I always have extreme seasonal ennui in January and February, which definitely held true for 2021, so most of these recommendations are for things I played/read/watched towards the end of February. When it’s all cold and snow and ice outside, it’s hard not to just come home from work, burrow into a blanket nest, and go to sleep.
MOVIES
Lupin III: The First
When a group of Nazis get their hands on a long-lost book that contains the location of a magical energy source, it’s up to master thief Lupin and his motley gang of friends to stop them. While I know there are lots of different shows and movies about Lupin, the only other one I have actually seen is Hayao Miyazaki’s 1979 Castle of Cagliostro, which I adore (despite some frustratingly dated gender stereotypes). Lupin III: The First is the first 3D animated feature for the characters and I really enjoyed it. It reminded me a lot of TinTin and Indiana Jones, with its globe-trotting adventures, fun characters, and historical mysteries to unravel. The movie does contain way more Nazi’s than I was prepared for, but luckily they all get satisfactorily punched and/or disintegrated.
GAMES
Assassins Creed: Valhalla
Over January and February I put 150 hours into this dang game. O_O In AC: Valhalla you play as the viking warrior Eivor as they help their clan establish a foothold in medieval England and deal with the simmering conflict between Assassins and Templars. The gameplay was fun and I liked some parts of the story more than others, but weirdly, what ended up appealing to me most were the times where I just wandered around the vast game world gathering up all the different collectibles. With me being in winter hibernation mode, looking at beautiful scenery and picking up relics and treasures was about all my brain could handle most of the time.
Kitty Letter
This mobile word game from the comic artist The Oatmeal has been my go-to phone game for the past few weeks. You face off against either the game or an actual human person, creating as many words as you can from a group of letters. Every time you spell a word, it deploys an army of cats to attack your opponent’s house. The game has The Oatmeal’s particularly silly brand of humor, so be prepared for things like a deer pooping bonus items and taco-shaped cats appearing when you play a palindrome.
Concrete Genie
After playing Assassins Creed: Valhalla for 2 months straight, this short, beautifully animated game was a great followup. You play as a young boy named Ash, who just wants to draw monsters and be left alone. After a gang of bullies destroy his sketchbook, Ash discovers a magic paintbrush that lets him bring his monster friends to life and together they start to push back the darkness that is corrupting the town. The animation style of the game lovingly mimics claymation and the monsters, which are all uniquely created by the player, are incredibly charming and I instantly loved them all.
BOOKS
Prince of Death / Prisoner of Shadows / Patron of Mercy by Sam Burns and WM Fawkes
*I actually read these at the very end of 2020 but never got around to talking about them*
The Lords of the Underworld series is about Greek gods falling in love in a modern, magic-filled world. All three books are extremely ridiculous and I enjoyed them, even though they could have used a bit more character development and I was left with with some nagging questions (How does the underworld have modern plumbing but no electricity? Is it really the best idea to commit to a literal eternity together after knowing each other for a week? Why do so many of the Greek gods live in Washington DC?).
Book one follows Lysandros, son of Hades and Persephone, whose sisters set him up on a date with a human mage that accidentally found his way into the underworld. As the two men very quickly fall in love/lust, they also end up dealing with a strange supernatural storm that is threatening to flood the eastern seaboard. Book two focuses on the titan Prometheus, who escapes eternal punishment and meets the upstanding vampire cop Julian on his first night back on earth. Things get complicated when Apollo and Artemis arrive to bring Prometheus back to Hades. Book three is about Thanatos, the god of merciful death, rekindling a relationship with the charismatic immortal pirate he hasn’t seen in thousands of years who needs help preventing a famine.
And yes, I 100% read these books because someone recommended them as a good choice for people who love romance books and the video game Hades. So exactly me.
Estranged by Ethan M Aldridge
Estranged is the story of two boys, Childe, a human that was kidnapped as a baby and grew up in the land of faeries, and Edmund, the faerie changeling that was left in his place. Neither child feels like they belong, for obvious reasons, and when a Childe’s royal family is turned into rats by a nefarious villain, he seeks out his counterpart in the human world for help. Ethan Aldridge’s watercolor illustrations are gorgeous and perfectly match the magic and adventure of the story. I really liked it and am looking forward to reading the second book in the series.
The Witch Boy by Molly Ostertag
In a close knit community where boys shape-shift and girls learn magic, Aster yearns to be a witch. Everyone tells him that this isn’t the way; boy’s don’t learn magic. But despite constantly being told to act like a boy and stop spying on magic classes, it is Aster’s magic and his friendship with a non-magical outsider that saves the day when a dangerous spirit starts attacking the other kids. Through this YA story of magic and spirits, Molly Ostertag beautifully illustrates the dangers of toxic masculinity and gender stereotypes. I’m very much looking forward to Netflix’s recently announced animated musical adaptation.
Wonderstruck by Allie Therin
Book three in Allie Therin’s wonderful Magic in Manhattan paranormal romance series, Wonderstruck completes the story of Arthur, the wealthy son of a political family who has devoted his life to helping rid the world of dangerous supernatural relics, and Rory, a powerful psychic trying to control his currently uncontrollable magic. Lots of storylines from the previous books come together and we finally meet the villain who has been pulling all the strings. Despite feeling like some characters were forgiven a little too easily for some major crimes, I really loved this whole series and immediately went back and re-read book 1. Plus, unlike most of the romance series that I read/recommend, this is one is more of a spicy PG-13 than an R (lots of “fade to black” situations), which might be preferable to some readers.
You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: Crazy Stories About Racism by Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar
A collection of personal stories told by Amber Ruffin and her sister Lacey Lamar, about Lacey’s ridiculous/infuriating encounters with everyday racism in Nebraska. I love the way the book is structured as a conversation between the sisters and how it balances humor and the stark reality of racism.
The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting by KJ Charles
Best Laid Plans by Roan Parrish
Two gentle, sweet, grumpy + sunshine comfort reads from two of my favorite romance authors. A lovely way to end the month. Gentle Art… is a period romance about Hart, an overprotective uncle who suspects that the charming young man courting his niece is actually a card sharp and fortune hunter. Which, of course, he is. But as Hart tries to find out the truth and put a stop to the potential match, the grumpy baronet and the handsome fraud accidentally fall in love.
Best Laid Plans is the second book in Parrish’s Garnet Run series and follows Rye, a tattooed city boy from Seattle who inherits a crumbling house in the middle of Wyoming. With zero experience with houses or building, Rye is in way over his head trying to fix things. After numerous hopeless trips to the hardware store, the store’s owner Charlie (brother to the main character in book 1) realizes that Rye needs so much help and offers to guide the man through the process of rebuilding a house. The relationship that grows between the two is very sweet and understanding, plus both men have excellent cat companions that bring a lot of joy to the story.
MUSIC
GRIS Soundtrack by Berlinist
Since watching a playthrough of the game GRIS back in January, this soundtrack has been my go-to jam to listen to while drawing or reading.
ART
I didn’t get much art done in January and February, due to the aforementioned Winter Brain, but I did manage make two little cryptids for a small works show at Gallery 9.
