#there's a lot of other series i enjoy With Caveats but you know

[arabaka]

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ hayakawa aki x fem!devil-reader. CONTENT WARNINGS: 18+ !!! reader is a SEX DEVIL (aka succubus). m!receiving oral. ride 'im like a cowgirl baby!! aki bites 'n draws blood. WORD COUNT: 5.1k PSD CREDIT !!!

MINORS/AGELESS BLOGS DNI or I WILL SPOIL YOUR CROPS（ ꐦꉺωꉺ)つ

( ˊᵕˋ )♡.°⑅ dedicated to the aki queen, @meownotgood

*₊˚💬୧ more than likely will be a series hehe <;33

A devil so powerful, there’s a waiting list for contracts. A devil so desirable, contracts are cherry picked. Where other devils are flippant about who they loan their power to, you are meticulous. Not a hair out of place, some might say. You have your reasons. For as much as you give, you receive so little in return. A caveat to your power is your crutch for staying alive.

Because blood is easy to come by. Cum? That takes work.

It’s deplorable, the levels you have to sink to for a meager helping of your life source. Unbecoming of a devil your size, of your stature even. Yet the irony of being the Sex Devil is that you enjoy it.

You crave it. You wish you didn’t sometimes. But a life of debauchery on Earth is better than contending in Hell and you’ll prolong your inevitable return for as long as you’re able; you’ll just be picky about your participating party.

So when a hunter started to haunt the whispers of lower-grade devils, you took notice. Delighted even when you saw what this Hayakawa Aki looked like. Devil hunters are a dime a dozen. Handsome devil hunters with brains? He’s so delectable, you can eat him alive.

You chose to wait. Your modus operandi: you will not beg for a contract.

You keep Public Safety just under your heel; close enough to be mutually beneficial, but not enough to lose your agency. So when his name came up, you needn’t hear more because your contract with him was signed the moment you laid eyes on him. “You know where to send him.” Your voice curt, you hear the click on the phone line. And once again, you wait.

The rumble of his engine is unmistakable in the dead of night. He pulls up to your residence, car humming before subtly giving way to weighted silence. His knuckles flex pensively around the steering wheel, his skin illuminated by the moonlight cascading from above. Makima’s voice, ever beguiling, plays on repeat in his head. I’m sure you’ll find her to be very helpful.

You’re unlike any devil he’s heard of, much less made contracts with. He’s signed away much more for a lot less. Yet what you ask of him has him giving a cursory look in the vanity mirror, brushing away his fringe until it’s falling over his forehead just right. His reflection stares back, mimicking his expression as it goes from dispassionate to frustrated, brows knitting tight as he chides himself with the click of his tongue.

This whole arrangement– It’s demeaning. Sex with a devil. Fraternization with the like is off-putting enough. Necessary but revolting all the same. This, however? Is far removed from those arrangements. Offering up his flesh to satiate a devil’s voracious appetite is a superficial sacrifice. You require something much more consequential: vulnerability. And to be frank, no Devil deserves that.

From your bedroom, you watch him with a huff. What’s he waiting for? You can’t help but roll your eyes at his hesitation. Humans are all the same. They kid themselves, paying reverence to baseless morals but fold under duress. You’ve seen this before from devil hunters like him. They hold sex in a high regard, thinking it’s beneath them to cavort with a devil but their first step in your door and they’re clamoring for your affection, for you. So you find it pointless that Aki’s still lingering by his car, taking a smoke break while you stew in the delay. He’s lucky he’s hot.

Nicotine in his veins and senses dulled a smidge, Aki’s come to a resolution. He’s not leaving empty-handed and he’s wasted enough time. He snuffs his cigarette out, chucks it in the car’s ashtray and adjusts his tie. Force of habit.

When you find Aki at your door, he has that same glowering mug you’ve seen him with before. He looks at you like you’re another devil to exterminate. You’d be lying if you said disdain didn’t look good on him.

His eyes, tired and narrowed, drink in your appearance and you watch as his expression starts to soften; a symptom of your pheromones at work. You follow his gaze as it trickles downward, intrigued sensuality marbling his azure eyes because of your body, what you’re wearing. You could be completely bare and still bring a person to their knees but that’s hardly any fun.

“You like it?” Your purring should be grating on his ears but it sounds like a song, a siren’s song. His leg muscles tense up, hesitating to take a step further. That just won’t do, so you gingerly walk your fingers up his tie, tugging at the knot as if to say you’ll drag him the whole way if you have to. You peer up at him, thick lashes batting alluringly but you can see his vision is still focused on your body, on the babydoll lingerie that follows the curves of your body and hugs your breasts with sheer lace. You glow under his watch, glossy lips curling to a smile as he starts to buckle under the pressure of your power.

You look… Enticing. True to your name. It’s utterly humiliating how his defenses are lowering so easily, to a devil no less, but fighting it is futile. Maybe it’s better if he lends himself to the lush feeling flooding his brain, the tension building in the crosspoint of his slacks. He gulps, perhaps swallowing the last of his pride, as careful fingers reach out to touch the lace bodice that stretches down your abdomen. “Let’s get this over with.” He tries to say with a sullen attitude but chokes on his attempt at a stern tone. God, you’re evil. He thinks as he watches those pretty lips of yours contort to a smirk.

“Be nice or I’ll leash you.” You’re teasing… Are you? Your aura is starting to overtake him because now there’s an uncomfortable stretch between his legs, cock starting to stiffen as he imagines you, chain in hand and collar round his neck. He can physically feel the last strands of sanity leave his body the longer he loiters around you. There’s a voice in his head still decrying the very nature of what he’s about to do but the longer his eyes cling to you, the quieter that sound gets. He’s finding himself to be particularly attached to your breasts and the fanciful way the lacy shelf cups frame them, just barely tucking your nipples out of sight. At least you’re nice to look at…

You start to roll the length of his black silk tie around your palm, giving it a once over, gaze briefly flitting over to your suitor for the night. Dusting his cheekbones is the most satisfying shade of pink, so pretty in fact you wish you could swatch it. He looks even better like this, a little bothered with only a small helping of shame remaining. You can’t wait to wring him dry, see him sweat and pant in trying to keep up with you.

You’re making his skin prickle with goosebumps and a surge of heat swells in his body, steam practically fogging up his brain. “Oh,” You coo, finally giving him full recognition, ���Let’s get you out of those clothes, hm?”

Aki trails behind you, a curve to his back as you keep him close, using his tie as a tether. Like a dog. Utterly demoralizing, the way you have him ogling your body like a wretched fool but the delicious sight of the swell of your ass, hugged so tightly by the hemline of your lingerie, goes right to the budding erection in his pants and he’s starting to like it.

Your room is large and far too lavish for a Devil, but oh so fitting for you. Catching his attention, more than anything, is your bed; round in shape and massive in size, it sits raised on a circular platform and comes complete with silk sheets, as well as a few haphazardly tossed cushions. You live far beyond any means Aki is used to, it’s almost too overwhelming for him to process all the furniture and embellishments. His brain can’t help but wander, if only for a moment. Were your furnishings gifts? Supplied and paid for by Public Safety, for your services? He should feel disgust at this, logic still tells him as much, but he can’t find it in him to even broach that emotion. What he can feel, however, is his entire body and mind start to sink down, down, down under the weight of your influence.

You walk him to your bed, tie still in hand, gingerly motioning him to sit against the headboard with your palm now at his chest. He caves under your persuasion, watching with bated breath as you climb on top of him, your legs split as you take a seat on his lap.

Oh, you croon to yourself as you come to graze the thick outline of his dick bobbing in his slacks, he’s perfect. Your tail, long and crimson with an arrowed tip, flicks about enthusiastically. “Where have you been hiding?” You mumble, just loud enough for Aki to hear but you’re not exactly wanting an answer. He’s pliant in your hands, letting you cup his face as if to examine him closely. “Open.” You order and much to his surprise…

He listens. Now it’s not fully unexpected, your wiles have already wrecked havoc on his system after all, but it almost feels like he’s a foreigner in his own body. He parts his lips for you and you giggle. “See, not so bad now right? You humans get so hung up on the littlest of things.” When you talk, you have a lilt to your voice that’s a little mean, a little mocking, and his cock twitches because of it. “You should consider yourself lucky.” Now your thumb is pressing into his tongue, your face glowing with delight as you watch saliva slowly start to pool in Aki’s gaping mouth. “This is as mutually beneficial as it gets.” Your face gets so close, so fast, he can’t register fast enough when you lick into him, replacing your thumb with your tongue in a nasty, wet open kiss.

The groan that comes bubbling from his throat catches him off guard but more importantly, makes Aki realize something. He never stood a chance against you. Even someone with as strong a willpower as he can find all sensibility washed away by your essence. Right now, as far as he is concerned… You’re as powerful as it gets.

Aki’s eyelashes flutter apart, his pupils blown out but under a strong haze. Warmth is shrouding his body once more but now he feels fuzzy, a little lighter even. Your lips on his are irresistibly soft but your kiss is forward, pressing on his so much they already feel sore. God, why do you feel so good? Is this really what you’re capable of? How are you not kept under lock and key? His brain is swimming in these thoughts while he squirms under you, the stiff bulge in his slacks pressing into your clothed cunt as his hips impulsively jerk into you.

Your lips leave his far sooner than he would have liked but you can’t help yourself from taking a gander at your handiwork. He’s always been so beautiful with his stoic face and striking blue gaze but seeing him like this, jaw slacked and reduced to a desperate mess? He’s the best he’s ever looked.

“Pretty, pretty, pretty.” You murmur as you start to litter kisses from his jawline to his neck, hands fanning over his chest as you start to push back his suit jacket. He seems to follow your suggestion, rolling the shoulders off and you complete the circuit, dragging the sleeves off his arms and tossing it aside with little regard. Aki can’t be bothered to care. With his coat off, he faces the reality of how fever hot his skin feels, how you’re the only one who can provide some relief so with a crackling voice, he breathes, “Please.”

He’s begging you. He’s begging a Devil.

And he loves it.

Why was he ever fighting this?

Pop, pop, pop. One after the other, the buttons on Aki’s dress shirt come undone and he hisses at the sudden contact of cool air brushing over his skin. You draw savory sounds from him, first his breath hitching and then a subdued moan, as you lick a stripe up his abdomen and pucker your lips around the plane of his pec. You revel in the taste, in the way his skin squishes in your mouth. The more you suck at the skin, the more he writhes underneath you and now is when he finally has his hands on you, gripping tight on your hips. You wriggle your ass, giving one last nibble to his chest and feeling a surge of pride when you see how his pretty pale skin is now bruised. Marked.

You sigh like a dream when you look at Aki, flushed and bothered under you, but he’s only down a shirt. You need to see him stripped down, to satisfy the curiosity that’s been swimming in your brain since you first learned of the rather handsome hunter. Struggling to inhale, Aki lets out a hoarse, “C-Come on.” But he doesn’t speak with the same reason for his urgency as before - to get it over with - now he is pleading because he so badly needs to feel the rush of pleasure you’ll no doubt give him.

Aki tracks your finger as it glides up his torso until it’s crooked around his chin, giving him no other choice but to meet your slit gaze when you tell him plain and simple, “Get up then.”

To be honest, you crave him just as badly so you’re on your knees and on the floor in an ardent rush, meeting his clothed erection and nursing it through his slacks with a palm that opens and closes almost tauntingly… Because at the end of the day, you’re a Devil and you love playing with your food.

Painstakingly slow, you start to undo his belt. His heart is pounding. Then down goes the zipper. He struggles to breathe. Your fingers, ginger and lithe, bundle the waistbands of his slacks and underwear together and with one downward tug, his cock is freed, springing out and it looks… So much better than you could have ever imagined.

He’s long, his length having the slightest upward curve to it with a fat and pinkened tip at the end, and he’s thick with veins overlaid on and around his girth. A fine meal for a hard working succubus like yourself. You squeeze an exquisite whine from Aki when your fingers finally come to circle around the base of his member and a greater moan when your tongue, hungry and flat, draws a line on its undershaft until you get to the pre-cum bubbling at the tip. You ground the head of his cock along your tastebuds, committing to memory his personal flavor as you lick him clean. Oh, you’re going to want seconds for the rest of this poor soul’s life.

“Fuck.” The word is heavy, riding off an exhale as you flood Ak with heightened pleasure, far sharper and stronger than anything he’s ever felt before, just with your tongue on his cockhead. You smile around the tip, parting your mouth with the pressure of his cock as he finally starts to sink into your wet and hot mouth. The groan he releases is guttural and carnal as you suck all around him, smoothly swallowing his length to the base and never breaking eye contact. You’re so delighted watching him fold in your hands that you get right to it, pumping his shaft with a rolling wrist, your mouth never far behind as you coat him in your drool.

“G-God.” How can you make your mouth so tight, it feels like he’s fucking into you already? And the way you look at him, with shallow adoration, has his stomach flipping and his heart bumping. He knows you’ll eat him alive and he feels like he’ll let you at this rate. His lips twist but it’s no use, a string of moans keeps his mouth at a constant gape as you pamper him with your tongue swirling, dashing, and criss-crossing all over his cock. You dip your head low, humming around him with a mewl of your own when he reflexively jerks into you, pressing his cockhead to the back of your mouth but you keep on. As if that would stop you.

Every slope down his cock, Aki is treated to the sight of your tits, caged by the satin straps of your babydoll ensemble, bouncing with your nipples slipping out a little more each time. His fingers twitch, eager to find out how they would feel cupped in his hands. “You’re unbelievable.” You have him grunting and cursing. It felt like just a minute ago, he was looking at you like you were scum of the earth. Now he’s revering you like a god.

Digits still shuddering, his hands come to the sides of your head for some relief. Your hair is so soft, he can’t help but dig in, fingernails curling into your scalp with little regard for any pain he may cause you. You don’t stop so neither does he. He can’t take his eyes off you, never wanting to forget how you look with his length completely disappeared inside you, your cheeks hollowed out and all because of him. You’re perfect just like this, he thinks.

You start to gag, but not because he’s too much. You gag to gauge his reaction. His cock bobs in your mouth and you swear you feel him get harder as you sputter and choke around his shaft and now with a hand at the crown of your head, you know you’ve hit the spot. So he’s one of those. You note as you continue to amplify those juicy sounds of yours, rubbing your thighs in anticipation as he starts to meet you halfway with jutted hips. The closer he gets, the sloppier he is you can’t help but notice as his movements start to become ragged in pursuit of his climax.

Ecstasy building, Aki’s head lulls back and his lids shudder shut as he feels your fist clutch him harder, tighter, dragging his foreskin into your mouth with your tongue poking in and lapping up any spare pearls of pre-cum. You moan, on your own, at his intoxicating flavor, eagerly awaiting for the rest to come filling your mouth until you’re filled with his taste. You lose yourself so much in lavishing his cock that you don’t see it coming when his hand digs into your fringe, pulling your head back so he can get a better look while he face-fucks you.

You’re actually glad he did because now you can see him truly at his lowest point. His raven locks are sticking to his face and temples with a layer of sweat making him glow under the dimmed lights in the room. You can no longer see the cerulean blues in his eyes; all you can see are his pupils, wide with lust, sizing you up as he starts to roll his hips into you, following the rhythm you’d already set. “Fuck,” He spits, “Feel so good. Gonna cum soon.”

Soon was an understatement. At the pace you were going, he could cum any moment. Your mouth was a cavern for him to exploit and you clearly were letting him, allowing him to start fisting your hair for some stability while he rocks into you. The force of his orgasm starts to build fast, his balls tightening as the rush comes like a flood. His cum shoots in dense strings, filling your mouth until the salty taste is all your senses can register. He shudders into you, groans dying out as he finishes emptying his load inside of you.

Seeing you swallow his climax has his adam’s apple bobbing with a gulp. Your eyes seem to brighten, the color of your irises glowing with the ingestion of Aki’s semen, and your tail swats in the air in a clear display of elation. His cum goes right to the core of your being, lighting your flame and making you feel full… But you’re not satisfied. Not yet.

Your lips run down the measure of his cock until you’ve finally parted, with Aki fixated on you the entire time. His member, drenched in your saliva and still swollen, trembles in the cooled air and the only noise in the room is Aki’s soft panting. You’ve only been off him for a few seconds but he already needs to be inside you again, that much he’s certain of.

"Is that…" His voice whines down so he tries to repeat himself, taking a breath this time beforehand, "Is that it?"

The poor thing. He thinks it's over. He thinks he's already wrapped up his end of the bargain. "Mmh-nn." You hum, lips back on the tip of his cock while your tail bats in the air with interest. You hear him sharply inhale, his eyes instantly shutting again as you lick quick lines on the surface, poking into his still leaking slit a couple of times. “That was just the appetizer. The first load is always the tastiest.”

Aki watches you rise to your feet, body moving so gracefully and sensually you have him captivated. It’s twisted, how he follows your every movement, bewitched by how you toy with the strap hanging on your shoulder. You invite him with the curl of your finger to take over and that he does, hands much larger than yours plucking the lingerie straps and slipping them down and off your arms. The fancy night dress you’d been wearing joins the rest of Aki’s clothes in a rush, neither of you wanting to be apart for any longer than you had to.

Now nude, you direct Aki to the bed, where the real show will begin.

With Aki on the bed, you crawl on top and there he’s able to fully appreciate the form you’ve taken, ogling your body like a debased pervert. You’re a tease, lowering enough to hover right above the bulge of his cockhead but never dipping any more than that. His hand, albeit shaky, comes to land on your waist, a calloused thumb pushing into your smooth skin and rubbing circles just to feel you. “Please.” The word leaves his mouth faster than his brain can process and you just adore the way you can visibly see him melt for you.

“Please what?”

“Please,” Now he has both hands on you, “Sit on my cock.”

Now that makes you smile wide. “Yes sir.” There’s a snide intonation of your voice when you address him but he doesn’t give a fuck. All he can think about is you, you, you.

Your hips sink, the tip of his dick smoothing along your folds and pressing into your entrance until the pressure is enough to break through and he’s in. And god, you’re already so tight, you have his lungs struggling to get a single breath in. Your walls crease and mold to his girth and for all the trouble you’ve caused him, you’re making up for it and he hasn’t even filled you to the hilt yet.

“S-Shit.” You were starting to think you’d never see the day when Hayakawa Aki, one of the most highly regarded members of Public Safety, would fall prey to your lascivious spell but here he is, hissing as he’s pulling you down on his cock with depraved hunger. Grunting, Aki digs his head back into your pillow but he forces his eyes open, needing to see you take him all the way and when you do, you’re such a sight to behold. Your lips, swollen from sucking him off, part in delicious rapture and you see stars having him all the way inside you. The corners of your mouth turn upward, a smile coming over your features as you feel the slightest hint of trembling in Aki’s thighs as you come to a full seat on his member.

The way he feels inside you is unlike anything you’ve had before, and you’ve definitely charmed your fair share of characters but this Aki… He’s more special than you took him for. Your walls flutter around him, hugging his cock nice and snug so that you feel every twitch, every throb he helplessly gives you. “You ready?” You ask but it’s not up for debate. You grind your clit against his pelvis on your way up, following the curve of Aki’s shaft before bouncing back down on his length.

He’s so dense, thick inside you that you could imagine him easily breaking you, if you let him. But you’re in control here and he seems game for it, what with how wanton his gaze on you is and how sternly he’s gripping your waist. He’s so deep in you, you feel him poking against your core and that has your heart drumming so vigorously, you can hear your heartbeat so clearly in your ears along with Aki’s moans and the erotic sounds of wet skin smacking together.

Your pace starts slow enough, giving you time to relish how he stuffs your gummy walls on every swing up but you’re both in agreement that it’s not enough. You both need more and as though you’re in sync, he starts to jerk his hips into you, cramming further inside you while you dig down just as harshly. The way you’re rubbing down on him has you coating him in your slick, the mass of your juices, and it’s so much that it’s spilling down his balls and lap. That only makes it easier for him to thrust into you, forcing your body to roll along his shaft and bend to the new rhythm he’s setting.

How can one human feel this good? He has you feeling so high, so overwhelmed with the weight of his cock inside your cunt, that you don’t even notice his hand reaching out to your forearm and unexpectedly forcing you down so your chest is flush against his and your lips are just mere inches from each other. That certainly isn’t the case for long, as Aki immediately forces his lips on you in a rough and needy kiss. Your tongue is still coated in his essence, his taste, and he laps it up in a frenzy. Your own sweetness tingles in his mouth, sending a hypnotizing rush to his brain that has him feeling like he’ll never recover from this. Like he’ll never recover from you.

Your pussy still swallowing his cock, Aki’s hands land squarely on your ass and start to firmly squeeze your plush flesh, nails sharply piercing your skin until he knows he’s drawing blood. You whine and moan into his mouth, all muffled because there’s no way in hell he’s letting you break the kiss. “Don’t you dare pull away.” Aki growls and for once, you’re listening to a Devil Hunter as he starts to mercilessly buck his hips, thrusting harshly into you like you’re just a toy for him to abuse. Anyone else would be screaming, crying for a reprieve but not you.

His length penetrates you so roughly while the thickness of his cock has you full to the brim and the combination of both is sure to be a new addiction of yours. Now you’re thinking crazy, wondering if you should just drop all your other contracts if this Aki will keep business with you. Any sensible thought is pounded out of you soon enough, Aki’s hips crashing against your bottom fast and hard. Your kiss with him is just as cruel, his teeth capturing your puffy bottom lip and sharply biting down until the vulgar taste of blood is dripping into his mouth. You whimper but never tell him to stop. Why would you when he feels so good?

Too good, in fact. He told you to stay put but you can’t help it, you come to rise, still with his length fully inside you and resume your earlier position of bobbing up and down on his cock but now with a more reckless flair. As you do, as you near your climax, a script starts to sear itself into your pelvis. “The–” Oh now you’re the stuttering fool, “t-the contract.” You choke out, the outline of the brand charred in your skin.

Aki’s mystified by you, by what’s happening before him. Still ramming into your tight pussy, his hands move from your wiggling ass to digging his nails harshly into the design scorching itself on your supple flesh. You yelp, face glimmering with a layer of sweat, but your cries hit a new pitch when one hand dives down towards your cunt, thumb messily running circles around your clit. “Fucking cum for me then. I’m gonna fill you up.” Where did this man find his grounding? Your head rolls back, lips quivering with a never ending string of lewd noises as your thighs begin to give out– no, give way to Aki’s domination.

Now on a firm seat on Aki’s lap, his hips thrash against you until he feels his member swelling and pulsating inside you, against your narrowing walls that dare to swallow him whole. As he does, an inscription he can’t totally make out starts to appear on your pelvis but one thing’s for sure; you look good with his name in kanji branded on you.

“Cumming– fucking take it, devil.” You crumble all around him, your sopping wet cunt fluttering all around him as you too, start to feel your release bubble up until spilling over. He pumps into you every last drop of his cum but you still feel yourself trembling long after he’s finished.

Your pants of recovery cut through the silence in the room. What the hell was that? This man… He’s not human. Not with the way he just fucked you. You’re going to keep this one, even if it takes all your power. You’ll keep him safe, you promise to yourself… So long as he keeps up his end of the deal.

You feel empty when his cock finally leaves you and even more so when Aki gets himself dressed and ready to go. If you had it your way, you’d keep him there all night and all day… Though you guess humans need more than sex to refuel. A pity.

“Guess this is it.” Aki mumbles at your front door but you stop him from taking a step further, dainty little nails curling around the sleeve of his jacket as you look up at him with ravenous glint in your eyes, “Oh, didn’t Makima tell you? This contract is ongoing. I’ll ring you up when I need more.”

Shit. What did he get himself into?

[twig-tea]

TWIG! Friend! I couldn't help but notice your tags in my excitement post about getting to La Pluie -- I see that you and I are YYY mutuals. :) Let's call YYY... say... zany or offbeat -- off the beaten path of the usual romance-dominated field of Thai BLs. What are some other "zanier" BLs (not just Thailand, but everywhere in Asia) that you love and would recommend for an off-the-wall experience? And, why?

@waitmyturtles I'm so sorry you sent this a million years ago and then I kept letting it languish. And it's extra rude because I love this question! It's so hard to add something like YYY to a rec list without a billion caveats, so this is a great chance to shout out some of the series & shorts that don't get as much attention. A few of these I know you've seen but I have to include them for completeness.

First, for the sake of other people reading this, as Turtles has written about, Cheewin brings his own kind of zaniness to almost everything he works on; my faves of his other than YYY are Make It Right and Secret Crush on You (the exception is Bed Friend, which is not in any way zany but I still liked it).

Also going to mention that since Turtles asked for off the beaten path zany, I won't be mentioning any of the popular comedies (in case you're wondering why I Became the Lead in A BL Drama or Man Who Defies the World of BL aren't on this list).

Alright now that's out of the way, let's get into the other recs!

Zany lesser-known BLs other than YYY

Ossan's Love Franchise (Japanese, 2016-2024, GagaOOLala)

It is... less true now that this series is lesser-known than it was when I started writing this draft (in uh... August 2023) but I shall persist! The franchise details alone for this series are complete crack:

A 2016 45-minute short [skippable imo];

The 2018 original series which builds the short into a zany 7-episode comedy series about a man in his late 20s who suddenly finds himself the love interest of his older boss (in his ~50s) and his coworker/roommate (in his mid-20s);

The sequel film Ossan's Love: Love or Dead (2019)which turns into an action film halfway through for no clear reason but also remains a romantic comedy in which the mains from the original season decide if they want to stay together

The AU season Ossan's Love: In the Sky (2019) which has the same characters of the lead and his boss from S1 and the short, but this time they work in an airport and all of the surrounding cast is different and leads to a very confusing love rhombus. Incredible 10/10 no notes [people hate this because they like the mains from S1 & the film but I loved the mess]

The sequel season to S1 and the film, Ossan's Love Returns (2024) which you can absolutely watch in isolation and is about the main couple re-establishing their relationship and their found family friend group after being long distance for a few years.

It's truly excellent comedy, and gets better every outing; there are some barriers that might prevent some enjoying the earlier seasons but the most recent one is really delightful. You can hear me talk more about this series with @bengiyo and @shortpplfedup on The Conversation podcast!

Diary of Tootsies (Thai, 2017, grey/Netflix (for the movie))

I love Diary of Tootsies and the follow-ups so much. SO much. One of the best laughs of my life was the opening to the movie, and I cannot be in a long car ride without thinking about the purse incident in s1. This show doesn't get a lot of BL fandom attention because the romance arcs are not typical for BL (but that's one of the things I love about them). And the friendship in this series is truly what sells it. Season 1 is self-contained, a lot of people dislike the romance plot of S2; I really like the arc across s2 to the movie (as established above, I tend to be less invested in a particular ship across a franchise or multiple franchises). The movie plot is all about reconciling who you thought you wanted and who you are with (amongst all kinds of shenanigans).

HeHe and He (Hong Kong, 2018-ongoing, YouTube)

This mockumentary sitcom-style series does tackle some serious topics and is also absolutely hilarious nonsense across its 3 seasons. The very simple premise is that a gay guy ("hehe" is slang for gay) and a straight guy who are old friends become roommates when the gay friend breaks up with his longterm boyfriend and needs a place to stay, and hijinks ensue. They do direct-to-camera confessionals spliced in with scenes from their lives. I love this show so much, and it would actually be high up in my indie BL rankings if it were completed. I lose it at least once an episode. It's very queer (if you want a show that tackles everything from hookups to turning everything into a joke to being so, so mean to each other while also loving each other dearly to even chemsex, look no further), and I am in love with all of the wacky characters that have formed a love-hate found family that is deeply relatable. The creators posted a video a few months ago saying they're struggling to end it in a way that they're happy with so I'm not sure we'll ever get an ending for the show. But if you like comedy and queer content it's worth a watch even incomplete! I've been very patiently following this project since 2018 and it's legitimately one of my favourite shows.

Rainbow Prince the Series (Filippino, 2022, YouTube)

This is a musical; it is a lot of campy nonsense. There is royalty, political intrigue, a dog, kidnappings, and so. much. singing. The songs are surprisingly catchy and it's all extremely good fun. Also a lot of the dialogue is very clearly improvised.

Hey! First Love (Vietnamese, 2019, YouTube)

This series of shorts are mostly just silly fluff. The very tenuous plot is that these shorts are slice-of-life moments from a young established couple, but it's all really just excuses for Vietnamese comedy and BL romance tropes. If you haven't watched anything from Vietnam, this is a very low-stakes commitment (I think it's under 30 minutes of content all told; there are 4 "episodes" which are spliced together shorts, each of which has a tiny plot but there is not much of an overarching narrative, and then a Q&A with the actors at the end) and gives you a sense of the Vietnamese sense of humour. Both of these actors have gone on to continue to be in other Vietnamese BLs, so if you have watched Vietnamese BL you may recognize them! The production quality on this is charmingly low.

Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan (India, 2019, Amazon Prime)

This film was such a joy to experience in a live theatre. Billed "the first Gay Bollywood RomCom", this movie was a riot of chaos, dance numbers, shenanigans, hilarity, and cuteness. I loved the way this film incorporated the very real legal change to decriminalize homosexuality in its story. Arguably not "BL" as it very much fits in the bollywood tradition not the BL tradition, but OP did ask for all of Asia!

Like Love (China, 2014-15, grey)

And no I don't mean censored--this is from before China started censoring its BLs. This show has kisses as shown in the gif, and even (poorly cropped) sex scenes. It also is super bizarre. I was so confused by this show, the characterization, the fourth wall breaks, and how disjointed it was so I went to read the source material and...it turns out it's one of the most perfect adaptations I've ever seen, the book is in fact exactly like this. The characters are caricatures, there is no bridging between scenes, and the plot is the most absurd take on 'loserfail no-thoughts-head-empty character who doesn't admit he's gay but still ends up in a dedicated and loving relationship with a rich handsome domineering man ' I've ever seen. It's a bewildering experience. Note the sound quality on this one is suuuper miserable. I like s2 way more than s1 (s1 is getting together and includes a lot of the bullying-teasing and I'm-not-gay-I-just-need-him-to-pay-attention-to-me stuff, s2 is the honeymoon phase + getting the homophobic parents on board) but S1 is definitely the zanier of the two. That being said, if you wanted, I think you can dive right in to s2 (there's a direct-to-camera explanation of what happened in s1 at the start of it). Note that they set up a cliffhanger at the end of 2 in anticipation of s3 which was going to be made in 2016 but was cancelled because of the political changes in China in 2016 (this is one of the reasons I went to read the source material; they do get a happy ending in the books).

This is an extremely silly but also touching franchise with a lot of tropes I don't love, but also a lot of things I do (and just neat to see some stuff so early in BL: Underwater kiss? Helicopter ride? Femme fatale becomes friend of the faen? Supportive grandparent? It's all here). There are some fantastic speeches in s2 about supporting your gay children; I liked how in this the kids didn't give up on their parents but try to reconcile their filial piety with their dedication to each other. If you do watch S1, highly recommended you watch the series version rather than the film. For "S2"/the follow-up film, make sure you look for the uncensored film version.

The Lover Room 709 Cut (Korean/Japanese, 2016, grey)

This starts extremely silly, plays with BL tropes, and gets a little bit serious at the end but is mostly just full of puns and innuendos. Includes one of the most hilarious takes on kabedon, and egregious use of the soundtrack from Brokeback Mountain. Also: fart jokes. Folks worried it was going to stay teasing the audience but it does commit and we do get an actual resolution that is satisfying. I admit I've never seen the whole series (which includes stories of 3 other couples in the apartment building) but the BL cut is readily available if you search. Make sure you look for the deleted scene with the lotion application--this scene walked so IFYLITA could run (I'm kidding, but it's very funny seeing this scene now and thinking about that one).

The Boy Next Door (Korean, 2018, YouTube)

This is another older series playing with censorship (similar to The Lover) in which the two characters end up in BL romance tropes but are not actually in love...or are they? The shenanigans are very fun. This one is left more ambiguous than The Lover, which is one of the reasons it's further down the list.

Go! Go! G-Boys (Taiwan, 2006, grey)

I debated between this and another quirky comedy from Taiwan in the early 2000s, Formula 17, but while that's unequivocally a better movie, this one is lesser known and more zany, so it technically better fits the bill for this ask (but if you haven't, go watch Formula 17!). The plot is a bit cringe--straight boy signs up to gay beauty contest to pay off his girlfriend's debts (accompanied by his gay childhood friend who is in love with him) and finds his truth. Meanwhile a homophobic police officer has also infiltrated the contest for investigative purposes. Amongst all that admittedly not great setup, however, are several bizarre sequences including the incredible Lord of the Rings recreation scene (complete with Gatchaman of course), a killer soundtrack, a random delivery of poultry, someone slapping a cake, and, most absurdly unbelievable at all: police taking harassing death threats to the gay contest seriously. It does a great job of setting up what should be a dramatic scene and then immediately undercutting the tension with something absurd. It's not narratively good, but it is a fun ride! And yes, there is a happy ending. Stick around for a fourth wall break (literally) after the credits.

Something Crunchy Crunchy (Korean, 2018, GagaOOLala)

Extremely bizarre little musical short in which snacks are anthropomorphized as hot guys and they sing songs about being eaten and wanting to be eaten. Played entirely sincerely, but the concept is screamingly funny. Fascinating. Also, kind of poly?

Dom (Korean, 2016, GagaOOLala)

Another hilarious and weird Korean short, this time in which we see the protagonist's sex life from the perspective of the condom boxes that are anthropomorphized and given personalities based on their brands.

And since we can't leave out the ladies,

A few zany GLs:

Lily Fever (Korean, 2015, YouTube)

I wrote about this one a little in my GL rec list; it is absolutely bonkers nonsense. There is not really a plot, it's a fever dream of a show. Chaos! Not so much a romance as an excuse to see cute girls flirt and make out.

Legend of Yunqian (China, 2020, grey)

I debated including this one because only the middle is really the zany part, it's sandwiched with more serious xianxia drama. But in the middle of this miniseries is an extremely cute interlude in which xianxia characters time travel to present day for ~reasons. It's censored but there is very little uncertainty about feelings, and manages to be absolutely charming. Worth the short runtime for this kitten quickcut (subbed "Whomst?!" in the show for ultimate comedy). Warning for character death (but it's ok because time travel to reincarnated character!) Subtitled by the indispensable @douqi7s [see their pinned post for links].

BetCin (Filippino, 2022, WeTV)

A lesbian couple with a YouTube following decide to break up but then find out there's a contest for couples, and they decide to pretend to still be together to try and win the contest rather than tell their fans they've broken up. This series does some really interesting things by starting with a breakup and then looking at how two people who are no longer dating manage BGP while also managing their feelings. There's a lot going on in this show, and the hijinks definitely ensue!

Perfect One Night Stand (Korean, 2020, GagaOOLala)

This is a cute Strongberry GL short in which a friend agrees to help her other friend find a girl to have sex with before the day is over; they go through several quirky candidates looking for the titular perfect one night stand.

[pluckyredhead]

I want to get into DC comics, but there's so any of them that I have no idea where to start. Specifically I want to read about Kon (from origin and then dying and then how that affected YJ). Do you have any recommendations on what to read?

Absolutely! So you're in luck with Kon because he got his own series almost immediately after his debut, Superboy (1994), so his story is pretty easy to follow. I would recommend starting there rather than his very first appearances. Kon debuted during the Death of Superman storyline and that was a big storyline that ran across multiple books so it's hard to follow, but his solo series will catch you up on the important information pretty quickly.

Overall I would say Kon's series is a solid B; it's fun to read but not great. But he's very lovable in it and it's a great introduction to who he is as a person. Also, it's like the 90s threw up all over everything and I love that for him.

When you finish Superboy or get sick of it, whichever comes first, I recommend reading Young Justice (1998). You could even start here, honestly, but Kon had already been around for five years at that point so he's not quite a baby anymore. YJ is a better comic than Superboy, a solid A, and obviously showcases his relationships with the rest of the team.

(Just to be clear, I am giving you a lot of homework here: Superboy is 100 issues long and Young Justice is 55. You don't have to read all of either series if you aren't enjoying them, but I didn't want you to be surprised when you saw how many issues there were!)

In 2003, Kon (and Tim, Bart, and Cassie) joined the Teen Titans. Teen Titans (2003) is a pretty OOC and bland portrayal of Kon and the others, but if you're interested in his death and the aftermath (or if you're a TimKon shipper and want to see Tim grieving), you should read it. Kon is only in it up to #33, because he's dead after that. His actual death is in Infinite Crisis which is an incredibly stupid comic but, like. It's there if you absolutely must put yourself through it.

Kon came back to life in Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds which I've never read so I can't vouch for it. He rejoined the Titans with Teen Titans #81 and stayed with the team through the end of the series, but like...those comics are really bad. If you want to read post-resurrection Kon, I recommend Adventure Comics (2009) instead. Kon stars in the first 10 issues or so and they're lovely. He also had another very short lived Superboy series in 2010 which I've read but remember nothing about.

Do not read anything from the New 52 (September 2011-June 2016); that Kon is technically a different character and all of the books he appears in are unreadably bad.

Our Kon returned in Young Justice (2019), which is...fine? It's fine. Superboy: Man of Tomorrow is a recent 6-issue miniseries and it's also fine.

Don't read Superboy and the Ravers, it is 10000% not worth it.

The TL;DR for recommended/key reads:

Read Superboy 1994

Then Young Justice 1998 (or the other way around if you don't care about going in order)

If you are really committed, you can go back and read Reign of the Superman to see Kon's debut and very early appearances, but you don't have to

Then Teen Titans 2003; you can stop after #33 unless you want to see Tim having a mental breakdown

Read Infinite Crisis if you want to read Kon's death, and honestly you can just skim everything that isn't his death scene

Adventure Comics 2009 until it becomes a Legion book

YJ 2018 and Superboy: Man of Tomorrow

I will end with my usual caveat that if you are very new to comics, you will occasionally be confused by what you're reading. There will be references to comics you haven't read and occasional crossovers with other books that will cause unavoidable gaps in your reading. Please just try to roll with it, or look at those moments as interesting new paths to wander down. It's okay if you don't know everything right away. That's what makes it fun!

[laurelnose]

a disorganized pile of ninefox ttrpg thoughts

it is HERE! also it was late in shipping by like, a day? or two? so android press sent me the PDF version also, which was very very nice of them. For this I will forgive them the weird jank in the PDF version’s character encoding. (Maybe like 5% of characters consistently copy-paste as different characters. I think they fucked up the font subsetting somehow. It’s fine, it’s just weird. Makes quoting it a little bit of a hassle. Might be less fine if you use a screenreader.)

So pleased with several little random details which are not at all relevant to like, gameplay or the worldbuilding at large but which I just kind of wanted to know. The calendar months! The full set of Kel rank symbols! Signifiers for Kujen and Tseya! <3 Also, an additional set of symbolism for the factions per the calendar months? If I’m reading this correctly it's Rahal/Wood (!?), Andan/Bells, and Vidona/Knives. [We basically knew the other three, which are Shuos/Eyes, Kel/Pyres, and Nirai/Stars.] As a visual artist I am contractually obliged to be hype about all my little guys getting Symbols, they make my life easy and fun.

This is a slim little volume, so it’s light on lore details that you couldn’t find either a) in the actual series or b) on Lee's dreamwidth. That said, one new bit was that it was not previously clear to me that the nominal arrangement of power in the heptarchate was explicitly unequal between the Liozh and the others — I thought the extant six turned on the Liozh as one of their fellows, not that they deposed the ruling faction. Interesting.

Disappointing: there are no mechanics for the calendar besides the ability to tag the current festival/remembrance. :( I wanted to roll dice about calendrical rituals!! Funnily enough there's a whole little caveat section where he’s like, inevitably someone will want to have space battles, which can be accommodated by keeping them character-focused bc this system is not designed for battle sim crunch. No similar apology for those who might want magic system crunch, if anyone wanted any further evidence that Lee and Jedao are the same guy, lmao.

Other than that I’m not actually that much of a crunchy rules guy myself so I like the system itself fine. I enjoy the concept of every check involving not necessarily skills but character traits. And also the commitment to sixes. You need A LOT of d6s for this game.

If you’re really committed I think it would be fun to play with a set of these (normal d6s except instead of numbers or pips they have clock faces showing hours 1-6):

Jedao’s character sheet is so funny. “Complications: I have abysmal taste in lovers.” BE NICE TO HIM LMAO

It’s not entirely clear to me under which circumstances you wind up the Hexarchate Clock. Is it actually only if Kujen is in play? Does that mean he’s literally required if you want to run a long take-down-the-whole-hxx campaign?

The prewritten scenarios are neat! I don’t have a lot to say about them. They look like they would be fun. I like “The Field of Diplomacy” and the concept of the adjacent polity a lot. Oh also the note at the end of “A Heretical Sacrifice” that is just like “if the ‘human sacrifice’ bit is too vague for you and you want to add more torture, here are some ideas!” is 1) funny and 2) appreciably graphic and wince-inducing. HXX-typical gore: delivered on!

This is a petty note, but excluding servitor PCs on the grounds that this is a game about moral complicity and thus only human faction members can be PCs sure is a Statement. I know servitors are slaves and thus the moral calculus is certainly different, but like, the complicity is the entire point of Hemiola’s arc??? And faction servitors quite obviously often consider themselves to be legitimately part of that faction? The one Shuos servitor we meet is as interested in games as any fox, the assault on Shattered Needles is made possible because the Unspoken Law’s servitors consider themselves Kel, the Aerie interlude with sin 𝑥² is about a servitor who considers itself so deeply Kel it wants to go down with the hivemind. I understand they complicate things mechanically but excluding servitors for thematic reasons is silly.

That said, I feel like a servitor hack wouldn’t be too much more mechanically complex. None of the prewritten scenarios work with an all-servitor group, but I think they could all be run with one or maaybe two servitor PCs. You’d have to do some pregaming to figure out how you’d open communication between human/servitor PCs. Lore-wise, the faction traits are clearly not meant to represent the faction exotics or the Shuos wouldn’t have one; they read more like “specialized skills developed as a consequence of picking this faction” than calendrical stuff, so faction servitors could have standard faction abilities, with the caveat that a lot of interpersonal Edges may be hard for Andan servitors to hit on account of social interaction between servitors & humans being, well, you know. Alternatively, no faction abilities for servitors, but all servitors +2d6 to anything involving grid-diving and/or mechanics. Servitors can have ranks just like human PCs, though these ranks are only relevant to other servitors (and possibly moths). Servitors can probably tag calendar traits like humans, they just can’t participate in formations or affect calendrical gradients (neither of which have explicit mechanics in this system anyways). Heresies are the same for servitors as humans.

This really made me want to dig out that calendrical cryptocurrency heist concept I had to see if I can put together a scenario. And maybe also make some cardboard game spinners for a tactile clock experience...

[soldier-poet-king]

hello!! no pressure to answer this but i was wondering do you have any recommendations for books, specifically books that made you feel things very deeply? i know that's vague and weird but like i also love the goblin emperor/baru cormorant/similar books as you and i was wondering if you had any faves you'd like to share :) i am looking for a book that will put me in agony in a good way lol

HELLO FRIEND

okay so I am a Big Emotional Dummy so everything makes me feel very deeply, whether or not it's actually any good. So I'll try to keep it to recs that I felt alot while reading, after reading, and I think are actually good.

Also idk if you want specific genres or sticking to fiction, so I'm just gonna throw a whole whack of things at you, hope that's ok!!! I'll also try to avoid super popular recs (like trc or ursula k le guin) not because i love them less, just because you've probably already heard of them?

Hands of the Emperor - Victoria Goddard - probably my current fave book and protag, read it twice in less than a year despite it being like 1200 pages, if i loved it less i could talk about it more, and without crying. maybe it's niche and imperfect, but to ME? book of all time

The Queen's Thief - Megan Whalen Turner - fave book series for more than a decade, makes me experience shrimp emotions that nothing else will ever be able to replicate

Piranesi - Susanna Clarke - how did a portal fantasy meets psychological horror become actually the most existentially comforting book in the world

Tuyo - Rachel Neumeier - technically a series, with 3 main novels and other novels and novellas about other characters (which i enjoyed less but still), but def start with tuyo. I fully went in expecting to not like it At All and was blown away???? I wept. I still weep. I can't explain why I love it without spoilers but it's technically a fantasy war story and yet is almost entirely character driven

Wind, Sand, and Stars - Antione de Saint-Exupery -reading this rn and technically it's billed as a memoir and adventure novel but actually its an existential meditation on the nature of human interaction and the soul and definitely comes from the same core as The Little Prince

If you HAVENT read the cemeteries of amalo/thara celehar spinoff of the goblin emperor PLEASE do, in many ways i love them even more than tge bc thara is up there with kip mdang in terms of characters i cant talk about without crying because it's too personal

The Sparrow Duology - Mary Doria Russell - PLEASE check the trigger warnings, unlike most of the recs on this list, this falls way more to the side of Baru in terms of dark content, but also it's maybe the closest I've ever come to being at peace

I'm definitely missing things, but these are all the books that have made me want to chew drywall in the last 2 years. I've also linked my goodreads here with the caveat that my ratings skew high because i am very much a 'i didnt say it was good, i said i enjoyed it/was entertained' type person. also i have read a lot of trash YA. oops. like yes some of it is real bad but also some of it makes me Feel Some Things even (or especially??) when it's real bad.

Friends pls chime in with your recs, and also please rec things to me!! Am seeking new and interesting emotions previously unknown to humankind.

[kanerallels]

So... what SW Legends stuff would you recommend? I've already started reading Heir to the Empire, if that helps?

Ooooh!! Okay Heir to the Empire is the PERFECT starting place, that's where I started too! (I think. I also vaguely remembering reading these Darth Bane books when I was younger, but I digress)

(edit: also, I am not an expert on Legends, so if anyone who knows it better would like to offer any other recs (in a respectful manner that doesn't involve talking about how much you hate the sequels) feel free to add to this post!)

Others that I would recommend would definitely depend on what era you're looking for, but most of the stuff I know is post Return of the Jedi. If it's not, I'll make sure you know! (I'm gonna put part of this under a cut, it got kinda long)

The Hand of Thrawn duology. It's set like ten years after Heir to the Empire, and wraps up the events of those books super well! Plus it has more Talon Karrde, who is my favorite background character ever. The first book is Specter of the Past, by Timothy Zahn!

If you're a Mace Windu fan, Shatterpoint by Matthew Stover was really good! It's set near the end of the Clone Wars, and is about a mission he went on to find his missing apprentice. It was fun to read from Mace's point of view, and see how he's actually a lot more caring than a lot of fans depict him. Also, he headbutts a shocking amount of people. Mace is not immune to the chaos gene that comes with being Force sensitive

Technically, these are kids books and I might only like them because nostaglia, but the Last of the Jedi series by Jude Watson is fun! It's set directly after Order 66, and follows a former Jedi who grew up with Anakin, and the escapades and hijinks he gets up to

The Rogue Squadron books by Michael A. Stackpole are pretty good, especially if you like fighter pilot shenanigans. Rogue Squadron is Wedge Antilles's elite squad of pilots, and the main character is Corran Horn, who is a former Corellian Security member (basically a cop) and gets into all KINDS of trouble. I've only technically read a couple of those books, and admittedly, I don't like them as much as their follow up series. But if you do enjoy these books, you should check out I, Jedi, by Michael A. Stackpole, which is about Corran in later life

The follow up series is the Wraith Squadron books by Aaron Allston. It's also about a squadron Wedge put together, but it's made up of washouts and rejects, and they end up as a black ops division. It's simultaneously really sad and some of the funniest Star Wars I've ever read, and there's a running joke about an Ewok lieutenant

I'm gonna recommend the Republic Commando series by Karen Traviss, but with a caveat. Karen Traviss, for some reason, seems to really, really hate the Jedi. And that is reflected in her writing, but it's almost worth it for the Mandalorians adopting clones and the TRAGEDY. This one is set during the end of the Clone War, through Order 66. It also does not end super satisfyingly, but it's weirdly good anyways. So it's really up to you whether or not you think you can handle the rampant loathing of Jedi

Uhhh let's see, what else. There are so so many Legends books. The Jedi Academy Trilogy by Kevin J Anderson isn't the best written, but it gives you a really good look at what Luke's new Jedi Order looks like as he's building (and also happens, timeline-wise, at the same time as I, Jedi)

I think those are the main ones I know well enough to recommend! In my experience, anything by Timothy Zahn or Aaron Allston is pretty good. Avoid Troy Denning at all cost-- he does not, in my experience, write stuff that is particularly admirable, and it can be kinda gross. If you end up with a particular character you like a lot who you're looking for more content of, there's a good chance there's more out there! Feel free to send me any other questions you have, and don't feel pressure to read all of it. No one can possibly be an expert on all of Star Wars, there's just. Way too much of it (of course that's not really gonna stop me from trying)

[seamayweed]

I have just gotten in mctna clearly very late to the party. Thank you for all the beautiful gifs. ❤️❤️❤️🍑

I just wanted to know if you knew any meta posts or discussions about the characters out there I can delve into?

Yaaay, welcome, welcome, we are always happy (starved) for fresh blood in the fandom! \o/ 💙💙💙 Ahhh sdjfklsdflsfd thank you for paying attention to my gifs and calling them beautiful!! 🥰 *dances in a circle like an overexcited puppy*

Please beware: these are most likely not spoiler-free!

For the older meta/discussions, @convenientalias and her ‘my country the new age’ tag (starts at page 20) is a good place to start. I remember this Seon-ho meta and also love reading everyone's responses to this mctna list of questions she created. There’s @dangermousie and their ‘my country’ tag (starts at page 11), @hedvig-ulrika has a lot of good meta posts as well, right now I can only think of this one (marketplace scene) and this one (Seonhwi scene towards the end), and this one for Seon-ho & Sung-rok. For Seonrok stuff in general, platonic or otherwise, the ‘seonrok’ tag by @pashminabitch is a treasure trove, @sadviper has great thoughts about them too (and I enjoyed reading their top 5 mctna scenes), @valarinde has meta about this very heart-wrenching scene, and @eohachu has written compelling meta about them too; their ‘seonrok’ and ‘nn meta’ tags are def worth checking out. @strandedchesspiece has an amazing series of mctna meta posts. I really love @the2headedcalf ’s Seonhwi meta (1, 2). @ciriwrites has written this excellent meta that led to an interesting discussion and other meta, @staidwaters has this headcanon about how Seonhwi became best friends, and @rain-hat has a lot of intelligent and eloquent meta in her ‘my country the new age’ tag and got a lot of mctna asks a while ago. You can also read @crayonflop 's very entertaining commentary in their ‘my country’ tag (starts at page 28), then there’s @husberttee with an interesting discussion about Sung-rok and his scar. This funny text post about Sung-rok + Seonhwi by @petekaos always makes me smile. This one is good too - all the Seon-ho feels! @bienmoreau has meta posts like this one about Seon-ho and his brother and @tlanwen has good meta and web weavings too. And @elderflowergin 's description of Bang-won's voice is perfect. There are others like @crithir, @eremin0109, @asena-queenslayer, @monstersqueen, @mctna, @doorhine with a scene comparison here and dozens of others who I remember writing mctna meta, in the tags or otherwise! This anon ask sent to fatallist (who has sadly deactivated) about the water/river symbolism is interesting too. 

For more recent stuff, we have @howlingmusketeers ’s Bang-won meta, @nubreed73 ’s thought-provoking commentary here (you can find more in their ‘meta’ or ‘my country the new age’ tag), @wangkuans here (there's more in their ‘my country the new age’ tag too), @navramanan has this edit/tags-meta and meta, and @itsza recently watched mctna and has made some posts too.

Of course, you can also feel free to check out my ‘mctna meta’ tag or ‘color meta’ tag! :D

I’m sure I missed a lot of the early discussions since I only discovered the fandom a year after mctna was airing... Please forgive me, friends, if I missed anyone /o\

A small caveat: I’m very clearly biased towards Seon-ho who's my fave, and there are some Hwi-resenting meta posts/tags you may encounter on my or other people’s blogs. I started out being quite critical of him, but after many good discussions with some of my friends I’ve come to understand his side of things more. As such, I'm trying to avoid being too harsh on him and am determined to love the boys more equally now!

There are a few critical takes on Seon-ho or Bang-won or Hui-jae too, but I think it’s a sign of what amazing, complex characters they are that they elicit such strong emotions in us and we feel compelled to take sides!

Thank you for the ask and have fun in the mctna fandom!! <333

[adventures-in-asexuality]

End-of-year ramblings

Video games

Yeah, okay, let's start here. Obviously I played a truly inexplicable very explicable amount of FFXIV this year, and will continue to do so (can't believe Dawntrail will be dropping next year; we've stuck at it through all the waits between patches).

Baldur's Gate 3 was fun; I didn't expect to play it, but so many people I know loved it that I had to try, and I'm glad I did.

The same really goes for Cyberpunk 2077; honestly most of what I like about the game is the experience of it, rather than the stories. Whoosh! Zoom! Neon and doublejumping!

The other major new game this year for me was Mask of the Rose; I really loved it! I think the post-release patches helped it a lot as a game, but honestly I was hooked right from the beginning. (This was probably the start of the series of events that got a friend playing Sunless Skies/me replaying Sunless Skies/me returning to Fallen London and accidentally convincing some friends to also do so. No regrets.)

Music

Big album this year has to be Bury the Lede by Dessa. I was going to listen and enjoy it no matter what, but I really do like the way a lot of the songs resonate with growing older, still having all the same big feelings, but being way too tired to deal with them in any kind of high-octane way. What if I'm Not Ready in particular really tugs at something in me.

I'm not sure I have more new music this year; I've been a bit disconnected from everything, mostly listening to music when someone hurls links my way. Maybe next year!

Books

I read a lot of books this year, as ever, but the vast majority have been rereads; I've been quite low on book recs again. Here's a few of the new ones - I won't cover all of them because I don't have that kind of patience. (Counted - 33 new ones - which, compared to the sheer number of rereads, is low.)

She Who Became the Sun/He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan were a fun pair of books, about a girl who steals her brother's name and destiny when he dies so that she can shape the world/become the emperor. I liked some of the gender vibes you get in this - Zhu Yuanzheng's gender is never really defined, but also never at all fits in a binary mould. A lot of the second book, however, felt a bit extraneous and a bit gratuitous in various directions. Overall, I think this is a rec for reading the first one and skipping the second.

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle - everyone reading this probably already knows, but yeah, this is good. There's always something special to me about stories about queer kids in fundamentalist Christian churches - sure, it's usually American churches, but it's still a commonality that resonates powerfully with me. Read it.

Somewhere in summer I read all of Tana French's murder mysteries. I quite liked the Dublin Murder Squad books - nothing special but fun - but I honestly really disliked her two later standalones. The politics in them just set my teeth on edge a bit - The Wych Elm's protagonist is so dismissive about disability that, while I know it's part of his characterisation, it still left a bad taste in my mouth; The Searcher's protagonist has some views on politeness and morality that just make me sigh. (Rec for the murder squad books if you, like me, just really like murder mysteries.)

The Stone Gods by Jeanette Winterson: every year I'll read one more of her books, I guess. They're always good. They always haunt me.

Translation State by Ann Leckie was good; of course it was. I think it comes with my biggest overall caveat for an Ann Leckie book (I really wish Qven and Reet's subplot had ended differently; I know it was written as a metaphor for something else, but I read and resonated with it as a metaphor for aceness, which the ending doesn't leave space for) but it was still great. And we saw Sphene again!!

TV/film

Not much this year; my brain hasn't been in the right space for it.

Watched the Evangelion rebuild - I still haven't seen the original series so this was an interesting experience. I'm not really sure what my takeaway from it was, or what exactly I watched (apart from giant photorealistic Rei - we watched the fourth film in the cinema, so it was truly giant) but hey, I get more references now.

That same group of miscreants has been watching Lexx - seriously, do not watch this. It's rancid. It's so bad we have lost the ability to evaluate media, because everything else is good compared to it. Awful. Terrible. 15 more hours to go until we're free. I'm not going to describe it because the descriptions sound interesting and it is a terrible show. Never watch it. Strangle anyone who tries to make you.

Almost forgot, but I think this was the year I watched Yellowjackets - phenomenal even when your point of comparison isn't Lexx. I'm waiting for the third season with bated breath. It's so good. It's so awful. It's breaking my heart. Please watch this immediately and then come scream with me.

I'm also making my way through Young Pope, which - I don't know if I'd say that I'm enjoying it, but it is certainly doing things to my brain. It resonates with me in a similar way to Camp Damascus; even though they're on very different areas of the right-wing Christian spectrum, the fundamental beliefs and desires and angers and fears and reactions are the same.

Heaven's Official Blessing Season 2 finally happened!!! I'm still working my way through it - the friend I watch with has had no time this year, so we're using the holidays for it - but, oh, I love this book and these characters so much.

More personal stuff

Work has actually been quite bad this year; I've largely been on a project that's gotten worse and worse as the year goes on, in a way I fundamentally cannot fix but have to try to anyway. I've been circling between 'I hate this, I should job search' and 'I'm so bad at everything, only this job would put up with me' and 'at least wfh doesn't mean I'm in danger of losing it'. By Easter or so, I should be free from it at last, so I'll keep an eye out and hopefully things will even out again.

Home has, however, been a lot better. I moved towns at the end of last year to somewhere that has more friends and a more walkable town centre (and much cheaper rent) and it's been an excellent choice. Only having to walk five minutes or so to get to a shop or see a friend has meant that I've been able to practise walking five minutes or so (whereas in my last place, it was a walk then a twenty-minute bus ride just to the town centre) - and that in turn has meant that I've been able to build that up bit by bit, and occasionally run headlong into my limits in the process.

It's been a bit of a weird holiday season in particular for me this year, laced with grief and memories. Hosting a Christmas dinner and cooking with several other people felt right in a way it's hard to really put words to, and also reminded me very strongly of my grandmother. Her house was always a gathering place for all the family, as well as a refuge; it's eight or nine years since I last set foot inside it and yet I could still tell you the layout of her kitchen, the mnemonic for the bank of eight light switches in the hallway, the warmest place in winter and the coolest place in summer. Nowhere I've lived before has been nice enough for people to visit often, let alone to cook in or to know their way around; cooking and organising with people, seeing them remember locations and extend tables and understand the hob, soothes something it is difficult to explain.

Next year, then:

I hope to have somewhat more brain and less exhaustion (I've been so tired all year, which is tedious as fuck).

I hope for many of my friends to have considerably better years, and that the rest will continue to have good years. (I am threatening the years with a knife until they are kind to all of you.)

I hope to continue to shape this flat into somewhere pleasant to be, and persuade people to be there from time to time.

I hope to get a better idea of my work situation when I'm not on a horrible project.

I hope that the GIC might at least tell me that I'm on a waiting list!

I intend to find a tangible creative hobby one way or the other (taking suggestions as long as you can present a use case for the hobby; Queenie keeps suggesting knitting in the abstract).

And, as always, I hope to love more freely, be kinder and more helpful, and to try to build a future that has space for me.

[not-poignant]

Hey Pia! I love your fics that often lean towards these slightly (more than slightly) mean, controlling tops. While waiting excitedly for the next chapter of Stain- I couldn’t help but wonder if there were fics/writers you would have an idea to recommend? Or even maybe inspirations?

Highly recommend checking out my AO3 bookmarks, because a lot of stuff in there I'd rec for other people!

And the tags usually indicate what kind of relationship it's going to be.

Otherwise, I... like very honestly anon, I consider myself to be a very lazy fic writer, which basically means that if I can find something I want in a fandom, I will not write any fanfiction for that fandom.

So a lot of the time I really feel like I'm writing into a vacuum or hollow of finding the specific combinations of things I want, which often makes it hard to think of recommendations. Because the reason I end up writing these stories is because - exactly because - I don't have recommendations, and because I decided I'd write the story myself to my own specific parameters.

That doesn't mean I haven't read amazing stories with these things! Thorki has a ton of mean/controlling tops (check out my Thorki bookmarks!), for example. But it does mean if I had the exact kind of controlling Sebastian to read - even in another fandom - I wouldn't write that fic anon, I'd be reading it. And rereading it.

Almost all of my fanfiction exists because I looked for the thing and couldn't find the thing.

That also explains my absence from certain fandoms I really love. Thorki really delivers on mean tops (whether it's Loki or Thor lol), as does Black Butler/Sebaciel, and also Chuuya/Dazai (checkout the Love series by Dgalerab). I may write stories for those fandoms in the future, but I don't really feel the need to, because I feel like what I'm looking for there has mostly been written in the most amazing ways already.

(Also standard caveat that I always have to put into responses like this - I'm not saying my fic is the best in the fandom because it's really fucking not. What I am saying is that I like a specific combination of hurt/comfort, angst, happy ending, long serial, crunchy noncon, decent characterisation, etc. in a way that works specifically for me, and I am dogheaded enough to be like 'fuck it I'll write it then' because I know I enjoy rereading my own writing lol -

Definitely not trying to say my writing is even good in a fandom, I'm just like... over at the salad bar making my weird bizarre salad because no one thought to make that salad first and I got mad about it. I really don't expect anyone else to eat a salad that's mostly just onion and 1000 island dressing. And sometimes I don't think other people expect to like it lmao)

[juliusmode]

watched Genesis of Aquarion (2005) ! holy shit !

I almost dropped this show like twice due to some extremely rough showings in the first batch of episodes but honestly? It really kept turning it around with its insane sense of creativity and pure x-factor. I might love this show?

I have an ongoing relationship with mostly forgotten, boundary pushing 3DCG/2D digipaint composite anime (see: blassreiter); it's such an experimental era, pushing through different philosophies about its integration and Aquarion is definitely one of the more graceful ones. 3DCG feels like a natural fit for mecha works, but the way Aquarion handles its integration and animation feels really slick! It's a pretty damn good looking show to me (for the most part), and I don't know if that says something about my own tastes or how well this show's art direction and visuals hold up.

I got into Aquarion expecting a much more rote, mid-budget show? There's definitely a loose status quo at play but every episode feels like it wants to dig into a major theme or idea, however outlandish. While Aquarion is definitely Cool As Hell, it's not really supposed to be a brutal destroyer or arm of violence; so much of the show is spent pontificating on building a healthier relationship with the earth, the people around you, and your perception of all of it. All of this allows Aquarion to do some truly unshackled stuff, and the ideas and action frequently break out into the outlandish.

Spot one of my favorite episodes from the show, where the crew get trapped in another dimension marked by a completely different art and animation style from the whole rest of the show. So cool.

THE MUSIC TOO! God, the music is so good; Yoko Kanno on score duty and AKINO on insert and title tracks. I have to take a moment to share my favorite insert track (Heath of the Wasteland); while the OPs are legendary, this track is my favorite.

I found myself thinking at the end, "Man, there's so many one-off episodes here that I really enjoy..." and realized... hang on, that's the whole show! Even if the thematic core across the show is a little wobbly, bringing the series' individual cores together makes for an unbreakable whole.

... Where was I?

Yes, the characters!! While the early show (and... some of the later show in bursts) treats its girls pretty badly, I think as the show goes on, it gets away from its early series skeevy disposition (for the most part) and everybody gets their time in the sun! (Even if chained to a man in their emotional arcs. It is the mecha genre.)

I like Apollo and his haughty dogboy demeanor! He's a really fun protagonist, and his connections with the rest of the cast are great. I like Reika and her arc in trying to fight through her depression and sadness! I like the emotional bond she forms with Tsugumi and how it borders on yuri! I quite like Sylvia working past her unhealthy brother complex and finding a stronger and healthier place as the spunky heart of the Aquarion crew!

Even if the bulk of the character writing can be a bit shallow, I did find myself getting really attached to all the DEAVA crew at the end.

Something that does weaken the writing a bit is the "past lives" angle that the writers seem to assume is doing to do a lot of the heavy lifting for them; not something I'm super big on or something that really works in the show. It feels like an early excuse to get the cast together that overstays its welcome in some regards.

There's other caveats, as well. The show really struggles under the weight of the aforementioned "fanservice" and between that and pretty standard tropes tying women to men... it feels like it really struggles with giving its girls dignity; not in a way uncommon to the genre but still uncomfortable enough to mention. It brings down the whole series.

Then there's Episode 17, which... I really don't like dieting plotlines and the entire ordeal at the scale it gets to feels legitimately harrowing, even if it does come down on the bare minimum side of "eating and nourishing your body is good". It's bad and uncomfortable in how it combination sexualizes and denigrates its girls for the weight complex the writers decided to drop onto them for this episode. You're insane. This is terrible messaging.

Due diligence!

I do think once you're able to power through the rougher stuff, Aquarion manages to hit some astonishingly great heights and stays at those heights for huge stretches before it drops the ball. I don't know where it fits in the already stuffed pantheon of mecha anime, but it has definitely Mugen Punched its way into my heart.

Now to never, ever touch those sequels. (If anyone has a link to the original series OVAs, though, hit me up!)

[landgraabbed]

hi! i was wondering if you had game recs for someone that has only played sims and stardew on pc! im the person and i want to start playing more stuff but i dont want to start with something too difficult i hope that makes sense 🐣 thank you and i hope you enjoy your weekend

hi nonners!! sure thing! a huge chunk of my childhood gaming was harvest moon and sims so let's see! my gaming tastes are very unified yet all over the place so don't take this as gospel and something you will For Sure enjoy! feel free to follow up if any game/genre piques your interest!

if you never did so, i would recommend giving the sims handheld games (namely, sims bustin' out, urbz, and sims 2 on the gba/ds). they're still in the universe of the sims so you take care of your lil sim/urb but they're adventure games where you're given tasks and progress through the story. the writing is silly but good, and the characters are fun, though the games may feel grindy at times. feel free to hit me up if you'd like, i can hook you up with them!

in the farming sim/resource manager sim, i can recommend you the harvest moon games, now story of seasons. story of seasons: a wonderful life just came out on the switch, and i think other platforms, and it is a remake of the iconic a wonderful life. just keep in mind that it might feel like a step down from just how much content is in stardew valley! there's also the rune factory series, my time at portia (and the upcoming my time at sandrock), ooblets, graveyard keeper, calico, and animal crossing. oh!! and kynseed. kynseed is lovely and it looks gorgeous and it is a life sim where you play as successive generations, with lots of fae elements. it can get a bit grindy but i've greatly enjoyed my time with it.

(and i just started wylde flowers since i got it on sale this week, and i've been really enjoyed it so far, but can't provide a full recommendation since i've had so little time with it)

if you enjoy the decorating part of the sims, i can recommend you the tenants. it's a game where you play as a landlord, decorate houses, find renters, and most importantly do renovation jobs for clients.

if you're in the mood for something sandbox-y, other than animal crossing i think that no man's sky could scratch that itch (you can fully customize options such as resource availability, combat difficulty, etc) and, of course the legend of zelda breath of the wild (and i can only assume tears of the kingdom, but i haven't started that one yet)

if you're wanting to dip your toes into different genres, such as rpgs, i can recommend you the elder scrolls series (especially skyrim is more streamlined and thus, more beginner friendly) and dragon age. both series have difficulty settings you can change as you feel more or less comfortable. if you're interested in party-based, turn-based rpgs, you can't go wrong with the final fantasy series, golden sun, and octopath traveler (which is a recent favorite that i wholeheartedly love, with the caveat that if someone is looking for a large, overarching story it is not the game that will provide that)

edit to add story-based games. there are many but i won't cite what maybe most people would recommend bc i either haven't played it or dislike it. i really enjoyed oxenfree, not tonight, road 96, and most importantly of all, kentucky route zero. my sibling adores the dreamfall chapters series and i really enjoy watching them play it! and my wife (a much more casual player than me but whom i love watching play and has great taste) loved playing strange horticulture, the sexy brutale, eastshade, and coffee talk (episodes 1 and 2)

please keep in mind there's some overlap between categories! and i think that most games will be approachable to beginners. nobody was born knowing how to play games and i find that most games do a good job of bringing players up to speed.

sorry for the long reply!! gaming is just a bit of a big interest for me since it's my preferred medium and i'm a rambler haha. as i said, feel free to hmu again on or off anon!! and hope u too are having a great weekend

[trillscienceofficer]

Hi :) do you know some Star Trek books you could recommend? I've heard some of them aren't great so I was a little hesitant to go through all of them

I DO have Trek book recs! I imagine you're asking for novels &co. and not, for example, titles like “The Fifty-Year Mission” or “The DS9 Companion” which are non-fiction books concerned with the production of the shows (but in any case the two I've cited are my favorites and I think especially the first one is a clear recommendation for any Trekkie). Also caveat that... I've not read that many novels either because, like you, I'm kinda skittish about wading through them all, especially after I've encountered a few really terrible ones.

Anyway here goes, divided in in 'Novels', 'Things that aren't novels but I recommend anyway' and a few titles on my TBR list that sound good and I feel confident suggesting even if I haven't gotten around to reading them yet.

Novels

The Lives of Dax (short story anthology, 1999) This is unquestionably still my favorite fiction tie-in for the Trek universe. Not all stories are good (Emony's and Curzon's are especially bad) but the ones I like are truly outstanding to me and inform my understanding of the Dax hosts to this day. I love the fact that it's framed as Ezri remembering various events of her previous lives. It's an easy read, given the format, and if you're willing to be patient with some stories the other ones will totally deliver, imho!

Catalyst of Sorrows by Margaret Wander Bonanno (2004) This book is part of 'The Lost Era' series, which tried to fill in the gap between the TOS movies and TNG. This one in particular is wild; main cast includes Uhura, Crusher, Sisko and Tuvok (the latter two going on a road trip!) and it's also a fairly deep dive into Romulan society written by someone who was obviously a DS9 fan. This was recommended to me many years ago by @senyorspock and if you like Senator Cretak from S7 of DS9 this is definitely a book you want to read.

Worlds of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Volume Two (anthology, 2005) I have mixed feelings about some of the directions taken by the two novels in this book but I think they're ultimately both enjoyable and contain some fun and poignant elements (the scene where Ezri visits Jadzia's grave on Trill is permanently engraved in my brain). If you like Trills and the Sisko family I definitely recommend this book.

Hollow Men by Una McCormack (2005) This novel is a fun follow-up to "In The Pale Moonlight" and while it is a little too concerned with sympathizing with poor little meow meow Garak for my taste (I realize here my opinion differs from most other DS9 fans) I still liked for its explorations of Benjamin Sisko's state of mind at the height of the Dominion War. Also I ugly laughed at every scene Sisko and Garak have together, I do enjoy when they butt heads but still need each other... it is a well-written book!

String Theory - Cohesion by Jeffrey Lang (2005) Unlike the others this is strictly a Voyager novel, set in the Delta Quadrant. This book gets... a little bogged down by its own cleverness sometimes but the author was clearly concerned with science and world-building making sense, which I can't argue against. But you're not here for this: the best part of the book is B'Elanna and Seven getting stranded on the surface of a planet and being forced to form a 'collective of two' in order to survive. It goes as well as you can expect (yes they absolutely still manage to fight even when telepathically linked), and it is amazing. I don't always agree with their characterization here but this novel is, to me, the episode with a B'Elanna&Seven B-plot that we never got on the show. (This book is also the first of a trilogy but I found the second one unreadable and I hear the third completely ditches the themes established by the first two, so.)

Spock's World by Diane Duane (1988) This novel is a classic for a reason. I wholeheartedly recommend it even if a lot of the Vulcan world-building & characterization in it isn't strictly canon anymore. I love the way it alternates between the present and the past of Vulcan, and the Enterprise. The history of the planet is told through episodes but they are so effective in explaining why Vulcans are the way they are. If you've never read a Trek novel before and you love TOS, definitely start here.

I have a soft spot for the novelizations of Star Trek II, III, and IV by Vonda McIntyre, which contain some amazing backstory for Saavik and how she came to be Spock's protégée, as well as generally offering interesting characterization for side characters that the movies had no time to explore. Not all of it is still canon, given that they were written in the early eighties, but it's not a deal-breaker to me.

Things that aren't novels but I recommend anyway

Star Trek: Waypoint (Issues 1-6, which you can find in a single volume), Waypoint special and Waypoint special (2019). These are the BEST Trek comics, period. It's all short stories about the cast of the shows up to Enterprise, and the quality is amazingly high, consistently so. I'm not a big comic person and yet these get to me every time.

Hidden Universe Travel Guide: Vulcan (2016) and The Klingon Empire (2017), both by Dayton Ward. Okay I just... love the concept of these lol. They're travel guides! For Vulcan and the Klingon Empire! Neither takes itself too seriously (there are chapters such as 'So You Want To Purge All Of Your Emotions') but it's a nice riff on the Trek universe, and they're beautifully illustrated. Characters from all shows will occasionally chime in suggest their favorite places to visit, too, which was a pleasant surprise. For someone like me who has trouble coming up with world-building stuff on my own, both books have been giving me plenty of inspiration (of course I don't always agree with the way things are framed but hey, I didn't expect them to be perfect!)

In my TBR list

Dark Passions Vol 1 and 2 by Susan Wright. Wright wrote one of my fave stories from “The Lives of Dax” and these two novels sound absolutely wild, I can't wait to read about all the mirror versions of the Voyager characters

Time's Enemy by L. A. Graf. This collective of writers wrote arguably the best story in “The Lives of Dax” and they seem to share many of my sensibilities when it comes to writing these characters so I've been meaning to read this DS9 novel for a while!

The Rihannsu novels by Diane Duane, which are THE Romulan novels par excellence, I believe, but I still haven't gotten around to reading them somehow

Worlds of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Volume Three simply because I just found a paperback of it recently, and it sounds interesting

[lurkingteapot]

Thai BL Favorites Tag Game

Tagged by @lurkingshan, @ginnymoonbeam, @incandescentflower and @recentadultburnout! Created by @thatgirl4815 as Thai BL Favorites Tag Game, and that's the name I'm playing it under because, a) well, it's all BL on my particular list, it'd feel disingenious to call it anything else except maybe Y Series because we're talking Thai audiovisual media specifically and b) I'm not entirely comfortable with the unilateral renaming of a genre which which originated and grew into its current forms in another cultural context. Don't get me wrong, I made the jump from calling it Yaoi to Boys Love to BL in the 1990s and 2000s; I know to say danmei and dangai (or boy boy) when talking about it in context of media from China/Taiwan, or Y series when talking about it in Thai. If fans and markets in the communities of origin change the names again, so will I. But for now I'm sticking with the term BL. Thanks for understanding.

Favorite Thai BL: @lurkingshan makes a great point with best vs favourite, and her contenders are also mine – is ITSAY my favourite? is Bad Buddy? I suppose if we go by times rewatched, Bad Buddy takes the crown; if it's "what do I rec other people with the least amount of caveats", ITSAY wins.

Current obsession: Laws of Attraction, with Be My Favourite as a close second.

Favorite pairing: I don't particularly like this type of industrially-pushed shoehorning of actors together as a general rule (let's not pretend Julia Roberts and Richard Gere or Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire weren't also a kind of fixed ship, and I know the Philippines does a similar thing with their (mostly het) love teams – this is not Thai BL exclusive, at least historically speaking), but it clearly sells, so I don't think the industry's going to move away from this model for a long while yet.

That said: tough, but I think it'll have to be Billkin and PP. Just. Look at them act together. Look. Whether it's ITSAY/LTIP/IPYTM and related material, or one of the advertisement shorts or the incredible music videos from last year or even My Ambulance – they're just. So!!!!

Most underrated actor: Fiat Patchata. Give that boy a main role, goddamnit.

Favorite main character: quoting @lurkingshan here:

Teh, I Told Sunset About You and I Promised You the Moon. Yes, both shows, and before you all come yell at me: I SAID WHAT I SAID. 

because she's not the only one who loves this disaster of a boy.

Favorite side character: I really loved the friend group in Secret Crush on You, and Tin's friends in Triage.

Favorite scene in a BL: There are so many to choose from, but I'm going to go with the bus stop scene in Bad Buddy ep 3. The way brick shithouse Pat, all 180some beefy adolescent centimetres of him, turns himself into a cute girl at the drop of a hat … that rewired something in me, had me sit up and take notice (and block the Bad Buddy air time slot in my work calendar for the remain of the show's run time). Because they took it seriously. Didn't play it for laughs.

Favorite line in a BL: oh, there are so many. But I guess if we want to go with largest impact on me, personally, I'm gonna go with Thian in Khun Chaai going "May I love you, Jiu?" because. whew. That just hit me right in the feels.

Most anticipated BL (& why): Only Friends and Love in Translation. Only Friends because it looks to shake up a lot of the things we're used to from GMMTV in particular – I know we've had a little bit of flirting outside of the fixed ships this year already in Moonlight Chicken and Our Skyy 2, but if Jojo is going to shake it up more I'm very, very here for that. Love in Translation because the Thai title is รักไม่รู้ภาษา "Love doesn't know language" and languages are my jam.

Healthiest relationship in a BL: I don't really enjoy thinking about relationships in these terms because it just … urgh. I don't care if it's ''''healthy'''' (and seriously, who gets to decide what is and what isn't healthy, anyway? and why are we making this a moral judgement?)

Questions I do ask about relationships: Is the relationship compelling? is it believable? do the people involved behave like they don't only love and desire, but also like each other as people? that's what I want to know.

Most toxic relationship in a BL: see above. 

Ginny suggested Relationship dynamic I would most like to have myself: and Relationship dynamic I would least like to have myself: to replace the "healthy" and "toxic" questions and I think that's fantastic, but I'm honestly blanking on both so I'm skipping this part.

Guilty pleasure series: I like what I like, I don't see a reason to feel bad about that.

Most underrated series: He's Coming To Me. It's such a lovely little show.

If you'd like to play, please consider yourself tagged (and feel free to tag me if/when you play -- I'd love to see!)

[sewlastcentury]

I love your ‘Uno Reverse’ series! Photographs are a such a scarce but important resource for a dress historian, and this series really puts things into perspective. Thanks for doing this work!

Do you have any advice for someone like me who wants to become a dress conservator/historian? I’m a tailor’s apprentice but I’m having a lot of trouble deciding how to continue my education.

Glad you're enjoying it :)

Oooh, big question. Prepare for a lot of words:

Dress history is a weird field to get into. If you want to be a historian, unless you're independently wealthy and can just spend all your time researching and writing, the usual professions are curatorship and professorship. There aren't a lot of either position available - many settle for historical societies, small colleges, etc - and neither make much in the way of money. Definitely consider your options very thoroughly! (Though if you're a tailor's apprentice you probably already know that, lol.)

Conservation is - from my POV - a better choice in the long run, because while institutions can stop hiring people to teach or do research, any place with a collection has to keep conserving it. Conservators also make more money, no question.

I went to a program that specialized generalized in both (FIT). Like you, I was unsure of what I wanted, and the flexibility was attractive. Other programs tend to specialize in one or the other, and now that I've been through FIT's program, I understand exactly why. There was no way to give us both curricula in their entirety in the two years we had, and I ended up feeling like I barely learned anything. However, I was coming from having completed a long conservation internship; I had studied up pretty thoroughly on fashion history before I attended the program at all; and I had already been through a separate MA previously, so I already had research and writing skills on a higher level than FIT even cares about. Given that caveat.. if I were to go back in time with this info, I would attend a different program that specialized in one or the other and therefore provided more comprehensive skills.

If you're interested in conservation, my biggest piece of advice would be to do an internship, preferably with a firm that specializes in it or at a big museum with a dedicated department. That will give you experience and familiarity like nothing else and also help you to understand whether it's the right field for you. But internships like that can be pretty competitive, so the second best option is to volunteer at a local historical society or house museum. Almost all of them are constantly on the lookout for volunteers, especially ones interested in preservation and the more scientific side of collections management. You won't be paid, unfortunately, but the upside is that almost any small institution will happily take helpers because they're desperate and cash-strapped. Reading through online publications like the National Park Service's Conserve-O-Gram is a great way to start building knowledge if nobody there is equipped to give it to you. (Every institution I've worked at has had a copy on hand for reference, lol.)

I volunteered for a small house museum years back and literally on day one they threw me at the clothing collection and told me to dress mannequins and pack textiles. I had very little idea what I was doing, but it was a great learning experience - and one that you're never going to get at a museum internship because they're so much more careful about their objects and access. (Pros and cons, but hey.)

+ As far as I know, you will need an MA to be hired to most conservation positions, but there's no reason you can't get started in the field without it first and make sure that's the degree you want/need. In terms of curatorship/professorship, an MA will get you into small local colleges but for anything larger you'll need a PhD, and that's a big commitment. You have to really like academia to get one of those suckers! As far as I'm aware, there are no stipended MA programs and only one PhD program (Bard) in this specific field that pays, so again, you have to be fiscally comfortable (or willing to go into debt and work two jobs) to get an advanced degree in the subject. It's a vicious cycle that keeps a lot of people out, and institutions can afford to keep it up because it's so competitive. +

All that said, historic sewing is a fantastic way to get into the field because knowledge of construction and technique gives you an excellent understanding of historic dress, and hand sewing techniques are essential for conservation. You're already on the right track!

If you want any book recs, off of the top of my head Refashioning and Redress and The Care and Display of Historic Clothing are two great, readable volumes.

Let me know if you have any other questions, but hopefully this helps!

[mermaidsirennikita]

I miss the Lisa Kleypas from the Wallflowers and The Hathaways, The Ravenels are such a let down for me, don't get the hype (minus Marrying Winterborne, love Rhys)

I.... personally think the Ravenels is a series that works more for people who a) haven't read much of Lisa's backlist and b) often haven't read much historical romance at all c) are not open to the nuances of older historicals and the manner in which ~problematic content can appeal to some romance readers (and that's okay!).

(Caveat-ish: personally, I approach problematic~ content on a case by case basis. A lot of the time, things like consent issues, misogyny which often exists to be conquered, and sexualizing the heroine in general is not a super big negative because in part I think that allowing readers to experience safe fantasies of behavior and dynamics they otherwise would condemn in real life is part of why romance existed in the first place. Ironically, the reason why so many older romances have dubcon or noncon is because, in the very very early days of romance, it WAS less acceptable for women to be seen enjoying scandalous encounters in fiction, or publicly in real life. Cloaking these enjoyable encounters in a "I didn't want to want it" dubcon/noncon veil was a sly workaround and become encoded in the genre for a long time. And I don't think it's wrong for readers to still want that. I PERSONALLY have a harder time with light contemporaries featuring this behavior because it rings way too true to life, it's not a fantasy for me, but it is to others and that's okay.

In contrast.... racism and homophobia, for example, are not fantasies. So I don't find that acceptable in these books, unless, when handled with care, they are expressed by villains and confronted. Even then, I don't want to see a white writer approaching racism in their book, even if it's presented as a bad thing.)

ANYWAY.

I find a lot of Ravenels readers who read like, one older Kleypas book and couldn't stand how problematic it was, or maybe just read a scene or two. The Ravenels are watered down for the more recent readers. That's why you get things like St. Vincent getting a spotlight, but way toned down and Very Remorseful. Even if it feels OOC.

I think the idea that a book being problematic = low quality... really limited. There are problematic aspects to Dreaming of You, for example. The villain (a crazy woman who is insane because Derek dumped her, which, I wouldn't have gone as far as she did but I would in fact go somewhat insane if Derek Craven dumped me) is dated. Her threat to assault Sara in order to see what Derek was so stuck on is... problematic.

However, I do think that it's important to recognize the context and legacy Lisa was writing within at that time--and I also think that Joyce was at the time a more progressive version of this common villainess than say, the villainess of The Bride by Julie Garwood. Joyce's trauma from being married off to a monster when she was basically a child is referenced. (I personally read into it the idea that Joyce a) doesn't know how to develop or express healthy affection and b) she over-attached to Derek because nobody had really given her that kind of pleasure before and she interpreted it as meaning more than it did. Also, Derek is Derek. And gets it DONE.)

And anyway, a book can be problematic and have a great story. It can be problematic and be well-written. At times, the problematic content can be intentional and can contribute to that quality.

The Ravenels, to me, is very repetitive and very toned down. Even Marrying Winterbourne, in my opinion, gets a lot of work done by being very well-written, very romantic, and very character-based. If Rhys did not say "not five fucking minutes", would the book be as popular? I don't know. It is a really good book, EASILY the best Ravenels book... But even MW is not THAT original, you know? Rhys does owe a lot, imo, to Derek Craven and Simon Hunt--he's just a little softer.

Whereas Tom, whose book I do need to relisten to, is straight up from what I remember a watered down version of Harry Rutledge (just like West is a watered down version of Leo Hathaway). Maybe I'll feel differently when I read it again. The watering down seems essential. West, going back to a hero whose superior version I'm reading right now, isn't nearly as aggressive towards Phoebe, either as a challenger or as a lover. That element of pushy domination Leo expressed towards Catherine isn't there, because the Ravenels just don't go there. (The closest they got was really Rhys's "you want a bit o' rough?" scene, which, HOT, but wasn't even expressed to Helen... and sorry, it should've been.)

Like what you like, I just question the taste of those who think the Ravenels are outright SUPERIOR to books like Dreaming of You, The Wallflowers, and The Hathaways. Like, it seems as if people are really stuck on low-conflict, low-edge = better.

[ofthenoseclan]

If someone were interested in wanting to get into the touhou series, what would you recommend they start with? :0

surprisingly this is a very difficult question to answer, since touhou is such an expansive franchise and a lot of people enjoy it for very different reasons. its also a series thats counterintuitive to follow if youre not there while each part of it is releasing, since theres a lot of plot overlap between the game series and the spinoffs on a chapter-by-chapter basis (though its not difficult to make sense of if you know that's the case in advance). there is really no easy way to get into touhou, but the flip side of this is that there isnt an incorrect way to get into it either! it just depends what you want out of it.

if youre looking to experience the story without too much hassle, start with the games in numerical order, then tackle the spinoff books and the concept records later if you feel like it. you can choose to start at the first game, or you can skip right to 6 since its the first windows title and the oldest game that's actively relevant to the plot overall (more detail on why thats the case here). dont forget to read omake.txt before beginning each game, since they contain the story prologues and character backstories that contextualize the plot before the games begin!

if youre looking for a polished gameplay experience and dont really care about following the story, then i would recommend 7, 8, or 10 as good standard shmup experiences; or 12.5, 12.8, or 18 if you want to see the franchise at its most esoteric in game design. if youre an experienced shmup player and want something that will kick your teeth in, 12, 14.3, or 15 will give you that.

if you dont care as much about the plot or the gameplay, but want to see the characters explored, the official manga are fine introductions. theyre not perfect, since they rely on you knowing the plot and cast of the games releasing concurrently with them somewhat, but you'll probably manage fine. out of these, the manga with the best balance of being self-contained while featuring a compelling plot would be touhou suzunaan ~ forbidden scrollery.

the concept albums are probably the most beginner-friendly example in this list, and theyre my favourite part of the franchise! since theyre just music cds without any skill at shmups required to get into them, plus they follow a self-contained plot from the rest of the series, you can get into them without any prior knowledge and get a complete experience!

lastly, a lot of people just start getting into touhou by browsing fanmade works, and thats valid too! some people often read a bunch of fan doujins or listen to arrange albums, notice a character in them, and go "she looks cool! which one is she from?" and branch into the official content from there. this is the option id recommend least out of these, because the tone and quality of fanworks can vary drastically and give you false impressions of the official content. however, its still perfectly okay to start this way, caveats aside!

what im trying to get at is that none of these are ideal solutions, but theyre all possible ways to start out. like i said, theres no easy way to get into touhou, but theres no wrong way either.

the only official content id advise against starting with would be any spinoff books other than the manga. despite most of these containing a lot of the best writing in the series, the more story-focused ones are often heavily tied to the plots of the games, so their highs hit highest if you have some level of experience with the series prior to reading them.

let me know if you have more questions on starting out, and i can answer whatever!