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Second Seasons That Sucked in 2023
Wednesday, 3 January 2024 08:30This is on my mind because I am updating my fandom list: 2023, among many other things, was a year of disappointing second seasons of shows that formerly I liked.
I had loved season one of Loki. Sylvie is my favorite Marvel character---not that I like Marvel that much. I loved the banter between Mobius and Loki. Season two felt disappointing and pointless. The characters' relationships that I cared about from season seemed to go to seed.
Season one of Our Flag Means Death gave me so much queer joy that I created a (now deleted) Twitter account to share the joy I felt about it. Season two took a couple of characters that I like in directions that I hated, while one of main characters never had consequences or seemed to learn from his harmful behaviour but still got a happy ending. There was also some kind of abilist BS in the ending as well.
And, I didn't discover how much I hated season two of Good Omens until I was in a discussion with a couple people who loved it. The series not only left me feeling like my time was wasted, I felt exploited. I felt like the people making the show knew how hard queer folx would work to get a season three and wasted season two on filler waste-of-time garbage.
If you like any of these shows, that's fine. I'm not especially interested in hearing why you think they are good. I'm just sad that some things that used make me happy ended up leaving me disappointed. There are not enough happy-making things as it is.
List of Finished Audiobooks
Saturday, 3 June 2023 21:55( Read more... )
I would be happy to discuss any of the books.
Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing by Charlie Adhara
Wednesday, 15 March 2023 23:44Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing is the fourth book in the m/m romance / shifter / buddy cop series. It’s also my favorite so far. Human Cooper Dayton and werewolf Oliver Park are partners in the Bureau of Special Investigation, an FBI-like organization that deals with werewolf-related crimes. They are also partners in life. In this book they go undercover at a retreat for werewolf couples who need counseling.
[Spoilers] Part of the plot involves rescuing werewolves who are running away from abusive pack situations. While this is a small part of the story, it resonated strongly with me and is likely a not insignificant part of why I prefer this plot to that of others in this series. [/Spoilers]
I continue to enjoy the emphasis on consent during the intimate scenes in this romance series, and the way the couples’ underlying respect for each other makes the genuinely dirty talk they engage in more delightful.
I do not enjoy the way the series focuses on the dispoven idea that wolf packs have alphas, while I believe–and appreciate–that the author is trying to subvert the idea of what an alpha is.
Because I completed the fifth book in the series before I completed this one, I was already spoilered for a significant plot point. Oddly, this made me enjoy this book more since I anticipated some of the things that happened that might have seemed annoyingly random had I not known what I knew.
I even enjoyed Erik Bloomquist’s narration more than I generally do. I generally find Bloomquist’s reading mechanical and dry. However, for at least one scene in this book I found his reading moving and appropriate to the emotions in the book. Also, he made an effort to use varied accents to make secondary characters more distinct.
Length: 323 pages | 11 hours 17 minutes
A Marvelous Light by Freya Marske
Saturday, 11 March 2023 17:35David Thorpe puts effort into matching narration to the text it describes to good effect.
Length: 377 pages | 14 hours 30 minutes
Thrown to the Wolves by Charlie Adhara
Saturday, 11 March 2023 17:04Erik Bloomquist narrates this series. He is not my favorite narrator.
Length: 241 pages | 8 hours 59 minutes
Seance on a Summer's Night by Josh Lanyon
Friday, 17 February 2023 11:10Between Cat Sebastian books and K. J. Charles’ Will Darling Adventure series, I’ve started craving anticapitalism with my queer romance. There was none of that here. The protagonist is very uncritical of his privilege.
In this book, theater critic Artemus Bancroft is summoned home from New York to California's Green Lanterns Inn by his beloved Aunt Halcyone. There is a rumor of the ghost of Halcyone’s late husband haunting the family homestead. The love interest is a hot gardener who Artemus suspects is not really a gardener.
The book is good enough as light entertainment. It had about Murder, She Wrote levels of drama and mystery.
Length: 318 pages | 8 hours 9 minutes
Three More Books by Cat Sebastian
Tuesday, 14 February 2023 22:59To the books I have finished! ( Read more... )
