#xtra

[queerliblib]

Xtra Xtra read all about it!!

We spoke to Xtra a few weeks ago about the work we’re doing at QLL. It means a lot to us to be doing this work, and to be in such wonderful company with others also out there doing the work.

[al-xks]

“A yearly tradition for Xtra and her crew, stealing squidmas or at least a burglary or two”

[pansyxxxboy]

wait guys can you really tell i have a boner all the time

[xtra2thrill]

Kelly Hu BMF Love ♥️♥️♥️ #KellyHu #BMF #LesbianKiss

[pillimehukas]

[journodale]

My other queer songs of 2024

A few weeks ago, I was asked by Xtra to choose my queer song of 2024, and after an agonizing decision, I arrived at VINCINT featuring Betty Who and “Love Me Tonight,” for the reasons in the Xtra piece.

But in coming up with my list, I also realise that I was spoiled for choice, something that is probably unique at this moment in queer history. And with so much choice, here are my other contenders.

Olly Alexander “Cupid’s Bow”

Alexander was the lead of Years & Years, before the bandmates fell away and it was just him, and when he competed for the UK in Eurovision, he did it under his own name. With a new album on the way, “Cupid’s Bow” was one of the singles leading up to the release. It’s catchy and Alexander has an infectious energy that feels like it gets more intense as his confidence grows with every album.

Bright Light Bright Light “Snap!” 

One of my favourite tracks from his album Enjoy Youth, artist Rod Thomas relied less on guest collaborations on this album than his previous, this harkens back to an eighties electro sound that is relentlessly fun, but the lyrics are also about self-realisation and coming into your own.

Ben Platt “Andrew”

Platt’s latest album, Honeymind, is very much an album about his being very much in love (as opposed to his debut being a definitive heartbreak album), but “Andrew” is also a chronicle of the rite of passage that pretty much every queer kid has gone through, with the crush on someone who will never reciprocate, and the line “It’s just a cruel joke that chemicals play” is life advice that every queer kid has to learn.

Will Youn “Midnight”

Young has been a queer mainstay in the UK for my whole adult life, and we are similar in age which is why this song hit so hard, about being a single gay man of a certain age, and wondering how much of the old single life is worth it. Did I mention that this song hit hard? Glad that someone is talking about it, and can make a catchy tune out of it in any case.

Lauv “Potential”

Lauv was an artist that always struck me as having something of a queer sensibility despite being ostensibly straight, so it was perhaps not a huge shock when he started talking about writing this song and that it was as he started to explore his sexuality, and developed feelings for a male friend, and this was essentially his first real exploration of those feelings. Nothing happened with that friend, but he still put this song out into the world, and it’s sweet and earnest.

Linkin Park “Over Each Other”

Hold up. Linkin Park? Queer? With the release of From Zero, the band chose Emily Armstrong as the new lead vocalist following the death of Chester Bennington several years ago, and Armstrong is a queer woman who is bringing that energy to the band as it progresses and evolves in its new form. And it’s great that they can use videos where she has a female love interest rather than airbrushing over that like so many bands with queer members have in the past. This was actually my runner-up for my queer song of the year, because I also really appreciated that this was a song with an actual narrative progression—that your frustration and anger with the person you’re closest to can blind you to what’s going on, and that you have the ability to change your trajectory, to start listening and empathising rather than just dwelling in that anger, and it’s a message a lot of people need to hear.

[werewolfcave]

What if I've been far too kind to foes But a monster to ourselves? What if I'm the monster

Redraw of a frame from an animation done by @waywardxvenntus

[nistipata]

Type shi

[yours-stevie]

Anitta 🔥

[kennethdesu]

Sakura season, なばなの里, Japan, March 2023. . . #gr1v #gr1 #ricoh #ricohgr #film #135film #shootfilm #pointandshoot #snap #snapshot #fujifilm #xtra400 #xtra #filmphotography #filmphotographic #filmlife #staybrokeshootfilm #filmisnotdead #filmcamera #filmcommunity #filmphoto #analogphotography #photography #japan #なばなの里 #sakura #cherryblossom #桜 #travelgram #latergram (at なばなの里) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cqaoo3yvwoE/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[queerliblib]

"digital libraries like QLL are a lifeline to queer and trans people who may want to browse away from prying eyes"

-Adam Rhodes, Queer libraries are on the front lines of the fight against book bans. Xtra Magazine

[al-xks]

“I’ll never give in to spaghetti…”

[pansyxxxboy]

If you needed a sign to get the knotted strap on, this is it. Do it.

[pillimehukas]

[marketingsentimental]

[werewolfcave]

Some more characters I designed for Unfinished Rewritten <3 This time its Xtra and Gates 2/4 of the Card Bros