get in, loser, we're going to KRAKOA
Having seen Daphne’s and Chris’s desert island posts (based on BBC’s Desert Island Discs), I decided that I will do one of my own.
So, I’ll have to choose:
i. eight books
ii. eight pieces of music
iii. a podcast, TV show or movie – I’m going to cheat here and choose one of each.
iv. one luxury you can’t do without — I’m going to assume that I already have plumbing and necessities like a first aid kit, since this is supposed to be a luxury.
EIGHT BOOKS
- Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones
Because of course I’m going to need this book with me always. This isn’t the DWJ book I reread the most, but it is the one that I imprinted on and the one that I’ll miss the most, if it’s away from me.
- Juniper, Gentian and Rosemary by Pamela Dean
Because while normally I would choose Tam Lin, Fire and Hemlock is already a Tam Lin retelling, and I haven’t actually read Juniper, Gentian and Rosemary. I’ve been saving it for a time of great need, and so if I’m going to be stuck on a desert island, what other great need is there? Plus it would be nice to have at least ONE new-to-me book.
- In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan
My current copy is missing - I know for a fact that someone borrowed it, but I can’t for the life of me remember who. I keep thinking about this missing book every other week or so. I keep wanting to reread it. I’m taking it as a sign that I need it with me on this desert island.
- Nimona by Noelle Stevenson
It’s REALLY difficult to choose a comic because for most of the ones I’d want (Haikyuu!!, Heartstopper, What Did You Eat Yesterday?, Natsume’s Book of Friends) there are way too many volumes to even fit in an imaginary omnibus, so I decided to go with a standalone that I really love and that wouldn’t make me feel depressed, which is something a lot of the standalones I like do for some reason.
- The Great Passage by Miura Shion
I have no idea where my current copy is, which is somewhat distressing to me, but let’s imagine I have it when I’m on this imaginary desert island. I like stories about people who love words, I love books about words, I like stories about people with special interests/obsessions, and I like stories where people put in an effort and take pride in their work, and this book is all of that and more.
- One of the Bordertown anthologies.
At the moment, I’m partial to the second one, Bordertown (edited by Terri Windling and Mark Alan Arnold), but I would also be okay with Holly Black and Ellen Kushner’s Welcome to Bordertown. But maybe the second one would be better. I say this because I’ve yet to read the first one, which I still don’t own.
- The Bone Key by Sarah Monette
Another book that is rather slight! But I need Booth, I think. I was thinking I want Seanan McGuire’s October Daye books with me but there are too many volumes to even cheat and wish for a single omnibus, and there’s no October Daye short story collections either… which made me think of short story collections I couldn’t do without, and this is the first that comes to mind.
- House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
A book that feels like a warm hug in difficult times. I was thinking of Katherine Addison’s The Goblin Emperor, which also feels this way, but I already have Sarah Monette (who is Katherine Addison) in my list, so Klune it is.
EIGHT PIECES OF MUSIC
- Imagination - SPYAIR
You would think that a BUMP OF CHICKEN song is the first thing in my list, but nooo. Not yet, anyway. This first opening theme song to Haikyuu!! isn’t necessarily a favourite of mine, but I do like SPYAIR a lot (have I mentioned that I met them before at a ONE OK ROCK concert? Because I did and I’m pretty sure I’ve told everyone, lol) and I can’t bring all my Haikyuu!! manga, so I’m going to have this instead for when I need some extra spoons to get me through the day.
- 66号線 (66go-sen) - BUMP OF CHICKEN
And here is the BUMP. If Arashi and SPYAIR gives me extra spoons, BUMP is there for me when there is no hope/spoons left and no way to get any more. They give me that quiet respite and words of comfort needed to not disappear before I can recharge. Honestly I would wish for the entire COSMONAUT album, or the Jupiter album, but this is the BUMP song that I listen to the most, and somehow the most comforting to me personally.
- SUPER FRESH - Arashi
I thought of going for my favourite Arashi song (Nice na Kokoroiki) or the ones that I liked to listen to the most (Niji, Sketch, Energy Song)… but in the end I decided on Super Fresh because it’s so soothing and Sho-kun’s voice is clear in it and I have to admit the fact that sometimes I just need to hear his voice when I’m extra anxious.
- I Know I’m Not The Only One - Tegan and Sara
Honestly, this particular slot might be different every time I write this because the answer is just Tegan and Sara. The exact song will probably change from time to time, but I will be fine with whichever among my favourites that I get stuck with.
- What Is This Feeling? - Wicked cast album
Note: Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth sang for the cast album, but the video I linked isn’t one with them. Again, if you ask me why this song in particular, I don’t really have an answer, other than the fact that I can’t include every album from every musical I love, and this is one of the ones I listen to the most. And this song always makes me happy, so that’s something! (A close second to this might be “98,000” from In The Heights.)
- P.U.N.K. Girl - Heavenly
I wanted something from Sarah Records, and this is one of my favourites by one of my favourite Sarah bands. I used to include this in so many mixtapes back in high school. For the times I’m feeling nostalgic.
- 思ひで (Omoide) - Tsunekichi Suzuki
This is the theme song to Midnight Diner, one of my favourite TV dramas based on one of my favourite manga. And despite the fact that this isn’t one of the songs from my teen years, this song just embodies nostalgia.
- Piano Sonata no. 16 in C Major, K.545 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
I linked this particular song/movement because I love how the video made it look like a rhythm game, but really almost any Mozart piano sonata would do. Lately I’ve been listening to more Scarlatti (thanks to me starting on a playlist to get into the mood for Deep Secret and then not being able to stop), but if I had to choose, it’d be Mozart. (Also, I usually never really knew the names of all these pieces because I play them all on loop when I’m going about my day.)
TAKING A BREAK FROM BOOKS AND MUSIC
- Podcast: Jay and Miles Xplain the X-Men
This one is easy. Besides being very entertaining, and being hosted by two people I think I would genuinely like if I met them, there are occasional interviews with creators I love and, er, listening to this will make me remember the comics and feel like I’m rereading them (since I couldn’t include the entire X-Men comics franchise in my books section!) In fact, if I have to ONLY choose a podcast, series or movie, I would still stick with Jay & Miles.
- Series: ひみつの嵐ちゃん! (Himitsu no Arashi-chan!)
After deliberating for HOURS on whether I would choose an anime (let’s be honest, if I did it would probably be Haikyuu!! or March Comes in Like a Lion) or a tv drama (maybe Haikei, Chichiue-sama or Midnight Diner, but I’m more likely to choose an anime than a drama)… I decided to go with a variety show. I wanted something funny and comforting, and Arashi’s shows are always both. And HnA is my favourite among their shows because the early episodes were weird and informative, and the later episodes includes segments like Mannequin Five and Share House. Some people might think I’d choose Buffy the Vampire Slayer or even Natsume Yuujincho, but I really wouldn’t choose anything that can scare me even just a LITTLE bit, since I’m going to be ALONE on a DESERT ISLAND. (Yes, I plan to skip all the Haunted House segments when I rewatch Himitsu on my desert island.)
- Movie: Hackers
You know what, right up to the moment I started writing this particular section, I thought I was going to choose You’ve Got Mail. But then I remembered Empire Records and was so tempted to choose it instead, which then made me think of another teen favourite, which also has a pretty decent soundtrack and an ensemble cast I really enjoy, total X-Men vibes (not in plot but in character dynamics and queer underground hacker community leaders and a campy villain and sheer fun which is more X vibes than any of the Fox X-Men movies managed!), and Angelina Jolie who in this movie would’ve been my sexual awakening if I wasn’t, you know, ace. Now I feel like watching this movie again.
ONE LUXURY ITEM
- A notebook with a pen
Right from the beginning I had something else in mind for this slot - I wanted one of those sci-fi machines that allow you to request ANY food you want and they’ll materialise. I figure it’d be useful, since… let’s be honest. Me? In the wilderness? I would be dead before I could enjoy any of the lovely media I have with me.
So I’m going to assume there’s some sort of abandoned hut/cottage on this island, with working plumbing, even if I don’t have this magical food materialiser. Anyway, instead of this machine I have decided that I would instead want a notebook that magically never runs out of pages, that comes with a fountain pen that never runs out of ink. Because I would still need to write all my rambly nonsense down SOMEWHERE.
Isn’t it funny that I don’t even think I enjoy writing, but I seem to need it more than an endless supply of food?
And there you have it, my desert island picks, with more than several cheats. But it’s my post so I make the rules, or so says Daphne.
Updates
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I’m working from home for until August 7th, so I’m hoping that having extra time from not having to commute will get me working on my Derkholm post. Fingers crossed!
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I am picking the October Daye books back up - having spent a long enough time without Audible, I think I’ve got enough distance to not wish for October Daye to be voiced by Mary Robinette Kowal every time I read the books instead of listening to them.
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Finally upgraded my laptop to Big Sur from Catalina, and I only had to delete all of my photos and GarageBand (and GarageBand projects) as well as uninstall every Steam game I have to do so. I haven’t decided if it’s worth it, but it did spur me to start organising my folders on Drive.
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On the day this email goes out, I’ll be getting my 2nd dose of AZ (or are they mixing the vaccinations? Heard they might, but I’m not sure if they are), so wish me luck!
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STAY SAFE!