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like a cicada
many years underground
i emerge and i die
Oh we're on Dreamwidth again?
Logged in for the first time in a little while and I am seeing posts here again! Hi y'all! I will try to catch up in your journals.
I will try to start using this again cause I like DW better than all other social media platforms, though I wish it was more mobile friendly so I could read from my phone in bed etc. Even Ctrl+ does not work great and won't increase the size of this time font I'm typing into right now. I wish Dreamwidth could get the look and feel of something like tumblr while still retaining its old school features. Just a bit of an update/reskin for HD monitors and phones, ya know?
I find Patreon hard to keep up with too, though. Part of it is having to log in too often maybe? Or the fact that there's not content every day so I can't just go and read? Or I've been trained to have trouble with long form writing? I donno.
I will try to start using this again cause I like DW better than all other social media platforms, though I wish it was more mobile friendly so I could read from my phone in bed etc. Even Ctrl+ does not work great and won't increase the size of this time font I'm typing into right now. I wish Dreamwidth could get the look and feel of something like tumblr while still retaining its old school features. Just a bit of an update/reskin for HD monitors and phones, ya know?
I find Patreon hard to keep up with too, though. Part of it is having to log in too often maybe? Or the fact that there's not content every day so I can't just go and read? Or I've been trained to have trouble with long form writing? I donno.
But I'm still here, still queer, still not really in a better place than I was. Everything changes except me?
I should probably add some icons here and such.
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Quarantine Meme
Quarantine Meme from ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
elinox.
elinox.1. Are you an Essential Worker? - I'm working from home for the first time ever, so I guess no if this means someone who has to still commute? I was the last person still commuting in my office but gave up just before it became mandatory. I detest working from home but it is what it is. I am fortunate to have a job, so not complaining.
2. How many drinks have you had since the quarantine started? - More than usual. I've been trying to support the local queer-owned brewery so I've bought a six pack every week or two which is more than usual for me. I had a fair amount for each of Mal Blum's online concerts which were amazing. Also while playing Guggenheim with my family. And it took two strong ones to get through Phantom of the Opera, holy hell.
3. If you have kids... Are they driving you nuts? - No kids, no pets. Just me. The only physical contact with another creature I've had in months is one dog who was friendly enough to jump up and kiss me and accept pets.
4. What new hobby have you taken up during this? - Tabletop roleplaying-games! It's actually an old hobby but given that all my regular social things are canceled or using zoom, ttrpgs have been a lifeline while meeting new people on various discords. I detest Zoom and any other teleconferencing but thankfully discord does not have video chat by default so everyone does voice chat rpgs there which is nice. Ttrpgs used to be a big part of my life but I vastly prefer in person and I've struggle to find a group lately. Now, however, I take what I can get. Just have to finish writing this new ghost-hunting Dread game so I can run it. But wow it has been wonderful creating so many new characters. If you want to hear about them, I'll post more. I feel like I've rediscovered a part of myself I had lost.
5. How many grocery runs have you done? - Two or three a week.
6. What are you spending your stimulus check on? - I'm trying to commission folks and support artists and musicians.
7. Do you have any special occasions that you will miss during this quarantine? - The entirety of my thirties. It's been gutting knowing that I'll be so old that I'll be a complete social outcast by the time this is over
8. Are you keeping your housework done? - Not really. I thought I was going to do a lot more and get on top of it but the psychological damage of being 100% socially isolated has been pretty severe and I'm honestly lucky to have any sanity at all right now. Taken all my effort just to survive this. Staying at home with your family or partner is way different from staying at home with no human or animal contact whatsoever. No one has any idea how bad this is. But I'm not literally dying so I try not to complain too much as others have it worse.
9. What movie have you watched during this quarantine? - Well, it's a musical, but I just watched it, so why not? Phantom of the Opera. There was some thing where you could watch it for free over the weekend, the whatever anniversary version from 2011. It was horrible. I feel bad cause my friend liked it but wow it was so, so bad. I did not expect the villain to be a misogynistic, abusive, gaslighting incel. I think we're supposed to sympathize with him or he's supposed to be an anti-hero or something but nope. Ew. There weren't many likeable characters, but Carlotta was easily my favorite. She was so badass and I kept wanting her to be gay. When she and Christine were flirting as part of a play within a play, that was easily the best part. I'd ship them. The rest was awful, alas. The main theme feels so 1980s which did not fit the 1800s setting at all. I enjoyed the Cats movie so much more than Phantom. And Cats passes the Bechdel test quite easily! Phantom does not
10. What are you streaming with? Nothing. Still don't have a streaming service ever since I quit Prime.
11. 9 months from now is there any chance of you having a baby? - Nope.
12. What's your go-to quarantine meal? - All the same stuff as before, really. Only difference is making coffee at home with beans from my local coffee shop. I did invent a brand new way of brewing coffee accidentally that has been working for me. If you want to hear about it, I'll explain.
13. Is this whole situation making you paranoid? - I was already paranoid and socially isolated and those things have just gotten much, much worse.
14. Has your internet gone out on you during this time? - Nope!
15 What month do you predict this all ends? - June 2021
16. First thing you’re gonna do when you get off quarantine? - Go to work I guess. Attending a local genderqueer group will be really nice. Yeah, my life has not been too good even before all this, sorry.
17. Where do you wish you were right now? - Antarctica? I guess it's Fall there, now, though, so getting uninhabitable. But that's one of my few bucket list items left unchecked.
18. What free-from-quarantine activity are you missing the most? - Any kind of contact with other creatures.
19. Have you run out of toilet paper and hand sanitizer? - I was down to two rolls but managed. I have no need to hand sanitizer since I have soap. I am not really sure the point of hand sanitizer.
20. Do you have enough food to last a month? - No. I still go to the grocery store two to three times a week. I can't keep a week's worth of breakfast foods in my home without eating it, alas. But I am not in a high risk group and I wear a mask and wash my hands afterwards and all.
Avatar: The Last Airbender: Babylon 5 reference??
When Iroh says to his nephew:
"It's time to look inward and start asking yourself the big questions: Who are you and what do you want?"
All I could think was "Are you a Shadow or a Vorlon, Iroh, make up your mind!!!"
I have to imagine this was an intentional reference to Babylon 5, though, and in a pretty major story moment.
My favorite episode so far is probably The Tales of Ba Sing Se. It really shows the power of short animation segments similar to how Steven Universe works. That episode made me laugh and cry pretty strongly. So sad that Mako who voice acted Iroh died after season 2. :-(
I'm enjoying Season 2 more than Season 1 cause it's less formulaic and there's more character growth among all the characters. Also Toph is awesome!
New Character rankings:
Iroh
Katara
Toph
Zuko
Appa
Momo
Aang
Ty Lee
Sakka
Azula
Mai
Only frustrating part is when some episodes feel like the characters aren't written quite right and behave in ways that it's hard to imagine the characters behaving.
Edited to add Aang.
"It's time to look inward and start asking yourself the big questions: Who are you and what do you want?"
All I could think was "Are you a Shadow or a Vorlon, Iroh, make up your mind!!!"
I have to imagine this was an intentional reference to Babylon 5, though, and in a pretty major story moment.
My favorite episode so far is probably The Tales of Ba Sing Se. It really shows the power of short animation segments similar to how Steven Universe works. That episode made me laugh and cry pretty strongly. So sad that Mako who voice acted Iroh died after season 2. :-(
I'm enjoying Season 2 more than Season 1 cause it's less formulaic and there's more character growth among all the characters. Also Toph is awesome!
New Character rankings:
Iroh
Katara
Toph
Zuko
Appa
Momo
Aang
Ty Lee
Sakka
Azula
Mai
Only frustrating part is when some episodes feel like the characters aren't written quite right and behave in ways that it's hard to imagine the characters behaving.
Edited to add Aang.
A:TLA
I did not start watching Avatar: The Last Airbender right after René Auberjonois died on purpose. I had watched a few episodes before and so knew about the first time he guest starred, but was not expecting to be back again in a different role in the seventeenth episode of the season. :-(
"Never underestimate the power of stink!"
Since what kind of bender are you seems to be like what house are you in that series written by that awful TERF, I guess I can pretty confidently say airbender but that isn't really surprising.
So far, I like the art and animation but am getting really sick of how many patriarchal tropes this show has and how it's yet another example of a boy being all important and women just being there to support him. Gag me. Some of the episodes have been good while others have been really poorly written with nonsensical character actions even by the main characters.
And the whole thing has a huge stench of appropriation and orientalism. Like if this was a show about Americans everyone would be talking like John Wayne and carrying huge guns in holsters or something. The martial arts/bending stuff is cool though, again, it's very much through a Western lens. The whole stuff where people talk about their honor feels like this.
Favorite characters so far (I might misspell stuff but last time I tried to look something up I ran across a major spoiler so I am not googling anything else until I'm done the whole series):
Prince Zuko's Uncle (I forget his name since it very rarely comes up and see above)
I really hope he gets a big part in something later cause he's amazing. Hopefully he's not just there for comic relief.
Katara
Way too good for Aang
Appa
Flying manatee-bison, enough said
Momo
Bat-lemur, enough said
Prince Zuko
I go back and forth on whether he's kind of interesting or just terrible.
Aang
On the list for his airbending mostly.
"Never underestimate the power of stink!"
Since what kind of bender are you seems to be like what house are you in that series written by that awful TERF, I guess I can pretty confidently say airbender but that isn't really surprising.
So far, I like the art and animation but am getting really sick of how many patriarchal tropes this show has and how it's yet another example of a boy being all important and women just being there to support him. Gag me. Some of the episodes have been good while others have been really poorly written with nonsensical character actions even by the main characters.
And the whole thing has a huge stench of appropriation and orientalism. Like if this was a show about Americans everyone would be talking like John Wayne and carrying huge guns in holsters or something. The martial arts/bending stuff is cool though, again, it's very much through a Western lens. The whole stuff where people talk about their honor feels like this.
Favorite characters so far (I might misspell stuff but last time I tried to look something up I ran across a major spoiler so I am not googling anything else until I'm done the whole series):
Prince Zuko's Uncle (I forget his name since it very rarely comes up and see above)
I really hope he gets a big part in something later cause he's amazing. Hopefully he's not just there for comic relief.
Katara
Way too good for Aang
Appa
Flying manatee-bison, enough said
Momo
Bat-lemur, enough said
Prince Zuko
I go back and forth on whether he's kind of interesting or just terrible.
Aang
On the list for his airbending mostly.
Entry tags:
The Borrowers Aloft (Book 3)
This one took me longer than the others cause it was a little harder to maintain interest, but I did finally finish The Borrowers Aloft, written in 1959. I found this one a bit slower and more disappointing compared to he others. I feel like it was too much "this happens, this happens, this happens" etc. and not enough character development. Interestingly, Homily seems to have the most character development, but I guess I'm a little frustrated that we are not seeing as much of Arrietty directly. We almost see her more from her parents perspective much of the time.
And, like, they're in a completely new situation and get to interact with other borrowers but they don't really show much of that except for the parents and while it gets a few chapters, I feel like there could have been so much more, especially with Arrietty growing up completely alone except for her parents and seemingly very lonely the whole first book. The two ways she's being repressed are not getting to be outdoors and not having any company but I feel we don't see enough of her social development in this book and I still have so many questions. I thought these were supposed to be coming of age books!
Spiller is wonderful, though, and we slowly learn more about him in this book. I can see why they included him in the movie despite him not being in the first book! Interestingly, they kinda skip some of the parts of books two and three in the movie but end the movie with the end of book 3 (this book) in a fashion. They also completely change the plot around in the movie but the way Spiller fits into the movie fits very well what we learn about him in book 3 even if the events of the movie involving Spiller don't exactly happen or happen in different ways in the book. They also adapted the amazingly written sections of Arreitty interacting with nature from books 2 and 3 into the movie in other ways, where instead of her being repressed by her family and not allowed outdoors, she just always is outdoors.
It's pretty interesting now they make Arrietty's childhood much more idyllic in the movies (fitting in with the whole feel of the movie towards childhood, see the Garden song as well) while in the book, Arrietty is filled with longing to be free and is held back from being who she wants to be a fair amount by her father especially. In some ways, it makes the books a bit more feminist even if Pod is more of a jerk and the family has more of a "father knows best" dynamic, even though it's clear he doesn't always know best even if he clearly is in charge.
And now for a mention of the worst part of the books: the racism. The Roma appear briefly but in a very key scene in Book 3 and we get another insensitive depiction complete with some really bad descriptions. It's an interesting scene and she ruins it with the way she portrays the Roma - if she was more sensitive, she could compare their migratory lifestyle (a real thing - their flag is a wagonwheel after all) but instead by having characters call them "like human borrowers" and emphasizing stealing and such along with other insensitive stuff... well, it's about what you'd expect for something written in the 1950s I guess. It's not much but it leaves a really bad taste and I wish I didn't have to headcanon my own version of stuff and ignore the worst of it. "Ape-like" was really galling.
I've thought of stopping due to it but I am trodding on into Book 4 so I can develop my own Arreitty headcanon, I guess. The books have a lot of delightfully written parts and the worldbuilding of the Borrowers perspective on the Victorian world is enchanting. I do not Norton's writing style and it can be very vivid and magical much of the time. I got sucked into all this prose long before any hint of the Roma first happened late in Book 2.
And, like, they're in a completely new situation and get to interact with other borrowers but they don't really show much of that except for the parents and while it gets a few chapters, I feel like there could have been so much more, especially with Arrietty growing up completely alone except for her parents and seemingly very lonely the whole first book. The two ways she's being repressed are not getting to be outdoors and not having any company but I feel we don't see enough of her social development in this book and I still have so many questions. I thought these were supposed to be coming of age books!
Spiller is wonderful, though, and we slowly learn more about him in this book. I can see why they included him in the movie despite him not being in the first book! Interestingly, they kinda skip some of the parts of books two and three in the movie but end the movie with the end of book 3 (this book) in a fashion. They also completely change the plot around in the movie but the way Spiller fits into the movie fits very well what we learn about him in book 3 even if the events of the movie involving Spiller don't exactly happen or happen in different ways in the book. They also adapted the amazingly written sections of Arreitty interacting with nature from books 2 and 3 into the movie in other ways, where instead of her being repressed by her family and not allowed outdoors, she just always is outdoors.
It's pretty interesting now they make Arrietty's childhood much more idyllic in the movies (fitting in with the whole feel of the movie towards childhood, see the Garden song as well) while in the book, Arrietty is filled with longing to be free and is held back from being who she wants to be a fair amount by her father especially. In some ways, it makes the books a bit more feminist even if Pod is more of a jerk and the family has more of a "father knows best" dynamic, even though it's clear he doesn't always know best even if he clearly is in charge.
And now for a mention of the worst part of the books: the racism. The Roma appear briefly but in a very key scene in Book 3 and we get another insensitive depiction complete with some really bad descriptions. It's an interesting scene and she ruins it with the way she portrays the Roma - if she was more sensitive, she could compare their migratory lifestyle (a real thing - their flag is a wagonwheel after all) but instead by having characters call them "like human borrowers" and emphasizing stealing and such along with other insensitive stuff... well, it's about what you'd expect for something written in the 1950s I guess. It's not much but it leaves a really bad taste and I wish I didn't have to headcanon my own version of stuff and ignore the worst of it. "Ape-like" was really galling.
I've thought of stopping due to it but I am trodding on into Book 4 so I can develop my own Arreitty headcanon, I guess. The books have a lot of delightfully written parts and the worldbuilding of the Borrowers perspective on the Victorian world is enchanting. I do not Norton's writing style and it can be very vivid and magical much of the time. I got sucked into all this prose long before any hint of the Roma first happened late in Book 2.