Fannish 50 S2 Post 49: Jimin and Inner Discoveries

So, earlier this year, everyone was left SHOOKETH when BigHit announced a SECOND JIMIN ALBUM!!!

Granted, some of us did expect some type of announcement to drop given that there had been a part of the Minimoni conversations (which I talked abt here.) Although it WAS possible that Jimin would dig into FACE (his first solo album), it made just as much sense to think that he would eventually drop new music, IJS.

AND NEW MUSIC IT WAS!!! At times quirky, but always sweet, MUSE is deffo the flipside of his first album. It's also a kind of evolution as Jimin stretched out his skills to see what else he had to express via song.

Back in July, this dropped

Watch on YouTube

This time, RM is having a convo with Jimin all abt MUSE and it's such a joyful watch, NGL! For starters, the tone is a little lighter than when the focus was on RM. Additionally, it was super great to see the back-and-forth between Jimin deconstructing his album and been addressed as a creative individual by RM. Like, yes, Jimin IS adorable, impish, a flirt, and v., v. sassy BUT that's not all there is to him. I've watched both episodes back to back and basically ヽ(✿ﾟ▽ﾟ)ノ to my heart's content.


"Who" was the lead single of the album. AFAIK, it's STILL tracking on the Hot 100 nearly 23 weeks after it first dropped. An all-English song, this is Jimin as an IT POP BOY. This is also one of the few songs that I've enjoyed every remix (the best ones, IMO, are the acoustic and Rock versions)

Trigger warnings: Lots of flashing effects and fast edits. Also the camera moves around a ton.

Watch on YouTube

H/T to Bookish Theories for breaking down the song and MV

Watch on YouTube

Last 2024 Book Post (with some extra chatting abt fics)

All right, I'm calling it for keeping tracks of books AND fic for this year. I'm covering the last books I picked up PLUS some reading stats AND a general purview of my fic reading as well.

Re-reads? HUH
0!

I DNF'd

* Writing Her In by Holley Trent (F/F/M Romance) - First book in an interconnected trilogy in which the endgame ships are all polyamorous. This one is abt Stacia, a popular mystery author who is also a bit of a curmudgeon. Despite her v. prickly nature, she's crushing v. hard on Adrien (the cover model for her books). Stacia and Adrien meet for drinks; he brings Dara (his wife) along. Although shocked that Adrien proposes having some intimate time together, Stacia is all for it. And, at some point, Stacia and Dara also become a thing.

I wanted to like this but I COULDN'T STAND STACIA. She's got to be one of the MOST ANNOYING characters I'm meant to sympathize/connect with. Even worse, Adrien and Dara were DRIER THAN A STALE SALTINE CRACKER.

Oh, and the writing was really bad too, hahahah. I gave up at the 10% mark, IIRC.


* Natural Enemies by Roan Parrish (M/M Romance) - Stefan is a young Black guy who is also a botanist. Milo is a Afro-Latine dude who works at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. They have a meet ugly that will eventually develop into a relationship.

Per what I know, this story was part of an Enemies to Lovers anthology a few years ago. I wanted to like it? Also, I kept in mind that Stefan was v. likely neurodivergent (based on the POV chapters). And yet, trying to read this 111-page story was SUCH A CHORE that I gave up on it. I'm a bit puzzled at this being the second published work by this author that I've bounced from. Cuz I had liked her writing years ago AND I still have 5-6 of her books on my TBRs. I'm gonna give them a read sometime in April and, hopefully, I'll like them better then. I DNF'd it at the 22% mark.


* To Cage a God by Elizabeth May (Adult Fantasy Romance) - The first book in a series that's set in an alternate version of imperial Russia in which the upper nobility (the emperor/empress and their children) have the ability to obtain godly powers. Out in the countryside, a female scientist experiments on her two daughters until she's able to graft godly powers on them. After her passing, her two daughters come up with a plan to bring down the evil empress cuz she's been destroying the country.

That's a pretty solid premise, NGL. I was also interested cuz the older sister is v. stab-happy AND she's in a morality chain-type of relationship with her male love interest. The way it was described reminded me A LOT of a v. specific kind of Marta/Ransom fic style that popped up after Knives Out premiered. The younger sister ends up in a sapphic relationship with the empress' daughter. Oh, and the daughter also has some kind of chronic illness that reads like fibromyalgia to me.

Sadly, all 4 main characters (who are supposed to be 28-33) read like they were 16-18. I know this book has explicit sex scenes in later chapters, but I never got that far. The OTHER issue was the overwriting. This author took forever and a day to move characters around; she went INTO FULL DESCRIPTIVE MODE and that meant the book took longer to wade thru.

I bounced at the 25% after picking up this book for a second time, LOLsob.


Had an awesome time at first (but it all went downhill from there)

None! Thank the gods!


Had mostly a good time

* Three-Part Harmony by Holley Trent (M/M/F romance) - The second book in the series. This time, the focus is on Raleigh (Stacia's--from the first book--friend and publicist), Everley (Raleigh's fellow publicist), and Bruce (a scandalous and famous rock musician who is neurodivergent.)

The 3 MCs were fascinating individually AND together. Since the story was told from all 3 POVs, getting to know them (and thus understanding their behaviors) was easy-peasy. My fave was Bruce. Loved his personality. Everley was an interesting character that I did find myself rooting for from the second she showed up . It's not that I didn't like Raleigh, but he did tested my patience a lot of the time, LOL. The M/M and F/M scenes were yummy. There's one (1) M/M/F scene and, if there was something I'd complain abt it'd be that I wanted to see MORE of the trouple once they're 100% together. Alas.

Another thing was that the book had a good balance between the romance and the plot (the latter specifically for the 3 MCs individually.) It was REFRESHING to see ppl working in between all the pining and lusting is all I'm saying. Hell, I even liked Stacia (Raleigh's bestie)! Talk abt SHOCKING! I couldn't stand her in her own novel! Maybe not being in her head worked as a great buffer for me? IDk

Finally, given how much I complained abt this in Book 1, I do have to give props to the author for the improvement in the writing this time around. There were a few typos here and there, but this novel was deliciously readable. I gave this novel a 3.7 out of 5.


* Up! by Claire Davis and Al Stewart (M/M short story) - Luke has been back home after dropping out of Oxford following a dark moment in his life. He's thrilled by the fact that his fave artist in the world (Formaldehyde Bob) is going to do an art installation in town.

IDK how these two authors do it, but they packed a wonderful story in only 77 pages! Loved seeing two neurodivergent characters fall for each other too. I gave this short story 4 out of 5.


* Amor Actually by Adriana Herrera, Alexis Daria, Dian Muñoz Stewart, Mia Sosa, Priscilla Oliveras, Sabrina Sol, and Zoey Castile (Holiday romance featuring F/F, M/M/F, and M/F endgame ships.) - This is a 9-story collection of romances inspired by the movie Love Actually with the twist that every single character in each of the ships are Latine.

There was so much diversity! Some of the characters identified as Afro-Latine. MCs' ages ranged from 24 to v. early 50s. A few of the countries represented included Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Ecuador, Panama, Chile, and Brazil. The writing was tremendously good. There's some drama in every story, but the angst level is low.

Out of the 9, the following stories were the ones that I didn't like/almost hateread:

- The story abt the widower who helps his son woo a classmate and ends up falling for the kid's music teacher. This one was BLAND AF.

- The story abt the Mexican-American NYC mayor going house to house in search of the community liason woman he's fallen for. BORING. I WAS FALLING ASLEEP AT, LIKE, 6 P.M. WHILE READING THIS.

- The story (inspired by the Emma Thompson/Alan Rickman segment of the movie) abt a librarian who gets pushed around by her family and ex-husband at the same time she's falling for the new music teacher. GODS, I HATED THIS STORY! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATED IT.ALSO, THERE WAS ZERO CHEMISTRY BETWEEN THE TWO MCS.

AHEM.

Thankfully, I really enjoyed the other stories (even the other het ones which is RARE for me) enough to give this collection 4 out of 5!


* I Shall Never Fall in Love by Hari Conner (Historical Graphic Novel) - Eleanor, Charlotte, and George (nee Georgina) have been close since forever. Now that everyone's 18, friends and family are pushing all to find a suitable husband.

Listen, that's a bad summary (I'm sorry!). Thing is this a story in which one of the characters (George) is not cishet, one of the characters (Charlotte) is biracial, and one of the characters (Eleanor) is queer. Think of any Jane Austen book or movie only with Black ppl and queer folks in it. My fave characters were Charlotte and George.

Unfortch, I couldn't stand Eleanor for most of the book, but she did eventually became less frustrating to read abt. The illustrations were great too! Oh, and the author also included a section on some of the historical aspects (yes, there WERE Black ppl in England during Regency era. Yes, queer ppl (both in terms of sexuality and gender) have ALWAYS been around) including some book recs for folks who are interested.

I gave this sweet book a 3.3 out of 5


AND now I'm taking a page from snickfic's general Year in Books meme thingie


How many books did you read this year? Any trends in genre/length/themes/etc? I finished 22 books. No trends that I can think of since I stuck to what I usually read.


What are your top 3 books that you read this year for the first time?

+ Counterpart by Ella Payne - I don't read much YA (if any) anymore and yet this first book in a trilogy was everything I wanted in terms of plot, pining while in close proximity, and actual stakes. NB: the remaining 2 books in the series are CRUMMY. DON'T READ THEM!

+ UP! - such a short story but DELIGHTFUL AND TENDER.

+ Amor Actually - I could yap abt this collection FOREVAH!


What's a book you enjoyed more than you expected?

Amor Actually which I kinda picked up on a whim? It was Dec. 22nd and it popped up on my library suggestions. I tend to NOT read holiday romances in general, but the set up sounded nice. I was thus v. pleasantly surprised to come across a Latine-heavy, queer AF (4 out of the 9 stories were not het), well-written, and STEAMY romances.

FWIW, it didn't do much for me to get into a holiday romance mood, but I had a GREAT TIME all the same.


Which books most disappointed you this year?

Small Game by Blair Braverman. This was advertised as a mystery book abt a group of strangers who join a wilderness reality show. Instead, the book was a hot mess of a plot that went nowhere, filled with characters I couldn't stand, and the WORST ENDING I read this year.

I wished Marie Rutkowski's Real Easy had been a mystery instead of women's fiction with a layer of suspense. I mourn what the book was supposed to be.


Did you reread any books? If so, which one was you favourite?

I went thru Edith Warthon's The Age of Innocence twice this year, LOL. It'll be a long while before I pick that book up again.

Oh, and I also reread Sarah Kenzior's Hiding in Plain Sight as a refresher before I started her other book They Knew. Neither was the lightest reading, but there we are.


Did you DNF'd any books?

Yup, 13 of them. :DDDDD!


Did you reach your reading goal for this year?

My main goal was to read at least 10 books and I surpassed it. So I'm calling it a win even though this year was less enjoyable reading wise than last year. For context, I started 20 books in 2023, only DNF'd 2, and had a super fun reading year. IDEK, y'all.


Any goals for 2025?

I'm starting at my usual, low-pressure 10-book minimum. Also, I want to add more F/F romances to my reading.

The two softe goals I've got are:

* The alphabet challenge: pick a title that starts with the letter A, then B, C, and so on. My one tweak is that I'm going to choose 2 books per letter in the hopes to make some kind of progress on my TBR. I already have my list ready!

* Try out older books from my TBRs. Just like I do ever December, I went thru my TBRs and was kinda /o\ abt having books from 2013 in them (meaning books I bought back in 2013.)

FWIW, I'm being v. chill abt both of these goals. It'll be greatness if I accomplish something, but I won't >:( at myself if I don't.


Did someone said FICS?

This year, I kept a super barebones style of spreadsheeet for funsies. Well, I was inspired by omens' tracking, heheh.

For 2024:

* Started 206 fics

* DNF'd 102

* Main fandom was BTS (ofc). I did started reading Seventeen fic in early July, but things were DIRE. Out of 52 SVT fics I began, I DNF'd 24 of them. :|

* Worst ficreading period was July-September. For every fic I finished, I'd DNF 3. I blame the summertime, IDK.

* Final word count: 2, 650, 263 which is something I'm fine with? I'm not competing with anyone (or myself even) to have a high reading count, LOL

I've gotten a spiffy, BTS-centric fic reading spreadsheet that will most likely give me better info/stats for next year. \o/