Please read Otherside Picnic
Part of my plan in creating a blog was to scream two words: Otherside Picnic. I'm happy if those are among my first words here.
It's primarily a yuri/horror book series (see the detailed recommendation I wrote back in February, still cohost-bound so far) of which I've finally read volume 8 of the novel version, roughly a year after its release. That volume has left me speechless, obsessed, changed.
I already loved the series to bits, and volume 7 of the novels was absolutely stellar, but now it's ascended to something else entirely. I have been in an altered mental state following my read for a good while, and it's still lingering, and-- I don't know.
If you're not put off by lovecraftian, eldritch horror ghost stories or gun use or some plain weird stuff at times (and it's definitely understandable if you are), and if you're ok with the sometimes heavy CW (available at the same link as before) I just want to say: try it. Please. (at least try until the end of volume 2, aka File 8 - this is where it really starts getting great imo)
I can't say much more without spoilers, and I want you to discover it by yourself, but I genuinely think that with this eighth volume, Otherside Pinic redefines and widens what yuri and lesbian fictions can tell, in ways that are organic and thematically resonant and incredible.
Well, I also want to temper what I say by: please don't read a series just to read its eighth volume - it's ok if it's not your thing! If it feels like a drag, stop reading it! I think it's already a really great read until then, with some particular highs around volumes 3, 4 and 7, but it may not be enough for you to go through it, which is always ok.
I just want to convey this: this eighth volume is so full of incredibly nuanced things on relationships and romance and communication that I never thought I would ever read in fiction that words fail me. It has absolutely fascinating elements on queerness, labels and outside social perception. It hit me like a wall of bricks, resonated with a lot of stuff regarding me and/or my close ones, kept exceding my expectations throughout my read, and I just-- I-- I.
How lucky I feel, to live in a universe where volume 8 is this, after the year of quantum entanglement it spent metaphorically sitting on my shelf.
I may write a bunch of spoiler essays about it, I guess, depending on the time I have/need to write them, and if I feel at ease about that. Or at the very least spoilerish poetry in a followup post.
I don't know-- it's been close to my heart for a long time, and this read in particular feels like an extremely intimate and personal experience, and discussing it in details makes me feel particularly vulnerable. I'm not sure I can talk about it at length with people for a long time. I may crawl back to my den instead. Even writing all this is tough.
But I want to share this feeling, and this recommendation, more than ever. It feels important in ways I think you should experience for yourself.