#offbeat sequel

[puppys-rhythm-heaven]

lockstep 2 is amusing to me because it's literally just og lockstep but slower and the offbeats are swing instead of being offbeat. everything else is the same. the beat switches are at the same point and everything. it's kinda funny the degree it's to tbh-

#puppy rambles #rhythm hell #lockstep 2 #ds' sequels are good at that kinda thing #lockstep 2 is the worst offender (apart from the dazzles 2) tho #the others at least add extra cues and/or change the tempo #lockstep 2 just slows it down makes it swing and calls it a day. and then never uses that again- #remix 8 uses lockstep 2 textures and yet it is not lockstep 2. no swing beat just normal offbeats #yea lockstep 1 is better ngl-

[tea-with-evan-and-me]

man about town interview | spring/summer 2014

for the tweam! click through for my best attempt at deciphering this (maybe impossible to find?) throwback interview

‘’I don’t think I’m scary at all. It was kind of funny watching myself being scary. Because I’m not scary.’’ Says Evan Peters, the up-and-coming up-for-anything actor best known for his extreme roles on American Horror Story, the prestige television series that treats social taboos as map points. For three seasons, Peters has excelled at playing against his offbeat boyishness by amping up his young Malcolm McDowell intensity, with results that fall somewhere between ‘’teen dream in strangler’s gloves’’ and ‘’terrifying Michael Cera.’’ He most recently appeared in American Horror Story: Coven as Kyle Spencer, the good-natured university student who is decapitated and then reanimated with the body parts of his Kappa Lambda Gamma brothers as a temperamental Rocky Horror who beats his sexually abusive mother to death with a trophy.

Over a bold chai tea with stevia, at a restaurant in Venice, California, Peters is lighthearted and dryly humorous, like a young Michael Shannon, with whom he should costar in a successful disturbing family sitcom. He wears black jeans, a well-worn t-shirt under a plaid flannel, and a necklace with a toy dinosaur pendant. He drives a 2004 Pontiac Vibe that he correctly describes as ‘’vintage’’; says that he just feels like growing his longish blond hair into a ponytail, and has a red thumbs-up permanently inked onto the to pof his right hand, that was traced over a nightclub door stamp. At one point, he raises his forearm to show off a temporary tattoo that he received the night before at the castle park family entertainment center in Sherman oaks. ‘’This is a Belle tattoo. It’s not real,’’ he explains playfully of a small portrait of the beautiful young heroine from the animated Disney film Beauty and the Beast. I tell him it’s very pretty. ‘’Thank you. She’s gorgeous,’’ he responds. I ask if Belle is his favorite Disney princess. ‘’Well, I picked her out. There was also Jasmine, Ariel and Cinderella. My other buddies got those.” ‘’What about Belle appeals to you?’’ ‘’She likes the Beast.’’ Peters says.

This summer, Peters appears as the teenage Mutant speeder Quicksilver in X-Men: Days of Future Past, the sequel to 2011’s X-Men: First Class, which has proven to be an eventful ??? movie. In October 2012, director Matthew Vaughn – who relaunched the franchise with much needed style and a new cast of young, indie + credible actors – left the film to be replaced by original trilogy director Bryan Singer. As such, fans were already touched when Singer announced that he would retell ‘’Days of Future Past,’’ the seminal X-Men time-travel storyline from 1980, an ambitious plan turned wild when he revealed that both franchises would merge into one. Cut to the 2012 San diego Comic-Con whereby unthinkable feats of scheduling – the sprawling casts of the modern-day first series and the 60’s era prequel (that include expensive names like Jennifer Lawrence, Hugh Jackmon, Halle Berry, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan, Michael Fassbender, and so on). Convened with ??? new additions like Peters to unhinge popular culture. ‘’You think to yourself, ‘’wow, people really, really love this stuff.” And it makes you appreciate it more. It makes you work harder at it.’’ he says about the experience.

Peters’ role in the films is crucial but concise. ‘’It’s a huge, huge opportunity but I always make sure to tell people it’s just one scene. Easy, it's just one scene.’’ Peters says, as if talking down a rearing horse. Quicksilver has already been the subject of film industry chatter regarding lawful usage of the character, who is both the son of Magneto and a colleague of the Avengers, making him fair game for inclusion in both Days of Future Past and the 20n5 Avengers sequel (in which he will be played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson of Kick-Ass). An Empire magazine Preview of Quicksilver’s costume design was greeted with comparison to Kid Vid, a ‘90’s cartoon form of the Burger King ‘’Kid’s Club,’’ and the news that Peters had been saddled with the Halle Berry “rough wig’’ role. But his fan’s enthusiasm for the project—in which desperate X-Men from a dystopias future try to stave off mutant genocide by altering the present day—is undimmed. ‘’I think it’s the best film of the francise yet,’’ proclaims Peters. ‘’It’s pretty dire. It’s a pretty epic situation. But there’s definitely some humor in there. Its’s just badass, man.’’

Quicksilver is a departure for Peters in some ways if not others. Both X-Men and Horror Story are tight productions that take extensive precautions to protect story lines. Peters says that he did not receive the full script for X-Men until arriving at the Montreal location days before shooting. Horror Story pages are often delivered the night before a scene. The short lead time can demand a ??? almost improvisational acting process. ‘’The minute we get the script, plans are cancelled, dinner is cancelled,’’ he says about working on Horror Story. ‘’Some of it you’re like, ‘Oh shit, I have to do that?’ Screaming and crying, realizing that my whole body is pieced together and I’m not myself? I’ll probably have to work on that.’’

Peters owes his career to television. ‘’I was watching a lot of TV and I kind of wanted to be on the TV and in movies. I love movies and TV,’’ he says, and cites inspirations like Joaquin Phoenix, Heath Ledger, Christian Bale, George Clooney, JIM Carrey, Chris Farley, Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump, and the millennial teen comedies Even Stevens starring Shia Labeuof and So Little Time with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. ‘’That sort of stuff. I just really wanted to be a part of it and loved acting and performing.’’ He moved to Los Angeles with is mother when he was 15 years old, and steadily won work in television, on shows including Phil of the Future (2004) and One Tree Hill (2008), and in movies like the independent films Clipping Adam (2004), his first big break, and later Kick Ass (2010). Being cast as Tate Langdon in the first season of American Horror Story in 2011 was his tipping point, playing a Skull Boy-faced high school shooter in a latex catsuit who rapes his girlfriend’s mother to please a ghost. He has since become one of the five main players to appear in all three season of the series, sterling company that includes Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Lily Rabe and Frances Conroy.

Now the world gets to enjoy a lighter side of Peters, like when he appeared on a 2011 episode of the G4 networks Attack of the Show and blithely volunteered that he was working a a rap song called ‘’I’ll Tap That Fucking Ass.’’ He laughs off a request to recite a verse. ‘’I can’t. That never materialized. I tried but it was too much pressure. It was just a concept. I was just trying new ideas,’’ he says, and then volunteers a different musical direction. ‘’It’s called ‘Natch Snatch.’ Like all natural snatch. Big bush. Snatch. Cause it’s nice. You know, ‘girl, you’ve got that natch snatch.’ It’s another nice concept. Probably on the same album.’’ Peters laughs in agreement at the suggestion that he is a kook in the best sense of the word. ‘’I get called a weirdo sometimes,’’ he admits ‘’But it’s like, I don’t feel that weird. I don’t feel that different. I look at everybody else and I’m like, ‘’you’re a fucking weirdo, too. You like all of your shit. I like my shit.’’ Why does one have to be weird and one have to be normal? It doesn’t make any sense to me.’’ Meanwhile, he seems to be successfully negotiating his public and private persona. ‘’I’ll try to be myself as much as I can but you obviously can’t be who you are at home in your skivvies eating donuts. You can’t be that.’’ He explains, before confirming that guy exists, with his tongue sort-of-in-cheek. ‘’You bet he does. Yeah, definitely watching New Girl. Crying.’’ But while Peters seems fairly comfortable in the public eye, fame no longer interests him. The development is not unrelated to his intense, closely-watched relationship with fiancée and two-time costar Emma Roberts (on coven and in the 2013 ?? Adult World) ‘’When I was younger I was like, ‘’That would be awesome!’’ now I don’t particularly love it,’’ he says ‘’Emma gets paparazzi a lot, and because I’m with her we get paparazzi, so it’s kind of a weird thing that I don’t love. But it’s so small in the big picture of all the positives that come with this job that I can’t really complain about it.’’ he may be surprised by the attention he and Roberts receive, but he is hardly self-ptying. ‘’Honestly, it’s not that bad. If you don’t set up a Google alert on yourself and go out searching for it then you’re not going to see it. So I don’t see it.’’ Roberts has already endured the Hollywood learning curve that Peters is now experiencing. ‘’She gives me advice, like cut your hair. She likes my hair to look nice,’’ he says, and laughs. ‘’She’s been around and knows the ropes and how to play the game very well. And she has incredible social skills. She can talk to anyone and everyone loves talking to her. I’m not that good at that stuff so she kind of helps me out with that.’’ I wonder what guidance she offers him. ‘’You’ve just got to be personable and talk to people, even if you don’t want to. Put on a happy face and buck up. Grow a pair of balls. Don’t be a little wuss.’’ Petersa says, and laughs. ‘’I mean, she doesn’t say that, but you know what I mean.’’ 

Next for Peters is Lazarus, opposite Olivia Wilde, Donald Glover and Mark Duplass a 2015 feature from director David Gelb, known for the documentary Giro: Dreams of Sushi. Peters describes the project, about a team of brainiacs working magnanimously to reanimate the dead, as a “contained Sci-Fi horror thriller” as it mostly takes place in one laboratory setting. He plays the party animal scientist. Peters encouraging sidesteps the questions of his involvement in the next season of American Horror Story, to be set in 1950 and the present day, for which Jessica Lange is practicing a German accent. ‘’I don’t know what I’m allowed to say so I’m going to say no comment,’’ he says.

‘’At the end of the day it is acting. You want to go with the biggest, weirdest, boldest shit and see if you can actually do it and go there,’’ Peters concludes, ‘’I’m very curious about everything. I feel like I don’t know that much. I’m trying to learn it all and figure it all out.’’

#i did my best #i strained my eyes #typos are mine and i put question marks where i couldn't make out the words #evan peters #evanpeters #tate langdon #american horror story #kai anderson #kyle spencer #ahs

[liketwoswansinbalance]

MASTERPOST for The One True School Master of Vault 41

This is a continually updating table of contents to help with navigating my posts about TOTSMOV41, my WIP longfic.

The fic's premise: Sophie joins forces with a resurrected, former lover in the midst of trying to get Tedros back onto Camelot's throne, but that's not even half the uphill battle: rogue psyches and distrust abound and threaten to shatter the present state of the Woods as everyone knows it.

or

In which Rafal is resurrected during the events of One True King and things go horribly, disproportionately wrong!

Also, the fic will not be published for a very long time, so don't expect to see it anytime soon. I'm still on draft zero/the outline/script.

⸻

—Table of Contents—

Title reveal and associated music

Round I of Excerpts

Apparently, the tag "otk" is banned from tumblr.

The misleading trope hint

Round II Excerpt

Visual ref. 1

Facts about the fic

Reblog #1

Aesthetic for one of the first scenes (and flower trivia in the comments)

A Peek at My Outline Process

Reblog #2, dialogue, and reference to suicide

Round III of Excerpts

Sketch - Rafal got punched in the face.

Screenshots of my Pinterest board for the fic

Update, more facts about the fic, and its references to philosophic concepts

Round IV Excerpt

Cover Reveal

Reblog #3

Reblog #4

Reblog #5

Hypothetical Non-Excerpt

The Recurring Japeth Punchline

Reblog #6

Reblog #7

Three "Fun" (Incongruous) Facts

Thanatos drive reference mentioned

Reblog #8

Reblog #9

Reblog #10

Ask containing minor fic trivia

Update and Round V of Excerpts

Which wizard is this? (a.k.a. The Tedros Insanity Poll)

Reblog #11

Reblog #12

Reblog #13 and Fic Tags

Round VI Excerpt

The Suffering Scale

Word Ask Game

Word Ask #1

Word Ask #2

Word Ask #3

Results of the Tedros Poll

Round VII of Excerpts

Guess the Last Verb/Noun

Minor Spoilers

Reblog #14

Reblog #15

Reblog #16

Visual ref. 2

Reblog #17

Slightly Cursed Thought?

Aesthetic

—The Story— [Links TBA after publication.]

Part I: Of Solipsism, Sophistry, and Storians.

Part II: Great Mistake II, Great Mistake III, and Verisimilitude

Part III: Phantoms, Prescience, and the Pen

Deleted Scene

Meta post

Fic Analysis, Commentary & Trivia

Propaganda

⸻

Need-to-Knows (a.k.a How I'm meddling with canon):

This fic will involve Rafal being resurrected, and lead up to an alternate continuity of plot events, all set during One True King. Thus, its title will be: The One True School Master of Vault 41. However, the title may or may not be a bit of a misnomer, so I might just end up subverting your expectations after all.

There will be a form of "psyche travel," or an approximation of time travel, using Dovey's crystal ball like in ACOT, the arson of a certain Wizard Tree to look forward to, and some offbeat, unprecedented action taken by the Storian. Of course, Agatha and Rafal will bicker a lot while Sophie plays the role of mediator. And, oh, Rafal will be tortured, slightly…

Additionally, there's a couple things to note about the premise and the changes I've made to canon, for context:

1. The fic will disregard Fall as canon, yet will acknowledge Rise.

2. There are several canon elements I'm not using. The Rafal is the fic is him from Rise, and also from TLEA. I decided to only acknowledge Rise but not Fall because I didn't want to work with the identity-swap twist. So Rafal is Rafal is Rafal in this case. I will draw from both his Rise characterization and his TLEA characterization.

3. Later in the fic, Rise Rhian only has minor appearances, and is present in Rafal's psyche, but he will not actually be a character until I write a possible sequel, if I ever do reach that point. So, you can assume Rhian was moderately Good to grey on the morality scale, and that Rafal was the one who ultimately committed the fratricide for the purposes of this fic.

4. I've decided not to acknowledge the OTK parentage twist. To clarify, Rafal will have no relation to Japeth, simply because it felt out of character for him to have children with a woman he seemed to loathe, even if it may have been less out of character for the canon Rhian falsely disguised as "Rafal." I personally thought it contradicted Rafal's characterization, so Japeth's placeholder father, who probably won't even be mentioned in the story, will be the Green Knight, to explain his magical prowess as the Snake.

Otherwise, for the most part, this fic is alternate continuity "canon," and diverges at some point during OTK.

I've tried to set the stage, eradicate confusion, and mediate potential disappointment as best as I could above, but if anyone would like me to demystify anything about the fic, my writing process, or ask anything else at all, feel free to send questions to me! Yet, I might not be able to answer everything, for various reasons, including limiting excessive spoilers, so please keep that in mind.

#school for good and evil #rise of the school for good and evil #sophie of woods beyond #agatha of woods beyond #rafal #rafal mistral #sge #sfgae #the school for good and evil #tsfgae #rotsge #rotsfgae #one true king #japeth #japeth sader-mistral #japeth of foxwood #tedros #tedros of camelot #sophie x rafal #rafal x sophie #raphie #rophie #sofal #safal #my post #my fics #the one true school master of vault 41 #totsmov41

[heyitsbramgreenfeld]

So, I rewatched Love, Simon after not seeing it for a while last night. And I have some thoughts. They changed a ton of stuff from the book, which, okay, some changes are fine. You can’t fit hundreds of pages into 2 hours. But a lot of the stuff they changed didn’t make much sense, and didn’t impact the running time. Here are just a few:

1. Blue’s personality. In Simon vs., Blue is shy, and takes a while to open up. He’s quiet and nervous, and isn’t super outgoing. But in the movie, Blue is super popular, super outgoing, and not nervous at all. There’s nothing wrong with this at all, but I did miss the quiet, nerdy Bram that we were blessed with in the books. Although movie Bram was cool, and absolutely slayed with his halloween costume.

2. Martin’s Tumblr post. In the book, Martin did have screenshots of Simon’s emails, just like in the movie. However, he didn’t post them. He just posted the blurb that was like “Simon’s gay, contact him for gay sex” or whatever. He made a slight mention of Blue (he said something about blue balls), but he didn’t post the screenshots, so no one found out about Blue. And Blue didn’t even find out who Simon was until a while later, because he didn’t look at the Tumblr. But in the movie, Martin posted the screenshots, which made everyone aware of Blue. This led to Blue deleting his email. In the book, Blue didn’t, but they just sort of stopped emailing for a while.

3. Simon and Blue’s meet up. In the movie, like I mentioned, Blue deleted his email. So to reach him, Simon made a public Tumblr post, asking Blue to meet him in a public place. Honestly, I hated that. Simon put Blue in a position where, in order to talk to Simon, he had to out himself. I mean, Simon didn’t have much of a choice in reaching out to him publicly, but he didn’t have to ask Blue to meet him in a place where everyone would watch them. In the book, Simon emails Blue privately, and they meet and figure things out on their own.

4. Simon’s friends reactions. Simon’s friends, in the book, are super supportive of Simon. Abby does find out about Simon trying to set Martin and her up, but she’s much more forgiving. She takes a couple days to process, but ultimately decides Simon was in a tough spot and he didn’t really have a choice. In the movie, his friends give him no chance to explain, never try to understand him, and ditch him even after he got outed.

5. Simon guessing who Blue is. In the movie, Simon guesses it’s Bram, then Lyle, then Cal. In the book, for the entire time, Simon thinks it’s Cal. He makes mentions of Bram, so we know who he is, and we know Simon thinks he’s cute, but he doesn’t guess it’s him. I kind of loved this, because Simon is canonically very clueless, and the love of his life was right in front of him. I didn’t love how, in the movie, Bram was caught making out with a girl. It just doesn’t seem like him.

6. Judaism. Bram and Nick are canonically Jewish, and it’s mentioned a lot. It’s not exactly problematic that they didn’t talk about it in the movie (except for the one mention that Blue spends Hanukkah with his dad), because that may take too much time, but I love how Simon becomes sort of interested in Judaism because of Blue. Idk, maybe it’s just because I’m Jewish and crave Jewish characters, but I really missed that aspect.

7. Leah’s crush. All throughout Simon vs, we think Leah likes Nick. It’s never resolved, but she definitely doesn’t like Simon. As we find out in the sequel, Leah on the Offbeat, Leah actually likes Abby, and she doesn’t know what to do with those feelings, so she’s sort of surly towards Abby through the whole book. In Love, Simon, we find out she actually loves Simon, and she and Abby are besties with no drama.

8. Leah and her situation. So, I know that Leah on the Offbeat was written while Love, Simon was being filmed, so they couldn’t really have a super accurate Leah in the movie, but in the book, she’s seen to be a bit moody sometimes, and in the movie, she’s very calm. It’s not too much of a difference, though. The bigger difference is Leah’s financial status. In Leah on the Offbeat, it’s made known that she has a single mom and lives in a smallish house, and feels off with everyone because she’s not as rich as most people in Shady Creek. In the movie, it’s shown that she has a giant house right next to Simon and Nick, who we know have rich parents. Again, I know that this was only mentioned in Leah on the Offbeat, and so they couldn’t have really done that, but I would’ve loved to see the characters not living in almost-mansions (seriously. the house that was used to film simon’s house recently sold for over 2 million dollars).

9. Privilege. Yes, in the book, Simon is still privileged. But he acknowledges it. He knows. I feel like in the movie, Simon has a sort of “I’m not privileged because I’m gay, and anyone who acts more gay than me (like Ethan) is asking for whatever harassment happens to them”. I just didn’t love that non-self-awareness.

Comment if I missed anything!

#love simon #simon spier #bram greenfeld #blue #simon and blue #simon and bram #simon vs thsa #simon vs the homosapiens agenda #simon vs #gay #gay pride #queer movies #gay movies

[am-molloy]

Book Review: Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli

Before I begin, is it just me, or did Leah gain weight since the first book, and I didn't notice? Like, maybe I missed it in Simon's book, but I had no idea she was a plus-size character. I love the body representation; I just must not have noticed that in her character description cause when I was reading this book, I was a bit thrown off by her being a bigger girl. But she owns it, and I love that.

Anyway, that aside, I loved this book. I love a good sapphic romance. Also, I love the bi representation. We need more of that in media, I think.

Leah did come off a bit too teen antsy for me, but that's her character, so Albertalli nailed that. I would have liked to see her do a bit of the nerdy stuff she's always telling us about than just, well, telling us she's into nerdy things. My inner nerd needs it. But still, I enjoyed reading her much more than Molly in book two. She felt more fleshed out as a character.

One nitpick I will say, however, is that Leah telling Abby she can't be a little bi and that she has to label herself properly irked me. It's Abby's choice on how she wants to be labelled. If Abby is only 5% into girls and 95% into guys, she's still bi. No one should tell you how you identify.

That being said, this was a cute read and a worthy sequel to Love, Simon. It was nice to see the OG cast again, and fun to read little cameo's to characters in the second book. This book was a much better fit for the Simonverse than book two. (Which, it being a sequel and featuring the main cast again, wasn't hard to do).

#book #book review #lgbt #LGBT+ #YA #Leah on the Offbeat #Becky Albertalli #sapphic #bi

[whimsy-of-the-stars]

whimsy-of-the-stars: a writeblr re-re-intro!

hey guys, it’s been a minute! I’m whimsy-of-the-stars, and since my main projects have kinda shifted around, I thought it would be a good time to update my intro! ngl it’s a pretty inopportune time to do a re-intro, since I’m close to the end of one draft and planning two more… it’s just overdue!

some info about me:

I’m gonna start college in the fall majoring in English with a concentration in Creative Writing! :D

learning languages is a passion of mine! I’m focusing on Spanish right now but I’ve dabbled in both Esperanto and Toki Pona (yeah I’m a nerd!)

I’m a video essay enjoyer and possibly maker, eventually

fiction podcasts and actual plays slap???

I have “I want to do too many things” disease and want to try making stories in many different mediums!

ttrpgs are really cool but I have yet to play them with other people! does that stop me from trying to make games… no

elements I like to write: Found family! Chosen ones (+ the subversion of)! Big Emotion™️! Organized crime (idk why it doesn’t leave me alone)! Gay people, of course!

genres I like to write (YA and middle grade): high fantasy, low fantasy, different -punk stuff, sci fi maybe, superheroes, fairy-tale esque, romance, coming of age

I also write poetry! You can find it in this tag: whimsy of the poetry

ALSO, I did DraftDash in January 2024, which was fun but I did end up petering out halfway thru. Follow my journey in the tag draftdash!

ok, now onto wips!

I am in a weird stage with a lot of my wips, but a re-intro was overdue so I decided to do it anyway!

wips I am currently writing:

apocalypse story!

status: first draft, 24k (almost done with part 1)

the basics: mg/ya apocalyptic + queer ?coming of age? story and its sequel, except they’re both short so they’re melded into one two-part book! it’s told thru diary entries with lots of extra ephemera glued in! part 1 of 2 is ALMOST done but I’m not inspired to finish it rn! ! I’m not gonna continue with part 2 right after, though, since I still need to plan it!

summary: stressed-out eighth/grader Allison goes to her old hideout in the forest to decompress, but one thing leads to another and she can’t find her way back home. the forest is seemingly ever-expanding, ever-changing, and even when she finds her friends who’ve come to rescue her, they still have to face the actual, real life botanical apocalypse that’s becoming more and more of an issue for the outside world. can they find their way home alive and well? and if they do get home, what will their home city even look like?

extras: fun fact I started this in April 2023 for camp nano and it has taken me this long to write the next 10k words! Also the main character is a bit of a self-insert, but of the person I was in lockdown in 2020!

um. That’s it for wips I’m currently writing rn lol

wips I am “revitalizing”:

(aka taking old drafts/concepts and turning them nice and new!)

Both of these have existed in different-ish iterations for years, however I am currently in the weird process of developing both of these into all-new things from an existing groundwork! Neither of them currently have “statuses” because it’s hard to explain where exactly I am right now!

heist story!

the basics: ya fantasy heist novel (maybe eventually a trilogy?) set in a faerie world that rapidly advanced not too long ago into a dieselpunk/decopunk society rife with corruption and crime!

summary: Logical and inquisitive teen Calliope is relatively normal. Her offbeat parents, however, have raised her in a house full of strange curios and old tomes of faery stories. But only when she starts to exhibit unwieldy shadow magic, and her parents invite a prim woman she’s never met before into their home do things really start to get strange. The woman whisks Calliope away through one of the aforementioned curios to a noir hubworld where ancient faerie bloodlines and newfangled magitech collide. Why? To take part in a high-stakes heist with a surprising trio of other teens who want nothing more than to take down the crime boss who runs their town.

extras: this one’s a weird one imo. it’s one of the oldest wips that I am still working on, tho this one had a break of about 3 years!!! also I originally wrote it in hot pink comic sans XD

new superhero story!

(I am also revitalizing this one, but it’s in a way less put-together state! not much to say yet lol!) (also it’s not very new I just call it that)

it’s a ya superhero thing that features teenage (often queer) antiheroes trying to balance their heroic + civilian identities!

featuring: the shittiest entertainment/hero management company you’ve ever seen, shared trauma, gray morality, two different rock bands, and heroes that are at once government agents, influencers, and corporate concoctions!

considering making a “help me name my characters” post because i desperately have to name/rename like 3/4 of all of these characters!!!

more ideas I have bouncing around:

(lightning round!)

old ya romance wip i need to revitalize about two teens enter a competition to make a demo album and end up falling in love in the process (also they’re lesbians XD)

offbeat, ya supernatural + historical fantasy about a girl university student who is buried alive, and upon getting rescued, starts to transform into a strange underworld creature. also features a cute gravedigger :D

a musical about standardized testing (yeah lol) that’s goofy and queer and explores how seniors + juniors are so freaking stressed out all the time lol

that’s all folks! :D

#writeblr intro #writeblr #FINALLY #it’s been two months #here we go again ig

[brightbeautifulthings]

Hello, lovelies! Tell Me Something Tuesday is a meme created by Rainy Day Ramblings and currently hosted by Because Reading Is Better Than Real Life, That's What I'm Talking About, For What It's Worth, Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell and Offbeat YA. It provides weekly discussion prompts on various book and blogging topics with optional participation. You can sign up for prompts here.

This week’s prompt is: Which books are you looking forward to reading this Spring? (March-May)

I've almost met my winter goals of knocking out my NetGalley list and one of my sequel piles, and the next three reads I have lined up are mostly tying up loose ends from those.

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi This is the group read for Forgotten YA Gems and one of my friend, Tink's, favorite books, and I'm so excited to finally get to it! Feel free to join us for discussions!

The Trespasser by Tana French I saved this for last in my sequel pile because I love the Dublin Murder Squad so much, and I'm not sure I'm ready for it to be over!

The Black Guy Dies First: Black Horror Cinema from Fodder to Oscar by Robin R. Means Coleman & Mark H. Harris I did finish my NetGalley queue (I promise!), but then I got an invitation to read this book and couldn't resist. Anyway, is an NG queue ever really over?

After these, my reading list is pretty wide open. I'll probably work on my second sequel pile (there were three piles total, don't look at me) and mix it up with whatever I'm feeling so it doesn't become joyless. I’m excited not to have a set list for the first time this year!

#tell me something tuesday #booklr #spring reads #spring reading #spring books #reading goals #discussion post #yrstruly

[missriyochuchi]

so... what's the watching order of everything sw for someone who wants to catch up with everything. i've seen episodes i-vi but have no clue about the shows -animated or otherwise. i might have seen some episodes of the clones wars on tv but i don't really remember, and all this sw hype on my dash makes wanna delve into it 😭

I want to preface this by pointing out that there are endless guides on endless websites re: the chronological order of Star Wars shows and movies (I like IMDb's because it's a running list that's broken down by even a show's episodes). I've always thought it was better to watch things in release order, though, because that's how most of us experienced the shows and movies and, regardless of its place in the timeline, every show and movie builds off what came before.

What follows is not a comprehensive list, but what I think are the most worthwhile shows and movies. Asterisked titles take place after the original trilogy.

The Clone Wars (2008) movie

The Clone Wars (2008-2020)

Rebels (2014-2018)

Rogue One (2016)

The Sequel trilogy, episodes 7 through 9*

Solo (2018)

The Mandalorian (2019-)*

The Book of Boba Fett (2019-2020)*

The Bad Batch (2021-)

Tales of the Jedi (2022-)

Andor (2022-)

Obi Wan Kenobi (2022)

Ahsoka (2023-)*

It's a lot! And that's just the canon! I absolutely recommend Star Wars Visions and Tartakovsky's The Clone Wars (2003-2005), both noncanonical animated shows. The former is an anthology series where each episode is produced by a different company and riffs on the SW universe; you see each company's country of origin and their histories reflected in their respective episodes, it's truly spectacular. The latter contains characters and events that overlap with the 2008 show, but where the shows differ is some great offbeat stuff.

A comprehensive book of the definitive SW timeline was released earlier this year, if you're interested. In general, it’s important to remember:

The Clone Wars takes place between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, which is roughly 3 years.

Rebels starts 15 years after Revenge of the Sith.

Andor takes place before Rogue One, and the latter depicts the events immediately leading up to A New Hope.

The Mandalorian starts 5 years after Return of the Jedi. The Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka are supposed to take place around the same time.

The Sequel trilogy takes place 30 years after Return of the Jedi.

Like I said, it's a lot, and of course, tastes are different. I'll leave you with my favorite take on Star Wars from the inimitable Rahul Kohli:

Happy watching!

Other things to keep in mind while you're watching (feel free to ignore this; it has more to do with what surrounds the shows and movies):

If you pay attention to the animated shows' credits, you'll eventually notice the name Dave Filoni. He worked with George Lucas to create The Clone Wars (TCW) and then wrote and directed a lot of Rebels, The Mandalorian, and Ahsoka. We sometimes refer to him as the Cowbay Hat Man because he wears a lot of stetsons. He and Jon Favreau are basically the current creative stewards of the SW universe.

Viewers hated Ahsoka in the beginning. Hated her with a passion. If you end up feeling the same way while watching TCW, hang in there. I promise her character arc is great.

The production history of TCW is sort of tragic. For five seasons, it aired continuously on Cartoon Network before it was canceled after Disney acquired Lucasfilm. Season six tried to tie up loose ends and was released on Netflix a year later. And then six years later, season seven was released on Disney+. If you pay attention, you can sense the differences born out of the hiatuses between each change.

The Bad Batch will end after its upcoming 3rd season.

Andor will end after its upcoming 2nd season.

You'll find people within the SW fandom who loved each show, but the normie consensus is that most of the live-action shows are underwhelming. Except The Mandalorian because of the cute baby and the sexy armored man, and Andor because of the writing and the latent politics of an entire franchise finally being made obvious and overt. I think all the shows have their moments, however few and fleeting, so they're all worth a watch.

I say this also in terms of Solo. It was a box office bomb, but even critics thought the performances were good. Lando isn't on IMDb's list, but as far as anyone can tell at the moment, the spinoff show is still a go. And Emilia Clarke sure did dodge a question about potentially returning.

And yes, they all connect to and reference each other. Characters show up in multiple shows, and plot details recur across the timeline.

#star wars #asks #anon #starwars.txt #was this amount of detail necessary? prob not lol

[ogradyfilm]

Recently Viewed: Nightbreed

[The following review contains SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!]

Contrary to what the sequels might lead you to believe, Pinhead and his Order of the Gash are not the primary antagonists of the original Hellraiser. Despite their utterly incomprehensible customs and distorted values—their kinky, sadomasochistic explorations of “the further regions of experience,” where pleasure and pain become interchangeable and indistinguishable—they aren’t actively malicious, and only become directly involved in the conflict near the story’s climax. The movie’s true villains are the comparatively mundane Frank and Julia, a pair of selfish, homicidal adulterers that take the phrase “violent passion” a little too literally. Unlike the extradimensional Cenobites, these amoral lovers know the conventionally accepted difference between right and wrong, good and evil—they simply don’t care, unrepentantly committing heinous acts in the pursuit of their own gratification.

With Nightbreed, novelist turned cinéaste Clive Barker elaborates upon this theme. To the outside observer, the eponymous subterranean creatures appear to be grotesquely deformed and abhorrently alien (one particularly memorable beast that lurks in the background of several shots, for example, resembles an enormous plucked chicken with a vaguely anthropoid head situated between its legs); in reality, however, they are essentially harmless (some minor cannibalism and hostility towards trespassers notwithstanding), preferring to avoid encounters with “Naturals” whenever possible. The human characters, on the other hand, are significantly more monstrous—especially Captain Eigerman, a corrupt, genocidal police officer that leaps at the opportunity to eradicate the reclusive civilization secretly residing in the network of crypts, caverns, and tunnels beneath his jurisdiction.

But it is Dr. Philip Decker (played by an eerily soft-spoken David Cronenberg, the filmmaker behind such cult classics as Scanners, Videodrome, and the remake of The Fly) that personifies Nightbreed’s central thesis. On the surface, the esteemed psychotherapist seems to be the consummate professional—polite, compassionate, and absolutely trustworthy. Underneath his unassuming, mild-mannered exterior, however, he’s actually a sadistic, manipulative serial killer—and unfortunately, he’s shrewd and charismatic enough to pin his savage murders on innocent scapegoats, shielded from scrutiny by a façade of superficial “normalcy.”

Thus, demons skulk not in the shadows without, but rather in the darkest recesses of the hearts of so-called "ordinary" men. It’s a familiar message, but Barker communicates it effectively, compensating for the film’s disjointed narrative, choppy editing, and lackluster visual style (flaws that can probably be attributed to studio interference). Packed with more extraneous details and underdeveloped ideas than its relatively scant running time can comfortably accommodate, Nightbreed is ultimately a bit of a mess… but at least it’s an entertaining mess. I award bonus points for ambition—and this scrappy, offbeat horror flick has plenty of ambition to spare.

#Nightbreed #Clive Barker #David Cronenberg #horror #body horror #film #writing #movie review #Halloween 2023

[ylvapublishing]

It’s cover reveal time! A Curious Visit by Jess Lea will come out April 2023.

ylva-publishing.com/product/a-curious-visit-by-jess-lea/

Lesbian fiction’s funniest odd couple is back, investigating tall tales, extinct creatures, and a crumbling house filled with secrets, in this offbeat Australian romantic mystery.

Partners in love, life, and earnest museum appreciation, Margaret Gale and Bess Campbell desperately need a break. Strict, meticulous ice queen Margaret has been fired for frightening her auction house customers, while free-spirited Bess hates her office job.

While holidaying in Tasmania, they receive a call for help that leads them to a creepy, old house in the wilderness. There, they meet a mysterious woman from Margaret’s past, who warns she’s being stalked and something terrible is coming.What’s going on? What secrets lie within Crossroads House? And why on earth are there hidden cameras around the grounds, recording everything that happens?

Unexplained incidents turn sinister, endangering Bess and Margaret—and their trust in one another. But they don’t give up easily…

This sweet, eccentric sequel to A Curious Woman can easily be read as a standalone story

#lesfic #lesbian fiction #wlw books #lesbian books #ff books #sapphic books #lgbt books #queer books

[puppys-rhythm-heaven]

ds has the best sequels tbh. i mean a lot of them suck if you judge them based on, like, how different they are from the original (built to scale 2, the dazzles 2, rhythm rally 2, lockstep 2, karate man 2, glee club 2, munchy monk 2). but also they're still great i love them. <3

#puppy rambles #rhythm hell #ds #to elaborate for anyone curious. the dazzles 2 is identical to the original #built to scale 2 just adds a couple fast widgets but otherwise is the same #rhythm rally 2 literally just repeats itself and is identical to original rhythm rally apart from the speed and turbo rallies #lockstep 2 just has swing instead of the offbeats and is slower #karate man 2 just spams hit 3's and adds a few extra offbeats i think it's probably the best of all these sequels i listed tbh- #glee club 2 is practically identical apart from a few extra sets #and the sets where the chorus kids all sing together being a different rhythm #munchy monk 2 is. like rhythm rally. the same thing twice. and i'm pretty sure it's basically just original munchy monk looped #but also idk why i'd play og munchy monk gfvfjvhvgcf- #still amazing tho. and the sequels i didn't list are all masterpieces i love them #to be fair they're all fairly similar. these are just the worst offenders #and it's not bad to be semi-similar to the original game. it's just the degree these ones do it to-

[earlgraytay]

hi, new followers! [meta masterpost]

Hey, if you followed me from the Death Note post, here is a post specifically for you! Welcome to earlgraytay land, where we have Strong Opinions about Art, both Highbrow and Lowbrow. I'm a writer, a doll collector, an appreciator of historical fashion and aesthetic, and a huge geek.

My professional writing blog is @malcolmschmitz . If you want offbeat queer short stories- "NB fantasy vet must cure evil queen's sick unicorn"/"steampunk angel-hunting trans sky captain deals with gender roles" kind of queer- go follow me there, too!

I'm not usually a Death Note blog, but I do like to write meta about various topics. I've rambled before about:

Dante's Inferno (both the epic poem (x, x) and the less-than-epic video game)

Majora's Mask (the Mask Symbolism and Tingle's role in the story)

Dragon Age (Why Varric's Publisher Is The Worst, Ludonarrative Dissonance and Grey Morality)

Star Wars (Kylo Ren and religious abuse, Why People Hate Rey's Writing, The Problem With The Sequel Trilogy As Space Opera, The Weird Relationship Between Star Trek and Star Wars, Movie Poster Stylistic Conventions)

Cyberpunk 2077 (Much Negativity About Fashion)

Zach Snyder's 300 (Again, Negativity)

Battle Angel Alita: The Western Adaptation's art style (strangely, NOT negativity)

Death Note (The Symbolism Is Obvious, Dammit, and Why Death Note Isn't Copaganda)

As well as more general meta about:

Fandom At Large and the things that fandom can be

What The Hell Is Wrong With The Lammily Dolls

Triple-A Games Are A Niche Subculture (and gamers forget this)

Fantasy Monarchy is Not IRL Monarchy

I Fucking Hate Polos, Man

And Much More!

Thanks for enjoying my writing! I hope you appreciate this stuff, too.

#meta #the earl speaks #blog meta #my writing

[linhlotus]

Lgbtq+ reading recs

I will be adding to this as I find more but this is what I have so far.

Some of these have trigger warnings such as homophobia and transphobia. I will put an asterisk next to each of those. Also, some of these contain mature scenes. A quick google search should be able to tell you whether the book has those or not.

Gay books

Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu (two books) gay, comics, contemporary, hockey, baking

Malice by Heather Walter (Misrule is the sequel and it is good too) lesbian, sleeping beauty retelling, fantasy, past

The Henna Wars* by Adiba Jaigirdar Lesbian/bisexual, contemporary, poc, enemies-to-lovers

Hanni and Ishu's guide to fake dating* by Adiba Jaigirdar lesbian/bisexual, poc, contemporary

Simon vs. the Homosapiens Agenda* by Becky Albertalli gay, contemporary

Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli bisexual, poc, contemporary,

What if it's us* (and Here's to us) by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera gay, poc, contemporary

A few of the stories in Serendipity (an anthology) I don't remember if any of those have homophobia or not. I believe they're are all contemporary

The last story in The End and Other Beginnings by Veronica Roth gay, fantasy

Ash by Malinda Lo lesbian, cinderella retelling, past, fantasy

The Falling in Love Montage by Ciara Smyth lesbian/bisexual, contemporary

Red, White & Royal Blue* by Casey McQuiston gay/bisexual, poc, contemporary, enemies-to-lovers

One last stop by Casey McQuiston bisexual/lesbian, contemporary, fantasy

Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit* by Jaye Robin Brown lesbian, contemporary

The Coldest Touch by Isabel Sterling pansexual/lesbian, contemporary, fantasy

She Drives Me Crazy* by Kelly Quindlen lesbian, poc, contemporary, enemies-to-lovers

The Fates Divide by Veronica Roth fantasy, enemies-to-lovers (read Carve the Mark first. The lesbian relationship only shows up at the end but you need to read it to understand the story.)

Master of One by Dani Bennett and Jaida Jones gay, fantasy, heist, series

The Key to You and Me* by Jaye Robin Brown lesbian, contemporary

Openly Straight* by Bill Konigsberg gay/bisexual, contemporary

Before We Disappear by Shaun David Hutchinson gay, past, fantasy, heist

Some Girls Do* by Jennifer Dugan lesbian/bisexual, contemporary, mental health issues/abuse warning

Melt With You by Jennifer Dugan lesbian, contemporary

Howl by Shaun David Hutchinson gay, contemporary, mystery, fantasy

I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston lesbian, contemporary, mystery

Boyfriend Material* by Joe Jameson gay, fake dating, contemporary

Verona Comics* by Jennifer Dugan contemporary, major mental health issues, family issues, suicide mentions (technically, this doesn't fall into the lgbtq+ category but both main characters are bi or pan and it has some very important lessons that a lot of the other books in the genre also have)

Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust bisexual, poc, fantasy, enemies-to-friends-to-lovers

Jay's Gay Agenda by Jason June gay, poc, contemporary, realistic fiction

So This is Ever After by F.T. Lukens gay, fantasy, past

Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan bisexual/lesbian, contemporary, fake dating, realistic fiction

Delilah Greene Doesn't Care by Ashley Herring Blake lesbian, contemporary, enemies-to-friends-to-lovers, realistic fiction

When You Get the Chance by Tom Ryan queer character, gay character, pride, family, contemporary, realistic fiction

Small Town Pride* by Phil Stamper gay, activism, small town, contemporary, realistic fiction

Cafe Con Lychee* by Emery Lee gay, poc, contemporary, enemies-to-lovers, realistic fiction, food service

Flip the Script* by Lyla Lee lesbian, poc, contemporary, realistic fiction, acting

Count Your Lucky Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur lesbian, contemporary, realistic fiction, wedding planner

Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler bisexual/lesbian, poc, contemporary, realistic fiction

Change of Heart by Clare Lydon lesbian, fake dating, contemporary, realistic fiction, acting

Milo and Marcos at the End of the World* by Kevin Christopher Snipes gay, poc, contemporary, realistic fiction, mental health issues, religious

Date Me, Bryson Keller* by Kevin Van Whye gay, poc, contemporary, realistic fiction, mental health issues

The Sky Blues by Robbie Couch* gay, contemporary, realistic fiction, mental health issues

Trans and Non-binary Books

Meet Cute Diary* by Emery Lee trans male character, non-binary character, poc, contemporary, realistic fiction

Chef's Kiss* by T. J. Alexander non-binary character, pansexual woman, contemporary, cooking

May the Best Man Win* by ZR Ellor trans male character, gay relationship, realistic fiction, contemporary

Cemetary boys* by Aiden Thomas trans male character, poc, gay relationship, contemporary, fantasy

Love & Other Disasters* by Anita Kelly non-binary character, contemporary, cooking show

Act Cool* by Tobly McSmith trans male character, contemporary, mental health issues, dysphoria, actor

I Wish You All the Best* by Mason Deaver non-binary characters, poc, contemporary, mental health issues

A Quick and Easy Guide to They/Them pronouns by Archie Bongiovanni and Tristan Jimerson non-fiction, very short, great for enbys, allies, and other parties, humorous, good resource for educating yourself & others on gender nuances, comic

Man o' War* by Cori McCarthy non-binary character, genderfluid character, poc, contemporary, mental health issues, dysphoria, swimmer

Out of the Blue by Jason June non-binary character, contemporary, fantasy, swimmer

Stay Gold* by Tobly McSmith trans male character, contemporary, realistic fiction

Fine: A Comic About Gender by Rhea Ewing great for enbys, allies, and other parties, good resource for educating yourself & others on gender nuances, comic

The Pants Project* by Cat Clarke trans male character, school protest (peaceful), lesbian moms, contemporary, realistic fiction, dysphoria

All Kinds of Other* by James Sie trans male character, gay, contemporary, realistic fiction, mental health issues

Symptoms of Being Human* by Jeff Garvin genderfluid character, mental health issues, motivational speaking, dysphoria

None of the Above* I. W. Gregorio intersex girl, contemporary, realistic fiction, runner, mental health issues

Queer Webtoons

High Class Homos Gay, royalty, past, fantasy

The Doctors Are Out Gay, Contemporary, Enemies-to-friends-to-lovers

Heartstopper* Gay, Contemporary, friends-to-lovers, mental health issues (there's a tv show based on this one and it's amazing!)

#gay book recs #book reccomendations for pride #gay books #pride #sapphic books #lgbt books #queer books #trans books #Meant to have this done last month #oops

[pingnova]

List the names of all the files in your WIP folder regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it.

Tagged by @jemariel ! I'm doing just my SPN fic folder bc otherwise this post will be way too long.

Hell or High Water AU

Thirteenth Year AU

Beardance AU

Religious symbolism

Historical monk cas saving the bees

This, Our History

Angel of Death

The Creature - Frankenstein AU

Mimsy Were the Borogroves

Feral!Dean AU

SPN/Killjoys crossover/AU

Bee apocalypse

Ice King - silver chair AU

Railroad conductor Cas depression era AU

Enoch - Atlantis TLE AU

Bible au sorta (that Joseph bitch)

SPN Free Will Fix

Destiel LOTR au

D Stands for Dragon Dick

Destiel fairytale angel tower au

Love bird AU

Classic and rock singing

Old timey vamp and priest AU

Jack?

2.0

Zero Zero Zero

SPN zombie!Dean AU I guess

Jack is a Disney princess au

SPN/Criminal Minds crossover

AR/SPN SEQUEL

Based on a dream

I tag @marypsue @thesylversmyth @one-more-offbeat-anthem

#personal

[unlividoxwrites]

Short story:

The Girl and the Fox by @unlividoxwrites

Prompt — Autumn

My 4 things: A fox, an ominous trail, a cape-like scarf, and a lone black umbrella under a tree

My 5 words: deciduous, russet, susurrus, reap and brisk

Have you ever noticed an animal acting more human than it should from the corner of your eye? That moment where you think you’ve just caught a glimpse of two birds having a lovers tiff? Or where it really does seem as if there's about to be a cat-fight over some undeserving tom?

Well it was a moment like that which caught a young university student off guard one brisk Autumn morning. Elle had decidedly gone out to read in the invigorating chill of autumn, her coffee cup cooling half-forgotten beside her. She’d been idly reading her book—Leah on the Offbeat the, so-far awesome, bi-conic sequel to Becky Albertalli’s Simon Vs the Homosapian’s Agenda—when a shuffling caught her peripheral vision. Amongst the scattered fire-crackle leaves, on the far edge of the park, well away from the beaten path, an enchanting fox was seemingly searching through the underbrush before it abruptly came to a halt. Striking sapphire-blue eyes peaked from under the fox’s russet coat, and locked with Elle’s. For that moment the breath was stolen from her—it seemed as if everything else around her had frozen. Black whiskers peppered the animal’s face, giving it an almost boy-ish charm, as it struck back into motion, beckoning the girl with a paw before giving a mischievous smirk.

For a girl who’d marvelled in tales of far-off kingdoms and lands of wonder, she, with no question or hesitation, felt compelled to follow the fox immediately. Her coffee grew cold and bitter as she left it behind, along with her wits and a lone black umbrella that would sit forever more beneath the warm and welcoming branches of an ancient tree.

It took only a few minutes for her to catch up with her little amber friend, as it happened, he’d waited for her. His tale flickered as she appeared through the opening in the treeline he’d come through just minutes prior. Once she was close enough, he sent her a wink which jarringly and oppressively seemed to calm her nerves. She tugged her cape-like scarf tighter around her shoulders, shivering violently as the temperature seemed to drop—the chill in the breeze was heightened by the susurrus of the forest's foliage.

Deciduous trees seemed stuck in various time stages as the omniscient creature led her deeper and deeper along the ominously winding dirt path he’d lured her to, one which seemed never-ending and stuck in a stage of time in and of itself. A fog had long since descended in the far distance, yet no matter how long she seemed to follow the fox, the malignant mist never seemed to get any closer, nor clear in the slightest—it stayed just in view, yet out of reach.

After what could’ve been an age, or merely half an hour, whether it was the exertion from walking or the cloying feeling of the forest surrounding her, Elle seemed suddenly reaped of all her energy. Her once vibrant blonde hair lay in a faded halo around the crown of her head as she lay back amongst the snow-laden ground. The fox, a bright red warning sign burrowed into her side as she sunk further into the earth. Her hazel eyes had dulled to an unpolished mahogany, her skin more translucent than the snow around her.

She wasn’t to know the fox was leading her to her uncertain demise. That such a creature fed on the will of young minds, feasted on creativity and mocked all optimism. But a word to the wise—if a fox beckons you to follow it down an undetermined path, assume it has ulterior motives.

#unlividox writing prompts #original short story #writing #writing prompt #autumn writing prompts #short story #twisted fairytales

[brightbeautifulthings]

Hello, lovelies! Tell Me Something Tuesday is a meme created by Rainy Day Ramblings and currently hosted by Because Reading Is Better Than Real Life, That's What I'm Talking About, For What It's Worth, Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell and Offbeat YA. It provides weekly discussion prompts on various book and blogging topics with optional participation. You can sign up for prompts here.

This week’s prompt is: What are some of your favourite indie/small pub authors/books?

I adore this prompt because I have SO many small/indie press books that I love that don't get enough attention. It's the saddest thing to love an incredible gem of a book and know it’s not getting the proper hype. I was going to try to narrow this list down to five (and then ten), but these all deserve my love and recognition, so here are ten indie/small press books you might not have heard of, and two you probably have (although if you've spent any amount of time on my blog, you’ve probably heard me screeching about all of them before).

The Art of Escaping by Erin Callahan (Amberjack Publishing) I could scream forever about Callahan's writing. She's easily one of my favorite small press authors, and I would read anything she ever published without question. A very well-done YA contemporary coming-of-age story about authenticity and friendship, with barely a hint of romance.

Dream Keeper by Amber R. Duell (The Parliament House) Why why why haven't more people read this book? It's A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) meets Rise of the Guardians (2012), complete with Sandman and Weaver, a sweet romance, and some truly spectacular world-building. I haven't stopped raving since I read it.

The Goblins of Bellwater by Molly Ringle (Central Avenue Publishing) There isn't enough goblin fiction out there, in my opinion (and I've looked), but this is easily my favorite of what I've read. It's a paranormal romance with complicated characters and a gorgeous setting, where goblins are pure and simply the villains-- no sexy goblin king here.

The Shadow Glass by Josh Winning (Titan Books) Speaking of sexy goblin kings. Hi, hello, have you heard me screaming about this book too? Fans of 80s nostalgia fantasy like The NeverEnding Story (1984) and Labyrinth (1986) will find so much to love about this. It’s basically a spiritual sequel to those films about what happens when we grow up and don't believe in magical worlds anymore--and how much we still need them, even as adults. Complete with talking puppets!

Daphne by B.C. Johnson (self-published) Technically, this is a horror novella set in the Deadgirl universe, but it's my favorite in the series, and I don't think readers unfamiliar with the other books will have trouble following it. If you need a violent, lesbian harpy in your life, with a blend of Greek/Norse mythology and a body count, this is for you. You had me at eat them alive.

Smoke and Key by Kelsey Sutton (Entangled Teen) Yet another book I can't believe more people haven't read. It's such a strange, gruesome little afterlife story with a dash of romance, like The Corpse Bride (2005) without the slapstick humor or the singing. Exactly my kind of weird.

The Chronology of Water by Lidia Yuknavitch (Hawthorne Books) A gut-wrenching and beautifully crafted memoir about what happens to women in particular when we don’t fit the labels our culture has made for us. Fans of Cheryl Strayed will adore it.

After Always by Barbara J. Hancock (Entangled Teen) Sometimes the blend of paranormal and romance hits exactly the right note, and this book nails it. I adore the haunted house setting and the lovely, atmospheric writing, but I stayed for the excellent character arc of Lydia both grieving her lost boyfriend and realizing he wasn't good for her.

Theories of Forgetting by Lance Olsen (Fiction Collective 2) If you like experimental fiction at all, you absolutely need to read some Olsen. While I feel it's not quite as thematically whole as Calendar of Regrets, it might be a bit more accessible. It's smart and easy to read if not to understand, since while there are a lot of big concepts in here, the writing itself isn't overly complicated (also assuming you can decide where to start, since both sides look like the back cover of the book-- good luck!).

We Told Six Lies by Victoria Scott (Entangled Teen) This is a weird, fucked up little thriller about a toxic relationship, so of course that's exactly why I love it. The characters are complex, codependent, and completely unaware of how badly they behave, and the plot is tense and mysterious. One of my favorite underrated YA thrillers.

Not Your Sidekick by C.B. Lee (Duet Books) We've reached the part of my list where you've probably heard of these books, but they're well-worth mentioning, especially for superhero fans. Great characters, fun world-building, and excellent queer representation across the board.

The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic (self-published) You knew this was going to make the list, right? This book is so immensely popular on Tumblr that sometimes I forget it was a self-pub. I've read and reread it so many times, and the characters are so compelling, the story so immersive, that once I've started the first, I can't stop until I've finished the trilogy. Well-deserving of its hype.

#underrated books #indie press #indie publishing #small press #small publishers #tell me something tuesday #booklr #discussion post #list #book list