#messy and young and queer <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[one-too-many-fandoms]

hi just passing through to express how much I love this song TwT

[creatureoftheswamp]

It’s a shitty picture but that’s a wip of something I’m working on to power through artblock and Boredom with an art study.

Art isn’t supposed to be perfect and beautiful, it can be messy and imperfect, as well as flawed and gross. Art comes in so many shapes colors and sizes- it’s an expression of yourself and how you feel, even if you don’t recognize that. Every piece of art that’s made has a bit of the artists soul in it, and if that isn’t beautiful I don’t know what is.

[uthseikoashx-goingmyway]

things in IWTV season 2 i'd lose my mind if it actually happens (or when. because some of those things will happen.). sorry for the mistakes btw

1. Claudeleine romantic relationship

Claudia finally having a vampire lover she can be herself with. the romantic & sexual tension. the heart to heart Louis and Claudia would have before changing Madeleine. the yearning. the tragic ending. the change of dynamics in the De Pointe du Lac family. the disruption of it all.

2. an exploration of Armand's relationship to religion, faith and God

specially in 2022. past religious crisis. how he articulates his vampire nature, his faith and his despair. lots of hints of TVA. God and art. religion, Armand and Louis. his religion (conversion from being christian to being muslim in this universe? if so, why?). "i serve, a God," would you mind to develop?

3. dramatic irony about Daniel's past and Devil's Minion

the rent boy. Daniel actually realising he had been a dick about that. "oh." after understanding the irony of it all. Armand talking in riddles and hinting at something Daniel is totally ignorant of. young Daniel's life and messy, loving and weird relationship with Armand. some activism. 2022 Daniel getting old, sicker and sicker. laughs. angst. tension. yearning. longing stares. petty remarks. revelations.

4. Loumand complex relationship

the love and the suffering. how they are both deeply attached to each other. how they show their care. the place Lestat holds right in the middle. how they deal with Claudia's death. what Louis really thinks about it. the tension. the yearning. how their relationship actually developed. the extent of Louis' memory alteration and how it plays a role into their dynamics. the after: how Armand helped Louis. messy divorce vibes. petty moves. to what extent their relationship is doomed. how one person can love several persons and in different ways, and how complex and delicate it is.

5. The Groan™

what is that. a metaphor for sexual arousal? Lestat scratching the walls? Rashid trapped? some clues. what the fuck.

6. Antoinette alive and kicking

and coming back right on time for the trial, because it would be 1) so fucking funny 2) utterly tragic, considering Claudia would be killed for killing nobody.

7. amazing outfits

amazing outfits

8. lots of french

i'm french

9. Claudia and Armand's relationship

Claudia being protective of Louis. Armand dealing with it. some sort of bond rivalry. both of them aware that something's wrong with the other. Armand and Claudia's similarities being acknowledged (age, killing a human they loved — Charlie, Ricardo — and complex situation regarding their maker), even a possibility for some kind of understanding and compassion (making the end more tragic). Armand seeing a some of Lestat in Claudia. Claudia seeing Armand's love for Lestat. a common love for theater and spectacular shows. that awful experience before Claudia's death.

10. Louis and memories

the photos he takes (where are they in 2022? will they clash with Louis' tale?). the metatextual dimension of themes such as: unreliable narration, memories and perspective, autofiction. Daniel calling out Louis' avoiding strategies. Louis calling out Daniel's rudeness and biais. how Louis really sees his relationship with Claudia? the gap between Louis' and Armand's recalling. a deeper exploration of his superimposed identities (black, queer, american man; in 1940, 1973, 2022). learning how to trust someone new after being abused. the rain metaphors. Louis saying the most poetic and heartbreaking thing you'll ever heard. his relationship to vampirism as he joins Armand's coven. grief and loss of a family member. hallucinations and how they are filmed / manifesting. guilt. loving Claudia and Armand. loving Lestat, still. etc.

tysm for coming to my tedtalk. it was very self-indulgent but very much pleasant. i won't be mad if it doesn't happen (obviously!), or not like i imagine. still, it's fun to imagine and put that here on tumblr. no shame on lestat, i just have no special things i'm waiting for about him, and will be very happy indeed to see him again. salut

[nectar-cellar]

The Sims is love. List 5 facts about a favorite sim couple of yours, and why you love them so much. Then pass this on to 5 others, whose sim couple(s) you also love. 💘💕

edit: thank you for sending me this ask!! 🥺💖💗💓💌💟💝

my fave toxic on-again off-again situationship couple is amir & dani. these 2 freaky frogs, silly geese, eternal yearners:

some new/old facts about them:

they met in sunset valley community college and dated for a while <3

they were both each other's first sexual experience 🤭

they are both queer and not out in a small suburban town 🦄

they both share escapist fantasies of "leaving it all behind" 🥺

they are both lonely loners without many friends. they are both kind of unpleasant to be around but when they were together they were both giddy in their own little world. their breakup left them both feeling very pessimistic about love "i'll never find that again, nobody else will ever compare" which keeps them both still tied to each other, unable to move on.

why i love them so much: i think healthy couples, while great in real life and nice to read about sometimes, are boring in fiction. i like the melodrama and conflict they have, both with each other and internally. will they fight to save a doomed (?) relationship or will they learn their lessons and move on. they're in a shitty part of their life journey. nothing is working out, things feel hopeless, your FIRST serious relationship EVER in your young life has left you shattered, what EVER will you do??? it feels realistic and relatable to me. it's almost like a comfort thing - they are not happy characters but they reflect my own messy emotional state. and yes it's utterly self indulgent.

some more sim spice below:

[johnslittlespoon]

ok sorry to get sappy but honestly the feedback on tough and sweet has made me feel the most seen i've ever felt while writing and i can't stop getting emotional over it :'))) which is funny bc it's meant to be so much Filth (and it will be Trust) but i got more attached to the au versions of the characters than i expected lol

but the collective understanding/lack of judgement of john's messy inner–workings, the way ppl have leapt onto the whole 'gale healing his own inner child thru healing john's' concept, it makes my heart so warm, it's freeing to get to write what i would've wanted to hear/read growing up and i hope it helps someone else feel seen/heard too <33

it also feels very healing to write all of this as a queer man who grew up in a very conservative small town with heavily religious family and didn't have a 'gale' to look up to and didn't even know boys could like boys until i was in high school lmaoo (NOT saying young gays need an age gap relationship tbc LOL but the concept of having someone to at least look at and be like 'oh i'm not the only one' yfm)

anyway that's all, just very appreciative and i'm flabbergasted with every comment because everyone just gets it and it feels like some of y'all are in my headddd, it's so cool to have people vibe with the characterization and be invested in my silly little story that's turned into a much bigger story than originally intended and i'm so srs when i say i go thru and reread comments every day when i wake up and sit down to write <3 :') okay sticking my head back in the sand (tas ch4 doc) (thoughts and prayers pls john's in gale's lap and my heart is in my throat)

[immaterial-pearl]

Recs of my fav things with mental illness/trauma/neurodiversity representation that lets their characters be unpleasant and full people:-).

These are a collection of things I personally found relateable, over the course of my life. Almost all of these are aimed at adults (but not all!) and it's okay to disagree with me on wether these are good or not, but I put them on this list because I like them and I like how they portray complex mentally ill characters.

Here’s a randomizer that picks one at random!!!

Pieta, by Nanae Haruno. Genre: josei manga (josei is manga aimed at women, usually ones in their 20's). Two girls who struggle with mental health fall in love.

Dungeon Meshi, dir. Yoshihiro Miyamjima, original story by Ryoko Kui. Genre: fantasy anime. After his sister is eaten by a dragon, a man does his best to get her body back and revive her. In order to survive he decides to cook monsters with his party, instead of trying to travel with food from outside of the dungeon. Personal note: autism meshi. My personal favourite is Kabru, because he's literaly me when it comes to Being Totally Normal About Human Interaction.

Burnt Sugar, by Avni doshi. Genre: literary novella. A woman starts losing her grip on reality as her mother starts losing her memory. My personal opinion: it's just amazing, god, one of my favourite books ever, no book ever portrayed psychosis in such a personally relateable way, even tho I differ from the protag on so many levels.

Promising Young Woman, dir. Emerald Fennel. Genre: a deconstruction of revenge films. A woman traumatised by her friends suicide tries to avenge her.

Simon Snow triology, by Rainbow Rowell. Genre: ya fantasy and romance, deconstruction of chosen one stories, wizard school. Note: the exploration of ptsd mostly happens in book 2 and 3. The first book differs both in subject matter and tone, and was written originally as a stand alone. A typical chosen one protag defies the narrative set on him. Personal note: the way trauma reflected on protag's relationship with sex was so well thought out. Reread this out of nostalgia recently and found myself stunned on how uniquely well it's written.

Fleabag, screeplay by Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Genre: dark comedy, drama. A woman who seems aware of the fourth wall tries to cope with her best friend’s death.

Revolutionary Girl Utena, dir. Ikuhara Kunihiko. Genre: magical girl anime deconstruction, fairy tale deconsturction, psychological horror. A girl who wants to become a prince gets tangled in messy drama of the student council, after she wins a duel and accidentally becomes engaged to a girl they refer to as the rose bride. Personal note: FAVOURITE SHOW EVER, a queer classic, ectetera, the most complex show ever written in my personal opinion, the entire narrative is about patriarchy's evils, and damn, no show since did it better imo.

Boy meets Maria, by Peyo. Genre: romance manga. A boy falls in love with a member of his high school's theatre, who turns out to be a boy.

The Locked Tomb, by Tamsyn Muir. Genre: sci-fi fantasy horror. In a planet system of necromancers, a girl from a planet with a single living necromancer gets picked to be said necromancers swordwoman, when she tries to become a saint. Personal note: you will not believe the amount of Insane Undead Lesbians this series has. READ IT.

Bojack Horseman, main writer Raphael Bob Waksberg. Genre: dark comedy, animated sitcom. A horse/man way past his prime still lives off of money from playing in a 90’s sitcom.

My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness, by Nagata Kabi. Genre: manga memoir. A depressed woman who has trouble with forming relationships tries to have her first time with a sex worker.

Pinky and Pepper forever, by Eddy Atoms. Genre: horror, dark comedy comic. Two art student girlfriends try to survive art school, and later meet again in hell.

A pale view of hills, by Kazuo Ishiguro. Genre: literary fiction. An imigrant woman, recalls her first pregnancy and a short friendship she had back in Japan.

Neon Genesis Evangelion, dir. Hideaki Anno. Genre: mecha anime, psychological horror. A boy is forced to pilot a robot by his absent father who runs a para-military organisation. Personal notes: second favourite anime of mine, every character is their own shade of unwell, there is a reason this is a classic.

Fight Club, by Chuck Palachniuk. Genre: thiller, literary fiction. A white collar man loses his apartment and moves in with his strange working class friend. Personal note: even if you've seen the film, read the original.

The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath. Genre: literary fiction, semi-memoir. A talented writer fights her suicidality and depression.

Crying in H-Mart, by Michelle Zauner. Genre: memoir. The author recalls her mother's last months and death.

My Dark Vanessa, by Kate Elizabeth Russel. Genre: literary fiction. After her ex teacher is accused of sexual assault, a woman recalls her high school romance with him. Personal note: this is heavily inspired by Lolita, and even though I've read both I kind of prefer this book, fight me.

Summer, 1993, dir. Carla Simón. Genre: drama. A young girl spends her first summer in a new home after her parents die. Personal note: good representation of a young child processing trauma is so rare!!!!

My Broken Mariko, by Hirako Waka. Genre: josei manga. After her friend's death, a woman goes out of her way to find out why she died, disbelieving her friend would kill herself.

Everything, everywhere, all at once, dir. Daniel Kwan and Schienert. Genre: sci-fi. A woman discovers multiverse time travel while trying to do her taxes, and processes her troubled relationship with her daughter.

[kingslionheart]

I was wondering, do you think alfred and uhtred had feelings for each other in canon?

ALRIGHT SO. I'm so extremely sorry for taking so long to answer, life has been messy for a while now and I think it has been almost 3 months since you sent this. I have basically written this entire answer little by little every single day since I first received the ask and I have only just now finished reading it again.

EVEN MORE APOLOGIES BECAUSE IT TURNED OUT TO BE EXTREMELY LONG, I'll keep it under the cut!!

Please bear in mind that there are spoilers for the entire show and film and please forgive any possible typo.

OFF WE GO NOW!!

In general I think it is important to note that the last kingdom is a show FULL of queer characters (and I will die on that hill), mostly because there's just so much subtext in the whole show, and Alfred is 100% queercoded.

There are so many aspects of his character that just betray his queerness and the first thing that does that is literally the thing so many blame him for: the way he treats Uhtred.

NOW.

Let's look at Alfred's first scene ever. Alfred appears in 1x02 and he's introduced as someone who considers himself a sinner because of his inability to control his lust. When Beocca speaks to him about the girl he’s currently feeling guilty about, Alfred's immediate first reaction is to banish her, but instead he's presented with the option of bringing her into his service. Now the reason why it is proposed by Beocca is to keep her close to show God that he's able to resist temptation and, when he does resist, to thank this higher being he so desperately believes in. This is something that comes again in 1x03 when Beocca tells him to pray for strenght the moment he almost fails again.

In brief we know that there are two moments when Alfred has to pray: when he resists temptation and when he's tempted.

After he becomes king he reserves a very particular treatment for this girl who tempted him. In 1×04 we can see, for example, that soon after washing his hands, he basically throws a towel at her without a single glance. The treatment he gives her is a cold and distant one and that's the exact same way he treats Uhtred.

Indeed, as he did when he accepted Beocca's suggestion about the servant girl, I actually believe that proving God that he could resist temptation is one of the two reasons why Alfred has brought Uhtred into his service in the first place. The only other important use he had was his knowledge of the Danes, because, at least at this point of the story, the reason of him being such a fantastic sword genuinely does not stand.

In S1 it is very obvious that Uhtred isn't that much of a great warrior, and that makes sense because he's still very young, and at the end of the day he only first made his reputation when he killed Ubba, which, by Uhtred's own admission in the books, was entirely by luck, since he was actually the one who was about to get killed. Of course it is absolutely clear why he would have never admitted such thing, he needed that reputation and that was the first significant chance he got, but the thing is that he had been in Alfred's service for a few years already when that happened.

Alfred gave lands and a title of ealdorman to someone who was a 18 years old who came from Northumbria, a some guy who had absolutely nothing and no reputation whatsover, and that he himself barely knew, even worse a man who looked like a dane and that was a pagan. If you ignore Uhtred's point of view, that's absolutely insane of someone who just became a king who didn't even have that much support from his nobles yet.

It was serving Alfred that granted Uhtred to become an actual warrior with reputation, before that he wasn't one, as Uhtred himself told Alfred in 1×02.

As I said, the only good reason for Alfred to take such a man into his service was to have danish knowledge in court, but even that could have been something quick, you know, learning the basics and then just keeping contact with him as a spy, exactly as he did with Haesten at the end of S2 and at the beginning of S3, but no. Alfred tried his very best to tie him down to Wessex and make sure that he would remain. Why is that? It is to prove that he was able to resist temptation and being in control of his own body.

Alfred was an extremely pious man as many say throughout the whole show and even in the film. He needed to prove himself to God so that he would have had favour from his part and back then there was also the whole concept of "a king who's not able to control his body is not able to control his kingdom". Resisting temptation with a man would have proven it even more than resisting temptation with a woman, especially because, compared to the other servants, Alfred genuinely arrives to a point where he's actually and sort of obviously in love with Uhtred, so it isn't any longer just a body thing but a mind/heart thing, so even worse because that would cause his judgement to be clouded, Alfred himself admits this in 2x06, where he also says that Uhtred is a temptation to him.

The word temptation is an interesting one because Alfred always uses it with a sexual connotation, we saw that in s1 especially, but I want to talk about the episode I just mentioned. Here Alfred talks about Uhtred to Aelswith and he says:

What if all this time, it has been the work of the Devil tempting me? Offering me this warrior, this seemingly loyal and brave man, who piece by small piece, is eating at my soul and clouding what I believe to be right and wrong.

Alfred here, as I said already, explicitly says that he considers Uhtred a temptation sent by the devil, which, with the knowledge of his specific use of that word, can only mean one thing. The fact itself that Aelswith then replies that "this is what the devil would do" is noteworthy because that is a topic once called to attention by Asser in 1x06 when talking about Iseult he tells Uhtred "I know the devil exists, hiding within beauty is a trick he will use often, I'm sure". Aelswith gives Alfred a solution to the problem by telling him to get rid of him, and that's what does, he banishes Uhtred. Alfred talked of Uhtred as a temptation and then he chose to banish him for a while, does it by any chance remind you of something? His first instict in 1x02 about the servant.

Another thing that is very important to point out is that, as I said before, Alfred is considered a pious christian, so we know that Alfred prays daily and a lot, he even uses prayers to establish a political connection most of the times, but that can't prove his piety because many did too. The only times Alfred proves his piety are those when he prays alone and that happens 3 times in 3 seasons, which is funny since we could have expected way more for his reputation, but since it happens so little there has to be a meaning. As we said, we know that Alfred has to pray in two specific moments: when he has to thank God for resisting temptation and when he's tempted.

So very casually the times where he prays alone are always connected to Uhtred.

The first moment it happens is in 2x06, before the scene when Alfred admits that Uhtred tempts him and after the scene when Alfred screams at Uhtred "I do not know you and I could never know you", which is totally "know" as the biblical meaning of the word, if we consider everything that I have said before. The two other times are in s3, when Alfred's love for Uhtred is way more obvious and rather in a more romantic way than just attraction. The first time in that season is in 3x03 when he's there praying, with tears in his eyes, a few weeks (perhaps even a month) after Uhtred has betrayed him, and there he speaks of him and we see that he's hurt and wants to hurt Uhtred in return, so there's an element of heartbreak. The second time is in 3x06, after he has seen Uhtred again for the first time since his betrayal, and there we can find something close to worry for Uhtred's condition as a pagan, because he says that "He is a man in great need of the guidance of God". In 3x08 there's also an interesting hint about his prayers when Beocca hypothyses that Alfred prays for Uhtred's return and the truth behind it is written plainly on Alfred's face. His prayers shifted from a physical attraction type of temptation to something that could very clearly be recognised as love.

S3 is THE proof that Alfred was in love with Uhtred and, while you can already see it in the first episode of it when he watched Uhtred ride away from the city (which he also did in 1×02), that love becomes more obvious immediately after Uhtred betrays him in 3x02, YES THAT SCENE WHEN HE’S CRYING ALONE IN THE ROOM. While I do realise that it could be interpred as crying because his dream of an england was in danger, STILL you know that it is not just that, that man was heartbroken and the worst thing about it is that Alfred totally knew that he had no one to blame but himself, because Alfred is always perfectly aware of the way he treats Uhtred, think about the “I do not, I cannot” in 2x06 when Aelswith asks him if he trusts him, Alfred cannot trust Uhtred because if he did then he would totally fall into temptation, I MEAN LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED TO AETHELSTAN WITH INGILMUNDR.

From that episode onward Alfred is on another level of misery, and that’s truly an achievement considering how miserable that man always is. First of all he’s angrier than ever and that anger reaches levels of revenge, confirmed by Alfred himself in 3×09 when he says this:

It was done to damn you. To inflict pain, possibly. I try to make decisions rationally. However, taking your children was not a rational decision. It was thoughtless. It was selfish.

Here Alfred admits that he wanted to hurt Uhtred and why did he do that? Because he wasn’t thinking rationally, and why wasn’t he thinking rationally? Because it concerned Uhtred. This literally always goes back to 2x06, because Alfred did say there that Uhtred clouded his judgment and that is the proof. When it comes to Uhtred, when Uhtred is around, he just can’t think rationally. That’s literally some romantic shit there.

I made the example of Aethelstan and Ingilmundr earlier and that truly fits this whole part really well, because in the film Aethelstan is portrayed as someone who’s blind and acting in a completely irrational way because he’s in love with Ingilmundr, his oathman. I would also love to point out how Aethelstan is portrayed as a pious christian king who prays and acts only for his own salvation, since he considers himself a sinner for his queerness. There’s so much guilt in that boy and, especially, more than once he’s compared to Alfred: first by Ingilmundr who tells him that he has to be pious so that men would speak of him as they spoke of his grandfather, and second when Aethelstan talks to Uhtred and indirectly compares his sins as worse than the ones of Alfred, so the connection between them is not only about piety, but also sins. Then, no less important, I think it is quiet obvious who Ingilmundr reminds of considering how he was “born a dane but raised saxon”. The parallels are right there and have never been louder.

Another parallel that I want to point out is the connotation between homosexuality and England, that’s particularly connected to the film because in SKMD Aethelstan wants to unite it simply to redeem himself for having a male lover:

Ingilmundr: Perhaps return to your grandfather’s vision for England. Perhaps now there is an urgency to bring the pagans to light.

Aethelstan: Will that cleanse me? Us?

Ingilmundr: Well, surely the greater the lands, the greater the faith. Go beyond what Alfred dreamed of. Look to the islands God made, not the countries ordained by men, and bring all to Christianity. So when you are judged, you will be found in balance. And thus may accept both the sin… and the conquest against it.

Notice how even in this whole thing Alfred sort of remains the greatest sinner of them all, because Ingilmundr here says to bring to christianity the lands that God created and not the ones that men, Alfred, wanted to make, it almost feels as if he’s saying that his sin would only be accepted if he does what God offers him in lands and therefore if he doesn’t put himself above God by being the one who decides which parts to unite and which not. Here Alfred is truly portrayed as someone who has put himself above God in his decisions and thus England would have never cleansed him for his sins, because he was directly sinning while planning it and actually, always back in 2x06, Alfred too considered himself a sinner for the way he was laying the fundations of the country, but not in the way Ingilimundr meant but because “I am reaching out for an England, all in the name of God, yet I am relying upon the strength of a heathen”, so what made him a sinner was his connection to Uhtred.

The thing is that as a consequence in the film England is connected to carnal sins and, indeed, as you have probably realised already when you watched the show, that country has ALWAYS been put in some sexual way, you may call it Alfred’s fav kink. That seriously begins in 1x03 when Alfred is making out with that servant (the same one we have talked about before) and he literally goes like “I will defend you with my life, you stand as everything that is precious, you are Wessex, England, always to be cherished, never to be violated, only to be loved, vigorously”, therefore Alfred arrived to the point of seeing someone as a personification of England and that happens only another time in the show and that is in 2x03 when he says to Uhtred “You are a Saxon who is also a Dane, The very embodiment of the England that must emerge”.

THE VERY EMBODIMENT.

To him Uhtred was the personification of England and now this might be a bittttt too much from me, but even in 3x09 when Alfred is dying his last conversation is about Uhtred and the role he will have in the formation of England, and there Aelswith is trying to make Alfred see that it is wrong because being guided (SO RELYING) by a pagan means straying from God’s rightenous path, but what does Alfred do? He literally defends Uhtred and those are his last few breaths, what has Alfred said to that servant? “I will defend you with my life, […] you are […] England”, and look at Alfred’s final words:

Aelswith: Why are the Danes forever at our door? Because we are being punished, Lord, for the presence of this heathen.

Alfred: He is for England.

Aelswith: He is an outlaw.

Alfred: My England... my love.

Alfred basically dies defending Uhtred and while “My England” could be interpreted as him thinking about the actual country, the whole conversation and the whole parallels both between 1x03 and 2x03, so with the knowledge that to him Uhtred is England, I DON’T KNOW I JUST CAN’T HELP BUT THINK “HMM YOU KNOW WHAT, PERHAPS HE WASN'T TALKING ABOUT ENGLAND ENGLAND”

As you have probably understood, I believe that the moment when Alfred confessed his feelings for Uhtred was in 2x06 and he literally confessed them to Aelswith, so at beginning of S3 she has been knowing it for years.

Now let’s see all of S3 from Aelswith’s point of view. In this season her beloved husband is dying and she's painfully aware he is, even more after Alfred confirms it in 3x02. She knows it will happen, thus she tries to stay at his side as much as possible because Aelswith loved Alfred so much and despite everything (cough cough despite his cheating cough cough), then at some point she witnesses her husband's life be put in danger when he is taken as a hostage by the same man she knows he has feelings for. That man escapes and her husband is abandoned by him and, instead of seeing the anger he's showing to everyone, she sees how broken he is because of that, because she knows that Uhtred did not only break his oath but wholeheartedly broke Alfred’s heart. She has to witness not only her husband’s suffering because of his illness, but also the pain he feels because that man he loves has left him. The nearer her husband gets to his death, the nearer she notices the way he wants to forgive that same man who has made him suffer for years now (s3 starts in 891/892 and Alfred’s death happens in 899), then right before her husband’s passing she finds them together in his study, completely alone. She tries to make her husband reason (indirectly even trying to remind him of how much pain he went through because of him) but instead her husband orders her to leave, she probably hasn’t even seen Uhtred return from the room until late in the evening. Her husband dies not long after and she’s hurt because she has lost the man she's stood by and loved for most of her life, but in all of this… Who’s the one who left her husband? Who’s the one who broke his heart? Who’s the one who in a way could have worsed his condition because of the mental pain he had to go through because of him? Uhtred. So she imprisons Uhtred, threatens to kill him, but then accepts to just exile him, but then, in front of the whole of Winchester, Uhtred gives an entire speech about his relationship with her husband arriving to a point in which he even says that he loved Alfred. This is worsened by the fact that, in her last conversation with him, Alfred was going against her just to defend him.

Aelswith’s anger towards Uhtred is the most understandable reaction ever.

A very interesting scene to me, with the knowledge that Aelswith has this insight of Alfred’s feelings for Uhtred, is the scene where she prays in 3x08, because... THE THINGS SHE SAYS!!

Lord God, give me strength and guidance to do your work. If it is right and proper to rely upon a heathen, albeit for violence, then I beg you... show me a sign. Help me. I want my son to remain untarnished by heathen ways. I wish him to be God's king. Pure.

Here she’s praying for Edward in the prospect of a possible connection to Uhtred in case the latter becomes his oathman once he’s king, but it is the last part of the whole prayer that is fascinating, because in this moment she says what a king is if he’s connected to him and, therefore, the reference to Alfred is undeniable: the king had to be “untarnished by heathen ways” so that he could be “God’s king” and “pure”.

Alfred was connected to Uhtred so he was tarnished by heathen ways, he was not God’s king and he was not pure, all because of it.

Alfred eveasdropped this whole thing and when Aelswith noticed him, they both understood exactly what she was truly talking about and the expression on Alfred’s face was one of someone who actually believed those things about himself as well, and indeed you see that a lot in S3 when he shows more than once that he’s scared that he won’t end up in heaven. In 2x06 there's also another hint at that when he says “I am reaching out for an England, all in the name of God, yet I am relying upon the strength of a heathen, the iron of a pagan”, and when Aelswith tells him “You are God's king, lord" his answer is "Yet at my right hand is a pagan”.

Alfred has always been terrified at the possibility of not ending up in heaven because of what he had with Uhtred, but despite all of that he's always defended him and saved his life multiple times, just as Uhtred did with him.

Since Uhtred arrived in Wessex he has risked death more than once in every season, and Alfred has always tried to find a way to save his life:

1x03, Ubba offered Alfred a peace for silver and Uhtred’s head, Alfred refused and told him that he would have returned to the sword if he didn’t accept only to be paid.

1x05, Uhtred unleashed a sword in front of Alfred during prayers, while screaming at him in front of many people of Winchester. That’s a crime that is supposed to be punished with death, Alfred made him crawl instead.

1x06/1x07, Uhtred, claiming to do Alfred’s business, plundered Cornwall and sided with a Dane against a christian king, Alfred was supposed to kill him immediately, even more when Uhtred, supposed to beg for forgiveness, decided to scream in his face that he would never kneel neither to him nor to his God, but instead Alfred accepted Leofric’s proposal of a fight to the death so that “God would decide”, that means he left the possibility of Uhtred’s survival, even more because he chose the exact day for that fight to happen, which, casually, was on the day of a saint he liked a lot, and indeed the day after he called Uhtred and told him that he didn't like the thought of someone dying on that day. He tried to save him by offering him the option of giving everything back and resuming the debt (since it was with the plunder that he paid it), but Uhtred didn’t want to leave Iseult, so he refused.

2x03, he sent Ragnar to rescue Uhtred from slavery.

3x02, first, he was most likely going to forgive Uhtred for desecrating the cemetery; second, he should have senteced Uhtred to death for killing a monk in front of the whole witan and then escaping (thus worsening his actions), but instead he asked for an oath and spared his life; third, after he threatened his life Alfred did order for him to be killed, but as soon as he escaped he simply banished him from Wessex, he could have made someone follow him, but he didn’t.

3x05, Uhtred was an outlaw, while he was in Mercia Alfred could have still had him killed, since at the end of the day he was one of his enemies, but instead he used the excuse of him having Aethelflaed’s protection. Alfred could have killed him and no one would have said anything about it, but he did not.

3x08/3x09 Uhtred was still an outlaw here and Alfred claimed before that he would have killed him if stepped foot into Wessex, but he did not, instead he even assured his protection for when he knew he wouldn’t have been alive anymore to protect him.

Now, I feel like Alfred has a sort of codependency when it comes to Uhtred. That man constantly wants him next to him and he almost needs him to be there, the fact itself that in 2x05 Odda mentions that Alfred always says the same thing about Uhtred’s hall in Coccham “every time we visit”, hints at them being there quite ofter and there was only a 3 years time jump between the first and second half of S2, so Uhtred has had those lands for 3 years, probably even less, so… Exactly how many times have you visited this man in 3 years, Alfred? But, whether there's actually an element of codependency or not, there's certainly something that pulls them together, and indeed it is explicitly said that Uhtred and Alfred are “bonded" and that for that fact alone they can't kill each other even when they should.

In 3×09 Alfred points a sword to Uhtred's throat and asks him if he believes he could kill him, and to that Uhtred answers “we are bonded, you cannot kill me just as I cannot kill you”, and it’s really fascinating because there's a parallel between that scene and the scene in 5x07 when Uhtred and Brida are fighting and, when she tells him to kill her, he screams at her that they “are bound as one, killing you would be like killing a part of myself”, and Brida and Uhtred were romantically involved.

My point is that it is for this exact reason that Alfred was never able to look at Uhtred and excute him as he was supposed to do so many times, even the only time it very nearly happened (1x07) he left before he could see it, and whenever Uhtred was hit by Leofric during the fight, if you look specifically at Alfred, it almost seems as if he couldn't breathe, so you know there’s a kind of “without you I would be lost and I wouldn’t be myself anymore” for the both of them, and you can see that especially in the one who had to live further when the other actually died: Uhtred.

Uhtred very much always clings onto a few things and people, but the more he loses those he cares for the most, the more he loses himself. S3 is truly the start of Uhtred’s sort of radical change, indeed the man in SKMD is almost nothing like the man in S1, and what made it possible was that season.

In S3 Uhtred faces many losses: first he loses Gisela, so literally the love of his life (she was and I will die on that hill), second his brother Ragnar, then he loses Alfred, and not even a few days after his sister Thyra dies.

Gisela’s death has started Uhtred’s fall, and since he got cursed and was, very understandbly, in so much pain, everything escalated very quickly.

He killed Godwin to defend Gisela’s honour and he was obviously hurt by what he perceived as Alfred’s disinterest in defending Gisela, as he himself in 3x04 complains about in a very hurt way that Alfred “allowed her to be called a whore” (even though Alfred did try to make Godwin stop, but Uhtred simply couldn’t hear it because he was too enraged), therefore he betrays him and then subsequentially feels absolutely so guilty about it that he arrives to the point where Leofric, as the personification of his conscience, lets us know that he believed he deserved to died because of what he did to Alfred. As soon as the first occasion arises (Aethelflaed is in danger) he immediately leaves, which you can see was already on his mind as soon as Brida suggested him destroying Alfred, thus he abandons his brother. He then finds out that Ragnar died and he thinks it’s his fault because he left him (though there could have probably been little he could have done to prevent it even if he stayed there), then he suddenly meets Alfred again and he sees how much he's hated by him, or so Uhtred believes, so he falls in an even worse emotional state than before. After some time, Beocca asks him to meet Alfred and Uhtred himself wonders “what makes you think he would speak with me?”, which just shows how much he truly thought that Alfred despised him, but he goes to meet him anyway and he speaks to him. For the first time since they have met they are honest to each other and Alfred shows him actual trust and even love in a way, but then Alfred dies not even a week after (probably the day after they talked actually), so even if they were finally at peace with each other, Alfred still died and they had no way to enjoy that tranquility.

Now all of this took a very obvious emotional toll on Uhtred and I believe that Alfred is one of the biggest because he knew that he going to die, and yet, because of Skade's curse as Uhtred believed it to be, he wasted those final years they could have had together. That man meant a lot to Uhtred and in the books there's this quote that always gets me:

I stood beside Alfred’s coffin and thought how life slipped by, and how, for nearly all my life, Alfred had been there like a great landmark.

And that’s so terribly true because, compared to all the deaths before, it is important to notice that Alfred was the one who was there the most, more than Gisela and even more than Ragnar himself, since the latter left for Ireland right before Uhtred became Earl Ragnar’s son. Indeed when Alfred dies you can immediately see a change in demanor in Uhtred, which is striking because compared to many other deaths he went through, Uhtred remains silent in face of many things, for example during Alfred’s funeral he's imprisoned but doesn’t say a word, the only time he utters something is to tell Finan to do nothing. S1 Uhtred would have never reacted in such a way.

Still in prison, you can see that he goes near a very dangerous edge when he finds out that Thyra died, and that edge is finally overstepped in 4x03 with Beocca’s death, and it is from this death onwards that Uhtred is a completely different person. The process started with Gisela's death, culminated with Alfred’s and exploded with Beocca’s.

As I said Uhtred always clings to people and Uhtred has always been sort of in denial for Alfred’s death. He always dismissed the actual possibility of him dying, even when he himself noticed the signs, even when Alfred himself told him that he was about to and yet that man was still there like “Skade preys on men's fears, Lord”, says the man who at that time believed every single word she said. The thing is that I believe Uhtred remained in denial even after Alfred died, because yes he was with his God, but there was a part of Alfred that still lived: his dream.

From Alfred's death onwards, Uhtred works both directly and indirectly for the dream of an England, indeed he actually proves his loyalty to that man more after he died than when he was alive, and that has a lot to do with the fact that it was the last connection he had with him, as in a way it was also for Aelswith if you think about it, but also there was the aspect that, before dying, Alfred entrusted it in his hands and, since Uhtred spent the whole of S3 considering himself a traitor and blaming himself for it, if that man shows you one last trust, a trust you have yearned for your whole life, even more with the thing you know is most precious to him, what do you do? You are willing to do anything you can to make sure that that dream happens, to make sure that you can prove your loyalty, to show that you can keep one last oath to him and make it up for the one you broke.

That is painfully obvious in the film.

In the film Uhtred has made Northumbria an unified place, and it is actually the first time the whole of it is under one single king (even if Uhtred doesn’t call himself that), which was what Alfred has wanted all along, because he knew that the main problem would have been that particular kingdom, so with this action Uhtred has paved the way for the upcoming unification of England.

In 3x09 Alfred told him that his last act as king was to make sure that good men held power and that's one of the main things Uhtred was doing. Uhtred has known Alfred for 28 years of his life, he spent countless times with him, so he knew what Alfred would have wanted and every single decision he took in the film was so obviously made with the thought in mind of Alfred's wishes, and indeed Uhtred held the reins until he knew there was someone fitting to rule, a good man, just as his king would have wanted.

One of the most beautiful things to me is that Uhtred was lord of Bebbanburg at the time, so lord of the fortress he has waited his whole life to get back to, and yet he was mostly and more concerned about Alfred’s dream dying rather than the survival of that. Uhtred was also in a situation where he didn’t want to fight anymore, he didn’t even particularly believed he was still a warrior, and yet as soon as that dream was threatened, he didn’t hesitate once. That man was even forbidden to take part of the battle, since it would have been too dangerous for him, but he didn’t trust anyone else to protect Alfred’s dream and thus Uhtred went and died for it.

That man would have never died if he listened to Aethelstan's commands, but he defied them to not betray the little trust Alfred put in him right before he passed.

When he went back to Bebbanburg he didn’t even allow himself to die until he knew that there was an England out there and that Alfred’s lineage was on the throne of it, and during that scene he says that all he wanted was to be honoured in valhalla for “standing by an oath”, which yes can be interpreted as the oath of protecting Aethelstan, but remember that in S3, in Uhtred's mind, he did the most terrible thing of them all by breaking his oath to Alfred. Making England happen was the only way he could have forgiven himself for it, absolutely striking is the moment when the dream is fulfilled and you can how Uhtred is on the verge of tears and I think that has to do with two main reasons: first, he knew that with that Alfred would have finally known and understood how he could have never have betrayed him, and second, Alfred’s work was finished and there was nothing that kept him alive in his mind anymore.

Uhtred died soon after that so, in my mind, he totally met Alfred again at some point. In the show, for Thyra who was in a situation where she still believed in valhalla but was actually a christian, it was accepted the view of being in both places, therefore it is most likely the same for Uhtred, you know, a whole concept of peace rather than an actual place.

Dying for England is the most obvious declaration of love from Uhtred’s part, but if we want to point out actual words, Uhtred in 3x10 says that Alfred was “a man I loved and despised”, and he even calls him “my king”, which is something Uhtred will never do again for anyone. For the other kings he always just refers to them as “our”, therefore he speaks for his people and not for himself, but for Alfred? Oh, that’s a “my”.

For Alfred the thing was different because the man was a christian with so much guilt inside, it would have been way more difficult for him to say out loud that he loved Uhtred.

I do believe though that he did say it in subtext when he told him that “I should have closed my eyes and rattled at Heaven’s gate some time ago, it was the hope of this meeting that has kept me alive”, which is a lot, considering that the man was suffering like hell because of his illness, and yet he held onto life just for the purpose of seeing Uhtred one last time. It is also very interesting that on his deathbed he asked Uhtred “are you here or is it my sickness?”, because it hints at the possibility of Alfred having hallucinatione of Uhtred in the past when he was ill and WHY WOULD YOU EVER SEE SOME MAN WHEN YOU FEEL UNWELL? AND ESPECIALLY WHY ARE YOU NOT EVEN SURPRISED THAT YOUR MIND COULD HAVE CONJURED UHTRED COMING TO YOUR CHAMBERS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT? There’s only one answer to that:

You are gay for that man and you are in love with him.

They both were.

So anon, the answer to your question is: Yes, I do believe that they had feelings for each other.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk!

[rocketturtle4]

I'm adoring the heart of Only Friends

I gotta admit I was a bit unsure going into this show how much heart our genuinely messy queer Jojo show was going to have. But every episode I get more blown away, because along with our fun mess, we are getting so much heart.

Heart is my personal favourite part of the three Jojo shows I've seen prior to this (Gay OK Bangkok, The Warp Effect and 3 Will Be Free) and OF is absolutely sticking with the trend.

What I mean by heart, fyi, is the you can be empathetic and sympathetic to every single character because Jojo is good at making his characters HUMAN, rather than making heroes and villians.

(You get to wish Ray would speak up, while wishing Sand would ASK. You get to understand that Ray can't speak because he doesn't think he's important to Sand, and that Sand can't ask because Ray has already said their just friends, all the while forgetting that Ray only says that because Sand insisted on it first.)

(You get to know that Mew called Boston for advice, maybe because what he wanted wasn't advice, but a final push because he's already gone over Top and he just want's someone to say "Yes you should do this" and he knew Boston would say it. and Boston gives good advice: go on, have fun, he won't get bored and use protection! even while he is wondering how the fuck he got to this point)

(You get to watch Nick try so hard for Boston, in every way he can think of. He looks so content in Boston's arms and yet he looks so broken at Ray's warning because he ALREADY KNOWS and he considers it far too late.)

You get to know about Boston's blackmail, and Nick's blackmail. You get to know about Top's inability to sleep and Ray's inability to stop drinking. You get to know the Ray grew up alone while Sand grew up surrounded. You get to understand that even as Ray moves on from his romantic feelings for Mew, Mew will remain an important part of his life, because having someone as your emergency contact isn't erased just because you're no longer in love with them. You get to know Top regrets sleeping with Boston, and that he genuinely cares about Mew even as you know that Mew is about to consider Top's history as a huge betrayal.

Every single episode reveals pieces of these characters which makes my heart ache and my understanding grow.

It also makes my brain burn because we're only 5 episodes in and there's so much more to come...

and I love it.

Because putting all my heart and soul into these characters is safe, not because anything is guaranteed to end well, tied up in a neat little bow, but because their choices are going to make sense, their choices are going to be motivated by empathy and sympathy and love, but also anger and hate and lust and jealousy. Because these characters are human, young adults in their 20s, and humans are the sum of so many complicated life experiences.

So Jojo's shows are special, because they're full of humans. And humans are special because they are full of heart.

and that's what I'm loving most about Only Friends.

[houkagokappa]

More Yuri, More Manga

It's been a year since I embarked on my journey to read more yuri manga and it's time for a second update!

After all the yuri manga I read for my previous post, I set my eyes on josei and came to the conclusion that josei that either focuses on wlw or contains wlw relationships, is the best kind of manga there is. I read a lot of josei, and as for works that were also yuri, I read Love My Life, Indigo Blue and Free Soul by Yamaji Ebine, based on a recommendation from @theurbanfuturesoftherecentpast (thank you!!!). Yamaji Ebine has a neat minimalist style and she writes messy complex characters. All her manga had a realistic feel to them, which I enjoyed.

I explored other queer works and stumbled upon Yuri to Koe to Kaze Matoi by Renjouji Mei, which is a yuri manga focused on two asexual women and their relationship. Once again, I found the characters highly relatable and realistic. It's nice to see some asexual representation, but at the same time, I wouldn't have minded more development between them, although that might be on me and the expectations I have when I pick up a new yuri title, that unfortunately didn't fit this manga or topic. Both characters were ace, but the protagonist felt romantic attraction whereas her crush didn't. While they got a happy ending, I didn't feel fully satisfied, and would've liked if the manga had explored the partially unresolved feelings more, mostly due to personal reasons, even if the conclusion would've been the same (which it probably would've).

Back to some high school yuri, I finished Omoi no Kakera by Takemiya Jin, which I actually started reading early last year. It's another manga that's relatable to me, as it portrays characters with different sexualities, who befriend each other due to the shared experience of being young, closeted queer people. We got wlw/mlm solidarity, and characters who are more secure with their sexualities looking over those who are still trying to figure theirs out. The interactions and communities reminded me of the queer youth group I used to be part of :') In addition to that, I liked the portrayal of different kinds of attraction, and how the focus was on the life of a queer person, rather than a specific romance they experienced, since there's indeed more to being queer than some singular love story. Out of all the manga on this list, this is one of my top recommendations, and at some point I should check out Takemiya's other works. She's out as a lesbian, and you can tell she writes based on lived queer experiences.

One day when I didn't have anything else to read, I picked up Luminous=Blue by Iwami Kyoko (same author as Kyou wa Kanojo ga Inai kara). It had the same beautiful artstyle as Kyou wa Kanojo ga Inai kara, was slightly less toxic, but equally messy when it came to the relationships. Luminous=Blue is about a transfer student who loves photography. She starts taking photos of her two new classmates, who unbeknownst to her used to go out with each other, and still harbour some lingering feelings towards each other. I was a fan of the different relationship dynamics and happy with the direction the manga and the relationships took, although the last pages included a twist which felt a little out of place. It's a shame, because if it had been given more time, it could've been a very interesting and welcome development, and I'm curious if Kyou wa Kanojo ga Inai kara will go in a similar direction, since it has the prerequisites for it.

I also read Toumei na Usui Mizuiro ni by the same author, which had an interesting premise of a girl with a crush on her female childhood friend, who was dating their other, male childhood friend. Normally I like this kind of setting with love triangles that include both straight and queer relationships, but since this was only 3 chapters long, the characters and their dynamics weren't established enough for the story to feel as cohesive and satisfying as it could've. At least the art was gorgeous once again, and I enjoyed the messy relationships. The volume contained two one shots as well, which I think were kinda fun, but I cannot remember that well anymore.

Next up, I read Moonlight Flowers by Tsukumo Mutsumi, based on a personal recommendation from someone who has since escaped tumblr. It's one of the older yuri works there are, as it was written in 1989. It's only one volume long and contains two stories about women who are pressured to marry men, and end up in miserable marriages, until they decide to leave their husbands to be with the women they love. It has a strong feminist message and I've seen a lot of people praise it online, but I wasn't too fond of it. I couldn't quite connect with the characters, and because of that, I didn't particularly enjoy reading about women lacking rights, or homosexuality not being socially accepted. However, I can see how others might be able to feel inspired or empowered reading about characters who overcome the obstacles in their way. It was also quite dramatic, but I will always be in favour of that (even when it's ridiculous, like it was here).

I continued with Sakura no Sono by Yoshida Akimi, which was another recommendation from the same person. It's another old manga, first published in 1985, about the romances of four girls in a drama club of an all girls high school. I found Yoshida's style charming, but it's not among my personal favourites. Some characters looked quite similar and were hard to distinguish. It was disappointing to realise that only one chapter focused on a girl crushing on another girl, while the other romances and the majority of the manga were about straight characters/relationships. If I would've known that from the start, I could've adjusted my expectations accordingly, which is a shame, because now I'm mostly disappointed by the lack of yuri, and it's harder for me to appreciate the work as a whole. It was decent, but quite forgettable.

Then I completed Watashi no Muchi na Watashi no Michi by Momono Moto (same author as Yuunagi Marbled and Kimi Koi Limit from my previous post). I first started reading it 5 years ago, but didn't finish it due to the scanlation taking its sweet time. Now I read it from start to finish. It's about a woman in her early 20's, who's spent all her life pleasing others, and is on the path to marry a male childhood friend of hers, simply out of duty to him and her mom, before her female coworker steps in and swoops her away. The manga takes a weird turn after that, as it turns out the coworker might've had some ulterior motives getting close to our protagonist, but it's interesting, until a somewhat abrupt ending. It was nice to read about a young adult who never cared for romance until she fell in love with her coworker, and for once I didn't even mind the plot point where she was about to marry a man, since it made sense for them and he wasn't overly vilified for how he reacted to her rejection or the reveal of her relationship with another woman (not that it was great either). The art was nice and I liked all the characters. It wasn't anything groundbreaking, but it was a fun read.

Another recommendation from @theurbanfuturesoftherecentpast was Maka-Maka by Kishi Torajiro, an adult manga about the close relationship between two best friends, Jun and Nene. The manga is two volumes long with short chapters in full colour, which required some adjustment from me as I'm usually only reading manga in black and white. It didn't feel like any other yuri I've read, in a good way! My absolute favourite part was how comfortable Jun and Nene were with each other, with a strong mental connection, and frequent, casual sexual encounters. Their relationship felt real and I loved how they kept smiling throughout the sex scenes, which made for an interesting combination of wholesome and horny. I highly recommend this manga, as I'm still thinking about it months later...

Next up, I read Watashi no Sekai wo Kousei suru Chiri no You na Nani ka. by Amano Shuninta. It's about seven university students and their ever changing relationships. Once again, the protagonist was a whole mood as she complained about all her friends having boyfriends which she hated, having a very relatable crush on one of said friends, before getting to live the fantasy of ending up with her. I looooved the inclusion of a toxic lesbian (and her toxic lesbian clique) who would sleep around and toy with others, letting lesbians be flawed people too, but also having wholesome and genuinely good people in the cast, as a counterbalance and showcase of the whole spectrum of different people with different views on love and sex (especially fitting for the university age/setting). There were happy times, but also angst and heartbreak, and bittersweet love, between women who truly cared for each other, but weren't suitable for each other as they had different needs when it came to their relationship and sex life. At first it was a little challenging to keep track of seven different characters, but by the end of it I really enjoyed the various relationship dynamics and the somewhat unlikely friendships that formed between them.

I also read Sweet Guilty Love Bites by Amano Shuninta, which consisted of three short stories about four cabaret girls. The first story was about one of the cabaret girls taking in a random woman she came across, which I didn't care for that much. The second story was about a single mother who unknown to her, hooked up with her child's kindergarten teacher. First she freaked out, thinking she'd be judged for her profession, but the kindergarten teacher was chill and only looking to date her. It was very sweet to see them take care of the child together. I also loved the third story about two cabaret girls who were best friends and roommates, with one of them being very vocal about her love towards women and other cabaret girls, which is a trait I always appreciate. Seeing her pining for her friend/roommate/coworker was great, and precisely the kind of stuff I love! Amano has a lot more in her library and after enjoying these two manga, I think the rest are worth checking out as well. I especially like how her characters are allowed to be horny, but there’s more to her manga than just sex.

Then I picked up Kimi to Shiranai Natsu ni Naru by Keyyan, thanks to the premise which sounded relatable. It’s about two women who are at the end of their university studies and looking for work in Tokyo, facing rejection after rejection. They’ve had enough of it and decide to run away from all the expectations and responsibilities to a small island. First of all, what a mood. Second, I really liked the art, especially the character expressions, and how well their excitement was conveyed. The island setting was also A+, and I loved the portrayal of young adults who were in an established relationship, with no uncertainty or drama about the same-sex relationship itself. They were devoted to each other, and the reason both of them wanted to work hard, so they could provide for one another. Besides that, my feelings towards this manga went back and forth quite a lot. First I enjoyed the escapism, but then I had to take a break because it became too idealised with conveniences you can't count on in real life. Once I picked it back up again, I realised that the story actually does stick to reality, when the characters start to worry about money and finding permanent work on the island. While I was happy with that development, it backfired as I was reading this while I was away from home myself, and anxious about my own future in regards to my education and employment, so reading about their struggles felt a bit too real and stressful. Unfortunately, it seems like the series got axed, because the ending was sudden and can be interpreted in two opposing ways, one depressing, one hopeful, and neither fits the story I can only assume the series wanted to tell. It's still a manga worth reading, but maybe in the right mindset.

Although I try to stay away from ongoing works, Dore ga Koi ka ga Wakaranai by Oku Tamamushi seemed fun, so I couldn't help but check it out. It’s about a girl who is unable to confess to her high school crush of 3 years, and starts university determined to find a girlfriend. And oh boy does she find potential girlfriends! She instantly meets and falls for five different women, who also become enamoured with her. What follows is a bunch of flirting, some deliberate, some accidental. The catch is, she doesn't know which one to pursue seriously. The tone is lighthearted and comedic, and the series is best described by the tagline to one of the chapters as "an endless conveyor belt of yuri encounters". I like all the girls, the girls and their embarrassed or flustered expressions are very cute, and instead of the setting falling apart with five people never confessing or trying to seriously pursue the main girl, some do, while others have believable reasons to hold back. The pace is quick enough for any interruptions or miscommunications to not feel aggravating, with several encounters each chapter. I'm curious to see how the manga will continue and potentially end, with some ships seeming more likely than others, since there has been some actual development! I'll also throw it out there, that this manga is a good example of why dark haired girl/light haired girl is an established pairing, since the main pursuer at the moment has light hair and bangs like the protagonist, and it can be a little difficult to tell them apart from some panels or angles.

Another ongoing work I began reading because it ticked the right boxes for me was Sukeban to Tenkousei by Fujichika. As the name suggests, it’s about the somewhat unlikely relationship between a delinquent girl and a sweet transfer student. The manga is set in the Showa era in the 80s and has very charming art. I thought it would be pretty lighthearted and fun, opposites attract type of story, but then one of the characters saw how romantic love was defined as feelings towards the opposite sex, heartbroken by the fact there wasn't a name for her feelings, and I was in tears thinking of anyone who's ever felt that pain. Otherwise, it's mostly a comedy and a fun, easy read, with not that many chapters out yet.

Finally, reaching the anniversary of my year long yuri journey, I finished reading the manga adaptation of Murasakiiro no Qualia, by Ueo Hisamitsu and Tsunashima Shirou. It's a sci-fi series with psychological and mystery elements, about Yukari, a girl with purple eyes who sees humans as robots, and Gaku, the protagonist who befriends her. There are a lot of twists and turns to the story, and it gets gory and dark, as Yukari uses her abilities to help the police solve murder cases and later gets involved with a secret organisation. It's also very philosophical and a bit difficult/slow to read at times, when characters get surprisingly deep into quantum mechanics. I liked the narration a lot, because there's a lot of repetition and Gaku, who's telling the story, jumps back and forth on the timeline, giving the reader more context and insights each time. I was also a huge fan of the character development she went through, starting to exhibit truly unhinged behavior to a level that's hard to find elsewhere, but also oddly reminiscent of Madoka Magica? The ending was satisfying, and it was cool to see it circle back to the beginning. I didn't know anything about this manga beforehand and after a curious start, it kept getting better and better. I originally found out about it in the tags of a tumblr post complaining about variety in yuri, so this is me giving back to the community and passing on the recommendation.

...That was a lot more yuri to add to the library, and there are still so many different works I look forward to reading! I don't know if I'll continue documenting my journey, as I'm probably going to slow down on the yuri a bit, but who knows if the bug bites me again and I won't read anything else for months on end! Again, thank you for reading through all this, I hope you're inspired to read some yuri yourself, and if you have any recommendations I'm always happy to hear them!

[kenjiyabuki]

stuff that made me go 👀 from ep1

Well, gore-y horror from between 70s-90s w queer subtext is one of my most favorite genres ever, so obviously this show is right up my alley. Just the idea of Thai folk horror and 90s slasher fusion w a bunch of tense gay situationships sprinkled on top sounds like a dream to me <3

so OFC I enjoyed the first episode, the gore, haunting past, creepy mask and dick biting and all & now i'm ready to theorize

here are some little details that got my attention and some thoughts that were thunk by me:::::

After Por's (Us) classic setting-the-up-story horror tale gets called out as teasing from White (Fuaiz), Por and Top (Jet) turn the accusation back to his boyfriend Tee (JJay), calling him the best at tricking the younger ones/newcomers to the group.

Based on the trailers, it's safe to assume that in the past, it was Non (Barcode) who was the gullible young one and he was bullied (among other things that will happen to him) even after group decided to utilize him for the short film. Compared to loudmouths Por and Top, Tee seems more on the quiet and stoic side (albeit w anger issues) so this is definitely a clue. Trailers made me think Por was the main terrorizer of Non but maybe Tee played a bigger role.

If Non is the whatever the hell that is dwelling the forest, then why did he cop a feel from Tee while him and White were busy being the couple who chooses the worst time and place to get nasty in a horror? Is it a payback for the tricking the young ones Tee was so good at?

If this isn't a translation mistake, Jin (Copper) calls the movie "his" even though the credits says otherwise.

Firstly, I want to thank my trusty Yandex Image Translator for making this revelation possible:

While Jin says that he made the film for a contest he was in, it's Por who is credited as the Writer/Director/DoP. In fact, Jin's name is only under the cast list, along w Tee, Top and Fluke (Bump).

And maybe even MORE IMPORTANTLY, although we clearly saw him in the movie, taking off the mask just before Por shuts of the laptop & later Top admits he wrote the story, Non's name is nowhere to be seen in the credits. Not only he "disappeared", they also made it seem like he wasn't there in the first place. Uhmm, that's a cunty move to do to an old "friend"...

That really suspicious and ambiguous conversation between Tee and Por.

They might be talking about Non BUT Tee specifically says he doesn't want HIM, which i'm assuming to be White, to get involved and find out more. Por's face drops at first but then he brushes it off w saying it wouldn't matter even if he did because its not relevant anymore.

There are also other new guys who are oblivious to their past but it's White who is worrying Tee. Along w Por's reaction and him constantly teasing their relationship, I think this might be a sign that Tee and Por might have some kind of history??? I am hoping that as messy gay entangled relationships on top of the supernatural horrors would be even more fun!!!!!!!!!

Phi and White's lil sexual tension moment.

Here's the thing: this wasn't even a set up for Jin or Tee to get jealous or anyone to get thoughts because they weren't there to see it. It just happened so quickly and then Phi turned back his attention to Jin to get scolded (as he should) BUT i was stuck on it because what was the reason????????????? Why did White seemed lost in thought over it?

Jin might be jealous of Tan (Mio) for some fucking reason?

Jin gives Phi half a blowjob, BITES HIS DICK (best moment of the ep), chews him out (verbally) and then suggests Tan in his place. Well, Tan and Phi do seem close and Tan knows about their failed FWB. Still, it's interesting that Jin singled out Tan and thinks they had a similar thing, even though Phi assures him that isn't the case.

Honestly, the possibility of tangled relationships is getting to me AHHHH I didnt get that vibe from the trailer at all but I will be glad to see it. Insert the *I'm excited because I love mess* gif I cant be bothered to search rn.

Top being the token salacious fool archetype of this slasher.

Following up on the theme of horror gays being in entangled situationships: A high Top making passes at his friends might not lead anywhere as it just might be him fulfilling his role as the facetious, big mouth guy. But i will just put it aside just in case..... 👀👀

Bonus strays thoughts::

According to character profiles, all the boys are the same age, except Tan and White who are 2 years younger

Por says to Tan "you two got in [their friend group] in 12th grade". I am assuming other person is Phi as White got into the group as the boyfriend. I want to see how they got to be friends tho.

Smoker Tan has asthma and he needs an inhaler which definitely won't be a big problem in the future, right?

It's interesting how Phi wants to be a director and we fittingly saw him being a leader, being levelheaded and "directing" the critical situations, assigning roles to the group etc

Top claims Non is haunting them because they completed his film without him. Babygirl, I dont know if intellectual property theft is enough to turn into an evil ghost, I know you guys did more than that.

Random but I kinda want Fluke to be the Final Girl, surviving until the end w just a puke bag and 2 years of medicine knowledge.......

[lowcallyfruity]

Hihi! Welcome to my blog!

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

localanimeidiot -> lowcallyfruity

⟡ You can call me Lux or Honeydew !

⟡I am a MINOR!! Soo like- pls don’t be creepy 😋 please and thank you 👍

╰┈➤ Please do not follow me if you ONLY post N.S.FW. You will get blocked.

╰┈➤ I SOMETIMES make inappropriate jokes and reblog suggestive stuff. Sorry about that.

PLEASE. Let me know if you need something tagged.

↳ I’m also terribly sorry if my tagging is messy and inconsistent sometimes.

Pronouns page💥💥 | My art fight 🎨🖌️ | My strawpage 🍓🥤

⋆🇲🇽… Eng + Esp

⟡ My blog is a MESS. I post lots of different stuff, but it’s mostly twisted wonderland centered. With some P5(R)

⤷ But you’ll see stuff from other fandoms as well sometimes :) (most often reblogs)

╰┈➤ Speaking of TWST, I hc all of the characters (students) as queer, and most of them as neurodivergent, and I talk about it ALOT ALOT. So if you don’t like/are uncomfortable with constant talk about neurodivergence/gay stuff then maybe don’t follow me, but yeah just a heads up 👍

⟡ 😔 I’m cringe, annoying, I talk a lot and I’m very enthusiastic about lots of things!!!! I’m also very freaky and intense

⟢ I use gendered terms like bro,dude, girl and boy often as a joke and gender neutrally. Please let me know if you’re not okay with it

↳ I say slurs. (Faggot, Beaner, Dyke, Lesbo)

⟢ I can be REALLY bad at understanding and interpreting tone sometimes, so I apologize if I do not understand something!

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Tags below ᵎᵎ

TAGS!

જ⁀➴ general tags 𓂃

Z’s art💛?! (All my art!)

My creations💛! (Stuff I make that isn’t art. Shitposts/incorrect quotes, edits, videos etc.)

💛!me talking💀 (posts where I talk to my non-existent audience)

💛! reblogs

💛⏰! queued (WOW! I queue stuff when I’m in post limit)

​💛! asks (Anyone who sends me an ask will get 1 moneys)

જ⁀➴ Fandom tags𓂃

​💛! Z’s TWST adventures (TWST gameplay images)

​💛! Z and Young Sheldon

💛! Z and KNY

💛! Z and Persona 5R (P5R content. SPOILERS!)

💛! me and trolls 4ever (all trolls stuff)

💛! Z and Scott Pilgrim

💛! Z and Obey me (obey me stuffs. Currently for both OG and NB)

💛! stardew posting

💛! wuthering waves posting

💛! Cookie run talk

💛! Miss 🌙 & ☀️

​💛! Z and da Death Note

💛! Z and da one piece

💛! z and Pjsk

💛! Splatoon gaming

💛! z and mouthwashing (MY posts about the game mouthwashing. SPOILERS )

જ⁀➴ TWST BAYBEE𓂃

​🎉! transfem twst polls (the polls that are drove me insane)

🎉! genderfluid twst polls (I’m actually insane)

🎉! twst tism poll (Rubs hands evily)

AROACE JADE SUPREMACY‼️‼️‼️‼️ (my Aroace Jade adventures)

Non-binary ruggie 🤪 (Non-binary ruggie adventures)

Modern Leovil(???) AU (AU where Leona and Vil are divorced. Epel is their son. Hijinks ensue)

My twst ocs🪞💛

My obey me ocs ⌛️💛

Mc 💛: Lapis Ávalos (My Main TWST MC<3)

જ⁀➴ ship tags 𓂃

~I’m a multi-shipper! These are just my main ships/ones I post about a lot!~

sebeppy…..i love them… (My Sebek x Epel posts!)

idiasil…my beloved… (My Idia x Silver posts!)

ridtreykei (My Riddle x Trey x Cater posts! ￫ this tag is specifically for all 3 of them, so it won’t contain posts that just talk about Trey x Riddle or Trey x Cater! [And on the rare occasion Riddle x Cater] and don’t mention ridtreykei!)

azujami…my sillies… (My azul x Jamil posts)

​Leovil…the slays… (My Leona x Vil posts)

Kalirug…the pookies (My Kalim x Ruggie posts)

​jaderuggie…so silly (My Jade x Ruggie posts. They are queerplatonic to me)

​💛! Jadeotter (Jade + Kalim! They are platonic/queerplatonic to me💛 also includes stuff by other people!! )

💛! Bleeding Hearts (Rollo x August [Vice President NPC])

Flonei…so cool… (Floyd x Neige)

Akeshu…crazy… (Akechi x Joker/Akira)

Simsolo…is real (My Simeon x Solomon posts)

Sumitaba….sweep (My Sumi x Futaba posts)

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

₊˚⊹⋆ Thanks for reading :3 💛!

[heretherebedork]

I'm actually quite pleasantly surprised by the turn Only Friends took this week, at least in my vision. I've been enjoying the messy from everyone, but there is something nice about the idea that this whole thing might end with everyone coming out a better person. Each of these character's has issues, but I think it would be really..heartwarming? dare I say, for this show about messy babies to end with each of them doing better than they did at the start of the show.

I have personally felt that a lot of the discourse around OF has been clouded by shipping dynamics and people wanting branded pairs to end up together. Which, I think Ray and Sand are great together, so no complaints here. But I also think it's lead to this...over villianization of characters. People in their twenties can be really messy even if they don't have malicious intentions. They're figuring themselves out, and sometimes they take the L along the way.

We've all been a little bit self conceded like Mew or desperate for love like Ray. I found that this show is 10x more enjoyable when you go in assuming that everyone is just trying their best.

There's still like 3 more episodes so who knows, but I think a really good twist in only friends would be each character coming out more like themselves at the end of the show. :)

Oh, definitely.

I would have avoided much more of that if weren't for certain anons and comments, I admit.

All of the characters are people. They're hurt and selfish and good and frustrated and happy and eager and a little manipulative and a little boring and something they drink and some have more trouble and sometimes they fuck and they struggle and everyone is just... everyone is trying.

I do think we're going to get a mostly happy, if not a bit more open, ending. Everyone will still be here and the future stretches out in front of them because they're all young and learning and figuring things out.

We're just along for the ride.

I think that the force of pair branding as well as the movement against it has created a very interesting dynamic between the show and the fans that is creating so many expectations and hopes that nothing could ever live up, frankly, because they're contradictory.

I am enjoying the show for exactly what it is and I like the balance between heartwarming and toxicity that makes up real people and real relationships that they've reached, even if it some of it doesn't quite meet my expectations of hopes (still sad Mew wasn't as manipulative as I hoped but that was just me wanting more and not so much a commentary of the actual show).

We have three more episodes and, I am certain, a lot more pain.

But I think we come out the other side hopeful. I think we come out the other side knowing that, at the very least, there's something good ahead.

That's why I want Boeing to be Top's platonic queer friend after the break up. I want him to be the older example of who they could be, someone who loved and loves but learned the differences and learned how to be the friend his friend needed.

Anyway.

Yep!

I'd love to stay out of the moral quandaries, honestly, because it's fun and I love my meta but I also love pretty much all the folks.

Oh, and I hope we get to see Yo and Plug get back together. <3 She deserves that!

[dykerory]

My 10ish Favorite Books I read This Year (In No Particular Order) (But Then I Did Put Them In Order)

10. Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey

A really fun haunted house story about a woman who returns home decades after her father was caught torturing and killing young women. Whatever you think is happening is probably not. Absolutely adored the ending.

9. A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon

The highly anticipated follow up to the Priory of the Orange Tree did not disapoint! It's a doorstopper of a fantasy book that is about a) queer women b) dragons c) pretty compelling fantasy alchemical laws. This book, in my opinion, rectifies the imbalanced POV chapters that Priory struggled with and does an excellent job of weaving together its point of view characters.

8. "I Hate This Place Vol. 1" written by Kyle Starks, illustrated by Artyom Topilin and Lee Loughridge

A HYSTERICAL little horror comic about what if you inherited a farm that had absolutely everything wrong with it. I have vol. 2 locked and loaded once I get back from vacation

7. You Made a Fool of Death with your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi

A gorgeous, lush, romance book about how the heart wants what it wants, no matter how ill-advised it may be. I cannot over-emphasize the pervasive, sheer beauty of this book. The prose is sensual and exquisite, the world is stunning, and it has all the messy drama you could possibly want from a book like this.

6. Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

A Silvia Moreno-Garcia book that was made FOR me. It's got obscure, cult horror films, it's got complicated alchemy, it's got dark magic via movie, it's got two terrible bisexuals at the center of it all who cannot be normal about each other EVER. Perfect book. No notes.

5. Little Rabbit by Alyssa Songsiridej

Songsiridej absolutely ratfucked me to the docks and back with this little book. It's the story of a beautiful young woman falling in love with a hot older choreographer and getting into BDSM along the way. In many ways, tailor-made for my interests. It genuinely affected me in a really serious way and I eagerly await whatever Songsiridej writes next.

4. How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

This might be my favorite Hendrix novel yet. After the sudden death of their parents, siblings Mark and Louise fight over their parent's house and the content therein- namely, hundred and hundreds of puppets. It's about as normal as you think. It has that trademark Hendrix grodyness and a good amount of grief, love, and hope in its pages.

3. The Sluts by Dennis Cooper

I read this book back in February and I haven't stopped thinking about it for one single second. It's the story of an online fetish chatroom for gay men in the early 2000s and it quickly devolves into a story of identity theft, sex, murder, and just the nastiest things done to an asshole you can imagine. It's dark, it's shockingly funny, it's everything you could want from a book called the sluts

2. The Daevabad Trilogy by S.A. Chakraborty.

This is technically three books (four if you count the post-trilogy collection of short stories) but god I couldn't possibly choose just one of them to put on the list. This fantasy trilogy, inspired by islamic folklore, follows Nahri, a pickpocket living in French-occupied Cairo as she discovers a mystical world of djinn, magic, and danger. I can't sing this series' praises enough. The characters are so rich and compelling, the world is luscious and beautiful, and the plot has enough twists and turns to keep you hooked until the very last page.

1. Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder

Nightbitch owns so bad. I don't even really want to describe what it's about except that it's dogs. It's motherhood. It's art. It's nightbitch, bitch.

[charitet]

@charitet; writeblr introduction

hello! my name is tina and i’m a 22-years-old vietnamese american writer and artist

— about me

biromantic ace, enfp/enfj

genre fiction writer, with too many ocs and projects. open to writing any and all genres (with a special love for speculative fiction and horror). member of the wtw network

love writing about chaotic queer characters, large-scale disasters, epic adventures, found families, soulmates (in every sense of the word), and sitcom-style humor

tag game and ask friendly; my about page

will occasionally reblog and talk about nfsw and 18+ themes

other interests: anything relating to the ocean, pathology, virology, forensic science, and body horror

— main projects

the heaven above the sky

status: drafting season 1

genre: apocalyptic sci-fi, action, horror

a novel set in an apocalyptic world, where an ancient alien race has conquered earth and the main cast is humanity's last hope in fighting back. features a darker concept of superheroes, parasitic infection, and dramatic character studies amidst the end of the world

what if we never go home

status: worldbuilding/outlining

genre: military sci-fi, action

the first main series featured in an ever-expanding sci-fi universe. novels set in space, taking place hundreds of years after the heaven above the sky. an ex-traitor sets out to redeem himself and investigate the incident, that killed his entire team seven years ago

the dark ages

status: worldbuilding/outlining

genre: urban fantasy

a series, with five books in total. wyn doesn't realize what world she has accidentally stumbled into, when she witnesses her professor getting attacked by a mysterious hooded figure. that is, until she gets targeted by a hidden order for suddenly being fused to a demon soul she didn't ask for

we were buried in august

status: brainstorming

genre: horror, comedy, tragedy

a speculative fiction tv show with 3 seasons. after the capture of her serial killer father, soonie must now navigate through her newfound freedom; all while dealing with her chaotic brothers, growing feelings for a certain someone in her life, and her ability to see the supernatural

— side projects

(updated on 10/23/24)

autopsy

genre: literary fiction, low fantasy, horror

a novel about messy family dynamics, queer violence, and a forest that constantly watching you. after another death in their town, winona suddenly wakes up with the ability to shapeshift, not realizing the price she must pay to keep it

there's something tragic about you

genre: horror tragedy, drama

a web series with two seasons. vonnie must reconcile with her grief, after finding out about her friends' deaths in a massive murder suicide, that was led by a cult leader

young saints

genre: low fantasy, literary fiction

a contemporary novel about teenagehood, ghosts (or lack thereof), and a town in mourning. just when sheridan thought her remaining high school years couldn't get any worse, she has a run-in with a ghost that no one else can see

exhibition of bones

genre: literary fiction

a contemporary novel about the pain of nostalgia, siblings, and loneliness. a young girl must deal with newfound growing pains, when her older brother finally returns home after five long years

[livums]

a writeblr intro!

oops i’m posting it again... tumblr decided i wasn’t cool enough to actually show up in the tags, alas.

🌹 Liv/Olivia | she/he/they | 23 🌹

Hello 🎉! My name is Olivia (feel free to call me Liv)! I am a Black fantasy & romance author who focuses on themes of queer love & longing, sapphic intimacy, generational wounds & complicated familial relationships.

I also spend quite a bit of time creating digital art! A lot of it revolves around my WIPs these days, lol. You will certainly see art on this blog of my characters. Feel free to check out my art blog @lurrkingly​, or my art twitter here.

I am always looking for more authors/writing advice blogs to follow! Fellow writers please feel free to interact! I follow, like, and reply from my main/personal blog, @girlfriend-champion​​ :)

I am always open to ask and tag games!

I am tentatively open to critique partners–if we’re mutuals and we have similar reading/writing interests, please feel free to ask! <3

🌹 about my work 🌹

My writing tends to skew towards adult/emerging adult. I LOVE various flavors of fantasy (high, low, urban, action-adventure, Gothic). I like to spend time crafting intricate worlds (lore bibles are some of my favorite things to write) and magic systems.

My favorite works (to write and to read) all include some form of romance. I write romantic love and attraction between all genders, but ladies craving each other carnally is like music to me. LOL. So, some of my work features sexuality/intimacy, but this certainly varies widely from project to project (and I certainly will not be sharing this sort of content on tumblr, for reasons that should be obvious.lol).

I love to include elements of complex relationships in my writing–romantic, platonic, or familial. Human relationships are complicated and messy and awesome and frequently painful–and it’s important to me that my work reflects that.

I try particularly to explore in my work the lives and relationships of queer women of color (particularly Black & biracial women). I am always open to fantasy, romance, and sci-fi recs written by Black authors :)

🌹 my WIPs + tags 🌹

[More below the cut]

(Including pure writing projects AND art + writing projects)

General tag: #my WIPs

Character art tag: #character art

Weyward Blood (working title – characters & excerpt coming soon!)

Adult, novel, alternate history, Gothic, romance, low fantasy, supernatural, WLW, erotica

In an alternate history set in early modern south-central Europe, three estranged vampire-hunting sisters return to their hometown to attend the funeral of their father–the greatest hunter who ever lived. The sisters must reveal the truth of their father’s death and reckon with the resurrected remains of bygone love… before their city succumbs to the stalking evils.

Currently: [Drafting…]

Tag: #{sanguis in monte}

Taglist:

Sister Hollow (characters & excerpt coming soon!)

New adult, novel, WLW, low fantasy, action-adventure  

In a world wherein the psychic theocracy maintains strict harmony by cleansing the masses of negativity and grief, a particularly angry young  woman discovers psychic abilities of her own. When her ex-girlfriend steals away a dangerous memory, she must submit to the church’s training in order to reclaim what’s hers, and, along the way, learn what it   really means to feel her feelings. For she has much more in common with the ancient and almighty Holy Mother than she could have ever imagined.

Currently: [Drafting - HIATUS]  

Tag: #{the rival daughter}  

Taglist:  

Under the Sun

YA/New adult, short story, LGBT, romance, speculative fiction, eco-fiction

A  (tentatively) short story set in the speculative future of a certain metropolis in the American Midwest. After their parents are disappeared by the authorities for eco-sabotage, a teen endeavors to keep their head down and study their way into a better life for their little siblings. They meet a girl with a taste for uncivil disobedience, and the plan goes radically awry.

Currently: [Outlining…]

Tag: #{the daisy and the daylily}

Taglist:

BW (really working title)

New adult, webcomic (?), LGBT, romance, high fantasy, action-adventure, magic

A plucky fire mage loses her elemental abilities when her horns snap in a traumatic accident. She enlists in an empire-wide magic competition anyways.  She’s got to win her girlfriend back, after all, before she’s married off to the reclusive prince. And if, along the way, she  happens to utterly charm five other competing girls… well. That works, too.

Currently: [Drawing and daydreaming - HIATUS]

Tag: #{matrimonium}

Taglist:

🌹 about me - miscellaneous 🌹

Fun Facts?

I play too much League of Legends

I’m a licensed marriage and family therapist

If left perfectly alone, I will naturally shift to a nocturnal sleep schedule. This not as cool as it sounds.

I like D&D!

Currently reading:

Kushiel’s Legacy - Jacqueline Carey

The Parable of the Sower - Octavia E. Butler

The Ask and the Answer - Patrick Ness (REREAD)

Come as You Are - Dr. Emily Nagoski, PhD (REREAD)

I look forward to getting cozy on writeblr! Feel free to ask me whatever, or interact if you’re looking for new author mutuals! <3

[valerianinc]

Our podcast is currently in an active preproduction state. The episodes are being written, the team is being formed, the unbearable animal fear of telling the story to more than two people which feels like holding the whole world on your shoulders like a titan but you are a proud spaghetti-handed fella and are standing on the nails of your own expectations– is being spread slowly... And all the other joys of the creative process! So, to lighten the mood, here's a small list of media we take inspiration from and why:

– Camp here & there

One of our biggest inspirations dialogue-wise. Blue Mayfield once said that one of the hardest things, while creating a podcast, is to make people sound like... people! And we totally agree with that! We look up to Mayfield&Co. and hope to reach the level of writing brilliance which is "Camp here & there".

Art done by @vranart

– La La Land (2016)

"Here's to the fools who dream" – we say. "Road to Moscow" is a lot of things and it is definitely a story about love and dreams, and about how one can harm the other. We could spend hours talking about the artistic genius of "La La Land"! While our budget, unlike the uppermentioned, is an astounding zero of money, it doesn’t stop us from dreaming big.

Art done by @jewishgayrat

– BoJack Horseman

We'd love to be able to talk about serious matters like this show did. Although we also hope to bring more diversity to it. So, BoJack Horseman, but with a lower age rating (note: "Road to Moscow" is aged for audiences sixteen and up) and queer! Like extremely queer! Like.. Everyone Is Queer!

Art done by @valerijworlds

Image description:

1. A digital drawing of Vlas Danchenko depicting him from the waist up. The piece is done in colder, muted colors. Vlas is a tall, broad young man with brown skin, long curly black hair, dark brown eyes, some facial hair, visible body hair, a dark scar on his palm and numerous scars on his wrist and forearm. He is wearing a dark blue t-shirt with the Camp Here and There logo on it: a teal hourglass with white sand, a yellow crescent moon in the top half of it, and a yellow forest landscape in the bottom half. He is looking to the side with a neutral expression and holding up a tape recorder with his left hand, seeming to speak into it. The background is solid grey with a white dotted line circle behind Vlas's head.

2. A stylized ink and pencil drawing of Zhivago Vita Oberon depicting him from the waist up. Zhivago is a thin young person with lilac skin, wavy purple hair that goes slightly past her collarbones, red eyes, fangs and pointy ears. He is wearing an oversized white t-shirt. Zhivago is disheveled and wide-eyed, raising one of her hands, aggravated as he says, "what do you mean you don't like jazz?", the text written in messy cursive handwriting.

3. A cartoonish digital drawing of Chanel Bojko depicting him in side view from the chest up. Chanel is a fat young man with freckled light skin and blond shoulder-length hair cut in layers. He is wearing a light green off-the-shoulder top and silver infinity sign earrings. He is pressing a bottle of space-looking liquid to his lips, throwing his head back with his eyes closed as he drinks from it.

Chanel himself is colored in soft, slightly pinkish hues, while the background is a vivid halo of orange, purple and teal.