#i should just stick to queer books instead

[sabulana]

I feel like this would be an 'ice cream for breakfast' kind of day but my husband brought me curry and chips on his way home from a night out and that was my breakfast at 4am this morning.

So ice cream for lunch I guess

I need some kind of comfort food while I comfort watch one of my fave shows ever and write fanfic on my phone

[dekusleftsock]

People claim to be tired of the "Power of friendship" trope bc they more often than not severely underestimate how much a person's vulnerability and social upbringing can impact their points of view and actions, and specifically what happens when they are shown the opposite of them, or had to be put in a situation that would challenge it somehow.

Or how people will just not pay attention to a character's story or the theme of the narrative around them, so anything out of the "Basic" is put of no where 🙃

I will say, another reason people probably feel it’s “out of nowhere” is BECAUSE it’s queer.

Queerness doesn’t belong in shonen. It’s about cool hot dudes being the shit out of cool hot villains. Deku is a “baddass” now but was he when the first few episodes came out? The first season? The first book? No, of course he wasn’t. That was when Izuku was his most crybaby self, and most of all when he didn’t HAVE a pretty woman to kill the possibility of his queerness.

He was fatherless, he was androgynous, he had a suspicious relationship to his mean rival, why did he care so much about him?

And what’s especially interesting is to see the reactions to the subversions Horikoshi has been making for a very, very long time.

Bakugou is never beat, he’s befriended in a complex relationship between him and his childhood friend.

Izuku’s mentor allmight doesn’t die in some tragic way, he survives. I think people forget that allmight is a subversion of the dead mentor trope. But instead, allmight lives, weak as he is, after a fight that by every angle you look at he should have died.

Toga isn’t jealous of Ochako over Izuku, she’s in love with her. They denied that one along with her bisexuality for a while.

Izuku isn’t saved and brought back by his love interest, but rather his oldest friend at his lowest point.

Endeavor isn’t just “abusive dad” for the rest of the series that Shoto must overcome and “stick it to the man”, he actually has an atonement arc, one where he realizes his mistakes and his son is waiting to forgive him.

None of these subversions were out of nowhere. It was always clear that allmight would survive, bakugou would be befriended, toga was bisexual and in love with ochako, bakugou would save Izuku, and that endeavor wouldn’t stay the abusive figure he was forever.

So why is it that the queer subversions are “out of nowhere”?

Why are they suddenly “the power of friendship”?

[itsclydebitches]

ted's, "it's not about me. it never was"

and all I felt from trent was, "oh, but it was"

I thought trent was going to stick to his word and tell ted why he was wrong...

but I guess ted just summed up his outlook and something trent so loves him for, so trent couldn't deny ted's wish. but there's got to be a future out there where, while still published as "the richmond way," trent still goes on and tells ted why, for trent, ted was entirely wrong about that.

I feel like in the show I want Ted Lasso to be -- and, crucially, the show I thought it was; the show it arguably should have been based on every other episode that came before this -- Trent would have corrected him. Because this is not an acknowledgement that Richmond doesn't belong to Ted, or even Rebecca, which is a reminder that I like. Ted allowing the fans to sit in on the practices and Rebecca selling portions of the club to people like Mae highlights the heart of the team, that this club "means something" to the community, to quote Trent. However, the book is explicitly, specifically about this particular season of football and how Richmond came to have their Cinderella moment... which is all due to Ted. I get why "Believe" is framed as the fourth factor in Total Football (and frankly I think it would have been a better title for Trent's book if he had to reject The Lasso Way), but belief is only the end result of the work Ted has done. Anyone could have waltzed into Richmond and said, "Believe in yourself!" but it wouldn't have done a damn thing because it was the unique approach of The Lasso Way that taught everyone what belief really means. Ted is the fourth aspect because it is only through his methods that generic concepts like Belief, Friendship, Trust, Compassion, etc. become understood well enough to be implemented despite the obstacles.

So yes, I think Ted is wrong. Trent isn't arguing that Richmond belongs to him, he's arguing that Ted irrevocably changed Richmond for the better... which is true. But the finale doesn't commit to that argument because, frankly, the finale commits to VERY little that the rest of the show lays out.

Ted Lasso spent its whole runtime arguing for Roy/Keeley and then dodged it at the last moment.

The finale argues strongly that Rebecca is already a metaphorical mom to the team and the fans, but then throws in a literal, blonde-haired blue-eyed daughter in at the last second.

The show has consistently framed Beard/Jane as an abusive relationship -- from Higgins intervention to Beard talking to God about his addiction to "pain" -- but the finale irrevocably fames this as true love instead.

Our wonderful queer plot-line made it clear that Colin was too scared to kiss his fellow after a game because that would out him as the only pro, queer footballer... and then he just does it anyway. Which I'm not upset about on its own, to be clear, rather I'm upset that there was no setup for why Colin's feelings changed; why he's suddenly willing to shoulder an understandable, HUGE downside.

The finale argues VERY strongly that Ted should not go back to Kansas. In fact, I plan to write a whole damn essay on that. He's clearly not himself, Rebecca is begging him to stay, Beard is staying and is in tears over the idea of betraying him, they haven't won the whole thing yet which provides a practical reason for him to stick around, Ted literally questions whether he's making a foolish, horrible choice as he's sitting on the plane... and then he does it anyway.

This finale is chock-full of choices that don't match up with what the rest of Ted Lasso has written, or even something from earlier in the finale itself. When Trent says that he's going to push back against any criticisms and explain why they're wrong, outside of the jokey "I'm a passionate writer, an ~artist, who is a little on the arrogant side," it sets up a moment for Trent to indeed correct one of them about their view of the book. After all, he's been the observer all season and arguably has a more objective understanding of what's been happening around him than they do. We've already seen it! Trent stops Ted and (accurately) explains how no, he hasn't changed tactics. You've been doing this for three years. I can see that even when you can't.

The show sets up the moment where Trent will explain that Ted is the foundation of Richmond's success and, presumably, helping him come to terms with staying here.

... and then we never got that.

There were honestly so many parts of the finale that I loved, but most of them were details like the Sound of Music farewell, or putting the "Believe" sign back together. Structurally, one of the few things I really bought into was the team winning the West Ham match and losing the league... which was unfortunately soured after the fact because that now reads as the PERFECT excuse for Ted to stay another season, yet he doesn't. I'm trying so hard not to read the whole thing pessimistically given how many of those details I loved, but when the core plot of the episode has so many problems, damn is it difficult. Other than Rebecca, it felt like the whole cast, Trent included, just gave up on Ted and given my very strong feelings about Kansas I wanted to shake the episode by the shoulders and go, "Stop acting as if this is a good thing just because this is what the writers originally planned! Did you learn nothing from HIMYM??" There are these moments, like with the book note, where you get this sense that everyone is respecting Ted's wishes, but that they thoroughly disagree with them, and the show never hits the point where Ted's viewpoint is appropriately challenged in a way that would make him reconsider. Despite the fact that Ted is a character who frequently needs to be challenged due to limited, inaccurate perspectives brought on by his anxiety (this season gave us "Find out before you freak out" as a big example). I legit had hope for a moment when Sharon showed up, thinking that Ted's therapist of all people would be able to articulate why giving up his family/support system to play his mother's approved version of fatherhood might not be the best decision... but, like so many other aspects, her return didn't amount to anything other than a wholesome callback.

It's a tragedy, frankly. As in, the genre definition. Everyone in the Ted Lasso cast is living the Rom-Com ending of found family, new romantic relationships, and bright, happy, humorous moments... except for Ted himself, staring pensively into the camera as he comes full circle, back to where he began. Back in Kansas. Back (non-romantically) with a woman who doesn't like him very much. Back trying to be a perfect father because that's what's expected of him + that's what his trauma demands of him. And now he's dealing with Jack, no Beard, no American football, no professional soccer, no visits as the rest of his family undergoes major life changes. Just Henry and the reminders from Season One that you're allowed to be a goldfish. After all that growth Ted has gone backwards.

I said before that obviously they were setting up the Kansas ending -- I'm not saying it came out of nowhere, not at all -- but I really don't understand how anyone can watch that and not feel depressed as hell about it. Ted Lasso is a show that consistently left me feeling good and hopeful and nearly giddy with pleasure. It says something that after finishing yesterday I mostly just felt hollow.

[celestiamour]

‧₊˚✧ ❛[ queer headcanons - chronicles of narnia ]❜

ft. peter pevensie, susan pevensie, edmund pevensie, lucy pevensie, caspian x, eustace scrubb, tumnus, jadis, lilliandil

contains: caspeter (caspian x peter), peter's part is vague but he's definitely not straight despite what he's listed as, gay gay homosexual gay, mentioned transphobia & fights, pronouns match the ones used in the books/movies for writing consistency

➤ author's note: I saw some other people doing it, so i wanted to join in on the fun too!! remember that these are fictional characters with no set sexuality/gender, this is just for fun & for my to further procrastinate my wips

━━━ .°˖✧ peter pevensie - straight ally (unless??) ˚₊ ⊹

╰₊✧ he was more than supportive of all his siblings when they came out, but never thought it was for him. like he has no issue in saying that a guy was attractive but wasn't actually attracted to him for the most part. he never properly questioned his sexuality until arriving in narnia for a second time and refuses to admit (although it was painfully obvious) that his gay awakening was a certain telmarine prince who happened to be his rival and a pretty boy— let's just say he's fighting a lot of internal demons.

━━━ .°˖✧ susan pevensie - lesbian ˚₊ ⊹

╰₊✧ (it was actually more difficult for her to accept that she didn't like men than to accept that she did like women). she was never interested in marriage proposals, invitations to dance, and general flirtatious advancements from men, finding her heart failing to flutter for any of them and only feeling general annoyance by it more than anything. she always told herself that she just hadn't met the right one, but quickly realized that she held no hope nor care if it ever happened. it wasn't until she felt her heart pounding for the first girl who displayed romantic interest for her did she begin to see love from a new perspective.

━━━ .°˖✧ edmund pevensie - transmasc demiromantic pansexual ˚₊ ⊹

╰₊✧ grew up being a tomboy who fussed over his hair growing past his ears, refused to wear dressed to mass or skirts to class, wore all of peter's old clothes instead of susan's, and then realized that he wasn't a girl. being crowned as "king edmund" was the first time he was his true self publicly, and he remained like that even back in england where he wasn't accepted by everyone. although his older brother sometimes gets into fights for his sake, he considers it as filtering out who he should spend his time with and who he should ignore. as a result, he doesn't date around much, but if someone manages to stick with him through all of his insecurities and trauma, he'll find himself slowly falling in love.

━━━ .°˖✧ lucy pevensie - asexual polyamorous lesbian ˚₊ ⊹

╰₊✧ she's always been a girl's girl who was for the girls! the valiant queen has plenty of love to go around, often seen spending quality with her girlfriend(s, who are probably also dating each other): having picnics, horseback riding, hosting tea parties, dancing, and so much more when she isn't performing her royal duties. she doesn't mind being intimate if her partner desires it, but she much prefers bonding in the ways listed above instead.

━━━ .°˖✧ caspian x - bisexual ˚₊ ⊹

╰₊✧ a real lover boy, flirting with both men and women, always making them swoon and blush over his handsome smile to fill an emptiness in his heart. it seemed like no one was able to ignore his irresistible charm until a certain blonde royal showed up with his sword swinging and an arrogant front to hide his true fears. caspian can’t remember the last time he felt so infuriated with someone he was determined to make his, but that would only make the victory of an eventual confession so much sweeter.

━━━ .°˖✧ eustace scrubb - gay demiromantic asexual ˚₊ ⊹

╰₊✧ grew up thinking girls were icky or had cooties before realizing that he simply wasn't attracted to them and they weren't all that bad. he's not completely uninterested in romance, just struggles to find and form a bond with a guy who doesn't think he is weird or mean, and then he struggles to determine if he likes him as a friend or potential love interest. it makes him seem picky in the eyes of others, but maybe he has a unique "friendship" with a boy from his childhood whom he writes to daily and can't envision himself with anyone else. (oh, and he's repulsed by the idea of sex, dare he say disgusted by it)

━━━ .°˖✧ tumnus - non-binary pansexual ˚₊ ⊹

╰₊✧ he doesn't care about gender within himself or his partners as the inner qualities they both possess are much more important. he could be referred to as "he" "she" "they" or something else entirely, he doesn't mind and prefers others to use whichever one they feel like. after becoming both an advisor and uncle figure to the pevensies, he helped immensely in their journey of accepting themselves since they came from a time/place where they could be ostracised for it, and they carried his wisdom long after leaving narnia.

━━━ .°˖✧ jadis - aromantic lesbian ˚₊ ⊹

╰₊✧ she doesn’t care for love nor does she have time for it. romance has never been something she ever considered adding to her long list of priorities, and it honestly made her scoff whenever she heard of it. however, she doesn’t mind having fun with a beautiful dryad who managed to look her in the eyes with an emotion other than fear and then sending them on their way before she gets tempted to eternally preserve their beauty in her growing garden of statues.

━━━ .°˖✧ lilliandil - transfem pansexual ˚₊ ⊹

╰₊✧ I don't have an explanation for this one, she has like five minutes of screen time— it feels right. she's a star who shines for all and is admired by all.

[heliomanteia]

How do you feel about tsats? And are you excited for tsats 2?

Mixed feelings but not for the reasons people that dislike it bring up, you know?

I don't like Richard Riordan as a person/media personality because of the controversies, weak political standing, and questionable choices he made as both author and script writer over the time of his career. I personally think that PJO and Co long since stopped being his work of passion and turned into a rather routine money-making machine. Which upsets me because I used to be the target audience for the first series, being a teenager when original PJO released and sort of kind of growing up with the books until I fell out with the series after HOO (and only kind of caught up on stuff shortly after TOA came out).

Disliking Richard Riordan does not mean disliking things he wrote in the past, I still hold original PJO close to heart, it's nostalgic to me. However, recent books are not original PJO.

I like the premise of TSATS but I don't like the fact that its existence is motivated by Riordan's obvious greed?

It's kind of like layers for me:

On the literary level, I think it's a decently written book that fits its target demographics; hell, I made edits inspired by it. It's quotable and it's not badly written, linguistically.

On the book continuity level, I think it should have been the last one Richard and Co released; it feels dragged on now.

On the social/community level, I think it'll be good for queer kids and teens and I'm a queer adult who's happy they're happy.

On character development level, I think it stands very bleak in comparison to Nico in original PJO or HOO or Will in the bits he gets in HOO and episodic Apollo interactions in TOA (loved those).

I like that TSATS wrapped solangelo up as a set ship. I need to make it clear, I like that ship, I think it's a great idea, conceptually. What I don't like is its execution. "Nico finding literal solace" is an amazing premise that got put together messily and almost like an afterthought. Which upsets me because a great premise deserves careful execution.

I like the premises the books throw around, some concepts, ideas, but I think passionate fans execute them better. Some fanfiction is written with better attention to detail than TSATS is. Sometimes it kind of feels like said fans complete the unfinished draft that is Riordan's writing.

TSATS 2? Idk how I feel about it. I'm not particularly excited but I don't hate the idea entirely, I wish people pirated it and gave Richard Riordan the neutral ass bitch (politically) no money. I also understand that it's kind of useless explaining to teenagers who just want a pretty cover on the shelf that RR doesn't deserve them as fans. I also wish some critics were a bit less unhinged about it and didn't make other critical people seem like they just "don't like the ship" when there are so many layers relevant to Riordan as the face of his brand that make me go meh.

At the end of the day my opinion boils down to "when I was the target audience of this book franchise, I got very high quality writing and books written with passion and curiosity; I think it's no longer the focus for Richard Riordan and I feel very sad that current target audience gets scraps of fanservice instead of beautifully written fiction with agenda and meaning behind it that I used to get" but that's just the blues of a guy that used to like something and now only sticks around for a premise of an idea hinted at by the author and expanded by talented writers and artists of the fandom.

I hope I made some sense?

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIbta if I don't read an author's books for their opinion on book piracy?

Context: I live in a country where literary has plummeted, reading is a hobby for the privileged, bookstores are closing or dilapidated, libraries are worse off.

Bookstores here are not good at keeping up with new releases. Their bestsellers are local publishes, and things like Percy Jackson or the Hardy boys. Requesting them to bring books almost never works.

With libraries, schools and colleges have their private ones only open to students and staff but they're... Restrictive about what someone can check out. Librarians here totally pro-censorship. Public libraries are less than 10 in my metro city, they keep old books, academic texts, and in some cases specialize in one area. That includes one of the biggest libraries in the country. And it's like 6 hours to commute so that's not a sustainable option for me. Of course library apps straight up don't exist here.

We have a couple book box subscription services. One sends those bestsellers that everyone's read as kids. The other one is expensive and more of a privileged influencer orientated thing than for readers.

What I said so far might sound too bad to be true but it is the reality. Physical books have been getting expensive worldwide. On top of that if I can't be caught reading things our government doesn't like. I read a lot of classics, for which I use a legal free site. But for something like a queer fantasy book written by a foreigner my only options are buying on kindle or well.. downloading them. Kindle doesn't always have the books I want, but the download sites tend to bring in requested books.

So of course there's ethical dilemma. With my salary I can save up and buy 6-7 books a year, I only buy the ones I've read and thoroughly enjoyed, enough to want them on my shelf or because I want to support the author, even with the risk of kindle copies being taken away at an exec's whim in the future.

I found out a couple authors I really wanted to read from are anti-piracy, one of them put a message like "Whoever pirates this book I put a curse on you" in their ya fantasy book. And I don't read a lot of ya but that book sounded interesting, until I saw that. These author's tone while talking about readers in my kind of position put me off and I decided not to read their works.

My logic is that I'd rather download and see if I love a book before buying, if I love it I wouldn't want to support people like them and feel bad reading it too, if I buy first and hate it then it's a waste of my money while the authors get a few cents off that purchase.

So naturally I've been told to suck it up, read less, stop reading if I can't afford, stick to free classics and fanfics, make more money, bring revolution in my country etc.

I do feel bad about the authors, even though most of what I read are from dead people there's a good amount of living people too and not all of them are getting their coins whether I want to give it to them or not. And the reason for this ask: Someone said I'm overreacting to those authors, I should just read those books like a normal person and move on instead of viewing them as books not to be touched.

So?

What are these acronyms?

[olderthannetfic]

Can I get a source or exact quote on what the author (Casey McQuiston) of Red, White, and Royal Blue said about eastern BL? Was it a tweet? I can’t find anything.

--

It's the author of Heartstopper who was a clown about Asian BL.

McQuiston's tweet that annoyed me was about debunking rumors about their book. I think their twitter is gone now, but people are welcome to go looking for the exact quote if they care. It was relatively subtle, but it's something I have a zero tolerance policy on.

They were talking about how it's New Adult rather than YA (which is fair, but also, fuck New Adult). In the process, they whined that they aren't a writer of "m/m romance" but a ~queer author of queer romance~ or some such thing. They were legitimately debunking some misunderstandings about how RW&RB was marketed, the fact that it wasn't fic, etc., but they basically called authors in the m/m romance sector not queer in the process, which just proves they know fucking nothing about who else is out there writing. Unclear whether they're just a jackass in general or whether they merely turn their nose up at the indiepub sector.

Either way, I have zero patience for little assholes who don't respect their fellow creators and fans of BL-ish stuff, both when they act like their own work is the first to ever exist and especially when they act like their writing is ownvoices and other people's is not.

Newsflash: literally nobody is going to take any of us seriously unless we're cis men, and that's why we should stick together instead of being cunty at each other.

The real reason a lot of other ~queer authors~ don't dabble in both f/f and m/m is that they need to make rent and m/m sells like ten times better. Anyone who sneers at their fellow authors of fandom-sounding m/m without grasping this is neither a professional nor a decent person.

[justabackroundcharacter]

Thoughts while watching Wish:

- base princess personality trope

- Never getting over the face that the goat is named Valentino

- 7 dwarfs vibes with the friends

- Hans type character

- Weird ass love song to wishes

- Evil Chris Pratt went from 1-100 really fast

- The wife was 1000000% the kings wish and he used magic to get it

- Angry guy is played by GIZMO MY BELOVED

- 100 year old man move like a 60 year old fr

- Asha also goes from 50-100 real fast

- My favorite song was a little disappointing:(

- What she’s singing and what the animation gives dosent match

- Wifey is CLUELESS

- We could’ve had A STAR BOY INSTEAD WE GET THIS THING

- Star is still cute

- When you are a Star and accidentally make a devils trap in the tree lol

- IM A STAR ⭐️

- thanks for not eating me John

- Throwing books like your cramming for a test

- King is bipolar like actually tho

- EVERYTHING IS FINE

- What are you five ?

- DANCING CHICKENS

- Best friends help each other commit crimes against the kingdom

- King really is evil he made everyone go to an assembly and they aren’t even in school

- WAIT WAS KING SUPPOSED TO BE AN ALIEN

- how old is the king ? Do we know at all ?

- Casually dooms yourself to an eternity of pain because you got insecure

- HE HAS A SECRET LAIR LIKE HAWKMOTH

- ok how do wishes work again ? Was gramps not free to still inspire people

- Not the mom pleading for her daughter to only get her wish trampled on (definitely don’t need to look at how accurate that is)

- Star said SQUARE TF UP

- He’s literally just your king hit him with your bookshelf

- Returns to your stable if anyone asks pLaY dUmB

- when you have to speed run the 5 stages of grief bc you are the main character damnit

- I know what your thinking- WELL I DONT girl that star doesn’t have an expression on his face

- I can not swim *proceeds to jump into the water with reckless abandon *

- You’ve been hit by, you’ve been stuck by LOSS OF YOUR WISH

- ‘AMYIA darling your just in time come meet my new TOY’ why would you WRITE IT LIKE THAT

- Hot take anyone who calls their partner darling is on THIN FUCKING ICE

- King man went insane that is fun

- HANS KNOCK OFF BETRAYED THEM I FUCKING KNEW IT

- Dont worry im a talking mouse but very clean

- When you only want to be a loyal knight but you end up betraying your friends- happens to the best of us dude

- Good find Valentino - my butt found it

- introverts deserve sanctuary— louder for the people in the back

- STRIKE, STRIKE newsies vibes

- YES fulfill your Sabos wish

- doc and dopey slayed

- They all did

- They are like any queer friend group fr

- the chase scene is cool

- YAZ QUEEN GET YOUR HUSBAND

- I was fooled by the love I felt- Its ok queen you were definitely manipulated not your fault

- Don’t destroy never land you bastard

- A stick ? What am I supposed to do with this ?

- The MUSHROOMS 🍄

- Poor gizmo can’t catch a break no matter what universe he’s in

- a dress on a tree more likely than you think

- Dude bro dear got into the mushrooms fr

- Sometimes a plan is just you and your six friends jumping from a high place

- FUCKING HANS GOT ME AGAIN

- thanks John

- Your so right bunnies are terrifying

- Nope nope nope nope nope

- StAr GeT aWaY fRoM tHeRe

- WAIT IS HE MAGIC MIRRIR GUY

- Yay singing again

- THE power of collective singing will always save the day

- GREEN SMOKE

- MyWiShEs dude get a grip

- Simon and queen should be besties now

- LONG LIVE THE QUEEN

- Peter Pan origin story 👀👀

- ZOOTOPIA ?!?

- bippty boppty boo the magic wand is fixed

- Give GIZMO THE WAND 😭he deserves it

- Fireworks yay

- 5/10 movie

[milomilesmib]

Figured I should just make a post about my blog so I'm not just,,, this unknown entity. This is gonna be a bit of a mess but stick with me.

First of all- introduction. My name is Milo and my pronouns are he/him. I'm an INFP-T, according to the test, but I feel like I'm more ISFP :/. I'm also a Leo. I'm trans, queer, and arospec, currently in a relationship. I am diagnosed with ADHD and anxiety and diagnosed with and treated for PTSD (thanks EMDR!). I'm also iron deficient and often dehydrated from forgetting to drink water lmao. I'm a hellenist dedicated to a few deities, primarily showing my dedication by carrying around gemstones they like, prayers, and assorted offerings.

I'm happy to talk about my sexuality/gender. I am happy to talk about light personal topics. I am happy to talk about my mental disorders. I am happy to talk about my religion. As long as you're being respectful, you're welcome here.

This blog is a safe space for:

The 2SLGBTQIA+ community

Anyone with any mental, neurological, or physical disabilities or other struggles of that sort

The BIPOC community

Anyone who has been abused or assaulted in any way or has any sort of trauma

People who are suffering from or recovering from any kind of addictions, whether that's drugs or self harm or alcohol or sex anything else

People of all shapes and sizes

People who are recovering from bad habits/harmful views

Everyone of every gender, sexuality, religion, ability, race, sex, etc. who wants to hang out and talk about their interests or hobbies or anything!

This blog is NOT a space for:

Homophobia, queerphobia, transphobia, aphobia, ableism, sexism, racism, fatphobia or any kind of discrimination whatsoever!

Bigotry and hate in general I guess?

Zoophiles, pedophiles, rapists, abusers (unless you recognise it's wrong AND are actively trying to be better)

Overly political topics (some are okay but over all I'm trying to avoid anything too political on this blog) (if you saw me reblog something, it's probably fine to talk about it)

Also, I don't have a DNI list! You curate your own experience, I will just ask that you're civil and respectful while you're here.

This is supposed to be a fun and safe space and I intend on it being so. If you have any concerns, drop me an ask, anonymous or not, and I'll answer to the best of my ability.

I should also mention that I don't censor things. I put trigger warnings when I remember to, but I see no point in censoring things when the words hold the same meaning either way. It's just like saying "despair" instead of "misery."

Now for ✨the fun stuff✨

In this blog, I mainly talk about whatever little subject is eating at my brain. Usually this is:

The Owl House

Stardew Valley

Game of Thrones (I'm only half way through the first book 😭)

Good Omens

The Song of Achilles

Greek Mythology

Percy Jackson

Queer shit

But I have other interests!

MBTI

Art

My OCs ❤️✨

Theatre

Writing

Hades (Supergiant)

Magnus Chase

Music

Frogs!

Creatures and critters!!!

Candles and cute decor things

Sewing (I'm just like Hunter fr)

Stims!

Probably more that I'm forgetting!

If you have an interest you wanna talk about, leave an ask or send me a message, and I'll happily listen to you talk about it (as long as it's not on the above list of things that aren't for this blog and if you're not sure if it is, ask politely and I'll tell you whether or not I'm comfortable talking about it) and please, be respectful! We're strangers on the internet, I don't want to feel like I'm being interrogated when I talk to you!

If you ever wanna listen to me ramble about any of the above interests you will be my best friend forever and I will always love you because my infodumping ass likes being listened to or even just heard.

I ship:

Huntlow

Patrochilles

Aziracrow

Fierrochase

Solangelo

Sebastian x Sam (idk their ship name)

Valgrace

Lumity

My OCs ✨ (I'm not elaborating)

Blitzstone

Fizzmodeus

I'm obsessed with the following characters (platonically/aesthetically/familially/sometimes romantically);

ELLIOTT MY DARLING MY HUSBAND MY LOVE

HUNTER NOCEDA DAEMONNE WITTEBANE CLAWTHORNE WHISPERS BLIGHT PARK RAHHHHH

Jon Snow, the biggest fucking wet cat in the known world

M. RASMODEUS I AM GNAWING AT THE BARS OF MY ENCLOSURE

Leo Valdez 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

Nico di Angelo ❤️

Alastor (not as much anymore but I had a phase where I adored him)

Lityerses (I too break down in tears when shown basic human kindness)

The Collector ✨

MY OCS ✨❤️

Aziraphale

Beelzebub

Aaaaand we're pretty much done! Sorry a lot of this was just "NO BEING MEAN" but I just wanted to get it out there.

Hope y'all have fun here, and thank you to everyone for being so amazing and kind thus far!

I'll probably edit this over time but this is a good start. Thank you to anyone who read the whole thing or even just some of this, it means a lot. Welcome to my TOH/PJO/Stardew Valley/queer/shitpost blog ❤️

Last edited: 9:02 Pacific time. Basic edits (but they were all pretty important)

[whilereadingandwalking]

Manhunt is beautiful, raw, and cruel, finally a speculative fiction novel that treats chromosome-based biological catastrophe in a way that's actually compelling. Gretchen Felker-Martin's writing is excellent and awful in its excellence, because this book is terrifying, visceral, and violent. In it, a disease (dubbed "t.rex") transforms people with the right amount of testosterone (primarily cis men) into rabid, murderous, sex-crazed zombies. Gangs of TERFs, cis women tattooed with XX, police gender and seek out and murder any person who they decide is 'secretly a man' or a gender traitor. Meanwhile, a few queer people try to survive in an apocalyptic world, hunted by everyone. It's been a minute since a book made me cry, but this one did, more than once. Felker-Martin's characters are compelling: crossbow-welding Beth, always-longing Fern, fat doctor Indi who refines their estrogen, and Robbie, a trans man who joins their squad to try and find safety. It's an excellent book about zombies and the power dynamics in apocalyptic worlds in general—but more than that, it's a horror story about the arguments that TERFs and other transphobes use to insist that there are "real women," on the violence of that point of view, of the endless damage of turning on our most vulnerable while there is a (in this case, extremely literal) seething crowd of patriarchy that we'd be better off fighting together. It goes hard, poking at the kind of women or queer people who still think there's a way to blend, to survive within the TERFs' world, instead of resisting against it. Manhunt is bold, and it is at turns grotesque, funny, extremely sexy, graphic, horrifying, and devastating. Warning: I think anyone who does not want to encounter scenes of graphic rape or violence should stay far away from this book, and it is questionable whether the rape scene was gratuitous. I don't think it needed to have not happened, but I question how graphic that scene needed to be. It's possible that within the zombie-apocalypse genre of blood and gore and guts, Felker-Martin felt that scene should also be 'honest' to the violence of what's happening. But I thought it was excessive. Other complaints: the timeline of the narrative got pretty intensely mixed up several times, which was confusing. The logistics were often suspect. (I'm not mad at "coincidences"—one character shows up in the nick of time, etc—for me those are a classic part of the zombie apocalypse genre so they didn't bother me. I'm referring to like, timelines, distances, that kind of thing.) One of the main characters is a TERF. Some people think she has a redemption arc. I personally don't think it is one. She is not exactly forgiven at the end. I think she's there more to reveal the rot at the very core of the TERFs' own ideologies. This idea that none of them truly believe what they spew, most of them just want the power the divisions would give them, want others not to have what they've been told is theirs to have. I think it was effective, but I'm willing to debate it. All around, I really enjoyed this book, but the parts I didn't like really stick in the seams. I wouldn't recommend this one to everybody, but I do hope we get more fiction that does as good of a job talking about TERFs and why their rhetoric is so dangerous for people of all genders. Content warnings: Extreme: body horror & violence, transphobia, rape (graphic) Also: suicide, gender dysphoria, deadnaming, fatphobia, anti-Semitism, self-harm.

[meadowlarkx]

Explore my bookshelf!

Tagged by @searchingforserendipity25 @jouissants and @swanmaids! Thank you so much 💕💕

An estimate of how many physical books I own: I really have no idea especially because they're not all in one place right now. Maybe 200-300? Hmm. A lot (to me)

Favorite author: Tolkien right now? Ursula Le Guin? I really like Sarah Waters and as a wee lass I really adored Patrick Rothfuss. Umm. I realize I usually tend to pick stuff to read from individual authors based on their premise instead of going through an author's repertoire. Sorry, authors. But it's genuinely hard for me to pick a favorite since they all strike different notes! Fandom writers I've known past and present also loom large here for me.

A popular book I've never read and never intend to read: Hmm maybe The Locked Tomb? The vibes just seem too ironic for me. But I might still read it sometime, it just hasn't grabbed me yet. Probably also Discworld. Sorry to everyone.

A popular book I thought was just meh: The Song of Achilles... Whoops. Anyway, I found some aspects of the writing style lovely, but as a story and a retelling it majorly fell flat for me.

Longest book I own: Les Misérables probably, or one of the big compiled editions of Shakespeare or Austen

Longest series I own all the books to: Hmm, I think A Song of Ice and Fire from my fan days in high school—but kinda by accident (I'd already read the last books on ebook when I was gifted them). Still surprises me to think I do actually own all of those tomes in hard copy

Prettiest book I own: Mariana and the Merchild... yes it's a children's picture book. And you've almost certainly heard me bring it up sometime. Lesbian-coded child-rearing of my heart. Look at the pictures!

A book or series I wish more people knew about: As Meat Loves Salt by Maria McCann—imagine a fictional microhistory that's also a darkly painted yet tender and gripping gay romance that's also about utopian experiments and the English Civil War. When Fox is a Thousand by Larissa Lai—this book is a dream, a messy and confusing dream, but I recommend it to everyone ever! Chinese folklore and mythology, queer and sapphic-ness, through time and space from ancient China to modern-day immigrant communities in Canada—so touching and really beautiful. Many moments from this one still stick in my brain.

Series: The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud—OK, it's been a while since I read this in full, and I just said I don't always like irony and these books are crammed full of silly little jokes and targeted towards a younger audience, BUT just thinking about them makes me tear up with emotion. Ages-old wry shapeshifting djinni, snotty-kid-becomes-politician, and hardened girl from the underclass navigate an alternate magical-spirits-powered British imperialism. It's queer and incisive TO ME.

Nonfiction: A Biography of No Place by Kate Brown, about borderland villages in Soviet Ukraine and the drastic changes in structures/social organization and identities that occurred from 1920-1950. Poorly said but I just think the perspective this book takes is unique and insightful and empathic and everyone should read it.

Book I'm reading now: The Bandit Queens and Lays of Beleriand. In theory I'm reading them hell yeahhh

Book that's been on my TBR list for a while but I still haven't got around to it: Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino and The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison. I checked both of these out to read over the summer and renewed them like 3 times and did I read them... no I did not. Also a bunch more are on the TBR but you know how it is

Do you have any books in a language other than English: La Reine Margot in French is the one I tried seriously to read in recent times, but I have some others in French and Spanish, mostly from high school. 1 in Czech (a copy of With Fire and Sword I have from @sparklingdali for the pictures ❤️). Polish With Fire and Sword & The Deluge pdfs & a couple of physical books ambitiously in Polish, emphasis on the ambition part.

Paperback, hardcover, or ebook? Ideally I check out whatever version the library has. I prefer physical copies and I guess paperbacks, but I'll do ebooks if I have to! At this point I try to only actually buy (hopefully secondhand) books I think I'm really going to want to keep, because I already have too many to move with

Tagging @themelodyofsilence @nibi-nix @tuulikki @sparklingdali @bachaboska if you'd like to do this, and anyone else who hasn't done it yet!

[lapsed-lys]

May 1st 2024

Entry #033

Helplines

I've passed the last week texting and calling Catholic helplines (I can't see a priest in person or attend church) about a friendship dilemma I've had:

Should I leave my Catholic friend, since she worries about encouraging my Catholic sin of being trans, or should I stick with her as we're both queer and want to follow God?

(TW: Catholic guilt, detransitioning, transitioning, queerphobia, intersexism, cynicism faced to hypocrisy.)

Given my current circumstances (not being able to seek a priest irl), I tried to seek priests and Catholics online. I wanted to get as many perspectives. What would anyone do in my shoes: leave the friend to let them walk with God as they need, or stay with them and continue cherishing our precious (and mutual) friendship?

People focused all on my genitalia and repentance.

Priests online didn't want to adress the friendship issue, because I "can't make a choice in my state of confusion". Catholics called me all kinds of slurs or took pity on my situation, instead of adressing what I really sought advice on: the friendship. And worst of all: when I spoke about my friend and I, they kept asking and asking about our genitalia and talking about us as "females".

When I called Catholic helplines, I was very tired and being on the brink of snapping from coming up with creative sentences to take the focus away from genitalias. So, to avoid anymore of that, I changed the layout of my situation, speaking of my inner situation as the two friends in question. I went in there with my birthname and claiming to be a woman to speak about me and my transidentity like the other friend.

At first, it went... unexpectedly well. The volunteer was very calm, explaining that if my friendship is so important than it's worth staying friends, despite the "differences". That, if I'm uncomfortable, I can back out, but that as I seem to speak now that I should stay with them and use the experience to strengthen my faith. And so, the volunteer asked my name, supposedly to close the call...

"O-Oh, you're a... You're a woman?"

And it all derailed there. No lore friendship talk, no more faith talk. Just assuming about my sexuality and experience with gender, assuming I was denying a love for my girl friend (a trans man) and SSA (same-sex attraction). Spreading bigotry on trans people, quoting outdated terms and research, giving me references to priests who wrote books about the "teen mutilation" (transitionners, no mention of intersex people's mutilation somehow 🙄) and "gender ideology"...

I confessed that I've been wondering if there wasn't some reading between-the-lines in the Bible considering that I'm a "cis woman who passed as a guy" and that I've been meeting many intersex people. Again, no engagement, just more "God made male and female!"

I know this is to be expected, but after a month of constantly seeking help and being exposed to so much nonsensical anti-trans media... I just stood there, thinking:

"That's just hypocritical."

[camp-counselor-life]

As a person who works with youth, how do you talk about sexuality (specifically realizing one's sexuality) with children in a way that is age appropriate? Could you maybe go through conversation guidelines for the different age groups?

Hi friend,

So, I will preface this with a caveat: you need to always follow your organization's policies, whatever they are. In theory, they are developed with your group of campers in mind, their demographics, the area's overall makeup. It sucks when they're restrictive, but it's better to follow them when doing things proactively (reactive is different). Here are my suggestions.

General do's and don't:

Don't talk about sex. You wouldn't talk about heterosexual sex at camp, so don't talk about queer sex either.

Do reassure campers.

Don't try to correct outdated language with younger kids, unless they are unsure of what to call themselves.

Do follow organizational policies.

Don't feel pressured to do it on your own. Use picture books, videos, and other media. Preview them before use.

Do use language that the campers are using and are familiar with.

Based on your question, let's say that a camper comes out to you as questioning or some flavor of queer. This conversation should be semi-private, keeping within youth protection of being within eyesight of another adult, but preferably having another adult in the conversation. Here's a basic outline:

"Thank you for telling me. That took courage."

Ask them if they want to talk about it. If they don't, just reinforce that they did a brave thing.

If they do want to talk, just listen. Nod, repeat phrases back to them using active listening, but ultimately let them steer the conversation.

Reassure them that they are valid, cared about, and safe at camp. Do not make promises that you can't keep about being safe elsewhere.

If they ask you questions, answer within your camp's guidelines. Like, if your camp says that you can't share your sexuality, I'd recommend following that. It's ok to not have all of the answers. If sharing about you, try to keep it minimal and focus on them instead.

At the end of the conversation, thank them again.

Throughout the remainder of the session, regularly check in with this camper, which you should do with all campers anyway. Doesn't have to be anything about sexuality, just a "how's it going?" on a regular basis.

With younger kids, you may need to phrase some things differently. Like with a teen, they might talk about dating, but with a younger child they might talk more about "liking" somebody. It's important to mirror the language they are using. If a teenager is talking like they are 10, use that language as that's what they know.

That's probably my biggest advice, using the language the camper is using. It this camper using queer instead of bi? Is this camper calling themselves gay instead of a lesbian? Is this camper using a microlabel you are unfamiliar with? Use reflective language, using terms they know and are familiar with.

Then I would suggest sticking with letting campers take the lead - answer their questions honestly and in a way that you would answer questions about heterosexual relationships and families at that age. You're not going to explain sex to anyone at camp. But it's ok to say something along the lines of, there are many different ways to love others, like friends or getting married, it's important to respect each other and yourself and be true to who you are. With teens you can use similar things with slightly more mature terms and more focus on dating, like a healthy relationship is more important than a straight one.

Please tread carefully given our current political climate with this. Don't put yourself or your camp in the position that you could be in danger of any kind.

I hope you find this helpful. Have a great summer!

[azure-clockwork]

Late Night Book Reviews with Bluejay — the Night and its Moon

Time: 1:43 pm

Regret: low. I was able to put this book down and finish it during the daytime

Summary: I’m honestly not sure why people like this. I’m not sold on the prose nor on the world building nor on the characters nor on the plot. If you’re one of the people who likes this novel, I’m glad you enjoyed it, but I really don’t understand why. Perhaps it will inspire me to create some stuff of my own.

Full thoughts:

I’m really sorry; I don’t want to be critical of this book, especially since I know people like it. I hope this doesn’t come off too mean spirited.

In theory I should have loved this thing. Two orphans, Nox and Amaris, experience trauma and then get shipped off to learn about their magic powers and become badass. Also, they’re gay for each other. Fantasy, magic, queer female leads, hell yeah!

The only problem was that it lowkey sucked.

One of my biggest problems with this book is its prose. It’s overly wordy, does not flow very well, and frequently is either redundant or confusing. The book will frequently spend two paragraphs hammering in a point that could be told in a sentence and then jump to another action so abruptly I keep thinking I’ve missed a detail. I was often left wondering where hands or weapons or people were located because it just wasn’t mentioned that character X picked up Y and then the next paragraph begins ��Using the Y in her right hand, X began to…”.

I was also frequently bothered by the word choice. Most of the sex scenes have lines like “his stick of serotonin and dopamine entered her” and I gotta say, please just say “dick”. Please. Stop listing neurotransmitters. This is fantasy and also the bedroom. Why do these characters know what oxytocin is and why are they bringing it up now. I’m not kidding when I say that multiple sex scenes used specific neurotransmitter names. It doesn’t sound fancy, it just sounds strange. Also, ‘guise’ doesn’t mean that at all. Please get an editor.

I think a lot of other people have talked about how Nox being written as one of the only dark skinned characters and also being a succubus who kills/puppets men around after fucking then is A Choice, and I gotta say, I liked young Nox’s POV a lot, but once the book gets to the succubus section of her life I just fell off. It feels like the book is trying to be very ‘girl power’ and ‘look at this woman weaponizing her sexuality’ and it all falls very flat for me. “She’s so hot and can manipulate any man” ok please tell me something interesting. In general, I felt like both main characters were a bit like this, with Amaris being so badass and good with a sword and having powers and clearly being somewhat of a chosen one, but tbh, I have a lot more tolerance for montages about how Amaris knows lots of demon facts cuz she studies hard than I do for poorly written seduction.

One thing I really crave from stories like this, especially if I don’t love the characters, is a cool magic system. I’m a sucker for hard magic, but I also love soft, emotional magic that erupts at a dramatic moment. And I think that would work much better here in the story. Instead, this book delivers a magic system that I really can’t tell you about because it’s not really fleshed out, and what is told doesn’t seem to gel neatly into a single Thing. I feel like the magic (and more broadly, the world building in general) is just cobbled together from the leftovers of a few different other fantasy stories. Do people hate the fae or not? Is magic taboo or not? What gifts are possible? What the hell are demons? I’m really not sure. And more broadly, the map feels very empty and like it was concocted from tropes and not much else.

I just want this thing to be good. I really do. And it’s just. Not. I was at turns bored and annoyed by it and I still don’t get what I was supposed to love. I would honestly rather reread ACoTaR.

[waitingforwinterwinds]

A Clash of Kings - 01 ARYA I (pages 27-33)

Arya begins her journey north with Yoren and his Night's Watch 'recruits' while trying to deal with the emotional fallout of her father's murder.

-

She wished the Rush would rise up and wash the whole city away, Flea Bottom and the Red Keep and the Great Sept and everything, and everyone too, especially Prince Joffrey and his mother. But she knew it wouldn't, and anyhow Sansa was still in the city and would wash away too. When she remembered that, Arya wished for Winterfell instead.

Awwww. Sisterly forgiveness and affection is not "I'm sorry" and "I forgive you" it's "You aren't included in the intended victims of my plot or on the hit list I gave to God for his divine smiting."

They took five wagons out of King's Landing, laden with supplies for the Wall; hides and bolts of cloth, bars of pig iron, a cage of ravens, books and papers and ink, a bale of sourleaf, jars of oil, and chests of medicine and spices. Teams of plow horses pulled the wagons, and Yoren had bought two coursers and a half-dozen donkeys for the boys.

Again, this is one of my favourite details about GRRM's works, the details. I have read so many books that would have left it at "-laden with supplies for the Wall." IF they'd bothered to mention supply wagons at all. ehehe, spell of summon supply wagon. Can only be used at your destination.

Arya hated them making fun of Needle. "It's castle-forged steel, you stupid," she snapped, turning in the saddle to glare at them, "and you'd better shut your mouth." ... "He probably stole it." "I did not!" she shouted. Jon Snow had given her Needle. Maybe she had to let them call her Lumpyhead, but she wasn't going to let them call Jon a thief. ... Yes, I do, Arya could have said. I killed a boy, a fat boy like you, I stabbed him in the belly and he died, and I'll kill you too if you don't let me alone. Only she did not dare. Yoren didn't know about the stableboy, but she was afraid of what he might do if he found out.

Ah, there's the tricky bit. Arya has always been the kind of girl who speaks her mind, whether it's appropriate or not. She's doing well to keep her tongue and keep to herself, for the most part, despite the boys being Grade A asshats, but she does still have her lines that she can't quite keep from snapping. Like insults to Jon.

Arya slid her practice sword from her belt. "You can have this one," she told Hot Pie, not wanting to fight. "That's just some stick." He rode nearer and tried to reach over for Needle's Hilt. Arya made the stick whistle as she laid the wood across his donkey's hindquarters. The animal hawed and bucked, dumping Hot Pie on the ground.

Yes! Good attempt at de-escalating, solid negotiation attempt, and an excellent improvisation when it failed. Good, quick thinking and action!

Holy- that escalated very quickly, and violently! Hot Pie really should have just stayed down. Pride be damned.

Oh! Yoren with the stick. Ouch, ouch, ouch. I know this is the kind of world that still thinks that's an appropriate punishment, and he can't show Arya much of any favour or risk her cover, but damn. And yes, okay, she just brutally, and literally, beat the shit out of Hot Pie, but damn.

Calm as still water, she told herself, the way Syrio Forel had taught her. "Some." He spat. "The pie boy's hurting worse. It wasn't him as killed your father, girl, nor that thieving Lommy neither. Hitting them won't bring him back." "I know," Arya muttered sullenly. "Here's something you don't know. It wasn't supposed to happen like it did. I was set to leave, wagons bought and loaded, and a man comes with a boy for me, and a purse of coin, and a message, never mind who it's from. Lord Eddard's to take the black, he says to me, wait, he'll be going with you. Why d'you think I was there? Only something went queer." "Joffrey," Arya breathed. "Someone should kill him!" "Someone will, but it won't be me, nor you neither."

Still mad at Yoren for flogging her thighs, but he knows what's up. Decent talk down... mind you given this series, that actually a pretty high compliment.

Also happy to see Syrio mentioned. Too many series forget the dead mentor as soon as the body is off screen, and dredge it up when they need a quick 'hey remember your angsty backstory' moment. I like that what she's remembering is basically a meditation and calming technique. The show freaking robbed us. It was all swish-swish-stab, and none of the quieter things.

It did give us the 'what do we say to the god of death' meme, but that's just a variant on "Today is a Good Day To Die" "Yeah, but tomorrow's an even better one"/"A good day for you to die."

When Arya squinted the right way she could see a sword too, only it wasn't a new sword, it was Ice, her father's greatsword, all ripply Valyrian steel, and the red was Lord Eddard's blood on the blade after Ser Ilyn the King's Justice had cut off his head. Yoren had made her look away when it happened, yet it seemed to her that the comet looked like Ice must have, after.

Valyrian steel = 🥛

[thischarmingand]

Hi! What's your answer to Q3 for the book meme? (I should not ask this because my TBR is already so long but I am curious).

What were your top five books of the year?

So this is maybe not a quality thing (Grapes of Wrath was very good but is not making this list) but instead the five books I enjoyed immensely and which did something that stuck with me enough that I still think about them at the end of the year

Hourglass Throne, K.D. Edwards I love this unabashedly gay, mysterious, lore-heavy series. I feel like in lesser hands all the magic Atlantis soul bond culturally approved polyamory found family nonsense in these could tip into cringe pretty easily but Edwards refuses to write with anything but complete sincerity and commitment which, fucking respect.

Cabin at the End of the World, Paul Tremblay Most upsetting horror novel I have perhaps ever read! This is one of those books where halfway through you say to yourself 'you know, I could stop reading this and stop doing this to myself' but it is a lie. (They are making a movie out of this called Knock at the Cabin. Curious to see how it adapts, a little worried that Shyamalan might not stick the landing.)

We Sold our Souls, Grady Hendrix Technically also horror, but more of a roadtrip novel that just involves a lot of grizzly death. This is such a love letter to the power (emotional or supernatural) of creation and art with a fucked up flawed and totally wonderful loser of a heroine at its centre.

A Marvellous Light, Freya Marske Gay wizards, English bureauracy, a good central mystery, a strong and interesting magic system, sizzling central romance and just an overall confection of a queer novel. An excellent time start to finish.

What Moves the Dead, T. Kingfisher A creepy little bit of body horror whose imagery has stuck with me since I read it (I really want to steal it for a MOTW mystery some time). I was a big Edgar Allen Poe fan as a kid so a reworking of Fall of the House of Usher is also pandering right to me personally.