#representation: mlm

[oriolespeaking]

The Gentleman and His Vowsmith by Rebecca Ide

Rating: 4.25 amateur gumshoes out of 5!

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Releases 24 April 2025.

Recommended for those who want a high tension locked-room murder mystery (...that powerful people seem mysteriously determined to ignore...) with a healthy dollop of regency romance!

Synopsis:

Lord Nicholas Monterris is trapped by his future, his father's standards, and most recently, by the expectation that he secure his house's future through a magical marriage contract to Lady Leaf Serral. There are three problems: first, one of the vowsmiths brought in to smith that contract is an old flame, Dashiell sa Vare, who seems determined not to let Nic forget their past. Second: someone wants to prevent the completion of the contract, and they don't care how many dead bodies they must produce to get there. Third: no one can leave until the contract is completed or cancelled entirely, but neither the Monterris nor Serral heads of household are willing to let that happen.

Review under the cut

While Ide describes the story as "primarily a romance" in the author interview, I would say that the murder mystery is definitely the plot I was most invested in, and the one which takes up the most real estate on the page. It also thematically connects so many of the subplots that I consider it the main through-line of the book. That being said, Dash and Nic's romance was still very enjoyable! It was mostly pretty fluffy. They had very entertaining banter and good chemistry, and I enjoyed how much they considered each other in every one of their decisions (BANGS FIST ON TABLE AND IF THEY TALKED TO EACH OTHER IT'D BE EVEN BETTER [more on that soon]). Their happy ending (and epilogue) had me giggling and kicking my feet.

What an amazing cast of characters! Leaf was my favorite -- stubborn, curious, optimistic, determinedly independent, and definitely a bit rude, though a lot of my favorite characters usually are. Her sasinage subplot could've used more attention, but I really enjoyed how she always had her goal firmly in mind. Her friendship with Nic was so heartwarming and central to the story-- I'm glad they were in the same boat and didn't spend any significant amount of time resenting each other. It's rare that friendships between characters feel as authentic as the one between Leaf and Nic. And, leaving aside the main cast, the ABSOLUTE MESS that the side characters bring to the table and the way it ties into all of the murders is so convoluted but I was entirely there for it. There's so much to unpack, and it's the sort of drama where you go, "Wait, what? Really? Really really?"

One of the things I found frustrating about this book was the source or romantic tension between Dash and Nic. The main conflicts that kept Dash and Nic apart for the majority of the book were just the same thing in a different font (they decide individually that they cannot be happy or safe together, and without consulting the other person in the relationship, decide to end their association). Sometimes it derails the tone that's building up from the murder mystery, though not enough to take me out of the story.

My last note is that the worldbuilding was a bit lackluster. I understand that, in such a closed-down setting, Ide doesn't need to build up a huge, sweeping world, but some of the elements of the larger premise feel arbitrary -- Why lock-ins? Why are there no internally-available emergency exit strategies outside of completion/cancellation of the contract, especially for other members of the peerage -- they shouldn't have to wait for the king's men, especially when there are historical examples of threats against lives���Worldbuilding-wise, Ide also mentions that she wanted to explore family dynamics where families are run like magic businesses where all members are somewhat "owned" by the head of the household and strategically employed for the survival and success of that magical line/family. I think that the book almost explores that, but not in a way that really sets it apart from the family dynamics of other regency novels, as far as I know. The sasinage (i.e. a signed contract that severs someone from their household; only way to gain independence from a magical family from my understanding) is a very nice element in that direction.

Those two nitpicks aside, this is a really great story, and if you've been reading a lot of books with world-ending stakes, this could be a great palette-cleanser. The narrow setting and rather personal nature of the drama makes this a great murder mystery with a compelling (if sometimes frustrating) romantic subplot.

started 23 January 2025 / finished 31 January 2025

[coldwater-pictures]

6 trans masc films with trans actors

[starscream-is-my-wife]

Actually all of them are gay but Thundercracker is the only one that can feasibly get a bf

[manichewitz]

straight men will write stories where two men choose each other over women over and over and again and the narrative will continuously emphasize the bond between the two men over all other emotional connections…and then get confused when queer people relate to that for some reason

[canonqueers]

Canon Queer of the Day:

Edwin Payne

Edwin Payne is a protagonist from Dead Boy Detectives! He is canonically gay and has feelings for his best friend, Charles Rowland.

Submitted by Anonymous

[honeybadger-who-gives-a-shit]

Not enough people are talking about Mr. Loverman on bbc. This show has:

Two elderly black men in love

Tale about internalized homophobia

Caribbean culture in England and in Antigua

Family dynamics and intergenerational relations

Great acting

A touching story

Is based on a book (I haven't read it yet, but I heard great things)

I won't tell you more because I don't want to spoil it.

Granted, it's not a perfect show, but it is sweet and you should definitely give it a try.

[lgbtqmovierecs]

LGBTQ Series of the Day:

Dead Boy Detectives

Description:

Two teenage ghosts work alongside a clairvoyant to solve mysteries for their supernatural clientele, until a powerful witch complicates their plans.

Name: Dead Boy Detectives

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Supernatural/Horror

Age Rating: 15

Release Date: 2024

Relationships: MLM & WLW (Subplots)

Representation: Gay, Lesbian

Episodes: 8

Running Time: 52-56 minutes

Country of Origin: United States

Language: English

Starring: George Rexstrew, Jayden Revri, Kassius Nelson, Briana Cuoco, Ruth Connell, Yuyu Kitamura, Jenn Lyon

[ssaseaprince]

Don't get me wrong, I love all the representation of young queer teens, but I wish we had more representation of older queer men. Not love stories between kids with baby faces and stylish clothes and youthful features, love stories born between weathered eyes and crows feat and thinning hair. Men with gravelly voices and worn plaid shirts and stubble. I want to see older, established, gray-haired, and conventionally unattractive men live out their golden years together. The AIDS epidemic robbed us of seeing our futures and our pasts in our queer elders, and they deserve more. I want to see queer love between men and not just boys, proving to everyone that you can live and die as a free man

[reinanova]

i have a few scenarios for you to consider

~~~

character: “i’m not straight”

fandom*: mmmm but what if you were

~~~

character: is bisexual in the comics

fandom: well, character isn’t explicitly stated to be bi in the movies, therefore character is straight

~~~

writer: yeah character is pan and has a dating history with all genders (and this wasn’t shown bcuz of xyz)

fandom: well, it doesn’t matter what the writer says, character is straight bcuz they’ve only dated the opposite gender on screen

~~~

character: is gay (either implied or explicitly stated to be homosexual and homoromantic)

fandom: well, maybe they’re homosexual but heteroromantic**, therefore i’m only going to ship this character with the opposite gender

~~~

character: is a lesbian

fandom: well, lesbians can still have sex with men therefore i’m going to write f/m smut with this lesbian and a man. not as a “figuring out/exploring my sexuality” fic but just bcuz i can

~~~

queer community: hey this character is canonically queer, could you please be respectful of that?

fandom: how about you go fuck yourselves. this is so embarrassing to be asking for respectful representation, literally shut the fuck up

~~~

character: is canonically gay

fandom: well you can’t prove he’s not attracted to women so he’s straight actually

~~~

disclaimers:

* i’m talking about a fandom as a whole in this post, not a couple individuals who may do this. this is talking about if a large chunk (think half or more) of a fandom is ignoring a canon queer identity

** no hate to someone who may identify this way. if someone is this identity, kudos to them, but people shouldn’t just use this as an excuse to ignore someone’s queer identity

this is how you sound when ignoring aspec*** identities. do you hear how ridiculous this is?

*** aspec (the way i use it at least) includes the asexual spectrum (ace-spec) and aromantic spectrum (aro-spec). also your friendly reminder that people can be aro and not ace and vise versa but you can’t ignore one or the other to suit your fancy

there will probably always be people doing this (re: ignoring canon queer identities) in fandoms, however, not in mainstream and popular ships and not to the extent that aspec identities are erased. bcuz if you have a problem with the above scenarios but not when the character is aspec, an already basically invisible identity, you need to re-examine your thinking and deal with your hypocrisy

do you know how hard it is to prove a LACK of something? even if someone straight up says, “i experience zero sexual or romantic attraction to anyone,” someone else will be like, “well how do you know you just haven’t found the right person yet?”

is the idea that someone doesn’t want a romantic or sexual relationship that difficult to understand?

if you want to see your identity represented in a character headcanon, great! but do so in a way that doesn’t negate another marginalized and underrepresented canon identity

there are SO! MANY! straight characters at your disposal. use one of them for your queer headcanons until we reach the point where your identity is canon. then you’ll probably be fighting for representation the same way i am right now

it also sucks to see fighting within the aspec community. bcuz yes aro and ace identities are a spectrum. however, when there’s a singular character with an aspec identity, you physically cannot showcase that spectrum. so if an ace character is sex-favorable, allos will believe all ace people are sex-favorable and ignore aces who are not. same thing for sex-repulsed aces and so on. the only solution is to fight for more aspec representation so everyone can see themselves in media without sacrificing parts of an aspec identity to fit how you identify

i’m tired. i’m so fucking tired of fighting for an ounce of representation. this should not be an uphill battle for people to accept aspec characters. i shouldn’t have to fight the queer community and straight people for this

[queen-of-hawkins-why-ler]

Once Byler is endgame, no cishet film bro will ever be able to rest comfortably and easily knowing that the main character of his favorite media franchise isn’t gay. Bc wasn’t Mike Wheeler supposed to be a shoutout all the nerdy guys who got bullied in school?? :( And wasn’t he supposed to get the pretty girl with the superpowers in the end??? :(( but no, actually, SURPRISE Mike Wheeler enjoys kissing men on the mouth. And if Mike Wheeler can be gay, then who’s to say the big muscly guy in their favorite action movie won’t be next?? Who’s to say that any traditionally masculine guy main character from any media is safe from homosexuality??? 😈😈😈

[owlinranger]

Happy Pride! 🏳️‍🌈 Each day I want to highlight some of my favorite queer ships and characters in media. I know there are way more out there than 30 but it'll be a start!

Day 5 - Ed Teach (Black Beard) and Stede Bonnet 🥰

[oriolespeaking]

Prince and Assassin by Tavia Lark

Rating: 3.75 poisoned daggers out of 5!

Recommended for hidden identity romance aficionados!

Synopsis:

He’s supposed to kill Prince Julien. Not fall for him. Whisper doesn’t remember his real name. All he knows is the elite assassin guild that raised him—and controls him with the threat of blood magic. Plagued by nightmares, he doesn’t get to refuse assignments, even when his new job doesn’t make sense: Infiltrate Prince Julien’s court, protect him until the signal arrives, then kill him. Julien hides his own schemes behind a sordid reputation. He trusts nobody besides his brothers, and he certainly doesn’t trust the aloof, beautiful new stranger at court. But he doesn’t have to trust the stranger to be drawn to him, especially when he saves Julien’s life. Then Julien saves Whisper too, and Whisper’s reserve shatters. Beneath Julien’s playboy facade is a warmth Whisper can’t resist. Whisper’s never been comforted before. He’s never been cared for like this. As his nightmares darken, Julien’s touch is his only solace—but falling in love could ruin them both.

Review under the cut

What I Liked:

Definitely scratched my itch for an angst-ridden romance. Whisper and Julien have such great chemistry, too! The romantic tension really ratchets up with the stakes.

(SPOILER) Hemlock's twist betrayal was so juicy. Loved it!! Also really liked the blood magic element. (Is Lark a Dragon Age fan? because I couldn't find any other mention of phylacteries being used to store blood, especially for blood magic :D)

(SPOILER) After the *big reveal*, Julien actually thought through the circumstances and concluded that Whisper wouldn't betray him unless he really had to. That was such a refreshing moment!

What I Didn't Like:

Somehow the name "Whisper" just bothers me. I respect that Whisper kept his name though.

Writing was a bit too on-the-nose at times.

Other Notes: The Rainbow Crate edition cover is so pretty :,D I hope whoever posted the cover to Storygraph doesn't mind me ripping it for my review...

started: 13 January 2025 / finished: 15 January 2025

[coldwater-pictures]

🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️ LGBT hero Lou Sullivan "I want to look like what I am but don’t know what someone like me looks like. I mean, when people look at me I want them to think — there’s one of those people… that has their own interpretation of happiness. That’s what I am.”

— Lou Sullivan, age 15

Used his name sake Lou Reed for the song

Some facts he started one of the first ftm groups in San Francisco and a ftm newsletter and use wrote in diary from a little kid to couple days before passed surrounded with other ftm and LGBT people taking care of him. He cared deeply about ftm history and wrote a book on a real trans cowboy. He loved the beetles and Lou Reed which he named himself after. was friends with Steve dain and rupert raj . He is largely responsible for being able to be openly gay trans man and still getting hrt because he did series of videos to be shown to phycologist and met with a ton

Link for interviews

https://archive.org/details/glbths_video_016_sc

[queenofshippingcringe]

Reblog if you ship Gustholomule! 🖇️✨

[demonfangart]

Don't let the forest in :)

Started this book yesterday and I'm in love already (170ish pages in)

[canonqueers]

Canon Queer of the Day:

The Cat King

The Cat King is an antagonist from Dead Boy Detectives! He is canonically pansexual and has feelings for Edwin Payne.

Submitted by Anonymous