Theory
Come Hell or High Water: Really good info about organising groups. I heart structured, non-hierachical, anarchist organising!!!!
The Tyranny of Structurelessness: About organising and the use of structure.
On Community by Casey Plett. Good read to have a think about community, the many things it means, what it is, and it impacts you.
America's Most Predictable Election by Kat Blaque. I love everything she does, but this was a really important reflection on racism, capitulating to white people/whiteness - It is just a really good video of how I, and other POC I know have lived/thought about our experiences in white society performing for white people. And being many forms of marginalised. How do you feel that you are being racialised? How racism is very real and dangerous to us, despite what (mostly) white people want to believe. This isn't just about America, truly.
Non-fiction
Because Internet by GretchenMcCulloch. Linguistics and changes in verbage throughout the ages >:) Emoticons, Emojis, Ellipses and more!!!
Fermentation Fanzine: Really interesting stuff about what fermentation is + LOTS of recipes!!!
My name is not my name by Beth Xia. Love all the zines she makes... This was a lovely short zine about our native names and then our western ones, and how these things feel and are interacted with.
Riot Medicine: First Aid + More for protests and actions.
Pieces of Grief: an essay about living with grief.
Why We Die by Venki Ramakrishnan. Really interesting exploration of not just the science but like. Approaches by different cultures, religions, and a lot more stuff!!
Fiction
The Galaxy, and the ground within by Becky Chambers. Very good exploration of different cultural struggles, how people clash, understandings, and seamlessly woven queer themes. It was really beautiful to read.
Poetry
Spaces Open: poems for West Port Garden, by a collective of 12 women writers. A huge variety of beautiful, fun, get-your-brain-working sort of poems. My favourite is 'Lake' by Saskia McCracken.
Drawn-Media
Bungo Stray Dogs by Kafka Asagiri + Sango Harukawa. Not exactly a surprise to anyone who knows me, but a manga where all characters are based off real writers/poets with supernatural abilities titled after their works, the mafia, a detective agency and this beautiful artstyle... This has had its hooks in me since I was 9 years old.
Webnovels
Fanfics
Hidden in The Space Between by Deadgonegirl (ao3). A must-read in terms of Terraria fanfiction. I really love the way they explore how the game mechanics might be experienced, and the way that they write.
Turn on The Laugh Track by pepgold (ao3). Time-loop Astarion fic -> Bloodweave. The illustrations are super cute!
Black Rock Mountain by bokunojinsei. Part 1/2 of Hannigram both serial killers au. It's the best, most realistic take on this. The violence is absolutely brutal, it's the uncomfortable kind that you can imagine being absolutely nails-on-chalkboard visceral. The connection they have is dangerous, and I really enjoy being held in such a tense atmosphere. The second part is a perfect continuation and exploration of the relationship problems that they would face as normal men might, but with darker themes. The way that they construct scenes is so vivid and feels so real.
Valley of Serenity by Interjection (ao3). I think out of the thousands of DSMP SBI fics I've read this is still very much a work that stands out to me and had a profound impact on me in lockdown. Mind the tags.
When the Devil Smiles Back by GoldenUsagi. The OC is written incredibly well - the dialogue is fab, realistic and fun to read, Hannibal is characterised extremely well, the pacing is slower at the beginning which just makes sense. Her traits as a character fits so well within this context - not in a ‘this context was designed for her solely’ kind of way, but in a ‘this makes so much sense and actively makes this story better and amazing art’. I really enjoy the progression of the characters, their relationships, and which parts of the journey the story acts as a viewfinder for. I feel like this is one of the most satisfying things I’ve ever read. I didn’t think I wanted to read this, and didn't believe I would get as much mileage out of it. It doesn’t do any discredit to the darkness of hannibal and will + the goodness within the MC, none of their differences/oppositions have to change the other party in a strange way for the story to fit. This is so masterful.
Twilight Princess Novelisation by AnnieFelis (ao3, 3 part). If you like LoZ TP, this is... potentially THE goldmine. I really enjoyed the characterisation.
School's Out for the Summer by kiaronna. TMA fic where the archive crew are teachers and the avatars are schoolkids. Really sweet read.
So you want to be a Demonologist by dementor_ssc (ao3). Gravity Falls Transcendance Au where Dipper pretends to be a college student >:) !! This entire series is great. A good mix of silly and real, and you get attached to the cast really quickly!
Video Games
Most of these links will be to the Steam or Itch.io page.
Easy Delivery Co. by Sam C. A chill driving + delivery game with PS2 style graphics. The story is realtively short and sweet with some scary atmospheric moments / liminal feel. Love the different townspeople (cats), how crazy you can get on the roads, and general gameloop.
Baba is You by Arvi Teikari. I love puzzle games - awesome soundtrack, really fun puzzles, cute graphics. Lots of thinking outside the box, and it teaches you the mechanics really well. It has these word blocks that you push around to make sentences that change the rules of the environment/round.
Dredge by Black Salt Games. Lovercraftian horror fishing game. You would think that the fishing loop gets boring, but because of the huge amount of variety in the timing based system, its always engaging. Story is at-your-own-pace. The style of the art... sounds... absolutely fantastic. Really rewarding to deck out your ship and figure out what kind of build is best for you. The day/night cycle requires you to manage time + risk/reward assess. So many places to get to know and sail around.
Inscryption by Daniel Mullins. Don't be put-off by the fact that its a deckbuilding game - the concepts are easy to learn and rewarding if you enjoy resource management. This is a roguelike, atmospheric horror game where though some of the mechanics fall under that category, it's also quite cozy once you get into it. It's like sitting in front of a firepit surrounded by pitch dark woods. Lots of puzzles to solve, really good writing within the game and within the more lore-y side of things.
Nubby's Number Factory by MogDogBlog Productions. Balatro/Cloverpit for people who do not play cards, and also want a higher degree of involvement for the actual getting to the level goal mechanic. It's basically pinball with early Windows graphics, good soundtrack, and enough potential/actual lore to think about if you want to and hook you. It's also out on mobile!!!
Nightmare Kart by LW Media. Bloodborne as a mario kart game! Really fun, occaisionally souls-like anger will grip you, but that also happens in actual mario kart. I really enjoy the little written passages between each level in the campaign mode. It requires a high level of concentration, it's funny, the voice acting is fantastic - and It's also free!
Sidewords by Milkbag Games. If you like being given a bunch of letters to make words with, and making shapes fit into a bigger shape, then this is potentially THE game for you. Lots of puzzles, just have a look if any of that interests you.
A Short Hike by Adam Robinson-Yu. Very nostalgic/quaint graphics, I don't often feel super into the storyline of things which include familial themes from a 1st person perspective, but this was really easy to get into the head of. Not just because it's a simple story, but there's so much you do that naturally gets you into the head of this character and makes you feel closer to this world. You can speedrun it, or choose to have a week's worth of experiences in an in-game day. Your choices don't affect the ending in a punishing way, it reminds you of all of the fun you've had.
Terraria by Re-Logic. Despite what people have you believe, it is quite possible to play through this game almost entirely blind - make good use of the Guide! Lots of small details of bigger things will make you want to go to the wiki though, but it's super rewarding to explore 86% of the game for yourself.
The Stanley Parable by Crows Crows Crows. I'm linking to the Ultra Deluxe version which is the original and sequel all-in-one. You can select that you've never played before for an original experience. Narrative, choice-making, story-telling walking-simulator... is an accurate description that does this game a disservice. If you like easy-to-anger british narrators and clever, witty writing, this is perfect!
Hollow Knight: Silksong by Team Cherry. Platforming, Metroidvania, story-rich game with an awesome art style, great music/sound design, and really fun bosses to learn! It was my introduction to playing video-games of this genre, and I mean. What can I say that the internet hasn't already said. Best bug game.
Analogue Games
Kanoodle: Do you like fit-the-shapes puzzles? Do you have shape autism? Do you want 200 different puzzles to introduce you to how to play this game, slowly ramping up in difficulty until you can take a few shapes, shake them up and have infinite variations of fun? Yes, obviously.
Scrabble: Okay, this is a really good game that's fit for everyone if you make sure the rules are fun for you to play! I don't tend to use the Scrabble dictionary and tend to accept slang words in my games. I don't penalise when someone struggles to come up with a word and their last resort option needs to be looked up. I don't allow abbreviations and names (of people). The website linked seems like a solid start into having a look at all the things scrabble can be :) It doesn't have to be just a good-at-words game, it's equally - if not more, a get-good-at-strategy game. Of course, it is a lot more fun if you play it while trying to get good at words too.
Bananagrams. Scrabble but more fast-paced and competitive, easier, more people can play, and much more portable. I know a lot of people who hate the shit out of Scrabble but will always say yes to a game of Bananagrams. Have a look!
Hues and Cues: can get really funny, especially if you become a little looser and have chat going on between players. Guess the colour the person is hinting at game... I managed to convince someone who KNEW chartreuse was green, that it was purple, after about 20 minutes of back and forth. Some examples of prompts were: "Grai-en (grain + green)", and then... "maintain, good". So how helpful these prompts are are completely up to you.
Movies/TV Shows
No Links, but you definitely shouldn't look at a website called FMHY.
Hannibal (NBC): Maybe this is no surprise at all. Really nice acting, love the chemistry between Mads Mikkelsen and Hugh Dancy. If you enjoy a beautifully directed film that has the most delicious looking food and cooking montages... With a cannabalistic serial killer with a sense of humour, lots of manipulation, and the one and only mentally ill Will Graham. This show is for you. Don't be put off by the percieved 'edge', this show carries the tension, drama, beautiful sfx, perfect acting, and an engaging and gritty plotline extremely well. You can view this series through a variety of lenses, whether its doomed yaoi, or psychological thriller, or rom-com.
Marvel's Daredevil: Wow. The cinematography of this series is PHENOMENAL. I don't know how to stress this enough - the acting feels so real, the villains have a real threat to the characters, and the cinematography? The cinematography SPOILED me so much that watching my past fave action movies can be challenging, with how differently they're cut. Differences are of course, good, as it brings a different vibe, etc... but, this show is beautifully written and beautifully shot. I haven't watched something that made all my sense engaged in all the things, my brain work, and like. Wow. This is Art.
Rush Hour: I really think this is one of the best POC-lead action movies which are convenient for english speakers. Really need more of you to watch this - it's funny, it's Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, it's a cult classic. Like James Bond is for cis-het men. None of my white friends know this movie, but one of my black friends mentioned unprompted that every time she sees a chinese person and black person together she thinks 'okay, rush hour'. So here I am, trying to spread the good word to more white people (if you are chinese and you don't know about this movie, I am sorry, your parents have failed you).
Polar (2019): A feel-good movie for people who enjoy action, hitmen, mads mikkelson, and comedy. I'm not sure if I loved the humour all the way through, but it provided moments of relaxation in an otherwise tense film. Well, you are watching a hitman getting hunted down, while hunting people down, himself. I think that the character of Duncan felt very cozy, and it definitely appealed to the kind of character I enjoy watching mads mikkelson play. Strong but silent type that feels too much for a hitman, but is really good at his job. I'm not sure if I loved the fake blood in this movie, though, it takes away from the immersion. This has strong potential to be a rewatchable movie for the (relatively) low-stakes, feel good story, and crass humour.
