Ever wanted to learn more about a piece of media without risking spoilers, written by a fan for a prospective new audience? jellyfishlover recently wrote a primer for the series Petscop (both here on Dreamwidth and Neocities) and I think it is the coolest thing.

The page itself covers Petscop’s deal, so I’ll let that end speak for itself; but I also want to add, the very concept of a page like this intrigues me! Sometimes I just wanna know what’s up with XYZ thing that someone’s talking about, but wiki-trawling is a spoiler minefield—and half the time it’s incomprehensible anyway, written with the assumption you’ve already seen/read/watched/played/[insert other form of media consumption here] the thing. But behold, the primer: Here’s what the thing is about! Here’s why you(-general) might find it interesting! And if you do give it a try, and want to get more deeply invested, here’s some stuff you can check out, both official and fanmade!

I Just Think It’s Swell. It makes me want to make something similar for my current pet fandom, and check out other pages like it. (Closest thing coming to mind is a fanshrine, which preceded my internet time so I have no idea if they were/are made with the intent to inform/intrigue the canonblind.) At any rate, while I am notoriously slow at getting into things, reading this definitely nudged Petscop up a few hypothetical tiers. Like, look at that funky little cursor guy. What a face :3

user has not been paid for this post, just wanted to do a linkshare and the rest got out of hand!

This was supposed to be a short post (“some reads, some writes”) and then the reading rec section turned into like, four-ish (not-quite-)book reviews in a bigass trenchcoat. Cut cut, motherfuckers.

reads

Random recs from recent, all of which made me Think for some reason or another: ( ✂️ )

1.
Found a very cool community whilst Reading Page-hopping: little_details! It reminds me of those script[profession] blogs (e.g. scriptmedic); ask a niche question, get a niche answer.

One of my favorite things is art (and writing and other media types) where you can tell the artist is really into what they’re making, and hyper-specific knowledge is a big part of that :D And yes this very much includes non-“professional” subjects; there was a piece of fanart I saw on, uh, not-Twitter a while back (although like hell if I can find the link again, alas) where the artist had like, these super in-depth headcanons for how the characters would play Dance Dance Revolution, what songs they’d be best/worst at for all these specific reasons, and I’m just reading it like. ????? there’s a niche for that????? The more you know!!

Basically, I might not have a clue what niche-indulging artists are on about, but it feels like the passion bleeds through and I am giving them the biggest thumbs up from the sidelines. Reeling this back to the boost, QnA communities like little_details make for excellent reading.

2.
Shameless bragging: Last night I finally, finally, finally finished a scene I’ve been stuck on for over!! a month!!!! lies down and dies.

There’s probably still stuff I’m going to tweak with it later (writing emotional moments is my burden, I always feel like I either focus too much on making An Upset Scene (as opposed to a scene that happens to be unfortunate) and it turns unintentionally melodramatic, or I go in the opposite direction and the ensuing $behavior comes out of nowhere), but!!! multiple false starts later I have officially reached the point of I Am Satisfied For Now and Thus Done Fussing With This, so.

🥳. . . !! 8 chapters down, 3 more to go, babeyyyy
(well technically 4 but the last one’s basically an epilogue & I don’t expect it to change too much from the first draft, so it prooobably won’t take long….)

+.
Today’s song is brought to you by a post that’s making me go [interrobang noises]. I found the particular cover linked below years ago, though, during a brief Vocaloid/UTAU kick. There is something deeply fascinating to me about people tuning voices like instruments—although I think the biggest mindfuck is that the company behind Vocaloid also manufactures motorcycles and pianos. Now that’s what I call range!

There’s a small handful of things I’ve wanted to write about since my last post, but none of those thoughts have come together into a coherent standalone ramble just yet. March kinda passed in a blur, but some media highlights:

• Jack Stauber. Holy shit, Jack Stauber!!! Was introduced by a friend and this was the first video I watched, which among other recent uploads made for one hell of an impression. He makes these trippy VHS animations using (and often combining) surreal claymation, live action, MS Paint-looking animation, and some of the most bizarre music I’ve heard in a while. Consider it a “creator chose not to warn” experience. If that sounds up your alley, dive the heck in. Pick a video, any video; there’s no continuity.
  • Also, not everything is chaotic glitchiness! He’s got some full-length songs too, several of which are used in <1-minute videos. Of the calmer songs, “Today Today” is hands down my favorite. But if you want to spend a good few minutes wondering what the fuck you just watched, consider “Lima Bean Man” and (volume warning) “Shattered Molars”. For a dubiously-healthy tonal mix, also check out his series for Adult Swim, Shop!
• On a more mainstream note, the new Mary Poppins was whimsical and I’m sure it satisfied the nostalgic yearnings of people who grew up with the original. Personally I couldn’t unsee/hear the chimney sweep guy as “wow, that’s Lin Manuel-Miranda Hamiltonmusical!”, the 2d sequence just made me sad Disney’s not making fully 2d movies anymore, and I will forever be annoyed on Travers’ (the original Mary Poppins author) behalf courtesy Saving Mr. Banks. But anyway.
• *Also saw Captain Marvel, which did its job as a superhero power fantasy But With A Woman. If I think back on it too long I start poking more and more writing holes in it, but it was fun while it lasted and Carol and her “best friend” were in lesbians fight me on this.
• BUT. FINALLY SOME GOOD FUCKING MARVEL courtesy Into the Spiderverse, and yes I jumped on the bandwagon real late with this one but W O W. WISH I’D SEEN THAT IN THEATERS. It really felt like a high-budget passion project from start to finish and I would LOVE to see more movies with experimental cgi animation like this!!

*EDIT 7/30/19: Oh hey, clearing out some old notes and found the post-watch thoughts! Here ya go.( unedited and raw )