honestlyawriter

[honestlyawriter]

Now that JK has proven herself to be the jk we always knew she was, here is a list of incredible fiction by trans authors, because the best way to tell JK to shove her bigotry where the sun don’t shine is to buy the work of authors who deserve her platform. 

The Tensorate Series - JY Yang: four fantasy novellas about the guild of Tensors, magic users who can control elemental forces known as the Slack. V political, v beautifully written. Gender is a key theme but also there are dragons (naga), so there’s something for everyone tbh. 

Love Beyond Body, Space And Time - anthology: a collection of indigenous sci-fi / spec fic stories with LGBTQ and two-spirit characters and themes. Stories include narratives of transition, love stories, and just good ol’ space romps. 

The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror - Daniel M. Lavery: a collection of fairytale retellings with a spooky and disturbing twist. Some of these are darkly comic, and others are just plain dark. All are beautifully written, because Lavery is just That Writer. 

The Spirits Series - Jordan L Hawk: a very spicy paranormal romance trilogy about Henry Strauss, an inventor, and Vincent Night, a psychic, whose differing approaches to communing with the dead cause (I’m so sorry) friction. These ones ain’t for the kiddies, but they’re so good and spooky.

The Mechanical Universe - EE Ottoman: a romance series (w a trans male protag!) set in a sort of steampunk universe, where spellcraft and mechanical animation are vying for equal respect. Tbh, everything by EE Ottoman is Very Good And Trans - The Doctor’s Discretion is my personal fave. Recommend 100%.

Peter Darling - Austin Chant: a trans retelling of Peter Pan, where Peter returns to Neverland to find that his place there is now much less certain than it was before, and he no longer belongs anywhere. There is also a romance with Captain Hook, but it works! I promise! 

The Danielle Cain series - Margaret Killjoy: a duology of novellas following Danielle Cain, a queer punk rock nomad, as she solves spooky mysteries. The first book is set in an anarchist settlement, and the theme of found family + community is prevalent throughout. 

An Unkindness of Ghosts - Rivers Solomon: on board the spaceship HSS Matilda, the last of humanity make their journey towards the Promised Land. Conditions on board are akin to the Antebellum South, and protagonist Aster is driven to find her way off the ship - if she can. 

I Wish You All the Best - Mason Deaver: a non binary teen, Ben, comes out to their parents and is kicked out. Their sister takes them in and they start a new school, where their life begins to change for the better. This one is v sweet and deals well with mental illness. 

Resilience - anthology: a collection of poetry and prose by trans women and amab trans people, featuring work by Casey Plett, KOKUMO, Magpie Leibowitz and many more. 

Small Beauty - jia qing wilson-yang: a mixed race Chinese trans woman returns to her small town Canada home after the death of her cousin, and she deals with her trauma and grief. Beautiful and sad, and absolutely honest about grief. 

Little Fish - Casey Plett: a trans woman begins to believe that her late Mennonite grandfather may have been trans, and while her own life starts to cave in, she attempts to connect with him through those who knew him. This one is A Lot but it’s phenomenal.

A Boy Called Cin - Cecil Wilde: a romance novel (so it’s SPICY) about Cin, a young trans man, and Tom, an older genderqueer billionaire. This is not your typical billionaire romance AT ALL; healthy relationships are depicted beautifully here alongside the reality of transition.

Confessions of the Fox - Jordy Rosenberg: a retelling of Jack Sheppard, the famous jailbreaker and thief. It’s told as though a trans man has discovered a manuscript about Jack (who is trans) and Jack’s story unfolds alongside the personal narrative of the manuscript discoverer. 

Nameless Woman - anthology: a collection of fiction by trans women of colour. There’s something for everyone here - romance, sci fi, personal narratives and more. A lot of the topics covered are very heavy but they’re treated honestly and sensitively. 

Maiden, Mother, Crone - anthology: a collection of fantasy stories about trans women and femmes. You want a story about a dread trans chthonic goddess? Of course you do. It’s right here. Enjoy. 

Caroline’s Heart - Austin Chant: a romance between a trans man (a COWBOY nonetheless) and a trans woman (a WITCH). Cecily has been trying to bring her lover, Caroline, back from the dead via magic, but when Roy gives his life to save her, she has a choice to make. 

The Queen of Cups - Ren Basel: a novelette about Theo, who’s about to set sail on their first voyage. As per their village’s custom, they ask the Oracle to bless their voyage, and she agrees - if she can come along. A great treatise on bravery, loyalty and independence. 

Amateur - Thomas Page McBee: not fiction, but OH WELL!! You gotta read it!! The autobiography of a trans man who learns to box and asks questions about what kind of man he wants to be; can he avoid repeating the toxic masculinity he fears? 

Trans Power - Juno Roche: also not fiction! Oops! Take me to court!! Roche interviews multiple trans people about their relationships with their transness, their sexuality and their bodies, and the result is a super empowering and beautiful book. 

The Shape of My Name - Nino Cipri: a novelette about time travel. I really can’t say much about this one because it’s better to go in without knowing a lot, but the main theme is self discovery and acceptance, especially within the context of a neglectful / abusive family. 

Pet - Akwaeke Emezi: the children in the city of Lucille know that there are no more monsters. They’ve been told so. So when Jam meets Pet, who definitely seems to be a monster, she has to face the problem of saving the world from something that it refuses to admit exists. 

There are obviously many more trans fiction authors out there, but these are the ones I’ve read and can call to mind immediately. On my to read list are Juno Dawson (who writes YA primarily), Kai Cheng Thom (whose story in Maiden, Mother, Crone was my favourite), Meredith Russo (also writes YA), Leslie Feinberg, and Sybil Lamb.

I haven’t included trans poets here because I feel like that’s a separate list in and of itself, but if anyone wants to add any, please feel free!

[honestlyawriter]

Scary Movies

Author’s Note:

Hello!

Full disclosure. I wrote this in less than an hour after feeling really unproductive and I am not going to apologize for it. I think it turned out pretty okay, all things considering. I really hope that you like it! Because I’m always happy to write some fluffy stuff. (Hurray for fluffy stuff!)

As always, please let me know if you made it all the way to the end. Feedback will help me grow as a creator!

Stay awesome!

Title: Scary Movies

Summary: You’re alone at home, and the day has been less than amazing. You sit down to watch a movie, and eventually realize that you’ve made a mistake.

Word Count: 810

Pairing: Gojo x Reader

Warnings: Fluff.

Rainstorms, hot coco, and a container of cookie dough had been the only things that could possibly make this day better. You had not had a productive day at work, your hobbies were eluding you, and you had felt like warm garbage for the majority of the day. When you hadn’t felt like warm garbage, you’d felt like cold garbage which was arguably a little better. On top of everything, Gojo wasn’t supposed to be home for two more days and you were spiraling.

Maybe, you had reasoned, you could curl up in one of his shirts and some fluffy pajama bottoms and watch something on TV. Maybe that would make you feel a little bit better, because you had forced yourself to interact like a proper adult but now you were emotionally drained and you no longer wanted to be part of the world. You deserved some self-care that didn’t involve being concerned with making yourself feel better because sometimes you wanted to feel a little bit like a potato.

If Gojo saw you like this, you were sure that you would die a little bit inside. Not because he would think you were something disgusting, but because he would probably take about fifteen pictures and tell you that you looked divine. He was too much sometimes, but you appreciated the effort.

You had turned on a movie after browsing for longer than you had wanted to. You had turned off all the lights, so that when you fell asleep to some dumb movie you didn’t have to worry about every light in the house being on, and then you started watching the movie. It hadn’t seemed like it would be that scary, but then again, movies sometimes resonated on a different frequency when you were alone. At home. By yourself.

The movie started and you were enraptured, wrapped up in the biggest, fluffiest blanket that you owned. The killer was coming, and you could hear the creaks of the old building that you lived in. The sounds of the city, the rustle of the trees outside, the ticking of the wall clock that Gojo had insisted on having. Your heart was in your throat; why had that idiot gone in there?! Why was it always the bathroom?! You were debating closing your eyes, your fists tightly balled as the door swung open and light flooded into the house.

You screamed and it was the most unholy thing. You threw the cookie dough, luckily your cup of coco was empty because you’d thrown it at whoever had opened the door, tangling yourself up in the blanket as you threw yourself on the ground with a desperate vigor.

Your ankle twisted as the blanket tightened and the coffee table was precariously pulled toward you. The coffee table teetered for a breathless moment before it settled back down, deciding not to crush you further under its weight. Your breathing was coming out in desperate gasps when you heard the most delighted laugher erupting from the doorway. It was hysterical laugher. The kind of laughter that kept you from breathing and made your side aches.

You looked up as confusion mixed with fear and then slowly was overtaken by embarrassment. Gojo was standing in the doorway, doubled over. Take-out bags on the ground and your cup in his hand. You curled up and tried to caterpillar away when a sharp pain shot up your leg and into your hip. You yelped and Gojo stopped laughing.

“Did you hurt yourself?” Despite the lack of laughter, he was still smiling, bright eyes shining in the dim light of the TV.

“Shut up.” You tried to get away again, but was trying to favor the hurt ankle, “You aren’t supposed to be home.”

“Would you rather I leave?” He asked in a sing song voice. Walking towards you with a long, deliberate stride. He only walked towards you like that when he meant business.

“No, but you could have texted!”

“I did.” he was unwrapping you from the blanket, being careful not to jostle your ankle during the process.

“But my phone,” You looked at the phone that you had knocked off the table, remembering that you had meant to plug it in, “is probably dead.” You sighed.

“I know. I tried calling to, but you didn’t answer. I thought you might have been in the shower or something.” He pouted as he continued to examine your ankle, “I was hoping to surprise you.”

You grunted, “Consider me surprised.”

He laughed again, and then moved the coffee table, scooping you up delicately and depositing you on the couch gently. “Let’s get that elevated and I’ll get the ice.”

You groaned but smiled a little.

You might have been hurt, and you might have been annoyed, but you were always happy to have Gojo back home.

[honestlyawriter]

Note to Self #2

Note to Self: Write a detective fanfic with Nanami and Gojo as the detective duo to heighten the comedic moments.

Reasoning: Do I need reasoning for this… I mean if you do anything that has those two working together regularly it’s probably going to be funny, and the best part is that Gojo has “Sherlock tendencies” where he doesn’t take anything seriously up until a point, but once you cross that line… Oh boy are you in for a hard time. He will find you and Nanami will be waiting in the wings to make sure that Gojo has done things as “by the book” as it takes to make you pay. And if Gojo maybe broke a couple laws, and Nanami realized that he was about to go into overtime and conveniently had to take a call… far far away.

Notes: This idea is just a baby idea. I’m not sure if this one will be written but I liked the idea, and I hope that I’m able to revisit it sometime soon… As always, if you like this note please let me know and I’ll write it for you.

[honestlyawriter]

Note to Self #1

Note to self: Write a fanfic based on the head-canon that Satoru Gojo is a terrible cook and would actively go out of his way to keep it that way.

Reasoning: Consider how boring life would get if you were great at everything. All the freaking time. You didn’t have to try, you could be like… Cool a new hobby, oh h*ck I’m great at it now. I know that this sounds amazing but part of the reason that I like writing, and part of the reason that I enjoy the hobbies that I personally pursue, is because they challenge me. I get to see myself improve and grow and slowly, at some point, I might be pretty okay at those things.

I imagine Gojo burning something (not because he is bad at cooking but because he was not paying attention or got distracted), and took it as a personal accomplishment. He never really attempted to cook otherwise, and would even go so far as to tell his partner that he “was bad at cooking” and it would become a joke between them that when his partner said “it’s your turn to cook” that they actually meant that they wanted take out from somewhere.

Notes: Lemme know if you like this idea. I am probably going to write this for myself anyways… but I mean if you’d like to see something like this… maybe tell me about it…

[honestlyawriter]

I'm not saying I'd collaborate... unless???

Okay but what if I was the purple coded morally ambiguous character who's allied with the hero's side solely out of spite and you were the red coded himbo protagonist who's slowly going through a breakdown so to the increasingly traumatic main plot line and then we fell in love despite the dark fantasy/shonen setting because I might let the world burn for you but you slowly start to pull me more into the light while falling into your own hell and I might not manage to catch you but at the very least we fall into hell together? Jkjkjk I jest I just.

Unless...

[honestlyawriter]

What’s Lost Inside of a King?

Author’s Note:

Hello!

Thank you for stopping by! This story is going to be so fun, and I’ve been thinking about it all day, so I really hope you enjoy it. I’ll put more details about that in the summary.

But this story was inspired by a weird dream that I had last night and I am considering continuing it, but honestly, I’m not sure quite yet.

If you make it all the way to the end, please remember to leave feedback. It helps me improve as a creator.

Enjoy!

Title: What’s Lost Inside of a King?

Summary: The King of curses believes himself invulnerable. Inside of his mind, he is, but unfortunately, he must come to terms with the idea that his invulnerability was not created by his own hand, but belongs to someone else entirely.

Word Count: 637

Pairing: Sukuna x Reader

Warnings: Very brief mentions of causing pain to others. 

Can curses dream?

No. Or at least not entirely. You cannot dream in this state because you do not need to. You do not breath, or sing, or dance, or dream. Curses are not human so they are not subject to such pathetic impulses and bodily functions. They do not get lonely, but as much as curses are not human, they can be haunted.

Not physically, because that was ridiculous, but mentally. Where curses live, or at least where a human turned curse is considered to live, is in the minds of those tied to them. White little strings that bind the soul.

Sukuna doesn’t like these ideas, but often he has little else to do, so he allows the thoughts to linger. He it’s true, that he had heard these words whispered somewhere before, but that does not mean he has to like them. Especially when they begin to shift and change into voices and sounds. He can’t tell you what happens when he remembers a smile, or perhaps he had forgotten the name of that emotion and just doesn’t particularly care to remember.

Once, and only once, he looked deep within himself. A dark swirl of power, caged inside of his soul. The unbreakable, the undefeatable, a true King. He enjoyed the feeling of being still and centered until he noticed the tiny string that was wrapped tightly around his soul. He did not attempt to touch the delicate looking string, and he was sure that he could remove it if he so desired, but the string lead onward. Towards something and he was curious.

Was there something deep within his mind that he had not lost when he had forsaken his humanity? Was there a lingering bit of emotion that he had not yet crushed? He looked around at the darkness and moved forward. Following the string with idle thoughts of how he would destroy this remaining tie. He could crush it like a bug beneath his foot, and he would take pleasure in doing so, but first he had wanted to see what was being crushed. A foe without a face wasn’t worth his energy or his time, despite his abundance of both.

The string that led into the darkest part of his soul stayed true, and just when he was growing annoyed with this venture, just as he raised his hand to severe the tie, he saw a tiny flash of memory. A spark of flame, because that’s what you were made of. You were standing in front of Sukuna, a protected memory in the darkness that had consumed him. His last shred of sanity, of humanity, but also something deeper.

He knew as your flames stood still before him, the string that was wrapped around his soul wasn’t there for him, it was there for you. He should have been dead a long time ago, and you knew that. He knew that. In your heart you understood the pain and death and suffering that stained you red and tainted your memory. Tainted his memory.

“It’s time.” You breathed, moving with flickering shadows, “Sukuna, it’s time to remember.”

He didn’t move, and you didn’t care if he was ready to venture this far. You had to know. Was the man that you had fallen deeply in love with still in this creature? Was he born of the shadows or was he born from flesh and blood?

Your memory was what had kept him alive and prolonged his power. The thread that tied you together when you gave your life, was wrapped so tightly around his soul that it held him at his most fragile and kept him whole, and prevented even the strongest from destroying him completely.

He would tell you, and you didn’t care how much he hated you for it.

[honestlyawriter]

Ranting about a Character

Author’s Note:

Hello! This will be my first character analysis on this blog. Due to the character that I have decided to do this for, there WILL BE SPOILERS. Continue reading at your own discretion. Just like my previous post, this will not be edited so I apologize for any mistakes that you find.

I am also going to provide the disclaimer that this is only based on the anime because, at the time of posting this, I have not read the manga.

If you’ve made it to the end of my little note, I hope that you enjoy the character analysis and please let me know what you think!

Have an amazing day!

Title: Character Analysis – Junpei Yoshino – Jujutsu Kaisen

Summary: My thoughts on the character Junpei Yoshino from Jujutsu Kaisen.

Warnings: Spoilers. Mentions of death. Mentions of assault. Mentions of bullying.

Junpei Yoshino was a minor character in the Jujutsu Kaisen series. He was seventeen at the time of his introduction and he was seventeen at the time of his death. Junpei was emotionally lost after being assaulted and bullied at school and had developed self-destruction ideations and connections. In the anime, very little development takes place at school and Junpei appears to have dropped out within the time frame that he appears in the show. Mahito is introduced to the Junpei during that time and provides him guidance that is more the questionable and ultimately, he is killed by Mahito shortly thereafter.

Junpei is a prime example of a character being used as bait for the main character. Junpei, unfortunately, was a plot device used to lure the main character (Yuji) into a dangerous situation that furthered the plot. Not to say that Junpei wasn’t a great character, because he was, but he was a bit of a waste – in my opinion.

I don’t particularly like when characters are killed for the sake of being killed, and I especially hate lackluster deaths. Jujutsu Kaisen didn’t provide the audience with time to grieve, which is something that I really hope that this show does not repeat, because if the audience does not have time to grieve, neither does the main character and it forces the reader to see that “this character is a plot device and I should not get attached.” Which is the exact opposite of what you want to happen when you kill off a character.

A really good example of a show that kills characters while still making them relevant is Violet Evergarden. Spoilers ahead if you have not watched the show, but there is a lot of death. I don’t want to go too much into that because you should watch it when you have time. It’s a great show.

Now, I’m honestly not sure if my opinion is a hot take, but I think that the death could have been improved immensely if 1. It had been prolonged, or 2. It had happened at a later date. I know that these two points sound very similar, but here is what I mean: For the prolonged death, everything that did happened should have happened, but instead of him just falling over dead, Junpei should have either gained control again and turned against Mahito – to be killed, or another character should have killed him, possibly Nanami. This would have forced Yuji into an emotional dilemma either way. If Junpei would have tried to attack Mahito, it would have forced Yuji into action, and in his efforts to protect Junpei he would have felt much more guilty about his passing. Especially because it would have confirmed that: yes, Junpei did see the error of his ways before it was too late. He would have, had he not been transmuted, probably joined Yuji at Jujutsu Tech. It would have allowed us to dwell on the emotions for more than half a moment, and it would have made Yuji uncontrollably angry.

With the second option, if Junpei would have been kidnapped and transformed more delicately, possibly into something that was actually able to fight, I would have actually lost it. Especially if it forced Yuji to kill him after everything that Junpei had been through and after everything that Yuji had said about killing people. I don’t think that this needs to be explained in depth but I would have been destroyed if something like this would have happened. This will remain a head cannon for myself forever more.

Either way, I was disappointed in the direction that they took this character in. I understand that this story is probably about 3 years old at this point (I believe this is approximately when the manga debuted), and that the series is just following the Manga. And depending on how the next few episodes go, my opinion may change.

I’m excited to see how it goes!

If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading, and please let me know your thoughts on this character. Do you agree, disagree, or did you not care for this character at all?

Let me know!

[honestlyawriter]

On Junpei

Author’s Note:

Hello! Wow! This will be my first post on this new blog and I’m starting with a little short about Jujtsu Kaisen’s Junpei Yoshino. This post DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS for anyone that has not see the latest episode. I have warned you…

I also would like to note that these posts will, for the most part, be unedited and will more than likely contain errors due to this. Most of my posts will be written in 2nd person POV, mainly because that’s my favorite POV to write.

           If you’ve read my little note, please leave a like and a comment, I would greatly appreciate feedback.

           Have an amazing day!

 Title: On Junpei

Warnings: Spoilers. Angst.

Pairing: Very light implications of Gojo x Reader

Words: 302

All of the books that you had read about the death of a child had not prepared you for this. Despite his shortcomings, and his confusion, despite the crisp night air and the safety of your students, it had still felt like stepping in front of a train.

His body had been contorted and twisted into an unrecognizable shape that wasn’t even vaguely human, and there was nothing to be done. You had been warned of what you were walking into, but this hadn’t stopped the curiosity that had chewed at your heart. This child had been cursed and his mother had been…

A particularly cool breeze caressed your face and shockingly, it emphasized the tears that had managed to race down your cheeks. You were in shock and you were crying. Carefully, you brought your knees to chest and thought about the students that you had been entrusted with, and the pain that you had seen in Yuji’s eyes. You felt your cursed energy slip for just a moment. Just a second. But before you could reign it in, Satoru Gojo was standing behind you. His particular energy was so unique that you could nearly taste it in the air, his emotions masked in a way that unnerved your senses as he looked up at the night sky. Gojo hadn’t expected this news to devastate you, to rattle your nerves, and he didn’t feel bad in the traditional sense. Just concerned.

           “Are you sure that you can do this?” He asked with all seriousness. “Because this won’t be the last death you’ll see.”

           “This was different Gojo.” Your voice was barely a whisper over the sounds of the city. “This one was preventable.”

           If only someone had listened, hung in the air like a rain cloud in spring, pregnant and predictable.