I've gotten really into the Bad Gays podcast recently! They explore gay villains throughout history with the idea that they are also part of our legacy as queer people. The podcast is here (as is information about their book!): https://badgayspod.com/
Continuing on from #BadGaysPod, the Bosie episode inspired me to read Oscar Wilde's De Profundis, the book-length letter he wrote to Bosie (Lord Alfred Douglas, the lover because of whom he ended up in prison) while at Reading Prison.
It is beautifully written and absolutely harrowing — an incredible postmortem of a truly toxic relationship, as well as a fascinating exploration of art, suffering, beauty, friendship, & what experiencing Britain's criminal justice system meant to Wilde.
I should add, I listened to it as an audiobook, and the version I listened to had a lovely foreword from Wilde's grandson, and the reader read it <em>beautifully</em>.
One last rec inspired by #BadGaysPod: Maurice by E. M. Forster!
It has the distinction of being one of the first gay novels with a happy ending (which made it unpublishable for many years). It's set in a nebulous period before WWI.
For me, it was refreshing to have a main character who isn't particularly clever. Maurice has many prejudices & few philosophies & is slow to learn better, altho he does learn. And the prose is absolutely lovely.
Oops almost forgot to do another! Today's #DecRecs is Unhallowed by Jordan L. Hawk, which I've been recommending everywhere ever since I read it:
New England! Librarians! Bookbinding! Eldritch nonsense! Romance! Lovecraft sans the racism & xenophobia! Plus it answers the question: "What if the Dunwitch horror was a Good Boy, actually?"
Today's #DecRecs is because as I was walking to the subway just now there was frost riming the leaves & grass on the bike path and the sky was blue and the sun shone on everything and my heart recited — Мороз и солнце, день чудесный! Frost and sunlight, a marvelous day!
The poem is «Зимнее утро» / "Winter morning" by A.S. Pushkin https://ilibrary.ru/text/684/p.1/index.html
And here's a very good English translation: https://ruverses.com/alexander-pushkin/winter-morning/7940/
Today's #DecRecs is a fic rec!
"Known Associates" by thingswithwings changed me as a person. It is SO SO SO good. It's broadened my knowledge of my hometown, my place in the queer community, and queerness as a whole. It also has a way better post-Iron Man 3 phase 3 than we actually got :P
One of my favorite shows of the past year is Owl House! Sadly cancelled before its time because of not "fitting Disney's target demographic" whatever the fuck that means, it is weird and quirky and kind in the tradition of the best middle grade cartoons. The third and final season is going to be 3 45-minute episodes, the first of which is a) already out on YouTube and b) AMAZING.
I love the Clawthorne-Noceda-and-auxiliaries extended family so much
I love pretty much everything KJ Charles has ever done (that I've read, I'm still working thru her oeuvre) but today I would like to tell you all about the glory that is The Magpie Lord. It is spooky and sexy and I love the characters so much. Also I would love to see someone write Magpie Lord AU fics of various of my fandoms https://kjcharleswriter.com/charm-of-magpies/
I have been listening to #TheAmazingDevil nearly nonstop for the past month or so, so if you haven't jumped on this train yet, now is the time. The frontrunners of this amazing band are Madeleine Hyland and Joey Batey (whom you may recognize as Jaskier from Netflix's #TheWitcher series). The lyrics are incredible & devastating, the melodies are complex & gorgeous. On all three albums I don't think there's a single dud of a song.
Today's #DecRecs are the really wonderful Grand Prix Final skates by Kwon Minsol and Kim Chaeyon!
They're my new favorite juniors to watch:
And today I can't kvell enough about the Italian senior ice dance team, Guignard & Fabbri! Teams that have a gold medal To Me!
Rhythm dance: https://youtu.be/JK0ykQBK0Ro
Free dance: https://youtu.be/MUmHe1cydHg
Catching up, yesterday's #DecRecs is one more #ISUjuniorgrandprix competitor: Nikolaj Memola of Italy.
His short program was an exquisite skate to Rachmaninov: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXpZeWnPBow
His free program was to Samson et Dalila and was one of my favorite things from the whole Grand Prix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFHO1XmQ8tA
I can't find the video of his fantastic skate at the Gala but here is a lovely interview with him just after medaling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rlL1GhVlIk
And today, on a completely different note: the wonderful visual novel Arcade Spirits is lovely and sweet. You play a main character who is somewhat lacking in direction and so gets an AI personal assistant who instigates their becoming an employee at an old-fashioned arcade where you meet lots of different characters, can choose to romance them (or not!), and build community. I loved playing it and will definitely replay with other choices.
Two days behind again. For yesterday I would like to recommend the incomparable yutaan on tumblr, my favorite artist currently working. Her papercraft pieces are gorgeous and intricate and working with her on commissions has been an absolute pleasure.
Today's rec is also a request for recs: I've made a fanvid playlist that I've called "AMVs what do the sound thing", by which I mean ones that incorporate original audio (not dialogue!) from the fandom to the beat of the chosen song.
I think the most famous example is probably the big MCU "Glitter and Gold" vid but there are a few others I've found. Right now the playlist is 4 strong and I'm always looking for more.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCronFqK4lCexucUMtDbxWtyc6Jkw-FgB
(The Arcane "Rasputin" vid *does* incorporate dialogue to its detriment but the rest is so well done that I've included it anyway)
I first encountered This Way to the Egress at a con in New Jersey and instantly fell in love with their macabre vaudeville style. I lost track of them over years but this week I remembered their existence and it turns out they have several new albums! I really love their newest album Retrospectiva!
https://tidal.com/album/144301025
https://thiswaytotheegress1.bandcamp.com
Hey do you like concept albums? Do you like mythology? Do you want a retelling of Norse mythology from the creation of the worlds through to Ragnarok with heartbreaking character work & complex layered melodies?
Then look no farther than Sassafrass's "Sundown: Whispers of Ragnarok"! I am obsessed with it; I have been listening to it on repeat for years!
https://sassafrass.bandcamp.com/album/sundown-whispers-of-ragnarok
And actually on that note, please enjoy a short, lovely Mad Max: Fury Road fanfic where Nux dies historic on the Fury Road but the afterlife he wakes up in is not Valhalla.
And on THAT note, my favorite Mad Max: Fury Road fic and the only coffee shop AU that somehow manages to be as badass as the original canon.
Mind the tags.
Tor just announced a cover for Rebecca Fraimow's novel so I would like to recommend my FAVORITE short story series by her:
1) “Further Arguments In Support of Yudah Cohen’s Proposal to Bluma Zilberman”: https://podcastle.org/2016/12/26/podcastle-miniature-94-further-arguments-in-support-of-yudah-cohens-proposal-to-bluma-zilberman/, 2) “Shaina Rubin Keeps Her Head Under Circumstances Nobody Could Have Expected” https://podcastle.org/2016/12/27/podcastle-448-shaina-rubin-keeps-her-head-under-circumstances-nobody-could-have-expected/ and 3) “Gitl Schneiderman Learns to Live With Her In-Laws” https://podcastle.org/2021/07/27/podcastle-689-gitl-schneiderman-learns-to-live-with-her-in-laws/
And since this is, ostensibly, a fandom account, please enjoy this fantastic #Yuletide fic from last year set in the fandom of the above series:
https://archiveofourown.org/works/35771485
Rabbi Shaina Cohen Shows Great Patience And Fortitude by imperfectcircle
Epistolary fic about Yudah's descendants
@theleakypen @westie an all-time classic!
@villainousfriend @theleakypen one of my top 10 fics of all time easy (do not ask me to actually make this list)
@westie @villainousfriend it lives in my head
@theleakypen @villainousfriend "every word I've ever had for myself is on that list" kills me. Just. That's a whole thesis about 70 years of evolution of queer communities and terminology in one sentence.
@westie @villainousfriend yes yes yes yes