#Le fishe.

[heartorbit]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NENE 🐠💚

[ozzyeelz]

Collection of le fishe memes from an aspiring marine biologist 🦈

[cuties-in-codices]

fishing for souls

detail from a copy of "le pèlerinage de la vie humaine" by guillaume de deguileville, illuminated by the maître d'antoine rolin, hainaut, late 15th/early 16th c.

source: Genève, Bibl. de Genève, Ms. fr. 182, fol. 162v

[utoveria]

mc was never allowed in the mostro kitchen again

[mspaint-flower]

🫧

[ozwuv]

[incorrect-hs-quotes]

ERIDAN: wwhos gettin the most ionizing radiation? roxy wwith the uranium 235, jane wwith the plutonium 239, or callie wwith the radium 225?

JADE: i took a minute to quickly check which sample would have the most activity, assuming 100g low-enriched (5%) samples and negligible activity from the other sample constituents. radium is top by a factor of 10000 which seems about right considering my personal experience with it!

ERIDAN: “considerin my personal experience wwith it” wwhat the fuck does this imply

JAKE: It implies jade has personal experience with handling radium samples which i have as well! That saucy little thot can make the geiger counter crackle through a lead plate more than americium can through air.

DIRK: And here I thought I was a madman by putting a sentient AI with questionable morals inside a toaster. 

[casmortis]

I love Will Graham.

Tried something different with my rendering.

Also enjoy the meme.

[ladyloveandjustice]

My Favorite New Manga and Graphic Novels I Read in 2023

It's time to take a look at the comics and manga I read this year! I read  a whopping 78 manga and graphic novels in all. Here's a link to my Goodreads year in books (the manga is at the beginning, the novels start with Siren Queen) and my storygraph wrap up.

I also read 36 novels! If you want to see my favorites, check out my reviews here!

And finally, I've got the continuing manga series I've enjoyed this year here, so check that post out too!

The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen

This is a tale about a first-generation Vietnamese-American boy struggling with coming out to his mother. He connects with his mother through fairytales-- she uses them to express her journey as an immigrant, and he uses them to explore his queerness and identity as a Vietnamese kid growing up in America. It's an absolutely gorgeous book full of Trung Le Nguyen's signature stunning art. The fantastical, ethereal fairy tales are weaved beautifully into the lives of the characters. The book explores how fairy tales can form connection, can express culture, can tap deeply into something real and true, and can offer tragedy and catharsis. The protagonist uses fairy tales to write his own story, and the ending is lovely and moving.

Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles by Mark Russell and Mike Feehan

You may know Mark Russell from his darker, socially aware re-imagining of the Flintstones, which made quite a splash on Tumblr with this post. Well, I had pleasure of meeting him at a local convention, and I finally got his comic re-imagining of Snagglepuss, also of Hanna-Barbera. He re-imagines the titular pink puma as a closeted gay playwright in the 50's dealing with McCarthyism. It's as wild as it sounds,but also really digs into the politics of the time, the struggle of standing against oppression and how art fights through suppression and censorship. It's tragic, hopeful, poignant and full of historical references. I enjoyed it ! Definitely be cautious if you're deeply disturbed by homophobia and suicide.

The Summer Hikaru Died by Mokumokuren

A story about a teenage boy, Yoshiki, who realizes that his best friend and crush Hikaru has died and been replaced by a strange eldritch being who is imitating him. But, missing his loved one and desperate to cling to any piece of him, Yoshiki decides to keep on having a relationship with this mysterious entity. This book's horror is visceral and sublime, especially the bizarre, creepy, beautiful body horror involving the being who replaced Hikaru. It's an exploration of anxieties involving grief, relationships, and sexuality that hits just right, and the atmosphere layered with dread is top notch. I love me some messed up relationships and unknowable queer monsters, and this book delivers.

Chainsaw Man, Look Back and Goodbye Eri by Tatsuki Fujimoto

Chainsaw Man needs no introduction, but I did end up really enjoying the story of the doggy-devil boy hunting other devils. It got so tragic and intense at the end, with lots of great surreal horror imagery and darkly funny moments. I'm impressed it went so hard, though the random powers that kept piling up made what was happening hard to follow at times, especially in fights. I'm also enjoying the current weird arc starring a class-A disaster girl and the demon sharing her body.

Look Back

I really do enjoy how Fuijimoto writes messy pre-teen/teenage girls. They ring so true. The manga follows the fraught friendship between two girls as they create manga, exploring the struggle of art mixing with real relationships, and how someone keeps creating after tragedy. It's a little hard to follow at times (especially since I have to differentiate the leads based on hairstyle), but it's a good read.

Goodbye Eri

Probably my least favorite of the three, but it's a fun read- a weird ride that examines the thin line between fiction and reality in art and makes good use of Fujimoto's cinephile background and signature gaslight gatekeep girlboss characters.

Is Love the Answer? by Uta Isaki

The story follows a teenage girl, Chika, who has always struggled with not being attracted to anyone. When Chika enters college, she meets queer people all across the spectrum of asexuality, and starts exploring her own identity. As an ace, this is the best story about asexuality that I've read. It was a nuanced look at asexuality and queerness and all the variations. Chika's journey and how she found her community was moving and poignant. It's a honest, moving look at relationships and identity, and how complicated and hard to define both of those things can be. I loved the moments of Chika imagining herself as an alien to explore and cope, and how she bonded with people through magical girl shows and other geekery. My favorite new manga of the year, it really connected with me!

The Girl that Can’t Get a Girlfriend by Mieri Hiranishi

Oh girl, I've been there. This is a fun autobiographical comic about a butch4butch lesbian's struggles finding a partner in a word that favors butch/femme, and it's just an honest look at the messiness of loneliness and relationships. I also appreciate that crushing on Haruka in Sailor Moon and becoming a HaruMichi stan was the beginning the author's queer awakening because uh...same! She has taste, and is truly relatable.

Qualia the Purple: The Complete Manga Collection by Hisamitsu Ueo and Shirou Tsunashima

See my review of the light novel here for my general thoughts on the story, since it's adapted pretty faithfully. I do think the manga is overall the best experience though, because the illustrations break up the detailed explanations of quantum mechanics a bit, and it includes a bit of extra content that fleshes things out, especially withthe ending.

The Single Life: 60 year old lesbian who is single and living alone by Akiko Morishima

Just like it says on the tin, this focuses on a 60-year-old single lesbian. And definitely the shortest thing on here, since only one 30 page chapter is out.  It's a grounded story about a woman looking back on her journey to finding her identity, touching on sexism in the workplace and other challenges. It paints a portrait of a proudly gay elder who's still perfectly content being single and feels fulfilled by the life she had rather than regretting past relationships. I definitely want to see more.

Daemons of the Shadow Realm by Hiromu Arakawa

Arakawa's latest, the story is about a boy who lives in a small village with his little sister is imprisoned and has to carry out a mysterious duty...but then the village is attacked, supernatural daemons awaken, and everything he knows might be wrong. I'm enjoying this fun romp so far! It delivers an really nice plot twist right out the gate (and an excellent subversion of the usual shonen "must-protect-my-saintly-sister" narratives). It boasts Arakawa's usual fun cast and interesting world (and cool ladies). There's some slight tone and pacing issues in the first part- there's so much time spent explaining mechanics the lead doesn't really get to react to his life turning upside down. But it starts smoothing out by the second volume. I'm excited to see what's next!

Superman: Space Age by Mark Russell and Michael Allred

This is a retelling of Superman set throughout the late fifties to early eighties that has Superman interact with the political and social upheaval of the time and question his own role in things. It explored the Superman mythos through a lot of cool new angles, and has a good Lois (why yes she would break Watergate) which is how I always measure a Superman adaptation. My one complaint is, while I liked some of the things it did with Batman, the ending with the Joker was pretty weak. The ending of the overall comic will also be bizarre for anyone not uses to how weird comics can get, but I think I dug it.

#DRCL by Shin'ichi Sakamoto

A manga retelling of Dracula that focuses on Mina as the protagonist and imagines the characters at an English prep school. It adds a lot of  diversity to the characters  and has exquisite, evocative art. I'm curious where it will go and what it  intends to do with all it's changes (especially Lucy), because right now it's mostly vibes and creepiness and the direction isn't clear.

[perioddramasource]

[st4rry-fruitz]

[aura-can-draw]

black pearl pookie

[bookcub]

Graphic Novel Rec

that have less than 100,000 ratings on Goodreads

The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen- If you haven't read this book, please do it now, it is amazing! It is about a Vietnamese American family telling stories to each other alongside the events of their lives.

10/10, one of my favorite books of the year!

Tea Dragon Society by Kay O'Neill- This series is so sweet and the epitome of cottagecore fantasy! Filled with little dragons, found family, and beautiful pictures!

10/10, a feel good book of mine

Sleepless by Sarah Vaughn, Leila del Duca, Alissa Sallah- Has anyone done bodyguard romance this well? No, they have not. A lovely romance at the center and lots with court intrigue.

9/10, a swoonworthy romance fantasy!

Fangs by Sarah Anderson- Who hasn't wanted a romance between a vampire and a werewolf? Low stakes and adorable.

8/10, a super quick ad satisfying read

Trickster: Native American Tales, A Graphic Collection- A collection of short stories by various writers and artists about the many tricksters from the various cultures.

7.5/10 full of tricks and stories

The Old Guard by Greg Rucka- A little too gory for my taste, but as someone who loved the movie, I really enjoyed seeing the material it was adapted from!

7/10 action packed and emotional

The Girl from the Sea by Molly Knox Ostertag- An adorable sapphic romance with a selkie as the love interest!! Super lovely!

7/10 a darling love story

[naransha]

My brain is fried I’m running on 2 hours of sleep today

[the-cricket-chirps]

Henri Matisse, Goldfish, 1912

Henri Matisse, Interior with Goldfish, 1914

[ayatxt]

。°˖ 🦋 ꒦꒷⩩

。°˖ 🐟 ꒦꒷⩩

⇢ ˗ˏˋ 10 january 2024 9:10pm ࿐ྂ