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kat_lair***
Finishing things has not been a strong suite over the last two months. I have two more books midway through and one film that I started and haven't finished yet. But anyway, here we are:
Books:
White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson - Marigold is moving to a new house in a new town with her mum, kid brother, her mum's new husband and his daughter. Sounds like a lot even before you add anxiety, bedbug phobia, and a complicated relationship with some mind-altering substances into the mix. Oh and possibly ghosts. Okay, look, I really liked 95% of this book. The characters were all real, the haunted house trope was well written and then got twisted into something worse/better that provided that kind of social commentary about class and race that wasn't like, subtle, but was True, and then... It ended. Before anything really got properly revealed or resolved beyond the surface mystery, not even the family relationships and I am Big Mad about it. Like yeah, none of that shit gets resolved quickly in real life, I fucking get it, but c'mon! This was the epitome of the 'ambiguous/open ending' tag, don't read if you're not prepared to deal with that.
Black Wings Beating by Alex London (Book 1 of 3 I assume) - In a civilisation built around birds (using them, worshipping them, hating them) twins Kylee and Brysen set out to capture the near legendary ghost eagle for reasons that start personal but end up having much broader consequences to the destiny of nations. There were a lot of things in this book I liked: really interesting world-building, no one was perfect, queer and POC representation, plot that means I will definitely want to read the follow-ups. There were also some things in this book I didn't like, not because they were bad writing or bad story choices but more like they were challenging/difficult to read but actually important for the plot and characters. Namely: child abuse, animal abuse, and some pretty graphic violence overall. Also, the flipside of making your characters realistically imperfect is that I spent most of the book wanting to shake some sense into one of the twins because omfg... but yeah, he's gonna grow some sense himself I think as the story progresses. Yes, would recommend, but 'mind the tags'.
Media
The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt - I finished all 5 series of this on Netflix over the last couple of months and on the whole I enjoyed it a lot. It was the perfect 'I need something funny but no thinking required and queer friendly to watch to distract me from grief and general stress' choice. The ending was a bit, idk, bland. And in my heart, I still love the potential of Kimmy/Jacqueline even though I knew that was never going to be a serious possibility.
Hannah Gadsby's Gender Agenda - I love Hannah Gadsby, I really do, and she was still hands down the funniest (unsurprisingly, given the level of experience) comedians in this showcase. As always with something that includes short sets from about six different and diverse performers, I didn't gel with everyone's style, but I definitely laughed a lot during the hour and something. Would recommend, if you want to like reaffirm your faith in humanity a bit and need a break from some of the transphobic rhetoric of mainstream media.
The Extraordinary Attorney Woo - I enjoyed this a whole lot despite some scenes and plot points being a bit hard on my public humiliation squick. I was pleasantly surprised that the love triangle wasn't actually dragged on and the 'other woman' was not made a villain in any way. All the characters were interesting and not just straightforwardly great or awful. In case you're wondering, Jung Myeong-seok is my fave (he is Trying, in a way that is long-suffering but ultimately kind, and also he is cute af, cannot believe what they put that man through during the last few eps too!). The main romance was sweet but without shying away from the challenges. I was impressed with the breadth of social issues and representation included, as well as the variety of relationships beyond romantic that were portrayed.
Agust D Tour 'D-DAY' the Movie - Absolutely worth the price to watch this at the theatre. I was pleasantly surprised to find almost twenty local army at the theatre with me, many of whom were cheering and clapping as if it was a live concert, which was adorable. Okay, the show itself. I had. Many Emotions. Look, firstly, Yoongi is absolutely one of my two main BTS biases, no question. Secondly, have you met my competency kink? Thirdly... It was somehow... softer, than I was expecting. Which isn't to say Yoongi wasn't spitting fire and dominating the stage, because he absolutely was. The first three songs were a repeated slap to the face, kicking of with Haegum, followed immediately by Deachwita and Agust-D without a pause. There was also an absolutely relentless back-to-back medley of his parts of the Cypher 3, Cypher 4, Ddaeng and Ugh. But even through all of the more upbeat/aggressive songs, Yoongi stayed open and present, there was a palpable feeling of connection with the audience and several points he was singing/rapping with the audience rather than at them. This was even more pronounced during the slower song like Seesaw (ugh, my heart, this is one of my favourites) or The Last. We got guest appearences from Jungkook (Burn It, again one of my favourites), Jimin (Tony Montana, lolll) and Namjoon (Strange, the set up for this and the song gives me feelings, as did the contrast of Namjoon with his military buzzcut and more controlled presence in comparison to Yoongi's looser, more flowing presence. and hair, lol). I also enjoyed the choice of Yoongi being carried onto the stage at the start of the show and off it at the end of Amygdala. And by 'enjoyed' I obviously mean 'felt pain in my heart in all the good ways'.
***
Finishing things has not been a strong suite over the last two months. I have two more books midway through and one film that I started and haven't finished yet. But anyway, here we are:
Books:
White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson - Marigold is moving to a new house in a new town with her mum, kid brother, her mum's new husband and his daughter. Sounds like a lot even before you add anxiety, bedbug phobia, and a complicated relationship with some mind-altering substances into the mix. Oh and possibly ghosts. Okay, look, I really liked 95% of this book. The characters were all real, the haunted house trope was well written and then got twisted into something worse/better that provided that kind of social commentary about class and race that wasn't like, subtle, but was True, and then... It ended. Before anything really got properly revealed or resolved beyond the surface mystery, not even the family relationships and I am Big Mad about it. Like yeah, none of that shit gets resolved quickly in real life, I fucking get it, but c'mon! This was the epitome of the 'ambiguous/open ending' tag, don't read if you're not prepared to deal with that.
Black Wings Beating by Alex London (Book 1 of 3 I assume) - In a civilisation built around birds (using them, worshipping them, hating them) twins Kylee and Brysen set out to capture the near legendary ghost eagle for reasons that start personal but end up having much broader consequences to the destiny of nations. There were a lot of things in this book I liked: really interesting world-building, no one was perfect, queer and POC representation, plot that means I will definitely want to read the follow-ups. There were also some things in this book I didn't like, not because they were bad writing or bad story choices but more like they were challenging/difficult to read but actually important for the plot and characters. Namely: child abuse, animal abuse, and some pretty graphic violence overall. Also, the flipside of making your characters realistically imperfect is that I spent most of the book wanting to shake some sense into one of the twins because omfg... but yeah, he's gonna grow some sense himself I think as the story progresses. Yes, would recommend, but 'mind the tags'.
Media
The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt - I finished all 5 series of this on Netflix over the last couple of months and on the whole I enjoyed it a lot. It was the perfect 'I need something funny but no thinking required and queer friendly to watch to distract me from grief and general stress' choice. The ending was a bit, idk, bland. And in my heart, I still love the potential of Kimmy/Jacqueline even though I knew that was never going to be a serious possibility.
Hannah Gadsby's Gender Agenda - I love Hannah Gadsby, I really do, and she was still hands down the funniest (unsurprisingly, given the level of experience) comedians in this showcase. As always with something that includes short sets from about six different and diverse performers, I didn't gel with everyone's style, but I definitely laughed a lot during the hour and something. Would recommend, if you want to like reaffirm your faith in humanity a bit and need a break from some of the transphobic rhetoric of mainstream media.
The Extraordinary Attorney Woo - I enjoyed this a whole lot despite some scenes and plot points being a bit hard on my public humiliation squick. I was pleasantly surprised that the love triangle wasn't actually dragged on and the 'other woman' was not made a villain in any way. All the characters were interesting and not just straightforwardly great or awful. In case you're wondering, Jung Myeong-seok is my fave (he is Trying, in a way that is long-suffering but ultimately kind, and also he is cute af, cannot believe what they put that man through during the last few eps too!). The main romance was sweet but without shying away from the challenges. I was impressed with the breadth of social issues and representation included, as well as the variety of relationships beyond romantic that were portrayed.
Agust D Tour 'D-DAY' the Movie - Absolutely worth the price to watch this at the theatre. I was pleasantly surprised to find almost twenty local army at the theatre with me, many of whom were cheering and clapping as if it was a live concert, which was adorable. Okay, the show itself. I had. Many Emotions. Look, firstly, Yoongi is absolutely one of my two main BTS biases, no question. Secondly, have you met my competency kink? Thirdly... It was somehow... softer, than I was expecting. Which isn't to say Yoongi wasn't spitting fire and dominating the stage, because he absolutely was. The first three songs were a repeated slap to the face, kicking of with Haegum, followed immediately by Deachwita and Agust-D without a pause. There was also an absolutely relentless back-to-back medley of his parts of the Cypher 3, Cypher 4, Ddaeng and Ugh. But even through all of the more upbeat/aggressive songs, Yoongi stayed open and present, there was a palpable feeling of connection with the audience and several points he was singing/rapping with the audience rather than at them. This was even more pronounced during the slower song like Seesaw (ugh, my heart, this is one of my favourites) or The Last. We got guest appearences from Jungkook (Burn It, again one of my favourites), Jimin (Tony Montana, lolll) and Namjoon (Strange, the set up for this and the song gives me feelings, as did the contrast of Namjoon with his military buzzcut and more controlled presence in comparison to Yoongi's looser, more flowing presence. and hair, lol). I also enjoyed the choice of Yoongi being carried onto the stage at the start of the show and off it at the end of Amygdala. And by 'enjoyed' I obviously mean 'felt pain in my heart in all the good ways'.
***