let a girl get on her soapbox

everyone should watch The Queen's Gambit if you haven't already! rewatched it this week and it is one of those perfect miniseries that pulls you in and keeps you hooked the whole time. the costuming is so damn pretty and is honestly a lil peak into my dream closet. it's deals in some heavier topics so do your due diligence on trigger warnings.

our lead, beth, is left an orphan at the age of 9 in lexington, ky. her mother was a mathematical genius and that intelligence and inquisitiveness is clearly passed on to beth. she is fascinated by the board game the janitor plays in the basement and pushes him to teach her about it. he introduces her to chess and she falls in love with the game, racing towards mastery incredibly fast. the show follows her life after the orphanage and her battles with stardom and addiction through her chess career. anya taylor-joy is phenomenal in this role!

in preparation for my game night on Friday (👀) everyone needs to purchase and play here to slay immediately. all time favorite game and i will continue to convert all my friends as long as i draw breath. it’s an extremely simplified d&d-esque card game with next to no cooperative aspects. you will either build a party or slay monsters to win while trying to sabotage your opponent. the art style is deeply adorable which pairs well with my favorite game night vibe: screaming profanities at your very best friends.

first movie rec is an all time favorite of mine: Far From The Madding Crowd (2015)

if you’re looking for a swoon worthy yearning then you’re in the right place. you get a woman with quite a bit of agency (rare in a period drama of basically any era) and truly some of the greatest costumes i’ve ever laid eyes on eyes on. it’s so simplistically sweet in so many ways and then intensely dramatic in way you could not have predicted. oh what i would give to see it play out again for the first time !!!

our swoon worthy leading man pictured below

another insanely good romance i read recently was One & Only by Maurene Goo! if you are also a person that loves the idea of love being fate AND it being something you choose and those two concepts constantly compete with one another, this book is for you!

similar to Emily Henry's "Beach Read", it's a beautiful intertwining of family dynamics, friends that feel like sisters, and healing after loss.

if you’re looking for a workplace romance that doesn’t feel like obsessive stalking (if you know, you know) i highly recommend Annie Knows Everything by Rachel Wood. it’s genuine irritation turns to fond teasing turns to actual flirting which is one of two acceptable versions of “enemies” to lovers in my book. you get layers of friendship and office shenanigans within the romance that are wonderfully sweet plus a touch of queer romance in the background.

quote from the author’s note that makes me very excited about what comes next from her: “falling in love, to me, is an act of optimism. whether you intend to or not, when you fall in love you start to imagine new possibilities for your life you hadn’t considered before. […] when i think back over my ghosts of relationships past, what i mostly remember is how fun and exciting and surprising and expansive it feels to meet someone you like who likes you back.”

it definitely hit a very specific spot for me specifically as i continue to flirt with an engineer at work over teams🤭

some commentary of mine that contain spoilers below

i’ve been seeing lots of commentary this week about how shane is a guy factory-built to die wondering but didn’t which to me is a foundational undercurrent of this lovely lovely fic. quotes from michael gray bulla’s “i think love is something that happens to other people” interspersed into shane’s life and all the moments that become him. short and sweet and not read by nearly enough people!