Issue 3: Fallout, being grateful, and future potential
Happy Thanksgiving, friends in the US! It’s a complicated holiday, due to its questionable origins and how… let’s say “difficult” gatherings of families with starkly different political views can be. This year’s probably going to be even more difficult than normal for many folks, what with the election going the way it did.
So if you’re around friends or family who let some bigotry slip, call it out. This especially goes for us white folks and calling out racism, and cis folks in calling out transphobia. Being outside the targeted group, and in fact part of the majority group, means that not only is it safer for you to do it, but you will be listened to more because your opinions are the only ones bigots care about.
So if it’s safe for you to do so… go ahead and make it awkward. Make it weird. Call out your relatives on their bigotry and don’t let it slide.
We’ve got to refuse to put up with it. Change starts with us.
NEW STUFF WE DID
Our first bit of writing for the Fallout tabletop roleplaying game finally came out! This is a collection of five adventures for the game, and the one we wrote is the “bonus issue #5 inside!” advertised on the cover. But that super fab cover art? It’s from our adventure! It’s super cool that we made the cover.
We love, love, love Fallout and its unique blend of humor and violence, of darkness and hope. Our adventure definitely skews more humorous, which won’t surprise any of you who are familiar with our writing.
We wrote this years ago, actually. There was a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes with the game, and there were multiple changes in the editorial team and the vision and direction they wanted to take the line. Somehow our adventure made it through all of that and never got axed, which is amazing! Because stuff like that just happens sometimes, that’s the writer’s life.
So it’s really great to finally see it in print! Tilly actually adapted a version of it to run in the two Star Trek Adventures games she’s GM for… so now her players will know where those pale green pants came from! (actually they’re a Dr. Seuss reference, if you can believe it)
WHAT WE’RE WORKING ON
This week we had a meeting with a comic editor we’d love to work with, to sort of touch base post-election and see where we were all at. And it turns out that’s the exact same page on being more determined than ever to tell great trans and queer stories.
There’s an idea we’ve had rattling around in our heads for years, and we thought we’d never ever get to do it, because it’s for an IP we don’t own and have not yet been officially hired to write for. It’s also an incredibly, fundamentally trans story.
Well, we mentioned it to this editor and they flipped for it and they want to take it to the people who make the decisions on which stories go and which don’t.
So we’re going to officially write up a two-page pitch for it, so said editor can see if we can get a greenlight. They really loved it though (so much it feels kind of unbelievable!) and said they “want to fight for it,” which is so exciting and surprising.
If it goes, and it’s still a very big “if” at this point (especially as projects can get canceled for a multitude of reasons at any point along the way, and this sadly happens to trans and queer projects a lot), it’d be years away from release. But we will keep you updated!
Our two other graphic novels, with completed scripts and art under way, are also likely to release in 2026, but we don’t have actual release dates yet. Again, updates as we have them!
TRANS TUESDAY UPDATE
We’re in the middle of a three-part series on photos (and reflections), and how difficult those can be for trans people. The first was trying to explain what it’s like to never see yourself reflected back, so maybe cis people could better understand and trans people would know they’re not alone in experiencing it.
The second was about when something changed years into transition, and photos and reflections suddenly became… good? It’s wild, and you can see it happen through social media posts in pseudo-real time.
Check ‘em out!
RECOMMENDATIONS
We’ve just started Int. Chinatown on Hulu, and it’s super fun and pretty unlike anything else out there right now. It’s also got a majority Asian cast and had an entirely Asian-American writing staff (that one of our friends is on). It’s really refreshing to see a show that not only spotlights folks who don’t often get it, but it’s also about how they never get the spotlight in a really clever and witty way! It’s a breath of fresh air all around.
Since it feels impossible to NOT think about complicated relationships at this time of year, also check out the book On Repentance and Repair by Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg. It’s a helpful framework that tries to answer the question, what does it mean to forgive someone? What does it take to feel like you can move forward? What are some guidelines that can help you decide if it’s worth repairing certain relationships that have broken down over time? While the book is obviously from a Jewish perspective, it’s widely applicable to just about anyone.
And Rabbi Danya’s good people! She’s referenced in multiple Trans Tuesdays, and you should definitely give her a follow on BlueSky.
THE DIRTBAG DISPATCH
Henry and Izzy are finally becoming friends!
They’ve both warmed up to each other, and in recent days we’ve seen them rub on each other, which is the cutest thing ever. But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows, because Henry is… Henry.
Though all he wanted was to get close to Izzy and be her friend, now that they ARE friends, he has a complicated feeling about it (just the one, he has but one emotion or thought at a time). He sometimes gets jealous when we’re petting her, so then we pet him and he’s like wtf no don’t touch me. Or he’s jealous if Izzy is on the couch with us, when he doesn’t actually want to be on the couch with us.
He’s so emo.
Now Izzy is half his weight and size, yet she smacks him around when he’s being a bit of a jerk to her. Which tracks, because Henry thinks he’s a tough guy but he is soooo not, and will fold the second things get real. He is King Baby. She’s figured it out. Healthy boundaries!
Henry’s also not generally cuddly, except for once in a while if you happen to sit next to him while he’s sleepy and he momentarily forgets that he does not wish to be perceived, or he’s cold.
Anyway there was a big temperature drop in LA this week, and he is one hundred percent a SoCal cat, and of course he’s now suddenly all about the cuddles to keep him warm.
We take it where we can get it.
WHAT’S IN THE BIG TIME?
This week in the Big Time version of this newsletter, we dive into our process for pitching projects for established characters, worlds, or IP that you don’t own, what that’s like, and how different it is from wholly original concepts.
And our first-ever audio commentary on our work, for Monster High’s Monster Fest, part 1! Woo! You can sign up at birdguestbroadcast.com
THE END
Y’know what? Thanksgiving is complicated and weird.
But even still, there’s something beautiful about having a day set aside to remember and be grateful for the good people and things in your life. No matter how bad or dark things get, it’s so so important to remember the good and the light.
Thank you for being part of the good and the light for us.
We’re truly so thankful for you. 💜
