azdak

未来赞美诗 (Hymn) was released digitally just a couple weeks ago and while it's not entirely unique, it's one of the more interesting pieces of Chinese media I've seen recently. It's a 20-minute film about emotional exploitation and predatory technology told through the story of a mother (played by Cecilia Yip) and her son (played by Steven Zhang / Zhang Xincheng—you may know him as Pei Su in Justice in the Dark). Best to go in without expectations! Do note that this isn't a happy story.

You can watch it (with English subs) in several places:

Weibo (shared by Zhang Xincheng)

Youtube

Daily Motion

( Some personal notes/thoughts about it (contains spoilers) )

Posted by Fred Clark

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2025/08/23/lbcf-sunday-morning-coming-down/

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/?p=71171

There's nothing short of dying half as lonesome as the sound of Jerry Jenkins forgetting that every character in his book just lost their children.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2025/08/23/lbcf-sunday-morning-coming-down/

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/?p=71171

The weekly chat posts are intended for just that, chatting among each other. What are you currently watching? Reading? What actor/idol are you currently following? What are you looking forward to? Are you busy writing, creating art? Or did you have no time at all for anything, and are bemoaning that fact?

Whatever it is, talk to us about it here. Tell us what you liked or didn't like, and if you want to talk about spoilery things, please hide them under either of these codes:
<b>Highlight for spoilers!</b> *<span style="background-color: #FFFFFF; color: #FFFFFF">Write your spoilery text here.</span>* or <details> <summary>Write a non-spoilery summary of what's hidden under the arrow here.</summary> Write your spoilery text here. </details>

The money comes in and then it falls back out again.

*******************

( Read more... )

The Bond system is interesting, what's the point of it?

The 'check on the others' camp conversation between Lune and Sciel ahhhh. Lune's parents were Expeditioners?? What number? And Maelle was able to write in the journal. Will the apprentices ever see it? Maelle is wearing Gustave's arm band, she gave hers to Verso. 😭

Alright I went back, leveled up more Pictos and decided to brave the Yellow Glade. It's so big! And there's that Lost Wood place with the record?? I can't believe there was yet another group that died by mushrooms. 😭 And the two Expeditioners who gave up, and the group who tried WEARING Nevrons and failed utterly...... I couldn't beat the Mime here. Oh yeah, and another giant Nevron in the background. Somehow that seems the least of everything else going on;; What is the point of the Auto Death Pictos?! I need higher tier weapon items already so I can level weapons to 10.

Oh! I found out that the first record we receive is a reversed version of a real song, Mask of Joy, and it's basically the Mask of Sorrow now.

I dipped into camp and had a check in, it was a conversation between Maelle and Lune where Maelle apologized for accusing the others of not caring. 😢 It was a really lovely and sad conversation, Lune said she could feel the ones they've lost through Chroma and encouraged Maelle to try feeling Gustave.

I have zero interest in challenges that are near impossible to win without hours of patience and practice so I'm skipping the Painting Worship challenges.

Monoco is so interesting! Of course Noco is his son... Verso's way of getting Monoco to go with them. 🤣

Ughh the game crashes when my PC gets really hot, which happened during the Monoco tutorial.

this one is currently active but I HAD to bring it here. Content advisory: nudity ( Read more... )

Rec post is here!

How does one compose an email to say "I got a job offer that seems just on the cusp of too good to be true, but as you and your company appear to actually exist I thought I should contact you and see if it *is* legit before I delete it"?

Rec time! Did you read/watch/listen to something you really liked and would love other people to know about, too? Don't have the time or energy to make a full promo post, or think such a small thing doesn't merit a separate entry?

Here's your chance to share with the class! Just drop a comment with a link and maybe a couple of words in description. No need to overthink things, it can be as simple as Loved this! or OMG, look at that!. (You don't need to keep it short, though, write as much as you want.)

Check out the previous entries, too!

And the toothbrush user was Yumoto and it was an accident.

Posted by Fred Clark

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2025/08/18/we-are-christians-first-americans-second/

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/?p=71153

It's a platitude that American Christians have recited so many times we're bored by it, but it still means something.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2025/08/18/we-are-christians-first-americans-second/

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/?p=71153

13-year-old Hannah, who lives on a tiny island off Seattle, is excited for her first babysitting job. Then a giant earthquake hits, cutting the island off from the mainland... and leaving Hannah alone in charge of two kids in a devastated landscape.

Hannah is not having a good day. She was recently diagnosed with asthma, forcing her to drop out of soccer and always carry an inhaler. Her best friend Neha, a soccer star, is now hanging out more with another soccer girl than with Hannah. Hannah forgets to bring her inhaler with her to school, and her mom doesn't turn around the car to get it as Hannah is desperate not to be late. When she arrives for her babysitting job after school, minus her inhaler (no doubt looming ominously on the mantelpiece at home, along with Chekhov's gun), she gets in a huge fight with Neha over text and the girls say they no longer want to be friends...

...just as a giant earthquake hits! Hannah gets her charges, Zoe and Oscar, to huddle under a table (along with their guinea pig) and no one is injured. But the windows break, the house is trashed, and the power, internet, and phones go out. The house is somewhat remote, an all-day walk from the next house. What to do?

Hannah is a pretty realistic 13-year-old. She's generally sensible, but makes some mistakes which are understandable under the circumstances, but have huge repercussions. She enlists the kids to help her search for her phone in the wreckage of the house, and Zoe immediately is severely cut on broken glass. The kids freak out because their mom (along with Hannah's) is on the mainland, and Hannah calms them down by lying that she got a text from their mom saying that she's fine and is coming soon. The next morning, she lets Oscar play on some home playground equipment. Hannah checks the surrounding area, but doesn't check the equipment itself. It's damaged and breaks, and Oscar breaks his leg. So by day one, Hannah is having asthma attacks without her inhaler, Zoe has one arm out of commission, Oscar is totally immobilized, and there's no adults within reach.

Well - this is a HUGE improvement on Trapped. It's well-written and gripping, the events all make sense, and the characterization is fine. It was clearly intended to teach kids what can happen during a big earthquake and how to stay as safe as possible, and the information presented on that is all good.

But - you knew there was a but - as an enjoyable work of children's disaster/survival literature, it falls short of the standards of the old classic Hatchet and the excellent newer series I Survived.

The basic problem with this book is that it has a very narrow emotional range. For the entire book, Hannah is miserable, guilty over her friend breakup and the kids getting hurt, worried about her parents, and desperately trying to keep it together. The kids get hurt so seriously so early on that they never have any fun. Even when Hannah tries to feed them S'Mores to cheer them up, nobody actually likes them because they're not melted!

The I Survived books have much more variety of emotional states and incidents, as typically the actual disaster doesn't happen until at least one-third of the way into the book. The kids have highs and lows, fun moments and despairing moments and terrifying moments. This book is all gloom all the time even before the disaster! Hannah eventually saves everyone, is hailed as a hero, and repairs her friendship, but we don't get that from her inner POV - it's in a transcript of a TV interview with her.

The information provided in the book is very solid, but I would have preferred that it didn't have BOTH kids get injured because of something Hannah does wrong. (That is not realistic! ONE, maybe.) It also would have been a lot more fun to read if the kids' injuries were either less serious or occurred later. The situation is desperate and miserable almost immediately, and just stays that way for the entire book.

Still, there's a lot about the book that's good and there should be an entertaining book that provides earthquake knowledge, so I'm keeping it. But I'm not getting her other book about two girls lost in the woods.