#a society of gentlemen

[magickkart]

Characters I’d love to lock in a room together and observe from a distance (top to bottom, left to right): Nicky Rook from “Death in the Spires”, Kim Secretan from “The Will Darling Adventures”, Daniel da Silva from “Think of England”….and technically also the will darling adventures I guess,, and last but not least - anachronistic grandpa Julius Norreys from “A Society of Gentlemen” In other news: Ive got the KJC brainworms. again.

[the-posh-life]

[lotstradamus]

best KJ Charles novels? I have a bunch of long flights coming up…

best standalones:

Think of England - mystery! intrigue! it's safer to be caught in flagrante delicto by one's hosts than to be caught spying, so take your trousers off, my good sir!

Band Sinister - a series of unfortunate events introduces country virgin and landed scoundrel. NO MURDER AT ALL in this one. lowest stakes KJC novel by far (if you don't care about A Lady's Reputation!).

The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting - fortune hunter gets sniffed out by his mark's uncle, loses fantastically to him at cards, offers to pay in kind. this one is just. so. horny.

best series:

The Doomsday Books (2 books) - these are so fun. smugglers, hidden treasure, Kent accents, beetles?!, terrible relatives, romance, murder, etc. all that good KJC shit.

The Will Darling Adventures (3 books) - post-war secret society shenanigans, ft. current bookseller, previous vicious killer in the trenches. splashes of PTSD, Bright Young Things, gangsters, the secret service, communists, sidecars. truly rip-roaring. and the sex scenes are top notch.

[hussyknee]

“Your valet had hopes of you?”

“You are scarcely the man to remark on that.”

“I had not thought he was a fool,” Dominic retorted . “We all know you set your requirements for a lover impossibly high; I am amazed you deign to fuck below a baronetcy.”

“I didn’t . That is, I kissed him, nothing more. It was my fault, I took the blame—”

“I thought you said he felt the same,” Dominic put in. “Where does the blame lie?”

“For God’s sake, he’s my valet. Where do you think?”

“If you forced unwelcome attentions on him, then on your shoulders, and heavily. But since I doubt you did any such thing—”

“I might as well have done. I pay his wages. What choice had he?”

Dominic frowned. “We are talking about Cyprian, aren’t we?”

“Good God, are you not listening?”

“I am, yes. The last time I encountered your valet he was orchestrating an act of alarmingly ingenious perjury that snatched Silas off the gallows. I wasn’t aware he had become an incapable.”

I am. Wheezing.

Richard: "I have abused my position and forced us to kiss consensually! I failed to protect Cyprian from his own choices! He doesn't understand that I'm dangerous to him!"

Dom: "Protect the–the guy who ran circles around the Home Office, set up the entire queer underground for the tonne and can go to the police right now and have every one of us hanged for sodomy??? You're dangerous to him???"

Richard: "You don't understand! I'm a lord!"

Dom: "You're a fucking imbecile."

"And he has gone without explanation or farewell, or—” Richard’s throat closed on his own words. How could Cyprian have gone without farewell?

“It would be hard for him to stay and undress you, under the circumstances,” Dominic observed. “You know, when I risked my closest friendships, my reputation, and the safety of my friends over a love affair, at least I was getting well ploughed for it.”

I want to say Dom is enjoying this too much, but tbh he's enjoying this the entirely correct amount.

Richard: "Well once I found out he wanted to fuck me like I wanted to fuck him, what did you expect me to do?"

Dom: "Fuck him??? Like a normal person??"

Richard: "But I couldn't!"

Dom: "Obviously you can't get dicked down with that stick up your ass."

[tharannas]

ehe

[plegdoctor]

Heathcliff?

It’s me, Kathy!

Let me in your window

[blackswaneuroparedux]

An elegy is a way of accepting the loss of some precious thing. It rejoices in the fact that the precious thing was given. If it is sad, it is with an accepting sadness. An elegy says: This we were given, and it is gone, but we should be grateful for it, and try to live up to its memory.

- Sir Roger Scruton

So touched by the Reform Club - of which I am member - to put out these simple and understated black drapes over its balconies to mark the passing of HM Queen Elizabeth II. It is an elegaic gesture of respect and quiet appreciation.

This is how it should be done. 

[mywingsareonwheels]

Oh Gods I love how much KJ Charles can make me care about characters and couples that I am initially deeply unconvinced by.

I mean, having now read the Society of Gentlemen books...

Really wasn't sure about Julius at first. Absolutely adore him by about a quarter of the way through, however much I was exasperated by his initial not getting Harry's need to resolve the different sides of himself. By the end: wanted to protect him oh Gods. Also if that man is neurotypical I will eat my hat.

DAMN YOU KJ CHARLES YOU MADE ME CARE SO SO SO MUCH ABOUT DOMINIC FREY HOW ABSOLUTELY DARE YOU. UGH. Only valid Tory in anything ever. (Sorry Julian from Ghosts fans. ;-) )

But the actually hardest sell for me was Sir Richard Vane because omfg he's absolutely insufferable (and also because as aforementioned once I started seriously caring about Dominic Frey, being pissed off at Richard is inevitable). I was still rooting for Richard and David Cyprian by halfway through their book. By the end... well. I still reckon David is way too good for Richard but at least Richard knows it, and oh my life he really does do a hell of lot of changing for the better. Respect. <3

Can I also say though: fuck everyone who thinks the Regency was a utopia. I love KJ Charles for writing queer romances set during the Regency that absolutely get how horrifying it was on so many levels. <3

[crusheswhimsandfancies]

Credit: mrtonylee on twitter

[ofliterarynature]

Every time I think I’ve worked out all the connections between KJ Charles’ series I find ANOTHER one. It’s entirely my fault because I just found a complete breakdown on her website, but it doesn’t mean I won’t wail about it.

[bookgeekgrrl]

My media this week (19-25 Nov 2023)

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

🥰 Old Town Road (Singles series) (Chris Molanphy) - Part of Duke University Press' series Singles, chart geek/music historian Chris Molanphy dives deep into "Old Town Road" which he describes as a 'one of one' phenomenon. To quote the book blub, which sums it up nicely: Molanphy shows how “Old Town Road” channeled decades of Americana to point the way toward our cultural future. Fairly short and incredibly readable.

🥰 Ordinary Numbers (BootsnBlossoms, Kryptaria) - 44K, canon-divergent meeting for 00Q

🥰 The Ruin of Gabriel Ashleigh (Society of Gentlemen #0.5) (KJ Charles, author; , narrator) - short story, kicking off KJC's incredible romance series set in during the Regency and political unrest around the time of the Peterloo massacre

😍 [Podfic] Mr Webster's Wager (fahye, author; HowOldAreWe, narrator) - 29K, very slight canon-divergent expansion of The Ruin of Gabriel Ashleigh, expanding on Francis & Ash getting together - so well done I almost consider it a part of the series, at least for my own rereads - this is a really great podfic of it!

😍 A Fashionable Indulgence (Society of Gentlemen #1) (KJ Charles, author; Matthew Lloyd Davies, narrator) - exquisite Julian finds purpose and love transforming young radical Harry into a gentleman. Plus there's the Peterloo massacre and personal murder plots

😍 A Seditious Affair (Society of Gentlemen #2) (KJ Charles, author; Matthew Lloyd Davies, narrator) - Tory/Radical romance with some incredible digging in to what it means to be a man of principle ('Wednesday by Wednesday, I have loved you')

💖💖 +75K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

Art Nouveau (voluptuous_panic) - MCU: shrunkyclunks, 12K - reread, forever fave - Cap!Steve has a disastrous first date at a hipster cider bar but luckily the hot, tattooed bartender is there to distract him. Short & very, very hot.

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Hot Ones - Melissa McCarthy

Screen Rant - Siobhan Thompson Talks Dimension 20 Burrow's End & Fantasy High Junior Year

Screen Rant - Brennan Lee Mulligan Talks Dimension 20 Burrow's End & Fantasy High: Junior Year

QI - series S, ep 1

Dirty Laundry - s3, e6

D20: Burrow's End - "Five" (s20, e8)

D20: Adventuring Party - "Everything, Every Stoat, All at Once" (s15, e8)

D20: Fantasy High: Freshman Year - e1-10

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

What Next: TBD - Bedbugs Are Back, Baby!

⭐ Endless Thread - The Grand Can-Spiracy

Song Exploder - Paramore "Liar"

⭐ Hit Parade - Ride ’til I Can’t No More Edition

⭐ Hit Parade - The Bridge: Can’t Tell Me Nothin’

Shedunnit - Death at the Club

You're Dead to Me - Shakespeare

Desert Island Discs - Patrick Grant, designer and broadcaster

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - A Gaga Tour of the Town

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus - Julia Gets Wise with Carol Burnett

NPR's Book of the Day - Jamie Loftus' 'Raw Dog' investigates the social and culinary history of the hot dog

Cautionary Tales - Photographing Fairies

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus - Julia Gets Wise with Isabel Allende

What Next: TBD - Inside OpenAI's Implosion

The Allusionist - 185. Gems and Patties

Cautionary Tales - The Art Forger, the Nazi, and "The Pope"

Today, Explained - How Cassie sued Diddy

99% Invisible #561 - Long Strange Tape

Pop Culture Happy Hour - Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

One Year - 1990: Pizzastroika

Ologies with Alie Ward - Abstract Mathematology (UH, IS MATH REAL?) with Eugenia Cheng

⭐ Off Menu - Ep 215: Paul Rudd

⭐ Pop Culture Happy Hour - Rethinking Killers Of The Flower Moon

NPR's Book of the Day - In 'Blackouts,' Justin Torres shines a light on silenced LGBTQ history

What Next: TBD - Where Scams Are Born

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

Rockstar [Dolly Parton] {2023}

Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, Vols 1 & 2 [Ray Charles] {1962}

Presenting Massive Attack

Presenting Nine Inch Nails

New Blue Sun [André 3000] {2023}

[donnatroyprincessofthemyscira]

Art Credit to Mikel Janin

[hussyknee]

If you aren't reading KJ Charles's books I sincerely do not know what you're doing with your life.

[liliallowed]

my villain arc to becoming dust sans:

-hears derogatory voices that make fun of her incompetence (usually the sound of ma dad lol)

-often distant from reality

-makes the same mistakes and forgets every time.

-that one quiet kid who is actually not so quiet if you're close with them lol

-i really love hoodies

-like, REALLY like them. they're so comfy.

-commited ant genocide in my house

[secondjulia]

Absolutely crushed that I can't contribute to this fandom without wrecking these perfect stats

[ackarcue]

What if there were different styles of Ten Men?

Like one based off Westerns?

Basically I'm trying to make this cowboy Ten Man but the balance is what's difficult.

I've had a few ideas like:

Bolo tie that chokes like a piano wire

Lockpick spurs

Sliding derringers rather than pencils

Repeating rifle with a sharp detachable lever

As well as a black hat, of course

Other than that, I'm stumped. Then again, perhaps that's the point. Maybe Ten Men could adopt clever weapons based on their environment/culture, allowing them to be even more sneaky while still looking like refined men on their grind?

But before I go, what about the name?

Whiskey was kinda taken so...

Sling or Slinger both sound incomplete

Ranger, kinda on the nose

...and that's about it