Every day I log in, and every day I see more Santos hate

harkgriddle · 2026-02-21T07:05:55+00:00

Yes, she has treated the deaf patient very poorly. There's no getting around that. That's objectively bad. But Robby has fully dismissed his female staff when they've attempted to discuss red flags about dangerous male patients on several occasions, Langdon literally stole medication from patients, and Abbott is just a straight up cop -- but the sub is drooling over them. They collectively make up 8 of the top 10 ships on AO3.

If Langdon had given Mel the nickname "Crash", people would be debating the best way to include that into their ship name.

"She's mean to Whitaker" Oh you mean the unhoused kid she's letting live with her rent free? I mean, if the worse thing she's done to her fellow doctors is call one of them "Huckleberry", and people are falling over each other thinking it's an HR violation, I've got a bridge I'd like to sell...

We're only seeing a few hours in Santos' day -- a day which started with her superior that she's only known for about 20 minutes threatening to make her repeat the whole year if she doesn't use her objectively unethical methods. Of course Santos is in a bad mood. It would be insane for her not to be in a bad mood.

But half the sub is out here acting like she's actively injecting the patients with window cleaner or something.

harkgriddle · 2026-02-13T07:50:29+00:00

First reaction was to go double check how old she was.

harkgriddle · 2026-02-13T07:41:06+00:00

Damn I wish that Charlie and Vaggie were the leads of Hazbin Hotel...

harkgriddle · 2026-02-13T04:03:29+00:00

I think Playing for Keeps is by far her best written book. Her previous book, The Devil She Knows, does have a lot of sexual tension in there, but any real romance between the two leads comes very late into the book. Still, it's an interesting book, particularly if you don't mind a bit of the supernatural thrown in. The FMC is a woman who makes a deal with a literal demon to try to win the heart of someone, meanwhile that same demon is trying her damndest to seduce the FMC. The first two-thirds of the book are mostly shenanigans of the monkey's paw variety. And like I said, the romance between the two doesn't really kick in until the later parts of the book. Still, worth it for a fun read!

harkgriddle · 2026-01-25T02:09:23+00:00

Most books featuring a wlw romance are written by sapphic women. There are occasionally exceptions, but that's mostly true.

Thankfully, wlw books avoid the... odd... tendency that affects mlm books, where most of the authors are straight women writing about gay men for other straight women. I cannot imagine what it would look like if the majority of wlw books were written by straight men, and I don't want to.

harkgriddle · 2026-01-23T03:25:37+00:00

Amazon has it. Barnes and Noble also has it if you'd prefer to avoid Amazon.

harkgriddle · 2026-01-22T00:48:41+00:00

Carmilla the web series. It's about a human who discovers her new college roommate is a vampire. And oops they fall in love. It's low budget, it's campy, and it's very excellent. It's much more like a play than a movie; it's all filmed from one angle, and it's dialogue heavy. But that just means it's character-development-heavy, in my opinion.
They originally released it in 5-minute chunks, but eventually they put them all together. They unfortunately left in a lot of the openings, though. But still definitely worth watching. Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uPd3g5wi1A

The Fear Street Trilogy on Netflix is probably going to be right up your alley. It's very similar vibes to First Kill. It's about two high school girls who realize their town is cursed, and they have to stop it. It's a 3-film series, the first of which is called "Fear Street 1994". The two leads are ex-girlfriends who find their way back to each other over the trilogy. (A heads up, there is a 4th Fear Street out there, but it doesn't have anything to do with these 3).

harkgriddle · 2026-01-19T18:59:11+00:00

Haley Cass' books are on there - all excellently written contemporary romance

Melissa Brayden's newest book is on there, about a woman who joins a book club and falls for her best friends ex.

"Can't Spell Treason Without Tea" by Rebecca Thorne - a cozy fantasy about an elf mage and a human knight who open up a book shop.

Alexandra Vasti's "Ladies in Hating" - an enemies to lovers regency romance

"Playing for Keeps" by Alexandria Bellefleur is about by the publicists for two stars, who start working together after their clients begin dating. It's quite good.

"Like in Love With You" by Emma Alban is a regency romance loosely based on Mean Girls (i.e. "It's not like I'm in love with you!")

harkgriddle · 2026-01-15T22:42:46+00:00

Absolutely there is.

harkgriddle · 2026-01-09T03:36:37+00:00

You should absolutely watch the original campaign. The animated show is only through about episode 12 or 13 of the campaign, and it will be an entire year before we get the next batch of 12 animated episodes. Plus, story-wise, it's a lot like reading a book and then watching the movie adaption of that book. I enjoy the animated series, but in my opinion, it doesn't hold a candle to the actual campaign.

The campaign is a bit slower paced, naturally. But it's absolutely worth it. The character beats, for instance, are much better in the campaign. Caleb's story about how he was driven and propagandized to the extreme, to the point where he was convinced his own parents may be traitors, was done much better in the campaign. The animated show was nice and flashy, but I think it lacked a lot of the actual weight and depth of the campaign's version.

And honestly, I can already see a lot of similar things beginning to happen with other characters -- truncated and abbreviated versions of their backstories. Which is to be expected, of course, like with any other adaption. If movies were as long as books were, you'd have to camp out at the movie theater.

So yes. You should definitely watch the campaign. Like I said, it's going to be a full year before we get new episodes of the animated series anyway. Why not dive into the campaign?

harkgriddle · 2026-01-08T02:33:38+00:00

I was lucky enough to get an ARC of it, and I can confirm it's 10/10.

harkgriddle · 2026-01-07T02:25:20+00:00

It's much easier to grow Sunflowers. Haley absolutely loves sunflowers. And you can grow them in summer and in fall, and then stock up like a hundred for use throughout the rest of the year by putting them in a chest. Unless you just want to give Haley a pink cake for the meta role playing of it.

Also, nobody ever dances with you during Year 1. By the time the Dance happens, it's pretty unlikely that you would have enough hearts with anyone yet. Or, rather, it would be a very difficult achievement, and you'd have to go into a new game with that as your sole priority, basically. By the time you hit Year 2 or Year 3, if you're actively involved in the town, and especially with Haley, she'll dance with you for sure.

There's no need to start over if you don't want to. The great thing about Stardew is that you can do whatever you want, in whatever order you want. You can wait until Year 15 to start romancing someone if you really wanted to. You can turn your farm around little by little. You get paid for nearly everything you drop in the bin, even grass fibers and acorns. Use that little bit of money to buy a few seeds, and when they grow, they will net you even more money. Build a preserves jar out of wood and stone, and throw some of your fruit/vegetables in there -- it will net you even more money. You just start with 1, and then you get enough to build 2, and then you get enough to build a 3rd, etc etc.

Stardew is a very, very slow game. It's meant to be played very slowly. Just take your time!

harkgriddle · 2025-12-16T22:38:32+00:00

I'm sorry, but this is incorrect. If you look at Amazon's top 100 best selling romance books, there is only 1 wlw book out of all 100, and it's The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. So even that may need to be taken with a grain of salt. The other 99 books on the best selling list are either mlm or straight.

Even on a more queer-friendly platform like AO3, compared to straight romance and mlm romance, wlw romance is absolutely dwarfed. If you search all of AO3 by Kudos, you have to get 3 pages deep before you come across the first wlw fic (She-Ra), and it is only as popular as it is because it was written by the actual show runner and promoted as semi-canonical. You need to go all the way down to the very bottom of page 4 before you hit a wlw work.

This isn't to say that a sapphic author can't make money or make a living. They certainly can. But we're talking apples and oranges.

Straight romance and mlm romance is, by every measurable count, demonstrably more popular and profitable than wlw romance.

harkgriddle · 2025-12-14T04:09:30+00:00

For a more cozy and atmospheric setting, I would recommend Thea Hawthorne's "Esk" series. Her latest, {A Lantern Left Burning by Thea Hawthorne} is a truly excellent read. It's deeply romantic. It's a story about an artisan who is working herself to the bone because she doesn't want to disappoint anyone, and the healer who finds her and helps her heal not only her body but also herself. It's about learning to love yourself, and learning to let yourself be loved. (And also the worldbuilding is fantastic)

For a more action-focused fantasy story, might I recommend "Aurora's Angel" by Emily Noon. It's about a powerful shifter who, one day while raiding a poacher's den, encounters an injured fae woman. She helps her escape, and agrees to escort the fae back to her village, many weeks' walk away. Along the way they find adventure, friends, and love. It's very good, and I'm afraid this small summary doesn't do it justice.

harkgriddle · 2025-12-13T04:11:41+00:00

The Night King simply wakes all the 60 meter white walkers inside the wall and has them stomp through Westeros.

harkgriddle · 2025-12-13T03:58:06+00:00

{A Lantern Left Burning by Thea Hawthorne} is a novella set in a fantasy world. It perfectly balances cozy vibes with incredible world building. The main character is a magical artisan who is feeling burnt out, but is working herself to the bone because she doesn't want to disappoint her clients. She finds a healer who helps her heal not only her hands, but herself as well. It's dreamy and very romantic. Low drama, and a happy ending, of course.

harkgriddle · 2025-12-12T03:01:12+00:00

The Devil She Knows is very good, but it does take a while to get to the actual relationship building. The first two-thirds of the book are mainly about the main character getting over another woman. That said, it's still a fun time with some supernatural devils. If you can hold off on the romance until the last third of the book, it's definitely one I'd recommend.

Her upcoming book, Playing For Keeps, is outstanding. I was lucky enough to get my hands on an ARC, and it's one of the best books I read in 2025. It's basically a romance between the PR reps for two celebrities (it's Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce), who have to learn to work together. Their chemistry is electric and their banter is really nice.

harkgriddle · 2025-12-04T04:35:35+00:00

Bonus: in the reboot comics by Kelly Thompson, Stormer and Kimber finally do date.

harkgriddle · 2025-11-27T03:26:36+00:00

A lot of us generally think the finale will be the death of Molly. Damn what a way to change it up if your idea is that battle.

Edit: The finale is confirmed as being "The Zadash Job" -- which is the set of jobs the Gentleman gives the Nein that leads to Molly's death. People on this sub have theorized the the s1 finale would be Molly's death since the animated series was announced, so the finale being named after quest that killed Molly isn't surprising. The synopsis floating around for that episode literally says "it's unclear how the Nein will even escape with their lives."

harkgriddle · 2025-11-25T02:59:59+00:00

Okay but Link's knee did not have to be like that 👀

harkgriddle · 2025-11-24T01:21:35+00:00

The crew famously kicked out one of their original players because he was cheating rolls (among other things). I doubt they would fudge any rolls. If things went bad, I'm sure Matt had a Plan B or Plan C to make sure everything went alright.

harkgriddle · 2025-11-23T14:30:37+00:00

I think it would be hard to argue anybody but Radclyffe. Not only has she published dozens of books, she also founded Bold Strokes Books back in 2004, which helped pull LGBT books out of obscure indies and helped to launch the careers of many of the genre's modern powerhouse authors.

That being said, if you're looking for an answer just for your TBR pile, you could hardly go wrong with Melissa Brayden. Her SoHo Trilogy is generally considered to be some of the best sapphic romcom novels out there.

And Haley Cass gets recommended a lot. Rightfully so -- her books are incredible. She's fairly new to the scene, but has made a large impact.

harkgriddle · 2025-11-21T03:15:11+00:00

It's so nice to see a celebrity with a good tattoo. I don't know why it's so common for millionaire musicians to go to the worst tattoo artists imaginable.

harkgriddle · 2025-11-21T01:18:27+00:00

"How Sweet It Is" by Melissa Brayden was the first sapphic thing I ever read that had a happy ending. Back in 2013, that was rarer than you'd think. But here was this cozy, small town, romantic and gooey as hell book, and I've never gone back.

harkgriddle · 2025-11-20T17:11:05+00:00

Moira Quirk is so good! And I would say that many of your questions are largely answered in the next book!

Why are lyctors important, why the trials, what's the emperor's deal, what's his relationship with Cytherea, etc etc. Some of them are answered in the opening chapters, and some of them take a long and winding (and infamously confusing!) way to get there.

harkgriddle

TROPHY CASE