‘Tis the season to celebrate friendship and community through the exchange of gifts, and we want you to participate in this year’s Roar Cat Reads Secret Santa gift exchange!
The Setup
RSVP by November 20th to roarcatreads@gmail.com to let us know you are interested in participating. Please include:
(3) gift ideas that you would like to receive. Remember, the more specific you are, the easier it is for someone to buy you a gift!
Consent to share your email address (for online gift cards) or mailing address (for physical items).
On November 21st, you will be given the name of another Secret Santa participant and their wish list.
The Budget
Gifts should be no more than $25.
The Reveal
Join our Discord community to share pictures of your gift and find out who your Secret Santa was!
We hope you’ll join us for a holiday of nerdy gifts and the opportunity to get to know each other a little better!
Starling’s debut is a masterpiece of dread trapped in a state of the art diving suit…that the diver doesn’t control. Gyre’s entire relationship with Em is through the suit and as the plot (and Gyre’s mind) unravels, the reader is along for a truly terrifying ride.
I’m not big into the whole dark academia genre, but add in a gruesome murder, a school full of suspects, and a rocky sister relationship, and you have me. Plus I’ve been a massive fan of Gailey’s since River of Teeth, and everything she writes is fabulous and queer.
Based on the podcast by the same name! A presumed dead wife, a serial killer, and thousands of miles of road in a big rig. Fink, of Nightvale fame, crafts a tightly wound story, one that coats the reader in terror while shining a light of hope and love for them to follow through to the end.
Jake has a lot going on. He’s closeted and stressed about it. Oh, and he can see ghosts. All the time. And when the ghost of a white boy who committed a school shooting at a nearby high school starts haunting Jake, he’s determined to get rid of the ghost and fix his life. Problem is, Sawyer, the ghost, wants to possess Jake’s body.
I tore through this. It’s pulpy, dramatic, and horrifying. Oliver has everything he ever wanted – plush life, handsome husband, and he’s finally sober. But whatever drives him to cheat not only has consequences in his relationship, but his entire life. After he’s nearly murdered by his hookup, Oliver is determined to erase all evidence of his discretion, but someone else knows his secret and is turning his life upside down.
Halli Starling (she/her) writes fantasy worlds, vampires, and romance, focusing on stories with deep emotional investment. And the occasional bloody bit of violence.
Rachel was unable to write a review of this week’s Sports Ball Fantasy Football escapades, so we outsourced the blog to our league competitors! First up, a Bird’s Eye View of the League followed by an insider’s look at a Bearded Tale of Woe…
SPORTS BALL WEEK 7 REVIEW – BLOG THE BLOG-OFF!
Hail and well met, Sports Ballers! This week is something beautiful and different, for we have been abandoned by our Sea Cow overlords. Now the Eurasian Collared Doves rule this roost! Spread your wings, Sports Ballers, and feel the emancipatory breeze tickling your finger-feathers!
Look, let’s not pretend that Doves know anything about football. Can we name three members of our team, if pressed? No. Are we, gentle Sports Ballers, the noblest of birds? HEAR OUR BELLOWING AFFIRMATIVE COO.
Terms thus established, this analysis will be unburdened by “facts,” but heavy with puff-breasted honour.
Last Week’s Games
Team Sorto Vs. Beards ‘R Us
IS THIS WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO HAVE HOPE. Probably the words of the week, nay, the league. Pride was on the line in this matchup, and in the end, Sorto caught that ride with a capital P!
Let’s look at the numbers…
Beards exceeded their projected score, but Sorto did not. Mike Evans – seems good; Patriots D/ST – no problem here; Ryan Tannehill – exactly as advertised. What’s to complain about, Beards?
On the Team Sorto side, Alvin Kamara is the arch-traitor and his betrayal of the Doves will never be forgiven. His name has been stricken from all records in our nests.
Battling Finger Puppets Vs. the replacements (sic)
Puppets and the replacements (sic) are gracious, good sportsfolk, and exchanged polite words in the chat. I guess that’s fine? But it’s easy to be nice when you don’t have to spend your life pecking for crumbs in the shadow of power lines.
Let’s look at the numbers.
This was a heavy Bye week for the Puppets. That explains why Mike Davis was on the lineup, I think, because he seems to be bad. Do better, Mike, and you might earn your share of the little buttons or whatever puppets eat.
OK so I looked at the replacements’ (sic) lineup and had to do a double take because I thought they literally had a player named “Nice Folk??!” But actually his name is just Nick. So that’s a shame.
Puppets exceeded projections, and replacements (sic) DE-ceeded. This is how wins are born.
Fire Pandas Vs. Bad News Bears
At last we have come to the great battle of our age. In this flame of conflict the heart and essence of BEAR was illuminated… and it was Bad News.
What is probably the most interesting characteristic of our league is that there are many teams whose names feature animals, and that these teams are in competition. Which animal is best? Sports Ball will tell us.
Let’s look at the numbers!
The Fire Pandas blazed into second place in this match I think probably because of the abysmal Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes was projected to score many points, but instead he scored few.
Meanwhile – what did Chicago do to the Buccaneers?! What booty is buried beneath those windy streets?! I guess the thing about the Bears is that all of their players are good and score points. Except for Harrison Butker.
Purple Moose Vs. Team Real Slim Brady
Purple Moose is an animal team, and as such is valourous, but Team Real Slim Brady is very good at fantasy football. Sadly the Moose failed to land a solid antler-blow, and we’re witnessing Brady, like Bears, dominate the league.
Let’s look at the numbers?
The standout Purple Moose is clearly Joe Burrow. His name is melancholic, since no Moose could fit in a burrow, but he plays football well. Let none say otherwise.
Despite mediocre performances from McManus, Fant, Hubbard and Gordon III, Real Slim Brady achieved success by way of their mighty wide receivers. If only there was a way to know for the draft which players are actually better than others, and which would synergize well together on one’s team. If only!
Was this a Bye-week for everyone? Could this have been planned? Is this something that everyone should know?
Eurasia Collared Doves Vs. Super Seacows
When the dust settled on this game we knew, finally, which animal was the fourth-best animal in the league based on information to date. This is SCIENCE, and no one can argue with SCIENCE. The Doves may not know anything about football, but we do have claws and wings and sharp deadly beaks. The Seacows have none of those things, and in this matchup we really saw what a difference that can make.
Let’s! Look! At! The! Numbers!
Darren Waller just didn’t show up to play, but we are very proud of everyone else on the team. Except for Jason Myers. We are particularly proud of Gesicki, who played better on the bench than ever before, and of Younghoe Koo, who for some reason wasn’t on the starting lineup what the heck what were we thinking.
We have nothing but scorn for the pitiful exertions of the Seacows, who cannot fly and live their lives in sad fluid squalor. Fie on your Tom Brady, Seacows, he cannot save you.
I think if we’re being honest the numbers might have been different if it weren’t a Bye week but we AREN’T being honest. We’re being VICTORIOUS.
Standings After Week 7
Basically the plan for the Doves is to get into the playoffs and sneak in a win or two. Seems likely!
The Chart (of Lies)
What is a Chart? Why do we grant it power over our lives? If we define ourselves in opposition to the Chart, are we not merely its thralls?
I say we kill the Chart and take its hoarded fruit and nuts! Let us gorge ourselves and regurgitate this bounty into the throats of our hatchlings, and then COO OUR EXULTATIONS TO THE UNCARING SKY.
Preview of this Week’s Games
the replacements Vs. Eurasia Collared Doves
This is looking bad so I really better get my roster set up.
Bad News Bears Vs. Purple Moose
The Moose get another shot at a top team. Will they get their noses out of the bog or will the Bears kill them and eat them?
Super Seacows Vs. Fire Pandas
Love! Danger! Football! It’s what we live for, gentle Sports Ballers!
Beards R’ Us Vs. Battling Finger Puppets
This could be a close one. Will the Beards make their opponent really itchy, or will the Puppets have human hair as their new stuffing?!
Team Real Slim Brady Vs. Team Sorto
These teams are dark mirrors of one another. May they stare into each other’s snarling visage with courage, for whomever flinches shall be lost.
Week 7 According to Beards R’ Us
So, the first thing the beards had to do this week was prepare for the Thursday night game between the Browns and the Broncos. We had two luscious beards in this game – perhaps top beard on our team (and bottom scorer) O’Dell Beckham Jr and his teammate Jarvis Landry. I was busy at work and didn’t look at the injury report until the game was almost starting.
I turned on the broadcast and the color commentator was talking about Landry, Beckham, and the injury report. What!? Landry has been on IR for weeks, I thought he was out!!! I quickly pull over, open the app, and go to put Landry in for OBJ. I select OBJ in my lineup, scroll down to put Landry in and –already he is greyed out.
I literally missed my opportunity to swap the players by like a second or two.
Shoot.
Next, Sunday night I had to choose my flex spot, either play Brendan Aiyuk, a young 49ers receiver who had a great 2020 but had been doing poorly all season in a terrible storm, or risk an injured Alex Collins Monday night against a great Saints defense.
I elected to gamble and put Alex Collins in Monday, which was the right choice. Aiyuk got almost nothing and Monday night Collins started with the first 3 carries of the game.
Those were his last three carries until the last drive of the half. By the time he touched the ball again Sortos’ stud Alvin Kamara was over 20 points and my week was all but over.
In the second half Collins got a little more work but ended the game with a very disappointing score.
Bad week all around. Gave Sortos their first win. 1-6 crew represent.
Thank you, Eurasian Collared Doves and Beards R’ Us! Rachel will be back next week, and we would love to include more content from the rest of the team for Blog Off Redux: Ongoing!
Halli Starling (she/her) writes fantasy worlds, vampires, and romance, focusing on stories with deep emotional investment. And the occasional bloody bit of violence.
Halli, you are currently a GM for Terrible Party, group that streams TTRPGs, video games, and charity events. Can you tell us a little about the show?
We’re an international group, and the pandemic hit us hard in a lot of different ways, so we’re just now coming back from long break! We started 4 years ago, and at the time, I didn’t know what I was doing or what technology I needed. We recorded everything, but didn’t start streaming until 2-3 years ago. I’ve almost always been the GM with mostly the same people the whole time.
Our first stream was a charity event, because Chris (a dwarf cleric in our first campaign) worked with a variety of charity events over the years. I coordinated this the event as admin, and we’ve been doing charity events ever since.
When did you start playing D&D? What drew you to the game?
I was an early fan of Critical Role, and I mean episode 10 early! I knew of tabletop games, but hadn’t had the chance to play in any at that point. When I finally stumbled into it, I thought, “This is exactly what I thought I wasn’t brave enough to do.” I had always wanted to do improv but was too scared. D&D combined improv and storytelling in a way that just fit me perfectly.
At the time, I wasn’t happy with my own writing, and D&D helped with that too. Playing gave me a chance to learn narrative storytelling that is 90% thinking off the top of my head. It allowed me to grow as a writer in some really interesting ways. For instance, I was able to explore vulnerability and character depth in a way that felt safe. When I was writing, I would stare at the same page, the same lines, not knowing how to progress because I was stuck in my head. I didn’t know how to write a character honestly and vulnerably without making them into a whiny baby. But when I started playing characters in D&D, I was developing them in a series of snap judgements that felt so much easier than writing ever did.
As a queer person, have roleplaying games helped you explore or express your queer identity?
For sure. I have the benefit of being white, middle class, and in a seemingly heterosexual marriage. People assume that we’re both straight, although there is better understanding not that that isn’t always the case. When I was 14 or 15, I realized I wasn’t straight, and at the time I called myself bisexual. Now I prefer the label “queer” because it’s all encompassing. There’s still a lot about myself that I don’t fully understand, and “queer” leaves room for that.
I’ve been very lucky that the group I play D&D with is very queer, with people of varying ages who are transitioning and asking questions. It was very affirming to me. Being with them made me feel more secure and more open. As I learned about different ways that people view themselves on the queer prism, I felt more comfortable exploring that too.
Playing D&D allows me the freedom to live out different aspects of myself. I like to play characters that, for all their bluster, are big mushy softies. Eggs (a character I played for years) is a two foot tall ball of chaos, but she got to fall in love with a seven foot tall warrior woman. Getting to play that out was vulnerable, but it didn’t make me feel fragile; it was like it was meant to be there.
In your professional life, you work in the book world. What do you think is the importance of storytelling?
There is no other way that we encapsulate our life experiences – shared or alone – except through words. It is how we encapsulate everything, from Reddit themes to award-winning books.
You’ve written several books, including Wilderwood. When I read it, I was delighted by how queer it was, as well as the “Why have love triangles when you can have polyamory?” vibe. Why did you choose to tell such a queer story?
My first encounter with polyamory in fiction was in fan fiction (which I’ve also written for two decades). I saw it represented, and I thought it was interesting. The visual novels that Lunaris Games creates show polyamory too. They show healthy relationships with no fear of insane jealousy with people who can form bonds with more than one character. Romance novels are often predictable – which is why they’re comfortable – and lately we’ve been getting gay romances, lesbian romances, different ideas of queer romance. But I still don’t often see polyamory.
When I wrote the first encounter between Bel and Octavia in Wilderwood, I thought something was missing between them. They were madly in love, but they had more to give. It came together very naturally that they would need someone else to complete them. I didn’t intend to write a queer story, necessarily. Bel was the first character that sprang to mind, and they just made sense. They don’t see themselves as male or female – they just are who they are. They have a specific vulnerability to them that makes me want to protect them, and I think Octavia was written out of it.
How do you work to represent varying genders and sexualities accurately?
I trust my close friends, who are very diverse. We talk, and I hear what’s going on with them and how they’re feeling. They provide me with the nuances I still don’t see in books very often, like polyamory, nonbinary characters, and the fluidity of gender. When I was younger, I knew things theoretically but didn’t know people’s stories. Games brought me into a world with people who I could relate to and who could teach me more.
I try to write as authentically as I can secondhand. I study, learning about queer history – how far we’ve come and how far we have to go. And I always solicit feedback when my manuscript is done.
I wanted to write it as secondhand authentically as I could. Solicit feedback when manuscript was done.
Wilderwood belongs to what I would call a dark fantasy/horror/gothic genre. What draws you to that kind of story?
I’ve always loved darker stories; in fact, Dracula was one of the first classics I got into. I love gothic stories set in the Victorian era that have lean into dark fantasy and horror. The movie Crimson Peak is a great example of what I’m talking about. There’s no better monster than what we can come up with in our heads, and gothic fiction plays on this. It’s also important to me that a lot of gothic novel authors are women, and they’re often queer. We can learn so much about how these women used stories to represent how they were feeling about being pushed to the side. It’s absolutely a genre of the marginalized.
Do you have any projects coming up?
I wrote a set of short stories called Twelfth Moon that is coming out December 7th. I’m donating 50% of the proceeds to The Ozone House, which works with displaced and recently homeless young adults, a lot of whom are queer. Twelfth Moon is fluffy and seasonal with interconnecting stories – the best kind of queer Hallmark holiday content!
Do you have any recommendations of queer nerdy content that you would like people to know about?
Lunaris Games – highly recommend! It’s inclusive and queer with great storytelling and art. Stories include: When the Night Comes, Errant Kingdom, and the forthcoming Call Me Under
The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard: I have never, ever read a character study so intense or so intriguing…especially not in over 900 pages. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever read.
KJ Charles: My introduction to m/m historical romance that wasn’t cringey, weird, or stereotypical. Her books are also closer to the 200 page range, making them good for anyone wanting a well-told story that doesn’t drag on and on. I love all her books but An Unsuitable Heirbroke me, I was left happy and sobbing at the same time. It features a disabled detective (Mark has a prosthetic arm) and a nonbinary trapezee artist (Pen is magnificent, vulnerable and stubborn in equal measure) as they untangle Pen and his sister’s past and its ties to a noble family.
Believe Me by Eddie Izzard: There was so much I didn’t know about Eddie’s life. Her incredible story – including losing her mother at a young age – is, I think, best heard from Eddie’s voice through the audiobook for Believe Me. And given her incredible talent and timing (everything from standup comedy to the role of Dr. Abel Gideon in Hannibal), it’s a story worth listening to and experiencing.
The Luminous Dead by Caitlan Starling: What I’ve learned about timing – dreadful, suspenseful, dark, meaningful – was honed through Starling’s writing. The Luminous Dead is a great concept – a cave diver takes on a mineral mapping job for pay she desperately needs. The job should be easy. But soon you and Gyre realize that Em, the person funding the expedition, has other motives…and control of Gyre’s diving suit. Ignore the comparisons to Jeff Vandermeer and Andy Weir. Starling’s book is far better.
Is there anything else you’d like to say to our readers?
Play tabletop games if you don’t already! I think it is so fun to see that moment when a new player realizes why TTRPGs are fun. We’re bound up in our own brains and hesitancies that roadblock us, and playing games with other people is so freeing.
Thank you, Halli. Check out her website to find more information on her books and TTRPGs!
Flint’s last moments with Eleanor is one of my favorite Flint scenes in the entire show. Despite earlier trying to convince Eleanor that Woodes Rogers was likely responsible for the Spanish invasion, he lies and tells her it isn’t true. Flint is not one to lie in order to provide comfort, and that he does so here shows just how much he loved Eleanor.
TODAY’S RUNNER UP
Eleanor! She became one of my favorite characters during this rewatch, and if she had to die, I’m so glad it was a death like this that perfectly showcased her desperation, quick thinking, and resourcefulness. She is a messy character, but she tries so hard, and I love her for it. RIP, Eleanor.
WELL-FORMED THOUGHTS
I’ve been going on about the cycle of vengeance in all its iterations this season, and in this episode I find that they’ve tricked me! Silver gives Billy to the slaves to be beaten within an inch of his life in repayment for Billy’s betrayal of their partnership with the slaves. And…I love it? I’m so GLAD that Billy is paying for his sins. This is why vengeance always endures. No matter how right we may think forgiveness is, there is something so entirely appealing about making someone suffer for their crimes.
I really love that this show dives into emotional and moral complications, insisting that the cycle of vengeance is inherently unhelpful while also reminding us why it is so attractive.
FRAGMENTED THOUGHTS
Slaves being freed from their shackles is a needed bright spot in a very dark season.
Another show would make the relationship between Eleanor and Madi a simplisticly happy reunion. Black Sailsforces us to consider how privilege and inequality impacted their relationship in profoundly deep ways.
“My father didn’t mistrust Flint. My father mistrusted all of you.”
Jack threatens to kill Eleanor and/or Flint, but Eleanor cannot be bothered to take him seriously and just walks away. I feel like this perfectly summarizes the entirety of their relationship.
Silver giving Billy to the slaves to be tortured is…super dark. Like, darker than anything Flint has done, right?
Silver: I did not want this. Flint is my friend, but I know what he is. I have no illusions about it. But for all the dangers he presents, for all his offenses, the one thing he’s never done is force me to choose between him and you. That, you did.
Billy responding to Silver’s patronizing speech of ‘forgiveness’ with “You chose. Live with it” makes me like him more than I have in a long time.
I would love to see this episode from Julius’s POV.
I continue to be fascinated by Max and Jack’s relationship. They are business partners, sometime lovers, partners to the same woman. Their reunion is gut-wrenching because Jack is all emotion, and Max is all logic. Still, he rescues her (for the first of two times this episode).
Flint and Eleanor talking about their former partnership is my everything!!!
“You know, there was a time not so long ago when you shared their concern, when you saw what I saw. The benefits of being free of British rule. To make the new world something more than just an extension of the old. Is it so unthinkable that that might happen again? You were a pirate once. Stranger things have happened.”
Although Flint has been betrayed by Eleanor just as much as Jack has been betrayed by Max, their reunion has had SUCH a different tone. They are still civil, and they seem to still respect each other. Why is this? Because they always knew who the other was – someone ambitious and cunning and not above changing sides for a better outcome. Flint and Eleanor knew each other so well that their relationship could survive betrayal.
Speaking of changing sides, in an instant pirates and British soldiers must work together to defeat the new Spanish enemy.
Silver needs to learn to read a room: sitting in a throne in ominous lighting is not a great way to propose partnership with newly freed slaves.
Woodes Rogers gets on land, sees destruction, murder, and rape all around him…but it’s not until he learns that Eleanor is at risk that he actually begins to care. What an asshole.
I will forever love Jack for deciding to wait for his former partners despite recently learning that they were willing to give up his cache without his knowledge or assent.
Max reunites with Anne. Max is so defensive, but when she sees Anne’s brutalized face, she sees the full ramifications of her decision.
Max: I loved you, and I betrayed you. But I cannot apologize for it. I did what anyone would have done when confronted with the same impossible choices. If I apologize, you will know it is a lie, and I do not wish to lie to you ever again. Anne: Leave. Max: No. I am going to stay with you. I want to take care of you. Anne: Get the fuck out.
No, Max, you didn’t do what anyone else would have done. PLENTY of people did the exact opposite, in fact.
Eleanor: One can be happy that way, can’t they? A life of isolation and uncertainty, as long as it is lived with someone you love and who loves you back. It is possible, isn’t it? Madi: It is.
Who is Madi talking about here? Her mother, and the life they had on Maroon Island? Or Silver, and the life they might have in the future? If it’s Silver, that seems to contradict her earlier silence when he asked if he was enough for her.
Silver hears the Spanish coming around the back over the din of battle? Um, okay.
Madi and Eleanor share a smile, which is so great but FUCK FUCK FUCK you can see the Spanish soldier standing in the background flexing his hands and it’s so creepy!!!
Eleanor’s final fight is so desperate and beautiful. She survives so much, and if that isn’t a symbol of her entire life, I don’t know what is. I also really admire the show for how sexual assault is depicted: we keep the female POV and never disempower her.
When she kills the Spanish soldier, she immediately goes to Madi, MY HEART.
Flint sees Miranda’s house on fire and Eleanor’s body. The two most important women in his life. 😦
Eleanor: Was he with them? My husband? Flint: No, he isn’t.
MY HEART. Flint cradles Eleanor’s face as she dies, and his own face is just utter devastation and hopelessness.
Eleanor’s last words are: “Madi. I tried to save her.” But it doesn’t look like Madi made it out of the burning house.
In the wake of Madi’s death, Silver says of the rebellion, “It’s over.” But Flint orchestrates a tactical retreat, insisting upon saving everyone. They’re acting as good partners here, even if they are not in emotional agreement.
“It wasn’t supposed to end like this. How can we all have sacrificed so much and none of us has anything to show for it?”
Finally, some emotion from Max. I think her fierce adherence to calm logic is why I have felt so disconnected from her. Now that she’s drowning, I like her a little bit.
Continuing with the theme of “emotional investment changes everything,” Max finally sees civilization’s true face and wants revenge. But…by going to a different version of civilization. What makes her think this time will be any different?
Honestly, I understand and almost agree with Max’s “fight civilization from the inside” philosophy. But…it didn’t work. Not that fighting from the outside worked either. The moral of the story? Changing society for the better is messy and complicated, and it takes all kinds of people fighting all kinds of battles.
Woodes Rogers finds Eleanor’s corpse. By bringing Spain to Nassau, he murdered his wife, and none of his enemies were killed. YOU IDIOT.
Silver is absolutely gutted and is grieving for Madi. Flint puts his hand on Silver’s shoulder. I can’t read whether or not Silver’s “It wasn’t your fault” is truthful or just a means to get Flint out of the room. My poor babies!
BUT THEN. The pirate revolution has grown enormously on Maroon Island!! The first time I watched the series I was SUUUUPER depressed by this point, and seeing all these pirates determined to join the cause gave me hope so intense it felt physical.
“They came from other islands, the colonies, maroons from camps like this one, pirates from as far away as Massachusetts. They heard that Nassau had fallen, and they came to join us. The revolution you promised has begun!”
Not done reliving the episode? Listen to Daphne and Liz’s podcast at Fathoms Deep!
Genre | Contemporary Fiction Page #s | 220 Publishing Date | April 2020
Everyone talks about falling in love, but falling in friendship can be just as captivating. When Neela Devaki’s song is covered by internet-famous artist Rukmini, the two musicians meet and a transformative friendship begins. But as Rukmini’s star rises and Neela’s stagnates, jealousy and self-doubt creep in. With a single tweet, their friendship implodes, one career is destroyed, and the two women find themselves at the center of an internet firestorm.
Celebrated multidisciplinary artist Vivek Shraya’s second novel is a stirring examination of making art in the modern era, a love letter to brown women, an authentic glimpse into the music industry, and a nuanced exploration of the promise and peril of being seen.
Goodreads
The Subtweet is a book about friendship, ambition, and regret. The fact that it packs all of this into 220 pages, and that this length feels perfect, is nothing short of amazing. The story of Neela and Rukmini, two aspiring musicians, zips along at a steady pace, skipping through time without feeling rushed, unwilling to linger unecessarily.
The story is primarily told through Neela’s point of view. She is a creative, full of passion and the desire to push cultural limitations as well as her own. Accordingly, she is judgmental, standoffish, and scared of genuine connection. When she meets Rukmini, a woman who stumbles into musical fame by performing a cover of Neela’s song, she is in awe of the joy that Rukmini brings to creation. The two women grow close, but their different approaches to music stir up insecurity and jealousy that ultimately pulls them apart.
There is so much to unpack in this little book; it handles women, social media, and race with ease while juggling the complicated relationship between success, talent, and imposter’s syndrome. As Neela, Rukmini, and others pursue success in a career with significant obstacles embedded in the system for women (and women of colour specifically), they sometimes use each other or throw each other under the bus, prompting legitimate questions about whether actions were made because of jealousy or opportunity. It never feels catty; instead, it leaves readers wondering where the moral line is, or ought to be.
Additionally, the book made me think about current debates about marginalized communities holding themselves to higher (and sometimes impossible) standards. Rukmini’s success takes off when a white woman invites her on her tour; she is later taken to task for singing songs about marginalization to white audiences, but it’s hard to blame her for seizing an opportunity. And speaking of white people, Shraya does such a good job writing white characters who are good at saying the right thing until they undermine their “progressiveness” with their privilege in the same breath.
The Subtweet is a deep book, and one that lends itself well to a book club pick – which is why I’m so excited to discuss it with my book club tonight! Top of my list of questions: What happened to Rukmini and will she ever become friends with Neela again??
What Makes This Book Queer?
Vivek Shraya is a trans artist and author, and in a super cool move, she’s made Rukmini trans, but in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it way. In fact, I DID miss it! My friend had to point out that Rukmini offhandedly worries that Hayley hires her for being “a hip brown trans girl,” and that this is the only time it’s mentioned. I love a story that dives into the reality of being trans, but I also love a story where it is incidental, because that is not the piece of identity that is being explored.
Side note: Although, YES, it is cool to see a book explore the friendship between two women, Neela and Rukmini’s relationship could so easily have tipped over into romance, and I really wanted it to! I ship them, but I’m still pleased with the story we got.
Who Would I Recommend This Book To?
The Subtweet is a thoughtful, incisive book that expertly questions the intersections of ambition, success, gender, and race. Everyone should read it!
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Check out our Queer Lil Library for more book recommendations and reviews!
Niki Smith (she/her) is the author of The Deep and Dark Blue, a beautiful middle grade graphic novel with a trans girl protagonist. Please enjoy this interview with Niki Smith:
As the author of graphic novels, which comes first? Do your stories originate with a picture, words, or some combination of both?
My books always start with a story hook I want to explore, but visuals play a big role in my research! I don’t start sketching characters or designs until much further down the line, but I make folders full of imagery I want to include. For The Deep & Dark Blue, those folders were full of natural dye pools, medieval tapestries of family trees, and depictions of spindles in mythology and fairy tales.
The Deep & Dark Blue is set in a fantastically creative fantasy world; I particularly loved the women who can cast magic by spinning. Where did your inspiration for the world and the story come from?
I grew up reading and loving so many fantasy stories that played with gender– girls who disguised themselves to live out their dreams of being knights or pirates or soldiers. I loved them, but I never encountered anything that was the inverse; being a girl was always boring and full of tedious needlework. I wanted to celebrate that instead, to write a world Grayce would long to be a part of! Spindles have been a part of so many myths throughout history, from Sleeping Beauty to the Three Fates and their thread of life. The women of the Communion of Blue spin magic thread with wool dyed a deep, mysterious blue, and can control the strings of the world around them.
It was incredibly satisfying to see Grayce’s gender validated not only by her family, but magically by the family tree. Why do you think that was important to include?
Over the course of the book, Grayce finds a place she belongs, but I didn’t want the home she’d left behind to be a source of painful memories of her dead name. The family tree is a tapestry woven from the same magic threads that Grayce learns to spin in the Communion of Blue– it’s a living tapestry, documenting births, deaths and the line of inheritance. It only made sense to have it reflect her new name once she was ready to share it!
What do you hope your readers will take away from your books?
That queer kids can have adventures too! That a little trans girl can learn to weave magic and save the day. 🙂
You have a new book coming out November 23rd. What can you tell us about The Golden Hour?
I do! The Golden Hour is very different book– it’s about a boy struggling with PTSD and anxiety after witnessing gun violence. Manuel keeps his struggles to himself, using his phone and photography to find anchors and keep himself grounded during panic attacks, but life is lonely and hard until he’s teamed up with his classmates, Sebastian and Caysha, for a group project. Sebastian lives on a grass-fed cattle farm outside town, and Manuel finds solace in the open fields and the antics of the newborn calf Sebastian is hand-raising. Manuel helps his new friends get ready for the local county fair, and he learns to open up and find the support he needs from the boy who’s always there for him.
I didn’t want to tell a story about violence. The Golden Hour is about what comes after: the trauma, the panic attacks and the nightmares. But it’s also about slowly healing, Kansas wheat fields, and a sweet first crush on a gentle boy!
In addition to all of your amazing work, do you have any queer books or media that you would like to recommend to our readers?
Absolutely! If you love graphic novels as much as I do, you should check out Snapdragon by Kat Leyh, Laura Dean Keeps Breaking up with Me by Rosemary Valero-O’Connell and Mariko Tamaki, and The Tea Dragon Society series by Kay O’Neill!
For more information on Niki Smith and her work, please visit her website.
There were a lot of things to blame for the Seacows’ loss like an injury to Antonio Gibson and the usual solid performance from the Finger Puppets who are averaging 141 point per game so far this season. But may it be known that the Seacows blame Miles Gaskin. As a dolphin (and fellow sea mammal) coming off a 31 point week 5, Gaskin tricked me into believing he could be started, he ended the game with 3.4 points, sinking my chances and becoming the first player named in my new segment: ScapeCow of the week. Miles Gaskin, may you float to the top of your aquarium belly up.
Carrie continues to share the lead in her division tied with the Fire Pandas and Purple Moose.
Beards R’ Us Vs Purple Moose
Another slightly-too-close shave for the Beards this week as they lose to the Purple Moose 109 to 112. Jayse abandoned the beard strategy, putting Daniel Jones in at QB. Choosing smart football plays over an amusing draft strategy did not pay off however, as Jones ended the game with 4 points. Meanwhile on waivers, Carson Wentz and his ginger face fuzz picked up a potentially week winning 17 points.
Eric is also involved in that tie for first place in the plucky underdog division and snaps his streak to go 4-2.
Real Slim Brady Vs Fire Pandas
The Fire Pandas laugh in the face of the undefeated, and then defeat them! Tricia brought it all against Real Slim Brady and got the highest score of all teams this week. Fortunately for Krista, Tricia would not listen all the times I told her to gloat in the chat, so there was only a mild ribbing. She didn’t take the opportunity to point out that literally anyone could have beaten Krista this week, and did not joke about the rest of Real Slim Bradys season being headed to IR never to return just like CMC.
Bad News Bears vs Eurasian Collared Doves
If there was an award for pluckiest underdog, the Doves would come in second place by a wingtip. Another close game that came down to it on Monday night, the ECD soared to a lofty 122 but then were swatted out of the sky by the giant bear paw that is Derick Henry. Jonathan adds another win, bringing his streak to 5 consecutive, including 3 top scores. Don’t peak too soon now Bears, lots of games left to play.
The replacements vs Team Sorto
Team Sorto comfortably maintains their perfect record against the replacements who put up a top score contending 139 points in the contest. The sneaker logo is perhaps indicative of Amy’s strategy in her first season, decidedly mid-table with an exactly even record but the potential to put up week winning scores that no one saw coming…sneaky.
Standings After Week 5
Very little changed this week, Real Slim Brady remain on top…for now.
The Chart (of Lies)
Bad News Bears remain chart favorites but the Battling Finger Puppets replace Real Slim Brady in projected second, it seems the chart is as much a fan of their rivalry as we are.
The replacements continue their weekly creep back up the projections 4th to 3rd this week…
In the basement the Beards and Seacows are fighting over the comfy bean bag of last place; the Seacows have it for now.
Despite their glorious streak snapping win, the Fire Pandas pause on the steps to see what the fuss is about, allowing Team Sorto to somehow remain a step ahead.
Preview of This Week’s Games
Eurasian Collared Doves vs Super Seacows
These two teams share the same 2-4 record and will both be looking to put a bit of day light between themselves and the bottom of the board in this contest.
Purple Moose vs Real Slim Brady
These two were the teams to beat back in the early weeks of the season, and with a tight race in the plucky underdog division, the Moose will be hoping for more low scores from the Bradys. First place in the league is up for grabs if Krista loses this game so it really is all to play for.
Fire Pandas vs Bad News Bears
Can the Fire Pandas make ending winning streaks a habit, or do they only enjoy beating undefeated teams? We shall see this week when they take on the Bad News Bears.
Battling Finger Puppets vs the replacements
The stat projections have the replacements slightly ahead in this contest. This could be another battle for the heart of the chart of lies, as these teams are projected 2nd and 3rd place. Could a win seal Carrie as a solid second? But nobody puts Amy in the corner! The fight for the chart’s fickle heart commences on Thursday night!
Team Sorto vs Beards R us
Basement battle royale! Both teams seem to be resistant to winning but who hates victory the most? Arguably Adriana, who hates it so much she has never done it this season. However, I hear Jayse tried it once and it was awful.
I’m Rachel (she/they), an ace and genderqueer book nerd. I’m a librarian by education, working for a library software company. In my free time, I read and talk about books, including co-hosting a Tolkien podcast (@toreadtolkien), and I watch lots of sports. You can find me on Twitter over at @sir_rachel!
How long have you been playing D&D? What has your experience in the TTRPG world been like?
I’m a bit of a latecomer to D&D. It’s something I’ve always known I’d enjoy, but it wasn’t until four years ago that I started playing regularly with a group of friends.
The group members have shifted slightly, but I’m now in my fourth campaign with the same DM. That’s been a lot of fun, since the more we play together, the more both DM and player are able to develop a rapport that makes for a better adventure. We also all love frustrating our DM by continually refusing to actually get on with the plot.
You identify as ace and gender-wobbly. Have roleplaying games helped you explore or express your queer identity?
D&D has been a fun way to “play” with gender. My relationship with gender has always been tentative at best, especially in terms of outward presentation. I’m still not certain whether I identify as nonbinary or agender, or just some variety of genderqueer. How I feel about gender is continually evolving, so I love getting to pick up different genders and put them on for a while in a fictional world. Of the four main campaigns I’ve played to date, two of my characters have been female and two have been male. Each of these characters has let me showcase a bit of a different side of me, both in terms of gender and in terms of personality. I can’t always change how people perceive me in reality, but I can definitely spend a few hours being a burly dwarf or a half-orc with a personality that is basically just Geralt of Rivia. Or I can go the other direction, playing a human noble, presenting extremely feminine for a while. Each character fits a bit differently, but they all contain a piece of me.
We’ve also made sure the campaigns are a safe space, and there’s no pressure or emphasis placed on sexual or romantic relationships. It’s entirely up to the players, and in general our campaigns have had very little to that effect (we’re usually too busy shopping, refusing to get on with the plot, or taking way too long to solve puzzles). So often we can be bombarded with sexual content in the media, and it’s nice to have a space where I don’t have to focus on my asexuality.
You are one of the co-hosts of So You Want to Read Tolkien. Lord of the Rings is my most enduring fandom, so I was really excited to jump into your podcast. Did this project shape your opinions of LotR in any way? Did you learn anything as a result of digging into the books with your co-hosts?
Yes! I got into Lord of the Rings when I was young, reading the books right before the movies came out. Lord of the Rings has been a huge part of my life for, well, a very long time, but I hadn’t fully reread the books until we started the podcast.
This was a hugely different reading experience for a number of reasons. The first is that we started out reading The Silmarillion, which I had never read before. While bits of it can be a slog, I’m so glad to have read it. There’s so much cool lore, and so many interesting stories tucked in there! It also then becomes fun getting to play “spot the reference” when reading the other books.
The other fascinating part was how different the experience was reading at a slow pace, only one or two chapters a week. Most of us know that Tolkien’s pacing is a bit (ahem) adventurous, and he loves talking about geography way too much. This can be hard to appreciate when reading the books at a faster pace, and it’s easy to skim through those sections. Getting to slow down and focus on those sections was wonderful, because there are some very beautiful passages that I’d otherwise not have appreciated.
Do you have any queer thoughts or headcanons about Lord of the Rings?
Legolas and Gimli were definitely the first couple I ever shipped, before I even realized that’s what I was doing. That said, my co-host Caitlin on So You Want to Read Tolkien brought Aragorn/Frodo to my attention. While it’s still not my preferred ship, I have to admit, there are some pretty great lines toward that effect.
Also, we already knew this, but jeez does Tolkien not know how to write women.
Rachel, you have also been participating in Project Shakespeare. I see pictures of your group on Twitter, but I don’t actually know much about it! Can you tell me a little about the project, and in particular, whether costuming yourself as various characters has helped you explore your gender?
Project Shakespeare is the wonderful brainchild of Abby and Rachel. At the start of lockdown, Abby had the idea to do a readthrough of Shakespeare on Zoom. Each Saturday night, a group of us would meet and read a play. We did almost all of his plays (twice!), which of course means some masterpieces and some… uh… weird ones.
I’ve always loved wearing costumes, so of course I showed up to my first play (The Tempest, where I played Sebastian) with a drawn-on villain mustache. Most of us are either women or non-binary, so naturally we had to play characters of all genders. From a theatrical perspective, this was fun because it meant getting to play roles that we wouldn’t normally ever be cast on stage (or would only be cast in an intentionally gender-diverse production). While I appreciate gender-diverse productions, there was something special about getting to play male characters as male.
I got to draw on beards and wear suits and ties; I bought my first binder. I played villains and ghosts; I died a lot of times and used a lot of stage blood. I got to play some of Shaksepeare’s most iconic leading men: Prince Hal/Henry V, Julius Caesar, Richard II, Coriolanus. I felt my most powerful playing some of these roles and getting to inhabit their masculinity (well, we could have an argument about Richard II here, but that’d take several thousand words).
But at the same time, I also played some of my favorite female roles. It had long been a dream of mine to play Lady Macbeth and one of the witches, and I got to check both of those off the bucket list. I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and played one of Shakespeare’s most overtly feminine characters, Ophelia. I wore my prettiest dress and wore a flower in my hair. After spending so much time embodying Shakespeare’s male characters, it was a reminder that “Oh, this is me too.”
More than anything, getting to explore gender by way of so many characters helped me embrace being outside of the binary, both in my head and how I present myself.
What nerdy interests are you most excited about right now?
I’ve gotten into playing video games over the past several years, and let me just say how wonderful it is to have so many opportunities to choose the PC’s gender, and how many games let you romance queer ships. I’m working my way through Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey right now, and the only character choice I’ve made for my Kassandra is that she’s a huge lesbian. Also gotta give a shoutout to Zagreus and Thanatos in Hades!
Do you have any recommendations of queer nerdy content that you would like people to know about?
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan: queer historical fantasy I absolutely loved.
Books by E.K. Johnston: I love all of E.K. Johnston’s books, but I especially want to mention her newest, Aetherbound, which is Arthurian in space, as well as The Afterward, which is a direct response to classic male fantasy. Lady knights!!!
I also want to shout out all the queer sportswriters out there, but especially Meg Linehan of The Athletic, who does incredible and necessary reporting on women’s soccer
Thank you, Rachel!
If you’re an Adventure Queer and would like to be interviewed, reach out to us at roarcatreads@gmail.com.
What does Flint do while locked up in prison? Read! The fact that he keeps his finger in his place while talking with Eleanor proves that he is a true Reader, and my love for him therefore increases immeasurably.
TODAY’S RUNNER UP
Eleanor! She is losing everything she worked so hard to achieve, and here at the end of all things, she’s acting more like a leader than ever before. She’s level-headed, self-aware, and confident in a way that is truly beautiful to see.
WELL-FORMED THOUGHTS
FINALLY we get a break from the relentlessly gruesome violence of the last two episodes. But our meditations on revenge continue, seen especially in Woodes Rogers’ meeting with Governor Raja in Havana.
In previous episodes, we learned Rogers’ tragic backstory about his brother dying, and this is the fuel that enflames his bloodlust. But without all the drama Rogers demanded for his big reveal, Raja admits that he shares the exact same story, but worse – Rogers personally killed his brother under a flag of surrender. Yet instead of becoming a blood thirsty maniac, Raja makes a calm decision for the good of his country.
Everyone has trauma in this story. It’s what they allow that trauma to drive them to that really matters. The fact that Rogers is wallowing in his is why he’s stuck in this desperate cycle of vengeance that actually leads to his betrayal of his own country, partnering with an enemy empire out of a misshapen pursuit of justice.
FRAGMENTED THOUGHTS
Silver is pissed after Flint made a deal with Eleanor in 404, and this entire episode is one huge question: How will Silver react to Flint making a decision without him?
Eleanor refuses to allow Mrs. Hudson to tell Rogers about their baby. She doesn’t want to use it as a pawn in this power struggle, which seriously shows how much she’s grown.
Billy: Guaranteed? When is anything ever–? And you agreed to this? Silver: I didn’t agree to anything. The offer was put to Captain Flint. He had little time to decide. I trust his judgment.
The crux of everyone’s relationship with Flint is whether or not they trust his judgment, but my favorite example of this is not with Silver. It’s when Eleanor asks Flint how to fire warning shots at her husband’s, his enemy’s, ship. Now THAT is trust.
“She says she knows that you will be angry, and that this will be hard for you to understand. But she said…she said you should trust that her commitment to you remains inviolable and that this is no betrayal but an act of love.”
It seems as though Rogers stops his mania when reminded of Eleanor’s love for him. It almost makes me like him, but then it’s revealed that he didn’t stop his attack but instead went for the kind of backup that literally haunts his wife’s nightmares. What an asshole. His arrogance and desperation have made him dangerously reckless.
I love how Silver talks to Billy carefully, but when relating everything that’s happened to Madi, he allows himself to be emotional.
Madi: You know as well as I Billy cannot exist alongside Captain Flint for long. Sooner or lager, one or the other must go. Silver: If we win Nassau even through surrender, we are still going to have to control it. Without the resources afforded by the cache or the force supplied by Billy and his men, how the fuck do you imagine we’re going to do that? Madi: We will struggle through it, train men, gain strength through numbers, hunt for that which we need. It will be difficult, but since when did we expect this would be anything else? Silver: Jesus. You sound exactly like him.
#TriumverateWatch: MADI SIDES WITH FLINT, MADI SIDES WITH FLINT, I’M IN LOVE WITH THEM BOTH BECAUSE THEY ARE THE SAME PERSON.
Silver also loves them both because they are the same person, but unlike me, he is just now realizing that he’s fallen in love with a female Flint.
Actually, Madi is better than Flint. She’s able to bring empathy and emotional connection to her cold-blooded tactical decisions, and this is what makes Silver trust her.
“If this goes away, Flint’s war, if it all ended and we had to walk away from it, would I be enough for you? … You know what? You don’t have to answer that.”
Silver wants to be someone’s everything, but he keeps being drawn to people with big ambitions and ironclad wills to pursue them.
My love for Eleanor skyrockets when the first thing she asks Flint is to tell her about Mr. Scott. And then I’m devastated as she realizes her father figure was using her. And then I’m even more emotionally destroyed when Flint calmly reaffirms her. And then I love Eleanor for her new self-awareness, and then Flint challenges her to look even harder, and GUYS THIS IS SUCH A GOOD SCENE.
Eleanor: For so long, I thought I knew what I was. A daughter who usurped her father. A woman who had taken control of a wild place. Scott was proof of that, the one who saw me that way too, who substantiated it. And all that time, all he saw was a girl so ambitious she would never doubt his story. Flint: You did do all those things. Eleanor: I know I did. But always with a man behind me doing his damnedest to bend it all to his benefit. My father, Scott, Charles you. So many goddamned men here. Too many goddamned men here. Flint: Woodes Rogers. He’s really so different from the rest of us?
Billy appeals to Silver’s self-importance by claiming he is a “rational man to lead Nassau.” What? I would never think that “rational” is Silver’s primary characteristic. Billy doesn’t know Silver, which, uh, is going to be made even more evident very soon.
Silver sees through this, however, and calls him on it. Everybody wants Silver on their side because while he’s still not a very good leader, he’s an incredible quartermaster.
Israel Hands is out to make him a better leader, though, taking a much more Tough Love approach than Flint ever did. “I don’t give a shit what you choose, but fucking choose! And don’t make me suffer the thinking,” is SUCH a great line. Poor Silver, though. He’s so conflicted. He just doesn’t see what Flint and Madi see. (“The road they intend to travel is one I’m losing the ability to understand.”)
Rogers keeps talking about disorder in Nassau, as though that is its primary sin. But I suppose that makes sense, because it clearly isn’t the murder or greed that offends him. He knows civilization is built upon murder and greed, but disorder is one step too far. I mean, he’d never do something so disordered as ask his country’s enemy to raze his citizen’s land to the ground, right? UGH, you fucking hypocrite, Rogers.
“Flint will just keep pushing for these things, costly things that we pay for with our own suffering, with our own lives. You know this. You’ve always known this. Sooner or later, it has to end.”
Billy isn’t exactly wrong, but what he doesn’t see is that Flint entirely believes in his vision to the point of suffering and offering his life along with his men. He wants them to share in his dream and willingly give up their lives too. In season 1, he hid his true motivation from his crew. But now he’s a (mostly) open book. He wants to lead an army of pirates and slaves to rebel against a corrupt empire that they all hate. Billy is a few seasons behind.
But Silver isn’t. He just doesn’t know if he hates England the way Flint does. And I honestly wasn’t sure what was going to happen the first time I watched this.
BUT IT’S MADI WHO GREETS FLINT!!! And it’s Billy who is betrayed! This was all so well done, wow, A+.
Billy created “Long John Silver” and this was his own undoing. Poor Billy only has one (1) supporter. After Israel Hands is done, Billy has zero (0) supporters.
Jack’s on the beach instead of the cache, which is confusing for everyone involved. Max appears in the fort and I realize that I completely forgot about Jack, Anne, and Max.
Flint: It’s already agreed to. Jack: She agreed to it. Her people agreed. You’ve agreed. But it’s all meaningless until he agrees. Woodes Rogers. Flint: He left the island for Port Royal, as she asked, to await her arrival with the money. Jack: No, he hasn’t. I watched him defeat Edward Teach in battle outnumbered and through sheer force of will. I saw his bloodlust with my own eyes. That man will never surrender his position here. He will never allow himself to be defeated by you or I. Not because we bribed him, not because Eleanor Guthrie told him so. He simply will not allow it to happen. I don’t know where that man went or what designs drew him there, but this I know. Woodes Rogers will be returning and this fight isn’t nearly over.
Flint trusted in civilization AGAIN, and once more it fucked him over. Even when he gives it a cache of money and simply asks, “Go away,” civilization refuses to compromise.
THAT SPANISH FLEET THOUGH. *covers eyes*
Not done reliving the episode? Listen to Daphne and Liz’s podcast at Fathoms Deep!
Genre | Science Fiction Page #s | 365 Publishing Date | October 2016
Lovelace was once merely a ship’s artificial intelligence. When she wakes up in an new body, following a total system shut-down and reboot, she has no memory of what came before. As Lovelace learns to negotiate the universe and discover who she is, she makes friends with Pepper, an excitable engineer, who’s determined to help her learn and grow.
Together, Pepper and Lovey will discover that no matter how vast space is, two people can fill it together.
A Closed and Common Orbit is the stand-alone sequel to Becky Chambers’ beloved debut novel The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and is perfect for fans of Firefly, Joss Whedon, Mass Effect and Star Wars.
Goodreads
After falling completely in love with Chambers’ first book in this series, The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, I was disappointed to find that it took me a while to connect with the alternating storylines in A Closed and Common Orbit. I should not have doubted! I wound up absolutely loving the story of two beings learning how to survive and find connection, one a human unwillingly treated as a machine and the other an AI unwillingly treated as human.
Jane/Pepper’s story was fascinating, and arguably the more plot-driven arc as we wait to see how she will survive living in a rundown spaceship after escaping a factory that raises human slaves. I loved watching her grow up with Owl, her AI mother, and scavenge for food and parts. However, it was a very smart move on Chambers’ part to balance the isolation and desperation of Pepper’s past with the Sidra’s (formerly Lovelace) story of struggling to fit in to a happy, healthy society. Together, they make a cohesive story.
As always, Chambers’ books take advantage of a sci fi setting to create uniquely diverse alien races that have a variety of gender and sexuality presentations. In this book, we get a closer look at Auleons, both generally at their cultural festival and specifically in the character of Tak. With the central premise that it is very difficult for their species to breed, an entire culture emerges around the importance of mating and parenting as a respected full-time job for fathers who went to school to prepare. Additionally, we’re introduced to their four genders and how the culture makes space for and celebrates each one.
Finally, I really enjoyed the conversations about what makes someone/something worthy of personhood. There is such a satisfying hook to Pepper being raised by an AI and therefore feeling invested in helping Sidra fit in as an illegal AI with a body. It’s clear to the readers that this crime is absurd and that AI should be granted personhood, but the book pushes this to challenge our assumption about any technology that has been granted even the barest form of personality. Whether coded through genes or software, who are we to determine where personhood begins? So interesting!
Who Would I Recommend This Book To?
A Closed and Common Orbit is perfect for lovers of sci-fi and philosophy.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Check out our Queer Lil Library for more book recommendations and reviews!
I was thrilled to ask Mira Ong Chua (they/them) some questions about ROADQUEEN: Eternal Roadtrip to Love, a lesbian fake dating graphic novel that had me laughing out loud. Please enjoy this interview with Mira Ong Chua (TwitterInstagram):
Roadqueen: Eternal Roadtrip to Love takes place in a world in which queer ladies go to school on a mountain via motorbike; this amazing creation is indicative of the story as a whole. It’s every lesbian fever dream I didn’t know I had put to page! How did you make this absolutely perfect thing?
When I embark on a new personal project I try to set a challenge for myself in some way, like working within a new format or genre. For ROADQUEEN, it was writing a story where I’d be forced to draw motorcycles. Everything else was based on that premise.
The story is centered around the fake dating trope – one of my favorites! Vega says that she wants to see if Leo can be a decent lesbian. What, in your opinion, makes a lesbian decent?
I don’t want anyone to worry about that.
Leo’s long-suffering friends were very relatable, as was Leo’s desperate (and often failed) attempts to do right by Vega. You balance a super fun light-hearted romp with very realistic character work. How did you develop this skill?
Practice, probably. I was fortunate to have a day job at the time where one of my responsibilities was writing comedy scripts under tight deadlines. I’d often look back and think “Okay, well, I didn’t like how this part came out, so next time I’ll try this instead…” Once you begin building a body of work, you start understanding the things you’re drawn to.
I can’t imagine this story as a heteronormative romance. What do you think are some hallmarks of queer/lesbian love stories?
Rather than looking for hallmarks, I’d like to see queer love stories expand upon every single style and genre and niche imaginable.
What do you hope your readers take away from the story?
I hope readers have fun. And if they’re inspired to go make something of their own, too, that would be great.
Will we ever get more Leo and Vega, or another story set in this world?
Those characters started it all for me, so in a way I feel like they’re in every story I write. As for more stories set in their world…who knows!
I see that you have a new book out (I’m going to be ordering that immediately!) called Goodbye, Battle Princess Peony. Can you tell us a little about it and where people can buy it?
Goodbye, Battle Princess Peony is a gothic fairytale romance about an otherworldly princess falling into the hands of the villain who has always tormented her. It was funded through Kickstarter earlier this year, and is now available exclusively through my online store. And on October 1 I am launching my next book project: a queer 18+ romcom called Vampire Blood Drive, based on a short comic I did of the same name.
To buy Mira Ong Chua’s fabulous books, please visit her online store.
The Super Seacows learned a lesson about disparaging the good name of Miles Gaskin. Luckily they didn’t need the 32 points he could have added and got their second win of the season. Team Sorto did outscore half the teams in the league this week so don’t write them off just yet, although Adriana now seems to be set on defending her clean record. Can the Sortos remain winless?
the replacements vs Bad News Bears
Apparently the Bad News Bears were a little upset about having their top score streak ended by the replacements and came to play this week achieving top score of all time! Serving up crushing defeat realness with 20’s, 20’s, 20’s across the board. The replacements did manage to keep it respectable; a spectacular Mark Andrews performance on Monday night saved Amy from the dreaded ‘doubled your score’ defeat she handed out last week.
Purple Moose vs Battling Finger Puppets
This game was close going in to Monday night but finished with the Finger Puppets 30 points ahead. An injured Chris Carson remained in Eric’s line up although he was ruled out for Thursday night’s game. Are the Purple Moose on vacation, or perhaps still reeling from their first loss last week?
Beards R’ Us vs Real Slim Brady
Beards did okay, coughing up a competitive score. I mean, Real Slim Brady still won by Sunday night with a player left on Monday but what are you going to do? They are unstoppable.
Fire Pandas vs Doves
No victorious Coo this week, the Fire Pandas prove themselves the victor of this ancestral battle. And worse! Leading Dove Russel Wilson picked up an injured wing and will be sidelined for 4 weeks. As of writing, the ECD have not brought themselves to pick up a replacement.
Standings After Week 5
Some of these veterans are more grizzled than others. At the top of the table, Real Slim Brady remain perfect and are the only team to beat the Bad News Bears, who are just one win behind them. The rest of the division is under 500 and are in danger of losing their grizzled veteran status at the end of the season.
Meanwhile the underdogs is a much more competitive division with three teams sharing the same record and the ECD only one win behind. Sortos are after different goals, 0 goals to be precise, 0 goals and 1st pick next year!
The Chart (of Lies)
Clang Clang Clang, the end is Nigh Real Slim Brady, so sayeth the chart! Bad News Bears displace the league leaders as champions of the chart’s heart.
Despite their defeat, the replacements still see a rise from 6th last week to 4th this week.
Team Sorto descend the stairs to the basement and are passed by the Fire Pandas on the way up.
Preview of This Week’s Games
Super Seacows Vs Battling Finger Puppets
Fresh off wins last week, the good news for one of these two teams is one of them will have a 2 game winning streak at the end of this week! The chart of lies predicts it will be the Finger Puppets, but this is fantasy football, your opinion has no place here!
Beards R’ Us Vs Purple Moose
A battle of two teams in need of a win. Arguably the Beards need it more, but a third loss in a row after a stellar start to the season would set some alarm bells ringing for the Purple Moose.
Brady Vs Fire Pandas
Can the Fire Pandas end another winning streak and extend their own? Could this be the week Krista finally tastes defeat? Look for the league poll to pick your favorite.
Bad News Bears vs Eurasian Collared Doves
Never was there a pluckier underdog than the hobbled, now cobbled ECD facing down the Bad New Behemoths.
The replacements vs Team Sorto
Which replacements team will turn up this week? The soul crushing week 4 replacements or the crushed soul replacements of week 5, either way Adriana will be looking to protect her perfect record.
Tricia McGarrah (she/her) is one half of Roar Cat Reads (along with Rachel). She writes the book reviews and tv recaps, and her favorite part running this site is hearing and telling the stories of fellow Adventure Queers.
Tricia, what made you want to start playing D&D?
I have always been a pretty big nerd, but D&D felt like it wasn’t for me for most of my life. Partly that was the conservative Christian message that it was satanic, but it was also because it seemed to be dominated by boys who wanted to micromanage fun times. It wasn’t until five years ago or so that I started to be intrigued by the game. I was a fan of the McElroy family, and their version of D&D in The Adventure Zone was silly and inviting. When I saw a tweet about a group of young girls turning feral wolves into a friendly wolf army, I knew I wanted that. When I moved to Vancouver, I thought finding a group to play with would help me make friends, so I reached out in a Nerdy Ladies of Vancouver Meetup group. You (Rachel) were the person who responded, so I’d say it worked out pretty well for me.
I’ve been lucky that all of my D&D experiences have been exactly the vibe that I hoped for. I know there are some queer nerds who are rules lawyers, but everyone I’ve played with has been primarily invested in having a good time and telling a good story.
What has been your most fun D&D experience?
There are so many to choose from, but one of my favorite sessions was infiltrating Governor Patricio Cabello’s soiree in our pirate campaign. I was playing my favorite character Bahasha, a nonbinary hadozee whose high charisma stats mostly involve bulldozing people with dumb charm. There were Beauty and the Beast-esque makeovers, bonding over mispronounced aperitifs, and gunshots in the bathroom.
It was the perfect balance of player hijinks and actually advancing the plot, which is an almost impossible scenario!
What games or systems do you hope to play in the future?
We bought Thirsty Sword Lesbians a few months back, and the system seems exactly designed for me. It’s all furtive looks over crossed swords, experience based on character growth, and advantage based on relationship strength. However, my brain is the antithesis of a rules lawyer, which unfortunately means that I feel entirely unable to learn/teach a new system. If anyone reading this has the book and wants to talk about the mechanics or GM a game, I would love to be included!
This blog launched in March 2021. What inspired you to start Roar Cat Reads?
I have always dreamed of owning a bookstore, and when I met you, that dream morphed into a book/game store. We were snowshoeing last winter, and at the time I happened to be feeling really stuck in my job. But I also had no real idea how (or if) my career dream could ever turn into a reality. You challenged me to find a way to take a step toward being a part of the Vancouver nerdy scene, and a blog seemed like my best bet. I was a daily blogger for almost a decade starting in high school, so churning out content didn’t intimidate me.
Although I dabbled in some non-queer nerdy media at first with the blog, it quickly became clear that queer and nerdy should be our niche. I’ve really loved focusing in on this specific subset of nerd culture – it’s encouraged me to read books that might have slipped my radar, and it gave me an excuse to talk about Black Sails again. Most importantly, it has connected me to so many interesting people through the Adventure Queer series and our Discord community. Whether we stay a website or someday live out my shopfront dreams, I always want to create a space that is first and foremost welcoming to “women, femmes, and thems” (a phrase my friend taught me). There are plenty of spaces for cis white heterosexual nerds; I hope Roar Cat Reads is the space for everyone else.
If you were stuck on a desert island, what three nerdy books would you take?
Thank you for not specifying “queer,” because I would absolutely have to take Lord of the Rings. It is my earliest and deepest fandom, and the themes of that book are endlessly revelatory and inspiring to me. It would definitely help wile away the time (you’ve got to take at least one brick of a book to a desert island), and it stands up to rereads super well.
I would also take The Unspoken Name, a perfect fantasy book about a lesbian orc mercenary. I’ve been itching to reread it anyway!
My third book would be Nimona, Noelle Stevenson’s graphic novel about a shapeshifter. It’s lighthearted until it’s gut-wrenching, which is my favorite kind of story. It will also balance out the word heavy books for those times when I don’t want to invest a ton of hours in a book.
You recently got into a new podcast – talk about it!
Oh, you mean We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle? Readers, you should know that this is a very clever move on Rachel’s part. I’ve been bugging her with anecdotes from podcast episodes for the last week, and she’s found a way for me to purge my feelings! Some of you might know that Glennon wrote Untamed, the late-in-life-lesbian’s bible. I loved her books back when she was a progressive Christian, and it has been incredibly convenient that she has written about her life evolving in basically the same way mine has (assumed we were straight but in a mostly uninterested way until we met a woman who turned our world upside down).
The fact that Glennon’s partner, Abby Wambach, is a lifelong lesbian and sports queen, has caused me to entirely relate my relationship with Rachel to theirs. This is maybe not the healthiest practice, but I am LOVING the episodes in which they discuss sexuality, gender, sex, conflict, and just about everything else. They’re passionate, funny, and really honest. I highly recommend the podcast to everyone!
What is in store for the future of Roar Cat Reads?
So many things! Our charity event raising money for Rainbow Refugee is this Saturday, October 16th. I hope everyone will watch the full day of D&D that is GMed and played by queer people on Twitch, and if you’re able, you can donate or bid in our silent auction.
We’ve been talking to the Vancouver Pride Society about potentially coordinating some events for Winter Pride. It’s not confirmed, and whether we get to be involved or not, I hope everyone keep them on your radar! They have some great plans in the works.
We also hope to expand into some pop up shop experiences in the next year. It would be a chance to sell Rachel’s Mini Monstrosities and dice bags as well as books, but more importantly, we could play D&D and board games with the community we’ve developed. It’s wonderful how much can be done online, but there’s something special about playing together in person.
This episode gives us two of my favorite Flints: Grumpy Flint (“Is there a point you’re trying to make?” to Israel Hands) and Enigmatic Flint (“Trust me.”) I continue to love him, even when the episode is not focused upon him.
TODAY’S RUNNER UP
Silver! Poor guy is feeling the burden of leadership, playing the growly pirate theater and throwing his weight around. But everywhere he goes there is complication, and he does not seem comfortable with it in the way that Flint is. This is also the episode that reveals most fully Silver’s emotionalism. Until now he’s been very rational, choosing partners based upon what is best for him. With the recent events threatening Flint and especially Madi, Silver’s logic is unraveling fast. At this point, he’s secure enough to see it for the liability that it is, but should something more drastic occur…who knows what he will do?
LOL MOMENT
Billy, after being chastised for his very bad actions: “Is everyone feeling better?”
WELL-FORMED THOUGHTS
If ever there were an episode that wanted to drive home the theme about the futility of a cycle of vengeance, this would be it. The fact that this show is not interested in glorying in revenge is most obviously shown in how we see the retaking of Nassau. Instead of something glorious, it is a violent and chaotic scene, shot in such a way that we as viewers are emotionally distanced from it.
From there we get example after example of how futile revenge is. We open on a horrific scene of a plantation owner beating a slave woman for the actions of slaves on another plantation…but his actions are soon answered by Julius’s slave revolt. The guy Rogers leaves in charge of Rackham’s crew has one job: to deliver the captured pirates to Port Royal. Unable to resist the allure of revenge, he instead makes them fight to the death, a choice that ultimately leads to his death and the death of his remaining men.
Billy wants to make a public example of Max in the same way that public examples were made of Charles Vane and other pirates. He fails to see that this act will fail in the same way that their acts failed: vengeance (even coded as “justice”) only leads to more violence. Silver highlights the limitations of this idea by pointing out that there is no definitive action that can end the totality of what has been done.
Billy: One would think we could go a long way towards soothing all that chaos out there, and the anger driving it, if we could draw everyone together to see justice done to the one responsible for all of it. Silver: All of it? Billy: Enough of it.
It’s fitting that they are discussing Max, since she is the one who has so often spoken against the cycle of vengeance. And it seems as though Eleanor is beginning to see things in a similar light, especially now that she is pregnant and must reconcile her life with what is best for a new generation. She knows she is drawn to Nassau and its unending power struggle, but for the first time, she sees how her actions might place her child in the same position she was in as a child: “amongst all this brutality.”
In a bid to end the cycle of vengeance and leave all parties satisfied, Eleanor summons Flint and Silver to discuss an exchange: the pirates can have Nassau, and she will leave with the British and the cache. Future episodes will reveal if she will be successful.
FRAGMENTED THOUGHTS
Listening to a white man verbally chastise kneeling slaves while a woman shrieks in pain behind him is suuuuuuper disgusting. In a show that asks us to sympathize with multiple viewpoints, I’m very glad that we are meant to see this as a completely evil act.
Eleanor’s escape to the fort is very badass. I especially love that she is leaning over the other passengers to protect them, immediately followed by her barging up to a crowd of men and telling them what to do. She is regaining a lot of her agency, and I am reminded of why I love her so much!
Flint reforms a system of land-based pirate crews, which is a stroke of brilliance that shows how flexible his strategies are.
“The more they realize there is no daylight between you and I, the more they will learn to accept our shared authority.”
I love so much Flint and Silver’s unified public front (“You heard him.”) that still allows space for Silver to privately challenge Flint.
Flint is very confused about why Eleanor wants Max, and it made me wonder: does he know about their former relationship? Was he too busy pursuing the Urca gold to keep track of his partner’s love life? I kind of love the idea that he notices everything except for this.
#TriumverateWatch: Flint and Silver fawn over Madi. “A wise woman recently told me…” “Sounds like good advice.” SHE DESERVES ALL THE COMPLIMENTS.
The standoff between our #Triumverate and Billy is VERY satisfying. It feels very much like three parents chastising an errant child, and Billy only regains a sliver of power because he knows he has something they want.
“Of course Billy would never violate the trust I place in him as a brother, as a friend, to allow harm to come to those closest to me. For if Billy were to do something as disloyal as that, he knows I’d stop at nothing to see that offense repaid against him.”
Wow, does Silver know exactly what to say to shame Billy.
Of course, Billy knows exactly what to say to push Silver’s buttons too. When appealing to their former fear of Flint upon them doesn’t work, he shifts the object of Flint’s consumption to Madi, and Silver is shook.
“How long ago was it that the two of us agreed that Flint threatened to be the end of us all? That he would find ways of driving us over and over again into that storm till there was nothing left of us? We survived him, you and I. And now you want to follow him into what? A massive slave revolt? A war against the British Empire? How is this not just the next storm in a very long line of them?”
The Awful British Guy forces Jack to pick who will fight to the death, which echoes how the plantation owner forced slave women to hold down the woman being beaten. As if violence weren’t enough, Civilization makes things even worse by forcing the oppressed to feel responsible for the violence themselves.
Israel Hands says he knows Flint was at the previous rebellion, though he was British Navy at the time. Does…everyone know Flint’s past?
“I am right back where I started. Every fight I have ever won, every death I have escaped, every sacrifice I have had bled out of me, it will all have to be repeated just to get things back to where they were a few hours ago.”
I cannot help but imagine Flint, ten years ago fleeing London, thinking the exact same thing. He rebuilt himself into something even more formidable. Eleanor, on the other hand, seems to want to take this opportunity to get out. What’s the difference? Eleanor still has a husband and future child to cling to. Flint lost the lover/partner that made getting out seem possible.
Mrs. Hudson says she is fond of Eleanor and wants to protect her, and my heart is dead!! Has anyone ever truly wanted to take care of Eleanor in a way that was this unselfish? I think this is the closest Eleanor has ever been to a mother’s love.
Anne’s fight!!! Oh my God, it’s awful to watch, but wow, is she the very epitome of tenacity. There is no way she should win this fight, but she’s smart and determined and holy shit. Honorable mention goes to Jack who fears very much for her but chooses to trust that she is capable.
Max brings up “a reform-minded man” who takes prisoners from wealthy families in England and puts them to comfortable work out of sight, out of mind. Silver perks up, and SO DO I.
The whole scene between Flint and Silver watching the prisoner exchange is SO GOOD. Silver, against all my assumptions, confesses to Flint what Billy said about Madi. Their emotional honesty with each other is truly beautiful.
Silver: If we assume that we are on the verge of some impossible victory here, a truly significant thing, if we assume that is real and here for the taking, wouldn’t you trade it all to have Thomas Hamilton back again? Flint: I think it he knew how close we were to the victory he gave his life to achieve he wouldn’t want me to. Silver: I see. Though, that wasn’t really what I asked, was it? Assume his father was just as dark as you say, but was unable to murder his own son. Assume he found a way to secret Thomas away from London – Flint: He didn’t. Silver: Would you trade this war to make it so? It is some kind of hell to be forced to choose one irreplaceable thing over another.
Flint’s eyes and mouth get all twitchy talking about Thomas, and I AM DEAD.
I love Partners Flint and Silver a lot, but I love a little bit of manipulation between them even more. I can’t help but feel like Silver is bringing Thomas up mostly as a way to even the emotional playing field between them. He feels weakened by the revelation of Madi being his vulnerability, and he wants to remind Flint that he has a vulnerability too.
Love the eye contact between Flint and Eleanor, and her deep nod as the fort’s door closes.
“Reprisals were visited upon our loved ones on the Edwards estate. Reprisals of the cruelest kind intended to instill fear, break spirits, reassert control. It did not have the intended effect.”
We learn that Julius’s plantation revolt was successful! I really love that we got to see slaves fighting back on their own, instead of always relying upon the help of predominantly white pirates (although I think I’ve already made my love for this partnership clear).
Madi is advised by the former slave from the Underhill estate (anyone know her name??) to “find a place you can protect, build a wall, and save who you can” like her mother. Everyone’s motivations and desires are becoming muddier! I both love it and hate it.
Max is pissed because everything she feared would happen HAS happened. When apologizing, Eleanor goes all the way back to episode two, apologizing for not leaving with Max when she offered. I love that she knows that this is the apology Max needs to hear most.
Woodes Rogers returns on The Revenge (thematic much?), and I feel nothing for his and Eleanor’s distant reunion.
Eleanor comes faces to face with Flint, and I feel EVERYTHING for their reunion.
Silver has come a long way in this show, but in this final scene, he is desperate and flailing where Flint and Eleanor are powerful and calm. As much as he wants to be a big dog, he has still not yet matched the major players of Nassau.
Flint says, “Trust me” to Silver. Will their partnership survive this disagreement?
Flint: Trust me. Me: OKAY.
Not done reliving the episode? Listen to Daphne and Liz’s podcast at Fathoms Deep!
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