I haven't posted in a while, mostly because there isn't all that much to talk about. Mostly, I've fallen back into Anime in a big way. As of this morning, I've watched 180 episodes of it in 2020 so far. On Twitter I've been keeping a running tab of the shows I've finished/caught up on, and the tally so far includes Ascendance of a Bookworm, Golden Kamuy, Fruits Basket, Attack on Titan, Sword Art Online, Banana Fish, and Given, and this week I've been making my way through Dr. Stone. It's been actual years since I've consumed it in this volume where I didn't have to schedule it and make myself watch it. There's an element of it this time around as I make a point to watch it while exercising, but it doesn't feel like I'm making myself do it as a chore. I'm really excited to knock out some shows I've been putting off for actual years. I've yet to see Weathering with You though, which is a massive personal failure on all fronts tbh.

I've tapered back on picking up new live action shows for the most part, but I have been slowly binging the new season of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and keeping up week-to-week with my usual shows like Doctor Who, Supernatural, Legacies, and The Good Place. Doctor Who in particular has been a journey this season as it's ranged from the mediocre (Orphan 55) to the fantastic (Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror) to the "they're throwing so much stuff at us I can't keep up (Fugitive of the Judoon). I think this'll be a pretty definitive season for the Thirteenth Doctor's era, and I'm really excited to see how it all ultimately shakes out. I have my theories but I'm not married or beholden to them in a way that could really disappoint me, but I am holding out a sliver of hope that this could be setting the stage for the circumstances that the Valeyard emerges from (even though I haven't gotten to the Sixth Doctor yet, I have a cursory understanding of that lore). I also think if we're ever going to get another season of a spinoff I will not name here, it'll be announced within the next couple of months. Because actors age and there are only so many opportunities in this franchise that sometimes feels like a ticking clock.

As an aside, I started watching The Outpost as well on a whim. It's one of those syndicated fantasy shows produced for international audiences and hidden away somewhere obscure in American broadcasting - in this case, summers on The CW. I'd always been kind of curious about it since the premise seemed kind of fun, and I have to say I've really been enjoying it. I'd been a while since I indulged in low budget scifi/fantasy outside of Doctor Who, and it kind of makes me feel nostalgic. It also really makes me want to play Dungeons and Dragons again, since it kind of has the vibe of a lovingly created solo campaign. There's definitely a layer of cheese, but none of the actors feel like they're above it and the enthusiasm really translates on screen. I'm only pissed I got into it right as the CW seems to have yanked the free streams of season 2 off their website, which means I'm probably going to have to pay money to watch it on Amazon Prime (which is where I've been watching the first season for free through IMDb TV).

I haven't done any writing this month, and I'm content to take a break for a little while longer to fully recharge. I've been making my way through Sword of Destiny, the second short story collection for The Witcher, at a slower pace than I would like since I really want to watch the show. Hopefully I'll be able to have it done this week and I'll have watched it before I'm surrounded by other nerds at Katsucon. (And speaking of cons, I found this nifty website tool where I've been able to catalog every con I've ever attended, which is super neat and useful.)

But yeah, I've been able to keep myself busy that's been pretty effective in starving off bad vibes from a certain franchise fall-out and the dreariness of winter. Hoping I can keep this energy going for February as well.