unusualindigo

[unusualindigo]

Saw this post and only read the first line and I was like yeah so true. Just like how ogata golden kamuy was a whore and then killed himself just like his mom. And then I read the rest of it and was like oh. Nevermind I guess…….

[unusualindigo]

knight who is constantly searching for a good and noble king to serve but cannot fucking find one for the life of him so he has to become the good and noble king himself.

and now all these other knights are coming around like "please let me serve you" and like obviously hes going to let them serve him thats the point of being a good and noble king but its also. very annoying. one of you become the good and noble king for once lets trade

[unusualindigo]

Unpopular SVSSS Opinions

I think Shen Yuan was an entitled asshole in his first life and that Luo Binghe was fucked up by the time he met Shen Qingqiu (regardless of it was Yuan or the genuine article) due to how similarly manipulative and cruel both his variants can be.

Also that Shen Qingqiu and Yue Qingyuan are fine for the time they exist in and that the crimes against Binghe pale in comparison to his own after in PIDW.

I firmly believe Airplane meant for Binghe's tale to be cautionary but fans like Shen Yuan forced his hand and in lieu of making Binghe a lesson on why vengeance won't gain you happiness, he was forced to write him as the guy who gets all the girls and wins in life because they would accept nothing less.

[unusualindigo]

Illustration by Sophie Lucido Johnson

[unusualindigo]

yes my favorite type of fanfiction consists of characters getting tenderly cared for and comforted after a lifetime of being forced to suffer alone in silence, no this doesn't say anything about me

[unusualindigo]

Detect evil but it becomes increasingly clear that whoever calibrated it had some really weird moral stances.

[unusualindigo]

reminder that trans men also fought for your rights and refusal to acknowledge this is tantamount to denying historical fact

[unusualindigo]

ai generating my suicide note cause I couldn't think of anything

[unusualindigo]

but what if i read one of your fanfics and then went to your ao3 accounts and read all of your fanfics and left a comment on every single chapter of every single one and you got spam emails from all of my kudos and comments and it made you smile, what then? what if i brighten your day with my words like you did mine, what then???

[unusualindigo]

That Time a Published Author Told Me to Un-Queer My Novel

So, I don't think I ever shared this story on Tumblr before.

As you may know I've spent the past ten years turning my old Welcome to Night Vale fanfic into a stand alone novel called Echo of the Larkspur. Now, I haven't been working on it ten years straight. I'd pick it up, do a bunch of editing and rewriting, submit it to agents/publishers, get turned down, put the book away, wait 2-3 years, dust off the book, re-edit and rewrite, etc etc. A cycle that repeated itself far too many times that I would like.

Well, during one of these cycles when I was in the 'get rejected by every agent and publisher I submit to' stage I asked the writing group I was in what I was doing wrong. Because at this point I had reached a hundred total rejections and I was starting to suspect that the issue was with me.

One of the members of this writing group, a male author who was traditionally published, offered to read my first chapter and give his advice on how to fix it. This was, in retrospect, a mistake. But I was desperate. I sent him the first chapter and waited for his response.

Folks. The email he sent me changed my life.

First he said that agents wouldn't publish my novel because it was Sci-fi with hardcore gay erotica in it. This is curious because while the book certainly is queer, at no point in the conversation with this man did I say it was hardcore erotica. Nor did the first chapter feature any. It's almost as if he assumed that just because something was gay, it had to be hardcore erotica. Interesting.

He went on to say that a Human/Robot pairing was weird and that there was "No Way" my story could seriously address the issues of a relationship like that. Once again, he only read the first chapter. He just...assumed I wouldn't think of that? And that my book wouldn't cover it?

The author then said “I also felt that the LGBTQ inclusion really seems to cloud things.” Direct Quote.

And then this is when he said my favorite quote of them all:

The idea of a book being a sci-fi with romance AND a mystery is a Modern Art Marzipan Owl. It's just too confusing! No one can handle a story that is a mystery in a sci-fi enviroment AND has a romantic subplot! THEIR BRAINS WOULD LITERALLY EXPLODE!

Thankfully he had a solution to my book problem. His answer? Turn the book into an Action Spy Thriller and turn S.A.G.E., a robot that identies as a gay man, into a sexy lady robot who needs a MAN to teach her what it means to be human.

(I assume the male lead will teach the 'confused' female robot how to be human via his penis.)

Now my favorite part about this advice is that at no point did he outright say "Remove the gay part". No, instead he sneakily changed the robot love interest into a female robot as if I wouldn't notice. Just sort of swept away the gay bits as something totally unneeded and just mucking up the narrative. Also that's not the plot of my story, I have no idea where this virus thing came from.

(Also note that the female robot can't be robotic-like at all. Must preserve the average straight-man sex drive at all costs I guess)

He then finished his email basically saying that I should remove everything that 'traditional publishers' don't like (aka the queer parts) and make it easier for 'your average reader' to digest and my book will be good as published!

When I said this email changed my life I meant it. Because it made me realize I'd rather be self published and unknown than traditionally publish milquetoast trash like he suggested. Like holy fuck. If I removed all of the "Difficult" to digest stories out of Echo of the Larkspur then there wouldn't be a book left!

So here I am. Self publishing my Marzipan Modern Art Owl of a book. I know it'll never see the inside of a bookstore or top the charts on Goodreads but hey, I'd rather it speak to one person than have a thousand people get excited for the part where the male lead teaches the lady robot how to be human (via his penis).

If a Queer Sci-fi/Romance/Mystery novel sounds like your jam then consider preordering it!

Looking for something to read now? Can't afford the book? Willing to read in exchange for an honest review? You can join my ARC book readers here!

[unusualindigo]

[unusualindigo]

kaoru probably lost a bet or smth

[unusualindigo]

Ironeye is infatuated with Raider and you cannot convince me otherwise. I mean... Why wouldn't he be? (Cropped ver. under the cut!) 🏹🪓

[unusualindigo]

hearing that your characterizations are good is like. the best thing to hear as a fic writer.

[unusualindigo]

Hotel.

Tango. Uniform. Mike. Bravo. Lima. Romeo.

[unusualindigo]

[unusualindigo]