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poppypickle · 2 months

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20 Questions for Fic Writers

Tagged by mi amor @cfr749, so obvs I gotta do this.

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 29

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? 230,379

3. What fandoms do you write for? I've written the most for The Rookie. I've also dabbled in: The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Avengers, Community, and Miss Scarlet and the Duke.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Lots of Chenford up in here...

• Come a Little Closer • I Can’t Help Myself • Want You to Stay • Bang Bang (Look What You Started) • Break Up With Him

5. Do you respond to comments?

I do! It's really important to me to respond to anyone who takes the time to leave a comment. That reciprocal appreciation is a really vital part of fandom for me.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Hmmm...probably Let Me Tell You a Story About War, which adds further angst to the canonically angsty ending for Clint and Natasha in Avengers: Endgame.

But all of my Gale-centric Hunger Games fics are suitably angsty too. 😅

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I Can’t Help Myself is ooey gooey sweet. Let Me Name the Stars for You isn't sweet in the same way, but giving Gale and Johanna a happy ending still warms my heart.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not really. I have found most people in my fandoms to be very kind and considerate.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

"Yup... the horny kind?"

Lana, I LOL'ed. That pretty much sums it up. I had Chenford banging in closets and on tables and in cars and in bar bathrooms! Very satisfying for all, I hope.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

No. They aren't really my thing.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I think someone asked me if they could translate Let Me Name the Stars for You many years ago, but I'm not sure I ever saw the finished translation.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! Want You to Stay with the amazing @cfr749. The collaboration brought me so much joy, taught me so much about writing with someone else, and helped me push through some major writing block. Lana is an amazing friend and we need to write something together again!

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

I can never choose a favorite, so I'll say that my favorite ships that I never finished fic for are Dan/Blair and Jonsa. I have quarter-written fics for each pairing somewhere in my notes and google docs.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

The one I currently have rattling around in my brain where Miss Scarlet and the Duke's William and Eliza try out a Victorian friends with benefits thing. 😅

16. What are your writing strengths?

This is too loaded of a question. Hmmm...I think I write humor and banter-laced-with-feelings well.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I don't love writing climactic love confession moments, and I think it shows. I think I could let my characters be sappier sometimes. I also don't write action very well! Muddling my way through the gas station hostage crisis (LOL) in Want You To Stay was a STRUGGLE.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I would want a native speaker to review before publishing.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

First fandom I wrote for (but never published) was General Hospital. Jason & Robin 4eva. 😂

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Let Me Name the Stars for You. It's a quiet little thing that covers a lot of emotional ground in not that many words, and I really love exploring how broken people find ways to put themselves back together again.

I also loved some of the moments I created for Hermione in Could You Leave Me With a Scar?

Tagging @itsoneofthemuses @crose84 @farfarawaygirl - but no pressure!

#fic meme #a tag for lana #chenford #clintasha #miss scarlet and the duke #the hunger games #jeff x annie #johanna x gale #eliza x william #harry x hermione

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kiirotoao · 1 year

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Mike, Will, Eleven, and the progression of season 4

(long post ahead, be warned lol)

The way that season 4 progresses blows me away sometimes.

Like, when we look at how far things have come and how relationships have changed throughout the seasons of Stranger Things, particularly between Mike, Will, and El, I feel like Byler could not be more obvious.

To review, we begin in season 1 with Mike and Eleven, two characters who basically swear that it’s them against the world. Moments after they meet, they form a bond and grow that bond all season long. And even though they’re separated all throughout season 2, they still strive to uphold that connection, creating their satisfying reunion at the end of that season which remains one of the most heartfelt moments in the entire show, in my opinion. After almost an entire year, we see the fruition of their impassioned want for connection as they finally get their happy ending together (for the season, at least). Come season 3, after 6 months, things have shifted because of a single lie. But still, Mike and El get back together. We end season 3 with Eleven saying openly to Mike that she loves him, kissing him, and leaving. Their bond is there, albeit awkwardly, but it's there. Now, here comes season 4. Another 6 months have passed.

Mike and Eleven are okay, supposedly. Eleven lies about her friends and her happiness in her relationship with Mike, but she’s willing to grin and bear it more than anything. She wants to live a normal life. On a very similar strain, Mike also seems to hide under a facade, a “shitty knock off” version of himself who is proud to be El’s boyfriend and praises her for her accomplishments rather than her moral character. The both of them don’t know it, but they’re lying to each other about their happiness.

Now, there all along, is Will. Will knows El. Will knows his sister. Heck, Will has chronologically been with El - lived with El - longer than Mike. We see it in the first episode of season 4 how he supports her and loves her constantly. Will also knows Mike. Will knows his best friend. The two have been together throughout seasons 2 and 3 and have been best friends for years. And even after those 6 months between seasons 3 and 4, Will is willing to call him out on the silence that they bore. In season 4, Will is the one often portrayed physically between Mike and El. Will is the one to talk to Mike and El individually and push them both to talk to each other. Will is the one holding their honesty and integrity squarely atop his own two shoulders as Mike and El don't seem to want to talk about their feelings unprompted. After a jab from Angela that she can’t bear anymore, El’s struggle manifests. She breaks, and Mike doesn’t know how to comfort her. We see this as the night passes with tension and a very pointedly uncomfortable dinner. The day comes and Mike goes to talk with El, but she’s still upset and working through what happened, and Mike once again doesn’t know how to comfort her. The two are forced apart on not-so-good terms. They aren't broken up, technically, but there is definitely a sense of strain and doubt, expressed on Mike's side as "a fight you can't come back from."

Once again, enter Will. Will and Mike are also not on great terms, or at least, their last conversation went pretty badly. That being said, their conversation in Jonathan's room comes with ease as they lean on each other through their worry. And unlike Mike and El, Mike and Will's bond returns. Despite the misunderstanding, the two come to understand each other, forgive each other, and acknowledge that they want to be "best friends" again. From that point forward, the two confide in each other. Neither of them express discomfort being together. Neither of them complain without the other's supportive remarks. There is no strain. There is no doubt. There is only synchrony and comfort, something that Mike and El could not demonstrate or prove.

I cannot believe at times how the Duffers have chosen to set up the four sides of the story and put Mike and Will together to let all this be evident. Mike and Will could have been written to talk to Argyle and Jonathan more, but they weren't. Mike and Will could have been written to uphold the awkwardness with each other beyond the first few episodes, but they weren't. Mike and Will renewed their bond that they once lost and spoke all season long. That is what was written.

And the choice to make them renew their friendship in season 4 ties into the greater story so beautifully, in my opinion. In season 4, Mike expresses that he "lost" Will, similar to how he declared he wanted to "find Will" in season 1. In season 4, Mike confides in Will, just like he confided in Will in season 2. In season 4, Mike and Will argue over what they believe about their friendship only to reconcile later on, just like they do in season 3. In short, season 4 doubles down on all the things that were hit on in prior seasons between Mike and Will.

Now, here's a concession. Where Will was physically lost to Mike in season 1, now El is lost to Mike in season 4. In season 2, Mike and El are separated, worrying about each other and the overarching evil they feel like they must face in one way or another just like they do in season 4. And in season 3, Mike and El break apart, just like they are separated in season 4. So it's also true that season 4 doubles down on the things between Mike and El, too.

But the difference between season 4 and the seasons prior lies in that time jump of 6 months and how it changed the relationships that once were. We know what Mileven and Byler's relationships were like when they were face-to-face. But now that they've been separated for months? After all that time, we see in season 4 that Mike and El have grown to hide from each other. They lie about their happiness together. The bond that they created in the past seasons is tested and proves to be unstable (not broken quite yet, I will concede, but with the misunderstandings in Will's veiled confession and El's unhappiness and want for words of affirmation, it doesn't seem like they're too far off from breaking). Their connection has shifted and is awkward without Will mediating for them. Meanwhile, Mike and Will are much sweeter reflections of their past selves. They still don't hide much from each other; in fact, they share several heart-to-hearts in arguing, apologizing, venting, confiding. They don't lie about their feelings, save for the van confession as the single outlier due to a much deeper struggle of attraction than Will was ready to admit. The bond that they share is still integrous, and they choose to be "best friends." And need I say again that this was after 6 months of little to no contact. So yes, Mike and Will's connection surely shifted over time as well, hence the fight at Rink-O-Mania, but as we see in the following heart-to-heart in Will's room, they don't want that shift. And they actively realign and keep and hold what they know about each other close.

Honestly, I would have completely understood if the Duffers didn't write Mike and Will together so much this season. After seeing the first reunion at the airport, I was fully bracing myself to see Mike and Will have a bunch of awkward conversations until maybe midseason. And in part, I ended up being correct. They only reconciled the awkwardness by episode 4, but even so, their synergy was plain abundant after that. It's like they weren't even apart. It's like there was nothing new for them to see in each other. They still and already knew each other so well. It's in the sass they share. The "excuse me, sir?" and "we're hungry," with a show of the paper and nothing else. It's the openness of uncertainty they tell only each other. The "maybe I should have said something" and "sometimes I think it's just scary to open up... to say how you really feel." It's the wordlessness that is acknowledged between them, that, despite being without words, they still understand each other. The "I didn't say it" and "you didn't have to." It's the shared looks. The honesty. The ease that so quickly returns. I'm just rambling at this point because Mike and Will know each other so well, every scene in season 4 seems to prove this, and no amount of time apart has eradicated that. It's almost like the time apart has allowed them to realize how much they want to stick together.

So tell me that Byler isn't canon, and you'd be right. But tell me that Byler has nothing showing that they could be canon and, well.

I don't really believe in the adage, "distance makes the heart grow fonder," but man, does it ring true to Byler.

#byler #byler is endgame #byler analysis #byler brainrot

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dustedmagazine · 5 months

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Ian Mathers’ 2023: J'suis fatiguée tu sais pas c'que j'suis fatiguée

a picture of Mandy, Indiana by Chris Hogge

It has been, if you’ll pardon the language, a stupid fucking year (or maybe it’s just, as Yo La Tengo correctly diagnosed, this stupid world). On any number of levels: for me, personally; in terms of international politics (although “stupid” is treating multiple ongoing genocides with a bit too much flippancy); the endless buffoonery of local politics; the people we’ve lost, even as the now pretty totally unchecked global progress of COVID thrashes peoples’ immune systems if not taking them out itself; and all of this means I barely have any energy these days to worry about our imminent environmental collapse (remember?). It’s been a grind, but as always music is one of the things that make life worthwhile, despite it all.

Even musically, I felt a bit adrift at times in 2023; one of my longstanding methods of music discovery, the esteemed group review site The Singles Jukebox, called it quits in 2022. And except for one last round of our traditional year-end Amnesty picks (where each writer gets to pick one song for coverage with none of the normal criteria for selection), that very much appeared to be that. And then a stray Discord comment late this year led to getting the band back together, and starting in late November the Jukebox has made a pretty amazing (temporary!) return. As always, that led to me encountering a ton of stuff I simply never would have heard of otherwise (and some new discoveries even slipped onto the lists below, just one more reason the practice most places have of running year end stuff early December makes me wince). It didn’t shift my existing favourites from 2023 much, nor did I expect it to, but it did make me feel like I had more context on the year as a whole, across more places and scenes and genres than I did before (but still incomplete, always incomplete).

This in turn feels tied to a change in my year-end list methodology. At this point I feel like I’m never going to settle on a consistent format forever and ever amen; different years pull different things out of me (both in terms of listening and in terms of sharing), and there’s also a bit of a pendulum-swing effect. For the past two years I’ve gone expansive, 40+ records, various other lists to get more things in. This was me chafing at (entirely self-imposed!) restrictions from years past, and it gave me a sense of freedom, even relief. I still stand by those lists (as much as I stand by any part of my past self). But this year looking at my account of what I’d listened to, realizing my shortlist was around 50 LPs and that if I was applying the kind of criteria I’d used recently I could easily include them all… I could feel myself wanting to go in the other direction. It took me a lot longer than I expected to pare that shortlist down to 20 albums (still an arbitrary number!), and I found the process oddly satisfying. Trying to decide what made those last couple of spots had me thinking harder about what I currently value and what my year has been like (and what my differing experiences with all these pieces of music were like) than I’d had to in a while.

Those longer lists have virtues this one doesn’t, of course; I have an even keener than normal feeling of leaving things out, of failing to adequately represent myself or music or… something. So while it’s true every year that there are records I loved that I don’t represent in any list, I feel the need to re-emphasize that truth here, specifically. Sometimes what made the cut over the days I spent putting this together surprised me; there are albums I wrote positive things about that I fully expected to be here that are hovering just out of sight in the 21-25 range. Some of them are represented in the accompanying list of songs that either don’t have albums or just stood out from their surroundings (and as last year I’ve tried to track down music videos, a form I still love, for all of those). From past experience, some of those standouts will wind up representing albums that, if I’d gotten more time with them this year, could have made it onto the main list. I also couldn’t let go of one of my secondary lists; I just really love EPs, and I wish more people made them (even if one of the entrants this year is long enough I’d normally consider it an album, if not for the band themselves dubbing it an EP).

As always these lists are alphabetical instead of ranked (and where I wrote about them, I’ve linked to it here); as I said, just narrowing them down was hard enough. I have no idea how to assess the relative merits of (say) L’Rain’s playfully, kaleidoscopically deep I Killed Your Dog versus a.s.o.’s self-titled, lush trip hop throwback versus the Drin’s gnomic, garage-bound bad vibes. They’re all great. But I did have two that felt like albums of my year, in different ways. The first of the National’s two 2023 records, First Two Pages of Frankenstein, was already a favourite when some of the personal stuff I alluded to above made me profoundly grateful that they’d put out this record, about mental health and the ends of things and mixed feelings, in this particular year (and then they put out a second record, which is not here because nobody gets to double dip, but it’s also good). I had a less specifically autobiographical resonance with Mandy, Indiana’s incredible debut i’ve seen a way but it did blow me away on purely sonic grounds in a way few bands have in the last decade or so. The greatness of that record to me is in more than just how stunningly different it felt the first few times I played it (although that was an experience I loved); as I said when I made their “Pinking Shears” my Amnesty pick for the Jukebox this year, it felt like a second miracle when the album did cohere into a set of songs that they wound up being some of my favourite songs of the year. Despite all the other ways I’ve been tired in 2023, it’s never been with music, and artists like the following (and the prospect of whatever I’ll encounter next year) are the reason why.

20 LPS

a.s.o. — a.s.o. (Low Lying Records)

ALL HANDS_MAKE LIGHT — “Darling the Dawn” (Constellation)

Avalon Emerson — & the Charm (Another Dove)

Brìghde Chaimbeul — Carry Them With Us (tak:til)

Carly Rae Jepsen — The Loveliest Time (Interscope)

Chappell Roan — The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess (Island)

The Drin — Today My Friend You Drunk the Venom (Feel It)

Eluvium — (Whirring Marvels In) Consensus Reality (Temporary Residence Limited)

Ghost Marrow — earth + death (The Garotte)

The Hives — The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons (Disques Hives)

L’Rain — I Killed Your Dog (Mexican Summer)

Ladytron — Time’s Arrow (Cooking Vinyl)

Mandy, Indiana — i’ve seen a way (Fire Talk)

Mute Duo — Migrant Flocks (American Dreams)

The National — First Two Pages of Frankenstein (4AD)

Pearly Drops — A Little Disaster (Cascine)

Spanish Love Songs — No Joy (Pure Noise)

Tacoma Park — Tacoma Park (Self Released)

Tørrfall — Tørrfall (De Pene Inngang)

Yo La Tengo — This Stupid World (Matador)

5 EPS

Babygirl — Be Still My Heart (Sandlot)

Death of Heather — Forever (Big Romantic)

hkmori — forever (Self Released)

Tara Clerkin Trio — On the Turning Ground (World of Echo)

Weaklung — We Bring About Our Own Demise (Self Released)

20 MORE SONGS

100 gecs — “Hollywood Baby”

Blur — “Barbaric”

boygenius — “Not Strong Enough”

Caroline Polachek — “Dang”

Dua Lipa — “Houdini”

Eslabon Armado y Peso Pluma — "Ella Baila Sola"

Jiraya Uai & MC Tarapi — “Hoje Tem Rodeio, Baile De Favela”

Kesha — “Eat the Acid”

Lexie Liu — “delulu”

Maria BC — “Mercury”

Mitski — “My Love Mine All Mine”

Olivia Rodrigo — “bad idea right?”

Picastro — “Earthseed”

Raye ft. 070 Shake — “Escapism.”

Sho Madjozi — “Chale”

Tinashe — “Needs”

Tyla — “Water”

Troye Sivan — “Rush”

Victoria Monét — “On My Mama”

Water From Your Eyes — “Barley”

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kuwdora · 5 months

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January Posting Meme

January 2 - What was the first vid you made? What drew you to vid it, do you still follow the fandom, etc. -@colls

Happy birthday colls!

Vid nostalgia time, thank you for this prompt.

My very first vid - Ameno - 2007. Stargate Atlantis.

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I made my first vid in 2007 with iMovie. Stargate Atlantis, an ensemble vid about the Ancients. It’s titled “Ameno” by eRa and has chanty vocals that made me think of the Ancients/Lanteans in the Pegasus Galaxy. We were about… what 3 seasons into SGA at that time? Stargate SG-1 was my first internet fandom and SGA fandom in its heyday was certainly an Experience so I was in deep. I voraciously read all the fic back then, participated in the communities, wrote some crossover SGA/SG1 fic here and there. So once I started playing around with iMovie and got an external hard drive it seemed pretty natural for me to try and make a Stargate Atlantis vid.

Several years prior I remember my friend thelinz had sent me a bunch of SG-1 fanvids on CD-ROM that I became obsessed with. I knew I wanted to make Stargate vids. Of course I just had to go and use a song without discernible lyrics and try to tell a story about the Ancients/Lanteans. A people who were almost always featured subtextually and mostly as their tech being a macguffin of sorts for the protagonists to deal with. In my head a Narrative made a lot more sense while I was making it but I was still left rather unsatisfied by the end. But I am very proud of it—especially as a first vid. It’s very interesting to see how my eye for kinetic movement works with the musicality of the song as my first vid. And how I refined that over the years.

As for still following the fandom? It’s in my bones, it’s always there. So many of my fandom friends and I started there. Sometimes I go back and reread old SGA flashfic entries.

I do follow a few Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis tags on tumblr which has been an interesting time observing that. Mostly on account of folks remarking on Jack and Daniel’s ages (they are too Old). Or how some people have said that Rodney McKay would have Done Numbers on tumblr if the show was airing now and that people should really watch SGA for him. Which just is, you know. Makes me want to pull out that Aslan meme “I was there” old magics etc, since Rodney McKay Was Everywhere, fanon ran with wild abandon and then some while others did slow laps in their own slash and rare-pair niches. But this is part of growing older in fandom, you were there for that history (and all the various wank, which is what it was called and not Discourse).

Anyway. I was never quite satisfied with Ameno. But I went on to make dozen more vids after it with iMovie until I got a Final Cut Edit license. And I came across a song during a summer job and realized the vibe+lyrics…that song was the Ancient Vid I was trying to make the first time around but didn’t manage. And listening to the song I realized I didn’t have the vidding skills yet to pull it together. Very overwhelmed by the idea. I spent 5 years listening and mentally putting it together in my head while casually rewatching here and there. Which is how I managed to make High Voltage - one of the vids I’m most proud of for narrative, structural and thematic reasons.

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High Voltage which someone actually made a Fanlore entry about it!

High Voltage which was selected at Vividcon 2011 for In Depth Vid Review where people spent a good chunk of time discussing it in an in-person group setting. Folks who had never seen Stargate Atlantis or SG-1 or Stargate Universe even said they were very impressed and intrigued with the vid because it looked like nothing they’ve ever seen from Stargate vids before. And those who knew the shows inside and out, who knew the fic, who had meta discussions about it every week, everyone there when another surface-level, shoddily executed storyline rolled out. They saw my vid, too, they saw it and got it. It was really, really incredible experience to get that kind of feedback and realize that so many picked up what I was laying down.

Beatrice Otter wrote a lovely fancake rec for it in 2022 — 11 years after it premiered! A rec I have screencapped and saved in my happy folder to look at when I’m feeling down.

I elaborated a little more about my vidding process and reception of the vid on tumblr

So Ameno is my very first vid that I was VERY proud of but still wanted to go and “do over”/“do again” because it didn’t feel quite right. That foundation and growth lead to High Voltage. :)

I highly recommend anyone who wants to make a fix-it to an old fanwork of theirs to do go ahead and do it and see how it feels. You never know where it might lead.

January Posting Meme - claim a date! Send me any kind of prompt!

#january posting meme #january posting meme 2024 #vidding #fanvids #fan video #my vids #blogdora

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themosleyreview · 9 months

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The Mosley Review: The Equalizer 3

Very seldom do film trilogies realize what type of genre they belong to and stick with it. The standard is to go big in the sequel and by the third film, pull out all the stops and have a major blast of a send off. Its a common downfall for trilogies that aren’t designed for that to do make that mistake. Its extremely rare for a franchise to circle back around to what made the first film fantastic and scale back down to a slower, smaller and more personal story. That is what this film did and it was a refreshing return of an almost forgotten style of storytelling. What I loved is the build up to the action and how precise it still was with every movement of the camera and brutal yet efficient execution the titular character dealt. The story itself isn't as earth shattering or epic as most would expect and that was its strong suit. It may come off familiar and stereotypical in many ways, but that didn't stop the film from being fun and exciting. The action in the film was great and I loved the cause and effect approach that most action have films have forgotten how to achieve. There is a reason for the carnage and doesn't have to involve a massive body count by the end.

Denzel Washington returns as the franchise hero Robert McCall and he hasn't skipped a beat. He is still that secretive, clean and precise avenger we all love but this time we get to see something that I want more characters to have. In this film, the actions of his life catch up to him and makes him come to grips with his vitality. I loved that for once he is actually looking for a peaceful life away from the world. It was a beautiful and warm ending for Robert that ties directly back to the first film. Dakota Fanning joins the franchise as CIA analyst Emma Collins and she was fantastic. The instant chemistry between her and Robert was awesome and wholesome. I liked her willingness to get into the investigative side of her job as this was her first major case. As a side note, its almost been 20 years since Denzel and Dakota have been on screen together and that chemistry and friendship is felt the moment they’re on screen together. David Denman was good as her CIA Operative partner Frank Conroy even if he's there just to showcase the international gravity of the situation and drive the exposition of the story forward. Remo Girone was great and loveable as Enzo Arisio. He really brings out the warmer side of Robert that I don't think he's seen in a long time and helps him appreciate the meaning of peace. Eugenio Mastrandrea was good as the town Marshal Gio Bonucci. He gets put through the ringer in the film and I loved that he never faltered. Andrea Dodero was great as your typical small time gangster Marco Quaranta. He is instantly despicable and its a testament to his excellent acting. Andrea Scarduzio was awesome and venomous as his older brother Vincent. I loved his vicious nature and his intensity once Robert comes on to his radar. The payoff in the conflict between was so satisfying and personal.

Marcelo Zarvos takes over as the composer this time around and he did a excellent job highlighting the beauty in the film and puncuating the action. The smooth, tense and slow building music to the action never over took the scenes, but the score really sores in the moments with the towns people. I loved the intimate way Italy is shown and how it highlights the food and its people. It was quite tranquil against the blood soaked action sequences. As I said before, the second film stayed true to the tone of the first film, but it quickly started to stray and become about the action set pieces. This film brings it all back and wraps up the story in a heartfelt way that may leave you wanting more, but doesn't over stay its welcome. I truly enjoyed this film and if you loved the first 2, then you'll enjoy this one. Let me know what you thought of the film or my review in comments below. Thanks for reading!

#the equalizer 3 #denzel washington #dakota fanning #Eugenio Mastrandrea #Andrea Scarduzio #Andrea Dodero #David Denman #Remo Girone #antoine fuqua

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absolutebl · 2 years

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This Week in BL - An Overload of Cute

July 2022 Wk 4

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying the most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Triage (grey) Ep 13 fin - Sing & Gap turned out to be the true heroes of this story. I liked Triage a lot, I thought the plot was good if a little redundant and occasionally exhausting. The pairs were all well done, low heat but with decent chemistry, and the support characters were likable (or unlikable as required). I feel much as a did with Manner of Death, which is to say: this feels less BL than it does gay romantic suspense. If anything, the romance arc detracted and distracted from the main plot. However, I’m into BL for the romance and the rewatchability, and this had very little of either, so I’m giving this: 7/10 RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS, but I rate it knowing this is going on many people’s best of the year lists, and I totally understand why. Full review here. This author has another BL in the works (the one with Fluke but no Ohm) titled Make a Wish which seems to be a lighter medical fantasy about a doctor who can see ghosts. I’m looking forward to it.

Vice Versa (Sat on YouTube) Ep 3 - The show is a little bit confusing but it’s very engaging (and I don’t mind having to suspend my disbelief while the characters figure out the world-building, I come out of SF/F so this feels natural to me). We are on ep 3 and they’re already in the bath together? GMMTV what has happened to you? I’m shocked I tell you. Shocked. (Also delighted, of course.) Am I the only one really enjoying VV? Maybe, but I am really enjoying it. I should remind you all that magical realism is one of my favorite sub genres of BL. I recently re-watched Color Rush and yes, it is still one of my favorites of all time.

Love Mechanics (Sun WeTV) Ep 6 - One of the few Thai BL‘s that’s still working for me right now, and it shouldn’t be. What can I say? YinWar win the Great 2022 Chemistry in Bad BL Wars (TM) 2022, even over BounPrem. Vee is an arse. It was very satisfying to watch Mark punch him (I rewound 3x). Might be one of my favorite moments of the week. Mark standing up for himself at last was great, but he should’ve broken up with Vee for at least one ep. You know I want my semes to SUFFER.

Coffee Melody (Mon Viki) Ep 2 - Aside from very Thai pacing (read: SLOW AF) this show almost has a Korean feel to it (in the Behind Cut vein). Jean is MINE, I love him so much. I’m not wild about the lead though. (I keep getting Sunoo of Enhyphen vibes off him, is that just me?) Frankly, this show is v pretty but a bit boring, even Pavel in an apron isn’t saving it for me. But I’ll keep watching for this sparkle:

Unforgotten Night (Weds on GaGa) Ep 5-6 - It’s just terrible. TRASH WATCH (up to ep 4) IS HERE!

Check Out (Sat IQIYI) Ep 7-8 - The amusement park date that never ends. I watch this show 1.5x speed and I’m still skipping through most of it. It got somewhat pleasingly traumatic in the last five minutes, but I could not care less. That’s (prequel) ep 0 was so good and I wish that was all we ever got. The fact that the rest of this series has failed to live up the promise of that debut reminds me a bit of that first KP Trailer. Yes, I said it. I think I might DNF. (And I’m now really worried about Bed Friends.)

Even Sun (Wed iQIYI) Ep 4-5 - I am so bored with this show. Just give us Between Us. We’re tired of all this other nonsense. If it weren’t almost done I’d DNF.

My Secret Love (Sat YouTube Sat) Ep 9 - I am skipping everything that doesn’t have the Tim storyline in it. Also Pete is great, forthright and clear and sweet. I don’t believe his bad reputation. Anyone else keep thinking that the actor playing Tim would’ve made a great Dr Pha in 2 Moons 2? Just me?

New Thai BL universals rule?

Story arcs with characters named Pete are always good.

Despite an influx of new shows in August I am feeling the sudden inexplicable urge to rewatch Make it Right. Huh.

His tongue! Come ON Shin, let some of us live, even if you can’t extend that grace to Minato.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Minato Shouji Coin Laundry (Japan Weds GaGa) Ep 5 - I like this show so much I started a SQUEE WTACH ALONG (because it’s not a trash watch but requires so much thought and analysis). So I’ll stop overloading the weekly recaps here. So this week, there was an attempted make-out, a side dish manifested (yes, we love this for Asuka), and nothing has progressed but I am still fucking over the moon over this darn BL.

Want to See You (Vietnam YT) Ep 10 - Look Bah Vinh just gives great sex scenes. It’s funny how many mismatches in chemistry we get out of Thailand, and this boy pretty much has good chemistry with anybody he acts opposite. I don’t know how he does it, but I am impressed. Did anything really happen in this episode? Nope. Does anything ever really happen in the show? Nope. Are they serving up prime domesticity? Of course they are. This is Vietnam, you get what you pay for.

Senpai, Danjite Koidewa! (Japan Fri Viki) Ep 6 - It was a fun confession and a sweet if chaste kiss. But I don’t think I’m ever gonna like this show very much. It’s OK but the premise makes me uncomfortable. I look forward to the flash forward a year next ep, hopefully the uke has developed a backbone and gotten over his hero worship.

In Case You Missed It

Gameboys 2 is on GaGa now... for some, not me, tho.

Semantic Error the movie (a repackage with extra content) is being rolled out into actual theaters first (Korea, Taiwan, and Japan so far). So unlike the other Viki movies, we will have to wait for it. Hopefully not FOREVER like Cherry Magic.

Love of Siam stars, Mario (in the same shirt as the movie) and Pchy, reunited in an equal rights event in the middle of Siam Square. Love of Siam released in 2007 (Nov 22 will be its 15th anniversary). It’s wildly considered Thailand’s first BL.

About Youth dropped a trailer finally, it looks SO GOOD! Like Taiwan’s Love Sick. This is one I’ll be motivated to track down.... somehow.

Viki dropped the movie versions of Oh! Boarding House (review here) and Ocean Likes Me (review here).

They also got and are distributing (to USA) DNA Says Love You which I adore and highly recommended (so if you missed it on GaGa go watch it on Viki, push through the first 3 eps, it’s WORTH IT, I promise.)

Gossip

2023 Thai fundraising teaser dropped for a SF dystopian BL Wish You Luck from Studio Commuan (new to me, they have another one coming next month: SELF the series) about a luck-stealer and an optimistic innocent trying to survive after a meteorite global destroyer. Stars Tonnam (Dr Sing in Triage) and Title (our beloved baby Nut from the Yearbook). Normally I don’t report on teasers but I LOVE THIS IDEA. Tropes include: sci-fi, dystopian, survivor, paranormal, country setting, tsundere/sunshine. trailer. (Not to be confused with Wish Me Luck which is about office workers.)

@bluesandfilms reported in that the leads from Taiwanese BL Plus and Minus (review here) seem to be IRL dating. Warning: Their show has ended but they are both still doing promo. I checked their respective IGs (@.chenghao.shih and @.bbalin1000) and they look like an actual couple, but they are still tagging their couples’ shots with the show’s hashtag so... suspicious. Then again, actors are always ON. Anygay, I don’t read Mandarin, someone can confirm for me if they like. No formal statement has been issued from their agencies, but it’s Taiwan, they don’t haffa do any of this. I’m not being anti, just cautious. If they are together I wish them more success than most actor relationships. Also I *think* this would be the first gay couple to come out of a BL, are we surprised it’s Taiwan?

Adventures in Miss Captioning

Been a while since I had one of these.

“You don’t need to poke your face so close.” Technically the words used and placed are correct but also no one would actually say this in English. Except me now.

Next Week Looks Like This:

War of Y starts Tuesday on AISPLY and/or GMT+8 YouTube. COPY A BANGKOK brings us 20 episode of Cheewin’s nonsense starring the boys from Y-Destiny and SCOY. If it’s easy to get hold of Stateside I’ll watch it but otherwise, I’m not fussed.

On Cloud Nine (8 eps) a country-set atmospheric series from MindTrio starts Saturday. No idea on distribution, but since it looks sad I am, again, not fussed.

21 Days Theory (8 eps) a high school BL from Rookie Thailand that looks to be high angst, messy, cheating, and a secret crush, starring Bever (En of Love: TOSSARA, The Best Story, Love Mechanics) and Tee (The Cupid Coach) starts Sunday. Probubly airing on Rookie Thailand’s YT channel.

I have a list of all the BLs coming in August here.

This week’s best moments?

Calling all us out, sheesh (Love Mechanics).

Jean (Coffee Melody) my PRECIOUS CHILD who I love for ever and MUST protect.

Side dishes in Unforgotten Night giving the show, and me, life.

Don’t look so innocent, Shin, we all know what’s going on in that pretty head now, don’t we? (Minato’s Laundromat)

Gotta stan the confident gay (My Secret Love).

What can I say? (Vice Versa)

Want to See You bringing the neck kisses. Thank you.

(last week)

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elliepassmore · 9 days

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The Dangerous Ones release!

1863, Pennsylvania

War doesn’t scare Jerusalem—she’s a Saint. Thanks to powerful demigod-style reflexes, endurance, and strength, she’s fearless. And ever since the Confederates declared civil war, partnering with the vampires who benefitted off slavery, she and her battalion of Saints are essential to the Union army.

Jerusalem herself had been enslaved by a vampire, escaping North only after her family was murdered. She knows the enemy better, hates the enemy more than anyone in her battalion, and has been using it to her advantage since she joined the war a year ago. More than anything she wants revenge, but if she can help Black people gain freedom and equality without having to steal it for themselves like she had to, then all the better.

But she never expects to have to team up with a vampire to do it. Alexei is one of those handsome, arrogant Ancient Vampires. But he’s on the Union’s side, and in the year they've known each other, has never done anything but prove he’s on hers.

Together, they set out to change the course of the war and take down the vampire who destroyed everyone Jerusalem loved. But for her, it’s about more than justice.

It's about killing a god.

Bookshop.org

Barnes & Noble

If you're looking for a historical fantasy vampire novel, this is definitely a good pick! There are vampires, vampire hunters (Saints), and the Civil War, along with discussions on the connection of vampires and slavery. I really loved the addition of fantasy creatures into this time period and thought the way the world and history as we know it changed as a result of that.

The characters are pretty solid too. Each has their own trauma but are fighting back against the people who would keep them down. Jerusalem burns for revenge but also has the head to know she needs to be strong, fast, and well-trained in order to take down the vampire and slave owners who took everything from her. And she gets a very satisfying ending ;)

Want a more in-depth opinion? Check out my full review!

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gribouillenotes · 2 years

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I will do a brief but very professional analysis on why this season of The Umbrella Academy felt so jarring — or, at the very least, describe a potential factor.

This chart shows the general sentiment/relationship between the Hargreeves siblings (excuse my dumb art skills):

Starts off bad (~S1), forced to cooperate with some fights (S1), happy reunion + world saving adrenaline (S2), forced to stay together with some fights which end badly (S3). By "some fights," I mean the issues between some of the siblings that end up impacting the season’s story, like Viktor and Allison or Viktor and Luther in S1, or Viktor and Allison in S3.

If we group together pre-S1 and S1, we can see that S1 and S3 are both heavily influenced by the drama among the Hargreeves. S2 is the only one where no one truly damage each other, whether it be physically or emotionally.

And when we group all seasons together and look at this as one long story, we’ve pretty much ended at a point of conflict and not at all a resolution. I’m not even talking about a cliffhanger; the ending of S3 is arguably the least cliffhanger-like ending out of the three.

But according to fans, it’s apparently the least satisfying. Why?

Because many TUA fans care about the relationship between the siblings and how well they get along, and S3 literally ended with everyone separating with losses, just like before S1. And the Hargreeves before S1 are defined by a big red frowny face, as you can see on my chart, which means it’s not good.

So I added my predictions for S4, along with a possible time skip of like 3-4 years between this season and the next:

Most of them probably won’t be satisfied with living in Reggie’s dreamland because of obvious reasons. Part of that dissatisfaction comes from missing their siblings, regretting the separation and how they treated each other before they left, etc. And once again, they’ll have to come together to accomplish something, which leads to their dumb little brains feeling happy and/or relieved at seeing each other’s annoying faces again. See a pattern here?

Of course, fans will like a season better if it’s written and presented well as a coherent story. But we all know that the sibling chemistry itself is a HUGE factor in how we judge a season, possibly even bigger than the actual plot at some points. The most lighthearted S2 was the most popular, while S1 and S3 both seem to have mixed reviews among fans for varying reasons.

And, if the pattern holds true for S4, then we'll get to see a repeat of the "Hargreeves reunite and learn to love each other again by being forced to cooperate," except this time, the reunion will look more like a combination of S1 and S2.

So my theory for S4 looks like this = The uncertainty of working as a group again after so long (S1) + the relief of them being a family again after feeling lost in an unfamiliar world (S2). A more “satisfying” season compared to the previous one, at least for the fans.

#the umbrella academy #tua #luther hargreeves #diego hargreeves #allison hargreeves #klaus hargreeves #five hargreeves #number five #ben hargreeves #viktor hargreeves #tua spoilers #tua s3 spoilers #reginald hargreeves #tua s4 speculation #i can see five seasons working best for this show

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girlreviews · 2 months

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Review #474: #1 Record, Big Star

“I never travel far, without a little Big Star”, is the saying that goes, or rather, the lyrics from The Replacement’s ode to Alex Chilton. It’s true though. Big Star are my favorite band. While I disagree pretty adamantly with the order, all three of their records are in the Rolling Stone’s Top 500. I find that immensely satisfying. One thing Rolling Stone and I agree on – apparently — is that Big Star are special. I could talk possibly forever about the Big Star story, but it’s a rare occasion that I happen upon anyone else who knows, cares, or is interested. Which is pretty much part and parcel of the story itself. It’s part of its charm in a way.

I learned about Big Star the way everyone does, or at least did. Someone put a song on a burned CD for me (previously it would have been a mixtape, but this was the early 2000s and this is what we did). It was that fuckin’ boy, okay? And it was around when we actually met. He was trying to impress. He made me this CD, it was plain white, and it had scrawled on it in his stupid fucking handwriting “Summer Promo” with some little patterns doodled around it. Thirteen was the third track and it instantly became my favorite. I fell in love with it, and with Big Star, and that was it. I remember almost all of the other tracks, they were mostly trash. He gave it to me before fucking off for several weeks over the summer – to Bible camp, ha – and the douchebag didn’t ever have enough money to keep his cell phone with credit to call or text. By the time he got back he already was like, “sorry, dumping you”, and so began the 3 to 4 years of hellish on-off controlling, jealous, rage abuse from a boy who didn’t want me, and constantly cheated on me, but couldn’t stand to see me move on or be near anyone else. Who am I kidding, he didn’t say sorry.

Some years in, he had moved away but this all continued. He was back in town – and we were together at this point – and days into his visit he hadn’t called, texted, nothing. He eventually showed up, only to inform me that he had tickets to see an artist that we both loved, Kathryn Williams, at a very local venue, and that he was taking another girl. My father had to physically restrain me. Later that evening, my boy best friend just so happened to call me and said he and his parents were going to that same show, had a spare ticket and would I like to go. I said yes. When I arrived, I sat several rows ahead of my “boyfriend”, and he saw that I was there with my friend, a boy, who in his opinion, I was not allowed to spend time with. Then. As if by magic. Kathryn Williams covered Thirteen. Beautifully. I really do remember that in that moment, knowing that I wasn’t ever going to ever be able to let myself tie songs I loved this much to people that hurt me on purpose if I wanted to continue loving them. I turned around and looked at him as if to say “you will never get this song from me”. I’d love to say that was the end of it all, but it wasn’t.

In the Street also lives within #1 Record, and during my teenage years, That 70’s Show was such a breath of fresh air. We all loved it. I had really fond memories of watching that show with my friends. I used to download it illegally and we would all watch it in my room around my computer. The theme tune was performed by Cheap Trick in the show, but I always loved that Alex Chilton and Chris Bell were in the opening credits, and as I understand it, it earned them money in syndication. However, Chris Bell was already dead, and Alex Chilton died with not a great deal to his name. So maybe it didn’t help. It’s probably the way that most folks know Big Star, even if they don’t know it. I’d encourage you to listen to their original version of In the Street. It’s fun, and honestly would have been a better fit for the show if you ask me. Also, it’s got so much cowbell it’s just silly. Sadly — sadly isn’t really the appropriate word here — That 70’s Show and the majority of its cast are now mired by the actions of convicted rapist and Scientologist Danny Masterson. Fond feelings are now replaced by anger and sadness for his victims and bitter disappointment in his castmates for continuing to support him and his church’s actions.

Skip forward a few years, and that boy is finally out of the picture, but a new nightmare begins. I’ve pointed to this in a few previous reviews. A job with a boss, and that boss is no good. We’re not going to get too far into that here. But there was this time, I was working my seventh day in a week a fourth week in a row (!) at a trade show. I forget why, but the subject of music came up, or I was listening to music on my break, or something like that, and this guy wanted to know what it was I was listening to. He was in his 40s and in a previous life, he had very briefly and with a great deal of mediocrity enjoyed some commercial success in a band. I’m being quite generous in saying that. He liked to overstate that success. A lot. Anyway. It comes up that I’m a fan of Big Star, and this garners his attention (more so than usual), and earns me some respect as a “real music fan”. I’m at work, I’m exhausted, I’m paid 8 pounds an hour, and this man was my ride to and from some hotel trade show at the Heathrow Airport. Finally, the day is over, and we’re leaving. On the way to what I think is home, he tells me that his wife is out of town, and his bandmates are in town, and that he isn’t going to take me home, he’s taking me to his house to hang out with his band. It may surprise you to learn that I, an 18 year old girl, did not want to hang out by myself with five 40-year-old men, only one of which I actually knew. The thing is, I actually didn’t have any choice. At all. This is one of those things where I most certainly look back and think “Jesus christ, that was fucked up”, and at the time I recognized my discomfort, but I didn’t have enough of a voice or know what to do about it. He was my boss.

So there I was, at his house, just kind of stuck. They all got fucking white girl wasted. And they had set up recording equipment – I assume their entire weekend plans were to fuck around and record music. Well. He made me sing. He made me sing Thirteen. He recorded it. They played. I was shaking. Mortified. Terrified. He wouldn’t let me leave until I did it. Then I was allowed to be sent home in a private car. I feel really sad for myself when I think about this. I’m not sure how not one of those men thought it was strange that I was there, or that my discomfort was so obvious, and that not one of them thought I should be at home. In hindsight I get the feeling my boss wasn’t someone people felt comfortable standing up to. That’s no excuse, in my opinion.

In weeks following, he showed me the mix he made of the recording, and I hated it. Hated. It. To be clear: I sang it beautifully. Every single one of those men was surprised by what came out of my mouth, and they all shut the fuck up for awhile, because I sang it beautifully and they weren’t expecting it. I hated it because of how it was created. I hated it because he bastardized it with a bunch of weird added effects and elongations that were insults to the original. From that day, until I left that job to go to university, I was encouraged to not bother with school and let him manage my music career, and my aspirations of college and helping people were “a stupid waste of time”. I thank myself every day that I had no desire to take him up on his ridiculous offer, and that saying no required no second thought. I can’t imagine what would have happened to me had I said yes, but I know that it would not have been good. That wasn’t the last of that guy, either, unfortunately, but I did go to school and I did graduate before he had the opportunity to fuck anything else up again.

Again, I revisited that notion of never letting anyone ruin a song or a band for me. But, in writing these reviews, I have come to realize that the memory being attached to a song or an artist has served a really valuable purpose for me. I know that this shit really happened, because the song/artist makes me think of this memory. That’s how I know. It’s validating and it’s helpful to actually catalogue all of this in this particular way. I can believe myself. If I ever didn’t before, I do now.

At the end of 2022, I was able to see Big Star (well “Big Star”), perform all of their catalog live, for the 50th anniversary of #1 Record. In Memphis. Mike Mills of R.E.M., Pat Sansone of Wilco, Jon Auer of the Posies, and Chris Stamey of the dBs, playing alongside original drummer and only surviving member, Jody Stephens. Over the years – whether in the UK or in the US, so many Big Star events had come and gone. Movie showings, one-off shows, tributes, whatever. And no matter what, somehow, something always stopped me from catching them. Not this one. No fucking way. I was really overwhelmed, and overcome, to think of all of the things that had to happen in my life since I first heard Thirteen on that burned CD under my loft bed in England to put me in Memphis, listening to these songs live, finally, in my Thirties, knowing those absolute assclowns that I’ve written about above are well behind me and can’t hurt me anymore.

#album review #music #music review #rolling stone top 500 #big star #1 record #memphis #Alex chilton #men are trash

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redgoldsparks · 2 years

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September Reading and Reviews by Maia Kobabe

I post my reviews throughout the month on Storygraph and Goodreads, and do roundups here and on patreon. Full reviews below the cut.

The Breakaways by Cathy G Johnson

Faith is a quiet fifth grader, prone to daydreaming and doodling. She is not very sporty, but she is talked into joining the middle-school girl's soccer team and falls into a web of friendships, grudges, crushes, and aspiring punk musicians. The book weaves together scenes of most of the team member's various struggles and experiments as they all try to get through life in the tumultuous junior high years. I wished the story had focused on a slightly smaller cast, as I felt like I only only got a little slip of story about each player, but what I did get I liked.

A Lady for Duke by Alexis Hall read by Kay Eluvian

Viola Caroll fought as a soldier in Waterloo; when she was left for dead on a battlefield, but nursed back to health by farmers, she decided to renounce her old life as a viscount and live as her true self, a woman. At the start of the story, only her younger bother and sister-in-law know the story of Viola's past. But a cry for help brings her back in contact with the Duke of Gracewood, her childhood best friend, bosom companion, and fellow Waterloo survivor. Viola had decided the best thing she could do was cut off her old friend and never reveal to him that she lived. But she finds him haunted by fears, addictions, and PTSD; left with a permanent limp and a terrible grief, he is barely surviving. She commits to caring for him temporarily, but when he begins to fall in love with her, Viola feels trapped between her own feelings and her fear of telling him the truth of their past. This historical romance is almost completely free of homophobia and transphobia; what ends up separating the characters for much of the story is not their genders or sexualities but their social class. The cast of the book is rounded out with a delightful set of quirky family members, from Gracewood's dreamy oddball of a teen sister to Viola's Mrs Bennett-like sister-in-law. I read so little romance, I don't even have a virtual shelf for it. I liked this one, but also thought it was at least 50 pages too long, and wished the pace had moved more quickly through some sections. The tone switched from humor to melancholy very abruptly sometimes mid-scene, and the final confrontation with the main villain was a bit ridiculous, but ultimately I did enjoy the book.

Crier's War by Nina Varela

Crier is an Automae, an AI being made by human creators at the order of her father, the Automae king of most of Zulla. She is beautiful, smart, stronger than a human, and close to invulnerable, but she is also very naïve and has seen little of the world. Ayla is a human girl who's whole family was killed by Automae; she is in touch with many rebels in the oppressed human population, but she is more interested in revenge than rebellion. She wants to kill Crier and make her father suffer as Ayla has suffered. But Ayla isn't prepared for the warm sympathy and understanding Crier will offer her- or the spark of attraction between them. This is a very fast read, and if you are looking for a quick, easy queer YA to kick you out of a reading slump this might hit the spot. Don't, however, spend too much time thinking about the plot or the worldbuilding because both are extremely sloppy and full of holes. There are a lot of first-book weaknesses here from flat character introductions to an overuse of flashbacks. But I do still want to know how the story ends and will probably read the second book of the duology to satisfy my curiosity!

Siren Queen by Nghi Vo

I think this is my favorite Nghi Vo novel yet, which is saying a lot, because I loved all of the others as well! Set in pre-Code Hollywood, the Chinese-American protagonist falls in love with movies after a single black and white picture at a nickel theater in Hungarian Hill, Los Angeles, where she lives over her family's laundry. She stumbles into a movie set and ends up getting a single-line uncredited role by being in the right place at the right time. This only feeds her desire for stardom- which is literal in this story, where most Hollywood studios feed on magic, deals with devils, equinox sacrifices of innocents, and actors can ascent to the sky if they glow bright enough on the screen. This world is woven thorough with miracles and dangers, some which hunt Hollywood hopefuls with teeth and others with predatory contracts. Our main character looses her name but gains entry to the movie world, were she falls into an affair with another actress in the shadows of greats. I loved how deeply queer and Asian-American this story was; our lead finds solidarity and friendship with the few other closeted queer and POC actors on the studio lots who often have to hid their differences but still manage to find each other and hold each other up.

A Mirror Mended by Alix E Harrow read by Amy Landon

I accidentally read this book before its prequel because I didn't notice in the Libby app that it was part of a series! Oh well, it stood alone well enough. In the first book, the main character, Zinnia, discovered an ability to slip out of our real world (where she has a genetic condition which will probably kill her by her mid-twenties) into the alternate universes of fairytales. She has made a business of rescuing princesses from their own stories and helping them find truer happy endings. But when she is pulled through a mirror not by the needs of a protagonist but under the power of a wicked queen, Zinnia has to face some harsh realities. The evil queen claims she wants to leave her tale and live- which is exactly what Zinnia is doing, and it seems to be weakening the walls between universes. Also, Zinnia has been avoiding calling home for months, unwilling to face a conversation with her best friend and family about her health. Then she lands in the darkest and bloodiest story she's experienced yet- only to find she has allies in unexpected places. Very queer, very meta. I often avoid fairytale retellings but this one brought some nice originality to the genre.

The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson read by Angela Lin

I have never read any Sanderson, but this novella was recommended to me as a good stand-alone. It opens with magical forger, Shai, in prison in the bowels of the imperial palace. She was captured in the act of stealing and replacing several very valuable palace objects with magical replicas. Shai expects to face execution for her acts, but instead is offered a secret, dangerous, challenging task: to magically replicate the soul of the emperor who barely survived an assassination attempt. I liked the clever way magic worked in this world, but wasn't wowed by the prose or the larger political world of this story, so I am unlikely to pick up a full length Sanderson, especially given that they are SO LONG. But if anyone else wants to dip their toes into his world, I think this story is worth a try.

A Spindle Shattered by Alix E Harrow read by Amy Landon

After accidentally listening to the second book in this series, I went back for the first one. The story opens with Zinnia's 21st birthday, which she expects might be her last. She has a very rare chronic condition which has proven fatal to everyone who has it by their early 2os. Zinnia has grown up knowing her life will be shorter than most, and partly because of that fell hard for the fairytale of Sleeping Beauty- a story of a woman who fell into a death-life sleep but woke up to a second chance. When Zinnia's best friend throws her a Sleeping Beauty themed birthday party, Zinnia jokingly pricks her finger on the spindle... only to be sucked directly into a fairytale, in time to stop another young woman from pricking her finger on a spindle as well. Zinnia has no idea what's going on, but luckily she has a degree in folklore and also her cell phone still has service, so she's able to text her best friend at home. This premise could have come off as so hokey and silly, but Harrow gives it an unexpected emotional weight, and a queer happily every after at the end. I can see why it was Hugo nominated! I liked it a lot, and plan to read more from this author.

Thieves by Lucie Bryon

I love Lucie Bryon's art and I've been anticipating this book for years. Set in France, Ella is a high school senior with a snarky no-nonsense best friend and a crush on a somewhat mysterious fellow senior, Madeline. Ella only gets a chance to really talk to her crush at a party, but then she drinks to much and wakes up some how at home surrounded by a pile of stolen possessions. When Madeline shows up to check on Ella, and comments offhand that some of her stuff was stolen last night from her room, Ella realizes that she has accidentally drunkenly burgled the girl she most wants to kiss. What follows is a hilarious kind of re-verse heist in Ella (and also Madeline) attempt to return items to their former owners. Along the way they also have to figure out their feelings for each other, and how to communicate, and forgive each other's inevitable fuckups. A queer coming of age story after my own heart.

Wash Day Diaries by Jamila Rowser and Robyn Smith

I had the pleasure of buying this book from one of the authors at SPX! A sweet story of the intertwined lives of four Black women, best friends, each navigating life, love, careers, hard conversations with family, and supporting each other through it all. Each chapter is focused around one character on wash day, and the theme of hair weaves through the whole book beautifully.

SpyxFamily vol 1 by Taksuya Endo

I've been hearing a lot about this manga, so I decided to give the series a try! In a fictional Europe, a spy named Twilight is tasked with infiltrating a very high end private elementary school. But to do so, he must acquire a fake wife and child to pose as a family man. The child he ends up adopting from an orphanage is physic, and the woman who ends up agreeing to his fake marriage ruse for her own reasons is an assassin. None of them tell each other their big secrets, but they are all so weird they don't really notice how weird the other two are. The set up is SO SILLY, but I am curious enough to try a few more volumes to see how it plays out. The art is fun!

Witch Hat Atelier vol 9 by Kamome Shirahama

Art-wise, this is one of my favorite manga series of all time. I also adore the main cast of little witch students and their teachers. However, the series has introduced so many side characters at this point that I'm having a hard time remembering who they all are and having any emotional investment in them from volume to volume. I wish the would stick a bit more closely to Coco and her education, because all of the fantasy politics might lose me.

Threshold by Anke Gladnic

This comic, loosely exploring identity, gender, and transition, moves from dreamy meditation to nightmare and back again. Beautifully drawn in soft greys and smoky blacks, it's more of a stream of consciousness than a story per say, but it leaves powerful lingering feelings of self-acceptance despite doubts and struggles.

Faster by Jesse Lonergan

Beautifully drawn, creatively laid out, and impeccably paced. This short comic follows a set of racers in an intense high-speed car race on a dangerous track. There are rivalries and friendships among the racers, some of whom are confident, some of whom just want to make it out of the race alive.

Die Horny by Rebecca Mock

Rebecca Mock described this comic as a love letter to horny 90s anime, and that influence very clearly shows! In a post-monster-based-apocalypse world, one human man, Iggy, and his gigantic monster queen wife, Wortizabella, just want to have a romantic honeymoon in the wastelands. But their trip is interrupted by a call for help from a boy who escaped a mining camp run by another monster. Iggy and Wortizabella investigate to find a human girl with superpowers being held captive for her ability to sense quartz crystals, which monsters consume for energy. To infiltrate the operation, Wortizabella pulls on her history as the more dangerous and violent monster warrior who has ever lived, and Iggy dons a leather bondage hood and begs to be stepped on. The line art is loose and full of lively energy, and the character designs are powerful and silly by turns. It's a delight to see such a talented cartoonist leaning fully into self-indulgence.

Nona The Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Oh my gosh, what even to say about this book!! No spoilers, but if you enjoyed Gideon, then struggled with Harrow, I think it's very worth it to read Nona. It's told chronologically (like Gideon, unlike Harrow) and instead of being clouded with the unbearable grief and denial Harrow feels for her own actions and situation, this book is colored by a pure, child's joy at discovering the world for the first time. It's still a terrible world, a dangerous one, war-torn, full of refugees, paranoia, and death, but Nona finds so many small things to delight over. Petting dogs, making friends, being a teacher's assistant, swimming in the ocean, and the friends who look after her and taught her everything she knows in the six months she has been alive. This book didn't confuse me as much as Harrow, though I was left with many big questions about where the series is going at the end, I felt like the reveals were more evenly distributed throughout the story instead of all being stacked into the last 25%. This series is so weird, so convoluted, and mysterious, and I am having such a good time buddy-reading it along with a bunch of friends. I expressed this elsewhere, but I have not been so excited for the release of the middle volume of a series like this since the HP books were coming out. I preordered this book, a hardback, picked it up on release day, and read almost a 1/3 of it the same day it came out! I can't wait to see what's coming in the fourth book. I am so curious how Muir will land this skeleton-encrusted plane.

#books #reading #reading reviews #book reviews #comic reviews

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derfisch · 8 months

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okay, I said I was gonna do it! below the cut:

a brief review of every anime I watched this season (no battle shounens, guaranteed)

there are 11 that I watched! wow!

to start with, I watched some less recent anime:

Fruits Basket (2019)

I can see why this one is a classic. if the original is anything like the new one (I haven't watched that either), this is held together by excellent, deep character writing and a fantastic sense of place that never falters. the main character, whose archetype of "ditzy genki girl" would usually be written as very one-dimensional and fluffy, has loads of interesting facets of her personality, and goes through plenty of character growth along with everyone else around her, all without feeling the need to make her less girly or compromising her agency in any way.

for negatives, the humor fell flat more often than not, and the melodrama felt a little heavy handed, especially toward the end when they need you to know The Stakes Are High. I'm also unsure how I feel about how it decided to portray some really incesty relationships? but as a CCS enjoyer it's not like I can complain too much there, lol

despite those flaws though, I would still absolutely recommend it to anyone looking for a good drama. I found it pretty good for sleepytime watching too, if you need something like that.

My Roommate Is A Cat

while I did like it a lot, there's not a whole lot to say about it. I like all the characters, even though they don't go too deep. it's fun, it's cute, and it's funny. there's a cat. I like the bits where we get to see from the cat's point of view, and they totally misunderstand the situation. it's not the prettiest anime out there, but I'd still give it a watch if you have the time for a short one

Love Stage!!

absolutely gutted by this one. as a BL anime from about a decade ago, there's a genre-required sexual assault scene. I cannot recommend it to anyone on that basis alone. this is not a triggering subject matter for me, and I was made deeply uncomfortable by it

which really, really sucks, because outside of that I'm super into its characters and its scenario. the tonal whiplash between the sexy seme raping the innocent uke and a few episodes later when he's genuinely regretful of it, and they actually have to work through their feelings over what happened, I appreciated it so much. and even outside of that, the relationship between the two is really interesting. the character writing is super strong, and the conclusion is satisfying and somehow feels earned

if you're absolutely sure you can handle the uncomfortable stuff, maybe give it a watch. otherwise, there's much better gay media out there for you that doesn't subject you to uncomfortable shit like that

Oshi no Ko

I literally cannot tell you anything about this other than you have to watch this. even if you don't give a shit about idols. I'm serious. watch the entire first episode (and I mean the whole thing! don't quit halfway through), and you'll probably know if it's for you or not. but it is gorgeous, and the storytelling and characters are phenomenal. there's a reason no one will shut up about it. I am chomping at the bit for season 2, and the only reason I'm not going to read the manga is the anime is so beautiful

A Herbivorous Dragon of 5,000 Years Gets Unfairly Villainized

[kenny lauderdale voice] is chinese animation anime?

I remember my roommate watching the first episode of this with me around when Dragon Goes House Hunting was airing, to compare the two, and he ultimately passed on it. with that no longer fresh in my mind though, I went back and gave it another shot, and I'm glad I did

it's really short, the usual 12 episodes of a season being made up of 15-minute episodes. the characters don't have a lot of room to breathe, and the story doesn't have enough time to build on its premise for the climax to feel justified. but despite that, I loved the characters themselves, and their interactions with each other. The humor was pretty good, and I found the main duo super endearing. It's not much of a time commitment, so you don't have much to lose by giving this one a shot. oh, and watch Dragon Goes House Hunting too when you're done

Cherry Magic! Thirty Years Of Virginity Can Make You A Wizard?!

[kenny lauderdale voice again] is live action drama anime?

I saw this recommended a lot when I went looking into popular BL drama. maybe I expect too much from my media, but I wasn't really into this. the main character has barely any personality beyond "anxious wreck," and his love interest comes across as a bit creepy, but otherwise not very interesting. In fact, it takes a flashback for us to really have any hint of why the love interest likes the main character at all. this is also peak "why do japanese dramas have such ridiculous acting"

I couldn't really bring myself to finish it. I made it about 2/3 through, seeing if it got better, but I just really couldn't go on any longer

What Did You Eat Yesterday?

another drama! this one was much, much better. it starts with the couple already together, and focuses more on how they cohabitate and work on their relationship. the characters in this feel very real, and their scenarios never feel particularly contrived or unnatural. also, it features characters who are properly middle aged, which is pretty rare for Japanese media in general, let alone BL

this was the hardest one to watch though, because it's only available on Netflix and it's blocked in my country! I couldn't find a good site to pirate it either, so I had to use a VPN. I hope it becomes more easily available some day

now, into the newer stuff:

My Happy Marriage

what interested me about this is it billed itself as a "historical drama," which is surprisingly rare for a culture that seems to have no problem commodifying its history. unfortunately, that's only half true. the setting seems to have one foot in meiji-era japan, and the other in a poorly explained fantasy setting with nonsensical magic powers

I could put up with that, except I really can't stand the characters either. the main character is Tradwife Prime, who's incapable of mustering an ounce of agency except to simp for the man she was forced to marry by her very abusive parents. said husband is nice, but bland as they come. she has a sister who is a huge jerk seemingly just to mess with her.

it has two things going for it: there is some catharsis in seeing husband guy treat this poor woman right, and also it's drawn and animated really well.

maybe it gets better after the first half, but I dropped it about halfway through. if you are the straightest, most misogynistic man, who only sees value in media that reinforces your pitiful worldview, and think all women should exist to be subservient to their husbands, maybe watch it. except even they probably shouldn't, or they'll risk feeling inferior to the most boring man on the planet. but maybe watch it if you like pretty pictures, and don't have a functional brain? or just watch it in a language you don't understand, I guess. make up your own story! you'll probably do better than the writers

Yohane the Parahelion

I watched this because, I kinda liked love live when I watched it a while back, and I thought putting the girls in a fantasy setting sounded neat. also, there's a cute dog, and I wanted to see more of the cute dog

unfortunately, the story is too busy expositing about the characters themselves and their nothing personalities to tell us about the setting, which feels underutilized. every few episodes, there's a hint at some spooky magic stuff happening, which is then stopped after a couple minutes to go back to light drama and fluff

and I started out liking the dog, who kinda feels like a big sister character, but that's literally her entire personality, and I got bored with her after a while, and the show itself just as quickly. it feels like a story yohane (the one in the love live world) wrote herself while she was bored, without consulting an editor or anything. can't recommend unless you really like looking at the cute dog

Sweet Reincarnation

this is a bad anime. I can't believe I watched it all the way through

the premise sounds fun. a patissier gets sent to the shadow realm and then gets isekai'd into life as a prince in generic fantasy world (do all these isekais take place on the same world, you think?), and is totally unhinged about turning the world into a sugar utopia under his command

what are the implications of this? the consequences? we'll never find out, because instead he just does really boring political drama shit. also he's like really good at diplomacy and negotiation for some reason? I don't think candy makers normally have to do that

it's kind of a shame because there are brief moments where the anime remembers what its stupid premise is, and those are genuinely fun. dude bankrupts the treasury buying fucking apples or whatever. uses his OP isekai power to invent irrigation and scare the shit out of everyone in the surrounding area. super fun stuff. but it lasts like 3 minutes every episode, and then it goes back to boring shit

also more arranged marriage, and this time it's with 10 year olds! no commentary whatsoever on how fucked up that is either, main character who is mentally about 30 years old at this point, totally stoked about his actual 10 year old wife to be. real normal shit

you already know it's shit though, right? you don't watch isekais to see a good anime anymore, right? you'll watch your garbage anime and you'll enjoy it anyway, right? okay

The Masterful Cat is Depressed Again Today

I love this anime. it follows the lead that Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill took of living life with a gruff, much more capable giant animal domestic partner. but instead of a cool magic wolf, yukichi is the masterful cat in question, and he fills the role of what I can only describe as the perfect house husband, with some sass and kitty antics included. he's also a big soft boy, which naturally gets bonus points from me

the series is pure slice of life. I haven't read the manga, but you can feel where the chapters begin and end within episodes, which makes them feel like short vignettes, rather than full stories. that's all this anime needs to convey its characters though! everyone feels well fleshed out, and their interesting personalities shine through

I do have 2 content warnings though: one, the main character ends up drinking alcohol a lot. you might know this is a trigger for me in certain scenarios, and this did make me uncomfortable. I was able to manage because the scenes in question are so short and tend to avoid portraying it as much more than an annoyance for yukichi, but if you're more sensitive to it than me, you're gonna have a rough time. second, probably less serious, but in an episode, the main character gains a bit of weight (which you would never guess by looking at her, but you'll have to trust the writers lol) and they make a big deal about her having to diet and exercise. might be kind of uncomfortable for some people who are used to having their weight pathologized, so feel free to skip that bit.

aside from those two complaints though, I really recommend this anime! it's super fun and really sweet

I ended up really watching a lot this season! I hope next season has some good ones too

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idontwanttowhy · 7 months

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Review: The Legend of the Blue Sea (2016)

Lots going on...in a good way!

Synopsis:

On vacation in Spain, con-artist Heo Joon-Jae encounters a mysterious woman sporting a precious bracelet. They spend two days together as he conspires to obtain the bracelet for profit. Meanwhile, modern-day bounty hunters have been sent to capture Joon-Jae as revenge for a past conning. He and the woman are eventually cornered at a lighthouse on a cliff, where she convinces him to jump into the sea to escape. Upon becoming a mermaid when they hit the water, she saves him from drowning while erasing his memories of her with a kiss, and promises to visit him in Seoul.

A few months later, Joon-Jae is tortured by gaps in his memory and a picture with a woman in Spain he doesn't recognize. He bumps into her in Seoul, and, determined to have her fill in the gaps, brings her to his home for interrogating. But she seems out of place, keeps mum, and claims she doesn't have a name. Her naïveté earns her the name Sim-Cheong (meaning: very stupid), and she is taken under the wings of Joon-Jae and his associates/roommates as she learns the ways of Seoul while pursuing her own personal mission.

At the same time, Joon-Jae has also been plagued with dreams about the life of a nobleman who looks just like him, from the Joseon era--Kim Dam-Ryeong. With the help of a neuropsychiatrist and a former classmate/forever friend-zoned admirer Cha Si-Ah, Joon-Jae uncovers more about Dam-Ryeong, and heeds his warnings to not let history repeat itself.

And with all this going on, Joon-Jae also navigates having been estranged from his now sickly father, looking for his birth mother, and fighting with his step-mother and step-brother for a seat at the chaebol table as the rightful heir.

AC Overall: 8.5/10, renewed hope in Lee Min-Ho

This drama had been on my list since forever, as it's a kdrama classic, but I'd been avoiding it since being traumatized by Lee Min-Ho's Boys Over Flowers performance (the beginning of it--I never even finished the show). That being said, I should've watched it sooner! A classic fated-love drama with resistance from the male lead at first, and a Lee Min-Ho redemption to boot. He played Joon-Jae so well it almost (...but not quite) made me want to take a second stab at watching The King: Eternal Monarch. His role as Joon-Jae called for a range of emotions, and he did that beautifully. I can't believe I'm saying this but, he was adorable? As a 6'2" man who doesn't fit the stereotype of a soft male lead?? The main couple was sooooo cute, with Sim-Cheong trying to seduce Joon-Jae and Joon-Jae (unsuccessfully) resisting and then actually fully falling into it and....UGH. MY HEART!

The side characters were great too, and the story developed organically, in a way that was intriguing and not too boring or redundant. I was loving this rollercoaster of a drama--until I realized there were 20 episodes instead of 16. Not sure if it was because I had prepared for 16, but those last 4 felt excessive and unnecessary. And still, some strings were left out of the final bow; questions remained unanswered and the overall ending wasn't as satisfying as the journey. First 3/4-ths is GOLD, just be prepared for a few odd last episodes and unfinished business sloppy put together.

AC Comments (spoilers)

There's much too much to go over in a complete way, so I'm just going to nitpick at characters and their actors by making comments rather than whole points:

Let's start with the female lead. Jun Ji-Hyun tried her best as Sim-Cheong; loved her from My Love From The Star (with my fav, Kim Soo-Hyun...I have a condition where I have to mention him whenever I can :), but her acting here was inconsistent. At times she played naive, fresh-out-of-the-water quite well and comically, but in other moments she'd be sage-like--knowledgeable "beyond her years" in a way that was incompatible with her "dumb blonde" persona at all other times. Which only added to my confusion throughout the series of whether she was the same mermaid from Dam-Ryeong's life in the Joseon era, or simply a reincarnation/descendant of that mermaid. They acknowledged that mermaids live longer than humans but never truly clarified much else about them. Which made it harder to understand her meeting Joon-Jae in the beginning, back in Spain. Did they just happen to bump into each other, and that set off history repeating itself, or was there something she already knew before meeting him? Wish they had explored mermaids a little more...

And the last conflict, where Sim-Cheong decides to take Joon-Jae's memories before she leaves on her little sabbatical in the sea was DUUUUMB. He EXPLICITLY said he wanted their memories, and what does she do? Robs him YET AGAIN of their time together. But then Sim-Cheong returns...for what? Just for fun-zies?? Knowing he shouldn't recognize her but that there would be a ~connection~ between them, WHYYYYY would she return to torture and confuse him??? Overall I'm glad Joon-Jae* (*the writers) did the journaling work-around...but the poor guy should've either been left alone again, or not had his memories erased. Preferably the latter.

Now, Lee Min-Ho. I never got the hype, but this drama did it for me. He was able to be both childlike with his schoolboy crush on Sim-Cheong, and a suave man with the way he approached everything else. Unlike his leading lady (sorry love), he was able to balance the two personas expected of him beautifully, and his character did nothing wrong. Which is unusual for me to say of a kdrama man but, here we are. And the emotion! The scene where he breaks into his father's house to get him out before it's too late--broke my heart! Joon-Jae PLEADED with his dad but was ultimately betrayed by his own past and reputation...almost had me in tears when watching, and I'm on the brink of tears writing this now...

And then the other characters; they were cool too. The step-brother Heo Chi-Hyun was a great villian-who-tries-not-to-be-a-villian, and the step-mother Kang Seo-Hee/Ji-Yeon was masterful as the puppeteer of Chi-Hyun and his biological dad Ma Dae-Young. Although, they really lost the plot when Ma Dae-Young lost his memories and thus himself. It's almost as if the writers wanted us to lose our memories of him too or something...;).

Joon-Jae's friends and fellow conmen were cool too, although Tae-Oh and Cha Si-Ah getting together at the end was very...weird. Yet again, it's like they needed to give Si-Ah a happy ending after being betrayed (but not really bc he was never actually yours, girl), and the only way to do that was to have her be in a relationship? Not to mention that Tae-Oh looks like a high schooler...but I digress. I could go on and on about Si-Ah being a puppy for a man who never wanted her but I'd rather not waste my energy. It is what it is.

And I admit, they really had me with the fake-out that Jo Nam-Doo, Joon-Jae's OG, was the ultimate betrayer...I honestly believed it after he was such a dick about Sim-Cheong being a mermaid the first (and second and third) time he found out. But his character was redeemed when it turned out he was only pretended to betray to ultimately save his BFF. PHEW!

There's sooo much more to talk about (loved how Joon-Jae was the only one to hear Sim-Cheong's thoughts--besides the grade-school bestie--, and Joon-Jae's mother played a cool role in the drama too, etc. etc.) but I'll end it here before I do too much (more than I already have). Just...give it a watch if you haven't already, truly is a gem worthy of being a classic.

#kdramareview #legend of the blue sea #legend of the blue sea review #Lee Min-Ho best performance

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allieatthemovies · 8 months

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Movie Review: The Killer is One of 13 (1973) d. Javier Aguirre - 2.5 / 5 Stars

Going all the way back to movies like The Thin Man and After the Thin Man and as recent as movies like Knives Out, I just have a soft spot for the “large group of people stuck in a location together and accused of murder” trope. It’s not something I ever really thought much about, but watching this it occurred to me I like these sorts of mysteries a lot - no matter how contrived they might be. This movie falls neatly into that category.

The Killer is One of 13 is by no means the best of its kind, but is serviceable enough if you find yourself in need of something new. The film centers around the character Lisa who brings together a group of thirteen people she believes may have killed her husband, Carlos, two years prior. She disguises this inquiry as a reunion weekend and accuses her guests while they sit around the dinner table the first night. This... genre, i suppose, of mystery / horror inherently comes with a lot of talking - exposition is a key factor - and this movie exposits excessively. For me, I enjoyed the barbed accusations and meandering theories postulated in every scene about Carlos’ murder, but even I will admit it does start to drag at times. There’s very little variation to the scenes, very little movement. The scenes at the dinner table are either wide shots of people looking around confused and offended or tight headshots that cut back and forth between the characters speaking. This applies to most of the movie and the lack of energy from the characters and cinematography hurt it in the long run.

The plot itself is suitably convoluted to this type of story. Theories are proposed and abandoned, character flaws are revealed only to go nowhere. It all serves to steer the audience away from the real motivation. But with so many branching possibilities proposed it becomes a little disappointing how few of them actually come into play by the climax, and for all the talking and theorizing the climax comes extremely abruptly. There isn’t a single death until around the 60 minute mark of this 90 minute movie, but once they start they happen in quick succession. The kills themselves are adequate, but not particularly memorable. When the false killer is revealed - five minutes before the end of the movie no less - it’s frustrating because we, as the audience, know this cannot possibly be the killer. The reveal of the actual killer doesn’t offer a satisfying “a ha!” moment, but rather more of an exasperated sigh moment. It’s not really set up well enough despite the exorbitant amount of exposition, it’s cliche, and half the dinner guests have already left the estate.

So the plot itself leaves much to be desired, but the characters can be interesting and most of the actors still manage to pull off decent performances. These sorts of movies always rely heavily on the interplay of character relationships, and I did enjoy watching the lines drawn between each of them. The standout character was Lisa’s aunt, Bertha. She’s the manipulative and doting mother of Lisa’s cousin who displays a sharper mind than most of the dinner guests and has the air an older femme fatale. In between emasculating her son her efforts to uncover the killer are equal parts the most disturbingly earnest and engaging. I also felt for Guillermo who was probably the most sympathetic and believable dinner guests of the thirteen. The discovery of his wife’s infidelity is probably the most engaging of the subplots threaded throughout the film. Everyone else plays their parts well for as one note as they are: Harry is suitably unlikable as the playboy, Arlen is serviceably awkward, the wives are all perfectly catty, Elena is just naive enough, Henry the Butler buttles expertly, and Ernest feels like he was written only as an excuse to hire Paul Naschy.

It’s the character dynamics that really save this from being a complete slog for me. While it will never be high on my list of recommendations, if it ever is, I can’t say I regret watching it or didn’t enjoy it in parts. I’ll probably revisit it once in a blue moon when I’m going through my movies and trying to remember if I liked it or not.

#Movie Review #Giallo #Vinegar Syndrome #The Killer is One of 13 #movies #Forgotten Gialli: Volume One #Movies I Own

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mathcat7 · 1 year

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Morgana’s 2022 Year in Review

So, another year comes to a close. Lots of interesting developments, as always, and I like looking back and seeing what's changed and what I've succeeded with, and what I want to do over the next year.

The Successes

So for starters, I think the biggest boon has been me getting to spend shy of a month with my girlfriend over the course of the year. I love her so much, and I'm so glad we got to spend so much time together, and that we reached our first anniversary together.

Secondly, I closed the year off getting promoted to a full time position, a big step towards achieving self-sufficiency down the line. This was a big goal of mine for this year, and I'm very glad I was both able to achieve it, and that I've been able to use that for pushing forwards other things I enjoy.

The Surprises

This summer kicked off an FGC arc for me, where I used P4U2's rollback announcement and implementation to finally learn how to play fighting games. I didn't become impressive, by any means, but I had a lot of fun, and I was honestly satisfied with how quickly I was able to catch on. As a bonus, this also resurged my interest in making and editing videos, which eventually culminated in my clip compilation, A Very S'okay Persona.

youtube

Unfortunately, this was cut short by my going full-time, but I still cherish what I learned and how it's shaped my creative process going forward.

I commissioned quite a bunch of art pieces this year. Most of them were Fire Emblem fanart, especially for beloved best girl Mozu, but I also some original pieces for my recently designed online persona. Writing design docs for sending to commission artists was a nice process for clearing the rust from some of my writing skills, especially where descriptions are concerned.

My transition is still going smoothly. Medicine-wise I switched to needle monotherapy earlier this year and it's been generally better for me, at least from my perspective. (A lot less awkward planning to take pills around mealtime, a lot less in the way of unwanted side effects.) I got really into my voice training, to the point where I was consistently passing over phone calls!

I’ve been bouncing around a few of the modding sub-communities and ended up becoming a server blorbo. Okay I jest, but in all seriousness I’m glad I’ve been able to make some new friends online without it being predicated upon someone else’s preexisting dynamics. I’m glad to not be a friend of a friend this time! (Now if only that could extend to irl)

Of course, it's not all sunny. I've still been struggling with the transition not being properly acknowledged by the family, with those feelings being further exacerbated by attempts of doing an official coming out seemingly falling on deaf ears. I still have hangups about this iust becoming my cross to bear, but it's clear that there isn't much else I can do/say at this point. It sucks, but it's whatever, and at least now I can put my energy elsewhere.

The Plans

As for my goals for 2023, I'm still sticking to not making full on resolutions and instead keeping on general directions I want to work towards, as such:

- I wanna continue making videos. Maybe not FGC related, but I do wanna pivot my focus back to FE. I like Excelblem's format of video style, but I'm not someone with challenge run smarts. I think I'd rather do summations that would appeal more to casual players, and talk about the little parts of the games that I love. I'm hoping that Engage's release in 3 weeks is a good catalyst for this idea, although I'll have an uphill battle with my job.

- I want to devote more time to writing Royals of the Tempest. My writer's block has finally broken again, and I want to use the time I'm not actively working (or making videos) towards trying to get as much done with RotT as possible. There's a lot to get done, so I'm unsure if a manuscript would be ready in one year, but I'm hopeful about having most of it done down the line.

- I don't think moving out is something that'll happen soon, especially since I'm waiting on my girlfriend to finish up college, so my hope is to keep building up my nest egg so when that time comes, we can be prepared. I know I'm not in the best living space mentally speaking, but I think I can bide my time until then.

- Of course, I will make an exception towards commissions. I love commissioning art, and I do want to keep that up. I'm hoping to get to do some bigger ideas this time around, especially now that I have better integrated myself with some artist schedules.

- And lastly, I want to be bolder about myself. I've joked with some of my friends about the start of the slut arc, and while I'm not so inclined to cross the en-ess-eff-double-u line just yet, I am feeling more and more confident that I could try doing saucier stuff, or at the very least stop tip-toeing around stuff I've been holding back on. What that looks like remains to be seen, but I will let my friends now when and if that happens.

So, that’s all I had to ponder on. Hope you all have a wonderful 2023 and I hope to see you all again.

(Enjoy this pic of me trying to clear out the twists in my hair lmaoooooo)

#long post

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chocomd · 1 year

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my 2022 writing year in review!

Thank you @benwvatt for the tag!

1. Number of stories posted to Ao3: 8 oneshots and 1 very loooong multichapter fic

2. Word count this year: 159,680

3. Fandoms I wrote for: Avatar: The Last Airbender

4. Pairings: Aang/Katara

5. Stories with the most:

Kudos: Drag You Down, my multichapter Kataang break up/make up fic. It was my longest and most popular fic this year, so it’s going to be the answer for the next few categories 😂

Bookmarks: same as above

Comment threads: same as above

Word count: same as above

6. Work I’m most proud of (and why): Drag You Down, because it’s the longest and most complex story I’ve ever written. I’m proud of how I developed the character arcs for Aang and Katara, as well as a secondary storyline involving some OCs, and then tied them together at the end in a way that made sense for the themes of the story. I explored reasons why Kataang might break up that seemed realistic to me, and I wove in elements of what I think the post-war ATLA world would look like.

7. Work I’m least proud of (and why): Probably Arrows and Braids, a Book 3 missing scene Kataang fic. I don’t have anything against it, but it was probably my most fluffy fic this year, and I don’t find writing pure fluff as satisfying as, say, hurt/comfort 😂

8. Share or describe a favorite review you received: The most memorable review I received this year was on a Kataang fic I wrote last year, Midnight Meditations. MM is a Book 3 missing scene fic that takes place after The Puppetmaster. The fic saw a surge in traffic this year, most likely because @pottyospanna drew absolutely AMAZING fan art for it (I am still screaming and crying over how much I love her drawing!!!). The review talked about how MM “doesn't just feel like a story about dealing with the trauma of bloodbending,” but rather “a story about adolescence as a whole, coming of age and navigating all the complications of impending adulthood.” Because yes! This is it! For all of my Book 3 Kataang missing scene fics, really. The fics are about the Kataang relationship, but they’re also about the messy struggle to figure out adolescence and the eventual transition to adulthood.

9. A time when writing was really, really hard: Whenever I and/or my whole family was sick/not sleeping well/really busy, which was basically from May onward 🥲 Writing was hard during those times, but it was also my outlet.

10. A scene or character you wrote that surprised you: Song from ATLA. I wanted to participate in @atla-side-character-week earlier this year, and I was inspired to write my Song-centric fic, To Owe an Ostrich Horse. I’ve come across a number of takes that after Zuko steals her ostrich horse, Song would forgive him or at least still look on him kindly. Personally, I don’t think she would, so I wrote a fic to explore that issue - not so much about whether she would forgive Zuko, but about what losing the ostrich horse might mean for her and her mother, and how that loss would shape her view of Iroh and Zuko.

11. A favorite excerpt of your writing:

This scene from Without Water, a fic about the period bridging Book 2 and Book 3, where Katara struggles to heal Aang and understand her own identity as a healer:

But instead of rising to resume the work of healing Aang, Katara could not bring herself to move. She had never been close to Aang like this before. In the last three weeks, she had constantly touched him—dressed and undressed him, changed his bandages, rolled him and moved him, held him upright against her as she bent liquid food down his throat. But she had never touched him the way she was doing now, with her arm draped across his chest and her hand cradling his neck.

And she discovered that lying next to Aang, touching him just to be close to him, was the first time since the crystal catacombs that she was able to rest.

12. How did you grow as a writer this year: I improved the most in writing descriptions and metaphors. The two are actually related, because description is a lot more interesting to me when it’s colored by the POV character’s emotions and perceptions, which I find easiest to do through metaphors.

13. How do you hope to grow next year: I want to work more on descriptions, specifically setting the scene. I tend to skip over things like setting and what people look like/what they’re wearing, because it’s fanfic and the reader usually knows what people and places look like. But I think weaving in these kinds of descriptions will make my writing more immersive.

14. Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta or cheerleader or muse etc etc):

There have been times this year when @itsmoonpeaches single-handedly kept me in fandom. Her unhinged screaming and our conversations that go down rabbit holes truly inspire me to keep writing 🤣 She was also my beta reader for Drag You Down, which would have been impossible to write without her feedback!

15. Anything from your real life show up in your writing this year:

To Owe an Ostrich Horse, Everlasting, and Mooncake contain a lot of cultural influences from my own life. To Owe an Ostrich Horse especially, since war was a big part of Chinese history in the 20th century, and I call this fic my “Chinese wartime fic.”

Without Water extrapolates quite a bit from personal experiences. A good chunk of Drag You Down is based on my experiences of being part of the Chinese diaspora.

16. Any new wisdom you can share with other writers: Show, don’t tell! If your writing doesn’t feel as compelling as it should, you’re probably doing too much telling and not enough showing. Describing actions, emotions, dialogue, even introspection and exposition, is far, far more interesting and effective than telling. Telling has its place, usually to clarify an idea, provide a summary, or invoke resonance - but only AFTER showing, and it should be done sparingly.

17. Any projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year: I have several short Kataang oneshots that I want to write, as well as a Zuko-centric Maiko fic (who woulda thunk?). Also an Aang-centric fic about whether he would bring his people back if given the chance, and at what cost? And a Gaang gets tangled up in court intrigue fic, and an enemies-to-lovers Kataang fic that may or may not get written.

18. Tag some writers whose answers you’d like to read:

Cutting it close to the end of the year, but here goes 😂

@itsmoonpeaches, @northerngoshawk. @flameohotwife, @shameaboutthedilettantism, and anyone else who would like to answer!

#2022 writing year in review #ask game #chocomd answers

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