Your Luminous Heart, Bound in Red
Basic information
- Title
- Your Luminous Heart, Bound in Red
- Byline
- by S. Qiouyi Lu
- Length
- 7,200 words
- Access options
- Full text: https://s.qiouyi.lu/fiction/your-luminous-heart/ (free)
- PDF, ePub, text (Markdown): Ko-fi ($3+), Patreon ($3+)
Publications
First publication
- Lu, S. Qiouyi. “Your Luminous Heart, Bound in Red.” Asimov’s September/October 2021 from Dell Publications, now Must Read Magazines.
- Line edited by Jay Wolf for Speculative Masculinities (unpublished).
- Edited by Sheila Williams for Asimov’s.
- Published by Dell Publications (Asimov’s now published by Must Read Magazines, a division of Must Read Books Publishing, a 1 Paragraph, Inc. company).
- Cover art by unknown artist. Please contact me if you have credit information.
Reprints
- Lu, S. Qiouyi. “Your Luminous Heart, Bound in Red.” S. Qiouyi Lu, April 25, 2025.
- Permalink: https://s.qiouyi.lu/fiction/your-luminous-heart/
- Sent as Modality Irrealis newsletter on April 25, 2025.
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to the late Xan West of Kink Praxis for their suggestions on safer depiction of bondage. I added a nonverbal safe word protocol based on their feedback.
Additional context
Character names
- Langxin
- 狼心 lángxīn, ‘wolf heart’
- Chi
- 赤 chì, ‘red; bare, nude’
- Dame Qīngshān
- ”Dame” as in the English title; 青山 qīngshān ‘blue-green mountains’
Story continuity
This is the first short story set in the secondary world Aurei. However, which city, continent, or timeframe the story takes place in aren’t specified.