Favorite Quotes

[Tungro]

"Numismatics is a science, worthy of searching for, preserving and passing on to posterity these tangible links to those gone before us." ~ Kevin McGonigal

[Jetthebinturong]

"Y'know, Howard had been in speech therapy. He'd just got over this massive stammer. I mean what an achievement, can you imagine? I'd forgotten not all victories are about saving the world."
~ Rory Williams, Doctor Who: Series 6, Episode 11: The God Complex

long

For most of us, just existing means having to constantly defend ourselves. Not necessarily from outright attacks or vitriol, but from the assumption that anything other than "straight" is an anomaly. That we are the outliers. That in order to find the most basic human needs of love and acceptance, we must be willing to share what society believes sets us apart. It's a vulnerability that is often taken for granted.

And that's why I wrote Runebinder.

I'm done writing books where it's assumed the protagonist and supporting cast are straight. I'm done writing about queer sexuality as though it's something that must be explained or justified. Don't get me wrong—"issue" books concerning sexuality and coming out are so, so important and always will be. But I think (I hope) we're moving past that point as a culture.

We're learning that sexuality is a spectrum. That we define sexuality and gender—they don't necessarily define us unless we want them to.
When I wrote Runebinder, I wanted to code queer—to write a world where the reader is brought to assume everyone is queer unless told differently. The protagonist Tenn never comes out. He never says "I identify as X" in order to make the friends or save the world or get the guy. And yeah, that's a fantasy world, but he also uses magic to hunt down humanoid monsters, so let's not get too caught up in what's realistic. When I wrote the first draft ten years ago, it was unheard of to have a gay protagonist in a fantasy story. It makes me incredibly happy to see that tide turning, especially in YA fiction. More and more fantastic writers are creating worlds where everyone is a little bit queer, where sexuality is a spectrum and the discussion fluid.

We don't need to be justified to exist, to have a story worth sharing, or to be on the page. We can be. We can breathe. We can exist and see ourselves without having to define who we are, on or off the page. And that, I think, is a powerful message to queer and straight readers alike.

We've been around forever.

We aren't going anywhere.

We have always been the heroes of our own stories.

And now, we get to share them with the world.

[close]

~ Alex R. Kahler

[Sebias of Redwall]

"Never trust a duck" - Will Herondale, in Clockwork Angel

"I can do this all day." — Steve Rogers, Captain America

"Whatever happens tomorrow you must promise me one thing. That you will stay who you are. Not a perfect soldier, but a good man." — Dr. Erskine, Captain America

"I love you 3000." - Iron Man, Endgame.

[Booklover]

By the way, 'Never trust a duck' was said by Will Herondale, in Clockwork Angel.

[Sebias of Redwall]

By the way, 'Never trust a duck' was said by Will Herondale, in Clockwork Angel.

Thanks.   

"I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something."

There's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting for." ~ Sam Gamgee ~

[Thanquol]

"I am the emperor. King among kings. I have trampled more beneath than any other in this world. I am the one and only fundamental in this world of filth. To take that from me, it must be paid for in blood. Even if it be by god come down to earth, there is no escaping this fact! No... With my own blood-soaked clutch, I will grasp and desecrate god!"

-Emperor Ganishka

[Verdauga]

"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings! Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair!
......
....Nothing beside remains...." ~from Ozymandias, by Percy Shelley.

[Ebantu the Kararehe]

"I am not ashamed of loving him. There's nothing wrong with loving someone; it's hating, that's the problem." -Shaharazad, Shadow Spinner
(this isn't the exact wording)

[shisteer of nothing much]

"Shoot. This is not good." (from a very secretive source that cannot be revealed to the lesser order)

[Booklover]

"Dam."

[shisteer of nothing much]

"If you wish to accomplish anything in life, do it while eating ice-cream."

[Ebantu the Kararehe]

"I came for a purpose, and I left for a reason." Main character of 'Seven daughters, seven sons'. (I can't remember her name)

[Thanquol]

" I was a horror; amongst horrors must I dwell."

-Tales of the Black Freighter

[shisteer of nothing much]

"I came for a purpose, and I left for a reason." Main character of 'Seven daughters, seven sons'. (I can't remember her name)

Her name's Buran.

[Thanquol]

"It don't matter squat because inside thirty years the nukes are gonna be flyin' like maybugs...and then Ozzy here is gonna be the smartest man on the cinder."

-Edward Blake/The Comedian