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hearteyesmcgarrett · 8 months

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is it weird to just answer the ask meme questions without actual asks? probably, but i want to yell about fandom shit rn so you can't stop me

A - Ships that you currently like a lot. its obvious that im in a grimm fixation rn, so i have to say nick/monroe as a romantic ship (or nick/monroe/rosalee), and the whole gang as a platonic relationship. For SGA, i'm always a mcshep fan but i honestly enjoy any pairing of AR1. Anyone that has followed me for an extended period of time knows that im a mcdanno (H50) and leverage ot3 truther as well.

B - A pairing–platonic, romantic or sexual–that you initially didn’t consider, but someone changed your mind. hmm, not sure? OH some folks doing the sga kinkmeme have mentioned john/cam and im very intrigued

C - A ship you have never liked and probably never will. Rodney/Jennifer :( I love Jennifer, but the writers consistently changed her characterization and that relationship felt forced and weird (SGA)

D - A pairing you wish you liked but just can’t. John/Elizabeth. I'm sorry! maybe its just because im gay af but to me their relationship felt like bffs, not romantic (SGA)

E - Have you added anything cracky/hilarious to your fandom? If so, what? I made that stargate cinnamon roll meme, if that counts

F - What’s the longest you’ve ever been in a fandom? ~10 years

G - Have you ever had an OTP? If so, do you remember your first one? Who was in it? i'm a multishipper for sure, but one of the first ships i remember really clearly was eric/ryan from csi miami (circa age like 12)

H - What is your favorite source text for fandom stuff (e.g., TV shows, movies, books, anime, Western animation, etc.)? TV!

I - Has Tumblr caused you to stop liking any fandoms, if so, which and why? I dont know that it was entirely tumblr, but yeah, Voltron. The fandom was truly fucking awful

J - Name a fandom you didn’t think about until you saw it all over Tumblr. (You don’t have to care about it or follow it; it just has to be something that Tumblr made you aware of.) uhhhh, like every show tbh. 99% of the shows i watch came from tumblr or online friends

K - What character has your favorite development arc/the best development arc? Eliot Spencer (Leverage)

L - Say something genuinely nice about a character who isn’t one of your faves. hmm, I guess Adalind counts as a character who isnt one of my faves. She's a complex and interesting character, and its clear that a lot of her decisions come from a place of trauma. After having Diana it really shows that she does want to protect her and keep her safe (grimm)

M - Name a character that you’d like to have for a friend. Ronon (SGA), Hardison (Leverage), Teal'c (SG1), etc

N - Name three things you wish you saw more or in your main fandom 1. men showing emotions!!! (grimm does this well, thankfully) 2. on a similar note: depicting how the shit these characters get up to is traumatizing and how that impacts them long term 3. literally any canon queer rep. can we PLEASE have a show like stargate or grimm where one of the characters (especially a man) is canonically queer? is that so hard???

O - Choose a song at random. Which ship or character does it remind you of? Forfeit by Rise Against always makes me think of ascended Daniel/Jack (SG1). Oh and ever since i saw a gifset with lyrics from it, Timberwolves at New Jersey by Taking Back Sunday makes me think of John (SGA)

P - Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas). one of these fuckin days i am going to write a baseball SGA AU

Q - A fandom you’ve abandoned and why. As previously mentioned: Voltron because the fan base was toxic and awful

R - Which friendship/platonic relationship is your favorite in fandom? all my favorite fandoms are themed around found family so this is so hard lmao. Nick & Hank (Grimm), Eliot & Harry (Leverage Redemption), Harry & Breanna (LR), Don & Charlie if brothers count (Numb3rs), etc

S - Show us an example of your personal headcanon anyone who reads my H50 fics knows that i will fuckin die on the hill that Danny has an anxiety disorder

T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending? besides anxious danny, I'd say John having ADHD (SGA), and Monroe being bi (Grimm) are two right off the top of my head

U - Three favorite characters from three different fandoms, and why they’re your favorites 1. Steve McGarrett (H50) - he's been through so much shit, but he's still so damn loyal and protective and kind. He's such a good dude who is just traumatized beyond belief. 2. Charlie Eppes (Numb3rs) - besides the fact that i am CONVINCED he has ADHD, he's just so fucking loving and passionate about his work and the people he loves. he balances out the hardness of Don and the gang with the sheer size of his heart 3. Eliot Spencer (Leverage) - basically the same reason as steve. I have a type.

V - Which character do you relate to most? this is tough. probably Daniel (SG1) - esp early seasons - because of similar worldviews and interests and personalities, and Danny (H50) because of similar personalities

W - A trope which you are virtually certain to hate in any fandom. MISCOMMUNICATION!! its so frustrating.

X - A trope which you are almost certain to love in any fandom. im a big ol softie so i love stuff like mutual pining, hurt/comfort, etc.

Y - What are your secondhand fandoms Good Omens is a big one rn lmao. I've read the book but haven't watched the show. Also, Daredevil probably. I watched at least the first season years ago, but haven't seen anything beyond that. I still enjoy seeing people's posts about it and i read fic sometimes

Z - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go! im so cranky rn about the lack of depiction of trauma/mental illness/neurodivergence/etc in fandoms where its to be expected. like with Grimm rn, you give Nick PTSD and sensory enhancements but then suddenly forget about them?? that's not how that works! Or why is it always just hinted at that characters are ND? why is it so hard to just be like 'yeah no x has ADHD (or whatever)'? i want to be able to actually have complex/tough/interesting/etc protags that are ALSO neurodiverse. if we're all reading John as having ADHD (SGA) or Parker being autistic (leverage) anyways, why can't these things just be intentionally part of the character

#sorry i just have opinions and wanted to yell into the void about them #ask game

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melanielocke · 1 year

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Book recommendations: Chain of Thorns hangover

Since I think a lot of you have finished Chain of Thorns by now I figured I'd make a book recommendation post with books that I think will appeal to people who are trying to get over Chain of Thorns. Most of the books here I've talked about before, but I made the selection that I think will appeal the most to ChoT readers.

First up: Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

Why this book?: It has thorns in the title. Also the main couple, the humor and the story would appeal to fans of TID in particular. Nathaniel reminds me of Will somewhat.

Sorcery of Thorns is a second world fantasy set in Austermeer. Elisabeth Scrivener grew up in one of the country's great libraries, where grimoires are kept, living books that contain magic spells used by sorcerers, and she wants nothing more than to become a warden, a sword wielding librarian who keeps the books but also protects the world from these books since some of them can be quite dangerous.

When Elisabeth intervenes in an act of sabotage and slays a very dangerous grimoire, she is implicated in the crime and taken to the city's capital by Nathaniel Thorn, a sorcerer she distrusts, and his demon servant Silas. She has no choice but to work with Nathaniel to uncover a conspiracy targeting the great libraries.

Nathaniel and Elisabeth are one of my favorite m/f couples. Nathaniel is bi, and the author has said she likes playing with feminitiy and masculinity in her m/f couples. Elisabeth is essentially a "lady himbo" who likes swords and armor, and is taller and more muscular than Nathaniel, with Nathaniel being a bit more feminine at times (in the sequel novella he wears a lady's dressing gown).

The third major character is Silas, an aroace demon who works for Nathaniel as a servant and gives him his magic in exchange for some of his life. I love him as a character and his dynamic with the other two, and Elisabeth has a very beautiful platonic relationship with him.

Mysteries of Thorn Manor is a sequel novella that just came out. It is essentially an extended epilogue with a new story where Elisabeth and Nathaniel get trapped in Thorn Manor and have to figure out how to appease the house. It is an adorable little book but with the tiny size it's difficult to find a good spot for it with the other books.

Next: A Marvellous Light & A Restless Truth by Freya Marske

Why this book?: horny queers in the Edwardian era, book 2 also features a rude pet parrot (keep in mind, this book is adult and has some pretty explicit sex in it)

I've discussed this series before here, but I hadn't read a Restless Truth yet when I wrote that. The series is a trilogy, with currently two books out and the third coming November this year.

Each book focuses on a different couple, but you do have to read them in order since they're also trying to get to the bottom of a magical conspiracy in each book.

Book 1 focuses on Edwin and Robin, which is essentially a himbo/librarian couple. Robin is the himbo in this case, who works a government job and is accidently assigned to a post related to Britain's secret magician society. Usually, this post is held by non magic people with magic relatives, like his predecessor who mysteriously vanished. His magic coworker Edwin decides to wipe Robin's memory and replace him, but then Robin gets cursed by people who think he knows where a magic artefact his predecessor hid is, and Robin and Edwin have to break the curse and figure out what he's after.

Edwin is a magician, but he is a very weak magician. He makes up for this by being clever and very precise with his magic, and inventing new techniques, and this is very different from what I'm used to which is main character (or magic love interest) is the one who most powerful ever.

Book 2 is a sapphic book focusing on Maud and Violet and they are based on the rake/wallflower trope.

Maud is Robin's younger sister, who travels on a ship a la Titanic from America to the UK with an old lady who is important for the magic conspiracy. Only the old lady dies the first day and Maud has to turn to Violet, a scandalous young actress who is a magician specializing in illusions. Compared to book 1, book 2 is even more sexual, but in a hilarious way. Maud was raised a proper Edwardian lady, but is now first experimenting with her own sexuality and I loved the way this was portrayed. There's also a side character (who will be the love interest in book 3), who writes porn as a side hustle and Maud has to purchase his entire supply of porn to secure his cooperation.

The relationship between Violet and Maud also starts with Violet thinking, oh this girl is seeking to explore her own sexuality, let's help with that. No way I'm catching feelings.

The third book, coming in November, will focus on Jack Alson (lord Hawthorn) and Alan Ross who were side characters in book 2 and Hawthorn also appeard in book 1, but also feature Violet & Maud en Edwin & Robin.

Third: A Dark and Hollow Star by Ashley Shuttleworth

Why?: Urban fantasy, ensemble cast with lots of queer characters, complex plot in a longer series

I think this is more similar to the modern day shadowhunter books, since it is set in the present, but I think it will appeal to fans of tlh too.

The series has 5 main characters, and in the first book they have to figure out why ironborn (half fae) are dying, which no one else really seems to care about.

Arlo is an ironborn, with her mother being part of the royal family of unseelie spring, which is the ruling family over all fae right now. As an ironborn, she's threatened to be cast out of the fae world, her memories erased, if she doesn't have enough magic. She's very soft, but also determined, and seeking a path for herself and I think overall she's the main character of the series.

Nausicaa is an ex fury who was cast out from the furies because she killed a bunch of people she wasn't supposed to. She's very morally grey and kind of an asshole, but in a funny and likeable way, and she develops a weak spot for Arlo, who becomes her love interest.

Vehan is the prince of seelie summer. He's sweet and very naive and doesn't realize his mom is evil. He feels very isolated because his best friend, Aurelian, who is also in love with, seems to be pulling away from him and he feels like no one really cares about him. He is determined to solve the ironborn murders in book 1 because no one else wants to try.

Aurelian is Vehan's bodyguard and he's kind of the brooding guy. He's very protective of Vehan, but also pulls away from him because of a secret he's keeping to protect Vehan. They have been best friends for long, but he was essentially forced to become Vehan's guard so now their relationship is difficult.

Celadon is the final main character and he gets his own POV from book 2, and will be very important in book 3 I think (he's on the cover). He's a prince of unseelie spring and Arlo's cousin, and he's very popular. There's a fandom of him called the "Celadom". Vehan in particular is a big fan and has posters of Celadon in his room. Celadon is also Arlo's best friend, which is how he's introduced in book 1.

Book 3 is coming out this September, and the cover was just revealed this week

Then: A Blade so Black by L.L. McKinney

Why this book?: demon slaying (well, nightmares in this case), great cast of characters

Like A Dark and Hollow Star, this would likely appeal more to fans of the modern day shadowhunters as it's set in modern day Atlanta, and follows Alice who was chosen to battle nightmares, monsters that come from Wonderland into our world.

She's trained by her attractive mentor Hatta, but when he is poisoned she has to travel deeper into wonderland to find a cure while also maintaining her school, and keep her very protective mother from figuring out what's going on.

The third book is coming out in April, I think only in US hardcover (while I have the UK paperbacks so that sucks), but I'm still curious to see how this story ends.

It's fast paced with lots of action, but also balanced with Alice' homelife as a teenager and her trying to figure out how to disappear into Wonderland for a week without her mom finding out.

And last: The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas

Why this book?: high stakes, great cast of mostly queer characters, funny and chaotic characters

I've talked about this book before. Several times. But it's just that good. So here I am, trying to convince you once more why you should read the Sunbearer Trials.

The main character is Teo, a jade transgender demigod son of the goddess of birds.

"I am a being of chaos, fueled by spite and antidepressants"

Every 10 years, the sunbearer trials are held, with ten semidioses participating. The winner becomes the new sunbearer and replenishes the sunstones so the sun doesn't die out. The loser gets sacrificed.

Usually, only gold semidioses are chosen to participate. These are the children of the most powerful gods, who can shoot fire out of their hands or move earth, things like that.

This time, there are two jade semidoses chosen to participate. Teo, and Xio, the son of the god of bad luck who has no powers. Meanwhile, Teo can talk to birds. Together with Teo's best friend Niya, the gold daughter of the earth god, they will have to fight to survive against much more powerful semidioses.

@alastaircarstairsdefenselawyer @life-through-the-eyes-of @astriefer @justanormaldemon @ipromiseiwillwrite @a-dream-dirty-and-bruised @amchara @all-for-the-fanfiction @imsoftforthomastair @ddepressedbookworm @queenlilith43 @wagner-fell @cant-think-of-anything @laylax13s @tessherongraystairs @boredfangirl16 @artist-in-soul @beyondlifebeyonddeath @ikissedsmithparker

#sorcery of thorns #mysteries of thorn manor #margaret rogerson #freya marske #a marvellous light #a restless truth #a dark and hollow star #a cruel and fated light #a grim and sunken vow #ashley shuttleworth #a blade so black #a dream so dark #l.l. mckinney #the sunbearer trials #aiden thomas #book recommendations #chain of thorns

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mrsmarymorstan · 1 year

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Hi....Do you mind if I ask you some random thing? I used to love shounen and shoujo manga equally....But ever since I found BL manga 3 years ago, my interest in shoujo decrese a lot, and what I search for is just the dynamic between mc (male) and male lead...I don't want to read mc (female) and male lead or mc (male) and female lead...My interest in het romance also decrese....

What do you think happen to me? Sorry for this weird ask....

I mean, firstly people's tastes change and that's okay! Lots of people prefer to read same sex romance over characters of different genders! It's nothing to really worry about unless you're a dick about it, which you are not being so that's fine!

It could be that you don't like the way some female characters are treated in manga, so having none there makes it more fun to read. It could be that you find you can get more invested in a romance if you're not expected to relate to one of the characters. You may be queer and prefer to read queer romance as a result even if those characters don't match your gender!

Or maybe you just wanted a change of pace with BL. There's even manga such as "I want to be a wall" and "BL Metamorphosis" that directly talk about this phenomenon among (cis) women so, regardless of your personal gender identity, you're definitely not alone in feeling as though you can't relate to Male/Female romance anymore.

It's also true that BL as we know it began within the pages of Shojo Magazines! And indeed, many modern queer series are still published in Shojo Magazines! So you may be enjoying Shojo without even knowing it =)

Good recent examples of this include "My Love Mix-Up" and "Sasaki and Miyano"! But also let's not forget classics like "New York New York" and "Banana Fish". Heck! Why not throw "Rose of Versailles" and "Princess Knight" in there too, because honey there is nothing CisHet about Lady Oscar, and Prince Sapphire lol

And also a good reminder that "Shojo" is not synonymous with "Romance"! Yes, romantic subplots are a common feature, but when you think of Sailor Moon do you think of her as constantly pining after Tuxedo Mask, or do you imagine her doing her cool transformations and beating up whatever weird monsters have been sent her way that week?

Some good Non-Romance Orientated Shojo I would recommend that I've been reading lately are:

- Dawn of the Arcana

- The King's Beast

- Kageki Shojo!!

- Prince Freya

- Rose of Versailles

- The Demon Prince of Momochi House

(Oh and "Shojo Horror" is a whole thing too, Junji Ito got his start in Shojo Magazines. 'Starfruit Books' are a digital publisher who publish a lot of English and Spanish Language Shojo Horror so worth looking them up too if you like horror, which I don't, but respect those who do lol)

But if you're maybe looking for some Non-Heteronormative M/F romances to give them another shot I can recommend:

- A Sign of Affection (If you liked "I hear the Sun Spot" I think you'll like this)

- Ladies On Top (18+)

- Snow White With The Red Hair

- The Invisible Man And His Soon To Be Wife

And whilst these ones are still rather heteronormative, they do contain female leads who do way more than just sit around and hope that senpai notices them:

- Something's Wrong With Us (18+)

- Sweat and Soap (18+)

- Knight of The Ice

- My Happy Marriage

- Your Name

And whilst my goal this year is to try and read more Girl Love stories, (or just F/F romance in general I should say) and therefore I don't have AS MANY to recommend I HAVE been reading "Runaway With Me Girl", "Catch These Hands" and "Kase-san and Yamada"

I hope that helps! At the end of the day, whilst I always encourage people to try to read out of their comfort zone, it's your free time and your money! You should be allowed to spend it however you want, so long as you're not hurting anyone.

(I do think that anyone attempting to be a professional reviewer should absolutely try and read more books from more demographics but that's you trying to make money off of your hobby which is absolutely not the same as a rando who just wants to read about boys kissing on their time off from work/school)

#replies #anon #manga #manga recs #recs #You can scroll through my pinned post if you want trigger warnings for most of those series #BTW #Some aren't on there because I either only just got to Vol 3 or I haven't read 3 full volumes yet but most are on there 👍

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cheesybadgers · 1 year

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A not-so-gentle reminder that just because my fics are predominantly m/m ships rather than reader insert/OFC, that doesn’t mean they are fairer game when it comes to plagiarism.

I’ve kept in my own little corner for most of my time in this fandom, so I’m always surprised when way more popular reader insert/OFC writers, who I’ve never or barely ever interacted with, have not only (silently) found their way to my writing in the first place, but they’ve also felt the need to take stuff from it without credit, presumably thinking I wouldn’t notice from my little corner. And this has happened several times now.

If you’ve got as far as reading OHDH, you know I’ve put my heart and soul into every single chapter for the last two years. I’ve done hours upon hours of research (some of which I’ve been sharing here) and I know I didn’t have to do this. I know it’s above and beyond what is necessary to write fan fiction. But…I wanted to.

I’ve enjoyed learning about places, cultures and historical events I didn’t know much about before and I find it much easier to write authentically about stuff if I’ve done some background reading first. And if anyone wants to use any of the resources I’ve listed for their own research, have at it! You might surprise yourself and get sucked down many unexpected rabbit holes like I did.

But just because I’ve chosen to research my fic this way, it absolutely does not mean my writing is also a free for all. If you need to have another person’s fic up on your screen alongside your own so you can take very specific ideas, dialogue, scenes etc. even if you’re changing bits here and there, that is plagiarism. You are using someone else’s hard work and passing it off as your own without credit. And if someone did the same to your writing, you’d be livid and don’t pretend you wouldn’t.

Most of my writing is also very much from a LGBTQ+ POV. Character motivations/choices/actions, the small details, the research I’ve done, the dialogue etc. are all chosen with a queer reading of the characters in mind. None of it was meant to be ripped out of context and shoved into a story about a het m/f relationship. There are countless other fics of that nature to use as inspiration, why use one of the very few longfics that exists for this pairing (and I think the only one currently being posted on Tumblr), other than because you know it gets less readers and seems like an easier target?

It doesn’t take much to include a shoutout if someone else has inspired you. But if you can’t bring yourself to do that then you are not welcome to use anything from my fics.

I don’t know if popular writers feel under pressure to keep up with their posting schedule so they don’t disappoint their readers, but whatever the reason is for doing this, they’re taking advantage of other writers who a) have never done anything to hurt them other than dare to exist in the same fandom and b) don’t have the same reach in said fandom, thus making it less likely for others to notice (or so they think lol).

It’s also worth bearing in mind, because this seems to be a growing trend lately, if you intend on turning your fic into an original novel and there’s material in there from other fic writers, once that book is published, you as the book author could be opening yourself up to potential litigation if the fic writer thinks their work was stolen. Why do you think professional writers don’t read fan fic of their own characters/universes? Neil Gaiman has talked a lot about this on his Tumblr.

So please for goodness sake, stop creating bad feeling where there doesn’t need to be any. Stop taking your issues out on others who have done nothing wrong. Stop screwing over your peers for clout. Stop targeting minority fics because you think you can get away with it. Stop trying to drive away your perceived ‘competition’ when there’s room for everyone. Just stop it.

#Fandom #Plagiarism #Fan Fiction #Fan Fic #Writing

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radley-writes · 1 year

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I posted 8,300 times in 2022

That's 2,151 more posts than 2021!

373 posts created (4%)

7,927 posts reblogged (96%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@vaspider

@spaceshipkat

@fragrant-stars

@thelibrarianjesser

@headspace-hotel

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#jugemu jugemu go-kō-no-surikire kaijari-suigyo no suigyō-matsu unrai-matsu fūrai-matsu kū-neru tokoro ni sumu tokoro yaburakōji no burakōji

My Top Posts in 2022:

Hello yes I am another toothpaste pain experiencer

I am allergic to the mint flavouring in toothpaste and it is the worst

On the upside, I have discovered that watermelon flavoured toothpaste is a thing that exists, even if it is aimed at toddlers

W A T E R M E L O N T O O T H P A S T E

I have SUCH a mighty need, that sounds amazing

except uh, I would absolutely eat that stuff right out the tube

1,052 notes - Posted May 10, 2022

THIS IS NOT A DRILL

I REPEAT

THIS IS NOT A DRILL

THE STRICTLY NO HEROICS (Feiwel & Friends, Macmillan Children’s, 2023) IS UP FOR PRE-ORDER!

[ID: cover of a book showing a figure in a gasmask, hoodie and gloves, leant on an old TV. A rainbow pride pin is pinned to their jacket. Text reads ‘STRICTLY NO HEROICS’ in neon pink and green, and ‘B. L. Radley’ in white.]

If you're a powerless normie in a world run by superheroes, you need three rules to survive:

1: Keep your head down

2: Don’t make enemies

3: STRICTLY NO HEROICS

When a hero gropes her best friend, Riley Jones breaks all of them.

Her attempt at serving justice gets her fired from her summer job. Luckily, Sunnylake City’s biggest business is booming (literally, when there's C4 involved).

Every villain wants henchmen: masked cronies who take their coffee orders, vacuum their secret lairs, and posture in the background while they fight. The HENCH agency provides a steady stream of drop-outs and losers who are willing to get beaten up by sidekicks for minimum wage.

Riley might just be the perfect candidate.

I’ve worked so hard on this project, with an incredible team of people. And we’re getting closer to that sweet, sweet pub date (March 28, 2023)!

Any boosts would be greatly appreciated <3 Let’s give my debut some love?

If you like queer & wlw content, teenage activists organizing strikes, and superhero stories from the perspective of the civilians... this is the book for you!

Tweet!

Goodreads page!

PRE-ORDER NOW!

(If you’re short a bob but still want to get your hands on this glorious beast of a novel, consider requesting that your local library buy it! x)

2,470 notes - Posted March 22, 2022

has this already been done or

2,487 notes - Posted October 22, 2022

.....roe v wade being overturned is fucking horrific, but as I’ve already seen more than one grumbly ‘why are people still posting casually like nothing happened’ post, it feels like a great time to remind folks that a) performatively posting on social media is not activism and you don’t know what people are doing irl, b) not everyone is American, c) some people really mentally struggle with being surrounded 24/7 by doomposting and misery, d) not everyone is American, e) people often have sideblogs categorised by the sort of material they post, so you might not be following the place where they are posting about roe v wade, f) NOT EVERONE IS AMERICAN -

6,941 notes - Posted June 27, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

...Do you ever see people critiquing specific word usage in novels and wonder if they know that language can be used in fun and figurative ways? And that this is half the joy of writing?

An example off the top of my head - if I say ‘He gave a whisper of a smile’, it does not mean that the smile is literally whispering; it means that the word ‘whisper’ invokes a sense of smallness, due perhaps to subtlety or shyness, and that is something I want connected to your mental envisioning of this dude’s smile.

Saying ‘But that makes no sense; a smile and a whisper are two different things’ misses the point e n t i r e l y

28,585 notes - Posted July 11, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #false #hehehe #voila!

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sheepydraws · 1 year

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SheepyReads March Round-up!

Romance

Hen Fever by Olivia Waite: Historical f/f where two women get embroiled in their town's annual chicken contest and learn about their tragic connection due to the recent war. This one is good enough to cackle about. I love that the heroines are on the older side (both past thirty) and the insanity that is caring for a bunch of show chickens. Funny, angsty, and with that touch of magical realism that can make historical romance really really fun. Recommended.

At His Countess' Pleasure by Olivia Waite: Historical f/m with a marraige of convenince, with. Um. This was originally published as I Pegged an Earl. So. Anyway, this is light-hearted smutty romance, and you should have fun if that appeals to you. Recommended.

Cinderella by S.T. Lynn: Fantasy Cinderella re-telling with a ftm/f romance. Making Cinderella's deadname Coal was very funny. Otherwise this didn't really stick out to me. It was sweet and very low-conflict but not particularly interesting. Not Recommended.

Pumpkin Pounder by Laura Lovely: A Cinderella based novella about a woman and her red-headed Halloween hookup. This is a "glad I got it from the library" book. It wasn't terrible (although I wasn't expecting it to be...uh...A Nightmare Before Christmas fan-fic??? Kinda??? It's a very minor element but her Halloween costume is Sally, and at the end the Hero shows up in a Jack Skellington costume and there's some pumpkin king jokes.) but it also wasn't really what I want from a romance novella since the "Cinderella" aspect meant the couple spent a good chunk of the story apart. Not Recommended.

The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes by Cat Sebastian: f/m historical where a woman winds up teaming up with her blackmailer when her own criminal activities go awry. I probably should have read The Queer Principles of Kit Webb before this, because the two stories are deeply interconnected, but I had a good time regardless. Sebatian did a great job of drawing an intimate romance in the middle of the whirlwind of committing a lot of different crimes. Also, how do I put this delicately? The heroine jacks the hero off in a stable and its incredibly hot. Recommended.

Non-Fiction

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy: A memoir about McCurdy's life as a child actor forced to support her family by her abusive mother. I loved that this book is told chronologically, so by the time you are reading about McCurdy having a breakdown in her twenties you already have context for her actions from the descriptions of her childhood. McCurdy is really good at showing how she felt when certain things were happening, while simultaneously giving you the bigger picture that she couldn't see at the time. Recommended

Been There, Done That by Rachel Feltman: A light-hearted history of sex, discussing contraception, kinks, sexually transmitted diseases and more things people have been dealing with since we evolved sexual reproduction. Not a serious dive into any particular topic, but this is a fun book, and the author has some good things to say about consent and boundaries. Recommended.

Mystery

The Bellamy Trial by Francis Noyes Hart: A mystery novel told mainly through witness testimony at a murder trial. Well-written and maintains its tension throughout, but I felt a bit let down by the ending. Not that it was bad, but I was abruptly reminded, "Oh yeah, this was written in 1925". It was very "bad people are bad and get punished and good people are good and get rewarded", in a way that almost felt condescending. This is very interesting as a historical artifact, though. Recommended

Graphic Novels

Heartstopper Vol. 1 by Alice Oseman: This was a very cute, very sweet high school romance, if a bit cliche. I'm kind of sad that the best thing I can say about it is that I would have been obsessed with it at fourteen. Not Recommended

Fantasy

The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett: A wizard university dropout attempts to show a fool-hardy tourist around an increasingly beautiful and dangerous magical world. Okay, yes, this book is nowhere near as good as Pratchett's later works, like Guards! Guards! (It was so weird to see Death being a bit of an asshole.) However, it is weirdly compelling. It has the bones of what Pratchett will do with later works, and there's something about a person falling off the edge of the world multiple times and slowly seeing the beauty in it I found strangely compelling. I've decided to put the rest of the Rincewind books on my TBR, and not just because this one ended in a cliff hanger.

#sheepyreads #roundup #book recommendations #text #long post #mine #personal

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thesylverlining · 2 years

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Feels like a blazin' good time to remind y'all that I write really queer SFF books, which are great and very enjoyable for your eyeballs. Such as...

STAKE SAUCE! Queer Punk Vampires in PDX!

Arc 1: The Secret Ingredient Is Love. No, Really

IN WHICH: A cute punk-rock vampire and a disabled firefighter-turned-mall-cop with a dark past join forces to battle the forces of evil.

Jude used to leap out of helicopters to rescue/protect people from terrifying infernos. Now, by day, he protects the local mall from rowdy teenagers who ride their skateboards inside. By night, he protects the the parking lot, and the rest of Portland, from undead, bloodsucking creatures of the darkness. Or would if he could find them.

Pixie refuses to bite anyone. Assault/murder/draining fluids isn’t punk, even if being a vampire really kind of is. He’s very hungry by now, and the much bigger, meaner, deadlier vamps kick him around on the nightly. And Pixie could use some help staying… ‘alive.’ Time to make a deal.

This book contains...

Polyamorous M/M Vampire Goodness

Trans, disabled, neurodivergent, aro/ace-spec MC

Adorbs chubby punk pink-haired fangy boy

Trauma/Healing/Found Family

Book 2: Now With Queerplatonic F/F, Human/Vampire Girlfriends, and major nonbinary characters!

These books are ownvoice for a lot of the above, and while they’re definitely horror as well as paranormal romance, they are specifically written so that marginalized people like the above should feel seen, welcome, and loved.

And for THIS MONTH ONLY...

You can grab STAKE SAUCE along with CHAMELEON MOON (queer dystopia superhero goodness!) in a bundle with a ton of other amazing books/games by ND creators!

Thank you so much! Happy reading! (If you're into that sort of thing.)

#Stake Sauce #indie books #queer books #lgbt books

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earlgraytay · 3 years

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how to rec original fiction (when most of what you read is fanfic)

By popular demand!

I've seen a lot of people on here complaining about how Queer Book Rec posts aren't really useful. There's a lot of rec posts that say things like "m/m, found family, magical island setting" without saying anything about the characters, plot, tone, or themes.A lot of the discourse has kinda wound up as FANFIC BAD vs. FANFIC GOOD, but I don't think that fanfic is the problem. A lot of fic rec lists use a format that works for fanfic, but doesn't translate well to original fic.

Like I said here, when you're talking about fic, the ship does a lot of heavy lifting. A ship carries a character dynamic, themes, and tone with it. You know a Stucky fic is likely to be about nostalgia and fixing a relationship broken by circumstance. If you're reccing fanfic, you can say "it's a Stucky coffeeshop AU" and people will have an idea of the vibe. But when you're talking about original fic, you can't really do that. "F/F" and "M/M" are poor substitutes for shipnames; they don't get across the same information about tone and theme.

So how can you rec a piece of original fic you liked while getting across the same information? Gentle reader, I'm so glad you asked.

I'm gonna use my short story The Captain's Sphere as an example. If I were going to describe The Captain's Sphere the way I've seen some Tumblr rec lists do it, I'd say something like this:

Steampunk fantasy f/f with a disabled trans lady scientist main

This isn't the worst description of The Captain's Sphere you could write, but it leaves out a lot of the things that make Sphere unique and interesting. So how do we make this work?

First: The hook.

The hook is the one-to-three sentence description on the Amazon page. You don't have to copy it verbatim- tbh you probably shouldn't- but it's what the author thinks makes the book unique.

Here's the hook for The Captain's Sphere:

Lady Ava Loftus is an unusual woman, even by the standards of sky-sailors. As she pursues her passion- the study and dissection of mysterious creatures called angels- she must move between different social spheres and contend with others' ideas of who and what she should be. Can she adhere to the expectations set for a lady of quality without betraying her true self?

If you can find a way to sum up this hook in your own words, that already goes a long way towards making your rec more interesting. It'll get across more of what the book's about.

So you might say something like:

The Captain's Sphere's about a trans steampunk sky captain who hunts eldritch angels, does SCIENCE, and deals with Victorian gender roles.

Second: the tone.

This is something you really need to get across in a rec, and it's hard to do. but it's really important for convincing people to read it. after all, any genre can mean a lot of different things. does fantasy mean The Secret of Platform 13 or A Song of Ice and Fire? does steampunk mean pith helmets and colonialism or critique of the Industrial Revolution?

One way to get this across is just... to mention something you really liked about the setting, or the character interactions, or the plot. So for example, you could say:

I really liked how Ava has to act like a different person in each part of her life- stern ship captain, family black sheep, distinguished scientist, or loving girlfriend. I also liked the 'angels'- they're eldritch and mindbending without being too Lovecraftian.

Finally- you can cheat.

if it's easier for you to describe things in terms of ships, tropes, and fics, you can still do that for original fic. If the main pairing in a book reminds you of a pairing you like from a piece of popular media, you can compare them to that pairing. If the main plot of a book reminds you of a fic that's popular in your favourite fandom, you can compare it to that fic. Don't make it the entire rec- you risk falling into the "F/F Steampunk Lebsian" description again- but if it's the way you can best express yourself then go for it, you funky lil nerd.

For the Captain's Sphere, you could say something like:

The main characters' relationship really reminded me of Jenny and Madame Vastra from Doctor Who- the difference in their social status and their desire to protect each other means that they love each other, but don't always trust each other. It's a really cool dynamic and I wish I could see more of it.

So when you put all this together, you've got a much longer description. But put the two side by side, and...

Steampunk fantasy f/f with a disabled trans lady scientist main

Versus...

The Captain's Sphere's about a trans steampunk sky captain who hunts eldritch angels, does SCIENCE, and deals with Victorian gender roles. I really liked how Ava has to act like a different person in each part of her life- stern ship captain, family black sheep, distinguished scientist, or loving girlfriend. I also loved the 'angels'- they're eldritch and mindbending without being too Lovecraftian. The main characters' relationship really reminded me of Jenny and Madame Vastra from Doctor Who- the difference in their social status and their desire to protect each other means that they love each other, but don't always trust each other. It's a really cool dynamic and I wish I could see more of it.

One of these descriptions doesn't tell you anything about the story other than "there's gays and trans". The other one's much longer, but it also gives you a good idea of what you're getting into. If I was looking for queer fic to pick up, I'd be mildly intrigued by the first description- but I'd know I had to read the second one.

You see the difference?

#fandom #fanfic #fic recs #on writing #on litcrit #diverse representation #ownvoices #how to rec origfic

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olderthannetfic · 2 years

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Why don't you like Red White and Royal Blue?

1. It's YA. I dislike all YA. Just a personal taste thing.

2. I find the author irritating, and this is why:

Oh, wait, I'm sorry, it's the fake-ass genre of new adult. Right. I dislike that also, so same difference with regards to personal taste. (I've been reading genre fiction of the general, presumably for adults but whatever, variety since I was like 12. I do not like the particular quirks of YA and even less do I like how they've turned into this 'grasping for childhood all through your 20s' marketing category. But hey, at least the stuff I dislike is labeled so I can avoid it, so I really should be grateful.)

It's that last point that enrages me though. Many authors of "m/m" are queer. This smug bullshit is acting like a huge chunk of the authors of "m/m romance" (the genre term for all those books by people like Jordan L Hawk) aren't queer. Plenty of them also write f/f and other things, but they do not sell, and people need to make rent.

(That is one of the advantages of traditional publishing: a big publisher can stick f/f on the shelf where your last m/m was and demand people buy it.)

If we take "m/m" as a neutral descriptor rather than a specific marketing term, it's still smug bullshit. Huge numbers of BL authors and cartoonists are also queer.

Overall, I was just severely unimpressed with the "Literally The First Book Ever Like This" talk from both this author and the fans of the book. The reason we lack good queer art is that we're unwilling to do more labor to get it than vaguely glancing at the Target book section.

No shit everything will be sanitized mainstream crap forever if we're not willing to lift a pinky to find our fellow queer artists in more queer-friendly spaces like small presses or the few remaining queer bookshops.

The talk around this book reminded me of the sheer idiocy around that slave kink book where everyone was acting like it was So Shocking And New and some of the goodreads reviews had to be like "Okay, so this is generic fanfic stuff, and none of you seem to know that..."

I just have such a hateboner for how people are wedded to mainstream publishing as though it isn't rife with the same issues Hollywood has.

No shame to the author for pursuing fame and getting their works out to a broader audience. I think that does have a lot of value, but I'm unimpressed with the whole climate around this book.

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aroaessidhe · 3 years

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Hello beaujester fans I made a little list of f/f book recs for no reason other than i love beaujes and i love sapphic books

(the last two are bonus vexleth + some of my general fave f/f books by authors of colour)

more info and transcript below the cut;

these are a range of genres & are based on various tropes & things that might appeal to beaujes/ cr fans!

pls don't treat them like beaujes fanfic or anything, they're all great books on their own!!!

check goodreads reviews for trigger warnings if you might need them :)

oh also! if you have a library card, download the libby app! you can borrow ebooks for free!

transcript:

The Never Tilting World by Rin Chupeco

cool fantasy world split into day & night, with asian characters & author

bodyguard + princess who’s lived in a tower her whole life

they met in a bookstore & one loves silly romance novels

(& there’s a m/f pair too)

a duology, complete

The Mermaid, The Witch & The Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall

this is actually f/nb (one MC is genderfluid)

a rich sheltered girl travelling to meet a husband she’s never met gets taken by pirates, and one of them helps her escape

fairytale-like, pirates, mermaids, & magic!

Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova

a girl who accidentally sent her family to a kind of Latinx fairyland must travel to get them back

best friends to lovers!

a bi love triangle

(start of a trilogy based around 3 bruja sisters)

We Set The Dark On Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia

two girls (forced to be) married to

the same man in a Latinx dystopian fantasy world fall in love with each other

& become involved in the revolution

friends to rivals to friends to lovers!

a duology, complete

The Falling In Love Montage by Ciara Smyth

grumpy + sunshine girl ya contemporary romance

girl who doesn’t believe in romance or happy endings meets a girl who

loves romcoms & they plan to date

just for the summer

their dynamic reminds me a lot of bj tbh

The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake

sapphic retelling of Twelfth Night

shipwreck hunting & family mysteries

honestly i’m partly putting this here just bc there’s a chapter called ‘sapphire of the sea’

Under The Lights by Dahlia Adler

lesbian korean-american actress in a new teen tv show falls for her bi coworker

(dual pov w a straight guy who’s kinda a dick but they end up friends in the end)

The Weight of The Stars by K. Ancrum

two girls bonding over their love of space

scrappy teens in a small town

found family

rivals to friends to lovers

The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow

dystopian future ruled by an AI by keeping children of world leaders as ‘hostages’ in isolated schools

slow burn best friends to lovers And oh my god they were roommates....

(there’s a love triangle w a boy but she ends up with the girl)

Crier’s War by Nina Varela

fantasy world where automae rule over humans

human rebel / sheltered automae princess

lots of yearning, enemies to lovers

a duology, complete

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

adult sci-fi with an ambassador from a small station travelling to the empire

interesting alien cultures, court intrigue, politics (if u like that side of CR)

slow burn allies to friends to lovers

Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers

new adult contemporary novel where two women get drunk married in vegas

smart girl + creative girl

queer found family

coming of age & dealing with family expectations

[i have not read this one yet!]

BONUS: VEXLETH

Ash & Huntress by Malinda Lo

two seperate books set in a chinese inpisred fantasy world

a cinderella retelling where she ends up with the huntress instead of the mysterious fae man

and two women on a quest to save the world from a fairy queen freezing it

Of Fire And Stars by Audrey Coulthurst

a princess goes to another kingdom to marry a prince, but falls for his horseriding sister instead

one has fire magic, the other loves animals (their hair colours are swapped from vexleth too 😂)

magic, fantasy world, dragons

a duology, complete (with a prequel too)

Breaking Legacies by Zoe Reed

a huntress gets tasked with finding runaway princess but falls for her instead

dragons, wolves, magic & found family

[I have not read this one yet]

These Feathered Flames by Alexandra Overy

awkward redhaired lesbian who can turn into a giant flaming monster bird

& a swordfighting dark haired palace guard

sister relationships & politics

MC has a pet bear that she rides...

[have not read this one, I don’t think it’s out quite yet]

BONUS: some fave f/f books by authors of colour because half of the above are by white authors

Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust (ya persin fairytale fantasy)

The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson (adult sci-fi)

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan (YA asian high fantasy trilogy)

Each of us a Desert by Mark Oshiro (YA latinx fantasy)

Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron

Tell Me How You Really Feel by Aaminah Mae Safi (YA contemporary romance) You Should See Me In A Crown by Leah Johnson (YA contemporary romance)

The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar (YA contemporary romance)

Not Your Sidekick by C.B. Lee (YA contemporary/superhero/dystopia)

In The Vanisher’s Palace by Aliette de Bodard (adult beauty & the beast retelling w a dragon)

#beaujester #beaujes #critical role #long post #this is exactly what i should be doing with my time right now #posting this on my book blog bc. u know. books. but i am layahimalaya/layaart #laya talks

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aspoonfuloffiction · 2 years

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“someone head canoning a character as queer doesn’t take away from your favorite ship” right it's definitely not a pattern to sideline female protag because of an imaginary ship between two straight men, it NEVER happens

If its an “imaginary ship between two straight men” then in the narrative text the central couple is a heterosexual m/f relationship. If you get the actual canon endgame ship why does it matter what other people hc? The book/show/movie/game/ect creators agrees with you.

Is the problem that you believe EVERYONE must think as you do or is the problem that you don’t even want the sheer mention of queerness in your fandom? If its the first-get a reality check. If its the second-check your prejudices.

And because you are referring to the bisexual Ben conversation we’ve been having here for a few days a reminder that I am a bi!Ben x Sophie fan literally no where in my post did I talk about changing Sophie’s existence. I don’t know how many times I can define bisexuality to this fandom…

Also this fandom DID sideline their titular female protagonist in Daphne during season one. And last I checked no one was really shipping Simon with another man. So don’t hide your internalized homophobia behind coopted feminist ideals. Unfounded greater preference for male characters in fandom spaces is a problematic issue rooted in internalized misogyny not from people reading queerness into a story.

Also considering that the only man Benedict is really being shipped with right now is Henry if thats the ship of “2 straight men” that you think is causing people to dismiss Sophie then a reminder that Henry is gay…so we’re saying the quiet part out loud now?

Tldr : don’t be homophobic.

#bridgerton #asks

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sweetfirebird · 2 years

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You know what else was interesting about this book? It in no way even gave a passing thought to anything real. I don't think that is a compliment. Historical characters are not modern people--but the readers are. And this book had some thoughts on the woman's sexual agency and maybe some "child abuse is bad" and a hint of "if a woman was a prostitute for reasons against her will than support her but if otherwise.... meh" (that last bit might have been accidentally implied). But if did not remotely delve into anything else, not even in passing.

And romance is still largely conservative to this day and no, I don't need characters spouting totally modern ideals but... Mary Wollstonecraft existed. Rousseau (who was a little bitch but for the sake of this I won't go into that now) existed. The American Revolution/War for Independence happened, as did the French Revolution. Okay these characters are not educated or into reading the papers, fine. But... those ideas existed. And also individual often do look at the world around them and go... oh some of this shit is fucked up. Individuals can experience something awful and realize it is awful for everyone and it shouldn't be. etc

This book very carefully and I would say deliberately did not get into the system that kept the Regency going, or class issues, or even how the government treated its ex-soldiers. It didn't get into why smuggling was really necessary or a business for poorer people--for the rich to enjoy btw, or even, when the lady protag who was NOT nobility or gentry, encounters someone who is noble... like no one mentions it or goes wtf is this peasant doing address us like equals?

Someone actually thanked the soldier guy for his service. (In the Napoleonic Wars? Was that a thing? Were random English people like yes, these soldiers saved us from tyranny??)

No queer characters. Not even a whiff of them.

And the side relationships, m/f were... odd. Not bad or toxic but... I did not get the romance of it. Nor did having the acceptable outlaws (smuggler and prostitute) return to the rule of law at the end and settle down into domesticity.... it wasn't built into the plot really, it just happened, and we were expected to believe it.

The modern thinking was limited pretty much to "women should get to fuck if they want--but don't act too much of a tart" and everything else was very much buried.

Just odd. The man was allowed to be sensitive but we had to be reminded every five seconds of what a big mclarge huge viral man-smelling man he was. Like that was the tradeoff.

That's what I meant when I said it had new stuff that was different from the old het romance I remember... and then how it was the same as before.

I am also sort of debating reading the rest in the series though, just to find out the mystery resolution... but then... I don't know. lol

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dgcatanisiri · 3 years

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The frustration of queerness being represented in media is... I get WHY queer content creators do go for the stories that portray the hardships of being queer. They need their catharsis, they want to be able to work through their issues, they want to be able to explore this thing about themselves. And they are offering a lifeline to the queer audience who need to know that they’re not alone.

But for me... I just get the reminder that I’m seen as DIFFERENT. That because of my sexuality and romantic attraction, I am going to struggle in society. That this thing that I have no control over makes my life more difficult because of how society around me responds.

Like... I am not advocating assimilation. I want queer people to live as openly queer as they choose, whether it’s where they make sure everyone knows or if they don’t let anyone out of their close circles know. I just...

Is it that I’m the weird one, in that I think of my sexuality as ONE FACET of my identity, one part of myself, rather than the thing that defines me? I mean... I can’t see that, I don’t find that feels like a right answer to the question. I feel like this is at least a real position among other queer people.

And yet... So often, I do see IN PARTICULAR the media, the stories centered on queer men, be featuring as a major element, or even THE central conceit, the difficulty of coming to terms with being queer. With accepting their queerness and their feelings for someone of the same sex.

Like it’s been one of the thing I’ve noticed in my search for gay books. There are a lot of appearances in the various Twitter feeds I’m following about queer books that are interesting plots... But I end up feeling disappointed when I realize that about three quarters of them or more are centered on F/F pairings, because I want to see these stories with the protagonist telling my story. Because a lot of the M/M stories I find end up falling under the category of “romcom,” rather than sci-fi, fantasy, action adventure, thriller, whatever. No, the first place they go is either romcom or, if I’m looking through Amazon, erotica.

This is why I’ve always complained about Dorian in Dragon Age - even in this fantasy setting, even when a gay character is written by a gay man, the only thing we get out of him is the same exact story of the gay person whose family will not accept him explicitly for being gay. Not even couching it in metaphor, disconnecting it from the homophobia being explicit, no, he deals with homophobia.

And yet... That keeps coming across as the prevailing attitude. That if queer men, IN PARTICULAR, can only exist in the mainstream if they are objects of pity, if they suffer pain and angst and suffering, exclusively BECAUSE of their sexuality.

I know and understand the exploration and depiction of the pain. But... At this point, only showing the pain is only INFLICTING MORE pain, at least on me. I don’t want to take to flights of fantasy, only to drag the harmful existence along with me. I don’t see the point in ONLY inflicting the pain.

Like... Where is the JOY? Where is the idea that being queer is MORE than pain? Even acknowledging that, by the nature of the romcom style writing, a happy ending is where these stories go to... It’s still a plot that says that the heart of being queer is going through pain. And... I’m aware of the pain. I want to imagine a better world. A world where being queer doesn’t inherently come with pain.

I mean, I DO have a set of books that certainly aren’t focused first on the queer pain, it hasn’t been a complete dearth of material. But... There’s also been a lot of digging involved in FINDING those stories. And it just... It’s another kind of pain in and of itself - that the pain is so ingrained in us, we can’t bring ourselves to imagine a world without it.

#another angry queer rant #dg rants

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artzychic27 · 4 years

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Painbow

The artwork was made by @lizzey-13, who asked if I could write this. Thanks again for asking me to write this! :)

—

“And so, the British...”

Nathaniel was trying not to fall asleep from the boring lecture. He usually stays up by sketching, but he’s already gone through three sketchbooks in just one month, now there was nothing keeping him from dozing off in the middle of class. He did have another sketchbook with him, but that was for the Ladybug comic.

He looked up at the clock sitting above the door... Just seven minutes left, he could do this. Why couldn’t his bangs have been even? Then he could fall asleep without anyone noticing

“And the war brought...”

Gotta stay up... Five more minutes... Nathaniel turned his head slightly and looked out the window. It had just stopped raining, little droplets were running down the glass window pane, and the sky looked a little grey. The only thing that stood out from the dreariness was the bright rainbow in the sky... It reminded him of Marc. The boy’s name was literally ‘Rainbow’! If you took out the M.

Now that was keeping him awake. How could he sleep when Marc was on his mind? His smile, his gentle voice, the graceful way his pencil moves whenever he was writing. The mere through of the boy brought a faint smile to Nathaniel’s usually stoic face.

RIIIIING!

At the sound of the bell, Nathaniel snapped out of his thoughts. Class was over

“Class dismissed. Have a good day, everyone.”

Nathaniel gathered his belongings and made his way down the stairs where Alix was waiting for him, “You goin’ to art club?” She asked, but the smirk on her face meant she already knew the answer

“Yeah I’m going.”

Once they left the classroom, Alix, with a smirk still on her face, turned around and mimicked kissing someone. Her hands went up and down her back, “Oh, Marc. I love you so much.” She said in a low voice, mimicking Nathaniel “I love you so much, babe.”

Nathaniel rolled his eyes at his shorter friend’s antics and playfully slapped her arms, making her stop

“Okay! Okay! I’ll stop!” She said through her giggles, then she turned around and saw the familiar bright red hoodie coming down the hallway. “Go get him, Romeo.” She sends the redhead a wink before running off to the art classroom

Nathaniel fixed up his hair, straightened his blazer, and approached the writer. The closer he got, the more he noticed something off about Marc. His hair was a little more messier than usual, and he had a tired look in his eyes

“Marc?” The taller boy flinched, Nathaniel became worried, “Rainbow, are you okay?” Marc seemed less tense after hearing his nickname

“Y-yeah. I’m fine.” His eyes shifted as if he were looking for someone, “Let’s just go-”

“Marc, please tell me what’s wrong.” He took Marc’s hand in his, “You flinched when I said your name. What happened?”

“... Just the usual stuff.” He admitted, “They threw notes at me,” He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out said notes, “telling me to die, calling me some stuff, something about conversion therapy, I look like a girl...”, He sounded so bored, like he’d done this a hundred times, “They’re not even being original anymore.” He crumpled up the notes and put them in a nearby trash can “Come on, let’s get to art club.”

Nathaniel’s mouth hung open slightly. He stayed like that for a moment until he finally found his words “Rainbow, how can you just let this go?”, he asked, “This isn’t right.”

“Nath, I’m used to it.” He admitted, “I-It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

“But-”

“Please? For me?”

Nathaniel wanted to argue, but that smile made him give in, “Fine.” He grumbled, “But if this gets physical, I am getting involved.” Marc nodded sadly. Nathaniel leaned in and kissed Marc on the cheek, making his lips curl into a smile, “Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

—

The next week at school went pretty smoothly. The new Ladybug comic was published, paperback and online, and everyone really seemed to enjoy it. Nathaniel wanted to be happy right now, but he just couldn’t stop thinking about what happened to Marc. No one should have to endure that kind of treatment, and just be used to it... But, he promised that he wouldn’t do anything unless Marc showed up covered in bruises.

So far it’s been nothing but cruel notes in his locker and unoriginal insults. Marc just let it go and threw the notes away, but Nathaniel was pissed and close to being akumatized many times. Fortunately, Marc always managed to calm him down before any akumas could appear

“Nath!” Alix called out as she ran over to him with the latest issue of the comic in her hand, “I am loving this comic, man!” She wraps an arm around him and winks, “And don’t think I didn’t see those background gay couples.”

Nathaniel rolled his eyes, “Of course you would notice them.”

“Cuz I got gay-dar!” She exclaimed with a laugh, but that look soon faded when she saw the aggravated look in Nathaniel’s eye, “Are you okay? You’re looking a little ticked off.”

Nathaniel let out a sigh, “It’s Marc. Some guys have been messing with him, and he won’t let me do anything.”

Alix frowned, “What have they been doing?”

“What do you think?”

Alix kicked a wall in frustration, “God, that’s still happening?” Nathaniel nodded, “Well, we have to teach those asses a lesson! Make sure it doesn’t happen again!”

He shook his head, “No, I promised Marc that I wouldn’t do anything unless it got physical. So far it’s just been shitty notes and name-calling.”

He started walking to the classroom, Alix followed

“I-I don’t get it.” Nathaniel said, “He doesn’t even care. Or he does, but he doesn’t wanna admit it!”

“Well, why don’t you take it to Damocles?”

“I tried, but he won’t do anything unless I bring him evidence, and Marc keeps throwing the notes away!”, he exasperated, “And, I’m trying, I really am. But I can’t just sit back and watch-” Alix put a finger to his lips, “Alix?”

“Thought I heard something.”

‘Where’s your boyfriend, Anciel?’

‘Looks like he didn’t even want you.’

Nathaniel ran to the source of the cruel voices and found himself standing outside the locker room. He put his ear to the door and listened.

‘Stop it!’

That sounded like Marc

‘What are you gonna do, ya queer?’

Having heard enough, Nathaniel barged into the room and saw the scene before him. Marc was being pinned to the wall by Louis, the school bully. Nothing like Chloe though. She had the common decency to insult people out in the open while he cornered people and threatened them in private. Victor and Clement, his lackeys watched with amused looks as they vandalized Marc’s journal

“HEY!” The bullies were startled by the loud voice, but calmed down when they realized it was only Nathaniel

Louis sneered, “Look, guys. The queer’s boy toy came to save him.” he taunted

Ignoring him, Nathaniel stormed over to Louis and pushed him off of Marc, making him land on the floor. Nathaniel stormed over to Victor and Clement, and snatched Marc’s journal out of their hands. He took Marc’s hand and started pulling him out of the locker room, but he stopped on his tracks when he heard Louis mutter...

“Damn f*gs.”

“... Nath?”

Nathaniel scowled, but did nothing and proceeded to walk Marc out of the locker room while not saying a word. It was quiet up until Alix and Marinette approached them, both looking concerned

“Guys, what happened?!” Marinette asked

Neither of them said a word until...

“Nothing. I-it’s fine.” Marc said

Nathaniel sighed, handed Marc his defaced journal and walked away, leaving Marinette and Alix confused

—

“A boy who only wants to protect the one he loves, yet his lover chooses to suffer in silence.”

Hawkmoth held out his hand and beckoned for a butterfly to land in his palm. Once it perched itself, Hawkmoth covered it with his other hand and the power of the Miraculous filled the butterfly with dark magic, turning it into an Akuma

The Akuma flew out through the window

“Fly away my little Akuma! And evilize him!”

—

Nathaniel stormed down the hallway. He didn’t know where he was going, he just needed to think. He didn’t understand. Why wouldn’t Marc let him help? Why didn’t he care?... Why didn’t he knock out Louis? He knew Marc endured this kind of treatment constantly, but he wanted to help him... Protect him...

He was too wrapped up in his thoughts to hear the flapping of an Akuma’s wings. And he definitely didn’t notice the Akuma flying into his bisexual flag bracelet. The purple Akuma symbol appeared over his face. Hawkmoth spoke,

“Painbow, I am Hawkmoth. I understand the feeling of wanting to protect the one you love. Let me give you some assistant. All I ask in return is that you bring me Ladybug and Chat Noir’s Miraculous.”

“I’ll protect you, Marc.” His whispered as dark purple magic bubbled up from the bracelet and surrounded him. Students standing in the hallway fled, not wanting to face the wrath of the newest Akuma. Some stayed, too paralyzed to move, which was a horrible mistake. Shooting from the Akuma’s hand was a multicolored energy ball. When hit, they felt something seize them, and they were suddenly puppeted by a strange force. Their irises took of the appearance of the color wheel, and they had wide smiles plastered on their faces

“Find my Rainbow, and Louis. NOW!”

—

Alix looked around the classroom, but Nathaniel was nowhere in sight. ‘He must’ve been really upset.’ She thought, and then turned her attention to Mme. Bustier

“Now, please open your books to-”

A flash of multicolored light beamed through the window, making the students shield their eyes

‘What is that?’

‘What’s going on?’

‘They got me!’

‘Sound the Akuma Alarm!’

‘Where are you my sweet Rainbow?!’

The class looked out the window but kept low so the Akuma wouldn’t see them. They watched in horror as the red-haired villain shot rainbow energy balls at random students. Each time he missed, the energy balls would cause a massive explosion. When he did hit a student, their eyes would become multicolored and they’d have alarmingly wide smiles.

“Rainbow, sweetie?!” He called out, “Come on out! We’re going to find you!”

“Rainbow?” Alix whispered to herself. Only Marc was called ‘Rainbow’. She then came to the conclusion, “That’s Nath!”

Nathaniel, now Painbow’s bangs were swooped to the side and dyed the colors of the rainbow, his eyes were blue with no iris or pupil, and they looked like crystals. He has on a white floor-length sleeveless trench coat with a rainbow sash going across the waist, a magenta tank top with blue pants, a purple belt, and black boots. He also has on white gloves, and a rainbow cuff bracelet on his left wrist

“Marc!~” He sang, “I can’t keep you safe if you’re not by my side!” With no response, he shrugged, “I’ll just destroy the whole school until I find you, or Louis!” With that, he fired another rainbow energy ball that created a hole in the wall

Mme. Bustier turned to the class, “While Nathaniel is distracted, you all need to run out of here.” Her students nodded, “And if you find Marc or Louis, make sure they get out.” She looked out the window and sees Painbow hurling lockers at panicked students who weren’t under his control

“NO ONE LEAVES UNTIL I HAVE MY RAINBOW!”

“Run!” Bustier ordered, and the class did not hesitate to run for the door, but when opened, they backed away when they saw the Akuma. The inhumanly wide smile plastered on his face was not easing their nerves

“I clearly said, no one leaves until I have my Rainbow.”

Alix cautiously approached her Akumatized friend, “Nath, whatever’s wrong, just-”

Before she could say another word, Painbow summoned several rainbow energy balls that he shot at the class. Marinette, Adrien, Alya, Nino, Mylene, and Alix managed to avoid them and run out the room, but the rest were now under his control

“Fine me Marc Anciel and Louis Kress! And if you see Ladybug and Chat Noir, take their Miraculous!”, he ordered, and the smiling multicolored eyed students ran out in search for the two

—

Looking through the window in Mme. Mendeleiev’s classroom, Marc watched in fear as the controlled students caused havoc in the school looking for him, while his akumatized boyfriend shouted his nickname and blasted rainbow energy balls from his hands

He sighed, “This is my fault.” He hid his face in his gloved hands

Aurore frowned and placed a hand on his shoulder, “Marc, don’t say that! You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“B-but he’s mad because I was getting bullied by Louis,” He explained “and I told him not to do anything.”

“It’s Louis’ fault, not yours.” Aurore said, then smirked, “And Nath’s probably only after you so he can kiss that cute face of yours.”, she joked, causing Marc’s lips to curl into a smile “Ladybug and Chat Noir will handle this. Nathaniel will be fine, and you two can talk it out, okay?” At Marc’s nod, she gives him a side hug

“Rainbow...” Painbow’s eerie voice called out

Mme. Mendeleiev signals for the students to get down so Painbow won’t see them. They crouch under the window as Painbow walks by the classroom

Marc let out a small whimper, making Mireille cover his mouth. They hear the Akuma’s footsteps fade away and let out sighs of relief

Mme. Mendeleiev stood, “Okay, he’s gone.”

Right as she said this, the door to the classroom exploded outwards in a cloud of splinters and rainbow dust, causing everyone to duck and cover. Looking up, Marc saw his villain boyfriend. His smile somehow became even more unnerving when his eyes landed on Marc

“Hello, My Rainbow.” He cooed as he approached him. Before he could get any closer, Mme. Mendeleiev stood in front of him, putting on a brave face in front of the Akuma

“You will not lay a finger on one of my students!” She said in a commanding tone

Painbow didn’t look threatened, and instead let out a laugh. Then with a flick of his wrist, an energy balls shot from his hand, hitting Mendeleiev, and putting her under his control. She stepped to the side, no longer blocking him. He looked around the classroom before honing in on Marc, who was backing into a corner with Aurore and Mireille

He gave a chilling smile, “Rainbow, please come here.” Seeing that Aurore and Mireille had no intentions of letting his love go, Painbow summoned two more energy balls that when thrown at the two weather girls, their eyes become multicolored. “Bring me my Rainbow.”, he commanded.

Aurore and Mireille complied as they dragged a struggling Marc over to the Akuma, and into his waiting arms, “I missed you!”

Marc tried to pry the Akuma’s arms off of him, but to no avail, “Nath! Stop this!” Painbow’s smile strained, “I told you, I don’t care about Louis, just-” Painbow put a finger to his lip, silencing him

“Sweetie, I don’t like your tone very much.” Instead of summoning an energy ball, Painbow kissed Marc’s forehead and the green of the writer’s irises faded and became multicolored. And instead of the creepily wide smiles the other students had, he had a look of bliss. He threw his arms around Painbow and kissed his cheeks affectionately

Seeing a crowd forming around them, Painbow summoned multiple energy balls that flew around the room, hitting each student and putting them under his control

—

Once Ladybug and Chat Noir ran out of their hiding spots after transforming, they found themselves in the courtyard being assaulted by their mind controlled school mates. The ones who weren’t under the Akuma’s control managed to evacuate with the heroes’ help. They spared a glance at Painbow, who had Marc settled in his arms before leaping out of the open roof of the school

“That’s gotta be Nathaniel!” Ladybug rounded up ten students with her yoyo before hurling, then locking them in a storage closet

“Can’t we deal with these guys later?!” Chat asked as he whacked two students away, “There’s too many of them!”

“Alright, let’s go!” Ladybug flung another student away before using her yoyo to zip out of the school, Chat followed, vaulting after her using his staff

As they leapt from roof to roof, Ladybug and Chat came across Alix, Nino, Mylene, Alya, and a few other students who have taken cover above ground. “Are you all okay?” Ladybug asked and received nods along with scattered ‘yes’ and ‘we’re okay’.

“Ladybug,” Alix said as she approached the two heroes, “Chat Noir! Nathaniel is looking for Louis Kress. I saw him running from our classmates! They’re probably still looking for him!”

Ladybug nodded before she opened up the phone setting on her yoyo and pulled up a live-stream, showing Nadja, also under Painbow’s control

“Don’t bemused! It’s just the news!” Nadja said in a cheery tone, “Louis Kress, our second in command’s offender, was recently spotted in the Louvre! Painbow’s loyal followers are doing everything in their power to find him keep him from escaping.”

Ladybug smiled then turned to the students, “Stay safe. We’ll handle this.”

“I’LL FIND YOU, KRESS! EVEN IF I HAVE TO TEAR DOWN THIS ENTIRE PLACE TO DO IT!”, Painbow yelled as he lifted a sarcophagus before throwing it away

Wake up!

He’s controlling you!

Your eyes are supposed to be green, stupid!

“Is something wrong, my Rainbow?”

Marc blinked his multicolored eyes as he looked at the Akuma punching a column. He smiled and shook his head, “I’m fine.”

Painbow gave a warm smile as he cupped Marc’s face in his hands, “Are you sure?” Marc nodded, “That’s good. You should be thrilled. Louis and everyone just like him will be out of our lives forever.”

What did he mean by the last part?!

Wake up, Anciel!

Your boyfriend is an Akuma!

He’s gonna kill Louis!

“I can’t wait.”

Painbow leaned in to give him a kiss, but then the glowing purple Akuma symbol appeared over his eyes and he clutched his head in pain.

“What is it?! What’s wrong?!”, Marc asked frantically

Hawkmoth spoke, “Don’t get distracted, Painbow! You had your chance to take the Miraculous, but didn’t seize your moment! Mess this up, or I’ll take away your powers!”

“Alright, just stop it!”, Painbow begged. The searing pain stopped, and he saw Marc looking at him with concern, “I’m fine. Someone is just a little impatient.”

Aurore ran up to the couple, “Painbow, we found him!”, she cheered

Painbow beamed at the news before gathering Marc in his arms, “Finally!”, Aurore lead them into the paintings gallery where they found Louis surrounded by a mob of controlled citizens and being restrained by Kim and Juleka, “Louis, what a pleasure.” He set Marc down and moved toward his victim, looking at him like a jungle cat that had caught its prey

“L-look man! I’ll leave Anciel alone! I swear!”, he pleaded, “I won’t bother you, o-or mess with that goth chick and her girlfriend!”

Painbow’s blue eyes widened at that last sentence, “Excuse me?”, he looked up at Juleka, “Jules, is this true?”

The goth girl nodded, the unnatural smile never leaving her face. Painbow grinded his teeth as he summoned another energy ball, only the colors were darker shades, “I’ve been DYING to use this one!” Louis closed his eye and turned away, knowing very well that this was the end for him. Suddenly, a familiar whizzing sound hit everyone’s ears as Ladybug’s yoyo wrapped around Painbow’s wrist. He lost his focus, and the energy ball bounced around the room before hitting a portrait, burning a hole in the center

Chat winced, “That would’ve been bad.”

“Nathaniel! Do you really want to do this?”, Ladybug asked, trying to reason with him, “What would Marc say?!”

Painbow folded his arms across his chest, “He doesn’t mind.”, he turns to Marc, “Do you, Rainbow?”

Yes! You just tried to murder him!

“Do whatever you think is best.”

“See? He’s fine with it.”

“LUCKY CHARM!”

What dropped in her hands was...

“A roll of tape?”

Using Marc, lead Painbow out of the museum, the others will follow

Have Chat Noir Cataclysm the security system, the bars will drop, trapping Painbow’s followers. He’ll be alone and defenseless

Deflect any of his blasts, then cause a distraction so he’s vulnerable. While vulnerable, wrap the tape around Painbow’s hands, he won’t be able to use his powers

Break his bracelet and free the Akuma

“Chat, go to the security system, and wait for my signal!” With a salute, Chat Noir made his way over to the security system. Using her yoyo, Ladybug wrapped it around Marc’s waist. With a yelp, he was pulled into her arms. “Come and get him, Painbow!”

Terror shone through his voice as he screamed, “SAVE HIM! SAVE MY RAINBOW! We’ll deal with Kress later!”

Ladybug hoisted Marc over her shoulder and ran as Painbow and his followers chased her. She was a few feet away from the gallery entrance when she yelled, “CHAT, NOW!”

“CATACLYSM!”

Chat touched the security system, making it short circuit before turning black and disintegrating into dust. Ladybug and Painbow managed to slide under the metal bars before they hit the floor. The rest were stuck in the gallery with no way out

“GIVE HIM BACK!”, Painbow yelled as he tried to blast the heroes, only to fail as they deflected each attack

“Chat! Cover me!”

“On it, M’Lady!” Chat got in front of Ladybug and blocked Painbow’s attacks by spinning his staff. While Painbow is focused on the leather-clad hero, Ladybug used the opportunity to wrap her yoyo around Painbow’s ankle, and yanked it so he’d trip

Painbow quickly got back up, but before he could attack again, he found his hands bound together by red duct-tape with black spots. He looked up and saw Ladybug reaching for his bracelet. “NO!”, she smashed the bracelet, releasing the Akuma

Catching it with her yoyo, Ladybug said, “No more evildoing for you, little Akuma. Time to de-evilize! Gotcha!” From the yoyo emerged a newly purified white butterfly, “Bye bye little butterfly.” She then tossed the tape roll into the air, “MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!”

Thousands of ladybugs burst from the tape and spread out all over the town, repairing all of the damages. The afflicted citizens returned to their normal selves, confused as to what they’re doing. The magic swept over the students who took shelter on the rooftop, and they were back at Dupont. The Akuma’s dark magic bubbled away, leaving Nathaniel Kurtzberg, confused as to what’s happening

The two heroes fist-bumped, “Pound it!”, while Nathaniel held his head, still very confused

“Nath?”

The redhead looked up as Marc ran over and threw his arms around him, whispering about how he was glad that he was okay, “... Marc, I-I’m so sorry!”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Marc murmured, “it’s okay.”

“No! I should’ve listened to you, but when I saw what Louis did, I-I just-”

Marc cupped Nathaniel’s face in his hands, then kissed his forehead, “You only wanted to protect me, Nath.”

Ladybug smiled, “Marc’s right, Nathaniel. This was Hawkmoth’s doing, not yours.” She wanted to say more, but hers’ and Chat’s Miraculous beeped. They only had three minutes left, “We gotta go now. Bug out!” She and Chat Noir ran out of the museum to find a place to detransform

—

“Well, if it isn’t Painbow.”

Don’t do anything. Don’t pay any attention to him. Nathaniel thought to himself, trying to stay calm, not wanting to become Akumatized again, “Is that supposed to upset me or something? Not the first time I’ve been Akumatized.”

“Well, look at you.” Louis said mockingly, “I guess without your precious Rainbow, you finally grew a spine.”

Don’t do anything. Don’t do anything.

“Screw off, Kress!” A familiar voice shouted. Nathaniel looked at saw Marc, standing behind Louis with his arms crossed, “Need I remind you that you’re part of the reason he got Akumatized?” He walked passed Louis, making sure to bump him with his shoulder, then he took Nathaniel’s hand in his and the two walked to art club

“Yeah, that’s right! Run away, ya pussies!”

“What do you think we’re doing?!”, Marc yelled back

“I’ll be waiting for you outside, Anciel! Your boy toy can’t protect you forever!”, he raised an eyebrow as someone tapped him on the shoulder

Ahem

He turned around, and was met with Alix’s fist nailing him in the face. He fell to the floor with a thud and held his hands over his face in pain as Alix and Marinette stood over him

Marinette glared down at him, “Next time you think about insulting someone for their preferences, remember this.”

“Totally worth the detention I’m getting.” Alix said with a smirk

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous #Painbow #akuma nathaniel #Akuma #marcthaniel #marc x nathaniel #rainbow tomato #miraculous sugar #alix sugar #Alix ships it #Nathaniel calls Marc Rainbow #fanfic request #Akuma class

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