Author Archives: Bizarre Brunette

Seances, The Wild West, and Batman – Cozy Cabin Reading

Posted in Reading/Books by

Every year, my friends and I plan a Cabin Weekend at my friend’s cabin. It’s something I always look forward to. It’s a chance for us all to catch up and spend good quality time together. I tend to always bring books and graphic novels with me as there’s usually downtime between going on boat rides and swimming in the lake. While at her cabin, I ended up finishing a book plus three graphic novels. I wanted to share mini-reviews of everything I read.

The London Seance Society by Sarah Penner

Image is a book cover. There's an oval shape and in that oval are bright flowers. In the center of the oval is a candle. There are mystical whisps in the air. It says The London Seance Society by Sarah Penner on it.
Photo taken by me.

It’s 1873, and the London Seance Society is gaining notoriety by performing seances for people struggling to let go of the ones they loved. Vaudeline D’Allaire is a well-known occultist who is self-trained and trusted. Lenna Wickes partners with Vaudeline after the brutal murder of her sister, Evie. Lenna only wants to perform a seance to solve her sister’s killing. Both Vaudeline and Lenna are called by Mr. Morley, a prominent figure in the Society. There’s been a murder of a well-known society member, and Mr. Morley wants this crime solved. Vaudeline and Lenna team up to solve these murders and uncover the darker layer within the Society.

I loved the premise of this book. It was intriguing to read, especially with how the Seances are described and performed. I love how Lenna and Vaudeline work together and I liked seeing their story unfold. There’s an interesting twist halfway through the series that I wasn’t quite expecting. I think my only grievance is that the book took a little bit to get into. Once I was halfway, I couldn’t put the book down. I rated The London Seance Society four stars on Goodreads.

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller

Image is a graphic novel cover. Two thirds of the cover is the mask of Batman with white slits. Below are several characters. They look angry or hurt. It says "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller".
Photo taken by me.

This is a graphic novel that I have had on my Goodreads TBR since 2015. I can see why this story is so well-regarded, but I think it’s a product of its time. There’s a lot of casual sexism. I think it was cool to see a female Robin, but I don’t think it was fleshed out. I’m trying not to be negative, but this wasn’t for me. I rated this two stars on Goodreads.

Cats! Girlfriends and Catfriends by Frédéric Brrémaud, Paola Antista, Cecilia Giumento

Image is a graphic novel over of a woman sitting on a blanket and having a picnic. The are five cats lounging beside her. The graphic novel says Cats! Girlfriends and Catfriends on it.
Photo taken by me.

This was so cute! It’s a graphic novel series that follows friends with their cats. It reminded me of Calvin & Hobbes as each page had a different story. I rated Cats! three stars on Goodreads.

Plume Volume #2 by K. Lynn Smith

Image is a graphic novel cover. It shows three people on it. One is carrying a rifle on her back, one has a pistol and the other is a glowing man who looks angry. The title says Plume Vol #2 in a wild west type of font.
Photo taken by me.

Plume is so good! It’s a Wild West-inspired story centered around Vesper, the daughter of an archaeologist. Vesper was given this magical necklace, which is connected to a man named Corrick. Corrick must protect the person holding the necklace. Vesper and Corrick team up and get into trouble. I love everything about this series, it’s fun to read. I rated Plume five stars on Goodreads.

This year has been a hit or miss when it comes to reading, and I feel like I’m finally finding my stride. I actually read another book that I rented from the library, and that review should be posted shortly.

Incognita’s Infamous Adventures (2022)

Posted in Bizarre Brunette Big-Screen Watches by
Image is a woman holding a blue crystal ball. In the middle it says "Incognita's Infamous Adventures".

While at Gen Con, one of my friends started a conversation with a woman in cosplay. I had no idea where her cosplay was from. She explained that she is dressed as a character from a web series she made called Incognita’s Infamous Adventures. She handed our group flyers and said they were doing a live sing-along at Gen Con on Sunday. My friends and I thought it would be fun, so we went to the event. It was so fun, and I have had the soundtrack on repeat ever since.

Incognita’s Infamous Adventures is a superhero-themed musical. The story focuses on Incognita (played by Sarah Michelle Bailey), a superhero who hasn’t made it big yet, so she works at a corporate office job in the meantime. She works with her best friend Connie (played by Darci Wantiez), who is also her sidekick. Incognita meets Adam (played by Christopher Bailey), who is the new employee at the office. Adam also happens to be a supervillain named Baddio, who is Incognita’s nemesis. Incognita and Baddio are unaware of each other’s existence in their lives. Eventually, Incognita and Baddio learn about Hilaria, a supervillain who is coming back to wreak havoc on the city, which forces Incognita and Baddio to work together.

I’m not normally a big musical theater person, but I love the soundtrack. It’s upbeat and fun to listen to. I find myself singing along on my way to and from work. It’s definitely made my commute more enjoyable. I think the other thing that stuck out to me about Incognita’s is the quips. Since Incognita works an office job, some one-liners poke fun at that. My friends and I found ourselves laughing at some of the humor throughout the show.

After doing the singing live, the cast did a short Q&A about how they created the series. I have a lot of admiration for the cast since they self-funded the project. They talked about the challenge of that and how they are starting to work on season #2.

Incognita’s Infamous Adventures is so fun and catchy. Incognita’s Infamous Adventures can be streamed on Amazon Prime.

Gen Con – Haul

Posted in Life Lately by

For every convention, I always set aside a certain amount to spend. For Gen Con, my budget was substantially more than for other conventions I attend. I was fully aware that this would be a more expensive convention. To end my blog post series, I wanted to share my haul from Gen Con this year.

As a side note, I did receive a press badge from Gen Con. This means I did attend the convention for free. I applied under Twin Cities Geek versus Bizarre Brunette when I applied for my press badge. While I did receive a press badge, all my thoughts are my own. Additionally, everything in my haul was purchased with my own money; nothing was given to me for free.

Queen by Midnight – Darrington Press

Image is a board game. It shows several fantasy femme characters. Lower down it says "Queen by Midnight" and the Q has a backdrop of a clock.
Photo taken by me.

I alluded to this already, but the first thing I bought at Gen Con was a copy of Queen by Midnight by Darrington Press. I wasn’t planning on buying Queen by Midnight; however, by the time I made it to the front of the line, I was intrigued by the concept of the game. I wish Darrington Press had more merch to sell. I would have easily bought a Candela Obscura t-shirt or dice set. There were also a lot of fans waiting in line who weren’t able to get a copy of Queen by Midnight, so I think it would have been neat if there were additional merch that fans could buy if they weren’t able to purchase a copy of the game.

Vagrant Song + Malifaux Starter Set – Wyrd Games

Image shows a board game next to a smaller box with minis. The board game says Vagrant Song and in the O of Song it has a musical note in the center. It shows a train with ghosts projecting from it. The minis box says Malifaux and it shows some menacing figures. There are two scarecrow looking figres with a man smiling creepily. A woman is dressed nicely and she's holding a big fan.
Photo taken by me.

The second purchase I made was at the Wyrd Games booth. Vagrant Song is a board game that reminded me of BioShock and Cuphead. It’s a cooperative game in which players face off against rogue ghosts on a train. I liked the spooky aesthetic of the game, and I look forward to playing this game closer to Halloween.

The second purchase was a Malifaux Starter Set. My brother actually bought me this starter set as a late birthday present. One of the booth employees was explaining the concept of Malifaux to me. I will say, I have struggled to get into miniature games, but what intrigued me about Malifaux was the idea that you could still win the game even if your minis are killed in battle. I played Warhammer once, and once my minis died, it felt cumbersome to try to remain invested in the game. Malifaux also has a spooky element, as well, which I love. I convinced my brother to buy a starter set too, so I would at least have someone I could play the game with.

Trail of Cthulhu – Pelgrane Press

Image features a hardcover book. It shows men who are going down a staircare in the dark with lanterns. There is a body of water and it shows a tentacle in the water. At the top right it says Trail of Cthulhu".
Photo taken by me.

I mentioned Trail of Cthulhu in an earlier post. I won’t say much else except that I’m looking forward to paging through the rule book and eventually writing my own story.

Laudna Dice Guardian + DnD Notebooks – Dice Guardians

Image shows a stack of three notebooks. They all say Adventure Journal with a sword and a feather crossed over each other. On the right, it's a box which says Laudna on it. It shows a woman holding black goo and a d20 is sitting on top of it.
Photo taken by me.

This was my last purchase at Gen Con. I walked by the Dice Guardians booth on Thursday and made a note to myself that if the Laudna Dice Guardian was still available by Sunday, I would purchase it. Sure enough, I was walking by their booth on Sunday and saw they had some left, and I couldn’t resist. I plan on taking it to work with me and setting it on my desk. Besides the Laudna Dice Guardian, I also bought some new notebooks. I tend to take lots of notes in my Dungeons & Dragons sessions, and I had been using a regular standard notebook to write in. The issue is that it’s bulky to carry, so I like that these are a lot smaller. They had a deal if I bought three at once, so I figured, why not? Now I will have backups.

Besides gaming stuff, I ended up finding a local comic book store in downtown Indianapolis called Downtown Comics. It was within walking distance of the convention center, so I ended up purchasing a few comics. The final purchase I made was at Sun King, a brewery that’s a sponsor of Gen Con. I purchased a four-pack of their beer, so my husband could try some.

Gen Con will easily be a highlight of 2023. I hope to attend Gen Con next year.

Gen Con – Gaming

Posted in Gaming, Life Lately by

Gen Con is a gaming convention, so endless different games are being featured, and roleplaying sessions to sign up for. It can be overwhelming at times to go through Gen Con’s event catalog because there are so many options. I wanted to share the types of games I played and my honest thoughts about them.

As a side note, I did receive a press badge from Gen Con. This means I did attend the convention for free. When I applied for my press badge, I applied under Twin Cities Geek versus BizarreBrunette. While I did receive a press badge, all my thoughts are my own.

Board Games

Image features a board game cover called Beer and Bread. It shows two people cheers (ing) over a pint of beer.
Photo taken by me.
Image features a game board. It features game tiles in various places. It shows various houses and card placement where the beer and bread cards go.
Photo taken by me.

I was able to demo two board games while at Gen Con. The first game was called Beer & Bread by Capstone Games. Beer & Bread is a two-player board game where players are competing to produce the most beer or bread. Each beer or bread recipe has a list of resources to help produce that type of recipe. Players can gather resources, craft recipes, and play ability cards to help the process. At the end of the game, a score is compiled, which reveals who won the game. I thought Beer & Bread was fun, and I like that this is a two-player game, as I think that can be difficult to find. For me, I didn’t buy Beer & Bread because I wondered how often I would actually play it. I’m sure I could get my husband to play with me, but after a few games, would I get bored with the game itself? Maybe.

The second game I played was Distilled by Paverson Games. Distilled is a strategy game where each player is trying to create a successful distillery. There are recipes for each type of liquor, and players are trying to craft recipes pertaining to their win conditions. Each round, liquor is made, and points are rewarded. The player with the most points wins the game. I felt Distilled was too complicated to learn. The person leading our demo didn’t really explain the game, but instead told us to read the rule book. Our group felt awkward because nobody had played the game before, so we all had no idea what to do. I feel certain that our group was playing the game wrong at some point. Eventually, we were able to somewhat figure it out, but I can’t see myself buying a game where I don’t know the rules.

Table Top Roleplaying Sessions

At Gen Con, I played in three different roleplaying sessions. The first was a Grim Fairy Tale setting my friend created. My friend sent a group text and asked if anyone would be interested in this type of game. I was the first person to text back and say yes. The character I chose was Red Riding Hood, considering I was already cosplaying as her. I decided to make Red Riding Hood a Ranger since she spends so much of her time in the forest. To give Red a boost in power, my friend made her hood magical. It had four charge counters on it, where if I spent one, it would give me advantage on my next attack. Additionally, at dawn, I had to roll a D20, and if I rolled a five or less, I would turn into a werewolf. Our group ended our session by jumping out of a mansion after we stole the rose from Beauty and the Beast. I may have had to heal two of our party since they died by taking fall damage.

The second role-playing session I played in was Star Wars: Age of Rebellion. This scenario featured Ahsoka leading a pair of Clone Troopers to destroy a Separatist ship leading a blockade on Naboo. I played Star Wars: Age of Rebellion one other time, so I wasn’t fully aware of all the rules and how the dice rolling worked. I would often roll the dice and turn to our DM to see what the roll meant. The group I was playing with was absolutely hysterical. The player who played as Ahsoka made a comment, something along the lines of “Come with us, the Jedi will last forever”. Our group could not stop laughing. If that wasn’t enough, one of the players blew up one of the main bad guys with a rocket launcher, much to the DM’s chagrin. This is one of those times where I enjoyed the group I was with versus the game itself.

The final role-playing session was Trail of Cthulhu by Pelgrane Press. Trail of Cthulhu takes Chaosium’s Cthulhu roleplay rules and makes them even simpler. Trail of Cthulhu utilizes six-sided dice, and there’s a lot less to keep track of. Our session was about exploring a mythical island where there were dolls on the beach with apparent supernatural abilities. I enjoyed Trail of Cthulhu so much that I bought the core rulebook. I would love to write a scenario and convince my friends to play it with me.

I’m so glad I was able to get so much gaming in at Gen Con! I now have so many board games to play, which I will share in my next post!

Gen Con – Takeaways

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Reflecting back on Gen Con, it was easily the perfect convention vacation. While I had a blast at Gen Con, there are some things I learned or things I would do differently if I’m able to attend Gen Con next year. I wanted to share a few takeaways from Gen Con and what I might do differently in the future.

As a side note, I did receive a press badge from Gen Con. This means I did attend the convention for free. When I applied for my press badge, I applied under Twin Cities Geek versus BizarreBrunette. While I did receive a press badge, all my thoughts are my own.

Sticking to Two Cosplays Instead of Three

I planned three different cosplays for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Most of my cosplays were comfortable for the most part. Although I didn’t think about how the summer heat would impact my comfort in cosplay. By the time Sunday came around, I was ready to wear normal clothes. I’m only going to plan two cosplays going forward.

Image is a selfie of a woman wearing a red cloak. She's similing at the camera.
Photo taken by me.
Image is a selfie of a woman smiling. She's wearing a white blond wig.
Photo taken by me.
Image is a woman posing with her left hand on her hip. She's wearing a masquerade bunny mask, long red vintage dress and white fancy gloves stained red
Photo taken of me.

My three cosplays this year were: Red Riding Hood, Daenerys, and a Splicer from BioShock. Oddly enough, the Splicer cosplay was the cosplay I got the most compliments on. This was a cosplay I put together myself, including staining my white gloves. I was talking with my friends, and we came to the conclusion that the Splicer cosplay was more niche, so the people who understood what my cosplay was were excited to see it. It was cool to see people come up to me and ask me if it was a Splicer cosplay. One person said it was “fan fuckingtastic,” and I was thrilled.

Bring Magic: The Gathering Decks to Play

It didn’t cross my mind to bring my Magic decks with me to Gen Con. I figured I would be so busy playing other games that I wouldn’t have time to play Magic. Gen Con hosts Commander Pods, which are events in which four players come together to play Commander or EDH, a type of Magic format. My group ended up playing in a Commander Pod during our downtime. I liked the way Gen Con handled Commander Pods. Each pod was made up of four players, and each player received 1,300 in prize tickets solely for participating in a Magic event. Those tickets could be redeemed for prizes. I ended up using mine on a booster pack from another Magic set.

The one reason why I didn’t bring my Magic decks is that I’m not a competitive player. My decks are casual, so they aren’t aggressive. I find playing Magic with random people to be a hit-or-miss type of experience, depending on the other players in a group.

I had way more fun playing Magic than I thought I would. I’m inspired to go through my Magic decks and revamp them by next year.

Booking a Hotel vs. an Airbnb

This year, my group participated in the hotel lottery. Fortunately, our group booked a hotel within walking distance of the Convention Center. This was a game-changer. It was so convenient to be able to walk to and from our hotel to drop off our purchases or to take a breather. Our hotel also had free breakfast, which is always a good thing.

I’m sure there are Airbnbs in downtown Indianapolis, I just don’t know enough of the area to know where they would be.

Don’t Book Roleplaying Sessions After 8 PM

I was ambitious when I was signing up for events. I had an event on Saturday for Vampire: The Masquerade at 8 PM. The event was five hours, meaning it would be done at 1 AM. I had no energy on Saturday, and I ended up not going to the event. It’s not great etiquette to skip an event, but I couldn’t motivate myself to go to a role-playing session for five hours straight. That was a lesson learned, and 8 PM will be my new cut-off for signing up for events.

I’m halfway through my Gen Con post series, and I’m not sick at all of talking about Gen Con.

Gen Con – Recap

Posted in Life Lately by

I’m back from Gen Con, and it was amazing! Gen Con was everything I expected it to be and so much more. While at Gen Con, I was mulling over what I wanted to write about when I got back home. I decided to dedicate four posts to all things Gen Con. This first post is going to be a recap post where I will talk about Gen Con as a whole. The second post will be some takeaways or things that I learned since it has been four years since I last attended. The third post will feature some of the games I demoed, along with some of the roleplaying sessions I was a part of. The final post will be centered around my haul because I bought a lot of different games, accessories, and merch. I’m so ready to recap all things Gen Con 2023.

Image is a selfie of four people. They are all smiling looking at the camera. Everyone is wearing a lanyard around their neck with the Gen Con badge on them.
Photo taken by me.

As a side note, I did receive a press badge from Gen Con. This means that I attended the convention for free. When I applied for my press badge, I applied under Twin Cities Geek versus BizarreBrunette. While I did receive a press badge, all my thoughts are my own.

Image shows an inflatable robot. It's at least 30-40 feet tall at a minimum.
Photo taken by me.

Traveling to Gen Con can be long at times. My friend group and I started driving on Wednesday, and it took about 9-10 hours to get to Indianapolis. Wednesday was a really long day, but it was nice to finally get to our hotel. This year, our hotel was within walking distance of Gen Con, which was really nice. My brother and I rented an Airbnb previously, and having a hotel was ten times better. It was nice to be able to drop off things versus having to commit to being at Gen Con all day because it was a thirty-minute Lyft ride back. I am sold on the idea of getting a hotel rather than an Airbnb that’s not located downtown.

Image is of a woman posing and smiling. She is standing near a Warhammer statue that's at least 20-30 feet tall.
Photo taken by a friend of mine.

If there was a theme for Gen Con this year, it would be Disney Lorcana. For those who are unaware, Disney released their trading card game called Disney Lorcana. I’m told it’s similar to Magic: The Gathering, but Disney-themed. I don’t know much else because I chose to not camp out overnight to wait in line. You heard me right, the lines for Disney Lorcana were wild! It seems like Gen Con was encouraging people to wait in line early, which I don’t think was a good thing. The lines were lengthy, and fans were frustrated. It seemed rather unorganized and chaotic. If anybody was lucky enough to get their hands on Disney Lorcana, I’m happy for you! I was not one of those people, and I’m okay with that.

For Gen Con, I had on average 1-2 events per day. Events can be shows, game demos, and roleplaying sessions. This was perfect! One of my friends planned a Grim Fairytale-type role-playing session for our friend group. It was nice to be able to unwind with our small group after a long day at the convention. In between events, I roamed the vendor haul, went to a superhero music sing-along (I will write about this later), and tried the official Sun King Brewery Gen Con beer. I bought a four-pack, so my husband could also try some too.

Image is a Mimic from DnD. A Mimic is a big treasure chest that opens and it features teeth and a huge tongue.
Photo taken by me.

This post is already getting slightly too long, but there was one more thing I wanted to talk about. I wrote a post weeks ago about how Darrington Press, Critical Role’s game company, was going to be at Gen Con. I made it a priority on Thursday to visit their booth first. I was towards the front of the line when the exhibition hall opened, and I fast walked all the way to the Darrington Press booth. I was waiting in line as the booth only had so many copies of their newest board game, Queen by Midnight. I wasn’t planning on buying the game, but when I got closer to the front, I was sold. I ended up purchasing Queen by Midnight. On Thursday, Queen by Midnight sold out within an hour. On Friday and Saturday, Queen by Midnight sold out within fifteen minutes. I am shocked that I was able to get a copy of the game. I’m still in awe that this happened.

I could honestly keep writing paragraph after paragraph about Gen Con and everything I did, but I think this gives enough of an idea as to what happened this year. The countdown to Gen Con 2024 begins.

Breaking Out of My Reading Slump

Posted in Reading/Books by

I have hinted at this in a few posts throughout the year, but I have been struggling to find the motivation to read. I tried to read two books that I was looking forward to, but couldn’t get past the first fifty pages. I haven’t been in a reading slump this bad since 2012, when I went off to college. It’s sad because I love to read and I will always love to read, but I just haven’t been feeling it. I have been listening to music late at night, and then once I’m tired, I don’t want to read. I contemplated what to do next, and I found a few ways that I think will help encourage me to start reading again regularly. I wanted to share a few things I will be doing to help break my reading slump.

Keeping Up-to-Date with Booktubers

There are a few booktubers and book bloggers that I follow. However, I noticed that for several months, I hadn’t been keeping up with their content. This is one of the best ways to get book recommendations. I took a few hours to get caught up, and it helped spark the interest to read. I added quite a few books to my TBR on Goodreads as a result. I think I need to get back into keeping up with their content because it helps me look forward to new books to read.

As far as who I follow, I like Riley Marie and Merrily Kristin. Their book recommendations occasionally blend together. However, I find that Riley recommends horror, science fiction, and darker romances, while Kristin recommends more graphic novels, manga, and fantasy. For book blogs, I like Nerdy by Nature. I used to use a blog tracking website, where I could follow blogs and see new posts. I ended up discontinuing this since the site would only work half the time. Therefore, I ended up not reading Nerdy By Nature’s new posts. I have the site bookmarked now, so I can read her new posts every week.

Using my Local Library

I keep forgetting that my local library has an app. It’s neat because I can request a hold on a book, and it shows me where I’m at in the queue to pick it up. I have four things on hold right now. The one downside to this is that the more popular a book is, the harder it is to get. For example, I have A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson on hold, and I’m twenty-one in the queue. It’s worth putting holds on popular books a few months in advance since it will take a while to get to me.

I’m going to move the library app to the first page on my phone to remind myself to use it more.

Listening to My Mood

In 2022, I did a lot of planning on what books I would read throughout the year. This year, I have been letting myself pick books based on my mood. If I’m in the mood for a thriller, then I read a thriller. If I’m in the mood for a romance, then I read romance. I haven’t been doing as much planning, which I think will work for the rest of this year.

I do like pre-planning my books, but I think I just need a break on that for now.

Being Strict on Putting Books Down if I’m not Enjoying Them

When I pick up a book to read, sometimes I find that I try to force myself through the book. This has contributed to my reading slump because if I’m not enjoying the book, then I don’t read it. I have been trying to be more strict on this, where if I’m not enjoying a book or I’m not in the mood to read a book, I simply put it down and move on to something else. This, I think, will help in finding books that I’m looking forward to reading and donating any books that I didn’t enjoy.

I feel rejuvenated! I think I have a strategy to get back into reading and refocus on books I am genuinely excited to read. I hope to share more book-related content soon.

Stray (2022)

Posted in Gaming by
Image shows a picture of a TV and a TV stand. On the TV is an orange kitty from the video game, Stray. Below the TV stand is a real tabby kitty sitting and looking up at the TV.
Athena liked Stray. Photo taken by me.

I had been avoiding playing Stray, the game that centers around an orange tabby, for a while. As a cat lover, I struggle with animal death, and I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to get through the game. My husband didn’t know that and ended up buying me a copy of Stray with my new PS5. Since my husband bought it, I wanted to give the game a chance at least. Stray was one of the best video games I have ever played, and I’m glad I played it.

As a side note, I wanted to bring up a slight spoiler right away. The cat does not die in the story. Yes, there might be a time when the cat dies during an action sequence, but in the actual story, the cat lives. There are two moments where the cat is seen limping due to an injury. I’m not going to lie, I did start tearing up at the first one. However, these moments are short-lived. I would recommend looking up the story before playing Stray to make sure the game is for you, but that was my experience playing the game.

Stray centers around an unnamed orange tabby cat. The orange cat is walking along with its friends when a pipe breaks, and it drops to the street below. After crawling to safety, the cat enters a city that seems abandoned and desolate. As the cat is forced to flee from Zurks (orange, blood-sucking leeches), the cat meets a robot named B-12. The cat frees B-12 and is hooked to a harness, where B-12 becomes the cat’s companion. The cat and B-12 work together to open the city up to the sunlight after a plague forced the city to quarantine.

Playing as a cat is amusing. I kept pressing the circle button to allow the kitty to meow, and it was entertaining. Maneuvering the kitty throughout the game was easy. There would be an X notification prompting the kitty to hop up on a banister, pipe, or table. I liked the trophies. One trophy included meowing 100 times, or another trophy could be unlocked by jumping onto a table and ruining a game the robots were playing. The trophy list was chaotic, which I think was fitting for playing a cat.

The aesthetic of the game is haunting. The city feels creepy and lonely. There’s an aura of darkness throughout the levels, which I think added to the experience of playing Stray. I don’t normally pay attention to the music or the soundtrack in a game, but I loved the accompanying music. There were moments when a certain change in music would play, and I’d be like “Uh oh… now what?”

As mentioned earlier, this game pulls at the heartstrings. Towards the end of the game, I was SOBBING. The type of crying where I just couldn’t stop. My husband came downstairs and had to ask me if I was okay, and I couldn’t even get the words out. I don’t recall ever playing a video game where I was this emotional. I have no regrets because it was such a great game, but be warned.

Stray was one of the best games I have ever played. The only downside is I can’t find any Stray merch. I want an orange kitty / B-12 figure to place on my desk at work, but I can’t find one anywhere. I bookmarked a few Stray magnets that I found on Redbubble to purchase for later. If anyone knows where I can find some Stray merch, let me know in the comments below.

Gen Con is Finally Here!

Posted in Life Lately by

By the time this post is live, I will be at Gen Con! It’s surreal because even though I’m leaving this week, it doesn’t feel like Gen Con is actually here. Gen Con is easily one of the best conventions that I have ever been to, and I know that no matter what, I will have a blast while I’m there. I wanted to share a few things that I’m looking forward to about attending Gen Con this year.

This picture features a big cut out of Genieveve the dragon logo of Gen Con. I'm dressed as Wonder Woman and I'm pointing at the dragon.
Photo taken at my first Gen Con in 2019.

Cosplay

I will be bringing three cosplays with me. I will share pictures once Gen Con is over. The nice thing is that only one of the cosplays that I’m bringing will require a wig.

Food & Drink

Gen Con hosts a block party right outside the convention center. There are so many food trucks packed right outside. Sun King is the official brewery sponsor at Gen Con, and they will have an outdoor beer garden open throughout most of the convention. HotBox Pizza has a Gen Con pizza called “The Queen’s Hambit” that I definitely want to try.

TTRPGs! (Table-Top Roleplaying Games)

It will be a jam-packed four days of gaming. I have a few events throughout the day, but I tried really hard to keep my schedule open. Open time is great for panels, browsing the dealer’s room, and wandering around the block party. I’m planning on bringing a few of my dice sets, my dice rolling tray, and a notebook to take notes on all my sessions.

Spending Time with My Brother

My brother is coming with me again this year. I don’t get to see my brother as much as I should, so this is going to be a great way to spend time together. With Indianapolis being a 9 1/2 hour car ride, I’m sure we will run out of things to talk about.

I can’t wait to be at Gen Con this year!

New PS5 – Happy Birthday to Me!

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My birthday was a few weekends ago. It was pretty low-key. I spent time around family and went golfing with a friend. Throughout the week leading up to my birthday, my husband was hyping up the present he got for me. He kept saying how much I would love it. On my actual birthday, he encouraged me to open my present first thing in the morning. I was shocked to see that my husband bought me a PlayStation 5!!!!! I was so excited because I wasn’t expecting it.

Image is of a white rectangular box with the Playstation logo on the top left corner. It's my new PS5.

I had mentioned to my husband that eventually, I would need to upgrade to the PS5, considering that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is being released in October. I didn’t actually think that he would purchase the PS5 for me. Besides the PS5, he also bought me Stray, the game starring the orange tabby cat. I completed Stray within a few days, and I was sobbing! My review for Stray will be posted shortly.

Image is of a TV with an orange cat on it. Below the TV is a cat looking up at the animated cat with a lot of interest.

As far as other games, I want to play Jedi: Survivor along with Spider-Man 2. It was nice because I was able to transfer my saved data from my PS4 to my PS5, so I can replay Marvel’s Spider-Man on my PS5, which is convenient. I jokingly told my husband that I would be hogging the TV for a long time.

Image is of three women smiling at the camera. I'm off to the elft, my mom is in the middle, and my aunt is to the right.