#author appearance

[dmitrigivesgoodblood]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Steamy Lit Con (@steamylitcon)

Nalini will be a guest at Steamy Lit Con in Anaheim, Ca August 2-4, 2024!!!

Tickets on sale soon!

[zytes]

this manatee looks like it’s in a skyrim loading screen

[scifrey]

It's on the website so it must be official now! I will appearing at the Toronto International Festival of Authors this September! Schedule TBA...

[robinwoodsfiction]

Author Appearance, Workshop, & New Book

Have you ever wanted to sit in on one of my writing classes? Well, here is your chance. I’m going to be at the Florence Festival of Books on Saturday, September 23rd. Join me at my author appearance and writing workshop. Take My Workshop I’m going to be teaching a workshop entitled “The Dynamic Dozen: Tips for Your Writing Toolbox” where I will give you a host of ways to upgrade your writing.…

[kvothes]

pornography by richard siken, in the diagram

[ellebeauregard]

Author Dream 🔑🔓 Unlocked!

A couple of weeks ago I appeared alongside Jasmine Silvera, Jo Segura, and Jen Comfort at The Ripped Bodice and basically if I die tomorrow I'll have at least that bucket list item checked off. But also, can I go back please?

[strangeandspookyworld]

Strange & Spooky Tour Season is Upon Us

Strange & Spooky Tour Season is Upon Us

The dates have been set, the audio and video have been uploaded, and the car’s been packed. It’s time. Time for the biggest and longest Strange & Spooky Tour to begin! And this year, I’m not stopping on October 31st–I’m running straight on through the middle of December! Honestly, I can’t remember at the last time I crammed as many presentations into one season. We’ve expanded out from just…

[kooldewd123]

At the start of each Animorphs book, before the first chapter begins, there is a page. On it is a simple acknowledgement. Two names. The first name is Michael - Katherine Applegate's husband and co-writer on the series. The second name is that of a boy. This name belongs to their son. Or, should I say, belonged to their son. Because they don't have a son anymore. They have a daughter. Every time I pick up an Animorphs book, I can't help but linger on this page as I quite literally hold her deadname in my hands. It's a peculiarly beautiful feeling. Peculiar because the context behind that name makes it seem all the more personal. I feel like I've violated her privacy simply by knowing it, even though it's openly out there for anyone to read. But beautiful because dammit, doesn't this represent this series's relationship with the queer community so well? Animorphs is often regarded as a queer (and especially trans) narrative, despite the fact that such subtext was completely unintentional. Applegate did not write Animorphs to be queer media, but she's embraced the fact that it has became so in the hands of the fans. How perfectly fitting is it, then, that she unknowingly dedicated the entire series to a trans woman?

[somsonsomsoff]

headcanons for the employers have somehow turned into a crossover with de skills

[wejustvibing]

lewis being a comedian for 3 mins straight

[kr-uwu-ssy]

So yesterday i had to take a shit while watching dunmeshi and it made me realize that they probably have to shit a lot with how much they eat

We know there are toilets on some of the floors but I don't think they're frequent enough on every floor for them to be able to shit regularly (answers 3-5 are my mom's idea)

[frobby]

i think a core component of the okumura twins relationship is that if you told them before the series what happens in the future, they would worry about each other before themselves

[otomes-world]

Six impossible things before breakfast

Little twist with sentient twst au, yes, I didn't expect this either. Masterlist with more works here

We've probably all heard the joke about "How many light bulbs does it take to (insert whatever)." Who would have thought that you would use a slightly modified version of it: how many more coincidences must happen to realize the truth.

Although can anyone really blame you for not wanting to admit that you are a bunch of colored pixels created purely for entertainment purposes? No, it even sounds nice. After all, your purpose was to create extras, a stage on which the main characters performed and shone. Those who had faces.

Did you always have yours? Could you always see it in the mirror in the morning?

Did figurative shivers run down your spine every time a faceless classmate addressed you? One of ten, hundreds, exactly the same. Have the main bunch had the same problem? That's the question you'd been asking yourself lately. Did they shrug off empty, replaceable shells, or at least for a second consider them their equals?

Perhaps the question should have been asked differently. Was this in the order of things for them, because the thought of the incorrectness of worldly norms did not flash through their heads. Or it was something simple and very banal - they did not realize that they were part of the game.

Were you special? The thought was flattering, but it was stupid to start turning up your nose. Maybe the supreme programmer, like the smart guys from Ignihyde, could consider you a virus, a bug, an annoying nuisance, which can be gotten rid of in a couple of seconds. Click and that's it, your file would be deleted.

The idea that death could be more than just literal took you by surprise.

It all started with a strange feeling of déjà vu, with a strange cyclical nature of what was happening. How the seasons did not change according to the laws of nature or, on the contrary, lasted longer than expected. Sometimes you wondered what month was going on, at least by counting. Or how you couldn’t say with certainty what year of study you were in. When was your graduation? Would it ever come?

How many times did the main characters celebrate their birthday? How many times had you celebrated it? Did you celebrate it from the start?

Lessons

Breaks

Exams

Holidays

Lessons

Was there an end to this merging stream of eternal students? Was the dormitory assignment ceremony that important? How many real “first-year students” were admitted each year? Why couldn't your educational journey end? Time adjusted and obeyed an invisible force; it existed only when it was convenient for someone.

Catching the attention of the local spotlight and getting on stage was the best way to get labeled as a "bug" and ask to be removed. However, the main threat was only the erasure of memory.

The next discovery was doubt about one’s own “specialness.” When consciousness had nothing to do, it began to cling to different details, trying to look for differences in a series of events repeated in the film.

When you knew what to look for, small mistakes that were not noticeable at first glance stand out more than usual. A slight shadow of boredom on the faces of the main ones. Lack of interest in the educational process and exams. As if only one “exam” was important in a bunch of exactly the same events. When the first years of Heartslabyul signed a contract with Ashengrotto.

With new information in mind, it became easier to identify important “events” and track time based on them. By how many times they were repeated in the endless flow of time. Taking notes and somehow recording data was more dangerous than you thought, all that was left was to come up with methods known to you alone. For example, in a dorm room on the bedside table there was a cluster of glasses, each containing specific color of pencils.

Did your roommates start to think you were weird and obsessed with order and cleanliness? Their right. You didn't care what they thought, besides, they would forget about it with the coming of a new day.

In order not to completely go crazy, you began to peer into the “faces” of other students, trying to spot at least a feature that distinguishes one from another. Either this world was too lazy, creating copy after copy in every dorm, or there was no point in trying. If you somehow came to terms with the feeling of the meaninglessness of what was happening, then the appearance of one student in several places at the same time still caused rejection.

Disgusting

If this world was someone’s experiment, then why were events cyclical? If this was a cage, then where was the exit. If this was a prison, then who was being held in it?

You made a mistake in observing a person without magic from another world. Trying to figure out whether Yuu's "world" was truly different or just as much a part of predestination as everything around. Was “Yuu” really the main one or just an extra? You could have sworn they didn't have a face. At least such clear features as all the main ones. Just as there was no character, how in each of the repeating events they could behave differently.

It was a breath of fresh air in the routine of never-ending study. The watching of the only part capable of changing in the world, subject to the same rules.

That's why, when one of the main ones suddenly approached you, you thought you were dreaming. Whether it was possible to fall asleep in the simulation was another question. Usually you went to bed, closed eyes, only to open them the next second to the sound of the alarm clock.

"Can I help you with something?" You smiled politely, but was it worth it? Could the main bunch distinguish between persons different from their privileged group.

Hunt. Was that his name? You weren't completely sure. He was part of something forbidden, something to be avoided at all costs. Part of the three “don’ts”: don’t look for information;don’t mention; don’t give yourself unnecessary temptations. Returning to the present moment, he just looked into your eyes with his constant smile, as if trying to find confirmation of something.

Like a true NPC, you continued to stand, frozen in one position and waiting for his answer. Until awareness came as abruptly as his appearance in principle. He looked straight into your eyes. Could he see your face the same way you saw it in the mirror? How long ago? Could the rest of the main ones see you too?

A billion questions were spinning in head at the same time as you tried to come up with a suitable excuse and reason to leave. The changes turned out to be too unexpected and frightening. Perhaps with the advent of a new “day” everything would return to normal.

“Is there a knight in the world who is not ready to devote all his deeds to one and only one, if this opens the veil of secrets at least a little? Will it allow him to find out what thoughts are spinning in head?”

It's a pity he was not a knight. Even though each word was pronounced with a special intonation, you only thought about how much water there was in his speech. Unfortunately, saying this out loud was an unaffordable luxury.

"..Is that so?"

“You are right, an étoile (star), I may be not one of their noble number, but even so I am not able to deny their order.” You let him continue, mentally counting down the minutes until the bell rang for lesson. “I may not have a sword in sheath, but It won`t change a way I live! Your smile can make my whole heart melt. There isn't lie in way I felt”

“I’m not good at poetry, but the rhyme is lame, Sir Hunt,” if it’s there.

“You’re right, writing poems is just one of my hobbies, to which I devote my few free leisure hours,” he continued, as if your words didn’t hurt him at all. “I hasten to assure you that there was no malicious intent in my actions. This modest hunter only wanted to greet a new connoisseur of everything beautiful and interesting."

No matter how much you hate beating around the bush, doubts creeping in from randomly thrown words. Sometimes the phrases spoken directly were the most frightening. However, not wanting to part with your role as an extra - which was burdensome, but at the same time giving a semblance of freedom - you continued to pretend to be an NPC.

"Should I congratulate you?.. Congratulations!" Any member of the film club would envy your feigned sincerity. A bell in three, two, "I don’t dare detain you any longer.”

The unsaid `like you would me` hung in the air. You had to hold out for the few remaining hours until the end. Fortunately, the main one did let you go, but smile, saying that its owner knew everything in the world, left an unpleasant aftertaste. One that your intuition suggested would accompany you for the next days.

It's going to be a very long a few hours.

[bnnywngs]

"mom, i'm home and brought lan zhan to do homework with me!" wei ying yelled as soon as he opened the door to their cramped apartment.

"welcome, sweetheart!" cangse sanren yelled back, waving a red stained spatula to the boys "are you staying for dinner tonight, a-zhan?"

a door opened somewhere inside the corridor and footsteps could be heard.

"yes, if i can?" lan zhan bowed as politely as he always were.

"gege!" a soft, happy voice exclaimed, before a body crashed into wei ying's back.

"a-yu! you're home already?" wei ying laughed, turning his face enough to boop his brother's head with his own forehead.

"yep! got our early today because i wanted to see gege~"

"xuanyu." lan zhan greeted the younger one.

the boy only glared at him with a disgusted expression.

"are you a kid?" wei ying laughed and tapped the arms around him "let gege go, i want to clean my bedroom a bit before lan zhan goes there. wait here, lan zhan, i'll call you."

"hm." lan zhan nodded.

xuanyu smiled brightly at his brother, asking if he needed help and being asked to keep their guest company. but, as soon as wei ying turned his back to them and walked further inside the apartment, xuanyu dropped his happy face so quickly it was almost scary, straight up glaring at lan zhan.

"go away, you pest." the boy said.

lan zhan sighed, already used to this.

"wei ying wants me here."

xuanyu glared even harder, sneering, but before he could say anything, a hand chopped his head quite hard.

"your brocon is too much." cangse sanren said with a loud sigh "leave your brother's boyfriend alone."

lan zhan bowed to the woman with respect, and took a package from his bag "uncle sent this."

"oh, my! you shouldn't have! but thank you anyway,~!" cangse sanren pinched lan zhan's cheek and went back to the kitchen with the package and her youngest "have fun with a-ying! and let the door open!"

[deadboyswalking]

People who write good fic when English isn't their first language are pretty amazing, you know? Expressing these complex emotions and really, deep character studies, in a language that isn't your native language is a difficult task. Does the dialogue always sound like a native speaker? Well, no, but a lot of native English speakers struggle badly with writing dialogue too. And anyway, there are some other interesting benefits to reading things written by native speakers of other languages. When they write in English, they still bring their cultural perspective and references from their first language into the fic. This gives a really unique view of characters and plotlines, like I always walk away with a new way of understanding the canon story that I hadn't thought of before.

[jeskerthefool]

How Gem the Slayer became a Knight of Camelot (Chapter 1):

Original fic. (Check it out it's amazing I swear to god it's so so so good it infected my brain)

Next chapter (sometime soon) ;)

So I made this while away from my computer, hence why it's traditional and with watercolours. Now, however, I'm back home, so I'm considering changing it up to digital for the next chapters. The benefits would be more colours and easier to fix mistakes, but it would lose the texture that watercolour paper lends it.