#Girl Who Lived review

[fuckmeyer]

girl please, Charlie Swan is Team Werewolf and you know it

[noperopesaredope]

Just saw the new Mean Girls movie, and I don't care what the internet is probably gonna say about it because IT WAS GOOD!!!!

[dubraskaramos]

THE LITTLE GIRL WHO LIVES DOWN THE LANE 👱🏻‍♀️🔪👦🏻

Synopsis:

Rynn, a thirteen-year-old girl, lives alone with her father in a house at the end of a lane in rural Long Island. With her father absent most of the time, she has become an independent and feisty girl, making use of the great prodigious intelligence with which she was blessed.

However, a little girl being alone most of the time is the best way to attract deviant and foolish people...

Hi, and welcome to my first review. In this case, I will be talking about “The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane”—an unnecessarily long title, but enchanting enough—published in 1974 by the writer Laird Koenig. This book also has a film adaptation, but in this article, I will only discuss the book.

In this review, I will be looking at the most notable characters in the book. You can skip any of the characters I am going to talk about, but if you read them in order, it will be easier to connect the dots.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I do :)

I. The beginning (Chapters 1-6).

At the very beginning of the story, Rynn, our protagonist, is preparing to celebrate her 13th birthday. Despite getting to celebrate her birthday alone—since, apparently, her father is too busy to pay attention to her— she seems to be happy with the solitude that's around this special date: October 31st.

Her birthday ritual is interrupted when a man comes to the door, coming into the house without permission, when Rynn opens the door.

The story goes slowly. It takes time to develop itself through the pages, especially at the beginning. You get to know Rynn, her daily lifestyle, her environment, her desires, and the people that are around her. You don't know what's exactly wrong when you start reading and follow the story through the lines, but there's that peak of interest—even if the reading starts to get too slow for the sake of your concentration capacity—that keeps you going even when you want to stop just for a minute.

The first 5 chapters, I would say, go slowly without a hurry, and it's within those chapters where you start to get a little bit of consciousness and say, “There's something wrong with this little girl.”.

It's obvious that her father's nowhere to be seen. He's not inside the house, and Rynn doesn't want anyone to enter her solitude and peaceful life. She just wants to live her life alone in that comfortable house, take care of all the responsibilities that come with it, and stay like that without further interruptions.

The first time we see her interacting with someone else is, precisely, on her birthday, October 31st. A knock on the door resonates around the house, making her turn off the music and take a cigarette to fill the room with its smoke. She opens the door and sees him, a man standing right before her eyes: Frank Hallet.

There's something uncomfortable and weird about the fact that there's a man inside the house that's not her family or friend, an adult alone in the living room talking to a little girl with such “confidence.”. You feel like you're standing next to Rynn, wondering what to do and how to feel, where to run, and how to affront a situation in which you are so small and helpless.

We'll talk about this man later on because there's so much tea to spill about him.

He insisted several times on getting to meet her father, asking questions such as, “Where is your father?” and, “Why are you celebrating your birthday alone?”. She always replied the same thing, “My dad's a poet,” and, “I can't disturb him while he's working.”. During this first chapter, we get to know about her muse named “Gordon.”.

Although the situation remained calm—even if it was uncomfortably weird—things were going smoothly until the man decided it was a good idea to spank the girl, but not before making some rather weird comments. Rynn, furiously, turned around to face the man. He leaves the house without any regrets but rather laughs at the fury in the girl's eyes! Seeing the man walking down the lane, the girl closed the door and locked it.

And from this moment, we get to know Mrs. Hallet, Frank's mother, and Miglioriti, the fond policeman.

II. Miglioriti

Miglioriti is one of the first characters we meet in the book, if not one of the most charismatic and important. He's a grown-up policeman who shows up at her door right before chapter 6.

The purpose of introducing him right before the first plot twist is simple: you know there's someone who could find out what she's doing, and at the same time, it fills you with that uneasy feeling of expecting the worst-case scenario now that you know that the authority is rounding her house.

I'll be honest: I was hoping for him to get more protagonism in the plot of the book, but at the same time I think it was a genius idea to make him leave the town just in time. He's not just another selfish adult who doesn't care for Rynn; he is there for her and everything she needs him for, and he's the only adult who was able to go through that ice heart of hers. He won her heart and her trust even if she wasn't ever really honest with him at all.

Even if I think his character was able to be and do more, I think he's a neat character. Its purpose is clear; you know he's a threat, but you still can't help but feel comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time in his presence. He is charitable and kind to Rynn, providing her with intellectual, gentle, and, to a certain extent, brotherly company.

I wouldn't say that the relationship between Miglioriti and Rynn was paternal. I feel that if that had been the case, Miglioriti would have been more present in Rynn's life, and things might have even gone a lot more awry in the plot. Instead, Miglioriti appeared at the right moments, offering support and calm to Rynn, who was too smart for her own good and the good of others. He knew she was smart and clever, too clever, and he didn't look down on her like other adults did. They were on the same level without neglecting Rynn's childlike position.

Miglioriti's presence was a constant that I expected as the pages turned. I wanted him to appear, even though I knew that his presence would be anything but good for the plan that Rynn and Mario were trying to sustain.

By the time he confesses to Rynn that he's leaving town, I felt like my whole world was falling apart. Rynn would now be alone, and she coughed at not being able to confess the truth to Miglioriti because she simply couldn't. It wasn't a viable option to tell him all the things she'd done, nor was it an option to let him know that she'd dragged Mario into her crimes as well. She couldn't complain or refuse; she didn't have the power to refuse.

Miglioriti is a supporting character, you could say. He represents an understandable obstacle but also a helping hand; a contradictory world that draws you in.

I am grateful that Miglioriti did not end up dead.

III. Hallet

Here I am going to touch on the subject of the Hallets, both Frank Hallet and Mrs. Hallet. What can I say about these characters? They are hateful, and they pretend to be so from the beginning.

Both Frank and Mrs. Hallet are recurring characters in the plot, mostly because of the feeling of being stalked by them. On the one hand, Mrs. Hallet detests foreigners, anyone who has not been born and raised—by family lineage—there, and above all, she repudiates Rynn. As for Frank Hallet... he is a deviant.

While the fact that Frank Hallet is a deviant makes it all the more twisted, I was fascinated by the way the author managed to make you feel small and helpless in front of authority figures, especially Frank Hallet. When Frank enters Rynn's house without permission while she is with Mario, I feel genuine dread of the situation. Every move, word, and sound the character made me feel like I was just another little girl standing in that room, knowing that at any moment this man could lose control of himself. There is one part in particular that I loved precisely for this reason: when Frank Hallet throws Gordon, Rynn's mouse, into the fire, the only thing that connected her to her completely lonely past that no longer existed.

At that point in the book, I felt, as I mentioned, like another little girl standing in the corner of the room with Rynn and Mario, watching their every move in horror. I felt helpless and powerless; I couldn't imagine what must be going through Rynn's head.

Both of them—Mrs. Hallet and Frank Hallet—are antagonists who don't need to be overly dramatic to work. They prove that to be a good antagonist in a story, all you need to have, in my opinion, is the following: a purpose, a questionable ideal/moral/ethics, and a personality of your own beyond the circumstances.

The main problem I see in today's series and books is the need to make the antagonists exaggeratedly tragic, with convoluted backstories, as if they wanted to tell the viewer that the antagonist of their project is valid because he has very strong reasons behind him. Humans, if we are honest with ourselves, are very simple. We function according to our belief systems, and that is more than enough to make someone a perfect antagonist.

Frank Hallet only needed his weird attitude, his deviance, and his personality to disturb us. Mrs. Hallet only needed her great hatred towards foreigners and towards Rynn to drive us to despair.

I found both of them to be excellent antagonists. They served their purpose.

IV. Mario

Mario is my favorite character, along with Rynn. From the very beginning, he is presented to us as an intelligent and charismatic boy who manages to bring out the more childish and humorous side of Rynn, a girl from whom we had barely seen a small smile.

From the beginning, Mario's intelligence is clear. He was able to deduce, just by looking at Mrs. Hallet's red car, that Rynn was hiding something. That little clue was more than enough for him to decide that he wanted to know and discover the secrets that Rynn kept inside her house.

Mario was not only a very intelligent boy, but he was also cunning and very perceptive. He had such a strong will that he could play along with Rynn, with whom he fell deeply in love.

Mario is my favorite character because he represents this deep love that would do anything for the one he loves. Despite being in love with Rynn, he is able to put that aside and think clearly when the situation calls for it. His magic tricks not only serve to make Rynn laugh but are also his most useful weapon.

Mario was a well-used character from the middle of the book onwards, but he started to fall off the wagon towards the end. Personally, I feel like there could have been better ways to remove him from Rynn's scenario the way Miglioriti did. As the book ends, Rynn becomes more and more alone, losing all the important connections she had—Gordon, Mario, and Miglioriti. The way Mario goes off the rails is through pneumonia. Maybe it makes sense that he would end up there given the overall scenario, but for some reason, him ending up in the hospital felt like a bit of a disjointed development.

Objectively, I think Mario could have been better used in the finale. And if I put my sense of objectivity aside, Mario is the best character, period.

V. Rynn Jacobs

Let's talk about Rynn, our protagonist. Rynn is a girl who was left living alone with her father in that house at the end of the lane, where she tries to live a serene and quiet life, but above all, a lonely one. From the beginning she has had no interest in having relationships with other people; she lives for and by herself, she does things by herself, she goes to the bank alone, to the hardware store alone, to the market alone…

At first, Rynn is cold and strategic. She thinks through each and every step with precision, even if it takes time to find solutions to the chaos she ends up in. She knows how to handle herself in a world full of adults who want to look down on her.

From the beginning you could already tell that things were not going well with Rynn, her situation, and her house. The event that occurs with Mrs. Hallet will end up confirming everything, and even then you are left wondering if Mrs. Hallet was just exaggerating or if the girl was really hiding something in the basement. Rynn, who almost never shares her thoughts with us, ends up creating an aura of suspense around her, a veil of perpetual uncertainty.

At first we mistrust this girl. Despite being the protagonist, we remain on the sidelines of the things that happen in her head and what happened in the past. We know nothing or very little about her, who she was, and her life beyond her daily routine from which we begin to make assumptions. Chaotic, cold, and ingenious, Rynn manages to captivate us with that brilliant brain of hers.

As the chapters go by and Rynn is forced to let Miglioriti and Mario into her life, the heart of this girl becomes weaker and weaker, to the point where she allows Mario to be part of this lonely world that she so desperately needed to maintain. But why would Rynn, being so calculating and strategic, let a policeman and a child enter this world of hers and her father's? I thought about this question for a while.

Let's start with Miglioriti. Miglioriti is a policeman, which means that Rynn's secret was in imminent danger if only this man was in the vicinity of her house. Despite this, she made a very clever, albeit risky, move: she allowed him to enter her house, as if she had nothing to hide, and offered him a cup of tea. I suppose that at first Rynn just wanted to make Miglioriti understand that there was nothing to fear, that her father was at work and that she was not alone. The shot was twofold, because Miglioriti turned out to be a suitable companion, the very thing she had been looking for for so long without realizing it. Rynn constantly looked down on those who were her age, thinking that they had nothing interesting to share with her, no important thoughts, no poetry, no literature, and no knowledge. Miglioriti was an older figure of authority who was able to see her for what she really was: a person, not just a child, as if her entire being depended only on an empty label on which all the older adults placed the word "ignorance."

Now, Mario. Mario the magician. Why would Rynn let him into her life in the intimate, personal way that she did? I could say there are several reasons, but I think the main one is this: Not only did Mario see her for who she really was, but in addition to being pleasant and somewhat intellectually challenging company, Mario was able to not ask questions and help her get Mrs. Hallet's car to a place where she couldn't be incriminated. By inviting him into her home and spending an afternoon with him, sharing thoughts and experiences, Rynn tried tooth and nail to defend the secret world she had kept in the basement, but Mario, shrewd and stubborn, continued to ask questions. Rynn knew that anything could happen if she opened the basement door and let Mario see the things she was capable of when fear and anger got the better of her, and she knew that if there were two in the basement, there could be three depending on his reaction. Still, she let him down. That was a leap of faith.

A leap of faith that came, in my opinion, from a great need in her to be able to trust someone, anyone, whoever. She wanted to know that she could trust someone, not be alone forever. At that moment when Mario came down, I could only imagine Rynn clinging to all her hopes as tightly as possible, afraid that he would slip from her hands and she would be forced to abandon that dream of not being alone, at least not that alone.

Now let's take a deeper look at why Rynn committed murder.

Rynn grew up under the tutelage of her father, a man who, we can assume, was very kind and gentle, for Rynn remembered him with a certain neutrality but also protected his words with decorum. Leslie Jacobs was a poet who passed on his passion for literature and knowledge to Rynn. Rynn's mother, we might say, was not to be trusted. The woman cared nothing for her daughter, and both she and her father knew it. Before her father went away, as far away as he could, in the face of his illness, he asked Rynn to promise that she would keep herself safe in this life, that she would never let others walk all over her, and that she would try to carry on no matter what.

Rynn took her father's words very seriously. Rynn saw no other way out than to poison her mother. We would think that it is an absurd thing to do, to kill someone! An action that would undoubtedly lead to the deprivation of your freedom, that freedom that you so sought. Rynn, however, and I want us to remember well, is still a child. When her mother came to the house to claim her as her own, Rynn would be 12 years old, and she was alone, without her father. The life that her father wanted her to maintain for as long as possible was threatened by a woman who had never been of any importance to her, nothing more than a woman who did not love her or care for her. As Rynn said, it is surprising how much information you find in a library; Rynn's brain was a library of knowledge, perhaps questionable.

Rynn eventually became fond of Miglioriti, fell in love with Mario, and they both left her at almost the same time. She was left alone again, just that this time she did care. This time it hurt her.

In the end we see the story repeat itself: Rynn alone, with someone at home who intends to stay there with her forever. Rynn alone, with no one to trust. Rynn and the buns.

Conclusion and Review

I consider this book a classic, one that everyone should read at least once in their life. The aura of mystery and suspense that the novel carries—especially in the first 6 chapters—makes you immerse yourself in its pages and in that engaging narrative. Laird Koenig, in my opinion, did a good job of establishing the tone of suspense throughout the book.

One aspect that I think could have been better executed is also found in the first 6 chapters. While it is not a heavy read, at first it feels like it moves very slowly. I don't think it is a problem, but rather an aspect to note. These first 6 chapters work wonderfully to feel the immersive environment that the author tried to create.

I think the characters are very well executed. Although I feel that Mario could have been developed better, all the characters fulfill their purpose. No character is superfluous or missing.

Now, as for the ending... I don't consider it to be a bad ending; maybe the way I try to describe it is that I expected more. I expected a lot more from the ending. I can't say that the ending is bad because it continues with the tone of the novel; it's an ending that isn't predictable, and also, it feels like a genuine consequence of Rynn's somewhat careless actions since she starts to fall in love with Mario. When I think about the muffins, I feel a little better knowing that Rynn is, after all, smarter than she seems. The ending seems adequate to me given the circumstances and the tone that the novel had been taking; I just expected more.

The relationship between Rynn and Mario captivated me. I can only imagine what would have happened if my 13-year-old self had read that: I would have exploded with love. While I don't think their relationship needed to be romanticized that much—at the end of the day, Rynn is a murderer, and Mario became her accomplice—I do understand the point of it: they both needed a safe place and found it in each other. Sometimes people who commit bad actions aren't necessarily bad.

Rynn is a killer. Throughout the book we grow fond of her and hope that her secret won't be discovered, even if we know it's wrong. I think part of that is because we know what kind of people the murdered people were, since we know what kind of people Rynn and Mario are.

Finally, I would like to say that the book does its job. It is very good; it kept me hooked page after page, making it difficult for me to put it down to go to class since I read it during my long 4-hour breaks right before my class started... And I can only say that the ending left me stunned.

★★★★☆

4/5

[qishylia-adelia]

UPDATE UPDATE

FINALLY FOUND A WAY TO BUY SWEET HONEY, IT'LL ARRIVE AT 16 DECEMBER AT BEST.ALSO GOT A PHYSICAL VERSION OF CHERRY CRUSH LETS GOOO

[bergeronprocess]

My Favorites of the Year 2024: Anime Review and Selection of Favorite Anime

This is a long one, lol, so it is definitely going below a cut. I review every anime I watched this year and choose my favorite. Please note that I may discuss a show in a spoiler-y manner! Look at the tags!

According to my custom 2024 list I made on Anime Planet, I watched 26 shows this year, but that doesn’t tell the entire story. There’s more nuance. Let me get right into it by reviewing the anime I watched this year and making a selection of My Favorite Anime of 2024! I am going to go in order by my list.

Winter Season

A Sign of Affection: I wanted to like this more than I did! I did like the concept of having a deaf protagonist who uses sign language, and it was a very pretty looking show and I understand they did a lot of research to make sure they were portraying deafness and sign language use accurately, but I just did not really gel with the love interest. He felt very pushy and insistent. That sort of thing appealed to our lass Yuki, but just not to me, and I think that “vibing with the love interest” is a pretty important aspect of enjoying a romance anime. 

Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?!: On the other hand, this one was cute! What an interesting concept - remaining a virgin until age 30 gives you the ability to read the mind of anyone you’re touching. The two leads were cute and worked well together. I definitely vibed with them. I also enjoyed the B-plot with the novelist friend and the delivery man he falls for. The end WAS way rushed, though - but that’s just endemic to the state of the anime industry as it is lol.

Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable: This was a fun show too. I loved the snowy Hokkaido scenery - definitely lived vicariously through it, since I live in a southern city that almost never receives snow anymore. There didn’t even feel like that much fanservicey stuff considering the lead gal’s looks, either. At its core it was a sweet story about a guy learning more about himself and making friends in a new place. All three of the girls were sweet and relatable characters. The theme song is catchy too!

The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash: I ended up dropping this one at episode 6. Something about the pacing was just not enjoyable for me. I wanted to like it, though! The lead was played by the same actress who played Mari in Love Live Sunshine, the idea that she could “hear” the thoughts of her previous self guiding her along was interesting and the little blue slime companion was cute. Oh well.

Wonderful Precure: Still ongoing and won’t end before the end of the year, so ultimately I can’t give my final thoughts yet. But it’s…fine. Just fine. Doesn’t blow me away the way Hirogaru Sky did. I don’t think I would be as deep into Precure now if I had started with Wonderful instead of Hirogaru. First of all, the show clearly wants Mayu to be the protagonist the way she’s received so much more character growth and development than Iroha. It’s introduced some high-concept ideas with the baddies but has been content to just not really see them through or to just kinda half-ass them. And the fact that we will probably never properly get Pyonderful Precure with Satoru and Daifuku becoming Cures is frankly unforgivable. (No, the movie does not count.) Looking forward to You and Idol Precure, though! 

Spring Season

Nijiyon Animation 2: Nijigasaki is my favorite flavor of Love Live and I will always be here for any Niji storytelling. Nijiyon is a silly little short anime based on a 4-panel comic series, so it’s just a little bit of fun, like eating a colorful cupcake. I am pretty much always gonna be up for eating a colorful cupcake. Very much looking forward to the Niji movies being available with English subtitles - and to the Niji video game, also with English, coming next year!

Tonari no Yokai-san: Very interesting concept - what if yokai and humans lived together, and lived together pretty well? It was fun to see the different kinds of yokai and how they adapt to their surroundings. In the end, the big climactic issue of “suddenly the world is inverted and all the yokai disappear” is resolved pretty quickly thanks to the power of love and friendship. Once again, that rushed resolution is probably due to the limitations of seasonal anime. Oh well!

Spy x Family Movie Code White: My husband likes to watch Spy x Family with me, which is very exciting to me as he does not usually go in on anime with me, so we went to see the movie when it came out in theaters. It was fun! It was very clearly meant to premiere in the winter and thus it was a bit strange to see all this snowy goodness when it was already getting warm and flowery outside for us, but overall a good time. Gloriously, Yor got to do a lot of work in this one, unlike in the show when she sometimes takes the back seat. She’s my girl!

Summer Season

Narenare: Cheer for You!: I previously wrote about how I enjoyed this one in spite of some story weaknesses and in spite of the Anime News Network reviewer hating it so much he named it his worst anime of summer. Ouch. So I won’t really repeat myself here, but like - I enjoyed it! It’s not THAT bad! It has fun characters, fun ideas and even shows things like accessibility for a character who uses a wheelchair and shows another character literally going to a therapist for her twisties! It’s fun!

The Magical Girl and the Evil Lieutenant Used to be Archenemies: Gorgeous show. So pretty. The episodes are not full length, but they’re not as short as Nijiyon. Loved the characters, except for the lecherous familiar assigned to Byakuya, who I want to drop-kick into a dumpster. I do wish Byakuya and Mira had officially gotten together and we could’ve seen a kiss or something, but unfortunately the manga this is based on will never be finished because its artist has passed away.

Shy 2nd Season: Ended up not finishing this one due to a combination of the Olympics eating my brain for a few weeks and also not really being wowed by the story. Hope they saved Tokyo tho. 

Twilight Out of Focus: This one was also a DNF due to the Olympics. I did enjoy what I saw, which was through episode 4. After I decided to drop it, I learned that my thinking “Jeez, these two sure are moving fast” was actually because the show is an anthology show and was not going to follow the first couple all the way through. 

Fall Season (still in progress)

Magilumiere Co. Ltd.: This show is well worth getting Amazon Prime for, and the commercial breaks are inserted at reasonable times - right at the start and then right in the middle. Amazon also famously does not take political ads, so I DEFINITELY appreciated that. It does annoyingly want to get you away from the end credits despite the fact that many (if not all) episodes have a post-credits scene, so be vigilant with that remote control. I’m having a great time with this one so far. Great music, great characters, really great opening credits, great concept. Sometimes I do wish they’d do a bit more worldbuilding because they’ve built a very interesting world. Hopefully, though, this will get a second cour and we can eventually spend more time in the world of Magilumiere!

The Stories of Girls Who Couldn’t Be Magicians: Ooh, this one is just so cozy and interesting. It literally looks like a watercolor storybook and all the characters are cute and quirky. It has some pretty interesting stuff to say about the value of knowing how to do things by hand instead of just relying on tech for everything - something that we could all certainly stand to think about in this age of apps and AI. Plus, there are lots of cute animals. There’s definitely something big going on here, what with the way that dodgy teacher is suddenly willing to offer Kurumi, Yuzu and Aniku a chance to test back into the Magumi. Especially since Kurumi and Yuzu just managed to successfully do ancient magic, he clearly sees these three kids as a threat and wants to get them out of the way. Very interested to see where this goes. Ms. Suzuki’s whole look is so adorable, too, I wish I could cosplay as her lol.

Acro Trip: This show has made me genuinely, truly laugh out loud multiple times. Something about its ridiculous guyfail and girlfail characters being silly just tickles my funny bone big time. I did have to get used to the unusual design of the eyes, but I’m glad I did. I don’t know where, if anywhere, this show is going yet, but I’m having so much fun enjoying the ride. (I literally don’t even care about the Saudi funding and Stu Levy aspects of it all. Even that cannot dampen my enthusiasm.) Chrome’s voice actor should win every award because he is always doing the most and doing it so well. He even sings some of his dialogue in the latest episode I’ve watched! But this is still his funniest moment so far. Just go watch it a few times, ok? 

Non-Seasonal Anime I Watched in 2024

It looks like I did a lot of my non-seasonal anime watching during spring and summer. Makes sense - those are traditionally a bit quieter for me in terms of seasonal things I am watching, so it gives me time to stretch out!

Magic Users Club! OVA: Way, way back in the day when I first got into anime, I remember renting the first volume of this on tape from Blockbuster. That sentence alone should tell you my age. I really enjoyed what I saw, but never got to see the rest of it - until now. It has a lot of the same people who worked on the 90s Sailor Moon anime, so that same iconic character style is there. The way the magic works is very interesting and all of the characters are so colorful, though Akane feels a bit one-note - she’s genius at magic but she’s too busy going out with men who are WAY too damn old for her, girl what are you doing, you are a CHILD, I am going to call Chris Hansen on these men. Anyway, this is a fun and lovely little OVA with great opening and ending themes. I am so glad I finally saw the rest of it.

Magic Users Club! TV: There’s a TV series too! It’s a sequel! I’ve watched one episode so far! It’s good! I will probably get back to it in winter and spring 2025 seasons!

Love Live Nijigasaki Next Sky: This is a fun, too-short OVA that’s meant to bridge the gap between the second season of the anime and the upcoming movie trilogy that will (sniff, sniff) bring an end to the Nijigasaki saga. It centers around Shioriko feeling self-doubt (girl SO relatable) and Isla, the British girl that Ayumu went over to visit in London. Once again, I will ALWAYS go in for anything Nijigasaki because I love seeing these gals again. But I wish Isla had been able to perform with everyone!

Video Girl Ai: I remember reading some of the manga for this one in Animerica Extra magazine way back in the day. I may have even had a volume or two of the manga. Again, I’m old, lol. But then I found the anime OVA on Youtube and started watching it! I am actually not done yet - I have about half of episode 5 and all of episode 6 yet to watch - but I have enjoyed it so far. Such great music and art and characters, except for Takashi, who is a fuckboy of the highest order. Moemi, girl, stop pining over him, he ain’t shit. 

Gunsmith Cats: Continuing with my “I am old”ness, I would often see a sick-ass trailer for this one at the start of videos made by ADV, and it always piqued my interest but I was never able to find it anywhere at that time. Well, it’s a 3-episode OVA and it’s on Youtube! And what impressed me the very most about this was the absolute attention to detail. It was crystal clear that they actually went to Chicago for research - some of the scenery truly looked like photographs! There are definitely some Blues Brothers vibes for me and I love that movie. The only issue is the length and the fact that it kind of steers away from its main plot to a subplot involving a Russian enemy at the end. But overall it’s a really fun time and, again, pretty short, so go watch it!

Mobile Suit Gundam 08th MS Team: My husband and I like to listen to the podcast Get Played, which is about video games. The hosts of that show also do a side show called Get Anime’d that is a Patreon exclusive. When they mentioned that they would be watching 08th MS Team, I decided to briefly get Patreon and hop in - and, thrillingly, husband joined me again! I like Gundam and I have only ever watched Wing and Witch from Mercury, but I’ve always enjoyed the opening theme for 08th MS Team. It also has a bit less of the space opera aspect than Wing or Mercury, which I think helped to make it appeal to my husband, who isn’t much for sci-fi. It’s a bit more of an earth-focused “war is hell” story. Great characters and story, although the final episode is tonally very strange, to the point that it was literally never dubbed into English. I’m glad the Get Played Gang decided to do this. Plus, it’s a relatively short OVA, so it’s a quick watch. Hulu doesn’t always time the commercial breaks very well, though.

Happiness Charge Pretty Cure!: I set a 2024 goal for myself to finish Star Twinkle Pretty Cure, and I accomplished that goal! This meant I was free to move to the next Precure I wanted to watch, Happiness Charge. I am only 4 episodes in right now, but I like it a whole lot. Love the characters, the designs, the mechanics of the transformations and attacks, the music…love it all. I am looking forward to watching more of this.

Pretty Cure Movie: Miracle Universe: Finishing Star Twinkle means I also feel free to watch its two movies. I have not yet watched the other one, but I did watch and enjoy Miracle Universe. I loved seeing the Kira Kira gang again because I really enjoyed watching their season last year. I am not as familiar with the Hugtto crew, but they’re nice as well based on what I saw here. A fun little crossover movie. I pretended my phone was a Miracle Light. Good times!

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Cosmos Movies 1 and 2: GOD, FINALLY. FINALLY. FINALLY. I used to think we were somehow never going to get official releases of this in the West. I really thought Toei could have gotten a bag by just commissioning someone to do English subtitles and include those on the Blu-Ray releases. But finally, Netflix came through and we finally got the conclusion to Sailor Moon Crystal. Once again, as with the Eternal movies, this is a case of the first movie being absolutelycramjampacked with story and plot and then the second movie being almost entirely about a climactic battle. Congratulations to Sailor Cosmos for finally getting an anime adaptation. Truly used to think it just would never happen back in the time before Cosmos was a thing. Insert that meme of Michael Jordan crying while holding the NBA trophy captioned to “I used to pray for times like this” here.

Saber Marionette J: The music for this show is amazing - Megumi Hayashibara is the queen of 90s anime songs and she simply does not miss. This is another show I always wanted to watch back in the day but never had access to. Now I have access to it on YouTube and I’m catching up. It’s got a lot of silly slapstick, but the characters are fun and the story is interesting. I just know it’s working up to something big. There’s a reason why Lime, Cherry and Bloodberry are built different. I’m looking forward to finding out.

Favorite Anime of 2024

I am going to just choose from the new, seasonal shows for this one. This is a tough call, and as a show currently in progress I am going to just have to hope it keeps going well, but…folks…it’s Acro Trip. I’m having so much fun with this one and laughing so much. Take me down to Naniga City, where the grass is green and the folks are silly.

[hyog-blog]

The Story of Pearl Girl (ep. 19)

We're nearing the show's equator in the most dramatic way possible. The aftermath of all the deaths is not just heartbreaking - it's devastating on a ground-shattering scale (for Duan Wu and everyone who survived the massacre).

We get a glimpse of the wounded Yan Zijing and a scared-to-death Kang Ju, who was dragging him across the desert on his own. He might just be the most loyal friend/confidante in the world. This guy's priorities totally check out.

YZJ pulls a stunt and draws all the bandits onto himself, leaving Duan Wu behind, deciding not to contact her at all - for her safety. And because he's likely to die soon. He's totally in his character development arc, so he chooses to spend his last days finishing his revenge instead of being with her. Which, well, is kinda sorta reasonable from his point of view (at least, right now). But I can't imagine that in the vast world of ancient China and beyond, there was only one healer who could help him. After all, he's traveling so much, surely there must be someone else.

I'm not blaming YZJ for his decision-making, though, it's totally in his character. Still, it was painful to see Duan Wu left all alone again, with her friends and remnants of her family dead, with her lover supposedly trying to kill her (he was trying to save her but the arrow malfunctioned somehow). So, once again she ventured into the wild - her bright blue dress a striking contrast against the desert's golden sands and, later, it gets devoured by the snowy wintery colds. She survives again, but at what cost?

The directors made a marvelous visual sequence of her walking back all alone through the barren landscapes and beautiful vistas. A juxtaposition of her lonely little figure and the huge, vast, seemingly indifferent world around her that goes on no matter what happens. No matter who lives or dies, even her, the main character in her own story.

Her meeting Yue Yunxiu in some desolate inn while the girl was kept as a future slave is a bit far-fetched (like, what were the chances?), but I'm letting this one slide. The plot is plotting, and it's good that she still has someone on her side, someone to keep her company and maybe even help her go through all of this. It's not a happy reunion, though, but they do go on traveling together.

Unsurprisingly, they don't meet with Zhang Jinran, although he's desperately trying to find Duan Wu. They almost cross paths in one city, but alas, that was simply not meant to be. Which seems to be the underlying message of their non-relationship. The dude just gotta let go.

I feel like we're on the brink of a new arc in Duan Wu's story, but she also wants to get some answers from YZJ (and he does owe her an explanation). So, we'll see how it goes. I have to say Zhao Lusi's acting in this is VERY good. I've never been a super huge fan of the actress for some reason, but her cdrama choices, her roles, and her acting are always top-notch.

[heavenlydreamangelflyhigh]

wholeheartedly recommending my year of rest and relaxation by ottessa moshfegh to my 43 year old father over zoom on a sunday night

[bmpmp3]

the really beautiful landscape/skyscape animation in makoto shinkai's works tends to be the big thing i see focused on and that is understandable and deserved like the weather and lighting effects are unREAL but i do think we should also appreciate how absolute insane the plotlines of his original movies get. at least two movies with in universe catastrophes with major ecological implications. the guns and explosions. theres that one movie i havent seen yet with the guy who turns into a chair (?)

[madelynpryor]

dc using the word situationship to refer to donna and garth was NOT on my 2023 bingo card.....

[spicyicymeloncat]

Ughhahahajwkle I got a notification asking me to rate tumblr and I wrote 500 words…

[manichewitz]

starting to think straight women might understand the lord of the rings movies better than anyone else

[kyofsonder]

It's been several days and I'm still bothered by the many 3 (out of 5) star ratings for a book I just finished reading because

1) I enjoyed it a lot, and admire it from a craft perspective. I feel naturally defensive of my own enjoyment when I see others calling this work annoying or boring or meaningless. It was the first book in months I've been able to read through to the end without getting distracted and letting my library loan lapse partway through, it was genuinely compelling to me, and it had plenty of meaning about mortality and humanity and choice -- and what it means when the choice of life and death is in your own hands. People saying they didn't see any of that... I know it's honest to their experience, and it's fair in its own right, but it still bothers me that so many people said it on the book tracking app I use.

2) Several of the reviews hate the lead character, specifically, and I'm bitter about the inaccuracies of WHY they hate her -- I almlst want to reply to one reviewer in particular, "If you're going to have problems with a major character, have problems that are actually there on the page and don't invent them out of thin air." Some also hated the romantic sub-plot and said it had "unnecessary bodice-ripping" when I, personally, found it way less romance-focused than other fantasy novels I've read in the past. Again, this is probably a personal perspective thing, but compared to the books that faded to black or had a graphic sex scene every other chapter I'd say 2.5 scenes that involved so much as kissing and only 1 short bedroom scene through the entire book is pretty tame. It's fine to be upset that there was romance and/or sex, but at least be accurate about how much there was and how it was handled.

3) While I know this one is specifically due to my being a writer and that the issue it brings up is more nuanced than just "be so kind to everyone that you lose all your critical reading skills and/or ability to resonate emotionally with books and other forms of fiction," and that the average person is in fact unaware of what it means to write a whole novel or series, any review that says a book was bad or just wasn't their thing without acknowledging the work that the author put into it has the potential to discourage that author and/or others from ever making or sharing their work again and that can decrease the number of books in the world. Which sucks. It's hard to avoid, but it sucks. Sometimes I think I just shouldn't read book reviews at all, before or after my own reading of a novel/novella/series.

[sainiratansworld]

[nightingale-prompts]

God's TV- DC x DP prompt

Accidentally summoning a god from another dimension can happen, especially when cults are involved. However, no can could predict that the not only was the god a teenage boy but also a very bored teenage boy who didn't want to leave.

So he stayed and moved into Titans tower.

Danny is helpful (when he wants to be) but rarely goes out on missions. He says they are boring and nothing is dangerous enough to exert the effort. Instead, he minds the medical bay. Having a healer more than made up for the lack of help.

It's not like anyone disliked Danny or thought he didn't do anything it was just that he was unpredictable. Danny could be nice, considerate, and even sweet if he was working in the medbay. He could also be a pain in the ass anywhere else. He loved pranks and scaring people with his powers. He was harmless though.

No one really knew what he did all day. He was usually in his room doing something they guested. Said room was an anomaly. It was larger on the inside having been made into a pocket dimension. The appearance and organization of the room changed every time you went in.

It was after one mission that the team learned what was in the room.

A rogue had used their invention to erase Superboy's memories and they didn't know what to do. They took him to Danny who was currently rearranging the medicine by color. They hoped that his powers covered mind-altering afflictions. Unfortunately, Danny couldn't wave a hand and fix this.

Instead, Danny took the group to his room. The decor was neon Tokyo meets space right now. The furniture was currently floating and almost hitting Wonder Girl in the head with an end table. Of course, there was no gravity here.

"Stay here while I grab it," Danny said flying up the vertical corridor.

While he was gone the room rearranged itself into a contemporary format. The furniture grounded itself and shifted into a normal living room.

Danny returned with a cart and a headset. He placed a card he pulled out of the cart into the headset and put it on the dazed Superboy's head.

"Wait what is that?" Tim asked.

"It's his memories. I kept a backup in case this happened." Danny shrugged.

Immediately everyone began asking what the hell does that mean and why does he have that.

"Oh please, this dimension has this happened all the time. Amnesia is so cliché and cheap. I saw a pattern and decided the easiest way to prevent you from losing the entirety of your lives was to make save states of your memories." Danny said matter of fact.

Robin pinched the bridge of his nose.

Impulse studied the rack of cases and looking for the card with his name on it.

Wondergirl sighed, she was used to this from Robin but even he wouldn't go this far.

"What? It's not like just anyone can find these. Only you can access your own memories anyways. I just decided to repurpose my RE:Viewer." Danny pouted.

"What is a reviewer?" Wally asked flipping through the cases. Each one had titles like moves or shows with an arrangement of stickers.

"The RE:Viewer is something I created to catalog things I've seen looking into other dimensions. I don't have an infinite memory you know. But the longer I have my title the more I'll lose touch with my mortality. These things help me stay close to people by giving me the chance to remember how it feels. I also have been using them to get the stories of others. Keeping their experiences like you'd keep a TV show or movie. So many stories could have been lost to time but now they are saved. I use them to teach myself." Danny smiled.

The concept genuinely sounded interesting. Like experiencing a movie in 4d.

It had been 3 minutes before Kon took off the headset and back to his old self.

Danny pulled the input card out and it disappeared into another realm with a flick of the wrist. Danny was completely honest that the copies were inaccessible to everyone but him.

"You feeling alright Superboy? Your memory should be backed up until a week ago." Danny said shining a light in his eye.

"I'm fine. I think. What happened?" Kon asked batting the light out of his eyes.

"Explanation later. Take a nap first. You aren't concussed at least." Danny informed.

"What are the stickers for?" Wally said pointing at the rainbow of colors the card cases had.

"Just the emotions associated with the experiences. Orange is comedy, red is action, pink is romance, and blue is tragedy." Danny listed. "That one with the pink is one of my favorites. I meddled a bit in that world. Two people who had never met fell in love at two points at different times. One of them was doomed to die but I worked my magic on a mirror that allowed them to meet once. They shared notes left in different places for the other months ahead. Makes you believe in true love. A real tear-jerker."

"What about the black stickers?" Wally asked.

"Don't touch the black ones," Danny said darkly, smacking his hand away. "You don't need to know about those. I don't like thinking about them."

"So you just take the memories of others and put them inside your machine to replay later?" Batgirl asked. "Isn't that kind of wrong?"

"No, I asked permission. I usually pull them aside at some point and ask. If it's my memories (that's the green stickers) I don't need to. The rainbow ones are simulations. Like a video games." Danny responded patting her on the back for not being to hard on him about this admittedly weird situation.

"So what's the black one with the rainbow sticker?" Wally asked picking up the case that was obviously stuffed in the back.

"STOP TOUCHING THOSE!" Danny yelled pulling him away.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Women have another option. They can aspire to be wise, not merely nice; to be competent, not merely helpful; to be strong, not merely graceful; to be ambitious for themselves, not merely for themselves in relation to men and children. They can let themselves age naturally and without embarrassment, actively protesting and disobeying the conventions that stem from this society’s double standard about aging. Instead of being girls, girls as long as possible, who then age humiliatingly into middle-aged women, they can become women much earlier — and remain active adults, enjoying the long, erotic career of which women are capable, far longer. Women should allow their faces to show the lives they have lived. Women should tell the truth.

—Susan Sontag, "The Double Standard of Aging," The Saturday Review, Sept 23, 1972

(Philo Thoughts)

[rpwprpwprpwprw]

jeon jungkook fanfics: weekly recommendations edition 💌

hey this is my… new long… very long.. list of recently readings! let me know what you guys think cause this took forever to organize 😭 💋 (also is the letters too small?

jungkook masterlist

🌟 swipe right by @ppersonna (genre- best friends to lovers, idiots to lovers | completed)

summary: after a horrible breakup, you sign back up for tinder and ironically match with your best friend, jungkook. a date for fun is harmless, right?

my review

🌟 stuck with you by @aajjks (genre: crack, 18+) | ongoing (?)

summary: Imagine being stuck in a room with a walking nightmare who really wants to fuck you.

my review

🌟 what’s your name again? by @solarhysm (smut, oneshot) | completed

summary: jungkook met you at a costume party for the new year eve. you're bold, drunk and horny.

my review

🌟 teach me how to love by @kookooluvr (genre: fluff, angst, smut, fwb au, economicsprofessor!jungkook, politicalscienceprofessor!reader, slow burn, some emotional constipation, some sappy moments, lots of sexy moments) | pairing: professor!jungkook x (fem) professor!reader, fwb to lovers | ongoing

summary: jeon jungkook, a fellow professor at yonsei university, is your friend, co-worker, and secret bed buddy. you have rules set in place to make sure there are no misunderstandings in your little arrangement. the #1 rule is as clear as day; no catching feelings. simple, right? wrong. let's see how un-simple it gets when a certain economics professor falls for an emotionally unavailable political science professor.

my review

🌟 webbed heartstrings by @focusonkayjay (genre/Tags: spiderman/ campus heartthrob! jungkook, college student! reader, friends (but not exactly) to lovers, i think they're in a situationship, spiderman au, spiderkook au, angst, fluff) | ongoing

my review

🌟 fuck me up by @jungkoode (genre: enemies to lovers, slow burn, smut with plot, fuck buddies) | ongoing

summary: When your search for affordable NYC housing leads you to apartment 6B, you think you've hit the jackpot. That is, until you realize your new roommate is the guy from that one wild night on January - the one who ruined you for anyone else. Now you're stuck sharing walls with the living embodiment of your worst mistake, and the sexual tension is thick enough to choke on. Between his emotional damage and your trust issues, this arrangement is a disaster waiting to happen. But hey, at least the hate sex is phenomenal.

my review: my review my review

🌟 letting fear run the show by @focusonkayjay (genre/tags: fuckbuddy! jungkook, secret friends with benefits to lovers, angst, fluff, smut) | completed

my review:

🌟 playing the part by @goldenchimmy (genre: smut) | older!jk x reader, age gap | completed

summary: needing money for college, you come across an ad for a female escort. You didn't expect the person posting the ad to be a rich, older man.

my review

🌟 mutt by @letsbangts (genre: smut, angst, friends with benefits au) | fuckboy!jk, tattooartist!jk | completed

summary: when you realize you can’t teach an old dog new tricks

🌟 answer your phone by @letsbangts (genre: angst, smut, fluff, friends with benefits au) | fuckboy!jk, tattooartist!jk | completed

summary: when the consequences of his actions come calling

🌟 the jorts by @gukslut (genre: Established Relationship/fluff/smut) | completed

my review

🌟 back and forth by @gukslut (genre: smut/fluff) | completed

my review

🌟 the speedo by @gukslut (genre: fluff/smut) | completed

summary: JK has fallen in love. Too bad the object of his affections thinks he’s a fuckboy who gets blowjobs in women’s locker rooms. How did Jungkook convince his future wife to give him a chance when none of his usual tricks  work? 

my review

🌟 freak - quency by @gukslut (genre: Smut/fluff, Sub!JK, Rockstar!JK AU, PWP) | completed

🌟 beyond the job by @kooggukk (genre: ?) | girl dad!jk x reader | ongoing

summary: babysitting the cutest angel on earth is the perfect job. (except when her father is fucking hot and wants all of you)

🌟 vampire boy by @smartkookiee (genre: smut/supernatural) | vampire!Jungkook x human!Reader | ongoing

summary: So your boyfriend is a vampire…It’s actually not too different than having a human boyfriend. He is kind and caring and genuinely loves you. He’s just a touch afraid of garlic and he’s kind of cold. Other than that everything is the same and you couldn’t ask for anyone better. You cannot imagine spending your life with anyone else, except… it would be only your life going on. which wasn’t a problem… right

my review

🌟 true love by @lovieku (fluff, smut, grumpy & sunshine, somewhat f2l) | tattoo artist!jk x reader | ongoing?

summary: when you and jeon jeongguk's paths cross again, you question if having a crush on the school's emo and alternative boy was really just a phase, or if it was true love after all.

my review

🌟 get him back by @inthelow (genre: fake relationships trope, kinda growing up womanhood thing, female rage (a LOT of female rage), funny but cringe in the same way, a lot of drama - in a comedy way but also very shitty things - a lot of bad jokes and some angst ) | f!producer/writer reader x idol!jungkook | ongoing

summary: after a hard breakup with who you thought would be the one, the only thing in your mind was a sad playlist of Taylor Swift songs and red wine. But, what happens when your neighbour- who is done of hearing you cry at 2 am in the morning - puts the idea in your head of getting your ex back? but with a good and sweet revenge… of course everything will be easier if you didn’t have any feelings for your ex and if your neighbour wasn’t a superstar idol who doesn’t have a problem at pretending to be your boyfriend to piss off that ex - who also happens to be his ex best friend -. What a mess, right?

my review

🌟 motive by @luvismenu (genre: smut, written) | brother's best friend , e2l , childhood friends

suqmmary: jungkook is your brother’s best friend, someone you’ve grown up with. the two of you have a knack for clashing, always throwing attitude and finding ways to piss each other off. yet, there’s a connection neither of you can ignore.

my review

🌟 sthings attached (to my heart) by @jungkoode (genre: smut, superhero, spider-man au) | spiderkook x reader | ongoing

summary: You were a journalist at Yonsei University when you started noticing the strange coincidences between your favorite bumbling freshman and Seoul's newest superhero. The way Spider-Man's voice cracks on 'noona' exactly like Jungkook's does. The way they both bring you the same snacks, have the same nervous energy, the same tendency to ramble when flustered. You tell yourself it's just a coincidence, because the alternative means admitting something you're absolutely not ready to deal with.

my review