⠀𓊈 ♰ 𓊉 ⠀݁⠀⠀⠀˖⠀⠀ 𓃭 ⠀゛⠀ 𝐉𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐒 𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐀 𝐒𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐄𝐑, his rugged hands firmly closed around your hips. You’re on top of him, his back is pressed against the ivory velvet of his dispensable couch. when you pull back he watches you, hooded lids framing his hazel irises. His tongue dark over his lips, tasting the gloss you left on him; His brows knitted. He didn’t recognize that one . Was that a new gloss ?
“ What ?” You asked. Your limbs sneaked into his hairs. You liked how they curled on his head, a sea of salt and pepper beauty you definitely liked long enough to be played with. Or held. Especially when he went down on you. One of his slithered to your face and tipped your head down. It was your turn to frown, but not without a smile tugging at the corner of your lips. “ It’s new.”
“...What’s new ?”
“ Your gloss.” You look at through your falsies. He stares back and you lat out an amused laugh.
“ Jack, how come you remember what gloss I don’t have ? Yes it’s new. It’s Riri’s gloss bomb. My friend gave me one, you know ? The one working at Sephora downtown.”
“ You like it ? ” He asks absent mindly, eyes contemplating your sparkling lips. The glitters scattered all over your petals made them look more appealing, more kissable. And if he didn’t want to kiss you again he’d be a mad man.
“ Yeah. It’s nice, I guess.”
The following day when you pull out your keys to open your apartment door, you can’t help but notice the box sitting on your doorstop. You don’t recall ordering anything and your monthly deliveries were not even shipped yet. What on Earth ? You kick your heels off and slip into your more comfortable indoors one. Curious as ever you unpack the mysterious box and your eyes wide at the sight of a pink fenty beauty heart shaped box.
It had to be Jack. Your generous and devoted boyfriend, Jack Abbot. Who else would that be ?
What am I ready to lose in this advancing summer?
As the days that seemed long
grow shorter and shorter
I want to chew up time
until every moment expands
in an emotional mathematic
that includes the smell and texture
of every similar instant since I was born.
Happy Muslim/Arab American Heritage Month and Tamil Heritage Month!
I will never forget the time a queer Muslim writer friend who was doing an MFA called me up and walked me through how to write a scene, how to show not tell.
it’s been so incredible getting messages from folks spanning a range of identities —queer or Muslim or queer and Muslim or neither —with whom the book resonated.
Lamya H, Author of Hijab Butch Blues.
When fourteen-year-old Lamya H realizes she has a crush on her teacher—her female teacher—she covers up her attraction, an attraction she can’t yet name, by playing up her roles as overachiever and class clown. Born in South Asia, she moved to the Middle East at a young age and has spent years feeling out of place, like her own desires and dreams don’t matter, and it’s easier to hide in plain sight. To disappear. But one day in Quran class, she reads a passage about Maryam that changes everything: When Maryam learned that she was pregnant, she insisted no man had touched her. Could Maryam, uninterested in men, be . . . like Lamya?
From that moment on, Lamya makes sense of her struggles and triumphs by comparing her experiences with some of the most famous stories in the Quran. She juxtaposes her coming out with Musa liberating his people from the pharoah; asks if Allah, who is neither male nor female, might instead be nonbinary; and, drawing on the faith and hope Nuh needed to construct his ark, begins to build a life of her own—ultimately finding that the answer to her lifelong quest for community and belonging lies in owning her identity as a queer, devout Muslim immigrant.
RATING
Explicit (18+ only)
PAIRING
General Marcus Acacius x BIPOC OFC (‘Sita’)
FORMAT & SETTING
Historic Retelling & Gladiator II AU
WORD COUNT PER CHAPTER (7)
approx. 5k+
STATUS
Complete
SUMMARY
History, in its fickleness, may forget her name, but the truth endures: Sita, princess of the Kushans—cast aside by her kin, traded in dowries—seized a bargain of her own. She knew power need not only rise from the sword, but from the marriage bed, from a whisper at a ruler’s ear, from the silence that follows a kiss.
In Rome, she was bound—to a foreign man, the enemy, Marcus Acacius, a decorated general, a conqueror, and yet a weapon she resolved to wield. What began as a treaty unfurled into a perilous game of loyalty and betrayal, of conspiracy and desire. Sita’s fate was tested... would she remain Acacius’ consort—lashed, overshadowed—or would she rise as Rome’s queen?
CHAPTER INDEX
WE MEASURE IN “SHADRIPU” (षड्-रिपु)
⁂ Sanskrit, meaning “six enemies” of the soul.
LOBHA — greed — prologue
MADHA — arrogance
MOHA — attachment
KĀMA — lust
MĀTSARYA — jealousy
KRODHA — rage
MOKSHA — peace — epilogue
VOCABULARY (subject to addition as the story progresses; translations of the Hindi language dialogue will be indicated beside every line.)
Rani -> queen (honorific)
Rajkumari -> princess (honorific)
Devi -> lady (honorific)
Pitaji -> father (honorific)
Bhai / Bhaiya-> brother
Beti / Beta -> dear daughter / dear son
murti -> idol of a deity
Navratri -> nine nights, a festival that symbolises the victory of good over evil.
diya -> oil lamp
mandir -> temple
agni -> fire
puja -> daily worship, prayers
Saptapadi -> seven steps made by bride and groom to bind them for seven lives
tilak / sindhoor -> a mark on the forehead made with vermilion to signify marriage.
MY INSPO PLAYLIST
TAGS
SITA is pronounced SEE-THA, written as a historic retelling, I turn into a wannabe Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Hinduism, Indian culture and traditions, Roman culture and traditions, enemies-to-lovers, outsider queen manipulating court politics, palace intrigue, power-hungry OC, I-will-burn-the-world-to-keep-you-trope, arranged political marriage, slow trust, complicated loyalty.
CONTENT WARNINGS
polyamory, eventual royal gilded smut wohoooo (p in v, oral - female and male receiving), humiliation, misogyny, rape, miscarriage, sexism, oppression, gossip.
TAGLIST (to the few interested sweethearts) 🫶
{ @woodxtock -> my whole entire life, @oolongreads -> my number one, @ultra-nina-bella , @ovaryacted , @puduvallee , @tezooks , @finco99 , @whenillflourish }
Have you read any of these sapphic AANHPI books?
Which of these sapphic AANHPI books are on your tbr?
Share this post to add more queer books to your tbr during AANHPI Heritage Month!
Happy Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (AANHPI Heritage Month)! This month celebrates about 40 distinct groups originating from the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Observing AANHPI Heritage Month by reading queer books is an opportunity to understand and appreciate diverse cultures and experiences you may feel unfamiliar with. For me, a bisexual Palestinian in a sapphic relationship, these stories have an extra special place in my heart. I wish I'd had them growing up.
These queer stories help deconstruct the false binary that being queer and Asian are mutually exclusive (as a queer Palestinian, I'm often told that my own people will "throw me off rooftops," which is just lovely). Queer books also help normalize queer identities, experiences, and relationships, which is becoming increasingly important as book banning becomes more common. These books are more than entertainment for some of us; they're a form of validation, comfort, even acting as a lifeline when we feel alone. Finding these books can help queer readers find acceptance, even between pages.
I know the more I type, the less you read, but please don't ignore these books, ESPECIALLY sapphic books as achillian books are fetishized and sapphic stories are thrown to the wayside. Instead, please consider sharing this list of sapphic books for AANHPI Heritage Month, adding sapphic books to your tbr, and celebrating these diverse + queer voices yearround.
Asian Poly (Polynesian) Pasifika Native 🪭🏮🐉Multidisciplinary Creative. Writer Artist Creator 🇫🇷 🇨🇳 🇻🇳 🇵🇫 LGBT (Queer Trans Nonbinary Polyam) Qtipoc (Queer Trans Native Third Gender)🪶 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈⚧∞❤️Native of Color Literary Performance Artist. ✒️📜✨ Indigenous Pasifika 🐚 🌺 🏝️ 🪝 🌋 Creative Writing Fiction Writer. 🎬 📖 📜 🎶 ✏️ Multiple Disabled (Autistic Neurodivergent Chronically ill Mentally ill Disabled) ♿️ ♾️🧠🥄🌻 Native of color Small Indie Variety Content Creator Gamer Streamer Podcaster. 🎮 🎧 🎙 📷 📺 Any and all pronouns. Including neo pronouns and indigenous pronouns. Level 30 Hero and Adventurer. Asks are for writing and art commissions only.
💬 0 🔁 0 ❤️ 0 · Native Intro For Social Media · 💬 0 🔁 1 ❤️ 1 · Native Intro For Social Social Media Part 1 · Native Introduction for Soci
💬 0 🔁 0 ❤️ 0 · Native Intro For Social Media · 💬 0 🔁 0 ❤️ 0 · Native Intro For Social Media Part 9 · Expanded info about my wips art and
💬 0 🔁 0 ❤️ 0 · Native Intro For Social Media · 💬 0 🔁 0 ❤️ 0 · Native Intro For Social Media Part 17 · Hyper-fixations and Interests as a
New tumblr. Since the old one I used as a singular native intro for social media was part of a mass hack as a visibly marginalized social media user. By a yt non native hacker. Had to make a new one from scratch. I wasn’t a big account but still a visibly outspoken and marginalized one. I had a lot of content, writing, art, activism etc there as a disabled and lgbt native of color content creator and multidisciplinary creative. It’s tiring building and rebuilding the bipoc qtipoc and disabled community I had here again. I don’t remember everyone I knew on there is a big part of that problem. As I am a multiple disabled native person of color. After that mass hack I am being more strict with my boundaries sphere and space here online. BYI Be sure to check out my bio links and pinned post. Everything is numbered so you can keep track of where you are. For readability and accessibility purposes. For privacy security and safety reasons. Esp as a visibly brown disabled and lgbt native of color.
Remember these symbols hashtags and that byi are in my bio and pinned post for a reason. Trying to curate and protect my social media sphere and space here. Always editing and updating with new info. Check before following. Check before interacting. For new and old followers and lurkers. When you are done reading it. Be sure to like and reblog the bio and pinned post. Of the singular post versions on tumblr wordpress and blogspot. Of the pinned thread versions on bluesky and threads of instagram. For the algorithm and amplification. This also lets me keep track with my multiple disabilities of who has or hasn’t read my intro before following or interacting with me. Hard to remember otherwise. Please respect my sphere, boundaries, & space here.
hi idk if you remember this (if you don’t i’m literally so sorry) but i was just wondering if you got my ask from a little bit ago asking for recs for authors of color?
hi babe, im so sorry! i did not forget, i just had a fun format idea for it but never got around to making it all pretty so i'll just drop the list of my fav black/poc authors. i will always make sure to try and keep this updated and other people–please feel free to reblog with additions as well <3
@heavenbarnes @ovaryacted @oldermenfucker @mcondance @stargirlfics @clubsoft @cinewhore @flofaiiry @sugaredfawn @starliis @pyraomen @gazlocked @tojisteddy @missduval @szatears @princessphilly @miss-vanta-likes-to-write @missduval @lxvvie @murdrdocs @megamindsecretlair @emjayewrites @dulcebloodhnd @letsgobarbs @gardenof-venus @joeloverture @kedsandtubesocks @moonlight-prose @joelsdagger @thatcorporategirlie @gothcsz @sweeethearts @hashtagsupershitt @joannasteez @sceletaflores @jackrrabbot (IF I WE INTERACT REGULARLY, YOU'RE A BLACK/POC AUTHOR, AND I DIDN'T TAG YOU, PLEASE PLEASE FORGIVE ME. IT EITHER JUST LEGIT SLIPPED MY MIND OR I WASN'T SURE AND DIDN'T WANT TO ASSUME!!)
