Ron Does Stuff

Nobody’s asking, but there wasn’t any editions of this during the whole month of October because I had the Sunday shift for my job and it was pretty hectic! I honestly just couldn’t, so I didn’t, but now it’s back!

Alan Moore’s thoughts on toxic fandom

Alan Moore said it himself in this piece for The Guardian — he’s a “a furious, unfathomable hermit”. And this furious, unfathomable hermit is saying a lot of things I agree with in this essay about how the emotionally arrested factions of fandom have made life outside of their obsessions toxic. Give it a read!

‘Brat’ is Word of the Year

Around three weeks ago I was actually near the “brat” wall in Katipunan but couldn’t find the time to take a photo beside it. Maybe I should have found the time because Collins Dictionary has just named it Word of the Year.

According to the dictionary, the word is now newly defined as “characterized by a confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude” and described by the dictionary as “a cultural phenomenon that has resonated with people globally”.

‘Wolf Hall’ director talks Hilary Mantel

Full disclosure: I haven’t read any of the Wolf Hall books or watched any of the adaptations. I’ve heard of them! That said, I did find this interview with Peter Kosminsky, the director of the adaptations, touching because he eventually became friends with Hilary Mantel over the years and maybe I’m just sappy in my old age but it’s so sad to read about him missing her since she passed back in 2022.

Taylor Jenkins Read’s new book

Here’s another author whose books I haven’t read but I know is incredibly popular. People reports that Taylor Jenkins Reid is set to release her new book Atmosphere on June 3, 2025.

Here’s what the book is about, according to People: “The protagonist in the new book, Joan Goodwin, is an astronomer and astronaut who works at NASA’s Houston Mission Control Center. Joan, who remains on Earth to communicate with those in space, must think quickly on her feet when the spacecraft carrying her love interest incurs danger.”