#ci-fi books

[destinedtobeloved]

‘ “I won't. There's been too much.” She cleared her throat. "I don't want you to hurt any more, Kovacs. I don't want any more damage,”

“Damage to Ryker's sleeve, you mean?” She looked at me.

“No,” she said quietly. 'No, I don't mean that.”

Then she was pressed up against me, there in that grim metal corridor, arms wrapped hard around me and face buried in my chest, all without apparent transition. I did some swallowing of my own and held her tightly while the last of what time we had trickled away like grains of sand through my fingers. And at that moment I would have given almost anything not to have had a plan for her to hear, not to have had any way to dissolve what was growing between us, and not to have hated Reileen Kawahara quite so much.

I would have given almost anything.’

- Richard Morgan, Altered Carbon

[beeapocalypse]

get so caught up in the euphoria of an interesting story concept that i forget cis ppl exist

[natalieironside]

(icon by @neladoesart)

Hi! I'm Natalie. I'm trans of gender and ace of sexual and I write dark fantasy and dark sci-fi adventure stories full of boners and thud-and-blunder action violence wherein no swash remains unbuckled, nor pot unboiled. I also blog about books and history and languages and I write essays and poetry sometimes, and don't forget about the many exciting Age of Empires 2 scenarios available at Natalie's Cool Website.

You might have heard my short story The Wishing Tree on the Tales to Terrify podcast! (now available as a zine from Grinning Kitten Press). Other stuff I’ve published to date includes:

THE LAST GIRL SCOUT: A post-apocalyptic wasteland adventure story and transbian romance about two women who fall in lesbians together and fight Nazis and draculas in the bombed-out ruins of Old America

LEAD AND ROSES: LOVE SONGS AT THE END OF THE WORLD: A collection of short fiction set within 23rd-century post-nuclear wasteland we’ve all come to know and love

IN THE COURT OF THE NAMELESS QUEEN: A collection of dark fantasy f/f erotica about sexy swashbuckling swordswomen (both cis and normal) and a giant scary monster lady in a far-off realm of adventure and dark magic.

If you're curious I'd really like it if you'd check out my Patreon because there's even more fantabulous treasures on there and you can subscribe for the low, low price of just one American dollar. Your one American dollar will go toward the ever topical "Natalie can make rent and doesn't starve" philanthropy fund.

I'm gonna stay here on Tumblr until they forcibly remove me from the premises, but I'm also on Pillowfort, Bluesky, and Cohost

:)

[kawaiibarty]

black brothers headcanons

sirius has grey eyes, reg has blue

sirius has freckles on his face and regulus has moles all over his body

reg and sirius are almost equal in height (6'0/1") but sirius is obviously the taller one (he's not)

sirius is cis, biromantic homosexual and reg is ftm and gay.

sirius hid his "posh accent" during his hogwarts years until he started talking like remus/peter while regulus was "bullied" for talking like royalty (barty you asshat)

regulus and sirius are both fluent in french, classical greek and russian (i always had this hc that the black family are distantly related to russian royalty and because of their superiority complex they decided to integrate that into EVERYTHING THAT THEY DO, including the part about their children having the father's first name as their second [hence sirius orion black, and also why i feel regulus's choice in nomenclature, regulus arcturus black, is so important!!!! GUYSPLEASEASKMEABOUTITPLEASEPLEASEPLEASE])

sirius used to play piano but he's not so good anymore, he taught himself acoustic guitar. regulus is fluent in piano and sax. idk ive just always seen him being more into jazz than classical but he probably dabbles in some violin/viola too.

sirius has always been more into the rougher sports, definitely quidditch but it wasn't enough, totally took up ice hockey at some point at the potter house hold (he prefers contact sport) as well as tennis/badminton. regulus does figure skating and quidditch. maychance tennis.

sirius prefers to read books around 120 to 300 pages while regulus loves to drown himself in tomes over 700 pages.

sirius introduced reg to muggle authors such as alexander dumas and joseph conrad. sirius is more of a george orwell/charles dickons kinda guy

sirius's favourite genre in literature is dystopian/sci-fi, fantasy and drama while regulus is more into philosophy and legends as well as wiccan type shit ykwim???? and also historical dramas

sirius's favourite films are topgun, footloose and the terminator and obviously labyrinth, regulus cba to watch film and prefers musicals/other stage productions. his favourite is the phantom of the opera or hamlet depending on the day lol (projection mayhaps)

regulus is into britpop, emo/rock and post punk bands, eg: placebo (everyone stfu and let me cook), blur, pierce the veil, fall out boy, bauhaus, joy division etc etc. sirius is defos into glam rock, art rock, 80s pop, y'all get the picture, for example: david bowie (the obvious), t-rex (atyd fans, fuckin pull up), def leppard, queen (what's a sirius black depiction without some fat bottomed girls????) anyway im going over the word count chat

TW: abuse, homophobia etc etc (black family type shizzle)

sirius would take the blame for reg's mistakes (meaning he'd suffer the brunt of the abuse so that regulus doesn't have to though im sure as a fandom we've all collectively agreed that sirius has a silent saviour complex ft. fiercely loyal determination to protect his, and all of his loved ones' pride simultaneously)

regulus taught sirius morse code so that they could communicate in the house with minimal noise.

sirius taught regulus how to cut his hair after he came out as well as how to apply makeup to appear more masculine. he also provided reg with money for his transition when his parents started becoming too strict with their money after sirius was estranged.

regulus would write to james whenever sirius couldn't (GUYS OH MY GOD I HATE JT HERE)

uhm that's all for now folks, ask me for more if you dare.

[doing-swell]

hello, my name's swellie 💖✨🌈 aka: new pinned post! new pinned post! read all abt it!

welcome to my blog! I started on here almost exactly a year ago, and since then I've learned not only so much about my pregnancy kink, but also about myself. being here has been formative for my kink exploration journey, and it's helped me deconstruct years of catholic school girl trauma (s/o to catholic guilt!).

This is a pregnancy and birth fetish vlog. This is an 18+ only environment. DO NOT INTERACT IF 18 OR YOUNGER. I am a 27 year old white cis woman with brown hair. I identify as a neurodivergent bisexual woman on the ace-spectrum. I live in the US - New England specifically!

I've had a pregnancy kink since I was a kid. I even got in trouble for google image searching "pregnat" on my childhood computer lol (it was 2006 folks, what else was i supposed to do?) I created this blog to share the beautiful side of this kink. I hope you enjoy! <3

Keep reading below!

As a queer person I will absolutely not condone any form of homophobia, transphobia, racism, misogyny, etc etc. I am an open and tolerant person, and please do not try to take advantage of me because of this. I mostly only follow back people whose content I enjoy seeing.

When I interact with kink content here, I mostly imagine myself as the pregnant carrier. I mostly get off to picturing myself in some sort of pain (i.e. labor) or I like to picture myself with a pregnant person.

Things I really enjoy:

Wearing a fake pregnant belly

Pregnant bellies (specifically, large pregnant bellies, smaller bellies, those with stretch marks, red bellies, moving bellies)

Breeding <3

Impregnation <3

Poking pregnant bellies, rubbing them etc

Stirrups, medical torture stuff, etc (FANTASY ONLY. I CANNOT REPEAT THAT ENOUGH. DO NOT INTERACT WITH ME IF YOU FEEL OTHERWISE)

Birth, birth denial, labor and contractions

Pregnant lesbians (because duh,,, I’m fucking gay)

Historical pregnancies or pregnancies set in the past

Clothes not being able to fit/spilling out of old clothes

Giant swollen boobs (especially with veins 🙈)

Giant bellies in laps <3

Waddling and being out of breathe, struggling to sit up, contractions, unable to get up from sitting, etc

Curves🤤🤤

I’m not into:

Anime/ drawings

Monster fucking, slime, pups/litter talk, etc

Mpreg

Beastiality, aliens, monsters, anything sci fi

Eggs or pushing out objects

Feederism, feedies, or stuffing (in very very specific circumstances I tolerate this)

Anything to do with fatphobia or shaming folks for their size/weight

Swollen feet

It gets weird when it gets misogonistic in a "I would actually vote to overturn roe v wade if I had the chance" kind of thing -- if it's fantasy/pure imagination, I'm all ears. But when I think you would actually hate crime me IRL..... that's when I [not-so] politely decline ❤️🫶🏻

Other disclaimers:

I am in a relationship right now and she knows about this blog and my kink. She is so supportive and I love her very much. We are very open to exploring ourselves sexually, but never, and I mean never, would I risk my relationship because of something on here. If you cross a line, I will immediately tell you. Please do not assume I want to fuck you or be in a relationship with you in real life, this is purely for kink purposes. I think of you as my friends! If I talk to you, or respond to your DM's or like your content occasionally, that means I'm grateful to have you in my life and you make my life better by being in it. Xoxo, thank you for understanding!

Please send me asks, tell me about your fantasies, ask me questions about my fetish. I want to learn more about you as well! I’m an open book when it comes to most things, I promise I won’t judge you 🙈

I don’t want to tell you my real name, where I live, or anything about me in real life. You won’t ever see my face. It’s what I’m comfortable with, full stop. If you do get my name or anything from me, it’s for you only. Do not share that without my consent. For purposes of this blog, you can call me Swellie 🤪

I love interacting with mutuals through tags and captions 💋 it’s my way of flirting and will swoon if you do the same

Happy swelling, babies 🫡

[booksinmythorax]

So you're an adult who wants to start reading for fun, but you don't know where to start

I'm a librarian, and I hear at least once a week from people who sheepishly tell me that they'd love to start reading for fun (for the first time or after a long break). Here's my best advice broken down into bullet points, but start here: there is no shame in being a beginner.

-Think about what you do enjoy and start from there. So you're not a book person. Do you like movies? Television? Podcasts? Music? Tabletop games? Video games? What other media do you like and what does it have in common? Make a little list and Venn diagram that shit.

Maybe you're into stories about fucked-up families (Sharp Objects, Succession) or found families (lots of realplay TTRPG podcasts, Leverage, Avatar: The Last Airbender) or fucked-up found families (various Batman media, Steven Universe, The Good Place). Maybe you mainly watch or listen to stuff for the romance (Taylor Swift music, The Best Man, Heartstopper) or the sci-fi horror (The Magnus Archives, M3gan, Nope) or the romantic sci-fi horror (Welcome to Night Vale). And hey, maybe you're not a fictional media person at all. What do you like? What do you want to know about? World history? True crime? Home improvement? Birdwatching? Gardening? Various animals and their behavior? Human psychology? Cooking? If it's a thing, there are books about it. Start there.

Think about why you started to dislike reading. Did an adult snatch a book you thought looked cool out of your hands and say "Don't read that, it's below your reading level/above your reading level/a comic, not a real book"? Did school give you an endless parade of miserable, bleak books and tell you they were universal stories about the human condition? Or did it maybe only give you stories with saccharine, unearned happy endings, or only show you stories about straight cis wealthy abled white kids, or keep you from reading entire books at all in favor of endlessly dissecting tiny passages out of context? (For some vindication, check out "How Teachers Make Children Hate Reading" by John Holt.) Did you have an older sibling or a friend who was better at reading? Did adults put you in competition with that other kid and make you feel like shit about it? Were you in a situation where you were good at reading in one language, or even more than one, but required to read in another that you were still learning? Did this make you feel like you were "behind schedule" or like you shouldn't read at all? Or was reading just harder for you than it seemed for other people? Did reading give you headaches? Did the letters or numbers seem to float around on the page? Was it hard for you to focus for long enough to get through a whole book? Did you need to learn to read differently than the kids around you could? Did adults punish you for this instead of helping you? (Look, I'm not a doctor, but if any of these apply to you, consider going to an optometrist, a psychologist, and/or a psychiatrist to talk about these things if they're persistent and interfere with your life.) Or maybe you're burned out on reading. Maybe you did an advanced degree in literature or writing or history or some other reading-heavy discipline and you're just tired. Maybe your professors or classmates got snobby about what constituted "literary" works and their good opinion didn't line up with what you actually enjoy. You get to be sad and angry about these things, if they happened to you. They're also clues to how to move forward if you'd like to read more, or enjoy reading more.

Give yourself permission to read whatever you want, in whatever way you want. Wanna start with young adult books? Middle grade books? Awesome. Many of them have stories that are sophisticated and complex. Starting with re-reading the first books you enjoyed reading could help jog your memory about why you initially found it fun. Hell, even picture books are a good start. Have you read a picture book lately? Those things are getting cooler every day. Comics and graphic novels? Those count as reading. Many of them are published for adults, though again, the ones published for a middle-grade or young adult audience are often complex and moving. If you're an anime fan, give manga a shot. The source material for many anime go deeper into the characters and stories, especially now that anime seasons are often truncated to 12 episodes for entire series. (The right-to-left thing is easier to get used to than you think, too.) Romance novels and mystery thrillers and science fiction and fantasy? Those count as reading. Many of the things you might have liked about the books you read as a child or a teenager are present in adult "genre" fiction, and many of the things you might despise about adult "literary" fiction (god, I hate that word, but that's another post) may be absent from those titles. E-books and audiobooks definitely count as reading, and they're often more accessible than paper books for some people. Anybody who tries to genre- or format-shame you is a dick and not worth talking to.

Go to your local library. All right, shameless self-promotion here, I'll admit it. But I promise you, if you walk into a library and say "I'm an adult, I stopped reading a while ago, and I'd like to start back up again but I need suggestions," you will make someone's day. I get asked for my opinion about books approximately once a month. I get asked how to use the printer approximately eighty-five times a day. I love helping with the printer and I'm saying that unironically, but my colleagues and I absolutely adore "readers' advisory" questions. If you come with the answers to the above questions about your preferred genres, formats, and reasons you'd like to read, it'll help the process, but most of us are trained to ask follow-up questions to get you the best possible book match. Do not apologize. You are not bothering us. It is literally part of our job. We want people to know that reading is fun, and you are a people.

[finleyforevermore]

HELP DELILAH!!!

HELP APOLLO!!!

My contact information.

About me!

First picture/profile picture/avatar made with this!

Second picture/drawing made by my wonderful friend Korey (@sharkbaitju1ce)! Great artist and even greater friend, please check their stuff out! :D

Third picture/picrew by @/potato-lord-but-not!

Please, if you know my age through DMs or Discord, DO NOT POST IT OUTSIDE OF PRIVATE SPACES WITH ME. I WILL CONSIDER THIS AN ATTACK.

IF A HOSTILE/OFFENSIVE ANON CALLS ME THEIR FRIEND, I AM NOT!!!! IF AN ANON SENDS SELF-HARM PICTURES AND TAGS ME IN THE ASK, THAT IS NOT ME!!!!!

More under the cut, friends! Please be sure to peruse through all of the IMPORTANT LINKS! You may also take a look at all of my wonderful Tumblr family members, but the important links ESPECIALLY. Thank you! :)

Name: Finley, but you can call me Finn or Fin, too! Or really ANY nickname derivative of Finley! I ADORE nicknames, please feel free to give me some! :D

Birthday: January 8th!

♑ (Capricorn): The Ambitious Nature

Age: Minor

Interests: Animation, voice acting, musicals

MBTI: INFJ-T

Gender/Orientation: Cis male, sex-repulsed asexual

Musical genres I like: Musicals, Classical, Orchestral, Jazz, Lo-fi, Ambient, I dabble in rock sometimes 😅

Pronouns: He/him/his

Quote(s) that describe(s) my life:

"And all I really want is some justice! Ahhh!" - "All I Really Want" by Alanis Morrisette, from the album "Jagged Little Pill"

"I've earned the right to selfishly be all for one and one for me." - "Loser Geek Whatever" from "Be More Chill"

Favorite colors: Green and blue.

Favorite Book(s): "Good Dog" by Dan Gemeinhart, "Thanks a Lot, Universe" by Chad Lucas, "Ghost Boys" by Jewell Parker Rhodes, "Long Way Down" by Jason Reynolds, "Show Us Who You Are" by Elle McNicoll

Favorite Season: Fall/Autumn

Favorite musical(s): Wicked, Hadestown, and Come From Away

Favorite film: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Favorite band: Tally Hall

Favorite shows: Infinity Train, Bluey, Hilda

DNI:

Homophobic

Blogs with DNI Minors

Xenophobic

Racists

TERFS

Radfems

Anti-abortion

Antisemites

Anti-furries

Anti-therians

Zoophiles

Wilbur Soot defenders/supporters/fans

TERFS

You ship incest, pedophilia, real people, etc.

Anti-BLM/All Lives Matter

Porn bot

Do not stand with Palestine

MAP/NOMAP

Pro-facist

Sexist

Ableist

Islamophobes

Other stuff!:

Pall Weople and Hurricane Family enthusiast!

I have chromesthesia!

If my profile pic wasn't any indicator, I wear glasses!

I play the violin and sometimes the piano!

I give off platypus vibes according to my friends!

11 of my friends have called me a "ray of sunshine" so I guess it must be true XD

I like boots more than shoes.

I saw Wicked on 10/5/22!!! 💚💚💚

[haveyoureadthistransbook]

Hello I'm joining the Have You Read/Watched/Listened to polls, but this time about trans books ❤️.

Submissions are open. Books already submitted can be found here.

My bookshop Affiliate Link can be found here if you'd like to buy any books mentioned in the polls and support my own book buying.

Further Information under the cut:

First I want to define what I consider a trans book for this poll: Any book with a main transgender character or a strong transgender focus. The character doesn't need to be the only main character or their story about transitioning, but the character has to be canon transgender (on page & textually heavily implied are both acceptable). Transgender here includes any non-cis identities and I will accept questioning and unlabeled characters. The author doesnt need to be transgender (or out), but if I know the book is marketed as ownvoices I will tag it as such, as it might be interesting for some people.

All genres are welcome. I personally mainly read horror, fantasy and sci-fi, so I would love recommendations in other genres. I will also include memoirs and non-fiction books.

Traditionally published and self published books are all welcome, but for self published books I would appreciate a link for where to find it and find a summary & cover picture.

You are allowed to give your personal opinions in the tags and replies, but don't be bigoted or start fighting in the notes please or I will block you.

For now I appreciate any and all feedback on how to best run this as I'm just starting out. I already accept submissions!

[pers-books]

Lesbians in Space: The Anthology (Where No Man Has Gone Before)

Booktopia 2024 📚#Fantasy#Indie#Sci-Fi

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You've asked for it, so Space Wizard provides. Here is the long-anticipated Lesbians In Space Anthology!

Space Wizard Science Fantasy!

Space Wizard Science Fantasy is a queer science fiction and fantasy indie publishing company which opened its doors in 2021 to publishing outside authors. - In 2022, the Space Wizard Science Fantasy Year 1 campaign raised nearly $18,000 to pay authors top rates, create amazing book covers, fund an audiobook recording, and publish 12 books between June 2022 and June 2023. - In 2023, Year 2 raised over $18,000 for 12 more books released from June 2023 to June 2024 with more excellent covers, custom illustrations, and pro rates for our anthology writers! This year we added exclusive collector's hardbacks! - In 2024, Year 3 just concluded in July with another $17,250 raised for for 13 books, one omnibus, and 2 TTRPGs!

We're back again this September for one more anthology, this time with a bunch of incredible authors participating in Booktopia. Lesbians in Space has a stellar (ha!) lineup of writers already on board, including (in order of confirmation):

- Seanan McGuire, multiple Hugo Award-winning author of the Wayward Children series, the October Daye series, and the Incryptid series!

- Travis Baldree, author of Legends and Lattes, shortlisted for the Hugo Award for best novel in 2023, as well as exceptional audiobook narrator!

- Emma Newman, Hugo Award-winning podcaster and author of the Planetfall series, which was shortlisted for the Best Series Hugo Award in 2020!

- Mary Robinette Kowal. Hugo Award-winner Mary Robinette Kowal has written: The Spare Man, The Glamourist Histories series, Ghost Talkers, the Lady Astronaut Universe, and many short stories.

Also see our "writers" section below for our current roster, and for how you can submit your story!

Lesbians in Space: Where No Man Has Gone Before

Peanut butter and chocolate. Cheese and wine. Sex and rock n’ roll. History is full of great pairings.

Get ready for the next great one: Lesbians and Space! Join a host of intrepid explorers heading to the outer reaches of the galaxy, exploring planets, space stations, strange new worlds and interesting aliens. Focusing on lesbian / sapphic protagonists, this anthology will contain works from numerous established, award-winning, and lesfic authors, and a few new faces as well.

We have an amazing cover already created by Serene Chia, and we have a bunch of great addons and gifts for you as well! This anthology is going to be packed with fully-inclusive, sapphic stories about space, space opera, science fiction, exploration, adventure, and of course, romance. The stories will have representation of all sorts, including cis, trans, bi, sapphic, non-binary, ace, aro, and many other types. There's lots of room for Lesbians in Space!

We have our invited group of writers already working on stories for the anthology, but we're opening up to any and all submissions as well! So if you're a writer, polish off your best story about Lesbians in Space, and send it in!

Are you a writer? Do you like Lesbians in Space? We will be holding juried selections for more stories for the Lesbians in Space anthology. To enter, simply polish off your writing skills and craft a story of around 2000-4500 words, but definitely not over 6000.

This anthology will focus on lesbian relationships of all types, including cis, bi/pan, ace, non-binary, intersex, trans, and others that fall under the ‘sapphic’ banner as long as the primary pairing is lesbian. Give us your best story featuring sapphic protagonists at least partially located in space. This could be on a spaceship, with magic, on a planet or asteroid, in another dimension or realm, or any other connected idea. Surprise us!

Stories will be juried and final selections will be made (hopefully) by end of January 2025. Projected publish date is June 2025. Selected authors will be compensated at semi-pro rates or higher. Send your completed story in by midnight EST, December 31st, 2024 using the instructions at https://www.spacewizardsciencefantasy.com/submissions We are hoping to publish Lesbians in Space around June 2025.

-- I've just backed this as it looks absolutely fabulous!

[physalian]

Tackling Characters with Mental Health Issues (or, ‘Write What you Know’)

**Trigger warning for this entire post**

This is completely off the cuff and unplanned but here we go. I just read a book that POV switches between its two romantic leads. One of these leads was intended to be written with a severe case of generalized anxiety. I have confirmation from the author that it’s not an author-insert. This character was entirely based on research, not experience.

Without putting them on blast, because they really did try…. While ‘neurodivergent’ or ‘mental health disorder’ isn’t a protected class, it should still fit squarely under other topics you shouldn’t write about if you don’t experience it with a massive asterisk.

TL;DR: If you yourself aren’t part of X minority or suffer Z physical or mental disability, you should not be barred from writing characters with those traits. ***HOWEVER*** writing these characters struggling, suffering, or overcoming this given trait in a pro-cis, straight, white, neurotypical, able-bodied America is not yours to touch.

This suffering isn’t your story to profit off of, when you didn’t actually suffer any of it.

I cannot remember who said it and I am absolutely paraphrasing but for example: White authors can and should include characters of color (and I am a White author). White authors should *not* write about a character of color as their protagonist experiencing bigotry, discrimination, hate crimes, and all that hardship, at the hands of white society. It’s just not your story to tell, and all the research in the world will never give you the lived experience you need to do it justice.

Like, you can write about the concept of slavery existing in a fantasy novel. Or sci-fi. Or some Alternate Universe historical fiction. You cannot write about the American slave trade like you lived it and still suffer the ramifications of it when you didn’t, especially when it is the thesis of your entire book.

Anyone remember that awful Amazon movie, My Policeman? Based on a book written by a straight, white woman whose straight female lead took an entire narrative to whine about how she was jilted by her gay husband and his gay lover who she got arrested and institutionalized so she could keep her husband… and never told them? With the predatory 3rd love interest and the whole ‘liar revealed’ and… yeah. That one.

Unless you do the work very few authors are willing to do, with permission and encouragement and a backing from whatever minority you’re writing about and their stamp of approval that you knocked it out of the park, just don’t. Save yourself the headache.

—

As I read this book, and this entire character’s arc is about her mental health, for 100k words… why would you *want* to take on that responsibility? Why would you want to take on all that extra research, all the stress of making sure you get it right, all the costs of hiring sensitivity readers and the risk of your character falling apart with readers who do fit these traits?

Characters with mental health problems are very, very tricky to get right for one massive reason: Accurately depicting many disorders and anxieties means your character can come across as extremely unlikeable, uncompelling, confusing, and frustrating. These characters won’t make logical choices or arguments, they’re likely to self-sabotage, contradict themselves, argue in circles, and die on molehills they think are mountains. This is just what anxiety does to people in the real world. We are not always compelling protagonists, and we don’t always get happy endings.

Writing illogical characters takes a lot of practice if you yourself are not an illogical thinker and if you’re writing half a book elbow-deep in 3rd person limited, intimately trying to describe how this disorder impacts their daily life, you, my friend, have so much more work cut out for you than you anticipated.

So why?

It got very sticky very quickly when the message I took away from the book was “character A can love away character B’s anxiety” and that just… it’s just not how it works. That is a very dangerous mindset to have, for both parties involved.

Character A does not exist to “fix” Character B, nor should A exist to be B’s therapist.

Making A B’s “medicine” can encourage some dangerous codependency. Especially if they break up, B backslides and spirals, and A takes on guilt for not being there anymore, as if any of this is A’s fault.

It says that ‘curing’ anxiety just takes a little romance. Which. No. B has to love themselves, first, before they’re able to love anyone else or let anyone else love them.

It got stickier when the author accidentally wrote a trauma-induced ace who wanted to start liking sex to please her partner and not for her own peace of mind (with internalized self-hate for her anxieties around sex as if not liking it after a traumatic experience isn't completely justified), as if she wasn’t good enough with the boundaries she had. And the narrative backed it up because she was *cured* after a couple rounds in the sheets—I worked really hard on my Ace character guide to help stop people from doing this.

Had Character A accepted these boundaries B had, and these two come to a creative compromise around intimacy that B does like, it would have been so much healthier. B liked making out, just not being the 'recieving' partner, while A chose to die on a 'if we can't have the sex I want, I can't be in a romance with you' hill and it just broke my heart for B. B wasn't being picky. B was traumatized.

The worst thing you can do to your ace character is a) reinforce the idea that they’ve failed as a human because they don’t like sex and b) reinforce the idea that they “just haven’t found the right person yet” and this narrative hit both in the bullseye.

The author wasn’t trying to write an ace, I can tell, but aceness aside “good sex is the best cure to your sexual trauma” is… also, not great? If you yourself didn’t experience this? The point of all of this was clearly to attempt exposure therapy, it just got so bogged down with other problems that the nuance necessary to stick the landing was completely lost.

If this was fantasy, like Twilight, with Bella’s dangerous codependency on Edward in New Moon, mental health is not the point of that book. The author didn’t set out on a mission to provide respectful representation of depression and healthy relationship goals. It’s toxic as hell, but it also takes a backseat to the actual story and the audience who loves those books couldn’t care less about how toxic it is.

The books aren’t about Bella overcoming her depression. They’re about sparkly vampires and the dangers of… teen pregnancy?

It got even *stickier* when the character revealed she’d apparently been in therapy for a decade and a half, only for her therapist to shrug and go ‘I guess you’re stuck with it’ while her mental health issue became a physical health issue, because she should have had a crippling eating disorder that the narrative didn't at all take seriously.

Why would you want the stress of writing this?

—

I am not at all saying you can’t write anxious characters if you yourself are not anxious. But make that an ingredient of the pie and not the entire pie, yeah?

Ask yourself why you’re doing this. The fundamental argument of that book seemed to be “anxiety can be loved away” and from the very first page, it was doomed. That was the book’s thesis. The entire story hinged on the success of this depiction.

I can’t even be mad, because it wasn’t intended to be harmful, but it inadvertently reaffirmed so many dangerous and incorrect assumptions and stereotypes about mental health. Good intentions historically do not guarantee good results.

If you do not suffer from anxiety, you are still allowed to write a character who experiences it (Or OCD, specific phobias, BPD, what have you). I tip my hat to anyone willing to do all the work to get it right because those are all tall orders, but you aren’t blacklisted from these characters.

But with any minority, anyone who isn’t “cis, straight, white, male, neurotypical, and able-bodied” write a character who is also X, instead of an X stereotype, who happens to be your character.

[destinedtobeloved]

Broken Angels is finished and my heart is literally shattered

[animentality]

heyheyhey idk if u know how cool and important it is to have a badass assassin story with something other than cis gays and have it be Not a Big Deal but,,, it’s literally one of the first legit published books I’ve ever found like it?? And in a genre that I love??? And written well?? And genuinely funny as fuck?? Idk I’ve never seen an enby that gets to exist without it being A Tragic Plot Point or something To Overcome so thank u??? Like so much???? I can’t tell u how much???? I definitely didn’t cry at all about it nope not even once

:DDDDDD omg, my heart started pumping faster when I saw this ask. I am always so giddy when people talk to me about my books, especially the specifics about characters and tone and things they liked!

Yeah, I wanted to include every goddamn color in the pride flag!!

Pansexual/ bisexual assassins, nonbinary demons, a transgender assassin, an unrealistic number of gay and lesbian demon summoners! That's my fantasy world. It's not talked about, because it's simply normal.

Irvine in particular I adore because I am nonbinary myself, but also because they are just so powerful, and they don't even know just how much yet!

I always disliked how many nonbinary characters in fantasy and sci fi are just token "they/them" body guards, robotic or asexual leaning non-humans, or quiet, unassuming love interests who only exist to show a character is pansexual or something.

Irvine was my love letter to my own identity because I thought hey what if there was a nonbinary character who just fucks shit up, every time they appear? What if there was an enby who just kicks ass and is sexily never showing their face, and wears a badass hood all the time?

And then Irvine was born. My little storm demon :)

Also, I don't know if you ever saw the commissioned art, but I will post it in this ask for your viewing pleasure:

so glad you love my child. my baby blorbo.

who i intend to put through the wringer, lemme tell you, because i like to put all my favorite characters through it.

So glad you find it unique too! I honestly was feeling so badly about it, after months of querying and beta swapping, and getting feedback from dozens of people who only found things to criticize as being too strange or too different or stylistically confusing.

I went through a year of being told it wasn't good, and-and I'm a little emotional and overcome with appreciation and gratitude to all the people who not only bought or downloaded the book while it was free, but who also actually read the whole thing, and found it GOOD.

Like people...think i...write well??? oh gosh. oh god.

chills.

The asks I get keep me going through this mundane, dull little world. They give me something to look forward to, in between the doldrums of normalcy...

They also validate me for thinking someone...someone out there must find this good...

Thanks for taking the time to send this ask :))) it means the world to me.

I save them all in my drafts so I can look at them when I'm sad...

Also, THANK YOU FOR NOTICING THAT THE BOOK IS FUNNY.

in between the angst and the action and the blood-filled fist fighting and crazy sniper/melee battles, there is a lot of dark comedy!

I love dark comedy. I love satire.

As much as I love being edgy, I think a story without any humor at all is unbearable.

I want you to hurt with my characters...but you should also laugh with them! Laugh at them! Be amused by their stupidity...or by their cleverness.

Be charmed by their vulnerability, but also their insane, abnormal, bizarre points of view!

AAAAH, I'm so glad you found it funny AND heart-breaking!

That is exactly what I want every story of mine to be.

Thank you thank you thank you for this ask!!

Link to referenced book here, for all the poor spectators who have to see me blubbering like a child.

Please leave a review on Amazon/Goodreads if you haven't already, but if you have, thank you for that too! Every review helps me out so much!

[plutodetective]

I have to work today, but there’s a lot I want to say about Jonathan and gender, and I won’t have the time to organize it in a proper essay, so here are some points:

1) Of fucking course men can have characteristics usually attributed to women and still be men. I’m working on a series of sci-fi adaptations of fairy tales, and in my Sleeping Beauty the protagonist is a (cisgender) boy, precisely because I want boys to see they can be vulnerable and need rescue too. And I completely understand if someone prefers to see Jonathan as a cis man because it’s so rare to see men in this role, surviving abuse, when it does happen in real life. I start my Gothic Heroine Support Group fic with Belle making precisely this point. Men can be prey, women can be predators. She knows this because that’s what happened to the original Beast, and kudos to Gabrielle Suzanne de Villeneuve, the author of the original Beauty and the Beast, for making this point centuries ago.

2) That being said, Jonathan seems to identify with women on a deeper level than being on a role in which women usually are. For me, what cements the headcanon is when he chooses the women’s quarters to sleep in, seeming to long for “a gentle life”, even if it involved sadly waiting for the menfolk to return from war. He seems to identify with the female identity, not only the female role. That’s only my personal interpretation, I fully acknowledge that. But seeing as it’s one that a lot of trans people in the fandom seem to share and, more importantly, to identify with, it’s one that is more than valid: it brings people joy. I’m cis. I’m also bisexual, and I know the joy of seeing myself in a character through subtext, and also how frustrating it is when people say it’s not true because it’s not 100% explicit in the text. If trans people are telling me they identify with Jonathan, I believe them and I take that as there being reasons I acknowledge I cannot fully understand why Jonathan is potentially a trans woman.

3) I assume everyone here has heard of Joseph Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey. But it’s less likely that everyone has heard of Gail Carriger’s The Heroine’s Journey. I fully recommend this book to everyone. But the point she makes is that whether someone is a “hero” or a “heroine” according to hers and Campbell’s analysis doesn’t depend on their gender. Women can follow Campbell’s Hero Journey, and men can follow Carriger’s Heroine Journey. And non-binary people can follow either. The names come from the gender of the characters who originated the archetypes, with Campbell’s being classic Greek heroes, and Carriger’s being ancient world goddesses. With that in mind, although no one has written a “Gothic Heroine’s Journey”, Jonathan Harker is a gothic heroine, regardless of whether you see him as cis man or trans woman, because he follows that story type step by step.

4) Does anyone here know of a transgender gothic heroine (in the gender neutral sense explained above)? Because I don’t. If anyone does, seriously, please point me their way, I’d love to increase my gothic knowledge. But it’s a type of representation I’ve never seen. As a member of a lot of minorities, I feel very happy whenever I see any of them represented in ways I’ve never seen before, and I can only imagine it’s the same for trans people. So what’s the harm in letting Jonathan be that? Seriously. All that is missing so far from Jonathan being a fully classical gothic heroine is him going around the castle in a flowing white dress. If I ever get to adapt my written version of modern day!Dracula, I’ll absolutely put Natália (my version of Jonathan) in a white nightgown, just to give a transgender actor the chance to play out this scene that I’ve seen so many cis women do over the years. Again, I understand if someone takes empowerment from Jonathan as a cis man surviving abuse, and I’d never want to take that away from them. Jonathan being a cis man is an absolutely valid reading too. But I think trans women deserve empowerment too, deserve to see a trans woman playing out a story so many of their cis counterparts have always had. The book is in public domain. We can each adapt them the way we choose. Cis man Jonathan and trans fem Jo, Natália, or whatever name you prefer for her, can coexist and be important to the groups of people each of them are important to. 

[fixyourwritinghabits]

hello! regarding the post about writing mlm or wlw scenes and pronoun usage, i wanted to ask if you'd be able to clarify anything for characters who use they/them pronouns or multiple sets of pronouns, like she/they or he/they.

in my head, i feel that it may be necessary for the narration to include one set of pronouns to avoid confusion, while the characters in dialogue refer to the character with multiple pronouns with either or. that's just my thought though, and i wanted to ask for your insight.

thank you in advance!

This one you're going to need to wrap your head around. Who is the POV character, the person with multiple pronouns or someone else? How is your story told (first person, third, etc)? When do pronouns come up, and how does the person they belong to feel about them?

One example I could use is someone who presents very feminine but personally prefers to lean toward 'they' most of the time. The option of 'she/they' may be something they lean into to make others more comfortable (when dealing with clients they won't know well, in social situations, etc). If the story is from their perspective, they could explain this in the narrative - the same goes for if they're a friend of the main character. If they're a minor character, a quick "I'm okay with both" to explain a name tag or introduce themselves is probably your best bet.

If you have a character who is neutral on both or prefers to switch, you'll have to make the decision depending on their importance to the story - if their the main character, noting that switch in the text ("I prefer he today") will help orientate your reader. When in doubt, spell it out, and you can clean it up in post.

Your biggest concern is clarity (though again, don't sweat too much on the first draft). I've seen this done poorly by people I know meant well, but keep in mind that your audience needs a little guidance. You always want to make it clear who is talking - feel free to stick with names in dialogue tags, with pronouns used to describe actions. If your character switches pronoun use in the middle of a scene or chapter, it's better to highlight that switch, especially if you have other characters in the scene. You can also rely on context clues (changing clothes or settings, how they feel in the moment) to highlight why your character is using a particular pronoun.

Third, consider your audience. Are you writing for your fellows who won't blink an eye? Don't sweat it so much. Do you anticipate a larger cis audience who might be very new to the idea? Give them (and yourself) some grace in making sure it's clear who the character is no matter what pronoun they use.

(Check out sci fi and fantasy books with multiple pronoun usage, by the way. You'll find a lot of great examples to study!)

[babyyarlert]

Saanvi Gulati

Full name: Saanvi Gulati (she/her)

Indian

• Cis woman, straight

• Age: 25 (Feb 1)

* Signs: Aquarius𖤓, Gemini☾, Virgo↑

* Personality: she’s smart asf, kind and caring, feminine, elegance and grace, kind of a nerd, don’t ask her what her favourite programming language is if you’re not ready to listen to her yap, definitely don’t ask her if she likes Star Wars, can be painfully naive and oblivious, romance is so foreign to her, awkward bean but she’s trying her best! :’)

* Height: 5’5 or 165cm

* Eyes: dark brown

* Hair: black

Occupation

• Game developer and programmer

Family/Background

• She was born and raised in India to hardworking lower class parents who struggled to take care of her and her four siblings. As the oldest, she automatically had the most responsibility, serving as a second caregiver and role model for her younger siblings.

• Growing up in poverty was nothing short of difficult. Despite the challenges, she learned to prioritize her education above all else. Through many trials and tribulations, she successfully graduated from university with a master’s degree in Computer Science.

• Her extensive research work in university, programming projects, and overall portfolio earned her an amazing job offer overseas in San Sequoia. She made the move to start a new life, aiming to support her aging parents back home in India.

• The culture shock in San Sequoia was real, making it that much more obvious how little she knew about social relationships, both friendly and romantic. Navigating this new world is a challenge, as she now had to learn to balance her career ambitions with building a personal life.

• She slowly became involved in local community activities to help make new friends. She attended cultural events, joined clubs, and took language classes to help understand the nuances of her new environment.

Relationship

• Single

• She’s never been in a relationship. She’s also lowkey embarrassed about the fact that she’s never had her first kiss at age 25 👀

Hobbies

• Coding

• Reading sci fi books

• She’s a great cook

• She also like to knit while listening to music

• Watching re-runs of Star Wars from the 70s for the hundredth time.

Random facts

• A neat freak. Seriously, she cannot stand messes.

• Has a pet bearded dragon named Chewie.

Notes:

• 👀 = important plot points that will be or is addressed more in depth in the book

[starfilled-galaxy]

System info + introductions for the alters :D This post is occasionally updated !

Plush (partner) sys!! @n3hmof1sh ^^

We're a proxy system (linked) which means there's a permanently (for now...) frontstuck host For us, usually only the host is able to front, and the others are only ever co-con or in headspace We are attempting to find out how to switch, so far we have gotten others to co-front but the host still has yet to leave front

Each alter is associated with 1 emoji that we tag Emoji combos = co-con ❓= blurry or unknown

Collectively sex-repulsed asexual, ADHD, autistic, and social anxiety, though some of us have more heightened ND traits than others Questioning (collective) OCPD, HPD, and ASPD

Quoigenic, mixed origins

We use both I/me and we/our, please don't use you& for us

Usually we use the term "alter" but we dont mind sysmate/system member/headmate etc, alter is just the shortest lol Please don't call us "parts" tho!!!

Alter playlists: https://www.youtube.com/@starfilledsys/playlists

Alter intros under cut bc it's kinda long!

💫 - Niko Pronounfluid, always uses they/them but occasionally uses he/him too Questioning gender, grayromantic gaybian Alterhuman, including Niko (OneShot) fictionkin! Full alterhuman ids list (linked) Shapeshifter Role: Host :'3

❤️‍🔥 - Aspen/Scarlett She/he/they/it Please use both names Factive of a mutual and their now split alter Intraplural (aka subsys) but wants to be referred to as singular Usually chill unless something makes her upset Role: Bee prosecutor

Fictives:

🏀 - (rw) Kel He/she/ae/xe Bigenderfluid, pan gaybian, possibly aroflux Furry & obsessed with BMTH Rw Hero is his comfort person In-sys dating Sunny<3 Has the most trauma of us all, please be gentle Role: Traumaholder

Genuinely fuck off if you treat me/source like a joke stop it I'm a person too you assholes -🏀

🌹 - (rw) Hero He/him Transmasc, abro pan bi Alterhuman (SilkWing (WOF) hearttype) Really likes bugs and especially dragonflies (very source-divergent lol) The only adult alter we have, also likes to comfort and take care of everyone in the sys

🔪 - Sunny He/she/they Genderfluid (boy, girl, enby + xenos), gaybian He loves scene and BMTH! In-sys dating rw Kel<3

🧡 - (hs) Kel He/him Boy (not cis or trans) Sugar addict One of the youngest ones of our sys! He's kinda like our inner child (literally) Really likes "childish"/kiddy stuff

🍳 - (hs) Hero He/him Transmasc Doesn't talk much... don't know much about him Role: (Extreme) anxiety holder

🦴 - Hector (dog) He/him Gender and romanticity is N/A Shiba inu He's very excitable, and only speaks in barks, even in typing. I have to translate for him any time he talks

🍊 - (ma) Kel He/him Boy AUtive from @\bananacat76's Magic AU, specifically from the route where he dies Spirit/ghost/angel dog One of the youngest, may be younger than hs Kel? Seems pretty interested in the physical world and tends to hang out in or near co-con Role: Gatekeeper

🍃 - Hollyleaf She/her Xenogender (christmasgender) She and Lion are very source-detached since when they introjected it had been a long time since I read the books with them in it lol

🦁 - Lionblaze He/him Agender He's silly and fluffy and honestly kinda similar to our hs Kel fictive personality-wise, but less kid-like

I know source was written in a super boring way but it still makes me sad to be called boring :< -🦁

🪶 - Beetlepaw/Beetlewing He/him Transmasc OCtive sourced from a mutual's Warrior Cats OC A bit shy and nervous but very sweet :>

🎯 - Kasane Teto She/her, zhe/her, zey/zem, fi/fizz, elle, and a lot more Xenogender (too many to list) Fictive and possibly songtive of Teto from Mesmerizer specifically Enjoys typing quirks, uses s & th -> z quirk in English Sugar addict French apparently?? Almost always refuses to speak English and will only talk in French. Unfortunately we don't know very much French so zhe forces us to use the inaccurate hell that is google translate 😔