Because Empty Fame Is Evil. That's Why.

Fandom 50 S4 Post 17: BTS actually getting good interviews from western media?

2026-06-02T17:07:41Z

Like many ARMYS already know, western media's interviews when it comes to BTS tend to be either insipid or extremely superficial.

So I was shocked when I watched these two sit-down conversations.

FTR, Zane Lowe is someone that rubs me wrong way. Everything abt his persona reads as trying too hard to be a Cool Dude (TM) and his voice sounds v. swarmy to me. So, only the Tannies would get me to watch this 43-min video.

I will admit that he allowed the guys to answer questions and attempted to give everyone at least two questions. Despite the casual vibes, the interview itself turned out a bit more formal than not (in terms of structure), but I did enjoyed the guys' candidness.

This next one was kind of a multimedia thing in that there was this group interview as well as ones with RM, Jin, SUGA, Hobi, Jimin, V, and Jungkook.

Gotta give props to Brian Hiatt, the journalist, for establishing a good rhythm that allowed BTS to be friendly and goofy.

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Fandom 50 S4 Post 16: BTS' work as discussed by Korean producers

2026-06-01T19:05:35Z

Kicking off 2026 FESTA with the first of 13 or so posts abt BTS with this fairly short (12-mins) video from three guys who are involved with the creative side of music.

Kin Jungwoo, dude on the right (with the long hair), is in a rock duo (Toxic). He also works as producer.

37 Hong Jungpyo (the guy in the middle with the blond hair) is a producer.

Jung Hootae, the dude on the left, is part of an indie rock group (Monni) that's been going since 2004 (!) and he also produces.

This is the video where the clip abt BTS setting the pace/signaling potential trends in Kpop for the next 6 months after a major release like Arirang comes from. There's also a discussion as to whether Arirang is a Kpop album or no. I thought it was interesting, IDK.

It's got English CCs.

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Fandom 50 S4 Post 15: Interview with the Vampire-a-go-go! 🧛🏾‍♀️🧛🏾‍♀️🧛🏾‍♀️

2026-06-01T12:08:21Z

[Trying to post this almost 7k-word thing abt IWTV before S3 begins AND right on the cusp of 2026 FESTA kicking off.]

An AMC TV series in which Louis Point Du Lac (played by Jacob Anderson) sits for a new interview with Daniel Malloy (played by Eric Bogosian).

FTR, this happens 50 yrs after their first interview--which Louis considers incomplete and not the true story. Back then, Daniel was doing drugs and Louis hadn't come to terms with certain things abt his past . . .

Before I begin my yappin' let me go ahead and show My fannish Vampire Chronicles/IWTV credentials so y'all know where I'm coming from.

I've read several of Anne Rice's standalone novels: Cry to Heaven, Belinda, Exit to Eden, what was then the Sleeping Beauty trilogy (though there's now a 4th book out), and the first book of The Mummy: or Ramses of the Damned duology.

The only one of her books I've DNF was The Wolf Gift (the first of the werewolf novels.) Last time I read anything by Anne Rice (for the first time) was 2012 (the novel I DNF'd.)

As for the Vampire Chronicles, I read up to The Vampire Armand. So I stopped at the halfway point (finished book 6 out of the 13 written by Rice.) By 1998, I'd fallen out of love with her floral writing style. It'd become pretty clear to me even one book earlier (Memnoch the Devil) that she had an editor in name only. The more I read, the more I noticed how OTT and purple her writing had become. And so I grew distant from the whole saga. Every time she published a new book in the series, I'd consider picking it up, but never got around it then. And now I doubt I'll ever will.

Have read IWTV 4 times through years. It's pretty clear in my memory. I'm abt a week away from borrowing a copy of The Vampire Lestat. This will be my 1st reread of that book since the mid-90s. Although I remember the overall story, I kinda want to refresh my memory a little before S3 kicks off in a week's time. My general feelings abt it have always been v. neutral, IDK.

FWIW, I met Rice at a couple of book signings. She was v. gracious. IDK. In short, was a big fan of her books, kinda fell out at some point, and so now here I am!

OFC, when the Neil Jordan movie came out in 1994, I went to the premiere decked out in my best goth gear. It was a big fucking deal. Owned the soundtrack, owned the movie in VHS and DVD. Have lost count of how many times I've watched it.

When the Queen of the Damned movie premiered, I went to the theater. I have OPINIONS abt it, but I liked it too, hahah. My point is that I'm usually OK-to-enthusiastic abt Vampire Chronicles adaptations. :P

ANYWAYS, at some point during Pandemic Year One, I began hearing abt the TV series. NGL, I had some SRS BIZNESS DOUBTS cuz the CASTING WAS SO IMPORTANT. ESPECIALLY Lestat.

TBH, I've never heard of Sam Reid. I was v. ???? cuz he didn't look like the version of Lestat in my mind.

As for Jacob Anderson getting cast as Louis, I was 100% excited.

The first season premiere and took off in Fandom to the point that I could feel my "hypebacklash button" abt to get activated. So I pulled back and worked hard at ignoring anything abt it. Long story short, it wasn't until earlier this year that I remembered both seasons are available on Hoopla. I figured "eh, let me go watch it" . . .

First impressions abt the show

First of all, Jacob and Sam were FANTASTIC.

I liked Bogosian as Daniel. Especially how determined he was at getting Louis to answer his questions.

One boon from the TV show was that it gave Claudia a richer backstory. Following her along as she aged mentally while locked in the body of a 14-year old girl. Her attempts to work thru all of that plus the trauma that resulted from the uniqueness of her situation. OOF!

She was my fave character HANDS DOWN. Both actresses did a fantastic job in showing Claudia realizing the true consequences of being a vampire. It was heartbreaking and enraging AND SHE STILL WENT TOE TO TOE WITH LESTAT TO THE POINT I GOT GOOSEBUMPS, Y'ALL.

The cinematography was top notch. Set design was impeccable and all of the clothing was amazing too.

One of the things I enjoyed the most was how, despite my familiarity with the story, the changes (including Louis being Black and moving the story forward in time) were brilliant moves. Kicking off the past timeline in 1910 obvs underline the historical aspects BUT, at he same time, it was so far back (compared to 2026) as to feel too ancient.

The vampires WERE vampires and so the violence was pretty in your face. None of the gory scenes (which include disembowelment) made me queasy, but I do have to say it was A LOT.

Comparing both seasons

Here on out, there will be spoilers for the book, the movies, and both seasons of the TV show

S1 had a stronger emotional impact because so much abt it centered on Louis cutting ties with his family; the introduction of Claudia; the underlining of Louis/Lestat being The Worst (™), etc.

S2 opted for a different approach. It focused more on the psychology of certain characters. Louis was the heart of S2 (whereas in S1, it was Claudia's main role). The exploration as to how if a character is a vampire that had survived abuse, how far could they go before they break, and how would they pull themselves from darker moods was all excellently done.

Having said that, I'm not sure which season I liked best. For S1, as toxic and bad news for each other as they are, the romance between Louis and Lestat was chef's kiss (SMH AT MYSELF.) It's rare and beautiful, really. I liked how they show it thru words, actions, and behaviors. Even by the end of S2 where, for however vicious, selfish, and bratty Lestat is, he did care abt Louis. Now, was the love ENOUGH to keep Lestat from being horrid to Louis? NO. The abuse during the 7 or so yrs that Claudia left was grueling to sit thru.

MOVING ON

The ending brought Louis and Lestat together at a detente, meeting each other as best as they could, with Lestat showing some vulnerability (cuz he gotta be manipulative.) In some ways, he was something like a v. beautiful yet dangerous animal. In that he'll allow others to pet him until he got bored and then he'd destroy whoever was trying to love him. That's his nature, I guess.

Do I have any criticisms?

FOR S1

The last episode had so much building up to the climax--with plans on top of plans on top of plans--and, honestly, it dragged. I knew they had to do the set-up for S2, but I didn't end up enjoying the episode like I was meant to. IDK.

The two new vampire characters. Bruce and Antoinette. I was v. ???? abt why he showed up. And, I never warmed up to Antoinette as a fledging. She was such a doormat and her "behold! I'm a vampire who's Lestat's "true" ride or die!" scene in the last ep of S1 was so ridic. She was so unimpressive.

For Season 2

I never really vibed with Madeline. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Speaking of, I hated (HATED) that there was confirmation Claudia had gotten raped many times by Bruce. It did explain a little of where her anger in S2 came from, but I still disliked that, NGL.

Do I recommend it?

FUCK YEAH! The show has completely surpassed the source material. All of the changes have been for the better, the casting is PERFECTION, the level of gore is abt right, I could legit go on, y'all.

S1 gets at 4.8 out of 5 from me.
S2 gets a 4.6 out of 5. I found it less emotionally-engaging for me. Louis trying to deal with his trauma from Lestat without being aware that Armand's manipulating him. Ooof!

I know AMC is promoting this show as a part of "The Immortals Universe" (which is LULZY AF given how the whole franchise thing is v. out of fashion circa at least 7 yrs ago.) And I know they've tried (and failed) to launch a Talamasca series (that's been since cancelled) while still keeping The Mayfair Witches show alive. [For some reason, I never got around reading the books. They never caught my attention. Funnily enough, just as I was considering reading the MW books, I had already fallen out of love with Anne Rice's writing. So I kinda put the idea of reading the novels away.

At this point, there hasn't been anything that has caught my attention, so I'm not watching the show. 🤷🏾‍♀️]

Queerness level:

Pfft! It's thru the roof. 'nough said.

OK, next up, I'm looking at different versions and taking a deeper dive into characters and plot. SPOILERS GALORE!

The one thing I had to keep in time when looking at all three (sometime four) formats was that there was a limited amount of time for the movies. Whereas, as of the time of this post, there are 15 or so hours of the TV show for the same canon. It's a bit unfair, but there's nothing I can do abt that.

BTW, I'm also including 2002's Queen of the Damned since some of the characters in the show and 1994 movie do appear in that film as well.

LOUIS

Book version

Overall, I think he's okay, if somewhat too whiny for the majority of the time. It was interesting to see him waxing poetic abt the philosophy of murder and his own inner turmoil, etc. I remember liking him a ton back when I first read the book, but have cooled off in the years since.

Now, this is a truth that I've had in my heart since I first read the IWTV book: Louis is a loser. He did get a bit better (in the book) when he got turned into a vampire, but his loser tendencies were then amplified by the end of that novel. IMO, he did achieve a certain level of stability in subsequent books, but there we are. It wasn't until my first reread of the novel that I understood why it was Lestat and not him that became the main protag of the series. :P

Movie version

Brad Pitt toned down the wah-wah from book!Louis a little bit. Physically speaking, I do think he resembled the way Louis was described in the book.

Despite my dislike of Brad Pitt's public persona (and turning out to be a generally shitty person), I can't deny the guy did what he had to do with this role. So it worked good enough. Also, he and Tom Cruise had good chemistry.

AFAIK, Louis never showed up in the Queen of the Damned movie. There was a character who I used to think it was Louis cuz of his proximity to Lestat? However, the credits say that character was Armand, so I guess Louis decided to travel to Outer Space or else was in deep sleep underground.

TV version

To no one's surprise, this was the SUPERIOR Louis. Jacob played him as someone who was a relatively good person (he's one of the 'better' characters in terms of morals, maybe?) BUT he's also in denial abt the terrible things he did over the years. I like that he was less conventional moody (or theatrical?) than Brad Pitt's take on the same character.

Even though, realistically, there's only one (1) episode of Louis as a human, so much was shown of him back then that viewers got to see he was pre-meeting Lestat. So, once he's a vampire, it's easy to understand his behavior. AND EVEN THEN, the show still dropped enough surprises to build up layers that showed Louis was just as messy as Lestat but in a different way.

Some of this was cuz he'd been so repressed (as a queer man) for YEARS when he was human. He moved through an in between space: he could and did 'hang out' with rich, white ppl because he made money for them, BUT would never be accepted due to being Creole.

He's also a deeply closeted gay man who paid a sex worker to help him keep a 'manly' reputation (even though all they did is sit down and talk.) Finally, he's someone who loved his family, but also rejected the obligations that come with being the main breadwinner (such as getting married to a woman, getting her pregnant, etc.) So he juggled all of that AND compartmentalizes to the point that, by the time he met Lestat, he was completely lost.

Particularly because right at that moment, he's in mourning someone he cared abt a lot, his mother was blaming him for something that it's not his fault, and he's simply tired of everything. Which was the moment when Lestat showed up dangling a solution to all of that pain. Allegedly.

So I get why he made the choice (despite it being a bad choice overall.)

Another thing is that, even though he got powers once he's a vampire, none of that had healed the hurt of being the target of racism and homophobia. He's got ways to fight back now, so to speak, and was v., v. rich, but he's not an omnipotent being either.

LESTAT

Book version

Everything abt him was from Louis' POV, so it's v. much abt Lestat starting as a dreamy guy who turned out to be a monster. Lestat was clearly positioned in the book as a potential villain/frenemy of Louis. It's pretty understandable why he was so miffed abt his 'mischaracterization' in Book 1 to the point that the following book was all abt HIM and his life story, haha. He's such a DIVA, I swear!

Movie version 1

Tom Cruise's portrayal was greatness. IHNI what was in the air or what kind of notes he studied to embody that character. All I know is that this was one of his BEST roles hands down! He looked great with that blond wig--which supported the HIGH CAMP FACTOR that Cruise brought into his acting. Cuz, at the end of the day, one of the biggest reasons why he's a fave of many has to do with being a character that's v. impulsive and bratty. Cruise got that down pat.

Hell, I was rooting for him FROM THE GET. Which is hilarious cuz I was a Louis girlie back when I first read the book in the early 1990s. But in the MOVIE? I was all for Cruise's Lestat and his ridiculousness. Additionally, Cruise's Lestat was a hedonist and he carried that as a badge of pride, LOL. IDEK, y'all, other than having to make peace with the fact that I'll always have a soft spot for the movie because of Tom Cruise of all people. o___O!

Movie version 2

Stewart Townsend in Queen of the Damned had the arrogance that's part of the character's inner world. Unfortch, he didn't look like Lestat (he wasn't blond for reasons that only the production team could explain. IF it was a case of him looking ridic with blond hair, then they should've cast someone else!)

ANYWAYS, he also took this role way too seriously. His whole presentation of Lestat ended up weaker out of everyone in the cast. And that's despite exuding a somewhat interesting/aloof vibe. Lestat's snobbishness was legendary, but there was more to the character than that. Townsend didn't bring much to the role. He lacked the range AND talent. ಥ_ಥ

TV version

Sam Reid surprised me. Yes, he had the look, vibe, and mannerisms that were necessary to present Lestat to 2026 audiences. In some ways, he was a good in-between the two movie versions AND also having an extra layer from the book canon. He played up the camp with a side serving of arrogance. So he's my fave version of Lestat after Cruise. Occasionally, I like him a bit better than Cruise. It depends on my mood, LOL.

Whereas Cruise's Lestat was shallower (personality wise), there was a lot more substance on Reid's portrayal of Lestat. By logic, he's got 7-8 hours per season to showcase all of the character's inner world, so he could go every which way in his acting without worrying that he'll run out of time. This meant there's a coherence in his performance that made it much more attractive to watch.

Just like with Jacob's version of Louis, I liked how much Sam understood his character and respected that character's journey. Lestat was someone who had BEYOND RIDIC LEVELS OF CHARM and an occasional rococo-style of dialogue that takes skill to perform convincingly enough for the camera. Sam played this character in a way that's ambiguous as to whether he wants to seduce you or kill you, LOOOOOL. He really liked to 'play with his food."

Abt the only thing that did throw me off was the deepness of his voice. At the same time, it wasn't enough for me to put me off the show.

CLAUDIA

Book version

She got turned at 5. Which was something I hadn't picked up the first time I read the novel. But I certainly felt disturbed abt Claudia kinda falling in love with Louis when I picked up the book the 2nd time (FTR, I'm aware of what was the basis for the character.)

Movie Version

Kudos to Kirsten Dunst in the movie cuz she was able to say so much abt Claudia's storyline with the limited amount of time she had. Whereas there's a lot of time in the TV show.

Kirsten's approach was that of a much more blatantly tragic figure. She looked slightly younger than TV show's Claudia (who was more of a pre-teen). Her interactions with Armand were fewer. And yet, she had the talent to reflect Claudia growing up mentally yet staying trapped in a little girl's body..

TV version

S1 was played by Bailey Bass was AMAZING. I liked that the character had been aged up to 14. Bass' level of acting SURPASSED Dunst's in terms of the mental age vs. physical body duality. She did a jaw-droppingly good job at that. And butted heads with and poked at Lestat in truly electrifying scenes. Also her love (which was less parental and more of a sibling bond) with Louis was comforting too.

I liked S2 Claudia out of all 3. It was her fury what got me to root for her (despite knowing what was to come.) The fact that it was so intense she'd pretty much shut down. The show didn't make it easy either. Such as the warped result of her live in Paris.

DANIEL

I'd say that both book and movie versions seemed fairly similar. Or, at the v. least, they felt like that to me to the point of not wanting to make separate sections for them.

TV version

Finished both seasons and I remained still at odds with him. OTOH, I liked that he called out EVERYONE: Louis, Lestat, Claudia, Armand, hell even Santiago for what they did to each other. Rarely got distracted by all of the obfuscating, blatant lies, and distorted memories. Just like with Claudia, the series provided him with the space to show more of his background.

OTOH, I was unable to say that becoming a vampire has changed my opinion abt him.

ARMAND

Book version

Per the description in the novel, he had a youthful face, but was also the oldest vampire. His (emotional) romance with Louis made sense. FWIW, I've always found it interesting that it took forever and a day for Louis to realize how deeply fucked up Armand actually was.

He was one of my fave characters for the first 4 books in the Vampire Chronicles.At least until his own book--which immediately left me doing this at him 🙅🏾‍♀️ (That book is LEGIT BAD!)

Movie version 1

I'll be the first one to say that the filmmakers should've gone with someone else and not Antonio Banderas. FTR, yes, Banderas was game to play up Armand's fluid sexuality AND he was v. beautiful at that time. But he also looked older. Additionally he either pissed someone from the wig department off OR there was v. little left in the budget after Lestat and Claudia's wigs. Cuz he's doing a relatively good job with the role . . . with a fancy Party City wig. 🙃.

Acting-wise, though, Banderas showed the character's world-weariness and desperation quite well. I've watched this movie many times and I'm STILL conflicted abt the way this character was portrayed. Go figure.

Movie version 2

Queen of the Damned's Armand (played by Matthew Newton) was who I'd assume was Louis. My best guess was that the movie combined Armand and Louis into one character. Which confused the fuck out of me. I kept looking at the character thinking "OK, there's Louis. But where's Armand?". Because I remembered him having an important role in the novel.

He had a Robert Plant (during the height of Led Zeppellin) look that made NO SENSE. I didn't get him or liked him. FWIW, he had less than a paragraph's worth of dialogue, but IDEK y'all.

TV version

Assad Zaman's Armand was all abt self-preservation. Maybe because of everything he'd live thru in all of his years (he's one of the oldest vampires around), he was just as selfish as Lestat (though in a subtler way.) Zaman was great at highlighting many facets (both goodish and bad) of an already interesting character. He was a lot more manipulative from the start. Not to mention ridic handsome too (like the rest of the cast.)

MADELINE

In the novel and movie, Claudia's a little girl and there's a whole thing abt how Madeline's gonna be the mother that Claudia needed. IIRC, by the time Claudia met her, Madeline had lost a child.

But, in the show, Claudia (who is stuck in the body of a 14-y.o.) and Madeline's dynamic was blurrier. Louis even asked them if they're companions (the way he had been with Lestat and was currently with Armand). Their reply was a little odd: Claudia mulled her answer while Madeline said yes v. enthusiastically. It's pretty much a given that they were lovers. I was like 😬🤔😶 cuz it was playing too fast and loose with lines.

I do think that the (canonical) maternal version of her wasn't gonna be a good fit for TV!Claudia. Ultimately, TV!Madeline was an enigma for me. I think I preferred the movie version over the book or TV one.

SANTIAGO

Book version

Even though he did become a crucial character to the latter part of the novel, I can't say Santiago registered as someone I've kept track of whenever I've picked up the novel.

Movie version

Stephen Rea did the most with the v. few scenes his character was in. His version was a bit more of buffoon that (eventually) turns v. vicious.

TV show version

Ben Daniels was really great in this role. He was devious and fascinating every time he poked at Louis. Their interaction was so yummy because it was tense 99.9% of the time. He also wasn't subtle abt wanting to take over the coven and was, instead, biding his time. Which added a layer of WTF-ry cuz Armand had kinda accepted it?

RAGLAN JAMES

I was v. ??? abt the TV version. Dunno if it was cuz it's Justin Kirk or the sliminess of this version, but I was quite 🙅🏽‍♀️ abt him. THAT SAID, I did liked the seeds (so early on) for Book 4. IJS. OJO

At the same time, I finished both seasons still at odds with his tiny!storyline. Was he really in Talamasca OR was it just a con job he was pulling on Daniel?

The Two Main Ships (I acknowledge the OT3, but I'm also kinda neutral abt it, so I'm skipping it this one time.)

Louis/Lestat

OK, this is v. uncool, dare I say problematique of me, but I ultimately loved them. They're TERRIBLE for each other, but the kind of chemistry they've got? FETCH ME MY SMELLING SALTS! I WAS SWEATING WHENEVER THEY GOT ALL LUSTY WITH EACH OTHER!!!

Both actors went for the emotional core of every scene and that heightened the INTENSE AF attraction to each other. ON TOP OF THAT, it was super clear that both actors trusted each other. Neither one was uncomfortable with or reluctant abt the romance or intimacy.

If someone asked me, I wouldn't call them a Power Couple cuz they were so gorram messy and toxic! Frex, the high levels of manipulation from Lestat, pockets of resentment from Louis' perspective, their constant push-and-pull until things got extremely violent. They're deffo NOT #CoupleGoals.

Louis/Armand

In the movie, Louis mentioned that he and Armand had traveled for a while, but that eventually he'd realized that Armand didn't have anything else to offer in terms of wisdom.

In the TV show, he and Louis had been together for around 70 yrs. So they've got their domestic vibes down. You could tell they're together, but it was almost like they were playing-acting as a couple. Instead of being an actual couple. I feel that Armand was always aware that he couldn't (much as he wanted to and tried to) sever the BOND between Louis and Lestat.

See also Louis obsession with Lestat to the point that Armand flat out told him how sick he was of hearing that name. And, by that point, it'd been DECADES into their own relationship.

FORMAT

The TV Show reigned ✨supreme✨.

The movie was slightly better than the book. It condensed a lot of the main plot into a 2-hr space while still hitting enough emotional beats.

The book was v. much "of it's time".

Are non-readers missing anything from it if they decide to skip it? I'm gonna say no. In part cuz, compared to the TV show, the book was on a whole 'nother galaxy w/r/t the story arcs. Also, the protags were super chill abt being racist and (in Louis' case) slave owners (😬). All of this was presented as "it was part of the culture/society at the time." 😒😒😒. Also, the writing was V. OTT/flowery.

SETTING

The novel began right as the US became an official republic.

Both movies were set in contemporary times. IWTV had a v. heavy 90s aesthetic. Every time I've watched it, I can't deny a twinge or two of nostalgia. QOTD went into nu-metal vibes that kinda worked? There's a lot of opulence as well. I appreciated it, IDK.

TV show's S1 was set in the Progressive Era (1890s-1920s) which was when so many things like urbanization and certain reforms happened such as when (white) women got the right to vote. Alongside, ofc, as to massive corruption and a lot of the upper classes trying their best to keep the lower classes oppressed, etc.

One thing I didn't catch at first was how quickly WW1 happened in the show (IIRC, it's relegated to one or two eps?) Which was an interesting shorthand for how human events were unimportant to Lestat, Louis, and Claudia.

S2's focus on WW2 and its aftermath was also well done.

PLOT

Book version

Everything was told from Louis' perspective. It dripped with purple prose. There were some parts filled with beautiful writing, high emotions, etc. But Louis did turned out to be something of dud, IMO..

Movie version

It distilled a lot from the canon in a way that made more sense than not. There were whole chunks of mini-storylines (such as the whole deal with Lestat's father) that were swept away. Usually for the better. The movie still managed to tell a good yarn.

TV show

One thing that had me ???? over the past year and a half was seeing ppl pick up the novel after watching the series and criticizing the novel. I came across many reviews where folks mentioned their disappointment at how cheesy the novel was or how certain things (such as Louis owning slaves and running a plantation) had been glossed over thru the years by the Vampire Chronicles and/or Anne Rice fandoms.

They also couldn't believe that so many of the things that made me a fan of the show (such as the topics that the show dives into) didn't exist in the book.

However, after watching the show, those readers' reactions made so much sense! The depth of WTF-ery they must have felt while reading that novel must have been ridic, hahah.

Particularly with how the show wove in themes of race, queerness, politics, community etc. Things that didn't appear in the novel or movie. The fact that Louis was Creole was a big deal. And I loved that there was purpose behind casting a Black British actor for a role. Same as casting Bailey Bass and Delainey Hayes as Claudia. It mattered. Racebending the characters was cool, sure, but it also meant that sooner or later (IF TPTB behind the show really did care abt these changes) would have to address race. And they did in a way that had me SITTING UP EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

It didn't talk down to viewers. Instead, it invited viewers to reflect on how things were back then and how they're now.

Several of the scenes had Louis trying to explain to Lestat that his reactions (both as a human and, later on, as a vampire) had to do with racist bullshittery. And Lestat didn't get that because he's a white guy. I love that the plot didn't pull away from that point of tension.

Now I'm gonna say something that might upset some, but it's gotta be said: it's been chilling and infuriating to see the way a lot of fans (especially white ppl) have reacted to this show. Cuz some have been upset abt Louis, Claudia, and Armand no longer be white (nevermind that, canonically, Armand wasn't white? But I digress.) Also, there's been a really weird (and I do mean really weird and gross) not-quite-hidden racist push even among ppl who claim to ship Louis/Lestat or Louis/Armand. I guess racist ppl gotta shake out their racist ya-yas for everyone to see? 👎🏽👎🏽👎🏽👎🏽🍅🍅🍅🍅

FWIW, the original text still exists. IF ppl want to go and read abt the slaves and the plantation, Louis' white skin, the white genteel ideas of the South (including the idealization of slavery times), it's still there. Same as with the movie and things like the idea that Louis' slaves were respectful and liked him a lot until Lestat showed up.

Whereas in the show, the topics of race, the horrors of slavery, and how both shaped a lot of who Louis was as a human and continued to exist as a vampire were front and center. I truly and deeply appreciated that.

Season 2 Plot Points

* I loved seeing Louis going from someone who was completely at sea, lost, and depressed. His skepticism abt other vampires. Even though he's not for or against the larger conflict in WW 2, it still touched him (and Claudia). Such as the areas they travelled thru had checkpoints and they had to keep coming up with reasons why they're in Europe. There's a point in which Louis was talking on the war to the point that humans' blood tasted wrong, sad, and was full of despair. OTOH, it still fed him and Claudia. OTOH, they were also barely alive themselves because the quality of the blood was so poor. Which, yeah, the bodies, minds, and souls of ppl who live in a constant state of being retraumatized (be it because of war or something else) were gonna be affected. It was a small but great observation. To me, it pointed out the level of detail that the screenwriters went into.

* I liked Louis' journey in S2 as he tried to process two different traumas from two separate times in his life and yet both traumas were interconnected. His determination to keep on surviving once he and Claudia get to Paris. See also him trying to figure out what he really wanted. And this was where Delainey Hayles as Claudia also pushed him in a good way. She asked him something like "who are you now that you're away from Lestat? Who are you if I am (potentially) gone to do my own thing?" I wouldn't quite say he was successful at answering either question, but that made sense to me.

THEN, there's the WHOLE LOTTA MESS of his relationship with Lestat. They were TERRIBLE for each other, but they're also connected, bound in a way that they couldn't even explain. So his psyche was even messing with him with imaginary!Lestat. Such as in ep. 5 when, hundreds of years later, Lestat did reached out to him and, despite being unable to communicate all the way thru, Louis was DESPERATE to hear something from Lestat.

* The Armand that showed up in S2 was HORRIBLE, but in the best way, LOOOOOOOOOOOOL. His backstory included years of abuse and trauma. As one of oldest vampires around, he'd seen so much and didn't even know what to do anymore. His connections to Lestat and Louis are MESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSY to the point I kept going "lorde, here we go with the chaos" every other scene, LOLsob.

I did liked that he never clicked with Claudia.

* The whole thing with Daniel was nasty in the worst way. Starting with how it'd gone back DECADES? I got it cuz Armand was v. sensual and manipulative (derogatory). Assad was amazing in the role, tho. He had off-the-charts chemistry with pretty much everyone.

Just like in S1, I remained frenemies to Daniel. OTOH, he did bring out what needed to be said (such as Lestat having been abusive toward Louis--despite Louis trying the hardest to dismiss that). Also the way Louis, Armand, and Lestat were interconnected in all kinds of ways didn't help Louis any. In certain ways, Daniel did aimed for honesty.

OTOH, I didn't like how much snark he threw whenever the conversation topic was Claudia. I remember this being more obvious in S1, but his reactions abt her were always weird (to me, at least). I'm still not sure if it was a case of him being disturbed abt Claudia's love for violence OR if he was suspicious of Louis' gentler/rose-colored glasses-like recollections of her.

Final Thoughts

I will most deffo continue on w/S3, a.k.a The Vampire Lestat. Although, because of this year's FESTA, I will most likely be abt 3 weeks or so behind everyone else. BTS will always get my attention no matter what.

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New Book Post!

2026-05-18T18:06:38Z

Re-reads. HUH

* Season's Pass by Joanna Chambers (Historical M/M romance) - This is a short story that happens in between Books 1 and 2 of the Enlightment series. I'd read (and loved!) the first 3 books around 12 yrs ago. But hadn't paid much attention to it afterwards. Only to find out that the author had published additional novels. So I decided to refresh my memory a bit.

This one is a moderately angsty story from Murdo's POV as he considers his feelings for David. It also works as a prologue of sorts for Book 2. I gave it a 3 out of 5

* Unnatural by Joanna Chambers (Historical M/M romance) - OK, funny story abt this one: I borrowed it from my library since I hadn't read it before. Which turned out to be FALSE. According to my Goodreads, I'd already gone thru it a DECADE AGO (no, really, WTF IS TIME?!). And yet, my brain was all NEW PHONE, WHO DIS? when I started reading this book.

ANYWAYS

After the original trilogy (which focused on one couple only), the author began to publish spin-off novels with friends, acquaintances, etc of Murdo and David. THIS novel is abt James and Iain, two guys who have been BFFs since childhood. As they grow up, both men realize they're not (in the modern parlance) straight. What follows is a push-and-pull, slow-paced (but NOT slow burn) romance between the two guys. I liked the (eventual) lovey-dovey stuff fine and the sex scenes were cool as well.

That said, this book is a bit of a tricky read cuz it works 2 timelines (the present being 1824 and the starting point of James and Iain's bond back in 1808) AND 2 POVs. It was a little confusing at first, but I got the hang of it by Chapter 3.

My one (1) annoyance was Iain's indecision abt being in a relationship with James.

What annoyed me the most abt him was a SPOILER:

despite neither character is a virgin, James is the one with the least sexual experience. And, whenever he approached Iain with curiosity abt what sex with men was like OR where he could meet like-minded men, Iain would throw a HISSY FIT FOR THE AGES. Which was already shitty enough.

BUT THEN, HE WAS ALSO A BIG HYPOCRITE since he's scandalized abt James seeking out sexy times with others all the while Iain has been having sex with a lot of men. To the point that he joined an exclusive gentleman's club for men who like having sex with men.

FTR, it's not the fact that Iain had quite the robust sex life. Also there was no cheating happening since he and James didn't become a couple until much later. AND James had been intimate with a few dudes too. But I did find it RIDIC AF that Iain would be such a jackass because, in his mind, James was some kind of pure/virginal being (even though James was, again, NOT a virgin.) IJS.

I also got the sense that the author wasn't sure how to solve that mess and kinda took a shortcut that lessened a lot of the groveling. IDK. In the end, I gave this book a (new) rating of 3 out of 5 (or, 1.5 less that I gave it a decade ago. *Hands*)

I DNF'd

* One Night in Hartswood by Emma Denny (Historical M/M Romance) - Book 1 of The Barden trilogy--with each book focusing on one of the three siblings' romances.

In this novel, Lily has entered into an arranged marriage with a guy she's never met. Her brothers Raff and Ash escort her to the castle where the nuptials will happen . . . only to find out that the groom-to-be has run away. Pissed off abt the snub, Raff decides to go look for the guy and bring him back. Along the way, he meets Penn who, ofc, is the v. same guy Raff is searching for. At some point, love will blossom between the two. [NB: this is NOT a spoiler since it's presented as such in the blurb.]

I was v. OJO abt this premise. Sadly, this book turned out to be a dud. The story is set in 1360's Europe, but the worldbuilding is incredibly weak; there's NO sense of place. This is something I could've ignored had the writing not being so MID. Oh, and the writing is weirdly modern too?

Since both story and protag (Raff) were meh to me, I chose to stop reading 50 pages in rather than push myself in the hopes that something (anything!) would catch (and hold!) my interest for the next 200+ pages.

Ended up returning to the library, then read samples for the next two books. Opted to give the 2nd one (an F/F) a pass cuz I couldn't stand the protag. BUT I got verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry interested in the 3rd novel (an M/M/nonbinary person) to the point that I ended up buying a copy. 🤞🏾 and all.

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

NONE for this batch! \o/!

It was . . . fine?

* What the Wife Knew by Darby Kane (Domestic Thriller) - 27-y.o. Addison has become a widow less than 6 months into her marriage to Richmond. She's v. upset. Not abt his death, mind you, but abt the fact that she'd been planning to kill him ONLY FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO MURDER HIM INSTEAD! Now she's got to find out who (amongst the many ppl with good motives) 86-ed Richmond and why . . .

Good writing. Also, this is deffo a page-turner of a story. There's a mix of dread and paranoia permeating the entire novel with v. few moments to relax for a bit. One thing I appreciated is that the internal logic held regardless of what was revealed at the end.

Addison was an excellent protagonist (and her backstory was a meaty one.)

OTOH, I didn't enjoy the handful of Richmond POV chapters. Dude was a TERRIBLE PERSON and I hated being in his head. Thankfully, though, the bulk of the story is told from Addison's perspective.

Now, the ending was a good one. OTOH, though, something popped up that legit pissed me off to no end. But, in order to vent abt it for a bit, I gotta talk abt a

HUGE SPOILER

*takes a deep breath* At a point in one of the last three chapters, Addison found out that she'd married her own father. This information was given to her from Lizzy, Addison's mother, herself.

Prior to that reveal, both Addison and Richmond (via their respective POV chapters) made it v. v. clear that there was never any kind of sexual activity between them. Theirs was a marriage of convenience (and blackmail, but there we are). FTR, there were two moments in the novel, back when Addison and Richmond first met where Richmond tried to seduce Addison. She deflected his advances, tho.

So, it was a father-daughter marriage, but (per what I remember) they never even kissed.

When Addison (who was RIGHTFULLY as disgusted as I was abt the whole "oops, you married your father" thing) tried to chew her mother out for allowing this (despite knowing that Addison and Richmond were blood relatives), Lizzy shrugged it off.

NGL, I had to put the book down for a second and try to stop seeing red. It was SUCH AN UNNECESSARY thing to drop into the story! I don't like reading abt incest and ABSOLUTELY DETEST 'surprise!incest' even more. YMMV, you do you, etc.

Even now I'm not sure if the author wanted to remind readers that Lizzy was a Horrible Person AND Shitty Parent or what..

So yeah, I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaated that so much that I had to bring the rating down of what, up then had been a groovy read. Ended up giving this one a 3.5 out of 5.

* Hither, Page by Cat Sebastian (M/M Historical cozy mystery) - Book one of the Page & Sommers duology.

James returns to his job as a doctor at his childhood village after being a medic in the frontlines during WW I. Someone who was generally disliked dies in a mysterious way. James is trying to figure out what happened when Leo, a former ~acquaintance and current spy, shows up to help him. . .

I might be hot-and-cold with this author's bibliography (have enjoyed some of her books, DNF'd others), but one thing I can't deny is that she can most deffo write a good story. In addition, both James and Leo were fully-developed characters, so cheering for their (eventual) HEA (not in this book, btw, but I can see it going there) was easy. T

The mystery had layers, several Red Herrings, and (once the reveal happens) the murderer's motivations made a lot of sense.

OTOH, after one super interesting start, the story sort of meandered for a while. It could be interpreted as the author wanting readers to feel what James (more than Leo) was experiencing back in the small town. But that didn't make it into an entertaining read.

THANKFULLY, things began to kick off for realsies by the halfway point.

The romance took a while to get going too.

OTOH, James and Leo ARE attracted to each other from the second they meet. Tho, the book makes it v. clear why both of them gotta be extra careful abt whatever will eventually happen between them.

OTOH, things on the romance track went so slowly that my patience felt TRULY TESTED. And then, as the ending drew nearer, James/Leo's whole deal sped up. FWIW, this is an extremely low heat romance. I didn't mind that aspect because both characters (though, again, especially James) had extremely valid reasons for not giving into their feelings and attraction. I gave this one a 3.2 out of 5.

Good vibes all around

* The Bequest by Joanna Chambers (Historical M/M romance) - This is another short story from the series. It's set in between Books 4 and 5. Murdo receives some news that shake him up and then som.

IHNI why I hadn't read this before, but it turned out to be a real treat. Loved seeing Murdo and David; they remained as lovely as ever. Their love was v. palpable (and the sex scenes were hot tooo, heheh.)

It was also quite neat to find out additional connections between the two of them and other characters in the series. Another thing I appreciated was an expanded version (told from Murdo's POV) of that Easter Egg scene in Book 4.

Finally, the angsty notes toward the end (which had to do with Murdo's life and NOT his relationship with David) added exactly what was needed to keep the plot from becoming tooth-achingly sweet. I gave this one a 4 out of 5

* Restored by Joanna Chambers (M/M Historical romance) - Book 5 of the Enlightenment series. 23-y.o. Kit has a one-year contract with 29-y.o. Henry, Duke of Avesbury in which Kit will be taken care of in exchange for coin and some property at the end of the deal. things are going fine until, upon receiving some horrible news, Henry leaves London (and Kit) v. suddenly.

18 years later, Kit now owns a club for gentlemen who enjoy the ~company of gentlemen. Henry returns to London only to discover he left Kit pretty much destitute. He's now desperate to meet and talk to Kit, but will Kit give him a second chance???

NGL, I was a bit wary when I started this one due to Book 4 not quite achieving the YAYS I'd felt the first time I'd read it. BUT this was a brand new (to me) novel, so I dove right back into the Enlightenment 'verse.

Joanna Chambers' fantastic writing style kept me GLUED to the story. Everything from the settings to the characters felt real. Also, the pacing was SUPERB! the plot didn't move too fast OR way too slow; things happened at a normal pace--which I loved. The obstacles to the HEA were solved in ways that made sense.

Even though I really liked both MCs, my heart gravitated to Kit a lot more often over Henry. Mostly because it was neat to see him assess situations from a practical point of view AND STILL show vulnerability when the plot required it.

As for Henry, he felt (to me) like a more typical historical romance character? Which I was fine with.

One of the best things abt the story was seeing their interactions and side plotlines with other characters. Again, especially Kit. I was fascinated as I saw him navigate a meeting with a frenemy of sorts AND also his close friendships too. There was only one (1) character I 🙄 at.

ANOTHER THING I liked was that they're both in their 40s. (Kit's 41 while Henry's 47 for the majority of the story). They're not a Power Couple, but they're still Awesome Together. I legit ate up all of their convos (from the snarky/banter-heavy ones to the softer and more intimate ones). They've got HIGH LEVELS of chemistry AND brought out all of the gooey soft, romantic feelings I often look for (but don't always find) in romance novels.

The kink aspects were brought up in super interessssssssssssting (and hot) ways too. >:)

As for the things that didn't work for me...

Caroline (Henry's wife) appears in a single scene in Chapter 2. And yet, her name does pop up several times in the book. OTOH, it was neat to learn that she and Henry had come to an understanding that included her being OK with him seeking pleasure elsewhere. Theirs was a happy marriage for the most part.

HOWEVAH, the one (1) scene in which Caroline appears she gives Henry really bad news.

MEGA SPOILER

After revealing her terminal diagnosis to Henry, she pressures him to leave London for the countryside (and break things off with Kit) THE V. NEXT DAY. After mustering as much compassion for her situation as I could, I sort of get why Caroline felt overwhelmed and (IMO) a bit chaotic abt moving away. Which, realistically, would take a bit, I'd think.

Henry, who was v. devoted to her, gets swept away by Caroline's OTT sense of urgency* and disappears from Kit's life for EIGHTEEN YEARS.

* This might sound cold, but Caroline was quite stable when she's urging Henry to leave and wouldn't pass on for abt another 6 months or so. This leads me to wonder WHY THE HURRY? IDK, it all made me kinda side-eye her perhaps unfairly, but there we are.

Then there was this whole thing in which the book asks its readers to go along with the idea that Henry had ended things v. abruptly with Kit, left for the countryside, traveled to London a few times, but it wasn't until EIGHTEEN YEARS LATER that it occurred to him to go see what had happened with Kit (after crossing paths with a mutual friend of both.)

The one good thing is that Kit did confront Henry abt disappearing for almost 2 decades. Though, ultimately, he did forgive Henry given the huge (and logical) misunderstanding due to a third party who had since died.

But, when I sat down and thought abt this aspect of the story, I was annoyed enough to lower the overall rating a bit. YMMV, etc. I mean, in the end, I still gave this one a 4.7 out of 5, so it's not like I had a bad time.

Current fic tally

Have picked up 82, DNF'd 37. I've read a few more new-to-me authors and, surprisingly, not everything I've read has been BTS fics. BUT there have some hella bad/unreadable fics too.

Some thoughts

I'm happy that, DNF aside, the majority of my reading has turned a corner so to speak. BUT then, BTS' comeback REALLY slowed me down (the guys are everywhere, there's a new album, and now the tour is underway!). Have opted to be a little more disciplined cuz I had to return 7 (it's always the freaking 7, haahah) books to the library that I couldn't renew cuz there were others rarin' to check them out. All in all, I"m hopeful that things will stabilize a bit.

Last time

An F/F Second Chances romance, an M/M mystery, a historical M/F romance, and the first (?) book in a sci-fi series. 🤞🏾🤞🏾🤞🏾

Had to renew that F/F Second Chance romance. The M/M mystery was the Cat Sebastian one. I . . . legit have ZERO IDEA as to what the other two books are. 😅

In any case, I have a nonfiction, an M/M fantasy romance, the F/F Second Chance romance, another M/M mystery fantasy one, and a memoir of a queer actor. So a bit of everything! Me at books: 😍😍😍

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Fandom 50 S4 Post 14: BTS' ARIRANG (a review and slight deconstruction)

2026-04-20T16:44:18Z

Here are some thoughts on the album as we've entered BTS in Chapter 2 - Group Era*

[*AFAIK, Chapter 2 was initially used for the interesting combo of enlistment + first solo eras. However, as soon as they were all discharged from the military, BTS themselves began using "Chapter 2" when referring to the here and now. I'm not gonna argue with the Tannies. If that's how they see things, then that's how they see things and it's up to everyone else to clarify if the "Chapter 2" era is the solo or the group one. *Hands*]

The only hint abt what ARIRANG was probably gonna sound like was a good 16-second clip in the animated teaser. So, most ppl (myself included), were preparing for some booty-shaking music. Only to then get v. confused after clips for "SWIM" dropped...

As soon as the first notes began playing, I was ON THE FLOOOOOOOR. This is an album that gives listeners 41 minutes of AMAZING music. It's also meant to be listened to from top to bottom if you want to appreciate it to its fullest extent. This is a v. grown up album and I love that for all of us.

One of the coolest things is the bouquet of genres happening:

* Do you want songs that make you feel like you're getting down at the club with hella loud beats? "BODY TO BODY" and "FYA" are deffo the ones for you.

* Do you like rap and/or hip-hop that goes IN? Then go check out "HOOLIGANS", "Aliens", and "2.0"!

* Is meditating your thing? "No. 29" is THAT BITCH that'll give you all the peace and quiet you need.

* Are you a fan of easy listening pop music that you can chill out OR drive to? "SWIM" is there for you.

* Is your playlist filled with songs that are slightly off-center or alternative rock? "Merry Go Round", "NORMAL", and "Like Animals" will fit the bill.

* Maybe you're in the mood for dance music that makes you feel sexy? "One More Night" will make you shimmy every which way.

* Is your thing music that's r&b but make it weird? "they don't know 'bout us" is the one tune you'll want to check out.

* Are you into YEARNING-centric, r&b songs? "Please" is the song for you.

* Do you like 70s rock/anthem rock? "Into the Sun" gets the spotlight easy.

IMO, this is an album for those ppl that like music in general. The breadth of genres the Tannies have tapped into is something I haven't seen in a loooooooooooooooong time.

ANOTHER THING this album has done v. effectively is being played out and abt in the world. Within the first 3 weeks of ARIRANG, I've heard:

1. "SWIM" at my local CVS* and at a supermarket. [* The CVS part I was expecting as, whoever's in charge of making the playlists for CVS, they keep selecting BTS English song circa "Dynamite". To date, I've heard: "Permission to Dance", "Butter", "Seven", "Like Crazy", "Slow Dance", "Don't Say You Love Me", "Running Wild", "Sweet Dreams", "Mona Lisa", and "Killin' It Girl".]

2. A car was blasting "2.0" down the main street by my apartment building. There's a stoplight and that's how I managed to have enough time to realize that some dude was playing BTS at top volume, LOL

3. I took one of my elderly aunts to go grocery shopping at Walmart. There's a tiny store inside that specific Walmart that repairs cellphones and sells accessories as well. As we were leaving, I heard "One More Night" playing.

Please note that I don't live in a city that's particularly K-Pop friendly? Like, we're lucky if we get one K-Pop concert per year. And still random songs from the album are playing here and there.

So now I'm gonna go into the criticisms and well, why some ppl are WRONG.

FTR, folks ARE allowed to dislike this album and/or BTS' music (solo and group). I understand (to a certain extent) that there will be ppl who don't vibe with the music. And I'm OK with that as long as it has to do with musical preferences. There are certain beats and styles that set my teeth on edge too. Saying "I don' like this cuz it's not for me" IS a valid reason.

HAVING SAID THAT, tho, there have been certain "points" that have come up enough times for me to sit there and 🤔

Complaint no.1: BTS is Too Westernized/has been too Westernized circa the English Trilogy

The "funny" thing abt that is the majority of times I've seen it being brought up, it's been by non-Koreans (meaning non-Native OR diaspora Koreans). And I'll give those folks a hard 😒. Cuz "too Westernized" according to WHOM?

Doubly so because BTS has gone out of the way to reinforce the idea that they're proud of being Korean and their culture (see the album title, the vinyl album covers, the connection they've reinforced between the real story of the (real life) 7 Korean men who sailed to the US in 1896 and recorded "Arirang" at Howard University, and other details (up to and including concert sets, VCRs, and their individual fits.)

Complaint no. 2: OMG, there are too many songwriters. With the majority of them being Western songwriters! WHY couldn't the members just write and/or produce everything?

To which I gotta say, if you look at the credits, out of the 15* songs, RM has 14 credits. The only song he doesn't have one is "No. 29" (which has no lyrics.) 5 of the remaining members have at least 2 songwriting credits in the album. The only one w/o any credits is Jin**.

[**NB: per Jin himself, he'd been in the middle of his solo tour while everyone else was writing songs. And it would've been extremely selfish on his part to ask them to wait ~3 months until he was done to then start the songwriting process. He's a bit bummed out he couldn't be a part of that aspect of the album. HOWEVAH, it's v., v. clear that he was hands-on when he joined the Tannies in California AND afterwards.

(*Re the 15th song: there's a hidden track titled "Come Over" that (as of the time of this post) is only available in the Deluxe version of the vinyls. There doesn't seem to be any current plans to release it on streaming platform (though there are some campaigns asking Yoongi and co to please do so.) It's part of the current leg of the tour setlist.]

Now, as for BTS having too many outside songwriters, one only needs to go back to 2016's "Save Me" to see that they were already working with non-Korean songwriters and producers. Also, a lot of the big songs in BTS' repertoire (such as "IDOL", "Euphoria", "Black Swan", "Boy With Luv", and "Mikrokosmos") have multiple Western folks credited too. IJS

Complaint no. 3: It doesn't sound like the "old BTS"

This specific complaint is over something that doesn't exist. Because BTS has never had a specific sound. Pre-2015, their songs were more hip-hop heavy. 2016-2019 had more abt EDM beats. Their 2020 music onward has had a blend of the two and then some.

At the same time, the "old sound" criticism has had a lot of pushback from some fans saying that ARIRANG (especially the first half) reminds them of BTS' 2014 album Dark & Wild.

So, again, this is one of those "ppl complaining cuz they've got nothing else to complain abt" type of things.

Complaint no.4: There's NO message

This is ridiculous. Also an indication of a reading comprehension fail. Head on over to Doolset's amazing translations and then try to say the songs are vapid. PFFFFT!

Complaint no.5: There's TOO MUCH Autotune

?????? Yes, there's Autotune--which is a tool that talented ppl like BTS have used in amazing ways. They're not the only ones as seen in BIBI's "Kazino" or anything by T-Pain. When it comes to BTS, Yoongi does like using AutoTune the most, but it's not a crutch. Rather than it being weird, its addition to the songs enhances the music.

AutoTune has gotten a bad rep because many 'singers' have relied on it as a way to hide their lack of talent. It does serve a purpose, though, whether ppl want to accept that or not

Outside of all of that nonsense, I think many of the ppl who have been v. negative toward this album fall into one of these categories:

A. Those who wanted this to sound exactly like every other Kpop bg album. And I get that cuz we do like familiarity. It's also the reason why some groups are known for having a specific sound. And, again, BTS is not in that category (please note that this isn't me putting down other groups while elevating the Tannies. It's simply an observation.) Even if you were to go from album to album, it's v. hard to pinpoint what makes an album a BTS album since they, again, don't have a signature sound AND they also dabble in a lot of genres.

B. Ppl who expected a return to a heavier EDM sound because that seems to be the "sound du jour" among a lot of Kpop releases. Kinda like how Jersey Club was EVERYWHERE 4 yrs ago.*Hands*

C. Some ppl didn't listen to any of the Chapter 2 (solo era) works. There's a lot of their individual albums being represented here.

Interestingly, a lot of the (initially) lukewarm opinions some had abt ARIRANG changed once they saw the Tannies perform the songs LIVE either on the Netflix comeback special (which is still available to watch) OR any of the concerts livestreams.

This is something that happened to me a few years ago with "Permission to Dance". I don't care much for that song. BUT, when BTS did the PTD Onstage in Los Angeles, Seoul, and Las Vegas, they closed out their concerts with PTD and that's when I got it! The trick to that song was experiencing it live. FWIW, I still pretty much whatevs abt it, but there we are.

So, if you don't like any of the songs, maybe check out the Netflix comeback and your opinion might change. Maybe it won't. IDK, you do you. XD

NGL, even after many listens, I'm still in awe with BTS and what they've done with this album. Realistically, they could've dropped anything and it'd have still been well-loved by ARMYs. Instead, they chose to not do the typical/expected "reunion album". They switched lanes into mostly new soundscapes at the same time they reinforced the idea of the OT7. Which brings me to the FACT that this is group album. There are no subunits or solos anywhere. EVERY. SINGLE. MEMBER. GETS. HIS. MOMENT. IN. EVERY. SINGLE. SONG!

And this goes down to the infamous ~line distribution angle. All 7 members have abt the same amount of time in ARIRANG. And that's a hella impressive thing to do when you've got SEVEN different ppl and 15 songs to do. [NB: Even better is how BTS has incorporated the group idea into their performances. Their current tour has NO solo or unit songs and it all makes me feel v. shiny-eyed. UwU.]

This is an album that invites the listener to ride the groove as it switches from rap to r&b to rock to easy pop. IMO, it's one of the most accessible in the Tannies' album discography. The songs feel v.much of the here and now instead of falling into a nostalgia trap. Give it a spin and you might end up digging it too. :D!

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Fandom 50 S4 Post 12: BTS vs. SPICY FOOD

2026-04-10T16:14:40Z

I've been a v. casual fan of the web show Hot Ones throughout the years and, being also an ARMY, I was deffo looking forward to the day BTS would be invited to the show.

Which happened this past Thursday. It was MAGNIFICENT, LOLARIOUS, CHAOTIC, nothing more than 25 MINUTES OF SHEER AWESOMECAKINESS ON EVERY LEVEL. As expected Sean Evans and his team did some good research (digging deep into old lore, even)--which resulted on actually good questions from an USian show. Even the Tannies themselves were shocked at what was brought up in the interview.

Aside from that, this is one of the most accessible bits of content when it comes to BTS for ppl who don't know them at all: the guys are charming and goofy; their bond is v. obvious (as well as their nerdery). It's a great showcase of what BTS' dynamic is like for ppl who have never even listened to one of their songs.

IMO, it's also a fantastic episode to watch if you want some good vibes and lots of laughs.

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Fandom 50 S4 Post 11: BTS' new aesthetic

2026-04-08T19:48:10Z

Among the things that BTS has mentioned here and there in interviews is how part of their return to the Kpop world as a unit doesn't mean that they're gonna be wearing flashy clothes or sporting wild looks. This statement seemed truth at first: BTS wearing sailor outfits was the most 'out there' style in the official MV for "SWIM", after all.

But then, for "2.0", they wore 'old', i.e. late 90s, clothes at the start of that video and then a more modern wardrobe.

For "Hooligan", a 3rd (and v. happy surprise) MV from the album, BTS has gone into a hyperfashion that's black leather, post-apocalyptic, futurist, warrior-like... AND EYELINER. Which is part of their ancient lore and v. early eras. (All men lie...) 🤣

I was SHOOOOOOOOOOOKETH TO THE CORE from the v. second Jin appears onscreen to the end credits, LOLsob. And so was everyone else. The song was already KILLA and this MV elevated an already fantastic song to a tremendously awesome level, NGL.

Trigger warnings: this MV has a ton of visual f/x including: strobe and flashing lights, fast cuts, distortion effects, super-imposed images, shaky cam. IF YOU HAVE ANY KIND OF LIGHT SENSITIVITY, PLEASE TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF IF YOU WATCH THIS!

Aaaand, shortly after airing on Netflix, the company's own YT channel uploaded this full performance of "Hooligan" from their comeback special. Same warnings of flashing lights, camera cuts, etc apply here

ETA: Some hours after I posted this whole thing, Netflix Korea dropped the dress rehearsal for "Hooligans" perforamnce:

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Fandom 50 S4 Post 10: BTS and returning to the throne

2026-04-07T21:43:27Z

There had been wishes that, after all of the ups and downs of Chapter 2's earlier part (IYKYK), BTS would drop a 5th entry in the Cypher series.

Although that didn't come to be, that's not to say that BTS decided to skip a diss track for ARIRANG. Here comes "2.0", a hip-hop song that might come across as repetitive or having extremely simplistic lyrics. In truth, this is 2026!BTS saying their piece after reuniting and surveying the Kpop landscape. I will dive a bit more when I do the album post (which will probably happen some time next week). So, for now, I can say that I clicked with this song from the get.

And now there's a GLORIOUS MV for it.

Trigger Warnings: lots of shaky cam, fast cuts, and heap of flashing lights throughout the video.

It's taken almost no time for it to become a fan fave. Everything from the many references to other works, to the visuals (both as old!BTS and as present time!BTS), the dancing, and the SWAGGER have been some of the key points that ppl can't stop squeeing abt. I love it to bits.

A Live Performance

This is from a couple of weeks ago at the Guggenheim.

Le Dance Practice

Even though it's not my favorite camera style, I do appreciate that they used a fish-eye lens this time around. According to Taehyung, it was his idea.

In a way, it kinda works a vibe of BTS showing up at someone's door and doing their choreo while dropping some choice lines, heheh.

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Fandom 50 S4 Post 9: BTS @ Vogue = CHAOS and KNOWLEDGE!

2026-04-06T16:30:27Z

As part of AOTY ARIRANG's promo/rollout, BTS has opted to do a lot of YouTube content with v. few interviews elsewhere. This time around, we get two different videos that bring equal parts lulz and awww.

Starting with Jin attempting to cook while Vmin are just BRATTY AF. He's so patient with their detours and impish vibes. Taehyung, especially, is A TERROR AND A DELIGHT. I was literally wiping tears from my face cuz I laughed THAT hard.

Then, SUGA, RM, Jungkook, and j-hope sat down to teach viewers some Korean words (including slang.) Though less wild than the cooking video, this one deffo had a lot of moments to enjoy as well.

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Fandom 50 S4 Post 8: a bouquet of SWIM

2026-04-05T17:31:20Z

Since I've yet to be able to put all of my Arirang thoughts in a cohesive order (tho I'm planning to post abt that wonderful album soon-ish. At least BEFORE the month is over), I figured this would be a good time to post the many performances and MV version of "SWIM", i.e. the album's title track.

"SWIM" is a v. chill song that I've grown to love (though I was a bit ???? abt it at first due to a v. special reason:

I really, really don't like the official MV, LOL. FWIW, it's a perfectly okay video, but I really didn't care abt the storyline, it had too much of Lili Reinhart and (by consequence) too little of the Tannies. FWIW, I've only watched it twice and don't plan to every watch it again. *Hands*

INSTEAD of reccing it (tho I'll link to it at the bottom of this post), I've opted to showcase all of the other content for the song.

Starting with the FAR SUPERIOR Performance MV. Not only is this 100% all Tannies, all the time but it gives viewers more than enough time to enjoy their fits AND the choreo. Yoongi just abt KILLED ME with that knit sweater. The AUDACITY of showing so much of his shoulder!!! <3___<3!

This one is a performance they filmed at the Guggenheim Museum for the Jimmy Fallon show. The song's vibes really fits the setting.

A new live video was filmed at Sunhyewon, a cultural space in SK. This one is nothing other than PERFECTION.

I'm not counting this a spoiler cuz it's a performance than anything else. ANYWAY, at the end of BTS: The Return (their new docu on Netflix), BTS does a live performance of the song. Love the camera work here.

Last week, there was a NEW live performance video announced: "SWIM (Swimming Pool ver.)". Since a lot of the solo era of Chapter 2 involved certain members showing SKIN (from bare arms like Jin to full on nipples on display like Hobi, Jimin, V, and Jungkook), ARMYs were OJOing this relase.

OFC, we all ended up getting 🤡 cuz BTS are the biggest goofballs . . .

FINALLY, here's the dance practice.

And, just like I mentioned at the beginning, here's the link to the official MV. That's right, I'm not even giving it a full embed, but a simple link instead. IDC. 🤷🏾‍♂️ 🤣

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Fandom 50 S4 Post 7: ARIRANG IS LIVE!

2026-03-20T20:05:06Z

So after months of waiting and high expectations, BTS released Arirang, a.k.a. THE BEST ALBUM OF 2026 (just in case y'all were curious as to how I feel abt this AWESOMECAKES musical journey that's sent me into astral projecting since I sat down to listen to it last night at midnight. Current faves are NORMAL, Body 2 Body, FYA, and Like Animals. But, seriously, the ENTIRE album is magnificent.)

The guys did a full hour and 25 livestream on YT where they talked a little abt the process that resulted in this album (including things like WHICH SONGS DID JIMIN WAS AGAINST? HOW MUCH INPUT DID EVERYONE ACTUALLY HAD? WHAT HAPPENED IN LOS ANGELES?) + some mild spoilers for their docu next Friday.

Unfortunately, RM got injured during practice so, although he will be onstage tomorrow, he's wearing a cast AND won't be doing any choreo (obvs).

In any case, it's deffo a good look at where BTS is at in terms of their bond AND their goals AND career AND how they feel abt where everything is nowadays. It's an excellent window into BTS' world (including a lot of razzing of RM, praise of Jin, cuteness from Yoongi, sassiness from Jungkook, insight from Hobi and V.)

The video begins proper at 4:28

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Fandom 50 S4 Post 6: ArIrang and BTS

2026-03-19T18:23:13Z

This is a v. OJO animated trailer for "Arirang" (the traditional Korean song AND BTS' album) that shows a version of the canonical story dating back to May 1896. Seven Korean men traveled to the US and performed for the crowds. Among the songs they sang was "Arirang"--and this lead to the first official recording of the song ever.

It's a video that honors the past AND connects it to BTS, a 7-member group of Korean men (IT'S ALWAYS THE 7 WITH BTS. FREAKING ALWAYS, LOL!) who debuted in 2013 and continue sharing Korean culture and folklore with the rest of the world.

One of the BEST things abt this trailer is that it includes a snippet of "Body to Body", the first song of the album.

The second best thing is that there's ZERO AI in the trailer. *points at the long list of credited artists* \o/!

Since I'm NOT Korean, I figured this other video from TTMIK is an A+ explainer of "Arirang"'s meaning AND significance. As well as how the ideas and values abt it are reflected in BTS' work.

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Fandom 50 S4 Post 5: BTS set loose on the Internet.

2026-03-18T17:39:14Z

As part of their GQ promo, the guys sat down to do this video where they went to Twitter, Reddit, Quora, YouTube, and Wikipedia answering fans' questions.

It's a delightful, 14-min video filled with Vmin VMINNING, Yoongi pouting (that he didn't get an invite to the bathhouse from Minimoni), Jin and RM complimenting each other down, Jungkook being THE GenZ-er in the group, and Hobi being his sunshine-y self.

One of the funny things was me realizing that I knew or followed some of the ppl on Twitter whose questions were answered by the Tannies.

Another thing was finding out that the mods of the reddit BTS went to kicked that account out of that specific reddit because they thought it was someone impersonating as the Tannies.

What I liked the most was seeing the bond and simpatico between all 7. It's v., v. clear they missed the hell out of each other while in the military and Chapter 2.

*I'm v. ??? that Jimin is calling Arirang Era Chapter 2 since V mentioned the enlistment era (in his ep of Suchwita) and RM has done so too (several times). It's confusing since, the general understanding is that enlistment era = Chapter 2, but what do we know? 😜

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Fandom 50 S4 Post 4: BTS as a brand.

2026-03-17T16:36:25Z

Let me start with the obvious: the title IS hella clickbait-y (which I sort of get cuz it works in making ARMYs, casuals, locals, AND antis check the video out). However, let me "spoil" that the YouTuber answers the question almost as soon as the video begins with a resounding "yes, they are!"

ANYHOO, this is a 12-min video in which the YTuber breaks down what makes BTS so popular from a branding perspective. I appreciated the even tone (IHNI if they're an ARMY or casual, but it's pretty easy to tell that they're not an anti either) from beginning to end. There was what, to some, might feel like an interesting comparison: at some points, the video compares BTS' fame and fandom with Taylor Swift's. The truth of the matter is that they're peers, but I digress.

Another thing I liked was the observation abt how BTS' upcoming comeback is shifting things. It's gonna be v. interesting to see if the rest of the Kpop agencies and artists will follow OR if they'll stick with the usual patters. FTR, neither approach is better than the other (and, ofc, finances play a huge factor too.) But there we are.

ONE slight correction: toward the end, the YouTuber mentions that BTS has "changed their logo" as part of their comeback. This is 100% incorrect. What they're talking abt is the three red circles that turned out to be part of the album's cover + the marketing logo. It was designed by Jungkook.

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Fandom 50 S4 Post 3: An interesting crossover . . .

2026-03-16T16:27:14Z

Every so often, Lindsey Buckingham (of Fleetwood Mac's fame) Leelee (his daughter) post reactions to different artists. Last November, they reacted to BTS' "Boy With Luv (featuring Halsey)" because of a small-yet-significant connection between Lindsey and BTS.

Although this is a v. mellow reaction, it's a positive one. I got a kick out of watching it, so here I am sharing it with y'all!

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Fandom 50 S4 Post 2: who is BTS?

2026-03-15T16:54:24Z

Although they literally are THE world's biggest band right now, there might be some who have 0 idea as to who BTS actually are. Given that this Friday's comeback (OMG, IT'S SOOOOOOOOO SOON!!!ASLDKFJL;ASKDFJLASK;DFJLASD;K) kicks off what I can imagine will be a yearlong rollout on every type of media ACROSS THE ENTIRE PLANET, some folks might be curious abt the group and their music. However, with a 13-year discography + content AND given ARMY's . . . erm . . . intense enthusiasm, it's normal that there will be wariness from some ppl.

This 18-min video from Boracity Magazine manages to present a lot of info of the group AND the individual members PLUS also offer samples of their group and solo music. The content is slightly outdated since the video is from Dec. 2024. HOWEVER, it's comprehensive AND accessible enough to give folks a place to start their Borahae journey from.

ENJOY!

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Fandom 50 S4 Post 1: BTS IS BACK!

2026-03-14T17:33:54Z

Yes, I'm (finally) back to do the Fandom 50 challenge for 2026!!! 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

Starting off with the BIGGEST THING OF THIS YEAR: after years away as a group (due to military enlistment), BTS is SIX MOTHERFUCKING DAYS AWAY from releasing the ALBUM OF THE MOTHERFUCKING DECADE: ARIRANG on March 20th.

It's 14 tracks with members having written and/or composed for 13 out of the 14 (that we know of, so far. There's a 15th secret track that won't drop til early April). As of today, there's only been 10 seconds of a snippet of a song ("Body to Body") and everyone's spiraling (in a good way.) Additionally, there's a STADIUM WORLD TOUR that kicks off in Seoul on April 9th and will take the Tannies to the US, Canada, Mexico & other LatAm countries, Australia, and some parts of Europe. LEG 1 OF THE TOUR ends March 2027. There's gonna be a 2nd leg + encore concerts in Seoul, but no info is available abt all of that yet.

Because this is BTS' return, they are doing their first performance in 4 yrs at Gwanghwamun Square. The location is symbolic AF since it was, at one time, the heart of Korea back in Joseon era (per what I know.) The concert will last 1 hr and will be livestreamed by none other than Netflix.

This is, as anyone can imagine, a big fucking deal.

Behold the trailer:

NGL, I've got NO idea how many times I've watched this cuz I still * ______ * AND 😭 whenever this trailer plays onscreen.

To start with, the cinematography is truly *chef's kiss*. Then there's the remix of "Mikrokosmos" (from their 2019 album Map of the Soul: Persona)--a song that's v. special to ARMYs since one of its meanings is BTS looking at ARMYs with love and comparing them to little stars that surround them. The song lyrics also carry a message of support and comfort) in the background. I"m hoping this version gets released some day!

Having RM saying "We promised our fans that we'd be back"... let me tell y'all the (HAPPY) TEARS I'VE CRIED! Not only because it was Joonie saying that, but also in how it was a reminder that BTS will always keep their word. And, silly as that might seem to some, actively showing that their fans can TRUST them to enlist AND return, that surety and respect, are precious things nowadays.

On a shallow note, everyone looks fantastic, heheh.

P.S.: IDK how long Netflix will have it available for streaming after the 21st (per what I've heard, they shelve live events after a month? I really don't know!). AAAAAND, on the 27th, there will be a brand-new BTS documentary also streaming on Netflix. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!

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First Book Post of 2026!

2026-03-13T17:38:21Z

Re-reads. HUH

* Naked in Death and Glory in Death (Books 1 and 2 of the In Death series, mystery/thriller romance) by J.D. Robb - Eve Dallas is a homicide detective in 2058. She tends to get assigned to v. complicated and often violent cases. Her life turns upside down when she crosses path with Roarke, a billionaire with a dark past . . .

I'd read these first two books in an ongoing series (there are 60-odd books so far) 7 or 8 yrs ago based on a YouTuber's rec. OTOH, I legit DON'T vibe with Nora Roberts' other books. OTOH, these books are well-written and structured in a way that make them engaging reads. Yes, these novels (hell, the entire series even!) are 100% copaganda in the sense that Eve is one of the main POVs AND she's v. "cops know what to do cuz they're there to protect ppl, etc". I had to actively choose to ignore those "rah-rah to cops" bits when I first picked up these novels years ago and I had to do that all over again this time around.

Part of what I liked was the idea of a future (that's way closer now vs. when the books were first published in the mid-1990s!) and seeing how much it resembles our world when compared to the books' 'verse. I do like Eve as a character as well as Roarke. And the two of them together have fantastic banter & snark with an underlying sense of romantic feelings from both. And so, a hook (for me, at least) is seeing how their relationship will develop throughout the series.

THAT SAID, these novels have v. violent scenes. Especially when it comes to the villains' ultra-misogynistic opinions on women (oof!). The sex scenes between Eve and Roarke are V. CHEESY in a way that made me giggle?

Additionally, there's an ongoing part that made me 😳 and 😬 the first time I read these books. I didn't see ANYONE warn for this specific thing:: Eve is a CSA incest survivor. Each book (so far, I've only read 2) have scenes where she'll have flashbacks to her abuse. The scenes are presented in a way that readers can see them approaching and can skip them. FWIW, the focus of the scenes have to do with Eve's hurt abt being abused. She has moments of PTSD abt it and (to date) has avoided getting any kind of therapy to help her further.

My main complaint abt both books is that the villains are v. easy to suss out. I'd forgotten a lot of the actual plot, but as soon as certain characters popped up, I remembered they were the murderers, IJS. I'm in no particular hurry to catch up with the series, so I'm guesstimating I'll read a new book every few months. We'll see. I gave both books a 3 out of 5.

I DNF'd

* Double the D (Capricorn Cove #2, M/M/F contemporary romance) by Evie Mitchell - Blue is a nurse who lives in a small town. She's had feelings for Drake and Dane, two best friends who left the town when they enlisted in the marines at 18 y.o. A decade later, they've returned with the intention of getting in a relationship with Blue.

This is an 86-page novella by an author whose books I've liked before. It's part of a series where the women are unapologetically fat and desirable. I was game for an M/M/F. Good times, right?

WRONG!

The writing was poor. Also, the two guys were v. interchangeable--something that wasn't helped by their names both starting with D.

ANYHOO, I started to give this novella the evil eye from thhe v. first paragraph:

"Dane Butler and Drake Andrew were more like brothers than tangential foster kids who happened to inhabit the same group home."

Something abt that specific line made me go "HUH".

Additional context: the group home was run by Blue's own parents. So all three met when they were all teenagers. One night, Blue sees Dane and Drake getting it on. Shortly after, they turn 18 and leave for the marines.

Later, in Chapter 3 (which is from Blue's POV), she's freaking out cuz she's staying over at Dane and Drake's house due to "plot" reasons (don't ask me abt the plot. There's none.) She's unable to fall asleep cuz her mind wanders to the past:

"My parents had taken in kids no one wanted. Pregnant teens with screaming babies, damaged children from broken homes, teens with eyes too old and burning anger at the world. All types had passed through our doors. I had one blood sister and one blood brother, but hundreds of siblings by association.

Drake and Dane were the "siblings" I'd ever wanted to sleep with."

Me at all of this 🙄🙄🙄. Listen, I get it's not a big deal to some, but I don't like ANY kind of incest (including the pseudo kind such as between foster siblings, former or not.) I got squicked super fast and had to return this novella to the library. I'm V. AWARE that other ppl mighteven like that additional layer of ~taboo. More power to y'all.

I gave this novella 1 star out of 5.

* The Wolf and the Crown of Blood (The Broken Accords #1, M/F dark romantasy) by Elizabeth May - Bryony is a princess whose mission in life is to get sacrificed every month as part of a ritual that will keep a promise between humans and gods. One day, the god-king decides to undo her "curse" and send his top assassin, a.k.a Evander, a.k.a. the Wolf, to kill Bryony for defying the god-king or whatever.

Evander and Bryony are V. HOT FOR EACH OTHER, THO. WHATEVER WILL THEY DO????

OK, so let me not be super bitchy and give this novel the kudos it deserves. The worldbuilding is robust. I also noticed how the author was weaving the idea of religion (and its extremes) + society + whatever hot times were gonna happen between Bryony and Evander (there are Trigger/Content warnings at the beginning of the book.) Also, dunno if she got a better editor or what, but the writing had improved from the last two books of hers I'd attempted to read.

THAT SAID, for all of the DRAMARAMA and (promised) sexy times, I legit didn't care abt anything going on. I didn't dislike either MC, but I wasn't feeling drawn to the story. When I saw I had some 480-odd pages to go, I chose to return this book to the library after having read only the first 10% or so. Clearly this author is simply NOT for me. And that's fine! I gave this book a 2 out of 5.

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

* Every Body Yoga. Let Go of Fear. Get On the Mat. Love Your Body (Nonfiction) by Jessamyn Stanley - A how-to and general book on yoga by a person who has been v. vocal abt the need for inclusivity (in terms of race and body sizes) in yoga spaces.

I bought this book around 8 yrs ago, but didn't get around to reading it until this year. It's split into three sections: the first one covers the general history of yoga + different types of yoga + how in-person classes go + Jessamyn's own history with yoga. The second section is abt the most common positions most practitioners will do at some point or another (these feature detailed instructions and have photos.) The last part has a few sequences with different goals.

NGL, I did liked reading abt Jessamyn and how they have had to deal with being fat and Black in a space that, at least in the West, tends to glorify thin and white bodies. Their candor abt having to push past their own shyness/awkwardness/discomfort will feel v. familiar to many ppl who, again, might not fit the thin and/or white descriptions.

OTOH, I was v. disappointed that there weren't any tips or modifications for any of the poses. Especially cuz I'd taken many of Jessamyn's online classes and was v. familiar with how many suggestions they give while teaching. Instead, all of the instructions were painfully standard.

In the end, I didn't feel like I learned anything new (FTR, I've been practicing yoga for 20-odd years), but I can see how this would be a good book for newbies to check out. I gave this book a 2.3 out of 5.

* Fat Off, Fat On (Memoir) by Clarkisha Kent -
A v. intense book (in terms of the themes the author writes abt) that, unfortch, didn't work for me.

FTR, I have followed the author since she was on Twitter many years ago. I've learned a lot through her posts on a myriad of issues. So, I have to admit that my expectations for her memoir were higher-than-normal.

I finished it cuz I'd waited to read it for so long, IDK. As memoirs go, this was a disappointment. Though that was the result of what I thought the book was gonna be like vs. what the author decided to write about. Mood wise, this book was mostly a downer, IDK. Personally, the humor was a BIG MISS for *me*. I gave this book a 2.1 out of 5

It was . . . fine?

The Governess Affair (Book 0.5 of The Brothers Sinister series, Historical romance) by Courtney Milan - Serena was let go of her position. She's decided she'll get compensation from a duke (her now-former employer) one way or another. Hugo, mostly known as the Wolf of Cleremont, is sent by his employer (the duke) to deal with Serena...

I picked this book from my TBR (where it'd been for a decade or so?) cuz I wanted something good to read. Really liked the MCs together and separately. I also appreciated that the obstacles felt real (tho some aspects of how the MCs overcame them were a bit handwave-y.) The writing was excellent as expected from any Courtney Milan book.

HOWEVAH, there was a LOT of plot AND themes packed into something that was barely over 100 pages long! The romance went into "I Love Youuuu!" territory too fast,but whatevs.

Please be warned that Serena is an SA survivor and that there are a couple of scenes in which she has non-graphic flashbacks to the assault. It didn't make me feel skittish, but I figured a heads up is welcomed. I gave this novella a 3 out of 5 and do plan to continue the series.

Good vibes all around

* Beast Business (Book 6.5 of Hidden Legacy series, Urban fantasy romance) by Ilona Andrews - Augustine is one of most powerful illusion Primes around. He's known for being aloof and practical. One day, he gets hired by Diana, an animal mage Prime, who needs his help in rescuing something that was taken from her home. Unlike Augustine, Diana is all instinct and heightened emotions. The two team up on a mission against one of the most dangerous ppl in the world . . .

Augustine has been one of those Hidden Legacy characters I've kept an eye on even if I haven't found him AS fascinating as other characters in the books. Leave it to IA to make me question my earlier aloofness, LOL. I thoroughly enjoyed this deep dive into who Augustine is, his backstory, and the true extent of his power. Out of the two POVs, I enjoyed his the most. If only cuz he sounded so flustered despite keeping a cool facade.

That's not to say that I disliked Diana or her POV. It was more of thinking she was a neat foil. She was chaotic and (pun intended) wild to Augustine's calculating and manipulative persona. Oh, and the plot was solid too!

What actually got me to give this novella a 👍🏾, tho, were the short stories at the end of the book. Some of them filled in the gaps regarding certain events in the main story (I've got the feeling this might not make much sense unless you've read this book, but there we are. 😜).

Seeing things from Arabella's POV was v, v. cool. The Matilda story was a good way to wrap the main story up--with just a smidgen of bittersweetness to balance everything out.

Heck, I even liked the two interviews at the v. end. Neat xover with Innkeeper Chronicles too!

One of the things that DIDN'T work for me was the "romance". This is the one (1) area where the format's limitations worked against the story.

It's not that I questioned Augustine/Diana (eventually) becoming a couple. My problem was that it turned to be insta-love for two characters who are extremely cautious/wary by nature. Whenever the story veered into the "OMG, I'm so attracted to her/him" and musing abt their romance/wanting to keep touching each other/getting turned on by something the other character had done (usually something violent cuz why not?), I sighed cuz rushing a romance is a pet peeve of mine.

The INTENSITY of Augustine and Diana's feelings was borderline ridiculous! Their one saving grace was they'd known each other for a number of years. I'm not outright discarding them as a couple, but I wish there had been a bit more subtlety in terms of their attraction to each other. At times, Augustine would sound kinda OOC whenever he waxed poetic abt Diana.

ANOTHER thing I'm ambivalent abt was the story of the birth of Nevada and Connor's baby. OTOH, I liked seeing how lively things got at the hospital (including all of the precautions) balanced out with some tedious moments. OTOH, the one thing I feel extremely meh abt when it comes to IA books is seeing the MCs get married and (almost immediately) have kids. *Hands*

In the end, I gave this novella (and the short stories) a 3 out of 5.

Current fic tally

Have picked up 53, DNF'd 25. NOT terribs, so I'm not stressing. (Though I gotta admit that February turned out to be a HORRIBLE MONTH for various reasons and so I ended up reading way less fic than usual.)

Some thoughts

An uneven start to the year. Whenever I wasn't frustrated by something I picked up, I ended up feeling disappointed. Until the last two books, that is. However, none of the negatives led me into a reading slump--which is something that's happened before--so small mercies and all that!

I'm optimistic vis a vis my reading for the rest of 2026. ;D

Up next

An F/F Second Chances romance, an M/M mystery, a historical M/F romance, and the first (?) book in a sci-fi series. 🤞🏾🤞🏾🤞🏾

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My Year in Reading ( 2025 version)

2026-01-01T20:19:25Z

I know there was a book reading meme somewhere, but I can't find it so we're going a bit bare bones today. 😅

Total books I picked up to read: 51

Total DNFs: 14

Fave books

Sweep in Peace and One Fell sweep from Ilona Andrews' Innkeeper Chronicles series. They were the ONLY books I gave 5 stars to. Also loved Skyla Dawn Cameron's intense mystery set in the Canadian wilderness The Silent Places.

Biggest Disappointments

* Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll - A roman-a-clef abt the victims and survivors of Ted Bundy's murder spree. This book was lauded everywhere for reasons that I don't get. I still don't know WHO this book is for, LOLsob.

* Murder by Memory by Olivia Wilde - ANOTHER DISSENTING OPINION because the mystery was so weak that I decided to not continue the series. (But I'll continue to give this author a chance.)

Biggest Surprises

* The Wife Deserved It by Darby Kane - A shorter-than-expected novella that I enjoyed so much I'm going to read more books by this author.

* The Silent Places gets a tip of the hat as well cuz it was a good suspense novel that had the best ending I've read in a long while.

Worst books

* Make Room for Love by Darci Liao - Was excited abt a butch Chinese-American lesbian and a transgender Indian-American bisexual woman. But the story veered into a completely separate plotline abt a student union. I'd picked this up for ROMANCE, so the idea of having to sit thru (seemingly) endless chapters abt something else made me hate the whole thing.

* A Court of Deceit and Ruin by Jessaca Willis - Promoted as "a slow-burn sapphic fantasy romance perfect for fans of fairy tale retellings, dark magic, and star-crossed fates" --which turned out to be lies. The book WAS well-written, but this wasn't a romance, there was zero slow burn (again, NOT a romance), and the rest of the description is off. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

* Bitterbound by A.Z. Louise - An alleged "assassin x target romantasy" that had too many plotpoints that weren't quite resolved, a weak-ass romance, and a TERRIBLE ending (given the premise.)

Average rating for the year: 3. No idea how that happened.

Overall thoughts

It was a super strange reading year, NGL. I tried a lot of new-to-me authors (DNF'd a lot of them too, LOLsob) and had a meh reading year. Wished I'd tackled a lot more of my TBR and that I'd done Nonfiction November.

OTOH, I'm participating on two different reading challenges, so I'm going to not mood read as much as I did last year. :P

FICS

Total fics I picked up to read: 222 - I feel like this was lower than other years, huh.

Total DNFs: 103 - Way better than I expected given that there were months where I kept DNF'ing stuff left and right, LOL.

Total wordcount read: 2,126,551 - FTR, I don't feel one way or another abt this number. It's just interesting to know I've read 2.1M words, but there's no self-worth type of attachment from me toward it.

Highest reading month? January --which was 29 fics total. Makes sense to me!

Lowest reading month? April and August -- where I only read 9 fics each. IDK what distracted me in April, but I've got an idea that Summer SADs got to me in August.

Fandom I read the most: BTS. 😋 77 fics with Yoonjin being the ship I read the most (35).

Other fandoms 41 fics total split between Seventeen (multiple ships), TXT (multiple ships), TCGF (Hualian), BTVS (Buffy/Faith, Faith/Other), Shinee (Minho/Key)

Fave fics I read in 2025

* the last person i could ever love by miraclesofpaul (BTS, Explicit, Omegaverse, endgame ship is Jin/Yoongi, other background ships, 152k total ) - This fic was rollercoaster of LOLs, DRAHMAHZ, and many sweet moments. *Chef's kiss* due to it being a TRUE Enemies-to-Lovers AU.

* Interlude by duets (BTS, Rated Teen, Jin/Yoongi, 2.4k words total) - AU in which BTS never happens, but Yoongi ends up as a famous rapper and Jin is an actor. LOVED THE MIXED MEDIA format.

* You have seven [7] new calendar invites by andlovetoo (Mature, OT7, 5.8k words total) - BTS trying to sync their calendar is all you need to know abt this wonderful chatfic.

* Stacks by tender_tenderly (Explicit, RM/V, 9.8k words total) - A librarian AU of win with one-sided rivals-to-lovers, heheh.

* Growing Toward The Sun by Nevaeh - Non-Idol AU abt the ups and downs of queer life in Seoul. I loved the balance of angst and fluff.

* Break Thru Everything by aceaceaceace - (Rated Teen, established Minho/Key, 11.5k words total) SHINee's Key starts to organize with other queer idols to come out as a collective. Loved everything abt it (including the mentions of other idols who did come out too.)

* Sediment by belledamn (BTVS, Mature, Buffy/Faith, 27k words total) - A perfect Noir AU in which Buffy's a PI, Faith's a sex worker, and they have a hella complicated relationship. I liked the way the author integrated other characters into the story.

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A somewhat belated book post

2025-12-18T19:37:00Z

For whatever reason, I was super sure I'd already posted this. IDEK.

Re-reads. HUH

None. I'd planned to reread a couple of things before the year ended. Unfortch, that doesn't seem likely. *pouts*

I DNF'd

* A King's Mage by S.E. McPhearson (Book 1 of Heart-Mage Trilogy, Fantasy polyamore romance) - Beau, the spare prince, becomes the heir. He's also got to marry Penny (his dead brother's fiance who hates his guts) despite him being in love with Elias,his personal bodyguard.

DNF'd at the beginning of Chapter 4

The writing is fine?

Sadly, the more I read, the less interested I became abt the story. If the setting up isn't enough to get me hooked. . .

Also, the worldbuilding was a total fail. Yes, this is a book in a fantasy setting, but the overall vibe gives "inspired by French monarchy" and that's abt it! Most characters' names were French or French-sounding. And yet, the dialogue was v. modern. But there was (as far as I could tell) no electricity, cars, etc.

Picked up this book in hopes that I'd get lost into a whole new adventure. Again, I didn't connect with the story and found most of its worldbuilding v. confusing. Given that I have a lot of other books to read, I gave up on this one w/o any regrets. Which is sad cuz I was eager to read abt the M/M/F-as-endgame ship. Alas. I gave it a 1 out of 5.

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

* That Weekend by Kara Thomas (YA Mystery) - Claire wakes up in the middle of a forest with no idea of how she got there or what happened during the previous 2 days. Also, even though she tries hard, she's got no idea where's Kat, her BFF, or Jesse (Kat's boyfriend) . . .

I'd read two of this author's other YAs a whole decade or so ago and distinctly remember liking them. For whatever reason, I decided to check this one out too. This author has a v. clean writing style--which is something that's quite important in mysteries. Even more so in this instance since the narrator is totally unreliable due to amnesia. At no point did I get lost or confused as to what was happening. 👍🏾 for that.

Additionally, this author has a flair for writing teenage characters that read like actual ppl. They've got insecurities, desires, good parts and bad ones too. Their interior lives are rich. This enhanced the plot in the best way.

As for the mystery, I REALLY enjoyed certain aspects of it. Especifically the reveal as to WHAT HAPPENED and, even more, WHY did the events happened. The motivations everyone had within themselves and how those desires (etc) kept the plot moving for the most part.

In a way, I'd say the keyword for this book is MOTIVATION. Sometimes, the characters' agendas ran parallel, oftentimes they ran against each other. And it was v. exciting to see everything being played out. Sometimes even within the same chapter.

Re the mystery: I did 🙄 at the explanation of HOW the events happened. It crossed the line into unbelievable. HOWEVAH, I shrugged it off despite how ridic it all was.

Claire . . . *sighs* OTOH, I think she was a good protagonist cuz her amnesia helped her become a conduit into the story. OTOH, once she got home, the pacing really slowed down and became repetitive with Claire self-medicating AND spiraling every waking moment AND being extremely selfish yet she was also traumatized.

MY problem was that she's someone who had severe anxiety. So, watching her being on the verge of an anxiety attack 24/7 while being unable to look away (due to her being the sole POV character + the fact that the story was told in 1st person) made this part of the book a deeply unpleasant reading experience. From time to time, I had to put the book to the side for 10 mins or so cuz it was exhausting and suffocating.

There were things that happen in the last two chapters that got me wondering what "inspired" the author to include a v. specific thing TWO CHAPTERS AWAY FROM THE ENDING. This meant that the book didn't land the ending but fully crashed it nose-first.

MEGA SPOILERS FOR THE ENDING AHEAD:

It turns out that Kat and Jessy are HALF-SIBLINGS BY BLOOD--which HUHHHH?

NGL, I didn't like the incest twist and how its repercussions (once OTHER CHARACTERS figured it out) were handled. I'm confused why Marian (Kat's own grandmother) wasn't clearer with Kat as to why she was so opposed abt Kat and Jesse's relationship, frex.

AND THEN, finding out that Jesse had known all along and didn't care made everything TEN TIMES GROSSER. My best guess is that the author wanted to add a major flaw to Jesse as a character since, aside from kinda leading Claire on a little, he hadn't done/said anything bad. And then, it's like "boom, yeah, we're half-siblings and I CHOSE TO NOT TELL YOU, but it's cool cuz we love each other." Me: 🤮🤮🤮🤮"

Averaging how I'd liked at least half of the book vs. that mess of an ending, I gave it a 3 out of 5..

* The Wife Deserved It by Darby Kayne (Domestic thriller) - Reid is over his marriage and, after much planning, he's decided tonight's the night his wife will die. But, the one thing that Reid has never considered is that his wife is READY for him. . .

The first half of the novella is tight. Excellent timing. I didn't mind how the story pushed and pulled me while the sense of utter dread abt the goings on kept building up. Good worldbuilding too. For a story with multiple POVs, everyone sounded like real people who had great and terrible motivations.

The keyword for this story was confrontation. Both in the sense of characters facing each other as well as facing (or not, in some cases) the truth as to who they really are.

OTOH, The story plateaued in the second half. I can't explain why w/o going into

FULL SPOILERS:

One of the POVs was Anna's (the wife). Somewhere near the beginning of the novella, she gets a full chapter where it's extremely clear she's made her choice. She will kill Reid as that's the only way out (and also cuz he's decided to kill her cuz he's a jackass.) The chapter includes a moment where Anna sees Reid searching for her and he's holding a knife.

Things get complicated and plans go awry..

THEN, starting around Chapter 15 and going on until Chapter 25, the story spends several POV chapters from Reid and Paige's POVs. With BOTH trying to convince Anna to get on their respective sides.

NGL, this was v. tiresome to read. ANNA HAD ALREADY MADE HER CHOICE! So IDK why the author made Anna appear unsure/wavering chapter after chapter. If anything, I'd have preferred that the author had made Anna's choice at the beginning of the novella uncertain. Because THAT would've kept up the suspense.

Instead, I spent those 11 (thankfully short) chapters mentally tapping my watch so Anna and Paige could help Reid shuffle off his mortal coil.

But the author had already made her choice and so I just had to keep waiting.

In the end, I liked it enough to give it a 3.3 out of 5 and will deffo read more of her books. 😛

It was . . . fine?

* Sweep of the Heart by Ilona Andrews (Book 5 of the Innkeeper Chronicles) (Urban Fantasy Romance) - Dina and Sean are chosen to host the space version of The Bachelor for one of the most powerful rules in the entire universe. There's additional drama via the disappearance of Sean's mentor. Oh, and the Costo lady returns . . .

There was worldbuilding (and how!) and plot (ditto) as expected from an IA book. I also gotta give 👍🏾 to having a character who is Black AND openly queer. Also how the latter was reflected on the selection of the contestants (with female and male hopefuls) without any of it being any kind of big deal. Oh, and the plottier developments toward the end were hella yummy too.

The key word for this novel was EXCESS.

NGL, my brain sorta @ ____ @ many, many times over the multiple descriptions of each setting: from the individual teams' rooms to the locations where each trial and date took place. Although I do appreciate that, like the rest of IA's novels I've read, this one doesn't have White Room Syndrome, this time IA really went OTT in terms of creating a picture in their readers' minds. Quasi infinite accounts of what every nook and cranny looked like.

This was also reflected in the tons of accounts as to what everyone wore. Something that was underlined by the size of the cast.

Off the top of my head, this novel had around 40 or so MAIN CHARACTERS. NGL, there were moments where I lost track as to who was from which group/planet. Why couldn't IA had started with 6 hopefuls for the contest vs. 12? :|

There was also Too Much focus on the Bachelor plot, IMO. It ran for over 70% of the novel. Hell, I even FORGOT that the A Plot was abt rescuing Sean's mentor. AND THEN, when the story finally got back to that, the actual!rescue was gently pushed to the side.

And this is where the push-and-pull feelings I've got abt this novel rear their head cuz the last 2 chapters drop so many things that had me going WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA??? and OMAIGOOOOOO!! IF ONLY THE BOOK HAD CUT SOME OF THE BACHELOR-ESQUE SCENES IN EXCHANGE FOR MORE OF THE MAIN/A PLOT!!!! *Pouts*

FINALLY, I know this novel was initially published in serialized form over at IA's site.

What I don't understand (and irritated the fuck out of me) was the inclusion of summaries (of what had happened in the previous chapter) whenever there was a new chapter. Not only was it REALLY UNNECESSARY, but the jokey/hyuk hyuk tone was unpleasant EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaated the summaries. IA mentioned at the start of the book that they left them in the book cuz they'd been so well received when the story was posted on their site. I'm sure it worked when the chapters were released once a week. But seeing them in sequence was OBNOXIOUS AND REPETITIVE.

The other extras (2 round of descriptions of the contestants) were USELESS AND REDUNDANT. But, at least, those extras were at the end of the book and not interwoven into the story in an unavoidable way like the stupid-ass summaries were. (Yes, I hated them THAT MUCH.)

The book DOES END ON A SOFT CLIFFHANGER. And, per the little I know, it'll be a while before IA gets working on the next story. Such is life. I'll happily dive in whenever Book 6 drops, that's for sure.

In the end, this isn't my fave entry of the series but, at the same time, I can't deny I had a good time reading it, LOL. I gave it a 3.2 out of 5.

Good vibes all around

* Sweep with Me by Ilona Andrews Book 4.5 of the Innkeeper Chronicles (Urban Fantasy Romance) - Dina and Sean are ready to celebrate the holidays Innkeeper-style. They're hoping none of the guests end up killing each other . . .

Such a DELIGHTFUL NOVELLA!!! There are some neat surprises within the pages of this book. I also love how the A plot (Dina and Sean trying to host some ~interesting folks without having anyone kill each other) and the B plot (Dina processing the events in the previous book and how it affected her own magic) intertwined.

I was, once again, dissatisfied with how few scenes abt Dina/Sean's romance were included. *Pouts*

Also, I did get the sense that IA overstuffed the plot by a smidgen. I could almost tell a point where IA nearly lost control of the goings on. Thankfully, things got back on track and the story landed in the best way possible. I gave it a 4 out of 5.

Current fic tally

Have picked up 217 fics, DNF'd 101. Things are fine!

Some thoughts

Had an uneven reading experience. Going thru the rest of the published entries for the Innkeeper Chronicles was fun even with the stumbles here and there. The two mysteries were solid enough for me to not DNF'ing them. Bonus: I'm deffo OJO abt Darby Kane's other novels. Sadly, the M/M/F was a big fail. Alas.

Up next

Last time: I've got the last two published books for the Innkeeper Chronicles, an M/M/F fantasy romance, and I'm reading the first book in a female detective series. Dunno why, but my yays for reading horror have sort of gone to ground? I might end up reading something scary next month, IDK. 😅

I paused the female detective novel cuz I'd planned to do a quick Non-fiction November reading thing. But that stalled HARD.

My current reads include two biographies from separate queer ppl, the fist book in a female detective series, a book abt #MeToo, another Darby Kane novel, and mayyybe a kinky F/M romance.

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Fandom 50 S3 Post 63: Cortis and stage presence

2025-12-10T18:19:42Z

LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITSEN, I'll be the first one to own up to not quite getting Cortis' music when they began dropping songs a few months ago.

Part of it was that I legit CANNOT DEAL with their MVs (which are chaotic to the point of overwhelming me in the most negative of ways.) The other thing is that a lot (by which I mean over 50%) of the PR abt BigHit's newest group (yes, that's BTS and TXT's agency) was pushing how involved the members were in terms of songwriting and production. Per what I know of BH (and Hybe's agencies in general) is that they do tend to offer songwriting and production tracks for their trainees. A large part of the thinking comes from how BH worked with BTS (especially the rapline, but all 7 members have worked on their music since pre-debut era).

In any case, I do acknowledge that a lot of my 🤨 came from my own expectations on what Cortis' sound was gonna be like. I wasn't ready for any of it. That said, I sat thru all of the MVs (not having a great time, but still.) Even though I would 🙄 at the videos (which were co-directed by Cortis and some other guy), there was something abt the sound that kept me from outright dismissing the whole thing.

Then, some weeks ago, I happen to listen to Cortis' music on streaming and it was like something clicked in my brain. Suddenly, I got it. Have checked out a few of their live performances and have enjoyed most of them.

Anyhoodle, the 2025 Mnet Asian Music Awards (or MAMAs as they're known) were held over in Hong Kong two weeks ago. Not even gonna front, I didn't tune in for the live show cuz there truly wasn't anyone I was RARIN' to watch. Some years is like that, LOL. [Unlike the 2020 shows where I watched the show for, like, 6 hrs or so while waiting for BTS to perform, LOLsob. My one consolation is that there were millions of other ARMYs watching along. Small mercies and all that.]

Scrolled thru this year's performances once they were uploaded on YT. And my jaw DROPPED when I saw Cortis' stage. One thing to keep in mind is that this group has mainly young members; Martin, the leader, is 17 y.o., frex.

Trigger warning: lots of happy screams from the fans; A ton of fast camera movements (that are on par with Korean shows) including shaky-cams; Additional warnings for HEAVY STROBE LIGHTS starting 3:10 and going til the end.

I love the set-up with Martin working his keyboard (with the additional work from MAMAs' PD team synching up the lightsticks to represent the lights of a soundboard/equalizer thingie.)

Then how it expands to just the five members doing their choreo in between singing and rapping. Yes, there was backing track (per what I saw of everyone's performances, there wasn't a single performer who didn't have it. However, unlike some of the other artists, Cortis DID sing and rapped live at least 60% of the time, IJS.).

FWIW, I'm aware that the production team has tweaked the sound a little to push the crowds' roar to the forefront. I did see a few tweets (now locked) that were fancams and the crowds were HELLA LOUD for Cortis. It was impressive; gave me chills, heheh.

AAAND WITH THIS ENTRY, I'M CLOSING THE 3RD 'SEASON' OF THE FANDOM 50 CHALLENGE! 🥳🥳🥳

NGL, I wasn't sure that I'd have enough to do more than 20 posts and yet, here I am at the 63rd one. Go figure!

Gonna try to post at least one or two more non-Fandom 50 posts before the year is over (NEXT WEDNESDAY, WHAAAA???). Followed by some list posts, maybe? In any case, thank you to everyone who has commented over the year. I've dug every single interaction with y'all. <3

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Fandom 50 S3 Post 62: I Wake Up Screaming & Vicki (NOIRVEMBER)

2025-11-30T18:35:30Z

Closing out NOIRVEMBER with a double feature! Both movies are not only based on the same story, but are from the same studio. I thought it'd be fun to do a comparison. :P

I Wake Up Screaming

A 1941 movie produced by 20th Century Fox and directed by H. Bruce Humberstone. It's based on the 1941 novel (of the same name) by Steve Fisher.

Frankie Christopher (played by Victor Mature) is a promoter/PR guy. One night, he's at a cafe with two male friends: a washed-up actor and a gossip columnist. All three are 😍😈🥴🤤 with Vicki (played by Carole Landis), their waitress.

While talking abt how beautiful Vicki is, Frankie starts to brag that he has the power to turn Vicki from a simple waitress and into a celebrity. The other guys are like PFFT, YOU WISH.

In any case, Frankie DOES manage to make Vicki v. popular, having her picture taken in society pages, etc. Along the way, he also meets Jill (played by THE Betty Grable), Vicki's sister. Jill and Frankie have a one-sided enmity (from Jill to Frankie.) She doesn't like how suave Frankie is, she doesn't trust them.

And then a murder occurs. . .

This is one of those movies that tends to pop up in Must-See Noirs lists. Funnily enough, I'd always thought I'd already watched it and had forgotten abt it. The ONLY reason why I watched it this time (which led me to realize that it was an actually brand new watching experience) is cuz I wanted to "refresh my (nonexistent) memory" before I watched Vicky.

IN ANY CASE, I was NOT READY for this movie. Oftentimes, when I'm watching a new-to-me noir, I'm having a good time. THIS MOVIE HAD ME ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT! Between the twists, turns, and general WTF-ery from some of the characters . . . OOOF!

I also loved the cinematography by Edward Crongjager was CHEF'S KISS.

Victor Mature was SOLID. He does know how to play a "cool" type of guy. As the movie progresses, he finds himself getting cornered and it's really neat to see Mature's Frankie react and figure out what to do when the rules of the game go against him.

And then, there's Laird Cregar as Ed Cornell, a detective whose single-minded pursuit of Frankie is quite O__o.

The film's pacing is great too. Everyone brings their A game. Plus you know it's gonna be a good time when Elisha Cook Jr. is part of the cast as Harry, the front desk guy at the apartment building Jill and Vicky live at.

Do I have any criticisms?

There are two.

Carol Landis as Vicki was mehhhhh. I didn't find her presence (which is supposed to be alluring AF) convincing at all.

The other thing is that this movie uses two songs so many times that it might drive you bonkers: "Street Scene" and "Over the Rainbow." To date, I don't think anyone knows why the producing team thought the latter song was a great fit for this movie cuz it wasn't!

At some point, I began to tune it out/ignore it cuz they legit play it a lot!

Do I recommend it?

Yeah, this movie has plot, acting, cinematography, pacing, etc. Although it does goes a bit off the rails during the last third AND I was kinda meh abt Landis PLUS the overusage of those two song, it's deffo worth watching. It tends to pop up on Mubi, TCM, plus the usual places.

I'm giving it a 3.7 out of 5

Queerness level:

Low.

Laird Cregar's version of Ed Cornell is not-quite-straight. There's nothing abt him that reads as straight. In addition, he's v. obsessed with Frankie. And whenever they interact, Cornell is sorta flirting with him. FWIW, Frankie always rebuffs him to which Cornell tends to reply with a "ah, you'll come around". Just lots of double entendre type of things.

Adding to that there's Larid Cregar himself. Now, I didn't know this until AFTER I watched the movie, but I did find out that he had a "complicated" sexuality (per his biographers.) He did have relationships with women, but he also had boyfriends.

When I watched this movie, I was kinda sure I was imagining things cuz Cornell gave me queer vibes. Go figure.

Le Trailer

Vicky

A 1953 film from 20th Century Fox that was directed by Harry Horner. The script is based on the novel I Wake Up Screaming by Steve Fisher.

Since this movie pretty much follows the same plot as the 1941 film, I'm skipping over the summary.

This time around, we've got Jean Peters as Vicky, Jeanne Crain as her sister Jill, and Elliott Reed as Steve (instead of "Frankie") Christopher as the PR guy.

IMO, this movie has some good points when compared to the other film. The majority of the acting is good (there's one actor I was meh abt). Unlike I Wake Up Screaming, the soundtrack has variety.

Also, this version has a much more organic rhythm when it came to its plot. Frex, the way that Vicky and Steve meet felt a lot more natural. I wonder how much casting influenced their simpatico in this movie vs. the 1941 one. There are also a lot more scenes of Vicky and Jill where their sisterly dynamic is explored a ton this time around. It was v. clear how much they cared abt each other.

Jeanne Crain- - who I only know from A Letter to Three Wives and Leave Her to Heaven- - does really well in her role as Jill. She is, in some ways, the heart of the film.

One quirky note is that this movie has a mini reunion of male actors who have been in Marily Monroe movies. Elliot Reid (who played Steve Christopher here) was Jane Russell's love interest in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Meanwhile, Alexander D'arcy (who was Robin Ray in this movie) played one of Marilyn Monroe's suitors in How to Marry a Millionaire. He's the guy with the eyepatch (you'll know who I'm talking abt if you've watched the movie.)

Do I have any criticisms?

The tension (as far as finding out the murderer's identity) is way lower in this one. IMO, it has to do with two specific characters. Primarily Richard Boone as Det. Ed Cornell.

Whereas the Ed in the 1941 movie has a PRESENCE, someone who is tremendously good as a detective but also a Grade A WEIRDO, Boone's Ed never achieves the kind of brilliance and creepiness that's needed for that role. All that's shown is Boone's flat demeanor with random moments where he yells at ppl. He simply does not give out the same menacing vibes. *Hands* Because this is the first time I've ever seen that actor in anything, I can't tell if the fault lies on him OR on the direction he was given.

The other thing that made the movie lose momentum was when, right around the halfway point, the pacing just glides on. It's almost as if the plot didn't care abt building up any suspense.

Finally, in total opposition to how I felt during the last 20 mins of the 1941 film, the last 20 mins of Vicky went into full cheese, IDK.

Do I recommend it?

Not really? If you happen to catch a screening of it or find it somewhere, sure, maybe watch it. But it's not worth making any huge effort to experience it. OTOH, I don't regret watching it, BUT I liked having the chance to compare both films. I'm giving it a 2 out of 5.

Queerness level:

Nada.

Le Trailer

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Fandom 50 S3 Post 61: Smooth As Silk (NOIRVEMBER)

2025-11-29T17:03:59Z

Smooth as Silk

A 1946 film directed by Charles Barton and produced by Universal Pictures. This is a version of the 1935 film A Notorious Gentleman (which was also produced by Universal Pictures.)

Paula Marlowe (played by Virgina Grey) is a moderately famous theater actress. Her boyfriend is Mark Fenton (played by Kent Taylor), a v. successful lawyer. At the beginning of the movie, Mark has defended Don Elliott (played by Danny Morton), the nephew of an extremely powerful theater produced named Stephen Elliott (played by John Litel.) Mark and Stephen had had a deal: IF Mark was able to succeed in keeping Don out of jail, THEN Stephen would consider Paula for the main role in his upcoming production.

HOWEVAH, Stephen reneges in the deal. This then leads Paula to start planning . . .

This is one of those obscure noirs that I was ultimately charmed by it. The story is pretty complete and the cast is decent talent-wise.

I liked Virginia Grey. Her version of Paula is not quite likable but not a character meant to be hated either. Her motivations and choices made sense for the time.

Do I have any criticisms?

Despite the fact that, since it's only an hour and 14 minutes, so much of the story is compressed. Like, there are scenes that hint at weeks and months going by, but viewers won't get a sense of the passage of time.

I didn't like Jane Adams as Susan Marlowe (Paula's younger sister.) She was there to be the one person representing morality, I guess? But i never understood what actual role she was meant to fulfill.

Do I recommend it?

I do! It's a short movie, everything abt it is solid. Even though there wasn't anything abt it that I'd call spectacular or a must-see, I didn't find much fault with it. I'm giving it a 3 out of 5.

Queerness level:

*Tumbleweeds*

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Fandom 50 S3 Post 60: Blind Spot (NOIRVEMBER)

2025-11-28T17:56:51Z

Blind Spot

A 1947 film from Columbia Pictures. Directed by Robert Gordon.

This is the story of Jeffrey Andrews (played by Chester Morris), a prolific crime novelist who, nevertheless, is not financially successful. At the start of the movie, he lives in a run-down, basement apartment in NYC and has become a working alcoholic.

One day, after getting some "liquid courage", he marches to his publisher's office and demands to talk to Henry Small (played by William Forrest), the actual!publisher. Jeffrey demands a substantial advance cuz he's THAT broke. Henry shakes his head no and brings up that the publishing company has maintained the guidelines described in Jeffrey's contract. They go back and forth.

Watching all this unfold is Lloyd Harrison (played by Steven Geray), a fellow crime author signed to the same publisher.

Desperate for money, Jeffrey proposes telling Henry a full story that he (Henry) can then have someone else ghostwrite in exchange for a few hundred dollars. Jeffrey starts telling the story. The next scene has him leaving Henry's office.

Next thing he knows, Jeffrey is being accused of MURDERING HENRY. Unfortch for Jeffrey, he was totally blotto and can't remember a lot of what happened after he left Henry's office. So now he has to retrace his steps and figure out who had it out for Henry. Along the way, he teams up with Evelyn Green (played by Constance Dowling), Henry's former secretary.

At an hour and 4 minutes, this is another one of those super short movies. It's got great pacing, good dialogue, and is well acted, tho.

Do I have any criticisms?

Due to the time constraints, certain connections happen a little too fast for my taste (such as the one between Evelyn and Jeffrey). Keeping in mind that, at the start of the movie, Jeffrey himself makes a remark abt how Evelyn is the latest secretary that Henry's got. Only for the two of them having several PASSIONATE kisses the v. next day. O___o?!

I'm meh abt the ending, but *hands*

Do I recommend it?

Yeah? There are copies floating around online, but those have potato-recording levels of quality. IF you want to watch a pristine version, you either have to rent it OR hope that it'll run on TCM. I'm giving it a 2.6 out of 5.

Queerness level:
Medium.

The character of Lloyd is effete and has the type of dialogue peppered with tons of bon mots that read like a queer-coded character. Also, the way he reacts whenever Evelyn is present also adds weight to my guesstimation.

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Fandom 50 S3 Post 59: Fallen Angel (NOIRVEMBER)

2025-11-27T17:10:19Z

Fallen Angel

A 1945 movie from 20th Century Fox that was directed by Otto Preminger. It's based on the novel Fallen Angel by Marty Holland.

Eric Stanton (played by Dana Andrews) is a swindler on a losing streak. Unable to pay the rest of his bus ticket to San Francisco, he's dropped off at the small town of Walton, CA. He ends up in a cafe, mulling on what he's gonna do next. While there, he notices Stella (played by Linda Darnell), a beautiful waitress, and goes gaga for her.

After pulling a small con and despite being invited to continue the scam in another town, Eric decides to stay cuz he's THAT gone for Stella. After starting to date her, he realizes that he's gonna need a lot of dough.

AT THE SAME TIME, he meets Clara (played by Anne Revere) and June (played by Alice Faye), two sisters who are v. wealthy. A plan begins to form . . .

Everyone's acting is on the level. Linda Darnell was LUMINOUS. I loved her every second she was on the screen. The story is pretty interesting and the directing is fine.

Fun fact: this was a reunion of sorts between Otto Preminger and Dana Andrews as they'd both worked together in 1941's Laura.

Do I have any criticisms?

Oh, do I!

The first thing is that pacing is a little off. For a movie that's an hour and 37 mins, the first 25 or so minutes are tedious. There were a few moments when I got close to quit watching. Though, thankfully, the movie made a fascianting turn at the 30-min mark and I was IN.

Also I was unable to warm up to June. Alice Faye did as good of a job as she could with such a wishy-washy role.

Which is related to a BIG SPOILER

Eric and June eventually get married and it's a v. strange relationship. He does woo her in a v. specific way that's also playful. It contrasts nicely with how lustful and turbulent his relationship with Stella is. And yet, after Eric and June get married, he resents having to go thru with his plan. As a result he takes it out on June. He becomes distant and brusque with her both in private AND public.

All this time, June is going alone with the mistreatment. She doesn't push back in any way. As a matter of fact, the one (1) time she yells at him is to let him know that she's his ride or die and she doesn't care who knows it. Her one goal in life now that she's his wife is to stick with him no matter what and no matter whatever it takes to protect him.

AND SHE'S DOING THIS FOR NO REASON OTHER THAN BEING IN LOVE WITH HIM!

Watching her become a doormat was irritating, NGL. It's clear that she's got a gentle personality from the moment they meet, but seeing her go all out for this guy was O__o. Even worse is that her yelling at him abt how much she loves him is what makes HIM realize that maybe June is a good person to be married to?!

I'd like to think that, in June's interior world, she was flattered that Eric married her. It was also a little unclear as to how much June wanted to gain some kind of independence from her older sister (they do care for each other, btw), IDK.

FWIW, I really didn't like June and Eric together.

Adding to that, I was never sure WHAT KIND OF CHARACTER Eric was? Not a good guy, not a villain, not an antihero . . . and yet, as the credits roll, he's REDEEMED by a woman's love because said woman never gave up on him or something. Especially given how poorly he treated her after they got married. 🤢

And that's what got me to lower the ranking by two full points. *Hands*

Do I recommend it?

I do? With the caveat that you HAVE to sit thru a full 30 mins for the movie to really kick in. OTOH, I'm SO at odds with this movie, NGL. On paper, it had a lot going for it: Otto Preminger in the director's chair, good actors like Linda Darnell and Dana Andrews, etc and yet, things never quite gelled this time around!

OTOH, it's not a trash movie. To me it's a C-level noir in my heart of hearts. Per what I know, you can find it streaming somewhere. I'm giving it a 2 out of 5.

Queerness level:

A whole lotta nothin'

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