Update: I did, indeed, spend part of the afternoon sitting in Orangina The Chair (after baking in the lawnmowing heat of the day) and, while doing so, spotted my long-missing yellow highlighter (Sharpie Gel, the only kind that don’t smear fountain pen ink) peeking out from under a corner across the room. A positive omen, I think.

Tomorrow's newsletter is in the send queue and I've spent the remaining time sitting in Orangina The Chair, staring at Fictions02 and 03, and wondering why I don't sit in Orangina The Chair and stare into space during my non-working hours too. Something else I need to work on.

One of the things I’m working at is making myself enjoy the backyard this summer, and not look at it like the neverending project I’ve viewed it as since I moved in here. Applies to too many other life aspects as well.

STRAY (BlueTwelve Studio, 2022)

(****+ / *****): Easily the most fascinating cyberpunk dystopia brought to game-life in recent memory (at least since DEUS EX: HUMAN REVOLUTION and yes, I'm including CYBERPUNK 2077 here), each small and contained section a vast, deep world unto itself, a unique beating heart throughout. Other than wishing it were longer (not a bad thing) and for a bit more variety in gameplay, STRAY is nothing short of a (n ever-so-slightly) flawed work of game-making genius. Not only are my heartstrings well and duly tugged, but I learned a new word: Hopepunk; meow.

X-Men ‘97, s1 (2024)

(****+ / *****): A few stumbles in the early middle aside (the Rogue / Magneto stuff, especially, was pretty eh), this is how you do a revival: faithful yet fearless, unafraid to royally shake things up – but never for the sake of just doing it – and amplifying everything that made the original as special as it was into all that it could be today. Can’t wait for season two.

Can't shake the feeling that, after far too long, I’m finally letting go of the last relics of my previous creative iterations.

BAD CITY (Kensuke Sonomura, 2022)

(***+ / *****): Deliciously pulpy Yakuza flick rife with excellent characters – each member of the Special Division crew, especially, stood out and had a unique story – anchored by Hitoshi Ozawa channeling a perfect Eastwoodian fury. That being said, the film could’ve done with more imaginative direction: felt like it wanted to be more throughout – but you could do a lot worse on a Saturday night.