#i love the idea of eli being a fox and a wolf because fuck the nogitsune

[dsudis]

M/M romance novel recs

The last time I meant to do this I wound up procrastinating for, uh, approximately eleven months because I got fixated on Doing It Right, so... here are an arbitrary number of recommendations for books chosen unsystematically from things I’ve read in the last year or so, that aren’t as detailed or thoughtful as the books probably deserve, because the perfect is the enemy of the good and all that.

All of these are M/M, with a range of gay/bi/pan character identities.

Salt Magic, Skin Magic by Lee Welch - YOU GUYS I LOVE THIS ONE SO MUCH. I don’t think I’ve actually read the text version of it yet but I’ve listened to the audiobook narrated by Joel Leslie (available through Hoopla!) twice and this book is! so!! great!! It’s set just after the Great Exhibition of 1851--working  magician John Blake helped secure the structure of the Crystal Palace, and Thornby, who is mysteriously trapped on his father’s estate in Yorkshire, is livid at having missed the whole thing. Also oh my god this one goes HARD on the hurt/comfort, like I think there is swooning-from-injuries and being-cradled-in-the-other’s-arms in Chapter Two. I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH.

How to Howl at the Moon by Eli Easton - This is the first book in a series based on the premise that dogs who are sufficiently loved by a human, who then are left behind when their beloved human dies, can become Quickened--sentient, and able to shift into human form. So brace yourself to cry about sad dogs but on the bright side NONE OF THE DOGS DIE, JUST HUMANS. Now if you think this premise through for a minute you will realize that this could lead to some super hinky situations, because an adult dog, shifting into an adult human, is like... as little as three years old? and brand-new as a human? So you will be glad to know that this first book introduces you to the whole idea with the least-hinky possible version of the story: Tim is a human who comes to live in a town of Quickened, and Lance, the local sheriff and also a border collie shifter, is a third-generation Quickened, so he has grown up in a totally linear fashion. Books 2 through 4 then proceed to explore progressively more, uh, delicate permutations of the idea, but they are all great I swear. 

The Werewolf’s Fae Mate & The Broken Faewolf’s Mate by Liv Rider - I read the second book of these first, because I could not resist the premise of a werewolf who’s been stuck as a wolf since childhood suddenly shifting back to human when he meets his true love (who has werewolf blood but is determined never to lose control and shift into wolf form). Both books are delightful and do werewolves without the whole a/b/o situation, building a whole rivalry between fae and shifters.

How to Bang a Billionaire (trilogy) by Alexis Hall - This is very much like 50 Shades of Gray but a) good and b) gay and c) Arden has a much better instinct for self-preservation than Ana and is willing to say “um you’re treating me like shit and I don’t care about your money more than I care about my own happiness, so I’m out.” Also the kinky sex is something they work up to over time, because of reasons. Lots of delightful secondary characters and a really lovely development of their whole relationship. 

Briarley by Aster Glenn Grey (aka @ospreyarcher) - A Beauty and the Beast fixit set during World War II, where the country parson trespasses on the beast’s manor and then, when the Beast demands that he exchange his daughter for his freedom, says, “Uh, no, I’m not going to do that to my daughter, you lunatic, and also she has important war work to do” and stays put and makes the Beast adopt a disabled dog in order to learn what love is. And also the Beast is a fucking dragon and it’s great. 

Seven Summer Nights by Harper Fox - Set just after World War II, with both heroes coping, with varying degrees of success, with their combat traumas. Rufus is an archaeologist and a war hero, but he’s missing the memory of the events that left him with his scars and medals, and attacks a colleague on a dig during a flashback. Archie is a small town vicar who’s lost his faith but still believes in looking after his people--and his church, which seems to have a really unusual history. Rufus is sent to Droyton Parva to investigate the archaeology of the church and to hide from his ruined career, and he and Archie run headfirst into some of the last remnants of magic in a mostly-mundane world. Amazing supporting cast of women (and one trans guy who gets a great happy ending although bits of it were... not written in a 21st century way which makes sense for characters in 1946 but, you know, it might be jarring. Also, content warning for offscreen death of an infant.) Mostly this is a story about finding, and creating, and protecting, the spaces where you can be who you are with the person or people you love, and, you know, also some weird magic? It’s great.

(Also I am just permanently recommending that you go read everything by KJ Charles, Cat Sebastian, and Keira Andrews, I have not gone wrong with them yet.)

Anyway, if there’s a particular kind of book you’re looking for, ask and I’ll see what I can come up with! And if you have if-you-liked-x-you-should-read-y suggestions related to the above, I’d love to hear about them!

[Cross-posted to my blog at dessalux.com]

[writinanon]

Predator and Prey Details

Here’s the details from Hare and Wolves about everyone

When I say ‘native’ blood I mean the animals not native Americans because this is ostensible normal human history with animal traits splashed over it and normal human history is very depressing and unkind to indigenous peoples. As white people ‘settled’ the Americas their animalistic sides took on the traits of the animals that were better adapted to the New World. Some people didn’t like this and believed it to be a dilution of their heritage and so they only married people that had a traditional or married someone from Europe. As the land was taken over this stopped happening as much.

With the exception of Jerome and Burke everyone has either had their European blood diluted to the point that it only comes up in small traits or the ‘native’ blood around them has taken complete hold. Considering at best 6 and a half generations have passed since the end of slavery and only two have passed since the civil rights movement their animals would be more deeply connected to their African heritage than the others would be to their European heritage)

Rook – White-tailed Jackrabbit, Prey (She’s a Hare, which is a bit bigger and can run faster for longer than a rabbit.)

Jacob, Joseph, John – Red Wolf, Apex Predator (Native to the southeastern United States of America they’re going extinct do to practices however they are still the top of the food chain in their areas)

Faith – Grey Wolf, Apex Predator (Safely off the extreme end of the endangered zone they are the mental go to for the typical image of a wolf for people of the US and Canada)

Nick – Golden Eagle, Apex Predator (Of course he’s a fly boy. Coming from a long line of air force pilots the fact that he chose to not going into the military given his gift of flight was definitely against the grain for his family. Especially since his wife isn’t Bird Prey but Ground Prey.)

Kim – Yellow-bellied Mormont, Prey (These guys are awesome and I think Kim fits in with them perfectly well.)

Jerome – Side-striped Jackal, Predator (In the wild these Jackals are observed as being far less predatory as their relatives while not exactly gentle they aren’t likely attack for meat unless they actually want meat or it’s easy prey. Their territory range is in sub-Saharan Africa and while a bit more prairie like than Montana I felt the shift wouldn’t have been as dramatic and that his family would have moved to the plains as soon as they were able to. There are also no animals like the Jackal in the area, the closest would be a Coyote however they evolved separately enough that Jerome’s bloodline will remain Jackal unless he moves to a different location with a more similar animal or he mates into a different bloodline.)

Marshall Burke – Spotted-neck Otter, Predator (We know that the Marshall comes from Virginia as that is were the US Marshals are based primarily out of plus it gives credence to his total fish out of water knows absolutely nothing mindset. These guys are river otters from Africa and stick close to marshy areas and Virginia has a lot of wetland thanks to the Potomac River.)

Sheriff Whitehorse – White-tailed Deer, Combative Prey (Well he wasn’t going to be a horse. Though often skittish white-tailed deer are fairly territorial and will fight with other bucks for their desired does or grazing territory. They don’t like to come up against big predators, they’ll fight but are more likely to freeze or run, given the opening I felt this fit with the Sheriff’s attitude toward the Seeds.)

Deputy Hudson – Coyote, Apex Predator (Coyotes get a bad rap and I feel that seeing wolves as superior would carry over in this kind of world. What she lacks in size compared to a wolf she makes up for in cunning as well as speed.)

Deputy Pratt – Wire Fox Terrier, Predator (Bred to hunt foxes as well as other burrowing animals, these guys are quick and need a firm hand to guide them, they are however very loyal)

Mary-May – Golden Eagle, Apex Predator (I figured that Mary-May and Nick were cousins and that in this world the title of the bar would both be a sex joke and an animal joke so she gets to be a Golden Eagle too.)

Sharky – Long-tailed Weasel, Predator (Distantly related to the Mongoose Sharky is not one though. This brings him much sorrow after Rook tells him this.)

Hurk – Short-tailed Weasel, Predator (Cousin of the Long-tailed Weasel they are a little smaller and have a shorter tail however that’s about where the differences stop. Hurk gets a huge kick out of Sharky not knowing they weren’t Mongoose, he also finds it funny that Sharky doesn’t know the difference between a rabbit and a hare.)

Adelaide – Short-tailed Weasel, Predator (Small and vicious these guys can and will tear you a new one if they feel like it. They also enjoy heights as I learned when one decided to climb me like a tree and sit on my head for better vantage point.)

Grace – Red-tailed Hawk, Apex Predator (My personal favorite kind of hawk they’re quick and have excellent vision. Also, their screams are the ones that are usually subbed in for that of a Bald Eagle because Bald Eagles have very high-pitched shrieks not majestic wails like Red-tailed Hawks.)

Jess – Barn Owl, Apex Predator (They are the quietest of birds and shriek like banshees if they are displeased.)

Eli – Rocky Mountain Elk, Combative Prey (These guys are a little shaggy around the edges and are usually willing to fight a bear, cougar, or each other in defense of their children/herd)

Wheaty – American Crow, Predator (They will eat anything and are terribly smart)

All Alphas are Apex Predators (AP). Be it a raptor or a wolf or a big cat or a bear, if they’re a top of the food chain predator they are an Alpha.

Betas fall in the midrange Predator to the Combative Prey (CP), animals that can be both predator and prey like weasels or dogs or snakes as well as larger prey animals that can fight off attackers but don’t actively seek out other animals as prey, deer or moose or horses.

Omegas are purely Prey. Mice, rabbits, small birds, creatures that are usually the dinner of predators in the wild. However, being the most fertile and able to carry the largest groupings of children unlike their wild counterparts Omegas are treasured and beloved, sometimes hoarded by Alphas.

Rook is a white-tailed Jackrabbit, Prey.

The Seeds are what are known as Red Wolves, Apex Predators. With the exception of Faith being a Grey Wolf as she was born in Montana and not Georgia.

Prey tend to prefer to mate with Betas or other Omegas because AP’s are possessive, controlling, and often very aggressive. They prefer the milder nature of Betas, be they Predator or CP Betas seem more in touch with the human side of them all and that leads them to being the most level headed out of the separate groups. The Predators are usually the ones that go into things like law enforcement or dangerous jobs because they can keep their heads better than AP’s (not to say that AP’s don’t go into the military or police work Jacob was a military man; however, Predators tend to make the majority of people who pass the psych tests to become military or police).

AP’s tend to try and only mate with Prey because Prey are the most fertile, the most likely to bare larger groups of children, and there are only one of two ways it can go AP or Prey.

When they go to arrest Joseph, Rook has scent blockers on because she is Prey and while it’s not against the rules a lot of AP’s and even Predators would attempt to subdue her with pheromones and then claim she was unfit to arrest and get to escape scot-free. John’s baptism and then her subsequent swim in the lake washed them all off and she doesn’t have the chance to get more. Eden’s Gate is a big believer in living naturally, as ‘The Lord Intended’ and so birth control and scent blockers are contraband. This is one of the reasons that Kim is actually pregnant during what is tantamount to a war for the county (they wanted kids and are more than happy to have their little bundle of joy however having a kid with a crazy cult just down the way that is militant and trying to take your lively hood? Not exactly the best idea. But with birth control drying up they were left with almost no choice).  This is bad because she gets a shot for birth control and her shot is wearing off.

Of course, all of the resistance members know what she is, Sharky likes to tease her and call her Lucky. (She argues that she’s a Hare not a rabbit and there is a distinction stop laughing you stupid weasel! To which he replies he’s a mongoose and Rook has to explain that mongoose are much larger stoats. They blow up a Peggie outpost to make him feel better after finding out his ‘Whole life is a lie’ while Hurk laughs in the background.)

The visions of Jackalopes in Faith’s region frighten her, it’s not right for them to have horns and she always runs back to Jerome or the Sheriff after encountering them. She doesn’t want to become a mindless follower, the shell of what she was once.

Shockingly, the Judges are more afraid of her than she is of them when she’s in her much more diminutive form. Jacob has seen her literally riding them in her smaller form. Before he knows it’s the Deputy he is confused as fuck.

As autumn closes in on them she moults her soft brown/grey fur into her snow-white fur, the only color being on the tips of her ears which are tipped in black year-round.

Everyone in the Wolf’s Den coo over her change, she has to stay as a Hare and can’t shift back into her human form until she fully moults, instead of taking weeks it takes roughly three days.

Boomer, Peaches, and Cheeseburger follow her because she has a sweet gently scent and offers nothing but love. They recognize her no matter what form she is in and, before they know it is the Deputy, Peggies and towns folk alike are baffled by the sight of a bear and a cougar protectively guarding a rabbit (I’m a fucking Hare you morons!).