#but have excellent reviews

[novelconcepts]

The defintion of hell is knowing a show is incredibly well-received in its first season, but if people don’t become machines churning out tweets, content, and rewatching 24/7, there’s no likelihood it’ll get a chance to tell its whole story. This shit is madness. Shows in different genres shouldn’t have to pit-battle for dominance. First seasons are MEANT to be baselines establishing worlds and characters, not complete storylines. The idea that this golden age of television has turned into “get it done in one or get out” is revolting.

#the sandman #paper girls #some of the hot takes on Twitter are breaking me #‘why don’t we know the whole story? it’s bad writing if you don’t have a complete story in the first season’ girl WHAT since WHEN #how many excellent shows were weak as fuck in S1?? and here we’re getting shows with incredible first seasons fighting for their lives #like fuckin Christ dude the idea of long form storytelling is allowing your story time and space to spread out #otherwise we would only make movies #i am so sick of this edge of my seat fear that any new show I fall in love with will get axed because the higher powers don’t care about art #this has to be a bubble right? this has to pop at some point and go back to shows valued on what they are #and don’t even get me started on creators having to beg for good reviews to balance out review-bombing from shitheads #if every one star review is clearly bigoted from the comments? why is anyone taking them into account?? #why is there no way to manage this shit aside from creators being like ‘please help us”’

[kithj]

i finished tell me i'm worthless... boy, was that disappointing.

i'll put this under a break because it's long and tw for antisemitism

most of my original criticism still stands. overall i feel like this majorly missed the mark. it's a shame because i think the core idea is interesting, but rumfitt didn't have the skill to pull it off.

one, i think this book is way too edgy. obviously i read and enjoy extreme horror so i'm familiar with it and i understand the purpose of it here (how could i not, she tells me a billion times directly in the book) but it did feel gratuitous and almost silly. i get that this was the house's influence - the characters are all breaking under FascismTM - but yeesh. this book could have existed entirely without most of this gratuitous writing and would have been better for it.

two, again, way too online. embarrassingly online.

three, some of the choices were.... Interesting. ila in particular was not working for me. it was obvious that ila existed just to counter alice's racism and antisemitism and that resulted in it being so incredibly forced - literally felt like the guy racist people online make up to get mad at. "well what if a jewish pakistani lesbian who is actually a closeted trans man was a T*RF and called me a slur?"

whatever rumfitt was trying to do with these characters, it failed. both characters are just empty vessels. alice feels like the main character, a white trans woman that hides her racism and antisemitism behind leftist speak and performative gestures. meanwhile ila was just a guy that was made up solely to foil alice as a T*RF and weakly attempt to counteract her white womanhood and ila was the flatter character because of it. of course ila is a person that could exist in real life i guess, and i do understand what was trying to be discussed here - this kind of intracommunity conflict, the way marginalized people will turn on each other & become complicit out of fear and desperation (the book literally calculates "intersectionality scores" for the three characters, for fuck's sake) but... come on. yes these people are horrible and the house is bringing it out of them, but could you be a little more subtle, have a little finesse? one of the girls literally has her body broken into the shape of a swastika. come oooonnnnn......

i wish this was a better book. the idea behind the house and the house being its own character is what interested me the most. the house as this symbol of their trauma, this haunted thing that is always looming over them. the walls of the house as the constant crushing pressure that marginalized people feel to conform under fascism. the house is a monster with roots that spread through the entire country. but this was wasted. i wish the book had focused more on that, i wish it was more of a haunted house novel instead of, again, a twitter call out speedrun. this book mentions twitter, 4chan, and tumblr, ila gets "cancelled" on twitter, and i cannot stress enough that the book calculates intersectionality scores. but there is no real commentary made, there is no real reflection or criticism of the "oppression olympics" on display here. it just points it out for us in case we didn't get it, and then later there's a chapter-long ramble that tries to take another swing at it and fails, in my opinion.

it's disappointing that both of rumfitt's novels revolve so heavily around twitter/the internet. i undersand its significance, as a gay person online, but these books are so limited in scope. they will not hold up to the passage of time, and anyone that is not super online will not connect with these stories. of course i'm not trying to say that everyone should be trying to write the next Great Classic, and i don't expect anyone to write something just to appeal to a wider audience, but in my opinion this reliance on twitter and 4chan and "cancel culture" is extremely detrimental and honestly embarrassing to read, and i also feel like i know way more than i should about alison rumfitt and how she spends her time online.

and rumfitt really needs an editor to tell her to pull back on the overexplaining. she seems to be really logged in so maybe she thinks her readers have the reading comprehension of a twitter user, but the overwriting is awful. the few times she does something interesting she immediately undermines it by overexplaining it or fumbling desperately to justify it for the next five pages. she takes quotes and ideas from other authors - audre lorde, shirley jackson, isabel fall, just to name a few, but she seems to fail to grasp what actually made their work so compelling. it's all very flat. she directly states the entire metaphor of the novel within the first chapter - the house is fascism and we're all haunted and possessed by it. and then she beats you over the head with it for the entire rest of the book.

i will say that i can appreciate her attempting to grapple with this conundrum of forgiveness (though i detest that it was presented through a lens of "cancel culture"). ila and alice both do horrible things, and we know why - they were desperate and afraid. but (supposedly, we don't ever see this on the page) they change and become better people by the epilogue. they resist the house, they resist fascism. this needed to be shown on page to work, but instead the book ends abruptly and we are given a single page summary of ila and alice getting together afterwards. where was the character development? what about all the people ila and alice hurt? what about hannah? i'm not asking for a happy ending, but give me something. these characters were literally empty. there was nothing there except the hateful ideologies they represented. ultimately i did not care enough for either of them to be invested in this question of forgiveness or what happened to them after the house. i just wanted the book to be over.

i'm honestly kind of baffled by how recommended and hyped this book is. though i do find this problem pretty often in the indie horror space; if something it gratuitous and shocking (here it's just racist and antisemitic and transphobic) people will rate it higher just because they think it's "transgressive" and that automatically makes it good and smart. it's not. this book is trying very hard to say something but somehow it says nothing to me.... there is no real substance.

#2/5 stars #sorry i got kinda mean in this one. i just really did not enjoy this book LOL #it only got the second star bc i did like the house being a character and i liked the alternating povs & 2nd person #it doesnt help that i just read what moves the dead which is such an excellent haunted house novel #but. not sure after this if i'll read another book by her #if i had read this first i never would have picked up brainwyrms #i gave brainwyrms 3/5 for comparison it has all of the same problems but i suppose it's a good thing she's improving at least #i think brainwyrms does a better job with vanya & frankie when it comes to opposing characters & the parasites/pregnancy thing #my reviews

[quillandrapier]

Made a random ghosts episode generator here (UPDATE October 2023: Season 5 has been added)

If you use this app you can toggle on and off slices you may not want to use.

Anyway see the reblogs to follow my random rewatch ready for Friday and I'll be reviewing each episode. (Thanks to @baynton and @gethisshithumptyfuckingdumptied for the idea.)

#bbc ghosts #six idiots #Episode reviews. #You may have to download the app #I'll test it now #Tried to build one in excel but idk how to make it both easy to use and mobile friendly yk? #Anyway

[thesimperiuscurse]

tumblr top 10 — 2022.

1. 457 notes - Jan 30 2022  — the metropolitan museum of art.

2. 331 notes - Jan 8 2022  — wildflower / pose pack. 

3. 302 notes - May 10 2022  — painting in wildflower hills.

4. 268 notes - Jul 16 2022  — fleeting moments from chapter 14.

5. 248 notes - Aug 12 2022  —  eva’s childhood bedroom, malibu.

6. 235 notes - Jan 2 2022  —  snow — s’mores — sparklers.

7. 167 notes - Jul 7 2022  — summer al fresco.

8. 156 notes - Dec 26 2022  — mako’s summer villa in malibu / may 2020.

9. 146 notes - Nov 22 2022  — cape cod renovation — 4 / 4 — dining room, kitchen, lounge.

10. 138 notes - Dec 12 2022  — tanabata.

Created by TumblrTop10

#tumblrtop10 #2022 started off excellent and then tripped and rolled downhill and hit 100kmph #i don't have a proper annual review like the past two years #because i didn't post enough ;-; #2023 is gonna be worse i'm sorry #my one goal is to publish more en pointe chapters than this year #so like #3 #just kidding more than that #don't want jade to kill me #happy new year!

[nordic-language-love]

I forgot how difficult it is to read Spy x Family in Japanese when your Japanese is really not very good at all

#every time i tell my japanese friends i have spy x family in japanese they're like ohhh wow but i think it's probably really hard for you #and i'm like thanks! it is! #takes me like 20 minutes to read a single page with 2 lines of dialogue! #anyway i moved the scattered vocab lists i'd copied into my notebook into a comprehensive excel spreadsheet #so now it'll be easy for me to review the most important words more often #so that hopefully i won't have to spend *as much* time looking up every other word

[ereborne]

Song of the Day: February 15

“The Werewolf” by Paul Simon

#song of the day #I have so many songs with 'wolf' and 'werewolf' and 'coyote' in the title. this is not a complaint but it does occasionally strike me anew #just so many of them #anyway this one has such incredible /bounce/ truly delightful #the only other Paul Simon I have is '50 Ways to Leave Your Lover' which is also a trip. excellent lyrics all round #typing this out is a trip I gotta tell you. nothing quite like putting 'the werewolf is coming (extra fries)' down to share #'the fact is most obits are mixed reviews / life is a lottery a lotta people lose / and the winners the grinners with money-colored eyes #they eat all the nuggets / then they order extra fries / the werewolf is coming (extra fries) / the werewolf is coming'

[lighthouseshepard]

.

#lads i am #900 dollars away from the total goal of my full top surgery deposit #my consult is scheduled for june #and im only 900 away #i started this year with nothing at all saved #and now im so so so close #cant think of a better June bday present to myself #than being able to schedule that surgery #trusting i like the place after the consultation but #trying not to get my hopes up for it but god #god #blease #they have excellent reviews snd they work with my insurance and #anyways it's still far away #trying to just keep my head down and focus on the last stretch #900 more #caspost #tbd

[always-a-joyful-note]

A book rec perhaps?

I don't know...but to the ORV fandom and those who like books and media with heavy meta themes and philosophical musings, I recommend Sophie's World.

What is that you ask?

Well, my friends...it's a book by Norwegian author Jostein Gaarder (I read the translated to English version, of course) that follows a 14 yr old girl named Sophie as she randomly starts receiving letters in a philosophy course and finds herself semi-adopted as a student under an old philosopher.

The book gives Sophie and the readers a sort of intro course into western philosophy and worldviews from Biblical mythos to Plato to the scientific eras whilst also incorporating a seriously wild metafictional plot that explores the relationship of fiction to the real world.

I can't say much without giving spoilers but the book is WILD and absurd in ways that will eventually make sense(ish). It makes you really think about the things that can be done with writing and the awareness that knowing philosophies/worldviews/etc. can bring into a "created" being.

It's been a hot while (years, I think) since I've read the book but I was suddenly reminded of it randomly (don't know how) and thought, "Huh. I think ORV fans who enjoyed the meta of the story and some of the philosophies it introduced would like this!"

In short, if you like takes on the relations of fiction to the real world and Thought(tm) that relies on Weird Twists, as well as a cleverly and easy to follow introduction to western philosophy/worldview, not to mention a pretty engaging plot with fascinating characters you will want to study under a microscope....Sophie's World does it really well.

Content warning? Like I said, it's been a few years since I read it, and nothing in particular struck younger me as problematic enough to remember. The book was written in 1991, so there could be some slight sexism (don't quote me on that). It also deals with a buuuunch of philosophies that discuss heavy themes and I recall references to sex and some slight psychological twistiness, but I think it's safe to rate it as PG-13. (If anyone who has read the book recently and knows better please feel free to add/correct any discrepancies in my recommendation)

#the best part is that because of the heavy philosophies i don't think there's any romance #anyway back on my incoherent reviewing because why not #j also think the metas of bungo stray dogs enjoyers would like this book #it def was one of the 'critically acclaimed modern books' that didnt make me want to violently shake the present for being so weird #(im rather picky when it comes to modern classics excuse the salt) #also there's a talking dog and a random car crash and also fairy tale people appear #which is spoilers but also not #you know thinking about this also makes me think of the half upon a time trilogy too #also an excellent read if you like a focus on fairy tales and idiot conniving protags and time nonsense #anyway apologies for putting it on the orv tags #fandom spamdom #orv #omniscient reader's viewpoint #note's nonsense #sophie's world #my brain making connections where there are little but i cant be the only one to have made this link right?

[cozylittleartblog]

obligatory plug for my etsy shop's black friday sale, live now thru sunday <3 even B-grade items are on sale so you get a Double Sale on those!

#black friday #etsy #acrylic charms #queer owned business #small business #enamel pins #reblogs very appreciated! #as u can see from the earlier tag i am a small business it is only me here and advertising is hard #remember when black friday was just like. a weekend. and now people start their BF sales a week or two in advance #i am not that insane but it's funny how it's just Whatever now lmao #im gonna see about trying to open up international shipping to some places early next year #since january and february are slow months anyway #but if you are impatient and have a friend who lives in the US who doesn't mind forwarding you something... :) #Thats An Option #anywya i really did just dump a bunch of shit on my desk and go 'yeah that makes a good promo' #purchase these goods with your money! for yourself or friends or family! #very high quality beautiful prints five stars my reviews are Excellent you can See For Your Self #my pins? chefs kiss. beautiful pieces of metal and paint. i still get giddy over how cute the TVs look on their cards

[cantquitu]

.

#excellent reviews for Small Things Like These in Berlin tonight (except for Deadline) #uniformly positive about Cillian's performance obviously #but also the direction and writing #i was a little worried it'd be a mysery-fest #especially in the hands of a non-irish director #but it seems to have worked #if you haven’t read it.... #read Clare Keegan's novella (and everything she's ever written) #and be bitterly everlastingly angry at the Catholic church with me #fun times! #Small Things Like These #Berlinale #Cillian Murphy #*misery #not retyping those tags :)

[togekissies]

my supervisor is apparently going to retire this year (we'll see if she actually does, she's been saying this for at least five years) and man i know i would be good at that job but god am i sad that i have no management experience to make up for the fact that i've only been here a year lmao. if she DOES announce her retirement i'll ask her if she thinks i should throw my hat in the ring but i'm not counting on it

#text please! #every single coworker i've talk to about me possibly applying for her job has said they also think i'd be good at it #but my lack of experience is a huge elephant in the room imo #if i had three years experience i'd feel a lot more confident in my ability to be a competitive candidate for the job #as it is if she retires i'll basically be the defacto leader in my half of the team til her replacement is hired #and yeah i have only been here a year but i'm already one of the most reliable core employees lol #my annual review was excellent #but damn... she'd be a hard act to follow and hiring someone who's been here a year would probably give people outside our team pause

[crehador]

brother crab's 2023 seasonals in review: winter

there were some bonkers good series this year, and i apparently watched or am watching... 75 of them! what the hell lmao let's see what stood out to me in winter

revenger and benriya saitou-san, isekai ni iku were the two gems for me, and ironically i didn't follow either as it aired. both were very bingeable and if it had had just... a slightly less unsatisfactory ending... revenger would've been an easy anime of the season pick for me

but alas, with the ending revenger does have, i'd say it's a tie with saitou-san, which really gets a boost from its surprisingly uhhh poignant dog ate penis arc

in terms of sequels (which i tend to weigh separately from anime originals or new adaptations) everything was pretty good, we had bsd s4, tsurune s2, gokushufudou s2, and the vampire dies in no time s2

tsurune s2 gets the win for best sequel of the season for me, if only because it provided some of my new favorite seiya moments

quickfire thoughts on some others:

ooyukiumi no kaina wound up being a little bit of a disappointment after some beautiful and fascinating worldbuilding in the first episode

high card was decent enough for me to add the upcoming season to planning but the team dynamics haven't really grabbed me yet

koori zokusei danshi to cool na douryou joshi was some mild cute fun but the pacing felt really wonky at times, and it was swiftly outclassed by watakon later in the year

tomo-chan wa onnanoko! was not terribly memorable, but i did appreciate that it was a full/complete adaptation

shuumatsu no vlkyrie ii also originally released this season, but i didn't binge the whole thing until later this year. it's a banger they got gyaru buddha here what more can i say

the idol series of the season, technoroid and uniteup, were both fine. fun! but besides like one anela song neither series had me looping any music

speaking of music

op of the season goes to tristamp and ed of the season goes to nier, absolutely no contest (which is very refreshing because it's usually so difficult for me to pick lol)

uhh... what else would be good to include... otp of the season? might not always have one but raizou &/ usui (revenger) briefly had me by the balls for sure lmao

#crab watches #various things #winter 2023 #i should have some sort of tag for these posts... let's just keep it simple: #brother crab's year in review #tl;dr benriya saitou-san and revenger tied for anime of the season #tsurune s2 best sequel #tristamp op of the season #nier ed of the season #anyway i will probably do one season a week throughout december unless i forget (and i am very forgetful lol) #but i am so serious about the excellent dog ate penis arc in saitou-san btw like i am not remotely joking about this can anyone hear me

[go-go-devil]

WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!?!?!?!

#nope film #review bombing #that's the only logical explanation here #I don't use online statistics to determine if I should watch a film or not #but still it's really jarring and sad to see such a excellent film have these needlessly low ratings :(

[roseband]

a short list of how the rose are trying to nuke their idol image from orbit:

banana boys

the tour bus question (2 beds, 4 grown ass men)

smoking (sammy)

vaping and talking about wanting unlimited vape fluid (hajoon)

living off of sour candies (looking at you sammy =_=)

one of them wearing a fucking ring on his ring finger during backstage meet and greets (seen by 3 fans now, will not mention which member)

uploading a vid of dojoon yelling at a roadie (but like... guys sound has to work)

every single time ws flips everyone off

#im currently giffing the two banana boy incidents lol #personal #(i said i'd take a week break from giffing but nahhhhh even though my brain is literally melted rn lmao) #i still have to write for work tho ;_; (both the...'yes i do agree with the raise discussed in review' and the documentation #of my excel function sheet and the associated adobe automation process that goes with) #but my art vp and brand manager both praised me on my presentation (GOD i hope the raise my boss put me in for gets fully approved #(cause i got praised by ppl like.... 2-3 positions above him today lol) #it would literally mean over 3 years i'd have doubled my income LOL.... i got hired as an artist #but somehow (being insane) got pushed into this sorta hybrid role where i talk to factories a bunch #and go on the factory tours (while looking like...12 which i hate) and have to do the sales art presentations #and do automation of some of the art workload... but i am getting MONEY out of it lol.... gotta push for that lean-fi;re)

[seagullcharmer]

i bought the daylight amulet..........

#libra.txt #it will be here next month....... yippee...!!!! #mayhaps i should stop spending money. #but the reviews say the hands actually move!!!! :3c #it will be an excellent fidget toy. and also make me really happy i expect #the right size and shape..... accurate details........ it lights up....... i am a-okay with this. hope it arrives safely #unrelated but i bought smth else several weeks ago and usps has given up on giving me a delivery date. they kept pushing it back and back #and now they're like 'we PROMISE you'll get it. we have no idea when. but we prommy it's made it thru customs and you'll get it eventually' #give me the sweatshirt boy.

[fox-mulder-gets-pegged]

For reference this is the winter coat I own and would thus be wearing these with for the most part:

#i find myself at a crossroads #these are for winter btw (don't worry first off multiple reviews rated them winter ready) #(and second i have actual proper snowboots for blizzards) #(they just don't fit my Usual Outfit Look and thus i want something for cold but not knee deep snow weather) #also sorry the jacket photos don't show the whole coat very well #i just pulled the first two photos i saw from the site i bought it off #which side note that jacket is excellent™ #knee length and the fur is so soft and i love the removable caplet part #it was expensive and i had to save up for it but it was absolutely worth it #i live in Canada and it gets pretty damn cold and this jacket has never let me down #anyways im leaning towards the black shoes #but i do like the brown