#and if you want queer books i fucking hate: cemetery boys is at the top of that list

[xslytherclawx-writes]

hey i’m reading your ravenclaw au (love it so much so far!) and i was wondering if you had a list of older queer literature? because i’d like to start reading more of it!

thank you so much!!!

well, with the caveat of "what defines 'older'?"

first, there's the literature I've titled Ravenclaw AU after:

the poetry of Arthur Rimbaud (less overtly queer works-wise and a lot is meant to be as shockingly disturbing as possible but he did very much run away with Verlaine lol)

the works of Thomas Mann in general - Death in Venice is considered a classic (though I'd look up content warnings if you're sensitive to certain things), but I quoted Tonio Kröger which is a short story

Maurice by E.M. Forster

(Philippe Besson is a contemporary writer, but I'd recommend his works regardless)

Walt Whitman has a few poems on the subject of male beauty etc. that are flowery enough to be quoted outside

Ronald M. Schernikau!!! He died in the 90s at a young age, but regardless, I would consider him of a previous generation of queer literature - born in East Germany, emigrated to the West with his family, moved back to East Germany of his own free will (and studied in Leipzig like truly). I quoted kleinstadtnovelle, but die tage in l. is also highly recommended - though with the caveat that idk if his work has ever been translated and it's not stylistically an easy read for non-native speakers

(Aciman is also a contemporary writer, but again: highly recommended)

Klaus Mann! Yes, related to Thomas Mann (he's his son). I haven't actually read Mephisto though I've owned it for like a decade lol

the poetry of Wilfred Owen

Works / authors that I haven't referenced but would also recommend:

The Charioteer by Mary Renault

Gertrude Stein's works

the poetry of Allen Ginsberg. was the dude shit? yes. but his poetry is amazing.

Gore Vidal!

Larry Kramer!!!

Tony Kushner!

Patricia Highsmith

Edmund White's A Boy's Own Story (and subsequent books) is like... extremely fucked and very much a product of its time, but I think it's very good

and you didn't ask but contemporary works i'd recommend include:

literally anything Cat Sebastian has ever written, especially if you like Ravenclaw AU, because she specializes in coziness (my favorites are Two Rogues Make A Right and Peter Cabot Gets Lost)

How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee

Olivia Waite's works are very good as well - she specializes in F/F romance

KJ Charles if you like plottier romance (but they are romance)

Again reiterating: André Aciman and Philippe Besson!

I have not read Sarah Waters but people who I trust highly recommend her works.

But if you're looking for books that have similar vibes to Ravenclaw AU, definitely look at Cat Sebastian, even though she's a contemporary writer; most of the older works I've listed are not as, um, cozy.

#and if you want queer books i fucking hate: cemetery boys is at the top of that list #caveat that i am casually acquainted with at least one author on this list lol #ask box

[twowivestwoknives]

Album thing:

I want more mce onions so three cheers for sweet revenge pls

oh Hell yeah aighty here we go: Revenge, best to worst as deemed by this bitch (me)

1. Cemetery Drive

I’m completely bias as it’s one of my all time favourite MCR songs BUT i have a reason. Revenge is a song known for it’s roughness and it doesn’t do the merging of soft and hard together as well as the band grows to be able to do (see Sleep or Save Yourself later on). Cemetery Drive is really the song on the album that marries the emotional intensity and desperation the band has been known for up to this point with the utilization of musical stylings that stand out from the rest of the tracks but still sound distinctly My Chem. It’s the Halos of Revenge and I fucking adore it. Plus lyrically? Fucking poetry 2. Hang ‘Em High This Song Fucks. It’s lyrically all over the place but terrifying and you can tell Gerard believes every word in how they sing it even if he has no clue what it means. It’s all the theatrical, violent drama the band is known for, and it in my opinion epitomizes Revenge as an album. Which is a big statement especially with songs like Venom and Helena on it, but I think it touches on all of the thematic cores (rebirth, being hunted to death, dead women, catholic guilt, murder), and I think as a “scene” of a song, as the album is concept, it really frames the frenzy someone who’s rolling with the punches of coerced serial murder would be going through. Plus murder goth cowboys. Woohoo. 3. It’s Not A Fashion Statement, It’s a Fucking Deathwish One of the most impressive opening lines of any song I’ve heard in my 25 years. It earns the spot in top three just for “For what you did to me! For what I’ll do to you! You get what everyone else gets....you get a lifetime!” Way to make a lyric sound like a prayer and a threat in the same breath. From there on it’s just a banger. A drag race of an MCR song that does 3 more laps than you’d ever expected to. Really embraces the energy MCR has in it’s speed, and not afraid to use a major sound here or there. 4. Helena It’s super weird for me to put a release this high on the list but Helena holds up as one of the most beautiful songs of the mid oughts. It shows “revenge” for what it is thematically on the album, a revenge on death. That is the running theme. i saw someone say Bullets is Gerard being terrified of death, Revenge is them being pissed about it, Parade is an acceptance of it, and Danger Days is a preoccupation with after-life in the form of memorium. Helena is also musically so outfield for the band at this point that really for the innovation gets it put here. The music video is also one of the most beautiful and aesthetically pleasing videos of all time imho.

5. To The End

You gotta love an anti capitalist homoerotic murder mansion anthem. I also believe the plot of this song was based off a book of the same name? Cuz Gerard really loves their cultural references. This song is so fun and hauntingly beautiful and I would Not want to be at this houseparty. Bonus points for the explicit gay lyrics and also Ray’s harmonies. That man has a voice of gold my lord. 6. The Jetset Life Is Going to Kill You I don’t know if this will make sense outside of my own brain but Jetset is what Prison could’ve been. Like Jetset is beautiful and haunting and absolutely about things that are not PG or even PC these days to talk about, but it weaves the themes so deftly with the music that it just works. Also did anyone else see that Sims2 youtube video of Jetset where Gerard was like...a secret ghost murderer of abusive boyfriends? No? Just me and my 6th grade class that I forced to watch it for show and tell? Cool. 7. Give ‘Em Hell, Kid This song just straight up fucks. I feel like it hones a lot of what MCR’s vibe was in revenge era (though I was still a little young for them at that time, I came into the band when I was 11 so that would be 06). It really does sum up the nonsensical metaphor, the hyper-drama, the almost drag levels of camp, the violence, the viscerality. Also points for a call forward lyrically to The Sharpest Lives. 8. I Never Told You What I Do For A Living This song is here because of the chorus, firstly, and the viscerality secondly. I scared the shit outta sixth grade teachers singing this one. But it is such a fun and interesting vocal line throughout the entire song and I’m a singer so I’m bias. Plus it’s such a phenomenal song to end the album just top tier. “The kinda dirty where the water never cleans off the clothes” is also just a to-the-core line 9. Thank You For The Venom Venom is actually a really good song, and I feel weird having it so low considering I have a tattoo from it. It’s not that I don’t like it, it’s just that I guess the songs above I like more? Venom is absolutely a fan favourite so it might just be a case of I’ve heard it too much. Lyrically and musically very fist-fight gut-punch. Fight with glass shards stead of knives type vibe. It’s really interesting to listen to a song critiquing substance use and forced medication because I remember back in the oughts when everyone was so anti-meds (some for fair reasons and some for not), and just seeing a song that lays prescribed medication and self medication on the same table saying “either could kill me but I wont let it” is....that’s a cultural moment right there. 10. Ghost Of You The song is beautiful and that chorus is fucking gutwrenching, I’m just so incredibly not here for war music videos. Doubly not if it traumatizes people to film them? Like...no need to give the state more propoganda boys just let the song be pretty. 11. You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison? Okay this song had so much potential, and it was pretty fucking radical at the time not gonna lie. Rape analogies ain’t it. The song was really written from how I understand it to do the kinda stage-gay MCR was known for in the oughts. Hearing them talk about it, 2004 wasn’t a time homophobes were shy in hardcore, so songs like Prison paired with the stage antics made Homophobes...not wanna be there. Which gave them more space for the actual queers in the audience (and arguably on stage) to rock out without getting hate crimed. Also lyrically a lottta critiques of the prison system but yeah, coulda thought it through a bit more. We coulda had another Jetset but alas. 12. I’m Not Okay (I Promise) This song is fun as hell and you will catch me singing every word when it comes on. It’s only down here as it is just...a little underwhelming compared to the rest of the album. It’s fun and lyrically pressing and great to headbang to, but a lot of the rest of the album is more complex or intense in ways that I’m Not Okay just fails to fill out 13. Interlude Like it’s pretty but it absolutely sounds like a “we need 13 songs cuz frank said so” song. It’s filler.

#answered #mcr #revenge #sableyesmaw