life-giving media in this trash fire era: a list

[glass_icarus]

Inspired by a recent exchange with rydra_wong, I thought it would be nice to make a list of life-giving media content that's been helping me get by! I noticed upon my latest rewatch of Nirvana in Fire that the comfort reading/media consumption I do to cope with politics these days is distinctly different from the comfort reading/media consumption I do in response to general life stress. There's a specific flavor of schadenfreude involved in the former which leads me to look for plots involving political takedowns and reforms for great justice, for one thing, though I will also settle for characters resisting and/or getting justice in a less socially comprehensive sense. *g*

My political coping list is much less extensive than my general comfort list, but here are a few things I've been leaning on:
♥ Nirvana in Fire/Lang Ya Bang - I would rewatch this show anytime for any reason because of the amazing characters, but it is especially satisfying as political coping because of Mei Changsu's beautiful takedown schemes (also, there is an explicit hierarchy of court corruptness being dealt with)!
♥ Captive Prince - similarly satisfying, but to a lesser extent. I love Laurent's plotting, but Mei Changsu eclipses him in terms of layers, let's be real.
♥ Black Panther - the most comforting parts of this movie for me are Shuri, Okoye, and Nakia, tbh. I love soft-hearted T'Challa, but those three are what I watch for these days.
♥ A:TLA - this is also a general comfort thing, but for political coping I like turning to the latter half of Zuko's character arc and, uh, pretty much every episode where Katara gets angry, because she's glorious when pissed off and never gets punished for it. I also like all the fights with Azula; they're quite cathartic for me!
♥ Kristin Cashore's Graceling series (er, I forget if that's the actual series name? but all three books!) - I like these because in addition to the various trash fires and takedowns, they don't shy away from the parts where everyone is also coping with the traumas involved during and afterward. There's a raw generosity and kindness in Bitterblue, especially, that I really appreciated post-November 2016.
♥ V for Vendetta - clearly explosions are not a solution to shitty government, but some days there's only so much bullshit I can take before I just want to watch it (fictionally) burn.
♥ The Matrix - same as above? xD
♥ The Handmaid's Tale - I started rereading a couple of weeks post-Kavanaugh, but it was a bit much then (also, I was away that weekend and got distracted by people). I think it would be good to revisit another day, though.
♥ Janelle Monae's entire discography - not only is she an incredible musician, her music videos (Many Moons, Tightrope, and Dirty Computer especially) are such amazing portraits of everyday #resistance.
♥ In the Heights soundtrack - maybe Hamilton would be more satisfying (I still haven't seen it), but literally all of this is immigrants surviving, thriving, and going about their everyday lives, and I desperately need more immigrant stories. (I would cite Allegiance too, if I owned the soundtrack!)
♥ By The Still Waters - I love and have been rereading this fic so much, because it is all about choosing and dealing with the consequences of your choices. Also OMG, what an incredible character piece! (Spoilers for Dragon Age 2 and Inquisition.)
♥ LOTR - for all those comforting Dire Moments with Frodo, Sam, Eowyn, etc., haha.

What are the things you've been turning to? Any recs?

Comments

[rydra_wong]

May I signal-boost, if this is a thing you'd like random people turning up and joining in with?

[glass_icarus]

Sure :)

[trascendenza]

The new She-Ra reboot really, really hit the spot for me recently. Sometimes watching a mostly-women rebellion fight to re-instate a magical matriarchy is just the thing!!

[heavenscalyx]

The Murderbot Diaries, Martha Wells. Murderbot just wants to be left alone to watch its media, and people keep trying to kill its humans, dammit. Intense reread value, especially if someone is reading the novellas aloud to you and possibly some of your friends, so you can all squeal, "Murderbooooooottttt!" together at certain points.

[alexseanchai]

Miraculous Ladybug

[brainwane]

Here are my recs -- I want to in particular bring Elvis Costello's song "Tramp the Dirt Down" to more people's attention.

Here via rydra_wong.

[rydra_wong]

I can fervently second Hope in the Dark, which is very much on my list also.

[kore]

Hope in the Dark has been keeping me going for I don't know how long.

[kore]

I keep rereading it -- it is like sustenance.

[oracne]

The Comfortable Courtesan: https://www.clorinda.org/

[naraht]

Here via rydra_wong...

I found Yuri!!! on Ice incredibly life-giving in the dark days of late 2016.

To some extent I still do, although because I'm now engaging with it as a fic writer I've now transposed it into the key of post-Soviet angst.

[cesy]

I have been enjoying the BBC's DIY SOS and ITV's Love Your Garden, where nice people in the community come and help with your house and garden if you're ill or disabled.

Here via Rydra

[susanreads]

I just finished Ephemera, the book version of vol. 2 of Wonder City Stories - the original serial is on here at wonder_city. Unfortunately, vol. 4 was derailed by writer's block, and then probably by life and/or politics; the first 3 vols. contain everything I'm looking for in comic-book-world fiction.

I also recommend ysabetwordsmith's Love is for Children series and Schrodinger's Heroes.

[glass_icarus]

Oh, is that the version on Netflix? It sort of caught my eye but I ended up starting on Voltron instead due to seeing it float by among my circle multiple times.

[glass_icarus]

That sounds pretty entertaining! :)

[glass_icarus]

Hmm, I might check that out at some point...

[glass_icarus]

Oh, cool!

[glass_icarus]

Oh yes, YOI is absolutely general comfort media for me, haha. Post-Soviet angst take sounds pretty interesting!

[glass_icarus]

Oh, interesting!

[glass_icarus]

Aw! That sounds like the kind of warm and fuzzy the current version of Queer Eye gives me.

Re: Here via Rydra

[glass_icarus]

Cool, thanks! :)

[aurumcalendula]

Here via ryda_wong.

Two of mine are Leverage (I love watching the team take down the villains of the week via Mission Impossible style capers) and Terry Pratchett's books - particularly Monstrous Regiment and Night Watch.

[thatyourefuse]

M*A*S*H (the TV series), because you've never seen anything so casually refute the theory that you can't film war without making it look exciting, and because it's doing things with gender and sex and also with mental illness that maybe you only ever COULD do on TV for a brief period of time in the 70s without making a big self-congratulatory deal about it.

It is also spill-your-drink funny. Occasionally WHILE it's being bleak enough to go toe to toe with the ending of Blackadder Goes Forth.

(Everyone drinks. A lot. Often. If that's a deal-breaker, it's going to be a deal-breaker. There's an episode in S2 that's basically "oh okay that's what hypomania looks like when you don't really have a vocabulary for it," and all of S4 is an extended depressive crash. It's incredibly good for the soul regardless.)

[glass_icarus]

Oh that's right, I've been considering Leverage for a while! Maybe it's time. :)

[kore]

- Black Panther and Janelle Monae YES. Angelique Kidjo also did a remake of the Talking Heads album Remain in Light, here's Once in a Lifetime: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z84rtbVbIEQ

- DC's Bombshells and Bombshells United trades, which are my super happy place

- This Sam & Dave song always makes me happy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AREppyQf5uw

- Luke Cage S1. Luke punches injustice in the face and is bulletproof. Bonus: Mike Colter is a wonderful actor and beautiful eye candy, and Simone Missick and Alfre Woodard are amazing.

- The Winter Soldier. Lost track of how many times I've seen this by now. Steve Rogers also punches injustice in the face. Bonus: ANTHONY MACKIE.

- Rachel Maddow's shows keep me sane. I also love all the Watergate docs rydra_wong links to.


Whoops I forgot a couple:

- "Our intrepid gang takes on injustice" shows like Leverage, Person of Interest,

- Rogue One is a BIG pick-me-up for me politically. Same thing with The Last Jedi. Failure isn't the end, isn't even really important, you keep on going.

- Rebecca Solnit's book are all fantastic, especially the new version of Hope in the Dark.

- John Lewis has a twitter and it is great: https://twitter.com/repjohnlewis ("Nov 7: Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year—it is the struggle of a lifetime. Be persistent and consistent. We shall overcome.")

- Ursula Le Guin's translation of the Tao te Ching is available as an audiobook with incidental music and is super calming. https://www.shambhala.com/lao-tzu-tao-te-ching-14850.html