WorldCon 2024, in Glasgow, is just a week away!
The 82nd World Science Fiction convention is very close indeed — it’s going to be my first time attending, and I’m so very excited!
I’m going to be giving a presentation as well as appearing on a few panels, so I thought I would make a post with links to some of my relevant work.
What’s In a Uniform? Colonial Appearances in Star Trek & other SF
Thursday 08 Aug, Argyll 2, 17:30–60min. Presentation. This presentation is unfortunately in-person only, and will not be available online, but I will do my best to get it recorded and later available on YouTube.
To seek out new life and new civilisations, one must be properly dressed. Starfleet issues a uniform to its crew. What can we tell about characters, crews, stories, and media by the uniforms we see? What biases do we have, and what assumptions do we make when we see a uniform in sci-fi?
The Future of the Oldest Profession: Portrayals of Sex Work in SFF
Friday 09 Aug, Gala, 19:00–60min. Panel alongside Avery Delany, Lauren Beukes, Sarah Langan, and Liz Bourke. 18+ only. This panel is unfortunately in-person only, and will not be available online.
Stereotypes and myths abound around sex work, from the “hookers with a heart of gold” to universally trafficked underage addicts. Fiction, including genre fiction, has often fallen back on those stereotypes but has also been willing to subvert them, treating sex workers as the real, diverse people they are. Our panel considers the ways SFF writers have used sex work in their fiction, what that says about speculative fiction, and the best portrayals of sex work they recommend in SFF.
We Did The Monster Smash
Saturday 10 Aug, Alsh 2, 20:30–60min. Panel alongside Andrija “Andy” Popovic, Nadia El-Fassi, Zoe Burgess-foreman, and Anna Raftery. 18+ only. This panel will be available online and as part of WorldCon’s replay offerings.
Sex isn’t only for humans. Whether it is hook-ups with a hamadryad or a relationship with a reptilian, monsters have long had a sexual charge for some people, as expressed in romance fiction, art, and more. Our panel will discuss the attraction of the inhuman, the logistics of monstrous hook-ups, and their favourite examples of doing the monster smash on the page.
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You can peruse the whole programme guide here, where there are hundreds of panels, presentations, and other con events laid out — and of course, if you’re not already planning to attend, there’s still time to grab your online membership or ticket here.
My Relevant Works
I’m Johannes T. Evans, and if you’re not already familiar with my fiction and non-fiction, I am a gay transgender man who writes a lot about queerness, transmasculinity, disability, religion, trauma, and sex.
I have experience as a sex worker, especially as a phone sex operator, I’m an SA and CSA survivor, and now living in Yorkshire, I grew up in Wales and have spent time living in Greece and Ireland respectively. I’m a big fantasy fan and fantasy writer, and I also write a lot of romance, erotica, horror, and a bit of sci-fi and other general fiction.
I have a background in writing fanfiction, and have written widely for a pretty wide variety of fandoms under my Ao3 username, DictionaryWrites, and as a mostly-original author now, I still try to make sure that works of mine are made freely available online as well as behind paywalls so that I can make enough money to support myself but still make my style of work, full to the brim with underrepresented topics and characters, is still easy to access.
My first book, Heart of Stone, is a slowburn historical fantasy romance set in the 18th century between an ADHD vampire and his very autistic secretary — it’s agonisingly slow and sumptuous, and is a book where I can proudly say that almost nothing happens except for these two men slowly speaking to each other, building trust with one another, and building intimacy too.
My newest release, Powder and Feathers, is a contemporary dark fantasy romance between a BPD transmasc Fallen angel and a depressed artist he begins stalking in the park — this book has a slice-of-life elements and is largely about trauma recovery whilst also delving into the fucked-up ways that traumatised people build intimacy and try to feel close to one another in the first place, with all the power struggles one might expect.
Here is a sample of my works available to read for free, with no sign-up or payment necessary, to use for yourself or share with whomever you like — just make sure to go to the Medium articles from the links below, as they are friend links that bypass the paywall for subscribers.
Essay: What’s In A Uniform?: Imperial Attitudes Reflected in Starfleet’s Uniforms — Relationships with imperial attitudes reflected in uniform and costuming in Star Trek. This piece delves far more in-depth into the topic of cultural imperialism present in the Star Trek series — the presentation is going to speak more widely about broader costume design within Star Trek and other sci-fi shows and films.
Essay: I Want To Fuck The Monster — Monsterfuckery from a trans and disabled perspective.
Essay: The Joy of Trans Creation — On the liberty of making unapologetically transgender art.
Essay: Raped and Ruined: Themes of Sexual Assault and Reproductive Coercion in Alien (1979) — Exploring the underlying anxieties around sexual assault, loss of bodily autonomy, and forced impregnation in Alien (1979).
Fantasy / Crime Fiction: Gellert’s New Job — Gellert Osgodby has worked as a business manager for the King family for nearly a decade when an error in judgement brings his employment to an abrupt end. Lucien Pike, a rival kingpin, employs his services instead.
Fantasy Fiction: Steps Ahead — A serving boy seduces a prince who is tired of the weight of his crown.
Fantasy Fiction: Angel’s Wings — A vampiric sex worker spends the evening with an unusual client.
Fantasy Fiction: Dirk and the Weaver — A shopkeeper slowly comes to fall for a weaver when he comes to town. Slow romance and fantasy short between a shopkeeper in an isolated Scottish village, and a weaver that comes up from somewhere way down south.
Horror / Fantasy Fiction: Ambitious Men — Archie had idolised Casper Hugo almost his entire life. Deeply fucked up fantasy-horror, wherein a man finds that his dream of taking over his hero’s restaurant is not to proceed as smoothly as he hoped.
Fantasy Fiction — The Lighthouse Keeper’s Selkie — A selkie becomes fascinated with a cold man living alone. Note warnings for non-graphic violence and butchery, themes of captivity, and cannibalism.
Fantasy Fiction: Warden Gordon and the Angel in the Woods — Working in a magical national park, Gryff Gordon has a contentious relationship with a local angel.
Horror Fiction: The Widower’s Garden — After a man is widowed, his husband begins to appear at the foot of his garden every night.
Erotic Fiction: Coaxed — Amaethon is a half-elf who combines sex work with adventuring to create wonderful monsterfuckery — I think I might do more with him because this was great fun. This erotica is deeply weird, and I’m delighted to introduce it: featuring oviposition and inflation, cervical penetration, huge size difference, huge belly bulging, body horror (including threats of bursting/popping), banter between a predator and prey, overstimulation, venom/drugs, suspension bondage.
Erotic Fiction: Divine Bodies — The god Freyr expects good work from his priests, but gives good rewards. Magical HRT via cum inflation for a loyal trans masc priest!
Erotic Fiction: Fallen Dust — A young trans man fleeing an abusive home finds sanctuary at a strange temple buried in a mysterious valley. Featuring some Eldritch tentacles and mild horror, oviposition, breeding, some DP, and just the end of the world!
