Howdy, folks! Been a while since you've heard from your favorite 29-year-old! I'm doing fine, if "fine" means incontinence panties and compression socks and ongoing eyeball injections and being forced to work on holidays without the incentive of holiday pay and daily crying meltdowns because I'm in so much pain I can barely get in/out of a car! I'm feeling very "Act 3, Scene 1" Mercutio, if you know what I mean!

We've officially reached my favorite time of year, which spans from mid October to mid February! I can finally go outside without my exceedingly Caucasian flesh bursting into flames, hallelujah! I'm sleeping with my fan on and my window wide open, and I couldn't be happier to wake up chilled. I might've been a polar bear in a previous life.

I've been a busy Lyn, getting settled at my new job, which is alright, even if I am by nature an extreme introvert (my Myers-Briggs type is INTJ; my job trainer informed me that I'm "like a serial killer" because I scored high logic and low empathy on my work-style quiz), and being forced to Talk to Humans Nonstop for 8 hours a day is sometimes akin to mental torture. My tally of "customers who've called me a bitch" has already reached the double digits. (I wish they'd think of more creative insults. "You're a bitch"? Yawn. "Your dad still files your taxes for you"? Devastating.) I also got my flu and Covid boosters, as per autumnal tradition.

I haven't bought a car yet. Car payments are expensive! I prefer spending my money on things like fancy ice cream. And latch hook projects. And a †box containing 50 tiny rubber ducks to hide on my coworkers' desks an hour before work starts. You know; important stuff!

Dad and I watched "The Menu" (2022), which I'd heard good things about! And they were warranted... This horror/comedy was great all across the board. Cast, writing, humor, themes, commentary... On the opposite end of the spectrum, we watched "The Meg" (2018) and spent the entire runtime snarking in terrible Australian accents ("It's time to defeat The Meg... With the power of Sexy Aussie!" "Let's Steve Irwin this bitch.") and feeling mildly disappointed when no sharks leapt from the ocean to eat any helicopters. It's exactly what you think it is: dumb blockbuster fun. ................................................. ........................................................ ..............................................

We watched a movie called "Shadow in the Cloud" (2020) that we both loved? I dubbed it "Mad Max: Sky Edition," while Dad thought it was serving "Roosevelt-Era Snakes on a Plane." It was so bizarre and absurd that I kept intending to get up and fix myself a drink while we watched, only to be dragged back into my seat by the next bonkers scene. It starts with an English female fighter pilot in the 1940s boarding a rickety bomber plane full of exceptionally rude and sexist soldiers. She's carrying a package with her and insists that, under no circumstances, should they open it. And then monsters attack. And explosions. And Japanese fighter jets. And crawling around on the outside of flying airplanes. And deceit upon deceit. By the end, Dad and I kept responding to the insanity with "sure, that might as well happen!" "What's next, dinosaurs?!" — I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Before my Netflix membership expired, I watched Nimona (2023). The queer rep was plentiful and the art was pretty. The sci-fi AND fantasy elements were fun (though I would've preferred just fantasy for this particular story), but where it lost me was all the slapstick humor (distracting, unnecessary) and vague worldbuilding. We get hints of an elitist monarchy where only nobles can become knights, and some imperialist flavors to the utopia these characters live in, but I want details! I appreciated the message that an unjust society isn't "just" from one bigoted apple spoiling the bunch. It's the whole system that needs to be ripped apart and rebuilt. I loved our shape-shifting Nimona, and her backstory was the best part of the entire film.

For shows, Dad and I enjoyed "Who is Erin Carter?". I love shows that have only a few episodes to tell a complete story in... Cuts down on unnecessary fluff. This story of a mystery woman who runs away with her young child to Barcelona, only for her violent past to catch up with her some years later, was full of action. I love seeing a mom beating creepy men up with random household appliances! I wasn't necessarily on Erin's side — her blonde nemesis was in the right, not her (Dad disagrees), and I think the ending could've been wrapped up tighter (Dad agrees). Also, it should've been gay. Murder Mommies would've made a way better ending! Make Erin and Lena kiss! (Netflix, hire me.) (I'm kidding.) (Or am I?)

Since I don't want to pay for Netflix or Max anymore, our streaming service options are limited. Thankfully, we get Hulu for "free" with our service provider. Dad pulled up "Only Murders in the Building," which, as someone who hates true crime, I found very charming and funny. A cozy murder mystery full of quirky characters and some very creative filming choices. It felt along the vein of an Agatha Christie novel, only with a hell of a lot more profanity and celebrity cameos. The humor is mostly dry and occasionally — but not very — dark. It's definitely making fun of true crime as a genre. It has heart and genuine chemistry in the odd friendship between two zany geriatrics and a cranky millennial solving a crime together; not for honor, but for the joy of making a podcast about it. We finished season one and are slowly making our way through season two.

I've been playing a ton of "Hogwarts Mystery" on my phone. (I know, I know. JK Rowling is a garbage human who actively and quantifiably hurts the trans community, and I'm a bad ally-slash-not entirely cis person (a cisn't, if you will) for playing this game at all. But did you not read the opening paragraphs of this post? Let me have my stupid little game, please!) Let me live out my Slytherin animagus Mary Sue fantasies. I'm about halfway through the third year right now, but I keep getting distracted by side-quests, so it's slow going. Screenshots include my very cool dorm room, and my character chatting with Chiara, the angsty werewolf girl whom I intend to date when the opportunity presents itself.

I haven't done a ton of reading since starting my new job... It's gotten to the point where I had to lower my 2023 reading goal from 100 books to 95 books. No shame! To quote some of my favorite life-mottos from Tumblr: Cringe culture is dead; kill the cop inside your head; do whatever you want, forever.

I binged my way through the Underland Chronicles. I'd read the first book a few months back, and then once I started book two, I couldn't stop until I read all five. This series is absolutely incredible... Suzanne Collins is a fantastic author who really wrenches my heart around, and I haven't loved a protagonist as much as I love Gregor in a long time. This is a children's series, as opposed to the YA nature of her "Hunger Games" books, but a lot of the themes remain the same: poverty, corrupted government, the price of war, strong sibling relationships... The Holocaust and antisemitism metaphor is extremely blatant, and I wouldn't recommend children who are easily frightened read this, once we've got mice being rounded up and gassed to death by the thousands... It's extremely upsetting. Which, it should be! It's important to teach children, and to do anything to lighten the weight of this atrocity would be extremely disrespectful... But it is a lot, I will confess. Still, I adored these books, even if they did make me cry several times. Highly recommend, and the next time someone scoffs at you for reading "kid's books," feel free to smack them for me.

When You Wish Upon a Star is one of two new Elizabeth Lim books to come out this year. Thing Two and I enjoyed her writing in "Six Crimson Cranes," though not so much in its sequel, so I was excited to see that Disney hired her to write a version of Pinocchio from the perspective of the blue fairy. (Apparently "Twisted Tales" are a whole thing from Disney; who knew?!) We delve into the blue fairy's surprisingly human origins as a baker's daughter in 19th century Italy, where ships are frequently capsized by a monstrous whale. Because Chiara is so Good and Kind, she's given the opportunity to become a fairy, much to her jealous sister's dismay. Her fairy training, her sibling rivalry, and her friendship with sweet young Geppetto made up the majority of this book. To call it "good" would be a stretch, but as far as highly manufactured Disney fanfiction goes, it wasn't the worst.

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate — Kathy Apples, my beloved! I loved this. It's a children's book based on the true story of a gorilla kept at a mall as an attraction. There are two other books in this series, so I plan to get my hands on them, soon. Kathy Apples once again wages war on my poor emotions by telling an animal's perspective of living in captivity, in poor conditions, by abusive humans. Yet it was beautiful, too, as Ivan struggles to the best of his gorilla abilities to free himself and the baby elephant who lives in the cage next to his. It really is interesting to see the steps we've taken in our understanding of animal welfare, but it's also awful to realize how bad we used to be, and how far we have to go. Still, it's very important to acknowledge these things, and especially to get kids thinking about it.

What's this? A book for adults?! Who even am I! Rabbits for Food by Binnie Kirshenbaum is exactly the kind of contemporary lit that I like: depressing and existential. It's about a middle-aged author who, in 2008, finds herself in a mental health facility due to lifelong crippling depression. It's told piecemeal and non-linear, in very short chapters that show snippets of her unfulfilling life and shallow relationships before and during her stay. It's grim and listless, and I very much vibe with that. The chapter about Bunny's struggle to find a tolerable psychiatrist hit very close to home. (The horror stories I could tell you... I don't particularly like my current psychiatrist, but he never touches or stalks me, he's chill with over-the-phone appointments and mail-service med delivery, and he found a cocktail of drugs that actually works on me, so I'm clinging to him with both hands.) Not everyone would like this, but it's my cup of tea; especially that unsettling conclusion.

So, years ago, I started watching Attack on Titan, just like most anime nerds. It was intense and dark and epic... But it annoyed me due to all the "WHAT A TWIST!" and "find out what's going on... NEXT SEASON!" cliffhangers. I don't have the patience for that crap! So I told myself I'd let it go until all was finished, and THEN I would resume — and that time is now. The manga and anime are completed and I'm free to binge. Of course, the mangaka Hajime Isayama has since gotten himself into hot water by denying Japanese war crimes on Twitter (can we all just agree not to use Twitter anymore? It's a cesspool), and some fans are reading antisemitic and fascist undertones in AOT's themes, so that's... Unfortunate. But my e-library has all 33 volumes in stock, so I'll see for myself what the fuss is about. The beginning is well-crafted; it's a detailed tragedy about the last vestiges of humanity hiding from human-eating giants, all seen from a child's eyes.

Happy Sugar Life by Tomiyaki Kagisora is, despite the cutesy title and art style, a delightfully twisted horror series wherein the main character is a kidnapper, a murderer, and (probably) a pedophile... And yet she remains one of the most sympathetic characters in a cast full of batshit insane people. There is no subtlety in this series, and all of the characters are extremely shallow. The fun of it comes from the depravity, and (somewhat) from wish fulfillment. Does your boss try to cut your wages? Threaten her! Is your teacher a pervert? Threaten him, too! Did some random thugs harass the child you kidnapped? Just gouge their eyes out. Never mind that they're two larger boys and you're a tiny teenage girl with no self defense training; the plot wants you to be a competent serial killer, and so you are one. Some might call this series a guilty pleasure, but I don't believe in feeling guilt over pleasure, so I'll just say that I enjoyed this trashy mess for exactly what it was. Not everything has to be high-brow art. (If you want a brief summation of the plot, though, it's about a high-school student who kidnaps a little girl, whom she insists she is in love with, and the depths she'll sink to keep her.)

Still chugging my way through Kohei Horikoshi's My Hero Academia manga! I've finished volumes 22-25 (of 38, so far, although my library only has up to 34... Hopefully they acquire the rest when it's translated into English, because I'd be very annoyed if I had to spend actual money on it) and I'm all caught up on the anime until the next season drops. Some of my favorite volumes were in this batch... I loved when it became "my villain academia" and focused entirely on the villains for several chapters. The league of villains are my favorite characters in this series! I love when villains are sympathetic; when they love each other; when they have backstories that explain WHY they became villains in the first place, and how some of them aren't so different from the so-called heroes... In fact, one of the reasons I put the series down for so long was because they started killing the villains off, and I didn't want to see any more of my faves die. But I guess it's okay... In my fanfics, they're alive and well.

I probably won't have anywhere else to talk about this, since I don't think I'll write a December wrap-up, but eeee, the fourth Animorphs graphic novel is coming out in four days, and I'm the first in line to get it from my e-library. Yay, yay!!!

† Lest you think I was kidding about the duck thing, here's a picture of my duck friends. I referred to the task as "Operation: Sneaky Squeaky" and it was such a rousing success that Dad bought some of his own to beduck (duckorate? Dúckoupage?) his office, too.