#But in fiction friendship and romance are both written about very differently.

[undead-moth]

So The Bear ends season 2 with Carmy fucking up his pretty serious relationship with Claire. They spent an entire season developing this relationship between Carmy and Claire, and now it's over, and not just over, but abruptly and painfully over. Throughout this same season, they continue to develop Carmy and Syd's relationship, incorporating undeniable nods toward an eventual romance.

Then in season 3, they have Carmy dealing with the fallout of his painful fuckup, that ended a relationship that was, as I said, pretty serious, and was developed over the course of an entire season. They do this while continuing to develop Carmy and Syd's relationship, and while their interactions are mostly tense this season, they continue to incorporate blatant nods toward an eventual romance.

This is happening at the same time they have opened a restaurant, and Carmy is under enormous pressure, pressure that has been made worse by his breakup. Pressure to make the place a success, to live up to his potential, but also to make sure that Tina has an income, that he gives Marcus's mom what she wanted for Marcus, that Ebra, elderly and at the point where he really needs to be retiring, continues to have a job, that he doesn't endlessly waste his uncle's money, and crucially, so that the restaurant can earn that star Sydney is dreaming of, and that Carmy didn't even want.

And yet there are people genuinely criticizing The Bear for not canonizing SydCarmy this season, when...?

The man just went through a devastating breakup -

At the same time he opened a goddamn restaurant -

And is clearly going through the crisis of a lifetime -

And on top of that, he's just quit smoking.

Do you think, in real life, that it's realistic someone in that situation would immediately turn around and start seeing someone else? Do you think the writers would have spent a whole season developing Carmy's relationship with Claire, just for Carmy to shrug it off like it was nothing when it ends?

I'm even more baffled by the idea that SydCarmy not becoming canon this season is because the writers this whole time, have just been, what? Fucking with you? Straight-baiting you? Or do you think that just because they didn't canonize SydCarmy this season that this is indicative that they didn't intentionally allude to a future romance between Syd and Carmy?

I will tell you right now that The Bear is one of the most purposefully written shows I've ever seen. And while I will say that this season might be the weakest so far and wasn't what I was hoping for either - Nothing on that show is an accident. Nothing means nothing.

The writers of The Bear are too good to have accidentally implied SydCarmy was a thing. They are also far too dedicated to their vision for The Bear for them to be throwing things in just to fuck with you.

Have some patience maybe? When was the last time you watched a show that didn't hand you something the moment it was hinted at? Aren't you tired of watching shows that skip to the good part? Which is, as a result, not as good as it would have been?

[yeonmuse]

𓇢𓆸. 𝕯ECELIS ACA𝕯EMY. —— YJW

BLOODBOUND. ִ. 𓍯𓂃

☪︎ ִFull Chapter log Next Chapter

𝕾ynopsis. — Yang Jungwon has stood by her side from the age of six to the night of her eternal age ceremony. He has spent nearly her entire life reassuring her that her time would come, that she would possess her vampiric abilities soon enough, but he couldn’t have been more wrong. Her lack in vampiric traits cause a ripple in their friendship, her father is withholding secrets from her and she slowly begins to lose a sense of self, but maybe with Jungwons help she can find out who she is truly meant to be in this life.

WARNING | EXPLICIT CONTENT ℭontains the mention of blood & voilence. Mentions of sex & death, Jungwon will be a little mean in this one but the way that each member is written in this does not portray their true selves. Includes ot7, angst/romance/fluff

Pairings — 𝔙ampire Jungwon x 𝔙ampire reader (3rd pov)

More | please remember that the things written in this series are a work of FICTION,meaning NOTHING you read in this series correlates to neither enha nor their storyline.

© YEONMUSE 2024. do not copy, plagiarize or steal my works. You can join the taglist for this series here

CHAPTER 1

She was not only her fathers only daughter, but his only child, a true blood born vampire just as he had been. For as long as she could remember though her father had been the only person in her life, she never knew her mother or anything of her. Neither her father nor any of the servants in the estate had ever spoken of her, it was as if she didn’t exist and there wasn’t a single trace of her in their home that could provide the slightest amount of insight to her.

Whenever she asked about her her father would always respond with the same thing. “You have no mother.”

She knew it not to be true though, if she was meant to be a true blood then that meant he couldn’t have turned her, she would have had to have been birthed by another vampire. Seemingly reaching a standstill she had finally given up on the whereabouts or identity of her mother, as it seemed her curiosity would never meet an end.

She had to admit though, she did wonder what it was like, whenever she would sneak out to the parks late at night and watch the other children play with their families, a family of both a present father and mother. She wondered what it would have been like if she had met her mother, if things would have been different.

Eventually her father caught onto her sudden disappearance from her room at night and followed her. Once he found out that she had been sneaking out late at night angry had become an understatement to the way he had reacted. She knew what she had done was wrong, ever since she was little her father had warned her to never leave the house, not because it was dangerous for her, but because he was embarrassed of her. Usually true blood vamps had started growing their fangs at two, hers had never come in, they'd learned the use of their abilities at the age of six , she on the other hand had none.

As embarrassed as he was of her, she was still his daughter, and he knew that it must have pained her to be forced inside all the time. To have her only friends in the estate be her servants, many times he had thought of getting her a dog but to him they were far too noisy, and cats were far too nosey. It eventually dawned on him that he knew of one other person that had a child, a son. An old friend of his and the only person that had known him long enough to be entrusted with the secrets of his family. The only person that knew that his very own daughter had been far more human like than she had been vamp- like

While her father greeted their guest, a family of three; a father, a mother and their son she peered from behind her fathers legs curious, yet cautiously. This had been the first time her father had invited anyone into their home. Her big eyes landed upon a little boy who seemed to be similar in age to her.

“y/n this is the Yang family, they have been friends of our family for years, go on and say hi to them, they brought Jungwon all this way just to meet you.” As she finally stepped from behind her father Jungwons eyes widened, a glimmer in his eyes as he fell upon her, he was in complete awe at how pretty she was.

Her eyes darted everywhere but the three of them as she shyly greeted them, of course Jungwons parents found her absolutely adorable especially having seen her all grown up now, the last time the two had seen her was when her father brought her home for the first time.

“She’s growing up so well, if she’s this charming now she’ll be so beautiful when she grows older.” Jungwons mother sang songs, making a blush form on her cheeks.

Finally stepping forward Jungwon held out his hand for her, his big brown eyes gazing directly into hers expectantly. She gazed at her father as if asking if it was okay to interact with him, to which her father simply nods his head. She took his hand into her own and gazed back at him.

“yn”

While their parents discussed important matters the two of them were sent out to the garden to play. Though it was more so Jungwon playing and her watching since she wasn’t entirely sure how to interact with him, he had been the first person her age that she had ever come this close to.

“Hey, do you wanna see something cool!?” Jungwon stops his endless running through the garden to show off to her. In one moment he's standing in front of her and in the next he is gone, having disappeared right before her eyes. This act was met with immediate confusion as she spun around in circles, scanning the garden for any sign of him, though he was nowhere to be found.

“Jungwon?” As if on queue, like he had heard her little voice call out to him he appeared right back in front of her with a flower in hand.

“Jungwon..? Where did you go?”

“I went further into the garden! My dad always gives my mom flowers and when she asks why he says it's because she’s pretty!” He says before handing her a flower

“It’s cool right!? It’s called teleportation, every vampire can’t get an ability as cool as mine you know.”

“Ability..?” Suddenly she felt a slight sense of gloom, if every vampire was born with abilities why hadn’t she had one?

“Yeah ability! Like your dad, your dad has mind manipulation. Can you do that too!? Can you hypnotize me and make me think I’m a cat?!”

“I don’t- I don’t have an ability.”

“Oh…that's okay! Maybe you’re just a late bloomer like my cousin! He didn’t get his until he turned ten! Maybe you’ll get them then too!”

He was wrong…she never did, the older she grew the more she was forced to come to terms with the fact that she may never get her abilities nor her fangs. No matter how many years would pass Jungwon would constantly reassure her though, tell her that her time would eventually come, but even he himself was worried that it never would.

It had been the night of her twentieth birthday now, which meant it would be her very last. Every true blood vampire had a year in which they would stop aging, stop growing, and that year happened to be their twentieth. In all honesty she truly felt no need to even celebrate though, the twentieth year in her life and there were no signs of her abilities nor had her fangs grown.

“You don’t look very happy about tonight.” Jungwons voice pulled her from her thoughts, just as he thought he’d found her sitting in the garden with a book in hand. He thought she looked absolutely breathtaking, sitting there under the moonlight in her beautiful white dress, her neck decorated in jewels. Her visuals truly lived up to that of her status, a true vampire princess indeed even if she hadn’t had her abilities.

“What is there to be happy about Jungwon? Tonight is the night that I stop aging and my power compares to that of a mere Human.”

“Don’t be too rough on yourself, i know it’s frustrating but can you at least try to enjoy the night everyone has come for you?”

“They’ve come because I’m the daughter of a true blood, the highest ranking true blood known to our kind, they’ve only come here because they want to see what it’s like, not because they like me Jungwon.”

“y/n the people in there have come because they finally get to meet you, you’ve been locked away alone in here for far too long, it's about time you meet new people and enjoy your life.” She sighs, knowing that he was right even though part of her wanted to remain solemn.

And so she did exactly as he requested, she mingled and networked, but little did she know that would be the last time a smile would grace her face for a long time, and the last time that she and Yang Jungwon would be on good terms.

After that her father kept her locked away, he trained her harder than before to no avail, hoping that something would light a spark in her, that she would finally blossom, but she hadn’t no matter how hard he pushed her no matter how hard he worked her, nothing showed any sort of progress. He grew tired, tired of trying to teach her, tired of hoping for some sort of miracle, but having hope was surely not enough. So he did the one thing that he could think of, though guilt overcame him. This time he couldn’t stand looking at his daughter knowing that he had failed to help her.

So he sent her away, having discussed the details with the Yang Family, all except Jungwon of course, he sent her away to Decelis Academy, the very Academy owned by Jungwons parents.

“Elesseìene, I thought you said that the place we were going wasn’t far?” As her eyes scanned the unfamiliar scenery outside her window her curiosity and confusion seemed to grow further as she realized they had been driving for nearly two hours.

“I’m sorry madame, but…this was your fathers request.”

“Eless what are you talking about?” As she pries her gaze away from the window and stares ahead at Eliss, her eyes landed on a large gate in front of them that read ‘Decelis Academy’

“Eless are we?” But he didn’t answer, he just continued to drive until they pulled into the lot of what looked to be some sort of castle.

“Mrs. Yang will explain everything.” Before she could even question him any further the door swung open and there stood Mrs. Yang with a big smile on her face.

“Yn look at you! My beautiful girl you’ve blossomed since the last time I saw you.” She chimes cheerfully as she waits for her to step from the car before engulfing her in a hug.

“Mrs Yang what’s going on?”

“Your father didn’t tell you?” As she stood there with a confused look on her face, she hadn’t even had to open her mouth for Mrs. Yang to know the answer

“Of course he didn’t, I swear that man has never been good at communication for as long as we’ve known him. Sweetheart, your father sent you here out of hopes that it would help you learn more about your heritage and the history of vampires, he hoped that sending you here with the others would spark something in you, that maybe it’ll help you finally reign in your abilities.” She had barely had any time to process what she had just been told before she could hear loud commotion coming from the entrance of the building, Mrs Yang as if also getting distracted by it turns around as well.

“Oh there you are Wonnie, you’re just in time, I need you to show someone around the school.”

“Oh? Who is it? You usually ask Changmin to show the new students around?”

“Well I think this particular someone would be rather happy to have you show her around instead.”

Wait, did she just say wonnie? As in Jungwon. As she peaked from behind Mrs Yang she found Jungwon standing there with a group of four others. His mother stepped to the side revealing her to the group, she stood there in complete shock. She hadn’t seen him in months and now here he stood staring back at her, his head now full of blonde hair.

“Jungwon” contrast to who she assumed was his friends amused expressions the smile immediately fell from his face as he saw her, there wasn’t a trace of the Jungwon she knew

“Get Changmin to do it.” Was all he said before turning around and walking inside

[physalian]

Treatment of female characters in fandom

Fandom Hot Take That Isn't At All New

The floor is open for debate, feel free (but do so respectfully, yeah?). This is a pattern I notice when exploring both old and new fandoms and that’s the perception of the highest-ranking female character, with rank as in protagonist vs love interest vs secondary vs tertiary character. Upon a massive paradigm-shift I just had about Percabeth.

There is a tendency, at least as I see it, within fandom to skew in favor of the female protagonist in fanfic instead of dumping her for the two hottest male characters. This happens when the female hero is a wish-fulfilment type. As most fanfic is written by women, this tracks. The audience loves her whether she sucks or not because she's them, and they write smut and romance for her because they want to live through her. They're very forgiving to female leads in and even if the fandom argues over her, she’s still the center of the largest ships. She’s the hero, and odds are, the most popular ship is the canon pairing, with some exceptions like Zutara.

If she’s not the protagonist, look at any fandom with a male lead and she’s probably dumped for the top five hottest men in the story for non-canon pairings. She has very little slack in the fandom and is subject to incredibly critical views. She has to be on point or better than her male counterpoints (ex: Katara) to be in the top ship for the fandom, or her canon ship with the male protagonist is just that old that it predates everything else (ex: Annabeth). Why? Because they're almost always less compelling than the hero's next closest male connection, because the writer wrongfully assumes that “it’s romance, you get, it I don’t need to put in the effort” but they do have to convince you why the friendship or rivalry exists. But also, because of how fandom treats female love interests.

I don’t read a ton of original fiction romance and when I do, it’s always a lady lead. If I look up fanfic for a series and I personally think the main romance is meh, she’s still there all over the archive (TOG, Twilight, Red Queen, Outlander, Star Wars Sequels, Max Ride etc). If I look up a fandom with the same quality of problematic romance, she’s tarred and feathered by virtue of being the love interest even if her character is as deep or as compelling as her contemporaries in other works where she’s the hero instead.

As in, if Edward was the protagonist of Twilight, the majority pairing would be Edward/Jacob while Bella would be absolutely despised. Same exact personality, same exact role in the story, it’s just told from Edward’s perspective (which I know exists I’m talking the actual book Twilight). People already hate the Star Wars Sequels, but if they were the exact same movies except Kylo was the POV character, “fans” might’ve bullied Daisy Ridley so much that they killed off her character—looking at you, Supernatural fandom.

Not every single lady love interest. Astrid/Hiccup is the most popular ship on AO3 for HTTYD. Astrid is a badass character and far more than a love interest and a perfect example of writers who worked hard to make it believable (and also there’s no one really second to Astrid within the story in terms of depth and screentime, except Toothless… which is the next most popular ship so). But even when she's pretty universally loved by the fandom (ex. Hermione) that doesn't guarantee her top billing if she has a male rival for screentime.

I don’t know if it’s just different fans who pick up these different genres or double standards for female characters but it’s pretty consistent. It might just be that readers can live vicariously though a cardboard narrator but get incredibly protective of the male lead and who’s allowed to court him when they can’t. I had this debate with somebody a while ago and they argued that it simply comes down to fanfic writers getting attached to the few female protagonists they're allowed to have. But like. This is across all genres, and the idea that fans starved of female heroes will only like them if they're the main hero and not the secondar hero is not the pro-women slam-dunk that person thought it was.

I also only really participate in fandom where it concerns fanfic and not live online discourse. I write male protagonists as a female author because it’s just what I grew up reading more and I like the action adventure genre far more than the romance genre, which is usually helmed by male heroes, but my writer catalogue is nearly 60/40.

It says something pretty loud and clear about the state of Percabeth which had ten years on Solangelo, to have the gap closed between them, with some disclaimers: I’m only looking on AO3 and Percabeth predates the surge in popularity of AO3 vs FFN where Solangelo hit at the perfect time. The third most important character in the PJO books kept changing from book to book (Grover, Thalia, Luke, Rachel, Zoe, etc), so Annabeth was the only ship option, she had no big competition.

But even then, when I go out of my way looking for good Percabeth fics, they’re just not there. The ship might technically be the most popular in that it populates in the most fics, but it’s not as front and center as Solangelo, and there’s way less canon content for Solangelo. If Will had been a girl, Solangelo would not be the fandom juggernaut that it is. If Annabeth was a man and Percabeth was a gay ship, she'd probably have a lot less hate with the exact same abusive personality, simply because she'd be a man and male characters will always have more leeway.

[expectopatronum18]

Let me just say it, jkr is brilliant at writing friendships and individual characters but absolute shit at writing romance. None of the main ships were well written, the side ones were much better, though probably because we don't have enough info for them to be ruined

Ships I like :

Bill and Fleur - 💯💯💯 second best ship in the books imo

Molly and Arthur - for some reason the fandom hates this ship. U need to be a solid team to pull off a family of 7 kids ( especially with 6 boys). They also clearly love each other, they even call each other cute nicknames. What's not to like?

Dumbledore and Grindelwald - this is going to bring me hate, but they're my fav couple in the whole series. I don't need a couple to be morally good to appreciate the pairing. Probably the only well written one because they're both fleshed out as characters. Their relationship only makes them more complex and interesting than they already are.

Ships I dislike :

Harry and Ginny - The protagonist's love story was a disappointment. Ginny could have been such an interesting character, instead she was made into the boring 'perfect girl tm' just to become Harry's 'ideal partner'. She's basically made into a female version of james without his flaws being called out. Harry's 'chest monster' was cringe asf, sounded like something tht could hv been picked out of Twilight 😂😂

Ron and Hermione - i like the idea of them, but i don't think it was executed well. That bird attack practically made its appeal non existent for me ( i love Hermione but wtf)

James and Lily - we know a lot about James's character but very little about lily despite the fact that they're both dead before the series starts. James hexing Snape behind Lily's back doesn't set a good precedent, seeing as they get married the very next yr. Lily almost smiling at Snape's underpants being exposed is never addressed when Harry's being critical about james. To me it honestly feels lyk shipping james with a ghost as we know nothing substantial about lily.

PS: I also really appreciate the fact that Sirius was never paired up with anyone. He was far too broken and rebellious and traumatized. He had different priorities and I m so glad his character wasn't forced into one. Single characters for the win, they're such a rarity in fiction

[lucithornz]

Ship RPF and "relatability and self insert"

So I have seen this idea thrown around a few times now that ship RPFis just x reader fics with extra steps. And as an RPF writer who has written for many RPF ships over the years this just isn't the case. I can't speak for everyone, but I think that this idea stems from a certain way of thinking when it comes specifically to some modern expectations of literature, especially when it comes to the modern romance genre.

I want to start off my saying that I am not trying to shade or downgrade x reader fics. They are not my thing, but I see they have their place, people enjoy them, go crazy have fun out there.

This is going to be talking about why I think some people don't understand the ship RPF side of things and think it's the same as x reader fics. So let me explain my motivations and inspiration for why I write ship RPF, and let's look at where some bad assumptions about people's motivations come from about who reads and writes it and why.

Definitions for clarity.

X reader RPF: any ship where the reader is the one being shipped with a real person in a fictional scenario. Ex. Tom Cruise x reader.

Ship RPF: any ship between two real people that does not include the reader. Ex. Barack Obama x Harry Styles, or for a serious example Charles Leclerc x Max Verstappen.

These are both categories of RPF but they are very different.

I have seen people ask "Why write ship RPF when you really are just writing x reader with extra steps?" The short answer is: I'm not. I am not writing this RPF to be able to self insert.

The reason I write an RPF ship is because there is a specific thing about two people's dynamic that is interesting to me. A rivalry, a friendship, a bitter feud, something that exists between those two people and is full of storytelling potential. Relationship dynamics are varied and there is usually something unique about the way those two people interact that makes me want to explore that dynamic in depth.

The real people, their personalities, their history together matter in RPF ship fic. It would not be the same fic if it was made x reader, at least it wouldn't be good. Because that character would not be them (one of the real people in the ship) anymore, they'd lose all of their characterization that makes them them in the process of stripping them down to make them bland enough for self insert.

I like exploring people's perspectives that are different than mine, both good and bad, in fiction. The fact these people are different from me is part of what makes them so interesting.

My RPF ships to me have a unique chemistry and that is what I aim to dig into with my RPF fic.

Now I want to get into why I think people say "all RPF is self insert"

I think it stems from the more modern notion that all romance is for self insert purposes to some extent. Over the last 10 years, I have seen increasing emphasis placed on the relatability of the main character in a story. That is a high value trait to readers, and this seems to be especially true with modern romance. Because yes, it seems many readers are looking for something romantic, spicy, or some mixture of the two, to relate to.

But I don't think all characters need to be relatable. I personally enjoy reading about characters I have nothing in common with. I find the human condition be relatable enough in it's many facets. This is why you are seeing younger people picking up classics and saying they are unrelatable. There aren't a lot of surface similarities between a 21 year old girl in California living in 2024 and Jane Eyre. But if you dig deeper it's easy to find them.

I have very often seen a critique of a book being "this wasn't relatable to me" or "I couldn't self insert" as if those are things that you should be able to do with most stories. I think that so long as books are written by people then there will be something relatable on the page, a character may be very different but there will be something about their circumstance or emotional journey that resonates with some. I would also add that it is often a deliberate literary choice to create some characters that are very hard to relate to, repulsive villains etc. This is supposed to challenge a reader.

I think that romance as a genre has a lot more to offer than simply being thinly veiled self insert escapism. To me well written romance is a romance that really relies on unique traits of the people falling in love. If a romance is bland enough that it can easily serve as self insert than it has become something else. And again, self insert and x reader stories do have their place, but I have an issue when this becomes the expectation for the genre as a whole.

Is relatability king?

No. I think that expecting stories to always be easily relatable is not a healthy way to approach reading and story telling. It's very narrow minded, and can stray into some dicey territories. I saw a video of one girl who explained she couldn't relate to the main character of a novel because that main character was black. Firstly, this is racist. Secondly, I think it shows just how narrow the window of expected relatiability really is. Some readers need that MC to be just like them to be able to relate at all. I think that if a character is well written and has motivations then they can be relatable in some way, they don't even have to be human characters to achieve this (Red Wall, Watership Down for some examples).

Then there is the implication that if something isn't relatable that it's bad story telling. When if you are finding something unrelatable interrogate why that might be. Is the author making a narrative choice? What is the deeper meaning there? Actually engage with the text instead of stepping away the moment it starts to challenge you.

Back to the RPF of it all

Now why RPF specifically? Because a lot of this can apply to any ship. I think this is more pronounced in RPF because the idea is "that guy is hot, you are writing RPF because you want to have sex with him" (I write sports RPF about race car drivers they are dudes, but insert whichever pronouns are applicable to your case)

Which this isn't the reason some people are writing ship RPF at all. I'm sure there are some. But once again, my main interest in the ship that I write for comes from the chemistry I see between those two guys. I want to see what happens if you put that dynamic in with an alternate universe, a few fucked up tags, and shake well and see what comes out. I often write about people I have no physical attraction to whatsoever.

I think that the above idea is linked to what I discussed earlier about assuming that romance is always an exercise in self insert, which assumes some need for attraction to the love interest. When this is simply not the case.

I think this idea that ship content exists as a step removed from x reader misunderstands the purpose of a lot of story telling, and underestimates an author's motivations, and the reasons people may want to read and write RPF ship stories.

This is once again especially common with RPF about people who are alive and active on the internet today (Kpop, sports, youtubers etc) But I think if you dig into what makes people passionate about a specific ship you will find a lot more depth than you are expecting.

Anyway those are just some thoughts I had on this topic that's been rattling around my brain for a few months,

[grayseeker]

Supernova: A Starscream Tribute Zine

Your Questions Answered!

Welcome to a special Q&A session about my upcoming zine Supernova, dedicated entirely to Starscream! I've gathered some of your questions—and added a few that I think you might be curious about—to help everyone understand the vision and how you can contribute. These answers are subject to change as the project evolves, but I'll release a definitive FAQ in June, along with the call for submissions.

Questions and Answers:

Q: What inspired you to create a zine focused on Starscream? A: Starscream is the beating spark of my love for Transformers. He swooped into my life in '85 and took up residence, capturing both my heart and my imagination. Supernova is my way to extend that love to a wider community, inviting others to bring their own Starscream-fueled perspectives, experiences and creativity in what I hope will become a collective love-letter to this amazing character.

Q: Will you be accepting submissions based on [insert continuity]? A: Absolutely! I'm primarily a G1 fan myself, but the zine is open to all continuities, including alternate universe settings. Since I'm admittedly not versed in every TF continuity, I plan to bring in editorial support as needed to help fill any knowledge gaps. Ultimately though, the canon a work is based on is less important than how it's written. I'm looking for thoughtful, well-rounded characterizations that celebrate Starscream's strengths without ignoring his flaws.

Q: Are there specific themes or storylines you’re looking for? A: Yes! My long-term vision is for Supernova to run for several issues, each focusing on a different theme. One of my goals is to encourage works that are slightly off the beaten path, offering character explorations not often seen in fanfic (or, let's face it, especially not in canon). For the first issue, my proposed theme is friendship - and other non-romantic bonds. Don't get me wrong; I enjoy romance as much as the next person, but for this issue of Supernova I'd love to see works that explore Starscream in other relationship contexts. What's he like as a friend, or a frenemy? An ally? A parent, sparkling, sibling, or trinemate? As a commander, subordinate, mentor or mentee? The focus here is on how these relationships impact his life, and how he impacts the lives of others, for better and worse.

Q: Do I have to follow this theme? A: No, you do not. If you have an idea that falls outside the theme, go for it! Be forewarned, I might give preference to submissions that do follow the theme if there are a lot of submissions and I have to make tough choices. However, the plan for now is to put out other issues, with other themes, so if your piece doesn't make it into this issue, it might very well become a cornerstone for the next one.

Q: What kinds of works are you looking for? A: I'm looking for poetry, art, comics, short fiction (probably 6k or less), as well as non-fiction essays, character analysis, headcanons, and so on. I will have more specific submission guidelines available in June.

Q: What is the deadline for submissions? A: This is currently undecided. I'm thinking of setting the submission deadline in early November, though a firm deadline will be announced along with the submission guidelines.

Q: Will NSFW submissions be allowed? A: Yes. The theme might be friendship and non-romantic bonds, but that doesn't exclude a friends-with-benefits arrangement. If I do get NSFW submissions, I'll publish two editions of the zine: one that's SFW only, and an extended version that includes the NSFW content so readers can pick according to their preference.

Q: Will this zine be published physically? A: I hope so! I'm looking into options for print publication. Ideally, I'd like to find a print-on-demand service that allows fanfiction, so that anyone who wants a copy of the zine can have it printed and shipped to them wherever they are in the world. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem as if most print-on-demand services allow fanfic. If you know of one that does, please drop me a DM and I'll look into it.

Q: I didn’t see my question here. How can I reach out? A: Feel free to DM me with questions! Apologies that I don't take anonymous asks, but I can keep your question anonymous when I post my reply.

Thank you for your enthusiasm and curiosity about Supernova. I'm excited to see how you bring Starscream to life in your own unique ways. The interest-check is still open (linked below), so don’t hesitate to reach out if you think of more questions. Feel free to share this post with fellow Starscream fans and potential contributors. Let’s make Supernova a spectacular tribute to one of the TF uni's most fascinating and memorable characters!

[sophiesbookishthings]

September Reads

Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune

I love this little magical family. They're so sweet. I really enjoyed the addition of David in this book. He was super fun and I liked the way he challenged Arthur's perception of the word monster. I thought that was a really interesting point to make both within the context of this book and in the way that the fictional magical community is a metaphor for the real life lgbt community. In that same vein I loved that this book was very very blatantly anti-JKR. It did make the book a bit harder for me to read personally, since it's so upsetting to see what JKR and other terfs are doing irl, I don't always love to see such hatred depicted in fiction as I use it as a bit of an escape from the horrors of reality. That being said, I don't think it should have been done any differently because I do also believe stories like this are necessary and that TJ Klune told exactly the kind of story that he wanted to and needed to. My only slight critique of this book was that with the themes present and the dedication in particular, I was hoping there would be a more central trans character in the book. There was a nonbinary side character (which was great!), but they weren't there very long and I think the anti-terf message of this book could have benefitted from a more prominent trans character. All in all though, a very sweet book. I love the Baker-Parnassus's and want only good things for them forever.

4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Foxglove by Adalyn Grace

The sequel to Belladonna. I liked that this book set up not only 1 but 2 more supernatural beings. I'm very interested to see what exactly Life is in the next book. I also liked that this book let us get to know Blythe more since she was dying for most of the last book. I enjoyed Signa getting to settle into her own at Foxglove as well, even though it wasn't in the vest of circumstances.

4.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨️

Wrath of the Triple Goddess by Rick Riordan

Woo-hoo! Percy Jackson book!!! Look, I am 25 and have been reading these books since I was like 10. As long as there's books being released, I will be reading and loving them. This book was literally just Percy, Annabeth, and Grover pet sitting. Like idk but it's such a fun concept to me. And the fact that they bond with said pets by the end? I love it. Also, Hecate's cool af. Idc that she was supposed to be kinda scary, I think she's neat. My main complaint about this book, though, was that when they knew they were having to deal with ghosts, they should've called Nico. At least for like a consultation or something! Like c'mon. Y'all have a friend that's called The Ghost King, and none of you think to call him??? But anyway... This series is just little (relatively) low stakes mini quests, and I'm having a great time.

4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Turtles All The Way Down by John Green

This is probably a top 5 John Green book for me, but I don't know that I can really articulate why. This book made me pretty anxious. The main character has OCD and the way her intrusive thoughts were written (while very well done) was a lot for me to read. And yet, I still really liked this book. I also actually enjoyed the romance arc in this book because it doesn't always go where you'd expect, and the male love interest is really sweet and respectful and actually kinda interesting. I appreciated that while there was a romance arc, the main characters friendship with her best friend was equally important to the story. And I'm sure it probably wasn't intentional, but the whole book felt very ace-coded to me. Although what read as ace-coded to me was probably definitely mostly due to the main characters difficulty in her relationship due to her OCD. But two things can be true I guess.

4.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨️

[arwainian]

Reading This Week 2024 #38

hello hello! audiobook reading persists into this week and for the forseeable future. basically any time that i have the bandwidth to be reading a physical book with my eyes i think "oh i should be working on my thesis" so audiobooks are what is keeping me from just sinking into a pile of work and never emerging

Finished:

Bloom Into You, Vol. 4-5 by Nakatani Nio, translated by Jenny McKeon this manga continues to rule, giving me my cute romance fix

Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie, narrated by Adjoa Andoh i'm liking that while this is like the sequel to Ancillary Justice, this was a pretty self contained story. Breq i love you. love the further exploration of ancillary-ship and imperialism and had a good chat with a friend about similarities to elements of Murderbot (we looked up publishing dates so if there was any inspiration taken, Imperial Radch came first)

Squire written by Nadia Shammas and Sara Alfageeh, art by Sara Alfageeh i felt a little undersold on the friendships the protagonist made in this, but the art was amazing the whole way through

Happy New Year by kathkin on ao3

from a clear sky by kathkin on ao3

Survivor Injustice: State-Sanctioned Abuse, Domestic Violence, and the Fight for Bodily Autonomy by Kylie Cheung, narrated by Dana Wing Lau a weird thing that's happened since i've dedicated my research brain to sexual violence is that any book written with an even slightly wider audience in mind very quickly becomes a bit tedious bc I've read all of this before. however i do think the portions of this that are about domestic violence and controlling how people vote, and the prevelance of sexual violence across all political parties in the US was the most worth the read part of this book for me

The Wicked + The Divine, Vol. 2: Fandemonium written by Kieron Gillen, art by Jamie McKelvie holy shit?? excited to read the next volume (tho i think i'm going to switch the the Big volumes that collect 10 issues at a time insted of the ones with 5-6)

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo, narrated by Emily Woo Zeller really excellent YA lesbian historical fiction/romance set in Red Scare era san francisco chinatown. really nicely balances the protagonist finding herself, finding community, and finding love, with a realistic depiction of what life was like for a young lesbian during an intensely homophobic era

my real face by kathkin on ao3

Started/Ongoing:

Rethinking Rape by Ann J. Cahill reading for my thesis! my undergrad college gets a shout out in the acknowledgements

Most Ardently by Gabe Cole Novoa, narrated by Harrison Knights ya romance remix of pride and prejudice where "Elizabeth" is actually a trans boy, Oliver Bennet. i think it's sweet but i have one issue with the book generally and one issue with the narrator. first, since i'm familiar with pride and prejudice and have read/watched a few different adaptations at this point, i'm finding the pacing of this book a bit odd. like the disastrous darcy proposal happens 75% of the way through instead of closer to the middle. this throws me off because it means there's gonna be less time afterward to build toward Oliver and Darcy actually understanding each other than i think they deserve. my issue with the audiobook is that Knights has some very distinct character voices, and yet sometimes reads lines with the wrong voice, and no one at the publisher noticed? you can't read one of Jane's lines with the lispy voice you gave Lydia and not expect me to be completely thrown out of the book. however, i do like hidden identity stuff, so the parts of the book where Oliver knows Darcy both as himself Oliver and when he is closeted/girlmoding as Elizabeth is like catnip to me up to a certain point

[lucy-and-rebecca]

Queerplatonic NaLu

Before I get into this I need to define what queerplatonic means.

It is a relationship which is more intense and intimate than is considered common or normal for a "friendship", but doesn't fit the traditional sexual-romantic couple model. It is characterized by a strong bond, love, and emotional commitment, yet is not perceived by those involved as "romantic".

In other words something that is between friendship and romance.

Do you remember that chapter/episode where Mira convinces Lucy that Natsu has a crush on her? Lucy doesn't believe her at first but slowly she started seeing everything Natsu says and does as evidence of him having feelings for her. She then freaks out and has mixed feelings about being in a romantic relationship with Natsu. However eventually she becomes more comfortable with that idea. In the end she is embarassed and disappointed but this incidents does affect their relationship in any way. In that chapter Lucy went from seeing their relationship as platonic to seeing it as romantic and back to viewing it as platonic in a matter of hours.

This is what Mashima wrote about that chapter.

A lot of anti NaLu arguments claim that Mashima has already intended NaLu to be platonic. That's however not what Mashima actually said. He said he didn't intend their relationship to be romantic. I think that's important to note.

Now this is quite old and given that Mashima is from a different culture and speaks a different language, him knowing this specific term that a lot of english speakers don't know is unlikely. So it's entirety possible that he intended NaLu to be a queerplatonic relationship without knowing the specific term for that kind of relationship.

Mashima states he has been written NaLu as more than just friends but less than lovers. Something in between friendship and romance. In other words queerplatonic.

A lot of the good faith anti NaLu arguments claim that Nalu isn't a bad relationship but a platonic one. While to NaLu shippers their relationship is very obviously romantic. Both sides are convinced that their interpretation is canon. I think this happens because their relationship exists in the area between friendship and romance. It's neither or both depends on your perspective. It's friends with benefits but the benefit is that they live together and cuddle a lot.

A relationship with a strong bond, emotional commitment and love where people in the relationship don't think of their relationship as romantic does very much perfectly describe NaLu. I think Lucy has feeling for him but she doesn't necessarily view their relationship as romantic.

While not exclusive queerplatonic relationships are more common amoung aro/ace people. A lot of people including myself have speculated about Natsu being on the ace spectrum. He shows little to no sexual attraction and what little attention he does show is directed towards Lucy. Which to me feels very much like grey/demi sexual. It's something to consider.

From the begining it felt like there was something more present in their relationship. A sort of ease and tenderness that isn't typically depicted in romantic relationships

That being said I don't think their relationship was romantically coded the way Gruvia or Jelsa were.

I do think Mashima has changed his views on NaLu and is writing them to be more romantic and that's perfectly fine. As things stands now their relationship feels more on the romantic side rather than platonic and I would very much like to see them actually get together. I just don't think that was his original intention.

But regardless of intentions fairy tail is fiction and so your interpretation of NaLu be it romantic or platonic is perfectly valid. Similarly even if I'm wrong my interpretation of them being queerplatonic is also valid.

I think viewing NaLu as a queerplatonic relationship is interesting and it's something we should consider while discussing whether NaLu is platonic or romantic.

[melisusthewee]

What's your favorite ship? FitoxMarcelo, EduardoxMarcelo or DanielxMarcelo (Daniel Fernández)? 👀👀👀

This answer isn't going to surprise anyone, but Fito/Marcelo.

My interactions with fanfic (both as a reader and a writer) is based primarily on the fictional versions of the individuals that we see in the LSDLN film (if you've ever been a part of either Band of Brothers or The Terror fandoms then you get it). So it's a bit complicated wherein yes, the more you read from other sources or learn more about the real events that make up the story and the real individuals (versus their fictional selves) that can definitely start to shape and inform things. Which is to say that LSDLN leans hard into meaningful looks between Fito and Marcelo and while it's probably primarily because Fito's role was arguably elevated to one of the lead characters (alongside Nando, Roberto, and Numa), I've said it before and I'll say it again...

Everyone involved knew exactly what they were doing.

Which is basically my defence whenever someone tells me "But Marcelo and Eduardo were best friends so that's the ship that makes more sense!" As if multishipping isn't a thing.

That is to say I think that the way the Strauches were written in the film (as a single character split into three parts) makes them all shippable with Marcelo especially because if you stop and think about how the three of them formed the leadership group after Marcelo's death they all kind of embody different aspects of Marcelo's leadership and I think that's a really interesting idea to explore.

Daniel/Marcelo: Everything I've read about Daniel as well as the way he's portrayed in the film, he and Marcelo were essentially polar opposites in terms of personality but not necessarily in a way that would be incompatible. I think there's a lot of potential to explore in terms of the responsibility both of them were very aware of having to weather - Marcelo being the team captain and the one who primarily organized the trip, and Daniel because he was the oldest of the survivors (aside from the Methols). To be honest, though, I've not really gotten into it very much? There was a fic once on AO3 that had some potential, but I think the author abandoned it after only a couple chapters, so in terms of pairings, I'm kind of still waiting to be sold on it.

Eduardo/Marcelo: If your favourite trope is childhood friends to lovers, then this is the ultimate pairing. Personally, I'm into it more as a platonic pairing, I think because writing it as a straightforward romance feels too much like I'm retreading an identical pairing from the Dragon Age fandom and I guess I just was looking for something different for a change? There also isn't a lot of film content to take from because of how little screentime Eduardo gets so most of the pairing content has to come from the books and memoirs and... I don't know, my feelings about it are strange and complicated and difficult to put into words. I think that their friendship was incredibly special and precious and because of that, I think that personally I prefer to write them as friends and explore the deep meaning of that connection. Though I admit I do sometimes kind of straddle the line with it, but I think I might even like it as one-sided or unrequited thanks to a fic I read once.

Fito/Marcelo: Okay, longing looks in the film aside, I think what drew me to this pairing initially is that Fito's someone who is always quietly observing people in a way that feels like he's trying to see deep into their core. And I feel like my observations about him were confirmed when he addressed Marcelo directly in his chapter of SotS (which surprised me!). Something I find interesting is that in his memoir, Eduardo talks about the change in Marcelo and the way he seemed to fall apart and how he saw the change in his friend and the way he was suffering but couldn't understand what had caused the change and therefore didn't know how to fix it. A friend of mine described Eduardo as being too close to Marcelo and while that meant he understood him probably better than anyone else, he also had a blindspot for him at the same time. Eduardo is so close he can't see the forest through the trees. While Fito had a little bit of distance and seems to have seen and understood or at least come to his own conclusion as to what was at the heart of Marcelo's despair on the mountain. I think they make very good foils for each other with Fito being the youngest of the three cousins but arguably taking on the most responsibility after Marcelo starts to wane as the leader. And he does it without any real complaint or resentment. So many times in the movie, you can tell from his expression that he disagrees with Marcelo's belief in rescue, but he never openly argues with him. It drives me crazy in the best way because to me it shows how much Fito understands the need for co-operation and that open argument and dissent is dangerous. With everything Marcelo went through and with everything he had to shoulder, I feel like Fito is the one who saw it and understood it the most.

(At the end of the day, though, the real answer is that Fito/Marcelo/Eduardo is a complicated OT3.)

[cassandra-has-moonlit-eyes]

I think the time has come to write a little bit about my Regency AU. Big note: I grew up watching all the Jane Austen Movies one hundred times because my mum loves them so I steal a lot of ideas from them.

I developed this AU when I was quite new in the fandom and I have never written about it so here we go.

Genre

Romance, Fantasy

Worldbuilding

Historical accuracy is not the point of this AU, the regency era serves more as inspiration.

It’s set in the fictional country which I haven’t fought of a name yet, in the fictional village Breitentrepp and the capital city Luardock. Breitentrepp is a village in the countryside while Luardock is a large city by the sea, mostly inspired by London, Vienna and Hamburg.

Even though my AU is inspired by an historical setting it’s 100% fantasy, first indicator is that the people in it are cat people. The society also function differently than in regency era England. All in all society is more open. Same sex couples are treated the same way as heterosexual couples and being polyamorous is a widely accepted form of partnership, even with the option to marry more than one person.

What’s not different from regency era though is the wide obsession with class and belonging to a certain class of people. It’s important to marry somebody who has a good standing in society, a lot of money or is coming from the right family. So while everbody acts very open and accepting and like true love is the most important to them, a lot of marriages and partnerships are descided not by love but by status,  especially in the aristocratic and bourgeois milieu.

Also there is magic. Some people possess magic, there are light and dark magic, as well as elementar magic, such as fire, nature, water and weather magic. People who belong to the higher classes keep their magic hidden, especially fire magic is seen as evil by most people.

There is also a war going on in the west of the country against a mysterious ice giant but I haven’t fully developed this plot line yet.

The first arc: Breitentrepp

The three main characters of the story are three siblings of the Bell-family: Rumpleteazer (22), Pouncival (21) and Electra (20). The story starts in the village of Breitentrepp where they and their family is introduced. Their parents are Jennyanydots (biological mother of Rumpleteazer and Electra) and Jellylorum (biological mother of Pouncival). Jenny comes from a line of nobility but her family has been declinging in society since a few generations and their life is now closer to a life of farmers than nobility. Jellylorum is a doctor and she is the doctor for her own and the surrounding villages.

(Also living in the Village are Asparagus Jr. and Gus. They are the tailors and own the cloth shop. Asparagus Jr. is Pouncivals biological father.)

The Bell-family lives in a farmhouse on lands that are owned by Jennys family. The starting point of the story is spring. It’s quite a warm day and Rumpleteazer and Pouncival are out and about in the surrounding forrest where they meet city cat Mistoffelees, who got lost. He reveals to them that he studies Botanics at the university in Luardock. He was looking for some plants for his doctor thesis but got lost. They help him find his way back into the village and invite him to dinner.

Over spring and summer a friendship forms between him and the family. At the end of summer he  has to return to the city. On the dinner table where he tells them about his soon depature Jannyanydots also reveals that Rumpleteazer and Pouncival will visit the city too during the winter time to take part in the ball season (yeah, here it’s during winter like in Vienna) to find suiting partners for both of them. (Electra already lives in the city because she is studying medcine like her mother Jellylorum). Mistoffelees promises to introduce them to everybody and to find a fitting partner for each of them. It’s the first time he reveals himself as part of the Luardock high society.

Rumpleteazer is not happy. She is not really interested in marrying somebody just because of money and status and would prefer to stay with her mothers on the countryside just marrying some farmer some day but Jenny wants “a better life” for them and convinces Rumpleteazer to go to the city. Pouncival doesn’t have to be convinced because he already developed a crush on Mistoffelees and is very eager to see him again. Though it kind of did hurt him that Mistoffelees wants to find a partner for him and does not consider himself as an option.

So at the end of autumn he and his sister move to their uncle Skimbleshanks, who lives in Luardock to take part in the ball season.

[acacia-may]

Orchid and Dafodil for the ask game please Acacia 🥰?

Certainly, Lyra! Thank you for the ask!! 🥰 I started rambling a bit (sorry about that) so I've included my answers below the cut. 😅

Questions from this "Get to Know Me" Ask Game

orchid ⇢ what’s a song you consider to be perfect?

Ooh! This is such a good question yet very, very difficult since I listen to music constantly. I often feel like I "think" in music, to tell you the truth, so there are so many songs that I love and I'm not sure how to narrow it down... 😂

I've decided to answer with the "perfect" song with the word "Perfect" in the Title: "Perfect for You" by Rachel Platten (YouTube). I absolutely love this song and it was one of several that inspired "Wine Therapy" (and that I listened to on repeat when writing that).

I'm also going to link "Born to Die" by Lana Del Rey (YouTube) which has been my song on repeat recently. 😊

daffodil ⇢ do you have siblings? if yes, in what ways do you think you’re similar to or different from them?

Yes, I have two much younger sisters (I am 8 years older than my middle sister and 10 years older than my youngest sister). Despite our differences in age, I have always felt very close to them, and they have always been two of the most important people in the world to me. 💕 (I really think this is part of the reason I love stories about sibling relationships so much and enjoy writing about them).

My middle sister and I have very few similarities in personality (for instance she's very easygoing whereas I'm pretty uptight), but we have a lot of similar interests. My sister has seen way more anime and read way more manga than me, and I mostly watch anime and read manga with her. A lot of my most wild and "out there" theories and AUs I made up with her since she tends to think outside the box and loves to make jokes about things. Our favourite animes and mangas are wildly different, however, and she actually put me on a Black Clover ban since I was (supposedly) annoying her by talking about it too much (which eventually led to me making this blog 😅). The last series we watched was Fairy Tail, and though we aren't watching anything together right now, we are playing a video game (Danganronpa).

On the other hand, my youngest sister and I have a lot of similarities in personality. We're both overachievers, planners, blunt honest, stubborn, and snarky, but she is much more outgoing, energetic, and talkative than me and much better organized. That said, we don't have many common interests beyond the fact that we both like to read (though we tend to enjoy different books) and enjoy crime shows (which are generally not our other sister's cup of tea). Occasionally we will find a show that all three of us enjoy and will watch it together, but this is fairly rare. The last one of these was Demon Slayer, actually, and it was kind of a big deal for my youngest sister since she usually doesn't like anime (she even went on to read the manga because she wanted to know what happened). Since my middle sister and I had already seen and read it, we had lots of fun with my youngest sister's (purposefully) ridiculous made-up nicknames for all the characters. She's a bit of a jokester and loves giving people (real and fictional) the most nonsensical nicknames. [For instance, she has seen a few clips of Black Clover (it's not her cup of tea though) and refers to Langris as "The Middle Schooler" for some reason I will never understand...😂].

We all tease each other to show we care which I think gets reflected in my writing quite a bit. Speaking of my writing, both of my sisters have read bits and pieces of it (neither has read everything I've posted, but I wouldn't mind if they did), but since they are much more into romance than me, they usually tease me for "getting swoony about friendship." 😂 I have written a few stories on request for my middle sister whereas my youngest sister usually bugs me about returning to my original fiction I completely abandoned. However, she once helped me out with a fanfiction by very thoroughly picking it apart and telling me all of the ways it could be construed as romantic rather than platonic after I received some feedback that it was coming off romantic even though that hadn't been my intention in writing (I apologized up and down, then had a bit of an identity crisis, then asked my sister for help and she's all: "you need to change your tags" so I did 😂🙈. Now I feel like I over-tag everything just to be safe...)

[quoteablebooks]

Genre: Fiction, Young Adult, Fantasy, Mythology

Rating: 4 out of 5

Content Warning: Violence, Gore, Child abuse, Death, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Self-harm, Sexual content

Summary: Gauri, the princess of Bharata, has been taken as a prisoner of war by her kingdom’s enemies. Faced with a future of exile and scorn, Gauri has nothing left to lose. Hope unexpectedly comes in the form of Vikram, the cunning prince of a neighboring land and her sworn enemy kingdom. Unsatisfied with becoming a mere puppet king, Vikram offers Gauri a chance to win back her kingdom in exchange for her battle prowess. Together, they’ll have to set aside their differences and team up to win the Tournament of Wishes—a competition held in a mythical city where the Lord of Wealth promises a wish to the victor.

Reaching the tournament is just the beginning. Once they arrive, danger takes on new shapes: poisonous courtesans and mischievous story birds, a feast of fears and twisted fairy revels.

Every which way they turn new trials will test their wit and strength. But what Gauri and Vikram will soon discover is that there’s nothing more dangerous than what they most desire.

*Opinions*

This is the first novel that I have listened to on audio book and I feel as if that has impacted how I am going to review this book. I loved listening to audio and I can see how that is how a lot of people read, but it was hard for me to retain anything as soon as I hit pause or stop for the day.  In a book like A Crown of Wishes, it almost adds to the ever-shifting nature of the mythical city that they inhabit for most of the novel, but makes it hard to write reviews or capture quotes. It also means I have no idea how anything is spelled so if there is a lack of proper nouns, that is why.

A Crown of Wishes follows three narrators, Gauri who we were introduced to in The Star-Touched Queen, and Vikram, the fox prince of a neighboring land. Vikram was also introduced in The Star-Touched Queen but in a very brief scene. There is also a third point of view that is added later on in the story, which adds a third layer to the story that has already started to be woven. Vikram is going to be the puppet emperor when he takes the throne due to not being his father’s blood. The first act that the council wants to rule tasks him with is to order the execution of the neighboring princess, Gauri, who had failed in her attempt to secure the throne. Instead of doing that, Vikram gives Gauri a choice, come with him to compete in games that will secure them both a wish or die at the hands of his countrymen. Gauri accepts and the two of them travel, facing mythical challenges that will show them the dark, damaged, and horrible parts of themselves. Both want to be rulers with different ideas about how they should manage that power, but as they spend more time together and realize that they might not be correct, they are forever changed by their time in the games. However, when only one winner can leave the mythical city, they realize that their budding friendship might be destroyed before it has a chance to grow. 

I found that I enjoyed this companion novel to The Star-Touched Queen. Both are beautifully written with beautiful worlds and individuals having to face fears and truths, but I prefer a slow-burn romance to an automatic soulmate romance. The initial distrust and fighting between Vikram and Gauri to reluctantly working together to romance was done well. I also like that the story ended with a happily ever after, but in a way that makes sense in a story that is full of so many fantastical elements. Chokshi makes them flawed, but still likable characters, and shows how they have failed because of those flaws until they are done with the trials. The way that stories change by who is telling them is also a major theme in this novel and is explored beautifully. Chokshi’s world is rich and beautiful, but dangerous and pulled from myths and legends that I don’t know as a Western reader. 

Overall this is a four-star read and I am also upset that I didn’t pick up a physical copy because I could see wanting to return to Vikram and Gauri’s story. Perhaps I will keep an eye out for it at used bookstores. I would suggest this novel even if you didn’t like The Star-Touched Queen. 

[pagesandpothos]

June Reading Recap

June was an odd month for me. I had a ton of queer books on my June TBR but I had some issues with eye-strain which meant I needed to use my Kindle much less. Because of that, I didn't get to read some of the books I was excited to but I still was able to read a lot of great books! Here's a recap of what I read and what I thought about each book!

Icarus by K. Ancrum 🌈 This book is is achingly beautiful! It's a gorgeous story about learning how to accept love. Sweet romance, great friendships, and it's written beautifully! 🌕 🌕 🌕🌕 🌘

Court of Wanderers by Rin Chupeco 🌈 The sequel to Silver Under Nightfall and the final book in the "Reaper" duology. I enjoyed this a lot though not as much as I loved the first book. 🌕 🌕 🌕 🌗

The Only Light Left Burning by Erik J. Brown 🌈 A fantastic followup to one of my favorite YA novels, All That's Left in the World. This has the same action-packed and post-apocolyptic drama as the first book along with some further character and relationship growth for Jamie and Andrew. Like the first book, I nearly read this in one sitting because I couldn't put it down. It's fun, fast-paced, and just as good as the original. I genuinely love this book and think it provides a fantastic ending for the duology! 🌕 🌕 🌕🌕 🌘

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater 🌈 I read this one as an audiobook while I was having some eye-strain issues. I love this series and all the characters. Book Two was incredible and I can't wait to start book three! 🌕 🌕 🌕 🌕 🌕

Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell 🌈 A delightful and dark fairytale that somehow manages to be both gruesome and feel like cozy fantasy at the same time. There's a sapphic monster romance with an asexual human woman that is incredibly sweet. It's also very funny. 🌕 🌕 🌕🌖

Middle of the Night by Riley Sager Another really solid thriller from Riley Sager. This one joins Home Before Dark and the Last Time I Lied in the top tier of his books for me. It combines some of my favorite elements from those two books, adds in some 1990s nostalgia, queer rep, and a really emotional mystery that actually made me cry. 🌕 🌕 🌕🌕 🌕

Someday, Someday by Emma Scott 🌈 Read for June's Buzzwords Challenge (Repeating words) . This was fun. It's a little cheesy and over-the-top but I had fun reading it. 🌕 🌕 🌕

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston 🌈 This is so good! I loved August/Jane and especially adored the supporting characters and their found family. I also loved the science fiction and mystery elements! 🌕 🌕 🌕 🌕 🌗

Key Lime Sky by Al Hess 🌈 An utterly charming, unique, and diverse sci-fi romance about a neurodivergent and non-binary character investigating a UFO. This was so much fun! 🌕 🌕 🌕 🌖

How did I do with my reading goals?

I read one of my Book of the Month books (One Last Stop).

I read every day in June and read a total of 3,619 pages.

I continued 1 series ("The Raven Cycle") that I’m in the middle of.

All of the books that I read this month were over 300 pages!

I finished one book (One Last Stop) from my 2024 Priority TBR! I really need to focus on this goal in coming months because I still have a lot of books left on this. I may not get to all of these this year, but several of these books are ones that I really want to read ASAP!

Other Stats:

I read 9 books and my average rating was 4.11. 6 of the books I read this month were in print format, 2 were ebooks and 1 was an audiobook.

Unsurprisingly, my top tags were: LGBTQIA+ and romance.

July Plans:

I enjoyed all the romances I read this month but I'm definitely in the mood for something different in July. Expect to see more thrillers, horror, mysteries, and fantasy books in my July wrap-up.

[bookwyrmshoard]

Well Met, by Jen DeLuca

A charming, delightful romance set in and around a small Renaissance Faire, Well Met was a welcome, summery treat in the middle of January. I loved Emily, whose first-person narration gives the book its tone and perspective. On the heels of a breakup that left her questioning her own worth, Emily left her jobs in the city to take care of her sister and niece as April (a single mom) recovers from a devastating car accident. April’s small town hosts an annual RenFaire, and Caitlin, Emily’s teenage niece, wants to volunteer, but she can’t do so without an adult guardian. So Emily finds herself drafted into playing one of the two “tavern wenches” for the duration of the Faire. Too bad the Faire’s organizer, high-school English teacher Simon Graham, has taken such a dislike to her. Although his piratical alter-ego certainly seems to like her, flirting with “Emma,” her tavern-wench persona, at every opportunity. It promises to be an interesting summer.

Jen DeLuca deftly juggles summer fun, humor, and real emotion, and she gets the balance between her main characters’ antagonism and their undeniable attraction just right. Enemies-to-lovers isn’t usually one of my favorite tropes, but it works really well here, in part because Simon and Emily are never really enemies. Simon appears to disapprove of Emily, which makes her bristle and judge him right back. But there are moments of sympathy and understanding between them, even relatively early on, that offer strong hints that they are misjudging one another and could easily become friends if they took the time to get to know each other a little better.

Because we’re always in Emily’s head, never in Simon’s, we see the whole relationship from her perspective. That can be limiting in a romance, but DeLuca does an excellent job of letting the reader know there’s more going on in Simon’s emotional life than Emily initially recognizes. And their physical attraction is written perfectly, particularly the swoon-worthy kissing scenes (omg, that sonnet scene!) I also appreciate that Emily’s emotional arc isn’t centered solely around her relationship with Simon; it’s also about her own self-worth, her relationships in general and with her sister in particular, and discovering what she wants to do with her life. Her growth comes, and needs to come, on all those fronts.

If I have any complaints about Well Met, it’s that the setting is so generic. I don’t mean the RenFaire; it’s clear that DeLuca has some background there, and she really makes it come alive. Likewise, I suspect she has some theater background, because she absolutely nails the feeling of freedom that can come with playing someone different from your everyday self. But her fictional small Maryland town is so bland and generic, it could be almost anywhere. (Well, anywhere that has woods nearby; it’s clearly not southern Arizona.) I lived in Maryland for a lot of my childhood, much of that near a small town; I grew up playing in the woods. None of DeLuca’s vague descriptions said “Maryland” to me. Take the Faire woods, for instance. There’s very little description of them: no mention of what kind of trees there are or how tall, nor of the understory plants, and these woods are apparently devoid of both scents and sounds. And although DeLuca mentions the heat occasionally, and how dirty the Faire volunteers get, she mostly leaves out the summer humidity that can make the air feel like thick soup and leaves you feeling hot, sweaty, and ennervated. (Also, it never rains on Faire weekends, which is wildly unlikely.)

But that’s a minor quibble in a book that is otherwise a delightful, summery concoction of love, friendship, and finding your place. I loved it, and can’t wait to read the other books in the series.

[ultra-rockart]

Two Characters, One Man

Two characters who are so strikingly different at first glance were, in fact, modeled after one man.

Reading Prof. Wendy Moffat's A Great Unrecorded History, A New Life of E. M. Forster biography has been very enlightening.

George Emerson from A Room With A View and Clive Durham from Maurice were modeled after E.M. Forster's first love, H.O.M.

Forster started planning A Room With A View in 1902. Around that time, his platonic relationship with H.O.M began. H.O.M's name even appears in the first drafts of the novel--in the first scene. He is one of the guests seated at the table with Lucy Honeychurch and her cousin.

George is written how someone in love would write a character. He is idealistic, optimistic yet rebellious against conventions, and open-minded. He is critical of tradition and societal norms, deeply intelligent, and passionate. Like George, H.O.M, then a Cambridge student, "loved to épater the narrow-minded." As a Cambridge student, he had a hand in Forster's intellectual growth and development at Cambridge. Even sponsoring him into the Cambridge Apostles.

Forster took 5 years to write A Room With A View and eventually dedicated it to H.O.M. Forster always intended to dedicate the book to him but by this time he did so as a valedictory--a goodbye. He felt "cut off from H.O.M" who was already engaged or married by this time.

When he started writing Maurice, it was clear that something about their friendship had fundamentally changed, which deeply saddened Forster. He visited H.O.M and found him "morose and self-involved." It's also quite possible that H.O.M suffered from depression (I'm assuming here based on what I've read). He, like Clive, had a sort of nervous breakdown at some point. In the book, Clive had his nervous breakdown at 16. But the physical and emotional distance between them widened as the years went on.

But I always thought that Forster could write the initial relationship between Clive and Maurice so beautifully because those feelings still lived in him. He could draw from their waters and pour all of his longing and desire into fiction. It's probably why I think Clive and Maurice's relationship feels more real somehow.

However, Clive devolved in the story much like H.O.M does in Forster's life. He was one of the few that Forster showed the first drafts of Maurice and was devastated to find that H.O.M seemed indifferent to it. So heartbroken that Forster nearly "chucked it". Thus his treatment of Clive declines from the sting of heartbreak. Forster does admit to being "unfair" to Clive and went on to revise bits and pieces. But despite changes, they betray his disappointment and heartbreak over a friendship that had meant so much to him--a friendship he knew he could never get back.

I've read that there may be other characters that Forster modeled after him, but the two likely are Clive and George. Both are so different yet track the progression of a friendship/love affair from the promise and optimism of a new romance to ultimately disappointment and heartbreak. H.O.M is probably, IMHO, Forster's biggest muse in his writing. Not even his beloved Bob Buckingham, as he had already abandoned writing novels when they met.

Others say that while Forster didn't give them a happy ending in Maurice, he did in A Room With A View. Lucy is thought to be Forster's surrogate.

Upon hearing of H.O.M's passing in 1964, Forster was said to be devastated and mourned the loss of his first love saying "he was very beautiful at the beginning of the century," despite drifting apart decades earlier. (Wendy, Moffat - A Great Unrecorded History, A New Life of E. M. Forster)