TEN YEARS!

1 decade of blogging.

257 stories.

Over 1,100 posts.

Over 4.5 million views.

Yay!

I'm going to mostly talk about stories in this anniversary post.

The blog has become just a story blog and I'm enjoying it that way. I've tried to catch up on the Pages ... adding a bunch of the new Character Cards to that page, along with adding to the list of stories (not necessarily keeping up on the stories by character). And on The Cave list, I added the wrestlers to the early ones where they're missing. I didn't realize this until I needed to go looking for the underused guys and I couldn't remember which story they appeared in.

The biggest executional thing on my mind is how Blogger is getting more challenging for readers. There's always a chance it becomes unusable or declares my blog as 'too adult'. I should have a backup option, but I haven't spent any time on it. I love how simple Blogger is for me. I definitely don't want a website or anything with coding. I'm not interested in monetizing this and assuming all the pressure that comes with delivering content regularly. Right now, if I miss a posting or you don't like the story, I can always shrug, "hey, it's free."

But I digress.

Stories.

Here’s how I got to over 250 stories. 13 years ago, almost to the day, Bard posted my first story, Flag vs. Flag, in his Google story group. I don't even remember how I found the group. Maybe through his blog. FvF is a ‘based on true events’ story, now branded as an “Alex Miller's Vault" story. I was nervous about sharing it, of course, but Bard was super-supportive. Other than Bard’s praise, it was received with silence. I guess you had to be there. Which I was, of course. Since then, a few guys have told me they enjoyed it, but at the time, not what you want to happen.

The Cave 1: Meet The Bat was already written and was posted shortly after. I got some positive response to it. I felt better about that. Three stories, ending with Ryan’s revenge and the end of The Bat. I’ve shared before that that was meant to be it. I never planned to write more about Cody, Ryan or their gay-oriented, superhero-themed wrestling video company. The story was done. Never thought of it as a series. No grand plan. Just a little story of betrayal and revenge combining two of my loves - wrestling and superheroes.

Cody was a big boy in his
first appearance in The Cave 1

Ryan stripped down in The Cave 2

I also had AWL, set in the 80’s, featuring characters based off real wrestlers in the #2 pro wrestling federation in the country. It felt much more fruitful as a series to me. Hot, hunky parodies of classic pro wrestling archetypes. Once again showing I don’t know what people will like, it was far less popular than The Cave. I love jobber Danny Chase and his misadventures the most, but even he was nowhere near as popular as The Cave boys. Maybe because he's straight and his stories have no sex.

Danny Chase is my favorite AWL stud.

With positive reader response, I looked at the broken friendship of Cody and Ryan again. I decided there could be more to the story and like Hollywood, risked ruining the original series with unnecessary sequels. I figured out a plan for six more stories about Cody’s attempts to win Ryan back. Ben is introduced, shows a fun personality and is represented by an ultra-hot model, leading to Route 69. I have a whole post on its creation. And The Cave became a way to tell lots of stories with lots of different guys using Cody and Ryan as the anchors for readers.

Fun fact. It was my love of Route 69: Toledo and desperate desire to see it posted that inspired me to create my own space. My rate of story writing back then felt like I was being a burden on Bard and I felt guilty asking him, "When will this be posted?" It's why there was a New Stories blog for a bit ... just to get me to posting this story. Again, my tastes differ from most readers, but I loved this story that much.

The road tripping BFF's debuted in R69:Arlington

AWL was basically dead after 15 stories. I brought Danny Chase into The Cave (he was always the father of Route 69’s Dylan Chase but only mentioned). However, he returns as a 55-year old in the 2016 story. That tests my sliding timescale. He will forever be born in 1958 in the original AWL stories. Without major rewrites, those happened in 1983-1984. However, with The Cave version of Danny, that birth year moves every year (it's up to 1970 now). It’s better not to think too hard about it, much like how Reed Richards and Ben Grimm fought in WWII. Or how Lisa Simpson was born in 1984. In AWL, Danny was a jobber in 1983-84. In The Cave, Danny was a jobber 30 years ago from now. Multiverse, y'all.

Ben describes Dylan Chase in R69: Gettysburg - "His father was an AWL

pro wrestling jobber in the 80's, so he spent a lot of time around the ring."

I try to avoid connecting to real events or dates. At one point, Jae and Cody lived together during the worst of the COVID pandemic (which I ignored in-story). Now, Jae was finishing high school during it, learning from home. They lived together in LA during the recent devastating fires, but in two years, they won't have even known each other yet during this. In addition to the functional realities, I also think my stories can be a break from real world turmoil. 

Eventually, I branched out into other stories, but I think most are similarly structured to Cave stories. It's interesting to see the response. Without "The Cave" branding, they seem to hit differently. Of course, some are very different. Vault stories cannot exist in The Cave because I'm in them. That'd be a weird paradox I don't want to wrap my head around. I exist in Mangler's and Vinny's universes and that's enough for me. Now, there are stories like EHWA, which are inspired by a real-life playmate, but not what we did, so it's not Vault.

All but three Encounters stories (ELF 1, ELF 2, The Exit Strategy) could absolutely be in The Cave universe. Even Exit Strategy could if I get over the fact that I used the same model for the ES lead as I did for R69's Jeff. Several already are officially connected (e.g., Thanksgiving, the introduction of Buck & Brody; Model Roommates, with mentions of The Cave and Xaq). The rest probably could be if I decide to bring in the characters.

More BFF's ... country boys Brody & Buck

BIGBeast was my attempt to try a modern version of the AWL idea of using analogs of familiar wrestlers in fictional ways. The 80’s reference points in AWL become more and more niche. I created two original characters to run through the popular BGEast wrestlers of the time. It wasn’t until the final story that that series seemed to hit the mark. One reader said of BIGBeast 7 that “it informs the earlier stories, retroactively making the previous matches better”.

I strongly dislike stories that start with the middle or end (“I can’t believe this happened to me", "I bet you're wondering how I got here"). I get that it's a tease to draw you in, but that kind of story structure removes much of my joy from reading a story. Imagine if The Cave had started with Cody after being crushed by Ryan and then went back and was told in flashbacks. Yuck. However, maybe a little of that energy was needed BIGBeast, where Steve shows more personality than just being a punching bag in the first six stories.

BIGBeast anchors: Steve & Cameraboy

The biggest departures from The Cave formula are the superhero stories. As a comic book reader, I’ve always liked imagining and writing superhero stories. I have costumes and played hero-villain role-play with guys. Loved it. "Bane of my Existence 1" was actually written for a guy I played Batman with (he was Bane). Similar to EHWA, it's not a Vault story, because it's not based directly on our play sessions, but it is something I thought he'd enjoy.

My tastes have changed over the years. I can still enjoy the typical superhero story - hero easily gets captured, mind controlled, humiliated, raped, tortured, permanently defeated, etc. All the tropes. They are re-used over and over for a reason. Guys like them. I’ve tried to branch out a little from that and have some variety, like highlighting heroism, bravery, and the reason they’re heroes. Giving them wins. Having some fun. Bringing in real people. I do include fighting to stay true to being a wrestling blog, but they’re definitely not Cave stories. Superman is a popular lead. Twins of Tibor is the only Tarzan story that really got a lot of views, but there are enough fans and he's a big fantasy character of mine.

Weirdly, I'm a Marvel guy, but all my fantasies are about DC heroes. Even with the sexy studs of the MCU, Marvel heroes are just not inspiring for me for these types of stories. I liked the Spider-man story I did, but it was more fun than sexy for me as I turned two of the most vicious and brutal villains into playful non-psychopaths.

The talented Lucky Stallion helped bring two of my hero stories to life

Hercules Unbound

Tarzan and the Twins of Tibor

I sometimes get questions on why all the different sub-series. There is a purpose and design to it all! Here’s how it all fits.

The Cave (141)

There are a lot of different titles for Cave stories. I actually do have a system that has evolved over time. After a couple of stories were flagged when I went in to change titles and add tags, I’ve decided not to go through and fix the branding as long as I’m on google. If I ever move somewhere less … restrictive, I might align the stories correctly.

The Cave (35 stories - Cody or Ryan lead stories)

• Yes, the latest story is The Cave 34, but there’s a Cave 0, which is why it’s 35.
• Because nothing is ever as clean as I planned, Cody has guest-wrestled in 8 stories outside this series, including AMU 100, AMU 150, The Bat + SuperStar in Toying with Trouble, The Bat + SuperStar in What a Croc, The Cave: The Adventures of SuperStar 8, The Cave: The Road to El Paso 6, Rival Pro Wrestling 2, and Route 69: Los Angeles.
• Ryan has guest-wrestled in 3 stories outside of this series, including AMU 100, AMU 150, and Rival Pro Wrestling 2. 

The Cave: The Adventures of SuperStar (21 stories - Jae lead stories)

• I liked Jae right from the start, so he got his own series and became a primary character.
• Jae has guest-wrestled in 6 stories outside this series, including AMU 100, The Bat + SuperStar in Toying with Trouble, The Bat + SuperStar in What a Croc, The Cave 12, The Cave 33, and Route 69: Los Angeles. 

The Cave Undercard (41 stories - official Cave matches not featuring Cody, Ryan or Jae)

• Originally this was any story not featuring the big three Cave stars, but I changed that along the way, creating a new series (Unleashed) for matches with Cave wrestlers outside of The Cave.
• Yes, the latest story is The Cave Undercard 40, but I posted a 7.1 and a 7.4 story on the New Stories blog in 2015 for Canada Day (July 1st) and Independence Day (July 4th). They had themed wrestlers (Guardian & Mimik in Canada gear; Luke in USA gear). It seemed clever at the time, but messed up my numbering. 

The Cave Unleashed (20 stories - unofficial Cave matches not featuring Cody, Ryan or Jae)

• When Cave guys go out on their own, this is where their stories should live now. 

The Cave Shorts (3 stories)

• When I started posting again in 2023, I committed to doing one story a month. I get ideas that don’t involve wrestling (the hardest part to finish), so this felt like a good way to fill in gaps. As it has turned out, I’ve been able to deliver at least one story a month since returning and most months have two. However, I really like the three I’ve done, so there might be more coming. 

The Cave: The Road to El Paso (6 stories)

• A mini-series, as I don’t see anyone ever doing another road trip to El Paso. 

The Cave: Arizona Knights (1 story - set in the AWE)

• I made a new title, but calling it The Cave was a bad decision. I will retitle as CLAW sometime, since the characters are more connected to Ben than Cody/Ryan. Like how I moved the Asgard Ranch stories into Unleashed. But until then, it's labeled as a Cave series.

AMU (11 stories - milestones)

• 100, 150, 200, 250-250.7
• As milestone posts, they're branded for the whole site. I consider them Cave stories because of who they have featured. I titled them AMU because the milestones include non-Cave stories, so calling them “The Cave” felt like false advertising. There are not 257 Cave stories. However, they all feature The Cave characters (or their offspring in the case of 200). 

The Bat + SuperStar in … (2 stories - 2017-2018 Christmas Day stories)

• Love these. Yes, they could be The Cave, but I branded them differently on a lark, more like a comic or cartoon. "Toying with Trouble" and "What a Croc" are fun titles. The titles help them feel like the little bonus specials that they are. 

Bird Boy in … (1 story - 2019 Christmas Day story)

• Could have been a Cave Unleashed, but I wanted to continue to naming convention established from the previous two Christmases.
• With “The Bird Cage”, the Christmas stories became more of a Toyboy series, as he’s the only guy who is part of the action in all three. (Cody appears in this one, but doesn’t play). 

 The Cave Extended Universe (Set in The Cave world, but not focused on it) (81)

• Route 69 (27 stories - Ben and Jeff road trip) 
• Route 69: Bad Boys (10 stories - the heels and villains of Route 69) 
• CLAW (12 stories - Ben’s pro federation) 
• Rival Pro Wrestling (7 stories - Javi’s gay-oriented, 80’s themed, pro wrestling video company) 
• AWL (16 stories - 80’s pro wrestling federation) 
• Camp Grapple (2 stories - Squatch is the connector, wrestling on an international military base) 
• BIGBeast (7 stories - A different gay-oriented wrestling video company set in the Cave universe) 

Outside The Cave (35) 

• Alex Miller’s Vault (3 stories - inspired by true events in my life)
• Encounters (18 stories - one-offs) 
• Heroes (14 superhero stories)
• For some reason, I don't count the Power Pup post in my total story count, viewing it as an idea for a story but not an actual story. Not sure what I have against it. 

That's 257!

Alternate Universe Fan Fiction by Other Authors (3 stories over 7 posts not counted in the total since I didn’t write them)

• Multiverses have been all the rage for years now. I view these stories as part of an AMM (Alex Miller Multiverse) rather than the AMU.
• I love that another writer could like the characters and want to use them. Their ideas might not 100% align with my own, but as long as they’re not too crazy, I’m happy to share them. While DC publishes evil Superman comics, I don't see myself publishing things that tarnish the leads to a great extent.

WHAT'S NEXT?

I've got two more Ryan birthday party stories. There's one more match from the party and a final wrap-up with Ryan's next normal. It was a fun project, trying to figure out who to use and how. Going back through old stories. Seeing all the typos. Wishing I'd made an actual timeline so I'd know who got older and by how much. That kind of thing.

Each story started with a unique focus, but I write how I write. I hope they felt uniquely focused and not too repetitive. My narrative starting points were:

• 250 - alpha flip
• 250.1 - teaching
• 250.2 - gut punching
• 250.3 - playtime
• 250.4 - bearhug
• 250.5 - grudge match
• 250.6 - one-on-two
• 250.7 - muscle worship

The conclusion of the party will take me to April. I'm not 100% sure what's next after that. I have several things started, but we'll see what I can complete. Also, I have received a new addition to the Zodiac fan fiction story that'll post at some point in the near future, too.

Thanks for reading!

Alex