[ID: An array of items casually but clearly arrayed against a dark background. The centrepiece is a softcover book titled Instant Classic That No One Will Read. The book sits atop what looks like a typed rejection letter, and resting against it are stickers. A pile of candy accompanied by a charm in the shape of a laptop sit in front of the book and two pins/badges sit to the side. Sticking from within the book is a partly glimpsed bookmark for The Sad Bastard Cookbook. End ID]

I deeply love tRaum Books, both what they make and the books as objects themselves. I'd picked up Query last, and it was a charming small size (and also one of my fave reads of the last year) and because I'd ordered it as a special print edition it came with a box of delights. So, when Instant Classic became available as a print edition I jumped on it.

I love a bunch of goodies - but I also love the quality of tRaum's printed editions! Nice paper, nice ink smell, and although Instant Classic was not the sweet spot size of Query it was still a pleasing thing to hold.

And the collection of stories themselves were fun as hell. There's a joy to things made within the Nightbeats world, threads that tie the stories along without binding them. The topic, the terror and drudgery of making stories and finding people to read them is an uneasy delight.

Part of the fun of an anthology is finding favourites in the assortment, even if you enjoy them all. "Alicia's Revision" by was basically built in a lab to be my favourite, with lies and jungles and greed. "SolidAIrity" also rose to the top for me, because: unions (and that what comes out of "AI" is what we put into it).

And so, as usual, delighted to add another tRaum book to my packed shelves.

Thinking about climate change........... images inspired by protest signs in @zillanovikov 's novella, QUERY.

the secret diary of laura palmer, jennifer lynch

yeah yeah i got recommended that Henry Cooldown analysis video whatever. i am still not over people comparing Henry to a medieval knight, NOT even taking the time to unpack that said mental image of a knight is 'mostly' associated with the British Monarchy*, an extension of its Empire that *checks notes* did a long list of atrocities like imperialism and colonialism, and also (multiple) genocides.

Henry is NOT British, he is Irish. Although considering the history of Ireland and how poorly the British Empire has treated them (amongst SO MANY OTHER COUNTRIES AND DIASPORAS), yeah it's NOT surprising that an Irish man like Henry is essentially forced to adopt quote on quote 'British sensibilities' to 'survive'. <- intentional imagery or not, the implications are not lost on me.

Like okay, calling out the comparison is cool but it sure would be nice if people went further to unpack what that means and implies in the long term. you know, like ACTUAL CRITICAL ANALYSIS?!

re: lrb, I actually have a recent example of how copyright screws over small artists.

I (transsexual working retail) would like to sell some stickers to a small independent bookstore. I notice “Keep [CITY] Weird” merch sells very well. I design a sticker with the slogan. The store tells me that, unfortunately, the city of Austin has possibly trademarked the phrase “Keep [insert city here] Weird,” and therefore any merch sold with that text must be run by them first.

Now, the store could have an employee investigate if anyone owns the copyright to the general statement (vs. just "Keep Austin Weird," "Keep Portland Weird," etc.), contact them, send them the design and all planned uses of it, and get clearance... or they could just tell me, aforementioned transsexual, no. So what do you think happens?

Now the people who want to buy a “Keep [CITY] Weird” sticker cannot do so, the small local bookstore cannot stock and sell the stickers, and the small queer local artist does not get any money for the design they made. The design about, I cannot stress this enough, supporting weird local culture.

It’s not hard to understand how this translates to a creative bottle-stopper: how much art and literature and music has not been made, because its creator did not have the time or energy to make something unmonetizable?

It's not just about selling things; it's about what you can put on your Patreon and where you can link your Ko-Fi. It's about how you can afford to invest your time when you're already working a full-time job and doing art on the side. It's about copyright adding constraints to art under a system that is not good to them to begin with—do not take this post as an extollment of small businesses otherwise! Ultimately, it's about stopping people from making art, and no better. All copyright can do is stop people from making new art based on yours. It doesn't guarantee you get paid, just that others can't.

hope

nothing last forever

let that be the reason you stay

even this sick twisted misery

will not last

-rupi kaur, home body

technik und kino: farbkonzeption zum film "die liebe des dichters" (s. 184-195) in das dynamische quadrat, sergej eisenstein, schriften zum film, reclam leipzig 1988

bruch und methode. eisensteins traum von einer absoluten kunst (s. 262-324), oksana bulgakova in das dynamische quadrat, sergej eisenstein, schriften zum film, reclam leipzig 1988

The realization that fucking warrior cats contributed heavily to my distancing from/losing religion as a kid

One Thousand and One Nights

A beautiful edition of “One Thousand and One Nights” revised for youth by Dr. Lauckhard and published by Dr. Hofmann in 1878 Leipzig, Germany. With many colourful illustrations and aesthetic decor.

The Genesis of “One Thousand and One Nights” is as exciting as the frame story. Throughout the history there where different kinds of versions and translations. The European version is morally revised and was appropriated culturally in the 18th century. Paradoxically it also influenced the Arabic version in playing the erotica dramatically down, so today we can not really tell how the primeval unspoiled Indian version must have been, but one thing is for sure: The fascination of this magical work ✨

Der Mann mit der Glatze und der blaue Schal

Ich weiss nicht, warum der Glatzkopf diesen kleinen Transmann jagte. Es wäre mir aber recht angenehm gewesen, er hätte es nicht in meinem Traum, sondern in dem eines anderen getan. Überhaupt hatte ich gerade anderes zu tun – am Ende fand ich meinen schwarzen Rucksack und den blauen Schal, wo ich sie in einem anderen Traum zurückgelassen hatte, an einem Ort allerdings, wo ich mich wunderte, dass…

View On WordPress

okay

okay okay OKAY

I wrote a book about what it feels like to try to get an agent to notice your novel

and what it feels like to start doing activism and find friends who share your values but also lose friends who don't

it's written in the form of unhinged query letters

and then somehow rysz merey wanted to publish it with the tRaum books press for queer agenre books

and rachel a rosen designed me one of the greatest covers of all time, with blackout poetry:

and then rysz was like, did you want an even less hinged cover for the special edition since it won't be censored by amazon and rachel was like, i can do fewer hinges, and this happened:

[tumblr won't let me blaze this post with the special edition cover so um if you want to see it you need to click the link here, do it, I promise it's worth it, this is Art, maybe not safe for work tho, don't click it at work]

if you enjoy print books or capitalism, click here to buy it, the indie links have the special cover

if you would like to read it but would not like to pay money, you can get a review copy if you promise to post an honest review somewhere, this link will be live for a month or so but if you want it after I close the link, message me on tumblr or shoot an email to nightbeatseu (at) gmail (dot) com

calypso having an emotion-centered character and being viewed & getting treated as the ‘evil woman’ is actually a reflection of how every woman's emotions are villainized when they’re shown vividly and are a main part of their character in popular media.

in general media and riordanverse specifically, women with emotions are always looked down upon because showing emotions is regarded as a dramatic act so when a female character shows and acts on their emotiotions they get degraded and instantly despised because of it. this is done with every single female character while male characters who show emotion are treated like saints and found worthy of self redemption. this happened with annabeth when she didn’t want to believe luke was the bad guy and wanted to try bring him back because she was manipulated by him her entire life, meanwhile luke, who did batshit crimes like causing hundreds of innocent deaths, manipulating little girls by flirting with them, admitting his crush to a 16 year-old at his ripe age of 23, is remembered as a hero and considered ‘redeemed himself’ after sacrificing himself while annabeth was called insufferable when she didn’t believe he was evil in the first place. let’s not forget piper, who’s a lesbian that was forced into a relationship with a man by a goddess and thought she was in the wrong for not feeling right with jason. during the entire relationship she was experiencing a very hard comphet and couldn’t figure herself out because of the fake memories, everybody was bashing her when she was acting confused, when she was, in fact confused. i have a longer post about this specific topic, so if you guys wanna check it out it’s right here. 

 coming back to calypso, first we need to clear out the misconceptions about her curse on percy that affected annabeth. she wasn't blind nor was personally attacking annabeth, her curse was to make someone feel like how she was feeling all time and that’s why percy and annabeth couldn’t reach out to one another while being right next to each other. annabeth’s blindness came from the titan she defeated in the sea of monsters and is actually the first curse to be put by the arai on them, so it has nothing to do with calypso. the curse was affecting annabeth because she happened to be the person percy loved and was right next to him. if percy was there alone either percy would feel alone and abandoned or the curse wouldn’t affect him at all, since there’s no person he can go back to save. and the curse itself wasn’t even a death wish type of curse she just wanted to be heard, be acknowledged and wanted free off her island. not to forget the curse wasn't harming or killing any of them yet it’s still demonized more than by literally every other thing that happened in the books. nothing luke has ever done is seen as evil as her curse just because it was by her and i’m pretty positive if something like this was shown in pjo by luke it would be glossed over and romanticized in the fandom. further proof of how a male character's actions get brushed off and forgiven easily but soon a female character does something even slightly questionable they get villainized on the spot.

she is also despised because she doesn't let everyone's favorite man get away with his misogynistic stuff. calypso doesn't treat leo any worse than he treats her. whenever she starts arguing it is a response to something leo has said or done, which in the most case she's in the right but leo gets so much slack from his past and being fandom favorite to be held accountable for the way he treats people. he's always been written as a misogynist, he never treated any women with any respect. he always had some sort of disrespect for every female character he seems have some sort of closure with like piper, hazel, calypso, the list goes on, but yet calypso is always expected to be more 'tolerable and understanding' bc of his trauma, as if every single character in the series isn't written upon a single trauma they had and have their character built on it. and he always had a problem dealing with others and their emotions and instead of expecting him to be working to change that, calypso is expected to adjust his manners.

oddly enough, she's also expected to show some gratitude towards leo for saving her, when she never asked him to do so and not for a second believed that he was actually going to come back when he said he would. is she grateful that he came back and freed her? yes. should she feel any obligations to make him feel greater because of it? NO. everything leo did for calypso was his and only his choice and nobody else's. calypso is happy that he did so, but expecting her to tolarate every single thing he does solely because of that is wrong.

Gay books, get yer gay books! So for one more week, our mini queer press tRaum Books is running a PAY WHAT YOU WANT deal on our entire catalogue on Itch Io! https://traumbooks.itch.io/ That is seven ebooks (including long novel, short novel, novella, and art book format), from neoGothic to Midwestern queer; metaphysical to neonvomit confessional, including these indie authors:

Lachelle Seville || Tucker Lieberman || Bryan Cebulski || Dael Akkerman || Clarissa Pattern || Ryszard Merey.

Grab the bundle and pay what you want, to get some great queer lit and support indie presses <3

High fantasy fans, I need your eyeballs.

My standalone fantasy novel MAEJ is to be published in October by tRaum Books, and the publisher and I seek folks willing to read a free advance review copy and leave an honest rating/review.

You can request a free copy of the book here: MAEJ Advance Review Copy Sign-Up

MAEJ is a unique, complex high fantasy novel featuring:

☞ gryphons

☞ berserker rages

☞ fate-worship

☞ algorithmic magic spells

☞ secret agent anthropologists

☞ hallucinogenic flower wine

☞ poetry battles

☞ Da Vincian flying contraptions

☞ a matriarchal society colliding with a patriarchal one

☞ an underground city

☞ a gaolbreak

☞ an awful politician getting assassinated while using the toilet

With “an elaborate and surprising plot [...] filled with political intrigue, action, twists, tragedy, and even a touch of romance”, MAEJ is a novel “unapologetic in its intelligence and dedication to doing strange, creative things with language” even as it offers “meaty commentary on the social construction of sex, sexuality, and gender” (in the words of one early reviewer).

If you want an ARC, here is that link again: MAEJ Advance Review Copy Sign-Up

You need not be a professional reviewer or somehow associated with the publishing trade. We welcome anybody who would like to read and review the novel.

You also have the option of waiting until 21 October, when you will be able to pay money for a book you could have gotten for free.

9 album covers

got tagged by @dirty-bosmer and @lucien-lachance for this tag game! thank you <3 post your 9 favorite album covers. Aesthetics, not necessarily favorite albums.

Irfan - Irfan. They've remastered this album later and made a new cover, but I love how whimsical this old one is.

Herlunar - Vanitas Vanitatvm. Reminds me of vintage book covers.

Masayoshi Takanaka - All of Me. Ngl Masayoshi Takanaka is THE KING of cool album covers. Goals

Paradise Lost - Symbol of Life. It was the first album of them I've heard, and my uncle gave me it as a CD. Love the minimalistic design and the booklet is very cool + it's still my fav album by them.

Dornenreich - Durch Den Traum. This covers looks like a dream and reminds me of Nicholas Roerich's landscapes. The music feels like a dream as well. Probably my fav concept album in terms of the atmosphere.

Paradise Lost - Lost Paradise. Their first album, which means it's very edgy but I like old school sci-fi vibes of the cover.

Masayoshi Takanaka - alone. The king slays again.

The Moors - The Moors. Love the cover a lot, very original, and the album is spectacular as well. Sadly, they didn't release anything besides that. Also, this golden acorn in the senter of the cover drives me insane. WHY. WHAT. augh

Masayoshi Takanaka - Brasilian Skies. I just want to be him.

The promotional journey for Something's Not Right, my collection of weird queer monster stories, has officially begun! Follow tRaum Books on Twitter (or bluesky) for more from them, and follow me here on Tumblr for more from me! Thanks so much to Rachel A. Rosen for that gorgeous cover, Micah Perks for the blurb, and Andrej @furiousfinnstan for the lovely bookmark art!!

(Psst: ARCs are also available at this form, and initial reviews are looking good! Sorry if I make you cry.)