Welcome to Masha's Roulette!
Welcome to the first issue of my... weekly? Let's shoot for weekly, random grab-bag of recommendations newsletter, where I will show you some things to read and some things to listen to, and my solemn promise that at least one item in here will be new and interesting to you.
First, Some Things to Listen To
So I went to a variety show last night, and out of the lineup of talented local performers, three of them were guys playing guitar, two of whom also sang songs while they played their acoustic guitars. And this reminded me of other guys playing guitar music I am way too familiar with: Soviet and post-Soviet bard musicians. I grew up in a household where people just sang this stuff while making dinner. A few months ago I compiled a Spotify playlist of "bard music but only the things I heard in my home as a child" and I am willing to be so vulnerable as to share such personal playlistery here, this entirely public fandom newsletter. I like it, maybe you will too.
Speaking of music, beloved J-pop duo Yorushika dropped a new single and music video on Youtube the other day, a sweet summery bop with, again, acoustic guitar, called Bremen. Like any other child raised in a Russian-speaking household, I have one primary association with the story of the Bremen musicians and that is the classic musical cartoon from the 1970s, a cartoon with a highly distinctive visual style and extremely catchy soundtrack. It's on Youtube with English subtitles if you want to check it out! Also the sequel, which is more relevant for the thing I am about to link now.
Did you know Hatsune Miku is a digital vocal synthesizer anyone can use to make music? She's not a character from a franchise, she's just a face and some syllables. And some enterprising soul made a Miku cover of the song "A beam of golden sunlight," which is one of the most romantic songs ever found in an 18-minute cartoon. It's not terrible, considering how difficult it is to make a Japanese voicebank form Russian syllables!
Now, Some Things to Read
I made a list of Good Omens fanfiction recommendations for someone in a discord server the other day, and since I had the list compiled I thought I would also share it with you all! Sorted in order of increasing word count, but not on purpose.
and the antichrist makes three by pepperfield
Rating: G Word count: 3.2k
Summary:
It almost sounds like the start of a joke: an angel, a demon, and a superfluous baby walk into a bar, only the baby can’t walk yet, of course, and the demon’s odd stride is more of a saunter than a walk, really, and by “bar” we actually mean “domestic family situation."
Full disclosure, AO3 user pepperfield is A Bestie of mine, so I am not unbiased in my recommendation here, but no one does shenanigans like Relle Pepperfield, okay?
the blossom knows by buttface
Rating: G Word count: 4.6k
Summary:
In the beginning, there was a garden. And after the end, there was a garden. What do you do when you are no longer wanted for what you were created to do? What is an angel who's no longer at home in Heaven?
A Nanny? In MY Summoning Circle? by pukner
Rating: Not Rated Word count: 10.5k
Summary:
(it's more likely than you think)
Warlock "Lockie" Dowling summons a demon.
Or, he buys a book off a suspiciously familiar bookseller and is convinced into demon summoning.
It goes about as well as you'd expect.
The Sacred and the Profane by afrai
Rating: T Word count: 35.5k
Summary:
Somewhere else, the happy ending was different.
AU where Crowley's an angel and Aziraphale is a demon. This one's really dark and disturbing and I can't believe this author also wrote my favorite fluffy funny crossover fanfiction ever. Afrai has RANGE. Book canon only.
Demonology and the Tri-Phasic Model of Trauma: An Integrative Approach by Nnm
Rating: T Word count: 99.4k
Summary:
As soon as Aubrey Thyme, psychotherapist, had opened her office door and seen her new client, Anthony J. Crowley, sitting in her waiting area, she was observing and assessing him. At first glance, she paid attention to the following:
--His clothing was expensive and stylish;
--He wore very strange but noticeable cologne;
--His relationship to the seat he occupied could only, very loosely, be described as “sitting;”
--He looked angry;
--He was wearing sunglasses.
What Aubrey Thyme, a professional, thought, upon first seeing her new client was: you’re going to be a fun one, aren’t you?
I paused in the middle of writing this to go outside and look at the sunset. My final recommendation for this week is for you to look at the sunset too.
I'll be back next week with more things to listen to and read!