Brooke - 27 - ATL - she/her Sharing my journey as I teach myself digital art and playing around with my Copic markers! Ko-fi - https://ko-fi.com/clementine14560010
here’s some lgbt book recs (specifically ones i don’t see get recced very often) because this is a dyke blog, under the cut because this got loooooong
her royal highness by rachel hawkins: my favorite book! millie, an american high school senior, goes to a boarding school in scotland for her senior year of high school, and ends up rooming with princess flora of scotland. this book is basically the wlw version of red white and royal blue (although i like hrh better), with an enemies to friends to lover romance and of course, they’re roommates. it’s super sweet and just a really heartwarming (although emotionally impactful not just cute!!) read, it’s most definitely a feel-good book. millie is bi and flora is a lesbian, and both are white. also this is a sequel but it’s not at all necessary to have read the first book.
late to the party by kelly quindlen: this is a coming of age story about codi, a white lesbian who has spent most of high school isolated from typical high school experiences and instead only spending time with her two best friends, maritza (who is latina and bi) and jakory (who is black and gay iirc). one night she accidentally strikes up a friendship with the popular and closeted gay & black ricky, and she starts having all these new experiences with him and his friends, such as first party, first time drinking, maybe even first girlfriend. the only problem is that maritza and jakory don’t know about any of it. i really loved this book, and i think codi as a character will be relatable to any lgbt person; i know i personally related to a lot of her feelings of missing out on experiences and feeling out of place.
only mostly devastated by sophie gonzalez: if you love the musical grease but wish it was a lot less sexist and generally fucked up, you should read this book. this is a modern, mlm version of grease, with main characters ollie (who is white and gay) and will (who is bi and i’m pretty sure latino). ollie has his dream summer fling with will, but when he ends up moving to go to the same high school as will, he realizes that not only does will act like a completely different person at school, he’s closeted (unlike ollie who is out). fyi that this book does deal with homophobia (some people make homophobic comments about ollie and there’s stuff with will being closeted) and one of the main storylines involves ollie’s aunt having cancer (and iirc, spoiler: his aunt dying from cancer). this book has a sweet romance while also touching on more serious topics, and it will definitely make you both laugh and cry.
the winter duke by claire eliza bartlett: read this one recently, and it’s definitely a new favorite! ekata is a princess of the frozen kylma above and a middle child, with no expectation or desire of ever becoming duke, instead planning to focus on her academic studies. days before she’ll finally escape her murderous family and head to a university in the south, though, her entire family falls into a mysterious sleep, and ekata inherits the throne, the magical powers of the underwater kylma below, and an arranged marriage to inkar, daughter of her father’s enemy. this book took me a while to get into but i absolutely loved it once the plot got going; if you enjoy court intrigue you will definitely enjoy this. the romance is more of a side plot but one of the best i’ve read lately, and this was a fantasy world where being lgbt was completely normalized! multiple side characters use they/them pronouns, ekata’s brother had both male and female brides at his brideshow, and ekata and inkar are both wlw (and i think also white). this one also has a really good twist if that’s something you look for in books.
laura dean keeps breaking up with me by mariko tamaki: this is a graphic novel and a quick read, but definitely an impactful one. it’s about freddy, an (i think half-white, half-)asian lesbian who keeps getting dumped by, and then getting back together with, the same girl, laura dean. a lot of wlw books focus on more soft and sweet wlw relationships, but it’s important to also show unhealthy relationships and not normalize their behavior, which is what this book does. the art is also super gorgeous, and the story includes messages of not putting romantic relationships above friendships. trigger warning for abortion and pedophilia (spoiler if you want to know completely what happens: freddy’s best friend doodle, who is also a teenager, sleeps with an older man, gets pregnant, and has an abortion. nothing explicit is shown). i’ve read this book about six times and i love it more with every read!
i wish you all the best by mason deaver: this is also a heavier read, about a nonbinary amab gay (or maybe nblm?) white teen, ben, who gets thrown out of their home by their parents and has to move in with their estranged older sister and her husband. they decide to be closeted at their new school, but this becomes more difficult when they start falling for the kind and charismatic nathan allen (who is black and gay iirc). ben also deals with intense anxiety, and rejection from having been thrown out of their home. this one deals with some very intense transphobia and homophobia, so only read if you’re in the headspace to be able to handle that. i personally loved it though, it overall has a hopeful tone despite dark moments, and the author themself is nonbinary (and i think also nblm?) which makes it that much easier to connect to.
the seven husbands of evelyn hugo by taylor jenkins reid: an adult novel for once! this book tells the story of evelyn hugo, a latina (but white-passing iirc) old hollywood movie star (fictional if that wasn’t clear lol) who, in her old age, has decided to be open about her bisexuality in an expose with unknown magazine reporter monique grant. evelyn tells the story of each of her seven husbands, as well as a secret relationship which had never before come to light. i’m doing a bad job of describing this because i’m trying not to give away spoilers but seriously, read this book. it’s so immersive and wonderful, romance and intrigue and very glamorous drama all wrapped up into one book. tw for homophobia and possibly racism; maybe look up a different list because i don’t remember this one super well.
aaaaaand that’s enough for today, thank you so much for asking and if anyone reads any of these please lmk your thoughts!! sorry for this long-ass post.
A compilation of stuff I know about drawing Asian faces and Asian culture! I feel like many “How-To-Draw” tutorials often default to European faces and are not really helpful when drawing people of other races. So I thought I’d put this together in case anyone is interested! Feel free to share this guide and shoot me questions if you have any! I’m by no means an expert, I just know a few things from drawing experience and from my own cultural background.
i didn’t mean to make this so long but i wanted to both analyze my own style and give other people a look into it! I hope someone can find some use for it!
Some Morgan and Audrey sketches from @mezoereed‘s next book, Endgame (which will be coming out next month or you can get accesss to it by his patreon here !)
They’re both so adorable and I keep giggling like a dumbass while reading it 😭💛
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