Andora Brokaw lives at a ski area in Washington state with her partners and an assortment of pets. When not writing, she’s likely to be found with a crochet hook in her hand or skis on her feet.
Magica Riot by Kara Buchanan, an explosion of trans positivity and punk-infused delight
If you ever thought Jem and the Holograms would have been better if it was more like Sailor Moon, or maybe if you thought Sailor Moon would be improved by the scouts forming a band, you’re predisposed to like Kara Buchanan’s setup for her debut novel, Magica Riot. And if you ever thought either of those properties would have benefited from being more open about their LGBTQ+ elements, you’re in serious luck.
The tagline for Magica Riot goes thusly:
Claire always wanted to be a girl. She never dreamed she’d be a magical girl.*
As this promises, the novel gives us two transitions, both of which are delivered early. One, Claire officially embraces being a trans woman. And in a less common experience, she gains the ability to transform into a magical girl in order to protect Portland from the forces of evil. Oh, and she joins a punk band. Lots of life changes for Claire in the opening.
Saturday Morning Cartoons level of FUN!
While a novel that leads with the MC coming out as trans could easily be a dramatic examination of learning to be yourself in a culture that’s likely to try to break you for it, Magica Riot avoids discussion of the more difficult aspects of transitioning in favor of providing simple, kickass empowerment. This is entirely by design; the author is trans and fully aware real life is never as easy as this. Claire’s experience is pretty much exactly what I wish the typical trans person went through rather than the ordeals so many actually face. Coming out to her best friend does result in gobsmacked disbelief, but that’s over the, “I joined a punk band,” part of the declaration, not the bit about, “I’m a woman and this is my new name.”
The members of Magica Riot have the common magical-transformation aspects of color coding and they-all-have-one-defining-difference going on. Claire becomes Riot Purple, keyboard player! This role comes with a special new keyboard to smash her enemies, both physically and with music-infused magic attacks. The other members are like this as well: one color and one instrument per magical girl. They’re all more complex than the format requires, however, and stand out from each other better than I expected out of the first book of a series while still having plenty of room to grow and become more detailed in later entries.
In addition to trans characters, this book features openly lesbian and pansexual characters. And…
Surprise PolyamorOUS REP!
It always makes me happy to see a positive portrayal of polyamory pop up without warning. In this case, it was courtesy of lead guitarist Cass casually tossing out, “I’m in a polycule with two girls and a guy, and I was sure none of them would go for me.” What??? You’re the bomb, Cass! They’d have to not be into women to not go for you, and they clearly are. But, yay for working that in there without it being any big deal.
Servants of the darkness, be silenced by the song ofMagica Riot!
The author has said she’d love to see Magica Riot as an anime, and I am completely with her on that. I’d go so far as to say my biggest regret reading the book is that this isn’t a format that allows me to hear the band perform. Although some of that can be addressed by listening to the author’s band. Because, yes, this isn’t just own-voices trans; it’s also own-voices punk rocker! They’re called The Crystal Furs and remind me of Blondie, or, yes, a female version of the Psychedelic Furs.
In conclusion
Read this book if you…
Want to have fun.
Like seeing people find happiness.
Believe in accepting yourself and others.
Appreciate kickass girls in cute clothes.
Enjoy stories where good triumphs over evil.
Wish to support independent LGBTQ+ fiction.
Find it here!
If you’re on the fence, the first two chapters are available for free, and you can find more information about the book and where to buy it on its official website, https://magicariot.com
* Although one could easily argue ALL trans women are magic, most do not develop literal superpowers or experience showy transformation sequences while changing clothes. More’s the pity.
November 23rd has been designated as Polyamory Day to mark the anniversary of a court ruling in British Columbia establishing that Canada’s anti-polygamy laws do not apply to those in unformalized polyamorous relationships. Basically, it made clear that polyamorous households are legal in Canada. It was a significant advancement for the polyamorous community even for those of us who are not Canadian.
Side note: What is the difference between polyamory and polygamy? The concept of polygamy applies only to marriages and comes with a history of negative connotations for many. Polygamy as historically practiced typically involved the sort of uneven harem nonsense I’ve ranted against before: one man and however many wives he wants, none of whom are allowed to be intimate with other people. As established previously, this is not healthy polyamory.
In my fantasy world, Faereen, polyamory is the social norm. Because why not write a world that’s closer to what I want mine to be? Monogamous people do exist, but although society has progressed past the point of labeling the desire for monogamy as a mental illness, less educated strangers will frequently make negative assumptions about those desiring “couple-obsession.” It is the monogamous who need to mention, “I’m this and it isn’t negotiable,” on their dating profiles. There is a general attitude of, “You do you; just don’t try to involve me in your weirdness.”
The concept of marriage exists on Faereen, and since it is approached from an angle where it’s normal to have multiple partners, it doesn’t involve a limited number of spouses. People enter devotions with two to however many people who consent to it. The catch is that all of these people need to agree to all of the others being in the devotion and having associated powers over them even if they don’t all have sexual relationships with each other. Most devotions have four or fewer members, but one of my characters is a devotion of six. Much more than that, and you risk someone basing a comedy on you. (See the tangent this sent my mind on below)
It’s also possible to have legally recognized partners outside of a devotion. This would be people with some of the rights we think of spouses having, but not all of them. They would be allowed into their partner’s hospital room even while visitation is limited to family, but wouldn’t be allowed to determine if it’s time to remove the spells keeping their partner alive. (Yes, spells. Fantasy, remember?) They don’t automatically share property with each other, so terminating the contract is less of a bother than dividing assets in a divorce. These partners may be lovers, but it is also common for close friends or siblings to legally link themselves.
There is a growing sentiment that people should only have one or the other type of legal recognition due to the imbalance between devotion-mates and recognized-partners, but it remains popular to enter into both simultaneously.
New World Building (presented by Andy’s ADHD)
The classic sitcom Cheaper by the Dozen focused on a family of twelve spouses rather than a family with twelve kids like the similarly named intellectual property on Earth. It peaked in Season Three, which featured a season arc about trying to decide on a replacement couch. The arc culminated in a two-part episode of a capture-the-flag game with the winning team being allowed to purchase the furniture they’d picked out. The winners wound up deciding to screw the budget and get FOUR new couches in order to let every group get their pick. The hideously mismatched furnishings overcrowding the family’s sitting room are considered amongst the sweetest visuals in modern pop culture.
The weather has turned to autumn, which in my part of the world means we’re starting to flirt with freezing. In fact, there are several nights in the week’s forecast with lows that will hopefully frost the life out of the plants that have been doing their best to make me miserable over the last fortnight or so. So the days of having my windows open to cool the house with wind (we don’t have air-conditioning) are behind me this year. Which is good by me; I’m a winter spirit.
But an incident from the windy-times stands out in my head as I try not to be frustrated with myself this week. I was standing at my kitchen island seasoning potatoes. And every time I tried to sprinkle my chaotically crafted herbal blend (comprised of some of this, some of that, a bit more of this thing than I’d meant to put in, maybe some salt? etc) the wind gusted through the screen door, rushing its way towards the the open upstairs window and blowing my seasonings right at me.
Humans can be stubborn once they start a task, so I didn’t get a face full of things that were meant for potatoes only once. It happened at least three times before I realized I should close the dang door for a minute.
This relates to my problem with the entire first half of October. The wind isn’t blowing my spices everywhere except onto my food, but circumstances beyond my control are interfering with my productivity. (Content Warning: The follow may count as a rant.)
First, there was worry about North Carolina. My mother’s from Spruce Pine, she had family members it took days to contact and relief was initially having to come in by helicopter because all of the roads were gone. Even sitting on the other side of the continent, it was distracting. A friend observed that being worried about people you know not surviving a natural disaster is a perfectly reasonable excuse for distraction, and he wasn’t wrong. But it was frustrating.
Then my body freaked out on me. I lose several days a month to the intensity of my periods, yet I act surprised and frustrated with myself over it every single cycle.
Then my allergies went into overdrive thanks to whatever it is that thinks its right to reproduce trumps my right to breath.
And now I’m experiencing fatigue, brain fog, and a multiday headache. Because menopause has meant I get to have a few days of that midcycle now. Gee, thanks, body.
And the house is a disaster. Which drains my energy further. And which is hard to do anything about when I’m already exhausted and hurting, and my partners are either busy or also struggling.
Basically the last few weeks have been nonstop things I didn’t ask for draining my energy to the point that when I do get work on my novels done, it’s slow and laborious. Toss in the detail that I’m suffering from a lack of focus due to the detailed feedback my partner was supposed to give me on the draft I was *supposed* to spend this month working on still not being something I possess, because she’s also having health nonsense and focus issues going on… It would be stranger if I felt like I *had* accomplished anything.
So, yeah. I haven’t been productive this month. I’m frustrated with myself. And listing the legitimate challenges that have contributed to the situation makes me feel like I’m whining and creating excuses, that I need to just shut up and get things done. And THAT goes back to a lot of baggage and unhealthy messaging from childhood that I’m not going to delve into now.
I’m pretty sure I need to close the dang window. I just can’t figure out which one is open.
Searches for polyamorous romantasy novels are frequently overwhelmed by erotica and unhealthy harem stories. To help with that, I’m starting a series on polyamorous romantasies I’ve enjoyed. If you have any recommendations, please feel free to contact me on one of the social links over in the sidebar or by commenting here. (Note: I prefer closed door sex over explicit scenes, but can handle a little bit of graphic detail provided it isn’t one of the primary focuses of the work.)
First up, I’d like to present an adorably sweet pair of triad romances by L. Rowyn. These books are set in the same fantasy world and there are characters who appear in both. They stand alone, but I recommend you read them in order. (Although if you’re only going to read one of them, I actually preferred the second.)
Both books feature positive pan/bisexual representation, respectfully handled neurodiversity, and trans-positive messaging. Their themes are about being true to oneself, helping others be true to themselves, and the importance of respect and communication with those you love.
They both contain brief sex scenes, but are for the most part sweet romances.
The Princess, Her Dragon, and Their Princestarts out with a bang as a princess must help her people flee a dragon who has decided to conquer her kingdom. No, not the dragon from the title. That dragon has been peacefully living in the woods outside the castle for some time now and is madly in love with the princess, whom she helps escape.
This princess isn’t the type to hide in a tower and wait for her fate. Seeing a chance to gain parental approval to marry her girlfriend, she talks her parents into offering her hand in marriage to whomever slays the usurper and sets about planning to make sure it’s her beloved who manages it. There’s a slight complication, though: they need help from a childhood friend who would very much like to claim that prize himself. Lucky for the three of them, this isn’t the kind of romantic triangle where one person gets left sad and lonely, but getting to a happy ending involves overcoming a lot of assumptions, expressing a ton of honesty, and summoning no small amount of bravery.
(Note:The Mortal Prince and the Moon Etherium is a prequel novelette of 15,000 words about the prince’s journey to affirming his gender identity. It adds depth to his backstory but isn’t required to understand his character.)
The Lord, His Monster, and Their Lady takes place after the events of the first book and follows a minor character from that one. This is a book for anyone who ever read a Regency Gothic novel and thought it would be better with polyamory, magic, and queerness. When a sweet young noblewoman from a disgraced house marries a lord who’s haunted by his past, she’s instantly drawn into a number of mysteries. First and foremost, what happened to his previous wife? Is it related to whatever he gets up to in the part of the house neither she nor the servants are allowed to enter? And what is the deal with the intense, and extremely attractive, antlered man who was once his friend?
L. Rowyn has written other polyamorous stories that I’ll talk about later, but if you want to learn more about them or their author, you can check out her website at https://ladyrowyn.com/.
