September is here, and that means the fall season has officially started in my house.
I’ve decorated for fall, started burning my favorite cinnamon candles, and whipped up a pumpkin smoothie. It’ll be a busy fall and winter this year, but I’m hoping to keep my days very intentional and take some time to relax and savor the season.
Here are a few things I’m up to this fall!
Video Games
I’ve started a cozy new playthrough of Skyrim. To make it seasonal, I’ve decided to play on my ROG Ally so I can add mods to the game, making it feel more like a roleplaying experience. (I turned off dragons—crazy, I know!)
Since it feels like the season for cooking and baking, I’m also making recipes from The Elder Scrolls cookbook. It’s making the whole Skyrim experience feel even more immersive for me.
Not to mention my favorite chill ambiance—when I’m cooking or cleaning or just want to have a quiet dinner—is Skyrim lofi on Spotify. I highly recommend it. The first sound immediately calms me down, and I associate it with relaxed fantasy energy. I guess while those mom influencers are listening to French music and classical piano to romanticize their lives, I’m over here listening to video game tunes.
You can follow along on my Skyrim adventures here. In fact, I’m inviting anyone and everyone to play their own Skyrim adventure or try a recipe or two from the cookbook with me! I even made a bingo chart to track our adventures.
‘Tis the season for community, so let’s have some fun this year. :)
Books
I’ve been jumping between book clubs and, to be fair, getting very overwhelmed.
First off, I’m in the Kris and Mads Sisterhood, which I absolutely LOVE. They read a lot of fantasy, but also sci-fi, romance, contemporary, classics… just a little bit of everything. I especially love their monthly page-to-screen reads; for example, they did The Odyssey over the summer just in time for the Christopher Nolan movie, which was so fun and rewarding. I’ve actually been with the club since they read and watched Lord of the Rings a couple of years ago, and they archive everything so you can go back and follow along with their videos anytime.
That said, they read extremely fast, so it’s almost impossible to keep up with them in real time. I’m currently whizzing through The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky (actually a re-read for me; I was a Dostoevsky nerd in college) for one of their side quests, but we only have three weeks to read this tomb so I’m not sure if I’ll be able to finish in time.
Outside of that, I have a Fable book club for The Witcher series which I am very behind on. And I’m the host! Ugh, I’m a terrible host, guys. The chat has completely died and it’s all my fault. But all I can do is learn and do better, I suppose.
So this month, I am officially catching up! I’ve decided that’s really where my energy should go this fall. The Witcher series feels like a perfect read for cozy season, AND it will get me excited for the next game (even if it doesn’t come out for two more years ahhh)!
If you want to join my book club and help me revive it, you are welcome to check it out:
I apologize in advance for how quiet it is. It’s an unintentionally silent reading club, guys. I promise to share some thoughts this month, though, and I truly am very excited to dig into the series this season.
Movies
Not sure why, but I’m feeling nostalgic this year. So I’ve been wanting to watch and rewatch lots of old, cozy movies. That means everything from old rom-coms like When Harry Met Sally to whimsical fantasies like Stardust to romantic adventures like The Mummy. I could start a whole nostalgic movie club, seriously.
Speaking of, if you’re into those movies too, let me know which ones you love, because I’m always looking for more recommendations! :)
TV Shows
My husband and I just finished the new season of House of the Dragon. I have a lot of thoughts. Maybe I should make a separate post about it, but the short version is this…
I love the concept. I love the Game of Thrones nostalgia. It’s basically a prequel to Game of Thrones, so if you like that world, this is fantastic. Plus, it’s a war WITH dragons, so there’s tons of action.
That said, I am not a fan of all the writing and acting. The pace is pretty uneven; some episodes are great, others are slow, and some are quite melodramatic.
House of the Dragon Rant Starts Here:
The biggest problem for me is that I am not a fan of Emma D’Arcy’s performance as the protagonist Rhaenyra Targaryen. I’m sure they are a great actor, and I don’t want to be negative. But I just LOVED the actor Milly Alcock who played the younger version of Rhaenyra in the first season. Alcock’s Rhaenyra was funny, rebellious, snarky, smart—just so fun and interesting to watch onscreen.
D’Arcy, on the other hand, plays the older version of Rhaenyra very one-note. They’re always shouting or speaking in low, dramatic tones. In this role, I’ve seen D’Arcy play fierce, angry, sad, grieving, worried… but not much else. There’s just not the humor or range I saw with Alcock. It feels like a totally different character, and somehow D’Arcy’s take is really over-the-top to me. I’m always waiting for the next moment their Rhaenyra is going to blow up and say something in clipped tones, or just soft-shout their lines.
And I will admit, it could also be the writing making older Rhaenyra that way. After all, the character has grown up and gone through dark times, which may have tempered some of her spirit. I just don’t know that it should have gone this far. So, I can’t say I’m a fan of the writing either.
House of the Dragon Rant Ends Here!
On the other hand, I LOVE everything about Olivia Cooke in this show!
Anyway, I’ll leave it at that for now. But my husband and I are searching for a new show to fill the void now that House of the Dragon is over until next season. Let me know if you have any suggestions!
What are you playing, reading, and watching right now? I hope you have a wonderful start to the new season.
Ashley
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