Things, and Yuletide-to-be
So, I am now the mildly bemused and bewildered owner of not one but four photobooks for Hanyu Yuzuru as well as being on fs Twitter as well as subscribing to his YouTube channel. (I didn't even do this for Jay Chou, not when I was at my most fervent fandom-ly worship state. Buying CDs was deemed enough. But I suppose budget constraints then.) His fandom is huge, with some very smart segments and nice people and (as with most fandoms) some rather less desirable ones. Ah well, it's been fun so far, so we'll see how it goes.
Twitter is kind of fun? I follow a lot of politics and books and academia-ly things as well and occasionally it brings a lot of food for thought. But it's so annoying USA-based too, yikes.
And then media consumed. After Extraordinary Attorney Woo, I went on to Sandman which was good and awkward and horrifying by turns - I do so badly with horror that I probably would not see it again, but it was entertaining and it did/does have very high production value, so thumbs up, I suppose. And I would rec if you are new to Sandman and enjoyed some urban fantasy featuring (again) some mysterious beings inspired by Christianity and the (ancient) Greek pantheon. The pretty parts are really very, very pretty.
After that I milled around aimlessly for a bit, and finally got my hands on The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison and then finally realised what the fuss years ago was about. It is indeed very good, yay! Maia is such a great character, smart and developing his own wisdom and confidence as the time goes. It's lovely. He's a darling. I also had the wildest curiosity about the state of technology in that universe (plus that bridge!) and sadly there is no sequel. Unfortunately I had zero patience with all the super-long names, so that was a bit annoying.
Realising that I really ought to trust hype, I got a copy of The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang (the hype on her newest Babel is strong, but not available in the library yet. I may buy it if PW turns out to be my liking.) Currently slightly stalled in the middle of PW, y'know, that part where the protagonist is realising (more) home truths, getting her ass kicked, on the way to (I imagine) eventually turning her worldview upside-down (again) and then doing some kind of 180?
Ok, I know I'm just assuming all kind of tropey developments for now based on the first 3/5 of the book... well, maybe I'll be surprised later (no spoilers please). Apparently it's a trilogy so we'll see. The writing's good, smooth and quick-paced; the Chinese/East Asia shoutouts were sometimes surprising, sometimes funny and occasionally annoying. (Also I object that one of the characters named Nezha is a not-nice guy. Nezha is my favourite godling/deity! Well, one of my favourite deities. Y'all not allowed to characterize him like that.)
Dramas:
I was watching Love Between Fairy and Devil and![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
libitina had a post about the male protagonists in this and Love Like the Galaxy (https://libitina.dreamwidth.org/613285.html), and so I went to watch LLG as well. Which was a pleasant surprise! Wu Lei as the male lead aside, I realised that LLG was chockful of excellent characters like Concubine Yue and Xiao Yuanyi (Cheng Shaoshang's mother) and the empress, not to mention a whole bunch of scheming, nasty-tongued princesses, venal grandmothers, matriarchs, and assorted hangers-on (and also Shaoshang's suitors). All the sniping underneath the seemingly nice and polite language and all those manners and formalities - delightful. Not to mention, there's genuinely good/moral people who unironically insist on such trite virtues as honesty, loyalty, honour, repaying your debts, etc., as a contrast, and it's been very satisfying to watch. I like the emperor's unabashed support of the canon couple, lol.
And Yuletide! I missed the nomination stage so I couldn't nominate HIStory3: Make Our Days Count, but perhaps it's just as well, I still can't reconcile the ending except by pretending it doesn't exist. But HIStory3: Trapped is still offered, so I shall go for that. As for the other fandoms... I am in two minds. Imperial Coroner? Nirvana in Fire? Will think about it.
Twitter is kind of fun? I follow a lot of politics and books and academia-ly things as well and occasionally it brings a lot of food for thought. But it's so annoying USA-based too, yikes.
And then media consumed. After Extraordinary Attorney Woo, I went on to Sandman which was good and awkward and horrifying by turns - I do so badly with horror that I probably would not see it again, but it was entertaining and it did/does have very high production value, so thumbs up, I suppose. And I would rec if you are new to Sandman and enjoyed some urban fantasy featuring (again) some mysterious beings inspired by Christianity and the (ancient) Greek pantheon. The pretty parts are really very, very pretty.
After that I milled around aimlessly for a bit, and finally got my hands on The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison and then finally realised what the fuss years ago was about. It is indeed very good, yay! Maia is such a great character, smart and developing his own wisdom and confidence as the time goes. It's lovely. He's a darling. I also had the wildest curiosity about the state of technology in that universe (plus that bridge!) and sadly there is no sequel. Unfortunately I had zero patience with all the super-long names, so that was a bit annoying.
Realising that I really ought to trust hype, I got a copy of The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang (the hype on her newest Babel is strong, but not available in the library yet. I may buy it if PW turns out to be my liking.) Currently slightly stalled in the middle of PW, y'know, that part where the protagonist is realising (more) home truths, getting her ass kicked, on the way to (I imagine) eventually turning her worldview upside-down (again) and then doing some kind of 180?
Ok, I know I'm just assuming all kind of tropey developments for now based on the first 3/5 of the book... well, maybe I'll be surprised later (no spoilers please). Apparently it's a trilogy so we'll see. The writing's good, smooth and quick-paced; the Chinese/East Asia shoutouts were sometimes surprising, sometimes funny and occasionally annoying. (Also I object that one of the characters named Nezha is a not-nice guy. Nezha is my favourite godling/deity! Well, one of my favourite deities. Y'all not allowed to characterize him like that.)
Dramas:
I was watching Love Between Fairy and Devil and
libitina had a post about the male protagonists in this and Love Like the Galaxy (https://libitina.dreamwidth.org/613285.html), and so I went to watch LLG as well. Which was a pleasant surprise! Wu Lei as the male lead aside, I realised that LLG was chockful of excellent characters like Concubine Yue and Xiao Yuanyi (Cheng Shaoshang's mother) and the empress, not to mention a whole bunch of scheming, nasty-tongued princesses, venal grandmothers, matriarchs, and assorted hangers-on (and also Shaoshang's suitors). All the sniping underneath the seemingly nice and polite language and all those manners and formalities - delightful. Not to mention, there's genuinely good/moral people who unironically insist on such trite virtues as honesty, loyalty, honour, repaying your debts, etc., as a contrast, and it's been very satisfying to watch. I like the emperor's unabashed support of the canon couple, lol. And Yuletide! I missed the nomination stage so I couldn't nominate HIStory3: Make Our Days Count, but perhaps it's just as well, I still can't reconcile the ending except by pretending it doesn't exist. But HIStory3: Trapped is still offered, so I shall go for that. As for the other fandoms... I am in two minds. Imperial Coroner? Nirvana in Fire? Will think about it.