Same!! I Love Iced Matcha Lattes!! Water Is Probably My Go-to Drink, But I Drink Matcha Almost Everyday

edgy emo guy with long hair, jewelry, and dark clothes

alright maybe nobody will get what i'm talking about but writers, what's your character type? what's that one brand of character who is in EVERY SINGLE WIP YOU EVER HAVE. mine's the serious badass older-sister-figure with a blonde pixie cut

Underrated LGBTQ+ Books That I Highly Recommend

I’ve researched queer books many times, and most of the time, I see the same selection. While I understand why these same books come up (because they are really good books), I would like to take the time to recommend some less popular LGBTQ+ books.

Anger Is A Gift, by Mark Oshiro

Where do I begin with this book? Everything about it is fantastic: the writing, the characters, the story, and the way it all comes together into one big novel sandwich! I had an amazing time reading this book, and there were a few times where I was nearly pushed to tears. This book doesn’t just deal with queer identities. It also covers racism, police brutality, and much more. If you like books that feel very real, then this is definitely a good one to look up.

Orpheus Girl by Brynne Rebele-Henry

This book is just....amazing. I wholeheartedly believe that this book has no flaws. Once again, everything about this novel just comes together so well, and it all combines into this beautifully written creation. This book also deals with some very heavy topics, such as conversion therapy, and I recommend reading the synopsis thoroughly before reading it. However, if you are able to, I highly suggest reading this novel!

The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass

This book took everything that I love about scary stories and made it gay, and I love it. The way that the story flows in this particular novel is just fantastic, and when I first read it, I breezed through it in about a day. From what I can remember, I do believe that there are some triggering topics in this book, so do read the synopsis and any triggers listed. If you do get the chance to read this amazing book, I guarantee that you will love it!

Pretty much any Alice Oseman book

I wholeheartedly love all of the books that I have read by Alice Oseman, and while I haven’t read all of them, I have read a few. The two that I decided to mention on this list are Radio Silence and I Was Born For This, since I don’t see them actually being recommended anywhere. Honestly, though, any book by Alice Oseman is worth reading, as her writing is amazing. I have also read Heartstopper, and I am planning to read both Solitaire and Loveless. If you have never heard of Alice Oseman, I highly recommend checking out any of her books!

Darius The Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram

This series has brought me to the brink of tears too many times. The first time I read this book, I was not expecting this many feels, but I am not complaining. Honestly, everything about this duology is just so comforting, in a weird way. The way it’s written, paired with the relatable protagonist and a gripping story was just so great, and I would sell my soul to read this book for the first time again. I can distinctly remember the feelings I felt during specific moments of this novel, and it reminds me how much I loved it. If you’ve never read the Darius The Great duology, I highly recommend doing so!

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

Ah yes, I’m ending it off on the beloved Mo Dao Zu Shi. To be honest, I have only just read the first volume of this novel, since the other two volumes have not been released in English where I live. However, I do plan to purchase the other two volumes when I get the chance, because this novel was just so good! The characters, the beautiful artwork, and especially the gorgeous writing, all of it was amazing. This book is absolutely worth reading at least the first volume of, since that’s all I have to speak on at the moment. 

Thanks so much for reading! I hope this list was helpful to anyone who wanted some new LGBTQ+ book recs!

Here, take some Angel Dust drawings

I so badly want to be that mysterious and elusive college student at the local bookstore with a dark academia style and who no one can really tell the gender of, since I constantly interchange between presenting masc, fem, and andro.

Doodles of the characters from Donna Tartt's The Secret History

Something I recently realized that helped me understand my aro-spec identity is that my "crushes" that I can remember weren't actually fueled by romantic attraction for the person. They were actually fueled by attraction towards the idea of dating/liking them, but not actually them as a person. I wanted to find my soulmate and as soon as I found someone that I thought fit that ideal, I would start daydreaming about being with them, but I wasn't really attracted to them as a person, just my idealized version of them and the relationship. As a result, I couldn't really name any traits about those people that I liked, aside from surface level ones like, "funny," "nice," and "hardworking." And while I was aesthetically attracted to them, I never really fantasized about kissing them or being super romantic with them (aside from maybe hand-holding or hugging), and if I ever tried, it made me uncomfortable and felt like I was violating them. Did anyone else have a similar experience or is it just me?

My favorite Spider boy ❤️❤️❤️

donna tartt: literally writes an entire 600 page book about how it can be dangerous to do things just for the aesthetic

us, already making pinterest boards: oh to be a classics student in vermont in the 80s drinking whiskey from a teacup and occasionally murdering people 

Same!! What would hook me in was the elaborate plots and character backstories, not so much the romance. Like, for example, I read a lot of MHA reader insert and OC fanfic, and what I really liked was how creative the OC/reader's backstories would be, or how they would contribute to the storyline throughout the fic, not so much the romance elements; in fact, they were kind of annoying at times.

Edit: in fact, I would write fanfic myself, but what I focused on and enjoyed most was coming up with unique backstories, quirks, character dynamics, and subplots for the OC/reader. And, when it came to writing the romance, I had no idea how to make it believeable, or even how to write it in the first place.

Am I the only aroace-spec person who read a lot of fanfic when I was younger, but instead of inserting myself into the reader insert stories, I would just insert one of my characters or a random OC that was similar to me but not the same, bc it felt weird to put myself into those situations?

Or was that just me?

rb to have a very gay 2022