#Especially queer coming-of-age-story specialized ones | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

guzhufuren · 6 months

Text

A Guide to Some of the Best Queer Asian Shows

The guide includes a show’s basic summary; main genres/tropes/themes and official streaming links (additional info on how to watch at the end of this post)! You can find some content warnings in the reply section of this post. Shows are listed by countries, numbered by the order I recommend watching in, not by rating. All shows have happy endings unless specified otherwise. The list will hopefully be updated regularly (last updated on 04/04/2024, 98 queer shows in total).

Most shows are about mlm, I specify with coloured notes those that are focused on wlw, polyamory, aromantism/asexuality, etc.

Tumblr does not allow large texts or more than 30 images per post at the moment, so you can click on every country’s list to expand them and view them fully in a separate post. You can access this guide in a google doc here.

Thailand 🇹🇭 (full list here)

1. KinnPorsche mafia boss/bodyguard; action; kidnapper/kidnapee side couple

Kinn, a son of a prominent mafia head, is ambushed by an enemy, and meets Porsche, a bartender who comes to his rescue for a price, thus beginning their reluctant relationship as boss and bodyguard, which soon turns into something more.

iQIYI

2. Bed Friend friends with benefits; office setting; trauma

King and Uea work in the same office. After a company outing ends in a drunken hook-up between them, Uea and King agree to keep seeing each other on a strictly physical basis. With no strings attached, will these two be able to keep things between them simple and carefree or will their emotions eventually get the better of them?

Uncut 18+ on iQIYI or GagaOOLala or cut on YouTube

3. The Sign reincarnated lovers; fantasy; thai mythology; police

The story of the love between Phaya and Tharn who used to be mythological creatures Naga and Garuda in their past lives, and were forced apart. But fate intervened, and two men were reincarnated in new bodies. Now, they work together as partners in the Special Investigations Unit to uncover violent crimes and supernatural mysteries while their love is tested by mystical forces and past enemies.

YouTube

4. I Feel You Linger In The Air period drama; time travel; bittersweet

Jom, an architect overseeing the renovation of a rundown villa, continuously dreams of a man he's never met. When a twist of fate transports Jom to Chiang Mai in the 1920s, he assumes the role of a servant to the affluent young master Yai, the mysterious man from his dreams.

GagaOOLala or YouTube

5. You're My Sky sports; university setting; coming of age

Thorn, a young basketball player follows his senior Fah to university as a result of the promise they’d made — to become national basketball champions. However, to his dismay, he finds that Fah has already given up on basketball. --- Aai has to work in pairs throughout the semester with San, 1 year footballer; in order to receive a scholarship to study in Japan, Ai must be willing to do everything to get an A grade. --- Track running requires the compatibility of the team members to be very high. Vee, who became the new racquet 4, has to speed up training to fit in with the team as quickly as possible, especially with Dome, spending extra time together to train. Is love actually a major obstacle on the path of being an athlete?

Viki

> more tv shows from Thailand

GMMTV Thailand 🇹🇭 (full list here)

1. My School President high school setting; secret crush; school president/rebel musician

Gun is the head of his high school music club. Tinn is a school president and Gun's long-term rival. The Principal wants to disband some of the school’s “useless” after-school clubs, especially the music club. Per school rules, the student council president is the one who has the power to dissolve clubs. Gun is now at Tinn’s mercy, so he attempts to do whatever he can to persuade his rival not to cancel the music club. Little does he know, Tinn actually has a secret crush on him. Could romance brew as Gun makes a desperate attempt to secure the future of his band?

Viki (MSP) & YouTube (Our Skyy special 33-40) & YouTube (special)

2. Moonlight Chicken adult romance; age gap; deaf character

Jim is an ordinary guy running a chicken rice diner. One night, he meets Wen when he stays past closing drunk. Brought together by fate that night, intangible feelings arise. Neither can stop thinking about the other despite Jim's efforts to remain unattached. Jim also takes care of his nephew Li Ming, who is falling in love with Heart, a deaf teenager who is practically kept under house arrest by his affluent parents.

YouTube

3. Not Me revolution; freedom fighters; secret twins

When his twin Black is viciously attacked and subsequently left hospitalised in unconsciousness, White is unable to endure the harm done to his brother in silence. He learns Black was a part of a gang of anti-capitalist freedom fighters, and it was one of them who betrayed him. White disguises himself as Black to discover which one of them betrayed him and put him in a coma.

YouTube

4. 23.5 wlw; high school setting; secret admirer

Ongsa moves to a new school and meets Sun, a cute popular girl who she immediately falls for. However, she decides to approach Sun in instagram dms under the pseudonym Earth, leading Sun to believe she's talking to a guy. But Ongsa does not want to lose the opportunity to talk to Sun, so she decides to keep the fact that she is a girl a secret and continue talking as Earth.

YouTube

> more tv shows from GMMTV Thailand

Japan 🇯🇵 (full list here)

1. Cherry Magic! mind reading; secret crush; office setting

By still being a vіrgin at 30, Adachi gains a magical power – the ability to read other people's minds by touching them. At first, he’s overwhelmed by his new ability, and it’s not proving to be helpful to him. But that all changes when he accidentally touches their office’s most perfect guy Kurosawa, who he learns has romantic feelings for him.

WeTV (Cherry Magic) & no international streaming of Cherry Magic The Movie is available to my knowledge, so watch on bilibili or KissKH

2. Kieta Hatsukoi (My Love Mix-Up!) misunderstanding; high school setting

Aoki has a crush on Hashimoto, the girl in the seat next to him in class. But he despairs when he borrows her eraser and sees she's written the name of another boy — Ida — on it. To make matters more confusing, Ida sees Aoki holding that very eraser and thinks Aoki has a crush on him!

Viki

3. Our Dining Table food; child character

Salaryman Yutaka finds it difficult to share meals with other people. However, his life starts to change when one day, his cooking attracts the attention of a young boy named Tane and his older brother Minoru. The two brothers are impressed by Yutaka's cooking skill and invite him to their house to cook together. Yutaka's dreary life begins to change, and soon he finds himself looking forward to the meals he shares with the Ueda siblings together, as well as developing a taste for romantic feelings.

GagaOOLala

4. She Loves to Cook and She Loves to Eat wlw; neighbours; self-discovery; food

Nomoto loves to cook, but tends to make too much food and has no one to share it with. Luckily for her, turns out her neighbor Kasuga has a big enough appetite for the both of them.

No international streaming available, translated to english by Furritsubs, S1 & S2, watching instructions provided, please support translator on kofi.

5. Takara-kun to Amagi-kun high school setting; relationship exploration

Takara is a good-looking popular guy in class, while Amagi is a simple but bright and pure fellow classmate. The two begin to date in secret after Amagi's blurted out confession.

Viki or GagaOOLala

> more tv shows from Japan

China 🇨🇳 (full list here)

Most chinese shows are adapted from explicitly queer novels, the shows are undeniably and obviously queer, but nevertheless the queer romance part is censured. The only exception is number 4 on the list, it is not censored.

1. The Untamed period drama; fantasy

An epic fantasy led by a problem child who comes back from the dead 16 years later in order to fix the broken world he left behind — and finally unite with his soulmate.

YouTube

2. Word of Honor period drama; fantasy

The leader of assassin organisation Zhou Zishu quits his position in pursuit of freedom with drastic measures. In his travels, he meets Wen Kexing, the leader of Ghost Valley who wants nothing but revenge. The two become entangled in various machinations within the martial arts world, and eventually become soulmates instrumental in each other's redemption.

YouTube & Special Episode on Tumblr or DailyMotion

3. Couple of Mirrors wlw; period drama; socialite/assassin

You Yi is a kind-hearted socialite and a successful author. Her perfect life is turned upside-down when she discovers a betrayal by the two most trusted people in her life. With no one left to turn to, she finds refuge in the friendship and support of Yan Wei, a lonely female killer disguised as the owner of a photo studio.

YouTube. the show doesn’t have a happy ending, but it can be a happy ending for you if you stop watching at episode 12 timestamp 28:02.

4. Stay With Me enemies to lovers; high school setting; unconventional families; slow burn

Su Yu is a high school student who lives with his single poor father. Su Yu gets a new classmate Wu Bi. The two clash right from the start, and after getting off on the wrong foot, their explosive relationship takes a turn.

YouTube or GagaOOLala. the show doesn’t have a happy ending, but it can be a happy ending for you if you stop watching at episode 24 timestamp 05:00. OR watch the full thing and look at this post after

5. The Spirealm inside of a video game; mystery; fantasy; horror-ish; hopeful ending

A game designer Lin Qiushi is transported inside of a game he recently played, and now he must go through 12 horrifying survivor game doors to survive in the real world. Inside his first door he meets Ruan Nanzhu, a mysterious man who offers him to team up.

The show was taken down from streaming, download files here and subtitles here.

Various WLW mini web-dramas here.

Various WLW short films here.

South Korea 🇰🇷 (full list here)

1. Love for Love's Sake inside of a video game; high school setting; healing

At the age of 29 Tae Myungha finds himself transported into a fictional video game, and now 19 years old, he meets Cha Yeowoon, who is in the darkest moment of his life. And a translucent window appears where he receives a mission — to make Cha Yeowoon happy.

iQIYI (better subtitles) or GagaOOLala

2. Semantic Error enemies to lovers; university setting

A serious programmer and a rebellious artist clash over a school project. Their animosity keeps escalating to new extremes, defined by petty pranks and feisty arguments.

Viki

3. Love Tractor farm setting; farmer/city musician

Sunyeol, a city man with zero ability to survive in the countryside, comes to his grandfather's rural home. In front of him appears Yechan, a passionate and kind young farmer. While learning about rural life and assisting with farming tasks, Sunyeol gradually finds himself drawn to Yechan's warm and straightforward nature, while Yechan helplessly falls for Sunyeol.

iQIYI

4. Our Dating Sim high school friends to lovers; office setting

After 7 years, Lee Wan meets his first love, Shin Kitae, in a gaming company. When they were best friends in high school, Lee Wan was in love with Kitae. But he ran away and disappeared after confessing his feelings to Kitae after graduation. When the two of them begin working on a new dating simulation game and get more immersed in the project, old feelings are rekindled.

Viki or GagaOOLala

5. She Makes My Heart Flutter wlw; bar setting; niece and aunt dynamic

The extroverted Gang Seol is hired by her aunt Jung at her only-women bar. Even though they are both lesbians, they seem to be worlds apart and have very different love stories.

YouTube

> more tv shows from South Korea

Taiwan 🇹🇼 (full list here)

1. History3: Trapped mafia boss/policeman

The story of a police officer who becomes trapped in the underworld, as he develops feelings for a gang leader.

YouTube or Viki

2. Kiseki: Dear to Me mafia; age gap

Bai Zongyi, an exemplary high school student with dreams of becoming a doctor, is one day unexpectedly drawn into the world of a charismatic and mischievous gangster Fan Zerui, who blackmails him into taking him in and treating his wounds. Just as their love story begins to unfold, Fan Ze Rui's criminal life catches up with him. On the other hand, Chen Yi and Ai Di are two orphans who grew up in the gang together. Ai Di has always loved Chen Yi, but Chen Yi only notices their boss.

Viki or GagaOOLala or YouTube

3. My Tooth Your Love dentist/chef; trauma healing

Bai Lang is a successful bistro owner with an severe fear of visiting the dentist... until a toothache forces him to come face to face with the handsome yet cold dentist Jin Xunan.

Viki

4. Anti Reset android/human

When Chu Yi Ping, an emotionless man, dislocates his hand in an accident at school, his uncle gives him Ever 9 as a caretaker, an experimental intelligent robot that his company is secretly testing.

Viki or iQIYI or GagaOOLala

5. History2: Crossing the Line sports; high school setting

When an injury sidelines a high school senior from the volleyball team, he develops feelings for a recruit.

YouTube or Viki

> more tv shows from Taiwan

Philippines 🇵🇭

1. Sleep With Me wlw; radio; disabled character in a wheelchair

A science textbook writer with a sleep disorder meets a wheelchair-using radio host who runs the midnight shift. This chance encounter at the radio station quickly sparks their interest in each other.

GagaOOLala

---

You can watch many shows for free on YouTube, and watch others on the streaming websites by setting VPN to one of the countries in the list. In other cases I recommend paying for subscriptions to show appreciation and support of content in order to get more of it in the future, but if you can’t, watch on KissKH (better quality), Dramacool or get files from MkvDrama. Enjoy! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

4K notes · View notes

moonlightsapphic · 2 years

Text

Look, I just need you guys to understand how important queer coming-of-age forbidden romances on internationally accessible platforms like Netflix is, especially to youth in countries where homosexuality still hasn't been legally decriminalised or socially accepted.

That was a mouthful, so let me explain. You, a white American adult with a liberal family, may not relate to a fictional anxious teen Swedish prince grappling with strict familial and societal expectations versus his first love. You may not find anything special in a bunch of queer British teens discovering themselves and figuring out complex relationships that are honestly rather simplistic, in retrospect. It might be a little too trite for you. Like, just a little vanilla without any extra drama. Perhaps corny—cringe, even. Too wholesome.

But you know what that is to me, a desi queer young adult? It's representation, in an unlikely place. My country certainly isn't making movies or shows where I see my secret relationship between me and my girlfriend portrayed. I don't see that happening in the next couple of decades, either, sadly. But you know who’s telling our stories? Alice Oseman. Lisa Ambjörn, Lars Beckung and Camilla Holter. Through fictional storylines that might seem kind of boring to you, I am finally able watch my lived experiences play out on screen.

American media has done such a disservice to queer coming-of-age stories. I want to scream this from the rooftops. Y’all, I’m glad to see more out quirky queer side-characters—I can’t get enough of them—but why is it so rarely their story, in sharp focus, about how they found themselves? I want to know how they overcame internalised homophobia. When was the moment they knew? What is the cost they have to pay for being out? For not being out?

And no, I don’t want it to be dramatic. I don’t need to see violence or betrayals or victorious kisses in public, really. I’m happiest with the teenagers behaving like real teenagers. Innocent, vulnerable, nervous. I want it to be heartfelt, and excruciatingly slow, and authentic. I want to see the small wins and the subtle losses. The quiet mental toll of how much you have to give to a queer relationship—especially your first queer relationship—and how hard that can be to separate from your Identity itself.

Give me that "am I gay?" quiz and genuinely crying at 3:00 AM because you're in a rabbit hole about LGBTQ+ rights in a country where you actually don’t want to be gay and you don’t even know if you “count” anyway. Show me that moment where you're going back and forth from forbidding yourself from seeing the one person that sees and understands you and it's to protect your mental and physical well-being but it's driving you insane. Give me ALL THE YOUNG ADULT BI+ AWAKENINGS where one person strolls into your life and changes everything. No, it’s really not the same as most cis-heterosexual insta-love movies out there, even if it looks that way to you. It doesn’t even cut it close.

The happy ending, the acceptance is only what I can dream of, not what I can expect. The wholesomeness is actually radical to me.

No, we’re not past the need for basic star-crossed queer romances. For most countries in the world (including for many white American teenagers!), we need them as much as ever.

2K notes · View notes

welcometothejianghu · 2 months

Text

Welcome to another round of W2 Tells You What You Should See, where W2 (me) tries to sell you (you) on something you should be watching. Today's choice: きのう何食べた? / Kinou Nani Tabeta? / What Did You Eat Yesterday?

Kinou Nani Tabeta? (which I'm going to abbreviate here to NaniTabe) is a live-action adaptation of a manga with the same name, which tells the story of two middle-aged Japanese gay men as they navigate their relationship, their families, and their professional lives, all while having some good meals.

Do you want something nice? Do you want a show that's just ... nice? Not saccharine, not cloying, not reductive, but just cozy and kind? This! This is what you want. Every episode deals with some events in their lives, and then the action will pause once or twice while someone demonstrates how to make a meal. There's no real overarching plot. You just get to peek in on them every so often and see how they're doing.

...Shit, I'm just going to steal the GagaOOLala second-season synopsis, it's perfect:

Shiro Kakei and his partner, Kenji Yabuki, live a life full of some hardship but mostly happiness together, with Shiro's speciality cooking affordable and delicious dishes. As they turn 50, they begin to experience different changes, but Shiro and Kenji are still gentle with each other as they move on to a new stage in their lives.

So here I am, a middle-aged gay who cooks affordable and (mostly) delicious dishes and treats my partner gently, serving you a five-course meal of reasons that you should watch this show -- especially if you too are a middle-aged gay, in which case I'd say this goes straight from "should watch" to "unmissable."

1. Help, my face hurts from smiling too much

Prepare to get your heart warmed whether you like it or not.

Kakei Shiro, the main character, is a closeted gay attorney in his forties whose main likes are cooking and saving money. He lives with his slightly younger boyfriend, Yabuki Kenji, who is a very openly gay hairstylist. They're an incredibly unlikely couple who somehow manage to make a relationship work, kind of to their mutual surprise.

I called bullshit on the show early on: This relationship is cute, I said, but this is not the behavior of guys who have been together a decade. But as the show unfolded, it became clear that I was so wrong -- their behavior is perfect, because these middle-aged boys actually haven't been together nearly that long. In fact, once you finally get the story of how their relationship started, yeah, it explains a lot of their insecurities and awkwardnesses about one another. Combine that with how Shiro's a neurotic mess who absolutely does not want anyone to know that he's gay, while Kenji lives on eggshells for fear of rejection, and it all starts to make sense.

It helps that the two leads have incredible chemistry. Not in a horny way, mind you (the show is incredibly, and intentionally, nonsexual, but more on that later), but where they genuinely make one another smile and laugh. Nishijima Hidetoshi plays Shiro as an anxious mess who slowly learns to become at least a little more comfortable in his own queer skin. I have a t-shirt that says Oh, Honey and I want to put it on every time he does something.

Meanwhile, it would have been so easy to make Kenji a caricature, but Uchino Seiyou skips right past the stereotype and plays the behavior that the stereotype comes from. He minces his way along as Kenji so perfectly, I was surprised to find out he's married to a lady in real life. He's got to be doing an impression of someone he actually knows, because his faggotry is just too accurate.

Their relationship is far from perfect. They're capable of annoying the tar out of one another, sometimes on purpose. They keep secrets and avoid talking about feelings. They get jealous over completely irrational things. They want things the other person isn't comfortable giving. They get into petty little arguments over petty little shit.

And because of all that, it feels real.

Also, if you're one of those Jane Austen bitches who swoons every time lovers scandalously brush knuckles, well, here you go.

2. Surprisingly educational about the state of gay life in modern Japan!

This is not incidental: Like the manga, the show uses this cute food-based story to present a fairly realistic snapshot of what it's like to be a middle-aged gay couple in Japan right now.

Like the manga it's based on, the show goes out of its way to be incredibly nonsexual, to the point where Kenji and Shiro barely touch, much less kiss or even hint at getting naked together. It is very consciously and deliberately attempting to counteract the stereotype of the hypersexualized, salacious homosexual by presenting two gay men who are delightfully mundane.

It is not, however, homonormalization. There's no attempt here to make an argument that gay people are just like straight people, only with incidentally matching genitals. Every time someone falls prey to the pressure to conform to cishet gender norms, it ends badly for them. While the first-episode conflict establishes that Kenji tops, he's also the fruity hairstylist who does the housekeeping. Shiro's the straight-passing suit-and-tie guy, yet he's the one who cooks and goes grocery-shopping. They have a division of labor based on personality traits, not gender roles. In fact, their relationship as presented challenges a lot of those norms by decoupling gendered expectations from the necessities of everyday living.

(This isn't even just me getting my queer studies goo all over everything! Allow me to be a good academic and send you to two people who've done even more thinking about this than I have: the unfortunately paywalled "Queer Cooking And Dining: Expanding Queerness In Fumi Yoshinaga's What Did You Eat Yesterday?" by Katsuhiko Suganuma, and the more freely available "Queering the Palate: The Erotics and Politics of Food in Japanese Gourmet Manga" by Keiko Miyajima.)

Every so often, one of the episodes' conflicts will have to do with how gay people in Japan do not have equal rights and protections under the law. This doesn't just mean they can't get married -- not having a spouse and children actually messes with a lot of legal stuff, including inheritance and government assistance. Sometimes the show will even take a beat to have one of the characters explain to another what a certain statute says. Changing laws about same-sex partnerships even get factored into the story!

And sure, I don't know these things, but I bet a lot of straight people in Japan don't know these things either. Well, if you watch the show, now you do!

It's important that no one is ever outright shitty to Shiro or Kenji. No one calls them slurs or hate-crimes them or refuses to serve them at a business or anything like that. In fact, the majority of people they encounter are perfectly chill and even outright supportive. The most serious challenges they face are bigger than individual people being dicks. They're about systemic barriers to equality.

That said, there are still plenty of instances of individual people being dicks -- just not maliciously. In fact, most of the homophobic sentiments in the show come from the mouths of people who are otherwise supportive of Shiro and/or Kenji! These nice people seem like they're way okay with the gay ... and then they let slip that, no, they're actually not as okay with it as they think they are.

And I love that the show includes that, because I know that feeling way too well. When these things happen, our boys don't throw a righteous fit or cut the offender off completely. They just ... absorb the blow, sigh quietly, and keep going with the belief that the person in question means well. It just sucks, you know? It sucks to have to know now that your straight lady friend who thinks it's great that you're gay would be uncomfortable if her daughter were a lesbian. You're not going to stop being friends with her, and you're not even going to hold it against her, but it lives in your mind now, and you're going to add it to the I Am A Disappointment To My Parents rotation of intrusive thoughts.

Speaking of parents, Shiro's incredibly fraught relationship with his aging parents is hands-down one of the best parts of the show. They love him, he loves them, but they don't always know how to love one another. As their childless only child, Shiro finds himself having to support them in spite of a lot of hurt they've caused him because of his sexuality. He would in many ways be justified in cutting them off -- after all, many other gay people in the show no longer speak to one or both of their parents! Shiro wants to keep them in his life, though. He'll just have to learn how, for his sake and for Kenji's, to lovingly set boundaries.

This, to me, is the most important lesson a show about boring gays can teach a straight audience: There's always a background level of suck. You can be as chaste and normie and regular as you want, but you'll never be normal, because there's literally nothing you can do to erase the background level of suck.

It's easy to reduce someone else's oppression to Big Bad Events, and then to assume that the absence of these Big Bad Events means that oppression has ceased. That's like thinking there's nothing left that needs to be done about racism because the US had a Black president and you've never personally seen a cross burned on somebody's lawn. Once other people's oppression stops being Big Bad Events, it becomes Everyday Stuff You Can Ignore. And that's worse.

NaniTabe pushes back against this in two directions. The first is to show gays who are not miserable, but are instead living happy, fulfilling, and exceedingly regular lives on their own terms. The second is to give reminders that what gay-related misery they do experience largely comes not from their being gay, but from society's giving them shit for being gay. This misery doesn't destroy the happiness, but neither does the happiness make the misery go away.

By the way, this is true of any non-normative identity! The gays do not have a monopoly here. There's always going to be a level of suck when you don't inhabit an area of privilege, and it's very easy to be unaware of someone else's background level of suck when you yourself do have that privileged status! One of the best ways to become aware is to listen to stories about people unlike yourself! Hooray for empathy and learning!

3. tfw your bffs are straight-up freaks

If you're queer, and especially if you're queer and the vast majority of the people around you aren't, you know all too well that sometimes you wind up being friends with people you'd never associate with otherwise, except that you're queer and they're queer, and buddy, if you thought the queer dating pool was shallow, the queer friendship pool can sometimes be even worse.

That's how you get Kohinata and Wataru.

When I said earlier everything about how nonsexual and normie the show is, I was intentionally glossing over whatever the hell is going on with Kohinata and Wataru, the bizarre boyfriends who become Shiro and Kenji's gay besties. You know that couple where you think, I cannot imagine how this relationship works because if you were my partner I would want you stab you every minute of our lives, but it clearly does, so I'm happy for you both? Yeah, that's these two.

The elder of the pair, Kohinata, is a butch, severe man -- except when it comes to his boyfriend, the much younger and worse-behaved Wataru. Then he's reduced to a complete simp, catering to Wataru's every whim. Wataru knows that throwing a tantrum and being bratty is the way to get anything he wants from Kohinata, so he's just a little shit recreationally. He loves saying bitchy things and pointing out people's flaws, while Kohinata chides him ineffectually.

And I love how much this is totally a sex thing for them, except that when you put it in the context of an otherwise extremely PG-rated show, the kink of it flies completely under the hetero radar. Ha ha, look how generally funny these two weirdos are! While Shiro and Kenji are over here doing the thing where somebody calls their partner "master" in front of you, and you're like, I wish you wouldn't.

Their presence is great for the acknowledgment that gay people can be maladjusted freaks in a whole spectrum of ways! They also make the point that a great deal of your ability to openly be a maladjusted freak is related to your job and your level of wealth. Wataru works from home and Kohinata works with celebrities, both of which bring in high incomes and allow for way more deviance from social norms. They're in positions of privilege that allow them to be themselves, but the price of being themselves is that they're always going to stick out in a society that values harmony in sameness.

By contrast, Shiro's good-but-not-great-paying suit-and-tie job means he has to behave. Because of this, he has plenty of angst about being Not Gay Enough, through which the show reinforces time and again that not all gay existence is about barfing rainbows. You're still a valid homosexual even when you're a dull one.

So just remember: When you feel like you're not queer enough, remember that there are always worse queers out there in the world. Oh, they're not worse at being queer. They're just worse in general.

4. Itadakimasu!

This show, like the Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty and Otoko Meshi, is a food-centered show that is very dangerous to watch if you're hungry, so be prepared! Snack first!

It's also got actually followable recipes! Unlike those other food-centric shows I've done recs for, this show actually gives pretty precise measurements, lists all the ingredients, and walks you through basically the whole process. Aside from a few "add the incredibly Japanese thing I bought premade at the store" steps, Shiro's cooking methods are replicable at home.

...It is here that I should probably put up a warning for the occasional bout of very Japanese-typical and gay-man-typical fatphobia, which can be a heck of a combination. I don't think it's a dealbreaker, but you should be aware of it going in. However, I will say that the show almost always comes down on the side of positive moderation: Sometimes you need to eat like you're an aging homosexual watching your cholesterol, and sometimes it's a special occasion so you should enjoy yourself without guilt. It also never once conflates "eating healthy" with eating disappointing meals. If anything, it's mostly just being honest about what happens to your body's relationship to fried food when you hit your forties.

The other nice thing is that Shiro's not some trained chef. He makes good food, but he's a dedicated amateur at best. There's not a single super-fancy technique in anything he does. Much of the time, he's just winging it, combining techniques he knows with what he's already got in the fridge. Sometimes he uses recipes he found on the internet. Occasionally he cooks alongside other, more experienced people and learns techniques from them. Once in a blue moon he just tries a thing to see how it works. (Of course, he does have the unfair advantage of being fictional to cover for how none of his meals ever turn out bad, which, you know, must be nice.)

Sometimes you even get to see other people cook when Shiro's nowhere around! Some of them follow instructions to the letter, while others just sort of wing it with whatever's on hand. And that's okay! For a show so much about cooking, it is very unpretentious about food. The manga drives home even more strongly the point that you don't need fancy meals and a million perfect side dishes to be content. It's great if you're perfectly happy microwaving a pork bun! What matters is that it works for you and your family.

...Now can we please convince subbers everywhere to translate "Itadakimasu!" as "Itadakimasu!"? Please? I think my favorite bad choice is "Bon appetit!", which, okay, good job, you took an opportunity to teach English-speakers a non-English phrase that has no good English translation, and instead you chose to bank on their extant familiarity with a different non-English phrase that has no good English translation. Just keep it what it is. It's just something you say before you eat. It's obvious from context clues. I promise.

5. Makes you, an aging queer, feel real weird about some stuff!

Over the course of the show, Kenji and Shiro go from their early/mid 40s to pushing/over 50. Their parents age, have health scares, and even sometimes die. They deal with losing eyesight and hair alike. They get promoted. They make household budgets and purchases. They worry about saving enough for the future. They work late. They go on vacation sometimes. They wear the same clothes they wore a couple episodes ago.

However, they do all this while also wrestling with their unequal status as gay men in Japan. All their discussions about retirement are colored both by Kenji's tendency to impulse-buy ice cream and by the fact that they can't get married. The choices Shiro makes about his job rest both on his desire for a good work-life balace and a fear that his profession would react badly to his coming out. They have to make all the normal decisions expected of men their age, and then they have to make all the extra decisions to compensate for how "normal" doesn't account for gay.

To pick one issue running throughout the story: Shiro is an only child who is himself childless. This comes up fairly often, in fact, as various circumstances make him aware time and again that he's not making his parents into grandparents, and he won't someday have someone to take care of him like he does for them.

The first time the show brought this up, I thought it would be a one-and-done thing, where the conclusion of the episode got to be that Shiro learns to be happy without being a parent, the end. Nope! It isn't a constant stressor, but it never goes entirely away. Shiro is happy with his life, but he's also reminded that he's failing to live up to social standards. He doesn't want to be a dad. Or does he? No, he actually doesn't. But he also doesn't want not to be a dad, if that makes sense. He doesn't want to disappoint everyone by not having a wife and children, but at the same time, that disappointment isn't enough to force him back into the closet. But it's always going to be seen as a failure on his part.

As a middle-aged queer with no kids, yeah, I feel that hard. I don't want kids! But I also don't want to not have kids. I know I'm always going to be a little bit of a misfit in my family compared to my siblings, who are all parents now. Besides, I think about all the things I do for my parents, and all the things they did for theirs, and yeah, it kind of scares me to know I won't have that when I get older. And we're just basic-ass white people! Japan takes filial responsibility to a whole 'nother level!

So I really, really like that this show doesn't resolve that tension. Shiro has chosen what's right for him. It just also sucks sometimes. The honesty of that narrative is refreshing. Sometimes your best choice still kinda sucks. Sometimes the only way to get closure is to say, you failed me and I failed you, so we're even.

It's a frequent thing for the show to present the realities of people's lives and choices, and to say, maybe this isn't everyone's perfect solution, but it's the right decision given what the circumstances will allow, and you are still allowed to be happy despite the imperfections. It's not that you need to settle for less than perfection because you're gay -- everybody settles! Everybody makes choices and then has to live with the consequences of those choices. You'll never know if things could have been better if you'd done something different, but that doesn't stop what you have right now from being able to be pretty damn good.

I'm not going to say you must be a middle-aged queer to watch this show, because did you read the whole part earlier where I talked about how you should consume stories from experiences that are not your own? Right? Right.

I will, however, say that if you are a middle-aged queer, a lot of it's likely going to hit real close to home, and often in uncomfortable ways. I've seen a couple people say they had to take breathers after some episodes. I know I've been left chewing over a few things in the days and weeks since watching. There are definitely parts where you're laughing because you know exactly what that feels like, and if you don't laugh, you'll do something else.

But you know what? I like that. It can be nice to see people go through situations similar to yours and emerge realistically happy. It's nice to be able to laugh about things, or to know that you will laugh about them someday. The world is fundamentally hostile, but there are people who love us and watermelons are on sale this week, so instead of despair, let's have lunch together.

bonus: porn!!

I want to make it clear that the mangaka isn't some erotophobic dishrag who fetishizes gay men so long as they don't have any of that icky nasty smex. Oh no. The proof that NaniTabe's sexlessness is intentional is how Yoshinaga Fumi made six fairly explicit pornographic side stories that fill in some of the sexy gaps in the larger narrative. You can read all six volumes scanlated right here! ...though if you want to avoid spoilers, I'm going to recommend you wait to dig in until after you watch the show and/or read the actual manga to the appropriate points.

Enjoy the confirmation that Shiro is a freaky size queen (at least in theory, as is the case with maybe most freaky size queens).

Are you hungry for this show yet?

Tragically, this one's a little hard to watch. If you're in Japan (or you have a VPN that can fake it), you can see the first season on Netflix. Otherwise, the preposterously named GagaOOLala is probably your best bet. The watch order goes like this:

Season 1

the New Year's Special

the Movie

Season 2

While the two movies and the second season require a subscription, the first season is available for free. So if you want to give it a try, you've got a whole twelve episodes to see if you like it!

Maybe it'll get a third season someday? We can hope! After all, there's still much more manga left to adapt! All I know is that I'm very sad that I've run out of new installments of it to watch, and I look forward to going back and starting again from the beginning soon.

...Boy, it's funny to see behind-the-scenes shots and think, wow, they're so much snugglier in real life! That's how not-snuggly the show itself is! You think I'm joking but I'm not!

#きのう何食べた？#kinou nani tabeta?#what did you eat yesterday #rec post #i made this #nani tabe #nanitabe

140 notes · View notes

cherrybombfangirl · 2 months

Text

Ok say what you will about Maleficent (2014) as a remake or whether it’s a good villain ‘origin story’ or not or how it’s a flawed retelling or whatever-

But, this movie is always going to have a special place in my heart as and AroAce person. Like, not only does the ‘main romance’ get maybe five minutes of screen time total and becomes a little red herring and mostly irrelevant, BUT the movie also has a huge focus on the platonic love and relationship between Maleficent and Aurora, AND on top of that, it’s that platonic love that saves Aurora from the sleeping curse at the end, not the romantic relationship.

Right now that might not seem very revolutionary, but back in 2014, fantasy and fairytale movies, and ones coming from Disney no less- having a story like this was a huge deal, especially to me as an Aromatic and Asexual person.

I remember when the movie first came out I was 11 or 12 (hadn’t discovered the queer community or the terms aro or ace yet) and starting to realize my peers were having crushes and such and felt confused and alone that I didn’t- and then this movie came out and so many of the people around me were baffled by the idea of a non-romantic love taking center stage and saving the day in a fairytale movie from Disney. I swear I watched this movie so many times during that age because it helped me feel that maybe, just maybe I wasn’t broken for not being interested in romance.

(context: I’m rewatching the movie and when I dove into the tag for this movie on tumblr, I was severely disappointed that no one was talking about this specifically and mostly had negative things to say about the movie overall)

#maleficent #maleficent 2014 #Disney #aromantic #asexual #aro #ace #queer stuff #queer #aroace #aspec #not all the live action disney remakes were 100% terrible is all I’m saying #Anna posts #Anna speaks #my posts #personally I think the movie is less of a remake and more of a reimagining or ‘how this story could’ve gone differently’#also I think a lot of people don’t like the idea of villains being humanized but that’s a different conversation for another time

92 notes · View notes

almightyhamslice · 1 month

Text

SIR DADADOO REDESIGN!!!! I'm so stoked abt him. I designed him while I was fucking stoned lol. He's supposed to be a vampire-themed night exclusive mascot, designed specifically to tell bedtime stories to park guests (like he had his own room with a large chair and a faux fireplace & several specially made braille books for him to read, since he had virtually no eyesight). He would wear a different cape for each day of the week. I drew the butterfly cape cuz I was at a queer art event n I asked everyone else there what pattern they thought I should draw on his cape lol.

Sir Dadadoo was not a very popular mascot back when the resort was active; I imagine he evoked a similar sense of fear that you might get from a mall santa or mall easter bunny; an unidentifiable stranger one might be wary or uneasy of. He tried his best to be kind and approachable, but often parkgoers would avoid him because they thought he was terrifying. And after all, who would gravitate towards a leech mascot? Dadadoo felt ostracized by his own nature, by what the scientists made him to be. He felt trapped in the kindergarten, and sought to find a way out, even if he had to claw his way out himself.

Dadadoo bonded with Syringeon over their mutual distrust of the scientists, finding joy in plotting with Syringeon to stage a coup behind the humans' backs. It was initially going to be a two person scheme involving just them, but Dadadoo knew they'd be quickly outnumbered and overwhelmed without an army. Syringeon suggested using a combination of their own DNA, but the initial test failed miserably, so Dadadoo turned to Queen Bouncelia for help. She agreed, initially because she respected Dadadoo's ambitions and was intrigued by the idea of escaping, but later she grew attached to the idea of raising a family with Dadadoo. I think he was more clinical about the Naughty Ones at first, he initially saw them as nothing more than pawns in his game.

Things changed after he was sealed in Bouncelia's pouch, once his conspiracy had been figured out. He felt sorely betrayed by all four of his colleagues, but most especially Syringeon and Bouncelia. He initially wanted to kill both of them for attempting to kill him slowly, but after ages being in Bouncelia's pouch, he started to come to terms with his fate and Bouncelia's role as his jailer. Though she was inebriated by sedatives, she'd still try to communicate to him as if he were by her side. When he was finally torn from his flesh prison, he strayed behind as all the other Naughty Ones ran free; he wasn't sure if he had killed Bouncelia, but he was sure she was in pain. After his escape, he was much more attentive to his remaining children, since he was unsure if their mother would be able to care for them again.

Sketches of various Naughty Ones. There used to be more of them, but these are the ones that are left after their long imprisonment. Sir Dadadoo also has one additional child named Junior, but... you'll meet them later.

#art #Garten of Banban #traditional art #mixed media #marker art #pencil sketch #Sir Dadadoo #Naughty Ones #scopophobia #body horror #horror art #Banban Resort #hes so bisexual its insane. more on that later #I think he n Syringeon kinda had something going on but like they r so divorced.#at least thats what I thought watching banban 7 stoned anyway LOL

25 notes · View notes

mysteriouslybluepirate · 10 months

Text

Queer Book Recommendations!!

I haven't really read a book book in years. Due to money problems and a lack of free time, audiobooks and AO3 were a MUCH cheaper option for me. But now that I'm struggling to fully read text posts on Tumblr I realize my attention span is shot. Reading novels is helping me tune out and focus in again. So I'm turning to queer novels written by my 'queer elders'.

For anyone who is struggling to get back into long form content after reading Fic for years, I highly recommend the books of TJ KLUNE (summaries of what I've read under the break).

If you are a fan of the 'escaping a shitty life and being welcomed into a found family' fanworks, this is the writer for you! All his stories center on home and feeling welcomed and loved. Of middle age and finding out who you are. Of finding love for others and yourself. He makes you hunger for that type of romantic and platonic love where people just know the real you. His stories also float by so quickly, there are so many things he does that I want to emulate his writing into my work.

Someone on Tumblr described the romances as: “what if a real life disney prince fell in love with the human equivalent of a wet paper bag?” and I agree 100%. All his protagonists are just like that, and I love them all.

(Also, this man definitely had an office job he hated, and writes office work culture as a death sentence in every one of his novels and I love it).

If you have any queer novels you love, don't be afraid to leave me a recommendation! (Especially WLW that isn't 'One Last Stop')

HAVE READ: The House in the Cerulean Sea : [An amazing love fantastical found family story (with a hint of romance)! I listened to the audiobook on Audible and absolutely loved it! I can't wait for the sequel coming out next year.]

Linus Baker is a lonely case worker for a governmental organization which manages orphaned kids who are magical beings.

One day, he's given a secret assignment to assess a special orphanage on the island of Marsyas, run by a man named Arthur Parnassus, who has secrets of his own. Among the six unique children living there, one of them is Lucy, short for Lucifer, who just happens to be the Antichrist.

Despite his initial reservations, as Linus's days pass in Marsyas, in this idyllic setting among a coterie of magical children, Linus finds himself coming across a little romance, an unlikely family and possibly even a home.

Currently Reading: Under the Whispering Door. [I know this is going to be heartbreaking, but I'm loving it, only on page 50/373. Will likely post something vague about how it made me cry lol]

When a reaper comes to collect Wallace Price from his own funeral, Wallace suspects he really might be dead.

Instead of leading him directly to the afterlife, the reaper takes him to a small village. On the outskirts, off the path through the woods, tucked between mountains, is a particular tea shop, run by a man named Hugo. Hugo is the tea shop's owner to locals and the ferryman to souls who need to cross over.

But Wallace isn't ready to abandon the life he barely lived. With Hugo's help, he finally starts to learn about all the things he missed in life.

When the Manager, a curious and powerful being, arrives at the tea shop and gives Wallace one week to cross over, Wallace sets about living a lifetime in seven days.

Planning on reading: In The Lives of Puppets(The book is on my shelf).

In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees, live three robots—fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, and a small vacuum desperate for love and attention. Victor Lawson, a human, lives there too. They’re a family, hidden and safe.

The day Vic salvages and repairs an unfamiliar android labelled “HAP,” he learns of a shared dark past between Hap and Gio–a past spent hunting humans.

When Hap unwittingly alerts robots from Gio’s former life to their whereabouts, the family is no longer hidden and safe. Gio is captured and taken back to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams. So together, the rest of Vic’s assembled family must journey across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommission, or worse, reprogramming.

Along the way to save Gio, amid conflicted feelings of betrayal and affection for Hap, Vic must decide for himself: Can he accept love with strings attached?

#They are utter delights #dont be surprised if my next long Izzy fic is inspired by 'under the whispering door' lol #Under the Whispering Door #The House in the Cerulean Sea #tj klune #Sometimes I just want to read a sweet queer love story with people older than 20 god damn it

86 notes · View notes

neo-axe-oc-thoughts · 6 months

Text

𓆟 COD OC - Guppy 𓆟

Quick note Guppy is an COD AU OC, xyr AU is a mix of Black Ops (I, II and Cold War) and the Rebooted Modern Warfare (I, II, III). I'll make a separate post about the universe timeline, and what is/isn't canon.

General

Name : Harlow Rayner

Nickname(s) : Guppy

Age : 26

Birthday : Feb 9th 1997

Nationality : Australian

Language(s) : English, Auslan

Blood Type : A- (A NEG)

Disability : Autism

Gender : Queer

Sexuality : Grey AroAce

Pronouns : xe/xem/xyrs | ze/zir | they/them

Affiliations : Cryptologic Systems Op Navy, Aus Intelligence Corps Army

Rank : Intelligence Analyst

Callsign : Prophet 0-1

Affiliations

Cryptographer "Bell"

Agent Alex Mason

Special Agent Frank Woods

Lieutenant Commander David Mason

Station Chief Laswell

Sergeant John "Soap" MacTavish

Sergeant Kyle "Gaz" Garrick

Lieutenant Simon "Ghost" Riley

Captain John Price

Relationships

Sibling : Isaac Rayner , younger brother - Alive, minimal contact

Father : Charlie Rayner - Alive, no contact

Mother : Evelyn Rayner - Alive, no contact

Bell their Zizi, (uncle/aunt not biologically related)

Appearance

Hair Colour : Dark Auburn Brown

Hair Style : Man bun, wavy/curly hair

Eye Colour : Brown Dravite

Height : 166cm / 5' 5" ft

Build : average

Beauty Marks : Light freckles across bridge of nose, moles scattered across body, stretch marks mainly on hips, upper thighs and upper arms

Scars : top surgery, chip missing from right ear

Tattoos : 3 Gill like tattoos across sides of ribcage, jelly fish wrapped across mid right bicep, two guppies on inner top of zir left forearm, wave band on right leg, a coral piece from left hip down thigh, circuit inspired tattoo from left collar bone to top left shoulder blade.

Face Claim : Erika Lindner

Voice Claim : Soren (GOG) /Rai Thistlethwayte (Thirsty Merc) /Kaoru Kurita (Wonder Egg Priority)

Personality and Negative Traits

Guppy comes across as strange or awkward to neurotypical individuals, and mostly gets along better with other neurodivergent people.

Guppy is very hard working, if the project is important they are unwilling to stop working even if it means ignoring xyrs body's needs.

Dependable : When it comes to those xe trusts, Guppy is incredibly trustworthy and reliable. A steady presence in their life, who would do absolutely anything to make them feel safe.

Intuitive : but often second guesses zirself, and ends up ignoring xyr intuition.

Has a habit of isolating themselves away from others, as well as repressing zir emotions often bottling them up since they struggle to express xem in a way that makes sense to others.

Overly empathetic as a response to zir being parentified during childhood.

Stubborn : Often unwilling to do things that go against what xe believes or what those xe trust has taught them.

Virtues and Vices : self-reliance, stubbornness, obsessive (wont stop until something is done), caution, dependability, Intuition, Tenacity, Impatience, Ingenuity.

Skills and Abilities

Basic Combat Training

Special Skills : Analyst, Cryptography, coding, hacking and intel gathering.

Favourites

Colour : dusty orange

Food : chicken parmi

Drink : Mocha

Flower : Purple Phlox subulata

Trivia

Guppy is right-handed, but working towards being ambidextrous.

Zir listens to music sung in other languages or metal to focus, annoying whoever they share a workspace with.

Has a more dark sense of humor, but hates that that sort of stuff makes xem almost laugh.

Spent most of zir spare time with Bell, and has picked up a couple Russian words and their knowledge on cryptography.

Surprisingly xe is a good cook and baker, spending time learning different recipes especially ones that Bell remembers enjoying from their childhood.

AN : I'm going to be making xyr backstory a separate post, since it's still a work in progress. I might post a small bit about Guppy's current concept/idea for their place in the story.

I also took inspiration from @/kaitaiga and @/sleepyconfusedpotato COD OC posts. Which is the second time I've taken inspiration from Sleepy, first time being my COD MW age head canon post.

21 notes · View notes

sarahlizziewrites · 2 years

Text

Intro/pinned post

Hello, everyone. Sarah here. This is a blog nominally for writing, but realistically for shitposting with smatterings of fandom.

Sarah - she/her/he/him - genderfluid - 30s - Scotland

Likes:

Fantasy, and within that, romance, slice-of-life and adventure. My WIPs range from sword-and-sorcery to magical realism and gothic horror. Somehow all of these WIPs include friends-to-lovers. Weird.

Historical fiction. I'm a consumer of period drama, a researcher of historical costuming, and European history is one of my special interests.

Queer stories and characters, especially the kind I would have liked to have seen growing up <3

Critical Role, as well as an ever-shifting collection of fandoms, arranged like a detailed hierarchy of plushies in a pre-teen's bedroom. I'm sarahlizzie on AO3.

Mature content, some of which I post on my blog. If you're a minor, please consider your follow carefully.

Tag games/ask games! Or just infodump about your WIPs and OCs in my asks! I love you!

My WIPs:

Chrissie's of London - a psychedelic, high-drama adventure set in a magical version of 1920s London, starring a gregarious and irresponsible hotel owner, Silas Chrissie [character intro], his long-suffering accountant, Loretta Cramps [character intro], and his old friend, a French, shape-shifting felon called Jacques [character intro]. It's gay too because that's my brand, and it has portals to another world, monsters coming out of said portals, hotel rooftop fights, all that fun stuff. It's giving some Neil Gaiman, some Rivers of London, some Stranger Things.

The Adventures of Sitora Lux - This is an expanded and editorialized retelling of a former D&D character who I felt like didn't get a fair enough shout in the game. Sitora is a big lesbian Paladin-to-be who is still figuring stuff out as she attends an academy for training up future peacekeepers of the realm. A high fantasy coming-of-age/romance with some mystery and drama thrown in, spread over 5 books. Currently editing book 1, currently writing book 2. Have a character intro for Sitora! feat: lovely art from @rosieartsie.

I also use the tag 'Sitoraverse' for posting about the expanded world of Mithlonde

Grey-Sky Lark - my distraction project. Based on the mind-worm of 'Hebridean Vampire', I started writing a deeply introspective, totally first-person series of vignettes/short stories about my (unnamed) vampire protagonist as fate takes him on the winds and currents of history and the North Atlantic. The story starts in 9th century Faroe Islands as they are being colonized by the Norse and goes through to modern day. At the moment I'm working on the late-Victorian/Edwardian section where he is tasked with tracking down another vampire.

Brazen Sparrow - an age-of-sail romance, featuring a sapphic navy captain/pirate enemies-to-lovers storyline. Expect maps for this one!

Til Death Do Us Part - my NaNoWriMo 2023 project. A whodunnit set in 1937 featuring the groom being killed at his wedding. I use the tag 'crime fighting husbands' to refer to this and any possible sequels.

If any of these sound good to you, sign up for my taglist!

Currently Reading [Storygraph]:

Winter in Madrid by C.J. Sansom

Next up:

The Spirit Well by R.K. Ashwick

#introduction #pinned post #pinned intro #writer community #writeblr

100 notes · View notes

ferociouslycreativemystery · 7 months

Text

Look, there are books that are fine, there are books that are great, there are books that you forget - and then, there's this:

Genuinely just... go read it. It gives an incredibly deep and human look at war largely from the perspectives of the people who didn't have a choice but to live or die through it, but also exploring how we relate to it and the memory of them in the subsequent peace.

It is obviously focused on Britain and the second world war, but the questions it raises and its reasoning about them holds a much broader and especially contemporary significance, as is explicitly brought up throughout the book.

The author interrogates both the narratives that have come to dominate conversations about the war, as well his own fascination with the conflict from a young age. It takes a special interest in the stories that cannot be fit neatly into what general knowledge would have us believe history was like. Queerness in its many forms is at the heart of this exploration, and in a way that doesn't try to pin it down or explain it, but rather turns the searchlight in the opposite direction, to show how people grapple with dominant ideas in a time where "ordinary life" is anything but.

It feels refreshingly nuanced and genuinely curious about the world and the people living in it in a time where simplicity all too often dominates the public discourse, both in politics and on social media.

If you want a preview, here is an interview with the author about the book (which currently sits at just below 1500 views, so please give it a watch):

youtube

There are books that you're glad to have read, and then there are books that once you finish the audiobook (in one week, despite having exams), you go out to buy the hardback copy of. With the warmest of recommendations: please go read Men at War: Loving, Lusting, Fighting, Remembering 1939-1945 by Luke Turner:

Audiobook (read by the author) Links to purchase the book in the UK and US are in the description of the youtube video.

And a special thanks to @thelykewakedirge for recommending this book in the notes of my previous post, it's been a delight to read/listen to!

#there are several sentences that I already know I'll have to highlight once my hardback copy arrives #seriously guys it is fantastic #world war 2 #world war two #world war ii #wwii #history #queerness #queer #bbc ghosts #the captain #lieutenant havers #maddie's ghosts tag #maddie's misc tag #Youtube

10 notes · View notes

three--rings · 2 years

Note

Hi! I come from the danmei fandom and wanted to ask you if you pls have some good novels from the west to rec? What I'm looking for is: BL, fantasy & good plot. I'm not looking for political agenda just for a good read where the focus is on the plot and romance. I seriously don't know where to start looking. I tried checking out recs on google but honestly after the danmei books mostly everything looks unappealing to me. I was hoping you could help me out. Thank you in advance!

Ooo, yeah I can come up with a few things.

(All links are Amazon, but of course if you can buy elsewhere it's recommended, especially author sites. But if you buy from these links I get like a few pennies.)

The Magpie Lord (and rest of the series) by K.J. Charles - This is honestly the book that got me into reading modern m/m historical romance before I ever discovered danmei. 19th century England, magic, romance.

The Whyborne and Griffin series by Jordan L. Hawk - An incredibly long series of adventure novels set in a Lovecraftian 19th century America, starring a shy scholar and brash detective who get pulled into supernatural highjinks and romance together. The author's other series might also appeal. I'm a big fan of their Hexworld series which is recommended if you like the ideal of shapeshifters and their destined soulmate partners.

Lord of the White Hell by Ginn Hale - Fantasy European setting in a boys boarding school. Kiram is the first from his religion/ethnicity to attend this prestigious school and has to room with a boy who is supposed to be cursed by hell. Magic, religion, culture clash coming of age, and a fantastic romance. I love this whole world and series so much.

The Archer's Heart by Astrid Amara - Fantasy India setting with a rigid caste system where homosexuality is punished with death. So the romance between a prince and a warrior has very real stakes. Lots of politics and suffering for the characters. Sorta epic political fantasy but with queer romance. Definitely danmei esque.

The Nightrunner series by Lynn Flewelling - An older series in which a young man is taken as an apprentice to a thief/spy/rogue in a typical European fantasy world. Very interesting political and magical intrigue. The romance between the two main characters doesn't become textual until the second book and definitely is not a main focus or very in your face, most likely because of the age of the books. BUT I love everyone in this bar so so much. And they are explicitly the fantasy equivalent of married in later books, so it's not NOT a thing.

The High King's Golden Tongue by Megan Derr - A young man is trained to be consort to a king his whole life, but the king in question isn't interested in him because he's still mourning his late husband. Fantasy world with normalized queer relationships, slow burn romance development, a very gentle book without a lot of drama. (I haven't read the rest of the series but I think each book is a different couple.)

Okay and then a couple additional recs with special circumstances.

A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland - I haven't read this one yet because I just haven't had time, but I've read some of their other works and trust that it's good. The author is @ariaste whose MDZS fic you may have read.

The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard - The reason I haven't read the above yet is because I've been deep in reading this and all the related books/stories in this world. Absolutely I think danmei fans need to read this book. The worldbuilding is fantastic and immense. The political intrigue is more West Wing than Game of Thrones. It's a book about making incremental change from inside a flawed system. And it's a book about two men opening their hearts to one another glacially slowly, with so many barriers in the way, but so much love.

The caveat is that it's not precisely a romance or primarily a romance so it doesn't meet your criteria. It's super long (again for danmei fans) but while these two (an emperor and his secretary) love each other so much, it's not explicitly romantic or sexual? At least not yet. (Next week, sequel next week aaaaaahhhh.) So...it's a weird one to rec. Which is why I've been waiting and putting off writing it's own rec post. But it's a magnificent novel I can't say enough good things about.

So yeah, that's what I've got for now. Thanks for asking, clearly I'm always just waiting for someone to ask me to rec things.

Other folks feel free to add your own recs in reblogs if there's stuff I've missed.

#Anonymous #books #book recs #danmei #m/m romance #threerings' recs #asks #there are some non-fantasy books I could rec #or second-tier recs #or f/f recs #so let me know if you want more

136 notes · View notes

very-grownup · 2 years

Text

This seemed to resonate with some folks on the other social media site

Also now reading "Moira's Pen" (2022) by Megan Whalen Turner because I'm not taking "The Odyssey" into the bath to be dropped by my tiny hands.

You would think that a collection of short stories - although it's not really that (errata maybe) - published after the conclusion of an author's series would be full of answers to narrative gaps, things readers have always been curious about, elaborations from the ending.

So I'm absurdly pleased that Turner continues to answer basically no questions beyond "what is the age difference between two characters?" and "who is Gitta?" and instead has scattered dozens of new questions for the reader.

I might have further thoughts in terms of how this all fits with Turner's approach to series structure as a whole because I continue to find that fascinating. If I don't, though, cheers for more material confirming Relius as the least wholesome queer character. What a gift.

(The bookshelf photos are here as evidence that I have in fact read some books.)

I think it all comes back to Turner bucking the conventions of the genre demographic she's published under. I feel like "The Thief" was published, and what she endearing calls The Geniad was conceived, just before the rise of YA as a "distinct" genre. (Genre is fake and a construct of the publishing industry.) There have always been books of interest to older teens, but just as the idea of teenagers is a relatively recent as something separate from a child, so to is YA as something distinct from children's fiction. I think, in being a constructed marketing thing, there are rigid expectations about what a series is, what formulae make something a series, how they work for both authors and audience, and that those things won't change. A famous(ly hateful and mediocre) author was seen as doing something new in having characters /age/ and /increasing book length/ even though the former is just how a bildungsroman works and the later is 'lack of editing'.

What's thought of as a YA series has, I think, become an expectation of pressing and breaking up the bildungsroman into something structured with all the variety of an Enid Blyton or, more contemporaneously, Babysitter's Club, if that makes sense? You'll have the same characters, probably with one central character, the same point of view, facing an escalating series of the same sort of thing, whether it's demons or dark lords or relationship complications or levels of schooling, ultimately culminating in the Big Thing: Satan or fighting your arch nemesis or marriage or graduating into adult life beyond the structure of educational institutions. Am I making sense? I think I'm making sense, I may be stating the painfully obvious. I'm tired. For the reader there's growth within the narrative but the structure makes the reading experience an easy one, literally, because you're reading same-ish things. That's what makes series so marketable and readable!

But pre-YA-as-a-genre, amidst the Blytons you also got:

- Everyone's problematic fave religious allegory from C.S. Lewis!

- Cooper's Dark is Rising series, which started Famous Five-y in structure and ran towards Tolkien!

- L'Engle's scientific-religious weirdness with the Murray family!

- Any DWJ that publishers try to coral as 'series'!

- (Friend Jen added Diane Duane's Young Wizard series.)

Megan Whalen Turner feels special because the way she's written her series calls back to what authors like the previously mentioned were doing before an expectation of audience and genre pressed books into something that asked less of their audience.

It doesn't have to be much.

But the way I have seen people, especially younger readers, talk about experiencing the series, is evocative of someone being given a new food with their meal and balking because it isn't what they asked for, it isn't what they expected, do they even want this?

In "The Thief" our protagonist is Gen, first person point of view.

In "The Queen of Attolia" our protagonist is still Gen, but out secondary protagonist is also a primary antagonist, Attolia, third person point of view, alternately limited and omniscient.

In "The King of Attolia" our protagonist is Costis (who is this Costis guy?! I want Gen!), third person limited.

In "A Conspiracy of Kings" our protagonist is Sophos (and sure, we know Sophos, but where's Costis?! WHAT ABOUT GEN? THIS IS GEN'S SERIES!), first person but also third person.

In "Thick as Thieves" our protagonist is Kamet a mostly-background character from several books back (BUT SOPHOS! AND GEN! WE'VE HAD SO LITTLE GEN!), first person.

In "Return of the Thief" our protagonist is Pheris (who is this Pheris kid?! Gen and Sophos are here but WHERE ARE COSTIS AND KAMET? ARE THEY OKAY?!), first person.

After each one, you love what you've gained due to the change, due to not getting what you 'want'. Still marketed as a series. Still /is/ a series. I can't imagine, for example, coming in to "Return of the Thief" cold. But Turner tells the story she's always intended to tell without conforming to reader or publisher expectations.

And she never answers questions.

This isn't to say she is disconnected from her fans. She has a lovely, engaged fanbase (she's on tumblr and not, sensibly, twitter). She delights in memes and fanart and reblogs so much of it.

But she doesn't answer questions. She doesn't even tell you how names are pronounced.

AND IN CONCLUSION that's why she's such a fascinating author and that is the kind of author who puts together a book like "Moira's Pen". Short stories, yes, but also short observations on ancient art that informed things in her stories, brief dialogues, poetry. There's a cake recipe.

Megan Whalen Turner finished a series that took her twenty-five years to write and the first thing she has published after ending that series includes a recipe for cake and I love that. It's perfect.

The stories in "Moira's Pen" bring up so many questions, dozens upon dozens, and there's no indication that Turner intends to answer any of them in future novels. And that's fine. Because Turner also spent six books teaching her audience that questions and empty space are part of storytelling and that the author's involvement in that, for the reader, begins and ends with the story you're given.

Okay, I think I'm done. Read "The Thief". It's fun.

#megan whalen turner #the queen's thief series #moira's pen #some thoughts about how books

111 notes · View notes

guzhufuren · 6 months

Text

Thailand 🇹🇭 A Guide to Some of the Best Queer Asian Shows

Full list here.

1. KinnPorsche mafia boss/bodyguard; action; kidnapper/kidnapee side couple

iQIYI

2. Bed Friend friends with benefits; office setting; trauma

Uncut 18+ on iQIYI or GagaOOLala or cut on YouTube

3. The Sign reincarnated lovers; fantasy; thai mythology; police

YouTube

4. I Feel You Linger In The Air period drama; time travel; bittersweet

GagaOOLala or YouTube

5. You're My Sky sports; university setting; coming of age

Viki

6. Cutie Pie (+Cutie Pie 2 You, Naughty Babe) arranged marriage; secret identity; crack

The sons of two companies, Lian and Kuea, have been engaged to each other since childhood. One decides he doesn't want the arranged marriage anymore while the other decides to win him back.

Cutie Pie: YouTube & Cutie Pie 2 You: Uncut 18+ on iQIYI or cut on YouTube & NB: uncut on IQIYI or cut on YouTube

7. Until We Meet Again reincarnated lovers; forbidden love;university setting

Two boys who couldn't be together in one life find each other again in another.

+ Between Us university setting; swimming club; trauma

A parallel story to Until We Meet Again. Win and Team get to know one another through the swimming club, and eventually develop a relationship. They grow their connection as Win helps Team deal with his childhood trauma.

UWMA: YouTube & Between Us: Special: YouTube & Between Us: Uncut 18+ on iQIYI or paid YouTube or cut on YouTube

8. Step By Step office setting; boss/employee; slowburn

Jeng is a marketing manager and son of the owner of the company. Pat is a new team member. Jeng develops a secret fondness for his new subordinate, but in this position, he has to be strict and picky with Pat.

Uncut 18+ on Viki or GagaOOLala or cut on YouTube

9. GAP The Series wlw; office setting; boss/employee; class difference

Long after Sam first came to Mon's rescue when they were kids, Sam is unambiguously Mon's idol. In order to be near Sam, Mon gets a job working under her. When they finally meet again at the office, Mon is surprised by Sam’s icy exterior, so different from the image she'd had of her. Mon and Sam aren't just different in demeanour; they stand apart in class and age.

YouTube

10. Lucky My Love wlw; office setting

In the pursuit of love, Nabdao has been doing everything. She has got her fortune read. She's gone on a string of blind dates. Unfortunately, no one seems to be on the same page as her. She starts to think that perhaps her gorgeous and caring boss Pheem could be the one for her. Then Vela, her new team leader, comes into the picture and shakes things up with her observant and affectionate care.

YouTube

11. La Pluie soulmate alternative universe

In an alternate universe where Thailand is perpetually rainy and soulmates exist, La Pluie traces the story of Saengtai, who suffers from sensorineural hearing loss every time it rains. The only voice he can hear then is that of his soulmate, but he is adamant about not giving said soulmate a chance due to having seen his parents’ (who are also soulmates) relationship deteriorate.

YouTube or iQIYI

12. I Told Sunset About You (+ Last Twilight in Phuket, I Promised You the Moon) coming of age; childhood friends to lovers; high school setting

Two childhood best friends-turned-rivals meet again, awakening an old rivalry and old feelings. They now have to navigate their lives together and the growing attraction toward each other.

Viki (ITSAY) & YouTube (LTIP) & Viki (IPYTM)

13. Ghost Host, Ghost House crush at first sight; ghosts; grief

Kevin's passion is the challenge of hunting ghosts. He returns to Thailand after 10 years to stay with his aunt's family, but he didn't know that he'd come to stay under the same roof as those hunted ghosts. There he meets Pluem, a young gardener working for his family and a spark ignites between them.

YouTube or GagaOOLala

14. Something In My Room ghost/human; mystery; bittersweet

Looking to start a new life in a new house with his mother, Phat feels something uncanny in his room, which turns out to be the ghost of Phob. Phob wants Phat’s help in solving the mystery of his death before it’s too late.

I recommend watching the extended uncut version on KissKH or Dramacool, but you can also watch cut version on YouTube

15. Manner of Death crime; mystery; dark

A forensic pathologist Bunn is threatened to identify a manner of one victim's death as suicide — something that is not true according to the autopsy performed. The prime suspect seems to be a man named Tan who denies all involvement. They team up together to find the real murderer.

WeTV

16. Triage time loop; hospital setting; crime; mystery

As a resident in the emergency room, one should be indifferent when not saving a patient's life. But Tin got the chance to reverse a random patient's death for the second, third, and countless times. To help Tol and save his life.

AIS PLAY

17. Love Mechanics cheating; university setting

A love story that starts one night in a club — between Mark, who is drunk and carrying the painful burden of his one-sided love, and the boy who he bumps into and mistakes as the object of his affection. They spend a night together and gradually Mark falls for Vee, although he knows Vee has a girlfriend. Will the love between them make it?

WeTV

18. Wedding Plan wedding planner/groom; lavender marriage; wlw side couple

Nuea is a professional wedding planner. Sailom happens to be the perfect man for Nuea based on his visual considerations for a man. But the universe has an unimaginable sense of humor as Sailom and his fiance Yiwa turn out to be Nuea's new clients.

Uncut 18+ on iQIYI or cut on Youtube & iQIYI (special episode)

19. Laws of Attraction lawyers; crime

When working-class man Tinn's niece fails to receive justice for her untimely death, he encounters Charn, a cynical morally corrupt lawyer. As Tinn and Charn team up to delve deeper into the case, they form a close bond despite their ideological differences. The series explores Charn and Tinn’s fight for justice, even though they were on opposite sides of the fence at the beginning.

YouTube

20. Secret Crush On You “nerd”/popular guy; queer friend group; university setting

Discover the secret of a nerdy young man, Toh, who fell in love with a popular third-year senior. Because his dream is so far from reach, observing is the only thing he could do. But what happens when one auspicious day the world devises an opportunity for Toh to make himself known to his crush Nuea?

YouTube

21. To Sir, With Love period drama; family drama; rich man/lower class man

A powerful family suffering from internal power struggles is now facing an even greater secret threat, the oldest son and heir is gay.

YouTube

22. My Only 12% best friends to lovers; slow burn

Cake and Seeiw, next-door neighbors and childhood best friends, navigate their feelings towards each other as they grow up.

YouTube

23. Show Me Love wlw; beauty pageants

Meena moves to Bangkok to achieve her singing dreams. She chances across Cherine who asks Meena to join her in a beauty pageant. The girls' journey for the crown begins and a romance between them sparks.

YouTube

24. Pit Babe omegaverse; alpha/alpha; car racing

Babe is the number one race car driver and an alpha with special abilities who only has sex with other alphas. Nerdy naive alpha Charlie approaches Babe to ask for his help to become a racer himself. Babe agrees to help Charlie realise his dream, but it will come with a price.

Uncut on iQIYI or cut on YouTube

---

You can watch many shows for free on YouTube, and watch others on the streaming websites by setting VPN to Thailand. In other cases I recommend paying for subscriptions to show appreciation and support of content in order to get more of it in the future, but if you can’t, watch on KissKH (better quality), Dramacool or get files from MkvDrama. Enjoy! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

#mygifs #mine #thai ql

186 notes · View notes

buriedself · 11 months

Text

@ HIDDENJEM JUST POSTED … thank you for the incredible response to f&s just one day after release ! so excited for the book signing tomorrow. come say hi !!!!!!!

001. STATISTICS …

GENERAL DETAILS.

FULL NAME: james abeke muyiwa. NICKNAME(S): jem, jamie. AGE: twenty8. DATE OF BIRTH: february 9th, 1995. PLACE OF BIRTH: new brunswick, new jersey. CURRENT LOCATION: upper west side. GENDER: genderfluid. PRONOUNS: she/he/they, no preference. ORIENTATION: bisexual. OCCUPATION: author. EDUCATION LEVEL: mfa in writing from columbia.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE, ETC.

HEIGHT: 5'6. TATTOOS: none. PIERCINGS: one in each ear. CLOTHING STYLE: 1) comfortable. 2) colorful & fun. DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS: biiiiiig smile.

HEALTH.

ALLERGIES: peanuts. SLEEPING HABITS: poor. will often wake up in the middle of the night to write & stay up very late. non-existent sleep schedule. discord status is always active. EATING HABITS: enjoys sweets a lot. SOCIABILITY: 10/10. highly sociable. the extrovert friend. DRINKING / SMOKING / DRUGS: no / no / no.

PERSONALITY.

LABELS / TROPES: did not think this through, most writers are writers, affectionate nickname, beware the silly / nice ones, the cutie, disappeared dad, the heart, shipper on deck, affectionate nicknames, bad liar, book smart, cheerful child, cute clumsy girl, endearingly dorky, good cannot comprehend evil, hates being alone, open mouth insert foot, perpetual smiler, silly rabbit cynicism is for losers, you are not alone. INSPIRATIONS: jester lavorre (cr2), han sooyoung (orv), jessica day (new girl), phil dunphy (modern family). POSITIVE TRAITS: ambitious, enthusiastic, creative, expressive, mischievous NEGATIVE TRAITS: clumsy, naïve, inexperienced, credulous, over-trusting LIKES: classical music, winter, cats. DISLIKES: alcoholic drinks, tight schedules, summer. FEARS: disappointing her mother, failure. HABITS: bouncing on toes, nervous giggling, bouncing leg, filler words HOBBIES: watching tv / movies, reading, strategy games, d&d.

FAMILY, RELATIONSHIPS, ETC.

MOTHER: alive & well. FATHER: estranged. SIGNIFICANT OTHER: none. BEST FRIEND: tba. EXES: none. SIBLING(S): none. CHILDREN: none. PET(S): cat named cat the second after their childhood cat named cat.

002. BIOGRAPHY / HEADCANONS …

born and raised in jersey by a single mom. dad was out of the picture and mom always told a romantic story of how he's off doing something heroic to protect their family. jem still believes this.

mom wasn't well off by any means, she had to work to put jem through school, though jem got scholarships for college. their mom gained notoriety for her incredible singing voice after a stroke of luck on american idol when jem was already a college freshman.

has always been very talented at writing to the point that nearly everytime they entered a writing competition in middle/high school, they won. their short stories were always either very poetic and prose heavy, or contained an incredible amount of world building.

published their first book, zugzwang, when they were still in college. it got picked up by a big deal publisher and while it didn't get popular, they still kept them on under the impression that they'd do very very good for the company when the time was right.

their next book, long past dawn, gained popularity very quickly, especially with queer teens/new adults. easily their favorite book to date, it holds a very special place in their heart.

after that, it was all uphill. their trilogy, steele legacy, put them on the map. they're a highly sought after author to the point that they have even done some guest lectures at their alma mater.

sucks at writing romance because they've never been in a relationship and it's kinda making their publisher mad because the fans want romance !

personality wise they are very sweet, very funny, will pull innocent/harmless pranks on their friends. extremely extroverted. genuinely just here for a good time. always, always smiling.

unfortunately, they're also quite gullible and naïve, easy to manipulate. they grew up pretty sheltered as their mom always worried about them. really just takes things at face value.

steele legacy trilogy is getting a movie adaption ! but shh that's a secret.

003. CAREER …

zugzwang (2013) : a very da vinci code-like mystery thriller novel with some knives out/glass onion type humor. her highest selling novel after the steele legacy and f&s. only gained traction after steele legacy's release. long past dawn (2015) : a short coming of age novel in a first-person biography style about a new adult figuring out their identity as a queer person while navigating college life. happy, sweet ending. sheep in wolf's clothing (2018) : sci-fi horror written in an epistory style that was, honestly, not that well received due to how experimental the writing was. due to the success of the rest of her works, it has garnered a solid fanbase. steele legacy trilogy (2016-2022) : quintessential high fantasy series with incredibly impressive world building that put her on the map once booktok got a hold of it. easy to digest prose that walks the line between too-flowery and easy to understand. new adult / adult audience simply due to the heavy topics. as the rest of her books, there is no romance, but fans are obsessed with the three protagonists - luka, jingyi, and zora - as a throuple based simply on platonic relationships. faithless & stolid (2023) : the first book in a trilogy taking place in the same world as steele legacy, though it is technically a prequel. even better reception than steele legacy so far. publisher & fans are urging them to involve romance in this one. future projects : publisher is pushing them to write something before releasing the second part to f&s, preferably romance, despite their unfamiliarity with the genre.

004. CONNECTIONS …

best friends (0/∞) : she makes friends like no one else. clicks immediately with anyone and everyone

someone who she convinces to fake date so they can fake break up with her so she knows how heart break feels like so that she can somehow come up with a romance book to keep her people happy. maybe there's feelings. maybe there isn't.

actors to star in the steele legacy adaption !

authors she looks up to, authors she's friends with, authors that have beef with her

rivals but it's one sided because she doesn't dislike anyone honestly

crushes.... unrequited... probably her who has a crush and is going to do nothing about it.

fans !

people who get into prank wars with her <3

good / bad influence

???? idk profit. she's fun but naïve and i want her to be manipulated and stuck in places/situations that she feels out of her depth with because she needs to grow up. ruin her !

#wealth.intro

8 notes · View notes

rat-prophetess · 1 year

Note

wow. i guess i rly don't get it. i get most other things i can think of except martyrs

oh that is absolutely 100% fair. It’s incredibly specific, and it’s my favorite film but I’ve only ever recommended it to one (1) person irl haha.

I think the thing is that most people who watch it think that it’s just torture porn and, I mean, fair, but I think it’s a love story. Like I think the reason I latched into it so hard is that it’s about human connection even when the world contains nothing but relentless, unbearable suffering. It’s a queer(!) love story about how love doesn’t have to be reciprocated to be real, and the capacity to love someone unconditionally is something to hold onto when there’s nothing else. Even if it can’t save you or stop what’s happening around you, it’s still important.

And I think it’s an exceptionally good representation of trauma and doesn’t shy away from portraying the way certain things can fuck you up irreversibly. Which sounds fatalistic and cruel, but it’s also true, and it’s reassuring for someone to admit that.

Like, whatever that quote is about how horror is there to “disturb the comforted and comfort the disturbed” comes down to the fact that a lot of horror movies can be boiled down to “sometimes awful things can happen to people who don’t deserve them for no reason and they can’t be prevented”. And if you’re a person who’s had a pretty ok life so far, that sounds like a threat; but if you’re someone who’s gone through a lot of shit, especially at a young age, that can sound like “it wasn’t your fault, there was nothing you could have done about it, and you’re not responsible for deriving some kind of meaning from it”, you know?

(And I’m not saying that everyone who has trauma loves horror, that everyone who loves horror has trauma, or any related corollaries lol. Two of my best friends have PTSD, one of them watched Martyrs with me and the other one hates anything scary and loves cartoons and those are both 100% valid.)

Also just on a meta level, it’s weirdly reassuring to me that the writer/director was suicidal depressed (shocked pikachu face) and despite/because of that managed to create this extremely beautiful piece of art that made me feel less alone.

Anyway sorry that was more than I meant to write and less coherent bc I just woke up but thank you for coming to my ted talk!! I am actually incapable of shutting up about my special interests so please do not feel obliged to read All That

#ask #martyrs #martyrs my beloved #making myself a t shirt that says ‘ask me about the new French extremity’#fun fact I wrote a 15-page paper about this and another film of the same genre for a French seminar like a year ago #and then had to do a presentation on it in front of the class #rip to my classmates but the prof was cool as fuck for letting me do that #rats: they’re just like us!

15 notes · View notes

anendoandfriendo · 2 years

Text

Hello!

AKA the Forever-WIP Post

We're The Rusanya Collective, or just "Rusanya" collectively. We're a protogenic-endogenic (or, to simplify, recursigenic) system of over 300 folks, many of who consider themselves factual fictives and/or soulbonds.

We'd like to think we're some form of queer for the most part, but we haven't really had a good chance to interact with an offline culture yet (we plan to work on this AT SOME POINT but we just got a promotion at our new job and like, are trying to recover from retail & other assorted bullshit).

We like to look at pretty art on this website and read & write stories even if we don't do that much anymore and listen to podcasts. We like video games and watching TV & movies and working on our headspace & simply plural and trying to be happy on our social media while being open as an Autistic system.

We have a cat who is called Cookie. We have a double BA in psychology and social justice from which we graduated in 2020 with. We are just learning to cook in general but especially with a slow cooker, which is better for our ADHD. We actually like living in our current apartment, which has been much better for our overall health (especially mental health) which is important to us.

We don't really have a DNI but we do block if we feel like we don't want you here. You could've been a bigot or maybe you just set us off talking about potato salad one too many times.

Links to Stuff

Throne Wishlist - Please?

Cash App - You can also just straight up tip us on this Tumblr but, welp, if Cash App makes you feel better we want that option to be available.

Our Pillowfort Account, Our SpaceHey, Our Cohost, & Our Aethy Account (18+) - If shit hits the fan with Tumblr, these are where you can maybe find us. If you are mutuals with us or we know who you were/are while we were at university you may also message us for our Discord but we cannot guarantee we will actually hand it out 'cause of our personal anxiety stuff.

Sideblogs

@rusanya-does-edits - Our new edit blog!! We made it because we've made so many of them we just figured this would be easier on us. XD

@rusanyas-sunshine - We're bringing this back because we've realized we have a lot of things we need to hear and none of them are supposed to be mean.

Directory for headmates' sideblogs. We don't use our own sideblogs too often, but we like having them anyways. Feel free to follow and block whomever if you want to keep up with certain folks or avoid others.

Other

We're the queue mutual lol, that is to say, we use both the queue and fast reblog options. Good luck with that!

Our dividers were made by @hypnosiacon, tysm for these! They're great and we like swirlies lol.

Please, please, PLEASE send us asks! We have been needing to update this for ages, but generally, these are the requisite things to keep in mind when doing so. We have those needs for personal safety/wellbeing, but like, it's also very much case by case too so if you need something just...say so? And we want to have fun too! Small talk, infodumps about special interests, cool shit, anything really, those can also go in the ask box.

If you are sending us an ask in reference to another being, please see these guidelines and read through them before you do.

If you are asking us why we do not tag posts as default, please see this specific post before you do, but feel absolutely free to ask for a tag on a per-post basis and try to link/indicate the post for us.

We probably aren't gonna bitecha in the mean way unless you're being a jerk. It can take awhile for us to get through asks but, well, we do try!

We play ClanGen sometimes, we have Pluralityclan so far, our general tag is "#rusanya plays clangen" without the quotations. We are open to others suggesting lore and details for cats who do not have planned lore/details or in-depth lore/details.

Hm. Besides that, we have a bunch of userboxes and cannot remember for the life of us where some of them have come from (except the pro-MOGAI and romanticizing plurality ones, we made those ourselves a long long time ago on our defunct account)!

------------

♤♤ anendoandfriendo ♤♤

~ Art from picsart ~

[A sparkly signature image. The background is the endogenic system flag, recursigenic flag, and protogenic flag. The endogenic flag has the treblesand on it. Amber from Genshin Impact is on the left side of the image; Cinderella from Disney's Cinderella and Aquamarine Hoshino from Oshi No Ko are on the right side. The words "They/Them (pl.)" sit in the bottom corner of the image.]

58 notes · View notes