Report ForTheCuteThings's Profile

Have fun.

Yeah, I've had the same experience with music, too! Especially because I find that people's music tastes are so varied, you can really learn a lot about someone from the songs they listen to. And luckily most songs are pretty short, so it's not a massive time commitment to hear them.

I find that sometimes I get a better understanding of a person when I watch one of their favorite shows. If I ask myself to approach the show through their eyes and try to figure out what it is they like about it, I tend to appreciate it more and figure some things out about their taste. Do you remember when Kemono Friends first came out, before it had a very big fanbase? I remember watching one episode and passing it off as nothing special, but when my friend Keith recommended it to me I gave it another shot. This time around I was thinking, "Keith likes this show; think of what Keith finds interesting here..." and I was able to appreciate it a lot more. I ended up focusing on things that I wouldn't normally have picked up on, just because I knew which one of my friends thought the show was worth watching.

You must have had an experience like that, right?

I totally agree with you that it's not really possible to rate things objectively. I've been thinking about my tastes more and more recently, and noticing that a lot of the opinions I have seem really contrarian... but to me, they're just the opinions that make sense! For me, Occultic;Nine is the show that best exemplifies this. It was pretty poorly received when it first released, but the tone and the subject matter were just what I was looking for. Certain shows just click with certain people, I've found!

And I really like watching niche shows like that, even if I don't feel the same attraction towards them that others do. It's a nice way to get to know people better, and to expand my own horizons.

My grandfather was actually an astronomer! I've always been super interested in it. I've wanted to take a class on astronomy, but I could never find one that fit into my schedule. But I do remember reading my grandfather's books and looking at pictures of the sky endlessly when I was a child.

I sometimes have experiences with anime motivating me to try new things, but more often it's that a show or manga will instill me with a general emotion that I want to recreate in the real world. Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou definitely did this for me. The setting reminds me a lot of where I live, so reading it made me really appreciative of the scenery around me. Yuru Camp made me want to go camping, because it's been a little while since I did that. Aside from that, it's a pretty rare feeling, but I have felt it before.

Maybe I'll need to check out Koisuru Asteroid! I remember looking at the synopsis when it was announced and thinking it might be worth watching.

Ah, I've heard great things about The Three-Body Problem! Apparently it's getting adapted for Netflix, but I've heard doubts voiced about the team that's in charge. Hopefully it turns out alright.

Definitely tell me how you like The Martian Chronicles! It's been a while since I last read it, but there are some super cool stories in there. Keep an eye out for one called "Night Meeting."

I haven't read City yet, but I love '50s fix-up collections! The Martian Chronicles is one of my all-time favorites. I'll be sure to check it out, then. Did you have a favorite story in City?

Well, I didn't feel safe working my usual food service job over the summer, so I got an online internship at a literary agency. That was really fun. They had me reading over manuscripts that were submitted to see if any were worth buying and trying to publish. Luckily I go to a pretty small college, so they were able to get me back on campus by the time the fall semester started. It's been a little upsetting not to be able to visit my friends in person, but I spend a lot of time at home anyway so it's not really that big of a change.

I'm back! I'm back! I'm back!

Sorry about the long haitus! I hope you're doing well right now, and I hope you had a nice New Year's Day.

So as for Marlon James, my favorite of his is Black Leopard Red Wolf, but it's the first in a planned trilogy so if you're looking for a standalone novel A Brief History of Seven Killings is probably your best bet. And as for science fiction, hm... I read an interesting book for a class called Into the Forest; it's an interesting take on the dystopian/post-apocalyptic genre because there isn't really a world-shattering apocalyptic event, just a general degeneration of society. One day the power shuts off for the world and never comes back on. It was pretty interesting.

I have a pretty similar dilemma to you. I love the look of books on my shelf, but they're too expensive for me to risk buying one I might not like. So usually I read them from libraries or on my ipad (I've been allowing myself to pirate ebooks from libgen recently because I didn't feel safe visiting the library during the summer), and if I really like them I'll buy a physical copy from a bookstore. Or, if there's an author that I generally enjoy, I feel comfortable buying their latest book without reading it first.

So how have you been since the last time we talked?

It's KyosouGiga^^

I actually demoted it to 9 recently, due to an overall re-evaluation of many titles on my animelist. But it's definitely still a great and unique anime.

Well, my favorite genres are sci-fi and horror, but I'll honestly read anything that catches my attention. Anything that's written in an unusual style, or that deals with something that you don't see many books about. That was what caught my eye about Marlon James -- normally, I have very little interest in historical novels, but he writes in a really interesting dialect that hooked me into the story fairly quickly.

I've heard Utsuro no Hako to Zero no Maria... it sounded unusual, but I couldn't tell whether or not it would be the kind of thing I'd enjoy.

Glad to hear you enjoy the SSY novel! It's one of my favorites, too.

I haven't read The Forever War, but it sounds super cool based on what you said. I took a class in Sci-fi literature, and that sounds like the kind of book we would have studied. I'll be sure to check it out once I finish my (admittedly rather large) to-read pile.

I read whenever I can find the time, usually two or three novels a month when I'm not bogged down by homework. I feel like reading is my duty as an English major. My favorite writer is Ray Bradbury, but I also really enjoy Marlon James and Aimee Bender. Joe Hill, George Saunders, and Octavia Butler are a lot of fun as well. And there are so many authors I want to try out, but I haven't had much time to explore yet... Carmen Maria Machado and Samuel R. Delany are two in particular who seem interesting to me. With the coronavirus going around, I decided to start reading Stephen King's The Stand... it's my first time being exposed to his writing, and it's enjoyable, but there are so many characters and plotlines that it can get a little hard to follow.

Similarly to you, I have trouble getting into light novels. I've tried a few, but the only ones I really enjoyed were the Monogatari series. The Baccano! light novels were alright, but they weren't anything special. I read a lot of Japanese novels in general, though. I think that lots of people probably know about Haruki Murakami, so it should come as no surprise that I like his books. But I've also been reading a fair amount by Otaro Maijo and a few stories by Kenzaburo Oe. Also, when it comes to non-LN Japanese books, the Shinsekai Yori novel is quite excellent, so you should definitely give it a try at some point if you haven't already.

I take it you must read a bit, right? What have you been enjoying lately? And what was the LN you tried?

The piano duet is absolutely the best. Then again, I'm a bit biased because that's the version I learned...

I know that performance! It's super impressive the way he hits those notes at the end. His control of volume is also amazing.

Yeah, classical music is really neat. I don't listen to a ton of classical (I'm more of a jazz/rock guy, personally), but when I do, I always like it a lot. It's really soothing, and there's so much thought put into every song. I think my favorite classical piece is Ravel's Mother Goose Suite. Do you know that one? I learned it on the piano a couple years back, and I've loved it ever since.

Hey, sorry for being so slow to respond to you...

College is going pretty well. I'm in the anime club and the film club, so I'm keeping busy. My classes are difficult, but interesting. I'm taking a course in medieval literature, which is really difficult, but I'm learning a lot.

Good to know that you're doing okay. I hope you did well on your exams.