Hey everyone! Red Lanyard here, and if you’re like me, this quarantine business has been weird to say the least. A few months into it now, I thought I’d check in with everybody and share some stuff that’s been keeping me busy lately to possibly help you all stave off the stir-craziness of staying inside all the time. We here at Fandom Correspondents are proud indoor kids, so let us share what we’ve been doing in a weekly Jam Session.
What I’ve been reading:
Over the last couple of months I’ve been making my way through the Star Wars expanded (and apparently irrelevant) universe novels. I started with a character I already knew and wanted to read more on: The Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn (I can’t be the only one who noticed that the dude just kind of merged the latter half of his names together to create an Imperial badass, right?). I’m on the last book of the trilogy, and it’s actually been a lot of fun reading about characters I love on new adventures! I will say the EU Force powers get a little silly, but in a good way! After I finish this trilogy, I plan to jump into the other Thrawn books before plowing forward in the timeline.
I’ve also gotten back into current comics! I went to my LCS (socially distanced and masked, of course) and picked up the prelude and first two issues of Nick Spencer’s new Spider-Man story, Sins Rising. If you listened to our Fandom Shark Tank series of the podcast, you’ll know the my love for the Sin Eater storyline (albeit controversial) runs deep, so I’m intrigued to see where Spencer takes it. Always support your local LCS when possible! Shout to A+ Comics in Lexington!
What I’ve been playing:
After finishing Ghost of Tsushima (game of the year contender for this weeb, btw), I jumped into Assassin’s Creed Origins to further satisfy my open-world itch. DISCLAIMER: I in no way condone the culture of abuse and cover-ups at Ubisoft; I bought the game on sale prior to this news coming out. I originally picked it up because I was intrigued by Valhalla later this year, but only a proper response and organizational change from Ubi will win back my buying intentions. The game plays fine, and I like the changes this game made to the AC formula; the main complaint from me, however, is the combat is a bit clunky and overall lacking. I’ve also gotten back into Overwatch with others in the FC team; the recent Roadhog changes are super fun. Just take that next step, Jeff Kaplan. Remove Brig. It’s that easy.
What I’ve been watching:
I am currently almost finished with Darling in the Franxx for my anime itch. It’s a . . . complicated show. Great action, interesting character development, but some overall weird themes. The ending will honestly make it or break it for me. I also just recently started Umbrella Academy; I’m a late comer, but I figured I would carpe this diem and enjoy some Gerard Way-produced content. I gotta fill my comic book media quota somehow; it feels like we haven’t gotten a MCU film in 37 years. Finally, my fiance and I are going through the X-Files. It’s one of my favorite shows, and it’s her first time watching it, so it’s been great to revisit some favorites while watching her reaction to some of the more over-the-top sci-fi content. I would die for Gillian Anderson. And David Duchovny, to be honest. Hell, let’s throw Mitch Pileggi in there too. I would die for most of the main cast of X-Files, and if that’s wrong, then I don’t wanna be right.
It’s been weird lately, folks, and speaking for myself, my content output hasn’t been terrific. But maybe sharing the ways we’ve stayed sane through all this might help inspire each other to get into new things and start some new passions! Share what you’ve been up to in the comments, and be on the lookout for more articles, streams, videos, and weekly jam sessions to come!
