#i bought 2 ghibli books

[a-hobit]

Just fyi to anyone art books for movies on Amazon are fucking cheap as hell right now. Idk if it’s just for prime members but if you’re in the US they’re around 20-45% percent off your favorites! I have been waiting for this day and have been emptying my bank account all week people they’re like 20 dollars brand new per book before shipping???!?

Literally this is your sign to look up your faves in the wish list.

Not sponsored I hate Jeff but for broke bitches this is your call.

#art books #art of movies #ghibli movie #i bought 2 ghibli books #Michells vs the machines #wolf walkers #spiderman into the spiderverse #literally all disney movies #buying more as we speak #capitalism really popped off today!

[m3zzamorphic]

Top 3 Studio Ghibi movies?

Just cause it is fun to randomly interact : )

A good one! But also a loaded one cause I got FEELINGS about a particular one.

1.) Whisper of the Heart. There’s the main popular ones of course but this is underrated I feel. It’s unique in that it actually has a love story that is intended in it for an early Ghibli production, but it still keeps the same familiar vibe that they are known for for a slice of life piece.

2.) Howl’s Moving Castle. Something not really known for some is this is based off of a book by Diana Wynn Jones, which is one of my favorites. It’s not completely firm to the source material but seeing a film adaptation of a book I love makes me a little closer to this one in particular than others.

3.) Lastly this one is loaded with nostalgia for me as it was a cassette tape I used to carry around in the early 90’s I loved it so much: Totoro. HOWEVER. I get heated about this because the version I grew up on is not the one everyone knows. At some point Disney bought the english rights to Ghibli so all of dubs that are popular were done by them, including Totoro. What is not known however is that Totoro already had one. From the EIGHTIES. Back then there was a version that had been dubbed for flights to Japan for visiting foreigners to watch, and is known as the Fox dub. I grew up with this version so everything from the songs to even the sound of the catbus is COMPLETELY different and completely wrong in the updated version if you compare them ( you can look it up on youtube). It upsets me because the Disney dub is the only one people know due to copyright (they HAD to redub it in the change over) and I’ll forever bitch about it lol. I finally found a DVD version of mine and it was very very expensive, but it’s one of my most cherished things I own now.

#personal #mutuals #asks #studio ghibli #I love them all obviously lol #I have 3 Ghibli tattoos too

[roseofblogging]

Rose's Media of 2023 Round-up

Well, now this is truly going to be a Rose Rambles post

I am truly awful about remembering what I watched/read. Maybe I'll be better about that in 2024. Maybe not!

Noting that these are not necessarily all things that released in 2023 (but many are); they're just what I discovered at the time.

Favorite book: The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa I bought this book in May 2022 from the Powell's bookstore in Portland while I was there on vacation. I'm very slow getting around to books due to my TBR being so long (and I go through it slowly because my day job is book editing). I was motivated to read it when some Splatoon friends started a Discord book club, and this was our first pick. It's dreamlike and strange. Some might find the vagueness on the rules of what's going on unsatisfying, but I didn't go into the book trying to figure out exactly how their world worked. It's much more about the experience and quiet horror of forgetting things and people. I had just gotten a diagnosis for ADHD shortly before starting this novel and was already in a headspace of reconciling just how poor my memory can be (slightly different, as ADHD most impacts working memory, but still). Definitely recommended, but go in knowing that it's slow and thoughtful rather than heavily plotted. Runner-up: Lore Olympus

Favorite live-action movie: Tár This is a tough one. I really, really enjoyed both Barbie and Oppenheimer, but I have critiques of both. However, Tár (which came out in 2022) just really floored me with how intense it was and how anxious it made me (in a good way!). Runner-up: Talk to Me

Favorite live-action show: The Fall of the House of Usher Not one of Mike Flanagan's best, but still very good! I don't think I can say anything about it that others haven't said already, but it's beautiful, haunting, tragic, and very well-acted. Runner-up: Andor season 1

Favorite TV anime: Gundam: The Witch from Mercury Suletta Sundays were THE BEST! I really wish this had some tweaks, maybe a part 2 fleshing out some other things (as a lot of worldbuilding started to feel rushed), but I was a big fan of all the references to Shakespeare's The Tempest and Revolutionary Girl Utena, and even sooome similarities to Evangelion (some, not many). Guel became my favorite character for much of the show, but I also love Suletta not only for being our first female Gundam protagonist, not only for being our first queer woman of color Gundam protagonist, but because I really enjoy stories about replicas/clones of redheaded characters. (This is funny because I'm replaying Tales of the Abyss right now.) 2023 wasn't one of the strongest years for anime, though. As much as I loved Witch from Mercury, it's got some weak points. Nothing really hit the same high point of the end of the first part. Runner-up: PLUTO

Favorite animated movie: The Boy and the Heron This is not my favorite Miyazaki movie by far, but it is one of the ones to feel like a very targeted attack on my post-college life! It's weird, the pacing is a little wonky, but I love its ideas and themes so, so much. I still need to see this in the English dub (I've heard wonderful things), but the original Japanese cast is fantastic. This is a very sad movie that does not seek to manipulate a viewer's heart. You know how a lot of movies know how to cue tears with swells of music? I'm not even knocking that for being manipulative--I like it! But I was so impressed with how deeply The Boy and the Heron (aka "How Do You Live?" as the English translation of the Japanese title goes) affected me without any tricks--just heartfelt moments that might have meant nothing to others. (The bread scene made me choke back tears in the theater.) This movie is about grief, but it's also about creative legacies. It's hard to watch this and not think about how there's really no one to follow in Hayao Miyazaki's footsteps at Studio Ghibli. His potential predecessors have either died or seemed uninterested (in the case of his son, who seems content not to pick up the mantle). Runner-up: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (reeeeally only because of its cliffhanger ending... It doesn't feel like a finished story.) Honorable mention: Suzume (I gotta at least mention it, because it's my favorite piece of media about dead places).

Favorite video game that is NOT SPLATOON: Tears of the Kingdom I actually had a very fun time piecing together story beats and exploring, but I still stand by it not being one of the stronger Zelda games imo. I know some people still have not played, so I'm being vague on purpose, but I actually greatly enjoyed Zelda's presence in this game compared to Breath of the Wild.

#rose rambles #rose reviews #the boy and the heron #witch from mercury #mike flanagan #the memory police #tar #tears of the kingdom

[smalltownfae]

2, 9 and 18 for the end of year book game?

2. Did any book inspire you to seek out further media, such as the movie/show/fanfiction? How did you feel about that take?

Reading the Odyssey made me get even more into Epic the musical and watching the Scott Pilgrim show made me attempt the comics again. I love Epic the musical even if it changes parts of the story. Unfortunately, I still don't care for the Scott Pilgrim comics after 3 volumes, but I also didn't care for the show until the last few episodes so I am still hoping it will eventually end up okay. The Nightrunner series made me look up fanfiction, something that I have only done for Realm of the Elderlings and The Pet Shop of Horrors before.

Continuing my read of the Earthsea Cycle is making me want to check the studio ghibli adaptation even though everyone says it's bad. I still need to read Tehanu because apparently they adapted the 4 books into one movie (?), which is an odd choice.

Here is one of the songs from the musical:

9. What book(s) had the biggest influence over your life this year?

As mentioned before, The Odyssey by Homer and I am planning to read the Iliad next year (I already read the first book, but I will start again). The Nightrunner series by Lynn Flewelling had me by the throat until the author decided to kind of do a reset and ignore my favourite plot line while messing up one of my favourite characters.

18. Some books you bought this year

I am so ashamed of how many books I bought (and haven't read yet). Here's a few:

I did read The Odyssey and I also read years ago Anne of the Green Gables, which I finally bought. I read Devotions by Mary Oliver and I bought it this year too. I also bought the Complete works of William Shakespeare and I read some of the plays in past years. I bought the Count of Monte Cristo in english because overall it was better than my translation in portuguese. There's more books I bought, but that's what I remember now.

Thank you for the ask :)

#andy answers #book asks

[wytchcore]

8/5 my roommate (@trans-peridot) and i reorganized our bookshelves! we used to have one collections shelf that was our respective collections combined but then i impulse bought all 6 volumes of usotsuki and had to reconfigure. the top two shelves are all my stuff! my clown collection, the kyoshi books, the various zines and comics ive collected, two completely random yaoi*, usotsuki, gangsta (still missing volumes 5 and 7), dunmeshi (volumes 1 and 2 on loan to my friend), signed copy of the graveyard book, and my ghibli things! plus my miwa plushie and a baby doll head i modded. (*the owner of our local comic shop was just like. given a box of random out of print yaoi, so they've been having a 2-for-1 sale. we grabbed two at complete random.) i maybe have too much stuff... but the blue bookshelf! up until now it just had my art stuff (bottom) and my dice stuff and we kept our board games in the entertainment center. but since we needed to move some of the stuff from the wooden bookshelf, we decided to display our board games! the weird brown thing is my dice bag (its a cave)

my full dice collection! the metal dice are my most recent addition and finally brought me to 20 sets. the two d6s were a gift, and then i have an additional d20, a spindown, and a glow in the dark d14! the purple set with the blue inking and the blue set with the white inking also glow in the dark :3

also gotten at our local comic shop: a cyoa called anal wizards. its a wild ride. the dragon is supposed to be guarding the dice cave on the shelf below but i guess the drawing figure seduced her...

(IDs in alt)

#e. dicit #okay lets try this again #idk why it fucked up the last time

[sarilolla]

Okay hear me out- Tiny puppets

Just teeny tiny Handeemen + Scout

I have some concepts/ideas so far:

1. In the style of the Showdown Bandit marionettes. This works as they are still puppets, and is also pretty funny in my opinion cuz then we have tiny evil puppets. Just imagine puppets the size of (or smaller) a normal human hand, trying to take over the world-

2. Borrowers from Arrietty (studio ghibli). The puppets are the borrowers, obviously, and then the “main” humans show up throughout. It starts with Owen living in the house and they have a decent relationship with him. Then he passes away or moves, and the house goes vacant for a while, until Anthony Pierson and Vox Veritas show up believing the house to be haunted. They get scared off by the puppet-borrowers who wanna be left alone, and then at last the house is bought by the “host”. Host is probably just a college student who is happy to find a house for cheap and doesn’t believe in ghosts, and Scout, being the youngest and most interested in the human world, befriends them. This is probably the happiest of my ideas so far, as this could end really well.

3. Going even smaller, we have them in the style of the Minimoys from Arthur and the Minimoys/Arthur and the Invisibles. They are definitely the smallest ones, and the bug/underground/fantasy aesthetic in the movies/books is honestly so cool, and I would love to see the puppets in that style. This one can get pretty dark tho, but I still think they’re neat-

Here’s a helpful demonstration of how this will work: /hj

Thanks for coming to my “the puppets should be tiny” talk

#hello puppets #tiny puppets #making the puppets tiny is seriously been stuck on my brain for a while now- #I love tiny things :)

[c-rowlesdraws]

tag game ✧٩(•́⌄•́๑)و ✧

thank you @hawkepockets for tagging me!!

1) three ships

the niña, the pinta, and the santa maria! (fuck christopher columbus)

just kidding-- I’ve been very into the idea of Harrow/Ianthe and Gideon/Ianthe (The Locked Tomb) lately. Third ship is my Mass Effect rarepair OTP, volus ambassador Din Korlack and elcor ambassador Calyn. You talk to them together once in a single room in Mass Effect 1 but I think they have a fun dynamic going on and could have a deep and compelling workplace romance.

2) last song

KARA - “Magic (Instrumental)” - I love instrumental versions of K-Pop songs especially because they sound like cheerful RPG walkaround music. Perfect for drawing to, or daydreaming a Scenario about a character, or both! (I’ve been doing both)

3) last movie

Spirited Away (Studio Ghibli, 2021)! I bought the Japanese language version on YouTube so that it can be a matching set with my English language version, so of course that meant I had to watch the movie in Japanese immediately after purchase, even though I just watched it in English like a week ago.

4) currently reading

Bookswise, I’m about to start “My Heart Is A Chainsaw” by Stephen Graham Jones, because there’s hype building about the sequel and also I read another book by him a month ago that I still haven’t stopped thinking about (”The Only Good Indians”). I really love the way he paces a story and how he writes characters in a way that immerses you in their worldview and emotions. He’s also a member of the Blackfeet tribe, and “The Only Good Indians”, with its virtually all-indigenous cast and themes of Blackfeet history, culture, and spirituality, was a really deep and unique horror-genre story.

5) currently watching

GDQ 2022 Live! They are doing those games SO quick!

6) currently consuming.

breakfast sandwich (ingredience: sausage my friends from my old job made, because I visited the store last week and bought some; avocado, fried egg, cheese, chili crisp) and coffee! The sandwich has gone cold as I’ve filled out this meme. Oh dear.

7) currently craving

a hot version of this breakfast sandwich :\

tag 9 people: OH UM hmmmmmm I won’t tag 9 because that’s too much thought and I want to eat my sandwich but I’ll tag @acavatica​ @menderash​ and @lilacsolanum​ hey guys do this meme

#memes #catie talks

[jianqzai]

Favorite comfort things!

Thank you for the tag @phoenixrisesoncemore 🖤

Comfort Food: grilled cheese sandwich, breakfast, pollo en mole, sesame chicken, croissants, mille-feuille cake, chocolate milk, matcha latte

Comfort Clothes: sundresses, big dress shirts and big sweaters

Comfort Item: My earphones, I need to be listening to music constantly

Comfort Character: As of now, Lan Wangji. I think of him and my brain produces happy chemicals

Comfort Song: Carnival of the Animals - The Swan (only the Yo-Yo Ma version) | Nocturne Op.9 No.2 | Dawn (from Pride & Prejudice) | Amore mio aiutami (main theme) | Song on the Beach - Arcade Fire | La Berceuse - Benjamin Godard | 無忘 (Wú Wàng) - 張靚穎 (Jane Zhang) | Almost all of Hozier’s songs | A couple of ABBA songs

Comfort Youtuber: I don’t use Youtube much, but I will say Yoga with Adriene because she has easy and fast yoga tutorials 

Comfort Video Game: I haven’t play video games in so long, but when I used to do it, it was Smash Bros. and any Legend of Zelda game

Comfort Film: Studio Ghibli movies, Anna Karenina (2012), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Shrek 3, The Princess Diary 2, Tangled, Road to El Dorado, The perks of being a wallflower

Comfort Show: GBBO, The Mandalorian, ATLA, The Untamed, MDZS Donghua (both the normal one and Q) I don’t watch much tv tbh

Comfort Stim: Biting stuff, I recently bought chew toys specially designed for nd kids to keep it at bay. Wiggling my feet, rubbing soft or textured stuff between my fingers, idk if this counts but talking to myself out loud, it soothes me

Comfort Activity: traveling, writing, listening to music, rocking in my hammock during warm summer afternoons, swimming, petting cats, cuddle with my mom, making flower bouquets, eating

Comfort Book:  Carry On - Rainbow Rowell | The extra short stories of Captive Prince - CS Pacat | The Man who counted - Júlio César de Mello e Souza | Sherlock Holmes books - Arthur Conan Doyle | A stranger came ashore - Mollie Hunter

Tagging: @as-rare-as-trees, @lychee-mdzs (only if you feel like it, of course)

#This one really made me think it was so much fun thank you phoenix <3 #tag games

[anthonyzoxide]

Hey, Tumblr! I'll need evidence that I 1) read & 2) go outside somewhere on this blog, so here's some books that I bought at my local bookstore day! Energy I tried to channel is '20-something woman that would absolutely eat up Ghibli films but avoids them because she thinks they're too mainstream'. Haven't read any of these before, so no spoilers :> (Not that I'm sure any of these are plot heavy. Especially not the art book for the movie I've already seen. And can biographies be 'spoiled'? Alas... You know what I mean.)

#I don't see a reason to tag the respective series here #But I will if I post about the books later (For tag sorting purposes) #'Why is this all anime/manga-adjacent stuff Anthony?' Well. Quite frankly. #I only how know to (other than game emulators) pirate anime & manga because of a friend that told me how when I was like 11 #And I'm too probably dyslexic to buy physical copies of novels LOL

[seitaikei]

January 10, 2024:

Did some work then went shopping in Shimokitazawa. Definitely an interesting place!

January 11, 2014:

Checked out the Human Made store along with some thrifts in the Harajuku area.

January 12, 2024:

Did some work and then showed my boss around Shibuya. Hit the club and got stuck because the trains don’t run after a certain hour. Absolute nightmare getting home.

January 13, 2024: Went to Tokyo Big Sight to check out a shop fair. Bought some very cool prints. It decided to snow today for a very short period. Went back to Daiba then Hooters.

January 14, 2024: Checked out the Ameyoko Shopping District in Ueno then went to Ce La Vi in Shibuya.

January 15, 2024:

Tokyo Dome and Donki run.

January 16, 2024:

Work then shopped around Shibuya and Miyashita Park.

January 17, 2024:

Somehow ended up at Shimokitazawa again then went to Nakano Broadway and had a gigantic bowl of ramen at Kamukura.

January 18, 2024:

Did some work then wandered around and ended up at Daikanyama T Site which was super cool.

January 19, 2024:

Had some Italian food at the place near me.

January 20, 2024:

Went to Kawasaki. Shopped around there at the book off. Had whoopi goldburger in shibuya. Then went to this random punk bar.

January 21, 2024:

Went to the Mirage Bowl which is a football matchup between Japan and the Ivy League. Somehow Japan won 10-5. Then checked out the Olympic Park and Akihabara.

January 22, 2024:

Walked around Jimbocho and went to Yakiniku Ike which is a make your own meat spot

January 23, 2024:

Worked then went to Dover Street in Ginza then the Tokyo Dome

January 24, 2024:

Went to Saiyzeria then Donki along with Tokyo Dome. Then was able to check out the character street in Tokyo Station.

January 25

Worked then went to Curry Up. Kinji and a couple other stores were cool.

January 26

Want to go check out Crocodile and hit the Bruno Mars hello kitty pop up store. Also went to this weird comedy club.

January 27

Went to Ultraman Street in Setagaya which I would not recommend. Also went to Toho Studios. Ate at the Murakami Cafe in Nakamo Broadway and the Hooters in Ginza again.

January 28

Back to the Ueno market and watched my Ducks get smoked. Then went to Donki and would not recommend the soccer museum in Tokyo Dome City.

January 29

Worked

January 30

Worked and shopped

January 31

Checked out FTC and Komeda’s Coffee. Went to Worm which is crazy. Did a weird cooking class.

February 1

Went to Syabu yo

February 2

Went clubbing all night with some friends started at Voyagrr which is cool then Atom which sucks. Ended up at 33.

February 3

Shopped around Bape and the other Shibuya stores.

February 4

Walked around Shibuya and went to the Miyashita park Inter Miami pop up.

February 5

It snowed a lot. Went to the Snoopy restaurant then bowling. Then walked around Tokyo Dome.

February 6

Did some work went to Donki.

February 7

Walked around the Taylor Swift Concert. Then went to the Inter Miami Game saw Messi play.

February 8

My interview at the Inter Miami Game is released. Went to the Voyager Lounge again. Sprinted and made last train.

February 9

Voyager Lounge

February 10

Secured Ghibli tickets. Then went to Tokyo Dome. Saw a friend I’ve know forever. Went out to dinner with some pals in Shinjuku.

February 11

Went to Granberry Park. Nike store insane. Want to go to Peanuts Museum. Went to the movies. The 身代わり忠臣蔵 film is really cool.

February 12

Woke up early as hell went to HobGlobin for the Super Bowl. Insane atmosphere. Then went to the Shinjuku hat shop.

February 13

Kura revolving sushi and the Sensoji temple in Asakusa.

February 14

Volunteered at a school. The burger place in shibuya next to Jennifer 7 is so good. Checked out MeijuJingu shrine which is beautiful.

February 15

Worked

February 16

Worked

February 17

Ohi flea market which is mid then went to Betty Smith in Ebisu then met up with Sean Wotherspoon. Hit the first bape outlet mid. Then went to Bloody Angle then a pregame spot then experienced the craziest club scene at Womb. Ended up at 33.

February 18

Legit slept the entire day after clubbing but hit Donki.

-Seitaikei

生態系

[mothlegs]

i am tired and cozy and in a good mood so i will talk about how i got all my books :)

tired cozy also gives me a bit of bravery so i am hugging all my mutuals. especially two specific ones because i see you doing badly but i am too shy to approach you directly so i hope you see this and magically know i am giving you the most caring hugs and i hope things are better soon

anyways books:) or well bookcase, not all reading books. im looking from my bed so i cant see all of them But

Sketch Books x2 (+1 smol ver)

i dont know how i got thes3 actually. maybe from tiger? i miss when tiger was t. uh. how do you spell that. tier..? ti'er?? idunno. the old name. i think these are all filled up, i think i got the first one when i was 10 :]

ANATOMY

This is a book full of naked people that i guess i accidentally stole. oops. i borrowed it from a now ex family friend who is insanely good at art, when i was like 12 or 13, and then it ended up on my floor and i ended up telling people he was kinda Weird(bad) about me (regret! made everything bad despite being true) so now we dont talk to him anymore so he cant get the book back. bah

Uhh a connect the dots magazine(?) my grandma gave me. dunnno when. i dont think ive touched it since :( sad cause i love connecting dots

I Am Looking From My Bed So Can't See What These Are x2 + Some loose papers

Fancy journal/sketch book/idk my mom bought for me in the big city :)!!

Undertale art book <333

I got it as a very late christmas present when i was 11 or 12 years old as well as some other undertale stuff and i literally started crying

I think this ones a diary i never really used that my mom got me and my grandma years ago. oop

Dear Evan Hansen !!!

i love this book. it is better than the musical. i love miguel and they had a perfect opportunity to put him in the movie but they didnt so i hope the movie goes to the movie version of hell

i got it when i was 14 i think? the week before it came i was actively suicidal in a "i feel a burning need inside me that is screaming at me to die" and that book might just be the only reason i didnt attempt then

Salmon Coloured Book From Tiger. cant see anything else about it and i have no memory of it

Skammeren's Datter

i think my grandma found this being given away for free at the library? one of my favourite books as a child my mom used to read it to me before bed when i was 11:)

Fængslende Tanker

book about intrusive thoughts my mom borrowed me at some point within the last 2 or 3 years

Tidsfangen

also my moms it is fiction i remember nothing about it oop

The Song of Achilles

i saw it on tumblr and liked it so got it as a gift at some point. i dont remember when, i still havent read it :(

Books my grandma got from a library giving them away x6

i havent read any of these:( also dont remember when i got them

Skammeren's Datter 1-2 & 3-4

the full series im p sure!! wanna reread themm

MAUS

i got it for my last birthday!! i havent gotten very far in reading but it is very good and i am learning and developing curiousities

The Unofficial Ghibli Cookbook

also for my last birthday!! havent made anything from it yet but it is really cool and i am so excited to make food from my favourite movies:))

Fever Series x3 (+1 in my nightstand)

currently rereading these, i havent read the 4th book tho

i found the first book at the library when i was pretty small, definitely less than 10, but i was too scared to read it. i think i gave up on reading it like 3 times but i kept thinking about it and eventually i read it and fell in looove. i love these books so much:D they are about everyone in sweden dying of fever except some kids:)

The Witch Boy

i first saw this book in sweden when i was 13 years old. it was in the basement of a game store, which is also the only store i have bought my own dice from. it also had a life size alien from the movies

i dont remember when i got the book myself though :( ive read some of it some years ago but dont think i finished it

More books my grandma got for free from the library x6

Wreck This Journal

my mom gave it to me when i was like 11 but i never really got to wrecking it u.u

Dreadnought

IT IS ABOUT A TRANS SUPERHERO :D her name is danny and i read some of it a summer in a tiny bedhouse (1 room building with 2 beds and nothing else. didnt even have a real door!!) at my aunties summerhouse (they are rich) i think i heard of it on tumblr. i love this book a lot but i havent finished it u.u

Extra Room No Books

d&d stuffs, some small toys and plushies, uuuh i see a small cardboard box but i dont remember whats inside:)

Shelf Below My Fancy Clothes

BNHA 1-17 i think?? also some Vigilantes, Black Butler 1+2, Bungou Stray Dogs 1, iii think thats it? i cant see it from here so idk

all of these were gifts from my grandma :)

"Nightstand" (chair thing i use as a nightstand)

First fever book

Killing Stalking 1+2 (bought at a comic store myself!! i was literally jumping around the store i was so excited to be there there was so much cool manga and there was stuff by neil gaiman!!! this is where bsd and the cookbook are from too)

The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy (given to me by a mutual actually :3 but like. mmmany years ago and i still havent read it >_o im sowey but i appreciate it a lot and i treasure it forever)

#mothicaws #mothyposting

[jazzyslibrary]

witch hat atelier #2

date started: 21/02/2023 | date started: 22/01/2023

once again, the art absolutely blew me away! like the illustrations remind me of the ink illustrations in children’s novels with the shading done with ink. it obviously has style influence from manga and western comics, but i wonder if kamome shirahama also is trying to evoke a feeling of nostalgia for old ink illustrations in books like “the worst witch”? i would be surprised if it wasn’t her intention, given the setting and story of the book. it definitely, so far at least, doesn’t lean into any anime tropes at all. the characters feel more western, like the characters you expect in this setting.

i love it! that’s not to say i don’t like characters that are written to fit into a more manga/anime type story. but everything about this feels so different from most manga. the art style, characters, story.

i was thinking about how this could possibly be adapted into an anime. i seriously don’t think it could be done by the average anime studio. i would be keen to see it done. but i would only really trust studio ghibli to do it. or it would be cool to see studio ponoc do it. maybe stories about witches could be their “thing”. although i’m not sure what the difference between producing an animated movie vs show is. but i don’t think the digital look of most japanese animation studios would suit this. studio ghibli apparently works digitally, but i think they still have a great look to it, because their colour palettes still look traditional. the think that looks the most digital is the super thin lines, and the shiny hair and eyes. it’s a bit too smooth looking i think and just isn’t to my taste.

i was totally thrown off at the end, with coco being arrested for using forbidden magic. i am actually looking forward to the next volume! actually today, i bought volume 6 and 7 at dymocks! so i have 5 volumes to read in my collection.

#my reading journal #author: kamome shirahama #series: witch hat atelier #genre: fiction #genre: graphic novel #genre: fantasy #year read: 2023

[theninjasanctuary]

Field notes from the trip, as written on the return flight:

A night at 4-star Citadines aparthotel at Les Halles cost very nearly the same as the one in cheapo Adagio Access near Bastille. The apartment at Citadines was easily twice as big, bigger than most Airbnbs I’ve rented, and well equipped (bath – a smallish one, but still; a balcony overlooking Fontaine des Innocents + another window with a view of the roofs of the Forum, dishwasher, kettle, toaster, microwave/grill and induction stovetop, would have been easy to cook full meals there), and if I had the budget for it/got someone else to pay for it, I’d stay there again. That being said, the floor was deathly cold; getting the shivers just thinking about it. And it didn’t have a dining table as such, but a generous desk and another fold-out chair in the hallway wardrobe (one of the two). No washer, but I’m thinking they probably have an in-house laundrette? The big room was a bit too dark at night, just wall sconces and a small table lamp on the desk, definitely not ideal for reading an actual book in bed. The bathroom vanity looked cheap to begin with and pretty tired, too, not luxurious.

The other 2 hotels were fine too, the room in Adagio Access had had a kitchen upgrade; the B&B Hotel thing had a tiny room, sparsely, if not stingily equipped (no soap by the sink; just a wall-mounted shower gel in the shower? No hand towels, just a bath towel per person?), but it was fresh-looking, clean and functional, and I slept like a log.

I had some terrible food (starving late one night and out of options, we ate at a Buffalo Grill, even the fries were bad) and some good too; found a restaurant called Le Lieu Dit that I would be happy to visit again. Ate on the go a lot, and I’m fed up with sandwichs and pastries for a while, I think. Mostly, I’m glad that my knees held up, and I didn’t get a cold. Can’t say the same for the boyf, and I might yet get what he’s got, but oh well.

Travelling part was uneventful, managed to not get caught up in strikes and thanks to the hotel staff, got a taxi to the train station during a high-demand morning station rush on Sunday. However, Google Maps is not great for directions in Paris. It routinely underestimated travel times, suggested getting off the bus in the wrong place, and we would have missed our TGV if it wasn’t for helpful bystanders.

Visited the Paris embassy on business (have been to London, Berlin, Brussels and Paris now, and also have had dinner in a New York sushi restaurant with the consul stationed there; this was never a goal in itself, it has just happened).

Didn’t shop much, a bit of skincare repurchases (Furterer shampoo, Biotherm SOS spray, Cattier hand cream, etc.), and a Uniqlo ULD collarless jacket, because it looked right on my most basic of asses. Ofc it is soft pink, too, because that too tends to look right on me. The plan is to wear it to the office under looser and thinner wool coats, and it’ll help putting up with the office temperature that’s been lowered as a cost-saving measure. Got an impressive amount of tea, too, Chinese and Taiwanese imports from Tang Frères and Twinings teabags in varieties probably intended for the French market, as I haven’t seen them anywhere else. Tuiles d’amandes seem to be having a moment, stocked up on those and some Bonne Maman madeleines and whatnot too.

As for souvenirs, got some cute af Ghibli chopsticks. Haven’t bought sushi in a while for reasons of being broke though. Have to pay the bills and see where I’m at. Anyway, the plan for tomorrow is to stay at home, maybe a quick run for groceries, and pet the cat. He has coped ok without us, but appears to be waiting for someone (he’s very alert to door-opening sounds, but we share a hallway door with the neighbours, so there’s a lot of disappointment).

[mooberryink]

》𝔹𝕆𝔾𝕆 𝕓𝕠𝕠𝕜 𝕙𝕒𝕦𝕝 QOTD 》What books have you bought recently? Another book haul? Yep lol. I did like four of them in the span of three weeks because that’s the kind of chaotic reader I am: reading slump for 1–2 months, then binge-read five books in a week. 🤷‍♀️ (Meh, what else is a Barnes & Noble membership for?) At least this one came with a free tote. I've finished Wolf Children & it’s an emotional slice-of-life; serious Ghibli vibes, like Totoro meets Princess Mononoke in the same town where Ponyo lives. 🌻🌿 xo Noelani Barnes & Noble BOGO Hardcovers haul ft. books ▪︎The Lost Spells by Robert Macfarlane ▪︎Wolf Children: Ame & Yuki by Hosoda Mamoru ▪︎Fangirl, Vol. 2: The Manga by Rainbow Rowell, ill. Sam Maggs ▪︎Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan ▪︎The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System Vol. 2 by Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù ▪︎Heaven Official’s Blessing Vol. 3 by Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù ▪︎Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation Vol. 2 by Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù ▪︎The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh my hair spread over the floor, eyes on the ceiling: when’s the next book sale? #bookstagrammer #bookblogger #bogo #bookhaul #barnesandnoble #hardcovers #booksale #newbooks #bookstores #bookworm #booksbooksbooks #bookishflatlay #flatlaybooks #bookphotography #bookcovers #prettybooks #fangirl #mdzs #tgcf #svsss https://www.instagram.com/p/ChIT9QfP0CD/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#bookstagrammer #bookblogger #bogo #bookhaul #barnesandnoble #hardcovers #booksale #newbooks #bookstores #bookworm #booksbooksbooks #bookishflatlay #flatlaybooks #bookphotography #bookcovers #prettybooks #fangirl #mdzs #tgcf #svsss

[c1ittorus]

2, 18, 24, 38?

2. Do you like receiving flowers or do you prefer other kinds of presents?

Sadly I've never received flowers, but my favorites are carnations. I love being gifted plushies tho or anything that shows how much the person knows my interests like my best friend bought me a my neighbor totoro art book bc she knows how much I love ghibli films and the art that goes into animation.

18. Perfect date idea?

Oh probably something real lowkey, I don't like things that feel really pressured or time constricted so really just chilling at one of our houses, watching anime together or having a movie night. Maybe something cute like a picnic for something more planned out.

24. Biggest turn on?

Confidence!! I'm really shy and sometimes self-conscious so I love seeing people who are bold and confident in who they are when they walk in a room.

38. The hottest treat in your potential partner?

I'm not sure what this means??? So I'm just gonna say I want someone bigger than me, I'm not very small so I want someone who can pick me up and make me feel dainty or can hold me against the wall when they're hitting my shit. Oh and pretty eyes bc eye contact is >>>>>>>>>>

#lexi’s thots #secret admirer #ask game