Oh, what a lovely album...maybe I'm partial to the jam band as a fellow who grew up listening to the Allman Brothers and Grand Funk Railroad vicariously through my father, but this record really had the jam band vibe and I think it works very well. There's a softness to it that relaxes me, but the focus on instrumentation and especially guitar/strings and drums is just so classic. This being only the second album Wings put out is both impressive and unsurprising--I feel like that softness it has harkens back to Paul's work with the Beatles; if not being Beatles-influenced, maybe it would be more accurate to say this record showed me how much the softness of certain Beatles songs was a direct result of Paul's creative influence and direction.

My favorite song by far is "Little Lamb Dragonfly," which I heard on its own prior to listening to the album; I think it's a fairly good representation of Red Rose Speedway as a whole. It's a very whimsical song that contains a measure of solemnity about it--in some ways, it reminds me of the Grateful Dead's "Box of Rain." It also reminds me of one of my OCs (Malik, if you were wondering), which goes a long way to endear me to any piece of media admittedly XD

Another standout is of course "Live and Let Die," which I was also familiar with beforehand because of Paul McCartney's dedication to blowing himself up during performances of the song. That, and of course it's a Bond theme, which I'm historically fond of.

Last note I'd like to make is that the song "Single Pigeon" does something funny to my heart (positive).

I should probably wait to write about this until we finish the whole season... Just know that Hikaru is my son and frankly so is Yoshiki. Visually stunning show. Highly effective use of 3-D models for maximum uncanny valley on spooky entities, as well as short sections which seem to be live-action footage. Yoshiki's grief and his back-and-forth with his acceptance of the 'new' Hikaru and the death of the real Hikaru feels very realistic and undeniably, justifiably heavy. Even so there are moments of humor, moments of happiness, and instances of human(?) connection. I will always be entranced by the 'small town with a terrible secret' concept. I'm at the edge of my seat waiting for the other shoe to drop and for something to go horribly wrong, but even despite (and because of) that anxiety, I am enjoying the experience of watching the show immensely!!!

I finished the main story of this game during my holiday vacation from work. You can see screenshots and my team by visiting my game diary. I had a lot of fun with this, and enjoyed it as much if not more than Legends Arceus. It does however, leave something to be desired when it comes to the plot, the character dynamics, and in meaningful conflicts between the main cast. Maybe I'm too used to the conceit of 'evil organizations' (a concept so ubiquitous to the Pokemon franchise that it has its own Bulbapedia page), but it felt like this game didn't have a clear antagonist and it bugged me. Characters were, at best, obstacles for one another--only to come together afterwards and sort out their differences without much fuss, brought together by common interests that felt a little too shallow and unexplored (their love of the city, of Pokemon, etc.) Saying it like this makes me sound like a cynic, but its just how I honestly felt. One could argue that a conflict doesn't always have to be interpersonal; to use literary terms, a plot's driving conflict could be character vs nature or character vs technology. This doesn't really capture it either, because it feels that no matter what there's punches being pulled. Some level of sincerity is missing. While I love a nuanced take on an villain team, I struggled with the kid gloves that the narrative used for the Rust Syndicate. If you're going to make them a gang, make them a gang! That might be a bit nitpicky on my part--and I admit I do still love them conceptually. Other aspects feel shallow too, though, most glaring to me being Urbain/Taunie's motivations for being in Lumiose. They say they're in the city looking for someone, and that someone is heavily implied to be their mother, but the story is not resolved by the end of the main game. When someone suggests Urbain/Taunie use their winning 'wish' from the Z-A Tournament to find their person, they turn it down. Like wh. Huh? If that was me you bet your ass I'd be using all available resources. It doesn't feel like this is them letting go of that ambition either, it moreso comes across that it was never that big of a deal to them to begin with...

Maybe I'm being a hater. But I actually love this game, and god knows I've played it more than I've played Scarlet and Violet. If you really want to see me be a hater, it would be about those games. But there's a lot to love about Legends Z-A; I think that Nintendo's insistence on playing it safe and soft with the Pokemon franchise just rubs me the wrong way. As a huge fan of Pokemon Black and White, I feel like the depth of story and nuance to the characters and their ideals are much deeper there, and its frustrating because...we know they can do it! They can create compelling stories! I also wonder sometimes if what modern Pokemon games are lacking is the pixel art style. Not just aesthetically, as a stylistic choice, but perhaps the pixel art style afforded some grace to the series' storytelling? In the way I could fill in the blanks myself when it comes to the characters' expressions, for example. Almost more akin to reading a book. It's a small thing, and they've paid much more attention to detail with the human's facial expressions since Pokemon X and Y for example, but I get this really hollow feeling from the 3-D models when it comes to the series' human characters. Not always, but very often.

I LOVE the customization options here. All the colors available for the hair and the combinations you can do with the balayage or blocking are so fun, and I'm a real sucker for dressing up my blorbos in fun outfits--ESPECIALLY when they can match my Pokemon. I've seen so many creative (and silly) fits on trainers while playing online. It's something I was definitely missing ever since Sword and Shield, and I think is even an improvement upon that game's customizable hair and clothing.

Gameplay-wise, I was a bit worried that the real-time combat and needing to sometimes quickly mash buttons would tire out my hands--and admittedly, it sometimes does, but one thing I can say about the Switch 2 is that it personally feels more ergonomic to hold, and it's even better playing on a TV screen with the Switch controller. Combat is very different however because of this real-time element--a lot of moves work differently because you are now thinking on three axes. For example, in a traditional Pokemon game--much like in a traditional turn-based RPG game--you are basically 'directly in front' of a Pokemon and there is no way to avoid an attack by moving (other than switching out Pokemon or using moves like 'Protect'). It is stationary in that way. As an example, in a traditional turn-based system if you use the move 'Future Sight' against an opponent's Gengar, and they did not use a move like protect right afterwards or withdraw their Pokemon and send out a different member of their team, Gengar would get hit on a subsequent turn. However in Legends Z-ZA, using Future Sight targets not the opposing Pokemon but more like the spot that they occupied when you selected the move initially. So if they move just slightly, their Pokemon will not take any damage. This does add a different sort of strategy to the game which isn't necessarily bad, just different. However my pet peeve is when one of my Pokemon is just TOO BIG to target the opponent with an attack, and it instead fires at nothing...it's just frustrating XD Ultimately, the Legends games provide a more reactive and conscious play style.

That comes down to personal preference; for my own accessibility, I will always prefer being able to fall back on the turn-based combat system of a more traditional RPG that is kinder on my hands (and can even be played with just my non-dominant hand, for example). But when I do have the itch for something more reactive, the Legends games can be a nice ease-in back to real-time gaming.

This is not a perfect movie. Historically, though, a piece of art does not have to be perfect (or in some cases, even great) in order for me to adore it. And honestly, I adored the experience of watching this movie. I think it's easy for folks to resent this film because it's not book accurate. Necessary cultural context here being that Mary Shelley's Frankenstein has never really had an adaptation that was true to the book. That is frustrating, don't get me wrong, but I did not go into this adaptation thinking it would be book accurate nor did the differences bother me.

I think there's more pressing things to critique the film on, such as the crude and heavy-handed manner in which the story tells us (not shows, tells us) that Victor Frankenstein is the true monster. It's extremely obvious that he has internalized and is reenacting his abusive father's traits upon his creation, thus making him the thing he detested most and the thing that he believes killed the (in his perception) unambiguous goodness that was his mother. The film however hits us over the head with this concept, most flagrantly with a direct quote from Victor's brother William: "You are the monster." The film does not trust the audience to 'get it'.

A lot can be said (and has been said) in this modern age about the general public's media literacy. I'd like to believe that even if lacking the ability to articulate whya media's themes are a certain way, an audience member would still be able to recognize Victor's monstrosity here. Up to a point, it's impossible to view the Creature's actions as anything but sympathetic. His only beef is with Victor, and anyone else who is hurt as a result of the creature is actually hurt, literally or by circumstance, by Victor.

Even so, it is very cathartic and vindicating to know just how justified our sympathy for the creature is. In Victor we feel the echoes of parental negligence, outright verbal and physical abuse, and the immense pressure put upon their 'creation.' Even that word, 'creation', or 'creature', that idea of total possession and control over another person. I made you and I took care of you, therefore I am owed. A completely selfish viewpoint of parenthood that I believe is becoming less and less common, but still happens. And that generational trauma (as we saw with Victor's introductory monologue about his family) can send violent ripples down a whole bloodline.

Visually, this movie was stunning to look at. I'm a sucker for elaborate and colorful costuming, sets, and lighting, and of that we had plenty.

There are the shapes of concepts that I noticed but ultimately felt unexplored, perhaps not purposeful or conscious on the film's part? But they still turn over in my mind all the same. The main one being the issue of colorism and its effects on one's standing in society, particularly in a Victorian=era setting. A line I noted early on in the film was Victor discussing his father's innate dislike of Victor's features and how they resembled his mother's. The exact quote being, "The man despised us both. Our raven black hair, our deep, dark eyes. Even our quiet, at times nervous disposition seemed to exasperate him to no end."

The note of appearance there caught my attention. This script having been penned by the director, Mexican filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro, who went on to cast Latino actor Oscar Isaac as Victor...it makes the mention of dark hair and eyes feel heavy, especially in contrast to William Frankenstein's blonde hair and sunny disposition, and how their father obviously favored him. I could be reaching, of course, as it's not directly touched upon again, but if it had been me, I would have ran with it a little more. Maybe Victor's rejection of the creature could have played better if it came across like a parent seeing something in their child they've been discriminated or chastised for, as a matter of projection. I suppose you could still interpret it this way...I'm rambling at this point.

I think you have to meet this story where it is, and in a way it reminds me of Twin Peaks; the soap-opera nature of Twin Peaks can be jarring, or even silly at times, but once you fully invest yourself you feel the intensity of emotion that resides there.

I have more thoughts, maybe I will write some more on the topic another time. But ultimately, sometimes it is enough to see Oscar Isaac in Victorian outfits for 3 hours.

images i think of when i want to be emotionally devastated

I didn't know anything about this game going in, and was very pleasantly surprised by it. My first impression of our main character Robert was that he was edgy, and it was giving me a very The Boys sort of vibe; I think Aaron Paul's gritty voice contributed to that feeling. But very quickly I realized that Robert was a very fun character, and I appreciated his flat humor and the depth they gave him, both inherently and the depth that comes with the choices you make for Robert. While I didn't technically play this game in that I didn't pilot the controls myself (my husband piloted and we together we made choices on the dialogue options and who to send on missions), I find this style of gameplay very accessible. It's a little more puzzle or board-game like, and is perfect for the role of 'dispatcher'. Something like a real-time combat system wouldn't have worked. There are timers and time limits, of course, but they don't depend on super precise input; its more point and click than anything. And the rest of the gameplay, besides the hacking sequences, is all about visual novel-esque dialogue choices. These are also all timed (if I remember correctly?) in the style of quick-time dialogue options, and I do feel like our choices made a difference. I felt that our choices led us to the ending I wanted most, like, my ideal ending. We even won over Sonar after the finale, after having cut him from the team early on and causing him to heel turn on us!! Also very satisfying to be able to kill Shroud. I long for more games like this, though I don't think I want any more Dispatch...like, I don't want any sequels with these characters necessarily. I think all the main character's arcs were neatly and satisfyingly resolved with this ending and I think sequel content would disappoint me; it would also be hard to account for the different choices players can make (Viconia DeVir from Baldur's Gate 1 reappearing as an explicit villain in later installments of the series despite the ability to change her alignment in the first game comes to mind). All in all this was SUCH a fun playthrough, especially to experience with another person. Highly recommend playing with a friend or watching someone stream it!

I really vibed with this album! This is one of those situations where I have been familiar with an artist and wanted to finally take the extra step to experience their work and feel the type of cultural impact they made on music. I've been interested in listening to more music specifically from Chaka Khan, who is the lead vocalist on this album and collaborated with Rufus throughout the 1970's. Chaka Khan's fame and talent may have grown to overshadow Rufus' legacy as a band (and not without good reason; Chaka Khan's voice and performance is incredible), but I can feel such a cohesion of instrumentation on this that you more than have to give the band their flowers. It's interesting to listen to this album, and I want to go back and listen to Rufus' albums in order, because this album and its production is so rich, cohesive, and full; the vocals so mature and fluid, every song enjoyable. I wouldn't have known there was such strife between the band members during the making of this album; the product is nothing short of a perfect front to back listen. I covet albums that I can deem 'no-skip albums'--that is, when you don't wanna skip any songs on the album in a subsequent listen. Definitely hits the mark there.

I watched this movie with a close friend and enjoyed it quite a lot! The character designs are probably my favorite part. However, it did feel a bit like there was more to this story than the runtime could comfortably allow. Ultimately it seems that the plot/story was too ambitious; maybe it would have had more room to breathe had it been a mini-series (a la Over the Garden Wall) rather than a movie? Even so, it has a style all its own and worldbuilding I found fascinating; I can see myself putting it on again for a future Halloween movie night.

We're in an era of remakes, sequels and continuations of stories that were long thought dormant (the Shugo Chara! sequel manga, Shugo Chara Jewel Joker comes to mind, as does the Lucky Star spinoff about Konata in her thirties, the Death Note sequel oneshot, Inuyasha's sequel Yashahime, etc.) This one, however, was LONG awaited. The original PASWG anime from 2010 ended on a bombshell cliffhanger--then, nothing for 15 years. I'm happy to say that New Panty & Stocking delivered. This was especially noticeable after rewatching the original series, but I feel that the sequel series/'season 2' of PASWG is how I remembered the original series to be in a lot of ways. It has that same spirit, although a little softer, a little less rough around the edges; a little less mean-spirited but still outrageous and crass. WAY less grossout humor (significantly less shit and puke, thank god), higher quality animation and higher budget, more amazing music, fun outfits and character designs, and a top-tier English dub. I'm not in the habit of watching many English dubs these days, but the new cast did a wonderful job. Panty and Stocking is interesting to me as an example of cyclical influence (for lack of a better term). It's an anime that is inspired by Western animation, and some of those very works of Western animation were already inspired by anime (Powerpuff Girls is the big one). I dunno, it's just a fun little cultural exchange. I looked forward to new episodes every Wednesday during the late summer/early fall, and that's a feeling I hadn't even realized I'd been missing.

A read that was at once both joyful and haunting. I might never recover from the line, "life is too short and love is too long.” Muir kept me guessing until nearly the final act about who Nona really was and what the situation was. The realization of it was horrifying, not only for Nona but for the reader (or at least for me.) But even so, the transience, the impermanence of something doesn't take away it's realness, it's truth. As Paul says, "it’s finished, it’s done. You can’t take loved away."

Muir, please release Alecto the Ninth soon...!

Easily my favorite book in the series; this one solidified Harrow as my precious little blorbo.

Muir's magic system (for lack of a better term) with necromancy is incredible to me, and its on full display for the prodigal Harrowhark. Muir's command of narration and our perception of reality is very impressive. The first note I made upon beginning this book was literally about the second-person narration; I thought it was a product of Harrow's distance from herself and a consequence of dissociation. Turns out I was projecting, and the second-person POV was more literal than that! But I love the way Muir is able to capitalize fully on the medium of the written word; it's one of the reasons I struggle to imagine Gideon the Ninth being adapted to a visual medium. The first book in particular makes significant use of Gideon's POV to obscure and obsfucate details of the trials and the mystery from us, because Gideon doesn't really know that much about necromancy and couldn't be fucked to care for a good part of the book. That's part of what makes Harrow as a sequel so illuminating; laid before us is all that we weren't seeing.

I also love that rather than Harrow being either just schizophrenic and not experiencing anything supernatural, or Harrow mistaking the supernatural for hallucinations, it's actually both.

Huge contender for most soul-crushing line in this book: "Harrowhark, I gave you my whole life and you didn't even want it."

In conclusion, Harrowhark Nonagesimus has suffered more than Jesus on the cross and I need to protect her

Laufey is so damn talented. Funnily enough, my first exposure to her as an artist came after my husband and I watched a streamer sing a cover of 'Let You Break My Heart Again,' and I was so captivated by the lyrics' sincerity and sorrow that I had to listen to the original. I was captivated as well by the sweeping musical-theater tone that the Philharmonic Orchestra's performance lended to the track. There's something very classic to Laufey's music, and to me she quickly became synonymous with Bossa Nova. Bossa Nova as a genre has been underutilized in contemporary music in my opinion, at least in popular Western music, so it's refreshing.

It's clear that Laufey's first two albums have their focus set on that blend of Bossa Nova, classical, and jazz pop music. This album includes a robust cast of various instruments both classical and jazzy in nature, this time also accompanied by the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. It seems though that with A Matter of Time Laufey sought to put more individuality and lyrical truth into her work. This album is a very peaceful and enjoyable listen from start to finish, and is unmistakably Laufey. I think it's a testament to her clarity of vision that she has such a recognizable feeling to her music. It's amazing to me that her earliest work (at least on Spotify) is only from 2020. In a short five years she has refined her sound and accomplished so much.

While her third single off the album, Lover Girl, is extremely cute and very 'classic' Laufey, my favorite single off the album is 'Tough Luck.' It's harsher in tone than her previous lyrics have been, with the Wikipedia page for the single going so far as to note the single "explicit lyric" as a departure from her usual style. But it's true, it's not jarring exactly but, being familiar with her previous work, did surprise me. But it was a pleasant surprise!

I love Demon Slayer, but this was a rather weak arc. This was to be expected, with it even straight up being officially named the "Hashira Training Arc", but I think it is most egregious seeing how little happened until the final, very epic sequence at the end. Kagaya Ubuyashiki you will always be famous.

I think this arc also annoyed me because it showed one of my least favorite aspects of the Shonen genre: female characters being two-dimensional, flat characters at best. It may seem like a small detail, but none of the background slayers in the training camps were women. None of them. And Mitsuri's training camp was used only as a quick gag. It's simply disappointing to see from a series that I really love. It seems in many ways we haven't gotten that much better than the days of Naruto and Bleach.

That being said, I will be sat and seated for the Demon Slayer Infinity Castle movie...when it's online, that is.

This is the sequel to 'The Darkness Outside Us', a book I really loved with a story that pleasantly surprised me. However...I think perhaps it was a book that worked better as a standalone.

From the start, I did really care about Kodiak and Ambrose's children, Yarrow and Owl, and what a struggle it would be for a child growing up with no peers but your sibling and no other humans but your family. I could have potentially enjoyed the dual timeline that shows what the original K+A did after their clones were launched on their mission, but it felt like a bit of a slog trying to get through Ambrose’s discovery of the truth and everything with Devon Mujaba.. I was sitting there like, my god do I not care about Devon. Also, narration from an Ambrose without his sort of ego-death and character development from the first book is quite hard to read, it reminded me of how I rolled my eyes at his original narration in the very beginnings of the first book. It makes sense, of course, and it's exactly what the original Amrbose would be like...it just grated on me.

I understand that Devon was the critical piece here in having Ambrose and Kodiak meet before the earth is ravaged by nuclear war, which felt like a nice nod to all the doomed K+A pairs who fell in love but ultimately died in space. And of course I can’t deny the appeal of two characters loving each other in every lifetime. And I recognize that Devon was also the cause of the family’s hardship in Minerva, therefore the books driving plot——Yarrow’s violent snap——but even that all felt cheap. What do I mean by that? It feels like it cheapened the hopefulness at the end of the first book, and even though the solution that original flavor Kodiak and Ambrose came up with together to send to their future clones was a nice thought it felt …unearned? Somehow? Like, too easy.

I really thought that Yarrow's sudden change in demeanor and his intrusive thoughts were stemming from a burgeoning personality disorder or mental illness, and frankly I think that would have been more interesting. That the issue here is another thing done to them by political forces outside their own control is one thing, but as I said, the resolution feels unearned. I think all in all, the first book is just a tighter story.

I'm not a huge Fantastic Four fan--I've yet to really read any FF comics--but I was really excited for this movie! That's why the sort of...emptiness of it was disappointing. For having four main characters who are supposed to be super improtant to each other, the film didn't demonstrate their interpersonal dynamics very well. I think this was partially the fault of direction, as I know that these actors have been good in other projects, but there was something lifeless and kind of uncanny to their performances here. Also, for what it's worth--as again, someone lackign the intimate knowledge of a FF, but who is still familiar with them and who has seen them in plenty of Marvel crossover comics and guest appearances--Reed Richards didn't feel like Reed Richards. Like it felt like he should have been a little more quirky, eccentric professor type, but maybe I'm nitpicking and this is just me wanting more life in the movie any way we could get it. Are Fantastic Four movie adaptations simply cursed at this point?

During the post-credits scene my only thought was 'if I went into the kitchen and came back to see Dr. Doom hanging out with my baby I would really start tweaking'

I picked this book up from a local bookstore on a whim one summer day, and late in July finally sat down to read it in earnest. Having skimmed the little blurb on the back, all I knew was that it was a gay sci-fi love story. I thought to myself, 'oh that sounds cute. I like sci-fi, I like a good tale of star-crossed (pun intended I guess) gay romance, I'll pick it up and maybe it'll be a nice little read.' A NICE LITTLE READ?? I thought the most I would have to worry about was opposing worldviews from these protagonists, being that they're two young men from warring countries, and the isolation of being the only two humans on the ship driving them together. But the US-Russia level Cold War tensions here are the least of our worries. The survival-aspect of this plot is not to be dismissed; the situation is dire. But the realization of what is really happening to our protagonists is the main delight here, I'm almost reluctant to reveal it here. I'm honestly a little glad to have been expecting something fluffy and YA in nature, because that assumption made the reality all the more poignant.

But I should stop burying the lead. We are told the year is 2472, and that the earth's two remaining nations, Fédération and Dimokratía, have set aside their differences for a joint mission to rescue the first outer space settler, Minerva Cusk. The Fédération sends our narrator, Ambrose Cusk, a rich kid with mommy issues who happens to be Minerva's little brother. This makes the mission all the more personal to him. Dimokratía sends the other half of our pair, the seemingly closed off Kodiak Celius. They end up having to work together not only to keep the ship operational, but to sus out what their spacecraft's OS (menacing AI system, this time outfitted to look and sound just like Ambrose's mother) is trying to obscure from them. When things started coming together I almost mistook this for a time-loop plot, but that's not quite it. Instead, Kodiak and Amrbose discover that there is no rescue mission, not for Minerva. Realizing the earth was becoming uninhabitable, the Fédération and the nation of Dimokratía sent Ambrose and Kodiak into space with a number of their clones. Dozens(?) of pairs of Ambrose and Kodiak in a deep freeze on a long, long journey, on the order of thousands of years, only awoken when the ship requires maintenance, each newly awakened clone none the wiser...until Ambrose and Kodiak begin finding ways to leave clues and messages for their next set. It's beautiful and heartbreaking (and interesting in that same time-loop way) to see each of the A+K pairs we're shown handles the situation. I was particularly devastated by the Kodiak that had a violent breakdown to the revelations, and even more so to the Kodiak that died of radiation poisoning to keep their ship going. He and Ambrose are fully in love with each other at that point, and I believe that iteration of Ambrose kills himself not too long after Kodiak passes away.

Eventually, Kodiak and Ambrose turn to an extreme solution: they murder all of their remaining clones in order to stop the OS from marking them as expendable, and to give them a chance at a somewhat comfortable and fulfilling life.

The ending, with the final pair of clones that made it, felt rather hopeful. As hopeful as a situation can be wherein you and your partner are the last living human beings in the Universe, at least. It's also revealed they have been tasked with 3-D printing children to start up a civilization in this brand new world, and I believe the book leaves off with them setting up the machine to start the process.

I just love this book's premise so much. It exemplifies a lot of what I love about the sci-fi genre as a whole, the big "what if" questions that can be asked. The sci-fi setting also lends itself well to the books theme of the human need for intimacy. It's very literally these two young men against the world. Trying to make meaning for your life is also a huge theme--Ambrose and Kodiak are continuously misled and lied to about their mission, making the severity of their realization (that everyone they knew and cared for on earth is long dead, that the nations and societal structures and concepts they believed in are gone) incredibly existential. I've heard folks say that the ending of the book felt a bit rushed, and I think I'd have to reread it to see if I agree; but a big part of what made this book was so enjoyable to me was its open-ended resolution. They made it to their destination, and the new meaning they've found was hard fought; I think leaving things to the imagination after that makes it more powerful. I'd definitely recommend The Darkness Outside Us to a friend, but I do think going in spoiler free is the very best way to experience it.

This book does have a sequel, but...it's better as a standalone story in my opinion. I talk about that later in this review section with Schrefer's The Brightness Between Us.