Kip Manley's Blog, page 21

Just give me a couple more throws

It occurs to me that while I have revealed the cover of the forthcoming volume 4 to Patreons, and celebrated it on varyingly multitudinous social media platforms (Mastodon; Pixelfed; Bluesky), I actually haven’t placed it here, in the pages of this commonplace book. And so:

As a bonus for everyone here, I took one of those large language models out for a spin, prompting it with questions about that which I already knew. Here, for instance, is what it made of the relationship between the Duke and Orlando:

The relationship between Duke Leo Barganax and the Mooncalfe is a complicated and tragic one. They are both characters in the urban fantasy series City of Roses by Kip Manley, which is set in Portland, Oregon.

Duke Leo Barganax is a mysterious and powerful figure who claims to be the Duke of Southeast Portland. He is an ally of Ysabel Perry, the daughter of the King of Elfland and the Queen of the Seelie Court, who is bound by a geas to find her true name. He is also a former lover of the King of Elfland, who betrayed him and left him for dead.

The Mooncalfe is a mysterious and beautiful woman who appears in Leo’s dreams. She is actually a manifestation of the King of Elfland’s magic, sent to seduce and manipulate Leo. She pretends to be his true love and convinces him to help her escape from the King’s prison. However, she is actually working for the King and plans to betray Leo once again.

The relationship between Leo and the Mooncalfe is full of deception, passion, and violence. They have a twisted bond that transcends reality and dreams. They are both obsessed with each other, but also hate each other. They hurt each other physically and emotionally, but also crave each other’s touch. They are both victims and villains in their own story.

How disappointingly heteronormative. —I had it list some other characters:

Some other characters in City of Roses are:

Ysabel Perry: The daughter of the King of Elfland and the Queen of the Seelie Court, who is bound by a geas to find her true name. She is the one who hires Jo as her courier and protector.
Beaumont: A mysterious and powerful figure who claims to be the Duke of Southeast Portland. He is an ally of Ysabel and has a history with the King of Elfland.
Annie: Jo’s best friend and roommate, who works as a waitress at a diner. She is unaware of the magical world that Jo is involved in, but she is loyal and supportive of her friend.
Tommy: A young man who works as a bike messenger and has a crush on Jo. He is also a friend of Annie and often hangs out with them at their apartment.
The Gallowglas: A mysterious assassin who is hired by the King of Elfland to kill Ysabel. He is a master of disguise and uses various weapons and gadgets to pursue his target.
The Soames Twins: A pair of twins who are part of the Unseelie Court, loyal to the Queen. They are mischievous and cruel, and often cause trouble for Jo and Ysabel.

Annie? —I do find it half-fascinating, the extent to which certain—tropes? clichés? habiliments?—are so well-trod the grooves of their tracks can’t help but direct the statistical generation of seemingly plausible text: all power is mysterious; relationships are usually complicated; that which is mischievous is also cruel, et cetera.

But the game quickly palls. I asked it one more question, about myself:

Kip Manley is an author, blogger, and queer activist based in Portland, Oregon. He is best known for his urban fantasy series City of Roses, which is a serialized epic very firmly set in Portland, mixing magical realism with gonzo noirish prose. He has also written a novel called In the Reign of Good Queen Dick, which is a historical fantasy set in Elizabethan England. He writes about various topics, such as literature, politics, culture, and personal experiences, on his blog kiplet.net. He identifies as queer and has created a diverse and inclusive cast of characters in his works.

And there you have it. —Here’s one more image I’ve shared out there, but not yet placed here, for safekeeping: the feuilletons of volume 4:

No. 42: “ – sun, dust, shadow – ”

Apprehending what has changed. Marfisa finally declares her love, and Ysabel learns the bitterest of truths.

“We’re closed” – four Golden cards – Cinnamon, Auburn, Chestnut & Wenge – not a Game – Tableau – Thundering bootheels – who They’re looking for – Sweetwater; Springwater – why She came – a Rondel of Teeth – a history of Vanport – a word with Gordon – a Reason – Silently, & with Great care – enough – what her Majesty requires – so Uncertainly keen; such Delicate anguish – “Only what you need!”

Things to keep in mind (The secret of queer)

If by ownership you mean the ownership of the things that would allow you to reproduce your own existence, a separation from that, not bourgeois property ownership, it becomes a very interesting story. It is a story about migration out of family structures and into places like cities.

I think that there’s something really interesting there in Chris’s work about how the homosexuality that we either see or project onto the past—see in it our own projection onto the past—is like a vector for actual and potential forms of life and ways of building community that have anti-capitalist potential, almost less than the fact of the sexuality itself. But the way that those migrants see that within the family they are superfluous, capitalist production means they are no longer needed to maintain the farm, and that they must go survive some other way in the city, leads to a life where you encounter other people in a similar situation and experience forms of intimacy that, whatever sexual acts they may entail with other men, create the possibility of envisioning or living, in small ways, differently to the dominant ideal.

—Chris Nealon

Tricyclick

I’m stuck on the hand, which makes no sense, I mean, except for the fact that it came out of nowhere. But it gets me where I need to be to set out for where I’m going, or so I’d think, and yet here I am, staring at the dam’ hand, unable to move past it.

Usually at this point I rip out what’s stuck, down to the studs, and rebuild it, but the whole edifice of this one is already terminally shaky; my hands have been writing one fix-it-in-post check after another that my fundament may well not be able to cash.

And I still have no idea how it exactly ends.

It’s possible, maybe—this volume has been the one I’ve most, I don’t want to say tightly, but, that I’ve outlined in the most detail, and maybe writing to the structure has distracted me from writing to, y’know, the story—that ol’ thing—but even as I set the thought down in words it clunks all hollow. I’m telling myself a story. This isn’t the problem, either.

Ah, don’t worry. I’ll figure it out. I always do. Right?

Here. Have a cover shot.

Things to keep in mind (The secret of history)

But when I think of this history, it’s not the forces of oppression I center. Instead, I focus on the radical visioning of communities of color who were able to dream themselves into futures barred to them.

There’s a historical through-line here, too, from logging families in the multiracial, multiethnic community of Maxville in the 1920s in Eastern Oregon to current organizing by groups like the Portland African American Leadership Forum over the “right of return” for communities displaced by gentrification and discriminatory housing practices. The fact that Black communities exist here at all is incredible: we were never supposed to take root. That we did is due entirely to resistance, vision, and sheer force of will—and our ongoing commitment to care for each other in a place trying to destroy us.

Doing this work around the state has taught me that when you take the historical long view, the concept of justice becomes much simpler. The idea of “civil” discussions that give the same weight to all sides fades away. There are, in fact, really only two sides to history—the right side and the wrong side. We need to take the long view when thinking about our actions, and our work. What will be written of our actions (or our inactions) in 100 years? How will the future judge us?

—Walidah Imarisha

No. 41: arms - legs - heaven (Closing)

P. interrogationis

No. 41: arms - legs - heaven (Act IV)

the Letters on the wall – her Question – trouble with the Truck

No. 41: arms - legs - heaven (Act III)

Early, Dim, & Sodden – what She would have said – the Photos on the Mantel – under the Lights – no Small accomplishment

No. 41: arms - legs - heaven (Act II)

Hands on a Bare hip – not Now – how to Get noticed – the Newis spread

No. 41: arms - legs - heaven (Act I)

the Underwear first – the Rest of them – the Filthy kitchen – eight & eight & eight Again – AGILE SAFFRON COLOR GLASS