Mid-Late December Log

[halfcactus]

TV/Movies

Theater Camp (2023)
Musical theater camp mockumentary mainly following two seasoned teachers and an influencer who has no idea how to run anything. I didn't care for these three main characters but I did find all the theater jokes very fun and was thoroughly moved by the payoff in Glenn's storyline (+ the kids). Also felt that Ayo Edebiri's character was underused? I wanted to know more about the kids on their own as well.

An Ancient Love Song (2023)

A historian travels back in time and meets the Demon Queen he had written about in his book, which propels him into a quest to rewrite history in every way he can. (Daisy rightfully called this "method writing". XD)

At 14 episodes that are each 30 minutes long, this is a highly finishable drama that captures the feeling of the webnovel in a way that I think is refreshingly old-school. The main characters aren't particularly unique on their own, but they balance the story very well between their relationships. Production values are maximized and editing/directing are marvelously done—there's a strong sense of point-of-view, some well-timed comedy, and fight scenes I don't zone out of.

The FL has a role and arc that's usually reserved for MLs and I love that so much about her as well as for the actress who gets to play a character which such range. It is SO satisfying to get to the point where she's peeled back to her final timeline and layer. Also loved her brother's storyline is also about gender stereotypes/expectations but for boys.

Cons: I feel like they could have gone harder on the music + songwriting aspects between the two main characters, and I wish the conflict wasn't as centered on the prime minister + politics (which contains the flavor of nationalism that stereotypes the ~barbaric northerners~). But at least the plot is just a backdrop for a relationship-driven story whose weaknesses outweigh its strengths.

PS. All palace dramas should include a scene where the emperor gets an eggducation. XD

Books/Comics

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone


Enemies-to-lovers novel in epistolary format as two highly competent agents from opposing sides leave each other letters in the time war. I found the writing flowery and distracting at first, but it grew one me as we spent more time with the characters. Plot was self-contained but a bit too lean for me—I could have done with more meat and tendon.



Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear: Poems from Gaza by Mosab Abu Toha

IN THE WAR: YOU AND HOUSES

You fight. You
die.
You’ll never know who won or lost,
or if the war ever ended.

They didn’t find a place to bury you.
They carried you on their shoulders,
wandered through the neighborhood,
stopped at your childhood school
and the old park.

The houses never saw you.
They’ve already packed their bags.
Dust has erected a tent in the corners.
Rust has landed with its worn-out clothes on the tap
and on the spoon.
It steals from the water its soft slide,
while you,
you sleep on moving sand.

(I got my copy from Publishers for Palestine.)




Winnie Chua, "A Walk in a Park"

some images

A gorgeous and moving meditation about not knowing how to live your life that landed on all the right spots for me since I too have been Going Through It this year and trying to do things to get out of my head—trying to find myself in the world around me.