Can you believe it? It’s already June, and, for the first time, my social media feed is showing new indie authors I had never noticed before. It may feel like we are jumping on a trendy bandwagon with the Pride Month and The Shadow of Phaedrus book series, but there’s more to it than meets the eye.
For Pride Month, TikTok, Instagram and even Facebook, are trending LGBTQIA+ indie authors, proving that even the algorithm follows calendar events. That being said, I do get to hear about sapphic novels, LGBT writers, and gay MC during the rest of the year, but it doesn’t compare to the volume that makes it to my feeds in June. I’m glad to discover more about the rainbow side of the writing community.
What is the relation between Pride Month and The Shadow of Phaedrus? As it happens, there is a link. However, we’ve never claimed to make our fantasy series about LGBTQ+ issues.
The Colours of Pride Month And The Shadow of Phaedrus
Which pride flag are you the most familiar with? It turns out that there are a few different flags. The initial flag used to have 8 stripes of colour, including pink and turquoise, back in 1978. However, you may not be entirely familiar with this early version of the rainbow flag. I, for once, have only seen this version of the rainbow flag with 6 stripes.
But, there’s another version that’s more recent and that includes the trans and minority demographics of the community. This is called the Progress Pride Flag, and despite being a good idea, it hasn’t received that much following. Essentially, the licencing fees for using the flag were excluding the very people the flag was supposed to represent. It’s hard to tell whether it was accidental or ironic in an Alanis Morissette’s kind of way. But what it’s done for sure is bring additional colour to the flag:
- Red
- Orange
- Yellow
- Green
- Royal blue
- Violet
- White
- Pink
- Blue
- Brown
- Black
In The Shadow of Phaedrus, the magical colours of the world are very much the same: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, and black. We’ve used our colourful star as the website fav icon.
We also hear about the legendary magician Phaedrus, who had a white Shadow.
Finally, the Astronomers, the people who assign each magician their Shadow, wear brown robes.
So you’ll notice that we are using pretty much the same colours between Pride Month and The Shadow of Phaedrus.
What About The Themes of Pride Month and The Shadow of Phaedrus?
It is tricky to take a theme that is relevant in everyday life and apply it to a work of fiction. Depending on the type of story you end up writing, you can include a criticism of contemporary society.
We do highlight some aspects of it throughout the series. However, things may not be obvious in Book 1, The Dead Shadow. Yet, it is fair to say that LGBTQA+ themes are not at the heart of The Shadow of Phaedrus.
There are some very good reasons for this:
First of all, The Shadow of Phaedrus is a magical fantasy saga that takes place in an imaginary world. While there is no denying that there are some blatant inequalities in this world, they do not relate to LGBTQIA+ themes.
In this magical world, people judge the worth of each other by the colour of their Shadow. Your magical skills define the colour of your Shadow, regardless of your ethnicity. As a result, characters pay little attention to an individual’s ethnicity.
What about sexuality or sexual identity? This aspect is also irrelevant for the inhabitants of this world. This doesn’t mean that LGBTQ+ individuals don’t exist. They do and nobody cares about it.
Pride Month and The Shadow of Phaedrus About Inclusiveness
The Shadow of Phaedrus includes characters and situations that are relevant to the LGBTQA+ community. The first book, The Dead Shadow, is an introduction to the magical world. So, at this point, we haven’t yet revealed which characters are LGBT-coded.
However, you’ll get to meet more than one character throughout the book who represents the LGBTQ+ demographic.
As we’ve explained before, we will get to meet the partner of one of the magicians in the second book.
As for Rhode, she hasn’t had time to consider her sexuality or identity yet, as avenging her brother has been her sole focus in life. Thinking about her own sense of self is something that is still foreign to her, and this will be a part of her journey going forward.
You will also get to meet more characters throughout the series who also deserve a bright spot next to the pride flag.
Would we say that there is an intentional connection between Pride Month and The Shadow of Phaedrus? Absolutely not. If you wish to read books that proudly embody the LGBT community and offer a relatable and powerful representation, we strongly encourage you to read the work of the many talented LGBT indie authors that are gaining visibility in social media feeds in June.
We wrote characters who gave our world a meaning and purpose in The Shadow of Phaedrus. As such, it is LGBT-friendly, just as much as it is neurodivergent-friendly, including characters who made sense to us, whether neurodivergent, lesbian, gender-neutral, gay, trans, or more. We write what we believe in.
In the meantime, wear your rainbow flag proudly and let’s make this space a little bit safer for all, including the T part of the rainbow.
