Eva and Grace’s dynamic is so important to me. They’re in love platonically. Like, that’s not a common dynamic. She put the way he likes his coffee into the ship’s computer. He follows her around like a puppy. In the book, she cracks jokes with him and him only. She cares about his opinion. He was the only one she asked about the coma gene, wondering if it was worth it.
He’s her best friend, and she doesn’t even know it. They’re so close, that in the book, people think they’re sleeping together, and poor Grace is so confused because he thought that was his platonic work wife, wdym people think we’re sleeping together, that’s my person that I crack jokes with and then she glares at me because they’re not funny.
She’s softer with him than anybody else and is only ever vulnerable around him. We see in the movie, he’s the only one who ever gets her to smile, and sometimes even laugh, and then she serenades all of them, but mainly him, and he stares at her with those big, shiny eyes so lovingly, and she points at him when she sings, “everything’s gonna be alright”, and then she gives him those eyes, so loving.
And then she’s trying to stop herself from crying when she’s sending him away because, against her will, he’s become her person, and somewhere along the way, she’s become his, and they will have forever ended this relationship on bad terms, and nothing can fix that.
It’s a platonic tragedy. It’s a platonic love story. This is something we don’t get often, or, like, ever, and it’s deep and it’s tragic and it’s sad.
But even after, Eva’s still taking care of him. Packing clothes she knew would bring him comfort. Programming the ship to know how he likes his coffee. And Grace is still watching out for her, speaking to her directly in his video logs, with that same lopsided smile he used to throw her way.
He uses Rocky’s sign for goodbye, and she uses it back, and how did this book and movie give us such a deep platonic friendship because, guys, this NEVER HAPPENS.
Eva and Grace, the platonic male/female friendship of all time.
Been ubering to work every day until im done with training (and then they'll transfer me to a store closer to me), and every Uber driver is like some new flavor of southern, and every morning I learn about some new genre of Christian music.
I've been talking recently to cis lesbians who are resentful over what they perceive as the wider queer community "celebrating the trans women who fought for gay rights" while "ignoring the lesbians who cared for gay men dying of AIDS". And, yeah, while there is definitely a strong element of "AMAB privilege 🙄" TERFism going on there (along with an implicit refusal to allow that a lesbian caring for a gay man in the 80s could herself be trans) I also think there's a complete ignorance of the material nature of oppression.
Example: There is a queer book club where I live, run by a cis lesbian and a cis gay man. They march at Pride with a big banner that says "Trans Rights Now" while wearing "Protect the Dolls" T-shirts. To a neutral observer, these seem like people who are really pro-trans and specifically pro-trans women, and even more specifically pro-Black and Latina trans women right?
But you will also notice that there are no trans or non-white people marching in their group at Pride. You'll notice that there are zero trans women who attend the book club meetings. You'll notice that, in the past 18 months (I've checked) at the queer book club where they wear T-shirts with a slogan about Black and Latina trans women, they have read zero books by trans women and zero books about trans women and zero books by Black people and zero books about Black people and one book about a Latina (but written by a white person).
And you'll notice that they recently arranged a group trip to a lecture by an "LGB activist" which took place in a venue with an AGAB toilet policy (which is *not* a legal requirement where I live). And if you talk to the few trans women who have been to this book club in the past, you'll hear about how they were ignored, spoken over, misgendered, belittled, how the gay men seemed to hate them but the lesbians also seemed to hate them and the transmascs also seemed to hate them and so they had to just sit on their own in a corner and they didn't go back a second time.
And somehow you can be a cis lesbian at one of these book club meetings, who hears one of the organisers say something positive about something a trans woman did 50 years ago, and you will feel resentful that trans women are taking up too much space compared to cis lesbians. Even though you're at a queer group which is nearly half cis lesbians, that's co-run by a cis lesbian, reading a book by a cis lesbian about a group of cis lesbians.
And you haven't even noticed that there are zero trans women at this group, or that you've never read a book by or about a trans woman. And if a trans woman did happen to show up, you'd feel that she was taking up too much space by trying to talk to you, so you'd ignore and isolate her and she wouldn't come back.
And as a trans woman who has historically given this book club far too many second chances, I would happily trade you all the vague positivity of pro-trans slogans from cis "allies" who will never actually do anything material to help me, for the actual material privileges you have over me that you are not even aware you have.
ID: Oldschool RPG styled drawing of a treasure chest in a decorative frame, with the text: "The treasure is open at last" and three action options: 1. Examine the loot, 2. Tell your friends, 3. Get the goods. The treasure chest has been opened and shows the covers of 3 different issues of the World Beyond zine sticking out the top of the treasure chest with glowing light around them.
you've found ancient treasure!
for the last couple weeks of our preorders, the World Beyond transmasc zine team is offering a chance to dig up old issues of the zine with a limited time bundle!
✨ pick up our latest fantasy edition, plus the horror and sci-fi zines of olde ✨
more info below the cut
ABOUT THE ZINES
ID 1: The World Beyond the Station cover, featuring a transmasc android working on a custom chest piece that would literally replace someone's chest--a more futuristic version of top surgery with hot-swappable body parts.
ID 2: The World Beyond the Veil zine cover, with a transmasc person sleeping fitfully on a grungy couch while an eerie figure watches them from behind the couch, and a spooky hand reaches to grab their foot from below.
ID 3: The World Beyond the Wand zine cover, featuring a transmasc fantasy rock band consisting of an elf on guitar, an orc on drums, and a satyr lead singer rocking out.
the World Beyond our Station, our sci-fi themed inaugural issue, features 50 transmasc artists and writers with around 100 pages of content exploring where we'd be if we could move not just beyond the circumstances of our birth, but past the stars--beyond our wildest dreams!
our second issue, the World Beyond the Veil, features 54 contributors across another 100 pages of content--this time exploring transmasculinity through a horror lens--whether the body horror of trans experience, reclamation of our so-called monstrousness, or grappling with the world around us.
and of course, the current issue at the center of our preorders is the World Beyond the Wand, the fantasy-themed zine we've been hyping up since last month--and you can choose whether you'd like to get this newest zine as a zine alone, or with the accompanying merch and adult side zine!
HOW TO ORDER
two bundles will be available starting today:
the Treasure Trove bundle ($35+), featuring the full World Beyond the Wand bundle (main zine, side zine, merch) plus digital PDFs of both prior zines
the Archive bundle ($25+), featuring digital PDFs of all three zines (no side zine/merch)
IF YOU ALREADY ORDERED A ZINE OR BUNDLE
and want to add our classic issues to your collection, you can do so for just $10 added fee for 200 pages of art and writing!
✨ please order add-ons via email at worldbeyond.zine (at) gmail so we can locate your order and keep things organized! ✨
more info about the World Beyond the Wand HERE || order HERE
we hope you'll enjoy getting a glimpse into the archives of our past editions, and as always, please reach out if you have any questions and we'll do our best to answer them!
germansingergirl
andulkaphoto
blakekathryn
vaporwave
turnnoffyourmind
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