#Best crime and thrillers of 2023 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

justforbooks · 5 months

Text

Best crime and thrillers of 2023

Given this year’s headlines, it’s unsurprising that our appetite for cosy crime continues unabated, with the latest title in Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series, The Last Devil to Die (Viking), topping the bestseller lists. Janice Hallett’s novels The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels, which also features a group of amateur crime-solvers, and The Christmas Appeal (both Viper) have proved phenomenally popular, too.

Hallett’s books, which are constructed as dossiers – transcripts, emails, WhatsApp messages and the like – are part of a growing trend of experimentation with form, ranging from Cara Hunter’s intricate Murder in the Family (HarperCollins), which is structured around the making of a cold case documentary, to Gareth Rubin’s tête-bêche The Turnglass (Simon & Schuster). Books that hark back to the golden age of crime, such as Tom Mead’s splendidly tricksy locked-room mystery Death and the Conjuror (Head of Zeus), are also on the rise. The late Christopher Fowler, author of the wonderful Bryant & May detective series, who often lamented the sacrifice of inventiveness and fun on the altar of realism, would surely have approved. Word Monkey (Doubleday), published posthumously, is his funny and moving memoir of a life spent writing popular fiction.

Notable debuts include Callum McSorley’s Glaswegian gangland thriller Squeaky Clean (Pushkin Vertigo); Jo Callaghan’s In the Blink of an Eye (Simon & Schuster), a police procedural with an AI detective; Scorched Grace by Margot Douaihy (Pushkin Vertigo), featuring queer punk nun investigator Sister Holiday; and the caustically funny Thirty Days of Darkness (Orenda) by Jenny Lund Madsen (translated from the Danish by Megan E Turney).

There have been welcome additions to series, including a third book, Case Sensitive (Zaffre), for AK Turner’s forensic investigator Cassie Raven, and a second, The Wheel of Doll (Pushkin Vertigo), for Jonathan Ames’s LA private eye Happy Doll, who is shaping up to be the perfect hardboiled 21st-century hero.

Other must-reads for fans of American crime fiction include Ozark Dogs (Headline) by Eli Cranor, a powerful story of feuding Arkansas families; SA Cosby’s Virginia-set police procedural All the Sinners Bleed (Headline); Megan Abbott’s nightmarish Beware the Woman (Virago); and Rebecca Makkai’s foray into very dark academia, I Have Some Questions for You (Fleet). There are shades of James Ellroy in Jordan Harper’s Hollywood-set tour de force Everybody Knows (Faber), while Raymond Chandler’s hero Philip Marlowe gets a timely do-over from Scottish crime doyenne Denise Mina in The Second Murderer (Harvill Secker).

As Mick Herron observed in his Slow Horses origin novel, The Secret Hours (Baskerville), there’s a long list of spy novelists who have been pegged as the heir to John le Carré. Herron must be in pole position for principal legatee, but it’s been a good year for espionage generally: standout novels include Matthew Richardson’s The Scarlet Papers (Michael Joseph), John Lawton’s Moscow Exile (Grove Press) and Harriet Crawley’s The Translator (Bitter Lemon).

Historical crime has also been well served. Highlights include Emma Flint’s excellent Other Women (Picador), based on a real 1924 murder case; Laura Shepherd-Robinson’s story of a fortune teller’s quest for identity in Georgian high society, The Square of Sevens (Mantle); and SG MacLean’s tale of Restoration revenge and retribution, The Winter List (Quercus). There are echoes of Chester Himes in Viper’s Dream (No Exit) by Jake Lamar, which begins in 1930s Harlem, while Palace of Shadows (Mantle) by Ray Celestin, set in the late 19th century, takes the true story of American weapons heiress Sarah Winchester’s San Jose mansion and transports it to Yorkshire, with chillingly gothic results.

The latest novel in Vaseem Khan’s postcolonial India series, Death of a Lesser God (Hodder), is also well worth the read, as are Deepti Kapoor’s present-day organised crime saga Age of Vice (Fleet) and Parini Shroff’s darkly antic feminist revenge drama The Bandit Queens (Atlantic).

While psychological thrillers are thinner on the ground than in previous years, the quality remains high, with Liz Nugent’s complex and heartbreaking tale of abuse, Strange Sally Diamond (Penguin Sandycove), and Sarah Hilary’s disturbing portrait of a family in freefall, Black Thorn (Macmillan), being two of the best.

Penguin Modern Classics has revived its crime series, complete with iconic green livery, with works by Georges Simenon, Dorothy B Hughes and Ross MacDonald. There have been reissues by other publishers, too – forgotten gems including Celia Fremlin’s 1959 holiday‑from-hell novel, Uncle Paul (Faber), and Richard Wright’s The Man Who Lived Underground (Vintage). Finished in 1942 but only now published in its entirety, the latter is an account of an innocent man who takes refuge from racist police officers in the sewers of Chicago – part allegorical, part brutally realistic and, unfortunately, wholly topical.

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

#just for books #Best crime and thrillers of 2023 #book review

6 notes · View notes

macrolit · 5 months

Text

NYT's Notable Books of 2023

Each year, we pore over thousands of new books, seeking out the best novels, memoirs, biographies, poetry collections, stories and more. Here are the standouts, selected by the staff of The New York Times Book Review.

AFTER SAPPHO by Selby Wynn Schwartz

Inspired by Sappho’s work, Schwartz’s debut novel offers an alternate history of creativity at the turn of the 20th century, one that centers queer women artists, writers and intellectuals who refused to accept society’s boundaries.

ALL THE SINNERS BLEED by S.A. Cosby

In his earlier thrillers, Cosby worked the outlaw side of the crime genre. In his new one — about a Black sheriff in a rural Southern town, searching for a serial killer who tortures Black children — he’s written a crackling good police procedural.

THE BEE STING by Paul Murray

In Murray’s boisterous tragicomic novel, a once wealthy Irish family struggles with both the aftermath of the 2008 financial crash and their own inner demons.

BIOGRAPHY OF X by Catherine Lacey

Lacey rewrites 20th-century U.S. history through the audacious fictional life story of X, a polarizing female performance artist who made her way from the South to New York City’s downtown art scene.

BIRNAM WOOD by Eleanor Catton

In this action-packed novel from a Booker Prize winner, a collective of activist gardeners crosses paths with a billionaire doomsday prepper on land they each want for different purposes.

BLACKOUTS by Justin Torres

This lyrical, genre-defying novel — winner of the 2023 National Book Award — explores what it means to be erased and how to persist after being wiped away.

BRIGHT YOUNG WOMEN by Jessica Knoll

In her third and most assured novel, Knoll shifts readers’ attention away from a notorious serial killer, Ted Bundy, and onto the lives — and deaths — of the women he killed. Perhaps for the first time in fiction, Knoll pooh-poohs Bundy's much ballyhooed intelligence, celebrating the promise and perspicacity of his victims instead.

CHAIN-GANG ALL-STARS by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

This satire — in which prison inmates duel on TV for a chance at freedom — makes readers complicit with the bloodthirsty fans sitting ringside. The fight scenes are so well written they demonstrate how easy it might be to accept a world this sick.

THE COVENANT OF WATER by Abraham Verghese

Verghese’s first novel since “Cutting for Stone” follows generations of a family across 77 years in southwestern India as they contend with political strife and other troubles — capped by a shocking discovery made by the matriarch’s granddaughter, a doctor.

CROOK MANIFESTO by Colson Whitehead

Returning to the world of his novel “Harlem Shuffle,” Whitehead again uses a crime story to illuminate a singular neighborhood at a tipping point — here, Harlem in the 1970s.

THE DELUGE by Stephen Markley

Markley’s second novel confronts the scale and gravity of climate change, tracking a cadre of scientists and activists from the gathering storm of the Obama years to the super-typhoons of future decades. Immersive and ambitious, the book shows the range of its author’s gifts: polyphonic narration, silken sentences and elaborate world-building.

EASTBOUND by Maylis de Kerangal

In de Kerangal’s brief, lyrical novel, translated by Jessica Moore, a young Russian soldier on a trans-Siberian train decides to desert and turns to a civilian passenger, a Frenchwoman, for help.

EMILY WILDE’S ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF FAERIES by Heather Fawcett

The world-building in this tale of a woman documenting a new kind of faerie is exquisite, and the characters are just as textured and richly drawn. This is the kind of folkloric fantasy that remembers the old, blood-ribboned source material about sacrifices and stolen children, but adds a modern gloss.

ENTER GHOST by Isabella Hammad

In Hammad’s second novel, a British Palestinian actor returns to her hometown in Israel to recover from a breakup and spend time with her family. Instead, she’s talked into joining a staging of “Hamlet” in the West Bank, where she has a political awakening.

FORBIDDEN NOTEBOOK by Alba de Céspedes

A best-selling novelist and prominent anti-Fascist in her native Italy, de Céspedes has lately fallen into unjust obscurity. Translated by Ann Goldstein, this elegant novel from the 1950s tells the story of a married mother, Valeria, whose life is transformed when she begins keeping a secret diary.

THE FRAUD by Zadie Smith

Based on a celebrated 19th-century trial in which the defendant was accused of impersonating a nobleman, Smith’s novel offers a vast panoply of London and the English countryside, and successfully locates the social controversies of an era in a handful of characters.

FROM FROM by Monica Youn

In her fourth book of verse, a svelte, intrepid foray into American racism, Youn turns a knowing eye on society’s love-hate relationship with what it sees as the “other.”

A GUEST IN THE HOUSE by Emily Carroll

After a lonely young woman marries a mild-mannered widower and moves into his home, she begins to wonder how his first wife actually died. This graphic novel alternates between black-and-white and overwhelming colors as it explores the mundane and the horrific.

THE HEAVEN & EARTH GROCERY STORE by James McBride

McBride’s latest, an intimate, big-hearted tale of community, opens with a human skeleton found in a well in the 1970s, and then flashes back to the past, to the ’20s and ’30s, to explore the town’s Black, Jewish and immigrant history.

HELLO BEAUTIFUL by Ann Napolitano

In her radiant fourth novel, Napolitano puts a fresh spin on the classic tale of four sisters and the man who joins their family. Take “Little Women,” move it to modern-day Chicago, add more intrigue, lots of basketball and a different kind of boy next door and you’ve got the bones of this thoroughly original story.

A HISTORY OF BURNING by Janika Oza

This remarkable debut novel tells the story of an extended Indo-Ugandan family that is displaced, settled and displaced again.

HOLLY by Stephen King

The scrappy private detective Holly Gibney (who appeared in “The Outsider” and several other novels) returns, this time taking on a missing-persons case that — in typical King fashion — unfolds into a tale of Dickensian proportions.

A HOUSE FOR ALICE by Diana Evans

This polyphonic novel traces one family’s reckoning after the patriarch dies in a fire, as his widow, a Nigerian immigrant, considers returning to her home country and the entire family re-examines the circumstances of their lives.

THE ILIAD by Homer

Emily Wilson’s propulsive new translation of the “Iliad” is buoyant and expressive; she wants this version to be read aloud, and it would certainly be fun to perform.

INK BLOOD SISTER SCRIBE by Emma Törzs

The sisters in Törzs's delightful debut have been raised to protect a collection of magic books that allow their keepers to do incredible things. Their story accelerates like a fugue, ably conducted to a tender conclusion.

KAIROS by Jenny Erpenbeck

This tale of a torrid, yearslong relationship between a young woman and a much older married man — translated from the German by Michael Hofmann — is both profound and moving.

KANTIKA by Elizabeth Graver

Inspired by the life of Graver’s maternal grandmother, this exquisitely imagined family saga spans cultures and continents as it traces the migrations of a Sephardic Jewish girl from turn-of-the-20th-century Constantinople to Barcelona, Havana and, finally, Queens, N.Y.

LAND OF MILK AND HONEY by C Pam Zhang

Zhang’s lush, keenly intelligent novel follows a chef who’s hired to cook for an “elite research community” in the Italian Alps, in a not-so-distant future where industrial-agricultural experiments in America’s heartland have blanketed the globe in a crop-smothering smog.

LONE WOMEN by Victor LaValle

The year is 1915, and the narrator of LaValle’s horror-tinged western has arrived in Montana to cultivate an unforgiving homestead. She’s looking for a fresh start as a single Black woman in a sparsely populated state, but the locked trunk she has in stow holds a terrifying secret.

MONICA by Daniel Clowes

In Clowes’s luminous new work, the titular character, abandoned by her mother as a child, endures a life of calamities before resolving to learn about her origins and track down her parents.

THE MOST SECRET MEMORY OF MEN by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr

Based on a true story and translated by Lara Vergnaud, Sarr’s novel — about a Senegalese writer brought low by a plagiarism scandal — asks sharp questions about the state of African literature in the West.

THE NEW NATURALS by Gabriel Bump

In Bump’s engrossing new novel, a young Black couple, mourning the loss of their newborn daughter and disillusioned with the world, start a utopian society — but tensions both internal and external soon threaten their dreams.

NORTH WOODS by Daniel Mason

Mason’s novel looks at the occupants of a single house in Massachusetts over several centuries, from colonial times to present day. An apple farmer, an abolitionist, a wealthy manufacturer: The book follows these lives and many others, with detours into natural history and crime reportage.

NOT EVEN THE DEAD by Juan Gómez Bárcena

An ex-conquistador in Spanish-ruled, 16th-century Mexico is asked to hunt down an Indigenous prophet in this novel by a leading writer in Spain, splendidly translated by Katie Whittemore. The epic search stretches across much of the continent and, as the author bends time and history, lasts centuries.

THE NURSERY by Szilvia Molnar

“I used to be a translator and now I am a milk bar.” So begins Molnar’s brilliant novel about a new mother falling apart within the four walls of her apartment.

OUR SHARE OF NIGHT by Mariana Enriquez

This dazzling, epic narrative, translated from the Spanish by Megan McDowell, is a bewitching brew of mystery and myth, peopled by mediums who can summon “the Darkness” for a secret society of wealthy occultists seeking to preserve consciousness after death.

PINEAPPLE STREET by Jenny Jackson

Jackson’s smart, dishy debut novel embeds readers in an upper-crust Brooklyn Heights family — its real estate, its secrets, its just-like-you-and-me problems. Does money buy happiness? “Pineapple Street” asks a better question: Does it buy honesty?

THE REFORMATORY by Tananarive Due

Due’s latest — about a Black boy, Robert, who is wrongfully sentenced to a fictionalized version of Florida’s infamous and brutal Dozier School — is both an incisive examination of the lingering traumas of racism and a gripping, ghost-filled horror novel. “The novel’s extended, layered denouement is so heart-smashingly good, it made me late for work,” Randy Boyagoda wrote in his review. “I couldn’t stop reading.”

THE SAINT OF BRIGHT DOORS by Vajra Chandrasekera

Trained to kill by his mother and able to see demons, the protagonist of Chandrasekera’s stunning and lyrical novel flees his destiny as an assassin and winds up in a politically volatile metropolis.

SAME BED DIFFERENT DREAMS by Ed Park

Double agents, sinister corporations, slasher films, U.F.O.s — Park’s long-awaited second novel is packed to the gills with creative elements that enliven his acerbic, comedic and lyrical odyssey into Korean history and American paranoia.

TAKE WHAT YOU NEED by Idra Novey

This elegant novel resonates with implication beyond the taut contours of its central story line. In Novey’s deft hands, the complex relationship between a young woman and her former stepmother hints at the manifold divisions within America itself.

THIS OTHER EDEN by Paul Harding

In his latest novel, inspired by the true story of a devastating 1912 eviction in Maine that displaced an entire mixed-race fishing community, Harding turns that history into a lyrical tale about the fictional Apple Island on the cusp of destruction.

TOM LAKE by Ann Patchett

Locked down on the family’s northern Michigan cherry orchard, three sisters and their mother, a former actress whose long-ago summer fling went on to become a movie star, reflect on love and regret in Patchett’s quiet and reassuring Chekhovian novel.

THE UNSETTLED by Ayana Mathis

This novel follows three generations across time and place: a young mother trying to create a home for herself and her son in 1980s Philadelphia, and her mother, who is trying to save their Alabama hometown from white supremacists seeking to displace her from her land.

VICTORY CITY by Salman Rushdie

Rushdie’s new novel recounts the long life of Pampa Kampana, who creates an empire from magic seeds in 14th-century India. Her world is one of peace, where men and women are equal and all faiths welcome, but the story Rushdie tells is of a state that forever fails to live up to its ideals.

WE COULD BE SO GOOD by Cat Sebastian

This queer midcentury romance — about reporters who meet at work, become friends, move in together and fall in love — lingers on small, everyday acts like bringing home flowers with the groceries, things that loom large because they’re how we connect with others.

WESTERN LANE by Chetna Maroo

In this polished and disciplined debut novel, an 11-year-old Jain girl in London who has just lost her mother turns her attention to the game of squash — which in Maroo’s graceful telling becomes a way into the girl’s grief.

WITNESS by Jamel Brinkley

Set in Brooklyn, and featuring animal rescue workers, florists, volunteers, ghosts and UPS workers, Brinkley’s new collection meditates on what it means to see and be seen.

Y/N by Esther Yi

In this weird and wondrous novel, a bored young woman in thrall to a boy band buys a one-way ticket to Seoul.

YELLOWFACE by R.F. Kuang

Kuang’s first foray outside of the fantasy genre is a breezy and propulsive tale about a white woman who achieves tremendous literary success by stealing a manuscript from a recently deceased Asian friend and passing it off as her own.

#new york times #100 books #reading list #2023 #books #reading #have you read any of these titles?

236 notes · View notes

staydandy · 2 months

Text

Desire Catcher (2023) - 无眠之境 - Whump List

List by StayDandy Synopsis : In the world of hypnotism, Lu Feng Ping is known for being one of the country's best hypnotists. Naturally, when the city is rocked by a string of crimes that all seem to be conducted under the influence of hypnotism, it is Feng Ping the police turn to for help. As the officer assigned to the case, Luo Fei has no choice but to consult with Feng Ping. A criminal detective plagued by his own inner demons, Luo Fei is highly suspicious of Feng Ping and his work. Putting their mutual suspicions aside, Feng Ping and Luo Fei take on the case with equal fervor. Working together, the two come to find that something other than their work connects them: a decade-old case that, to this day, has gone unsolved. (MDL)

Whumpee : Lu Feng Ping played by Zheng Ye Cheng (left) • Luo Fei played by Xin Yun Lai (right)

Country : 🇨🇳 China Genres : Thriller, Mystery, Psychological, Crime, Bromance

Notes : This is a Full Whump List • Adapted from the novel "Xie E Cui Mian Shi" (邪恶催眠师) by Zhou Hao Hui (周浩晖) • Right in the first few episode, from the first scene, this show starts with a SA attack of a minor, then continues with cannibalism, and a dead animal .. soooo, yeah, let that set the pace & be cautious going forward • TW : SA, Suicide, Animal Cruelty

Episodes on List : 14 Total Episodes : 24

*Spoilers below*

01 : TW : SA

02 : Luo Fei has a PTSD trauma nightmare

03 : (near end) Lu Feng Ping is thrown to the floor & put in an arm lock

06 : Luo Fei & Feng Ping have a kickboxing match, each getting their share of beatings (song : Two Heroes, by Zheng Yecheng, Xin Yunlai, and Dasang Gyatso)

07 : Luo Fei is drunk asleep, carried

08 : (near end) Feng Ping pushes Luo Fei out of the way of a car, injures his ankle

09 : … continued from previous ep. ... Feng Ping is limping … hospitalized … almost falls off a building saving someone, held by his injured leg.. using his pain to get attention 😆, carried

10 : Luo Fei is in a fight

14 : (at end) Feng Ping detained

15 : [flashback] Fight … [present] Detained, handcuffed, interrogated

16 : Arrested again, handcuffed, interrogated … locks himself in a room, fills it with gas & causes an explosion, Luo Fei knocked to the ground from the explosion

18 : TW : SA

19 : Feng Ping detained again, handcuffed, interrogated … [flashback] fight … thrown to the ground, arm wrenched (comedic) … TW : suicide

21 : Luo Fei attacked by a group with knives, fight, Feng Ping blurry vision, ear ringing, hypnotised into almost stabbing himself, passes out … wakes in hospital

23 : Luo Fei fights a large group … Luo Fei & Feng Ping fight against a large group; Feng Ping beaten with bats

24 : (near end) Imprisoned

#whump #whump list #full whump list #Asian whump #China #Desire Catcher #无眠之境 #Lu Feng Ping #Luo Fei #Zheng Ye Cheng #Xin Yun Lai

85 notes · View notes

jisungsdaydreamer · 1 year

Text

Charmer | TEASER | 18+

«GENERAL M.LIST» · «NAVIGATION» · «TALK TO ME»

Pairing: Hyunjin x fem!reader (ft. Lee Know) Genre: detective/crime au, smut, angst, thriller, mystery/suspense Warnings: murder, psychological manipulation and gaslighting, swearing, substance abuse, mutual obsession, strong violence, narcissistic tendencies, stalking, yandere, explicit sexual content (specific warnings will be posted with release) Release Date: TBA

As a detective, Hyunjin’s life is centered around lying and fabricating his own version of the truth. After all, to catch a mastermind, you have to be a mastermind yourself.

On this fateful evening, Detective Hwang is working on his internationally sought-after case, which was assigned to only his genius after a string of brutal murders in the city. The savant he is, he finds his target sitting innocently in an upscale cocktail bar, instead of some kind of an underground lair.

But he doesn’t expect this nefarious new villain to be so… beautiful. And it’s the kind of beautiful that would make anyone sink to their knees and beg for even an ounce of her attention. Hyunjin can’t help but be drawn to her charm and enigmatic persona, through their sultrily guarded exchange over drinks- but really, it’s laden with innuendos of the night’s secrets. And more than just secrets are bound to be revealed…

...You know very well that the handsome stranger eyeing you at the bar is the Miami Police Department’s star detective, Hyunjin Hwang, and exactly what his intentions are. You’re one of the most notorious crime lords the world has ever known, overseeing every kind of illicit cartel agreement, from a global drug enterprise to a booming embezzlement affair. For years, INTERPOL has been after you, failing to capture you every single time, but somehow, this scrappy local detective managed to figure out who you are. Color yourself impressed.

You’re new to the glittering scene of the Southern coast, looking for trouble, fun, and the best cocktails. And looks like you’ve found all three right here, in this bar next to a sexy detective. He’d treat you to great drinks and a good time tonight, and maybe, just this once, you’ll let yourself be handcuffed.

«GENERAL M.LIST» · «NAVIGATION» · «TALK TO ME»

TAGLIST @army-stay-noel, @hwangjuhong, @chizumiyoshi

If you’d like to join my taglist, click here!

©jisungsdaydreamer 2023 | All rights reserved. I do not condone translations or transfers of my work onto other platforms such as Wattpad, AO3, etc. Tumblr is my only platform. Acts of plagiarism are strictly prohibited.

281 notes · View notes

williamrikers · 4 months

Text

Some Personal Favorite BL Moments of 2023

this is inspired by @lurkingshan's post, thank you for that 😊

Best Show

be my favorite, hands down. this show hooked me right from the very beginning, and each week it kept outdoing itself. the kindest, most compassionate storytelling mixed with some absolutely amazing character journeys and a strong message at its heart, bmf will stay with me forever (and not only because i managed to snatch one of the utterly gorgeous box sets for my collection). 12/10 puffball music boxes

Best Scene

alan and wen pre- and post-breakup at the start of episode 5 of moonlight chicken. i've rewatched these nine minutes more times than i can count. both first and mix do some incredible acting here, and it's such an utter joy to watch. 5/5 crying firsts sliding down a wall

The Scene That Came For My Life The Most

look, i've talked about only friends episode 6 [4/4] before. you all already know that i desire mew carnally for what he did with that audio tape. i have also rewatched this scene an embarrassing amount of times. 96/69 illicit sex tapes

Most Rewatchable Show and Best Main Couple

this one goes to a boss and a babe. i have already rewatched this show twice this year, and i love it more on every single rewatch. i regularly lose my mind about how much i love this silly little show and start waxing poetic about how much this love story means to me, how much i adore gun and cher's weirdness, their communication, their commitment, their gentleness, their mutual respect, the way they help each other and heal each other, the way they make each other feel safe and loved, which my friends from the bl besties server can attest to. maybe one day, i'll put all of my ramblings into a coherent format, but for now please trust that this show is absolutely wonderful and extremely special to me. 1000/10 gaymer friends sleepovers

Best Premise (That Was Utterly Ruined By The Show)

i've got to say dangerous romance, although step by step comes in at a close second. after the second episode of dr, i was out here writing hundreds of words worth of meta, and then... well, then the show became what it unfortunately is, now. i still want to see the show that i was promised (a thriller about two poor brothers who get into hot water because of money issues and end up having to turn to crime to survive, all while the younger brother slowly falls in love with the biggest bully at school, and over the course of the show the bully needs to learn to become a better person and help sailom overcome the trust issues he should have had from growing up constantly threatened and sometimes physically abused by members of the mafia.) -20/10 stupid fucking windmills for ruining something that could have been amazing

Best Side Couple

tiwpor, you will always be famous to me. my school president itself might just have given us crumbs, but i licked those tiny crumbs right off the floor with delight, and when our skyy 2 made it canon, i lost my entire mind. i could not have asked for more. 2/2 couples t-shirts

Best Date

yang and phumjai on their practice date in episode 4 of love in translation was probably the sweetest thing that happened on any bl in 2023. in the later episodes, they had many more beautiful moments together as well as some incredibly amazing physical intimacy (plus, in the extended iqiyi cut, one hell of a foreplay scene), but their sweet date before they had even confessed their feelings has stayed with me. 11/10 slices of pandan

Best Beach Scene(s)

never let me go wins this one. no other show was as devoted to showing off their beautiful beach locations as nlmg this year. watching this show made me yearn for the sea. 1/1 tattoo of your boyfriend's name

Best Rooftop Scene

despite the stiff competition in the form of bmf and cherry magic thailand, last twilight has this one in the bag. the pain, the pining, the heartbreak, the complicated feelings, the desperate kiss... they even lampshaded this trope in the dialogue. stellar scene. 12/10 sunflowers

Best Sensuality

we've had a lot of high heat bls this year, some of them still ongoing, and since billy infamously said "a lot and deeply", i feel like the next episode of the sign might just blow all of our minds. i'm not awarding a best sex scene here so i won't have to eat my words in a few days—however, i feel confident in saying that when it comes to raw sensuality, no one is going to beat ray and sand in only friends this year, no matter how hard the characters on pit babe, playboyy and the sign might be trying. truly, nobody embodies sensual attraction like first and khaotung do. 69/10 sausages that represent blowjobs

Best Minor Character That Stole The Show

gotta agree with the masses here and say nawin laws of attraction. what a guy. every day i miss him. ∞/10 unhinged ex boyfriends

Best Viewing Experience

this is not bl, but it might as well be: midnight museum still feels like a fever dream, i have no idea what the plot even was, i understood maybe 10% of what was happening at any given moment, and i've never had more fun watching anything. this truly is the show of all time. 5/3 roles played by gun atthaphan

Wildest GMMTV Moment

also not a bl, but the piploy pissing in the car scene as an act of revenge in wednesday club would go down in history, if, you know, people had actually watched this show. what can i even say. 3/3 gratuitous pissing scenes

Most Anticipated Show Of 2024

i just had to find a way to mention my golden blood in this post. i am yearning for this show with an intensity i cannot describe. i literally need to see joss bridal carrying gawin as much as possible, it is on the baseline of my hierarchy of needs. no matter whether this turns out to be trashy fun, high camp, an actually serious show, or all three, i win. gmmtv could not have given me anything better to look forward to next year 💖

#bl stuff #*mine #be my favorite #moonlight chicken #a boss and a babe #only friends #my school president #love in translation #never let me go #last twilight #midnight museum #wednesday club #my golden blood the series

50 notes · View notes

silverslipstream · 10 months

Text

writeblr intro!

Well, hello there! Welcome to my page! Thought I'd finally get around to writing and pinning an intro, seeing as my writeblr recommendations post has gone STRATOSPHERIC and I've followed so many new accounts!

I'm Jeb (he/him), 20 years old, and an aspiring writer, poet and disaster dork from New Zealand (who currently lives in the UK - England, to be more precise). I'm a huge lover of writing and reading science fiction works, particularly hard sci-fi - Arthur C. Clarke's Space Odyssey series and his novel The Songs of Distant Earth were the works that inspired a young me to start taking writing seriously. I also write fanfiction, romance, horror, a smidgen of fantasy, spy fiction... whatever takes my fancy, basically! I also love writing and reading poetry, and hope to have some of my poems published professionally by the end of 2023!

Outside of writing, I'm a huge motorsport lover. Formula One is my main passion, and in fact I originally joined tumblr to post about my then-WIP, The Edge Of Control. TEOC may be in cryogenic storage, but my love of speed and high-octane racing remains: I regularly watch F1, IndyCar and the World Endurance Championship. I also love spaceflight, astronomy, Shakespeare, teen movies from the 80s/90s (ESPECIALLY John Hughes' work), many cheesy romcoms and lasagna. (What? It's literally the perfect food!)

Right, now with all that out of the way, let's get onto the real good stuff... (sorry in advance for the lack of taglists, I haven't remembered how they work!)

links to my work:

jebberjabber on AO3 (my main account, for fanfiction) degnercurve130R on AO3 (for F1/racing works) KesslerCascade on Wattpad (for original works)

works-in-progress

You Can't Take It Back Now!

type: fanfiction (fandom: Bittersweet Candy Bowl, Webcomic) genre: romance (of the sapphic, friends-to-lovers variety) summary: Sue and Amaya have been best friends ever since they met in second grade. They're proudly inseparable, but when a secretive confession from Amaya turns into a sudden kiss from the assuredly-straight Sue, everything changes. Can they navigate their friendship while dealing with their rampant emotions? Is it just drama, or did Sue have more investment into their kiss than she let on? status: six chapters currently complete, with two published on AO3! Bi-weekly updates planned. link: You Can't Take It Back Now! on AO3

White Sky

type: original work genre: hard science fiction/mystery/thriller summary: It's 2094, and the Earth-Luna Treaty Organisation (ELTO) is planning the upcoming 125th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Meanwhile, Katarina 'Kat' Lloyd, a reclusive scientist, is framed for a crime she didn't commit and forced into outer space. Seeking refuge aboard the cislunar debris hauler Dowager Caroline, Kat and the Caroline's motley crew discover that her framing was simply a cog in a much bigger plot - one with dire consequences for mankind... status: currently in the planning stage, rough draft established and plot outline written

works published on Tumblr:

An Acquired Taste - In a post-cyberpunk/solarpunk imagining of 22nd-century New Seoul, a corporate engineer makes a chance meeting with a street vendor and makes an important discovery.

Executive Decisions - In an alternate history where the Cold War went hot, a US Air Force nuclear-bomber crew face a moral dilemma as they near their Soviet target. Operation Trident - A soldier experiences a combat drop on the Belgian coast, as part of an ongoing human offensive against an alien occupation force. Ignition Sequence - An experiment with a second-person perspective where the watcher observes a Space Shuttle launch in Florida.

#writeblr introduction #writeblr #writeblr community #writers on tumblr #fanfiction #science fiction #silverslipstream #writers community

68 notes · View notes

twstgarden · 3 months

Text

✰ ❝ match-up trade for @imjustabeanie ❞

━ match-up trades are open. for more information, please visit the catalogue and the rules. ━ a florist sorting through the flowers to find your perfect match. according to the red tulip’s petals, your match is…

━ 𝙟𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙚𝙘𝙝 ━

➻ according to the blessed petals, the mountain lovers' club founder appears to be your best match!

➻ he does not mind your brutally honest personality, in fact, it is one of the things he likes about you. he knows he can rely on you to tell the truth no matter how harsh it sounds.

➻ when you require someone to intellectually stimulate you, whether through discussions, debates, or research defences, he's your man. he would entertain you and finds it amusing whenever you try to prove him wrong in your little discussions.

➻ when you read a book of mystery or thriller, he would casually sneak up behind you and try to scare you out of your wits, only to be greeted by a shriek and a scolding for scaring and interrupting your reading. of course, he politely apologises with his usual gentle smile and "promises" not to do that again next time. you don't buy it.

➻ he shows your appreciation for you in several ways but acts of service would be one of them. when he sees you in the lounge, he would bring over a beverage of your choice even before you order and would tell you not to pay for it as it is on the house.

➻ though he is not a fan of exercising or anything related to it, he would not mind supporting you when you have a sparring or shooting session.

➻ it comes as a slight surprise when you reveal your love for baking. well, it was more like he stumbled upon you in the kitchen of ramshackle or octavinelle baking up some treats you would munch on for the night. since then, he would occasionally accompany you and bake treats together to share over a cup of your favourite beverage.

➻ as calm and polite as he seems, he actually is much more intense than his twin brother. he would randomly give you gory or morbid statements in the middle of you watching a true crime series, or share some dark stories disguised as humour while you read a mystery book. all with a gentle smile on his face.

➻ overall, your relationship with him would be a wild ride. there is a good amount of affection and intellect, a great balance that you two would need. you don't have to hold hands and be super physically affectionate to show your love for one another as you both tend to show it in different ways, and that satisfies you. he is willing to share new things or learn new things with you, and he does not mind how moody you can get.

━ possible matches: ➻ azul ashengrotto (an intellectual and equally ambitious. will have a good partnership, but may face problems due to the lack of emotional connection) ➻ rook hunt (romantic and finds beauty in your personality, but may come across as a little too intense when it comes to emotions) ➻ lilia vanrouge (caring and gives you the love and attention you might have craved for)

#florist matches #matchup #matchup trade #twst matchup #disney #disney twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland #twst #disney twst #twisted wonderland x you #twisted wonderland match #twisted wonderland matchup #twisted wonderland match up #twst match up #twst match-up #jade leech #azul ashengrotto #lilia vanrouge #rook hunt

18 notes · View notes

nitrateglow · 7 months

Text

Halloween 2023 marathon: 12-15

Rope (dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1948)

Brandon and Philip do everything together: share aesthetic philosophies, go on road trips, and commit thrill kills in their living room. After strangling a classmate, they hide the body in a chest. They also happen to be throwing a dinner party that night. The thrill of possibly being caught excites Brandon, but Philip is on the verge of a breakdown all night. And when their old prep school headmaster Rupert shows up and starts to notice their combined strange behavior, matters grow potentially deadly.

I watched this one with my grandmother, who had never even heard of it before. She ended up really liking it, which made me happy because I think Rope is Hitchcock's most underrated film. Hitchcock himself dismissed the movie as a failed experiment. The central gimmick is that the film appears to be shot in a single take, lending the story the sense that it's all unfolding in real time. It's not a seamless illusion, but it is effective, so sorry Hitchcock, you're wrong.

Rope is a great companion piece to Dial M for Murder. Both are based on plays and both feature debonair, egomaniacal killers who seem more excited about the plotting of their crimes than any material benefit they could get from them. (Someone please write a crossover where Tony and Brandon compete to commit the best perfect crime ever. Like that is the fanfic content I want!)

Jeopardy (dir. John Sturges, 1953)

Doug and Helen are an ordinary American couple vacationing in Mexico with their young son Bobby. They go to a remote fishing spot to picnic. The pro of this spot is its nostalgic quality for Doug. The con is that its remoteness is inconvenient when you get trapped under heavy ass timber just as the tide's coming in... which happens to Doug. With only four hours to save him from drowning, Helen drives off to find help. Instead she gets kidnapped by Lawson, an escaped criminal who isn't shy about murdering people. He's uninterested in helping Doug, so Helen has to find a way to either escape her captivity or manipulate Lawson into helping her before it's too late.

What an underrated thriller! I mainly watched it for Barbara Stanwyck, but Jeopardy is a great suspense film with a fiendishly simple set-up. It's the perfect example of writing advice I once received about how to deal with writer's block: just keeping making your main character's life worse. Got a husband about to drown? How about being kidnapped by an escaped criminal while you're trying to get help?

It runs at just 69 minutes and not a second of that runtime is dull. I had planned on only watching half of the movie before going to bed because it was very late, but I was so wrapped up in it that I said "Screw it" to getting a good night's sleep.

Stanwyck is of course amazing. Her character Helen is written as a terrified housewife susceptible to "hysteria" (hello casual 1950s sexism), but she's actually pretty crafty. Stanwyck plays her as a fighter and even when her captor gets the upperhand, you can see in her eyes that she's scrambling for the next potential escape plan.

The best scenes are between Helen and Lawson. There's both an antagonism and undeniable sexual tension between them from the start. When she seduces him in a shack, she starts lounging about and puffing at her cigarette like her character Phyllis Dietrichson in Double Indemnity, which is both funny and awesome. In addition, it's ambiguous how into Lawson Helen exactly is. You could say she seriously considers running away with him once he helps her husband out, but the opposite might be true as well.

In this kind of story, it would be easy to make the husband a wet rag in comparison to the attractive villain, but Doug is super likable, keeping a cheerful face on his increasingly hopeless situation, and his attempts to keep his son calm and optimistic are truly touching. And that just adds to the suspense-- you don't want to see that guy drown, even if Lawson is also charming and charismatic.

And hot. Cannot deny, Ralph Meeker is super hot in this, like holy shit. He's got some definite Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire vibes going on.

Also this promotional image of Stanwyck and her two male co-stars cracks me up. It's the polar opposite of the film's actual tone.

The Sealed Room (dir. DW Griffith, 1909)

In an unspecified century in an unspecified country, an unspecified king finds out his mistress is having an affair with the court minstrel. What's worse, they have their trysts in a hidden room the king likes using as his love cave. He decides to brick the two up alive, just as a gotcha.

The Sealed Room is one of my favorite nickelodeon era movies. It's got a great Poe-themed story, enjoyably hammy acting (the king makes so many reaction image worthy faces and poses, I just CAN'T--), and a pretty sophisticated use of composition and space that emphasizes the claustrophobic terror inherent in the premise.

This movie also features a great example of what I often call "silent movie logic." It's those scenes where something happens that would technically make a hell of a lot of noise but other characters don't notice and most of the time, I don't notice unless I think about it too hard. But in this case, it's hard to miss-- the king's servants start bricking up the exit to the hidden room while the mistress and the minstrel are like five feet away. Those servants are either very good at their job or the lovers are too horny to pay attention to anything else.

It Follows (dir. David Robert Mitchell, 2014)

When high school girl Jay loses her virginity at the end of a date, she expects her life to change. And it does-- but not in the way she expects. Her date tells her he's just passed on a curse to her-- a mysterious figure will follow her around until it gruesomely kills her and the only way to get it off her trail is to transmit the curse to someone else via sex. Terrified and hurt, Jay and her friends try to find a way to stop the monster permanently.

It Follows had so much hype around it back in 2014. It was the horror movie du jour, with everyone praising the hell out of its old-school vibe and intriguing premise.

I'm sad to say I was underwhelmed. The premise IS cool, as well as a fun meta commentary on the traditional sexual politics of the slasher genre, and the lead actress Maika Monroe is very good as the soulful young Jay. I was never really scared though-- and if you're a regular of this blog, then you know it's not because I don't like slow-burn horror. I love it, especially when there's a bare minimum of crappy jump scares. This one just felt meandering, slow for the sake of resembling artsier classics of cinematic horror, and I lost interest halfway through. Even the monster ceased to creep me out by the end.

And that makes me sad, because I loved the score and the atmosphere of the film. There's a weird out of time quality to it-- the score is very 80s synth, characters watch old horror movies on the TV (Jay and her date even go to see Charade at a movie theater), and there isn't much in the way of teens staring at their phones (though one of Jay's friends has a cool clam-shaped e-reader). However, I just could not get into the story. It just lacked that extra something to make me love it. Or maybe I just wasn't in the proper mood.

I don't know. It could very well be a "me" problem.

#halloween 2023 marathon #thoughts #jeopardy 1953 #rope 1948 #the sealed room #it follows

34 notes · View notes

words-after-midnight · 1 year

Text

Writeblr Introduction (finally): N. Roy / words-after-midnight

Because I've been here since December and still haven't posted one of these.

[Updated 22-07-2023]

About me:

I'm Nico (he/him), a 32-year-old chemist moonlighting as an author of dark adult contemporary crime fiction and horror. I'm based in Tio'tia:ke, colonially known as Montreal, where I live with my 10-year-old cat Saturday and most of my chosen family and friends. I plan to publish under a pen name similar to the one on my blog (ie. not my real name - I like to keep my different "lives" separate). You can read more about me here. I love tag games and ask games and interacting with folks on here! I especially love the Find the Word and Last Line/Heads Up Seven Up games, so please never feel like you're annoying me by tagging me in those. I also love any and all music tags!

What I write:

My novel-length projects - 95% what I talk about on this blog in terms of my writing - are predominantly (though not exclusively) in the realm of adult contemporary crime fiction, usually in combination with horror, thriller, docufiction, and/or psychological fiction. All of my novel-length works take place in the same universe, and are all - either directly or indirectly - connected to each other.

My short fiction is typically either contemporary litfic, slice-of-life, crime/procedural, or experimental horror. Most of my existing short fiction is currently being submitted for publication (or in the process) to various literary periodicals.

I write and submit freestyle poetry on occasion.

My forte is writing well-developed, messy, typically queer characters who exist on a continuum between morally gray to morally bankrupt, as well as complex, intense, and/or dark relationship dynamics. Other things I love writing and featuring in my stories include:

Small casts (I typically focus on 1-3 central characters)

Symbolism, motifs, and foreshadowing

Found/chosen families and homes

Exploration of dark real-world themes, including themes involving mental illness, trauma, and recovery

Intense and/or introspective narration

Faster-paced narratives

Trope subversion

Social commentary

Experimental narrative styles

Unconventional formatting

Genre-blending

Complicated endings

What I read (with some exceptions here and there):

Crime thrillers/dramas

Psychological thrillers/dramas

Contemporary horror (not into supernatural or fantasy horror unless the premise and/or themes are very intriguing)

Litfic with darker plots/character relationships

Mysteries (especially murder mysteries)

Dystopian and/or realistic speculative science fiction

My projects:

I currently have three active WIPs, which you can read more about under the cut. You can also find general information about all my projects here.

Active WIPs:

🌙 Life in Black and White | Adult contemporary | Psychological thriller | The love of my life | Querying as of Fall 2023

Draft start date: June 7, 2008 Draft completion date: February 12, 2011

Status: Line edit + prepping query package

Comps: THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS (Nemerever) x GIRL ON THE TRAIN x CATCHER IN THE RYE

Summary: At the dawn of early adulthood and fresh from a childhood fraught with instability and loss, Gabriel's life revolves around outpatient psychiatric treatment, his own rigid routines, and trying to find purpose. But when his best friend moves in with the alluring Jeff, a former fellow patient, and Gabriel reluctantly befriends him, everything changes. After a fateful choice permanently estranges them, Gabriel is left to pick up the pieces of his life and identity, while all the while, a growing obsession lurks beneath the surface... Major themes: Control, choice, obsession, mental illness and recovery, stigma/social perceptions of mental illness, inevitability, grief, trauma, the butterfly effect.

WIP intro post Story playlist Pinterest (cw: violence, gore, some disturbing and/or suggestive imagery)

Tags: #libaw, #call it midnight (for inspo reblogs)

💀 The Dotted Line | Adult contemporary | Experimental horror/Dark comedy/Crime | Camp NaNoWriMo project - July 2023

Banner image source

Draft start date: July 1, 2013 Draft completion date: TBD

Status: Drafting

Comps: THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION x A CLOCKWORK ORANGE

Summary: A young, emotionally challenged inmate nicknamed after an Al Pacino movie navigates the bizarre and dangerous world of a medium security American state prison while plotting his escape.

Major themes: Survival, reinvention of self, abolitionism/overt anti-carceral messaging, institutional abuses and corruption, trauma, the darkest recesses of humanity.

WIP intro post M&S Camp NaNoWriMo Directory post Story playlist Pinterest (cw: violence, gore, some suggestive imagery)

Tags: #tdl, #the jungle (for inspo reblogs)

🔵 Supernova | Adult science fiction | Dystopian/Speculative/Science fiction | Introduced as part of Moon & Seraph Pitch Week in March 2023

Draft start date: TBD Draft completion date: TBD

Status: Pre-production (zero drafting/outlining)

Comps: FRANKENSTEIN x BREAKING BAD

Summary: What if you held the key to the Earth's salvation... and its potential destruction?

An eccentric Montreal chemistry professor is rumored to have isolated a dangerous theoretical compound with powerful implications for the energy sector. Despite her many warnings, her new PhD students, seeing strong potential for a solution to the advanced climate crisis threatening life on Earth within a few decades at most, decide to investigate the claims. By doing so, they ignite the spark to an unstoppable chain reaction of passion and pride, power and corruption, and unintended consequences they never could have anticipated.

Major themes: Scientific responsibility and ethics, unintended consequences, the road to hell is paved with good intentions, advanced climate crisis, discrimination and social inequalities.

WIP intro post Moon & Seraph Pitch Week post Inspo playlist

Tags: #sn, #hexa (for inspo reblogs)

#writeblr intro #feel free to reblog i appreciate it!#crime fiction #horror #writeblr #writing #writers on tumblr

75 notes · View notes

forthegothicheroine · 7 months

Text

(Horror) movies seen in 2023: Hangover Square (1945)

This September and October, I will attempt to see and review as many new-to-me horror movies as I can!

In his annotated lyrics, Stephen Sondheim cited Hangover Square as a primary influence on Sweeney Todd- specifically, the way the score enhanced the gothic melodrama. As soon as a whistle screeches when Laird Crager clutches his head in his hands, you’ll see why.

The ominously named composer George Bone (Crager) is haunted by lost time. Why does his memory seem to vanish when he becomes absorbed in his work, and what does he do during those missing hours? He isn’t at all comforted by his unfaithful lover or his dour doctor (the latter played by the always sinister George Sanders.) His only supportive friend, Barbara, tries to assure him that he needs to focus more on his music, not less, but he continues to be haunted by what we would today called fugue states. Fugue, you may recall, is also a musical term. Perhaps you’ll recognize it from Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, a classical piece so sinister it has become a horror film cliche.

In the Snarkout Boys children’s books by Daniel Pinkwater, Rat, a scary punk girl obsessed with Old Hollywood movie stars, is noted as a particular Laird Crager fan. I bet this was her favorite movie.

The black and white era often saw classical music being played in-universe to disturbing effect. Consider the pianist staring at his own hands in horror in The Hands of Orlock and its remake Mad Love, or the conductor at his stand fantasizing about murder and suicide in Unfaithfully Yours, or the church organist dissociating while playing in Carnival of Souls. Perhaps we see less of this now because classical concerts have become the domain of hardcore music fans rather than general gatherings of the upper class. Still, the close-up face of an artist sweating and closing their eyes as they physically hammer away at the notes remains haunting.

The line between thriller and horror is tenuous at best, and Hangover Square, I would argue, crosses it. (It’s certainly not much of a mystery- I would have liked one more twist, at least.) Poor George isn’t haunted by any physical ghost, but by himself. If he can’t remember what that bundle was that he tossed into the bonfire on Guy Fawkes Night, does it matter whether demonic possession, mental illness or a mundane crime of passion caused it? If he finds himself lost, with no understanding of how he came to wake up where he is, the streets of London might as well be those of hell. Did Dr. Jekyll need his famous potion, or can our minds play the very same tricks on us?

For all that 1940s psychiatry was still a developing science, they understood what it felt like when someone’s own brain tries to destroy them. Poor Laird Crager, one of many actors martyred by the cruelties of Old Hollywood, gives a performance that captures such a feeling perfectly. The details of the plot may at times be routine melodrama, but the screeching whistle of the score as he closes his eyes and tries to steady himself is a beautiful depiction of torment. Hangover Square’s very title recalls the famous state, usually played for comedy, in which a character’s head pounds as they try and fail to recall the events of a previous debauched night. How much more frightening is that state when no drink was needed to provoke it?

#fall 23 horror reviews #hangover square #2023 movies

24 notes · View notes

crash-channel · 10 months

Text

Destroying yourself in the Infinity Pool

2023 sci-fi/thriller

Director Brandon Cronenbreg most definitely is following in his father's footsteps. In that disturbing mind bending story telling with deep underling social commentary way. Although in no way is he just like his father, Brandon is for sure, a beast of his own.

For context I will begin to dive into his most recent movie infinity pool. Which if you haven't seen it was an excellent film and I highly recommend watching it. I will go into some spoilers here to discuss overarching and underling themes I feel are important in this movie. So again if you haven't seen this movie I highly advise you go see it and come back to this article.

Plot: Guided by a seductive and mysterious woman (Mia Goth), a couple on vacation (Alexander Skarsgard, Cleopatra Coleman) venture outside the resort grounds and find themselves in a culture filled with violence, hedonism and untold horror. A tragic accident of hitting a local with their car, soon leaves them facing a zero tolerance policy for crime: either you'll be executed, or, if you're rich enough to afford it, you can watch yourself die instead.

At first James (Alexander Skarsgard) is pretty shocked and disturbed by the reality of being cloned and watching himself die. Then he's accepted into this club in which he starts to forget his anxiety over the experience of what had happened. Being convinced this is a get out of jail card, a path way to be invincible almost. James slowly begins getting high on this power, not realizing that those he's surrounded by what are not the best people. Again and again he watched himself die and loses any empathy that had been there before. Finally Gabi (Mia Goth) sets him up thinking he's attacking someone else with a hood on their head. When she reveals he was about to kill his own clone and he begins to panic realizing it's not the same. Trying to leave the group stops him forcing him to fight his clone with a final blow and he kills his own clone.

I feel that this is commentary on joining the IN-GROUPS. More specifically wealthy or rich class, although it could apply to any popular In-group. I feel like he's saying that when you join these groups a little piece of you dies. The further in you become the more you die and to become the full fledged member you have to kill off that last remaining piece that is you. We get peer pressured into this through society. By the groups themselves wanting us to join. By the systems giving us the options to do that or face consequences that may be damaging or harmful. Society always pushes us to destroy ourselves to be part of the upper class, the popular groups. Even if that means shooting out a bus window and stopping the car in front of the bus screaming come out James!

#horror movie recommendations #horror monsters #classic horror movies #horror movie review #horror #movie ratings #horror movie #movie review #movies #sci fi horror #sci fi #sci fi movies #sci fi thriller #infinity pool #alexander skarsgard #mia goth #cleopatra coleman

26 notes · View notes

redsamuraiii · 1 year

Text

5 New J-Dramas on Netflix You Could Watch

Looking for new J-dramas to watch after First Love : Hatsukoi? Here are 5 J-dramas that have been released recently in 2023!

1) The Makanai : Cooking for the Maiko House

Pic by Netflix

Sumire (Natsuko Deguchi) and Kiyo (Nana Mori) are best friends from Aomori Prefecture who travels all the way to Kyoto to fulfil their dreams of becoming a Maiko, working in the Geisha district of Gion!

While Sumire has the talent and gracefulness to be one, Kiyo struggles to be one but discovers that her calling is elsewhere due to her excellent cooking skills which make the other Maiko craves for more!

It’s a relaxing slice of life drama which follows the lives of the two girls and the others they befriend and work with at the Maiko house which gives you a glimpse into their daily lives in the famous Kyoto!

youtube

2) From Me to You

Pic by Netflix

Sawako (Sara Minami) is a shy and quiet student who strikes fear in the hearts of her classmates with her gloomy outlook that resembles the ghost, Sadako, that they nicknamed her as such.

It changes when the popular student, Shota (Oji Suzuka) took notice of her and befriends her, not wanting her to be left out from the rest, which eventually caused him to fell in love with her.

It’s a healing high school romance which beautiful sceneries are enough to captivate you throughout the show which follows Sawako’s journey in making friends and have a social life like everyone else.

youtube

3) The Full Time Wife Escapist

Pic by Asian Wiki

Mikuri (Yui Aragaki) is a contract worker who struggles to find a permanent job despite having a degree. She takes on a part time job as a housekeeper where she work for the workaholic IT engineer, Hiramasa (Gen Hoshino).

Hiramasa is impressed by her work that he offered her a full time job as his housekeeper which she accepted as it’s less stressful than her office job. A series of events leads them to a contract marriage which benefit them both.

It’s a romance comedy about a fake marriage out of convenience to please their parents but their friends know something is up which leads to hilarious shenanigans on all sides as the two began to actually fall for one another.

youtube

4) Heaven and Hell : Soul Exchange

Pic by Asian Wiki

Ayako (Haruka Ayase) is a dedicated detective who stops at nothing to seek justice and ensure criminals are placed behind bars, until she goes after a cunning criminal, Haruto (Issei Takahashi) who always get away.

Haruto is an influential company director by day but a serial killer by night. Right before Ayako arrest Haruto under the full moon, their bodies are mysteriously swapped and realised the tables have turned.

It’s an intriguing crime thriller where the two tries to outwit the other while they try to get to the bottom of the mystery of how or why the switch happened, which leads back to Haruto’s secret past.

youtube

5) Invisible

Pic by Asian Wiki

Shimura (Issei Takahashi) is a ruthless detective who resorts to any methods to arrest criminals that he was demoted to a special investigation team that works on unsolved cases where he had to work with a criminal, Kiriko.

Kiriko (Ko Shibasaki), known as Invisible, is a crime coordinator of the underworld who mediates transactions for organised crime. She is like a police contact that knows the who, where, what and how of the criminal world.

Although Shimura is known to do anything to arrest criminals, working with one is the last thing he’d expect to do as a police officer and he still doesn’t trust her although she finds his methods amusing and interesting.

youtube

41 notes · View notes

haveamagicalday · 3 months

Text

Top Ten Books Read in 2023

Continuing my tradition of blurbing/reviewing my top ten books read in the past year! Let's jump right in:

10. Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica- In a not so distant future, all animals have been plagued with a deadly virus that makes meat obsolete. In a somewhat dramatic move, the government legalizes cannibalism which is marketed as “special meat”. Marcos works for a slaughterhouse where humans are treated as livestock. One day he is gifted his very own specimen and slowly begins to treat it like the human being she actually is. I'm glad I read this book and I probably will never read it again. I did know the plot and ending when going in and I wish I hadn't because I would have liked to know how I would have reacted to that final line. The way this book was written was probably one of the most fascinating parts. Very straightforward and presents things that are horrifying in a mundane way. I actually found myself unfazed when it came to the description of how the "meat" is processed which freaked me out more after the fact and got me really thinking. Am I crazy? Would I eat McDonald's newest McHuman if it were normalized and my only option? Hopefully I will never find out

9. House of Roots and Ruin by Erin A. Craig- This is a sequel to House of Salt and Sorrow that follows one of the younger siblings, Verity, from the first novel who is now a teenager. When Verity is offered a job painting a portrait for a Duchess's son, she jumps at the opportunity. While she grows closer to the son, it soon becomes clear that something is very wrong in the Duke's house. This was a hard one to rate for me but ultimately I gave it 4 stars. The first half was definitely 4 stars. I was eating it all up. I loved the creepiness of it all and the mystery of what was really happening with those experiments the duke was doing. The second half is where it went downhill a bit. I still flew through it. I read the second half in one sitting but some things were not to my liking. An unnecessary lust at first sight love triangle almost ruined things for me but I stuck it out and I'm glad I did.

8. Rouge by Mona Awad- A surreal take on the beauty industry with a twinge of Snow White. For as long as she can remember, Belle has been obsessed with her skin care routines. When her estranged mother dies, Belle must return home to take care of selling her apartment and dealing with her debts. Belle quickly learns that her mother has gotten herself involved with a mysterious spa that takes a keen interest in Belle herself. She finds herself entranced with the cult-like spa and the promise of beauty that they offer her. Rouge is perhaps a bit on the nose with its critique of the beauty industry but the surrealism of the story is memorizing and keeps you guessing throughout.

7. A Warning about Swans by R.M. Romero- Hilde was dreamt into the world by Odin and along with her five sisters, was gifted a cloak that allows them to transform into swans. Hilde is also given the gift to guide souls into the afterlife, a job she finds daunting and tiresome. When Hilde meets a penniless Baron, she strikes up a deal with him. She will conjure riches for him and in return, he will bring Hilde into the human world. This is beautifully written in prose and is a sweet little fairy tale about love and finding oneself

6. What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall- Naomi used to spend her days playing make believe in the woods with her two best friends. But their games come to an end when Naomi is attacked. She survives with seventeen stab wounds and she and her friends help identify the perpetrator. But the three have a secret about that day that haunts Naomi in her adult life. When her friend Olivia confesses that she is ready to tell the world their secret, Naomi must return to the woods and unravel what really happened that day. This was a great thriller! It was very reminiscent of a high profile true crime case that happened about a decade ago. It would be too much of a spoiler to say which one but I saw the similarities right away. I also guessed one big twist very early on but I don't think that affected the book overall or the ending.

5. The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw- A mermaid comes ashore, marries a king and gives him daughters. Then the daughters devour the king and destroy the town. Now on the run, the mermaid travels with a mysterious plague doctor and together they encounter a strange town where children never age and worship three saints who control them. This novella was strange and gory and enthralling and I loved it all. TW: Body horror

4. The Stolen Heir by Holly Black- A perfect return to Black's Fae world. I love how dark she lets these books get while still remaining appropriate for the YA audience. This book takes place eight years after The Queen of Nothing and follows Suren, the child queen of the Court of Teeth who was held captive by her parents. Now she has escaped into the human world where she is content to spend her time undoing other fae's curses. But things change when Prince Oak shows up and asks for Suren's help on a dangerous quest. Suren must return to the world she had hoped to leave behind once again.

3. After the Forest by Kell Woods- What happened to Hansel and Gretel after they escaped the Witch? In this book, Greta has become a baker whose gingerbread is beloved but also feared for its addictiveness by the town. But Greta harbors a secret, Greta has kept the witch's grimoire and it speaks to her. When Greta encounters a bear in the woods, it sets off a series of events while dark magic comes creeping into the village. Greta must learn to harbor the magic inside of her if she hopes to save her home. This book went in a different direction than I thought it would based on the description but I absolutely loved it! I will say that the official blurb doesn't really mention the romance and while it isn't the focus, it is a large part of the book. This story is also inspired by Snow White and Rose Red and I loved how the two stories connected.

2. The Only One Left by Riley Sager- As usual, Riley Sager has delivered. In 1929, a shocking murder took place that left the entire Hope family dead aside from one daughter. Believed, but never proven, to be the killer, Lenore Hope now lives in isolation in her family's mansion. Fifty four years later, Kit is a health aid who is assigned to take care of the now elderly Lenore. Lenore is bedridden and almost completely paralyzed save for one hand. When Kit brings Lenore a typewriter, she is shocked when Lenore types out a tempting offer- I want to tell you everything. Kit finds herself deeply entangled in learning the truth of what really happened that night long ago. I absolutely loved the creepy gothic vibes and some of the twists truly shocked me.

1. We Shall be Monsters by Alyssa Wees- So this book doesn't come out until Oct. 2024 but I had the pleasure of reading an advance copy! At its heart, We Shall Be Monsters is a book about the relationships between mothers and daughters. This dark fantasy follows Gemma, a young girl who is forbidden to venture into the woods behind their house. One night, Gemma's life is turned upside down when she witnesses her mother taken by a terrifying monster into the woods. Now Gemma must journey into the woods to save her mother and break a fifteen year old curse that could end in her mother's death. Along the way, Gemma learns things about her mother and herself that she never knew. In alternating chapters we also see Gemma's mother as a teenager falling in love with a strange boy who lives deep in the same dark woods. Beautifully written, this fantasy novel reads like an old fairytale with some twists and a twinge of horror along the way.

#books #book recommendation #book recs #book recommendations #book rec #book reviews #book review #my post #non disney #literature #alyssa wees

6 notes · View notes

staydandy · 10 months

Text

Bloodhounds (2023) - 사냥개들 - Whump List

List by StayDandy Synopsis : When reserved rookie boxer Kim Geon Woo squares off against loquacious southpaw Hong Woo Jin, Geon Woo narrowly prevails — but the two former marines become fast friends. As their friendship grows, so do the financial woes that plague Geon Woo’s mother. To save her café from going under, she signs off on a hefty loan, but when it turns out she’s been targeted by Smile Capital — a ruthless loan shark business. Geon Woo and Woo Jin do everything in their power to make it right. Fate intervenes as the pair end up working for a generous money lender whose foster daughter is dead set on taking down the loan sharks. (MDL) AKA : Hunting Dogs | Hound Dogs | Hounds

Whumpee : Kim Geon Woo played by Woo Do Hwan (left) • Hong Woo Jin played by Lee Sang Yi (right)

Country : 🇰🇷 South Korea Genres : Action, Thriller, Crime, Drama, Bromance

Notes : This is a Full Whump List • Adapted from the web-toon "Bloodhounds" (사냥개들) by Jeong Chan (정찬) • You know, I enjoyed this more than I thought. I love how they basically became instant best friends after one match, "opposites attract" and all that lol. & I was actually quite intrigued by how much Geon Woo & Woo Jin stuck to their boxing style when street-fighting, they rarely resorted to weapons. Definitely made the action scenes interesting.

Episodes on List : 6 Total Episodes : 8

*Spoilers below*

01 : Kim Geon Woo & Hong Woo Jin are in a boxing competition, eventually matching against each other (Woo Jin looses) … Geon Woo is tasered … fights against a gang.. beat up, chokehold, chest kneeled on, face cut

02 : Treated in hospital

04 : Geon Woo & Woo Jin fight a large gang; hit several times with metal bats … both caring for their bruises … both fight against 1 very strong man

06 : Woo Jin is drunk, carried … fights against a large group, beat up, chokehold, stabbed … hospitalized, surgery.. Geon Woo donates blood (this episode is torture 😭)

07 : … continued from previous ep. ... Woo Jin in surgery … (they're wearing matching shorts, how cute … @ 6:00 😳😍 jesus take the wheel) … (@ 33:14 ma dude's a fish 😂)

08 : Geon Woo & Woo Jin fight against a large group; hit with metal bats.. Geon Woo chokehold … Geon Woo & Woo Jin fight against a large group who has weapons; Woo Jin is cut … Geon Woo & Woo Jin are in 2 different, simultaneous fights; Geon Woo is cut … Woo Jin is thrown down a flight of stairs

More Whump Lists for this show: love-me-a-lotta-whump

24 notes · View notes

faintedlcve · 6 months

Note

whats ur fave movie?

I'm asking because i need recommendations and u seem like u have great taste

hello anon! i specified different genres bc not everyone likes all genres xx i watch shows more so i put some of those in as well x alsooo thank you that's one of the best compliments for me haha <33 my favourite ones are in blue x not all of these are my favourites x my least favourite are in green.

Movies

Scream (horror/slasher. any but my favourite is scream 6. if you do plan on watching scream 6, watch scream 5 for context x)

Choose or Die (more thriller than horror)

No escape room ^

Escape Room (there's two both are on netflix. thriller)

Missing (2023. thriller)

Run (thriller)

Babysitter (there's two. slasher. not my fave but could be yours)

The weekend away (thriller, crime)

It (horror. too gory for me. there's 2)

Ballerina/Leap (disney movie. family)

Coraline (horror? idrk)

Shows

One of us is lying (thriller)

The watcher (thriller. weird ending: you've been warned)

You (dark psychological thriller)

The Promised Neverland (anime. dark psychological thriller)

Lockwood and Co (thriller. supernatural. my fav ofc. hasn't been renewed. cliffhanger ending)

Locke and Key (fantasy horror drama)

Alexa and Katie (family show)

hehe i know it became a bit too long and you only asked for my top movies so here's my top 3 fav movies:

Scream 6 (shockingg)

Coraline

Run

thank youuu if you have any movie recs, please pop them in my inbox i'd love to check them outtt <3333

#movie recs #horror #psychological thriller #thriller #horror film #tumblr asks #asks #luce posts 💌#lucy's mailbox 💘#anon!

8 notes · View notes

theinquisitxor · 5 months

Text

November 2023 Reading Wrap Up

I read a total of 9 books in November, which was a better reading month than I've had in a while. I also found some new favorites and new releases this month. My workload for classes was much lighter, and I had significant more reading time. I read 7 physical books and 2 audiobooks.

1.Shadows of Self (Mistborn 5) by Brandon Sanderson, 3/5 stars. Another crime mystery set in Elendel. I read this one entirely as a physical copy, but I probably would have enjoyed the audiobook more. I wasn’t as engaged in the plot as much, and it felt a bit like a ‘filler’ book to me. Crime thriller high fantasy

2.The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher, 4/5 stars. This was a creepy portal fantasy horror with interdimensional monsters and a museum of curiosities. A good spooky season read, and a book that I couldn't put down. I stayed up past 2am to read it. Horror, portal fantasy

3.The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater, 5/5 stars. My annual reread of this book starting every November 1st. I listened to this on audio, and I made November cakes in honor of my tradition.

4.Starling House by Alix E Harrow, 5/5 stars. This book was everything I enjoy in stories, and is about a struggling Appalachian town, siblings trying to survive, a sentient house, tragic dark fairy tales, gothic horror, and a beauty & the beast retelling. The pace of this book is slow, and I would consider it a deeply character driven story. Contemporary fantasy.

5.Steelstriker (Skyhunter 2) by Marie Lu, 3.5/5 stars. This is a post apocalyptic dystopian ya fantasy that touches on real world events, and certainly feels relevant to some events that have happened over the past few years. This is a fast paced, action packed duology that kept me hooked and wanting to turn the pages. Sci-fi/fantasy

6.Leviathan Falls (The Expanse 9) by James S.A. Corey, 5/5 stars. I've been reading the Expanse books for three years now, and I started Leviathan Wakes in Jan 2021. This really built up to a huge finale and gave a satisfying ending, I don't think I could have asked for better. The last ~20 pages of this were spot on. I'm very glad I read this series, even if it took me several years. Science Fiction Space Opera.

7.The Bands of Mourning (Mistborn 6) by Brandon Sanderson, 4/5 stars. Very entertaining and enjoyable, reading this series on audio is 1000% the best way for me to consume these books. This book had a lot of cool moments, parts that made me go “what?!” and some neat new cosmere/worldbuilding things in it. Crime thriller high fantasy

8.Murtagh by Christopher Paolini, 3/5 stars. Murtagh was a decently good book. Murtagh is my favorite character of the Inheritance Cycle, and I was looking forward to reading this. I enjoyed most of this book, although I thought it could have been trimmed down, and there was one section and significant trope that I did not enjoy, which affected how I felt about this book. High Fantasy.

9. Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher, 5/5 stars. This novella was exactly my type of fairy tale and brand of faeries. I also enjoyed a good representation of the middle ages, and T. Kingfisher's excellent writing. This was such a sweet story (even though it has darker moments), and I'm glad I decided to pick this up. Fantasy/fairy tale

That's it for November! See my December tbr below

December tbr:

The Lost Metal (Mistborn 7) audiobook

A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows (reread)

All the Hidden Paths by Foz Meadows

Howl's Moving Castle by DWJ (reread)

Castle in the Air by DWJ

House of Many Ways by DWJ

The Damar duology (The Blude Sword and The Hero and the Crown) by Robin McKinley

A Winter's Promise by Christbelle Dabos

Realm Breaker by Victoria Aveyard

Nonfiction on audio

#reading wrap up #november reading wrap up #fantasy books #mistborn era 2 #thornhedge #the hollow places #t kingfisher #Murtagh #christopher paolini #starling house #Alix E Harrow #Steelstriker #marie lu

7 notes · View notes