Erica Candice by Cory Vanderploeg

Erica Candice by Sam Livm

Erica Candice

Erica Candice

Erica Candice by Cory Vanderploeg

Erica Candice by Jen Senn

Erica Candice

Erica Candice

Erica Candice

Erica Candice by Cory Vanderploeg

Erica Candice by Cory Vanderploeg

Erica Candice

🌈 Good morning and happy Wednesday, my bookish bats! You didn't think that tiny "queer books coming out this fall" guide was ALL there was, did you? Here are a FEW of the stunning, diverse queer books you can add to your TBR this month. Happy reading!

❤️ A Vision of Air by Nicole Silver 🧡 Eli Over Easy by Phil Stamper 💛 How to Get Over the End of the World by Hal Schrieve 💚 Kween by Vichet Chum 💙 The Forest Demands its Due by Kosoko Jackson 💜 The B-Side of Daniel Garneau by David Kingston Yeh ❤️ Midnight Companion by Kit Barrie 🧡 Let the Waters Roars by Geonn Cannon 💛 Into the Glittering Dark by Kelley York 💙 When the Rain Begins to Burn by A.L. Davidson 💜 Been Outside by Amber Wendler & Shaz Zamore 🌈 The Forest Demands Its Due by Kosoko Jackson

❤️ A Necessary Chaos by Brent Lambert 🧡 The Spells We Cast by Jason June 💛 Pluralities by Avi Silver 💚 Salt the Water by Candice Iloh 💙 Beholder by Ryan La Sala 💜 This Pact is Not Ours by Zachary Sergi ❤️ Dragging Mason County by Curtis Campbell 🧡 Menewood by Nicola Griffith 💛 Mary and the Birth of Frankenstein by Anne Eekhout 💚 The Dead Take the A Train by Cassandra Khaw & Richard Kadrey 💙 Bloom by Delilah S. Dawson 💜 Let Me Out by Emmett Nahil and George Williams

🌈 In the Form of a Question: the Joys and Rewards of a Curious Life by Amy Schneider ❤️ Songs of Irie by Asha Ashanti Bromfield 🧡 A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand 💛 Being Ace by Madeline Dyer 💚 Charming Young Man by Eliot Schrefer 💙 The Glass Scientists by S.H. Cotugno 💜 The Fall of Whit Rivera by Crystal Maldonado ❤️ By Any Other Name by Erin Cotter 🧡 Brooms by Jasmine Walls and Teo DuVall 💛 Stars in Your Eyes by Kacen Callender 💚 Shoot the Moon by Isa Arsen 💙 The Bell in the Fog by Lev A.C. Rosen

🌈 Brainwyrms by Alison Rumfitt ❤️ Family Meal by Bryan Washington 🧡 A Murder of Crows by Dharma Kelleher 💛 A Light Most Hateful by Hailey Piper 💚 Love at 350° by Lisa Peers 💙 Greasepaint by Hannah Levene 💜 The Christmas Swap by Talia Samuels ❤️ Mate of Her Own by Elena Abbott 🧡 Mistletoe and Mishigas by M.A. Wardell 💛 Elle Campbell Wins Their Weekend by Ben Kahn 💚 All That Consumes Us by Erica Waters 💙 If You’ll Have Me by Eunnie

❤️ Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Lillah Lawson and Lauren Emily Whalen 🧡 10 Things That Never Happened by Alexis Hall 💛 It’s a Fabulous Life by Kelly Farmer 💚 Let the Dead Bury the Dead by Allison Epstein 💙 These Burning Stars by Bethany Jacobs 💜 The Goth House Experiment by SJ Sindu ❤️ Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant by Curtis Chin 🧡 Mudflowers by Aley Waterman 💛 Here Lies Olive by Kate Anderson 💚 Fire From the Sky by Moa Backe Åstot, trans. by Eva Apelqvist 💙 Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date by Ashley Herring Blake 💜 On the Same Page by Haley Cass

❤️ A Dish Best Served Hot by Natalie Caña 🧡 Art of the Chase by Jennifer Giacalone 💛 The Haunting of Adrian Yates by Markus Harwood-Jones 💚 The Sword: Xcian by Elle Arroyo 💙 The Complete Carlisle Series by Roslyn Sinclair 💜 300,000 Kisses by Sean Hewitt and Luke Edward Hall ❤️ Just a Pinch of Magic by Alechia Dow 🧡 Blackouts by Justin Torres 💛 Wrath Becomes Her by Aden Polydoros 💚 Let the Woods Keep Our Bodies by E.M. Roy 💙 Everything Under the Moon: Fairy Tales in a Queerer Light edited by Michael Earp ❤️ Frost Bite by Angela Sylvaine

🧡 We Met in a Bar by Claire Forsythe 💛 Sweat Equity Aurora Rey 💚 Pumpkin Spice by Tagan Shepard 💙 The Misfit Mage & His Dashing Devil by M.N. Bennet 💜 Love and Other Risky Business by Sarah Brenton ❤️ Enough by Kimia Eslah 🧡 A Fire Born of Exile by Aliette de Bodard 💛 Twelve Bones by Rosie Talbot 💚 Wild Wishes and Windswept Kisses by Maya Prasad 💙 Dragged to the Wedding by Andrew Grey 💜 Fox Snare by Yoon Ha Lee ❤️ Murder and Manon by Mia P. Manansala

A family member recently just finished Smallville for the first time. Reminded me of some bullshit from the garbage that was the live action, loose adaptation of Crisis on Infinite Earths (not to be confused with the garbage animated adaptation the TomorrowVerse movies are in the middle of.)

So Smallville ends in 2011. The finale happens, the “no flights, no tights” rule that dictated the series’ run is done and Clark is finally Superman. Clark and Lois don’t get married in 2011 because of Darkseid (I think.) the series flashforwards to 2018 when they’re finally about to get married. It ends with Clark about to jump off the Daily Planet, opening his shirt to reveal the Superman crest and go do Superman things. It’s a nice ending.

The show continues on as Smallville: Season 11 in the comics and Clark gets to do all the things he couldn’t do on the show, like interact with Wonder Woman and Batman and do all the things it would’ve been too tricky or expensive to CGI in live action. Haven’t read it but the people I know who’ve read it liked it well enough.

Enter 2019. The Arrowverse is doing their highly teased, “in no way are we trying to copy Infinity War/Endgame” event with Crisis on Infinite Earths. Biggest crossover they’ve ever done. Supergirl, Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow and Batwoman…but wait, there’s more! They’re bringing in Black Lightning and featuring ALL the cameos…that they can. Batman ‘66, Birds of Prey, LUCIFER, Titans, Doom Patrol, even nods to Batman ‘89 and having the GOAT Kevin Conroy makes his only live action Batman appearance, albeit as a BvS/Kingdom Come hybrid Batman. Heck, they even took Brandon Routh, a regular on Legends of Tomorrow as the Atom and let him be Superman from Superman Returns again, although he’s now turned into Kingdom Come Superman. The event overall sucks ass but it’s great if you’re a fan and you’ve come for the Easter Egg palooza.

So at one point they go to the Smallville Earth. The Lex Luthor from Supergirl is going around to all the Earths and killing all the Supermen that he can. It’s a subplot that takes way too long and detracts too much from the main story but Jon Cryer was still fun to watch and I respected the level of hater his Lex was. One of my favorite bits is his Lex being so dense, saying that it’d be ridiculous for Clark Kent to be Superman on his Earth because he’s a bumbling buffoon. Anyway, Lex is standing up to Beef Wellington (Candice Patton’s words), holding up a piece of Kryptonite, trying to get about his business of killing Superman. Only it has no effect. Clark plucks it from is hands and chucks it halfway across the farm. Lex is befuddled. Smallville Clark explains Kryptonite has no effect on him since he gave up his powers. Lex gets enraged that someone with the powers of a god would do such a thing and doesn’t understand why, until he accidentally steps and crushes a children’s toy. Clark gave up his powers for his kids. Lex tries to attack him anyway, Clark counters and knocks his ass down. Lex leaves saying they’re all dead anyway. We’re given one last scene of Clark walking off, holding hands with Lois (don’t think about how Erica Durance was also Supergirl’s Mom at the start of the crossover) and that’s the last we see of him.

So basically, fans watched 10 years of Smallville to see how Clark Kent became Superman, he’s finally Superman at the end of the show and then he stopped being Superman offscreen 7-8 years later. I feel like Tom Welling probably just didn’t want to suit up for a crossover cameo and that’s totally valid, but still. What the fuck.

Peace and Balance in Uncasville

Bonner’s first season with Connecticut took place in the bubble due to COVID-19. The Sun went 10-12, but were competitive in the playoffs, impressive considering that Jonquel Jones opted out due to health concerns (2nd team All-WNBA in 2019 when the Sun made a run to the Finals).

The bubble was about growth for the Sun on the court, and growth off the court for DeWanna and first time teammate, now fiancé, Alyssa Thomas.

“It was literally nothing to do there (the bubble) but spend time together, we were there like three months, every day together, so that just became our normal routine. And now, when we’re here (Connecticut), you just add two crazies (DeWanna’s twins, Cali and Demi) to the bunch…we were both just at a place in our lives when we met where it was like, ‘OK, we’re gonna make this work,'” says Bonner.

Erica was in the bubble with the Dream and Lynx, witnessing their growth together in all facets.

“They started off kind of coy and shy around one another,” Erica said. “As time went on, they became this dynamic duo.”

They’d never played together in the W or overseas. Thomas had a strong impression of DeWanna’s game already before she joined her team, but DeWanna was taken aback by Thomas. She knew she was good, but acquired an even better appreciation during their first practice together.

“I literally told her when I first got here, Damn, I didn’t know you were that good…I legit looked at her one day and was like, ‘I’m sorry, I owe you an apology,'” says Bonner.

On the court, the pair are demonstrative, they’re expressive, playing the game with the same fiery passion and spirit. They could not be further from their on-court personas the second they leave the hardwood.

They’re both quiet and reserved, self-described as homebodies. DeWanna is more outward with jokes and a bubbly attitude while Alyssa has a drier sense of humor.

The competitive fire they share on the court is arguably as intense off of it; board games are a battle, they’ll race one another to stop signs, even in-game they’ll have competitions for who can get the most steals in a given game. Alyssa owns anything strategic, so anytime DB steals a game or a hand of cards, Alyssa never hears the end of it.

They bump heads, often because of something that took place on court or in practice.

“Nine times out of 10 it’s because of something Alyssa did,” says DeWanna.

Their relationship has a yin and yang balance; AT is the more vocal leader who is always going to point out a mistake and show a teachable moment, where as DB is described by most of her teammates as the mom of the Sun. She’s going to walk up and put her arm around you, listen to you, give you words of encouragement. There’s an equilibrium created by their polarity in leadership styles.

“Her energy is just special,” says Thomas.

“No matter the situation, she brings people joy, she brings me joy.”

Thomas is routinely inspired by her fiancé and her ability to be a star on the court while remaining such a present mother off of it.

“It’s a full time job outside of basketball… early mornings, late nights, waking up in the middle of the night,” Thomas said. “What she’s able to do with them and then perform… I’m in awe watching her.”

Cali and Demi split time half and half with their mother Candice Dupree in Texas, and the other half with DeWanna in Connecticut.

“When they’re here, it is literally non-stop,” says DeWanna laughing and looking around behind her. Cali and Demi are drawing on a whiteboard after begging for markers.

“For instance, yesterday, game day, I wake up and I’m attentive to them. Alyssa’s sister is here to help watch them so I don’t bring them to shootaround… it’s very eventful, I come back from shootaround and play with them and take a nap on the floor… wake up to go to the game, then we don’t get to sleep til about midnight, because once we hit the door, it’s ‘Watch me Mom, play with me, let’s do this!’ It’s very busy, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

When she’s overseas, she’ll facetime the girls before and after games. Any opportunity to be present for her daughters is essential to her.

Connecticut isn’t for everyone. But, Bonner and Thomas have both fallen in love with it for similar reasons. They appreciate the peace that comes with living in one of the smaller markets in the league. Bonner says that she’ll force herself to go out with teammates on the road occasionally, but the second they’re back in Uncasville, “finally, I’m at peace.”