January Recap
Feb. 5th, 2023 09:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sleepypapercrownsHey hey! It’s already February and still dark, miserable and rainy outside. Let’s talk about some nice things instead:
- Amsterdam (2022, mystery/ comedy)
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014, action/ adventure)
- The Menu (2022, horror/ thriller)
- Snowpiercer (2013, sci-fi/ action)
Amsterdam
Horribly disappointing; I couldn’t even tell you what this was about. A poorly paced movie with a whack storyline that had an all-star cast of actors who were probably there to distract you from all the bad. I would, however, love to read (more) Burt/Harold/Valerie fic set during their time in Amsterdam. There’s only one of those out there right now, so people!! get on the train!
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
A rewatch, because I was deep in none-brain only-comfort-stuff territory. I have sooo many Bucky/Sam/Steve/Natasha feelings!! Cap is my favorite Avenger and this little troop of idiots is my favorite combination of characters. On the other hand, I remember watching this in the cinema with three friends and when Bucky’s mask got removed we were like “Who the fuck is this??” and people behind us shushed us. Fun times!
The Menu
My friend H and I started a movie club this month because we are literally incapable of sitting down for 2 hours to watch something if there’s not the guilt of another person watching with you. This was the first one and we were soooo hooked. It’s a horrifying train crash that you can’t look away from. It leaves you behind without a satisfying ending and we’ve read some reviews where people hated that, but I loved it. I stood at the opposite side of the room at one point, only watching the screen through my fingers, so watch out for gore lol.
Snowpiercer
Another movie I watched with H and that captivated us! We were even more grossed out by quite a lot of stuff that happened in this movie. To me, it was a bit too much at times but I’d wager that this is exactly what Bong Joon-Ho wanted to achieve. Heartbreaking, brutal and hopeless. If you want a nice little hopeful and gentle but still unflinching fic to accompany your Snowpiercer experience, look out for a fic favorite in that section!
- The Bear (2022, drama/ comedy)
- The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021, adventure)
- The Witcher Season 1 (2019, fantasy)
The Bear
I quit after three episodes because the characters were just screaming at each other constantly and that stressed me out far too much. I’m sorry!
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
Another none-brain only-comfort-stuff rewatch. I can only say that I fucking despise John Walker and Sambucky are gay uncles. Oh and that therapist is fucking garbage. This also sparked a brief foray into Sambucky fic which you’ll see reflected in my favs, hehe.
The Witcher Season 1
This is a half lie, I had only two more episodes to watch of season two, but more on that next month. I started watching this with a mindset of “Oh well, I’ll just take a look and not pay too close attention.” and then –who would’ve thought otherwise– I watched the whole first season in five days. L had warned me that it would be confusing because of the non-linear story-telling and it was! And yet I still had a great time. I really liked this almost episodic approach to Geralt’s adventures (maybe even more than the connected storyline of season two)? Jaskier is my little idiot boy. I also think all men should wear high-waisted pants regularly; it nicely accentuates Geralt’s (or rather Henry’s) figure, heh.
- Kiss Her Once For Me by Alison Cochrun (2022, sapphic romance)
- Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (2006, graphic novel/ memoir)
- Bargain Bin Rom-Com by Leena Norms (2022, poetry)
- Love in the Big City by Sang Young Park, translated by Anton Hur (2019, contemporary fiction)
Kiss Her Once For Me
All in all this is a cute, quirky, at times heartfelt and sexy sapphic holiday romance. I had an issue with the writing style which consisted of a lot of tell and not enough show for my taste and another thing I didn’t enjoy was how much of the story’s plot happened under the influence of alcohol which.. hm. This one got so much hype and simply didn’t live up to it for me. The only thing that’s stuck in my head is when the main love interest said that they will now talk about their problems because they were queer women, god damnit, and if they could do one thing better than hetero partners it’s to communicate about their issues (paraphrased). Which: lmao.
Fun Home
I really like graphic memoirs such as this one but also had a hard time with it in some aspects. It was told cyclically with every chapter telling a separate story and picking out important bits from across the years to tell it. In that sense it’s almost like you as the reader are putting together a puzzle of Bechdel’s story, which is satisfying at the end but sometimes frustrating in the middle when you are getting thrown around time without being able to get your footing. Another issue I had as a non-native English speaker was understanding her advanced prose and her frequent references to classic literature. A lot of that went over my head, sadly.
Bargain Bin Rom-Com
I’ve been following Leena for years on Youtube and now it was finally time for her first published collection of poems! As always with poetry for me: a lot of them went over my head and a few of them are dear to me. It’s always fun to find one that speaks directly to your heart after wading through a couple that aren’t your kinda thing.
A line from one of my favs called Small Talk:
”Ask me who I am when I’m alone and if I can mimic it for you. / If I dog-ear pages of holy books I no longer live by because I still need to know where I came from.”
Love in the Big City
My favorite of this month by a wide margin!! The story is told in four distinct parts that could be considered short stories but also tell an overarching story of Young’s life in the big city. The story is told in such a factual manner but still managed to grip my heart and squeeze it. I was often angry for our main character even if he just accepted the misgivings that were happening to him with a simple shrug. Both the author’s and the translator’s not made me appreciate this story and that it was able to be translated so much more.
A favorite part from the story:
“– Because, whatever it was or wasn’t, you were you.
Because, whatever it was or wasn’t–not because of it or despite it– I was me. I liked what he said so much I kept savoring it under my breath.
– Whatever it was or wasn’t.”
And a favorite part from the author’s note:
”All writers are condemned to depict their worlds at least a step or two behind, which can be overwhelming, but for at least this citizen-writer, the fact that society changes faster than my writing can catch up is a joyful thing.”
Both of these concern the fact that the main character Young had contracted HIV and the way he had to deal with that within the story vs. how the world has changed since then for the better as Park Sang Young actually lives it.
This month I have read 320k worth of fic from 18 authors across 10 fandoms! I love stats. Some favs, as always, in no particular order:
- Spirit of the Season by averytree (skz, minho/jisung)
- shorelight by noonwitching (skz, chan/felix)
- We're getting divorced by Lossit (skz, minho/hyunjin/jisung/seungmin)
- Shut Up and Take My Money by Attila (critical role, jarett/vex)
- The Very Heart of IT by merryofsoul (mcu, bucky/steve)
- the boy who cried ghost by yukla (mcu, bucky/sam)
- diving blind by yukla (mcu, bucky/sam)
- Incomplete by astolat (the witcher, geralt/emhyr)
Movies
- Amsterdam (2022, mystery/ comedy)
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014, action/ adventure)
- The Menu (2022, horror/ thriller)
- Snowpiercer (2013, sci-fi/ action)
Amsterdam
Horribly disappointing; I couldn’t even tell you what this was about. A poorly paced movie with a whack storyline that had an all-star cast of actors who were probably there to distract you from all the bad. I would, however, love to read (more) Burt/Harold/Valerie fic set during their time in Amsterdam. There’s only one of those out there right now, so people!! get on the train!
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
A rewatch, because I was deep in none-brain only-comfort-stuff territory. I have sooo many Bucky/Sam/Steve/Natasha feelings!! Cap is my favorite Avenger and this little troop of idiots is my favorite combination of characters. On the other hand, I remember watching this in the cinema with three friends and when Bucky’s mask got removed we were like “Who the fuck is this??” and people behind us shushed us. Fun times!
The Menu
My friend H and I started a movie club this month because we are literally incapable of sitting down for 2 hours to watch something if there’s not the guilt of another person watching with you. This was the first one and we were soooo hooked. It’s a horrifying train crash that you can’t look away from. It leaves you behind without a satisfying ending and we’ve read some reviews where people hated that, but I loved it. I stood at the opposite side of the room at one point, only watching the screen through my fingers, so watch out for gore lol.
Snowpiercer
Another movie I watched with H and that captivated us! We were even more grossed out by quite a lot of stuff that happened in this movie. To me, it was a bit too much at times but I’d wager that this is exactly what Bong Joon-Ho wanted to achieve. Heartbreaking, brutal and hopeless. If you want a nice little hopeful and gentle but still unflinching fic to accompany your Snowpiercer experience, look out for a fic favorite in that section!
Shows
- The Bear (2022, drama/ comedy)
- The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021, adventure)
- The Witcher Season 1 (2019, fantasy)
The Bear
I quit after three episodes because the characters were just screaming at each other constantly and that stressed me out far too much. I’m sorry!
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
Another none-brain only-comfort-stuff rewatch. I can only say that I fucking despise John Walker and Sambucky are gay uncles. Oh and that therapist is fucking garbage. This also sparked a brief foray into Sambucky fic which you’ll see reflected in my favs, hehe.
The Witcher Season 1
This is a half lie, I had only two more episodes to watch of season two, but more on that next month. I started watching this with a mindset of “Oh well, I’ll just take a look and not pay too close attention.” and then –who would’ve thought otherwise– I watched the whole first season in five days. L had warned me that it would be confusing because of the non-linear story-telling and it was! And yet I still had a great time. I really liked this almost episodic approach to Geralt’s adventures (maybe even more than the connected storyline of season two)? Jaskier is my little idiot boy. I also think all men should wear high-waisted pants regularly; it nicely accentuates Geralt’s (or rather Henry’s) figure, heh.
Books
- Kiss Her Once For Me by Alison Cochrun (2022, sapphic romance)
- Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (2006, graphic novel/ memoir)
- Bargain Bin Rom-Com by Leena Norms (2022, poetry)
- Love in the Big City by Sang Young Park, translated by Anton Hur (2019, contemporary fiction)
Kiss Her Once For Me
All in all this is a cute, quirky, at times heartfelt and sexy sapphic holiday romance. I had an issue with the writing style which consisted of a lot of tell and not enough show for my taste and another thing I didn’t enjoy was how much of the story’s plot happened under the influence of alcohol which.. hm. This one got so much hype and simply didn’t live up to it for me. The only thing that’s stuck in my head is when the main love interest said that they will now talk about their problems because they were queer women, god damnit, and if they could do one thing better than hetero partners it’s to communicate about their issues (paraphrased). Which: lmao.
Fun Home
I really like graphic memoirs such as this one but also had a hard time with it in some aspects. It was told cyclically with every chapter telling a separate story and picking out important bits from across the years to tell it. In that sense it’s almost like you as the reader are putting together a puzzle of Bechdel’s story, which is satisfying at the end but sometimes frustrating in the middle when you are getting thrown around time without being able to get your footing. Another issue I had as a non-native English speaker was understanding her advanced prose and her frequent references to classic literature. A lot of that went over my head, sadly.
Bargain Bin Rom-Com
I’ve been following Leena for years on Youtube and now it was finally time for her first published collection of poems! As always with poetry for me: a lot of them went over my head and a few of them are dear to me. It’s always fun to find one that speaks directly to your heart after wading through a couple that aren’t your kinda thing.
A line from one of my favs called Small Talk:
”Ask me who I am when I’m alone and if I can mimic it for you. / If I dog-ear pages of holy books I no longer live by because I still need to know where I came from.”
Love in the Big City
My favorite of this month by a wide margin!! The story is told in four distinct parts that could be considered short stories but also tell an overarching story of Young’s life in the big city. The story is told in such a factual manner but still managed to grip my heart and squeeze it. I was often angry for our main character even if he just accepted the misgivings that were happening to him with a simple shrug. Both the author’s and the translator’s not made me appreciate this story and that it was able to be translated so much more.
A favorite part from the story:
“– Because, whatever it was or wasn’t, you were you.
Because, whatever it was or wasn’t–not because of it or despite it– I was me. I liked what he said so much I kept savoring it under my breath.
– Whatever it was or wasn’t.”
And a favorite part from the author’s note:
”All writers are condemned to depict their worlds at least a step or two behind, which can be overwhelming, but for at least this citizen-writer, the fact that society changes faster than my writing can catch up is a joyful thing.”
Both of these concern the fact that the main character Young had contracted HIV and the way he had to deal with that within the story vs. how the world has changed since then for the better as Park Sang Young actually lives it.
Fic
This month I have read 320k worth of fic from 18 authors across 10 fandoms! I love stats. Some favs, as always, in no particular order:
- Spirit of the Season by averytree (skz, minho/jisung)
- shorelight by noonwitching (skz, chan/felix)
- We're getting divorced by Lossit (skz, minho/hyunjin/jisung/seungmin)
- Shut Up and Take My Money by Attila (critical role, jarett/vex)
- The Very Heart of IT by merryofsoul (mcu, bucky/steve)
- the boy who cried ghost by yukla (mcu, bucky/sam)
- diving blind by yukla (mcu, bucky/sam)
- Incomplete by astolat (the witcher, geralt/emhyr)
no subject
Date: 2023-02-06 11:15 am (UTC)How great was Love in the Big City! Such a good read.
no subject
Date: 2023-02-06 07:10 pm (UTC)I've seen love in the big city recced a lot! I'm excited to read it.
no subject
Date: 2023-02-07 06:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-02-07 10:11 pm (UTC)