Listen, I get that being a gay guy during the early part of the 20th century can't have been easy

[conuly]

I'm just saying, for somebody super concerned with staying in the closet and preserving your reputation, you sure do kiss a lot of men. Maybe try talking to your wife about all this?

Him: I did, and now I disgust her!

Me: Yeah, but not because of the gay thing. She has gay friends. Also, she's still in love with somebody else. Which you know, so really, I think she's just annoyed that you lied to her and then tried to gaslight her about the lying. Maybe don't do that.

Him: Nah, I'll just spill my guts to this random dude I just met. And then we can make out!

Me: Oh, well, I'm sure this won't end badly at all.

(I have no idea if it will end badly or not, I haven't gotten that far. Maybe they all die of the flu sometime after the war, in which case their personal life choices will no longer matter.)

Comments

[dark_phoenix54]

What show is this? It sounds interesting....

[conuly]

The BBC audiodrama Home Front, which appears to have exactly zero fandom whatsoever.

Which astonishes me, honestly, because the show is so ridiculously soapy. You'd think that WWI would be dramatic enough, but no, babies are getting kidnapped all over the place and whatnot.

I've found the trick to being able to listen to things finally, and it's "listen to something *while* playing a dumb phone game". Some chores can be subbed in for phone games, but not others.

[oursin]

You know, I think this was the programme that several years ago I was invited to the provincial city in which it was produced to chat with the team as A Nexpert on various aspects of the sexual mores of WW1 for background, but I don't think gay husbands featured - more Sid, and war babiez.

[conuly]

There are definitely sexual mores in this show, and lots of 'em.

[conuly]

Also, just gonna say, people* have been trying to tell this girl that her husband is gay literally since she married him at the start of the war, and it took until the war was winding down for her to finally figure it out - and even then, somebody had to send her a threatening blackmail letter to clue her in.

* Like, in the show, not just me from day one.

[frandroid]

Yeah I was like, is this a literary reference I'm not getting?? :)

[conuly]

Well, I'd be delighted if everybody would listen to this same ridiculous show so that we can all talk about it.

But I'm sometimes a little... reluctant to let people know I like a thing in case they have opinions about me liking that thing. It hits at weird times occasionally.

[rafiwinters]

(feeling thoughtful): My late great-uncle, born in 1910, was gay. It was at the time thought to be a terrible thing, and he was shall we say negatively affected by it his whole life. Although (feeling thoughtful again) at the end of his life he was more worried by the thought of his friends finding out he was Jewish than about him being gay--most of his friends were gay themselves. Heartbreaking.

Actually, remind me sometime to tell you about the (related) hilarious aspect of his memorial service.