St John Starling Voice Reveal
(AKA I've been on a podcast.)
Hello Darlings,
Happy first newsletter of 2025! š¦š
(Reminder that as of December 21, 2024, the serially-published version of What Manner of Man has been completed for a second ā and probably final ā time. You are now free to read it from beginning to end whenever you wish via the archive here.)
You know what they say: new year, new fucked up gay romance novel for perverts. Iām deep in the weeds of developing my previously-announced follow-up to What Manner of Man ā A Companion in Vice ā which (barring disaster1) I hope to have prepared for serial publication later this year.
IN THE FOLLOWING E-MAIL: thrilling news of a podcast that I was recently on, some developmental art for my next novel, a fan-made meme, some assorted posts, and a brief word on behalf of a friend.
St John Starling: Now In Stereo
The author has been on a podcast!
Author and friend of the publication Sebastian Nothwell very kindly invited me to discuss serial fiction, publishing, and the internet on a podcast called Right Here Write Queer.
Our conversation will be of particular interest to anyone whoās ever thought about starting their own publication like What Manner of Man, who may be looking to glean some insight into what the hell Iām doing here (if you figure it out, let me know.)
(+non-Spotify link ā)
Sebastian writes queer romance, primarily in the historical and historical fantasy genres. His work is not only among the best indie gay romance youāll find anywhere, but it also has a good deal to offer fans of What Manner of Man in particular ā especially if there are any among you who felt, at the end of the novel, that it would really have benefited by my having subjected Father Ardelian to about 60% more general-purpose suffering.
I furthermore encourage you to follow him on Tumblr and check out his newsletter. (Go! š«µ Right now!)
Some Unfamiliar Faces
Beastly and I have been playing dress-up-doll games with the mad scientist who will be one half of the central couple in A Companion in Vice.
You can help fund the writing of this story and become a part of our twisted experiments on Patreon!
FAN POST (no longer of the week)
I couldnāt resist sharing this meme which references a final edition-exclusive scene.
(My gratitude to Tumblr user sarahlizziewrites for answering my extremely last-minute request to include it!)
Assorted Online Ephemera
One of my many varied activities this week was writing a short description of an interesting piece of queer history that I feel many of my readers may find of interest. It began with a set of GIFs on Tumblr (which I will link to rather than include in this e-mail, for reasons which will quickly become apparent.)
Someone asked about how a relatively explicit film of some men stripping one another was able to be produced under the Hays Code, and I responded with the following:
This is whatās known as a physique film, and it is vintage gay porn. Actual gay pornography was illegal in the 50s, so people created short films like these that existed in a legal gray area - the (paper thin) excuse is that they are about bodybuilding and fitness. No sex happens in physique films, nor any full-frontal nudity, just a lot of the kind of thing you can see in these gifs. The film reels would be ordered by people through the mail (via physique magazines - which were magazines of homoerotic photography along the same lines as these films) and would not have been screened in theatres. Since they were not a product of the movie studio system, physique films were not subject to the Hays Code, but that did not mean they werenāt extremely legally dubious. Physique films and magazines were dangerous to make, distribute, and consume because of obscenity laws, and most of the important figures in the industry were arrested at least once.
Tumblr user anthonysperkins ā The creator of the GIFs in question ā has helpfully uploaded the full film to Archive.org.
For those interested in fandom history, or Star Trek, I also wrote a short retrospective of some things I remember from my early days on the internet, after Beastly (the very talented disembodied hand that is responsible for, among other things, editing this newsletter) posted an old classic Kirk/Spock video:
I spent a lot of time in the mid 2000s digging through Star Trek websites that were old even then, and I can tell you what's important about this fanvid is not just that it went completely viral.
The creator of this video, Killa, was foundational to the development of fandom on the internet. Sheās more or less responsible for kick starting all of online Kirk/Spock slash fandom with her fanfiction Turning Point in 1995:
The story which is generally thought of as having started the rush of K/S online is āTurning Pointā by Killashandra, or Killa as she has now come to be known, initially published one chapter at a time in late 1995 on alt.sex.fetish.startrek and completed in January 1996, making it the third piece to be presented as K/S to online readers, but without the caveats of the other two contenders for first.
Oh, but the reaction! Not only is it the first accredited, consummated K/S story available online, but it is lushly written and emotionally intense, telling the story of the interval after the five year mission and before Spock leaves for Gol.
(from an article titled The Legacy of K/S on the Internet: The Source of the Mississippi, quoted on Fanlore)
I don't know if print K/S fans realise how defining an effect Killashandra's work has had on the web. Turning Point, originally published on the 'Net in 1995, and Full Circle, copyright 1997, have had an effect on web Treksmut fandom that is difficult to overestimate. I guess that the majority of people who got interested in K/S via the web are here because reading "Turning Point" was a conversion experience. It's not just the "Oh my gosh, I'm not the only one who sees their relationship that way" feeling. What Killa did is prove, by demonstration, that there is no limit to how good K/S (or fan fiction) can get. She has raised the bar all the way. We can no longer say: "It's only fan fiction," or "It's only Star Trek." (from The K/S Press #29, quoted on Fanlore)
As if that werenāt enough, sheās also the one who made that other Star Trek Knights of the Round Table fanvid that went viral in the late 2000s.
What's crazy is sheās still around! Sheās just over on Dreamwidth. Does she know what she is to the world? Does she know the power she has?
A Brief Word
Finally, I want to say a brief word on behalf of a friend of a friend who has lost everything to the fires currently ripping through LA.
On Tuesday night, we left, thinking we would be back the next day like normal. We packed a change of clothes and important documents, thinking we didn't need to worry about all our memories and sentimental items left behind.
In one night, everything was gone. The only home my siblings and I have ever known. Everything we owned; gone. The school where we grew up and where my mom works burned to the ground. Luckily, we have each other, but everything we've ever known is gone.
I know so many people are going through the same thing, but any little bit helps. Thank you.
From their familyās gofundme: The Balderramaās Recovery
If youāre able to give a little to help, know that I am extremely grateful.
I am, as always, your humble servant,
St John Starling
Reader, Iām not gonnaā lie to you: itās difficult to be absolutely certain of anything very far in the future right now ā for a variety of reasons, not least of which is the leader of the most powerful state in the world (you may have heard of him) who has been repeatedly and emphatically expressing his intention to throw the country in which I live into catastrophic economic recession and also turn it into North Texas or something.