That Really Is How Being In Your 30s Is Like

That really is how being in your 30s is like 😭

Snippet from my queer polyamorous romance novel, Community Witch - an unapologetically trope-y, cozy, and relationship-driven romance story about the healing from trauma, found family, and joyful queer relationships. (Looking to publish next year.) --- As they drifted back to Nat’s car, the anxiety beast clawed its way back with a vengeance, keeping Aspen from working up the nerve to take Nat’s hand. What if they had misread Nat’s interest? What if all she wanted was to be friends? Surely it couldn’t be this easy the second time around? It was only when they pulled up in front of their house that Aspen managed to wrestle their anxiety down enough to blurt out the question that had been burning in their mind the entire night.

“Was this a date?”

Nat smiled, as calmly unflappable as ever, and cocked her head. “Did you want it to be?” she asked softly.

Aspen felt their face grow suddenly, painfully warm and nodded, unwilling to trust their voice. Nat’s smile grew, and Aspen’s breath hitched as she slowly took their hand and stroked their palm with her thumb. “Then yes, it was a date.” She leaned forward slowly, looked down at their lips, then back up into their eyes. “Can I kiss you goodnight?”

New non-binary junk options just dropped. Eldritch horror concrete bench is weirdly aspirational tbh

YOUR NSFW MC

Tag #dereliction_nsfw or @dereliction-if to get reblogged

10 years ago, I really enjoyed urban fantasy where the vibe was "every mythical creature is real, but the myths got a lot of stuff wrong", but got to the point where most urban fantasy was too grimdark for me to read when everything in the world is, like, actively on fire.

And then I got, like, SUPER into cozy fantasy TTRPGs. So when I started writing my first queer romance novel it seemed really natural to make the setting "urban fantasy, but make it cozy". And honestly, it's been such a jam riffing on all my favorite folklore. Like:

What if witch was a job that you could have, and witching was publicly funded and had its own governing body, and you could go to witch school and become a registered witch?

What if your mail carrier was a demon, but hell was just a place people are from sometimes, like Mississauga, that is crappy so people want to leave? But the stigma against demons means he's too afraid to act on his crush on the trans guy who owns the local cafe?

What if there was a bargheist hanging around, but he was just a big scary doggo who was looking for someone to take him in?

What if the Seelie and Unseelie Courts were two different flavors of assholes and lots of fae from both Courts slum it in the mortal realm so they don't have to deal with 200 year old beef about That Minorly Inconvenient Thing That Happened at a Party?

What if Baba Yaga was sighted on hiking paths in a tourist town and the local witch had to put up signs saying "DO NOT TAKE SELFIES WITH THE CHICKEN HUT"?

I'm having a fucking blast, tbh, especially with the fae, since it's a chance to write real fucking weird perspectives on gender (which makes me happy as a trans nb).

It’s reverse worldbuilding Wednesday!! Writers, come into my inbox and tell me about your worldbuilding!! Doesn’t matter what it is, I would love to hear it!

Working on a fic about G'raha and Alisaie falling in lust with each other after G'raha's return from the First, and am amused by where a chain of logic took me. First, my headcanon is that G'raha is trans, as is Alisaie, because if NO ONE is explicitly gay or trans, then anyone can be. No I will not take questions on this point. Second. Transition would have been pretty easy at the Studium. None of the professors give a fuck about your gender as long as your assignments are on time and your research is sourced correctly. So G'raha transitions quickly and seamlessly after arriving in Sharlyan because less time lost to dysphoria = more time for books.

Third. For most trans mascs, T horniness is A Fucking Thing[1]. Unlike Alisaie, who who sucked lots of dick[2] because she liked it, G'raha would have seen this horniness as an imposition. He transitioned so he'd have more time to read, after all.

Fourth. because he's far from the only nerd whose sexuality is "books" at the Studium, G'raha would have ended up with a circle of acquaintances who were willing to discreetly give each other "relief" in the library so they didn't have to interrupt their research.

CONCLUSION. Because G'raha is both a massive overachiever AND a people-pleaser AND a messy bottom, he got really good at letting people fuck his throat.

- - -

[1] I mean, I'm 95% asexual and the T horniness is hitting HARD, which is why I've spent all my time for the past week thinking about G'raha and Alisaie sucking my WoL's dick.

[2] See previous fic: "Shut up and let me suck your dick, already"

HEADCANON ACCEPTED

My version of the twins (once they are released from their purgatory of forever being teenagers). In my mind the story from ARR to now has taken some 8 years, so they are well into their twenties by now.