On Love Alone; Feburary 13 2021

It’s always something.

My rent is increasing by $250 per month, absolutely obliterating my budget and plans to save for a wheelchair-accessible apartment. One of my roommates, as it turns out, has been severely violating the trust of the other, and is being kicked out accordingly. We won’t be getting a replacement roomie, mostly because the apartment is a 2 bedroom and the now-ex-roommate had been occupying the living room.

Now more than ever, I need help. I’m going to be calling my social assistance worker to see if there’s any additional finances I can possibly receive, but if I’m going to save, it’s likely to be because of donations. So, please, please consider donating to my Ko-fi, if you can. I know times are hard on everyone, so I understand if you can’t, but I’m at the end of my rope. My legs are failing and I can’t wait until 2022 for an accessible living space.

Plea aside, I really want to do more with this blog than beg for help. Presumably, if you’re following me or my work, you have some interest in my writing… And as we all know, February 14th – Valentine’s Day – is the day after this post goes up. The day celebrating love!

So, I’m going to talk today about my favourite relationships in my books. Or, well, kind of the One Big Relationship:

Kanae, Ymi, Niac, and Quin.

In my upcoming fantasy series, The Rebirth of Qistedei, we follow protagonist Kanae as she hones her skills, realizes her potential, and works to bring peace to her home country. She starts the first book already in a long-term relationship with Ymi. I’ve had mixed feedback on these two as a result – some people couldn’t see the chemistry between them as lovers, whereas people who’ve been in longer relationships saw themselves in their casual intimacy. It was important to me to portray a long, healthy relationship, though, and I think their love comes across even stronger in the following books, when they’ve had some time in which they were separated.

The ‘new relationship’ chemistry comes more into play with Quin and Niac – their dynamic with each other, and with Kanae and Ymi. Quin is pretty instantly smitten with Kanae and Niac (it takes him a big of time to warm up to Ymi, but he learns!) and Niac has his own reasons for being devoted to Kanae. Notably, they all have varied and potentially incompatible sexualities – Niac is a homosexual man, Kanae is an asexual woman, Quin is a pansexual disaster. Their ability to all fall in love with each other factors in physical attraction, but also goes beyond it.

Together, the four of them form a solid group who come to count on each other for everything. They’re all strong individuals made better through their love and support for one another. That, I think, is what makes them my favourite relationship to have written, by far.

Love shouldn’t define you, but it should bolster you. Love makes us the best version of ourselves we can be.

I hope you all have a happy Valentine’s Day, no matter who you love and how you love them.