#gina chung

[phaedraismyusername]

It's been forever since I've mentioned any books so I just wanted to shout out a few of my favourites from this year so far

Mapping The Interior by Stephen Graham Jones

This little 100ish page novella was my very first read of the year and I truly could not have started with better. It follows a 15 year old Native American boy who believes he sees his dead father walk through their house one night and his mission to recreate the experience to find answers. It's an exploration of grief and trauma, and whether or not these cycles can be broken

Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay

This is so not for everyone lol. I've read four of Tremblay's books this year and this is my favourite. This book is about a horror movie that was never released. A couple of decades later, after a few scenes and the screenplay made it onto the internet, the film has gained a cult following and the only surviving member has agreed to be a part of a much anticipated remake. This is told through excerpts of the original screenplay, the autobiographical audiobook by "the thin kid" and the current timeline of the film getting made. It's weird and uncomfortable and I ate it up in a single day

Sea Change by Gina Chung

Obligatory sad girl seeks peace entry in the list. Ro has just turned 30, works at a mall aquarium, and her boyfriend has just left her to go to Mars. Estranged from her family and sidelined from her best friends life as she plans her dream wedding, Ro spends her nights drinking sharktini's and generally making bad choices. The only light in her life is a giant Pacific octopus, Dolores, who she sees as her last real connection to her missing father, and what happens when Dolores is put up for sale. It's sad and melancholy but with a throughline of hope that slowly blossoms into what my heart needed to read lol

Siren Queen by Nghi Vo

I loved this so much. This book follows a Chinese American girl named Luli Wei as she breaks into 1930s-ish Hollywood and her journey to becoming a star as the monster known as the Siren Queen. I know that's a short summary in comparison but that's because the sale is absolutely in the vibes which are basically 'what if classic Hollywood was Faerie and make it sapphic' and if any one of those words appeal to you in the slightest then I beg you to try this one. I took out an American library e-card just to get my hands on this and it's best decision I've made all year. Please read it lol

Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson

This audiobook y'all. The book follows Lillian as she reconnects with her childhood sort of best friend from boarding school who has written to her begging for help with her politician husbands two children when their mother suddenly passes away. Lillian, living the life of the persistent down and outer, agrees easily, it's just for the summer and she can't turn down the money, after all how hard could it be? There's one little catch though, sometimes the kids burst into flames. When I say this audiobook broke my heart and then healed my soul I promise you I am barely exaggerating. I'm sure you could just read it and it would still be good, but Marin Ireland's narration brings so much heart to this story that I physically cannot bear to recommend it any other way lol. If you only listen to one book this year then this is the one it should be

[judgingbooksbycovers]

Green Frog: Stories

By Gina Chung.

[daricommons]

Everyone always seemed to be climbing upward and striving for more all the time: more money and responsibility, a better title, greater prestige. And it wasn’t like I didn’t want any of those things for myself; it was more like I wouldn’t have had any idea what to do with them had they come to me. I wanted, if I was being honest, to slow down, just for a little while. Everything felt like a race for which there wasn’t even a definitive prize, and that didn’t seem to end until you died. “When you were little,” Umma told me once, “you learned how to walk at such a young age that we were all astonished. But the faster you learned how to go and the easier it became for you, the less you wanted to walk anywhere. It was like you were becoming an infant again. You would sit down in the middle of the sidewalk or in the supermarket and refuse to move until either your father or I picked you up.” She thinks this is a story about what she sees as my lack of ambition manifesting itself early on; I think this is a story about how almost anything, even something as basic as walking, can become less enjoyable when it’s constantly being monitored for progress.

[librarycards]

Rumpus: As someone who balances full-time employment with writing, do you have self-care practices that help you continue creating art?

Gina Chung: I’m very used to thinking of myself as a brain in a jar. I don’t always remember to consider my bodily needs, especially when things get really busy or when I’m in the middle of an engrossing project. I’ve had to remind myself over the years to slow down when I need to and to take care of the container through which I experience the world.

My main tip is to listen to your body as much as you can. Take breaks and sleep when you need to. I’m someone who can easily ignore all my body’s warning signs and just keep going until the point of exhaustion. It’s just not worth it most of the time. There’s no need to flagellate yourself in the name of your art, and the wellspring of your creativity can’t be replenished if you don’t rest, no matter how guilty you might feel for not getting down a certain number of words per day. I’m still learning how to be gentle with myself in doing this. Now, whenever I feel like all the creativity is gone and I’ve lost it for good, I’ve at least learned to believe that’s not true. It’s my lizard brain panicking. I know it will come back. The only way you can care for your art is to care for yourself.

THE PRESENCE IN ABSENCES: A CONVERSATION WITH GINA CHUNG

[signal-failure]

Mutant Octopus and Coming-of-Age in Sea Change

Sea Change, by Gina Chung, is about Dolores, a giant octopus in captivity, and about Ro, who cares for Dolores while everything else in her life falls apart.  This is a terribly relatable story about being stuck and being aimless at the same time. Dolores was an amazing almost-character, because who doesn’t love a story about a giant octopus? But Dolores is also a connection to Ro’s childhood and…

[chai-n-ivy]

have y'all read Sea Change? I'm halfway through and I love it!

[laavenderhaze]

It feels good to be regularly reading again 💕💗

[herald-caliber]

"Sea Change" by Gina Chung: A Beautiful Novel

If you're looking for a captivating novel that will take you on a journey of self-discovery and environmental consciousness, look no further than Sea Change by Gina Chung.

With stunning prose and a unique storyline, Chung's debut novel tells the story of a young woman's struggle to come to terms with loss and change, while also highlighting the impact of human actions on the natural world. As readers follow Ro's journey through her past and present, they will be drawn into a world of mystery and intrigue, all while grappling with some of the most pressing issues of our time. So why not dive into the pages of Sea Change and discover the transformative power of this incredible novel for yourself? Trust us, you won't regret it!>>Read More<<

[ursidanger]

Some OC redesign work from earlier in the year, goal was to specify their individual eye shapes and upper body areas

[todd-queen]

happy international women's day to all the women I'd crawl around on my knees for <3

[daricommons]

envisioning the worst possible thing isn’t the same as being protected against it.

[duckprintspress]

Celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with 22 Great Queer Reads!

May is wrapping up, and with the end of May comes the end of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. There are so so so many great books coming out by AAPI authors starring AAPI characters, and so – here’s a list of some of our favorites! All of these are either BY AAPI authors, have AAPI main characters, or – in most cases – both! The contributors to this list are: Shadaras, Tris Lawrence, Nina Waters, D.V. Morse, Terra P. Waters, theirprofoundbond, Annabeth Lynch and an anonymous contributor.

Not Your Sidekick (Sidekick Squad series) by C.B. Lee

The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall

Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee

“Eldest Daughter Seeks Her Wife” by N. C. Farrell from She Wears the Midnight Crown

Babel by R.F. Kuang

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez

The Water Outlaws by S.L. Huang

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho

If You’ll Have Me by Eunnie

Roadqueen: Eternal Roadtrip to Love by Mira Ong Chua

They Called Us Enemy by George Takei, Justin Eisinger & Steven Scott

The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang

Away With the Fairies by Annabeth Lynch

Meal by Blue Delliquanti & Soleil Ho

Firebird by Sunmi

After the Dragons by Cynthia Zhang

Iron Widow (Iron Widow series) by Xiran Jay Zhao

The Problem with Wishes by Annabeth Lynch

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

Hold Me (Cyclone series) by Courtney Milan

Sea Change by Gina Chung

Clash of Steel: A Treasure Island Remix by C.B. Lee

See a book you can’t live without? You can buy it through our Bookshop.org affiliate shop!

You can view this list, and all our other lists, as shelves on Goodreads.

[rosecentaur1916]

🚨SPOILER WARNING FOR SUCKER PUNCH🚨

No, neither of those thing are correct... well... the "intense directed by a man disease" part is, but the rest... not so much... Its a story about dissociation and how it can help you through shitty circumstances.

Okay, so the dissociation breaks down like this:

Reality: Lennox House Asylum.

Dissociation Level 1: Brothel

Dissociation Level 2: The various adventures and Missions that Baby Doll imagines for her and the girls to escape Lennox House.

The time line is kind of wonky as at first they show a montage of Baby Doll's realty which is what happened at home, being admitted, seeing Blue (Oscar Isaac), her therapy sessions with Dr. Gorski and ending with the lobotomy. Its during this that we hear Dr. Gorski (Gina Gugino) tell Baby Doll (Emily Browning) about the power of her mind to escape. She then turns on music. I think this is why Baby Dolls immersive fantasies of her missions and the brothel level always include music when she dissociates. Baby Doll dissociates when being sexually abused. She "dances" in the brothel instead of doing the sexual acts Blue (Its implied that Blue does most of the molestation and other sexual) is putting her through. Thus the brothel level of the dissociation, or how she look to be escaping by becoming "sex dolly" could be misinterpreted, which is completely understandable.

The other girls (Sweet Pea in particular) I think, are sexually abused too. That's why their included in the brothel level. They all have nick names like Baby Doll. I don't know if those are supposed to be character names, names Baby Doll gave them and herself as a part of the dissociation, or if Blue gave them to the girls as a part of his infantilization of them. That's not made clear. Though they could be given only by Baby Doll as a couple of the girls are called by first names and not nicknames when Baby is brought into the "theater" of Lennox House by Blue.

The second and final level of dissociation are the adventures or missions. The first being Baby Doll's fight against the giant samurai.

This is where she gets her "mission" this starting when she's "auditioning" for Blue in the brothel level for her stage performance (which we get to see what those look like fully realized in the "Love is a Drug" sequence that was cut from the final film because it didn't match the tone) which we see her perform for the Mayor during the second mission. We also see Sweet Pea rehearsing (which is her stage character getting lobotomized) when we're first introduced to the brothel level, because they do stage performances to bring in "customers" to the brothel. She finishes defeating the three giant Samurai just in time for the end of her dance. While in the fantasy she receives her "weapons" to be able to survive her missions. A pair of hand guns and a katana. These could serve as a literal representation of the mental tools that Dr. Gorski has given her, her own mental fortitude and inner strength to get the job done. I think this is a more fantasized way to show an abuse survivor setting up the mission in their head on how to escape their situation. I know, personally, for me when I left mine it felt insurmountable like the mission objectives that Baby Doll fantasizes for the rest of the film. After that mission and getting the advice from the wise man that she'll have to collect 5 various items and make a sacrifice for the fifth attain "perfect victory" she makes moves to make that happen. She goes and talks to the girls to convince them to help her do this. The girls are: Sweet Pea played by Abbie Cornish:

Rocket, Sweet Pea's Younger Sister played by Jena Malone:

Amber played by Jamie Chung:

and...

Blondie played by Vanessa Hudgens:

Baby turns over a chalk board in their dressing room in the brothel, and writes down the four items that she knows of that they need.

They're under a time crunch though. The "High Roller" is coming at the end of the week. The High Roller being the doctor (Jon Hamm) who is going to perform the lobotomy on Baby Doll.

The missions to get all of these each becoming its own fantasy to get them.

Map:

The Fantasy:

Getting the map from a WWI Bunker:

Realty:

Sweet Pea copies the one in Blue's office:

Fire:

Fantasy:

Storming an Orc infested Castle to fight a dragon for fire crystals:

Reality/Brothel:

Amber steals the Mayor's lighter.

Knife:

Disarming a bomb on a train while fighting against Robots:

Reality/Brothel:

Baby Doll dances for the cook so they can take his knife:

Key:

Unfortunately, by the time they get to taking the key... Blue's found out about the other "Missions":

He confronts the girls, meanwhile in Baby Doll's head this is all taking place on the Brothel level. Several are killed, and Sweet Pea is put in solitary confinement. Baby Doll and Blue have a confrontation where she stabs him and takes the key:

She and Sweet Pea almost escape. One needs to stay behind. Sweet Pea wants to volunteer until Baby Doll insists and stays behind, thus we end up seeing her be lobotomized like at the beginning of the movie:

That's the "Sucker Punch" 'cause after all that she didn't end up escaping.

With all that said... In my personal opinion I see Sucker Punch as a sequence of events on how one girl uses the power of imagination and dissociation to help her cope with her very shitty circumstances. I am a dissociator. Dissociation is a part of the fear responses. Fight, Flight, Freeze and Fawn. It would be filed under flight. You're fleeing your circumstances in your head, like Baby Doll is. No, not all cases of dissociation are so vivid. Not all those who dissociate see visions in their head like Baby Doll. There are those that do though.

The set up and execution is confusing. There probably could have been a few things done to make that clearer. What those were? I have no idea. Though, because I had seen this movie after having gotten out of an abusive relationship. Then later watched "Cinema Wins" video on the movie (which only confirmed my feelings) I saw that right away. I knew as soon as Gorski had mentioned escaping in your mind that I knew what I was looking at. Not only while I was in a past abusive relationship did I dissociate. I did at jobs I hated to. Do you know how many hunts I went on with Sam and Dean Winchester in my head? At least a seasons worth! 🤣🤣🤣 Yes, aesthetically its very "intense directed by a man disease" but the story itself is very true to the situation even in a fantastical way. I, however, might be the only survivor that sees it that way. I say that 'cause I'm just one person. I don't see how its revolting because honestly as a survivor when I was in my situation it was empowering to imagine myself as a hotly dressed bad ass. Like I said maybe that's just me.

I get the situation that lands Baby Doll at Lennox House is frustrating and disgusting. I get that the situation at Lennox House itself is disgusting. All abusive situations regardless of what it looks like on the outside are disgusting. Its a movie - a visual medium, and sometimes metaphor goes over people's heads and they were already doing something with the concept that could be confusing.

Zach Snyder (the director) wanted a specific tone for this movie (dark) and he achieved that. That's why "Love is a Drug" got cut. He didn't want Lennox House to look fun or be somewhere people wanted to go. He wanted it very clear why Baby Doll, Sweet Pea, Rocket, Blondie and Amber wanted to leave. I think that was achieved. Anyway.... The host of Cinema Wins puts this way better than I can... so I'll leave you in his capable hands:

I haven't seen sucker Punch but is the premise really that Carla gugino says you can create a whole cool ass world in your mind whenever you want and the main character decides to imagine herself as a sex dolly?

[twopoppies]

Gina who is Waseem? Harry hung out with him from 2015-2018 apparently. I never knew he had brown friends too. I mean louis' friends are well known inside the fandom but this is the first time i heard of Waseem.

I’m pretty sure he met Waseem through Alexa Chung who he’s been friends with for years. But he and Waseem seemed to hang out a fair bit. I obviously don’t know all of the people Harry hangs out with, and yes most of them are white, but I do know he’s also friends with Reesh (who’s Sri Lankan) and her husband, Al Shearer (who is African American). They live in LA, as far as I know, and he hasn’t been there for any extended time in a while, but they hung out a lot when H was there.