A non-comprehensive list of things i've been consuming

This guy who reviews sandwiches on TiKTok. Zach showed me his videos while we were laying in bed at the end of the night and we both fell in love. He has this really authentic voice that simultaneously conveys intense knowledge about sandwiches while still sounding down to Earth and relatable. I want to learn how to write criticism as he does tbh.

Gundam the Witch from Mercury. I’ve never watched a Gundam series despite having a Gundam model as a 4th grader and crafting two cute Gundam models in my twenties. It’s pretty good! Including the lesbian subplot + school anime themes, would definitely recommend it.

Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War. When this was announced I was literally so confused because I just naturally assumed that the anime had finished and wrapped up the plot to Bleach years ago (you know when bleach actually ended). I read all of bleach and watched most of the anime (As far as i know) but the new one is so pretty and gave me such nostalgia for being a loser high schooler that nobody wanted to be friends with!

Overwatch 2 - what a fucking mess of a launch. What a disappointment of a sequel. How dare they give me bronze 4 after carrying my teams through all of my competitive matches? Overwatch was one of the first games I played when I got a PS4 and have such fond memories of it. I remember religiously playing it then having a partner1 who got really into competitive mode, then me trying competitive and deciding it just made me really angry so deciding to just play mystery heroes instead. I should do that again!

• Sub rant but what did they do to Mei! I still like playing as her but i miss freezing folks.

The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5 - oh you’re telling me that, yet again, June gets kidnapped and sent back to Gilead? What a refreshing twist nobody saw coming!2

New Berserk chapters! I didn’t realize they officially started releasing new chapters so it was a treat to read the new ones last night. Chapter 364.5 is a touching personal narrative between Kouji Mori and his recently departed lifelong friend Kentaro Miura, the creator of Berserk. I’d kill for an autobiography of their life, and reading that chapter really shows you how much of their own relationship is mirrored in the Berserk plotline.3

Maintenance Phase. I’ve been binge-listening to past episodes, primarily because I have an intellectual crush on Michael Hobbs who I feel gives great insight into how absolutely bonkers most modern stories of cancel culture (or any culture-war phenomenon) is. It’s also helped me realize that I might exhibit symptoms of disordered eating, so there’s that!4

Hellraiser Reboot. I never watched the original Hellraiser so can’t compare them. This one truly terrified me though. The teeth-chattering cenobite just makes me want to cry and now Zach won’t stop making that sound around me…

Alvvays’ new album, Blue Rev. Alvvays certainly isn’t my favorite band, but they hold a really special place in my heart. I think I heard them first years ago and then saw them at a concert in Austin (funfunfun fest when that was still a thing)5. I really enjoy listening to their washed-out sound, which might be both what they’re going for and just a consequence of me being half-deaf (and getting deafer!). I haven’t fully listened to their album yet, but so far really dig Pharmacist. one of the worst ending epilogues, nearly up there with the epilogues to famous transphobe JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series!

Rainbow Rainbow: Stories by Lydia Conklin. I’ve only read two stories in this collection so far, but want to get back into reading it. Lately, I’ve been hyper fixated on finding more stories of gay/queer love and relationships, spurned on by the idealized notion that I could someday write a short story that actually gets published. 6