Ghostcwtch

You get the whole walk cycle and the little sprint at the end.

Sometimes her sprints last for like 4 or 5 seconds and she can shoot herself off the couch or into a wall if she gets a grip with her back claws. If she does it next to a wall, her head smacking into it sounds like someone is trying to break into the house. She doesn't wake up.

Beyond - Moana 2

“Cowbook! Like cowboy! No…Readcher? Like Rancher? No, fuck this is hard…”

But what if the Eridians hear it very, very differently?

Eridians kind of ARE rocks, in more than one way, aren't they? Their outer appearance resembles rocks; and (this might be fanon, I don't recall right now) their *brains* are crystalline structures. They hatch from eggs that probably look like rocks. The environment they live in presumably contains rocks.

What if Eridians view rocks in a kind of reverent, aspirational way? Like "For rocks you are, and to rocks you shall return" but with less of a dismissive/humble tone and more of a "we are fundamental building blocks of reality in every form we take" thing.

And then Rocky is explaining to Eridian linguists who are studying Grace's English what his "human name" means, in English, and the linguists are giving him scandalized side-eye and going "So you met an alien and you told him that THAT was your name? [Wow, what kind of arrogant prick would do that?]" And Rocky is like, "no no nonono, I absolutely did not tell him that was my name. I gave him my real name! Grace picked that name for me, he didn't even ask me for suggestions, I had nothing to do with it! It was like right after we first met properly -- it didn't seem like he even had to think very hard about it."

The linguists question Grace about his reasoning, of course, and Grace is a little embarrassed because he thinks this is a "haha our human is bad at naming things, he found a Tau Ceti amoeba and named it Taumoeba, silly human!"

(Also, he does not want this to end up leading to a movie night where the first movie he has to show a bunch of ALIEN LINGUISTS is Rocky. Just seems like kind of a genre-mismatch, right? And Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire is *right there*. Or he could pick some movie that showcases a bunch of different real human languages really well, or... Something that's not a sports drama film.)

So he brushes it off a little, saying something like "Well, sure, it wasn't hard for me to decide to call him Rocky. I mean, it's kind of the obvious choice, yeah?"

And the thing is. It's established knowledge now that all humans can perceive things that Eridians can't perceive. It's not even like superstitious "ooh spooky aliens" woo-woo. Respected, credentialed Eridian biologists have confirmed that humans have *actual, physical organs* that let them detect phenomena that Eridians cannot detect.

It's that time of year again! Here are 5 of the best queer books I've read since the last time we celebrated Pride Month together.

These aren't necessarily new books (though some are!), just books that I read in the last 12 months and thought were swell. Maybe you'll like them, too!

The Summer War by Naomi Novik @naominovik (m/m rep)

If you like classic fairy tales that feature clever protagonists outwitting the fae, you'll like this novella. It's about a young girl who discovers she's inherited some magical ability when she accidentally curses her brother to never find love.

Cinder House by Freya Marske @fahye (polyamorous, bi rep)

Content warning for abusive family My new favorite Cinderella retelling. Being a novella, the story is told quite efficiently, trusting the reader to follow along without spelling out every single thing, and still fitting in some excellent world-building. It's a familiar story with vibrant characters you'll miss when it's done.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers (nonbinary rep)

A lovely, gentle sci-fi solarpunk novella that feels like a hug, perfect for when you need to slow down. The main character, Dex, leaves the city in search of meaning and stumbles across a sentient robot of the type that has not been seen since the days of 'oil roads' and factories. The world building is deft with just the right amount of detail. Make sure you have the sequel, A Prayer for the Crown Shy, on hand - you'll want more.

The Cemeteries of Amalo by Katherine Addison (m/m rep)

This is a sequel series to The Goblin Emperor; if you enjoyed that book you'll find more to love here. This trilogy (start with The Witness for the Dead if you've already read The Goblin Emperor) follows Thara Celehar as he gets into a truly improbably amount of trouble for such an unassuming prelate. Murders, opera, airships, ghosts, and a distinct preoccupation with wearing the correct coat for the occasion; what more could you want?

Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs to Die by Greer Stothers @pangur-and-grim (m/m rep, general pervasive queerness)

Content warning for amputation and some gore This is a tricky one to categorize, but it's queer, it's fun (content warning notwithstanding), it's fresh, and if you've ever read anything else like it drop the title because I want to know about it.

Sir Cameron is prophesied to die and end the reign of terror of the evil mage. Naturally, Sir Cameron would rather that first part not happen and so, reasoning that there is at least one other person in agreement with that sentiment, throws himself upon the dubious mercy of said mage. Hijinks ensue.

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And that's this year's list! Of course, there are MANY more queer books worth reading. Here's our LGBTQ Reads tag if you need your TBR to be even longer. Enjoy!