Author Archives: Bizarre Brunette

2025 Pop Culture Year in Review

Posted in Bizarre Brunette Big-Screen Watches, Gaming, Life Lately, Reading/Books by

Happy New Year! Looking back, 2025 was a busy year. There were multiple trips, including both Italy and a family vacation to South Dakota. The Critical Role live show was another fun mini-trip that I took last year. Lots of traveling, reading, and devoting time to my hobbies, which is always a good thing. 2025 was a great year.

Movies I Watched

Image is a photo for the movie Superman. It shows Superman flying up to space.
  • Blue Beetle
  • Captain America: Brave New World
  • The Amateur
  • Thunderbolts*
  • Superman (2025)
  • The Fantastic Four First Steps (2025)

My favorite movie I saw last year was Superman. I picked Superman over Fantastic Four because DC really needed this movie to be good. I didn’t doubt James Gunn and if he could do it, but there was a lot riding on this movie. Krypto was the star of the movie. I think we could all agree with that. It makes me excited for James Gunn’s extended movie universe for DC.

My least favorite movie I watched last year was Captain America: Brave New World. It’s not that I hated it; I simply think it wasn’t as good as the rest of the movies on my list.

When writing this post, it made me think about how I don’t go to the movie theater anymore. When I think about why, I think about two things. The first is the cost. For my husband and I to go to a movie in theaters, it’s anywhere between $30 – $35. That’s a lot. The second is how quickly movies go to streaming. If I miss a movie, I know I can watch it within a month. Remember the days of waiting six months for a movie to come out on DVD? That seems unheard of now.

TV Shows I Watched

  • Creature Commandos
  • Legend of Vox Machina
  • The Fox Hollow Murders
  • The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives
  • Peacemaker Season #2
  • Only Murders in the Building
  • The Mighty Nein

I watched more TV this year than I thought I would. Starting with Creature Commandos, the Weasel episode emotionally wrecked me. I don’t think I have cried harder while watching a TV show in my life. My husband encouraged me to watch the episode, but boy, it was tough to watch. Creature Commandos is a show that has stuck with me, which is surprising. The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is my reality TV show guilty pleasure watch. Only Murders in the Building is a show that I recently discovered and like to put on when I need something easy to watch. I hope to finish the series going into 2026.

Video Games I Played

Image is a photo of Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2. It shows a city skyline, presumably Seattle. The skyscrapers are lit up in red. The image says Press Any Button and 2025 Paradox Interactive AB
Screenshot taken by me
  • Star Wars Outlaws
  • Life is Strange Double Exposure
  • Date Everything
  • Nancy Drew: The Haunting of Castle Malloy
  • Nancy Drew: Warnings at Waverly Academy
  • Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2

My favorite game I played was Star Wars: Outlaws. This game surprised me because it was better than I thought it would be. Nix is adorable. I laugh because I left Star Wars Outlaws with the lowest approval rating with the Hutt crime syndicate, and rightfully so. Date Everything was cute, but it reminds me that with dating sims, I get bored easily. I’m not over the way that I was rejected by the vacuum cleaner.

Gaming in 2025

  • Arkham Horror
  • Dungeons & Dragons campaign
  • Vampire: The Masquerade campaign
  • Candela Obscura mini-series
  • Forbidden Jungle
  • Monster of the Week at CONvergence
  • Call of Cthulhu one-shot

I’m in a lot of TTRPG groups! This past year, our two year Dungeons & Dragons campaign wrapped at Badwolf Adventure Studios. Cue all the emotions that came with that. It was bittersweet! Playing the same character for two years and her story finally ends. With that said, I’m in a new campaign and I have been loving it thus far. I’m still in a Vampire: The Masquerade campaign every other Friday also at Badwolf Adventure Studios. This group has been meeting for over a year now and it’s the longest VTM campaign that I have been in. In 2025, I played less board games it feels like, but I have been playing a lot of roleplaying games which is fun to see.

Podcasts

My favorite new podcast I discovered in 2025 was A Little Bit Fruity with Matt Bernstein. Matt is able to handle a variety of complex topics. The latest episode I’m listening to is about Nicki Minaj becoming more conservative and the history of that. Matt always has a variety of different guests and I look forward to each episode. The two podcasts that I’m listening to currently that I’m not caught up on are BlackwaterDnD and Worlds Beyond Number. With Critical Role, everything is so lore heavy and I like that BlackwaterDnD, I can listen and if I miss something, it’s not a huge deal because it gets recapped later. I also like the chemistry that the cast has. Finally, Worlds Beyond Number has been another highlight to listen to as it’s DMed by Brennan Lee Mulligan.

Catchiest Song in 2025

My most played song in 2025 was “Nancy Mulligan” by The Wellermen, Malinda, and Cullen Vance. I have a playlist called Ren Fest Vibes where I listen to a lot of bagpipes. What genre of music is that considered?

Conventions I Attended in 2025

Image is a photo of me wearing an orange wig with braids. There's a possum in my overalls and I'm wearing dark green rainboots.
  • Planet Comic Con
  • Spring Con
  • CONvergence
  • Twin Cities Con

I went to four conventions in 2025. No Gen Con for me this year and while I had a little FOMO, I was okay with taking a year off. Gen Con is usually a cheaper vacation for me, but the convention itself is a lot. I ended up sticking to conventions mostly in my area which is nice! It’s always more convenient to attend conventions in state than to travel. While I love traveling for conventions, it can be exhausting.

Personal Memories

Top Three Memories of 2025

Critical Role Live Show

Image is a selfie of me. I'm wearing my Keyleth cosplay, so dark green eye contacts, green dress and an orange wig.

Italy

Image is a photo of me leaning against a bench. In the background, is the Colosseum.

Taking my Family to the State Fair for the First Time

Image is a photo of a doughnut with jalopenos on it. It has honey and bacon on it too.

2025 End of Year Book Survey

Posted in Reading/Books by

It’s that time of year again, another reading year has come and gone. I felt this was a successful reading year. I’m getting closer to finally finishing my TBR. At the time that this post is scheduled, I have three books left. Looking ahead to 2026, I want to read more comics, finish my TBR, and approach reading differently than I have in the past. For this post, I utilize Perpetual Page Turner’s End of Year Book Survey. Here are my answers to the questions.

2025 Reading Stats:

Number of Books Read: 62

Number of Re-Reads: 3 – (The Kiss Quotient, Geekerella, and Volume #1 of Manhattan Projects)

Genre You Read The Most From: Romance

Library Savings: $480

I read 62 books in 2025, which is less than what I read last year. Last year, I would average two, sometimes three books a month. This year, I focused on reading two physical books every month. While I love to read, I have other hobbies, and I wanted to dedicate time to them. I didn’t want reading to become a chore. I re-read more books this year than I did last year. When I finish my TBR next year, I want to prioritize re-reading books I own. As far as the genre I read from the most, I quickly scrolled through all my books, and I feel romance is the correct answer. Finally, my library savings. $480!??!!? That’s a lot. I calculate this by reviewing the books I read and counting how many of them I rented from the library, whether as a physical book or through Libby. The number was 32. I multiply 32 by $15 as I feel the cost of a book varies between $10 – $18. This was way higher than last year, which is a good thing! I want to continue utilizing my local library.

Best in Books

Best Book You Read in 2025?

This is a book cover for the book - Six Scorched Roses by Carissa Broadbent. The cover shows a rose on fire. In the background, there's a big fire with rose petals falling on the ground.

I had two books in mind for this. The first was A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher, and the second was Six Scorched Roses by Carissa Broadbent. It’s a tough call, but ultimately I decided to give it to Six Scorched Roses. I LOVED this book. I like how some romantasy series have these short novellas in between stories. This book was less than 200 pages, and I was invested from start to finish. It’s nice to have shorter books in between the longer books I read.

Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More, But Didn’t?

The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley. I have talked about Lucy Foley a lot, as I have enjoyed every book she has written. The Midnight Feast, I rated one star on Goodreads. I was shocked; this didn’t feel like a book she wrote. This felt like a one-off.

Most Surprising (In a Good Way or Bad Way) Book You Read?

Told You So by Mayci Neeley. Mayci is one of the women on the show The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, so I think it would be easy to discount this book because of that. I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought. Mayci goes into detail about her abusive relationship, finding out that she was pregnant and losing her baby’s father. That’s a lot for anyone to go through. This book reads more like Mayci’s private diary, so it felt personal while I listened to the audiobook. I am glad I read this and enjoyed it way more than I thought I would.

Favorite New Author You Discovered in 2025?

T. Kingfisher. I have seen her books pop up, and every reader raves about her. I bought A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking, and it was so good. It was a cozy fantasy about a young girl who’s a wizard, and her familiar is a sourdough starter. This lived up to all my expectations, and once I’m finished with my TBR, I will go through the rest of T. Kingfisher’s books and pick out the one I want to read next.

Most Action-Packed/Thrilling/Unputdownable Book of the Year?

Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates. I tried to read another Darcy Coates book a few years ago, and ended up DNFing it. I had this book on my TBR and listened to the audiobook. This book, shit really hits the fan. It’s a thriller where a group of people are stuck in a blizzard. They arrive at a cabin and see a severed head on a stick. After that, people start dying, and everyone’s messy secrets are revealed. If an audiobook entices me to want to clean my house, you know it’s going to be good. I used every excuse I could to listen to this. Darcy Coates may be an author whom I listen to rather than read as physical books, and I’m okay with that.

Favorite Cover of a Book You Read in 2025?

Image is a book cover for How To Seal Your Own Fate by Kristen Perrin. It shows a black silhouette of a woman walking with an umbrella. Behind her is a conservatory. On top of the conservatory is a black raven.

The books in the Castle Knoll mystery series by Kristen Perrin are so aesthetically pleasing. The first book in the series was sky blue and orange, while How to Seal Your Own Fate is green and yellow. These are books I own because I like the series, but also, the covers are gorgeous.

Most Memorable Character in 2025?

I’d like to nominate Veronica Speedwell from the Veronica Speedwell series by Deanna Raybourn. These books don’t end up nominated for awards in this survey, but I always look forward to reading them. Veronica is such a fun character to follow, and she’s so quick with her clapbacks. She could be the permanent answer for this question, and I’d be fine with that.

Book You Can’t Believe You Waited Until 2025 to Read?

The World of Critical Role by Liz Marsham. I received this book as a gift in 2022, but didn’t read it until this year because I wanted to wait until I finished The Mighty Nein campaign, which I did. This book is a love letter to TTRPGs, but also to Critical Role and how the show came to be. This is a book I’d page through again in the future.

OTP Of The Year?

I have so many choices since I read a lot of romance. I decided to go with Hallie and Hayden from Love and Other Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe. This book was so stinking cute. Hallie and Hayden were a great couple, and I wish their supernatural show were real. I’d watch it. I have Mallory’s second book on my TBR to read next year.

Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?

I’m going to nominate Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros for this. Fourth Wing is popular, and as such, I wanted to see what the hype was all about. Fourth Wing blew me away. I had originally rented this from the library, loved it so much that I bought my own copy, along with Iron Flame, the second book in the series. I don’t really care for Xander much as a character, but the dragons are the real stars of this book. I liked reading about Basgiath and how Violet’s family is intertwined with the college. I have heard mixed feelings about the other books in the series, but I’m committed to finishing the series.

Book That Was The Most Fun To Read?

Vox Machina: Stories Untold was a highlight of my reading year. This is a book of short stories featuring some of the NPCs from Critical Role’s first campaign, Vox Machina. The Trinket story had me close to tears in the best way. It’s a bear protecting children, of course, I’m going to get weepy about it. The Mighty Nein short story book comes out next year, and I already have it tagged on Libby.

Your Blogging/Bookish Life

New Favorite Book Blog?

I discovered Thtgrlreads on Instagram first and then subscribed to her YouTube channel shortly thereafter. She focuses primarily on romantasy and dark romance, with the latter being a sub-genre I’m not normally into. Some of her book recommendations I have saved because they sound interesting. One book she recommended was A Wrecking of Salt and Fire by E.K. Condos, which features pirates and an enemies-to-lovers romance. Sign me up. I was obsessed with Pirates of the Caribbean, so this seems like something I’d like. If you see me reading more romantasy in my future, it’s probably because of Thtgrlreads.

Best Bookish Event That You Participated In?

I went to two adult book fairs, one in winter and one in summer. While both events were packed and I didn’t buy anything, it was cool to go. Minnesota has a strong book community and a ton of small bookstores to support. I am glad that I was a part of it, and I hope that more book fairs pop up in the future.

Looking Ahead

One Thing You Hope to Accomplish in 2026?

Finish my TBR!

To end this post, there were a few books that I read that I loved, but I couldn’t find the perfect award to nominate them for. I decided to list them out below because I wanted them to get mentioned at least once.

  • A Thousand Miles by Bridget Morrissey
  • Even Though I Knew The End by C.L. Polk
  • The Showgirl by Nicola Harrison
  • The Amalfi Curse by Sarah Penner
  • Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez
  • Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2 Review

Posted in Gaming by
Image is the title screen for Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2. It shows a city skyline, meant to be Seattle. It's dark out and the skyscrapers are lit up in red. It says "Press Any Button" and at the bottom it says 2025 Paradox Interactive AB
Screenshot taken by me

There’s nothing quite like a snowstorm to keep someone sequestered for a weekend. It ended up being the perfect time to sit down and complete Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2. I have been playing this game for a few months now. When I play video games, I like to take my time. I don’t want to rush the story; instead, I like to complete a few story missions, then switch gears and focus on the side quests. I spent time feeding on the citizens of Seattle, which allowed me to unlock perks from the other vampire clans. There are many opinions about Bloodlines 2. Some say the game isn’t bad, while others claim it’s horrible. I enjoyed playing Bloodlines 2, although I can’t help but feel disappointed with certain parts of the game.

Image shows the game options for Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2. There are five tabs at the top - Apperance, Codex, Ability Tree, Settings, and Game. This screenshot is the Appearance tab. Off to the right is Phyre. She is in the "The Seneschal" outfit. It's a dark purple blazer, black turtleneck, black jeans and black ankle boots.
Screenshot taken by me

Spoilers for Bloodlines 2 Below

Bloodlines 2 opens with Phyre, who awakens from Torpor. As Phyre comes to their senses, they hear a voice in their head belonging to Fabien, a Malkavian Detective who’s a Kindred local to Seattle. Phyre questions him, and Fabien struggles to recover his memories. As the two investigate further, they realize Fabien was killed by Phyre after he opened the box Phyre was resting in. If that wasn’t enough, Phyre sees a strange mark on their hand. Phyre feels weaker than they should, and they believe this mark is responsible. Fabien encourages Phyre to seek out the Camarilla for permission to wander Seattle and to figure out how to remove the mark.

I have so many thoughts about this game, so I’m going to list all the things I liked and disliked, then break them down point by point. Starting with the things I liked about Bloodlines 2:

  • The Story
  • Characters & Contacts within The Camarilla
  • Environment
  • Customization

Playing Bloodlines 2, the story was engaging. I am fortunate that none of the game was spoiled for me, so I went into it not knowing what to expect. I was curious as to who the Rebar Killer was both in the 1920s and the present day. I liked how Fabien’s story interwove with Phyre. Fabien’s missions were more story-based with no combat, while Phyre was often taking on several enemies at once. I think it was a nice breather to play as Fabien. For any Vampire: The Masquerade (VTM) game, whether it’s Bloodlines 2 or the tabletop game, the Camarilla contacts are the backbone of the story, whether you like them or not. I liked interacting with the local Primogen. Safia was my favorite contact. If there were any flirtatious dialogue options for Safia, I always picked them. She was the one I was trying to romance, which is ironic because of how the story unfolds later. Tolly grew on me, too.

The environment of Bloodlines 2 is arguably the strongest part of the game. VTM is a darker game, and Bloodlines 2 captured this perfectly. Every alleyway feels darker than it should; the neon lights of the city are brighter in a gothic way. It felt like I was playing a VTM video game. I like how Bloodlines 2 allows players to choose the clan powers they want. In the VTM tabletop game, you can learn powers outside your clan from a clan contact who has that ability. This is how Bloodlines 2 is set up, too. While I committed to playing Ventrue, I could still pick abilities from other clans.

Now onto the things that I didn’t like about the game, or things that I felt could be improved in a future update.

  • Keeping Bloodlines 2 as the title of the game. One option could have been: Vampire: The Masquerade Seattle by Night.
  • Where are Gangrel, Nosferatu, and Malkavian playable clans??????
  • Creating my own character, vs. playing as pre-made characters
  • No custom waypoints
  • Autosaving is only for story missions, not side quests.
  • Open-Ended Story

Let’s start with what I think is the most obvious: the name of the game. Bloodlines 2 references that this was supposed to be a sequel to Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, a VTM game released in the 2000s. This game is a cult classic and is brought up in VTM fan spaces. I think it was a mistake to call this game a sequel when it feels different than the first game. I genuinely believe that if this game were named something else, it would have decreased the negative press surrounding the game. Something as simple as Vampire: The Masquerade Seattle by Night would have been perfect, or Seattle by Night would have sufficed.

While Bloodlines 2 unlocked a few clans from a paywall before release, the game is still missing clans. I have used this analogy before, but it’s as if Baldur’s Gate 3 came out missing some of the classes like Barbarian, Wizard, or Rogue. Fans would be pissed, rightfully so. In Bloodlines 2, I’m specifically citing that Gangrel, Nosferatu, and Malkavian are missing as playable clan options. Gangrel is a core clan, so why weren’t they included? There was exactly one Gangrel contact, but they were barely in the game, and they were murdered. Cool. For Nosferatu, you might be thinking, “How would this game incorporate a Nosferatu playable clan when they are often deformed? Wouldn’t this break the masquerade?” Excuse me, but Tolly is in the game and gets around perfectly fine. There is no excuse for not being able to play as a Nosferatu. While Fabien is a Malkavian, I don’t think that counts. It would have been interesting to see Phyre and Fabien play off each other had Malkavian been included in the game. It’s a missed opportunity to leave out some of the clans that people love to play.

Grouping a few of the more minor criticisms I had, starting with being able to create a character. Since Bloodlines 2 is based on a TTRPG, I’d expect that I could create my own character instead of playing as pre-generated characters. This didn’t bother me as much, but I’d like to see a true VTM game where I create my character from scratch. Another minor annoyance is that you can’t set a custom waypoint. This would have been helpful while completing the side quests. Speaking of side quests, the autosave feature of the game doesn’t save progress on side quests. This is silly. In one instance, my game froze, and I lost progress on the items I collected. If this could be included in a future game update, it would make the game better.

The final item on my dislike list is the open-ended story. I know I said I like the story, and overall, I do. However, I disliked how the Rebar Killer plot line was open to interpretation. In the game, Fabien investigates a serial killer who takes out several Camarilla contacts (including Rosalind, the other Prince). Fabien finds out that Lou and her ghoul, JJ Campbell, were responsible. In the present day, the killings are repeated, and Fabien is sent to look into it. When Fabien realizes Lou and Campbell’s involvement, his memories are wiped, and as such, this part of the story is unresolved. Was Fabien behind the killings because his subconscious wanted him to remember? Was it Safia using the killings as a distraction for her plan? It feels like a bit of a letdown considering this was a major part of the story, and yet we don’t find out what happens.

Speaking of Safia, I’m so bummed that she ended up being the one responsible. She was my favorite. If it were an option, I would have gladly been under Safia’s mark to take out Lou Graham. Lou Graham sucked, and karma needed to come back for her. If there were a DLC created focusing on Safia’s story and how she got involved with the Sabbat, I’d play it.

This review is going to end, I promise, but I want to talk about the ending of Bloodlines 2. Bloodlines 2 has five, potentially six, endings depending on the choices made. I won’t spoil all the endings, only the one I unlocked. In my ending, Katsumi takes over, and Lou Graham is hinted at being thrown from a balcony to her death. Phyre remains as the Sheriff and works with Katsumi directly. Seattle becomes an Anarch city. Good riddance. The Camarilla was corrupt and needed to be dethroned. While I wish Lou’s death was something that Phyre could witness, it was still satisfying. I read the other endings, and I felt this ending was the one I wanted.

Is Bloodlines 2 a bad game? I don’t think so. I’m glad I got to play it, rather than if the game had been permanently shelved. I would have loved it if Bloodlines 2 were an excellent game; it could have led to people wanting to learn and play the tabletop game. The reception around Bloodlines 2 wasn’t enough to generate interest, and it’s a shame. I’m disappointed because I think this game could have been so much better than it was.

My Favorite Posts I Wrote This Year – 2025

Posted in Life Lately by

I started this post series last year as one of my year-end posts. I write my end-of-year book survey and my pop culture year in review, and now I’m adding this to my list. These are posts that I enjoyed writing or posts I’m proud of. I’d love an extra like or comment on these posts if you could spare the time! I’d really appreciate it. Here are some of my favorite posts I wrote in 2025.

Candela Obscura – Mini Campaign

Candela Obscura – Mini Campaign was a post I wrote in January of this year. This campaign feels like it happened a long time ago, not just this year. I love playing other TTRPGs that aren’t just Dungeons & Dragons, and I am fortunate to have found a group that’s open to playing other systems. This was a mini-series that played for a few months, and I’m glad that I was a part of it. I added this post to this list because it was a post I liked writing, and even re-reading this brings back fond memories of our game.

Cosplay Advice I’d Give My Younger Self

Image is a photo of Erik Killmonger and Donna Troy in cosplay.

Cosplay Advice I’d Give To My Younger Self was another post I had to include on this list. This was a personal post as I talked about what I struggled with when I first started cosplaying. If younger me could look at how far I have come, I think she would be impressed. While I don’t get to cosplay that often, I love getting the chance to write about it. I would like to write more about cosplay in 2026 and hopefully come up with a regular cadence of cosplay-related posts.

When in Rome

Image is a photo of me leaning up against a bar. Behind me is the Colosseum in the background.

When in Rome was one of the posts I wrote to summarize my vacation in Italy. I knew I wanted to plan another international trip, and I learned a lot from reflecting on my honeymoon in 2023. This vacation was relaxing, especially because we focused solely on Italy, rather than hopping around to other countries. It’s tough to choose which post to include, but I decided to choose Rome since we spent the most time there. I love traveling and seeing new places, even if that means traveling within the US. I want to continue writing about travel.

Moonshine Cybin Cosplay

Image is a photo of me smiling. I'm wearing a red wig that has two braids on either side of my head. I'm holding a staff behind me. I'm wearing blue overalls, olive green rainboots and in a pocket of my overalls is a stuffed opossum.

Moonshine Cybin Cosplay is a post that I knew I wanted to include on this list. I’m proud of this post and this cosplay for a few reasons. The first is that this was a relatively cheap cosplay. I thrifted the overalls several years ago, and the bikini top I already had in my closet. I only ended up buying the crown, the green rainboots, and the opossum. I’m trying to find more ways to cosplay on a budget, as cosplay doesn’t have to be financially burdensome. Another reason I’m proud of this cosplay is because of how much this character means to me. I have talked about NADDPOD on this blog, and the fact that I finally took time to cosplay Moonshine was necessary. I liked how I wrote this post and summarized the cosplay and how the cosplay came together.

10 Year Writing Anniversary – Twin Cities Geek

10 Year Writing Anniversary – Twin Cities Geek is a special post because ten years only come around once. Writing for Twin Cities Geek has meant a lot to me. My writing has improved in ways that I don’t think would have happened had I not started writing for them. There aren’t that many people who can say that they have volunteered somewhere for ten years. I am happy to be one of those people. I hope to continue to partner with Twin Cities Geek in any way I can.

Vesper’s Story Came to a Close – The Conclusion of Our Campaign

Vesper’s Story Came to a Close – The Conclusion of Our Campaign is the last post I will include in this list. I still think about this campaign a lot and how much it meant to me. Vesper’s story came around full circle, and I’m in awe that I rolled seven natural 20s in that final session. If you don’t believe me, I have the other players in my group who can vouch for me, I promise! I have grown as a player and have learned how to be a better player at the table because of this campaign. Vesper’s story is going to stick around forever, and there will never be a moment when I don’t think about her. Special shout-out to Badwolf Adventure Studios for running this campaign and letting me be a part of it.

I had a good number of posts to choose from this year. I will continue to write this as an extension of my usual end of year posts because I think it helps round out my year from a writing perspective.

Dirty Laundry and Dimension 20 – Dropout

Posted in Bizarre Brunette Big-Screen Watches by

One of my friends tagged me on Discord to let me know that several cast members of Critical Role were appearing in a comedy sketch called Dirty Laundry. Dirty Laundry is a show on Dropout where various comedians submit their stories. The guests need to guess who submitted it, and if they do, they receive a point. If the comedian tricks everyone and it’s their story and no one guesses them, they get three points. I have been wanting to watch Dimension 20 for a while, so I decided to try the free trial to watch this particular episode of Dirty Laundry. I ended up subscribing for a full year since it was 20% off, which I felt was a good deal considering all the content I have access to. For the amount of content I get to watch for the price, it’s been well worth it so far.

I mentioned Dimension 20 earlier. Dimension 20 is Dropout’s TTRPG streaming show. The first series, I believe, is Fantasy High and features Brennan Lee Mulligan as the DM with Murph and Emily Axford as players. If that sounds familiar, it’s because both Murph and Emily are on NADDPOD. I don’t know much more than that, but I like how it’s not as huge a commitment as Critical Role is. There are multiple seasons, but they also stream shorter series, which I think complements the longer campaigns that I watch with Critical Role. If you aren’t feeling that campaign, another one should start soon that might fit what you’re looking for. I will probably love Dimension 20, and I’m hoping to start it officially sometime next year.

I haven’t had my subscription for very long, as the only show I have watched so far is Dirty Laundry. It’s so funny. The Critical Role one was hilarious. There was a story someone shared about how they rode on a drug dealer’s horse. I won’t spoil whose story that was, but the one Matt shared, where he was at an orgy and didn’t even know it. It didn’t surprise me at all that it was Matt’s story. I watch Dirty Laundry at night after work because it’s a show I don’t have to pay much attention to after a long day. I also watched Dirty Laundry while I walked on my walking pad. With it being winter, it’s not ideal for walking outdoors, so I use my walking pad much more in the icky months. I watched two episodes while I walked, and the time flew by.

I’m looking forward to using my Dropout subscription. I think it will be something I use fairly often, and I can’t wait to start watching Dimension 20 next year.

Does a TTRPG Rulebook Count as a Book Read?

Posted in Gaming, Reading/Books by

Earlier this year, I purchased and read both the Vampire: The Masquerade Player’s Guide and the Camarilla sourcebook. I have been getting more into the lore of Vampire: The Masquerade, and I have enjoyed paging through both of these books. Reading a TTRPG sourcebook is different than a book for obvious reasons. I’m less trying to take in everything that I read, but instead pick out things about the lore that I want to remember for later. Could I count the TTRPG sourcebook I read into my final reading total for the year?

The first thing I did was go to Goodreads. There may be a way, or there should be a way to add a book to Goodreads if it wasn’t already there to begin with. I have personally never done that before, so I can’t speak to that process. I couldn’t find the Player’s Guide there, but I did find the Camarilla sourcebook. There are reviews for the book, and the fifth edition of Vampire: The Masquerade is also on Goodreads. I’m not saying Goodreads should be the truth or the answer to this, but I find it interesting that other readers have added these books to their shelves.

Getting into the definition of reading, one definition states, “the activity or the skill of comprehending the meaning of written or printed matter by interpreting the characters or symbols of which it is composed.” This definition came from Oxford Languages. If we examine the definition of reading, I’d say the answer is yes: TTRPG rulebooks count as reading. By reading a sourcebook, you are comprehending the printed material. I’d argue that a TTRPG rulebook has more comprehension than reading a book since the rules of a TTRPG game can be quite complex.

I’m not really tied to an answer on this. If someone were to provide a compelling argument and say, “No, I don’t think TTRPG sourcebooks count as reading,” I’d be inclined to listen. I don’t think I will add these books that I have read to my final reading total, partially because I don’t want to spend the time logging them into Goodreads. I also have no interest in rating them because I liked both of them, and I don’t have much else to say in a full review.

Currently, I’m reading Vampire: The Masquerade, The Second Inquisition sourcebook, and I have asked for two more sourcebooks for Christmas this year. If you have a strong opinion about this, I’d be happy to hear it.

My Comics Reading Slump

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Image is a photo of comics laid out on carpeted flooring. At the top left, it's a Scarlet Witch comic. To the right of that one are Thunderbolts comics. Below both of those are Moon Knight issues and Star Wars The High Republic comic issues.

I have tried to write this post at least three or four times. Each time, I ended up abandoning the post altogether. One project I have been working on is editing my previous blog posts. Throughout this process, I have been taking note of things I wrote about several years ago. I used to write a lot about comics. There were posts where I was reviewing three or four different comic book series. To say that I’m in a comics-reading slump would be an understatement. It saddens me because reading comics brings me so much joy, yet I don’t feel compelled to pick up a comic to read. Why is that?

When I think about what started this reading slump, a few things come to mind. The first is the expense of reading comics. When my husband and I bought our house, we had to review our budget. One of the easiest ways for me to save money was to cut out going to the comic book store. While a single issue comic on its own isn’t all that expensive, I would end up buying several trade paperbacks on top of that. It wouldn’t be uncommon for me to spend $50 every time I go. That may not seem like a lot, but if it’s $50 every week or every other week, that can add up. As much as I want to go visit my local comic book store, I have so many graphic novels on my shelf that I want to read first. I’d rather prioritize my reading and then stock up on more comics when I’m ready.

The second reason for this comics reading slump is feeling out of the loop. Unlike other hobbies, with comics, I don’t have any good comic podcasts or YouTube channels to watch. I don’t know what’s being released or which comic series are ongoing. As a side note, I’d love any comics podcast or YouTube recommendations. I used to follow a few accounts, but they stopped posting regularly. Several years ago, I was a part of a local comics Facebook group. This was great! It felt like I had a place to talk about comics that I didn’t have in the past. I ended up leaving the group due to an increase in posts where people felt comics were getting “too woke”. Leaving a Facebook group isn’t an airport; there’s no need to announce your departure. I believe comics are for everyone, and diversity in comics is a great thing. I don’t want to be a part of a community that doesn’t echo that.

The final contributor to my comics reading slump is prioritizing my Goodreads TBR. While I have made substantial progress with reading books, comics got left behind. Once I finish my TBR, I’m going to approach reading differently in the future. I’ll write about that later, I’m sure, but this approach will be more focused on incorporating comics into my monthly TBRs.

Where do I go from here? One thing that has helped is to start over. I have thought about why I love comics so much and what series mean a lot to me. I pulled off all my old Calvin & Hobbes comics to re-read in the coming months. I have started digging into all the graphic novels I bought in April, and decided to re-read The Manhattan Projects. This is one of my favorite comic series, and I finally found the missing volumes I needed. It’s surprising how much I remember about the series since it’s been years since I last read them. To get out of this slump, I want to reconnect with why I got into comics to begin with.

New Orleans By Night

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I wanted to share something I have been enjoying recently, and I hope you will enjoy it too. I was browsing through the VTM Reddit (Vampire: The Masquerade), and someone had shared their guide for running a Vampire: The Masquerade game in New Orleans. This guide was created by The-Katawampus, and it’s free to view. I downloaded it and started reading it. It’s fascinating! It’s 194 pages, and according to the Reddit post, it was intended to build upon the lore from an RPG book published by White Wolf in 1994.

I have never been to New Orleans myself, so I can’t say how accurate it is to the region. It seems well researched, though. The guide includes information about New Orleans, Baton Rouge, LA, and Biloxi, MS. It features various locations, regional history, specific NPCs, and more. I’m only twenty-seven pages in as of typing this out, so I still have more than 100 pages to read before I’m done. The fact that this is free to access is incredible, because there’s no doubt that I would pay for guidebooks for Vampire: The Masquerade in different states or countries.

If you’re interested in checking this out, I have linked both the original Reddit post and the link to the Google doc.

Astronauts & The Holidays – December TBR

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Image is a stack of three books on top of each other. The spines read from bottom to top - Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid, A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher, and The Wedding Witch by Erin Sterling

It’s the last month of the year, and with that comes an ambitious TBR. One of the books I had on hold for weeks at my library suddenly became available. While that wasn’t planned, I wasn’t going to miss the chance to read it. This means that I will be attempting to read three books this month, which has either worked out or not. Two of the books I was planning to read are three hundred pages or less, so it could be doable. Two books are holiday-themed, and the book I had on hold is not. I think this will be a fun, somewhat seasonal TBR.

In November, I read three books, which are as follows:

  • How to Seal Your Own Fate by Kristen Perrin 5/5 stars
  • Told You So by Mayci Neeley Unrated
  • Well Traveled by Jen DeLuca 3/5 stars

How to Seal Your Own Fate was an entertaining, cozy mystery. Told You So was difficult to read, but I ended up loving it more than I thought I would. For those who are unfamiliar, Mayci is a cast member on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. Mayci writes about her unexpected pregnancy when she was nineteen, the abusive relationship she was in, and how important tennis was to her. As a note, I don’t rate memoirs. I think it’s odd to rate someone’s trauma, and it feels wrong to me. It’s not my place to tell someone how they should write their own story. Finally, I finished the month by reading Well Traveled and adding another completed book series to my list! Well Traveled was my least favorite book in the series, but it had to do with the male main character rather than the series itself.

These are the three books I’m reading this month. Wish me luck!

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Joan Goodwin is one of the few to join the NASA space shuttle program. She trains and becomes close friends with her team. Everything changed in December of 1984. Part of me thinks this is a potential retelling of the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster in 1986, but I could be wrong. This will be the second Taylor Jenkins Reid book I have read, with the first being The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I ended up loving that book, and I thought the premise for Atmosphere was too good to pass up. When my local library said this book was ready for pickup, I knew I had to read it.

A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher

Mona is a Wizard, but she isn’t a soldier. Her familiar is a sourdough starter, and her magic can be seen in the bakery. When Mona arrives at work, she sees a dead body on the floor. Mona is pulled into a conspiracy, and why is this assassin after her? This seems like a cute and cozy story. I haven’t read a T. Kingfisher book yet, and I thought this was the perfect book to start with.

The Wedding Witch by Erin Sterling

Bowen Penhallow is asked to attend a wedding in the Welsh countryside, which he begrudgingly agrees to. Tamsyn Bligh sells magical wares and is aware of Bowen as an occasional customer. She also gets an invite to this wedding and hopes to steal an artifact while she’s there. Bowen and Tamsyn get up to some shenanigans and end up being transported to 1957. They must work together to get back to the present. This is the third book in the Ex Hex series, and this book is only 276 pages. That’s part of the reason why I decided to read three books since this book is considerably shorter.

I’m feeling really determined to read all these books. Out of all the months where I thought I would read three books and it didn’t happen, I feel like this month will be an exception.

The Mighty Nein (2025)

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Image is a poster for the Amazon series, The Mighty Nein. There are seven characters. From the bottom, there's a monk who's holding a staff, a muscular woman holding a huge sword that's bigger than her body. There's a woman with horns and blue hair. To the left of her, there's a man holding what appears to be a fireball. Towards the top of the poster is a goblin, a purple skined individual holding a tarot card, and a half orc, green skinned man holdinga sword.

The Mighty Nein has premiered on Amazon Prime with new episodes releasing on Wednesday. The Mighty Nein chronicles Critical Role’s second campaign, and arguably the campaign that Critical Role is known for. I have introduced my husband to both The Legend of Vox Machina and The Mighty Nein, even though my husband has never watched a full episode of Critical Role before. I am loving The Mighty Nein, and I think the show streamlines the campaign in a way that’s easy to follow.

There will be spoilers for both the show and the campaign.

The Mighty Nein follows seven characters, with six being introduced in the first four episodes. Caleb Widogast (played by Liam O’Brien), Nott The Brave (played by Sam Riegel), Beauregard Lionett (played by Marisha Ray), Jester Lavorre (played by Laura Bailey), Fjord (played by Travis Willingham), and Mollymauk Tealeaf (played by Taliesin Jaffe). Yasha (played by Ashley Johnson) makes an appearance, but doesn’t say much and isn’t connected with the group at this moment. Caleb and Nott meet after Nott steals Caleb’s spell components. Beau is investigating an attack with the Cobalt Soul, and Jester has a run-in with Fjord after his ship is wrecked in a storm. Mollymauk is helping Gustav prepare for the carnival. After the carnival is ransacked by a devil toad, the characters team up to prove their innocence and that they were not behind the attack on the carnival.

My favorite characters in the campaign were Fjord and Caduceus, who have not been introduced yet. From the show, I like Beau and Molly. It’s interesting because, during the campaign, I disliked Molly, which I would say is a somewhat unconventional take considering how much the fandom loves Molly as a character. I liked how Molly was portrayed in the show. They were less pompous, and I like how there was more emphasis on the Tarot cards. Beau’s story with The Cobalt Soul is one of the major plot points in the show, as it should be. I also liked how the earlier episodes emphasized how all the characters met. In the campaign, they meet, but the show ties everything together in a nice way, so it provides more emphasis on Caleb and Nott’s friendship before meeting the others.

Focusing on the NPCs, I liked how Trent Ikithon is a major focus right away. One thing I wish from watching the campaign is more emphasis on Trent and how evil he was. He would appear every now and then, but was more of a background character. In the show, that’s not the case. He is ICKY. He is a major player in the upcoming war, and he experiments on people, which is again, really gross. Trent’s early appearance helps establish his eventual downfall, and I look forward to it. Another notable NPC is Dairon, Beau’s mentor. Dairon is voiced by Ming-Na Wen, who also plays Melinda May in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I thought that was a perfect casting for the character. Dairon was one of my favorite NPCs from the campaign, and I love how she’s voiced by another one of my favorite actors.

With most of Critical Role’s campaign adaptations, there are changes from the campaign to the animated show. The first notable change was Yasha. In the campaign, Yasha knew Molly from episode one, whereas in the animated show, Yasha is nowhere to be seen. I think this change may have been necessary, considering Ashley Johnson was still filming Blindspot during the campaign. I think it could have been more difficult to explain narratively why Yasha disappears. If I had to guess, I think the group will meet Yasha when she’s under Obann’s influence, and they will have to free her. I wonder if this will happen in the first season of the show or a lot later. Another change was the death of Gustav. In the campaign, Gustav survives the attack, whereas in the show, Molly is forced to kill him when he’s turned. I think this provides Molly more direction as a character. It gives more meaning to the scimitars that he carries.

I’m curious to see if Avantika will appear this season or if she will be saved for later on. The Mighty Nein is an enjoyable rendition of Critical Role’s beloved campaign. The Mighty Nein can be streamed on Amazon Prime.