'Klaus also had a tattoo on his arm of an umbrella inside of a circle. That image was the symbol of the Umbrella Academy, a group that had caused a whole lot of dissension among the Avengers.'
Dora Reads is the book blog of a Bookish Rebel, supporting the Diversity Movement, bringing you Queer views and mental health advocacy, slipping in a lot of non-bookish content, and spreading reading to the goddamn world! :) (All posts may contain Amazon links, which are affiliate, unless marked otherwise. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. USA ONLY - please do not make UK purchases with my links)
'Klaus also had a tattoo on his arm of an umbrella inside of a circle. That image was the symbol of the Umbrella Academy, a group that had caused a whole lot of dissension among the Avengers.'
It's Thursday, it's February, let's get some comics-y, superhero-y goodness!
This week's is unintentionally super-queer (ha, super 😎) and is once again all in the 'Other Stuff' category (#BlameLoki).
'“Oh, you’re going to be a regular bag of charms, aren’t you?” Mycroft goaded.
“Oh, shut up Mycroft!” Sherlock yelled back.'
'Klaus had been… animate when describing each of his siblings.'
OK, OK - I know, OK? I know.
...I rec'd an Umbrella Academy fic last week. I know.
I usually try to leave at least one week in between rec'ing fics from the same fandom (no, really, I do.)
It's December in a matter of days, which means that Friday Fics Fix will be going on its annual Christmas holiday.
...So what better opportunity to look back on the fics that've really stood out to me in 2020?
(Don't answer that. It's rhetorical. I'm gonna do it anyway. 😎)
2020 has been 2020.
So, I've totally been reading a butt-tonne of fanfiction as self-care.
Because fanfiction is excellent for all the self-care purposes - whether you need deep and angsty, or sweet and fluffy, or you want to fulfil some very um, specific, tastes: fanfiction has it all!
(I don't judge. But if I never read another pumpkin sex fic, it'll be too soon. And yes, it happened again in October - how do they keep finding me?!)
It's Thursday. It's 2020. Let's get some comics-y superhero-y goodness!
Everything is once again in the 'other stuff' category for which we will #BlameLoki (with good reason, this time!)
Everything is also really Queer this week - which, of course, I'm here for. And that's also partly Loki's fault 😉
***All Amazon.com links in this post are commission links. This means I earn commission from purchases made in the US***
Please do not use my links to make UK purchases.
(Warning: this post discusses Coronavirus/Covid 19, and mental health problems)
Well... October was pretty much the same as the rest of 2020 - there were a couple of nice things in there, but overall it sucked.
(I'm still standing though! #ThePositiveSide!)
My local Lockdown became a Welsh national Lockdown, and the anti-Welsh sentiments in some parts of the media and the Interwebs were irritatingly loud.
*Takes deep breaths* *Resists urge to rant*
(If you want to see me ranting for a whole blogpost against an ignorant RT from the Trumpkin, you can read that here.)
***All Amazon.com links in this post are commission links. This means I earn commission from purchases made in the US***
Please do not use my links to make UK purchases.
It's 2020. Lord knows what's going on now. Let's get some comics-y superhero-y goodness!
Once again everything's in the 'Other Stuff' category #BlameLoki
'"Oh god, please tell me you’re not Hydra," said Clint, because he was entirely done with this whole thing now.'
Soulmate AUs are a popular type of AU in fanfiction - I tend to avoid them because they're often exclusionary of Asexual/Aromantic people.
This week's fic isn't - which is why I'm recc'ing it! 😉
***All Amazon.com links in this post are commission links. This means I earn commission from purchases made in the US***
Please do not use my links to make UK purchases.
'Duke’s grateful for the small loading dock in the back of the Gull, with its concrete ramp and rolling service door. They rarely take shipments large enough to even warrant having the thing, but it’s remarkably useful for smuggling grizzly bears into the building'
I love (and really miss!) the TV show Haven - a gothicky, horror-y, sci-fi (and SyFy,) series that ran between 2010 and 2015.
It's ostensibly based on Stephen King's novella The Colorado Kid - I've read The Colorado Kid, there are very, very, few similarities.
Instead, it's like a kick-a** mash-up of random elements of Stephen King-ery. Which I love. So much.
(Warning: this post discusses Homophobia/general Queerphobia, and negative stereotypes of LGBTQ+ people.)
'Watching David watching him and not really knowing if he was only picturing David there, or if David actually was there.'
***All Amazon.com links in this post are commission links. This means I earn commission from purchases made in the US***
Please do not use my links to make UK purchases.
If you've faffed around the nerd part of the Internet, or the bookish part of the Internet, or the Queer part of the Internet, (amongst others, I'm sure,) you'll know that it's spooky season, i.e. October leading up to Halloween 👻
A lot of Queer people love horror and/or all things Gothic. I mean LOVE it.
Even if, as a genre, it's always had a somewhat love/hate relationship with us, painting us as either villain or deserving victim in more shameful stereotypes than I have the energy to go into here.
And even that was often a coding (i.e. implied,) rather than explicitly Queer characters.
***All Amazon.com links in this post are commission links. This means I earn commission from purchases made in the US***
Please do not use my links to make UK purchases.
'The mirth drains from his eyes, his face. Lowering his mug, his eyes following it, Sherlock asks, “What if your worst days are your fault, and only yours? Would you deserve it then?”'
Well, whether you are or not, that's what you're getting. 😛😉
*Look, it's emotionally healthy compared to the series, but there's still a sh**-tonne of co-dependency and poor coping mechanisms, ok?
'“Oh, my God,” Tony hisses. “Aren’t you like the greatest assassin the world’s ever seen? Why are you struggling so much with a stupid knot?”'
I actually have no idea WTF I just read - but I kind of love it.
That's one the fab-est things about fanfiction, dearest nerdlets, it's so very, very, random.
And it can surprise you. Even when you've read what has to amount to thousands of fics.
Note: For the foreseeable future the only Harry Potter fanfiction I'll be rec'ing will have Trans+/NB+ characters.
I understand if you don't wanna read any posts about Harry Potter whatsoever, and I hope I'll see you when I'm rec'ing from a different fandom.
“Sirius, when is the last time you slept? Or ate a proper meal? Or took a bath? Don’t even bother answering that last one. You smell like something died in your hair..."
To rec this fic, I basically just wanted to go:
AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
...until you read it.
But I realised that's both exhausting and requiring of context. (Dammit!)
(Warning: this post references racism and police brutality)
***All Amazon.com links in this post are commission links. This means I earn commission from purchases made in the US***
Please do not use my links to make UK purchases.
There are three important reasons for me writing this post:
1. Black Lives still Matter.
2. It's always a good time to highlight diverse books.
and 3. There are so many amazing Black creators out there, who don't always get the recognition they deserve.
So here's a small selection of some of the Young Adult (YA) and Middle Grade (MG) books on my TBR list that were written by Black authors.
For those of you who don't know the book-blog lingo - a TBR is a 'to-be-read' list. Mine is immortal and cannot be stopped. Send help.
For those of you who are British like me, and/or haven't heard the book blogging term, Middle Grade books are those aimed at (roughly) ages 8-12, or 8-14, depending who you ask.
(Quick disclaimer: obviously, I haven't read these books, just their synopses, so I don't know what they're like in terms of content, quality, etc.)
I hope you find something to add to your own TBR, and remember to support Black authors, and other Black creators.
There're so many talented Black authors out there who deserve our attention!
***All Amazon.com links in this post are commission links. This means I earn commission from purchases made in the US***
Please do not use my links to make UK purchases.
'...it was possible that they hadn’t thought through all of the consequences of Loki joining the team. They certainly hadn’t anticipated this one.'
'Dave was probably never going to get answers out of Klaus, but for right now, he was the designated ‘Coax Hargreeves out for Meals’ guy, so he was going to do his job.'
***All Amazon.com links in this post are commission links. This means I earn commission from purchases made in the US***
Please do not use my links to make UK purchases.