#you mean the series with an aro/ace main character??

[whalehouse1]

I still stand by the fact the female done dirty the most in a 90’s run was Carol from Impulse though. Amazing side-character with an actual plot separate from the main characters, turned love interest for one of, if not the most aro/ace coded DC hero and immediately gets written off. And yet I’m still suffering through Tanya on Superboy. At least Dolphin and Tula have stuff to work with, even if I don’t like why Tula was made. But that’s another discussion, sorry.

Gotcha, I’m honestly not sure where I am on that run after reading Death of a Prince. I was told to read that before the run and I don’t think that was the right decision.

I’ll be honest, with Supersons being one of the first comics I read and then Taylor getting to touch Jon, and Babs getting DCed with her age, Intend to ignore the aging up/down since they never do anything with it, so why should I care? It’s like them killing off ppl, it’s just -shrug-. But he should have some PTSD after training with Atlan and finding out about his heritage (I have issues with the royalty thing and him just being a random child hits better with me, but that’s neither here nor there). I think it might be the Fate anime series (if you don’t know it, it might be better that you keep it that way), but the mage family lines inscribe their family spells onto crests which are imprinted into their heir’s body as a physical mark. And given that Garth has the postcognition (so, so, so much better than “purple eyes mean he has an encyclopedic knowledge of Atlanteans “) his markings being a symbol of his magical power is just such an obvious choice. Also, not sure if you liked it or not, but removing the romance from it, I did like him in Waid’s WF and WFTT and was the reason I kept buying the second one, he is a happy dork and I have always found that th nicest people have the best body modifications, so it checks out. Also his first appearance basically being a precious moments figurine makes it even funnier.

Tempest fans, when does Garth get his arms tattoos? I kept seeing his scars were part of his inheritance, but that was only his face markings. All I can find is the design starting in the new52 and I have not heard the best about that with Garth. I’m just curious and want to know when it started, I already somehow missed Dolphin and Garth sleeping together and her being pregnant and I’ve read her introduction and it isn’t showing that I missed reading any, but given her relationship with Arthur, I’m fine ignoring all of that.

[celtrist]

Hazbin & Helluva Vs. Aromanticism

(Aka: I have a problem with the Spindlehorse team about this, not shippers.)

(Also this is mainly about Alastor but can go for Octavia and Mammon too.)

Alright, so I've cleaned up this uh... rant, to make things a little more clear hopefully. But to summarize here, this is about the team's lack of commitment when every other character is allowed full confirmation of their orientations but these (potentially) aromantic characters aren't.

While I have no beef with shippers (I think you can ship whoever with whoever you want, I ship Alastor too on occasion), there is some conversation about how the fandom might be a bit of a reason WHY they "can't" be confirmed as aro. But again, my main problem is more with the showrunners than the fandom at this point about this.

I'll also be getting into why it's "important" and the double standards against characters being aromantic.

This is not an attack, ship however way you wish (again, I do it myself). My intent isn't really to stop the shipping, that would be ridiculous. But more so to give my thoughts on why it's BS characters like Alastor can't be confirmed as aromantic when other characters are allowed confirmed orientations.

I will start off by saying I don't mind the shipping of Alastor. While it's NOBODY'S business but mine, I suppose it's important to clarify that I'm someone who does currently identify as aroace. I might be wrong but who cares, it's how I think of myself now at least to some degree (I do after all still have fictional crushes. Real-life romance is not an interest for me though, don't like 'em).

I'm gonna get what I don't think people talk about enough on both sides of being for and against shipping Alastor, and then I'll talk about the shippers as they're (I realized) not my main issue at this point.

A little history: So Alastor has been long time confirmed as an ace character. He hasn't been confirmed as being sex-repulsed or anything, but I can personally say I don't mind either flavor of him being repulsed or favorable (though I imagine the series will lean towards the former to counter everyone else's sex-favorable attitude and for jokes). This statement was initially taken VERY poorly by fans who, at the time, were shipping radiodust and radiobelle/charlastor, one more than the other. Care to take a guess which? The answer will not surprise you.

But then people realized "Oh, asexual doesn't mean he COULDN'T get with someone" and people even went further to "Being asexual doesn't mean he CAN'T have sex", both very true statements. So shipping was back on the menus boys! And his asexual was certainly blurred a bit (to the point where it wasn't even him being sex-favorable asexual as much as just not asexual, something that still happens but certainly not as bad). But overall, people were taking his canonicity as asexual with as much grace as a duck.

So here's where MY problem comes in. While I have some gripes with shippers, I had an epiphany that "Oh. It's not really the shippers I have a problem with. It's the people WRITING THE DAMN CHARACTER". Which, might I just say, is so much worst.

The shippers, while they got annoying at some points and certainly can be still, are just having fun. Because shipping just happens to be the way most people like to interact with characters in the media they're into. Hell, I am no different. I just have the misfortune of only really getting into rarepairs most of the time (curse you my bizarre tastes). I've even shipped with Alastor, I like AngelicSmile/radiojoy quite a bit.

Back on track. Now, what do I mean by my main problem being with the writers more than the fans with this? Well, queue this darling of a clip about the topic (this is the only clip I've found of the live stream, feel free to watch the whole video but just wanted the clip here).

This. Single. Clip. Infuriates me.

Vivzi, while I'm sure not meant to, pretty much implied "Alastor being aromantic and 'non-shippable' would ruin people's fun". I'm sure she meant it as a way to keep others from policing shippers (which didn't work, it still happens), it really just reads as "a character being aromantic is not a fun character". Like there's something wrong with being aro.

Not to mention some other things that would contradict this statement:

Viv in the past said "fans are allowed to ship outside character orientations", so... what makes that so different here with confirming Alastor as aromantic?

It being confirmed is not relevant to the plot. Great, so is every other orientation not relevant. Why can't Alastor be confirmed as aromantic but Vaggie can be confirmed as a lesbian or Vox bi? What does Vox being bisexual have to do with the plot? Neither is relevant to the plot, but one can be confirmed but not the other?

People were gonna ship him ANYWAY. Like, there's really no point in pretending. They were going to anyway because of the first point I already mentioned, but also people ship against canon orientations ALL THE TIME. It's just gonna happen and there's nothing wrong with that in of itself.

You've kind of just implied it's canon by not wanting to say specifically him being aromantic is canon or not. If Viv had just said "I don't wanna confirm his romantic orientation because...", then this statement would be fine and fair I suppose. But she had to call out him being aromantic specifically. And I mean, he COULD be something else (he was slated to be a couple with Mimzy originally after all), but the context doesn't seem like that would be the case. Plus, would she really feel the need to hold back from saying "Alastor is homoromantic" or biromantic or heteroroman- actually yes for that last one probably.

So riddle me this, with these points, why the FUCK would it be so wrong to confirm Alastor as a canonically aromantic icon and help get MORE REP for this very very very VERY underrepresented orientation? And I've thought of a few reasons to this, one of which being to avoid the same backlash that they got for Alastor being ace. Which, DID HAPPEN WHEN THE VOICE ACTOR AND SOMEONE ELSE ON THE SHOW CONFIRMED ALASTOR AS AROMANTIC BUT BACKTRACKED ON THE STATEMENT.

To which, fine. THAT'S on the fans (especially as no one would've complained if he was confirmed as homoromantic, which is a double standard VERY PRESENT in this fandom, but also many others quite honestly). But I can see another reason is to avoid others policing shippers about it.

Which, if that's the case, shit luck it's happening anyway.

To cower away from this orientation because of fans being upset says a lot, both about the fans and the creators. There is a whisper of "Alastor isn't allowed to be aromantic". That "being aro isn't allowed or appreciated".

We live in a world that at this point has a lot more lgbtq+ characters than ever before. At this point, there's just a lot of gay/lesbian and bi characters, and that's wonderful. But, there's barely a handful of aroace characters. And when they are, nobody wants to pay attention to that part of the character. So why can't the deer man be aromantic? I would imagine it would honestly make things a little better ship wise because ship wars wouldn't occur seeing as, well, there's no ship to be fought for. None of them could be canon.

So you might see where I'm leading into this, but I can only really think of one real reason Alastor being aromantic just "can't be confirmed" where as everyone else's orientations can be.

His popularity. Like, that's weird but walk with me here. Alastor is the most popular character in the fandom. There's honestly no denying it, he just is. And what do people do with the most popular character?

THEY SHIP THEM OFF IN A LOVEBOAT.

But wait, if he's aromantic, he can't be on a love boat. THIS IS BS-

And then... the outcry. And we HAVE seen this happen. I mentioned before, he was stated to be aromantic on two occasions by two people who work on the show, one of which is his voice actor (which I'll be fair, I personally don't think VAs always know the characters they play the best, that's the writers). But they had to backpedal because people DID complain. People WERE upset. So it's kind of shown just aromantism isn't really welcomed, at the very least not for a character like Alastor.

And that's the key: "Not for a character like Alastor". But if it were say, Niffty or Mimzy who are either overlooked or just not very popular, THEN it's probably more than okay for a character to be aromantic. Because no one wants to ship with them much, so they can be aromantic all they want.

AKA. The aro community is allowed the scraps but not the dinner.

At this point, you've probably noticed I switched gears from the creators to the fans because I DO think they could be a reason why Alastor "can't" be confirmed as Aromantic. I'll give credit, I'm pretty sure it's mainly on twitter and wouldn't be surprised if it was a "loud minority" thing going on, but the people have spoken. They vehemently cannot STAND the idea of Alastor being aromantic.

But I don't have a problem with these people quite honestly- I mean I kinda do, but my main issue is the lack of commitment when the other characters are allowed confirmed orientations. Why can't aromantic people get confirmed rep? Because "it'll ruin people's fun?" That's such a crappy reason because it's just saying being aro is bad on some level or isn't okay. Why can't the aromantic community get the dinner this ONE TIME? It's one character in a pool of many others that are canonically gay or bi, so why can't the aro community have this ONE popular character?

I'm not even asking for people to stop shipping him, I think that's perfectly FINE. It wouldn't change the canon. I'd appreciate more LOVE given to the aromantic identity (and I'm talking about the far end of it, so absolutely NO interest in romance as many have used aro Alastor but it still comes off as just normal shipping, but that's just me). There's such a double standard to the treatment of aromantic characters to the other characters in these shows (because Octavia and Mammon are in the same boat here), and the reasons given are so crappy that they sound more like off-hand excuses.

Again, I don't MIND people shipping Alastor, or Octavia, or Mammon who is randomly shipped with Adam the most. Let me repeat:

YOU. ARE. ALLOWED. TO. SHIP. THESE. CHARACTER.

But what I have a problem with is that these characters aren't allowed to be OFFICIALLY aromantic. How would it feel if this was a gay character? That they didn't want to confirm it but there's been indications with past statements and even in-universe stuff indicating so? I WANT Viv and her team to STICK with what route they were gonna go with.

And some might argue "what's so bad with nothing being confirmed?" Other than the fact every other character's orientations are allowed confirmation and Viv's crappy way of putting it in not confirming anything. There's, by all technicalities, nothing wrong.

However, if I may pose a counter, why is it fair for people to demand or ask for gay representation or confirmation but not aromantic? Because it's "not ruining anything"? If that's the case, I'm inclined to say that may be a bit aphobic. Because how is it that a character being aromantic can "ruin" the character or something, but a character being gay DOESN'T "ruin" the character. It's a double standard that I don't think most people realize or want to say because you don't want to be dissing on gay stuff.

But WAKE UP SHEEPLE. The gay stuff has PLENTY of things by this point. Whether through fan works or official media, it is growing and it is growing rapidly. And we should be HAPPY about that. But alternatively, Aromantic (and asexual) rep BARELY gets any attention in either fan works or official media. People would be UPSET if a ship like Angel Dust X Vaggie or Stolas X Verosika got into one of the top most popular ships. But Alastor? Nah, it's fine.

Again, while I don't mind the shipping itself, hopefully, you can understand how it might feel to see one of the most popular ships involve a character that goes against their orientation and it's YOUR orientation. It doesn't. Feel. Great.

And not everyone who ships Alastor even would LIKE him to end up with who they ship. Some people just like it staying in fanon. I have met SO MANY nice people who ship Alastor with characters that I personally don't really like him shipped with. But it's clear that I don't think THEY'D mind if he was confirmed aromantic because it doesn't change their life. They'll still keep shipping him because that's fun for them and that's FINE. People explore themselves through characters with confirmed orientations and they don't always line up with canon, and that's FINE. I don't think people should be policed on shipping with the deer man, they're just having fun. Would I appreciate a little more love for the aro identity? Sure (I mean just look at Alastor's ship weeks activeness vs. his aro week activeness), but if that's not how people have fun they shouldn't be forced to do stuff with it.

But Alastor being seemingly "not allowed" to be confirmed as aro has set a precedent that there's something wrong with being aromantic. And personally, it makes me feel a tad unwelcomed sometimes.

It's the precedents. Again, why is every other character's orientation allowed to be confirmed but Alastor's isn't? What is so wrong with him being aromantic? Hell, he might not even BE aromantic. But at least I'd KNOW instead of floundering around hoping upon a star for some aromantic representation.

It's okay to be gay but- WHOA HOLD YOUR HORSES THERE. WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO PUT A PAUSE IN THAT ARO BUSINESS YOU GOT THERE.

A character's worth is in how shippable they are. And if they're aromantic, they're not shippable. And unfortunately, there are just enough people to throw a hissy fit about it that Viv doesn't want to confirm it.

Because apparently being aromantic would "ruin" things.

[bananadramaaa]

Helloo!

I have a question about the assassin duo, although I didn't think that was the focus of your AU, sorry about that. I was researching a little more about Mimzy on the fandom website, created by Habzin Hotel fans (I know the information there is not entirely reliable, but anyway), i discovered that in Vivizziepop's drafts she had created the characters Alastor and Mimzy as a couple (which I found a bit hilarious considering how they appear in the series in the final project XD) And I was wondering if you agree with this characteristic of the story. In your AU, would you say that Mimzy has already seen Alastor or still sees him as something more than a friend?

Again, sorry for getting off topic by asking, as the AU is more about Alastor's story and his murders throughout his life. I just asked to hear your opinion on this, I didn't mean to bother you.

Have a nice day! <3

(The translation may sound strange, I don't speak English)

Vivizziepop's sketches photo

Hi! Firstly I wanna quickly say that this AU is not specifically about Alastor, it's about them both. You may see more of his backstory in my blog because people were more curious about his past in the asks and that's all. My 'main' comics of this AU are featured both of them and focused on their shenanigans. So you're not getting off-topic, don't worry about that.

Yeah, I also saw that information that they were supposed to be a couple, but as far as I know, that changed. But I can see Mimzy has feelings for Alastor, that's absolutely possible 🤷 And we got the confirmation that Alastor is ace, so there's also a possibility of his romantic experiments. Personally, I see him more on the aro spectrum and as a repulsed romance/sex aroace because of how he acts in the show (my boy is clearly uncomfortable and annoyed/bored with all of that romantic and sexual stuff), so in my AU, I'm writing him as such (and I'm a repulsed aroace myself so I'm doing what most people do in their AUs/headcanons - unintentionally giving characters some of their experience on certain topics XD). So it was like a one-sided attraction coming from Mimzy in my AU. She was attracted to him because she thought he's a good-looking lad with charms. When they first met at the speakeasy she saw him as a potential "one-night fun time" but not as a long-term romantic one (I think Mimzy is not the most long-term relationship gal in general). Alastor politely refused that offer, which was mentioned in this comic. So no, Mimzy doesn't have romantic feelings towards Alastor in my AU. I mean one of the reasons I tag this story with "murder besties" is because they're very good friends and not in a meme sense, they truly are. So if there's any kind of love between these two it's platonic one.

[hyperionheights]

bones sexuality headcanons

yeah i dont have proof (except angela) i just Know. call it my lesbian spidey senses. disclaimer that those are MY headcanons, you can have your own opinions on those ofc

main characters:

brennan: bi (preference for ugly men... but i digress). she probably started exploring her sexual orientiation in college and came to the conclusion that she's attracted to every gender to varying degrees. she's probably tongue kissed angela a few times pre season 1

booth: cishet ally! ⭐️ he's a bit confused but he's got the spirit, i'll give him that.. bi wife energy start playing whenever he walks into the room

zack: gayboi with a bad case of hero worship for dr brennan. naomi from paleonthology made him realise this isnt really what he'd like to excavate, if you get the gist... ;) (ew)

angela: imo? bi, but it's up to anyone. canon queer and i'm very happy about it

hodgins: bi. putting my foot down on this one- to me, hodgela is bi4bi. one day early into the series angela goes "why is everyone so hot... being bi is so hard" and hodgins is like "yeah, tell me about it" and they have a Oh, You Too? moment

cam: distinguished (ex-disaster) pan. she's all cool and collected now but in middle school she was probably stuttering whenever she saw a pretty girl

sweets: pan. boykisser. i just KNOW. that man is not heterosexual. probably had a few boyfriends in high school too

aubrey: bi? preference for women but in an alternate universe he and sweets are a thing

goodman: token straightie along with booth except i actually like him even tho even tho he took a 2 month sabbatical and never came back

squinterns:

clark: bi. a bit repressed and only realised it after breaking up with nora but as long as he gets there it's fine

daisy: pan. absolute girlkisser. she has the wlw equivalent of whatever zack felt for dr brennan. swaisy is a disaster pan couple.

fisher: pan- and i wont have it any other way. he was 100% checking sweets out when he came over to b&b's in s8, so i like to think when hodgins asks sweets "what is it with you and interns?" in 9x23 he's including fisher

wendell: bi and in a lab au he's dating vincent thank you

vincent: english twink and i think he and wendell should kiss in the lab lost & found

arastoo: straightie but we still love him. pan wife energy since he and cam are married

finn: god, i have No Idea but i have a feeling he doesn't either

wells: aro, and maybe ace too, but fyi even if he wasn't no one would want him

jessica: ... i used to say lesbian but i kinda let the jaubrey of it all get to me... pan vibes perhaps? i'll have to think it over. in another universe she and daisy are a thing too btw

other characters:

caroline julian:... lesbian. no i will not give an explanation for this one. sham marriage and all.

karen delfs: big pansexual energy coming from this random profiler?? i like her

villains: (do not take those seriously, but also...)

pelant: unlabeled. getting strangled by hodgins awoke something in him but he didnt have the time to figure it out between 8x01 and 9x04

taffet: very VERY mean lesbian

epps: heterosexual incel

broadsky: internalised homophobia over booth, clearly

kovac: the man pretended to be married to his sister. i'm not sure i even wanna know

[pa-pa-plasma]

apparently people are fucking stupid, so yes, even if tumblr is being extremely annoying about One Piece, even if you hate One Piece, even if One Piece killed your grandma, stop writing entire paragraphs about that & tagging it as #One Piece #One Piece Live Action #OPLA #OP #Luffy One Piece #Zoro One Piece etc etc because I've seen multiple posts that have like 20 tags like that & none of them are commentary.

this isn't just about One Piece though! I've seen this in other fandoms, which is why the main post doesn't mention OP by name. This annoyance has just culminated with OP for me. People have lost their fandom manners, this isn't just me trying to shove an anime down your throat. literally block the tag if you hate it, use mobile or any of the 100 tutorials on how to block the jolly roger in the corner, just stop being an asshole about it because 1: the fans & Oda didn't do this, Netflix did, & 2: I can guarantee that assholeishness & entitlement is not unique to the One Piece tag, as I have literally seen multiple times.

anyways, ahem

IF YOU TAG YOUR HATE POSTS IN ORDER TO PUT THEM IN THE MAIN TAG, NO MATTER THE REASON, I WILL KILL YOU PERSONALLY. DON'T BE AN ASSHOLE.

that is all.

I can't believe I have to say this in the year 2023 but if you are going to make a post that is a full paragraph of you saying how much you hate something

don't tag it.

don't put that shit. in the main tag. where people go to see the thing they like. or I will

Kill

you personally

if you don't like the thing, block the tag & don't follow blogs who do like it. That is all.

[daybringersol]

alloaro book recs !

took some time but alright ! well first i gotta say, i havent read any of them (yet), but i will try to find reviews online.

this is mostly based on this database (link) i found, cuz im gonna be so honest with you, its straight up the only place where i could find that information.

Commit to the kick by Tris Lawrence

Urban fantasy. Lead is a demiromantic gay man. Found family. Queer-platonic partnership, though not defined that way (not sure what that means either). Writer is a queer woman. 4.7/5 on Goodreads (link), though only with 7 ratings. Seems batshit insane tbh, the guy transforms into a bear, theres clan politics, magic and sports. Can be read online for free here (link) I think? Can also be bought as a book here (link).

Viral airwaves by Claudie Arsenault

Science fiction. One of the main characters is a gay non-binary aromantic person, and has a queerplatonic relationship with a man. Book cover is the colors of the aroallo flag. Writer is an aroace woman from Québec (sorry, that's important to me, I'm québecois). 4.09/5 on Goodreads (link). Can be bought here (link). Look in comments for more info.

The ascencion by A. M. Blaushild

Fantasy, science fiction. One of the main characters is a bisexual aromantic woman. No pairings, only friendships. Author is disabled (chronically ill & autistic) and LGBT+. Can't find that specific book anywhere gonna be honest. Still leaving this here in case I do at some point. Look in comments for more info.

Baker thief by Claudie Arsenault

Fantasy, superhero. Lead is a bisexual aromantic non-binary person. Relationships explored are family, friendship, mentor, queer-platonic relationship (with a woman). Enemies to lovers (?). Lead is mainly attracted to women and femme non-binary genders. Writer is an aroace woman from Québec. 3.95/5 on Goodreads (link). Read it online for 2.99$ USD (minimum) here (link). Can also be bought as a book here (link).

The trouble by Daria Defore

Contemporary, romance, new adult. Lead is an aromantic gay man. Around an indie rock band. Relationships explored are friendships (bandmates), but includes a M/M pairing and explicit sexual content, so I'm guessing it's a friends with benefits situation? I don't know. Written by a most likely queer woman (haven't found her saying it herself but she only writes queer fiction). 3.85/5 on Goodreads (link). Currently unavailable everywhere, including Amazon (link), Ebay (link), Thriftbooks (link), for some reason, which is unfortunate for me because I'd like to read it. First 15 pages are available on Book Read Free (link) though. If you find a way to get it, please link me up.

Mangoverse by Shira Glassman

Fantasy. A series of books. Side character is a straight aromantic woman. Woman-focused, jewish-focused. Don't know if the character is in all the books, and if not, in which ones she is. Her name is Eshvat if that helps. Lots of other queer representation in all the books though. Ratings on Goodreads (link) range from 3.70/5 to 4.35/5.

Holding Onto Day by E. H. Timms

Fantasy, science fiction, paranormal. One of the main characters is a non-binary pansexual aromantic person. Relationships explored are found family and friendships. No pairings. Written by an aroace genderqueer person (she/they). 4/5 on Goodreads (link), though only out of 15 ratings. Involves vampires and werewolves. Only available for kindle on Amazon (link).

Novis by Rachel Tonks Hill

Science fiction. One of the main characters is an allosexual (attraction not specified but I'd assume sapphic) aromantic woman. Relationships explored are queer-platonic (F/F/F) and friendships. Includes moments of microaggressions against aces and aros and a fade-to-black sex scene. Writer is non-binary, bisexual and polyamorous. 4/5 on Bookreads (link), though only out of 9 ratings. Women-focused. Available as a paperback here (link) and as a kindle here (link).

The representative by Ripley Santo

Cuil (link), erotica, dark fantasy, paranormal. One of the leads is a bisexual aromantic man. M/M/F/NB relationship explored (could be romantic or QPR, not sure. probably sexual in nature.). 0 ratings on Goodreads (link). Currently out of print on Amazon (link).

more recommendations in comments !

taglist : @sorting-algorithm

[the-east-art]

You said you had a rant about Kairi?

Okay okay okay this will be all over the place.

Kairi is my girl and I’m obsessed with her. But she is done so dirty by the series. There’s a lot of factors that go into this, but Kairi is a character that at the end of the day is always getting the short of the stick. She is the damsel, or off on the sidelines, or not even the main character in a game that is ostensibly about her. When she DOES try to take a stand the game punishes her by killing her or getting Sora killed. She had powers and abilities and a personality but they all bend to make her helpless when the story needs her to be helpless.

From a meta standpoint part of my frustration with this is in the fandom. I’m ace and I think on the aro spectrum so shipping isn’t really my thing but it is BIG in the fandom, and frequently I see Kairi brushed aside in favor of other ships. Which I mean the guys get more lines and dialogue and Things To Do so it makes sense but it’s sad that she sometimes doesn’t even have a presence in the fandom.

I feel like Kairi herself if Nomura ever wanted to use her or dove into her would have such an interesting story. She starts out the series as a kind more bull headed Tom boy girl, and then seems to fall into the waiting damsel role. She is constantly shunted off while the boys do things that I feel like she would have this disconnect from them. A guilt at getting them involved in this stuff in the first place and then not even able to help them deal with it. All she seems to be able to do is make things worse.

I think Kairi is honestly a very lonely character, lonelier than even Riku at times.

I think it would be great to explore her guilt, her sorrow, her loneliness, and the work that needs to be done for her friendship with the boys to be healthy again. I think it has fallen weak due to all three of them.

I hate that ‘training’ has become an excuse. They’re like ‘she’s not just the girl, she’s the fighter! She just needs training!’ But how many games can you give her a training montage in before you admit you’re just sidelining her. She should have gone after sora with or without Riku at the end of melody and we all know it.

Idk ramble ramble rant. I love Kairi and she’s so underutilized that thinking about her drives me insane.

[hpacearofest]

Harry Potter Ace/Aro-Spec Fest

This fest is created to highlight any character who you see as asexual, aromantic, or anywhere on those spectrums.  Any era, any age, anyone.  Give me your QPRs, your sex-repulsed lovey-doveys, your hypersexual aromantics, and everything else you got.  As long as you give me a main character from the HP fandom who is a-spec, your work has a home with this fest.  Accepting fic, fanart, podfics, any medium your heart desires to give us.

Important dates

Announce: 6/24

Prompting: 7/14-7/31

Claiming:  8/1-9/22

Posting: 10/1

Guidelines

All content is allowed, no restrictions on what can be submitted so long as it is thoroughly tagged and doesn't violate tumblr or AO3 TOS.  Mods will have final approval on whether or not a work is sufficiently tagged in regards to potentially triggering matters in works rated M or above.

Etiquette

The goal of this fest is to celebrate and highlight the joys (and some of the stresses) of the lives of the HP-verse characters who fall into the a- sexual and romantic spectrums.  

There will be no ship or character bashing (even if it’s a fandom-wide hated character, this is for bringing others up, not them down).

SALS - Ship And Let Ship.

YKINMKBYKIOK - Your Kink Is Not My Kink But Your Kink Is Okay.  Yes, this fest is about a-spec relationships. Yes, that means they can still be kinky as can be.  No, that does not mean you can shame others for what they want to create so long as it is duly tagged.

Each person has unique lived experiences within and and without the LGBTQIA+ community.  Just because you don’t see yourself in how someone is portraying something, doesn’t make them wrong for it.

NO RACISM. NO ISLAMOPHOBIA. NO SEXISM. NO TRANSPHOBIA. NO HOMOPHOBIA. NO ABLEISM. No hate allowed in your works, even as a plot point.  Find your angst somewhere else, we are trying to cultivate a positive experience.  

Written fic

Written fic should preferably be longer than 500 words

There is no maximum word count

Must be a completed work, no on-going series to be completed after the fest

Works must be stand-alone (can be part of a collection but one must be able to read it without reading previous parts)

Using a beta is strongly encouraged but not required (if you would like help finding one, feel free to join the fest discord server to find them)

Art work

Work must be exclusive to this fest

Digital and physical art are both allowed as long as scans/photos of the physical are clear

Podfic work

Please provide proof of permission from the creator (unless it is yourself) which includes a screenshot of a blanket permission statement on their profile as long as the username matches 

Selected work must fit the theme of the fest as well as the 500 word minimum for written fics

Make sure you upload it with the author’s original tags as well as the fest tags and podfic notation

Submission

All works must be uploaded to the AO3 collection by the deadline of September 28 (3 days before posting  pending any extensions granted

Add acearofest account as co-author so mods can just double check for correctly tagged content and posting as well as a final once over of the SPaG/formatting

[queerromancerecs]

Queer Romance Recs!

is officially open! (Although still new and I am sure there will be issues we discover as we go along.)

This is a blog for readers of queer romance and queer romantic fiction to submit recommendations so that others can discover the treasure trove of queer joy out there.

How does it work? Well, you can follow the blog to receive recs, and hopefully occasionally reblog anything that might strike your fancy, and likewise read anything that looks interesting to you. You can also submit recommendations. All you have to do is follow the format guidelines.

Some quick answers to some possible questions you might have:

Queer means LGBTQIA+. Exclusionists can make their own sad little space.

Romance in this case can mean the genre of Romance (which has certain expectations, like a Happily Ever After or a Happy For Now ending) and other types of fiction with a strong romantic element involving one or many of the main characters. Yes, erotic romance counts.

This means f/f or m/m romance novels, and it can mean a bestselling fantasy or sci fi series with a queer mains and some sort of love story in there. It means gay and lesbian and trans and ace love stories. It means nb stuff. It means aro stuff. It means genderqueer or genderfuck or agender. It means yes polyam too.

And in fact, right now, with the current affairs being what they are, if you have some trans love stories you adore, I'd love to have them recced here.

It also does not just mean written works. Graphic novels and webcomics are welcome! Maybe we can include tv shows or movies in the future but the link part might be tricky? It's possible, anyway.

This blog was originally an idea to help support indie and self-published creators (since a lot of queer creators tend to take that route) but you are welcome to rec traditionally published works too. And original and free stories as long as they are not fanfiction. The more the merrier! This blog is about spreading joy and community support (and a bit about defiance tbh)!

Queer Romance Recs

...but yes this is brand spanking new and there will be a few bugs at the start. Please be patient. :)

[zeronetxt]

examples from this post below

Aro/Aces

Jason Todd. I'm fr heavy on this one because i'm gatekeeping him cough cough but to me (idc that its canon that he is not, if i ignore canon its not real) he seems like the type not to really gaf. and honestly, NOT EVERY SUPERHERO NEEDS TO HAVE A ROMANTIC ARC 🙄🙄 take notes from me, dc. i have an demi-aspec oc who is feral af and would totally smother jason with affection and he is thriving (he really isn't, hes a traumatised demon)

Chuuya Nakahara because NOWHERE IS IT MENTIONED (that i could find, at least) THAT HE HAS AN INTEREST IN WOMEN OR MEN. The only one i can think of that he would be interested in is dazai and i see that as a "pikachu! i choose you!" moment instead of a "i hate you, i want to be yours" type of thing. i'm not sure how to explain it, but like a forced crush since they have after all known each other for 7 years and literally dazai can anticipate his movements. (im talking about that one scene in the guild arc i think it was. "WHY YOU!")

Percy Jackson. I'm putting him as demi (still somewhat on the aspec tho yk?) because of his relationship with annabeth. idc, THEY ARE EACH OTHERS ENDGAMES. id say pretty much the same for annabeth, i mean, they knew each other for a while before they fell in love and started dating, but tbf, i have NOT even read the pjo series in a ehile sad face

Jouno Saigiku because i feel like his only interest is justice. i dunno how to expand on him, but yeah. i love jouno so much and if he really do be dead before i get a suegiku reunion, im firing everyone

Tetchou Suehiro. he's an (adorable) oddity in itself, but still serious. I don't think he'd be looking for a relationship, especially in his line of work. he is quite literally an overworker. MY BOY IS TRAINING EVEN DURING MEETINGS. however my one exception to 'bro has no feelings' is jouno. why? learn in the bi section of this (its quite obvious tho)

Ranpo Edogawa. Mostly because have you seen him? i'd say his only interests are solving crimes and his snacks (and obviously the ada). obviously he has more, but those are the main ones that come to mind. other than the (probably) one sided rivalry of ranpoe where i swear poe is the only one that says theyre rivals, i dont think that he's the type to make relationships with others outside of the ada. maybe the hunting dogs/pm if he really had to, but i kin him, and i say he is

Trans people (mostly just trans men, im sorry to my girlies 🥺)

just a not i want to put, i think i only put trans guy hcs bc i myself am transmasc lewl

Junichirou Tanizaki. Sorry, i feel stereotypical for saying this, but his body, my dude. also his style, in the manga, he wears a black top underneath his white vneck(?) whichh to me feels like its a binder. also i love that ranga and naomis relationship w him kinda makes me sad, but ill post my theory on that another time. and also his hair (beautiful and gorgeous btw) just makes me so happy w the little clips and stuff. baggy shirt my guy, great style.

Jason Todd SOMETIMES. i think i just want to relate to him a lil, because im a lil silly like that.

chuuya nakahara on occasion but i think its just because were the same height 🧍

ryuunosuke akutagawa because honestly a trans aku would be interesting but not that relevant. idk, i like the idea of it

Bisexuals/Pansexuals

ATSUSHI NAKAJIMA!!! I MEAN THINK ABOUT IT. lucy??? akutagawa??? BROS HAD HEAVY MOMENTS WITH BOTH OF THEM. i can not see him as anything but a disaster bisexual honestly.

Jason Todd (again HA). Seeing as people can be pan/bi as well as aro/ace, i see him fitting into that, maybe demi-bi or something. he doesnt really strike me as the type to fall in love quickly, but he doesnt really care what he falls for, he cares for whom he does. i am a jason todd hc kinnie

Michizou Tachihara. my goody, i dont ship it but tachigin is just right there. and the scene during the corruption arc w tanizaki (i am not romanticising this but i feel like i am, DEAD). i love the content w him, and also i noticed he and juni pretty much have the same shirt 💀 but also, bro has piercings and dyes his hair, does he just know he is gorgeous???

percy jackson, i'm not even gonna expand

Tetchou Suehiro because BRO AND JOUNO FR. not even gonna lie, if a man (tecchou) says that he would put me above justice for FIVE MINUTES, I WOULD FOLD. thats the main one for me. the other would be the pushups during a meeting. their moments are just cute, sue me

lol im too lazy to come up with i cant think of any more

[tadc-incorrectquotes]

Welcome to The Amazing Digital Circus incorrect quotes! A couple things to note while you're here:

- Asks and submissions are open (including anonymous ones), but keep in mind I may not post all of them. For the most part, I only post asks + submissions related to this blog's theme and with just the characters from tadc (no crossovers). That doesn't mean I don't enjoy them all though!

- You can submit quotes through asks, but they'll be posted as their own posts, crediting the user who submitted them, of course.

- This blog is for teens and up. Most content is SFW, but there may be some quotes with dark themes and vaguely sexual content. I try my best to trigger tag these posts with the tags:

tw sexualization (includes any mentions of sexual activity, but doesn't include shipping involving purely romance.)

tw cursing (I only use this tag when I write a curse word out, not when I censor one by using words like [BONK!])

tw violence

tw murder

tw death

tw homophobia

tw transphobia

tw queerphobia (includes discrimination against queer people who may not fit into the gay/lesbian or trans/nonbinary identities, including bi/pan people, ace/aro people, etc. Keep in mind that while this is a safe and accepting blog for those of all consensual identities, discrimination may be mentioned.)

tw racism

tw misogyny

tw suicide/self-harm (includes any mentions of suicide and/or self-harm, even if the characters don't actually engage in these actions.)

tw smoking

tw alcohol

tw drugs (includes drugs besides tobacco/cigarettes and alcohol.)

If you would like me to trigger tag any other subject, DM me or send me an ask and I'd be happy to oblige!

- I try to include sources the best I can, but I can't always find them. If you know the source of an incorrect quote I haven't included, please DM me/send me an ask and I'll add it!

- I include all tadc ships and headcanons of character's sexualities, genders, preferences, etc. as long as they stay mostly in character. I also tag every ship, so if you don't like one, just block the tag (it's that easy, peeps. Please don't send hate. I've also already been doxxed, so you can't use that against me anymore muahaha 😝)

- My image header was drawn by me and I'm actually kinda proud of it and would appreciate compliments because I'm definitely not insecure about my artistic abilities hahaha

- I have 2 other blogs, @lifeisstrange-incorrectquotes for incorrect quotes about the characters from the series Life Is Strange and @yeahhiyellow my main account where I post content from several different fandoms and more serious, political posts. Check 'em out if you'd like! :D

[echo-bleu]

Intro post

Welcome to the new people who found me through the radar! I've been meaning to do an intro post forever so this is a good time.

Hi, I'm Echo! I mostly use they/them but any pronoun is fine, I'm queer and autistic and I draw and I write fanfiction (and original things occasionally). This post will be pinned and is subject to change.

Links: My AO3 is EchoBleu. I'm also on Instagram as florilegeart.

My art: I mostly draw digitally. The tag is #echo's drawings. My commissions are open! Information here.

Please feel free to send me random (nice) asks about my fics or my art or anything else, I love chatting about what I do and the fandoms I'm in.

Blog navigation under the cut.

Fandom: My main current fandom is the Silmarillion, and by extension everything Tolkien. You'll find things on my blog from my previous fandoms as well (Witcher, Shadowhunters, Hamilton, etc) and from fandoms I occasionally dabble in (Leverage, Discworld, etc).

All Tolkien things are tagged with #tolkien as a meta tag. I have far too many WIPs but my niche in this fandom appears to be drawing and writing disabled characters, so you can check the tag #disabled tolkien characters for that (and also #queer tolkien characters).

My fics are all on AO3, though I post most one-shots and some longer fics here as well under #echo's fanfiction. I like posting snippets here too (same tag) and sometimes meta under #echo's writing thoughts. Longer fics and series are also tagged by title, currently you can check out #the bark of our bones, #those towers we built, #on that tree i'll carve your name, #elrond vs the valar, #shine still brighter, #silm xmen au, #the imperfect, #werewolf finrod, #queen nerdanel au (all Silmarillion).

#beautiful art and #fic rec are for other people's wonderful creations. I don't always have the spoons to leave gushing comment tags but if I reblogged it, I loved it.

I tag most other things as #[something] things. The most used are probably #autism things, #neurodivergent things, #aro things, #ace things, #nonbinary things, #queer things. And not following the tag rule, #linguistics, #tall ships. All fandom things are tagged with the fandom, plus the characters if it's a fandom I'm in. #echo's ramblings is my tag for random things about IRL or rants (which is why I'm not linking it, but you can mute it) and #real world things for reblogs of current events (that you can also mute).

I try to tag CWs and TWs to the best of my ability, usually with #cw [thing] but please warn me if I miss something. I'm unlikely to post or reblog anything explicit but if I do it will be warned. My own images have IDs in alt text, or in plain text for older posts. I don't have the energy to add IDs to other people's post very often, and I do reblog undescribed images, but I try to make my posts as accessible as possible.

[lyraoctaviawrites]

✨Welcome to the Into the Phantasm Masterpost✨

Okay, should probably give some context here. I post a lot about Into the Phantasm and I just wanted to make this post to… I guess advertise/explain what it is and talk about the state that the series is currently in.

What is Into the Phantasm?

Into the Phantasm is a series of five fantasy novels. It follows the journey of Sarah Taylor and her two best friends Maya Cadigan and Lillian Snow. These three all lead fairly uneventful lives, but all of that changes the moment they meet with a mysterious, hooded traveller who turns out to be not of Earth, but of another world entirely. A wondrous place that exists through the reflective surface of the silver mirror they carry with them. A world where every story, world, character, creature or concept that humans come up with is made real. An alternate dimension called The Phantasm.

Above all else, Into the Phantasm is a character driven story with a focus on the emotional journeys and mental health of not just the main cast, but a good majority of the side characters as well. It is a MASSIVE series with a huge world and expansive lore. So much so that I couldn’t fit it all into the main series. There will be side stories releasing both alongside the main five parts and after they’ve all released. Into the Phantasm has so many different tales to tell over the course of its vast, continuous narrative that only becomes more beautiful and devastating as it goes along… Seriously, get used to book 1 and 2 while they’re there, I don’t fuck around with the later books. :3

ITP also has a focus on inclusivity, especially for an LGBTQIA+ audience. It features gay and lesbian characters, trans characters, ace/aro characters, etc. Also, as a neurodivergent writer, I wanted to include autism, ADHD, OCD, personality disorder, etc, representation as well. Above all, Into the Phantasm is a safe space. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t make mistakes. If you decide to read the series and spot something that’s harmful in any way to anyone, please let me know so I can change it. I don’t want that shit in there. Is bad and stinky.

Another thing I should probably add is that I don’t recommend ITP to a younger audience. The whole series, but especially books 3, 4 and 5 delve into some pretty mature themes. Trigger warnings have been included in the descriptions of each book, and if there’s anything triggering I didn’t mention, again, let me know so I can add it on.

Into the Phantasm will be releasing for absolutely free on Wattpad but depending on how things go, might not be there permanently. They’ll be there for a good long while, but will be removed once I have enough impressions and am able to get the books monetised. This will be announced if and when it happens.

If you think this series sounds interesting, I’d recommend following me, following the Into the Phantasm tag and keeping up with this post to see any and all updates.

Geez this section was long…

Updates on the current state of the series:

The first three chapters are DONE and are available to read!

You can access them here

17/20 book 1 chapters are currently rewritten

My plans for the series

[kaylinalexanderbooks]

Thumbprint Challenge

Thanks @oh-no-another-idea for the tag!

Rules: look back on your work, both past and present, finished and unfinished. What are five to ten narrative elements or tropes that continuously pop up in your work? Give a list of these things!

Back at my old work? Okay...not sure how much of these count but here are the commonalities:

Found family/importance of friendship. The focus on best friends from when I was a kid is very prominent in childhood writing and friendship is still a key part. Interpersonal relationships are a very important theme across everything.

Female main characters. Not sure if this counts, but almost all of my childhood works were about girls. My first male main OC was a character named Julian/Mikey (changed his name) in an old draft of TSP. Hell, my first male POV was my Warriors cats fanfic (they were OCs though) and the first time I wrote a male voice in first person was a character named Jesse in eighth grade.

Queer undertones. Looking back at my old work, a lot of my main characters were sapphic or ace/aro spec. Anahi and Marlis from what later evolved into SOTL were very gay for each other. Even Mossflower and Lemonfrost from my Warriors fanfic. The aforementioned Jesse was asexual-coded. Christy and Trish in TEOS. It was just always there as I hadn't figured myself out yet.

Dialogue-driven storytelling. Maybe not in early early writing, but like age 8 onward included a lot of dialogue. I've always been more character focused than environment focused, so I'd say this adds up.

Intelligent main characters. Most of my protagonists were emphasized to be very, very smart. It's interesting that I'm not a STEM person, but I am a former "gifted kid" so that may have something to do with it, but I usually emphasized this with a STEM field they were interested in. Christy from TEOS, math nerd. Hollyn from Perspectives, science geek. Twinkle in my bear cubs series as a kid, astronomer. Even in the Warriors fanfic the first POV is Mossflower the medicine cat. The only pre-high school time I can find where I emphasized intelligence that wasn't in a STEM field is Anahi, who was very literature based.

Multiple main characters. I liked a group of people, even if it was one POV. TSP D1 followed Alexia and Aurora, then they ran into four other people. 3+ was my usual. I guess it comes from the interpersonal relationships themes, like #1 talked about.

Fantasy elements. Man, I almost never write in realistic fiction. I mean, my earliest works were, but then I'd occasionally have an anthropomorphic animal pop up and now it's fantasy. Now, the only realistic fiction WIP I have on the shelf is Perspectives. Arguably IWAJAD because I guess someone can have a vivid dream where a character arc is forced upon them but idk.

Dramedies. I loved to incorporate humor among things I thought were high stakes. I like to be angsty but that doesn't stop me from being very silly. I mean, look at TSP D1. They are threatened to be killed and I still have humor in there. Good? No, but I still tried.

Communication I realize is a prominent theme. Oftentimes, things are not resolved due to not communicating, or I show communication allowing a character to experience comfort, or how not listening to someone leads to trouble, or how hiding a part of yourself isolated you, or acting like someone you're not pulls the wrong people in... So much, man.

I hope this is an okay list. I'll tag @gracehosborn @illarian-rambling @mk-writes-stuff @little-peril-stories @buffythevampirelover @dyrewrites @elsie-writes @sleepywriter00 @theelfauthor @theeccentricraven @thepeculiarbird @finxi-writes @writingsfromspace @winterandwords @revenantlore + anyone else

[purplebass]

TLH Characters and desire, romance analysis

It was expected from Chain of Thorns, being the last book of the series, to deal with mature themes and to feature one or more spicy scenes. Needless to say, since I'm going to talk about mature themes, don’t proceed if you aren't comfortable talking about s*xual themes. If you haven't read CoT, stay away because there will be spoilers. I'm warning you now before you proceed any further.

CoT featured several mild spicy scenes between different ships. When TID or TMI came out, the YA genre was different. There were spicy scenes, of course, but of the superficial kind. Spicy and mature themes was the NA genre’s specialty (featuring characters aged 18-25 mainly, more suitable to explore those themes). As the years went by, though, the genre changed along with its audience. The teens of the social media age are different from the generation before, therefore, YA books featured more mature scenes. We see how even TDA, which came out in 2016, had more spicy scenes and mature talk compared to TID. Naturally, even if TLH is more mature, it’s still a YA book so there are invisible editing boundaries that can't be crossed.

Desire and the TLH characters, rated

Before we talk about the main item of discussion, let’s talk about sex drive. The sex drive is the libido, that is, sexual desire. People have different libidos. There are people who experience sexual attraction and get physical with others, while others simply don’t experience either. In TLH, the core characters experience different levels of desire:

We have characters with high libido who are very open about it (meaning that the other characters know that these characters like to have sexual partners/sex). They practice sex and use sex as an outlet not to create deeper emotional bonds (Matthew, Anna); 

We have characters with ordinary libido who show the amount of desire one would expect from a random person of their age; (James, Cordelia, Thomas, Lucie, Ari, Jesse, Alastair). 

We have characters with low to none libido, who don’t seem to care about physical desire at all and value mental attraction over physical (Grace, Christopher).

High libido: Anna and Matthew Anna and Matthew are the characters with the highest libido. We know Anna has had a lot of partners, and Matthew is also described to have had several partners. They’re not afraid of being scandalous, but they’re afraid of love and especially Matthew, thinks he doesn't deserve the love he receives (everyone loves Matthew and Anna dearly). They clearly know how to charm people and if they love, they love big. At the same time, most of these types of characters are afraid of commitment, so they use sex as an outlet to delude themselves that they’re happy that way. Anna and Matthew responded to romance in different ways. Anna rejected Ari’s love until the end, while Matthew hopelessly embraced his love for Cordelia until the end. I think Matthew is still in love with Cordelia after CoT’s epilogue. 

Ordinary libido: James, Cordelia, Thomas, Lucie, Ari, Jesse, Alastair Nothing much to say about them. They’re the norm of how a random person from the audience could feel at their age. There’s more ordinary characters in TLH because editors and writers, alike, prefer to play it safe. They write characters who would experience the same thoughts and things as the characters of their novels, but this doesn't reflect reality, of course. As the genre changed, the audience changed too and the social media audience is very different and is tired of "the norm" most of the time. There are some of them that are probably hornier (like James, Cordelia, Thomas and Lucie) while some others (Ari, Jesse, Alastair) who are more subtle about it. 

Low to none libido: Grace and Christopher

I probably said it once, but I think none of them cares about romance or sex. I think Grace is probably aro/ace and Christopher might have been as well. They don’t care about physical attraction. They care about each other’s minds more than the exterior. What they consider “sexy” is their brain, and that gives them serotonin, attracts them like magnets. If Kit hadn’t died, I’m sure we would’ve had Gracetopher being together and experimenting together. Perhaps they would’ve married, but also… not. I think they would’ve been happy just being mentally stimulated together. 

Couples analysis: how desire, romance and physical interactions were handled in TLH

Jordelia: first desire, then romance

From the get go, the reader knows that James and Cordelia desire each other and also like each other because we are shown their interest a lot. Jordelia are often described as a carnal couple, and often, their romantic feelings are clouded by their desire and the lines are blurred. The miscommunication trope (and the bracelet) delayed their love declaration, and we were shown their desire more than romance. There are several occasions in which they are close to getting physical but don’t (the whispering room). When the spicy moments happen, the reader expects it and says “finally!”. We were mostly shown Jordelia’s desire first and then romantic interest much later. Their romantic tension needed to be resolved first to solve the sexual tension. And I don’t think CC wanted to repeat what she did with Wessa (they had sex before they were married and Will thought Tessa didn't love him until after).

Blackdale: first romance, then desire

Lucie and Jesse should be enemies because of their families, unlike Jordelia who are friends from childhood. They bicker a lot and Lucie sometimes makes Jesse angry (like when he discovers her writing about him), but they resolve their issues by communicating, which is something Jordelia does much, much, later. This is one of the things that makes them their beta couple. Lucie and Jesse are more open about their problems and feelings and they trust each other. The main obstacle to them being endgame was the fact that Jesse was dead. After that was solved, and Jesse regained his physical form, there was room for the next step in their relationship. I’ve read posts of people complaining that Blackdale turned horny and aren’t pure anymore (whatever that means!). Desire was the next natural step to their relationship. They both wanted to experience what it felt like to finally touch the one you love, after being deprived of that for the most part of their relationship that far. By this point, knowing how straight-forward Lucie is, it’s not surprising that she wanted to take her relationship to the next level. And this, the reader, doesn’t expect. There are many reasons why we don’t see Blackdale getting physical as spicy physical. One, is to oppose Jordelia’s development. Two, since Lucie is sixteen, CC can’t write her in explicit situations like the other characters who are older (bc of the YA limitations). Three, I think Jesse wants to be a good boi and he doesn’t want the Herondales to think he’s taking advantage of their daughter. I don’t think we will ever see them in such situations unless CC writes a novella about that, but it should be a post marriage novella. 

To a minor degree, we can also say that Fairstairs could be a foil to Jordelia too, but only on the surface. Matthew tells Cordelia he loves her one chapter before James does. And I think their connection is mainly friendly. They are better as friends. Even though CC said that Matthew tends to fall in love with people he knows he can’t have and it’s more of a phase (as we’ve seen with Lucie), I don’t think he’s fallen out of love with Cordelia by the end of CoT. 

Thomastair: romance and desire, balanced Thomas and Alastair present another common trope, which is enemies (?) to lovers. I wouldn’t say they’re exactly enemies, but more like hot and cold. Thomas liked Alastair, and Alastair liked Thomas. We can assume that Thomas fell in love with Alastair in Paris or even before that. The main obstacle to their union was Charles and Alastair himself, and his self-doubt. Thomas was very open about his feelings in the sanctuary, but it was too early. It wasn’t until CoT for their romance to really kick off and for them to get physical with each other as lovers. I think Thomastair got even more spicy (though not super explicit) scenes compared to Jordelia. Like Jordelia, declaring their feelings and being on the same page was what moved their relationship further. They weren’t oblivious to the miscommunication (or more silent treatment) either, because after Tom finds out what Alastair did at the Academy, he doesn’t talk to him for a long time. Alastair also gives Tom the silent treatment at the beginning of CoT. In opposition, Charles/Alastair was the negative beta couple to Thomastair. They started off with sex and yeah, Charles may have loved Alastair to some degree, but it was more selfish and there was an imbalance in this relationship. Charles didn’t respect Alastair’s feelings at all, nor Alastair as a person. 

Arianna: from physical desire to romantic love When CoG started, we knew that the only couple who was already physical was Arianna. It is clearly alluded to on several occasions when they are at the Hell Ruelle, that is their preferred place to be intimate with each other. Anna never took Ari to her house to have sex, because her house was too personal and we knew Anna's main issue with being with Ari was allowing herself to be loved, to love and be vulnerable. One's house represents one’s inner world and while Anna allowed people in her house, I think that the first time Ari was allowed in Anna’s bedroom was when she let her stay after she ran away. Arianna is the only other couple where the characters seemed to communicate with each other. I say seem, because what they initially tell each other (especially Anna) are lies. Anna tells Ari she doesn’t want to fall in love with anyone, and Ari accepts this at first, lying to herself that she's fine with it, but then she decides she won’t accept any longer to be in a non-exclusive relationship. Throughout CoT, we see how Anna struggles to be around Ari, whom she clearly loves, and in the end she’s able to overcome this and finally let herself be happy. 

For the reasons mentioned at the beginning of this post, I won't discuss Gracetopher. They never turned into a real couple, and if they did, their relationship would've been different from the others.

[veneritia]

when comes the dawn monthly update { 9.30.23 }

And here's to the revival of WCTD and the first ever WCTD monthly post! But first things first, let's get some basics out of the way

↳ WHAT IS WCTD?

FENICE VI AETIER, a portent of ill omens and the estranged daughter of the Vasilier, ignites a dangerous succession game between her and her half-siblings, where losing means death and winning means an empire. But to compete in this game requires the acknowledgement of the Vasilier himself, one that he isn't willing to give Fenice unless she gives him something in return: the head of the deposed king of Hesperia.

When Comes the Dawn is a new adult fantasy court intrigue novel featuring succession battles, an aro/ace lead, shifting alliances, cut-throat relatives, and a family that's torn themselves apart in the name of ambition for eons. You can find the wip intro here or follow the wip's main tag (#series.wctd)

↳ WHAT IS WCTD MONTHLY?

I've had this wip for a long time but have never made much significant progress before shoving it to the side because of work, school, life, or just being burnt out. WCTD Monthly is my way to try and motivate myself by giving myself a space to talk about all of the different work I've done on this wip. (And to pressure me into actually working on it so I have something to talk about.) You can follow along with my updates with the #wctd-monthy tag

↳ NOW, ONTO THE SHOW

outline → the first 9 chapters have been outlined. outline document is currently at 4k+ words. The main plot beats for Act 1 and Act 2 have been outlined

notion → I rebuild and organized my wip notion, as well as all of the character pages

series → because of the different character arcs and plot beats that I wanted to explore, I decided to officially make WCTD a duology as opposed to a standalone like originally planned. No official title for book two as of yet, though Crowning of the Sun is a tentative one.

worldbuiling → realized that the majority of book 1 takes place in the now subjugated kingdom of Hesperia as opposed to Aetier, where I focused the majority of my worldbuilding. This means that I'm starting to worldbuilding from...almost the ground up. It helps that I'm mostly focused on the province of Isidore.

characters → the vi Aetier family has been expanded! Fenice and Charles now have 3 other half-siblings (Euphemia, Konstantine, and Basil) as well as their siblings' respective mothers. I've added 9 noble houses to form the unofficial oligarchy of influence in Isidore, and I've given Leda a rival-turned-girlfriend-turned-ex to help flesh out her character.

extraneous content → attempted to make the vi Aetier family tree starting from the beginning of the vi Drochona dynasty (I'll probably clean it up and post it separately at a later date). I also added another god to the pantheon (Heleia, goddess of the wild nature, the hunt, liberation, and childhood), and finally re-introduced wctd (linked above)

events → I participated in WTW's character event week! You can find all posts here: protagonist / tropes / representation / antagonists / relationships / traits / wildcard

↳ WHAT'S NEXT?

I'll be using preptober to outline as much as I can for nano! My goal is to finish outlining act 1 and my stretch goal is to reach half-way to act 2

posting 1 or 2 character intros or worldbuilding posts

Find more WCTD content with the series tag #series.wctd and keep an eye out for monthly progress updates with #wctd-monthly

↳ Taglist under the cut (ask to be +/-):

GENERAL → @charlesjosephwrites | @bearunicorn154 I @seasteading| @writting-in-blood | @trapped-inadystopianovel | @inky-duchess | @thats-my-type-writer | @serpentarii | @myhusbandsasemni | @aphaimaniis | @writinglyra | @belialwrites | @amoranza | @pseudepigraphic | @mel-writes-with-her-dragons | @uppoffringar | @fantasydisease | @sourrcandy

WCTD → @zmlorenz | @andiwriteunderthemoon | @ryns-ramblings | @marchdove | @cielnocturnes | @wren-is-writing | @lord-fallen | @tragicbackstoryenjoyer | @bloomingwrites | @kaatiba | @writerjodie | @worldbuildng