Reading/watching

[petronia]

I mentioned reading The Virtu in passing here but I don't think most people even saw that post. XD Surprisingly I enjoyed it lots more than the first book - I'd expected an improvement but yanno, it really helped that it wasn't told from the POV of a crazy person. XD; I couldn't even hold it against Felix much that he was a dick, or rather that he was periodically afflicted with Stupidity Due To Authorial Fiat. As supacat pointed out (from like the first two chapters of book 1), Felix's characterisation isn't sensical or consistent. Presumably we're supposed to pop-psych diagnose him as a borderline personality or something. Not that Mildmay is much better; was he this much of a doormat with his dead gf? Probably yes, come to think of it. I've mentioned that I like stories about interdependent sibling relationships but nowhere does it say I like them dysfunctional, so Monette kind of does for it what Kuwabara Mizuno does for the lord/retainer devotional thing namely KICK IT, REPEATEDLY, WITH STEEL-TOED BOOTS. There's the same trainwreck entertainment value, I was sitting there going Mildmay come on, time to get off the bus, pull that cord come on no OFF the bus, how does that even begin to you know what NEVER MIND. Also I'm not sure what's up with the Gideon subplot. XD; Like, I don't even get the impression Monette likes him much - he's no Mehitabel Sue - so I don't think she's playing fair. I'll take the will-never-actually-happen-lulz from the Temeraire books because they're not about gay pr0nz, shokku, and also Laurence and Temeraire are like, DIFFERENT SPECIES (genus, family, order, class). Compared to that teehee-incest doesn't really cut it. There's no inherent reason for anyone to have to talk that talk (see: FMA, Supernatural-the-canon), so if you're gonna step up you better walk that walk too. Obscurely expressed but that's what I think. XD;

On the other hand, the magic system is honestly absorbing in all its historical-ethnic-geographic-philosophical diversity, and the whole labyrinth bit creeped the hell out of me. Even though I had the gist from Swinburne years ago. XD I still can't believe she's not getting it from Japanese horror games... Basically the framework holding the hurt/comfort bits up was fun to read. Monette's kind of pants at action - the various rescues and assassinations never seem difficult enough, so one comes away with the impression that the Mirador's enemies are all utterly incompetent (see Bujold, Brust etc. for many examples on how to do it right) - but I'm the same so I can't complain much. XD; Oh and I don't hate Mehitabel. In fact I may provisorily enjoy the presence of a total Sue on the premises. It adds that dating sim je ne sais quoi; I expect her to go around the Mirador gauging people's haato levels and triggering events. MOAR SPEECH BUBBLES.

I'm told the third book kind of goes downhill; I'll get around to reading it whenever.

Mononoke 6-12: watched this in two sessions, 6-9 and 10-12. Taisho!? How are we in Taisho all of a sudden? Did we just skip the Bakumatsu? And here we have Kayo's reincarnation, or spitting-image descendant. It's unnerving. But then we can continue this line of inquiry forever, into WWII, post-war - I mean, if I were ficcing that's what I would do. XD It's like Petshop of Horrors in that sense, all I'd want to write is more-of-the-canon. Leave the pr0n to someone else.

I still think the series is genuinely scary, which I appreciate. The obvious Utena lineage too: first time I've encountered an attempt to reproduce the gestalt that's, well, successful. It only took a decade. XD; Of course it's eminently appropriate as Japanese horror is as much an expression of the feminine unconscious as SKU (and not just how Mononoke frames it, either, though Mononoke harps on the point, like, A LOT). With that in mind I think the Nue arc is possibly the weakest, but the scent contest carries it. Shit was amazing - and just think, the next time you have a few bored friends over, if you've got toy blocks, a candle and a handful of old BPAL imps, you've got yourself a party. XDDD

Scott Pilgrim vol. 3-4: Erin lent me this and I inhaled both volumes the same evening. It made me dizzy as 166,015 new characters were introduced.

cis asked me in a comment I never responded to if it were true Scott Pilgrim was like Nana only with Canadian indie instead of Japanese punk. The helpful answer is "Yes and no." XD;; It's more whimsical, less angst-filled, and it doesn't do the things with narration Nana does; instead it does a whole caboodle of other Narration Things, usually involving notational conventions from SNES-era videogames. It's got a touch of harem moe to it (intentionally, but lightly - the main character knows which girl he wants and is trying to make it work, that's the driving force of the plot). OTOH the characters have the same sheer likeability value, and it probably is about as good a "scene documentary" as Nana is - i.e. maybe not much, but it rings true. I still say the typical rise of a Canadian friends-and-friends'-friends indie band would involve more marijuana, though. XD And Scott is fast becoming the male Hachi only more mnemonically-challenged, which is a line of development I'm not sure I vote for. XD; Obviously this makes Wallace Nana, which is LULZ^100. Two straight girls talking about relationships in bed together = sort of gay if you think about it; a straight man and a gay man talking about relationships in bed together = ????? Answer on a postcard.

Spoilery commentary and speculation:

* I felt an odd strand of sympathy for Envy Adams throughout, and I'm not sure why - maybe I do grok her apparent need to prove herself and her frustration at Scott's slackerdom. Or maybe it's her former Pocky-munching, Miyazaki-rating, non-upmarket-hooker-boots-wearing self. XD; Or maybe just that her band reps for Montreal (the rivalry is actually that illogical). I totally don't get what she sees in Todd but that's pretty much the point of the volume, isn't it - the inherent unknowability of the other. People change, people have aspects to their past and personality they conveniently fail to mention, you might be in a relationship but that doesn't mean any of it will make sense. Ramona demonstrates this as well: Scott says in one of his clear-sighted moments that her issues would be dealbreakers if he weren't so infatuated, all of which is laid out for anyone to see. And I can't claim it doesn't give me uncomfortable intimations of doom. XD; But "s/he has character flaws" is a much more interesting basis for relationship travails than what romance manga typically come up with.

In any case y'all do realize Envy's basically supposed to be Emily Haines right.

* What exactly is Kim's deal (harhar)? I mean, she obviously has some sort of deal going on, and I'm not sure it's any of the obvious things (eg. carrying a torch for Scott, being gay, having some sort of past entanglement with Gideon). Alternately, are Ramona and Kim going to have a hott lesbian fling??? (Maybe in Scott's dreams.) I was glad the Lisa thing came up and was resolved, though, because she obviously did like Scott in the flashback; he's not what you might call a reliable narrator.

* So is that guy Gideon, or is he totally someone else? And why do I get the impression that Gideon revealed his evil plans and stabbed Ramona with a sword? (The thing with this series is I mean that pretty much literally.) Will she get to set him on fire from the inside out? Stay tuned, boys and girls!

Comments

[marej.livejournal.com]

i liked Mehitabel in Virtu. I had HUGE hopes for her and i didn't even think she was a Mehitabel Sue in that book. you know how that turned out.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

I pegged her as a Sue because Felix was mysteriously non-nasty toward her. XD Figure the third book wouldn't live up to the second by virtue of the fact that it doesn't feel like a third book is needed, but flist opinion on each installment of the series has ranged widely, so who knows what mine will be.

[canis-m.livejournal.com]

The Gideon subplot--I dunno, I haven't read book 3 but assume it's going to end up as Exhibit A: Felix Is A Dick And Cannot Have A Relationship With Anyone Who Is Not A Dick (So Thank Goodness Mildmay Is A Dick As Well). I mean, how is it not a setup for fail? Other than that I'm not sure what Gideon's doing in those books, frankly, unless he's just pasteded on to tempt schmoes like me (who would otherwise wash their hands of the whole affair) to keep reading.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's what I get from it too. XD; As I said I don't think it's particularly fair. I hope it doesn't end with bitchslapping but I'm not holding my breath.

I just realized there are two people named Gideon in this post; what are the chances.

[supacat.livejournal.com]

The Gideon subplot--I dunno, I haven't read book 3 but assume it's going to end up as Exhibit A: Felix Is A Dick And Cannot Have A Relationship With Anyone Who Is Not A Dick (So Thank Goodness Mildmay Is A Dick As Well)

I couldn't stop laughing after I read this. So true!

unless he's just pasteded on to tempt schmoes like me (who would otherwise wash their hands of the whole affair) to keep reading

Genuinely curious: Gideon's selling point for you? How come? (The relative sanity?)

[canis-m.livejournal.com]

How come? (The relative sanity?)

The relative niceness. The fact that he (perhaps alone out of all the characters) is not a dick. Also green = v. positive color! Srsly.

Plus he's endearingly abused. The others are also abused, but in them it's not charming at all.

[bravecows.livejournal.com]

I expect her to go around the Mirador gauging people's haato levels and triggering events. MOAR SPEECH BUBBLES.

I haven't read Virtu and am not sure that I liked Melusine enough to want to, but HAHAHA. I love the idea of a shoujo manga protagonist wandering around that universe.

What d'you mean by calling Scott mnemonically-challenged? Hah, no, wait, got it! I thought you were saying something about his brain rather than something external.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

That may not be the right word. XD Memetically--? No. I meant, "more prone to incidental amnesia".

[bravecows.livejournal.com]

Oh! I thought you meant Hachi's name was easier to remember (like with a mnemonic), 'cos of her being named after the number 8. *koff*

[tsutanai.livejournal.com]

For the big Tokugawa exhibition here recently (titled, literally "BIG TOKUGAWA EXHIBITION"), the "woman's room" (trousseau collections for shoguns' wives and daughters) had a few scent competition sets, if I remember right. (Actually... was there one in the politics/art room as well? If I could just walk to the office and check my copy of the catalog! XDDD)

[petronia.livejournal.com]

It's brilliant - have you watched the series? I have to check back to see what period the characters were from given their dress, though, I didn't think much of it at the time but in retrospect...

[tsutanai.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen the series. But the incense game dates back to the late 10th century at the latest, and I know people sometimes play it today. So it's a poor dater of things. XD

[motorbike.livejournal.com]

The Melusine books have become a huge guilty pleasure for me, though obvs. they are such a far cry from my genre preferences! I don't like to disclose that I read this stuff at all, but in reality I await #4 with great impatience and was vastly peeved by its delay. NO ONE HAS TO KNOW OKAY. It bothers me a lot that no one here is ever, ever happy due to HORRIBLE CHOICES. Characters who are little more than vehicles of narrative, ugh. I can't stand Felix, never mind his wtf nineties-era goth aesthetic. Mildmay Doesn't Know What Love Is (He Just Does As He's Told). Loyal Fag Hag Mehitabel is all right; her sue-ness makes her vaguely likeable, esp. in third book. Gideon is very, very boring, but his presence has an eventual reason besides throwing a cog into LOL INCEST UST.

The third book's worth reading, insofar as it offers a conventionally pastede-on but objectively seaworthy explanation for WHY THE FUCK, MILDMAY. Some cool stuff happens at the end; the fist 2/3 is for skimming.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

She's good at timing, though. XD I mean that is what it's about: when to build, when to drop the beat warm 'n' fuzzy. All five seconds of it.

I just had to laugh after a while, it went OTT. XD Like, dude, soulbonding what? I give Felix about SEVEN SECONDS before he starts using that against you? But then it's not like you ever TURN HIM DOWN ANYWAY, so it makes no real difference!

[worldserpent.livejournal.com]

Ahaha, you have totally sold me on Mononoke. I think I also love the feminine unconscious thing too.

I like stories about interdependent sibling relationships

Hehe, if you did read into the later arcs in the Saiunkoku novels, I wonder if you would like them, because Saiunkoku is chock full of that kind of sibling relationship. I know the anime didn't work for you, but like most authors, she gets better as she goes on, and it does include much more violence/twistedness/intrigue.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

For some reason I thought you'd watched it already. XD It is really excellent, likely one of the best series of the year (not that I've seen many).

I liked the Saiunkoku anime okay. It was just too leisurely to hold my attention - like, you could tell the storyline was a looong build from simple to involved, in the manner of many shounen series, and I don't have the patience to sit there and watch and watch these days. ^^; I would have to start by reading the books. But I have a backlog in Japanese novels too. XD;

[worldserpent.livejournal.com]

BTW, is it all finished, or ongoing?

Ahaha, if I sent it to you, would you add it to the backlog? It takes me a long time to read them (well, it takes me a long time to read anything, in Japanese), but since your kanji and overall reading ability is probably a lot stronger than mine, you ought to zip through them quickly. XD

(Oh, what else is in the backlog for you?)

[bladderwrack.livejournal.com]

The obvious Utena lineage too. Ah, YY. Seeing that, I wondered whether Utena and Mononoke both were drawing off some pre-existing narrative convention that I knew nothing about. Not sure why. Because Mononoke is meant to be more trad. Japanese? I don't know enough about the lit./cultural history to have an idea.

I dunno, I quite liked the Nue arc because - I'm inclined to be suspicious of Medicine Seller as the resolving force in all this wimmin's-ghosts whatnot -- what does /he/ know? -- and it doesn't stand out so much here. Although for that reason it is not so much of a kick in the stomach as the others.

And ohmigod, I could not watch Mononoke in live-action. /)_(\


OH HAY I GOT YR CD. (A couple of days ago, actually, but I wanted to have time to listen to it properly first.) Squee! It is awesome! Thank you so much! ♥♥ Also your writing is like typing, what. Heee.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Well, there's Kabuki. And... French New Wave? XD; A lot of Godard in there.

That started to bother me too, after a while - I think the series loses some thematic potential by never delving into what, exactly, the deal with Medicine Seller was. OTOH that was probably on purpose, there's a spinoff manga and novel and things.

You got it! :D Funny, I thought yours would be the last to arrive of the batch, but apparently the UK doesn't take any longer than Iowa. XD

[sub-divided.livejournal.com]

LOL Scott Pilgrim speculation. Why not!

If you read the author's livejournal (destroyerzooey) you learn that Kim Pine is the fan favorite. If I hadn't seen the polls, I never would have believed it. Why her?! She hates The World (also: herself) and The World hates her back. Actually, she reminds me of some of the librarians I work with. >_> I guess people like her because she has that "snark/everyone hates me but that's okay because I hate them too" thing going on. I think she IS gay and that this IS the origin of her rage, but that things spiraled from there so that the present source of her h8 is simply the fallout from previous h8.

I feel for her, but I can't bring myself to pick a favorite Scott Pilgrim character...maybe Wallace or Stacey.

That was totally Gideon in subspace! I mean, what other Evil Final Boss with a Mysterious Connection to Ramona could it have been? I missed the part with the sword but I was pretty freaked out that Ramona was basically occupying the place of Villain's Pet Cat in that tableau. (Didn't she looked blank-eyed?) It's hard to reconcile that Ramona with the Ramona that's dating Scott and my guess is that the series finale will be mostly concerned with this, with of course an epic fight scene after. (Well, duh.)

I didn't see what was so bad about Envy Adams...but then I reminded myself that these were SCOTT'S FRIENDS talking, and as far as that goes, Scott was pretty much a giant mess when she was done with him. Was that her fault? Was it his? Was it inevitable? Who knows -- but HE was willing to go for a relationship where he was outclassed; she was the one who decided that because he was (now) beneath her, they had to break up.

And now Scott's in a relationship with a woman who doesn't have that problem. XD So you see, there is a method to the madness.

I was a little disappointed with volume four -- awesome plot twists (lesbian ex, Knives' dad, Scott's job) but it seemed kind of broken up. Next time less scene-jumping, plz.

[supacat.livejournal.com]

yanno, it really helped that it wasn't told from the POV of a crazy person

This is SO TRUE. I actually couldn't believe it in book one when it turned out to be crazy POV. I was just sitting there staring down at pages of "I wander morose through the forest of dancing bananas" or whatever with all the rave reviews I'd read on LJ flashing though my mind.

I liked Virtu a lot better as well. Sane POV helped. It also helped for me that there was textural acknowledgement from the other charas that Felix was a dick. Which sounds awful when I write it down, but what I mean is, once I realised that everyone was on the same page about Felix, and that I wasn't supposed to think he was awesome or anything, I could just relax and enjoy (if that's the word) him being a dick.

Interesting to read your thoughts on the worldbuilding, because it left me a bit cold -- the way Gideon left you cold, as though everything that wasn't Felix, Mildmay or Sue got short shrift from the author. (Embarrasingly, I had the opposite reaction to you, it was the incest that kept me turning the pages.)

Except the sex isn't hot! I mean, if Felix is All That, he should be having awesome sex, right?? But every time he had sex it was like . . . eiw! Put that away!