Y'all, if you like a good queer, sci-fi, dystopian love story that also is a thrilling mystery, Narcissa is for you.

I only just discovered it and it got me from episode one. Will definitely be re playing it.

Also, Dianna Agron's performance?WOW. Absolutely mesmerizing. I sincerely hope sh does more podcasts like this in the future.

Face of the Moon excerpt Chapter 20: Living

Love and hate.  Life and death.  Highs and lows.  Joy and pain.  Things you can’t have without the other.  

Do the lows make the highs feel higher?  Does the pain make the joy feel more joyful?  Is it true that you can only be happy in death if you’ve lived your life to the fullest?  

Can I fully love him again, now that I’ve hated him, can I let myself love him again or did I never stop?

Ebook available on B&N

Original story recommendation

I found this paranormal queer love story scrolling tags on Ao3 and it's seriously SO CUTE?!

"What's up my loves, it's your favourite ghost hunter Rosa, back again! Today I'm exploring the Bell house. Locals say they've seen the ghost of a young woman in the windows at night..." I turned away from my bedroom window and squinted towards the voice coming from the foyer. Who was in my house? Or, Rosa Saylor, "professional" ghost hunter, leaves her latest haunted house visit with a whole lot more than she anticipated.

nothing will ever break my heart the same way unfulfilled queer love stories because of whatever evil reason this universe yields do.

Unfortunately Famous Update!

Regina hadn’t been looking where she was going. Of course, she hadn't. She was getting a lecture from her mother. Somehow slitting her knee open on a stray rock hadn’t ended the conversation but made it worse.

“This is exactly what I am talking about, Regina, you’ve become so clumsy. And those people, who even are they? Sure your plaything is… somewhat attractive, but you have to think beyond her pretty face, Regina… you are a Mills, after all. And you really need to do something with that complexion you’re getting older and even Emma won’t want you.”

Regina was sitting on her ass trying to assess if she had done herself any real damage. She tried to block out her mother. She needed to make sure she was ok first, she knew that is what Katheryn or Emma would tell her to do. Cora’s rhetoric was always the same, she wasn’t going to miss much. But as she made the mistake of looking up into the eyes of her mother, coldly staring down at her daughter not even offering a hand to help her up. Regina once again wished her mother could love her no matter how wrong she knew that was.

Her eyes started to burn and that was the worst reaction she could have had. Her mother had taught her early on to never let anyone see you weak. She knew that at any moment they were about to repeat their old patterns again. Regina would be made fun of long enough that she would snap and start yelling back, and then a correction would happen.

*did anyone catch that i posted the wrong link to the wrong story last week? lol sorry!

Thank you as always to Crystal Coulter for keeping my butt accountable! This story wouldn't have been posted without you -- give Crystal some love!!

Loved this review! I often wondered about the original version of the song and how similar/different Noah’s version was. Thanks for doing the work for me!

Some teaser art for soon to be released chapter 12 of When the Smoke Clears (Story 1)

Created by RaptorJules, exclusively on their patreon and ko-fi clubs, updates monthly

Hi I just saw the results of the poll you put about the love story between the moon and Sun. I see that the girl(sun) and moon(guy) got voted highest. But I just wished to see a queer love story for the first time between the sun and the moon when you posted that you would write about them both as guys. I just wanted to ask if you'll write the queer version sometime in the future atleast?

Hey

Thank you for asking me about this poll.

I am infact excited to write both these non-commonly written versions of a love story between the sun and moon. I am indeed going to write both versions. I just put up the poll to decide which one I'll complete first and post. So based on the poll results I'll post the winning version first and the other version later on. So I assure you I will be writing the queer version as well. I am glad to know you're interested 🙂

Face of the Moon excerpt Chapter 23: Have

The room is dark again.  Tears are stinging my eyes, trailing down my cheeks.  The pain in my side subsiding.  There’s a chair beneath me and a table in front.  Metal table like the ones in the juvenile detention center where the forward thinking warden mixes and mingles the sexes.  

My sister is there.  With a bruise on her cheek.  Her eyes unwilling to meet mine.  The silence doesn’t feel so deafening.  

Lifting my hands to set them on the table.  The blood there is dry.  It’s tattooed into the crevices, crushed under my nails.  The permanence of it undeniable here in the fluorescent lights that have illuminated my room.  Illuminated my dying moments.

When the door opens behind her, my head lifts, focus catches and holds.  But Jacy doesn’t appear there.  He’s not here.  He can’t be here because he’s not dead.  Not like us.  

My mouth falls open, eyes tracing over the empty doorway then dropping to Amory’s face.  She’s looking at me now.  A small smile lifting the corners of her lips.  Her skin is flushed with health, cheeks rounded with nutrition, eyes twinkling with contentedness.  

The words on my thoughts echo off the concrete walls, I would die for you Jacy.  From the first time I thought it.  From the first time I saw him.  And knew.  I knew I’d die for him.  A hundred times over.

They write themselves in cursive.  Long, theatric strokes of black ink with delicate tails.  They’re all over the walls now.  Each brick layered over.  The snaking words that have curled around in my head for so long now.  I’ve thought them, I’ve said them.  I’ve meant them and I’ve felt them.  I’ve followed through on it now.  I’ve proven it.  

“You don’t have to,” Amory whispers.

Ebook available on B&N

An Assumptive Anthology

Story 8: A Homosexual Homestead

Two women feel trapped within the expectations of their current situation. They long to be able to love each other in the open.

Rating: T

Chapter Word Count: 3500

Introduction | A Vibrant Pair | A Shared Experience | A Fateful Friendship | A Parting Party| A Victorian Scheme (part 1) | A Victorian Scheme (part 2) | A Hopeful Proposal | A Pretty Man | A Homosexual Homestead

“sorry to vent, im just feeling kind of imposter today. i suspect you can tell, but i don’t want to be a task for you. sometimes it feels like everyone else would be crewmate victory without me. but then i think about how you’re sus too. a-and i want us to be sus, together.”

Alt text:  graphite drawing of a young black woman with her hair drawn back into a long ponytail and a headband holding stray hair away from her face looks off-camera with a serious and slightly sad expression. The background is shadowed, but several white dots representing lights hover around her head, and a twisted pole rises behind her.

Yesterday’s Art of the Day: Storm Reid as Riley in The Last of Us. 

Belle of the Ball Review

Belle of the Ball by Mari Costa

CW: Cheating, Toxic Relationship, Struggles with Grades, College Acceptance Stress, Vomit, Underage Drinking, Accidental Underage Drinking, Classism, Social Anxiety, Gossiping, Manipulation, Cursing, Break-Up

5/5

It'd been too long since I had sat down and gotten lost in a good graphic novel, so thank you Belle of the Ball for breaking that fast. Mari Costa whisked me away to her world for a few hours and I couldn't be happier! This book was dedicated to the gay kids who were obsessed with High School Musical in middle school, a category I'm proudly a part of. I was promised relationship drama, school sports, and kids that don't realize how rich they are. All were delivered with so much more in store!

Belle of the Ball is the story of three high school queer girls with very messy love lives. Chloe and Regina have been dating on and off for several years, but they are the "It Couple" as far as the cheer squad is concerned. Hawkins is the school mascot and secretly a huge nerd, and while she prefers to stay under the radar, she asks Regina out to the Fall dance. Regina tells her that Chloe and her are currently dating, but befriends her instead. Will love be able to bloom in this stressful high school environment? Will it matter that Hawkins and Chloe have a forgotten history?

Reviewing graphic novels gives me the chance to talk about visual arts and put both my Art History Minor and my Graphic Design Certificate to use. An unfortunate feature of thick graphic novels is that you're going to miss the middles of some great 2-page spreads. I can tell that Costa knows this because she follows these up with insert shots and montages that better explore the scene. The whole book is done in a pink gradient color palette, which is very pretty and was potentially chosen to reflect the themes of femininity in Belle of the Ball. Overall, the art style is cute, playful, and pairs nicely with the story it's being used to tell.

Belle of the Ball is beautifully diverse, truly living up to its dedication and taking it further than a DCOM would dare to go, even now. I mentioned that a main theme of the book is femininity, but please keep in mind that there are many different ways to be feminine. Chloe sees herself as both the princess and the knight, Regina loves dresses and makeup and proving that women can do it all, Hawkins longs to be the brave little princess she once was. This graphic novel is queer, body positive, racially diverse, super feminist, and even Jewish! All very worth the wrist and finger pain I have from holding the novel!

If you enjoy stories of love finding its way in unexpected places and queer nerds who could use a day to relax, Mari Costa's Belle of the Ball should absolutely be on your TBR list. This book can make you laugh, sigh, and hold your breath in anticipation. Reading this will be soul cleansing!

If you’re looking for something quick and fun to do this weekend, consider giving Seams a Bit Queer a go. (link)

I love Kam and Scarlett’s story because I am a sucker for “the love interest is already in a terrible relationship” kind of vibe. Kam really hates Scarlett’s boyfriend, but she’s trying to be a good friend to Scarlett and support her while having to deal with Kyle on a daily basis. They were a lot of fun and I’m pretty proud of what I came up with. 

These books are ‘stand alone’, in that there is no over arching plot and you really don’t have to read one to get enjoyment out of another, but there are recurring characters like Quita (she/her), Jesse (he/him), Tate (they/them) and Eve (she/her), who have lives of their own within the Quaint City universe. I’m trying so hard to keep these short, with low-stress and that you aren’t required to read a whole bunch of them for one to make sense because those are what my reading requirements are when I’m choosing a book.