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celepom · 1 year

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It’s Pride 2023! Time to put up some more comic recs!

This time I’ve put together some stories about discovering one’s own queer identity, outlining a family history of queerness, and several stories where being queer isn’t the focus - queer characters are simply allowed to be.

Belle of the Ball By Mari Costa

High-school senior and notorious wallflower Hawkins finally works up the courage to remove her mascot mask and ask out her longtime crush: Regina Moreno, head cheerleader, academic overachiever, and all-around popular girl. There’s only one teensy little problem: Regina is already dating Chloe Kitagawa, athletic all-star…and middling English student. Regina sees a perfectly self-serving opportunity here, and asks the smitten Hawkins to tutor Chloe free of charge, knowing Hawkins will do anything to get closer to her. And while Regina’s plan works at first, she doesn’t realize that Hawkins and Chloe knew each other as kids, when Hawkins went by Belle and wore princess dresses to school every single day. Before long, romance does start to blossom…but not between who you might expect. With Belle of the Ball, cartoonist Mariana Costa has reinvigorated satisfying, reliable tropes into your new favorite teen romantic comedy.

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The Moth Keeper By Kay O’Neill

Anya is finally a Moth Keeper, the protector of the lunar moths that allow the Night-Lily flower to bloom once a year. Her village needs the flower to continue thriving and Anya is excited to prove her worth and show her thanks to her friends with her actions, but what happens when being a Moth Keeper isn't exactly what Anya thought it would be? The nights are cold in the desert and the lunar moths live far from the village. Anya finds herself isolated and lonely. Despite Anya's dedication, she wonders what it would be like to live in the sun. Her thoughts turn into an obsession, and when Anya takes a chance to stay up during the day to feel the sun's warmth, her village and the lunar moths are left to deal with the consequences.

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Hollow By Shannon Watters, Branden Boyer-White & Berenice Nelle

Isabel "Izzy" Crane and her family have just relocated to Sleepy Hollow, the town made famous by—and obsessed with—Washington Irving's legend of the Headless Horseman. But city slicker-skeptic Izzy has no time for superstition as she navigates life at a new address, a new school, and, with any luck, with new friends. Ghost stories aren't real, after all.... Then Izzy is pulled into the orbit of the town's teen royalty, Vicky Van Tassel (yes, that Van Tassel) and loveable varsity-level prankster Croc Byun. Vicky's weariness with her family connection to the legend turns to terror when the trio begins to be haunted by the Horseman himself, uncovering a curse set on destroying the Van Tassel line. Now, they have only until Halloween night to break it—meaning it's a totally inconvenient time for Izzy to develop a massive crush on the enigmatic Vicky. Can Izzy's practical nature help her face the unknown—or only trip her up? As the calendar runs down to the 31st, Izzy will have to use all of her wits and work with her new friends to save Vicky and uncover the mystery of the legendary Horseman of Sleepy Hollow—before it's too late.

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Until I Meet my Husband By Ryousuke Nanasaki & Yoshi Tsukizuki

The memoir of gay activist Ryousuke Nanasaki and the first religiously recognized same-sex marriage in Japan. From school crushes to awkward dating sites to finding a community, this collection of stories recounts the author’s “firsts” as a young gay man searching for love. Dating is never ever easy, but that goes doubly so for Ryousuke, whose journey is full of unrequited loves and many speed bumps. But perseverance and time heals all wounds, even those of the heart.

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Is Love the Answer? By Uta Isaki

When it comes to love, high schooler Chika wonders if she might be an alien. She’s never fallen for or even had a crush on anyone, and she has no desire for physical intimacy. Her friends tell her that she just "hasn't met the one yet," but Chika has doubts... It's only when Chika enters college and meets peers like herself that she realizes there’s a word for what she feels inside--asexual--and she’s not the only one. After years of wondering if love was the answer, Chika realizes that the answer she long sought may not exist at all--and that that's perfectly normal.

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M Is for Monster By Talia Dutton

When Doctor Frances Ai's younger sister Maura died in a tragic accident six months ago, Frances swore she would bring her back to life. However, the creature that rises from the slab is clearly not Maura. This girl, who chooses the name "M," doesn't remember anything about Maura's life and just wants to be her own person. However, Frances expects M to pursue the same path that Maura had been on—applying to college to become a scientist—and continue the plans she and Maura shared. Hoping to trigger Maura's memories, Frances surrounds M with the trappings of Maura's past, but M wants nothing to do with Frances' attempts to change her into something she's not. In order to face the future, both Frances and M need to learn to listen and let go of Maura once and for all. Talia Dutton's debut graphic novel, M Is for Monster, takes a hard look at what it means to live up to other people's expectations—as well as our own.

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Golden Sparkle By Minta Suzumaru

Himaru Uehara’s first year of high school is off to a good start, minus one problem—he keeps having wet dreams. With only his mom and sister at home—and having skipped health class in middle school—he thinks it means there’s something wrong with him. Thankfully, a new friend has just the remedy and teaches Himaru exactly how to deal with those pesky dreams! But his solution only leads to more confusion, and the two find themselves navigating feelings they’ve never felt before.

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Thieves By Lucie Bryon

Ella can’t seem to remember a single thing from the party the night before at a mysterious stranger’s mansion, and she sure as heck doesn’t know why she’s woken up in her bed surrounded by a magpie’s nest of objects that aren’t her own. And she can’t stop thinking about her huge crush on Madeleine, who she definitely can’t tell about her sudden penchant for kleptomania… But does Maddy have secrets of her own? Can they piece together that night between them and fix the mess of their chaotic personal lives in time to form a normal, teenage relationship? That would be nice.

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Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic By Alison Bechdel

Meet Alison's father, a historic preservation expert and obsessive restorer of the family's Victorian home, a third-generation funeral home director, a high school English teacher, an icily distant parent, and a closeted homosexual who, as it turns out, is involved with his male students and a family babysitter. Through narrative that is alternately heartbreaking and fiercely funny, we are drawn into a daughter's complex yearning for her father. And yet, apart from assigned stints dusting caskets at the family-owned "fun home," as Alison and her brothers call it, the relationship achieves its most intimate expression through the shared code of books. When Alison comes out as homosexual herself in late adolescense, the denouement is swift, graphic -- and redemptive.

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She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat By Sakaomi Yuzaki

Cooking is how Nomoto de-stresses, but one day, she finds herself making way more than she can eat by herself. And so, she invites her neighbor Kasuga, who also lives alone. What will come out of this impromptu dinner invitation...?

Kasuga and Nomoto promised to spend their Christmas and New Year’s together. Now, they find themselves learning more about each other’s families through the food sent by Nomoto’s mother. Cute character bento, salmon and rice, stollen, fruit sandwiches, roast beef…Nomoto and Kasuga warm up to each other over a cheerful holiday season.

#Pride 2023 #book rec #comic #graphic novel #autobio #fantasy #science fiction #high school #queer #lesbian #gay #asexual #intersex #bisexual #romance #book recs #pride #LGBTQIA #LGBT comic

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the-garbanzo-annex-jr · 1 month

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Joe Marino , Chris Harris , Isabel Vincent, Chris Nesi and Emily Crane

It takes privilege to protest at Columbia.

The 114 anti-Israel protesters who were busted at Columbia on Thursday include members of the upper crust: an intern for New York State Attorney General Letitia James — and the daughter of a prominent UPS executive who killed an elderly couple with her truck as a teenager and got off with a slap on the wrist.

A Post deep-dive into the backgrounds of the protesters shows many list multimillion-dollar mansions as their home addresses, according to sources, and come from wealthy and powerful families.

5The 114 anti-Israel protesters who were busted at Columbia on Thursday include an intern for New York state AG Letitia James — and the daughter of a prominent UPS executive who killed an elderly couple with her truck as a teenager.

In 2020, at the age of 16, Isabel veered her Toyota Tacoma pickup truck across a double yellow line on US Route 7 in Charlotte, Vermont, killing Chet and Connie Hawkins, a married couple in their 70s, according to a report by the Barre Montpelier Times Argus.

She pleaded no contest to a civil traffic ticket for “driving on roadways laned for traffic” and was issued a $220 fine — which her mother paid, according to the Rutland Herald.

Many are students at Barnard College, Columbia University’s liberal arts sister school.

Others are career activists with multiple arrests under their belts.

Minnesota congresswoman and “Squad” member Ilhan Omar’s daughter, Isra Hirsi, a Barnard student with a long history of civil disobedience, was among those cited for trespassing and taken into custody.

She was released a few hours later and declined to speak to The Post.

Also cuffed and removed from the Columbia campus was Isabel Jennifer Seward, daughter of high-ranking UPS executive William J. Seward.

5Then there’s Avery Reed, a former summer intern for Letitia James who also worked part-time on “gender equality” for the Biden-Harris campaign in 2021 in Florida.Linkedin

#columbia #anti-israel protesters #privilege #wealth

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zorlok-if · 7 months

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I saw you're reading legends and lattes which I haven't read yet, but I'd like too! So seeing as you seem like a big reader do you have any recommendations for Halloween reads? Traditional books or if?

I am a pretty big reader. But, even more than that, I'm a library associate so knowing a lot about books and providing recommendations is a core aspect of my job (a job that I adore) 😊

I have been recommending and will continue to recommend Legends and Lattes as a cozy, sweet, delightfully queer read. Definitely give it a go if you've been considering it.

I haven't been able to read much IF recently (so, honestly, I'd be very interested in any recommendations you all might have for good Halloween IF reads) but here are some traditional books (and graphic novels) that I'm happy to pass on. If you have a more specific genre you're interested in, let me know (like I said, this is what I do and I adore it). Many of these don't directly relate to Halloween, but for whatever reason, I think they fit the spooky season. I tried to present a wide range of titles and these are in no order whatsoever. Please enjoy.

Some Spooky Season Recommendations

Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree [cw]

(adult fiction, high fantasy, queer romance, sapphic slow-burn, cozy, for dnd fans)

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas [cw]

(young adult, queer fiction, spirits and brujería, paranormal romance, first in a duology)

Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas [cw]

(adult fiction, gothic, vampires, slow-burn romance, historical fiction)

The House Witch by Delemhach [cw]

(adult fiction, high fantasy, witchcraft, romance, cozy mystery, comedy, first in a series)

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle [cw]

(adult fiction, horror, queer fiction, genuinely horrifying camp)

(and yes, that Chuck Tingle)

The Skull by Jon Klassen [cw]

(juvenile fiction, illustrated, folktale, short, gently spooky)

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman [cw]

(juvenile fiction, horror, ghosts, graveyards, macabre, coming of age tale)

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson [cw]

(adult fiction, horror, gothic, haunted house, mystery)

Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones [cw]

(adult fiction, werewolves, horror, coming of age tale)

The Wicked Bargain by Gabe Cole Novoa (in particular, the audiobook narrated by Vico Ortiz) [cw]

(teen fiction, historical fantasy, queer fiction, trans mc, pirates, magic powers, deals with devils)

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna [cw]

(adult fiction, cozy mystery, romance, urban fantasy, witchcraft)

The Witch Boy by Molly Ostertag [cw]

(juvenile fiction, graphic novel, queer fiction, magic and witches, first in a series)

Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women, edited by Lee Murray [cw]

(adult fiction, horror anthology, short stories)

Hollow by Shannon Watters [cw]

(teen fiction, graphic novel, queer fiction, sleepy hollow retelling)

Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia [cw]

(adult fiction, urban fantasy, horror, vampires)

A Witch's Guide to Fake Dating a Demon by Sarah Hawley [cw]

(adult fiction, romantic comedy, urban fantasy, witchcraft, demons, first in a series)

Fledgling by Octavia Butler [cw]

(adult fiction, horror, science fiction, vampires)

The Clackity by Lora Senf [cw]

(juvenile fiction, horror, mystery, paranormal investigators, ghosts, first in a series)

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir [cw]

(adult fiction, horror, queer fiction, necromancy, haunted space castle, first in a series)

Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery by Brom [cw]

(adult fiction, dark fantasy, historical setting, witchcraft, devils, revenge, illustrations)

The Saturday Night Ghost Club by Craig Davidson [cw]

(adult fiction, horror, mystery, ghosts, coming of age tale)

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow [cw]

(adult fiction, gothic horror, romance, mystery, haunted house, curses, nightmares)

Nimbus by Jan Eldredge [couldn't find any cws]

(juvenile fiction, fantasy, mc is a magic cat, witchcraft, goblins, for the Warrior Cat kids)

#thanks for sending this in!#asks #recommendations #books #albie's corner

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homomenhommes · 15 days

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THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY

based on: The White Crane Institute's 'Gay Wisdom', Gay Birthdays, Gay For Today, Famous GLBT, glbt-Gay Encylopedia, Today in Gay History, Wikipedia, and more … May 15

1797 – Captain Henry Allen is hanged in England for sodomy, the only ship's captain ever to be hanged for sodomy.

1842 – Archduke Ludwig Viktor of Austria (Ludwig Viktor Joseph Anton) (d.1919) from the House of Habsburg was the youngest son born to Archduke Franz Karl of Austria and Princess Sophie of Bavaria and younger brother of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria.

During the Revolutions of 1848 and the Vienna Uprising, pampered "Luziwuzi" with his royal family had to flee the Austrian capital. Ludwig Viktor pursued the usual military career and was appointed General of the Infantry, but had no intentions to interfere in politics. He rejected plans to marry him to Princess Imperial Isabel, daughter of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil. Instead he concentrated on building up his own art collection and had a city palace erected on Schwarzenbergplatz in Vienna according to plans designed by Heinrich von Ferstel, where he hosted homophile soirées.

Despite his mother's attempts to arrange a marriage for him with Duchess Sophie Charlotte in Bavaria, youngest sister of Empress Elisabeth, he remained a bachelor all his life. As a result of his very public homosexuality and transvestitism, culminating in a brawl at the Central Bathhouse Vienna, his brother Emperor Franz Joseph finally forbade him to stay in Vienna. The same emperor joked that he should be given a Ballerina as adjutant to keep him out of trouble.

Ludwig Viktor retired to Klessheim Palace near Salzburg where he became known as a philanthropist and patron of the arts. He died in 1919, at the age of 76, and is buried at the Siezenheim cemetery.

1871 – Germany's Paragraph 175 was adopted. (known formally as §175 StGB; also known as Section 175 in English) it was a provision of the German Criminal Code that made homosexual acts between males a crime. The statute was amended several times. The Nazis broadened the law in 1935 and increased §175 StGB prosecutions by an order of magnitude; thousands died in concentration camps, regardless of guilt or innocence. East Germany reverted to the old version of the law in 1950, limited its scope to sex with youths under 18 in 1968, and abolished it entirely in 1988. West Germany retained the Nazi-era statute until 1969, when it was limited to "qualified cases"; it was further attenuated in 1973 and finally revoked entirely in 1994 after German reunification.

1923 – Richard Avedon (d.2004) was an American fashion and portrait photographer. He worked for Harper's Bazaar and Vogue, specializing in capturing movement in still pictures of fashion, theater and dance. An obituary published in The New York Times said that "his fashion and portrait photographs helped define America's image of style, beauty and culture for the last half-century".

Avedon was born in New York City to a Jewish family. His father, Jacob Israel Avedon, was a Russian-born immigrant who advanced from menial work to starting his own successful retail dress business on Fifth Avenue called Avedon's Fifth Avenue. His mother, Anna, from a family that owned a dress-manufacturing business, encouraged Richard's love of fashion and art.

Avedon's interest in photography emerged when, at age 12, he joined a Young Men's Hebrew Association (YMHA) Camera Club. He would use his family's Kodak Box Brownie not only to feed his curiosity about the world but also to retreat from his personal life. His father was a critical and remote disciplinarian, who insisted that physical strength, education, and money prepared one for life.

Avedon attended DeWitt Clinton High School in Bedford Park, Bronx, where from 1937 until 1940 he worked on the school paper, The Magpie, with James Baldwin. As a teen, he also won a Scholastic Art and Writing Award. After graduating from DeWitt Clinton that year, he enrolled at Columbia University to study philosophy and poetry but dropped out after one year. He then started as a photographer for the Merchant Marines, taking ID shots of the crewmen with the Rolleiflex camera his father had given him.In 1944, Avedon began working as an advertising photographer for a department store, but was quickly endorsed by Alexey Brodovitch, who was art director for the fashion magazine Harper's Bazaar. Lillian Bassman also promoted Avedon's career at Harper's. In 1945, his photographs began appearing in Junior Bazaar and, a year later, in Harper's Bazaar.

In 1946, Avedon had set up his own studio and began providing images for magazines including Vogue and Life.

Richard Avedon, the most successful fashion photographer of all time, was married twice and fathered a son, but now, years after his death, he is being outed as a bisexual.

Michael Gross reveals in "Focus: The Secret, Sexy, Sometimes Sordid World of Fashion Photographers" that Avedon and his first wife, Dorcas "Doe" Nowell, spent their summers in Cherry Grove, the gay mecca on Fire Island.

Nowell — the model for Audrey Hepburn's character in "Funny Face" — later told a daughter that Avedon was gay. "It was not a secret between them," Doe's son Nowell Siegel told Gross.

Neither was it a secret to Avedon's early assistant Earl Steinbicker, who thinks Avedon hired him because "he was attracted to me."

Steinbicker believes Avedon had an affair with the writer James Baldwin, a high-school classmate, but later fell out with him when Baldwin was late with an essay for one of Avedon's books.

1928 – Mickey Mouse made his debut in a test screening of Plane Crazy on May 15, 1928. Plane Crazy is the first Mickey Mouse cartoon to be made, but not the first to be released. That honor goes to Steamboat Willie, which was released later in 1928. Plane Crazy was a silent cartoon, and was only released after sound was added following the success of Steamboat Willie. Who knew that 63 years later in 1991 Gay Days at Disney World would begin?

1930 – The birthday of neo-dadaist painter Jasper Johns. He is best known for his Flag painting (1954-55). Born in Georgia, Johns spent his early life in South Carolina. After a stint in the service where he was stationed in Sendai, Japan during the Korean War, in 1954, after returning to New York, Johns met Robert Rauschenberg and they became long term lovers. In the same period he was strongly influenced by the gay couple Merce Cunningham , choreographer, and John Cage, composer. Working together they explored the contemporary art scene, and began developing their ideas on art.

In 1958, gallery owner Leo Castelli discovered Johns while visiting Rauschenberg's studio. Castelli gave him his first solo show. It was here that Alfred Barr, the founding director of New York's Museum of Modern Art, purchased four works from his exhibition. In 1963, Johns and Cage founded Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, now known as Foundation for Contemporary Arts in New York City. Johns currently lives in Sharon, Connecticut and the Island of Saint Martin.

Three Flags, 1958.

On February 15th, 2011 he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama, becoming the first painter or sculptor to receive a Presidential Medal of Freedom since Alexander Calder in 1977.

1948 – Ron Peck (d.2022) was a pioneer in Britain’s independent film scene of the 1970s and 80s, whose Nighthawks is a milestone in LGBTQIA+ cinema.

Peck was born and raised in Merton Park, south-west London. His father, Richard Peck, was an estate agent and later property developer, while his mother, Joan (nee Lindsay), was in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force during the Second World War.

Ron was a film buff from a young age. As a teenager, he corresponded with and even met some of his favourite directors, including Nicholas Ray, who brought Peck’s letter with him to an on-stage interview at the National Film theatre in London, and singled him out in the audience.

As a gay man growing up in Merton Park in the 1950s and early 60s, traditional Hollywood presented an exciting alternative to a repressive England when homosexuality was still illegal and rejected as a social ill.

He was there right from the start of the British independent film scene as it developed and became more organised in the late 1960s. He trained at the London Film School and in the day worked as a teacher – foreshadowing the story of Nighthawks, as yet unwritten – as well as working on the box office at the Other Cinema, the organisation at the time for political, alternative film.

At the London Film School, he made the short film Its Ugly Head (1974) about a closeted gay man in an unhappy marriage.

A founder member of the Four Corners collective – one of the first such groupings in the 1970s – he and his friends made films that examined social and political histories while establishing a production, screenings and exhibition site of the same name in the East End, which survives to this day.

Reckoning with his own homosexuality prompted his most famous film, Nighthawks (named after the famous Hopper painting). The film took shape around a teacher character who struggles to come out to his friends and colleagues as he becomes newly acquainted with the underground gay scene. It was the first British feature film explicitly about contemporary gay life, made by out gay people and presenting a powerful portrait of pre-AIDS London. Through it Peck met Paul Hallam, the Nighthawks co-writer who became an important collaborator and confidant. The status of the male body and its place in classical art, while remaining homo-eroticised yet verboten, prompted the witty 1985 short What Can I Do with a Male Nude? 1987’s Empire State extended the scope of enquiry, looking at the redevelopment of London’s Docklands and the gangsters and corruption that moved in as the city remapped itself. Peck interviewed male sex workers for the scenes set around Piccadilly.

1954 – Boze Hadleigh aka George Hadley-Garcia is an American journalist writer of celebrity gossip and entertainment.

Hadleigh has an M.A. in journalism and has traveled to more than 60 countries. He has published 18 books and has written for more than 100 magazines in the U.S. and abroad, including TV Guide, Playboy, and Us Weekly. He won $16,400 as a contestant on the March 20, 1998 episode of the game show Jeopardy!

He lives in Beverly Hills, California and Sydney, New South Wales. His latest books are Broadway Babylon (2007), and Mexico's Most Wanted (2007). Hadleigh's books have been translated into 14 languages, and half of his first 16 books have been made into television specials and documentaries in the U.S., U.K., and elsewhere.

Several of his books deal with pop culture and/or entertainment history, and how the media and status quo shape and manipulate audiences' perceptions and opinions. Six of his eighteen books are exclusively about the LGBT presence in and contributions to entertainment; Hadleigh himself is gay.Some of Hadleigh's books are quotes collections, some are histories and overviews, and some are interview books with noted personalities in movies; several portions of these interviews, as with Rock Hudson, were published in periodicals before the subjects died. The author had committed himself not to out any of his subjects against their will — at least as long as they were living. Some interviewees agreed to speak only on condition that the published result be posthumous. Nearly all the interviews were recorded; a few individuals, like director Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Mae West, however, refused to speak if they were recorded—which was their policy with other interviewers as well.

Hadleigh's second book, Conversations With My Elders (republished as Celluloid Gaze) includes interviews with actors Sal Mineo and Rock Hudson; directors George Cukor, Luchino Visconti, Fassbinder, and designer, photographer/author Cecil Beaton.Their frank conversations with the author reveal much about the lives and careers of these celebrities and how their homosexuality affected both. According to Midwest Book Review, the book

"is a ground breaking collection of interviews with six men who share a common and unusual trait relevant to their success in the movie-making industry: they were gay, and during their lifetimes, they concealed their sexual orientation from the public. Yet these interviews are remarkably open and candid about how these men's sexuality affected their lives and careers. … 'Celluloid Gaze' is an informed and informative contribution to Film History and Gay Studies academic reference collections and supplemental reading lists, as well as highly recommended reading for fans of the film work of Sal Mineo, Luchino Visconti, Cecil Beaton, George Cukor, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and Rock Hudson."

1967 – Andy Towle, born in Chicago, Illinois, is an American blogger and media commentator based in New York City. Towle, who is gay, started his blog Towleroad in 2003 while he was in Los Angeles. The blog focuses on gays, pop culture, photography, politics, media, entertainment, technology, and travel. Towle works full-time creating Towleroad.

He holds two B.A.s from Vassar College in Art History and English and was awarded the W.K. Rose Fellowship in the Creative Arts from Vassar, a Wallace Stegner graduate fellowship at Stanford University as well as two writing fellowships at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts. While in Provincetown he not only produced poetry but also worked as a pool boy and a bartender at The Boatslip. After moving to New York in 1992, he became a bartender and later a manager at the iconic 1990s Chelsea gay bar Splash. He returned to New York in 2004 after living first in Hong Kong (where he was for several years partnered with Amazing Race winner Chip Arndt) and later in Los Angeles.

Towle was previously the editor in chief of Genre magazine, a North American gay men's lifestyle publication and editor at large for The Out Traveler, a North American gay travel quarterly.

Towle's poetry has appeared in The Paris Review in 2001, and in Poetry Magazine on many occasions from 1988 through 1997. He currently lives in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan with his partner of five years and Emmy Award-winner, David Grant.

Occasionally Towle hands over control of the blog to guest editors including the novelist Christopher Rice, photographer Lewis Payton, Josh and Josh of the blog Josh and Josh are Rich and Famous and Kenneth Walsh of kenneth in the (212).

1975 – Josh McNey is an American photographer and creative director.

McNey was born in Westlake Village, CA and grew up in the surrounding suburbs. McNey began photographing at an early age, taking photos of his brothers and friends while they skated and surfed. After high school McNey spent seven years in the United States Marine Corps.

In 2002 McNey moved to New York to attend Columbia University. He photographed the Columbia wrestling team while attending university. McNey's photographs have appeared in Crush, Dust, Flaunt Magazine, XLR8R, Positive Magazine, Kink Magazine, Kaltbult and Vision LA.

In 2011 McNey had his first solo show, called Protect from Light, at the New York gallery, Casa de Costa. McNey's work is also included in the Elton John Photography Collection and The Leslie Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art. He currently lives and works in New York City.

2010 – Greenland: The country's first LGBT Pride parade takes place. It's the second largest public gathering in Greenland with over 2% of the country's population attending.

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amywritesthings · 6 months

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SILVER UNDERGROUND / deleted scene 03.

walk out. :: a deleted scene from flashback five. james walks out of the argument with the trio and has a private conversation with levi instead.

this didn't change super drastically in the final edit, but the original plan during the heist breakdown was for james to actually walk away and levi explain it all. i like it much more as a unit argument, where levi eventually laid furlan's issues and yan's situation out on the table. still -- kisses are kisses! this is unedited. 1.3k words / angst, language, illness mention. :: please remember: this is additional content. nothing in the deleted drabbles are tied to the main content/overall final storyline.

“Isn’t it convenient?” you begin with a bite. “That some rich asshole knows our names?”

“The Military Police have been after us for years,” Furlan argues. “Pretty sure everyone down here knows our names.”

“That isn’t the point. He’s not an MP.”

“So?”

“So?” you repeat in a spit. “So you don’t think it’s suspicious, at all, that this fat fuck from the surface corners the three of you just to offer all of us the one thing everyone wants?”

A right to the surface.

A chance to live a life in the sun.

“Because we’re the only ones who can pull off a heist like this,” Isabel urges with a naivety you typically adore. Right now? You loathe it.

Instead of taking your anger out on her — she doesn’t deserve it, not when you know her bleeding heart would pour itself dry without hesitation — you snap your attention back to the dark haired man below you.

Because he’s too calm about this.

“Levi.”

He blinks back to you, brow quirked. “Yeah?”

“Tell them.”

“They know.”

“No they don’t,” you urge between clenched teeth.

“We were doing this way before you came into the picture, James,” Furlan recalls without a bite. “Levi and me, I mean. You have to trust us.”

Your nostrils flare. “It isn’t you I distrust.”

Never. You trusted the people in this tiny little apartment more than the Underground and the Surface combined.

Surely by now, after all these years, the three of them knew implicitly where you stood.

The problem, however, no longer lies below: it’s the people above you in more ways than one.

What lies on the surface is the enemy. One false move and the four of you stand a chance to lose everything —

Including each other.

Your hands push off from the table, propelling you to turn on a heel in the direction of the door. Isabel calls out your name — your first name, a cheap trick she’s learned that usually works to get you to listen — but this time you step past the threshold and into the damp outdoor air to venture down the stairs.

When your boots hit solid ground, you hear the faint steps of another pair.

Let them.

You continue your trek around your home, head bowed to avoid the questions from the guard runts stationed around the premises.

A warm hand grabs your bicep and anchors you in place.

“Hey.”

The strong baritone of Levi’s voice vibrates through your body. It isn’t soft, but it also isn’t threatening; neutrality with an edge of care.

“Hey,” you greet without turning, allowing your arm to float in the distance between you.

“Want me to let go so you can carry out your dramatic nature walk?” he boredly asks behind you, lessening his grip for emphasis.

“Depends,” you answer, craning your chin to watch him over your shoulder. “Are you going to run after me?”

“Kind of already did.”

His face turns as if embarrassed to admit it. You continue to watch, anger melting from the crown of your head to your toes. You fall back onto your heel to shift closer to him, lessening the strained angle of your arm.

“This is bad, Levi.”

“You think I don’t already know that?”

The gruffness of his voice catches you by surprise. His hand flexes, letting go of your arm to drop to his side.

“I know you do,” you murmur, turning your boot in the dirt to truly face him. “But Furlan and Isabel are…”

Dreamers.

(The worst kind of person to be in a place like this.)

“Furlan wears his heart on his sleeve. We’ve seen it once before and we’re seeing it now, how he skims cuts for the people who need it most. And Isa? Isa doesn’t have a shitty bone in her body. All she has ever wanted was to go to the surface. So if we get lucky enough to pull something off like this, then who’s to say that—”

“We don’t have a choice,” Levi interrupts, crowding your space with an honesty he can afford without prying ears. “James, we don’t.”

“We could.”

“We don’t.” He emphasizes each syllable. “They have Yan.”

The warmth in your body pools at your feet. “What?”

Yan — the boy Furlan was caught skimming for on the most recent job. The boy whose bad legs will only get worse if he doesn’t get the expensive kind of medicine from the surface. As you mentally place the pieces together, Levi tenses under your widening stare.

“Saw it with my own eyes,” he murmurs. “Bastard grabbed him before we could stop them.”

You falter, chin falling to your chest. “Holy shit…”

“His legs are shit out of luck if he doesn’t receive treatment at a surface clinic.” A fingertip lifts the tip of your chin back up. Levi’s eyes narrow. “I want to work with these pieces of shit just as much as you do.”

“They could’ve killed Yan already,” you reply somberly.

“He contacted Furlan,” he answers. “He’s already at a first-rate clinic.”

“What if it’s bullshit? A set up?”

“Do you think I’d fall for a fake report?” Levi scowls, insulted.

“No, but Furlan would.”

“I checked, twice.”

Which means it’s true. Your doubt never creeps up to Levi, not once.

Dejected in what little choice remains on the table, your gaze subconsciously lands on his lips for the truth. “And where do the surface papers come in?”

“We finish the job. Get Yan back.”

“Then we just… magically get the right to live on the surface?”

“It’s only magic if we manage to evade Military Police unscathed.”

“Still, it sounds too easy.”

You sigh heavily, bringing your attention back to his eyes. His attention, however, seems to slide opposite of you and further south to stare at your lips as he speaks.

“You’re right, it sounds easy because it’s already started. The client stated our target objectives will be making contact regardless of our answer, so you better make your choice sooner rather than later.”

“What choice?” you ask, exasperated. “Nothing you’re saying sounds like a choice.”

“I won’t involve you, James, is what I’m saying.” He refuses to look you in the eye when his voice firmly states. “They saw my face. They saw Furlan and they saw Isabel’s—”

“Levi.”

“—but they didn’t ask for you, so you’re virtually off the hook if you can lay low for a while.”

An out.

This son of a bitch is really offering an out.

In a moment of anger, you push both hands at his chest. Levi doesn’t move a muscle.

“Are you fucking insane? Abandon you and save myself or join whatever blaze of glory we might be going down with?”

“That’s the choice you have.”

“Abandon you? That’s the choice I have?”

“It’s a choice, isn’t it?” he snaps. “And you’re not aband—”

“I’m in.”

He barely gets the rest of his argument out before you breathlessly answer.

“I go where you go, so I’m in.”

Levi’s eyes grow wide. “Don’t do this just so I—”

“Shut up, asshole.”

You don’t know what possesses you to pull his stupid vest into your fist, but his feet move just as fast as your reflexes. Arms gather around your body as your fingers curl around the back of your neck.

Your lips press to his.

He’s stiff as a board, as if his brain realizes what he’s done before his body has. Eventually his chin dips forward, his lips fluttering across yours as he finds his breath. His arms drag you closer, deepening his mouth’s position on yours while his lips move, slow and deliberate.

After a minute, he rips his lips away, face tinged with a pink, bashful hue.

“...dirty trick.”

#amys deleted scenes.#fic: silver underground #aot fanfiction #snk fanfiction

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