Reading

Lui by CM Deiana

Lui by CM Deiana (who used to write for the Yaoi France fanzine) was a lot of fun! During the Covid lockdown, Alexandre, a sociology student, meets Samuel, a delivery man.

I bought this novel through crowdfunding, so I got:
- 3 bonus chapters about various secondary characters
- 1 fanfic written by Auriane Velten (Ainsi soient-illes) and printed like a fanzine: it's an AU where Alex and Sam meet 25 years later, in a fascist France (we're sadly heading there, but I sure hope that it's not going to last that long)
- a few goodies

I love that the book is a little mixed-media, with illustrations of notebook pages between chapters.

There's major m/m, with Alex being demisexual and on the autism spectrum. The secondary characters mostly include gay men, but also two sapphics and an enby. There are a few POC, and Covid-related anti-Asian racism is tackled.

The Old Guard 2

The Old Guard 2 was awesome, but Netflix'd better greenlight a third movie right freaking now. I'm reading the comics, but that doesn't help with the cliffhanger because the plot of the movies is different.

The first film was already full of hot people, and they went and added Henry Golding and Uma Thurman to the cast. ^^

There's major m/m, as well as subtext f/f (canon f/f in the comics).

Current Mood: indescribable

Entry tags:

music

Happy 4th of July.

"American Idiot" by Green Day

Well, maybe I'm the faggot, America
I'm not a part of the MAGA agenda
Now everybody, do the propaganda
And sing along to the age of paranoia

"Immigrants (We Get The Job Done)" by K'naan, Snow Tha Product, Riz Ahmed, and Residente

It's really astonishing that in a country founded by immigrants,
"immigrant" has somehow become a bad word.

"Combat Rock" by Sleater-Kinney

Where is the questioning? Where is the protest song?
Since when is skepticism un-American?
Dissent's not treason but they talk like it's the same
Those who disagree are afraid to show their face

"Mosh" by Eminem

Imagine it pourin', just rainin' down on us
Moshpits outside the Oval Office
Someone's tryna tell us somethin', maybe this is God just
Sayin' we're responsible for this monster, this coward
That we have empowered

(no subject)

Off on holiday from tomorrow, back Monday, probably will be a bit sporadic on here in terms of comments and not posting, so will catch up properly when I get back!

Entry tags:

Sunshine Revival #1

Challenge #1

Journaling Prompt: Light up your journal with activity this month. Talk about your goals for July or for the second half of 2025.
Creative Prompt: Shine a light on your own creativity. Create anything you want (an image, an icon, a story, a poem, or a craft) and share it with your community.

For me I think it's going to be easier to set myself some goals for the second half of the year, rather than focusing on July, bearing in mind that my July involves two trips during which I'll be less online. So, I'll start with finally finishing that Dark series that I started at the tail end of 2023 and then got stuck on because I keep being drawn back to the conclusion that I wanted to avoid (brief spoiler-lite context: once I had more of an understanding of the timelines of this show, I understood that giving this character his happy ending just wasn't possible). I also would quite like to do something with a School Spirits plot bunny that could turn into a series (bit complicated to explain if you didn't watch season 2). And I also keep saying I'll go back to Lost's "Sun went back to 1977" series which I haven't touched since 2010 (Smokey McSmokeFace, that one's on you. Well, technically the writers, for going in the direction that I was not okay with.)

I'm getting the to-watch list down a bit, but still going to keep that one (I find that easier when I'm properly able to focus, meaning NOT in the middle of a heatwave which for some reason seemed to hit me harder the last two days even more so than 2022 did and left me not feeling like doing anything much. In that state, I can handle old favourites I'm familiar with, but not so good with something fairly new to me.

Ever since Isabella and Isla presented me with a Make Your Own Luna Lovegood crochet kit for Christmas (and that was 2022, so it's been a while) and I didn't like to admit that I'm clueless about it, I've thought I should get round to starting. Maybe this will be the year I get round to it.

I may not do both prompts all the way through, but here's a creative response:

Title: But I Still Need Love 'Cause I'm Just A Man
Fandom: School Spirits
Characters: Wally
Pairing: Wally/Maddie
Rating: PG
Warnings: Spoilers all the way through Season 2
Summary: Wally knows he couldn't expect Maddie to stay with him; he envisions how she could have ended up resenting him if she'd chosen to remain a ghost to be with him, but also can't regret that he's spoken up about what he wants for once.

( Read more... )

Squid Game Season 3

Netflix's k-drama Squid Game Season 3 was great. S2 & S3 go together as a whole game, so it's nice that they were released only 6 months apart.

( Spoiler )

Ants Waking by RJ Huneke

I was sent an advance review copy of the novella Ants Waking by RJ Huneke in exchange for an honest review. A student in a magical Cambridge tries to find a way to bring their friend back to life.

This book has a lyrical writing style and reads like a fairy tale about the power of stories. The invented mythological figures are fascinating.

The protagonist is non-binary and on the autism spectrum.

Ants Waking releases on October 28th, 2025. For every book sold, the author will be donating $1 to the Global Action for Trans Equality and $1 to the Autistic Self Advocacy Network.

The Ministry of Guidance and Other Stories by Golnoosh Nour

The Ministry of Guidance and Other Stories by Golnoosh Nour was excellent. It's a collection of modern, even rebellious, short stories offering a daily look at the Iranian culture.

One of the stories is called "Tehran Yaoi", which was most unexpected.

It's sometimes f/f, sometimes m/m, sometimes bi f/m.

Current Mood: excited
Current Music: Stray Kids - Chk Chk Boom

Entry tags:

television

Alphas, Omegas, Betas, and Enigmas!

We have a 10-minute length trailer for Desire, or also known as ABO Desire, which is, yes, a Chinese Omegaverse drama which will be premiering on July 12th.

( 'THE WORLD'S FIRST OMEGAVERSE M-PREG DRAMA SERIES' )

( My thoughts based on the trailer. )

Needless to say, I was already looking forward to seeing this drama and then this trailer just furthered my excitement. I'm absolutely seated for this one.

Hanging on the telephone

Well, so far, reports of my hiatus have been a bit exaggerated - as Mum has pointed out, BT are paying for the hotspot I'm currently using while waiting for the correct mini hub as per my last post's story of their screwup, (something tells me I will be needing the link they sent me for a rapid call back, as I'm not overly confident about the correct mini hub turning up tomorrow). Meanwhile, Olly Alexander's Eurovision is permanently stuck in my head due to the amount of time I have spent on hold doing battle! Nothing against the guy, (he actually went to art college here, and the local media practically reports on it every time he farts) but could quite happily never hear the song any more. Hoping it will be sorted soon though and I probably should apologise for the amount of ranty posts this week so far (and it's only Monday).

On the plus side the heatwave is finally over (I'm trying to ignore the usual clickbait spam that I'm still getting sent about 39 degree heatwaves on the way, but hoping this isn't the one time they got it right - who am I kidding though with this rubbish?).

Anyway, since I'm trying for a few less Ranty McRantFace posts for a bit, and also conscious that I haven't done a lot of Fannish 50 ramble lately, I'll quickly do one of those.

Say you come across a show you think you like the sound of, only it was cancelled before you got round to it (or you get a few episodes in and then find out it didn't get renewed) do you still carry on anyway, or decide not to bother once you know it's not going anywhere (and left on a cliffhanger)? Something I've been thinking about since I finally got round to checking out Outer Range (which I think was recommended to me by one of those Shows to Watch If You like Show X lists - considering the subject matter, probably Dark, which is one of my all time top five). I did know going into it that it had been decided not to renew for season 3, already have writing ideas for once I have better wifi, but find myself feeling frustrated at the knowledge that I won't get questions answered and have moments of wondering how much it's worth it in that situation.