April 2023 Media Round-Up
May. 5th, 2023 01:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rhysianaA few days later than intended, but who's counting? A good reading month, in part due to the power of library holds, but also lots of TV because I was clearing out my backlog of short series while finishing up an afghan for my niece. All listed in the order I finished them, not ranked.
Books
-The Red Scholar's Wake, Aliette de Bodard - I love the mindship 'verse so much. I'm not objective about these books at all. This one really got into some interesting social politics of the various space empires and the pirates caught between them, all kicked off with a hasty political marriage. Mmmm, delicious tropes and worldbuilding.
-Bitter Medicine, Mia Tsai - Urban fantasy where magical beings from Eastern mythology are equally incorporated? Yes, please. Random bonus for me specifically: it's partly set in Raleigh. (Not that you can really tell, but I appreciated the choice nonetheless.) Given the romantic comic book illustration for the cover and the use of present tense for the narration, I heavily suspect this is going to frequently get misclassified as YA, but all the characters are over 100 years old with employed adult problems.
-After the Dragons, Cynthia Zhang - Kind of a slice-of-life-ish modern fantasy set in a Beijing where little pet dragons are real, focused on the meeting of two characters during a single summer. Not a super resolved plot, but it felt cohesive with the vibe and themes explored. I do think you can tell it started life as a short story that then got expanded, as opposed to a novel concept cut down. (Content notes: implied societal problems due to climate change; discussions of a chronic and likely terminal respiratory illness). Gay, quiet, kind of a dreamy summer haze over everything, small-scale story with a much larger-scale backdrop.
-Lavender House, Lev AC Rosen - Historical mystery set specifically in the queer side of 1950s California. Deals necessarily with homophobia, as the main character ends up a private investigator after he loses his job as a police detective due to being outed in the raid of a gay club. I made extremely irresponsible sleep decisions to finish reading this one because I couldn't put it down once the plot really got going. Good news: it does appear to be the start of a series (or at least has a sequel for sure). Looking forward to seeing more of some of the side characters showing up around the PI's proposed new office.
-A Lady for a Duke, Alexis Hall - Historical romance featuring two survivors of the Napoleonic War: one who came back injured and lost in grief for the death of his friend, and that friend, who came back after being declared dead to finally live her life the way she'd always felt she should be. I was greatly relieved the former identity revelation didn't take the whole book to come up, because they had a lot of other important issues to deal with after that, all of which ended up handled very well. The epilogue was joyous.
-A Thief in the Night, KJ Charles - A little follow-up novella to The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting, about the main characters' mentioned older brother. A thief has to help the one-night stand he robbed uncover the truth of the inheritance left behind by his estranged father. A fun, fast read.
TV/Movies
-Kill Boksoon (Korean, Netflix, movie) - An assassin action movie in the same vague category as John Wick, except the hyper-competent middle-aged assassin in this one is a single mom. Even more enjoyable to me because she's played by the main actress from Crash Course in Romance, and she looked like she was having fun with this role.
-Hold My Hand at Twilight (Japanese, Viki) - A very cute show about two young adults in Tokyo trying to make it in the arts world. The guy is trying to make it as a musician; the girl initially came to Tokyo from the countryside to surprise her fiance only to find out he's living with someone else now, but then she stays out of stubbornness and discovers her own dream of fashion design. They both rent rooms from a delightful eccentric artist who has clearly lived a wild and full life. Mutual annoyances to friends to lovers.
-Pie in the Sky (English, Acorn) - Why did we pick up a British mystery series from 1994? Truly, who knows. But we needed something to watch without subtitles for evening crafting, and this show about a man just trying to run a restaurant while being constantly interrupted by having to solve crime for his boss in the police department who's holding his retirement paperwork hostage fit the bill. (His boss is very annoying, so not really recommended for people who don't want to deal with workplace abuses of power.) 5 seasons, lots of food, not all of the mysteries are murders for once.
-Unintentional Love Story (Korean, iQIYI) - A BL not about students! I stayed up until 3am watching this one all the way through. Famous ceramicist disappeared from the face of the art world two years ago and a young office worker who just got fired due to being tarred by a superior's actions accidentally ends up recognizing him while on vacation. His boss enlists him to spy on the artist to learn enough about him that their company will be able to get an exclusive contract with him, with the promise he'll be reinstated at his job at the end. This is all going swimmingly until he falls in love, of course.
Bonuses:
-This all takes place at one of those idyllic artists studio/shop centers that exist mostly in fiction, also containing a coffee shop and surrounded by various restaurants, etc.
-Ceramicist has a tragic romantic past. (Also, yes, there is a suggestive pottery wheel scene.)
-Office Worker gets a job at the coffee shop a few doors down from the ceramics shop and thus we get a front-row seat for the star-crossed romance happening between the coffee shop owner and his childhood friend.
-Goukon ni Ittara Onna ga Inakatta Hanashi (Japanese, ...the internet) - Once again, we must thank live-action manga adaptations for answering life's truly important questions: What if your plot-assigned manic pixie dream girl were actually a drag king? Three ships, three flavors of answer to this question, all good in their own ways. While two of the three women do end up appearing briefly in more feminine clothing, it's never presented as a makeover, and the guys appear more taken aback than anything else. Lots of "what even is gender and sexuality anyway?"
-Weak Hero Class 1 (Korean, Viki) - I thought I was all done watching things set in high schools, but idrilka has started writing fic for this show, so I had to make an exception. This show is apparently actually a prequel to the beginning of the webtoon the show is based on, which explains the mysterious mid-credits scene on the final episode, but I haven't sought out the comic because I'm very invested in where idrilka is taking the show characters for her fic. (I have been getting DM snippets of the writing! It's the best!) Premise: ...uh, three very messed up and stressed out high school students become friends and then fall apart? It's very much about characters who have been failed repeatedly by both their parents and society, but somehow keep trying to do the right thing in the midst of also trying to survive. Very intense, very violent, not exactly optimistic.
-Moonlight Chicken (Thai, GMMTV's YT channel) - Despite seeing approx. 8 million gifs/edits for this show on Tumblr, it turns out I had no idea what the plot of this show was at all because Tumblr only turns out to care about the teenage side ship. Actually about adults! A tired middle-aged restaurant owner meets a late-20s creative director who develops an instant crush and they have a one-night stand... and then do not so much as kiss again for another 9 episodes. Very nice examinations of changing attitudes toward queerness through characters of three different age groups (40, almost-30, and 18). Also looking at socioeconomic differences (several rich vs. poor characters) and disability issues (Deaf character). Bonus (for me, anyway): adults with previous relationships and attendant baggage! Amazing!
-The Eighth Sense (Korean, Viki) - New college freshman kid from the countryside meets older, cooler senior boy who has just gotten out of his military service and returned to school for his final year. New guy joins the surfing club to see if he can actually learn more about older guy (VP of the surf club and therefore in all the posters.) Older guy is equally invested in getting to know more about new kid, because he's dealing with a lot of depression due to Tragic Backstory and enjoys having someone in his life now who doesn't know any of it. Really interesting editing decision made for this one. I continue to think about it.
-Our Dating Sim (Korean, Viki) - Former high school best friends and almost-bfs who lost touch after graduation run into each other again working for the same small video game company. 100% fluff, this probably should have been longer to actually develop the characters, but a cute concept structured around video game mechanics.
Books
-The Red Scholar's Wake, Aliette de Bodard - I love the mindship 'verse so much. I'm not objective about these books at all. This one really got into some interesting social politics of the various space empires and the pirates caught between them, all kicked off with a hasty political marriage. Mmmm, delicious tropes and worldbuilding.
-Bitter Medicine, Mia Tsai - Urban fantasy where magical beings from Eastern mythology are equally incorporated? Yes, please. Random bonus for me specifically: it's partly set in Raleigh. (Not that you can really tell, but I appreciated the choice nonetheless.) Given the romantic comic book illustration for the cover and the use of present tense for the narration, I heavily suspect this is going to frequently get misclassified as YA, but all the characters are over 100 years old with employed adult problems.
-After the Dragons, Cynthia Zhang - Kind of a slice-of-life-ish modern fantasy set in a Beijing where little pet dragons are real, focused on the meeting of two characters during a single summer. Not a super resolved plot, but it felt cohesive with the vibe and themes explored. I do think you can tell it started life as a short story that then got expanded, as opposed to a novel concept cut down. (Content notes: implied societal problems due to climate change; discussions of a chronic and likely terminal respiratory illness). Gay, quiet, kind of a dreamy summer haze over everything, small-scale story with a much larger-scale backdrop.
-Lavender House, Lev AC Rosen - Historical mystery set specifically in the queer side of 1950s California. Deals necessarily with homophobia, as the main character ends up a private investigator after he loses his job as a police detective due to being outed in the raid of a gay club. I made extremely irresponsible sleep decisions to finish reading this one because I couldn't put it down once the plot really got going. Good news: it does appear to be the start of a series (or at least has a sequel for sure). Looking forward to seeing more of some of the side characters showing up around the PI's proposed new office.
-A Lady for a Duke, Alexis Hall - Historical romance featuring two survivors of the Napoleonic War: one who came back injured and lost in grief for the death of his friend, and that friend, who came back after being declared dead to finally live her life the way she'd always felt she should be. I was greatly relieved the former identity revelation didn't take the whole book to come up, because they had a lot of other important issues to deal with after that, all of which ended up handled very well. The epilogue was joyous.
-A Thief in the Night, KJ Charles - A little follow-up novella to The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting, about the main characters' mentioned older brother. A thief has to help the one-night stand he robbed uncover the truth of the inheritance left behind by his estranged father. A fun, fast read.
TV/Movies
-Kill Boksoon (Korean, Netflix, movie) - An assassin action movie in the same vague category as John Wick, except the hyper-competent middle-aged assassin in this one is a single mom. Even more enjoyable to me because she's played by the main actress from Crash Course in Romance, and she looked like she was having fun with this role.
-Hold My Hand at Twilight (Japanese, Viki) - A very cute show about two young adults in Tokyo trying to make it in the arts world. The guy is trying to make it as a musician; the girl initially came to Tokyo from the countryside to surprise her fiance only to find out he's living with someone else now, but then she stays out of stubbornness and discovers her own dream of fashion design. They both rent rooms from a delightful eccentric artist who has clearly lived a wild and full life. Mutual annoyances to friends to lovers.
-Pie in the Sky (English, Acorn) - Why did we pick up a British mystery series from 1994? Truly, who knows. But we needed something to watch without subtitles for evening crafting, and this show about a man just trying to run a restaurant while being constantly interrupted by having to solve crime for his boss in the police department who's holding his retirement paperwork hostage fit the bill. (His boss is very annoying, so not really recommended for people who don't want to deal with workplace abuses of power.) 5 seasons, lots of food, not all of the mysteries are murders for once.
-Unintentional Love Story (Korean, iQIYI) - A BL not about students! I stayed up until 3am watching this one all the way through. Famous ceramicist disappeared from the face of the art world two years ago and a young office worker who just got fired due to being tarred by a superior's actions accidentally ends up recognizing him while on vacation. His boss enlists him to spy on the artist to learn enough about him that their company will be able to get an exclusive contract with him, with the promise he'll be reinstated at his job at the end. This is all going swimmingly until he falls in love, of course.
Bonuses:
-This all takes place at one of those idyllic artists studio/shop centers that exist mostly in fiction, also containing a coffee shop and surrounded by various restaurants, etc.
-Ceramicist has a tragic romantic past. (Also, yes, there is a suggestive pottery wheel scene.)
-Office Worker gets a job at the coffee shop a few doors down from the ceramics shop and thus we get a front-row seat for the star-crossed romance happening between the coffee shop owner and his childhood friend.
-Goukon ni Ittara Onna ga Inakatta Hanashi (Japanese, ...the internet) - Once again, we must thank live-action manga adaptations for answering life's truly important questions: What if your plot-assigned manic pixie dream girl were actually a drag king? Three ships, three flavors of answer to this question, all good in their own ways. While two of the three women do end up appearing briefly in more feminine clothing, it's never presented as a makeover, and the guys appear more taken aback than anything else. Lots of "what even is gender and sexuality anyway?"
-Weak Hero Class 1 (Korean, Viki) - I thought I was all done watching things set in high schools, but idrilka has started writing fic for this show, so I had to make an exception. This show is apparently actually a prequel to the beginning of the webtoon the show is based on, which explains the mysterious mid-credits scene on the final episode, but I haven't sought out the comic because I'm very invested in where idrilka is taking the show characters for her fic. (I have been getting DM snippets of the writing! It's the best!) Premise: ...uh, three very messed up and stressed out high school students become friends and then fall apart? It's very much about characters who have been failed repeatedly by both their parents and society, but somehow keep trying to do the right thing in the midst of also trying to survive. Very intense, very violent, not exactly optimistic.
-Moonlight Chicken (Thai, GMMTV's YT channel) - Despite seeing approx. 8 million gifs/edits for this show on Tumblr, it turns out I had no idea what the plot of this show was at all because Tumblr only turns out to care about the teenage side ship. Actually about adults! A tired middle-aged restaurant owner meets a late-20s creative director who develops an instant crush and they have a one-night stand... and then do not so much as kiss again for another 9 episodes. Very nice examinations of changing attitudes toward queerness through characters of three different age groups (40, almost-30, and 18). Also looking at socioeconomic differences (several rich vs. poor characters) and disability issues (Deaf character). Bonus (for me, anyway): adults with previous relationships and attendant baggage! Amazing!
-The Eighth Sense (Korean, Viki) - New college freshman kid from the countryside meets older, cooler senior boy who has just gotten out of his military service and returned to school for his final year. New guy joins the surfing club to see if he can actually learn more about older guy (VP of the surf club and therefore in all the posters.) Older guy is equally invested in getting to know more about new kid, because he's dealing with a lot of depression due to Tragic Backstory and enjoys having someone in his life now who doesn't know any of it. Really interesting editing decision made for this one. I continue to think about it.
-Our Dating Sim (Korean, Viki) - Former high school best friends and almost-bfs who lost touch after graduation run into each other again working for the same small video game company. 100% fluff, this probably should have been longer to actually develop the characters, but a cute concept structured around video game mechanics.
