Happy Native American Heritage Month 2023! To celebrate, we’re featuring books starring queer Native American and First Nations characters, by Native American and/or First Nations authors, as well as indigqueer poetry. While the usual affiliate links are included, I encourage you to check out and purchase from Birchbark Books, whose links are included as well.
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Rabbit Chase by Elizabeth…
Take what I say with a grain of salt because I've only read a few of the ballads and one paper about them (which I would love to link, if only it was in English), but, in general it seems to have been a folktale/folksong widespread in the area of Germany and Poland that the Romantics in both countries latched on to and made their own versions of.
Tw: slight horror and implied demonic activity in the summary.
To recount the story (I'm roughly basing it on the polish ballad by Adam Mickiewicz which I know best), it begins with a girl (in other versions named Lenore), who receives news her lover is dead in some war or other. Her family wants her to get over him; the girl fights this. First she mopes, then she blasphemes, then she meets up with a witch of sorts, who promises to being her lover back.
Cue a rider with horse arriving at the gates in the dead of the night. The girl runs away with him. They ride a long whiles (at this point several comments tend to be made on how "the dead ride fast", or asking the girl if she's not afraid), the rider three times asking Lenore to throw away her prayerbook, cross/crucifix and rosary (I think these three, in the polish version at least, but anyway, religious objects) because they impede him in some way. In a striking display of lacking in genre-awareness (or even awareness of basic spiritual realities, I'd say), the girl sees nothing alarming in this, and follows through with his demands. Pursuant to which, they arrive at their destination, which to her surprise turns out to be a graveyard. Fire flashes from inside the rider and he takes the girl into the grave, the end.
Last rb has me thinking of the messy little oopsie Sac.k.ler and I have when we are "just friends" like after we break up.
He comes over to hang out and it's all well and good but then things get a little more serious and he kisses me to which I end up pulling away and telling him that we can't do this and he suggests "Can we be together without being together?" and I hold my ground and tell him I'd rather not do that.
We don't mention the kiss or his suggestion for the rest of the night and it's pretty chill, we hang out, eat take out, play video games and just shoot the shit.
As it gets later Adam says he has to get going as he doesn't want to miss the last train home and I walk him to the door. He wishes me a goodnight and he gives me one of those good squish my guts out types of hugs.
he turned on his heel to walk away from my door but gets snagged. He turns slightly to see what his shirt is caught on and to his surprise it's actually me, I grabbed the back of his shirt. I can't even look at him, my focus was on my hand grabbing his shirt.
THERE WAS SOMETHING BOUT YOU THAT NOW I CANT REMEMBER ITS THE SAME. DAMN. THING. THAT MADE MY HEART SURRENDER AND I MISS YOU ON A TRAIN I MISS YOU IN THE MORNING I NEVER KNOW WHAT TO THINK ABOUT
actually i do have an unpopular hypmic opinion, those homage songs (shinogi, drops, etc) understandably make people uncomfortable but the songs they sample/interpolate from serve a narrative function and i think it’s COOL
frightened rabbit - home from war • the national - demons • frank turner - haven't been doing so well • gisbert zu knyphausen - dreh dich nicht um • brian fallon - 21 days • john k. samson - 17th street treatment centre • tocotronic - sag alles ab • karussel - als ich fortging • the weakerthans - left and leaving • kettcar - 48 stunden • frightened rabbit - my backwards walk • brian fallon - low love • herrenmagazin - in den dunkelsten stunden • tocotronic - bis uns das licht vertreibt • the weakerthans - everything must go! • bosse - all die dinge • jupiter jones - und dann warten • betterov - bring mich nach hause • frank turner - get better • drangsal - benzoe • bosse - wende der zeit • john k. samson - virtute at rest • the mountain goats - never quite free • brian fallon - i don't mind (if i'm with you) • the national - quiet light • passenger - patient love • ásgeir - going home