(Belated) January Monthly Update- with London Pics (Patreon)

January was very busy! Took a trip to England, heroically managed to finish all my liveblogs despite that, started teaching a new class, had a COVID scare.

Went to a ton of places in London- Madame Tussaud's (fun but crowded), The London Dungeon (really fun horror experience!) The British Museum (incredibly crowded but I spent forever looking at Greek pottery and mummies) The Tower of London (lots of armor), The London Eye (Ferris Wheel, whee) and we walked around Oxford.

I saw several shows- Heathers, Matilda, Six and The Play that Goes Wrong. They were all great! Heathers stood out for having teens cosplaying in the audience, which was cute. 

Matilda had such a cool set! It was scrabble letters with words from the play!

The Play That Goes Wrong was basically a really riotous slapstick show done as if a theatre company was putting on a play where everything goes wrong, set falling apart, actors being knocked out etc. 

We were also staying in Jack the Ripper territory, so we went to small museum about that. Pretty grisly!

Here are some pictures from the trip:

Maddam Tussaud's, if you can't tell.

The British Museum (I didn't give them any money, but I had to see the greek pottery)

The London Tower.

There was an EXTEREMELY weird little game where you dressed Henry the Eighth at the end of the tour.

And I thought it was really funny that the first bathroom graffiti I saw in London was this:

Also thought it was funny that next to the London Dungeon there was an entire ride thing devoted to Shrek, it was so random:

Also, we ate at the Royal Opera House, here's some art from there!

I read about five books- Carmen Maria Machado's In the Dream House which I whole heartedly recommend, it's a compelling, heartwrenching, beautifully told autobiography about the author's relationship with her abusive (now ex) girlfriend. A  tough read emotionally, but infinitely rewarding. I also read Siren Queen, which has some memorable magical realism in its tale of a Chinese American woman navigating pre-Code Hollywood, it was a pretty satisfying read. I finally finished my re-listen of American Gods, which was too long but a nice revisit. Also finally finished Piranesi after three attempts which was a fine read once I got through the first 40 pages, but I was kind of hoping for a twist that never came.

Mangawise I'm following a lot of continuing series, and I Want to Be a Wall 2 was really good, discussed BL fandom and asexuality in the nuanced way I was hoping it would.

Watched the first two seasons of Derry Girls while in London, had a blast! Meanwhile this anime season I'm picking up The Magical Revolution etc etc long light novel tile, and really fun and for once well animated isekai yuri and Bofuri season 2. I was following Endo and Kobayashi's Live Commentary on the Villainess (dating sim character can suddenly hear two nerds let's playing his game) but I might just read the manga since its paced better. Thinking of picking up Buddy Daddies and Ippon Again.  Also watching Raven of the Inner Palace, which is a nice magical supernatural jaunt set in ancient China about a woman who can communicate with the dead.

Been having a lot of fun watching Romantic Killer, which is about a girl who loves cats, chocolate and video games being forced to live out a het dating sim, basically my nightmare, but it's really sweet with an emphasis on platonic connection and great faces from the female lead. I finished Andor, which was indeed pretty good, probably the meatiest Star Wars thing I've seen. I also finished Bocchi the Rock, very fun little series about a girl with social anxiety with tons of bonkers animations sequences.

Writing wise, I'm slowly getting started on my third draft, mostly adding some new scenes. Line by line editing is my most dreaded part of the process so I'm basically procrastinating. I've been cleaning up the last few scenes as well, and got about 800 words into the sequel. Hey it's not nothing!

I've also been hanging out at the Anifem Discord which has been fun. That's about all! See you next time!