Bayou Bytes Blog

 Kiera Johnson is one of a handful of Black kids at Jefferson Academy. She spends her days trying to lay low, and dodge questions like "Is it offensive if I wear dreads?" from her white classmates. But every night, she rushes home to log on to Slay, a card-based dueling MMORPG designed by Black gamers for Black gamers. Designed by Kiera, specifically. With the help of just one faithful moderator, Kiera (or Emerald, in-game) has devoted years to designing, building, and maintaining this safe haven.  But when an in-game dispute leads to a real life murder, Kiera has to navigate the fallout. The media learns about the existence of Slay and immediately vilifies the game, insisting it is racist and promotes violence. If that wasn't bad enough, a troll infiltrates Slay and begins terrorizing players. He's even threatening to sue Emerald, if he can figure out who she is...  I read this book entirely in one sitting (in part because I had borrowed it and didn't want to be ...

 "As long as there have been Vampires, there has been the Slayer." The 20th anniversary of the *authorized* Watcher's Guide was released in 2008 and features 21 new exclusive interviews with the Buffy the Vampire Slayer cast and crew. Pulled together by Christopher Golden, Jessica Smith, Nancy Holder, Jeff Mariotte, Maryelizabeth Hart, and Paul Ruditis, the book is an updated encyclopedia about everything culturally Buffy the Vampire Slayer: episode guides, cast & crew tidbits, memorable on and off set adventures, and updated clarity on the mythology of Buffy. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: 20 Years of Slaying The Authorized Watcher's Guide Honestly, this is a review, but it's also an opportunity to get gushy about Buffy the Vampire Slayer, so I'll take it! I was the target audience for the series, and I took the show very seriously in my teenage years. Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy was a hero, James Marsters as Spike was a heartthrob, Alyson Hannigan and Nich...

 Framed spoons. There are framed photos of spoons all over the apartment set in the cult classic so-bad-it's-genius film The Room. The framed spoons are in the background of nearly every shot with a table, and that's because the art department wasn't allowed to replace the stock photos. Tommy Wiseau, the writer-director-producer-star of the film, wanted to hurry up and film the movie. The entire set was purchased directly from a thrift store's window display, and the art department had been concerned about the set looking as bare (as intended, in its former life.)  How does Tommy Wiseau have the money to almost single-handedly fund this film? Even by the end of the book, no one really knows; all author (and Room co-star!) Greg Sestero can do is take some educated guesses. Tommy Wiseau is a cipher; he's an unstable, unfailingly earnest and optimistic pistache of someone who bought the American Dream for 19.99 plus shipping and handling. His famous line from The Room-...

 Divya is a normal teenager, living with her single mother and working to help make ends meet. Except that her job is streaming Reclaim the Sun (think No Man's Sky) on Glitch for thousands of viewers. On stream Divya (D1V) shares her in-game coordinates so her fans can log in and explore planets with her in real time. But during one fateful stream Divya and her companions are attacked by trolls who have named themselves the Vox Populi.  Divya loses the fight and when she respawns half a universe away she has nothing left. Not only that, she receives an email from the Vox Populi threatening to dox her (or worse) if she doesn't stop streaming. Frustrated but determined, Divya starts the long process of leveling back up. Along the way she runs into Aaron, a boy who wants nothing more than to become a video game writer. They agree to work together, and their friendship begins. This novel deals heavily with online harassment and the fear of that bleeding into real life. And the inc...