#but loves Swordspoint

[bonaesperanza]

I just read a review of Ellen Kushner's Swordspoint that calls it "a precursor to mannerpunk", and I am honestly baffled. I guess we are calling anything with a semi-realistic depiction of historical social norms mannerpunk now, huh. It also compared it to Austen, which I also found deeply baffling. Is... is there an Austen novel that I missed that consists almost exclusively of sword fights, political intrigue and the everyday life of a committed feral gay couple living in the slums?

[cruelsister-moved2]

I KNEW ELLEN KUSHNER WAS GAY she writes intimacy in such a lesbian way lol

[the-bi-library]

Here is the final part of the bi4bi books posts!

I'd appreciate it if you let me know if there are any more bi4bi books that I didn't include here 💕

Books listed: They Never Learn by Layne Fargo If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia The Drowning Summer by C.L. Herman Case Sensitive by A.K. Turner Missing, Presumed Dead by Emma Berquist Her Soul to Take by Harley Laroux Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao City of Shattered Light by Claire Winn City of Vicious Night by Claire Winn The Light Years by R.W.W. Greener The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza by Shaun David Hutchinson Tell Me Anything by Skye Kilaen Her Scarlet Letters by Cat Giraldo Break Free by Raleigh Ruebins Modern Divination by Isabel Agajanian Caroline's Heart by Austin Chant The Door Into Fire by Diane Duane The Stone Prince by Fiona Patton Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner Wolf, Willow, Witch by Freydís Moon When the Stars Alight by Camilla Andrew Love at First Set by Jennifer Dugan Cleans Up Nice by Margo Phelps Educated by Nellie Wilson Queried Sick by Dallas Smith Chance Agreement by Margo Phelps Sirens & Muses by Antonia Angress Release by Suzanne Clay Orphia and Eurydicius by Elyse John Crown of Starlight by Cait Corrain To Beg or Not to Beg by Cat Giraldo Two Winters by Lauren Emily Whalen Electric Idol by Katee Robert Neon Gods by Katee Robert The Scandalous Letters of V and J by Felicia Davin The Spinster's Swindle by Catherine Stein Rocky Mountain Freedom by Vivian Arend Um traço até você by Olívia Pilar Biforia by Rebecca Romero Escalando Você by Rebecca Romero Entre estantes by Olívia Pilar → translated Between Bookshelves by Olívia Pilar Honor Among Thieves by Rachel Caine Victories Greater Than Death by Charlie Jane Anders The Stars Undying by Emery Robin Legend of Korra: Graphic Novels Harley Quinn: The Eat. Bang! Kill. Tour Novels Seven Days: Monday–Sunday by Venio Tachiban Brimstones and Roses It Would Be Great If You Didn't Exist My Werewolf Girlfriend The Fiancée Farce by Alexandria Bellefleur Xeni by Rebekah Weather

Part 1

Part 2

[do-you-ship-it-polls]

Do you ship it?

reason: Guarded swordsman who's never learnt to read and expelled scholar with no survival instinct fall in love. The rest is history (read the fucking book)

[mlmshipbracket]

Fourth MLM Ship Bracket Propaganda Submissions

Below you will find all of the submitted and approved ships for the Fourth MLM Ship Bracket Tournament along with the form to submit further propaganda at the bottom

This is another opportunity to submit propaganda for your favorite ships. Wether you were unable to submit propaganda for them in the initial form or you spot your favorite ship who has no propaganda submitted. Ships with a strikethrough have propaganda submitted, I will continue to update this post as propaganda is submitted. I will accept further propaganda for ships with already submitted propaganda but please prioritize those with out.

The goal is to have propaganda for all ships but I understand that may not be possible. Therefore I will be leaving the form open for a few weeks to see if we receive propaganda for at least half the ships.

Note: Please reach out to me if you spot any mistakes in character or fandom names, even if it is only formatting or spelling issues.

Monkey D. Luffy/Roronoa Zoro (One Piece)

Kyojuro Rengoku/Akaza (Demon Slayer)

Mikhail”Misha” [Heavy]/Dr. Ludwig [Medic] (Team Fortress 2)

Dave Strider/Karkat Vantas (Homestuck)

Chu Shuzhi/Guo Changcheng (Guardian, 2018)

Oliver Marks/James Farrow (If We Were Villains)

David Starsky/Kenneth "Hutch" Hutchinson (Starsky & Hutch)

Tinn/Gun (My School President)

Loki Odinson/Mobius M. Mobius (Loki)

Jaime Reyes/Bart Allen (DC Comics)

Levi Schmitt/Nico Kim (Grey's Anatomy)

Ren Amamiya or Akira Kurusu/Goro Akechi (Persona 5)

Wallace Price/ Hugo Freeman (Under the Whispering Door)

Daffy Duck/Bugs Bunny (Looney Toons)

Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan (Guardian, 2018)

Isak Valtersen/Even Bech Næsheim (SKAM)

Henry "Monty" Montague/Percy Newton (Montague Siblings)

Nico di Angelo/Will Solace (Camp Half-Blood Chronicles)

Argos/Mr. Plant (The World of Mr. Plant)

Richard St Vier/Alec Campion (Swordspoint Universe)

Klaus Hargreeves/Dave Katz (The Umbrella Academy)

Woody/Buzz Lightyear (Toy Story)

Victor Lawson/Hap (In the Lives of Puppets

Charlie/Babe (Pit Babe The Series)

Fred/Shaggy (Scooby-Doo)

Simon Snow/Tyrannus Basilton "Baz" Grimm-Pitch (Carry On)

Gaius Octavius/Jedediah Smith (Night at the Museum)

Sound/Win (My School President)

Pat/Pran (Bad Buddy)

Mike Wazowski/James "Sulley" P. Sullivan (Monsters, Inc.)

Nicholas “Nick” Bell/ Seth Gray (The Extraordinaries)

Evan 'Buck' Buckley/Edmundo 'Eddie' Diaz (9-1-1)

Sean/White (Not Me: The Series)

Vegas Theerapanyakun/Pete Saengtham (Kinnporsche: The Series)

Runaan/Ethari (The Dragon Prince)

Larry Daley/Ahkmenrah (Night at the Museum)

Tintin/Captain Archibald Haddock (Tintin comics)

Bai Lang/Jin Xun An (My Tooth Your Love)

Napoleon Solo/Illya Kuryakin (The Man from U.N.C.L.E)

Wario/Waluigi (Mario franchise)

Peter Parker/Miguel O'Hará (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse)

Steve Rogers/Anthony "Tony" Stark (Marvel Comics)

Dave Miller/Jack "Old sport" Kennedy (Dayshift at Freddy's)

Boston/Nick (Only Friends)

Kinn Theerapanyakun/Porsche Kittisawasd (Kinnporsche: The Series)

Satoru Gojo/Suguru Geto (Jujutsu Kaisen)

Craig Cuttlefish/Octavio Takowasa (Splatoon)

Tulio/Miguel (The Road to El Dorado)

Sun Wukong/Neptune Vasilias (RWBY)

Zachary Ezra Rawlins/Dorian (The Starless Sea)

Fox Mulder/Alex Krycek (The X-Files)

Thomas/Newt (The Maze Runner)

Fulgrim/Ferrus Manus (Warhammer 40k)

Kim Theerapanyakun/Porchay Kittisawasd (Kinnporsche: The Series)

Alec Lightwood/Magnus Bane (The Mortal Instruments)

Tan/Bun (Manner of Death)

Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi (RWBY)

Rhy Maresh/Alucard Emery (Shades of Magic)

Yashiro Isana/Kuroh Yatogami (K Project)

Jaskier/Geralt of Rivia (The Witcher)

Dustfinger/Mortimer "Mo" Folchart (Inkworld series)

Brandon/Sky (Winx Club)

Phineas Taylor “P. T.” Barnum/Phillip Carlyle (The Greatest Showman)

Alfred Hillinghead/Henry Ashe (Bodies TV Show)

Baal/Inanna (The Wicked + the Divine)

Timothy "Tim" Drake/Bernard Dowd (DC Comics)

Vash the Stampede/Nicholas D. Wolfwood (Trigun Stampede)

Anthony Lockwood/Quill Kipps (Lockwood and Co)

Henry Winter/Francis Abernathy (The Secret History)

Crowley/Aziraphale (Good Omens)

Dainix/Falst (Aurora Comic)

Prince Rupert/Prince Amir (The Two Princes)

Finn/Poe Dameron (Star Wars)

Jean Luc Picard/Q (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Will Stronghold/Warren Peace (Sky High)

Heart/Li Ming (Moonlight Chicken)

Wallace Wells/Todd Ingram (Scott Pilgrim Takes Off)

Sunai/Veyadi Lut (The Archive Undying)

Linus Baker/Arthur Parnassus (The House in the Cerulean Sea)

Aaron Slaughter/Jace Boucher (House of Slaughter)

Hercule Poirot/Captain Arthur Hastings (Hercule Poirot)

Phaya/Tharn (The Sign)

Hercules/Iolaus (Hercules: The Legendary Journeys)

Todd/Black (Not Me: The Series)

Julio "Rictor" Esteban Richter/Shatterstar (Marvel Comics)

Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishu (Word of Honor)

Siffrin/Isabeau (In Stars and time)

Kendall Knight/Logan Mitchell (Big Time Rush TV Show)

Yuichiro Hiyakuya/Mikaela Hyakuya (Owari no Seraph/Seraph of the End)

Palm/Nuengdiao (Never Let Me Go)

Khatha/Dome (Midnight Museum)

Asterix/Obelix (Asterix Comics)

Bowser/Luigi (Mario Franchise)

Lucien "Luc" O'Donnell/Oliver Blackwood (London Calling)

Kazuki Kurusu/Rei Suwa (Buddy Daddies)

Benjamin “Ben” Tennyson/Kevin Ethan Levin (Ben 10: Alien Force)

Lumière/Cogsworth (Beauty and the Beast)

Damian Wayne/Jon Kent (DC Comics)

Spy/Dell Conagher [Engineer] (Team Fortress 2)

Shanks/Buggy (One Piece)

Jesper Fahey/Wylan Van Ecks (Six of Crows)

Harold Finch/John Reese (Person of Interest)

Ulrich Stern/Odd Della Robbia (Code Lyoko)

Vincent Freeman/Jerome Morrow (Gattaca)

Eustass Kid/Killer (One Piece)

Christopher Hitchcock/Jalil Sherman (Everworld)

Frodo Baggins/Samwise Gamgee (Lord of the Rings)

Edgin Darvis/Xenk Yendar (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves)

[badass-queer-couples-battle]

Full list of all guaranteed entries for the sword gays showdown so far!

(aka you don't have to submit them anymore, but propaganda is always appreciated!)

One Piece - Zoro has 13 submissions, Kikunojo has 7, Mihawk has 5. There were several other characters submitted as well, but since my limit is 3 characters per fandom the others will get a bonus poll but won't get into the tournament (sorry Law and Shanks, I still love you).

Fandoms with multiple guaranteed entries, in no particular order:

MDZS/The Untamed - Lan Wangji with 6 submissions, Wei Wuxian with 4

The Dragon Prince - Runaan with 4, General Amaya with 6, Janai with 4

Revolutionary Girl Utena - Utena with 7, Juri with 3

Nimona - Ballister with 9, Ambrosius with 7

Avatar: the last airbender - Zuko with 8, Sokka with 5

Star Wars - Shin Hati with 3, Luke Skywalker with 3 as well

Raya and the last dragon - Raya with 4, Namaari with 3

Black Sails - James Flint with 4, Anne Bonny with 3

The scum villain's self-saving system - Liu Qingge with 3, Luo Binghe with 4

The Locked Tomb - Gideon Nav with 8, Camilla Hect with 3

Willow (TV series) - Jade with 3, Kit with 3 as well

Heaven Official's Blessing/TGCF - Xie Lian with 5, Hua Cheng with 4

The Old Guard - Joe with 4, Nicky with 3

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Leo with 5, Usagi with 3

2. Single characters (with fandoms listed as well)

Izzy Hands (Our flag means death) - 3

Nico di Angelo (Percy Jackson series) - 5

Haruka Tenou AKA Sailor Uranus (Sailor Moon) - 3

Adora/She-Ra (She-Ra and the princesses of power) - 6

Sasha Waybright (Amphibia) - 5

Pearl (Steven Universe) - 6

Xena (Xena: Warrior Princess) - 4

Diana of Themiscyra/Wonder Woman (DC) - 3

Link (The legend of Zelda) - 6

Inigo Montoya (The princess bride) - 4

Seiji Katayama (Fence comic) - 5 [decided to allow this media despite my initial concerns about the author's past works]

Lady Oscar Francois de Jarjayes (The rose of Versaillles) - 3

Di Feisheng (Mysterious Lotus Casebook) - 3

Hikaru Sulu (Star Trek) - 4

Richard St Vier (Swordspoint) - 3

Wade Wilson/Deadpool (Marvel) - 4

Zhou Zishu (Word of Honor/Faraway Wanderers) - 4

Dave Strider (Homestuck) - 4

Magnus Chase (Magnus Chase and the gods of Asgard) - 3

Castiel (Supernatural) - 3

Adolin Kholin (The Stormlight Archives) - 3

Felix Hugo Fraldarius (Fire Emblem: Three Houses) - 3

Arthur Pendragon (Merlin) - 3

Jean-Pierre Polnareff (Jojo's bizzare adventure) - 3

Kurogane (Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle) - 3

Ava Silva (Warrior Nun) - 3

Zagreus (Hades) - 3

Dominique de Sade (The Case Study of Vanitas) - 3

Demoman / Tavish Degroot (Team Fortress 2) - 3

Yasha Nydoorin (Critical Role) - 3

Kaedehara Kazuha (Genshin Impact) - 3

Cassandra (Tangled the Series) - 3

[murphysletsdraw]

Ten-ish people I'd like to know tagged by @rincewindsapprentice

Last song: "At the zoo" by Simon and Garfunkel (on repeat). I love this song, I fell asleep excited last night at the thought of putting it on this morning.

Favorite color: Generally: brown, clothes: dark green, flowers: pink and white...

Last book: I'm currently reading Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb, Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner, the Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

Last movie: Repo Man (1984). It's an almost perfect little movie! Very funny, with a weird detached feel to it,

Last TV show: GBBO and Brass Eye

Sweet/spicy/savory: Sweet and savoury... but I wouldn't like to exclude spicy either tbh :(

Relationship status: "Engaged" (we're probably never going to actually get married)

Last thing I googled: victorian period (I did not realize it started so early!)

Current obsession: my own comic projects

Looking forward to: eating more lamb rogan josh

@tofupixel @whatmarvellousthings @mrrrl @lovelycakeface @caystail @this-is-a-fire-doordoor @witchy-rook @passionpeachy @cara-oswald @silvermagpies @shrimpleasthat @fruityfinch @cheetour

[ladyinbooks]

i love your work so much, and while i wait for updates, i’m curious if you might have fic/book recs? 🥹❤️

Awww, lovely anon thank you! 🤗 RP has (finally) updated, and I am hoping it will be back to writing business as usual now.

In terms of fic recs, sadly I don't have any (I tend to avoid original fic on AO3, as I don't want to accidentally store an idea away that I then think is mine), but if anyone has any recs for my lovely anon, shout out!

For books, I'd wholeheartedly recommend:

Swordspoint (Ellen Kushner) - a beautiful, lyrical, witty, political book, with a M/M main pairing, set in a sort of fantasy 18th century. It's marvellous.

Captive Prince Trilogy (CS Pacat) - M/M fantasy. This trilogy is a little like marmite: you either love it or you hate it. If you haven't already read it, I will say mind the trigger warnings as it does deal with unpleasant themes.

The Song of Achilles (Madeleine Miller) - M/M Greek mythology. I'm sure you've seen this rec'd, as it's one of tumblr's favourite reads. I do love it, and I adore Miller's style of writing, but I am going to add the caveat that I have issues with her Patroclus.

Anything by Terry Pratchett (I'm biased, and I love his books).

The Nightrunner Trilogy (Lynn Flewelling) - M/M fantasty. The first two books are my favourite, and honestly can be read as a stand-alone duology, but the third book was fun too. She has written other books with the same main characters, but honestly I didn't enjoy them as much.

If anyone has any other recs let me know! (I am in desperate need of some new reading material for my holiday.)

[magpiefngrl]

fic bingo #1

First @ficreadingchallenge update! Here's what I've read so far:

Fic written by someone who follows you

Fantastic Flip Fuck with Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy! by @hoko-onchi-writes (drarry, E, 11k)

Absolutely, deliciously, deliriously hot and filthy! It hit all my buttons. Def going back for a reread.

Small fandom (<1k fics)

An Anatomy of the World by yunitsa (Swordspoint, T, 4k)

Perfect in capturing the book's tone and the characters. Felt like a missing scene from the novel.

BIPOC main character

Devoutly to Be Wished by yunitsa (wangxian, M, 3k)

Wei Wuxian's fantasies about Lan Zhan as canon progressed. Cute and lovely with incredible depth and a great exploration of character. Lots of feels and longing, by an author whose works I plan to explore more.

multichapter fic

debt of a knife by iliacquer (wangxian, E, 14k)

Amazing AU and premise. Love it.

short fic (<1k words)

travellers' rest by lazulisong (wangxian, G, ~500 words)

omegaverse, scent marking. Really lovely and heart-warming in such a short space.

Part 2

Part 3

[duckprintspress]

Celebrate Romance Month, and Romance All Year, with 25 Queer Books!

August has been romance month, and we’ve used the time to gather a list of our 25 favorite romantic queer stories! These may not be books you’d literally find shelved in the romance section, but they’re tales, in whatever genre, that feature strong romantic plots or subplots, and that people in the Press felt were appropriate for this list. The stories were suggested by Adrian Harley, Alessa Riel, boneturtle, D. V. Morse, ilgaksu, Nina Waters (unforth), ramblingandpie, Shadaras, Tris Lawrence (tryslora), and an anonymous contributor. Now that August is coming to a close, we wanted to share the list with you, and keep the romance going as the seasons turn and the days pass.

Read on…

25 Queer Books for Romance Month

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

The Magpie Lord by K. J. Charles

Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

After Our Divorce, I Still Wore Your Jacket by Bu Wen San Jiu

You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi

The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal

More Me with You by Alex Bertie

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

Silent Reading by priest

Mrs. Martin’s Incomparable Adventure by Courtney Milan

The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay

The Ruin of Angels by Max Gladstone

Fire Logic by Laurie J. Marks

The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells

The Red Scholar’s Wake by Aliette de Bodard

Mr. Melancholy Wants to Live a Peaceful Life by Cyan Wings

Black or White by Sachimo

Like Real People Do by E. L. Massey

Golden Stage by Cang Wu Bin Bai

Heaven Official’s Blessing by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

Those Years in Quest of Honor Mine by Man Man He Qi Duo

Your Distance by Gong Zi You

Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner

Global University Entrance Examination by Mu Su Li

A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall

What are YOUR favorite queer stories with romantic plots or subplots? Tell us in the comments! We’d love to hear your recs!

Who We Are: Duck Prints Press LLC is an independent publisher based in New York State. We help fancreators publish their original (mostly queer) work! Want to always hear the latest? Sign up for our monthly newsletter!

[ceciliatan]

Are we in a Golden Age of Queer & Trans SF/F?

Hello and welcome to another ctan monthly update! It’s Pride Month, so today let’s talk about queer science fiction and fantasy. First some housekeeping: Mailchimp has been driving me nuts, with the newsletter sometimes displaying so tiny on mobile devices it was illegible. I’m trying on a new template today, with new fonts. Please let me know if this one looks better to you (or worse!) than before so I can keep improving it. Second, my apology this is a bit later than I intended, but I had knee surgery on Wednesday and as you can imagine it’s put a bit of a cramp into my schedule. I’ve discovered I would rather have my knee hurt and my brain work than be “pain free” but feel seasick from narcotics. Apparently opioids are not my friends! Bleah. And now to my slightly linkbait-y topic: are we in a “Golden Age” of queer and trans SF/F? Yes, yes we are, end of essay. Just kidding, of course I’m going to explain WHY my answer is yes. For the SFWA Nebulas Conference this month, I had proposed this question as a panel topic and was highly gratified it got chosen—even better, they let me moderate the panel, and SFWA populated it with a terrific slate that included Jordan Kurella, Charlie Jane Anders, Zabé Ellor, and L.P. Kindred. (I had also proposed “are we in a golden age of Asian SF/F?” which I also believe has a yes answer, but that one didn’t make the slate, so I’m trying to arrange it as a Zoom panel for later this summer for Capricon’s online programming. Stay tuned.) Jordan unfortunately had to miss the Nebs, so the other four of us soldiered on without him. One terrific thing about the slate of panelists is we had basically three generations represented. (If only we’d had a Boomer, we could have had four generations!) We each had different entry points to SF/F. So when I asked “Who was the first character in SF/F you read who you knew was queer?” we had four drastically different answers. Illustrating how far we’ve come: I, the Gen X “elder” on the panel, was the only one whose answer was a villain. Back when, it was a common trope to make a villain “extra evil” by slapping a coating of sexual deviance on them. Baron Harkonnen in DUNE was the first “gay” character I encountered. If only I’d stumbled upon Samuel R. Delany before Frank Herbert, eh? I didn’t get to Delany until I was in college. The first positive depiction of a gay character I could think of I read around 1990, in Ellen Kushner’s lovely book Swordspoint (Amazon, Bookshop), but the gay relationship between Alec and St. Vier is so delicately written there’s a kind of plausible deniability about it. But at least they’re both main characters—heroes, even! That book remains one of my faves to this day. Swordspoint was published in 1987, and right after I read it, another important book was published, Uranian Worlds, a bibliography compiled by Eric Garber and Lyn Paleo. Billed as “A Guide to Alternative Sexuality in Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror,” the book had first been published in 1980, and by 1990 needed a new edition because so many examples had to be added. Uranian Worlds was a complete bibliography of EVERY short story, book, or novella that included EVERY bit of representation of LGBTQ characters in sf/f/h for nearly fifty years… and it was only 280 pages long. Think about that. The editors of Uranian Worlds had scoured literature for every possible inclusion, small presses as well as large ones, queer lit mags as well as Asimov’s, for decades. And what they came up with just barely filled one not-that-big book. Nowadays, we have that much queer sf/f/h being published every year. If that ain’t a Golden Age, what is? The panel also talked about who the first SF/F writers were who we knew were queer or trans: for me it was Samuel R. Delany and Rachel Pollack (Rest in Peace, Rachel!) Now, I know more than I can count just from among my Twitter mutuals—and that’s not even counting the hundred-or-so queer writers I edited at Circlet Press! But speaking of writers being out. We discussed whether an author “owes” it to the audience to come out. Short answer: no. If you missed the discourse a few years back about “the helicopter story,” I won’t recap it here, but suffice to say it was just one high-profile example of an author being attacked online for apparently either being insufficiently “out” or not “visibly” conforming to audience notions of queerness, resulting in the author being treated like some kind of interloper or exploitative outsider…. which they might not have been. At this panel was the first time I felt there was consensus in the room that harm has been been done to queer and trans writers (by members of our own communities!) with the incessant questioning of “authenticity” and the demands on the public baring of identity. We’ve sharpened our knives to attack the systems that oppress us, but we can all too easily turn them on each other if/when we judge someone is “part of the problem.” As LP succinctly put it: we have to allow writers some grace. Zabé made an excellent point: you can’t treat sexual identity marginalizations exactly the same way you treat other marginalizations. Sexuality and gender are fluid, complex, and changing. There’s a huge difference between a white author pretending to be an author of color “for clout,” and an author who is in the closet or in transition writing about queer characters as a way to figure out their own sexuality or explore their identity. Charlie Jane mentioned that she and I know multiple writers who started out looking like “straight women getting off on writing about gay men” who are living as gay men now. Give people grace. Not everyone has the same safety, opportunity, or self-awareness to be “out.” In the late 80s and early 1990s, right after Swordspoint we had a small spate of queer flowering in SF/F, with Melissa Scott and Tanya Huff and Mercedes Lackey (Vanyel is the ultimate “bury your gays” trope, though…!) and others. Book publishing in the 1990s also went through a pro-diversity spasm, self-castigating about being too white, and SF/F being too male-dominated, as well. There was much talk about trying to diversify the writers being seen in anthologies, in best-of lists, and on award nomination slates. But the writers couldn’t just appear out of thin air. Not then. But they can now. We literally conjure them out of the aether—the Internet. What’s different now that has led to such increased numbers of queer and trans writers, but also the vastly increased representation of authors of color? It’s the Internet. The same Internet that is problematic as described above, nonetheless allows marginalized writers a visibility we wouldn’t have otherwise. It means that, for example, Hugo awards nominators can discover writers somewhere other than on a bookstore retail shelf. Editors can find and “meet” writers somewhere other than within New York publishing’s white-dominated cocktail circuit. This time when 21st century diversity initiatives have been launched, thanks to the power of the Internet, the writers and editors who emerged have been able to network and build a privilege structure of our own. Some of that happens with the help of SFWA, with things like the AAPI or BIPOC meetups at the Nebulas, and sometimes it happens with us building our own email lists, Discords, online magazines, anthologies, you name it. Instead of backsliding when the industry loses interest in the latest diversity “fad”, we’ve been able to keep expanding the opportunities for each other, to keep pulling each other up the ladder. It’s still not as strong or wide-reaching as some “old boy networks” out there, but SFWA itself is a far more diverse and welcoming place than it was in the 20th century, and the Nebulas conference really demonstrated that. There was much more said on the panel, of course, including what the four of us would consider a Platinum Age to be. (Btw, if you register as a Nebulas online attendee, btw, you can see the archived videos of all the panels from this year’s conference, including ours, and also participate in SFWA online programming all year round.) One final thought: it’s worth remembering that not only is this proliferation of queer and trans voices in the sf/f genres a massive improvement over 35, 25, or even 15 years ago, it’s also happening at the same time as a ton of book banning and book burning all across the USA. In fact, I believe book banning is so hot right now BECAUSE there are so many books coming out that don’t conform to the heterosexual conservative norms. SF/F has always been a place to dream of being different, and the genre is finally realizing its subversive potential. In the 1980s and ’90s we used to march through the streets chanting “We’re here, we’re queer, get used to it.” It feels to me like within the SF/F world, people finally have. DGC Vol 4 is live! Another month, another new edition! Volume 4 (of 13) is now live in Kindle Unlimited. In book 4, Moondog 3 hits the road for a major cross country tour and Daron must contend with a homophobic opening act, a budding friendship/attraction with a rock journalist, and the inexorable magnetism of Ziggy pulling him into his orbit every night on stage. READ IT NOW IN KU: https://amzn.to/3VuJvxN AND DGC VOL 1 is now WIDE! Book one is now on sale at various other outlets besides Amazon, although check out the “A+ content” I’ve added to the Amazon page, snazzy, no? Find vol one on Bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble paperback, Barnes & Noble Nook, and request the ebook to libraries through Overdrive. OR ADD IT TO YOUR GOODREADS TBR: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9447189-daron-s-guitar-chronicles WIP Report I’m excited to report that one of the short stories I wrote while trying to get my brain back in gear after I had COVID in September has sold to Julia Rios for Worlds of Possibility! The title is “This Goodly Frame, The Earth,” which is a Shakespeare quote because I failed to think of anything else and Shakespeare is a good plan B. It’s about intergenerational diaspora trauma among the women of a filipina-american family, eldest daughter syndrome, and what happens when a ship full of humans that can bend space and time returns to an Earth in climate crisis far sooner than expected. It’s kind of hopepunk, I guess? Meanwhile, Windmark, a.k.a. “the unexpected dragon book,” has passed 50,000 words, but I feel like I’ve barely gotten out of act one? But I’m notorious for misjudging how far into a book I actually am. Until I’m actually done I really can’t tell you where the act breaks or beats are. I just know when it is done, then it will be obvious. A wisecracking nonbinary power bottom just showed up to boss around the hero (from the bottom, of course) and is in danger of taking over the story. I think I’m having the problem that both my main characters are suppressing their emotions so much because of the past trauma that made them hate each other, that they are coming across kind of flat and all the secondary characters seem much more colorful and interesting! Clearly something has to crack soon… I’m also having the problem that I’ve set up a really misogynistic culture, which means our heroine and all the female characters are very much living under a constant threat of sexual violence. I know we’re in the post-Game of Thrones era, which was rapey as all get out, but I really did not set out to write what is essentially female body horror with this book. I sidestepped the issue in The Prince’s Boy by having no female characters… except in the end there is the body horror once the villain comes into physical contact with our heroes. I have to figure out where this one is going to land and how exactly my heroine is going to come into her power. It’s funny, I had half convinced myself to just write another all-male cast book… and then this female-bodied character put her foot down and demanded to be written. So I just have to figure out how to do her justice. AND NOW PHOTOS FROM THE NEBULAS CONFERENCE Met Nghi Vo in real life for the first time! Many Circlet Press alums were at the Nebs (and Moniquill won one!) Caught up with David D. Levine (another Circlet alum), here with Vela Roth and Amy Young-Leith (and me)  With Kate Pennington. Who knows a lot about whales!  And SB Divya. And I have way more photos than this but this is enough picspam, don'tcha think? Tour Dates & Upcoming Appearances 2024: - July 11-14: Readercon, Boston area - August 7-11: SABR National Convention, Minneapolis - October 16-20: World Fantasy Con, Niagara Falls 2025: - January 17-20: Arisia, Cambridge, MA (new hotel: Hyatt Cambridge) - March 12-15: ICFA, Orlando, FL - August 13-17: Worldcon in Seattle, WA Upcoming Cons Readercon last year was a really great time, with a very good outdoor hangout area that turned into a nonstop literary green room party. I just got my schedule and it looks like tremendous fun. July 11-13 in Quincy, Massachusetts (just a few miles south of Boston proper). My reading will be on Thursday night. Should I read from the unexpected dragon book? Or the hopepunk story? Or something smuttier? Hmmm......  Parting Thoughts Okay, no book recs this time, but I will leave you with a link to one recipe, because it is strawberry season here in New England, and that means it is strawberry PIE season, as well. It’s also the season when fresh basil starts showing up in the farmer’s market. Some years ago I took the idea for a dessert we often see: a sort of dessert salad of strawberries served cut up with chopped basil, with a dressing made of balsamic vinegar and maple syrup, but I made it a pie instead. Find the whole recipe at my blog: https://blog.ceciliatan.com/archives/2412 By next month maybe I’ll have read some of the books in my pile and will have some recommendations… I have to finish the proofs and edits on Daron’s books 11, 12, and 13 first, though! Until then! -ctan Read the full article

[longhairedboybracket]

Long Haired Boy Bracket All Contestants

The polls will start this tuesday the 2nd

Bracket A

1 - Ling Yao Fullmetal Alchemist vs Will Turner Pirates of the Caribbean

2 - Chigiri Hyoma Blue Lock vs Kasanoda Ritsu OHSHC

3 - Squidward Tentacles Sponge Bob Square Pants vs Link Legend of Zelda

4 - Heimdall Mcu vs Enoch Drebber Ace Attorney

5 - Izuru Kamukura Danganronpa vs Silver Pokémon

6 - Wei Wuxian Mo Dao Zu Shi vs Hua Cheng Heaven's Official Blessing

7 - Wataru Hibiki Ensemble Stars vs Akoya Gero Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-Bu Love

8 - Su Honkai Impact 3rd vs Reyson Fire Emblem

9 - Vanitas Vanitas no Carte vs Athos 3 musketeers

10 - Destruction The Sandman vs Eliot Stardew Valley

11 - Neightan Rot Monster High vs Haruka Hashida Blue Period

12 - Kian Stone Just Roll With It, Show vs Aion Show By Rock

13 - Shulk Xenoblade vs Antonio Identity V

14 - Beelzebub Granblue Fantasy vs Kiun Noragami

15 - Alex Harvey-Iniguez Magical Warrior Diamond Heart vs Fabian Blush Blush

16 - Lord Cedric W.I.T.C.H vs Eithan Aurelius Cradle Series

Bracket B

1 - Korekiyo Shinguji Danganronpa vs Hong Lu Limbus Company

2 - Alucard Castlevania vs Finn The Human Adventure Time

3 - Sakurayashiki Kaoru "Cherry" Sk8 Infinity vs Rosado Fire Emblem

4 - Geralt Of Rivia The Witcher vs Elrond Lord Of The Rings

5 - Inigo Montoya The Princess Bride vs Fire Lord Zuko Avatar The Last Airbender/Avatar The Legend Of Korra

6 - Natural Harmonia Gropius "N" Pokémon vs Loki Mcu

7 - Samsom The Old Testament vs Aramis 3 musketeers

8 - Interdimensional Prince Monster Prom vs Furanui Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-Bu Happy Kiss

9 - Ichirota Kazemaru Inazuma Eleven vs Lucas Rune Factory 5

10 - Helia Winx Club vs Gunpowder Tim The Mechanisms

11 - Shinjiro Nozomi Entropic Float vs Dia Akedia Court of Darkness

12 - Jareth The Goblin King Labyrinth vs Br'aad Vengolor Just Roll With It

13 - Little Creek Spirit vs Bigby Wolf Fables

14 - Terry Bogard Fatal Fury vs Prince Phobos W.I.T.C.H

15 - Dyuradyura Show By Rock vs Noah Kawaii Mansion

16 - Howell Wizard Bee and Puppycat vs Zero Megaman

Bracket C

1 - Inuyasha Inuyasha vs Lucius Fire Emblem

2 - Legolas Lord of the Rings vs Greg Universe Steven Universe

3 - Melli Pokémon vs Shatterstar Marvel

4 - Klavier Gavin Ace Attorney vs Lan Wangji Mo Dao Zu Shi

5 - Chewbacca Star Wars vs Cousin it The Addams Family

6 - Captain Hook Peter Pan vs Edward Elric Fullmetal Alchemist

7 - Tarzan Tarzan vs Razor Genshin Impact

8 - Gerard Keay The Magnus Archives vs Deidara Naruto

9 - Yan Qing Fate Grand Order vs Porthos 3 musketeers

10 - Yue Cardcaptor Sakura vs Headmaster Precure

11 - Kurama Yu Yu Hakusho vs Gillion Tidestrider Just Roll With It

12 - Sitka Brother Bear vs Lord Cob Tales Of Earthsea

13 - Kidou Yuuto Inazuma Eleven Go vs Takumi Ichinose Nana

14 - Peter Cook W.I.T.C.H vs Alec Swordspoint

15 - Peking Duck Food Fantasy vs Karurusu Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-Bu Happy Kiss

16 - Blue Knight Tokyo Mew Mew vs Yakari Yakari

Bracket D

1 - Asakura Hao Shaman King vs Soren Fire Emblem

2 - Sesshomaru Inuyasha vs Christopher Yugioh Zexal

3 - Lord Farquaad Shrek vs Katsura Kotaro Gintama

4 - Jesus The Bible vs Sephiroth Final Fantasy VII

5 - Aoba Seragaki Dramatical Murder vs Basil Hawkins One Piece

6 - Kamui Gakupo Vocaloid vs Nahyuta Sahdmadhi Ace Attorney

7 - Jon Snow Game of Thrones vs Grusha Pokémon

8 - Terumi Furo "Aphorodi" Inazuma Eleven vs Joseph Identity V

9 - Nahobino Shin Megami Tensei vs Kite Hunter x Hunter

10 - Ogron Winx Club vs Niklaus Just Roll With It

11 - D'artagnian 3 musketeers vs Monmon Show by Rock

12 - Xie Lian Heaven's Official Blessing vs Olivier Vanitas no Carte

13 - Xiao Yin Dislyte vs Thane Bauer Watashi no Oshi Wa Akuyaku Reijou

14 - Toki Wartooth Metalocalypse vs Madmartigan Willow

15 - DJ Grooves A Hat In Time vs Jae-ha Akatsuki no Yona

16 - Nezumi No.6 vs Ashe Bradley Witch's Heart

[daughterofhecata]

8, 17, 27, 29 & 50 for the book worm asks? 📖💕

[book asks]

8. Favorite queer fiction book(s).

I will keep yelling about this until the day I die, but Ellen Kushner's Swordspoint. I can't even begin to explain how much love I have in my heart for Alec and Richard. A favourite of what I read this year was Philippe Besson's Un Homme Accidentel/Venice Beach, even if the "crime" made me want to shake someone.

17. Favorite finished book series.

Cornelia Funke's Tintenwelt/Inkworld for sure <3 She's just perfect <3

27. What was the first book you remember reading as a kid?

I have a very clear memory of reading something called Kira und das Geisterpferd or something like that in second or third grade, but that was obviously not the first thing I read. Probably some Findus & Petterson or something?

29. How many books do you have on your 'to-be-read' list?

Right now it's a bit over 100 books, but that list obviously does not include everything I kinda-sorta mean to read, nor do I follow it stringently. There's also stuff on it I've been meaning to reread for a while, as well as some titles I came across at some point that sounded interesting but that are just kind of stuck on there so I don't forget what they were called.

50. What kind of book have you never read but always hope to find at some point in the future?

Already answered, but in the same way of "fanfiction style romance" - I think I'd really like either some soft gay crime novel romance akin to Cotta/Goodween fic or the kind of enemies to lovers you get in Peter/Skinny fic, which would probably be really hard to pull off in original writing because there kind of needs to be this backlog of years and years of enemy build up you can only do over multiple books in a series but that just doesn't hit the same way if you try to sum it up in a single book and turn it into romance.

[the-bi-library]

I���d love if you could make a list of books with knights and/or princes!!! Thanks for your consideration :’)

Unfortunately I do not know of many books with bi princes and/or knights but here are the ones I do know of:

💕Of Knights and Books and Falling In Love by Rita A. Rubin 💕So This Is Ever After by F.T. Lukens (has a bi king) 💕A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland 💕To Beg or Not to Beg by Cat Giraldo 💕Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner 💕The Stone Prince by Fiona Patton

I hope others who know more books like these would share them :)

[shrikeseams]

I just love Swordspoint so much.

[mlmshipbracket]

ROUND 1: POLL #31

Alec x Richard art by poontanam-blog on Tumblr

ROUND 1 POLLS [HERE]

PROPAGANDA BELOW

Richard St. Vier/Alec Campion:

A lone skilled swordfighter and the depressed provocative scholar with not an ounce of self-preservation 

Palm/Nuengdiao:

they're two incredibly lonely teenagers, one who is an heir to a big company and watched his father get murdered on his birthday (Nueng) and one who is uprooted by his absent father to come be the guy's bodyguard (Palm). They're both incredibly traumatized 18 year olds who are like so in love with each other it makes them crazy.

like this video shows it well imo