Me: I want to help Sugary Carousel, one of the many small businesses hurt by the inane and unprecedentedly high tariffs recently inflicted upon the US by the megalomaniac in the White House.
Ko-fi: The artist behind their cuteness opened commissions for just that reason!
Me: (hands over money as fast as a human can) Please draw me a winged ferret in a purple and yellow color scheme?
Sugary Carousel: Here you go!
Me: Squee! I have a picture of a zymra!
Zymra: What am I? I appear to be a winged-ferret-like-something?
Me: That’s exactly what you are!
Zymra: Okay… That’s a thing in your books, is it?
Me: Yep! Main Character Yuri has two pet zymrae (In Ashereek, you make nouns that end in ‘a’ plural by adding an ‘e’ at the end). But they’re black and white.
Zymra: Noticing I’m not those colors…
Me: That’s because you are a special zymra! YOU are a political statement.
Zymra: Uh…
Me: The statement is ‘Democracy is good and we deserve more of it!’ with connotations of ‘Down with fascism!’ and ‘Don’t be a racist!’
Zymra: I’m okay with that.
Me: I figured you would be.
Zymra: What about me states all that though?
Me: It’s a little complicated. But basically, you’re the symbol of the Yskies, a movement to bring democratic representation to an area that currently lacks it. Think DC, except it’s the size of a large state, the reason for it being unrepresented goes back to a state marriage a thousand years ago, and a marginalized demographic despised by many in power is heavily represented there. Uh… Noticing that last one isn’t a way it differs from DC… But moving on…
Zymra: That’s a lot. I was hoping I was just something cute…
Me: You ARE cute! I can see you as a plushie in the in-book toy store. Although this drawing of you is incredibly close to what I think some of the protest graffiti that pops up around Niaretya looks like.
Zymra: I’m still a little confused. I thought the books were romances? Now you’re saying they’re political?
Me: They are predominantly romances. But there are Yskie plotlines in both of the first two books, and likely the third. I’ll know for sure when I outline Book 3.
Zymra: How important are the politics?
Me: Moderately? Multiple characters directly impact the Yskie organization and its goals. And the Yskies’ public-transit-closing protests are a repeated frustration in Book 1. Less so in Book 2, but mostly because there isn’t anyone commuting into Niaretya like Yuri does in the first one. But also (mumbles) …spoilers… (/mumbles).
Zymra: Will MAGA consider these plotlines leftist propaganda?
Me: Oh, honey… The MAGA crowd won’t make it through the cover material before screaming, “It’s woke! Get it away from me!” It implies Maggie shouldn’t have been deported AND mentions two men in love with each other AND makes it clear the story is polyamorous. But, yeah, the political plotlines assume agreement with the concept of democracy being a good thing, so… They may be offensive to some of MAGA.
Zymra: Oddly enough, I’m okay with that.
Me: Me too.
