all about love.
heart-tickling, soul-soothing recommendations from an OG lover girl ♡
when i was a little baby stud in high school, i used the moniker tomboi romeo. so gay, and yet, so fitting. i’ve always loved Love. i found it to be this omnipresent entity that i felt i understood deeply but also knew that i knew nothing about intimately quite yet. [i’ve wanted my prefrontal cortex fully developed since i was 15—knowing that there’s more to learn but not being able to absorb it because we must live it is an inexplicable pain i knew far too early]. forever yearned for Love while also writing impassioned poems about how much i adore it, hate it, need it, fear it, and all its forms was a near-daily occurrence. romance is what i do; it’s what i live for—the double-edged sword of a lifelong love poet—so reasonably, this day is one of my favorite holidays.
however, i flew a little too close to the sun and could not energetically write all the things i wanted to on the topic (i’ll explain why next week, all good things). i don’t want my ideas to go to waste, but i also know i’m not going to care as much about them after today, SO, here’s the VERY condensed version of it all. take this as a lover’s recommendations list: movies, shows, books, and cozy games that made me remember why i love being a lover. i may add more as a go, but whatever i finish by the time my timer goes off will be it. and so, happy valentine’s day, my fellow lovers, may we all remember that Love will always be the way.
released today : afterlove ep
i covered this game when i rounded up february releases, but i will add that i’ll be playing and doing a full review in honor of its fallen creator fahmi. i’ll save thoughts for then. afterlove ep is available on all platforms.
since i started with games, let’s continue…
cozy games for...
artists who need to remember why they love their craft 🎷 blue wednesday
couples who can work well [or don’t] together, co-op 🤖 it takes two
growing from the lessons we earn from past loves 🥊 thirsty suitors
reconnecting with family and heritage 🥘 venba
grieving and healing from the loss of true love 🌲 pine: a story of loss
i went to my first wedding
and it all felt so intentional. it felt like ritual. i’ve been invited to a few weddings [feel like i’m at that age where there’s two to four every year] but i am so blessed that my first wedding was for my longest, oldest friend. every time i think of it, it makes me tear up because i met this girl off of tumblr sometime in 2010/2011. just two very gay poets who enjoyed each other’s writings. we’ve seen each other’s ups and downs, the hardships and beauty of being an artist, the depth of what love will do to and for our hearts, and truly just watching each other grow up from a distance.
so watching her be in this relationship and grow into and from it in ways that i so deeply admire has shifted something in me. to watch her walk down the aisle to that man [and i mean a goodt man, savannah!!] who vows to protect her against all the evils in the world, after knowing what all the evils have done to her, i damn near crumbled. they effortlessly speak love over each other in a way that feels like magic. when i’ve been confused on my own journey towards “adult love” and adulthood in general, it is them i turn to for guidance, and they offer wise words every time.
seeing their love and purposeful efforts culminate to the ritual that is a wedding, a formal “i am yours, and you are mine, and i vow to do this life thing with you,” how can i not be overwhelmingly emotional? i am still in awe of it all, and i may write more on it another day because my girl truly deserves the full, fleshed-out thoughts that i have for her. i’m just so proud and i love her so much. and love him for her so much and i just couldn’t be more blessed to know them. their union is powerful and i honor it so deeply. okay let me stop here before i start balling [again].
books that made me swoon
i JUST finished outdrawn by deanna grey and listen—call it divine intervention, but it is a tad annoying when when i read or watch something and it hits a little too close to home. damn you deanna for writing such complex, layered characters so well! i won’t spoil it, but if you do read, just know i have been a sage all my life and i have finally met my noah and the transition into feeling safe with someone is, well, a transition for us both. beautifully written and i recommend for all Black sapphic queers.
when i say honey girl by morgan rogers had me giggling and kicking my feet!!! another “hey, is this play about us?” moment, but not as on-the-nose as outdrawn LOL. this book is actually what inspired me to start my podcast. i wanted to do a late-night radio show just like yuki, and when i couldn’t for the life of me figure out how to make that happen, a lofi-styled podcast was the next best option. incredible writing that will make you believe in love at first sight and the power of divine timing.
confession: i’ve been avoiding all about love by bell hooks for years. i finally bought it sometime a couple of years ago [peer-pressured by my tiktok algorithm tbh] and it’s been sitting in my bookshelf ever since. i kept saying i was going to read and write about it this month, but clearly that didn’t happen. i also don’t like to put timelines on certain things, especially when i feel i’m meant to get to it when i get to it, but for this i believe pushing myself to confront the truths that i know are in these pages will only make me and my current relationship stronger. maybe we’ll read it together? hmm. open to thoughts from anyone who has read it because the reviews i have seen are daunting. good, yes, inspiring even, but whew, am i ready for this deep dive? 💭
a movie for when you doubt the power of love
okay so here’s the thing, i am a cinephile who loves a good cry, and romantic dramas will do it for me every time, so this list would be quite ridiculous and honestly take too much time to even compile let alone do write ups for especially with the clock ticking. maybe another day, but for right now i will say the movie life itself is truly one of the greatest scripts ever written. an inter-generational love story detailing how the love of our pasts water the loves of our future. i can’t say too much, but if you love a well-woven story, add this to your watchlist.
speaking of, i’m finally using my letterboxd, let’s connect!
as for shows...
i’m re-binging mythic quest in preparation for season 4 that just released so i must add one of the best stand-alone episodes of the entire show to this list because ugh! MY HEART! i truly wish i made the time to deep-dive this one because it’s so beautifully melancholic—the edgar allen poe-obsessed teen within me just ate it up! season 1, episode 5, “a dark quiet death” is a story that follows two video game developers in the growth [and demise] of their love-born studio. that’s all i’ll say! outside of: put jake johnson in my romantic dramas i beg, that man is SO good. you just feel his passion for a lover in subtle ways that’s so enticing. but i’m also a fan of his career so i’m rooting for him always and forever.
heyyy, i made it [with 10 minutes to spare on my timer i might add]. to close this out, i’m going to share a love poem i wrote. i’ve been nervous to share anything about my current partner because this union feels so sacred, but she and our love deserve just as much praise and worship as any of the stories listed above. because the story we’re writing, is just as intentional and beautifully written. i love you, my love 🧡
i am a moon. an intuitive entity of this universe. the personification of love, mercy, and compassion. emoting in phases and guiding the tides of the sea. internal movements flow free and steady as i move about this earth. as i do, i seek to connect to a sun. i seek a sun. a bursting fire set to burn of this universe. the personification of strength, power, and grace. a force to be reckoned with, yet gentle in the night. a sun that rises to greatness with the day, and sets peacefully to commune with a moon. a moon cools a sun, a sun warms the moon. the middle ground is where beauty is felt, love is designed, stars are birthed, and a galaxy is created. will you make stars with me? can you see our galaxy bursting to create something new?