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Day 15 of Pride Book recommendations

Title: Cuckoos Three

Author: Cassandra Jean & Mosskat

Genre: Slice of life, high school romance

Summary: Jacob is the edgy new kid in a small town out in the country. Murry is a golden retriever type of boy that loves to help out everyone and is the star football player at the local high school. The two become neighbors when Jacob moves in next door and while Jacob seems reluctant to trust anyone, Murry is determined to be there for him no matter what. However not everyone is so quick to like Jacob and the troubles that plagued him in the city have followed him here. The romance is so sweet in this, but I do have to give trigger warnings for homophobia, stigma against mental health, bullying, violence, and ostracization. Jacob has DID and I think the author did a great job researching it to give it a respectful portrayal in the story while also showing just how hard other people can make it for those dealing with mental health issues. Overall a heartwarming story with a nice ending, just maybe prepare some tissues for the middle.

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Hey all! Doing my first collab stream this week! My dear friend MiniAstronaut and I will be streaming together this Friday so don't be afraid to come say hi! https://www.twitch.tv/miniastr0naut

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Day 14 of Pride Book recommendations

Title: Ouran High School Host Club

Author: Bisco Hatori

Genre: Comedy, Romance, School life, Gender fuckery

Summary: Haruhi Fujioka is a typical high school student that got a scholarship to the ultra wealthy, ultra fancy Ouran Academy. Her life is going fine until one day she wanders into the wrong room and breaks a priceless vase. Her punishment? Join the school's host club, a place where boys play dress up and dote on their female classmates over tea and cake. She sees no problem with this, despite being a girl herself, much to the shock of the other members. The most absurd shenanigans follow, but friendships and found family blossom in the wake of it. Look... this may be ultimately be a romance between a boy and a girl, but there is NOTHING straight about Haruhi. And Tamaki is pretty queer himself at times. Haruhi straight up doesn't have a gender identity. Boy, girl, whatever floats your boat works for her and she puts far more stock in a person's personality and the respect they show her over what might be in their pants. If it had been written today instead of twenty years ago I absolutely think the terms nonbinary or genderfluid would be used for her. That aside, some things haven't aged the best, particularly language around her father who is a professional drag queen, but I think points should be given for daring to have such a character in the first place. Plus, despite the comedy, Ranka's love for his daughter is never in doubt and he proves to be a struggling parent who is doing the best he can to provide for her. Overall it's a series that is near and dear to my heart and I love it in all its forms.

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Day 13 of Pride Book recommendations

Title: The Left Hand of Darkness

Author: Ursula K. Le Guin

Genre: Scifi, Gender fuckery, survival

Summary: Genly Ai considers himself to be perfectly normal human man. A man that is tasked to be an ambassador to an alien planet that may be joining the intergalactic alliance that he serves. Some of the Gethenians are optimistic about the prospect while others are vehemently against it, leading to outcry from both sides and political strife. Genly isn't much help about smoothing things over either. For one, he simply can't get over how strange the people are. Gethenians are simply that, Gethenians. A genderless race with no distinctions or binaries except for short bursts of mating periods where they may take on female or male sex characteristics. While humanoid in appearance, their lack of gender and gendered behavior frustrates Genly to no end, such as a pregnant king that no one else sees as odd or out of the ordinary. However when war breaks out and an ice storm strands him and his guide, Estraven, far away from anyone willing to aid them, he must confront what it really means to be a person. This is book is beautifully written and ground breaking for coming out in 1969. Readers might get frustrated by the narrowmindedness of the protagonist from time to time, but I would dare say that's part of the point. The story doesn't shy away from hard topics, but never gets too gratuitous either. I hesitate to label what Genly and Estraven have as a romance, but they are companions that grow to trust each other. The ending doesn't wrap up everything in a nice bow either so you will probably be left thinking about it for quite a while.

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Come join me as we vibe and make order out of chaos.

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Day 12 of Pride Book recommendations

Title: Patience & Esther

Author: S. W. Searle

Genre: Historical fiction, Romance, Erotica

Summary: Patience is a plus sized Scot from the country trying to make her way in the world. Esther is a well educated Anglo Indian that is boxed in by the current social norms. The pair meet while working for Lady Blythe, a well off suffragette that has quite a gap between her ideals and her actions. Can these two servants blossom in the Edwardian age?

There are explicit scenes and boobs galore in these pages so be prepared for that. No real homophobia, but Esther has to put up with a lot of casual and overt racism from pretty much all sides. Overall though it's a very sweet romance and they do get a happy ending.

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Day 11 of Pride Book recommendations

Title: The Rise of Kyoshi & The Shadow of Kyoshi

Author: F. C. Yee

Genre: Action, Adventure, Spiritual, Chosen One, Found family

Summary: Kyoshi never even dreamed of being the Avatar and was more than happy to serve her friend Yun as he followed the path of the Avatar. However things go awry and after an accidental, but impressive display of power, everything and everyone Kyoshi knows and loves comes into doubt. Unsure of who actually wants to help her versus who just wants to control her, she flees with her most trusted confidant, Ranji, to find the answers that no one is willing to give her. They took the most badass Avatar in the series and made her queer. What more could you want? She chooses criminals over the government and takes a good bit of joy in dismantling anything she finds unjust. A lot of good twists and surprises too that I don't want to spoil. Seriously, read it even if you aren't a fan of the series and you just want sapphic anarchists with a mostly happy ending.

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Day 10 of Pride Book recommendations

Title: Bloom

Author: Kevin Panetta, Savanna Ganucheau

Genre: Romance, YA, Opposites attract

Summary: Ari is stuck working at his family's bakery when all he wants to do is leave his small town behind for a life of fame and traveling with his struggling band. Hector is looking for a fresh start and thinks this bakery might be exactly what he needs. Especially with such a cute tsundere around to train him. Ari is caught between pursuing his dreams or choosing to see his life from a whole new perspective. Ari is very insecure and unsure of what he wants so I could see that be grating to some, but I was able to appreciate it in contrast to the softer side that Hector brings out of him. Also, his parents are a delight and great side characters to add some flair to the overall romance.

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Gonna try to wrap up To the Moon today and I'd love for ya'll to join me!

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Silly poll of the week!

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Saw u were doing pride book recommendations for pride month :3

U should try reading I love your cruddy and In the gardens of Gehenna X3

Both are psychological yuri stories I love a ton!!

Ooh psychological yuri~! Thank you for the recommendation. I have not heard of them before but I will have to check them out!

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Day 9 of Pride Book recommendations

Title: Gideon the Ninth

Author: Tamsyn Muir

Genre: Scifi/fantasy, murder mystery, horror

Summary: Gideon Nav cares about three things; swords, pretty ladies, and getting the hell off her home planet. Harrowhark cares about only one thing; not looking a fool in front of the other planets' heirs at a very important upcoming meeting. So although the two can't stand each other, they have to work together. If Gideon can be an at least somewhat passable bodyguard for Harrow for the duration of this meeting, then she's free to go where she pleases afterward. Unfortunately for both of them, upon arriving at the meeting place they realize that the end is nowhere in sight as the heirs must all band together while simultaneously competing for the right to achieve Lyctorhood. How does one become a Lyctor? No one knows and no one can leave until someone figures it out. The task becomes even more difficult when people start dying off in mysterious ways. I love this whole series to bits and I can't really compare it to anything else. Each book follows a different character and the voice of the story changes with it. Gideon is brash and barely willing to follow the plot when any woman is in her line of sight. Harrow is cold, calculating, and hyper-focused on her goals, when she can keep her sanity long enough to remember what her goals are. Meanwhile, Nona really just wants to have a good time and doesn't understand why everyone keeps ruining that for her. It has lore, it has memes, it has comedy, it has tragedy, it has so many lesbians, and even some nonbinary characters for spice. This has been my absolute favorite book series of the last decade and can't recommend it highly enough.

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Day 8 of Pride Book recommendations

Title: The Prince and the Dressmaker

Author: Jen Wang

Genre: Historical fiction, Drag

Summary: A young French prince has a dangerous secret. He lives a double life, one as the dutiful Prince Sebastian who does everything his parents ask of him and one as the daring Lady Crystallia who throws lavish balls and wears only the latest fashions. To stay on the cutting edge of the fashion world, he hires an as yet unknown seamstress named Frances to be his own personal designer. While the two of them form a deep friendship, Frances has dreams of her own and she can't achieve them by only working for one person. Let alone one that doesn't really exist. The secrets and the tension keep piling on and their relationship might not survive the pressure. This was actually recommended to me years ago on tumblr and now I'm doing the same to all of you. It's a great story with real stakes on both sides and no clear cut villain. It gets a bit dark towards the end, but it comes back around to have a sweet conclusion. The art style is incredibly unique and of course the fashion is top notch, considering the subject matter. Highly recommend, but with a slight trigger warning for being forcibly outed and the family's reaction to it.

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Happy second week of pride month! Gonna be wrapping up To the Moon and then starting in on Unpacking. I thought it'd be a good game this month with the subtle queer themes in it. Hope to see you there!

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Day 7 of Pride Book recommendations

Title: Life of Melody

Author: Mari Costa

Genre: Romance, Opposites Attract, Found family

Summary: Two men discover a baby girl abandoned in the woods and argue over what to do. Even worse, one is a fairy godfather assigned to the child named Razzmatazz and the other is a beast man named Bon who found her before Razz could. Bon has already bonded with her and refuses to give her up, but Raz is determined to follow them to the ends of the Earth to provide for her in any way they can. They decide to compromise by posing as a human couple, in glamours, in a perfectly normal human town to give Melody the best life they can. What starts off as a tense contest to be the best dad, quickly becomes more as they realize they have to lean on each other to survive the next 18 years. It was originally a webcomic, but I picked it up as a graphic novel and really enjoyed that format. Very cute story overall with a nice blend of comedy and some dramatic moments. Always love a setting where being openly queer is totally accepted, it's some other unrelated thing that causes the conflict.

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Day 6 of Pride Book recommendations

Title: Beauty and the Beast Girl

Author: Neji

Genre: Romance, Opposites Attract, General sweetness

Summary: A monster who has never been shown kindness crosses paths with a blind woman named Lily. Realizing that this might be her first chance to be judged by her character and not her looks, she claims to be a fellow human traveler and the two quickly develop a sweet friendship. However, the monster, now dubbed Heath by Lily, starts to get wracked with guilt and must make a choice. Continue the ruse for as long as possible or come clean and see if their feelings are strong enough to overcome the truth. It's a very fluffy romance from beginning to end. Some angst happens over both of their pasts, but it never dwells for too long on it. Also implied sex, but nothing more overt than kissing is actually depicted. I really like that Lily's blindness isn't just a plot device, the story does go into her struggles with it, particularly her feelings about her agency when her family is so protective of her. It's only one volume so it's a short read that I highly recommend.

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Day 5 of Pride Book recommendations

Title: Alice in Leatherland

Author: Iolanda Zandardino, Elisa Romboli

Genre: Romance, Comedy, Adult

Summary: Alice is a children's author and desires nothing more than a fairytale cottage-core mountain town life with her girlfriend. Things go awry so she flees to the heart of San Francisco where there are few people she can trust and even fewer coins in her pocket. She winds up with roommates that are the furthest thing from wholesome, but they can't resist helping a cutie in a crisis and get her set up with a room and a job. All the while she has to decide if her non-committal friend/illustrator is worth the chase or if greener pastures can be found elsewhere. It's a very quick read with only 5 volumes and a good blend of humor, kink, and hope that threads them all together. Nothing ever gets too explicit, but she does work in a sex shop so visual gags with the merchandise abound.