spring media roundup
Jun. 5th, 2021 09:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lackingdaze
i wrote this down in a notes app file somewhere, but the reason i haven't really done media round-up posts until now was because most of what i consume these days are kdramas ripe with questionable writing [perfect for making obnoxious commentary with my roomies when we watch tv together]. also i'm just bad at keeping track of monthly things. but lately i've gotten in the habit of obsessively squirreling away all my thoughts onto notes app, so now i have things to say about, uh, things!
shows
i told sunset about you (2020)
when i say i am obsessed with this show . . . i started it not expecting much but i was so pleasantly surprised by how pretty everything was? i'm a sucker for coming of age narratives, and it's this case, it's set against a beautiful phuket which is just blatantly catering to me, habitual romanticizer of the sea and beaches. aside from the gorgeous cinematography, i think my favorite part of this is actually the acting! i was so surprised when i watched the making documentary of itsay and saw the actors going through workshops together to familiarize themselves with each other and really get in tune with the characters. i'm not very familiar with how the acting industry works, but i don't think this is very common in american and korean ones so ??? it was just so cool to see how everything ends up together, ppkrit is adorable and bilkin is so good at crying. actually i have so many thoughts on itsay and its characters but i think i will save them all for when i promised you the moon finishes airing so i can do a big unhinged dw post for both of them.
i promised you the moon (2021)
ok as i said above i won't get into it, but so far i am ENJOYING the whole "everything changes when you get to college" thing because it is true .
navillera (2021)
still haven't finished this and i probably won't. i just started watching it with my housemates because we are not immune to song kang disease. i do have to say, i really liked what the show did in terms of depicting masculinity and relationships between men / dad & son relationships without feeling contrived, especially when the main plot is about a grandpa wanting to learn ballet
youth of may (2021)
the relationships of the show and its characters are actually super annoying but i'm intrigued by the political premise? i'm also not immune to lee dohyeon [when you are actually obsessed with the sweet home cast] but his character is horrendous to me. YOU ARE NOT THE JAKE SHIM YOU THINK YOU ARE.
doom at your service (2021)
ACTUALLY I'M VERY INTO THIS ONE if only because seo inguk and park boyoung are so compelling together. also at no point do i fully understand the logistics of doom/god being a terminally ill 16 yr old girl/the terms of their contractual relationship but i am enjoying it and park boyoung's styling is delicious
random videos
actually i watch a lot of videos and i won't recap all the enha videos here [yes, i've watched all of them] but here are random videos that left a big uh impact on me
ross butler tries cricket milk tea
i literally do not know / care for this man but something compelled me to click on this video and um. wow i can't believe i experienced a 23 min trainwreck video TWICE [the second time being me putting it on the tv for my housemates so they can experience the horror too]. there is so much to unpack in this video i could write a dissertation on it. the commodification of boba, boba as a symbol of cultural capital, the exotification of the ingredients, representations of masculinity, "i am just one part of the asam spectrum", awkward millennial humor ? ? ? i have never seen something so atrociously "asam" .
ateez 82challenge
i'm not about to give into atiny-isms but for some reason i just sat down for like 2 hours and watched this entire ateez hello82 series ?? and i had a blast ?? i feel like ateez are actually really funny and i enjoy their group dynamics . . .
enhypen reacts to weird fashion trends
well first of all none of the fashion trends in this are particularly weird nor are they trends. second, i enjoyed the unprompted spiel heeseung gave when being asked to choose between colorful and dark. third, um, this video really tested my PATIENCE for park jay. when you keep forming parasocial relationships with men who have horrible tastes ? ?
crazy little rant on why i spent half a day losing it over park jay being a hedi slimane stan
> if you're familiar with uh fashion industry opps, hedi slimane is kind of controversial because you either love him or hate him? and i am definitely of the latter camp, even if i've been kind of tapped out fashion for the past few years
> to be fair i understand why jay likes him because i think he favors the "slim fit" and "good tailoring" and whatever the hell "rock chic" is, which like yeah hedi slimane makes designer h&m clothes so.
> and while i acknowledge that hedi slimane makes clothes that sell and i like some of his pieces in the same way one likes clothes from zara, i'm not a fan of the way he forces his vision on every brand he designs for? especially when that vision is not one attuned to post-2016 perceptions of body image, diversity, and feminism. also i will never forgive him for WRECKING phoebe philo's vision of celine in the name of perpetuating his own brand [for example, here is phoebe philo's celine in 2018 / hedi slimane's celine in 2021 . tell me that is not a crime] also i hate that nct dream wore celine for hot sauce.
> here is a 20 min video that basically encapsulates my thoughts on hedi slimane at celine
> basically this is like when haechan recommended the kissing booth .
> i guess jay is entitled to his own wrong opinions or whatever . . . also happy pride month jay thank you for coming out < 3
books & short stories
last night at the telegraph club [4/5✰]
i liked it a lot, but i think it's one of those books where i like the ideas more than i like the execution? it's the whole wlw asam women in stem thing, but i don't think the actual writing left as big of an impact on me as i wish it had, though i could see my high school self loving this. i do appreciate how well researched this was and the way lo brought the setting to life!
mexican gothic [4.5/5✰]
really disturbing, really well-written. i'm not big on horror, but reading this was fun and kept me on the edge of my seats.
the seven husbands of evelyn hugo [3.5/5✰]
i think one of my favorite things about this was the way it explored different forms of love, platonic, romantic, familial, etc. i'm picky about the way first person is written and i think this author was too prone to long monologue spiels which i am not a fan of. also i didn't really care about the external story sawry
severance [5/5✰]
my favorite type of writing is writing that leaves me a little disoriented and disturbed for a long time? that doesn't sound right um. but i was kind of shocked by how "similar" ling ma's prose style is to my non-fic fiction style and it was kind of validating! aside from the prose, i don't think i can unpack all the emotions this made me feel about capitalism and asam daughter-ness and "what is the point of life" / "who are you living for if not yourself". it's a book i was glad i finished and will be thinking about for a long time.
pachinko [5/5✰]
I READ THIS IN LIKE TWO DAYS? it's so good. this one is kind of fresh in my mind so i can't articulate my feelings for it well, but i love how naturally lee wove all the characters and their lives. the best description for it is really this line: "it was much smaller than her own, but everyone seemed closer, as if each member were organically attached to one seamless body". it made me think a lot about how to write compelling, morally complex characters and reading it was just a general delight.
gabe dove
this was something i read for class and a lot of people in my class said they didn't like it but i thought it was so well done? it's an emotionally disturbing story, though not in a graphic way, and i like that about it. i want to emulate this kind of style in my own writing!
articles
the west in pieces: on the reimagined grammar(s) of c. pam zhang
obsessed with this article, mainly because it made me realize grammar is actually something that can be cool and not just dreary. also i'm excited to read c. pam zhang's how much of these hills is gold, i just got it from the library!
how to write faster and find your voice / am i ready for the mfa? / what getting an mfa in fiction meant to me
hi dw it's me crwr major with no future prospects trying to figure out if i should get an mfa . i actually haven't read chee's books but i enjoy his articles, and i like what he says about voice in the first article
the joy of less
when you are trying to #growth_mindset. over the course of the pandemic year i've been thinking a lot about what actually uh "sparks joy" for me and what doesn't and how i can be more conscious of that or whatever, and some of the wisdom in this article resonated ;-; also pico iyer came to speak to my class and it was a really delightful hour
the gatekeepers who get to decide what food is disgusting
it's been a while since i read this but this was just really interesting to consider how the idea of disgust is embedded in food and assimilation... the part where the writer discusses being grossed out by american food at first really resonated with me lol
music
txt - the chaos chapter: freeze
despite not really subscribing to moa-isms / knowing the members all that well i am very fond of their MUSIC to the point where i'm like 90% sure they're going to be my spotify artist of 2021. i like this album though maybe not as much as like blue hour [may or may not have stockholmed myself into it], my rankings are anti-romantic > 0x1=lovesong = frost >> dear sputnik >> no rules > magic > puma = ice cream. seriously the grip frost has on me is..... and i've listened to anti-romantic slowed_reverb_remix on loop for days while powering through my finals it's simply sooo good
carly rae jepsen - dedicated side b
yeah this is not a new album but i feel like i recently discovered it because i never gave it much attention, even when it came out? my favorite is definitely this_love_isn't_crazy.mp3 which may or may not have to do with the fact that i play it every time i write my crazy little heejay fic
olivia rodrigo - sour
i liked some of the songs? i think it just made me realize that what i appreciate in albums is like . . . not all the songs being about the same thing lol. but it is a good teen angst breakup album
enhypen - border: carnival
what can i say i am an ENGENE. i actually liked this album on first listen, my rankings as of a month of listening are fever = not for sale > drunk-dazed > mixed up = intro: invitation = outro: the wormhole. something about listening to outro: the wormhole while standing on a beach watching water hit the rocks altered my haterism umm. i'm actually a big fan of the intros / outros when they don't involve carnival music [when enha does full length albums and we get INTERLUDES? nct interludes are actually my favorite tracks from them so i can only hope]
spotify things
spotify on repeat playlist
[i know this is not accurate but it's entertaining to me]
1. let me in (20 cube) - enhypen
2. this love isn't crazy - carly rae jepsen
3. reveal - the boyz
4. blue hour - txt
5. 10 months - enhypen
6. fireworks (i'm the one) - ateez
7. 90's love - nct u
8. 0x1=lovesong - txt
9. given-taken - enhypen
10. the stealer - the boyz
spotify sun moon rising:
sun (artist i listen to the most): txt
moon (most emotional artist): pale waves
rising (new discovery): p1harmony
losing it at p1harmony being my rising artist bc i occasionally listen to SIREN on repeat
life thoughts
well my motivation for school and life is actually at an all time low, just because so much has happened this year ? i hate most of the writing i did this quarter and i'm trying to get a grip on...what i actually want from life lol. regardless i'm glad it's over and i now have the summer ahead to hopefully relax, recharge, and do the things i want to do!
no subject
Date: 2021-06-08 01:29 am (UTC)in particular…
> KIND OF OBSESSED WITH YOU WATCHING ITSAY AND IM SO GLAD U LIKED ITTTTTT… also agreed the documentary gave me such a newfound appreciation of the show and i was just like wow acting is like. well it is a job that seems really difficult T___T i can’t wait to see ur unhinged dw post abt itsay/ipytm <3
> obsessed with u watching a bunch of 80z hello82 content because i love those videos. i think you’ve watched more than me though
> btw im totally going to include parkjay’s questionable fashion taste into my jaywon fic. but also…. thank u for explaining why u were losing it because idk anything about this “fashion” shit
> i feel the same way abt telegraph club btw!!! like it was kind of hard for me to get into at first and idkk the romance was not super compelling to me and while i liked the historical aspects dsjhjdkgkjh….. i dont know. it just didnt hit my Heart u know
> IM ALSO PACHINKO FANNNNNNN even if i think the plotlines at the end were super questionable. so glad u checked that + seven husbands of evelyn hugo out <3
> i don’t read that many articles but the JOY OF LESS ARTICLE looks cool. going to check that out + i always love reading what random writers have to say abt craft sooo thanks for the links lol
> agreed on sour being kind of like. well when u are 18 and obsessed with your breakup!!!!!!!! i was in the same place like 9 months ago so i get it but it’s sort of a lot. also I CANT BELIEVE UR AN OUTRO WORMHOLE HATEUR… i literally need to calm down but i wont.
i hope ur finals went well + that you have a great summer van!!! eagerly anticipating whatever u get up to <3333
(no subject)
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