Bitter Fruit

Oesta has been at war for over a thousand years, ever since its population was decimated by the alien Other in less than a day. Cut off from the galaxy by a planetary quarantine, any remaining humans now cling to life on Oesta's surface and in orbital stations, their survival hard-won. Without the towering biomechanical war machines known as mechs and the special few chosen as their pilots, humanity would be dead.

After witnessing the second death of his father, Anima is chosen by the mech Adeni to be its new, undying pilot. He quickly learns that his mech is sentient, strong-willed, and incredibly possessive. Entranced by his mercurial teammate, Sumi, and refusing to ever feel lonely or afraid again, Anima finds himself caught up in an endless war he's done his best not to think about, among a team that considers sex and death to be equal intimacies. Change is unavoidable if he wants to survive, and if he has to become a worse man to save what he's learned to love, so be it.

"Surreal and sincere, Bitter Fruit explores interpersonal responsibility and intimacy in ways that left me gutted and breathless."

- James Dillon, co-author of The Other A in LGBTQIA+

"Gutwrenching in more ways than one-- Bitter Fruit moved and shocked me in equal, delightful, measures"

- Emily Latta, past interactions

"Sentient biomecha beings fighting a planetary infection, complex characters struggling through messy interpersonal relationships, psychic parasitism, weird sex, and boys with daddy issues: this book has got everything you never knew you needed. Bitter Fruit is a truly bingeable story that kept me hooked from open to close."

- Molly Johnson

Check out the free companion zine: Meet The Pilots!