#What makes Lighthouse different from other K-dramas?

[filmitalks]

https://filmitalks.in/light-house2024-episodes-cast-story/

[onlyswan]

summary: in which alcohol plus k-drama is equals to your and jungkook’s tears.

> fluff / wc: 4k

> warnings: oc’s first attempt at becoming a pro bartender lmao they both drink alcohol!!, alchemy of souls spoilers!! (they watch the ending of part 2), mention of a stab and blood, they cry over character deaths together >:( (sike?) maybeee a little surprise bc jk is so in love y’all idk what else to say </3 💍

note: welcome to the result of my jungkook + aos brainrot. you can read more of inwhich!jk in glasses in this drabble. :D thank you anonie who sent this ask! + as always i’d appreciate it a lot if you lmk if you enjoyed mwamwa <3

—

“i miss my boyfriend.” you sigh dramatically as you slump over the dining table, popping a vodka-soaked cherry in your mouth.

despite being hopelessly in love, you and jungkook don’t necessarily feel obliged to spend every second of every day with each other. of course, it was different at the early stages of your relationship, when you had to cross oceans and move mountains to spend time together, even if it meant hugging for only ten minutes and parting ways again.

however, things changed when you started living under one roof. the burning passion of your love isn’t dying down, no. in fact, you would go as far as saying that it is growing more gracefully ardent. after all, there is no greater peace than knowing that at the end of the day, wherever the street signs and the unmarked paths may lead you to, you and jungkook choose to come home to each other’s arms. is this not the real honeymoon phase, as they like to call it?

he left early this sunday morning to attend a small reunion with his childhood friends in busan, while you spent the day reading a book and painting the numbers one to ten of the little paint by numbers kit you stumbled upon at the book store last week.

it’s a sunny day on an abundant island, with a lighthouse standing close to the edge. and maybe, just maybe, you regret ignoring the simple flower bouquet beside it because the details drawn on this canvas are the literal definition of tiny. you ended up feeling dizzy by afternoon because of the strain it caused to your fucked up vision.

to make matters worse, the doorbell rung at around 5pm, and a minute later you were already unboxing the basics cocktail set you ordered two days ago. it includes a 18- and 28-ounce shaker set, jigger that has a dual-side (ounce and two-ounce) pourers, strainer, muddler, and bar spoon.

to summarize what you’ve been doing with your life lately: you’re trying to explore the random things you’ve always been curious about, in hopes that they’ll help you find new hobbies and interests.

you thought about baking, but jungkook already does that, and quite frankly, you’re not at a place in your life where you have a high capacity for the patience it requires. mixing drinks, on the other hand, takes a relatively shorter time to do. and what makes it even more enticing is that you can take a shot whenever you mess up, as if you’re playing a drinking game.

there’s no better way to spend your sunday evening, right?

“baby, why the hell are all the alcohol outside of the cabinets?”

right… except you’re already intoxicated… and the world is spinning. you’re desperately yearning to hug jungkook, so he can make it stop, but you’re not even sure if he’s coming home or he’s staying over at his parent’s house for the night.

you react belatedly to the confused voice, lifting your head to squint at the man who grabbed a bottle of white wine from the cluttered countertop.

“hey, who are you? the bar is closed. put that down.”

he laughs lightheartedly when he realizes how drunk you’ve gotten. as he places it back down, the bottle clinks against the cold white stone. your heavy head collapses on top of your outstretched arm as he walks towards the opposite side of the dining table.

you open your eyes, one before the other, when you feel a presence hogging your space. a sheepish smile curves your lips as the beautiful face of your dear beloved greets you.

jungkook’s prescription glasses moves with his scrunched up nose as he grins at you playfully. “it’s the boyfriend you said you were missing.”

you reach out for him as soon as he finishes saying the sentence, silently asking to be embraced. slaves to your touch — his hands, which are resting on the sharp edge of the table and the top rail of your chair, eagerly slip down to encircle your waist.

you lazily lean your cheek on his shoulder, revelling in his welcoming body warmth. “why are you back early? aren’t you tired? you should’ve just rested at your house.”

“mhmm, i had to.” he hums, deep and raspy voice making his chest vibrate against yours. “we talked about marriage and all that jazz. i couldn’t stop thinking about you.”

with an airy huff, you pull away to glare up at him childishly. “i sure hope you’re not thinking about anybody else.”

he runs his tongue across his lips, unconsciously tugging at the silver lip ring with his teeth, but his loving smile stays. “you know that you’re the only one for me.”

“still! i like to hear it from you sometimes.” you giggle before taking a sip from a cold glass of cherry limeade, a refreshing treat you’ve been enjoying since before he arrived.

“vodka?”

“vodka.”

you swallow once more before handing him the glass, swaying your feet under the table as the delicious mixture of sweet and tart permeates your tongue.

“mhmm, wow!” he exclaims after taking a sip, tilting the glass a little bit to the side to look at the light red beverage with knitted eyebrows. “wait a minute- why is this so good?!”

you excitedly tug at the hem of his sweatshirt, begging for more pats on the head. “i had a lot of fun using the shaker.”

he lightly kicks out the chair to your right so he can take a seat, shrugging off the backpack full of clean clothes you packed for him last night incase he wanted to stay longer in busan.

“i did well with this one, right?”

he enthusiastically nods in response as he takes another gulp, chewing on the block of ice that also managed to slip inside his mouth. you melt into his affectionate touch when he cups your cheek with his delicate palm.

“maybe making drinks has been your specialty all along.”

you frown in disagreement. “i’m not sure. i made bloody mary before that one and i don’t know if i did something horribly wrong or it’s just supposed to taste that disgusting.”

amused laughter racks his body as he takes in the endearing sight of your genuinely downcast expression. you jut out your bottom lip in annoyance.

“it really tasted like poison! i got goosebumps!”

“shit, now i’m scared of you actually getting alcohol poisoning.” the back of your hand is rewarded with a sweet kiss by jungkook’s vodka-stained lips. the wide doe eyes behind his glasses meet yours curiously. “your hand smells like coffee.”

“oh- oh! the dalgona martini!” you rip your hand away from his to point at the martini glass standing at the very center of the dining table. “i just finished that. it should still be cold.”

he carefully slides the glass towards him to avoid spillage, fascinated lips forming a pout as he observes the thick portion of dalgona sitting on top of the mixed baileys and vodka. he didn’t even notice it at all because it’s almost the same color as the wood. has his vision gotten that bad?

“this looks yummy. you haven’t tried it yet?”

you shake your head, which you instantly regret because your vision blacks out momentarily. you swallow thickly as you attempt to blink away the shiny, swirly shapes dancing infront of your eyes.

“fuck, no. i already had classic martini, and mule. i’ll throw up.”

“jesus christ, baby. how many drinks did you try making?” jungkook finds himself so worried that he harshly takes off his glasses without reason, putting it aside on the table.

you giggle loudly at his reaction, using your folded arms as a pillow. “that’s all! i promise! besides, didn’t you drink with your friends, too?”

his face glows with uncontainable fondness at the mention of his friends.

“i was talking and laughing the whole time that i didn’t even finish half of my beer.”

your hazy eyes study his jovial and carefree features, and just like magic, they make your heart feel lighter inside your chest. heavens know that you wish for nothing more in the world than to see him this happy everyday.

“i’m so glad you had a great time, my love.”

“me too. i’ll tell you all about it when you’re sober and capable of memory retention.” he pokes fun at your drunken state as he picks up the glass of dalgona martini.

you roll your eyes before impatiently guiding the drink to his mouth. “just drink it already.”

“oing?” he blinks in disbelief, sipping on the glass again as if his tongue could’ve possibly fooled him the first time. ”i actually like this one more. i didn’t expect that.”

you abruptly perk up in your seat upon witnessing his candid review. “what? you’re joking!”

of course… you’re cursed. it had to be the one you hated making the most.

truth be told, you impulsively made the dalgona martini simply because it’s the only drink in the last online blog you found that you had the complete ingredients for.

you were obviously not prepared enough for this activity. but baileys, vodka, sugar, coffee, and water? yeah, any house would definitely have those.

then came your ridiculous dilemma: despite being intoxicated, you’re still terrified of using the electric whisker. and so, you had to do the whisking the hard way. to put it lightly, it was absolute hell. your arms and wrists are sore after shaking and whisking vigorously for the past three hours.

“it’s exactly what i needed after a long trip.” he moans. his shoulders spring up in delight as he licks off the foam around his lips, and you use your thumb to brush it away from the spots he missed.

jungkook grabs your hand before you could pull away, making you audibly gasp when he sucks at your thumb in his cold mouth. his insatiable tongue pokes the inside of his cheek after.

“uh- i think i tasted a hint of soap.”

“‘course you did. i just washed the dishes, you dummy.”

his pink lips part open as he processes your words, but he quickly brushes it off with a shrug. he noisily takes another sip from the glass.

“i can just clean it off my tongue with more martini.” he argues with a dimpled grin.

he grants you with a quick kiss, smudging the foam on his lips and transferring some of it to yours.

“ugh, you’re so sloppy!”

his laughter echoes in your home as he walks away. “i’m taking this with me to the bathtub!”

“don’t take an hour in there again.” you grumble out a complaint. “we need to watch alchemy of souls!”

—

“even if you decide to seal that door, i know how heartbreaking it will be for you, so it does not upset me so much.”

the flashback from four episodes ago confirms that it was foreshadowing this moment — park jin had sealed the door of jinyowon, a deep cave where relics are protected so they won’t unleash life-threatening dangers upon the world outside. lady jin and maidservant kim are stuck inside the collapsing sanctuary, holding back said relics from escaping… and the latter is none other than his wife-to-be.

jungkook anxiously bites the nails of his thumb and pinky finger, switching back and forth. the television screen reflects on the lens of his glasses as his eyes become shiny with tears.

“is this really the final episode? there’s no season three?”

“no, it ends tonight.” you reply in between embarrassing loud sobs, attention trained to the man mournfully calling out his lover’s name over and over again as he clutches her engagement ring to his chest.

the hot tears you fail to catch stream down to your temples, and then your boyfriend’s naked stomach. you’ve comfortably settled on the bed after finishing your nightly routines. your head is lying by the bottom of his ribcage, and that’s where the other edge of the cozy blanket enveloping the two of you rests. you grabbed a small portion of the cotton in a loose fist, and you’ve been keeping it close to wipe your tears with.

“oh my god, i can’t fucking do this. my head is being split open.”

you toss aside the remote control after pausing the episode, crawling to the nightstand to pop the painkiller in your mouth, which you prepared to be supposedly taken tomorrow morning. maybe you’ve sobered up a little, but the combination of the alcohol and the woeful crying have resulted to an agonizing migraine.

with his long and slender fingers, your boyfriend removes the hair that stuck to your tear-stained face before tenderly wiping your cheeks with the pads of his thumbs.

“making my baby fucking cry, too. i need that son of a bitch jin mu to burn in hell.” he curses to release his pent-up anger from the past 29 episodes, referring to the main antagonist of the series. the harshness of his tone contrasts the gentle kiss that lingers at the corner of your lips.

after drinking water, you wipe away jungkook’s tears with tissue paper, gingerly dabbing at the sides of his nose as well. he has a very sensitive skin, and because tears do contain salt, they can cause slight irritation and stinging when he cries. it’s something he once quietly complained about in passing, but somehow, it stuck with you throughout the years.

“does it hurt a lot?” he worriedly caresses the back of your head.

you meekly nod in response.

“should we just watch the rest of it tomorrow then?”

“noooo.” you drag out the word, shifting on the bed to return to your previous position. “my pain is nothing to compared park jin’s pain. i must persevere.”

and just like that, your tired eyes begin to water again. jungkook chuckles, affectionately holding your face in his hands. he isn’t surprised to find your skin to be warmer than normal.

“aigoo, your eyes are so red. at least put your glasses back on.”

“fine.” you mumble in defeat as you pat around the mattress, looking for the glasses you haphazardly threw aside when your intense emotions started to take control over you.

his rosy cheeks rise like buns in an oven as he smiles. “i love it when we match.”

—

park jin stands before the greedy individuals who conspired to steal the foundation of jinyowon, the fire bird, which dries up the world when it is awakened. it will be used in a rain ritual to create another ice stone, a ball of energy similar to that of the sun or a star. and to point out the obvious, having it in your possession would mean becoming the most powerful being there is.

“evil always does what it wants without ever stopping. but why is it that virtue always needs to prove itself over and over again?”

“…yes. i do wish to save her. i would do anything to save her, even if it meant i would lose my sanity. but even so, i will stop you from getting what you want. not a single one of you has the right to laugh at me… and call me… a hypocrite.”

you feel jungkook shiver below you. he is immensely engrossed with the actor’s phenomenal performance, flawlessly depicting what ‘seething’ anger means. he puts his tattooed arm underneath his head to get a closer view of the subtitles. these have to be some of the best written lines he’s heard from this show so far, and he hopes to remember them by heart.

the two of you watched with bated breath when he starts fighting against several warriors, and then it happens… jin mu removes the barrier of the fire bird as a threat.

“oh, fuck you!” you kick your feet in annoyance.

park jin is forced to focus his energy on re-sealing the fire bird, leaving him vulnerable to the attacks of his merciless opponents.

“no, no, no.” jungkook chants under his breath, heart thundering with fear. “this can’t be happening.”

you know what is bound to happen. they did show three coffins at the end of episode nine. but denial denial denial is a stage of grief after all, and so, with a broken sob, you squeeze your eyes shut.

when your eyelids flutter open, a sword has already been driven through the center of his chest, and dark red blood uncontrollably spills from his mouth. jin mu spitefully pulls it out from behind before he weakly falls on the ground. jungkook stays quiet, it happens so fast but he feels suspended in time, while your horrified crying carries on.

you unwillingly remove your head from his chest before you can cry a river over his shirtless torso, opting to sit up beside him.

“bunch of cowards.” he couldn’t resist mocking as the group scrambles to leave the place before it completely burns down, jin mu taking re-sealed fire bird along with them.

park jin jolts awakes coughing up blood. he painfully forces himself to lie on his back, and the camera reveals that he’s been holding maidservant kim’s ring all along. with trembling hands, he puts the ring on himself. you cover your own mouth as you listen to his worn out sobs.

a look of love and admiration shines on his dull eyes, and you swear that he smiles softly, before his arms fall limp on the dusty ground.

is the moon watching? and the stars? have they ever witnessed something so gutwrenchingly tragic?

“he wore the ring on his pinky! and it didn’t even fit halfway!” your glasses is left abandoned beside you again as you finally allow yourself to weep freely.

seeing that you clearly need a break after that heartbreaking scene, jungkook pauses the episode.

“that’s so cute, but-” you hiccup. “this is so unfair. they were supposed to get married and have babies!”

“oh, baby. i know.” he coos softly, hugging your side and peppering your cheek with kisses. his own tears drip from his chin and he brushes them away with the back of his hand. “their souls will be together in after life though, don’t you think?”

you gradually grow quiet and calm at the thought he proposed, but- “i don’t think they can make babies there.”

“shit.” he chuckles as his forehead lands over your shoulder, glasses slightly sliding down his nosebridge. “you’re right.”

“this is too much. i can’t-” you blow your nose in sheets of tissue paper before throwing them in the bin you dragged next to the bed earlier. “it hurts so much. they just wanted a peaceful life together.”

the two of you grieve for the what if’s and what could’ve been’s. he can’t possibly think of anything more tragic than being forced in a position to choose between the love of your life and the humanity; only to end up perishing at the hands of the evil who made you do it.

and what did he have left? a lifetime’s worth of love to take with him to the grave, and whatever’s left of his pride and dignity? jungkook wouldn’t want any of those. he only wants you.

he lifts up his head, a small smile playing on his lips, swollen and cherry-colored from the nervous nibbles of his bunny teeth. “we’re crying like this and they’re not even the main characters.”

“need to sue the writers for emotional damages.” you groan, tense muscles slowly relaxing in your boyfriend’s embrace. “how many minutes left?”

“40 minutes.”

“i can’t even open my eyes anymore. sorry, babe. my head-”

it’s almost as if it’s been dunked underwater. the throbbing pain spreads numbing pressure from your temples to the back of your head.

“i told you we can finish it tomorrow. it’s fine.”

jungkook briefly leaves your side. the television screen turns black after he pulls out the plug. he throws away the crumpled tissue papers, and then he places your glasses on the safety of the nightstand.

“how cute… don’t fall asleep on me yet.” he fondly coos at your half-asleep figure. “you’re dehydrated. drink some water first.”

a straw pokes your lips. with your eyes shut closed, you hold onto his wrist to steady the tumbler as you take a long sip. by the time you let go, the water has reached the line indicating that there’s only three quarters of it left.

you softly fall back on your pillow with a ‘thump’, turning your back on him to face his empty side of the bed. he also drinks his share of the water before filling in the blank beside you.

he hums in acknowledgement when you pull at his arm to make it your personal pillow, leaving his own glasses on the nightstand as well before facing you.

you give him a small hazy smile, threading your fingers through his soft and luscious hair. “love your pretty and healthy hair.”

“i love you.” he whispers like a confession as he strokes the back of your head. “close your eyes now.”

“i love you, too.” with a peaceful sigh, you nuzzle your face against his chest. “jungkook?”

“hmmm?”

“were you happy today?”

a lump grows in his throat, bigger than the one he felt when he was browsing through engagement rings online. emerald cut, cushion cut, round cut. sapphire, ruby, diamond. size 4, 4.5, 5, 5.5, 6, 6.5… he was hanging on the thin line that separated excitement and anxiety. the two-hour train ride passed by like a radio song he didn’t pay attention to. but you don’t need to know about that. not right now.

he swallows it down, embracing you tighter. “i still am… happy. if i delete those scenes from my memory.”

“me too.” you mumble before succumbing to the void of darkness beneath your heavy eyelids.

—

between the alcohol and the coffee that he simultaneously drank, it looks like the latter won the upper hand. more than twenty minutes later, jungkook is still wide awake, overcome by his clamorous thoughts. the conversations he had with his friends echo in his mind, and he paces back and forth between your shared past and future. the future… there is no future if there is no you.

he closes his eyes, instructing himself to focus on the steady rise and fall of your chest instead of the things he cannot control.

he kisses the top of your head. “i love you so much.”

however, he won’t be able to sleep peacefully until he learns what happens next. he needs the closure because he would truly despise having a bad dream about them. after all, they didn’t show maidservant kim dying. there is a glowing firefly of hope he’s been enchanted to follow into the abyss of the night.

with careful movements, he wears his glasses and his wireless earbuds. he holds his phone using the arm you’re lying on, while his hand under the blanket absentmindedly rubs your back, palm smoothly running up and down the expanse of your skin.

his jaw slacks open only three minutes after he picked up where you left off. jang uk, the male lead of the show, reveals to those grieving infront of the three empty coffins that their loved ones did not pass away.

the following scene unveils park jin, alive yet unconscious on a bed, and maidservant kim who is holding his ring-clad hand, weeping for the traumatic night the two of them suffered.

jungkook chuckles in great relief, blinking away the tears from his glassy eyes.

“fuck, they’re alive.”

—

“fuck, they’re alive!” you almost choke on the haejangguk, a hangover soup, that you started to heartily eat not even two minutes ago. “i almost died crying last night and it turns out that they lied to me?!”

jungkook chooses to feign ignorance. he innocently watches the screen with his wide doe eyes, bunny teeth biting at the rim of his glass of white milk.

“wow, i’m speechless.“ he squeaks out. “how did they even get rescued?”

—

taglist! @alanniys @jjkeverlast @queenofdragonsandcats @yvesismywife @jeonqkooks-main @witchfqllen @virgogentlejk @rkie @jeonwiixard @monilyv @bermudaisy @takochelle @the1921-monsters @investedreader @seagulljk @yeow6n @yoonqkiss @hopeworldjimin @lllucere @unnatae @zqynmlk @bxbyyyjocelyn @zkdlllin @koostarcandy @tswisal1 @fragmentof-indifference @laylasbunbunny @jjk-jeongirl @cherishoshi @taexidriver @luaspersona @yn-lifeu @loveejkk @bloopkook @babyboo22 + send an ask / dm if you want to be added (or removed) :D

[ladyherenya]

Books read in November and December

Between trying to write a novel for NaNoWriMo and discovering oh-so-addictive Korean contemporary romantic dramas on Netflix, I didn’t read as much in November. But after reading two months worth of books in October, that felt like the right decision.

And then December was busier than I anticipated.

Favourite cover: The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making.

Reread: The Girl in Times Square by Paullina Simons (November).

Next up: Miss Bunting by Angela Thirkell.

(Longer reviews and ratings are on LibraryThing. And also Dreamwidth.)

November

When We Were Warriors by Emma Carroll (narrated by Victoria Fox): A collection of three stories about children in England during WWII, loosely connected by an American soldier who turns up in each story. “The Night Visitors” is about a group of London children evacuated to Frost Hollow Hall and I would have appreciated it more if I’d read Carroll’s novel Frost Hollow Hall. I enjoyed revisiting the characters from Letters from the Lighthouse (which I have read and loved) in “Olive’s Army”, and “Operation Greyhound” is about an important issue that none of the other wartime fiction I’ve read has explored: finding safe shelter for pets during air raids.

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente (narrated by the author): Even though blogging acquaintances had reviewed this positively, I was still surprised by how delightful and meta it is. It felt, very intentionally and thoughtfully, written in the same vein as the first novels I ever read: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz and The Magic Faraway Tree, with a dash of Narnia. Twelve year old September doesn’t have siblings or friends accompanying her into Fairytale and I wondered if that would limit how emotionally invested I became in her story, but I cared a lot about September and her relationships. And the prose is just lovely.

Three Little Truths by Eithne Shortall: This is about the different women living in a Dublin street. I liked the way their lives and stories fitted together. The conclusion has the potential to be bitter, setting women against each other, but is much more forgiving -- and manages that realistically. It makes for a quieter ending, but that isn’t a weakness. Not every story needs to be sharp and shocking. I think having so many characters meant enough time wasn’t given to Martha and her daughters and how they are dealing with the aftermath of trauma. The book could easily have just focused on them.

The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory: Alexa and Drew meet when a hotel elevator briefly breaks down. Afterwards Drew asks Alexa to be his date to a wedding, and a fake relationship quickly turns into a real one, complicated by them both living in different cities. This was okay, which is to say that I enjoyed reading it but don’t feel inclined to spend any more time reviewing it.

The Deathless Girls by Kiran Millwood Hargrave: This is darker than Hargrave’s middle-grade fantasy but otherwise it felt very much like the same sort of adventure and even in the final act, when it had clearly turned into a vampire story, I was still expecting that it would have the sort of bittersweet ending her other books have. It doesn’t. Intellectually I can recognise the merit in what Hargrave is doing here. But from an emotional perspective, I found the ending thoroughly disappointing. As a teenager, I would have hated it.

Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett (narrated by Nigel Planer): When Death is, well, fired (for want of a better word), he finds himself a different job. But his absence causes problems for those who die, particularly for Windle Poons, the oldest wizard at the Unseen University. It wasn’t a book where I felt like I really related to the characters. (It was published in between Moving Pictures and Witches Abroad, and I like those two a lot more.) But it was entertaining and had its moments when it was surprisingly funny or thoughtful. I like reading about the antics of the wizards more than I expected to.

Permanent Record by Mary H. K. Choi: Pablo is working nightshift when pop star Leanna Smart comes into the store. I read most of this, put the book down to do something else... and then never picked it up again. It was interesting, particularly for its portrayal of a teenager who has dropped out of college and is struggling to find direction -- something I think should be explored more in YA fiction -- but I think those qualities which made it interesting also made it a bit too real to be really enjoyable? I don’t even know.

December

The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There by Catherynne M. Valente (narrated by S. J. Tucker): September returns to Fairyland, a year older, to discover that Fairyland has been changed by her previous adventures and that this sojourn is not going to unfold how she’d expected and hoped it would. As a story about changes, consequences, coming back to a place you love and entering adolescence, this is poignant and astute; it resonated with me so much. I also liked its many nods to the portal fantasy I grew up with. But I found some of the landscapes, and the people September meets, less appealing than those in the first book. I’m not sure why.

Notebooks of a Middle-School Princess: Royal Crown by Meg Cabot: I enjoyed this more than the previous two in the series. The focus is on Olivia’s family and friends in the days leading up to a coronation. Olivia’s family is Mia’s family -- after reading all The Princess Diaries books, I care about them, and I continue to think it’s interesting (but also very believable) that Olivia has such a different relationship with Grandmere than Mia does. And I like how Olivia navigates relationships with, and advice from, her peers. She’s got a lot to learn because she’s thirteen, an age where there are a lot of changes, but she’s realistically level-headed.

Warrior of the Altaii by Robert Jordan: Jordan’s first novel was written and sold in the late 70s, but never published until now. What I found most interesting were the differences and similarities between it and The Wheel of Time, one of my favourite series. In terms of the protagonist, prose and plot, it’s very different: its first-person narrator is a already a warrior and leader; the story revolves around why the nomadic Altaii try to take a city; and it’s all over by page 350. But many of the worldbuilding elements are variations on things which are also in WOT. If I hadn’t read WOT, I would have still found the worldbuilding interesting but probably not enough to make up for not really connecting with any of the characters.

Soul Music by Terry Pratchett (narrated by Nigel Planer): I knew about the Discworld series for years and years before I read any of the books and I’ve wondered when I was going to meet Susan. Sixteen year old Susan fills in for her grandfather, Death, after he disappears. Meanwhile Anhk-Morpork discovers “music with rocks in it” I enjoyed watching Susan learn about Death, Pratchett’s parody of rock music was a lot of fun, and the combination of those two storylines means this book isn’t a rehash of Moving Pictures-but-this-time-with-rock-music. However, I didn’t find the final act -- and its resolution -- quite as satisfying as Moving Pictures’.

[culturenosh]

week of 10/23

heard glasshouse, jessie ware as a more radio-friendly turn from a critically beloved, occasionally experimental soul singer, i was primed to… not like this as much as i do. her previous record, tough love, attempted to bridge this sound and that of her first album, devotion; by committing entirely to a full-blooded soul aesthetic, rather than trying to marry it with cloudy, hazy electronic production, this album ends up working much better. it has a clarity and a warmth to it that makes even the most trite numbers (like the single “alone”) feel worthwhile, and it’s a great record to welcome the fall. half-light, rostam another good fall record. rostam’s classical mania, or manic classicism, is a lot to take over a 15-track album without other elements to really counter it (i.e. ezra koenig’s genial presence, discovery’s use of pop tropes, charli xcx or carly rae’s songwriting prowess, etc), but the ornate melodies and smart use of space make for plenty of engaging moments. i’m not sure how i feel about his voice, since a lot of these productions overpower him, but in and of itself his singing has a lovely, soft texture. it’s a beautiful soundscape, if nothing else. 22, hyukoh i kind of cringe at how this band gets described as ‘indie,’ if only because they’re like… not (they’re on a major label, they’re extremely successful). i think there’s a narrative that they’re radically different from the rest of the k-pop crowd, and while i don’t know enough about south korea’s musical culture to make the call, that narrative makes my hackles stand up pretty much every time it comes across. that said, the music is good. oh hyuk has a nice, expressive voice and he uses it well; i like the shoegaze touches across the ep, which i wasn’t expecting after having listened to “comes and goes.” it’s a little sensitive-man-rock and it’s extremely fashionable, but it’s done well and with feeling, and they can definitely write a hook. rina, rina sawayama i’m still not convinced by her aesthetic/sonic combination, even though it should be right up my alley. in spots, it works - i like how ‘ordinary superstar’ links the airbrushed, too-pretty-for-you popstar sphere of the early 2000s with social media culture without beating you over the head with it, and presenting it as something attainable and everyday. the temptation of the thing, perhaps. her attempts at critique, by contrast, always feel shallow and half-baked, even though the hooks are good. it’s strange to me that she’s getting such buzz off of the same concepts pc music was getting slammed for two years ago. (not to say that they didn’t deserve it then, but rather that these ideas are still not well-developed enough or explored in any depth.) the bit in ‘cyber stockholm syndrome’ where she talks about being pretty but sad is revealing; even as she’s exploring modern technological depression, she’s still using it as an aesthetic first, so it doesn’t connect. maybe that’s the point, but i feel like i’m being laughed at when i listen. (i suspect i may turn around on this - i saw her i-d feature and liked her personality, so i might be reading her music wrong. i like the sonic references she’s building from. her best work probably lies ahead of her.) plunge, fever ray i really dug the first fever ray album, much moreso than i ever connected with the knife’s material. it’s interesting that this record is clearly the same artist and outwardly the same sound but the architecture is very different. it’s not as ambient or atmospheric as the first, and there’s some electroclash influences that kind of surprised me but make total sense. i like this new sense of definition - it feels like there’s a real sense of purpose for this record. the songs haven’t fully revealed themselves to me yet, but i like the bangers (‘to the moon and back,’ ‘this country,’ ‘idk about you’) so i think the rest will come with time. i love the sexuality of it.

seen battle royale (dir. kinji fukasaku, 2000) i didn’t expect this movie to be so shocking. maybe because hunger games ripped it off, i felt like i knew what i was going to see. what makes it so good is where it differs - hunger games is really invested in the dystopia, the surrounding pageantry, and in one perspective, fitting the concept into more acceptable and less transgressive tropes. battle royale only gives a few details, gives every character an arc, and never explains anything. the juxtaposition of the ordinary student dynamics/teen drama tropes and the violence makes it feel both more grounded and more surreal, and gives the movie a lot of thematic material to work with. the lighthouse scene could have been a movie or play unto itself, for instance. the pace that this creates is breathtaking. it’s almost too much, but it’s brilliant and horrifying.