#and in audiobooks that's rarely the case

[mysticmiav]

The reason I can never get into audiobooks is cuz the narrator's voice is hardly ever how I imagine the character' voice but also wdym different characters aren't voiced by different people???

[mostlyghostie]

What I read in July!

Being on holiday for a couple weeks helped here.

Loved The Burgess Boys, Strout is unbelievable at creating real people, her books are just so compelling. This was more just sad rather than the hopefulness of some of her others, but loved it.

Don’t Look Now was enjoyable, but a rare case of the film being better. Some other good stories in here too,

Powering through Narnia with my 5 year old, we both thought The Silver Chair was really weird, but there was some good stuff in it, primarily the giant castle and the collapsing underworld. Alan was more than usually unhelpful in this one.

Listened to the audiobook of The Witches while driving through Alberta on hols, it’s a bit less fun once the mouse transformation happens, but such a sweet ending

I’m sure I’ve read Animal Farm before at school, but that was a loong time ago. It’s fucking great! Obviously. Found an 80s Folio Society edition very cheap in a local shop with Quentin Blake illustrations.

Hot Milk was great and weird and funny, following a slightly aimless young woman who is accompanying her mother to Spain for a cure to an illness that she’s patently making up for some reason. I bought this in 2016 and only just read it.

The Hole was also v weird, reminiscent of Murakami, liked it a lot. I’m fond of the detached, quiet style of a lot of Japanese fiction.

Didn’t like this Pratchett very much. I never read the Tiffany Aching books when I was deep in my Discworld phase (96-06?), liked the first one a lot but this didn’t connect with me

Shop/Instagram

[enbysiriusblack]

modern marauders phone hcs

james:

has the newest samsung phone. gets a new phone every year

his phone case is a personalised picture one of him & all the marauders. he has a few diff backgrounds; lily, hari, group photo of all the marauders, sirius, him and lily and hari, him & both his parents

he uses his phone mostly to facetime his parents or sirius if sirius isn't with him, & to post thirst traps on social media

his most used apps is whatsapp & tiktok

he also has an iphone but it's basically the exact same set up as his samsung. he got it after lily & sirius argued over which was better, to keep a neutral ground & please them both

sirius:

has a few years old samsung phone. only replaced it when it breaks & is unfixable

his phone case is just one of those black practical ones with the built in stands but he added a small paw print sticker to it

also has a few diff backgrounds; same group photo of the marauders as sirius has, his motorbike, his pets, him & james

he mostly uses his phone to facetime james' parents or james if james isn't with him, & to take pictures of his babies (his motorbike, his pets, and hari)

his most used apps is whatsapp & letterboxd

doesn't have much social media at all

remus:

has a super old nokia. he doesnt have a phone case

his background is some scenic hills

he mostly uses it to call people, literally that's it

always forgets he has it & never charges it

has instagram but peter set it up & posts on it for him and remus only uses it on other people's phones on rare occasions

his most used app is his local library's audiobook app but he uses it on his computer

peter:

has a few years old iphone. would get a new one but doesn't have the money

his phone case is blue with the superman logo on

his lockscreen photo is that same group photo of him & all the marauders, and his background is topless james

he mostly uses his phone to stalk random people (he's great at is & is the go to person when his friends want to find stuff out about someone, & to watch james' thirst traps)

his most used app is internet search & tiktok

lily:

has a few years old iphone

her phone case is brown with a pattern of books on a shelf

her lockscreen is a picture of her & james, and her background is hari playing with their cat

she mostly uses her phone to rate books on goodreads and rate films on letterboxd & ramble about her thoughts on tumblr

her most used app is tumblr

she has james blocked on tiktok (did it years back seriously but left him blocked as a joke), however she borrows her friends phones a lot to watch james' thirst traps

[kai-ninjago]

Tornado Wranglers headcanons!

Every member of the Tornado Wranglers has gotten a tattoo done by Lily before, most of them drunkenly

Tyler and Boone have known each other since they were in highschool :) they weren’t extremely close until a few years later, but they would sit together at lunch

Boone has a pet snake! Its name is Jaeger

Dexter doesn’t go chasing quite as often as the rest of them because of his age— he has a bad back, and also likes to spend time at home with his wife

Dexter has four children, all of which are grown up and live out of state. They’ve all met the rest of the Wranglers at least once, though

Lily and Dani are dating and live together

Boone dropped out of highschool his senior year, but he doesn’t like to talk about it so no one (except Tyler) really knows why

Dexter used to do work as a volunteer firefighter when he was younger. His longtime career ended up being as a university professor later on

Dexter’s wife loves to cook for the Wranglers and have them over at their house— they’re around the same age as her and Dexter’s children, so it’s nice to have them around now that the kids are all moved out

Dani loves animals! When they’re not on a chase, she likes to volunteer at the local shelter, or foster cats and dogs

Lily and Dani share clothes a lot, especially when they’re on the road

I’ve seen this mentioned in plenty of fics, so it’s hardly my idea— but I wholeheartedly agree that Tyler’s accent comes out more when he’s drunk

Boone is the type to keep clothes until they’re literally falling apart— the majority of his wardrobe is 10+ years old, and very well worn

The group drinks together a lot, but Dexter rarely joins in— he likes to keep a clear head in case something bad happens, so he can take care of everyone

Coming back to Boone’s snake, Dexter absolutely refuses to go to Boone’s house because he’s terrified of snakes

Lily loves to draw! She’s the one who designed the “not my first tornadeo” shirts— it was meant as a joke, but Tyler loved them

Boone sleeps very little, and even less when they’re on the road. He gets nightmares often, so he likes to stay up as late as possible, only going to sleep when absolutely necessary.

The others are aware of this, and do their best to help him out wherever necessary

Tyler loves his truck so much, as soon as it gets damaged he finds a way to repair it

(Canon) Boone loves sweet things, especially chocolate! Tyler doesn’t like him eating in the truck though, because he’s messy

Lily often forgets to eat and drink when they’re traveling, leading to her getting exhausted and dehydrated. To combat this, Tyler makes a point of stopping and sitting down as a group to have three solid meals a day, even if they’re picnicking in the middle of nowhere

Boone likes to give everyone nicknames— T, Dex, Dans, and Lee

Tyler and Ben keep in contact after Ben goes home! They become close online friends, with Ben frequently tuning in to the streams. Later on, he makes a habit of visiting Arkansas to see the Wranglers at least once a year!

Boone is very affectionate with all of the wranglers, giving them hugs and even kisses all the time

Dani plays the guitar really well. She doesn’t bring one with her when they travel, but if she can get her hands on one, she likes to play and sing for her friends around the fire

Lily and Dani are short for Lillian and Daniela ^_^

If they’re ever traveling for a long time, like over a month, Tyler will have Dani cut his hair for him

Lily has a big family, and keeps in touch with all of her siblings. She calls them often to make sure they’re alright during storms, and most of the Wranglers know them well by now

Boone has a hard time reading, but he loves to listen to audiobooks while they’re on long drives! His favorite are sci-fi stories books like The Martian and Dune

Tyler loves to dance. He can sometimes convince the crew to go out line dancing with him, but most of them usually have to be at least a little bit tipsy to even consider it

Lily and Boone are best friends; they have very similar personalities and can easily match each others energy

The tattoo that Boone was referring to in that deleted scene where he’s talking to Ben is a tramp stamp that says “giddy-up cowboy”

Tyler loves to cook! At home he has a grill where he makes brisket and ribs to share with everyone ^_^

That’s all :P

[eddiediazismyhusband]

What are you headcanons for buddie when they travel? I personally think eddie hates the process (flying, driving etc) but is fine once theyve reached destination, and buck loves or doesn’t mind it because he did so much in his 20s

hi anon!! (so sorry it took me a bit to see this i had to drive and get food)

but i LOVE imagining travel hc’s for the buckley-diaz clan

one of my favorites is that eddie hates flying specifically, and prefers car rides (as passenger princess to buck ofc) but in the rare occasions they do fly, he has to sit in between buck and chris, holding buck’s hand through takeoff and landing

i also think buck is one of those travelers who will have a flight scheduled in the afternoon but will insist on getting there at least 4-5 hours early because “you never know what night go wrong in the security line, eds!”

i think christopher loves flying and watching the ground below out the window so they indulge him whenever they can, but when they don’t, christopher and buck are big fans of car games

when they are on a long car ride, eddie brings a small pillow and blanket with him in the front passenger seat to sleep on the road

in the few times eddie does drive for long car rides, he likes to listen to either old country music or film scores (don’t ask why i have this hc i couldn’t explain it to you) and he has to constantly tell buck and chris to stop complaining bc it calms his nerves

i think buck gets carsick when he’s in the passenger seat for long rides, and he has to keep a plastic bag up front with him at all times just in case- because of this he doesn’t look at his phone or read books, instead opting for audiobooks through his airpods

eddie 100% reads on his phone when he’s not sleeping during a car ride when buck is driving

chris can go a long way before needing to stop for the bathroom, but buck has the bladder of a 6 year old and they find themselves stopping constantly

eddie prefers paper maps and gets into arguments with siri over directions (both when he drives and when buck drives)

eddie has gotten into arguments with tsa over chris’s crutches before since they usually insist on him using a wheelchair even though he doesn’t need one (this is something i’ve seen in airports when i’ve traveled so idk if it is the same everywhere else, but anyway)- buck is always the one to calm him down and chris doesn’t mind if it’s what they require, but it hurts eddie to see them treating chris as if he can’t move in his own

eddie gets so stressed on flights that even watching movies on the plane doesn’t help so he often uses a sleep mask to cover his eyes and will rest his head on buck’s shoulder even if he isn’t asleep

buck will watch something on the seatback tv, but usually opts for reading or an audiobook- he and chris have also been known to discuss plane facts with each other (one of the few things that does sooth eddie)

eddie squeezes buck’s hand with every tremor of the plane and buck will always kiss the back of eddie’s hand in these instances to try and calm him

thank you so much for the ask, anon! I loved getting to talk about this 💕💕 (again apologies for how long it took me to get to this one: i am back home now so please send me more asks!!!)

[permettez-moi]

More ruins of gorlan audiobook thinkies:

Arald asking Will not to tell Halt that he told Will it was hid master leading the cavalry, as he didn’t want Halt to get angry with him. I like how this indicates they have butted heads before, as most characters in the series are shown to be cool headed, or, if they aren't, they rarely actually argue. So in a way I like how this request indicates it has happened before, getting rid of a bit of the feeling of 'they all magically get along'

Halt including Will in his message to the baron 'tell the baron that Halt and his apprentice Will are tracking the boar' just the fact that Halt not only adds that his apprentice is coming, but that he is called Will feels so important? It's like Halt is showing how much Will matters to him, and that, even though he is a mere apprentice, he is important

'Halt reigned in for a few seconds to explain, and Will brought tug to a stop beside him' the way I died because Flanny boy obviously had to say 'to a stop' instead of 'to a halt' kills me

I am absolutely obsessed with the image of Horace, absolutely beaten up, a black eye and bleeding lip, holding a wooden sword, standing there ready to protect will (I am thinking of a specific image, but can't pinpoint it, like, slightly hunched, maybe leaning against something, in any case, a real power stance)

When Will got scared because Gil dissapeared out if sight on the planes (when hunting kalkara) Halt says that it's alright, and he rather Will warn him too often, then too little, and then, I quote 'Halt knew only all too well, that having called a false alarm once, Will might be reluctant to react one time, and that might be fatal for all of them' ALL THE POSSIBLE THINGS THIS COULD RELATE TO??? Did Halt once feel foolish like this, and didn't warn crowley or the group or something, causing terrible things?? Is this somehow related to ferris, where, after the first attack, he told his thoughts to someone who reacted badly, not doing it the next time and then nearly getting drowned??

I FORGOT ABOUT THE WILLYS KISS OMG THE KUSS THE KIDS I SCREAMED OUT LOUD

Both Rodney and Arald being happy that Will chose Halt, you cannot tell me that that isn't because they saw Halt was happier with Will in his life

HALT SMILING BECAUSE WILL CHOSE HIMMMMMM I AM NOT NORMAL ABOUT THIS MAN

WAIT THE CONFESSION ABOUT WILL'S FATHER IS IN THE FIRST BOOK??? In my head it came way later! Also got teary eyed by this btw

Brb I am crying now

[sad-boys-book-club]

"&" Ampersand - A Literary Companion: Eve & Paradise Lost

Hey everyone!

Let’s continue feeding my unhealthy obsession with Bastille by diving into the literary companion I created for “&”. Today, we’re talking about the second track: Eve & Paradise Lost. (Now that the album is out, I can finally follow the tracklist properly!)

In case you missed it, here’s my post about Intros & Narrators.

Before we jump into the book picks for this song, I want to apologize for the delay in writing this. I’ve had some family stuff going on, moved houses and also wanted to make sure I had read both books before recommending them.

Actually, I plan to take some time to go over the whole list of stories I’ve picked—I want to read them all thoroughly so I know exactly what I’m recommending to you all (some of them, I've already read, but I want to revisit them as well).

Now, let’s talk about the song. I find it fascinating to see a male songwriter like Dan taking on a woman’s perspective for a project that explores different stories. The official statement about the song stood out to me: “This song is about the burdens of loving women cruelly made to feel blame and shame from the dawn of time.” It’s clear Dan’s an artist who engages with feminist writings, and that’s something I truly appreciate—especially given how rare it is in the music industry, particularly for someone who presents as a straight, white male.

Cat Bohannon — Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution

The title character from the song. Probably the most cited figure from the Bible. A staple in paintings and literature for the past two thousand years. The first sinner. Eve remains a pillar of the Western collective imagination, her meaning changing a lot throughout the decades. From the representation of female sexual desire, scapegoating her for condemning the entire human race to death by eating the forbidden fruit (can you tell I went to Catholic school?), to being seen as the first example of female rage in the face of oppression. She embodies the complexities of womanhood—temptation, sin, and defiance—all wrapped into a single character.

Cat Bohannon’s book couldn’t be further from this. With a PhD from Columbia in the evolution of narrative, Bohannon explores why, in an age when we often see medical and science knowledge as some sort of truth, we still somehow have a very male-centric view of the human body.

By reexamining all the different potential Eves we have in the history of human evolution—that’s how she chooses to call all the ‘hypothetical female ancestors’ in our shared Homo sapiens lineage—, Bohannon urges us to reconsider and reshape our understanding of how our knowledge of the human body has often ignored half the world’s population.

As someone who enjoys reading non-fiction books (happy to share a few of my all-time favorites in the comments to whoever is interested), I found this book a really insightful, at times infuriating, eye-opening view into how sad it is that, for much of documented history, women have been seen as just men with breasts and wombs bolted on. The author is especially conscious of how sex (influenced by chromosomes, physiology, and hormones) and gender (how we identify, behave in our environment, and interact with one another) are not the same thing. She often adds notes to point out how science ignoring the female body and all its narratives has even worse consequences for trans and nonbinary folks, which I found really well-done and necessary in today’s age.

I picked this book as a companion to the song mainly because of the “rolled your eyes at pain you'll never comprehend” line, but I think it is a solid read on its own. I certainly learned a lot about my own body during the 15 hours I listened to the audiobook.

John Milton — Paradise Lost

So, Paradise Lost—the epic poem that pops up on pretty much every English Lit syllabus. Quick and snappy plot summary before we dive in: It’s a 12-part epic that covers Satan’s dramatic fall from Heaven, the creation of Adam and Eve, their blissful (but short-lived) days in Eden, the infamous temptation, and their ultimate eviction from paradise. Along the way, there’s a war in Heaven (didn’t exactly keep me on the edge of my seat), plus some deep philosophical chats between Raphael and Adam about creation, God, and, well, everything. It’s basically theological fanfiction (I mean it in the most neutral way possible).

Milton, being the good Puritan he was, used these stories to dig into free will, predestination, and conscience. It’s hard not to see Satan as a rebel leader and God as the authority figure, especially when you remember Milton was writing during the English Civil War. 

The poem was widely known but highly controversial and criticized during Milton’s lifetime, however, during the Romantic period, poets like Shelley and Byron “reclaimed” Milton’s Satan as a tragic antihero figure.

Anyway, I had to dig out my old uni notes (and hit up some audiobooks) to brush up on Eve’s role in this whole mess. And let me tell you, there’s a lot to unpack. Mainly because: a) as is often the case with old poetry, there’s a lot to read between the lines; b) classics come with a million different interpretations, and c) there are a few different versions, depending on the edition you read, so it’s easy to get lost in the variations of text, footnotes, and commentaries. (And also d) I won’t lie, it’s a slow, heavy read. At times, I had to resort to the audiobook just to get through some of the passages!)

Here’s what stood out this time around: Eve’s role is seriously hard to pin down, as Milton's relation to gender politics has been scrutinized since, well, pretty much since it was published in the 17th century. (Yeah, I had to pull out good old Google Scholar, watch some lectures on YouTube, and, of course, dive into Muses: An Ampersand Podcast—thanks, Dan and, mostly, Emma.)

What I really enjoyed was reading some modern articles that analyze Eve’s character through the lens of feminism which ties into the song’s exploration of blame and shame—no Wild World pun intended.

First of all, when Eve is introduced to Adam in Paradise Lost, Milton has her momentarily distracted by her own reflection in a pool of water, a subtle but significant parallel to the myth of Narcissus (hint hint). It’s an early indication of how susceptible to being misled she will be later on. But it also plays into this idea that her curiosity and desire—whether for knowledge or just, you know, herself—are somehow “dangerous.”

Now, Eve gets the blame for the Fall because she’s tempted by Satan to snack on the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. Sure, she’s tricked, but let’s not pretend it’s all the serpent’s fault—once the idea is planted, it’s Eve who talks herself (and Adam) into it. That shows some sense of agency on her part, right? She wasn’t just a passive, helpless victim; she wanted to prove herself, to be tested, and she took action.

Milton is giving her a bit of credit for having a mind of her own, even if it’s wrapped up in this narrative of downfall. Eve’s curiosity and independence—qualities we might admire today—become her so-called "fatal flaws" here. So, yes, the story punishes female agency, but it’s undeniably there. And in a world where women were (and still are) often written as powerless, it’s refreshing to see Eve at least take some control, even if the outcome is a bit... unfortunate.

Now, let’s be real, this whole negative portrayal of Eve isn’t shocking. Milton was writing in a time where misogyny was baked into pretty much everything (which, sadly, isn’t all that different from now). Eve’s agency and sexuality are framed as the ultimate cautionary tale: women’s sexuality and agency are seen as inherently dangerous and something that inevitably leads to moral fallings.

But despite it all, towards the later part of Paradise Lost, Eve does get a kind of redemption arc. I came across one scholar who referred to the concept of felix culpa, a phrase in Catholic tradition meaning "happy fault" or "blessed fall." Eve might be responsible for humanity’s downfall, but her actions also set the stage for the coming of Christ, making her "mistake" a necessary part of the larger divine plan. It’s a bit of a paradox—how can something so disastrous lead to something so positive?—but the idea is that certain misfortunes can eventually lead to greater good.

Milton leans into this in Book 12, where Adam says:

"O goodness infinite, Goodness immense! That all this good of evil shall produce, And evil turn to good; more wonderful Than that which creation first brought forth, Light out of Darkness!"

So, in a roundabout way, Eve’s fall isn’t all doom and gloom—she’s the necessary catalyst that sets God's plan into motion. In fact, scholars have started to reframe Eve’s role in Paradise Lost as something more empowering than it initially appears. Traditionally, Eve’s been seen as the ultimate cautionary tale, blamed for humanity’s fall and cast as a symbol of female weakness and danger. But if you look closely, there’s something subversive in the way she’s actually the mover of the entire plot.

Eve isn’t just sitting around passively following orders—she actively makes the decision to eat the fruit, which, yes, brings about the fall, but it’s also what triggers the eventual coming of Christ and the possibility of redemption. Without her action, we’d all be hanging out in Eden, stuck in a static, sheltered existence. In a way, this is Eve taking control of her fate, making a choice, even if it’s framed as "wrong."

Plus, while Milton definitely punishes Eve, her agency is undeniable. Adam is kind of an afterthought in the whole thing—Eve is the one who steps outside the box, embraces curiosity, and disrupts the status quo. To modern feminist readers, that kind of defiance (even if it’s punished) reflects the strength of a woman asserting her independence. Raphael even calls her "the mother of humankind," acknowledging her dual role. She is both chaos and creation—a symbol of disruption but also the source of life. So, in a way, Eve’s choice is what makes humanity... well, human.

I like how in the song, there’s also a sense of Eve having an agency and a mind of her own. The chorus highlights Eve’s struggle with the idea of being “made for” Adam—“When they say I was made for you... made from you”—and the frustration of biting her tongue, which relates to how her love for Adam intertwines with her need for independence.

That’s it for this post! I’ll be back soon with more book picks for the next track. Let me know if you’ve read these or if you have any thoughts!

Feel free to share your thoughts and any other book suggestions as well!

With love,

Cat

[pomodoriyum]

terror mutineer guys take a roadtrip!! ranked by who gets carsick the most

10. Harry goodsir’s senses are made of steel. hes gotten carsick maybe once in his life or soemthing. he spares NO pity for the mutineers who get roadsick, though. hes mad about being forced to take them on his research trip

9. Thomas Armitage- hes fine. never ever gets carsick. he can like scroll on his phone ans read and everything. is the designated passenger up front because of this

8. Tozer- rarely gets carsick. sometimes mountain roads/twisting routes get to him if he’s not the one driving

7. billy gibson— mountains and twisting roads will get his ass. otherwise he’s pretty good. he usually has saltines or bread product in the car to deal with any rare bouts of nausea

6. magnus manson— gets nauseous occasionally. not super bad but will low grade feel yucky the whole ride

5. chef diggle— gets carsick on mountains and when there’s lots of sudden stops/starts. is sensitive about any strong smells that might permeate the car (fast food, a fart, whatever)

4. charles des voeux— he talks a big game and teases the others mercilessly whenever they have to stop to get rid of their nausea, but he’s secretly glad because he was carsick himself and about to lose it. also hes brought about five pillows and seven blankets. no, you may not borrow them. unless it’s you, pilkington. (or hodge)

3. pilkington— regularly asks for them to pull over, but only cause he insists on reading / playing games on his DS. otherwise he’d be fine. he would listen to music instead, but des voeux stole his earbuds ala usual.

2. robert golding— sorry i just think his tummy hurts frequently and hes so brave about it. he brings paper bags just in case but rarely has to use them. when des voeux doesnt have pilks headphones robert borrows them to listen to audiobooks until he falls asleep.

1. cornelius hickey— usually insists on driving to prevent any issues but he can’t do mountains or hilly areas. when he’s not driving he’s retching miserably in the back of the van. one time when he fell asleep (he took a xanax) on a REALLY long drive he nearly aspirated on his own puke. very embarrassed about that one and gets mean as fuck if someone brings it up

bonus: Hodgson doesnt get roadsick easily but he’s got gastro problems so he gets food poisoning almost every time he travels. hes very miserable about it :(. he brings a ds also and lets des voeux play some pokemons on it

[pixelgrotto]

Monkey Nationalism

For the last month and a half my gaming life has revolved around Black Myth: Wukong. I have covered it extensively in my day job, and I urge everyone to check out our exhaustive walkthroughs, which are darn good if I say so myself. Job aside, playing Black Myth has been something of a thought exercise in how I feel about my Chineseness. This is a big, sexy Soulslike and China's first AAA game to win international acclaim, not just from the niche audiences who know what "wuxia" means, but from white people who probably assumed that this was another Japanese game at first. Put another way, mainstream YouTubers are now making lore videos for Black Myth that are explanations of Journey to the West references, and it's wild seeing them talk about Bodhisattva Lingji and why Nezha needs to be in the DLC.

This phenomenon makes me realize that Black Myth: Wukong is one of those rare products that incites pride in my Chinese heritage, despite the fact that in almost all circumstances, I identify as half-Taiwanese instead of Chinese. That's a choice (and a political one), but in spite of these feelings I still wrote a goofy Steam review of this game after my first few hours, exclaiming that it made me "adopt a Beijing accent, speak in 4-character proverbs and sip tea under chrysanthemum trees while composing poetry about the glory of ZHONGGUO."

I was probably inspired to write this review thanks to the excellent Chinese dub, which is indeed full of Mainland accents. (The English dub, for what it's worth, is also very good and full of British accents, which I prefer over American ones for something like this.) Honestly, I found myself surprised that I was so enamored, as I haven't fully read Journey to the West. My one attempt to consume the Arthur Waley translation as a kid failed, and when I listened to the Julia Lovell version via audiobook a few months ago, I found it a bit lacking. (Turns out audio isn't the best way to consume a 16th-century collection of Monster of the Week tales where the moral often boils down to "Buddhism is the best!")

I'm not alone in this regard, though, as most Chinese folks - especially those in the diaspora - probably also experienced Journey to the West via alternate media. In my case, Dragonball was the big property that brought Wukong into my consciouness (albeit via his Japanese name of Goku), and I will perish upon the hill that the first arc of Akira Toriyama's manga is actually a solid interpretation of the story. I was also oddly obsessed with the PS1 games Monkey Magic and Saiyuki: Journey West, and at one point, I attempted to make a game in Klik & Play where I edited a sprite from Conquest of the Crystal Palace into wannabe Wukong. I never made more than this sprite and a makeshift title screen, but my heart was certainly into it for that brief period.

Frankly, you don't need to be familiar with Journey to the West to enjoy Black Myth: Wukong, though some knowledge of the subject matter does help to comprehend the game's plot, which is communicated in the usual Soulslike way. By the time of the game's release, more players were probably attuned to Black Myth's controversies instead of its inspiration, to be honest. There were the mysognistic comments the devs had made, the report by IGN translating these remarks, the limitations on streamers, and the culture war that resulted when chuds decided that legitimate criticism of this game was too "woke." Amidst all of this was the fact that as one of the few Chinese games to obtain global appeal, Black Myth: Wukong naturally became a cornerstone of nationalism. "This game is China's pride and joy! It wasn't made for Westerners with DEI requirements! Blah blah!"

The discourse was deeply disheartening. Frankly, it made me not want to like Black Myth: Wukong. I'd rather support something that isn't embroiled in woman-disparaging rhetoric or tankie apologism, and when it comes to made-in-China games, I'm more partial to anything made-in-Taiwan, like Detention or any of the other great projects made by Red Candle Games.

But those games don't have the big budget and glitz of Black Myth: Wukong. They don't have a hidden ending where the Destined One transforms into a gigantic Stone Monkey and punches Erlang Shen in the face. And they don't quite have this phenomenon that's motivated consumers into mentioning Chinese mythology and culture in the same sentences where they're namedropping Elden Ring. That's something special that makes my heart shine, and once again, we return to the fact that I normally identify as half-Taiwanese.

To identify as Taiwanese is to forever be in the shadow of Mainland China, a nation that forces the name "Chinese Taipei" upon an island that it says it will claim by force if necessary. To be Taiwanese American, in my case, is to constantly be assaulted by US media harping on about cross-strait relations, and rolling my eyes at "China Watchers" who play wargames where they move pieces around a board to simulate a hostile takeover of Formosa.

Yet, political pain aside, Taiwan does have a connected lineage with its larger neighbor. And Journey to the West is one of those shared mythologies, with Wukong not only capturing the imaginations of the denizens of China and Greater China, but also the mind of just about everyone in East and Southeast Asia. There's something about a Monkey King springing from a rock that makes people temporarily unite, and I admit that at the end of 105 hours, I am one of those persons.

I had to devote a lot of time to Black Myth: Wukong because of work. But even if I hadn't been paid to play it, I'd still consider it very good. It's embroiled in kaka almost as bitter as the vehemence that spans the Taiwan Strait, but it's a fine game, say what you will about separating art from the artist - or in this case, politics from the monkey and his quest to recover Buddhist scriptures. I hope that the discourse doesn't repeat itself in time for the inevitable sequel, and I hope the devs learn from their errors and stop being shits to women.

Nezha can also show up in the DLC too, if they like.

[falderaletcetera]

I was not expecting to wake up to have feelings about jackrum today but it sure is happening

(big spoilers for monstrous regiment below, this is a frustrating thing to discuss in public spaces)

so like. I will heartily defend readings of jackrum as a trans man, Full Stop. I will also, now that I know it's an issue beyond the audiobook, extend some grace to folks who don't read him as trans, in case they read an edited version and not, y'know, the author's original intent for him.

and this is a thing where it's vague enough in the text - jackrum never exactly declares himself a man, he actually has this running joke that "on my honour, I am not a violent man" or similar, where the joke is eventually that he is not a man so can actually say that while beating the shit out of everyone - where reading him anywhere in the wonderful soup-pot of gender variance is, y'know, justifiable, to my mind. so long as there's space for him being happier living as a man and settling on he/him pronouns (in original editions) and male presentation.

for me - as someone who is sort of chronically Not Sure about their gender, and exhausted by the question - it encapsulates the "what is important is what would make you happy, not what you are" thing beautifully. jackrum doesn't exist in a time and culture that has the kind of awareness and defintion of gender identity that we do. (maybe this is me being a bit of a pedant about it though.) jackrum can say, and does say and does show us, what he's happier doing.

this is going nowhere I'm just experiencing great fondness and appreciation for it and mourning, a little, the fact that most of the books out there wipe out this reading in favour of Less Transness.

...monstrous regiment does have a few rough spots if you read it with a trans lens. jackrum outs an entire room of soliders as "women", with the names they went by before, which was a tough thing for me to swallow until I accepted that a) jackrum is just not a nice person b) he had good reasons for stirring things up a bit and c) pratchett, maybe, was operating on "transness is probably quite rare" assumptions.

but his handling of jackrum made me want to hug him. jackrum was fat and violent and crude and not very nice; he had a soldier's honour, which is to say, rather little and tempered as steel; he was, frankly, a bit of a monster. he taught brave young lads to go out and kill or die or both for the stupidest of reasons. but he got treated with grace. he got to fool everyone and make his secret jokes and help others like him, or not like him, make it in the army, and when someone selfish and clever and sharp enough to actually figure him out tells him as much, he gets to tell his story. and then he gets to be happy.

jackrum's chosen gender presentation is, to my mind, potentially tangled up with him being a manipulative bastard who loves to fool people, and this is beautiful, actually. he's a complicated monster the likes of which I have never read before, and he's trans, and no fucking wonder more recent editions retcon this wonderful mess, but I'm so glad we got it when we did.

this is still going nowhere, and that is all.

[aileenmurphy]

Aileen Murphy

°˖✧Lovingly penned by Alicia✧˖°

Name: Aileen Siriwanan Murphy Character's Nicknames: Leni, Leen Pronouns: she/her Age: 30 Birthdate: June 23rd, 1994 Occupation: : Pre-K/Kindergarten teacher at Blue Harbor Elementary School Residence: A two bedroom apartment in Cardinal Hill she shares with her roommate Dahlia Young. Length of time in Blue Harbor: 15 years

✧Connections✧Full bio✧Visage✧Musings✧

PHISIOLOGY

Faceclaim: Davika Hoorne Ethnicity: Thai/White Height: 1.62 m Dominant Hand: Left Hair: she wears it very long, loves doing all sorts of braids and coronets in it. Pin straight Hair Color: A very dark brown, almost black Eye Colour: Light brown/Hazel General Health: Healthy, other than the yearly winter cold, and subsequent voice loss Allergies:  None Chronic Illnesses: Diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis at age 10, never truly went away. Managed through healthy habits, and anti-inflammatory medication and braces when a flare-up happens Distinguishing Marks (tattoos, piercings, scars): She rarely leaves the house without her ring splints

PERSONALITY

Likes: Long walks in nature, Danish pastries, braiding hair, baths, romantic novels, cats Dislikes: Coffee, flying, scary movies, audiobooks, heels Bad habits: she sometimes forgets to take off her ring splints before going to bed, or, during bad days, swap them for night splints, so her hands get irritated Nervous tics: Her fingers are always fiddling with the ends of her hair. She doesn’t even realise she’s doing it half of the time Secret talent: she has a remarkable green thumb. She’s been able to bring back from the dead even the most dire of cases Hobbies: Painting, playing guitar, reading, stressbaking, gardening Fears: heights, physical pain,being boring Positive traits: Compassionate, gentle, creative, resilient, responsible, generous Negative traits: Complacent, fearful, insecure, passive, overly self-reliant

LIFESTYLE

Pets: Two ragdoll cats named Chai and Mocha Education level: Bachelor’s degree in early childhood development by Blue Harbor University Languages: English, Thai, some basic French Religion: Agnostic Beliefs: She believes in paying it forward, a kindness for a stranger is something she always tries to make time for Sexual orientation: Heterosexual Marital status: Single Misdemeanours: None Tickets and/or violations: She doesn’t have a drivers license, bikes around everywhere. Drugs/Alcohol: Social drinker, maybe a glass of wine with a book in the bathtub

FAMILY

Mother: Sunisa Phanthavong Father: Richard Murphy Siblings: three younger sisters, Mali Murphy, Nuan Murphy, Amara Murphy

[deathsbestgirl]

okay so sharp objects. i watched the series first. it's been on my list for ages because i love amy adams & patricia clarkson. i remember seeing amy adams on charmed and buffy and thinking "oh i hope she gets more work, i want to see her in Things" and holy shit i was so right.

after finishing the show, i listened to the audiobook. and this is SUCH an interesting case of an adaptation. they changed a lot from the book and i don't really think i like one more than the other. i think the changes made make a lot of sense for tv. like i really really loved the end. when adora is "taking care of" camille — the whole time i was shouting for frank to show up and he does. the way he cares about camille was stunning, in both the show & the book. i loved the slow realization for camille that it wasn't adora who killed the girls, it was amma. this was something i actually convinced myself i was wrong about. and when the show kept going, i just cannot explain my reaction. (i love figuring shows out. i remember saying to leena, "am i just picking up on what they want me to, or am i right?" i literally ranted to renata about absolutely everything. she never watched, but she read about the whole series so she Knew. and yes, i was right about basically everything. and i'll emphasize, i try to go in blind. i didn't know anything except that it was a mother & two daughters, and there were murders.)

in the book, i loved frank & eileen taking care of camille. the way they show her real love & care, and not the manufactured version she knew at adora's hands.

i like the way the book & show portrayed camille. it isn't romanticized, what she went through. the connection she made with the one boy was such an honest thing. not right or good, but so painfully human. looking for someone who understands and attempting to give each other some kind of relief. but it doesn't really work. at the least, they found someone else who understood losing a little sister. camille believed he wasn't guilty when no one else really did.

the incest undertones (overtones...) were so palpable in both the book & show that it shook me to my core. i wasn't prepared for that, but i wasn't shocked by it either. it made sense. caring for someone bodily that way is extremely intimate, and it was forced. it was painful. such a mockery of true intimacy and family love. such twisted love/care.

amma being even younger in the book is. something. the girls who were murdered being younger too...it's something i like to think of as unimaginable. something i loved about the book though, in a twisted way, was that her friends helped her. that was the vibe i got and even though it wasn't really included in the show, the sense of it lingered there too.

idk, i just have a lot of feelings and i haven't stopped thinking about either. it's so rare for me to love both the book and movie/tv adaptation. typically, i like the books more but i really just love both so much.

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

What were your thoughts on how the Saitns were revealed to be real in the Nikolai series? Considering that, before then, the powers of grisha were called "small science", the supernatural seemed odd to me.

Hi, thanks for you question!

This is definitely an interesting one, I'm afraid I don't have the King of Scars duology on audiobook so it's a while since I read them (I usually do my rereads with audio rather than physical) however I do remember thinking about this at the time. I think that a big aspect of this is that Grisha found the need to rationalise and try to explain their power to otkazats'ya people to reduce persecution; look at the difference between Fjerda, where Grisha power is seen as demonic magic, and Ravka, where it's seen as a form progression. Our easy go-to inbetween is Kerch, a country caught between a strong cultural superstition and a very desperate desire to remain at the forefront of global development and cement its position in the global economy (I have lots of worldbuilding thoughts here but that's probably for another time); here, grisha power is not seen as magic or as evil, and they look on Fjerda as backwards for this view, but it isn't seen as something progressive either - it's seen as an exploitable resource, at the price of those how carry it. If this is the situation of the three most powerful countries in the world when Grisha power has been rationalised and presented in terms that otkazats'ya should be able to comprehend and accept, then Grisha would be even worse off in a world where there was no understanding whatsoever of their ability as anything other than magic.

I hope I'm making sense. I'm trying to say that ideally Grisha power would never have been labelled as 'small science', but embraced instead as what it was in ancient times. This concept didn't come from nowhere; early Grisha are rarely specified in orders and are described with many different capabilities (such as the Saints when Nina says some people in Ravka have stopped thinking of them as miracle workers and started thinking of them as acts of Grisha), and some characters (such as Jesper's mother Aditi) never have their order revealed to us. Although in Aditi's case we can assume she was an Alkemi from the descriptions of her power, she also makes "bread rise just by looking at it" which doesn't necessarily fit any order's typical description and only ever called herself "zowa". If it weren't for the need to define power as something scientific and palpable instead of an almost ineffable force is the only reason that Grisha power was ever called "the small science" instead of magic. If it were magic and Grisha weren't capable of channelling the kind of power that the Saints had or that Zoya learns, then they would be even weaker than they already are; because of the state of their world, it's only safe to have 'magic' when you can use it to protect yourself.

I hope this made sense, thanks for your question and sorry it took so long to answer it. A note for everyone else with asks in my inbox right now, I promise I am slowly working through them and please don't hesitate to end me more I love getting them

[springs-hurts]

oh I'm trying, I'm trying so so hard to read a book that contains romance, even little but damn you author for hardening my resolve against it with your story where this person was so worried about his love(for right reasons, I must admit, quite caring and endearing as well) that he and his partner got caught and even in prision he was thinking bout her( again, so caring, quite lovely just not for me).

Like objectively I recognize when the story is well written and this one is, that's not a problem, I'm just so averse to romance these days that I'm unable to even read good ones. And bloody ficking sadly, every book has romance, legit every single one. Atp I'm gonna stop reading I'm telling y'all.

okay no, very rarely I like to read about some couple, there are so few that sometimes even I'm astounded. And mostly they're just old ships( or new in Ned and Cat's case lol) even I don't understand why I don't like it, especially good ones. I want to like it, and objectively I do, I recognize that this ship is good, I don't have any problem reading about them, but I'm not seeking them constantly. Remain in bg please.

One day, one day I'd like to read books where there's romance and my first reaction isn't, "oh Gods, not again!"

Reading this one, I had to force myself to not hit stop button(audiobook) cause the book is good, even the couple is good, I like both of the characters quite mature and good, perfect in every way, just not for me like fucking why? Bish if you know they're perfect the why so much aversion, I'd never get this😭

[canvaswolfdoll]

with the first season's completion, i can now say that spice and wolf is the very rare case of the remake being a viable replacement (as far as the dub goes, anyways)

the last test being, of course, how book 5's adaption goes next season.

i found the changes between the two anime negligible enough (just some visual changes and a few different script adjustments) that the 2024 anime gets victory solely by virtue of adapting the fourth book.

so for the present, i think the best experience is watching the op and ep for the original anime, then watch the remake, then the last arc of the original anime. then the audiobooks if you can get them.

(the translation of the print books have an issue where it's easy to lose track of what dialogue belongs to which character)

once season two arrives, my recommendation will probably change to watching the original's openings and closings before their respective arcs, then watching the remake, then listen to all the audiobooks.

(but also just watching both anime is a great idea, provided you have the time)

[agallimaufryofoddments]

I had an excellent night at The Irish Inn. Arrived in time to hear two songs, then later another song—watched five different people dancing (a young person with two elderly gentlemen, with whom I am familiar, and a familiar waitress with another young woman). There was a group of about a dozen or thirteen other young people there, which is very rare; one of them was old friends with one of the young musicians, which might explain why he was able to sing a song of his own (and had harmony from an older gentleman, no less!)

(Typically the sessions at TII are closed sessions, something that only really sunk in for me after too many visits).

When I dropped a tenner into the tips bucket, one of the regular staple musicians asked if I had a song as well (this never happens. Perhaps he recognized me from my past visits & tips, but even then, I think he only asked since another outsider had just sang). I did. I've never sung the song accompanied before, but the musicians adjusted (obviously, as they always do; it helps that the song I sang was a well-known song, but also proper musicians are just that capable).

It worked out?! People applauded and complimented my voice. I was busy talking with the young people in an attempt to figure out how and why they ended up at the TII (you simply don't see such a large group of young people there). The fellow who was friends with the musician fellow was (I think) a roommate with so-and-so(s), and the woman I spoke with said she brought along her roommates, so it was a whole shindig where circles of roommates and friends coincided, I think. Wow!

Incidentally, totally unrelated, but Baccano! Vol. 1 seems to be slated for an audiobook on May 14, 2024 ($25.99)?! I feel obligated to buy it to demonstrate my support. Yen Press has certainly been dipping into audiobooks with the likes of popular titles like SAO, but I never thought YP would bother with Baccano! I don't want to hope that this means Baccano! has sold better than I thought it did—really, I haven't paid much attention to which titles YP has afforded audiobooks, maybe this is YP trying to milk more money out of an underperforming series—in any case, I do want to publicize this so that people are aware in advance.