This and that...and the other thing...
Jun. 23rd, 2024 09:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat1. I'm trying to remember where I heard or read this?
souls of the dead will often visit or pass by their loved ones. And they see that they are in need of a hug, when they are sleeping. So if you feel a hug from someone you're missing while sleeping - that may well be them
I find this comforting. And since I believe in souls, it works for me.
Your Mileage May Vary
2. Dead Boys Detective Agency -Netflix - this is spun off from the Neil Gaiman comics, and part of the Sandman Universe, so it's heavy in that mythos. It's about two teenage boy ghosts, one who died in 1916, and one who died in the 1990s who have banded together to solve crimes. They happen upon a female psychic who helps them. Also a lesbian goth butcher, and a Korean Teen with white hair who is into Anime and never leaves her room.
It was okay. I enjoyed it for the most part. Had some interesting ideas - such as the Cat King (who's a frisky homosexual), and the Night Nurse (who works in the Lost & Found, and is basically a pesky bureaucrat who hunts down missing ghosts and sets them where they belong in the after-life). I also liked "Lilith" being the goddess of scorned women.
And it does a nifty meld of animation and live action at various points, just as the Sandman series did.
What I could have done without was a spider demon made of doll parts, that catches, and gnaws on people until they are dead in hell. Some things work better in graphic novels - in film - it's just disturbing.
Not for kids folks - this would give kids nightmares. Maybe teens.
3. Damsel - Netflix
Better than expected. I'd heard bad things about this one. But I actually enjoyed it. Basically the Damsel and Dragon come out on top, while the Prince's family not so much.
It's a bit preachy in places, but the ending is lovely. And how Elodie manages to escape being a sacrifice to the dragon and befriend it, was interesting. Go Girl Power.
Honestly, I don't know why people sacrifice women - women can have children, and you do need more than one, because it's not an easy thing to do and lots of people die in childbirth. Seems counter-productive to sacrifice them. While we really just need one man to impregnate, maybe three? Everything else - both can do. Actually, I should back up? In ancient Egyptian, Judeaic, Hindu, Christian, Mespotamian, and Babylonian mythos - men were sacrificed. Also in Celtic mythos men were sacrificed. So...the female sacrifice thing might be a new development as of medieval times? I don't know. The whole sacrificial ritual thing has always been lost on me. Note: if a religion is into that? Run, don't walk, in the opposite direction. Because you could be next.
4. Encanto - I like this animated film a great deal. Mainly because I can relate to it - a lot of these I can't relate to at all. It's about a young woman who feels isolated and excluded from her family because she's not blessed with magical gifts. And lo and behold, she has a purpose and place in the family after all - and magic isn't what makes people special or we aren't defined by just one thing or what we do.
Bit busy on some of the songs, which I had troubles following - it's Lin Manuel-Miranda, who tends to have rapid fire overlapping lyrics in his songs. Also some of the dance numbers were on the busy side. But it does have some lovely ones in there, and the ear-worm song - "We Don't Talk About Bruno".
5. Doctor Who Episodes 8 & 9 (S15 or S1 depending on you perspective.) Rather good ending, did leave some unanswered questions.
I didn't realize Ruby Sunday was only doing one season? Also, are we going to meet Susan now? The Doctor's granddaughter and first companion? And who is Mrs. Flood and what is her agenda.
I enjoyed this season. More than the last three actually. Combination of factors - the performers were spot on, and the writing was compelling. Doctor Who is an unevenly written series - which is actually common of all long-running serials. The writing is either horrific or terrific, with a bit in between.
Also Nguti is excellent as the Doctor. And his supporting cast was stellar, more so than usual, with just the right amount of reference to past companions, Doctors' and adventures.
I don't feel the need to analyze it - I'll leave that to others. I just enjoyed it.
6. Reading this odd horror novel by Laird Barron entitled "The Croning" which I found on Good Reads. It seems to be a really dark twist on the Rumplestilskin Storyline, with a touch of Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom - except not with a happy ending?
I'm trying to decide if the writer is a touch on the misogynistic/sexist side of the fence? The trouble with various genre fiction - is well that?
It opens with a really dark version of Rumplestilskin, and then shifts to a couple visiting Mexico in the 1960s or 70s? In the Rumplestilskin portion, the Queen's brother (who she's having an affair with and appears to be her step-brother) is looking for Stilskin and finds this woman undergoing the croning - and sees her gutted from the waist up while still alive and screaming. (A touch gory that). He passes out and that story, well it doesn't end at all well. Then we shift to the young couple visiting Mexico in the 1960s. The wife is an archaeologist who goes to a lot of ruins and digs. She gets a call that they found something she was hunting - and takes off during a second honeymoon with her husband, Don, a geologist or geothemologist. They both poke about in caves, for different reasons. She disappears for two days - he tries to hunt her down, and runs into all sorts of horrors, blacks out during some sort of evil cave ritual, and winds up on the side of the road beaten up and half dead. With little to no memory of what occurred. Years later in 1980, an Agent is killed and Don's wife's associate Plimpton dies - and states before he does "They who wait in the dark, love you and are waiting" or something to that effect - to the Agent, a few days prior to his death.
Then we jump ahead to present day. Don and his wife are in their 80s, going off on a retreat to an Inn. And Michelle has a scar that is reminiscent of a woman's scar in the Rumplestilskin story in the prologue.
It's creepy. And the writing is clunky. I have to re-read some paragraphs to figure out what the heck happened. The writer likes to write around his subject matter - which is true of a lot of horror fiction. And while he has no troubles describing in detail rooms, or what people are wearing or the looks of a place, he doesn't quite describe action clearly. Also there are some odd typos here and there - that may just be Kindle errors. I hand waved them for the most part.
I don't know if I'll continue or not with it. I'm still curious, so possibly. I'm in a bad reading slump at the moment. I've DNF about five books so far? And counting? I'm hoping a genre switch will help? It may or may not.
souls of the dead will often visit or pass by their loved ones. And they see that they are in need of a hug, when they are sleeping. So if you feel a hug from someone you're missing while sleeping - that may well be them
I find this comforting. And since I believe in souls, it works for me.
Your Mileage May Vary
2. Dead Boys Detective Agency -Netflix - this is spun off from the Neil Gaiman comics, and part of the Sandman Universe, so it's heavy in that mythos. It's about two teenage boy ghosts, one who died in 1916, and one who died in the 1990s who have banded together to solve crimes. They happen upon a female psychic who helps them. Also a lesbian goth butcher, and a Korean Teen with white hair who is into Anime and never leaves her room.
It was okay. I enjoyed it for the most part. Had some interesting ideas - such as the Cat King (who's a frisky homosexual), and the Night Nurse (who works in the Lost & Found, and is basically a pesky bureaucrat who hunts down missing ghosts and sets them where they belong in the after-life). I also liked "Lilith" being the goddess of scorned women.
And it does a nifty meld of animation and live action at various points, just as the Sandman series did.
What I could have done without was a spider demon made of doll parts, that catches, and gnaws on people until they are dead in hell. Some things work better in graphic novels - in film - it's just disturbing.
Not for kids folks - this would give kids nightmares. Maybe teens.
3. Damsel - Netflix
Better than expected. I'd heard bad things about this one. But I actually enjoyed it. Basically the Damsel and Dragon come out on top, while the Prince's family not so much.
It's a bit preachy in places, but the ending is lovely. And how Elodie manages to escape being a sacrifice to the dragon and befriend it, was interesting. Go Girl Power.
Honestly, I don't know why people sacrifice women - women can have children, and you do need more than one, because it's not an easy thing to do and lots of people die in childbirth. Seems counter-productive to sacrifice them. While we really just need one man to impregnate, maybe three? Everything else - both can do. Actually, I should back up? In ancient Egyptian, Judeaic, Hindu, Christian, Mespotamian, and Babylonian mythos - men were sacrificed. Also in Celtic mythos men were sacrificed. So...the female sacrifice thing might be a new development as of medieval times? I don't know. The whole sacrificial ritual thing has always been lost on me. Note: if a religion is into that? Run, don't walk, in the opposite direction. Because you could be next.
4. Encanto - I like this animated film a great deal. Mainly because I can relate to it - a lot of these I can't relate to at all. It's about a young woman who feels isolated and excluded from her family because she's not blessed with magical gifts. And lo and behold, she has a purpose and place in the family after all - and magic isn't what makes people special or we aren't defined by just one thing or what we do.
Bit busy on some of the songs, which I had troubles following - it's Lin Manuel-Miranda, who tends to have rapid fire overlapping lyrics in his songs. Also some of the dance numbers were on the busy side. But it does have some lovely ones in there, and the ear-worm song - "We Don't Talk About Bruno".
5. Doctor Who Episodes 8 & 9 (S15 or S1 depending on you perspective.) Rather good ending, did leave some unanswered questions.
I didn't realize Ruby Sunday was only doing one season? Also, are we going to meet Susan now? The Doctor's granddaughter and first companion? And who is Mrs. Flood and what is her agenda.
I enjoyed this season. More than the last three actually. Combination of factors - the performers were spot on, and the writing was compelling. Doctor Who is an unevenly written series - which is actually common of all long-running serials. The writing is either horrific or terrific, with a bit in between.
Also Nguti is excellent as the Doctor. And his supporting cast was stellar, more so than usual, with just the right amount of reference to past companions, Doctors' and adventures.
I don't feel the need to analyze it - I'll leave that to others. I just enjoyed it.
6. Reading this odd horror novel by Laird Barron entitled "The Croning" which I found on Good Reads. It seems to be a really dark twist on the Rumplestilskin Storyline, with a touch of Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom - except not with a happy ending?
I'm trying to decide if the writer is a touch on the misogynistic/sexist side of the fence? The trouble with various genre fiction - is well that?
It opens with a really dark version of Rumplestilskin, and then shifts to a couple visiting Mexico in the 1960s or 70s? In the Rumplestilskin portion, the Queen's brother (who she's having an affair with and appears to be her step-brother) is looking for Stilskin and finds this woman undergoing the croning - and sees her gutted from the waist up while still alive and screaming. (A touch gory that). He passes out and that story, well it doesn't end at all well. Then we shift to the young couple visiting Mexico in the 1960s. The wife is an archaeologist who goes to a lot of ruins and digs. She gets a call that they found something she was hunting - and takes off during a second honeymoon with her husband, Don, a geologist or geothemologist. They both poke about in caves, for different reasons. She disappears for two days - he tries to hunt her down, and runs into all sorts of horrors, blacks out during some sort of evil cave ritual, and winds up on the side of the road beaten up and half dead. With little to no memory of what occurred. Years later in 1980, an Agent is killed and Don's wife's associate Plimpton dies - and states before he does "They who wait in the dark, love you and are waiting" or something to that effect - to the Agent, a few days prior to his death.
Then we jump ahead to present day. Don and his wife are in their 80s, going off on a retreat to an Inn. And Michelle has a scar that is reminiscent of a woman's scar in the Rumplestilskin story in the prologue.
It's creepy. And the writing is clunky. I have to re-read some paragraphs to figure out what the heck happened. The writer likes to write around his subject matter - which is true of a lot of horror fiction. And while he has no troubles describing in detail rooms, or what people are wearing or the looks of a place, he doesn't quite describe action clearly. Also there are some odd typos here and there - that may just be Kindle errors. I hand waved them for the most part.
I don't know if I'll continue or not with it. I'm still curious, so possibly. I'm in a bad reading slump at the moment. I've DNF about five books so far? And counting? I'm hoping a genre switch will help? It may or may not.
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Date: 2024-06-24 09:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-06-25 02:02 am (UTC)