july media roundup

[soobun]

happy august 😭



sorry for how inevitably boring this post is going to be btw i swear all i have the energy to do nowadays is (1) go to work (2) watch stuff with friends (3) stare into space while listening to objectively pretty mid music until i fall asleep. anyways

reading

the metamorphosis - franz kafka ✰✰✰✰
- now why did i only read one book this month. and it's literally not even a book it's just a NOVELLA... but i'm glad i finally read it cuz it was really good! really harrowing and relatable because even though none of us are likely going to be turning into monstrous bugs any time soon i think the feelings of otherness / shame & feeling like others would be better off without your burden is like... well yeah

and in other reading news i spent way too long trying to find decent bf fic and i don't want to get mad about it again but like ?!??!?!?! how are you going to be a piece of flawed yet perfect (to me) media with almost 4k fics on ao3 and yet when i sort by kudos and go through SIXTY pages i could only read and enjoy TWO short fics. like what's all that about. like i know my standards are slightly higher than most but um they're not THAT high... [depressed]

but then myotinae updated ywntmha (perfect penultimate breakup chapter) and as i was stalking their twitter i saw them mention this p4 fic called sympathy crime and well i'm not going to get into it but i've been losing my shit reading it on livejournal for the past week or so<3 so that's fun. and i can totally see the resemblance in their writing styles, that perfect sort of blunt wit that i admire but could never pull off. and that whole thing with the author getting chased off the internet cuz they properly tagged their fic that deals with the ramifications of csa in an adult & mature way is like.... i can't stand you people sometimes. but it’s soo good, if perhaps for a complex value of good

watching

not doing a separate movies sections cuz i somehow only watched two... (1) moffie which was a somewhat questionable gay south african film (the discordant brass section that made up most of the soundtrack was so perfect and fitting though) & (2) the dark crystal which was conner's birthday movie 😭 and well it was definitely a film i'll say that!

and i actually watched TELEVISION this month which was an experience. in vague order of when i finished:

succession s2
- i think we only had half of s2 to finish this month and i honestly think that this show just gets better and better as it goes... i already briefly mentioned it last month but it's just so funny and dumb and smart and bleak all at the same time. can't wait for s3 at the end of the year<33

young royals
- well we ALL watched young royals this month and i don't really have anything intelligent to say but it was just GOOD T__T realistic and depressing and heartwarming and once again simon is the only boy ever. any omar rudberg fans here? it_takes_a_fool_to_remain_sane.mp3????? oh and i'm also so grateful that we got ao3 user pulses fic out of it too 😌

druck s3
- and well speaking of kaia we also (re on her part) watched druck and i learned firsthand how personal davenzi is <333 as someone who barely remembers the original and doesn't remember liking it that much regardless i rly enjoyed how understated this remake was in comparison. and hello that confession scene TTTT matteo is such a little dweeb i like him. when you're oppressed for being gay and italian

the handmaids tale s4
- this show actually evokes such conflicting emotions in me KHSDJHFS ive been watching for a while and overall i do really like it so i had to watch s4 but SKJCFSJDKF?? ok i need to stop keysmashing there are just some scenes that really kill me like why did they play COLDPLAY during the big dramatic moment and why is june/nick the worst pairing ever? like they're supposed to be a huge secret and yet they kiss in broad daylight like what is going onnnn... i like moira and emily so much though i wish we got more of their respective storylines TT and i think the whole esther plot is insaneellyyyyy good i rly adored the first few eps that were focused on her & hope s5 focuses on her & janine more!!!!

banana fish
- u already know what it is.... god why did this show literally change my brain chemistry. the entire time in the chat i was just like [insane keysmashing] [unhinged commentary] [comparing half of the characters to akechi] it was really embarrassing but i'm grateful to henry for putting up with me 💔 anyway most of my thoughts ended up here in the playlist i made but i honestly feel like it was a show perfectly catered to me and idk how it took me this long to watch it but um YES! i could go on forever but i won’t. you're welcome

listening

i feel like july must have been the driest month kpop-wise i've experienced in my entire stanning career like what was THAT about... a few releases i liked though:

taeyeon - weekend
- i mean it's a single album but this song is just so good and fun!

sf9 - turn over EP
- taeyang u r so iconic.... when he (and the stylists) make the rest of the group look like backup dancers during the chorus yaaaaas
- off my mind ≥ believer > tear drop > hey hi bye > i don't listen to the rest

dreamcatcher - summer holiday
- i like dc but their titles rarely click with me (guy who dislikes rock music) and this one is the same but i usually like a few bsides!!
- whistle > alldaylong >>> airplane (sorry i just have to mention how bad this song is… like why am i suddenly listening to weki meki)

lucy
- no specific album but i finally listened to LUCY this month and fell in love with a couple god tier songs: one by one / i got u / snooze / flare

therefore i inevitably listened to a Lot of non kpop music!!! my pivotal albums in order of discovery:

laura mvula - pink noise
- Girl you are literally the sound of the summer....

mid-air thief - crumbling
- i actually need to go through this perfect post more in depth but i was like in_awe when i listened to these chains... and then of course the whole album was a moment. i feel like calling music "smart" is so pretentious but i just love when ur listening to a song and u can tell every second / beat / chord / etc is intentionally placed in a way that's like. DIFFERENT? like i struggle with new music sometimes because i just feel like i've heard it all before so IDK i really liked this!

daughter - not to disappear
- i had only ever listened to a few choice daughter songs and i think they were exclusively off their debut album and i always thought they were decent but nothing crazy??? and then i put on this album randomly on my walk home one day and well ❤️ it's so good. my favorite trax are doing the right thing / mothers / no care / fossa btw!

lucy dacus - home video
- [through tears] yeah it's good. cartwheels / partner in crime / please stay especially are soooo good. her lyricism is so personal i don't really have much to say about it but i really really like this album, a step up from her older stuff imo

san fermin - the cormorant I & II + belong
- i don't understand how it took me this long to realize this band existed but HELLO!!!! and i only did cuz i was listening to myotinae's fic playlist and "the hunger" was on there which got me intrigued... and then i listened to that whole album and realized that they have kind of perfect music?!??! from my journal app:
- "half of these songs sound like i'm listening to the national if they were a little more generous with the horns... also if they talked more about youth rather than the misery of being middle-aged. and then half sound like sufjan illinois bsides. anyway it's good clearly
- also when "little star" came on and i was convinced that sylvan esso was featuring cuz the vocalist sounds SO weirdly similar to her, but then i looked it up (it's not) and found this dude's random music blog where he mentioned the same thing and really loved his review??? so i clicked through a couple others and found:

timbre - sun and moon
- this album is ALSO split into 2 halves, but in this case the first half is a (relatively) more typical sort of indie folk album while the second half has a lot of purely instrumental 10+ minute long classical-adjacent type pieces... i like the first half more overall but i'm sure that's mainly just cuz i'm not musically intelligent enough to sit through 16 minute long classical pieces if i'm not in a very specific mood buuttt i rly adore the overall sound & theme of this album, there are moments when i ended up just sitting there in awe at the instrumentation / chord changes / etc

braids - deep in the iris
- another album i discovered thru myotinae's playlist and it's pretty good overall (i also LOVE 2020 off the recent single album) but i also could just listen to taste.mp3 and get the same level of enjoyment so yeah. i really think that is a perfect song

glasser - ring + interiors
- this whole section is partly just me explaining the somewhat convoluted way i discover new music but after i finished listening to the braids album (since i always have my infinite shuffle on) itunes started playing More Music Like This and so "treasure of we" by glasser started playing and i was like omoooo. it's REALLY GOOD! i also laughed when i looked it up and someone described it as tropical björk 😭 anyway home / T / mirrorage are my favorites off ring and i actually rly like everything off interiors, its kind of an overall album experience to me & the lyrics are unexpectedly hard-hitting too… these albums are from 2010+2013 and i wish i could find more recent electropop stuff with this particular vibe TT

There's an ocean making life beyond my reach / And the vastness is too much for me to stand / In the dim light of the truth, all you can do is bow

fandom-ing

well since this month was soooo dry for comebacks i didn't pay a huge amount of attn to kpop but ummm what have i been watching...

- the cix mnet reality show which is genuinely perfect content... the twinky c9 employees, the glimpse we got into PUPPY_GAME, baejin's milf hair, 돌이 사귀어요???... exactly exactly
- we've also been watching some older ateez shows and like :smiling_face_with_tear: I FORGOT THAT I KIND OF LIKE THEM??? san is actually so pitiable in their mnet show (my type?) and seonghwa is just so weird and awkwarddd... the others are kind of just there but now i have like vague dislike for hongjoong which is half a joke and half not a joke. erm any kqfellaz fans here?
- and then welcome 2 dreaminland which is like ?!?!?! i cant even begin to get into it but if you've seen any of my tweets or the wife/gf/etc scale then you already know. all you need to know is that minseo is perfect. actually i'll just leave this here

[WHY DID MY SCREENSHOT BREAK. that’s fine i’ll use this opportunity to plug the best fic of all time instead 😌]

... yeah i'll just end on that note ❤️ life has actually been pretty rough lately but i'll try not to overshare on dreamwidth dot org but um if you're reading this hopefully YOUR day is going well :~) i'm very excited for all the cb content next month tho!!!

Comments

[soobun]

yaaaa honestly i think classics are rly hit or miss & i rly struggle with longer ones like i rly enjoyed dostoyevsky notes from underground (i recommend this if u like the metamorphosis!) but i tried reading crime and punishment earlier this year and i was like Jesus. no i can't do this actually. maybe one day

AND NOT UR 16Y/O NORMIE SISTERRRR the thing is it has a pretty decent sized fandom but fsr everything feels kind of juvenile despite the shows themes being like... ? very adult? idk i hate to be like You Kids Don't Get It but also.........

lucy one by one is so good!! and cringe pop is fun i totally respect it<3 SJHSKJHDS I SAID THE EXACT SAME THING ABT HJ TO SHAKTI IN MY REPLY... i think i accidentally plagiarized you but like thats exactly how i feel about him KHSDFSH and i'm learning to get behind musclejock san but i'm still depressed about it which is why i'm starting to like chuji from justb cuz he reminds me of twink!san. so embarrassing tbh. but yeah i like woosansanhwa which is just my top 3 triangulation which is totally unsurprising LOL

and hehe ty emily :3 i always love to see ur thoughts too!!!<3