#not even in a manic pixie dream boy way but just like.

[mearchy]

The best fics are the ones that recognize that although Luke Skywalker may APPEAR on the outside to be a normal friendly twink who happens to have cool powers, especially when contrasted with such ship partners as Boba or Din or even Han, he is arguably the scariest person alive in the galaxy around the prequel era. AND, crucially, he is also a fundamentally weird guy. This man was homeschooled on a rural farm his entire life and then apprenticed to a swamp gremlin who showed him how to tap into the cosmic power of the universe. He blew up the death star age 19, killing approx 2 million-ish Imperials. He is a vortex of Force power that can communicate with the ghosts of dead Jedi. He’s staring into the distance and mumbling to himself and doing Yoda aphorisms and casually pulling out the “yeah I could crush that guy into a paste with my mind (:” and nobody around him knows what to do with that. I think he is a character who has very little frame of reference for how a Jedi or a person in general is supposed to act and there is some thing about him that is by necessity really fucking weird and a little scary but he’s so nice that it can throw you off the scent a little bit. Thanks for coming to my TED talk

[gyutarling]

INFINITE

late night adventures with beomgyu...

♯ — beomgyu x gn!reader ⋆ fluff ⋆ wc 1.7k

warnings! — cursing, mentions of burning things, mentions of ghosts and death, catcher in the rye slander (not srs if u like that book thats cool!), a little pretentious, jokes about dating a senior citizen, lowercase intended, not proofread

note — went ballistic after gyu made an insta..... save me manic pixie dream boy..... save me....

“gyu, where are we even going?” you enquired. frankly, you were still a little grumpy from being woken up at 3 in the morning, with beomgyu outside your window holding your shoes, wordlessly telling you to follow him.

when no reply came after several pauses, you glanced over next to you, only to find him completely zoned out. you were about to open your mouth to snap at him, patience spreading thin from the sleepiness, but then he smiled.

“the library, we’re sneaking in.” he turned his eyes back to the road ahead after making eye contact with you, mischief still heavy on his cheeks.

what he said took you a few seconds longer to process. “oh, okay— wait. what?!” in your befuddled state, you stopped in your tracks, “what do you mean by ‘sneaking in’? why the library?” honestly, you were more surprised that you didn't have more questions, but then again, this is beomgyu, you wouldn't put something like this past him.

beomgyu casually fixed his bangs, “sneaking in as in, we’re gonna not-so-legally enter the library like, right now.” he stopped in front of said building, you didn’t even notice you had been walking for so long. “and the library because there's a book i wanna burn.”

you almost shouted out a question, if not for beomgyu placing his hand over your mouth when he saw you staring at him with wide eyes. “hush! we might get caught!” his hand dropped after he felt your tongue touching his palm, “gross! anyway, do you have a paperclip i can borrow? kinda need to pick this lock before we do the actual ‘sneaking in’ part.” he held out his hand as he inspected the lock.

“what the fuck? are you insane?!” you opted for whisper shouting instead. you take it back, just when you thought he couldn't get any crazier, he proves you wrong with his stupidly perfect smile that seems to grow wider with each late night adventure. “first of all, why did i have to come with? could you not have done this yourself? i don’t wanna get in trouble again.” you said with a roll of your eyes.

“this is a two-person operation! besides, it’s more fun this way. so sorry in advance if i do get us into trouble,” beomgyu whispered back, and by the dimple peeking out from his smirk, you can tell he didn’t mean his apology.

you let out a relenting sigh and handed him a paperclip, “okay, but second of all, what book got you so enraged that you just had to sneak into the town library at such an ungodly hour just to steal and burn it?”

“it’s not like it enraged me, i mean, books are supposed to make you feel intense things, so i would have liked it if it did enrage me,” beomgyu mindlessly spoke while fidgeting with the paperclip, “it’s ‘the catcher in the rye’, borrowed and finished it recently, and i don’t know, the main character is just such a whiny ass bitch boy. he’s got this whole self-loathing, self-aware hypocrite persona going on, and throughout the book he pretty much just talks and drinks and pities himself. i think the author tried to make him too relatable, to the point that he became unrealistic, if that makes sense,” he rambled on, “the only part i liked was near the end, the part with his sister was actually pretty well-written.”

“so you are enraged,” you couldn’t help but giggle at his mini rant, “you’re cute when you ramble, by the way.”

“hm, i’d say the word would be ‘unimpressed’, i just don’t like it.” he pretended to inspect the lock closer, yet still failing miserably at hiding his reddening cheeks. a few minutes after poking and moving the paperclip around inside the keyhole, you heard a click, and seconds later, you two were inside the pitch dark library. “alright, we’re in. the rest should be fairly easy.”

“hold on, one more question,” you realised as you took out your phone for the flashlight, “why didn’t you just do this when you still had the book? why did you have to return it and then come back?” you were too far into the theft and arson two-person operation to be angry at beomgyu for dragging you into it at this point. you were happy to be hanging out with him anyway.

“hey, this might make me a criminal, but i’m not a heathen. i return my shit, never had an overdue book in my entire life,” beomgyu bragged, “mrs. librarian is basically my best friend.”

“and yet you don’t know her name?” you laughed at his antics.

“i believe in the magic of mystery,” he said in an exaggerated fancy accent, “besides, names and such formalities are for first dates, which i might score one soon, heard her husband’s been out a lot.”

“gross, dude! she’s like 78!” you couldn’t help but to playfully shove him.

“and yet she remains such a radiant beauty, her prune-like visuals never fail to amaze me!” beomgyu emphasised even more, and you both couldn’t help but let out loud laughs you weren’t supposed to.

“how romantic, even shakespeare wouldn’t have been able to be as eloquent as you. save it for her, though, i don’t wanna hear about how you’re into an old, saggy woman who’s pushing 80.”

as the laughter died down, you two decided to split up to look for the object of beomgyu’s hatred. you were a little unsettled by the dark, this was a library after all, a very fitting place for a victorian ghost to haunt.

just when you were about to let out a breathy laugh at your own absurd thoughts, you heard a creaking noise. you quickly turned off your phone’s flashlight, this was it, you always knew beomgyu would lead to your downfall by baiting you to some supernatural entity. he probably made a deal with the devil and offered up your soul. no, scratch that, beomgyu is the devil himself—

“boo!” you let out a squeak and fell backwards, startled as you saw beomgyu with his flashlight shining from below his face. you breathed heavily, trying to catch up with the shock as he let out silent cackles. beomgyu might be even more evil than the devil.

“oh man, you should’ve seen your face!” he spitted out between laughter, but that abruptly stopped when you two heard the jingle of keys. you looked at beomgyu, panic still in your eyes, but for a different reason this time. you were still on the ground when he helped you up and dragged you to a corner, sandwiched between two bookshelves as he covered your mouth.

you didn’t know if you were dizzy from being out of breath, or the distance (or the lack thereof) between you and beomgyu. one hand covering your mouth, one hand on your waist to keep you steady, his equally fast breaths on your cheek. if you weren’t insane enough already, he gave you a reassuring squeeze, and leaned his forehead on yours from exhaustion. you wanted to stay like this forever.

of course, your dazed moment was interrupted by the lights of the library turning on, and then came the sound of approaching footsteps. your anxiety returned, and beomgyu glanced to the side just to quickly turn back.

“change of plans. fuck the book, we’re booking it.” he smiled. honestly, how can he have time for word play in such a predicament?

“what—” at that, he grabbed your hand and bolted out from between the shelves. you could hear the shouting of someone, presumably the security guard, but the buzzing adrenaline was louder. beomgyu hurriedly bursted through the doors that you both came in from, with your hands still connected, then down the streets. your legs burned, but at that point, you two were laughing like crazy. in the small, empty neighbourhood, well into the night, you swore you could take on anything if you had beomgyu by your side.

slowing down, he continued to hold onto your hand as you came to a stop. inhaling and exhaling rapidly, the rush died down and you noticed the delicate snowflakes that nipped at your skin. beomgyu seemed to notice as well, he stood up straight and stared upwards, mesmerised by the fluttering whiteness.

“it’s the first snow,” he mumbled, “you know, they say that seeing the first snow together with someone means you’ll be with them forever, and any wishes you make will come true.” he looked back at you, and you found yourself admiring his twinkling eyes.

“that’s pretty,” you smiled at him, “did you wish for anything?”

“yeah, i wished that you were mrs. librarian instead— hey, ow! i’m kidding!” beomgyu dramatically rubbed his arm after you very lightly and playfully punched him.

“moment ruined.” you said, unimpressed as beomgyu giggled.

a comfortable silence fell over the two of you as you continued watching the snow, it’s light enough to not be too cold, but cold enough for beomgyu to pull you closer to him, close enough for the moment to feel real.

“sorry you didn’t get to take out your burning anger on the book.” you slightly chuckled as you remembered the events of the night.

“it’s alright, didn’t matter too much to me,” he shrugged, “i didn’t even hate the book that much, just wanted an excuse to drag you out with me.”

you looked at him, stupefied, “so you couldn’t just ask me to hang out during the day like a normal person? what if that security guard was secretly a victorian ghost protecting the library? and what if said ghost happened to die from a thief who burned their house down?” you started exaggerating to show that you weren’t actually mad at him.

beomgyu jokingly scoffed at your silly rambling, “normal is boring, and from your whole spiel just now, you’re clearly not normal either, weirdo.” at that, you both smiled at each other.

beomgyu is truly beautiful, but especially when he smiles. the way his nose scrunches, pinkish from the cold, eyes turning into crescents with tiny sparkles in them. the way his lips curl up, matching the wispy ends of his soft-looking hair, framing his face perfectly. his smile is truly perfect.

in that moment, all you could feel was beomgyu and the world, both infinitely yours.

PERMANENT TAGLIST (italics = can't tag!) @malswrldsworld (send an ask to be added!)

[acey-wacey]

Heyo Meyo, I really liked your first year "meeting their future children" headcannons!

If its okay, may i request the same for Jade, Floyd and Ruggie?

I hope its okay? Nonetheless take your time, have a great day/night🤗

Hi hi! I'm so glad people like the future children series because I already have all the names planned out in my notes app >:)

...

🍄 Jade Leech 🍄

Now it's common knowledge that Jade Leech is not very easily startled.

But being ambushed by some toddler as soon as he left his room will definitely do it.

The little boy latched onto Jade's leg and started gnawing on his dress pants.

When he tried to pick the boy up, he just scurried up Jade's back, latching onto his shoulders like some kind of deranged monkey.

The boy managed to steal his hat and giggle like a maniac before you came running down the hall with two more children in tow: a little girl with her hands clasped curtly in front of her, not much older than the boy Jade has already met, and a baby that was fast asleep in your arms.

"Bruno, get off of your father."

You shot a look at the boy who was know chewing on Jade's hat.

He looked down in shame and crawled back down Jade's leg.

Through all of this, the normal-composed eel was quite confused.

It was an interesting and amusing sensation for him to be in the dark as he was usually privy to most of the happenings at Night Raven.

"His father?" Jade raised an eyebrow.

You sighed as the boy skittered over to you and wrapped his arm around your leg.

"I don't really know how to say this without sounding insane, but I guess this is nothing compared to what you're used to."

You gestured to the little girl who smiled in a sly way that reminded you of a certain eel.

"This is Veronica," you then gestured to the manic little boy who grinned and showed off his pointy teeth. "This is Bruno," then you nodded toward the baby. "And this is Damian."

"Whatever is insane about that?" Jade mused, stroking his chin as he assessed the situation.

"They're our children."

The only indication that Jade was at all surprised was the momentary widening of his eyes.

"Ah, yes. They must be from the future. Magical accidents like this happen all the time."

You felt heat rise to your face at how nonchalantly he mentioned your future children.

"But... They're our children. Is that not surprising to you? That we have children together in the future?"

Jade just smirked at you and moved forward to pat Bruno's head. The little boy chomped down on his finger but sheepishly retreated when Jade raised an eyebrow at him.

"Of course I'm not surprised. I'm aware of our mutual interest in each other and it's only a natural progression to get married and have a family."

Once the kids return to their timeline, you and Jade are apparently dating.

He never actually asked you out, but he had been observing your mannerisms and how you reacted around him, so he knew you wouldn't say no if he did.

...

🦐 Floyd Leech 🦐

You were sleeping in your bed at Ramshackle, peacefully dreaming of a world were Crowley payed his child support, when you were rudely awakened by a violent shaking.

You opened your eyes to see Floyd, hovering over you with a maniacal grin.

Oddly enough, you weren't even startled.

It's a common enough occurrence to wake up in the middle of the night in congruence with Floyd's whims.

"Hey."

You yawned, knowing there was no point in struggling once Floyd had you pinned down.

Your tired expression only changed to confusion once two other faces with grins matching Floyd's popped into your view.

"We have babies, shrimpy."

The two others were little girls, around 7 or 8.

They had the same sharp, toothy grin as Floyd and both sported teal hair, though one wore it in pigtails and one had it cut into a pixie.

"We have babies," you repeated, hoping Floyd would elaborate.

"In the future," he continued, radiating excited energy. It was far too early in the morning for you to be matching his manic vibes so you just nodded sleepily and smiled at the two girls.

"This is Giulia and Lilith," he pointed at the girl with pigtails then at the pixie cut girl. "They're our babies."

"We're not babies, daddy!" Lilith pouted at Floyd, making him soften just a little.

"They're our not babies," he smiled proudly at you. Both girls looked at you with the same expectant expression.

You groaned and rolled over in bed, capturing the two girls in your arms as you went.

"I'm much too tired and you're much too cute, so as confused as I am, it will have to wait until morning. Till then, we can snuggle."

"Snuggle!"

All three of them exclaimed, much too loudly for the ungodly hour.

You were simultaneously pounced on by three bodies, though Floyd did much more damage to your lungs than the lighter girls.

You snuggled into Floyd and kept an arm on each girl.

"Good night, Giulia and Lilith. I'm sure I'll meet you correctly one day."

...

🍩 Ruggie Bucchi 🍩

You hadn't even noticed much had changed until you payed a visit to Savanaclaw to see your boyfriend, Ruggie.

He was carrying on with his usual duties, only there was a 7-year-old girl perched on his hip as he did laundry.

"Need any help with that?"

He turned around to face you with a clothespin stuck in his mouth.

"No fanks," he mumbled through his teeth.

"This a relative or are you just babysitting?" You gestured to the little girl who was sucking on her thumb and inspecting you carefully. She was a bit on the chubbier side and had bright, curious eyes that matched the color you saw in the mirror.

You assumed she was Ruggie's sister or cousin or niece because she shared the same splotchy ears that twitched with every subtle noise.

"She's my daughter actually."

You were physically taken aback by the confession.

Once he initial shock wore off, you laughed and brushed it off.

"Very funny. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Ruggie finished pinning up one of his shirts before turning to you with an expression of unexpected seriousness.

"I am being dead serious right now, Y/N. This is my daughter, Iris."

"You're only 17, Ruggie. She looks at least 6 and as far as I know, you were not a baby daddy as a pre-teen."

"She's from the future." He admitted, being genuine although a teasing smirk grew on his face.

"From the future...?" you hesitantly clarified, eying the child as she took her thumb out of her mouth to reach for you.

"Momma, can you hold me? Dadda keeps moving around," she whined, grabbing for you and nearly falling out of Ruggie's grasp.

You rushed to catch her and set her to rest on your hip, bouncing slightly.

It didn't escape you how she called you Momma and you also noticed how her skin color and hair texture were a blend of yours and Ruggie's, the course fur on her ears peeking out from under her hair.

"Is she ours?"

Ruggie didn't reply but just nodded, while he continued pinning up clothes.

"She's darling."

Ruggie hummed in agreement and satisfaction.

"Reminds me of someone else I know."

He bent backwards to face you upside down and puckered his lips dramatically.

You chuckled and leaned down to press a kiss to his lips before he resumed his chores in lieu of his previous contortions.

You smacked several kisses onto Iris's cheeks and temple, though she pouted and wiped her cheek both her sleeve.

You laughed at how cute she was and continued bouncing her as she laid her head on your shoulder and closed her eyes, tuckered out from watching Ruggie work.

"Sweet dreams, future princess."

[swe3troses]

🐚10 Things I Hate About You (pt.1) Jack Hughes X Reader

 ‘I hate the way you talk to me, and the way you cut your hair.’

 Luke Hughes was over the moon. He was finally gonna get to play high school hockey like his mother always wanted him to. Of course, he didn’t mind that his older brothers were also on the team, and he was most likely going to be called the ‘littlest’ Hughes. He made his way to the castle like high school, meeting up with his oldest brother, Quinn Hughes, so he could get a tour of the huge high school.  

“Hey! What’s up Luke.” he heard his brother say casually as he walked towards him.

“Hey Quinn…what are you wearing?” Luke said, looking at his brother. His brother was wearing a white and blue button up t-shirt that was obviously way too big for him and some khaki jorts.

“What are you talking about, this is some top tier styling.” Quinn said while posing a bit. Luke rolled his eyes.

“Just give me the tour.” he said with a little sass looking at his brother.

“Ok well, here are your emo pixie manic dream girls…don’t act too much like Micheal Cera around them.” Quinn said gesturing to a group of girls that were all either singing or reading some obscure book that they obviously found while thrifting.

“Then we have your Stoner’s and mathletes, they all hang around each other, please don’t ask me why.” Quinn says gesturing to a group in a big ball of smoke and some kids solving a math problem on a whiteboard. Luke raised his eyebrow. What the hell was going on at this school.

“Then those are your popular people and elitists…don’t bother talking to them.”

“Why?”

“Hey!” Quinn says to the group, they all stare at him with weird looks and one of them says ‘bite me.’

“Ok, now I see why.” They continue walking as Quinn points out groups to his little brother. But soon his voice falls on deaf ears as Luke watches a girl pass by. The girl had long black hair and sharp siren-like eyes. She was wearing a floral sundress and white chunky sandals. She had gold hoops in and freckles that spread perfectly across her face. She had pink plump lips and a smile so white it blinded him. She was tiny, standing at around 5′0, the only big thing about her being her boobs. She and her blonde friend were talking about something.

“Jesus, who is that?” Luke questions wiping his chin as he looks at the girl who was about a foot shorter than him. 

Quinn laughs obnoxiously, “Luke, do not even think about that at all. That there, my friend is Bianca L/N and she is untouchable and totally conceited.” 

“Hey, don’t say that, look at her, I mean she’s gorgeous.” Luke said as the girl smiled showing her dimples. 

“Listen, Luke, Girls like that, will never look at you, she’s wearing that strategically planned sundress to let guys like us know that we will never touch her and boys like Trevor Zegras realize they want her.” He gestured towards another hockey player that was on their team named Trevor Zegras who was also staring at Bianca.

“Don’t say that look, she is just so deep.” Luke said gazing at the girl trying to listen in on what she was saying. 

“See, there’s a difference between like and love, because I like my Miss Dior perfume, but I love my Prada backpack.” 

“But I love my Miss Dior.” Her blonde friend replied.

“That’s because you don’t have a Prada backpack.”

“I need her…how can I get close to her.” Luke asked his older brother.

“I mean, I heard she’s looking for a French tutor if you somehow learned French and have time for it in-between hockey.”

“That’s perfect!”

“So you learned French and have time?”

“No! But I will!”

While that was going on a girl by the name of Y/N L/N was in her literature class, Jack Hughes came into the class for a moment and started speaking. 

“Has class started?”

“No, but please take your-”

“Ok! Later!” Jack said before walking out the class.

“Hey you can’t just-!” The teacher said before quickly giving up, obviously tired of his job.

The bell rang and then the teacher, Mr. Morgan, started speaking.

“So, what did everyone think of ‘The sun also rises?’”

A pink short haired girl raised her hand and instantly started speaking without the teacher even calling on her.

“I loved it, it was so romantic.” she said dreamily, clasping her hands together.

“Romantic? Hemingway?” Y/N said scoffing “He was an abusive alcoholic misogynist who spent half his life hanging around Picasso trying to nail his leftovers.” She finished rolling her (e/c) eyes.

“As opposed to a bitter self-righteous hag who has no friends.” Trevor replies looking around the class with a smug smirk.

“Pipe down chachi!” Mr. Morgan yelled, causing Trevor’s ego to deflate.

“I guess in this society being male and an asshole makes you worthy of our time.” Y/N replies, turning her body towards Trevor as the class laughs. “What about Sylvia Plath, or literally any other female writer that doesn't have a negative connotation associated with them.” Y/N said putting some of her h/l h/c hair behind her ear.

“Mr. Morgan, is there any way we could get Y/N to take her Midol before she comes to class.” Trevor says with a smug look.

“Someday you’re gonna get bitch slapped and I am not gonna do anything to stop it.” Mr. Morgan replies with a smug look back “Y/N I want to thank you for your point of view, I know how difficult it must be to overcome all those years of upper middle-class oppression, must be tough, but before you start talking about that think about why they can’t buy a book written by a Black Man!” Mr. Morgan says looking at her.

“That’s right man!” two white boys say.

“Don’t even get me started on you two…” Mr. Morgan says as the two boys put their fists down.

“Anything else?” Y/N asks.

“Yeah, go to the office you’re pissing me off again.”

“Mr. Morgan-?” 

“Later!” He says dramatically before Y/N grabs her books walking out.

Y/N walked with her friend as she explained what happened walking to her car.

“Well then Mrs. Meyer reminded me that I kicked Trevor in the balls, and I still maintain he kicked himself in the balls.” she said casually as her friend Nayeon laughed.

“I don’t think that is exactly what happened.” Nayeon said as she got in Y/N’s car pulling her red skirt down a bit.

Quinn drove in front of Y/N’s red car on a motorcycle. Knowing her and her temper she looked at the hockey player in disgust.

“Get out the way Bozo!” she shouted speeding away before seeing her sister, Bianca.

“I know you can be overwhelmed, and underwhelmed but can you just be whelmed?” Bianca asked her blonde friend Chastity.

“I think you can in Europe!” Chastity replies before Trevor pulls up in his bronco.

“You hot young thangs need a ride?” he asked, smirking before Bianca and Chastity giggled getting in the back of his Bronco before he sped away.

“That is one shocking new development.” Nayeon stated in disgust.

“I am not surprised,” Y/N said before honking her red car once again, but this time at Luke. 

“Jesus! Get out of the way!” she said before speeding away blasting Indie rock music.

“Who was that?” Luke asked, obviously a little annoyed.

“That my dear brother is the shrew, Y/N L/N, your girlfriend's sister.” Quinn said trying not to laugh at his brother’s reaction.

“That mean, pretty girl is Bianca’s sister?” Luke asked in shock.

Later, Y/N was reading ‘The Bell Jar’ while sitting in a green chair. She was in some gray PJ pants and a blank tank top. Her dad came up to her flipping through a newspaper.

“Make anyone cry today Y/N?” Her dad asked her looking at a story in the newspaper.

 “Sadly, No, but it is only 4:30.” She said, smiling at her father. He returned the smile before Bianca came into the room.

“Hi dad!” she said, kissing him on the cheek, having to go on her tiptoes to do so.

“Why hello precious.” her dad said back smiling at his daughter.

“Where have you been?” Y/N asked, tucking some of her h/l h/c behind her ear.

“Nowhere.” Bianca replied sassily, flipping some of her long black hair over her shoulder a pink tint painting her freckled face.

Y/N’s dad picked up some mail before looking at it confused.

“What’s this, it says Sarah Lawrence?” her dad said looking at the letter before Y/N squealed and jumped happily taking the letter in her hands smiling “I got in!” she said, running to another couch.

“Honey…that is great but isn’t Sarah Lawrence a Law firm on the other side of the country?” Her dad asked, “Don’t you wanna stay here to find a college closer to home…so you could fully become a husky like me.” her dad said, faking a growl.

“Sarah Lawrence is one of the best colleges and the basis of its appeal is being far away from Michigan.” the girl says, still smiling at the paper.

“C’mon Y/N are you just gonna pick up and leave, is that it?” he says a little frustrated now.

“Let’s hope so!” Bianca said smiling.

“Tell dad who drove you home today.” Y/N replied.

“Who drove you home?”

“Now don’t overreact dad but this guy named Trevor on the hockey team-”

“Who’s a flaming imbecile!” Y/N added as Bianca tried to step closer to her.

“And I think he might ask me-”

“Please, Please I think I know what he is going to ask you,” Bianca’s dad said as she guided her to the couch next to Y/N

“I also think I know the answer, No! It is always No! What are the two-house rules? Number 1, No dating till you graduate college, Number 2, No dating till you graduate high school, That’s it.”

“Daddy, that is so unfair!” Bianca said, folding her arms over her chest.

“You wanna know what is unfair? This morning I delivered a set of twins to a 15- year-old girl, younger than both of you, do you know what she said to me?” Y/N’s dad said as he looked between both of his daughters.

“I am a dumbass who should’ve made my sleazy boyfriend wear a condom?” Bianca replied, rolling her brown eyes.

Their dad pursed his lips before speaking again “Close, but no, she said I should’ve listened to my father.”

“She did not!” Bianca replied as Y/N rolled her e/c eyes at her father.

“But that is what she would’ve said if she wasn’t on so much anesthesia.” he replies.

“Can we focus on me for a second! I am the only girl in school who doesn't date!” Bianca states dramatically, twiddling her fingers.

“Oh no you’re not, your sister doesn’t date.”

“I also don’t intend to, have you seen the unwashed monsters that attend and roam that school spreading their stink around?” Y/N said, folding her arms in front of her chest.

“What planet are you from? Planet loser?” Bianca said about to tackle her sister. 

“As opposed to Planet ‘Look at mey, look at mey’” Y/N replied, flapping her s/c arms around as she mocked Bianca’s voice.

Their dad claps, causing both of the gorgeous girls to look at him one with a pout and one with a smirk.

“Ok new rule out new rule in, Bianca can date.” Their dad says smiling as Y/N looks at him like he's crazy and Bianca smiles smugly sticking her tongue out at her sister.

“When Y/N does.”

A/N: hey guys sorry this wasn’t so focused on Y/n(you) and Jack just yet, I am trying to establish the plot first, the next chapter will be more romantic and focus more on y/n. there will be 10 parts because, 10 things I hate about you, and they will be released between 2-4 days, thank you for supporting and reading. Also here is a key.

Y/n-Your name

L/n-Last name

e/c-Eye color

h/l-Hair length

h/c-Hair color

s/c-Skin color

[absolutebl]

10 High Quality & Cinematic BLs

Ones that are very well made with a tight narrative and no cringey dialogue. For example: Old Fashion Cupcake or His. Japan knows what tf it’s doing, okay? You don’t come from a tradition that gave us Kurosawa and fail at broad scope cinematography. 

High Quality & Cinematic BLs + Comfort & Joy 

These are the ones that I love even though they’re artsy, but they also end happily and didn’t hurt me too much.

1. Old Fashion Cupcake 

(Japan 2022 Viki)

This show had me from the moment they broke the egg yolk with the chopsticks in the opening credits for episode one. It’s about a younger man with a long cherished crush on his boss (ten years older and going through a mid life crisis) who decides to save and seduce said man with pancakes. It’s wholesome, comforting, sexy, and a very necessary narrative about still having hope, interests, and openness to affection at any age. It’s coming of age/queerness packaged in a subtle critique of expectations around masculinity and love and loneliness... and it’s beautiful. Full review.

2. Restart After Come Back Home 

AKA Risutato wa tadaima no ato de (Japan 2020 grey)

Atmospheric study in rural Japan meets complex family dynamics built on a romance framework of city boy meets country boy. It’s beautiful and icy sweet. Slow moving in places but ultimately worth your patience. Full review here.

3. Life: Love on the Line 

AKA Life Senjou no Bokura (Japan 2020 Viki) 

This is a beautiful movie and a good BL, if a bit adult and gut wrenching at times. Goes through young love, break up, and reunion - but it’s actually a saga of self acceptance. You want the director’s cut. Like His, LLOTL is an exploration of suppression and the limits we impose on ourselves when we’re dishonest about who we love. In high school, serious and self contained Ito fell in love with Nishi, the manic pixie dream boy of the dream he didn’t know he had. Nishi, emotionally and mentally fragile, struggled to fit into the world. Ito, however, found it all too easy, except for the whole - ya know - gay thing. This movie is about Ito’s willingness to sacrifice not just himself but his love (and even Nishi himself) to social and familial expectations and the misery that results. It has a hard fought happy ending that then follows them through the rest of their lives in a (slightly unnecessary but welcome) epilogue montage.

4. A Tale of Thousand Stars 

(Thai 2021 GMMTV YouTube)

With great casting and cinematography this drama nods at BL tropes but manages to elevate them (and itself) with a strong mature story concept about a spoiled rich kid who gets a heart transplant and becomes a teacher it order to pay out survivor’s guilt. On the way he falls in love with a local park ranger and contends with his own classism and escapist tendencies. Everyone seemed to perfectly suit their roles and GMMTV made the most out of its stable. Combined with excellent production (and post production) values, 1000 Stars is without question GMMTV’s most mature, charming, and smart BL series. I think it should go down as one of the top BLs of all time. I feel safe recommending this one to friends and non BL watchers.

High Quality & Cinematic BLs + Work & Angst 

These are ones that I watched but were really difficult for me for personal reasons. Some may not have happy endings. I tend to call these moody arthouse smackdoodle. They like to pretend that "ambiguous" is somehow unique and special rather than bog standard commonplace for narratives of this type. Hold onto your psyche, these dramas will test you. But they very well done. 

5. His the movie 

(Japan 2020 Viki)

His is about being a grown adult and still struggling with coming out as gay. It addresses the consequences of life choices disingenuous to identity. Nagisa turns up on Shun’s doorstep with his precocious daughter in tow. This is a touch confusing to Shun since they were each others first love. Shun has retreated from society, rejecting the world before it can reject him, already brokenhearted because without Nagisa he never had a reason to fight. Nagisa went the opposite way, tried to pretend to be something he was not and ended up with a daughter he adores and a wife who hates him. This movie is beautiful and the setting is unique and interesting but I'm not wild about the ending.

6. I Told Sunset About You 

(Thai 2020 grey) 

I don’t have a ton to say about ITSAY because I’ve never managed to finished it. This one was too close to my own queer journey and it seriously messed with my head about 2/3 of the way through, so I stopped watching to protect myself. However, I can tell you that the production values are unreal for Thailand, using a soft lens, diffuse lighting, and a nostalgic atmosphere, paying close attention to framing, and forgetting neither background nor close-focus expressive detail. It’s a remarkable piece of work. I caught no mistakes in makeup, wardrobe, body positioning, reflection, or boom mic placement - so they clearly had continuity eyeballs during filming and on final product (which most Thai BLs don’t spring for). So yeah, the filming, directing, and acting is insanly good, but what’s really stand out in ITSAY from a film perspective is their smooth as butter invisibly perfect editing. Post production on this series must have been a BEAST.

7. Your Name Engraved Herein

(Taiwan 2020 Netflix)

This movie is fantastic but it is also seriously depressing, it’s a self acceptance journey, but if you wanna wallow in high quality acting and serious gay drama, this’ll do it. 

8. Goodbye Mother AKA Thua Me Con D 

(Vietnam 2019 Netflix)

Like YNEH or Dew, this is a great movie but it deals openly with homophobia, bashing, family trauma, and social acceptance. 

9. His the series 

AKA His - Koisuru Tsumori Nante Nakatta AKA I Didn’t Think I Would Fall In Love

(Japan 2019)

Boy goes to visit his absent father, ends up kinda homeless on the beach, gets adopted by local family, falls in love with the boy working and living with them. Lots of long drawn out glances. 

10. I Want to See Only You

AKA Kimi no Koto Dake Mite Itai (Japan 2022 grey)

This is a beautiful piece of cinema well acted, about two boys who are opposite personalities and grew up together. Gifted and serious Sakura (Kura Yuki from His the series) and outgoing eccentric manic pixie dream boy, Yuma. It is very pretty and this is the kind of atmospheric elegantly performed BL that only really comes from Japan (complete with dead fish kisses - what you though Korea invented them? oh no). For me it was lovely but slightly unmemorable. Full review here. 

More Like This From Japan 

The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese AKA Kyuso wa Chizu no Yume wo Miru (Japan 2020) - obsession, cheating, breakup, reunion, then break up again, explicit.

Does the Flower Bloom? (Japan 2018) - May/December romance about an artist student, the house he inherits from his dead parents. and all the people around him who are obsessed with him, including an older man.

Junjou: Pure Heart (Japan 2010) - I shoudl probably rewatch this one, it’s been a while. 

Silhouette of Your Voice AKA Hidamari ga Kikoeru (Japan 2017) - It’s not as good as any of us wanted given the beautiful glory of the original manga (I Hear the Sunspot). Also it doesn’t really end happily. Disappointing. 

Eternal Yesterday AKA Eien no Kino (Japan 2022 Gaga) - After Mitsuru’s cheerful outgoing boyfriend Koichi is killed but stay’s walking around, everyone else begins to forget about him. Mitsuru recalls their romance while trying to understand what’s going on, hold onto his love, and come to terms with loss and identity. Sad and creepy but somehow still beautiful, Japan spending all its pennies on pain. 

Darker BLs and more thoughts on Moody Arthouse Smackdoodle here. 

Tangential blogs posts:

10 Best Uses of Cinematic Storytelling in BL

Top 10 Highest Production Values in Thai BL  

Some Noodling on BL Production Houses & Studios

This post the result of an ask from @theklutzymaniac, updated end of 2022. 

(source) 

[williamrikers]

The Undeniable Queerness of Enchanté the Series

(thank you @ranchthoughts for letting me ramble about this in your inbox before turning my thoughts into a post)

there are bls and then there are bls. right? there are dead fish kisses and there are characters who kiss each other like their lives depend on it.

and enchanté firmly belongs in the second category. 1,500-word essay under the cut.

there is such a consistent and tangible queer undercurrent to everything that's happening on this show and i'm not just talking about the fact that several scenes look like they could be the opening scene of a gay porno. or the surprise bondage. or force in drag. or proposing marriage in front of the eiffel tower. no, there's this aching, desperate desire underlying everything. theo has--in addition to his main love interest--four very hot gay suitors who all very obviously desire him carnally... this is some sort of gay manic pixie dream boy wish fulfilment fantasy and i am absolutely eating it up.

there is a vibe to the show that @ranchthoughts called "fanfic-like", and i would argue that that's because enchanté is actually fanfiction of the little prince. (i'm planning on making a separate post soon about how the book was referenced on and used as inspiration for the show.)

enchanté is fully aware of its own fictionality. it is on-the-nose fictional. but that's what makes it so much fun--it's not trying to be something it isn't.

take the reading memories segments in episode 4 [3/4] for example: these scenes were incredibly cringe, like, full-on bad-green-screen terrible-costumes-and-wigs hilarious-acting cringe, but fully aware of their own cringe-ness. (also, gawin was both in drag and naked in the same scene as two different characters, like. get on enchanté's level.) (incidentally, can anyone tell me what character aou/phupha was supposed to be? i got detective conan, monkey d. luffy and momotarō for the others, but i'm stumped on phupha's character.)

and that self-awareness makes it camp! there is such a level of camp to the whole show which feels extremely intentional (especially in the first two thirds), almost like a meta-commentary: "this is the genre. we know it's stupid but we love it here", and i adore that. they know the tropes, they know the bl landscape, and they're just having fun with all of it.

and the whole set-up in itself is a queer allegory, isn't it? theo and akk are "from different worlds", so to speak, hindered in their love not just by their complete inability to communicate but also by their forced separation as children. when they meet again, theo doesn't really belong anywhere, he's an outsider both in france and in thailand, he is unable to act the way thai society expects him to act (e.g. failing to show the proper respect to the seniors), unable to get his parents to understand him while being actively lied to by them (the whole ocean of miscommunication in that family deserves its own post), harboring feelings for his childhood friend his whole life but unable to voice them in a normal sort of way, instead falling back on concocting the most convoluted, immediately backfiring plan to try to make akk jealous and get him to confess his feelings first.

theo is fundamentally isolated because he grew up between two cultures, and neither one quite fits him: when he's in france, he is comforted by thai food and the only people he's close with (his grandmother and sun) are from thailand like himself; but when he's in thailand, he can't quite get used to the social conventions and makes social blunders, he is very slow at writing in thai.

it's such a poignant queer allegory in my opinion. they didn't end up making as much a point of it on the show as they could have, but it very much informed my whole reading of the show and the characters. there is a sort of inability to articulate his experience surrounding theo that makes him even more isolated and screams "baby gay in need of a community" to me. having akk share his experience at the end is something that i'm not a big fan of for other, unrelated reasons (might make a separate post about enchanté's ending and why it fell flat for me), but when looking at it through this lens, it is the only way for akk to really get theo, to really understand his struggle on a fundamental level.

which brings me back to that desire i mentioned earlier: theo desires akk, very much so, there are a whole handful of scenes where akk gets close to him and theo closes his eyes, expecting to finally be kissed by him, but more than that, he desires understanding. he often brushes off his own difficulties and has a tendency to be emotionally clueless (for example about his parents' divorce), but what i see most in his character is the desire to be understood, to be seen by akk, for akk to see him for who he is and to love him for who he is. (akk, of course, has been doing both of those things all along. he's constantly taking pictures of theo, he's watching him through his window--with theo's full knowledge--he is always looking at him, he's always loving him.)

it's not inherently queer to want to be loved as we truly are, i believe heterosexual people experience this, too, but in the context of queerness itself, being perceived as queer by other queer people is indeed a fundamental aspect to experiencing queer love (maybe not in gay for you bls, but i haven't heard of much gay for you happening in real life). not to be unscientific about this, but the vibes of the perception aspect of enchanté are just very queer to me, you know?

oh, and speaking of desire: enchanté in general is very physical. there is a level of intimacy between the actors and the camera that seems incredibly intentional: there are several shower scenes, scenes of theo and akk shirtless, TWO (2) nude gawin scenes (though one of those is sadly a fake-out and he is actually wearing shorts), many, many scenes that include bare feet, which is not something i see super often in bl, at least not to the point that i notice the frequency of it.

enchanté is very rooted in the physical reality of desirable bodies: theo is allowed to openly, physically flirt with saifa, even though that's not even his endgame love interest, phupha uses physical touch in his pursuit of theo, natee shows his obsession with theo by drawing his face/body about a hundred times, and akk and theo are wholly unable to keep their hands off each other. i've joked about the intricate rituals, but seriously, they are constructing so many intricate rituals. there are two separate scenes in which they make up excuses to kiss each other's elbows/arms/backs. they keep touching each other in a thousand ways, in every possible way they can that is still plausibly deniable as physical desire--until they kiss while watching that movie and then it's just a game of chicken of who will confess first. because their physical attraction to each other is undeniable. it's obvious. this was really refreshing to see in a genre that so often plays with the blushing maiden trope, and one character is so often made to pursue the other: on enchanté, akk and theo are equally horny for each other. it's not their lack of physical attraction that keeps them apart for so long.

(sadly, the show then shies away from actually getting very sexually physical: after their desperate, stunning, amazing balcony-kiss, they aren't allowed to be horny for each other in the last two episodes, when they're actually in a relationship. this is just one of the many aspects that i didn't like about the conclusion of the story, because you simply cannot tell me that these two as we got to know them in episodes 1 to 8 would really be as chaste with each other as they're shown in episodes 9 and 10.)

leaving that aside for the moment, let's talk about that kiss. as mentioned right at the beginning, when these two kiss each other on the balcony, it's desperation in its rawest form. these two--and especially theo--crave each other. theo kisses akk like he will die without him. theo kisses akk like he can finally breathe. theo kisses akk like he never wants to do anything else ever again.

i'm a bit obsessed with book's acting here, because of all the kissing scenes i've seen him in, i think this is THE most desperate one. force plays it a bit more subtle, but book's expression is full-on anguish. theo waited his whole life to be kissed by akk, and book portrays that so beautifully, with such depth. it's one of my favorite bl kisses for sure, it's played with so much heart, so much feeling, that it's hard to even think of kisses that compare, apart from the bad buddy episode 5 rooftop kiss.

anyway, all of this to say that enchanté to me is deeply, lovingly queer, and it's a shame that so many people are sleeping on it. (and that includes myself, i was wary about watching this show for a long time because i'd heard so many negative things about it.)

but i'm here to tell you: watch enchanté. it's wonderful, it's hilariously funny, it's endearing, it has book and force in it, and it is extremely queer.

[tdjustess]

Rating all Trent ships I've ever came across

Trent×Gwen - The only canon ship and for what it was, I liked it. It always felt like just a summer fling and them being each others manic pixie dream girl/boy is a detail I highly appreciate. It was the most artsy teen romance of all TD ships and should stay as only that 7.5/10 cause it does make me cringe nowadays

Trent×Justin - I don't know who was the first person to come up with this ship but holy shit their brain. And even if you're too good to fall for the trope of "two guys amicably standing next to each other", these two would be the Larry of the TDverse, which you have to at least admit it's funny as shit 10/10

Trent×Duncan - Listen. I've also been a 15 year old girl, I get it, but this is shit. They either forget about each others existence or actively hate each other. Even the fanfics I used to read back then had to jump through hoops or make them ooc to even get them to stay amicably in the same room 0/10

Trent×Geoff - The better version of Duntrent. They still ignore/hate eachother but there's literally no reason for it which is so funny. They're both pieces of shit and the only time it was justified was when Geoff was trying to protect Gwen over the breakup. Read the TDA bios, they're still trying to poke at some rivalry we never see on screen. AU writers I beg of you, write a enemys-to-enemys fic of their fighting backstage 3/10

Trent×Cody - Oh boy. Oooooh boy. I hate to play this card but they're brothers. Maybe if it's one sided like Cody having a crush for 2 weeks tops but yeah. Brothers energy 0/10

Trent×Courtney - Listen. Don't look at me like that and listen. It's two possibly unmedicated mentaly ill upper middle kids with dreams of success in performing arts that go about it in two extremely different ways. Like. I want to keep this short but they'd be so bad for each other while being the only ones who can understand the others devotion, they'd destroy each other. I'm tearing a phonebook in half with my teeth, shout out to the Ballet AU i'll never write 6/10 realistically but 9.9999998/10 in my heart

Trent×Leshawna - I was really surprised when I first saw this ship cause I'd only ever seen them as sort of "friends-in-law"? But now that I sit down and think of it, it could work?? Leshawna is assertive but also laid back, kind and has a lot of goofy moments. And Trent is a certified wife guy™. I'd never thought of this ship myself but it could work 9.4/10

Trent×Noah - Once again, would have never thought of this if I hadn't read one of the best ship-centered fanfics this fandom has to offer. But I think it works better in that specific fanfic than realistically speaking. Trent isn't the exact type of pathetic (positive) Noah hangs out with and in the long run they'd both be too messy. If Gwent is the cuter side of teen romance, Trent×Noah would be the depressing side. I never watched the show, but from what I remember from "2015 grunge tumblr", it's giving Skins vibes 4.8/10

Trent×Anne Maria - I appreciate the mediterranean representation but no 1/10

Trent×Scott - How. Why. Walk me through this one without making them ooc 0/10

Trent×Zoey - Only in a Doey AU where Duncan keeps throwing dogeballs at Trent in PE everytime he tries to talk with Zoey about british pop 2/10

[netherese-blorb]

Troubling Thoughts on Wyllstarion from my Wyll Origin Playthrough

I started a new run to fulfill my Wyllstarion fantasies of princely good boy Wyll learning to let loose while teaching manic-pixie-dream-pire Astarion about true love. But I'm near the end of act 1 and as I'm gaining a better understanding of these boys, it's pretty clear that this relationship is going to be bleak.

Putting Wyll in the position of the player character, where he narratively has total agency, but also no pre-determined stances on the events of the story, is oddly perfect for him. My initial read on Wyll was that he's an idealist with a rigidly lawful-good alignment that makes him an easy mark for hucksters. But now I get the sense that, rather than having too strict a moral code, his gullibility ultimately stems from being too weak-willed (no pun intended).

He wants to do the right thing, but other than "self-sacrifice = hero = good", he doesn't have a strong idea of what that means. He doesn't have a clear ideology or divine mandate to guide him like a lot of the other companions do, but he also doesn't have any newfound freedom to embrace like Astarion and Karlach. All he has are fairy tales and an adolescent understanding of his father's politics. His confident bravado thrives when there are innocents to protect and/or villains to slay, but the moment a situation becomes more morally complicated than that, he's totally lost.

It's why Wyll the monster hunter still has dialogue options to immediately offer himself up to Astarion the undead vampire without any real convincing. It's why the drama around Mizora is more about her being an abusive boss he personally has to bear, rather than any larger ethical concern about his work aiding an objectively evil demon's agenda - but also why he's so easily convinced to disobey Mizora and accept Karlach. (Also-also, and this may be a cope on my part, I think it explains why tav/durge has to make the decision for him about selling his soul again in act 3. He truly can't handle it.) There's no need to manipulate a man who's already so desperate to martyr himself, or better yet, to have someone just tell him the right thing to do.

To bring it back to the point, Astarion's seduction is designed to ensnare insecure romantics like Wyll. On top of that, his tortured backstory hits all of Wyll's pain points. The fact that Cazador was operating right under his nose, in his city, while he was off dancing at balls (maybe even with representatives of the Szar family) would send him into a spiral. Did the other nobles know? Did his father know? What more could have been done? It chips away at his reality, and he looks to absolute pinnacle of mental health and stability, Astarion Ancunin, to fill in the gaps.

Even if both of them come into the relationship with the best of intentions, neither are emotionally equipped to move past a victim/savior dynamic. Astarion makes Wyll feel like a hero and Wyll makes Astarion feel safe. No one pushes the other to learn or grow. In act 3, Wyll helps Astarion ascend as a kind of reparation for his suffering, Astarion convinces Wyll to put himself first for once and keep his soul. Even if they rescue Ulder in time, eventually the title will pass down. I don't see this going any other way than ascended!Astarion using his spawn Duke Wyll Ravengard to rule over Baldur's Gate with an iron fist for time eternal.

If my feelings change as I continue the playthrough, I might add some updates, but I'm also interested to hear other's thoughts about this, so feel free to add on!

[total-drama-brainrot]

that one real-total-drama-takes post about team cirrrrh all being misogynistic got to me because they're not even wrong, they're all different flavours of misogynistic and that includes izzy.

tyler & owen are period-typical misogynistic teenage boys; they're not intentional or malicious with it, they're just a product of the societal ideals + norms of the 2000s, but that doesn't change the fact that they hold a lot of harmful ideals. they congratulate duncan on "bagging two hot chicks", not because they don't understand that cheating is wrong, but because that was just the widely accepted mindset of the late 2000s- and this is applicable to a lot of their behaviour in all 3 gen1 seasons. tyler is less obvious about this mindset, but owen himself showcases this a few times over the seasons. remember the bet he made with cody in season 1?

alejandro beefs up the chivalry aspect of his persona to manipulate everyone but women especially, and often times expresses that he sees the girls he flirts with as less than people and moreso obstacles or prizes. it's only later on in the season where he begins to see heather alone as somewhat equal to him and she's the only girl he doesn't brush off as easy to control, but even then it often seems like he's indulging her instead of treating her like a serious threat. this is even more evident in their song "this is how we will end it", where he showcases all of the women he manipulated as puppets on strings- mere objects for him to play with- whilst the men he manipulated aren't mentioned at all (implying he saw them as more than toys to be controlled).

duncan.

noah, as far as i'm aware, isn't outright misogynistic so much as just an asshole to everyone. Unless you count his treatment of izzy in wt as proof of his misogyny, which is fair because most of his interactions with her and eva both involve him insulting them in some way (all of the different ways he's called izzy a nutcase, mocking the "iron woman" for her weakness against justin). he's got the vibes of "you're gay because you like men, I'M gay because i hate women" which is mostly because he doesn't seem to like men either, but he at least tolerates them, whilst he barely even interacts with any of the girls. Now that I think about it, I don't think Noah ever has a positive interaction with a girl in the whole show (unless you count trying to hug bridgette?)

and izzy has such strong "i'm not like other girls" internalized misogyny. she's a miniboss in the manic pixie dream girl rpg- and i mean it when i say manic- and she intentionally plays up the more masculine or disgusting aspects of herself to appeal to owen in particular. just like noah, i don't think she's ever had an objectively positive interaction with another girl on the show, but at least she does interact with them. sometimes it feels like izzy is so disconnected from her femininity- as if the writers only remember she's even a girl when they're writing about her relationship with owen- and this isn't a 'bad' thing but it does disconnect her from almost every other girl on the show. it's super weird, especially for a show that (usually) showcases femininity as something strong and empowering, especially since it almost penalises eva for not being feminine in the slightest yet only ever rewards izzy for doing the same.

[twiststreet]

2023: for the "record", my favorite experiences with comics this year--

#5: Junji Ito's Dark Paradox. This was the year the Viz App became available, and that had a lot of great classic experiences over there-- switching between Ranma 1/2 and Cross Game has been ridiculous. Hall of fame, excellent material. Junji Ito's Dark Paradox was the first manga I checked out on there, and it's just ... it's just a fun "bad dream" of a comic, you know? I have a very particular range of horror that works for me, and this is in that range, something like Phantasm where there's a goofiness but the nightmare logic of it carries you through...? American comics are so bad at horror, though-- they're so bad at it that there are American comic creators who wrote entire essays about how "horror doesn't work in comics." And then you read these Japanese things and it's like... the entire continental United States, not even in the race! Not even in the race!

#4: Osamu Tezuka's Paper Fortress. It's not available legitimately as far as I know-- I think it's just too short and maybe too tough a read. It's his war memoir, and it's just... it's a rough little comic. There's an innocence to his style, that he knows how to use against a reader-- you can see that in a lot of his comics-- and I think it really becomes especially tough with Paper Fortress. If you saw Godzilla Minus One, and if you saw Boy and the Heron, I think you have to read Paper Fortress to really complete the trilogy. It's an essential third part of that trilogy. I'm not a Tezuka expert, like other people-- there are big ones I haven't read... but for me, I think it's Tezuka's best comic, or the best I've seen.

#3: Katsuhiro Otomo's Sayonara Nippon, which I wrote about at numbing length over here. It's the greatest action comics artist of all time, but doing a hang-out, edgelord comedy (with nods to R. Crumb!) set in Harlem that is probably unprintable now because of its, uh, "political incorrectness", let's go with that, let's use that phrase. It held my attention, haha. But despite the parts I have a discomfort with, it's Otomo-- he's one of the best to ever do it, for me-- and it's Otomo doing something I'd never seen him do. I had a good time. I don't necessarily recommend it.

#2: Fumi Saimion's Tokyo Love Story. Another scanlation-only deal-- I don't think it's available legitimately. I misidentified it as a josei comic, while it's technically seinen-- either way, it's just a comic about young adults trying to figure themselves out romantically. I think you'd call it a "manic pixie dreamgirl" story, but Saimon's a woman, so-- I think a manic pixie dreamgirl lands differently when it has a woman creator. Maybe that's a mistake on my part, but-- I see that more as a kind of wish fulfilment, and interesting as such, I guess?

But I don't know-- for me, it's just how Saimon draws... It's so loose, but it's just enough. It's not burdensome at all, when you look at it. So you just get to be with the characters-- the art's never trying to get in the way. It's the kind that makes you want to draw because it doesn't seem impossible to draw-- like, "oh drawing's fun." I see comics now, American comics, and none of them make drawing look fun-- they all make drawing seem like work. All the lighting effects, you know?? What kid is at home with a pen saying to themselves, "Oh I can do that" and copying a drawing with that much lighting going on, where you can't see the lines because they're all holding colors, etc. When I look at these comics... it's certainly not "lazy art" or "bad art." It's just that you get to be with the characters.

And then easy #1, mentioned briefly here, is Kowloon Generic Romance, particularly the first volume, which is available legitimately (rare for this list haha!), and is just... It fucking knocked me out, man. It's hard to articulate the why of it, but it's like... if I made comics more often, it's something I wish I could make. It's off the charts horny, which I don't think I could do in a comic, not as unashamedly as that. But it's just got this-- it's just the vibes are immaculate, man.

Like, I think the thing that unites all the comics I've mentioned... comics having a breath of life to them. Where ... you feel like you're watching people that exist. I think when you're a kid, you get that from comics, and a lot of the angry people you see online are people for whom "Spiderman is no longer alive" because they can't keep it up as they get older, and their imaginations wither, and they think the reason why is "politics" and not... you know, the sad clawing of mortality against their flesh.

But like-- Kowloon Genric Romance, it's not just that the characters are breathing but they're like... hanging out in apartments, smoking cigarettes, being hornballs, swooning, feeling nostalgiac. They're alive and they're in a Wong Kar Wai movie?? That is ... That's pretty gnarly, to me.

There's a science fiction element that was dragging it down in the last volume I read (I think a couple came out since then, I'm behind, but). But it's just-- it's very much a manga set to Citypop-- you can hear the soundtrack in your head, and I bet if I compared notes to other people who read it, our soundtracks would overlap significantly. It demands it, you know? It's just... It's vibes. It's just so good at vibes...

Worst Comic: the Viz App has Hot Gimmick and Hot Gimmick is a mess. I had a fun time with it because the wrong choices have a sort of... they're almost funny because it's like "why the hell did they make this like this" quality to it. But that is trash. I can't defend it. It's kind of unacceptable. I read every page.

Honorary Mentions: like I said, Cross Game and Ranma 1/2. I thought Yasuda Kasumi's drawings on Fool Night were very very pretty. I thought Wild Strawberry started strong in that respect too, though it's lost my attention fast when it became more of a standard shonen. I'm very confused by One Piece lately but continue to enjoy that and Chainsaw Man (where I'm very behind as I figured out I enjoy it more binging it a little).

I decided to be a manga guy about 3 years ago, and get American comics out of my life, and stop writing about them, and blah blah blah, but that said, I continue to be very involved with the comics, in all kinds of weird ways, whether it's stuff I can't talk about, making notes for future projects, trying to get into "drawing shape" again (that is *not* going well), etc. I had a very, very good year as a reader this year, too-- that hasn't always been true, but ... I feel like as a reader, this was a year far above average for me, or what little I settled for as average prior to 2020. I hear things are rough out there but I hope that's true for other people, too. Anyways, that was my year.

[not-a-space-alien]

I just wanna see the aftermath of Valen escaping—specifically, Priscus’s family’s reaction. I absolutely ADORE Sebastian’s hunting party and would kill to see more of his relatives

This gave me a bit of inspo so please enjoy this bonus chapter/snippet/ficlet! <3

Warnings: Valen is subjected not only to misgendering, but also a heaping helping of plain old manic pixie dream girl misogyny.

Story masterpost

MMSS: Aftermath

***

This was ridiculous.

It was made all the more ridiculous by the fact that Valen was absconding in her wedding dress.

She stood out a few feet from the door, standing in direct sunlight.  She had her cat and her human–technically those both belonged to Priscus, but he doubted she would care anymore.

She flipped him off.  “Real mature, Valen.”  Why had he expected better?  She was constantly acting like a child.  It'd seemed like she was starting to settle down now that she had some sense of stability back at home, but…

Running off in the day?  What exactly was her plan?  She was going to get hurt again.

He thought about running after her.  Trying to put on a cloak and hat and sunglasses and recreate that ensemble.  But that was ridiculous.  He couldn't even shout after her, because she wouldn't listen.  Stubborn thing that she was, she never listened.

That had been charming, once upon a time.  She was like a beautiful wild mare, refusing to be tamed.  She had the right mix of fierce intelligence, quiet dignity, unconventional spirit, and charming grace to make something truly great in the Kithara empire.  She would be an amazing mother, if she would just grow up enough to see it.  You're in your eighties, you're far too old to be acting this way.

He watched her walk away.

Come sunset, he would be out looking for her.  There was no way she would get very far like that.

***

He'd circled the neighborhood three or four times before he started to get frustrated.

How far could she have gotten?  She wouldn't have been able to run like that, the carefully arranged garments the only thing keeping her from burning alive in the sun.

How was she hiding from him?

He asked around.  No one had seen her.

He imagined her trapped somewhere, scared and hurt in the sunlight, crying for him to come save her from her foolish mistake, just like she had on that phone call.  His heart twisted.  His wife was out there somewhere, and she needed him to take care of her, but he couldn't find her!

He stomped back into the house and picked up the phone, finger slamming in the numbers and then impatiently waiting for the rotary to spin back so he could enter the next one.

“You've reached the Kithara estate,” said a voice.

“Put Sebastian on the phone,” Priscus barked.

The servant fearfully rushed to obey.

“Hello, this is Sebastian, with whom do I-”

“Where's Valen?” Priscus demanded.

Sebastian was silent a moment.  Then: “How on earth should I know that?”

“You came back with her from human territory.  Where are her hiding spots?”

“Hiding spots?  Well, I guess there's that house with the two human females-”

“In human territory?  She couldn't have gotten that far yet, surely.”

“You're the one who brought up human territory!”

Priscus rubbed his temples.  “Fine.  Where is the house?”

Sebastian was silent.

“You don't know.”

“It's human territory, you expect me to remember where things are?  Why does it matter where individual humans are?”

Priscus slammed down the phone, then dialed again.

“Father,” Priscus said desperately.  “Valen’s gone again.”

“Starting with a hello might have been nice,” Xavier said tiredly.

Priscus reined himself in.  “I'm sorry, Father.”

“I told you not to bother me with your marital troubles unless it was important.”

“It is important, Father.  She ran off and I can't find her.”

“How many times have I told you to keep track of your damned wife, boy!”

“I tried, Father, but she went outside during the day.”

“... During the day?”

“Yes, Father, I knew she was unstable, but-”

“We all told you marrying a commoner was trouble.”

Priscus's anger flared, just a little.  “You all also told me marrying a commoner would be beneficial to the family, because someone without connections to another noble family couldn't claim-”

“All right, all right, settle down, boy.  No need to mouth off about it.”

“I think she might be heading back to human territory.  If you can help me-”

“Priscus,” Xavier said.

Priscus sat up straighter at the finality in his voice.  “Yes, sir?”

“Give up already and find a wife you can handle.”

***

Tag list

@aceouttatime

@annablogsposts

@cc1010foxy

@darlingwhump

@dismemberment-on-a-tuesday-night

@dokidokisadness

@emcscared-whumps

@gt-daboss

@melancholy-in-the-morning

@nicolepascaline

@oddsconvert

@pigeonwhumps

@pumpkin-spice-whump

@scoundrelwithboba

@some-thrilling-heroics

@soursagas

@thecyrulik

@the-scrapegoat

@whuarri

@whumplr-reader

@whump-cravings

@whump-for-all-and-all-for-whump

@whumpycries

@whumpsday

@writereleaserepeat

[tigergirltail]

Seeing a fair number of posts lately from transfems wishing they had known a trans person who would have told them when they were younger that they're trans, and it's been bothering me. First of all because it puts the onus of responsibility on this mysterious, cool, older, wiser transwoman to break the egg out of their shell, which I thought we agreed was a toxic ideal back when we called them Manic Pixie Dream Girls.

Second, and more importantly, because in the ideal scenario, in which the egg is very definitely a closeted transgirl, and the more open transwoman is genuinely just trying to help the egg find her true self, being forceful about it can set that discovery back years, even decades.

Source: It literally happened to me.

In my late teens, I played an MMORPG called City of Heroes, and my best friend in that game would later reveal to me that she is a transwoman. As I aged into my mid twenties, we got to meeting up IRL and going to anime conventions together, and she'd inevitably broach the topic of me trying more feminine presentation. Not even telling me she saw signs, just subtly trying to steer me in the right direction. She was particularly enthusiastic about seeing me in a skirt.

Every single time it happened, I'd get mad and shut down.

There's a psychological phenomenon in which, when someone holds a set of deeply held beliefs, and those beliefs are challenged by verifiable evidence, the cognitive dissonance causes the person to double down, and hold to those beliefs even harder. That's why right-wingers are Like That, but it applies just as much to all of us. I'll get back to this concept in a bit.

When I was around 15, an anime aired in Canada called Cardcaptor Sakura, or Cardcaptors as it was localized. Something about the exact stage of development I was, and seeing Sakura getting to set aside her mundane responsibilities to dress up in cute costumes and go out on magical adventures, it called to my closeted little girl heart. I have a vivid memory of staring in the mirror, holding my hair to look like Sakura's and imagining myself as her. As a girl. I have many more memories of looking at feminine characters and thinking "gods I wish I could look/dress like that", but Sakura was the first.

I kept it fully to myself, because I had grown up in the late 80s and 90s - before the word 'transgender' was commonly known, before media depicted us as anything but objects of mockery or horror. It was a deeply ingrained and societally reinforced belief that Boys Are Boys and Girls Are Girls, and never the two shall cross.

So when my best online friend tried to convince me to be more feminine, that cognitive dissonance would kick in and I'd shut down. Even though she was objectively correct that I was a closeted transgirl, it was her word against the word of my entire upbringing and societal viewpoint.

What actually helped, what actually put a dent in my egg, was the fact that she simply existed as a transwoman, she was visible and proud. That existence challenged my preconcieved notions in a way that could not be resisted.

From there, it was a matter of time and continued exposure.

Another friend who explained to me what 'cisgender' meant, and who eventually started leaning into transmasc presentation. A romantic partner who came out as genderqueer and helped me understand the concept of 'nonbinary'. Transgender content creators who posted about their experiences online - special shoutout to demilypyro and assumptionprime, two of the most influential voices for me while I was figuring this out, but far from the only ones.

The shields of my egg were down. It was primed for hatching.

On April 22, 2022, I was looking up some fanart of Hex Maniac from Pokemon X/Y, who I had cosplayed at a convention three years before, and thinking of how good it felt to wear that dress. How good it felt to look like her. How good it felt… to be a girl.

-CRACK-

…Later that day, I went to my old City of Heroes friend, practically begging her for help. How do I know if HRT is what I want? How do I know if I should transition? How do I know if I'm really a girl?

She knew. She always knew. She tried to tell me, but I wasn't ready to listen. Not yet.

The point of all of this is that one transperson telling an egg they're trans is not a solution to the problem. The problem is that society has tried very hard to make us the outliers, to make us the weirdos, but society is losing that war. If you want to help the eggs of the world, be visible, be proud, and treat being trans as something normal and beautiful. Don't tell them unless they ask, just… be there.

Eggs hatch when they're ready, and not a moment sooner.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

Oh, and by the way… She got her wish in the end. I wear skirts now.

[strangesickness]

KEL UR TAGS.... punk richie would ABSOLUTELY look so cool and mysterious and manic pixie dream boy from a distance. but if you get too close you realise that he's an actual disaster. snorts milk out of his nose laughing way too often for a twenty year old. probably still wears braces. just completely blue screens whenever eddie even looks at him. punk richie my beloved <3

EXACTLYYYYY!!!!!! he is so everything to me. its funnier to me when people think richie is cool because then they meet him and theyre like. OH! LOL but then they get to know him and realize he IS cool just not in the way they thought <3 also richie with a leather jacket because he likes playing with the zippers and likes how heavy it is... <3 *shakes richie* i am going to make you SOOOOO sensory seeking. i think it's deeply funny if richie just accidentally stumbles into being punk. complete accident. he looks in the mirror one day while listening to the clash (sorry i listen to very little punk rock i didn't know who else to put LOL) and he's like. am i punk now??? i love him <3

[shutt3rbug]

i wanna know about the entire cast for the swap au. how would ramona's dynamic with the exes act as?

Ok word vomit incoming. tldr at the end for basics just scroll till you see tldr in blue, the essay is for the real bitches who like lore

Obviously in my au knives takes gideons spot rather than a different ex of scotts like how other ppl do but i decided to make her the daughter of a rich business man (mr.chau) who is gonna pass the business down to her when shes 20 (in my au knives and scott “date” when she like 16/17 like in the books but a good chunk of the exes bullshit + everything before happens right when she turns 19 and she does like. a few chapters into the book and then at the end of the series around the canon gideon scott fight is when shes 20) ofc this also changes scotts age a bit but. lowk idgaf abt him rn hes like 26 at the start or so now instead of 24. roxie and wallace swap place unfortunately, i dont like wallace but i have to put him somewhere. roxie is a semi popular artist and ramona is a mooch who showed up to her apartment after a bad breakup and just never left but they actually have a nice apartment but theyre still in Canada(she drunkenly got on multiple buses and trains from nyc to Toronto at roxies place and survived dont ask how its that white girl swag).

todd takes kims place shocker i know. the twins,todd and ramona all have a band together they replace sex bob omb because they all attend the same college in this au

lucas lee and lisa switch. (yes todd,ramona and lucas beef still happens dont worry)

envy is the 3rd ex and is dating gideon. she has pyromancy psychic powers rather than vegan ones. kim is the first ex still hung up on how scott ditched her in highschool only to find out he was two timing her with lisa. the twins end up. Somewhere. Julie takes one of the twins spots (holly might take the other one. I dont know)

I hate it when ppl age down matthew patel to fit knives’ spot but its also kinda weird because of the whole age difference thing its Odd no shade to anyone who does but it icks me out so im not doing it. Matthew is this guy ramona dates but shes lowk using him for money and cheats on him multiple times (manipulating him to forgive her) before scott is even in the picture.

also in my edit we see she still dyes her hair but she only does highlights and streaks because shes too afraid of commitment in more ways than one.

tbh i need to develop this more but heres the skeleton of my idea also all the exes are friends and often hang out at roxies place but matthew is the last to join them but theyre all friends who dislike ramona lowkey but tolerate her.

if im missing anyone you wanna hear about send me another ask!

TLDR; all of ramonas exes r technically her friends but they do not actually fw like that until the end.

ramona(loser leech)<-->scott(manic pixie dream boy whos life i being tampered with by knives)

roxy->wallace (lesbian semi known artist roommate)

matthew->knives (not aged down,chump being used)

knives -> gideon (daughter of a business man whos passing it down)

todd->kim (whore drummer)

lucas lee->lisa (new actor. Whore)

twins-> stephen stills (in ramonas band)

kim->matthew (first ex)

lisa->lucas (second ex)

envy ->todd(third ex)

wallace->roxy (fourth ex)

julie + hollie-> twins (fifth and sixth ex)

knives doesn't want scott anymore but shes set on making sure he pays for what he did (cheated,lied, used her for money etc)

ty for being interested in my au! idk if im gonna keep doing stuff for it or yk have it as a little side project to keep me busy sometimes! also i did take inspo from other ppl to kinda Frankenstein this together

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - Characters Voice Our Frustrations

March 2023 Wk 2

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Bed Friend (Sat YT, GaGa & iQIYI uncut) ep 4 of 8 - I love these two so much. King is so utterly in love with this boy. I like that this is one of the first BLs I’ve ever seen where sex is depicted as a coping mechanism. Is it healthy? No..ooo..? But it is different. It is phenomenal to see King depicted as sensitive enough to realize that something is wrong with Uea, despite his desire. (FYI all the triggers on this show forever, I’m gonna stop naming them now) 

A Boss and a Babe (Fri YouTube) ep 2 of 12 - The flirting is cute. The stalking is not. There’s a Kdrama tone to this pair’s dynamic. I don’t know why I feel that way, I just do. I mind it less this week than I did last week. Cher is a funny, kindly chatterbox and a FIERCE flirt. But not a tease, as it turns out. His poor boss does not stand a chance. Interesting pacing, this is awfully early for a kiss in a Thai BL. I like GMMTV doing these generational discussions around gayness and society, even if this version is more on the nose than Moonlight Chicken.  

The Promise (Thai WeTV & YT) ep 2 of 10 - I’m still enjoying it but I want there to be a good reason for parting with no contact for 10 YEARS, but I do not trust Thai narratives to satisfy in this regard. A drunk kiss is NOT a good enough reason. Oh HI BOSS! (What’s Zabb Man) you so pretty, I like the earrings. 

Tin Tam Jai (Tues Gaga & iQIYI) ep 2 of 12 - Oo. There’s only one bed trope. Also queer over achiever expectations. I’ve only seen DBK address this one. Well done little pulp. The tsundere seme admitting that baby boi was his security blanket was so flipping cute. But this show is leaning into taboo stepbrother stuff. So if that wigs you out, avoid. I, however, am enjoying it. Queer fam and local neighborhood kid dynamic is cute. This is more slice of life than drama, not much is happening, but I’m okay with it. 

Pastsenger (Thai Weds Gaga) 1 of 12 eps- Stars Marc (My Gear & Your Gown) and Cooper (My Engineer) in a time travel paranormal that smacks of HIStory 5. Sunshine 90s kid travels to 2022, goes to university, encounters grumpy nerd. I cannot STAND the music. Pratfall... into intentional kiss? That’s new. Of course it’s a dream. I like the 90s mentality and language rep, but I’m not sold on the show. 

Chains of Heart (Sat iQIYI) ep 4 of 10 - I guess we got the backstory? Did it explain stuff? Sort of. This is still a pretty incomprehensible show. And then a random cute (+ ALL the BL tropes) date, and then “but actually I am still in love with my dead lover.” I’m so confused by characters, plot, pacing... everything. 

Our Winter (Thai & Korea YT & TikTok under ThaiMiniSeries) eps 10-11 of 14 - they remain as TutorYimmy in the snow as they are out of it. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Our Dating Sim (Korea Thurs Viki) eps 1-2 of 8 - THIS SHOW IS GOING TO RUIN MY LIFE IT’S SO GOOD. Reunion romance featuring popular smart boy + shy art queer. It’s ridiculously adorable. What do I do? It’s SO CUTE. 

All the Liquors (Korea Thurs Gaga & Viki) eps 3-4 of 8 - I like the shy chef with the crush, but I wish we knew why he doesn’t want to sell booze. 

Jack o’Frost (Japan Fri GaGa) ep 4 of 6 - Jealousy + manic pixie dream boy + pregnant pauses + great acting = Japan doing its thing. 

It’s Airing But ...

Love Syndrome (Thai Sat WeTV) ep 2 of 10 - I’m just not into any aspect of it (except fucking Lee Long Shi and I can watch him in Tin Tem Jai) saving to binge if the ending is okay. 

Blue Sky Complex (Japan ???) 5 eps for VR - Kei Ichikawa's manga is getting a JBL adaptation. Weird distribution though, it started Feb 27 sequentially on 360 Channel (SHOCHIKUch) a VR video distribution service. Will inter-fans ever get to see this, and if it’s filmed for VR will it adapt without being overly dark and fuzzy? I have questions. But as usual, you do you Japan and we will wait (im)patiently to see if you remember the rest of the world exists. This is my preferred kind of live action yaoi, so fingers crossed:

Boyband (Thai) ep 2 of 10 - Stopped airing on YouTube, and only available in Thailand & Japan. Not sure if they’re working a distribution deal or just fucking with us.

Cafe In Love (Thai ???) 10 eps on Ch3+ - Thai pulp, about trying to save a coffee shop. FairyGodBLer came through for me, but I’m collecting to binge just in case. It’s my new policy with the grey stuff.

Destiny Seeker (Tues WeTV Thailand) 10 eps - it’s not on any WeTV I can get ahold of. Bad Buddy the pulp rebirth meets Japanese handsome host club action. Same as above.

Heesu In Class 2 (Korea Thurs unknown, I check Viki Gaga iQIYI & WeTV nada) - A gay(er) version of Sex Education. I’m still not sure this one is actually happening.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Tomorrow: Future (Thai Sun YouTube & Gaga?) 5 eps - Based on a y-novel by Faddest (En of Love - yeah I didn’t know that was based on a novel, either). About, you guessed it, an engineering student and a dentist. Maybe this will be the FOTS we were all hoping for? Fuse (the engineering student) is played by Boom from the En of Love and is kinda the same character (Field). I think we can expect this one to be soft, it’s from the 21 Day Theory people. (maybe March 19 international)

3/14 A Shoulder to Cry On (Korea Tues Viki & Gaga) 7 eps (?) - Adaptation of Dongmul's manwha, high school set, features a teasing confident gay, and a rich/poor pairing, about homophobia/gossip putting a scholarship in jeopardy. Star idols Jaehan & Yechan BOTH from OMEGA X, a first for the industry.

3/17 Unintentional Love Story (Korea Fri iQIYI) 8 eps? - Ji Won Young is intent on winning over the heart of Yoon Tae Joon as he's the boss's favorite artist. Stars idol Gongchan (maknae of B1A4).

Full list of upcoming in March 2023 is here.

2023 forthcoming BL master post. (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED)

The Department of You Said It For Us:

You speak for ALL OF US honey. (Am I the only who keeps seeing KarnNut in these roles?) The Promise 

I’d put in the gif but the giffmaking children of tumblr are sadly lacking in the unfettered genius that is Grosse Pointe Blank. 

Chains of Heart reviewing itself. 

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

GMMTV continues its 2023 Apology Tour. (Boss & Babe) 

King (Bed Friend) might be stealing Consent King title from Win. 

(last week)

Current Kpop earworm? Hidden Side from HWANG MIN HYUN (aka Minhyun of Nu’est & Wanna One RIP) - with few exceptions I’m not usually into the visual, but this is a terribly catchy song. And the poor thing has been awfully unlucky with his groups, maybe his solo and acting career will take off? 

[suchafuckingriot]

Wilbur Soot as an abuser

cw, physical abuse, graphic descriptions of physical abuse

this analysis seeks to break down the supposed type of abuser wilbur is for the purpose of showing people what abusers can look like and why they do it the way they do. especially in this instance, where it can feel ambiguous or exaggerative to call that person an abuser when you’re in a relationship with them. WARNING: this post will be uncomfortable and sad to read. VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED.

first and foremost, go watch shelby’s stream. she said exactly what she wanted to say and she said it very well, and i’m not going to synthesize it. additionally, the only reason i feel comfortable writing this in the first place is because i’ve experienced the exact same thing, bites and all. because of that fact, some of this information might be biased towards my own experiences, but know that this essay is not about wilbur as much as it is about this one type of abuser. this is not drama or gossip like usual, it is meant to be educational and give awareness to a covert type of abuse that is often hard to recognize, a type of abuse that i know and understand. it is also meant to explain why it happens, as i’ve seen a LOT of questions about “why biting?”. remember, wilbur is just our poster boy in this instance. you could swap his name out with any other, he’s just who sparked the discussion this time. anyways,

How it Starts

remember my post from a while ago about wilbur and manic pixie dream girls? (if someone could send it to me i’d like to reblog it) there is a simple process to wilbur’s attraction to women:

find “special” girl -> rizz her up -> it fails -> spiral into self loathing bender -> (“update me on your life and now you’ve found the one, but i don’t like his eyes…”)

or

find “special” girl -> rizz her up -> it works -> oh wait she’s not special to me anymore -> she’s supposed to be special -> but she’s special i cant not like her she’s such a catch -> she loves me and i hate her -> i’m in love with the fact that she loves me -> (“you’re just so painfully punctual, i’m starting to get bored”)

and here we get to what happened with shelby.

she was his childhood crush. she is also petite, beautiful, very cutesy, giggles, is very sweet, has a distinct personal style, is SHUBBLE. to name a few things. she is a perfect dream girl for wilbur to chase.

wilbur catches her -> he loses interest -> the ego boost and additional benefits from dating shelby is so great that he values her status as his girlfriend above her as a person -> she is still a person with relationship needs -> he lashes out at her in seemingly innocent ways in attempt to satisfy both his ego and the needs of a relationship. which brings us to

Biting/“Playful” Injury

love bites are a fairly common form of affection. the important distinction to make is that they are usually gentle, and done by someone because they know it’s silly. it’s a human thing to do. a very common question i’ve seen: why did he bite her?

because when you are in a relationship with someone you resent (as shelby said) and you get the inclination to physically harm them, you know you can’t. this is obviously bad, and wilbur knows it’s bad, so he picks something that can be turned into a joke. wilbur is a known biter. this gives him a justification that shelby will take and so will everyone else that sees it happen, especially since his mom backed it up.

the bites serve to

-allow him to hurt her without feeling guilty

-affirm his ego that she’ll stay with him even if he treats her poorly

-provide a visible marker to other people that she is “his”, further affirming his ego

the bites being in her skin allowed people to see them and she’d be forced to explain that he was the one that did it, he could show them off himself if they were together, they could be passed off as a silly joke, and he got the satisfaction of hurting her under a “safe” pretense. especially because he set up a safeword, he got to justify in his head that he was not a bad guy or abusive for doing this. the bites are a mark of possession, like a brand. it’s gratifying that he’s the only person that gets to do this to her.

there is also something… attractive? romantic? about how much someone will endure for you. this type of abuser loves to stress test how much you’ll take from them before breaking. they feel validated that you’re willing to do that for them, so even if he had to stop doing it on her arms and move to her legs instead, it was still gratifying that she would take it.

one question i saw a lot: is it a sex thing? not necessarily. it could be, but in this case and in my own experience i don’t think it is. i don’t think it sexually gratifies them, just fuels their ego.

i would also like to add, biting is not the only way this can happen. here are a few more examples of covert physical abuse, from my own experiences because that’s the best way to word them:

my ex would “crack my knuckles”, meaning bend my fingers a dangerous amount until they forcefully popped, framed as an inside joke

"playfully" shove me, making sure to do it hard enough that i was knocked into a wall and would hit my head

pinch bruises into my ribs so they would hurt when i laughed

back to shelby/wilbur, her story of him pinning her down and asking her to try to push him off, then gloating when she couldn’t

i just think it’s worth noting: shelby wanting to be a bunny on origins smp, then wilbur modifying her lore saying she was a bunny until he killed her because he was lonely and wanted another ghost around. that shit was not normal

i would also like to add, often the person being hurt in this scenario does express that they are being hurt, that they do not like it, and that they don’t want it to keep happening. the abuser will dismiss it because the ways they harm you are “a joke”, or they may set up a safe word or fake apology or negotiation in attempt to placate you. or they will guilt trip you. know that almost never are any remedies they try to provide you genuine. you will not fix your relationship. they do not care about you, they care that you satisfy their ego. they want to harm you, and they will not stop.

if you suspect you may be in this situation, get out of it. nobody deserves to be hurt by their own partner or be made to feel resented by their own partner. research all of the different types of abuse, and figure out the best solution for your situation. like shelby said, she was the one that broke up with him, which is the case for a lot of these scenarios. i pulled the trigger in my own relationship. it might be scary, or not feel right, but if you can come to the conclusion that your situation isn’t right, you can leave it too.

wishing everyone happiness, health, and healing,

-riot

(p.s. in the tags)