We tried
🎙️ Ologies
From Letter 23
I miss learning in a more structured way besides the random article or sourced Twitter thread, but I am not well-disciplined. I tried creating a syllabus for myself out of books from my workplace, but it kind of fell apart. I still want to read more broadly, and challenge myself, but in the mean time….podcasts! Incredible! I’ve always been a comedy podcast girl, more resistant to anything narrative or even just scripted, despite their broad appeals. In the past month, I decided to finally listen to Ologies, which Jill had written about ages ago. It felt good to move out of my comfort zone when it came to podcasts, which I consume a lot of but not necessarily broadly (at all! I literally only listen to comedy!) Although I’ve had some eye-twitches from an expert or two brought on the show, the host is an absolute delight; her questions are wonderful, the way she pivots is so fun, and even though her guests have pretty quirky fields, she maintains a good balance of respect and awe. I am having a very good time with the backlog. One of the newest episodes was about jellyfish and it was so fun! Go listen!
– Summer
🎮 Fire Emblem: Three Houses
From Letter 21
When Summer first recommended Three Houses, I didn’t think I was ever going to play it. It just didn’t seem like my kind of game! (Turns out I am stupid.) Then, back in March, I was waiting desperately for the new Animal Crossing game to come out. The last week of waiting was agony. I decided, very impulsively, that I needed to start playing a new game to distract me until I could play Animal Crossing—I remembered Three Houses and how much Summer loved it, and that was that. Several months, almost two playthroughs, and 170+ hours later, I’m here to say she was very right. My two favorite descriptions of this game are “horny magic war school” and “anime chess,” both of which are correct. I also once called it “a very cozy game,” which I stand by. If you have played it, or are thinking about playing it, and want someone to talk to about it, Summer and I are here literally begging for someone to ask us how we feel about Claude von Riegan.
– Jillian