February: shorter than average in day-count, but a big month nonetheless! This month, I got my examination feedback on my PhD thesis and passed with minor revisions! This means I’ve got one last step to complete: going through the draft and making those revisions, line-editing for typos and clarification, and adding a couple more threads of research and citation to the tapestry that is this work.
As you might imagine, I’m stoked with this result. Given that they basically never tell anyone “this was perfect” first try, minor revisions is the highest grade you can get. It’s so rewarding to see all the hard work I (and my supervisors) put into refining this thing be reflected in this feedback. Look forward to updates as I put the actual, honest to goodness final touches on it!
Oh, and happy Pride! I do all my pride-themed blogging in June for better SEO, but Australia’s celebration of queer community and history happens in February.
On the blog
The Rise of Cosy Sci-fi and Fantasy in the Pandemic Era – a tasting platter of some “comfort food” genre fiction that responds directly to the harrowing circumstances of the 2020s.
The PhDiaries, Part 1: This is All Joseph Campbell’s Fault – with the doctorate nearly done, why not take a retrospective trip to how I got here?
AniFem
Anime Feminist’s Top Picks for 2022 – the staff submit their favourites from last year.
2023 Winter Three-Episode Check-in – I weigh in on Endo and Kobayashi Live and “Ippon” Again! as the season progresses.
In the Journal of Popular Romance Studies
Genre-savvy Protagonists in Queer YA Rom-coms – a short (by academic standards, anyway!), free to read article in the journal’s Notes From the Field imprint, adapted from a presentation I gave in late 2021.
Webbed sites
It’s always time to talk about Witch Hat Atelier, in this case the way the manga series uses something as simple and structural as its page layout to create a sense of magic.
“Live-action American anime adaptation” is a phrase that makes me groan, at this point, but these works exist on a sliding scale.
The Reads Rainbow Awards 2022 – results of a popular vote on the year’s queer books.
The Phantom of Ghost Stories: Double Standards in the War on “Localization” – why do the same people who class the gag dub of Ghost Stories as riotously funny turn around and call other adapted scripts “butchering the show”? A nuanced and critical look at the vitriol that often surrounds script changes in English dubs and the many contradictions that can crop up in these discussions.
Ask Alice: Why Don’t Fantasy and Sci-fi Get the Respect They Deserve? – a brief look at some of the issues facing Australian authors trying to publish young adult SFF, and some hopeful comments on the changing shape of the market.
The Transient Queerness of Fruits Basket – for all the things this series does well, it also has a habit of treating gender non-conformity and same-gender attraction as phases its troubled characters will grow out of.
This YA Novel Reinvents the Romcom for an Ace Teen Protagonist – an interview with Haley Neil about her new book and navigating the expectations of queer (and other) representation in a fluffy romance.
Two Clever Princesses, Two Feminist Fairytales: Princess Arete vs The Clever Princess – Patricia Baxter compares a satirical, zany short story with its significantly more sombre, more epic film adaptation, and explores how these differences in tone allow for the story’s feminist themes to come across in different ways.
This month’s song on repeat is a little more mellow than some of my previous ones. Come enjoy it with me:
And that’s a wrap. Take care and I’ll see you again soon!
The Afictionado 