#nybar

[garden-ghoul]

kalvin brnine and occam olio are actually mirror images of each other

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 7/11/23, timezone change edition

the last time i wrote one of these things, i was not quite fully packed up in ma. now, i am technically temporarily homeless in houston, bc the apartment i originally signed on was completely unlivable. crashing in an acquaintance's guest room for a bit while i have a very bad time with apartment hunting round 2

i have lived in south florida, staten island, and various shithole student housing. i understand seasonal bugs in hot places and things such as different kinds of roaches and palmetto bugs. when i say that apartment had the worst roach infestation i've ever seen i fucking mean it. in theory i will get my full deposits back, but they're taking their sweet fucking time about it.

but having that full yes-i-know-about-seasonal-roaches conversation with new acquaintances and leasing agents takes too long so i've resorted to saying it had a horrific bedbug problem, which everyone seems to go Oh Okay Yeah Reasonable For You To Leave much more quickly.

listening

a lot of early aughts dance pop standards, to chase away the agonies as i drive to and from apartments only to get ghosted, find they were rented a week ago, or find that they look absolutely nothing like the pictures. i was really torn on which britney song to pick for this week until my sister sent me Twin Flame by Maude Latour, which i can only describe as "douchebag get the girl back song but for lesbians". spotify

also how do we like the "featured link from bandcamp or soundcloud with additional spotify link" format? in an ideal world i would buy all my music directly from the artists but realistically i use spotify 90% of the time. i don't know what your life is like, tell me if this is helpful or not.

-

reading

my best friend made sad faces at me until i read The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary, and it was a little nice to see someone else's dire housing situation get resolved neatly and with thematic consistence in several hundred pages. it was also nice to text her snippets with "WHAT?????" every so often. this is a reading experience i don't have very often bc our current reading tastes don't overlap even a little bit.

i don't have much to say about it bc i didn't have particularly strong feelings and don't really read mainstream straight romance, so i can't point out what this did differently or well compared to its peers. if nothing else, it was a fluffy bit of distraction, and i think that's kind of the point?

(image from Tor) also read Saad Z. Hossein's Kundo Wakes Up novella in a waffle house while eating some of the best scrambled eggs i've ever had in my life.

this novella was the closest thing i've ever read to "aging English professor has an affair" without actually containing any of those elements. generally i enjoy his work, but this was sort of a way to check up and tie off many characters from previous works with a sort of light frosting of "my wife left me and i don't know why [ rot13:v pna znxr fbzr thrffrf ohg gurer vf ab zbzrag bs frys-ernyvmngvba, bapr ur svaqf uvf jvsr ur whfg perrcf ba ure sebz nsne naq nsgre qrgrezvavat fur'f abg jvgu nalbar arj znxrf gur gerzraqbhf fnpevsvpvny qrpvfvba gb yrnir ure nybar op fur'f zhpu unccvre jvgubhg uvz. gurer vf ab zbzrag bs frys-ernyvmngvba nobhg jul fur zvtug unir yrsg uvz. xhaqb arire trgf bhg bs uvf bja shpxvat urnq bapr.]"

while The Gurkha and the Lord of Thursday novella (TREMENDOUS) and Cyber Mage book (fun but with some dire pacing issues) are fairly standalone, i cannot imagine you'd get much out of Kundo Wakes Up if you haven't read the other two. for some reason none of the libraries i have access to have his other book Djinn City, so we'll have to procure that elsewhere.

-

watching

the dnd movie, the day after i broke my lease on the roach apartment. i don't remember a ton about this movie. do generally like a heist. michelle rodriguez was hot

-

playing

genshin. listen. it is a free and familiar way to turn my brain off by doing open world exploration and puzzles but CRUCIALLY! most of it is completely new to me. i have not played this game in a year and a half. i have not played this game since right before enkanomiya. there was no chasm. there was no Sumeru. i have absolutely no idea what’s happening lore-wise.

i pulled for the fancy ice claymore lady and got a catboy archer (at least i think it is a catboy? the ears do give a pharaoh hound vibe... he is distinct from the extant dogboy archer). not terrible but not my vibe.

i have been enjoying the shit out of the temporary summer event carnival space. they really did pull out several stops by introducing a ton of genuinely interesting and innovating little new mechanics and mini games. delightful!

-

making

altering the worst shorts ive ever seeeeeeeeen with a demure little two-inch side slit on both legs bc my thighs simply will not quit. mens shorts are so much better than womens shorts in nearly every way except for the catastrophic physical fit issues.

when i got ghosted by two different apartments on saturday i bought myself a spoon ring so chunky it makes my other chunky rings look positively delicate by comparison. not very comfy to drive in but fine to wear while tippy tappying on the spreadsheets

a girl i saw for one singular awful date in 2016 called my hands "coarse but honest" and i think about that every time my hands are in a photo. what did that even fucking MEAN, [REDACTED]?

[ebrofour]

hhhhhh "Alright, how about this?"

Jessa takes out a dagger, and quickly slices a small part of her palm. She closes her eyes, and presses the wound close to her mouth as she whispers.

"Fvpxarff, syrrvat naq oevrs. Fvpxarff, qryvirerq ol zl unaq naq zl unaq nybar. Fvpxarff, hagvy gur arkg fha'f evfr."

"There. That one will make 'em ill. Until tomorrow at least."

The small wound quickly heals itself, flesh and skin binding together once more.

"But... you wouldn't mind if I did that skin thing to one of your men, right? They must be at least somewhat expendable..."

- Jessa

"Sure, you can kill those 3 tied up by the tree. Caught them trying to rat us out to the cops. Go wild" -Ebro4

[basiliomagnus]

actually much bigger comment on the martria arc, spoiler in rot13 under cut

v xabj ubj gurl unaqyr wbnaan nsgre gur erirny unf orra fzgu crbcyr ner qrongvat nobhg ohg v guvax guvf vf gur svefg gvzr n cvrpr bs zrqvn yrg nybar n tnzr vir frra vf jvyyvat gb gnpxyr cbfgcneghz cflpubfvf naq ubj shpxrq hc vg pna znxr n zbgure. gur snpg gung gurler jvyyvat gb nccebnpu n jbzna fb pyrneyl tbvat guebhtu fhpu nybat jvgu bgure sbezf bs tevrs znxrf zr xvaq bs hanoyr gb ernyyl ungr wbnaan yby

[nostalgebraist]

If you're curious, here's more detail about my objections (rot13 for spoilers):

Jung ernyyl tbg zl fgnegrq guvaxvat nybat gur yvarf va BC vf gur guvat jvgu Cuvyol'f crg sbk. V ernyvmr guvf vf uneqyl, yvxr, n znwbe cybg cbvag, vg'f whfg na hahfhnyyl pyrne-phg vafgnapr bs gur ceboyrz.

N fcl jvgu n crg sbk? Jub tevrirf, vagrafryl, jura gur sbk qvrf? Gung'f jrveq, naq gurersber vagrerfgvat. Rira vs ghearq bhg gung gurer jnf abguvat zber gb gur fgbel guna "ur jnf whfg n jrveq thl, rzbgvbanyyl," gung'f *fgvyy* vagrerfgvat va uhzna grezf.

Ohg va Qrpyner, Cuvyol'f orunivbe urer vf rkcynvarq va n jnl gung *znxrf vg abg jrveq*. Gur sbk pbagnvarq gur fcvevg (fbhy? jungrire) bs uvf sngure, jub jnf zntvpnyyl cebgrpgvat uvz sebz unez. Vg'f abezny gb unir n fgebat rzbgvbany ernpgvba jura lbh'er fhqqrayl va qnatre, be jura lbhe sngure qvrf.

Abj, jung ernyyl obguref zr urer vf abg whfg "Cbjref znxrf uvf orunivbe abg jrveq." Vg'f gung Cbjref fcrpvsvpnyyl *tbrf bhg bs uvf jnl* gb qb guvf - vg vf arvgure arprffnel sbe gur oebnqre cybg, abe fbzrguvat gung rkgraqf gur rfgnoyvfurq snagnfl yber va nal phzhyngvir jnl.

"Uhzna fbhyf raqvat hc va navzny obqvrf" vf (VVEP) abg n guvat gung unf unccrarq orsber va guvf obbx, abe jvyy vg unccra ntnva. Vg jbhyq or irel qvssrerag (naq V jbhyq erfpvaq zl bowrpgvba) vs, fnl, *nyy* gur fcvrf va gur obbx unq gurve bja pybfr navzny pbzcnavbaf, yvxr gur qnrzbaf bs Uvf Qnex Zngrevnyf, ohg bayl Cuvyol'f sbk znqr vg vagb gur uvfgbel obbxf qhr gb fbzr pneryrff fyvc ba uvf cneg (be jungrire). Gung jbhyq or n jnl bs gnxvat gur Cuvyol'f sbk narpqbgr, naq rkgencbyngvat n snagnfl jbeyq nebhaq vg juvyr *cerfreivat gur jrveqarff gung tnir gur bevtvany narpqbgr vgf nccrny*. Cuvyol jbhyq or qrneyl, jrveqyl nggnpurq gb na navzny orpnhfr gurl *nyy* jrer yvxr gung - jurernf va Qrpyner, abg rira *Cuvyol* vf yvxr gung.

Naq fvapr vg vf abg n angheny pbafrdhrapr bs nal cerivbhfyl rfgnoyvfurq yber - naq urapr bayl "rkcynvaf" gur sbk va gur gevivny frafr gung n jvmneq pna "rkcynva" rirelguvat, va gur grezf bs zl BC - guvf srryf cheryl naq cbvagyrffyl qrfgehpgvir, na bar-bss npg bs qevir-ol qvfrapunagzrag qbar sbe qvfrapunagzrag'f fnxr nybar.

Naq gura, va yvtug bs guvf, V gubhtug zber nobhg gur erfg bs gur snagnfl zngrevny, naq V thrff vg nyy sryg xvaq bs yvxr guvf, gb bar rkgrag be nabgure?

Yvxr, vg'f rkgerzryl jvyq *nf snagnfl zngrevny* - vg jbhyq bs pbhefr or rkgenbeqvanevyl "vagrerfgvat" vs nal bs guvf unq ernyyl bppheerq - ohg vg nyy graqf va gur qverpgvba bs erzbivat gur crefbany, vqrbybtvpny, veengvbany, rgp. sebz gur uhzna fvqr bs gur fgbel.

Gur ubeebef bs Fgnyvavfz jrer whfg bar fvqr bs n pbafpvbhfyl nqbcgrq onetnva, naq guhf "znxr zber frafr" va-havirefr guna gurl *npghnyyl qvq va erny yvsr*, whfg yvxr Cuvyol'f sbk. Gur fnzr pna or fnvq, va n jnl, bs Cuvyol qlvat whfg orsber gur snyy bs gur Oreyva Jnyy. Va gur erny jbeyq, gurer vf znlor fbzrguvat cbvtanag be shaal nobhg guvf - naq nf jvgu zl vqrn bs navzny snzvyvnef, vg zvtug unir orra cbffvoyr gb "rkcynva" guvf snagnfgvpnyyl juvyr znvagnvavat gung cbvtanapl/uhzbe (fnl, vs Cuvyol'f vyyhfvbaf nobhg gur Fbivrg Havba unq orra zntvpnyyl fhfgnvavat vgf rkvfgrapr, be fbzrguvat). Ohg va Qrpyner, Cuvyol'f qrngu whfg *zrpunavpnyyl pnhfrf* gur FH'f snyy ivn n zntvpny negvsnpg ybqtrq va uvf obql, juvpu znxrf gur pybfr pbvapvqrapr va gvzr bs gur gjb riragf va gvzr bayl nf shaal/cbvtanag nf gur "pybfr pbvapvqrapr va gvzr" orgjrra gur syvccvat bs n yvtug fjvgpu naq gur fhqqra vyyhzvangvba bs gur ebbz.

(Ohg gur obbx vf qrsvavgryl irel pyrire naq jryy-cynaarq naq jryy-jevggra, naq cbffvoyl vs V jrer zber bs n fcl abiry sna V jbhyq unir rawblrq gur jubyr guvat gbb zhpu sbe nal bs gurfr bowrpgvbaf gb gnxr ebbg va zl urnq gb ortva jvgu.)

declare

Read Declare by Tim Powers recently.

It had some really good individual bits, and was well-written throughout, but overall I found it kind of a slog.

Partly that was just due to pacing, or me not quite being in the target audience, or other similarly ordinary and boring reasons. But, on reflection, I think a lot of my troubles with the book come down to one big, uncommon flaw it had -- which is my reason for writing this post.

----

Declare is a hybrid fantasy/spy novel.

The spy stuff, which comprises most of the book by mass, is drawn from real history -- in particular, from the life of real Soviet spy Kim Philby -- and strives to be consistent with all particulars of that real history that are publicly known.

The book is a "secret history" as opposed to an "alternate history," intended to produce the impression: "for all we know, this really could have been what happened." It sticks to the historical record about the kind of matters that make it into said record, and only invents things in the blank spaces in between them.

As Powers put it:

I made it an ironclad rule that I could not change or disregard any of the recorded facts, nor rearrange any days of the calendar – and then I tried to figure out what momentous but unrecorded fact could explain them all.

You'll note that I'm being vague about what "the fantasy elements" are.

I'm doing that on purpose. Revealing much about their nature would be the kind of spoiler that actually spoils, because one of Declare's virtues -- and I really did admire this -- is the way it makes its fantastical secrets feel really secret. Like a secret doctrine, a mystery cult, an epistemic Rubicon that one does not cross lightly.

They are talked about elliptically, even among initiates (and Powers makes this feel naturalistic, not like cheap and pointless reader-teasing evasion). Before you know much else about these "fantasy elements," you know that encounters with them have a tendency to leave people scarred, broken, changed -- and disinclined to say much about what they saw.

The early chapters of the book almost feel like the opening of a "mundane" spy novel. Except they are dotted with stray glimpses, from odd angles, of... something else. Something that is clearly one single thing, with a coherent shape, only you cannot make out in full what that shape is. Something that feels, authentically, like it was not meant for your innocent eyes.

It's all very effective. Really great stuff.

But then, at least by the halfway mark if not earlier, the reader catches up with the characters. The shape of the thing comes into focus. You get what the deal is, insofar as anyone does, and insofar as there is a "deal" to get. The nature, if not the logic, of the hidden world is laid bare.

"The nature, if not the logic": this is the book's fundamental flaw. The fantasy elements of Declare eventually land in a worst-of-all-worlds no-man's-land between mystique and mechanism.

They are explained to the reader just enough that they lose their glamour; what initially feels like the mystic doctrine of a lost gospel, or the forbidden fruit of a Lovecraft story, ends up feeling more like a collection of "lore" passages accompanying tables of numbers in an RPG rulebook. Yet they are not explained enough that they make sense, the way a law-bound "magic system" makes sense; despite Powers' ambitions, they never quite become capable of explaining anything else.

To put the point a little differently, and set things up for my next one: Declare mixes together two ingredients which, on their own, are perfectly fine -- indeed, actively good -- but which absolutely cannot go together. Namely:

Mysterious, supernatural forces that feel properly mysterious, numinous, not quite bound by "our" human logic and thus fundamentally beyond our ken.

A secret-history version of bizarre and partially unknown real-world events, which supplies explanations for the weird parts and fills in the tantalizing gaps.

Why do historical mysteries draw our interest? It is not just that there is something we don't know. There are a lot of things we don't know, about history, and mostly they don't trouble us.

But there are some questions for which it does not seem possible to imagine an uninteresting answer.

When a real historical figure behaves in some bizarre manner -- as the real-world Kim Philby frequently did -- we know that, whatever cause moved them to do so, it must be outlandish in a way that matches its effect. When people act strangely, they do so for strange reasons. That is roughly what "acting strangely" means.

But! Once you allow "ineffable, partly unpredictable magic" to be a cause with effects, the link between interesting events and interesting causes is broken. You can now invent explanations which are less interesting than any real-world one could possibly be.

You can survey the historical record, note down all the intriguing gaps, and then sculpt an infinitely pliable magical putty into the precise shape of each gap, so as to fill it. These fillings do not have the shape of real things; they are made retrospectively, and modeled after the patterned obstructions marring our view, rather than the real patterns which are being obstructed. They do not have spiraling implications, as real things do; they plug the gaps they were made for, and do nothing else.

Human behavior has human causes, and human causes are frequently interesting, to us humans.

It is usually a virtue, in fictional depictions of magic, for that magic to feel nonhuman.

But it ceases to be a virtue when that magic goes on to become a substitute for the real human causes of real events. It provides answers to all our questions, at the cost of removing the reason we imagined we might want to possess those answers.

"Why on earth," you ask me, "did this bizarre historical event happen the way it did?"

And I respond: "a wizard did it."

You protest that this is not an explanation at all. You profess to be just as confused as you were at the outset.

You say, in exasperation: "it can't just be that. There has to be something more. Why did the wizard do it? Is it... the sort of thing that wizards do? Is there a 'sort of thing that wizards do'?"

In real life, you'd have a point. In real life, for every X, there is a sort of thing that Xs do.

But not for wizards. Remember #1 above? Wizards are beyond your ken. Perhaps there is "sort of thing they do," but if so, it is too subtle for your dull, unmagical brain.

Which is to say: they can do whatever the author, or the plot -- or the gaps in the historical record -- need them to do on any given occasion. And then they go back into their box again, until they need to be retrieved, in order to do something else entirely.

And worse: although the introduction of the wizard does not leave you any less puzzled, it frees you from caring that you are puzzled.

There is no longer the unscratched itch of an unsolved mystery about human behavior. You are not confused about a person, anymore, but about magic. And it is perfectly clear that you are never, ever going to understand magic. Your confusion is now expected, predictable. Everything is properly in order, as you can now see. You are free to go.

And yet somehow, you find, the book is not over. It will not be over for a while yet. You have other confusions, you see, which have not yet been stripped of their human interest and robbed of their allure.

(Not everything in Declare is like this, to be clear. I may be making too much of a few sore points in the plot, I guess. Still, there's no denying that I found the later parts of the book tedious, and this is at-least-sort-of why.)

[testinoevents]

Our Flat Bread Station in a formal setting. . . . #testinoevents #catering #staffing #bartender #foodie #nyfood #buffet #minibites #flatbreadpizza #horsdeouvres #eats #nyparty #prosciutto #nybartenders #nyc #nyccatering #foodstation #nybar #nyfoodgram #nybuffet #eatstagram #nycocktail #nyccatering #nycfood #ny #nyfoodie #food #nyceats #celebratelife https://www.instagram.com/p/CbFvFByOjtt/?utm_medium=tumblr

[ambitchion]

Is anyone licenced in New York? I kinda feel like quarantine is perfect time to make a study plan so PLEASE message me if you are and would like to share knowledge <3 

[hklisaann]

Eric’s 31st Bday 9/1/2019 Aka #Bubby #MyLilBro (Celebrated on Family day 9/11/19) #ESQ #NYBar 👏🏻🧁🍰 #31ismoreFun #Virgo ♏️ #Udowychenko #FamilyFirst 3️⃣1️⃣🍻🍺🍻 @uofdow #UofDow @nystatebar 🏛🏛🏛 (at Hoboken, New Jersey) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2S0zQBnNzgq_8DlHejrRE2Lgh9EUH4F4ZFAa40/?igshid=1un9q5wci7za5

[kosukeonishi]

(https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DZ06evO3ibWnq?si=pENQqWc0Tg6__I_zepeo9Aから)

[water-wind-and-fire-book-blog]

NORTHERN SEELIE

Poag: A small fishing village that mostly only exports fish and clay goods. The soil is rich with clay and mud, and is unfit for livestock or crops. They get no tourists year-round besides people visiting family. A close knit community.

Nybar: Hidden behind mountains this town is medium sized and home to many suburbs. Typical jobs around these areas are cloth and candle making, though many fae also make coin by using their home as a daycare for other fae.

Forcwaln: A town that prides itself on its careful craft of silk and wool. An upper class and pretty large town. Also known for their knight university, training young fae how to fight and become soldiers for either their town, or the Seelie Court if they continue their way up the ranks.

Beltar: A smaller town prized for its music. They turn the soft cedar wood of their forests into gentle instruments such as flutes, lyres and fiddles.

Xanthar: Built on a rough terrain indigenous terrain, they are known as a mainly mining and smelting town. Medium sized, and built beside a cave network, these fae are most popular for their import of silver, gold and coal.

Swiftmire: Known to be a trade checkpoint, with a bustling city boardwalk with many a vendor due to their large variety of imports. Gets many tourists each year.

Candlelight: The capital city of the Northern Seelie Court. Famed for it creation of luxury items such as jewelry, perfume and scented soaps/candles. Also famed for its Candlelights festival, celebrated for a week following the day after a lunar eclipse.

[berah-ronah]

Rot13 for bitching about my emotions bc I can't put in a readmore on mobile but Sbe gur cnfg jrrx V'ir unq n obggbzyrff cvg va gur zvqqyr bs zl purfg, naq ab znggre ubj zhpu sevraqfuvc, ybir, nssrpgvba, fznyy gnyx, be gvzr fcrag gbtrgure zl sevraqf/ts/pbjbexref unir guebja vagb vg, vgf fgvyy rngvat njnl ng zr rirel gvzr V'z nybar sbe zber guna svir frpbaqf naq V shpxvat ungr vg

[toskarin]

the uvxneh svtugf ng gur raq bs ureb ebhgr naq fgneg bs pbadhrere ebhgr. y'know, the ones where they skip most of the latter because you've already seen this before, cutting away to a different scene then cutting back at where the fight ended last time?

ohhhhh, okay, that one's actually really fun once you notice what narahara implied there!

the same thing happened in both!

va gur rcvybthr sbe Ureb Ebhgr, vg zragvbaf gur "qnhtugref bs tvafrvtbh" greebevmvat gur pbhagelfvqr, juvpu ner npghnyyl gur fnzr bssfcevat xntrnxv unq gb svtug gb ernpu gur fhzzvg bs Zg Shwv va Pbadhrebe Ebhgr

Ureb Ebhgr raqf jvgu Vpuvwbh orpbzvat rknpgyl yvxr Xntrnxv va n ybg bs jnlf, yvgrenyyl gnxvat uvf cynpr, ohg nyfb ol ershfvat gb jnyx gur fnzr cngu nf uvz, fur orpbzrf ure bja crefba

one incredibly interesting thing is that this part also happens in both endings.

erzrzore gur fprar jvgu nqhyg vpuvwbh jnyxvat nybar haqre gur oebxra zbba, bayl gb fcbg xntrnxv, fgbc, naq jnyx gur bgure jnl?

fur jbhyq unir gevrq gb xvyy uvz vs fur gubhtug ur jrer nyvir. jung fur guvaxf fur fnj gung avtug vf gur fnzr guvat fur fnj va Ureb Ebhgr: gur funqbj bs n zna jub bapr gbyq ure, va n unccvre zbzrag, gb whfg ybbx onpx naq znxr fher ur jnf oruvaq ure. gung'f ubj fur'q xabj fur'f jnyxvat gur evtug jnl

tl;dr: Ureb Ebhgr naq Pbadhrebe Ebhgr obgu raq, va gur irel raq, jvgu Vpuvwbh xvyyvat Xntrnxv. jura guvf unccraf vf jung inevrf, nybat jvgu jurgure fur nyfb unf gb xvyy gur qnhtugref bs Tvafrvtbh, nyy gung'f yrsg oruvaq ol n Uvxneh jub ybfg ubcr naq cnffrq dhvrgyl njnl

[i-prefer-base-twelve]

ford and juneau defo seem like the kind to write little lover letters in ciphers to eachother

I don't think either of them are good at flowery language, but they definitely quickly learn to encipher their texts. They can both ROT13 in their heads, but any nosey relatives looking over shoulders are totally thwarted

ner lbh nybar <

> znory vf pbashfrq naq qvfnccbvagrq ol lbhe grkg

cresrpg <

> nterrq

[mooncactus]

I have to rot13 this so I don’t spoil my boyfriend, but: rule of wolves rant

ab sbe erny jung va gur shpx jnf gung.

yvxr.... nyy bs vg. jung jnf gung. Avan vf tbvat gb or zvyn sberire? fghpx va n pbhagel fur ungrf sberire? nf gurve shpxvat dhrra juvpu jvyy xrrc ure vzzbovyr naq hanoyr gb hfr ure cbjref? jung. gur. shpx. ubj jvyy gurl unaqyr gur rkgerzryl vzcbegnag oybbq fhpprffvba? yvxr ZNXR VG ZNXR FRAFR V UNGR GUVF V UNGR GUVF V UNER GUVF

yvxr jr ernyyl bhg urer fnlvat zngguvnf jnf n fhzzre syvat uhu!! yvxr V YVXR gur cevapr naq V yvxr gung ur’f genaf ohg rirelguvat jnf qbar fb cvff cbbe ynfg zvahgr. jul jrer lbh pbafgnagyl fnlvat Avan jnf tbvat gb or jvgu n jbzna vs lbh xarj ur jnf genaf, Yrvtu. bu.... orpnhfr guvf nyy pnzr gbtrgure va gur ryriragu ubhe?

fcrnxvat bs Yrvtu pbzzragf erzrzore jura fur fnvq zngguvnf naq Avan jbhyq or gbtrgure va gur arkg yvsr? thrff abg!enfzhf whfg yvxr....... sybngf bss vagb gur rgure nybar pbby ybir vg

nyfb yvxr Wrfhf u Puevfg vs bar genaf crefba unq frafvgvivgl ernq gur obbx gurl jbhyq unir cebonoyl fnvq, “url Yrvtu! znlor ... qba’g unir lbhe yvgreny bar genaf punenpgre unir gb zheqre fbzrbar gb yvir gurve yvsr nf n zna! znlor gung’f jrveq naq haarprffnel? whfg n gubhtug.”

V srry yvxr fhpu n pybja sbe guvaxvat zngguvnf naq avan’f ebznapr znggrerq ng nyy. nyy Avan pnerq nobhg va guvf obbx jnf eriratr juvpu fur nyfb nonaqbarq va .5 frpbaqf orpnhfr gur cybg arrqrq ure gb trg bire vg. znlor V fubhyq whfg vagrecerg guvf nf Avan univat qvrq fb Zvyn pna yvir V thrff! tbq. tbq

v yvgrenyyl jvfu V pbhyq renfr guvf sebz zl oenva. jvyy varw naq mbln rire frr ure ntnva? jul vf guvf n unccl raqvat, orpnhfr fur’f “va ybir”? arvgure bs gurz jnagrq guvf evtvq eblny yvsr. yrg gurz tb serr.

shpx guvf fuvg

[testinoevents]

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[superborb]

Trese

tl;dr Loved the mythology + worldbuilding, felt it could use a thorough edit and more polishing to really shine

The premise: Alexandra Trese protects humanity from the supernatural (drawn from Filipino folklore), struggling to maintain the accords her father maintained with the creatures of the underworld. Starts out crime-solving mystery, culminates in a Big Bad style ending. 6 episodes of ~30 min, animated.

The mythology and setting were superb-- and indeed, what everyone's been praising. I'll defer to Filipino friends who have said that it feels accurate etc, but watching with little knowledge still let me feel immersed in the worldbuilding.

I also thought the characters were generally interesting, though the emotional storyline was strongly centered around Alexandra. With only ~3 h of runtime, that's fully to be expected. I guess it's also blending a bit into the worldbuilding, that the most interesting characters were the supernatural ones-- the Emissary was excellent. Though uh, Alexandra really liked to threaten her allies in ways that seem counterproductive? Ghost boy was helping you! Why must you-- stab his hand (no permanent damage done).

Here's where I felt it could use a strong polish though: while some plot threads were nicely pulled through and there were good callbacks, many of the threads get dropped and the Big Bad finale was a mess. Did we really need a half episode of Big Bad pontification?! And the repeated flashback reusing the same scenes may have tried to do the "building emotion by revealing more about the scene", but mostly felt repetitive. Also, a lot of the writing and dialogue could really have used some tightening. The dialogue was not helped by some VERY wooden voice acting (in the English dub), especially disappointingly for Alexandra.

[Rot13] Gur Qngh Gnyntohfnb juvfcrevat va rirelbar'f rne nyfb frrzrq gb nofbyir gurz bs glvat gbtrgure guvatf yvxr... jul qvq gur Znlbe znxr n qrny gb trg uhaqerqf bs crbcyr xvyyrq, jung jnf uvf zbgvingvba? 'Cbjre naq zbarl' nybar vf abg irel rkcynangbel.

OK but lest you think I didn't like it, I do think there were a lot of great smaller subplots, it just didn't stick the putting-it-all-together landing. The tikbalang as drag racer? INSPIRED. The whole tiyanak subplot was really top notch too, probably my favorite arc in terms of pacing and interest.

Overall, it's a fast watch and I'd recommend it if supernatural crime fighting is a genre you like.