thank you so, so, so much to colorbash for giving me their scott pilgrim box set! ily
scott pilgrim is the greatest comic book series. i know, hard to swallow. you're probably like, "better than the watchmen?". tell me this, dear reader - though alan moore's writing may be nuanced, can it compare to the awesomeness of the surprisingly-queer nerdy teen movie quest for love of the coolest woman you've ever seen? cuz scott pilgrim isn't about its titular character (unless you watched the movie - which was the first incarnation of the story hence why it's the simplest PLEASE stop comparing it to the comic the biggest comic arc was written after the film's script was finished). nah, it's about one of the most unforgettable bisexuals in all of fiction, ms. ramona flowers. not only does she have more swag than your momma, she's got an astonishing amount of depth for someone often reduced to a "vapid bitch". she IS an iconic traumagirl. she IS fucked up and queer. i DO love her very much. in general, bryan lee o'malley has a weird knack for designing and writing gayass chicks. i put ramona in my faves gallery (on the homepage), but she could easily be swapped out for roxie, kim, lisa, envy, or knives. i would go as far as to say that scott pilgrim (in comic form) is a story about women learning how to process their relationships that uses scott as a storytelling vessel. it's only 6 volumes but i walked out feeling like i got to know most of its 20-odd character cast super well. the movie and the show are crazy good too. shoutout secondary characters. shoutout killing corporate figureheads with swords. shoutout scott pilgrim.
(this is the first of a few books on this page that i don't actually own, but will likely buy soon.)
a word of advice: if you love psychological horror, especially silent hill, YOU NEED TO READ CRIME & PUNISHMENT. i understand how a 600 page book released 150 years ago in a format that doesn't exist anymore can seem off-putting or intimidating; i promise you it hasn't aged a day. crime & punishment can suffocate you with tension and anxiety comparable to any horror movie or game using words alone. the characters are oceans of beauty and flaws that will stick with you forever. without dostoevsky, there would be no shining, there would be no subahibi, and there would be no silent hill. read it and thank me later.
got this book because i want more scott pilgrim. i know it's not good to expect an artist's other work to be like their popular thing but eh idgaf. so i read it and... wow. this really is more scott pilgrim! it doesn't have the same anime tendencies, big ol cast of characters, or any overt nerd shit, but it has the same tender heart at the center of it. plus the protagonist of this one is like a 30 year old bad bitch with depression who i adore instead of an insufferable manchild (who i admittedly also adore). she's pretty and i want to be her friend. i will also say this book is much more mature than the ol' SC. nice to see brian lee o'malley progress as an artist.
(i don't own a copy. i think i'll grab this in a cassette or cd, rather than paperback)
been a hot minute since i listened to this, though i still vividly remember sitting by the ocean with my ipod classic big shitass studio headphones listening to this while my family did poser shit like "playing" and "interacting with each other". am i a bad person? probably. but henry rollings is one of the most interesting punk frontmen and he has an unendingly funny narration voice that he maintains for the 2+ hour runtime of this excellent audiobook!
(i don't own a copy. planning on picking up an og edition with the sick negative cover)
my teacher lent me this book after i gave her a long and overly-specific description of the kind of thing i'd like to read. this was before the fearmongering bullshit my state government has been pulling in schools. screw you, demantis. surprise! i loved invisible monsters and would gladly call paliniuk one of my favorite writers for this alone. leave it to chuck to write a better story of queer suffering than some actual queer authors and to do it in THE 90S. the book's non-linear structure and intertwining plotlines are also wicked. big recommend!
ok, ok, so when a N O R M I E asks me who my favorite author is, i'll pick douglas adams or chuck paliniuk. if we're talkin real talk, it can't be any other than the master of erotic horror, porpentine charity heartscape. serious weakness is her magnum opus. psa: this book will screw you up. i had a panic attack at work the other day because i remembered a scene while i was bussing tables. on my first readthrough, i laid in my bed crying and shaking for like an hour. effective daylight horror. tws: LITERALLY EVERYTHING. if you can think of it, it's in serious weakness. recommended for fans of cock and ball torture.
the polar opposite of serious weakness. the perfect fluff manga. every story is like 5~ minutes or so and features all the vocaloid broskis operating at max anime. it's cute! bring it on roadtrips or anywhere else where you need something to read for short sessions and giggle at. i love hatsune miku! she is my friend.
i have read trsotm like 20 times. some of the most autistic shit ever put from pen to paper. it's an inbetween of light music criticism and vignettes of the music-driven travels of one josh rosenthal, owner of AWESOME archival label tompkin's square. this is one idiosyncratic. and much like my other fave critic, thorhighheels, it's always interesting to revisit their writing even when i've damn near memorized what they're going to say next.
douglas adams, nakeyjakey, and postal 2 defined my sense of humor by the age of 13. in other words, i have the most obnoxious white guy sense of humor. that said, do not write off the hitchhiker's guide as some r/atheism shit just because of its fanbase. the comedy mostly comes from over-the-top scifi logic (damn near delving into fantasy by the final entries), creative character ideas, and an s-tier straight man protag named arthur dent. there is a character ford prefect. ford. prefect. isn't that awesome. make sure to read
too.
sadly, i don't like this series HALF as much. sort of like if a guy who though he understood douglas adams tried to write a douglas adams book. i still own it though.
forgive me for my zoomer shit, but... this is one rule-of-roseian affair. i will not elaborate. fuck you. formative book for me, glad i pushed through it as a young'un.
(i need a copy. why don't i own one?)
two classics BACK 2 BACK. not sure i ever cared about "teh themes" as much as i do the utter filth on display here. even tween me like their literature nasty. every character and environment is as memorable as they are terrible. it's so fascinating! beautifully written and downright ugly otherwise... just like serious weakness. the seeds were always there, folks.
this was the first porpentine book i bought, because it was dirt cheap. it isn't as good as serious weakness. however, that's not exactly a fair comparison as they server different purposes. LKS is smutty dogboy wattpad yaoi. by that standard, it's awesome. plus it has murder and anti-capitalist angst! i carry it around just as often as the unofficial hatsune mix.
HEEEEEELL YEAH SKA BABY YEAH WOOOO
do you like ska? buy this book. do you want to like ska? buy this book. do you like ska? buy this book. don't know what ska is? buy this book. point is, buy this book.
cute :)
laura jane grace is one of the best lyricists in punk music. she's not "poetic" most of the time but she writes word that make do feeling in emotion for very strong. unsurprisingly, her intense trans confessional memoir is an emotional roller coaster with a very distinct voice and it won't leave me alone. permanently etched into my skull. just about everything that could go wrong in the life of a punk star happened to this woman, so proceed with caution, but i recommend reading if you can withstand some rough shit. recommended for fans of music and heartbreak and redemption.