Author Archives: Bizarre Brunette

The Circle of the Serrated Hook – Candela Obscura Wrap Up

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Image is a character sheet for Dr. Vivienne Baker. She's a Doctor Scholar as her character type.

I alluded to this in several posts, but I found a Candela Obscura campaign group. I have been playing Candela with two other players since November and we had our last session to wrap up our circle, The Circle of the Serrated Hook. As a side note, our circle name rocks. I did not come up with this, one of the other players did, but I love it. As we wrapped up our session, I am happy and surprised to say that Dr. Vivienne Baker lives on.

Before getting into the session, I wanted to write a bit more detail on Dr. Baker. Dr. Vivienne Baker was a professor at a college university, but her focus was on providing affordable healthcare to all. She is someone who believes anyone of any status should be able to be seen. At some point, Dr. Baker partnered with Candela to continue her research, but also protect people from Bleed, the corruptive force left behind by Magick. She is not skilled in hand-to-hand combat, but makes up for it in her intelligence and being able to help others who have been injured.

Our circle has had so much happen! Our original lightkeeper was murdered because he was corrupt. It was revealed that he was using Candela to steal items and sell secrets. We got a new lightkeeper who was not well-liked which made for tough social situations for our characters to interact with. This led to the final showdown where our circle was tasked to go undercover in a prison. Once we arrived, our task was to find a secret vault beneath the prison and secure the artifacts or seal the vault permanently.

Horror TTRPGs are all about creating tense situations with players. Our group had to get climbing gear to go underneath the prison. As we tried to maneuver our way around, Dr. Baker got stuck! Talk about horrifying, I couldn’t imagine being pushed up against rocks and not being able to move my body. Thanks to the other players, they were able to pull me out and we came up with a new plan where we somewhat safely got through the claustrophobic-inducing rock tunnels.

We arrived at the vault and saw lights slowly coming on. There was messaging that we found earlier that indicated that light was lethal. As the room started getting brighter, me and one other player dove for cover. The other player tried to commune with the spirit in a glass tube. While he successfully was able to do that, the light shone and that player was incinerated. Uh oh. Now we are in this prison vault with an injured character. While I’m a doctor, I don’t have the medical equipment to treat this type of injury. The other player who dove for cover, he suggests finding a way to turn on the light and that’s how we seal the vault. Genius. Through some discussion, we found a well-wheel that could permanently turn on the light. While that’s happening, a team was sent down to dispatch us and one of their members was incinerated as well. Dr. Baker made it out along with the player who originally dove for cover, but unfortunately, the character that was incinerated did not make it out. RIP.

The Circle of the Serrated Hook has two surviving members and while Dr. Baker made it out alive, I’m sure her partnership with Candela is tarnished after this series of adventures. I am grateful that I was a part of this group. The more I have played Candela Obscura, the more I have enjoyed the system. I’d love to hear Critical Role announce another Candela Obscura live play soon. I’d like for other players to have a chance to play this game and see if they can survive till the end.

The Briar Club by Kate Quinn

Posted in Reading/Books by
Image is a book cover for The Briar Club by Kate Quinn. The background is thsi gold door with a key hole. The key hole shows a floral print wallpaper in the background and it's green with a red rose on it.

Spoilers for The Briar Club Below

The Briar Club was my friend’s book club book for this month. As usual, I waited till the last minute to read the book and read 200 pages the day before we met. I try hard not to do that, but something about having a deadline worked in this case. I had high hopes for The Briar Club since the average rating of this book is 4.31 stars which is pretty high for a book on Goodreads. Suffice it to say, I will not be rating this book the same as average readers and I’m excited to get into it.

Washington D.C. 1954. Briarwood House has new energy when Grace March moves in. Grace has a way of getting the other residents to open up and many of the women have grown to like her. Four years later, detectives are at Briarwood House investigating two murders. Who was responsible and what secrets led up to the deaths of these two people?

When reading The Briar Club, I liked reading about the perspectives of those who lived at Briarwood House. If I had to pick my favorites, I loved Nora and Fliss’s points of view. Nora was in an abusive relationship which caused distance from her family. Nora meets Xavier, a man with ties to organized crime. Xavier kills the man who hurt Nora and goes to prison for it. Nora breaks up with him in prison because she doesn’t want to be associated with him. I loved seeing Nora sticking up for herself. Fliss is a young mom and her husband is overseas at the height of the Korean War. Fliss sees herself as a bad mom because she’s struggling and when her husband brings up in a letter that he wants baby number #2, Fliss is stressed. Reading about Fliss’s struggles with motherhood felt authentic, especially with women in that period. I thought her perspective was genuine and something many would relate to.

The twist in this book was interesting. The twist relates to Grace March, the character everyone interacts with. It’s revealed that Grace was a Russian spy who defected when she moved to America. I didn’t expect the book to go in this direction, so I was pleasantly surprised. When this was revealed, I started to think about certain sections and things made sense about how Grace acted. The murders are Grace’s fake American husband who was also a spy and a senator who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. While I think things wrapped up too neatly at the end, I can’t help but be enthralled with Grace’s back story.

While there were things I liked about The Briar Club, I HATED how this book was structured. Each perspective was one long chapter and there were no chapter breaks. I read The Briar Club on my Kindle and seeing my Kindle reminding me that it would take me an hour and a half to read the chapter, oh hell no. Why wouldn’t there be chapter breaks?? It would have been so easy to do. This book isn’t even that long, but it dragged on. I’m not sure if Kate Quinn’s books are like this, but if so, I’m not a fan.

The Briar Club was interesting and I’m glad I read it. For the love of everything, please don’t have long chapters. Long chapters are the worst and are a book pet peeve of mine. I rated The Briar Club three stars on Goodreads.

Cosplay Advice I’d Give My Younger Self

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There is so much I have learned about cosplay since I started. Cosplay is one of those hobbies where I will continuously push myself and try new things that might be beyond my experience and skill level. That’s what makes cosplay fun. I went from wearing old Halloween costumes to wearing wigs and planning out in-depth what my next cosplay would be. I wanted to share what advice I would give my younger self, but also advice that I hope those new to cosplay will find valuable.

Image is a photo of two cosplayers. One is cosplaying as Kilmonger an the other is cosplaying as Donna Troy in her red outfit.

Don’t Let Cosplay Accuracy Stress You Out

When I say cosplay accuracy, I mean planning a cosplay that looks exactly like the character I’m portraying. I get anxious when I plan cosplays if I don’t think something will look how I want it to. This will lead me into a spiral where hours will go by in my cosplay planning process and I’m still at square one of figuring out how I will pull off this cosplay.

In all my years of cosplay, I have never had anyone come up to me and insult my cosplay because it wasn’t accurate. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, but I’m fortunate it hasn’t happened to me. If someone were to do that, I think we can all agree that person would be a jerk.

It’s okay if a cosplay isn’t accurate or 100% exactly like the character you’re portraying. Some of the best cosplays I have seen are when cosplayers do something different. It’s something I need to remind myself all the time as cosplay should be fun and not stressful.

Don’t Be Afraid to Try New Things

I mentioned this before, but I used to not want to wear wigs. Ever. I had this notion that all wigs were uncomfortable, therefore, I had no interest in incorporating them. Now, I love wearing a new wig. I have three wigs in our closet hanging up on hooks and hope to add a few more in the future. I would love to get to a point where I feel comfortable experimenting with body paint. I haven’t found a cosplay yet where body paint will be needed but never say never. I won’t be as nervous to try body paint because I know I will figure it out.

I wish I didn’t spend so much time avoiding wigs because now I love them. I’m applying this to other aspects of cosplay going forward.

Making Mistakes is a Part of Cosplay

It wasn’t until last year that I learned how to wear wigs correctly. When I started wearing wigs, I would put my hair in a low bun at the back of my head. I would put the wig cap on and the wig after. This left a bump at the back of my head. I went to a panel at CONvergence last year where two panelists explained that the best way to style hair before putting on a wig is to pin hair with bobby pins or braid the hair and pin it on top of your head. This allows for the wig to be applied without any bumps. The next convention I attended, I did this with my hair and it worked perfectly. I didn’t have a bump and everything lay smoother than before.

I laugh at myself for figuring this out recently. I wouldn’t change anything because now I can pass that wisdom on.

Make Time for Hair and Makeup Practice

For every cosplay, I do what I call a trial. A few weeks before the convention, I put together the whole look. Starting with the wig, styling the wig, doing my makeup routine, and putting on the cosplay. I would repeat this at least two or three times before the convention. I didn’t used to do this and it would take me much longer on the day of the convention to get ready. I would highly recommend this to all cosplayers. If something doesn’t fit right, the wig isn’t the color you want or the wig isn’t comfortable, it’s good to figure this out weeks ahead. Nothing is worse than realizing something isn’t going to work and there isn’t time to fix it.

I have been there and I won’t be doing that again. I always style cosplays ahead of time and it’s made it so much easier to get ready.

Wear Comfortable Shoes

Do I need to expand on this one? I will always prioritize wearing comfortable shoes even if my cosplay isn’t as accurate.

Cosplay is a hobby that continues to challenge me in creative ways. There’s so much I could go back and tell my younger self, but at the same time, I wouldn’t have learned as much if I hadn’t made mistakes along the way.

Captain America: Brave New World (2025)

Posted in Bizarre Brunette Big-Screen Watches by
Image is a movie poster for Captain America Brave New World. It shows the Captain America shield with Harrison Ford, Anthony Mackie positioned on opposite sides of the poster.

Captain America: Brave New World was released on Valentine’s Day. I watched The Falcon and the Winter Soldier on Disney+ so I was hyped for this movie. This was supposed to be the movie that would establish Sam Wilson as the new Captain America setting the stage for the future of the MCU. Captain America Brave New World was so underwhelming and Anthony Mackie deserved a better debut movie than whatever this movie was trying to be.

Sam Wilson (played by Anthony Mackie) and Joaquin Torres (played by Danny Ramirez) are sent to Mexico to retrieve an item that’s being sold to a mercenary group. After successfully retrieving the item, Sam and Joaquin are invited to The White House. Sam asks Isaiah Bradley (played by Carl Lumbly) to accompany him even though Isaiah has mixed feelings about coming along. During a presentation, Isaiah attacks President Thaddeus Ross (played by Harrison Ford) which is uncharacteristic of Isaiah. Although stopped by Sam, Isaiah is arrested and is protesting his innocence. He doesn’t remember attacking the president and Sam is determined to uncover what’s going on and how Isaiah got looped into this.

When I think back to Captain America: The Winter Soldier, that movie is centered on Captain America. He has his allies which are obviously Black Widow and eventually, Sam Wilson. In Captain America: Brave New World, I felt Sam Wilson wasn’t the star of his own movie. There’s so much build-up linking all these events together. I wish this movie focused more on Sam’s relationships with his allies. Sam being a mentor to Joaquin, how did they meet? Why did Sam feel connected to him? I would have loved to see more moments with Sam and Isaiah or Isaiah specifically teaching Joaquin a thing or two. Instead, Isaiah is in prison for the majority of the movie. It feels like a waste since Sam feels protective over Isaiah and deeply cares for him. If Captain America: Brave New World followed the pattern set in The Winter Soldier, I think this movie would have been excellent.

Another critique I had for Captain America: Brave New World is the movie was slow. This should be exciting! Sam has military training and excels at hand-to-hand combat, so why did I feel bored while watching this? I would have liked to see more from Joaquin. Aside from one hand-to-hand combat in an underground bunker and him in the air, that’s about it. He has earned the title of Falcon, so let’s see why! I think injuring him in the latter half of the movie was a mistake. He could have shown up at the end when Red Hulk started trashing The White House.

Captain America: Brave New World made some questionable choices. This movie relies on viewers to have seen The Incredible Hulk and Eternals. Why would you link to a movie that everyone pretends doesn’t exist? That was a choice. This is what I mean by the build-up. Since it’s been a bit since The Incredible Hulk’s release, there is a lot that has to be explained, so instead of giving Sam Wilson more screen time, you have to link these things together. It bogged down the movie and wasn’t satisfying. Instead, I think Captain America: Brave New World should have centered on Sidewinder (played by Giancarlo Esposito) and have Sam and all his allies go after him. This way, you can have an action-packed movie while building the relationships that Sam has.

It sounds like I hated the movie. I didn’t. It’s like the classic parent line, “I’m not mad, I’m disappointed”. That’s how I feel towards Captain America: Brave New World. The MCU is capable of making great films and this was not one of them.

Murder Mystery in a Speakeasy – Best Served Cold

Posted in Gaming by
Image is a screenshot I took of Best Served Cold. The font feels like a 1920s broadway type of font. There's gold around the words and on the top is a red, cocktail glass and the bottom is a red drop of blood.
Best Served Cold – screenshot taken by me.

I received an email from Steam about a game demo that’s now available to play. I don’t pay much attention to these emails, but this game caught my eye. Best Served Cold is a visual novel game where players interact with patrons to solve a murder at a speakeasy. When I researched the game, I realized that Best Served Cold is being developed by the same developer that made Hidden Through Time which is another favorite game of mine. Once I knew that, I was intrigued and downloaded the demo of Best Served Cold. Best Served Cold is an entertaining game and the demo expertly gives players a first-hand look at what the game will be like.

Image is a newspaper with the title headline "Killer Still At Large". There's font below that says "That star's being dying for a while". Image taken by me.
Screenshot taken by me.

Best Served Cold opens with the player being greeted by a detective. The detective offers the player a forced choice of helping to gather information to solve a murder. In turn, the detective won’t bust the speakeasy the player is working at. By mixing drinks, the player can gather more information from suspects. Some suspects open up more when the drink sucks or isn’t made right, so messing up drinks isn’t always a bad thing. At the end of the day, there’s an evidence board where evidence can be linked together. This reveals if the player caught a suspect in a lie or built a motive against a suspect as to why they would want that person dead. The demo ends after a few rounds with evidence collected leaving the player wanting more.

I was surprised at how long the demo was. According to Steam, I played the game for 86 minutes or an hour and twenty-six minutes. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I thought the demo would be a fifteen-minute experience and I was pleasantly surprised by how much gameplay was included. I felt the demo did a great job of showcasing what the game would look like. There is no doubt that I will be purchasing this game when it’s released.

In the demo, it shows how cocktails are made. There’s a cocktail list and once a cocktail is chosen, the player has to move their mouse along a series of lines. There’s a timer, so if the player doesn’t make the cocktail fast enough, the drink is ruined. This was a little clunky because you only have one shot to make the cocktail correctly. However, once I had a few tries, I found myself getting better at making the drinks. From talking to patrons, you can gather clues on what cocktail might be their favorite. Serving a patron their favorite cocktail allows the player to record clues and ask more personal questions. I liked how this came together especially when you could put the clues together on the evidence board.

I mentioned how Best Served Cold was made by the same developer as Hidden Through Time. Rogueside is based out of Belgium and has a ton of interesting games. Hidden Through Time is one of them along with Warhammer 40,000 Shootas, Blood & Teef and Guns, Gore & Cannoli. I have never heard of those two games, but I’m more willing to check them out. As far as I’m aware, there isn’t a release date for Best Served Cold yet.

Best Served Cold was a fun game. I can’t wait to play it once it’s released. If you’re interested, the demo for Best Served Cold is available and I’d highly recommend downloading it and checking it out for yourself.

Washington D.C., The Occult and Divine Monsters – Historical Fiction TBR

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March is a reading month where I normally don’t have a plan as to what I want to read. With that said, my friend’s book club book is The Briar Club by Kate Quinn. Since I’m already reading historical fiction, I figured I’d make it the theme for this entire month. Unlike last month, I will not read four books as that was a lot. I’m picking three books with two being higher in page number and the third book being a short novella. I’m going to share what I hope to read and listen to this month.

In February, I read five books. They are as follows:

  • A Thousand Miles by Bridget Morrissey 5/5 stars
  • Love and Other Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe 5/5 stars
  • Do Your Worst by Rosie Danan DNF
  • The Art of Catching Feelings by Alicia Thompson 4/5 stars
  • Heroine by Mindy McGinnis Unrated

I read a lot of good books last month. A Thousand Miles surprised me because I thought I would enjoy it, but not as much as I expected. Do Your Worst was a book I thought I would like, but it wasn’t for me. It was odd because the main character is supposed to be a professional occultist, although it felt like the book didn’t have a lot of supernatural elements to it. I thought it cheapened the female main character because people thought she was a fraud. I would have liked the book more if it leaned into those supernatural elements versus shying away from them. Heroine was a book I had on my Goodreads TBR for six years. I listened to it on audio and this book was heart-wrenching. It’s a book about a high school athlete who gets addicted to heroin. It was a heavy book to listen to, but I’m glad I did.

Here are the three books I want to read this month:

The Briar Club by Kate Quinn

The Briar Club takes place in Washington D.C. during the height of Communism and Joseph McCarthy’s accusations. The book follows a boarding house in D.C. where a young woman named Grace moves in. Grace has this allure to her and she quickly befriends the other women in the house. Four years after Grace moves in, there’s a murder at the boarding house that the police are investigating. What happened and was Grace involved?

I started reading The Briar Club and I’m enjoying it so far. I’m not far into the book, but I like reading about the women in the house.

The Diviners by Libba Bray

Evie O’Neill is sent to live with her Uncle Will in NYC in 1926. Will has what Evie would call an unhealthy obsession with the Occult. Evie doesn’t make much of it until a girl is found murdered and the police consult Will. Evie is pulled into something she doesn’t fully understand and maybe Will has knowledge about something dark coming to the surface.

I like how The Diviners combines historical fiction with fantasy. I have had The Diviners on my Goodreads TBR since 2019 and it’s about time I read this.

Even Though I Knew The End by C.L. Polk

Even Though I Knew The End is about a magical detective in Chicago who investigates monsters. She is tasked to hunt a serial killer called The White City Vampire.

I read the premise of this book and I couldn’t resist. I like how this book is shorter as I think it will balance out the other two books I chose.

This is an interesting reading month as I’m reading all these books on my Kindle. That’s why I didn’t post a picture of my book stack like I normally do. It’s good to break out my Kindle every now and then. While I prefer reading physical books, I don’t feel as bad if I purchase a book on Kindle that I don’t end up liking.

The Legend of Vox Machina (2022)

Posted in Bizarre Brunette Big-Screen Watches by
Image is a promo image for The Legend of Vox Machina. It shows all teh members of Vox Machina ready to charge into battle with an evil dragon shadow over them.

At one point in time, Critical Role had one of the most successful Kickstarter projects of all time. The Legend of Vox Machina began as a Kickstarter campaign which Critical Role advertised during their live stream. The campaign was immensely successful leading to the show launching on Amazon Prime. I started watching the show by myself, but my husband became interested and I ended up restarting season #1 and watched the series with him. The Legend of Vox Machina is an exciting rendition of the popular campaign.

The Legend of Vox Machina follows the seven members of Vox Machina. Each member is voiced by the same player that portrayed them in the campaign. There’s Vex (played by Laura Bailey), Vax (played by Liam O’Brien), Percy Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III (played by Taliesin Jaffe), Pike Trickfoot (played by Ashley Johnson), Keyleth of the Air Ashari (played by Marisha Ray), Scanlan Shorthalt (played by Sam Riegel), and Grog Strongjaw (played by Travis Willingham). Each character has their own back story that comes into play throughout the seasons. Vox Machina teams up to take on several powerful enemies including The Briarwoods and The Chroma Conclave. Exandria needs Vox Machina, but are they ready to embrace becoming heroes?

The Legend of Vox Machina is such a delight to watch. It felt like I was reliving the campaign all over again. I felt the characters personalities were on point with who they were in the campaign. Grog’s humor comes out from some of the lighthearted statements he makes. Keyleth’s insecurities and being afraid to embrace her role as an Ashari. As someone who watched the campaign and the show, it felt like they were one in the same.

I can’t talk about the show without talking about all the enemies. The Briarwoods are one of my favorite adversaries that came out of Critical Role’s first campaign. I remember watching Taliesin’s reaction on the livestream when Matt mentions them. As a TTRPG player, I have been there! The shock when something is relevant to your character is presented in game. I get it. The Briarwoods having a full season dedicated to them was much needed. The Chroma Conclave pops up in the later seasons and they are scary. The amount of damage they did to Exandria is surreal to watch. I loved seeing all of this come to life.

With all adaptations, there will be changes. The first change I thought was interesting were the romances. In the show, it felt that Vex and Percy’s relationship developed quickly while Keyleth and Vax’s relationship was a slow burn. In the campaign, that’s the opposite. I thought that was interesting. I could see why this was changed as it helped provide the revenge arc of Vex taking on Anna Ripley and it helps to develop Vex’s feelings for Percy to sell this portion of the story. Vex and Percy’s relationship was so beautiful because it took the time to develop. While those changes were made, the original Vex and Percy moments are faithful to the campaign. Vex opening her door completely naked is exactly what Laura Bailey did to Taliesin. I believe someone clipped side by side of the campaign versus the show and it’s worth it to watch because they are identical.

The second change that I feel is not talked about enough is Kash. Kashaw (played by Will Friedle both in the campaign and the show) appears with Vox Machina at pivotal moments throughout the series. In the campaign, Kashaw lives to the end. However, in the show, Kashaw is killed by Thordak and accepts his death by going to The Raven Queen. I was so unprepared for this because it was drastically different. I understand things have to change, but this feels like a huge change. I’d hate to see other NPCs get killed off if they were left living in the original campaign.

The Legend of Vox Machina was a joy to watch and I’m looking forward to what will be adapted in later seasons. It feels like I’m rewatching the original campaign that made me a fan of Critical Role to begin with.

Doomlings: Imaginary Ends Expansion

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My friend introduced me to Doomlings after she backed the game on Kickstarter. When I visited her one weekend, we played several rounds of Doomlings and I loved it. I loved the art style, it feels similar to Unstable Unicorns or Exploding Kittens. The game is easy to learn and explain to someone else. Several weeks ago, I was contacted by someone from Doomlings asking if I would be willing to review the game. I was delighted! They were kind enough to send me a copy of the base game and their expansion, Doomlings: Imaginary Ends. I had already written my review of Doomlings three years ago, but because they were open to sending me the base game, I introduced my brother to the game. Doomlings: Imaginary Ends adds so much more to the base game.

Image is a photo of Doomlings Imaginary Ends. It shows a bunch of cute creatures. One at the bottom looks like a circular narwhal . The one above it looks like a red blob with lightning on it.
My copy of Doomlings: Imaginary Ends. Photo taken by me, copy provided by Doomlings

If you’re new to Doomlings, I’d recommend checking out my original review of the base game here before continuing to read this review. In summary, Doomlings is a game where players collect trait cards before the world ends due to an apocalyptic event. The player with the highest number of points at the end of the game wins. Some trait cards have abilities while others are cute and add points. The base Doomlings game has a stack of trait cards and apocalypse cards that help keep the game interesting. This is where the Doomlings: Imaginary Ends expansion comes into play.

Image is a photo of a catastrophe card. It says Abyss Stares Back. It shows the night sky with a purple shadow over it. At the bottom of the card it says: -1 Gene Pool Suppress all cards from your hand. Stabilize. World's End: -5 if you have 12 or more traits in your trait pile.
This new Catastrophe card from Doomlings: Imaginary Ends. Photo provided by Doomlings

Doomlings: Imaginary Ends has five different expansions which add a twist to the game. The expansions are: Magical Merchants, Glitterlings, Moonlings, Deeplings, and Fuzelings. The Magical Merchants can sell players trinkets that may score extra points at the end of the world. Glitterlings are cards with abilities based on chance meaning playing them could benefit you or they could backfire. Moonlings allows players to give out unwanted cards and add rewards. Deeplings can give players a chance to suppress abilities. Finally, Fuzelings is a mix of the above expansions and can provide players with additional combos with other cards played. The amount of replay value in this expansion is wild! This expansion has five new additions for every game and that’s on top of all the cards from the base game.

Image is a photo of a person holding the Glitterlings cards in a fan. The cards are rainbow in color from red, orchid, gray, green and some are multi colored.
Glitterlings cards. Photo provided by Doomlings

Since I was introducing my brother to Doomlings, we played a few rounds of the base game before introducing the expansions. What worked well for us was that we played the expansions separately with the base game, so we could truly understand how they modified the game. I couldn’t choose a favorite expansion because they all added something to the game. With that said, the Glitterlings stood out the most to me. My brother was able to pull out some combos at the end of one of our games and I could not compete. The beauty of the expansion is that there’s still so much I haven’t played with yet. The expansion adds 127 new cards to the game and that takes time to see these cards pop up.

Doomlings: Imaginary Ends is $24.99 which is the same cost as the base game. In my reviews, I don’t usually bring up what something costs. Cost does matter though. If I’m going to invest in a board game, TTRPG, or a trading card game, I can’t always sink hundreds of dollars into that game. The fact that Doomlings costs $50 for both the base game and an expansion is a reasonable investment. I can see myself bringing out Doomlings at future board game nights along with Doomlings: Imaginary Ends.

In summary, Doomlings: Imaginary Ends was a fun and new addition to the base game. I was a Doomlings fan before playing the expansion and unsurprisingly, I’m still a fan of Doomlings. I am looking forward to seeing Doomlings dominating the board game market and if any expansions are released in the future.

Love And Other Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe

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Image is a book cover for Love And Other Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe. There's a shadow of Bigfoot behind the couple. The woman is holding on to the man as he supports her.

I’m biased. I see a romance book featuring cryptids and I’m intrigued. I discovered Love And Other Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe last year and specifically asked for this book for Christmas. Once I received my physical copy, I prioritized reading this book this month. Love And Other Conspiracies was such a lovely, heartwarming romance book. I am obsessed and cannot wait for the sequel to come out later this year.

Hallie Barrett is a producer for a popular website that produces short web series. After her relationship ends, she’s left without a show to produce. After stumbling upon Hayden Hargrove’s Cryptid Hunting docuseries, she asks Hayden to sign on and become the new show she’s making. Hayden agrees but asks Hallie to step in as co-host. She’s never been a co-host before especially because she’s always been behind the camera. As Hallie starts to get to know Hayden, she realizes how great of a guy he is and while they may not find Bigfoot running around, she finds love instead.

This was adorable. Hayden’s love for conspiracy theories and his show is genuine. Hayden even has a cat named Cthulhu. Once I read that, I knew this would be a five-star book. There was no way this book would let me down, not even a little bit. Hayden and Hallie were cute together. Hallie was clearly crushing on Hayden for a while before they got together. I was rooting for her to make the first move. In most of the romance books I rate highly, the characters have to be good together or I have to believe they will be together after the book ends. I feel that way for them.

I liked the setting of this book. I could picture Hallie in LA, stuck in traffic, and rooming with her best friend. The production company she works for reminded me of Buzzfeed or Dropout. In the episodes that Hallie and Hayden filmed, they would film onsite. One of the scenes in the book features Hallie and Hayden in West Virginia at the Mothman statue. I went to see the Mothman statue several years ago, so it was fun to reminisce as they were there in the book.

There isn’t much else to say. Love And Other Conspiracies was cute and I can’t wait to read the sequel. I rated Love And Other Conspiracies five stars on Goodreads.

Blue Beetle (2023)

Posted in Bizarre Brunette Big-Screen Watches by
Image is a movie poster for Blue Beetle. It shows a neon blue beetle highlighted in pink light. In pink it says "Only In Theaters" With a bolded 2023 and in blue #BlueBeetle

I remember Blue Beetle being released in theaters, but missed my chance to go. The DCU was kind of a mess with James Gunn trying to figure out what was canon or not. Blue Beetle, I felt got lost in that shuffle. When me and my husband were deciding what we wanted to watch, he encouraged me to watch Blue Beetle with him because he really enjoyed it. Blue Beetle was a solid movie from DC and I’d love to see Blue Beetle pop up in future DCU movies.

Blue Beetle follows Jaime Reyes (played by Xolo Maridueña) as he flies home to see family after graduating college. He gets a job cleaning a rich mansion belonging to Victoria Kord (played by Susan Sarandon). Jaime overhears an argument between Victoria and Jenny Kord (played by Bruna Marquezine). After standing up for Jenny, Jaime and his sister, Milagro (played by Belissa Escobedo) are fired from the job. Jenny promises Jaime she can get him a job at her father’s company, Kord Industries. Jaime arrives at Kord the next day where he bumps into an anxiety-ridden Jenny. She gives Jaime an enclosed package and tells him not to open it. Jaime shows it to his family revealing that he has a blue scarab. The scarab attaches to Jaime which freaks out his family. Victoria realizes the scarab is gone and will do everything to retrieve it.

The DCU’s track record is not great, so it’s nice that Blue Beetle is a good movie. I liked Xolo as Jaime Reyes. I think he embodies the character and brings a Spider-Man-youth to the role. Jaime’s family is easily the best part of the film. George Lopez plays Jaime’s Uncle Rudy and is hilarious. There’s a scene where Uncle Rudy explores the original Blue Beetle’s stuff and he is thrilled. Nana, played by Adriana Barraza, has her time to shine and shows up to protect her grandson. Jaime’s connection to his culture and family is a core feature of this film.

Regarding the villain, I think it’s easy to say that Susan Sarandon is not a memorable villain. However, I think Victoria has her moments. She is shown through flashbacks of going to foreign countries and how the weapons she helped create would destroy countries. Her righthand man, Carpax (played by Raoul Max Trujillo) is a victim. He was saved but forced to participate in Victoria’s experiments. Victoria violates many human rights violations, but because she’s rich, she gets away with it. Victoria being a villain is almost too real. She may not be able to go hand in hand with Jaime, but I’d argue that what Victoria does is even scarier.

The real question worth addressing is whether Blue Beetle is canon in James Gunn’s DCU? According to a quick internet search, the answer is yes. Although, it’s not clear how Blue Beetle as a character will fit into his future projects. It would be a dream to see Blue Beetle show up in a live adaptation of Young Justice as that was my first introduction to Blue Beetle as a character.

Blue Beetle is well worth the watch. I thought the movie has character and life to it which is something the DCU needs.