getting lost in the dark is my favorite part
Hi good friends and enemies! I hope y'all are ready to dive into this newsletter.
But first, an announcement! Coming soon: A PODCAST.
My friend Robyn and I are cooking up a podcast that should feel very familiar to longtime readers of this newsletter. It’s a celebration of the juicy genre fiction that we both love the most, from romance to sci-fi to comics and fanfic. If it’s a written work that you’d never ever find shelved in the “Literature” section of a bookstore, then it’s fair game for us. We don’t have a release date for our first episode yet, but I just couldn’t sit on this INCREDIBLE design by Niña Cayaban any longer! If you’re not yet sick of hearing my opinions on books, then soon you will be able to literally hear my voice as I give them. Stay tuned, y’all.
Notable Breakfast
Dog Thing
Mixed Media
I don’t remember when I first played an Ace Attorney game. It was a long, long time ago. I do remember what prompted my interest, however: someone I followed online said that they were playing this fun puzzle investigation game and wow, did they want these two lawyer dudes to kiss. That was it. That was all it took. I bought the game.
Ace Attorney is a very fun, very silly series of games for the Nintendo DS and 3DS in which you play as a defense attorney in a court system that only vaguely resembles anything real. Your clients are (almost) always innocent, and the burden of proof is on you to prove it, during which you naturally also reveal the actual culprit. The main character is Phoenix Wright. His prosecutor rival (who he absolutely should kiss) is Miles Edgeworth.
I love these games, deeply. I’ve been replaying them from the beginning this past week, and they really do hold up. The gameplay is part puzzle solving/part visual novel. You investigate crime scenes and interview witnesses, and then cross-examine them in court, during which your task is to find contradictions in testimony. Sound boring? It isn’t, because it’s also UNNECESSARILY DRAMATIC AS HELL.
And did I mention ridiculous? Truly, truly ridiculous. I’m addicted. The good news is, you don’t need to own a DS to play these games any longer! You have so many options: you can play the games on iOS, you can watch two very funny voice actors play the games, complete with character voices, on Press Buttons ‘n Talk, you can watch the first two games adapted into anime form. There even exists a live action Ace Attorney film. I highly recommend Ace Attorney, in whichever format you can get it. It’s forever a joy.
I watched all of Violet Evergarden, a beautiful series about a former child soldier trying to learn to function in a post-war world. It’s about grief and letter-writing, and I loved it. I started watching the new anime MEGALOBOX, about boxing with a mecha twist. It’s like Cowboy Bebop by way of Otomo but a sports anime. It’s a visual treat, and it’s coming out on Crunchyroll.
I started my Night World reread with Daughters of Darkness, partially because my friend still has my copy of the first book, and partially because Daughters of Darkness was the first one I read, back in middle school. To my delight, it holds up. I’m looking forward to devouring the rest. I read Be Prepared by Vera Brosgol, a delightful autobiographical graphic novel about her time at camp as a kid.
I listened to Janelle Monáe’s “Pynk” roughly 300,000 times.
I saw Pacific Rim: Uprising and I loved it. All of the kids were perfect, John Boyega brought every ounce of charm he has to bear, I would die for Scrapper the Jaeger. The only negative thing I can really say about it is that I don’t understand why Hollywood seems determined to make Scott Eastwood happen and I wish it would stop.
Fics I Shouted About
Next Season by gondalsqueen // Star Wars Rebels, Hera/Kanan, post-show. This is primarily a Hera character study, as it follows her from the last few episodes of the show through years afterward. It lovingly imagines where everyone ends up.
Soldiers of Fortune by wankernumber9 // Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, Chloe/Nadine. Conversations had after the end of the game. The tag on this is “soft gays being gay softly” and it is entirely accurate. The sequel is a whole new adventure and it also wonderful.
begin again, begin again by aknightley // My Hero Academia, Midoriya/Todoroki, Scooby Doo AU. Midoriya and Todoroki are part of a team of paranormal investigators who find themselves in a hidden room inside of a very strange house. This is so! soft!!
Legal Partners by Miggy // Ace Attorney, Phoenix/Miles. Every fandom has that One Big Fic, and this is it for Ace Attorney. I finally buckled down and read it, and it is Good.
tuesday by magneticwave // Pacific Rim, Mako/Raleigh. A typical Tuesday morning in the Becket/Mori household. This fic takes place before a major event in Uprising, but doesn’t spoil it. It’s lovely.
Eudaemonia by Bur // Star Wars Rebels, Zeb/Kallus, post-show. Zeb and Kallus have never been settled in one place together. They make a go of it on Lira San.
Custody by garbage_dono // Ace Attorney, Apollo/Klavier. Apollo hires a private investigator to find his mom, unwittingly setting a chain of events in motion which have been a long time coming. I love how this fic balances plot and romance.
Anxiety Pyjamas
Lastly
Farewell!
