#like I get it he's a con man but even the protagonists generally dislike him and he really didn't do anything bad to them at all

[heartfullofscience]

I get why people often headcanon sampo as very promiscuous like I get where they're coming from but personally I just think the man is absolutely rizzless. Idk I think it's a combination of the disproportionately negative attitude of pretty much everyone towards him and just his general way of talking. I just think he'd go up to someone and say some cheesy ass pickup line and they'd promptly kick him in the balls

[thesublemon]

planning ≠ coherence

I talk a big game about liking coherence in art, and it’s probably clear that I have an apophenic tendency to enjoy textual interpretation. And this might lead people to think that I have a preference for carefully planned and plotted art, or that I look down on the messy and improvisational. But this is actually almost the opposite of the case. Not because I don’t really like coherence, but because artistic coherence is something more complicated than planning, and isn’t even necessarily possible to achieve with planning.

The thing about improvisation, is that at its best it’s about finding the choice that feels right. I listen to jazz more than any other kind of music, and one of the reasons I like it so much is the exhilaration of someone landing on a musical idea that simultaneously makes a song feel bigger and more complete. A solo isn’t fun if it’s just a bunch of disconnected ideas (similar to how whimsy isn’t fun if it doesn’t also “work”). It’s fun if it picks up on the things that the other players are doing, or ideas that showed up earlier in the song, and then makes them feel like they go together. Even if they “go together” in the sense of being coherently discordant, eg repeating ideas that don’t work multiple times. If beauty is fit, then the joy of improv is finding fit in unexpected places.

This goes for narrative too. In long-running stories like comics, book series, and TV shows, much is often made about whether certain choices were planned from the beginning. If things were planned, that’s a reason for praise, and if things weren’t planned, that’s a reason for derision, either towards the showrunners or towards people attempting to interpret the work. Say, “This plot point only happened because an actor wanted to leave the show. Therefore it has no meaning to read into.” But making things up as one goes is not what makes a story lose its plot, so to speak. Making things up is only a problem if the things the artist makes up don’t go with what came before.

In Impro, a very excellent book about the craft of improvisation, Keith Johnstone calls this process of making-things-go-with-what-came-before “re-incorporation”:

The improviser has to be like a man walking backwards. He sees where he has been, but he pays no attention to the future. His story can take him anywhere, but he must still ‘balance’ it, and give it shape, by remembering incidents that have been shelved and reincorporating them.

Johnstone is big on the idea that satisfying narrative depends on a sense of structure, and that reincorporation is one of the most important tactics for creating structure. To paraphrase him, a story where a character runs away from a bear, swims across lake, and finds a woman in a cabin on the other side, and “makes passionate love” to her has no structure. It’s just a series of events. Whereas if the bear then knocks the cabin’s door down and the woman cries out that it’s her lover, then suddenly it feels like a story. Because not only has the bear been reincorporated, it has been linked to the woman. From this perspective, if a story has no sense of reincorporation, or new developments don’t make sense with what came before, then it will feel incoherent, no matter how planned out it was.

I also keep thinking about Paul Bouissac’s discussion of gags and narrative in The Semiotics of Clowns and Clowning. He explains that what makes a scene funny is not whether it strings a bunch of gags together, but how those gags are organized. To use an example from the book, it’s one thing for a clown to pretend to hurt its thumb, and ask for an audience member to kiss it. It’s another thing for it to keep hurting different parts and then finally hurt its groin and act scandalized at the idea that someone might kiss it. Bouissac calls this sort of repetition “anaphor”:

Anaphor is one of the main tools of textual consistency. In linguistics, it designates the use of pronouns or any other indexical units to refer back to another word or phrase in the text. It links together parts of sentences and bridges the grammatical gaps between clauses, which is a consequence of the linearity of language. In rhetoric, anaphors are repetitions of words or structures that build up the cohesion of discourse and create momentum toward a climax. In multimodal communication, words, gestures, objects, or musical tunes can play the same role by reminding the receiver—that is, the spectator in the case of a performance—of signs and events produced earlier in the act.

One of the things that fascinated me about Farscape as a teenager, was that in contrast to other scifi of the time, it made no pretenses of having been planned—unlike say, Babylon 5. Or even shows like The X-Files, Lost, or Battlestar Galactica that gave you the “feeling” of a plan whether or not they had one, or were capable of following through. Farscape felt incredibly coherent, both in terms of theme and plot, but this coherence came about purely on the strength of the writing’s ability to ideate and then reincorporate. It would take someone’s weird costume idea, like the villain having glowing rods that screw inside his head, and snowball that into a whole storyline where the villain is a half breed of one hot-blooded race and one cold-blooded race, and can only stay alive by thermo-regulating the inside of his brain. And then decide that his vendetta against the hot-blooded race has motivated his obsession with the protagonist since the first season. Yet these twists never feel like “ret-conning” in a pejorative sense, because it all feels narratively and thematically sensible. (Unsurprisingly, making the show was described as “more like improv jazz than plotting out a symphony”).

None of which is to say that I dislike planning or polish, either. Stephen King, as a so-called “discovery” writer, famously writes off the cuff, without outlines. As he puts it in On Writing:

You may wonder where plot is in all this. The answer—my answer, anyway—is nowhere. I won’t try to convince you that I’ve never plotted any more than I’d try to convince you that I’ve never told a lie, but I do both as infrequently as possible. I distrust plot for two reasons: first, because our lives are largely plotless, even when you add in all our reasonable precautions and careful planning; and second, because I believe plotting and the spontaneity of real creation aren’t compatible. It’s best that I be as clear about this as I can—I want you to understand that my basic belief about the making of stories is that they pretty much make themselves. The job of the writer is to give them a place to grow (and to transcribe them, of course).

But his best stories feel like whatever bloat might have been generated from this narrative improvisation has then been pared down to what that improvisation was really getting at. And I can’t lie, I get a particular joy from reading or watching something and feeling without a doubt that the artist is in complete control of my experience. It was one of the most gratifying aspects of rewatching The Wire recently: the feeling that the little meanings and foreshadowings I was seeing in each choice were almost certainly intended. Nothing is more satisfying to an apopheniac than feeling like the patterns you see are actually real. And nothing is more annoying than a story that tries to pull some sort of reveal on you (“Dan is gossip girl!” “Angel is Twilight!” “Rey is a Palpatine!”) that doesn’t make any sense because it wasn’t intended from the beginning. Just because those characters existed in the story before, doesn’t make it good reincorporation. So if a story is a story because of structure, then if the choice is between a planned structure and no structure, the former is almost certainly going to be better.

Point is, it’s not really the process that matters. All creativity is improvisational in a sense, because all creativity involves making things up. What matters is how dedicated an artist is to the integrity of their work. If a writer has carefully planned their whole story out, with every twist and every theme clearly in mind, but can’t adapt if they start writing and find out that something they planned doesn’t actually work, that’s one kind of failure mode. The narrative equivalent of designing a perfect castle and then building it on a swamp. On the other hand, if a writer tries to go with the flow, but can’t reincorporate that flow, then that will be another failure mode. To the extent that I respond to improvisational art, it’s because improvisational art is often more attuned to these questions of whether something is moment-to-moment right. But what matters, above all, is the rightness. That’s what defines coherence. Whether there is a sense in the work that it is oriented around something, and whether the choices contribute to that something.

[liliaeth]

Dutch Comic Con meet and greet

I’d been delaying this one, sorry about that, I’ve had way too little time. I’ve been way too busy with overtime at work.

But since it’s weekend, and almost a week since the con.

Now I’ve already made a post on the Q&A (here), though I forgot to mention one or two things, like how Tyler was asked if he’d had a choice, which character other than Scott, that he would have wanted to play on Teen Wolf.

Answer being Derek ;-)

He also talked about what a great dramatic actor he thought Dylan was, and how the two of them are still friends. That often they separate themselves from a crowd just to talk and share what they’ve been going through.

One of the things I noticed about the Q&A is what a natural entertainer Tyler is. He never sits still, and he keeps everything lighthearted and fun. Or how he meandered on the inspiration question.

Now admittedly, my memory is killing me, and I keep mixing up things he said in the Q&A and the meet and greet, so my apologies in advance if I do so. It’s why I probably should have made this post sooner, but ah well..

Now on to the meet and greet.

I’ll admit, I’d never before done one of those. So since I didn’t know what to expect, I’d looked things up online. I figured it’d be a line and getting to talk to him for a moment and then he’d move on to the next. (that actually ended up being the autograph line)

What it really was, is that we were taken to a separate private room near the VIP area. A place with nice comfy seats and one chair in the middle. And then a crew member told us the rules, you know, no taking pictures, no getting out your phone to record anything,  no asking questions about Tyler’s personal life, that if the convo got stuck, she’d try and help it get going again. Things like that. And then they brought Tyler in, and we got to talk to him for half an hour, no interruptions...

This would have already been amazing under normal circumstances. Normally these things are for about twenty people, But as I mentioned in my previous post... Tyler had only been announced five days before the con.

Now keep in mind that the tickets for these cost 200€.

That’s not a small amount for anyone to find, esp. in less than a week to think it over. Or with people who do have the money, finding the time to come to Utrecht for it, and be at the con. (and there were two of those meet and greets a day on a two day con)

End result being, there were two of us who’d paid for those tickets in the room with Tyler.

Me and bohentastic (she mentioned it on her twitter, not sure if she has a tumblr)

Now she’s apparantly more used to these things, but as I said, this was the first time I ever took part in one of those meet and greets (and honestly there’s currently only two people I’d pay that kind of money for, Tyler Posey, and Jensen Ackles), so I was nervous as hell, and when I get nervous I get talky, often embarrassingly so.

(which is why I was grateful that there was at least one other person, so I didn’t scare off poor Tyler entirely ;-) )

Now Bohentastic was wearing a shirt from a band called WSTR. I didn’t know the band before, but the fact she wore that shirt, had Tyler totally excited cause he loves that band. (she pretty much made his day)

he’d already started singing one of their songs for her at the autograph line, though at the time he didn’t quite get it right yet.

aka this song:

(which really makes me want to make a teen wolf vid with it, but that left aside)

Thankfully he’s used to people like me being over the top nervous.

Anyway, one of us, not sure if it was me or Bohentastic asked about his new music, since Five North currently has only one song out. And he let us listen two two of the bands unreleased songs that he was really excited about, and that should get released soon.

I got to say, I liked those songs better than I did the PVMNTS ones. But that might be my taste in music. And I can’t wait for them to be released :-)

He also talked about why he left PVMNTS, said that it was a disagreement on what they wanted out of the band. He wanted to try new things, and his friends disagreed, and there was a constant ‘no’ going on, whenever he suggested doing something other than the style the band already had.

With the new band he gets to experiment more, try new things, new styles, and from what I got to hear of the songs, they’re definitely worth it.

Now before the meeting, I kept reminding myself, ‘do not talk about my dislike of Stiles’, so of course, after two days of telling myself this, I of course just had to mention that I’m one of the few people in fandom that  utterly can’t stand Stiles... (sometimes my mouth is faster than my brain, or common sense)

He found it amusing and when I said it’s cause Stiles irritates the hell out of me, he told me that Dylan would apparently love that. (I leave it to you to take it as him amusing me on that one ;-) )

I mentioned some of my views on the show, mostly why I love Scott, how unique I feel that Scott is. And how different Scott is from your average protagonist.

See, most protagonists are pretty generic, they’re generally characters like Derek, or the every man like Stiles. They fit stereotypical tropes, and you see them in every show out there.  (aka the broody guy or the sarcastic funny guy)

Scott’s not like that. Scott is kind, determined sure, but he listens to others. (he just doesn’t always do what people tell him to when he disagrees with what they want to do (esp to others)) Also Scott utterly and totally lacks toxic masculinity.

Scott doesn’t try to control others, he’s not brave for the sake of being brave, and his focus is on healing, taking care of others, rather than on violence or taking out the bad guys. He likes to talk things out instead of fight whenever possible.

And chars like that are far too rare, especially in today’s climate.

I was just glad that I was able to tell Tyler this, and that he at least seemed to love that I actually got what they were trying to go for with Scott on the show. 

We also talked on how dark s1 is and how it compared to s3b (ever notice how Scott in s1 goes through many of the same things Stiles goes through in 3b)

Bohentastic asked him about his tattoos, and he gave us a better look of them. And he talked about how he has a fave tattoo artist, and how he basically picks them based on what he likes, instead of trying to give meaning to every single tattoo. And how sometimes one spot will remain empty till he gets a new one. he also mentioned how they hurt, esp. apparantly ones on the wrist :-)

For the record, yes I talked too much, and I did try and check to make sure I wasn’t saying too much, cause I’m well aware of how over the top talky I get when nervous. Seems like Bohentastic has the opposite problem and talks less when nervous, after mentioning that, Tyler actually went to lie on the floor to make us less nervous, he’s so damn sweet.

I mentioned that I’m primarily a sceo and scerek shipper, and you know every other Scott ship, and he said he was all for it. My guess is that he’d have been all for bi Scott. Too bad the show didn’t go for it.

He also mentioned still being in touch with Gideon Emery, who played Deucalion, which awesome. (sceucalion is so one of my fave crack ships)

He would love to have had more scenes with Cody in s6b, though he did like the scenes between Cody and Dylan Sprayberry. (which he brought up with no prompt of mine) There was a short moment there, where he talked how Dylan was only 14 when he joined the cast, I said i thought he was 15, but I’m sure he knows better, since you know, he actually knows the guy.

We also talked on how the show was divided in 3a, 3b, 5a, 5b, 6a and 6b, so the producers didn’t have to pay the actors more. Cause now they were basically paid for six seasons, instead of the nine that we actually got.

He talked about Lost Boys, I mentioned how I was sorry it didn’t go to series, since I’d been interested in it, and it turns out he was actually not too happy with it. Seems like he felt the script was cheesy, he was told it was going to be funny though, since he gave it his best shot, but in the end, he felt he really didn’t want to play the character. So for him the fact it didn’t go to series was actually a good thing.

He also talked about ‘Alone’.  And how since there were so few actors on set, he wanted to make sure he wasn’t being an asshole on the set, cause if he had been, the entire mood on set would have sucked;

His new band will apparently also be touring in Europe, I mentioned hoping they’d come to Belgium as well, he said they might :-)

Probably missing a few things here, might add those later, but yeah, that was probably one of the best half hours of my life.

And not just because Tyler is even hotter in real life than he already is onscreen,and is the nicest guy ever.

Or because I get another two, or three hugs out of that meeting.

Or that he tried to sing that song again, and this time got it right, which he was so damn happy and excited about. I might have to listen to more of that band’s songs, since Tyler’s love for their music is infectious :-)

[thefloatingstone]

Somebody asked me for some anime recs. I asked them what kind of genres they’re into but I’m not getting a reply, so here are just some general recommendations for good stuff to watch.

I assume they meant new anime so I’m only focusing on those.

Made in Abyss (2017) (warning for Body horror, violence and gore)

The Abyss—a gaping chasm stretching down into the depths of the earth, filled with mysterious creatures and relics from a time long past. How did it come to be? What lies at the bottom? Countless brave individuals, known as Divers, have sought to solve these mysteries of the Abyss, fearlessly descending into its darkest realms. The best and bravest of the Divers, the White Whistles, are hailed as legends by those who remain on the surface.

Riko, daughter of the missing White Whistle Lyza the Annihilator, aspires to become like her mother and explore the furthest reaches of the Abyss. However, just a novice Red Whistle herself, she is only permitted to roam its most upper layer. Even so, Riko has a chance encounter with a mysterious robot with the appearance of an ordinary young boy. She comes to name him Reg, and he has no recollection of the events preceding his discovery. Certain that the technology to create Reg must come from deep within the Abyss, the two decide to venture forth into the chasm to recover his memories and see the bottom of the great pit with their own eyes. However, they know not of the harsh reality that is the true existence of the Abyss.

Pros:

Ghibli artists working on the backgrounds and environments

likeable characters

crushing atmosphere

incredible world building

Really compelling mysteries

Very emotional

Cons:

The manga its based on has a lot of lolicon bullshit. But the anime has doneits best to either remove or downplay those elements as childhood innocence rather than the author being a creep

Ends without clear answers as we have to wait for season 2

Not for you if you dislike violence or body horror

That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime (2018)

Thirty-seven-year-old Satoru Mikami is a typical corporate worker, who is perfectly content with his monotonous lifestyle in Tokyo. In the midst of a casual encounter with his colleague, a knife weilding maniac attacks them. Satoru, in shielding his co-worker and his co-worker’s new girlfriend, is fatally stabbed, and dies.

And then he wakes up again. But now, in the body of a blob of slime. In doing so, he acquires newfound skills—notably, the power to devour anything and mimic its appearance and abilities. He then stumbles upon the sealed Catastrophe-level monster "Storm Dragon" Veldora who had been sealed away for the past 300 years for devastating a town to ashes. Sympathetic to his predicament, Satoru befriends him, promising to assist in destroying the seal. In return, Verudora bestows upon him the name Rimuru Tempest to grant him divine protection.

With a goal now, the newly named Rimuru sets out to explore this fantasy world, stumbling into situations where other people need help, and since finding ways to live peacefully is much less hassle, Rimuru does his best to settle conflicts and help people to get along. Mostly because he’s got nothing better to do.

Pros:

Likeable, chilled out protagonist who acts and behaves like an adult

Not the average wish-fullfilment harem-in-disguise type stuff you expect from the average Isekai show

Characters focusing on trying to help each other and be kind without coming across as cheesy or unrealistic

Fun powers and “how are you gonna fix this mess?” situations

Cons:

occasional anime tiddy

Mob Psycho 100 (2016) (If you’ve seen season 1 already then watch season 2)

An Eighth-grader Shigeo "Mob" Kageyama is possibly the most powerful psychic on earth. Which is the only thing he has going for him which, in his opinion, isn’t much. Due to his powers going crazy if he gets overwhelmed by his emotions, Mob has spent his life suppressing his feelings, both negative and positive. As a result, however, Mob is an extremely socially awkward and shy person who struggles to connect to people.

The story follows Mob as he tries to find ways to better himself as a person, aided by the fake psychic Reigen who both uses Mob’s real psychic powers to exorcise ghosts, but also uses his fake con-man skill of charming people and being a smooth talker to help people fix their problems rather than have them rely on a psychic for help. He also acts as a mentor to Mob, not on how to be a better psychic, but on how to mature into a good, capable person. Because according to Reigen “Having psychic powers is just a skill. Some people can run fast, some people can can sing well, some people are good at studying, some people are funny, and some people have psychic powers.”

Now if only the assortment of Cult leaders, Ghosts, Secret organizations and Powerful psychics trying to take over the world could leave him alone.

Pros:

A subversion of the “I must get stronger!” shounen story where the character is already the strongest and needs to focus on being a better person instead.

Probably the best animated show to come out in years

Good uplifting morals

A wacky off-beat art style and sense of humour

Genuinely complex and 3 dimensional characters who are likeable

Really relatable in many ways

Cons:

I can’t think of any tbh

Then we have anime I have on my “to watch” list and come highly recommended but I haven’t seen yet. But I want to recommend them anyway

A Place Further Than The Universe  (2018)

a “Cute Girls Doing Cute Things” show.

Filled with an overwhelming sense of wonder for the world around her, Mari Tamaki has always dreamt of what lies beyond the reaches of the universe. However, despite harboring such large aspirations on the inside, her fear of the unknown and anxiety over her own possible limitations have always held her back from chasing them. But now, in her second year of high school, Mari is more determined than ever to not let any more of her youth go to waste. Still, her fear continues to prevent her from taking that ambitious step forward—that is, until she has a chance encounter with a girl who has grand dreams of her own. Spurred by her mother's disappearance, Shirase Kobuchizawa has been working hard to fund her trip to Antarctica. Despite facing doubt and ridicule from virtually everyone, Shirase is determined to embark on this expedition to search for her mother in a place further than the universe itself. Inspired by Shirase's resolve, Mari jumps at the chance to join her. Soon, their efforts attract the attention of the bubbly Hinata Miyake, who is eager to stand out, and Yuzuki Shiraishi, a polite girl from a high class background. Together, they set sail toward the frozen south.

The Promised Neverland (2019) (warning for violence and gore)

Surrounded by a forest and a gated entrance, the Grace Field House is inhabited by orphans happily living together as one big family, looked after by their "Mama," Isabella. Although they are required to take tests daily, the children are free to spend their time as they see fit, usually playing outside, as long as they do not venture too far from the orphanage—a rule they are expected to follow no matter what. However, all good times must come to an end, as every few months, a child is adopted and sent to live with their new family... never to be heard from again. However, the three oldest siblings have their suspicions about what is actually happening at the orphanage, and they are about to discover the cruel fate that awaits the children living at Grace Field, including the twisted nature of their beloved Mama.

Zombieland Saga (2018)

There’s a good chance you might have heard or seen this one floating around tumblr as its one of the really big, really popular anime to have come out that features a trans main character written and presented in a positive light.

Zombieland Saga is both a satirical parody of Idol anime, a complete embracing of what makes idol anime enjoyable, and a criticism of how the Idol industry treat women and young girls. A lot of the girls in the idol group are the complete opposite of what is considered a “good Idol” from one girl being trans, one girl having been an Oiran many many years ago (a historic proffession for women where they play instruments, perform tea ceremonies and entertain paying guests. As well as being very high class prostitutes) as well as debating and comparing the ideal of an Idol as they were seen in the 80s versus the modern interpretation.

Zombieland Saga is at both times the complete antithesis of everything an Idol anime should be, while also being one of the best examples of the genre at the same time. It also features really well written characters with emotional depth and arcs to them and boasts a lot of good humour to boot.

Yuru Camp△  (2018)

Another “Cute Girls Doing Cute things” anime

While the perfect getaway for most girls her age might be a fancy vacation with their loved ones, Rin Shima's ideal way of spending her days off is camping alone at the base of Mount Fuji. From pitching her tent to gathering firewood, she has always done everything by herself, and has no plans of leaving her little solitary world. However, what starts off as one of Rin's usual camping sessions somehow ends up as a surprise get-together for two when the lost Nadeshiko Kagamihara is forced to take refuge at her campsite. Originally intending to see the picturesque view of Mount Fuji for herself, Nadeshiko's plans are disrupted when she ends up falling asleep partway to her destination. Alone and with no other choice, she seeks help from the only other person nearby. Despite their hasty introductions, the two girls nevertheless enjoy the chilly night together, eating ramen and conversing while the campfire keeps them warm. And even after Nadeshiko's sister finally picks her up later that night, both girls silently ponder the possibility of another camping trip together.

Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai (2018)

You’re gonna look at this gif and that title and think this is some Light-Novel sexy fantasy wish fullfillment bullshit, but I absolutely assure you it’s not.

The rare and inexplicable Puberty Syndrome is thought of as a myth. It is a rare disease which only affects teenagers, and its symptoms are so supernatural that hardly anyone recognizes it as a legitimate occurrence. However, high school student Sakuta Azusagawa knows from personal experience that it is very much real, and happens to be quite prevalent in his school. Mai Sakurajima is a third-year high school student who gained fame in her youth as a child actress, but recently halted her promising career for reasons unknown to the public. With an air of unapproachability, she is well known throughout the school, but none dare interact with her—that is until Sakuta sees her wandering the library in a bunny girl costume. Despite the getup, no one seems to notice her, and after confronting her, he realizes that she is another victim of Puberty Syndrome. Mai’s unapproachability and air of not wanting to interact with people has manifested that it is now borderline impossible for people to physically notice her. Or in some cases see her at all. As Sakuta tries to help Mai through her predicament, his actions bring him into contact with more girls afflicted with the elusive disease.

Bunny Girl Senpai is an anime that deals with Societal pressures, especially as they apply to teenagers, as well as being a criticism of the Japanese mentality of “not rocking the boat” and in dutifully conforming and falling in line with what society dictates is “proper behavior”. It has the running theme that this mentality of just accepting the way things are and not doing anything to change it is unhealthy, and does more harm than good.

Dororo (2019) (warning for violence and Gore)

A samurai lord has bartered away his newborn son's organs to forty-eight demons in exchange for dominance on the battlefield. Yet, the abandoned infant survives thanks to a medicine man who equips him with primitive prosthetics—lethal ones with which the wronged son will use to hunt down the multitude of demons to reclaim his body one piece at a time, before confronting his father. On his journeys the young hero encounters an orphan who claims to be the greatest thief in Japan. 

An anime adaptation of one of Osamu Tezuka’s manga, but deciding to go for an updated, darker art style to match its mature tone.

Dororo is currently still airing but so far reviews are extremely high.

Anyway I hope those are enough to give you at least one new show to check out.

[mermaidsirennikita]

June 2017 Book Roundup

This month, I read thirteen books, some of which were total disappointments, one of which really surprised me, and one of which was easily among the best followups I’ve read in a while.  That was my favorite book of the month, Kiersten White’s Now I Rise, the second in her Conqueror’s Saga.  As that is a sequel and definitely requires reading of the first book, And I Darken, I also want to recommend The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid.  A sweeping historical fiction novel, it tells the tale of a glamorous Hollywood icon with plenty of secrets, and showcases a unique romance that surprised me--but also made me very happy.  Hopefully, I’ll find something just as good next month!

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas.  4/5.  When Starr and her childhood friend Khalil are pulled over by a cop, the worst happens: the unarmed--innocent--Khalil is killed.  Starr is the only witness, and she’s torn in several different directions.  Her parents are worried about her safety, and her father’s gangster past makes things a bit more complicated; protesters want Starr to come forward and defend Khalil, who is being labeled a drug dealer and a “thug” by the media; and Starr herself goes to a predominantly white private school, and isn’t sure what her friends would think.  Obviously, “The Hate U Give” deals with a lot of content that I as a white girl really can’t properly comment on, and that’s one of the reasons why I gave it four out of five stars--I can’t speak to its accuracy.  But from what I’ve heard from friends who can, it’s viewed very positively, and it seems to reflect much of what we see in cases involved unarmed black men being shot by cops--with a personal spin.  Starr is a deeply relatable, human character.  I felt empathy for her, while at the same time not feeling like she was too perfect.  The story is written so lovingly, and Starr’s entire family felt like people I would actually meet.  The conflict of the book isn’t just surrounding the main plot, but Starr’s parents’ differing views on what their children need, and Starr’s father’s past. Starr’s dad, Mav, was a GREAT character. He’s exactly the kind of person that people uneducated about these issues need to see: an innately good person with a rough past, trying to do right by his family while at the same time dealing with some understandable demons.  The only thing I can complain about is Starr’s boyfriend, who struck me as the most annoying type of white boy.  And she deserved better, no questions asked.

A Knight in Shining Armor by Jude Deveraux.  4/5.  This romance novels sees schoolteacher Dougless crying in an English church right after being dumped and abandoned by her boyfriend.  Her tears seem to bring Lord Nicholas Stafford from the sixteenth century--though he’s not quite the knight in shining armor she expected.  Nicholas is remembered not for his accomplishments, but his many affairs and his eventual execution; and he wants to go back to his time, but not before figuring out how to prevent all of that.  Dougless agrees to help him, but like... you can guess about what ensues.  This book is considered a classic in the romance genre.  It was written in the late 80s, and that does show; while Dougless isn’t anti-feminist, she’s definitely a product of an adjustment to feminism.  She wants her boyfriend to take care of her WITHIN REASON, and he’s such a tool that you can understand why.  The thing is that the book has a fluffy, wish fulfillment quality that is impossible to resist.  Deveraux makes Nicholas sexy, but isn’t above making fun of him, and critiquing him for that matter.  Dougless experiences noticeable character development, and while the book is imperfect, it’s highly enjoyable.

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon.  4/5.  Teenage coder Dimple isn’t planning on following her mother’s plans and settling down anytime soon.  So she’s thrilled when her parents pay for her to go to Insomnia Con, a coding contest with a prize that involves her idol.  Little does she know that Rishi is also going to Insomnia Con--and though she has no idea who he is, their parents have been planning on the two of them getting married for years.  Traditional, dreamy, artistic Rishi knows that he’s supposed to get to know Dimple and someday marry her; and he thinks she knows that too.  (She does not.)  So when the two meet, there isn’t exactly the instant connection he expected.  But after they become partners for the contest, they get to know each other--and understand each other.  This YA romance was adorable, and probably one of the best I’ve read in a long time.  Sandhya Menon is writing about what she knows, and it shows.  Rishi and Dimple are able to bond over their shared cultural backgrounds, but that doesn’t mean they’re the same person--the expectations Rishi’s parents have for him are different because he’s a boy, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t there.  He reacts to his parents by embracing his culture and putting aside his dreams, while Dimple becomes aggressively rebellious.  Their chemistry is perfect, and I became invested in their relationship very quickly.  This is a great approach to the “arranged marriage” genre, and is a bit more lighthearted than other recent versions I’ve seen.

The Breakdown by B.A. Paris.  2/5.  While driving late one night, Rachel sees a young woman pulled over on the side of the road.  Soon after, she hears about a murder--and realizes that not only did she see the woman just before she was killed, but that she knew her.  Then Rachel begins forgetting small things on a daily basis, apparently having a breakdown; but the specter of her mother’s demise from early-onset dementia hangs over her as she grows increasingly paranoid and sure that the killer is after her.  This book was profoundly disappointing.  It had the makings of a good domestic thriller, but I called almost every single thing that happened, and the pathos of it all weren’t that deep.  Even when it seemed as if it was going to get interesting for a minute, it didn’t.

Once and for All by Sarah Dessen.  3/5.  Louna (omg Sarah Dessen protagonist names) is the daughter of a famous wedding planner, jaded about love both due to her cynical mother’s outlook and the tragic ending of her first real relationship.  Then she meets Ambrose, the outgoing son of one of her mother’s clients.  In order to keep him out of his bride-to-be sister’s hair, Louna’s mother gives him a job for the summer, and as Louna and Ambrose bond, they begin to challenge each other in unexpected ways.  Honestly, this was a feel-good book and it was cute in the way that Sarah Dessen books always are, and cheesy in the way they always are (lol her protagonist names I mean...).  But while I remember “Saint Anything” being good, I honestly disliked “The Moon and More” and I feel as if nothing of hers has really hit me since books like “Just Listen”, “The Truth About Forever”, and of course “This Lullaby”, which is one of my all-time favorites.  Ambrose was really cute, but his conflicts with Louna seemed super contrived--and for that matter, at times he seemed like a Dexter (”This Lullaby”) rip-off.  Louna had a sad backstory, but it never connected with me partially because she never connected.  Again, it’s cute but I wasn’t super invested, and the investment in the main relationship--or at least the main characters--are key to really loving a Dessen book.  I also feel like Dessen usually benefits from building a romantic relationship between the characters ahead of the last 25% of the book (see: “This Lullaby” and “Just Listen”).  Otherwise, she needs to amp up the sexual tension in a palpable way to get people invested faster (see: “The Truth About Forever”).  The tension between Ambrose and Louna just wasn’t there.  Hope this author gets her mojo back soon.

The Forger’s Spell by Edward Dolnick.  4/5.  This non-fiction book takes on the story of Han Van Meegeren--a failed artist who managed to dupe the world with his forged “Vemeer” paintings.  Most notably, Hermann Goering, Hitler’s right-hand man, was a buyer of one the fakes.  Really, Van Meegeren’s story is the backdrop for a deeper investigation about how forgeries happen in the art world.  Dolnick does a good job, though I didn’t agree with all of his assertions--he describes the famed art critic’s “eye” as something that does exist, albeit after a lot of training.  Really, the “eye” seems to be dismissed by many today, whether or not you’ve been trained.  He also seems to go along with a lot of ideas that are those of a connoisseur, and applies them to art critics and art historians in general.  While some art historians specialize in connoisseurship, not all connoisseurs are art historians; in fact, connoisseurship seems to be falling out of style, and my school didn’t bother much with it.  I also feel that he could have done a better job of differentiating between the historian and the critic.  Overall, the book is a good examination of the psychological aspects that go into forgery, but this is very much a book about history.  Today, Van Meegeren probably couldn’t have pulled this off--not simply because the art market has more resources now in terms of scientific testing, but because it seems to me that art historians are now being trained in a very different way in a post-Panofsky, post-Schapiro world.  We’re told to be highly skeptical at all times, and while it’s possible that the old guard would have still fallen for a fake Vermeer, I think that many younger art historians would have been more inherently skeptical.  Anyway, I clearly geeked out over this book and found it highly interesting.

The Warrior Queen by Lavinia Collins.  2/5.  An Arthurian retelling and the first of a trilogy, this book focuses on Guinevere’s early marriage to King Arthur following his defeat of her father’s forces.  Pretty sure this was self-published or published by a small indie publisher, and it showed.  This book is quite short (it’s bound in an omnibus as part I with the rest of the trilogy, but it seems that it’s listed on Goodreads as an individual novel too) and while it’s not terribly written, there is some repetition that an editor would have (or should have) caught.  It’s not a bad book and I think that if you’re looking for more of a simple romance, it’s okay.  But as it is, it runs extremely quickly and the character development suffers.  For that matter, while the Lancelot romance is very present, Kay takes Lancelot’s role in places where he shouldn’t, and Morgan le Fay seems to be a typical schemer.  Not for me.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid.  5/5.  Aging Hollywood legend Evelyn Hugo calls upon Monique Grant, a no-name journalist, to write her biography out of nowhere.  Monique understandably wants to focus on Evelyn’s seven marriages--which one was the love of her life, anyway?  Evelyn reveals herself to be much tougher--and much more scheming--than she initially might have seemed.  And there are plenty of secrets to be revealed, including her connection to Monique.  I really, really liked this book.  It had elements of grand romance and tragedy, while at the same time retaining the feel of a tell-all.  The reveal of Evelyn’s greatest love was well-done, and I believed in the ups and downs of the relationship.  You can definitely choose the starlets from whose lives Reid drew.  It’s well worth the read, and I plan on trying Reid’s other books soon.  

Marriage of a Thousand Lies by S.J. Sindu.  2/5.  Lucky (short for Lakshmi) is a part of a traditional Tamil family, and as such has married Krishna to please her mother.  The thing is that both Lucky and Krishni are gay, and simply protecting each other’s (and their families’) reputations through their sham marriage.  Then Lucky learns that Nisha, her childhood friend and first love, is getting married.  As Nisha and Lucky reenter each other’s lives, they find themselves unable to resist each other, while Lucky’s life implodes around her. This is a short read and the prose is very pretty, but I found Lucky to be pretty dull.  Krishna was the character I wanted to know more about, to be honest; or even Nisha.  It felt pretty paint by numbers, but perhaps that’s because I’m not from the same cultural background as Lucky.  Not a bad book, but I just didn’t connect to it.

Song of the Current by Sarah Tolcser.  1/5.  Caro is descended from generations of river sailors, all of whom worship the river god.  After her father refuses to transport a crate--who knows what’s in it?--Caro agrees to do the task in order to gain his freedom.  Aaaand so on.  I think I hated this book so much in part because it could have been a lot more.  But it was so slow.  And there was cliche after cliche.  And there were frog people; listen, I know that some of y’all are probably down for actual green frog people who catch flies with their tongues, but I don’t play D&D and I’m not there yet in terms of geekdom.  Also, the romance was insufferable, and tongues actually tangled. This book was published by Bloomsbury, I assume there an editor involved, and THEIR TONGUES STILL TANGLED.  That was when I knew this was a one star book. 

Four Queens: The Provencal Sisters Who Ruled Europe by Nancy Goldstone.  3/5.  This non-fiction book tells the story of four sisters of Provence--Marguerite, Eleanor, Sanchia, and Beatrice.  Marguerite was married off to Louis IX of France, which in turn led to Eleanor becoming Henry III of England’s bride--Sanchia and Beatrice’s queenships would come later down the road.  So to call them the sisters who ruled Europe is a bit misleading, but it makes for a great title; and it truly is remarkable that a fairly unassuming noble family would produce four girls who would all become queens.  As you might imagine, the fact that this all took place during the thirteenth century means that Goldstone has to make some leaps in logic based on her research, especially in regards to the comparatively minor Sanchia and Beatrice.  I know little about the subject so I can’t speak to Goldstone’s accuracy, but all in all it was a nice pop history read.

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn.  2/5.  Shortly after the end of World War II, American Charlie St. Clair travels to Europe with her mother to take care of a “little problem”--her out of wedlock pregnancy.  At the same time, however, she wants to figure out what happened to her beloved cousin Rose, who went missing during the war.  During her search, she meets Eve--a woman who served as a spy during World War I.  The story takes on their alternating perspectives, as Charlie struggles to find Rose and Eve grapples with her past.  This kind of crushed me, as I am such a big fan of Kate Quinn’s Mistress of Rome series.  I never really bothered with her Giulia Farnese books, because I knew that through no fault of Quinn’s they wouldn’t work for me; but this disappointed me.  I’m not the hugest fan of World War I and II as historical eras, and I certainly love Ancient Rome a lot more.  But this could have  been so compelling.  It takes so long to start, however, and Eve’s perspective was less interesting than Charlie’s, to the point that I kept wishing that I could skip Eve’s chapters entirely. By the time the action and romance really began, I was so zoned out that it didn’t matter anymore.

Now I Rise by Kiersten White.  5/5.  The followup to the already-great start that was “And I Darken”, “Now I Rise” continues the dual stories of Lada (the fictionalized female equivalent of Vlad Tepes/Vlad the Impaler) and her brother Radu.  While Lada is struggling to reclaim her throne in Wallachia, Radu remains a servant of the Ottoman Empire and its sultan, Mehmed--the man he secretly loves.  Of course, Mehmed is obsessed with Lada--almost as much as he’s obsessed with Constantinople--and Lada is sort of obsessed with him back, but not as much as she’s obsessed with her birthright.  This book sees the incredibly twisted trio get even darker.  I really appreciate that Lada, Radu, and Mehmed aren’t super great people; Radu is less blood/power-thirsty than his sister and friend, but he is very manipulative and at times places his desire for Mehmed above loyalty to his sister.  (Which is fucked up, as Mehmed would probably sell Radu to Satan for one corn chip if that corn chip was Lada, who in turn never knows how to feel about Mehmed because boy is hot but boy is also about as twisted as she is.)  I love this series so much because of the moral grayness and dualities of all of these characters.  Even when they did things that I really didn’t agree with, I still understood why they did them.  For that matter, the supporting characters (especially Nazira, Radu’s equally gay wife) really upped the game of this book.  This series is an absolute must-read.

[fontasticcrablettes]

Finished Berseria!  Rambly thoughts below.

Ok so in general it was.... good.  I was really hesitant about this game because I disliked Xillia 2 and Zestiria so much, so come after two flops I was prepared to hate this one, too.  But, it definitely wasn’t as bad as either of those.  It also isn’t one of my top Tales games either.  Like I said in my ranking post, I think it’s good.  Not great, not bad, but good.  

Most of the things that irritated me about it are things it inherited from Zesty.  When they got into malevolence, I groaned.  However, I think they did a better job of explaining it and using it here.  In Zesty, it seemed like such an arbitrary thing as well as squashing any drama, since any time Sorey started to express emotions, Lailah forced him to bottle them up.  It seemed more streamlined here.  Also, when Lynx and I were working on the Zesty rewrite, a lot of the concepts we created were used here.  Our idea for dragons was pretty similar to what therions were here.  I also liked how the characters were ultimately fighting to defend malevolence.  Wiping it out completely created an Age of Lifeless Beings, and it’s better to live with wickedness than not live at all.  It made for a much more dynamic conflict with Velvet et al fighting to allow humans to be flawed but free, against Artorious fighting for humans to be safe and without grief, but suppressed.  

I would have liked the game more if it wasn’t tied to Zestiria and just stood on its own.  Zestiria just left such a bitter taste in my mouth that every time there was a plot link, I got salty.  Even more so when they did it better.  I liked Zaveid well enough in Zesty, but I liked him a lot more in this one.  I think he got more development and personality here and he wasn’t even a party member!  

One of the things that did hold the game back though is the cast.  They just... didn’t really click with me.  I avoided most skits, or just skipped through them and skimmed really quick to get the gist of the dialogue.  I didn’t get a strong sense of camaraderie from them the way I did with the Vesperia or Xillia casts.  And for a lot of them, the depth came too late.  Magilou was just kind of... there for most of the game, being unpleasant and hanging around just because.  Then near the end her backstory comes out and she becomes more interesting, but that’s too late in the game to start getting invested in someone.  

I also didn’t find Velvet interesting until after the confrontation with Innominat, when she stopped being so one-tracked minded about avenging Laphi.  For so much of the game, she was just so deadset on this one revenge mission that I found her rather boring.  “He killed my brother and I hate him and want to kill him no matter what the cost” is a good starting motivation, but after 50 hours, it’s a little stale.  Whenever she slipped and showed more sides of her personality, I got excited, but it usually didn’t last.  

And Rokurou... seems like a fun guy but also I don’t find him sympathetic at all.  Like from my understanding his whole thing was that he wants to kill Shigure because he’s envious. Ok this is a game where you’re sort of playing as the bad guys and Rokurou is a demon but... Shigure seemed like a decent guy.  He never really did anything notably evil besides generally supporting Artorious.  I really could not get behind Rokurou’s quest at all.  I wasn’t rooting for him and when you’re not rooting for one of the protagonists... there’s a problem.

Eizen’s alright.  His whole “That’s what you get for travelling with The Reaper >:(” schtick is kind of narmy but I really like him opening up as a nerd.  Not exactly my kind of character but nice enough.

I really Laphicet.  I generally don’t like the kid characters in these games, but Laphicet was one of the better kids, like Elize.  His gradual journey of discovering an identity for himself and becoming his own person was heartwarming.  

And then there’s Eleanor.  Oh, Eleanor.  If you’ve spent any time on my blog you know I have Strong Feelings about Eleanor.  She is by far my favourite character in the game.  Her journey of slowly realizing the Abbey were the bad guys and questioning everything she believed about the world and her place in it was the most interesting character development in the game.  

The game had good villains.  I really like Oscar.  He’s one of those great antagonists in that he isn’t a villain, but he is an antagonist.  From what Oscar and Teresa know about how the world works, they’re in the right.  They really are trying to save the world and help people and do what’s right.  They’re heroic in that respect.  But there’s more going on that they don’t know about and that makes them antagonists in the game.  An antagonist who thinks he’s the hero is the most compelling kind.  

Also, fuck Bienfu.  I hate everything about him.  I often just muted my computer whenever he spoke so I wouldn’t have to hear his voice.  

So in general, the party was ok.  I didn’t actively dislike them but I don’t really care about any of them or their relationships with each other (with the obvious exception being Eleanor and Laphicet).  

Did not like the battle system.  The whole stage system irritates me.  It seems like there’s a lot less freedom in battles.  If I want to use an art to open a combo, but it’s set to stage 3? Too bad, that always has to be the third arte in a combo.  Or I can go to the artes page and rearrange things, which I did quite often.  This enemy is resistant to martial artes? Well fuck time to go re-set my entire arte tree to put elemental attacks on stage 1.  In no other Tales game did I have to rearrange my artes so often, which is a pain in the ass.  It also seemed to encourage button mashing.  At least in, like, Xillia, pulling off a combo meant remembering the configuration for each art and switching the button positions wen necessary.  Here, you can just smash A over and over and run through a cycle of combos.  

Graphics.  Sometimes they were good.  Other times they were muddy.  I liked them best in strong light, when it was closer to cell shading.  The default lighting had all the colours muddle together and it just looked bleh. No Tales graphics have held up as well as ToV’s strong cell-shading.  Trying to render hair realistically will just make it look like ass in a few years when graphics surpass it.  

Oh and I reeeeeally don’t like how rarely they showed the in-game models.  Every time I talked to someone and the other party’s voices just... spoke from thin air.... I started moving the camera around and examining the background, or picked up my phone and did something else while half-listening.  If someone is talking, I want to see them!  I want to see expressions on their face!  When it’s just a disembodied voice, there’s nothing to look at.  It’s boring.  Also, how often they used the skit style cut-ins for plot relevant scenes.  While these were the most dynamic skits I’ve yet seen in a game, they are still a lot more floaty than in-game models interacting.  Skits never actually touch each other, or look directly at each other, or do anything but talk at the camera with random coloured backgrounds.  The scenes aren’t grounded in the environment.  It as bland and also frustrating because when I put them in silly costumes, I want to see cutscenes with them in those costumes!

Ok so to wrap up.

Pros:

Eleanor

Fixed Zesty things

The Geoboard!!!

All those mini-games were great.  I love Character Cards

Good villains

Interesting plot

Katz Souls are fun to pick up and a neat way to guide the player to where they need to go

Inoph and Denore bottles are a good compromise of warping at will without it being completely free.  

Cons:

Battle system frustrating

Bienfu

Other than Eleanor and Laphicet, party kind of meh

Eleanor and Eizen are the only party members who have nice character designs

What exactly is a demon? How sentient are they? Inherited the same worldbuilding ???s of Zestiria

Equipment was a pain of comparing and contrasting and weighing pros and cons and fuck man I just want to get back to the game

Overuse of skits

Weird boring disembodied voices for small scenes 

[canvaswolfdoll]

CanvasReads: Spice & Wolf

I so rarely do books.

Well, guess I did the entire Harry Potter series recently.

Point is, I’m not a voracious reader. I read, sure, but at a leisurely pace, reading bits and pieces before bed. It usually takes me about a month or more to get through a book because life gets busy, I have many interests, and it’s hard to multitask while reading.[1] Books also tend to be such a time commitment for me that I have really high standards.

What this means is it took me about seven years to crawl through the Spice & Wolf light novel series. Why did I do this? Well, I read almost the entirety of the Discworld series,[2] and I liked the anime, so might as well.

So I spent a few years alternating in and out of the series with abandon. It never really grabbed me fully at any point, but it served as a decent “Ugh, need a new book. Might as well” series. Now that I’ve read the initial 17 volumes, the time has come to ask “Do I read the Spring Logs and Wolf & Parchment, or is it time to let go?”

Great question, myself. You brillant, handsome bearded man you.

A big criticism you should know going in is that the actual writing is… not great on a technical level.

I don’t know if this is the case with the original Japanese text (which may have a different set of writing rules than the West) or the translation (because translation gets more difficult with more text) or a mixture, but the writing in the books is boring and sometimes confusing.

A big stumbling block is the lack of clear dialogue tags. When Lawrence and Holo start conversing, it’s easy to lose track of who says what because often lines of dialogue get entire paragraphs to themselves, then there’s a line of action, then a line of dialogue that’s unattributed. And, unlike in the Dub of the Spice & Wolf anime, Holo’s antiquated style of speech is not played up nearly as much, and there isn’t as much difference in word usage to distinguish between our leads.

Then they pick up some random kid named Col in volume 6, and suddenly it’s that’s much harder to track.

To be fair, writing unique voices can be very, very difficult, and I’m not even sure I could claim to have mastered it, since I’m too close to my own works to judge fairly.

The issue compounds with the books’ tendency to tell over showing (such as Holo’s much lauded wisdom, despite spending most of the series sitting about stubbornly waiting for Lawrence to solve the issue, before jumping in saying she knew so all along!) and also leaving a lot of details vaguely implied (such as the status of Lawrence and Holo’s relationship at any given time).

Leaving things unexplained and for the audience to figure out is fine, as long as the writer either explains themselves eventually (giving the solution to a mystery plot) or doesn’t require deciphering the meaning to understand the plot (as is the case with most secondary romance plots).

Spice & Wolf however seems to have a tendency to just assume the reader’s following in lock step with its various implication and winks, then proceeds forward without clarity. Which is pretty frustrating when half the book is about Medieval Economics and key concepts only get a very meager explanation.

Again, I don’t know if this because the original Japanese text was vague in parts, or if the translation did a poor job of elaborating on meaning and subtext that may have been inherent to the Japanese.

Then there’s the overuse of passive voice, which I know I can blame of the translator.

The passive voice is a technique that can help you reach your goal, provided that your goal is to have your writing be deprived of excitement and motion. It’s a sentence written in such a way where nouns have verbs occur to them rather than nouns performing verbs.  Basically, if the sentence sounds like an exaggerated police report, it’s probably written in a passive voice. It deprives the characters of ownership.

It took me several books to actually catch on that passive voice was to blame for how unexciting it felt to read.

But enough with my uncharacteristic dive into actual literary form and function! What about the actual story?

It was serviceable. On the whole, the anime adaption was a better experience, since that included a level of visual excitement that riding around in Lawrence’s head doesn’t afford. The actual economic hijinks had the potential to be interesting, but could be hard to follow without visual aids.

The anime adapted Books One through Three, skipped Four, and then adapted the fifth book. Besides some brief world details and a few changes, the anime did a good job of covering the stories.

The fourth volume, however, is probably my favorite story, since it did a good job of utilizing its low fantasy setting, working the medieval economics and socio-political environment into a plot, and actually acting upon Holo’s vaguely defined capabilities (it’s the only time she does anything related to being a harvest goddess).

In fact, unlike in the anime, the biggest drain on the narrative is Kraft Lawrence. In the anime, Lawrence is an everyman with a level of charm and knowledge, while book Lawrence is overly plain and becomes increasingly passive as the books go on. He takes risks less readily, and is just boring.

The extended cast is filled with interesting characters and hidden histories, all of who could carry a story of their own, and our protagonist is a guy moseying along, vaguely wants to own a store, but doesn’t actually pursue the goal with any vigor.

Even Holo, a literal deity trying to find her homeland from centuries ago, is slow to action.

Often throughout the series both will reflect melancholically on how they can’t journey together forever, and they’re both acutely aware of their growing affections, but they never commit to any certain course of action. For a dozen plus volumes, they go vaguely north, sometimes arguing, but such conflicts spawn from Holo being a ‘Mysterious Woman’.

Holo’s been around for ages, and is actually living through a period of decline for her ilk (pagan gods), but she never talks about it, and the narrative never explores it. There is fertile ground in Holo’s being, but nothing grows.

The protagonists are complacent, and the excitement usually comes from a third party. A miller and his priest girlfriend feeling alienated from their community. A Sheep god turned shepherd. A merchant guild attempting to build a town without the backing of noble blood, but with economic bedrock.

All along, Lawrence is wobbling back and forth asking if he should do something about anything.

Then he plays a relatively minor role in the resolutions, and rides on.

Even the introduction of Col to the merchant’s wagon doesn’t really add anything. He’s just kind of there, sometimes making dialogue a little more confusing.

The best stories are the short ones where neither Lawrence nor Holo appear, but instead develop the backstories of those they encounter.

There’s a story in one of the Side Colors volumes that actually shows how Eve became the ruthless merchant we meet in Volume 5. It’s pretty cool.

Then, when she appears in a later story (after Lawrence and Holo somehow manage to backpedal into going south), Lawrence treats the woman who conned and stabbed him with relative indifference.

There’s also two stories following Norah (the shepherd girl from Volume 2) told in first person perspective of her dog Enek.

They’re charming and I really want to steal the conceit for myself at some point.

The strengths of the anime and the books themselves are an interesting dichotomy. The anime finds strength in its characters and the relationship of the leads, with some economic lectures mixed in. The books, meanwhile, really thrive with the world it builds. With some economic lessons built in.

The nameless world of Spice & Wolf is clearly in the middle of change. The power of a monotheistic church is on the rise, pagan gods are diminishing and either disappearing or finding new jobs,[3] and there’s even a subtle shift in how economies function and hints of the inevitable rise of paper money.

Times are a changing, but it’s on the edges of the story, never full addressed but still lending a weight to the proceedings.

It’s a good setting, and would make good inspirations for a RPG setting. There’s something exciting about the concept of gods who’ve already lost a culture war they didn’t know was occuring. They’re living relics hiding in the fringes of society, even those trying to maintain some power in the new world order finding the earth shifting out from beneath of their feet at inopportune moments.

In short, I found the books inspiring if not particularly good. There’s plenty of ideas I would love to steal and run with, whether in my own fictions or collaborative works.[4]

As for if I’ll be reading the continuation… I might as well, I suppose. The stronger volumes are the vignette collections, which Spring Log promises to be, and I am rather fond of next generation stories, so seeing how Lawrence and Holo’s offspring turns out is a inviting concept.

However, she’s being teamed up with Col, who was a weakly written character in this original run of stories, and I’ve often talked of my dislike of large age differences in romantic pairings, so if Wolf & Parchment heads in that direction, I’ll probably jump ship in short order.

Well, this has been a rambling… review, I guess? New job had me out of sorts for a while, so I apologize if my writing’s ended up below my usual standards. I’ll try to shape back up.

If you wish to support me, considering checking out my other works, send me comments or questions, or even giving a few dollars to my patreon. Money brings me closer to my dream of… not having to be on the frontline against the general public.

Gall, do I hate customer service…

Kataal kataal.

[1] Audiobooks are expensive, and I have podcasts to listen to besides. [2] Still have to find and read Science of Discworld. Been reluctant because, well, science is the one subject that neither interests me nor am I good at. [3] An interesting parallel to the Discworld, especially Small Gods and Hogfather. Also Thief of Time I suppose… [4] Ryuutama, in particular, seems like a good fit for adapting Spice & Wolf plots for the table.