Last month was a whirlwind for me because I completed NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month, where you write a 50,000 word book in 30 days), took a vacation to Las Vegas, and started playing Bethesda’s new super-big, open-world game Fallout 4.

Now I’m happy to say things are slowing down. I’ll still be exploring Fallout 4, and trying to finish Batman: Arkham Knight and Rise of the Tomb Raider over my holiday break.

My favorite thing last month was Jessica Jones, the new Netflix Marvel series. While I also liked the Netflix show Daredevil, I enjoyed Jessica Jones a lot more. The big reason is that it runs in a similar vein to Lost Girl and Gilmore Girls for me — all three shows featuring a sarcastic, somewhat messed up woman as the lead, who is dealing as much with her own personal issues as with the heroic plot. I love the witty dialogue and solid emotional foundation to the show. It also feels more like a private investigator drama than a superhero one, since that’s how the character spends most of her time. That’s pretty refreshing. You can read how I compare it to noir here.

Also, after being bugged by a couple of Doctor Who fans for not watching any episodes with the new Doctor yet (I know, he’s not even “new” anymore), I’m hoping to catch up on the new seasons while I’m on winter break. As long as I’m not too obsessed with the new Tomb Raider. We’ll see.

— Ashley