February 9, 2023
You’ve reached the place where all the bad, but oh-so-satisfying entertainment exists. Here, in the Trash Vortex, we provide you with only the trashiest, most bingeworthy recommendations. It’s a dark hole you won’t escape!
In the Mood for Love
In the mood for something sweet this Valentine’s Day, but don’t want the calories? Our picks this week will sate your sweet tooth.
The Concubine Contract
by Babcook, Raison, and Bulg-Ma
Webcomics have become for me what corny romance novels are for my mother—formulaic, abundant, and I just can’t get enough.
Set in ancient China, The Concubine Contract follows hotheaded Yeseo, the deadliest assassin in the Seong Empire, as she takes on her toughest assignment yet: going undercover as the emperor’s airheaded concubine.
It’s silly, it’s trashy, the love interests hate each other (or do they?), … but most of all, it’s entertaining. What kinds of shenanigans will Yeseo land herself in this time? Will she and Emperor Ahon ever realize that their feelings go beyond a mere act? And just who is the spy hiding in their midst? This is a guilty pleasure in the truest sense of the word. Available on Tappytoon.com.
Hatoful Boyfriend
by Hato Moa
In Hatoful Boyfriend, our plucky protagonist finds herself as the only human attending a high school for pigeons. Yes, this is a dating simulator. Yes, you date birds. Did I mention this is unironically a good game?
Realistically, I realize that I cannot suggest this dating simulation game—which was originally conceived as an April Fool’s joke by Japanese bird lover and artist Hato Moa—to the average person without receiving, at minimum, strange looks. Moa has included humanoid sprites, if chatting with PNGs of birds is not your bag … but there is something to be said for the bonafide bird-dating experience. Join the track team. Give your classmate birdseed for Valentine’s. Find yourself drawn into an international conspiracy. Let your heart take flight. Available on Steam.
—Kana Coonce, Trash Vortex Editor