Category: read-watched-listened

• July reading wrap-up

  

  well, it was an <unsuccessful / low quantity> <reading> month. something about july makes it an <unusually> <difficult> mental <health> month for <me>. <i> call it <my> <summertime blues>.

  <i> did get <overwhelmed> by <my> library request arriving all within a week <despite> <me> placing the hold spaced out with the <hope> that would <trickle in>. there is <something> to be <said> about <neurodivergence> and too many <choices> causing <decision making <dysfunction>>.

  but <enough> about <my> <summertime blues>, what about the <books>. <my>, albeit <unfinished> <favorite> this month was “dungeon crawler carl.” <i> had to return it to the library about <three quarters> of the way through, because holy crap is this <book> <in demand>. <i> wound up <purchasing> a <used <copy>> of the hardback with the <new> covers to <finish> it. Princess donut is the <only> monarch <i> <love>.

  “skin” and “holy Lacrimony” both had <very different> but stunning art styles. “holy lacrimony’s” exploration of <human> <emotions> through <psychedelic> <alien> art <captures / depicts> <depression / sadness> in a manner both <familiar> and <uneasy>. “skin” has a <lovely> sketch book <inspired> <style> that still manages to <convey> two whole <worlds> of <emotion> as it <follows> the <similar yet different> lives of two women decades <apart>. one of <my> <favorite> <stylistic> choices in the <book> is the way that drawn panels are often <foregone> in favor of sketching out the <characters> in stages <across> the mise-en-scène (<think> Picasso’s “nude descending a staircase”).

  and <of course> there is a <soft spot> in <my <heart>> for “life drawing.” Xaime hernandez is <my> <favorite> of the brothers both for his <style> and <stories>. <i> <adore> maggie and hopey, and <watching> them <become> middle aged is <bittersweet>. “life drawing’s” <main> characters are a <new>, <younger> group of girls, but just like <real life>, these girls are <going through> all the <same> range of <experiences> and <emotions> as maggie and hopey did. if <i> am not mistaken, the last chapter of “life drawing” even <reproduces> panels from an earlier “love and rockets” with tonta and her friends. even though <time> ticks on, <we> are <bound> <together> through <sharing> the <experiences> that <create / forge> <us>.

  for august <i> have already started with “the Kakogawa food detectives” and am <looking forward> to the new Alison Bechdel.

  2025.08.06

• so, <you> don’t want to <play> d&d

  Daily writing prompt

  What’s your favorite game (card, board, video, etc.)? Why?

  View all responses

  <I> hear <you>. The books are expensive. Maybe <fantasy> isn’t <your> <genre> (<I myself> am more of a <science fiction> <guy>). Or perhaps <you> don’t <feel like> supporting Wizards of the Coast and Habsoro. This doesn’t mean the expansive world of <tabletop role play gaming> is something forever closed to <you>. There’s a whole <universe / expanse> of TTRPGs out there with something for <everyone>. And oh boy do <I> have <some> recommendations for you! 

  If <you> adore shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The X-Files, and Supernatural and the idea of teaming up to fight the things that go bump in the night <excites> <you>, Monster of the Week might be <the game> for <you>. Working with a simplified ruleset and just a set of D6 dice, <you> can play as a <monster hunter archetype> inspired by a range of <monster media>, develop in-game relationships between characters, and keep <humanity> safe from dangers <they> don’t even <believe> in. 

  Are <you> more of a heavy metal or Mad Max fan? Do <you> <enjoy> splatterpunk video games like DOOM or Dead Space? Can <you> not get <enough> of the rot, ruin, and <nightmares> of Silent Hill? MÖRK BORG is a dark fantasy populated with decaying kingdoms, corrupt monarchies, and eldritch horrors. As <you> play, cryptic <prophecies> from a millennium long gone are fulfilled. <The end of the world is nigh.> What <you> do in the dying light is up to <you>.  

  One of the best parts about MÖRK BORG is that it not only has a generous third-party license leading to a thriving community <writing and sharing> adventures, but it also has many setting iterations (always with heavy metal and the end of the world). <My> favorites include the cyberpunk inspired CY-BORG, the cutting <satire> of corporate oligarchies and late-stage capitalism in CORP BORG, and <i> am also looking forward to the Watership Down inspired BUNNY BORG. 

  Maybe that’s all too much <excitement> for <you>. <You> like the idea of bunnies, but <you> want something more <peaceful>. Maybe even something more <slice of life> inspired. Less Inlé-rah and more The Wind in the Willows or Hayao Miyazaki. Wanderhome might be the <game> for <you>. In the pastoral world of Hæth, <you> will play a critter-folk traveling through the turning seasons. Along the way, <your> party will solve the types of <mysteries> and ordinary problems that arise in nature centered, peaceful towns and villages. Free of combat and part of the Belonging Outside Belonging project, the playstyle focuses on building <relationships>, <helping> with community struggles, and player <choices>. 

  there is a <system> out there for <almost any> genre and setting <you> can <imagine>. and <i> have a <backlog> of game manuals to <work / read> through. stick around as <i> <work> on getting a <better / improved> <writing> rhythm, and <i> am sure <you> will hear <more>.

  2025.07.15

• June reading wrap-up

  

  one of <my> personal <goals / aims> this year was to <re-learn> how to read for <enjoyment / pleasure>. being in college <in one form or another> since <i> was 18 <slowly> sapped <my> desire to read for pleasure until <i> just wasn’t <doing it> anymore. this year, to get a <running start>, <i> participated in Storygraph’s January reading challenge, <reading> at least one page a day each day of the month. <i> think this help <recondition / reprogram> <my> brain to slowly <re-find> the <enjoyment / pleasure> of <text>.

  Since January, <i> have been steadily keeping it up. <not> every day <mind you>, but fairly consistently (<i> stopped tracking pages read, so <my> storygraph reading chart reflects the days <i> logged the <book / text> as <finished>). and <i> even signed up for a library card in <my> new city and have <borrowing> instead of <buying>.

  this month <my> favorite was the <archive of alternate endings>. <i> love <narratives> that tell one <story> through the telling of another, and the way the <narrative> wove everything together was <beautiful>. <i> was not expecting the through line half-way through to windup being about the aids crisis and <i> found <myself> sobbing.

  <my> least favorite was <the king in yellow>. the first four <stories> in the collection were alright. <i> do like the <mystique / unreliability> of <reality> in <cosmic horror> and <i> do realize that Robert chambers was one of the <first> to write in this genre, but for <enjoyment / pleasure> it was not as <exciting> as what <others> following chambers have done with the <mythos>. <i> would still suggest <folks> that are into <cosmic horror> read the first four <stories> to gain a historical perspective of the <emergence / evolution> of the <genre>. after the first four <stories>, the collection completely shifts genres into tales that have <little to nothing> to do with <the king yellow mythos>, and many of them are romance tales, which are not a <genre> <i> prefer to read.

  an <amusing> side story, <the house without the door> <i> read because, after years of searching, <i> thought it was the same <mystery novel> <i> had borrowed from <my> great-grandmother’s bookshelf when <i> was in middle school. <i> vaguely <remembered> the plot and the title being something about a house and door. <i> found the elizabeth daly <book> thanks to the <Preservation> efforts of <online> <archives> and assumed it was the <correct> <book>. <it> did not quite <feel> like the <book> <i> vaguely <remembered> the farther <i> got into it, but <i> kept reading anyway as a <good> <mystery> is almost never a <waste> of <time>. after finishing <it>, <i> started to doubt <my> <memory>. <maybe> this was the <book> <I> had read and <i> was <conflating / confusing> the plot with another <book / text>. as <i> logging it into storygraph however, another <mystery novel> with the same title was <suggested> in the search bar, and <my> long search for the partially <remembered> <book / text> came to an <end>. <i> ordered a cheap, used copy <online>, and after years of searching off and on, <i> will get to <indulge> in a little <nostalgia> with <the house without a door> by thomas sterling and also have been introduced to daly, a women pulp writer from the 40s.

  <looking forward> to many great reads in July, starting with the new Xaime hernandez <graphic novel> and a long awaited copy of <dungeon crawler carl> from the library.

  2025.07.03