua is worried he skipped town for good. He follows Wu Yu, all while wondering if the like Wu Yu holds for him is the same as his liking of Wu Yu, and when Wu Yu is about to be gravely injured in an underground fighting ring, Bu Chonghua steps in to save him... The chapter ends with Wu Yu holding him back pleading with him to stop because it's not worth dirtying his hands with such a man as his opponent, and that's such a delicious flavour of angst because like...Wu Yu thinks it's fine for he himself to fight against such a person, but he doesn't want Bu Chonghua to. ;-;

Oops. I didn't mean for this to become a deeper ramble of Tunhai KMSGFKGHSJ. It's just interesting to me since Tunhai and its prequel, Poyun aka Breaking Through the Clouds, may not have what the people who prefer green flag tops want in terms of content, but its tops are technically not that much of a red flag either.

Which also get us to the kind of stories where plot can also sort of outweigh whether a top/gong is a green flag or not. Like No Arguing With Mr. Mo has two characters who struggle greatly in their relationship, with the question of "are they in love?" being an overarching issue for them, meaning it's not exactly healthy, and prevents them from being fully either green or red flags.

I also didn't bring up a lot of historical/xianxia manhua, which I'm sure some people may disagree with... Like the leads in Tianbao Fuyao Lu are arguably quite good, and while I haven't read Dinghai Fusheng Lu yet, I assume it's in a similar boat as something set in the same world.

And then there's the ones that develop into green flags... Like Mo Ran starts off awful, yes, but he does become much better later on!! But I don't think that's what those people after green flags want to hear lol. Plus I'd argue Erha is best experienced in novel (or audio drama) form over the manhua anyway—the manhua feels more like something made for established fans in my opinion.

Regardless, I hope this shows that with so many listed above, many manhua actually feature male leads who really do care for their love interests in a healthy, respectful way, whether they're 100% green flags or they develop into green flags or they're not even complete green flags. ^^

Edit: Oh I forgot to link my full list of danmei/baihe manhua recs HMSKFJSKS. I currently don’t have any summaries, tags, or content warnings in this list though, but there’s quite the range of stories!:

[marinememes]

Today is Wet Beast Wednesday!

Today’s wet beast is: Black Swallower

Olive’s wet beast fact: this scaleless fish can swallow creatures much, much larger than it because of it’s silly fuckin expanding stomach

Stay tuned for more Wet Beast Wednesdays!

[miheartsedthings]

NEW NSFW Alphabet ~ Headcanon~ Billy Hargrove

Minors DNI

SO, I've taken the liberty of changing this up a bit. I've redesignated some of these letters because I think we've all seen the old ones so many times. Also, I think these changes could be more interesting for Billy in particular. Mind you not All of these are different, just some.

Enjoy

A- Aftercare (What is he like right after sex?)

Billy is attentive. He knows how rough he can be so after he's calmed down, he takes care to make sure you're okay. This can look like verbal check ins or bringing you water and towels. He'll make sure you're safe and comfortable.

B- Body Count

Billy gets around. He stopped counting after 30.

C- Cum

Billy likes it inside you. Rather that be your mouth or elsewhere, he likes the idea of the essence of himself being in you. On your chest is a close second.

D- Dirty Talk

Billy is big on dirty talk. He gets really into it and can't help telling you how good you feel and giving orders (stroke that c*ck, baby). He has no problem telling you what he plans to do to you.

E- Easy (Does he play hard to get?)

Billy is usually easy. The only exception is if you're desperate. Then, he'll tease you, making you beg and tell him how badly you want him.

F- Fight

Arguments with Billy don't typically turn into sex, believe it or not. When he's actually angry, Billy doesn't feel safe, and if he doesn't feel safe he's not getting aroused. He's much more likely to say something to embarrass you and then storm off.

G- "Good Girl"

Sex being one of the few times he can be openly affectionate, Billy showers you with praise. He's a big fan of telling you what you're good at, how nice you taste, how good you're doing. Etc.

He likes when you tell him how he's making you feel, and he LOVES to hear you say you're all his.

H- Hickey

YES, he loves giving you hickeys, all over your body but especially in places where people can see them. When you give him a hickey he wears it like a badge of honor. (Side note, this just gave me an idea for a story 😘)

I- Intimacy

Billy really enjoys intimacy and feeling loved by you, he just has trouble verbalizing it. He expresses love physically, he wants to touch and kiss and fondle you to show his affections. He's also slower to anger with you and will show up around you.

You know how cats pretend they don't care about you and then just "happen" to be in the same room as you all the time? Yeah, that's Billy. He just happens to show up to parties you're attending, even parties you're throwing that he wasn't invited to.

He crashed a wedding you attended because he heard you didn't have a plus one.

J- Jealous

Does it even need to be said? Billy will get jealous if your gaze lingers on a poster too long. He's a walking nightmare to any guy who looks your way. He's your scary dog privilege.

When he gets jealous there's a 50/50 chance that he's just as mad at you as the other person. Sometimes he views you as too innocent to notice other people lusting after you. At other times he accuses you of having a wandering eye.

It takes a long time to talk him out of his jealousy, but it always comes back to reminding him that he's good enough and you aren't going anywhere. After a jealous episode he's usually feeling vulnerable. Kisses help.

K- Kick (Something he's always kicking himself for)

Billy regrets the times you've seen him lose control of his anger. He wishes he could've been better when you met so you didn't have to see any of that and he could've avoided hurting you. Now that he's growing he just wishes he could've been a better man for you in the beginning.

L- Location

Billy is fond of car sex. He likes to get you in the backseat and put down a towel to protect the seats. He also likes to get you alone at a party with the music to cover the sounds.

M- Motivation

Billy gets turned on easily. He loves when you try to flirt with him, even if you're bad at it. If you're bad at it then he just teases you about your crumby game and watches you get flustered which he finds extremely cute.

He loves you in skirts and halter tops. He loves seeing you naked in his leather jacket. He'll pretty much f*ck you at the drop of a hat.

N- No

No scat, no golden showers, no sounding.

O- Oral

Billy is a big fan. BIG BIG fan of oral, both giving and receiving. In a way he's more proud of his skills with his tongue than with his stick. In a way it feels like more of an accomplishment to know how to use just your mouth and fingers to get someone off.

P- Position

His favorite position is cowgirl, believe it or not. (More on this later) A close second is having you flat on your stomach. He likes to have you like that with an arm around your neck, mostly because it quickly overwhelms you and he loves seeing you like that.

Q- Quickie

Billy is down for a quickie in theory. In practice he's more likely to just make you late to wherever you're supposed to be.

R- Risk

Billy likes a healthy level of risk. Like I mentioned he likes having sex at parties, but he'll also sneak into a bar or restaurant bathroom with you. Back row at a movie theater is a fun one.

S- Sloppy

Billy gets sloppy sometimes, maybe if he's drunk. He likes fingering you when you're really wet.

T- Time

Billy likes sex pretty much whenever, but his FAVORITE time is the middle of the night. If you find yourself up late with him you're going to get your cheeks clapped. This is also true if he wakes up in the middle of the night. And don't let there be a thunderstorm, Lord help you.

U- Unfair

Billy likes to tease you, fluster you, overwhelm you, make you say please, make you say exactly what you want before he gives it to you. Jerk.

V- Volume

Billy isn't shy about his sounds, he'll let you and the people next door know how he's feeling.

W- Weakness

When you ride him he falls to pieces, (see, told you we'd come back to it.) particularly when you get up on your feet and squat down on him. Combine that with a hand around his throat and he's done for.

X- Xenial (Is he hospitable?)

Billy wants you to feel safe and comfortable when you're with him. At first, he doesn't know how to go about it besides having stereotypical "girl" stuff around.

He also mistakes looking out for you and "keeping you safe" for being bossy. He'll try to tell you who to hang out with, how much to drink, and where to go because he wants to take care of you. Needless to say this causes problems.

At the end of the day, if you need anything all you have to do is ask.

Y- Yearning

Billy has a high sex drive, but it doesn't have to be penetration every time. He likes all kinds of sexual behavior and will thoroughly enjoy it every time.

Z- Zone

Billy wants above all else to just share space with you. It doesn't matter where you are or what you're doing, as long as you're safe and happy it's the perfect place for him.

Thanks for reading 😘

[jt1674]

[hexgirlsxoxo]

REMEBER to follow me depop.com/rara132432 if you like my posts

[tootditoot]

I need binoculars at this point to satisfy my want to gaze at birds from a distance

[mel00drama]

friend took some pictures of me for her photography final

[endsofthearth]

My illustration for The Devoted @ikesorenzine !!!

[letmeinimafairy]

Finished a necklace with these painted pieces. Looks like I'm doing a series of 'teacup clippers'

[sistersofsilver]

hello fellow shades. hades 2 nation. free icarus reminder for the night: not only did he burn, he drowned after. maybe it's just my experience with dying via drowning¹ but i think we should play in that particular space more.

melis not the sun, and she's never going to be. she's not the moon beat for beat either. shes the beautiful distorted reflection of the moon on churning powerful waves, shifting, a bright spot in an almost perfect void. and when you fall (and you will fall) its going to hurt, that impact, the water filling your lungs, the weightlessness disorienting, but you look for it, that reflection, that fixed point...

cough. anyway, how we feelin' tonight. we good?