Tim at a screening of The King back in 2019

Not to offend anyone on the introvert site but I really miss when there were 100+ people crammed into the Woods-lodge dining room for lunch, and scooching over when friends showed up until there were nine people on a bench that comfortably seats six, and half-shouting to have a conversation with the person across from me and trying to finish my grilled cheese fast enough that I could go for seconds before only the soggy ones were left

The real person behind the blog

Hello ABL,

I am looking for the unicorn of BLs

Pre-censorship Chinese BL with HEA or at least an ambiguous ending.

I only know of Addicted.

I can do dark stuff as long as it ends happy.

Can you think of any?

Pre Censorship Chinese BL that Ends Happily (or at least not unhappily)

Warning: All Chinese BL carries triggers for rape, dub con, bully behavior, obsession, and stalking. 

Like Love 1 AKA I Love You As A Man & Like Love 2 AKA Nobody Knows But Me (2014-2015 (try here) or sometimes YT )

Pre-censorship with an HEA, also explicit, yeah China once did that. Classic early yaoi style BL college romance for a rich popular jock type and a super nerd. There is also a very weird 3rd installment where they go on vacay and meet another couple. 

Us Against the World (2015)

Short from the Mr. X and I compilation about a high school nerd and the boy who protects him from bullies and falls in love with him (do NOT watch the other 2 installments) 

Irresistible Love 1: Secrets of the Valet & Irresistible Love 2: Uncontrolled Love (2016)

YouTube sometimes. Exists in 2 parts/movies, 2nd movie has 2 alternate endings: a kinda happy and a definitely NOT happy. I not-so-secretly love this BL: Kidnapping, whipping boy, obsession, mutilation, very hard fought happy ending (in one version). Absolutely classic Chinese BL pre-censorship. It's a wild melodramatic ride.

Legend of Long Yang: Rebirth (2017 Gaga)

Whipping boy trope... literally, servant character takes the strap for the prince, who then makes him his bodyguard and lover when he becomes king. Low budget historical, comes off as kind of cosplay wuxia version of Irresistible Love, but we get (in the credits) an actual kiss, and they both live. So yay for small mercies.

River Knows Fish Heart (2018 Gaga)

This high school BL managed to sneak by the censors (and audiences) probably because it’s not very well acted and low budget. It’s in Addicted’s territory, the jock falls madly for the nerd and then moves into his house to take over his life. The tsundere uke is VERY tsundere and the seme is hella pushy so it goes right into dub-con territory but also it’s very teen angst about it. I would call it under-watched rather than an under-appreciated gem. 

Capture Lover (2020 Viki) 

The ending is a touch confusing but basically this is the rich kid seme with nothing better to do, put to work in an office, falls hard for the strict boss, moves himself in and aggressively seduces him. Like a grown up Addicted. (Features Han Jing Chen, basically China’s Singto.) It’s censored but not really. Hard to explain, pun intended. 

Ones I have dnf’d or never been able to find or can’t remember and refuse to rewatch 

Falling in Love with a Rival AKA Counterattack (2015) 

Swap (2016) 

Yandai byway no.10 - Season 1 AKA YanDaiXie Street No.10 AKA Yandaixiejie St. No. 10 (2016) 

Fanatic Love (2016 - Gaga) 

Glass Heart (2016) 

Sketching backstory stuff and deciding I’m gonna draw a dog SO chonky…

In memoriam of the twink era 😭

So people really liked my Jim Hawkins drawing and I’m a bit shook 🧍🏼‍♂️uhhhhhhhhh I have more Chonny Jash related content I could finish up if anyone is interested? Heart, Mind, Soul stuff. Gothic Whore content, headcannon doodles from the before.

well, ive been looking through my old archive to try and find thwomps, and i havent found them yet. but i did find this.

how innocent we were :)

This strip is from 2002...

Hope you all like those reblogs of 2015 posts say thank you

On the one hand, it’s super awesome fun to have a 4-year-old whumplet get over 100 notes in 24 hours. Not complaining about that at all! Made my whole day, and I’m still pretty gleeful about it.

On the other hand, I feel like I had so much creativity then, and...I just...where did it go??

Randomly thinking about one of my peak polyamory moments:

The last Christmas before Covid, I went to a Christmas party hosted by one of my then-partners. He had a photo booth set up, so I rounded up all the other partners who were attending and took a group shot as a keepsake.

Febhyurary Day 3: Star

"I could never have known that upon that day I'd find myself following My Guiding Star home..."

⇷

Back in the before times, when Entities fought over their resources and realms. "How did you do that? I don't understand!" the Entity known as the Mistwalker was cornered, vital fluid running down it's face.. This being... he had seemed weak.. easy to stomp easy to take his energy... He was reclusive and was hardly traditional... He was always fiddling with his trials... changing things up... Pointless... a waste of time... He wanted his energy Mistwalker had so many domains... this weak upstart would be easy to absorb.. So he challenged him. The Dragon they called him... He had done something.. He had cheated! "You... You... Where is all my energy? YOU CHEATED! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!" Mistwalker screamed as he threw himself at the young upstart. The being you eventually will know as Exy, sighed and grabbed the Mistwalker by the throat.. "I didn't cheat... I just didn't play the game the same way all the rest of you would.. You came at me head on... expecting to crush me under your heel." Exy explained he held the Mistwalker high as he started draining energy directly from him. "While you were busy fighting illusions, I simply siphoned energy directly from your trials to my own reserves." The Mistwalker clawed and screamed trying to rip off Exy's face. Exy grew larger and more monsterous.... "You see, I just want to be left alone... I would have let you be... it's such a shame... You had some really interesting ideas with your trials if you had come to me in a more friendly manner, we could have partnered up." "Noooo nooo.." The Mistwalker was screaming as his shell fell away.. No physical form ESCAPE QUICK! It thought but... What? Even it's non coporeal form was being drawn twoards Exy... "Nope I'm sorry but you're too dangerous to let leave.. to come back for some stupid petty "revenge" " Exy's maw was huge with sharp shark like teeth.. It surrounded the Mistwalker and chomped down.. and then... no more...the realms had been shaking but then... silence.. Exy sighed... That had taken him away from actual important issues.. On the other hand he guessed.. He had the Mistwalkers resources... I should see what I gained in that wasteful fight he thought.

@freighttraininmybrain

Indeed. Remember kids: when I was a teenager, tagging was OPTIONAL.

You could just as easily walk into a fluffy slow-burn friends-to-lovers fic as you could an ultra-violent r*pe and n*crophilia snuff fic. It was truly a lawless landscape. Some writers still tagged for common triggers at least, and they were the unsung heroes of the time. But it was by no means required. It was very much a case of “read at your own risk ¯\_(ツ)_/¯” Caveat Emptor and all that.

If I were a praying individual, I’d thank any deity I could think of for places like AO3, lol. The only thing I lament is how many stories have been lost while people like me have jumped from site to site. And through things like FF.net’s NC-17 purge and Strikethrough on LJ.

(and before you ask about that second fic example, the answer yes, and it was just as terrible as you’re thinking it was. Maybe worse. And it’s not even the worst thing I’ve stumbled upon.)