Hormonal is definitely in the frame, there's a story where everything is going wrong due to a cursed bad-luck charm, and Kethry gets menstrual cramps, but Tarma gets a cold. OTOH she's described as thin as a blade in her initial description in the introductory story, before the bandit attack and before she becomes swordsworn. (Her boyfriend 'jokes' he doesn't know whether he's sleeping with her or her sword - why he isn't treated to the flat of it across the back of his head I'm not sure)
I've not read the Darkover stuff, so can't really comment on the similarities to emasca, but she was clearly close to Bradley, and that initial sale was this story...
Firesong, a flamboyantly femme gay man who is never shown as identifying as any gender other than male, is able to wield Need ... because "his masculine and feminine sides are perfectly balanced."
She uses exactly the same line for the Tayledras mage in this story, with the strong suggestion Need can't decide on his sex, so errs on the side of female-sort-it-out-later. I'd forgotten Firesong wields Need until you reminded me, and how much I loathe how that pairing ends in disability/disfiguration-as-punishment may explain why I didn't catch the gender aspects. It isn't expressly stated this Tayledras is gay, but he did have a Shin'a'in shaman as a friend, which may have been an attempt to imply it. Without that reminder of Firesong I decided it was a lousy attempt to describe someone non-binary, but now you've pointed out the similarity it does sound like she has a very odd view of gay men, and that the mage in this story may have been proto-Firesong (especially as he also looks after a flock of firebirds). I don't think it is Firesong, as it's implied this mage may be much older than he looks, and Firesong doesn't have the experience/emotional maturity to be that old plus another 50 years or so.
I'm not sure if I've read the Tregarde short story, I've read the novels. It's so long since I read them I may not have fully comprehended what was going on - my understanding of trans issues is a lot more recent.
And the final story is Spring Plowing at Forst Reach, so quite definitely the Ashkevron family stud farm.
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I've not read the Darkover stuff, so can't really comment on the similarities to emasca, but she was clearly close to Bradley, and that initial sale was this story...
She uses exactly the same line for the Tayledras mage in this story, with the strong suggestion Need can't decide on his sex, so errs on the side of female-sort-it-out-later. I'd forgotten Firesong wields Need until you reminded me, and how much I loathe how that pairing ends in disability/disfiguration-as-punishment may explain why I didn't catch the gender aspects. It isn't expressly stated this Tayledras is gay, but he did have a Shin'a'in shaman as a friend, which may have been an attempt to imply it. Without that reminder of Firesong I decided it was a lousy attempt to describe someone non-binary, but now you've pointed out the similarity it does sound like she has a very odd view of gay men, and that the mage in this story may have been proto-Firesong (especially as he also looks after a flock of firebirds). I don't think it is Firesong, as it's implied this mage may be much older than he looks, and Firesong doesn't have the experience/emotional maturity to be that old plus another 50 years or so.
I'm not sure if I've read the Tregarde short story, I've read the novels. It's so long since I read them I may not have fully comprehended what was going on - my understanding of trans issues is a lot more recent.
And the final story is Spring Plowing at Forst Reach, so quite definitely the Ashkevron family stud farm.