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Alternate Genders

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Julian Vivian Bond

QSFer John Allenson has today’s discussion topic: “Have we ever discussed writting gender past male/female binaries? The Andorians in Star Trek have four genders. Alien Nation had three. The Left Hand of Darkness has androgens. How would we write alternate genders?” It’s an interesting question. My first real awakening in terms of a third gender came via the film “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”. Terrence Stamp’s character struck me as someone who wasn’t trying to be a man or a woman, but was truly embodying something different, someone who rejected binary gender norms. Justin Vivian Bond (pictured) is another well-known … Read more

Will Driverless Cars Give Us Motion Sickness?

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Motion Sickness

We’ve heard a lot of questions about what the future of driverless cars will bring, but here is a new one: What if this great advance in transportation technology makes us motion-sick? That’s a very likely possibility, argue Michael Sivak and Brandon Schoettle at the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute. Plenty of people — almost always passengers — already get motion-sick in cars. But Sivak and Schoettle point out in a new paper that driverless cars, by their very design, will contribute to three of the big factors that make our stomachs turn. The first is that we’re more … Read more

Falling For Your AI

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Her

Today’s topic comes from QSFer Tam Ames: “Virtual intelligence? AI? Have we discussed this? But could you have a romance between a human and software? Using virtual technology to have sex or communicate, but no physical body? Would we want to in the future? Could a good author really make readers believe it’s “real” romance?” So far tyhe best example I’ve seen of this is the movie “Her” – which very convincingly explored a near-future romance between what the movie called an “operating system” and a human. Downside – it was MF… LOL. So what do you think? I’ll defer … Read more

Announcement: Tracker, by Kethric Wilcox

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Tracker

QSFer Kethric Wilcox has a new paranormal book out: Once upon a time there was Beauty and there was the Beast. The spinners of tales would have you believe these two fell in love and lived happily ever after. The spinners lied! The Beast was a shifter and Beauty became a huntress and founded a long line of huntresses aided by the power of silver magic. Kieran Belle is a descendant of the House of Beauty and a tracker who longs to live a life free of killing shifters. Aided by his father he escapes to college in Little Rock, … Read more

Gay Superheroes

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Stripling Warrior

Let’s check out the Superman/Batman end of the sci fi pool today. When I was in my early teens, I started collecting comic books, and I was fascinated by Superman – good looking guy, great muscles, and really good inside too. But in my wildest youth fantasies, I couldn’t have imagined a gay superhero at the time. But now they’re popping out all over – and not just gay ones – lesbian, bisexual – maybe even transgender. And just this morning I saw an article about a crowdfunding effort for a gay Mormon superhero (photo above)! So here are my … Read more

The Midweek Mingle: From the Horse’s Mouth

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Horse's Mouth

Last week, we talked about the Big Scary Barrier for including members of the QUILTBAG+ community in the SF/F community, and right there at the end, I put it on content creators (myself included) to create more diverse characters. By doing that, there’s more for someone queer to latch onto, and that will make that person feel more welcome. But that raises the big question: how? The easy answer would be for QUILTBAG+ individuals to start creating more content, and we do see that happening more and more, both with new authors entering the field and established authors coming out … Read more

Announcement: In the Flesh, by Ethan Stone

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In the Glesh

DSPP author Ethan Stone has a new Mystery/Suspense book out: Reno Detective Cristian Flesh is an out and unashamed cop, but his slutty ways might be his downfall. Christian lives by a strict set of personal rules, preferring hook-ups and anonymous encounters to committed relationships. His guidelines work for him… until one of his tricks is murdered and he becomes the prime suspect. Leave it to handsome lawyer Colby Maddox to save Christian’s life. He takes the case and the attraction between them is quick and undeniable. After several passion-filled encounters with Colby, Christian unexpectedly wants to break all his … Read more

Fantasy and Sexual Orientation

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Today’s topic comes from QSFer Elizabeth Barrette: “Fantasy is most prone to hardwired polarity issues. How do you feel about settings where people “must” be in a specific type of sexual pairing because other kinds tangle up the power flows? Or magical artifacts attuned to a specific sex/gender? And then how do people cope with those parameters? Do they simply accept that, or do they try to change it? Do those efforts cause problems or open up whole new fields of magic? “I just did a poem where an artifact responded to a trans character’s innate identity rather than physical … Read more

The Subversive Queer

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Catch 22

Catch 22: (Definition from Urban Dictionary): ‘A requirement that cannot be met until a prerequisite requirement is met, however, the prerequisite cannot be obtained until the original requirement is met.’ And there, dear reader, is the crux of what it is to be queer in the contemporary worlds of literature, film and television. We, the Queers, have arrived. We are accepted and or tolerated by a large majority of the population. Outside of communities and countries ruled by religious fanatics, we walk side by side with our straight counterparts. While this acceptance is hardly universal, it is the norm in … Read more

Announcement: A Prince for a Kingdom, by Meg Harding

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A Prince for a Kingdom

MLR Press’s Meg Harding has a new Fantasy book out: Once a prince, now a slave, Adrian must struggle to readjust and survive in a world unknown to him. He’s got escape on the mind, but his new Master is proving to be a bit of a distraction. What happens when you find yourself falling for the elf who took everything from you? Magnus is over being overlooked and Prince Adrian is the key to all of his problems. He’s just a bit more than Magnus was expecting. Well, a lot more. Adrian is turning his entire world upside down … Read more