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nellasbookplanet · 1 month

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Book recs: Queer fantasy, part 1

A note: queer here does not necessarily mean “guarantee of an f/f or m/m ship with a happy ending”, but rather simply a significant presence of queerness. Some of the books feature no romance but has a same gender attracted/trans/a-spectrum lead, or features an m/f relationship with bisexual, trans or aro/ace characters, or simply features a world-building which is heavily queer inclusive in ways that don’t always compare to our own ideas of sexuality and gender. I have however disqualified works where the only queer presence is along the lines of “gay best friend” or a blink and you’ll miss it confirmation that never comes up again.

For queer sci-fi recs, click here! For a masterpost of book rec lists, click here! For more details on the books recommended here, continue under the readmore. Titles marked with * are my personal favorites!

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez*

AKA the book the killed me. Two boys travel throughout their land with the body of a god as her horrible, horrible children try to hunt them down. It’s hard to explain more than that, but trust me when I say the narrative voice and literary techniques are incredibly unique in how they blend past and present, reality and story, lead and bystander. Truly an experience. Features an m/m romance.

The Unbroken (Magic of the Lost series) by C.L. Clark*

Tourraine, who was stolen as a child and trained as a soldier for the empire that conquered her home, is recruited by Luka, the future leader of the conquering country, to root out a rebellion. A game of twisted loyalties and attraction is soon to develop as the two must decide where their priorities lie: with each other, or with their respective countries and people.

Sing the Four Quarters (Quarters series) by Tanya Huff*

Though a royal by birth, princess Annice renounced her throne to become a bard, a musician who through training can Sing elemental spirits to do their bidding. Ten years later, she goes on the run for two counts of treason, first by imperiling the succession order by becoming pregnant, second by helping her ex, and the father of her child, escape the palace dungeons and a death sentence. Bisexual lead in an f/f relationship. When I first read this book I described it as, and I quote, 'a fucking delight', and I stand by that.

The Unspoken Name (The Serpent Gates duology) by C.L. Clark*

The sort of portal fantasy you get when all the worlds connected by portals are fantasy worlds, and none of them are ours. The portals themselves become simply a part of the worldbuilding that the characters use to travel between fascinating places, and it’s all really cool. It follows Csorwe (lesbian orc assassin whom I love), who grew up in a cult, indoctrinated as a child sacrifice to a god. But on the day she was meant to die, she instead chose to follow a powerful wizard and train to become his loyal servant and sword. Aside from being an excellent fantasy, it’s also a close look at the hard path of unlearning indoctrination and the search for love and validation where you’ll never find it, and learning to live for yourself. Multiple queer leads.

The Jasmine Throne (The Burning Kingdoms series) by Tasha Suri

A princess held captive by her own brother, who wants to see her dead, tries to trick a servant into helping her escape, but with undeniable attraction growing between them and the servant having her own goals of liberation things quickly get complicated, both between them and in the country at large as rebellion and dangerous magic brews. Sapphic romance.

The Priory of the Orange Tree (The Roots of Chaos duology) by Samantha Shannon

Queen Sabran's lineage has protected the country of Inys from dragons for a thousand years, but now the safety of their land is threatened as Sabran is yet to conceive and assassins are closing in. Lady-in-waiting Ead is secretly part of a society of hidden mages, and is using her position to protect her queen. Meanwhile, on the other side of the sea, dragonrider Tané is faced with an impossible choice. The fates of all three are intertwined as they attempt to stop the rise of a great dragon. 800+ page epic fantasy. Sapphic romance.

The Raven and the Reindeer by T. Kingfisher*

Young adult, fairy tale retelling of the Snow Queen. When Gerta's friend Kai is stolen away by the evil Snow Queen, Gerta must depart on a mission to save him. On the way, she encounters, among others, a talking raven and a pretty robber girl who become her allies. Sapphic romance.

The Rise of Kyoshi (Kyoshi duology) by F.C. Yee*

Young adult. Set in the Avatar universe, but aimed at an older audience than the animated series. Though she will one day be one of the most well-known avatars of the land, for now, young Kyoshi is but a humble girl who has yet to find out her true destiny as the bender of all four elements and keeper of balance of her world. When betrayal strikes and a dear friend is lost, Kyoshi goes on the run alongside fiesty firebender Rangi to find out the truth of her destiny and power. Sapphic romance.

Legends & Lattes (Legends & Lattes series) by Travis Baldree

Viv is tired of adventures and bloodshed - now she wants a peaceful life, and decides to go after it by opening a café. But going from warrior to small business owner is easier said than done, especially when Viv's old life comes knocking. Best described as a cozy fantasy, with a largely low-stakes but heartwarming plot and a sapphic romance.

Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee

Gyen Jebi is an artist, but making a living is difficult. When offered a job by the Ministry of Armor to paint the magical sigils that animate their automaton soldiers, they have little choice but to accept. But as Jebi sees the dark depths of the government, especially the shocking source of their magical paint, they must find a way to resist. Perhaps by freeing the Ministry's mighty automaton dragon... Nonbinary main character.

Crier's War by Nina Varela

Young adult. Who says sci-fi has monopoly on robots? In Crier’s War, artificially created automae have defeated and subjugated humans, who live as second class citizens. Young Ayla goes undercover as a servant, meaning to assassinate automae girl and Sovereign’s daughter Crier. This would be easier if the two weren’t quick to develop feelings for each other.

Black Sun (Between Earth and Sky trilogy) by Rebecca Roanhorse

In a pre-columbian inspired world, sea captain Xiala, gifted with an unusual connection to the sea, travels with a mysterious scarred and blind passenger toward a dangerous goal as prophecy heralds the return of a god. Features among others bisexual and nonbinary leads.

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin*

In a world regularly torn apart by natural disasters, a big one finally strikes and society as we know it falls, leaving people floundering to survive in a post apocalyptic world, its secrets and past to be slowly revealed. We follow a mother as she races through this world to find and save her daughter, stolen away by a father who just murdered their son after having discovered a terrible secret of their family. Does feature multiple queer characters and a main polyam relationship, but DO NOT read this expecting happy queer relationships as this series handles many dark subjects (you should still read it though, it's incredibly good).

In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan*

Young adult. Kids who can walk between our world and a magical one get recruited into a magical school that trains them to be either fighters or diplomats. Our lead decides that fighting is stupid and that he’s going to peacefully solve every conflict ever, all while being the most delightfully obnoxious little brat possible and getting involved in the most bisexual love triangle imaginable. Very good, funny, and heart-felt coming of age story.

Our Bloody Pearl D.N. Bryn

A siren who’s been held captive by a pirate is freed, but too injured to survive on their own as their tail has become paralyzed. Another pirate captain decides to help them out and has to work to win their trust. Fairly fluffy and light on world-building and plot (though there is a bit of a revenge story in there), with a focus on character and recovery. m/nb romance with an asexual love interest.

A Master of Djinn by P. Djélí Clark

Set in an alternate 1910’s steampunk Cairo, where djinn and other creatures live alongside humans. We get to follow an investigator as she races to catch a criminal using a powerful object to control djinn and stir unrest. Fantastically creative and fresh, and also features a buddy cop dynamic between two female leads as well as a sapphic romance.

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho*

As a toddler, Jessamyn Teoh left Malaysia. Now a young adult, she’s broke, closeted, and moving back. There she’s faced with the ghost of her estranged grandmother, Ah Ma, who was a medium and avatar of the deity the Black Water Sister in life. Now she demands Jess' help in exacting revenge against a gang boss that offended her god. Meanwhile, all Jess wants is to get her life back on track.

Heaven Official's Blessing (Heaven Official's Blessing series) by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

Once, Xie Lian was the beloved crown prince of a kingdom. Then he rose to godhood at a young age, and was expected to take a step back from his land and his people, but in his inability to do so ended up losing everything. Now, eight hundred years later, Xie Lian has ascended to godhood for a third time, forgotten by mortals and the laughing stock of Heaven. Trying to rebuild his reputation, Xie Lian sets off on a mission, and on it encounters an infamous demon king who inspires fear in all of heaven. M/M romance.

Jane, Unlimited by Kristin Cashore*

Young Adult. Jane is invited by an old acquaintance to an extravagant gala in an island mansion, stranding her among the rich and glamorous. But being surrounded by rich people is the least of Jane’s problems: the mansion is housing secrets, some of them tied to Jane’s own family. The mansion offers her five choices, all of them leading her down different paths and different answers. Jane, Unlimited is a choose-your-own adventure story of sorts, featuring five different endings in five different genres, each more off the wall bonkers than the next. It also features a bisexual main character!

Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children series) by Seanan McGuire*

A tumblr favorite, the Wayward Children novellas feature a school open to children who have returned from adventures in other realms and now have trouble adapting back to regular life. Some installments are set in our world, others follow children as they have their otherworldly adventures. The main characters vary between books, but are generally pretty diverse with among others asexual, trans, intersexual and sapphic leads. Both funny and dark, it takes a closer look at the trauma many endure growing up different.

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern*

Surreal and fairy tale-esque, The Starless Sea is stories within a story, following graduate student Zachary as he finds a strange book which, in-between other tales, tells a story from his own childhood. Trying to find out how this came to be, Zachary gets involved with a pink-haired woman and a handsome man who are doing their utmost to protect a strange, otherworldly library available only through magical doors. It’s a book hard to put in words, but which I once described as “romantic without being a romance while stile having a love story at it’s core”, and which can be summed up only as “an Experience”. It’s also quite gay!

Not Even Bones by Rebecca Schaeffer*

Young adult. Nita isn’t a murderer - technically. She just dissects the bodies of supernatural beings her mother brings home and sells for parts on the black market. But when her mother brings home a still living victim, Nita has had enough and frees him. As it turns out, no good deed goes unpunished as Nita is betrayed, her own nature as a supernatural entity outed as she’s kidnapped and placed behind bars. Now she must find a way to escape before she's sold for parts. Features two aroace leads and a queerplatonic relationship, though it isn’t made textual until book 3 and briefly masquerades as a romance, which is pretty hilarious.

The Last Sun (The Tarot Sequence) by K.D. Edwards

Urban fantasy. Rune Saint John is the only survivor of the massacre against the Sun Court years prior. Now he’s been hired by Lady Judgement to find her missing son, Addam. Alongside his companion and bodyguard Brand, Rune goes on to question Addam's family and business contacts all over New Atlantis, island city and home of the Atlanteans after their original home was destroyed by ordinary humans. But the more he digs, the more Rune finds clues that Addam's absence is connected to Rune's own tragic past. M/M romance.

Gossamer Axe by Gael Baudino

Centuries ago in Ireland, Chairiste Ní Cummen was trained in the secrets of music and magic. But her pride was her downfall, trapping her and her lover in the land of the Sidh. Only Chairiste escaped, hoping to one day win her lover's freedom in musical battle with the fairy that holds her captive. Now she is Christa Cruitare, harp teacher in the modern world and all but resigned to her loss. Until she comes across a great new music: heavy metal. Taking one last chance to win her lover's freedom, Christa sets out to gather other skilled musicians and bring them with her in her final battle. Sapphic romance.

Bonus AKA I haven't read these yet but they seem really cool

Pantomime (Micah Grey trilogy) by Laura Lam

Young adult. On the surface, Gene's life is that of a noble debutante. In reality, she has secrets: she's both male and female, and has magical abilities that hasn’t been seen in an age. In the face of a betrayal from her parents, Gene runs away from home, dresses up as a boy, and joins a circus. Intersex main character.

Ghost Walk by Kay Solo

Maaya Sahni can see ghosts, and does her best to survive in her small isolated town by keeping her head down. But when an entire street full of people is spirited away by faceless specters that scares even ghosts, Maaya must find a way to stop the specters. Lesbian main character.

Swordspoint (Riverside series) by Ellen Kushner

In Riverside, duels are the way to settle disputes, and Richard St. Vier is the undisputed master of the sword - at least until a death is met not with awe but with outrage. M/M romance.

#nella talks books #I'm almost done with the fae rec list too! it should go up some time next week #after that maybe part 2 of queer sf

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serregon · 1 year

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what your favorite Tolkien ship says about you

Sam/Frodo - looking back on your childhood, you can pinpoint Lord of the Rings as the beginning of your crippling addiction to soft gay cottagecore

Aragorn/Legolas - you still have that poster of Orlando Bloom from a tiger beat magazine that you taped to your bedroom wall when you were 10

Legolas/Gimli - you are a firm believer in the inherent eroticism of height differences

Aragorn/Boromir - you are a firm believer in the inherent eroticism of dying tragically, like if you cry every time

Aragorn/Arwen - your ideal date involves being carried off into the sunset by a buff man who drinks nothing but respect women juice

Eowyn/Faramir - you spend your days panhandling outside Peter Jackson’s house for footage of the deleted wedding scene

Eowyn/Merry - you saw Eowyn stabbing the witch king and you were like, “god I wish that were me”

Arwen/Eowyn - your ideal relationship dynamic is just girls being friends, gals being pals

Elrond/Celebrian - you just want good things for Elrond, and really, who wouldn’t?

Galadriel/Celeborn - you were thrilled when “Barbie is everything, he’s just Ken” became the hot new meme

Sam/Rosie - you are heterosexual

Galadriel/Sauron - you are extremely heterosexual

Bilbo/Thorin - you have written at least one fix-it fic where Thorin and Bilbo raise baby Frodo together

Thranduil/Bard - you’re just here for the dilfs

Thranduil/Thorin - your ideal relationship dynamic is that one meme that’s like “fuck you” “fuck me yourself, you coward”

Melkor/Sauron - your addiction to edgy boys got so bad that one day you were like “hey you know what’s better than one edgy boy? two edgy boys”

Maedhros/Fingon - you have a thirty page google doc citing HoME quotes that you incest—I mean insist—are proof that Maedhros and Fingon are Gil-galad’s true parents

Fëanor/Nerdanel - you have gotten into at least three heated internet arguments with people who think Fëanor is a fascist

Celebrimbor/Annatar - your ideal date involves getting pinned up against the wall by your sworn enemy as they place the tip of their sword just underneath your chin and then use it to tilt your head up a little

Celebrimbor/Narvi - half of you are coming here from shipping gimleaf, half of you just want Annatar to get eiffel towered

Túrin/Beleg - you are a firm believer in the inherent eroticism of the “I’ll cut your throat” “you’re beautiful” scene from Princess Mononoke

Haleth/Caranthir - you’re always a slut for MEN! GETTING! PEGGED!

Glorfindel/Ecthelion - your ideal relationship dynamic is verified himbo, certified morosexual

Maglor/Daeron - you are a film believer in the inherent eroticism of dramatic breakup songs

Beren/Lúthien - you are J. R. R. Tolkien

#insp by eldena doublecast #silm memes #lotr memes #silmarillion #lotr

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morrigan-sims · 7 months

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morrigan-sims's [redacted] follower's gift - baldur's gate 3 inspired sims

Thank you for getting me to this milestone, guys! I appreciate each and every one of you! <3 Sorry this gift is late. I've been absorbed in bg3, and my endless hell of boring classes.

More info and download links under the cut.

I gave every sim an in-game race (and class, even though it really doesn't matter). You can use these sims for whatever you want (gameplay, edits, story characters, etc., hell, even make them into dnd or bg3 characters if you want to), but if you do, please tag me!! I wanna see them in your game! None of them have names (I think, but if they do feel free to change it) or backstories, so go nuts! In an effort to keep file sizes down, they don't have any outfits.

(And I shouldn't have to say this, but don't change their identities. Don't change sim 2's skintone, or remove his top surgery scars. Don't change their body types, especially don't make them skinnier. Respect their pronouns and sexualities. Oh, and don't claim them as your own, or reupload them anywhere. Especially not behind a paywall.)

Sim 1: - Half-Orc - Barbarian - She/They - Lesbian DOWNLOAD (google drive, no ads)

Sim 2: - High Elf - Fighter - He/Him - Bisexual DOWNLOAD (google drive, no ads)

Sim 3: - High/Wood Elf - Ranger - She/Her - Demiromantic Pansexual DOWNLOAD (google drive, no ads)

Sim 4: - Human - Sorcerer - He/Him (trans man) - Gay DOWNLOAD (google drive, no ads)

Sim 5: - Drow - Paladin - She/Her - Pansexual DOWNLOAD (google drive, no ads)

Sim 6: - Tiefling - Bardlock (Bard/Warlock Multiclass) - They/Them - Bisexual - Dark Urge??? DOWNLOAD (google drive, no ads)

#ts4 #the sims 4 #sims 4 CAS #ts4 CAS #adventures in cas #my sims #cas #ts4 sim dump #sims 4 sim dump #sim dump #my dls #ts4 sim download #sims 4 sim download #sim download #I think the bardlock is my fave. (Duh. They're a tiefling.) But I love all of them.

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plounce · 6 months

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ffxiv bard job quests are so funny. you meet this earnest ponytail man who has been saddled with a very annoying elf. but it turns out that the elf isn't THAT bad and they learn to respect each other, and probably have gay sex. cool. you meet up again a year later and the ponytail man has been saddled with another, even MORE annoying elf. but it turns out this one sucks even more than he seems to. so then you have to team up with the original annoying elf to save ponytail man from the ultimate annoying elf. and then you go home.

#chirps #ffxiv #guydesan

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hmshermitcraft · 3 months

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joe. fuckinf. joe. thats all you get. (im thinking of jleo and evilx&joe its. augh im gay)

Joe is a bard. He enjoys being one, too! There's a certain joy to bringing stories to life, spreading them from place to place so others can enjoy them. His sister and him have done it since they were young, two tiny children standing on a makeshift stage.

Being a bard, though, comes with some difficulties. Joe refuses to raise his blade against somebody that has attacked him first. It's only right; every living creature has a story to tell and he dislikes putting a premature end to it. This is where his two partners come in.

He met Cleo early in his adventures, and they've stuck with him since. They still grumble the same amount about Joe putting himself in danger, but Joe catches the soft gleam in her eyes. Cleo respects him. She respects that Joe holds his morals. She just also thinks it's a good job she doesn't.

Whilst Ex was... A less reluctant tag along. He was due to be sentenced for mostly petty crimes, but his brother had been worried about him. Joe heard the story and decided Ex could come along with him and Cleo! It's always nice to have new company, and hopefully the adventure will do him good. So, they left the next morning with a new grumpy companion.

Cleo cannot believe how quickly Joe won him over. He seems to be good at that. Ex looks at the guy like he hung the stars. He's not a completely reformed character - Cleo occasionally gives him a glare that Joe doesn't see before something valuable goes missing from a market stand. But his slight of hand and ability to disappear in a crowd often comes in handy.

Joe is just happy his adventures have brought him such good company. The only downside is finding a bed big enough for the three of them.

#hermitshipping #ask #joe tag #cleo tag #evil xisuma tag #jleo #joex #exjleo #mod 🎀#Weekly Theme: d&d au

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geraskierfanficprompts · 11 days

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Prompt 5

Everything that can go wrong one night, goes wrong, and it's just annoying inconvenience after annoying inconvenience. Jask falls and drags Geralt down with him, Jask gets them kicked out of an inn, Jask spends their last coin, Jask complicates the fight and accidentally gets Geralt injured, etc, etc, and eventually Geralt snaps at Jaskier for getting in the way and making things harder. They get into a big fight over it, and Jaskier even gets a second room to sleep apart. They are still on icy terms after the argument, until Jaskier starts realizing he doesn't.. feel well.. In fact he feels quite awful. Jaskier shortly realizes that he's getting ill. But he's terrified to tell Geralt, in fear of this being the straw that breaks the camel's back. What if Geralt really leaves him after this? What if this is the last thing that Geralt can handle is Jaskier delaying them getting new contracts because he's ailing? So he does what every smart honorable self-respected bard would do. He pretends nothing is wrong and prays it goes away on it's own. It isn't. It's getting way worse. Geralt can smell something off with Jaskier's scent, and is getting worried. He keeps asking Jaskier if he needs breaks or help doing things (Jaskier is convinced Geralt is just proving he can do everything without Jaskier, and that stopping for breaks will show Geralt how shit a travelling companion he is) Geralt just needs to get them to a town so he can pamper Jaskier with his favorite sweets, a warm bath, and a nice bed, and then ask him when he feels most ready to tell. But then Jaskier suddenly just.. Collapses.

He's walking alongside roach like always, only for him to suddenly roll his eyes back and just.. fall to the ground. Geralt is of course, freaking out- Geralt picks up his bard and makes an abrupt camp to check on him. Holding Jaskier so close, he can smell the fragrance of illness, muffled and muddled by Jaskier's soaps and perfumes. His bard is sick. Geralt, loving his bard unconditionally, treats and watches over Jaskier until he awakes. Jaskier, when he finally returns to consciousness, immediately begins begging Geralt not to get rid of him, not to leave him behind, that he's barely even sick, that he can keep going, just keep him, please. Geralt is horrified Jaskier thinks he could ever be left behind by Geralt, and they make up and kiss and say "i love you" idk.. think it'd be kinda gay...

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hpowellsmith · 7 months

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Hello there! I've been wanting to replay the older Baldur's Gate games, and was searching around for mlm NPC romance mods. I saw yours mentioned and found your site with some googling, but it seems the place they were hosted at is gone now (Spellhold Studios). I was wondering if you still have the mods available somewhere? Either way, I hope you have a great day!

OK, this has made go down a modding-community rabbit hole! I hadn't done anything with our Baldur's Gate 2 mods, or looked at them really, since 2015 and I really appreciate it because they're something that brought my wife and I a ton of joy, and they were the first interactive narratives I made.

Links, descriptions, and comments below because it is Long:

I got in touch with folks on the Gibberlings3 forum which is, wonderfully, still going strong, and have given permission for Faren and Nathaniel to be uploaded to the Spellhold Studios GitHub (which has a bunch of other mods too - do check out Adrian, Isra, and Ninde in particular!) to the team maintaining it. That may be a little while as some of the team are ill right now, but once I hear that it's done, I'll post about it here; I've also been pointed to some links where the mods were mirrored. Note that I haven't tested these myself on a current BG2 install, but it is easy to uninstall WeiDU mods if there's a problem.

Faren is a bisexual True Neutral fighter/thief (I can't remember if he's dual-classed or multi-classed) who's easygoing, down-to-earth, and up for partying, with a bit of a checkered past - his adventuring party died in one of the dungeons you can visit in BG2, and since then he's been picking up dodgy jobs, feeling a bit adrift, and trying to get his life back on track. That's where the PC comes in! You can befriend him or romance him (starting with either a casual or more committed tone, then committing further if you want to), and he has a personal quest in which a shady figure from his past wants him to do one last job. He was our third mod, and we'd developed our skills with writing and scope a lot by then. When I play BG2, I play with Faren! You can currently download Faren here. It's the version updated in 2015 with more banters with modded NPCs and the Enhanced Edition characters; there may be compatibility issues installing it with other newer mods but do give it a try.

I found The Luxley Family, which was our second mod, on the GitHub here. From a cursory (rusty) glance it looks like it should be compatible with Enhanced Edition, but the storyline is only for Shadows of Amn and doesn't continue into Throne of Bhaal. Sebastian and Andrei (Chaotic Neutral bard with a custom kit and Lawful Neutral monk respectively) are members of a mysterious, reclusive family who are under a curse. Sebastian's a worldly playwright who's showing his polite but moody teenage cousin Andrei the sights when they bump into the PC. They aren't romanceable, but you can have a fling with Sebastian, who's bisexual, if you let/help him mess up his life sufficiently.

Nathaniel is a Lawful Good gay fighter with a lot of feelings. He was our first mod and I am really proud of the impact he had on a lot of people and even other games back in the day, but if you play, go in expecting a LOT of feelings good and bad, relationship drama, and angst! (There's something very sad about the fact that as teens we could not imagine a D&D setting without homophobia back then; the idea of a knightly order thinking well of gay people just didn't cross our minds. it's extraordinary how much better a lot of things are now, including the queerness in D&D streams, books, and of course Baldur's Gate 3. Interestingly, we didn't include homophobia in the Luxley Family or Faren and I don't remember how conscious that was; maybe we'd become more hopeful by then.) You can download an outdated version of Nathaniel here but I don't think it will be compatible with Enhanced Edition.

Thank you so much for messaging! I didn't realise they weren't able to be downloaded anymore and I am really keen for digital art to be preserved (as well as players getting to smooch hot guys, of course).

(Digression - my wife and I have a couple of almost-finished mods on our computer: a lesbian cleric of Talos which she wrote, and a bi Valygar romance that I wrote. And, if it's among two computers' ago worth of external hard drive storage, the ending for the Luxley Family story. Who knows, maybe one day...)

#baldur's gate 2 #bg2 #I used to be very selfconscious and cringe about Nathaniel even though I knew people enjoyed him #but now I feel rather more chill about the whole thing #strangers have told me they enjoyed Nathaniel or he meant something to them and that just makes me melt #and we are all a bit cringe some of the time #(most of the time in my case)

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remidyal · 7 months

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Bad Ideas of the Day, Part Three

My monthly-ish roundup of my bad dimension 20 fanfic ideas of the day prompts! As ever, all of these can be written by anyone who cares to do so.

Part two can be found here and part one here

Bad Idea Of the Day, Multi-class Edition: Following basic pattern recognition skills, Fig decides and convinces four of the other bad kids that the key to getting powerful wizard abilities is not hard work and study, but having a name that starts with the letter A. Can Adaine deal with walking in to class on the first day of school and finding five new students in her wizard classes, Afig, Akristen, Ariz, Agorgug, and Abian, or will she murder her friends on the spot?

Bad idea of the day, Sicktember is a curse edition: Out of respect for Aelwyn's compromised immune system following her time in the orb, the residents of Mordred Manor actually take proper precautions to avoid getting her sick during the following flu season. A fluff piece and alas seemingly pure fantasy.

Bad idea of the day, yes I already did one today edition: Fig, actually doing a bard assignment for once, needs to build a ballad for her family history and decides to include the entire insane non-Gorgug bad kids family tree, even the most tenuous links in it like Kristen and Aelwyn.

Bad idea of the day, role swap edition: Fabian, prince of Leviathan, must deal with a ship that has been raiding his father's trading vessels, led by two sisters who are pirating with varying degrees of reluctance to bring wealth back to their greedy and demanding parents

Bad idea of the day, backstory mix and match edition: In the summer before high school, Kristen and her entire family are ripped apart by the discovery that she is half-devil; meanwhile, wood elf Fig wakes up one morning to a god whispering in her head and is deeply annoyed because they won't just let her sleep in.

(If I want to do it for all of the bad kids, hmm… Riz's parents are actually retired thieves, while Bill Seacaster was actually a privateer working for Solace the whole time; Adaine is adopted and aware of it and hoping her birth parents would actually love her, while Gorgug has a wild gnomish older sister who may be up to some nefarious activity)

Bad idea of the day, every show needs a musical episode by its third season edition: The residents of Elmville have been cursed into bursting into song at the slightest provocation, with reactions ranging from the amused (Fig, Kristen) to the murderous (Riz, Aelwyn). What kind of villain could be behind such an impromptu act of theater?

Why, it's Sam Reich of course. He's been here the… you know the rest.

Bad idea of the day, I Like Werewolves Okay? edition - KINGSTON fails his con save to avoid becoming a werewolf during the train fight and everyone else needs to help him adjust without gnawing on too many people.

Bad idea of the day, the writer had to scroll back to see if it had already done a bad idea of the day today edition: A groundhogs day esque time loop for one of the bad kids, but it's not a dramatic day or anything special and in fact it's just kind of boring and miserable. This turns out to eventually be revealed to be revenge by Arthur Aguefort for some petty and long-forgotten-by-the-kid slight.

Bad idea of the day, campaign fusion edition: Arthur Aguefort sends the Bad Kids on their most dangerous and critical mission yet, shrinking them down to clean out his fridge and prevent the vegetables within from grouping up to kill him before he can eat them, without causing too much damage to the ecosystem he's been maintaining for the last five centuries. Can these mere fleshy beings stop this uprising against 'the hungry one' in the world of Calorum?

Bad idea of the day, early morning edition: Kristen's gay awakening is triggered not by Tracker, but rather by someone who her parents would hate even more: The cute bi rebellious tiefling in her new party.

Bad idea of the day, portal to hell edition: Daybreak succeeds in condemning Kristen to hell, which doesn't actually end the world but does mean Kristen's stuck in hell. Can she find a new god worth following in such spicy surroundings?

Bad idea of the day, after school special edition: Fig and Aelwyn get part-time jobs going around Solace to "demonstrate" the dangers of drugs and drinking by going to local school parties and faking getting into lethal car accidents, overdoses, and other mishaps to scare those local students into being drug free, mostly because both of them secretly find it funny and in Aelwyn's case she needs the money

Bad idea of the day, Double Your Pleasure edition: Riva, never quite certain how the pleasure putty they're selling works, finds out about oral sex and then makes the determination that the explosive material should be marketed as chewing gum. The ensuing pleasure blows people's minds!

Bad idea of the day, Oops All Spells edition: The bad kids manage to not get detention on the first day and to avoid accidentally playing into daybreak's hands, ending up in normal parties. Many of them have many troubles out of this, but the worst is for Fig, who finds herself tempted into hanging out with the first other tiefling she's ever met even if he is a little bit of a loser, one Johnny Spells

Bad idea of the day, Mentopolis edition: The Fix gets an assignment to wipe out serial distracter Imelda Pulse before she can ruin any more coworker's birthdays

Bad idea of the day, Afterlife edition: Figueroth Faeth is very bad at the paperwork of her domain in Hell, even after nearly fifty years running it. Luckily for her, her good friend and paperwork expert Riz Gukgak has just died of old age, and Fig isn't above cheating him out of heaven in order to get his administrative expertise in Hell.

Bad idea of the day, party swap edition: As part of a junior year test, all of the students in that year must do a relatively easy quest mixed up into different parties, with no two members of a typical party allowed to be together. How do the bad kids handle doing a mission with people who are less, well, generally insane and bloodthirsty than they are?

Bad Idea of the Day, Spy Versus Spy edition: All of the bad kids are on secret missions to spy on Arthur Aguefort and his school, with varying degrees of willingness and conflicting goals: Adaine for Fallinel, Kristen on behalf of the church, Fig on behalf of Hell, Riz for Kalina, Fabian for his father, and Gorgug for the Solisian government itself through his parents.

Bad idea of the day, A Crown of Candy edition: Amethar dies in the initial ambush, the way Brennan had frankly probably planned for. Can the remnants of house Rocks hold things together and avenge their fallen king?

Bad idea of the day, Nightmare Forest edition: Rather than illusions, the nightmare forest sequence is made up of a Freddy Kreuger-esque sequence of actual dreams in the Bad Kids' actual sleeps, with them needing to survive their respective worst nightmares in order to make it to the place at the center of dreams where they can find the Nightmare King.

Bad idea of the day, fake holiday edition: Aguefort in junior year includes a class on self-promotion, and Fig and Adaine, taking it extremely seriously, start a holiday honoring the anniversary of Riz murdering Daybreak.

#fantasy high #a starstruck odyssey #dimension 20 #fanfic #the unsleeping city #a crown of candy #bad ideas

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signofthestriking · 2 months

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Me writing Bard In Red like:

"Denial, Jack's favorite stage"

"The balance of gay rights and wrongs"

"Shadow Rider clown era?????"

"Bangarang Ex ily sorry your childhood sucks"

"If you're a deity personifying a moon then you could still count as a gay space rock"

"Sun/moon coding but let's make them a little fucked up"

"She thinks she's Dr Gero."

"Eternyx's ocean, and it just looks like a massive sharpie bath"

"This is literally a world where everyone just gets up and starts dancing to fight their battles no one is going to flinch at weird plotlines"

"WHATS THIS ITS BLAKE WITH A STEEL CHAIR"

"If Ubisoft reads this its going to deal psychic damage"

"The biggest crime this guy commits, aside from all the atrocities, is not respecting any of the women in his life"

"How much party does it take to kill somebody? Let's find out"

"Robot zombies?????"

#shitpost #I'm totally not trying to get the writing brain cell working rn lol #just dance

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alisterix · 1 year

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Thoughts on Troubadix/Cacophonix being the village gay? The mascot of homosexuality so to speak? Everyone's gay uncle even? The guy freshly discovered gays go to for advice perhaps?

Oh ABSOLUTELY YES he is UNDISPUTABLY GAY. He is ✨THE✨ GAY. When you search "gay" in a dictionary a picture of Cacofonix shows up. He is the village gay, the mascot of homosexuality, everyone's gay uncle, he is an icon and he is the moment.

Aside from being the village bard he is also a teacher if I remember correctly...? At least he was in some volumes. It would make the most sense for him to be good with kids. I also headcanon him as trans personally, I've fallen in love with the idea. He can give the trans kids of the village so much support and guidance, too. "Look... I felt this way too, but Panoramix healed me with his potion. It's all good, it doesn't hurt, look me at me now. I'm doing great and I'm happy. That's going to be you, too, I promise." 💙💗

Uncle Cacofonix would give the best guidance and support to queer kids. I mean, the confidence on this guy! He is a bard that can't sing for shit and who nobody wants to listen to, and yet he still does what he wants to because it is who he is and it makes him happy. He's so unapologetically living his truth regardless of what everyone else thinks of him and he doesn't let anyone crush his spirit no matter how much they try to silence him. He would be the person to say "Don't let anybody stop you from being yourself. You are perfect the way you are and shouldn't have to change for anyone." If that isn't one of the most powerful and important lessons to teach to children then I don't know what is.

What if the queer kids he helped are the only ones willing to listen to his music because of that message...? They ask him to sing them a song and he's very surprised, asking them what makes them want to listen to a bad bard. And one of them says "You may be a bad bard, but you're a good person. You're the best! You tell us all the time how we should be ourselves and do what makes us happy, but what about you? We want you to be happy, too."

And Cacofonix is so touched by that he can't even hide the tears in his eyes-

...and naturally ends up bragging about it later to all the adults and throwing shade at them xD

"Unlike you, children can actually appreciate my art. There is more respect and care for the artist and his work in that little kid's finger than in all of your bodies combined."

"That's just concerning. Are we sure their hearing is developing correctly? Hopefully they'll grow out of it."

*Cacofonix gets offended and leaves* 😂

#ask me #asterix #asterix and obelix #cacofonix #cacofonix headcanons #trans Cacofonix #gay Cacofonix #the words gay and Cacofonix are synonyms honestly #thank you so much for this question anon I couldn't agree with you more #Cacofonix is my comfort character I absolutely adored answering a question about him #hmmm would he be self aware enough to call himself a bad bard?#I like to think deep down he is self aware but gets very defensive when people insult him and his music #and tbh I get it #I hope my answer satisfies you I'm gonna go cry about Cacofonix now

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maaarshieee · 1 year

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⎯⎯ ୨ Age Like Fine Wine 2 ୧ ⎯⎯

ੈ♡˳ Diluc Ragnvindr x Male!Reader *ೃ༄

ੈ♡˳ 2.9k words ┊ Fluff *ೃ༄

ੈ♡˳ Masterlist | Part 1 *ೃ༄

author's note ˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚

this fic may not have popped off as my other posts did but people miss once in a while and i respect that fact. either way i had so much fun writing this !! diluc is such a fun character to write and i wanna do more <33 have a great day/night!! sorry it took a while btw :( ALSO it kinda sucked in the end bc i had a headache mid point :(

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ cw: reader is a hyrdo user, gay struggles LOL, plot heavy cuz i wanted to write smth long, references of killing, drinking reader an archer

And Diluc Ragnvindr fell harder,

Diluc's first impression of you was similar to other knights; an aspiring captain that would only do so little to uphold his title or position in the Knights of Favonious. Rookie knights were usually naive and full of misplaced ambition, too focused on a goal when protecting the citizens of Mondstadt is your priority. He's not one to listen in for the gossip of his customers, but sometimes, as a bartender, he couldn't help but hear when they were speaking right in front of him. "He's always so helpful! Truly a kind soul, I'm glad he's a knight." Whenever he hears your name, it's always followed by praise. Naturally, he got curious. Can a rookie knight be that good to deserve so much praise?

From afar, he observed you begrudgingly, and often saw you with his brother, Kaeya. Diluc was torn between his opinion for you; one side of him was glad Kaeya found someone he could be comfortable with, to share laughs and smiles with all the while reminding your captain to fulfill his duties, and the other side was a tad perturbed of you, for being a knight and letting yourself get influenced with Kaeya's antics. Though he could see you truly are a good-natured man, helping elders whenever you could, and playing with children on the streets if you had the time to do so.

You were one of the most productive knights he's ever seen in a while, alongside Lisa and Jean, so you've earned a tiny bit of his respect. And he should've left it at that, never really paying you any more attention since he's gotten all the information he wanted of you, leaving you be and only hearing of your name amongst the whispers of the wind. But even after his investigation, he's always felt compelled to listen to the gossip of you whenever he's behind the counter of Angel's Share. Although, he wasn't a fan when you've also befriended the drunk of a bard that's a regular of his tavern, drinking away without a care.

And while yes, for a short period of time, Diluc felt drawn to you somehow. To at least hear you say your own name once you greet each other for the first time, perhaps to quell this burning curiosity of his on how often people say that your voice was soothing as the gentle crashes of water against stone, a tone that always makes their eyelids grow heavy. But he lost interest soon enough, deciding that you were just an impressive knight amongst knights, though a little disappointed that you've joined them.

Fate had other plans, it seems, for your first-ever encounter finally occurred, however, he would've preferred if it was in Dawn Winery instead, and not in the cold, empty alleyways of Mondstadt. Diluc took note that there was less... Activity for the past few weeks, and it wasn't because of him. He was gone for a few days for business-related meetings and such, so he expected more work for him at night, but he was wrong. The streets felt like they were swept clean, with not a single living soul in the area at night. Mondstadt couldn't simply be cleansed like that, and he was right. He found you again, hiding across the street where he had recently beat off some Fatui. You were shocked, to say the least, and the way you had mentioned him being the Darknight Hero embarrassed him.

For a rookie knight, you knew how to set your priorities straight, patrolling in routes knights don't usually go to, actively seeking troublemakers or any creatures that crept inside the gates of Mondstadt. His respect for you only grew, surprising even himself when he gave you an ounce of acknowledgment, something he doesn't normally speak of to others. And so your nightly endeavors together has begun, and for some odd reason, Diluc hadn't minded.

Similar to the rumors he's heard of you at Angel's Share, you were quite talkative. At first, he had told you to keep quiet and focus on the task at hand, to which you would oblige, however only for a few long minutes. He didn't understand why you wanted to talk to him so much, and he didn't have much to say either, but he gradually learnt that you'd be satisfied even with short, quick answers. You didn't annoy him though, in fact, your voice was very alluring; calming, and Diluc finds himself relaxing his muscles a tad. You were also quite the archer, with precise aim and graceful movements. You watched his back even if he hadn't needed it, and it led to him taking enemies down quickly around Mondstadt with fewer injuries. It was a nice change of pace, Diluc thought. To have someone support him in his blind spots, and he makes sure to return the favor by making sure no enemy gets too close to you, luring them closer to your range.

Then, you frequented Angel's Share, especially when he was behind the counter serving customers. You'd always take a seat close to him and start talking, just as you do when you're on your nightly routines. Surely just because you've become partners of the night doesn't mean you're friends now, right? So, oftentimes, he'd tune you out and you'd earn pitying looks from everyone witnessing your attempts to befriend the stone-hearted man. Though, it never really stopped you, greeting him all the time with a lovely smile you always wore, like it was sculpted perfectly with your handsome features, eyes always so bright and full of life, even when you talk to a dull guy like him.

And he slowly, slowly, got used to your presence, and it always felt as if he was at the shore of the beach when he was with you. And when you're not close by, he finds himself yearning for you, to hear your flow of never-ending words, to see your blinding smile— just you sitting across the counter as he pours you a drink. It was as if there was a force binding him close to you, and no matter how hard he tried to pull away, to think nothing of your existence, he couldn't. There was only a risky solution to this problem; to indulge himself in whatever he was experiencing in hopes it would eventually fade away into nothing.

When he first gave you a long reply to a question you asked, descriptive and clearly attentive to every word you've said, you were understandably surprised (as well as the other people in Angel's Share who are conveniently listening to your 'conversation'). It took a few moments for you to speak again, staring at your glass of alcohol as if you were just having a drunken hallucination. Of course, Diluc had mistaken your reddening cheeks as a sign of getting drunk, so he told you to go ahead and take a rest for the night, completely unaware of how your enthusiastic face immediately fell. You got along well, in Diluc's opinion. Your topics were always bright and easy, making sure he catches on if there was something he doesn't know and never makes fun of anything he says, considerate of his opinions. You'd always tilt your head slightly to the side to listen to him, a small smile on your lips with your cheek laid on your fist. Some would say you're literally looking at him with hearts in your eyes. Diluc disagrees, only seeing it as a friendly trait of yours to listen well to what others have to say (though he doesn't understand why his heart would clench whenever he thought about this).

It took a while for Diluc to understand how he felt toward you. He thought that it was normal to feel so attached to a person, especially when you're very friendly to everyone, including him. Though, he grew confused when he had invited you for dinner at his mansion, to have a bit of a much more private chat, away from the peering eyes and ears of his regulars in his tavern. You were extremely polite to everyone you see, greeting his maids and asking if you could be of any assistance even if you were a guest. When Diluc pointed this out, you just let out an embarrassed laugh, saying that you were just used to asking that question by default, sticking by his side as he led you to the dining area.

Diluc had never had this much fun simply having dinner with a friend in ages. He didn't have much to share about himself, preferring his life to be a sealed tight book, but you were quite loquacious about yours, spilling stories of your past and of your experiences as a new knight. Normally, Diluc wouldn't be interested in anyone's stories, but he figured that when it comes to you? He could listen to you talk about anything and he wouldn't mind at all, taking bites of his meal while you tell him a rather embarrassing story of Kaeya that you had promised never to tell anyone. He even had a small smile gracing his lips, expression softening when you kept talking. He enjoyed the way your face would light up at each bite of your food, spouting praises to Adeline, who was the one who prepared your dinner. Though he didn't understand why his maids all started giggling when he wiped off the crumbs on your cheek with his thumb.

It was Adeline who made him realize that he was in love with you. He had asked her a plethora of questions; why does he always want to be with you? Why does he always feel so relaxed and comfortable when you're around? Why does your voice soothe him so much? Why does his heart start beating fast whenever you get too close to him? Adeline had never heard her Master Diluc speak so much in a short span of time, especially regarding someone and himself. So she could only come to one conclusion, hands clasped together with a big grin on her face. "Why, you're in love!" And Diluc was prepared to deny such assumptions, but he mulled over that thought a bit more, before ultimately agreeing in defeat. Yes, perhaps it was truely love. As a young boy, his father had told him about finding the one he loved when he was old enough, though he never could've imagined he'd find love anymore after his death. It honestly freaked him out upon this revelation. Thankfully, his maids were there to give him their full support between the two of you, as well as reassure their master. Though the doubt he feels whenever they encourage him to pursue you didn't leave, not one bit.

Not when you're so close to his brother. Diluc had deduced that you could never return his love for you, for you love another; Kaeya. It makes his heart ache whenever he sees the two of you together, though it made sense, for he could absolutely give you more than he could ever do. He was charming and a friendly person once you've gotten to know him, similar to you. And he was sure that others would agree to your spectacular pairing. It was as if you were meant for each other. Diluc couldn't even make you laugh like Kaeya does. It was the sole reason why he had approached your table that night when he heard Venti and the other regulars encouraging you to confess to a particular someone. Although he didn't know who it was, Diluc could only guess it was Kaeya. Who would it be if it wasn't him? And when your whole table burst out laughing, Diluc was at a loss for words, now unsure of himself.

"It's... not Kaeya..." You sighed with a shake of your head, solemnly taking a sip of your drink while Venti patted your back reassuringly. "It isn't...?" Diluc had never felt his face burn so hot, nodding and swiftly walking back behind the counter, embarrassed. After that night, the air between you has been a mite awkward, mostly because you seemed upset about something— hopefully not at him for jumping to conclusions— and he would be too nervous about speaking up first, just waiting for you to take the lead. Either way, Diluc was grateful you kept up with your consistent visits even if you were agitated over something he was unaware of.

However, one night, his brother unexpectedly helped him open his eyes to the apparent truth.

There were times when Diluc would patrol the streets of Mondstadt all by himself, which he was fine with. He didn't think you were a slacker, for you'd always excuse yourself for the nights you'd miss with him. He just didn't expect to see you walking back home with Kaeya. It seems like you've drunk a bit too much, not being able to walk straight without Kaeya's help, slurring words altogether in his ear. Diluc hadn't meant it, but he followed the two of you, eavesdropping. "That damn brother of yours..." He heard you grumble under your breath and Diluc felt himself tense, frowning. Kaeya only chuckled, having no trouble whatsoever carrying your weight. "Yes yes, what about him?"

"How... can he be so... fuckin' oblivious..." You groaned, burying your face in the fluff of his coat. Kaeya nodded his head in agreement, "I'm honestly surprised myself, I thought that you hitting on him shamelessly would send signals but I don't know how it flew over his head." His comment only made you feel even more miserable, almost tripping over nothing. Diluc wasn't safe either, almost stumbling over a pile of crates at what Kaeya said. You? Hitting on him? Wait— when? Diluc had no idea—

"Seriously... who tells someone they're so pretty and shit all the damn time...?"

...Oh.

"You are so determined too! Other ladies who tried to get his attention always get disheartened and lose interest once he turns them down."

"I always go to his tavern whenever I can..."

"You talk to him, and I don't care if that's the bare minimum. I'm genuinely impressed you've even made him say a simple yes or no the first few days you've talked."

"Surely he... must've noticed how smitten I am..."

He accidentally lit a crate on fire.

"Oh honey, I doubt it."

You held onto Kaeya tighter, complaining to him about Diluc, a look of exasperation gracing your pretty features, before ultimately passing out in his hold, too drunk to go on. Kaeya stopped in his tracks, a small amused smirk on his lips as he turned his head to the side, staring into the darkness. "Dear me, it seems like I've got errands to do." He says to the shadows. Diluc could only cross his arms with a sigh, stepping out where he hid, eyes narrowed at Kaeya. "Oh! Diluc! I didn't know you were there! Can you be a dear and take him home for me?" Kaeya smiled innocently, already passing your unconscious body into his arms without waiting for his reply, including your house keys.

"Hold on, I don't—" Diluc tried to refute, but he carefully laced his arm under your legs, picking you up with both his arms, glaring at Kaeya, only to be cut off.

"Oh, yes you do! You've walked him home before!" Diluc raised his brow slightly, surprised he even knew of that. "He tells me everything, don't get jealous now~" And with that, Kaeya walked away, leaving Diluc a flustered and agitated mess, while you nuzzled close to his chest, sleeping away. Nevertheless, he carried you all the way to your house, unlocking it with the keys Kaeya entrusted to him, and laid you gently on your bed. He felt his hands shake when he shed a layer of your clothing to try and help you breathe a little easier, then tucked you in nicely.

Diluc wanted to leave as quickly as possible, no matter how much he wanted to admire you for a bit longer, or to slip into your bed right next to you and possibly hold you throughout the night, but he shouldn't. Especially from what he heard a while ago. He still hasn't been able to process the truth he'd found out. Just being in your mere presence makes him so embarrassed and ashamed he hasn't been able to properly recognize your rather obvious affection for him, but once he turned his back on you, he felt a tug on his wrist, pulling him towards you and he fell. Arms on both sides of your head, propping himself up to prevent him from crushing you, jaw slacked when he felt your warm hands cup his face, drawing him close to you until he could feel your hot breath against his lips, brushing lightly against each other.

He almost jerked away from you and he was sure that his cheeks were as red as his hair. Diluc was so stiff above you, and it seemed like you caught wind of it even when you were drunk, so you pulled away, blinking your eyes sleepily. "Mmm... Wish I could kiss you right now..." You mutter, rubbing circles with your thumb on his cheeks, before nodding off back to sleep.

Easy to say that it has been quite awkward for the next few days, with you worriedly asking if he's okay, and him, shying away every time you get close, face completely red.

It doesn't help that Kaeya's been visiting more with a knowing smirk directed at him.

If you want to be tagged in future works, fill out this form to be added to my taglist! Remember that usernames are only lowercase and have no spaces!

Taglist: @anniejourn, @dilucssiliconedildo, @achlysyo, @sunoo-bby, @iyagato, @randomidk-123, @kujobug, @louise-rosita-leroux, @eliciana, @gattahaveit1, @vvyeislazzy

- ̥۪͙۪˚┊❛❛ If you like this a lot, consider reblogging! I'll appreciate it very very much! Don't repost and/or translate my work anywhere. ❜❜ ┊˚ ̥۪͙۪◌

#yaepublishinghouse #diluc x reader #diluc ragnvindr x reader #genshin x reader #genshin impact x reader #:;marshie.writes #:;oneshots #:;diluc.ragnvindr #NOT ME WRITING A LONG FIC FOR DILUC BEFORE KAEYA #IM A CHEATER SOOOBBBB #this is shorter bc i rushed it ... insecurity is wild !!

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homomenhommes · 5 months

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THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY

based on: The White Crane Institute's 'Gay Wisdom', Gay Birthdays, Gay For Today, Famous GLBT, glbt-Gay Encylopedia, Today in Gay History, Wikipedia, and more … November 24

1632 – Baruch Spinoza, the Dutch philosopher was born on this date (d. 1677). One of the great rationalists of 17th century philosophy, he laid the groundwork for the 18th century Enlightenment and modern biblical criticism. By virtue of his magnum opus, the posthumous Ethics, Spinoza is also considered one of Western philosophy's definitive ethicists. He was raised and educated in the Orthodox Jewish fashion, also studying Latin and was thoroughly familiar with European humanism.

What exactly is it that caused him to be excommunicated from the synagogue when he was only 24 years old? Many scholars have speculated that the horror Spinoza inspired in the Jewish community may have come not only from his espousal of advanced economic theories, but from his espousal, as well, of Greek love among impressionable students in the liberal circle where he taught. A Dutch physician, J. Roderpoort, wrote at The Hague in 1897: "Spinoza excites the youth to respect women not at all and to give themselves to debauchery." Was Spinoza merely teaching the Greek and Roman classics, with their inevitable passages on pederasty? What were Roderpoort's motives for discrediting the Jewish philosopher? Was Spinoza, in fact a pederast? It's all open to speculation.

1930 – Albert Wolsky is an American costume designer. He has worked both on stage shows as well as for film, and has received two Academy Awards, for his work on the films All That Jazz and Bugsy.

Wolsky was born in Paris, France, but during World War II, he and the rest of his family fled to the United States to escape the German occupation. After graduating from the City College of New York, he served in the army from 1953–56, spending most of his enlistment in Japan. Once he returned to the United States, he began working in his father's travel agency. However, he decided to change careers and took an assistant's job with notable costume maker Helene Pons.

Wolsky became a well-regarded costume designer, working both on Broadway and in the motion picture industry.

His longtime partner was actor James Mitchell.

1940 – Arthur Tress, American photographer, born. The uncompromising, poetic imagery of American photographer Arthur Tress is the stuff of dreams, called forth from the artist's reckoning with the world and his place in it.

A New Yorker, he began his photographic career at age twelve, making snapshots of dilapidated mansions and Coney Island decay. An introverted child of divorce, Tress moved between two worlds--his lower-class mother's neighborhoods and his nouveau riche, remarried father's more prosperous one, observing and eventually photographing both milieus.

As he recalls, from a very young age he was already aware that his sexuality was different from most of his classmates and he was drawn to subject matter that was similarly marginalized and different.

During his studies at Bard College, Tress explored painting and filmmaking but was ultimately committed to still photography. Although he worked in a documentary style, from the beginning his imagery was characterized by a surrealist sensibility.

After graduation Tress traveled the world, in part financed by his father and also supporting himself by making ethnographic and documentary images. During his travels he became increasingly influenced by his experience of other cultures, particularly in matters of spirituality and consciousness.

Tress's first book, The Dream Collector (1972), was an attempt to visualize children's dreams, often featuring children whom Tress had interviewed as models. His second book, Shadow: A Novel in Photographs (1975), showed "portraits" of the photographer's shadow and explored the idea that the shadow literally and metaphorically represented one's dark side.

Theater of the Mind (1976), which included an essay by his friend and mentor, gay photographer Duane Michals, explored adult fantasies and marked the introduction in Tress's work of overtly erotic imagery. As Tress explained, he sought to make "photographs [that] attempt to make explicit . . . sexual passions and ironies."

"Superman Fantasy"

Around 1972 Tress consciously began to include what he called "the more intimate spheres of a gay sexuality and homoerotic fantasy life." Facing Up (1977-1980), alternately titled Phallic Phantasy, was Tress's first explicitly conscious exploration of his sexuality in which he exclusively photographed male nudes.

"Groom with White Arabian"

Many of these images were included in Tress's homoerotic homage, Male of the Species: Four Decades of Photography of Arthur Tress (1999), which culls imagery from Tress's forty-year career of exploring the male body and sexuality. The sensual photographs, sequenced in a loose narrative of experience from youth to death, matter-of-factly infuse male sexuality with humor and irony.

In contrast, Tress's obsessive constructions made and photographed for the Hospital series (1984-1987) are a garish, nightmarish reckoning with health-related issues and death in the era of AIDS.

1954 – James Lecesne is an American actor, author, screenwriter, and LGBT rights activist best known for his screenplay of the Academy-award winning short film Trevor. He has written several books including Absolute Brightness and Virgin Territory, and is also active in the entertainment industry as an actor and producer.

Lecesne wrote the 1995 short film Trevor, which won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. He based the screenplay for Trevor on a character from his one-man show Word of Mouth. Also in 1995, Word of Mouth won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One-Person Show. Word of Mouth was directed by Eve Ensler.

In 1998, on the night Ellen DeGeneres hosted the television debut of Trevor on HBO, Lecesne co-founded and launched The Trevor Project as the first nationwide 24-hour crisis intervention lifeline for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth, including phone, in-person and online life-affirming resources such as Trevor Lifeline, TrevorChat, TrevorSpace, Ask Trevor and Trevor Education Workshops. The Trevor Project has been supported by a wide variety of celebrities, including Daniel Radcliffe, Neil Patrick Harris, James Marsden, Kim Kardashian, George Takei, and Anderson Cooper.

1984 – Wolf Hudson is a Dominican American film director, street dancer and pornographic actor of heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual films.

Hudson started his adult film career in 2006 at age 22 in New York when he was cast by Michael Lucas in the Lucas Entertainment project Michael Lucas' Auditions Vol. 22. He moved to San Francisco in early 2007 to focus on his career in the pornographic film industry full-time and to work for gay pornographic film studio Factory Videos.

In August 2008, he co-starred in the GayVN Award-winning bisexual film Shifting Gears , directed by Chi Chi LaRue. The film stirred up controversy when the term "Straight-for-pay" (a play on word for Gay-for-pay) was coined to reference performer Blake Riley's first encounter with a woman (Shy Love) and liking it. Riley received most of the criticism, but so did Hudson and LaRue.

Hudson appeared in the third season of the Canadian TV show Webdreams , which followed Jet Set Men directors Chris Steele and Chad Donovan.

Hudson turned down an offer to appear on a January 22, 2009, episode of The Tyra Banks Show concerning Gay-for-pay performers. He expressed his reservations about appearing because of how the show could twist things around to make the guys look bad.

Hudson identifies himself as heterosexual, even going as far as to call himself a "sexualist" instead of gay-for-pay. He is quoted as saying, "I am not conventional. I am not fully straight because I do gay porn, but I'm not bi because I don't date men in my personal life. I define myself as a 'sexualist'. I think Chi Chi LaRue came up with that term and it works for me."

1991 – Freddie Mercury, lead singer for Queen, died of complications from AIDS. It was only the day before that he acknowledged that he had the disease. He left most of his estate to a former girlfriend, Mary Austen, who cared for him during his final months

2015 – The Vietnamese National Assembly passes a law that allows those who have undergone sex reassignment surgery to register under their preferred sex. However, sex reassignment surgery is illegal in Vietnam. The law comes into effect in 2017.

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tsintotwo · 2 years

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(Part 3/4)

3rd post talking about Tom Sturridge in his projects (Earlier: Parts 1 and 2)

Being Julia (2004)- Movie about a stage diva and her midlife crisis + resolution (affair w/ younger man, disillusion, value of family). Tom plays Julia's 17y/o son. He is 100% a classic upper class Brit boy in this- all white shirts, sensible haircut, and blinding good looks. Small role, but he's pitch-perfect. This is one of his earliest works (edit: his first role as a grownup actor, actually!), but you can't tell at all from the movie. Also, our boy has just always had a very nice voice, huh.

A Waste of Shame (2004)- Who are Shakespeare's sonnets really about? This BBC tv movie was a fictionalized exploration of that. It is on youtube...in Spanish- which, even if the dubbing wouldn't have thrown me off, I don't speak anyway. But someone very kindly uploaded all of Tom's scenes and that's what I watched. Shakespeare wrote a bunch of gay poems about a 'fair youth'- W.H. We don't know who this really was irl, but in the movie W.H. is earl Will Herbert, played by Tom. Now, this is what Shakespeare wrote: "A woman’s face with nature’s own hand painted/Hast thou, the master-mistress of my passion..." So, clearly they needed someone really, really pretty for this role. Tom says bet. Wouldn't say he embodied the androgynous vibe, but a VERY fair youth indeed. AND charming. I could totally see The Bard writing 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?' about him. Not seeing the whole movie, I can't be sure, but it seemed like the guy playing Shakespeare (Rupert Graves)... didn't, uh, slay? I mean, Tom's switching it on (we all know what that's like) and his vibe is like 'meh'. We could have more chemistry (which was supposed to be the POINT). But, oh, well.

The Boat That Rocked/Pirate Radio (2009)- Man, a proper British comedy is such. a. DELIGHT!!! This movie made me laugh hysterically and lifted my heart in a way few things have recently. It's about a pirate(=unlicensed) radio station in the 60s that broadcast govt. unapproved content- from a boat. It has an ensemble cast, but Tom features pretty prominently- he's often the audience-POV character. Big names in the cast, and Tom was on par with every single one of them. Honestly, after a while I stopped seeing Tom and just saw 'Young Carl'- his character. And I loved Young Carl. Just- do yourself a favor and watch this movie, okay? (I wish Tom would do more comedies)

Effie Gray (2014)- About the (terrible) marriage of famous art critic John Ruskin and his wife Effie. Effie (Dakota Fanning) eventually falls in love with painter John Everett Millais- Tom in the movie. This movie... is a bit too straightforward imo, it could've been more nuanced (but then sometimes it's too subtle, to the point of making things vague). What I LOVED tho: loads of shots in this look like gorgeous old paintings. Anyway, about Tom: this is actually the movie where he felt most unlike Tom to me (well, except Sandman. I've racked up HOURS looking at this man at this point, and still when I see Morpheus, I just see Morpheus- non-human Dreamlord, not a human actor. Anyway). Tom as Everett looks different (handsome still ❤️) in period clothing and with a beard, but that's not it. He's... grounded in this. We see his quiet air of compassion and conflict, love blooming from kindness and sympathy. Zero sexy vibes, silent attraction, patience and respect. Just, so clean and pure *chef's kiss* (I will say tho, in usual Tom fashion we see every subtlest thing he feels on his face and eyes whereas Dakota is... blank a lot of times. Not the best performance from her.) The movie sort of has an open ending and I had to google this-but Effie and Everett irl ended up getting married, yay! (And had EIGHT children- all right babes!)

Skin (2019)- (Plot: What if Alexa was your grief counselor?) Tom's character is a wreck in this short film- he's gross, broken, and slowly killing himself. As the film requires, he's been shot very unflatteringly, and the camera is on him 100% of the time. So, at the end of the 11 minutes, when your heart is absolutely breaking for him, you know it's not because you were attracted to Tom, it's because he's just that good. Gosh, I watched this 3 times already. A little gem. (Watch here)

I think one more post and I can wrap this series up, 'cause all that's left is Tom's cameos, mostly. Then I might do a bonus ep with links to performances/interviews/fanvids that are worth looking at imo. We'll see. Till then.

#tom sturridge #dream of the endless #morpheus #sandman #the sandman #a waste of shame #shakespeare #effie gray #being julia #pirate radio #the boat that rocked #skin 2019 #john everett millais

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hee-blee-art · 3 months

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are there any specific ocs your rotating in your brain rn that you wanna talk about ✨👀

yes! always :)

recently I've been thinking a lot about my toyhouse corners guys as I continue working on their comic, especially basil, alfred, foster, and mac :) coincidentally (or not so) they're the four of the cast who do the most yearning and pining and of course I'm very normal about all that (that's a lie they all make me insane). I can't wait to reveal more about them, I could (and will) talk about them for ages (any questions always welcome, I'll try not to spoil anything too big). particularly I've been thinking about basil's past, his complex troubles with getting close to people, and his relationship to whisk, a troubled kitten who he sees a lot of his younger self in and may or may not be fixated on trying to help because he wishes he could somehow reach though time and help himself when he was a kitten in a similar position to her. all in all I am very excited to keep putting those guys in situations (there will be a candyland, a creepy safety village-esque town, and a mirage-like travelling megastore called appleworld in their future).

I've also been thinking (as I often do) about my tragic fantasy gays, sebastian & konstantine. I've been busy enriching their world with lore and planning out their story so I can start (yet another) draft for the first book of the grey circle, and with that comes a lot of thinking about those two, the haunted prince & his begrudgingly valiant knight who knows him better than anyone and yet cannot know him fully because of his unfathomable secret... oh, there's just something so intimate about being doomed by the narrative and bound together, done part by none, not even death <3 they're very enemies to lovers in a "we're on the same side but I can't stand you but I also can't stand to be without you and if anyone messes with you I'll kill them" way, which I can't get enough of myself.

also! the grey circle has lots of characters I haven't posted about nearly as much but are so dear to me and that I oft rotate in my brain, like ilèan & cainiph, who are a very skilled fairy princess with truly profound mommy issues and cain-and-abel vibes with her sister & an adrenaline junkie bounty hunter who is a bit of a hothead and accidently becomes a werewolf :) another mismatched pair that end up needing each other as much as air. and of course, gren & bain, the little mousy halfling-type creatures who are inseparable best friends in love beyond words, a sly bartender & a leisure-loving bard respectively, both incredibly curious and brave beyond credit, setting out to right a wrong and solve an old family mystery. I think about the grey circle very often, it's one of my favourite little worlds to visit in my head & I can't wait until I have something written that allows others to visit as well :)

the last herd of ocs I've been preoccupied with lately are my room & board cast, the characters for a comic idea I have about silly and bizarre sci-fi/fantasy comic about alternate-dimension-faring roommates travelling in a house-turned-spaceship in search of a (the?) holy grail. they're all old ocs of mine (6+ years I think) that I've rebooted a few different times, and returning to them after some years off feels like reconnecting with old friends as cheesy as that sounds. I genuinely missed them, and I'm excited to be messing about with a story for them again, even if it's just for fun. I've especially been thinking about the main(est) character, martin, and how her journey with transness fits into their larger existential and relentlessly silly adventures.

thnks for offering the stage to talk about my ocs! I love talking about them but I'm not always sure anyone wants to hear, but perhaps it's time I curb that mindset and just start putting more out there because it's fun for me :) also! if anyone reads all this, first of all thnk you for indulging me, and second I am genuinely always open to hearing about other people's ocs, whether through ask or dm or whatever! I know it can be intimidating to just reach out of the blue but I really do love talking about people's characters / stories / creations and I am always open to it. maybe I ought to make some more dedicated venue for that sort of thing but yeah casual oc chat is always an option! I hope anyone who sees this has a wonderful day / night :)

#asks #my very sincere thnks whimsy; this was such a nice ask to receive!#your artwork & characters are so lovely & I am very humbled that you'd be interested in mine :)#toyhouse corners #they grey circle #room & board #(I may end up archiving this on butchjesus but I'll leave it up here for now)

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