Things I Have Been Putting in My Eyballs
Jan. 25th, 2025 12:17 pmStorm Éowyn didn't hit quite as hard as forecast here, though I will say that my dog was very determined to go outside for an animal with no natural defences against 90mph winds.
Comics
Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, Vol.1: Fortune and Fate and Doctor Aphra, Vol.2: The Engine Job - A while ago I asked![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ambyr what was the best place to start with the Aphra comics, and received a long, thoughtful, and helpful answer, from which I honed in on exactly one line suggesting that if I wanted it to be All Queer, All the Time I should start with Alyssa Wong's run, and did just that. What? I never said that I wasn't predictable.
I had a rollicking good time with these comics. I did find myself wishing for a Disney+ series about fuckboy lesbian Indiana Jones running around the Star Wars universe, and then I thought about what the howler monkeys of YouTube would do to the discourse and then I didn't want that anymore.
Books
Breaking the Dark by Lisa Jewell - For secret reasons, Marvel decided to release a series of prose crime novels, and this first one is about Jessica Jones. The next one is about Daredevil, a character I am physically unable to care about, and at one point there was meant to be a Luke Cage one by SA Cosby, but, idk, that seems to have vanished. The book was broadly fine, but there were obvious points where the author was clearly consulting the cheat sheet Marvel had handed her, because the comic book elements were perfunctory at best. There was a bit where Madam Webb turned up, which wouldn't have been so funny before the movie but is hilarious now.
A Well Trained Wife: My Escape From Christian Patriarchy by Tia Levings - This memoir of Levings' abusive marriage as her husband drags their family further and further into Christian Nationalism is visceral and deeply upsetting. Her writing towards the end about how what she went through is what a lot of powerful men want for US women seems both straighforwardly correct and messy and unconvinced of itself, as is probably unavoidable when someone is writing about something that they are still working through.
Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky - This one is about a robot searching for purpose at the end of the world. It's a little bit Asimov and a little bit Murderbot, and was only okay. The good thing about Tchaikovsky is that he is so prolific that if you don't like one then another one will be along in a minute.
Lady Eve's Last Con by Rebecca Fraimow - This is a queer heist novel in space. I say again this is a QUEER HEIST NOVEL IN SPACE. An early contender for favourite book of the year, I think.
Mammoths at the Gate by Nghi Vo - The Singing Hills series of novellas is an absolute delight. This is probably my least favourite so far, only because I like it more when Cleric Chih is collecting stories rather than starring in them. But this is such a good series that 'weakest one' is still damn good.
The Secret History of Bigfoot: Field Notes on a North American Monster by John O'Connor - I enjoyed this so much more than I expected. Like, I think Bigfoot is silly, which is silly of me because I believe there is a dinosaur in Loch Ness. Well, not necessarily a dinosaur, but I do think there's something more than a lost family of seals down there. The author shows so much compassion and fondness for Bigfoot hunters while never missing a chance to get a dig in at Trump so we don't forget whose side he is on. Contains lengthy diversions on the psychological underpinnings of conspiracy theories as well as the hunt for the Ivory Billed Woodpecker.
It actually got me thinking about this theory of mine that I've been noodling on since I lost people down a couple of really ugly rabbit holes, which is that prior to the internet age we all had people in our lives who believed in, like, the Beast of Bodmin Moor or that the moon landing was fake. A bit weird sure, but basically harmless. But now the internet drives them further and further till they end up at fucking Q, blood libel shit.
Games
Star Wars: Outlaws and Dragon Age: The Veilguard - both games I played to credits, both games that left no lasting impression beyond big 'best game of 2017' vibes.
I feel like I'm spinning my wheels with games until Ghost of Yotei comes out. Sony really shat the bed with their doomed push into live service games, didn't they? It's always funny when a giant corporation fucks up in a way so obvious that even I - an idiot - could have told them exactly what was going to happen.
Movies
Wicked - I know nothing about Wicked. I hadn't seen the stage show or heard any of the songs. I think I read the book forever ago, maybe. So from my position of zero knowledge I shall just say this - this was delightful and Galinda and Elphaba should fuck it out.
65 - Okay, hear me out, I think there was too much Adam Driver and not enough dinosaurs in the Adam Driver dinosaur movie.
Hundreds of Beavers - Look, we're all having a rough go of it, and I'm not saying this delightful black and white slapstick comedy will make you feel better, what I am saying is at this point anything short of decanting absinth directly into your eyeballs has got to be worth a try.
Abigail - Recently I expressed an interest in a genre I call Horror for Babies (rated 15 max, basically) and this was recommended to me on the grounds that it was the same people who made Ready or Not, and while not as good as that one, this one about a bunch of crooks who kidnap a tween ballerina who turns out to be a vampire was very good indeed.
Telly
Creature Commandos - One of those delightful animated shows that could never have worked in live action, making the Bride of Frankenstein (voiced by Indira Varma, no less) the main character was an A+ choice, and I have been listening to the soundtrack on Spotify all week.
Superhero fatigue is real, but as soon as they announced that they were putting James Gunn in charge of DC I was like a baby making grabby hands at the keys someone was jangling in front of me.
Star Wars: Skelton Crew - Okay, this was a FUCKING DELIGHT. Best Star Wars thing since, jeepers, Andor. If you skipped it, which I nearly did, I cannot recommend it highly enough. It's a bit The Goonies, a bit E.T, and a lot what Star Wars felt like when you were nine.
I did notice that, unusually for a Star Wars thing, there wasn't a lot of conversation online about it. I do wonder if that's because the YouTube chucklefucks just didn't watch it, or because they know that being seen publicly bullying literal children would reveal their schtick for the ugly grift it really is.
Comics
Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, Vol.1: Fortune and Fate and Doctor Aphra, Vol.2: The Engine Job - A while ago I asked
ambyr what was the best place to start with the Aphra comics, and received a long, thoughtful, and helpful answer, from which I honed in on exactly one line suggesting that if I wanted it to be All Queer, All the Time I should start with Alyssa Wong's run, and did just that. What? I never said that I wasn't predictable.I had a rollicking good time with these comics. I did find myself wishing for a Disney+ series about fuckboy lesbian Indiana Jones running around the Star Wars universe, and then I thought about what the howler monkeys of YouTube would do to the discourse and then I didn't want that anymore.
Books
Breaking the Dark by Lisa Jewell - For secret reasons, Marvel decided to release a series of prose crime novels, and this first one is about Jessica Jones. The next one is about Daredevil, a character I am physically unable to care about, and at one point there was meant to be a Luke Cage one by SA Cosby, but, idk, that seems to have vanished. The book was broadly fine, but there were obvious points where the author was clearly consulting the cheat sheet Marvel had handed her, because the comic book elements were perfunctory at best. There was a bit where Madam Webb turned up, which wouldn't have been so funny before the movie but is hilarious now.
A Well Trained Wife: My Escape From Christian Patriarchy by Tia Levings - This memoir of Levings' abusive marriage as her husband drags their family further and further into Christian Nationalism is visceral and deeply upsetting. Her writing towards the end about how what she went through is what a lot of powerful men want for US women seems both straighforwardly correct and messy and unconvinced of itself, as is probably unavoidable when someone is writing about something that they are still working through.
Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky - This one is about a robot searching for purpose at the end of the world. It's a little bit Asimov and a little bit Murderbot, and was only okay. The good thing about Tchaikovsky is that he is so prolific that if you don't like one then another one will be along in a minute.
Lady Eve's Last Con by Rebecca Fraimow - This is a queer heist novel in space. I say again this is a QUEER HEIST NOVEL IN SPACE. An early contender for favourite book of the year, I think.
Mammoths at the Gate by Nghi Vo - The Singing Hills series of novellas is an absolute delight. This is probably my least favourite so far, only because I like it more when Cleric Chih is collecting stories rather than starring in them. But this is such a good series that 'weakest one' is still damn good.
The Secret History of Bigfoot: Field Notes on a North American Monster by John O'Connor - I enjoyed this so much more than I expected. Like, I think Bigfoot is silly, which is silly of me because I believe there is a dinosaur in Loch Ness. Well, not necessarily a dinosaur, but I do think there's something more than a lost family of seals down there. The author shows so much compassion and fondness for Bigfoot hunters while never missing a chance to get a dig in at Trump so we don't forget whose side he is on. Contains lengthy diversions on the psychological underpinnings of conspiracy theories as well as the hunt for the Ivory Billed Woodpecker.
It actually got me thinking about this theory of mine that I've been noodling on since I lost people down a couple of really ugly rabbit holes, which is that prior to the internet age we all had people in our lives who believed in, like, the Beast of Bodmin Moor or that the moon landing was fake. A bit weird sure, but basically harmless. But now the internet drives them further and further till they end up at fucking Q, blood libel shit.
Games
Star Wars: Outlaws and Dragon Age: The Veilguard - both games I played to credits, both games that left no lasting impression beyond big 'best game of 2017' vibes.
I feel like I'm spinning my wheels with games until Ghost of Yotei comes out. Sony really shat the bed with their doomed push into live service games, didn't they? It's always funny when a giant corporation fucks up in a way so obvious that even I - an idiot - could have told them exactly what was going to happen.
Movies
Wicked - I know nothing about Wicked. I hadn't seen the stage show or heard any of the songs. I think I read the book forever ago, maybe. So from my position of zero knowledge I shall just say this - this was delightful and Galinda and Elphaba should fuck it out.
65 - Okay, hear me out, I think there was too much Adam Driver and not enough dinosaurs in the Adam Driver dinosaur movie.
Hundreds of Beavers - Look, we're all having a rough go of it, and I'm not saying this delightful black and white slapstick comedy will make you feel better, what I am saying is at this point anything short of decanting absinth directly into your eyeballs has got to be worth a try.
Abigail - Recently I expressed an interest in a genre I call Horror for Babies (rated 15 max, basically) and this was recommended to me on the grounds that it was the same people who made Ready or Not, and while not as good as that one, this one about a bunch of crooks who kidnap a tween ballerina who turns out to be a vampire was very good indeed.
Telly
Creature Commandos - One of those delightful animated shows that could never have worked in live action, making the Bride of Frankenstein (voiced by Indira Varma, no less) the main character was an A+ choice, and I have been listening to the soundtrack on Spotify all week.
Superhero fatigue is real, but as soon as they announced that they were putting James Gunn in charge of DC I was like a baby making grabby hands at the keys someone was jangling in front of me.
Star Wars: Skelton Crew - Okay, this was a FUCKING DELIGHT. Best Star Wars thing since, jeepers, Andor. If you skipped it, which I nearly did, I cannot recommend it highly enough. It's a bit The Goonies, a bit E.T, and a lot what Star Wars felt like when you were nine.
I did notice that, unusually for a Star Wars thing, there wasn't a lot of conversation online about it. I do wonder if that's because the YouTube chucklefucks just didn't watch it, or because they know that being seen publicly bullying literal children would reveal their schtick for the ugly grift it really is.