your granny lied
yo
I had dental surgery this week, which you probably know about if you follow me on any form of social media, as I have not shut up about it. In my defense, I am a baby and my mouth is full of stitches and misery. But that is all I will say about it here, so let’s all just move on with our terrifying lives.
Thanksgiving was last week here in the US, the day each year I reluctantly make mashed potatoes and feel incredible white guilt. This year was especially surreal, given the ongoing protests at Standing Rock. My brother came to town, and it was good to see him, but honestly I look forward to a future in which we see more of things like this, and in the meantime I donated.
Notable Breakfast
Dog Thing
The face you make when you’re the middle of a cuddle sandwich.
Mixed Media
This was inevitable, I suppose, as it’s the thing that has completely taken over my life during the last few weeks, but Yuri!!! On Ice is remarkable in other ways: in my life, the people who watch anime and those who don’t are pretty separate, but this show has completely crossed those lines. For a lot of people, it’s the first anime they’ve ever watched. That’s a thing worth talking about (and really, this show is just that good).
Yuri!!! On Ice is the story of Yuuri Katsuki, a Japanese figure skater who made it to the Grand Prix Finals and then completely bombed. The show follows his remaking of himself as a skater and an athlete, accompanied by Russian skater and living legend Victor Nikiforov, who’s acting as his coach. It’s also a romance.
Anime shows follow pretty strict genre rules, and Yuri is a sports anime. I haven’t ever really watched sports anime, because I’m not hugely interested in sports, and the shows based around men’s team sports tend to have pretty egregious examples of queerbaiting–that is, teasing viewers with the promise of gay romance, but never following through. Queerbaiting is a western term, so applying it here is problematic, but as shorthand it works. Yuri breaks that mold.
Not to spoil you overmuch, but not only is its romance canon, but it is a healthy, believable relationship between two interesting, flawed people. Simply put, it’s one of the best romances I have seen on tv. Not that the show is about Yuuri and Victor’s relationship–it is, but that story takes a backseat to Yuuri’s story as a skater. The show bases its arcs around the skating competitions leading up to the Grand Prix. There is a lot of skating in Yuri!!! On Ice, by a large variety of skaters, and it’s all choreographed by retired skater Kenji Miyamoto, so it’s good. So good that it’s become popular among actual figure skaters.
Yuri!!! On Ice is doing a lot of interesting things, both within its genre and in general. (One of my favourite things about it is that rather than being a preternaturally talented messiah athlete, Yuuri owes his strengths as a skater to the fact that he’s an anxious workhorse–he skates when he needs to be alone, and he had access to a rink in which to do it, so he was able to practice a lot. You don’t see that much in sports manga and anime. Even my great manga love, Cross Game, is guilty of the sports messiah thing.) It’s also written and directed by women, and if you’ve ever wanted a concrete example of female gaze, this is it, right here.
You can watch Yuri!!! On Ice for free on Crunchyroll (new eps become available for free the week after posting). It’s the thing that’s bringing me the most joy right now, and this is me all day on Wednesdays waiting to get home and watch the new ep:
My copy of the newest Rivers of London book, The Hanging Tree, arrived after what felt like an eternity of waiting, and it was well worth the wait. Peter Grant is simply one of my favourite fictional people. I followed up reading Howl’s Moving Castle with the other two books Diana Wynne Jones wrote in the Howl universe (they’re only sort of sequels), Castle in the Air and House of Many Ways. I loved them both. I read Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire, which was really interesting fantasy featuring the first openly asexual protagonist I’ve ever read, which was very exciting. My friend sent me this fan-translation of Chinese manga Their Story by Tan Jiu, and it was the perfect thing to devour in my sickbed. The central romance is between two girls, and the rotating cast is just delightful.
I’ve been listening to the Moana soundtrack a lot! It’s excellent. I like the new The Weeknd album Starboy a lot! “False Alarm” is my fave track. Little Mix’s new album Glory Days is FIRE.
I watched Speed Racer for the first time, and loved it. Extremely fun and weird. I saw Loving, which I’d been really looking forward to. It was excellent. I saw Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them with my family, and found it kinda boring! It felt like a film where they could have taken a lot of interesting risks, and just didn’t. Also, fuck Johnny Depp. I saw Moana, and it really is as good as everyone says. Jemaine Clement’s turn as a giant coconut crab was the show-stopper. (I saw…a lot of movies this month.)
Anxiety Pyjamas
Fics I Shouted About
pardon the way that i stare by kevystel Yuri!!! On Ice, Victor/Yuuri, post-episode 7. Victor and Yuuri arrive in Russia. Kevystel is my favourite writer in the Yuri fandom right now, their Victor in particular is just spot-on. Start with this, and then read literally everything else.
i know my madness by astoryaboutwar Yuri!!! On Ice, Victor/Yuuri, AU. An AU in which Yuuri doesn’t wash out of skating and instead meets Victor in the way skaters usually meet–at competition after competition.
learn and let learn by lazulisong Teen Wolf, Sterek, AU. Derek is a leatherworker, Stiles is a mage who needs to make a grimoire. I have a soft spot for stories where Derek is a craftsman, and this is a great one.
untitled by whore4batfam Batman, Gen. A tiny fun tumblr fic about the employees at all-night diners who see Batman and his crew the most.
A Choreographer’s Dilemma by Mysecretfanmoments Yuri!!! On Ice, Victor/Yuuri, post-episode 7. Victor & Yuuri figure out where they stand (the conversation they didn’t have in the episode).
+ one what I wrote: Crossed Step Forward (Yuri!!! On Ice, of course)
Lastly
My friend Taylor, a journalist for the BBC, wrote an excellent round-up of apps you can use to track bills through Congress.
Asian-American rapper Dumbfoundead made a stellar song/video about the erasure of Asian faces in Western media.
ok that’s it goodbye!
