bri ✡︎ (she/they)
@beforeviolets
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25• ✡️🏳️🌈• illustrator • book reviewer • beta/sensitivity reader • stage director • lover of folklore, shakespeare, and sentient forests
the forest of arden
Joined August 2020
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Last Seen Profiles
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hi! i'm bri, a queer & jewish illustrator & bookish creator! find me on:
🗝goodreads:
🕯storygraph:
🌿spotify:
🪬insta:
⚔️TT:
🦉email: beforeviolets
@gmail
.com
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I need everyone to see this fucking gem I scored at the used book store today
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If you're asking: "Do I need a Jewish sensitivity reader?" Let me ask you: Does your story have witches/goblins/vampires/etc.? How about a secret society? Are you writing a fairytale or folklore retelling? Is there blood magic in your book? If you said yes to any of those: yes.
✨🌿I'M OFFICIALLY OPENING UP BETA/SENSITIVITY READING! 🌿✨if you're interested in hiring me for beta reading, sensitivity reading for Jewish characters, LGBTQ+ characters, avoiding antisemitism in fantasy worlds/stories, etc., fill out the form in my bio or below!
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CW: antisemitism
PSA: these gnomes are anti-Jewish. it’s fine to think they’re cute, but I want to make it clear that this is now becoming a dogwhistle. i’ve received death threats from people with these as profile pics. they want you to dehumanize jews.
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"my heart leapt from me. you smile now, I can see its pieces still stuck in your teeth. and what's left of it, I listen to it tick. every tedious beat going unknown as any angel to me."
#GoodOmens2
#GoodOmensFanArt
#aziracrow
(this artist supports the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes)
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so honored and humbled to have been a part of this project! here’s my frame, 27!
#EVERYFrameMatters
#GoodOmens2
(more info in thread on inspiration and where to buy prints!)
To get a better look at EVERY frame, here's a slowed down version.
If you want to take your time looking at the frames and respective artists, they are all listed on the website!
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how do we get publishers to understand that they’re gonna sell books WAYYY more if they send ARCs to people that fit that book’s niche and are incredibly excited about it, rather than just people that have large following counts.
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hey friends who are looking to get published!! make sure you negotiate IN YOUR CONTRACT that your cover art will not be developed with or assisted by AI. I also suggest trying to negotiate having a say in your cover artist but at the very least, ensure that you won’t have AI.
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just some of the quality interior content for y’all
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✨🌿I'M OFFICIALLY OPENING UP BETA/SENSITIVITY READING! 🌿✨if you're interested in hiring me for beta reading, sensitivity reading for Jewish characters, LGBTQ+ characters, avoiding antisemitism in fantasy worlds/stories, etc., fill out the form in my bio or below!
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we’ve been cast as trolls, goblins, owls, witches, dragons, and now gnomes. they want you to fall for their pipeline by using fantasy creatures so they can imbue you with hateful rhetoric hidden under metaphor. so then you don’t notice or are desensitized when it turns into hate.
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can someone PLEASE write a queer retelling of R&J that leans into the tragedy as a cautionary tale about what happens when you keep queer kids away from information about their identities and prevent them from freedom of expression? i'm sick of watered-down romanticized R&Js.
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as a book reviewer, here’s my advice for authors who feel they have to sell their own book: consumers tend to listen to reviewers more than the authors marketing their own work. find the community that resonates with your work and build relationships with those creators.
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jfc the amount of people responding to my tweet calling me some wild things for mentioning the way that antisemitism is baked into most fantasy creatures and folklore/fairytales is WILD. deny that all you want but you can't know until you've been targeted with it.
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here's some resources for some FAQ: (vampires), (goblins), (fairytales), (fairytales), (blood libel), (witches)
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eliminating one of your most diverse imprints (and especially one that specifically features diverse content for younger readers) is… a choice
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finished legendborn and… holy shit y’all were not lying about this book.
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hot take: can we stop saying "religious/religion" as if it's a synonym of christianity? cuz when y'all say things like "religious trauma/religious symbolism/etc." and specifically mean christianity, its not only wildly inaccurate but also erases other religions.
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hey guys! this is just a tweet to advertise my sensitivity reading services for authors who want to avoid antisemitism and don't know where to begin. if this doesn't apply to you, or you're here to debate the legitimacy of antisemitism through fantasy/folklore, keep scrolling.
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this is your regular reminder that shrek is jewish (and his story is a metaphor for antisemitism)
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idk what author(s) need to hear this but i’ve had to inform a few author friends of this already: stop describing your bad guys’ or scary guys’ noses please. especially if they’re large/hawkish/hooked/etc. it’s antisemitic rhetoric that’s been deeply ingrained in our culture.
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there’s been so much weird (and bad) discourse about ace books recently on here so… recommend your fav book with arospec or aspec rep!!! (and authors: promote your own book if it fits!!) as an aspec person myself I wanna share the love 🤍
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when to report a review:
-it contains ⚪️ supremacy dogwhistles
-it uses slurs/hate against marginalized communities
-doxxing or harassing
-it’s spam
when NOT to report a review:
-it says the book was bad (even if you disagree w/ the reasons, even if you disagree w/ the “tone”)
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I honestly genuinely highly recommend all fantasy authors hire a sensitivity reader familiar with antisemitic and racist tropes in fantasy, even if it's not myself. And I'm just so ecstatic to start offering these services I care so much about.
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begging indie authors (and authors in general to not use AI art for covers or characters!! it literally steals from other small creators. most artists WILL work in your budget if you just ask. and if you don’t wanna pay for artwork, make your own or use picrew!!
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and not a single one of us were invited. over and over again, large companies use our names, our work, our time, to their own benefit without giving booktokers pay or recognition in the slightest. how can you have a booktok festival without the titular community?
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why is it every time thinly-veiled fanfiction gets trad published its always a ship that exists so people can simp over a nazi stand-in?
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it’s actually staggering to see the amount of 🕰️ followers I lost over asking people to take their h**warts house out of their bio. so many people care more about defining themselves via a piece of media that defines me as something to be eradicated than me as a person.
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what’s a book by a marginalized author that you think everyone should read? i’ll start: parable of the sower by octavia butler
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alright guys: give me all your diverse pirate book recs! (they must CENTER characters that are POC, LGBTQ+, Jewish, etc.) indie authors, you too! promote yourself plz!!!
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@kaleidosode
yeah, they’re a huge like holiday/seasonal decor trend rn as well so it’s definitely nerve-wracking and frustrating
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@ironandsilverr
as a jewish person, the one thing i do like abt the return of the nazis is that outside of them, good omens never discusses definitively what sends humans to heaven or hell, but that without a doubt, nazis go to hell. but they still had FAR too much screentime for my liking.
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ive been seeing lots of vampire WIPs & upcoming releases on my feed lately, so let me remind y'all that some vampire tropes/narratives easily fall into antisemitic territory! do your research, & if you want a sensitivity reader, I specialize in avoiding antisemitism in fantasy!🧵
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reminder that this month and always, engage w/ Black booktokers. specifically when they promote Black books or talk about Black issues. by commenting with love and support, you’re protecting those videos from being sent over to sides of tiktok where they will be met with hate.
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like why am I fighting uphill battles to get ARCs of books that are so perfectly in my niche that I could convince anyone to buy just by holding it up in a video? (jewish books, SFF shakespeare retellings, books with sapphic non-binary protagonists, queer dark academia, etc.)
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also!! it's important that I mention, I understand that a lot of authors have budgets, especially indie authors. and ESPECIALLY marginalized indie authors. I am so happy to negotiate something that works for all parties, and want my services to be accessible.
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yeah so i'm gonna need these idiots to start paying rent if they're gonna take up this much space in my brain
#GoodOmens
#GoodOmensFanArt
(this artist supports the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes!)
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im sorry I think I just found out that my most anticipated release of this year is not just jewish but queer?????? i’m gonna THROW UP WITH EXCITEMNT
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information, rates, and my form can be found here: (and if you want to book me for future projects, DM or email me!)
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brb gonna cry about
#Willow
being removed from Disney+. the only thing that would make this okay is a big rerelease with a season 2. fantasy deserves to be not only inclusive and diverse but accessible.
#KeepWillow
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hot take: if you’re writing a fantasy/sci-fi/horror you should ALWAYS have at least one Jewish, Black, and disabled sensitivity or beta readers. because our oppression has been baked into metaphors and lore to keep it strong and hidden from the average eye.
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@NicLesperance
tiktok is such a flawed platform and there are so many of us diverse creators on booktok trying to push diverse books and authors and the algorithm actively just works against us
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if you like diverse horror, rich commentary, queer rage, and feeling like someone has ripped you open and forced you to look at the rawest and ugliest parts of yourself that you didn't know were lying dormant, waiting to be known and loved: maybe read AJW's incredible stories!
wait wait wait here we go, i have it, i got it
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tbh I wish there were more audiobooks with narrators that voice act rather than just narrate. like andy serkis’s narration of LOTR. I just want some more dynamic rhythm and sound. (this is truly me stating a preference, not saying one is better than another)
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my recent favorite bad faith response to my sensitivity reading post was someone saying that it was absurd to them as a lover of folklore? I love folklore too. (literally its in my bio) that's why I want people engaging with it to not be antisemitic.
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so many of y’all are ONLY talking about the way the eARCs thing with HC will affect readers who prefer physical ARCs. i’d like to remind y’all that myself and so many others don’t have a choice. it’s bad marketing yes, but it’s ableist first. disabled reviewers are valuable too.
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hey friends, if you’re also feeling frustrated about wanting to support authors you love but not wanting to cross the HC picket line, check out those titles as often as you can via your library! (or on libby!!) itll help them make money to make up for the sales they’ve lost
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@thelaynierose
the literal foundations of this project are based on antisemitism that has been criticized for YEARS. and if he “didn’t know,” he still could’ve tried to leave the project when he found out.
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me, unashamedly correcting people when they forget to mention a book has jewish rep but will mention Its other representation
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no one is questioning whether you believe trans women are women. we are questioning why you’re still profiting off of a violently antisemitic and racist game that puts money into the pockets of transphobes and right wing game developers. glad you got that quotable statement tho.
I was cast in this project over 3 years ago, back when all Harry Potter was to me, was the magical world I grew up with. This was long before I was aware of JK Rowling’s views.
I believe whole heartedly that trans women are women and trans men are men.
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also reminder that on holocaust remembrance day, the times crossword resembled a n*z* symbol. cancel your NYT subscription.
Cancel your NYT subscription. Do it now. Schools and libraries, that includes you. Take a stand for your trans and nonbinary patrons and staff. You cannot claim neutrality on this. And we are clear in our policies about not providing access to hatespeech and bad info.
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bookish things I want to see in 2023:
-full-length sapphic fantasy romance novels
-ACTUAL enemies-to-lovers
-queer trad pub thinly veiled fanfic (🤞🏻 for thasmin & catradora!!)
-BIPOC and Jewish takes on witches
-adult SFF without romance
-late bloomers in SFF
what about you?
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If i had a nickel for every time I read a novella that was a sleeping beauty retelling that turned out to have kinda ableist narrative framing despite an in-text attempt to not be ableist, i'd have two nickels. which isn't a lot, but it's sad that it happened twice, right?
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how do y’all read white cishet neutrotypical christian-centric fantasies all the time??? diverse fantasy books go SO much harder.
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hey reminder authors: if you’re writing any kind of a fantasy book, please have a jewish beta reader or sensitivity reader who knows a lot about jewish stereotypes in fantasy, because SO MANY fantasy creatures and lore are entangled in antisemitism!!! (vampires, goblins, etc.)
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like the amount of dr*m*one and r*ey*o-coded characters in these stories compared to literally any other ship is SO annoying. when can we get queer thinly-veiled trad pub fanfic? where's my samfrodo? catradora?
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i’m just a girl, standing in front of all the authors writing/editing vampire books, asking them to please do research into antisemitic vampire tropes so they’re not included in those books 🙏🏻
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hey besties as people are starting to share lists of holiday books, just a reminder that if you mean christmas-themed books, just say that. don’t feign inclusion if you’re not actually including books of other winter holidays.
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If y'all ever hire me for art or for beta reading or sensitivity reading, I BEG you to please actually read my terms and conditions. like I wrote those out for a reason, and there's some really important terms in there that protect both of us.
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not at all related to recent events, everyone reply or QT with your favorite jewish book(s)!! (and jewish authors: promote yourselves here!!) 📖🪬✨
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@ashantifortson
agree agree!!! though i’d like to add that a branch of it also began in jewish storytelling as well :)) so it may extend itself to jewish works, though of course still using the magic as a way to discuss those same themes.
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thanks for commissioning me steph!!!I honestly loved getting to make this one 🤍
everyone!!! behold my glorious new profile pic which the unbelievably talented
@hobbitslibrary
created!! (their art account is
@beforeviolets
) i am smitten!! 🌟 look at my 🐇 and 🐈⬛ in the stars! 😭
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obviously, if you like using your social media to market yourself, hell yeah! keep doing it! but I know so many people don’t have the energy, and the way to do that is to build a good rep and relationship with the people who do want to promote your book and get it out there!
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recommend me a book that you don’t see enough people talking about !!(indie, upcoming, backlisted, your own book, etc) 📖✨
i’ll start:
The Four Profound Weaves by RB Lemberg- a queer fantasy novella featuring two older trans folks, magical textiles, assassins, and ancient gods.
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hey lovelies!! recommend me some books with some sapphic knights that should be on my TBR!! ⚔️📖✨
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also the amount of people just detailing their plot for some sort of virtue signaling Is bizarre. y'all that was just a tweet advertising my services as a sensitivity reader for authors who want to avoid accidental antisemitism.
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"but you rose, because she was a saint and you were nothing, because no one has ever needed you before."
#TheSixDeathsOfTheSaint
(p.s. this is now available as a print!!)
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she's everything and he's just aziraphale (enabled to some late-night-sketching by
@fonziqor
and
@peskysaku
)
#GoodOmensFanArt
#aziracrow
(this artist supports the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes!)
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something y’all don’t see BTS of those of us who educate about harmful representation is just how often people use our offering of information as an invitation to ask us to do further free labor for them.
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I know we’re reading for the
#TransRightsReadathon
, but if y’all want something to watch and haven’t watched dead end: paranormal park on netflix yet: GO NOW! spooky, diverse cartoon with a trans gay jewish MC and a sapphic autistic south asian MC! (there’s also graphic novels!)
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hey y'all!! reminder that I have a print shop!! if you want to get some of my art and hang it up on your wall, there's a link in my bio where you can do that!
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hope you all haven’t forgotten to include A STUDY IN DROWNING as a part of your pre-order haul from B&N pre-order sale! this folklore-stuffed dark academia YA fantasy has absolutely captured my heart 🫶🏻 my all-time favorite YA book.
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I want to take a second to gush about my experience as a freelance content creator for
@InkyardPress
!! I was amongst an incredible and diverse set of creators, I was always paid well and fairly (which unfortunately isn’t common), and was always celebrated for my perspective. 1/2
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there are not enough books with sapphics and sentient forests. even if there were hundreds (which there are not) it would not be nearly enough.
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thank you to everyone who’s supported me (emotionally and via my tweets) today. jewish people often don’t feel supported and heard when speaking about our own oppression and every voice means the world. hope y’all are taking care of yourselves and I love y’all dearly!
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signed my lease today!!! officially gonna be living in MA next month!!! wasn't where I expected to end up but I trust the universe has its reasons. anyways... need to start making some western mass friends :)
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hot take that shouldn't be a hot take: confusing media isn't bad actually (and maybe media that makes you think a little bit harder and reach outside your comfort zone to do a little research and reflecting is... not only good but the most important and powerful type of media)
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hearing people talk shit about c*lle*n ho*ver at the bookstore and then praise six of crows is restoring my faith in humanity
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apparently the new hozier album is dante’s inferno themed and suddenly i need to read the whole divine comedy
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yes i'm essentially asking for bare a pop opera in book form and no I wont apologize for it.
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guys i’m a fool. I literally have an ARC for a fantasy romance that takes place in literal hell (it’s also rivals to lovers 😏) and i’m out here asking for hadestown recs 🤦🏻♀️ ignore me
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@anjaxuanreads
yep! "shrek" means "fear/fright" in yiddish, and it was originally a story written by william steig as a way for him to discuss his experiences with antisemitism
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every time I see someone post about h*gwarts l*gacy and mention how it affects trans people and not jewish people & black people, I lose a year off my life. can y’all please care about a marginalized community that isn’t just the LGBTQ+ community for once in your life?
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i’m hopeful to make a video or an actual thread on this soon when my thoughts are together but this is heartbreaking. this is a slap in the face to disabled and marginalized readers and marginalized authors. a slap in the face.
@HarperCollins
do way better.
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@AroFrom
there's more than just blood libel! i recommend reading the article in the FAQ. unfortunately, if you have a vampire in a text, you do need to be careful as to which tropes you're utilizing & what the narrative framework of your vampires are, lest you fall to unintentional harm.
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a sapphic Jewish romantasy featuring owl-shifting vampires, theater, and family curses??? I didn’t know this was my dream book but it absolutely is. no one needs to write a book ever again, im all set.
I am beyond thrilled to announce that my debut YA romantic fantasy, about Estries (bread-eating, owl-shifting jewish women vampires!) theater, family curses, and finding your wings in the dark will be published by
@harperteen
Fall 2024!!
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it’s pretty freaking cool when you get the honor of reading a friend’s manuscript and it ends up being one of the most powerful and moving works you’ve read in a while, and exactly the story your heart was needing right now. feeling lots of gratitude and pride.
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*googles: how to meet people in the town i'm moving to who are equally gay and neurodivergent and deteriorating from good omens brain rot*
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the thing I hate most about people inaccurately applying the term "bury your gays" to everything where queer people die in any capacity is that we end up being robbed from having more good gay tragic stories.
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@beaukbean
yep. people in bookish spaces (and internet spaces in general) aren’t interested in creating sustainable communities, just proving their own moral superiority. they care more about being right than they do about reducing harm.
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I feel like it should be standard that authors writing retellings are familiar with the biases, intentions, and cultural impact of the story they’re retelling… but it’s clearly not
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I applied for two jobs today!! and everybody clapped!!!
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I've been saying for over a year now that we as bookish creators need to stop calling works "harmful" w/o explaining the narrative framing that led us to that conclusion, bcuz it's been teaching people to only look at the surface level of what is present in a piece of media.
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we need more queer (and generally diverse) romeo and juliet retellings that arent comtemporary plz
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WISHLISTS NOW HIDE YOUR SHIPPING ADDRESS AND YOU CAN CHOOSE AN INDIE BOOKSTORE AS AN AFFILIATE!! RUN DO NOT WALK!
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