#hopefully these will be under a readmore

[oswednesday]

okay snap a picture of this

these horny posts take place in a spin off series set when the kid twins are 17 going on 18, like space time peta is like what has happened to bill and the fellow life forms is evil they are the last of their species so its established like a time-space lock zoo that gets attached to the mystery shack and if you Know you Know and you can take your higher being family to gawk at them at the fearrarium, i get hired to watch the store/zoo (unbeknownst to me) because i have a an Alarmingly low Affected By Weird meter like the range of like things without minds range and also i have great tits and im good at sales and have a good eye for when stuff is expensive despite being awful at numbers and i have no ties to anything (plot spoiler) perfect employee-housekeeper the twin kids come to visit earlier than planned to do a surprise party for their grunkles returning from their off season travel, they see that the place is like an abandoned mess like wasnt someone hired for this??? and realize i fell into the fearrarium, they look, assuming theyre going to see a gore show and theyre Riiight but its cause im playing russian roulette with the other henchmaniacs, doing the allotment of their daily party drugs (i was lured in, not getting the lock pad but seeing spaces where it was warn and just getting lucky, but its a one way lock without the proper tools so its like oh =_= because i step in and let it close behind me but im completely and utterly sold like i was persecuted by ALL people and im like thats so sad ACAB ) and dipper has promised mabel that they'd do the party first Then work and dipper relents, after being reminded that, they'd tell other people about that later and get the shack ready for their grunkles and their party this of course is focusing in on themes of the original show but making more sense because mabel isnt an elementary school student--like if you dont take responsibility and brush difficult things off with silliness something something morals

anyway all this to say is a formulaic antics are bill and the crew are trying to escape the fearraium like aquarium squids several running gags are: bill tells me to kill the protagonists and im like b,but theyre just kids! and hes like if you kill them all you'll get to do the second line of space coke off of 8ball's head Aaaaand if you get every headshot you can be the henchmaniac of the month and im like oh boy starts blasting (the joke here is that im Always the henchmaniac of the month, any time another character is in the gallery hall of the enclosure the series of framed images are blurred out and make people turn away, go oh god, retch in their mouths a little bit) the second running Gag is that stan and ford add details how much they fucked up hiring me like stan is like oh yeah they were from a mental hospital hiring program i didnt even have to meet minimum wage haha,,,ford like i thought they were a harmless barely sentient idiot (with a great rack, stan interjects and ford starts to agree and stops himself closing his eyes, sighing, rubbing his eyes behind his glasses) and so on the third most is bill and i get so caught up in larping husband and wife that we forget what we're doing and have to be reminded final bit of tone: close to the end of the spin off series it looks like the pines family have finally Finally convinced me bill is too evil to be with and Bad for me and im pointing a lethal space weapon at him or have some hand on some lever (etc you get the idea) having some kind of sobby wet monologue and hes like "babe cmon" then "babe"(more threateningly and my like we'll stop you and save the world is really hitting its climax when im like-- Just Kidding ^x^ (scampers like faster that they thought i could move back over to bill, turning the weapon around and undoes whatever bindings through sheer dumb luck) like oh my god could you even imagine

[weewoo911]

So I wrote a little something loosely based on this post I made about Eddie subconsciously associating his future wedding as being with Buck- I haven't written for ages but I thought if I was gonna make it into a fic I'd also have an accidental drunk confession to Buck in there- and this is that. If I ever wrote a whole fic of this there'd be no cheating so dw dw

"It must be nice," Buck says from the floor, "Marr-Marriaging, -having a wedding. I want that, I'd want-"

"I know what you want," Eddie laughs confidently from the empty tub. It feels very zen, lying here with his legs hooked over the circular tub, like lying inside a big cereal bowl. He is so drunk, and giddy and totally at peace with everything, "You want a spring wedding because you want a frankly ridiculous amount of flowers. You want it far enough away from the city that you can see the stars at night, but not so far that it'd cost too much for everyone to travel there. You like the idea of releasing lanterns but you're worried about the environment so you'd probably want - like- doves or butterflies instead-"

"Butterflies," Buck says from the floor, his voice thick, "Eddie, what-"

"M'not finished," Eddie continues with the gravitas of someone so hammered they cant feel their legs but who is nevertheless making an Important Point, "Butterflies, then. You want a light coloured suit, something that breathes well because you'll worry about sweating. Bobby would be doing the ceremony, so maybe Athena to walk you down the aisle? And of course Maddie as your best man. Woman. Person."

"… Maddie?"

"Well yeah," Eddie shrugs, transfixed by how the ceiling seems to be slowly tilting to the side, "Because Chris would be mine, and that way they can both be involved."

There's a frantic shuffling noise from the floor, and Buck's voice is much clearer when he speaks again, "Eddie. Eddie are you talking about- me and you getting married?"

"Who else?" And in his alcohol-soaked state, it's as simple as that- who else. God knows he's tried to fit other people into that role and they just never fit right because the void in his life is so decisively Buck-shaped. Haha, God knows, his chest begins to shake with silent laughter, it's funny, right? Because of the Catholicism.

"And that's-" Buck sounds kind of upset, which makes Eddie pause, why would Buck be upset when there's good booze and the ceiling is tilting and they're getting married? "That's something you want- the-the spring wedding and the butterflies and the-"

Oh, Buck's simply misunderstood, that's easy.

"I just wanna be the guy standing next to you."

[abyssalzones]

What's your comic writing process like? I'm starting to get into making my own comics and I really admire your work!!! Any advice?

Ah, intrepid traveler, you've done well to journey to this secluded mountaintop spire, in search of the answers you seek. I indeed can provide such forbidden comicmancy knowledge... at the cost of your mortal soul...

coughs. anyway, I'm going to warn you immediately that what works for me does not work for everyone else, and in my experience the way I do things can prove very slow and discouraging for anyone who is more interested in the actual "drawing the damn comic" part of the process. I only do it this way because I enjoy weaving a narrative web that feels not only fully contained but re-readable, but my projects are often so long and my memory so shitty that I can't just keep all of it in my head! It would spill all over the place and make a really embarrassing mess of brain-juice. Not ideal.

but as for my own process, uhh... I suppose a comic would be fitting, right?

a little choppy but you get the idea.

as for turning words into art, I've been experimenting with figuring out the best way to do that for a little while now. Originally what I was doing for something like Ad Astra Per Aspera was to take my "script" and sketch it out on paper very loosely, before transposing that onto my canvas and working from there:

...but, I've found that can make it kind of difficult to space everything around on your standard page-size, and the thing I'm having the most problems with currently seems to be finding the sweet spot of panel-size proportions. So, I've taken to printing out standard thumbnail templates (you can just find these on google) and sketching very tiny panels in those, which seems to give me a slightly better sense of scale... (mild chapter 5 spoilers, sorry ad astra fans)

but I have yet to totally pull through on this, so who knows, maybe I'll try something else in the future!

As for advice, this is probably most applicable to me, but as a disabled artist I have a very hard time managing my workload without literally working myself into injury. I don't think I talked about this publicly but when I was working on that ten year anniversary comic I was literally drawing every single day for 3 solid months. Sometimes, in my case, I really can't bring myself to stop once I've latched onto an idea, and sometimes I find the most rewarding thing I can do with my time is to draw- but I seriously cannot overstate: Do not fucking do this.

You will fuck up your wrist, your back, your neck, your eyes, and probably your mental health. It's a well-known fact that mangaka have a lower life expectancy than the average japanese person due to the intense workload imposed on them by deadlines and personal expectations. Comics are a very demanding artform, and even though I'm not on any sort of mandated schedule there are times where I've toiled away at something when I likely should have been exercising or taking vision-breaks. Therefore the best advice I can give you is to chill the hell out.

Namely, find parts of the process you can be lazy about, and embrace the laziness! You don't like digitally sketching? Don't do it! Skip it, or maybe find a way to traditionally sketch things out in advance like I do. Hate lineart? Don't fucking do it. You really don't feel like wasting your time writing 72k words of comic scripts? ...then, don't be like me. skip that part. I'm a flawed human being and what works for me might not work for you.

The second most important piece of advice I could give is to read comics. Of all kinds. The reason for this is pretty self explanatory: In order to figure out your own comic-making style, you should first pick out bits and pieces from the artist's buffet to add to your plate. Manga, graphic novels, american comics, european comics, weird niche little webcomics, funny papers, anything and everything. This advice rings true of pretty much any art form, but I find it to be essential to honing comic-making skills because so many things you feel will just come intuitively often don't. and that's okay! nobody is born knowing how to leave space for speech bubbles or shape their panels in a way that imitates stretches of time. The best way to figure out stuff like this, in my experience, is to study the "masters", and then after becoming well accustomed to the basics, figure out what rules you want to bend or break to create your own style.

I consider myself to be in equal parts a writer and an artist, which lends itself well to making narrative comics, but maybe you're a bit more of an artist and want to focus on panel-by-panel visual storytelling. Or, conversely, maybe your talents lean closer towards writing, and the art itself is more of a secondary skill. Regardless of your unique blend of talents you can and should make a comic, you should just also be aware of your strengths and try to hone in on those- there will always be opportunities to build up skills you lack, but focusing on what you do best will always lead you in the right direction.

Anyway, that being said, here are some recommendations in no particular order:

Monster, Naoki Urasawa (!!)

Bone, Jeff Smith

Witch Hat Atelier, Kamome Shirahama

The first IDW run of Transformers comics (namely More Than Meets the Eye and Lost Light)

Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (!!)

Through the Woods, Emily Carroll (really any Emily Carroll comics)

Kill Six Billion Demons (webcomic) (!!)

Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo

The Third Person, Emma Grove

Tintin, Hergé (can be super racist please be wary)

Dungeon Meshi, Ryoko Kui

Calvin & Hobbes, Bill Watterson

Maus, Art Spiegelman

Cucumber Quest (webcomic)

Jellyfish Princess, Akiko Higashimura

Golden Kamuy, Satoru Noda (!!)

Note that I did not grow up with manga so I am seriously behind on a lot of extremely influential japanese comics such as Dragon Ball, One Piece, basically any of the original Shonen Jump comics, but they're widely considered building blocks of the genre so if you love the artform I think you should give them a try! Same goes for classic non-shonen manga genres like various Shoujo, Josei, Yuri, Gekiga, ETC.

same as above applies to a lot of classic DC and Marvel works, I unfortunately am just not a big fan of superhero comics... but I'm sure there's good stuff in there. a couple of my mutuals talk about booster gold and the blue beetle all the time so I'm assuming there has to be something worthwhile.

...and many, many, many more that I'm forgetting! I noticed as I made this list that, to my knowledge, hardly any of these are made by black or just non-japanese-mangaka BIPOC artists, which makes me sad about the gaps in my own comic collection. Therefore, anyone is welcome to add their own recommendations in the replies!

now go forth, and combine images with text!!!!!!!!!!!

[monstyra]

it really doesnt feel adequate for how grateful i am but thank you so much everyone for your kind words and support💖it really means the world to me

honestly thank you so much

an update on hows it going for those interested:

its ofc difficult over here and we miss them so much but we re getting help prepping for everything. we ve got support and are supporting each other and that ll be enough.

fuck i miss them so much and i wonder how long itll be to get to stop being like 'hey it wont be raining too hard later maybe we can go for a walk-- oh'

its hard not to question and ease regrets... not second guess everything and wonder what possibly we could have done better even if we did the best with what we had. the worst though is my brain conjuring up what it must have been like before they passed. i know they felt loved but i hope they felt is especially then.

i love them so much and we have so many wonderful memories together, even after this all started they still had many actual good days where we were able to chase the depression away and go out for bike rides or hikes. ill cherish those memories always 💖

[ghostofasecretary]

watching interviews with Israeli officials willing to get on the news feels like i am in the inverted world

"if you want to try Israel for this we should also try France and Great Britian and the US" YEAH. YEAH WE SHOULD. THAT WOULD BE IDEAL ACTUALLY.

"the UN Secretary General needs to be tried for supporting terrorism" "they say we can't completely wipe out Hamas but we can (reporter: no?) and we will" wtf wtf wtf wtf wtf

"we've evacuated Gaza" DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY BUILDINGS IN KHAN YOUNIS AND RAFFAH HAVE BEEN BOMBED. THE ROUTES FROM THE NORTH TO THE SOUTH WERE BOMBED. HOSPITALS AND CHURCHES IN SOUTH GAZA HAVE BEEN BOMBED. ONE FOURTH OF THE RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS IN GAZA HAVE BEEN DESTROYED AND WINTER IS COMING AND PEOPLE ARE DISPLACED, HOMELESS, SLEEPING ON THE STREETS WITH NO BLANKETS BECAUSE OF THIS SO-CALLED "EVACUATION." WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU

"UNRWA is teaching children antisemitism and jihad" what do you think words MEAN

a UNRWA guy is also on this al-Jazeera interview and i appreciate him snapping about how big of a lie that is but i'm still. screaming

i hate this world. i hate how Palestinians are being slaughtered and their homes and mosques and churches and hospitals destroyed. i cannot stand hearing people justify the unjustifiable. i hate how there's debate over whether or not the "Hamas slaughtered babies" photos are doctored and meanwhile it's incredibly incredibly easy to find raw verifiable photos of dead Palestinian children to the point that i cannot avoid seeing them in the news. how is the US still supporting Israel with so little caution.

i understand it, on, like, a "colonialism cares for nothing but its own power and never ever ever admitting wrongdoing" level but like. the Israeli guy i'm screaming about is a person with a heart??? governments are made of people who all need food and water and medicine and access to fuel so they can have the first three things? i basically get why global powers are horrible but i can't--i can't fathom how individual people get to this point. of hearing about entire families being exterminated for well over a week and seeing hospitalized infants who are the last survivor of their extended family and going "yeah, that's what i call a-okay self defense"

(i probably could. it just feels, very strongly, like i cannot, and i'm not sure i want to. honestly i don't want to. i am so sad and so angry. i want this to stop. i've done what i can and i'll go to more protests and make more calls and all that but--yallah, ay khoda, god, god, god, god, god, you absolute *fucker,* it's a good thing you don't exist because if you did *how dare you*)

[eldritch-muppetshow]

happy anniversary lorax 2012

[whatever-remains-is-the-truth]

People on Twitter: Polyamory is weird ASF

People on Twitter: Polyamorous people are all ugly

People on Twitter: lmaaaao a polyamory org why does that exist polyamous people aren't oppressed

Me: ತ⁠_⁠ತ

[leadendeath]

after i get a computer, apart from medical things the other thing i wanna save up for is… big maybe… a fursuit head base. i have tried more than once to sculpt a bovine, and i just cannot get my head around it (pun definitely intended)

i can’t draw cows well, and it seems to make sense that i cannot make them in 3D either.

(leadendeath lore moment: not being able to draw my own fursona is one of my reasons why i feel my drawing art skills are not up to my own standards anymore. why i’ve grown to see drawing as a chore. i’m getting no happy brain chemicals from the only thing i’ve ever been good at.

i have a progressing mental/neurological problem sure, i can’t help that, but i CAN help how bad i perceive my own art to be- i can remedy it by drawing more! getting better through practice, right?

…Well.

it’s been two+ years since i first made my sona and i really haven’t got much better at drawing him. i HAVE considered a different species, but i love minotaurs, and the aloneness and large but stoic nature of them is so… me inside. not on the outside, i’m really short lmao.

this is like an existential crisis i’m going through but like… an artistential crisis. great word i just invented.)

[werewolfbarista]

hello everyone!! id like to direct your attention to Ahed and his incredibly kind family. he and his wife are struggling to take care of their three young children in the midst of the ongoing genocide, facing the destruction of the home they'd built, disease, hunger, and a deformity in their 6 year old daughter, Iman's, foot that requires medical intervention. on top of this, just last night they had to rush to take shelter due to shelling not far from where they've been staying. they need your help to survive, and hopefully to escape the war!

every little bit helps, even just €5 can make a difference if we all work together! your donations and reblogs can help them survive and find peace! they're currently at €11,453 of their €40,000 goal!! donations have slowed down quite a bit, so please help keep up the momentum!!

you can see that they're vetted by gazavettters here, #229!

mentions under readmore

@tamamita @punkitt-is-here @2spirit-0spoons @paper-mario-wiki @omegaversereloaded @ko60192 @nyancrimew @90-ghost @beserkerjewel @ot3 @prisonhannibal @aimasu @anneemay @dirhwangdaseul @neechees @memingursa @certifiedsexed @afro-elf @11thsense @sawasawako @girlinafairytalelovestory @spacebeards @skipppppy @3000s @dailyquests @evillesbianvillain @wolfertinger666 @taffybuns @valtsv @postanagramgenerator @crabussy @balaclava-trismegistus @elpeor @factsilike @carry-on-my-wayward-butt @tpwrtrmnky @c-53 @odddogs @darthteeth

[angstandhappiness]

INTERESTING NICE STYLE

A little fun creepy drawing based off of something that they kinda play off in the games lol

I rlly like drawing unsettling and creepy art of characters I love, not because I necessarily think they’re evil or they would do these things tho I guess canonically raz kills animals in pn1, even if it is played for laughs lol It’s just? A little horror-y as a treat?

blood version under the cut

[officialclangen]

Hi!! i was looking through the masterpost and couldn't find anything for it, so i wanted to ask- is there any guide to how cats would be described in the allegiances page in-game? ex. a rosette cat being described as "oddly-spotted" etc. i wanna use similar descriptors for cats, but the page only accounts for alive cats inside the clan, so i was wondering if theres any list of what pelt traits indicate what description is used?

Well, there was no resource for this, but let's make one now! I peeked into the files to grab the descriptors for you :]

Below the readmore, this is very long as I included everything that goes into it! Hopefully it helps <3

☆ Fable ☆

Colour Descriptors

"pale"— White

Only called "pale" if the cat is not singlecolour, twocolour, tortoiseshell, or calico. In these cases, it is called "white"

"pale gray"— Palegrey

"gray"— Grey

"dark gray"— Darkgrey

"pale ginger"— Paleginger

"dark ginger"— Darkginger, Sienna

"light brown"— Lightbrown, Lilac

"golden brown"— Golden-brown

"dark brown"— Darkbrown, Chocolate

"black"— Ghost

Colours that are listed the same as they are coded— Silver, Golden, Ginger, Brown, Black

Pattern Descriptors

"[colour] tabby"— Tabby, Marbled, Mackerel, Classic, Agouti, Sokoke

"speckled [colour]"— Speckled

"unusually dappled [colour]"— Bengal

"unusually spotted [colour]"— Rosette

"[colour] ticked"— Ticked

"[colour] smoke"— Smoke

"dorsal-striped [colour]"— Singlestripe

"masked [colour] tabby"— Masked

Tortoiseshell Descriptors

"[colour]"— [Base colour]/[Patch colour]

Base colour refers to the main colour, while patch colour refers to the colour of the cats patches. They are always written with the slash between them Examples: brown/ginger, pale gray/black

"[colour] tortie"— A tortoiseshell with either no white patch, or a white patch that is either classed as little white or mid white.

"[colour] calico"— A tortoiseshell with a white patch that is either classed as high white or mostly white.

"[colour] mottled"— A tortoiseshell whose base colour and patch colours are both in the brown, black, or white category

They do not need to both be in the same category, just one of those three; a lilac and ghost tortoiseshell will be listed as mottled, for example, but a lilac and ginger tortoiseshell will not

"[descriptor] tabby"— If a tortoiseshell has the pelt type Tabby, Ticked, Mackerel, Classic, Sokoke, Agouti, Bengal, Rosette, or Speckled, "tabby" is added after the descriptor.

Example: A Lilac and Ginger tortoiseshell tabby with the Rosette pattern and no white patches would be listed as a "light brown/ginger tortie tabby"

White Patch Descriptors

"[colour] and white"— A non-tortoiseshell with a white patch that is either classed as little white, mid white, or high white.

Can also be a tortoiseshell with a white patch that is either classed as little white or mid white

"white and [colour]"— A non-tortoiseshell with a white patch that is classed as mostly white.

"white"— A cat with the Fullwhite patch, regardless of what colour they are underneath. Overwrites their main colour

This is different to a singlecolour white cat as they have a different pelt type underneath the patch. Fullwhite cats that are tortoiseshell underneath are listed as calico on their profile page, but not the allegiances

"[colour] point"— A cat with one of the point markings

If a cat is a point under the ginger category, they are listed as a flame point

Gender Descriptors

"she-cat"— Female, Trans Female

"tom"— Male, Trans Male

"cat"— All other identities

Extra Descriptors

"vitiligo"— A cat with vitiligo

Missing body parts have special listings, as follows;

"no tail"— NoTail "half a tail"— HalfTail "three legs"— NoPaw "a missing ear"— NoLeftEar, NoRightEar "no ears"— NoEar

Vitiligo and missing body parts are joined together as "vitiligo, [scar], [scar] and [scar]"

"scarred [colour]"— A cat with three or more scars

"long-furred [colour]"— A cat with long fur

Putting it Together

For a non-tortoiseshell with no white patches:

a [extra] [colour] [pattern/tortoiseshell] [white] [gender] with [extra]

You would remove any non-used sections. Examples below;

a long-furred dorsal-striped pale gray tom with vitiligo and three legs

a dark ginger/light brown tortie tabby she-cat

a scarred white and unusually spotted black cat

a long-furred scarred light brown/black mottled point she-cat with no tail, three legs and a missing ear

[nellasbookplanet]

Book recs: Queer horror, part 1

We all like a good horror story, right? You know what's even better? A queer horror story!

A note: queer here does not necessarily mean “guarantee of an f/f or m/m ship with a happy ending”, but rather simply a significant presence of queerness. Some of the books feature no romance but has a same gender attracted/trans/ace spectrum lead, or features an m/f relationship with bisexual, trans or aro/ace characters, or simply features a world-building which is heavily queer inclusive in ways that don’t always compare to our own ideas of sexuality and gender. I have however disqualified works where the only queer presence is along the lines of “gay best friend” or a blink and you’ll miss it confirmation that never comes up again.

For more details on the books, continue under the readmore. Titles marked with * are my personal favorites. And as always, feel free to share your own recs in the notes!

If you want more book recs, check out my masterpost of rec lists!

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle*

Rose, like her parents, believes strongly that homosexuality is a sin, and holds great pride that her home town hosts Camp Damascus, a successful conversion camp for young teens. But Rose is also experiencing strange and terrifying things: memories of a beautiful girl, a demonic figure that shows up if her thoughts stray, flies crawling out her mouth. Something has happened in Rose's past that her parents won't speak of and that she herself can't remember, and Camp Damascus is at the center of it all. Sapphic, autistic main character, as well as a really cool take on demonic lore that is both inspired by and a subversion of christianity.

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland*

Young adult. Something happened to Iris Hollow and her two older sisters when they were little; after having gone missing, they were all returned with no memory of what happened and identical scars on their throats. Years have passed since then, and though seen as strange the girls still lead mostly normal lives - that is, until the oldest, Grey, goes missing, leaving strange clues in her path. As Iris searches for her, a strange man with horns starts stalking her and memories start to rise to the forefront in her mind. To save Grey, Iris will have to find out the truth of what happened all those years ago. Features wonderfully morally grey characters. Bisexual lead, but little to no romance.

Winter Tide (The Innsmouth Legacy) by Ruthanna Emrys*

Aphra and her brother are the only survivors after the government raided their home, Innsmouth. Their only living family are the amphibian people of the deep, whom they will one day join, but until then they are bound to land where they struggle to build new lives for themselves after the great loss of their home and loved ones. Then rumors start to spread of a russian agent seeking dangerous and ancient magic, forcing Aphra to involve herself as they try to stop it. Does contain horror elements but is generally a much more optimistic look on cosmic horror than most lovecraftian stories, told from the perspective of one of his monsters. Lots of focus on found family and rebuilding of community. Asexual main character (however I don’t think that becomes in-text confirmed until the sequel) and multiple queer characters in the supporting cast.

Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall

Young adult. One year ago, Sara's sister went missing. Since then, Sara has drifted away from her friends, but when she receives a mysterious text inviting her to "play the game" - the same game that supposedly stole her sister away - Sara and her estranged friends all come back together to find her. Together they set off on a path that legend says appears only once a year, leading them toward the ghost Lucy Gallows and, hopefully, Sara's sister. Bisexual main character, told in a faux documentary style.

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

A young pregnant woman flees a cult that left her body strange and changing in terrifying ways. Hiding from both a world wanting to oppress her and the cult seeking to force her back, she does her best to raise her children while trying to find out the truth of the cult and being pursued by a hunter in a dangerous game of cat and mouse. Bleak and scary, Sorrowland is a book that will creep under your skin with horrors both fantastical and very, very real.

Otherside Picnic (Otherside Picninc lightnovel series) by Iori Miyazawa

Sapphic light novel with a surreal and episodic horror vibe. Following the directions of an urban legend, university student Sorawo finds her way to a reality populated by horrifying creatures from ghost stories and modern urban legends (of which I’m sure you’ll recognize many). Here she teams up with fellow explorer Toriko, both to find out more about this strange world and to help Toriko find a missing loved one. Also available as a manga and (one season of) an anime. Sapphic.

Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Amrfield

Miri thought she lost her wife Leah when her deep-sea mission ended in a catastrophe. But Leah was miraculously returned to her - or so it seems. Because something happened down there, deep in the ocean, and whatever it was, Leah has brought it back with her. Surreal and strange, Our Wives Under the Sea will not answer all your questions, but it will give you a unique experience.

What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

Novella. Alex Easton, retired soldier, travels to visit their childhood friends, siblings Madeline and Roderick Usher, after finding out that Madeline is dying. In the siblings’ rural, ancestral home, Madeline walks in her sleep and looks to be fading away, while around it wildlife seems to be possessed by a strange force. With the help of a mycologist and an American doctor, Alex attempts to save Madeline and reveal the truth of her illness. Nonbinary main character.

Alien: Echo by Mira Grant

Young adult. Twin sisters Olivia and Viola’s parents are both xenobiologists, bringing them all over the galaxy. Most recently they’ve settled on a new colony world to study its wildlife, but it proves more dangerous than they could’ve ever imagined. Under attack from alien monsters, the sisters must keep each other alive while also coming to terms with a dark family secret. Sapphic horror. Part of the Alien franchise but stands well on its own.

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant*

A research vessel heads towards the Mariana Trench in search of answers of what happened to a ship which mysteriously lost all its crew some time earlier. In the deep dark, something intelligent and hungry awaits them. Very much mermaids of the horror variety. Sequel to a novella, can be read as a standalone. Also contains a sapphic romance, however that is a pretty small part of the plot as a whole.

Alice Isn't Dead by Joseph Fink

Based on the podcast by the same name. Keisha Taylor thought she had lost her wife. She even held a funeral and attempted to move on with her life. But then Alice started to appear, all over America, in the background of every single major tragedy in the country. To find her missing wife, Keisha gets a job as a trucker and sets out on a roadtrip, not knowing what horrors awaits her.

Wilder Girls by Rory Power

Young adult. Over a year ago, the Raxter School for Girls was hit by the Tox, a strange disease that killed off many and left the survivors’ bodies slowly changing in terrifying ways. The island the school is on has been in quarantine since then, and the girls dare not leave the school grounds lest they become victims of wild animals changed by the Tox. But as they wait for the promised cure, one of the girls goes missing, and her friends are willing to do anything to find her. Unsettling, spooky, and sapphic, this is a unique read featuring body horror and messy, dangerous girls.

Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero

Once, Andy, Kerri, Nate, Peter and their faithful dog were known as the Blyton Summer Detective Club, until they hit their fateful final case in 1977. Now, the year is 1990, and the group hasn't gathered in years. Tomboy Andy is wanted in at least two states; Kerri, former kid genius, is tending bar; and horror nerd Nate is in a mental institution in Arkham. At least he still has the company of jock-turned-movie star Peter - except Peter has been dead for years. Now they must all come together to find out the truth of what happened all those years ago. Lovecraftian horror with a sometimes absurdist vibe and adult scooby do inspiration. Sapphic romance.

Contagion by Erin Bowman*

Young adult. After receiving an SOS, a small crew is sent on a standard search-and-rescue mission. But what they find are not survivors awaiting help, but an abandoned site, full of dead bodies and crawling with something… monstrous. No romance, but features one sapphic co-lead and one who can easily be read as demisexual (however this doesn’t show up until book two, which has more romance).

Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand*

Young adult. The isolated island of Sawkill Rock has secrets. It hosts the legend of a local monster, and the very stark reality of decades of girls going missing, never to be found again. Now, three girls stand at the center of the horrific mystery - if only they can come together, perhaps they can save future generations of girls from a monster that may very well be real. Asexual and sapphic main characters, including a sapphic romance.

Salvation Day by Kali Wallace

A decade ago, the massive ship House of Wisdom was abandoned in orbit after its entire crew was killed in an outbreak in a matter of hours. Now, Zahra and her family of outcasts hope to claim the ship as their own by kidnapping the sole survivor to gain access. But the danger of the House of Wisdom is far from gone. Horror, no major romance but one of the main characters is gay.

The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling*

Possibly one of the most unstintingly claustrophobic books I’ve ever read, and definitely the most claustrophobic. Gyre, a caver on an alien planet, ventures into the dark and dangerous underground, guided only by a woman who has no compunctions on using and manipulating Gyre as she sees fit to obtain her secretive goals down in the caves. Sapphic in the most messy of ways.

Gideon the Ninth (The Locked Tomb series) by Tamsyn Muir*

Gideon, raised as a swordswoman by unfriendly nuns, would rather run away and make her own life, but her services are needed. The Reverend Daughter, Gideon’s childhood nemesis, has been invited to a trial to win a place as an immortal by the Emperor’s side, and she’s in need of a bodyguard. Listen, if you’re on tumblr I probably don’t need to explain this book to you. Trust me when I say it’s exactly as good as people claim. Humorous and spooky but also absolutely gut wrenching and clever with a lot of political commentary. There are also, indeed, lesbian necromancers in space.

Family Business by Jonathan Sims

By the author behind the Magnus Archives. When Diya's childhood best friend and roommate unexpectedly passes away, Diya falls apart and, among other things, loses her job. When she's offered a position at Slough & Sons to clean up after the deceased, she sees no other recourse but to accept. Her new job is grisly but important, and Diya starts to get back on her feet - until strange visions of a terrifying man and the dead's last moments start to haunt her. Slough & Sons are hiding something, and it's up to Diya to find out the truth. No romance, bisexual main character and trans woman side character.

Sodom Road Exit by Amber Dawn

Starla didn't want to return to her childhood home of Crystal Beach, Canada, but growing debt has forced her to move back in with her mother, despite the trauma hidden in her old home. But Starla is haunted by more than trauma; she is, in fact, literally haunted, by a ghost that may understand her, but may also consume her. Not overly scary, but handles dark subjects such as childhood sexual assault. Lesbian main character and romance.

House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson*

In a world where the rich drink blood to preserve their health, Marion applies to a position as bloodmaid in a notorious noble house far from home. Suddenly showered with luxuries and debauchery, Marion soon gains the interest and favor of Lisavet, countess of the house. A fresh take on the idea of vampires and deliciously dark sapphic romance inspired by the horrific real-life Elisabet Báthory.

A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson

Dracula inspired novella, following Constanta, who’s turned from a medieval peasant to an undead bride. As time passes the relationship between Dracula and Constanta grows all the more strained and potentially dangerous. Teaming up with his two other consorts, she seeks to unravel her husband’s secrets. Sapphic and polyamorous.

Dread Nation (Dread Nation duology) by Justina Ireland

Young adult, alternate history. In this world, the war between the American states is interrupted when the dead start walking the earth and hunting the living. Jane McKeene has been trained at Miss Preston’s School of Combat to become an attendant, skilled in combat as well as etiquette to protect the wealthy. But Jane wants a different life, and in her search for it stumbles headfirst into a conspiracy. Bisexual main character, aroace side character (who becomes a POV character in the sequel).

Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin

In a future where those with high testosterone are afflicted by a zombie-like disease, bloodthirsty men have become the enemy. Trans women Beth and Fran and trans man Robbie do their best to survive in this brutal world, where TERF movements seek to exterminate them and monstrous men hunt in the wilds. VERY gruesome and bleak, but also very timely in the present political climate.

Leech by Hiron Ennes*

Unbeknownst to humanity, a sentient hive mind has taken over the entire medical profession to ensure the health of their host species. One of their doctors is sent off to an isolated location where they’re cut off from the rest of the hive mind, only to realize they’re faced with a rivaling parasitic entity. Leech hands you only just enough information to get by, and whether its historical fantasy, an alternate timeline, or futuristic post apocalypse is hard to determine. It’s spooky and a bit weird and wildly creative, and does some neat things with gender.

The Outside by Ada Hoffman*

AKA the book the put me in an existential crisis. Souls are real, and they are used to feed AI gods in this lovecraftian inspired sci-fi where reality is warped and artificial gods stand against real, unfathomable ones. Autistic scientist Yasira is accused of heresy and, to save her eternal soul, is recruited by cybernetic ‘angels’ to help hunt down her own former mentor, who is threatening to tear reality itself apart. Sapphic main character.

The Gilded Abyss by Rebecca Thorne

Nix Marr is a soldier and damned good at it, but that doesn’t prepare her for her next mission: bodyguard for Subarch Kessandra, beloved royal and Nix’s bitter ex. The two venture toward the underwater city of Fall to seek the cause of a bloody murder spree and a possible deadly contagion. But Kessandra has enemies, the answers she seeks marking her as a possible threat for the nation’s rulers. On their way in an isolated and enclosed underwater ship toward Fall, the contagion catches up, and Nix will have to put her hurt feelings aside if the two are to arrive alive. Sci-fi with flavors of horror and the supernatural and a sapphic romance.

[ooctlt]

I think the etiquette of ask blogs is a forgotten art. what I'm saying is (imo) it's not that people don't want to play, it is they don't know HOW, and more importantly they don't understand that the game exists to begin with. obviously you do not have to teach people the rules because your time and energy is finite but idk. it feels like from some of your OOC responses that you assume people know the rules and are playing badly, but I genuinely think people (me) just don't know what you are wanting them (us) to do. and also they (i) don't know how to tell if they (i) are playing the game correctly.

An example I am genuinely confused about is, is inciting a "shut up" answer a signal that the game is being played correctly, because we are inciting a reaction from the character? or is a "shut up" answer a signal that we are playing wrong and need to do something different? I'm sorry. I really love your art and seeing the story unfold but I'm confused and I want to play and I don't understand how.

yeah ive had a couple people tell me this has been the first active askblog in a while and the concept of askblog etiquette has been forgotten- @thatneoncrisis and i made a diagram:

link to full-res image

a "shut up" reaction will hopefully show whether or not it's a closed path of exploration: if you have gideon sweating, going "pshhh its nothinggg" it means there is something worth exploring. if you have harrow slamming the door in your face, that is an advance that wont work on her

transcript under the readmore:

DEAD END QUESTION ANON: CAMILLA DO YOU THINK HARROW'S HOT?

"Please stop talking to me."

This question is BAD because it's BLUNT, INCREDIBLY PERSONAL and founded on INCOMPLETE KNOWLEDGE of their relationship.

NOTE that its not that shitty questions will NEVER be answered, its that 1) they have a LOWER chance of being answered and 2) they have a HIGHER chance of being made fun of in character

gideon: haha who thinks harrow is HOT

DECENT INCONSEQUENTIAL QUESTION ANON: CAMILLA DO YOU LIKE TO DO ANYTHING FUN WITH HARROW?

"Sure. We run a lot of errands together."

This kind of question may not advance the plot, as it is INCREDIBLY BROAD yet NONINVASIVE. They're good for quick 1-3 panel answers. May generally be met with a less EXCITING answer.

It might also be DIFFICULT TO ANSWER because a broad question could include MULTIPLE ANSWERS - asking "do you guys go out" could not be answered SUSTAINABLY, because i cannot draw all the places they visit

ANON: EVERYONE, WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CLOUD / WATER / MOLECULAR STRUCTURE / BONE / CAR / COFFEE BRAND/ BOOK CHARACTER?

me: "i have to do so much research"

NEAT QUESTION CAMILLA HAS HARROW EVER ASKED YOU TO DO SOMETHING WITH HER SHE WAS EXCITED ABOUT?

"Yes, actually. She once invited me to [REDACTED], I didn't know she liked that sort of thing."

This question is SICK AS FUCK because not only do you learn something SUBSTANTIAL about the characters, you have stumbled upon A NEW PLOT BRANCH, one that actively deepens character connections and their past within the world. It specifically remarks upon a MEMORY* rather than AN OPINION and will typically be LONGER.

Another good option is to PROMPT something following this:

ANON: CAMILLA, MAYBE YOU SHOULD TRY TAKING HARROW OUT TO DO [REDACTED] THAT SHE LIKES BEFORE XYZ?

and this can then spiral onward…

*DM, ONE TIME I ASKED ABOUT A MEMORY AND I GOT A RUDE ANSWER; WHAT DID I DO WRONG?

It's not that this topic can never be spoken about, it's about WHEN you asked it and HOW you said it, or even WHO you asked.

Some topics, like the nature of HARROW AND GIDEON'S UPBRINGING are too recent for them to talk about, it has only been TWO YEARS since they left and there are SPECIFICS about the situation that the AUDIENCE hasn't discovered yet. There are things like GIDEON'S PARENTS that she CANNOT answer because she DOESN'T KNOW and answering multiple asks with I DON'T KNOW becomes repetitive and dull for both the DM and PLAYER.

BUT! She can learn! Over time, when the time is appropriate and feels the most natural for STORY PROGESSION. Think of it like a BAD ENDING in a visual novel. You START OVER and ask a DIFFERENT QUESTION, or approach it from a DIFFERENT ANGLE. If Gideon reacts poorly to someone congratulating her leaving BAD CIRCUMSTANCES, consider talking to her about the FUTURE. Instead of trying to pry at Camilla to see if she had an INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP with Pyrrha, try to ask about other things in that period of her life, like how they met or what caused her to move out.

FINALLY, if you'd like an ask to be answered out of character, your best bet would be to goto @notedchampagne and send it there. If you'd like an ask to be answered SINCERELY or you don't want SNARK, you can specify this in the ask, but know this blog may not be your thing.

[heycoyotegirl]

@ibrushmyteeth-donttellanyone I (a Benvi) am actually really interested in what you mean by this. Could you elaborate? I'm curious I promise I'm not looking for trouble!

Yeah, no worries! I love talking meta :)

So I've realized that Devi and Paxton were actually on parallel arcs for the entire series, but I'll focus on the college/career aspect of the show, since that's what I was talking about in the original post.

Every major character other than Devi and Paxton knows what they want to do in the future. They either have a specific career in mind, or a field that they're interested in. Fab has robotics, and Eleanor wants to be an actress (and later, director). Ben plans to go to Columbia and then be a lawyer like his dad. Even Trent has an (admittedly bad) plan to make a career out of reacting to reaction videos. ((Aneesa's an outlier here, but she was barely in season 4 at all (and was only introduced in s2), so she doesn't really count for this discussion.))

Even when there are bumps on the road—like Ben sending himself to the hospital in s3 or having a bad visit to Columbia in s4 or Eleanor being rejected by Julliard—the end goal doesn't change. Ben is still admitted to Columbia and then Devi gives him a pep talk that convinces him that he can fit in there (and, if you take the alternate ending into account, ends up becoming a lawyer). Eleanor decides to pursue directing so that she can cast herself.

But unlike everyone else, Devi and Paxton don't have plans for after college.

In season 2, Paxton tells his parents that he wants an education and a career. But he doesn't actually say (or know) what career. And in season 4, Devi literally admits that she's worried about the future because she's never thought about what comes after getting into Princeton, but that plot line is never meaningfully explored.

For both of them, the goal was getting into college. Full stop. No idea what comes next.

Obviously the fixation on just-getting-into-college comes from different places (Devi clinging to her memories of her dad and unable to think of anything other than getting into Princeton vs Paxton who had his plan to go to college on a swimming scholarship ripped away and then had to fight to even have a chance of being admitted), but it gives us the same result: Characters who are uniquely aimless compared to everyone else.

Even their struggles with getting into college are similar. Fabiola and Ben both get into colleges right away, and then any conflict that arises is whether the school they're thinking of going to is a good fit. But Paxton and Devi both have a "maybe I'm not good enough for college" arc. Paxton's conversation with Ojichan where he asks if he's too stupid to get into college parallels Devi's conversation with Dr. Ryan after she's deferred by Princeton.

(sorry, my daxton bias is gonna show for this paragraph) This is also why I think the post-prom scene would've been stronger with Paxton. It was sweet with Ben talking about how hard she's worked and how she would regret not writing the supplemental essay, but he can't actually relate to that experience. He hasn't lived it (and, in fact, his arc was the opposite: learning to work less rather than pushing himself). But Paxton has. He spent an entire season realizing that other people's opinions don't matter; all that matters is that he puts in the effort and believes in himself.

Devi and Paxton both have a series long arc of figuring out who they are and fighting to escape from the boxes that other people put them in (which I will probably make a post about in the future). And season 4 gave us the conclusion to that arc for Paxton: He's returning to college to become a teacher.

But the insane part—the part that makes me froth at the mouth and rave and believe that something went seriously wrong in the writers' room this season—is that we never get a conclusion to that arc for Devi, our main character.

She gets the dream college and the boy, but narratively, she still has no future! In real life, yes, it's totally normal to go to college not knowing what you want to do (though, often if people don't even have a specific area of interest, they take a gap year), but it doesn't make any sense for this character in this show.

The logical conclusion to Devi's story is her finding a passion to pursue, which would've shown her growth and how much she's healed; she's now able to think about her future, rather than centering her entire life around this goal she made with her dad.

currently going feral over the way paxton's arc (wrt figuring out life after high school) is a mirror of devi's, while ben's is more similar to her friends/the supporting characters

[littlestpersimmon]

Rbs are off because I don't want this to take too much attention from more important things. But I currently only have 4 teeth left on my upper mouth- have been saving up for almost 3 yesrs now for a tooth implant bc I don't want my entire upper row of teeth to be just dentures;; I've neglected my dental health for years due to homelessness and perpetual poverty in the global south.. and because my parents are both very disabled... and because of a fear of the dentist. I currently have two jobs- one is industry work, and the other is doing commissions. I swear on everything I am working as much as I possibly can, but for the past few days my mental health has been very very bad, and I've not been able to work as much as I usually can. I'm nervous because I was not able to draw anything for patreon this month, so am rushing to work on both patreon, and my other two sources of income / workload. A few days ago I collapsed, and ended up hurting my lower jaw / cracking my tooth and experiencing significant paint. I would absolutely love to go to the dentist this month or next month. Hopefully I will just open commissions once I finish the batch I am working on, but atm I just.. I don't have the time or strength or health to draw as fast as I can. I have a tipping jar.. and maybe if you guys like my art, maybe you could send me a small tip. I'm sorry I've not been able to draw of late; I've not had a single proper/ planned day off since August. Thank you for reading, and please stay safe.

(Links are still broken, so pleade just remove the a href thing that tumblr adds)

https://ko-fi.com/littlestpersimmon

https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/littlestpersimmon/

Thank you. This is a pic of my cracked tooth; (not graphic, but under a readmore bc it's a part of my face / embarrassing)

[sir-ballister-boldheart]

Desi Ballister? Desi Ballister!

Putting together a compilation of fanfictions exploring/referencing Ballister's Pakistani and South Asian heritage

Also, putting this under a readmore because hopefully, this would be an updating list :D

The two times Ambrosius wanted to get Ballister earrings and the one time Nimona helped by @earako

METAL eyeliner! (except it's literally metal) by @walrus150915

Parenthood Post-Arm Chopping by @yrrtyrrtwhenihrrthrrt

Never a dull moment by @earako