A day later than planned because of technical issues (huge apologies to Simon and Scholastic!) I'm thrilled to have Noah Can't Even author Simon James Green talking about funny YA!
I must have been about thirteen. I wasn't particularly bullied at school, but like my protagonist, Noah, I was a long way from being one of the popular kids. It's very unfair. At that age, some kids are somehow built like proverbial brick, er… lavatory accommodation, securing their popularity by virtue of the fact they could snap your neck just by looking at you. Others, even though they're going through the hell that is puberty, somehow manage to be good looking, totally avoiding the spots, gangly limbs and terrible hair – and everyone loves them. I needed an angle. I needed something that would make people like me. Just a little bit.
I found it in making people laugh. I distinctly remember the drama lesson where it happened – a funny improvisation involving my portrayal of a rather camp vicar, and afterwards, basking in the warm glow of everyone coming up to me, telling me how funny it was, and slapping me on the back like I was somehow cool. While it may have started as more of a defense mechanism, I soon found that I enjoyed making people laugh not because it meant there was less chance of getting battered, but because it felt good to make people happy. Entertaining people is fun. It's a privilege being able to create material that people want to turn to when they want to relax, kick back, and have a good time. Laughter takes us away from whatever else is happening in our lives, and the World in general. It's escapism. It's the best medicine. That's one of the big reasons I love writing funny stuff.
So when I was writing my debut YA novel, writing something funny was my natural angle. I also found that writing comedy, and then twisting something more heartfelt and raw in there, can be really effective – funny and sad by turns, just like life is. But I was conscious of something else too: there were some great funny YA books out there, but it didn't feel like there was exactly a glut of funny LGBTQ+ YA. Now, don't get me wrong – there are certainly some, and some excellent ones at that. But I felt there should be more. I really didn't want to write a sad story about a boy discovering his sexuality. I wanted to show that coming out can be a joyful thing; that there can be lots of positives and lots of laughs and lots of fun. And that's not to diminish the very real struggles that a lot of gay teens face – Noah certainly encounters his fair share of prejudice, heartache and turmoil along the way – but the ultimate message and ending, it's uplifting. I felt that was important. Life can be good. You deserve happiness.
Whilst that was my starting point, I soon found that actually, I wanted this to be the message I sent to everyone, not just gay teens. My god, the world can be a grim place – who wouldn't want to seek refuge in the pages of a good book right now? With everything that was going on, I really felt that what people needed was to laugh, have a good time, a giggle. I hope Noah Can't Even let's some of us do just that.
The Fallen Children by David Owen is really high on my TBR pile, and I loved last week's awesome launch!
It's always great to hear from David so I was thrilled to get this fantastic piece to share with you all.
The Fallen Children was the first book I ever had to put in the metaphorical drawer for a year after writing progress had ground to a halt.
I had the core concept – John Wyndham's The Midwich Cuckoos transported to a modern day council block – but the approach I had taken to writing it simply wasn't working.
This was because I had set out to write the book as something studiously 'commercial', which in my mind meant action-focused, heavy on shock and excitement and light on exploration of social or political issues. Around this time I was reading Michael Grant's Gone series which, though hardly apolitical, certainly doubles-down on excitement and gratuity, sometimes at the expense of reflection.
I thought The Fallen Children could follow suit. I'd developed a misguided notion of what makes commercial fiction, and this meant dumbing my idea down. The earliest outlines had evil alien children running amok, contrived twists and shoehorned explosions, while doggedly ignoring the thematic questions and connotations inherent in the concept.
Partly I wanted to write something more 'fun' after my debut Panther, a deeply personal book I was still finishing up at the time. And partly I had convinced myself that I needed to write this way to have a book people would actually want to buy.
When I returned to the manuscript, I realised that it was impossible – and irresponsible – to write about young women being impregnated by unseen powers without engaging with the emotional trauma this violation would cause. It couldn't simply be a device to deliver evil aliens into the story.
Almost immediately, characters emerged that felt real and compelling, and the story soon evolved into something much more interesting, because everything I had tried to ignore was the story. The book became interesting once it had something to say.
That's how The Fallen Children became a story not just about (possibly) alien children with superpowers, but about how young people are being let down by society, how a generation facing immense hardships outside of their control are nevertheless blamed and vilified for their perceived failings, and how they will have to fight to make a better future for themselves. There's still plenty of excitement in The Fallen Children, but it serves a purpose beyond cheap thrills.
This is something YA fiction does so well, and why many people fail to see YA's value. Outside commentators see YA's penchant for breathless, dramatic, often fantastical stories and dismiss it as vacuous, when in fact the best YA is using these to tackle head-on the most urgent issues facing young people.
To pluck some random examples: Only Ever Yours by Louise O'Neill and The Big Lie by Julie Mayhew are rich, provocative dystopian stories about feminist issues and more. Malorie Blackman's Noughts & Crosses series has all the drama and romance we associate with YA, while also offering nuanced examination of race relations. The Call by Peadar O Guilin is relentlessly exciting (and terrifying) while also being about disability. Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith is as much about sexuality and identity as it is about a giant grasshopper apocalypse.
A young adult readership demands excitement, of course, whether it comes from edge-of-the-seat action, intense romance, or outrageous humour. But it should be a vehicle for exploration and reflection, never an excuse to simplify ideas for a young audience – to talk down to them. The best YA fiction trusts that its reader is ready to engage with difficult topics, because they're already living them. By acknowledging this, by trying to help young people better understand the most serious issues facing them and the world, we hope to empower them – like the characters in The Fallen Children – to fight for a better future.
The Fallen Children is published by Atom and is available now in all good bookshops.
Rachel Vale of Macmillan Children's Books is one of my VERY favourite of a whole host of amazing cover designers working on YA and MG novels! When I found out that awesome author Sita Brahmachari had interviewed her to celebrate Rachel's glorious cover for Sita's new novel Tender Earth, I was excited to read it - and even more thrilled to be asked to share it with my readers on my blog! This is such a fascinating piece; I hope you all enjoy as much as I did!
With Sanchita Basu De Sarkar at Children's Book Shop Muswell Hill sharing the new covers.
An initial brief comes from the Editorial department; it will usually cover the basic information – title, author, the best market for the book, etc. – followed by a brief synopsis (character descriptions if relevant) and some visual references – other successful book covers in the same genre, pictures or movies posters, for example.
From there I will usually go away and read the book (or at least a good portion of it), to get a feel for the writing. As a designer I think we pick up on visual things in a way that not everyone else does – for instance, a very small detail in a book that isn't hugely significant in terms of the overall story. I start to jot down thoughts, ideas, sentences from the book that I think may be useful. I'll also go on to sites like Pinterest for inspiration – collecting lots of visual references like typography, colour, texture, images . . . you name it!
With lots of references gathered, I'll start to think about how they might come together to create a suitable cover solution – and if this is something I will generate entirely in-house or whether it would benefit from the help of a sympathetic illustrator/designer. In this case, and with three covers to generate, I invested some help to bring these covers to life from the very talented Helen Crawford-White. I've worked with her before and I knew she would be a great fit for these. We worked together on some initial thoughts and ideas, until I was happy we were at a point to present to the rest of the in-house team.
Assuming I present something that inspires everyone, there will then be a process of specific feedback and tweaking as a final, approved version of the cover takes shape.
Who is involved in the process, e.g. author, editor, marketing, etc.?
It's an incredibly collaborative process. At times there can be a lot of voices, but all are worth listening to. Key people/teams involved in the process are Editorial, the Publisher, Sales, Marketing & Publicity, and of course the author.
When you first started working on the covers for Artichoke Hearts and Jasmine Skies, what was the spirit you wanted to capture?
The vibrancy of the landscapes and the spirit of the characters. I find the locations evocative, and wanted to capture that with colour and energy.
In Jasmine Skies there is a family tree. It also appears in Tender Earth as a friend and family tree. You commissioned an artist to create vignettes in these books. How do these images impact on the reader's experience?
The interior illustrations for Jasmine Skies were from the very lovely Kate Forrester. In the case of the family tree in particular, this provides a very quick and accessible visual reference to something that can be quite complicated to understand when just reading about it. It acts as a shorthand that can be referred to over and over again as you discover the family in the book.
With the publication of Tender Earth – a story that returns to the Levenson family – what was the purpose of re-jacketing the previous two books?
The first of the two original books was published back in 2011. Design-wise, trends are constantly moving and progressing. At the time the book covers really stood out; they felt very fresh and new – combining photography and illustration. But in the six years since then, though more books followed along similar lines, designs have moved on. We felt this new book gave us the perfect opportunity to re-energize and reinvigorate the two older covers, thereby showcasing the new Tender Earth while at the same time reminding readers with the new look of the links to Artichoke Hearts and Jasmine Skies.
What was the cover concept behind the new jackets?
The concept or key ideas behind these new jackets were vibrancy and energy. I wanted to keep the strong sense of location and character, but in a more graphic/illustrative way, where colour and natural motifs played a big part in the identity of each book.
When you read Tender Earth, what aspects of the book struck you as important to bring out in the cover?
As this returns to the world of Artichoke Hearts and Jasmine Skies, I really wanted to bring the character of Laila, the youngest member of the Levenson family, to life. I wanted the cover to represent her voice, strength and independence.
Were there any aspects of the book(s) that you especially drew on when designing?
The locations and associated culture were a big part of designing these covers – I drew a lot of inspiration from the jewel-like colour combinations in particular. It proved an important tool in ensuring that these sat together as well as standing apart confidently on their own.
Can you offer a list of words/phrases/qualities that you would like readers to take from the design of these three books, and Tender Earth in particular?
I'd like readers to be inspired by these three books and their covers. Inspired to read them in the first instance and be inspired to be confident in who they are on their own journeys.
Thank you Rachel for all your beautiful covers. They say 'don't judge a book by its cover' but I think lots of people do and I feel very lucky to have had you designing mine.
Tender Earth - 'A coming of age story for young protestors everywhere' is edited by Venetia Gosling. Publication date June 1st 2017.
My links recap continues, after another slight break.
Alana Massey's post for MEL magazine on how men could learnsomething from One Direction is one of the best pieces of writing about music I've ever read.
Nineworlds announced some of the titles for programme items at the 2017 convention! There are some fascinating looking things coming up; I'm super-excited for it – it's always one of my favourite events of the year.
Sam Missingham's new site Lounge Books is really fabulous, and I look forward to using it to discover some awesome new books.
With lots of people having different views on ebooks and physical books (I'm a huge fan of both) I really appreciated Erin Kelly sharing this great letter in The Guardian from Ian Macrae about the benefits of ebooks and text-to-speech for blind readers.
I'm thrilled that Rife: Twenty Stories from Britain's Youth is finally funded! However there's still the chance to pledge and get some great rewards.
I don't normally include my own posts in these twenty but I REALLY wanted to share this amazing Eleanor Wood interview again!
Speaking of interviews, Olivia Chanel's Saturday NightAuthor Fever – asking about 70s music and diverse books is such a fabulous idea! And it's great to see one of my favourite authors, Dahlia Adler, starting it off.
There's a stunning piece by Sunny Singh here about the Jhalak Prize being forced to justify the prize's existence to the EHRC after a complaint by Philip Davies MP.
Ruby Tandoh released her mental health zine Do What You Want, just £1.99 as an ebook. I've just started, and it's awesome – don't miss it!
There's a really important piece on The Atlantic site by Sophie Gilbert looking at the ways in which popular TV series 13 Reasons Why was problematic in how it tackled suicide.
Fabulous teen blogger Amber Kirk-Ford wrote a great post about the recent Penguin Random House Children's Highlights evening, which I was lucky enough to attend.
Jessica Plummer's Book Riot piece on why many fans aren't interested in being 'patient' with Marvel over the HYDRA Captain America stuff was superb.
Another great YA Open Mic on the B & N site – I especially loved Laura Silverman, Elizabeth Wein and Jennifer Yu's pieces.
Magic Mike Live sounds incredible! I loved Lindsey Kelk's piece on it for Glamour.
Autostraddle have an extract from Honor Girl by Maggie Thrash, which looks superb – I can't wait to read this book!
I love this interview with Unstoppable Wasp writer Jeremy Whitley and scientist Tamara Robertson!
My awesome friend Louie Stowell spoke about technology and reading on Book Machine!
I loved the Gerry Duggan AMA on the Marvel Reddit!
Finally, a really thought-provoking post by Simon Smith on making careful judgments about class books.


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New Aadhaar Bill doesn't violate Supreme Court ruling, say officials
The Bill that would make it essential for people to provide their unique identity number for availing government benefits was introduced on Thursday in Lok Sabha.
Surabhi Agarwal
March 04, 2016, 08:31 IST
NEW DELHI: The new Aadhaar bill that would make it essential for people to provide their unique identity number for availing government benefits does not violate SC's ruling, which had ordered that no person should be denied welfare services for want of Aadhaar, government officials contest.
The government on Thursday introduced the new Aadhaar bill in the Lok Sabha on the hope that once the law is passed, all restrictions imposed by the court such as using Aadhaar only for five government schemes including PDS and LPG will be nullified.
"After the law is passed, the basis on which the Supreme Court had given the ruling will itself not be there," said an official requesting anonymity. The person argued that the reasoning behind the court verdict was that the government earlier did not have a legislation in place. "There was a legislative vacuum, the bill when passed will fill that gap."
There was nothing which said how the data will be protected or what punishment will be given in case of a breach, etc. Once there is a law, it spells out all details so that all concerns of the court are addressed, added the official.
The bill, called the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016 was proposed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitely on Monday while presenting the Union Budget. The legislation will be moved along with a motion to withdraw the National Identification Authority of India, 2010 which was introduced by the UPA government to provide statutory backing to the UIDAI.
The bill makes strict provisions to safeguard citizen privacy and data with a clause that even courts would not be able to ask for "core biometric data" of residents. However, in case of national security, senior officials of the government or the judiciary can ask for identity or authentication information.
Just like the previous bill, the latest legislation too puts in place hefty penalties for misuse of the demographic or the biomet- ric data. "If any private company or individual involved wrongfully uses the data or tampers with it in anyway, they will not just have to pay the fine but their officials could also be imprisoned," said the official.
The person added that another highlight of the legislation is that it makes it an offense to publically post or display someone's Aadhaar number on a website or elsewhere. "Aadhaar now becomes like your secret number," said the official.
The bill makes Aadhaar a condition for "receipt of a subsidy, benefit or service" for which the expenditure is incurred from the Consolidated Fund of India. The official said that though 97% of the country's population already have Aadhaar, but in case of a person who doesn't still possess the card, the government will facilitate enrolment of such a person and also accept an alternate identity proof on a temporary basis.
While sceptics are arguing that it goes against the Supreme Court's verdict, the official said that the government has all the right to identify the person correctly before doling out any benefits. "It's the same things as if you want to drive a car you need a driving license and a passport if you want to travel abroad."
Aadhaar Bill
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Kamysjin (, ) er hovedstaden i den oblasten Volgograd i Rusland. Kamysjin har  indbyggere.

Geografi

Klima

Referencer

Eksterne henvisinger

Byer i Volgograd oblast

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← #ASonnetADay – Dorothy Parker – "Portrait"
LIVE VIDEO – 10 October 1200h CDT (GMT/UTC -5) – St Francis Borgia →
Bob Gibson… Whitey Ford… RIP
Whitey Ford died today. It is the end of Sukkoth
Bob Gibson died on 2 October, the beginning of Sukkoth.
I'm looking forward to the end of 2020.
This entry was posted in SESSIUNCULA and tagged baseball. Bookmark the permalink.
12 Responses to Bob Gibson… Whitey Ford… RIP
dmflinn says:
Several years ago, I was at a dinner, and Tim McCarver was the guest speaker. At the end of his talk, someone asked him what it was like to catch Bob Gibson. McCarver told a story about a game when he said to the Umprise "Time Out" in the fifth inning. He walked to the mound, and Gibson was furious and demanded to know why McCarver called time out. McCarver told him that he just wanted to remind Gibson they were on the same team because he lost the feeling in his right hand from catching him.
Midwest St. Michael says:
They lowered the mound because Bob Gibson was so dominant. What does that tell you about his ability to pitch? (Not to mention he played one year with the Harlem Globetrotters.)
Tooksam says:
They lowered the mound because pitchers were becoming dominant, not just Gibson. Twenty-two pitchers had sub-2.00 earned run averages in 1968. This is not to deny Gibsons greatness, just to correct a misunderstanding.
The one thing I remember about Whitey Ford is that my dad worked with his mother at a big insurance firm in Manhattan. May all the faithful departed Rest In Peace.
After his death, a photo was posted on several websites (ex.: https://infotel.ca/newsitem/bbo-obit-whitey-ford/cp452406885) showing Whitey Ford along with some of the other baseball heroes of my youth: Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra…and with this photo a wealth of memories flooded back, with the great Mel Allen's unmistakable voice beaming from the old Black and White television, calling the plays on those heady warm afternoons. I suspect those of a certain New York vintage will remember.
tho says:
How well I remember those days, the inimitable Casey Stengel, the unsung hero Tommy Henrich, who was called old reliable for obvious reasons, and the stand out announcer Mel Allen, joined by Red Barber. Kind of bring a nostalgic tear to my eye.
Charivari Rob says:
So many of the baseball legends from the 50s and even the 60s are now gone…
Besides Whitey's on-field talent and accomplishments, I remember my late father commenting on his off-field judgment. More than once he said to me that Whitey had grown up the son of an Astoria bar owner and had a clear understanding of the limits & dangers of alcohol that stood him in good stead, considering the role drinking (to excess) played in some of the damage to the lives of friends and teammates like Mantle and Martin.
Does the name Sandy Koufax sound familiar?
donato2 says:
Bob Gibson will be forever associated with one incredible number: 1.12.
I'm a Cardinal fan from way back–to the days of Musial, Schoendienst, Boyer. One reason is the Cardinals were so good, the A's were awful, and it was easy to get the Cardinals on the radio. Another reason was a friend, who along with yours truly, comprised the pitching staff on our Little League team. His father was originally with St Louis and started the 7th game of the 1946 World Series, later a 20 game winner with a last place team, the Pirates. It was a major event to have a major league pitcher at the year end picnic of our team.
Now for the Bob Gibson story:
Some years ago a friend, a former Big 8 football player and Cardinal fan whose wife is the niece of the pitcher mentioned above, went to the Cardinal Fantasy camp. Among the ex Cardinals there were Gibson, Schoendienst, and McCarver. Also present was Bob Avellino, once a mostly back up NFL QB. It was all in fun, but Avellino started telling everyone he was going get a hit off Gibson, who heard about Avellino's plan.
The moment arrived. Avellino stepped to the plate. McCarver knew that Gibson was going to be serious. He tightened his chest protector and got into a real catcher's stance. Of course, Avellino didn't touch the ball. Afterwards, McCarver told my friend it had been some time since he caught Gibson, and he had forgotten what it was like. McC said it was scary.
robt,
Both incredible, but Gibby was the workhorse.
MLB statistics for Gibson:
Win–loss record	251–174
Earned run average	2.91
Strikeouts	3,117
MLB statistics for Koufax:
Win–loss record	165–87
Koufax is one of three pitchers in history to win the pitchers Triple Crown 3 times. The other two are Walter Johnson and Grover Cleveland Alexander. The pitchers Triple Crown is to lead the league in wins, strikeouts, ERA. Of the three pitchers Koufax is the only one who led all of baseball in all three categories.
Btw, Bob Gibson attended Creighton University (Jesuit) in Omaha


Prototype of updated Volkswagen Golf R hides new "face" under camouflage - Volkswagen - Whatever you imagine, fit in!
New pictures of modified Volkswagen Golf R appeared on the Internet. In can be seen that the prototype of updated model hides under camouflage restyled bumpers and new LED lights with tail lights. Interior of the car will not change, except for the infotainment system with a larger 9.2-inch touch screen. Besides, the novelty will receive a 12.3-inch digital instrument panel Active Info Display which is available on Passat model.
Also we can notice wires coming from under the hood into the cabin, measuring instruments on wheels and a computer device in the cabin. All this hints at upgraded 2.0-liter 4-cylinder turbo engine. Indeed, the outgoing 300-hp Volkswagen Golf R turned out to be less powerful than the 310-hp GTI Clubsport S, so the concern decided to bring back the title of the most powerful flagship model in the segment.
Familiar engines 1.4 TSI and 1.6 TDI will replace the 1.5-liter petrol and diesel units, which Volkswagen promises to make lighter and more efficient.


« Remember Nijuu and "Auto Echo"?
A couple of people suffered some slight misunderstanding of the relationship between the Song Arranger view and the Pattern Editor view.
for that step of the Song, NTRQ will play Pattern 00 on Voice A, Pattern 01 on Voice B, Pattern 02 on Voice C, and so on.
Now, it is possible to assign the same Pattern to more than one Voice on a Song Step.
for example, would make Voice A, B & C play the same Pattern (in this case, 02).
If you then go to the Pattern Editor and edit Voice A, B or C, the changes are shown in all three Voices because you are looking at 3 views of Pattern 02.
each Voice would still try to play Pattern 02 but the display for Voice D & E will look slightly different. This is because they use numbers to represent the pitch instead of note names. So where a note might be shown as "C#2″ on Voices A, B & C, it will be shown on D & E as "07″ (though I just made the actual value up).
At all times, the currently highlighted Song Step is the one that is displayed in the Pattern Editor. Move the cursor up and down in the Song and the Pattern Editor window changes display to show the Patterns of the current Song Step.
I think this relationship is what people are misunderstanding. The Pattern Editor can only edit Patterns that are present in your Song. In actual fact, the Pattern Editor is more like a "zoomed in Song Editor". It might help to think of the Song Window as an "overview" of your Song and the Pattern Editor as zooming in on a step of the Song. This might seem a little restrictive but there are a lot of ways to get around it.
I'll expand on that next time.
How do I past the small area under the NTRQ sign?


Nosek's teammate, Ryan Reaves, responded to Thornton's comments.
Illegal Check to the Head – A hit resulting in contact with an opponent's head where the head was the main point of contact and such contact to the head was avoidable is not permitted.
In determining whether contact with an opponent's head was avoidable, the circumstances of the hit including the following shall be considered:(i) Whether the player attempted to hit squarely through the opponent's body and the head was not "picked" as a result of poor timing, poor angle of approach, or unnecessary extension of the body upward or outward.(ii) Whether the opponent put himself in a vulnerable position by assuming a posture that made head contact on an otherwise full body check unavoidable.(iii) Whether the opponent materially changed the position of his body or head immediately prior to or simultaneously with the hit in a way that significantly contributed to the head contact.
48.4 Game Misconduct Penalty – There is no provision for a game misconduct for this rule.
In this case, the on-ice officials felt that Thornton did not intend to injure his opponent. The Department of Player Safety, upon further review, felt otherwise.
This is the second career suspension for Joe Thornton. He sat for two games in 2010 for a hit to the head to David Perron, then with the St. Louis Blues.
Thornton was also fined $2,500 for high-sticking Golden Knights' forward Ryan Reaves in March.


The F1 circus' arrival to Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix kicked off the European leg of the 21-race 2016 season. Despite limited changes in regulations for this year, the first four races had already hinted it would not simply be a continuation of 2015, bringing so far a set of unexpected results – with the biggest surprise to arrive at the Circuit de Catalunya. Here's some of the myths about the 2016 season that have been dismissed – or confirmed – so far.
There's no doubt the Silver Arrows remain in the class of their own, and only a technical failure on their cars renders a grid reshuffle… Unless they decide to take each other out, that is.
The difference this year is that, so far, it was the "other" Mercedes driver that's been collecting all the laurels this season; before arriving to Barcelona Nico Rosberg had a clean streak of wins for 2016 – seemingly carried by a momentum he picked up at the end of last year, winning all of the remaining races of 2015 just after losing the title battle to his team-mate Lewis Hamilton in Austin. Arriving to Spain, the German was looking to secure his eight consecutive victory.
Seeing that last year's USGP was Hamilton's last 25-point scoring finish, some people suggested he had given up, settling down for three career titles; but considerably more people believed in a Mercedes conspiracy, whereby the team was sabotaging the Brit's efforts to hand this year's title to Nico – making it a perfect German championship.
The rumours were spurred by the fact that Hamilton had struggled with the setup and reliability on his car since the start of the season, most notably in Russia – starting with a power unit failure in the last stage of qualifying, followed by a water pressure problem during the race (which he still finished second, behind Rosberg). Little notice was given to the fact that the Brit has been struggling with starts off the line, ever since the new regulations banned any instructions from the team to the driver on the best car setup for the perfect launch at the lights – where, to the contrary, Rosberg performed impeccably so far this season.
The conspiracy theory spiralled so far out of hand, that Mercedes decided to take to social media, issuing an open letter to their fans, describing the blood, sweat and tears that go into making every race weekend a success, and explaining their duty to give both drivers the best winning opportunity.
This was the first time the new-era Mercedes took each other out in the race, so the fallout from the Spanish GP is hard to predict.
The letter was the backdrop to the first 2016 grand prix in Europe where, after missing out to his team-mate throughout all practice sessions, Hamilton snatched the top spot in qualifying, suggesting a return to his winning form. It certainly seemed that way when he set off to a faultless start on Sunday… but not for long as he was overtaken by his team-mate on the first corner. Having developed a taste for victory, Rosberg was not going to hand this one to his biggest rival, and so, when the Brit tried to reclaim the position, a quick sequence of events sent them both crashing out of the race on lap one.
"Firstly, I want to make an apology to all of our team," Hamilton said after the stewards had deemed the crash a racing incident, with no penalties due for either driver – despite some big names of the sport (most notably Mercedes' non-exec Niki Lauda and three-time title holder Sir Jackie Stewart) placing the blame on the Brit.
"When I stopped my heart just sank because there's 1300-odd people in our team who all work so hard for us to be here.
All suggesting that although the Silver Arrows might still lead the pack, there's more snags in the works this year to smooth out.
As the only consistent podium claimers of 2015 outside Mercedes – and growing from strength to strength throughout the season – Ferrari were punted to truly challenge the Silver Arrows for the title this year. However, less-than-perfect start to the season, including a collision between the two Prancing Horses in China, as well as reliability issues (with Sebastian Vettel missing out on the Bahrain GP completely due to an engine failure), put the expected 2016 Mercedes-Ferrari battle into doubt.
It's not been an easy start to the season for Vettel, particularly when struck out of the a GP in a double-rear-whammy from Kvyat (pictured in Russia).
Truth be told, some unfortunate on-track events contributed to this picture, which ever-vocal Vettel was keen to point out; an aggressive drive by Red Bull's Daniil Kvyat enraged the German in the Chinese Grand Prix, where the collision between the team-mates was caused by Vettel taking avoiding action from the young Russian. With both taking the podium that afternoon, Vettel had some strong words to say to Kvyat, whose third-place finish was Red Bull's first podium of the season.
Matters were only made worse at Kvyat's home race two weekends later, where the Russian hit Vettel not once, but twice, ending the German's afternoon on the first lap. The former champion didn't measure his words on the team radio at the time of his misfortune, making for some entertaining piece of audio; but – in the end – it was a terrible finale for Kvyat, who lost his drive at Red Bull the following week.
Forever behind: Ferrari are struggling to get on the top podium spot in a year that was meant to be theirs.
However, as it turned out in Barcelona, this decision did not help Ferrari – quite the opposite in fact – as, with their new "signing", Red Bull took an unexpected win at the Spanish Grand Prix, leaving the Prancing Horse having to settle for the lower podium spots once again – even with Mercedes out of the picture.
Despite the unlucky streak, Ferrari are still strongly placed in the standings and – for what it's worth – a step closer to the drivers' title, with Raikkonen currently splitting the two Silver Arrows; and yet, seeing that Mercedes don't tend to make the same mistake twice, and in the light of surprise emergence of Red Bull (and upcoming engine upgrades introduced by Renault), it's difficult to bet any money on Ferrari returning to their championship days this season.
Known for their unconventional approach, it was still a bit of a surprise when in 2015 Red Bull promoted their junior team's Daniil Kvyat, to fill the void of departed champion Sebastian Vettel, and then restocking Toro Rosso with two rookies, including Formula 1's youngest ever driver, Max Verstappen (who, by the way, secured his regular driving licence in the course of that season when he turned 18). For Red Bull it seemed like the right decision, as newbie Kvyat impressed in his first year, ultimately outscoring his more experienced team-mate Daniel Ricciardo by three points.
Barcelona was a tough weekend for Kvyat who was still getting over the brutal demotion – made harder by his red Bull replacement winning the race.
This trend seemed to continue in 2016 when – off the back of the team's poor overall performance – Kvyat's brave (or some would say, maverick) driving granted Red Bull its first podium of the year, in China. The magic was not to continue though, as the home grand prix was to be the Russian's last on the A team for the time being – due to a double collision with Ferrari's Vettel, which also directly led to Ricciardo picking up some damage, compromising his race.
"It cost us the race really. It's a shame. I expect an apology, put it that way," the Aussie said after the race in Sochi with a peculiar lack of his signature smile.
"He owes it to a few people today," he added.
A few days later Red Bull announced a driver swap, demoting Kvyat to his old team Toro Rosso, in favour of Verstappen.
"There was no real explanation," the Russian revealed when quizzed by the press in Spain.
The stellar debut performance shocked everyone – not least Red Bull themselves, and the man behind Verstappen's promotion, Helmut Marko.
The decision fired up the F1 world with comments on Red Bull's hard-handed internal politics and the team's shortsightedness, in the face of a recent podium finish by the Russian. Promoting Verstappen was also seen as a huge gamble, seeing his inexperience (the Dutchman rocketed from karting to one of the top F1 teams in the space of three years) as well as his fearless driving style. And yet, the gamble paid off – although not even Red Bull could have predicted what happened.
After Mercedes' untimely departure, Verstappen capitalised on his great performance in qualifying as well as a favourable tyre strategy to claim the chequered flag in a faultless performance – despite being hunted down by former champions in their Ferraris for the majority of the race. This has made him the youngest race winner in the sport's history (taking this record away from Vettel, no less) – and the first Dutchman to take the trophy.
Of course, the season is still young and plenty can change – who knows, Verstappen might crumble under the weight of his success, and Kvyat might even be making a comeback – but at this point it has to be given to Red Bull: they might seem ruthless, but it's paying off.
The biggest question mark ahead of the season hung over the complete newcomer to the sport: the Haas F1 Team. Taking as a base case the terrible progress of McLaren since taking on the Honda engines upon the Japanese manufacturer's return to the sport, it was assumed Haas – NASCAR-veterans but F1 novices – would follow a similar path; however, that was not the case.
Grosjean's signing for newcomer Haas seemed like a gamble – but seeing Renault's struggles this year, it was probably the right move.
In fact, the team had a phenomenal start to the season – or at least in part – with their lead driver Romain Grosjean finishing 6. and 5. respectively in the first two races, making the team the first American constructor to score points in the sport, and the first team since 2002 (Toyota Racing) to record a top-ten finish on their F1 debut.
Sadly, Grosjean's team-mate Gutierrez dampened the early celebrations when he got caught up in contact with Fernando Alonso, who crashed out of the Australian race in dramatic fashion; and then a break failure cut his Bahrain afternoon short after nine laps.
Since then it didn't get much better, as Gutierrez so far remained outside the points, while Grosjean experienced his first retirement of the season in Barcelona due to a technical fault, after challenging in the top 10 again – so the jury's still out on how the team will fare going forward.
Talking of McLaren, unsurprisingly, no miracles happened in their garage over the winter break, but the car is visibly performing better this season – so much so, that the team now has 12 points behind their belts, including their best result in Russia with Alonso's 6. place finish, and Jenson Button's 10. and 9. finishes in the last two races.
Despite their first top-10 qualifying time in Barcelona, clocked by Alonso, the Spaniard did not go onto deliver a home crowd pleaser, having to retire from the race early due to loss of power.
"I'm very sad. Obviously it was a big opportunity, especially with the Mercs out of the race," Alonso said.
"We're not happy with the reliability yet.
There's little to cheer about for Magnussen, whose new team upon his return to the sport is performing worse than the one that cut him short.
The other "newcomer" team on the 2016 grid is Renault, who took over the Lotus outfit in the continuation of an ever-lasting saga of buyouts. Sadly, the bright yellow has done nothing to brighten up the team's future, with only 6 points on their tally thanks to ex-McLaren Kevin Magnussen's 6. place finish in Russia, and no points so far from rookie Brit's Jolyon Palmer's drive.
So, if you consider the constructors' standings, where these more experienced teams and even Force India fall short of Haas' 22 points so far, it shows that new arrivals to F1 are not automatically doomed to fail… and that McLaren might have partnered with the wrong engine supplier for the long-term.
Opening the door to Haas was one way of mixing it all up on the grid – but it was not enough in the eyes of the sport's governing body. The FIA decided to address the complaints of 2015 about the reduced participation in qualifying, particularly of those drivers who knew a grid penalty would demote them on race day anyway – and two weeks before the start of the current season it changed the session's format.
Even though Ecclestone slammed the elimination qualifying as "crap" the FIA decided to give it another go before agreeing with that opinion.
The elimination-system retained the three stages of qualifying, but saw the slowest driver eliminated at regular time intervals until the chequered flag. Trialled in Australia, the format was widely criticised by the teams, as well as the fans – although it increased the excitement in the first two stages, in Q3 there were virtually no cars left on the grid for the better part of the session.
Despite that, the FIA decided to test out the system once more in Bahrain – to the outrage of the F1 world. Thankfully, after the second trial, the new format was dropped.
For next year, though, FIA has more goodies in stock to spice up the game, and the teams are already hard at work to meet the new planned regulations. Among these, there's the engine equalisation (targeting a lap time disparity of 0.3secs on a reference circuit between the different make engines, as well as increased engine noise for better effect), more durable tyres, and "lower, longer, wider" cars for faster racing. In theory, it all sounds promising for the viewers – even if at the cost of the sport breaking its own principles (since more efficient hybrid engines meant reduced emissions, which led to reduced noise…); but, as the 2014 season showed us, not all that sounds promising results in an engaging race – albeit, certainly a spectacle.
But before we get there, another 16 races of the current season await; and although some of the uncertainties around this year's show have now been clarified, Barcelona stands as a prime example that in F1 a new surprise always lurks somewhere around the corner – quite literally.
Have we missed anything? Get in touch and let us know!


How To Make a DIY Carved Rubber Stamp?
The most significant thing to understand when carving stamps is that any stamp you carve will image in reverse. Always remember to invert image before carving if you want an image, a word or something that is direction specific. Below is step by step guide on how to make a DIY carved rubber stamp.
Use a sheet of paper to follow over your outline that you'd like to curve. Incorporate as much detail as you'd want. When beginning with stamp cutting, I prescribe attempting less demanding shapes and necessary pictures to get its hang. The stem or vine and leaf plans on the layout are fantastic amateur shapes to deal with.
Now, you can remove the tracings to exchange on to your elastic sheet. You can likewise abandon them entirely on the sheet, yet I locate the little bits of paper simpler to utilize. Use the back end of a pen or anything to rub the followed picture, pencil side down, on to your elastic square. It should exchange effectively and leave a rubbing on the flexible sheet. Next, use your specialty blade to remove some unpleasant stamp shapes.
When you begin cutting you will discover how the sharp edge collaborates with the rubber. You'll see that it reduces significantly less demanding and smoother than you initially anticipate. Which implies it tends to be anything but difficult to cut an unstable line or gain out of power. An enduring hand will be useful. Tip: Keep your sharp edge enduring and turn the elastic sheet to cut your plan. This dependably delivers the smoothest cuts for me, so I suggest giving it a shot.
When you've cut your whole design, you can test it out. This is additionally an incredible time to refine your plan and fix any regions you require. Try not to thump yourself if your idea turns out somewhat wonky. You're merely beginning, and the eccentricity is the reason we are making our particular DIY hand cut elastic stamps. Wipe off your stamp onto some paper, and return it with a sharp edge to tidy up any edges or subtle elements you require. Continue refining your outline until the point that you are happy with it. You can apply these skills when making easy Halloween themed finger foods.


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Tag: videogame
Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor: How is it Even MORE Anime than Iron Widow?!
June 11, 2022 by macksamson, posted in Children's Novels, Western Media
One of the first things they teach you about the Internet is that anything you say on there is permanent. While I never made the mistake of giving away private information to strangers on social media, I have made posts that I now regret. One really damning post was my glowing review of Xiran Jay Zhao's Iron Widow. Several months after reading the book, my outlook on it has completely changed. I could write a whole additional post about what I've been going through that made me love it at the time, and how I'm only just starting to face my personal issues head-on, but I won't bore you (if you want context, you could read my other YA novel reviews and see how increasingly depressed I got over time).
In any case, I'm not going to hide what Iron Widow is anymore. I still stand by Wu Zetian being one of the few proactive YA protagonists, and the book overall being great as a mindless, anime-like romp. However, if taken with anymore than a grain of salt, it is a toxic and unhealthy tome of Feminism to the most violent, hypocritical extreme. Regardless, I still think Zhao is one of the most promising rookies in the field. With all that being said, let's see if their middle-grade debut novel, Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor, improves on their writing style while potentially being less of a loaded gun than Iron Widow was.
In Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor, the titular Zachary is a passionate fan of Mythrealm, an AR-game that combines Pokémon Go with ancient mythology. One fateful day, he meets a boy named Simon Li, who is the host of the spirit of one of China's past emperors. Zachary himself is also able to be possessed by the spirit of China's First Emperor, Qin Shi Huang, via his AR headset. The timing of this couldn't be better, because his mom is captured by demons and needs saving.
I hate that my blog has gotten so political lately, because I wanted to be a breath of fresh air from said politics. However, when you're reading a book by Xiran Jay Zhao, it's impossible to not get political. Unsurprisingly for a book published in 2020 onwards, Zachary Ying is a victim of racism; people assume things because he's Chinese, and he's even ashamed to eat his authentically homemade Chinese lunch at school. This means nothing for the plot, but it's there anyway because it's topical. To be fair, this is significantly tamer than Iron Widow. Of course, almost everything is tamer than Iron Widow in terms of political undertones, meaning that Zachary Ying will still feel very political in and of itself.
Let's stop getting political for a bit and discuss what makes the book interesting in the first place: its very anime premise. Like in Iron Widow, Zhao is at least able to come up with creative ideas and execute them well. In a world where so many stories involve VRMMOs, the rare instance of an AR game is novel already. One of the biggest criticisms of Iron Widow was that the mechanics weren't thought out well enough, and Zhao actually learned from that mistake! The basic principles of Mythrealm and the whole spirit thing are simple: the powers of the spirits are determined by how they're thought of by people in the living world, including their portrayals in videogames. It's an easy way for Zhao to go all-out and make Zachary Ying maximum anime.
In addition to being more anime, the book is significantly more action-driven than Iron Widow. There's a fight scene in almost every other chapter, and said fight scenes are absolutely nuts. This is good because subtlety is about as good as it was in Iron Widow, i.e. non-existent. Zhao tells you exactly how to feel, from political views to how to view the spirits pulling the reins. They at least pull a moral ambiguity angle, something that was SORELY needed in Iron Widow, where a mass murderer was considered a messaiah.
So… the characters. Ohhhhh boy. Let's discuss Zack first. He's kind of a wimp, even when he has phenomenal cosmic powers. He's meant to be an audience surrogate protagonist; the Asian-American who knows nothing about Chinese culture and history, and is therefore an incomplete human being. I'm not even exaggerating that last bit; part of today's "woke" culture is the idea that every person is duty-bound to know and understand their "racial identity" to the Nth degree. Like almost all other books of this kind that I've covered, he gets stronger not by becoming more self-confident, but by learning random stuff about Chinese history.
Simon Li feels like he's kind of there. He basically serves as an infodumper when the ghost of Huang doesn't happen to be doing it himself. He has a brother in the hospital, but it feels like a shock value thing to make you like him. Oh, and here's a kicker: the guy possessing his body is the real-life inspiration for Iron Widow's drunk delinquent, Li Shimin.
Speaking of Iron Widow, recall its protagonist, Wu Zetian. She's here too, and I honestly felt PTSD from her reappearance. Zetian possesses the body of Melissa Wu, and their personalities are so identical that you can't even tell who's speaking out of Melissa's body at any given time. Surprisingly enough, she's not as much of an extremist this time around. She's still the Best Girl, though, if not better because she's not yelling P.C. P.S.A.s every five seconds.
Every time I review an urban fantasy like this, I've said that the actual mythological characters are boring. Fortunately, the many mythological and historical figures that Zack encounters on his journey are some of the best I've seen in a long time. They are memorable and faithful to their sources, and have the self-referential humor that you'd think more authors would take advantage of but don't.
If there's anything I learned from Zachary Ying, other than a LOT of Chinese history, it's that I still don't get Xiran Jay Zhao at all. They say some things that are true, like how Chinese people aren't all exactly the same as individuals, and a line about not caring about what other people think. However, they definitely portray Americans as a single, racist entity that hates Chinese culture, contrary to hard evidence that proves otherwise. Also, today's culture literally revolves around people having to be "seen" by America in order to exist. Zhao seems to be establishing themself as a guru of Chinese history, but because of how political they are, and how things are in general these days, I don't know if their interest is born of passion or civic duty. Their bio says they were "raised by the Internet", which makes me feel like that their motives are purely the latter. Zack is often condemned for not knowing Chinese culture facts, and to be honest, I felt condemned by the author as well. That's not how you should feel when learning about a foreign nation's rich culture.
I think I really like this book. It's a significant step up from Iron Widow, at the very least. Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor is way more creative, and ties into Zhao's vision to make the world learn Chinese history. It's just a shame that it still has sprinkles of agenda throughout, otherwise it'd be almost perfect (although many would argue that the political aspects make it perfect).
Regardless, I need to stop getting political. Other than a few rants I may or may not publish, I'm going to try my damndest to stop being obsessed with politics, and to stop reading these politically charged books. I might still find myself consuming more of them (including but not limited to the sequels to books I've covered), but if I do, you won't be seeing them. Anyway… Zachary Ying is great. Just be wary of the potential to get triggered.
Tagged action, anime, augmented reality, books, comedy, fantasy, kids, mythology, videogame, waifus, WesternLeave a comment
Magistellus Bad Trip Volume 1: SAO Meets GTA Meets Monopoly Meets Ready Player One
November 13, 2021 by macksamson, posted in Light Novels, Magistellus Bad Trip
I hate myself so much. I swore off all light novel series I haven't read (and some I haven't finished), yet this one—Magistellus Bad Trip—beckoned me into its world. It wasn't even the cover art that got me, but the premise. It was something so inherently appealing that it couldn't possibly suck. Despite having read a lot of LNs with fool-proof premises that end up sucking, I took the plunge once more.
In Magistellus Bad Trip, Suou Kaname is filthy rich in the world of Money (Game) Master, a VRMMO where your worth is measured in stonks and bonds. As good as he is, however, he's not satisfied with his currents setup. No, he wants to track down the Legacies, which are ridiculously OP equipment left behind by a legendary player. Can he do it? Probably. It's just a matter of when.
What immediately makes Magistellus Bad Trip appealing is its setting, Money (Game) Master. It is an open-world sandbox game where you buy properties, and make bank by utilizing the world's wildly fluctuating stonk market. Of course, you can blow up in-game facilities and other players to give yourself an edge. But since every VRMMO series is morally bound to have some allegory to our actual society, the in-game currency in Money (Game) Master has ramifications in the real world. And with the Legacies in hand, one can effectively rule over all mankind.
However, the real world isn't much better. In Magistellus Bad Trip, A.I are on their way to assuming full control of the world. And while low-income families are funded by these A.I., this effectively makes them slaves until their debts can be paid somehow.
Of course, good writing and storytelling matters the most. Fortunately, this is one of the better-written light novels I have read. There is a lot of thought put into the nuance of the world and its logic. Plus, there is no shortage of over-the-top action, which can be compared to the spectacle of Platinum Games.
And, for once, the characters aren't completely unremarkable! Kaname is the best character for sure. While his uncanny sense of danger comes off as an overpowered protagonist trait, the stuff he does fits within the logic of the game world. Oh, and by the way, every player has an A.I. partner, the titular Magistellus. His is a succubus named Tsileka. And while her character design is what you'd expect, she actually has a fun relationship with Kaname that isn't at all sexual. Unfortunately, that's about it. The other plot-relevant characters are pretty meh, especially Midori, the sister of the legendary player that created the Legacies, who fulfills the role of waifu that needs protecc-tion.
I'm actually glad I gave Magistellus Bad Trip a chance. The series promises to be intricate and engaging; a rarity in the light novel market. It's also one of the scariest cyberpunks I have read, since it expands upon stuff that already exists right now. Let's just hope I can figure out how to juggle it with the rest of my life.
Tagged action, cyberpunk, edgy, fantasy, light novel, mmo, money, sci-fi, videogame, waifusLeave a comment
Weeb Reads Monthly: August 2021
September 18, 2021 by macksamson, posted in Durarara!!, Eighty-Six, Light Novels, Okaasan Online, Otherside Picnic
Well, here it is. Another irrelevant monthly post because it isn't August whatsoever. But hey, at least being super picky with light novels means that I'm going to have glowing reviews of all of them, right?
Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks? Volume 10
This could've been the final volume. But NOPE. Instead, for the penultimate installment, we get a bunch of filler stories. But like other filler volumes, the final chapter alone is actually plot relevant, so you can't skip it! The filler chapters aren't bad, but it's the principle of the thing. As I've said numerous times, this is an expensive and time-consuming industry. Well, whatever.
Eighty-Six Volume 8
Right at the start, we get our goal for this volume: to capture some base somewhere, which will have some information about the secret base that has the secret shutdown code that can end the war. Oh, right, Frederica is a princess for some reason that may or may not have been properly foreshadowed (knowing light novels, probably not), and she's the key to all this.
Clocking in at two-hundred-seventy-seven pages on BookWalker, I believe this was one of the longest volumes… and one of the weakest. Even when things ramped up in the second half, it just didn't feel engaging. I just couldn't get a sense of 3D space in the base they went to (I could've just been tired though). Also, this area really has zero purpose. The ghost operating the boss of the volume doesn't even have a name or character. I see no reason why they couldn't push for the hidden base. They could've spent the whole volume training for it, and I would've liked it better.
Also, spoilers here. The volume has a fake death, along with a Deus Ex Machina… either that or I was just REALLY tired (or bored) of it. Nothing quite says "I tried to be cynical but I failed" more than a fake character death. I swear, if the final arc doesn't start with the next volume, I might end up dropping what I had originally considered one of the best light novel series out there.
Otherside Picnic Volume 5
It's business as usual here in Otherside Picnic; episodic chapters where weird stuff ensues. It's surreal and creepy as always. Well… not exactly "as always". I took a week-long break from reading stuff, and it felt really nice. So, it might be the stress of having to keep up with this stupid and expensive market that's coloring my impression of today's volume of Otherside Picnic.
But regardless, it might just be one of the weaker volumes. And that's mainly because it's not really that creepy compared to previous installments. The odd-numbered chapters in particular were very unceremonious. Weird stuff happens, but they're situations where the protagonists weren't in danger. Runa Urumi regains consciousness in this volume, but as huge as that sounds, it's put to the wayside. Fortunately, the even-numbered chapters are as weird and scary as expected. This was not a bad volume by any means, it's just that half of it doesn't meet the series' standard.
Durarara!! SH Volume 2
Now that we established the main premise, it's time for Durarara!! SH to start in earnest. Unlike most light novels, time isn't wasted as our new unlikely trio investigates the disappearances. It's obvious that Celty didn't do it, and she arrives to tell them that right off the bat. Also… I effing love Celty.
Basically, this volume concludes the arc that was established in the last volume. We get some more development with Yahiro and Himeka, and more teasers as to whether or not Izaya is still alive. I don't know if it's the aforementioned stress from reading, but I didn't enjoy this volume as much as the first one. Due to the sequel curse, SH is destined to not be as popular. I wouldn't consider it bad, though. It just came out at a really bad time for me.
I'm really letting the stress get to me, aren't I? It's already stressful keeping up with an industry like this that has no subscription service dedicated to it. Part of me wants to swear off light novels forever. Even the ones I really, really love. But in better news (at least for me), there are no light novels I care about being published this month! If one or two happen to sneak by (because Yen Press likes dropping release dates short notice), they'll be covered in the October 2021 installment.
Tagged action, comedy, controversial, ecchi, edgy, fantasy, isekai, light novel, military, mmo, racism, sci-fi, suspense, urban legends, videogame, waifus, Weeb Reads Monthly, yuriLeave a comment
The NPCs in This Village Game Sim Must Be Real! Volume 1: A Really NEET Light Novel
August 10, 2021 by macksamson, posted in Light Novels, Village Game
Okay, sooooo I kinda said that I wouldn't be covering light novel debuts for a while. However, at the time, I had completely forgotten that I was looking forward to The NPCs in This Village Sim Game Must be Real! (along with one other series). Look, Japan puts out thousands of these every year; I'm not the only one to completely forget something I knew I wanted. So, after this and that other series, I'm DEFINITELY not covering any light novel debuts for a while. I think?
In The NPCs in This Village Game Sim Game Must be Real!, a NEET named Yoshio receives a strange package, containing a game in its alpha build: The Village of Fate. He must test the game, but the fact that it's classified is really weird. That, and the fact that it has the most realistic graphics ever despite how well it runs on his older computer. Oh, and the fact that the characters seem all too human.
Right off the bat, Village Game shows a lot of promise. The author clearly put a lot of thought into the game mechanics, but it's definitely not something most people would play. Basically, imagine a village sim roguelite, which sounds pretty kickass just from that description. However, there are some things that seem like utter BS, and intentionally so. For starters, Yoshio gets only one run, and the game permanently soft-locks, in addition to the permadeath that can happen to the NPCs. Also, he cannot directly control them. The only way to command them is to write a prophecy as the villagers' god. And this feature only refreshes once every twenty-four hours of real time. He can accumulate Fate Points (FP) to unlock powerful and necessary upgrades, but the upgrades are expensive, and—here's the real kicker—the game has micro-transactions.
This series seems to be setting up a character study that can—hopefully in an intellectual manner—examine people and how easily they can lose their sense of reality to that of a game world. And in addition to that, Yoshio undergoes some real growth that most characters of his ilk do not. Since he's stuck in the real world, he has to face his insecurities head-on. As questionable as The Village of Fate is, it has compelled him to go outside. He even has to get a job because, as expected in a game with microtransactions, The Village of Fate is pay-to-win. And I don't even mean that from the standpoint of making a grindy game less grindy; it is simply impossible to gain enough FP to keep up with the crap the game throws at you.
The problem lies within The Village of Fate itself, and I don't mean how intentionally sadistic its design is. The game's worldbuilding and denizens are about as bland as any substandard isekai. Our cast of the game is a family of three, whose little daughter has an unhealthy crush on a fourth main character named Gams, a significantly older man. They're… there. I don't see how Yoshio got so invested in them outside of how realistic they look in the game.
I didn't expect The NPCs in This Village Sim Game Must Be Real! to be good at all. And yet, it pleasantly surprised me. I highly anticipate how much more advanced the game will get as more stuff happens, and Yoshio's character arc is very engaging. I recommend it not to isekai fans, but slice-of-life fans, since it's pretty grounded for a fantasy series.
Tagged characters, fantasy, light novel, psychological, slice of life, videogame, waifusLeave a comment
Weeb Reads Monthly January and February 2021
March 2, 2021 March 2, 2021 by macksamson, posted in Konosuba, Light Novels, Okaasan Online, ROLL OVER AND DIE, The Bloodline, WATARU
I didn't think I'd have to lump multiple months together AGAIN. Geez! Only two volumes (excluding debuts) piqued my interest in January; nowhere near enough to put it in a Weeb Reads Monthly. So, here we are. Hooray for being relevant.
WATARU!! Volume 2
Holy crap!!! Another volume of the masterpiece, WATARU!!! …said no one except for me. MyAnimeList doesn't exactly have a page for this series, and I haven't read any reviews on WordPress, if there are any. But honestly, I can say with full confidence that I'm in the minority in loving WATARU!!! I mean, it's so simple and superficial with no story; all violations of the arbitrary rules of good literature!!!
But if you are one of my fellow uncultured swine and love the first volume of WATARU!!!, then the second volume is just as good. There's more insane hijinks and meta-humor than ever. They also introduce a new character named Elphabell. It seems like she could become a yandere in the future, but she's not even remotely as insane as Best Girl Aria. According to the afterword, WATARU!!! isn't too successful, which kinda sucks. Light novels can get axed just as easily as manga, so there's a chance that this could be the end.
Verdict: 9.65.10
The Bloodline Volume 2
"Wait, why'd you use the first volume's cover as the thumbnail?" you ask. Well, for whatever reason—be it the licensing or the artist being lazy—the cover of the second volume is just a zoom-in of the first cover!
In any case, my feelings for the volume are mixed. The first half is slow and boring, with a lot of uninteresting dialogue. There's a really contrived development, thanks to Nagi being smooth-brained, and a ridiculously predictable Top Ten Anime Betrayal. The ending of the volume has a clever twist, but… there's a chance that this is the end of the whole series. BookWalker doesn't say "Completed" or anything, but that doesn't necessarily mean the series is ongoing. I admit I'm curious about what could happen moving forward, but it's just as likely that it's over. If it is, then I'll just say that The Bloodline had some good ideas marred by boring writing.
Konosuba Volume 13
I was concerned about Konosuba slowly falling apart, and honestly, I might be correct. The first half of this volume is almost the same as the first half of volume twelve: more shipping war stuff. As much as I love these characters, their interactions are getting incredibly redundant, and this is coming from someone who loves One Piece. The second half of the volume concerns Wiz, and this guy stalking her. The way it turns out is as silly as you can expect. But at this point, it's obvious that the endgame plot is looming and it's just a matter how long the author can beat around the bush leading up to it.
Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks?! Volume 8
The first thing you see when you open up this volume is a group of idol moms. Despite how silly that first impression is, this is actually the most emotional volume yet! If you recall from last time, we learned that Porta is the Fourth Heavenly King of the Libere Rebellion. To be honest, it should've been obvious, since we've strangely never seen her mother.
Fortunately, that gets rectified in this volume! The mastermind behind the whole thing is actually Porta's mom, who is also one of the key devs behind the game world. Porta feels obligated to join the Libere Rebellion, despite the fact that her mom seems to be a real b****. Ahhhhh, familial bonds!
The theme explored today is independence. In fact, that's the whole reason behind the Libere Rebellion itself. Porta's mom hardcore believes in the philosophy of letting the child grow entirely on their own. And as such, we learn of the point that every mom has to deal with: when to let their kids go. Overall, it's a perfect storm of emotion and humor, making this my favorite volume up to this point. One concern I have, however, is that this is pretty much the end of the Libere Rebellion plot thread, yet the series is confirmed to have three remaining volumes. After the cliffhanger ending, I can't imagine how it would go beyond a ninth volume.
ROLL OVER AND DIE Volume 2
This volume immediately begins with a discussion between several high-ranking demons, where we get more context for the series' lore and the purpose of those crazy Uzumaki things. After that, Flum stumbles upon some strange child named Ink, who raises even more intrigue.
The main conflict of this volume revolves around Dein Phineas being an ass, as well as the church's latest monstrosity attacking the town. I'm not even going to describe this calamity, but it follows in the last volume's footsteps by being incredibly effed up and gruesome. The ridiculous part of the scenario is that the church's evilness is so well known that even the nuns acknowledge it. This series is really ham-fisted on dissing Catholicism, which I'm okay with as an agnostic, but some subtlety would be nice.
When it comes to light novels, this is definitely a great start to 2021 (*insert pretentious and not-at-all overstated comment about how it's better than last year even though nothing's changed here*). Since I'm going to take a month's hiatus in early March in order to avoid Attack on Titan finale spoilers, I'll be lumping March and April's posts into one. Hooray for that!
Tagged action, angsty, comedy, cynical, dystopia, edgy, family, fantasy, horror, idol, isekai, light novel, mmo, sci-fi, spoof, suspense, vampires, videogame, virtual reality3 Comments
SAO's Unital Ring Arc is Off to an Overwhelmingly Okay Start
January 23, 2021 by macksamson, posted in Light Novels, Sword Art Online
Fans and critics of the massive and iconic Sword Art Online franchise can easily agree that it's been a wild ride. From waifus to gratuitous sex to inherent appeal to contrived B.S., it's been a very fascinating series of ups and downs. With the anime caught up to Alicization, only one arc remains exclusively in light novel territory: Unital Ring (I'm pretty sure it's the final arc, too). I would normally wait until it's finished and cover it in one post (since individual volumes tend to make no progress), but I just HAD to get my first impressions out, since there's a ghost of a chance that this one is actually good.
In Unital Ring, Kirito is hanging out in Alfeim with his waifus, Alice and Asuna, when they suddenly find themselves playing Minecraft. Like, literally, the game just changes to something completely different. Since their stats also get reset, Kirito is no longer Mr. Perfect… right?
The titular new game is, for all intents and purposes, the most well-realized in the series (which isn't saying much but still). The game is very intuitive since it plays like Minecraft; you find resources and build stuff. However, SAO is SAO, and Unital Ring has some issues. While a large number of items can be instantly crafted through the menu, as to be expected, the game tries to capitalize on its "V.R." gimmick and makes it so some things have to be crafted by hand. This would sound cool, but the problem is that you need real-world knowledge on how to make this stuff, and there isn't exactly anything in the game that can teach you.
Unital Ring also has a weight system, where items in your inventory will actually, well, weigh you down. While this does allow for some creative situations in combat of all things, since you could drop materials from high up and let gravity take care of the rest, I feel like this mechanic was created solely to make Kirito have to spend the early parts of this arc in only his underwear (i.e. "manservice").
This volume is, as expected, merely the characters getting acquainted with the game world and its basic mechanics. Beyond that, there's no real plot progression. Bizarrely enough, this is probably one of the best volumes of the series. The only sexualization is of Kirito, and there's relatively low exposition dumping. Since Unital Ring seems to be all wilderness, it at least doesn't look like there'll be any rape-faced villains in this arc. The volume ends with the introduction of a new character and a returning character whom I don't remember at all, and since it's a cliffhanger ending, they're likely to be important moving forward in this arc.
SAO has really grown up. It's gone from tedious and pseudo-intellectual to just above average. Unital Ring might not be as impressive of a start as Alicization, but since this is the first entirely new arc (as opposed to the original web novel), Kawahara will be going into it from scratch as a full-fledged adult with an adult brain who might actually be uncomfortable with sexual assault as a plot device. Next time I post about SAO, it'll be a review of Unital Ring from start to finish, so stay tuned for that!
Tagged light novel, Minecraft, mmo, new arc, Sword Art Online, videogame, virtual reality, waifusLeave a comment
Weeb Reads Monthly December 2020
January 2, 2021 by macksamson, posted in DanMachi, Infinite Dendrogram, Leaden Battlegrounds, Light Novels, Otherside Picnic, Sorcerer King
Well, this post's a bit late. The reason is because the latest volume of Otherside Picnic came out too close to the end of the year. But hey, at least I got this out on the same week as New Year's Eve, right? Anyway, let's do this.
Sorcerer King of Destruction and Golem of the Barbarian Queen Volume 2
I had a sliver of hope for this one. After all, it started out as a pretty lonely, post-apocalyptic isekai. However, it doesn't take long for Nemaki to reach a town. At this point, Sorcerer King pretty much turns into your run-of-the-mill slice-of-life isekai.
If I was a more generous reviewer, I'd say it's fascinating to see the fact that Nemaki doesn't exactly understand Gol. She's very trigger happy, and her clothes are more than just cosmetic. Nemaki genuinely does not know what she's capable of, nor what makes her tick, giving a genuine sense of mystery and concern. Unfortunately, I'm not a more generous reviewer. From rubbing cheeks to looking at her underwear, Nemaki's interactions with Gol are no different than that of a typical isekai waifu. It seems like she was made as a golem just to pretend that Sorcerer King is subversive. And with the usual stiff writing, I have little to no interest remaining in this series.
May These Leaden Battlegrounds Leave No Trace Volume 2
Before getting into this volume, I must clarify that I did not cover The Eminence in Shadow Volume 2 like I planned. First off, I ran out of money because, well, Christmas. Second off, I had too many doubts about that series. The fact that Cid's made-up enemy turns out to be real, along with them actually skipping how his own organization comes about… It's just plain stupid. Combine that with the subpar characters and you have another series that, in my opinion, does not at all deserve to place on the Kono Sugoi Light Novel rankings.
I also had doubts about May These Leaden Battlegrounds Leave No Trace. Like most time travel narratives, Leaden Battlegrounds is kind of… iffy. But for some reason, I enjoyed it because I was curious as to how stupid it could get. So here we are!
The main premise of the volume is Rain and Air getting into a scuffle with some Western soldiers, one of whom is a cute girl named Deadrim, and the other person is… there. Once again, most of the volume proves to be boring, but there's just enough intrigue at the end to make you wanna buy the next one. The only other noteworthy thing is that fact that Air should be using the Devil Bullet on Rain, but that whole aspect of their relationship goes in the direction you'd expect.
DanMachi Volume 15
It feels like it's been forever and a day since we had a new DanMachi volume. Unfortunately, this one's a filler volume. Sure, DanMachi has had some of the better filler in light novels, but not this time. We do get more backstory to some of our main protagonists, in addition to the backstory we already got, but it kind of feels excessive. For example, the first chapter is literally about the inn that Bell stayed at until he found out about Hestia. Do we really need that? In any case, most of the stories are pretty good, though not the best that DanMachi has to offer.
Infinite Dendrogram Volume 13
After the relative nothing that happened last time, we finally have an event that's been building up for a long time: a conference between Altar and Dryfe. In order to participate, Ray forms a clan with his friends and gets a new job. This new job, as always, is something wild that nobody likes which ends up being really useful for his build. In any case, it's not even a spoiler to say that the conference goes south, and a big fight breaks out.
The one gripe I have is something that's happened twice now in Dendro: withholding information from the reader that the main character, who's narrating, happens to know. It's a cheap way to build anticipation and I don't know why any writer would ever think this is a good idea. Nemesis, once again, evolves into a new form after a small time-skip leading up to the conference. We also don't get to see it, since this volume ends in the middle of the action. Other than that, Dendro still meets (and exceeds) expectations.
It feels like it's been forever since we got some Otherside Picnic! With the anime in development, I cannot wait for yuri fans to get super toxic and scare off potential viewers. But in the meantime, we have this. As usual, it starts off [relatively] chill, with the girls going to the cult HQ from the previous volume to clear it of supernatural gook.
Other than that, it's pretty typical stuff. Sorawo and Toriko's relationship gets more intense, and we learn a bit of the former's past, but that's about it. There's no new goal established. However, I'm fine with that, because Otherside Picnic is a CGDCT at heart, and core narrative doesn't really matter in those. As long as the suspense is still off the rails (which it is in this volume HOLY CRAP), then I'm good.
Overall, we had a pretty good lineup of light novels to close off the year. Unfortunately, it looks like I'm going to be skipping this January's Weeb Reads Monthly because there are only two volumes that I actually have interest in, excluding the upcoming debuts. February might be skipped too, because I only see ONE volume of interest on BookWalker's Pre-Order page at the time of writing this post. Regardless, whatever I skip will all be lumped in with another month eventually!
Tagged action, CGDCT, edgy, fantasy, horror, isekai, light novel, military, mmo, sci-fi, slice of life, suspense, videogame, waifus, Weeb Reads Monthly, wish fulfillment, yuriLeave a comment
In the Land of Leadale: A Chill Isekai with No Strings Attached (Volume 1 Review)
October 24, 2020 October 24, 2020 by macksamson, posted in Light Novels, Other
They say you can't judge a book by its cover. But in defense of doing just that, having great cover art is important for generating interest. And that's exactly what drew me to a new isekai licensed by Yen Press: In the Land of Leadale. There's something eye-catching about really tall towers in the middle of fantasy landscapes… and let's hope my eyes weren't caught by another marketing scheme.
In In the Land of Leadale (well, that sounded wrong), a girl named Keina Kagami dies in her hospital bed and is transported into the VRMMORPG, World of Leadale. She has taken the form of her avatar, Cayna, and has pretty much all of her (OP) abilities. However, two hundred in-game years have passed since she last played! …Which means nothing.
I don't know if this is a case of slow burn, but Leadale seems like another dime-a-dozen isekai. Unlike others of its ilk, this one at least has a few positives. The author managed to put some decent worldbuilding into the game, even if most of it is cosmetic and has no effect on the plot. According to the lore dump, World of Leadale was made by some incredibly trollish devs, and apparently, you need to be a god-tier player who can cast ten spells at once just to cure poison. Poison, one of the most common ailments in RPGs!
But worry not, for Cayna is one such god-tier player, at Level 1,100. She can down a massive bear by merely kicking it in the face, and is super rich. Oh, and that whimsical tower that's normally a goal in these games? That's her house! So yeah, don't expect stakes. There's supposed to be a goal where she goes to the other guardians' towers, but there's no urgency to it, and Cayna herself even says that she's only doing it because she has nothing better to do.
Also, don't expect to be able to visualize anything. It seems to be customary with most light novels to only provide the bare minimum description of anything, and sadly, that's the case with Leadale. They also don't bother describing anyone who isn't a lousy NPC, which would be nice, except the NPCs tend to have more screentime than major characters in this volume.
The cast is as cardboard as usual. Cayna tries to be a subversive protagonist by being a girl and a mother, but those traits seem to distract from how little personality she has (Also, expect the volume's only sense of humor to consist of people having over-the-top reactions to her identity. Over and over again). Her three kids (read as: custom-made NPCs á la Overlord) aren't very interesting either. Out of the three, I had a lot of hope in her son, Skargo, because he looked like someone who'd have an Oedipus complex and make this more controversial. But alas, he just ends up being annoying.
In the Land of Leadale is either pulling a long con, or it's your typical, boring isekai. Some people will probably like it enough just from the main character being a mom, but that's not enough for me. I recommend it if you like Mushoku Tensei and stuff.
Tagged fantasy, isekai, light novel, rpg, slice of life, videogame, waifusLeave a comment
Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear Volume 2 and Infinite Dendrogram Volume 12 Reviews
July 21, 2020 by macksamson, posted in Infinite Dendrogram, Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear, Light Novels
Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear Volume 2
Last time on Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear, a girl named Yuna logs into her favorite MMO, World Fantasy Online, during a new update. She is given some game-breaking bear-themed equipment as a gift for playing for a long time, and is sent to an unfamiliar part of the game world in said bear equipment, with her level reset to 1. She saves a girl named Fina from wolves, and the two of them head to the nearest town with the mob loot. They sell it at the guild, and Yuna spends her hard-earned cash at the inn. The next day, Yuna- guess what- registers at the guild, but only after- guess what- beats some red-shirted upstarts. She then buys a ton of throwing knives, along with a sword and butchering knife, as well as some normal-people clothes. She also acquires bear-themed magic, which she practices on some wolves. She beats enough of them for it to instantly promote her to E-Rank at the guild. Some of the friends of that guy who she beat up start slandering her, and as a result, she is forced to undertake a goblin-slaying quest with them. The required amount is fifty, and she offers to fight them all herself and give them the credit so they stay off her back. She goes with the female adventurer, Rulina, defeats them all herself (double the required amount and a boss), and earns respect among the other group. Over time, Yuna defeats so many monsters that she becomes D-Rank with no effort, and hires Fina to butcher the spoils. They go on a quest to fight tigerwolves, which go down easily. Lastly, Yuna spends a heap of cash on an empty plot of land, and constructs a bear house to live in.
The bear-themed antics are just as bear-themed and… un-antic-y (professional term) as last time. Honestly, I struggled to write anything of substance in this post, and that's why I'm pairing it with a review of Infinite Dendrogram Volume 12. The second volume of Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear is almost exactly the same as the previous one.
At the current rate, it seems that it's going to commit to being an episodic CGDCT isekai, which for some (many) people, is enough (especially with the bear onesie). Yuna visits some noble guy, which- I'll admit- her apprehensiveness to the request was actually kind of funny. But afterwards, Fina's mom is sick, and Yuna- being the OP protagonist she is- restores her to perfect health almost instantly. Everything happens so unceremoniously that it bores me to tears. Furthermore, the "let's tell you the same chain of events you just saw but from Fina's perspective" thing does not die down in this volume.
The issue really is the bland and basic writing style. While there comes a point where TOO much finesse can make you sound like a pretentious hack, not enough will make your work seem lifeless. I couldn't be immersed in any fashion, and I could barely visualize anything besides Yuna.
You know what, Yuna really is the only thing that matters, isn't she? She doesn't just look adorable, but she also helps people for no reason. WHAT AN AMAZING AND NOT-AT-ALL IDEALIZED PERSON. I feel like the author expects people to love her because of how good she is. Well, us critics got a name for girls like her: Mary Sue.
Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear is so superficial. It's cute, it's relaxing, but it relies entirely on Yuna's cuteness. If she didn't have a bear onesie this thing would not sell. All of her powers are typical stuff, but they just have the word "bear" tacked on to them; they aren't even puns! Compare it to Invincible Shovel, which actually uses shovel-like properties, such as "digging" through people's memories, or "burying" entire castles. My chances of reading more Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear are next to nil. I'm going to be so salty when the anime airs because I KNOW that people are gonna be all over Yuna's bear suit and her good will, WHILE SOMETHING LEGITIMATELY GOOD AND ORIGINAL LIKE TO YOUR ETERNITY WILL GET SHAFTED BECAUSE FUUUUUUUUU-! Anyway, if you like CGDCT and isekai, then Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear will do just fine.
Last time on Infinite Dendrogram (volume 10), Ray goes to college while also having a new accessory made for him that would help him resist poison. That's it for him. In Caldina, Hugh Lesseps gets involved with some crazy woman named AR-I-CA on a quest to find a bunch of sealed boss monsters that were stolen from Huang He. A powerful mafia called Mirage goes after them, but they become a non-issue real fast when Dancing Princess Hiuli defeats them all by herself. Gerbera, in the Gaol, also gets stronger as she trains with her new friends in Illegal Frontier, led by the King of Crimes, who is incidentally involved in what is going on at Hugh's end. Things are looking intense, AND WE FINALLY GET TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT.
Er, well… not quite? The stuff that happened last time felt like setup, and this volume feels like… more setup. The developments last volume end up being ignored in favor of some new ones. First off, Figaro's yandere girlfriend, Hannya, is released from the Gaol. She hates couples… which is why it's so perfect that she was released during the time of a lovey-dovey festival in Gideon.
There's also some new political developments, mainly this arranged marriage with Princess Elizabeth and one of Huang He's princes. In order to butter them up, they hang out during the aforementioned festival. They also hint at a potential alliance with Caldina in the future, but nothing seems to come of it yet.
The volume starts with some more insight on Kashimiya, this iai-fighting dude that we only got to see a blip of once upon a time. But after that, the bulk of it is the lovey-dovey festival. And yeah, it kind of feels like a filler volume, even moreso than the Gloria prequel fight. The interactions between the characters are genuinely cute, but this is the first time I've seen the overarching story get backseated this violently in Dendro.
Things do ramp up toward the end; Dendro always has to have a crazy fight scene or two. But as far as character development goes, it's really only Figaro and Hannya who get it. We do get introduced to some new Dendro A.I. but we're still kept in the dark; in fact, the prequel volume told us more than this one did! And as usual, we still don't get to see any of Legendaria nor Ray's sister.
I don't know what it is, but this is probably my least favorite Dendro volume so far. It's a cute little mini-arc that set some stuff up, but it's been a long time since something intense happened. Something big needs to happen, and fast, or this great series could REALLY become the next SAO (and I mean that in a bad way).
Tagged action, battle, bear, CGDCT, cute, cute girls, dendrogram, double, fantasy, filler, infinite, isekai, jrpg, light hearted, light novel, mmo, sci-fi, videogame, waifusLeave a comment
Pokemon Sword and Shield: Isle of Armor DLC Campaign Review
July 7, 2020 by macksamson, posted in Full Reviews, Gaming
The eight Generation of Pokemon has been perhaps the most controversial in the series' history. Pokemon Sword and Shield has gotten a bad rap since they were first announced, when it was stated that there would be no National Pokedex for the first time in the franchise. And the games themselves have… issues. In my own review of Pokemon Shield, I praised the graphics, quality-of-life improvements, somewhat decent character development, and enjoyable difficulty level. However, it also had a lacking postgame, and perhaps the emptiest region design in the entire series. Plus, the Wild Areas- which could've made Pokemon a more open-world and grandiose JRPG- were just vast expanses of nothing. Despite all this, the new DLC might make Gen Eight more viable. Today, I cover the first part of the Sword and Shield DLC: Isle of Armor, specifically, the Shield version.
In this DLC campaign, your character is mysteriously given the Armor Pass, which allows them to go to the Isle of Amor. As you enter the train station, you end up fighting against a Galarian Slowpoke (unless you played the update beforehand in which case you already did that months ago), and catch a glimpse of a strange character heading off to the aforementioned Isle. When you arrive there yourself, you are challenged by this person and compelled to train at this Master Dojo place on the island.
With this being DLC, the story here can't intrude on the main story; consider it filler in an old anime. The Pokemon here average at around level 60, and with battles exceeding level 70, making it seem like you are meant to go here during the postgame. But tbh, there really isn't much of a story. You go there, fight some people, get a new Pokemon. The dojo master does foreshadow some kind of undisclosed event at the end, but I'm going to assume that's Crown Tundra territory, since I couldn't find anything of plot interest after the campaign.
This DLC does introduce some new faces, and one of them is determined by your version of the game. My new rival on the Isle of Armor was an eccentric, tye-dye-clad psychic named Avery. He is a lot like Kukui from Sun and Moon; someone with a secret other personality, and the tendency to use Pokemon moves' names in their dialogue. His character arc was short, but sweet. The Dojo Master, Mustard, is also a great character with that lovable "old-fart-who's-actually-really-strong" personality.
I don't know about you, but I spent a lot of postgame doing Dynamax hunting, and since I was stuck with poopy A.I., I jacked up my team members' levels to average at the mid seventies, way too high for the Isle of Armor. So, I made an entirely new team, with Pokemon caught specifically in the Isle. While some were carried over from the main overworld, there were definitely a lot of missed faces from previous Generations, such as Sharpedo and Jigglypuff. I was able to use Pokemon that I had never used myself in a serious campaign, and I was glad at this opportunity from the Isle of Armor. Since it's short, I might just take the same team to Crown Tundra.
Design-wise, the Isle of Armor shows some great positives. After you fight your first battle, you're told to head to the Master Dojo immediately. In most Pokemon games, you'd be blocked every which way various NPC, such as poachers who tried to force you to buy their Slowpoke Tails. But here, you are actually able to explore the whole perimeter of the island to your heart's content. There's also a lot more biomes in this area than in the main Wild Areas.
Unfortunately, the Isle of Armor is still an island, and an unsurprisingly small one. It only takes about a couple of hours to scope out the whole area, and that's if you try to catch every new Pokemon as you see them. The individual biomes themselves are also similarly bland to the Wild Areas, with Pokemon placement just as haphazard as before.
But just because it's small, doesn't mean that there isn't a lot to do. Unfortunately, a lot of that "lot" is helping out the Diglett Trainer. There are ONE HUNDRED FIFTY Alolan Digletts all over this place, and he wants you to find them. It's nowhere near as bad as the Red Lobster thing in Xenoblade Chronicles X, and for a number of reasons. For one thing, the game actually tells you how many are in each area. And more importantly, ALL OF THEM EXIST AT ONCE. But if you don't have 20/20 vision, good luck finding them. Your only visual indication is the three little hairs that stick out of the ground, which blend in in a lot of places. You obtain a regional variant Pokemon for hitting certain milestones. I didn't find all of them because my last reward was Alolan Eggxecutor and that was good enough for me. There is also a new mechanic with the Watts. After a certain point, you can donate them to spruce up the dojo. It takes HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS to get all the upgrades, and I honestly didn't have that kind of time.
In addition to this is the Armorite Ore mechanic. You earn these by doing Dynamax battles on the island, and they can be used on this one dude to dig for more Watts, a guy at the dojo to teach some exclusive new moves (as in entirely new to the series), and on this one lady in an all-or-nothing gamble for additional Armorite Ore. The first and latter mechanics are all luck-based. Also luck-based is the Cram-o-Matic. You can insert items and pray that you get a better one. Using berries can make TRs appear. Additionally, Apricorns return to this game, and using them can get you a rare Poke Ball… if you're lucky.
A welcome addition is Max Soup. This stuff can take any Pokemon whose species is capable of Gigantimaxing, and enable that to any of that species that can't Gigantimax. This is a really good mechanic. However, it requires Max Mushrooms, which are easy enough to find, but only respawn after Dynamax Battles. And as someone who needs to rely on A.I. trainers to win them… I didn't exactly get to use Max Soup too often.
The new Pokemon are the biggest reason to play Isle of Armor. First up is Galarian Slowbro. There are two reasons why it's one of my favorite regional variants yet. The first reason is that I'll never forget the time when Chuggaaconroy trollishly made Lucahjin and MasaeAnela draw it during TheRunawayGuys Colosseum Direct before it was ever revealed. The second reason is that it's flat-out really good. It comes with the unique Poison-Psychic type, and the effect of the Quick Claw as an ability. I paired it up with an actual Quick Claw… and have no idea if the effects stack. But hey, it makes me feel good!
The other new Pokemon is Kubfu. It starts off as a typical Fighting-Type, but after MUCH level grinding, you can use it to take on one of two towers. Whichever one you beat determines which version of Urushifu it evolves into. Urushifu is definitely a great Pokemon, or at least my version is. It comes with an ability where it ignores Protect as long as it attacks with a direct contact move, plus a signature move with great base power that always crits.
As I said before, there isn't anything of story interest after you finish Isle of Armor (unless I missed it). But there is one thing that does appear: Restricted Sparring. This is a competitive battle gauntlet, much like the Battle Tower, but you can only use teams with a matching Type. It's really interesting, especially as someone who's always wanted to do entire campaigns in this manner. But since it has teams built around competitive battling… yeah, I didn't dabble in it too much.
The Isle of Armor improves a lot of Sword and Shield mechanics, and shows the potential for what a hypothetical Generation Nine can hold. However, it's short-lived and relies on grindy mechanics in order for you to get the bang for your buck. It's worth playing if you're a series' veteran, but it's more rational to wait and see if the Crown Tundra can justify the Expansion Pass' cost.
Tagged DLC, fantasy, Full Review, Gaming, grinding, Isle of Armor, jrpg, nintendo, nintendo switch, pokemon, short, sword and shield, videogameLeave a comment