Good morning! Welcome back to Wednesday Links!
We’re a little light on content today, so that means you get Links several hours early. Did any of you attend the Lady Eve’s Last Con event that Sarah hosted? I want to hear all about it if you did! I honestly can’t remember the time I attended a book event as just a fan (and not someone running it). What was the last bookstore event you attended?
The Olympics have also officially started! I don’t really keep up and I kind of turn my brain off for those two weeks. But for those who are watching, any big wins or upsets? Give me the tl;dr! (Or perhaps it should be tl;dw – too long; didn’t watch.)
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A new romance convention is popping up in the Milwaukee area! If you attend, we’d love to hear how it goes!
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This link is from Larisa is the SBTB Patreon Discord. NPR has picked their best games so far of 2024. What do you think of the list?
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Women’s sports are ushering in a new type of sports bar! Check out The Sports Bra in Portland, Oregon! It looks like a really fun time!
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EC Spurlock sent us this link on romantasy! Sarah is quoted, though I feel like I do have strong opinions (all my opinions are strong ones lol) on my own definition of fantasy romance.
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Back to video games, this man taught his fish how to play Elden Ring! Obviously that’s a bit hyperbolic and feels more like luck, but watching a fish + tracking software tackle tough bosses is really exciting to watch.
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Don’t forget to share what cool or interesting things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!
That con looks like it will be lots of fun! I hate not finding out about events like this until just a month or two in advance. I wish something would emerge as THE romance con like RT used to be so that I could find out about it well in advance and have time to plan and save accordingly.
As far as the Olympics go, all I know is that Celine Dion was excellent at the opening ceremony and that Simone Biles = gold, without fail.
Men’s gymnastic team got their first medal in 16 years (bronze). They have a guy whose only event is pommel horse, and he does a literal Superman – wears glasses and fetches water for his teammates between events, then when it’s pommel time, takes those glasses off and just slays.
The video game playing goldfish reminded me of this story from Japan were someone set up their fish to play on their switch and the fish not only charged his credit card for stuff but also exposed the credit card number on the live stream.
https://people.com/pets/japanese-youtuber-pet-fish-commits-credit-card-fraud/
You need to watch the last 3-ish minutes of the Women’s Rugby Bronze Medal Match. USA vs Australia. Such a great ending to a game! Also, follow Ilona Maher (@Ilonamaher) on Instagram, she is amazing and her content is so funny! She has been making all of these “Olympic Villa(ge)” videos about trying to find love at the villa 😀
Lots of good stuff but agree with HeatherS: can’t go wrong with Simone Biles and her buds. How do humans do tha?! Some moves, only Simone can.
The US men’s gymnastics team is like a boy band without the prefab creepiness, I love their interactions together! (And yes, I’m obsessed with Stephen Nederoscik, Pommel Horse Guy–he can solve a Rubik’s Cube in 9.6 seconds, and that’s just the beginning!) French swimmer Leon Marchand has been amazing to watch, and the hometown crowd’s love will give you the feels (the ROARS you hear in time with each stroke in that first race especially, insane)! While I missed the actual race and moment, apparently Italian swimmer Thomas Ceccon has abs that have inspired many a meme indeed. Katie Ledecky in the 1500 M made my jaw drop, too (she’s been amazing all Olympics). Been watching a lot of men’s water polo, as usual (I miss Tony Azevedo, but forgot how much I love Johnny Hooper). And yay for Simone Biles and Suni Lee, of course!
Oh yeah, nobody ANYWHERE has mentioned the library sequence in the Opening Ceremonies where the three people flirt with each other using books (threesome heavily implied even BEFORE the Jules et Jim homage!), so I’ll just say: woo-hoo!