#idlewild

[lilliankillthisman]

very wise attitude. much would have been simplified if this had been adopted more broadly.

[mikeywayarchive]

frankieromustdie: Tonight’s our night Glasgow… 5pm doors @ Bellahouston Park w/ Idlewild

#LLTBP

[Jul 4, 2026]

[mikeywayarchive]

Instagram story by mcrmyofficial

[Jul 4, 2026]

[frogmonsters]

I just finished reading Idlewild, and it made me cry. Specifically Fay's character. I relate to him in some certain visceral ways that I'm able to look at with the hindsight of realizing I'm on the trans spectrum, but she's stuck not existing, being unpercevable because he feels it's too late for him. He won't let himself exist.

I just think: That could've been me, y'know? I had an almost crass obsession with gay men for a period of time that I now realize as me wishing to be able to express myself as a boy while also being bi. I too had such a hard fucking time picturing myself existing after high school. I still struggle with that to the point that's it's terrifying. Reading Idkewild made me feel so uncomfortable because at times I felt like I was reading myself (?) Fay had so much going for him. He did and thought horrible shit, and I've done and thought horrible shit. He had underlying misogyny from his disgust at being a woman. I had that for a while. It feels like looking in a really fucked up mirror of if I'd never had the guidance to be better. If everything went wrong.

He wanted to be understood so bad, wanted to be a gay man so bad, to the point that he was so pliable for Theo to take advantage. I think on some level he's a big part of what scared him away from ever transitioning. The first person to ever truly see him tried to kill him. He was likely very similar for how Fay wanted to look if he ever transitioned. In the end she can only see herself in a tint of self disgust.

Nell feels like looking in a mirror for an entirely different reason. She's my passivity, all by fear and desperation. At some points she annoyed me so much, and I even felt like she was horrible even because she was me. I'm so desperate to be liked, so crippling anxious that I betray myself. I don't put my foot down. I'm always in the wrong. They didn't mean to hurt me. I put so much of my value on how I'm perceived that at times I don't know where I end and their opinion begins. Her reaction to racism especially irked me, because I've done that despite being a black person.

It's also why Peter's character arc felt sad to me. He was a character constantly on guard because being black at any point in America is controversial on it's own. If he isn'tmeasured, and perfect, he's trashy. If he's upset at racusm, he's touchy. In the end I feel he settles for the connection he's able to get, even if Daylily and Jennifer don't get him. That could've changed, but Nell screwed things up because of her codependency on Fay.

Theo and Christopher's dynamic is terrifying. Theo manages to manipulate everyone, even me. At first I thought he was a cool guy that might help Fay realize who he is. Later I notice something off, but think he's just a little mean. I notice he acts suspiciously like the marble faun but wonder if it's a writing issue. I don't realize until later that he's manipulative and abusive. Christopher gets stuck with him presumably for life. That hurts my heart. Even Fay stays unsure about him years later. Instead she acts like he did nothing. Only Nell seems to fully grasp it all. Only Nell seems to understand a bunch of things.

Christopher's will was beaten down into nothingness. He lost the ability to think for himself. It's insane how often if feels like Christopher is basically there's mom. Theo constantly forces him into shit. It's unnerving.

I probably have more to say, but I gtg. That story messed me up a lot. I'm pretty out of it, and I'm shaking. I don't know how exactly to feel. I think I liked the book, but idk if I could reread it. I feel uncomfortable.

Hope you have a lovely day or night, and love yourself ❤️

[goldenbus]

On August 24, 2024, a collective of us hosted an impromptu, inaugural "Idlewild Music Festival" Acts included "The Nicolls" (Billy Nicoll, Jake Nicoll, Pamela MacKenzie, and Ilia Nicoll), Jenny Omnichord, Shopkeeper, Transstar, Magpie, and Sensi Boy, with special appearances by "Scraps of Tube Top" and "Bry Webb and Cots". The concert took place out at "Idlewild" the country home, and creative space and Scott and Jeanette. The festival was made possible by the hosting, stage construction, porta-potty aquisition and creative problem solving of our hosts, with massive moving pieces of tech, curation, logistics, communication, crafts, tents food and more from Jake, Billy, Ilia Nicoll, Pam, Greta, and Ryan, the Golden Bus team Jenny and Scott H, and many other folks who lent a hand day-of. It was a fun and free and successful experiment that we talk about doing again...who knows what the future holds!

[iamcaledonia]

Cally's Sunday Shuffle

31 May 2026

Bronze Medal by Idlewild

Nebraska by Lucy Rose

Guising by There Will Be Fireworks

I Want You by Kings of Leon

Dead Sea by The Lumineers

Red Earth & The Pouring Rain by Bear's Den

Narcolepsy by Third Eye Blind

Rock'n'Roll Lies by Razorlight

Going to California by Led Zeppelin

Drive by Incubus

[libraryleopard]

I do truly believe that Idlewild by James Frankie Thomas should be required reading for denizens of the internet

[someplace-that-is-else]

Debut Novel Friday: Nick Sagan's IDLEWILD

Perhaps it was the cover. Or it was the pedigree. Or the description on the back. Or just how the name looked.

Nick Sagan. Nick Sagan was a sci-fi author. And it turned out he was the son of Carl Sagan, world famed astronomer. I also was shocked to discover he was the voice who recorded ‘Hello from the children of Planet Earth’ for the spaceship Voyager…a phrase I remember hearing as a little kid myself on old school televisions. More reason for me to read his debut novel IDLEWILD. I originally read the series in real time, devouring the books as they were published. I remember loving the first book, its memory lingering over the years since I read it in 2003. So 23 years later…here I was again.

Given how the world had changed in 23 years…does IDLEWILD still hold up?

Well…YES.

IDLEWILD was a sci-fi novel that began in disorientating mystery. A boy awakes. He has no memory. He has no idea where he is. And most importantly…someone or something is trying to kill him.

A lot of questions. And they were questions that grabbed you immediately. But there were some answers as the boy pieced what little memory he had together. The boy’s name was Halloween. He appeared to be in some form of virtual reality with several other students. He had his own virtual assistant named Nanny. He was at a school called Idlewild (thus, the title) headed by a virtual instructor named Maestro. And one of his classmates named Lazarus has vanished under mysterious circumstances. And lest we forget…someone is trying to kill Halloween. But who? Why?

So many suspects. Friends. Rivals. The system itself. How will Halloween figure it out? Meanwhile, how did the parallel story subplot of a plague happening in an earlier part of the timeline connect to the mystery of Halloween and the other students at Idlewild? In a world where nothing is at all what it seems, how will Halloween navigate the reveals?

I loved IDLEWILD the first time I read it. I love it even more now. I love novels that bend genres and IDLEWILD does with its mix of mystery, sci-fi, and dystopia. Mystery with its slow burn approach and narrative as ‘Detective’ Halloween is on the case of the attempted murder and Lazarus’s disappearance. Sci-fi in the limitlessness of what the virtual environment that Halloween and his classmates live in can do, from being able to transport anywhere in the world instantly to encountering famous figures to downloading any kind of information they would like (cyberpunk huh?) even changing their appearance however they would like. Dystopia in the parallel story subplot that ran concurrent to Halloween and the mystery. That is until both storylines converge into…but THAT would be telling.

Sagan definitely has the flavor of other authors…something I noticed other people pointing out. For me, his writing reminded me of Dean Knootz with the pop culture references. But no matter who his writing reminded someone of, Sagan’s style eventually turned into its own voice. His world building was intriguing. His characters started off as tropes. Like the novel itself, they revealed their depth like a person peeking back layers on an onion. There were quite a lot of philosophical ramblings that I found stayed with me throughout reading and beyond. The result was a real page turner with a climax that was giving action sci-fi movie.

Now will the next book live up to the promise? It’s been so long that, like Halloween, I do not remember. But I do look forward to reading it. Again.

IDLEWILD was full of win then. It stood the test of time to be full of win again. Highly recommended for anyone looking for something that is familiar, but at the same time, is something new.

#nicksagan #idlewild #sciencefiction #scifi #dystopian #postapocalyptic #books #debutnovels #Friday #tgif #mystery #thriller #cyberpunk #fiction #DebutNovelFriday #halloween