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Hannibal (2013-2015)

2x12 - “Tome-wan”

#no thoughts just the way will mirrors hannibal swallowing his wine

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Murderbot being ⭐starstruck⭐ by Mensah (and out of its marbles)

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Simone Ashley wearing VIVIENNE WESTWOOD – 78th annual Cannes Film Festival

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carpe jugulum / small gods / lords and ladies / night watch

HERE AND NOW! HAPPY GLORIOUS 25TH!

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CINDER HOUSE: A NOVELLA

coming in October this year: an extremely angry Cinderella retelling about ballet, fire, skeletons, intense epistolary friendships, and aaaaall the feelings I had about being trapped in my house and betrayed by my body, thanks for nothing, long COVID.

Ella is a haunting. Murdered at sixteen, her ghost is furiously trapped in her father's house, invisible to everyone except her stepmother and stepsisters. Even when she discovers how to untether herself from her prison, there are limits. She cannot be seen or heard by the living people who surround her. Her family must never learn she is able to leave. And at the stroke of every midnight, she finds herself back on the staircase where she died. Until she forges a wary friendship with a fairy charm-seller, and makes a bargain for three nights of almost-living freedom. Freedom that means she can finally be seen. Danced with. Touched. You think you know Ella's story: the ball, the magical shoes, the handsome prince. You're halfway right, and all-the-way wrong.

Preorder UK/ Preorder US

Incredible cover by Cristina Bencina.

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book recs: may 2025

first recs post in nearly a year! I plead: having a baby. turns out they surgically remove all your free time, who knew?? but I've been reading in tiny doses and now am able to read in LARGER doses so let's do this. highlights from the past year.

*means not yet released; read as an ARC.

FLOWERS FROM THE STORM by laura kinsale - I only discovered kinsale recently but I was electrified. halfway between georgette heyer and dorothy dunnett. this book in particular is bonkers intense and absolutely wonderful. the hero has had an aphasic stroke and the heroine is a quaker. yes I know. read it anyway. life-changing.

THE SENTENCE by louise erdrich - literary fiction about a year in the life of a native american ex-felon bookseller haunted by a dead customer. I fucking adored this. it's like taking a big bite of a perfectly cooked steak: rich, meaty, satisfying, self-indulgent. a perfect treat for book nerds.

SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY by alexis hall - this is kind of a comedic romance novel about an aromantic woman who semi-kidnaps and marries her gay friend for Regency Reasons, and kind of a cross-country romp in which they collect sex partners, and very full of long grown-up discussions about feelings and family and priorities. it shouldn't work and yet I was HOOKED. the third in a series; I do recommend reading the other two for context.

*AN ACADEMIC AFFAIR by jodi mcalister - marriage of convenience for the extremely valid reason of academic partner employment clauses. I am obsessed with jodi's romances and this one is very sharp about how fucked up academia is while also being blissfully swoony and bantery. can't wait for the others in this series, too.

YOU ARE HERE: NINE MORE STORIES by iona datt sharma - I will sing iona's praises with my dying breath. deft, devastating, delicious. every one of these stories is a jewel. I will also throw in a rec for BLOOD SWEAT GLITTER, their recent romance novella about roller derby and trauma recovery.

WOOING THE WITCH QUEEN by stephanie burgis - romantasy girlies, assemble! this is a fun & satisfying story about a powerful woman trying to hold her kingdom together and the hot archduke she accidentally hires to be her magical librarian. found family! secret identities! a heartwarming banger.

*LADIES IN HATING by alexandra vasti - what if we were rival gothic novelists with a secret shared past and we got stuck in a Haunted Manor and had to have a lot of feelings about it while in surprising amounts of peril? sapphic histrom doesn't get better than this.

I SHALL NEVER FALL IN LOVE by hari conner - a graphic novel queer retelling of emma, which is one of my favourite austens. this is thoughtfully researched and grounded in history, has lovely and very funny art, and was a shot of pure joy.

*THE EVERLASTING by alix harrow - can't believe alix is out here grinding my heart into little pieces YET AGAIN. a tired lady knight and the historian trying to chronicle her life and control her ending get stuck in a time loop. this is about the violence of history and empire and narrative. it's brutal. it's romantic. it's so so so so SO good.

THUS WAS ADONIS MURDERED by sarah caudwell - I almost don't want to give too much away about this, because I went in with zero knowledge and had a blast. it's a murder mystery. it's extremely funny. go forth, enjoy.

EUPHORIA by lily king - not funny at all but a perfectly crafted, fairly short gem of a historical litfic novel. it's about the relationships between three anthropologists. it's very hard to describe. but I can't stop thinking about this book.

THE SAFEKEEP by yael van der wouden. also historical litfic and even shorter! even less funny! even more amazing! a bitter, repressed woman plays reluctant host to her brother's girlfriend; history, yearning, secrets and denial create a crucible of emotion and lust.

*THE DUKE by anna cowan - what if the rich, rakish, unrepentant duke of every regency romance was a woman? what if her love interest was a french courtesan who's blackmailing her? anna cowan's first book was WAY ahead of its time when it comes to fucky delicious gender stuff, and this one is equally great.

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Whaaaatt? Aw man I wish I could go back in time and see this!!!

TIL: In the 1981 original Broadway cast of Amadeus, Tim Curry played Mozart to Ian McKellen’s Salieri. Both were nominated for the best actor Tony—McKellen won.

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The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)

Director: Stephan Elliott DOP: Brian J. Breheny Production Design: Owen Paterson Art Direction: Colin Gibson

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inkpa + hair touches

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kids of the neighborhood

1906

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KARA THRACE Battlestar Galactica: The Miniseries (2003)

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😱TWO WEEKS UNTIL PUB DAY!😱

To celebrate this little milestone, I thought it might be fun to share the assets I created for the pitch proposal of WHEN THE TIDES HELD THE MOON before it went out on submission. As those who have been following along for a while know, being the illustrator for this story wasn’t always a given, but my wise agent Saritza Hernández encouraged me to prepare some sketches that would help convince prospective publishers that an illustrated novel was a risk worth taking — and I’m so glad I did!

I had about a week or so to pull the art together which is why they’re a bit rough, and as those who have held the physical ARC can attest to, we made different decisions about the artistic treatment of the interiors that better served the look and feel we were going for. That said, even after all this time, I enjoy looking at these as a reminder that some risks are worth taking. You just never know what’s possible!

I’ll always be grateful to Diana Pho, Erewhon Books & Kensington Books for taking a chance on a fully illustrated queer historical romantasy. I hope you’ll take a chance on it too when it releases in two weeks!

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Romeo + Juliet (1996) dir. Baz Luhrmann

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Louise Bourgeois. Spider (Cell). 1997

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I illustrated a cover for Freya Marske's book, Cinder House, published by tordotcom. I was tasked with combining a woman and a house together with a ghostly environment. Thanks Christine for the opportunity!

Follow Cristina Bencina and the rest of her work on instagram!

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you look like a turner painting and i want to learn your textures with my fingertips