#Weetzie Bat

[pink-carnelian]

time is a concept it doesn’t exist !!!

[seidkonaz]

He was so handsome, but he didn’t look well. He reminded her of a cigarette.

Francesca Lia Block, Dangerous Angels: Weetzie Bat

[dasenergi]

From “Witch Baby” by Francesca Lia Block

[formerlibrarian]

When you read a book so good that you want to buy a copy for all of your gay friends, only to discover that the book is out-of-print. 😩 Why???!!

If it is a banned book, you know it’s good…

[boxingcleverrr]

Gail Simone on Twitter asked folks to talk about novels that taught them something and changed their life, to which I added,

"I was a sad, closeted kid when a friend (same one who introduced me to Bowie!) loaned me her stack of Weetzie Bat books, along with some others by Francesca Lia Block. She painted such a hopeful world of queer, magical, arty friends living together. #ThisBookTaughtMeSomething"

Which led me to looking up how people respond to her now and like.

Criticism of her early work in regards to cultural appropriation/terms? Valid! She has very much grown and learned since then!

People calling Weetzie Bat basic, fluff, immature romanticism of queer life, though....?

Fuck you all the way off, lol. It's YA, it's not for your grownass. It was written in the 80s about an LA that doesn't exist anymore, to give HOPE to young LONELY people in the midst of the AIDS crisis, like.

Imagine reading about a girl who has a baby with her two gay best friends in 1989, when everyone is telling you that you and your friends are going to get AIDS and die just for being who you are. Those books weren't written for adults in 2023. But there's still plenty there for isolated teens who feel like there's no hope, no future where they're happy safe and loved in a chosen family in a house that looks like ice cream.

[wordnoodlenerd]

Weetzie Bat! (Post from April 2022)

You guys. I have reconnected with something from my teenage years.

Just a few days ago, I was wondering what the HECK that book series was, that I read as a teenager, that was so colorful and weird and full of Los Angeles grunge/punk imagery?

Also, just a few days ago, I discovered the Every Outfit podcast, with Chelsea Fairless and Lauren Garroni and FELL IN LOVE. They are so witty and snarky and when they are Mean Girls, they have the reasons to back it up. Most of the fashion/movie people they mention, I have no idea who they are. But I'm going to stalk the shit out of this podcast until I know who the fuck these people are.

Anyway, I was listening to the April 8th episode while driving home from work, and they start talking about Weetzie Bat. At first I have no idea what the fuck they are talking about, but then more they described it, a friggin lightbulb went off - THAT'S the young adult series that I have been trying to remember!

Weird, right? But so magical. Weetzie Bat magic, for sure. I was obsessed with this series when I was a teenager, but I don't think I knew it was a 6-book series - I only remember reading the first 3 books? Lucky for me, the ENTIRE series is available through my local library app. E-book only, which is disappointing - what would the audio be like, right??

Yeahhh Bitchesss,

-WNN

[forest-of-stories]

Throwback Thursday, Fandom Edition: "It's Slinkster Cool"

I wrote a fan letter to Francesca Lia Block when I was 13.

I also enclosed a hand-drawn "family tree" depicting the interconnected relationships in her Weetzie Bat series, the omnibus edition of which I would eventually read and reread so many times that it literally cracked in half. I mentioned two family members in my letter, but at some point, I shared the series with Younger Sister as well. A couple of months ago, she went on a work trip to Los Angeles, and told us after returning that she'd looked around for landmarks from Weetzie Bat.

As a young reader, I was enthralled, not only by the lush descriptions of food and outfits and city streets that filled those books, but by their inherent sense of wonder and appreciation for creativity and chosen families, and by the version of adulthood that they seemed to offer. Maybe I didn't want to go to clubs or star in movies or learn to surf when I grew up, but I was very attached to the idea of sharing a beautiful house with all my friends, and maybe some adorable dogs, where we'd create the art that we loved and – to quote Missing Angel Juan, my favorite book in the series – live like "kids playing in the street before they have to go in for dinner." The life I eventually built hasn't always been like that, but I'm lucky to have experienced moments that feel similarly satisfying.

As with many childhood favorites, I can find a lot to criticize about Block's writing when I look back on it now, and so can other people. In 2013, Debbie Reese wrote about the questionable Native American representation in the Weetzie Bat books on her incredible American Indians in Children's Literature blog. James Frankie Thomas*, in an installment of his 2019 "YA of Yore" column, discussed the uncomfortable body issues that recurred across Block's canon (there's your content warning for eating disorders), as well as some of the limitations of the remarkable-for-its-time queerness in her books. But he also talks about why her work was genuinely appealing to so many readers, and I found myself nodding along with his observation that "Block’s style flattens magic into the everyday and imbues the everyday with magic... by the grace of luck, Block made it seem cool to be swooningly, squealingly excited about everything." I did include the phrase "sappy as that may sound" in my letter, but I like to think that Francesca Lia Block, of all authors, wouldn't be put off by sincerity.

She eventually wrote back to me, on a postcard that is now barely legible: "Thank you for the cool project and your note. I really appreciate it."

*Since writing the column, Thomas has come out as trans, and his byline and author bio reflect this, but the "YA of Yore" tagline still uses his old name and the pronoun "her." If you want to read his related essays, I recommend them, particularly the one about Animorphs, anoher beloved series that I talked about a couple of weeks ago.

[bgroveart]

Love is a dangerous angel.

[illbedancingwithmyself]

There are books that weren’t for me, there are books I hated, and then there are books I have thrown out of windows

[ambientblackmetal30]

So I’m hanging with the older punk domme here were playing boggle and scrabble and she feels like platonic soul mate a fellow Scorpio her worker name is also Dracula adjacent she offered me to work with her and come live with her at her loft until I get my apartment on dec 1 we’re gonna watch nightmare before Christmas the first day I’m just excited to meet someone on the same frequency as me we’re all doing Christmas with our other friend here who an English professor and it sounds … heavenly

[pink-carnelian]

I can’t remember the last time I finished a book that wasn’t written by francesca lia block. I have a problem

[inaviolentnature]

9 people to get to know better, thank you for tagging me merv @comicsguy :)

list 3 ships you like: ooh, i've been revisiting rhack after playing borderlands 3, steddie is a ship i'm always reading (and writing) for, and scollace is a new ship for me

first ship ever: johnlock.... and stucky

last song you heard: prove you wrong by prong

favourite childhood book: i loved "are you there god? it's me margaret" by judy blume, and as a teenager it was "weetzie bat" by francesca lia block

currently reading: listening to the young mungo audio book by douglas stewart

currently watching: rewatching mtv daria, beavis and butt-head, and jessica jones

currently consuming: just drank some strawberry milk

currently craving: some water, i'm so parched but too lazy to get up and get some

no obligation tags: @allmoshnobrain @fairytalesreality @faggotfungus @handholdingisabigdeal @smilingwithfangs @alonetogether @lesbian-hannibal @snowangeldotmp3 @wastrelwoods

[aurorawest]

Reading update

Arthur and Teddy Are Coming Out by Ryan Love - 3/5 stars

The Fate of Stars by SD Simper - DNF at pg 32

A Gathering Storm by Joanna Chambers - 4.75/5 stars

I kept getting the Madame Leota room from Haunted Mansion stuck in my head as I was reading this (not a bad thing!). This book has a surprisingly low rating on the Storygraph, and I'm not going to torture myself by looking at the reviews, but I'm assuming it's because of the power discrepancy between Ward and Nick. Clearly it didn't bother me as I really enjoyed the book!

Dionysus in Wisconsin by EH Lupton - 4.75/5 stars

At some point I might get tired of Mid-Century Modern romances, but not this day. This book was super fun, with an interesting world and lovely characters. And a Midwest setting! I've spent a lot of time in Madison, Wisconsin, where this book is set, so I got the added bonus of knowing most of the places pretty well. There was even a shoutout to an obscure piece of Madison history, the Lost City in the Arb. I have to get the second book in the series now!boy

Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan - 3.25/5 stars

I gave this book an extra quarter of a star for being written in 2003, when it would have been genuinely pretty groundbreaking. Reading it in 2024, it's very twee and pretty cringey (the queer utopia town would have been a magical fantasy in 2003, not so much now in a lot of places). When Levithan credited Francesca Lia Block's Weetzie Bat books in the acknowledgements, I though, ah. No wonder. Hated those as a teen.

All that said, there's some genuinely lovely writing in this book, and it has its place in the queer canon.

The Greywacke by Nick Davidson - 5/5 stars

Super interesting nonfiction about the discipline of geology and how the early geologic epochs were figured out. Also gave me an idea for a historical romance about gay Victorian geologists.

Home Grown Talent by Joanna Chambers & Sally Malcolm - 5/5 stars

I think I loved this one more than the first in the series. The social media scandal was perfect, in that it was exactly as absurd as every social media scandal is, and thus hilarious, but also chilling in how even something so stupid can ruin people's lives.

The First Bright Thing by JR Dawson - DNF at pg 1

Prince of the Sorrows by Kellen Graves - DNF at pg 30

Reuben's Hot & Cold by M Arbon - 3/5 stars

Slight Foxing Around the Edges by Melissa Polk - DNF at pg 132

Restored by Joanna Chambers - 5/5 stars

Balefire by Jordan L Hawk - 4.75/5 stars

A Rulebook for Restless Rogues by Jess Everlee - 4/5 stars

The Mars House by Natasha Pulley - 5/5 stars

See my brain vomit about this book here. If you've been around here for any amount of time you know all Natasha Pulley's books make me feral. Absolutely no exception here. I cannot believe her first UK publisher dropped her over this book. Idiots! It's wonderful just like everything she's ever written.

In the Case of Heartbreak by Courtney Kaye - DNF at pg 181

The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason - DNF at pg 21

The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun - 5/5 stars (reread)

Just as good as the first time I read it!

Exhalation by Ted Chiang - 4.5/5 stars

The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic - DNF at pg 84

Crisped + Sere by TJ Klune - 4.75/5 stars

It actually kind of makes me mad that this series isn't Klune's most famous work, because it's real good. At this point it seems kind of unlikely he's going to continue it, but man, I'd love another book.

These Silent Stars by Chani Lynn Feener - DNF at pg 68

Trailer Park Trickster by David R Slayton - 5/5 stars

See below.

Deadbeat Druid by David R Slayton - David R Slayton - 5/5 star

I LOVE this series. Love love love love. Absolute must read. If you're a fan of KD Edwards's The Tarot Sequence, this series is right up your alley. It seems like there will be more after this initial trilogy, and there's also a spinoff book coming soon which I'm super excited for. Read them!!

[fideidefenswhore]

1, 4, 5 :)

What’s something you read recently and enjoyed?

Hunting the Falcon, John Guy & Julia Fox, (re)read The King's Mind by Christopher Rae

What are your top 3 comfort reads?

Midnight Library by Matt Haig, Weetzie Bat series by Francesca Lia Block, The Lady Anne by Gemma Lawrence

What is your favorite non-fiction book?

Trainwreck: The Women We Love to Hate, Sady Doyle

[rezcowgirl]

I'm looking through old photos again. I still have 7 years to trudge through. But wtf! I was so cute!!!! Let me be egotistical for a sec because why did I hate myself so much? This was before being RXd and extensive therapy and meds and committing my best to being a better person so that was probably a factor lmao.

I had so many cool clothes and I have no idea why I got rid of them. I don't have a single piece left from any of these photos. Not that they would probably fit anymore, but damn.

Like that Mercibocoup, lamb jacket? I got rid of that? That perfect red coat?? The vintage floral dresses? I just like, threw them in a donation bin? WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING.

(I am well aware these are painfully twee. I was a 21-22 year old ndn nerd whose favourite book was Weetzie Bat. I could quote most of Viola's lines from Twelfth Night and collected books about faeries. I still collect books about faeries. Bite me.)