EmmyKtz 🐙 The Pink Hydra 🔞

@thepinkhydra.com

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Emmylou Kotzé, she/her, demi-bi writer of SF, F, ⛓️🖤romance and poetry. Editor of The Pink Hydra. Author of the Forest of the Morning trilogy. Proudly 🇿🇦. Links at linktr.ee/emmyktz. Check out my Feeds! ✨⚔️ Oh... and fuck genAI. 🖕

Ash looks over at the other boy as they rearrange their dirty tunics and head back. A change of clothes, thankfully, awaits them back at their quarters, along with a shared bucket of washing-water. Sol is silent as usual, carrying his fate with a quiet dignity on his broad shoulders, looking only at his feet. Ash rolls his own angular shoulders, a dull exhaustion settled in his bones. He thinks of his father, of the sweet dream he just awoke from. It wasn’t a memory. The dream wasn’t reflective of reality. In the dream Lord Orzan smiled at him, spoke words of approval and pride, and drew Ash into a tight bear hug. That never happened in reality. Ash can remember only a handful of times, in the whole of his nearly-nineteen years, when his father was pleased with him. Orzan was a stern lord, a stern parent. Never give the masses more than they strictly require. Never bestow upon the boy any unneeded paternal affection. Ash wants to ask Sol about his own fathers, Orzan’s master of horse and his master saddler. But the master of horse is dead, and the saddler has been sent to the warlord Meighie to outfit his finest horses. Sol may never see him again. Ash bites his tongue.
Cover of Runaway by Emmylou Kotzé featuring graphic design with a smoking hand over desert dunes, a snake, sword, axe and crown
Ash shivers even more violently, and drops to his knees. This man is going to kill him like he killed his father. Ash doesn’t want to die. Doesn’t want to end a nameless hero, a cold body stretched out upon a pile of other dead heroes. The footsteps approach inexorably as his vision blurs. The footsteps stop, boots coming to a halt just inside Ash’s fog of tears. The warlord kneels in front of him and, in a gesture almost gentle, lifts the pot-helm from his head. Ash looks up. His wide, terrified eyes meet the black hawk’s-gaze depths of the warlord Karlan’s. Ash swallows hard. His fate rests upon this man’s mercy. “Please,” he whispers, and can say nothing else. The warlord’s visage is gritty, his hands gory with spilled blood. When he speaks, his voice comes harsh as though roughened with smoke. “It’s all right, little prince.” He doesn’t smile, but something in his eyes eases Ash’s fear somewhat. “Do as you’re told, and you won’t be harmed. I swear it upon the grave of your father.”
Ash won’t name it yet, but it sits within him like an old friend. He gives it the space to settle and expand. If all that Karlan did to him hasn’t driven it away, it must be true. And more—he knows that it lives within Karlan too. He has seen it in the warlord’s eyes when looking at him, like he’s something precious to be savoured, a pleasure Karlan never even dreamed of having. An unexpected gift which the warlord fears to lose as much as Ash fears the uprooting uncertainty that might come with Karlan’s death. Ash feels this like he feels the certainty of the earth beneath his feet. He knows it the way he knows that apples fall to earth when thrown, that rain is wet and sunlight blinding, that dusk precedes dawn and day turns into night. He sends up a prayer to the Many-Faceted God. Out of all the turmoil, there is only one thing that Ash is absolutely certain he wants. He sees no shame in asking the divine presence to grant it. He wants Karlan to survive and return from battle victorious. He wants Karlan to return to him.
Ash stacks his newly acquired possessions beside the lumpy mattress, gets up again and surveys the tent, feeling pent-up with some kind of nameless energy. He notices the dishevelled state of Karlan’s bed and strides over to neaten it. Like the tent itself, Karlan’s bedclothes are clean by the standards of a military encampment. Yet as Ash shakes out the blankets he can’t help but notice something new filling the air—and his nose. Ash’s own bed in the labourers’ camp was disgusting, of course, but the scent of Karlan’s blankets is different from what Ash remembers of his bedsheets back in his father’s keep. They smell of him. That scent doesn’t repel Ash—quite the opposite, in fact. He finds himself thinking of the two of them together—himself and Karlan, close together on this bed this very morning. He recalls how it felt to touch Karlan’s bare skin with his own, the thrill of looking up to meet his eyes. He thinks of Karlan’s muscled calves and thighs just visible below the hem of his tunic. Wonders how it would feel to touch the other parts of him. Not just his hand. The smoothness of his shaven face—will it rasp like Ash’s own, or be silky to the touch? When Karlan takes off his tunic—which he certainly will at some point in front of Ash—will his ass and waist be as magnificent as Ash imagines them to be? Ash halts his thoughts, horrified. His fist clenches around the fringe of the blanket he was rearranging. Ash knows nothing about sex save the possibility of pregnancy. His father warned him away from any romantic association for that reason. He’s never shared a bond with any other youth that went beyond simple friendship. He’s never undressed in front of anyone with that intention.
Part of the upcoming cover for PARTNERS IN CRIME showing Kara, a female-presenting character dressed in a hooded cloak in a dark alley
“What do I call you?” Karlan asks, coming inside. “Ash.” The answer comes automatically. Karlan pauses. “Is that the name your fathers gave you?” He doesn’t remember, Ash realizes. Their first meeting has stuck in his own mind all these weeks like an embedded splinter—but for Karlan, it meant little. Of course, the warlord has killed many fathers. Razed many cities. Ash fixes his gaze upon the floor and clenches his hands a little tighter as he replies: “No. My proper name is Ashkral.” Karlan grunts, but without seeing his face, Ash cannot read his mood. The warlord tucks Ash’s papers into his belt and walks past him to perch on the bed, which sags slightly beneath his weight. Something stirs in Ash that feels a little different from fear. Even without his armour, the warlord Karlan is an imposing hulk of a man. He is older than Ash, no longer a youth yet still a young man, and secure in his strength. Corded muscles run along the inner length of his arms and calves. Ash has already noted the carefully balanced weight of every movement the warlord makes. Karlan is efficient in everything he does. His limbs run taut with massed power, yet nothing about him seems pent-up nor uncomfortable. The deliberate, measured nature of his movements reminds Ash of a stalking leopard. “I requested a personal servant,” Karlan continues quietly. Ash nods again. “You are to share my tent, keep my possessions in good order, fetch and carry what I ask of you, and assist me with grooming and armouring should I require it.” He pauses, and his gaze lingers upon Ash in a way that deeply unsettles him. Ash fidgets with his hands. He is Karlan’s property now, to dispose with as the warlord pleases. What would it please Karlan for Ash to do? He requested a servant. Ash was raised a nobleman’s son, but in these past weeks he has been well instructed in his role. Fetch and carry. Obey. Never look your master directly in the eye.
My file list which goes as follows: rocks.txt rules of Saxon pronunciation.docx Runaway - smut.docx Runaway - snippets & notes.docx Runaway.docx sanctuary.docx Sci-fi with dead wife.txt
Snippet from Maiden of Despair: “Fish, stop it.” Nico reached out decisively, and shut the book with a clap. Fish started, and looked up at him as if he had forgotten all about his presence. The dagger hung loosely from his hand, and Nico reached out and took it from him. “Let me bandage this,” he said, taking Fish’s unresisting left hand. He burrowed in the pack, found a clean cloth that had been intended to dress his own wounds should they reopen, and tore a ribbon from it. “You’ve only just recovered from what they did to you last time,” he continued. “Give it a while before you hurt yourself again. I’m sure there isn’t anything in that book so urgent that you need to open your own veins to get at it.” Fish watched as Nico carefully bandaged his hand, looking bemused. “It’s just blood,” he said at last. “It doesn’t matter.” “And if you got wound-fever from that cut?” Nico’s voice came out harsher than he had intended, and Fish’s eyes seemed very young and wide as he looked up at his partner.
Cover of The Broken Knight by Emmylou Kotzé featuring art of a battered shield
Cover of What Happens in Camp by Emmylou Kotzé featuring a young man with a bloody knife at his neck
Cover of Forest of the Morning by Emmylou Kotzé featuring lineart of ghostly faces surrounded by purple morning glories against a background of rich green foliage
Cover of Runaway, a novella by Emmylou Kotzé featuring graphic design of a woman's hand wreathed in smoke above desert dunes with a sword, battle-axe, crown and snake.
Cover of Runaway, a novella by Emmylou Kotzé featuring graphic design of a woman's hand wreathed in smoke above desert dunes with a sword, battle-axe, crown and snake.
Geena Davis and her male co-star in pirate gear
Picture collage featuring a young man with a bloody dagger at his throat, alongside a golden coin and a classical artwork (artist: Solomon Joseph Solomon) of a young squire dressing/undressing his knight. Title: What Happens in Camp. Text reads: A taboo m/m/m short story set in the 1600s; A young camp follower is caught between his brash lover & an older military officer. Featuring: explicit dubcon/non-con, blackmail, sex work, jealousy, and murder. Light on history... heavy on the fucking.
Nico opened his legs and settled himself between them, began to kiss him deeply, to touch him. Fish responded as best he could, but when Nico left his mouth to gently kiss and explore his other parts, collarbones, chest, shoulders, belly—he closed his eyes and relaxed into the pillow, aroused yet exhausted. He melted into the warmth of Nico’s ministrations—and was asleep before he knew it. Fish woke sometime in the early hours of the morning to find himself nestled under the covers, nose practically in Nico’s armpit as his lover snored heedlessly, curled around him. Careful not to wake him, Fish detached himself—he did like the smell of Nico’s sweat, but perhaps not that close—and sank down on the pillow to gaze at Nico in the faint light of the moon shining through the tessellated window. This was perfect. It was perfect. Nico was his in the exact way Fish had always wanted. This beautiful, rugged, passionate, kindhearted man—he was Fish’s lover, and had promised to stay indefinitely. The steadfast hand that had always been there for Fish to grasp was now also the source of delight, of breath-fluttering pleasure and anticipation. Then why was all of it so fucking terrifying? Nico loved him, or at least he said so frequently. Wanted him. Enjoyed him. There was no faking the kind of yearning that Fish saw reflected in his lover’s eyes when their bodies were connected.
Still from the movie The Green Knight. Gawain, played by Dev Patel, is looking up at another man, played by Joel Edgerton, with a expression of somewhat mournful longing. They look as though they're about to kiss (which in the movie, they do). Apart from the obvious "gay longing" I was going for, Forest of the Morning has a vibe similar to that of The Green Knight, being a bit gloomy, dreamy, slow-paced, and wanting to get to the heart of the characters' wants and flaws. Dev Patel in this movie also has close vibes to my character Fish (despite being a bit too old & too tall). They're both young men who are uncertain about their lives, desperate to prove themselves, and Dev looks pretty much exactly how I imagine Fish.
Cover of Forest of the Morning The Complete Trilogy by Emmylou Kotzé Features line art of several figures congregating around a tree in a purple eye with flowers against a green leaf background. It's kinda trippy
The Forest of the Morning trilogy consisting of 3 paperback books with colourful covers showing elements of leaves and nature design. they are reclining on a bed of autumn leaves against a tree
Bluesky "licence" my profile as a mock licence card. Bluesky veteran + 5 stars for web of trust, generosity, & engagement.
Cover of Runaway by Emmylou Kotzé featuring graphic design of a woman's smoking hand, desert, snake, a crown & bronze weapons against a black background
Panel from Fulfillment with a guy vomiting beautiful flowers as a toy is pulled from his mouth
The Hero's Assistant by Montero Thorne - some well illustrated longing eyes & dark skin. "He's like a son to me," he lies.
The Dog's Prince cover art - a pair of lovely Irish hounds
cover for Adhocracy with some kinky mask and bondage action
cover of It'll Do with bare chested coyote and a black-haired Kokopelli staring off into the desert they are stranded in
A peek into Don's Dead Market... Covers of "It'll Do" by A. Mauri (Hartsichord) and "Malaise" by PhoenixRenaissance both featuring some beautiful achillean couples in hot situations Tickets & bundle on sale May 19, 2026. Market open June 19-21, 2026.
my header, it's a very lazy pink coloured classical painting of hercules fighting the hydra alongside the south african queer pride flag.
The album cover for "Everybody Scream" by Florence + the Machine. Florence Welch in a frilly dress reclining on a bed in a somewhat desperate or perhaps confident and sexual way.
Cover of Surrender Control: A Nico & Fish Kinktober vignette novella by Emmylou Kotzé. Features black-and-white photography of two men with their hands intertwined.
title page for Damsel by Puck. horned forest daddy cuddling his much smaller boychild in a backdrop of nature
Don's Dead Market is a taboo achillean co-op bundle & online pop-up shop. Opens June 19-21, 2026. Tickets & bundle are on sale now from May 19 - June 17. Only $30! "The Pain of Its Maw" by T.D. Cloud is just one work in the bundle which you get by buying a ticket. Short story, 300-year-old grouchy vampire x irresistible young trans boy ward, bed sharing, "You said you wouldn't." "You raised a liar." The book cover features red vampire fangs against a black background.
my tea and cake next to my reading tablet with the cover of "The Pain of Its Maw" by T. D. Cloud featuring a set of red vampire fangs against a mostly black background
First page of First Light Shakedown featuring a rocky space jump resulting in much nausea ... and a space nosebleed (I'm sure it will be nbd in the end.)
My book GODDESS OF THE DARK, paperback photographed outside in autumn sunlight on a bed of golden leaves. Cover features lineart of two hands reaching up to a skylight with a tree against a background of deep purple foliage, with white lilies all about.
Naked Empire by Terry Goodkind. Cover art features a statue of a guy with a sword looking off into a sinister vista of misty blue mountaintops. it really evokes this nostalgic sort of fantasy feel.
Getafix the druid being "tortured" by a half naked torturer by means of being tied to a bench and having the bottom of his foot tickled with a feather (this was a comic for kids ok). There is a centurion in the tent trying to get information out of Getafix saying: Look here, druid, this isn't funny! We've been torturing you for hours, and it doesn't even seem to hurt. This won't help you! Getafix responds, Oh yes, it will; it'll help to pass the time.
A colourful wallpaper of a queer girl and her cat alongside graphic for the Power of Pride itch.io Bundle, on sale June 1 - July 6. 396 projects by queer creators for $60, with Wallpaper Bonus Pack or $10 + PWYC. Below are the books covers for my two books that are part of the bundle, The Broken Knight and Forest of the Morning.
Cover of Goddess of the Dark (Forest of the Morning Book 3) by Emmylou Kotzé. Features white lineart of two hands grasping for a skylight on a background of deep purple leaves & foliage, with a pattern of white lilies.
Wings in the Valley on my bookshelf showing the cool spine decoration alongside The Consort and I and my classic books, including Alice in Wonderland, The Worm Ouroboros, The Dark Shore by Attanasio, and Kringe in 'n Bos (Circles in a Forest)
Pride Book Fair 2026 Bundle #2: Pride Hard with a Vengeance; a black graphic with over thirty-five covers of various LGBTQIA+ fiction books available on itch.io. Fear the Wood Jeremy Rayne; The White Ribband Mason Hawthorne; The Cruel Gods The Thirteenth Hour Trudie Skies; Zimanges M C Burnell; A Study on Magic and Crystal May Barros; Awry With Dandelions J S Fields; Candy Apples Aleksander E Petit; Colors of Magic Liz Sauco; Imposter J M Rose; Common Accord K N Brindle; Consciousness Soup Girlie machine; Crown of Ivy Victoria Audley; Eating At Chain Restaraunts in the Future Cayce Kolodny; Echo Sight Cian Verati; Event Horizon Dan Bispo; Fools Rush In Sarah Clowder; Forest of the Morning Emmylou Kotze; Forgotten Gods Alina Lee; Goblin Girl K A Mielke; Her Majesty Alex Zandra Van Chestein; Hooked Sidney Quinn; I Knew Him Abigail de Niverville; Jane and the Sea Wight E M Anderson; Lantern Burgundy Athena Pendragon; Lifes a Zoo Snow Lupinwood; Many Drops Make a Stream Adrian Harley; Pane Bailey Elizabeth; Rainbow Islands Devin Harnois; Second Glance A E Bennett; The Killing Song Felix Graves; The Mycelium Palace S M Reiher; The Rising Dark Celia Thorn; The Stars Will Guide Us Back Rue Sparks; The Wolf And His Witch Elis Madsen; The Wonders of Mundus Talia Elliott Besler; When I Had Fears Holly Penrose; Wish Lists Lead to This Kay Claire
Kubbra Sait as Phara in Foundation. She is an Indian woman and wears dark armour and a hard expression
Nesta Cooper, a young black Canadian actress, in the sci-fi series SEE. She has funky braids and wears what looks like a labourer's outfit.
Pilou Asbaek, white Danish actor (famous for playing Euron Greyjoy in Game of Thrones) looking kinda dishevelled and sweaty with a beard on a ship in the Danish movie A Hijacking
Don's Dead Market is a taboo achillean co-op bundle & online pop-up shop. Opens June 19-21, 2026. Tickets & bundle are on sale now from May 19 - June 17. Only $30! "The Thaw" by Seosamh Dáire is just one work in the bundle which you get by buying a ticket. Novelette, literary, 80s ME war setting. Trans love interest, trauma from incest, CSA, beautiful, evocative prose. The book cover features a large aggressive crow crouching over a dead comrade. If you read the story this is a visceral metaphor for the kind of love between the two romantic leads and how it feels to be that attached to someone who continually courts death.
stack of all six books mentioned in the post
My orange kitty Dmitri curled up on a golden blanket
Cover of Forest of the Morning by Emmylou Kotzé featuring cover art of two ghostly faces (a man and a woman) amidst greenery and flowers
Cover for Beautiful, But Deadly by G.T. Anthony featuring art of a human and clawed monster hand holding a flower
Picture collage featuring a young man with a bloody dagger at his throat, alongside a golden coin and a classical artwork (artist: Solomon Joseph Solomon) of a young squire dressing/undressing his knight. Title: What Happens in Camp. Text reads: A taboo m/m/m short story set in the 1600s; A young camp follower is caught between his brash lover & an older military officer. Featuring: explicit dubcon/non-con, blackmail, sex work, jealousy, and murder. Light on history... heavy on the fucking.
Lovely artwork of a guy and a blob by Lazlo Lemur
Text from Forest of the Morning, book 2: “You’d trust us with a weapon?” he asked in a low voice. Anspeare raised an eyebrow. “Should I not trust you?” He stepped away and regarded them for a moment, the amused glint back in his eyes. “Besides, should I need to fear for myself against a beardless boy who was too weak to walk a couple of days ago, and another who still nurses his sword arm in his lap?” Fish felt the flash of anger, the jolt of scalded pride, and let it flow through him without outlet. Better that Anspeare think them no more than a pair of boys, he knew. Better that his picture was of a pair of young flash-fire hire-mercs on their first job out of Ülhard, too city-bred to plan their escape from a mountain storm. Beside him, Nico became still as a chunk of granite yet said nothing. Satisfaction flashed in the nobleman’s eyes, and Fish had the sinking feeling that they’d failed some sort of test: of course, if they really were a pair of inexperienced boys, they’d have flared up at the insult. Why is he playing this game with us?
Grey Aces: Morally grey asexual characters in fantasy May 1 - 31 itch.io bundle - 6 books for $6 - riyati.ink/greyaces Six book covers are shown, top left to bottom right, as follows: City of Strife by Claudie Arseneault Merchants of Knowledge and Magic by Erika McCorkle Forest of the Morning by Emmylou Kotzé Sidetracked Part 1 by S. K. Kelley Riyati Rivals by Kai Zeal Lantern by Burgundy Athena Pendragon
Graphic featuring a pubic domain drawing by Arthur Rackham. Text reads: The Broken Knight. Featuring- tragic romance; Anglo-Saxon folklore & history; bisexual male protag with severe amnesia; arthurian elements; monsters, wizardry, river-maidens, and a magic sword; eventual spice (m/f) Purchase link: books2read.com/thebrokenknight
Text snippet: “Wait.” He reached a hand up his left sleeve, and put a leather-holstered knife down beside the sword. “One moment.” He fiddled at the laces of his boot, and withdrew another knife identical to the first.
Painting by Herbert James Draper (Ulysses and the Sirens). Three gorgeous naked women, one of them a mermaid, are singing at Ulysses' sailors who look completely nonplussed (they've plugged their ears against the Sirens' songs). Ulysses himself is tied to the mast and seems to have gone completely crazy by the look in his eyes.
35 indie books that are currently on sale for $2 or less. These are all part of a bundle on itch.io. Text reads: Indie Book Sale Indiebook.sale Fantasy, sci-fi, & horror 11-13 April Itch.io Bundle Fantasy 2 35 books for $35