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Isaac X Isaac

@isaacxisaac.bsky.social

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Strange trans man writing a very goofy book.

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Isaac X Isaac @isaacxisaac.bsky.social · Feb 26

Gay crimes!
Trans wrongs!
Enemies to enemies!

Here's my #Own #LGBT #Hu #YA(?) again for #WSPit! A romp through a colorful, heightened #Hi storical playground.

Can one defeat the patriarchs with the very weapons of masculinity? Well, one angry trans boy can sure try stabbing them a lot. #WSPitW

"L'entrée du prince de Ligne à Londres 1660", painted by François Duchatel in 1660, depicting the arrival of a great procession of ambassadors walking in fine clothes and riding in coaches, watched by a huge crowd of Londoners.
Text over it reads:
THE DUEL IN 1660: a queer swashbuckling farce.

"The arrival of King Charles II of England in Rotterdam, may 24 1660" by Lieve Verschuier, showing many ships with the Flag of Holland/States Flag. The grand ship bearing Charles II has his royal arms carven on the stern.
Text over it reads:
England, 1660: the restoration of the monarchy. In Charles II's triumphant wake, a Royalist family quietly returns, but not with their single daughter—instead, with their single son.
15-year-old Alexander—vain, hot-tempered, and warm of heart—expects to strut in as an aristocratic peacock. But when his ambitions are frustrated, he's sucked instead into intrigues of questionable honour and forced to reckon with what it really means to be a man.

"Man Writing a Letter" by Gabriël Metsu, painted around 1665. A Dutch young man, beautiful and androgynous with long blond hair, wears black doublet, breeches, and stockings and a luxurious white shirt and falling band. His expression is tranquil and far-off as he writes a letter on a table draped with an imported carpet.
Text over it reads:
Pray enjoy this tempest in a teapot, crafted of the purest tropes and set in the Age of the Rakehells, featuring:
glamour and grime of 17th century Westminster.
goofy action punctuated by primal screams of rage.
problematic characters for miles.
petticoat breeches parkour.
queer mentorship.
romantic friendship (or maybe 'tis just gay, oops).
boys who cry. a lot.
and somehow, everything turning out all right in the end.

Detail of "View from the Mussel Pier in Amsterdam", painted by Ludolf Bakhuizen in 1673, showing a peaceful sky over a ship with two gulls.
Text over it reads:
Alexander stood at the edge of the deck, one hand clutching the railing, the other fastened tight on the brim of his hat as he leaned out over the waves. He was not much afraid of falling in, though he had never swum anything choppier than a pond. Rather, he was afraid that his Acadian fur hat, the most expensive for sale in the shop on the Kalverstraat, might fly off his small crown and flap with its feathers all the way to water—which, like the sky, could not quite decide between blue and grey.
There was no one to see him aside from the sailors and now Klein, climbing up from below. Still, he had meticulously dressed that morning, down to every last ribbon. He’d had a very specific vision of himself when the suit was being ordered: the azure he’d picked was not just brighter than everything around him on the fluyt but even the true sky itself, and he sparkled with silver, when the wind tugged his doublet and loose breeches, and gold, when the little light managed to catch on his sword’s hilt.
It was imperative, one must understand, that he look extremely stylish doing battle, should pirates suddenly appear to satisfy his fantasies. And indeed, at fifteen, he thought himself quite the dashing young man—not the boy he was.

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Isaac X Isaac @isaacxisaac.bsky.social · 6m

Now we're getting into the hard half of #PlotTober 🤣

Last time, the literal midpoint was an "oh shit" moment where huge consequences hit and the leisurely setup gave way to suddenly a plot.

1661 plans are congealing with the same structure, but I wonder if I need to move the plot kickoff earlier…

Ange @gunsmile.bsky.social · 12h

#PlotTober Day 15: The midpoint

Answer the prompt on the card by quoting this post. Remember, answering a prompt is always optional. Even if you don't share it publicly, I hope the prompt encourages you to think about it privately.

#WritingCommunity #WritingPrompt #WriteSky

#PlotTober - a WIP plotting game by @gunsmile.bsky.social

15. The midpoint of the story serves two purposes: (1) it reveals critical information to the MC and (2) causes the MC to confront both who they used to be and who they need to become to grow, change, and/or achieve their goals. What are some ways you could do this?

Remember: Use the #PlotTober hashtag, engage with others, and have fun!

Isaac X Isaac @isaacxisaac.bsky.social · 39m

My search uncovered that most hits for "care" were actually about carelessness. But here's what I picked for today's #WIPSnips!

A dance party in October.

So when the players began and the circle began to slowly revolve, carrying the dancers gradually clockwise as they stepped and reversed, he sought every opening to turn a double into a leaping fleurette or a single into a capriole, making his lacy cannons flounce and the wide bows on his shoes beat like the wings of little birds. After a moment, Lady Shrewsbury understood his intention and adjusted to match, more or less, but she was annoyed at having to do it; the poor woman on his left, though, had no idea what he was on about, and so simply took the jostling. He didn’t really care. He was not in truth, dancing with either of them. And he ignored his cousin when he looked up from his conversation at the side of the room with Lady Bedford’s sober-faced husband to stare at Alexander stirring up exactly the spectacle he’d been told to eschew. He didn’t care about his cousin’s frowns, either. All his care was for the little smile that appeared on the round, glowing face across from him, a smile that she tried to hide, her bite pulling her lip, Cupid’s bow nocked with her small white tooth.
He fluttered for that smile, flushing from the hard work, careless of how thirsty it would leave him—and they turned and turned together in the golden light of the false day, an invented hour in a cut-flower garden, he and she as far apart as on a circle they could be; and he was there that night, finally, Alexander—and was till the spinning of the circle ended and it gently broke apart.

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R. A. Ruhl is Querying🌙 @raruhl.bsky.social · 1h

Anyone have recommendations for horror stories about trans men / transmascs? Self promo is okay and welcome!

#booksky #writesky #queerwriters

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JD Rivers | OUT NOW: Wish of a Dragon @jd-rivers.com · 9h

Well, because it's my book birthday ("The Edge of a World" is now one!) and book release day, I want to celebrate the indie community!

You have a book coming out as indie or with an indie publisher? You have recently released one?

Use this post as promo!

No AI in any shape or form.

📚💙

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JD Rivers | OUT NOW: Wish of a Dragon @jd-rivers.com · 9h

IT IS NOW AVAILABLE!!!!!! GO AND BUY IT!!!!!

Love you all!

Less unhinged post later xD

JD Rivers | OUT NOW: Wish of a Dragon @jd-rivers.com · 7d

Otar's story continues! Preorder today!

🐲 dragons! in space!
🛣️ more roadtrip
🏛️ more ruins
⁉️ archaelogy! in space!
❤️ idiots in love

"The Wish of a Dragon" out: October 15th

Preorder:
tinyurl.com/ysxyvfk6
books2read.com/u/47p7XL

TBR:
GR: tinyurl.com/yc6a7xke
TSG: tinyurl.com/ya34yu4w

📚🌈📚💙📚 🪐

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John McCafferty @jdmccafferty.bsky.social · 7h

When you decide to draw a zebra but rely on secondhand accounts, Antonio Tempesta c. 1650 (Rijksmuseum)

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Isaac X Isaac @isaacxisaac.bsky.social · 14h

Bsky doesn't HAVE any gifs of Elizabeth and Essex 🫤

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Isaac X Isaac @isaacxisaac.bsky.social · 15h

Grats! ☺️

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Isaac X Isaac @isaacxisaac.bsky.social · 15h

I've gotten the most interaction and met fun people from playing monthly games and quoting and replying off of (and on) other people's prompts! I don't think I've ever gotten any real humans by search or hashtag—just bots 😩

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Dr. Peter Paul Rubens @peterpaulrubens.bsky.social · 16h

2/2 Big hair in 1649: William Hamilton & John Maitland, as painted by Cornelius Johnson.

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Nush @nushdeco.bsky.social · 1d

Hello #PortfolioDay !

I'm Nush, I love doing character art and illustration!

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Naomi Baker @drnaomibaker.bsky.social · 1d

It was a privilege to talk about the radical C17th women in my book with @sixteenthcgirl.bsky.social for Not Just the Tudors. We had a brilliant and wide-ranging discussion about a Yorkshire maidservant who met the sultan of the Ottoman Empire … and much more!

shows.acast.com/not-just-the...

Voices of Thunder: Radical Women of the 17th Century | Not Just the Tudors

How radical women of the English Revolution reshaped faith, gender, and political power

shows.acast.com

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Isaac X Isaac @isaacxisaac.bsky.social · 19h

I love reading people's random thoughts, pet photos, craft talk, and whatever fun opinions and interests they wanna share including those unrelated to writing or reading—but I'm on here for community and friends, so I have no real idea what works specifically as self-promotion!

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Hazel Bud - he/they @hazelbud.bsky.social · 19h

Hello #PortfolioDay!

I'm Hazel, a trans illustrator and visdev artist from the UK. I love playing with texture, colour and darkly ethereal vibes ☀️

Really interested in making more book covers! Fantasy, horror and sci fi especially 🗡️

hazelbud.carrd.co
💌 [email protected]

An illustration by Hazel Budzinski. At the bottom of the image are dark purple pine trees, with sketchy vibrant red lines around them which look like fire. Behind the trees is pillowing smoke, desatured blue and grey in colour, which blends into a mid-toned purple , then dark purple. At the top of the smoke trails of sketchy red begin, blending into a yellow wolf that leaps forward. On top of the whole piece is the title of the book ‘The Gods Must Burn’ and the authors name ‘T. R. Moore,

An illustration by Hazel Budzinski. The main focus of the piece is a large tree, with branches that twist in and out of each other. Tied around branches are golden braids of varying lengths. The tree has lichen and moss upon it's branches, and surrounding this tree are turquoise ghostly visages of other trees. There is a grain to the illustration, overall giving a feeling of a flash photo taken at night, or something taken with a night camera.

A figure, leaping and reaching towards a ball of light streaking out like a star. His face is in anguish, his skin and hair dissolving into noise, stretching up to the light. Surrounding the star is a circle of millipedes, centipedes and a few silverfish. The figure has iridescent skin, like an Opal stone. Behind him is a murky green background, with hues of red and blue. Closer to the figure and the star, the background turns yellow, blue and green, echoing the hues of the figures skin. On top of the illustration is the title 'ILL-MADE GODS' in a medieval like font, with the O for Gods centred over the bright star. At the bottom of the illustration is my name 'Hazel Budzinski'

A fanart illustration of the character Guinevere from Knights of Guinevere, made by Hazel Budzinski. It shows a blue female figure floating in the air, back facing the floor, unnaturally long arms dangling down with her knees tucked upwards. Wires curve up and around her limbs, with one stabbing into her left wrist and wriggling inside, another into her neck, one into her belly, with others posed at the ready. Her neck is unnaturally turned towards the viewer as though it’s broken, an uncanny smile and wide staring eyes on her face. Behind her is a pink palace, hazy and ethereal. Fireworks explode in front of it, casting a glow against her silhouette

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Isaac X Isaac @isaacxisaac.bsky.social · 20h

Yes!

Isaac X Isaac @isaacxisaac.bsky.social · 21h

#LGBTQWriteAThon
Alexander! A horrible little fopling burning to prove his honor and manhood, generally with questionably-called-for physical violence.

He's actually warm, intelligent, and charismatic, just also a bit… angery.

Sort of a deconstruction-and-reconstruction of the Hero/White Prince.

Collage of various sketches of a blond, blue-eyed white boy dressed in aristocratic garb of the early 1660s: black fur hat with huge feathers, cape, falling band, short blue doublet worn open with silver embroidery and gold buttons, blue petticoat breeches, ribboned high-heel shoes or boots with lacy lining, golden rapier, lace-lined gloves, fuzzy golden baldric, and huge quantities of silver and pink ribbon everywhere. In all the various doodles his expression is usually some variant of Angry.

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Isaac X Isaac @isaacxisaac.bsky.social · 22h

Yup. Hunt shows up in chapter 1 and then is otherwise absent.

The good news for Hunt fans is that the people Alexander meets in this book will make him appreciate Hunt all the more. 🤪

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Isaac X Isaac @isaacxisaac.bsky.social · 23h

He wants to be in town, visiting the coffee-houses, going to the theatre! He would rather be with Thomas Hunt (who in 1662 I believe will be at Gray's Inn; I'm still waffling over which inn) and his other chosen friends than stuck with whatever country neighbors he happens to live close to.

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Arden Powell 🍂🍁 @ardenpowell.bsky.social · 23h

There has never been a huger selection of books written by marginalized authors than what's available right now.

John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 1d

Tell me your most life-affirming literary opinion.

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Isaac X Isaac @isaacxisaac.bsky.social · 23h

The status quo keeps getting restored and Alexander is gonna start feeling worse and worse about it. Also, more aware of the tempest-in-a-teacup element. "Solved our rich person problems… yay…"

I predict Alexander's last line will be to the effect of "I hate the country, let's get out of here." 🤣

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Isaac X Isaac @isaacxisaac.bsky.social · 23h

#PlotTober
Wedding bells (not for Alexander, lol) and, if we're continuing a tradition, jumping out a window…

A series motif is evil being punished/unpunished. I think the sympathetic characters are rescued, but the "bad" guys houdini away. Alexander challenges/gets challenged on if this is good. +

Ange @gunsmile.bsky.social · 1d

#PlotTober Day 14: Story endings

Answer the prompt on the card by quoting this post. Remember, answering a prompt is always optional. Even if you don't share it publicly, I hope the prompt encourages you to think about it privately.

#WritingCommunity #WritingPrompt #WriteSky

#PlotTober - a WIP plotting game by @gunsmile.bsky.social

14. Now that you have some ideas of your story's beginning and the main character's goals & growth, can you come up with a few different story endings that would be satisfying for a reader?

Remember: Use the #PlotTober hashtag, engage with others, and have fun!

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Elizabeth Briars @elizabethbriars.bsky.social · 23h

To stop myself from commissioning more art (portfolio day is killing me!) allow me to show you some I have. This is Isabella Marshton, one of the mcs in book 2 of The Steer Queer Series, The Gossip and The Guest (coming soon!)
Art by @cuatrojosz.bsky.social (spots open👀)
📚💙 #queerbooks #characterart

A young woman with honey blond hair sits facing the audience in a portrait. She is wearing a white regency dress with small flowers and pink piping. Her features are cute and she is... Bustier than average.

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Dr. Peter Paul Rubens @peterpaulrubens.bsky.social · 1d

3/3 Not a Capel. Just a boy in pink, then considered a good manly colour. Painted by Dutch/British painter Cornelius Johnson who was born OTD in 1593.

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Isaac X Isaac @isaacxisaac.bsky.social · 1d

You can solve the plot in a variety of ways but I think it's really compelling for Alt Josh to kill MC Josh, having undergone a darkening process that MC Josh himself initiated.

MC Josh "dies", but something of his essence is assimilated into Alt Josh. He DOES take over his life, by changing him.

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Isaac X Isaac @isaacxisaac.bsky.social · 1d

Your whole structure invites the question, Who is Josh?

Is it MC Josh? Alt Josh? Both? Is there a platonic original Josh, a Josh-ness that contains both of them?

Does/did MC Josh contain the potential to be Alt Josh… and more intriguingly… does Alt Josh contain the potential to become MC Josh? +

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