#3: September in review
It’s been a slow month… A mix of darkness descending earlier in the evenings and generic Mental IllnessTM have kept me lethargic of late, without much energy to spend filling the creative well.
Nonetheless, there’s a lot I’m looking forward to as fall settles in! I’m seeing Taylor Swift in concert next motnh with my sister, and November will be spent meeting up with all my internet friends. Somewhere in the middle of all that, I’m taking the LSAT, which means I’ll get to stop studying soon, too.
Also, it’s only a matter of days before Starbucks brings back the toasted white chocolate mocha. All trials are bearable with a toasted white chocolate mocha in hand.
Venba
This month’s spotlight is on Venba, a narrative cooking game that follows the eponymous Venba, her husband Paavalan, and their son Kavin as they immigrate to Canada and try to adjust to a new country. Between narrative segments, you (as Venba) play minigames where you decipher Venba’s mother’s recipe book in order to cook traditional South Indian dishes.
Where to start with describing this game, or explaining the emotions I felt playing it? As immigrant stories go, Venba is nothing new. It touches on familiar themes: the shock of experiencing racism both overt and covert; struggling to translate skills in your first language to your second language; feeling isolated from your family and roots; navigating the seesaw between Eastern heritage and Western acceptance.
But the familiarity of Venba’s story is a strength, not a detractor. Venba portrays its themes with utmost authenticity. Every aspect of the game, from art to soundtrack to foley to the partial obscuration of English text to signify Venba’s difficulty understanding the language, is painstakingly crafted to capture the fullness of the Indian immigrant experience. The result is a story that resonates almost uncomfortably sharply with immigrants while providing a comprehensive window into South Indian culture for other players.
Venba packs a small but powerful punch. It’s masterfully paced and beautifully designed, with decades of story packed into a vibrant, gorgeous, 2-hour playtime. I laughed; I cried; I craved idli; when it was over, I called my mom.
The Atlas Six
by Olivie Blake
⭐
The Atlas Six is a book that wants to be cool so badly but can’t stop being bored of its own premise long enough to manage it. The characters are pretentious and fake-deep, the Library of Alexandria (the book’s setting) is barely more than a MacGuffin, and I’m fairly certain 2 of the characters were crafted just so the book could have a ship called “Novacaine.” (See, it’s punny because neither of the characters are in touch with their emotions! Get it? Get it? They’re numb, do you get it? Do you get the pun? Do you see how clever it is?)
It feels like Blake wanted this to be an homage and/or spiritual successor to The Starless Sea and The Secret History and Gideon the Ninth and Babel and, um… Christopher Nolan’s Inception? (No, really, there’s a whole bit about using totems “talismans” to differentiate between dreams and reality, and one character does this once, and then it’s never brought up again.) You’ll have a better time just reading one of those books instead.
The 1-star Goodreads reviews for this are better than the actual book
Wicked
I used a friend’s recent visit as an excuse to go see Wicked on Broadway! Admittedly, I’ve been apprehensive of Wicked since I read the book as a wee middle schooler and was thoroughly unsettled by all the orgies, so I didn’t expect to enjoy the musical much. I was delighted to be proven wrong! It’s clear why this is such a Broadway classic.
Upcoming events
October 10 @ 6pm: SPLASH networking happy hour
📍 VERS, 714 9th Ave, NYC, 10019
🎫 Free to join! Just show up :)
📝 Come join me and the rest of NAAAP-NY PRIDE at a chill, low-key event where you can expand your LGBTQ+ AAPI professional network! SPLASH is held monthly, so no worries if you can’t make it this time around — we’ll see you at the next one :)