thefridayfive, 2026.04.10

https://thefridayfive.dreamwidth.org/150938.html

1. What was the last book you read (or are currently reading)?
Last read manhwa: On My Way to See Mom, would recommend! It's a 30-chapter story about an orphan boy in a post-apocalyptic world (where there are more aliens than humans) who discovers the concept of family one day and sets out to find it. Very comforting because the boy is so ordinary! He is small and round and human and that is enough reason for him to be deserving of love. It's gen through and through, which I like, and acknowledges that gender and gendered family roles are human constructs, which I also like. And the character designs are so good!!! Beautiful fantasy elements too, like whales in the sky.

Last read book: A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid, an 80-page essay about Antigua, post-colonialism, white tourism, and global power dynamics. Hits pretty close to home and written quite lyrically. Would also recommend!

Currently reading: The Fellowship of the Ring audiobook (narrated by Andy Serkis)—I'm not sure how sustainable the audio format is for my attention span but it got me further than all past attempts to read the text with my eyes. I now see the appeal of Tolkien. I still can't visualize anything, though...

2. What was the last movie you watched?
This morning's groupwatch—we meant to watch the Journal with Witch live action movie, but the subs were machine-translated from Chinese which was painful, so we switched to 100 Meters on Netflix. It's about what running means to athletes, the years and years of training and self-doubt all for these races which are over in 15 seconds, and what those 15 seconds mean. On paper: good concept! I can see this being a nice, thoughtful manga. In practice, it had some really interesting textures and breathtaking moments, but I thought the storytelling was poor and did not maximize the animated form. None of the characters also ever really have inner lives, and because of that, the main character's speech at the end feels unearned.

3. What television series are you currently watching?

Loving Strangers (cdrama): I stopped watching this for a while and then got back to it because I was feeling tired and 委屈, and this show is nothing but characters who are tired and 委屈.

How Dare You!? (cdrama): 14 eps in, I don't have very strong feelings about it but it's a group watch and there are enough interesting plot points that I'd like to see through. The show is kind of uneven, some sets of episodes are paced better than others. I really liked the first ED so I was very sad that they changed it to the more "serious" one.

Pursuit of Jade (cdrama): One of my oomfs said this got her out of a cdrama slump and true enough I managed to watch 2 eps in a row. XD I am not very enthused that the FL, a small village butcher, is Secretly Proficient in Martial Arts and has Secretly Important Parents (deceased).

Witch Hat Atelier (anime): So beautiful and worth the wait! Not sure how much the anime covers and how long I'll stick with it, but I'm pleased that its impact is mainstream enough that I have a common interest with IRLs again.

4. What are some of your favorite blogs or communities online?
My fav community is the HnG server where we groupwatch non-HnG-related things and people share pictures of their local birds and flowers. :') Also the gaming channel in the NiF server, it's like the only channel I check haha. Also all the bookish people in my Dreamwidth and Storygraph circles because how else do I know what books exist! I read A Small Place because I saw two of my Storygraph mutuals (one of them is, naturally, aartichapati) finish it recently.

My favorite blogs are mostly defunct. </3 Some old blogs that are still up but no longer active: Lazy Evaluation Ranch, a personal farm blog; Hanzis Matter, a blog "dedicated to the misuse of Chinese characters in western culture"; Source Code in TV and Films; and Said the Gramophone, a music blog (still updates every December).

5. What social media do you belong to and check often?
Twitter and Bluesky... I also have an Instagram but as usual I've stopped checking it 😂