Media Roundup: Grab Bag
Aug. 25th, 2020 09:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
forestofgloryGoldie Vance Vol. 1, by Hope Larson and Brittney Williams — Cute detective comic. So this is set in Florida in the 50s and most of the characters are BIPOC. There’s no mention of racism or Jim Crow or anything like that. And I have mixed feelings about that. Because I understand why everyone wants to play with the fun tropes, but I also hate the romanticising of the 50s, because it fuels a lot of awful politics.
Flavorful Origins, episodes 16- 20— I’ve been watching these 10-15 episodes of Chinese food documentary on and off. They are a nice brain break for me.
Almost American Girl by Robin Ha —This graphic memoir about the author immigrating to the US form Korra when she was 14. This was good, there were a lot of intense feelings of loneliness and not belonging that were very moving. The ending felt a little bit rushed. I really liked the art style, it had kind of a watercolor vibe.
Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall —This is an m/m romance about a chaotic man fake dating a very orderly and buttoned up man. It was a lot of fun! I really liked all the food descriptions. And both men had interesting quirky friend groups
The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho — I was saving this for a special occasion because I knew it would be good. I decided that my birthday was a good occasion, and I’m very happy with this choice. This wuxia inspired novella about some bandits and nun. As always Cho does excellent character work, and this was extremely enjoyable! (Content note: A trans character is misgendered)
Sleuth of Ming Dynasty, episodes 10-19— R and I are still watching this but slowly due to life getting in the way a lot. I’m still enjoying the food porn in this show. Also the main character is such a delightful chaos muppet! While the male characters are still the focus, there’s now several female characters I really like. Meanwhile I still suspect that there’s a bunch of political implications of this show in the PRC that I’m not picking up on and wouldn’t like if I could understand them. Relatedly, I’m annoyed at how often the characters claim that the laws of the Ming dynasty are just when they demonstrably are not. (Content note: domestic abuse, serial killers, occasional gore, suicide)
Flavorful Origins, episodes 16- 20— I’ve been watching these 10-15 episodes of Chinese food documentary on and off. They are a nice brain break for me.
Almost American Girl by Robin Ha —This graphic memoir about the author immigrating to the US form Korra when she was 14. This was good, there were a lot of intense feelings of loneliness and not belonging that were very moving. The ending felt a little bit rushed. I really liked the art style, it had kind of a watercolor vibe.
Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall —This is an m/m romance about a chaotic man fake dating a very orderly and buttoned up man. It was a lot of fun! I really liked all the food descriptions. And both men had interesting quirky friend groups
The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho — I was saving this for a special occasion because I knew it would be good. I decided that my birthday was a good occasion, and I’m very happy with this choice. This wuxia inspired novella about some bandits and nun. As always Cho does excellent character work, and this was extremely enjoyable! (Content note: A trans character is misgendered)
Sleuth of Ming Dynasty, episodes 10-19— R and I are still watching this but slowly due to life getting in the way a lot. I’m still enjoying the food porn in this show. Also the main character is such a delightful chaos muppet! While the male characters are still the focus, there’s now several female characters I really like. Meanwhile I still suspect that there’s a bunch of political implications of this show in the PRC that I’m not picking up on and wouldn’t like if I could understand them. Relatedly, I’m annoyed at how often the characters claim that the laws of the Ming dynasty are just when they demonstrably are not. (Content note: domestic abuse, serial killers, occasional gore, suicide)
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Date: 2020-08-25 04:44 pm (UTC)That Zen Cho novella was the first thing I read of hers, and I really liked it! Thanks again for the story recs on Twitter (I’m trixietricoter there btw).
I’m adding the Almost American Girl to my tbr list right now!
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Date: 2020-08-25 05:36 pm (UTC)I'm glad you are discovering Zen Cho! I think I said that she is one of my favorite authors, a lot of her work is available online and she has great collection called Spirits Aboard. And two novels of course.
I'm always happy to rec short SFF to people! I hope if you have had time to read things that you enjoyed them!
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Date: 2020-08-25 04:52 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2020-08-26 12:04 am (UTC)I try to warn for things I think might upset my readers but I know I miss things.
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Date: 2020-08-27 08:22 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2020-08-26 08:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-26 04:57 pm (UTC)