Late August 2024 Monthly Update (Patreon)

A few days late, but that's a heck of a lot better than last time.

It's basically been pretty stressful the last couple months. Recovered from my COVID, but still pretty stressed between desperately looking for a new job, sending out queries and trying to get back on the writing horse.

I have an idea for a new book I might actually go through with, a fantasy romance revenge kinda story between a girl who was wronged (I'm thinking framed for murder but it might be even more than that, knocking around ideas) and a Fury (from Greek Mythology) who is attracted to her vengeful nature. It was actually a little inspired by a manga I read, which I'll talk about below. I'm mostly working on a short story right now, one I never finished posting on here but will finally do so when I finish this version.

I've been enjoying this anime season throughout the last months. I'm currently watching:

 Mayonaka Punch- an absolute delight and my favorite of the season so far, canceled youtuber teams up with a vampire who is down bad for her to get one million subscribers, other vampires join the shananigans. Maybe??? they'll actually get together? I know not to hope too much though).

Senpai is an Otokonoko - A girl confesses her love to her female classmate, Makoto, only to discover he's a boy (currently how he identifies, he's unsure if he's trans) who dresses as a girl because that's how he feels comfortable. But rather than being scandalized, she's actually totally down for that too. But his Makoto's dude bff actually also has a crush on him, though he has yet to admit it to himself...thus the world's sweetest love triangle begins. Very cute and moving so fa

Dead Dead Demon Dededede Destruction-- A UFO has been hovering over Japan. No aliens have come out or attacked any, but Japan and America both decide to bomb the heck out of the UFO anyway, killing many Japanese citizens in the process. In the midst of the chaos, two girls are living the most normal lives they can)

SHY season 2-the return of the superhero show, unfortunately the pacing is really wonky and the animation quality isn't great and is really showing its lack of resources more than last season. Still a fun watch, though

I've also recently picked up Yatagarasu: The Raven Does Not Choose It's Master, but I'm not very far into it. I'm also currently watching Sakura Quest, an anime about a bunch of girls working to improve tourism in a rural town, it's laidback and nice so far, and the MC's initial woes about finding a job were relateable.

I also finished Monster, which was a banger.

I've read a lot too in the past couple months! I read Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism, an examination of cults and the language they use, which can also be reflected in cult-adjacent groups. It was interesting. I also read The Raven and the Reindeer, a retelling of the Snow Queen where Gerta actually gets together with the Robber Girl, something I've always wanted. It was good, but I kind of missed how messed up the girls' relationship was in the original, as this toned it down quite a bit (not completely though, which I appreciated).

I finished The Odyssey! All the misogyny surrounding the enslaved women was actually hard to get through, but I'm glad I read it. I don't think I'm going to continue to Liveblogyssey beyond the third entry I have mostly written up, it takes way too long, was becoming not fun for me, and I didn't really get a big response to it anyway.

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth was a great book-- Pretty relentless horror exploring transphobia and misogyny though, so it won't be for everyone. The main character is a trans guy in an alternate 1883 where people can talk to spirits, but for anyone society perceives as a woman with that power, it's very stigmatized and there's this idea they'll "go mad" thanks to the power. So the mc gets thrown in this horrible reform school that has very dark things going on under the surface. It's not all horror though, he does get to meet other trans people and it leads to some really nice scenes

And finally, I rewatched a lot of Avatar during my sickness, and started reading the Kyoshi novels! I'd never really gotten around to reading them, not really knowing what to expect, and bc the majority of ATLA post-show side material has been generally mediocre-to-bad, but it was really good actually! Added a lot of interesting lore and development to the world, was a pretty gripping revenge story, and was naturally a bit darker without the Y7 rating but not in a "lets just watch people you don't care about burn to death" Netflix ATLA way . It was kind of thoughtful about the ways bending could kill people rather than boring, and the deaths mattered to the arc and plot. I actually got pretty attached to one of the characters that bit the dust. In retrospect there were a lot of death flags though. It was an interesting, easy read, and I'm already reading the next one.

Manga-wise I've reading a fair few things too\ (that's what being sick will get you)- The Summer Yow Were There (a tragic yuri about a girl with a troubled past and a girl with a mysterious sickness. It's good but so sad), The Mermaid Wants to Eat Me (The monstergirl yuri I've been waiting for my whole life. It's the good stuff. And by good stuff I mean this mermaid is constantly sensually wanting to eat the mc, and also violently kills any monsters that come after them, and at a couple points getting the mc and herself soaked with blood and then she comes up to her and...basically I went feral. It inspired me with a book idea. I want more),

Then there's Hana and Hina (another yuri. It was ok, After Hours (yet another yuri I gave it a pass the first time, but a couple years later, I'm enjoying it! It's about a girl who falls in love with a punk girl DJ and learns about DJing herself.)

So yeah! A lot of media and a lot of stress! But I'm hanging in there best I can. I'll try my best to get an update on time next time!