chachatango

[chachatango]

Just trying to blend in 🙃

I have 4 books out now and a new one coming in September! ❤️ You can get them wherever books are sold - https://debbietung.com/books

[chachatango]

isn't it crazy that a woman being gender nonconforming literally just requires her to exist in her own body without making any changes whatsoever. why does the fact that i don't wear makeup and i don't shave and i don't wear a bra have to be some political act. why can't i just fucking exist

[chachatango]

let's hear it for the nonbinary folks who:

don't present androgynously

use "binary" pronouns in any capacity

identify partially with a binary gender

have a "gendered" name

don't experience body dysmorphia

don't experience gender dysphoria

DO experience gender dysphoria/body dysmorphia but aren't sure what gender or body would suit them

just experience body/gender apathy instead

can't be open about their gender identity yet

you're all absolutely valid.

don't ever feel like you're "not nonbinary enough" because you absolutely are! 💖

[chachatango]

my partner might be onto something when she says you can disguise your pickiness and food sensitivity as an adult by calling yourself a “purist.” so instead of saying “the taste and texture of cooked raisins make me want to hmork,” you say “i’m actually kind of a cinnamon roll purist, i prefer just a classic cinnamon filling and a really good dough instead of something with a ton of random mix ins,” which takes you from who gave this four year old a bachelor degree to oh wow this guy is a pretentious asshole about more things than i even thought was possible

[chachatango]

INFO POST

Welcome to queereads-brackets, a tournament blog where queer books face-off by genre! May your to-read list expand to unwieldy levels

Full spreadsheet of all submitted books from all tournaments and bonus Storygraph challenge of submitted books

The current tournament is: Queer Historical Fiction (vote in current polls here)

Past winners:

Monstrous Regiment by Terry Prachett

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

Tournament categories are:

Queer fantasy

Queer adult SFF spotlight

Queer fiction free-for-all

Queer historical fiction

Queer books from history

Queer nonfiction

Seeding: Seeding is done numerically. Books are ordered based on the number of people who've read them on Goodreads (as that's the most easily accessed quantitative metric), and then seeded March-madness style (1-vs-32, 2-vs-31, etc)

Inspired by some other book poll blogs I really enjoy (check them out!) @haveyoureadthisqueerbook @haveyoureadthistransbook @queer-book-character-tournament @book--brackets

Bracket Details and FAQ

Bracket structure and Seeding

Submissions: Brackets will be submission-based via google form. Submissions will run for one week before we start the bracket. You may submit as many qualifying books as your heart desires. Brackets will be as long and as large as they need based on number of submissions. (unless submissions get TOO intense and I regret saying this and need to come up with a Plan B so that a single tournament doesn’t take a year)

Seeding: Brackets will be seeded according to how many people have marked it read on Goodreads (as it's the most easily measurable quantitative metric). For a series, I will use the read number only on the first book in the series, so that it won’t be impacted based on length of series vs a standalone book etc. Then, I use challonge.com to seed that list according to March Madness format (1-vs-32, 2-vs-31, etc)

I chose to take the read numbers from Goodreads instead of Storygraph because a. Goodreads simply has larger numbers and b. I noticed a recency bias on Storygraph, where books over 10 years old drastically dropped in seed order if I used Storygraph numbers, whereas year of publication isn't a significant factor if I take the numbers from Goodreads

Polls will always run for one week

Explain the tournament categories!

Queer fiction free-for-all: any and all queer fiction, regardless of genre, year of publication, or age category (e.g., adult, YA, middle-grade) Queer nonfiction: any and all queer nonfiction (including memoir, history, etc) Queer fantasy: any queer fiction in the fantasy genre includes any fantasy subgenre (secondary world, primary world, etc) and any age category (adult, YA, middle-grade, etc) Queer historical fiction: queer fiction by a modern author set in a historical time period may include intersecting genres (e.g., historical romance, historical fantasy that isn’t secondary world, alternate history) and any age category Queer books from history: any work that was not written in the last several decades but that contains queer elements by necessity, what “counts” as a queer book in this category is more broad and includes subtext or texts with notable queer interpretations Queer adult SFF spotlight: any queer scifi or fantasy book in the adult publishing category (i.e., not YA or middle-grade)

What “counts” as a queer book?

I’m not going to get overly prescriptive, but: For modern books, something that features queer characters/perspectives/themes in a significant or substantive way. For older texts, something that has queer subtext or a notable queer interpretation.

My guiding principle is: if someone is looking for queer books in a particular genre, would they be satisfied with this book as actually fulfilling that promise?

What about [insert] identity?

Yes. This blog is fully and broadly inclusive of all queerness, including ace- and arospec, polyamory, the spectrum of nonbinary and trans identities, and so forth.

The only thing not welcome is policing or dictating others’ identities

Can a book be submitted to multiple brackets?

Yes! A book can be submitted to as many different tournament categories as you like, as long as it fits the criteria.

If a tournament is running for the (second, third, etc) time, books that were previously submitted may be submitted again.

Can the same book win multiple brackets?

A book can win multiple tournament categories, but it can only win each tournament category once.

For example, if a book wins the fiction free-for-all tournament, it is still eligible to compete and win the fantasy bracket.

However, if we’re running the fiction free-for-all tournament again, then the previous winners of the fiction free-for-all tournament are ineligible for that category only.

What about a book series? Do we submit the series as a whole or the individual books?

Generally speaking, please submit the series as a whole (e.g., “the [ ] series”) rather than submitting book 1, book 2, etc separately.

However, there are times when books are published/listed as a “series” but the books are not at all interconnected and do not have an overarching plot or follow the same general characters. In these cases, it may make more sense to submit individual books.

Why these specific categories/will you do [other genre] tournaments?

Possibly. These categories are the genres that I read most, so these are the brackets that will be most enjoyable for me to run. I may consider other genres or themed brackets, but I may also keep it to my preferred genres to make the behind-the-scenes work worthwhile to me personally

(also if you feel inspired and want to run a tournament for another genre/category, that's awesome, please @ me so I can reblog and boost it!)

Thoughts on propaganda?

There will be an optional text box on the submission form where you can add propaganda if you choose

If you want to add propaganda DURING the poll itself, please feel free to reblog or reply to comment your thoughts!

Commenting or replying directly on the post is preferable to sending me an ask with propaganda for two reasons: 1. I may not be rigorously checking this blog while each round is in progress and 2. this keeps all the info/propaganda together in one place, which I think makes it easier for voters to peruse and consider

Other questions? Let me know!

[chachatango]

“For the love of god”

[chachatango]

take life a little less seriously. learn a skill that isn’t resume-friendly. own your decisions without punishing yourself. both above average and average results are great; it’s good to do something at all. do many things, do many things badly. think about the big picture. the time is passing, regardless

[chachatango]

the tragedy of tumblr is you will inevitably meet people who you should be having a sleepover with. you should be rolling around on their floor and rummaging through their fridge and watching shitty movies with. you should be shopping with should be going out to a cafe with should be wandering through the aquarium with. people who you should be experiencing quotidian joys with... and you cannot! because they live one million miles away

[chachatango]

[chachatango]

Stay focused, stay present and create from all the good that has come before you.

These days I have been working on a picture book that reflects on the question Who are you? The drawings revisit the canyons behind my childhood home. It has been deeply satisfying immersing myself in that innocent world of childhood and seems to heal the anxiety of my doom scrolling. What are you creating these days?

[chachatango]

I just found the funniest font ever

Like. What is this. Why is this. Who is the target audience of this?

[chachatango]

All we're trying to do is survive, but the only way we can do that is by trusting the other people stuck in the same shit as we are. (Silo 2x10 | Into the Fire)

[chachatango]

[chachatango]

The pick-up test

(Source)