#i had to buy the paperback version

[unreliablesnake]

Tóbiás, a tejesember, bazdmeg...

So you've heard of Tevye the Dairyman, right? You know, the novel Fiddler on the Roof was based on? Well, originally in Hungary the book was called Tobias the Dairyman. Tobias instead of Tevye... Nope. Luckily they later renamed it to Tevje the Dairyman.

[perfectly-uncapable]

CURSE YOU PUBLISHING INDUSTRY

[thebibliosphere]

quick question because i am a long time follower and know that you have a lot of shit happening at all times and want to support you: where's the best place/the place that will get you the most money for getting a physical copy of a silly vampire/werewolf book? It sound amazing for reading because rn all i have motivation for is fanfic and silly fantasy and not reading any of my textbooks.

Unlike digital copies, where you can buy directly from my storefront, there's little to no difference in my royalties when it comes to paperbacks. I get paid the same amount regardless of where you buy from, which the last time I checked was, eh, about $2.80

If a store is selling for above the recommended retail price, I still get paid the same flat rate percentage, the profit on the price raising goes to the store.

So, wherever works best for you!

If you're in the US, I will recommend bookshop.org, not just because they are fighting the good fight against the Zon and give a chunk of their profits to independent bookstores, but because their affiliate program pays authors the best rates whenever you buy a book using their links.

Hunger Pangs: True Love Bites, Flirting with Fangs Edition. (high heat version)

Hunger Pangs: True Love Bites, Fluff and Fangs Edition (medium heat version)

(What's the difference between the two? Glad you asked)

Also, if you use my links to buy anything from BookShop.org, even if you don't buy a copy of Hunger Pangs, BookShop.org still sends me a small commission out of their profit (it's like a dollar per book, roughly). So, if you're so inclined to give me free money, you can click on my affiliate links and throw a little change my way.

I am trying to get my books into BookShop.org UK and their other sites, but it's a slow process.

If you're not in the US, it doesn't really affect me. Again, buy wherever works best for you! It's all roughly the same.

[books-and-strawberry-tea]

I don’t normally comment about booktube here. But I’ve just seen a video and I have to get some comments off my chest.

This video was about e-readers. And while the person has a huge collection of books behind them, goes on to explain that e-readers are so unnecessary, cause they are expensive. And if you are going to buy an e-reader, just buy an iPad cause they are similar in price….

I’m sorry but in what world is an iPad and an e-reader the same price?? (Or yk other tablets of a similar nature).

This person goes on to talk about how e-readers can’t install apps like Libby etc…are we just going to ignore the e-readers that run on android?? That function like a regular phone just with an e-ink screen??

I honestly gave up watching this video cause this person just sounded like they were pretty single minded on the topic. So here’s my two cents.

Pro’s for an ereader: (at least in my case)

1. E-reader’s are amazing for portability. Physical books can get very heavy, and although I love them, I hate taking physical books out with me cause I’m terrified of damaging them.

2. Books in my country, are incredibly expensive. You can go to the bookstore, and end up spending $50 AUD and get 1-2 books depending on what you get. Hard covers are usually $40+! Paperbacks can range between $17-$40 also. And if it doesn’t get printed in Australia?? Good luck. The only way I could get Hunting Adeline was to pay $65. Because whenever I ordered it from Amazon at $35, from America, it would come absolutely obliterated because they don’t package it in anything but a basic plastic mailer bag. No protection at all.

3. E-readers are much better for your eyes and don’t have constant distracting notifications and people trying to ring you. I have weak eye muscles. Always have. I wear glasses for this. And I used to read on my phone cause it’s what I have with me while I was out. But once I got an e-reader, I realised just how bad my eye strain was from my phone. E-readers have seriously improved my reading stamina especially since mine has the orange light feature. It’s not like we all don’t have an internet or phone addiction anyway. At least according to statistics I’ve seen in the past. Majority of us are trying to spend less time on our phones and more time doing what we love. And e-readers absolutely help with that. (Much better for my ADHD too honestly.)

4. I live with roommates, I have very limited space. So big book collections is just not something that’s possible for me. I’d love to, but again, space and money.

5. E-readers have given me the opportunity to read books that I’d never be able to get. Because of space reasons, money reasons, and the fact that Australia just does not get the wide selection of books that other countries do. We miss out so much. Some books, we have to wait YEARS for, while everyone else gets them on release dates. My e-reader has been such a huge investment for me, as well as an opportunity maker to give me the option to read books I’d never be able to get other wise.

I will clarify this by saying yes, I do have an iPad. But that was a gift. I didn’t buy it for myself. My mother very graciously bought it for me with her inheritance money. She went out of her way to make sure I had a good working device for university. That iPad was over $2,000 aud. My e-reader?? $250!!! HUGE price difference. And it has helped me save so much money in the process. Cause if I read the ebook, and don’t like it, that’s okay, refund. If I do??? Then I can absolutely go out and hopefully track down a physical copy. If that’s not possible?? I still have the digital version. That I can enjoy over and over.

No, I’m not ignoring the cons to do with DRM, and companies censoring ebooks, not at all. But I feel like either way there is still more pros then what this person was giving e-readers credit for. She sounded privileged honestly, she may not have a use for e-readers. But to be saying that you don’t need one, and that they are completely unnecessary….its just incorrect.

I haven’t even touched on how e-readers help others with disabilities to be able to access books. I have a friend for example that has been very unwell for many years now. And because of this, she has fatigue and strength issues. She at one stage could barely hold a book. But once she got her kindle, she was so over joyed cause she could finally enjoy books again. Kindles are so light, they have stands etc. It honestly reminds me of the people that say audiobooks arnt counted as reading and you shouldn’t do it. Sure, let’s just alienate all the people that can’t read or have vision impairment right? (For clarity, I’m being sarcastic.) Or how about all the cultures that past on the culture, history, legends etc all by word of mouth?? For centuries, way before anyone invented written script. But that’s a whole other tangent I can go off about later.

If e-readers arnt for you, that’s totally fine. But to say no one has a need for them, because physical books exist, is just closed minded. Just because you have the privilege of a huge book library and may not have use of an e-reader, doesn’t not mean that other people don’t have a great use for them.

Anyway, that’s my rant. I don’t like ranting online. But this just frustrated me so much. No hate to this person personally, I just think they weren’t open to the possibilities of how these devices are used and fulfil needs for other people that live differently.

If you read this, cool! I hope you have a good day. And enjoy reading what you are currently 💝

[unforth]

Hello! Forgive me for the strange and invasive question I’m about to ask, but I noticed in your bio that you’re a mother and you seem to be a danmei fan as well, and my question pertains to that.

I’m in my mid 20s and enjoy danmei. I read 2ha before the published paperbacks came out and was pretty excited to be able to eventually own physical copies of the story i love so much. But I somehow end up feeling very self conscious about buying them, since they contain multiple explicit scenes and I’m worried if someone were to browse my bookshelf someday and come across these, they’d judge me harshly. I’m not sure if marriage is in the cards for me, but if/when I do end up getting married and having children, how exactly would I explain having these books to my husband and kid(s)? In my country, joint families are fairly common so I also might end up having to live with my husband’s parents and I’d be toast if they were to come across these 😬. I know it seems silly to be worried about a hypothetical future husband and children but I’m afraid I can’t help it. Since you have kids, how do you manage keeping your danmei novels? Do you hide them, or just tell them they’re books for adults?

Anon you sound like you've got some pretty incredible hang-ups about sex. Are you this worried about if my kids find the scene in MDZS where Wen Chao has to eat is own legs? Or if I allow your hypothetical, are you worried what your spouse and kids would think of that kind of content?

The 2ha books are books. I keep them with the books. I have a dedicated shelf for danmei in my bedroom, and they're there. My kids have seen me reading them and can access them anytime and have never given a single fuck or shown any interest whatsoever in what I'm reading, EXCEPT when I'm reading shounen manga and then they're excited. Oh or that time I read some Pokémon manga. And sometimes they're interested in the YA queer graphic novels I get from tbe library. Okay yeah if I'm reading comics they sometimes care. But a prose book? Zero fucks given. I tell them nothing, because they don't ask, but if they did ask, I'd tell them a simplified version of the truth, and I know my kids: zero fucks would continue to be given.

This whole "omg ~sex~" thing doesn't exist unless you as the adult make it exist. I don't act like there's some great mystery they're missing out on but will be ~initiated into the secrets of~ when they're older. That is the surest way to make them desperate to know things they're not ready for. They've had some age-appropriate sex-ed in the Our Whole Lives program offered at our church, and the one time I made the mistake of thinking my son knew more than he did (he knew sperm + egg = baby, so I assumed he knew penis inside vagina was the process. I assumed wrong.) his reaction was a hilarious, "they do WHAT?" and he has never brought it up again. The other day we read a book that included a joke about a teenage man being given a shirt that says "I make chicks hot" (he was going to work at a fast good joint, the joke was its about literal chicken) and my son looked me dead in the eye and said "that joke is NOT age appropriate." He's almost 9, so I told him puberty is coming whether he wants it to or not, and I'd rather he know these feelings exist before the first time they happen than be blindsided when they do (I didn't say, "if they do," I figure the nuances of my utterly asexual non-awakening aren't a detail he needs quite yet.)

All of which is to say, I find this ask utterly baffling and it honestly feels like a trap, but I'm trying to take it in good faith, and in good faith, anon, I'm telling you this:

If the hypothetical husband in your scenario would disapprove of what you're reading, then why the fuck is hypothetical you marrying him?

If the hypothetical kids in this scenario might find age-inappropriate materials, why aren't you worried about the violence? Or the horror parts? And why is hypothetical you telling the hypothetical kids anything at all about the books? Did they ask??? Or are you thinking hypothetical future you is so terrified of being caught with sexy books that you're the one bringing up adult stuff, unsolicited, to these kids? Cause THAT'S the weird thing to do. Going "and just so you know, kids, these books are for ADULTS" when they haven't paid any attention at all is going to create a problem where none exists. I'm not gonna pretend the kid doesn't exist who isn't more interested in what their parents read than mine are about my reading, and of course some kids will end up in traumatic situations that result in them knowing more than they normally would about these topics, and that's tragic that some kids have that happen. But in my experience of the kids I used to run into when I worked in schools, my own kids, their friends, etc., these kids have absolutely zero, zilch interest. When my kids ask what kinds of books I'm reading, I say books about men in ancient China. That leads to immediate negative interest cause it sounds dry and boring to them. Problem (no actual problem existed) solved.

You want to know what IS hard to talk about?

Warning them about predators.

When it's never once crossed their minds that anyone would have any interest in their private parts - because they're just a normal part of their body - having to explain that if a grown-up touches them in certain places, or asks to look at them naked, or tries to get them alone, etc., then they have to say no and find an adult they trust. When they were younger, explaining THAT was hard.

I'm not afraid of what my kids might find in a book. They're not interested, and even if they were, these books are above their literacy level right now (my son has nearly finished his first chapter book! It's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I'm very proud of him). And if they could somehow read a book this hard, and understand it, and accidentally read an age inappropriate part, and and and... well, then, we'd talk about it. I trust them to come to me if they run into media they're uncomfortable with, and I also check in periodically to open the door. And they have sometimes brought up concerns, and we talk about it, and that's that. The hardest right now to explain? What the alt-right pipeline might look like in a Minecraft YouTuber video. Fuck but that is HARD to communicate to kids who have only the vaguely idea of the current political situation.

Honestly I'm more worried they'll read the part where the demon mom eats her own child alive. That is the most triggering scene I've ever encountered in fiction. I've never read the whole chapter.

But you didn't even think of that. Because you're too busy thinking about how to tell your non-existent kids that these books have SEX and it's not for KIDS and they shouldn't read it.

Anon, I'm not afraid of what my kids might get exposed to in books.

I'm afraid of what real people might do to hurt my kids, and how I prepare them for actual trauma.

A book can't hurt them. Well, maybe if someone throws it at them. But if they read something that freaks them out they know to just. Stop reading. And they can ask us about it and we can help unpack it.

But preparing them for the harm actual humans can do to them? Explaining why we're at a BLM protest? Explaining why they have to be wary of any stranger OR NON-STRANGER (because most abuse is by someone the child knows!) who wants access to their body isn't okay? Having to wrap my head around "I don't think any of our relatives are sex abusers but IF they secretly are what language do I use to convey to my child that their aunt, uncle, cousin, grandparent, shouldn't have access to their body in certain ways but still can touch you to wipe poop off"? Trying to say "I know you like this person's minecraft persona but if they start saying mean things about a group of people different from them you have to stop watching and tell a grown-up"? Knowing there's no warning on the planet that can prepare them for all the actual harm that can come to them from real people? That's the hardest part of parenting. I can't protect them without smothering them. I have to let them face some risks or else they'll never develop. I hate this. It's so fucking hard.

Anyway.

That's the hard stuff anon.

You are entirely and utterly worried about the wrong problem.

If this was a good faith ask... you should sit and unpack why you are uniquely worried about the sex parts of 2ha and not the violence parts. You should ask yourself why you think you'd love and marry and raise a family with someone who'd disapprove of your taste in books. You should ask yourself why this is your hang-up, and why you think you'd have to say anything at all about the books to a person browsing your shelf, a spouse, an in-law, a kid.

If this wasn't a good faith ask...idk what you're fishing for, anon, but the fact that you think I'd say anything at all about the contents of a book they are absolutely not ready for is fucking weird. I will say something when they ask and not a moment before, and when they do ask I'll tell them honestly it's a book with a lot of violence and sex and adult stuff and if somehow that didn't drive them away (it would right now, instantly) then that'd suggest maybe they're ready to know more, and I'd steer them to more age-appropriate ways to learn a bit more about sex. There, the problem you made up is solved.

Good luck, anon. Whether this was good faith or not, you have a lot of mental baggage to sort through.

*

I just reread the ask in preparation for posting, and as a few final notes: 1. My wife (no husbands here) knows what I read, 2. My father lives with us, and he knows what I read, 3. My mother in law also knows what I read, and it makes her uncomfortable I think but she recognizes that's a "her" problem and leaves me alone, and 4. My mother is chomping at the bit to get her hands on my 2ha, she's been very disappointed that most of the danmei she's borrowed post MDZS and SVSSS hasn't been more "like that." So don't assume your in-laws will flip out. Most people know books are just books. But I also don't know your culture/country/situation. I was raised by incredibly progressive people in one of the most socially progressive cities in the world (New York City, we have race problems but in other areas we're not bad), and like. My entire cultural surroundings are chill about stuff. I'm also not Christian. Obviously in another culture with stricter mores I can see why this could be more of an issue but you asked how I handle it and I can only give an honest answer from the actual reality I live in, which is that it never has crossed my mind anyone would care and sure enough, no one has cared. 🤷 I'm sorry if that's led me to be dismissive of legitimate concerns, it's very hard to know what anons on tumblr are well intentioned and which are from people who are just waiting to go HA THAT EVIL PERSON PUTS THE NAUGHTY DIRTY BAD PORN WHERE THE KIDS CAN GET IT. Considering that people have been sending me asks recently that my son should die, or that he will grow up to be a rapist because that's what men do, because my post that maybe people shouldn't hate men has brought enough attention that the fucking weirdos think lashing out at an 8 year old is an entirely normal and reasonable response to "stop virulently hating men just because they are men," I hope you can understand why my tone is what it is and why I have to consider that this ask is not being sent in good faith. Those anons I block and delete unanswered, so me writing this response is already giving you some benefit of the doubt.

Regardless. Work on you first, anon. You deserve people who will love you even knowing that sometimes you read kinky shit, and do not under any circumstances tell your kids, should you have them, a word more than they need to know. If they're very precocious early readers MAYBE move the books, but otherwise odds are they won't be able to even read the back blurbs, much less the inside, until they're old enough to know a little about how life works, and you can frame what you tell them to what they know then.

Alright, I'll shut up now.

[blackfemmecharacterdependency]

Why don't they sell book covers to the public as an industry? Like. I know that if you can find the artist you could get art from them, but like, they should have like prints of, for example

When you go to purchase a book and they ask if you want that thang hardcover or paperback, electronic or audio, there should ALSO be a selection of book cover prints that you can get.

And have all the versions that they will print available.

Like, maybe you only buy or rent the ebooks, but you can order postcard size covers for your personal collection.

Or you own a version of the book, but you also want a canvas print for your office or something.

I know that there are books out there where you can get that, but I think it oughtta be an available, easy to find, wherever you can find the books sort of thing.

And while I'm thinking about it: model credits...

Like, maybe they're somewhere in the book's acknowledgements, but I don't feel like I've seen them, and they rarely mention them on info websites for the books. Like, something like imdb, but they have models who've rendered their likeness to book covers that weren't drawn. I remember seeing on Instagram the model for A Song of Wraiths and Ruin when they were doing promos, and I've seen the model for The Shadowshaper Cypher (I feel like she had it in her bio at some point), but it isn't like information that I often just see and a lotta times you can't find it in a search.

Mainly though... I would like to be able to order artwork for books I may not necessarily need a physical copy of, or books I have a physical copy of, but enjoy the story or artwork so much that I also want just the art. Does this make sense?

Especially because so many books we have aren't gonna get a series or movies. I would like a bigger industry for book cover art. Or for someone to point me in the direction of it if it's out there like that.

[copperbadge]

Book Price Drop!

Well, that was almost comically easy. 

Turns out, to pull my books from "global distribution” I really just need to uncheck a box and then manually adjust the price. They may still appear on other sites for a while, I’m not sure how that works, but they are now officially retailed only through Lulu.com.

The epubs, because those aren’t subject to the same fees, will remain the same price; they will also still be available through other retailers. Someone sent me an ask about epubs and Kindle which I will publish that when I get a hot second, but fortunately the epubs and print books aren’t married to each other and can go their separate ways. 

Anyway, below are links and price drops; they’re in USD, but the prices should have fallen internationally, I adjusted every currency downwards. These are just for the books, without tax or postage included.  

Fete For A King: $13 to $11

Infinite Jes: $13 to $11

The Lady And The Tiger: $13 to $11

The Shivadh Romances Omnibus, Paperback: $29 to $20

The Shivadh Romances Omnibus, Hardcover: $52 to $30

The Twelve Points of Caleb Canto: $19 to $13

If you’re new and would like to read these but are perplexed about what to buy, the books are listed above in chronological order; the “Omnibus” editions are just single-volume reprints of the first three books, and Twelve Points is the fourth book in the series. As always, you can find my entire published ouvre, print and epub, here.

Six Harvests was also under Global Distribution but I think because it was before this rate hike, it didn’t have the mandatory minimum the others did. I’ve pulled it from Global anyway but the price hasn’t dropped, because it was already priced appropriately. The rest of the print books aren’t in global distribution anyway, so they stayed the same. Over the next year I may do a bit of an overhaul to get everything up to style-guide standard, and if that happens the prices may change, but I’ll warn before I do it so if the prices go up people can buy the cheaper versions. 

I feel disproportionately relieved. I didn’t realize just how much annoyance I was carrying around over the pricing of these books. It doesn’t feel like $2 should make much of a difference, but that $22 price drop on the hardcover omnibus was like letting a couple of lead weights fall off my shoulders. 

Again, you guys have my sincerest apologies for this; if I had realized what was causing the spike sooner I absolutely would have fixed it, and if I’d known when I published them I wouldn’t have done it to begin with. Going forward the pricing should be marginally more reasonable :) And on that note, I am working currently to get the short story anthology out by late August, so stay tuned! 

[batsplat]

do you have a favorite bit of motogp gossip that you either want to know is it’s true, or you just enjoy as a stand alone piece, no need for further investigation?

one of those where I initially stared at and like. lost all motogp knowledge in my brain. and then stuff did come back to me. this is all very much low hanging fruit and I'll add to it when I remember more interesting/quirky ones. BUT here are some things I want to know:

y'know how casey randomly suggests in his autobiography that valentino was sabotaged in the 2006 title decider? so, personally, I don't really buy this, because 'why' and also 'casey girl you are SO paranoid' - though, sure, if given the option I'd like to double check if valentino had a dud tyre (completely plausible) and also if somebody really deliberately gave him one (?? casey idk about this one). but what I'm REALLY curious about is... there's a change in his autobiography?? like I've seen this book excerpt float around online and the text is different from what's in my book!! mine's from the paperback version so I assume there may have been some edits for that, so that would make it the newer version... but like. this is a real editorial change. check this out:

version posted on the internet, from the hard cover edition???

version in my book, first paragraph is the same

But as soon as the lights went out Valentino was in trouble. I was one of six riders to pass him on the first lap and if you watch the footage you can see how much he is struggling to even keep up with us. His rear and front tyres were just not working together and on lap five the front inexplicably folded and he went down, right behind me. I couldn't help but wonder how he could be having such problems with his tyres. Could he really have been stitched up? It seemed so improbable, but I remember watching that race back in the motorhome that evening and thinking, Welcome to my world, mate.

this isn't 'gossip' because I haven't found anyone else who has spotted this, but like? that's a substantive change? if my one really is the newer one? ...?

let's set aside the fascinating insight you get into casey's knotty and at times bizarre valentino rossi complex with him adding the line "welcome to my world, mate" (oh my god. please just take him to dinner. I will crowd fund this I literally just need to be able to listen in. casey come on CALL him I NEED you to do the dinner thing, YOU suggested it not me). like we're not going to even touch that. but if my version really is the updated one, then he's kinda softened his stance, no?? "convinced he was stitched up" to "could he really have been stitched up"

what happened?? who wanted this change? casey? an editor? did dorna give casey a call? did some poor bloke from pr have to politely ask whether casey could please not state in his autobiography that the most popular rider ever had had a title stolen from him by the establishment?

(casey was talking about valentino's stolen tenth BEFORE it was popular. he did it even before valentino did, bless)

"there are a lot of commercial interests in the sport" also didn't make the jump to the 'new version', mind you. did Big America get to casey

come on you guys have to admit this is an odd change?? does nobody else thing this is weird??

okay fine moving on

Did Valentino Literally Curse Sete

(like. not literally as in did he curse curse sete, literally as in did he say it)

(though if he did literally literally curse curse sete, I suppose I'd also like to know that bit)

the commentators in 2003 brno say so and I'm inclined to believe them, but I need to double check whether sete and valentino really were partying on ibiza together right after that very painful valentino loss at the sachsenring. such a fascinating little detail, that's not something post-2004 valentino does I reckon

I mean, look, obviously a bunch of things from that time period I want to have fact checked. including valentino's friend hearing sete say in late 2003 that valentino wasn't going to be smiling so much after joining yamaha. classic bit of gossip, did it actually happen though

I've referenced this a few times before, but y'know how valentino said that marc's manager alzamora told him after sepang 2015 that marc had been angry at valentino for killing his title charge? I just want. to know. if this conversation actually happened. I don't think valentino would pluck a lie like that out of thin air, especially something so specific about somebody on marc's team, and he has known alzamora for decades but like. maybe almazora just said something valentino misinterpreted? I just find this such a bonkers thing from alzamora if it's true that I would like it confirmed for my own sanity, you know?

yeah look I would like to know if marc really did get casey kicked out of honda, obviously I've discussed this before and it's very he said she said but yeah it'd be fun to know the truth

this is literally peak gossip because I can't find a source for it but I swear a journalist did say it: the rumour is that marc blocked joan mir from joining honda in 2019. like, I'm only including this because I was explicitly asked for gossip as I just cannot find where it was said... but it is something that is. out there. and... again, just curious. like I buy it, but also it could be bullshit!

on a similar note, did he ever make clear to honda he didn't want either vinales or rinsy on his team circa 2016? was it just a vibe in the paddock or was this an actual demand from marc?

speaking of!! the whole thing about alzamora basically rigging the moto3 teammate situation between rinsy and alex marquez to ensure the latter won the title that year. what was that all about, how far did they go there

switching to valentino now. this doesn't quite fit the remit of the question because it IS something I've investigated. and my conclusion is basically a big *shrug*

did valentino block casey from joining yamaha in either 2005 or 2006, and did he attempt to block jorge?

there are completely contradictory sources on the timeline here that do make me feel like there's a chance yamaha was just fucking with casey at the very least in 2006 and valentino had fuck all to do with it, which a recent interview from casey did actually hint at too... he made it sound like maybe yamaha was just using him to try to drive down the price of another rider (which would then presumably be jorge)

I just want to know! and the thing is, it was a matter of open paddock discussion that valentino blocked casey (jorge explicitly references it in in 2007), but something doesn't quite add up between what jorge, casey, colin edwards, articles from the time and lin jarvis have said on the subject! my current pet theory is that valentino blocked casey in 2005 from joining the satellite yamaha team in 2006 (weirdly casey doesn't really imply valentino was responsible for this one in his autobiography, but whatever) but NOT in 2006 (casey does imply valentino was responsible here, you see my problem). and yamaha was fucking around with all four of valentino, casey, jorge and edwards in late 2006/2007. but. yeah. I have unanswered questions

the entire 'alex marquez blocked from yamaha' situation.... again. something is off there. you know the story from late last year about how he was blocked in 2019 from joining the petronas team in 2021? this completely threw me, because there was an entirely different story about this YEARS back in 2018!! I initially assumed the two stories were about the same event, but it can't have been! one's him being blocked in 2019 for 2021, one's him being blocked in 2018 for 2019

from the descriptions of both there's also no confusing them. the 2018 story has to be about the 2018 contract cycle because that's quite literally when it was published, and the 2023 story has to be about the 2019 contract cycle because it explicitly references the space fabio would create by moving to the factory team for 2021, which obviously wouldn't make sense before fabio's actual rookie season. like they have to be about different stories

and in that same 2018 story, marc said that back in 2016 lin jarvis told him no marquez would be joining yamaha:

again, this was in 2018!!

plus, he did say back in 2016 that he'd spoken to jarvis, which kinda backs up this is a conversation that did happen and marc isn't just misremembering the timeline/lying (the notion of marc joining yamaha in 2017 is fantastic, what an absolutely horrendous idea):

now what marc says in 2018 about his conversation with lin jarvis is very similar to petronas yamaha boss razali saying in 2023 that he'd been told by yamaha no marquez was allowed at yamaha. suggests that this is a thing that did happen!!

but again... razali was told that in 2019... after marc had already been told the same thing three years before that, and the exact same deal had already been blocked one year earlier... does nobody else think this is weird?? like, I'm not saying yamaha hq covered themselves in glory here, but is it not a little strange the satellite yamaha squad had basically almost signed a contract with the younger marquez again without checking in with yamaha, just ONE YEAR after this same contract had already been blocked???

again this isn't actually gossip because I'm apparently the only person going ?? about this but I'll say it: ??

kinda been annoying me since december last year, like I know it doesn't matter but I'm just curious about it! why's nobody else talking about the 2018 story!

idk my best guess here is that petronas yamaha was faffing about and playing weird games with the factory team, that the deal was never as likely to happen as they made it sound to the marquez camp. zero proof, that's me spreading rumours yeah... time to create some of my own unfounded gossip

(also of course I'm curious if valentino did have any actual involvement in this. like if lin jarvis was telling marc this in the year of our lord 2016, I'm assuming valentino didn't have to explicitly say to jarvis that 'inviting marc to the team for 2017' wasn't exactly high on his christmas wish list. it is interesting that marc frames it as jarvis making this about. like. all the marquez's way back in 2016, and again, would this really have been on valentino's radar at the time? that feels a bit...? alex marquez was thirteenth in that moto2 season? would certainly be very... thorough for valentino to already have had that particular talk with jarvis)

(mind u there's a fun moment in a 2019 presser where valentino is sitting between the two marquez brothers and the younger marquez is being asked about his contract situation, the implication being he'd had a motogp deal and no longer had a motogp deal. and he's answering and marc's doing his freak stare and valentino is Right There sitting between them... I <3 mess)

man did valentino actually ever fucking block anyone from joining his manufacturer #notmygoat. I still think he didn't know about jorge until the deal was basically done, had nothing to do with the younger marquez, at most blocked casey the one time but then yamaha wasn't actually seriously intending on signing casey in 2006 and was just using it as a play in their jorge negotiations, which.... idk. bit disappointing if true icl. I hope he blocked someone, I'll say it

(also. okay. I don't want to sound awful here because I do have a lot of sympathy for baby!casey but. ignoring the morality for a second, I do LOVE the idea that valentino blocked casey from getting a satellite yamaha seat fresh off his 250cc runner up season because it would conclusively prove valentino did ABSOLUTELY rate casey!! like he didn't even want casey to come close to being his teammate!! not even a sniff at his data!!) (genuinely this is the rumour I'm choosing to believe, I know there's a chance valentino didn't successfully block anyone and was just a complete flop but I want the 2005 one to be true. it really adds something to the rivalry idk... like ugh valentino saw how dangerous casey was proper early when much of the paddock wasn't yet convinced... cute)

moving on

there was a rumour in 2015 that valentino approached dani after aragon to complain about how sturdy his defence was, like moaning about denying him points and shit. now, there's exactly one article about this in marca that is the sole origin point for the rumour, and it says that valentino also interrupted a honda party after phillip island to complain to marc. this does not match up at all with anything either marc or valentino have said since then - and would mean you have to believe that marc wasn't actually blindsided by that presser... also feels a bit unlikely we would have heard NOTHING from any other source if vale was really gatecrashing a honda party

of course, neither dani nor valentino have spoken about this supposed post-aragon 2015 meeting either, not even when dani was kinda accusing valentino of hypocrisy during sepang 2015, but I suppose you could say maybe dani's just not the type of guy to bring it up again. however.... I do reckon occam's razor kinda applies here and if one of these stories is bullshit then they probably both are, plus it's not like marca is exactly a neutral source. still would love to be certain!! instinctively I don't really think that's valentino's style at all, but of course it'd be intriguing if the story were true because it'd be a sign of how 2015 kinda messed with him. but I still feel 2015 is more about him falling back on past tools he'd mostly discarded - rather than, like, acting wildly out of character, which again... well, this brings us back to how that kind of behaviour isn't really valentino's style. basically, I don't buy it, but that's kinda why I am so curious about it? because I feel like it would be really interesting and quirky if he had actually done that. does this make any sense

speaking of, again this doesn't really count because I did kinda investigate it last year.... but you know when valentino in that podcast referenced a conversation with marc around the time of sepang 2015, where marc stared blankly at him? I have a hunch about when that conversation happened, want to know if it's right. this also isn't really 'gossip' because this is a conversation I'm having with myself but

y'know when bez was injured on the ranch late-ish last year? a bunch of journalists pointed out how hush hush they were about what actually happened to bez - like they repeatedly drew attention to that because god knows THEY love some gossip lol. which probably means nothing, but I'm curious what the journalists' theory here is, like do they think it was an embarrassing injury?? OR. look. I suppose the conspiracy theory would be that pecco caused it (obviously accidentally!!) and everyone at the ranch knew it'd be a terrible look if they admitted that because of the whole title fight situation. call me casey stoner because those dots are not real and definitely have not been connected

okay, you know how there were rumours in the spanish tabloids bez said some real ugly stuff to marc at valencia last year, and bez didn't directly address it but freaked a little and did a sort of blanket denial that he'd said anything that bad? I don't actually think he did tbh, but again. would just like to check!

while we're already on bez, there was one report that the switch to aprilia was partly motivated by marc to factory ducati. again, not entirely sure I buy that this would factor into his thinking beyond the obvious 'this means the route to that factory ducati seat looks even more closed than it already did' angle'.... it's very much down my list of priorities but I'd quickly confirm/deny it if given the chance yeah

that's all for now lol

[obelisart]

The print version of volume 5 of Meow Are You? is out on Amazon :333

CLICK HERE to buy it

You can read it for free if you have a Kindle Unlimited subscription. I get paid when you read through KU.

Now, about paperback price increasing: I got feedback from a buyer that they would prefer higher-quality print, even if it meant they had to pay more. 

So I switched the print quality from Standard color to Premium color. However, printing Premium color is A LOT more expensive than Standard color. 

As a result, I'm actually getting less money from each paperback now that I'm charging 15.99 instead of the old price 9.99 :') 

I will be switching all of my previously published paperbacks from Standard to Premium quality. However, quality switching is a lengthy process on Amazon, so the whole process may take up to two weeks.

The e-book and hardcover prices are remaining as they always were.

Thank you for the understanding and support! 💗 I appreciate each and every one of you. 

[127tyong]

Sticker

Pairing: Taeyong X Reader

Genre: Smut, Childhood Friends AU, Reader is in her 20s, Caught Masturbating (Taeyong)

Warnings: (This is so vanilla. Like, the most vanilla shit I've ever written. It's just sex y'all.)

Word Count: 3k

In your eyes, Taeyong was practically a baby. You grew up living in the same neighborhood as him, and would constantly go to his house after school. You always had a key to wherever he was living, even after you both entered the workforce and were adults, you would still go to his house and spend time with him, comforting each other.

You would never admit this, since Taeyong was such a nerd, but you always thought he was cute. After all, you spent your entire life with him, watching his highs and lows. Something about him made you giggle and your heart palpitate.

But today, after work, you went to his house, wanting to drink with him since you were stressed out, but he wasn’t home. Slipping off your heels, you massaged your feet through your stockings. Finally deciding to just go through his manga collection, you laid on his bed, and flipped through a random edition of  “One Piece,” of which Taeyong owned the entire collection.

After about 30 minutes, you heard the front door click open, then lock shut as Taeyong returned home. “You’re here?” Taeyong asked from the living room after he saw your shoes by the door.

“Yeah!” You called back, not wanting to move from the warmth of his bed.

“Ugh, I'm so tired…” Taeyong mumbled as he walked through the door, loosening his tie and unbuttoning his shirt. Taeyong’s eyes widened after he saw you on his bed. “What are you doing? You’re breaking the spine!” Taeyong ran to grab the book from you, but you pushed him away.

“God… you’re such a fucking nerd.” You scoffed as Taeyong practically got on his knees and whined, begging you to give him the manga back.

“Excuse me, I prefer the term “otaku”, thank you very much!” Taeyong rolled his eyes. “Now let go!” His face was resting on your stomach as he shook your arms.

You tossed the paperback book onto his bed. “Yeah, whatever.”

“Hey! That’s my precious Nami cover page!” Taeyong scurried to pick up the book and placed it back onto his bookshelf.

“You only like her because she has big boobs.” You scoffed. 

“No, it’s not like that!” He sighed, joining you under the covers of his twin sized bed, his face uncomfortably close to yours. “Besides, she’s not even my ideal type.”

“Whatever you say.” Sighing, you pat Taeyong’s head. He always did need more comforting than anyone else you had ever been friends with. The whiny, clingy, version of Taeyong remained the same even after all these years.

Taeyong rubbed his face on the collar of your button up shirt, his arms tightening around your waist. “Am I hurting you?” And kind of, he was practically resting all of his body weight on your chest. He was way too comfortable with lying on your boobs as a grown man. 

“Ugh, you should really buy a bigger bed, you have a huge bedroom just to fill it up with manga and figures. How are you planning on ever getting married?” You ran your hands through his hair, your fingernails scratching his head.

Taeyong sat up, getting off you. He slid his glasses back on and brushed his hair back into place. “Do you want to drink with me?”

Taeyong snorted, shifting to look you in the eye. “You really think I’ll get married?”

You pulled his glasses off and fluffed his hair up. “You know, you’d look really good if you actually wanted to…” Your hands slid down his cheeks, your palms cupping his jaw, feeling the sharp bone on your fingertips. Biting your lip, you really thought he looked good, even with his glasses on. He couldn't hide his pretty face behind thick glasses frames or a messy haircut, and you knew it.

~

Taeyong swallowed another shot, the bottle practically empty. He was sitting on his living room floor, a movie playing in the background.

“Tyong, don’t you think that's enough?” Sitting on the couch behind him, you only let yourself take a few sips of your drink, not letting your eyes leave Taeyong, worried he would do something stupid the moment you did.

He was always like this… Never able to feel how drunk or high he was until he was past the point of no return. You had many memories of him in college where he poured 4 shots of vodka into his Coke, saying it wasn’t even strong, then blacking out in the living room, passing out, waking up, and finally joining you in your bed.

“Come on, let's go to bed.” You helped him stand up, his arm around your shoulders. 

You grabbed the bottle from him. “Yongie, that’s enough.”

“You’re no fun!” He whined, his head hitting your knee.

Taeyong whined, his voice almost grating. “No…! Stay and drink with me!”

You sighed, dragging Taeyong into his bedroom. “Fuck!” You stubbed your toe against his dresser. You dropped Taeyong, instinctively grabbing your toe. “Sorry! I’m sorry!” You looked down at Taeyong, who was too drunk to realize you had even dropped him, and you tossed him onto his bed. You unbuttoned his shirt for him, trying to get him comfortable so he could sleep.

“Do my pants.” He groaned, rubbing his eyes with his arm.

“No, I don’t really want to.” You sighed. 

“Fine.” He went under his blanket and took his pants off himself.

“I’m going home.” You rolled your eyes, not wanting to deal with drunk Taeyong anymore.

“No..!” He whined, sitting up. “Come here.”

How could you say no to that face? “Fine. Only until you sleep.” You took your bra and stockings off, then joined him. 

You sat on the edge of his bed, tucking him into bed. “Good night, Taeyong.”

He grabbed onto your wrist before you could even stand up. “Just until I sleep?” He begged, pouting.

His hot breath was next to your face, and it was sick how naturally his arm wrapped around your waist. It was disgusting how Taeyong made your heart flutter, but he didn’t even think twice about you. You knew he only cared about two things, himself, and his manga collection. But even still, you let yourself imagine what it would’ve been like if Taeyong liked you back, so you let yourself fall asleep in his arms.

~

“Shit. Fuck. What did I do?” You felt Taeyong sit up next to you, his arms ripping off your waist.

“What?” You asked groggily, rubbing your eyes to wake yourself up.

Taeyong ran out of bed, quickly grabbing some pants out of his closet. “Did we… uh…” 

“What? No. You were drunk. Besides, I don’t think you could fuck me even if you were sober.” You pulled the covers up over your chest. “Can I steal some clothes? I have work in…” You grabbed your phone off the charger. “40 minutes.”

“Yeah, I think I have some of your clothes from the last time you slept over.” Taeyong looked in his dresser, tossing you one of your old shirts and skirts. 

“Do you mind if I wear some of your boxers?” You hooked your bra back on, watching Taeyong go through his closet.

“I’m sorry?” Taeyong deeply exhaled.

“Well, it’s not like I can wear these panties for a 2nd day. Besides, you wash your underwear… right?” You buttoned your shirt up.

“Um…” Taeyong tossed a pair of black boxers at you. “I’m gonna shower… or something.” He left you in his room, waving his hand around.

You got dressed and made your way to his bathroom.

“What the fuck!” Taeyong screamed, his shower curtain blocking your view of him, but he stuck his head out.

“I just need to brush my hair and my teeth! You don’t mind if I use your toothbrush, right?” You started to comb your hair with his brush.

“I guess not? Just get out!” Taeyong retracted his head back into the shower.

You brushed your teeth. “You’re the best! I’m gonna head out after this!”

~

“Fuck, I forgot my phone.” You realized when you were already at work.

You decided to head back to Taeyong's house during your lunch break.

When you went inside, you tried to be as quiet as possible, so as to not scare any of his neighbors, but you assumed Taeyong was still at work.

When you went into Taeyong’s room, you were unprepared for what you saw.

“Fuck! What are you doing Taeyong?” You hissed at him.

He was laying on his bed, cock in his hand, cum dripping all over his abs and fingers. And in his other hand were your panties, pressed against his face like a pervert. Whiny moans, moaning your name escaped his mouth.

“I- I’m sorry!” Taeyong jumped up, trying to walk towards you. 

You instinctively backed up, not knowing what to say. If he was a teenage boy, you could make an excuse for him, saying he’s just a kid… But he’s nearly 30, and you know he wasn’t even a virgin, since you both lost your virginity in high school. You really didn’t think he even masturbated while thinking about actual girls, assuming he just watched hentai. And you certainly didn’t think he masturbated while thinking about you. 

So, you mumbled the only thing you could really think at that point. “You’re gonna get cum on me.”

Taeyong sighed and slid some pants on and went into the bathroom to wash his hands.

You grabbed your phone off the floor and nearly ran out of his house.

“Wait!” Taeyong called after you.

You waved him off, not even wanting to make eye contact with him.“Taeyong, I really don’t wanna talk to you-” 

He grabbed your shoulder, stopping you. 

“Tae-” You sighed, your hand already on the doorknob, ready to leave.

His arms wrapped around your waist, holding you in a back hug. “I’m sorry.” He mumbled. “You know that right?”

“I have to go to work.” You sighed, sliding your phone into your jacket pocket.

“I’m really sorry, I promise I am, I promise I will never do that again…” You felt tears on your neck, and the water on Taeyong’s hands made your stomach cold.

He was so pathetic, like a little baby begging his mommy for forgiveness after breaking a vase. 

You turned around and kissed the tears off his cheeks, petting his head, soothing him. “It’s okay. I’m not mad.”

That was a lie. A ball of anger, frustration, and nerves started filling your throat. You tried to swallow it down, but it didn’t let you. Letting out a breath you didn’t know you were holding, you forced yourself to face Taeyong and hug him.

“I’m sorry…” He whined, holding onto your waist.

“I know, but you understand that was hard for me to walk in on, right?” You tried to pull away from the hug, but his grip didn’t loosen. His boner kept poking you, rubbing against your stomach. You wondered how he could be hard in this situation, in front of you after you saw that… Your cheeks flushed, not knowing how to handle the thought of Taeyong fucking you, his moans so raw and pathetic, his head thrown back. “Taeyong, let go, I have to go back to work…”

“No.” He whined into your ear. 

You sighed, pulling out your phone and texting your boss something urgent came up at home and you wouldn’t be able to come back, which was only a half lie. “Fine…”

“You know I love you, right?” Taeyong kissed your neck, tickling you. He pushed you against the front door, pinning you there. You silently wondered when he’d let you go, his hands falling down your back and onto your hips, his chin still resting on your shoulder.

“Of course, I love you too.” You pat his back, wishing he’d get off you. 

“Would you… suck me off?” Taeyong finally let go of you, taking half a step back.

“What? Taeyong, I think you’ve just been single too long…” You shook your head, forcing it to clear of any impure thoughts, any hope, any expectations.

Taeyong’s thumb glazed over your lips, his fingers gently brushing over your neck, making you look up into his eyes. Eyes that lost their innocent, child-like look, and that have turned dark, lustful. Lustful for you. “Don’t you want me?”

“Taeyong, let's stop this already…” You mumbled through Taeyong’s thumb.

Taeyong’s lips made contact with your neck, licking its most sensitive spot. “I don’t think you really want to.” He was gentle, sweetly sucking, making you press your head back, your back arching.

A whiny voice escaped your throat, a voice you never knew you could make. You clutched onto Taeyong’s waist, your fingers digging into the waistband of his sweatpants, pulling him towards you. 

You felt Taeyong’s lips curl into a smirk on your neck. His hands swept down to your shirt collar, unbuttoning your shirt, then sliding towards your back to unhook your bra. His hands explored your body, a body he’s touched multiple times, yet he’s touching you as if it was his first. Squeezing your breasts in his hands, then immediately going under your skirt, rubbing your clit through his boxers.

“Can’t believe you’re wearing my boxers… Fucking hell.” Taeyong gritted his teeth, pushing your shoulders down, forcing you on the floor.

You slid his sweatpants down, his cock slapping his stomach before hitting your lips. Licking the cum off his dick, you let yourself swallow everything, looking up at Taeyong. Kissing the tip of his cock, you gently edged him, licking, kissing, but not actually sucking it.

Taeyong laughed to himself, biting his lip. “Fuck… the girl I was just masturbating to is on her knees in front of me…” His pretty moans kept you going, cockhead nearly turning purple from being teased from your kisses. “Ugh, hurry up, please…” He groaned, words stretched out from throwing his neck back.

“Why should I?” You spoke, his dick still on your lips, causing the soundwaves of your voice to vibrate against him. “You’ve been nothing but mean to me today, so why should I?”

“You’re too fucking mean… Watched me humiliate myself and still won’t help me…” Taeyong’s hands reached the back of your head, fingers interlaced into your hair. “I’ll do it myself then.” 

Your lips parted on their own, throbbing cock sliding into your mouth. He started gentle, not wanting to hurt you, but he gradually let himself go, thrusting harder down into your throat, hitting the back. Choking on it caused your eyes to start tearing up, the sloppy sound of your saliva echoing in his living room. You slapped on his thighs, trying to get him to stop, his grip on your hair just tightening. Taeyong thrusted thrice, before pulling out and squirting his cum on your lips and cheeks.

You coughed a bit, stroking your throat to help the feeling of an abused throat go away. “Taeyong! What the fuck?”

“You look cute when you’re covered in my cum.” Taeyong went into the kitchen then tossed you a towel.

Wiping your face off, you lazily stood up, going back into Taeyong’s bedroom, tossing yourself onto his bed, Taeyong following. “I was right.”

“I’m gonna fuck the source of my horny dreams.” Taeyong mumbled, biting his lip. 

“About what?” Taeyong watched you undress yourself, tossing your clothes on the floor.

“It’s going to be hard to have sex on a twin sized bed, you should’ve bought a king, or queen at least…” You pulled down the boxers you were wearing, sliding onto your hands and knees. “Are you ready?”

He hurriedly slid his length inside you, plunging in. Hands grabbed around your waist, forcing you up, pressing his body into yours, lips nibbling at your neck and ear. Taeyong’s long, longer and harder than a man who’s came a thousand times already should be. Fucking you like a virgin, like he’s never fucked a girl before, whiny, pathetic, moaning your name into your ear, ragged, unpredictable thrusts, hurting your core. His hands made their way down to your clit, rubbing circles into it. “Do you feel good?” He asked between heavy breaths, the heat of his gasps for air on your neck. He felt like his dick would melt inside you, sucking him in, so warm. He swore he could feel your heartbeat while he was inside you, your legs shaking and vibrating from how aroused you were. 

It was nearly idiotic of him to even ask, your cries louder than his moans, feeling overstimulated and overwhelmed. He was too much, doing everything he could to make you climax all at once. “Fuck! Yes!” You screamed at him, about to cry from how good you felt all at once. It was almost sickening how even while having sex with you, he still wanted to make sure you felt good, and how he didn’t even realize how much you liked it…

“So much better than I ever dreamed of.” Taeyong’s fingers are covered in your juices, making him lick them. “Taste even better.” Your neck was bitten up, hickeys that wouldn’t go away for weeks, and trailed down to your shoulder. 

You wondered if Taeyong felt the same way about you… If he loved you the way you loved him, if you were the last thought he had before he went to bed, and the first in the morning… Wanton moans in your ear made your fears subside, figuring he could only act like this because he loves you. He was so romantic, even if he didn’t realize it. Constantly reminding you how good you feel around his cock, how pretty you are… Everything about Taeyong made you dizzy.

“Taeyong, I’m gonna…” Your head fell forward, toes curling, whining for him.

“Me too, cum with me…” Taeyong’s fingers returned to your clit, trying to make you climax.

“Taeyong, Taeyong… Taeyong!” You moaned his name out as you reached your climax.

“I love you! I love you so much…” He screamed as he came into your womb, thick ropes of white cum filling you up. He dropped you, making you plop onto the bed.

You backed up, sitting on his bed. “I, um, should take a shower… and eat lunch…” You clutched on your stomach, womb abused.

Taeyong hummed. “Say it back.” He cupped your cheek, wiping your tears.

“Say what?” Your back hit the wall as you sat.

“Tell me you love me.” Taeyong started kissing you, looking at you with those big, innocent, brown eyes. Looking at you as if your neck wasn’t covered in his bite marks, as if he didn’t just fuck your brains out.

“You know I love you.” You kissed him back, arms wrapping around his neck. “I love you.”

He pushed you, making you lay back down. “Good.” He lined his cock back up to your pussy lips. “Then I’ll fuck you some more, alright?”

“Ugh… Only if you buy a bigger bed tomorrow, and get your manga collection out of the bedroom.” You pressed a hand against his cheek, pouting.

“Only if you marry me.”

[irregularincidents]

Oh hey, It's JJR Tolkien's birthday! This calls for a random historical fact I think.

In 1965, an American company, Ace Books, determined that due to an error with the company that imported Tolkien's work to the US, Houghton Mifflin, had not actively renewed the American copyright on the Lord of the Rings following their initial 1955 publication, the books thus fell under public domain in the US and thus they were allowed to publish their own editions without paying Tolkien royalties.

Notably Tolkien himself was reportedly not a fan of the relatively new paperback format, he originally wanted to public LOTR as a single volume and had previously told co-owner of Ace Books, Donald Wolheim, that he felt the medium "degenerated the form" of his stories when they previously approached him.

Ace Books published their version of the trilogy, selling over 100,000 copies. This far outpaced anything Houghton Mifflin had seen. The price of the paperbacks was far more competitive at just 75 cents per book.

When Tolkien learned of the pirated editions of his book, he would actively tell fans not to buy those versions due to the rights issues, and would have official versions of his books published with the "Authorised Edition" subtitle (albeit he wasn't happy about the cover art).

Eventually the decision was made that Tolkien could renew the US copyright on LOTR if he were to resubmit them with new material, and eventually Ace Books did come to an agreement with the author over paying him a license to distribute the novels within the United States. Thus ending what the press over-dramatically named "War over Middle-earth".

[goodluckclove]

Finally fixed the name typos in Blind Trust. Which means in like three days if you buy my e-book or paperback, you'll get a version that doesn't accidentally call the character based on my therapist my therapist's actual name.

Which mean I'm pretty sure the e-book files you seven or so people have bought so far are collector's items. Only you know the true name of Clover Jean Gardener's therapist. Lucky you.

i'm kidding i swear i'll get beta readers for book two

i've never had people to read my writing before

turns out that's kind of important oops

[thewiddershinsme]

Story time:

-so I very very rarely will buy a book. I am an avid user of my local libraries, but I think the last book I purchased just to read (and not school or gift related) was about a decade ago (and it was in a little market cause I was about to get on a plane and had read everything I had brought with me as this was way prior to my current e-reader phase). And yet, I have purchased a physical, paperback novel. Which book, you may ask, has broken this decade long drought?

-some background: my favorite animated movie is Anastasia. I was that little girl obsessed with the Russian Revolution. When I grew up I wanted to be the person that solved the mystery of what had happened to her (aka I wanted to discover she had found a Dimitri and they had many descendants hanging around I could interview). I was sad for a week when the news came out that she did not survive.

-I don’t think Anastasia is the best animated film ever, but to this day it is still my favorite animated film (I think it’s important that people are able to differentiate between favorite vs best. There is a lot of media out there I acknowledge is fantastic, but just not my cup of tea. And vice versa). Anya/Dimitri have always been one of my top tier couples. Soundtrack is great. I was fortunate enough to cross off seeing the stage version on my bucket list a few years back. I think I have read the majority of Anastasia fan fiction (Anastasia Retold by J Fontaine being one of my fave fics ever).

-and then I just happened to see this book called Anastasia by Sophie Lark. And the blurb says it’s not based on any previous Anastasia story, but there are illustrations and it is giving off MAJOR 1997 Anastasia vibes. I mean…there’s the music box and she looks extremely similar to the animated version and her love interest is named Damien (and why does this ward plot sound so familiar, I kinda think I may have read a blurb like this on fanfiction.net years ago…) And then I read a bit more and realize oh ho this is complete AU alt history just like My Lady Jane (which I have very recently started) with magic powers and I am now intrigued (cause honestly, if you’re gonna do a myth version where she survives, I think going all in on a completely different universe is the way to go, cause you can never please everyone trying to be historically accurate while changing a crucial historical detail).

-I know nothing about this author (her other books aren’t really my genre so am nervous what that means for this one) but it is bought and ordered and I want to like it SO BAD

[physalian]

Reminder that IngramSpark is terrible

Even if you're one of the lucky authors who've never had any issues with this platform, that they have a chokehold on expanded distribution for indie authors is my problem. Ingram will nickle and dime you with a user interface that pales in comparison in efficency to KDP. Cannot comment on any other print-on-demand company but even little Kobo took me like, 40 minutes to go from making my account to having my ebook live on their website.

Fuck IngramSpark.

You want to/need to make any changes to your manuscript whatsoever after 60 days (even if you have had zero orders and/or have none being processed)? $25 a pop, oh and you get de-listed while the changes are being processed, which can take at least 72 hours. If you do have orders in the middle of being processed, your possibly critical changes won't go into effect until the last order during that time frame has been processed, leaving those readers with the older, worse version of your book.

Are you allowed to preview those changes to make sure it'll process correctly before paying that ridiculous fee? Nope! Not if you're uploading PDFs and not using their in-house formatting programs.

I've said it before: Amazon is shady as fuck. I'm not going to pretend they aren't.

But they know their shit and they do it with maximum efficiency. Lower print costs mean higher royalties and Amazon is one of the largest marketplaces you could hope to host your book on. The massive caveat being that Amazon will only sell on Amazon, unless you sign up for their expanded distribution which is... eh.

It will never not bother me that I had to price my book a whole dollar higher using Ingram, charging my readers more money, because to price Eternal Night what I have on Amazon ($17.99) would have had me owing Ingram money.

Books are expensive enough already, and you don't really buy direct from Ingram. It's more expensive to print with them (on shittier paper to boot), which means they charge the vendor more to buy it so they can profit, which means the vendor (the bookstore you're buying from) can charge you more at the register so they can profit. You want my paperback for cheap? I would rather send you a copy from my own home, footing the bill on both ends for shipping costs, than use Ingram, if only to keep these bastards from taking their cut and giving me my $0.16.

I am not in this business to make money. I want people to enjoy my book and if that means losing a couple dollars of profit not pricing a 111k word fantasy novel at $22, I'd rather someone be able to afford it and like it than give it a pass because it's too expensive.

Ingram thinks they're the best, because they're still the standard for any brick and mortar store you want to shelve your book, and have zero incentive to change and better themselves.

I wouldn't have to pay the $25 in the first place if they didn't fuck up the color matching on my cover, and that's why I haven't pushed my book with Ingram at all. My debut novel is available technically through any vendor you could hope to buy from, because Ingram works with nearly all of them. Their version of my book is just awful, and trying to get the paper quality fixed all this time has gotten me nowhere, so I gave up and switched focus to the cover, and here we are.

I would rather pay to ship my books myself from KDP and hand deliver them to any brick and mortar store than use Ingram.

Amazon will print what you give them exactly as it looks on your digital screen, regardless of the color mode. Ingram will not, will not tell you this, and will not let you see if there is problem before you pay an arm and a leg for an author copy + shipping to see the damages.

If nothing else, it's a massive waste of paper to have an author copy I can't do anything with, with an issue any other platform would have let me prevent. I have one, 1, author copy from KDP, and it has a big fat watermark on the cover, but it's the only personal copy I need for my own use and reference. At the very least, I could have given my Ingram author copy away to somebody, but the color matching on the cover is atrocious and I'm embarrassed to look at it. Same exact files to both platforms.

Nor is anything with Ingram instantaneous. Everything requires a manual check. Which is great, thanks, human eyes on something is awesome, but maybe don't charge me the $25 change fee until that change has been approved? Now I have to fix a bleed issue, after updating the color mode on an identical file I already gave them that had no issues, after a 48 hour delay, and hope that this time, the color matching is correct, because they still won't tell me. If it's not? Another $25.

I don't want Amazon to expand their monopoly, but I desperately need Ingram to fix their shit and get off their high horse so they can be a fair and proper competitor of value. There should be zero fees to fix things if the book hasn't even sold a single copy on your platform. I know it can be automated and work flawlessly, negating the need for that fee. KDP has done it, and imo, on paper quality alone, KDP has Ingram beat anyway.

Ingram, allegedly, works great if you have no issues. If you do have an issue, it's never a small, simple fix.

Sorry for the rant and sorry to anyone who has used Ingram and doesn't know what the fuck I'm ranting about. It has been a struggle with them and their website since day one.

Do better.

[rjalker]

"Masculine women are treated better than traditionally feminine women!!!"

(And the person saying this is literally talking about AFAB trans people when they say "women" Because let's not even try to hide the transmisia and exorsexism!!!)

[ID: The meme of Dr. Phil handing an L to the camera, now edited so he is instead handing a copy of Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg. End ID.]

Official PDF version released to the public on the author's wishes:

"https://lesliefeinberg.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Stone-Butch-Blues-by-Leslie-Feinberg.pdf"

(Archived link)

You can buy an at-cost printed version here:

"https://www.lulu.com/shop/leslie-feinberg/stone-butch-blues-20th-anniversary-author-edition/paperback/product-kjqzjj.html?page=1&pageSize=4"

Stop fucking doing the misogynist and transmisic assholes' job for them. Just because those who hate fucking trans people are now pretending they've never ever ever had a problem with tomboys and butches and other masculine women as a cover for their hatred of AFAB trans people does not mean you get to fucking spout their lies for them.

Gender nonconformity has always been violently fucking punished. Just because conservatives are now pretending they never treated masculine women badly so they can pretend that trans men and AFAB nonbinary people are evil and brainwashed does not mean you fuckers get to help them spread this blatant fucking lie.

I was literally bulled my entire fucking childhood for not being feminine. Shut the absolute fuck up if you're going to claim that masculine women -- and people perceived as woman -- are treated just perfectly fucking fine and are more well treated than any other fucking victims of misogyny.

Shut your fucking ignorant mouth.

[aterriblethought]

First of all I want to apologize for the radio silence lately. We had almost finished wrapping up chapter 12 of Hitsuji when my daughter was born in March. If I get a free moment that's not spent with her it's usually spent eating or sleeping, just pure survival mode. My computer's been gathering dust. She's sleeping on me right now actually.

Anyway, I haven't been paying attention but it seems Tokyopop has released the first two English volumes of Acid Town digitally with the third volume coming next week. There are also paperback editions on the way, which is great news and a little wild to me that I might eventually see it on a bookshelf in the US.

If you're at all suspicious about the quick turnaround of these volumes, I think you're right. I posted some pictures here comparing pages from the original scanlator's work to the official English version. Here are my thoughts:

I've been typesetting for scanlations for years now and I've come a long way and still have a lot to learn, but to this day I continue to use rules and such that I learned from the original scanlators for Acid Town. Honestly the typesetting for both the scanlation and the official version are not fantastic, but the official version feels especially slapdash. It's not that big a deal to me that the SFX aren't replaced but it does show a preference for speed over quality. The upper right panel of Tetsu where the text is not centered is especially egregious to me and shows a carelessness not only on the typesetter's part but also whoever QC'd the page, if anyone did. There are also wildly different text sizes between the two neighboring bubbles. The original scanlation I have an issue with in the sense that too much text is squeezed into the bubbles and comes too close to the bubble edges... sometimes this is hard to avoid but it's almost every bubble. When typesetting I'm always thinking about how best to center the text and break up words for readability. The official version succeeds a little better there and is less overwhelming to look at.

I've always had an issue with the liberal and often incorrect translations from the original scanlation, but I have to admit when put side by side like this, the official version is missing a lot of character in the dialogue. I'd love to compare against the Japanese text but I'm nap trapped and my Japanese volumes are in another room, so maybe later, LOL.

I still need to buy the full volume but I am curious about the translations for names, really curious. So far everything looks about the same but they shorten Hyoudou to Hyodo... that's kind of normal when transliterating long vowel sounds in Japanese to English, but I always prefer the spelling that matches what you'd actually see written in Japanese, which is an o with a u. If you were to spell Hyoudou in Japanese without the u's it would be wrong. I'm mostly wondering how they translated the Chinese names though (Wang, Heilong, etc. Spelt Wan and Heiron in Japanese katakana, but the katakana is only intended to help read the Chinese characters and shouldn't be the basis of the English transliteration).

I'll come back with more thoughts once I get a moment to purchase the full volumes, but I would also love to hear others' thoughts if you've had a chance to read the new editions.

Chapter 13 of Hitsuji is also in progress and the translation for chapter 53 of Acid Town is done, but I'm a little uncertain what will become of that now that the official licensed volumes are out. I might come back to this later.