the words of a wraith

my blog for fandom-related stuff and whatever else catches my eye wraithofwords on AO3

[interestingmistakes]

Reblogging this manually. Op doesn't want credit for fear of being terminated.

[jamiemoonymarks]

Normalize leaving unhinged comments on ao3 fics you like. I'm tired of being the only one brave enough to write "I am chewing on this fic" in the comment section. Be weird. Authors will love you for it

[fieldbears]

If I didn't want readers to chew on it, I wouldn't have spent all that time on the mouthfeel

[zitelean]

Pride

[souvenirs]

[spitfaggot]

happy birthday, gilbert baker. (june 2, 1951 — march 31, 2017)

[kvothes]

a good thread

[elumish]

I agree with all of this. But! I think it is also important to recognize that there are subgenres where it is significantly harder to find certain things, and it's actively unhelpful to readers to pretend that you can just find whatever type of book you want to read if you just know how to look for it, especially if you are sticking to trad publishing.

It is possible to find both sapphic SFF and M/M fantasy. It is significantly harder to find, say, aro urban fantasy. Or trans romantic suspense. Or intersex mystery.

A lot of the advice above only really works for trad published or popular books and for identities/subgenres/content that aren't too niche.

So here's some advice if the advice above isn't working for you (either because you can't find books with what you want or because the books you are finding don't end up being the vibe you want), from someone who reads a few hundred books a year:

Find websites or lists dedicated to the specific thing you are looking for. They will generally have more variety and will post you to examples that don't show up in regular rec lists. (ex: aro book recs, ace book recs, intersex #ownvoices database, sapphic books). Goodreads lists can (sometimes) also be your friend.

Get comfortable reading self-published and small press books. Trad publishing has its blind spots.

Check Reddit for recommendations

Start figuring out what it is specifically that you like and then start making your searches more specific. This can be subgenre (if you want urban fantasy, you're rarely going to find it just searching "fantasy"), tropes, plot devices, vibes, etc.

Look at the "readers also bought" on Goodreads/Amazon, similar books on Storygraph, etc. if you read a book you like. Even if you don't end up reading the one you click on, it can show you similar authors (similar to looking at the blurb on a cover), especially because far fewer books have blurbs now.

Check out the Literature Map for similar authors.

[penandinkprincess]

3 pm: god, I'm EXHAUSTED. going to bed early for SURE.

midnight: I Have Literally Never Been More Awake And Alert

[gloriousclio]

Luke Skywalker put away his targeting computer to destroy the Death Star so I don't need AI to help me write an email.

[banchie]

i've been phasing the phrase 'google it' out of my vocabulary and going back to 'look it up'. fuck you youve lost your generic trademark privileges

[kuragin]

this is the most underrated part of rockin’ and rollin’ yoda

[bunjywunjy]

Luke’s face is what makes this.

[womanguy]

you should get a second evening for reading fan fiction. And you should get an extra day in the week to do arts and crafts.

[prettyaveragewhiteshark]

Time for Max/Chloe/Safi messiness, come get your juice.

Here's an opening snippet to whet the appetite:

--

"I miss you."

Safi's voice echoes down the receiver, reverberating into Max's chest.

Max closes her eyes. This isn't the first time Safi's said it in all the months Max and Chloe have been on the road, but there's something about her voice. Something about the fact that their phone calls lately have been less and less about checking in and catching up, and more and more about what lies in the silence between them every time they call now. Like all they really want to do is know that the other person is there, just out of sight on the other end.

And Safi breaks their quiet like this. With three words, half whispered.

Max rewinds. Not much, just a few seconds. Just long enough to listen to the quiet and picture Safi, imagine the expression on her face before she hears those words again.

"I miss you."

It still makes Max's breath come short somehow. She still can't help but close her eyes again, savoring the words like a caress on her skin.

"I miss you, too, Safi," Max murmurs.

Keep reading

[prettyaveragewhiteshark]

Chapter 2 is live! Pls enjoy the snippet du jour:

"Oh, I can't believe I let you two talk me into this," Safi mutters.

"The way you say it sounds like we're forcing you to go cage diving with sharks," Chloe snorts.

"I would kind of actually prefer that."

"Believe me, my mom is way less likely to bite your leg off."

"No, she'll probably just want to ask me things about myself."

Chloe rolls her eyes, hauling one duffel off her shoulder and into the truck bed, followed by the other.

Safi tosses her bag in too. "Which is worse, by the way. If you were wondering ."

"Yeah, Saf, I kinda deduced your feelings on it. But my mom is sweet."

"That's the problem. I can handle scary moms, tiger moms, absent and-slash-or avoidant moms. Sweet moms? That's uncharted territory. I mean, what if she's nice? Or what if, god forbid, she likes me?"

Chloe turns to Safi and puts her hands on her shoulders. Safi isn't looking at her, she's too busy doing her best impression of a put-upon teenager. But Chloe's happy to wait, happy to watch that gorgeous face, brown eyes rolling and mouth pulling into an exaggerated pout. She still can't hardly believe Safi's here, that she went so out of her way just to make it for Chloe's last concert, that she actually agreed to come to Arcadia Bay with the two of them now that the tour's over. She'd take any amount of Safi fits just for the pleasure of finally having her around again. No more texts, no more calls. Just here, signature Safi attitude and all.

Safi finally looks at her, head tilting exasperatedly to the side.

"Then she's just gonna have to join the fuckin club, isn't she?" Chloe says.

"Sure, the club of delusional white girls who have terrible taste."

Chloe laughs. And she's not thinking, that much is obvious, because she tucks a strand of hair behind Safi's ear. "Something like that," she says. Keep reading

[tieflingkisser]

[explosionshark]

What's so insanely hot about the Caitlyn/Ambessa/Mel fight scene is precisely the fact that Caitlyn is seriously wounded and KNOWS she can't win and does proceed to get very badly smacked the fuck down repeatedly but DOESN'T stop trying and to me there's just nothing sexier than that specific brand of frenzied, rabid desperate determination.

It's a character moment too bc it's the kind of thing you'd expect from Vi who's a brawler and whose entire fighting style factors in getting hit. Caitlyn's always been long range and strategic, to see her get desperate enough to just throw herself into the grinder again and again was profound. She KNOWS she can't win bc she couldn't beat Ambessa on a good day but she JUST needs to buy time and create openings and she's paying for that in blood and viscera and eyeballs

Extremely cool scene, I love watching my faves backed into a corner and going absolutely recklessly feral over it

Also just the fact that this entire brutal, plot-pivotal fight scene was between three women fuckin absolutely ruled. Hell yeah

[loveridden1999]

[lanfan]

Hey yall I just wanted to come on here and bring some attention to what’s happening at the detention center (really a concentration camp) Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey. There is a hunger strike going on right now to protest the abhorrent conditions within the camp (allegations of torture, maggots and other bugs in the food, etc) and protests happening outside the camp. ICE is not allowing any politicians to come in (as is their right) to see the conditions of the camp. I would urge yall to do your own research, but if you want videos of some people who are actually there, here are some tik tok accounts you can go follow: @ bethanyquilter/ @ whoiskingtrivv/ @ Status Coup News/ @ L.A. TACO

And here is a video explaining what’s going on in more detail than I provided.

With everything else going on in the world, it can be hard to keep up with stuff going on at home, but ICE is still out here terrorizing innocent people. We must keep our eyes on them, and keep fighting.

Feel free to add more sources or info to this post, should you have any.

[tsscat]

I found this linktree here that has a master list of ways to help the detainees inside Delaney Hall: https://linktr.ee/SupportOurFamilies

SupportOurFamilies | Linktree

Please support immigrant families by donating to the GoFundMe's below and purchasing supplies via Amazon Wishlist to support detainee visito

I have heard that protestors outside need medical supplies, but I can’t find the best way to provide that if you are not nearby.

[orteil42]

some of you seem to be under the unfortunate impression that i enjoy finishing things. i enjoy making things

[cinewhore-deactivated20211003]