In an effort to create a queernorm fantasy setting, one of the things I found myself doing was experimenting with ways to dislodge reproduction from gender and sexuality. Why? Because, collectively, we struggle with the idea of “non-reproductive” coupling. This manifests in different measures with childless couples and same-sex couples. While the former has their… Continue reading Creating a Queernorm Fantasy Setting: Disabling the Link Between Reproduction and Sexuality
Something that came to me, in a study of biology, was how much more interesting a fantasy setting would be if some of the sapient peoples in the world I was creating didn’t adhere to the typical reproductive binary. From this thought process came how I ended up writing hermaphroditic goblins and a whole planet… Continue reading Creating a Queernorm Fantasy Setting: Genetic Restructuring
Hot take.I don’t like fanfiction AUs.Now what am I talking about exactly?In the parlance of the fanfiction community, “AU” means “Alternate Universe.” It is a work in which the characters of the original IP are placed into a completely new setting unlike their original one. Not to be confused with something like a crossover or… Continue reading I Hate Alternative Universe Fanfiction
A large chunk of my book marketing information, lately, comes in the form of one of the big social media sites. BookTok, BookStagram, BookTube here and there. So it’s hard for me to gauge whether this problem persists in other places where books are talked about. I imagine it does, as I see its ramifications… Continue reading Why Do We Actually Need Romantasy?
I’ll make two strong statements regarding how we label our favorite books: 1. Genres are made up marketing terms. 2. Genres are an integral element in how we navigate the the reading and literary landscape. The nature of language where all things are made up, in the end, makes both these things true and addressable… Continue reading Dune is a Science Fiction Novel and You’re NOT ALLOWED to Fight About It
Japanese visual novels are set in Japan with Japanese characters...because they're made by Japanese studios in Japan for Japanese people.
Oh, Ashe, so you've got something poignant and insightful to say about the human condition and how the footprint of an inter-social ... No. I just finished Mass Effect.
And it's really a very fascinating thing, isn't it? That even in settings that present us with a sort of infinite biological possibility, we still hinge on human-centric interactions in regards to gender and sexuality, particularly ones with heteronormative bents.
On Twitter and in casual conversation I have described my gender as the following: crab-person, one of the creatures from “Behemoth's World” by 70's sci-fi painter Richard Clifton-Day, a bird demon with a funny hat, the Pokemon Gengar, and “a lady, I guess, but...you know...not on purpose.” The non-binary experience is, by its nature, weird… Continue reading My Gender is Crab: How Fantasy and Sci-fi Helped Shaped My Non-Binary Identity
Pixels and Pins Studio 