Author Archives: Bizarre Brunette

C2E2 Press Badge + Other Life Updates

Posted in Life Lately by

It’s been a week since I published a new post due to traveling for Thanksgiving. I had a wonderful time with the boyfriend’s family and visiting my friend in Chicago. Since driving back to Minnesota, I have been reviewing all of the exciting moments happening in my life right now and I wanted to share them below. so

C2E2 Press Badge Application Accepted

This is probably the most exciting news I have received, but yes I will be attending C2E2 for the first time in 2019 along with getting accepted for a press badge. As I was browsing C2E2’s website, I was curious if my experience writing at Twin Cities Geek along with this blog would be enough to procure a press badge and with nudging from the boyfriend, I decided to apply to see what would happen. I certainly didn’t think I would get it because this blog isn’t famous or anything. However, I turned out to be wrong and this press badge is mine.

Chicago for Thanksgiving

When I was in college, I met one of my friends through my major classes. We lived together for a full year before she moved back to the Chicago area. Anytime I’m near the boyfriend’s family in Milwaukee, I try to visit her plus it gives me an excuse to roam around Chicago.

We settled on going to the Adler Planetarium because it’s the only museum downtown I haven’t seen yet. It was a smaller museum easily doable in an hour or so. For ten dollars, it was worth it to learn more about astronomy.

[Image is of me holding a US flag. The background is the moon]

Chicago is fun this time of year because of all the Macy’s Christmas decorations. Each individual window has a holiday-themed decoration set along with wreaths lining the buildings. It’s fun to walk around and get more into the holiday spirit.

[Image is a window holiday decoration. It shows an ethereal blue stag in a snowy forest]
This window was my favorite ❤

Before we left downtown, I walked to Graham Cracker Comics which is located approximately right across the street from Millennium Park. They had a buy one get one 50% off on trade paperbacks which led me to purchase Paper Girls Volume #4 and the famous Hush Batman graphic novel. I have a lot of new reading material now!

Orlando Feb. 2019 for Harry Potter World

Every year me and my family go on one big family vacation. This past year, it was a road trip to Boston. We decided to visit Orlando primarily to see Universal Studios. I have never been to Florida in general let alone a huge theme park. I’m super excited to be able to experience Hogwarts, drink butter beer, and walk down Diagon Alley.

Starting My Harry Potter Re-Read

Since I’m visiting Universal Studios, I want to be fully caught up on all of the lore again. The Harry Potter universe made me the geek I am today, so it’s fitting I would read the series again before I fly to Orlando.

I’m incredibly thankful for all of the experiences I’m able to be a part of. 2019 is going to be a busy year filled with more traveling and geek adventures. I wanted to wish anyone who reads my blog a Happy Holiday season and I hope you had a great Thanksgiving holiday with friends or family.

The Sexiest Political Thriller on Netflix; Bodyguard.

Posted in Bizarre Brunette Big-Screen Watches by
[Image is a promo image of Bodyguard. It shows a woman and a man. There's a bullet hole through glass that separates them]

I spend more time than I would like to admit on Twitter. Usually, I never have anything clever to say, but I follow quite a few entertainment sites, bloggers, and creative minds. Entertainment Weekly is a magazine I used to read, but now I follow them on Twitter. They tweeted about how riveting Bodyguard is which recently dropped on Netflix. The first season is only six episodes long so I figured, what the heck, I need something new to watch.

Starring former Game of Thrones star Richard Madden as David Budd, a war veteran dealing with crippling PTSD from his experiences in Afghanistan. As a police officer, he’s assigned to a protection detail for Julia Montague (played by Keeley Hawes) who is controversial with her political opinions with a reputation for being unfriendly. Their relationship developed as they worked together and as the episodes continue, there’s an underlying conspiracy regarding why Montague is being targeted.

This show was exactly what I needed; it was captivating from the minute I started the first episode. The first twenty minutes show Budd trying to stop a suicide bomber on a train with his kids a couple carts away. I attempted to predict where the show was going, but I was pleasantly surprised by how wrong I was. I can’t give more details without revealing spoilers, so I will choose to refrain from further details.

While Bodyguard aired on BBC, it drew in 10 million views which is incredible, although season #2 hasn’t been confirmed. Richard Madden is talking with producers to be involved with another season. The earliest it would be released would be 2020 which seems far from now. This is one of the most enticing political thrillers on Netflix currently and it’s a nice break from the other shows I watch.

Black Cat is Ruthless in Marvel’s Spider-Man The Heist.

Posted in Gaming by

After unlocking all the trophies in Marvel’s Spider-Man, I was hoping for more content! I haven’t finished New Game Plus yet because I may want to return to the game in a couple months. To fill my Spider-Man void, I downloaded The Heist DLC featuring the Black Cat as the main protagonist in the game. I have to admit I found parts of this story to be more challenging than I expected, but I still finished the DLC in under six hours. This was a terrific addition to the main story.

Felicia Hardy aka. The Black Cat is the true definition of an anti-hero as she is a leather-clad Robin Hood stealing from the rich. In The Heist, Spider-Man is called to an art museum to stop crime boss Hammerhead & his crew from stealing expensive valuables. However, Felicia drops by and ends up stealing a flash drive from the back of a painting amidst Spider-Man’s pleas to her to do the right thing. Black Cat succeeds and Spider-Man is forced to chase her down throughout NYC to uncover her motives and stop Hammerhead.

The dialogue between Black Cat and Spider-Man was perfect. From my understanding, Spider-Man and Black Cat have a flirty, dynamic relationship which has its ups and downs. In the game, it appears Spider-Man had a fling with Black Cat before he got back together with MJ. The final mission in the game allows the player to direct the Black Cat to enemies she can eliminate. I found I was using Black Cat more for takedowns than Spider-Man during this sequence.

I highly recommend completing all the side quests as one features more background on Felicia Hardy’s family. There are also new crimes to complete such as activating the Spider Bot to defuse bombs underneath cars. Screwball, a lesser-known Spider-Man villain creates challenges for Spider-Man to complete which although easier than the Task Master challenges, I found these tasks bothersome to complete.

Ultimately, The Heist DLC is enjoyable and I hope Black Cat makes another appearance sometime soon. Better yet, why not release DLC where I can play as her for the entire game. There will be two other episodes to purchase for Marvel’s Spider-Man titled “Turf Wars” & “Silver Lining”. “Turf Wars” is released supposedly this month, but I’m not sure of the date. Marvel’s Spider-Man’s The Heist can be purchased on the Playstation Network for $9.99 or a season pass can be purchased for $25.00.

Ship It – Review

Posted in Reading/Books by
[Image is of a book cover. It shows people in cosplay in the background. There are two people shining in front and the title says Ship It Britta Lundin]

I started watching Riverdale back in the Fall of last year and it became one of my favorite shows on the CW’s lineup. One of the writers on the show, Britta Lundin, released their debut novel combining geekiness, LGBTQIA+, and fandom together in a book titled Ship It. Ship It is easily one of my favorite books I read in 2018 despite the controversy surrounding the novel which I will discuss below.

Ship It details the life of Claire, a sixteen-year-old who recently became obsessed with the show Demon Heart with similarities to Supernatural. She has shipped her two favorite characters Smokey and Heart together as romantic partners even though it isn’t canon. Claire attends the Demon Heart panel at a local convention and asks the cast about her ship between Smokey and Heart. Forest Reed, the actor who plays Smokey comes across as a jerk and calls Claire crazy. Claire is immediately stunned and leaves the panel as fans boo the cast.

The crew makes amends with Claire by inviting her on the convention press tour to help renew Demon Heart for a second season. Throughout the convention tour, Claire starts to realize maybe she isn’t straight herself and Forest recognizes what he has to do to save his career from being tainted by the Smokey and Heart ship.

I enjoyed this book for multiple reasons. The book is excellent in exploring the downsides of toxic masculinity. Forest Reed when prompted about the chance of his character being gay on the show reacts negatively. Forest reacts this way partly because he’s also auditioning for a role in a hyper-masculine action movie. He doesn’t want the chance of playing a gay character to ruin his chances of attaining the role. Apparently, gay men can’t be action heroes? Is this because of how gay men are perceived as being less masculine? All of these horrible stereotypes play a role in toxic masculinity. Forest has quite the character development as he starts to fully embrace his own geeky personality along with becoming more educated about Tumblr and the LGBTQIA+ community.

Most of the book takes place at various conventions across the U.S. I absolutely love attending conventions and I feel it’s the perfect atmosphere for me to thrive. I liked reading about Claire’s reactions to attending her first convention along with Forest and the rest of the Demon Heart cast.

After reading multiple reviews on Goodreads for Ship It I discovered the multiple controversies surrounding this book. This book doesn’t depict fans in a flattering way. Claire hijacks Jamie’s Twitter to convince him to make Smokey and Heart fall in love with each other. Jamie being the creator of Demon Heart has every right to be angry with Claire. Claire comes across as a ruthless fan trying to get what she wants even though Demon Heart doesn’t belong to her. As a fan, I personally would never attempt to do this.

Besides how fans are portrayed, Claire makes questionable decisions which leads to quite a few readers disliking her character. One such example is when Claire writes fan fiction about Forest revealing a secret kiss between Forest and another man. Forest told Claire in secret about this interaction without knowing Claire would publish it on Tumblr. This is unacceptable as Forest shared this in confidence with Claire. I stand by Claire as a character partly because of her age. Being sixteen, I remember being selfish at this age. Being a teenager shouldn’t be an excuse for behavior, but I find teenagers in their immaturity say things they don’t mean and Claire isn’t an exception.

Overall Ship It was a fictional geeky novel I enjoyed reading although I empathize with readers who disliked this book. I do recommend purchasing the novel and reading it for yourself because it’s crucial to support novels written or including LGBTQIA+ content. Don’t forget to watch Riverdale on the CW premiering on Wednesdays 8/7c and watch Britta Lundin’s writing skills in full force.

Halloween / October Review

Posted in Life Lately by

There’s 365 days until Halloween next year. My Halloween was a chill night spent drinking beer with friends and staying out later than I usually do. Toward the end of September, I wrote a blog post about the October Bucket List items I wanted to accomplish. As always, my goal list was ambitious and I didn’t complete every task on this list. I wanted to do a brief recap of October 2018.

  • Watch the Classic Horror Movies! I own Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Mummy.

For me and the boyfriend’s 4-year anniversary, we watched the original Frankenstein although it seemed familiar which makes me think I watched the original in some high school or college class. The boyfriend ends up falling asleep throughout the movie which is unlike him.

  • Watch Rocky Horror Picture Show *the original* which I have also never seen before.

Nope, but it’s in my Netflix Queue.

  • Visit an Apple Orchard

Me and the boyfriend had plans to go to an Apple Orchard, but the weather didn’t cooperate as we had quite a few rainy days.

  • Attend a Halloween Costume Party
[Image is of me and the boyfriend in Halloween costumes. My boyfriend is dressed as Batman. I'm dressed as a cat with cat ears and a choker.]
Me & The Boyfriend at our Halloween Brewery Party Thing.

On Halloween, me and a couple friends drove to a brewery that was hosting a costume party plus beer samples. Not necessarily a costume party, but I’m going to count the brewery as succeeding in this goal.

  • See the new Halloween movie in theaters

I want to see this still, but I haven’t gotten around to it.

  • Carve a Pumpkin

Carving pumpkins is messy which stopped me from completing this goal

  • Watch Nightmare Before Christmas on Netflix

It’s on my Netflix list!

[Image is of me holding my kitty Athena dressed as a cat for my Halloween costume]
The kitty w/. her pet kitty. 

October 2018 was a blur because I was busy almost every single weekend. I’m sad to see October is over, but now I have these cute pictures to cherish forever ❤

Aliens & Atomic Bombs in the Manhattan Project

Posted in Reading/Books by
[Image is a graphic novel cover. It shows Albert Einstein looking towards something. It says MP The Manhattan Projects 1 on it]

My favorite way to spend my one-hour, unpaid work break is to read comics. Thirty minutes is plenty of time to delve into a story without feeling fatigued. My comic backlog is slowly decreasing as a result of my comics reading at lunch. Included in this backlog was the first volume of the Image Comics Manhattan Project series. I was able to snag this at CONvergence a couple months ago when one of my favorite comic book stores appeared as a vendor. They were doing a buy one get one 50% off which to a comic book reader, is the perfect deal. This trade is equally intriguing, historically accurate, and entertaining.

Imagine if the Manhattan Project was more than creating the atomic bomb, but to cover up the fact the U.S. was collaborating with aliens. The inventors or contributors to the Manhattan Project are as follows:

Joseph Oppenheimer: physicist, multiple personalities, slightly psychotic

Albert Einstein: German, beer drinker, and physicist.

Richard Feynman: Genius, narcissist, slightly annoying

Harry Daghlian: super genius, fried in a radioactive accident, consists of a skeleton with black smoke around his head.

Wernher Von Braun: Nazi, rocket scientist, fake arm.

Leslie Groves: Recruiter, smokes, enjoys bombing other countries

FDR A.I: Yes, this actually exists.

Harry S. Truman: Illuminati?

This first volume details how all of these people interact with each other along with the alien species they cooperate with. What’s so intriguing about this novel is how all of these characters are real people with a twist. Harry Daghlian was a physicist who unfortunately died because of accidental exposure to radiation which I never knew about. Joseph Oppenheimer is a real physicist who is apparently not a serial killer. I felt this novel allowed me to learn more about U.S. history in an interesting way.

The Manhattan Project was written by Jonathan Hickman and illustrated by Nick Pitarra. Hickman has been Eiser-nominated for a couple of other indie series such as Nightly News, Transhuman, and Pax Romana however, he’s also known for writing at MARVEL on books featuring the Fantastic Four and the Avengers. Pitarra has completed covers for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, God Hates Astronauts, and Judge Dredd. Both of their talent is being utilized in this ongoing series which has 6 volumes total chronicling U.S. history, science, and the supernatural.

Honestly, this trade is fantastic. I thoroughly enjoyed how each of the characters introduced was actually a part of the real Manhattan projects and I like the twist on each character, especially the design of Harry Daghlian.  Who knew learning about U.S. history could be so enthralling.

1980’s Defenders Comics

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Facebook Marketplace is where I have found cheap furniture for our apartment. Me and the boyfriend bought our living room comfy chair for $30 along with a used TV stand for $50. As I was browsing through Facebook Marketplace, I found someone selling a complete run of the 1980s Defenders from Marvel. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to acquire these comics for my collection. Three months later, I have read every single comic in the stack. It surprised me how little I knew about this supergroup.

[Image is a comic cover. It shows The Defenders and several heroes are fighting bad guys]
Doctor Strange starts the Defenders? *photo taken by me*

Before Luke Cage, Iron Fist, or Jessica Jones, there was Doctor Strange..? The Defenders in the 1980s comics I had been reading were led by Doctor Strange featuring the Hulk, Valkyrie, Namor, and Nighthawk. Nighthawk was a supervillain belonging to the Squadron Sinister attempting to flood the Earth by melting the polar ice caps which by the way aren’t we as a population doing that already? Realizing how horrible this would be, he seeks out The Defenders who defeat Nebulon, a golden god reminding me of David Bowie in comic book form. Nighthawk becomes a hero and fights for the Defenders trying to right his wrongs.

Guest appearances include the Silver Surfer, Hawkeye, and Luke Cage before he became a full-fledged member of the Defenders and the Fantastic Four. Hellcat aka. Patsy Walker also appears in a couple of the comics as a friend to the Defenders. One of my favorite issues features a comic inspired by Dr.Seuss and shows the Defenders being transported to a cartoon-themed planet.

[Image is a comic book cover where The Defenders are trapped in a Dr. Seuss like world]
Dr. Seuss inspired Defenders comic. *photo taken by me*
Defenders Comics Stack
I finally read all of these!

As someone who is relatively new to comics, I’m a huge fan of reading older series. This comic run helped shape the comics universe and we wouldn’t have the new Defenders without Doctor Strange or The Hulk. 

Wrecking Havoc in Call of Cthulhu

Posted in Gaming by

One of my bucket list items for October was to play in a horror D&D campaign. On Friday, October 5th I cooperated in a D&D Call of Cthulhu campaign held by a couple players in a Facebook Group I belong to. Besides playing D&D, I was able to visit a new game store I had never been to; the Gaming Goat in St. Paul.  I drove 45 minutes from my apartment to The Gaming Goat during rush hour traffic because I was looking forward to the story. Our session flew by and we ended up playing the campaign for five hours straight. Call of Cthulhu D&D is probably my favorite format because of the horror element of the game.

I wasn’t the DM, but I do know a couple of the mechanics in Call of Cthulhu. When you roll the dice, you want to roll under your skill. For example, my character, Dr. Tamela Wissler has a high biology skill of 70. In order to succeed, I would need to roll a 70 or under to pass. However, Dr. Wissler has a 5 in fast talk which makes it impossible for my character to talk her way out of a situation. A critical failure would be to roll a 99 or even a 90 may count as a critical failure. Therefore a critical success would be under 10.

[Image is of a character sheet from Call of Cthulhu. It shows my character as Tamela Wissler, a 27 year old biologist]
Dr. Tamla Wissler: still the same scientist, playing the sax.

To start the campaign, all of the characters were on a ship similarly built to the Titanic traveling to Massachusetts. Initially, all players could sneak items on the ship and I rolled to sneak a vial of acid in my pocket because Dr. Wissler is a scientist, and who wouldn’t want acid to pour onto a creature. As the days pass in our campaign, different characters go missing, are murdered, or pushed overboard. In between all of the missing passengers, I did roll a critical success to pour a drink and yell obscenities at Nazis which I was proud of.

As our players ventured out on the boat, we uncovered the ship captain performing a sacrificial ritual to a black tentacled octopus creature underneath our boat. All of the characters who were murdered were sacrificed to this creature. Thankfully, the group of players stopped the ship captain before we had to fight the ugly monster so we successfully survived our campaign.

A year ago, I participated in a Call of Cthulhu D&D session with the same group of people I played with this year. The DM still had my old character sheet from the previous year so I played as the same character from last year. That was an extra bonus to this session.

I enjoy the Call of Cthulhu D&D mechanics and would highly recommend it. It’s perfect for the month of October but can be played all year round. I’m attending another session next Thursday and I haven’t decided if I’m going to play as Tamla or as another in-depth character trying to stay sane in the Arkham universe.

Forced TV Watching: Why Do We Do It?

Posted in Bizarre Brunette Big-Screen Watches by

I told myself at the beginning of summer that I would be all caught up on The Flash and Arrow while also starting Legends of Tomorrow. Unfortunately, this goal was way too ambitious. I have been trying to watch the newest season of The Flash and it’s been rather difficult for me to get through it. It’s not that the season is bad, but I’m just not as enthralled as I was in the prior seasons. Yet, I had been trying to force myself to watch it. This also applies to Arrow as I wasn’t a fan of the whole team splitting up which made me stop watching. Why do we force ourselves to watch TV we aren’t that interested in?

[Image is a promo image for Arrow. It shows a man with arrows on his back and his green hood pulled up. He's wearing a mask]

One reason I force myself to watch TV is based on a friend’s recommendation. They say the show is SO GOOD, so you feel obligated to keep watching even though you barely could get past episode #2. This was my exact reaction when I started watching Making a Murderer. I felt the show was a little too slow-paced for me, but I felt I had to keep watching because everyone recommended it to me.

Another reason I force myself to watch shows is the cast. Stephen Amell who stars in Arrow seems to be a down-to-earth human being. I have watched how he has raised money for cancer research by selling his collectible tank tops and t-shirts. He is one of the few celebrities who seems to not let fame get to him. He’s also nice to all of the fans he meets. With that being said, I feel bad that I’m not caught up on his show even though I’m not as big of a fan as I once was.

Sometimes it’s overwhelming to get caught up on my shows. I still haven’t watched Luke Cage Season #2 or Iron Fist Season #2 and Daredevil is already releasing its third season this month. There’s so much TV and I’m trying to catch up on it all while still maintaining my social life, getting 8 hours of sleep and 5x a week for exercise. One reason why I have been watching less TV is because I have been spending all my time playing Marvel’s Spider-Man by Insomniac Games. I shouldn’t have to feel bad for watching less TV because I want to devote my time to something else.

Also, I find myself re-watching shows I have already seen because I genuinely love them. This summer instead of watching The Flash or Arrow, I re-watched season #1 of The Punisher on Netflix and seasons #1 – #3 of Agents of Shield. It brings back memories especially watching Agents of Shield because my college roommate would talk for hours about the plot twists happening in Coulson’s helicarrier.

Eventually, I do want to get caught up on The Flash and Arrow, but it has to happen on my own time. If that means I’m not going to be able to watch this current season, that’s fine. Forcing myself to watch TV is more tiring than I want it to be. My goal is to pick what I want to watch regardless of what friends think and what new season is airing in the Fall. I’m curious if anyone else feels this way. If you do, leave a comment below.

Midwest Comic Book Association’s Fall Con

Posted in Life Lately by

I’m grateful to be living in a place that has a strong geek presence. I became aware of this community when I started writing for Twin Cities Geek in the summer of 2015. Three years later, Twin Cities Geek has allowed me to become comfortable in this geek community. Every year, Twin Cities Geek tables at Midwest Comic Book Association (M.C.B.A)’s two comic-themed conventions; Spring Con & Fall Con. Last weekend was Fall Con and I had the pleasure of attending this volunteer-run convention.

[Image is a picture of a convention book and a badge. It says MCBA Fall Con 2018 - 30 years. It shows two superheroes with lightning coming out of their eyes holding up part of the sign]
MCBA Fall Con Guide & Pass

As I mentioned, this convention is run 100% by volunteers. This isn’t a for-profit show and the M.C.B.A. wants to highlight all of the Minnesota comic talent living and thriving in the Twin Cities area. This is a spending convention meaning it’s designed for people to show up, bring cash, and support local creators. However, I only brought $20 in cash, and I still left with two comics I’m looking forward to reading. You don’t need a lot of money to be able to support creators. $20 goes a long way.

An extra added bonus is the M.C.B.A. volunteers provide lunch to everyone who tables at the event. They always have hot dogs and pulled pork to share along with chocolate chip cookies and hot coffee. I gravitated to the hot coffee because I happened to be running on 4 hours of sleep. It’s especially appreciated by creators who are at their booths for hours. It’s easier to grab something quick to eat on site than to leave their booth to get food which risks losing sales.

Another nice feature of the con is the M.C.B.A. always gives away free stuff. They do raffles and draw tickets fairly often. In fact, when I received a ticket, it was automatically the winner. I could choose from coloring books, comics, and complete comic series. I ended up picking Spider-Gwen #2, Mockingbird #1, and Scarlet Witch #1. At Spring Con this year, I won a Lois Lane Bombshell figurine along with a graphic novel. It’s fun leaving the convention with free comics and comics I originally paid for.

A lot of my readers probably aren’t from the Minnesota or Midwest region of the U.S., however, if you are, this is a con you have to attend. Everyone is incredibly friendly and I have never had a negative geek experience at any of the M.C.B.A. conventions. I cannot wait for Spring Con to happen in May 2019.