words spoken or written: on books and webtoons
personally, i am not a heavy reader. i indulge in reading regularly/semiregularly but i would really call myself someone who likes books. i tend to turn to them in moments when my live is tumultuous, looking for some words of guidance, a lighthouse on a dark night so to speak. i dont really have a large portfolio of books ive read, nor do i have a preference. rather i like to look at the covers and the back summary. if the cover is pretty and the back looks like something of my interest, ill pick it up and give it a read.
most of the books ive read have clustered around existentialist narratives. works like notes from underground or a hero of our time are books that are sort of the core of a tree that ive branched out on. books like confessions of a mask have forced me to ask myself how i fit into a society that seemingly encourages diversity of thought but secretly alienates it. a book like all lovers in the night has made me ask if i really do enjoy where i am with my life. even small ass quote books like the trouble with being born have built these small structures that i reference in my head when dealing with things in my life.
i simply like to read what my life requires at that time. i can pick a book up and decide not to read it within 5 minutes if i feel that i dont need that particular knowledge at that point in my life. doesnt mean i wont eventually read it, rather, it simply serves me no purpose until it does.
anyways, enough about reading. i can go on and on about some of the books i read, but i dont have the will to write all that much about them at this current moment.
when i dont want to read, but think some media will do me well, i tend to default to webtoons. i tend to read them in the mornings when i wake up, or on the streetcar on the way to work. if you dont know what webtoons are, they are pretty much young adult picture books. i think they originated in korea, and they tend to be these long vertical comics that are full color, as opposed to japanese manga that tends to be black and white.
in terms of the types of webtoon genres i consume; i am a whore for anything solo-levelling esque; these are pretty simple to read and dont require much brain power, plus the art is high quality most times. essentially, anything with a levelling system, some kind of raid/monster origin, and maybe a constellation/higher-being support system. while solo levelling ended last year, ive been mainly reading omiscent reader, auto hunting with my clones, and return to player weekly.
apart from those, i am a big tower of god fan. whole reason i joined discord was to chat in a tower of god themed server (in hindsight, i shouldve never joined the app). i got into the webtoon series about 5 years ago, back when it wasent converted into a series. the plot revolves essentially around this tower that people called rankers choose to climb through a series of trials. the very very very small portion of people from outside the tower are referred to as irregulars and revered as gods for the most part. the story essentially follows one of these irregulars as he traverses the tower. the story has been going for almost 10 years and holy shit is there some good lore. with a story that big, theres always a nice rabbit hole i can dig into. im really liking the current arc just because im getting to see some of my favorite characters in action that i havent seen on panels in 2 years. its a pretty laid back series to read, the panels are long, and each chapter has alot of story to it, so we never end up on any cliffhangers, unless the author gets sick and goes on hiatus for 5 months.
my favorite tower of god character is this green dude named traumerei (ironic cause his lore is filled with trauma by the looks of the authors' foreshadowing). he controls animals and is pretty cool, he is also one of the irregulars
and last but not least, i sometimes read bl. key words sometimes. i have a mild case of love towards bl, in general, i like love stories, straight or not straight, but i like love stories that i can relate to the most. my current favorite is called to the stars and back. just a very relaxed story about two neighbors. its short, digestable, and pleasant to read.
good night :p here is one song ive been liking recently