#haven't decided if ill reread the sequels or not

[gallium-spoon]

So I kinda accidentally started rereading Dune

I pulled Dune off the shelf to look for a quote I was thinking of and noticed the gom jabber mentioned on the second page and I was confused because in my memory there was more build up before the gom jabber test so I decided to read the first few pages and yeah the gom jabber scene is pretty much right at the beginning

But then I kept reading and suddenly I was like 50 pages in and at that point I might as well just reread all of Dune right?

[shouldhavebeenpersephone]

AAAAAAAAAAH One Way by S.J. Jordan was SO GOOD! Going for the sequel next but pleasssseee do you have any show or movie recs??

AAAAAAAAAA I am so glad you enjoyed it! Feel free to scream at me about it ANY time. I think I may have to go and reread it now.

In regards to other recommendations... oooooh boy. I have so many. This took me a while because I was considering if this would be respectful to the strikes, but we haven't been told to stay away from any streaming services etc. yet, so after removing a scab from the recommendation list I decided to post it. Apologies in advance for the tangents I go on for every single recommendation. Some of these have been quite popular so you might know of them but it still felt worth mentioning.

Under the cut is a non-exhaustive list of media in no particular order that makes me want to eat glass. Take a shot every time I say heartbreaking.

Movies

Lord of the Rings 1/2/3 - I feel no need to explain myself. If you haven't seen this please for the love of god get your hands on the extended versions and watch them. Then read the books and watch the movies again. Rinse and repeat.

How to Train Your Dragon and How to Train Your Dragon 2 - You read that right, NOT the third movie. In this house the third movie doesn't exist. This is an animated movie and sequel based on the book it shares a name with by Cressida Cowel. The movie follows protagonist Hiccup who lives in a town of Vikings who hunt and kill dragons. He finds out that he can't kill a dragon he has caught, and is surprised when the dragon won't kill him either. His curiosity gets the best of him and he returns to watch the dragon in it's hideout, and a beautiful friendship emerges from a very messy situation. It doesn't happen often that a movie is better than the book, especially if the source material has been changed so drastically, but HTTYD pulls it off. The first movie was also my introduction to fandom, and both movies have an incredibly special place in my heart. Fun fact: I actually am the OP of a pretty popular fandom headcannon and it makes me giggle every time I see it be mentioned in the HTTYD tag.

Inception - Obligatory action movie. Heist movie except sci-fi and also everyone is queer and sexy (no it's not canon but it is canon to me). Conman Leo DiCaprio breaks into rich boy Cilian Murphy's dreams to convince him to give up his father's business in exchange for getting his criminal file wiped clean so he can see his kids again. I love sad dads and I love mind games and I love high stakes and I love time fuckery and I love mentally ill women. Watch it if you also do.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire - Perfect. Showstopping. Incredible. Does not pass the reverse Bechdel test. It is so incredibly hearthbreaking and soft and tender. Period drama with lesbians. Painter Noémi Merlant is hired to pretend to be a companion to Adèle Haenel while secretly painting her portrait to be sent off to a man she is being married off to. There is betrayal and trust and community and lust and it's so gorgeous to look at. The attention to detail is incredible and I want to kiss Céline Sciamma for bringing this movie to my screen. I cry every time I watch it. Queer heartache done right.

The Lake House - I don't know if this movie is actually that good but to me it is perfect. Contractor Keanu Reeves moves into a gorgeous lake house (my dream home) and starts receiving letters addressed to the previous owner and doctor Sandra Bullock. When he gets a letter from her with her new address and sees it's to a building that's still in development, the two skeptics come to the conclusion they are living years apart and their post box is some sort of portal. They fall in love, things go wrong, things go right, and there is a dog!

Series

Orphan Black - Listen. Listen. LISTEN. Tatiana Maslany. Wow. She plays a dozen (if not more) clones and I still have a hard time believing they weren't all different people. Trouble kid forced to be an adult because she is a mother sees herself jump in front of a train and uhhhh has issues with that. She then discovers there are so many others like her, that they were a part of a cloning project and that she is a bit of a special case. There is a lot of plot I cannot summarize but it's deliciously queer (one of the main character clones is a lesbian as well as two prominent gay side characters and other minor queer and trans characters). Found family, questions of what it means to love and of morality, some wonderfully written character arcs and a decently satisfying end. First few episodes can be a bit hard to get into, but Tatiana Maslany is incredible and the show is totally worth it.

Adventure Time - This is a big comfort show for me, not only because Marceline and Princess Bubblegum were one of my first queer ships ever, but also because I enjoy this show just as much as an adult. No real main story line, you could watch individual episodes and still follow it. There are some heavy themes, but they are always handled so wonderfully and with a true sense of childlike wonder, and it makes me have faith in humanity again. Finn the Human and Jake the Dog go on adventures together in a gigantic fantasy land and meet lots of interesting figures. Even the evil characters get attention, compassion, screen time, and dignity. It's heartbreaking and beautiful and so so so good.

The Mentalist - Sorry, there is a cop show in here. Simon Baker is an ex 'psychic' grieving father and husband working as a consultant with the CBI. His boss, Robin Tunney, is so in love with him she looks stupid. It's basically a man who is too smart for his own good running around, being charming or extremely annoying, and an exhausted tough-love type of woman running around fixing his messes. Oh and they catch killers. I am a Patric Jane kinnie, sue me. Jane and Lisbon are also very Griddlehark to me, kind of a what could have been if they had been friends from the beginning.

Russian Doll - Have I ever mentioned how much I love Natasha Lyonne? This is a kind of sexier Groundhog Day, where Natasha Lyonne keeps dying and waking up in the bathroom of her friend throwing her a birthday party. She loses her mind in the midst of gorgeous scenes, seriously beautiful cinematography, and in sexy ass outfits. If you like mind fuckery, cinematography, and sexy women this is the show for you. It sure is the show for me.

Arcane - Speaking of gorgeous visuals, Arcane is a beast of a show with such an incredible and unique look. Also so many hot and/or gay women. There are a few men too, they're okay, I do like me a pathetic little guy so it works. But WOMEN. So many powerful, intelligent, cunning, courageous women. I have to admit that I remember very little of the storyline, but I do know that they took 'Manic Pixie Dream Girl', said "yes and", and made a truly incredible and multi dimensional character with Jinx, with fully fleshed out motivations and morals (or lack thereof), understandable but still properly wrong actions, and such incredible story building around her progressing mental troubles. Must watch.

The Sandman - This one is not technically an obsession I have ever had, but it is a great watch and rewatch. I adore Vivienne Acheampong as Lucienne and I adore Gwendoline Christie as Lucifer and I adore Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Death. I also love pretty much anything that comes out of Neil Gaiman's brain so that helps. Great casting is what makes this show a winner for me. Morpheus/Dream gets locked up by some insane guy trying to capture death to bring back his son and he spends the rest of the show dealing with the consequences of being gone for decades. Tom Sturridge is a wet cat of a man and I do like that a lot as well. Very pretty cinematography seals the deal.

Misc.

The Magnus Archives - Podcast wildcard. Horror and paranormal and delicious. I love voice actors so much and archivists are hot. Becoming something you didn't choose and dealing with the repercussions of no longer really being human is so !!!!!!! I love it when people just go through the horrors. Everyone's voices scratch something in my brain that nothing else can reach. Brilliant piece of media.

What Remains of Edith Finch - Game wildcard. Semi-sandbox semi-railroad narrative. Gorgeous visual representations of so many difficult things in life. Particularly, the bit where one of Edith's family members loses himself to his own imagination is so gorgeous and heartbreaking. I have written essays on the cinematography of this game. It is so beautiful. Whether you lay it or watch a playthrough, you have to witness this.

MISSED RECOMMENDATIONS ARE HERE

There you have it.

I am sure there is more and I am sure I will be hitting my head on a wall after remembering something I forgot to include. Anyway- enjoy!

[zealoussy]

2023 Midyear Freakout Book Tag

It is time to look back to all of the books I've read for the past 6 months (!!!). I just want to do this for myself but anyone who wants to join, consider yourself tagged!

Best book you've read so far in 2023. This is a difficult one because I have never been not indecisive all my life. But. I think I will settle with No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai. I love how Dazai slowly working through Oba Yozo's mental deterioration. Obviously he's not likeable, but you'll be able to empathize with him from following the turbulence that is his mind. This book is the best way to show people the "ugly" side of mental illness. People need to realize that mental illness isn't only about the most instragammable things you can do, but it is also being the worst version of yourself. Other than that, how the narrative makes its way to connect to the title is cleverly done. It feels so seamless.

Best sequel you've read so far in 2023. I'm not a series reader, tbh. So I will go with The Sandman Vol. 5: A Game of You by Neil Gaiman. Although not my favorite of the series, I did enjoy reading that. In this volume, we meet Barbie! Turns out she's a princess some lifetime ago?? It's really interesting and surprisingly poignant.

Favourite re-read. Easy question, it's White Nights by Fyodor Dostoevsky. How is it still heartbreaking, even though I know what comes next in the story? That's Dostoevsky's specialty, I think. Making stories that's so painful no matter how much you reread it, it still gives you pain.

Genre you've been loving/reading the most. I've been having a lot of fun reading graphic novels this year so far! Reading graphic novels is the most magical form of experiencing work of literature. For fantasy especially, it feels like I forget I ever existed on Earth when reading them. Most of them are fast-paced and medium-paced so I'd recommend anyone to pick any title up if you want to read when waiting something, or not in the mood to digest books slowly.

New release you haven't read yet, but want to. Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova. It just came out last month so I still have a lot of time to read it. The summary sounds intriguing and I've seen a few of my book-ish friends wanting to read it too. Hopefully I can read that before the year ends!

Most anticipated release for the second half of the year. I don't have one, honestly. I'm not the type of person that follows news release that much, so yeah that's my answer.

Biggest disappointment. The Stranger - Albert Camus. I was so excited for this book. I have been saving that title since last year. Thank god I didn't buy the physical copy. Like, I get the book. But its' SO boring. I don't enjoy it.

Biggest surprise. Everyone in this Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily Austin. Oh, this is an interesting one. Because I started this book last year impulsively, but then it was kinda rotting in my piles of CRs. But one day I decided, you know what, let's finished this book. And I was surprised that I like it. I even teared up a little at the end. I never thought it will be a profound book that shines light to what religious trauma can do to a person. The story is told in ironic and darkly humorous way, which is very funny if you're mentally ill. Yet it's also crushing, how the main character describe her despair. Such a marvelous read.

Favorite new author (debut/new to you). Oliver Jeffers. He's an author, illustrator for picture book fiction. Last year I read The Heart and The Bottle, which absolutely broke me to pieces, and this week I read What We'll Build and it makes me want to cry a river. So I'll definitely check out his other books.

Newest Favorite Character. Oh, God. I have two answer to this but I think I'll pick Jean-Baptiste Grenouille from Das Parfum for this one. Reason? Because he's a sopping wet little meow meow.

Book that made you cry. Uhh I don't know how it happened, but it's The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger got me sobbing???? The last part of the book, yeah. Just. I don't know. I'm just so fond of Holden Caulfield, I want to give him a hug, the best hug, making him soup if he's sick, staying all night if he want to talk, like I want to protect him at all cost.

Books that made you happy. My Beijing: Four Stories of Everyday Wonders by Nie Jun. It's free time travel to my childhood and free therapy. I need that child-like wonders and excitement dose if I want to survive this year.

Most beautiful book you've bought so far this year. Most of my reads are digital, but I'll mention Mamo by Sas Milledge as one of the most beautiful book I've read this year so far. The art style is so breathtaking. It added the whimsical story line even more alive.

What books do you need to read by the end of the year? So much books, so little time. I'll be happy with myself if I can manage to read any of Toni Morrison's books. I've been wanting to read her books but I'm just kinda intimidated lol.