reading (etc) Wednesday

[kindkit]

Reading: For now at least, I've DNF-ed Katie Daysh's Leeward. It wasn't doing anything for me, and I mean that literally. I felt nothing for any of the characters and none of the story development, such as there has been, caught my eye. (I know I've said I want slow, less plotty stories. Did a monkey's paw twitch somewhere? For a slow story to work, other things about it--characters, worldbuilding, language--have to be awesome. In Leeward, they're . . . not. And the pacing manages to be both slow and too fast--nothing happens for pages and pages, then emotionally important moments flash past with neither preparation nor adequate follow-up.) I may give it another chance at some point, because I admit I've been tired and not concentrating well. But I don't have high hopes.

Melissa Scott's new novel Master of Samar came out, and I've started that. This isn't an Astreiant novel, but it's of the Astreiant type, with urban life and magical systems out of European history (except they actually work), and a mystery to solve. Since I didn't love Water Horse, Scott's foray into epic fantasy, I'm glad we're back to the kind of thing Scott does well. Her strengths are here, and so are her flaws (functional prose, characters who aren't very distinctly drawn); she's a long-time favorite writer of mine, who was writing queer sff before almost anybody else, and I will forgive things from her that might have me DNF-ing somebody else's book.


Other media: Apparently Rusty Quill's podcast Cry Havoc, which they announced as TMA was ending, finally dropped? I've seen good reactions but haven't listened yet. I don't know if I will. I'm troubled by things I know RQ has done, and I don't 100% believe the other accusations but I don't 100% disbelieve them either. And regardless of their ethics, they've pretty thoroughly demonstrated an inability to make a worthy follow-up to either The Magnus Archives or Rusty Quill Gaming. *shrugs* If it's still around in a year and people still like it, maybe then.

I have gotten back into podcasts somewhat, because I'm back to taking walks 5 days a week and needing something to listen to. Mostly I'm still working my way through the large backlog of the British science podcast The Curious Cases of Rutherford and Fry, but I've also started listening to S2 of Old Gods of Appalachia.

I had mixed feelings about S1 of Old Gods. It was impressive storytelling and technically well-made, with a strikingly unique voice created by the use of the accents and speech patterns of southern Appalachia (where podcast creators Steve Shell and Cam Collins grew up), and a mythos that builds wild, interesting new things on a Lovecraftian foundation. But it was so violent and so gory that I often had a hard time listening.

S2, so far, has been less violent and gory while keeping all the things I loved. I'm liking it a lot. (Sadly, I don't think I can recommend starting with S2, because the stories are connected and S1 does a lot to set up the mythos.) If you're less of a wimp than me, you may not find S1 hard going anyway.

I've tried a couple of other podcasts with less happy results. I keep wanting to listen to Pseudopod (which is a genuine anthology horror series, hosted mostly by the lovely Alasdair Stuart), but I bounce off the amateurish writing of the contemporary stories every single time. (There was a trans rights episode a couple of months ago, which of course I listened to, but it was awful.)

I also listened to the first episode of Malevolent, which has been praised here and there, but again I found the writing really clumsy, full of infodumps and the most awkward rationale for narrating everything that I've ever heard. (Audio drama podcast folks: please just take the audio format for granted. The audience isn't going to ask "why is this well-told, cool story being narrated?" any more than they'll ask "why can I see these people planning their big heist or having an intimate conversation?" about a movie. They will suspend disbelief if you give them the space to do so!) Anyway, if Malevolent gets better, please tell me.

I haven't watched any TV or movies. I keep wanting to go back to seeing movies in the cinema (I'll mask, as I mask everywhere public and indoors) but every time I check there's nothing good playing.

ETA: Make that no TV apart from Taskmaster. Which I'm still enjoying, but my watching has slowed a bit because it does start feeling same-y if you watch too many episodes in a row.

Comments

[rydra_wong]

Anyway, if Malevolent gets better, please tell me.

Yes, much. Or at any rate it gets MUCH more compelling, though for me it took a while to get there. It's messy and clunky around the edges but it's got some very good things going for it, and the central relationship has ended up hooking me hard. For me, there was a sudden flip near the end of S2 from "eh, this is engaging enough to listen to while I do other stuff" to "oh, I am INTO this".

Summary of my thoughts on it that I wrote a while back:

https://rydra-wong.dreamwidth.org/947082.html?thread=12419466#cmt12419466

The writer's said he's writing the central dynamic as a platonic relationship, but he's doing it with zero coyness or "no-homo"-ing and is not afraid of referring to it textually as love.

If you're interested in a fucked-up and deeply loving relationship between two male characters that operates at wild levels of intensity and volatility (the standard fandom joke is that they get divorced at least once per ep -- truly, living the lonelyeyes dream), it's a fun one.

Arcs very clearly being made up as the writer goes along and I have no expectations that landings will be stuck, but I'm along for the ride.

Also given the fandom overlap, I think it may have ruined Jonny Sims's chances of ever convincing anyone that the name of the protagonist of TMA is spelled "John", and I find that hilarious. We know who "John" is now and he's a very different dude.

[kindkit]

Well, I admit you're got my attention! I'll give it another try.

Part of my non-love for the first episode was probably that I got a bit confused and thought it was made by the same people who make Old Gods of Appalachia. Because if there's anybody who ought to be called Harlan Guthrie, it's OGoA's narrator (actually named Steve Shell). So I spent the first several minutes WTF-ing.

[rydra_wong]

So I spent the first several minutes WTF-ing.

Yes, I can see how that would be disconcerting!

Harlan's accent work is extremely good except for one vowel sound -- "tomorrow" and "sorry" go very Canadian for a micro-second, and once you've heard it you cannot un-hear it.

ETA: "The Dark World is Canada" is another recurrent fandom joke.

[rydra_wong]

the standard fandom joke is that they get divorced at least once per ep

This is obviously exaggerated for comedic effect, but at the time of writing they haven't had a blowout row for five whole eps and the fandom is like "Awww, #growth! ... their next divorce is going to be a real doozy, isn't it?"

Also if (rot-13ed for spoiler")"V FGNOORQ ZLFRYS VA GUR SHPXVAT GUEBNG SBE LBH, LBH NFFUBYR!!!" (I paraphrase, but only slightly) appeals as a vibe, they've got that.

It hits a very particular spot for me of people who've started from something very fucked-up (gaslighting and manipulation and possession just for starters), and stumbled their way through real and terrible hurt into a relationship which is ... still weird as hell and codependent and enmeshed and fucked-up in various ways, but also weirdly wholesome and the best thing either of them has got going for them.

[rydra_wong]

Using "wholesome" in the sense of "might actually be something healthy and good for both of them", not the fandom-twee sense.

[cyprinella]

The first ep of Cry Havoc dropped into the Wooden Overcoats feed since it's the same writer I think and I noped out in the first minute. Mostly because it was an embarrassment thing I can't stand but also yeah, I don't trust them to DO anything with it. RQ has become like the Netflix of podcast producers to me.

I also couldn't get into Malevolent either.

[kindkit]

Oh, dear. Secondhand embarrassment is almost always an instant nope from me. (I made an exception for Our Flag Means Death, because it became clear by the end of the first episode that it was going to treat its characters with kindness. But usually, I nope.)

I wasn't actually listening to either of the two canceled RQ podcasts, I confess, but it's a shame they weren't given more time to find an audience.

[rydra_wong]

Unrelated: remind me to tell you about Ahuizotl. I need to wear it a few more times to formulate an opinion properly, but it's very interesting.

https://bloomperfume.co.uk/products/ahuizotl

Might have a bit too much patchouli for your tastes, but worth hearing about.

[kindkit]

It certainly sounds interesting, especially the real ambergris.

I can handle patchouli if it's not dominant, but it's actually the clary sage that worries me. My experience with it (which is mostly in essential oil diffusion blends rather than perfume) is that it's too dirty of an earthy note for me. It's not a clean dirt smell to my nose, if that makes sense. But of course perfumes are different.

Ahuizotl sounds like it has some things in common with the old BPAL scent Seasons of the Inundation, which I liked a lot although it was a bit too odd to wear often. SotI centered around wet earth and petrichor; BPAL then put myrrh in it, which didn't quite work IMO. It sounds like Ahuizotl is making a more interesting choice to not sweeten up the scent.

I look forward to hearing what you think of it.

[rydra_wong]

I'm not a clary sage fan either. It's definitely in the mix, but doesn't bother me, for what it's worth.

Very wet forest floor. There's a really weird effect which I love in the top-notes where it smells -- not minty, but like there's something occupying the sort of olfactory space (sharp, nose-tingly) that mint would, a sort of electricity in the air.

Do you know Lush's "The Smell of Weather Turning", which does have mint in? Same kind of impending-storm vibe.

I think it's an illusion created by the aldehydes, galbanum, violet leaf, and other sharp-edged things.

[kindkit]

By the way, do you have any recs for perfumes that are herbal, medicinal, or even bitter? For a brief, delicious moment, BPAL's Absinthe was like that on me, and I loved it before it turned all sweet and BPAL-y. Now I've got an itch for a perfume that doesn't back away from it.

[rydra_wong]

Will ponder. It's tricky because "herbal" often goes patchouli-heavy -- "Borneo 1834" is a fantastic bitter/dusty/earthy thing with unsweetened chocolate, patchouli and camphor, but it is very patchouli.

How do you feel about plasticky sticking-plaster notes? There are a few of those around ...

(I'd rec https://www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Comme-des-Garcons/Comme-des-Garcons-Series-1-Leaves-Tea-3721.html but it's discontinued, alas. I hoard it.)

The original Comme des Garcons is a great "medieval apothecary spice blend" thing, though there's a bit of honey, which might go over-sweet on you:

https://www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Comme-des-Garcons/Comme-des-Garcons-389.html

[rydra_wong]

I will upgrade my Borneo 1834 rec since you're investigating patchouli.

It is very much not the smooth and gentle patchouli you're looking for over on smellsgood, but might fit the herbal/medicinal bill; it's camphorated and weird and intense.

https://akafkaesquelife.wordpress.com/2013/01/12/perfume-review-serge-lutens-borneo-1834/
https://www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Serge-Lutens/Borneo-1834-5201.html

I haven't smelled Coromandel but it's by the same nose (Christpher Sheldrake) and often cited as a sweeter/smoother rendition of the same patchouli/cocoa theme:

https://www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Chanel/Coromandel-Eau-de-Parfum-41783.html

Basenotes argues the pros and cons:

https://basenotes.com/threads/chanel-coromandel-vs-serge-lutens-borneo-1834-battle-of-sheldrakes-chocochouli-duo.219460/

[rydra_wong]

Nuit de Bakelite is a fantastic bitter green:

https://www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Naomi-Goodsir/Nuit-de-Bakelite-43954.html