Arts & Culture
My Mental Health Is Like Playing a Metroidvania Game—I Take It One Step at a Time
When the try-fail cycle gets to be too much, I know I can save my progress and walk away. I know I can always try again.
Buying a House As a Queer Single Mother
Despite my newfound independence, I struggle with the notion that I’m buying into a privileged system of inequity.
The Fantasy of the Nancy Meyers Kitchen
At the height of the pandemic, all I wanted was control and counter space and an empty freezer. I wanted a kitchen from a Nancy Meyers movie.
Video Games Are for Everyone—And That Should Include Disabled People
Accessibility features open up a world of possibility for fun to be had, which is exactly what video games should do. For all of us.
‘Final Fantasy XIV’ Taught Me About Care and Connection During the Pandemic
My online relationships remain heartfelt and cherished ones, even as I’ve reconnected myself with whatever it is we call “real life.”
Through Fanfiction, I Learned the Machinery of My Mind
On the page, I was intact. I was smart and forceful. I had a comeback for every spar.
Black Women in Fantasy Saved Me Where Academia Failed
What I needed was a lifeline—a project that would make this whole thing feel worthwhile. Monica Lynne led me to that answer.
Why I’m Still Dreaming of a Brown Percy Jackson
BIPOC kids can be the heroes, the fighters who push back against impossible odds. We, too, should be the stuff of legends and prophecies.
‘Lost’ Fans Gave Me a Safe Place on the Internet. Is Such Fandom Possible Now?
Fan culture’s veer into the mainstream saw it lose its sense of protection and gain an abundance of entitlement, even cruelty.
A Woman Walks Home Alone At Night
In a horror film, the sight of a woman alone fills us with dread. We expect terrible things to happen to her. But she also fills us with a sense of supernatural expectation.