Just Create - Playset Edition
Feb. 21st, 2026 06:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
silvercat17 posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
justcreate(no subject)
Feb. 21st, 2026 03:26 pmhungryghosts(Crossposted from Reddit.)
Asian-American here. (Happy Lunar New Year!) I think I responded to one of your other threads a while back, about Buddhism.
I've been wanting to write about how our individual experience of being Asian-American has affected our plurality, but it's a surprisingly difficult topic - I think in large part because being Asian in the US has long been about invisibility, to the point that we've become habituated to ignoring our own Asianness. And Asian-American experiences are so diverse (especially when it comes to colorism, fluency, and citizen status - our experiences, being pale East Asian, US-born, and fluent in English are quite different from the experiences of a darker-skinned immigrant still learning English) that it feels fraught to write about our own experiences, out of concern that they'd be taken as Representation Of All Asian-American Experiences. But I do definitely think it has affected us, even if we can't name every way it has yet.
Off of the top of my head, our parents (who are immigrants) always had a strongly pragmatic cast to how they approached the world. Extremely resourceful folks, saw objects for what they could do rather than what they were "supposed" to do and could jury-rig anything to their needs. They didn't believe in letting their feelings get in the way of doing what needed to be done (or so they liked to claim) and what needed to be done was defined by what concrete value it brought to the family, not some kind of abstract morality divorced from reality. (Or so they liked to claim.) They thought constantly in collective - what was good for the family, not just our nuclear unit but the extended group, the way people's actions reflected on said family, etc.
Make no mistake: our parents sucked in a lot of ways that left scars. But they did teach us a lot of things, some good, some that can't be neatly classified as good or bad. When I look, I can see traces of it running everywhere through our plurality. Our willingness to jury-rig and modify parts of our own functioning. Our focus on concrete advice on living plural. The relative ease with which we accept ideas like "people in systems can be both individuals and parts of a whole - singlets, too, are individuals who are parts of their communities." On a more fraught level: a tendency to stifle our feelings and efface ourselves for the good of the group. Being perhaps a little too comfortable with being unseen. Difficulty distinguishing looking okay from being okay. Generational trauma that manifests, among other ways, as a fear of scarcity and a complicated relationship with food. A need to Achieve Something and Be Successful. Things that kept us outwardly functional, even through incredibly trying circumstances, while also eroding our deeper well-being.
And also, for us, US-born to immigrant parents who were our main connection to our culture, who we are purposefully no longer in contact with - there is a perpetual sense of... not simply loss, but having been severed from a greater whole. When we cut away what was killing us, a lot of good went with it too. Something that was always with us, unnoticed in the background, until it was gone. Even those of us who don't quite see themselves as Asian can sense its absence. We look after each other, try to create our own little culture with its own little traditions within, but it can't ever be a replacement.
Oh, and of course, there's the topic of race and internal identity. Sure have a lot of feelings (and frustrations) about the ways people handle that subject, considering none of us Look Asian internally and a number of us don't even feel personally connected to Asian identity. But I won't get into it here. Not on the new year. Inauspicious, you see.
Recruitment post!
Feb. 21st, 2026 04:58 pm![[staff profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user_staff.png){kind=small}
denise posting in ![[site community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/comm_staff.png){kind=small}
dw_advocacyNow recruiting: DW users who would be interested in the possibility of helping us out in one of these legal challenges, now or future!
If you would be open to the idea of potentially filing something with a court talking about the ways that the restrictions that Dreamwidth would have to impose to comply with a specific state's law (commonly, obligations like age verification via document scan or biometric verification, treating users as though they're underage until/unless they age-verify, etc) would have a chilling effect on your online activity and speech, and especially if you're a parent who would also be willing to explain to a court all the ways in which a specific state's law would interfere with or burden your parenting decisions: we're looking to assemble a list of people we can contact in the future if necessary.
If this sounds like you, please leave a comment with what state you currently live in. (Also, commenting is not a commitment, just you saying that you would be okay with us reaching out to you and seeing whether you were available/able to help.) I'm currently most interested in hearing from people from South Carolina, but the ubiquity of these laws being proposed means any state could be the next. All comments are screened so nobody but us can see them.
(Obligatory risk considerations: you would have to file under your wallet/government name, and there's a chance of having to associate your wallet name with your DW username to at least the court and to the state, if not publicly. If this could be a problem for you, don't risk it! But if you're willing and able, us being able to show the court a sworn statement from one of our users about the effects the mandated changes would have on you could be very helpful.)
EDIT: Also I forgot to explicitly specify, this is for US folks! We do not unfortunately have the ability to get involved with anything outside the US.
Actual Real Life Update that is not just ranting.
Feb. 21st, 2026 02:49 pmnumb3r_5ev3n- I got a Nine Inch Nails ticket! I go next week! This is the first time I have seen NIN live since the disastrous show at Fair Park in 1995, when the opening act was The Melvins, and Trent Reznor almost didn't go on because some assholes in the pit were heckling and throwing things at The Melvins. (I was in the stands, I didn't do it.)
Someone posted about it on reddit here. And yeah, that's pretty much what happened.
- The last "goth show" and concert I went to previous to this one was the Sisters Of Mercy in October 2024. And goddamn it, we are getting old. It was like the Gothic Old Folks Home turned out for that one. I imagine I'll see a lot of familiar faces at the NIN show, too.
- I'm also going to see Carpenter Brut in May. Which is Gothic Synthwave.
Thoughts of no particular consequence
Feb. 21st, 2026 01:53 pmwitchpoetdreamer1 - I absolutely ship Leon and Aerith. They just make sense together. I love them.
2 - Sora is such a cute character! I like him better in KH2 than in KH1 though, I like his sass XD
3 - I like the KH specific story part than the Disney story parts. Both are fun to play, but I have much more fun discovering a new part of the story rather than bits of story I'm already familiar with.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I started the process of actually writing the vampire novel and it's *painful*. I'm so rusty when it comes to writing! It feels like I've never written anything at all, so right now, I'm writing in more of a movie script way, with very basic descriptions and a focus on dialogues (and even for those I'm rusty AF). Most of my problem comes from how difficult it is to visualize what I'm trying to depict since I still have so much research to do about France's nobility system before the French Revolution and all. Basically, this is just me wanting to write something else than just world building and I think I'm putting the cart before the horses here. I might actually take care of my writing itch through fanfics for the time being, because that world building is so, so important to do before I can finally write something that will make sense to me.
I also am probably going to change my female main character's name. The current name I have for her is Louise Gabrielle, but I've been toying around with Gisele and Genevieve as well. G seems like a constant at the very least.
As for fanfics, I've been in a big OC mood lately. I've always loved writing OCs in fanfics, but early on I discovered that people don't like them much because they might be too Mary Sue/self-inserts, but honestly, I just love creating characters and putting them in familiar worlds, it's a great way to explore character creation and writing techniques in general. Also, I'm 35, I don't have time anymore for feeling any shame about what I enjoy creating (easier said than done honestly, but it all starts with words of affirmation). I am cringe but I am free!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I've really been enjoying reading everyone's posts and commenting on them. It's like my daily newspaper but better!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I've gotten gel pens this week! I've been interested in trying them because I write mostly by hand and my fountain and ballpoint pens have cramped my hand muscle a lot. So far, gel pens have been kind of a life saver for that. I'm currently testing out Pilot G-2 (I wanna know exactly how long it lasts for me) and Pentel Energel (because pretty colours, I got the lesbian colours pack XD) and so far, I like the Pentel better because it doesn't smudge at all! I can make a blob and a microsecond later try to spread it with my hand and nothing. The Pilot G-2 is only really safe after a full line of writing. Also, not gonna lie but those colourful Pentel are just making me really happy! And they're more affordable than fountain pen ink (I've gotten into fountain pens a few years ago, and what I've considered mainly for ecological reasons ended up being a bit of a consumption thing with pretty inks I ended up rarely using and beautiful fountain pens that I gave away to friends instead. The fountain pens I kept were actually on the cheaper side (Platinum) and I've kept just three different pretty inks that I use exclusively for letter writing with a dip pen. That and just a permanent black that I use mostly for inking drawings... Now that I think about it, I kinda wanna write a post about fountain pens in general XD But like, make it anti-consumption rather than "here's a list of the best of the best out there, spend your money!". I might just do that XD).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That's it for today's random thoughts ❤️
Back Our Patreon, Help Pick Our Next Anthology Theme!
Feb. 21st, 2026 12:28 pmduckprintspressEver wondered how Duck Prints Press picks the themes for our anthologies?
Well, it goes like this:
- Every month, we hold meetings on the Press’s private Discord (not to be confused with our public Discord) that anyone involved with the Press (staff, editors, authors, artists, backers on Patreon, and the like) can attend. During these meetings, we go, “hey, we’re thinking about themes for our next anthology! What would you like?” and I take notes of everything that folks suggest.
- I take the compiled list of suggestions and share it with staff during our monthly staff meetings. We discuss the options in light of what we had in mind, add some ideas of our own, take away some other ideas, poke and prod at it, and ultimately end up with a short list (generally under ten) of the ideas we like best.
- Staff (which includes editors, graphic designers, and others who are involved with higher-end tasks in Duck Prints Press, and who aren’t paid as staff but are for the work they do, and who help me make decisions) then votes on that list, and based on their votes we narrow things down to four to five choices.
- And then the fun part starts…
Our backers on Patreon pick the final theme from a short list of options we’ve selected!
Right now, our Patrons are voting on the theme for our next Queer Fanworks Inspired By… anthology. This will be the fifth anthology in this series. Three are already out (featuring works inspired by Much Ado About Nothing, The Three Musketeers, and Pride and Prejudice) and we are in the home stretch on the fourth (featuring works inspired by folklore and fairy tales). The choices that Patrons are voting on for the next one are:
- Queer Fanworks Inspired by the Artwork of Vincent Van Gogh
- Queer Fanworks Inspired by the Story of Robin Hood
- Queer Fanworks Inspired by Dracula by Bram Stoker
- Queer Fanworks Inspired by The Illiad and The Odyssey by Homer
- Queer Fanworks Inspired by King Arthur lore/Arthuriana
Ready to have your say? Become a backer of our Patreon at any level and place your vote! The voting ends on Monday, February 23rd.
Patrons get lots of other awesome benefits too – coupons for use in our webstore, access to our Discord, exclusive sneak peeks and previews, free stories… and that’s just for folks at the $3/month level! And support of our Patreon helps keep the lights on at Duck Prints Press, ensuring we have a steady and reliable income stream to plan around. To those who already support us, thank you!!, and if you’ve read this far, I truly hope you’ll consider it. For the price of a single cup of coffee each month, you can help an indie publisher keep amplifying queer stories and art.
(no subject)
Feb. 20th, 2026 02:54 pmhungryghostsInteresting thing discovered last night - apparently there's a website for Norwegian plural systems now? I can't read Norwegian and don't know the creator, so I don't have opinions on the content, but I think this is a neat thing to exist and I thought I'd share it here in case any plural folks on this site are from Norway.
The creator's post on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/system.grdnsys.no/post/3mdvtkpuz7225
On this writer's evolution
Feb. 20th, 2026 02:24 pmwitchpoetdreamerThe reason why I made those account was because, well, isn't being able to sell your writing any writers dream and desire? Isn't it the thing writers should do when they want to be known? Aren't writers supposed to be out there at all, growing their audience for their upcoming novel or collection of essay or something? Truth is, seeing that money appear in my account felt... off. Partly because I felt I didn't deserve that much for two posts I wrote in less than 3 hours (which, why am I like this? XD), partly because that money felt like it came with strings attached. Suddenly, I would need to post regularly to maintain and grow followers, I would need to keep writing things that would get people hooked and interested, I would need to play the social media game. But I don't like the social media game. I don't like feeling pressured to create following a specific schedule or in a way that is pleasing to the algorithm. I'm not opposed to eventually sell what I write, but I also want to do it in a way that feels organic to me. I don't really know yet what that's like, but I have images of an art convention booth, or something of the likes, in my late 40's, 50's, 60's, offering stories and poems and artworks and home made notebooks and possibly spells and tarot readings, and business cards that lead people to my own indie website and this space too if it still exists and just. The way I approach writing in general and art as a whole is something closer to an personal exchange between people rather than numbers on social media or on a paycheck. It definitely makes me feel like I'm not quite built for the way the world works nowadays, but I don't think it means I'll never find my audience because of it. I think quite the opposite in fact. Because one day, there will be people who enjoy what I make all the more for me not being online much, or online following my own rules. And I think that will make for a wonderful life experience.
Erin Reads: The Rose Field, Part 3a (chapters 23-30)
Feb. 20th, 2026 03:55 pmerinptahStart of Part 3. As of this point, I had 40% of the audiobook left to go, and 1 week until it returned. So these next 2 posts will cover the final 2/5 of the book.
Light spoilers for the whole book in my annotations; comments are a free-for-all. Previous HDM-related posts on DW; see also The Reaction Posts of Dust on AO3.
Didn’t bother putting screencaps in this one. Too much of it was either “new elements introduced in the sequel trilogy” or “things that didn’t get visually adapted in the TV series.”
Onward.
( Tiny Gryphon is good-guy-coded, so her idea of “who needs to die” is presumably correct and unproblematic in every way )
8 Queer (mostly M/M) Hockey Books We Love!
Feb. 20th, 2026 11:33 amduckprintspress
A week and a half ago, we posted about our favorite sports books with queer characters. When we were collecting the recommendations for that post, we got so many recommendations for hockey books that we decided to break them out into their own post! Today, we bring that post to you, in celebration of the Olympic men’s hockey semi-finals taking place today (game one started just a few minutes before I started this post, in fact). Most of these are m/m, which wasn’t intentional, but here we are I suppose.
The contributors to the list are: Sanne, Nina Waters, JD Rivers, Cedar, Tris Lawrence, Terra P. Waters, E. C.
Hockey Bois by A.L. Heard
Nick Porter has always loved hockey. Ever since he can remember, it’s been his favorite thing in the world. It’s too bad he never learned to play, he’d tell himself, but it was too late to do it now. Adults don’t just magically learn to skate and join a hockey team. That’d be ridiculous.
Except maybe they do? On a whim, he decides to sign-up for an adult beginner’s class. He learns to skate, joins a team, and meets a really hot teammate… and it’s pretty much a disaster from there on out.
Between the Pipes by J.J. Mulder
Nico Mackenzie is angry and argumentative—in every way, he is the exact opposite of NHL goaltender Anthony Lawson. Thrown together for a summer of coaching college hockey at South Carolina University, Anthony makes every effort to be friendly; Nico, on the other hand, seems intent on being infuriating and keeping the other man at arm’s length.
When a causal relationship forms between the pair, they form an unsteady truce. The summer is finite, however, and when it comes to an end a decision has to be made: do they end things as they are or try for more?
The Game Changers series by Rachel Reid
New York Admirals captain Scott Hunter takes his pregame rituals very seriously. When a particular smoothie precedes Scott’s breaking his on-ice slump, he’s desperate to recreate the magic… and to get to know the sexy, funny guy behind the counter.
Kip Grady knew there was more to Scott’s frequent visits than blended fruit, but he never let himself imagine being invited back to Scott’s penthouse. Or kissed with reckless abandon—and more. What goes on between them is hot, incredible and frequent… but also only on Scott’s terms and always behind his closed apartment doors.
Scott needs Kip in his life, but with playoff season approaching, the spotlight on him is suddenly brighter than ever. He can’t afford to do anything that might derail his career or the public’s image of what a hockey captain should be. Kip is ready to go all in with Scott—but how much longer will he have to remain a secret?
Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu
Eric Bittle may be a former junior figure skating champion, vlogger extraordinaire, and very talented amateur patissier, but being a freshman on the Samwell University hockey team is a whole new challenge. It is nothing like co-ed club hockey back in Georgia. First of all? There’s checking (anything that hinders the player with possession of the puck, ranging from a stick check all the way to a physical sweep). And then, there is Jack–his very attractive but moody captain.
A collection of the first half, freshmen and sophomore year, of the megapopular webcomic series of the same name, Check, Please : #Hockey is the first book of a hilarious and stirring two-volume coming-of-age story about hockey, bros, and trying to find yourself during the best four years of your life.
This book includes updated art and a hilarious, curated selection of Bitty’s beloved tweets.
The Breakaway series by E.L. Massey
Sometimes love is a slow burn. Sometimes it’s a dumpster fire.
Nineteen-year-old hockey phenom Alexander Price is the youngest-ever captain in the NHL. With a polarizing social media presence and a predilection for dirty play, he typifies the stereotype of young, out-of-control athlete. But away from the cameras, Alex is a kid with an anxiety disorder and the expectations of an expansion franchise on his shoulders. And maybe he tries too hard to fit the part of asshole playboy, but it’s better than the alternative; in his line of work, gay is the punchline of an insult, not something he can be.
Eighteen-year-old vlogger Elijah Rodriguez is a freshman in college recovering from an injury that derailed his Olympic figure-skating dreams. Mixed-race, disabled, and out of the closet since he was fourteen, Eli is unapologetically himself. He has no qualms about voicing his disapproval of celebrity jocks who make homophobic jokes on Twitter and park their flashy cars in the handicapped spaces outside of ice rinks.
After an antagonistic introduction, Alex and Eli’s inexplicable friendship both baffles and charms the internet. But navigating relationships is hard enough for normal teenagers. It’s a lot harder when the world—much of it disapproving—is watching you fall in love with your best friend.
Icebreaker by A.L. Graziadei
Seventeen-year-old Mickey James III is a college freshman, a brother to five sisters, and a hockey legacy. With a father and a grandfather who have gone down in NHL history, Mickey is almost guaranteed the league’s top draft spot.
The only person standing in his way is Jaysen Caulfield, a contender for the #1 spot and Mickey’s infuriating (and infuriatingly attractive) teammate. When rivalry turns to something more, Mickey will have to decide what he really wants, and what he’s willing to risk for it.
This is a story about falling in love, finding your team (on and off the ice), and choosing your own path.
The Hat Trick series by Samantha Wayland
Savannah Morrison is the new athletic trainer for the Moncton Ice Cats, a professional hockey team in the wilds of New Brunswick. It’s a good thing she’s got plenty of knowledge and grit, because as the only woman trainer in the league, she has to work twice as hard to win the players’ respect. The last thing on earth she would do is date one of them. Twelve-year hockey veteran Garrick LeBlanc isn’t ready to hang up his skates, particularly since he hasn’t figured out what the hell he’s planning to do next. He needs the new trainer to keep him fit to play, and she’s got the skills to do it. Too bad he lost his mind and hit on her the day they met. Now she hates his guts and he’s made an art of ignoring her. When the team is put up for sale, Garrick and Savannah have to work together to save their jobs and their team. Somewhere along the way, they discover Garrick isn’t just a hockey player, Savannah isn’t only passionate about her work, and just maybe they’ve got more in common than they thought.
The Trade Deadline by A.L. Heard
After a fleeting encounter when they’re in Juniors, Ryan “RJ” Russell and Lars Nilsson find themselves thrown back together years later when they end up on the same NHL team. Being friendly to a new teammate just got way more complicated. It’s one thing to have a one night stand with someone from another country; it’s a whole other mess to sleep with your teammate. Neither of them can afford to make waves, not when Ryan needs a new contract and Lars is already escaping a scandal. If sparks fly again, can they resist temptation?
Find these and other sport books on our Goodreads book shelf or buy them through the Duck Prints Press Bookshop.org affiliate page. These books have also been added to our list of sports books on pagebound.co.
Join our Book Lover’s Discord server to chat books, fandom, and more!
Throwback Thursday, Fandom Edition: A Vicarious Fannish Ride
Feb. 19th, 2026 07:41 pmnevannaI am not immune to the sentimental allure of a fandom anniversary, and I'd hoped to post this entry last fall, roughly 20 years after the events that it describes. But in October, my offline life became very chaotic, very quickly, and I didn't have nearly enough energy to decide what I wanted to say, or - just as importantly - what I wanted to leave out.
If we know each other offline, and you have some idea of "Briar's" real identity, please don't bring it up here. I gave her a pseudonym, and ultimately cut out a lot of what I'd written about the progression of our relationship, for a reason.
Currently writing: Vampire Novel
Feb. 19th, 2026 10:17 amwitchpoetdreamerAs a young adult, my stories were mostly inspired by the MCU (I was a huge Thor fan, thanks Tom Hiddleston), mythology, and something closer to urban fantasy. I was in a huge reading slump (fanfictions not counting), so my writing was very sparse, stories playing mainly in my head as a movie or in bits and pieces of prose poetry. Around 2014, I did my first NaNoWriMo and wrote a ghost story that I rewrote in 2016 during the same event (I dropped out of NaNo afterwards, the two years I wrote during the event completely drained me of writing energy for most of the year so it wasn't really worth it for me). I haven't written anything extensively since (fanfictions not counting -- look, I know that writing fanfics is writing, reading fanfics is reading, but I've always liked working on my own stories or reading other people's, and it really bums me out when I'm not doing those things. It's less about hierarchy than it is about discovering stories I don't know anything about yet, if that makes sense. It's the discovery part that I miss).
Cue to now, I've made the decision that to unlock my writing in a way that feels satisfying to me, I need to write about my first literary love: vampires. So I made a notebook for it:
( Read more... )
(no subject)
Feb. 19th, 2026 12:03 amsorcyressTuesday and I played quite a bit of Cadence of Hyrule, which was extremely enjoyable to do. I love Crypt of the Necrodancer very much, and I like playing video games with other people, so this was a good combo. It's exciting to me to get to be the better player at a game, because that is not generally the case. Not that I was doing a flawless job or anything, Tuesday is also very good at games, but I have played a staggering amount of Necrodance over the years, and I'm sure I was extremely charmingly irritating about all the parts where I was like "oh yeah, I know exactly how that mechanic works".
At lunchtime, we swung by the local little Japanese place, and got an assortment of things. Some of it was excellent (their little friend sesame balls were exemplary) and some of it was merely acceptable, which is still a nice situation restaurant-wise. Foolishly of Tuesday, I now know this is quite close and may drag us there on future visits as well.
More video games, then being floppy in bed and doing some parallel play, and finally it was dinner time and we settled in to watch Everything Everywhere All At Once, which I had never seen. We'd specifically been trying to find a time to watch it when we could watch it on Tuesday's properly big television (rather than laptop screens or something else inadequate) and I do think it was worth it.
The movie is absolutely as splendid as everyone said. Some of it was extremely predictable, but in the way that felt right. It felt like the joy of storytelling, the hope of seeing everything come round the way it ought to, while still being beautiful and joyous and just an absolute delight. And the actual visuals of it are astoundingly well done! There was a moment where I realized I want to do the double feature of this with Wizard of Speed and Time. Specific theme: it would be good to watch this on a device capable of going frame-by-frame when necessary.
(I should make sure I've shown Tuesday WoSaT at some point, because if I haven't, that _really_ needs to be rectified. I think she would find it Good.)
Tomorrow we get more being floppy and goofy together. Probably more video games. Certainly more being very much in love. Eventually I get on a train and head back to Somerville (in time for dance, even.)
As long as I ignore the fact that I need to work on grading at some point, I am having a lovely vacation!
~Sor
MOOP!
(no subject)
Feb. 18th, 2026 01:14 pmwitchpoetdreamerAnd it's such a simple thing, really, nodding at each other, waving hello, noticing them. At times, it feels like it takes more effort to purposely look elsewhere, fix my gaze forward, showing I'm going somewhere and will not bother you with my stare. I feel stuck in between "I see you, so you must see me too, right? Please don't see me" and "I'm not seeing you, whatever you're doing right now is between you and yourself, I ain't no snitch".
Maybe to look up and nod is actually an act of trust. I see you, you see me AND whatever you're doing right now is yours, I ain't no snitch. It takes trust not to think "this person is judging me". It takes trust to think "even if this person is judging me, I won't be judging myself the same." It's a hard muscle to train, especially when you've been raised by people, by a society who can only say "what will the neighbours think?" The worst the neighbours can think is "wow, this person exists" and choose whether they like it or not. And what a sad life to live, to see existence and dislike it? No, to see existence and think "this person is my enemy." To hate them.
I'm guilty of this too. I can't like everybody. But I certainly like more people than I hate. And I've never hated anyone for a nod hello. It takes a very specific kind of betrayal of humanity for me to hate someone. A deeper knowledge of who they are than what I can glean from a stranger on the street.
It takes trust. It takes hope. Neither of which are natural once you've learnt too often how cruel people can be. But the world isn't cruel. The world isn't cruel. The world isn't cruel.
Anyway, here's Wonderwall.
Ten Titles to Read for Aromantic Awareness Week
Feb. 18th, 2026 10:11 amduckprintspress
Happy Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week! We’re stoked to be celebrating this awesome week for the fourth time with some great aro book recommendations! You can also find our previous rec lists here: 2023, 2024, 2025. The contributors to this list are: Mikki Madison, Rascal Hartley, Puck, JD Rivers, Tris Lawrence, Linnea Peterson, Nina Waters.
Not Your Backup by C.B. Lee
Emma Robledo has a few more responsibilities that the usual high school senior, but then again, she and her friends have left school to lead a fractured Resistance movement against a corrupt Heroes League of Heroes. Emma is the only member of a supercharged team without powers, she isnt always taken seriously. A natural leader, Emma is determined to win this battle, and when thats done, get back to school. As the Resistance moves to challenge the League, Emma realizes where her place is in this fight: at the front.
Dear Stupid Penpal by Rascal Hartley
Atticus “Finch” Davani does not want to be an astronaut. He hates space, he hates the ship, and he strongly dislikes his fellow crew members. He makes that painfully clear in his letters to Aku, his corporate-assigned penpal back on Earth.
Archivist Wasp by Nicole Kornher-Stace
Wasp’s job is simple. Hunt ghosts. And every year she has to fight to remain Archivist. Desperate and alone, she strikes a bargain with the ghost of a supersoldier. She will go with him on his underworld hunt for the long-long ghost of his partner and in exchange she will find out more about his pre-apocalyptic world than any Archivist before her. And there is much to know. After all, Archivists are marked from birth to do the holy work of a goddess. They’re chosen. They’re special. Or so they’ve been told for four hundred years.
Archivist Wasp fears she is not the chosen one, that she won’t survive the trip to the underworld, that the brutal life she has escaped might be better than where she is going. There is only one way to find out.
Awakenings by Claudie Arseneault
As the city’s eternal apprentice, Horace has never found a clan to belong to. E has joined Trenaze’s guards with hopes to finally earn eir place during eir trial day at the Great Market—that is, until the glowing shards haunting the world break through the city’s protective dome. Armed with a sword and too little training, Horace doubts in eir ability to defend the market-goers. But eir last stand is interrupted by a mysterious elven figure who can dissipate the shards with a single, strange sentence: your story is my story.
From the moment it is uttered, Horace knows the sentences holds true for em, too—and when the elf collapses in the middle of the market, e carries them to safety. After an afternoon of board games in their quiet, sharp-witted company, Horace is ready to follow this elf as they seek the forest that haunts their dreams, and answers to the confounding events at the Market. Their story is eir story, and e is willing to confront the dangers of the road to hear their laugh again and finally feel like e belongs.
Dear Wendy by Ann Zhao
Sophie Chi is in her first year at Wellesley College (despite her parents’ wishes that she attend a “real” university, rather than a liberal arts school) and has long accepted her aromantic and asexual identities. Despite knowing she’ll never fall in love, she enjoys running an Instagram account that offers relationship advice to students at Wellesley. No one except her roommate knows that she’s behind the incredibly popular “Dear Wendy” account.
When Joanna “Jo” Ephron―also a first-year student at Wellesley―created their “Sincerely Wanda” account, it wasn’t at all meant to be serious or take off like it does―not like Dear Wendy’s. But now they might have a rivalry of sorts with Dear Wendy? Oops. As if Jo’s not busy enough having existential crises over gender, the fact that she’ll never truly be loved or be enough, or her few friends finding The One and forgetting her!
While tensions are rising online, Sophie and Jo are getting closer in real life, bonding over their shared aroace identities. As their friendship develops and they work together to start a campus organization for other a-spec students, can their growing bond survive if they learn just who’s behind the Wendy and Wanda accounts?
The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee
A year after an accidentally whirlwind grand tour with her brother Monty, Felicity Montague has returned to England with two goals in mind–avoid the marriage proposal of a lovestruck suitor from Edinburgh and enroll in medical school. However, her intellect and passion will never be enough in the eyes of the administrators, who see men as the sole guardians of science.
But then a window of opportunity opens–a doctor she idolizes is marrying an old friend of hers in Germany. Felicity believes if she could meet this man he could change her future, but she has no money of her own to make the trip. Luckily, a mysterious young woman is willing to pay Felicity’s way, so long as she’s allowed to travel with Felicity disguised as her maid.
In spite of her suspicions, Felicity agrees, but once the girl’s true motives are revealed, Felicity becomes part of a perilous quest that leads them from the German countryside to the promenades of Zurich to secrets lurking beneath the Atlantic.
If It Makes You Happy by Claire Kann
Winnie is living her best fat girl life and is on her way to the best place on earth. No, not Disneyland–her Granny’s diner, Goldeen’s, in the small town of Misty Haven. While there, she works in her fabulous 50’s inspired uniform, twirling around the diner floor and earning an obscene amount of tips. With her family and ungirlfriend at her side, she has everything she needs for one last perfect summer before starting college in the fall.
…until she becomes Misty Haven’s Summer Queen in a highly anticipated matchmaking tradition that she wants absolutely nothing to do with.
Newly crowned, Winnie is forced to take center stage in photoshoots and a never-ending list of community royal engagements. Almost immediately, she discovers that she’s deathly afraid of it all: the spotlight, the obligations, and the way her Merry Haven Summer King, wears his heart, humor, and honesty on his sleeve.
Stripped of Goldeen’s protective bubble, to salvage her summer Winnie must conquer her fears, defy expectations, and be the best Winnie she knows she can be–regardless of what anyone else thinks of her.
Devil Venerable Also Wants To Know by Cyan Wings
In a Mary-Sue novel, the readers all liked the Devil Venerable, the second male lead who devoted himself whole-heartedly to the female lead. However the female lead only loved the male lead who abused her physically and mentally.
Readers: Why doesn’t the female lead like the Devil Venerable?!
Devil Venerable: This Venerable also wants to know. But what I really want to know is why I even like the female lead at all.
In order to understand why the female lead wasn’t attracted to him, the self-conscious Devil Venerable brutally interrogated the entire cast of characters from the novel.
Background characters: I have so many things I want to say but I don’t dare to say it to his face!
After obtaining the book, the Devil Venerable discovered that the book described the world he lived in. This book said that after he sacrificed himself for the female lead, the fourth male lead, his silent and loyal subordinate Yin Hanjiang, blackened and attempted to kill her as a sacrificial offering for his lord.
Devil Venerable Wenren E: Yin Hanjiang, this Venerable wants to know why you wanted to kill the female lead.
Yin Hanjiang was silent.
Wenren E: If you refuse to speak, this Venerable will cut out your tongue and drink it with alcohol!
Yin Hanjiang: …
Wenren E: What the hell are you blushing for?!
The Murderbot Diaries Series by Martha Wells
In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.
But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.
On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid — a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is.
But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it’s up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing her quest.
Once, she was the Justice of Toren — a colossal starship with an artificial intelligence linking thousands of soldiers in the service of the Radch, the empire that conquered the galaxy.
Now, an act of treachery has ripped it all away, leaving her with one fragile human body, unanswered questions, and a burning desire for vengeance.
Find these and other books on our Goodreads book shelf or buy them through the Duck Prints Press Bookshop.org affiliate page. Also available as a list on Pagebound.co.
Join our Book Lover’s Discord server to chat books, fandom, and more!
WWW Wednesday
Feb. 18th, 2026 08:56 amduckprintspress1. What are you currently reading?
- Don't You Like Me vol. 1 by Lv Tian Yi: this is a kinda odd modern BL that started looking like it'd be fairly standard high school rivals to lovers "omg they are boarding school roommates" kinda stuff........ and then 25 pages in the mc's grandfather dies and passes on the ability to see ghosts. And the mc is phobic of ghosts. And the only way to not see the ghosts is to interact with someone with very high yang energy, such as... the rival roommate ml. And mc needs to touch the ml every five minutes to not see ghosts. Oh and the ghostsight also prevents him from just talking about why he needs to do this. So needless to say lines of consent are batshit in this, and it's kinda a mess (and it's very weird that a couple reviews are like "damn ml is a sexual predator wtf" as if mc didn't go from "ugh I hate that guy" it sleeping in his bed without permission in the space of like a day after getting these abilities. But obviously it's all ml's fault for not reading mc's mind or something idefk.) Anyway. Weird book. MC is pretty tsundere, I hope he gets that out of his system soon, lol. I'm a bit over halfway done with vol. 1 (of 2)
- made a little progress on Daomu Biji. I'm traveling almost all week and didn't want to carry it with me, so that's meant not much reading, sigh.
2. What have you recently finished reading?
- The World We Make by N. K. Jemisin: well. I finished it. That's something right? The pacing on this is just a disaster. I'm sorry to say that about such a powerful writer but oof, what a mess.
- SHWD episode 2 by sono.N: maybe slightly better than vol. 1? Less dwelling on gender in the workplace, more about the relationship, but the mc has gone zero to 60 in their devotion to ml and I don't get why at all.
- Kase-San and Cherry Blossoms (Kase-san and... vol. 5) by Hiromi Takashima: easily the best in the series imo.
- Dandadan vol. 10 to 12 by Yukinobu Tatsu
- Planeta by Ana Oncina: sci-fi GL. A mindfuck and a half. Very interesting book.
- Sakamoto Days vol. 19 by Yuto Suzuki
- Kaiju No. 8: B-Side vol. 2 by Naoya Matsumoto and Keiji Ando: interesting to get Narumi's backstory.
- A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow vol. 5 by Makoto Hagino: probably the slowest pace volume yet in a stupidly slow-paced series. I'm this close to dropping it tbh.
- My Adorable Betrothed by Dokueki: modern BL. The most PWP single-volume thing I have ever read. Not bad for that, I guess, but if I just want PWP I've got AO3 for that so whatever.
3. What will you read next?
Novels: I'll finish Don't You Like Me vol. 1 and 2
Physical Graphic novels (library and otherwise): I've been traveling 5 of 7 days since last Wednesday, so I wasn't able to read any library books, so idk, whatever I said last week is still true. For others... I'm visiting my mom rn, which always means a trip to Kinokuniya and some gifted money for me to spend there, so I grabbed my own copies of the first three books of Murderous Lewellyn's Candlelit Dinner so I'll reread those probably. And mom went with me and bought herself the first three volumes of Moriarty the Patriot so probably that too, if I can swing (re)reading them before I leave tomorrow afternoon.
Graphic novels on Libby: Firefly Wedding vol. 2 by Oreco Tachibana is due in 3 days; I'm gonna get through it but given unenthusiastic I'm feeling, I'll probably drop the series; That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime vol. 8 by Fuse is due in six days, so also that.