A Novel by Megan Catherine Rose
FUTURE/FAE is a queer novel that reclaims the manic pixie dream girl. Set in Cadigal lands (Newtown, Sydney) the novel follows the diffractive, shimmering world of autistic art students Trash and Sabbath. Passing through art studios, escape rooms, mermaid tanks and graveyards these two young femmes find themselves and each other.
As a stock character in film, the manic pixie dream girl’s sole purpose is to rescue men from the drudgery of their own lives. Outside of fiction, this type of femme is actually an AuDHD girl, coded as quirky, zany or weird. This follows a long history of coding autistic women as ‘fae’. Written in a lyrical and unrelenting fiery style, the novel explores queer friendships and solidarity, and reflects on what it means for manic pixie dream girls to speak back.