I'm Rick, and I write essays, rants, and reviews for movies, shows, books, and occasionally albums. Visit my website for reviews with spoilers.He/him pronouns.
63 posts
Latest Posts by irresponsibleink - Page 2
Hi guys! Yujatea here! If you enjoy my work, I’d like to please ask for a moment of your time to consider helping this family I’m supporting! Shaima is a mother of four children, Abdul Rahim, Walid, Majdi, and baby Amal. Shaima is struggling to support her children since her husband disappeared, and needs urgent help with providing food and resources for them, especially as winter sweeps through Gaza! This family’s fundraising campaign (@familgazaamal1) is completely vetted and I’m trying to use my platforms to raise awareness on their behalf. I’ll be opening my commissions to raise funds for their campaign so keep your eyes peeled! I’ll also post their fundraiser link in my highlights as well! Thanks guys! Let’s do our part to reclaim kindness and uplift each other!
Here's a message from the family:
In Gaza, where conflict looms over daily life, children’s dreams remain a ray of hope. Abdul Rahim, a young boy, dreams of becoming a famous artist, using his drawings to tell the world about the beauty of his homeland. Walid, on the other hand, dreams of playing football in a big stadium, representing his country despite the obstacles around him. Majdi, a cat lover, dreams of becoming a kind person and helping children. Majdi, who dreams of opening an animal shelter to care for animals in Gaza. Even in the midst of war, these children cling to their dreams, believing that one day, despite the difficulties, they will achieve their goals. Their dreams are not only about personal success, but also about shedding light on a world filled with darkness. These dreams symbolize the resilience of Gaza’s children, showing that hope and determination can survive even the most difficult circumstances.
In the heart of the ongoing war, Shaima lives with her four children, constantly struggling with pain and waiting. Her husband, who was once the source of security and happiness, left a long time ago, facing the challenges of war far from them. Every day, Shaima makes earnest efforts to keep life going despite the hardships. She strives to provide food and shelter while trying to instill hope in the hearts of her children, who are still waiting for their father’s return, a father they know little about other than his absence. Her four children, despite their young age, carry great hopes in their hearts. The eldest, who everyone sees as the "little father," dreams of their father returning to embrace them as he did in the past. The youngest, on the other hand, wakes up at night searching for his father's voice, wishing for his return to feel safe again. Shaima's dream is every mother’s dream in this war: for her husband to return safely so they can live together again in peace and security. She dreams of the days when her husband filled their home with joy, and she prays for the end of the war so their family can reunite once more. Yet, amid the destruction and tears, hope remains their strength. Shaima knows that her patience and resilience are what keep the family going. Despite the difficult days, she continues to resist, dreaming of the moment when her family will be whole again, with her husband and the father of her children back home.
There's a difference between "this novella needed to be novel length for the story to feel complete" and "I enjoyed this novella so much that I wish it was novel length" and people confuse those often.
conservatives need to get the fuck off of Tumblr, this is NOT your place buddy...
I couldn’t reboot it for some reason
Loving B&W photos.
in light of Trump's inauguration speech declaring multiple national emergencies that require him to take god-knows-what executive actions immediately, I'd like to remember this chapter of "On Tyranny" by Timothy Snyder:
I signed the petition, I recommend y'all do the same
Please take a moment to read this. A Canadian company (Highland Copper Company) wants to build a sulfide copper mine near Lake Superior (Copperwood Project), which holds 10% of the world’s freshwater. The mine would produce 98.5% toxic waste, stored in a dam just two miles from the lake. The dam can only withstand a 1-in-100-year storm, but the area has had two 1-in-1,000-year storms in the past decade. If it breaks, toxic water could contaminates Lake Superior & nearby freshwater sources, which could lead to acid mine drainage, where sulfide minerals react with water and air to produce sulfuric acid. This acid can leach heavy metals such as arsenic, lead, and mercury into the water, severely harming aquatic ecosystems and making the water unsafe for human consumption. Similar contamination events have led to long-term environmental damage and water quality degradation at other sulfide mines in the U.S., where nearly all have failed to prevent pollution. Additionally, this could negatively impact local communities by reducing property values, limiting long-term employment opportunities due to the finite nature of mining operations, and creating economic instability linked to environmental degradation. The company wants $50 million in taxpayer funding to move forward. The Michigan Senate is about to vote, if they don’t get the funding they can’t build it.
Sign the petition if you want to prevent this disaster by clicking the link below or searching “Protect the Porkies, Protect Lake Superior— Stop the Copperwood Mine!” at change.org.
what do you mean elon musk did a nazi salute on live tv at the united states presidential inauguration twice and is now erasing the evidence off the internet by replacing the footage with the crowd cheering instead?
would be a shame if people reblogged this, wouldn’t it?
My boy-rbie
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is Off to a Great Start, but Who Asked for This?
*No spoilers*
I stayed up to watch the premiere of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (3am on the east coast) and things are off to an interesting start, but I have to ask, who wanted this show? When it was announced, the series was meant to tell Spider-Man’s origin story in the MCU, but as production went on, the producers realized how boxed in they were, so they decided to make it a multiverse story. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man takes place in a universe similar to the sacred timeline, but instead of Tony Stark recruiting Peter, it’s Norman Osborn.
I understand why this show isn’t in the MCU, and while I admit that the series is taking the character in a different direction, I’m tired of seeing Peter Parker in high school and most fans seem to agree. I love a good superhero/average teen combo, which we see in this series. Peter misses class and skips parties to fight bad guys, and I love that dynamic. I love that Peter can’t tell his teachers why he wasn’t there for the test, or tell his friends why he missed their play, or birthday party. I enjoy that dynamic every time I see it, but it’s not anything that The Spectacular Spider-Man (2008-09), Ultimate Spider-Man (2012-17), or Spider-Man (2017-20) didn’t do. The live-action films also take on these scenarios, and they execute them well for the most part.
I don’t mean to be a pessimist, because this is a good show, but I can’t write down my thoughts and opinions about it without also expressing my exhaustion at how many times we’ve seen this play out. Marvel Animation should’ve placed Peter in college for this series. It would’ve been way more interesting, especially if they framed it for adults specifically, like Invincible (2021-) or Creature Commandos (2024-). My idea isn’t for them to make Spider-Man unnaturally dark, brooding, or edgy, but it would’ve brought more fans to the table in my opinion.
Some people say this show should’ve been about Miles Morales and I don’t agree. To me, the Miles-shaped hole in my heart is being filled by the Spider-Verse movies, and if they do a Miles Morales animated series, I believe it should wait until the Spider-Verse movies are over because the Spider-Verse movies are animated I believe the producers would have their work cut out for them trying to create another animated universe that rivals the Spider-Verse films, and because of this I believe that the show would suffer critically for it because everyone would compare it to the Sony rendition.
But let’s talk about this show and why it’s good, sans spoilers, of course.
The first thing you notice about this series is the animation and it’s just splendid. The fight scenes look immaculate, the shots of Spider-man swinging around the city are so well done. Episode 2 in particular had some really sweet shots. The voice acting was okay. I can’t decide if Hudson Thames is a good Peter Parker. At times he sounds good, but then it sounds like he’s got phlegm and didn’t bother to clear his voice before recording. The opening title was superb. The music and art together were just perfect. The callbacks to Civil War were also pretty cool. The suit Peter wears feels homemade, more so than the MCU edition and I liked that. I like that he uses some propane-type thing to power his webshooters.
Peter Parker feels like Peter Parker in this series. He’s stumbling around, chronically late, and missing the bus, it’s all very Peter-coded. On top of that, he’s very empathetic to criminals, something I think was lost in some of the films. The characters have got good chemistry. I like the dynamic between Peter and his friends. There was a certain character whose name I recognized from the comics, but he looked so different and there were some scenes with him that I didn’t fully understand, so I’m curious how his future in the show will play out. I can’t decide if Norman Osborn will be a villain or not. I always got the vibe that he has something going on under the surface, but that could be an intentional choice to make us suspect misdeeds from him. This show wants to subvert our expectations, similar to how the MCU films did. There were more names I recognized and I’m excited to see where they go from here, especially since the series was renewed for a second and third season.
I like that Marvel Studios is putting effort into this show. There have been plenty of Spider-man shows in recent years, but you could tell they were for children. This series has more attention to detail, it’s an animated superhero show that can be enjoyed by adults, and as I get older that’s something I value more and more. I love to rewatch shows like The Spectacular Spider-Man (2009-09) but something gets lost there as you get older. You can’t enjoy the story as much because it’s written for children, but today’s animators seem to understand the need adults have for these shows.
I just said that I’m tired of seeing Spider-Man in high school, but this series makes me nostalgic in all the best ways. Watching shows like this makes me feel like a kid again, and in recent times I value that experience so much. Listening to the awesome music selection as Spidey swings through the city oddly reminds me of walking to class in the morning, blasting music, and worrying about the math test I had later that day.
Overall, I’m excited to see where this show goes.
Final grade: B+
Rick Stepp (irresponsibleink@gmail.com)
Already seeing people on tiktok saying “I still hate trump but he ate with this one” like … babes … you just got propagandized … that’s literally exactly what he created this situation in the hopes you would say …
— soulinkpoetry
Onision's Book is an Abomination Against God
1/28/25
I have a burning desire to hold opinions on things that are none of my business. I also love unintentional comedy, I love stories that are so unaware of how bad they are, that they’re quite good. This blog post started as an experiment. The plan was to read the lowest-rated book in my library and then read the highest-rated book to see how they compare. The lowest-rated book in my library happens to be Stones to Abbigale by Onision, with an average of 1.87 stars on Goodreads, which is concerning. Goodreads tends to be very forgiving with reviews, if you can find anything below 3.50, you’re in for a wild ride. After reading this novel and compiling my notes, I realized that this novel is so grotesque, so insulting, that it deserves its own post entirely.
Onision is a disgraced YouTuber who has been accused of s*xual ass*ult. Among the countless videos about him on YouTube, there are plenty that discuss his lackluster books. Curiosity ebbing in my heart, I bought a used copy on eBay and waited eagerly for the novel to arrive. I was worried I’d be biased while reading the book, being aware of how other people feel about it and Onision’s past, but oh boy, I didn’t think about Onision once while reading it. The book completely immersed me. Not because it was good, but because it was so terrible I couldn’t focus on anything else.
This novel is 180 pages and normally I could knock that out in an evening, but I had to pause often to regain my composure and wait for the growing migraine to dull before diving back in. On BookTube it’s easy to find reviews of readers claiming to have found the worst book, but they’re all wrong. Stones to Abbigale is the worst novel. Ever. It contains immature, inauthentic, pretentious writing, filled to the brim with spelling errors, characters that make no sense, and senseless tragedies that are used to make the novel feel edgy and deep.
This post contains spoilers, (trust me, please don’t read this book) and trigger warnings for s*xual ass*ult, school sh*otings, m*scarriages, ab*se, self-h*rm, s*icide, and death, though I talk about none of these things in detail.
Stones to Abbigale follows James, a high school student who falls in love with his classmate, Abbi. There is no standard plot to the story; it’s less of a novel and more of a random series of events that happen to these two teens.
The other characters include Ms. Robertson, Jason, Davis, James’s Mom, Seth, and Barack Obama. There are more characters but they don’t matter.
Actually, none of the characters matter. In most novels, the author takes time for the reader to develop a connection to the characters, that way the reader will care about the story and continue to read it. In this novel, I was divorced from James and Abbi. There are scenes in this book where you should be worried about their safety and I felt nothing. There were even points where I was rooting for them to die, and these characters aren’t written to be unlikeable, they just are. Onision meant for the reader to sympathize with these characters.
We’re chronically told how smart, funny, and kind-hearted James is, but we’re never shown that. James’s inner dialogue reads like an alien’s memoir and his two personality traits are being ‘observant’ and being obsessed with Abbi. As James parades through the story, everyone is chronically kissing his ass, including the president of the United States.
Abbi doesn’t have a personality beyond having a cartoonishly tragic past and having the hots for James.
Ms. Robertson is the guidance counselor at the school and she does not behave like a human being. She’s framed as being a crazy religious Karen who has a personal beef with Abbi because Abbi was s*xually ass*ulted and when she didn’t want to keep the baby, Ms. Robertson lost her shit. Okay, that’s believable, there are tons of pro-life asshats out in the world, but Ms. Robertson loathes Abbi to the point it seems like she knows something about her that we don’t. This could've been an interesting subplot, but it was not handled well at all and came off as unbelievable. Ms. Robertson’s crimes against humanity include screaming at children in public, changing James’s class schedule so he can spend more time with Abbi, and framing innocent children for crimes they didn’t commit.
Davis is James’s ‘best friend.’ I use that term loosely because as soon as James starts dating Abbi he seemingly forgets about Davis. But Davis does not forget about him. Davis is in love with James. This is unconfirmed, but Davis goes on and on about how much he loves his buddy! Platonically, of course! At one point, Davis becomes withdrawn when James starts dating Abbi and even asks James if he ever thinks about anyone else in a romantic way. This would be an interesting subplot but it is never explored and it is never confirmed that Davis has romantic feelings for James, though it is quite obvious. Davis seems to love James a little too much… Davis’s crimes against humanity include talking like a mentally ill eight-year-old and having no interests outside of James.
James’s Mom is a cardboard cut-out who does whatever is convenient for James, which I’ll talk more about later.
Seth is Abbi’s boyfriend, who she eventually leaves to be with James. Seth is ab*sive and cartoonishly evil.
Jason switches back and forth from being a meathead bully who s*xually ass*ults classmates, to a brain-dead himbo.
Barack Obama makes a brief appearance to congratulate James on being a good person. He is never referred to as Barack Obama, just ‘the President,’ but since this book was published in 2015, this officially means that Obama made an appearance in this story. He visits James’s school shortly after a sh*oting took place there and took the individual time to speak with every class. When visiting James’s class, he knows exactly who James is, because James is the main character.
“James Patrick, the boy who nearly saved the day.” - Barack Obama
By the way, James did nothing during the sh*oting except roller skate through the school searching for Abbi. That was all he did.
The authenticity and realism of this novel were a big reason why I couldn’t empathize with these characters. This book is written how Onision believes teenagers think, but the entire novel feels unrealistic and inauthentic. Nobody talks in a normal way, nobody thinks normally. This book felt like it was written by an alien who doesn’t understand human nuances or emotions. At one point there is a school sh*oting and the only observation that James has about the incident is that his classmates are staticistly higher to experience depression or s*icide.
“[The survivors are] all now subjected to a heightened risk for depression and, statistically, even s*icide.” - James
The most egregious example of the characters behaving unrealistically is when James’s Mom invites Abbi to move in with them after her father is arrested and allows her teenage son and his girlfriend to sleep in the same bed and share the same room. Later on, James’s Mom gets remarried and moves in with her husband, leaving James and Abbi alone in the house to finish out the school year on their own with no adult supervision.
The entire novel is filled with sentences that are empty and devoid of meaning, sentences that are meant to be deep and hard-hitting. This book is like a novelization of all the r/im14andthisisdeep posts.
“Make up is just make up, skin is just skin, it is what it is.” - James
I can’t forgive this book for its sloppy, ham-fisted use of very serious issues. This book includes s*xual ass*ult, s*icide, self-h*rm, ab*se, a school sh*oting, and a m*scarriage, and absolutely none of those things added to the story. The school sh*oting is conducted by Seth shortly after Abbi breaks up with him, and it is an event that is used as a dramatic garnish right in the middle of the story and none of the main characters die or get hurt, so it doesn’t matter. The other terrible events are just a randomized list of occurrences that Abbi experienced in the past, horrible things that she often laments about so James can fix her. Words can’t describe how angry I was when it was revealed that Abbi was SA’d.
This book has nothing to say about any of these serious issues. It is ill-prepared for it, and it doesn’t even try. To lazily shoot out incidents that have nothing to do with the story so that the writer can feel deep and smart is something that I cannot take. How dare this writer use such a terrible thing as a random occurrence to make us feel bad for these unlikable childish characters. I’m not against any of these topics being written about, but when you, as a writer, introduce them into your novel, you have a responsibility to the people who suffered through these things to write about it seriously and realistically and not treat it as a joke. Onision should’ve just written “fuck SA survivors,” on his online forum and left it at that. Instead, we get this shit.
This entire novel reeks of arrogance. This novel has so many spelling errors. If I’m to believe what Amazon tells me, Onision’s partner, Kai, edited this novel, and boy, did they do a bad job. The writing style is borderline unreadable. There were so many spelling errors and the language was stilted. Just one pass through a spell check system is all it would take. Onision has fans who offered to edit it for free, and he refused. Why? Because he’s arrogant. He believes the novel doesn’t need a second or third draft, he believes it’s fine the way it is and if we can’t see that, then we just can’t appreciate true art!
James is a self-insert character for Onision. It is obvious through the way everyone treats James and his heavy plot armor, not to mention the fact that Onision’s real name is Gregory James Daniel. In the description of the book, Onision writes, “James is essentially a better version of myself. His home, his school & his life all resemble my own at his age. The people James analyzes and is surrounded by are not so unlike those I’ve known as well. I have experienced much of the loss James has however his happier moments are more often than not also mine. I want to share my story without it being purely non-fiction.”
I hope that droning, moronic sentence gives you a glimpse into what it was like to read this book. By the way, any spelling errors you see in the quotes are Onision’s and his alone.
If this is a fictionalized retelling of actual events, then what parts of this are real, then? If this novel was a way for Onision to tell his story without the confines of reality, then what percentage of this actually happened? Did Onision meet Obama? Are they still bros? Did Onision’s mother give him an apartment when he was a junior in high school? Did Onision survive a school sh*oting? From what I can find, Gregory James Daniel or James Jackson, has never survived a school sh*oting. What about this novel was real? What parts of this novel actually happened? None. None of this happened. Onision romanticized his childhood and added some random bullshit drama and violence to juice it up. The end.
On top of everything else, this book has the audacity to be pretentious. Some people can do pretention well, like Quentin Tarantino, or Christopher Nolan. Gregory James Daniel has not earned the right to be pretentious. If you’re going to be pretentious, at least give me a good story, but Onision can’t do that because he’s too arrogant to accept feedback or criticism.
The only saving grace of this story is that it can be funny sometimes. Not funny in the way it was intended, but funny nonetheless. Around 2/3 into the story, James, Abbi, and Davis are driving and witness a man jump off an overpass. Davis rushes out of the car, which is still moving, by the way, and attempts to help the man, who is clearly dead, and gets hit by a car and fucking dies. This all happens within two pages, and I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes. It was so unexpected, completely out of left field, and so fucking stupid.
So after this, we get a chapter of James blaming himself, even though he didn’t do anything, Davis’s mom praising James for being a good friend, and James pushing the pain away by smashing his girlfriend.
“[Abbi] was all I had left.” - James
Yeah, fuck your mom and your sister, I guess.
So, how does the story end? Someone blows up the school. That’s it. The school is blown up and the last line of the story is, “Well, I guess I won’t be running for [class] president.”
Whoa… what a story. I bought this book on eBay for five dollars, but if I had paid full price, it would’ve been ten. Ten dollars. That was how much I made per hour at my last job. That means that one hour of labor is equal to this torture nexus. God fucking damn it…
If you’re curious about the details of this book, watch one of the countless YouTube videos made about it instead of reading it. I recommend the one by @strange-aeons, which was how I found out about this goddamn monstrosity in the first place.
I gave this story 1 star on Goodreads and 0 stars on Storygraph because Storygraph is a superior app. When looking at other reviews on Goodreads and Storygraph, it seems all the positive reviews are either people trying to give Onision the benefit of the doubt or people who are being sarcastic.
Overall, this book is similar to The Perks of Being a Wallflower if it was co-written by a fourteen-year-old and a mentally ill incel and published on Temu.
Final grade: BAD
Rick Stepp (irresponsibleink@gmail.com)
Has your name every appeared in the credits of a book, or is it likely to in the near future? Then you should join AUTHORS AGAINST BOOK BANS! Transcript below the cut. A version of this zine formatted for print is available to download on my patreon.
Do you make books? Yes? I want YOU to join Authors Against Book Bans! By Maia Kobabe
WHAT IS AABB?
A coalition of writers, illustrators, editors & other book creators, standing united against the unconstitutional movement to limit the freedom to read. We support the availability of diverse voices in our libraries, in our schools, & in our culture. We pledge to band together against the oppression of literature, to speak when our voices are silenced, to go where our bodies are needed, & to fight to ensure this freedom.
Our concern is not only for the books, but for the children, families, educators, librarians, & communities who suffer when the freedom to read is challenged and taken away.
WHAT CAN AABB OFFER YOU?
- Regional groups working on legislation to protect authors & the freedom to read state-by-state
- Online trainings on digital security, public speaking, & how to counter book challenges in your community
-Affinity groups for BIPOC authors, queer authors, authors with disabilities, indie, nonfiction, romance writers & more
-Support if your book is challenged!
-A very active discord community
Author: What if my book hasn’t been challenged?
Maia: JOIN!
Author: Ok, but what if I’m really busy and can’t do much organizing right now?
Maia: JOIN ANYWAY!
Even if all you do is sign up, your membership will help lend weight to the letters AABB sends to publishers & legislators. As of January 2025, AABB has 3500+ members. Check out the recent open letter to publishers on AABB’s socials & feel free to share it with your contacts.
An Open Letter to Our Publishers- instagram.com/p/DCzYmKcR8uq
Maia: I’ve been facing intense challenges to my book since 2021. Knowing that I am not alone in the fight against censorship is what keeps my spirits up!
Watching the folks in AABB share information, co-write legislation, show up to library & school board meetings, & speak up to publishers about the need to protect diverse books & minority authors has been amazing!
This is a weird & scary time to be an author, but you are not alone! Join thousands of us fighting for the freedom to read, the freedom to write, the freedom to teach, the freedom to learn, & the freedom to share our stories!
AABB on instagram / AABB on bluesky
gonna have to make this egg bagel fr
obsessed with this letterboxd review of mary beard’s caligula documentary
I must watch this movie forthwith
Snippets of Rotten Tomatoes audience reviews for Caligula (1979)
Skip Google for Research
As Google has worked to overtake the internet, its search algorithm has not just gotten worse. It has been designed to prioritize advertisers and popular pages often times excluding pages and content that better matches your search terms
As a writer in need of information for my stories, I find this unacceptable. As a proponent of availability of information so the populace can actually educate itself, it is unforgivable.
Below is a concise list of useful research sites compiled by Edward Clark over on Facebook. I was familiar with some, but not all of these.
⁂
Google is so powerful that it “hides” other search systems from us. We just don’t know the existence of most of them. Meanwhile, there are still a huge number of excellent searchers in the world who specialize in books, science, other smart information. Keep a list of sites you never heard of.
www.refseek.com - Academic Resource Search. More than a billion sources: encyclopedia, monographies, magazines.
www.worldcat.org - a search for the contents of 20 thousand worldwide libraries. Find out where lies the nearest rare book you need.
https://link.springer.com - access to more than 10 million scientific documents: books, articles, research protocols.
www.bioline.org.br is a library of scientific bioscience journals published in developing countries.
http://repec.org - volunteers from 102 countries have collected almost 4 million publications on economics and related science.
www.science.gov is an American state search engine on 2200+ scientific sites. More than 200 million articles are indexed.
www.pdfdrive.com is the largest website for free download of books in PDF format. Claiming over 225 million names.
www.base-search.net is one of the most powerful researches on academic studies texts. More than 100 million scientific documents, 70% of them are free
I would sell my soul for a ticket to a live show
I keep digging myself down deeper...
THE WARNING SIGNS CAN FEEL LIKE THEY'RE BUTTERFLIES
Graveyard (2019) - Halsey
alaska's favorite pop girl music videos [ 4 / ? ]
No thanks.
What’s your opinion of weast
way better than neast
CORRECT
I swear nothing is more annoying than a book being called “innovative”, “groundbreaking”, “completely original”, etc and you end up reading one of the most generic pieces of that genre
NOVEMBER 2024 LGBT+ ROMANCE RECS
It's always important to support diverse books, y'all. This isn't new.
But on a financial and outspoken level, it's going to be important in the coming days for Americans (and honestly, unfortunately, non-Americans too) to support queer (and BIPOC) books.
So, with no preamble.... And I do want to make clear, I'm a cis white woman (sexuality: God, I don't even know anymore)... Queer books I think you should try—
F/F:
Make the Season Bright by Ashley Herring-Blake. Contemporary. CHRISTMAS. Charlotte heads to her best friend's house for the holidays, only to find that her best friend's sister brought HER best friend... Brighton, Charlotte's childhood sweetheart who left her at the altar years ago. Angst, lots of holiday dating, and hot hot sex ensue.
Seas and Greetings by Sierra Simone and Julie Murphy. Contemporary. Christmas-adjacent. A high-end influencer embarks on a brand cruise with a stern, super hot bodyguard. But someone is threatening to expose her secret... (not her bisexuality).
This Will Be Fun by E.B. Asher. Fantasy. Years after their fearless leader is killed saving the world, a fgroup of heroes must come back together to... save the world again? Sort of? Two core romances, one of which is m/f and one of which is f/f—a nerdy witchy agoraphobic type comes back into play with the assassin she used to hook up with on previous quests.
Set the Record Straight by Hannah Bonam-Young. Contemporary. Christmas! A pair of friends do the classic fake dating thing when one of them needs a girlfriend for a work function and the other needs a girlfriend to show up her ex at a holiday get together. Bi awakening, very sweet, novella.
An Island Princess Starts a Scandal by Adriana Herrera. Historical. Latina and Afro-Latina leads. An heiress strikes a deal with an older businesswoman; she'll give the businesswoman the property she wants in exchange for an introduction and adventure in sapphic Paris before our girl has to marry a man. Truly excellent content.
The Stars Too Fondly by Emily Hamilton. Sci-fi. A scientist ends up accidentally launching herself and her friends into space, and their only help is the hologram of the ship's former captain, who mysteriously went missing with her entire crew years ago. Also, she's a hot ice queen.
A Sweet Sting of Salt by Rose Sutherland. Historical fantasy. A midwife helps a mysterious fisherman's wife give birth, only to find that the woman's origins may be more mystical than they seem. Spoiler alert: lesbian selkies. Also spoiler alert: Comeuppance for a shitty, shitty husband.
A Long Time Dead by Samara Breger. Historical paranormal. A sex worker is transformed into a vampire and enters into a looooong term sapphic love triangle with the villain of the novel and the uptight, persnickety mentor who's taken her in. Kinda like Interview with the Vampire, but hotter and gayer (yes) and way less of a sausage fest.
Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall. Historical fantasy. A young debutante in a "Midsummer Night's Dream x Pride and Prejudice" type world ends up hexed and in a back and forth with a mysterious lady duke rumored to have committed at least two murders.
The Conquering of Tate the Pious by Sierra Simone. Historical. A medieval abbess has to defend her nunnery against the villainous lady conqueror who's come to town. "Defend" can mean many things, FYI.
The Fiancee Farce by Alexandra Bellefleur. Contemporary. A fun little fake dating inheritance game book, in which a cover model/heiress convinces a woman who's already been pretending that she's his girlfriend to quiet questions, to... You know. Fake being her fiancee. In a farce.
M/M
The Will Darling Adventures by KJ Charles. Trilogy, historical. A WWI vet gets entangled with capers and espionage, while falling for a former Bolshevik upper class danger man. SO FUN.
The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting by KJ Charles. Historical. A romcom in which a prickly upper class man strikes a deal... of a carnal nature... after catching a fortune hunter trying to seduce his niece.
The Witch Walker Series by Charissa Weaks. Fantasy. Multiple romances, and the primary is M/F, but there are multiple POVs and a prominent, excellent, villain second chance romance between two men, both of whom have POVs. Additionally, the hero of the M/F romance has recently been revealed to be bi through the offshoot Tales from Tiressia. Yay!
We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian. Historical. 1950s reporters begin as friends, then become roommates, then become... more than roommates.
You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian. Historical. A baseball player on a rough streak and a grieving and snippy reporter following him around on the sports beat get entangled.
The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian. Historical. A former highwayman-turned-cafe-owner agrees to mentor a dandy in the art of highwaymanery so that he can steal from his horrible father. Has deminisexual rep, as well as disability rep.
Glitterland by Alexis Hall. Contemporary. A bipolar down on his luck author hooks up with a working class club kid, then accidentally ends up in a relationship.
Saint by Sierra Simone. Contemporary. A monk ends up touring monasteries with his reporter ex-boyfriend. Lots of exploration of mental health here (and it's super hot).
The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by KJ Charles. Historical. A new baronet moves to the marsh to care for his messy family, only to find out that one of the leading members the local organized crime family is that guy he used to anonymously hook up with.
The Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by KJ Charles. A veteran turned nobleman employs a secretary in order to help him hold on to his title (his family hates him) only to realize... that secretary... is hot.
Snow Place Like L.A. by Sierra Simone and Julie Murphy. Contemporary. Christmas-adjacent. A costume designer runs into the one who got away and is SUPER BITTER. But, you know. It's a time for forgiveness.
Mafia Target by Mila Finelli. Dark/mafia. An assassin after a prominent don's son gets obsessed in a different way, and their game of cat and mouse becomes something more.
Band Sinister by KJ Charles. Historical. A flustered young innocent ends up having to head over to the Dangerous House after his sister has to rest there following an injury. Finds out that the group of scoundrels there are both better and worse than he thought. Sendup to gothics!
Heated Rivalry and The Long Game by Rachel Reid. Hockey contemporary. A pair of connected books about the long-term relationship between two hockey rivals, which begins as a hookup situationship and turns into something more... One of my ultimates!
Something Fabulous by Alexis Hall. Historical. After the woman he proposes to runs away, a stuffy duke enlists her fabulous twin brother to help him catch her... Demi rep.
Trans and NB
The Prospects by KT Hoffman. Baseball contemporary. The first trans man in the league ends up on the same team as the guy who abandoned their friendship years ago—leading to a rivalry... which leads to another thing.
Rules for Ghosting by Shelly Jay Shore. Light paranormal. A ghost-seeing trans guy ends up having to return to helping with his family's funeral home... And falls for a volunteer... only that volunteer's husband is currently haunting him. Jewish rep.
Most Ardently by Gabriel Cole Navoa. Historical. YA. A Pride and Prejudice retelling in which we have Oliver Bennet, a trans boy trying his best, and Darcy, the dude he hates.
A Shore Thing by Joanna Lowell. Historical. A widow ends up on a long distance bicycle race with a rakish former artist turned bicycle fiend, who happens to be trans. As a note, the author is married to a trans man who happens to be a queer historian!
Chef's Choice by TJ Alexander. Contemporary. A down on her luck woman agrees to pretend to date a Frenchman from a billionaire family as he embarks on an ancestral cooking challenge. Both leads are trans.
A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall. Historical. After faking her death at Waterloo in order to transition, a woman ends up tending to her former best friend as he recovers from PTSD and a laudanum addiction. He doesn't recognize her at first. At first... Disability and addiction rep.
For the Love of April French by Penny Aimes. Contemporary. A trans woman hooks up with a stranger, only to discover he's just been hired as a higher-up with her company.
The Pairing by Casey McQuiston. Contemporary. Exes (one of whom has come out as NB since they broke up) end up on the same European food and wine tour years later, and agree to reestablish their friendship (dating back to childhood) in a competition to see who can hook up with the most people.
His Valet by S.M. LaViolette. Historical. An NB valet (uses she/her pronouns in respect to the era) pretends to be a man while infatuated with her boss. In order to have a few nights with him, they take up the identity of a mysterious widow... And it spirals BIG TIME from there.
Unmasked by the Marquess by Cat Sebastian. Historical. A marquess believes his new best friend is a man—they're actually in disguise (uses she/her pronouns in respect to the era). After he discovers their true identity, the friendship yields to more...
Something Spectacular by Alexis Hall. Historical. A genderfluid dandy sets out to grudgingly help her ex seduce a castrato soprano... Only to capture their attention herself.
Queer Non-Monogamy (Everyone Is Together To Be Clear)
Triple Sec by TJ Alexander. Contemporary. Open poly triad romance. A bartender meets a sparkly lawyer, only to find out that the sparkly lawyer has an NB spouse. While our bartender dates the lawyer at first, she soon begins recognizing a tension between herself and her new girlfriend's prickly, aloof wife...
The New Camelot Trilogy by Sierra Simone. Dark contemporary, closed triad. A retelling of King Arthur set within the presidency. Super sexy, super angsty, suuuuper poly.
The Lyonesse Series by Sierra Simone (ongoing). Dark contemporary, closed triad (presumably). A retelling of Tristan and Isolde, in which a bodyguard falls for his boss, then is sent to collect said boss's fiancee... And the shit really hits the fan. Again, super hot, really intense.
The Thornchapel Series by Sierra Simone. Dark light paranormal. Closed(ish) triad with a secondary but prominent monogamous f/f romance. A group of childhood friends get back together just in time for a mysterious magic to begin wreaking havoc on the land... VERY dark academia with some pretty intense taboo (message me if concerned).
Consort of Fire and Queen of Dreams by Kit Rocha. Fantasy, closed triad. A princess sets out to marry a dragon shifter known for killing his previous spouses—except she, with the help of her handmaiden and lover, sets out to kill HIM.
Give Me More by Sara Cate. Contemporary, closed triad. A married couple and their best friend set out on a road trip together, only for things to become... blurred.
The TikTok Ban: Everything We Know
Highlights
The House of Representatives has passed a bill that would require Beijing-based company ByteDance to sell TikTok or it will lose access to app stores in the United States.
The bill will now go on to the Senate.
The CEO denies its users’ data is in danger.
ByteDance will have six months to sell the app if the bill is passed.
TikTok is one of the most influential social media apps to hit the market. The app has over 100 million active users in the US, which is why a lot of Americans can’t help but feel invested in this new situation. For those of you living under a rock, the House of Representatives has just signed a bill to ban TikTok in the US. Why? Because it is owned by ByteDance, a company based in Beijing, China, which is a problem according to US officials.
The concern is that TikTok could give the data of American users to the Chinese government, or possibly influence US citizens through the algorithm. This isn’t the first time lawmakers have tried to shut down the app, which is why TikTok adopted an initiative called Project Texas in 2022, to safeguard American users' data on servers in the US. Despite this, TikTok would have to give their users’ data to the Chinese government if they so demanded.
Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal said, “The Chinese Communists are weaponizing information that they are constantly, surreptitiously collecting from 170 million Americans and potentially aiming that information, using it through algorithms at the core of American democracy.”
(Sen. Richard Blumenthal)
Many are displeased. Many TikTok users are arguing that this is a violation of the First Amendment, and since there is a lot of chatter on TikTok about the situation in Gaza, many are saying it is a way for the government to silence negative talk about Israel. This is not an unjustified concern, as Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton said that TikTok has a “clear skew in pro-Hamas propaganda on TikTok versus other social media apps.”
So, what does it mean if this bill gets passed? ByteDance will have six months to sell the app. If they do not, it will be removed from app stores in the US, and its website will become inaccessible. Now, there is no way to make the app disappear from everyone’s phones, but since the app will be removed from the app store, this means you can no longer download updates, meaning that over time the app will become glitchy and borderline unusable. You could still access the app through a VPN, though this will be illegal.
How is TikTok responding? Well, they are not taking this lying down. In the past, they have challenged similar moves in court and they've confirmed that they will challenge this one as well, and they have also confirmed that they have no plans to sell the app. Shou Zi Chew, CEO of the company, has also made several statements voicing his displeasure at the recent events and doing his best to assure Americans that their data is safe.
(TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew)
So, what happens next? The bill will be reviewed by the Senate, where it will have a long fight before it can be passed. President Biden has already confirmed he will sign the bill if it is given to him. Though many TikTokers in the US are concerned, there is still a lot that will have to happen for TikTok to be banned in the US.
Rick Stepp (calebstepp23@gmail.com)
Sources available upon request.