#once it’s published lol

[communistkenobi]

While queer studies remains the most hospitable place to undertake transgender work, all too often queer remains a code word for “gay” or “lesbian,” and all too often transgender phenomena are misapprehended through a lens that privileges sexual orientation and sexual identity as the primary means of differing from heteronormativity.

Most disturbingly, “transgender” increasingly functions as the site in which to contain all gender trouble, thereby helping secure both homosexuality and heterosexuality as stable and normative categories of personhood. This has damaging, isolative political correlaries. It is the same developmental logic that transformed an antiassimilationist “queer” politics into a more palatable LGBT civil rights movement, with T reduced to merely another (easily detached) genre of sexual identity rather than perceived, like race or class, as something that cuts across existing sexualities, revealing in often unexpected ways the means through which all identities achieve their specificities.

The field of transgender studies has taken shape over the past decade in the shadow of queer theory. Sometimes it has claimed its place in the queer family and offered an in-house critique, and sometimes it has angrily spurned its lineage and set out to make a home of its own. Either way, transgender studies is following its own trajectory and has the potential to address emerging problems in the critical study of gender and sexuality, identity, embodiment, and desire in ways that gay, lesbian, and queer studies have not always successfully managed. This seems particularly true of the ways that transgender studies resonate with disability studies and intersex studies, two other critical enterprises that investigate atypical forms of embodiment and subjectivity that do not readily reduce to heteronormativity, yet that largely fall outside the analytic framework of sexual identity that so dominates queer theory.

— Transgender Studies: Queer Theory's Evil Twin by Susan Stryker (2004)

[djarins-cyare]

Wedding Day

The air is thick with the scent of wildflowers, the earth hums beneath your feet. A copse of trees rises before you, a cathedral carved by nature herself. There, beneath a wooden arch crowned with blossoms, he waits.

For countless years, he hid his heart — a wanderer forged by loss, a heart hardened by solitude, a hunter cloaked in shadows and whispers. Yet beskar was no match for your affection. He chased you, and you chased back, and now he revels in new strength uncovered.

The courage to love.

Now, ancient vows bind your fate, soft as petals, yet strong as roots. Promises made of knowledge eternal — ni kar’tayli gar darasuum — before trembling hands lift his helmet.

Nobody sees but you. You are your own witness as brown eyes, once dimmed by sorrow, now alight with quiet wonder, look upon you with singular devotion.

And you know: From this place, your journey begins.

No longer hunter and prey, two hearts, once adrift, now stride across the stars, towards a horizon of endless wonders — together.

[mspainttaz]

Vespa wip! I love her I love her I love h

[image id: an intimidating woman with sallow skin and and green hair. her hair is styled short and choppy with matching green eyeshadow/lipstick. vespa wears a slinky black dress held up by thin straps, alongside matching gloves. one hand hikes the skirt up to reveal a fishnet clad leg. the other hand hides behind her, showing the silhouette of a dagger. end i.d.]

[nattikay]

Correcting the Na'vi in the "Activist Survival Guide" Masterpost

A little over a year ago I made a post correcting some of the fake Na'vi in the Avatar: an Activist Survival Guide book based on some images taken from it that I saw in another post. Since then I've gotten my hands on digital copy of the full book and therefore found even more fake Na'vi terms and sentences, and I decided to make a single massive post to fix them all.

I was originally gonna do it as a regular tumblr post, but then decided to make it a google doc instead for the sake of having more formatting options.

Here's the document, enjoy, fellow nerds.

[14dayswithyou]

I HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN ABOUT REN'S BIRTHDAY!!! I PROMISE!!!!! There's been a lot of rain recently n half of my house is flooded now lol

[renirae]

FABLEHAVEN MOVIE IS REAL??? oh my god that is my FAVOURITE book series. please god I hope it ends up being good <3

(I'm keeping my expectations very low of course lmao, I've been burned wayyy too many times by bad movie adaptations. but honestly I'll just be happy if it brings more people into reading the book series!!

other than one or two things (*cough cough the horrific disaster of Brackendra cough cough*) it's such a SEVERELY underrated series and one of the only childhood favourites of mine that has actually held up enough that I enjoy rereading it to this day!!!) (also hands-down the best inclusion of indigenous peoples into worldbuilding that I've ever seen, which is really cool!!)

[cake-chad]

Gricko not making a deez nuts joke for like 15 episodes, managing to make three within like an hour, and then immediately becoming physically incapable of delivering the punchline, and then continuing to set up at least one incompletable joke for the next several sessions is comedic genius

[theorahsart]

bless these people from Hatchette, time and time again, offering way below mininum wage for book illustration work.

This happens to me like once a year, its always for something autism or mental health themed- I feel like they think they can get away with paying peanuts if its to a disabled artist. They like to throw in the classic 'this book is going to do so much good for the world' line, as if that's changes the fact that what they're paying wont even cover a month's rent.

Anyways, they offer barely anything (including no royalties, and a deadline thats in less than a month), and seemed to have forgotten that I got a book published with them that sends me royalty statements, so I know exactly how much profit they are earning from my one book lol

Buddies, you made like 12k from my book alone in the last 6 months, let alone all those other books you got out there in the world, some much more famous than me! Don't offer me a lousy £350 for 9 illustrations when I know you made 12k just from one book!

[netherese-blorb]

ngl I'm really proud of the passage I just wrote (´ ᴗ｀✿) preserving it here in case I need to sacrifice it later to the editing gods.

Snippet of the boat scene in act 3 with Gale and my tav, Cerela.

[freaky-flawless]

Well...I just finished the final Ghoulfriends book (not counting the Ghoul it Yourself book) Not really sure what to take away from it?

Its the case where the story builds up to this big reveal, where all the pieces are supposed to come together only for it to be underwhelming and obvious. Like...none of this would have happened if they'd just gotten rid of the dragon lady after the first book.

I've been under the impression for years that this story had its own version of how Hexiciah Steam is found, only to find out just this moment that this isn't the case. It's revealed in the story that Ramses De Nile had something to do with his disappearance, and in the epilogue Cleo finds a clue as to his whereabouts and hands it off to Robecca. And thats where it ends. There's apparently a continuance in the Ghoul-It-Yourself book of the ghoulfriends trying to track him down and I guess they just don't??? He's fully normie in this series, and his life goal was to find a way to mechanically extend the life span of normies, so they just kinda blindly hope that he managed to do that for himself and has secretly been alive for 100+ years. So the only version of Hexiciah's reemergence is in his SDCC doll diary, which doesn't tie into this at all.

Wydowna was another major disappointment. She only appeared at the very beginning of the book and the very end, and her role in the story is left weirdly vague. (She also got arrested in the third book which was wild #ACAB) I think she was supposed to be a spy for the villain but its not really spelled out exactly what she did. The only people she seemed to be spying on were high schoolers who had no idea what was going on. A LOT of weird shit happened around the school in the second book that must have been her, but no one in the story makes that connection? And its not mentioned at all. Like at one point Rochelle literally wakes up in a cocoon of webs for no reason, and no ones ever like "Wydowna what the fuck??" (Unless I'm wrong and it wasn't her, in which case its just never explained) And on top of that, despite the cover of the book showing her hanging out with the mains, they don't even end up as friends. In fact it seems Wydowna grew way closer to Cleo and Toralei at the end of the book who had previously taken any chance they could have to bully her lol. Such a wasted use of her character, and its such a shame considering she rarely features in the main canon, and she's so cool!

Oh Skelita and Jinafire were real useless too. They just showed up randomly following the villain around and that was it. Jinafire gave them a kung fu (or kung boo I guess) lesson out of nowhere which was weird and uncomfortable.

To give the book some credit though, I did like how the parents were included in the story. It was really refreshing, though I think Ghoulia's mom was mentioned more times than Ghoulia herself (who would have solved the entire mystery in less than an hour, but like I mentioned in a previous post, everyone but the main 3 are stupid)

I also like Sue Nami quite a bit, I was so worried that she'd end up being some kinda cheap twist villain, but nope! She has a fun pun name unlike a lot of the other characters (like...Fred Onarrival...c'mon man...) Definitely stealing her character for fics.

Sooo. Yeah. I have mixed feelings about this series as a whole. The first book was just plainly bad for sure, and the over arching story was disjointed and predictable (and actually follows a similar theme with monster supremacy as Frights Camera Action, just a lot worse) but once I accepted the fact that they were bad I could enjoy them a lot more. There were cute moments here and there, and starting each chapter with a Darko Dark illustration was delightful.

[thelaurenshippen]

this is a genuine question not at all meant as a rude gotcha, but I feel like I've seen lots of people cite the relatively low barrier of entry as a huge advantage of podcasts as a medium, "if you have access to decent audio tech you can make a podcast" etc etc. So where does the need to sell a script come in? Is it a financial thing, and IP thing, something else?

this doesn't read like a rude gotcha at all, it's a really good question! there is a much lower barrier to entry when it comes to podcasts compared to tv, film, theater, etc. (though not as low as writing a book if we're talking about hard resources - you can technically write a book with just a laptop and a dream and then self publish! though as a writer who has written a lot of scripts and four books (3 published) writing a book is a much bigger psychological burden imo lol).

the need to sell a script, for me, is entirely a financial thing. if I had the money to produce podcasts at the level I want to entirely independently, I would! I know how to do it! but, unfortunately, I really only have the funds to produce something like @breakerwhiskey - a single narrator daily podcast that I make entirely on my own.

and that show is actually a great example of just how low the barrier is: I actually record the whole thing on a CB radio I got off of ebay for 30 bucks, my editing software is $50/month (I do a lot of editing, so this is an expense that isn't just for that show) and there are no hosting costs for it. the only thing it truly costs me is time and effort.

not every show I want to make is single narrator. a lot of the shows I've made involve large casts, full sound design, other writers, studio recording, scoring, and sometimes full cast albums (my first show, The Bright Sessions had all of those). I've worked on shows that have had budgets of 100 dollars and worked on shows that cost nearly half a million dollars. if anyone is curious about the nitty gritty of budgets, I made a huge amount of public, free resources about making audio drama earlier this year that has example budgets in these ranges!

back in the beginning of my career, I asked actors to work for free or sound designers to work for a tiny fee, because I was doing it all for free and we were all starting out. I don't like doing that anymore. so even if I'm making a show with only a few actors and a single sound designer...well, if you want an experienced sound designer and to pay everyone fairly (which I do!), it's going to cost you at least a few thousand dollars. when you're already writing something for free, it can be hard to justify spending that kind of money. I've sound designed in the past - and will be doing so again in the near future for another indie show of mine - but I'm not very good at it. that's usually the biggest expense that I want to have covered by an outside budget.

but if I'm being really honest, I want to be paid to write! while I do a lot of things - direct, produce, act, consult, etc. - writing is my main love and I want it to be the majority of my income. I'm really fortunate to be a full-time creative and I still do a lot of work independently for no money, but when I have a show that would be too expensive to produce on my own, ideally I want someone else footing the bill and paying me to write the scripts.

I love that audio fiction has the low barrier to entry it does, because I think hobbyists are incredible - it is a beautiful and generous thing to provide your labor freely to something creative and then share it with the world - but the barrier to being a professional audio drama writer is certainly higher. I'm very lucky to already be there, but, as every creative will tell you, even after you've had several successes and established yourself in the field, it can still be hard to make a living!

anyway, I hope this answers your question! I love talking about this stuff, so if anyone else is curious about this kind of thing, please ask away.

[seoafin]

morgan I wish I could work different places like you but literally they don't pay well at all 😭 how do you do it???

sorry i definitely don't mean to glorify or romanticize quitting your 9-5 corporate job that pays the bills to work at a bookstore or cafe because of the hashtag aesthetic (also chances are you will still get abused by shitty customers) 😓 so let me give you some context: i am working 2 part time jobs and one somewhat paid internship (the other 2 are not), i live in new york where many service jobs pay $20-$25 an hour, i am literally living off an annual income that many people would consider unlivable, and most importantly i don't have loans to pay off which means i can afford to live on pennies. like . not to say im struggling because i'm comfortable but i'm going to be taking a pay cut if i quit my corporate job and get hired at the bookstore. i can afford it but i wouldn't recommend it. personally, it's probably more beneficial for me since i want to work in publishing. but yeah. my corporate job actually sucks and they also love talking shit for a group of people that are too lazy to clean up after themselves. it genuinely pisses me off. anyway. if any of you work in corporate i hope you are nice and respectful to your receptionist or whoever takes care of the office.

[landwriter]

Heya, I love your writing and taste in things.

I’ve finished (and loved) everything you’ve posted <3

Are there any sandman fics that have tickled your fancy lately?

Thank you so much!!! I sadly do not have time to read near as much Sandman fic as I'd like, but I have scoured both my memory and my bookmarks on AO3 (all twelve of them) and dug up some absolutely wonderful stories - hope at least one or two of these is new to you?!

I am probably a bit weird in this, but I don't bookmark fics I love (which is really nearly all I've read) insamuch as fics that have done something in particular that I think is so well-executed or clever or inspiring that I want to be able to study it like a creature in its own right. Usually these are stories that have the traits I admire most in fiction: economy of language, being very fucking funny, making me viscerally uncomfortable, or outright haunting me.

I loved reading all of them but your mileage may vary! Caveat lector like more than half of these are smut and/or violent so please check the tags against your own preferences. Several long-winded recs with excerpts and explanations under the cut:

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The Birthday of the Beast | @slythernim | Dream/Hob | T | 3.3K

Father Almighty, though I have long not been your servant, I remain your unmanageable son. Here on Earth, closer to Hell than to Heaven, as I celebrate perhaps the least holy of holy days, I must imagine myself like unto Lucifer more than as Michael, that he and I might together make of the darkness a place for humanity to grow. He blows out the candles. 

Hob turns 666. Extremely fun fic by Nym that features incredible characterization within a very short space, Catholicism, Lucifer, and of course, gets a very special birthday gift. But you shall have to read the fic to see what it is. Read everything of Nym's, actually.

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New Mistakes | Anonymous | Dream/Corinthian | M | 3.2K

Dream slid his thumb into the Corinthian’s mouth, the one he shared with most, the one with which he commonly spoke. “Well?” he asked. “Are you fed?” The voice that came from his left-eye mouth buzzed like locusts. My lord, we are. The voice that came from his right-eye mouth dripped like honey. My lord, we can always be fed more. Dream pulled back, looking at the Corinthian expectantly. The Corinthian swallowed, running his tongue along his teeth. There was a faint blush on his cheeks, and Dream was unaccountably flattered. “My lord,” he said. “I wish to be good.”

Have read almost no Corintheus but this fic hits on so much that I find distantly intriguing about the pairing. Perfect dialogue, gorgeous rhythm. Wonderfully visceral. Absolutely bonkers nuts for repetition in threes, as I'm sure you know, and I love how it was used here.

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Lucy Locket | Anonymous | Dream/Hob and Dream/Hob/Corinthian | E | 17K

Five chapters (now with a new threesome added in late April, much to my delighted surprise!) of just fantastic roleplay smut that in-between all the sex is by turns incredibly funny and tender. Alternating Dream and Hob POV. As somebody for whom sexual roleplay has been my literal bread and butter on a professional basis, it shouldn't be surprising I am so fond of this fic - but it catches me out every time! Like a blow from behind, and I am winded. It is ridiculously hot and distressingly perfect all-through, and I would absolutely marry the author about it (sorry author if you're reading this). No excerpt because I cannot choose and will simply suggest that if you're up for kink that you go read it all at once.

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Public | @softest-punk | Dream/Hob | E | 1.1K

"Oh, darling," Hob murmurs, fingering the edge of Dream's delicate lace knickers. Dream feels his smirk against his jaw, bites his lip at the brush of a kiss under his ear. "You forget how old I am. I learned to fuck with an audience."

Every day I get closer and closer to needing to write Dream and/or Hob with vulvas; this may have been the fic that sealed the deal for me, I think. Ridiculously hot, and enshrined in my head forever for the line above. I learned to fuck with an audience. God! How good. A masterclass in the slutty drabble that nevertheless retains peak Dream/Hob characterization (I would argue that sex is in fact one of the best narrative vehicles for characterization and exploration of interpersonal dynamics...this bias is probably why nearly all these recs are so horny.) One day I will learn how to write proper smut in media res like this and not preface it with gratuitous plot.

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worship like a dog | @thewalrus-said | Dream/Hob | E | 2.5K

“Is it so inconceivable that I might love you?” Dream murmured, running his manicured nail down Hob’s cheek. Hob tried to speak, swallowed, and tried again. “No one ever has before,” he said. “No one but God.”

Hob is a priest. Dream is a demon, except he's not. Dizzyingly hot for so many reasons, with a delightful canon dialogue echo. And again, must stress this: Hob is a priest. Hob is a priest. Hob is a priest, go read it.

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Safehouse | Anonymous | Hob/Corinthian | E | 5K

“I need a room. One without a door.”

The best execution of the sex pollen trope I've ever seen, with the worst men. Very, very good fic with a brilliant premise and unerring execution. World-building is done in such brief but vivid strokes - it feels like a 50K fic whenever I remember it, and I'm always surprised how short it actually is. Haunts me in the best of ways.

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As well - these fics are well-known and well-loved - but some stories that are utterly wonderful and contain lines that haunt me weeks, sometimes months later - stories that rearranged my soul, lurched me closer towards writing for Sandman, and warrant mention even though I am SURE you have read them, include:

@moorishflower's iconic and beautiful Odyssey fic, maybe sprout wings was the first fic I commented on with my AO3 account, and among the best fics I've ever read in any fandom; slightly deeper cuts from Heather's oeuvre (if, for some reason you are not reading everything already) that I am obsessed with and have reread multiple times: vowel shift, most vain devices, an act of faith. Genius stuff and unbelievably gorgeous language. Just go read it all, honestly

@softest-punk's Shelter is one of the first Sandman fics I ever read, and is beyond lovely; if you have not read their entire deep and profoundly lovely back catalogue, I recommend Catching Up (quintessential Cecil deep tissue emotional massage), Delayed (or: my favourite kink and favourite Endless); Ferrous (vampires! bad men! ahh! ooh!); and I would of course be remiss and ungrateful to not mention self-abandon, and the confounding effects thereof, a 10K fic that perfectly answered my general question of how the three lads would actually get together once the Corinthian and Hob had started fucking (as narrative foils that deserve such treats)

@xx-vergil-xx's Hounds is an ongoing epic that has singlehandedly caused me more emotions than humanity has language for; it is ambitious in scope and sticks every landing. The world is alive and lovingly-detailed. The language is a poem. It is so smart, so beautiful, and so well-researched and built. It is a TEMPLE unto itself, and appropriately worthy of worship

I will also suggest you read absolutely everything by @that-banhus because she literally cannot miss and writes the loveliest, cleverest worlds. All of it.

[arcticmist0324]

The real question I have about the United Healthcare/Mangione case is if the Monopoly theme is intentional and if he (or whoever the mastermind is) has read Barry Lyga’s “I Hunt Killers” trilogy-specifically the second book Game.

[cultivating-wildflowers]

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[sysig]

Guess who :3c (Patreon)