Entry 2: Star Wars, but Make It Gay
Queerness in Ronin
I offered Twitter a choice of newsletter topic and the favorite by a country mile was "Queerness in Ronin" -- which, cool! Unfortunately, it turns out I have a LOT of thoughts! Oh no! There's the intersection of marginalized identity with major franchises; my personal relationship with writing queerness into my work; interpreting queerness in a secondary world (especially when you cleave close to a culture of origin)...
But I think the most specific version of this letter focuses on how queerness actually manifests within the book in question. Et voila.
This will be spoiler-lite; I'll establish character premise but conceal character trajectory and secrets. Anything that gets a bit too deep into spoiler territory will be encoded via rot13. You'll be able to copy-paste the encoded section and see it automatically translated on the linked site.
A General Note
I have largely avoided explicitly labeling any character's queerness in Ronin because I simply didn't have the space or time to suss out how that identity functions within the Ronin universe. I also want to leave readers the room to indulge in their own interpretations. The characters listed below are also the ones I purposefully wrote through a queer lens, but if you've found yourself reading a character not mentioned here through that lens as well, by all means, enjoy.
The Big Man Himself
I knew early on that I wanted to write the Ronin as a queer character. A lot of that comes from who I am as a writer, i.e., a queer person who likes to write queerly; some of it comes from how it immediately struck me as interesting and worthwhile to write a character in his Big Grim Swordsman archetype through a queer lens; some of it comes from how well his personal story ended up aligning with the experience of seeming to fit norms while in truth feeling intense friction with the related expectations of those norms.
He is also, in a number of ways, a figure defined by a tendency toward intense connection. What we know about his past comes down to that [SPOILERS -- see rot13] ur cresbezrq nqzvenoyl, sbe n puvyq gnxra vagb gur Wrqv pynaf, fb zhpu fb gung ur jnf ordhrngurq gur cbjre naq erfcbafvovyvgl bs n oynqr. Jvgu gung, ur jnf tenagrq cbjre bire crbcyr, uvf Wrqv thneqvnaf--gur crbcyr sbe jubz ur hygvzngryl orgenlrq uvf ybeq naq gur pynaf. Nzbat gubfr thneqvnaf jnf gur jbzna jub orpnzr xabja nf gur jvgpu, jubz ur ybirq naq yrq gur eroryyvba orfvqr.[/spoilers]
Yet by the time we meet him, he's forsaken all these bonds, denying himself even the possibility of emotional intimacy. All the same, when that intimacy is unambiguously offered to him, he is nigh incapable of resisting it. (What I'm saying is that of course he's a giant pansexual disaster.)
The Foil
The Traveler is pretty obviously partly inspired by kitsune. Their ambiguous intent and playful affect both stem from the trickster fox, as does their gender identity. In Japanese folklore, kitsune are illusionists and shapeshifters, and they famously masquerade as beautiful young women to lure the foolish into marriage (and possibly possession; the goal varies; they might just be looking for a nice partner). But kitsune may also portray themselves as men, and the same kitsune may take on various gender presentations as their interest takes them. Given that, I knew the Traveler was going to be either genderfluid or nonbinary, and I landed on the latter because of how well it resonated with their overall role in the story.
Relatedly, I got an interesting ask on Tumblr re: the Traveler's species, given a certain moment [SPOILERS -- see rot13]:
Jura gur Ebava svefg frrf gur Geniryre'f snpr va gur tenirlneq tebggb bs Frvxnen, ur abgrf gurl'er abg uhzna ohg qbrfa'g erpbtavmr gurve fcrpvrf. Guvf cynlf vagb gur fnzr birenepuvat gurzr jvgu gur punenpgre: Gurl ner n jryy bs vagrecergngvir cbffvovyvgl. Gur bayl zrnavatshyyl gehr guvatf nalbar jvyy yrnea nobhg gurz ner guvatf gurl yrnea guebhtu rfgnoyvfuvat rzbgvbany vagvznpl naq gehfg.[/spoilers]
Less spoilery, but related: I have a sense that the Traveler's culture of origin (or at least what they received through their upbringing) doesn't really have established space for third gender identity. They've had to carve out their sense of self on their own. This independent space unto themselves is, again, in keeping with their overall role in the story.
The Bandit
I have tried to explain my attachment to Scary Sith Ladies and landed somewhere between "I like that they're rude" and "Ralph Wiggums I'm in danger.gif" There's something about the sneering disinterest in being nice that I just delight in. I also find myself reading queerness onto Scary Sith Ladies in general, perhaps because of that wonderful space they occupy between high femme presentation (because they're so often oddly obligated to balance their scariness with femininity) and their aggressive disdain for every man on screen, whether he's her enemy or her ally.
I just really wanted a Scary Sith Lady who was also, on the page, actually queer.
Granted, I didn't say it explicitly, but enough people have picked up on [SPOILERS -- see rot13] gur grafvba orgjrra Xbheh naq Rxvln gung V'ir orra...qrrcyl, gehyl qryvtugrq. V chg vg gurer ba checbfr, naq V yrsg vg xvaq bs bcra-raqrq orpnhfr V jnfa'g pbaivaprq gung gurl'q rnearq nalguvat zber guna gurl unir ol gur raq bs gur obbx.[/spoilers] But it is there, at least by intent.
The Pilot
I wrote Ekiya for kid me -- the little gender-nonconforming kid devouring Star Wars books in the library, playing Rebels vs. Imperials in the woods with a cabal of boys, and trying to explain the intricacies of the EU to the girls at school. I was especially drawn to pilots and to normies, especially the one who bound a group together by the power of their determined compassion. As an adult, I see queerness in this archetype as well.
Ekiya is also drawn from queer friends who I dearly love and admire, who pursue safety, comfort, and happiness for those they've chosen to shelter. She is that butch-of-center force for good who puts her work before her words, and who all too frequently forgets that she deserves goodness too.
I knew from the beginning that [SPOILERS -- see rot13]fur jbhyq or Xbheh'f znva cbvag bs pbaarpgvba jvgu gur erfg bs gur pnfg. V qvqa'g arprffnevyl rkcrpg gung gurve eryngvbafuvc jbhyq unir gur purzvfgel vg qvq, ohg V'z abg ragveryl fhecevfrq rvgure. Rxvln unf gur tebhaqrq frafr gb phg guebhtu nyy bs Xbheh'f znavp vagrafvgl, naq Xbheh'f yngrag penivat sbe pbaarpgvba vf ubarfgyl whfg jung Rxvln qrfreirf ng guvf cbvag va ure yvsr -- fbzrbar jvyyvat gb qribgr gurzfryirf gb URE qrfverf.[/spoilers]
The Kid
Yuehiro came as a bit of a surprise in multiple ways. He wasn't in the initial outline, and I didn't expect him to play such a consistent role throughout the work. But in the end, he was vital. His insights, his questions, his concerns--they compel the adults in the room to actually reflect on their actions (or fail to...)
His transness, meanwhile, is simply a fact about his experience, though the way those various adults interact with his identity DOES shed light on their own character. [SPOILERS -- see rot13]Fhcresvpvnyyl, vg gvrf uvz gb gur Geniryre, Unaenv'f byq ncceragvpr, jub V guvax nyfb qvqa'g ernyyl pbzr vagb gurve vqragvgl hagvy gurl jrer fghqlvat haqre Unaenv. Gurer'f n fhogyr fhttrfgvba urer. Unaenv haqrefgnaqf gung ur pna rnea gehfg naq yblnygl ol vaqhytvat na vaqvivqhny'f arrqf...naq gura qverpg gurz gb qb gur guvatf ur jvfurf gb unir qbar va gur jbeyq -- guvatf gung gur Geniryre hygvzngryl noubeerq. Gurer'f n ernfba gurl ernpg fb artngviryl jura Unaenv yvxraf Lhruveb gb gurz.
Pbairefryl, jura Lhruveb vagresnprf jvgu Rxvln, fur obgu fhccbegf uvf arrqf NAQ rkcyvpvgyl, ibpvsrebhfyl cebgrpgf uvf fgnghf nf n XVQ. Fur'f tbvat gb qb ure orfg gb rafher ur'f nf unccl, urnygul, naq fnsr nf pna or, ab znggre jung ur jnagf gb qb jvgu uvf yvsr nsgre.[/spoilers]
Side note on dropping HRT into Star Wars: I added this line in a later draft because I anticipated people willfully misinterpreting the early line about Yuehiro's personally motivated name change + dormitory switch, and I wanted explicit shorthand for "the kid is trans, the end." It seems to have been personally validating for a number of people, though, and that, more than anything, has made me overwhelmingly glad to have slotted it in.
Author News
Well, the book's out! Aaahhh?? It hit a couple bestseller lists (USA Today, Publisher's Weekly), which I am being deliberately grateful for. I understand that Star Wars comes with its own audience, to an extent, but I also think I did my best, and that a number of people seem to have genuinely connected with the book. I couldn't ask for a better response than breathless analysis and/or glee, both of which I have received.
I continue to work on The Archive Undying. Writing Ronin gave me new insights and skills that I'm doing my best to bring to bear on this revision, especially with regard to clarity of emotional direction. I have also begun to procrastinate in a variety of ways, including writing extended Twitter threads. I'm linking them here for interest's sake, though I'm nursing plans to write expanded versions of several of them for this newsletter in the coming months.
The Internet and Selfhood (and taking care of the latter)
What Else I'm Up To
I have both Neon Yang's The Genesis of Misery (Joan of Arc a la space opera avec mechs) and Tamsyn Muir's Nona the Ninth (more sci-fi lesbian necromancers steeped in wit, mystery, and action) on my iPad. It is an act of will every day not to spend literally all of my time just curled up reading them instead of doing my day job, let alone revisions. Yang and Muir are two of my absolute favorite authors for adjacent reasons. They're both capable of such indulgently lush worlds with charismatic queer casts, and they can both make me laugh until I cry. They also prize iteration in story and exploration through language, and this satisfies my meta-loving brain like nothing else.
Campaign three of Critical Role started up a few weeks ago and it's simultaneously hilarious and intriguing. I love growing familiar enough with a storyteller that you start to recognize their ghosts. Meeting the new cast, sussing out what the players are interested in exploring this time around, studying how their DM has built the story around the secrets they've brought to the table... It's just GOOD.
(Also keep thinking abt how I might write either The Archive Undying or Ronin material for a TTRPG -- I've seen a number of people express a wish to explore the Ronin take on the Star Wars universe through either a pen & paper or video game lens and hey, me too! Ahhhh...)