(no subject)

Dear regular oil change place,

You went out of business.  Why did you have to go and do that?

Dear oil change place I ended up going to,

Yes, I am a woman.  Yes, machinery in general is my enemy and we do not understand each other.  No, I am not an idiot.  Yes, I can tell when I'm being talked down to with the assumption that I am incapable of either reasonable thought or the ability to understand words of one syllable.  Thank you for reminding me why I haven't taken my business to you in 4 years.

(I love my state.  I do not love its "good old boys" attitude.)

Dear mailman,

I am very, very glad that, among other things, I decided to bring some of my laundry to the apartment today before work, what with your leaving a box at the door and all.  (It was just 3 manga that i didn't even spend $20 on total, but that's not the point.)

Dear Hastings,

Between your taking 3 weeks to get my copy of Larklight in and your employee's "such a hassle" attitude at my ordering a whole three books, I am reminded of why I always do my local special ordering at Waldenbooks, where they don't get annoyed by having to provide customer service.

While at Hastings, though, I did do some browsing.  Anyone have opinions on any of the following?  (All of which sound like they'd either be fun, or leave me extremely annoyed.)

Alex Archer's Rogue Angel series
John Levitt's Dog Days
Kristin Landon's The Hidden Worlds
Talia Gryphon's Key to Conflict (and sequels)

Angel Sanctuary Vol 14

I swear this series is starting to get as busy as Fairy Cube. That’s an accomplishment.

( spoilers )

How do we think Kaori Yuki comes up with all this, anyway?

Wallflower Vol 17

( spoilers include plot that vaguely resembles bondage fetish )

And…are we on the third Halloween where they’re still 15 already? It’s not a bad thing to let your characters age to 16-17, you know… (Actually, I tend to forget that they aren’t.)

manga: Angel's Coffin (complete)

Angel’s Coffin is a single volume manga about the affair between Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria and Baroness Marie Vetsera near the end of the 19th century. As told by Higuri you, the mangaka of Cantarella and Seimaden. This means contracts with demons and more romantic angst and melodrama than you know what to do with.

Seto is an ancient god who was sealed away by a Catholic monk for centuries until a demon named Baphomet made a deal with him: he’ll free Seto, but only if Seto agrees to “lay waste to the first human you set your eyes upon.” The human who frees Seto is Marie Vetsera, a young noblewoman who is hopelessly in love with the married, womanizing crown prince. Seto, naturally, falls in love with Marie almost immediately, and agrees to help her meet the prince while angsting over the fact that he’s supposed to be ruining her life.

I’m far from an expert on the events in question, but the manga does seem to be relatively faithful to history, supernatural elements aside. Unlike Cantarella, where history is pretty much rebuilt around the supernatural elements, Angel’s Coffin’s supernatural elements are additions to the plot to provide more romantic angst. I admit, while Rudolf is a good character and the political aspect of his life is interesting, he doesn’t grab me much as a romantic lead. I can, however, understand why a sheltered seventeen-year-old girl would think he was the best thing ever. On the other hand, the scenes of Seto being a dork and angsting over being in love with Marie and how he’s supposed to ruin her life while she’s fangirling Rudolf are great.

( spoilers )

And now to wait for Crown to come out and read the rest of Seimaden while I wait for Higuri You to pick up Cantarella again. That’s never going to happen, is it?

Gintama Vol 5

I continue to be torn between wanting a plot, and thinking that a plot will just get in the way. This volume had some fine cosplay disguised as crack. Or is that crack disguised as cosplay. Beach samurai, a biker gang, fake exorcists, and forced crossdressing that managed to not annoy me.

( spoilers )