hiya, since you said you were watching You... what do you think of it? i'm a big fan of the books, but haven't seen the show. not sure i trust them to adapt it with any kind of nuance, but i was intrigued to see that sera is involved. how is it?

Thanks for asking anon! :)

You're the opposite of me, in that I've only seen the show (just finished season 1; I'm a slow watcher) and never read the books. I found S1 to be pretty good overall, with a few minor quibbles.

I'm fond of stories picking apart The Ideals of Romance, so Gamble describing S1 as needing to be both a love and a horror story in every scene rang true. It's a cliche but a ton of romantic tropes are, if taken more realistically, pretty creepy, and I'm right there with the show in terms of noble fairy-tale princes hiding secret horrors underneath. The use of voice-over for what Joe says versus what he was actually thinks worked very well, could've been cheesy but it's not. Joe's voice is very strong thru the whole season. The show walks a tough line with Joe as the main character, because he's such an unreliable narrator, but imo they did a great job. In the last ep, Beck screams at Joe and calls him a sociopath but, at least in S1, he really didn't read that way to me; it's much more than Joe's understanding of love and what love means is very very messed up. He's an incredibly self-deluding character with very warped perceptions, so while I never bought into his charm, he and that dissonance remained compelling to me throughout the show, who Joe thinks he is vs. what he actually does (and then how much he judges other people too, like he's so much better). It's also his humor, and the show's humor, that's the final ingredient, I think. The show can be quite funny! Then quite horrifying, and sometimes funnily horrifying. The writing uses bathos particularly well, which is a form of humor I don't always like (thanks Marvel movies...) but the undercutting of Joe's obsessions or idealizations or the romantic moments really works. Overall, its balancing of tones from lighthearted to horrifying to funny is quite deft, and I enjoyed its range.

For what worked less well, I found some of the social media stuff a bit dated (altho Facebook stalking and all that was more relevant at the time). While I think the writing of the various female characters was better than what I've seen of Gamble's past shows (particularly SPN), her bias towards male characters was definitely still at play. Say, it took me a bit to figure out what the writing was doing with Peach, but eventually Peach as Joe's female foil -- the woman who's secretly in love and obsessed with Beck, who will manipulate and gaslight her, and who's implied to also have grown up in an emotionally abusive and homophobic household -- worked... except it felt like it came pretty late in the season, and I would've liked more hints earlier on. Maybe it’s more obvious on rewatch, tho.

The other part is a bit tricky, because I'm still not quite sure how I feel about it. As far as I can tell, both of these elements are unique to the TV show: first, Mr. Mooney being physically abusive in raising Joe; and second, Claudia and her son Paco as Joe's neighbors and her boyfriend, Ron, being emotionally and physically abusive. Thru flashbacks over the season, we see Mooney abuse Joe, including locking him in the book cage as a kid and manipulating him into thinking he was doing it for Joe’s own good, out of love, and Joe then reenacting that hurt on later people, most obviously Beck: in the last ep, there's literally a match cut from Joe as a kid in the book cage to Beck as an adult. We also see Ron's abuse of Claudia and Paco thru the season, with Joe's care for Paco clearly connected to his own hurt and trauma, and ultimately leading up to Joe killing Ron to protect Paco. If, as I understand, none of this is in the books, I could see someone not liking these additions, or seeing them as a way to humanize Joe and make him more sympathetic in light his stalking, kidnapping, murder, etc.

In terms of Gamble as a creator, it was striking to see her return to such distinct ideas around men, masculinity, and violence -- she's talked about how she likes writing male characters because she can get into their heads and figure out what makes them tick, but it seems to me she's particularly interested in men who've been abused/traumatized (esp by fathers/father figures) and how they react to, and reenact, that violence. Do Gamble & her writers use nuance and thoughtfulness in dealing with abuse & its consequences? That's a tougher question to answer, and depends on the person watching, tbh. I've read some pretty harsh critiques of Gamble’s writing around this topic, and understand where it's coming from, but what makes me a little more generous with Gamble is how it feels she wants to understand, and that she's working through something in continually returning to these ideas in her work.

Got tagged by @quetzalpapalotl !😄✨

Relationship status: Happily taken💖

Favourite colour: Purple

Favourite food: THESE!!!

I wish I knew the translation, but they are essentially flakey dough, vannilla custard (I think?) and small canned apricots. I crave theseeeee, haven't had them in ages 😭😭😭

Song stuck in your head: Schnappi, das kleine Krokodil

All thanks to THIS TIK TOK ! IT'S THE BOUNCING THAT WON'T LEAVE MY BRAIN.

Last thing you googled: Name of the above song XD, I put "Scniff Snaff Snoffee, Snoffee snoffee snoff" in the search bar (and then realized I saved the damn video with this audio when it was on my Tik Tok FYP!!)

Time: 21:30 (9:30pm)

Dream trip: To be honest, traveling anywhere with people who are also interested in the sights is a dream for me. Atm tho, America, and in future whereven me and my dear go.

Last book you read: I can't recall any book I actually finished reading ^^;

Last book you enjoyed reading: Transformers: Exodus. I need to get back to it, THERE WAS GOOD SHIT HAPPENING

Last book you hated reading: a "Put your mind to it!" style book. It resonated with me for about 30 pages and then I reached the 42nd and nearly chucked the damn thing across the room. I tried picking it up again, and felt physically sick when trying to read on, soooo. Yeah, wish I could remember the title, but maybe forgetting it was for the best XD

Favourite thing to cook/bake: Burnt pancakes. They are easy, fast and delicious. Though I really really want to bake pies again. Apple pie is delicious and I KNOW that I could make bitching raspberry pie once I clean up the kitchen and look up the proper recepie for the crust.

Oh and garlic bread. Or honey bread. Bread in general is delicious and relaxing to make.

Favourite craft to do in your spare time: craft huh... It's been a while since I did any, but I suppose embroidery. It's very relaxing. Might actually search for some fabric now that I think of it.

Most niche dislike: Not sure what counts as niche tbh, but I do hate people quoting "Alas poor Yorick, I knew him well," in plays while holding a skull, ever since I've learned that was a different scene entirely AND YORICK DESERVES BETTER, DO NOT TAKE HIS HEAD OUT OF THE CONTEXT DAMMIT, I know it looks cool, I know it's become iconic now but it, is, wrong. Leave Yorick in the graveyard with Hamlet and the gravedigger conversing.

Opinion on circus(es) now and in history: Used to love them as a kid, I found it fascinating and horrifying when I learned how people with deformity or uncommon generic traits were treated and used as an attraction in freak shows. I haven't been to one in ages, and I am not sure if they are even still traveling around our parts, but the ones I've seen had horses, acrobats, clows, strongen and I think there was even one with a lion or a seal.

I do think that the traveling circus from my childhood won't be possible to experience as often, especially with the high expectations of modern audiences (and 'Rona of course). You can search up a contortionist online, and some people find this entertaining enough. Animal cruelty and protection laws mean that the animal attractions are no longer a selling point. I might have too little faith in other people, but I think stopping people from vlogging during the show would also be nearly impossible.

All in all, I adore the grim aestetic that their existence brought to the horror genre, and macabre sights and preservation of oddities, both animal and human, - this was one of the ways I discovered my fascination with grim things after all - but I am glad the inhumane parts of it have been stopped. It's one thing to show dead specimen, and another to torture a person or animal of any kind for amusement of "nomal people".

I don't know how the buisness is nowadays, but I would love to see more shows similar to Cirque du Soleil - even if on a smaller scale.

Do you have a sense of direction and if not what was the worst way you ever got lost: I usually use a GPS if I have to go anywhere, because I am an anxious wreck. But I can usually remember the path I took, so if I'm just wandering around I can easily retrace my steps. Just don't ask me what route I took by street names XD

Tag 10 people: @spomincica , @morska-trava, @macabreblublu, @sangheilihoes, @helioskitschcabinet, @homeosloven , @wayward--dragon, @bees-self-ships, @solpinesparadise , @optimusprmesdisapprovingeyebrows

If you don't want to be tagged in games like these the future do tell 👉👉

This was great fun tho, thanks Barbie! 8D

buckle in, it's a long one! on top of finishing what i was reading last week, i also got through a few manga volumes, so there's plenty to talk about!

i'll put it under a cut, but the books discussed are:

all the living and the dead by hayley campbell (finished, favourite)

take it back by kia abdullah (finished)

truth be told by kia abdullah (brief)

hikaru ga shinda natsu vol 2 (finished)

my brother's husband vol 1 (finished, favourite)

i hear the sunspot (started)

mitsuboushi colours (started)

skulduggery pleasant by derek landy (started)

children of time by adrian tchaikovsky (started, brief)

semantic error (manhwa)

i actually finished all the living and the dead on the sunday i posted last week, but it was late so i decided to do the write up this week.

i honestly got a lot out of it, i think it's a very valuable book to read if you're even remotely concerned about or interested in death, even if parts of it are emotionally difficult to read. what starts off as a more journalistic 'here's these people and here's what they do' kind of book takes something of a turn about halfway through after one of the things the author experiences sticks with her more than she expected, so there's that to be aware of. i liked it, though, and it made it easier to read in longer chunks after that.

well-written, well-researched, and features a lengthy index and 'further reading' section divided into topics so you can explore whatever you're interested in in more detail. very much recommend.

it took me a few more days to finish take it back, but i did it! well within deadline too. have very, very mixed feelings on the ending; it felt like the author just added some extra twists in purely as gotcha moments without really considering whether they made sense or the wider ramifications, which is odd for a book which is normally pays more attention to that kind of thing. but, everything up to that was tense and enjoyable in all the ways a legal thriller should be. the discussions of class and race were also appreciated.

after that i actually started book two in that series, truth be told, but my next audiobook loan came in so i've shelved it for now. i got about an hour in and found it less immediately gripping but i am looking forward to going back to it. that audiobook also only has one performer, rather than three.

cos i've had two of the later books in the series sat on my tbr pile for about 4 years now (maybe longer), i thought i'd do a reread of the skulduggery pleasant series via audiobook this time. rupert degas, the guy reading them, is really good, and i'm having a fun time with them. good cleanser after take it back. really wish the music that plays in between each chapter wasn't so long though, even if it's pleasantly jazzy.

i also started children of time tho admittedly i only got about 50 pages in and haven't picked it up since, but i liked those 50 pages! it's long, tho, this'll take a while to get through.

i would have read more of it but i got a bit distracted by the semantic error manhwa? was feeling a bit miserable and devoured the drama (which was great) in like two days to make myself feel better, and then immediately went to read the manhwa. everyone is noticeably more of a dick (and more horny) but i don't mind. very sad yu-na isn't in it as much tho, she was probably my favourite character in the drama.

right, manga!

finished vol 2 of hikaru ga shinda natsu which i think i enjoyed less than the first one, but was still very good. had some better individual moments plus some big reveals!! makes me want to reread it and pull out what i missed. vol 3 came out this week too!! but i don't have it yet :( i'm looking to collect the series in physical, so it might be a few months yet before i keep going. a bit more of the vol 1 voice comic was also released in tandem with vol 3, so i watched that too (it seems to have a slightly bigger budget? good for them).

after that i read vol 1 of otouto no otto (aka my brother's husband) which was excellent, i really really liked it. it's follows yaichi as he gets a sudden visit from his (dead) younger brother's canadian husband, and how the two of them interact. worth noting that yaichi is homophobic (even if he doesn't realise) so there's some slurs used, but the story itself challenges that homophobia. there's also some queer history lessons in between some of the chapters; in this volume it was on the legality of same-sex marriage (as of april 2015) and the history of the pink triangle.

the art is fantastic, and i'm really looking forward to reading more and following how yaichi comes to understand where and he and his brother went wrong, and how he grows as a person. also kana!! is the sweetest thing!! read it for her, honestly.

more briefly, i've started both mitsuboushi colours and hidamari ga kikoeru (aka i hear the sunspot), but am not even halfway through either.

mitusboushi colours is a sort of palette cleanser for me? cute girls doing cute things kind of manga, very simple. i'm dipping into it when i feel like it.

hidamari ga kikoeru is a BL manga set at a university about a loudmouth in need of a job becoming the notetaker for a boy in his class with hearing difficulties. enjoying it so far, taichi has great energy.

oh god is that everything? i think so. anyway congrats for reading this far, i'll update again next week! (hopefully with less 😭)

*✧ — End of the year reading tag! — ✧*

okay, so my reading's finally picked up again this year and i thought i'd compile a couple fun bookish questions and turn them into a tag game - i might be reinventing the wheel here, but i haven't seen one like it in a long while :)

Did you reach your reading goal for the year (if you had one)? yes!! my goal was 15 books and i'm on my 32nd book atm (actually, i'm reading 3 books rn, so ig u could also say 34th)

What are your top 3 books you read this year? well i reread the six of crows duology, and i was competely killed dead by the atlas six and gideon the ninth <3

What's a book that you didn't expect to enjoy quite so much going in? oh 100% gideon the ninth. i'd never read anything of that particular blend of genres, but the writing was also different for me, going in. the book ended up being fantastic tho, i really recommend it to everyone! (honorable mention to the atlas six, since i went in with minimal expectations bc of negative reviews i'd seen but it was so *scream*)

Were there any books that didn't live up to your expectations? one last stop definitely fell a bit flat for me. the main story just didn’t captivate me as much as i would've liked, but the incredibly fleshed-out side characters kinda made up for it. possibly the best cast of those i've ever read. i also didn't really get what i really wanted from take a hint, dani brown, lore, and the meet cute diary.

Did you reread any old faves? If so, which one was your favourite? i just had to reread six of crows bc of the netflix show coming out, and i also reread the dream thieves - no i will not choose between them:)

Did you dnf any books? despite the gorgeous writing, i didn't finish wolfsong - the age diff just didn’t feel comfy for me. i also put 1984 on hold, but that's just because it's a bit more demanding than my usual reads, which is to say it requires some brain power which my tired med student body cannot provide during the academic year haha (will def continue it tho!)

Did you read any books outside your usual preferred genre(s)? gideon the ninth, again - this sci-fi-horror-fantasy blend was truly sth unique and it's inspired me to read more of both sci-fi and horror (well, horror lite sdfghjqk) i did also finally finish this is going to hurt and it was lovely, so i stocked up on some more non fiction for next year:)

What was your predominant format this year? physical! i've gotten back into actually buying books to treat myself + my best friend landed me some

What's the longest book you read this year? from traditionally published books, i think it was crooked kingdom at 560 pages (but also i read all the young dudes vol.2 which has 590 pages sdfghqjk)

What are your top 3 anticipated 2022 releases? icebreaker by a.l. graziadei, the atlas paradox by olivie blake, and we all fall down by rose szabo

What books from your tbr did you not get to this year, but are excited to read in 2022? lmao so many - i'm 100% a mood reader, so these are just a few i didn’t get to: good omens, if we were villains, call down the hawk, norse mythology, the 2nd & 3rd book in the shades of magic series

i'm obviously tagging my Certified Knife™ friends, as well as @selkiestudies and @wherepoetsdie :)

if i didn't tag you but you see this post and want to do the tag yourself, tag me, i'm always interested in seeing your answers!