#not by me though

[yabagofmilfs]

sort of watching bridgerton and hm someone from another country betrothed, sight unseen, to a king who turns out to be some kind of unhinged little freak? the fics write themselves.

[sweetfirebird]

OKAY so I don't know when the trend started and I do not object to the trend, but having read several of the "magic exists alongside regency/19th century/late Victorian/Edwardian/just post WWI" m/m romances they all... every single one that I've read (which is obviously not all of them) has kept the existing historical time period biases and prejudices and laws in place, whether or not the magic is known.

And I am sure there are a multitude of reasons for this: it's easier, for one, for the author to not have to add a new level of worldbuilding to a romance novel that the rest of the world unfortunately will not take seriously. It adds a level of drama. It shuts up the people concerned with "historical accuracy." It can be done really well, in really painful but good ways. And so on.

But I read another one of these yesterday, and it's from a few years ago so trends might have changed since then. But I read it and I thought a couple of things that I've thought before about the current adult fantasy/romantasy thing but this was a more explicit and direct thought.

That maybe, just maybe, a lot of this is also because of Harry Potter, and the generation of people who grew up with it and are now writing, or the people who read it as young adults and are now writing, or the people who want to emulate a popular thing, are constructing their stories this way without really thinking about it. Or trying to do something new with it.

--Not that people are required to do something new with every trope out there. But you'd think I'd find a few books where the status quo was different, is all I am saying.

Anyway, it occurred to me after I finished this one that if this book had started out originally--even if only in the author's mind--as HP fanfiction, I could see it. And then I thought, oh, is that maybe the reason (or part of the reason) that so many people in m/m romance are writing worlds with magic but in which the people with magic have not altered the course of world history in any way, even when capable of doing so?

And it's a fine, fun trope but every book? Every single one leaves classism, racism, and homophobia of the time intact and the magic world seems unconcerned with that. Or, they could even make it *worse* because of magical interference. It's not like people with magic would be any less dickish than everyone else. But it's the lack of questioning that bugs me when I read them.

(And also like a lot of trends in media, starts to get fairly predictable, but predictable is part of what people like about romance, so that's whatever.)

I never read HP besides the first book, but I did used to read HP AUs (because they were everywhere) and to me, they just read like original fiction with fun gimmicky magic shit, and that's what I think I was feeling again when reading these.

No judgment, obviously. Just something that was bugging me and now I think it will better because I've named the beastie.

[ewingstan]

Seen a few posts re: how obviously queer Pact is, and I got thinking on how that plays with some of the other political themes going on in the text. For instance, Conquest isn’t just the idea of conquest personified, he’s specifically a personification of the colonization of Canada and a white nationalism’s continual crushing of first nations people under its heel. I think this is relevant to the the Blake-as-Transmasc reading of Pact: its somewhat notable that Rose, who through this reading is basically the socially-enforced gender made monstrous, draws her power from Conquest. Because that’s kind of a big political statement there! A character symbolizing the ways pressures to play an assigned gender role destroys the self, using the power of racist institutions to get her way—there’s a strong intersectional analysis to be had there!

[puppyeared]

filipina miku!! my mom helped me with her outfit ^_^

[ryan-sometimes]

I had to stop smoking sativa because whenever I smoked sativa at parties I would turn into an absolute menace and start bullying men specifically for no reason. I turned into public enemy number one of college boys

[sisterdragonwithfeathers]

this is your random reminder to CHECK IF YOU'RE STILL HAVING FUN

are you enjoying scrolling tumblr? watching youtube? reading that book? playing that game? drawing that art? doing that activity? if not,

YOU CAN STOP AND DO SOMETHING ELSE

you don't have to stick to something that you are doing for fun if it isn't fun for you anymore. You can come back! If you've loved it before you are likely to love it again! but you can stop!

Don't get stuck in a loop of doing something that you think should be fun when it isn't! You can put it down for a bit! Maybe that's the very thing that will make it fun again later!

[kochei0]

I turn to Ares.

Thanks to Tyler Miles Lockett who allowed me to draw inspiration from his ARES piece for page 2! Look at his etsy page it's SICK

⚔️ If you want to read some queer retelling of arturian legends have a look at my webtoon

[butchfalin]

the funniest meltdown ive ever had was in college when i got so overstimulated that i could Not speak, including over text. one of my friends was trying to talk me through it but i was solely using emojis because they were easier than trying to come up with words so he started using primarily emojis as well just to make things feel balanced. this was not the Most effective strategy... until. he tried to ask me "you okay?" but the way he chose to do that was by sending "👉🏼👌🏼❓" and i was so shocked by suddenly being asked if i was dtf that i was like WHAT???? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?????????? and thus was verbal again

[ithappensoffstage]

I am genuinely so worried for all the young horny dykes going into adulthood thinking there's something "problematic" / "wrong" with them for being horny because fucking tiktok lesbians think any horny dyke content is "male gaze fetishistic"

[qrowpilled]

hate when you find a character whose so infuriatingly Your Type that its embarrassing like yeahg no one is gonna be surprised when i announce this is my new Guy Of The Month

[sadclowncentral]

nearly had a medical emergency today because - and i cannot stress enough how little i am making this up - a helicopter landed in front of an open grain silo while i was getting off my ship and i am deathly allergic to the wheat that said helicopters rotor blades proceeded to blast in my face at full force. the cosmic forces are plotting against me ass situation to be in

[jabberwick]

Human Bill Cipher

(Based on Alex Hirsch's "canon" design)

And just to be clear, writing dissertations at me justifying why he should instead be a conventionally attractive twink will involuntarily cause me to draw him with even fewer teeth.

[bug-s0da]

blehhh...

i made an aa/lawyersona of @snapscube :3 we all know and love the lawyer+silly girl duos of ace attorney but it's about time the silly girl became the lawyer

[brickcollector]

He is so orange

[junglejim4322]

do you think a 5'4 and 6'2 height difference is predatory?

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[deaddriv]

Translated with permission!!

Here's the author's Twitter (achu_0u0) and the original post!

Note from author: Wouldn't it be hard for half-foots to go to the movie theater?