november/december scrapbook

[latespring]

Happy scorpio season to me! November's wrap up got delayed because of finals, so I've decided to put both of these months together. I didn't consume much media in December, most of it was spent trying to recover from Fall quarter--baking and cooking, hanging out with my parents, reminding myself what life is like without crushing deadlines.

Movies

Battle Royale (2000) ★★★★☆
Watched this with Kita, Jacks, and Rye! We watched it after Maverick came out, and Jacks and Kita helped explain the plot, so it was relatively easy to follow. I didn't quite get punched by the ending, but I think it was a really solid movie over all. Here is a link to the wikipedia summary. You can definitely see how this movie influenced other similar concepts that came after it.

Moonlight (2016) ★★★★★
Follows the story of a young boy from childhood to adulthood, and the people and loves who shaped him. Really really good.

tik tik BOOM (2021) ★★★☆☆
UH. Fun music, don't think too hard about anything else. Watched it with Almay and really enjoyed talking with her about its approach to art and the lone artist trope.

Books

Sweating Out the Winter by David Young ★★★☆☆
A book of poetry! It was nothing special, but there were some lyrical parts to it I liked reading.

TV

Squid Game (2021) ★★★★★
I'm pretty sure everyone knows about this show, but just in case here is the wikipedia for the show. It was really well executed, and I don't have much to say about it.

Blue Period ★★★★★
I liked this show so much! I think there might be a second season later?

Here's a synopsis adapted from myanimelist:

Second-year high school student Yatora Yaguchi is a delinquent with excellent grades, but is unmotivated to find his true calling in life. Yatora spends his days working hard to maintain his academic standing while hanging out with his equally unambitious friends. However, beneath his carefree demeanor, Yatora does not enjoy either activity and wishes he could find something more fulfilling.

After suddenly discovering joy in art, Yatora begins a journey to apply to the Tokyo University of the Arts, a highly competitive program. He faces talented peers, a lack of understanding of the fine arts, and struggles to obtain his parents’ approval, all the while working on how to express himself through art.

I think part of the reason I really loved this show was its approach to art. Having Yatora start late is a really great choice on the writer's part. Some of the quotes from it really stuck with me when thinking about my own relationship to art, especially in college.

"My real ability only consists of what I can actually do when it counts."
"Doing things I like doesn't always mean I'm having fun."

Arcane (2021) ★★★★★
This is the league of legends show? It's animated really well, and I enjoyed watching it (with my best friend) a lot!! Reasons I enjoyed it: 50% my friend telling me "that's a DILF" every time Vander was on screen, 30% plot and visuals, 20% soundtrack.

MISC

Do You Have a Place For Me by Roxanne Gay
Short story that I read for a cnf class. I really liked the future tense of it!

The Last Thing by Auber_Gine_Dreams
Leesa gifted this to me and when I tell you I screamed! There are no words for how this universe makes me feel.

It isn't something I read instead something I wrote, but half of my December was just watching and reading things for this boyz primer.

In Progress

Honestly I lost track of things I was watching/reading, but the list from October still mostly applies.

October In Progress:

Blue Period (2021) finished
Vincenzo (2021), up to ep 10
Word of Honor (2021), up to ep 19ish?
Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado, 3/8 through as of January I finished this
Sweat Out the Winter by David P Young, 1/8 through finished
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley P Chan, 1/4 through
Squid Game (2021), up to ep 3 finished
Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers, 1/3 through
HomeTown Cha Cha Cha (2021), pausing this, halfway through ep 1
Sourdough by Robin Sloan, 1/3 through
Folklorn by Angela Mi Young Hur, still at the beginning
The Collapsing Empire (The Interdependency #1) by John Scalzi, like a 1/3 through this but I haven't picked it up in a month because I got bored dropped this
The Devourers by Indra Das, been trying to read this for AGES, keep getting distracted 3 chapters in.
H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald, 1/2 through, also kind of got bored. the writing is pretty though! Haven't touched this in a while.

Poetry

Two months gets a little long, so I've put this behind a cut!

nov/dec poem-a-day favorites

Let There Be by Manny Loley
A good poem
is summer
my nephew said
mirage rising
from corn fields
midday
pollen on our tongues
each syllable
flecked with sunbeams

Tower of Babel by Orlando Ricardo Menes

Safe Harbor in Enemy Homes by Rasha Abdulhadi

Jellyfish Olympics by Cristina M. R. Norcross

On Working Remotely & No Longer Commuting with Chronic Pain by Camisha L. Jones
the train leaves the station without me / so does the bus / the sidewalks stay empty of my steps—the rushed ones, the ones pierced with pain, the its-too-late-at-night to still be walking ones / i keep my cash / it doesn’t load my metro card and then another card when the first one’s lost

Changing Is Not Vanishing by Carlos Montezuma

what we learn in time of pestilence by Wendy Vardaman

Anne by CMarie Fuhrman

Self-Compassion by James Crews
My friend and I snickered the first time
we heard the meditation teacher, a grown man,
call himself honey, with a hand placed
over his heart to illustrate how we too
might become more gentle with ourselves
and our runaway minds. It’s been years
since we sat with legs twisted on cushions,
holding back our laughter, but today
I found myself crouched on the floor again,
not meditating exactly, just agreeing
to be still, saying honey to myself each time
I thought about my husband splayed
on the couch with aching joints and fever

The White-headed Woodpecker by Sean Hill

The Lost Lagoon by Emily Pauline Johnson

It would be water by Kathy Engel

Tawkwaymenahnah by Denise Lajimodiere
In the dead of winter, she would soak
the dried patties overnight,
then fry them in bacon grease,
add flour and sugar,
the small shack filling with a tangy
sweet scent, and summer
flooded my every pore.

no more grandma poems by Yolanda Wisher
but i said
the grandmas are
our first poetic forms
the first haiku
was a grandma

When your son abandons the lawnmower for the second time in as many days by Peter Grandbois

In the Event Of by Shane McCrae

Fog by Ruth Madievsky

from “The Book of Absence” by Alireza Roshan, translated by Erfan Mojib and Gary Gach
As the seasons change
the plums
are replaced by persimmons
longing
by
longing

from “The Trees Witness Everything” by Victoria Chang

Big Clock by Li-Young Lee

Meditation in the Open-Air Garage by Carol Moldaw

Trap Music by David Tomas Martinez

何日/What Day by Paisley Rekdal

Vespers by Meg Day

Oh! by Luis Muñoz, translated by Garth Greenwell and Idra Novey

Root Systems by Kay Ulanday Barrett

Vaccinated by Jericho Brown

Weather Forecast by Adélia Prado, translated by Ellen Doré Watson

Memorial Hoops by Reginald Dwayne Betts

*Venus de Milo: On Being Rediscovered by Karen Head

Farewell by Federico García Lorca, translated by Jenny Minniti-Shippey

Music

November
SCROBBLES: 3,961 ▲

SCROBBLES PER DAY: 127 ▲

Artists:

1. THE BOYZ - 404
2. Stray Kids - 276
3. TWICE - 174
4. PVRIS - 142
5. Seventeen - 136
6. YONAKA - 84
7. 阿雲嘎 (Ayanga) - 80
8. Hozier - 71
9. Nova Twins - 65
10. Mothica - 61

Albums:

1. THE BOYZ 3rd Single Album [MAVERICK] by THE BOYZ - 245
2. NOEASY by Stray Kids - 213
3. Formula of Love: O+T=<3 by TWICE - 132
4. Use Me (Deluxe) by PVRIS - 83
5. Seize the Power by Yonaka - 83
6. THE BOYZ 1ST ALBUM [REVEAL] by THE BOYZ - 69
7. SEVENTEEN 9th Mini Album 'Attacca' by Seventeen - 65
8. Antagonist by Nova Twins - 63
9. Wasteland, Baby! by Hozier - 62
10. forever fifteen by Mothica - 57

Songs:

1. DOMINO by Stray Kids - 89
2. MAVERICK by THE BOYZ - 89
3. Hypnotized by THE BOYZ - 80
4. Russian Roulette by THE BOYZ - 76
5. Seize the Power by Yonaka - 76
6. Salty by THE BOYZ - 69
7. Antagonist by Nova Twins - 63
8. Gimme a Minute by PVRIS - 61
9. buzzkill by Mothica - 57
10. Sacrificial by Rezz - 57

December
SCROBBLES: 3,494 ▼

SCROBBLES PER DAY: 112 ▼

Artists:

1. THE BOYZ - 255
2. Stray Kids - 250
3. Rina Sawayama - 180
4. Mitski - 142
5. Weyes Blood - 117
6. TAEMIN - 91
7. Cody Fry - 90
8. ONF - 82
9. Noah Kahan - 63
10. SHINee - 60

Albums:

1. SAWAYAMA by Rina Sawayama - 177
2. NOEASY by Stray Kids - 146
3. Come From Away (Original Broadway Cast Recording) by ‘Come From Away’ Original Broadway Cast - 99
4. Titanic Rising by Weyes Blood - 99
5. Christmas EveL by Stray Kids - 97
6. Pictures of Mountains by Cody Fry - 78
7. 6TH MINI ALBUM [Goosebumps] by ONF - 66
8. Arcane League of Legends (Soundtrack from the Animated Series) by Arcane - 61
9. Everybody's Gone to the Rapture (Original Soundtrack) by Jessica Curry - 55
10. Universe - The 3rd Album by NCT - 54

Songs:

1. Silent Cry by Stray Kids - 73
2. Winter Falls by Stray Kids - 64
3. Snakeskin by Rina Sawayama - 51
4. Godlight by Noah Kahan - 50
5. Goosebumps by ONF - 46
6. The End of Love by Florence + the Machine - 40
7. Christmas EveL by Stray Kids - 33
8. Working for the Knife by Mitski - 27
9. Hello Future by NCT DREAM - 27
10. Impressionable by TAEMIN - 27

Comments

[poppyseedheart]

love love love this! i also listened to a hell of a lot of winter falls in december——perfect vibes for the season. and i'm so excited to dive into some of these poems! <3

[latespring]

it was so perfectly winter! I really loved the music video when it came out, it was stunning. if you have any thoughts on the poems I'd love to hear them!!

[sunwalkr]

this was so cool! i really liked seeing ur scrobbles - & sawayama is something i dove back to w listening as well - stats for the months of nov and dec, i might just also have to start doing that too (media roundup does get bulky for me, but this is manageable). blue period looks rly so interesting, i’ll have to check it out!!

[latespring]

ahhhh I'd love to know any thoughts you have about it!! I didn't expect to like blue period as much as I did but a lot of it was surprisingly heartfelt? it was a warm show. and eeeee if you do, I'd love to read them!! I listened to Sawayama a lot driving back from college and during finals week, it was so nice

also I made myself a rough spreadsheet to do the scrobble stats for me (so it's just copy pasting into a sheet instead of fixing everything into a list) so if you'd like a link! doing it manually was a lot!!

[sunwalkr]

will do!! i have found myself w a lot of time now so i’m going to sit down & get throught a couple episodes this weekend :)) ooo yes that spreadsheet sounds so helpful!!! i’d love to see it

[latespring]

oh yay!!

and here's the link to the spreadsheet I use, I'm crossing my fingers it works! https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dQx7hQTVm0ltByF_WB9tc9CUj0DMb-MjrA4bcWNbwsQ/edit?usp=sharing

[hwarium]

I love blue period! I read the manga so will only talk up to the exam - the way it tackles university and art school and art in society is *__* so transferrable to any creative pursuit. It was one of those where I kept crying because I just felt seen - like the moment when he draws his blue picture and his friend was like 'oh that's like the shibuya morning you noticed the other day' and his heart just felt so full and I'm like!! I understand!! I SEE YOU!! (it's so similar to the feeling when you write fic and someone comments and notices what you were trying to do)

Taking a step back it's so crazy there's an anime about art school!! but it's so precious I will defend it. Who are your favourite characters and moments?

[latespring]

ahhhhhh!!! you've seen it too! or, well, read it! I also felt really seen by it. that moment exactly!!!

I think I'm predictable, so I really loved Yatora and Ryuji, but I was also taken with so many of the side characters! Yatora's friend who wanted to go to pastry school, and just sat with him, not some big gesture but you know [I'm making hand gestures you can't see here] friends!! chasing their dreams! I was so touched when he talked about how Yatora inspired him. Yotasuke's quiet genius, but also bitterness, the kind of "this is all I have" that still leans towards Yatora's earnestness. his teachers were both really wonderful too, both kind of different perspective mentors, but still encouraging him in ways he needed. and mori! I'm listing like half the cast by now but I really loved them all T_T

favorite moments... I think Yatora and Ryuji by the sea, and their whole episode together was my favorite emotional beat. Yatora learning to jump, and Ryuji always just a little surprised. the moment where they painted themselves made me want to hold my breath.

I really liked the moments when Yatora was reflecting on what art meant to him! the two quotes I pulled were from the second half of the entrance exam, and him thinking about his relationship with art and how his mother saw him. his particular sentiments really struck a bell with me!

any time when he just stopped and went "ah"--I'm thinking about when he saw mori's art in particular--I also really liked! and the moments where he thought about what art meant to him! ok ok stopping before I quote half this show back at you haha!

in a way the subject matter reminded me of "shirobako" one of my favorite anime! I'm not sure if you're familiar, but it's an anime about an anime production assistant, and it kind of deals with some of the same themes. it gets a little meta since it's an anime about making anime lol. they both have really genuine hearts, I feel? stories that really believe in art, and storytelling

[hwarium]

Yatora's friends are all so ;____; lovely. Even when they don't understand they support. There's a moment of self-awareness where they realise they're just getting by, but Yatora and the pasty friend are actually chasing dreams and that got reflected back to me. I just sat there like /huh/, have I gotten jaded. Yatora's such a wonderful protag because he's sensitive but he's also so eager to grow. Gosh, Yotasuke bursting at the seams yelling that he doesn't like art (and partly because it's dismissed as 'talent', something that even Yatora uses as praise without realising that it hurts ;___; that arc hurt me)

The seaside nudes ;________; unbelievably powerful, I cried then - I think there was a scene with Ryuji's family around then and knowing that he cross-dresses, that he carries armour, and then to see him naked and facing himself. Like a shot to the heart.

(yes, his mum holding the picture he drew of her at the kitchen. Or Yatora realising he understood how much work his mum does once he sat down to draw her ;_____; it's raining on my cheeks now)

HAHAHA I absolutely will quote the whole show at you play by play it's that special to me. My favourite character is Haruka!! Happy-go-lucky but actually serious type. His arc comes later when he and Yatora become part-timers at a children's art school and it ;_____; no words. It's kind of like that moment where something really important to you is actually a small piece of someone else's world, but you try to share why it means so much to you. Ah! words are failing me and this comment is getting now.

I'll look into Shirobako! I loved Bakuman but you sell a good rec!! "stories that believe in art and storytelling" <3

[latespring]

ahhhhh that exactly! Yatora's eagerness, the way he almost trips over himself sometimes. oh my gosh!!! I'll look forward to Haruka-time later! That sound really lovely

and if you ever end up picking up shirobako, I would love to hear your thoughts !!