The Bookish Diversity Link List 2021

 

Your resource for all things bookish diversity is back!

Considering 2020 was... 2020, I reckon I did quite well, really.

Still, that's all the more reason to strive to include more links to fabulous resources in this year's list! 

Especially considering that we can't lose the momentum gained in 2020 around racial issues, and we must protect the equality and representation of other identities!

And if all that sounded intimidating, then there's really no need for it to be - this is about books, and finding books which reflect the wonderful diversity of humanity on this weird little planet.

Seriously Reducing My Goodreads Challenge Goal Because 2020

(Warning: this post discusses mental health problems, specifically Depression and Anxiety, and references Covid and the dumpster fire of 2020)

For those unaware: there is a website called Goodreads. It's like social media for books, basically. 

(Before you ask, my Goodreads account is private.)

And every year it encourages people to set a target number of books to read that year - the Goodreads (GR) challenge.

(It would be cynical to point out that Goodreads is owned by Amazon, and therefore may have a monetary incentive for encouraging people to consume vast quantities of book. 

Corporations can create unintended social benefits - in this case encouraging literacy - despite what their motives may or may not be.)

Month in Review(s) - November 2020

 

(Warning: this post discusses mental health problems, Covid 19/Coronavirus, and Transphobia)

November saw some rays of sunshine breaking through the end of 2020.

Biden won.

Hope of a Covid vaccine became more real.

As for me, well, I've had some ups-and-downs.

News of local people dying of and/or being ill with Covid. A firebreak Lockdown. The continued anti-Welsh sentiment in the press...

And then there's the Amazon Associate issue *sigh* 

I can't go into it, because I've appealed the decision, but after some problems in November, I lost my UK Associateship in the first few days of December. That's all I can really say for now. 

But it had me super stressy for a bit 😣 still kinda stressy now tbh.

Damn Anxiety always blows this kind of sh** out of proportion.

Update, 8th December:

Please DO NOT use my links to purchase from Amazon UK - my Associate account for the UK was unfairly closed, and Amazon UK will no longer pay me for any purchases made with them.

I will slowly be removing the UK links from 1000+ posts, but it's gonna take a while.

Friday Fics Fix - My Stand-Out Fics of 2020

 

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?!)

Comics Wrap-Up - We're Drawbridges Closing

 

It's Thursday. Let's get some awesome-sauce comics-y, superhero-y goodness!

Friday Fics Fix - Clint and Bucky Undercover

 

'"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! 😉

Friday Fics Fix - The Detective's Dreams

  ***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?”'

Ready for some semi*-emotionally-healthy BBC Sherlock fanfiction?

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?

Friday Fics Fix - Padfoot and Moony's Guide to Raising Harry Potter (Ft. Diverse Representation!)

 

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!)

Friday Fics Fix - Klaus and Ben's Guide To The Parenting Of Dead Children

 

'Ben started laughing too. “What’s the matter, Klaus? Nonbinary ghost child should be right up your alley.”

That laughter was contagious, and Klaus gave in. “You know what? You’re right. Nonbinary ghost child is right up my alley. Good for you, kid!”'

Yes, we are talking Umbrella Academy...

But hang on a sec -

!! Please do NOT the SPOILERS !!

I'm only about half-way through series 2 of The Umbrella Academy, so please no spoilers! 

Diolch yn fawr iawn fy nghariadau!/Thanks v. much my loves!

Comics Wrap-Up - Traded My Honda For A Panther, I Just Got A Crib In Wakanda

  ***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.

Whew! A whole month without any Comics Wrap-Up posts, dearest nerdlets! Didja miss me?

You know the drill: it's Thursday, the world is a dumpster fire, let's get some superhero-y comics-y goodness!

We got a whole bunch of stuff this week, due to online conventions/reveals/all that jazz!

Comics Wrap-Up - They Took A Photograph Of the Place You Hid

 ***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 Thursday, let's get some comics-y superhero-y goodness!

Nerd Church - If I Had £1million...

Money can't buy you happiness, true. But it can buy you the time, freedom, and resources, to be happy.

Plus, not having to worry about how you're gonna pay for stuff is guaranteed to help your mood. #JustSaying.

So, though I doubt it'll ever happen, I felt like doing some day-dreaming of what I would do if I had £1million.

I picked £1million pretty arbitrarily - mainly 'cos it's a nice round milestone number, and because it's a lot of money, but not so much that you wouldn't have to think about what you were gonna do with it.

Friday Fics Fix - A Blanket Cocoon

'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.'

In some ways, fanfolks are just gluttons for punishment - and I'm no different, really. I love me some angst!

Part of that is because I am an emo child to the end of eternity, and the gothicky and/or angsty stuff is always going to appeal to my sense of Drama.

But another part is that actually it's emotionally healthy to give yourself some space to explore your darker and more angsty feelings in a safe environment - such as through media.

(...I don't know whether that last sentence was really smart or really b*llsh**, but I'ma go with it!

And this is where I remind you that I'm not a mental health professional! Just a chick with personal experience of Depression and Anxiety.)

Friday Fics Fix - Pride Fics Fest: The Love They Never Allowed On Screen (Steve x Bucky)

It's the last week of Pride Fics Fest!

I hope you've enjoyed the posts that I've done this month - I've really enjoyed writing them! 

It's nice, now and then, to mix-up and refresh a series of posts (Friday Fics Fix) which I've been writing for over 4 years now - I hope you liked it too, dearest nerdlets!

I'm sure a lot of my fanfiction posts will still be based around LGBTQ+ characters and contents going forward - partly because it's me, and partly because it's fanfiction 😉

This week's post is celebrating my OTP, Stucky - the greatest love story Marvel and Disney ever thwarted.

(Fangirling notes:

OTP = 'One True Pairing' - the couple you believe were destined to be together, and you will fight for 'til your (hopefully metaphorical) dying breath!

Stucky - a relationship between Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, and Bucky Barnes, aka The Winter Soldier)

Nerd Church - A Short Ramble on Father's Day

Happy Father's Day!

This post is gonna be short and ramble-y because I have a migraine and it sucks. 

I'll be fine in a day or two, but I need to write this post now, when I feel like I've been hit by a shovel, which is great timing. 😅

And sorry if this post looks a little strange - migraines affect your vision with obstructions (like blindspots/sunspots,) light sensitivity, and colour differences, so if things look a little odd, then it's because I physically can't see the post or graphics in the way I normally would.

I love my dad.

I know that, sadly, a lot of people have less-than-ideal relationships with their dad. A lot of people have no relationship with their dad. And a lot of people understandably don't want a relationship with their dad.

A lot of dads, likewise, may have mixed feelings about their relationships with their kids.

A lot of people have also lost their fathers, or their children, and that hurts.

So hugs all round, dearest nerdlets, hugs all round!

Month in Review(s) - May 2020

(Warning: this post discusses the Coronavirus/Covid 19, and references the death of George Floyd)

May 2020... who wrote this film?!

Obviously, globally, May was a dumpster fire. 

(And Black Lives Matter. George Floyd deserves justice. If you disagree, you can eff off.)

Month In Review(s) - April 2020

(Warning: this post discusses Covid 19/Coronavirus, and Anxiety)

April 2020.

Um... yeah... 

(I know it's the 13th of May - I'm disorganised, and you all know this.)

OK, plus side: I had fewer panic attacks this month!

I mean, I still had panic attacks, and a butt-tonne of Anxiety, but I had slightly less of it! Woo!

(Small victories, dearest nerdlets, small victories.)

Nerd Church - I'm SO Tired

(Warning: this post references Coronavirus/Covid 19 and Lockdown, and discusses mental health problems and Anxiety throughout.)


I'm so tired.

Like, SO tired.

Part of that is probably due to an existential tiredness related to the Lockdown and wanting things to go back to 'normal' - whatever normal is.

(Stay Home though, dearest nerdlets - STAY HOME PLEASE! It's so important!)

Friday Fics Fix - The Self-Care Fanfic Rec-List

Fanfiction is a fab form of self-care (which I know I've said more than once, but that's because it's true!)

And seeing as how:

a) we could all do with all the self-care we can get atm...

and b) I have written a lot of fanfiction posts over the years...




I figured I'd take a look over my blog archives, and select some of the most useful fics for self-care.

(Side-note: looking through my archive is super-weird!)

Nerd Church - Watching 'Orange Is The New Black' In Lockdown

(Warning: this post discusses Coronavirus/Covid 19, and prison, and references drugs and death.)


You know all those shows that you just don't get around to for whatever reason? 

Orange Is The New Black was one of those for me.

So what better series to start when we can't go out, than one where they can't either, y'know? 

The UK is in Lockdown - we can only go out for specific reasons, which does currently include 1hr exercise, provided we practice social distancing, so we're better off than some.