#at least i finished babel

[aloyssobek]

oh boy i think i've given myself an existential crisis

[cluescorner]

Me, during Al Haitham’s world quest: *Sigh*. I miss my wife, Al Haitham. I miss her a lot. 

Al Haitham: *Laughs* 

Me, going back to the Tanit camp halfway through his quest to stand next to Jeht and pretend that I’m her girlfriend now: I’ll be back. 

[literaturebf]

everytime i reread a book im scared it won't be as good as i remembered and then 90% of the time it ends up being even better. love it.

[callixton]

i miss a separate peace i should reread it once i get thru the books i took out of the library

[frogchiro]

Am I straight horny from reading eremite thirst? Yes. Do I want to dress up in Babel's clothing infront of them? Yes. Yes I do. I mean Babel got some hip windows and I know damn well her clothes are MADE to he ripped off

AS YOU SHOULD BE NONNY

rfhgueguegu I just looked up Babel and good golly please step on me lady

and you're right her clothes are as hot as she is, i'm going genuinely feral for the hip windows, as would the men of your group <3

fem!reader, slight nsfw, the usual drill; hot, big and horny Eremite men having the ultimate hots for you <3

Since you're staying with them permanently now, you decided on incorporating their style and culture into your life and what better to begin with than clothes! You bought them from a traveling merchant during a short stay at the Caravan Ribat before continuing further into the desert.

You had to set up camp for the night and since there has been a successful hunt with minimal damage your boys decided that a small celebration is in place; you could swear that they'd find any excuse to celebrate and make you dance for them so that they could use it as a way to grope you and eventually drag you back into the tent an have their way with you.

SO, you decided that this little gathering is a perfect way to make use of your new dress! It's a bit skimpy but it feels as if it's weightless, the dark gauzy fabric perfectly accentuating your curves and hugging all the right places.

Just as you got the last piece in place, a booming voice just outside your tent made you slightly jump as one of the men announced that they've set up the fire and roast and they're waiting for you which earned you a few loud and excited whoops of delight from the others.

You smiled slightly and made your way to remove the flap of the tent and reveal yourself getting kinda anxious what would they say about your new outfit, would they like it? What if you ended up looking ridiculous and-

Your train of thoughts was immediately brought to a halt when you noticed all the men staring at you, their eye bandanas temporarily removed and looking-or rather leering-right at you.

You noticed the look right away; dark, hungry, lustful, that of predator just about to pounce on a unsuspecting prey. You got bashful as you slowly stepped into the area where they were sitting in silence still, just looking.

Before you could say something to get the out of this trance you let out a yelp as suddenly a pair of strong arms belonging to Geo Enchanter wrapped around your middle and dragged you straight into his lap while the men sitting next to him flocked closer and started to run their hands all over you.

"And just where did ya get this thing Little Lady, hmm~? Think you can just walk dressed like that and expect a man to behave?"

The dark skinned man growled into your ear before nipping it lightly and letting his big scarred hands wander all over your body and slip under the sheer chest piece to tease your quickly stiffening nipples.

"I-ah! I-bought it. From that cloth merchant back at the Caravan Ribat. Y-You were so silent when I walked out, I thought you didn't like it-!"

Your ramble was quickly cut short by a slight swat to your bottom and the booming laughs of the surrounding men; just when did they all get so close?

"Well, ya can be pretty sure we like it, don't we boys?", Sunfrost's quip was answered by delighted calls.

"Then let's show this pretty Lady how much we love it~"

That sentence basically sealed your fate and they took you right then and there, on the laid out on the furs under the shining stars and night sky. When they were finaly finished with you, you were back inside the shared tent, all of the men tired out and panting with fatigue.

Right there in the middle of the sweaty bodies laid your naked form, the beautiful dress torn to shreds earlier in the night by the hungry hands of the Eremites; a shame really, the dress really was pretty but hey! At least you can be sure that your boys liked it too, right~?

[so-many-ocs]

user so many ocs, my beloved, fellow Locked Tomb enjoyer, I am about to finish Nona and I am losing my mind because nothing will fill the Gideon Nav sized hole in my heart (lol). do you perchance have any recommendations of what I can read next that's similar to TLT?

ok i wanna preface this by saying i've only read GtN (i needed time to recover after the first one and left HtN at my parents' house for the semester lol but by virtue of Existing On Tumblr i know most of what happens in the series + i plan to read HtN asap)

BUT LET'S GO!! (storygraph summaries linked)

if you liked gideon the ninth, try:

This is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone & Amal El-Mohtar - maybe i just read these 2 really close together but Time War has time travel, space fuckery, gut-wrenching sapphic yearning, and a drily humorous tone all packed into the span of less than 200 pages.

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan - historical fantasy, rich worldbuilding, one of my All-Time Favorite Books (right alongside Time War and Gideon the Ninth lol)

Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang - historical fantasy, political intrigue, silver possesses the ability to manifest any meaning lost in translation between languages.

Cosmoknights by Hannah Templer - graphic novel (2 books out now); princesses, politics, and gladiator-style fights, but in space!

now for books i haven't read (on my tbr) that others have recommended for fans of TLT:

The Unbroken by C.L. Clark - fantasy, desert empire, a soldier and a princess "haggling" over the price of a nation.

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri - fantasy/romance, one seeking revenge, one seeking family.

The Ones We Burn by Rebecca Mix - fantasy, girl who is a monster (favorite trope of Ever btw), witches, kingdoms, and assassinations.

Crier's War by Nina Valera - fantasy with some sci-fi elements(?), humans vs. robots but with a twist! i want to read this so bad but have not found it anywhere

this list has some of the books i've recommended here, as well as a couple others i haven't! most of the books i've recommended are sapphic or at least lgbtq as well if that's something you're specifically interested in :)

lastly, storygraph does have a "browse similar books" feature, though i'm not sure how accurate it is as i've yet to really try it out!

i hope that was helpful !!!

[drama--universe]

Most Precious

Requested by anonymous: Hi! Can i request for Joon-Woo Jang like the reader was in coma because of an incident with babel?

Pairings: Jang Han-Seok/Jang Jun-Woo x reader

Word Count: 2011 words

Warnings: none

A/N I assume you watched the whole series, if not you might want to finish it first since there might be spoilers (sorry) :]

His eyes were trained on your figure, listening to the beeping of the heart monitor while watching your chest rise and fall slowly. His anger was clear to anyone if they walked past, rolling off of him in thick waves and that might have been why no one dared to come closer to him. His brother stood not even a meter away from him, trying to hide himself from his elder brother's view as he waited for the inevitable to happen.

It didn't happen, Han-Seok was only silent. It was something very abnormal and only scared Han-Seo even more. But Han-Seok only stormed out of the room and decided to go back to the company, picking his Han-Seo's car and driving off. He went up to 50 km/h, hands tightly gripping the steering wheel.

You were fine this morning, you were still in bed when he left.

He woke up with your arms tightly wrapped around his torso, your face pushed in between his shoulder blades while you breathed softly. His hand quickly found yours, prying it off of him as he rolled out of bed while ignoring the whine you let out.

"Babe?" You asked and he turned around, watching you turn over to try and pull him back. This was, of course, unsuccessful and he couldn't help but smile a bit.

"Do you have to leave already~? It's only-" You paused as you turned your head to look at the clock only to groan loudly. "-It's 5 am... What could you possible have to do that makes you leave me this early in the morning? What is worth so much that you'd leave me without morning cuddles?" You whined loudly and he rolled his eyes at you, falling back again to softly kisses you.

"I have some things to take care off at the company, love." He answered and you whined again, pulling him closer again and laying your head on his chest. He sighed, waiting for awhile as you rested on his chest before he grabbed you and turned over so he was hovering over you. You giggled and pulled his face closer to yours, nose touching before you softly kissed him again before just laying down.

"Be careful out there. No bruises this time!" You said in a scolding tone, referring to the bruises that were already on his body from a previous fight (one he told you about at least). He rolled his eyes again, but agreed anyway before kissing you one last time before leaving the bed.

He pressed harder on the gas pedal, the engine roaring as he went up to 60 km/h. He was never afraid, not even of dying. But watching you in that hospital bed, somehow, he was scared to death. He was afraid, so much that he felt like he was someone else. That fear was quickly replaced by anger. Anger to whoever did this to you and he'd make sure that they'd pay.

He smiled as he watched you scream along to the song on the tv, blissfully unaware of him standing in the doorway until you turned around. You let out a bloodcurdling scream before calming down and looking at the clock on the wall in confusion.

"You're not supposed to be home yet. You still have 3 hours of work." You whined and he scoffed, putting his bag down and brushing his hair back before walking your way. He wrapped his arms around your waist after pausing the show and you pouted as you wrapped your arms around his neck.

"You don't want me home then?" "Shut up, you weren't supposed to see that." He just smiled at you and kissed your forehead softly, leaning his head on you afterwards. You hugged him before suddenly pushing him back.

"You smell and not good..." You mumbled and he frowned, smelling his suit and the distinct smell of blood was quick to fill his senses. He sighed, thinking he had drowned out that smell with his deodorant. You came closer to him, opening the jacket to reveal a red stain on his dress shirt and you looked at him in disappointment. He felt annoyed at himself and was quick to follow your usual command to shower, throwing the suit in the trash before showering away the blood. When he was finished, you two cuddled to the couch while watching your show.

He went up to 70 km/h, knuckles already turned white as he saw other cars flash by. He had already past a few red lights and almost drove over a few people, but he didn't care in the least. He was only 10 minutes from the company now.

His eyes watched as you talked to another man, clearly uncomfortable but you were not saying anything. Why? Well, this man was your boss. But he knew this man as well, every secret illegal thing he had done because he had blackmailed said man under Babel, but he didn't know that was him and neither did you.

He walked your way anyway, one arm draping over your shoulders and looking at Dae-Hyun with a fake smile on his face. It didn't look fake of course, he could act well enough at this point to even fool you (not that he would ever do that). The man in front of you was clearly not amused by him joining you, eyes giving a subtle glare in his direction.

"Who might this be?" "Jang Jun-Woo. Lawyer for Babel." The man flinched when he heard the mention of Babel, physically uncomfortable. You were a bit confused by the name change before remembering that he worked under Jun-Woo instead of Han-Seok for some reason, one he never fully explained to you but you didn't really care. The man tried to talk to you a bit more, but he was quick to end the conversation when he saw Han-Seok's glare. You were also quick to hit his abdomen with a hiss and he just smiled at you cutely, taking his arm off of your shoulders.

"You're crazy." You said and he chuckled, standing up again and you grabbed his hand before dragging him outside with you. He let himself get dragged, giving everyone who even gave you a look a harsh glare in return.

He must have been at 80 or 90 km/h, but stopped once the company was fully in sight. He drove right in front of the doors, getting out and storming inside. He saw red, everything else was useless to him until he set eyes on your direct boss, Dae-Hyun.

Said man was happily chatting with others, not at all feeling remorse for endangering you in a task that should've been him. At this point, Han-Seok felt his anger rise again as he marched towards the man. The people around the man saw Han-Seok coming, or in their eyes it would be the sweet and naïve Jun-Woo walking near. Yet it was a look that they had never seen before on his face and it terrified them to the core, clear in the way that they stepped back and away from Dae-Hyun.

Once Han-Seok had reached them, his hand placed itself on the man's shoulder and he pulled him back harshly before landing a punch in his face. The man fell back to the ground and looked up from the ground in shock, ready to yell at the younger before freezing when he saw the look on his face.

"Jun-Woo, what-" "Do you have any idea what your done?!" He didn't contain his anger as he screamed throughout the whole lobby, all heads turned to watch what was happening. They watched as their Jun-Woo, a man who was always nice, started to curse in both English and Korean very loudly while trying to hold himself back from killing Dae-Hyun in public. It could wait, first he'd be fired and replaced before he'd kill him as painfully as possibly. He couldn't help but smile at the thoughts started to shoot through his mind, finding any way to kill the man.

"What happened then?" He asked with an arrogant tone and Han-Seok looked back at the man, who had stood up again with an arrogant look on his face.

"Where were you this morning?" He asked and the man scoffed harshly, replying with an 'at work'.

"At work?" He scoffed, getting closer to Dae-Hyun. "If you were at work, you would've been in the hospital along with your co-workers with burns or chemical wounds." At this the mans face fell while everyone around them grew even more silent.

"How is that my fault?!" Dae-Hyun retorted and Han-Seok sighed, his breath wavering from the anger.

"Had you been there, doing you job of checking everything then the newbie wouldn't have screwed up. If you were there, like you were supposed to, you should've told the newbie what to do so he wouldn't have screwed up!" He sneered and the man flinched back, clearly scared of what was going to happen. Han-Seok grabbed the man's collar, tightening the tie just enough without anyone noticing.

"If she doesn't wake up in an hour, you can pray that I won't find you or your family." He threatened before letting go and storming out of the building again, ready to go back to your side. The car ride back was just as horrible as before, by the end he was driving a full 120 km/h. He stormed back to your room, ignoring others calls before slamming past security and into your room. You were sitting up, Han-Seo sitting next to you while listening to you talk and an investigator taking notes as you explained. Once they realized that Han-Seok stood in the doorway, Han-Seo stood up and dragged the investigator out with him while you just gave Han-Seok a smile. He walked closer, sitting down before giving your body a quick scan until you grabbed his face.

"I am fine, stop it." You said and he stared at you, eyes showing no emotion (something you were used to at this point). You sighed softly, pulling his closer to yourself and he shuffled a bit closer while dragging his chair closer.

"I swear that I'm-" "Did it hurt?" He interrupted you and you paused with a sigh and he looked up again, eyes this time showing a slight anger again.

"Answer me." He said, voice harsh and you couldn't help but flinch. He noticed this and softened his gaze a bit, but you knew he still wanted an answer.

"It hurt at first, I won't lie about that. But it was not his fault." You said and he knew that you meant the newbie that created the accident. He knew this fact, yet he couldn't help but loath the guy anyway. You laid back down, still smiling at him and he felt his anger slowly wash away.

"When can you leave?" He asked and you pointed at the bag that hung above you. "When that is finished, don't you dare tamper with it to go faster." You said and he rolled his eyes before laying down his head on your legs, hands softly massaging them. You returned the favor as you started to run your fingers through his hair, liking how bouncy the waves in his hair were. You preferred his loose hair over the gelled back style that he sometimes did.

You only left 5 hours later after multiple more checkups, but Han-Seok didn't even let you walk as he carried you to the car and then into the apartment. He only set you down when he reached the couch, softly laying you down before covering you with a blanket and sitting next to you. He looked at you before sighing as he saw you stumble asleep, knowing that the medicine you received would make you sleepy.

Once he saw that you were fully asleep, he stood up again and went to put on a different outfit. He had made up his mind as he took a last look at you before he exited the house, getting into his car and driving off while looking at his phone.

There was no way that Dae-Hyun would be alive at the end of the hour.

[circe-pendragon]

Babel spoilers under the cut

————————————

Robin died alone and we know that in his final moments he was at peace, but everyone else in the tower also had to die alone. I think it’s beautiful that we don’t know what happened to them. I like to believe that Professor Craft met her end with the same calm resolve she’s shown throughout the siege; but she was probably also terrified despite knowing what had to happen and despite going through with it. Did Ibrahim and Juliana immediately run off to get to each other once they finished their work and activated all the bars? Was there enough time for them to at least glimpse the other as the rubble started falling, or did they perhaps die in each others arms? And what about Meghana, who had no one truly close to her the entire time in the tower like the others did, who was more alone than any of them? What did she seek comfort in, if anything? What were her final thoughts?

[fandomsandfeminism]

The Nebula Awards are tomorrow (5/14)

Nebula Award for Novel

Legends & Lattes, Travis Baldree (Cryptid; Tor)

Spear, Nicola Griffith (Tordotcom)

Nettle and Bone, T. Kingfisher (Tor; Titan UK)

Babel, R.F. Kuang (Harper Voyager US; Harper Voyager UK)

Nona the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir (Tordotcom)

The Mountain in the Sea, Ray Nayler (MCD; Weidenfeld & Nicolson)

I'm frantically trying to finish The Mountain and the Sea right now. It's excellent. Still, I'm putting my money on Babel. It was incredibly good and haunting. (Though I would not be upset if any of them won.)

Nebula Award for Novella

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy, Becky Chambers (Tordotcom)

“Bishop’s Opening”, R.S.A. Garcia (Clarkesworld 1/22)

I Never Liked You Anyway, Jordan Kurella (Vernacular)

Even Though I Knew the End, C.L. Polk (Tordotcom)

High Times in the Low Parliament, Kelly Robson (Tordotcom)

I have read all the novellas.I'm torn between Prayer for the Crown shy and Even Though I Knew the End. Both were amazing.

Unfortunately I didn't get to any of the YA books this year. (Or novellettes or short stories) If I finish Mountsin and the Sea, I'll try to at least read some of the short stories.

Ray Bradbury Nebula Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation

Andor: “One Way Out”,

Everything Everywhere All at Once

Nope

Our Flag Means Death

The Sandman: Season 1,

Severance

Ok, I have seen EEAAO, Our Flag Means Death, and Sandman. From those, EEAAO seems like the obvious choice.

https://nebulas.sfwa.org/58th-nebula-awards-finalists/

[ofliterarynature]

MARCH 2024 WRAP UP

[loved liked ok nope dnf (reread) bookclub*]

Supernova • The Last Unicorn • Cahokia Jazz • (Heartstopper Vol 1)* • The Hero of Ages • Godkiller • Humanly Possible • Traveller’s Joy • The Well of Ascension • Babel-17 • The Final Empire • Loot • The Death I Gave Him

Finished: 11 books (9 audio, 1 print, 1 ebook)

Not many books this month but by god I read THREE Brandson Sandersons, so -

I guess I may as well start with Sanderson while we're here. I promised a mutual years ago (who's sadly left tumblr) that I would read Mistborn and it's probably been at least half a decade but I did it Lourdes! I've read a few one-off Sandersons before, but nothing I fell in love with. The Final Empire definitely had some issues, some things felt a little off, but overall I think I liked it! Except those things did not then improve in the next two books, and by book 3 I was dragging and solidly decided that I wouldn't continue past the original trilogy. I was so mad at that ending y'all, and if the mixed vibes from the copy for the next books wasn't enough that definitely sealed the deal lmao. Happy for the people who like him but it's not really my vibe. (but god, did it remind me how much I love big, grand, epic fantasies. I really need to find a good one). 3 stars

Babel-17 (3 stars) - idk, I think I found this on a rec list for sci-fi about linguistics? Which it sort of was, maybe, ostensibly. It was weird in that old sci-fi way and I kind of wish I'd DNF'd it when I originally considered it.

Traveller's Joy (5 stars)- look I will never say no to more in the Greenwing & Dart series, especially if it's my good good boy Hal. Not to mention more info about the immediate post-college times, and an outside POV on Jemis (Jemis my dude I love you so much but you are not a reliable narrator). Victoria picked a great piece of canon to explore!

Humanly Possible: Seven Hundred Years of Humanist Freethinking, Inquiry, and Hope (4 stars) - I've been wanting to read this since I first heard about it (and Humanist thought in general), and while it was interesting and I'm glad I read it, I found my attention drifting a lot. It spent a lot of time in the early/distant periods of humanist thought, which ended up not really being what I wanted - I think I'm more interested in the modern Humanist movent, but at least I know I'm on the right track!

Godkiller (4.5 stars) - It was great! It was kind of idk, epic fantasy with fairy tale and D&D vibes sort of? My brain is throwing out T Kingfisher and Robin McKinley for comps, but I'm not sure if that's accurate. A great one for fans of less-than-benevolent voices in the back of your head that are nonetheless very concerned for your well being! A solid 4/4.5 stars from me, it switched pov a little to often and didn't stick well in my head as well afterward as I'd have liked. Can't wait to get the next book!

Heartstopper (5 stars) - so cute! at least half the people who have ever come to book club at some point have said they loved this, so since we're in our graphic novel era it just made sense! I read a good chunk of the comic online ages ago and it's still great (and much easier when not fighting my wifi to load pages lol)

Cahokia Jazz (5 stars) - y'all I lost my fucking MIND OVER THIS ONE. Absolutely going to be one of my top books of the year. I'm such such a sucker for books about an outsider trying to find themself, their place, and reconnect with their culture, and hnnnnnng it was so good! Not always easy, but I loved it. I sobbed over that ending so much, I had to get up at work and go hide in the restroom for a bit and couldn't stop tearing up for the next week. Warning that the opening is pretty gory/crime novel/these-cops-are-corrupt vibes that *did* almost make me dnf (GASP), but it gets so much better I promise. Give Joe a chance, he's got hidden depths.

The Last Unicorn (3.5 stars) - It was ok? I didn't really get into it and was glad it was short, but I'm sure if I'd gotten my hands on this as a kid I'd have read it 10x times. I've also never seen the movie. I'm debating if I want to keep my copy for future niblings, but probably not.

Supernova (3 stars) - finally, I am DONE with this series. I admit, the second book almost got me and had me reconsidering if I should keep my copies after all, but this one yanked me back to reality. The undercurrents of ethics/morals/philosophy? to this series are fascinating, but uh, I'm not sure the author is aware of them as much as I was? Because the ending was fine, but all of these questions it felt like the series was raising were just ignored or pushed past. Not a bad series, just don't think about anything too hard.

DNF's

Loot - I was here for the automaton tiger and clockmaking, but that wasn't really the focus? I'm not quite sure what was, actually, I dropped this pretty quick between that, not liking the writing style, or the narrator's voice.

The Death I Gave Him - I was SO sad to give this one up. It's told through excerpts and transcripts and all sorts of things pieced together that hint at events in the future, which is one of my favorite things!!!! Except I don't know shit about Hamlet, and it was giving more psychological-thriller vibes and less murder-mystery, and I wasn't really having fun. It made me want to reread Sarah Gailey's The Echo Wife.

[jinhogae]

AL'S DRAMA RECS VOL.1: these recs will solely focus on the writing of the shows, which to me comes down to two things: how well does the plot accomplish what it set out to do in the beginning? and how compelling are the characters written, no matter if their character arc means they become better or worse through the story or even remain who they are? my favourite dramas usually succeed in giving us a satisfying answer to both questions and these are the ones you will see on this list!

★★★★★ dramas (aka the greatest hits):

SECRET FOREST / STRANGER (2017-2021): the pinnacle of all dramas. follows the duo of no-nonsense prosecutor hwang si-mok (the acting star turn of he century by cho seung-woo) and police detective han yeo-jin (the ever-exceptional bae doo-na) investigating a murder case that blows open several scandals in the prosecution. season 2 follows several cases leading to an internal investigation on police bribery. it just does not get better than this and i fear it won't ever will. this drama has the understated styling of nordic noir, the classic shenanigans of an unlikely leading kdrama duo, and one of the tightest scripts ever seen in any tv show ever. | genre: thriller, melodrama, crime procedural

MY LIBERATION NOTES (2022): following the yeom family's three siblings living in the small town of sanpo on the outskirts of seoul, and the stranger moving into the house next door to theirs, this story navigates questions of sibling-hood and family, the purpose of life, as well as the sacrifices we make for the relationships in our life as well as our own happiness. this show earned its hype from the central love story between mr. gu and yeom mi-jeong (son seok-ku and kim ji-won acting the house down) but every one of the three main storylines is well-paced, gives the main actors moments to shine and grow, and ties neatly into the overarching plot to render you either moved or comforted, or even both. | genre: slice of life, melodrama

VINCENZO (2020): at this point are there still followers on this blog who haven't at least seen me talk about vincenzo? the writing of this show is maybe the peak of genre-blending done in kdrama, a culmination of years refining this skill to sharp perfection in a biting black comedy. vincenzo cassano (song joong-ki), consiglieri of a mafia clan he got adopted into, goes back to south korea to recover a frankly unholy amount of gold and fights a gigantic conglomerate (babel) to get there. if you watch past episode four, you will finish this drama, because everything ensuing from then on is just one iconic story beat after another. | genre: black comedy / satire, crime, romance

HOSPITAL PLAYLIST (2020-2022): a medical drama beyond reproach. this show is on this list for the way it wrote its characters and achieved the most satisfying character arcs in any kdrama, maybe, ever. a group of five friends in their fourties all working at the same hospital and navigating their professional and private lives, this drama doesn't shy away from eclectic backstories (and the leads all playing music together in a band) as well as truly heart-tearing moments of friendship and romance. never have i seen character growth done as well as i have seen it in the characters of yang seok-hyeong and kim-jun-wan. | genre: medical, slice of life, rom-com

D.P. / DESERTER PURSUIT (2021-2023): d.p. to me is a no-notes kind of show. it depicts the work of the military police pursuing army deserters through freshly enlisted ahn jun-ho (jung hae-in playing years below his age and leagues above many his actual age) who ends up empathizing and working to help and save the deserters he and his team partner han ho-yeol (an exceptional koo kyo-hwan) are meant to bring back to the army instead of incriminating them further. d.p. is much better for its tone, its writing and the risks it takes in its no-nonsense approach than some of the drivel revered solely for being more flashy and showy in this genre. | genre: military drama, action

★★★★☆ dramas (aka near-perfection):

PRISON PLAYBOOK (2017): the perfect prototype of the bromance as romance formula and one of the best found family dramas that really focuses on that. star baseball player kim je-hyuk (park hae-soo in his career-defining role) loses his career and lands in prison after he assaults the ex-boyfriend of his younger sister to protect her. the show centers on je-hyuk's time in prison, where he reunites with his childhood best-friend-now-prison-guard lee jun-ho (a supreme jung kyung-ho) and assimilates himself with the people he meets in his cell. this show hits all the beats so well from a stellar supporting cast to a great comeback kid narrative for je-hyuk from his time in prison to being released. glaring flaw: the age-gap / childhood friends romance, the conclusion of hanyang's story arc, who gets the short end of the stick while being the one out gay character in the show. | genre: black comedy, found family, slice of life

GOBLIN: THE LONELY AND GREAT GOD (2017): the defining kdrama for many. it may be the one drama that really delivers in answering its plot's defining question twice over and then some. goblin kim shin (gong yoo), cursed to immortality, gets his life upended once a grim reaper (lee dong-wook as wang yeo, a performance never to be seen or repeated again since) and the young woman (kim go-eun as ji eun-tak) who turns out to be his fated bride enter his life. an immortal man resigned on life finds purpose while knowing he will fatally die once the woman he falls in love with cures him of his curse. glaring flaw: the age gap romance between eun-tak and kim shin. could she have not been in college at least? | genre: melodrama, romance, fantasy

CRASH LANDING ON YOU (2019): the romance drama that could, and did. based on a real life incident, ceo yoon se-ri (son ye-jin, an acting veteran near beyond reproach imo) accidentally crash lands in north korea after a paragliding flight gone wrong. there she meets active duty soldier captain ri jeong-hyeok (hyun bin, thank you for your service) and has to stay with him and his military company. the fated love story starts there, but neither of them know they have met before, and already changed the courses of each other's lives before doing so again. minor flaw: is this drama romanticising the military? or is depicting of that on screen just that and nothing more? that is up to you to decide. | genre: melodrama, romance

HOMETOWN CHA CHA CHA (2021): the series remake of a korean rom-com film of the early aughts, this remains my favourite romance drama over all. dentist yoon hye-jin (shin min-a blessing our screens) moves to rural gongjin, a seaside village where nothing happens at all, after her professional life in seoul goes up in flames. it's not all sunshine in gongjin either as ye-jin meets hong du-sik (kim seon-ho),a handyman who is called chief hong by everyone and fixes all the big and small fires in the village. the two start as enemies that eventually fall in love. the romance is well-handled and paced and the second lead (lee sang-yi) is the best i have ever seen in a show, especially because of the arc written for him. minor flaw: the plot is not as tight as the respective character arcs, so sometimes sacrifices are made for the sake of a more emotional scenes. | genre: rom-com, slice of life

THE GLORY (2022): when you put the revenge in revenge drama, this is what you can get. song hye-ko returns to small screen brilliance in an incomparable performance as moon dong-eun, a woman who decides to infiltrate the lives of her school bullies and take them down one by one. this show delivers on plot even more than on characters, following through on every step of moon dong-eun's revenge without shying away from how gruesome or painful that path of vengeance can be. dong-eun gets help from plastic surgeon joo yeo-jeong (a delightful lee do-hyun), and the main cast is rounded out by lim ji-yeon and jung sung-il as dong-eun's grown up tormentor and her reluctant husband respectively. minor flaw: the show does spend a big chunk of its time on the group of school bullies and their interpersonal relations, which sometimes takes time away from the main plot. | genre: psychological thriller, revenge drama

♡ more specific genre watches (beware: usually crime):

LIFE (2018): written by the writers of secret forest, life is another thriller with understated direction and a more sombre tone. i would have put it in the greatest hits category, but watching it with other people made me realise how niche it actually is in genre. a corporate hospital thriller, the show revolves around the newly-minted ceo of sangkook university hospital, gu seung-hyo (a once again flawless cho seung-woo) and a dedicated ER doctor (lee dong-wook, stellar as ever) who depict the two sides of the patient care vs. profit conflict in the hospital. i can't even say more about the show because every other plot point is basically a spoiler. sharply directed and written, this is one of the best genre pieces i have ever watched, and is mildly reminiscent of hbo prestige television of the decade before. | genre: medical drama, corporate thriller

THE WORST OF EVIL (2023): are you even surprised? this was the drama of 2023 for me, one of the most stellar scripts i have seen. the worst of evil is very firmly a noir show and you have to treat what you are watching as such. it is heavily entrenched into its genre tropes and arcs, even more than most crime shows i have seen, and that can be off-putting for people unfamiliar with the genre, but if you are up for it, you will not be disappointed. opportune violent crime detective park jun-mo (ji chang wook, korea's finest new gen action actor) infiltrates a drug ring lead by jung gi-cheol ( fantastic and emotional tour de force by wi ha joon) and the lines begin to blur when neither of them knows if what they bargained for is actually what they want. the show lets its main plot dictate the pace, focusing on park jun-mo's descent into crime, and it is all the more better for it. | genre: noir, crime thriller, action

BEYOND EVIL (2020): the story about dejected and grieving small-town detective lee dong-sik (baeksang-awarded veteran actor shin ha-kyun) being partnered with elite detective and spinster seoulite han joo-won (child actor prodigy turned actor to watch du jour) has made its waves online for its very apparent gay subtext, but to reduce beyond evil to this would be a crime in itself. following lee dong-sik and han joo-won as they are tasked to solve a reoccurring serial killer case, the framing plot then fans open the age-old wound of dong-sik losing his twin sister and being blamed for her disappearance with joo-won having taken an obsessive fascination with the case. the two crime cases are exceptionally interwoven and the stories of the people in the small town of manyang, and how they all somehow tie back to dong-sik, is the perfect example of turning the small centrepiece of a plot into the binding force of every thread. | genre: procedural, psychological thriller

OUR BELOVED SUMMER (2021): i put this into the genre-piece category because obl is majorly focused on its main trope. romantic dramas can easily be trite to me, as this obvious list of crime shows doesn't tell you, but our beloved summer is one of the few that did everything right. it plays out the best trope ever done - exes to lovers - and does not back down from embracing the whole shebang to the nth degree. high school / college sweethearts choi woong (known beloved actor on ye-xiu tumblr dot com, choi woo-shik) and kook yeun-soo (the ever great kim da-mi) have to unite to replicate, or rather continue, the viral high school documentary they filmed years ago. the show shimmies its way from one moment of reconnection to another, culminating in the best kdrama kiss to ever be put to screen, and concludes in one of the most satisfying and, yes, romantic endings ever. the things a show can do when it just sticks to its main narrative, huh. | genre: rom-com, coming of age

[bloodmaarked]

babel, or the necessity of violence: an arcane history of the oxford translators' revolution // r.f. kuang

first published: 2022 re-read: 26 may 2024 – 10 june 2024 first read: 2023 pages: 542 format: hardback

genres: fiction; adult; fantasy (urban/magical realism); historical fiction favourite character(s): don't make me pick just one least favourite character(s): again, i can't choose (because they're all brilliant)

rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 thoughts: haters will hate but they will never make me hate this book! i didn't realise i'd read babel the first time around so recently (about this time last year) - i guess i was that eager to read it again, and luckily it was just as good the second time around. most times on reread my opinion shifts slightly lower or higher, but i couldn't not give babel the full 5* once again.

r.f. kuang seems to be a bit of a divisive figure, and especially at one of my book clubs where babel and yellowface have their fair share of critics and fans. having been exposed to more of the criticism, i did go into this with a more open mind, but i have to say that i didn't see it... and maybe this book/kuang's writing is just something you either enjoy or don't. in terms of my own experience, i found babel to be a sharp and scathing critique of complacency and complicity within not just the British empire of the 1800s, but the power structures of today. it's told with the most wonderful cast of characters in a rich world that i felt immersed in from start to finish. i adored the realism of the fantasy and the way it was conducted via silver bars which were deeply integrated into the way the world worked.

i love, love, love the dark academia style of writing, both in the atmosphere of the world, and the academic style of writing. the writing was atmospheric and gorgeous, the tonal shifts between the beauty of oxford and the ugliness of the people who made it the institution it is captured perfectly. r.f. kuang loves her characters, and it really comes through in her writing. being with the cast, especially the core four, was like a warm hug. the title itself is just ridiculous in the best way, and i enjoyed the additional context contained in the footnotes, which were a really cool addition for a work of fiction. (i will say the asterisks were a little harder to find on the print edition i read this time around than they were on the e-book edition i read last year.)

i also have to give props to the research that had to have gone into the writing of this book, including the historical context and the etymological study. i was floored.

my wish is to have a griffin(/sterling) backstory, or a victoire sequel, but i doubt we'll ever get it :'(

the emotional beats didn't hit any less on reread, and that last chapter had my heart pumping hard. this is honestly a story that sits close to my heart and i see myself rereading this a thousand times. it may not be for everyone, but it's definitely for me and i couldn't be happier. you can read my original review for babel here.

[callixton]

i need to read i need to read i need to re

[zahri-melitor]

Batmen Eternal:

Oh TYNION. (Posits a future Tim at university with Sebastian Ives and Simon Valentine)

Simon Valentine. SIMON VALENTINE. You magnificent bastard sneaking even more Tim & Kon (and Tim/Kon) in here as best you can while Kon still does not, in fact, exist right now.

I also feel I haven't talked about Ulysses Hadrian Armstrong enough in my reviews of this run, and that's partly because the General is not exactly my favourite character, but it is interesting in how he's been twisted to be a Bat superfan in the most creepy manner, in regards to their quasi-paramilitary traits, which does fit in with Ulysses being Ulysses. Also his obsession with Tim, and his lovely little personal cave there full of idolisation of the exact wrong sort of military dictator generals. Ulysses finally getting his General haircut back (with the stars even growing in between issues, which is the funniest shit ever. Tim hallucinating them, Ulysses deciding he needs them in his program?)

I do like that we finally start to get a bit of Tim and Cass's late preboot dynamic returning between them. It's not 2011 level, but definitely is at least 2005ish in terms of the trust they start displaying in each other.

Steph and Cass finally getting more of their own revelations about preboot timelines is of course satisfying, if a little sad in terms of them both being like "they let me be part of the club??" That bit feels a bit more like Doylist commentary aimed at discussions of who counts as 'family' more than what's actually been portrayed on page through this entire run (which is Cass in particular actually inhabiting a LOT of the same spaces she lived in during the 2000s, including having space at the Manor nobody questioned).

And of course we finally get the OMAC payoff that's been teased all this run, because of the themes of control tied up in it via Brother Eye and its previous incarnations. I am enjoying it, if only in a slightly exasperated way, because what is happening here makes a great deal more sense if you're across what goes on with OMACs around Infinite Crisis, and the statements this is making about what Future Tim has done (that is, leant into Bruce's worst paranoia and picked up one of his old projects and modified it), rather than how I think this reads to newbie readers, which is at best "Tim learnt about protocols from Bruce". Because no! This is ongoing commentary on the "do we trust Bruce with protocols" discussion all the way back to Tower of Babel, at least, and Tim's altering position on them over time and what he will and will not do about this.

I like it! But I like it in context, and I worry it loses a lot of meaning when read by an audience who doesn't see Brother Eye show up and go "oh of fucking course, Bruce". This is supposed to get you mad at BRUCE. Even the reveal that Bruce was of course involved doesn't get across enough "BRUCE PLEASE STOP TRYING TO CONTROL EVERYTHING" (he will not).

(This is also to say this thread continues on and gets picked up in the Failsafe arc, which is "hey look Bruce's paranoia's back again, time for a new variation!")

I like where this finished, in terms of setting up potential future storylines of characters to spin out: Luke back out of costume for a while (typical, he does that frequently); Jean-Paul off to Justice League Odyssey; Kate offscreen for another Religion of Crime storyline/the end of her present Batwoman run; Cass set up to have her background with Babs re-established; Tim and Steph heading off to the starting point of Young Justice 2019; Clayface to ???? with Dr Victoria October (presumably to transition back to villain off panel for next time someone uses him). They're nice clear hooks and I enjoyed that it was done.

Was this a perfect run? No. But in terms of getting the characters assigned to it back on track in terms of characterisation and resupplying them with as much of their preboot characterisation as possible? It was incredibly successful. Definitely the best Bat title of the first 2 years of Rebirth (followed by All Star Batman).

[chaoticpixls]

TAG GAME

i was tagged by @moonwoodhollow, thank you so much for tagging me Berry!!! <3

Last song I listened to:

Favorite place: any library or bookstore, honestly.

Favorite book(s):

My heart is a chainsaw - Stephen Graham Jones (i really recommend this one if you are a fan of slashers)

If we were villains - ML Rio

Plain Bad Heroines - Emily M. Danforth

The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde

Velvet was the night - Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Currently reading:

Babel - R.F Kuang

Don't fear the reaper - Stephen Graham Jones

Motherthing - Ainslie Hogarth

Unwell women - Elinor Cleghorn

Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

Legendborn - Tracy Deonn (yes i might have a problem, actually. i should probably finish at least half of these before starting a new one.)

Favorite TV Show: this one is hard because a lot of the tv shows i like drags on for way too long and leave a sour taste in my mouth. stranger things used to be one of my faves, but i will not continue watching because of noah schnapp (honestly just cancel the whole show). i love brooklyn nine nine, though i haven't watched the latest seasons, and the witcher is also a fave.

Favorite Food: my mind is seriously blanking rn, but one could never go wrong with swedish pancakes, and homemade pizza is always delicious.

im tagging: @igotsnothing @softle0 @mellowtrait @swiftviolets @venriliz and anyone else who would like to participate <3

(as always its completely optional, don't feel any pressure to do it if you don't want to)

[learningisfundamental]

Tasks I would like to complete while on vacation (27/8-03/9):

1. read and take notes from chapter 3 of ''The Social Genesis of Emotions; A study of Karpathos''

2. finish reading "Babel" by R.F.Kuang

3. read "Caravaggio" by Ruth Dangelmaier

4. start reading "Ethics" by Benedict Spinoza

5. swim everyday

6. meditate for at least 10 minutes each day

7. journal at least 3 times