beyond gl / bl
what are 6 of your fav queer fiction works that don’t center a romance arc? they can be explicitly queer or subtextual; books, comics, tv, or film. then tag 6 friends (or frenemies) to queer it up with.
thank u @imminentinertia for queering it up with me! <3 i'm curious to find out if i'll make the list, i love romance and naturally gravitate to those works of fiction :]
#1: the spear cuts through water by simon jimenez (novel)
this is an exercise in narrative structure that takes the reader through different perspectives and timelines and realities following the fall of an empire. i read this dec '24 and it opened doors in my brain. not a book for everyone, but i'm a slut for cool narration shit
#2, snapdragon by kat leyh (comic)
a magical, spooky, heartwarming story about outcasts and the changes that queer liberation has undergone throughout different generations told from the perspective of a very nosy granddaughter. i need to reread this at some point, but i remember that it enchanted me! the illustrations are so pretty, and the characters are all so interesting
#3, a hundred thousand kingdoms + sequels (novel)
i reread this trilogy just recently! each book centers a different cast of characters, but at its core it is about an incredibly dysfunctional, very terrible, evil and backstabbing polycule of gods who make their marriage problems everyone else's problem!
#4, the vanished birds by simon jimenez (novel)
bought and read this immediately after i'd read spear! much darker and more personal than spear, less sweeping worldbuilding, but just as grand and beautifully written. what happens if an evil scientist has the worst breakup of her life and it radiates outwards thousand years into the future, and she is still alive! very good
#5, record of the missing sect master 教主走失記 by yishi huashang 一世华裳 (novel)
the legendary sect master of the denomic sect has gone missing, but somewhere else a mysterious young man with amnesia shows up. the jianghu is thrown into chaos! i reread this three times already, it's such a fun story with a very impressive plot and a lot of characters and a loooooot of secrets. and the footnotes! i love informative footnotes
i think this might be categorized as a danmei but the romance is not the main arc (is this bl??? does it count as bl??? what even is bl??? many questions)
#6, thornfruit + sequels by felicia davin (novel)
another recent reread! incredible story with a very heartwarming polycule, a big world, a butch who can kick ass who everyone simps for (as they should), eggsellent sex scenes, and ever increasing stakes
this is a very close thing i'd say, because it is written by a romance author and like a romance, but the romance is just this way off-center :D saving the world and the people u love is a bit more important. i guess when i say "like a romance" i mean, the attention to emotional intimacy, to feelings, and the narrative importance of emotional tension and climax is the way i know it from romance novels? more authors should do that
tagging @yanhuitianyao @aiyexayen @geneticcatalyst @candidsoup @stuck-in-the-ghost-zone @intertexts i want to know all your media opinions (+also everyone else who wants to participate! everyone! consider yourself tagged by me)
