#giulia's rants | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

litgwritersroom · 10 months

Note

Allegra F/F??? My bitch queen needs some love

TRUTH OR DARE

Allegra / MC - 2800+ words - @crimswnred

If you see us in the club, we'll be acting real nice. If you see us on the floor, you'll be watching all night 🎶

Allegra put on another layer of her favorite pink strawberry-flavored gloss and flipped her hair back. She could hear the insistent sound of the leaking tap echoing into the silence as Jen started fighting to tie her hair up next to her, looking dumb as she did it too. To be fair, however, absolutely everything that day was getting on Allegra's nerves. And this damn lip gloss wasn't working.

With a 'thump', she snapped, slamming her fist against the sink. "Ugh, this stupid thing."

Beside her, Jen jumped on her feet. "What the fuck, Allegra?"

Allegra side-eyed Jen. She could kill her right here but that wasn't a good idea nor a good look. "Sorry, just stress because of the ratings."

Jen seemed to understand it right away. Everyone was stressed because of the ratings. At the dance academy, a good rating was basically the fastest way to get a solo or, who knows, be part of a play or dance crew for an artist. As a modern dancer, of course she was competing with a bunch of really good girls and that alone took her stress levels off the charts. To put it quite simply, Allegra hated the ratings.

Not that she was a bad dancer. God, no. She had a few solos already, she passed some tests, she had won some competitions and even joined some famous people on their tour. However, that was before she joined the Academy.

Giulia was a fucking good dancer, everyone was well aware of that ever since she had her first ballet class and left Mrs Kensington looking impressed – which for the old lady meant she had an eyebrow up and that sparkle on her usually opaque brown eyes. Allegra had seen her dance a few times and, although she didn't believe she was that good at first, she had to admit that she had never seen someone look that… light while dancing. She was just like a feather.

And that was so annoying. Before her, Allegra was the shit at the academy. All eyes on her, forever top of the rantings, the only one to get ovations at the showcase. She was the moment and everyone wanted a piece of her. Then, Giulia came from the depths of Italy with her annoying accent, doll-like feature, straight as fuck strawberry blonde hair and perfect shaped petite body. Ridiculous.

"I mean, at least you're, like, 2nd spot!" Jen smiled at her through the mirror. "I'm, like, sixty."

Allegra closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Oh, god, Jen was making it really hard not to kill her right there. "I swear to god, Jennifer, if you don't shut the fuck up right now."

That seemed to get her quiet.

Allegra grabbed her stuff from the sink and threw it all on her pink bag with a huff. Not even looking back, she made her way out of the bathroom and waltzed through the academy, hoping she would be able to leave to her dorm without bumping into anyone. She just wanted to lay down on her bed and re-watch her favorite season of Pretty Little Liars.

But, of course, she bumped into someone.

Giulia.

"Hey, Leggy!"

As usual, her drawn-by-god's-hands face had zero makeup on, displaying the layer of random-placed freckles and the pointy nose everyone envied. Her thick, long hair was pulled up in a perfect bun, not a single strand of hair daring to escape it. Covering her torso, she had the tight black collant on and the supper short cropped black hoodie with a single tiny rainbow right on its center. To match, she had those low-waisted baggy gray sweatpants. Ugh.

Giulia smiled at her and Allegra's stomach flipped. She couldn't stand her, god. "Hey… Giulia! How's it going?"

"Super! Just got the ratings!" Giulia scratched her neck and gave Allegra a nervous chuckle. Oh, she was playing it coy now? The audacity. "Congrats on the second spot, by the way!"

That struck a nerve. Oh, my fucking god. Allegra could hear the venom dropping from every word she was saying, it didn't matter how much she tried to play it as friendly.

"Thanks," Allegra crossed her arms, looking right into Giulia's stupid honey eyes. "Is that the reason why you stopped me, though? 'Cause I really need to go back to my dorm."

Giulia looked taken aback for a second but she quickly recovered, plastering a smile on her lips easily. The whole conversation had an overly sweet tone but there was a classic female rivalry between the lines.

"I was just wondering if you're going to Sammi's party tonight?" She leaned against the wall, eying Allegra up and smirking.

She knew Sammi. They had some classes together. She also knew that Sammi was number 3 on the rankings. Which meant she used to be to Allegra what Allegra was now to Giulia. If that makes sense. She also knew that her last party was busted by the headmistress and that the attendants were punished by her after being caught smoking weed. Something that was completely banished from the Academy.

So, no, Allegra wasn't planning to hit Sammi's party that night. But she also wasn't planning to be hit on the face with all of Giulia's mean attitude, so hey, she was allowed to change her mind, right?

"Yep," she popped the 'p' with some of her bubbling rage. "See you there?"

Giulia winked at her before unpeeling herself from the wall. "You know it, girl."

Two hours later, Allegra was wearing the tiniest of skirts known to mankind and the tightest shirt she could find in her wardrobe. Her hair was up in a high ponytail so she could let her long earring flow in a sparkly silver cascade along her neck. At least, she looked hot, even though she didn't want to be there.

When she got to Sammi's stupid mansion — she knew Samantha's mom was a really famous ballet dancer but she wasn't aware her dad owned a fucking stock company — she spotted Giulia immediately. Of course, she was wearing a black dress that hugged every inch of curve she had on her body. Her hair was down, running down her back and flowing as she danced. Without her collant, her breasts were much more flattering.

Allegra ran her curious eyes over her body and she just noticed Giulia was staring back at her when she had already scanned her entire body. Avoiding to meet Giulia's gaze, Allegra swallowed hard and turned around, making a beeline to the kitchen. Or more specifically, the fridge freezer.

She grabbed one drink and unscrewed the lid with ease, already necking the bottle without thinking twice. Suddenly, the weight of the stressful test week and ratings released was off her shoulder, and she felt like she could finally breathe. Or was it the alcohol invading the space inside her head?

"Someone is having a bad day."

Oh, god! Allegra jumped on her feet. The feminine yet deep voice took her off guard. With a frown, she turned to its owner. Giulia had a playful smile on her lips as she watched Allegra react to her mere existence. Was that girl never tired of making her life a living hell? Jesus.

"Yeah, and who's fault is that?" Allegra spit the words fast, reminding herself they were in public and that the words wouldn't escape her if she talked a little slower. "You keep haunting me."

However, Giulia didn't seem to mind the harsh tone of her voice. Instead, she chuckled and jumped onto the cabinet, sitting on top of it. "Aw, does that mean you've been thinking about me?"

… wait, what?

Suddenly, Allegra's point of view shifted. Giulia was playing with the ends of her hair, twirling them. She had blushed cheeks and a restrained smile she could barely keep out of her stupid face. Her body was turned to Allegra, her cleavage leaning quite strategically.

… wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

Allegra must've been looking at her with a stupid face because then Giulia was throwing her head back with a heartfelt laugh. "You're so cute when you're flustered, Rossi."

Fuck off.

Before Allegra could say anything more, Giulia jumped out of the counter and left back to the dance floor, leaving her with a flipping stomach and some scrambled thoughts. What the fuck Is going on?

Allegra decided to just ignore her extremely high heart rate and grabbed another drink. That one was dry way quicker than the first one and it wasn't long until she grabbed a third. That's when she spotted Jen. Or rather, Jen spotted her.

Great.

"Oh, my god, you came!" Jen ran at her, grabbing her arm as if she was invited, welcomed to. "When you said these parties were just a lame excuse to get high and call attention, I really thought I'd never see you in one of these again!"

It goes without saying that Allegra didn't recall being that much of a stuck up.

"I just thought I could use the distraction," Allegra said untangling herself from Jen. "Have you seen Sammi, by the way?!"

Jen just shook her head, looking a little confused, and Allegra just huffed in reply. Already fighting an annoying roll of her eyes, she left Jen there by the kitchen's counter, digging her way around the party and random people's sweaty bodies. Eyes sharp, she tried to find Sammi, just to say hello and then leave so she could never think about what Giula said again, after all, she was just drunk — or at least that was what Allegra told herself.

But her eyes, wandering as always, find their way to Giulia's moving body like they usually would do. She was swaying her hips, just far enough from Allegra that she would seem out of reach. Her lips followed the song along, echoing every word Madonna blasted through the speakers. Was it 4 Minutes?

Next to her, no, grinding her, Ozzy — also known as number four at the ratings — was mimicking her moves, trying to fit in with her body. He was good, the best guy at the academy, but something about the slow way his hands ran through Giulia's body rhythmically made Allegra's stomach tie in a knot. She couldn't quite say why but they just didn't fit well together. He was not giving Justin Timberlake the way Giulia could give Madonna.

In the middle of the dance floor, it didn't take long for random people to start to dance around Allegra. As she tried to keep an eye out for Giulia and get her alone, she accidentally got herself in the middle of two dances. She recognised the girl smiling in front of her, Kat, who was known for her sensual and provocative moves. Behind Allegra, Jamal from her ballet class had his hand on her hips, following the beat.

She could feel Jamas breath on her neck and Kat's skin against her as Madonna sang her part of the chorus. She looked back at Giulia, who was now touching Ozzy's neck, keeping him close. Her eyes, however, were distracted. Watching Allegra.

Against her better judgement, Allegra mimicked Giulia's moves, bringing Kat closer to her own body and hoisting her hips against Jamal. When she saw the smirk on Giulia's lips, her heart skipped at best.

Even though the room was full with random people, it was like they were the only people there.

Then, the song changed. Now, Timbaland's Give It To Me was blasting from the speakers and Giulia was shoving Ozzy to the side. Soon enough, she had crossed the space between them, standing right there in front of Allegra.

She didn't say anything. Instead, she put her hand on Allegra's waist and brought her closer. In less than a minute, they were sweating together, moving as if they shared the same body, swaying hips as the beat went again and again. Allegra could feel the eyes on her but she didn't care. Not when Giulia moved her fingertips along her skin like that, leaving tingles and sending waves of pure electricity through her body.

Their faces were closed, their bodies was glued to one another, their heartbeats were synched. There was not a single part of Allegra that was moving without asking Giulia's for permission. Giulia was leading and Allegra would follow her anywhere.

The song came to an end way too soon. Allegra fought the disappointment, trying not to show it when Giulia put even the smallest space between them, focusing on the satisfied smile she had on her face as she panted and ran her fingers through her hand.

"I've never felt so alive, fuck!" She screamed the last word, sounding completely crazy. Yet, Allegra couldn't agree more.

"Hey, Giu?" Allegra heard someone calling. It was Ozzy, smiling that stupid boyish smile he usually had on when she was hitting on a girl. Giulia twirled on her heels, putting even more space between them. "Wanna play truth or dare?"

"Sure!" Giulia agreed and Allegra would've been too disappointed if Giulia didn't immediately turn to her and ask, "Wanna play with us?"

Two possibilities crossed Allegra's mind. She could say no and then go home before someone asked her to do something stupid like running naked and the photo evidence ended up on Instagram… or, she could say eyes and have an excuse to ask Giulia what all of that meant.

Needless to say she went with the second option.

There were around five people in the room already, sitting in the middle of the floor, next to the sofa. Kat, Jamal, Jen, Will from ballet and Sammi were laughing at something Allegra figured couldn't be that funny anyway.

"Hey, Ozzy! C'mon, did you find a bottle?" Willem shouted but Ozzy just shrugged.

"We don't need a bottle, just pick someone and ask them, easy!" Giulia said as she opened some space between Sammi and Jamal so she could sit, bringing Allegra with her.

"Sure, and who starts?" Willem gave Giulia a look Allegra found a little out of pocket.

"Me!" Sammi butted in. "It's my house, after all."

"Fair enough…"

The game started pretty boring and, since Allegra was sitting literally on the second to last place before Sammi, her turn would take too fucking long. She also wasn't that close to anyone on the circle except for Jen — who she kinda saw as an annoying classmate, at best —, so no one was asking her any questions.

There were some really stupid questions like, 'did you ever screwed an instructor' and some really juicy ones, like 'did you really come up with that choreography for this semester's assignment?'. But the game didn't actually become interesting until it got to Allegra's turn. And she got to ask Giulia.

"I choose truth," Giulia smiled, a little playfully but also a little challenging. "Give me your best shot, Rossi."

It was now or never. Allegra wanted to know if she was actually flirting back there or if the whole night had been senseless playful times. Was there something going on between them? Or was it just Giulia messing with Allegra? If it was the last option, she better get ready to fight. Because they were going to war.

"Alright," Allegra matched her challenging smile. On the inside, however, she was shaking. "Is it true you are actually in love with me?"

The guys looked at each other, their lips going for the decapitalized 'o' shape and their eyes sparkling with naughty thoughts. Pigs, Allegra thought to herself, before she flipped her hair back again.

The girls gasped, looking at each other with a face that could only mean hot gossip. Allegra braced herself for the worst, already coming up with some clapback for whatever nasty comments Giulia would throw her way.

Giulia's smile, however, didn't drop, she just looked straight into Allegra's eyes and bit her lips. "Yeah, it's true."

Oh, wow.

"Yo, Ozzy, it looks bad for you, huh?" One of the boys said, only God knew who. Allegra didn't have eyes for any of them at the moment, not when Giulia was looking at her like that.

"Shut the fuck up, Ryan," Giulia said, her eyes not leaving Allegra's for even a second. "I'm gay, remember? Me and Ozzy are just dance partners."

Allegra's eyes widened. What? She looked around. The other girls seemed unfazed. Was she the only one that wasn't aware of that?

"What?!" was the only word that managed to come out of Allegra's mouth. She sounded stupid.

"I didn't even choose him, we were just nominated partners" Giulia smiled at Allegra reassuringly. "It's your turn now, Leggy. Truth or dare?!"

"Dare," she said, absentmindedly, still processing the whole conversation.

"I dare you to kiss me."

#love island the game #litg season 1 #love island the game s1 #litg s1 #litg allegra #litg writers room #writers room #litg ff #litg fanfic #litg fanfiction #ask #crimswnred

31 notes · View notes

duckprintspress · 1 year

Text

Meet the Contributors to Our Next Anthology!

The time has come: we're ready to share the contributor list for our forthcoming anthology Aim For The Heart: Queer Fanworks Inspired by Alexandre Dumas's "The Three Musketeers"!

For this collection, 15 artists and 21 authors have created fanart, original art, fanfiction, and original fiction inspired by the adventures of Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and d'Artagnan. We have been hard at work on this anthology since last fall, and we're anticipating a crowdfunding launch in late spring or early summer. We'll have lots of teasers, excerpts, a cover reveal, merchandise announcements, and more to come, but first - meet the creators!

Artists

Aceriee: Hi! I’m Aceriee and I draw sometimes. I’ve been drawing all my life, but after falling into the Supernatural fandom in 2014 I’ve mostly focused on fanart. (Instagram | Tumblr | Twitter)

Cris Alborja: I’m an illustration and comic artist from Spain. I’ve got a nursing degree, but I decided to pursue my passion. I have studied Illustration at EASD Pablo Picasso in A Coruña and comics at O Garaxe Hermético in Pontevedra. I have done cover art for an anthology called Infiniteca by Retranca Editorial and comics for Altar Mutante, Nai dos Desterrados, and Abraxas en Cuarentena fanzines, as well as in Gaspariño 21 by Retranca Editorial. (Instagram)

bloomingtea: Téa is a hypothetical writer and artist, a professional procrastinator, and a merch hoarder. When they aren’t working on personal projects, they moderate zines and bake the same loaf of bread over and over again. From their pile of WIPs, they’ve managed to self-publish one book and are currently working on other manuscripts to eventually release into the world. Until then, they remain the worst gamer on Twitch and like to spend their free time ranting about books and thinking about fictional lawyer video games. (Personal Website | Twitter)

C: A massive drinker of coffee and a lover of old TV shows and movies, C is a small-time concept artist and illustrator who likes to dabble in all things literature and history. When she’s not busy drawing and nodding along to Bruce Springsteen while researching the Kentucky Cave Wars, she’s trying to save up for grad school to become to a forensic artist so she can draw some more. (Tumblr)

Amy Fincher: Amy Fincher (she/her) is a producer and artist with over a dozen years of experience in the video game and animation industries. She has contributed to various AAA and indie titles, including the Civilization, XCOM, and Skylanders series. Amy is currently working on Open Roads as Executive Producer. When the mood strikes and time allows, she teaches art classes and takes on art commissions on the side. Her hobbies include learning aerial silks, collecting aesthetically pleasing empty containers, looking at shiny rocks, and taking very long naps.

Kou Lukeman: Kou Lukeman is an artist, composer, writer, and video-game developer. His long-term goal is to someday lead a video-game company that makes video games by queer and neurodivergent people. Kou identifies as queer, neurodivergent, and is proud to be both. He is an avid Final Fantasy 14 player, a huge Kingdom Hearts fan, and video games have inspired Kou to create from a very young age. While his main creative interests tend to be in queer and neurodivergent horror, Kou also dabbles in fantasy as a genre. He is currently working on releasing his first few games and a graphic horror novel about neurodiversity and queer people in society. (Instagram)

Giulia Malagoli:

Giulia Malagoli (she/they) got into art because of generally friendly competition with a classmate in middle school, and now she has an entire Bachelor’s Degree in Concept Art to show for it.

For about ten years, she has been hopping through fandom spaces—from video games, to comics, to movies and TV series—and has drawn inspiration from each of them for both fan and original art. The result is a passion for character design and for art that weaves a story into its visuals, with a whole lot of feelings about the role of The Narrative to boot.

To chase this passion Giulia has moved from their home country of Italy to the United Kingdom and back again. They now work as a freelance illustrator with enthusiasm, always scraping some time at the end of the day to keep up with fandom friends. (ArtStation | Twitter)

MidnightSilver: I’m MidnightSilver (They/Them). I’m a freelance artist who specialises in fandom art, most often inspired by Supernatural the TV show, and I can usually be found illustrating stories for independent authors—my favourites are those that combine adventure/magic/horror with a boatload of feels! As a bi, non-binary, mixed-race person, I don’t believe in restrictive boundaries, and I love tales that highlight diversity and freedom of expression while at the same time incorporating the fantastical and magical elements that I fell in love with when reading stories as a child. It’s my aim to take all the many wondrous worlds and people with whom we visit when lost in book pages at 2 o’clock in the morning and to share them with you in visual form. It’s a project I never tire of pursuing. (Archive of Our Own | deviantArt)

Queen Sponge Studios: Thanks for reading my bio! My name is Sponge, and I use they/them pronouns! I am currently studying for a Game Arts degree through online courses at SNHU. Along with working at a thrift store, I enjoy working on projects with others. Based in Northern Wisconsin, I majorly entertain myself through art and media pertaining to it. On the long list of my hobbies, I enjoy staying active as well as collecting. I am an avid, crazed Sanrio fanatic with a long list of fandoms dating all the way back to when I was ten. I may be more reserved, but I love making new connections through creation! Meeting like-minded individuals working toward a common goal has been the most fulfilling experience I have had to date. As a young artist, I have dabbled in vending at conventions, game art, and selling my own merchandise online. I hope to one day fully chase after my ambitions of artistry full-time through a studio! Thank you for your support and interest in my work! (Etsy | Instagram | TikTok)

Jennifer Smith: Smith has been drawing since a young age. With a focus in traditional drawing techniques, she has recently started using digital mediums to imitate traditional styles. Her focus is in portraiture and landscapes, especially with watercolor. You can find more of her art on her Tumblr. (Tumblr)

Toby.exe: Freelance Animator and Illustrator based in the UK. He/They LGBTQ+ friendly little goblin who plays excessive amounts of DnD and loves to play Live Action Roleplay events all over the country! If I am not at home drawing, I am out and about playing a variety of fantasy characters in the woods and hitting people with silly foam swords. (Personal Website | Instagram | Patreon | Twitter)

Jupiter V: Hailing from Kjipuktuk/Halifax, Nova Scotia (that’s in Canada), Jupiter V is an artist, musician, and creative crackerjack with a career spanning over a decade. Cutting their teeth designing award-winning gig posters, they’ve gone on to illustrate for film, graphic fiction, children’s literature, and more. At times, they have been caught painting murals at the circus (?!) and whooping their child mercilessly in Rivals of Aether.

Jupiter is currently toiling away at their next graphic work of fiction, Wizards 99k, as we speak. (Instagram)

Amy Alexander Weston: Alex, AKA foxymoley, (she/her) is best described as a jack of all trades, but practices digital art more than anything else. She just wants to make things and change the world for the better. (Archive of Our Own | Instagram | Tumblr)

Amalia Zeichneren: Amalia Zeichnerin (she/her) lives in Hamburg, Germany. She is a disabled queer woman with a chronic illness and lives in a polyam polycule. Amalia mostly writes original fiction (SFF, cosy Victorian mysteries, Queer Romance) in German and has also one English Star Wars fan fiction on AO3, with one of her favorite shippings, StormPilot. Amalia also likes to draw and paint, especially fantasy world maps, character portraits, and sometimes also fanart. Amalia’s hobbies include pen-and-paper RPG and LARPing; these also have inspired some of her writing and artworks. (Linktree)

Jagoda Zirebiec: Hiya! I’m Jagoda or MizuShiba. I am a game dev artist currently working on a few unannounced titles. In my spare time I love to join collaborative projects like this, or charity Zines. This is my first project with DPP and hopefully not last!

I’m located in Poland and currently live here with my family. Aside from art, I’m interested in collecting dice and playing ttrpgs with friends. (ArtStation | Tumblr | Twitter)

Authors

Len Amin: Len Amin was brought up living between worlds in her small suburban town in the Midwest throughout the year, and summering frequently to visit her Palestinian Family living in the West Bank. Her family is larger-than-life in true Arabian fashion, including a very prissy puppy named Charles who refuses to sleep alone and chews up all of her sister’s barbie dolls. Though never quite feeling like she belonged in either world, she instead fell in love with the stories with the people that resided in these places—how the humanity can be found so effortlessly if one just delved that bit deeper into someone’s “once upon a time.” Etching down words into her flower-printed journals and shuffling a fresh spread from her star-printed tarot deck for her friends were always her way to connect to someone and to open up that channel of understanding. Len is now about to hit her mid-twenties, and has nothing to lose as she strives for her Social Work degree while also focusing on her true passion of writing her first full-length novel. You can find the updates on her writing journey, and support her endeavors on her Tumblr page. (Archive of Our Own | Tumblr | Twitter)

Aria L. Deair: Aria L. Deair is an author who has been writing and (while cursing her excessive comma usage) publishing fanfiction online for more than sixteen years. Freelance writer by day and author every other hour that she isn’t sleeping, she spends her days courting carpal tunnel and “forgetting” to wear her wrist brace.

As a proud member of more fandoms than she can count, Aria can be found blogging about some of the writing that she is avoiding doing at arialerendeair.tumblr.com.

Like a dragon with her hoard, she can be found in her New Hampshire apartment, surrounded by notebooks (most of which are empty), half-filled mugs of tea, and some of the comfiest blankets that have ever existed. Disturb her at your own risk, especially during NaNo Season. (Discord: Dragon#5555 | Tumblr | Twitter)

E. V. Dean: E. V. Dean is a writer with a decade of fanfiction writing under her belt. She’s embarking on her original fiction adventure with the angst tag kept within arm’s reach. Her favorite excuse not to write is watching Jeopardy. (Instagram | Tumblr)

Rhosyn Goodfellow: Rhosyn Goodfellow is an author of queer romance and speculative fiction living with her spouse and two dogs in the Pacific Northwest, where she is sad to report that she has not yet mysteriously disappeared or encountered any cryptids. Her hobbies include spoiling the aforementioned dogs, drinking inadvisable amounts of coffee, and running unreasonably long distances very slowly. She’s secretly just a collection of loosely-related stories dressed up in a meat suit. (Personal Website | Instagram | Mastodon | Tumblr | Twitter)

Catherine E. Green: Catherine E. Green (pronouns: xe/xem/xyr or they/them/their) is an agender person, one who’s had an on-again, off-again love affair with writing. Xe began writing when xe was a wee thing, when xyr other major pastimes were playing xyr mother’s NES and roughhousing with the boys next door. It’s only in the past few years that they have begun writing consistently and publishing their writing, fanfiction and original writing alike, leading to their first published short story titled “Of Loops and Weaves.”

Outside of writing, xe is a collector of books and sleep debt and an avid admirer of the cosmos. Playing video games, reading a variety of fiction genres (primarily fantasy, queer romance, and manga and graphic novels of all kinds), and working on wrangling their own personal data archiving projects occupy most of their free time. Xe has also started meeting up with a local fiber arts group and is excited to be crocheting xyr first scarf.

J. D. Harlock: J.D. Harlock is a Syrian-Lebanese-Palestinian writer and editor based in Beirut. In addition to his posts at Wasifiri, as an editor-at-large, and at Solarpunk Magazine, as a poetry editor, his writing has been featured in Strange Horizons, Star*Line, and the SFWA Blog. You can always find him on Twitter and Instagram posting updates on his latest projects. (Instagram | Twitter)

A. L. Heard: A. L. Heard is an aspiring writer from Pittsburgh. She’s been writing fanworks for over a decade and self-published her first novel, Hockey Bois, in 2021. Some of her short stories have been published through the indie press Duck Prints Press, where she also contributes as an editor. Ultimately, though, she spends her free time writing about characters she adores in worlds she’d like to explore: contemporary romance, historical fiction, science fiction, and fantasy. In between writing projects, she works as a language teacher, plays hockey, tours breweries with her boyfriend, and spends her evenings playing dinosaurs with her two sons. (Instagram | Twitter)

D. A. Hernández: AKA Mitch, an author who works as a teacher, reads fanfiction compulsively, tells anyone who will listen about their weird dreams, takes long naps, and once in a while manages to write a story or two. You can find another of their stories in the Duck Prints Press anthology She Wears the Midnight Crown.

Mitch’s playlist includes metal, pop, electronic, bluegrass, reggaeton and cumbia. (Twitter)

R. L. Houck: R. L. Houck (she/her) still has one of the first stories she ever wrote, all the way back from elementary school. It was about flightless penguins reaching the sun and was a good indication of her boundless imagination and her love of animals. The latter became a full-time veterinary career; the former keeps her occupied with fanfiction and original fiction in her downtime.

She’s sometimes found wandering the woods around her house in Virginia with her dog. If not there, she’s sitting on the couch, catching up on a Netflix series, and smothered by her five cats. Sometimes, there’s even space for her wife. (TikTok)

Lucy K. R.: Lucy K.R. (she/her) is technically in existence. Every time she is free, she writes. Sometimes when she is not free she also writes. This has occasionally created problems. She is fortunate to be supported (read: enabled) by her enthusiastic fiancée Tomo, a loving OG family, and a lively found family as well.

Eager for a change after a decade of waitressing, Lucy K.R. took the chance in March of 2021 to make her first steps into the world of published work. Prior to the success of the largely-fabricated German translation of the short-story found in this collection, ‘die Karaoke-Königinnen’, she was best known for her work on Mageling: Rise of the Ancient Ones and in the Duck Prints Press anthologies “And Seek (Not) to Alter Me” and “She Wears the Midnight Crown”.

In her stories, Lucy K. enjoys writing evil ideas as gently as possible, portrayed through unexpected lenses. She would like to acknowledge that she has never written a biographical statement that did not turn out weird, beg your indulgence, and express her hope that you enjoy her work in this anthology. The people at Duck Prints Press have been a delight, and she is deeply grateful to be included! (Personal Website | Twitter)

Aeryn Jemariel Knox: Aeryn Jemariel Knox first identified as a writer in second grade. With both parents involved in theater and a house full of bookshelves, they grew up surrounded by stories, and as soon as they could hold a crayon, they felt the urge to tell their own. In 2001, they discovered the wide and wonderful world of fanfiction; since then, they have gone by Jemariel in fandom spaces across the internet, engaging with their favorite media and communities in the best way they know. Previous fandoms include Harry Potter, Star Trek (The Original Series), Torchwood, and BBC’s Sherlock, but their most prolific writing and strongest community ties are in the Supernatural fandom. Now, nearly a decade after their last original fiction attempt, Aeryn is eager to explore the wider writing word.

A native of Portland, Oregon, Aeryn currently lives in the suburbs with their husband and 16-year-old cat. For a day job, they work as a tech writer and general paper-pusher for an energy drink factory. Their favorite stories, both to tell and to read, are stories about love, identity, and magic. (Archive of Our Own | Tumblr)

Annabeth Lynch: Annabeth Lynch is a genderfae (she/they), bisexual author who writes mostly queer stories, preferring to write marginalized characters finding love. She lives in North Carolina with her husband, daughter, and two very overweight cats. (Facebook | Instagram)

Sebastian Marie: Sebastian Marie (he/him) is an engineering student with a penchant for writing off-the-wall fantasy, darkly comedic prose, and sickeningly indulgent short stories. He has a lot of opinions about dragons, pirates, and sword fighting. Track him down on Ao3 and he’ll share these opinions through fanfiction for various fandoms including BBC Merlin, The Mechanisms, and Our Flag Means Death. His original works often combine fantasy and dystopia into what he calls “queer fantasy hopepunk,” something that will be explored in his future novels. He loves to write conflicting traditional and non-traditional family dynamics, especially where they intersect with queer relationships. And if he can throw werewolves and brujas into the mix? So much the better. When not writing, frantically studying dirt, or reading, he can be found singing loudly, sewing impractical coats, playing Dungeons and Dragons, and going on long rambling walks while plotting stories (and occasionally falling into rivers).

This is his second time writing for Duck Prints Press, having previously contributed to She Wears the Midnight Crown. This brings his grand total of published works up to two! He’s looking forward to more, as soon as he gets some sleep. (Archive of Our Own | Tumblr)

Nova Mason: Nova Mason spent a significant portion of her childhood fantasizing about dragons, spaceships, and other worlds. She is now, allegedly, a grown-up, with two kids, and more varied interests. Dragons, spaceships, and other worlds are still pretty high in the list, though.

Sage Mooreland: Sage Mooreland (they/them) is a city-dwelling gremlin from Chicago. They are embarking on the adventure that is their 40s equipped with three amazing partners, one very ridiculous eighteen-year-old biological offspring, and a fleet of teenagers and twentysomethings that adopted them through work over the last several years. Sage put themselves through the torture of grad school, and now holds a Bachelor’s in English and a Master’s in English and Creative Writing – Fiction, to which they say, “Now I have expensive pieces of paper that make it seem like I know what I’m talking about.”

Sage has been writing since they were wee small, entering their first writing contest in fifth grade/at ten years old. In high school and college, they made small offerings to school literary magazines, and have done eighteen years of National Novel Writing Month. As their writing career grows, they hope to provide stories that are entertaining, caring, inclusive of all, and full of the stuff of which dreams are made.

D. V. Morse: D. V. Morse (she/her) is a writer of fantasy and science fiction, generally (though not always) with some romance in there somewhere. She’s been in various aspects of healthcare for a couple of decades, most recently nursing. A lifelong New Englander who has been writing for as long as she can remember, she loves to find the liminal spaces in the local landscape and find the stories lurking within. She also loves playing with fiber arts, cycling through knitting, crochet, cross-stitch, and blackwork. She has also contributed to “Stand Where You’re Afraid,” in I Am the Fire, a limited edition charity anthology by a collective of SF/F romance authors raising funds for the National Network of Abortion Funds. (Carrd | Blog | Twitter | Facebook )

MouMouSanRen: MouMouSanRen (she/her) was born and raised on unceded Matinecock territory in what is now known as Flushing, New York. She has been published in multiple non-fiction magazines including Polygon. Aim for the Heart is her fiction debut. She resides in her native Queens, practicing martial arts and taking care of her dogs. (Twitter)

J. D. Rivers: J. D. writes speculative fiction where they fall deeply and madly in love and find a dead body, not necessarily in that order.

She collects hobbies as others collect books and has an unhealthy addiction to watching competitive cooking shows.

J. D. lives close to the woods with her husband and the cutest dog in the world. (Personal Website | Twitter)

Veronica Sloane: Veronica Sloane has authored a novel, several short stories, some poetry, and twenty-two years worth of fanfic. She lives with one lovely spouse, one rambunctious clever child, and one sleepy cat. (Archive of Our Own | Tumblr)

Shea Sullivan: Shea Sullivan is a life-long writer living in upstate New York. As a late-blooming queer person, she enjoys writing about complex characters coming into themselves and finding comfort in being exactly who they are.

Shea’s day jobs in computer programming and middle management have molded her into the patient, sarcastic, big-hearted, frustrated human she is today, but it’s what she does outside the 9-5 that really excites her. When she’s not writing, she can be found painting, napping, making quilts, watching documentaries, and trying not to adopt more animals, usually with a cup of tea in hand.

Xianyu Zhou: Xianyu Zhou is a translator and aspiring garment and plushie cloning specialist hailing from a coastal city in the tropics. Despite staying a 20-minute drive away from the nearest beach, they have yet to visited one, preferring to dwell in their darkened room luminated by a table lamp and ever-shifting RGB of a CPU fan. They have the tendency to accidentally wander into new and exciting forays such as joining Duck Prints Press (and enjoying it!), learning to sew (stitching and unstitching the same part of a “coaster” for the nth time) and working on their language skills (watching shows to scruntinize take notes about how their subtitles are written).

Xianyu’s contribution to the anthology is their first publication, and they have reportedly made a party hat for their computer to celebrate the occasion.

We couldn't be more thrilled to have all these amazing people working with us on this collection! You're not gonna want to miss what they've written and arted!

Make sure you sign up for our monthly newsletter and/or follow us on social media to always here the latest about Aim For The Heart and our other upcoming projects! (and you can always get behind-the-scenes access on our production progress, sneak-peeks of works-in-progress, and more by backing us on Patreon!)

Who we are: Duck Prints Press LLC is an independent publisher based in New York State. Our founding vision is to help fanfiction authors navigate the complex process of bringing their original works from first draft to print, culminating in publishing their work under our imprint.

#duck prints press #aim for the heart #contributor list #anthology contributor list #the three musketeers #queer fiction

26 notes · View notes

weirdgirlshowdown · 1 year

Note

In my mind these characters are not taking this competition seriously and most of them are spending this first voting week making friends (or allies in the case of those like Mandy who don’t do “friends”) and whoever gets left behind in the first round will be cheering for whoever they went up against in future rounds. Part of this is just their personalities (Webby could become friends with anyone) but also part of this is just how many of these brackets I could see being besties.

Kuki and Goo would totally talk Rainbow Monkeys and Imaginary Friends together. Webby and Dot would just be having cartoon logic antics. Maya and Coraline would go out for burgers and discuss weird worlds and spirits. Gaz and Mandy would discuss alien invasion strategies. Matilda and Lisa being weird book girls. Mabel and Lilo enjoying talking Space and all their adventures.

Heck, I know you said you just put them together because similar names, but I can see Giulia and Ghoulia bonding over fish-people friends (Plus, Ghoulia is definitely more of a quiet type that enjoys spending time with high-energy mile-a-minute personalities like Giulia). And last but certainly not least (the duo that got me on this rant), Wednesday and Lydia would bond over all things creepy and kooky (I’ve actually seen them as a fairly popular ship).

Basically, while I don’t know enough about all of them to know for sure, the ones that I do know both halves of, you did so well at trying to make it a fair fight/similar dynamics that I think if this was like an actual event in an arena instead of just a bunch of polls on Tumblr, you would’ve set up cross-dimensional best friends forever.

I know you’ve been getting a lot of flack for them being too uneven or “How am I supposed to choose?” so I thought I’d let you know that I think you did a great job at creating some interesting match-ups, and I hope fans can get along as well as I imagine the characters would, no matter who wins ;)

aw lol thanks! this is all really cute ^^ and i'm glad people like the matchups even if it makes some upset at having to choose eheh

40 notes · View notes

brunosaderogatory · 2 years

Text

(Warning: rant in coming)

People aint looking into the potential there is that Alberto and Luca were the FIRST sea monsters to “come out”

It is implied that before they reached the surface, there was no true, indisputable evidence to sea monsters even existing.

For comparison, as of right now, there are only 385 shrews left in the world, but we dont bicker on whether or not they ACTUALLY exist the way Giulia implied people do about sea monsters.

“Everyone in Portorosso pretends to believe in sea monsters.” PRETENDS. And the photos massimo hangs up on the wall - they resemble those blurred photos that conspiracists would show trying to proof Bigfoot is real, and that’s what they were before Luca and Alberto: just conspiracists - crazy, far-fetching conspiracists. That fact’s only amplified when Massimo stabbed a wad of sea weed, thinking it was one of the sea monsters.

What I’m getting at here is potential. The story of sea-monster integration has a hell of a lot of potential, especially in the cases of our two favorite fish because they were the first.

Not the first to go on land and become a part of human society while also being sea monsters, but the first to show their true selves for what they were. They were the first actual, undebatable proof of sea monsters existing to the human world and that’s where it can all stem from.

In their reality, there’s a true possibility of them incidentally becoming a global-sensation and that’s what so fucking crazy, because they just wanted to have fun. That’s all there was to it, yet they made this huge impact that I think could be really fun being explored in the fandom, if not by the producers.

#idfk #dont mind me I wrote this when I was sick and awake in the wee hours of the morning #luca 2021 #pixar luca #alberto scorfano #luca paguro #luberto #giulia marcovaldo #massimo marcovaldo #<- because theyre mentioned

31 notes · View notes

jasminedragonart · 1 year

Note

Oooooh ok opinions on Luca

Luca is an interesting one. I didn't hate it, let's get that out of the way. But it didn't wow me. Like, it was fun, it was cute, there were some emotions in it. But it was missing the spark, like a lot of modern disney films, that make them disney films. (I can explain this separately since it's a very long rant)

It was cute though. I thought the fact that Luca and Alberto were foils to each other. Luca wanted to escape his family and their expectations while Alberto was putting on this front that he was doing the same but he was desperately yearning for what Luca had. It was interesting.

I loved that you could see Alberto and Giulia's father's relationship actually start to blossom early on. Like you could see this guy has noticed that one of his daughter's friends needs a parental figure, which is interesting because it leads into speculation on whether he knows this from experience, maybe he didn't have a good parental figure growing up especially considering his disability, or maybe because having a disability would automatically separate him from the crowd that he's outside of it enough to recognise someone else who's there too.

To be honest, Alberto and Giulia's father's relationship was one of the reasons I kept watching it. I thought the rest of it, the triathlon and Luca's storyline was pretty meh. For a main character he didn't go through a lot of growth. Mainly because he didn't have to. Alberto is the one who got all of his character growth, Alberto, I would argue, should have been the main character here and not Luca.

The thing about movies are that, yeah, Luca's cute, but Alberto's story is more interesting and in terms of storytelling, you tell the more interesting story. Luca's problems are solved as easily as they are created. Like yes, he's hiding from his parents and the town, but as soon as they're revealed the town is pretty quick to accept them and his family is pretty quick to agree to send him to a human school too. Whereas Alberto did have to fight for his happy ending. He did learn about the human word properly through Guilia's father's guidance. He did have to fight to be accepted and look after himself because he was abandoned. His story is more hard won and I would have liked to see more about him and less about Luca.

Their friendship was good though. All three of them blended well together. My only problem is, yeah, wrong main character. It would have been more interesting to see Alberto from the start. Alberto figuring life out and then Luca coming to him and we see this mask come over him. It would have been more interesting to the watcher, especially if we don't know he's been abandoned, maybe we just see him making his hidey hole, and slowly figuring things out because we get more focus on Alberto and not on Luca.

I feel like Pixar and Disney do that a lot these days where they pick the wrong character to be their main. They did this with onward as well. like, yes, the little brother did have an interesting story, but I would have liked to see it more from his older brother's point of view than his.

i haven't got a lot more to say about Luca. Like i said, it didn't make that big of an impact on me.

#disney #luca

17 notes · View notes

soft-black-teabag · 2 years

Text

Normal people have boys fighting over them

I do have boys fighting right now, but over the possession of a gif both of them sent to me

#giulia's rants

4 notes · View notes

logo-comics · 2 years

Note

King and Queen Stuart

Title: How To Deal With Stupid Nobles

Owen stared tiredly at the latest person to arrive with their ridiculous request. Apparently Jacques Alarie was once again petitioning to have his land turned into a duchy so he wouldn't be subordinate to the Claes Duchy anymore. Furthermore, he actually wanted over half of the other lands from the Claes Duchy to be made subordinate to him, even though the majority of the names he listed, indeed, the majority of the families subordinate to the Claes, had personally sworn their allegiance to Luigi, specifically, during the War.

As he once again daydreamed about being a pirate and setting the man before him on fire while he waited for him to finish the same rant he gave every time he darkened the palace doors, he heard his wonderful wife, Giulia, clear her throat very pointedly.

Oh, Alarie had definitely said something new that she didn't like at all. Given that she was best friends from the cradle with Luigi and frequently called the man her brother in all but blood, this definitely didn't bode well for the idiot.

Owen, however, was going to enjoy every second of this. He hadn't seen Giulia metaphorically crush someone's soul in quite some time.

#hamefura #bakarina #my next life as a villainess #fanfic summaries

7 notes · View notes

italianbarracuda · 2 years

Text

Ercole Runs for Mayor

Pissed off after losing the race, Ercole attemtps a comeback, not in racing, but in politics...

Ercole: Ciao Portorosso, I am back, and I'm about to run for mayor!

Old Man: ....what?

Ercole: Grrr, don't you see what's happened to your beloved town? It's being ruined by Sea Monsters!

Old Man: so far they have not done anything wrong, if anything, YOU should be held responsible for bullying the local children

Ercole: HA, that's all in the past, I am nothing like the whiny rich boy who threw a fit over losing to Sea Mon... I mean folk

Old Man: mark my words, no one will fall for your tricks

Ercole: we'll see about that come Election day...

*a month later*

Ercole: Yes, this better be good...

*checks the polls*

Ercole: 0%

Other: 99.9%

Ercole: WHAT? This is madness!

Old Man: I told you...

Ercole: I WAS SUPPOSED TO WIN, ME ME ME!!!

Giulia: oh Ercole! *shows a tape recorded by Ercole*

Ercole: PUT THAT AWAY!

Giulia: too bad... I showed your little rant with millions of people

Ercole: WHAAAAAAT?!!!

*plays recording*

Ercole VO: I never cared about Portorosso nor its dumb people

Ercole: O_O uhh, I didn't say that...

*everyone proceeds to throw vegetables at him*

Ercole: AHHHHH

WINNER BY DEFAULT, MACHIAVELLI

Ercole: I can't believe I lost to a stupid gatto...

Lesson... never run for mayor if you're Ercole

#luca 2021 #disney luca #pixar luca #ercole visconti #pixar #machiavelli #funny #mayor

3 notes · View notes

sweet-vanilla-sims · 27 days

Text

Year 1670

TW/CW: Death, Infant Death

With two of his older sisters now married and Giuliano now being an adult, he decided that it was time for him to be more serious about his intentions with Ashley so he called on her mother to join him at the Morosini home.

Gabriella was hesitant to say anything as the young man asked for her daughter's hand in marriage. She wanted her daughter to have a good life and well, Giuliano was a poor farmer but she also knew that the pair had been together for years now and that time together had only drawn them closer. So she gave him a challenge to save up a certain amount of funds by the time her daughter turned twenty-one after that she would start looking for more suitable suitors for her daughter. Giuliano had been expecting this answer and the years of plenty the family had experienced had actually brought them nearly to the amount Gabriella wanted so he kept quiet and said that he'd do his best. He didn't want to test his luck when his love was on the line after all.

Giovanni's ghost haunted the home in a sour mood at learning that two of his daughters had left the home and Olimpia was not all that interested in the hot headed ghost's rantings towards her about not following in their footsteps.

Orelia's pregnancy progressed well as she spent her time with her uncle's family. Orion was smitten with her granddaughters and Orelia was beginning to feel lonely as she started wanting her mother nearby when she went into labor though she also knew that that would not happen.

Osana was disillusioned by her husband when she arrived in Newcrest though she had tried to make the best of it. Her husband had worn fancy clothing and bragged about his wealth but she found that he was the same as her, a noblewoman's lover which is where his true wealth came from but even still Osana wanted to look on the bright side especially since she too was expecting.

As for Orsa and Alessandro, their impending arrival hadn't dampened any of their feelings towards each other, if anything they had grown stronger. The two could hardly keep from each other and Alessandro's parents who visited frequently only made jokes about how they should cherish the moments before the baby comes to take their sleep though they also held their own surprise that Gianna was expecting even at her late age.

It was mid-July when Orsa went into labor. She was terrified but was also a little glad that the whole pregnancy was over with. It wasn't terrible especially from the horror stories she had heard from the other women in town but labor only cemented her feelings that it was not for her.

Marina Rossi was born on July 18th and she was blessedly healthy and the light of her parents eyes.

Just a month later accompanied by her uncle's wife and mother, Orelia delivered her own daughter Pasqueta Morosini on August 19th. While Orsa had been impassioned about not giving her daughter siblings, Orelia was awestruck and despite only being a mother for a short time was hopeful that in the future she would have more, not as many as their mother had but more.

Through Talia's tome Giulia learned of her newest granddaughter from Orelia and while she was disappointed to know there was no husband to speak of she was delighted that their family was expanding. Giuliano was also happy to talk about his deal with Gabriella and how he was very close to the amount he needed. Giulia was excited to have a new daughter-in-law in the home and while she didn't want to pressure the young couple right away she was excited for a grandchild in the home as it was pretty clear that if the pair hadn't been chaperoned there would have been some sooner.

September brought with it Olimpia's sixth birthday who grew into a lovely child.

October came and Osana went into labor with her fourth child and on October 2nd, Juliette Arnault was born. It was a new start for Osana to be in love with a child with her husband and her daughter's health was proof of that in her eyes. Osana almost immediately set out to write to her family about the birth of her daughter.

Though when Osana collapsed and died just two days after delivery, it was unclear when Francois wrote to Orelia about which news would reach their hands first, the news of the birth of her niece or death of her sister. Francois did say in his note that their daughter was still in good health.

The bad news only seemed to grow when Orelia's daughter Pasqueta died on October 7th and the day after her funeral was when Francois' letter reached her telling of her older sister's death.

Just a few days after news spread of the family's losses, Marina grew into a darling little baby. It was still unclear who in particular she took after but her hair and eye color clearly came from her father.

Alessandro's parents had been right about how the new addition would keep the new parents busy but both of them were delighted to add their little girl into their lives together.

Orsolina was more inclined to visit following the loss of Osana. She was devastated at her sister's loss and while she was happy with her noble life with her sons, the death made her realize that she had been neglecting the rest of the family and she was determined not to waste anymore time with the people she still had left.

0 notes