Consumed Media

Like maybe there's a completely arbitrary assumption that only women sneeze in the sun - so women who consider themselves beautiful (and hell, probably some particularly flamboyant men) who don't even have the quirk go out of their way to sneeze in bright light to show off how how pretty and feminine they are. And men who do have the quirk but don't want to be seen that way will do anything in their power to avoid light-trigger sneezing where other people might witness it.

Hell, it might end up being somewhat of a self-fulfilling prophesy, people who do tend to sneeze from sunlight are more likely to go "you know what? whatever, maybe I am a bit femme", and are more relaxed about expressing it. Either way, it is ingrained in their society that sneezing from bright sunlight is a Feminine Trait.

“Take my advice- if we manage to find the real Seht, don't expect him to embrace you as a friend. We're all cogs in his eyes. Valuable, beautiful even, but ultimately expendable.” -Luciana Pollo

“The silence of Sotha Sil may come from a place of grief and deep regret. It might be a side-effect of his fierce obsessions. Perhaps both? How he became a god is no concern of mine. I respect his knowledge, nothing more." -Divayth Fyr

"I do not hear from him since our defeat at Red Mountain. Truly, I scarcely ever heard from him. He is completely self-absorbed. Like myself, without the Heart, his divine powers will diminish, but I doubt he will notice the loss. He is fascinated by the hidden world and its mysteries, and I doubt he even notices us most of the time." -Vivec

"Once, Sotha Sil was like we are, the Lord Vivec and I. He spent time among these mortals, instructing them, counseling them, protecting them from harm. He may have loved them more than any of us, though I know not why. It has been many years since any have seen the Sorcerer, though. Many more since he took initiates into his service. I believe he grew weary of mortal imperfections, and retired to his Clockwork City, where he reshapes life, and some say the very world, into an image he finds pleasing." -Almalexia

“All is silence. The road is straight, without turning, in darkness. Now let there be an end to all things.”

Franz Wright, from God's Silence; "East Boston, 1996"

The Scribe: “Will what we tried to do be enough?”

Sotha Sil: “This world cannot know peace. Just as its caretakers cannot. It will never be enough, but we persevere for the beauty of dawn in spite of long nights.”

Happy Dragon Age Day!

Free Graphic Novels (DC, Marvel, Image, etc), Music, TV shows, and music on HOOPLA.

Free music that you can KEEP on FREEGAL

I work in the largest library system in my state (17 branches in total).

I use it not only for ebooks, but movies as well.

Other FREE resources to check with your library for are:

Freegal Music (download and keep music, including current music)

Hoopla Digital (borrow ebooks, e-audiobooks, e-graphic novels, stream movies)

Kanopy (stream movies; also available on Roku!)

Axis360 (usually hot or just released ebooks)

If you don’t have a library card…

GET ONE!

If someone says libraries are a thing of the past…

BOOP THEM IN THE NOSE WITH YOUR KINDLE!

Don’t discount libraries as “quiet” places. 

THEY ARE ALIVE!!!

THEY ARE LOUD!!!

Wrong. Okay, picture this–

So there’s the prince, okay? He’s like, smack dab in the center of the ballroom, and he is like, horrifically aware that this whole ball thing is a result of his dad falling into a panic about the royal lineage or whatever and he’s stuck listening to highborn girl after highborn girl, all lined up, introducing themselves like, “Oh yeah my family’s been a longtime supporter of the crown, and I think you’re cute, *cough* I’ve been told I have child-bearing hips *cough* Who said that? Anyway–” and Princey boy is just smiling through it, he has been the center of attention for entirely too long, he misses his emotional support horse, and is just internally like “Someone please kill me now.” And then… he sees her–This isn’t a love at first sight thing, this is a ‘what the hell is going on over there’ thing, because this girl has not gotten into the Debutante line for a solid 45 minutes. 

She’s just at the hors d’oeuvres table going HAM on the prosciutto-wrapped asparagus, and like, she’s polite about it, she’s happy to move aside for other people grabbing punch and canapes (and she’s really so sweet with the wait staff, it’s kind of cute because they’re like… definitely not used to being acknowledged) but it’s like, “Damn girl, did you not eat today?” and then the prince is kind of stuck with the uncomfortable thought of ‘how many girls starved themselves to fit into a corset for this.’ And then the Prince realizes he’s missed the past 4 Debutante introductions because he’s watching Mystery girl hork down crab rangoons. So he’s like, “Excuse me” and manages to break free from the never-ending parade of girls who will hop on his dick for status.

 And as he’s approaching Mystery Girl, it’s kind of hitting him that something’s not quite natural about her. Not fake, but not quite real. But at the same time this whole evening’s been just a whole circus of people acting fake as hell, so like, someone seeming a little off doesn’t seem bad, necessarily. And he sidles up to her like, “Hi,” and she’s like, “Oh–hey, have you tried the tapenade?” and she points to one of the plates, and at this point, he could hit her with the “You don’t know who I am, do you?” deal or the “Very funny, I see your play” deal, but at this point it occurs to him that, no, he hasn’t had anything to eat throughout this whole damn ball, partially because of being stuck in the debutante parade, partially because of nerves, and there’s something so disarming about the question that he grabs a crostini and she still seems so food-focused that it doesn’t seem possible that this is a play. So they both grab little plates and ditch the party.

She pretty much clears her plate in under two minutes and then has half of his plate, he’s cool with it, mostly he’s just absolutely fascinated listening to her.

See here’s the thing about Cinderella:

1. She doesn’t know he’s the prince. Like yeah, he’s been at the center of the room, but she’s kind of spent half the party eagerly looking around everywhere she’s allowed to go (”Have you seen rose garden? Have you seen the solarium??” further confirmation that she doesn’t know who she’s talking to) and the other half stuffing her face with food. 

2. She assumes she’s never going to see anyone here tonight again, and no one recognizes her, so she has no filter.

So she’s just talking about whatever with this guy. He seems cool. She talks about her friends, who are rats. She makes little outfits for them. Sometimes they bring her little gifts. She is already the coolest person the prince has ever met because of this. She pretty much offhandedly talks about whatever is fucked up about the kingdom that would take his advisors two hours of hemming and hawing and watering down to address. She just says it like it’s nothing, just funky little things she’s observed, and again, she’s not aware that he’s the prince, but it’s still pretty damn bold to bring up at a literal royal ball.

She… seems to have the majority of graces that lots of girls from Respectable Families™ have, but there’s something strange about it, something simultaneously broken and hardened, like the way you can see where ice has thawed and re-frozen. Also the way she talks about her family, and the way she avoids talking about her family– is raising several red flags, not in the “Oh this is another person trying to take advantage of me” sense, but in the “Oh fuck, something’s gone really wrong and you need help” sense and also lowkey a ‘damn is she even getting fed?’ sense. But he can’t say, ‘Hey, that’s not fucking normal for people to say that to you or treat you that way. We need to get you out of there,’ without sounding crazy himself, so for now, he’s just going to chill, make sure she’s comfortable, and keep enjoying the evening. She’s somehow befriended like 4 of the waitstaff so they’re willing to cover for them while they disappear for a little bit, and they get plenty of time to talk, but eventually it hits her that she hasn’t danced yet and she’s like “Come on! I bet we can make the prince jealous!” and he just bursts out laughing at that like “hell yeah, let’s make the prince jealous. He’s a real asshole.” Like clearly she’s having a good time, so who is he to make it weird? So they head back to the ballroom and they dance. And our girl, Mystery Girl, Cinderella, while they’re dancing, becomes acutely aware that everyone is staring. That doesn’t seem quite right. Like, yeah she’s hot, she knows she’s hot, but at least a good third of the party should still be focused on the prince, right? Where is that guy, anyway?

Oh.

Oh wait.

Oh shit.

And Princey Boy actually picks up on her realization and they whisper argue for like 3 minutes. “Why didn’t you tell me?! Now I feel like a goddamn idiot!” “I dunno it was nice being treated like a normal person” “Well me treating you like a normal person makes me a goddamn felon or something did you consider that?!” “Hey–Hey–it’s cool–you’re cool–I think you’re amazing, and if anyone says shit about you, I can shut it down.” “Well I don’t like that! That’s fucked up!” “I agree. It is fucked up, but I believe in you, and I think you should have a chance, and I’m here to back you up. I know power is fucked up right now. I know. But are you cool with working with me to change that?” And our girl Cindy pauses on that for a couple seconds, because.. she’s just spent hours with this guy and like.. she knows he’s a good guy, she knows he means well, so she’s like, “I don’t know how long I can actually work with you.” and the prince is like “Look, I know your home situation is complicated right now, but I really think we can–”

And then the bell starts ringing.

It’s midnight.

“Khajiit does not like growing old, but the alternative is worse.”

–An overheard comment in ESO.

Death Illustrations by Álvaro Fernández González

For fans of Chevalier D'Eon and Julie d'Aubigny, If It Please the Court is out now! Sapphic romance, surveillance, and swordplay is the name of the game as you infiltrate 18th century Versailles, spying for the legendary Secret du Roi.

Play as a trans woman, nonbinary femme, or cis.

All available love interests are women: the spymistress, the queen’s confidante, and the double agent.

Every sex scene is optional: accept or decline at your leisure with no negative consequences.

Generalize or specialize: hone your senses, master disguise, pen the finest letters, wield a duelist’s blade, and woo with a silver tongue.

Empower the crown, subvert the king, or betray France to its enemies.

Reunite your family, expose your father’s past, or sever all ties.

Take a slow-burn path for romance or cut to the chase with seduction.

Stir a revolution among the citizenry, or fall in with the nobles.

Not only the story is very enjoyable, but very well written in all its moments. The characters you can romance different and intriguing, and the plot always leave you with a feeling of suspance of what could possibly happen next.

And also the possibility to play a female/nonbinary/cis/trans character and play as lesbian, bi, and/or asexual, in 1700 Versailles, is :D