Queerly Recommended

We made it to the end of the year! Not just us here at Queerly Recommended, but you did too! Good for you and good for us. To celebrate, Kris is releasing her latest book, Catch.

In this last episode of the year (also the 50th regular episode — can you even?), Tara and Kris deep dive into the importance of We're Here (HBO Max), the different ways gingerbread houses can work into a romance, and their recent awesome bonus pod with chefs Catie Randazzo and J Chong from The Big Brunch. Happy Holidays, y'all!

From Kris: Under the Christmas Tree (2021)

This week, Kris checks out Under the Christmas Tree, Lifetime's first movie centering a lesbian couple. It's sweet. It's gentle. It's the story of one woman looking for a tree for her boss and finding it in another woman's yard.

Of course, that's not all she finds. It's love. They find love in the yard. Both of them. The tree was a distraction.

From Tara: The Christmas Catch by Clare Lydon

Tara describes this book as Planes, Trains and Automobiles meets two lesbians who grew up around each other, one of whom had a massive childhood crush on the other. Clare Lydon specializes in lesbian romcoms and this one is a delight, where two women must travel to get to their Christmas plans by any means necessary…all the while falling in love along the way.

• The Big Brunch (HBO Max)
• The White Lotus (HBO)
• Wednesday (Netflix)
• L Word: Generation Q (Showtime)
• Avatar (2009)
• Drink Masters (Netflix)
• We're Here: Season Three (HBO)
• The Christmas Setup (2020)

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This week, Tara (Butter Tart) Scott and Kris (Midwest Biscuit) Bryant sit down with chefs Catie Randazzo and J Chong from the hit cooking competition reality show, The Big Brunch. They talk about what it was like representing their communities, how real the camaraderie was on the show, family meals, and, most importantly, what kind of bread they think the judges are.

If you think Catie and J were great on the show, wait until you hear them on this episode.

Follow Catie on Instagram: @chefcatierandazzo Follow J on Instagram: @jchong_eats

Sort Of (HBO Max) Willow (Disney+)

Bound (1996) We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle

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The holiday season is upon us and Kris and Tara come bearing gifts…of recommendations! Seriously, they had to make room this week to fit everything in.

Kris regales us with the end of The Walking Dead and the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions. Tara talks about The Big Brunch (yes, again) and Canada's own Ryan Reynolds.

There's a bunch of other good stuff before a dive deep into the recommendations. Keep warm, friends. Stay bright.

From Kris: Christmas Mouse by Rachel Spangler

It might be tempting to think a story like Christmas Mouse would be easy to write, but it's actually the simple ones that are the toughest to pull off. This city mouse/country mouse romance, with two love interests competing over their perfect visions of Christmas, charms, delights, and warms the heart this holiday season.

From Tara: Season of Love by Helena Greer

Some books can scare us by how well tailored they are to our specific loves and interests. This is true for Tara and her recommendation, Season of Love. Tara declares this a perfect book and it includes one of her favourite characters of all time, who starts the book dead (ends it dead, too). The writing captivated Tara in how well it balances humour with heart. Content warnings: abusive parent, alcoholism (self and parents), grief, and death.

• The Walking Dead (AMC)
• Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions (2022) (CBS)
• Manifest (NBC)
• Spirited (2022)
• Ryan Reynolds' Governor General Award Video
• The Big Brunch (HBO Max)
• RuPaul's Drag Race UK (BBC)
• Canada's Drag Race: Canada Vs. The World (Crave)
• We're Here Season Three (HBO)
• The Great Canadian Baking Show (CBC)
• Andor (Disney+)
• Rogue One (2016)

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Roslyn Sinclair has committed high crimes against readers' productivity and we are here for it!

This episode, Tara is joined by f/f romance author Milena McKay. They gathered to sit in gratitude and fangirl about one of their favourite stories of all time. It began as a Devil Wears Prada fanfic and ended up being rewritten and published as its own original work. Yes, it's Truth and Measure season, baby!

Referred to by Lee Winter as "The Lesfic Bible," Truth and Measure has impacted the lesfic scene in profound ways. Tara and Milena discuss the book's history, including how the #MeToo movement impacted the changes from fic to published work, and all the things the love about both versions. Get ready for major geeking out, friends.

• Truth and Measure, fic version, and all its associated short stories (Archive of Our Own)
• Truth and Measure & Above All Things by Roslyn Sinclair (Ylva Publishing)
• The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
• Not Everyone & Pure Shores (Archive of Our Own)
• The X Ingredient, fic version (Archive of Our Own)
• The X Ingredient by Roslyn Sinclair (Ylva Publishing)
• The Music and the Mirror by Lola Keeley (Ylva Publishing)
• Once Upon A Time (ABC)
• The Delicate Things We Make, fic version (Archive of Our Own)
• The Delicate Things We Make by Milena McKay
• The Headmistress by Milena McKay
• The Brutal Truth by Lee Winter (Ylva Publishing)

Preorder Milena McKay's next book, These Thin Lines!

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Are things coming to an end? Nobody knows. Kris and Tara are taking things one step at a time by talking about the (possible?) end of Twitter and what that means for QR going forward (subscribe to our newsletter!).

They move on to talk season finales on tv, finales that aren't finales, finales that are…something else? Fin-allez?

From Kris: Life Partners (2014)

Have you heard about the one about the two girls? One's straight, one's queer. They're the best of friends until…the straight one gets into a relationship. You see where this is going, don't you? The love triangle. The learning that the two friends have been in love the whole time. Classic, right? Actually, not so much.

The movie Life Partners deals with the more complicated (and more common) situation where you have to manage the different relationships in your life and the tension that can cause. It's fun. It's cute. You're going to have a good time.

From Tara: The Big Brunch (HBO Max)

The Big Brunch is Dan Levy's big project following Schitt's Creek. It's a reality cooking show that follows the line of The Great British Baking Show or The Great Canadian Baking Show (which Levy hosted the first two seasons of) where the focus is on the people, the personalities, and not the drama.

• The Handmaid's Tale - Season Five (Hulu)
• The Great British Baking Show (BBC)
• The Walking Dead (AMC)
• The Good Place (NBC)
• Scrubs (NBC/ABC)
• Down to Earth with Zac Efron (Netflix)
• RuPaul's Drag Race UK
• Legendary (HBO Max)
• What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat by Aubrey Gordon
• Maintenance Phase (Podcast)
• Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey
• Tricia Hersey on the We Can Do Hard Things podcast
• The Great Canadian Baking Show (CBC)
• Schitt's Creek (CBC)

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Kris is back with a new book on the horizon and a contest is coming, so stay tuned. Tara is on vacation and loving it.

They talk about the faux pas that was GBBO's Mexican Week, plus what they love and don't love about reality shows. We have fun here.

If you enjoy this episode, please consider buying Kris & Tara a Ko-fi!

Official Recommendations

This week, Kris recommends the m/m film Bros (2022). While it might be best known as the first gay romantic comedy released by a major studio that features an openly LGBTQ+ principal cast, Kris is delighted that it's also delightfully written and takes place in the queer scene of NYC. You should check it out!

And Tara's recommending reality TV, with the vogueing competition show Legendary (HBO Max). Each week, ballroom houses battle down for the chance to win $100,000. It's fun, informative, and Tara cannot stop talking about it.

Works/People Discussed

• Love is Blind: Season Three (Netflix)
• Southbound and Down by KB Draper
• House of the Dragon (HBO)
• Survivor (CBS)
• Great British Baking Show (BBC Productions)
• Drag Race UK (BBC)
• Wig (2019)
• Paris is Burning (1990)

This is the problem with recommendations: when you love 'em, you can't stop talking about 'em. Thanks to her recommendation in the last episode, Amanda returns to dish and deep dive into Yuri on Ice! Tara devoured the m/m figuring skating romance anime series in a weekend, and this whole episode is dedicated to geeking out about the things they loved about it (and one or two things they didn't).

If you enjoy this episode, please consider buying Kris & Tara a Ko-fi!

Other works discussed:

• Steven Universe (Cartoon Network)
• She-Ra: Princess of Power (Dreamworks)
• The Owl House (Disney)
• Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
• Fire Island (2022)

Amanda's Yuri on Ice! fanfic recommendations

• The airplane fic she mentioned - Same universe, alternate getting-together
• Pre-canon, identity porn, identity reveal, alternate getting together
• During the "summer of mutual pining," ie when Viktor was training Yuri in Hasetsu - Dreamy, short
• Viktor is a single-dad to a younger Yuri Plisetsky

Kris is away this week, so Tara lit up the Queer Signal and her friend from Toronto, Amanda, showed up. Amanda and Tara talk different Pride events and their own queer journeys, before diving into recommendations.

If you enjoy this episode, please consider buying Kris & Tara a Ko-fi!

Official Recommendations

Tara describes Purposefully Accidental by G. Benson as an explosion of trope candy. Enemies to lovers? It's in there. Slow burn? You betcha. Fake relationships? Of course! It follows the story of a famous actress coming back into contact with a childhood friend she once humiliated, who still holds a grudge. A grudge that develops into…romance!

Amanda's recommendation is The Untamed (2019), which is a difficult TV series to sum up. It's a fantasy historical Chinese drama set in a world where cultivators (spiritual warriors) battle evil spirits, demons, and sometimes each other in cross-clan conflict. But really, it's just the story of two lovely boys who, while queer in the original source material, aren't allowed to be overtly queer onscreen, due to censorship. That said, it's still pretty gay and a great story.

Works/People Discussed

• Yuri on Ice (MAPPA)
• She Who Became The Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
• Simon Snow series by Rainbow Rowell
• RuPaul's Drag Race (Down Under, Secret Celebrity, UK)
• Sand Talk by Tyson Yunkaporta
• The Memory Librarian by Janelle Monáe
• Dirty Computer (2018) by Janelle Monáe

This is not your normal episode of Queerly Recommended, friends! This week, we're bringing you a conversation that Tara had earlier this year with nonbinary truth teller, Jonathan Van Ness (Queer Eye, Gay of Thrones).

In front of a live audience at Benevity's Goodness Matters conference, JVN talks all about authenticity, self-acceptance, and the importance of dualities. Somehow, Tara (just barely) keeps her shit together, especially when he says she should run for Congress. Can a Canadian run for Congress?

Please no Ko-fis this week. If you enjoy this episode, make a donation to the Transgender Education Network of Texas.

Tara talks new hair colours and adding to her tattoo collection. Kris is back from ClexaCon, with stories of creating the perfect author photobomb. We're not in our twenties anymore, with our back tattoos and art house films. We're past our thirties (how past? None of your business), which means it's documentary time, bay-bee!

This week, an interesting theme connects a number of the recommendations: how and why people quit competitions. When discussing Glow Up and RuPaul's Drag Race, Tara tells stories of queens and makeup artists who left before they could be kicked off, and in Kris's official recommendation, she talks about a skateboarder who had to bow out of the Olympics because of misgendering. Was it planned? Not at all. Is it interesting? Let us know on Twitter.

If you enjoy this episode, please consider buying Kris & Tara a Ko-fi!

Official Recommendations

This week, Kris brings us the Netflix documentary Stay on Board: The Leo Baker Story. It's an inspiring story of one person's identity and the sport that they love. Kris really dug this one and we think you'll dig it too.

Rounding the bases into home, Tara delivers another Netflix documentary, A Secret Love. Inspired by the recent explosion of Amazon Prime's A League of Their Own, Tara followed up with this documentary about one of the original All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players and her partner, their secret lives, and their changes in older years. It's a home run, folks.

Works/People Discussed

• ClexaCon
• GCLS
• Women's Week
• Alone: Frozen (History Channel)
• Whiplash (2014)
• House of the Dragon (HBO)
• Glow Up (Netflix)
• Sandman (Netflix)
• Kissed By Her by Chelsea M. Cameron