Jun. 11th, 2008

meganbmoore: (Default)
 1.  I crave dumplings.  This may require a side trip to the sole little Korean place in town(I have yet to try one of their main dishes that I find to be more than "ok," but i love their dumplings.)  This could be dangerous, as that is across the street from my preferred Used Book Store.  (And not even the busy street that they're both just off of, but the side street that never has any traffic.)

2.  I woke up from sleep this morning hearing knocking.  Except that I KNEW the knocking wasn't really, but a leftover from my dream or some such, because knocking on my door doesn't sound like that.  But I went to go check anyway.

3.  Last night, The Boys were wondering how people kept themselves entertained before there was internet.  At the time, I didn't have internet up because I was reading, and they didn't have internet up because they were watching The Closer.  (Which I think I might have to check out one of these days...opinions?)
meganbmoore: (claymore-helen is bored so clare suffers)
 1.  I crave dumplings.  This may require a side trip to the sole little Korean place in town(I have yet to try one of their main dishes that I find to be more than "ok," but i love their dumplings.)  This could be dangerous, as that is across the street from my preferred Used Book Store.  (And not even the busy street that they're both just off of, but the side street that never has any traffic.)

2.  I woke up from sleep this morning hearing knocking.  Except that I KNEW the knocking wasn't really, but a leftover from my dream or some such, because knocking on my door doesn't sound like that.  But I went to go check anyway.

3.  Last night, The Boys were wondering how people kept themselves entertained before there was internet.  At the time, I didn't have internet up because I was reading, and they didn't have internet up because they were watching The Closer.  (Which I think I might have to check out one of these days...opinions?)
meganbmoore: (Default)
[personal profile] coffeeandink  has posted a collection of links to Strange Horizons short stories and articles.  I haven't read them all yet, but I recommend reading Marie Brennan and Rachel Manija Brown's articles, as both address Meredith Ann Pierce's The Darkangel series that I read last week, and do a good job of explaining why the first two books are so great.  (And what's MISSING in the last book, though they kindly don't mention that part.)  Brennan's article is exclusively about the first book and folklore, Brown's about YA in general (and, again, a large part of why I've been enjoying the YA I've been reading recently.)

Also, I have had dumplings and am happy and full.  Possibly, I was unwise and went to the bookstore across the street.  Possibly, I will make everyone shake their heads at me later.
meganbmoore: (12k-yoko and shoryu)
[personal profile] coffeeandink  has posted a collection of links to Strange Horizons short stories and articles.  I haven't read them all yet, but I recommend reading Marie Brennan and Rachel Manija Brown's articles, as both address Meredith Ann Pierce's The Darkangel series that I read last week, and do a good job of explaining why the first two books are so great.  (And what's MISSING in the last book, though they kindly don't mention that part.)  Brennan's article is exclusively about the first book and folklore, Brown's about YA in general (and, again, a large part of why I've been enjoying the YA I've been reading recently.)

Also, I have had dumplings and am happy and full.  Possibly, I was unwise and went to the bookstore across the street.  Possibly, I will make everyone shake their heads at me later.
meganbmoore: (Default)
Nepenthe is a transcriber in the Royal Library of Raine.  Found as an infant, she has been raised within the library all her life, and knows little of the outside world.  When the school of mages is unable to decipher a book whose words look like thorns, they send a young pupil-a nobleman named Bourne-to take the book to the Royal Library.  However, Bourne gives the book to Nepenthe, who decides to transcribe it on her own, and they eventually begin an affair.  Meanwhile, the newly crowned Queen of Raine, Tessera, is believed to be weak and unsuited for the job of ruling a country, but receives a warning from the spirit of the first ruler of Raine-long believed to be a king, but revealed there to have been a queen-that thorns are bringing destruction to Raine.

As she transcribes the book, Nepenthe learns that it is the story of Axis and Kane, a king and his sorcerer who once conquered the entire world, but whose final fates are unknown.  This story, however, is different from other stories of Axis and Kane, because in it, Kane is Axis's cousin who was in love with him, and who disguised herself as a mute, deformed mage after his wedding and gave herself to him as a gift, and then used her power to help him conquer the world.  Even more, the book claims that Axis and Kane conquered lands that did not even exist when they supposedly lived.

meganbmoore: (Default)
Nepenthe is a transcriber in the Royal Library of Raine.  Found as an infant, she has been raised within the library all her life, and knows little of the outside world.  When the school of mages is unable to decipher a book whose words look like thorns, they send a young pupil-a nobleman named Bourne-to take the book to the Royal Library.  However, Bourne gives the book to Nepenthe, who decides to transcribe it on her own, and they eventually begin an affair.  Meanwhile, the newly crowned Queen of Raine, Tessera, is believed to be weak and unsuited for the job of ruling a country, but receives a warning from the spirit of the first ruler of Raine-long believed to be a king, but revealed there to have been a queen-that thorns are bringing destruction to Raine.

As she transcribes the book, Nepenthe learns that it is the story of Axis and Kane, a king and his sorcerer who once conquered the entire world, but whose final fates are unknown.  This story, however, is different from other stories of Axis and Kane, because in it, Kane is Axis's cousin who was in love with him, and who disguised herself as a mute, deformed mage after his wedding and gave herself to him as a gift, and then used her power to help him conquer the world.  Even more, the book claims that Axis and Kane conquered lands that did not even exist when they supposedly lived.

meganbmoore: (Default)
These episodes toned down the other stuff enough that I could appreciate the plot.  Kind of.  (By "toned down," I mean they reduced the misogyny to the 5 eps combined having about what one other episode had, and about 5-10 times as much as the average other anime I watch has.)  It helps me look past that stuff and appreciate the pretty decent shounen action plot, though.

They seem to have finally got a grip on Bocca's character, which is good, though I continue to not find him very interesting.  Sympathetic, at this point, but not really interesting.  He seems a bit slow on the uptake, but  at least Sayoko, for all that the series tends to portray her as brainless fanservice, seems to catch on to things.  The first arc(in these episodes)  seems to be trying for a story like Kino's Journey or Mushishi, with travellers encountering a town  with odd little things going on.  Uhm...I suspect I would have appreciated ehat they were doing there more  if I hadn't kept getting distracted by the boy who spent the whole time plugging the hole in the dam with his hand.

See?



See?  He does that for three whole episodes.  It's actually an important plot point.  (An interesting one, too, but I can't begin to think of how to describe it.)

We also meet 2 more Meros warriors, both female.  Toune, who dislikes Meros warriors (it's connected to the boy with his hand stuck in the dam) and wears a school uniform even though the story makes it clear she's well past school age, and Koto, and actress and bibliophile who seems to be actively investigating and opposing the monsters union is an organized way(with help) instead of randomly running around, looking for monsters.  Part of me is glad to have more Meros warriors(as tends to happen, Bocca, while ok enough, is less interesting than the other 3 warriors we've met) but part of me is focused on the fact that
Expandspoiler )

Though, aside from that and the fact that the monster's underlings (well, the female ones) go through bondage sequences when they get in their mecha, there's a lot less to fuss over aside from
These episodes more made me sigh with annoyance but still be entertained, as opposed to be entertained but uncomfortable, like the first 5 episodes.

But [personal profile] telophaseis determined to taunt me with promises of misogyny that will break my brain, so I'm sure it's just an evil ploy to lure me into feeling safe.
meganbmoore: (retard shonen hero)
These episodes toned down the other stuff enough that I could appreciate the plot.  Kind of.  (By "toned down," I mean they reduced the misogyny to the 5 eps combined having about what one other episode had, and about 5-10 times as much as the average other anime I watch has.)  It helps me look past that stuff and appreciate the pretty decent shounen action plot, though.

They seem to have finally got a grip on Bocca's character, which is good, though I continue to not find him very interesting.  Sympathetic, at this point, but not really interesting.  He seems a bit slow on the uptake, but  at least Sayoko, for all that the series tends to portray her as brainless fanservice, seems to catch on to things.  The first arc(in these episodes)  seems to be trying for a story like Kino's Journey or Mushishi, with travellers encountering a town  with odd little things going on.  Uhm...I suspect I would have appreciated ehat they were doing there more  if I hadn't kept getting distracted by the boy who spent the whole time plugging the hole in the dam with his hand.

See?



See?  He does that for three whole episodes.  It's actually an important plot point.  (An interesting one, too, but I can't begin to think of how to describe it.)

We also meet 2 more Meros warriors, both female.  Toune, who dislikes Meros warriors (it's connected to the boy with his hand stuck in the dam) and wears a school uniform even though the story makes it clear she's well past school age, and Koto, and actress and bibliophile who seems to be actively investigating and opposing the monsters union is an organized way(with help) instead of randomly running around, looking for monsters.  Part of me is glad to have more Meros warriors(as tends to happen, Bocca, while ok enough, is less interesting than the other 3 warriors we've met) but part of me is focused on the fact that
Expandspoiler )

Though, aside from that and the fact that the monster's underlings (well, the female ones) go through bondage sequences when they get in their mecha, there's a lot less to fuss over aside from
These episodes more made me sigh with annoyance but still be entertained, as opposed to be entertained but uncomfortable, like the first 5 episodes.

But [personal profile] telophaseis determined to taunt me with promises of misogyny that will break my brain, so I'm sure it's just an evil ploy to lure me into feeling safe.
meganbmoore: (whitechapel gods)
 Read:  Books unwisely purchased at the UBS today, bearing in mind that I am forbidden to die until I have no backlog and have completed every series I follow.

Expandthe loot )

Between this and what rightstuf should be shipping out today or tomorrow, I need to have internet bookstores firewalled and be cut off from local bookstores for about a month.
meganbmoore: (Default)
 Read:  Books unwisely purchased at the UBS today, bearing in mind that I am forbidden to die until I have no backlog and have completed every series I follow.

Expandthe loot )

Between this and what rightstuf should be shipping out today or tomorrow, I need to have internet bookstores firewalled and be cut off from local bookstores for about a month.
meganbmoore: (Default)
 First of all.  There are fowl of DOOM!  They show up in all the stories to jabber at people.  As I am not the only one here obsessed with Japan's obsession with fowl of DOOM!, here are caps of an entire army of them:

Expandpics )

So, most of these episodes had Bocca and Kurofune running around in a maze.  I did not quite understand what was going on.  Apparently, a Meros warrior has to stay there to keep Ban Midou's evil twin Holu in the maze, but it seems he can leave whenever he wants, so there doesn't seem to be much point to it.  There was, howeverm the BULLJEEP that, along with it's master, Ban Midou's evil twin Holu, played conquistador games with Kurofune and Bocca.  I have caps.  Oh yes, I have caps.

I have to say, the normal shounen girl tropes stand out a lot more here.  Toune practices to perfect a move.  It works.  Koko tries the same move, also apparently having experience with it.  It fails.  Her (male) sidekicks take out her opponents in nothing flat.  Bocca tries it for the first time and it takes out an army of automatons.  Bocca goes on solo missions with no training.  He always comes out on top.  Toune has been training herself for years, goes on a solo mission.  Gets caught.  Currently waiting to be rescued.  Sayoko is given the ability to be the only one who can track Kurofune, but it's eventually revealed that she can give the shackles to whoever she wants, and it'll work for them.

I always notice these things, but I'm typically less bothered by it because they're given some purpose in the plot and allowed to maintain some sense of dignity.  Not so much here.  Sayoko has a role fairly central to the plot, but every time it starts to move past being the object of affections/lust, it gets yanked away.  I wouldn't mind the objectification nearly as much is the girls got to kick ass, or if Sayoko got to actually DO anything with the info she figures out.  (There are several females in a position of power, but, well...they're  evil femme fatales...)

Also, I'm trying, but I'm really not getting why all the girls are falling all over Bocca.  Elle(classmate/first love) I got.  I kinda got Sayoko, because Bocca stuck with her, but that lost my support as soon as he showed he was willing to leave her behind while he went off and fought.  (Girl, if you're going to be gaga over a guy who leaves you behind while he runs off to play hero, make it the hot one.  I wouldn't really want either of them myself, and think you should go find some guy who isn't more interested in chasing monmsters across the world than you, but...)  But all these other girls?  Do not get.

ANYWAY!

BULLJEEP!

YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO SEE IT!

ExpandBULLJEEP! )
meganbmoore: (ergo proxy-fight like a girl)
 First of all.  There are fowl of DOOM!  They show up in all the stories to jabber at people.  As I am not the only one here obsessed with Japan's obsession with fowl of DOOM!, here are caps of an entire army of them:

Expandpics )

So, most of these episodes had Bocca and Kurofune running around in a maze.  I did not quite understand what was going on.  Apparently, a Meros warrior has to stay there to keep Ban Midou's evil twin Holu in the maze, but it seems he can leave whenever he wants, so there doesn't seem to be much point to it.  There was, howeverm the BULLJEEP that, along with it's master, Ban Midou's evil twin Holu, played conquistador games with Kurofune and Bocca.  I have caps.  Oh yes, I have caps.

I have to say, the normal shounen girl tropes stand out a lot more here.  Toune practices to perfect a move.  It works.  Koko tries the same move, also apparently having experience with it.  It fails.  Her (male) sidekicks take out her opponents in nothing flat.  Bocca tries it for the first time and it takes out an army of automatons.  Bocca goes on solo missions with no training.  He always comes out on top.  Toune has been training herself for years, goes on a solo mission.  Gets caught.  Currently waiting to be rescued.  Sayoko is given the ability to be the only one who can track Kurofune, but it's eventually revealed that she can give the shackles to whoever she wants, and it'll work for them.

I always notice these things, but I'm typically less bothered by it because they're given some purpose in the plot and allowed to maintain some sense of dignity.  Not so much here.  Sayoko has a role fairly central to the plot, but every time it starts to move past being the object of affections/lust, it gets yanked away.  I wouldn't mind the objectification nearly as much is the girls got to kick ass, or if Sayoko got to actually DO anything with the info she figures out.  (There are several females in a position of power, but, well...they're  evil femme fatales...)

Also, I'm trying, but I'm really not getting why all the girls are falling all over Bocca.  Elle(classmate/first love) I got.  I kinda got Sayoko, because Bocca stuck with her, but that lost my support as soon as he showed he was willing to leave her behind while he went off and fought.  (Girl, if you're going to be gaga over a guy who leaves you behind while he runs off to play hero, make it the hot one.  I wouldn't really want either of them myself, and think you should go find some guy who isn't more interested in chasing monmsters across the world than you, but...)  But all these other girls?  Do not get.

ANYWAY!

BULLJEEP!

YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO SEE IT!

ExpandBULLJEEP! )

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