I'm in the middle of some calibrations
greetings, humans
Mass Effect Andromeda came out two weeks ago, and since then I have been living and breathing the Andromeda Galaxy.
It’s a game that’s gotten mixed reviews, but I wholeheartedly love it. I mean, I was predisposed to love it, with how much I love the previous games and the universe on the whole, but I honestly love it apart from all of that. I love the things that feel like old Mass Effect and I love the new things, too. I love the characters, and the exploring, and the puzzles. I’ll probably finish it this week, after which I will replay it immediately. Here’s my Ryder, with the alien I decided to romance:
I love them.
Notable Breakfast
Dog Thing
get you a girl who can do both
Mixed Media
I got into a long discussion about books (specifically queer books) with some friends last weekend, which turned into the three of us shouting about how much we love The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley. I read Watchmaker last year, knowing nothing about it, and I wish I could read it again for the first time.
Watchmaker follows Thaniel, a man with a middle of the road government job in London in the late 19th Century, who finds a mysterious pocket watch on his pillow one day, which then even more mysteriously saves his life. Thaniel searches out the watchmaker, Keita Mori, a kind man whose clockwork inventions almost seem to work by magic, and who is definitely hiding something. It’s also about Grace Carrow, a scientist who would like nothing more than to be left to her studies, but is prevented from doing so by both her gender and place in society.
Watchmaker is a beautiful book, and I hesitate to say much more, because watching it unfold is one of the joys of reading it, but I will say that if you’re looking for books with interesting, prickly women, or lovely queer romances, or which are about small kinds of magic rather than huge, world-building fantasy, then read this. This was Pulley’s first book, and I am eagerly awaiting her next one, out this summer.
Speaking of excellent queer books, I read Peter Darling by Austin Chant, a fantastic reimagining of both the character of Peter Pan and the mythos of Neverland. I adored it. I read Afar by Leila Del Duca and Kit Seaton, about a girl whose mind jumps into bodies on other planets whenever she goes to sleep, and The Quest for the Missing Girl by Jiro Taniguchi, a fairly straightforward mystery story elevated by Taniguchi’s incredible art. I also read Taniguchi’s A Distant Neighborhood, about a middle-aged man who wakes up in his 14-year-old body and tries to prevent his father from leaving. Taniguchi passed away in February and I realized how little of his work I had read, so I’ve been playing catch-up.
I listened to Middle Kids’ first EP, and like it a lot! Here’s the single. I went on a Shins retrospective after we added a bunch of mid-aughts music to the store’s playlist, and remembered how much I love this song. I’ve also been listening to a lot of Big Star, a perrenial fave.
Anxiety Pyjamas
Fics I Shouted About
see you next level by verity // Yuri!!! On Ice, Victor/Yuuri. I love the idea that Yuuri is so comfortable with Phichit that he’s almost unrecognizable, and this fic is about Victor getting to see that side of him. It’s pure delight.
On Open Wings by dicta_contrion // Harry Potter, Harry/Draco, AU. A magical spoonbill falls out of the sky at Harry’s feet and he discovers that the person best equipped to heal it is Draco Malfoy. Who he hasn’t seen in years, and doesn’t really know why.
i wanna be (the best you’ve ever known) by notcaycepollard // Yuri!!! On Ice, Victor/Yuuri. Victor badly wants to spoil Yuuri, but it turns out he’s not terribly good at it? Cayce describes this as “Victor Nikiforov: Human Disaster” and it is APT.
Part of the team by chyeahnursey // Check Please!, gen. Manager-in-training Ford learns the ropes from Lardo. This was so very sweet.
untitled part 1/part 2 by kevystel // Yuri!!! On Ice, Victor/Yuuri, AU. The “most beautiful man in the world, who lives in my building” post has been around for a while now, and is the gift that keeps on giving. Kevystel did a fic take on it from both Victor and Yuuri’s povs, and it was DELIGHTFUL.
Lastly
Have you seen the video of the little girl who thinks a broken water heater is a robot? It’s my favourite thing on the internet right now.
and that’s it!
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