#free to read

[minaminokyoko]

I know nobody cares, but...

Marvel picked MY fucking short story, "Lost Cause," to be the official excerpt for the updated announcement of the Captain America: The Shield of Sam Wilson anthology.

No, really, look: https://www.marvel.com/articles/culture-lifestyle/captain-america-the-shield-of-sam-wilson-features-original-short-stories-excerpt-cover

I'm fucking shocked they picked mine. What a tremendous honor to represent our boy. <3

On the off chance someone cares, info below!

As a Black man in America, Sam Wilson knows he has to be twice as good to get half as much credit. He must be a paragon of virtue for a nation that has mixed feelings towards him. In these thirteen brand-new stories, the all-new Captain America must thwart an insurrectionist plot, travel back in time, foil a racist conspiracy, and save the world over and over again.

As the Falcon, Sam Wilson was the first African American super hero in mainstream comic books. Sam’s trials and tribulations reflect the struggles many Black Americans go through today, as Sam balances fighting supervillains and saving the world with the difficulties of being the first Black Captain America. This action-packed anthology inspired by the Marvel comic book universe, will see Sam team up with familiar friends like Steve Rogers, Redwing and Nomad, while fighting HYDRA, Sabretooth, Kingpin, and other infamous villains.

These are stories of death-defying courage, Black love and self-discovery. These are the stories of a super hero learning what it means to be a symbol. These are the stories of Sam Wilson.

Release date: January 14, 2025

Pre-order now in ebook, hardcover, or audiobook: https://www.amazon.com/Captain-America-Shield-Sam-Wilson/dp/1803363878

And can I pretty please get some notes? PWEASE? Struggling indie black author here, just saying.

[dalekowrites]

Chapter 9 is now free to read for everyone!

What's everyone up to when you're not around? And... who's sleeping with whom? 👀

Chapter 9 adds about 2,7k words, for a total of about 27k words!

Click on "Public Demo" to read it! ♥

[ Patreon ][ Discord ][ Public Demo ]

[boinday]

[This is a story about Fate and Agency... And sexy pirates and monsters and the most reckless Princess alive]

Read the comic for free here! Hope you enjoy ^_^

[otmaaromanovas]

Romanov myths part three - did the Grand Duchesses go shopping?

Over the years, a prevalent belief that the Romanov Grand Duchesses, Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia, did not go shopping continues to be repeated. Some historians have even suggested that the girls did not know how paying for items worked. However, primary sources from people who knew the girls, were members of their entourage, and the Grand Duchesses' own diaries, tell a different story...

"Saturday. 10 August. … We walked along the historic boulevard and the main streets, but crowds followed us everywhere, so we were able to go into only 2 shops for a minute..." "Friday. 15 November. Had lessons, after that went shopping for wool with Nastenka as usual.." From Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna’s 1913 diary [my underlining]

In this entry, Olga describes shopping Countess Anastasia 'Nastenka' Vassilievna Hendrikova, who was a young lady-in-waiting at court and a particular favourite of the Grand Duchesses, often accompanying them on trips. As described in the first entry, it appears that safety and security concerns due to crowds, rather than a lack of understanding about shops, contributed to the Grand Duchesses not being able to shop frequently. Nastenka is frequently mentioned by the Grand Duchesses in their diaries, and volunteered to join the Romanov family in their house arrest and imprisonment. She was murdered by the Bolsheviks in September 1918.

"After coffee, I went for a walk with my pupils… They really liked to go to the shops and buy everything. Anastasia Nikolaevna was especially attracted to stores, where they sold doll shoes of various sizes… Tatiana Nikolaevna did not always accompany since the doctors found her heart was weak and she went with the Empress to take baths." A Few Years Before the Catastrophe by Sofia Ivanovna Tyutcheva.

Sofia Ivanovna Tyutcheva was a maid-of-honour to Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna, and in 1907 was appointed as governess to the Grand Duchesses. The Grand Duchesses referred to her as "Savanna". She was dismissed in 1912 when she voiced concerns over Grigori Efimovich Rasputin. She wrote a short memoir in 1945, and passed away in 1957.

"[The] Grand Duchesses went shopping in the morning with one of the ladies-in-waiting to the Empress. They delighted in that because they could mix with the crowd and buy things just as everyone else did, and they were so pleased if they were not recognised at once." -- Upheaval - Olga Voronova [my underlining]

Countess Olga Konstantinovna Voronova was part of the aristocratic Kleinmichel family and in 1914, married one of the Romanov's favourite officers, Pavel Alexeievich Voronov. Through these connections, Olga Konstantinovna became a friend of the Grand Duchesses, exchanging frequent letters with Olga and Tatiana in particular, before and after the Revolution. She published her memoirs in 1932. Once again, it is inferred that being recognised and subsequent security concerns stifled the Grand Duchesses' shopping sprees.

Where did the myth come from?

It appears that the myth came about due to this extract from Margaretta Eagar, an Irish nanny who cared for the children from 1898 to 1904:

Her only knowledge of shops and shopping was derived from the toy and sweet shops in Darmstadt. One day she asked me why the Americans spoke English, not American. I told her the story of the Pilgrim Fathers, and described how they built houses and shops, and so made towns. She was exceedingly interested and inquired, ' Where did they find the toys to sell in the shops ? " Six Years at the Russian Court, by Margaretta Eagar

It appears that some historians forgot that Margaretta Eagar moved on from her nanny position in 1904, when the eldest Grand Duchess was nine and the youngest was three, and perhaps did not look for sources from when the Grand Duchesses had grown up and had slightly more independence.

Over time, the myth appears to have been exaggerated and repeated until it became part of the 'folklore' surrounding the Romanov Grand Duchesses, portraying them as isolated and naïve.

Whilst it is clear that the Grand Duchesses did enjoy going shopping in their lifetimes, safety and security concerns meant they could not enjoy shopping as frequently as other teenagers may have. In the same way royals today would not be able to go to shops without being recognised, there was a chance that a crowd could gather. Similarly, Olga and Tatiana appear to have shopped more than the younger pair, Maria and Anastasia, likely due to being older in age and therefore having more independence.

Photos:

First set, left: Olga, Anastasia (hidden behind Olga), and Maria Shopping in Germany, 1910. Right: Olga and Tatiana out shopping in the Isle of Wight, 1909, accompanied by Dr. Evgeny Botkin (in the suit)

Second set, left: Tatiana and Maria shopping with Sofia Ivanovna Tyutcheva, circa 1910. Right: The Grand Duchesses and their entourage by shops, most likely taken in Germany, 1910

Sources:

Journal of a Russian Grand Duchess: Complete Annotated 1913 Diary of Olga Romanov, Eldest Daughter of the Last Tsar, translator Helen Azar, (Independently published: 2015)

A Few Years Before the Catastrophe: The Memoirs of Sofia Ivanovna Tyutcheva, translator George Hawkins, (Independently published: 2020)

Upheaval, Olga Voronova (Woronoff), (New York; London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1932) -- Free to read online here

Six Years at the Russian Court, Margaretta Eagar, (New York: Charles L. Bowman and Company, 1906) -- Free to read online here

[lemonidae]

Starfighter by HamletMachine

Starfighter is a free-to-read, queer, dark, sci-fi sex drama about two soldiers who are assigned together on a mission in hostile alien space.

START READING: ch 1

HamletMachine: x | website | starfighter |

[khadrimxart]

Katya from my serial novel Chronicles of Death dressed up as Vampire Hunter D for Halloween. I thought it was appropriate. Who doesn't love D? Honestly. I love this look for her, maybe she needs a hat. lmao.

[breenheath]

Suspicious 🦋✉️

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Brothers is a drama comedy fantasy comic. Postmasters Sprout and Oz become unlikely heroes after discovering a mysterious magic mailbox

[janikainen]

Various panels from my webcomic: Dream About Me 🌙

228 pages long atm, available to read for free on Tapas & Webtoon. Early access on Patreon: 2 weeks ahead on updates! Thank you all ✨ linktree

[cbairdash]

“I was only going to maim her a little!”

A chance discovery of an old journal propels Windtracer Tela Kioni into an expedition to the depths of the Great Chasm on the far end of the Planus continent to recover a lost, and possibly lethal, relic of the Ancient Order.

It’s a race against time and the bloodthirsty Crimson Company mercenary guild to reach the relic first. Along the way, Tela will have to deal with the terrors, and her own nightmares, of the Great Chasm and the mysterious backer of the Crimson Company, a man who seeks to rebuild the Ancient Order, no matter the deadly cost.

The Dark Device of the Great Chasm is serialized fiction and a part of the Windtracer Tales series. It's available on Substack with new chapters every Wednesday!

[silentstaresfanficandfanart]

ITS ALL OUT NOW FINAL CHAPTER OF HALCYON!!!!!!!!!!!!! ENJOY!

Please enjoy! <3 the final chapter of Halcyon is out, please tell me your thoughts, like, reblog, or comment on lines you like and stuff <3 It lets me know you guys actually want me to keep doing the free books thing <3 thank you for reading!!! love you guys! Hope you like the grand finale! I hope it was satisfying and fun <3

because i feel like hiding from it right now and deleting it but im practicing not cringing at myself so- being brave-<3

[boinday]

it only took two and a half years but I finally paid off the joke 🙏😌

[leechjuice]

very cunt of me to drop the first chapter of my mean, gory lesbian horror novel in the middle of a goddamn wednesday morning—and at absolutely no cost, too!

if you like socially inept queers with bad haircuts & rotten relationships with their mothers, then you're gonna wanna click here, my friend.

[lemonidae]

INTO THE SMOKE by Bob

To solve a crime, a rebellious gay medium binds himself to the sinister spirit of a murdered hitman. Spirit medium Blaze is a disaster at life but an expert at death. As a self-proclaimed “spirit therapist,” he’s ushered hundreds of souls into the light—without a single loss to the smoke. But when he discovers Alastor, the vengeful ghost of a murdered hitman, he’s forced to bind himself to the spirit to contain him. Father Judd, Blaze’s unlikely ally and long-time crush, warns him that he’s toying with forces beyond his control—but Blaze is happy to risk his own soul if it means saving another. The longer Alastor stays in the living realm, the deeper the smoke threatens to corrupt him. But as Blaze races against time to solve his murder, he learns that Alastor isn’t the only one looking for a new victim. To survive a diabolical scheme, Blaze will need to put his trust in a new kind of partner.

Tagged: Paranormal, Fantasy, Mystery, LGBTQ+, Gay

START READING: ch.1

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Bob: x | linktree | bluesky | tumblr | Demon of the Underground | itchio | patreon | vimeo | instagram | ko-fi | portfolio

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[khadrimxart]

Raven from my free to read dark fantasy serial novel, Chronicles of Death, makes a pretty fine Vincent Valentine for Halloween if you ask me! I will try to finish these things too, I'll just be a little late for the holiday. Life is chaos.

[breenheath]

We. Are not. a Convent. 🦋

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Brothers is a drama comedy fantasy comic. Postmasters Sprout and Oz become unlikely heroes after discovering a mysterious magic mailbox