Media Roundup: Food, Mysteries, and Cute Comics

[forestofglory]

The Avant-Guards volumes 1 and 2 by Carly Usdin and Noah Hayes — This is a comic about a basketball team at a women’s art college. It’s super cute and very queer. I really enjoyed the art and all the characters!

The I Ching: A Biography by Richard J. Smith —I was trying to figure out a plot point in my fic and thought “maybe divination?” So then I had to go learn more about Chinese divination, which led to me checking this book out of the library. It was interesting but mostly I learned that the I Ching is very, very complicated and I don’t know nearly enough to use it in a fic.

Heartstopper: Volume 1 by Alice Oseman — This graphic novel about two boys falling in love is very cute! It ends on a cliffhanger and my library one has the first volume.

The Chile Pepper in China: A Cultural Biography by Brian R Dott — Another academic history of food in China! The subject matter was fascinating but I found the text a bit dry and repetitive in places.

Sleuth of Ming Dynasty, episodes 3-9 — I have some mixed feelings about this show. There is just a lot of police burtaility, including torture, and terrible prison contidtions, and its kind of a lot especially at this political moment. The show doesn’t seem that great on female characters although there have been two good ones who have been in the last several episodes. On the other hand I’m really enjoying the characters-- Tang Fan who is the main character is such a chaos muppet. He generally has planned about three steps ahead when he should have planned five steps ahead. Also I really love all the food porn in this. R is enjoying the show too, so we are going to keep watching for now despite my reservations.

Flavorful Origins, episodes 7- 15 — This show has been a great brain break for me. I enjoy how it mixes traditional, industrial and haute cuisine techniques with no judgement about which one is best.

Comments

[brownbetty]

You echo my feelings about Sleuth closely! I want to recommend it to people, but also, like, it kind of feels kind of like CSI: Las Vegas? "We're so diverse! Look at our cast of murder victims!" only without any kind of quiltbag representation so... at least they're not dead?

[bemused_writer]

I've also wanted to learn more about the I Ching. It has such a broad range of uses!

[sakana17]

I felt Sleuth of Ming Dynasty got better as it went along. I ended up really liking it. There are some important scenes with female characters later, though even with one storyline featuring a female character, it never reaches parity with the male characters. There are a lot of prison scenes throughout, but I think they back off the torture (there's still violence in the fight scenes).

[solo]

Just a wee note, the women in Sleuth get better. I can offhand think of three - four if you count a villain - who are extremely badass, and a couple more who are nice and competent. Given the kind of show it is, the guys are of course front and center, but I enjoyed what I saw of the women.

[swingandswirl]

Oooh, I've been looking for something to watch after Nadiya's Time To Eat, and Flavorful Origins sounds like just the ticket.

[forestofglory]

I've never watched CSI, but yeah, it's a lot of dead people.

I got to the tomato bit you mentioned on twitter though, and that was adorable!

[forestofglory]

I'm glad they back off on the torture, because its a lot for me. But I am mostly enjoying the show. We just met Tang Yu! So I'm excited for her plot line. And the Aha seems great too!

[forestofglory]

That's good the hear. We just meet Tang Yu so I'm looking forward to more of her, even if she is not very bad ass. I'm also loving Dong-er and the Aha.

[forestofglory]

I'm enjoying it a lot! And I'm going to have to check out Nadiya's Time To Eat.

[brownbetty]

But uh... 100% of the women do not surprise, so if you want to be spoiled, ask me more

[forestofglory]

I would like to be spoiled please!

[brownbetty]

I tweeted "Nothing bad better happen to Aha!" twenty episodes in, and about 40 episodes in I was like "oh no I jinxed it."

[forestofglory]

Oh no! She's my favorite! Thank you for the warning!