Let the statues crumble
hey. hey. hey.
It’s me, your pal.
First things first: you’ve watched the Last Jedi teaser trailer, yes? I’ll wait. Did I stand in my kitchen shaking for 45 minutes after watching it three times? Perhaps I did. (There’s also a trailer for Star Wars Rebels season 4, and while it didn’t make me shake, I did scream a little tiny bit. I love that show.) The internet is buzzing about Star Wars again, and I am in heaven. In particular, I like this bit of discourse about capes vs ponchos.
Notable Breakfast
Dog Thing
Definitely not the face of a creature who eats garbage.
Mixed Media
In general, I’m not a fan of desert island questions. You know, if you were trapped on a desert island, what things would you like to have? As a hypothetical, I don’t get a kick out of imagining disaster. But I was asked what my desert island book would be recently, and I realized that I had an answer to it: Planetes. Volume 2, if you’re going to be picky and make me only bring half.
Planetes by Makoto Yukimura was one of the many manga series I hit during my mad months of reading nothing but manga last summer, and I’ve since returned and reread it in its entirely (2 large volumes) twice. On the surface, it’s about a group of astronauts working as debris collectors in low Earth orbit, but the meat of it is about why humans go to space, what drives us out into the unforgiving vacuum.
It mostly follows Hachimaki, a member of the debris crew who dreams of having his own ship but is convinced that the “right” way to go into space is to cut all ties with humanity. Which is not…healthy. But his struggle is beautiful, partly because Yukimura’s art is incredible, and partly because Hachi is balanced by such a superb cast of characters.
The series is set in the near-future, so despite the fact that it’s leagues ahead of where we are, tech-wise, it all looks very familiar. And Yukimura includes really beautiful scenes to flesh out the universe, such as this one, where a Muslim astronaut prays towards Mecca while stationed on Mars.
Anyways, that’s the long answer about why Planetes is my desert island book. Short answer: because it lives in my soul.
I watched the first episode of the new season of Doctor Who, and (aside from a truly gross and unnecessary fat joke in the first 2 minutes of the ep) LOVED it. The new companion, Bill, is everything I’ve ever wanted and I would die for her.
I read a bunch! I read both Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom, a fantasy duology by Leigh Bardugo about a group of street kids hired to break into an impenetrable fortress. I loved them. Devoured them both. Just a wonderful cast of characters (some of whom were queer!), and I loved how they related to each other within a truly clever set of plots. I read Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman, a really satisfying, straightforward western. If True Grit was a YA book, it would be this one. I read The Stone Heart, the second book in Faith Erin Hicks’ Nameless City trilogy. Nameless City has been criticized (fairly, I think) for the empty way it uses “Asian inspired” visual and plot elements, which is frustrating, because the story Hicks is telling is about cultural appropriation. I enjoy this series (the art is GREAT), but the lack of self-awareness it displays is disappointing. I read Koma by Pierre Wazem and Frederik Peeters, a wonderful sci-fi adventure.
I saw Power Rangers and found it to be the perfect amount of stupid fun. It felt earnest and affectionate and I loved it. I saw Your Name, which was the biggest movie in Japan last year and which I’ve been eagerly awaiting. I loved it. It both was and wasn’t what I expected it to be, plot-wise, and visually it was stunning.
I finished Mass Effect Andromeda! And, as promised, immediately restarted it. I realized playing it the second time around that a lot of what I love about it is what I loved about Stargate Atlantis (best beloved may it rest in peace): hapless, well-educated people exploring a new place using tech left behind by a long-departed, far advanced race and only half-understanding what any of it even does. I love that most of the people in the game are who you would expect to volunteer for a mission to another galaxy you can never come back from–which is to say: misfits, oddballs, fuck-ups. Bless ‘em.
Anxiety Pyjamas
Fics I Shouted About
between the motion and the act by Fahye // Captive Prince, Damen/Laurent, Bachelor AU. Damen is the first openly bisexual Bachelor, Laurent is the producer pinning his entire career on the success of one risky season of reality tv. This is so good. Nobody writes Laurent pov like Fahye does.
Lastly
ok that’s well enough from me i think
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