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ciphykiss · 1 year

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< incubus (ii) >

blade x f!reader; implied nsfw (only un-explicit part), mdni (implied) somnophilia

a/n: second part of incubus, but stave off the thirst for now XD

“Declined.”

You blink, once, twice, dazed—you count every checkered tile in your peripheral vision, wondering if you’d misheard. Bewildered, you straighten from your previously bowed stance, head tilted to the side. Jingyuan pays you no mind, bent over a fortune scroll stamped with Master Diviner Fuxuan’s insignia. Behind him, Yanqing can only stare, wide-eyed.

“Excuse me?”

Those infuriating, once captivating (but now more serpentine than anything else) golden eyes peer up at you, unperturbed. “Upon careful evaluation, it has been deemed that [Name] of Cloudford’s maximum security detention center is to remain deployed at her post indefinitely—until the case of the stellaron hunter is sealed and closed.”

“By whom?” You demand, fists clenching the fabric of your dress. “‘Indefinitely’? Exactly how long is that? This is ridiculous, and against the very rights printed on Section 35 of the Luofonian Codex—”

“By me.” Jingyuan rests his scroll atop his checkerboard. “And I’m sure you’re aware by now, but the Codex also states every Arbiter General is free to exempt and circumvent said articles when deemed necessary.”

“You can’t be serious,” you hiss, slamming your hands over the table; you see Yanqing bristle, hands cleaving for his sword, and Jingyuan has to raise a hand to temper his retinue that had, no doubt, risen to their feet and aimed rifles at your head. You pay them no mind; the vampire-bruises from last night sting as a reminder of your paranormal plight, caked under layers of foundation and color corrector. There’s an odd sting that shoots up your left leg, making it slightly difficult to stand upright. “You’re making me a prisoner of the flagship?”

Jingyuan sighs, resting his chin on a hand; ah, it’s that attitude again, all unbridled kindness and fleeting exasperation, like waves atop a morning sea. Over time, it spells more patronizing than it does calming, and urges you to reenact the more violent (and less whorish) parts of your lucid dreams. Your fingers twitch at the sight of his unmarred cheek.

“Why must you always assume the worst of me, my dear assistant?”

A droll stare. “You uprooted a fresh graduate from her position as amicassador, took advantage of her naivete to weasel in mutable terms in her contract, had her work an eight to ten schedule with unpaid overtime, and encouraged said amicassador graduate with no background in combat to cross-examine one of the most wanted criminals in the galaxy.”

“First of all, what you are not paid in overtime is delivered to you in the forms of generous bonuses and an exceptional annual raise,” Jingyuan argues, scandalized by your declarations. Even Yanqing looks to him accusingly now. “And as for your meeting with… our newest problem, well, that’s a result of your own belligerence, isn’t it?” He taps his table with his knuckle, the first signs of irritation stretching over his usually composed visage. “You were instructed to meet with me as soon as you arrived on scene. If you had, I would’ve taken the time to inform you of what you were getting yourself into, and the risks associated.”

You throw your hands up in the air. “Well, fuck me for not considering my employer would throw little old me into a foray of top ten most wanted killers! I don’t know what you want me to say, Jingyuan, especially considering how little regard you’ve shown me for my entire career at your stupid post.” Your lips curl. “And you wonder why your turnover rate looks like it crawled out of Tingyun’s first year exam scores. Unbelievable.”

“Mind your tongue; there are children present,” Jingyuan snaps, but neither you nor his blond heir really give a damn. In fact, Yanqing looks like he’s fighting a smile. At least someone found the situation funny. “Regardless—this is a decision that has been agreed upon by both Diviner Fu and I. Thus, your resignation request has been… well, rescinded.”

His lips twitch into an almost-smile, and despite sounding like he meant official business, you can tell the bastard is enjoying this. You gaze mutely at the hastily-scrawled resignation essays you’d filled out at 6 AM over coffee stains and ink splatters, untouched beside a gold, ornate vase on the Jingyuan’s table; the general raises a brow at your lack of ire, likely expecting glares or creative (but politely-framed, as to not earn a bullet to the back of your head) death threats by now.

Instead, you smile. Jingyuan immediately grows wary.

“Article 6, subsection 23,” you purr, “Any defamation or destruction of property belonging to the Arbiter-General of the Xianzhou Luofu will result in the permanent termination of said civil servant’s contract; punishments include, but may not be limited to, a six-month leave of absence from all organized labor.”

You grin. Jingyuan’s eyes widen.

“...whatever it is you’re planning, do no—”

“I think I’m long overdue for a vacation, don’t you, general?” You sing, and the general and his compatriots can only watch in slack-jawed horror as you raise the vase (an armistice gift from the Marshall Hua) and send it shattering onto the tile.

Deathly silence fills the halls of Jingyuan’s palace. Jingyuan doesn’t look up at you when he speaks, low and gritted, as damningly close to murderous as you’d ever heard him.

“Take her away. Solitary confinement. Two hours—then ensure she returns to her duties. This time, I want completion.”

Your smile drops.

“You—!”

And then you’re thrashing, the ends of your heels digging uselessly into the ground. The stupidly beefy arms of his personal guards yank you backwards to your makeshift cell (the infirmary), preventing you from falling backwards on your face.

“You can’t do this to me!” Your shrieks go unacknowledged; Jingyuan is too busy mourning over his dumb vase. “Jingyuan, you bastard! This is a violation of my rights! Terminate me! Throw me in jail! Anything but back there!”

Yanqing glances over the broken shards glinting over filtered sunlight. “General… is it really okay to let her go like that?”

The silver-haired man sighs, weary and a thousand years older than his already-dreaded age; he picks up a shard and examines it for any signs of salvageability (there are none). “Despite her… grievances, Diviner Fu has already determined her ‘likely favorable but not quite necessary’ for this case. I’m afraid she would’ve had to stay regardless. Though I do wish my dear assistant was even a smidgen more… agreeable.”

“—I knew I should’ve let Tingyun leak your 18+ sauna album! Just you watch, Jingyuan, after I’m through—”

“She has what.”

ꨄ︎

“—so please, for the love of all Aeons, I don’t care if it’s your stripper alias or Foxian Beauty & Haircare handle, just please, give me something to work with,” you groan, finding yourself at the mercy of the selectively mute space murderer with both your clothes and hair disheveled from fighting off (clawing at) Jingyuan’s men. Your throat aches from two hours of screeching obscenities, begging for mercy, and finally, prayer (unfortunately, you’d never been pious, and Lan had likely forsaken you by now). You’d thrashed, flipped the nursing cot upside down, shattered glass vials against the walls, and fallen to a half-dead heap on the floor by the time you were dragged in to resume bio-data collection.

If he registers your incessant whining, the space-criminal doesn’t show it; he says nothing for a long while until the void fills with the sound of incessant pen-tapping against your digital clipboard.

His mouth bends into a frown. “Stop that.”

“So he speaks,” you drawl, sarcastic. “Tell you what—why don’t you share your introductions with the class—me—and I’ll stop yammering. Easy as that.”

“Is it necessary?” He inquires cryptically. “Why don’t you just ask that general of yours—I’m sure Jingyuan would be able to sate your curiosity.”

Your rhythmic tapping ceases. “You know Jingyuan?”

That, he doesn’t answer; you observe him as he lapses back into silence, as dark and brooding as ever before, and feel the welts on your neck itch, an obtrusive reminder of your night terror (your dubbing isn’t quite accurate, but the label makes you feel better about yourself). Then, you resume clacking your pen in tribute to the morning show you’d catch glimpses of on the way to hell (work), and observe the tick working on the man’s jaw.

“...Blade,” he says at last, the word cutting like the edge of a serrated knife; you blink. Blade. The name suits him, somehow—all edge and red, like the backdrop of a battlefield. “...but here, Ren.”

You’re tearing through the bio-data form like a storm; two lines is enough. You’ll make it enough. Blade/Ren. Affiliation: likely Xianzhounian. Fabric points to a prime of at least five-hundred years prior; further trace collection is needed. Picture comparison of clothing necessary for evaluation. Suspected relation with Luofu General—unsure if this is an attempt to derail from questioning/true identity. Unlikely, but possible. Discouraged communication style. Psychiatric evaluation necessary; put-off by rhythmic tapping. Likely suffers from heightened senses; could be a result of battle-trauma or mixed genetics (both?). Likely a Xianzhou Native; probable Homo celestinae, blood testing required for confirmation.

“Blade,” you murmur, and the name rests oddly comfortably in your mouth; a strange moniker, but it sounds almost sweet when you say it, as if meant to be spoken. The man—Blade—shifts, not out of discomfort or regulation, but as the first non-forced physical acknowledgment you’d managed to wrench out from him.

His lips curve into a sneer when you continue scritching.

“All figured out, from just a name,” he mocks. You raise a brow.

“Does that offend you?” You tap your pen in thought, conjuring up the next bullet point. Easily offended by assumptions. Possible insecurity?

To your surprise, he grazes a smile—but not your regular, run-of-the-mill grin. It’s malefic, a touch depraved, like staring into a hollow skull. “No. Fantasize all you want. So as long I ruin you in every end.”

You nearly drop your clipboard.

“I could ruin you,” his voice echoes. “I could make it burn. You would dream of me in the waking world, cry for me in the dreaming. A slave to passion, day and night; hardly sleeping, hardly eating, merely breathing…”

No. Impossible. There’s no way—it can’t be—

Gingerly, you finger the skin over your pulse point. The bruised kiss hisses upon contact; you feel the hummingbird-flutter of your own heartbeat.

“Do you dream?”

You don’t know why you blurt that particular phrase; you suppose it’s more acceptable than “did we almost-fuck in my (our?) dream last night”. Still, you observe the intergalactic space criminal with heightened scrutiny, wishing (now more than ever) he didn’t have that cursed blindfold on.

You never realized just how much is missed from the eyes alone.

If there’s any reaction, he doesn’t show it; his next words are mere remnants of what they should be, like bones atop carcass.

“I do not recall the last I dreamt.”

You swallow, the first needles of paranoia sinking into your spine. That should be answer enough. But you wonder why it feels like a dance between confirmation and indifference; anything but denial. Suddenly, you think you hate him; his archaic, cryptic remarks, his riddles and his ambiguity.

“Not worthy enough for recording?” he cuts through the silence, the cruelty of a half-smile gallivanting across your vision. You realize you’d been spaced out, pen hanging between downturned fingers, and curse.

“...think nothing of it,” you mutter. You deem the passage worthy enough for Jingyuan’s approval (it isn’t) and chuck the pen backwards. It dematerializes into the confines of your clipboard. “I should offer you my services once more, but I’m sure neither of us truly wishes for that. A word of advice—behave yourself, and the general might allow you to roam the cell unshackled for certain hours. I’m sure there’s nothing you want more than a hairbrush by now,” you snort. Blade doesn’t reply.

“Danyin,” you murmur, catching the man by his cuff when you exit the hall; he looks frazzled, as if half-expecting you to return with a missing limb (likely a touch disappointed when you don’t; you don’t consider yourself particularly lenient when forced into this scummy duty). “Do me a favor. I want you to place a recording device outside his cell; one of those high-tech thermal ones that can navigate through the dark.”

Danyin pales. “D-digital recordings—any recording—outside what is sanctioned by the general himself is strictly prohibited! I don’t even have cle—”

You unclasp your wristwatch and replace it with Danyin’s own; the man can only babble out a half-hearted protest when you do, mourning his defeat already.

“I’d do it myself, but I’m not exactly out of general douche-canoe’s radar,” you sigh, tightening the clasp. Danyin mumbles something about hiring an underwriter for his will, to which you offer a sunny grin and a pat on the back. “I’m counting on you, friend!”

He mutters something about you being as shitty as Jingyuan. You pretend not to hear it.

ꨄ︎

“A dream demon?” Tingyun snorts, pushing the newly-gifted sunglasses she’d received from a Yaoqing merchant that served as General Feixiao’s retinue down her nose. “You can’t be serious. Please tell me you didn’t make me cancel my hair appointment to play therapist for your psychotic break. How many times did I tell you to just quit and work with me in—”

You yank down the collar of your dress, having wiped off the excess makeup in the restaurant bathroom prior. “Look.”

“For the love of—oh. Oh.” She tilts her frames downwards, viridescent hues assessing the damage. “You got yourself a suckerfish? Careful with those—one starskiff romp shimmied into your lunchbreak and they think they own you.”

“Actually, my very preventable trauma from waking up next to Dai—Daiqiu? Daiqing? Has rendered me unable to pursue any bedmates since,” you sniff. Tingyun rolls her eyes.

“You sure you didn’t wobble into Inferno after your shift and had a couple shots too many? We all know it’s all south after your third martini. And your impairment the following morning.”

“You and I both know I don’t get off until midnight, and you were there when we both got banned from Inferno!”

“Maybe if you hadn’t laughed at the owner’s son and called him fossilized when he asked for a three—”

“He was at least as old as my grandfather, Ting! Without the Jingyuan-tier looks to make up for it!”

“Jingyuan isn’t that old—wait, do you still have a crush on him? What happened to—”

“That’s beside the point!” You swat her hand off the straw of her mid-afternoon cocktail, knocking her jade bracelet against the glass. The heat of it fogs the hexagons scattering rainbows onto the counter, and you are acutely reminded of the matching anklet that dangles on your left, forever warm and secured to your person. “I know you barely passed history—”

“Hey.”

“—but Foxian history can be traced as far back as the Long’s Scions, can it not? Surely there has to be something you picked up over the years. Maybe some old stories, some superstition…”

“[Name],” Tingyun sighs, “are you seriously asking me if I remember any bedtime stories?”

“So there is? Something, I mean?”

“You’re honestly better off taking that to a Vidyadhara historian or a senior Xianzhou Native,” Tingyun admits, to which your face cripples, because Aeons knows your social life had been reduced to zilch after your recruitment (and there was no way you’d press the matter to Jingyuan; you had no doubt he and Diviner Fu could grapple onto the dirtiest details of your midnight escapades). She swishes her drink with her straw in thought. “Foxian lifespans are but fleeting compared to the stories of our other long-lived peers; what are four hundred years, after all, to rebirth and a thousand?”

It’s said with a twinge of envy; you know Tingyun is not like Xianzhou commonfolk who dread their existence and eventual descent to madness. Life is—will never be—enough for her, never enough wine to drink, men to seduce; never enough jewelry and lost merchandise for Whistling Flames.

“We do, however, have our love stories—love and lust and betrayal and wroth, they’re quite similar, don’t you think? And the tales of the Foxians pale in comparison to none.”

“This isn’t about love,” is your immediate response. Tingyun arches a fine brow.

“Isn’t it, though?” With that, she reaches out to redo the buttons on your collar. Heat creeps up your ears. “Passion… this is something Foxians are accustomed with. We love our wine and jade, men and women all the same; I’m sure you know this,” she laughs, and you feel the fox-carving against your anklet simmer. “You know of the Xianzhou belief of soul partners, do you not?”

“Of course.” You reach down, absently, to tickle the jade that had been gifted (shackled) to you on your graduation day. “There’s the, erm, chosen ones, right? Bosom friends, sworn brothers—”

“That’s right; and they’re referred to as chosen for a reason.” She points the end of her olive stick at you. “It is the highest form of love, for some; philia, at the end of the day, is a choice,” she ignores your grumble of “where was mine”, “though, arguably, many believe these soul partners were predestined to be in your life. We gift our jade to these soul partners, and the Vidyadhara share a similar custom, but with bracers; warmth indicates the wearer’s partner is alive and well, and there is a belief that these gifts will eventually bring one back to the other, in life, death, dreams, or otherwise.” She narrows her eyes. “Though there’s no reason, seeing as I’d rather be caught dead than star in your rogue fantasies.”

“Wasn’t ever an option,” you mutter.

“There is another, more outdated; I’ve only ever heard stories about it, and some say the encounter died since the plague of abundance ravaged the long-lived. It’s less of a choice, more a force of nature; or so I’ve been told. A bunch of rubbish, honestly, but there does exist stories of another kind of soul partner—one that embodies a more… debauched role. I suppose soulmate is a loose term; these stories have long since been discarded, scoffed at as crude; these are the stories of scorned lovers, of passion, bedroom woes and death and betrayal; truly, nothing worth writing home about. I’m sure we’ve progressed enough as a society to leave behind such primal relics.”

Your head spins at the sudden onslaught of information; you inhale through your nose, pinching the bridge between two fingers. Tingyun finishes the contents of her drink, suckling the heart-shaped straw dry. “And what… what does that have to do with…”

“With your suckerfish?” Tingyun grins, dodging a kick under the table. “I’m getting to that. There’s a story—just one that I can remember, at least. My Lady wasn’t fond of me rummaging through those particular texts.”

“No wonder you turned out to be so godless—ow!”

“...like I was saying. There exists a…largely banned text. A bit blasphemous, but more so an overreaction, on the elders’ part; I’ll spare you the details, but the story can be loosely translated as The Foxian’s Obsession. Not the most creative of titles, I’ll admit, though it is fitting; it weaves the tale of a long-lived Foxian’s adoration of a short-lived fisherman. The woes of past society would not permit her to seek out a man of such fragility, and eventually, the fisherman married; the Foxian, hurt, enraged, and heartbroken, would curse the fisherman to an eternal sleep.”

“Sounds like one of those ex nightmare stories on Foxian Lipstick Alley,” you chortle.

“Imagine being so obsessed,” Tingyun snorts. “Anyways, the wife and family of the comatose fisherman start seeing ‘love marks’ on him, find him dead one day, bleeding from the mouth; the wife is put on trial until they discover news of said Foxian having passed in her sleep, coincidentally, with the same comorbidity.”

“What the fuck.”

“Creepy, isn’t it? Now, if that were the case with you…”

“Tingyun!” You screech. The Foxian snickers at your distress. “This isn’t funny! What if this dude’s some creepy old Foxy spirit disguising himself as some space criminal hunk to get into my pants and commit murder-sui!”

“Your drawers are in need of a seasonal refresh…”

“Tingyun, you bi—”

“Aeons, relax,” the amicassador slaps your arm in poor reassurance. “These are mere whispers of the past. The first starskiff hadn’t even taken flight when it was published. Besides, does your dream demon present with ears and a tail? You know that’s our one indisputable giveaway…”

“...no, he doesn’t,” you begrudge, a sigh of relief escaping you. Tingyun rolls her eyes.

“Then there you have it. I’m sure this is just a consequence of your ridiculous work hours—how many times must I tell you stress is bad for beauty? You’re even losing pockets of memory…”

“...you’re right. That must be it.”

“So? what happened to your resignation letter?”

“Don’t get me started—”

You vent the happenings of this morning to Tingyun, who, for the first time, appears rather irked; it’s not a common look for the Foxian, as leisurely and unbothered as a nepo-child of Lady Yukong can be, though you suppose even she has her limits on witnessing you falling victim to workplace abuse.

Throughout the conversation, you concoct the margins of your plan; the cameras should be set up by now, if Danyin is at least half-competent. You touch your now-fading love bites and make a mental note to pick up another bottle of fantasia.

If working with Jingyuan blessed you with any positives, it’s your seasoned thirst for vengeance—and the earlier you act, the swifter (and sweeter) your prize.

Perhaps it was a fluke. Perhaps it was a once-in-a-lifetime, paranormal encounter—but on the off chance it isn’t, well, now you’d be prepared.

Because if he can ruin you, who’s to say you can’t return the favor?

#blade x reader #honkai star rail x you #hsr x reader #hsr x you #blade hsr #honkai star rail smut #blade smut

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absolutebl · 10 months

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Best Angsty BLs with Family Drama & Bad Home Lives, or Past Trauma

That still end happily. Requested by the incomparable @winterswhumpblr (Warning these all have tiggers in them mostly suicide, rape, and/or child abuse.)

Until We Meet Again

Thai 2019 YouTube

UWMA is, without question, a work of narrative genius with a powerful and cohesive romantic backbone driven by family drauma and betrayal and stellar performances. It is (to date) the only Thai BL that I’ve rated a 10/10 predominantly on the basis of story structure. That said it is also very well cast (and it’s a BIG cast), with solid production values, and enduring pair branding. Discussion here.

Spin off, Between Us, also satisfies this criteria.

Blueming

Korea 2022 iQIYI

Hwang Da Seul directing this angsty BL that's a tiny bit dark and a tiny bit bittersweet, almost too honest to a university experience and first love. But if you want your mind ever-so-slightly messed with and your intimacy hellishly sweet, this BL will do it for you in a coldly distant manner, while bitch slapping you with self worth issues. I wasn’t into it at first, but the leads are solid and by ep 5 it got really good, becoming a narrative about self discovery meets understanding and accepting others people’s flaws without hurting them. Ultimately we witnessed two characters maturing because of each other and their mutual affection, without that affection becoming the conflict point. Instead, tension was built around other aspects of identity, popularity, and childhood trauma.

Tokyo in April is AKA Shigatsu no Tokyo wa

Japan 2023 Viki

Two young men with a shared tragic past reunite and fall in love all over again, but the past will not stop hunting them. Based on a manga, this office set reunion romance is GREAT… damn it. It’s Japan in full on soft focus which means it gets emo, abusive, and chewy. These two characters are giving parts of their souls away in a desperate attempt to shape themselves to the expectations they have of each other.

The Eighth Sense

Korea 2023 Viki

This feels more atmospheric gay coming of age romance than strictly BL. It’s got a bit of an age gap, country boy/city boy, stellar acting, complex characters, and leads with great chemistry and tension. It’s a bit chewy and sticky and less perfect than most KBLs (do I detect a touch of Taiwan?) This one deployed BL tropes (messy eater, shoulder sleep, protective seme, there’s even some hyung-slinging) but front loaded them with painful backstory and tons angst drives the 2nd half. This isn’t in the KBL bubble, there’s sharp edges and lots of triggers. For a BL the darkness of the content left me feeling unsettled (which is the only reason it didn't get a perfect score) but it does have a glorious ending and that counts for a lot.

Bad Buddy

Thai 2022 YouTube

This was GMMTV’s flagship BL and it started 2022 on a BANG (okay no actual banging but you know what I mean), starring heavy hitters Ohm & Nanon in a pitch perfect university Romeo & Romeo masterpiece that will give you domesticity meets pain whiplash throughout and jet lag at the end. Some of the friendship and family dynamics are overworked, but it has great production values, killer acting, and some conscious effort to correct for half a decade of Thai BL’s anti-queer mistakes. The whole set up is build on family drama so, yeah.

Bed Friend

Thai 2023 YouTube

Office frienamies transition a flaming hot one night stand into a f-buddy relationship that is built on a puppy/cat dynamic (and kinks into it at one point). Our puppy is loyal, smitten, and protective with endlessly longing eyes, while our cat is snarky, prickly, and deeply damaged. NetJames give lovely high-heat with excellent chemistry and tuned-in performances of surprising depth, could have been spectacular but was the story is overworked, especially at the end. Still if high heat is your thing, this one will not let you down.

Lovely Writer

Thai 2021 YouTube

What Lovely Writer does, at heart, is reexamine Thai BL has done to queerness, but in a very gentle way that has more to do with Thai BL growing up than any actual queer authenticity. It’s not parody or pastiche, but it is self reflective and trying to correct for some chronic mistakes. Whether it is ultimately successful in this matter is going to depend on the watcher’s relationship to BL and queer identity. But that’s what makes this show beautiful, interesting, and thought provoking. And I, for one, applaud the effort even if I didn’t personally connect to the characters. There is both family trauma and dram and childhood stuff.

Happy Merry Ending

Korea 2023 Viki

Stars Lee Dong Won (KNK) as an ex-idol turned wedding singer with an abusive ex and a panic disorder + the sunshine pianist who falls in love with him. Timid tsundere & sweetheart gay is an interesting match. They’re gentle together, almost kindly, and there is a calm ache to their pairing. However, it lost its way as a BL, being more about the main character’s struggle than the romance. It had a strong finish but ultimately the premise & characters meant this was never going to be one of my favorites. But if you like angst, well...

Given

Japan 2021 grey

Boy joins band, falls in love with other boy. The singing is terrible, fast forward through that but with the possible exception of the hair styles, this BL could have been made in 2015 and no one would be surprised. As such, it wasn’t ground breaking, but it didn’t disappoint either. Very much a tortured past for our singer. (More here.)

The Eclipse

Thai 2022 YouTube

GMMTV does gay Blacklist with a good boy/bad boy pairing. This is a good show but the cast is excellent and the leads are absolutely flawless, which elevates it beyond just good. We got a nuanced and multifaceted burgeoning relationship: philosophical (and socio-political) conflict contrasted to moments of empathy; flirtation contrasted to moments of genuine affection, plus plenty of angst. This narrative is less about love than it is about courage and tenderness. However, near the end the pacing was off and the plot frustrating. Still, this is an enjoyable watch, with a finale that features verbal consent and a fun blooper reel.

Love Class 2

Korea 2023 Viki

3 couples form within a semester of university: 1. a hyung romance reunion of exes, one of whom has a dangerous past, 2. a friends to lovers romance, and 3. a one night stand between a mature student and a TA (many aspects of which had me laughing). I enjoyed the characters and dialogue of this show immensely. It was a little bit more breezy and friendly than I was expecting after the first installment, Love Class (to which this bears little resemblance and no connection). I’m not entirely sure Korea can handle multiple couples like this because it definitely felt disjointed, especially with the 3rd more mature couple (also my favorite) who probably should’ve had their own series. But I enjoyed something different from Korea.

About Youth

Taiwan 2022 Gaga

A truly lovely little coming of age high school BL with a classic YA low drama but high angst and an earnest depth. I didn’t even mind the singing, and that’s saying a lot. A weak seme/uke dynamic but tons of BL tropes (both rare in a high school setting but common for Taiwan) makes this one feel both sweet and colored by an almost real world authenticity and grit. More here.

Restart After Come Back Home AKA Risutato wa tadaima no ato de

Japan 2020 Gaga?

Atmospheric study in rural Japan meets complex family dynamics built on a romance framework of city boy meets country boy, grumpy/sunshine. It’s beautiful and icy sweet. Slow moving in places but ultimately worth the patience, low heat, low angst, and stunning.

DNA Says Love You

Taiwan 2022 Gaga

DNA deserves extra marks for an upbeat approach to a queer story arc that other shows have systemically mishandled with sadness (in the guise of realism). There is a twist, which I found predictable, but knowing what would happen didn't spoil this show. The leads are luminous and engaging, and it’s full of queer found family representation and an unexpected amount of domesticity, plus it’s Taiwan, so the kisses are great. The first few eps are rough going but have patiences, it's worth it as the last ones really are special and life/love affirming - and the end is big-grin charming.

My Tooth Your Love

Taiwan 2023 Viki

Earnest dentist hottie with sad eyes who worries too much is smitten by an adorable sunshine neurotic bar owner with serious anxiety issues. They fall madly in love while courting each other with food, plushies, and naps. Then, shocker, talk about their feelings and try to actually sort out their problems so they can have an adult relationship. Bonus crumbs = 18 year old poor little rich kid in mad crush with a much older man. I really enjoyed this show, it had a unique premise, killer dialogue, there was a solid lead pair with charming chemistry, soft flirtation, delightful smiling kisses, and stinkingly cute domesticity.

Where Your Eyes Linger

Korea 2020 Viki

Ostensibly high school set about a poor kid whose been raised in a mafia kid’s family specifically to protect him (whipping boy trope, attack dog variant). Themes of codependency and survival with pretty classic Korean style romance ending.

TharnType

Thai 2019 Viki

This Thai BL has everything: university setting, great acting and complex characters, interesting friendship groups, enemies to lovers, angsty coming out, high production values, AMAZING chemistry, and multiple BL side couples with all the issues. But when I said everything I meant it because there's also: damaging queer rep, strong seme/uke and husband/wife language, classic tropes and lots of them, child abuse, bullying, mental illness, rough play, dub-con, non-con, and statutory rape (by the seme/gay character).

and its spin off: Don't Say No also qualifies for this post.

In fact most Mame stuff will involved trauma & drama, specifically.

Love By Chance 2

Love in the Air (Part 2)

Wedding Plan

Some others but I'm getting tired:

I Told Sunset About You et al

You Are Mine

Dear Doctor, I'm Coming for Your Soul

Ghost Host Ghost House

But frankly there are a ton more depending on how you look at it. I mean, what about Why R U? FIghter's dad is the issues with him coming out, but it's not really in the plot until late so ?

Lakorn BL drama llama soaps & similar

Moonlight Chicken - review here

Laws of Attraction

To Sir, With Love - review here

Sirs not appearing on this list

Our Dining Table is driven by childhood trauma but not angsty, similar to Oxygen. Not Me is angsty and dramatic and family stuff, but that's not really the driver of the plot. Life Love On the Line is all angst but he brought it on himself.

(source)

Updated Nov 19, 2023, no intention of adding to this so if you want more, look at the comments. Someone is bound to get annoyed their favorite isn't on the list.

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bluepecanpie · 1 year

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in the past four chapters, we’ve seen:

- shanks obliterate kid and killer, the latter by accident even - and have dorry & brogy do cleanup duty on the kid pirates’ flagship.

- garp launching a small atom bomb with his fist on hachinosu, and manhandling kuzan - a former fucking admiral, after he froze one of his subordinates.

- blackbeard fucking wrecking law and his crew, forcing bepo to unleash and turn into cocaine bear just to escape with his captain

- buggy realising that god has truly smiled on him, if he’s made him a yonkou alongside shanks, and declaring that he’s going for the crown, letting crocodile and mihawk know who’s really running things.

- sabo’s safe return to kamabakka island, to tell dragon and ivankov what *really* went down in marie geoise.

And just think: the “egghead incident” to come is still gonna be more hype than all of this.

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arcadia75 · 3 months

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Why Janeway needs a therapist

I got a request for a follow-up to list out why Janeway also needs to see a therapist

Note: I'm treating at least Mosaic as canon. Some of the Voyager stuff might be out of order and probably forgetting stuff.

Got captured by Cardassians and had to listen to her Captain be tortured (and was possibly tortured herself)

Lost her fiancé and father in a shuttle accident, in which she could maybe have saved one of them but didn't

We have no knowledge of what she may have been thru in her career before Voyager. Wolf 359? Other battles?

Lost x% of her crew when thrown to the Delta Quadrant

Made the decision to blow up the Array that stranded the remainder of her crew 70 years from home

Effectively lost another fiancé by stranding herself 70 years from home

Had to deal with a race wanting to steal her crews organs

Had to deal with a Cardassian spy on her ship

Had to deal with integrating the Maquis crew into her Starfleet crew

First Officer got kidnapped by above Cardiassian spy

Got hyper-evolved into a salamander and had babies with her helmsman

Had to deal with Q, on multiple occasions

Saw a double of herself blow up her ship to save them, plus had to accept a duplicate Ops officer and baby onto her ship

Had to kill one being to get her Security officer and Morale officer back

Got stranded on a planet with her first officer, fell in love with him, and then got rescued where they had to go back to being just friends

Got ship taken over by hostile force and then stranded on another planet, where crew died

Had to rescue her Ops officer and Helmsman from prison

Ferengi fucked up a way home

Had to deal with time traveling back to 1996 Earth and saving the future

Single handedly fought a macrovirus to save the ship

Died. Then gaslight by an entity posing as her dead father

First Officer brainwashed by a bunch of former Borg

Had to save officers from a rouge holodeck program written by the Cardassian spy from 3 years ago

Had to make a deal with the Borg, that her First Officer kind of went back on and then fought with him

Had to rehabilitate a former Borg drone

First Officer brainwashed to fight in a alien war

Brain chemistry messed with by aliens doing experiments

Destroyed the ship in a timeline that reset

Fiancé officially broke up with her.

Aliens captured the ship and brainwashed entire crew to participate in war simulations

Switched bodies with some of her crew (was this in Vis a Vis or just fanfic?)

Had to deal with the Omega particle

Alien that they all forget was on their ship and fell in love with her First Officer

Duplicated into goo, then dies later when she doesn't realize she's a duplicate

Major depressive episode during a part of space with no stars

Gets her crew killed by deciding to try a slipstream drive

Demoted helmsman for defying orders

Had to play mind games with alien who wanted to fuck her

Had to discipline her love struck ops officer when she's not getting any herself

Drove her First Officer/Best Friend/Would be lover to the brink of madness to save the ship

More temporal mechanics shenanigans

Found another Starfleet ship and then they turned out to be killers and crazy

Holographic boyfriend malfunctions

Former alien crew member who evolved to a higher being comes back super pissed off

Willingly assimilated into a Borg

Had to help First Officer put the ship back together after it was split into 37 different timeframes

Brainwashed to work in a factory, falls in love with an alien, forced to give him up when her memory gets restored

Had to deal with future self coming back and telling her the awful things about the future

Watched First Officer/Best Friend/Would be Lover get involved with her protégé

At least a year we don't know about. Hopefully she saw a therapist

Promoted to Admiral then sends Starfleet flagship on a mission that costs the life of one of their most beloved officers

Three years we don't know about. Hopefully she at least took a couple vacations

Sends Former First Officer / Best Friend / Would be Lover on a mission where he gets lost 52 years into the future

Spends possibly 3 years looking for said First Officer / Best Friend / Would be Lover

Retires! Buys a nice house! Gardens!

Forced out of retirement cuz synthetic beings attack Mars shipyards

#star trek: voyager #kathryn janeway #mental health is important #star trek nemesis #star trek prodigy #star trek prodigy spoilers

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flippyspoon · 8 months

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Some Enchanting Linguist

Note: Just a lil SNW Scott/Uhura with a small side of Spirk because the mood struck me! Takes place after Hegemony but Gorn have been vanquished everything's fine now.

Summary: Uhura introduced Jim Kirk to the love of his life and Jim Kirk returns the favor.

Montgomery Scott had run out of things to do in engineering and only a few quiet gamma shifters were left, the lights dimmed as he sat on one leg, staring bleary eyed at his PADD. It was nearly time for alpha shift. Soon the lights would get bright again. He had already spent the better part of the last five hours hunched in a Jeffries tube rewiring a turbolift just to see if it could run a little more smoothly and swiftly, not that anyone had asked him. But it was something to do and in taking the lift with Captain Pike down to engineering the day before it had seemed slightly off kilter to him. And even if it was more likely his own edginess making him feel off kilter, well, he’d already finished everything Pelia had given him to do and then lied and said he’d go to bed.

Now all he had left were his old equations, a hobby since his last year at the academy and occasionally the reason his grades had sometimes suffered. The point right now was to keep busy. This didn’t quite fit the bill. It was too open ended. Tedious work was better. Tedious mindless work kept him from thinking about the Stardiver and how now the worst words in the world would forever be on his Starfleet record: sole survivor.

Still his little hobby was comforting even if he was fairly certain it was completely unsolvable.

A shrill whistle startled him and he frowned, scratching his stubbled chin.

“Y’ello!” A voice echoed in the shadows of the dark and dingy corner of engineering where Montgomery had holed up. “Anybody in here answer to Mr. Scott?”

“Aye!” Scotty leaned back in his chair, frowning in the direction of the shout. “That’s me!” He craned his head, squinting into the shadows as a figure stepped out in command gold. Scotty spotted the stripes and hopped to his feet. “Commander?”

“Kirk!” Kirk nodded, smiling easily, and stuck out his hand. “James T. I’m on the Farragut, but Captain Pike keeps luring me back over to the flagship and I’m not complaining. And you’re Scott.”

“Yes. Eh, Scott, sir.” He smiled tightly, shaking Kirk’s hand. Kirk’s eyes flicked down to his greasy fingers and Scott winced. “Montgomery. Lieutenant junior grade. Sorry about that, Commander. I’ve been at it a bit down here.”

“No worries, Mr. Scott,” Kirk said, winking. “Killer work ethic, huh? When’s the last time you slept?”

“Aye, well…” He scratched his head, pulling a face. “Dinnae think that’s goin’ to happen anytime soon.”

“Yes, I heard about the Stardiver,” Kirk said. He reached out and clutched Scott’s shoulder, squeezing gently, and there was something genuinely comforting about it. Scott had experienced just about enough pitying looks from some of the crew on the Enterprise. Not that it was their fault. But Kirk was matter of fact about it in a way he appreciated. “Been there. Trust me. Hey, could you eat? It’s about breakfast time already. I’ll be honest. Pelia sent me down to check on you and I was curious to meet you.”

“Me, sir?” Scott haphazardly wiped his hands on his pants as he followed Kirk out to the corridor. “And why’s that?”

“Haven’t you heard what they’re calling you, Scott?” Kirk said.

“Eh…no?”

“Montgomery Scott, Lieutenant genius grade.”

Scotty’s eyebrows jumped and he smiled genuinely for the first time all day. “Oh, aye? Cannae say I mind it then.”

“Can I ask what you were working on over there?” Kirk said, gesturing behind them. “Looked pretty wild.”

“Eh, last time I told anyone about it I got laughed outta the room, sir.” Yet Scotty suspected Kirk wouldn’t laugh.

“Try me.”

“Transwarp beaming,” Scotty said, half-whispering as if conveying a great secret. “Just a little project of mine since academy days.”

“Well, I’m not laughing,” Kirk said. “But that is certainly ambitious.”

In the turbolift Kirk grabbed the lever and said, “Deck five.” Then as it began to move, he frowned. “Hey! Lift’s movin’ extra smoothly today. Feels good.”

“Thank you, Commander.” Scott puffed his chest out a little. “I was workin’ on it all night.”

“Wow. Nicely done.”

The corridor to the mess was bustling as alpha shift was beginning shortly. He’d stayed up all night and he could feel it in his bones and behind his eyes a bit, but still he did not want to be in his quiet quarters and crawl into a bed alone. It was much better to be around people. Alive people. People. Not gorn.

“Commander, can I ask ye somethin’?” Scott said.”A bit…personal?”

“Sure, but if it’s personal, why don’t you call me Jim?”

“Aye. Jim. About the Stardiver. You said you’ve been there yourself.”

Kirk’s expression darkened and his hands were tightly clasped behind his back. “Yes. More than once. In a matter of speaking.”

“Does it get get any better then?”

“Yes,” Kirk said, nodding firmly. “But it will always be hard and I won’t lie, it follows you forever. Good news is, if you need a friend, this ship seems to be a good place to find one. So I hope you stick around, Mr. Scott.”

“I can think a’ worse fates,” Scotty muttered.

In fact, having gotten a good look at the Enterprises’s engines, Scott had already declared his undying love. They would have to tear him away with the jaws of life, he supposed.

The mess was crowded and Scott felt like a cloud of unwashed filth next to all the bright eyed and well rested and squeaky clean crew carrying trays to their usual tables, all of them smiling and amongst co-workers they’d worked with likely for years.

Scott stuck close to Kirk and loaded up his tray with two muffins, scrambled eggs, a pile of bacon, fruit, and a massive cup of coffee. When he turned around again, Kirk was gone, and he mildly panicked a moment before spotting Jim waving at him from an empty table.

Scott dove into his breakfast without preamble and was halfway finished before muttering to himself, “I am hungry.” It was a bit of a relief to realize it and to enjoy what he was eating, replicated or no.

Across from him Jim chuckled and lifted his coffee as if in a toast. “Good.”

Scott was swallowing the last of his bacon when he glanced up and breathed in sharply, feeling as if someone might have just brained him with a hyperspanner.

“Commander Kirk. Eh…who’s…who’s that?” He nodded vaguely at a figure across the mess, his gaze fixed on beautiful dark skinned young ensign in ops red whose incandescent smile was fixed on Mr. Spock as she carried her tray.

Jim followed his gaze and a slow and drunk looking smile crossed his face. “Oh yeah. That’s Mr. Spock.”

“Not the Vulcan,” Scott said. “The ensign. She’s so…” He shook his head, unable to think of an appropriately effusive descriptor.

“Oh! Nyota?” Jim took a swig of coffee. “I’ll introduce you.”

“No no nono wait!” Scott sputtered, but Jim was already standing and waving the ensign and Mr. Spock over to the table. Mr. Spock he’d already met. The Enterprise’s science officer. Whether Spock even remembered him or not, Scott had no idea. Spock’s eyes were fixed on Kirk as he sat at the table across from him. Eventually, he spared Scott a polite nod.

“Nyota!” Kirk said. “This is Mr. Scott. Scott, this is Ensign Nyota Uhura. She’s to linguistics what you are to engineering.” Jim clapped him on the back and said, “This is the guy who built the transponder and all those gorn traps out of nothin’.”

“Really?” Nyota said. “You’re that guy?”

Scott reflexively stood as the others were sitting down, blushed, and sat down again. He cleared his throat, dazed by Uhura’s glimmering brown eyes and the friendly smile now fixed on him. “Yes. That’s me. Scott. Montgomery. Lieutenant. Junior grade. Very nice to meet you. Ma’am. Er. Ensign, that is.”

Uhura’s lips parted and her eyes widened. “Your brogue is magnificent!”

Scotty blushed from the tips of his toes all the way up to his grease scuffed forehead. “Oh! Ah. Thank ye.”

She pointed at him and said, “You’re not from Aberdeen, but you spent some time there, didn't you? How long?”

“How did you know that?” Scott said. “I spent about seven years there as a lad.”

Uhura tapped her ears. “That’s what I do, Mr. Scott!”

“Oh!” He leaned on his hand, his breakfast forgotten. “That’s so fascinatin’. So how many languages do you speak anyway?”

“Thirty-seven Earth languages,” Uhura said, and Scott was entranced by the way she slightly batted her eyes. “But now I’m mainly studying as many non-Terran languages as I can get my head around. Vulcan, Andorian, Denobulan-”

“Crivens,” Scott murmured. “That’s amazin’.”

“You know, I was close to our former Chief Engineer. Hemmer?” Uhura swallowed, and Scott felt a pang of sympathy immediately recognizing the subtlest expression of grief. “He always said engineering was really quite similar to linguistics. Seemingly unrelated systems communicating?”

“That makes a lot of sense!” Scott said.

“Well, Mr. Spock,” Kirk said next to him. “Seems our presence here has quickly become redundant.”

“It would appear so,” Spock agreed. “I am not certain they are aware of our presence at all.”

“I’m sure they aren’t,” Kirk said, and smirked at Spock, leaning forward over the table. “I am certainly aware of yours however.”

“I am seated right in front of you, Commander,” Spock said, raising an amused eyebrow. “It would be odd if you were not aware of me.”

“Is it odd that I’m always aware of you even when you are not seated right in front of me?” Jim said smoothly, and Spock lowered his eyes, his lips curving up a little.

“You talked to aliens with music?” Scott said. He slapped the table. “Did ye ever hear the like?”

“Hey Scott- Scotty!” Jim had to wave to get his attention again. “I bet you’d enjoy hearing Ensign Uhura here sing, wouldn’t you?”

“Jim!” Uhura hissed and punched him in the shoulder.

“You sing too!” Scott’s eyes lit up.

“Sometimes,” Uhura said, sitting up straight. “Mr. Spock accompanies me on the lyre.”

“If you would be amenable to singing tonight, Ensign,” Spock said. “I am available to play.”

“Ooh!” Kirk rubbed his hands together. “Now I’m excited. Scott, you and I are in for a treat.”

“I just bet we are, Jim,” Scott murmured, sitting back as he and Jim gazed on Mr. Spock and Uhura. “I’ll bet we are.”

#uhotty #snw #strange new worlds #nyota uhura #montgomery scott

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