I’m picky when it comes to reading romance books. The Kiss Quotient, written by Helen Hoang, was recommended by almost every booktuber I watch. One of the factors for picking this book to read was how the main character is on the spectrum. My best friend and my brother both are on the Autism spectrum; therefore, I was looking at this book critically. I’m pleased to say that this is a delightful read.
Stella Lane is a successful econometrist who makes a six-figure salary. Her work drives her routine. She is on the spectrum, and struggles with socializing, loud noises, and sex..? She claims she’s bad at sex and relationships, so she hires a male escort named Michael Phan to help her get better at sex. Similar to Pretty Woman, they fall in love. Although they both come from two unique backgrounds, can they make it work?
What makes The Kiss Quotient authentic is that Helen Hoang is also on the spectrum. Hoang herself was diagnosed in her adult life with being on the spectrum. This helps to write an authentic and non-offensive portrayal of someone on the spectrum. The way Stella interacts socially, especially with Michael’s family, highlights how differently Stella sees the world. Stella is a character I would fiercely protect as she reminds me of my friend in real life.
Many reviews I read stated this book had too much sex and wished there was less. I disagree with this statement. The sex shows how people on the spectrum are still sexual people. The sex to me enhanced the book because it showed how Stella was becoming more in tune with her body and what she wanted from a romantic partner.
This was a solid read. When I think of my all-time favorite romance books, this book would belong on the list. Helen Hoang has written a sequel to the series, and a third book is coming out in 2021. I already shelved it into my to-be-read shelf on Goodreads. The Kiss Quotient is the perfect division between romance and character development.
Content Warning: discussion of sexual assault in media.
I started reading The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen graphic novel after watching the movie. I’m only twenty or thirty pages in, and there have been two instances of sexual assault. I pause and reflect on other stories I have read written by Alan Moore. There’s another instance of attempted sexual assault in Watchmen. It made me wonder why Alan Moore utilizes rape with his female characters in his stories. It’s not something I alone have been wondering about. Typing into google “Why does Alan Moore write about rape” and there are countless articles as to why he writes about rape regularly. I wanted to discuss my thoughts about this because, as a reader, I’m tired of putting sexual assault as back story for women in media.
Before exploring this topic, there are a couple of things I want to address. I’m not saying sexual violence or rape shouldn’t be written about nor that if it’s included it’s automatically misogynist. There are ways to address sexual violence in a way that’s respectful to survivors. Most often, I see sexual assault being used as a plot device to demean the characters, and it doesn’t contribute to their development. The last statement I want to make is that anyone of any gender can be victims of assault. I cite female characters in this post as I see female characters being subjected to sexual assault in Moore’s work. However, anyone can be a victim of assault.
If we look at Alan Moore’s statements in this article, where he addresses sexual violence against women in his stories, he states, “As regards non-sexual violence, there is clearly a lot more non-sexual violence in my work that there is violence of the sexual variety, although in our current culture that’s true of nearly everyone’s work, isn’t it?” His instances of consensual sexual activity don’t undo the scenes he writes. Further into the article, Moore talks about the implications of rape, throwing out statistics of sexual assault. It seems Moore is educated about the origins of sexual assault and why it happens.
In the first paragraph, I mention how I’m tired of seeing sexual assault being used as a plot device to make a female character strong while also showing how evil a character can be. Rape doesn’t always have to be utilized to demonstrate this in media. Manipulation or gaslighting are alternative options to inform the viewer how evil a character can be.
I remember the first time I read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I was in high school, and I had no idea what I would be reading. Lisbeth is subjected to many forms of abuse. However, there’s so much more to her strength than only surviving her rapes. She’s a hacker, has a photographic memory, and can intelligently plot her way out of a horrific situation. Plus, Lisbeth gets back at her rapist, physically scarring him. I have never read a book where a rape victim got savage revenge against her rapist. It doesn’t undo the scene itself, but it makes it more manageable to read about.
I still enjoy reading Alan Moore’s work. Moore wrote these stories to be enjoyed by readers, so it shouldn’t be a surprise when readers connect the dots between the way he tells his stories. If anyone finds sexual assault triggering in any way, I highly recommend never reading anything by Alan Moore. I’d be happy to hear in the comments section below on your thoughts with SA in fiction, along with your opinions on Alan Moore’s stories.
During the mid-2000s, I was in middle school. When I was in 7th grade, the TV show Gossip Girl was really popular. Everyone at my school watched this show. One of my favorite characters on the show was Dan Humphrey because he was a writer and seemed less stuck-up than the other characters. Dan is played by Penn Badgley. Even if you don’t know Gossip Girl,Penn can be seen in other iconic films such as Easy A, John Tucker Must Die, and The Stepfather. Now Penn is playing a stalker / serial murderer in You,and it’s entertaining to watch Penn act in a completely different type of role.
Joe Goldberg (played by Penn Badgley) is the manager of Mooney’s, a bookstore in NYC. As Joe is working in the store, he sees a young blonde woman walk in and immediately she captures Joe’s eye. Guinevere Beck (played by Elizabeth Lail) attracts Joe’s attention enough that Joe becomes obsessed. He takes Beck’s phone and interferes with her life in subtle ways.
I can’t say much more than that without spoiling both seasons. Each season has a different tone. It keeps the story interesting between each season since they’re so different. During the first season, each episode tells the story of Joe and everyone in his life. As the episodes unfold, we can see Joe slowly fall into the pressure of not getting caught. Each episode leaves on a cliffhanger, which makes it difficult not to spend 10+ hours watching the season in one sitting.
You is a satisfying thriller on Netflix. The first two seasons are out, and the third season won’t be released until sometime in 2021. Anyone who enjoys serial killer documentaries would love this series.
I have been trying to watch more movies. Growing up, my mom and I would watch movies together as a way to spend meaningful time together. It sounds odd since when you watch a movie, you don’t speak during the movie. It’s when the credits roll that my mom and I would discuss the movie. Ever since going off to college, I put watching movies on the back burner. It was tough for me to find two hours to watch one movie versus watching thirty-minute TV episodes instead. Now, I try to watch movies on the weekends when I have more time to do so. This past weekend, I watched The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen for the first time, thanks to Hulu.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is based on a graphic novel written by Alan Moore. The movie introduces various literary characters as they are forced to work together to eliminate a common threat. These characters include Alan Quartermain, Mina Harker, Dorian Gray, Tom Sawyer, The Invisible Man, Dr. Jekyll, and Captain Nemo. Sean Connery plays Alan Quartermain, who, at the beginning of the film, causes a shootout in this rustic hotel lounge. It was badass to see Sean Connery still carry epic action sequences in his old age.
Mina Harker was another character I enjoyed seeing on screen. She has become a vampire since her adventures with Van Helsing and her fiancé, Jonathan. There’s this one scene where she’s in the library and she feasts on one of the men sent to eliminate the league. Plus, her black Victorian outfit was giving me major Renaissance / Cosplay inspiration.
According to Letterboxd, people vilified this movie. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen has been credited as the movie in which Sean Connery retired from acting. There was drama between Sean and Stephen Norrington, the director of the film. Sean Connery, when he took the role, was paid so much money, they couldn’t recruit any other famous actor to be in the movie. This is according to Wikipedia, so who knows how accurate this statement is?
Many of the complaints with this movie include the terrible CGI, plot holes, and in one review,w this movie is a “dumpster fire”. When I watched this movie, I didn’t think the CGI was awful. The movie was made in 2003, so it’s not going to have the best technology available. I enjoyed the action sequences. There’s a shootout in a library while recruiting Dorian Gray, where I was entertained throughout the scene. This is also where Mina Harker shines, which I detailed above.
I’m glad I took the time to watch this movie. I have the first volume of Alan Moore’s graphic novel being shipped to my apartment for me to read. I read a review on Letterboxd from Karen who stated, “this movie fucking slaps and that’s that on that”. Karen, I couldn’t agree more.
Last week, I was browsing games on Steam. I usually don’t like playing my console games during the week because I have terrible time management. I will start playing Kingdom Hearts III,and three hours will go by. Therefore, I play my PS4 on weekends. Steam has a wide variety of shorter games to play. I stumbled upon Spy Fox in: Dry Cereal, and all of my childhood memories flooded back to me. It was a major deja vu moment. The game was only $7, so why not buy it? This game was so much fun playing as an adult, even though it was aimed at kids.
Spyfox stars our favorite international spy, who happens to be a walking and talking fox. He is sent on a mission to stop William the Kid from destroying the world and stealing all the milk. Who wants to eat dry cereal??? Each game includes gadgets that Spyfox has to utilize in his missions. As you progress through the story, you utilize the gadgets and solve puzzles. I will be transparent, some of the puzzles took me a bit of time to solve. There was one puzzle with lasers, and it took me at least twenty minutes to figure out. For a computer game that’s aimed at kids, I still found this to be engaging.
Spyfox has many spy puns from pop culture. Spyfox’s boss is Monkey Penny, aka Moneypenny from the James Bond franchise. Professor Quack is the “gadget” duck, which references Q from the James Bond franchise. Some of the quips from the game include making fun of people who don’t drink dairy milk. For a game that was released in the late ’90s, the quips were actually pretty good.
Spy Fox in: Dry Cereal took me two hours to complete. I purchased the game on Steam, and there’s an incentive to keep playing the game by unlocking trading cards of the characters. I still have one more to unlock. Spyfox is suave, funny, and the ultimate fox.
In 2003, I was in third grade and playing pretend games with one of my friends who lived in a neighborhood over. We would pretend to play Teen Titans. She would be Starfire, so she could be dating Robin while I was relegated to being Raven. We ran around her yard pretending to defeat supervillains. Teen Titans will always hold a special place in my fandom heart. When I heard about a Raven young adult graphic novel being released by Kami Garcia and illustrated by Gabriel Picolo, I knew I had to read it. Teen Titans: Raven was a refreshing take on Raven’s origin story.
Raven is driving with her foster mom when they are involved in a deadly car accident. Raven lives without her memory while her foster mom is taken to the morgue. Raven is sent to live with her mom’s sister and her younger daughter, Max. Raven is navigating using her powers while being a normal high school teenager.
The best part of this graphic novel is easily the illustration. Gabriel Picolo does an excellent job of blending black & white with Raven’s purple color. It’s seen in Raven’s hair, lighting within the panels, and the writing bubbles. This novel is set in New Orleans, which coincides well with Raven struggling to have control over her demons… literally.
Additionally, I like Raven’s support group. Max is Raven’s best friend. She gives Raven noise-canceling headphones to cancel out the voice she’s hearing. Max takes Raven to an occult shop to discover more information about her powers. I would read a story of only Max and Raven living their lives in New Orleans.
My only minor complaint is that the story felt predictable and corny in parts. This is a young adult novel, so I believe that’s why I felt this way while reading. The male interest in Raven’s life is the stereotypical jock and nothing is interesting about him. There is a surprise appearance of a well-known villain, but I won’t reveal who this is.
I rated Teen Titans: Raven four out of five stars on Goodreads. The artwork is intricate, while the story knocked off a star on a five-star rating. Raven isn’t the only Titan to receive the graphic novel treatment. Garcia and Picolo will be writing/illustrating other books with the other Titans. The Beast Boy graphic novel will be released on September 8th, 2020. Teen Titans: Raven can be purchased at any local bookstore or comic store.
I was nominated by A Geek Girl’s Guide for the Super Happy Love Award. This is a blog tag where you link to blogs and answer a series of questions that depend on the blog tag. If I’m ever nominated for a blog tag, I always like to complete them. Thanks to A Geek Girl’s Guide for nominating me.
The Rules:
Thank the person who tagged you (Michelle, rock on!) Make sure to link back to the blog. ^^^^^^^ Use Super Happy Love as a tag.
Display the logo on the post. Share the rules
Choose a minimum of 2 out of the 6 prompts, more is allowed.
The 6 prompts are as follows:
Tell about a person you love (friend, partner, celebrity, Youtuber, pet, someone who meant a lot to you).
Write about a franchise or fandom you love
Write about a character you love
Tell us about a piece of music you love
Show us a piece of media you love so much
Write something you love about yourself
Don’t forget to tag 6 bloggers!!
A Person I Love
This is a hard choice because there are so many people in my life who mean so much to me. After deliberating, I decided to pick my brother. My brother means the world to me. The older I am, the closer I am to my brother. We went to a comic book store & bar in Orlando and we drove to Gen Con together. It would sadden me if Gen Con was cancelled this year, because it’s a great way for me and my brother to spend time together.
A Fandom I Love
I picked Life is Strange. Life is Strange is one of my favorite video games of all time. This is a video game I recommend to people who hate playing video games. Told in various episodes, Max reunites with Chloe to uncover the disappearance of Rachel along with figuring out why these paranormal events are happening in Arcadia Bay. If you haven’t played this game, you absolutely have to.
A Character I Love
I absolutely love Carmen Sandiego. Remember when General Mills used to put demo computer CDs in cereal boxes?? I played Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego and this is how I learned vocabulary, geography and improved my math knowledge. Educational computer games can be fun and who doesn’t want to catch a thief, or maybe…. not.
What I Love About Myself
I love how much I have grown as a person. I am confident in myself and accepting of who I am. My body image has sky rocketed. I have cut out toxic people and I stick up for myself. I’m really content with where my life is at and I’m thankful at my experiences.
I met Chris Everheart at MSP Fallcon in October last year. I struck up a conversation at his booth, where he was telling me about his comic, Badass Girl. He graciously gave me both issue #1 and issue #2 to review. I’m finally back to a semi-regular blogging schedule, which means more comic reviews, including this series: Badass Girl.
Badass Girl has no name, but she slays the game. When I say game, I mean surviving an alien invasion and being scarred by the death of her parents. She wanders through the land, and to some, she’s a legend. Her experiences throughout the comic give you an idea of who she is and where she comes from. I can’t say much else without spoiling the series.
If Mad Max: Fury Road included aliens, Badass Girl would be the comic version. This is set to be a four-issue comic series, with issue #3 not being available to purchase yet.
With the coronavirus, independent comic artists need your support. Many conventions are being cancelled or postponed. This is absolutely the right thing, but many creators are out of funds for airline tickets or sales they would have made at conventions.
I needed serious blogging inspiration. Being quarantined and working from home has zapped any inspiration from my life. I felt like a walking zombie: working, exercising, and sleeping. I stumbled upon this lovely tag by Vamp It Up Manchester and decided to do it myself on Bizarre Brunette. Here are my answers.
Have you ever…?
🏎 Driven or been driven at 100 miles an hour
This is a story. My ex-boyfriend and I were driving home from his cabin. He wanted to see how fast he could go with his car. At the same moment, a police officer was driving on the opposite side of the highway. The police cruiser put on its sirens, crossed over a median, and pulled him over. My ex-boyfriend was caught driving 105 mph. It was the most awkward car ride home.
⚔️ Learned a possibly deadly skill
Nope.
🚁 Ridden in a helicopter
No, but this isn’t a bucket list item for me either.
🙀 Gone zip lining
Technically, I have. It wasn’t in a different country; it was at an outdoor class in middle school. I hate heights, but it was thrilling to be ziplining in the middle of a forest.
🏈 🏒 Been to an NFL game or Ice Hockey
Nope. I want to go to a hockey game sometime. We have the Minnesota Wild as our team, but the Chicago Blackhawks are decent.
👽 Watched Dr Who
I haven’t watched Doctor Who in a long time. This show reminds me of the earlier days of meeting my fiancé. We would watch the episodes in his dorm room since he was an RA and couldn’t leave at certain times. We even had a Tardis coffee mug filled with slips of paper in case we needed inspiration for date nights.
🍁 Been to Canada
No! It’s funny because I live in Minnesota, you would think I have crossed the border. I would like to visit Vancouver, Toronto, and Quebec.
🏰 Visited Disney
Not yet. I made visiting Universal Studios a priority.
🗝 Visited an actual castle
NO 😦
🎲 Visited Vegas
Nope! It’s certainly a place I want to go. I also want to visit the National Parks in Utah and Nevada.
🍽 Eaten alone at a restaurant
Many times. I love going to coffee shops by myself. It’s the best blogging atmosphere.
🎹 Played an instrument
I played the alto sax in middle school, but stopped when I was a senior in high school. I also played for a full year in college. I haven’t picked up the saxophone since. It’s difficult living in a apartment complex.
🏍 Ridden a motorcycle
Not yet.
🏇 Ridden a horse
Yes, I went horseback riding at a bluegrass music festival. My horse kept wanting to lead the other horses. It was a relaxing experience, and I would do it again.
💉 Donated blood
I have given blood at least five times, but I can’t give blood anymore. I suffer from White Coat Syndrome, which means anytime I get my blood pressure, pulse, or other measurements taken, it’s usually high. You cannot give blood if your resting pulse is above 100. I get nervous, and I’m not sure why, because I have given blood many times. Every time I try to give blood, I’m turned away. I have pretty much given up at this point.
🏂⛷ Been skiing/snowboarding
I have skied once on a fifth grade school trip. Learning how to ski was the most exhilarating and frustrating experience I have ever had. I don’t think I have laughed or cried more in my life.
🏕 Gone camping
I went to a music festival where we had to camp. I have never been to the same music festival since.
👩🎤 Gone to a festival
See above question ^^^
🚗 Driven a stick shift
No, but when I drove to Colorado to see my friend, he only drives a stick. He prefers stick to automatic, but one time he did stall when he was stuck at a traffic signal.
🚓 Ridden in a police car?
Never. I have been pulled over once in my life, but got off without a ticket.
🚤 Driven a boat
Does driving a jet ski count?
🐌 Eaten Escargot
Nope. The worst thing I have ever eaten was the Burtie Botts Every Flavor Beans. The Vomit flavor tastes like bile. It was absolutely the worst, it felt like I just thrown up in my mouth after eating the bean.
🚢 Been on a cruise
No, but I would consider it.
🎥 Been on TV
I hope not.
📰 Been in a paper/book/magazine
Technically, I write for Twin Cities Geek, which is similar to an online magazine, so I think this qualifies.
🍣 Eaten Sushi
Yes, but sushi is one of those foods I specifically have to be in the mood to eat. I can’t eat sushi whenever.
🌌 Seen a UFO
No, but I believe other life forms exist.
🏗 Been Bungie jumping
Nope, and I don’t believe I could ever do this.
🦔 Rescued an animal
My kitty, Athena, is from a rescue. I don’t think I will ever adopt an animal from a breeder. I have volunteered with the Humane Society before and there are so many animals needing homes.
I have never found an abandoned animal and rescued it. My neighbor discovered their kitty underneath their deck. It was almost frozen since it was winter at the time. They named their kitty Watson and it was a Siamese kitty.
🤩 Met someone rather famous
The only time I have ever met anyone famous was at a comic convention. I met Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom) and Jason Momoa. I would highly recommend meeting a celebrity at an event like this. My experiences were all positive.
Remember, the link for this blog tag is up in the first paragraph. This was the blog tag I needed to get inspired to write again. Feel free to copy the questions into your post. If you do, don’t forget to link back to me or Vamp It Up Manchester. I hope you all are staying safe and quarantined.
My fiancé and I were planning to go to Seattle despite Emerald City Comic Conbeing canceled. After further consideration, we decided to cancel everything. I thought of my mom, who’s retired, and I would hate to be responsible for getting her sick. In all honesty, I was disappointed. I recognized later on that with the virus, I have to be considerate of the people around me. My fiancé suggested taking a last-minute road trip through Michigan, and it was the vacation I needed.
We left on Wednesday for Traverse City, Michigan. From the Twin Cities, we drove through Wisconsin, up the Upper Peninsula, across the Mackinaw Bridge to Traverse City. I live for road trips, and I liked being able to catch up on my podcast backlog.
Traverse City is a bay town with a cute downtown shopping area. I kid you not, Traverse City has at least five bookstores. My heart practically burst with excitement. I spent $90 on books, graphic novels, and comics. It was fun to walk to all the shops Traverse City had to offer. Traverse City has many breweries downtown and driving access to at least thirteen nearby wineries. This was a weekend where I ate good food and drank beer and wine throughout.
There’s nothing worse (in my opinion) than being so busy on a vacation that you need a vacation from your vacation. This weekend, I was able to read a whole book start to finish, along with listening to a variety of podcasts. There were times when my fiancé and I took time to relax, and it was needed. I feel rejuvenated to return to work.
I’m fortunate that I was able to take a trip despite the Coronavirus spreading. My work just sent a mass email permitting all of us to work from home. I’m personally looking forward to lying around in comfy pants, wearing a geek t-shirt, and having my mug of coffee on my desk. I’m happy to be back in my normal routine, and I will be posting blog posts on a much more regular basis. Thanks for sticking around.
Bizarre Brunette 