Magical Boys WIP Intro

Saving their friend (and the whole world, I guess?) with the power of love, magic and being kinda gross.

Falling into a swamp is never fun, but it's worse when it turns out to be a magic swamp with a monster that kidnaps the most popular, princely and perfect guy in school.

It also transforms Billy and his two classmates, Beau and Younes, into very stereotypical magical boys —frills, sparkles and colour-coordinated outfits included.

Not only do they have to navigate this bizarre new world in form-fitting skirts and shorts, they have to do it quickly in order to rescue Arno before the monster that kidnapped him... tries to marry him?

Billy, Beau and Younes have quite a big task ahead of them and that's not even to mention the interpersonal drama teenagers can and will get into when it really isn't the time for it.

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Based entirely on my love for the magical girl genre and everything it entails when it comes to modern fantasy romance with my own gay and trans spin on it.

A three-part story catered to a (queer) young adult audience.

Current status: book 1 draft 1 finished, writing draft 2

Third person limited | Multiple POVs | present tense

In case you're interested in following along while i'm writing this story. I will be tagging it as "#magical boys wip" for as long as it doesn't have an official title, and let me know if you want to be added to a taglist, so I can start one up.

Character introductions for the boys!

Taglist: @dustylovelyrun, @wildswrites, @sarandipitywrites, @skyderman, @thelaughingstag

So, just curious how many writers and creators will have to be forcibly outed by relentless harassment before we acknowledge that "This queer characters was written by a cishet person and that's why they're bad" is not good criticism.

In lieu of Stuff Your Kindle day, can we talk about the issue of how the m/m genre of books, romance or not, is almost entirely dominated by women? Can we talk about how the most recognisable gay couples in media are written by women? Can we talk about how queer men can't even write about ourselves, how we are only allowed to exist when it's from the point of view of a straight woman sexualising us?

Can we talk about that? Or am I going to get called misogynistic for pointing out the disparity between who gets the writing deals, & who gets their books turned into movies, & whose shit gets popular versus whose doesn't? Can we talk about how m/m fiction is only allowed when it appeals to a cishet gaze, or is that too much for tumblr to take?

Can we also talk about how trans queer men are even more hated by publishing? Can we talk about how we get shit from both sides? Can we talk about how books about the experiences of being a queer man, written by queer men, never get the same recognition as books written by women on this subject (barring academia which has its own problems)?

Can we talk about that? Can we?

Percy Jackson fans I am begging you to read the Sunbearer Trials. It's Mexican pjo mixed with the hunger games, it's urban fantasy leaning towards high fantasy, the main character is the child of this world's version of minor gods. It opens with the mc getting a pair of birds to vandalise! It's Brilliant!

[ x ]

People in this fandom will really look at The Fool, Patience, Lacey, Carson, Sedric, Hest, Davvie, Lecter, Kennit, Ash/Spark, and yes, even Fitz himself, and still have the gall to call it queer bait.

These characters are explicitly queer, their actions impact the narrative, they are well written, and their identities are treated with respect. That is the best possible queer representation you could ask for in any story.

I've seen people on tumblr basing the likelihood of if they read this series on whether or not it's "actually gay" and I'm here to tell you that it is. There are queer characters. There are queer protagonists. And no matter what you see people in the fandom say, Robin Hobb wrote some amazing queer representation in a genre that rarely sees it at all.

EDIT: and I think it's pertinent to note that, no, characters who are questioning or struggling with their feelings about sexuality instead of knowing 100% does not make something queer bait or "less gay"

TLDR;

Queer bait = disrespectful marketing ploy that exploits queer audiences

Queer bait ≠ "my two favorite characters never have sex"

Happy New Year! (part one)

With Beth, space Beth, and Jerry spending time on space Beth’s satellite apartment, and Summer and Morty partying in the safety of their own home, Rick felt a minor sense of relief this NYE. Though minor, the weight off his chest was massively rewarding. not that it was a reward he deserved.

Finally he could have some much needed time to himself. Time to torture himself for all of the mistakes he’d made in the past year.

A sudden knocking on the garage door startled him out of his trance.

“G- .belch. Go away!” he raised his voice over the music coming from the house

The knocking continued, pounding harder the longer he ignored it.

“Rrrrick? Pleaseeee open uuuup, itsssss (y/n)”

He pondered whether or not to open the door. It’s not that he doesn’t like (y/n) its that he actually does. Or is at least starting to. That was the main issue.

He was not willing to find another weakness to attach to himself. The last thing he needs is yet another thing that any one of his numerous enemies could use against him.

But his curiosity always happened to get the best of him when it came to (y/n). There was something about them that called oh so alluringly to whatever kind of soul Rick had left.

Reluctantly, Rick opened the garage door. In the time it took to fully open Rick had regretted opening it, then recanted as soon as he saw the state of (y/n).

They were disheveled, to say the least. Not that he cared, but it was unsettling. They reminded Rick of himself in his younger years, determined, incredibly intelligent, and generally better than most other people. He didn’t enjoy it when they weren’t well.

“I, I don’t feel well Rrrickkkkk” (y/n) slurred, stumbling towards him

“W-w-woah there how much d- .belch. did you have to drink?”

“I- I.” (y/n) paused, their brows furrowing.

Their eyes pled for Rick to understand, their body failing to work with them to accurately portray the situation.

“I- think roo-“ they gag violently leaving them to fall forward.

Rick leaps forward to catch (y/n) before they smack the ground face first.

“What was that?” He picks (y/n) up cradling them as if they were no more than a half asleep child.

“Roofie” Rick’s blood began to boil.

Drugs that incapacitate you are fun, but only when it's consensual.

“We’re gonna head a couple floors down in the garage. D-d-d-don’t worry too much about the details (y/n) it’ll be cool”

@raventhekittycat

hi okay so I've been mulling this one over for the past day or two and I think I have the answer. not to be using hamburger to explain anything to an american but you're my detco mutual so I'm going to try and explain it in detco terms

There's a post going around recently about how if you've read detco and only detco, the first time hakuba shows up you're going to be totally flummoxed, because damn this guy is clearly important, he gets to be even cooler than Shinichi, he's got a half-page shot of him (in such a panel-dense series such as Detective Conan, no less!!) and he's got a fucking hawk. he's CLEARLY important. everything about the narrative is indicating that you need to PAY ATTENTION to hakuba and that he's the coolest guy and he's important!!!! and then he dies in the case lol (not for real. but still.)!! and you're like huh??? what was that. why did aoyama do that.

But with the context of magic kaito this totally makes sense. He's a beloved character that people have been waiting decades to see again. Of course Aoyama is going to hype him up!! It's his big moment after years of being locked in the backrooms!!!

Anyways reading birdmen for me was kind of like that. The author's previous series, Kekkaishi, was pretty one-dimensional at the beginning, and even after the main plot started picking up at around volume 6, it still felt quite understandable. I knew what she was trying to get at, and the spectacular job she did with the anthropocene and climate change metaphor towards the end of that series really made me interested in the rest of her works. That and the way she writes familial relationships is absolutely DEVASTATING. (I mean this with the highest of praise)

But when I read BIRDMEN for the first time, I was probably in... middle school, maybe? And I read it, sure, but I didn't get it. I could see what was literally happening on the page but the narrative choices were absolutely baffling at times. Why skip over the entire part of the plot where they figure out who the birdman that saved them was? She blatantly doesn't care about that. What does she care about then?? I knew I didn't get it, I knew there were parts of it that were important and I couldn't figure out why and THAT'S how it dug its pretty little claws into me. Even after I finished catching up it nagged at me a little bit, not often at all, but enough that every once in a while I go, huh, right, that was a thing, let me go read it again.

For the record this type of story haunting has happened to me twice. First time was the Heart of Thomas, second time was BIRDMEN. I think the thing is that these are both stories which are not what other people say they are and I think I came into both of these stories with a misconception, trying to look too hard for things that weren't important and therefore missing the things that were.

Because sure, BIRDMEN is about mental illness. Yeah, it's about an evil scientific organization growing mutants in a lab. Yeah, it's about what it means to leave your humanity behind. That's all technically correct, on a surface level, and the fandom at large likely agrees with these takes for the most part, but in my opinion none of that really delves into what the thematic messaging of the story is about.

There are cryptic conversations about authority and human extinction and peculiar outfit and ability choices. You can tell these choices weren't made to serve the purpose of "writing exciting shonen manga" because that was what she did for the most part in Kekkaishi and you can tell she wasn't putting her whole pussy into doing that here. So what was she doing? What's like. All of this. Waves my hands at this.

The short answer is that it's really about the interplay between capitalism (represented by humanity) and communism (represented by birdmen), and explores the role institutional white supremacy (EDEN) plays in enforcing capitalism. It is ALSO about queer liberation and the importance of community, but hey, that double-stacks conveniently with the communism metaphor.

But also take this opinion of mine with a grain of salt. As far as I know I'm the only one who really truly deeply believes that it is not only AN interpretation of the work, but one that was fully intended by the author.

So basically, I like it, because I think it says something true and beautiful that I also believe in, even if I didn't have the words for it the first time I read it. But I don't really think that's what people really look for in a media recommendation.

Do I like it? Yes, I love it. Will I recommend it to others? Yeah, sure. But do I think it's deeply flawed? Yeah, absolutely. It's flawed in the same ways as The Witch from Mercury— a rushed ending, too many threads that were opened and never tied together. The pacing and characterization is perfect in the beginning, and too rushed at the end. There are prerequisites you basically HAVE to read in order to understand the story (tempest for G-Witch and the communist manifesto for birdmen). I think a truly good story wouldn't have any of these things so if people don't like it I never blame them.

It's my personal experiences that make birdmen so profound to me. If you are not queer I just don't think Eishi coming out as a birdman to his mom will hit the same, just as an example. Sorry that I wasn't the kid you wanted me to be. I know you love me and you just want the best for me and that's why you're so controlling, because you think I can be saved by conforming to societal expectations. But I can't live like that. I can't be like that. And that's why I must go. etc.

Aesthetically I do love birdmen a lot. If I had to describe it in a few words it would probably be "chilling", "beautiful", and "powerful", which nicely coincides with the type of things I personally like to draw. It's also silly to a small degree but it's so serious and I know Tanabe can be way way way funnier (read kekkaishi for this. kekkaishi and hanazakari no kimitachi he were foundational to my sense of sequential art humor) so that's not really the standout trait of this series.

I can't let it go because I'm chewing this series like a bone. And it's taking me years but I am getting that sweet sweet marrow. By god. We are on year 3 of this shit and I am GOING to understand this series. and I'm going to make 3 video essays about it

if arkarm were really both supposed to be gay for you then why was arm made admin of a Hot Boy facebook page in the first place? shouldn't he just be gay from the start? sus writing choice tbh

recently learned more abt chuck tingle and lemme say as a sex-repulsed asexual the titles of this mans books make me so happy that is MY emotional support erotica author

u know how people joke that men written by women hit different? I really think that also applies to alphas written by gay ppl LMAOOOO

'SOULSTAR' BOOK REVIEW...

I haven’t done a review for a while, but I felt I should for this book, as I didn't like it and wanted to explore why. The book’s about a necromantic witch called Robin, who is fighting to make the country of Aeland a better place. At first she tries to do this by working with the new king, who appears to be quite progressive, but as time goes on, it becomes clear he’s not the person she thought he was and she needs to take a different route. She takes over as the head of the Free Democracy party when the previous leader Jacob is assassinated and ends up bringing about a revolution. The blurb for the book describes it as A WHIRLWIND OF MAGIC, POLITICS, ROMANCE, AND INTRIGUE, which sounded right up my street, but it totally didn't live up to my expectations and here are some of the reasons…

One of the villains (a terminally ill old man) is tried near the end and sentenced to hang. I find the idea of capital punishment deeply troubling, so this was never going to sit well with me. I think it’s inhumane, and when mistakes happen (which they totally do), there’s nothing you can do about it. The trial also left a bad taste in my mouth. It’s what I believe is commonly referred to as a kangaroo court, when the accused isn’t given a chance to defend himself and the verdict’s pretty much decided before anyone says a word. To make matters worse, Robin traps the man’s soul in a tree for a thousand years after he’s been hanged. This isn’t part of the court’s decision and there’s no consultation. She just does it. For me this little display suggests that power has totally gone to her head and Aeland has simply traded one arrogant despot for another, which I’m sure wasn’t what the author had in mind.

The pacing feels off. Parts of the book seemed rushed (e.g. the revolution and a lot of the magic stuff), while other parts felt bloated and unnecessarily drawn out. The author seemed unable to tell what to focus on to best serve the story, and if there was any editorial guidance, it must have been pretty poor judging by how it turned out.

Complex issues are dealt with in what for me seems like a totally simplistic way. The revolutionaries are holier than thou and the people they’re fighting against are like pantomime villains, when in the real world, almost everyone is somewhere in the middle. You only really hear one viewpoint about stuff and the whole mess gets cleared up in a ridiculously short amount of time.

The character of Zelind. Zelind is non-binary, which on the face of it sounds great, but the sense I got was that khe was a token character. I had no clue about kher appearance or what kher life as non-binary was like (e.g. the specific challenges khe faced). I noticed that the author used the wrong pronouns for kher a few times (usually SHE/HER, but also at least one THEY), which made me wonder if KHE was once a SHE and the non-binary element was added quite late in the writing process to be on trend or something. It certainly doesn’t add to the plot in any way. If it wasn't a late change, then it's another example of sloppy editing. You expect that kind of slip in self-published books, but not when they're from a big company like Tor and not when its something people might be sensitive about. I also wondered how everyone the character meets seems to immediately know which pronouns to use for kher. I don’t have any direct experience of this myself, but I’m guessing it doesn’t always work that way for real non-binary people, so it doesn’t ring true. Another thing that didn’t seem realistic was the way the character rustled up a machine to generate electricity at the drop of a hat, when others have been trying for years and utterly failing. It’s not properly explained how khe is able to do it and it all happens off camera so to speak, so you don’t get to see what it actually involves. This character could have been so much more and for me was a big disappointment.

The plot feels contrived. I knew all along where the book was headed, so getting through it felt like a chore. There were also quite a few times when seemingly hopeless situations were quickly resolved by unlikely events, e.g. Robin happening to know there would be a hidden door which would allow her and Grace to escape from a burning room, or footsteps lying undisturbed on a snowy rooftop for days, so Robin can solve the mystery of Jacob’s assassination (luckily there hasn’t been any snow in the meantime and it hasn't melted either). Magic also felt a bit convenient at times and the rules around it seemed to shift to fit the plot.

So those are my biggest gripes. I won’t tell anyone they shouldn’t read the book, because I’ve seen a lot of glowing reviews and I’m sure a lot of people will 💜 it, but for me it just didn’t work. I haven’t read the other books in the Kingston cycle and I won’t be doing now. This one was more than enough. 2/5

hi re: hell followed with us i read it a couple of months ago and came to the same conclusion u seem to be at so far, i liked the writing style a lot in that i thought it was descriptive and beautiful and i LOVED the scenes w the graces however the plot and story itself felt a bit amateur and needed quite a bit of work. sorry for the out of the blue ask i just needed to discuss this w someone else who has also read/is reading the book lmao

no don't apologize, i'm glad you gave me an opportunity to discuss it more! i agree, and i know that it's a YA novel so i definitely wasn't expecting something life changing, but i was very excited by the premise (trans cult survivor who has angelic monster powers escapes his abusers and joins a group of rebels; lots of good body horror and, in the summary's own words "embracing the monster within and unleashing its power against your oppressors") and then the actual novel itself has turned out to be a bit disappointing to me. although it presents a lot of very creative and compelling ideas, concepts, and imagery, the body horror is very well written - definitely one of the book's strengths - and the core themes and messages the author is trying to convey are very clearly communicated, the writing feels a bit like it it's rushing past things and just trying to check off boxes as quickly as possible at times. the story just doesn't grip me; i can't get fully immersed in the world it's showing me because sometimes it just doesn't feel real enough. the best books i've read have always managed to convince me to suspend my disbelief and dive into the universe they're showing me, which this one does sometimes, but not consistently. there are areas in the worldbuilding and relationship developments between characters that need more attention to reach their full potential. it comes across very surface level and repetitive at times (especially the descriptions of gore? there seems to be a lot of repetitive imagery about broken ribs, red and/or black blood and rot, and bodies being turned inside out by transformation and/or violence, and it doesn't feel more impactful or like it's exploring and developing the concepts each time, it just feels overused). i'm glad the story exists and that the author wrote it, i think it's a perfectly solid book and that he has a promising future in a career as an author, and i know it's his debut novel so there's always room for improvement and probably will be. but unfortunately as a lover of monster angels, queer fiction, and stories about what it means to be monstrous and balancing personal satisfaction and empowerment with justice and helping others, who should have been absolutely consumed by this book based on the summaries and reviews of it, it just isn't doing what i hoped it would for me.

I think we should talk about how western queer media are acknowledged as revolutionary and realistic good queer rep no matter how problematic some parts are, while asian queer media (bls and and sometimes gls) as a whole, despite their wholesome parts, will always be generalized as weird and fetishizing due to its few rotten eggs of the coop or maybe that's just me ig

[ x ]

My SUPER SUPER petty fandom habit and confession:

I occasionally look at the statistic numbers on AO3 and Lofter of the MXTX main pairs and their other big main popular ship... and laugh at the pebble next to the mountain when I get particularly salty at fandom shippers.