#great website!!! 10/10 rec for reading these

[jessicatredes]

🎥 movie scenes & their screenplay 🎬

BLADE RUNNER 2049 dir. denis villeneuve screenplay; hampton fancher & michael green

[alltimefail]

ATTENTION DEAD BOYS FANDOM:

We have some unfinished business and a case to solve: The Case of the Curious Cancellation! 💀🔎

Here are the ways you can help (be sure to read until the end).

I'm not sure how many people here on Tumblr are also over on DBDA Twitter, but there have been MANY developments in the last 24 hours and it's important for all of us to be on the same page if we're going to have a chance in hell of saving our show.

First and foremost, we need to get Dead Boy Detectives in the Netflix Top 10 again. This means running it as much as possible. Read about that below:

(SOURCE x)

As the graphic says, the goal is to have it running on a loop constantly, as much as you physically can. Be sure to have some level of volume on or else it won't count. If you're on Twitter be sure to post your rewatch (photos of your tv, commentary, etc.) with the hashtag #ReviveDeadBoyDetectives !!!

Also, there's no better time to do this: the Tweet below brings up a great point! 👍

(SOURCE x)

Second, and easiest thing: KEEP TALKING ABOUT THE SHOW AND CREATING CONTENT ABOUT THE SHOW. Analysis, fics, fanart, shitposts, gif sets, memes, tik tok videos, so on - do not stop! Reblog other people's stuff and talk about it! Give fics kudos, comment, make fic rec lists and post that WIP or sketch! The most important thing to remember is to TAG YOUR POSTS AND CREATIONS. We need to trend!!! On Tumblr make sure you continue tagging your posts as you probably already are (look at my tags on this post if you need help, and remember not to use "DBD" on here because that is another fandom! We use DBDA here). On Twitter you want to use the hashtag #ReviveDeadBoyDetectives for the rewatch and #SaveDeadBoyDetectives is a popular one, too. You can also use #DeadBoyDetectives. Hell, I usually use all three if I can! Hashtag every post you make about Dead Boys, no matter how annoying or "cringe" you may feel. Flood the fucking tag and do not stop.

Third, everyone needs to sign and keep circulating the petition. We've surpassed 5,000 signatures in a day which is fantastic, but we need more. Get everyone you know to sign it; tell them it takes no more than 15 seconds. Be annoying until they do it just to shut you up.

Fourth, request "Dead Boy Detectives Season 2" through Netflix's support website. It's a small thing but if we all do this a couple times a day it will get their attention. They really do vet these suggestions, and an influx of requests for a canceled show will raise eyebrows.

Lastly, if you decide to write Netflix (via email or a letter - their office address has been floating around) please remember to stay concise and professional. Don't curse at them, don't call names. State that you are disappointed with the cancellation of the show, maybe add an anecdote about what it meant to you, and I would even recommend attaching some articles that emphasize people's displeasure with the platform abandoning shows on a whim and Netflix's flippant attitude toward queer shows in particular. Dead Boy Detective Agency on Twitter has retweeted every article on this topic so far, you can find their page here.

You can also use graphics such as the ones below to affirm that the cancellation was unjust.

(Source 1, Source 2)

I know this feels like a lot: know your limits and take care of yourself. Whether you do every single one of these things or just a few of these things, every llittle bit helps!

Even in the worst case scenario where nothing changes, this gesture will mean so much to everyone who made this show. We owe it to the writers, cast, crew, and each other to TRY. We can all agree that this show deserves at least another season and if Netflix isn't going to do it, they need to be open to selling it to someone who will. We cannot keep allowing them to axe these queer and diverse shows with little regard for their customers and their employees, but also because it sets a harmful standard in the industry that is destroying television.

Let's crack this case and bring our agency back! I truly believe in this community!! 💜 We can do this!!

If there are any spelling errors or issues with links let me know! I did this on mobile because I want to mobilize this information as quickly as possible! I'll be adding on to this with new developments and can answer any questions you all might have. Lets save our show!

[beartrice-inn-unnir]

10. What is your favorite genre book to recommend to someone who doesn’t usually like that genre?

Usually when people ask me for a rec for a genre they don’t usually like, they are asking for sci-fi, and I start by trying to figure out different access points based on what they already like. I’m not much of a hard sci-fi person, tending more to the space opera and political thrillers, so here’s a few “if you like x, maybe try y”:

If you like romance, give Everina Maxwell’s Winter’s Orbit a try. It’s definitely sci-fi in setting and plot, but it also hits nicely in the formulaic patterns of a arranged-marriage, strangers-to-lovers story that will help you through it even if the sci-fi elements are throwing you off. The author has another similar book that increases the sci-fi elements and is enemies-to-lovers as well, so if you like Winter’s Orbit, Ocean’s Echo is a good next step.

If you like non-fiction, The Martian by Andy Weir is a great pick. I have multiple friends who got into reading again as adults via The Martian. It’s well-written, well-grounded, funny, and very sci-fi. If you’ve already read it, then maybe give To Be Taught if Fortunate by Becky Chambers a try. It can be described with all the same adjectives, plus it’s a short novella, so if you’re hesitant, it’s less intimidating.

If you like mysteries or political thrillers, boy is there a lot of great sci-fi out there for you. The crux of a lot of sci-fi is space or high-tech settings with a plot that asks questions about personhood, and that mixes really well with detectives and spies wandering around trying to solve problems and find truths. Try Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells (it’s partway through a series of great books and novellas, but that one’s the most traditional mystery plot) or A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine (ambassador solving her predecessor’s mysterious death while trying to do his job)(I’d also recommend this one if you read a lot of classics) EDIT: just realized I mistyped - book 1 by Arkady Martine is A Memory Called Empire.

If YA/ Bildungsromanen/ New Adult figuring the world out through trial and error is often your jam, try Provenance by Ann Leckie (for the kid who really wants to do things right) or The Warrior’s Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold (for another kid who wants to do things right, but is also a high-energy chaos gremlin).

If you like fantasy, you probably already have read some sci-fi; it’s all under the speculative fiction umbrella and genres are vague anyway. All the same, I know this is the Locked Tomb Website, but give Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir a shot (it’s got magic and mayhem and an epic locked-room whodunnit mystery). The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord is also good - it has a team of people traveling together and thinking about morals and discovering new abilities, plus some romance.

I’m sure there’s lots of genres I’m forgetting right now, but feel free to send me another ask for any specific one!

[emohorseboy]

I'm so interested in all of your posts about mad liberation. I've never seen anything that puts my thoughts on the whole psych complex into words. I'm really curious to learn more about this. No pressure if not, but do you happen to know of any more comprehensive resources on this? Like books maybe?

Hi, I can definitely give you some recs! My list is a little bit UK centric because that's where I'm based but hopefully it's useful:

In terms of books:

I read 'Mad World: The Politics of Mental Health' by Micha Frazer-Carroll this summer and I can't recommend it enough.

I'm also making my way through 'Call Me Crazy: Stories from the Mad Movement' by Irit Shimrat, which I think is out of print but can be read as a PDF here (hopefully)

I've only dipped in and out of his books for my dissertation but Andrew Scull has written several well regarded books about the history of psychiatry ('Museums of Madness' is the one I've read bits of, 'Desperate Remedies' is on my TBR)

Some books on my TBR: 'The Protest Psychosis: How Schizophrenia Became a Black Disease' by Johnathan Metzl, 'Drop the Disorder!', 'Searching for a Rose Garden: Challenging Psychiatry, Fostering Mad Studies', 'Anatomy of an Epidemic' by Robert Whitaker

Some really good articles:

'Abolition Must Include Psychiatry' by Stella Akua Mensah

'Mad Activists: The Language We Use Reflects Our Desire for Change' by Lisa Archibold

'Not a naughty child: people’s experiences of service responses to self-injury' by Alison Faulkner and Rachel Rowan Olive

More resources!

The Campaign for Psychiatric Abolition - UK based, they have a lot of really great resources including an extensive recommended reading list, a Psych Abolition 101 Zine, and a resource for making a crisis support plan.

Asylum Magazine - again UK based, radical mental health magazine. To read full issues you need to subscribe (I recently paid for a subscription for a year of digital editions for £10, physical copies are a bit more) but the website has plenty of articles that you can read for free so well worth exploring.

Psych Survivor Archive - US based this time, there is so much on here, the Psych Survivor Zine is the main event but they also have a really great resource list (some of the links are dead though).

Mad in America - publish a lot of really interesting and impactful stuff on their website, I also really like their podcast (particularly recommend this episode about ECT, this one about esketamine, and this one about 'prolonged grief disorder'). There is also Mad in the UK and a number of other country specific sites that exist as part of their Mad in the World Network.

Folks to follow:

Dolly Sen - UK based artist who does and is doing a lot of cool stuff, notably at the moment they are the lead artist for the Birdsong From Inobservable Worlds project. This podcast episode they did is also great.

Nicole / lacey_art_ - another UK based artist, she wrote a poem about a bird recently that I can't stop thinking about (she does a lot of other cool things too).

Rachel Rowan Olive - brilliant and funny artist, she is also on instagram and etsy.

Luna Tic - artist and activist who has been involved with a lot of really brilliant stuff, including the successful StopSIM Coalition here in the UK which managed to bring an end to SIM.

There are so many more I could name and so many more things I could recommend but this post is already so long! I really hope it was helpful. I started trying to be brief and then gave up but I did cut out a fiction and literature recs section because I thought that was overkill lmao. Thank you for giving me an excuse to make this list I had a great time.

Learning about the Mad and psych survivor movements has been so transformative and empowering for me and I could honestly talk about it all day. Please do feel free to send me a message if you want to chat about it more!

[sineala]

Steve/Tony Starter Comics Recs: 2023 Edition

I have been asked this month to talk about essential 616 Steve/Tony comics for a new reader, who is aware of the broadest strokes of their relationship (Civil War, Hickmanvengers) but wanted more context as well as recommendations for the best and/or most essential comics. [This is a repost from Patreon.]

First up, quick advice for newbies getting into Steve/Tony comics: I know there are thousands of comics and trying to figure out what to read is kind of like trying to drink from a firehose. It's going to be okay. You don't have to read everything. You're not going to read everything. Almost no one has read everything. A lot of things flat-out contradict each other. If you're looking to read fanfiction that is close to canon, most fic authors will generally give you an idea of when their stories are set, and you can look the issues up if you want. Or you can just wing it and see how far you get and look something up if you're really confused. That's what I do. Where do you find all these comics? If you are willing to pay money to access comics, the best thing you can do is subscribe to Marvel Unlimited, which is about $10/month and gives you digital access to pretty much every comic that is from more than three months ago. This is the way to go. They also have reading lists for characters and events. And they have recently introduced a line of comics called "Infinity Comics" that are only available though Marvel Unlimited that are designed to be read on your phone -- they're a single long comic that you just scroll through -- and as of right now they have just had a very fun Steve & Tony storyline in Avengers Unlimited. If you have a tablet, a regular-size tablet screen (mine is 9.7") will show you one page at a time, about the size of a regular page in a paper comic, and is definitely the optimal way to go. You can also read on your phone; most of the digital comics on Marvel's app are set up so it zooms in on a panel at a time. You can also read them on a computer, on their website, but the website version is much harder to use. There are a lot of different options for getting comics in paper -- and I'm happy to talk about them if anyone wants to know any of this, especially since some of the reprint lines have changed since the last time I probably made a guide about this. Just let me know. But I think for the newbie, digital is the way to go until you know more about what you like. Then you can fill your house with paper comics. If you are in the US (I cannot vouch for other countries), your local library almost certainly has comics in book form (usually paperbacks collecting multiple issues) and you can read paper comics for completely free. If your library subscribes to Hoopla, you can also read some digital comics for completely free. It's worth checking out. Right. I think that's probably all you need to know about acquiring comics for right now, so onto the recs. I have made some similar lists before. I have a list of essentials I previously made (yes, a lot of them are the same) and I have a flowchart of what the different volumes are. So a lot of this is going to be repeated from previous lists because the old stuff is still relevant. So, since the content will be similar, I thought I would arrange this a little differently than I've done previously, to liven this up. I feel like "best Steve/Tony comics" and "essential Steve/Tony comics" are separate lists with separate purposes, although some of the comics on the list overlap. There are a lot of comics with great Steve/Tony moments that we all love to read and share pictures of and so on and so forth. Like, "One Night in Madripoor." Great comic. A lot of fun. Would definitely recommend. But is it going to show up in fanfiction? Probably not all that much. It's just not a comic that inspires a lot of fic. So it's probably one of the best to read, but it's not essential to know. If you get what I'm saying. (The essential comics are generally also ones that are best to read, so it's really more of a subset/superset relation. Probably.) Okay, yeah, "essential" is basically the angsty shippy stuff and "best" is the fluffy cute shippy stuff. Essential Steve/Tony If you're coming from MCU fandom, the dynamic between 616 Steve, Tony, and the rest of the team may not be what you're expecting. They're not SHIELD's pet superhero project -- they in fact tend to have an uneasy and occasionally adversarial relationship with the government, for all that Tony originally founded SHIELD and Steve often works for them. The Avengers have existed in a world that's basically been full of weird shit for their entire adult lives, and so they've been dealing with it for their entire adult lives. They are seasoned professionals. They are also friends. You know all that 2012 Avengers MCU fic where the Avengers all live together and they eat meals together and they hang out and watch movies together? You know the fanon I mean? That's comics canon. People wrote MCU fic like that because that's exactly what the comics are like and everyone assumed it was going to be similar. The Avengers are also a little more structured than you may be expecting. They've got bylaws and procedures and -- when necessary -- courts-martial. It's also not a case of "Captain America always leads the team." He often does, but not always. He's not the team leader right now (Carol is; before her, it was T'Challa) and in fact he's not even on the team right now. When they started out, they actually rotated the position of team chair; the longest-serving chairs are Steve, Jan, and Natasha, in that order, but I think most of the major Avengers have had a turn at some point. Characters also leave and rejoin the team fairly often; it's unusual for the same lineup to persist for more than a couple years. So Steve's not there right now, but he probably will be again. It doesn't mean they're breaking up forever if someone leaves the team. They'll probably be back. If they're dead they'll also probably be back. The timeline's a mess but basically everyone was in their mid-20s when they started and is going to be in their mid-30s forever, for reasons that are too complicated to go into. So if you're looking for context, here's the best high-level overview I can come up with, focusing on Steve/Tony: The founding Avengers (Iron Man, Thor, Wasp, Ant-Man, and the Hulk, who is retroactively un-foundered) have all been doing the superhero thing on their own for a bit in their solo books when they team up to defeat Loki, decide that they work well together, and decide to form the Avengers (named by Jan). They all move into the mansion. The Hulk then quits the team basically for forever (if you're here from MCU fandom, you should know he's... really not an Avenger) and he disappears, and while the Avengers are out looking for him in a submarine, they instead find a block of ice, containing Captain America, who is miraculously alive. (Iron Man is the first person he sees and also the first person who speaks to him. Fandom likes this.) After saving the Avengers, Steve decides to join the team. The team only remains the same for about twelve issues, at which point all the other founding members decide they need a break while Steve is off on a mission and he gets back to find that they have left him three brand-new Avengers (Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver), all of whom are career criminals. He's not real happy at first. The Avengers' roster changes many times over the years, and Steve and Tony are often but not always on the team together. Highlights in Tony's life include when he gets a heart transplant and no longer has to wear and charge the chestplate to survive, and also when he decides to stop making weapons. Steve quits and becomes Nomad for a few months while he gets over his feelings about the government, because the president of the United States has been conspiring with aliens to take over the world, and then commits suicide, shooting himself in the head right in front of Steve. Understandably, this messes Steve up more than a little. Steve and Tony first get a bit contentious in The Korvac Saga, in which Steve at one point punches Tony (well, Iron Man) in the face. They get over it pretty quickly. Tony develops a drinking problem. Then Tony gets sober, which lasts for a few years. In the intervening time Steve finds out Tony is Iron Man. Then Tony starts drinking again, it gets very bad, Steve is upset, and Tony nearly freezes to death in in a blizzard. Then he gets sober. At this point Tony has quit the main team to join the West Coast Avengers and then Force Works, where he stays for about ten years in real time. So he and Steve are on different teams for quite a while. Then Steve and Tony start to have fights. We get Armor Wars, where Steve disagrees with Tony trying to take back his technology, and we get Operation Galactic Storm, where they disagree about whether the main villain should die. Eventually they make up. They're still not on the same team. Eventually there's a massive plot that involves Tony being a brainwashed murderer, Tony being replaced by his teenage self, Tony dying in Steve's arms, and then everybody dying (except not really) while fighting Onslaught. They come back. Then we get a very nice run where basically Steve and Tony are friends and everyone is on the same team and everyone lives in the mansion and it's great, until Wanda loses her grip on reality, murders a few people, and blows up the mansion. Whoops. But Steve and Tony are still trying. They form the New Avengers together, move into the Tower, and everything is great until Civil War happens, at which point Steve gets killed (Bucky, who just came back to life, becomes Captain America) and Tony spends a lot of comics lying on the floor crying. Many bad things happen, including a Skrull invasion, which Tony doesn't really deal with as well as he could have on account of the lying on the floor crying. Eventually Steve comes back to life, and for Reasons, Tony develops amnesia and has now forgotten the entire Civil War. Steve remembers it, though. They don't immediately get back together. Things are a little rough and Steve isn't on the team because Bucky is still Captain America and Steve is off doing black ops with the Secret Avengers, which he is very bad at and is also depressed about, but eventually comes back, joins the Illuminati, gets the shield back, rejoins the team, and everyone generally has a good time other than the part where Tony has to drink to save the world and also the part where everyone punches the X-Men. Then the multiverse starts ending. Thanks, Jonathan Hickman. For reasons that seem like a good idea at the time, everyone kicks Steve off the Illuminati and then wipes his memory about this. Steve and Tony continue to be BFFs while Tony is lying his face off about this, until Steve remembers this and then attempts to hunt Tony down and kill him, which is complicated by Steve becoming suddenly old and deserumed and Tony becoming evil. Then the multiverse actually ends, a bunch of weird things happen, and then everything on Earth 616 comes back with basically the only difference being that Earth 616 now contains the Ultimate Universe's Miles Morales and the Ultimate Universe's Reed Richards who is a murderous psychopath. No one ever talks about the murdering or the part where the world ended ever again. After that, Tony is no longer evil, but Steve is still old. They aren't on the same team, I don't think -- Tony is main team, Steve is leading the Uncanny Avengers -- but then a Cosmic Cube makes Steve young again, which would be great except for the part where it secretly replaced him with an evil Hydra version of himself who then takes over America. This is a phenomenally unpopular move and this event ends much earlier than Marvel had planned. People tend to like this for villain AU purposes and also the AI version of Tony (because human Tony is in a coma). Also, oh, yeah, Tony finds out he's adopted. He found out a little before this, but now he's found his biological parents. Don't worry, his biological parents hate him too. We've spent the past five years having Jason Aaron's Avengers run which I don't think anyone really liked (it was okay) but at least Steve and Tony were both on the team, a couple of Cap runs with a lot of conspiracy theories in them (IMO, they've both been okay runs but not outstanding), and an Iron Man run where Tony gets addicted to morphine (do not read this run). Steve and Tony are on generally good terms at this point and have not tried to murder each other for years. (The brand-new Avengers run by Jed MacKay is really too new to say much about yet. The new Cap run hasn't started yet and will be by JMS, which I am excited about. The current Iron Man run by Gerry Duggan is absolutely the best IM run I have read in the past ten years.) So if any of that sounds interesting, that would be a place to start. If you're looking to familiarize yourself with comics that will give you the most context for fanfiction, I would recommend Civil War and surrounding events, as well as Hickmanvengers. This is because these two eras have a fair amount of fic about them and they have so much going on that's hard to figure out just by reading fic about it, and a lot of fic will be about the details. Whereas with something like Onslaught, it might get occasionally mentioned but you will probably never need to know anything more than "most of the Avengers died but they didn't really die and then they all came back a year later." So which comics exactly am I recommending, you ask? At some point you should probably read some version of Tony's origin story. The original is in Tales of Suspense #39, but there are a lot of retellings. Many people like the one in Extremis (IM v4 #1-6). Founding: The Avengers form up in Avengers v1 #1. Steve is found in Avengers v1 #4, and he and Tony are on the same team until Avengers #16. After that they are often both on the same team but this is the classic run with the founding Avengers. Heart transplant: This happens in Iron Man v1 #17-19 and Avengers #69. You probably don't actually need to read all this stuff to know what happens, but it's a great arc where a LMD tries to take Tony's place and Tony wanders around in the rain charging his heart from a car battery and then is kidnapped by people who think they are kidnapping the LMD and will train him to replace Tony. Weaponry: Tony stops making weapons in IM v1 #78. Nomad: Cap v1 #176-183. Steve isn't Nomad for very long. But he is in our hearts. Korvac Saga: This is Avengers #167-177. Demon in a Bottle: This is IM v1 #120-128. It's not actually the story whose events you think of when you think about Tony drinking (most people are probably thinking of the second drinking arc) but it is the storyline that first made him an alcoholic. Features Steve teaching Tony self-defense. This is by Layton & Michelinie who are responsible for a lot of fan-favorite classic IM arcs (this, Doomquest, Armor Wars, the introduction of Ghost, the Kathy Dare arc). Steve finds out Tony's secret identity: This is Avengers v1 #216. It involves Molecule Man stripping Tony out of his armor so he's standing there in his underwear. Second drinking arc: This one's the one with the blizzard. This is (most of) Denny O'Neil's run. It lasts from IM #160-200. Yes, it really is forty entire issues. Steve makes an appearance in #172 (the "flophouse" issue. where he has an argument with Tony). The blizzard is in #182. The rest of it is Tony trying to put his life back together. The villain in this one is actually Obadiah Stane; this is where he's from. This is probably my very favorite Iron Man run. I made a reading order for this. While you don't need a reading order for the main arc -- it's just a straight shot through forty issues of Iron Man -- it is referenced in other comics at the time and some of them contain scenes you might want to read. One issue that is not in that list (because I didn't know about it until recently) is Daredevil #204; Denny O'Neil was also writing Daredevil at the same time and he has a very drunk Tony make an appearance at a party Matt is at. Armor Wars: This is IM #225-232. The issue you actually want is #228, which is Steve and Tony having their first big fight. A bond is broken! Operation Galactic Storm: This is a crossover with about 20 issues across multiple comics; you can find a list somewhere. If you read fic where Steve is mad at Tony because Tony wanted to kill the Kree Supreme Intelligence, that's a reference to this arc. The easier option is to skip every issue in this except for the Aftermath issue, which is Cap #401, which features Steve and Tony discussing all the fights they've had. There are apologies. Kaminski IM: Len Kaminski's IM run is #278 to #318 and not all of it is great (however, if you are reading it, it's pretty easy to tell which parts are not great) but there's a lot of flashbacks here to Tony's childhood that often get referred to in fic; if a story has a canon detail about Tony's childhood, there's a pretty good chance it's from this run. 286 has the famed "Stark men are made of iron" flashback. 288, Tony's parents die and he buys the company that made their car and fixes the manufacturing defect. 313, the flashback with Tony taking his first drink, as a child. v3: I'd just like to issue a blanket recommendation for all of Avengers, Cap, and Iron Man volume 3 (this is the 1998 run). This is basically the very last of the classic Avengers dynamic, when everyone was still friends and lived in the mansion. Avengers v3: The first half of the Avengers run is by Busiek and Pérez and is, deservedly, a classic. The second half is perhaps a little less memorable but does contain Red Zone, which features everyone's favorite dramatic moment where Tony removes his helmet and exposes himself to a deadly airborne disease in order to give Steve CPR so Steve can live. No, don't think about the science; just enjoy the entire page of their mouths pressed together. Cap v3: I actually haven't seen much fic about the specifics of this Cap run (people will occasionally mention the part where Steve lost his shield and Tony helped him find the pieces) but it's by Mark Waid and in my opinion contains one of the best modern characterizations of Steve. IM v3: The first 25 issues of this is Busiek's run, which features both Carol's drinking arc and Sunset Bain's appearance in Tony's life. The rest of it has such great moments as the Sentient Armor arc (in which Tony's armor acquires sentience and then tries to kill him) and both DreamVision arcs, which are where Tiberius Stone is introduced. Civil War and surrounding events (CW, Secret Invasion, Dark Reign, Siege, Captain America Reborn): This is where I (and a lot of other people) started reading. There's a period of maybe two years of comics including the lead-in to Civil War (mostly the beginning of New Avengers v1 and the beginning of the Iron Man and Cap runs), Civil War itself, Steve's death, then the events Secret Invasion, Dark Reign, and Siege. Then Steve comes back to life. Even if you read none of the rest of this you absolutely have to read "Civil War: Casualties of War" and "Civil War: The Confession." The Confession is why we have a Steve/Tony fandom in the first place. I have a reading list for this, but please make sure to read those two comics. Avengers v4: The last of Bendis' Avengers runs (he started with New Avengers and then basically wrote every Avengers book for like seven or eight years); this is basically the story of Steve and Tony trying to figure out how to be friends again after Civil War. The era opens with Avengers Prime, which is a great miniseries featuring a truly epic Steve/Tony hug, and then about two-thirds of the run is Steve and Tony having screaming fights in front of all their friends, and then Steve gets to be Captain America again and rejoins the team and then everyone is friends until Hickman takes over. Hickman (Avengers v5 & New Avengers v3): The epic saga of Tony betraying Steve and then the entire multiverse ending. If you're going to read any of this, this is about 100 issues long and you have to read all of it in a very precise order (reading both series at the same time) or it will make almost no sense. Steve gets old. You probably will want to read Superior Iron Man, in which Tony is temporarily evil. Then the multiverse, in fact, ends. Then Secret Wars happens, but Steve and Tony aren't there. I also have a reading list for this run. Secret Empire and surrounding events (Standoff, Civil War II, Secret Empire): So after the multiverse stops ending (everything's fine, don't worry about it) and Tony stops being evil, we get the event Standoff, where Steve is young again but is secretly evil (he is replaced by a Hydra version of himself), and he continues being secretly evil throughout the events of Civil War II, which this time is Carol vs. Tony and Tony ends up in a coma. The one thing you will absolutely want to read is Civil War II: The Oath, an epilogue issue in which Steve villain-monologues at Tony's comatose body and tells him that Real Steve always loved him. Then Secret Empire happens, and Steve decides to be openly evil and take over America. Tony is an AI. Eventually Evil Steve is defeated and Real Steve comes back. I think that's about it for what Steve/Tony fandom considers to be important angsty events. There's been more recent good stuff, I promise, but it's all mostly been fluffy, in the sense that Steve and Tony haven't fought each other since then and nobody's died. I mean, not permanently. Best Steve/Tony (that isn't already essential) And now the fluff. I mean, it's not entirely fluff. I put 1872 on here. In my defense, I think a lot of the 1872 fic that gets written is fluff and/or fix-its. Tales of Suspense #58: Tales of Suspense, the comic book that Iron Man debuted in in #39, became primarily an Iron Man comic book for nearly twenty issues after that. But starting with #58, he shared the book with Captain America -- every issue from #59 to #99 (when the book ended) had one IM story and one Cap story, but not related to each other, just two separate stories in the same comic. The exception to this is #58 here, a story about both Steve and Tony, in which Steve is impersonated by the Chameleon. Tony at first thinks Steve is in trouble, and then he tries to chase him down -- but he ends up chasing the real Steve. Whoops. (This is one of the stories mentioned in Civil War: Casualties of War.) Tales of Suspense vol 2 #1 (1994 one-shot): Better known in fandom as "the azure eyes" issue, this is a Steve & Tony team-up where they've been on the outs for no reason I can determine but they have to work with each other and learn to be friends again. There are two pages that are Steve and Tony's interior monologues about each other and how they both think the other one is amazing and way better than them. (Tony is particularly fond of Steve's eyes, hence the fandom name for the issue.) Captain America & Iron Man 1998 Annual: This is technically part of my blanket v3 rec but I'd like to mention it specifically here. It's a standalone team-up issue where for Reasons, Tony decides to give Steve some amnesia, but they eventually make up and are friends again and it's very sweet by the end. Captain America & Iron Man: Invasion Force: This is an obscure internet-only team-up comic (you can find it on YouTube in four parts) which includes, among other things, Steve joking about Tony's dick and Tony, in response, offering to make Steve a sex tape. No, really. Captain America: Man Out of Time: This is generally my first rec to everyone; it's a modern retelling of Steve's origin story with some cute Steve/Tony moments and the addition of giving Steve a choice about whether to stay in the future. One Night in Madripoor: Technically, this storyline is Captain America & Iron Man #633-635; "one night in Madripoor" is on the cover of the first issue. This is some excellent Steve & Tony shenanigans in Madripoor with a lot of great banter. Avengers Annual vol 5: This is the annual from Hickman's run, but it's not by Hickman. It's a Christmas story and it's also the story that features the panel where Tony has made Steve's password "Captain Handsome." Avengers: Endless Wartime: The overall plot in this graphic novel is not at all what I would call fluffy but if you pretend that the only panel that exists is the one where Tony calls Steve "beloved" then it's pretty good. I don't recommend paying more than about five dollars for this. 1872: This is one of the AUs from Secret Wars, a Wild West world where Steve is the sheriff and Tony is the town drunk. Yes, I know 1872 is not fluffy. I know Steve is eaten alive by pigs in issue #2. However, there are some really sweet Steve & Tony moments in the first issue and I think most of the fic is a little softer than canon. Captain America/Iron Man (miniseries): This is a relatively recent (2021) team-up miniseries. Five glorious issues of Steve and Tony fighting villains, bantering, and also being really nice to each other. Avengers Annual 2021: This is the last annual in the Infinite Destinies annual series and it's basically "Steve and Tony hang out at home together and work out together and Steve feeds Tony his own breakfast and then they go fight a robot who makes them fight projections of each other because it knows they are weak for each other." Avengers Unlimited #52-54: Civil Score: New as of last month, this is a fun storyline where Steve and Tony attempt to steal a flash drive from the Serpent Society at a fancy party except they're both trying to get it before the other one does. (The very first issue of Avengers Unlimited is also worth a look, because it features Steve and Tony teaming up to fight Ghost and Taskmaster, and Taskmaster stops Steve's heart and Tony has to put Steve in his armor. It is some great h/c.) That's all I can think of! I'm sure I've missed some. I hope this gives you a place to start.

[mermaidsirennikita]

But Books, Though: A Blogger Intro

Hi! I'm Caroline. I read a lot of books. 99% of these are currently romance novels. That could change, but it hasn't in a while. Sometimes, you will see my opinions on things like TV, movies, niche topics. Sometimes, you will see a reblogged post. Mostly... it's books.

Update: I am a Pango Ambassador! What is Pango? It's a website for buying and selling used books (forgive me if that's the exact language of their ad, it plays a lot for me because the Internet Knows All).

If you wanna try it and save money, use code DIFFICULTWOMANREADS for $5 off your first order of $10 or more. Do I get an affiliate kickback? Yes. But it's in the form of Pangobucks, enabling me to buy more books to rant about. Use it or don't, totally up to you!

I like Pango because a) I find that more of the sellers on Pango are actual people versus chains b) it's easier for me to tell the condition of the book I'm getting and ask questions c) I've found a LOT of collectible romance novels there. And, big one: they have a tagging system and categories by genre. Which means you cans search everything from thrillers to historical romance Makes it way easier to find niche books.

Even if you aren't a collector, though, I think it's a great way to be a little more sustainable and pick up physical media you could always sell again or trade in to your local used bookstores. (Highly recommend doing that! It's fun!)

I'm a big used books girly in general because it's a great to save money (often cheaper than ebooks for mass market paperbacks especially) and... I don't know. I love a good find.

Quick Links:

My rating system

My ARC review tag

My Bookstagram

My StoryGraph

My book recs tag

^ This is for all rec requests I get, as well as book reviews wherein I would recommend the book (all books I recommend are 4 stars or higher on my rating system, unless otherwise noted).

There will be repetition, as I rarely leave a rec request hanging and don't often remember to link back to previous asks. Also, new books happen! I also don't currently have subcategory tags breaking them up. I'm sorry. Eventually, I'll try to do that, but... it would definitely require some work, as I've been recommending books on here for literal years :).

[rinn-e]

For the writers ask!

🍓, 🕯️, 🛼, and 🥤- specially author rec :)

Ah, thank you dear <3

🍓 ⇢ how did you get into writing fanfiction? 

I've been reading fanfiction since I was twelve (googling fanart and finding a German fanfiction website because someone used that art as their profile picture). I always wanted to write some as well (though I wasn't confident in my abilities yet and wouldn't have published any of it). I started with Warrior Cats fanfiction using my own clans :P The first real fanfictions I tried my hand at were for Inuyasha (together with two of my friends), Hetalia, X-Men First Class, and Kuroko no Basket.

🕯️ ⇢ on a scale from 1 to 10, how much do you enjoy editing? why is that?

Maybe a 5? I enjoy seeing the story completed, even if it's imperfect, there's a big sense of accomplishment already. It's nice to revisit the characters and the story you've grown to care about (I usually take a break between the first draft and editing), so there's a lot of pride involved. I'll be honest, though, I feel like I'm not good at editing - 'kill your darlings' as they say, isn't that easy for me, I guess. I might be afraid of making drastic changes? :')

🛼 ⇢ describe your latest wip with five emojis

My epic fantasy original work: 🏺🐦‍🔥🎭🌈💦 (that was fun!)

🥤 ⇢ recommend an author or fanfic you love

You mean beside you? <3 :P

I was quite fond of this fanfiction when I read it years ago: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2737374/1/Solstice-Night (Star Wars, Obikin) It sparked my love for Obikin :)

This is also a highlight if I need a good laugh: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8186626 (DC, Batfamily)

A gem I read recently: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25509340/chapters/61887730 (Outlast, Eddie x Waylon) I love the portrayal of therapy and psychology here :D

I could add more fics, but you can also just check my bookmarks on ao3 (though some of them are guilty pleasure smut lol).

As for authors:

crownjrose (rosesnblueberries) https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosesnblueberries/pseuds/crownjrose -> I discovered them through their Labyrinth fanfiction, very mature and lovely writing <3

lithugraph https://archiveofourown.org/users/lithugraph -> Who writes amazing Hetalia fanfictions <3

Apuzzlingprince https://archiveofourown.org/users/Apuzzlingprince -> I devoured their IT (Stephen King) fanfictions when I was in the fandom back then. Really sad they're not active anymore.

theoldgods https://archiveofourown.org/users/theoldgods/works?fandom_id=31741600 -> For their great Rocketman (2019) fanfictions.

Camden https://archiveofourown.org/users/Camden -> For their lovely Glee (Kurtofsky) fanfictions.

Can you tell I'm a multishipper? :P

[glorfie394]

Webtoon recommendations for dem nerdy pals

(there's a lot of bl in this ) ←⁠(⁠*⁠꒪⁠ヮ⁠꒪⁠*⁠)

I'm just going to put in my top recs because I've read like a lot

1. Shifting borders

WHEN I SAY THIS IS GOOD I MEAN IT

the story is more world building and characterization based which is amazing for me as an avid Tolkien fan who is extremely picky

Very gay and very cute 10/10 would recommend

I honestly want to give more love towards this author because they have another webtoon called chanta which takes place in the same universe as this and it's equal exciting to read

2. Miss abbott and the doctor

Sooooooo cute and it keeps me engaged

I literally log in every day just to use my daily pass to read another chapter

It's more slice of life and romance based and a great example of opposites attract and enemies to lovers

I would write a lot more but that would spoiling༎ຶ⁠‿⁠༎ຶ

3. Homesick

The storyline? Pops.

The artstyle?so good that I cried.

The characters and roles? Believe me when I tell u that it's perfect.

It's all set in a beauty fantasy setting with terrifying moments and a lot of suspense and thrill

It was so good I read everything over 1 night and woke up the next morning dead but satisfied

It's quite pleasing even for someone who doesn't like horror that much but is okay with gore and angst

Honestly can't wait till the next episode comes out

4.Morgana and Oz

One of the first webcomics I read which got me instantly hooked

It's currently one hiatus but whatever has been already posted has literally brought me to tears. Again it's fantasy and the characters are soo cute and complex

Top tier would recommend to anybody in my line of sight

I would write more but that's for part2

OMG PART 2

SO I HAVE WASTED MORE PRECIOUS TIME BY READIND SOME MORE PRECIOUS WEBTOONS SO LET ME SPREAD THE JOY PPL!!

5. Star Catcher -(ro-taniah)(bl)

i read this while it was still on canvas and i absolutely loved it. right now its originals and i can't tell you how happy i am to see longer chapters with more content.

it's about 2 college boys besties and how their relationship develops

as an anxious person this was a great read and i could really relate to some parts of the main characters anxiety even though it was more extreme compared to what the average person aka me would face.

literally so cute that i'm reading it again now that it's on originals!!!

it updates regularly and is great if you are just looking for a classic

6. heesu in class 2 - lily

this isn't on webtoon but omg such a cute read

i recently reread this and i thought it was quite worthy of being mentioned in this post

it's main couple is 2 high school boys and i can't explain how cute it is

yes there is drama and quite a bit of miscommunication but i thought it was really cute and fun

even the side ship got me feel crazyyyy

also the artstyle is mwahhh *chefs kiss*

there are around 91 chapters including sides stories and extras and you can read it on bato.com for free

but pls support the author as it was originally posted in lezhin if you prefer that

7.countdown to countdown - velinxi / xiao tong kong

back to webtoon again!!

honestly i first started reading this because i thought the art style was so cool and detailed but then the storyline got me hooked.

it is currently being posted on webtoon but the webtoon has its own website so you can read it there as well

more chapters are available on the website so you can check it out if you finish reading the webtoon chapters

it's story is set in a dystopian world in 2044 and the worldbuilding left me speechless + bonus amazing artstyle

velinxi also has other comics so pls check them out

https://velinxi.tumblr.com/

https://www.ctccomic.com/comic/archive

[this-world-of-beautiful-monsters]

It's Appreciate a Dragon Day, and I just wanted to rec one of my favorite dragon books! From the website:

The Tea Dragon Society is a graphic novel suitable for all-ages, in which a young blacksmith apprentice named Greta discovers the fascinating world of Tea Dragons. These cute but extremely fussy creatures require a great deal of attention and care, however they hold a magical secret that makes the trouble worthwhile. Along the way Greta meets the mysterious girl Minette, the retired adventurers Hesekiel and Erik, and of course all of their Tea Dragons.

Winner of 2018 Eisner Award for Best Kid’s Publication Winner of 2018 Eisner Award for Best Webcomic Winner of 2018 Dwayne McDuffie Award for Kids Comics Co-Winner of 2018 Harvey Award for Best Kid’s or YA Publication ALA Rainbow List (2018) Amazon.com’s Best Comics & Graphic Novels (2017) School Library Journal’s Top 10 Graphic Novels (2017)

The story will always be free to read online here, and the hardcover book is now also available via Barnies & Noble.

A really sweet, insanely creative, delightfully queer and disabled fantasy that's ridiculous cute and soothing, not to mention its fascinating exploration of inheritance, memory, and passing on tradition. I was enough to find it at my local library and enjoyed the shit out of it, and I think you will, too!

Apparently there are sequels I haven't had a chance to read yet, but I intend to very soon!

[nomi--sunrider]

Then, Now, and Always

Chapter 46: Then, Now, and Always

Summary: The end of the war and everything that comes after.

Image Credit: Screencapping-BadWolfKaily, Editing-Sel Queen's Courtesan

Author's Note below the cut. Contains spoilers for the chapter so read the chapter first.

Thanks everyone for reading Then, Now, and Always. My biggest creative project of the past year and as of now, my best work. This fandom has given me so much, from badly needed dopamine during my first year of grad school to a lovely excuse to go to London for my first ever con! I've discovered so much new music and so many new artists, developed crushes on a ton of great actors, and expanded my creative world so much. I can't believe the fic is finished. I'll sure miss it, but I'm excited to do other awesome things.

If anyone is interested, here is a link to an app/website called Lingvano. It comes highly recommended by deaf folks as a way for (hearing) people to learn ASL from deaf people. If I could write this fic again, I'd put actual deaf characters in it and maybe give Tally a deaf teacher. From research, I've learned it's better to study ASL from deaf folks, as they speak it as it's meant to be spoken and it's also their language in general. Unfortunately, Lingvano costs $9.99 per month after the free trial. Worth it in my opinion, as it's a very well-done site.

At the end of this post, there's a link to a playlist of music I listened to while writing the fic. I put liner notes of sorts below because I always get excited when other authors do that. However, you're welcome to listen however you like.

The Playlist

Chasing Twisters - Delta Rae : If Then, Now, and Always had a theme song, it would be this.

Salvation - LP : Honorable Mention

The Night We Met - Lord Huron : A guest commenter called Song Fairy recced this song to me in the Chapter 28 comments. You could listen to it anywhere in the fic, but Chapter 2 is reasonable enough to get a taste of what's coming.

X-Training - Henry Jackman : To be listened to during Chapter 11 during Tally's retraining montage.

Come to Your Senses - Alexandra Shipp, Vanessa Hudgens : It amuses me that this song is two women singing to Andrew Garfield because in my opinion, it's the best lesbian love ballad ever written for musical theater. Accompanies Chapter 12: The Twilight of Witchkind.

Say Something - A Great Big World, Christina Aguilera : I'm guessing it's obvious, but if it's not, this goes with Chapter 13: Say Something.

This is Me - Keala Settle, The Greatest Showman Ensemble : To be listened to with Chapter 15: Silent Witch, when Tally grabs the world by the nostrils and forces it to acknowledge her.

Ugly Heart - G.R.L : Could be listened to anywhere in the Chapter 16-19 realm where Sarah and Tally are both raging, both mad, sort of at each other, but mostly in general.

Evermore - Josh Groban : SpookyWitchling mentioned this song in the comments of Chapter 16: By Hand, specifically. I like it more as an Alder song, maybe at the end of Chapter 17: The Downside of Miracles, but you may do as you wish.

Laid Low - The Naked and Famous : This song has made Top 5 in my Spotify end of year playlist since 2016. It's a banger, it has anime AMV energy, I love it, and I think it's goes well with the Arc II finale, Chapter 25: Battle of the Goddesses.

If I'd Known I Loved Her - Delta Rae : I love this song so much. I first heard it in September 2022, back when TNAA was a mere twinkle in my eye, and I was like "Holy shit, this is Alder's half of the love story." Goes with Chapter 26: If I'd Known.

History Has Its Eyes on You: Christopher Jackson, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton : The main difficulty of writing the third act was Tally's character arc. At first, it was her overcoming her squeamishness and fear of getting hands dirty by killing Hearst in the finale. This felt supremely unsatisfying to me, and I realized this was because it was Tally's Arc II character journey, which was tied off in Chapter 25: Battle of the Goddesses. Readers might have missed it because it was an Alder POV chapter, but Chapter 25 is Tally's Arc II character climax. She takes control of Alder's mind during their duel, showing she's willing to fight dirty, punch below the belt, and do whatever it takes to survive, and she betrays Nicte to save the Spree, showing she can put her personal feelings aside to protect her people. Everything I'd planned for Arc III Tally, I actually gave to Arc II Tally. So I had to think of something else.

This song got me to where I needed to be to write Arc III Tally. At this point, it's not really about her personal internals, but about her journey as a leader and what she's going to do to change the world and lead witches into a future of peace. Yeah I know. It got really plotty and philosophical. But everything worked out! And I think it's way better than my original plan.

Stand by You - Rachel Platten

Human - Cher Lloyd

I like either or both of these for Chapters 28 and 29, Alder's Folly and The Seed of Revelation, Tally's POV which then slides into Alder's POV. They're ballads, bangers, and they work on numerous levels, which is cool.

All I Ask of You - Josh Groban, Kelly Clarkson : The song that led to me becoming a Kelly Clarkson stan. Her new album, Chemistry, is amazing. Listen to this song with Chapter 32: Past, Present, Future, when Tally is soothing Alder's fears and musing about their future.

Tally Two / What's the Plan / F-14 - Harold Faltermeyer : The main reason this fic is so aircraft-heavy is because I started writing it in October 2022, when Top Gun: Maverick came out on streaming. Listen to this song during Chapter 33: Into Darkness.

Zen Ball Master - John Powell, Hans Zimmer : It's not perfect, but I think the first half of the song suits the firefight scene in Chapter 35: Tally's Gift, when Tally, Sarah, and the Biddies are fighting their way out of the death factory.

I Am Moana (Song of the Ancestors) : I listened to this on repeat when I wrote Chapter 39: Nafssia. I knew what the chapter would be, I knew what Tally would do, and I knew I had to bring the fucking house down, which is why it took going to England, experiencing Witchbomb, and getting smiled at by Lyne Renee to pull it off.

One Less Witch in the World - Brandon Roberts : I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks this, but the Motherland soundtrack is disproportionately amazing. Like...why didn't they spend that money on better writers? Or idk, a few more episodes in each season? Doesn't matter. This song is awesome, but I think it works well with Chapter 44: One Less Witch in the World, during the third section where they're diverting the Accords.

Dance with Everybody - Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors

Who Do You Love - Marianas Trench

Better Place - Rachel Platten

Three end credits songs. I like imagining Sarah and Tally enjoying a wonderful Beltane together with Dance with Everybody and/or Who Do You Love as the backing track. In my mind, if it's Who Do You Love, Tally runs over to the drums for heavy drums section during the bridge and uses her touch-empathy to play alongside the rest of the drummers. She doesn't have a voice, so I like imagining her learning to play instruments so she and Sarah can still make music together. Better Place works well as a fade-to-black song during the domestic bliss at the end of the fic.

[housewarningparty]

Hi hi! I was wondering, how do you choose what to read next? I know you get recs from friends and I assume you read stuff from authors you already know you like, but beyond that, how do you hear about new books? Goodreads? Sometimes I have a million books I want to read but other times nothing at the library is of interest to me and I tend to get stuck there mentally while waiting for my books on hold to be available 😂

Also, do you have any recs for horror books about ghosts? I want to read a good ghost book :) bonus points if there are sapphic ghost books!! 👻

there are a bunch of places i check in on to keep up on new titles or find out about interesting backlist stuff

first, for new releases, there are different columns/websites that exist just to catalogue the new stuff coming out (mostly from major publishers, if you're looking for indie or selfpub these probably won't help much)

io9 has their Bookshelf Injection column of new SFF (and some horror) that gets published every month

Jumpscares has a similar list for horror titles

for a more "literary fiction" bent you can always check out Bookmarks' Best Reviewed Books of the Week posts

If you're looking for a little more editorializing/reviewing I'd start looking around on sites like Book Riot (example lists include: Best Werewolves in books, 9 Books with Disabled Main Characters etc) or Electric Lit (Example: 10 Must Read Books set in Cairo, 7 Books About Grotesque Bodies).

Additionally, there are places to get recommendations that feel a little more tailored and personal. There are podcasts I enjoy for this (mostly for horror) like Talking Scared or Books in the Freezer. And there's always booktube (though finding a reviewer you like can be tricky) I like TheShadesofOrange, Petrick Leo, and Jess Owens.

There's also reddit (r/fantasy, r/horrolit, r/lgbtbooks, r/printsf are the main places I go to). Goodreads does have its uses, though admittedly I use it more to track my own reading and to follow friends, authors I like, and a handful of reviewers whose opinions I trust. Overall, I think the GR community as a whole is a total clown show and I don't put much stock into the rating system there.

If you have some favorite authors and they are on goodreads or social media, I'd say it's usually pretty worthwhile checking out the books they're hyping up.

finding new or interesting books is pretty easy, but choosing what to read from my own, admittedly ridiculously huge library? that's trickier. tbh, i mostly go on vibes.

alright for the second part of your question.

i love a good haunted house story!

anyone you ask with any taste at all is probably going to give you the answer i'm about to, but if you haven't read it yet, the #1 haunted house book I can recommend to you is Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House. It's a classic for a reason. If it sweetens the pot for you - the character of Theo is a lesbian. There's great subtext between Theo and the book's main character, Nell. A scholar recruits people who've had experiences with the supernatural to stay with him in a purportedly haunted house to see if they can come up with proof that ghosts are real. Shit gets whacky. One of the finest american novels ever written, regardless of genre.

If you want more sapphics and less house it might be worth checking out Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M Danforth (yes, the Cameron Post author). I had some issues with this one. I wouldn't say I didn't like it, but I know a lot of people liked it more than I did. It's very queer, has an interesting dual timeline - one plot set in the past tells the story of a mysterious tragedy befalling an early 1900s girls boarding school, the other plot is about a movie being made about those events in the present day.

The Red Tree by Caitlin R Kiernan - okay this one IS also about lesbians but it's probably the darkest book on this list. A struggling middle aged writer moves into a creepy old house after the death of her girlfriend by suicide. In the house, she discovers a lost manuscript of a previous resident who had been researching local folklore and documenting sinister events seemingly linked to the gnarled, tree on the house's property. Things do not go well. Very well written (have some issues with Kiernan but they're an incredible talent and, worth mentioning, they're the only genderfluid writer in the genre that I know of)

Another book I always recommend on this topic is Echoes edited by Ellen Datlow. It's a HUGE anthology of short ghost stories. Some of my favorite horror short fiction ever written is in this collection. It's a great way to be introduced to some of the best horror writers around right now - Datlow is a legendary editor. I recommend anyone interested in horror check out her collections. The stories in Echoes are varied in theme and from a variety of different voices.

Other ghost books that whip ass

Come With Me by Ronald Malfi - after his wife is killed in a mass shooting, a man gripped with grief discovers a secret she'd been hiding from him for their entire marriage. He picks up an investigation she had been secretly pursuing that sets him on a collision course with an apparent serial killer. A story of grief and the secrets we keep from the people we love.

The Good House by Tananarive Due - a woman has to return to her childhood home, still awash in the grief of losing her teenage son there two years ago. While staying there and with the help of an old friend, she begins to unravel the strange tangle of tragedies that have surrounded the house since her grandmother's time, and to uncover the truth of what really happened to her son. A story about generational trauma and breaking cycles.

The Last Days of Jack Sparks by Jason Arnopp - this one's great on audio. This book is told in the style of a posthumously published book from a VICE style douchebag journalist who was attempting to write a book that would once and for all disprove the existence of the supernatural. Extremely unlikable main character, but that added to the experience for me - I was very stoked to get to the part where bad things would begin to happen to Jack Sparks. This one's got a lot of dark humor and some genuinely scary scenes. Love it. Wish more people would read it.

Hope you find something in there you like! Good luck!

[fezwearingjellybananas]

5 [Once Upon a Timeline], 8, 9, 10, 17 and 25 for the fanfic writer ask game!

5. What do you wish someone would ask you about [insert fic]? Answer it now!

Once Upon a Timeline

Ooh! Ooh, that's actually tricky and I don't know if I have a specific thing off the top of my head? Maybe what went down with Bivolo because Barry presumerably didn't go attack Eddie but honestly I didn't put much more thought into it than Barry wouldn't be jealous of Eddie in the same way, but Eddie definitely encounters a whammied Barry still. It's still a toss up in my mind of whether it's in regret about what he did when he was whammied or post Revenge of the Rogues that Barry goes to tell Malcolm the truth about everything. I am certain he at first groups Malcolm in with Iris after Joe does the nonsense "promise not to tell Iris to keep her safe" thing though, and Malcolm is not happy about it either. He is especially grumpy the first person Barry ran to was the Arrow and not his own twin, and very quick to point out Barry did not run to him because "he has experience and the best advice", he ran to Oliver because he knew Oliver wouldn't tell him no.

Malcolm is the only person at that point who knows Barry is having complicated feelings about Iris and Eddie though.

8. What song would make a great fic (to either write or read)?

I do keep thinking Hold Me Like a Grudge (Fall Out Boy) could fit an Eobard and Barry fic...

9. How do you find new fic to read?

There are a few authors I am subscribed to, and if I see an interesting looking post on here (either by the author or in a rec list) I might go click on that one, but honestly most of the time I just go into The Flash- All Media Types tag in chronological order and see if there's an interesting sounding summary. I do have a few tags I have set the bookmark with those filtered out though, and I might go into a more specific tag if I'm looking for something more specific

10. How do you decide what to write?

Sometimes ideas feel like daydreams and some I'll note down and I guess if I have an idea and it feels firmly stuck in my head and I keep thinking about it I think oh I'll write that one? If there's more thought then it's a subconscious one.

I'm very fond of canon divergent aus though, they'll be more likely to make it to the notes than a full blown au, though I have had some fun with them too

17. What highly specific AU do you want to read or write even though you might be the only person to appreciate it?

That's kind of what Fixed Point is, albeit just a snippet, but imagine a whole canon divergent AU of s2 of Legends of Tomorrow where Nora Allen is also there and basically the point of this is so she can deck Eobard Thawne. She deserves it.

25. What other websites or resources do you use most often when you write?

Wikipedia is my best friend. Mostly if I'm doing research I only want a vague overview anyway, Wikipedia's good for that.

Thank you!

[Fanfic Writer Asks]

[dragonomatopoeia]

Do you have any recommendations for zines?

I ended up writing a pretty long front-matter to this ask, so I've put it all under a Read More. If you only want the resources, feel free to skip to the end

So: I am always going to be a little too pedantic and autistic for a comprehensive, unambiguous rec list. Someone asked me what my favorite book was once, and it felt like my brain stalled and rebooted five times.

Don't get me wrong! I love putting specialized recommendations together, like puzzle-box mystery novels, or horror genre video games with thematic emphasis on grief, or documentaries on sewage treatment

But I am very, very bad at recommending general purpose Media full stop. alas I am a fussy and particular creature who hisses at five star rating systems on review websites because I think using the same Quality Metric regardless of genre and medium and purpose is Silly

Making recs gets even more difficult with things like zines, where they are small press by nature. A lot of my favorite zines are DIY projects with Very Small Distributions. One of my prized possessions is a small, hand-drawn zine of one hundred cats the artist drew with their eyes closed, which they gave to me for free because they liked my shirt. But that's a zine that means something to me because of circumstance and taste and my own ability to pick it up in person

Your mileage tends to vary with this stuff. If I found a Repo The Genetic Opera zine that ranks every organ in the human body, I have friends that would love that WAY more than I would, and I'd probably send it their way. If I found a zine about Gundam and gender and disability and idealized bodies that have been shaped into weapons, then I have dozens of friends I would need to send copies of it to, but that wouldn't make it any less niche. Zines are for VERY specific audiences. That's one of the best things about them!

That Being Said! There ARE popular, more-accessible, or more well-known zines and artists with broader appeal, and I mean that in an enthusiastic, complimentary manner.

I've even seen zines being advertised on my tumblr dashboard. Zines like:

Oh No! A kidpix zine by Louie Zong (Pay what you want- all proceeds donated to LA Foodbank)

Golem Zine is a publication by and for Jewish creatives living in areas where Jewish life is challenged. Their Out West issue sold out before I could grab a copy ($10 per issue, physical)

FYMA: A Lesser Key to the Appropriation of Jewish Magic & Mysticism goes hand in hand with the previous zine, I think (Pay what you want)

But you're more likely to get something that caters to your specific interests and artistic sensibilities by getting in touch with your community members, asking friends who have similar tastes, or checking out some of these resources:

Your Local Library (I'm being serious here-- your library likely has connections to local artists, galleries, resources, and e-resources that can set you on the path to zines you'll enjoy)

Any local art walk or small press events near you (your library can help you find these)

Itch.io's Zine Tag (Adding more tags will help you filter these)

Papercut Zine Library's Virtual Library

Internet Archive's Zine Collections

The DC Punk Archive Zine Library (Specific to punk and DIY interests, as you might imagine)

The Library of Congress Online Zine Web Archive Collection

QZAP (The Queer Zine Art Project)

POCZP (People of Color Zine Project-- and they're on tumblr!)

Hevelin Fanzine Collection (Literally a bunch of sci-fi, horror, and fantasy fanzines that were all collected by one guy which are now being digitized)

From Staple to Spine: A Compendium of Zine-Related Books (This doesn't have zines itself, but the books included can be a great starting point for where you should be looking and what will be of interest to you)

I also recommend making your own zine! It's fun to make things and put words and images on paper.

And if you downloaded the bundle for Racial Justice and Equality off itch.io, you already own the Electric Zine Maker (Warning for brightly colored, glitched, and moving visual elements that may cause eyestrain. I would also be wary if you're prone to migraines)

I know this has been a Lot and I got a bit carried away, but I hope that this helps you in your quest for finding cool, obscure art made by people who care deeply about niche topics. Personally, that's my favorite kind of art

[lurking-latinist]

Hello Aurelia,

Siena Sevenwits here! Not long ago you turned me in the direction of Spotify for Big Finish - now that it's Christmas I have a little listening time. I was wondering if I could ask for a rec or two, if you have time and inclination? I'm, er, wondering if it's a good idea to get into 6, 7, and 8 by means of audio rather than TV. If I'm barking up the wrong tree, ah well.

My Whovianness on television: Got into Doctor Who casually around 2010, and been rather on and off. I've seen a fair-ish amount of Doctors 1-4, rather more of 5, and only tiny bits of 6-8. I am aware of all the major Who-impacting plot points even from the later eras, could tell you a few sentences about each of the companions from those adventures, etc. As for New Who, I came to Doctor Who via 11, whom I know extremely well, and some 10 here and there. I've listened to a smattering of Big Finishes with 5.

What I'm looking for: I'm especially intrigued by 7 & 8, though I'm open to persuasion about 6. I don't have a lot of time to watch TV right now, but have time to listen while I do chores, which is partly why I thought this might be a good way to get into these incarnations. I love clever or atmospheric adventures, though humour is welcome too. Good character development is awesome. I'd prefer single rather than multi-doctor stories. Really I'm looking for a good starting place and, you know, confirmation that this is actually a good idea without watching the shows first. I also don't mind listening to adventures that spoil things from the show.

Siena!! This is the best ask!

The good news is that it is a great idea to get into 8 by means of audio--there is only audio! (Well, and novels and comics, but those are separate continuities.) There is the TV Movie, which is the Eighth Doctor's first story and only full-length appearance in a televised medium, and you can certainly watch it if you want--it's a corny good time--but you really won't miss anything at all by starting directly with 8 on audio. He is the audio Doctor.

The converse to this is that 8 has been in a lot of audio, so you'll still need to narrow it down. I'm assuming you don't want to start with any of the boxsets (sets of usually four hour-long stories), which are expensive and continuity-heavy. Instead, you'll probably want to start with one of the two 8 runs that are available free on Spotify: his adventures with Charlotte "Charley" Pollard and Lucie Miller.

For Charley you'll start with Storm Warning, which is a very enjoyable listen. It's definitely a good starting point--I would say it's similar to, say, The Eleventh Hour in that it introduces a basically new Doctor and new companion, and it's intended to be a doable jumping-on point. From there you can listen to Eight and Charley's stories sequentially--there is a 'season' arc, so be sure you listen more or less in order--they're all part of the Main Range, so just pick out the Main Range stories with Paul McGann in them. But you can skip Minuet in Hell, it's really bad and not part of the season arc. The arc concludes in Neverland and the infamously long, complicated, and multi-Doctor Zagreus, but don't worry if you just want to read the wiki summary for Zagreus. At that point if you want more Eight and Charley you have to start spending money, but the next several adventures are quite cheap on the Big Finish website, so it's not a bad deal at all (and you get to download and keep the files, it's not a streaming situation).

Eight and Charley's stories are dramatic, romantic (in the 'literary style' sense, although occasionally in the 'love' sense as well), and often historically inflected--she's an eighteen-year-old runaway schoolgirl and would-be 'Edwardian Adventuress' whom the Doctor rescues from an airship crash in 1930. Their plotline is the first Doctor/companion ship that's anything like canonical, although it's always framed as a tragic romance: their love is impossible but their friendship is real. Their stories are formatted like Classic Who stories in that each story consists of four half-hour episodes, which can be handy if, for instance, you have a half-hour commute or task.

Some of Eight and Charley's other best stories are The Stones of Venice, Chimes of Midnight, and Seasons of Fear.

Alternatively, you could start with Eight and Lucie instead! I'm somewhat biased because I love Charley and could never quite get into Lucie as much, but I did enjoy her stories and would listen again. Her opening adventure, the two-parter Blood of the Daleks, is also a perfectly workable jumping-on point, and from there you'll listen to the stories in the 8th Doctor Adventures series. Lucie's a young English woman from 2006 (so then-contemporary) who's placed in 'witness protection' by the Time Lords and forced to travel with the Doctor after she gets accidentally involved in some time nonsense. Initially skeptical of him, she eventually comes to be great friends with the Doctor but never stands for his nonsense--think a somewhat younger Donna. She has a lot of adventures after the season that's available on Spotify, which I haven't listened to all of, but I'm told she gets some really emotionally devastating story arcs. But she's also very snarky and funny. Her stories are one or two hour-long parts each, so formatted more like a New Who story.

With Eight and Lucie, I particularly remember enjoying Phobos and Human Resources.

So Eight is the best Doctor to start with on audio, because he's so very on audio. But there is a story arc with Six and an audio-original companion that is also a fantastic jumping-on point, and assumes no knowledge of Six's TV run. In The Marian Conspiracy, the Sixth Doctor finds that a time anomaly appears to be affecting middle-aged history professor Dr. Evelyn Smythe. He goes to investigate the anomaly's origin in the Tudor period, which happens to be Evelyn's specialty, and she invites herself along! I adore Evelyn and think everyone should meet her, and she and Six have some of the best audios honestly--Jubilee and Doctor Who and the Pirates are both deservedly famous. The writing and characterization issues that you may have heard about in Six's TV run 100% do not apply to the audios. But if you're more drawn to Eight than Six, you might as well start with Eight. Six and Evelyn will be there!

There are also plenty of Six audios with his TV companions Peri and Mel, but most of those aren't designed as starting points. Although my own starting point with Six was ...ish, which is a Peri one, and I turned out all right.

Seven doesn't have a sort of audio reboot like Six and Eight both do, so most Seven audios (especially the early ones which are free) include his TV companions, Mel and Ace. But the Seven and Mel stories certainly require no knowledge of TV continuity. The Fires of Vulcan is a particularly fun historical of theirs in which the TARDIS gets lost in ancient Pompeii. His stories with Ace do tend to draw on her TV characterization more, but if you know basically who she is, you should be fine to listen to any of their early ones that draw your attention. Additionally, Seven and Ace pick up a third companion, Hex (it's short for Hector), who is a nurse from 2021 (which was a long time in the future when they made it!). Hex is a part of some very long-term story arcs, and it's best to listen to the Seven, Ace & Hex stories in order if you want to do that.

I realize this is a lot of information in not very parsable form, but fortunately @circular-time's website VHSWhovian has a very useful Index of Free Big Finish on Spotify.

Enjoy!

[angeloparker]

Random AO3 Points

I've noted the fandom is really still getting used to AO3 from what I can tell so I wanted to point out some things new users may not know and that I've picked up on from years on the site under various usernames and from interacting a lot with other writers/readers from other fandoms. For readers and writers.

For Readers

You can only give kudos to a fic once. So if you've given one on the first chapter of a story, you won't be able to do it again per chapter. Consider comments as a way to give feedback.

Collections are largely meant for events like challenges (big bangs, exchanges, etc), not for collecting your favorite stories. An unrevealed collection's purpose is usually to keep works concealed only until the challenge is over. If an author permits you to put a story in a collection and you mark it unrevealed for any variety of reasons, you wind up hiding that work from the rest of AO3 until the author either removes it or you reveal the collection again.

Instead of using collections use Bookmarks! It's a great way to find your favorite fics and you can make notes in them -- like memorable plot points, how you feel about it, or even a mention of where you left off reading. Please note, there are private bookmarks and public bookmarks. If you use a public bookmark, the author (and site) can see what you wrote about the story.

The archive is precisely that: an archive. Not a social media site. Why is this important? Because if you are looking for a fic or fic recs or to request a fic, you should not be doing it on AO3. Yes, in certain fandoms you'll come across "stories" that are someone looking to make requests, take requests, or looking for a story. The majority of AO3 users will report these and while it might take a while because their support team is made of volunteers, just don't do it.

Download your favorite stories. At any given moment an author could leave AO3 for any reason. You can download from AO3 in a multitude of formats, including PDF and various epubs to read on your devices. However, if an author deletes their work and you have it saved you cannot repost it and should only share it privately and even then do so in a way that is respectful of the creator's wishes if they had any.

For Writers

First of all: Engagement takes a while on the website, don't get discouraged.

Your kudos refresh in real time, your hits refresh every 30 minutes, so if you see your hits are 5 and your kudos are 6, it isn't a bug -- something isn't wrong. The system is catching up. Similarly, hits are measured within windows of time by visitor, so if some reads all 10 chapters of your completed fic, it will count as 1 hit and not 10.

Similarly to above, do not use a post to take requests. The archive is limited to fannish/transformative work. Use your Tumblr or Twitter to take requests or eventually it will get reported.

Placeholders similarly are not for AO3. An influx of Wattpad users have lead to people describing their story idea in a few sentences and posting it without any story written -- maybe to gain interest or maybe misunderstanding and thinking there is an algorithm they need to tap into for their fic to be found. Both are bad practice and will be reported and removed if there is nothing fannish/transformative in them.

There are mixed feelings when it comes to one-shot "books" -- or rather, one story where each chapter is a one-shot. In general, AO3 readers who have used the site for a long time will prefer them grouped by some kind of common theme -- such as the main pairing. When searching on the site, people like to look for certain things and filter them out -- so having a 50 chapter story of 50 individual one-shots with 50 different couples and individual tags is a nightmare and many users will skip past them since they can't discern what they're getting. Plus, you'll limit yourself in terms of hit count because of the aforementioned reason about hits refreshing.

A series is generally a better place to group things together, because people can still search out and filter out tags and things they do not want from your works page. I advise to only do a series if there is still a common theme. I have done them for things like requests and drabbles but only because I was uploading them all at once when I made my transition. In hindsight, I probably would have just made them separate one-shots but do like that anyone who made a request can go to those two series at once.

You cannot link to your Ko-fi, Patreon, or anything else that solicits for money for your work. You can, however, link to your social media site like Tumblr and if your Ko-fi/Patreon link is posted there, that's fine.

Utilize work skins for fun, visual and interactive elements. Tutorials do exist on AO3 and also Tumblr for the coding as AO3's CSS capabilities are limited.

Do not put in your author's notes, tags, or summary that if you don't get comments, you won't update.

Avoid being too self-deprecating with your summary and tags. I know tongue and cheek we're sometimes like "I suck at summaries" or "I don't know what to tag this" but it is better to make an effort and attract a reader than not give them enough to go on.

Tag appropriately. Especially for potentially triggering topics. For other things, ask yourself "is there enough of X in this story where if someone were looking for a story about it, they would be satisfied. If it's a consistent theme, tag it. If it's one character who appears for half a scene in a 20 chapter WIP, you can skip it.

Archive warnings: Use them. If you are writing about something that might be triggering to others but want to avoid warning for it to avoid spoiling your plot, you can choose the "Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings" and any reader should know that they could be getting into something. I personally like to just provide warnings because I would rather let people know and avoid them getting invested/turning them off. But the "choose not to warn" exists for a reason and you are within your rights to use it.

"Dead Dove: Do Not Eat" is not a catchall for any triggering topic. It's origins are from a television show and it was originally meant to essentially mean "does what it says on the tin, so don't be surprised with what you get." In other words, if you work includes non-con, graphic smut, various kinks, or elements that are an "acquired taste" you should not use the dead dove tag in lieu of those tags to describe a dark!fic. You should use it in combination with the appropriate tags as a way of saying "This really is what I say it is, so get involved at your own risk."

I'm sure I'll think of other things and come back and add to this eventually. If you, an AO3 user, disagrees with what I've said here, as I mentioned this is from my experience and a lot of time spent on subreddits and talking to other authors both in and out of the fandom. So feel free to make your own recommendations in your own post so newer users can get their own feel for how the archive functions for multiple people and craft their own experience while still being in line with the AO3 TOS.

[teachingmycattoread]

Things We’ve Yelled About This Episode #3.6

Hamlet, William Shakespeare

The Silmarillion, J. R. R. Tolkien

Hamlet (1996) - Kenneth Branagh

Kenneth Branagh (imdb)

Hamlet (2009) - David Tennant

David Tennant (imdb)

Hamlet (2016) - RSC, Paapa Essiedu

Paapa Essiedu (imdb)

Othello, William Shakespeare

The Lion King (1994)

Withnail and I (1987)

Rosencrantz and Guilderstern Are Dead, Tom Stoppard

Rosencrantz and Guilderstern Are Dead (1990)

Gary Oldman (imdb)

Lewis (2006-2015)

Hamlet (2018) - Andrew Scott (youtube)

Andrew Scott (imdb)

Minecraft

Sparknotes

The Trolley Problem (wiki)

Much Ado About Nothing, William Shakespeare

Much Ado About Nothing (2011) -  David Tennant and Catherine Tate

Catherine Tate (imdb)

Illyria (wiki)

Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare

Kronborg castle (wiki)

The Minack Theatre (website)

Harrow the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir

Gesta Danorum, Saxo Grammaticus (wiki)

The Castle of Otranto, Horace Walpole

Cyrano de Bergerac, Edmond Rostand

Peredur (wiki)

Richard III (wiki)

The Princes in the Tower (wiki)

This tumblr post about confession

To Be Or Not To Be, Ryan North

O, that this too too solid flesh would melt Thaw and resolve itself into a dew! Or that the Everlasting had not fix’d His canon ‘gainst self-slaughter! Hamlet, Act I Scene 2

Parks and Rec (2009-2015)

Leonardo Dicaprio (imdb)

But that I am forbid

To tell the secrets of my prison-house,

I could a tale unfold whose lightest word

Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood,

Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres,

Thy knotted and combined locks to part

And each particular hair to stand on end,

Like quills upon the fretful porpentine - Hamlet, Act I Scene 5

I have of late, but

wherefore I know not, lost all my mirth - Hamlet, Act II Scene 2

This post

To thine own self be true - Hamlet, Act I Scene 3

Malvolio - Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare

Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them. - Twelfth Night, Act II Scene 5

The difference between comedy and tragedy is listening to the women - this post

King Lear, William Shakespeare

The Muppets

Statler and Waldorf

Gonzo and Rizzo

Ian McKellen (imdb)

Patrick Stewart (imdb)

Now cracks a noble heart. Good night sweet prince:

And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest! - Hamlet, Act V Scene 2

House of Finwe (wiki)

Metaverse

The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet, Becky Chambers

Would that be fucked up or what? (meme)

Manic pixie dream girl (trope)

Queer Lit, Manchester (website)

The Mandalorian (2019 -)

The Cat Rating

5/10

What Else Are We Reading?

The Silmarillion, J. R. R. Tolkien

Snowcrash, (1992)

Notes From A Crocodile,

Harrow the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir

Nona the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir

What Abigail Did Last Summer, Ben Aaronvitch

The Last of Us (2023 -)

Next Time On Teaching My Cat To Read

The Raven Tower, Ann Leckie