fireweed

Title: Nonesuch

Type: Webcomic

Year: 2022-2024

Country: United States (?)

Genre: Thriller

Status: Completed

Platform: Webtoon (read here)

Appropriate for 30+?: Yes

My rating: 3.5/5 stars

(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity)

If you're like me with decades of comic reading under your belt, you're likely on the hunt for series that have something a little different to offer, and Nonesuch delivers. While a bit rough in spots, Nonesuch is a solid series, with good pacing, an engaging plot, and quite a bit of novelty, plus it's short enough that you could complete it in one or two sittings.

First, the novelty: this series is set in rural Appalachia and that''s not just an aesthetic; the characters are gun-toting, Christ-loving, red-blooded Americans. To each point: I know jack-all about guns, however my impression is that the series portrays them accurately. In the creator notes at the end, the author mentions that her intent was to create a "Christian" series, which I think is quite interesting given that I spent most of the series wondering if the Christian elements were supposed to be dismissive of the religion or not (in other words there's nothing preachy about Nonesuch, and the inclusion of Christianity definitely adds quite a bit of realism to a series set in the Bible Belt). Overall I really felt the setting in this series, which is a huge breath of fresh air not only in the world of comics, but American media overall (which are very California/NYC-centric).

Further bits of novelty: the art style, while not my favorite, is bold and distinctive. The plot/premise share vibes with various horror/thriller/mystery series (strong zombie and X-Files notes), but regarding the specifics I can't think of any examples that are similar. Probably my favorite aspect of the series is that one of the main characters not only has a disability, but it's a rare (yet real) condition that most readers probably haven't heard of, and it's an invisible disability, and it's integral to both the plot and character development. I'm assuming the author has personal experience with the condition, because it's handled with significantly more understanding and gravitas than nearly all depictions of disability/non-lethal health conditions in media.

The rough edges: while distinctive, the art style feels a bit clunky at times, with occasional bad anatomy and a limited range of facial expressions (I get that none of the characters are having a good time, but does "grimace" have to be everyone's default expression?). The series also does the thing where the characters often make reckless decisions that, while perhaps justified by the situation they are in, are nonetheless frustrating for the audience to witness (and indeed, often lead to completely preventable bad things happening). I think one other misstep happens when the characters discover what's causing the supernatural situation they're in (minor spoiler):

Of the three main characters, two are in their mid-twenties and the third is middle-aged. Everyone acts their ages, for better or worse (the younger two can be a little grating with their inexperience/immaturity in various things, including their relationship with each other). Other than this, there's nothing in the series that would turn off an older reader.

As with all my reviews, the above is nothing more than my personal opinion. Have you read this series? What did you think? Post in the comments!

One of my favorite aspects of "wave music" is that it's spun off so many various sub-genres and niche aesthetics. We've got:

Synthwave, Chillwave, Vaporwave, Retrowave, Darkwave

as some of the main players, but what else is out there? What other "waves" have you come across?

Hello fellow synthwave fans! I created a new community for all the "wave" genres: synth, vapor, chill, retro, dark, cyber, etc. Please come check it out!

[email protected]

For fans of '80s-inspired contemporary beats. Share artists, albums, compilations, -wave channels, and vibe art.

[email protected]

Droid Bishop (real name: James Bowen) is a one-man synthwave artist who's put out multiple banger albums over the last decade-ish. Each album feels like the soundtrack to an introspective 80s drama/action film. Beyond the Blue is probably my favorite road-trip album of all time; it makes driving through the empty expanses of I-80 through Wyoming feel like a grand, meaningful adventure.

As far as I can tell he doesn't have an official YouTube presence, but this channel seems to have all his works: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYb8MJseDAimJBFCJQ8Hfvg

INEXED is one of my favorite channels for background music. If I wanted to introduce someone to synthwave, this might be where I direct them.

Videos are consistently high-quality, and the compilations are long (1hr to 2hr+) without repetition. There's perhaps not a lot of variety in vibe: some videos label themselves and vaporwave, chillwave, retrowave, etc, but I'd consider those to be more the flavor of synthwave being featured than actual examples of those genres. Most compilations are calming but energetic, with a bit of a surreal touch.

It's frustrating that INEXED only has about 37k subscribers when the quality is so much better than a lot of other synthwave/chillwave channels out there. Please check them out!

https://www.youtube.com/@INEXED

NewRetroWave is the GOAT.

They've posted over 3000 retrowave and synthwave songs and albums since 2011, and more keep coming. With over a million subscribers, they're one of the biggest players in the YouTube synthwave scene, and for good reason: in an era of low-effort compilations repeating the same tired tracks over and over, NewRetroWave somehow keeps finding quality fresh material for us listeners. Most of their posts are single songs (3-6 minutes), but there's a few longer (hour-ish) compilations mixed in.

This feels less like a YouTube channel and more like a library. Definitely check it out!

https://www.youtube.com/@NewRetroWave

Dreamingr0b0ts is a fantastic house/trance YouTube channel with a mere 123 subscribers. (It may not technically be synthwave, but it's synthwave-adjacent)

Some of the very oldest videos are a bit rough around the edges, but they quickly improve in quality. I like this channel because it has more of an old-school vibe than most synthwave; it reminds me a lot of early-2000s electronica, back in the days of Armin van Buuren. Vocals are present more often than not, and the vibe is more "dance" than "chillax." Great music to stay awake during a long road trip, or to stay motivated during a big house clean-up. A lot of synthwave videos rehash the same songs over and over, but as far as I can tell these are quite fresh.

Check out their "The Daily Dose" series, each of which are albums of about 20 minutes each.

https://www.youtube.com/@dreamingr0b0ts

Inspired by a comment reply I made in another thread, I thought it would be fun to share what plants native to your region you've had easy success with growing from seed, either in pots or direct-sowing. Please mention your country/region when commenting!

Cross-posted from [email protected] original post: https://lemmy.world/post/16458535

The Xerces Society is an insect conservation nonprofit organization based in Portland, Oregon. They engage in a variety of work to protect native insects, including publishing resources for the general public.

One such resource are their Native Plants for Pollinators and Beneficial Insects guides, which are curated illustrated lists of plants broken down by geographic region. The lists include basic growing conditions info for each species, as well as some info on how the plants benefit insects. They even have separate lists specifically for supporting the endangered monarch butterfly.

If you're a native plant fanatic like me you can cross-reference their lists with the USDA Plants Database (I wrote about that other great resource in this post here) to verify if the Xerces-recommended plants are native to your county, however the Xerces lists are broken up into relatively small regions so you're unlikely to cause damage or introduce problematic species even if it's not technically native to your specific county.

I hope y'all find these lists as useful/inspiring as I have!

Disclaimer: data only available for the lower 48 United States, although Southern Canada and Northern Mexico should be able to extrapolate

The Xerces Society is an insect conservation nonprofit organization based in Portland, Oregon. They engage in a variety of work to protect native insects, including publishing resources for the general public.

One such resource are their Native Plants for Pollinators and Beneficial Insects guides, which are curated illustrated lists of plants broken down by geographic region. The lists include basic growing conditions info for each species, as well as some info on how the plants benefit insects. They even have separate lists specifically for supporting the endangered monarch butterfly.

If you're a native plant fanatic like me you can cross-reference their lists with the USDA Plants Database (I wrote about that other great resource in this post here) to verify if the Xerces-recommended plants are native to your county, however the Xerces lists are broken up into relatively small regions so you're unlikely to cause damage or introduce problematic species even if it's not technically native to your specific county.

I hope y'all find these lists as useful/inspiring as I have!

Title: 1HP Club

Type: Webcomic

Year: 2022-?

Country: Unknown (comic published in English)

Genre: Dungeons & Dragons (fantasy/action/adventure/slice-of-life/comedy)

Status: Ongoing (review as of chapter 130)

Platform: Webtoon (read here)

Appropriate for 30+?: Yes

My rating: 4/5 stars

(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity)

1HP Club is a webcomic series about a group of adults playing Dungeons & Dragons. That's it, that's the premise. However due to a combination of eye-candy art, rapid pacing, engaging action scenes, and interesting characters, 1HP Club actually manages to be a surprisingly fun and easy read.

There are a number of works out there that take place in the D&D (or similar) universe, ranging from the live-action Dungeons & Dragons: Honor among Thieves, the animated The Legend of Vox Machina, and webcomics like The Weekly Role. However 1HP Club takes the approach of primarily taking place in the D&D universe but occasionally pulling back to a (also fictional) table-top setting. In my opinion this dual-setting is handled quite well and overcomes the issues frequently inherent to D&D fiction that primarily focus on one or the other: bouncing between table-top and in-game action helps facilitate good pacing and avoids "downtime" in both settings, helps ease the issue of "suspension of disbelief" (because not only is it "just a story," it's "just a story within a story"), and adds padding to character development (because every character also has a character playing them).

Do you need prior knowledge of D&D for this series to make sense? Not necessarily, but without at least some basic knowledge of game mechanics and/or general tabletop gaming experience readers are likely to miss at least a few references, plot points, or jokes; the series isn't quite a parody, but it does assume prior D&D knowledge. However even the completely uninitiated may still find the action/adventure plot and eye-candy art to be more than sufficient to enjoy the series. On the topic of art, I really like how it's handled: both the table-top and in-game settings done in a colorful and aesthetically-pleasing style, but the table-top characters look more like normal people while the in-game characters are more attractive with some occasional mild cheesecake (interestingly of the male characters only, which is strangely refreshing given that nearly all non-romance fantasy series are more about sexualizing their female characters).

Ages of the table-top characters and in-game characters aren't mentioned, but they act and look to be in the 20s-30s range. There's no content "objectionable" to older readers, and while zany antics abound, they're thankfully of the standard D&D/role-playing variety. It shouldn't take more than the first ten chapters or so to figure out if this is a series you'll enjoy or not, and with each chapter being about a one-minute read, why not give 1HP Club a try?

As with all my reviews, the above is nothing more than my personal opinion. Have you read this series? What did you think? Post in the comments!