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sagemonsters · 1 year

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The Drider & the Shepherd's Daughter

Summary: a fairy tale where Malina, the shepherd's daughter, is tasked with begging a drider for silk for her sisters' dresses... and finds herself desiring more than just the silk.

Status: SFW

Pairing: cis female human x cis female drider

Word Count: 2,579

Long ago and far away, there was a shepherd who lived in the mountains with his flock, his dog, his wife, and his three daughters. His name is not important. His dog’s name is not important. His wife’s name is not important either, but his daughters’ names are. The oldest was Claudia, who was fair of face and had eyes more blue than the dreams of sapphires. The middle girl was Isolda, who was fair of face and had eyes more blue than a clear midsummer sky. And the last and least was Malina, who had a face you wouldn’t look twice at and eyes like fog, and who had killed her mother.

The shepherd and the two elder daughters often reminded Malina of this, because they had watched Malina’s mother die of childbed fever barely a week after Malina had been brought into this world.

She grew into a child of average build, weight, appetite, and sensibilities. She wore her sisters’ hand-me-downs and played with the wooden toys that they outgrew. She learned to hold her tongue rather than talk out of turn, and to observe others carefully. She watched the patterns of birds in the air and sheep on the ground, and feared the howling of the winter wolves. She dreamed the dreams of children everywhere who feel that they are neither wholly understood nor wholly loved; dreams of being spirited away to someplace where her real father and sisters welcomed her, a place where her hand-me-down socks didn’t have holes and her father called her by her name rather than “girl” or “you.” She was, in short, neither monstrous nor mad, and although underloved she was never outright rejected by her family as she changed from a child to a woman.

The local lord had three sons, all spirited young men who were fair of face and had eyes as blue as the faraway ocean. Sometimes they rode through the village on market days and gave flowers to the peasant girls in exchange for kisses.

The eldest of the three young men saw Claudia. He offered her a bundle of bright yellow jonquils, and Claudia kissed him. She twined the flowers into a crown to rest upon her golden hair, and told the boy that she would look much better with a crown of metal and a bridal veil. The eldest of the lord’s sons was already captivated by Claudia’s beauty, but knew well that peasant girls didn’t marry into nobility. Nevertheless, he could not deny her.

“Weave and sew your wedding dress, and come to me again,” the eldest son said. “If it is as beautiful as you are, I will marry you.”

So Claudia returned to the shepherd’s home, and carded and wove the bales of soft white lamb’s wool into cloth, and then cut and sewed the cloth into a dress. But she had no pearls or jewels, and she knew that a peasant’s woolen gown could never rival a satin gown made by a master tailor in one of the southern cities, so she called for Malina.

“Girl,” she said. “Go into the mountains and fetch me a bolt of cloth woven from spider silk.”

“Sister, I can’t,” Malina protested. “The drider will eat me from my toes to my head. It’s too dangerous.”

“You killed our mother,” Claudia reminded her. “Fetch the silk so you can atone for her murder.”

Malina hung her head in shame, then packed a basket with bread and cheese and salted mutton, pulled on her hat and shawl, and set out. She climbed the mountain trails, which grew narrower and steeper and stonier with every step she took, until she found a canyon crowded with massive spider webs. Antlers protruded from an equally massive storage cocoon beside the entrance.

Malina waited outside the canyon. Only the wind stirred the webbing, and dusk began to fall as the sun set behind the peaks. A chill descended over the mountains, and Malina pulled her shawl closer about her shoulders.

There was a chittering noise, followed by the sound of too many legs thudding against the ground. “Are you lost, my dearest?” asked the drider who loomed out of the deepening darkness. She had the torso of an elf and the lower half of a spider the size of a pony, with a multitude of glowing red eyes filling her gray face.

“I’m not lost, Mistress,” Malina said. “I came here looking for you.”

The drider paused, then asked: “What is your name, my dearest?”

Nobody had ever asked Malina her name before. She told the drider.

“Dearest Malina, what do you seek?” the drider asked next.

“My sister needs a bolt of spider silk cloth for her wedding dress,” Malina said.

“And what do you offer in exchange for a bolt of my cloth?” asked the drider.

Malina offered her the basket.

“Dearest Malina, I eat my meat raw and wriggling, and I take neither bread nor cheese,” the drider said. “Offer me something else.”

Malina offered her the promise of a lamb from her father’s flock.

“Dearest Malina, a single spring lamb, no matter how tender, is not enough for a bolt of my cloth. Offer me something else.”

“I have nothing else,” Malina admitted. “Unless you desire my life.”

“I do not desire your life,” the drider said. “Will you give me a kiss for a bolt of silken cloth?”

“I will give anything to make my sister happy.”

“Be careful what you say, dearest Malina,” the drider whispered, and approached on her many legs. Malina’s own legs wanted to tremble, but she held her ground. The drider cupped Malina’s face gently with her gray hands, and Malina’s eyes fluttered closed. The human didn’t know if her heart thundered in fear or anticipation, but she could have sworn that it stopped at the soft press of the drider’s lips against her own a moment later. When Malina opened her eyes, the drider presented her with a bolt of silken cloth that shimmered under the moonlight.

“Here is your cloth,” the drider said.

“Thank you,” Malina said. Her lips tingled. “What’s your name?”

“My name is Arachne,” the drider informed her, and sent Malina home down the mountain trails.

Malina arrived before dawn. Her father hadn’t noticed her absence, but Claudia was happy to receive the silk. She cut and sewed it into a dress, and this she showed to the eldest of the lord’s sons. Even with no pearls or jewels, the dress was so beautiful that the young man had no choice but to marry her. Claudia left the shepherd’s home to live in the lord’s castle.

Malina dreamed of Arachne’s lips and hands upon her, and felt a pang of hitherto-unknown desire in the morning when she awoke alone in her bed.

Another market day, the second-eldest of the lord’s sons saw Isolda in the village, and offered her a bundle of bright crimson roses in exchange for a kiss. Isolda accepted, and twined the roses into a crown to rest upon her coppery red hair. She told the lord’s son how fine she would look with a crown of metal and a bridal veil, and this second son, thinking of his brother’s fortune in finding a beautiful wife, posed the same challenge as his elder sibling had done.

Isolda returned home. She did not bother sewing a dress of lamb’s wool, and instead summoned her sister.

“Girl,” she said. “Go into the mountains and fetch me a bolt of cloth woven from spider silk.”

“Sister, I can’t,” Malina protested. “The drider will not let me impose on her generosity a second time, and I fear…” She didn’t know what she truly feared, however, and could not continue.

“You killed our mother,” Isolda said, not noticing her younger sister’s hesitance. “Claudia may have forgiven you, but I haven’t. Fetch me the silk so you can atone for her murder.”

Malina lowered her eyes to the floor in what might have been shame—but her hands clenched into fists at her sides. The young woman packed her basket a second time, and donned her hat and shawl. This time, however, she took her mother’s wedding band and slipped it into her pocket before heading out the door. Once again, Malina climbed the mountain trails that grew narrower and steeper and stonier with every step she took, until she found the canyon. She waited, and dusk cloaked the mountains in darkness. Arachne emerged from among the webs.

“Dearest Malina, what brings you here?” the drider asked.

“My other sister needs a bolt of spider silk cloth for her wedding dress,” Malina admitted, “and I will do anything to make her happy.”

“Be careful of what you say,” Arachne warned. “What will you offer me in exchange for a bolt of my cloth?”

“Will you take my mother’s ring?” Malina asked, and fished the silver band out of her pocket. She held it out, and Arachne approached to inspect it. Malina’s heart once again began to hammer in her chest as she looked at the drider’s lips.

“I place no value in metal,” the drider said eventually. “Offer me something else.”

“Will you take another kiss?” Malina said. And then she surprised herself with: “I would be happy to give it to you.”

After a moment, the drider smiled. “I will take your kiss, but I will ask this of you as well: will you wear my favor, dearest Malina? Will you wear it always and visit me at least once a moon for a year? If this is acceptable, I will give you the cloth.”

“It is very acceptable,” Malina said, and leaned into the drider’s touch. Their lips met for a second time, and this time Malina knew that the thrill in her heart was something very different from fear. When they finally pulled apart, Arachne gave her the bolt of silk. The drider also gave her a shimmering length of ribbon, and tied it gently around her right wrist. Her hands were warm and soft as they brushed against Malina’s.

Malina returned home with the bolt of cloth before dawn. Her father had not noticed her absence, but Isolda was happy to receive the silk. She cut and sewed it into a dress, and this she showed to the second of the lord’s sons, and was married to him shortly thereafter. Isolda left the shepherd’s home to live in the lord’s castle, and Malina kept her promise to visit Arachne once a moon.

Finally, the youngest of the lord’s sons came to Malina in the village on market day. He offered her a fistful of daisies plucked from the roadside in exchange for a kiss. Malina blushed and accepted, but the kiss felt awkward and forced. Malina pulled away.

“Do you want to marry me?” the youngest son asked.

Malina hesitated, then shook her head.

The lord’s son didn’t seem to recognize this. He continued: “Your sisters’ wedding gowns were amazing dowries. They said that you gathered the silk from a man-eating drider in the mountains. Fetch me three bolts of this silk, and I won’t ask you to make a dress out of it.”

“Sir,” Malina protested. “I cannot marry you.”

“Yes,” the youngest son agreed, “you aren’t beautiful enough. However, you will fetch me the bolts of spider silk. I command this of you, as the son of your lord.”

“But I can’t,” Malina protested. “I can’t impose on Arachne’s generosity a third time, and ask for three bolts of cloth rather than one. It is too much.”

“Arachne?” the lord’s son asked. “It has a name?”

Malina froze into stillness.

The lord’s son looked at the shimmering ribbon still tied around Malina’s wrist. “What’s this?” he asked, and reached out to examine her.

Malina pulled away again. “It’s nothing, sir,” she said. “I made it from a scrap of leftover fabric from my sister’s dress.”

“You’re lying!” the lord’s son declared. His eyes narrowed. “You’re in league with the drider! Did you enchant your sisters’ dresses so that my brothers would be made stupid with infatuation? They’re married to worthless peasant girls now! I’m no fool, though; I can tell you’re a witch. Guards! Guards!”

Malina fled the village as fast as she could, her eyes burning with unshed tears. She knew her father would offer her no shelter from the lord’s son, the village church no sanctuary, and so her feet took her along the mountain trails that grew narrower and steeper and stonier with her every leaping step. She did not wait at the canyon mouth as she heard the baying of the lord’s hounds, but slipped into the maze of sticky webbing. She slowed as she navigated between them, and struggled not to fall into the silken traps.

Arachne descended along the canyon wall on a silken line from the spinnerette of her spider abdomen. She looked down at Malina with her many red eyes, and listened to Malina’s panting breaths and the growing cacophony of the hounds and guards.

“Dearest Malina, why do you weep?” the drider asked in her soft voice.

“Arachne, Arachne, the lord’s youngest son called me a witch and said I used magic to enchant his brothers,” Malina said. “I think they want to kill me.”

“Dearest Malina, do you wish them to live?” Arachne asked. Her many eyes glowed bright as bloodied garnets.

“Yes,” Malina said.

“Dearest Malina, do you truly wish it so? Do you truly wish it after their cruelty to you?”

Malina hesitated, and the baying of the hounds and the shouting of the guards drew nearer. They had almost reached the canyon.

“I wish it so,” Malina whispered.

“Then so it shall be,” the drider said, and spun more webs so that neither human nor hound could enter the canyon without Arachne’s assistance. The guards’ swords tangled and caught in the sticky webbing without cutting it, and the dogs refused to come near. After a time, the pursuers gave up and went away, their voices fading down the mountainside.

And now Malina was alone with Arachne. She could not return to her father’s home, or to the village, and she could not call upon her sisters at the lord’s castle. She was, for the first time, without a family, and her tears stung her eyes more fiercely than ever.

“Dearest Malina, what brings you such sorrow?” Arachne asked, and pulled Malina into her strong gray arms. Malina leaned against her.

“I am lost,” Malina said when she had mastered herself somewhat. “I have nothing. I have nobody.”

“Dearest Malina, you have me,” Arachne said. “We can travel far from these mountains, and make a home where none can harm or hate us. We will be safe. We will be happy. I promise you this with the breath in my lungs and the beating of my heart.”

Malina turned in the drider’s arms to look into her face. “Dearest Arachne, how can I thank you?”

“Will you wear my favor always?” Arachne asked.

“Yes, and I already do,” Malina answered.

“Will you kiss me?”

“Yes, and I already have.”

“Will you marry me, dearest Malina? Will you call me your wife and cherish me until the end of our days?” Arachne asked.

“Yes, and I always will,” Malina answered. She reached for the drider and kissed her a third time then, slowly and softly, feeling wholly loved and wholly understood.

You can also read this story in the April 2023 edition of the M❤️NSTER magazine, or download a nicely laid out PDF from my own itch.io page (both downloads are free, but please consider tipping where possible).

If you enjoy my writing, please consider buying me a coffee so I can have a warm drink while I write!

#monster romance #monster girlfriend #monster lover #terato #drider #monster x human #sage's portfolio #creative writing #original fiction #fantasy fiction #fairy tale vibes #original characters #queer fiction #wlw fiction #lgbt fiction #sapphic fiction

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oskmund · 2 months

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#digital art #artists on tumblr #illustration #lgbt art #fairy tales

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onceuponarainbowzine · 8 months

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✨🌈 Pre-orders for Once Upon A Rainbow are now open! 🌈✨

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This bundle is eligible for all stretch goals!

🛒 https://onceuponarainbow.bigcartel.com/

🍄 Fairy Circle (half bundle) - $40 🍄

This bundle includes:

Physical Zine & PDF

All digital merch including bonus pdf and audiobook

1 Postcard

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1 Double Sided Bookmark

2 Die-Cut Stickers

1 Button

This bundle is eligible for sticker, print and foil upgrade stretch goals!

🛒 https://onceuponarainbow.bigcartel.com/

📚 Storybook (physical bundle) - $25 📚

This bundle includes:

Physical Zine & PDF

Audiobook

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✨ Pixie Dust (Digital Bundle) - $13 ✨

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#zine #lgbt zine #zine preorders #zine promo #lgbt+#fairytale #fairy tales

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norwegianfantasia · 1 year

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How to support international stories coming out in English!

I've seen many English speakers ask when they see something not out in their language commenting "Will it ever come out in English?" "[…] Can't wait for for it to be available in English :) I bet it will be a success! 🎉" "I'm having a hard time finding these in English - are they available anywhere?" "I hope your books comes to the US! Looks cool!" "I've heard great things about your book! Is it translated to English? I was having trouble finding it, but I'd be interested in reading it ^_^"

Well, on their website Seven Seas Entertainment has a monthly survey where you can send in stories, this is seemingly the easiest way although you can only usually send in 4* a month/survey (which I won't link directly to as they are monthly and we are already at the end of April and I don't know when May's will show up, so just scroll down to it). So it can take a while, and preferably no repeats, so have a list you can check off those you have already requested. You can also ask people you know to fill it, or borrow their devices, maybe even use the computers at the library, airport, school, etc. You can also send in all the ones you are interested in to Dark Horse Comics for example, but in my experience are the ones replying to this email address on their Instagram account: contestATdarkhorseDOTcom to be much nicer although they don't really reply if they are considering the suggestions or not, nor do they appear to take regular novels which is a bummer.

There's also OniPress which are going to publish Snøkattprinsen, and Arctis who has published Ravneringene, and while claiming to bring the best from all over the world to the US have they mostly taken from their German branch's library (and seem to be mostly taking novels only, but you can try convincing them to broaden their horizons). There's Yen Press, which seems to be going pretty international or at the very least East Asian, as well as Scholastic and Penguin although the latter two might not take much comics/graphic novels compared to the comic and art book exclusive Dark Horse. Apparently these prefer suggestions done by tweeting at them, so this depends on you wanting to use twitter or not. But I'd avoid DC and Marvel as then the stories might have to become part of their established universes which might be difficult for the creators, and honestly unnecessary. There's also Tokyopop that was revived in English recently with Disney and GL&BL stuff, but with their history, do I not know if I want to trust them... Especially since they are proudly showing off the stories which rights they stole from their original underpaid creators...

Whichever you decide to go for, do I personally recommend pasting the urls from the links below or write them as "[story] by [author]" to make them easier for them to find, they are only human after all.

Picture from Alena Pons' Instagram

Want an inclusive story about a magical school that isn't written by a recist TERF? Or perhaps a comedy about monster children attending school and their shenanigans? Or about a non-binary ash elf and their dragon friend? Or about how a prophecy ruins the lives of the chosen ones as they have no choice how to live their lives? Then we have stories for you!

Arkin - Lysets Vokter 🗨️♿

Asynja📖

Born from Death 🗨️♿

El príncipe de la calamidad📖🗨️

Dinokid 🗨️🏳️‍🌈🖤

Dragens Øye🗨️♿🏳️‍🌈🤍

Donde los Árboles Cantan 📖

Krypto 🗨️🖤

Gryphoon 🗨️♿

Leyendas de Parva Terra🗨️

Mia Myhr og barna som forsvant 🗨️

MiniMonsters 🗨️♿

Mørkalven 🗨️♿

Mystical📖

Nidur🗨️

Nordlys 🗨️♿🖤

Oppfinneren 🗨️♿🖤

Phenomena 📖♿🤍🏳️‍🌈

Ragnarok 🗨️♿🤍

Royalty Witches📖🏳️‍🌈❤️

Strawberry Moon 📖❤️♿

Underbyen 🗨️

Under Regnbuen 🗨️🤍🏳️‍🌈

Urara🗨️♿

The Urban Legend 🗨️**

Valhalla🗨️♿

Ville Poter 🗨️♿

보지도 못하고 듣지도 못해도 사랑해🗨️❤️♿

외발로 살다🗨️🤍♿

Legend: 🗨️=comic/graphic novel, 📖=novel, 🏳️‍🌈=lgbtqia+ characters***, ❤️=romance is a central theme, 🤍=some romance but not the focus, 🖤=no romance what so ever, ♿=disabled character(s) in a good light (counts by @cannondisabledcharacters rules), (some may change the more I read or as the story continues).

Art by @cha-c-san

That thing from that country vs just another movie

So since 2012 has Innovasjon Norge where they gave money to fund an animation movie by a little unknown animation company known as Disney over a Norwegian series, that have continued doing that. So Norway's top 3 ways of making money are:

Oil

Tourism

Salmon

So because of the environment, they want to phase out the oil and find ✨𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔫𝔢𝔴 𝔬𝔦𝔩™✨. So first they tried increasing the salmon "farming", which led to fleas and birth defects. After the seemingly huge success of Frozen, they funded the side stuff and the sequel. Then they funded a Mission Impossible movie, to have a scene on Preikestolen, the scene was so brief and didn't really add anything to the movie so they had to beg so it wasn't cut. Then in one of the latest James Bond movies they funded it to pretend that a Norwegian mountain is in India. So why do they fund so many American productions? Well, to put it simply, tourism. If they sneak in a little of Norway into these, they hope people will want to go to Norway.

But not everyone watching know that Arendelle is based on Norway, and it goes over to being just another Disney movie doesn't it? The clip of Prekestolen, I haven't heard anyone mention that scene as standing out, honestly, I haven't heard anyone talking about that movie. The James Bond movie, they are told that beautiful mountain is in India, India has many beautiful mountains, but pretending that mountain is in India in-movie will increase tourism there, disappointed when they don't find it. So unless you read interviews or the credits closely, you probably wouldn't know that you were lied to. And if hopefully the pandemic taught them anything, do not rely on tourism too much!

So after a while they just become another movie among many others. But if they support a Norwegian story making it as big as they deserve, it'd be remembered among people as "that Norwegian thing" wouldn't it? This is why I want to support stories not only from my home country but also from others. Among the ✨𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔫𝔢𝔴 𝔬𝔦𝔩™✨ they've tried is timber, which Sweden is known for, and like oil, is finite. There's no end in creative people, and they deserve support. Here they get only 10% of what they poored their soul into while the publisher last time I checked get 70%. This the result of a print shop strike where as they only got 5%, where the boss took 90% of that and the actual workers got the remains. I don't blame the print shop workers, they deserved more. But that the publisher snuck in and took the hugest percentage, is just BS as they do the least (here at least, most authors have to advertise in their own free time themselves).

Vegetarian vampires done right, comic by David Ramírez

* This April one asked for at least 1 Manga from Japan exclusively, 2 Manga/Graphic novels/Comics from wherever, At least 1 light novel from Japan exclusively, and 2 any kind of novel from wherever. [edited in April: they want 1 manga from the 90s or older] [edited in by the end of January as they were asking for these specific genres then] For the manga and light novels from Japan: 1 fantasy/isekai manga and 1 light novel 🐉, 1 of each with lgbtqia+ topics, 1 of each with comedy🤣, romance, or drama🎭, 1oe action⚔️, horror👻, or supernaturalψ, 1oe with fanservice, smut, and stuff like that, 1oe from the 90s or older💾, 2oe Chinese (or Taiwanese or any other country they publish stories in Chinese probably), 1oe Korean 🇰🇷 (the two on the bottom of the previous list are Korean, will add some novels here), 1 Hiveworks Comic, 1 International web comic (will add some below the Korean novels), and 1oe international comic/graphic novel and novel.

If you don't read much manga but want to suggest any do I recommend (these have no "fan service") 五色の舟🗨️📖♿🏳️‍🌈🐉 (Goshiki no Fune , about a found family of Japanese disabled people during WW2 as they try to survive, none of the opposing forces are demonized and just they trying to live their lives), I S―男でも女でもない性🗨️♿🏳️‍🌈❤️ (IS - Otoko Demo Onna Demo Nai Sei, about different intersex people and their lives), 斉木楠雄のΨ難 (Saiki Kusuo no PSI Nan/The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. 🗨️♿🤍🤣ψ A comedy about a seemingly aroace guy with supernatural powers he takes all too seriously), 放浪息子🗨️🏳️‍🌈❤️ (Hourou Musuko, about trans children and their lives, not perfect but also sweet, had an English translation that was sadly dropped due to lack of sales), Ballad of a Shinigami 📖🤍♿ψ (one of the first light novels Seven Seas published, but was cancelled as it was in the years light novels and visual novels weren't taken as seriously in the west, hopefully we can uncancel it), もののけ草紙🗨️🤍♿👻 (Mononoke Soushi , well, it has some nudity but not pervy nudity. It's about a young girl Tenome growing up right before WW2 and as an adult during the war, it's a love craftian inspired horror manga with Japanese folklore and she's really badass, and even if you are a coward like me is the art, story, and characters stronger than the horror so you'd probably like it,

＋アニマ🗨️🤍♿🐉(+Anima, a darkly cute series about children gaining animal powers, was officially in English once, but deserves more love again), Luck Stealer 📖⚔️🤍♿ψ by Hajime Kazu (story about an assassin taking lives by stealing their luck by coming near them, really satisfying and badass and understandable why he does it. There's one annoying character shoehorned in by an editor it feels like, but he doesn't appear much fortunately), 心霊探偵八雲📖🤍♿ψ (Shinrei Tantei Yakumo, a mystery series about a guy who can see ghosts, can get really dark), and finally 恋の神様古味直志短編集🗨️❤️🤍🖤ψ🐉🤣 (Koi no Kamisama, a collection of Komi Naoshi one-shots before he went mainstream with Nisekoi, a collection of weird and kind of psychological one-shots that are a lot of fun within few pages). P.A. (プライベートアクトレス) ❤️💾♿🗨️🎭 about a "private actress", pretending to be people's lover, daughter, themselves, whatever is needed, seeing her act and grow as a person, not perfect and shows it age some places but mostly surprisingly accepting. アノニマス🤍🗨️🎭 (Anonymous, about some Japanese teens from the 20s, raised without names or purpose other than to follow orders, but they meet some other teens they to their surprise befriend and so they decide to live for themselves). 周刊少年Girl 🗨️🤣🤍ψ(Weekly Shounen Girl, an absurd and wacky manga that takes full use of it's medium, it's amazing). スミレ♡16歳!! 🗨️🤣(Sumire♡16 years old!! Weird manga about a puppet attending school and somehow getting friends. Oddly sweet).

These don't quite follow the rules but are 💾: F. Compo (weird trans manga from the 90s, a cis man's desperate attempt at being "accepting", interesting to look back at), クロノクルセイド(Chrono Crusade, has some unnecessary fan service but is still my favourite manga. Is about a nun and a demon hunting demons in USA in the 1920s), ストップ!! ひばりくん! (Stop!! Hibari-kun! I remember some problematic moments, but a impressively progressive trans manga from the 80s!).

The promised Korean novels:레지나레나 - 용서받지 못한 그대에게 📖❤️♿(Regina Rena: To the Unforgiven, has a webtoon on... Webtoon and a region locked translation of the novel), 필리아로제 - 가시왕관의 예언🗨️🤍♿(Philia Rosé: The Prophecy of the Crown of Thorns, the WebToon is translated but not the novel), 마땅한 살인📖🤍♿⚔️ (Justified Murder, novel about a doctor forced to kill the father of a patient in self defense when he doesn't want her to tell authorities that he abused the patient. Her cop husband helps her dispose of the body by drawing a lipstick heart on him, the signature of a serial killer only going after the worst, it works a little too well as the killer contacts her and recruits her as the killer is actually a group). International webcomics/WebToons (those i do not know where are from don't have flags, some are already in English): City Vamps 🇪🇸, Heartblood🇫🇮, I Want to Be A Cute Anime Girl, Born From Death 🇮🇩, @XXIII, Angel's Quest 🇪🇸, Watermelon 🇸🇦, Seed 🇹🇷 (I think), Love Advice From the Great Duke of Hell 🇨🇭, The Witch and the Bull 🇹🇼, Project Novos 🇦🇹, The World Where I Belong 🇹🇭(I think), and more. Remember that the ones further up are the ones struggling to come out in English.

** Self published, but has been looking for an official publisher forever according to interviews.

*** a work not marked with this still could have some later, is not clear enough, I haven't read enough yet to know, or I haven't asked the author. But even if one seemingly does not have any does it not mean that the author is phobic or not part of the lgbtqia+ themselves, and as far as I know, no one on this list are phobic as far as I've checked.

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Feel free to reblog with stories from different countries that aren't translated into English. The ones I suggest here are in languages that I understand or have accessed by other means. Also, many thanks to @godteri-takk for encouraging me and @ittibittium for making this post (which is very much have been the reason the series came out look at slide 2) and inspiring me. If you have any questions about the stories I've included here, feel free to ask ^^. If you wonder why I didn't link to Phenomena, Mørkalven, Under Regnbuen, The Urban Legend, and Underbyen on the booksfromnorway website is it that they're simply not there, the publisher haven't added them. I'd also link to Norway Comics more often as the website looks good, but haven't been updated in about 2 years, maybe they started to give up? I don't know. Thank you for your time and hopefully we can give more than a few authors a cool gift before the end of the year.

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slaughter-books · 4 months

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Day 2: JOMPBPC: TBR This Month

My immediate TBR for January, 2024! 💜

#justonemorepage #jompbpc #tbr this month #january 2024 #immediate tbr #prey #michael crichton #suddenly super #jen calonita #twisted tales #the sinister booksellers of bath #garth nix #jamie #l.d. lapinkski #beautiful books #amazing authors #lgbt+#fairy penguin #i love books

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ariainstars · 6 months

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Red, White and Royal Blue: A Movie Like an English Waltz with a Kick

I had practically given up on watching stories about same-sex relationships some time ago; for a while, I thought the reason for my growing indifference was that not belonging to the LGBT+ community, I am not directly involved. It took me a while to realize that I was simply sick of watching stories with sad endings, good as they may be otherwise.

Same-sex love stories in my experience very often have a tragic ending, with the possible exception of the Netflix show Heartstopper, which is nice and interesting to watch without being overdramatic. Also, there were Beautiful Thing and Maurice, two enjoyable movies that most viewers today probably hardly remember. Despite their positive ending they are serious in tone however, not exactly fun.

Red, White and Royal Blue burst into my world catching me by surprise and all but sweeping me off my feet; I immediately fell in love with the movie and am fully on page with anyone who is already asking for a sequel.

First off, I must say that this is one of the few cases where I found the movie to be better than the novel. I read it after having watched the movie, but I could not bring myself to like the characters.

The novel is told from Alex’ point of view, so we never get to know Henry’s; and I got the impression of following a bunch of rich kids without regular lives and routines having fun being noisy and obnoxious when they’re not busy with wanting to save the world, all of them equipped with their personal therapists and consuming this or another substance. I found it heartbreaking that Henry had been in love with Alex for a long time, never hoping that his feelings could be requited; and it did not shed a good light on Alex that for a long time, he did not realize that being intimate with Henry felt so good because he was with someone who actually cared for him.

The tone and story development of the movie is different and, in my opinion, superior. These Alex and Henry are about ten years older than in the novel: the actors are neither groomed to look younger nor do they act like they were. These are two adult, grown men who know what they’re doing; the feelings between them deepen very quickly (in the book, for Alex at the beginning it seems to be nothing more than a cross between a diversion and a challenge); and they soon take responsibility for each other and their families respectively political surroundings.

Nothing shows this more than the airport scene where they actually exchange ring and key, contrarily to the book where Alex keeps the ring together with the key around his neck. His official speech after their forced coming-out was much more straightforward and convincing than in the book, and he had written it himself, not his sister; also early in the movie, the Texas campaign is his very own initiative, contrarily to the novel where his mother sets him up to do it. All of these are narrative choices which in my opinion make the story much more enticing and the characters more relatable.

The movie Red, White and Royal Blue lives largely from the chemistry between the two protagonists; there is playful banter between them and lots of fun scenes and quips that I looked for in the novel in vain. (Except for a few jokes at Philips’ expense, pitifully.) Even in their most intimate moments, there always seems to be a twinkle in their eyes; the teasing begins when they’re not even friends yet. Their happiness is joyful and carefree, not founded on the intensity of feelings of couples who know they will be torn apart. The movie’s tone is a perfect balance: funny without being silly; serious without being admonishing; romantic without being sappy.

Some well-known clichés obviously are all there: having to talk to one another due to being locked in a room, a fist kiss while both are tipsy, the lover hiding in the closet, the intolerant parent (grandparent in this case), the understanding sister… Nevertheless, the story is fresh, well-paced and never boring.

In my personal view, this movie will be remembered as marking a break in the storytelling of same-sex relationships: light-footed, entertaining and touching. While the book is a self-indulgent fanfiction, the movie is in its tone, set-up and storyline for all intents and purposes a fairy tale, except that instead of a princess we have a prince.

One of the things I loved most was that in the end, the couple does not reunite in a castle or a similar luxurious environment, but that for their happy ending they leave their wealth behind and retire to a simple, comfortable home and an everyday life.

I had a smile on my face almost the entire time while watching this movie. And I hope there will be many more light-hearted movies and novels centered on same-sex relationships following this, instead of the usual heart-wrenching dramas. It’s high time.

#red white and royal blue #same sex love #fairy tales #lgbt #taylor zakhar perez #nicholas galitzine #rwrb movie

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