I fell into a very strange rhythm in April, which involved Animal Crossing, Final Fantasy VII, hammock reading time, and naps. Like, a lot of naps. Maybe too many naps?
I ended up having to create a daily check list for myself just to make sure I worked out, walked the dog, and did at least two productive things around the house every day. Quarantine brain is a strange thing.
MOVIES & TV
Somehow I watched zero movies in April and only one TV show. 🤷🏻♀️Mostly I just watched video game playthroughs and livestreams on YouTube. Special shout out to Eurogamer’s Half Life Alyx videos which made me laugh a lot.
SCHITT’S CREEK (Season 6)
This show just got better with every season and the final 14 episodes were a wonderful high to go out on. Characters grew, changed, and everyone got a happy ending. I was a goddamn blubbering mess after watching the finale. I think Patrick and David’s relationship will go down as one of my favorite TV romances of all time. If you haven’t watched Schitt’s Creek yet, I highly recommend it.
GAMES
FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE
I have very fond, if slightly vague, memories of playing the original FF7 in high school so I was incredibly hyped for the remake. This new version is absolutely gorgeous and I had a ton of fun with it. It took me a little time to get a handle on the game’s tone - very heightened emotions, vague backstories, random extremely silly moments, etc - but it clicked eventually. Instead of just doing a straight copy of the original game, Final Fantasy VII Remake plays with the history and knowledge that gamers will be bringing with them and uses that to create something both nostalgic and new, which I think is extremely cool. If you’re not familiar with Final Fantasy VII, it’s an RPG lead by Cloud Strife, a mercenary with emotional issues and an incredible head of spiky blond hair. Cloud joins up with the eco-warrior group Avalanche, who are working to bring down the evil Shinra corporation and their planet-draining mako reactors. That’s the extremely basic shell of the story anyway.
TWO DOTS
My sister got me hooked on this damn mobile game about connecting dots and I have been playing it so much that I am literally dreaming about it. It’s addictive. It’s draining my phone battery every day. I spent actual human monies to get past a couple of levels. I don’t know, does this count as a recommendation?
BOOKS
BONDS OF BRASS (Emily Skrutskie)
When Ettian’s home planet is conquered by the brutal Umber Empire, he is left orphaned and alone. He spends the next seven years growing up under the new regime and eventually becomes the top pilot at the Empire’s military academy. After a training mission goes off the rails, Ettian discovers that his best friend Gal is actually the heir to the Umber Empire and the academy is full of resistance fighters who want him captured or killed. The two manage to escape the academy and go on the run, dodging underworld thugs and corrupt officials in an attempt to get space prince Gal back home. These conflicts set up really difficult, emotional obstacles for Ettian: where do his loyalties lie? What does he believe in? What will he do to protect the person he loves? I really enjoyed this sci-fi space adventure; the characters and world building are great and the twists and turns of the story are clever and well earned. Bonds of Brass ends on a big cliffhanger and I can’t wait for the next book in the series.
HOARFROST / MAELSTROM / FALLOW Whyborne & Griffin, Books 6-8 (Jordan L. Hawk)
I got back into Whyborne & Griffin this month, an 11-book paranormal/adventure/romance series by Jordan L. Hawk. These books follow private detective Griffin Flaherty and his husband Percival Whyborne, son of a railroad tycoon, ancient language scholar, and at this point, very skilled sorcerer. Set in turn-of-the-twentieth-century Widdershins, Massachusetts, each book takes our protagonists on a different arcane adventure (buried cities, body swapping death cults, mind-controlled fungus zombies) but this far into the series, there are also a bunch of previously established story threads and enemy groups coming together for a big final showdown. These books are quick, fun reads and I think the quality of this series has improved in the later books.
LOVE LETTERING (Kate Clayborn)
Meg is a hand-lettering artist dealing with an intense bout of creative block. While working at her friends’ stationary shop, Meg is approached by Reid, a former client who is very curious why she hid the word “mistake'“ in the wedding program she was commissioned to make for him last year. While the two have seemingly nothing in common - Reid is an analytical Wall Street math guy and Meg is a semi-struggling artist - Meg takes a wild chance and invites (now single) Reid to join her on a series of walks through New York City in hopes of finding art inspiration. And to her surprise he agrees. As the two traverse the streets of Manhattan, searching out the city’s best hand painted signs, they discover a strong sense of connection and friendship, which blossoms in to a really sweet romance. I liked the chemistry between these two characters and the big third act reveal was well telegraphed and emotionally satisfying. Being an artist myself I was probably a little too critical of the artist main character for the first half of the book, but Meg managed to win me over in the end.
AMERICAN SWEETHEARTS (Adriana Herrera)
The final book in Adriana Herrera’s Dreamers series, American Sweethearts follow Juan Pablo and Priscilla, supporting characters from the first three books who finally get their own story. Friends since childhood, Juan Pablo and Priscilla have had an on-again, off-again, on-again, definitely-off-this-time sort of relationship for many years. When they both travel to the Dominican Republic for their friend’s wedding, they realize that there is still something between them but Priscilla has a hard time letting herself believe they should try again. For some reason I didn’t find the romance in this book to be quite as engaging as the others in the series, and while Priscilla’s career as a police officer features heavily in the story, Juan Pablo’s life and career seemed a little underdeveloped. But there are so many good things about American Sweethearts that it’s still definitely worth reading. The Dreamers stories all feature a wonderful sense of community, a network of supportive friends, immigrant families and experiences, and queer, Afro-Latinx protagonists whose perspectives really makes these books stand out.
GENTLEMAN WOLF / MASTER WOLF (Joanna Chambers)
If you are in the mood for an extremely piney gay werewolf romance series set in 1780s and 1820s Scotland, featuring two protagonists who are terrible at understanding their true feelings, have I got two books for you! I mean this in a loving way; sometimes a romance full of longing, missed chances, and emotionally broken werewolves is exactly what you need. Gentleman Wolf is told from the point of view of Lindsay, a charming, hedonistic werewolf who hides a painful past under his fashionable rouged lips, powdered wigs, and colorful silken coats. While visiting Scotland to take care of a task for his pack’s leader, Lindsay meets Drew, a tight-laced, emotionally distant architect who has no time or interest in Ashley’s excessive flirting. But of course there is an emotional connection that the two can’t fight and an affair ensues along with unexpected drama and dark things from Ashley’s younger years. Master Wolf takes place 30 years later, switches to Drew’s perspective, and continues the complicated relationship and conflicts established in the first book. There was a long running plot thread that was tied up far too quickly at the end, a few times where Lindsay’s flirting nudged the line into harassment, and occasionally Drew’s insistence on misunderstanding everything got a little tiresome, but those issues weren’t a deal breaker and overall this series was enjoyable to read.
ART
Here are two new pieces I finished at the end of March/beginning of April. The first is a tribute to my beloved Lio Fotia, the leather-clad flame-boy from the Promare anime. I made this one purely for myself, which was fun. The other piece is a tribute to Haku from Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away for Spoke Art’s annual tribute to the director. Sometime in the next week or two I am hoping to add prints of both of these pieces to my shop.
