profiterole_reads

The Brightness Between Us by Eliot Schrefer (Queer Ducks (and Other Animals): The Natural World of Animal Sexuality) was excellent. It's part sequel, part prequel to The Darkness Outside Us.

As you definitely need to go into Book 1 knowing as little as possible, I can't talk about the plot of Book 2. Let's just say that it was a pleasure to meet these characters again.

There's major m/m, minor m/nb, as well as an asexual female character.

lydamorehouse presents the 2025 Pride Bundle in this post.

I've already read several of these books and recommend them all:
- Point of Dreams by Melissa Scott and Lisa A. Barnett
- Fairs' Point by Melissa Scott
- A Necessary Chaos by Brent Lambert
- Reforged by Seth Haddon
- Welcome to Boy.Net by Lyda Morehouse
- Power to Yield by Bogi Takács

Part of the proceeds go to Rainbow Railroad, an NGO that helps LGBTQ+ people escape state-sponsored persecution and violence worldwide (same as the DuckPrintsPress bundles I posted about here).

Here's the new Korean practice post! I've switched to a post EVERY OTHER MONTH, as everybody is pretty busy. As usual now, it's an open chat.

You can write about whatever you want. If you're uninspired, tell us the story of what you're currently watching/reading/playing...
You can talk to one another.
You can also correct one another. Or just indicate "No corrections, please" in your comment if you prefer.

화이팅! <3

Reclaimed by Seth Haddon was amazing, as usual! The scholar Saba Vasili, a refugee from Kerinsk who now lives in Zvensia, is accused of inventing a machine that opened the astral sea and killed hundreds of people. He must prove his innocence with the help of Ambassador Luan Zek of the Rezwyn Empire.

This is the third book in the World of Reforged series, but they can be read more or less independently. Here, we get to learn even more about this original magic system.

Saba Vasili is a trans man with anxiety. I thought his dysmorphia was very well-written, without being too depressing. Luan Zek has an old leg injury and uses a cane. There's major m/m, as well as some f/f.

Home is Where the Hex is by Lou Wilham was a lot of fun! It's Book 3 of The Witches of Moondale (f/f).

The crossover with the Hunters of Ironport series (m/m vampire hunters) intensifies. If you want to follow the whole story (not an obligation, each series still stands on its own), Lou has provided the Reading Order in a practical format.

There is major f/f, where one of them is asexual, as well as background f/m/nb.

The French movie Planète B was awesome! In 2039, Julia Bombarth, an ecological activist from Grenoble, gets sent to a virtual prison for terrorism. Nour Hamdi, a journalist from Baghdad whose French visa is going to expire soon, steals a headset from the military base where she's working as a cleaning lady and discovers the truth.

I knew I would love this movie as soon as I saw the trailer. I also thought I would ship the ladies, but now I think this is actually a sapphic movie. There's no kiss, but it's pretty blatant. The director didn't cast Adèle Exarchopoulos as Julia randomly.

There are 4 DAYS LEFT for EU citizens to sign the European Citizens' Initiative petition to ban conversion therapy in the European Union.

- 570,000 signatures are still needed (with the massive mobilisation currently happening, we're getting ~100,000 new signatures a day, so there's a chance)
- 2 countries still need to reach the threshold: Slovenia and the Netherlands are in good position

Please share on all your social media! Here's a Tumblr post and a Bluesky one, for a start. If you have friends in Slovenia and/or the Netherlands, please message them. A lot of people don't have the time to catch up on their dashboards/timelines and can easily miss the information.

Thunderbolts* was a lot of fun. I definitely enjoy the smaller team-ups more than the huge Avengers movies.

There was a big theme of mental health. It reminded me of the TV show Legion in the X-Men verse.

I was not big on Bucky's look as a US representative, but after that, he looked very sexy. So did Yelena! <3

There are 2 mid/post-credits scenes (and this time, it was worth waiting until the end).

Thyme Travellers: An Anthology of Palestinian Speculative Fiction edited by Sonia Sulaiman was amazing.

I was impressed by the quality of most of these short stories, so I wasn't surprised when I learnt just yesterday that this book was a Locus Award finalist. Good luck, everybody!

I've also read Sonia Sulaiman's work in Inara: Light of Utopia, an anthology of queer and trans Palestinian utopian writing.

There are a few sapphic characters.

Demons of Good and Evil by Kim Harrison was awesome. It's the latest Hollows novel (in mass market paperback).

Ivy, the bi and poly vampire that used to be one of the protagonists of the series, has a really good scene with Rachel in this tome. And based on the next one's premise, we might see her a lot more then.