Thanks for the positivity and the feedback, y'all. I'm Russell Zimmerman, longtime Shadowrun writer, finally getting to write some BattleTech writer (I've had a few things published, lots more in the works), one of the guys y'all are gonna see around Reddit, and the guy who wrote the last story in the anthology.
We knew the Pride Anthology, while for everyone, might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it was a fun chance to throw together a little quickie 'deleted scene' for my in-the-pipeline work, and a great chance to get lots of eyeballs on some cool writing from some cool folks. I know the ending of Milla's story, in particular, hasn't quite hit for everyone, but I, for one, think the anime-esque meetcute was just fine for fan work, and made for a nice moment of silliness and lightness compared to some of the heavier, more grounded, stories we told (like Robin's, the first one, which has already had at least two people reach out to her to talk about how it aligns with their feelings of 'holy-crap-I-might-be-trans').
Even ignoring all the Reddit drama for a minute (god I'd love to ignore the Reddit drama for a minute, after the week I've had), I really think this little fanzine anthology that Detocroix (Milla Koponen) put together can only be called a success, even if only because of the community support it's received and how great it's made a lot of our fellow queer BattleTech fans feel seen and included.
