Shousetsu Bang*Bang Wiki - User contributions [en]

An Unexpected Mole

2026-10-23T18:27:49Z

KitMiller:

[https://www.shousetsubangbang.com/mirror/an-unexpected-mole/ An Unexpected Mole] by [[Kit Miller]], with art by [[Melanofly|melanofly]] first appeared in issue [[Issue 108]] in 2024.

== Summary ==
David and Jonathan have only five days to organise a heist.

== Connections ==

This piece is a direct sequel to [[Nothing But An Unassuming Valet]]. The characters also appear in [[Leisure and Little Luxuries]].

==Author's Notes ==
The theme this time is “sequel,” so of course I wrote one, but I also played around with repetition and echo in the piece itself. Several lines are uttered by one character and then echoed by another later on. 
As with “Unassuming Valet,” I had great fun playing with deceiving appearances and the actual truth that lies beneath. Additionally, in that first piece, I decided, purely for my own amusement, that all members of the Prevost household would have names found in the Old Testament. With the Lewis household, I chose names that are of French origin or which are also popular in France, though I did not apply this as strictly as the OT names — you could argue that Sophia is the Germanic version of the name and I should have chosen Sophie. 
I deeply, deeply regret picking 1885 as a date. Whenever I wanted to make some kind of historical reference, and went to check if it was historically accurate, I found that whatever I was looking up — be it a novel, play, or event — was either too early or too late. The only major thing that I could find that happened in 1885 was the complete criminalisation of homosexuality. Hooray. /s 
Here’s a few explanatory notes of the historical trivia I did include. 
*Sophia speaks of “women in Halifax wearing top hats and conducting their own business.” This is a reference to Anne Lister. Sophia also idolises the French actress Sarah Bernhardt, who was as bisexual as is possible to claim about a historical figure, and who famously played both male and female roles, at one point playing both Hamlet and Ophelia on alternating nights.
* ''North and South'' is a novel by Elizabeth Gaskell, first published in 1854. It is a social novel advocating for workers’ rights and equality, including gender equality. At the time this story is set, Gaskell’s works had largely slipped into obscurity, but I think a righteous, covertly rebellious young man like David would surely still be aware of the novel and connect with its themes.
* Sophia nicks a statuette of Narasimha, the fourth, lion-headed avatar of Vishnu. I chose to put this avatar in the spotlight as he triumphs over seemingly unconquerable evil with cunning, ferocity, and fearlessness.
* “The Law” that David and Jonathan occasionally speak about with dread is the Labouchere Amendment, which criminalised more or less everything two men could do with and to one another as “Gross Indecency.” Also known as the ‘blackmailer’s charter,” this was the law that would bring down Oscar Wilde. It would not be until the Wolfenden report in 1957 that decriminalisation of homosexuality was beginning to be discussed, and homosexuality (in private, between consenting adults over 21 years of age) was finally decriminalised with the Sexual Offences Act in 1967.
* David reads ''The Sins of The Cities on the Plain'', which is a real Victorian queer erotica novella. If you want to read it, too, [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Sins_of_the_Cities_of_the_Plain you can do so on Wikisource]. 
This is the first piece of mine that is illustrated! My sincerest thanks to melanofly, who did an excellent job rendering my boys. I keep staring at their illustrations and I keep grinning like a loon.

== External Links ==
This story is also available [https://archiveofourown.org/collections/bb_shousetsu/works/56931742 on Archive of Our Own (AO3)].

[[Category:text]] [[Category:Art]] [[Category:2024]]

Miles and Miles of Ice and Snow

2026-10-23T18:26:58Z

KitMiller:

[https://www.shousetsubangbang.com/mirror/miles-and-miles-of-ice-and-snow/ Miles and Miles of Ice and Snow] by [[Kit Miller]] first appeared in issue [[Issue 103]] in 2023.

== Summary ==
Henry is a dog musher, driving from Fairbanks to Nome.

== Author's Notes ==
Every now and then, I get obsessive over certain topics. Like, cannot-think-of-anything-else obsessive. One of those obsessions is the 1925 serum run to Nome (also known as the Great Race of Mercy) in specific, and dog mushing and Alaska in general. Combine this with the prompt for this issue et voilà. 
I did my absolute best to research as thoroughly as possible. However, in addition to taking some deliberate artistic licence (see below), I am almost certain that I have also made errors and inaccuracies without meaning to. For these, I apologise.

=== Dogs and dog mushing ===

A glossary of the most important dog mushing terms can be found [https://jukebox.uaf.edu/dog-mushing-terminology here]. 
Most of this work is inspired by the serum run and the people who participated in it. A great book on the serum run and its historical and cultural context is The Cruellest Miles by Gay Salisbury and Laney Salisbury. The internet archive has a digitised version that can be found [https://archive.org/details/cruelestmiles00sali/page/n343/mode/2up here] (it includes a map). A more concise report on the serum run can be found [https://web.archive.org/web/20101127233139/http://www.litsite.org/index.cfm?section=Digital-Archives&page=Land-Sea-Air&cat=Dog-Mushing&viewpost=2&ContentId=2559 here]. 
Leonhard Seppala, a musher Henry idolises, was one of the most famous, successful, and daring mushers of Alaska. With his lead dog Togo, he was the first choice and initially one of only two participants in the serum run (the other being "Wild" Bill Shannon), and completed the longest and most dangerous leg of the relay, crossing the treacherous Norton Sound twice. Henry as a luckless prospector turned thriving musher is based on Seppala’s biography. 
Additionally, Henry travels the same route as the Serum Run (it was the established mail route between Nome and Fairbanks), and his tribulations on the trail were similarly inspired by events that happened in 1925. The only fictional stop is the Irish House. I also fudged around with the timeline quite a bit. According to one source, a trip to Fairbanks and back could take up to four months — I had Henry make the trip in two. Furthermore, for a journey such as this, Henry's team is far too small. Realistically, he'd take twice as many dogs, at least. I chose to have a more concise team because I wanted to give each dog a name and at least one 'moment to shine' and this proved difficult enough with seven. 
The Siberian Husky as a breed was not recognised by the American Kennel Club until 1930. Before that — and in some regions and contexts, until today — the term ‘husky’ was used as a generic term for a sled dog, even for dogs more similar to the Alaskan Malamute (recognised as a breed by the AKC in 1935). During the time the story is set, nearly every sled dog would be a mutt of some kind as cross-breeding was extremely common (and nobody gave a fig about breeds and breed standards anyway; if a dog was large and strong enough to pull a sled, it was deemed an acceptable sled dog). The Siberian Husky as it is today is derived from imported dogs from Siberia to Alaska between 1908 and 1930. Leonhard Seppala’s legendary lead dog Togo, whom I mentioned above, was of Siberian lineage and is one of the most famous ancestors of the modern Siberian Husky.

=== The Iñupiat people and the Iñupiaq language ===

An online dictionary of Iñupiaq can be found [https://inupiaqonline.com/ here] (though note that this dictionary is for the North Slope dialect, not the one from the Seward Peninsula, where Nome is located).
A (very) brief introduction to the Iñupiaq language, where I also found the Iñupiaq names of three of Henry's dogs can be found [https://www.uaf.edu/anlc/languages-move/inupiaq.php here]. 
The majority of the mushers of the serum run, and the majority of all mushers at the time, were Alaska Natives, and the most successful White mushers had adopted, to a large degree, Alaska Native technologies and skills. In fact, many European settlers of Alaska were quick and eager to adopt certain indigenous technologies, products, and customs, such as clothing, despite the government's insistence on introducing "better, more advanced" (i.e. White/European) customs. One particularly doomed effort was the attempt to use reindeer instead of dogs for transportation, simply because dog mushing was an indigenous practice. Salisbury and Salisbury make a compelling and convincing case that the serum run being done via dog sled rather than aeroplane “would be a testament to the hard-learned survival skills and spirit of the Athabaskans and Eskimos [sic]” at a time when the government deemed the cultures, languages, and customs of Alaska Natives ‘decadent’ and ‘primitive’. 
Still, Henry's choice to integrate himself into an Iñupiat community ("going Native") would still be regarded as odd if not wrong, as many of those who adopted Alaska Native clothes and technologies had little regard for the peoples who’d come up with them (for instance, Roald Amundsen credited his success as a Polar explorer to the survival skills he learned from the Netsilik, a Canadian Inuit people, but still considered them “savages”), and even those most sympathetic towards Alaska Natives mostly swung largely in favour of assimilating them into White society (a policy that lasted until the 1970's). More devastating even than that was the forced relocation of Alaska Natives, the abduction and imprisonment in boarding schools of Alaska Native children, and the ban on Alaska Native languages to the point that most if not all of these languages are critically endangered today, as well as other colonial atrocities. Furthermore, Europeans brought diseases to Alaska that would prove devastating to the indigenous population; the 1918/1919 influenza epi/pandemic and the 1925 diphtheria outbreak in Nome are only two examples.

=== Miscellaneous and historical trivia ===

Henry and Conor share a bottle of whiskey, but this was the height of prohibition in the USA. However, at the point the story is set, Alaska was not yet a state and merely a territory, which many Alaskans riled against as they were governed from afar from people who knew next to nothing of the circumstances in Alaska itself. Alaskans thus sometimes cared very little for governmental policies and restrictions. 
The teddy bear, first invented in the early 20th century and named after Theodore Roosevelt, quickly became one of, if not the most popular toy of all time. "Growlers", aka the noise boxes inside the bear, were first introduced (by Steiff, at least) in 1908. A timeline of the teddy bear by the Steiff corporation, who claim to be the inventors of the teddy bear (though this claim is not uncontested), can be found [https://corporate.steiff.com/en/steiff-teddy/history/ here] (yes, really). 
If you want a complete list of Henry’s team, here it is:
*Lead: '''Gerda''', female, fawn and white, with blue eyes. Bit of a feisty little missus, but loyal, obedient, and hardworking. Won’t win any races, but then, Henry isn’t interested in that.
*Swing/Point: '''Rose''', female, grey; '''Maguyuk''', male, tan, almost ten years old.
*Team: '''Orca''', female, black and white; '''Delta''', male, greyish brown.
*Wheel: '''Siku''', male, white; '''Suka''', male, reddish-brown. Brothers.

== External Links ==
This story is also available [https://archiveofourown.org/collections/bb_shousetsu/works/49696129 on Archive of Our Own (AO3)].

[[Category:text]] [[Category:2023]]

Even Vanilla Is An Achievement For Some People

2026-10-23T18:26:36Z

KitMiller:

[https://www.shousetsubangbang.com/mirror/even-vanilla-is-an-achievement-for-some-people/ Even Vanilla Is An Achievement For Some People] by [[Kit Miller]] first appeared in issue [[Issue 101]] in 2023.

== Summary ==
Matt has an appointment with a new client.

==Connections ==
Matt also appears in [[All the Flavors in Neapolitan Ice Cream are Delicious]].
== External Links ==
This story is also available [https://archiveofourown.org/collections/bb_shousetsu/works/48177517 on Archive of Our Own (AO3)].

[[Category:text]] [[Category:2023]]

A Roomful of Strangers

2026-10-22T17:32:43Z

KitMiller:

[https://www.shousetsubangbang.com/mirror/a-roomful-of-strangers/ A Roomful of Strangers] by [[Kit Miller]] first appeared in issue [[Issue 118]] in 2025.

== Summary ==
It's Sebastian's birthday, and he asked for lots and lots of cock. Marcus provides.

== Connections ==
Marcus and Sebastian also appear in [[A Snapshot of Married Life]] and [[Nothing They Can Do About It]]

== Author's Note ==
The “hunky bloke” is inspired by An Actual Person Who Actually Exists, but I will go to my grave without revealing who they are.

== External Links ==
This story is also available [https://archiveofourown.org/collections/bb_shousetsu/works/77671246 on Archive of Our Own (AO3)].

[[Category:text]] [[Category:2025]]

A Roomful of Strangers

2026-10-22T09:25:01Z

KitMiller:

The Nøkk of Crelan Town

2026-10-22T09:24:24Z

KitMiller:

[https://www.shousetsubangbang.com/mirror/the-nokk-of-crelan-town/ The Nøkk of Crelan Town] by [[Kit Miller]], with art by [[Melanofly|melanofly]] first appeared in issue [[Issue 117]] in 2025.

== Summary ==
Witch slice of life... and then it all goes rather wrong rather fast.

== Author's Notes ==
From idea to final punctuation mark, I wrote this in twelve days, which I think might be the fastest I’ve ever written anything, and certainly the fastest I’ve written for S2B2. Aesthetically, this story is inspired by an irreverent amalgamation of lots of fiction I’ve been reading recently. I admit to one, but I defy anyone to be able to identify any or all other strands precisely. 
Thank you to melanofly for the gorgeous illustrations, especially since it was rather short notice! They put so much thought and effort into them, and added so many little details, I feel like I could look at them for years and still always find something new. 
GNU Terry Pratchett.

=== Content Notes ===
Children go missing/are abducted. Graphic descriptions of violence.

== External Links ==
This story is also available [https://archiveofourown.org/collections/bb_shousetsu/works/76103731 on Archive of Our Own (AO3)].

[[Category:text]] [[Category:Art]] [[Category:2025]]

Leisure and Little Luxuries

2026-10-22T09:20:58Z

KitMiller:

[https://www.shousetsubangbang.com/mirror/leisure-and-little-luxuries/ Leisure and Little Luxuries] by [[Kit Miller]] first appeared in issue [[Issue 116]] in 2025.

== Summary ==
A lazy Saturday in Mayfair. Oh, and some long-distance theft.

== Connections ==
David and Jonathan also appear in [[Nothing But An Unassuming Valet]] and [[An Unexpected Mole]].

== Author's Notes ==
The Victorian era, especially the latter portion of it, was an explosion of new technologies and advancements and discoveries. I chose to centre telegraphy, with a secondary focus on photography. My knowledge of photography, especially vintage photography, is very akin to Jonathan’s, though – it appears a bit like witchcraft to me. As such, the camera David uses is sort of kind of based on contemporary models – I looked at so many digital museum archives – but it is not based on any one specific model. Every feature of the camera was available in 1890, but I cannot say that there existed a camera like the one David uses that combines them all. 
Cable codes were unofficial phrase books used as both a cost-saving measure as well as to ensure privacy and discretion between correspondents. Single words could stand in for whole phrases (as “Cadmium” in this very story stands for “message received, and acting on it). Mass produced cable codes were available, but individuals may also use private codes between each other. [https://florencegriswoldmuseum.org/telegrams-and-cable-codes/ Here’s a really good article on the subject], including a scan of two pages of an actual cable code! 
Akan goldweights were used to measure/weigh gold dust, the most common currency in West Africa before colonisation. Early ones were geometric or non-pictoral (probably because of Muslim/Arabic traders) but later ones were rather elaborate, and often alluded to Adinkra symbols ([https://www.adinkrasymbols.org/symbols/funtumfunefu-denkyemfunefu like the two-headed crocodile Funtumfunefu Denkyemfunefu]) or proverbs. The one I mention in the text about a gazelle with overly long horns is based on a real weight (if you have access to JSTOR, I found it in [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3334609 this article]. It’s figure 23). There’s also good, freely accessible (if brief) articles by [https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/317689 The Met] and [https://momaa.org/akan-goldweights/ Moma]. 
Writing historical fiction is really fun, because I get to learn so many things during research :)

== External Links ==
This story is also available [https://archiveofourown.org/collections/bb_shousetsu/works/73986716 on Archive of Our Own (AO3)].

[[Category:text]] [[Category:2025]]

Nothing They Can Do About It

2026-10-22T09:16:49Z

KitMiller:

[https://www.shousetsubangbang.com/mirror/nothing-they-can-do-about-it/ Nothing They Can Do About It] by [[Kit Miller]] first appeared in issue [[Issue 112]] in 2024.

== Summary ==
Sebastian writes poetry. Marcus translates Latin. They come together to translate Latin poetry.

== Connections ==
Marcus and Sebastian also appear in [[A Snapshot of Married Life]] and [[A Roomful of Strangers]].

== Author's Notes ==
Right out of the gate, a disclaimer that I am a medievalist and not a classicist; while I did a lot of research, I cannot guarantee that I didn’t make errors that might make a proper classicist huff in annoyance. I do apologise. 
Neither the manuscript nor the unknown poems therein exist. However, the description of the manuscript is an amalgamation of myriad manuscripts from roughly the right era and location. I weep for joy that I am a medievalist in the era of high-quality, digital facsimiles! 
A few notes on the real Latin authors I reference in this piece: 
* '''Catullus''' (Gaius Valerius Catullus, c. 84 – c. 54 BCE). You can read his works – originals plus various translations – [http://www.negenborn.net/catullus/ here]. Only one manuscript of Catullus’ works is extant – which is why discovering another one would be a huge deal! At one point, Marcus quotes Carmina 48.
* '''Ovid''' (Publius Ovidius Naso, 43 BCE – 17/18 CE). His ''Ars Amatoria'' is a – probably satirical – manual for how to Love Properly. In contrast to other and usually earlier Roman poets, he was vocal about preferring to have sex with women rather than men/boys.
* '''Vergil''' (Publius Vergilius Maro, 70 – 19 BCE). More commonly spelt ''Virgil'', but his actual, Latin name is Vergilius; the variant with i is a medieval invention that stuck for no good reason, and neither I nor Marcus are fans of academic conventions that got stuck for no good reason, so we both insist on the spelling that is closer to the guy’s actual name. Vergil’s second ''Eclogue'' is the lament of Corydon, a shepherd, over his unrequited love for the boy Alexis.

== External Links ==
This story is also available [https://archiveofourown.org/collections/bb_shousetsu/works/63217825 on Archive of Our Own (AO3)].

[[Category:text]] [[Category:2024]]

A Snapshot of Married Life

2026-10-22T09:13:46Z

KitMiller:

[https://www.shousetsubangbang.com/mirror/a-snapshot-of-married-life/ A Snapshot of Married Life] by [[Kit Miller]] first appeared in issue [[Issue 110]] in 2024.

== Summary ==
Husbands fucking.

== Connections ==
Marcus and Sebastian also appear in [[Nothing They Can Do About It]] and [[A Roomful of Strangers]]
== Author's Notes ==
I’ve not got many deep things to say about this piece, other than that I’ve been working on it on-and-off for a while before deciding to submit it here (as I realise is often the case with my pieces). As such, the issue prompt is roundly ignored. 
Sebastian is named after the saint, because St Sebastian is quite possibly the most gay-coded of them all, and is usually depicted tied up and <s>penetrated</s> pierced by multiple arrows. ‘Marcus’ is just a very common Roman name, and I picked it because he’s a professor of Classics/Latin.

== External Links ==
This story is also available [https://archiveofourown.org/collections/bb_shousetsu/works/60409555 on Archive of Our Own (AO3)].

[[Category:text]] [[Category:2024]]

A Snapshot of Married Life

2026-10-22T09:08:55Z

KitMiller:

[https://www.shousetsubangbang.com/mirror/a-snapshot-of-married-life/ A Snapshot of Married Life] by [[Kit Miller]] first appeared in issue [[Issue 110]] in 2024.

== Summary ==
Husbands fucking.

== Author's Notes ==
I’ve not got many deep things to say about this piece, other than that I’ve been working on it on-and-off for a while before deciding to submit it here (as I realise is often the case with my pieces). As such, the issue prompt is roundly ignored. 
Sebastian is named after the saint, because St Sebastian is quite possibly the most gay-coded of them all, and is usually depicted tied up and <s>penetrated</s> pierced by multiple arrows. ‘Marcus’ is just a very common Roman name, and I picked it because he’s a professor of Classics/Latin.

== External Links ==
This story is also available [https://archiveofourown.org/collections/bb_shousetsu/works/60409555 on Archive of Our Own (AO3)].

[[Category:text]] [[Category:2024]]

The Diary of Mr J. Walker

2026-10-22T09:06:36Z

KitMiller:

[https://www.shousetsubangbang.com/mirror/the-diary-of-mr-j-walker/ The Diary of Mr J. Walker] by [[Kit Miller]], with art by [[Melanofly|melanofly]] first appeared in issue [[Issue 109]] in 2024.

== Summary ==
In which Mr Walker reports on his encounters with a nice merman.

== Author's Notes ==
This piece was literally years in the making. The core idea of ‘human artist-scientist and curious merman’ had been incubating in my head for a very long time. The spark that really lit it, though, came when I wondered what merpeople genitalia would look like, and I went on a deep, deep dive into cetacean and pinniped genitalia. Okay, mostly penises. So I’ve been seriously working on this piece for a good three years, on and off, and was intending to submit it in one of the Theme Free issues—and then this issue’s theme was announced! 
I can’t really remember when the whole diary idea happened. Probably around the time I watched ''Gentleman Jack''. It will come as no surprise that I took the idea of an encrypted, explicit, queer diary from Anne Lister. Even the name of Walker’s editor is a reference: Lister’s main editor is Helena Whitbread, I invented Ellen Baker. Walker’s name is some kind of reference to the Lister diaries too: as I contemplated what to call my human protagonist, I recalled that Lister’s wife was called Ann Walker, and thought to myself, “Wow, wouldn’t it be stupid as hell if the land-dwelling part of a merman/human couple would be called Walker?!” But then, like so many things in my brain, it stuck. 
I can’t remember why I called Maurice Maurice. Sorry. 
Most of the merman’s sexual behaviour is based on the courting and mating behaviour of dolphins, but I based the rest of his biology mostly on that of seals. I am, however, emphatically not a biologist, and I am certain that, if aquatic humans existed, they would not be considered a subspecies of humans; actually, I think they would not even be considered in the same genus at all. But merfolk do not exist and so I can do what I want. So, in essence: the biology and taxonomy and other sciency things in this piece are nearly all hogwash, though I hope it’s at least verisimilitudinous hogwash. I did try to follow taxonomic rules and conventions as much as I could. For those wondering: ''aquatilis'' means “dwelling or growing in water, aquatic” while ''terricolus'' means “dwelling on land, terrestial.” 
I had an absurd amount of fun making this look as scholarly as possible. Don’t try to seek out any of the citations; except for the OED, I made them all up. Many, but not all, scholars’ names are some sort of pun or wordplay. 
With thanks to Joanna, who read this when it was still a WIP and left excellent commentary, and to melanofly, who once again blew it out of the water with their amazing illustrations!

=== Content Notes ===
Some off-page animal cruelty in the entry for 24 July.

== External Links ==
This story is also available [https://archiveofourown.org/collections/bb_shousetsu/works/58822741 on Archive of Our Own (AO3)].

[[Category:text]] [[Category:Art]] [[Category:2024]]

An Unexpected Mole

2026-10-22T09:02:43Z

KitMiller:

[https://www.shousetsubangbang.com/mirror/an-unexpected-mole/ An Unexpected Mole] by [[Kit Miller]], with art by [[Melanofly|melanofly]] first appeared in issue [[Issue 108]] in 2024.

== Summary ==
David and Jonathan have only five days to organise a heist.

== Connections ==

This piece is a direct sequel to [[Nothing But An Unassuming Valet]]. The characters also appear in [[Leisure and Little Luxuries]].

==Author's Notes ==
The theme this time is “sequel,” so of course I wrote one, but I also played around with repetition and echo in the piece itself. Several lines are uttered by one character and then echoed by another later on. 
As with “Unassuming Valet,” I had great fun playing with deceiving appearances and the actual truth that lies beneath. Additionally, in that first piece, I decided, purely for my own amusement, that all members of the Prevost household would have names found in the Old Testament. With the Lewis household, I chose names that are of French origin or which are also popular in France, though I did not apply this as strictly as the OT names — you could argue that Sophia is the Germanic version of the name and I should have chosen Sophie. 
I deeply, deeply regret picking 1885 as a date. Whenever I wanted to make some kind of historical reference, and went to check if it was historically accurate, I found that whatever I was looking up — be it a novel, play, or event — was either too early or too late. The only major thing that I could find that happened in 1885 was the complete criminalisation of homosexuality. Hooray. /s 
Here’s a few explanatory notes of the historical trivia I did include. 
*Sophia speaks of “women in Halifax wearing top hats and conducting their own business.” This is a reference to Anne Lister. Sophia also idolises the French actress Sarah Bernhardt, who was as bisexual as is possible to claim about a historical figure, and who famously played both male and female roles, at one point playing both Hamlet and Ophelia on alternating nights.
* ''North and South'' is a novel by Elizabeth Gaskell, first published in 1854. It is a social novel advocating for workers’ rights and equality, including gender equality. At the time this story is set, Gaskell’s works had largely slipped into obscurity, but I think a righteous, covertly rebellious young man like David would surely still be aware of the novel and connect with its themes.
* Sophia nicks a statuette of Narasimha, the fourth, lion-headed avatar of Vishnu. I chose to put this avatar in the spotlight as he triumphs over seemingly unconquerable evil with cunning, ferocity, and fearlessness.
* “The Law” that David and Jonathan occasionally speak about with dread is the Labouchere Amendment, which criminalised more or less everything two men could do with and to one another as “Gross Indecency.” Also known as the ‘blackmailer’s charter,” this was the law that would bring down Oscar Wilde. It would not be until the Wolfenden report in 1957 that decriminalisation of homosexuality was beginning to be discussed, and homosexuality (in private, between consenting adults over 21 years of age) was finally decriminalised with the Sexual Offences Act in 1967.
* David reads ''The Sins of The Cities on the Plain'', which is a real Victorian queer erotica novella. If you want to read it, too, [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Sins_of_the_Cities_of_the_Plain you can do so on Wikisource].
* This is the first piece of mine that is illustrated! My sincerest thanks to melanofly, who did an excellent job rendering my boys. I keep staring at their illustrations and I keep grinning like a loon.

== External Links ==
This story is also available [https://archiveofourown.org/collections/bb_shousetsu/works/56931742 on Archive of Our Own (AO3)].

[[Category:text]] [[Category:Art]] [[Category:2024]]

All the Flavors in Neapolitan Ice Cream are Delicious

2026-10-22T08:57:29Z

KitMiller:

[https://www.shousetsubangbang.com/mirror/all-the-flavors-in-neapolitan-ice-cream-are-delicious/ All the Flavors in Neapolitan Ice Cream are Delicious] by [[Kit Miller]] first appeared in issue [[Issue 107]] in 2023.

== Summary ==
Matt loves food almost as much as he loves sex.

== Connections ==
Matt also appears in [[Even Vanilla Is An Achievement For Some People]].

== Author's Note ==
I struggled with this one. The issue theme is only vaguely alluded to (mostly because I completely overlooked the D/s aspect of the prompt and only realised it was there when it was too late), and I had to do some heavy editing to mould it into something I didn’t dislike, which the editor kindly and correctly nudged me towards. Many thanks again for the nudging!

== External Links ==
This story is also available [https://archiveofourown.org/collections/bb_shousetsu/works/55583701 on Archive of Our Own (AO3)].

[[Category:text]] [[Category:2023]]

Even Vanilla Is An Achievement For Some People

2026-10-22T08:57:27Z

KitMiller:

Miles and Miles of Ice and Snow

2026-10-22T08:53:21Z

KitMiller:

Nothing But An Unassuming Valet

2026-10-22T08:52:28Z

KitMiller:

[https://www.shousetsubangbang.com/mirror/nothing-but-an-unassuming-valet/ Nothing But An Unassuming Valet] by [[Kit Miller]] first appeared in issue [[Issue 104]] in 2023.

== Summary ==
It's Lord David's birthday, and his valet Jonathan talks to his guests.

== Connections ==

This story is followed directly by [[An Unexpected Mole]] and less directly by [[Leisure and Little Luxuries]].

== Author's Notes ==
I invented these characters and the setting quite some time ago, but had only dabbled around with them, writing little more than snippets. I thought they would be quite the good fit for S2B2 and gave them a dust-off. Originally, I had intended the criminal element in this story to be the fact that homosexuality itself was illegal at the time. But this, I decided, was way too depressing and would just not do! I then wondered what other laws these two could be breaking. I wanted them to still remain unquestionably heroic, so my mind turned to Robin Hood; and from there, to the repatriation of colonial loot. And hey presto! 
It was important to me to make clear that despite the power imbalance inherent in their master-servant relationship, Jonathan has quite a bit of power in his own right and is on equal footing with David. He may be inferior to David as his servant, but in the organisation, Jonathan is firmly in charge, and on an interpersonal level, they are equals. 
The hierarchy of domestic servants in old aristocratic houses is complicated and I probably got it wrong somewhere. I also probably got the forms of address of the various aristocratic guests wrong; in fact, I'm sure I did. But, in contrast to my usual approach to writing historical fiction — which is to obsessively research every minor thing — I decided not to sweat the details with this one as much and focussed instead on having fun (not that my research rabbit holes aren’t fun, of course). 
For example, the idea that a servant would be ignored or overlooked in investigations into major theft is not based on a shred of truth. It is much rather inspired by classic crime and detective novels à la Doyle and Christie, in which the butler most certainly never did it; domestic staff and servants are usually ignored or glossed over. In reality, Jonathan would probably have been found out the first time he ever nicked a colonial artefact.
David and Jonathan are, of course, named after the biblical figures, but don't read too much into it; when I come up with new characters, I usually give them placeholder names, which often are some kind of reference to the characters' respective roles in the story until I come up with better ones. This time, though, I'm afraid the placeholders stuck. It then amused me to give the rest of the Prevost estate names derived from the Old Testament, as well; but the names are all I took. 
The county ‘Spokehamshire,’ and the county-town ‘Spokeham’ I invented; I imagine Spokehamshire to be located somewhere between present-day Warwickshire and Northamptonshire. The 'Spoke' part comes from Swedish "spöke" meaning ghost (i.e. it does not exist, it is insubstantial, not real). I chose Swedish because of the long history of Scandinavian/Norse place names in the British Isles. Also, the word “spöke” is fun to say. 
Since we are celebrating Shousetsu's eighteenth birthday, I peppered that number around the story; even the fact that Jonathan meets his co-conspirators at six pm counts, as six pm in the twenty-four hour format is 18.
Some historical trivia: the Ethiopian cross is mentioned to have been stolen in 1868, which was when the British Empire sent a group of soldiers on a roaring rampage of revenge to Abyssinia, which turned out so destructive and vindictive even contemporary commentators were appalled. Ethiopian crosses are beautiful, by the way, you should look them up. 
The name Featherstonehaugh is pronounced Fenshaw. Yes, really! 
If you want to read an (extremely) comprehensive Victorian guide on domestic staff and household management, [https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/10136/pg10136.html here's one at project Gutenberg.]

== External Links ==
This story is also available [https://archiveofourown.org/collections/bb_shousetsu/works/54086998 on Archive of Our Own (AO3)].

[[Category:text]] [[Category:2023]]

Miles and Miles of Ice and Snow

2026-10-22T08:46:09Z

KitMiller: added author's notes

[https://www.shousetsubangbang.com/mirror/miles-and-miles-of-ice-and-snow/ Miles and Miles of Ice and Snow] by [[Kit Miller]] first appeared in issue [[Issue 103]] in 2023.

== Summary ==
Henry is a dog musher, driving from Fairbanks to Nome.

== Author's Notes ==
Every now and then, I get obsessive over certain topics. Like, cannot-think-of-anything-else obsessive. One of those obsessions is the 1925 serum run to Nome (also known as the Great Race of Mercy) in specific, and dog mushing and Alaska in general. Combine this with the prompt for this issue et voilà. 
I did my absolute best to research as thoroughly as possible. However, in addition to taking some deliberate artistic licence (see below), I am almost certain that I have also made errors and inaccuracies without meaning to. For these, I apologise.

=== Dogs and dog mushing ===

A glossary of the most important dog mushing terms can be found [https://jukebox.uaf.edu/dog-mushing-terminology here].
Most of this work is inspired by the serum run and the people who participated in it. A great book on the serum run and its historical and cultural context is The Cruellest Miles by Gay Salisbury and Laney Salisbury. The internet archive has a digitised version that can be found [https://archive.org/details/cruelestmiles00sali/page/n343/mode/2up here] (it includes a map). A more concise report on the serum run can be found [https://web.archive.org/web/20101127233139/http://www.litsite.org/index.cfm?section=Digital-Archives&page=Land-Sea-Air&cat=Dog-Mushing&viewpost=2&ContentId=2559 here]. 
Leonhard Seppala, a musher Henry idolises, was one of the most famous, successful, and daring mushers of Alaska. With his lead dog Togo, he was the first choice and initially one of only two participants in the serum run (the other being "Wild" Bill Shannon), and completed the longest and most dangerous leg of the relay, crossing the treacherous Norton Sound twice. Henry as a luckless prospector turned thriving musher is based on Seppala’s biography. 
Additionally, Henry travels the same route as the Serum Run (it was the established mail route between Nome and Fairbanks), and his tribulations on the trail were similarly inspired by events that happened in 1925. The only fictional stop is the Irish House. I also fudged around with the timeline quite a bit. According to one source, a trip to Fairbanks and back could take up to four months — I had Henry make the trip in two. Furthermore, for a journey such as this, Henry's team is far too small. Realistically, he'd take twice as many dogs, at least. I chose to have a more concise team because I wanted to give each dog a name and at least one 'moment to shine' and this proved difficult enough with seven. 
The Siberian Husky as a breed was not recognised by the American Kennel Club until 1930. Before that — and in some regions and contexts, until today — the term ‘husky’ was used as a generic term for a sled dog, even for dogs more similar to the Alaskan Malamute (recognised as a breed by the AKC in 1935). During the time the story is set, nearly every sled dog would be a mutt of some kind as cross-breeding was extremely common (and nobody gave a fig about breeds and breed standards anyway; if a dog was large and strong enough to pull a sled, it was deemed an acceptable sled dog). The Siberian Husky as it is today is derived from imported dogs from Siberia to Alaska between 1908 and 1930. Leonhard Seppala’s legendary lead dog Togo, whom I mentioned above, was of Siberian lineage and is one of the most famous ancestors of the modern Siberian Husky.

=== The Iñupiat people and the Iñupiaq language ===

An online dictionary of Iñupiaq can be found [https://inupiaqonline.com/ here] (though note that this dictionary is for the North Slope dialect, not the one from the Seward Peninsula, where Nome is located).
A (very) brief introduction to the Iñupiaq language, where I also found the Iñupiaq names of three of Henry's dogs can be found [https://www.uaf.edu/anlc/languages-move/inupiaq.php here]. 
The majority of the mushers of the serum run, and the majority of all mushers at the time, were Alaska Natives, and the most successful White mushers had adopted, to a large degree, Alaska Native technologies and skills. In fact, many European settlers of Alaska were quick and eager to adopt certain indigenous technologies, products, and customs, such as clothing, despite the government's insistence on introducing "better, more advanced" (i.e. White/European) customs. One particularly doomed effort was the attempt to use reindeer instead of dogs for transportation, simply because dog mushing was an indigenous practice. Salisbury and Salisbury make a compelling and convincing case that the serum run being done via dog sled rather than aeroplane “would be a testament to the hard-learned survival skills and spirit of the Athabaskans and Eskimos [sic]” at a time when the government deemed the cultures, languages, and customs of Alaska Natives ‘decadent’ and ‘primitive’. 
Still, Henry's choice to integrate himself into an Iñupiat community ("going Native") would still be regarded as odd if not wrong, as many of those who adopted Alaska Native clothes and technologies had little regard for the peoples who’d come up with them (for instance, Roald Amundsen credited his success as a Polar explorer to the survival skills he learned from the Netsilik, a Canadian Inuit people, but still considered them “savages”), and even those most sympathetic towards Alaska Natives mostly swung largely in favour of assimilating them into White society (a policy that lasted until the 1970's). More devastating even than that was the forced relocation of Alaska Natives, the abduction and imprisonment in boarding schools of Alaska Native children, and the ban on Alaska Native languages to the point that most if not all of these languages are critically endangered today, as well as other colonial atrocities. Furthermore, Europeans brought diseases to Alaska that would prove devastating to the indigenous population; the 1918/1919 influenza epi/pandemic and the 1925 diphtheria outbreak in Nome are only two examples.

=== Miscellaneous and historical trivia ===

Henry and Conor share a bottle of whiskey, but this was the height of prohibition in the USA. However, at the point the story is set, Alaska was not yet a state and merely a territory, which many Alaskans riled against as they were governed from afar from people who knew next to nothing of the circumstances in Alaska itself. Alaskans thus sometimes cared very little for governmental policies and restrictions. 
The teddy bear, first invented in the early 20th century and named after Theodore Roosevelt, quickly became one of, if not the most popular toy of all time. "Growlers", aka the noise boxes inside the bear, were first introduced (by Steiff, at least) in 1908. A timeline of the teddy bear by the Steiff corporation, who claim to be the inventors of the teddy bear (though this claim is not uncontested), can be found [https://corporate.steiff.com/en/steiff-teddy/history/ here] (yes, really). 
If you want a complete list of Henry’s team, here it is:
*Lead: '''Gerda''', female, fawn and white, with blue eyes. Bit of a feisty little missus, but loyal, obedient, and hardworking. Won’t win any races, but then, Henry isn’t interested in that.
*Swing/Point: '''Rose''', female, grey; '''Maguyuk''', male, tan, almost ten years old.
*Team: '''Orca''', female, black and white; '''Delta''', male, greyish brown.
*Wheel: '''Siku''', male, white; '''Suka''', male, reddish-brown. Brothers.

== External Links ==
This story is also available [https://archiveofourown.org/collections/bb_shousetsu/works/49696129 on Archive of Our Own (AO3)].

[[Category:text]] [[Category:2023]] [[Category:Stub]]

Through The Woods, Homewards

2026-10-22T07:00:13Z

KitMiller:

[https://www.shousetsubangbang.com/mirror/through-the-woods-homewards/ Through The Woods, Homewards] by [[Kit Miller]] first appeared in issue [[Issue 111]] in 2024.

== Summary ==
Reinhardt tries to make it home before the Wild Hunt catches him.

== Author's Notes ==
The wild hunters are an eclectic medley of references to all sorts of deities, spirits, and heroes of the Hunt, the Wild, the Forest and all those things from all sorts of European mythologies. Herne himself is an amalgamation of the actual mythological Herne – what little we know of him – and Odin/Oðinn/Wotan, who is usually the actual leader of the Wild Hunt. I also may or may not have been a little bit inspired by the Dread Pirate Roberts. Reinhardt is named after the fox.

=== Content Notes ===

Opens with a fox getting shot dead, and depicts fear of the dark and the beginnings of a panic attack.

== External Links ==
This story is also available [https://archiveofourown.org/collections/bb_shousetsu/works/61880149 on Archive of Our Own (AO3)].

[[Category:text]] [[Category:2024]]

A Roomful of Strangers

2026-10-22T06:51:07Z

KitMiller:

[https://www.shousetsubangbang.com/mirror/a-roomful-of-strangers/ A Roomful of Strangers] by [[Kit Miller]] first appeared in issue [[Issue 118]] in 2025.

== Summary ==
It's Sebastian's birthday, and he asked for lots and lots of cock. Marcus provides.

== Author's Note ==
The “hunky bloke” is inspired by An Actual Person Who Actually Exists, but I will go to my grave without revealing who they are.

== Connections ==
Marcus and Sebastian also appear in [[A Snapshot of Married Life]] and [[Nothing They Can Do About It]]

== External Links ==
This story is also available [https://archiveofourown.org/collections/bb_shousetsu/works/77671246 on Archive of Our Own (AO3)].

[[Category:text]] [[Category:2025]] [[Category:Stub]]

Kit Miller

2026-10-22T06:48:04Z

KitMiller:

== About ==
Kit Miller submitted their first story to S2B2 just to see if they can, in fact, write porn. They could, and found that writing porn (and/or erotica, and/or stories centering around and featuring explicitly described sex, however you want to call it) was actually a lot of fun. Their forays into the lands of smut has also led to them writing their Master's thesis on sex in medieval literature. Funny how things turn out.

Kit Miller does not want to share where exactly they live, but they want you to know it is not in America.

== Contributions ==

Kit Miller has written the following stories:

*[[Even Vanilla Is An Achievement For Some People]] 
*[[Miles and Miles of Ice and Snow]] 
*[[Nothing But An Unassuming Valet]] 
*[[All the Flavors in Neapolitan Ice Cream are Delicious]] 
*[[An Unexpected Mole]] 
*[[The Diary of Mr J. Walker]] 
*[[A Snapshot of Married Life]] 
*[[Through The Woods, Homewards]] 
*[[Nothing They Can Do About It]] 
*[[Leisure and Little Luxuries]] 
*[[The Nøkk of Crelan Town]] 
*[[A Roomful of Strangers]] 
*[[(Un)Speakable]] 

== External Links ==
Kit doesn't do social media, but they have [https://archiveofourown.org/users/KitMiller an account on Archive of Our Own] where they post non-S2B2 stories (and repost their S2B2 contributions).

[[Category:Author]]

Kit Miller

2026-10-22T06:46:38Z

KitMiller:

== About ==
Kit Miller submitted their first story to S2B2 just to see if they can, in fact, weite porn. They could, and found that writing porn (and/or erotica, and/or stories centering around and featuring explicitly described sex, however you want to call it) was actually a lot of fun. Their forays into the lands of smut has also led to them writing their MA thesis on sex in medieval literature. Funny how things turn out.

Kit Miller does not want to share where exactly they live, but they want you to know it is not in America.

== Contributions ==

Kit Miller has written the following stories:

*[[Even Vanilla Is An Achievement For Some People]] 
*[[Miles and Miles of Ice and Snow]] 
*[[Nothing But An Unassuming Valet]] 
*[[All the Flavors in Neapolitan Ice Cream are Delicious]] 
*[[An Unexpected Mole]] 
*[[The Diary of Mr J. Walker]] 
*[[A Snapshot of Married Life]] 
*[[Through The Woods, Homewards]] 
*[[Nothing They Can Do About It]] 
*[[Leisure and Little Luxuries]] 
*[[The Nøkk of Crelan Town]] 
*[[A Roomful of Strangers]] 
*[[(Un)Speakable]] 

== External Links ==
Kit doesn't do social media, but they have [https://archiveofourown.org/users/KitMiller an account on Archive of Our Own] where they post non-S2B2 stories (and repost their S2B2 contributions).

[[Category:Author]]

(Un)Speakable

2026-10-22T06:39:44Z

KitMiller:

[https://www.shousetsubangbang.com/mirror/unspeakable/ (Un)Speakable] by [[Kit Miller]] first appeared in issue [[Issue 120]] in 2026.

== Summary ==
Joey loves Humphrey, a prolific painter. Well over a hundred years later, Ebbe writes his PhD thesis about Humphrey.
Or at least, that's the plan.

A story about historical censorship and queer words.

(Also ft. Ebbe's supportive boyfriend, Bean.)

== Author's Note ==
…Yeah, so this is me angry.

But first: Humphrey Godwin is a composite of Edward Carpenter and JC Leyendecker. Joey is, of course, inspired by Carpenter’s long-term partner George Merrill.
This piece was inspired mostly by Dr Jonathan Spangler, who wrote his PhD dissertation on second sons (‘spares’) in the French monarchy. He shared on a recent episode of the (excellent) BBC podcast ''You’re Dead To Me'' that he initially planned to focus solely on Philippe de France, Duc d’Orléans, younger brother of Louis XIV, but that he had to broaden his subject when he learned that Philippe’s private letters were burned immediately after his death. Philippe is widely held to have been queer.
It is also inspired by the fact that Anne Lister’s diaries were found, deciphered, and almost destroyed some decades after she died (We could have lost the Lister diaries!!!). It is also inspired by John Addington Symonds’ name being posthumously taken off the second edition of ''Sexual Inversion'', which he had co-authored with Havelock Ellis, at the demand of his friends and family (Symonds was queer; there’s a good novel, ''The New Life'' by Tom Crewe, that fictionalises his and Ellis’ lives). It is also inspired by Edward Brittain deciding to walk into enemy fire in the First World War rather than face being court-martialled for his homosexuality and bring shame and dishonour on his family (this was completely ignored in the 2014 movie adaptation of ''Testament of Youth''). It is also inspired by the 1997 work of art ''Electric Fan (Feel It Motherfuckers): Only Unclaimed Item from the Stephen Earabino Estate'' by John S. Boskovich (look it up if you’re unfamiliar; I challenge you not to cry). And it is, of course, inspired by the ongoing, worldwide efforts to silence queer voices.

I come from a country that is, on a global scale, pretty okay when it comes to queer rights. For now.
Unfortunately, queer people are also regarded as a demographic that can be comfortably ignored, especially by politicians. Furthermore, the current, conservative administration has made repeated attempts to roll back pro-queer laws, legislation, and policies. It has silently and not-so-silently attempted to suspend or outright cancel funding and initiatives benefiting not only queer people, but artists and activists of all stripes, and in too many cases, it was successful.
That kind of fucks with you, to put it mildly.

But to end on some uplifting notes, because I am, at heart, and sometimes to my own detriment, an optimistic idealist: I am heartened to see my local queer community protest against these policies; I am heartened when I hear that there were more Pride events planned and announced for the following summer than ever before; I am especially heartened when I think of my father, who, when same-sex marriage was legalised in my country over a decade ago, declared it to be a dark day in our history, but who changed his mind when I came out to him.

And a final trivia treat: Bean’s nickname, and his actual name, came to me as I was jotting down some ideas for his character; I described him to myself as ‘An All-Round Good Bean,’ and it then amused me to call him Fabian. Because yes, that name is, in fact, derived from ''faba'', the Latin word for ''bean''.
May we all have Beans in our lives. I do, and I am grateful for and I love every single one of them.

== External Links ==
This story is also available [https://archiveofourown.org/collections/bb_shousetsu/works/87753776 on Archive of Our Own (AO3)].

[[Category:text]] [[Category:2026]]

Even Vanilla Is An Achievement For Some People

2026-10-22T06:31:56Z

KitMiller:

[https://www.shousetsubangbang.com/mirror/even-vanilla-is-an-achievement-for-some-people/ Even Vanilla Is An Achievement For Some People] by [[Kit Miller]] first appeared in issue [[Issue 101]] in 2023.

== Summary ==
Matt has an appointment with a new client.

== External Links ==
This story is also available [https://archiveofourown.org/collections/bb_shousetsu/works/48177517 on Archive of Our Own (AO3)].

[[Category:text]] [[Category:2023]] [[Category:Stub]]