media (and other) consumption | feb 2025

[darkunicorna]

the month is already off to a big start! saw aespa on feb 1 WOOHOO but then inhaled too many toxins while out and about ytd hanging w friends who were visiting (could literally feel the grit on my teeth or whatever the fuck is in the air) and woke up with a HEADACHE hope i don't die from cancer and microplastics and metals and whatever the fuck else. anyway cannot concentrate on anything today maybe these entries will document my mental decline as a result of air quality hehe WITHOUT FURTHER ADO!

edit 3/5: this month went to total shit in the latter half so i didn't consume as much media to just be present for my friends and reflect on life and shit yk. life is hard. maybe i am depressed again! no thanks to accutane!


tv

• great british bake off: series 15 (10 eps) started this on a whim over the long weekend and loooooved! i mean, i've been watching bake off for years lol but i was a bit behind and i'm glad to have caught up! loved all the bakers :'))))) you could really tell mike and gill were really social + really key to the group becoming so tightknit. the way gill would always help others w their bakes :'( FASCINATING accents, including andy + christiaan (whenever andy talked i learned some new slang that british ppl use lol), and sumayah's gen z tone was soooo funny. also georgie's welsh accent!! i was rooting for mike bc i loved that he was just a farmer boy... i also liked sumayah bc her bakes were sooooo beautiful, and i loved nelly! she was so funny but so optimistic and postive and wholesome! so caring! i'm so sorry to say that john scared me so i didn't love him as much lol. i also liked dylan but have such mixed feelings abt him... he's such a Boy and also such a like, "i'm used to being good at everything so when i fail it feels like the end of the world and i can't recover" and also "i'm going to challenge myself and make things difficult for myself just to be Cool and Different" and... idk the finale was just an actual pain to witness happen lol i think he def has like, OCD or ADHD or something like that. anyway. i also rly liked georgie and christiaan! i was rooting for christiaan — i think he really adapted well based on what he realized the judges liked, and he just did so many risky things that i was secretly hoping he would get away w knocking their socks off every time. lots of fun and a great week-long obsession!


• the pitt: season 1, ep 1 (8 eps out so far) i am loving this show so far! very fast paced w a lot of characters + a lot of things happening simultaneously, so there are moments where i'm like ummm... who is this dead patient rn i can't remember :( BUT i like that it's not episodic, so the patient's story isn't over after just one episode. it's organized hour by hour in one ER shift on a significant day for the head of the ER guy, dr. robby. you can tell he's also processing stuff throughout this day, and that's also told as an arc across the episodes, not just resolved within one ep, so yeah! i think the thing that's most special to me abt this show is the structure that gives us more time w these patients + more time to sit w the emotional rollercoaster these doctors are going through. i also am remembering how grey's anatomy, i'm PRETTY SURE, opens w these doctors hooking up in the rest room or something — this show v intentionally steers away from focusing on these doctors and their scandalous relationships w each other and more intentionally focuses on the emotions they feel doing their job — the stress, the trauma, the fear, etc. everyone does their job differently, as well, and is there for different reasons; slo mo (i'm so sorry i don't remember her real name just her nickname LOL) loves to get to know ppl's stories, but that means she's slow at seeing patients. that one new girl who came from the cadaver is just interested in experiences and less so the patient (which actually really bothers me and i don't like her LOL), and crash (once again i'm sorry idk her real name) is only 20yo lmao and clearly mostly driven by parental expectations. it's brought up multiple times that the ER is underfunded and deprioritized, and you can see how even though they have a low satisfaction rating, all of these doctors are v good at their jobs and care a lot abt what they're doing; they're just unable to spend all the time they want to focus on patient satisfaction bc they have too many patients who need attention! i'm intrigued to know more about the r3's story (the one w the ankle monitor and the bangs), curious what will happen to the boy w the death list, wondering how the story abt the separate teens ODing will intersect... we will see!

webtoons / manga / manhwa / manhua

• fake fact lips: japanese, complete, ch.7 i love this concept sm these two rivals basically just egging each other into flirting and jerking off and SLEEPING TOGETHER...... very 02z vibes to me, esp the way they genuinely respect each other and speak really highly of each other when the other is not actually around LOL ALSO loved the way that their rivalry is actually rly big for them in that it keeps them going and gives them meaning behind their work bc otherwise they might not have been as motivated / enthusiastic abt their parents' constant pressure. LOOOOOVE that ryou fell first bro fell HARD he was down bad and i love the panels that reveal that! w him in the same position as then vs now. art was rly pretty and artist drew p accurate biology from what i saw??? ryou even had public hair actually it was amazing. saw there was a part two but in general i'm less enthusiastic abt that bc it seems like they introduce a new character who sparks jealousy... don't love storylines like that haha we'll see if i end up reading it...!


• you and i can't do this / you really get me going: korean, ongoing?, stopped at ch.29 (end of s1) hmm. at first i loved this bc love the concept of rivals at work lol and i thought it was so funny w such creative visual storytelling -- looooved all the moments when yeongwon and hyunwoo would smile at each other and then flip each other off behind each other's backs lol. the storyboarding for the meat spilling moment was truly truly beautiful hahah this artist is cleraly super skilled and the art is soooo pretty....... it's just so funny too, the "I'LL USE YOU LIKE A GODDAMN DILDO" and the "Mr. Ugly here is a magnet for jerks" lmaooo as well as the little naver search and the little idol actor au..... just so creative! but i thought the plot was a little messy so i wasn't drawn in. like, i didn't feel convinced that they genuinely liked each other by the end of ch. 29, and i thought the introduction of heesung was gonna be so messy in ways that didn't feel like the kind of plot i typically enjoy. maybe i'm wrong! idk when i will find out tho!


• secret girlfriend on campus: korean, complete, ch.10 omg! i ended up loving this way more than i expected. the relationship between these is definitely dubcon af lol but to some extent i think it suits the setting, since queerness is so much more suppressed in korea. anyway. at first i thought this was a story that had several elements i liked but without the chemistry to match it; seryeong is a femme top who rly likes showing homophobic loser assholes who is boss (and here is where the dubious consent comes in... lol) and junseop is a FUCKING LOSERRRRRR OMFG and normally i rly like loser men... but at first he was so unlikable... i wouldn't say by the end he's much more likable LOOOOL but he is slightly redeemed. i would say i kinda just kept reading at first bc it was such a short story that i might as well see it to the end to see if i rly liked it or not, and in general i didn't love it lol UNTIL we got more of seryeong's backstory. i fell in love w seryeong just bc he is SOOOOOOOOO pretty in both his more masc presentation as well as his femme presentation... seryeong my gender fluid deity i'm a little obsessed w you even tho you forced this man to suck your dick... (all in the name of fiction lol if this was irl and/or involving women i would be much less forgiving obviously). also the artist drew such pretty dicks???? like wow i mean maybe it's bc i've been seeing too many light sabers but the veins...! the diff angles! wow. i'm impressed. in general the art was rly pretty and i feel like you could tell the artist had a lot of experience bc they made such dynamic positions look easy to draw lol anyway i like the simp junseop develops into (in general he becomes more likable after he buys a dildo lol) and in the end when they finally get together fr and junseop is hateful toward men bc they all pay too much attn to seryeong... SOOO TRUE KING.


• off-stage love side: japanese, complete, ch. 6.5 loved!!! love an idol story where their love interest is not a fan or another idol but is someone the idol was down bad for long before they were famous hahah kei was soooo sweet and i liked how it became equal that they drew strength from each other and were able to accomplish / continue their ambition bc of each other. very sweet and wholesome!


• ikoku nikki: japanese, ongoing, ch. 6 i really really loved this! looooved the representation of 30+yos who don't have their life together / aren't married / are silly and swear and can't make food properly HAHA also so interesting to see different ways of dealing w grief, in which neither makio or asa are particularly devastated by the death of asa's parents, but it's still had such a big role on their lives so they still need to process in diff ways. really love it, but i just felt like i needed to be in a serious mood to read it and i wasn't that very often this month, so i didn't get very far.


• nerd project: korean, ongoing, ch. 34 (end of s1) S2 NEXT WEEK WAHOOOOOOOO at first i thought this webtoon was ridiculous bc it was trying so hard to be set in some western country while still clearly having koreanisms like andrew being like 24 and supposedly rly successful in school as a senior i'm like it's more normal for seniors to be that age in korea than in the US LOL also ripppp andrew's dad being a democrat politician who is an asshat. i ended up really liking luke and andrew's dynamic even tho i thought the beginning was dumb lol i mean it certainly helped that luke is beautiful and i love staring at his face HAHA and i like how their relationship has progressed! luke kinda just clinging to andrew and andrew not really being used to that but being affected by luke's overaffection :') whatever storyline that's about to happen w this director's son better not get nasty bc i hate it when things get a little too dramatic / excessively evil but we will see soon enough!


• form of sympathy: korean, complete, ch. 125 ish? again, reaaaaaally loved this. age difference + former teacher + both in love w different ppl LOL fascinating premise, and i thought it was such a clear depiction of depression through jiri. love how blunt yuri is like he isn't even remotely a nice guy LMAO he just does what he thinks is right, and he ends up falling for jiri through the sympathy he feels for him; the love he has for jiri takes the form of sympathy GET ITTTTT???? i did think the struggle of teachers is obviously extremely important, but the storyline weighed a little too much on the manhwa and the plot became unbalanced bc of the author trying to do teachers' experiences justice, so in a way i think it would have been better to do a separate manhwa or even a sidestory that is more dedicated to jiri's role as a teacher. i also felt like the storyline just kept going??? LMFAO i felt like there were like 5 diff endings and even what i read was technically an "epilogue" but still seemed essential to the main story? i don't think i even technically finished but it was just getting harder and harder to find the rest of the story the farther i got along lol. i will say their relationship is def not perfect... saw A LOT of ppl calling them toxic in the comments, and they are technically toxic... yuri does what he does bc he knows jiri won't outright say his feelings, so he essentially manipulates jiri into being more selfish (or sometimes just doing what he wants) by intentionally getting beat up or hurt so jiri has to stay to take care of him. it def becomes worse when they actually get together bc yuri becomes so controlling over jiri, constantly asking what he's doing and where he is and saying he isn't allowed to do things with other people that he can't do with yuri + isn't allowed to drink unless it's with yuri (bc yuri doesn't trust that jiri won't go off and have another one-night stand while drunk, since that's essentially how they developed a more intimate relationship in the first place...) and i will say i thought it was amusing but a little tiring + def less enjoyable, and i wasn't confident that their relationship would resolve in a way where that would become more healthy, so i didn't try as hard to get all the way to the end (if there is an end? jesus christ) bc of those reasons. the author has a prequel that came first featuring yohan and mugyeong's love story while yohan and yuri were in high school, and i've thought abt reading it but it also seems quite different from this one, so idk! we'll see :)


• night of muheun: korean, ongoing, ch. 37 ellie mentioned she had started reading this one and recommended it to our little discord channel bc it has the same author as omega complex, which i've mentioned i've read and liked before. it's def not the same artist (and i follow them on twitter — i think they've only done omega complex and its sequel, alpha trauma?) so i wonder if it's the same author as in, the same author of the original internet novel these manhwa are based on? idk! i think this story is pretty different from omega complex so far, but you know... authors are fully capable of writing v different things... that is indeed something that is possible... well either way! i am enjoying this one and the art is pretty and muheun is HOTTTT i've just had a rough latter half of this month and so i wasn't able to keep reading but WE'RE BACK BABY (i think) so i will keep going full steam ahead! UPDATED TO SAY i have now caught up! i do think the story is a bit slow + hasn't really gone anywhere lol like that white haired guy has showed up multiple times but we haven't actually rly learned anything abt him + muheun is constantly sticking to seungjoo and then deciding actually nvm he needs some distance so it's always back to square one w these guys lol BUT s2 is from muheun's pov so far, which i think is v interesting, and i think the angst of his pov is so great heheh i approve!


• my beautiful man: japanese, ongoing, vol. 3 this was recommended by lys! and surprisingly it was available on libby! i also checked out and started the light novel, but haven't gotten too far yet - seems like the light novel and the manga are pretty closely tied. at first i was kind of just like LOL this relationship is so twisted bc it's just hira loving kiyoi while kiyoi is just like. blunt but not necessarily mean but also def not nice to him HAHA but it's interesting how hira can actually read kiyoi very well and is v aware of how kiyoi thinks of him, but he's just grateful because no one has ever treated him as quite s normal. the story def becomes more interesting when kiyoi experiences a fall from grace in high school. once i got to vol 3, i did want to keep reading, but i don't think i would be super super excited / first in line to read vol 4 when it releases... UNTIL! i found a thread that explained the order of the series (it's a little confusing bc there are multiple titles for each different phase of their lives) and there was a person who recapped all the novels and I THOUGHT IT WAS SO INTERESTING TO READ MORE ABT HOW THESE TWO ARE ONCE THEY ACTUALLY GET TOGETHER. they are both extremely flawed, and interestingly enough they're probably the only ones who see each other's flaws so clearly, but their feelings for each other genuinely transform each other + they both seriously change so much over time bc of their efforts to understand each other. SO fascinating! i want to keep reading the light novel but i am Suffering from extremely low energy levels rn haha but i'm sure i'll get there eventualy!


• alpha trauma: korean, ongoing, ch. 17 i didn't want to start this so soon bc there aren't that many chapters out, but one day i was kinda bored and started this on impulse....... NOOOOOOOO I WANT MORE IMMEDIATELY. i love this story (omega complex + alpha trauma) SOOOOO MUUUUUCHHHH dohyun is so knowing (in a way that reminds me of sang yan in the first frost LOL more on that later) where the person he's interested in is withdrawn from him, but he knows them well enough (plus he's just super perceptive as we remember from omega complex) that he knows everything anyway and is kind of just messing w wooyeon lol. i ended up really liking wooyeon, tho atp i can't remember why bc i'm logging this too late haha but ig i have sympathy for him. omg now that i think abt it he kind of reminds me of wen yifan from the first frost too bc of all the ppl hitting on him yet he has bad experiences w that so it just all feels like harrassment... NOW I REMEMBER WHY I LIKE HIM lol bc he wasn't always like this... he grew into this! kind of my id is gangnam beauty vibes there. ANYWAY yes i am now heartbroken that there isn't more content and seriously contemplating reading the novel lol.

movies

i am always watching movies, but i usually log my thoughts on letterboxd :)


books

i usually log my books on literal BUT this month i have only read half of some books LOL and haven't gotten around to finishing them yet, so i will review what i think of them so far!

• long live evil by sarah rees brennan i adore sarah rees brennan and she has been one of my fav authors for a VERY long time. she became ill w cancer quite a few years ago and recently recovered, and upon her recovery she dropped this monster of a novel about a girl who is sick with cancer and ends up transmigrating into a book her sister loves. so far i love it and think it felt especially meaningful bc i knew rae's experiences mirrored srb's own. also, gotta love a transmigration story! i did think it was funny, though some of the slang moments felt outdated already haha and at some points i felt like rae's pov was a little childish — which makes sense bc she's only 20 lol but i was like LET'S GROW UP CHOP CHOP hahahaha. i sort of lost steam when she and key (spelling? i was listening to the audiobook lol so idk how it's spelled) started getting intimate... i did think key was an interesting character but i wasn't that interested/invested in their romance, tho i guess it seems like they might not actually end up together... anyway, ran out of time on my audiobook and now i gotta wait forever for it to come back to me lol.


• cultish by amanda montell so far i'm liking this more than wordslut, tho idk if that's just bc i know less about cults so it feels less rudimentary — since that was kinda my problem w wordslut was just that it felt like intro to feminism 101 lol. not that far yet tho haha but i did like her talking about how cults were kinda normal / a neutral word (words like culture were derived from cult) but they developed a bad rep just bc of the levels of extremism that they became known for. also thought the chapter about jonestown was interesting; i think if i were alive at the time, i would have def joined that cult :( didn't realize that he took advantage of leftist spaces like that! anyway, gotta keep reading to keep up w my readalong w valeria and melissa!