Who are neither Utterly Gay TM (option on Tragically Utterly Gay) nor Utterly Bisexual TM (option on Hedonistically Indiscriminately Utterly Bisexual).
>> I feel legit hesitant to attribute here-now sexual politics to a world that is so clearly not ours <<
That's a triumph of the world-building. Talking within the book, we can't use our terminology because it so clearly doesn't apply. Talking about the book as a book within our current politic landscape, though, I can be really ridiculously happy at the queer representation. And trans representation! NKJ made a point of that, and Binof is a well-written supporting character.
>> A THREESOME rather than a love triangle. THANK YOU. <<
And it's not even a perfectly-symmetrical threesome, where all the relationships are either (a) equally perfect or (b) equally fraught! It's sort of but not quite a V, with some of the characters in the trio leading on some matters and connecting more strongly on some topics, with outside obligations and relationships, and everyone being an individual. A+ for realism and for avoiding stereotyping and queering the default literacy construction of both functional and dysfunctional families (that family is neither functional nor dysfunctional in itself - it has the ingredients for either, but not the time to settle into functioning or fall apart on its own before the world intervenes and breaks it because dead people and running and betrayal and more dead people).
I'm so sick of love triangles I want to not read/watch most stuff with romantic love and/or sex. Which is a shame because I love complex character development and legit interpersonal conflict and opportunities for growth and models of successful and unsuccessful life choices within fiction. And I'd miss that if I went to entirely gen, friendship or problem-solving centered fiction or to nonfiction. Fortunately there is so much good stuff now accessible if you go digging that my real problem is forgetting to check back in with the mainstream and wave signal flags for Good Stuff Here. Unfortunately it's still buried in a mountain of things that aren't necessarily bad but are less thorough. NKJ basically said "F YOU" to ALL the sucky normative (subtly patriarchal/racist/etc) tropes in Sf&F and made the fans like it. I love her work so much.
no subject
Who are neither Utterly Gay TM (option on Tragically Utterly Gay) nor Utterly Bisexual TM (option on Hedonistically Indiscriminately Utterly Bisexual).
>> I feel legit hesitant to attribute here-now sexual politics to a world that is so clearly not ours <<
That's a triumph of the world-building. Talking within the book, we can't use our terminology because it so clearly doesn't apply. Talking about the book as a book within our current politic landscape, though, I can be really ridiculously happy at the queer representation. And trans representation! NKJ made a point of that, and Binof is a well-written supporting character.
>> A THREESOME rather than a love triangle. THANK YOU. <<
And it's not even a perfectly-symmetrical threesome, where all the relationships are either (a) equally perfect or (b) equally fraught! It's sort of but not quite a V, with some of the characters in the trio leading on some matters and connecting more strongly on some topics, with outside obligations and relationships, and everyone being an individual. A+ for realism and for avoiding stereotyping and queering the default literacy construction of both functional and dysfunctional families (that family is neither functional nor dysfunctional in itself - it has the ingredients for either, but not the time to settle into functioning or fall apart on its own before the world intervenes and breaks it because dead people and running and betrayal and more dead people).
I'm so sick of love triangles I want to not read/watch most stuff with romantic love and/or sex. Which is a shame because I love complex character development and legit interpersonal conflict and opportunities for growth and models of successful and unsuccessful life choices within fiction. And I'd miss that if I went to entirely gen, friendship or problem-solving centered fiction or to nonfiction. Fortunately there is so much good stuff now accessible if you go digging that my real problem is forgetting to check back in with the mainstream and wave signal flags for Good Stuff Here. Unfortunately it's still buried in a mountain of things that aren't necessarily bad but are less thorough. NKJ basically said "F YOU" to ALL the sucky normative (subtly patriarchal/racist/etc) tropes in Sf&F and made the fans like it. I love her work so much.