#the rest do not center around romance but the characters are lgbt

[moonnette]

My favorite LGBT Webtoons

If you're on webtoons or are considering on getting the app, I would recommend these!

Always Human by @walkingnorth

Heir's Game by Suspu

Gourmet Hound by @leehama

Shoot Around also by Suspu

Yuna & Kawachan by Lauren Schmidt

[lec743]

“Of Sea and Moon” - Talent Show Reading

(Buttons)

Here's another talent show fic-lit I wrote for everyone at the Peace Corps. (LGBT friendly) Writing promts: 1.) Mike (a real person) as the main character 2.) Setting is a Pirate ship 3.) Theme is a Sci/Fi Romance

Word Count: 883

AO3

Wattpad

FictionPress

*******************************************************************************************

           Mike Bair. Captain of the Lil Shanty and lone member of said boat. One of the few survivors of the alien apocalypse and uncertain of his future. His only constant being the ocean and the Moon at night.

           The full moon shines its silvery glow on the ocean around the lone captain, making the water shine like it’s made of liquid diamonds and lapis lazuli, and making him and his ship glow like they’re a sacred halo.

           A comforting sight for the lone captain at sea, despite how dangerous it can be.

          Even when the moon is new and it’s only the stars that he can see at night, Mike still feels the calm pull of the moon on the water as he is rocked gently by the waves. Even on a world of nothing but salt water, Captain Mike of the Lil Shanty is never alone.

          A gentle wind started blowing. Then the wind began to blow harder and harder. Soon the night sky’s soft glittering light was snuffed out by the appearance of storm clouds. The clouds were so thick and dark, it was like Captain Mike was blind.

          He knew it was the unknown aliens doing, they’re going to kill him before he can find other survivors.

          As the rain and waves washed over him, Captain Mike hurried to secure his ship against the storm.

          As Mike worked, light flashed wildly around him, but thunder never followed the light. The rain and waves only got wilder as the flashing light became brighter and brighter, until Captain Mike became blinded by bright white light.

          Even though he couldn’t see it, he knew the moon was gone.

          Then everything became impossibly still, the clouds parted revealing the stars, and one final flash of light landed in the now dead water.

          Through the white light, Mike could see a person sinking in the water.

          Working fast, Mike grabbed the longest rope on his boat, tied one end around his mast, then tied the other end around his waist, then he dived into the water.

          Despite his blurry vision and the salty sting up his nose, Mike dived for the bright light in the water.

          When Captain Mike finally grabbed ahold of this strange person, he couldn’t see their face very well, but with what he could see. This person was in intense pain.

          The lone captain gripped him around his middle and power kicked them to the surface of the water. The light shining from the mysterious person never fading. Captain Mike didn’t stop until he had managed to pull them both up and into the Lil Shanty.

          Staggering, Mike rolled the glowing person on to their back and saw that they were the most beautiful man that he’s ever seen. Skin as black as the shadows on the moon and scared like he’s been battling all his life. Dreadlocks as white and wispy as moon rays. And when his eyes fluttered open while he coughed up salt water, they were ever changing in color, like the auroras he sees on rare nights.

          Before Mike could even say anything, the glowing man said, “Thank you Mike.”

          Sputtering, “You know me?”

          “I’ve known you for a while now. Your praise and stories are always welcome to my ear, but I wish we had time to chat,” he said as he wobbled to his feet, “I need to get back to my post before they can collect themselves.”

          “You’re hurt,” Mike stated, spreading his arms wide to catch the man if he fell.

          “I know. Even more reason to get me back home. You can take me halfway there, and I’ll be able to get home the rest on my own.”

          The captain hesitated for a moment.

          “Please. The fate of this planet depends on our swiftness.”

          Nodding, the lone captain readied his ship. Then Captain Mike followed the glowing man’s instructions and directions. They went to the center of the ocean. As they sailed Mike asked what was going on.

          “This planet has been facing attacks from an alien species called the Cats. Their leader, Buttons, enslaves the people of this planet, and forces them to be their servants. Us Celestials have been trying our best to protect the people of this planet for decades.”

          Captain Mike didn’t know what to say about the prospects of the aliens being “cats” and he wondered what Celestials were, but what he did know was that they were helping, “Thank you.”

          The glowing person gave him a curt nod.

          They made it to the center of the ocean, and the water rose until the lone captain could see the curvature of his planet. Then the glowing person started to glow brighter and float towards the dark sky.

          Mike grabbed his hand.

          “Wait! Will I get to see you again?”

          “You see me all the time. I’ll be listening for you Mike,” the glowing man said.

          The glowing man put a feather light kiss to his cheek. Mike let go of him in shock. Then as the Lil Shanty sunk back to the ocean’s surface, the glowing man glowed so brightly that Mike couldn’t look at him.

          Then when he could, he saw that the Moon was back in its place.

          Captain Mike Bair of the Lil Shanty stared in awe at the sight.

*******************************************************************************************

@skellebonez, @ninja-knox-ur-sox-off, @thelaundrybitch, @digitl-art-monstr, @rheawritesforfun, @theitalianratmonkie, @wooooooooloooooooo, @bones-of-a-rabbit, @spaciebabie, @fluffytriceratops, @zus-a-fungi, @wolfloupen, @sketched-monkei (I’ll remove you if you want.)

[peachscribe]

peach’s summer book list

i had a lot of fun compiling the list of books i read during the 20-21 winter, so i decided i would do a summer one as well! i still have a lot of books i own but haven’t read, so im definitely not lacking in material

if you didn’t see my winter list, how my book list works is basically like this: i read a book that i own but have not previously read, write a short summary immediately after finishing the book, write down my thoughts on the book, and then provide a rating for the book. i also might include background info on why i read this particular book/feelings about the author, but that depends on the book. that’s how each entry works

without further ado, let’s get started!

1. Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith

okay so i absolutely adore another book by andrew smith (written after grasshopper jungle) called the alex crow. it’s one of my favorite books of all time, so naturally i wanted to see if grasshopper jungle would make me feel similarly. just like the alex crow, grasshopper jungle’s plot is. so fucking weird. it stars austin szerba, a teenage polish kid who lives in ealing, iowa, and is often sexually confused regarding his girlfriend shann and his best friend robby. and in ealing, iowa, austin and robby accidentally and unknowingly unleash an unstoppable army of huge six-foot-tall praying mantis bugs that only want to do two things: fuck and eat. and i just have to say: andrew smith’s got an absolutely dynamo writing style. alex crow is similar, where it’s a book about kind of everything all at once, framed in a moment centering around teenage boys. it’s fantastic, and it’s more than a little gross, and i love it. this book made me feel so many things, and i thought austin was such an amazing narrator and main character to identify with. this book has it all: shitty teenage boy humor, fucked up science experiments, and poetic imagery that will make you want to cry. and explicit lgbt characters.

412/10 andrew smith what do you put in your water i just want to know

2. Burn by Patrick Ness

patrick ness has written a plethora of some of my favorite books (such as a monster calls, the chaos walking trilogy, and the rest of us just live here) so when i saw this one in the store i knew it would be a great one. burn is an alternate history fantasy that takes place in 1957 frome, washington, during the height of the cold war, and it begins with a girl named sarah and her father hiring a dragon to help out on their farm. but there’s not just dragons, farm living, and cold war tensions; there’s also a really shitty small town cop, a cult of dragon worshippers and their deadly teenage assassin, a pair of fbi agents, and a prophecy that sarah’s newly hired dragon claims she’s a part of. i think eoin colfer’s highfire was on my winter list, which also featured a story that included dragons and shitty cops, so when i first began burn i thought it was funny to have two books that had both things. you know, if you had a nickel etc etc. but that’s really where the similarities end because burn is entirely it’s own monster (dragon). burn is entirely invested in its world, and its fascinating. not only that, i had no clue where the book would take me next. there were so many surprises and amazing twists that honestly just blew me away. this book also includes beautifully written complicated discussions on family, race, and love - it features interracial and queer romances as the two most prominent romance plots which was such a nice surprise from a book i wasn’t expecting to have that kind of representation. this book is witty, fast-paced, and a very heartening read - i absolutely adored it.

9/10 dragons and becoming motivated by the power of love and friendship are so fucking cool

3. As Meat Loves Salt by Maria McCann

i hate this book! as meat loves salt is a historical fiction novel which takes place in seventeenth century england, which is going through a grisly civil war. the protagonist, jacob cullen, is a servant for a wealthy household and is engaged to another servant in the house. but due to certain events that are almost entirely jacob’s fault, he flees the house and is separated from his wife. from there, he joins the royal army and meets a kind soldier, ferris, and the two become fast friends. jacob and ferris’s relationship begins to bridge past friendly, and jacob struggles with his homoerotic feelings as well as the growing obsession and violence inside him. also, they try to start a colony. listen, i don’t know how to describe the book because so much happens, but it basically just follows jacob and all the terrible decisions he makes because he is, truly, a terrible person. ferris is kind and good, and jacob is scum of the earth. he sucks so bad. the entire time i was reading this book (which took absolutely so long), all i wanted was for jacob to just get his ass handed to him. i wanted to see him suffer. and it’s not like i just personally don’t like him - i believe the book purposefully depicts him as unsympathetic even though he is the narrator. i did enjoy the very in depth and accurate portrayal of what life would’ve been like in seventeenth century england, and i think it was interesting to read a character that is just the absolute worst person you’ve ever encountered and see him try and justify his actions, so if you enjoy that kind of thorough writing, then this book would be perfect for you. however, i did not see that bitch ass motherfucker jacob cullen suffer enough. i’d kill him with my bare hands.

2/10 diversity win! the worst man on earth is mlm!

4. This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab

i know ive had a friend tell me how great one of schwab’s other book series is, but truthfully i bought this book because the cover is sick as hell and it was on a table in the store that advertised for buy two get one free, i think. something like that. anyway, this savage song takes place in a future in which monsters, for whatever reason, suddenly became real and out for blood in a mysterious event nicknamed the phenomenon. august flynn is one of these monsters, but he takes no pride in that fact and only wants to feel human. kate harker is the daughter of a ruthless man and is trying her hardest to be ruthless, too, but deep down she knows it’s just an act. their city, verity, stands divided, and kate and august stand on either side - but when august is sent on a mission to befriend kate in the hopes of stopping an all out war, the lines begin to blur. this book rules. august and kate are such interesting and dynamic characters, and the narrative is familiar while still being capable of twisting the story around and taking the feet out from under you in really compelling ways. this savage song is part of the monsters of verity duology, and i can’t wait to dive into how the story continues and finishes.

11/10 sometimes you can judge a book by it’s cover

4a. Our Dark Duet by Victorian Schwab

this is the sequel and finale for this savage song and i’d figure i’d update everyone: fantastic ending, beautiful, showstopping, painful.

12/10 loved it and will definitely be keeping an eye out for schwab’s other books

5. White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi

oh boy. okay. white is for witching is about a house, and it is about the women who have lived inside of it. when her mother dies abroad, miranda silver begins to act strangely, and there’s nothing her father or her twin brother seem to be able to do about it. she develops an eating disorder and begins to hear voices in the silver family house, converted to a bed and breakfast by miranda’s dad; and she begins to lose herself in the house and the persistent presence of her family legacy. white is for witching switches perspective dizzingly and disorientingly between miranda, her twin eliot, miranda’s friend from school named ore, and the house itself. this story is a horror story as much as it as a tragedy as much as it is a romance as much as it is a bunch of other things. oyeyemi brings race, sexuality, nationality, and family into this story and forces you not to look away. this book is poetry.

(like i mentioned briefly, this book heavily deals with topics of race and closely follows miranda’s eating disorder. read responsibly, and take care of yourselves)

15/10 this book consumed me and i think i’ll have to read it another 10 more times to feel it properly

6. These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

okay. okay. strap in for a ride. these violent delights is a romeo and juliet style story, taking place in glittering 1920’s shanghai. the city stands divided - not only between the foreign powers encroaching on chinese land, but also between the scarlet gang and the white flowers, who are at the height of a generations-long blood feud. juliette cai, heir to the scarlets, has recently returned from four years abroad and is determined to prove herself ruthless enough to lead. roma montagov, heir to the white flowers, is standing strenuously on his place as next in line due to a slip up four years prior and is desperate to keep hold of his title. and in the midst of juliette and roma’s burning history with each other threatening to combust, an unnatural monster lurks in the waters of shanghai, loosing a madness on scarlets and white flowers alike. this book has it all - scorned ex lovers, political intrigue, deadly monsters, and all set on a glamorous backdrop of the roaring twenties. i absolutely was enraptured by this book and the way it plays around the story of romeo and juliet so well that it easily became it’s own monster, but with the punches and embraces of something classically shakespearan. gong does just an absolutely breathtaking job of fitting this fantastical story amid the larger world of shanghai and the real life historical events that had shaken the city to its core. completely immersive and outstandingly heart racing.

17/10 i was chewing on my fingernails for the last thirty pages and will continue to do so until the sequel is released (our violent ends, 16 nov 21)

7. The Antiques by Kris D’Agostino

you ever heard of the american dysfunctional family story? this is most definitely that. at the same time george westfall’s cancer takes a turn for the worse, a hurricane hits the east coast, and suddenly all at once the issues of his health, the hurricane, and all three of his children’s achingly dysfunctional adult lives are crashing into each other. reunited by george’s death, the westfall siblings have to face their grief, each other, and the problems in their own lives they attempted to put on hold while planning their father’s memorial. this is a nice story about grief and loss and love and somehow finding the humor amidst it all.

(this book does include a depiction of an autistic child who does experience several pretty bad meltdowns due to ignorant people around him not understanding how to cater to his needs. im not an authority on what depictions are or are not harmful, but i do believe this depiction is ultimately loving and well-intended.)

7/10 it made me laugh and cry and was generally one of those books that somehow hit you close to home

8. Fierce Fairytales by Nikita Gill

fierce fairytales is a poetry anthology that reimagines classic fairytales from a modern, feminist viewpoint, acknowledging that the line between hero and villain, monster and damsel, are not as clear cut as the classics try to make you believe. this book also includes illustrations done by the author herself, which i think is really cool. my personal favorite story reimagining was the story of peter pan and captain hook, called ‘boy lost’ which looked at how peter and hook’s relationship began and rotted. all in all, i think this collection of stories had a lot of important things to say and said them in frank, easy to understand poetry and prose.

7/10 beautiful message and pretty prose, but at times a little cliche

and that’s all from the summer! my fall semester starts tomorrow, and overall i feel very good about all the reading i did this summer. i even read four other books not on this list for work! so i definitely feel like i made the most out of my time, and im really glad i was able to read so many stories that made me feel a variety of different things

thanks so much for reading this list, and let me know if you read or have read any of these books and tell me what you think of them!

happy reading<3

[ivarthebadbitch]

top 5 best plots on vikings and top 5 worst plots on vikings

ooh, ok. let’s do best five first (to be clear, “best” is obviously subjective and largely related to “plots I enjoyed the most”):

1. 1-3, athelstan’s journey. I think the heavy focus on athelstan’s struggles with faith and identity was a really smart choice for the early seasons, and it works super well for both thematic reasons and as a neat way to explain a lot of worldbuilding. 

2. 6b, ingrid. I’ve written about this before, obviously, but ingrid’s rise to power in the second half of the season completely took me by surprise in a really good way, and even though there were some obvious unresolved gaps I appreciated that her arc was actually centered on her and not bjorn/erik/harald. plus, I think it is really satisfying for the final ruler in kattegat to NOT be a ragnarsson.

3. 4b, ivar and ragnar in england. This is mainly because I think the two actors have really wonderful chemistry and it was a delight to watch them together in every scene, even though it was only for a few episodes.

4. 3-4a, rollo and gisla. this hit allllll the romance tropes and it actually worked pretty well? again, a lot of this is to the actors’ credit and their chemistry together, but hirst as a general rule is not...the best with romantic relationship development, so this was fun to watch. 

5. 2, lagertha as earl ingstad. I take all sorts of issues with this character at various points, but I think her separation from ragnar at the beginning of s2 and subsequent rise to becoming an earl in her own right without ragnar was really enjoyable to see.

worst five (”worst,” again, is subjective and mainly “plots I enjoyed the least”):

1. 4a, yidu and ragnar. this was one of the most blatantly racist and misogynist things I have ever watched in a TV show, playing every hideous stereotype about asian women totally straight and culminating in yidu’s graphic onscreen murder. absolutely shit on every level. hate it.

2. 5a, astrid, lagertha, and harald. again, just super, super gross arc for one of the few openly lgbt characters on the show, between kidnapping+rape+pregnancy+begging Lagertha to kill her. the whole thing was miserable to watch. 

3. 4b-5b, margrethe. I’ve written about this before but the whole treatment of this character from beginning to end was extraordinarily uncomfortable and vicious, again culminating with her graphic onscreen murder. 

4. 4b, lagertha killing aslaug. lagertha killing aslaug was THE big setup for the subsequent seasons, and the reasoning always felt half-baked to me and didn’t really mesh with how these characters interacted in the previous seasons. 

5. 5a-6b, iceland up through and including the “golden land.” well, ok, I liked the couple episodes where we were just watching floki wander around iceland, but the rest of it was just super, super dull and I just could not get invested. plus, I really do not dig the ~uwu soft colonial vibes~ for the “golden land” part. like no thank you.

[babygirlwolverine]

Pls help, I'm having a conversation with someone in the YT comment section and this person keep saying that Dean is straight™ because the creators said so, that Destiel is just in people's mind because, clearly, they are just Buddy. I'm so tired to feel like we are the crazy ones who only want to see Dean&Cas banging or whatever, that the show wasn't about ~romance~, that we had gay representation and they weren't killed because they were Gay since everyone dies in SPN, no matter who they are. Basically the creator is God, period (that's what the person said in a nutshell and I want to punch them but I won't answer anymore to them and lose more of my time for nothing). Ugh sorry for the rant but I need a big hug rn 😢

Hi there nonnie. My best advice is to ignore the spiteful comments that person is saying in the comment section. There’s a lot of nasty people out there deliberately saying stuff they know will upset shippers because they get a kick out of seeing people upset. It’s a nasty world, and somehow these people think they “won” in the finale and therefore can go around shooting off offensive and hurtful things to people.

We know there are so many instances throughout the series where Dean has shown interest in men. We’ve seen him check men out, we’ve seen him have crushes on men, we’ve seen him get starry eyed around men and flirt with men. We don’t need to be told Dean is straight because we have all the evidence we need to know that Dean is bi. And that’s not even including the oceans of canon facts we have to back our claims that Dean is into Cas. Even if the creators say something, that doesn’t reflect how the actors played the characters. We know Misha played Cas as in love with Dean for a long time, and the same can be said for Jensen. We know destiel is real. Cas literally told Dean he was in love with him. And there’s been so many little things post-finale to back the claim that Dean loves Cas too. We are not crazy for seeing what was laid out in front of our eyes for the last 12 years.

Whether you see Dean and Cas as being romantically and hopelessly in love, whether you want to see them being soft and loving with each other, or down and dirty, you’re allowed to see them however you want. In my mind, it’s so obvious there were was and is romance between them. Excluding the shitty writing in the last two episodes, the rest of season 15 was centered around the relationship between Dean and Cas. There was huge moments between them- from almost confessions to actual confessions. From telling each other to leave to wanting each other to stay. The relationship between them was one of the biggest aspects of the season. I refuse to touch 15x20 because it was so far off the reservation, but the whole show has been about romance and family and the love that transcends past everything.

Was there a bury the gays trope? Yeah, there was. They killed Cas right after he confessed, and they literally killed Dean days later before he could really process his feelings for Cas, effectively silencing any part of Dean that wasn’t straight. Yes, a lot of people die on supernatural. But the way some characters die, especially LGBT or characters with disabilities, was extremely harsh and uncalled for. I think, even more so, that shippers and people within the LBGT community are upset by the way these characters died. That they was no mercy, and no happy ending for any gay characters.

Also, if we’re talking about God... Chuck literally said that Cas was the thing that he couldn’t control. That our Cas was so in love with Dean that he rebelled and had free will the whole time. And if that doesn’t show you the power of love, then i don’t know what does. Maybe Chuck created everything, but Cas rebelled and made his own choices- to choose Dean and free will and his family- over and over again.

My best advice is to steer clear of people that shove those negative opinions at you. You don’t need to waste your time or your own mental health on people who are deliberately saying things to hurt you. Try to focus your time and energy on the people who have the same outlooks as you do. Spend your time talking with destiel shippers. If we all stop interacting with these haters, then they have no power over us. They go around looking for fights and looking to tear us down. Stop interacting and then they lose interest. Keep on shipping Dean and Cas. Your opinions and outlooks on the characters and the ship are valid and real. You’re not alone. There are so many other shippers who are here for you.

Also, please don’t apologize. Feel free to rant to me whenever you need. I’m always here to lend an ear and listen and to offer my best advice and comforting words. I’m sending you all the hugs in the world *pulls you into the biggest and warmest hug ever* stay strong, poppet. I love you!

[mariantoina]

so that article i just reblogged confirmed that:

1. charlotte is definitely, 100%, irreversibly, undeniably dead.

2. it was more than likely a decision from the writers room to kill charlotte off, as opposed to jessica brown findlay leaving the show of her own volition and the writers having to suddenly come up with a way to write charlotte out and have it make some sort of sense. (it still doesn’t, btw.)

so now all im wondering is... why? why did they choose to kill charlotte off right after making one of the most pivotal decisions that they could have possibly made in regards to her character? seriously, can anyone tell me what the point of charlotte being a bawd was if they were just going to kill her off after having that storyline lasting three (3) episodes?

what was the point of introducing that pincher brother as charlotte’s new rival/“love interest” (hah) if he was going to threaten the lives of her girls, be violent with her, nearly KILL her loved ones by committing arson, and then have a direct role in the fight that caused her death? what was the point of them stressing that charlotte was margaret’s heir at the end of season 2, having charlotte bring up her past conflict with margaret after she reunites with her, only for charlotte to die five minutes later before margaret and charlotte’s new conflict (margaret wanting them to go to america) can be resolved?

what was the point of having a good portion of the trailer for this season centered on charlotte? what was the point of promoting fitzwells/ladyharlot as the new main relationship of the show if charlotte was going to die three episodes into the season? what was the point? why?

and what really makes me mad is that i can definitely see what the future of the show is now that it’s confirmed that charlotte is definitely dead: her death is going to be used as a device to further the plotlines of the rest of the characters:

now that charlotte is dead, margaret is obviously going to have to stay in england and care for her family, and she’ll probably become the bawd of the greek street house again.

lucy is probably going to fall apart from grief now that charlotte is dead, and i can see her either 1. wanting to back off from her role in the harvey’s house, 2. throwing herself into the harvey’s house full-swing and isolating herself from her family bc she wants to prove that she can still be a bawd without charlotte around, or 3. going back into her obsession with death from last season and wanting to get revenge for charlotte’s death

obviously lady isabella is going to be consumed with grief because, as far as we can tell, isabella actually had feelings for charlotte, even though (according to the showrunners) charlotte doesn’t have feelings for her/thinks of their relationship as a business relationship and nothing more. and, judging by their interactions earlier in the season, im almost certain that theyre going to make lady isabella and nancy get together, which is just.. wrong. on so many levels.

lady isabella’s obvious grief over charlotte’s death will also probably serve a place in quigley and blayne’s plotlines, since they both have scores that they need to settle with isabella. my guess is that there’s going to be a rumor in the papers about isabella’s sexuality and her “close relationship” with charlotte– this will also probably tie into sophia’s elopement somehow. im confident in the theory that the footman that sophia eloped with is working with blayne, so my guess is that the footman or one of isabella’s other servants will be the one who goes to the papers with that under blayne’s guidance.

the pincher brothers are probably going to get prosecuted for their part in charlotte’s death, and, if my hunch is correct, that scene of margaret shooting someone in the trailer is going to be margaret shooting one of them– probably hal, which will traumatize/upset emily lacey, whose already going to have a rough time next episode because she knew that hal ran off to go confront isaac and charlotte and will 100% be able to connect the dots between hal, isaac, and charlotte’s death.

charlotte was well liked in the community so i expect that the entire cast will mourn her; she’ll probably have a memorial like mary cooper and kitty carter had. im expecting a montage of some sorts too

im honestly angry about this because, now that i sit down and look at it, its SO predictable how the rest of the season is going to go for the characters. i will admit that i was shocked at the plot twist initially, but now, all i feel is numbness.

charlotte’s death– if they HAD to kill her off– should have been done better than this. charlotte’s main character arcs have been about her freedom and protecting her family and her house, yet she dies in an accident over a man who almost caused her love ones to die and tried to pimp her and the girls out? and to make matters worse... none of the viewers (or even the characters in the show, really) cares about the two characters involved in her death EXCEPT for charlotte (and, apparently, emily).

the fact that the harlots writers promoted charlotte as much as they did before the start of this season, and the fact that they promoted her relationship with lady isabella so much, really proves that the writers had pretty malicious and queerbaiting intentions for this season. after hyping up charlotte, a bisexual woman, as the new main character of the show, and promoting her relationship with isabella, a lesbian, as the main romance, they turned around and not only said that “oh, there’s no REAL romance between charlotte and isabella,” but they killed charlotte off!!

and this is even worse once you take into account the amount of LGBT characters they’ve already gotten rid of with NO explanation or having it make very little sense as a whole: amelia and violet, both of whom were major characters from the start of the show, and rasselas, who, despite being a supporting character, had some of the largest impacts on the plot of the show. hell, even rasselas’s boyfriend was killed off in between season 1 and season 2!

now charlotte, and probably fredo and his boyfriend given the fact that the molly house plotline is inevitably going to go sour.

i really expected more from this show. i thought that it was better than this, but i guess i was wrong, huh? they need to do better.

[mr-meekers]

January Book Reviews

Hopefully, once a month, towards the end of the month, I’ll sit down to type out little reviews for all the books I’ve read this month. It’s my goal this year to read more, and, equally as important, finish more books (even if I don’t like them.)

So let’s get started!

1. Loveboat, Taipei by Wen

I initially started reading this book to participate in a book club coming up in February. I didn’t think I’d like it much as it lies pretty far out of my wheelhouse being not only contemporary fiction but also a teen romance. Now, I can definitely get into these things, but my problem with those genres is that they fall so so so easily into the usual tropes that are, honestly, just very annoying. Like, love triangles and love at first sight and “there was a misunderstanding that occurred that one small conversation could clear up but I’m gonna stew about it for the rest of the book” kinda tropes. I’m just tired of them and can’t stand them anymore and I know the genre can do better.

Loveboat does. It really does. I’m still surprised I liked it so much.

Basically, the story centers around Ever, who is the eldest daughter of Chinese immigrants. Typical story ensues- her parents want her to be a doctor, and basically guilt her into following their life plan for her while never really giving her a choice and making all her decisions for her. But Ever wants to dance and this is what sets up the main conflict in the story: what Ever wants vs. what her parents want for her, and all the hard choices and consequences that come from such a conflict. The majority of the story takes place at a summer school in Taipei where a bunch of fancy, high achieving Asian kids go to not only make connections, but make connections~~~ if you catch my drift. Ever is convinced she’ll hate it- her parents forced her to go, signed up for all her classes for her, and even snuck a bio textbook into her luggage with a not so subtle hint to study. So, our main conflict begins. Ever decided to break every ridiculous rule her parents ever set for her. And the plot unfold from there.

Yes, there are two love interests. I’ll hive ya that. But the relationships in this book aren’t based in convenience. They feel real and well thought out and genuine. A lot of great themes are explored, from the good ol’ “finding yourself” meme to the different kinds of burdens our families can put on us, and whether or not we decide to carry them forever. The characters felt deep and by the end, I was truly happy for them. Loveboat, Taipei gets a 4 out of 5 from. Definite recommendation.

2. The Guinevere Deception by White

A new take on the Arthurian legend has us following Guinevere instead of the Once and Future King. I’ m not a fan of Kiersten White’s other books and stopped reading them before I could finish them, I did thoroughly enjoy this one. I’m a sucker for a good fantasy with a strong female lead and this is just that. We all kinda know the legend of King Arthur already, and White does a good job of adding in elements from the original story but then twisting them to make them her own. Despite the lack of romance (something else I also thoroughly enjoy) for most of the book, I still found myself hooked on the plot and guessing and wondering what would happen next.

The plotline starts pretty simply, but with a major twist. We start with Guinevere being escorted to Camelot to wed Arthur. But, it is soon revealed that this is not the real Guinevere. The true princess is dead and buried (I forget the CoD) and this girl, the daughter of Merlin, has been disguised to take her place. No one can know who she is, for magic is banned in Camelot, and she is a witch herself. Merlin has sent her to Arthur’s side to protect him from a mysterious magical threat he sees coming. But that’s all he will tell her about it. Now, Guinevere must protect a king and his city and so much more. I can’t say much more without spoiling it, but even if it may seems a little bit dull at first, I did truly enjoy myself by the end. I’m excited for the second book.

Again, I give this a 4 out of 5. Certainly worth picking up.

3. The Rogue King by Owen

This is a fantasy romance I picked up for shits and giggles. I am of the opinion that most fantasy romances are cringey, tropey, and just downright awkward. I have a very, very difficult time finding ones with actual plots and characters that feel more like people that convenient transportable genitalia. But, I must say, Abigail Owen’s Rogue King was none of those things... for the most part.

The story centers around Kasia, a phoenix shape shifter, and Brand, a dragon shape shifter. Now, there’s a lot of shifter politics to unpack, but the basics are that dragons and phoenixes usually mate because they both revolve around fire. Phoenixes then bless their mate’s clan and make that dragon the king of all kings and clans. It’s, like, a big deal. So Brand is out for revenge against the reigning High King and if he delivers Kasia to the Blue Clan king, he can finally have his revenge. And we go from there.

The thing I liked about this book was that it did have an actual plot. There were things going on besides focusing on the two leads going at it and falling in love. I mean, they still do, but there’s stuff in between that matters this time. In fact, the love making was the thing I mostly had a problem with. Kasia and Brand’s relationship felt too forced. It’s played off as “they’re mates and it’s destiny” but it just feels rushed and awkward and at times, random.

The second book comes out later this year, but I’m not sure I’ll pick it up. Still, it gets a 3 from me. Not the worst thing I’ve ever read.

4. The Wallflower Wager by Dare

Too cute. It was too cute. Yes, it was your typical 1800s London high society “fall in love with this duke and pretend you know what the word “rake” means” kinda story but still! It was good!!

We follow Penny, a young woman who has taken to caring for stray animals that no one seems to want, including (but not limited to) a dog with no back legs, a goat that is definitely certainly entirely not pregnant she assures you, and a parrot from a whore house that says “Fancy a fuck, love?” all the time and is genuinely funny. Her new neighbor, the notorious Gabriel, is renovating his new house to sell for profit and having a menagerie next door is not helping his property value. The two must work together to find suitable homes for all of Penny’s beloved creatures before the month is up, or else she’ll be forced to move out.

Obviously, they fall madly in love in this month. And their romance does seem natural and heart warming and the sex is fantastic. The ending made me tear up it was too gosh darn sweet. I can’t spoil it for you, but know that it was wholesome AF. It gets a solid 4 from me. I desperately wish there was more.

5. The Merciful Crow by Owen

Just my cup of tea. A good fantasy story with a strong female lead and wonderful romantic interest. The not so subtle themes of classism, racism, and the way the privileged avoid holding themselves accountable are very topical for the day, but also timeless in their application. Other themes like the cost of selflessness, going after what you want, balancing your needs with those of others, and being the first to strike change are all heavily applied, as well, and beautiful done.

The story follows Fie, a Crow girl destined to be beaten down by her own countrymen for the simple act of existing. Crows are the only caste in the country of Sabor immune to the Sinner’s Plague and thus are the ones who deal with the bodies. For a price. When Fie and her clan collect two dead lordlings from the palace, she certainly didn’t expect them to still be alive. Turns out, the prince is on the run from a queen who wants him dead. If the Crows can deliver him to his allies, he swears a Covenant Oath to grant them protection from the Oldeanders, not-so-subtle references to the KKK in their white sheets and nightly raids on Crow camps, killing as many of them as they can before dawn. It’s a deal too good to pass up, so Fie’s Pa, their chief, agrees.

This story is just... so many things. Before I forget, though, I want to congratulate Margaret Owen for the fantastic LGBT representation. Within the first few chapters, we already have non-binary/gender non-conforming character in Madcap, who uses they/them pronouns. The prince is gay. Tavin, his bodyguard, is bisexual. The kingdom’s master general is not only pansexual but polygamous. Fie is the only character of importance who seems straight, but even then we don’t really know as there are no other women her age around (there are other women, but Crows mingle only with Crows, and their bands are small). The romance here, while some may say is too hasty, I say felt just right. It’d been building and building and building and then finally happened and it was like letting out a breath. But even more satisfying was Fie’s character arc, and the Prince’s too, maybe even more so. So much happens and there is so much growth that I really just need you all to read it for yourselves and see.

5 out of 5 for me.

Thanks for reading this far! Hopefully there will be more reviews up in another month!

[addictedforbooksquad]

P I C K (S)  O F  T H E  M O N T H: M A Y

The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite

Passion on Park Avenue by Lauren Layne

Mistborn: The Alloy Era Series by Brandon Sanderson

Mistborn: Secret History by Brandon Sanderson

Marriage for One by Ella Maise

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite

Genres: Historical Romance, LGBT, F/F romance

Synopsis:

As Lucy Muchelney watches her ex-lover’s sham of a wedding, she wishes herself anywhere else. It isn’t until she finds a letter from the Countess of Moth, looking for someone to translate a groundbreaking French astronomy text, that she knows where to go. Showing up at the Countess’ London home, she hoped to find a challenge, not a woman who takes her breath away. Catherine St Day looks forward to a quiet widowhood once her late husband’s scientific legacy is fulfilled. She expected to hand off the translation and wash her hands of the project—instead, she is intrigued by the young woman who turns up at her door, begging to be allowed to do the work, and she agrees to let Lucy stay. But as Catherine finds herself longing for Lucy, everything she believes about herself and her life is tested. While Lucy spends her days interpreting the complicated French text, she spends her nights falling in love with the alluring Catherine. But sabotage and old wounds threaten to sever the threads that bind them. Can Lucy and Catherine find the strength to stay together or are they doomed to be star-crossed lovers?

Why we love it:

a beautiful love story between two women

female friendships and women supporting women

characters who find out about Lucy and Catherine are not homophobic but rather supportive

focus on both romance AND personal journeys of the characters

sexism and misogyny are challenged, by both female and male characters (some of them at least)

beautiful, poetic passages

Trigger warnings: mentions of emotional abuse, sexism, misogyny

≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡

Passion on Park Avenue by Lauren Layne

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, New Adult

Synopsis:

For as long as she can remember, Bronx-born Naomi Powell has had one goal: to prove her worth among the Upper East Side elite—the same people for which her mom worked as a housekeeper. Now, as the strongminded, sassy CEO of one of the biggest jewelry empires in the country, Naomi finally has exactly what she wants—but it’s going to take more than just the right address to make Manhattan’s upper class stop treating her like an outsider. The worst offender is her new neighbor, Oliver Cunningham—the grown son of the very family Naomi’s mother used to work for. Oliver used to torment Naomi when they were children, and as a ridiculously attractive adult, he’s tormenting her in entirely different ways. Now they find themselves engaged in a battle-of-wills that will either consume or destroy them… Filled with charm and heart and plenty of sex and snark, this entertaining series will hook you from the very first page.

Why we love it:

ambitious millionaire female character whose story is basically about rags to riches

soft male character

female friendships and dynamics are amazing

cute love story

Lauren Layne’s style has improved so much and it’s time to start reading her books

Trigger warnings: n/a

≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡

Mistborn: The Alloy Era series by Brandon Sanderson

Genres: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Adult

Synopsis:

Three hundred years after the events of the Mistborn trilogy, Scadrial is now on the verge of modernity, with railroads to supplement the canals, electric lighting in the streets and the homes of the wealthy, and the first steel-framed skyscrapers racing for the clouds. Kelsier, Vin, Elend, Sazed, Spook, and the rest are now part of history—or religion. Yet even as science and technology are reaching new heights, the old magics of Allomancy and Feruchemy continue to play a role in this reborn world. Out in the frontier lands known as the Roughs, they are crucial tools for the brave men and women attempting to establish order and justice. One such is Waxillium Ladrian, a rare Twinborn who can Push on metals with his Allomancy and use Feruchemy to become lighter or heavier at will. After twenty years in the Roughs, Wax has been forced by family tragedy to return to the metropolis of Elendel. Now he must reluctantly put away his guns and assume the duties and dignity incumbent upon the head of a noble house. Or so he thinks, until he learns the hard way that the mansions and elegant tree-lined streets of the city can be even more dangerous than the dusty plains of the Roughs. 

Why we love it:

amazing writing

plots and twists all around

we see familiar faces from the first trilogy *wink wink*

SO. MUCH. FUN.

western-sherlock-fantasy

most adorable character ever, that's on the spectrum

Trigger warnings: violence

≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡

Mistborn: Secret History by Brandon Sanderson

Genres: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Adult

Synopsis:

Mistborn: Secret History is a companion story to the original Mistborn trilogy. As such, it contains HUGE SPOILERS for the books Mistborn (The Final Empire), The Well of Ascension, and The Hero of Ages. It also contains very minor spoilers for the book The Bands of Mourning. Mistborn: Secret History builds upon the characterization, events, and worldbuilding of the original trilogy. Reading it without that background will be a confusing process at best. In short, this isn’t the place to start your journey into Mistborn. (Though if you have read the trilogy—but it has been a while—you should be just fine, so long as you remember the characters and the general plot of the books.) Saying anything more here risks revealing too much. Even knowledge of this story’s existence is, in a way, a spoiler. There’s always another secret.  

Why we love it:

view on Mistborn Era 1 events from different perspective

reunions that will make you cry

we get SOME answers as well from Mistborn Era 1 and 2

Trigger warnings: violence

≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡

Marriage for One by Ella Maise

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, New Adult

Synopsis:

Jack and I, we did everything backward. The day he lured me into his office-which was also the first day we met-he proposed. You'd think a guy who looked like him-a bit cold maybe, but still striking and very unattainable-would only ask the love of his life to marry him, right? You'd think he must be madly in love. Nope. It was me he asked. A complete stranger who had never even heard of him. A stranger who had been dumped by her fiancé only weeks before. You'd think I'd laugh in his face, call him insane-and a few other names-then walk away as quickly as possible. Well…I did all those things except the walking away part. It took him only minutes to talk me into a business deal…erm, I mean marriage, and only days for us to officially tie the knot. Happiest day of my life. Magical. Pop the champagne… Not. It was the worst day. Jack Hawthorne was nothing like what I'd imagined for myself. I blamed him for my lapse in judgment. I blamed his eyes, the ocean blue eyes that looked straight into mine unapologetically, and that frown on his face I had no idea I would become so fascinated with in time. It wasn't long after he said I was the biggest mistake of his life that things started to change. No, he still didn't talk much, but anyone can string a few words together. His actions spoke the loudest to me. And day after day my heart started to get a mind of its own. One second he was no one. The next he became everything. One second he was unattainable. The next he seemed to be completely mine. One second I thought we were in love. The next it was still nothing but a lie. After all, I was Rose and he was Jack. We were doomed from the very beginning with those names. Did you expect anything else?

Why we love it:

soft and bubbly female character

broody male character

fake marriage trope

slowburn + cutest romance with a lil’ bit of angst

development is A+++

Trigger warnings: n/a

≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡ ≡≡≡≡≡

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

Genres: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Adult

Synopsis:

Long ago, in a time forgotten, a preternatural event threw the seasons out of balance. In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister and supernatural forces are massing beyond the kingdom’s protective Wall. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the land they were born to. Sweeping from a land of brutal cold to a distant summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, here is a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens. Here an enigmatic band of warriors bear swords of no human metal; a tribe of fierce wildlings carry men off into madness; a cruel young dragon prince barters his sister to win back his throne; and a determined woman undertakes the most treacherous of journeys. Amid plots and counterplots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, the fate of the Starks, their allies, and their enemies hangs perilously in the balance, as each endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.

Why we love it:

high fantasy political drama 

well-written dialogue

if you’re already a fan of the TV show, the book gives you an even more detailed account of events with characters POVs while these key moments play out

amazing world building and backstory with so much thought and detail

GRRM has successfully achieved a whole new universe

full of backstabbing, bloody battles and political intrigue

multiple POVs

Trigger warnings: rape, sexual abuse of a minor, graphic violence, sexual violence, incest, misogyny

[millennialzadr]

About Page!

Hello~! Thank you so much for visiting my blog! My name is Koya, I’m 25, I’m pansexual, my pronouns are she/her, and I’m a full time freelance artist! My main blog is @koyakyuuun, so I’ll be liking and following from there!

Below are some guidelines for those who are curious to know more about this blog and what to expect from it, as well as some general info and FAQs!

Content Guidelines!

The focus of this blog!

So this blog is a mish mash of a couple different themes, but above all it is an adult oriented Invader Zim fan blog!! I grew up with the show and and was a BIG fan during highschool, and after rediscovering it this year I have been DAZZLED and DELIGHTED by the fan content being produced today!! I have a deeply nostalgic yet completely new perspective on the show now that I’m in my 20s, so alongside of celebrating iz content and fan content in general, this blog will center around my niche fave: the iz cast + millennial culture! in other words, the characters depicted as if they lived in the real world and aged in real time! I loved and related to the characters as a kid, and I still love them dearly to this day, so to see people experiment with character interpretations and create adult versions of them means I can still relate to them even now, and even make my own versions! and as a queer neurodivergent millennial who loves niche culture, my favorite versions of the characters are queer neurodivergent millennials who love niche culture!! (and by niche culture I mean MEMES, AESTHETICS, BAD FASHION, GAY CULTURE, CRYPTID CULTURE, DARK CORNERS OF THE INTERNET, CREATIVELY WEIRD SELF EXPRESSION ETC!!)

And of course the other main theme which fits into the first: ZADR! while I don’t ship Zim and Dib as they’re canonically presented in the show, I DO adore the idea of the two growing up together, eventually becoming friends, and eventually falling in love. I’m a Big Gay and I love romance and lgbt content, and ZADR holds such a soft place in my heart 😭 I wrote a big post about why I love it so much which you can see here if you’re curious about my interpretation of the ship!

And now, some guidelines!!

Things I enjoy and will be posting/reblogging!

- general IZ content! because holy SHIT I love the show and ALL the content the fandom creates is awe inspiring and amazing!!!

- millennial culture/humor! I FUCKING LOVE IZ + 2019 POP CULTURE REFERENCES AND MEME CONTENT OKAY

- POSITIVE CONTENT! IZ is my comfort content and I deeply admire the positive impact the show has had on so many people. I also interpret Zim and Dib as having hard lives and mental problems but eventually recovering and finding happiness (and making each other happy!!). I do also love vent content and gritty/dark themes from an artistic standpoint (and of course comedic Depression™ memes) but I will be focusing much more on comforting and uplifting content!

- character development/relationships, fluff, comedy, domestic content, daily life, sci fi, conspiracy/cryptid content, fashion portraits and camp horror!! these are my favorite themes!!

- friendship, romance, and found family!! I adore the relationships between the characters and they ALL DESERVE LOVE!!!!! JHONEN CAN BITE MY ASS

- the IZ creators!! speaking of Jhonen LOL I LOVE seeing content about the creators themselves!! I genuinely have such affection and admiration for the wonderful people who brought and continue to bring the world of IZ to life, they are such amazing and inspiring human beings and I will be celebrating them alongside their creations!!

- IZ characters + aesthetics!! some of my MOST favorite IZ content depicts the characters being stylized with or sporting the fashion of vaporwave, goth, grunge, pastel, spacecore, cryptidcore, future funk, 90s disastercore and any and all things strange, niche, glittery and neon, and I FUCKING LOVE IT. GOD

- and lastly, I talk a fuck of a lot, as you can probably tell by this post lol. I’ll be screaming in the tags constantly and am liable to write the occasional super long text post! for those who are into that, I invite you to have discussions with me! and for those who aren’t, feel free to ignore them!

Things I will be staying away from!

- romantic content that depicts the characters as minors AKA underage zadr!! there will be no kid ships here! I’m an adult and only enjoy shipping adult versions of the characters! kid content will be either canon, wholesome, or friendship content! while I do find adult versions of the characters attractive since they have qualities I find attractive in real life, I see the adult versions as almost completely different people since they’re so far removed from the source content, and the love I feel for the canon kids is HIGHLY maternal and very nostalgia centric. this would probably be more clear if I didn’t lump the two types of content into the same blog, but I really do love both the adult fan interpreted IZ world and the canon IZ world in equal measure, just in different ways!

- content that fetishizes or ‘yaoi’-fies gay relationships! I am a queer person and I enjoy queer content made by queer people for queer people, you’re not gonna find any “B-BUT WE’RE BOTH BOYS!” shit here 😂

- content that depicts abuse between friends or partners!! while violence is an active theme in zim and dib’s canonical relationship, I very much dislike zadr content that depicts the two being aggressive or malicious towards each other while they’re supposedly in love. complex relationships are certainly interesting, but while toxic and abusive relationships are realistic, they’re not okay and should not be romanticized. I understand some people use that kind of content to cope, but for me it’s nothing but bad feelings. sparring and play fighting is fine and good, consensual violence could be interesting to explore, but hatred will stay separate from romance on this blog.

- discourse and long conversations about negative topics! I acknowledge the importance of discussing problems within the fandom, however I wish for this blog to be a positive and comforting place, since iz content in general is positive and comforting for me! there may be an occasional post that touches on real life negative topics but overall this will be kept to a minimum.

- explicit content!! while I DO both draw and consume nsfw adult zadr content, it will not be on this blog! since tumblr decided to be idiots and remove any way for minors and people who don’t wish to see nsfw content to hide it, this blog will remain pg-13. I will also not be providing any links to my other sites because of this (I am a nsfw artist and I sell porn commissions for a living, not trying to shove that in the faces of my minor, ace and sex repulsed followers, but by all means seek out my art if you DO wish to!). similarly, I will not be releasing my nsfw zadr art publicly anywhere, since aged up characters are controversial and my career, being online, could suffer if someone wanted to use that against me. HOWEVER, for fellow adult fans with extra cash who take a shine to my art, paid content could be a possibility in the future 👀

Interaction Guidelines!

Things I’m okay with!

- tagging my posts in any way you wish! kinning is fine! any ship interpretation is fine! any gender/orientation interpretation is fine! sharing your thoughts/opinions is fine!

- as long as you CREDIT me! using my art for icons/headers etc, drawing my iz designs, referencing my art, and reposting my art on other sites is all okay!

- asks or anons of any questions you might have about me or my content!

- asks or anons popping in to share thoughts, opinions and ideas! it’s always nice to hear from other fans!

- leaving comments in the tags/replies/reblogs of my posts makes me very happy!! tumblr is the only place I post my fanart and I love seeing what people think of it!

Things I’m not okay with!

- messages, reblogs, tags or asks that are blatantly rude or disrespectful! I really do not care what the subject or reason is, if you act like an asshole, I will not respond and will block you!

- asks or messages that say only ‘hi’ or ‘how are you?’ I have no problem with people trying to be friendly but I never have a single idea of how to reply to these kinds of messages, I’m so sorry 😂 please talk to me about fandom stuff though!!

- pressure to produce content! I like any other creator adore comments and compliments, but things like “DRAW MORE!!” “MORE ZADR!!” “WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO DRAW MORE!!” are not compliments!! it is in fact very off putting so please don’t do that! it will mess with my motivation! consider commissioning me if you want more content!

- if you are considering trying to be my friend, please be 20+!! I am not comfortable being friends with teens! nothing against my teen followers, I respect and appreciate you, but please understand I cannot relate to you on a personal level, and besides that, being friends with someone over 20 can be harmful and even dangerous for minors! I am an adult and only wish to have adult friends! please respect my wishes!

About my content!

So since what I like to draw is usually pretty different from the show, here are the basic headcanons for my interpretations of adult Zim and Dib~! Basically they’re queer 2019 millennials who are damaged but doing their best and enjoy niche interests and subcultures. Zim is the type who’s tough to handle but it’s worth it because he’s an amazing and colorful person underneath it all and only those he’s close to get to see that, and Dib is an eccentric but completely reliable, intelligent, passionate, and loyal friend whose company is a familiar comfort and a total safe space. They live together and are mutually beneficial allies to friends to lovers!

I HAVE A FIC, or at least an idea for one lol and when using my designs for the characters, my drawings will most likely be set in its context! Affectionately nicknamed the Soft AU, it’s centered around rest, recovery, affection, care and bonding… bc I’m SOFT OKAY 😂 You can read the full summary here, but here’s the gist!

A little over a decade after arriving on earth, Zim’s banishment is reinstated and as a result his entire base and all his equipment is confiscated, leaving him stranded on Earth with no way off the planet and in danger of being caught and killed by the humans. Dib offers him a deal that he’ll hide Zim instead of turning him in in exchange for letting him study Zim. They live together in Dib’s apartment and eventually get used to each other. Loneliness induced affection ensues. Hooray!!

And now for the boys themselves!

My Dib!

- 25, 6′2″, Mexican, cis boy, bisexual, bilingual

- is recovering from depression and anxiety and has ADD and insomnia, has had a nicotine addiction

- has a ton of ear piercings and a few facial piercings, as well as a few tattoos

- is still just as obsessive about his interests as he was as a kid, just with more curbed enthusiasm due to, yknow, depression. researching Zim however brings his enthusiasm back full force. he still sucks at taking care of himself when enthralled with his work but he’s getting there

- runs various blogs, forums, and youtube channels making content about cryptids and conspiracy theories, the ad revenue of which is his main source of income (he dislikes using his father’s money to support himself, but will dip into the family account occasionally)

- is very patient and can communicate and problem solve very well, and is skilled at handling various conflicts and mental issues

- still has his ‘I hate people’ attitude but is more open minded and understanding than he used to be, and more compassionate. he has difficulty trusting strangers but his friends and family are very important to him

- can be moody and dramatic but he’s a big sweetheart at his core

- being friends with Zim has made him more willing to enjoy acting like a huge dork and total weirdo, even in public

My Zim!

- young adult, 5′5″, androgynous presenting demi boy, panromantic demisexual

- has PTSD and anxiety, is recovering with help from Dib

- displays inhuman behavior such as hissing, growling, chirring, chirping, scratching/biting, screeching, territory guarding and dominance displays

- is a demi boy, meaning he identifies as mostly but not completely male, and is more nonbinary than cis, but he’s never given it too much thought because gender is stupid. he has little to no concept and zero regard for human gender roles

- is a SHIT who’s main entertainment is annoying Dib and ‘winning’ arguments, but Dib seems to get harder to piss off as time goes on, much to his confusion

- pitches a fit when he doesn’t agree with/doesn’t want to do something but can be swayed with rewards such as food, sweets, new clothes, video games etc

- rambunctious and high energy, he gets stir crazy often, but since he hates the city he and Dib often take car trips to more fun/nicer places outside the neighborhood

- moody and bratty with skewed logic but smart and more intuitive than he used to be, he’s more than a handful to deal with, but this also makes him the most entertaining person Dib knows

- after having the free time to discover the world of aesthetics, he becomes very much into clothes, make up, accessories etc (be they masculine or feminine) and enjoys making a hobby out of creating a unique self image using fashion (thus also subconsciously asserting his individuality)

- is much more dependent on Dib than he admits (or even realizes)

- his beliefs in nationalism, fascism and genocide are direct results of brainwashing and personality altering programs run by his PAK, and are not actually part of his core personality (these programs will be overridden and deleted eventually)

Side Note: I haven’t thought as far with the other characters but my Gaz and Tak are definitely lesbians 😂

And finally, my tag list!

#my art - things that I drew!

#my post - any post that I posted!

#asks - asks!

#text post - any text post longer than a couple lines!

#video - videos!

#audio - audios!

#canon - content from the show/comic/movie etc!

#creators - any content featuring the IZ cast or crew!

#memes - memes, shitposts, short comics, comedic posts etc!

#friends - friendship art between any characters!

#family - family bonding between the membranes/found family between any characters!

#ships - ship art between adult characters!

#suggestive - any content that could be considered sexual in nature!

#positive - fluff, friendship, wholesome content, uplifting content, characters being happy/cute/having fun etc!

#negative - angst, vent art, violence, mental illness, dark themes, characters fighting/being sad/getting hurt etc!

#kids - content depicting characters as kids/irkens as their canon designs!

#adults - content depicting characters as adults/irkens with noncanon designs!

#millennials - content depicting adult characters that includes any modern culture! (personal fave)

#aesthetic - highly stylized or surreal portraits centered around aesthetic themes!

ship tags!: zadr (zim and dib romance), tagr (tak and gaz romance), rapr (red and purple romance)

friendship tags!: zadf (zim and dib friendship), tagf (tak and gaz friendship), zatf (zim and tak friendship), tadf (tak and dib friendship), zagf (zim and gaz friendship), zag (zim and gir)

character tags!: zim, dib, gaz, tak, gir, red, purple, membrane, skoodge, gretchen, keef, spork, miyuki, recap kid, bg chars, ocs

[ais-n]

Hi, if you enjoy Whyborne and Griffin then I can wholeheartedly recommend KJ Charles to you. Her entire work in general and the Magpie Lord in particular. If you need/want anymore recommendations I can give you some pointers. In any case W & G just got its conclusion recently and I am very happy with how it all ended :D

Thanks! It’s funny because I was recommended Magpie Lord, Whyborne & Griffin, and another series all at the same time so I can totally see why you rec Magpie/KJ too. I think probably a lot of people would agree with you so I do think for anyone who read W&G or Magpie Lord and liked it, you should listen to sianascera :) 

I thought about just saying “thanks!” and not saying more because I hate ever seeming like a contrary asshole, but I’m also way too damn honest and I felt like I’d be lying if I didn’t continue… This worry going back and forth stalled me for days on figuring out how to reply, because I’m a dork ¬_¬

To compromise, here’s a longer ass reply, but I’ll put it behind a cut so as not to bug anyone who doesn’t care.

In all honesty, I actually tried Magpie Lord before Whyborne & Griffin and didn’t like it, sadly, so I don’t plan to read anything else in that series. But I did think the beginning was intriguing, I liked the world concept, and KJ’s writing style was fine from what I recall, so I’ll definitely keep her in mind for other series. It might be that other series she writes will work well for the things I tend to gravitate toward and I just happened to not connect well with that particular series. 

The problem I had with Magpie Lord is a similar problem I have with like 99.99% of BL or m/m, which is why I’m exceedingly picky with things I will read, and then what I like, and especially what I will go on to recommend to others. I don’t know how many series or books I’ve read in the m/m world but for the longest time there was only 2 series I recommended, and now it’s tentatively expanded to 4. Even within those series, I don’t find them to be perfect, but nothing is. Still, something about each of them overran any misgivings I might have otherwise had at any point in time (if any), and for all of the series I’ve read them multiple times which is otherwise not super usual for me.

Your comment caused me to analyze what it is about those 4 series that for whatever reason works for me as a reader that the other series out there I’ve read don’t. It isn’t necessarily about the world, the plot, the characters, the dialogue, the writing voice, the length, any of that. Those are all factors, but they are not the sole or even oftentimes primary deciding factor in whether I will ultimately like, reread, and recommend a story.

I realized that, for me, power dynamics between a couple is really important (especially in any sort of romance or romance-adjacent story), in that I don’t like relationships that don’t have trust, respect, and equality or give-and-take at the center of it. I also really prefer stories where consent is very consciously addressed, both in that it’s given but also that it remains, and if ever something wavers within that, it’s acknowledged and addressed. I really like stories that take their time getting the couple to get to know each other before it’s instasex, and where sex isn’t used as the way to solve or avoid problems without there being consequences, and where it isn’t just automatically assumed that sexuality = consent and interest. Like, I’m gay but I’m also ace. Just because there’s a woman who’s also a lesbian around me doesn’t mean I’m going to instantly want to sex her. Likelihood is exceedingly low for that, in fact, even if I weren’t ace. 

I also like stories where the main characters’ merits and flaws remain evident throughout, but they find ways to accommodate each other, or account for the quirks of the other person. I really like stories where you can tell there’s love and respect and trust between the main couple, and especially when we first get to watch that be earned rather than jumping straight from meeting to xyz.

And then I’m also exceedingly picky outside of that entire topic; I’m a character-driven reader, so I have to connect with one or more characters well enough to stay engaged. I also get bored quickly, so I want the plot to be decent, although a great plot is even better. I like good dialogue or interesting narration. I appreciate versatile writing voices. Most importantly for a series, not only does the series have to be good in each book, but ideally over the course of the series it gets better, AND the ending has to be adequate or at least not frustrate me to the point that it tarnishes the rest of the series leading up to it.

I know I’m super picky about all this and that the majority of stories can’t really meet all those expectations, which is why I don’t read a ton of series anymore because I got kind of burned out over the years. 

Also, to be clear: There’s absolutely nothing whatsoever wrong with anyone who likes all the things I mentioned I like to avoid. When I was younger, my view of power dynamics between a couple was drastically different than it is now. I also felt that at that time we had fewer options out there in general in the whole LGBT field, and one reason I initially got into m/m or BL is because it was the only LGBT content I could find at the time, plus because I was character-driven in feeling that some canon characters who happened to both be male really fit each other so much better than others did for them. 

But the things I tend to like in this regard are not really super popular as a whole across the genre, so it just reinforces to me that I’m extremely picky on this particular topic. Which means that just because I’m too picky for certain things, others may super love it, and that’s awesome! I love that there are so many different stories out there, so many different perspectives both as readers/writers as well as within the stories themselves. It’s so awesome

I actually do totally plan to read that one short story that KJ and Jordan wrote together--I took a break from W&G because I’m now rereading for the millionth time the Raised by Wolves series by W.A. Hoffman--but I think it’ll be really interesting to see if maybe that story pulls me into a different world KJ writes, who knows. I think it’s so cute that The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal was mentioned in W&G as a book Griffin just had lying around. For some reason, that little detail delighted me lol So I’m def curious about the whole Simon Feximal thing. Especially since the art I saw commissioned for it looks dooooope

Oh btw, though - side note, the cover of Magpie Lord is so cool! *___* I love it so much!

Anyway that was my unnecessarily long answer, sorry lol I just didn’t want you to think I ignored you if I never mentioned Magpie Lord again. I was bummed I didn’t like the story, tbh; it started out strong for me and I went into it initially assuming I would love it. Unfortunately, in the end it just happened to be a story that didn’t work for me primarily because of the couple, but like I said, I’m definitely up for trying other series KJ writes, starting with Simon Feximal ones. Depending on how that goes, I’ll see about checking out anything else she does. 

And if it turns out the Simon books also don’t work for me, it’s just a personal thing from someone who’s picky as hell about certain things. It’s definitely not a reflection on KJ as a writer, because you can tell at a glance her works are well-loved by many, and that makes me super happy. I love it so much when there’s a writer who’s able to create worlds and characters for readers in a way that they genuinely love and connect with and want to spread their joy to others. It’s such a beautiful thing :)

Thank you for the recommendation! Sorry I’m so picky I couldn’t take it to heart as much as you would have hoped, but I super appreciate the recommendation, and I hope others are less picky than me and are able to enjoy the series fully because it’s certainly an interesting premise :)

[icekitten]

Magicians (and how slash ships are treated) rant...

I’ve watched shows where...

A slash ship finally expressed their love for each other and heavily indicated the relationship would be consummated only for one half to be murdered by the end of the episode.

The audience was mercilessly queer-baited for years only for the characters to be put in straight relationships or for the love to be one-sided or unrequited, with no satisfying conclusion. And all because stringing along the fans with homoerotic scenes, flirtatious banter and innuendo keeps the viewership steady without actually having to pull the trigger on a same-sex romance and of course they wouldn’t want to alienate the homophobic portion of the audience. Apparently heterosexuality and pandering to bigots will always trump chemistry, connection and sense. 

One half of the couple dies tragically in the others arms, usually from murder or an incurable ailment.

The gay character never gets a love interest at all, even when the show runs for years. Or they do get a love interest, but are barely allowed to kiss unless it’s in dim lighting.

Multiple gay characters are added for the sake of inclusion only for them to get no significant screen time, or they’re killed off, never receiving a meaningful story arc or romance. And the excuse made for never pairing any of them together is that they don’t want to create couples simply based on the fact they’re both gay. So who exactly can they be paired with? The sexually ambiguous male lead? Ha! Keep dreaming!

One half of the pairing is murdered by the other. And you’d think that nothing could be more devastating than that...

The Magicians season 4 finale was worse than any of the above, because they promised us something within their own narrative (”If I ever get out of here Q, know that when I’m braver it’s because I learned it from you.”) and not only didn’t deliver, they destroyed it in the cruelest way possible. They relished the critical praise of episodes like A Life in The Day and Escape from the Happy Place, they presented the audience with a male/male ship that was mutually requited and had the potential to be a groundbreaking power couple for the ages and they not only took it away but spat in our faces. They filled the final 3 episodes of season 4 with heterosexual love stories and gave them meaningful moments together before the tragic death of their bisexual lead and they couldn’t even spare a look between Quentin and Eliot, not even a one sentence exchange. And for what? Shock value? To give Eliot more man-pain going into season 5? For the sake of tragedy and realism in a fantasy show about MAGIC?! Why is it realistic for the straight couples to get final moments together but not the same-sex pairing? And why would you center an entire season around Quentin’s unwavering mission to free Eliot from the monster only to have Eliot finally come back (in an extremely anticlimactic way I might add) and not even have these characters speak to or look at each other during said scene or later in the episode? And Eliot awoke from his season long imprisonment in his own mind to the news that his best friend, brother of the heart and soulmate is dead and he’ll never get the chance to tell him he loves him, which was the motivating thought that kept him fighting for his freedom from the monster. It’s absolutely baffling from a writing perspective, as if the writers of the second half of the season had no concept of what propelled the first.

What could have been a bold, groundbreaking and historic moment in the television landscape became a living nightmare of undoing everything the show did right. And boy, did we believe wholeheartedly in this little cult scifi show. We all thought that this one was different. Surely they wouldn’t be like all the others, not when they wrote Quentin and Eliot’s relationship with such nuance, meaning and beauty... but in the end they acted with the same spinelessness, heartlessness and disregard for their most loyal supporters as all the rest, and they were downright savage in their delivery of the final blow. They not only killed a unique, relatable, and brave character and a ship that never reached it’s full potential, they killed the show entirely. Our trust was betrayed, our faith evaporated with Quentin, and our love for The Magicians was utterly snuffed out. And the true tragedy is The Magicians won’t be remembered for the magical, daring, layered, funny, deep, poignant and beloved show it once was, but for the gutless mess it became in the final episodes of season 4.

Should we just accept that slash ships will inevitably end in tragedy, or never be requited, that one half must die, that they should be treated as less than their hetero counterparts? Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t want all same-sex tv couples to live a tragedy free existence. I love angst and drama and the masochist in me is a sucker for a star-crossed love story. All I ask is for these potential couples to exist outside the realm of subtext whether it ends in a happily ever after or heartbreaking devastation. Give them a chance to flourish, instead of crushing all potential before the story has begun.

Why should fictional gay couples and main characters only be relegated to soap operas, fluffy comedies, and shows that are specifically geared towards a gay audience? Why are gay and bi characters always secondary on scripted dramas? Visibility matters but so does treating LGBT characters with the same respect and dignity as their straight peers. Including gay characters within a series just for the sake of inclusion is not progressive if you never do anything consequential with them. Can we not have one mainstream dramatic series where the male lead falls in love with another man (before the final episode and not in flashback form)? Would the show be ripped off the air? Would the ratings plummet? Do producers not realize how hungry we are for something like this? How many times we’ve been burned and hurt by television series in the past? If a show were to go boldly into this uncharted territory it would be hailed as a cultural phenomenon and we would spread the word like wildfire! Or is queer-baiting, the “bury your gays” trope, and minimal inclusion so alluring that artistic integrity be damned? Would these shows rather appeal to the narrow-minded than the open-hearted?

And why should we be treated so abhorrently? The members of the slash fandom are the ones who love these shows with all our hearts, re-watch episodes incessantly, create gifs, art, fics, tribute videos, cosplay, meta, the ones who tweet and promote and recommend the show to others, not because we’re paid to but because we’re devoted and passionate. We are the ones who keep the spirit of shows alive long after they’re off the air waves. We’re the ones who find inspiration in the characters and worlds these series create and expand upon these wonderful creations into works of our own making. And all we ask in return is just once for a pairing we ship to get a chance at love. To not be baited, fooled, played and ultimately heartbroken, hopeless and disillusioned.

This long-running and unfortunate queer-baiting phenomenon is unacceptable and the practice needs to be eradicated now. The lack of ethics and creative principle from showrunners and network execs is the epitome of cowardice. Why is fear stronger than love and reason? I guarantee if they had a male lead character fall in love with a man (not on a whim, but because it made sense within the canon text of the show and because of the chemistry between the two characters) they would receive mountains of praise from critics and fans. It would breathe new life into a stale state of sameness within network drama. Slash fans would tune-in in droves to witness such a valiant television landmark and historic precedent. They would be the trailblazing show that did what no other had the honesty and moral fiber to do. And to think it could have been you, The Magicians.

It’s 2019. Please do better.

[cassiejade]

I was in the mood to do a tag and was scrolling through my reader looking to see if anything was going to pop up and what did I find? A tag for one of my top favorite movies! A tag centered around one of my top obsessions?

What are the odds that I would get so lucky?

This is perfect thank you so so much LairofBooks!

I’ve been sitting on this draft for so long and I don’t even know why but I finally decided to either post it or delete it.

Wonder Woman: Your favorite badass female book character…

  Vasya from The Bear and The Nightingale. She’s a total badass who isn’t afraid to be herself in a world and time where there are serious consequences for not sticking to social norms

Themyscira: A book setting you want to escape to…

  I think my default answer for this type of question is always going to be Middle Earth.

London: A hyped book that let you down…

  Iron Gold by Pierce Brown. I was so disappointed with this and I’m not sure if I’m going to continue on with the rest of the books.

Steve Trevor: A book that has a beautiful cover and a great story (i.e. good personality)…

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab. A beautiful cover and a great start to an amazing trilogy.

Lasso of Truth: A book you hated…

The Picture of Dorian Gray, could not stand it for multiple reasons.

Wonder Woman’s Shield: A book so sad that you need a shield…

Dear Martin, there was one part in the second half of the book that had me sobbing so much I had to put the book down and walk away for a couple minutes. Even thinking about it or describing why it made me cry will make me tear up all over again.

Ares: a villain that is scary, but you can’t seem to hate them…

I thought about this for a while and I think I have to go with Pennywise from It. I can’t seem to hate him because he’s a chaos entity and he’s doing his job and creating a lot of chaos.

The Amazons: A book that you wish had more/better LGBT+ representation…

I don’t have a specific book in mind but more of a genre that I think needs more LGBT+ rep and that’s New Adult. A few days ago I was searching for a NA romance with an f/f relationship and I found next to nothing. But, if you search for m/m relationships there aren’t many results but there are more then f/f, most of the f/f results are just straight up erotica, nothing focusing on relationships or anything else. I think this opened a whole can of worms but it was something I wanted to talk about.

And if you have any NA romances with an f/f relationship recommendations, please share.

Justice League: What superhero book friends do you tag…

  Wonder Woman Book Tag! I was in the mood to do a tag and was scrolling through my reader looking to see if anything was going to pop up and what did I find?

[ghcstvalleychief]

“They love relationships that don't bother to develop the romantic aspect just as long as there's a no holds barred sex scene then who cares about the rest?”

THIS! I recently got a cis female friend into KP and when we were discussing it, everything came back to the sex and how “hot” it was. I at first didn’t think too much on it because, yeah, some of the love scenes were pretty hot and that’s just a fact. That’s fine. As we kept talking, one thing I noticed was that she was a big fan of a certain ship -you know- and I was confused by that initially because I’m sorry to say it but, I don’t get the draw. There was no chemistry, no real buildup that made sense to them having an actual relationship, and I didn’t feel anything during their specific (and uncomfortable) love scene. Every time I tried to get her perspective on why she loved them so much it was just comments about how hot and kinky their nc scene was. That was it. I genuinely thought she’d have a lot more to say about it but I was just further confused because… that scene wasn’t even kinky but to each their own I guess.

We then discussed Ep 7 and why it’s my favorite. Before I could explain why, she brought up the bathroom mirror love scene and thought that was my reason. I told her I loved that scene because so much passed between Kinn and Porsche and I love that you could see how well the actors translated that love, intimacy, and connection on screen. How it was the start to a more honest and solid relationship because they bared themselves to each other. I explained to her that I specifically loved the way porsche was observing Kinn and I especially loved the way Kinn broke down at the end and they just held each other through the emotions. I thought it was beautiful but, my reasons for loving the episode had a little to do with that specific part. My fav scene was actually KP on the balcony at the minor family home. She didn’t seem interested in discussing that aspect and in a way it was like she disregarded alllll of the character development and relationship development because it held no interest for her. After that I stopped wanting to talk about it and she got kind of annoyed with me. That’s when I told her to just watch porn at that point because that’s all she was after.

She then said something like “you think they’re hot too so I don’t know why you’re being so condescending” and I again explained that yes, the actors are attractive and the scenes are sexy but my love for the show and the ship had so much more to do with everything and not JUST the sex. I mean, she’ll lose her shit over the the romance in a Jane Austin book/movie but any BL or LGBT piece of media, she acts like that doesn’t exist within it. That’s the moment I knew I didn’t want to be friends with her anymore because that mindset is so disgusting, and it also showed me that she wouldn’t ever respect my own personal relationships if I was in one with a partner of a certain gender.

Don’t get me wrong about all of this, I’m aegosexual so I’m down with sex scenes but those scenes, especially in this show, add so much to the dynamic of the relationship and I actually think it’s really sad that these actors put so much into their characters and people who fetishize just really… disregard, downplay and honestly l intentionally ignore all of it for three minutes of “hot guys” simulating sex. I find it extremely weird. Anyway sorry for the long rant but that sentence popped out at me and I was like OMG I just experienced this one on one with someone!

And this is why I said there needs to be a happy balance and a happy medium. Cishet people already think the way we live, love, and fuck is centered around sex and just sex. Cishet people don't see the humanity in people who are in the LGBT+ community, even if they're not consciously aware of it. We live in a society that already demonizes us, so it's not enough for cishet people to believe we're human beings with the same hopes, dreams, and desires they have. They have to actively unlearn and unpack the homophobia that's embedded in the very fabric of our society. That's not the job of the media we consume, but it is important that people realize that just because they're not actively lobbing slurs at other people that they're not bigoted. You have to actively unlearn those beliefs that you've been conditioned and socialized to internalize.

This is why some people would believe and claim that a ship that had no true relationship/romantic development and a shoddily directed (and acted) BDSM-esque scene "stole the show." They believe that because they care about the sexual aspect of it. Anyone who says that can't tell you how this ship "stole" the show without mentioning that one extremely weak, "kinky", BDSM sex scene. That was a scene made palatable for people who aren't truly into BDSM and cishet people. But it's funny that's the only thing they can use to justify this statement. They can't tell you anything else other than that, and that's why I say there needs to be more. Just more of everything. We don't have enough representation for mlm/wlw ships to be centered around sex and just sex. We don't have enough representation in the media for that to be a thing that we can get away with. Again, I don't see the issue with these characters having sex. Get as downright freaky and nasty as you want! But I do have an issue when the narrative reinforces homophobic ideals that are harbored by an already homophobic audience. The BL fandom is homophobic and misogynistic and these shows continue to reinforce both belief systems in many different ways.

No offense to your former friend, but that's what I mean when I bring up fetishization. I won't proclaim to know her sexual orientation, but that's what I mean. The only thing she brought up was their sex scene. What about the rest of it? What about their actual relationship? Granted, there wasn't any real relationship development so I can't completely blame her for her perspective. Even though there was another alternative to that ship that actually had both, she still couldn't be bothered. However, you're right, anon. If that's the only thing that comes to your mind and nothing else, then you may as well watch porn. It's the same thing. You don't have to worry about getting emotionally invested in a complex plot that you're not interested in anyway. Just watch porn. It gets you to the finish line much quicker!

[acoolemocucumber]

s6 relationship analysis (lance's character, angst, and faith in lgbt rep)

okay, so here's my take on s6.

i feel really odd? after watching it, i felt unbelievably sad and heartbroken, but not in a satisfying way. usually i love dramatic seasons that make me feel, but this was more of a... unfinished, prolonged grief that i felt.

i can say that this season was alright. it definitely has a lot of things i disliked and wish would improve, but overall animation and plot was... good/okay...

i'm going to skip over plot details and nitpicky little problems. i'm going to talk about relationships, because i'm definitely smarter in that area than analyzing the plot.

okay, first, allura and lotor.

in the first episode, you really can tell that they've gotten closer.

as the season progresses, they really find solace in each other and honestly, i think lotor really did love allura. but... not in the right way, not the way anybody should if they want to do it correctly. he didn't love her and put her over his morals and plan. he put his ambition over her. and as you know, he tried to kill her and the rest of her team.

but you can tell that she was dear to him for a while. unless i'm wrong and it was all an act.

i feel bad for allura. but i also feel bad for lotor. he had a rough childhood which made it tragic to see him follow his father's footsteps. that's all i have to say about it.

keith and shiro.

their relationship was a main part of this season and it'd be silly to ignore it. the fight scene between them almost got me crying. when keith said "you're my brother, i love you," it really made me feel for him. all of the flashbacks for keith were well-done.

although, i didn't expect there to be so many fake shiros in those cloning pods. it almost felt like it was too much of a fantasy, too much of a reach? it's a kids' show, i get it, but it seemed too unrealistic.

and just like pidge in s4, keith went by himself and after his long battle there weren't any questions about what happened. it felt,, unseen. it felt like it should've been touched on at least a little bit.

it was quite a big point for the plot, so to not even talk about it?

that was probably one of the biggest issues this season.

there were so many dramatic moments in this season, but once they were over, they weren't brought up again by the characters. not just this season, but really the whole show

let me give some examples:

lance sacrificing himself for coran. pidge finding matt's grave. shiro and sendak; shiro's ptsd (rarely spoken about to anyone). keith and shiro at the bom base.

now this season:

keith's battle between him and shiro. lance sacrificing himself for allura. lance being upset over allura. lance being made fun of by hunk and pidge. lance crying over shiro.

okay, you see why i'm centering around lance?

well, that's who i'm talking about next. and honestly, i'm not just going to choose a relationship between him and another character, for one reason.

whenever he's with another character, their problems are always put first. (there are exceptions, which only go back to s3, with lance seeking out keith.)

whenever he's with another character, their emotional distress is almost always put above his own.

this might be so for two reasons.

one, lazy writing. could be true.

two, that's just who lance is. we all know he's a very empathetic person, he naturally puts others' lives above his own. this is shown when he sacrifices himself to save coran and allura.

or, it's a mix of both, which is what i'm expecting honestly.

okay, well, establishing that...

lance this season was heartbroken.

if the voltron directors wanted to make me feel utterly sad and hopeless, then they did it.

not in a good way though. normally i love when characters are put through hardships, and they grow from it, but this... this was so much different.

for the ENTIRE SHOW, lance's self esteem has been lowering. i went back to watch some of the earlier episodes, and you can go back to season 2 to see where it really begins, but you can see how it keeps getting worse as time goes on.

it was so hard to watch as i continued on with each season. since lance is my favorite character, it made it even harder.

he loses a bit of his enthusiasm, and although he doesn't become a lifeless shell of a human, he is not the same.

the hardest thing about this isn't that his self esteem is low and he's depressed, it's the lack of concern from most of the team. it's the lack of addressing his issues in a healthy way.

as we watch the show, we are the only ones who know the extent of lance's insecurities. he always deals with it when he's away from the team, and i assume this is so because he's afraid the team will dislike him, and he will break his shell of bravado and confidence he's made.

EVEN SO, when the team IS around him, they never say anything. this fucking pisses me off.

as someone who has experienced similar things, being ignored and feelings made out to be less important than others, i really, really sympathize with lance. he's had signs that the team didn't pick up on, unlike other characters.

allura feeling sad? SOMEBODY is going to comfort her. pidge feeling sad? count on someone comforting her. shiro? keith?

they all had somebody to go to.

and even when lance is obviously hurting, right in front of the team, nobody goes to him. this is mostly after keith leaves.

hunk, his BEST FRIEND, and pidge, a close friend as well, only made him feel worse by mocking and making light of his pain.

his feelings are thrown under a rug, and then stepped on.

hell, even the mice made him sad by not listening to him. what the fuck?

and then there's allura and lotor.

i'm really not one to get super emotional during romances, but when lance was in the picture, or rather, excluded from the picture, i started to lose it.

he called himself a third wheel, and that he's "just a boy from cuba," and jesus christ, guys, he called himself PATHETIC.

and after all of the heartache he was put through, HE COMFORTS ALLURA.

after being essentially ignored by lotor and allura, sacrificing himself for allura and it never being brought up again, he comforts the person who was giving him the most sadness. lance literally DIED and was brought back to life.

i'm not bashing allura, but i wish she'd go to lance about his problems, rather than focusing on her own and hoping lance would reassure her.

lance didn't deserve that. he didn't fucking deserve that. he'd been heartbroken, ignored, depressed, and excluded and yet...

christ, after allura went to lance, the exact thought i had when watching her hug him and seeing his sad expression was "he's her second choice." he was made to feel like he was below lotor, like if lotor was still there, allura wouldn't have ever given him a chance. that must really fucking hurt to realize.

allura knew, after 6 seasons. finally SOMEONE knew about his low self-worth issues, and yet she ran into his arms crying about her insecurities. she knew but still ended up being the one comforted.

she should've at least talked about it to him, mentioned it, gotten it into the air that she wasn't in love with him, instead of giving him this... hope, only to be disappointed and heartbroken in the end. that's a really distressing situation, that i've also experienced, to keep getting your hopes up and having someone do it over and over until you're really tired.

i'm positive allura only sees lance as a close friend. the writers, if they aren't pulling our legs, set up their relationship so that it wouldn't make sense to put them together romantically. and right after lotor's betrayl, allura wouldn't naturally want another lover. that doesn't happen unless someone wants to distract themselves from an emotional issue, and usually it just,, doesn't happen at all. it doesn't make any sense to choose that in the story.

most of yall probably know what i'm leading up to.

yeah, lance and keith's relationship.

keith has gotten so much development, and lance has,, much less. they both have grown so much, but i really just want an episode with lance as the "main character." like keith. like keith and shiro battling, and keith and krolia having flashbacks.

this isn't to say lance hasn't gotten a lot of screentime, it's more noting that every time he really has a serious episode, he's sad and depressed. it's not healthy, it's just him being isolated and lonely. it's not as much of him growing, it's more of him becoming more and more insecure and excluded.

i just want him to be happy.

hopefully when they go back to earth, lance will be the one to step into the spotlight for a much longer time. i want him to resolve his issues, and i really just,, want lance to fall in love. i think he deserves to fall in love, after everything.

if you think lance and keith are endgame, i agree with you. there's so much evidence for it, which is a totally different post for a different time.

i really just want somebody to treat lance right for once? i want keith to give him a break, let him relax, reassure him, HUG HIM, let him talk about his feelings so he doesn't bottle them up, and just love him,,?

maybe i'm being dramatic but i see so much realism in lance as a character, his emotions, his distress; he's so realistic in that his feelings really seem the most relatable out of all of the characters in the show.

i just feel so bad for him,,? he said, while allura hugged him, that he was a person who "made a million mistakes." he is way harder on himself than most of the paladins, i think. lance isn't a bad person, but he thinks he could do better, when he's already kind to others. he cried over shiro because he BLAMED HIMSELF. imagine having someone's death on your shoulders, and just breaking down.

if yall know korra, then you know that this show is most likely going to do something similar to how korra's relationships in the love triangle went. although it is way more different because allura doesn't reciprocate lance's feelings unlike korra and her first boyfriend. i think lance is going to find something he loves more in keith than in allura. i think they're going to keep progressing in that keith really listens to lance, unlike the other members of the team.

i think in the last season of voltron, lance and keith are going to be together. seriously, there's wayyy too much evidence for it not to happen. if they say no queerbait, then klance is the only slowburn romance we can count on. lance is going to fall in love, that is confirmed, but if you look at allura... she doesn't see him romantically, although they do share a very close bond now. allura and lance's relationship is not slowburn. it's a crush that was already established at the beginning of the series. that isn't how slowburns normally start. lance and keith went from rivals, to friends, to... a rather hard to determine admiration. lance was visibly happy when keith was on screen. it was also hinted that lance's sexuality arc is an undertone to s6, and it might be a reach but, the scene with hunk saying something about lance and allura... lance blushed when he mixed up hunk and allura. he seems very distraught about it, and has been repressing it for a while. after moving on from allura, he's going to realize his feelings.

as a bi person, my experiences have been similar. i dated the opposite sex, and it took me a long time to get over, but afterwards i realized my sexuality. it's almost like the person i dated, since they were straight, was blocking out my growth as a person and me realizing my orientation.

i'm sure this is what is happening for lance. i was in denial for a while when thinking about the same sex, and was trying to repress it by being defensive when anything "gay" was rolled my way. it's common to try to hide it, and to be unsure when you're crushing on the opposite sex. normally, you'd think you're straight until you have a chance to look around and realize who you are.

i have hope that klance is going to happen.

just,, remember that thing lauren montgomery drew with lance holding a lgbt sign. don't doubt it. have faith, guys. i'm positive we're going to get representation. that's like, the one thing i'm sure about this show. yeah, it has a lot of problems that make me upset, but next season is an odd number so if i rely on the theory that all odd seasons are better then I'VE GOT HOPE.

so, this thing is almost over, and the only way to ease my pain is to write it out. if you disagree with some things, cool. just don't attack me. if you agree, cool, suffer and hope along with me.

tl;dr - this season was okay, i have a lot of issues that revolve around lance's mental health. i want him to be happy. lgbt rep is going to happen.

if u read all this, DAMN. good for u.

✌️

[bookishbitches]

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society : reaction post

Book Info - August 2018 BotM

Kelsey’s Reaction Post

Status: Complete 

Let me just start by saying that I unequivocally, absolutely adore this book and the characters and literally everything about it.

It’s a book about people and how the connections they form are the most profound, important things in the universe. It’s a romance, but more than that, it’s a book about love in all the forms it can take. It’s about war, but it’s also about how people hold up during it and how they go on in the aftermath. It doesn’t pull its punches. I laughed, I cried, I fell in love and made new friends. I lived this story with the characters and I could ask nothing more. A book that puts its characters front and center and lets them shine and be so beautifully, uniquely flawed and human is one that will always have a special place in my heart and on my bookshelf.

The epistolary format really, really worked for me. It made it really feel like I was there as this was unfolding in real time, making all these new friends through letters and keeping up with old ones. The format also let the relationships evolve so naturally. I could see them forming and shifting instead of feeling like I was being told about it. The fact that Juliet was doing research into the Occupation of the Channel Islands and telling Sidney what she learned let me learn so much as well, without making me feel like I should already know this and am only being caught up by the author so that I’m not Lacking as a reader.

On to the characters! (My favorite bit, always.)

Juliet is such a spitfire and I love her. She is the kind of person I desperately want to be friends and correspondents with. Honest and loving and passionate and so wonderfully real. She has anxiety about luncheons and writer’s block and is worried about meeting all these people she’s befriended in letters because what if they don’t like her in person? (That “what if I have fooled these people through writing into thinking I’m interesting and they find out it’s not true when we meet in person” is such a Mood). She is so friendly and open and interested in the hearts of people. She’s also a disaster at managing her own love life and I love her for it. (She jilted her affianced the day before the wedding because he boxed up her books and replaced them with trophies and I fell even more in love with her. That is a perfectly valid reason to call things off.) (If it wasn’t for Dawsey, I would propose to Juliet myself.)

Dawsey is so sweet and I love, love, loved watching him quietly fall in love with Juliet, first through his letters to her (and everyone and their mothers mentioning how he was excited that she was coming to Guernsey) and then through their actual interactions while she was on the island. He is the definition of steady and everyone is so at ease around him. He is a Protector and he is gentle until the situation calls for something else (i.e. beating the hell out of the guy who informed on Elizabeth and Peter). He just wants to take care of everyone and I’m so glad that the Literary Society helped him find his voice and the friends that he needed so badly. I just want to imagine him holding a baby animal or crouched down with Kit watching a blackbird hunt worms. (I also want to imagine him sitting with Juliet in front of the fire, Kit having dozed off in the middle of whatever she was doing, just holding Juliet’s hand and letting the comfortable silence settle around them like a favorite blanket.)

Isola is a delight. She is unapologetically herself and does what she wants and is loved for it and that is a beautiful thing to see. Like Juliet, I want to adopt her. Sometimes a family is a blogger, my new witch daughter, her goat and parrot, and a biscuit tin of letters from Oscar Wilde. Just go with it.

I was so delighted when I read Juliet’s description of Amelia and found her to be exactly as I was already picturing. Amelia is so freaking strong and I admire her greatly. I would like her to adopt me, please and thank you. (Sometimes a family is...)

Sidney is fabulous. He is so supportive and enabling and a wonderful brother to both Juliet and Sophie. I loved the reveal of his sexual orientation and how it wasn’t played as a big deal nor was it just set in there as a checkbox of LGBT+ rep. It was just part of him that Isola now knew and it was cool.

Mark can pretty much fuck off, as far as I’m concerned. I’m with Sidney in that he always felt oily and entitled. From the beginning it was clear he wasn’t right for Juliet, even if she couldn’t see it clearly. With the flowers, she was unsure if she was feeling flattered or hunted and that theme seemed to continue. He never seemed to give Juliet’s opinion much credence and acted like he was above her at all times. Also, he did not deal with rejection well and that’s always a red flag.

Mark also made Juliet feel so unsure. She was always wavering on how she felt about him, if she loved him, if she should stay with him. He made her question her plans and if she should go to Guernsey, when it seems like being decisive was an inherent personality trait of Juliet’s. (Running away twice, cultivating her love of books, deciding on the Guernsey project, just so many little things...) (Her decisions weren’t always good but they were made without much dithering.)

From the very start of the book, Juliet bemoans her love life but she is unwilling to settle (hooray Juliet!!). The line “I can’t think of anything lonelier than spending the rest of my life with someone I can’t talk to, or worse, someone I can’t be silent with,” is what sets the tone for what she’s looking for, and eventually finds with Dawsey.

With Mark, she can never truly get a sense for who he is beyond his intellectual pursuits (showing off for her) and his entertainment preferences (again, showing off for her). He is always whisking her off to do something or another. They never seem to be silent together.

With Dawsey, she tells in one letter of the myriad of topics they discussed over dinner, and from the beginning when he was showing her around Guernsey, they could be silent together. (Cue that cozy fireplace image again.)

I just adore the growing relationship between Juliet and Dawsey. The way he always signed his letters “Yours” (or “Ever Yours”) and kept a picture of Juliet and Kit in his pocket (*swoons*). He kept the book that first brought them together in a treasure box, had one of her scented handkerchiefs and all of her letters tied up in a ribbon that she thought she’d lost. Can you get any higher quality pining than this???? I think not!! He even read Anne Bronte novels because Juliet wrote a biography of the woman. And Juliet! Slowly realizing her feelings and then doing some quality pining herself when she thinks he doesn’t feel the same. Also, the way that Dawsey started talking more and opening up like a flower in the sun when Juliet came to the island/was corresponding with him, and the way he shut back down post Mark visit. This is what I love. Mutual pining between two oblivious people meant for each other.

And Juliet proposing? Iconic. Showstopping. Perfect. Even if Dawsey did injure himself and take the Lord’s name in vain. I’m glad it was from Isola’s point of view so we knew all that. Neither Juliet or Dawsey would be able to coherently tell about it. I’m just so happy that they are getting married immediately and will have their little family on Guernsey with Kit and the rest of the Literary Society and it’s just so wonderful.

I want to read this all over again immediately, and I might. As soon as I watch the Netflix adaptation which is queued up for when I finish writing this. Before I do that though, I want to give a huge thanks to @skyler10fic whose wholehearted recommendation of this book led to us choosing to read it this month. I can’t thank you enough!! I think books really do have a homing instinct to find their perfect readers - though sometimes they are helped along by great friends. ♥

- Kelsey

more on this book || all reaction posts || kelsey’s reaction posts

[michaelmilkers]

lgbt fiction: all for the game by nora sakavic

okay. all for the game has three books: the foxhole court (262 pages) the raven king (286 pages) and the king’s men (370 pages) and i finished it in 3 or 4 days i think

summary of the first book:

“Neil Josten is the newest addition to the Palmetto State University Exy team. He's short, he's fast, he's got a ton of potential—and he's the runaway son of the murderous crime lord known as The Butcher. Signing a contract with the PSU Foxes is the last thing a guy like Neil should do. The team is high profile and he doesn't need sports crews broadcasting pictures of his face around the nation. His lies will hold up only so long under this kind of scrutiny and the truth will get him killed. But Neil's not the only one with secrets on the team. One of Neil's new teammates is a friend from his old life, and Neil can't walk away from him a second time. Neil has survived the last eight years by running. Maybe he's finally found someone and something worth fighting for.”

obviously it was written by a woman but she gets a pass because the majority of it is very well done and she didnt try and make it a story ABOUT being gay. in fact the romance doesnt even start until a bit into the series which i found surprising

as i said in an earlier post i liked that the main characters were a cohesive group, it wasnt just main character, love interest, and background noise. the plot didnt feel like just something in place to orchestrate the romance, it was more that the romance was an aspect of it.

the main characters are on a sports team (a fictional sport) and for the most part there are six men and three women. their team captain is a woman.

would i recommend this series? yeah, i would. i really enjoyed it. it wasnt predictable, rejected a lot of m/m fiction stereotypes and tropes, and the story was genuinely interesting. i quite honestly could not give less of a fuck about mainstream sports (im a karate gay) but the scenes where they are playing the game are actually really exciting with the way the author writes them. 

with that said, i have a complaint.

three of the main characters are gay. the main character, the love interest, and a third character who from the start is very very open about being gay. at first it was refreshing to have a character so out like that, but then i was waiting for him to be fleshed out more and he just... wasnt. it got a little better in the second and third book but for the entire series he was basically The Gay One. all of the characters come from some sort of rough background, and even his backstory completely centers around him being gay with not accepting parents and all that. he flirted around endlessly to the point of being predatory, even though he has a boyfriend he is supposedly very committed to??? he was a fun character but it was just disappointing.

and now for trigger warnings, because this series has some heavy shit. i want yall to take this as seriously as possible: this series has some heavy shit.

minor stuff: frequent smoking, drinking, and recreational drug use, casual homophobia towards The Gay One, and what i guess counts??? as a sex scene a couple times, but seriously blink and you might miss it. a john green novel is more nsfw than this. mentions of self harm and suicide, but not in-depth.

major stuff: F R E Q U E N T violence of varying severity, which is sometimes described sort of in detail, physical and psychological torture, parental abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, rape, and csa. the last two are not described in detail but are mentioned kind of frequently after that part of a characters backstory is revealed. also semi-major character death a few times.

im going to put specifics i found particularly jarring/concerning without spoiling under the cut

one of the (male) characters was subjected to prolonged and repeated sexual abuse at the hands of a foster brother starting from an unnamed age, but it was as young as seven. the specifics of the abuse are not described, but some of the things the abuser said are, with mentions of incest (biological not foster) although it never actually happened

the protagonist and a few other main characters walk in on one of the (male) characters being raped. this is not described, and i had to read it twice to understand that that was what was going on. the situation is immediately stopped.

this event is brought up later in a mocking manner by an antagonist.

the protagonist is subjected to prolonged psychological and physical torture at the hands of an antagonist trying to basically break the protagonist. the reader sees tidbits of it but the rest is skipped over, with the book resuming with the aftermath.

the protagonist is tortured with knives, cigarettes, and a lighter on one occasion. parts of this are described.

one of the characters was beaten by his mother throughout his childhood. this is mentioned not described.

one of the characters was sent to conversion therapy. this is mentioned but not described.

this is a lot but everything turns out to be okay in the end, with a lot of the abusers getting whats coming to them. if you think you can still read the books i highly recommend you to do so, its really worth it in my opinion.