#jainan and kiem

[vkelleyart]

“Just because it’s not important doesn’t mean it’s not important to someone.” - Winter’s Orbit by @avoliot / Everina Maxwell

What a treat to have another excuse to draw Kiem and Jainan! This piece was commissioned by Sanctum Flames Candles for their upcoming Winter's Orbit scented candle, which I have been told smells DELICIOUS. This moment after the flybug crash was especially lovely to draw, as the scene grants Jainan a bit of insight into Kiem's generous spirit and makes Jainan fall that much more in love with him. * swoon *

I should have details soon on how to get your own limited edition candle and print! In the meantime, Happy Spring to all!

[artbyflor]

old drawing of Jainan and Kiem from Winter's Orbit, if you haven't read it i highly recommend it😭🙏🏼

[queer-book-character-tournament]

Character, book, and author names under the cut

Julian St Albans/Alexander Benedict- The Courtship of Julian St Albans by Amy Crook

Mary Frankenstien/Maisie- Our Hideous Progeny by C.E. McGill  

Kiem Tegnar/Jainan nav Adessari- Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell

Alec Lightwood/Magnus Bane- The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

[oblivionsdream]

I am super excited to share my redesigned covers of both Winter’s Orbit and Ocean’s Echo by Everina Maxwell!

These are both going to be available in @//dazzlingbookishshop on Insta! 😉

[suni2flower]

Read Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell and really enjoyed it :D

Wanted to draw Kiem and Jainan ✨🫶

———————

“You’ll be the best,” he said.

“You don’t know that,” Jainan said.

His eyes reflected the light from the hall; behind him, beyond the void, the stars burned in enduring points; far beyond them, a telescope could have seen the maelstrom of the link, and a million more stars beyond that; and this tiny station spinning around a tiny jeweled planet like the fulcrum of the universe.

“I do,” Kiem said. “You’ll see.”

———————

[enlightningbugs]

figuring out a bit of my personal stylization for the cast of the book Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell

[skygemspeaks]

Bel: I'm a raider. I come from a family of criminals. I used you in order to escape my life of crime

Kiem: Okay yeah, whatever, that's not important right now. Can you help me save my husband?

Bel: I'm literally being blackmailed by someone who's threatening to reveal my dark past to the media in order to ruin your reputation!

Kiem: Oh my god stop being so dramatic, it's fine. I know some journalists who can help make some shit up for us. That's for later though. First we gotta go save my husband before the military starts torturing him.

[freakshowcowboy]

finished winter's orbit

[indelibleme]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Winter's Orbit - Everina Maxwell Rating: Not Rated Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Jainan nav Adessari/Kiem Tegnar Summary: In which Kiem simply cannot bring himself to leave.

...

(excerpt from fic)

Kiem’s eyes widened, “Jainan! Was that sarcasm?” and then, “Wait I didn’t mean it that way. I’m not doubting your ability to look after yourself. I know you’re strong, extremely sexily so if I must add, and rather self-reliant. You’re also—”

But by then Jainan had cut him off with a firm kiss and when Jainan kissed, Kiem’s brain pretty much short circuited. Every single time.

[wolfwind3etc]

I was seriously vibrating as Jainan went through the financial data and built up the situation piece by piece. Loved the buildup of tension there. And the "please, please don't tell Kiem" to "I have to tell Kiem" to "what, Kiem isn't just going to throw me to the wolves?" progression got me in the feels.

(also, Kiem, I do appreciate all your attempts to respect boundaries - seriously, you are wonderful - but I cannot wait until you realize that Jainan just needs someone to hold him for like, an hour. Just so he can relax a bit and not feel so completely alone.)

[queer-book-character-tournament]

Characters, book, and author names under the cut

Val Palafox/Cade McKenna - Venom and Vow by Anna-Marie & Elliott McLemore

Alex Price/Eli Rodriguez - Like Real People Do by E.L. Massey

Kiem Tegnar/Jainan nav Adessari - Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell

Viola Carroll/Justin de Vere - A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall

[queereads-bracket]

Queer Adult SFF Books Bracket: Round 1

Book summaries and submitted endorsements below:

The Last Binding trilogy (A Marvellous Light, A Restless Truth, A Power Unbound) by Freya Marske

Endorsement from submitter #1: "A trilogy of books set in a magical Edwardian England, the Last Binding series focuses on three queer couples who come together in order to solve a conspiracy threatening all magic. It’s a masterful blending of fantasy, historical fiction, and romance, with a splash of mystery and Wodehousian romp. Expect magical manor house parties with beautiful wallpaper, as well as explorations of power, trust, and what we owe the land. The prose is absolutely gorgeous and evocative. The characters and their emotional arcs form the beating heart of the story, intertwined with beautifully crafted romance. The worldbuilding feels organic and deeply rooted within this hidden magical society. These books are thoughtful, tender, scorching, and fun all at once."

Endorsement from submitter #2: "Utterly fantastic historical fantasy. Each book focuses on a subset of a larger character set. There is an overarching high stake magical plot, as well as different queer romances explored in each individual book."

Robin Blyth has more than enough bother in his life. He’s struggling to be a good older brother, a responsible employer, and the harried baronet of a seat gutted by his late parents’ excesses. When an administrative mistake sees him named the civil service liaison to a hidden magical society, he discovers what’s been operating beneath the unextraordinary reality he’s always known.

Now Robin must contend with the beauty and danger of magic, an excruciating deadly curse, and the alarming visions of the future that come with it—not to mention Edwin Courcey, his cold and prickly counterpart in the magical bureaucracy, who clearly wishes Robin were anyone and anywhere else.

Robin’s predecessor has disappeared, and the mystery of what happened to him reveals unsettling truths about the very oldest stories they’ve been told about the land they live on and what binds it. Thrown together and facing unexpected dangers, Robin and Edwin discover a plot that threatens every magician in the British Isles—and a secret that more than one person has already died to keep.

Fantasy, historical fiction, romance, magic, Edwardian, series, adult

Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell

Endorsement from submitter: "Gay princes in space"

While the Iskat Empire has long dominated the system through treaties and political alliances, several planets, including Thea, have begun to chafe under Iskat's rule. When tragedy befalls Imperial Prince Taam, his Thean widower, Jainan, is rushed into an arranged marriage with Taam's cousin, the disreputable Kiem, in a bid to keep the rising hostilities between the two worlds under control.

But when it comes to light that Prince Taam's death may not have been an accident, and that Jainan himself may be a suspect, the unlikely pair must overcome their misgivings and learn to trust one another as they navigate the perils of the Iskat court, try to solve a murder, and prevent an interplanetary war... all while dealing with their growing feelings for each other.

Science fiction, romance, arranged marriage, politics, mystery, adult

[ravenqueensspecialboi]

Update on my board for @batmanisagatewaydrug's Book Bingo for 2025!

No bingo yet, but I’ve been able to cross off some squares!

Graphic novel, comic book, or manga: Real Hero Shit by Kendra Wells. The Crown Prince of a fantasy kingdom decides to join a group of adventurers to cure his boredom.

Originally I was going to do a Saga reread, but my best friend suggested something new and I decided to go for it! It’s a quick read and a lot of fun, though the pacing is a bit weird at times. Hopefully there’s a continuation of it in the future!

Published in the aughts: Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett (published 2003). The 31st Discworld book, a young woman disguises herself as a man in order to join the army of Borogravia and find her missing brother.

The first time I read Monstrous Regiment was in 2014 as a part of my “bet” with my local library that I couldn’t read 24 books in two weeks. I won, but at the cost of a lot of small details going over my head. Rereading this 11 years later was an absolute blast and jumped Monstrous Regiment up into my top 5 Discworld books.

Bookseller or Librarian Rec: Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell. In order to secure the continuation of a longstanding treaty, Prince Kiem of the Iskat Empire is ordered to marry Count Jainan of Thea, the widower of Kiem's recently deceased cousin. The two discover a conspiracy while investigating the possible murder of Kiem's cousin that threatens the treaty.

A recommendation from my local bookstore, Winter's Orbit is a fun space opera that was published back in 2021. It took a bit for me to really get into it, there's a lot of detail about gender expression upfront that, while interesting, really detracts from the story, but once we got into the political intrigue I was hooked.

Read a Zine, Make a Zine: Trans(in)formation by Kelly Shortandqueer (Found on the Queer Zine Archive here), Tetsu & Koushi by Finn ravenqueensspecialboi (that's me!)

Trans(in)formation was first published in 2004 to be used in a workshop at the Madison Zine fest as a resource on genderqueer and transgender issues. It was a fascinating look at the kind of information that was available back in 2004 and what terminology was being used to define transness, which is noted in a definitions section at the front of the zine. It also had excerpts from other zines and contact information at the back, making for a very interesting time capsule.

For making my own zine, I decided to make a little zine about my cats, Tetsu and Koushi! It was pretty quick to make and it was fun to doodle my kiddos, even if (true to form), Tetsu yelled at me from the door to my office the whole time I was making it. I've included pictures of my beasts at the end for fun.

[andypantsx3]

While we're on the topic of book recommendations, if I remember correctly, it was on your blog that I heard about a sci-fi book in which the main character is a royal but really far down the line, and his respected cousin has died in an accident, so now the empress is telling him he has to enter an agreement marriage with the fiancé of that cousin, in an already politically avalanched empire; i tried finding that book on here again but to no avail, and I can't even remember the author's name (if I am mistaken feel free to ignore!)

YES YES YOU ARE CORRECT!!!!!! It's Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell, my fave gay romance in space!!

Not to waffle on once again but it's such a master class in writing interpersonal relationships. Watching Kiem (the prince) and Jainan (his cousin's widower who he must marry) learn one another was so satisfying, but even better than that was the way learning one another helped them learn themselves. I will not give the ending away but they both have to take up the trait that they respect most in the other person (and also believe to be lacking in themselves) in order to try and overcome the forces working against them. And it was so eye opening to me, like, the way your love for another person could also be personally aspirational. :')

I hope if you read it you enjoy it even a fraction as much as I did!! I love that novel a lot.

[prismantis]

sketch of kiem and jainan from winter’s orbit by everina maxwell. these gay space royals have my heart and soul

[avoliot]

Because everyone's asleep and nobody can stop me: Jainan doesn't have social media and doesn't want to. Kiem does but is no longer allowed to run his own official accounts after the 'it was just a framing mistake and anyway I had a towel sort of on' incident.