Favorite Things From April 2020: a Spiky Haired Mercenary, a Space Prince, and a Werewolf in a Powdered Wig

May 1, 2020 Meghan Stratman

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.

Favorite Things From March 2020: Animal Neighbors, Folklore, and a Raven Named 'Mousebones'

April 1, 2020 Meghan Stratman

March 2020 was surreal. And strange. And scary. I hope you are all doing OK and getting through. Especially thinking about those who are sick, working in healthcare, or out of work due to closed businesses. Sending everyone lots of love.

Needless to say, the things I enjoyed in March were mostly things I could do from home. And I figure it’s worth still sharing those things since other people might be looking for things to do from home as well. Plus, nearly everything on this list is uplifting/optimistic and good for getting your mind off the global pandemic for a little while.

MOVIES

PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE
I was very glad to have a chance to see Portrait of a Lady on Fire right before all the movie theatres had to close. It is a beautifully filmed, feminist romance about a young woman with an arranged marriage in her future and the painter who is commissioned to secretly paint her portrait. Once the bride’s portrait is completed, it will be sent to the husband-to-be to secure the arrangement. While the two women spend time together walking the bluffs and beaches of a remote French island, they slowly fall in love. There’s more to the story than that, but I really enjoyed the way things slowly unfolded and don’t want to spoil that. It’s definitely the sort of film where things progress through quiet encounters and weighted looks from across the room. And, except for a couple of instances of diegetic, in-story songs and piano playing, there is no music in the film. So while it’s definitely not going to be for everyone, I found it really moving and lovely. And then the end made me cry a lot at the theatre and since we’re not supposed to touch our faces I was really in a jam.

PODCASTS

LORE
Over the first two weeks of March I listened to nearly three years worth of Lore podcast episodes. Apparently I only have two settings for consuming podcasts, either I can’t summon the attention span for a single episode or it’s the ONLY thing I listen to, full stop. I did this with the Chernobyl podcast as well. Each episode of Lore is one main story and some accompanying smaller, related stories, about folklore or dark historical events: lake monsters, ghost ships, spiritualists, haunted castles, the Seattle underground, etc. These types of stories have always interested me so Lore is absolutely my sort of content. Once everything got weird with the pandemic I sort of lost my drive to listen to dark stories, but I definitely plan to continue with this podcast in the future.

GAMES

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: LINK’S AWAKENING
While I have always adored the characters and design of Zelda games, I have a weird aversion to actually playing them. For a long time this has been the case with most Nintento games in general and I do not understand why. I did manage to play Windwaker a number of years ago but had to have a friend complete a portion of it for me because I got stuck and angry and ready to quit. But for some reason, the stars aligned in March 2020 and I was overcome by a strong desire to play the Link’s Awakening remake now that I have a Nintendo Switch and I loved it. I literally played the entire thing in a day. I couldn’t put it down. So, big ole recommendation from me on that one. Who knew that the Zelda game that would really draw me in wasn’t the cinematic Breath of the Wild or Twilight Princess, but a remake of a 1993 Game Boy game.

ANIMAL CROSSING: NEW HORIZONS
Like so many other people around the world, I am completely obsessed with Animal Crossing: New Horizons at the moment. It’s sweet and calm (except for the animated swearing I do whenever I catch another dang sea bass) and a perfect escape from the world right now. The whole point of the game is just to live on a beautiful island, chat with cute animal neighbors, and pay off a mortgage to a business tanuki (aka a Japanese raccoon dog) by selling fish, bugs, and fruit. On paper it doesn’t seem like something you’d devote hours and hours to, but that is the magic of Animal Crossing. Being able to complete little goals like catching a certain fish or finding a rare fossil is a really comforting thing for a stressed brain. Plus I love the idea of being able to pay off a huge home loan in a single day by selling a whole bunch of oranges.

OVERCOOKED 2
I also got back into Overcooked 2 at the end of the month, since it was a very good time to revisit on-line co-op games. This ridiculous cooking simulator is lots of fun and very chaotic. It requires a lot of communication and brain power. My friend and I had tried to play it a while back but got stuck on an early level and decided that we probably couldn’t progress without more players. And yet when we picked it back up recently we managed to get our cooking communication and planning streamlined and actually finished the game. So, if you can handle the heat, I would recommend visiting the Overcooked 2 kitchen (I know, I KNOW, i’m sincerely sorry but once I wrote that it had to stay in).

BOOKS

THE RAVEN AND THE REINDEER (T. Kingfisher)
Yet another big ole T. Kingfisher recommendation from me. At this point it’s probably safe to assume that every favorites blog for the foreseeable future will include at least one T. Kingfisher book until I make it through her entire catalogue. The Raven and The Reindeer is a clever retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s Snow Queen fairytale, which follows Gerta, a young woman who sets out on a journey to save her friend Kay, who has been kidnapped by the aforementioned frosty royalty. Gerta’s journey takes her far from home and along the way she befriends a bandit girl and an incredible talking raven named The Sound of Mouse Bones Crunching Under The Hooves of God (Mousebones for short). He picked the name himself. The book includes some really creative, interesting uses of magic, a sweet, unexpected love story, and every scene with that bird made me smile.

HEARTSTOPPER: VOLUME 3 (Alice Oseman)
This is the third book in Alice Oseman’s lovely series of high-school romance graphic novels. Volume 3 follows Nick and Charlie as they continue to navigate their young romance, with particular focus on their fears about how and when to come out and tell their friends and family about their relationship. These insecurities are brought to the forefront when the entire class goes on a trip to Paris. Oseman’s art continues to be wonderfully simple yet highly expressive and she has a great talent for capturing the fears and elations of youth.

THE HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA (TJ Klune)
I have been a TJ Klune fan for quite a while, particularly his Green Creek and Tales from Verania series. With The House in the Cerulean Sea Klune ventures into more of a YA/general audiences sphere and does a wonderful job. Cerulean Sea is told from the point of view of Linus Baker, a case worker for the government department that oversees orphanages for magical children. His job is grey, isolated bureaucracy where no one thinks beyond the official rules and regulations and his home life is equally lonely. One day Linus is called on by the upper management to spend a month investigating a particular orphanage on an island by the sea. This assignment introduces a number of new people into his life: a gnome who loves to garden, a forest sprite, an island sprite, a shy shapeshifter, a cheerful green blob that dreams of being a bellhop, a wyvern who loves buttons, a 6-year-old antichrist, and Arthur Parnassus, the tall, mysterious man who teaches the children and runs the house. Over the course of the month Linus changes and is changed by those around him and learns about love, acceptance, and not being bound by societies expectations.

BRIARLEY (Aster Glenn Gray)
I had seen Briarley recommended by a couple of authors on twitter and it happened to be 99¢ last week so I figured, what the heck. I tend to read a lot of books this way, for better or worse. Luckily this one was for the better. A gay reenvisioning of Beauty and The Beast, Briarley sets the action in 1940s England, in the midst of WWII. A middle-aged parson stumbles upon a mysterious abandoned mansion while attending a meeting in a neighboring village and after taking shelter from a storm, makes the mistake of plucking a rose for his daughter as he heads home. You know the drill. The beast in this book is more dragon-y in nature which is fun, and the parson (who ends up being the love interest, not his daughter) is really logical and kind, suggesting, for example, that if the beast needs to learn how to love and be loved he should start by getting a puppy. The book also does away with my main problem in pretty much every version of B&tB: the “captive falling in love with their captor” trope. I hate that trope. But Briarley has the Parson (along with all previous visitors to the magic house) able to leave whenever he wants to, which, seriously, thank you.

ART

In anticipation of the release of Animal Crossing, I decided to make collages of some of my favorite characters from the games. I’m quite happy with how they turned out. The originals are all available for purchase here.

Favorite Things From February 2020: Rad Ladies, a Swol Dragon, Hockey Romance, and Some Cyborgs

March 2, 2020 Meghan Stratman

It’s starting to feel a teeny bit like spring? Here’s hoping we don’t get a huge late-season temperature drop or snow storm that kills all of the tiny plants that are just starting to poke their heads out of the dirt.

MOVIES & TV

BIRDS OF PREY
I really hoped that Birds of Prey would be good and, phew, I liked it a lot. This candy-coated romp through Gotham City’s very messed-up underworld is hella fun and probably my favorite DC extended universe movie so far (out of the few that I’ve liked). There are laggy bits in the middle and some story lines are stronger than others, but you basically forget all of that by the time you get to the incredibly fun finale.

Birds of Prey is a story by and about women, with great costumes, sets, performances, music, and fight choreography. Director Cathy Yan brings comic-book-style weirdness, energy, and color to this occasionally very dark story. While Margot Robbie’s joyously chaotic Harley Quinn carries the movie and Ewan McGregor’s villainous Roman Sionis chews the scenery to bits (in the best way), I also loved Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s Huntress, who stole every scene she was in. Seriously, at one point her character storms to the rescue on a giant motorcycle and I gasped at the intensity of her coolness. Just be warned, Birds of Prey leans into its R rating with occasional graphic violence and some disturbing, tense scenes involving abuse.

If Harley ends up back with the Joker in the next DC movie, I am going to be so mad.

GAMES

RING FIT ADVENTURE
Ring Fit Adventure on the Nintendo Switch combines a roleplaying game with exercise and apparently having quests, experience points, and boss fights is precisely what my brain needs for work-out motivation. I’ve played it nearly every day for the past two weeks and highly recommend it. There are mini-games, customizable workouts, and other features in addition to the main story so there is always plenty to do. It’s also worth mentioning that most of the enemies you fight are weird mashups of aquatic creatures and exercise equipment, which is adorable. Plus the main bad guy is a super hench purple dragon wearing a wrestling singlet.

BOOKS

GAME CHANGER / HEATED RIVALRY / TOUGH GUY (Rachel Reid)
These books are 100% escapist romance candy and I loved them. I desperately needed something to get my mind off of all the depressing shit going on in the world right now and these books about muscly hockey players falling in love were perfect. Odds are I’m going to need many more books like this to get through 2020. Game Changer is about a star hockey player falling for an adorable smoothie shop employee, Heated Rivalry is a really good enemies-to-lovers scenario, and Tough Guy focuses on a troubled “enforcer” (which in hockey apparently means “he beats people up”?) rekindling a friendship/romance with a musician from his past. The main character in book three deals with a lot of anxiety issues, many of which I deal with myself, so it was really nice to see that represented. And bonus points for most of the protagonists being Canadian, which doesn’t happen often enough.

And yes, all three of these books feature cover art with mostly-naked muscly torsos. I’ve been a huge fan of romance for many years and yet this sort of cover still makes me giggly and embarrassed. 😳

HULL METAL GIRLS (Emily Skrutskie)
Despite getting a little bored in the middle, overall I quite enjoyed this YA space adventure about cyborg teens rebelling against an untrustworthy government. The story takes place in and around a fleet of spaceships that has spent the last 300 years traveling the universe searching for a new habitable planet for what is left of humanity. Our protagonists are four teens who, for varying reasons, have volunteered to undergo a very dangerous procedure to become mechanically enhanced super soldiers and serve as the government’s peacekeepers/enforcers. This being a dystopian YA story, it quickly becomes apparent that things are not what they seem and their leaders are keeping some big secrets.

I like Skrutskie’s inventive approach to cyborgs in this book, which combines physical enhancements with a shared consciousness and an ongoing battle between the characters’ human aspects and the machine that is controlling them. I also enjoyed the diversity and personalities of the main characters and their journey towards understanding each other and working as a team.

AMERICAN DREAMER / AMERICAN FAIRYTALE / AMERICAN LOVE STORY (Adriana Herrera)
I picked up American Love Story after it won one of the Ripped Bodice’s 2019 awards for Excellence in Romantic Fiction, not realizing it was the third book in a series. This meant that I was occasionally missing some backstory, but that was my mistake for starting in the middle and I ended up loving the book so much that it really didn’t matter. American Love Story is one of those romance novels that I genuinely could not put down. It was a reading-at-home, reading-at-work, reading-while-brushing-my-teeth sort of situation.

When Hatian-born economics professor and activist Patrice moves to upstate New York to teach at Cornell, he is thrust back into the path of Assistant District Attorney Easton, who he had a passionate fling with the previous summer. While they have all sorts of intense feelings for each other, Easton’s job and Patrice’s activism keep them at odds.

Adriana Herrera has a strong narrative voice and I really felt the weight of the challenges her characters were facing. American Love Story deals with issues of race, immigration, and privilege, with a major plot point hinging on the dangers people of color face during unwarranted traffic stops. The book also includes the main characters acknowledging the difficulties that exist in their relationship and seeking counseling to make things work. These elements make American Love Story one of the most grounded, timely romances I have read in quite a while.

Since I loved American Love Story so much, I obviously had to read the other two books in Herrera’s Dreamers series (book four comes out later in March). American Dreamer is about Nesto, a Dominican immigrant working his ass off establishing his Afro-Caribbian food truck after moving from Manhattan to Ithaca. During his first day in town, Nesto meets Jude, a soft-spoken librarian who is coping with insecurities stemming from his extremely religious upbringing. There is instant attraction but neither is in a good place to start a relationship, so they decide to just be friends (who occasionally make out). Of course that doesn’t last long and romance ensues.

American Fairytale focuses on Thomas, son to a Dominican mother and an American father, who became a billionaire after selling a very successful financial app. When he decides to make a large donation to a local shelter for abuse victims, the point-person on the project ends up being Camilo, a social worker that Tom hooked-up with at a fundraising gala and hasn’t been able to stop thinking about. It’s the very best sort of romance coincidence.

As you might have picked up on from my descriptions, these books all have a fairly similar plot structure: lust-at-first-sight > slow progress of building a relationship > one large conflict that tears the two apart > a stern talking-to by friends > reconciliation. These similarities could have weakened the series, but Herera does such a great job building these characters and stories that it totally didn’t bother me. I also wanted to mention that all three books feature really strong, interesting mothers, a great network of friends and family that support and love the protagonists, and a wonderful mixture of languages.

ART

I kind of lost track of February and didn’t get as much done as I would have liked. But at least I did finish this set of little backyard friends for a friend of mine.

Favorite Things From January 2020: Necromancers, Nuclear Disaster, and The Afterlife

February 3, 2020 Meghan Stratman

Ah, the long dark of January. I hope you are making it through OK. I always struggle with this time of year; the lack of sunlight and the cold, grey weather always leave me a listless couch potato.

MOVIES & TV

1917
1917 is a fairly simple war story - two WWI soldiers have a limited amount of time to get a message from point A to point B - but what makes it interesting is the way the story is told. By making the film appear to be take place over two long, unedited shots, the action feels like it is happening in real-time and the simple narrative is given a sense of immediacy and tension that I don’t think would have been there otherwise. 1917 also includes some incredible cinematography and lighting design that is worth seeing on a big screen.

CHERNOBYL
This month I finally made time to watch HBO’s stressful and engrossing mini-series about the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. I heard that the show was intense so I had planned on spacing out my viewings, but ended up binging the whole thing in two nights. The first two episodes in particular are really incredible. Chernobyl depicts the truly horrifying events during and after the explosion and is sometimes very hard to watch (I viewed a large portion of episode 4 through my fingers), but I definitely recommend this mini-series if you feel up to it.

In my late 20s I went through a period of time where I was obsessed with the surreal sadness and beauty of the nearby abandoned city of Pripyat (so much so that I included it in some art) but as I watched Chernobyl I quickly realized how little I knew about the actual disaster. While there are a number of large fictional liberties taken to help the narrative structure and arc of the show, most of the key moments seem to have been recreated as honestly as possible. There is also an accompanying podcast that I highly recommend which has host Peter Sagal discussing the fact and fiction of each episode with the show’s screenwriter.

THE GOOD PLACE
In keeping with my bingy January, I also watched three seasons of The Good Place over a single weekend so I could be up-to-date for the finale. And said finale had me doing some intense, ugly crying, to the extent that my dog kept coming over to lick tears off my face and check if I was OK. Like every sitcom there are definitely some forgettable filler episodes in The Good Place, but overall it tells a funny, kind, and surprisingly optimistic story about humanity and death. I’m glad I watched it.

BOOKS

I had fairly bad luck with books this month, with most of my selections ranging from “meh” to “ugh”. Luckily I did end up with at least one to recommend and another to partially recommend, both of which involved necromancers weirdly.

LORD OF SECRETS (Breanna Teintze)
Lord of Secrets is a fun magic/fantasy adventure about Gray, a rogue wizard trying to rescue his grandfather who has been abducted by the nefarious leader of the Mages’ Guild. Over the course of his journey, Gray manages to inadvertently collect a group of companions including an escaped slave, a grouchy inn keeper, and an 900-year-old undying necromancer god. While the book was a little sparse on worldbuilding, I still enjoyed the story and characters and found the magic system to be quite creative.

GIDEON THE NINTH (Tamsyn Muir)
There were a couple of big things that kept me from truly enjoying this book, but I wanted to mention it here because it has a lot going for it and maybe I just wasn’t the right reader. The setting and story are really interesting: a gothic/sci-fi mashup about a society of necromancers who make up nine different “houses”, each with a different specialization. The orphan Gideon, our protagonist, was raised in the Ninth House under constant duress and harassment, particularly from the royal daughter and current head of the house Harrowhark Nonagesimus. When the god-like emperor summons representatives from each house for a special challenge, Harrowhark enlists (forces) Gideon to be her “Cavalier” and the two arrive at a crumbling ancient compound full of mysteries, secrets, and all sorts of bad things.

My first problem with the book stems from the large cast of characters that I absolutely could not keep straight. I ended up having to create a cheat-sheet to keep next to the book so I could remember who was who. My other problem involves the toxic, abusive relationship between Gideon and Harrowhark that suddenly changes near the end of the book in a way that did not feel earned AT ALL and really bothered me. But books are different for every reader and my issues might not be your issues. So if it sounds interesting maybe give it a read and see if you like it?

ART

I finished two new collages this month, both of which will be part of a red-themed group show at Gallery 9. PLUS, I filmed a start-to-finish video for “Year of the Rat” that I will be posting soon to my Patreon page.

Favorite Things From 2019: Technicolor Firefighters, Levitating Ladies, and a Grouchy Armadillo

January 4, 2020 Meghan Stratman

End of the decade. Wow. 2019 had the usual news overload and intense frustration with world events, but also good things like paying off my student loan, finally seeing a production of Hamilton, getting a new tattoo, having a solo show that I am really proud of, adopting a hedgehog, traveling to Canada twice, and spending time with family and friends.

Here are some of my other favorite things from 2019. I liked a lot of stuff so this is going to be a long list.

MOVIES

Promare
A joyously kinetic, colorful, stylish AF anime about a mech-suited firefighter and his nemesis, a magic-fire-weilding terrorist/freedom fighter. It seems like every year there is one animated film that just takes over my brain and hits every pleasure center. There was Your Name in 2017, Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse in 2018, and this year that honor goes to Promare. I was incredibly entertained and immediately obsessed.

Parasite
A gorgeously filmed story about class and family, Parasite stuck with me long after I left the theater. Bong Joon Ho’s film is full of unpredictable twists, tension, heartbreaking drama, and way more dark humor than I expected.

Knives Out
I had no idea this sly take on the murder mystery was going to be one of my favorites from the year, but here we are. This movie is FUN and I was grinning steadily the entire time.

JoJo Rabbit
I laughed, i ugly-cried, i loved this WWII satire from Taika Waititi. He has such a wonderful filmmaking voice and is able to combine biting humor and devastating tragedy into a single film that leaves you, somehow, with hope.

The Last Black Man in San Francisco
A beautiful film about family (biological and chosen), identity, home, and gentrification. Last Black Man in San Francisco is a lyrical, drifty sort of movie that savors little moments and gives weight to things not usually celebrated. The cinematography and music are also excellent.

Yesterday
Yesterday follows a disheartened musician who wakes up to find the Beatles never existed and he’s the only person who remembers their music. The reviews for this one were rather mixed but I really liked it. It’s a kind, sweet movie with a charming cast and it made me happy.

Us
Us is the sort of weird, surreal horror that is right up my alley. A film filled with creepily beautiful imagery, a perfectly unsettling score, great performances, and a clever story I wanted t to experience again right away.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Legend of the Demon Cat
John Wick 3
One Cut of the Dead

TV

The Mandalorian
I loved this smaller Star Wars story about characters on the fringes of society who aren’t directly connected to the main story of the movies (so far at least). The western flavor of the show and the creature design really stand out and the finale was excellent. Plus I have huge crushes on Pedro Pascal and Gina Carano.

Schitt’s Creek
A wealthy family gets in trouble for not paying taxes and loses everything except for a small rural town that they bought as a joke many years earlier. With no other options, the parents (Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara) and their two adult children (Dan Levy and Annie Murphy) end up living in the town’s roadside motel and facing different humorous dilemmas each week. Typical sitcom fare for sure, which is greatly elevated by a stellar cast and smart writing. I adore this show and can’t wait to see the final season.

My Hero Academia
I started watching this “superhero high school” anime after seeing cute fan art on the internet and ended up really liking it. The show includes a lot of great characters and a strong underdog hero to root for.

What We Do In The Shadows
This excellent television adaptation (based on the film of the same name) moves the story of vampire roommates from New Zealand to Staten Island and features a new cast of characters but keeps the same style and dry, ridiculous humor.

Good Omens
A lovely adaptation of the Terry Pratchett/Neil Gaiman novel, carried strongly by David Tennant and Michael Sheen; the friendship and chemistry between the demon Crowly and the angel Aziraphale are the heart of the show. Plus, the production and costume design are great.

Fleabag
Fleabag is the incredibly funny and genuinely moving story of a woman (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) dealing with all sorts of emotional issues involving sex, family, depression, guilt, and loneliness. She shares her thoughts directly with the camera, so we become her confidant as she copes with various adventures and dramas. At the end of the final episode I was literally laughing and crying at the same time.

Barry
A bizarre blend of comedy and very dark drama that somehow works. The show follows a hitman (Bill Hader) who discovers a passion for acting and tries to balance his life as a murderer-for-hire with his desire to attend theatre classes and be on stage. Hader is such a charming actor that you naturally root for him, which makes this show emotionally complicated and occasionally unpleasant because Barry does some really bad things. Luckily that darkness is balanced with outstanding comedy and sharp writing.

GAMES

Control
Control took me a little while to get in to but ended up being my game of the year. The story takes place in The Oldest House, the logic-defying headquarters of The Bureau of Control, an organization that contains and investigates other-worldly objects and occurrences: a teleporting rubber ducky, a traffic light that stops time, a refrigerator that eats people, etc. You play as Jesse, who is trying to find her missing brother and ends up at the bureau right after an extra-dimensional evil has taken over the staff and the building. To combat this evil (called The Hiss) Jesse gets a very strange gun and a bunch of supernatural powers like telekinesis and levitation. Control was a blast to play, with really smooth controls that constantly made me feel like a bad-ass. Definitely one of the most original games I have played in a while.

The Outer Worlds
The Outer Worlds is basically Fallout in space (and I mean that in a good way). Your character was part of a lost space colony ship and has been cryogenically frozen for way too long. A mad scientist discovers the ship and is able to revive you but needs help saving everyone else. Thus begins a grand, colorful space adventure with entertaining quests, cool monsters, and a motley crew of companions. It’s the sort of game where you tell yourself “ok, just one more mission” and then it’s 3 a.m. and you’re no longer sure what day it is. I also really appreciate that the game isn’t excessively long - I tend to get overloaded when given too many side quests and locations to visit because I feel like I have to do everything. I did all the quests I wanted to do in Outer Worlds and it took me about 40 hours which seemed just right.

Prey
I had been meaning to play Prey for quite a while and finally found time for it in 2019. An art-deco space station is taken over by aliens and it’s up to scientist Morgan Yu to make things right. The game is full of beautiful, haunting locations that are incredibly fun to explore and, despite having a more-or-less silent protagonist, Prey manages to tell a really interesting story through the environment, well acted non-player characters, and various emails and audio-logs you find along the way. If you like creative first person stealth/action/shooter games, put this one on your list.

Jedi: Fallen Order
Jedi: Fallen Order is a Star Wars game that focuses on Cal Kestis, a padawan who survived Order 66 and has been in hiding ever since. When the empire discovers him, Cal goes on the run and joins forces (ha) with an ex-Jedi who is trying to rebuild the order. The game includes some fun new characters (especially Cal’s tiny droid companion BD and force-witch Merrin) and the force powers + lightsaber combat was very satisfying (once I dropped the difficulty more to my skill level). Plus, I think the game handles the Star Wars mythos/lore elements (particularly the immediate aftermath of Order 66) really well.

Wolfenstein: Young Blood
The levels felt a bit samey, the final boss was disproportionally difficult, and I wish the game leaned more into the 80s aesthetic, but that being said I loved Young Blood’s co-op option, the gameplay was well crafted, and the two main characters were great. So not my GOTY but still worth checking out, especially if you like the other recent Wolfenstein games (which I totally do).

Devil May Cry 5
This game is utterly ridiculous, doesn’t always make sense, and I loved it. In Devil May Cry 5 you play as three different demon hunters using bonkers swords, rad flips, demon buddies, and oversized firearms to kill monsters and stop an evil dude from destroying the world.

God of War 4
Despite my absolute loathing of the other GoW games, I ended up loving God of War 4. The game re-frames the previous installments’ violence and despicable main character in an interesting way. God of War 4 follows the recently widowed God of War Kratos and his young son as they set out on a quest through the universe of Norse gods. Throughout the game you are constantly hoping that Kratos does not impart his violence and anger onto his impressionable young son, a conflict which made for some very effective tension and an unexpected commentary on toxic masculinity. I had a couple of issues with some story elements, but overall GoW 4 was one of my favorites.

Donut County
A 90-minute puzzle game about a raccoon moving holes around which features a remarkably funny, engaging story and charming animation. A really great way to spend a few hours.

BOOKS

FICTION

Swordheart (T. Kingfisher)
Bryony and Roses (T. Kingfisher)
Minor Mage (T. Kingfisher)
Clockwork Boys / The Wonder Engine (T. Kingfisher)
My stand-out author discovery of 2019 was definitely T. Kingfisher (the pen name of Ursula Vernon). I loved these fantasy stories which combine great dialogue and characters with strong world building. Swordheart is a road-trip romance between a widow and a magic sword spirit; Bryony and Roses is a retelling of Beauty and The Beast with a very creepy mansion and gardening-based sorcery; Clockwork Boys and The Wonder Engine follow an assassin, a paladin, a scholar, and a forger on a quest to stop some really bad war machines; and Minor Mage (which was my favorite) is about a very young wizard and his very small armadillo companion trying to survive a dangerous adventure.

The Affair of the Mysterious Letter (Alexis Hall)
Alexis Hall is one of my favorite romance writers and he branches out a bit here with a weird, fun, and delightfully queer riff on Holmes and Watson, set in a world where basically everything exists: extra dimensional gods, time travel, multiple universes, magic, vampires, underwater cities, zombies, and more. The story follows Captain John Wyndham, who becomes roommates with the strange, eccentric, drug-fueled sorceress Shaharazad Haas and gets pulled into a series of adventures when Haas’ former flame enlists her help in solving a blackmail plot.

Good Omens (Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman)
Armageddon is at hand, the four horsemen have been summoned, the Antichrist is an 11-year-old boy, and a demon, an angel, a witch, and a novice witch-hunter join forces to save the world. Many years ago, my family and I listened to the Good Omens audiobook while on a road trip and I accidentally slept through a large portion of it. So I made a point to properly read it again this year. I’m a fan of both Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett and I really like this combined work. It’s silly, satirical, and smart; an all-round fun book full of memorable characters and clever writing.

The Song of Achilles (Madeline Miller)
The Song of Achilles is a re-imagining of the famous hero’s life, told from the point of view of Patroclus, Achilles’ companion and, in this version, his lover and dearest friend. Since the book is based on established mythology, you know from the start how tragically things will end. That could have been a hinderance but I felt it added emotional weight of the novel. I really like how Madeline Miller weaves the mythology and original elements together, making things matter more because they have backstory and depth.

Middlegame (Seanan McGuire)
This was by far the most mentally-strenuous book I read in 2019. Middlegame involves stories-within-stories, a non-linear plot with time shenanigans, and alchemy described through metaphor. The core story is about a man, created through alchemy, who is intent on gaining infinite power. His method for doing this is to break down the essence of the universe into two children - one who embodies math and one who embodies language. Middlegame follows the lives of these two “cuckoo” children, Roger and Dodger, who grow up on separate sides of the country but share a telepathic-ish bond. They find and lose each other many times throughout their lives but can’t escape their destiny. If you can get on board with this slow-burn, abstractly-structured story, I would definitely recommend Middlegame.

Wayward Son (Rainbow Rowell)
Wayward Son continues the adventures of Simon Snow (the former Chosen One wizard from Rowell’s Carry On) and his vampire boyfriend Baz, who are struggling to figure out their post-school life, keep their relationship together, and survive an impromptu and ill-planned road trip across America spearheaded by their know-it-all best friend Penny. I basically inhaled this book; it’s a lot of fun. I particularly enjoyed that Rowell set a large portion of the story in Nebraska (where both she and I live) and wrote such a messy and surprisingly honest romance (about a be-winged wizard and a vampire).

ROMANCE

How to Belong with a Billionaire (Alexis Hall)
How to Belong with a Billionaire is the final installment in one of my all-time favorite romance series. The first book begins with lovable hot-mess Arden working at an Oxford phone-a-thon where he calls past graduates and asks them for donations to the school. When he dials the number of aloof billionaire Caspian Hart we get an adorable over-the-phone meet-cute which leads to attraction which leads to a misunderstanding and then an on-again off-again relationship which spans three books and is filled with passion, angst, drama, uncertainty, and dark pasts. In How to Belong…, Arden and Caspian finally get a happy ending, but it takes a lot of work to get there.

Any Old Diamonds (K.J. Charles)
Any Old Diamonds follows an illustrator (and disowned son of a Duke) who enlists the help of a jewel thief to exact revenge against his horrible father and equally horrible step-mother. I loved the romance that grew between these two characters and the twisty trajectory of the story as more history and secrets were revealed. A soul-soothing comfort book. K.J. Charles remains one of my favorite romance writers.

Ravensong (TJ Klune)
Ravensong is the second book in TJ Klune's angsty werewolf Green Creek series and focuses on the angry, tattooed witch Gordo as he pines for and rebuffs the love-of-his-life werewolf boyfriend who abandoned him many years ago. Plus evil werewolf hunters, intrigue, magic, bad dads, shapeshifter politics, smooching, FEELINGS, and melodrama.

A Duke in Disguise (Cat Sebastian)
A Duke in Disguise is the second in Cat Sebastian’s Regency Imposters series, but you don’t have to read them in order (this one actually takes place first). Our main characters are Verity, an anarchist newspaper publisher who has decided to print a steamy adult novel, and Ash, an engraver and long-time family friend, who she hires to do the illustrations. Oh, and Ash is secretly the lost heir to a dukedom.

Brazen and the Beast (Sarah MacLean)
I think Brazen takes the crown as my favorite Sarah MacLean book. I loved the two main characters and the romance built on equality and mutual respect. The hero, Whit (aka Beast), is a tough, gorgeous crime-lord-with-a-heart-of-gold who doesn’t talk much and has a ton of emotional baggage. The heroine, Hattie, is the very competent, chatty daughter of a shipping magnate who is determined to take charge of her life and the family business. The story contains a few more “passion-followed-by-misunderstanding” scenes for my taste but overall Brazen is a winner.

Red, White, and Royal Blue (Casey McQuiston)
The premise of this book sounds a lot like fan fiction (and it kind of feels that way in the beginning): the son of the first female president and his nemesis, the prince of England, are forced to feign a friendship for the press and end up falling in love. R, W, & RB was a little hard for me to get into at first due to some uneven writing and annoying name dropping, but once the story gets going and the relationship takes priority, I was totally on board. There are so many good angsty confrontations, swoony kisses, and really sweet lovey-dovey bits in this book. A fun escapist romance to take your mind off the world for a little while.

The Reluctant Royals series - A Princess in Theory / A Duke by Default / A Prince on Paper (Alyssa Cole)
If you enjoy modern romances, this series by Alyssa Cole is definitely worth checking out. What I love most about these books are the women; smart ladies who have actual lives, friendships, and jobs separate from their romances. I read an irritating succession of books this spring where the female characters had NO existence beyond their interaction with the dashing heroes. Barely any mention of their work, ambition, or dreams. So when I started A Princess in Theory and found a substantial amount of time dedicated to establishing the life, history, and science career of our main character, I was overjoyed. Princess follows Naledi, an epidemiologist who was raised in foster care and discovers that she was betrothed at birth to a dashing prince. A Duke by Default is about Naledi’s wayward friend Portia, who travels to Scotland for a sword-smithing internship and attempts to figure out her life while she’s falling in love with the gruff master sword-maker. A Prince on Paper features a charming sibling-to-royalty (but not a prince himself), a great non-binary character (whose coming out scene I re-read like four times), and a heroine who lacks world experience but never lacks self-worth or self-respect. These books are ridiculously fun and thoroughly entertaining.

ADDITIONAL ROMANCE RECOMMENDATIONS

Contemporary

Historical

Paranormal

GRAPHIC NOVELS / COMICS

Heartstopper (Alice Oseman)
A very sweet series of graphic novels/comic collections about two high-school boys forming a friendship and falling in love. Alice Oseman’s illustration style is lovely and expressive and adds so much to the story. Volume One follows the blossoming friendship/romance between Nick and Charlie and Volume Two focuses on Charlie trying to come to grips with his bisexuality and his fear of coming out.

My Brother’s Husband, Volume 2 (Gengoroh Tagame)
My Brother’s Husband is a two volume manga that follows a Japanese father who is forced to examine his biases and beliefs when his deceased brother’s Canadian husband comes for an extended visit. The story is sometimes sad but also really hopeful and genuinely made me cry at the end. Just sitting there crying on the couch. The art is beautiful and it is a wonderful series.

Cosmoknights (Hannah Templer)
The tagline for this graphic novel is “For this ragtag band of space gays, liberation means beating the patriarchy at its own game” which I think sums things up pretty well. Cosmoknights takes place in a futuristic space society that adheres to a bunch of patriarchal traditions, including giant arena battles where knights compete to win marriage to a princess. When the story begins we are introduced to Tara, a princess longing to escape the forced marriage looming in her future, and her best friend Pan, who helps Tara escape off-world to avoid this fate. Five years later, Pan meets a pair of cosmoknights who are not what they seem and begins her own journey with the resistance. This story is so much fun and Templer’s art is gorgeous, in particular her wonderful colors.

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ADDITIONAL COMIC RECOMMENDATIONS

ART

In 2019 I made 34 new collages (most of which were for my August solo show), 4 wooden mobiles, and 31 digital Pokemon drawings. A major 2020 goal I have set for myself is to work more consistently, instead of only making things when I have a deadline. Here are some of my favorite pieces from the year.

Best wishes on all of your 2020 endeavors and thank you for reading my blog and following my art!