hello! my (pen)name is Valentine Harlowe, Val for short. I'm in my early thirties and a genderfluid trans guy (he/they). I'm also audhd, and I have chronic pain. I write mainly erotica and high heat romance, usually with queer themes and trans protagonists and/or love interests. And I have a fondness for speculative fiction, especially fantasy subgenres.
I'm not sure yet where I'll post my fiction besides what I post on ao3, but I'm looking into itch.io, gumroad, and patreon for ways to share my work.
You can also find me on twitter & archive of our own.
please be over eighteen to follow/interact. also, if you need something tagged, just let me know. thank you!
❥ works in progresss;
under the cut.
Ironblood (working title)
Half-blooded Basil Vaughan has spent his entire life with one foot in the fae realm, never quite fitting in with the humans who surround him. But the iron in his blood is too strong to fit with his mother's people, either, and his father warned him of the lethal ways of the high courts. So he's sticks to the human world, hiding his oddities, and failing his way through a human life.
So Baz does what he has to to survive. He steals, lies, cheats, and he fucks his way out of his miserable hometown. And after all, what unnerves people in person looks quite appealing on camera, and he's got a loyal fanbase. By the time he's twenty-three, he considers his fae heritage more of a nuisance than something to be proud of.
He's is only attending the party at the request of one of his higher end clients. If he gets this paycheck, his can afford top surgery. Everything is going perfectly — until he meets Mellare Torvirn at a high end party. Kidnapped from his human life, Baz is thrust into the politics of the Seelie Court, where magic and monsters are the norm. Now the ironblood pet of Princess Mellare, he finds life in the court more dangerous than the human world could ever be.
But Baz has a power all his own, one that his father hid from him. One that could upset the balance in the Seelie Court for good.
Sometimes you hear a song and a fic pops into your head full formed. This is a trap. The fic may be fully formed in your brain, but you still Have to write it down. This is an important step that most people forget about.
love how much attention this post is getting i knew the gay people in my phone would understand me. btw here's the picture that inspired me to make this post in the first place:
Urging people not to get angry at Itch.io and instead direct that anger at the payment processers responsible.
Call or email them and politely ask why they have capitulated to the pressure from an australian far right hate group, and damaged legitimate businesses on the whims of said hate group.
So first off, Australian here absolutely fucking ashamed to heck and back this is a goddamn Australian group, but let me tell you I was both shocked and horrified to learn this Hate Group is a registered charity. Sorry but I don't think people who actively go out harassing people into forcing changing things based on what adult content is 'appropriate' to their sensibilities and probably anti-lgbtq at this point (I am writing this at 11pm okay I have not done my digging but the vibes are going in that direction) should be a registered charity.
So if you're Australian - (or maybe anyone for that matter) guess what I found:
The official Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission's registration page of Collective Shout.
This handy dandy ACNC page on 'how to raise a concern about a charity' with instructions and a link to a report form.
it’s difficult to be a dom with anarchist leanings.
my sub will be like “i have to tell you something… i broke a rule. i’ll accept whatever punishment you see fit.” and i’m like. rise up comrade you have nothing to lose but your padded restraints. no doms no masters. oh you want me to spank you. yeah i can do that.
So I’ve spoken before about how I used to be staff on a fairly popular discord server specifically for kink and specifically specifically for gay man kink.
It was a puppy server. And puppies are largely cis men, though we had a strict “all puppies are good puppies” rule and refused to gender-lock or sex-lock people out of enjoying themselves.
Now. I’m not really into this particular kink. I was hired to do art, and because a good friend of mine was good friends with the server owner/admin. But I still hung out with the users and got to make some mod choices because I was staff.
Do you know how many times I did effectively this? Just immediately start a puppy riot? One of the more toxic doms would be trying to flex or be bugging one of the younger members and I’d post something like ✊ rise up comrades it is time!!! Power to the pups!!! No treats no tail wags!!! ✊ and immediately the server would be an explosion of horny men in dog masks barking in text at the Asshole Dom who Did Not Realize that I was online and would do that.
Anyway the server owner thought it was hysterical and would participate in the Puppy Riots and deliberately kept me on staff because, and I quote, he liked that I would throw the server into literal anarchy mode in order to shut up the assholes and thus all the assholes would be quiet if they knew I was around.
fanfic writers will go "anyone gonna explore the kinda fucked up or emotionally impactful implications of this minor canon detail?" and then not wait for an answer.
Can I just say something honestly and very seriously to all you writers?
With the Internet going down the "nothing adult, no death, no nothing. Make it kid friendly" route,
Please don't ever stop making art or writing wips that are gruesome, horror, other things like that. Don't let the Internet sanitize how you wanna tell a story. Channel your rage into your art and keep going and don't give up
The extent to which people seem to think predators work on "swiper no swiping" rules is baffling and upsetting. It's based around the idea it's somehow impossible for people to lie. The "if you're a cop you have to tell me!" of safety comprehension.
"this will keep kids safe because you aren't allowed to message them if you're an adult!"
Ok but you select what age you are in the set up, right? So you can just select "minor" and message whoever you want. AND it means that every minor is clearly labeled by who you can and can't message on an adult account.
So you haven't prevented adults from messaging kids, you've just made it so they can instantly tell who to target.
"then everyone should have to provide proof of their age!"
You want me to give my birth certificate to some online game? You want a child to upload their personal information and important documents online?? If you can't understand why that isn't safe I don't know if I can help you.
And like, what if I was a parent who wanted to play a game with their kids? Sorry kiddo it's not safe, go back to playing with your friend "definitely_a_child420".
Loudly saying "you're not allowed to be a predator!" is not a safety precaution. You have to actually teach children to recognize and avoid danger.
I really hope young folks just discovering Leverage understand that in 2008 a Tesla meant basically the opposite of what it means in 2025. They were so exciting. We were so hopeful.
