#historical fiction but make it gay

[samuelsimauthor]

'What did you read a fucking thesaurus?'

- me after reading something pretentious

[medievalsmithy]

Of lovers burdened with glory and doomed since the beginning of time

Book mentioned: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller/Song used: Achilles come down by Gang of Youths/Jujutsu Kasien 0 manga/Jujutsu Kaisen light Novel 1/Jujutsu kaisen manga chapters 78 and 236 by creator Gege Akutami/Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 , director Shōta Goshozono

[prolibytherium]

Reverse is like when a (historical-ish or not) fantasy setting kind of implies itself to have a homophobic or misogynist societal outlook where like you get characters talking About being isolated or unaccepted for their romantic/sexual interests or how they're meant to be more than a housewife or etc, but you never really see much societal enforcement of these norms whatsoever beyond the broadest strokes of 'marriage is between men and women and women are supposed to be housewives, probably?'. Like it's just a vast open space for readers to project homophobia and misogyny on, but lacking in any real exploration or engagement.

Like I'm not saying like 'put in a gaybashing' and it doesn't have to be (and probably Shouldn't be) 24/7 pain and suffering and anguish, but if you want arcs about characters struggling with their sexuality or marginalized gender roles there should probably be more than just a loose implication of something they have to struggle Against.

[cosmic-walkers]

sometimes, i wanna talk about how Gregory cromwell was probably a closeted gay man, and was charged with buggery for more than likely being caught with a man, and the irony of the buggery act being pushed into parliament/law and more than likely drafted by his own father, thomas cromwell.

but then i'll have to deal with people trying to argue down and claim that, 'actually buggery didn't just mean sodomy, it meant cheating/rape/etc, so gregory wasn't gay he was just a rapist'.

and while cheating on your wife with a man wasn't an ideal thing to do, i do think there is more evidence leaning toward that, than rape/adultery - as rape/adultery would've more than likely been recorded and brought up explicitly, especially during the downfall of the cromwell family. i would go more into this, but i just dont have time.

whereas, it would make a lot more sense if a gay relationship was hidden because a.) this was thomas cromwell's son, and that would shame the family and b.) thomas cromwell, who came up with the buggery act - England's first unofficial anti-sodomy law - would not want anyone to know that his son was actually gay lol.

and the buggery act wasn't officially recognized as an anti-sodomy law until years later, however, it was basically viewed as such as it was drafted, because it did go after gay people in england.

i always thought thomas did it specifically to go after the catholic church, but never actually realized how it could impact his own son because well...he didn't know

[timelordian-disaster-126]

Something a lil different, some new original characters of mine that have been cooking in my head for a few days 👀

ALSO, HAPPY PRIDE EVERYONE!

New trope is dropping now because I said so, Dragon and Unicorn trope.

Can I explain this trope? Yes and no, am I going to? No, I wanna see what people make of it 👀

Their names are Eira (the fair haired one) and Noma (the short haired one) <3

I'll add more information to this and repost it when I get more proper research done for them! I've ALWAYS wanted to make more historically accurate characters, and I honestly adore the concept of these 2 sm-

Lemme know what you guys think!

[drinkthemlock]

just showed the first small draft of my br regency story to my teacher and he said: “well i think you need to reforce how problematic slavery is more often”. hello???? one would think the reader knows that slavery and sexism and racism and ableism are bad without the author having to tell them again and again! omg

[noahhawthorneauthor]

ah I better figure out what college these characters teach at, let's check out what programs were available in the US in 1930 for their respective fields

four hours later, researching lgbtqia history in Philadelphia and delightfully learning what gayborhoods are

I love writing.

[navree]

if fictional interpretations of the historical time period surrounding the ides of march and philippi and all that insist on going with the shakespearean framing of brutus and caesar having an almost father-son sort of relationship, they need to put their money where their mouths are and make the core emotion of the narrative be about octavian-caesar-brutus, sons who aren't really sons of the father who are on diametrically opposed sides of the conflict with two different versions of not only what they think is the right call but also of who caesar should have been. that's the only way.

[end-orfino]

what is it with shows and media and all that and the obsession with taking things you should treat SO carefully, i.e. ACTUAL HISTORICAL FIGURES THAT LIVED AND WERE PEOPLE AND ARE REAL, and turning them into basically fictional characters. It's so stupid. And so far nothing good came out of it.

Like I understand a cameo or a minor role (like idk, the van gogh scene in doctor who seemed to pull off what it wanted to do pretty well?) but i mean when it's like. a major part of the story. and all. I am not being subtle about what this is about am I.

[samuelsimauthor]

After many months of trying to find a site builder that works for me (and doesn't cost a fortune) I finally got Mischief Raven back up and running. We are now accepting submissions for publishing and we have my books up as well.

Where have a crow:

Also here's the link:

[medievalsmithy]

Songs: Pale White Horse, Where is your rider by the Oh Hellos from the album: Dear Wormwood (2015)/Jujutsu Kaisen 0 (2021), Director: Sunghoo Park/Jujutsu Kasien Season 2 Episode 9 : Shibuya Incident Opening , Director: Shōta Goshozono /Jujutsu Kaisen Manga Ch#90 by creator Gege Akutami

[art]

Meet the Artist: @nooskadraws

Greetings! I’m Aleksander (he/him), also known as nooska, and I’m a trans gay illustrator from the U.K. Historical fiction, fashion, and fantasy are my cup of tea. I’m currently working on my first ever graphic novel entitled “Ancestree” set to be published by Oni Press: a queer Victorian gothic tale filled with plant ghosts. My hope for my art is to draw more beautiful trans people with inspiration drawn from my Belarusian upbringing and its folklore. When not making art, I can be found curled in an armchair reading, taking a nature walk in the hope of being found by the Fey, or rolling dice with friends.

Pleased to meet you, Aleksander! Check out some of the art he has picked out to feature below.

For more of Aleksander’s work, head over to his Tumblr, @nooskadraws, and give it a follow!

[moonlightsapphic]

Releasing Nimona on the last day of pride month 2023 was such a great move because it’s a really needed piece of media right now. Lots of countries that legalised gay marriage years ago have been grappling with this rising TERF narrative of “if you’re gay it’s whatever but if you’re trans, non-binary or gender non-conforming in some way you’re a PERVERT! A MONSTER trying to GROOM CHILDREN!” The outrage against simple things like pronouns and drag events, and the movement against gender affirming healthcare have reached a terrifying peaks for contemporary times.

So a kid’s movie set in a fictional country with controlling government officials with personal agendas, with an openly gay couple but also a shape-shifting kid who cannot even be afford to be out is our reality in the US today. Nimona’s feelings about her vibe, body and form, her insistence that she is only “Nimona” no matter what she looks like and her aversion to “small-minded questions” together forms such a beautiful allegory about trans, genderfluid individuals.

Ballister asks her to be a girl, but for whose sake? It’s only for the comfort of people who refuse to understand her, and would rather see her die than let her be herself. And it’s this widespread rejection and loneliness that has eventually made Nimona indifferent to pain, that makes her feel suicidal.

In the end, it is another member of the LGBTQ+ community that truly sees and accepts Nimona for who she is. And that should be a reminder that we cannot let them divide us. Trans people stood up for the rest of us and made historical change happen, and we need to do the same for them. Besides, cis queer people are only the “good ones” until they’re done with trans people and then will turn on us.

[fluentisonus]

also I realize this is maybe not what most people care about, but for me if I'm reading historical fiction I really want to see the characters thinking in a way that's visibly connected to the culture & period they exist in, even if they're consciously rejecting elements of it. so like if I read a historical gay romance (even one with no angst) I still want to see how their brain conceptualizes their experiences with gender and sexuality as a part of their historical context, be that in the language they use or how they think about dynamics or what they worry about -- that's part of what makes it meaningful to me. if they're thinking & framing everything exactly as a modern person would what's the point

[guessthatrec-poll]

Welcome to the Guess That Rec tournament!

Do you like enemies-to-lovers? Non-stereotypical queer rep? A cyberpunk setting with dragons in space about friendship, family, and the dangers of capitalism?

Well, this isn't any of those things! This is Guess That Rec, a tournament by the mod of @besttropeveershowdown where we'll be voting on media based entirely on bad, Booktok-style recommendations. Inspired by @guess-that-ship and this post, the rules of the tournament are simple: submit a recommendation for your favorite piece of media, and we'll vote on which ones we like best, BUT, here's the kicker: You may not mention anything about the actual plot of the story. Instead, we will be voting based on promo-post-style recommendations, which can include tropes, representation, setting, genre, very general theme, and anything else, as long as it doesn't describe anything that actually happens in the story!

Example:

Do you want a high school story about a neurodivergent protagonist working through their trauma by going on adventures in the big city? Queer-coded side characters? Male characters breaking through their toxic masculinity and expressing their feelings? Wholesome sibling relationships?

Then you'll love Catcher in the Rye!

The tournament will work similarly to the way @guess-that-ship does. Each rec will be assigned a number for the poll with the rec itself going in the body of the post, and each round, there will be a poll pitting 2 recs against each other. Vote for whichever piece of media sounds most appealing based on the rec alone. At the end of each round, I will reveal the identity of the loser. Guessing what work each rec is for in the comments is encouraged!

The submission form is here.

THE RULES:

Any type of media is permitted. Both fiction and nonfiction are allowed, but everything must be presented as if it's fiction.

You may NOT mention anything to do with the actual plot or premise of the story. You may, however, mention:

Tropes (ex. enemies-to-lovers, fake dating, unreliable narrator)

Representation (ex. disabled protagonist, gay side character)

Character dynamics and relationships (ex. dysfunctional siblings, grumpy x sunshine lesbians)

Setting (ex. in space, in the Old West)

Genre and subgenre (ex. historical fiction, whodunnit, workplace comedy)

Comparisons to other media (ex. if you liked Avengers you'll love this, it's Twilight meets Hunger Games)

General themes (ex. love, grief, family)

General elements (ex. murders, adventures, road trips)

Anything else that has NOTHING TO DO with what the story is actually about!

3. You may NOT make anything up: everything must be technically true, or at least up for interpretation. So, in my Catcher in the Rye example, I can't say that there are "canonically gay characters" because there aren't, but I CAN say that there are queer-coded characters. Similarly, if there's a character in your piece of media who exhibits autistic traits but has never been confirmed autistic, you can't call them "autistic", but you can call them "autistic-coded" or mention their specific traits. The use of weasel words (ex. describing a mentally ill serial killer stereotype as "neurodivergent", or a gay villain as a "major queer character") is allowed and encouraged.

4. Do not include any identifying details (ex. title, character names, identifying place names) in your rec.

5. Funnier submissions will be given higher priority. Submissions are funnier if A) they're of media that most people have heard of, and B) they are technically true while not at all capturing the vibe of the media.

5a. Additionally, remember that this is meant to be BAD recs: don't just use this as an excuse to recommend your favorite media! If a Booktok-style rec actually provides a good picture of what your media is, consider either rewriting or not submitting it.

6. Should the same media be submitted by two different people with different recs, priority will generally be given to the first submission, unless a later submission was significantly funnier by the guidelines stipulated in rule #5.

7. There is no banned media: go nuts!

Submissions will be open for at least 2 weeks, depending on how many I get, after which polls will begin! Happy recommending!

Tagging @tournament-announcer!

[overkill-max]

Cruz x Aaliyah Fanfics:

Here is a shameless plug of my Cruz x Aaliyah fics by order of popularity on AO3:

1. Duty and Desire aka The Bodyguard AU

Aaliyah is an FBI agent that does interrogations. Cruz is assigned to protect her.

2. The Arrangement aka The Fake Marriage AU

What starts off as a fake marriage with only one bed, turns into something real for them both.

3. Hard To Forget aka The Canon Adjacent Fix-It AU

Where Cruz makes different choices that ripple into her admitting who she is to Aaliyah before the wedding.

4. Love and War aka The War Correspondent AU

Aaliyah is a war correspondent and Cruz is a Marine that protects her.

5. Second Chances aka The Man on Fire AU

Aaliyah is a rich milf that wants her daughter to be safe, she hires Cruz to protect her and sparks fly.

6. Brave Enough To Love aka The Rescue Me AU

Cruz chooses Aaliyah over the mission but Aaliyah gets married anyway. It's a mistake and she asks Cruz to come rescue her.

7. Tutor Me aka The Learning How To Drive AU

College AU where Aaliyah and Cruz help each other become better and fall in love in the process.

8. The Lost Mask aka The Sexy Treasure Hunter AU

Cruz and Aaliyah go on an adventure and fall in love.

9. Your Country Needs More aka The Speculative Futures AU

Joe uses Aaliyah to manipulate Cruz back into doing her bidding. Written before season 2 aired, so it was wild speculation.

10. First Date: Take Two aka The First Date AU

A fluffy take on Cruz and Aaliyah getting a second shot at getting things right.

11. Queen of the Sun aka The Warrior AU

The no plot, just vibes Cruz is an ancient warrior and falls in love with Aaliyah after being captured fic.

12. Announcement No. 746 aka The Mail-Order Bride AU

Historical fiction where Cruz is a mail-order bride and Aaliyah sugar momma's her way into her heart.

13. Once, We Were In Love aka The Last of the Mohicans AU

Another gay take on a classic movie. Cruz is a frontierswoman and Aaliyah is a gay lady trying to love another lady while action happens around them.