#canvasrambles

[canvaswolfdoll]

hey, fellow discworld fans

you ever think about moving pictures?

because i rarely do.

but it does a lot of heavy lifting in building the ankh-morpork and unseen university we know and love from most of the series.

this 'outside force introduces status quo challenging technology that evaporates and is never spoken of again' book:

introduced gaspode the wonder dog

gave detritus more character than his brief appearance in guards! guards!

introduced detritus's rarely spoken of wife, ruby

introduced the usual unseen university staff members

introduced ponder stibbons, and the start of his uncontested rise to power with him taking history's easiest accreditation exam

introduces mustrum ridcully

moving pictures set in place what unseen university is, and yet i never see anyone talk about it.

i've only read the book once myself, years and years ago when i decided to make my way through the whole series.

i have no conclusion, either, just wanted to bring it up

[canvaswolfdoll]

okay, as resident 'i have a how-to play trpg youtube series' guy and 'i struggle to read non-discworld fantasy' guy, i feel compelled to weigh in:

point 1:

this exists with the gurps system (in fact, this screenshot is for what's at least the third edition of gurps discworld), and my research does seem to indicate pterry was directly involved in it's production. (gurps 4e discworld was published december of 2016, after his passing, by sj game stakeholder report indicates the book was essentially finished in 2014, before his passing, and the previous two versions were published 1998 and 2002)

point 2:

so far, narrativia limited (and, by extension, his daughter rhianna pratchett) hasn't overly exploited the rights of discworld and terry pratchett's other works, choosing to let what exists stand and focusing on adaptions of pre-existing works, and publicly denouncing the one recent work that was went against the spirit of what was licensed.

so i broadly and currently trust narrativia limited, until given reason not to. they certainly haven't been making endless video games and prequels like what the tolkein estate's being doing.

i mean, the second season of good omens goes past the original novel, but that's co-written by neil gaiman, so he can do what he wants by right of being the good omens highlander.

(i have not seen the second season of good omens, for the record, so i cannot comment further)

point 3:

i don't really go for licensed trpgs, because they (personally) give me exam anxiety, so i much prefer to look at a work, say 'these are the elements i want to emulate', then use different names and not have any pre-existing canon to be called out on.

(side note: this is why i think the forgotten realms are actually the biggest millstone on d&d. just give us the mechanics and generic terms, and untether us from waterdeep and the pantheon and such. let the players create canon wholecloth as they go)

point 4:

at least modiphius doesn't endlessly churn out ___ing powered by the apocalypse games, so this game will probably actually be purpose built.

Exclusive: Discworld TTRPG in the works by studio behind Fallout wargames

Modiphius, the studio responsible for tabletop adaptations of Star Trek, Fallout, and more, is working on a Discworld TTRPG.

Having secured the rights to the beloved series with an agreement from the late author Sir Terry Pratchett's estate, Modiphius is already at work on a Discworld roleplaying game "around the city of Ankh-Morpork and the wider Disc." This will hit Kickstarter later in the year.

Read more here.

[canvaswolfdoll]

whenever i end up substitute teaching at work, i used to project a live stream of otters (typically starting with monterey bay aquarium, then switching to vancouver because they tend to be more visibly active) so the students could have something calming to stare out after i get through the lesson plan halfway through the class period.

however, over the summer, i discovered a twitch live stream of ferrets.

so, obviously, i have to remain on brand

[canvaswolfdoll]

would love a game that does for animal crossing what rune factory did with harvest moon

which amounts to, in my mind, a jrpg with real world clock and time locked mechanics, and an amount of randomization and multiplayer functionality.

the obvious features would be season/month locked dungeons. however, i think those would be best as bonus dungeons, while actual plot advancement material should be something like ‘return tomorrow’ or ‘after at least x hours’.

like, the actual plot commitment time should be maybe two weeks real world time, give or take leveling and player faffing.

the villager count will also be much more abbreviated than in animal crossing. some amount of random villagers would be nice, but it needs to be restricted enough that indepth writing can be done with them. plus a few key npcs (the tom nooks and able sisters and mayor and so forth) that can be relied on to be instrumental in every town instance.

in summary: i want a jrpg with the sense of community inherent to animal crossing, a real world clock, and fun adventurers and looting/gathering and crafting.

hopefully others can interpret this vision?

(maybe player customization that allows nonhuman races? if we want real fun, have no humans period)

[canvaswolfdoll]

things i’m learning today

(from wikipedia, because i’m not going to bother with primary sources are kidding me)

1. columbus did his whole thing in 1492, which is super disorienting since my history class experience made the whole space between europe finding the place and the revolutionary war feel like it was a couple years at most. 2. europe started poking around california in the 15th century, but spain didn’t really buckle down there until 1769. 3. the dutch first opened trade with japan in the very early 1600s. 4. due to the trade routes not really utilizing the american continent, i don’t have a short cut for a hypothetical ‘japanese explorers land in california’. 5. despite what a sports team name claims, the gold rush started in 1848, not 49. 6. my hometown county is, in fact, part of north cal, not so cal, so that ends that bafflement from my youth. 6.5. though all my contemporaries wore so cal swag, and i never felt a draw to either the ‘north cal’ or the ‘so cal’ labels over ‘bay area’. 7. there’s a county named butte.

anyways, i was trying to figure out how ridiculously long i could say an inn has been owned by a character’s family, and my conclusion is a shrug with a confused raspberry.

[canvaswolfdoll]

as i said on twitter, i think it's less to do with amber's design (which i think is within the bounds of accidentally too young looking) and more to do with the writing.

kiel and xia pai are good contrasts. yes, they've got a bit of baby face and sleight builds, but plenty of real people look young for their age. when you interact with them (or other characters speak of them) kiel is defined as a reader who does the cooking for him and his sister, which are mature character traits. xia pai is a klutz with an odd way of speaking, but is capable enough to co-run an inn and bathhouse with her spacey mother without anyone questioning it. they're both visibily on the young end, but ages are never explicitly stated in rune factory, and they both are treated as adults, with only their direct relatives giving an sort of (understandable) age-based tone to their relationship.

amber isn't treated like that. she's an innocent, spacey character, which could work with an adult character (see mist from rf1 and frontier), but none of the other townspeople bestow her with adult agency. she's talked about like she's yotsubaa running around town, not an active member of the community.

it's not helped that one of the earliest events with amber is her absentmindedly taking seeds from the flower shop she works at, and getting disciplined with a slap. modern and cultural sensibilities aside, that's traditionally a way one deals with a naughty child not an adult. (also weirdly casts illuminata in the role of neglectful mother. the flower shop is general poorly executed).

amber is written to fill the archetype previously held in rf1 by cecilia and rff by candy, which makes things awkward that she's marriageable.

all she really needs is to be spoken about as an equal and shown to accomplish tasks without supervision. like, she operates as a flower shopkeeper, but it's never commented on as a thing she does.

heck, illuminata is over-invested in being a detective. would have been dead simple to write a few lines about how amber's the one who keeps the store's ledger and does the small, boring tasks with an childish grin.

Thank you so much for making Amber look older. She looks so lovely, its always weirded me out how young Amber, Kiel, and Xiao Pai look in the game and the fact that you can marry them.

You're welcome Anon!

Yeah, I know what you mean. I always try to believe there was no ill intention on the part of the designers with that but I'm deffo uncomfy about romancing the super duper young looking ones. I am also in my 30s though so I imagine if I was a preteen playing the game it would make me happy to see a character that looks more similar to my own age, but as the actual literal mom that I am I just can't with that hahaha!

[canvaswolfdoll]

been watching through a Night in the Woods playthrough

and the game is one of those things that makes me wish to be a much better artist than i am.

like in general.

especially in the fields of music and programming, two fields and disciplines i have no context or even starting point for.

but even the writing, especially the back and forth dialogue (which is a skill i normally pride myself in) makes me jealous.

[canvaswolfdoll]

Luigi had a Year, why not me?

okay, here’s the deal: long ago, my brother ( @vulpinmusings ) and i had a webcomic. a sprite comic, started at the half-life of the sprite comic age and riding the genre’s death throes. i joke about it, but i was and always shall be proud of it, and a little disappointed we let it just grind to a halt.

more importantly, i always intended to do more webcomics.

it’s been about a decade since that comic ended, and i haven’t followed through. it’s been a mixture of uncertainty, lack of faith in my abilities, time, all though excuses holding me back. plus just a series of concepts i can’t see through.

and for all the cries of ‘just start it! only your hand can tell your story!’ that circulates, my art skills suck. they’re terrible. unsuited for the world building visions in my head. visions that would require years of tedious work. i’m barely above stick figures, and even the great comics that started with Bad Art™ still were able to draw sleeves and pants.

so i kept putting it off.

then i heard different advice, from @voxlunch . he wasn’t saying ‘just do it.’ he was saying ‘start small’. and he also showed it through his own webcomic, and preached it on art streams, and he succeeded. more importantly, he projected positivity during the whole thing and spoke honestly about his own hurdles and issues.

anyways, as of november i am a quarter of a century old. i lost my job for getting too mad at a customer, i dropped out from college a while ago (should’ve done it sooner, i wasn’t fit for a theater program), and i’m still kind of adrift. worse still, the improv group i’ve been a part of is slowly fading away. and there are things i want to do.

so i might as well get started.

I have a new webcomic coming

starting on January 1st, 2018. Here’s the page.

it will update every Monday and Thursday.

if you’re impatient and/or just want to support me, five dollar patrons will get to see each strip a week early. back 2 dollars now, and you’ll be set to see the first two early (on the 25th and 28th).

as of this announcement, i have made the first 13 pages. i intend to have 26 done before the month’s out. i will see this through for a year (108 pages), then see where i want to go from there. it’s a pure gag strip, with no overarching narrative, but it’s something i can do. and it’s good. i may not be able to draw amazingly well, but i am an amazing writer. it’s a point i refuse to surrender any ground on, whether externally or internally.

The Patreon is for more than the comic.

i will continue posting reviews and essays as i write them, because i like writing them.

i’ll also continue to stream video games. it’s something i can do. i know i’m nothing special, but whatever.

i’m also going to try and learn a lesson from my old sprite comic and jump on a wave before it’s dying out.

i’m going to produce a tabletop show. ideally as both a stream and shortly after a podcast.

(my goal is to output podcast episodes fast enough that if you’re caught up on the podcast, you can watch the next stream if you want.)

there’s a few… Canvas quirks to my intentions, but let’s preserve some surprise.

For now: Muffin Comics are coming.

please give whatever support you can.

Kataal kataal.

[canvaswolfdoll]

Canvas and Video Games

Have I talked about my Video Game history? Feels like I have, but I also can’t remember doing so. I’m also running low on possible essay topics, and haven’t finished off any media that I can review[1] recently enough to do that instead…

So, hey, you nerds, let’s talk about Video Games!

Because that’s obviously been a massive influence on my life, what with… my entire brand, really. Egads, am I a nerd, sitting here with a New 3DS in a charging cradle in front of me, trying to work out how to do better quality streams and deciding to write an essay about Video Games.

It all started with my brother, old Foxface himself. As the family lore goes, my parents once didn’t want video games in the house, what with… the social stigma, I guess? It was different times, alright?

Point is, my brother’s speech teacher was all ‘Hey, you know what may help with speech? Video Games! Get him video games.’

And so my parents did, despite any reasonable connection or evidence in the above argument.[2]

So they bought him the Sega Genesis, the only non-Nintendo console we’ve ever owned. He played Sonic the Hedgehog! Also… no. It was mostly just Sonic.

Obviously young Canvas was also interested in the wonder of interactive media, and the running rodent, so I’d watch him play, and occasionally step in as Tails or try to play it myself. And I was terrible at it.

Eventually, the Nintendo 64 was released and added to our fleet of hardware, and we never looked back! Ha ha!

That’s the console that we really cut our teeth on, with it’s many beloved games, from Mario 64, Star Fox 64, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (first Zelda game I was ever aware of), and so on and so forth. We ended up with most of the major releases.[3] Also Mischief Makers for some reason.

It was also the height of Video Rental stores, though I never got to choose games to rent. Vulpin stuck with Space Station Silicon Valley which… might deserve an HD Remake, to be honest. Such a bizarre premise people would eat up, nowadays.

The Game Boy Color arrived, carrying Pokemon and various shovelware, plus a few Zelda Games. Tried my best with them, but for the longest time I never actually completed a video game, or got that far, though I did finish Johto in Gold, which is something.

Gamecube came out, the Dreamcast died, and I began to become aware of the surrounding culture as my capabilities to use the internet matured. We also continued a trend of our person game libraries for the generation growing larger than the last. Lots of GameCube games.

Animal Crossing was a Christmas gift early in the cycle, and it was the first video game all of the kids in the family played, to various extents. Elder Sister was her usual perfectionist self, paid off her house, then pretty much stopped playing video games forever afterwards. Little Sister still plays the occasional game (mostly Paper Mario), but largely it’s just Foxface and I who are deep into the gaming scene.

But, like so many things, tracking each and every experience would be a rather sisyphean task, so I should try and refocus here.

Video Games have always been a presence in my life, and thus had its effects on my creative self, from imaginary friends to the little stories I’d crafted pacing the backyard. They were my chief insight into narratives and various genres, design (whether costume or set or mechanical). Nintendo Power helped educate me on the concept of news and industry, as well as the community that could grow from a hobby.

In fact, Pokemon was the main driving force behind the event I joke is the time I’ve ever made friends myself,[4] being approached while reading a book related to the franchise during second grade. It was nice.

Learning about the internet and GameFAQs hinted towards the wider world and culture, and eventually I came upon 8-Bit Theater, which fired up my love of comics in a big way. Comics and stories made from and about elements of video games? That’s so cool!

Then Nintendo Acres happened.

The diminishing use of quality sprite work in video games makes me sad, by the way. There’s just something about the GBA/DS era graphics that invokes joy in my heart, by now even Pokemon has left sprite work behind for models, and even kitschy independent games tend for the super minimalistic version of 8-bit and… whatever one would refer to Atari graphics. Had I artistic talent, I would slather my media in 16-bit evocative of Friends of Mineral Town or The World Ends with You.

In fact, I think that’s one of my main hurdles getting invested in Stardew Valley[5] and Undertale. They just look ugly, even by the standards of kitschy 8-bit style. Frisk is malformed, and all the Stardew characters are in the wrong perspective for the rest of the world. Sprite work can be so beautiful, and yet no one puts in the effort anymore.

Look, sprites aren’t the only aesthetic I love, just so we’re clear. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, I just prefer bright, cheery worlds. Tale of Symphonia is one of my favorite games, if not my absolute number one.[6] There’s just something very nice about a fantasy world that looks lush and vibrant, where you’d be happy to live just for the scenery. The Tales series and Rune Factory also made me very positive about oddly intricate characters in fantasy. I’ve never liked the dirt covered fantasy of… let’s say Skyrim. Fantasy should be about escapism, grand adventure in grand landscapes, not the crushing reality of medieval times.

More Ghibli, less brown is what I want in general.

I may be an oddball for the elements I look for in video games. I like RPGs (obviously) but there’s very few members of the genre I actually enjoy. I flat-out can’t stand western Video Game RPGs.

What I usually look for in games is both a compelling narrative and interesting mechanics, with allowance for the ‘Classics’ and trendsetters.[7] This is something I find lacking in Western-Style RPGs, with their focus on customizing and granular stat advancement. Sure, I understand someone’s desire to try and put a popular character in an Elder Scrolls, or place some curious limitation on themselves while crawling around Fallout’s wastelands.

But because the game needs to allow the player to make whoever they want, it severely cripples the writer’s ability to write the “main” character into the plot, lest they step on the agency of the player. So, from my perspective, we end up in one of two situations: the PC is a non-entity in the plot, with the narrative happening around and to them instead of with them. Or, we get a Mass Effect situation, where they treat it like Choose Your Own Adventure, and you end up shooting a dude when you thought you were just going to arrest him.[8] That’s why I much prefer being handed a protagonist with a history and personality.

Now, those familiar with my tabletop philosophies, and namely my disdain for randomized Character Gen because it takes away player agency might be tilting their head at this inconsistency.

Well, it’s a scale thing. I realize Video Games have a limitation, and thus it’s unreasonable to expect it to cater to you completely. Tabletop, however, allows endless narrative possibilities, because it’s being created in the moment. So, with Video Games, I’m more willing to just let the story take me along as an observer, like a TV Show.

Which is to say, I don’t really project on the Player Character, and am I happy with that. It’s a division between game and story that may seem odd, but it’s what I look for: every piece having a narrative purpose, especially the loser who’s carrying us on our back.

So, narratively, I prefer the style of JRPGs (also, I like Anime and it’s tropes, so…). Yet, I have never really gotten engrossed in any Final Fantasy Game, because list combat is very dull. I mean, grindy, set the auto-attack against opponent style of Western RPGs[10] aren’t much better, but at least it’s got a hint of visual interest.

What am I left with? For a while, Tales of Symphonia, but now I’ve got Rune Factory, with it’s rather simple combat, but still mostly fun (helped along by other elements), and especially Fire Emblem, which what I wish battlemat D&D combat could be: quick, clever, strategic.

Though I’ve only played the 3DS installments thus far, due to lack of accessibility to the early games, which I couldn’t be bothered to try when they were released. Did try the first GBA game to be ported over, but that ended up having the worst, most micromanaging tutorial I’ve ever seen, and thus I am incapable of completing the first level.

I know how to play video games, Fire Emblem. I am aware of the base concept of pressing A. Yeesh. You’re worse than modern Harvest Moon games!

I’ve also never gotten invested in military FPSs, as a mixture of finding the gameplay boring, difficulty mastering it, and mockery whenever I was roped into playing one with friends.[11] In general, I don’t like being in first person view, as I find it limiting to controls, and responding to things that get behind me is annoying, because I flail trying to find the source of damage, then die.

Though, with time, my avoidance has decreased. Portal has a first person camera, but in a mixture of a more puzzle focused game and excellent integration of tutorial into gameplay,[12] it takes an agitating limited camera and makes it very workable, while also teaching the player how to interact with a game in first person.

I also played a little Team Fortress 2, and now Overwatch. The difference with those two over, say, Modern Duty or whatever, is the tone. The two games are competitive, yes, but also light hearted and goofy. Death is cheap and non punishing, the addition of powers make character choice widely different and fun, and, when I do get a little frustrated, it’s very easy for me to take a breath say ‘It’s only a game’ and let it go. Which is important when playing video games, sometimes.

Because that’s what games should always be: entertainment. It’s why I don’t try and force myself through games I’m not enjoying or lose interest in (though obviously I do try and come back and finish the plot) and why I very rarely strive for 100% completion. Because I want to enjoy myself, not engage in tedious work.

It’s also why I don’t care about ESports. Because I don’t care about sports. People doing something very well doesn’t really appeal to me. High-level chess players aren’t interesting to watch or study, seeing two teams of muscled people charge one another isn’t fun, and fight scenes with the usual punching and kicking is dull.

Because, what I look for in most cases is novelty.

Seeing a master craftsman make a thing once can be interesting, just to see the process. See a master craftsman make the same thing a 100 times is uninteresting, because nothing new is happening. When it comes to sports and games, it’s more interesting to see novices play, because they mess up in interesting ways, spot and solve problems, and you get to sit back and go ‘Now, I would’ve done this.’

So, yeah, not a big fan of Counterstrike and League of Legends news, even besides the toxic communities.

Public perception of video games turned rather quick in my lifetime. It used to be such a niche hobby, enjoyed by nerds and children and so such. Yet… well times change, don’t they? Obviously children grew up and brought games along with them, but the hobby has expanded to become mainstream, a console being as necessary as a television, where those without are viewed as bizarre, despite it not being a physical need.[13] We all remember the children who noted their family doesn’t have a TV (or keep it in the closet), and I wonder if XBoxes have gained the same traction.[14]

If only tabletop games could get the same treatment.

Though I still wouldn’t be able to find a group, but still…

Now that I’m an employed adult, I have even more control over the games I play. Which means a Wii U and a custom built PC.

That I built myself, because I also enjoyed Lego as a child.

Between the two, I tend to have a wide enough net to catch the games that interest me. Sure, there’s still some PlayStation exclusives I’d love to try (Journey, Team ICO’s works, plenty of Tales games…)[15] but some of those games are slowly drifting over to Steam, and I already have a backlog, so I can wait it out.

That’s my stumbled musings about video games… Oh! I stream them! Over here! Watch me! I love to entertain and amuse!

Also maybe consider supporting me through patreon? Then I can put more resources into being amusing!

And share any thoughts you have. I’ll listen. Until then…

Kataal kataal.

[1] Did finish rereading Yotsuba&! but there’s nothing to say about besides “Read it!” [2] Certainly didn’t help me. [3] Though not Harvest Moon 64. One day, I will slay that whale. One day… [4] The rest are inherited after old friends leave. [5] Someone on Reddit commented its port to the Switch may help scratch the itch left by Rune Factory. They are, of course, dreadfully wrong. [6] I still dislike do rankings. [7] IE, I’m not a big fan of hallway-bound FPS games, but have played through the Half-Life series. Mostly for the connection to Portal. [8] I know it was in the ‘Renegade’ position, but I thought it’d be played as ‘I’ll risk losing the Shadow Broker to book this small fish’ sort of thing. I’m not very clever, okay?[9] [9] I actually never progressed much further than that. Perhaps it’ll be on CanvasPlays someday. [10] I don’t care if you have a list of subversions of this style, by the way. I really don’t. [11] I once annoyed a former friend for not knowing there’s an aim button. I didn’t know this, because I don’t play FPSs. [12] There’s a very nice Extra Credits about this somewhere. [13] Though as a cultural need… [14] Nintendo Consoles, of course and unfortunately, being considered the off-brand. [15] the PS3 port of Tides of Destiny. Yes, it’s a disgrace of a Rune Factory game, and it was also on the wii but… well, sometimes I’m an insane collector![16] [16] I don’t even need a PS3. I can get it used for, like, five bucks from GameStop…

[canvaswolfdoll]

Death of the Author and Ownership of Canon

Who does the canon of a piece of media belong to? Who is the final arbiter of what is true or not within a work? What role does peripheral sources have in relation to canon?

Is the Author Dead?

This is a hot topic by artists and critics, where lines get drawn and arguments erupt.

So, as both an artist and an occasional critic, obviously I must have an opinion.

Yes, what the Author says is canon is canon.

Playing Looney Tunes Theme!

Okay, okay, let me actually dig into it.

The phrase “Death of the Author” comes from an essay by Roland Barthes, which argues that the Author has no more authority over his work than his audience, is merely the Scriptor, or the one who puts the work into readable text.

Because, apparently, art is a purely ethereal concept that just gets shoved into a creator by a genius living in their walls. Artists are merely the conduit for the work to be made manifest, and thus none of their intentions, personal concepts, or the bits of soul they place within are of any merit.

Let me admit here that I’ve not done more than skim the Wikipedia article on it, as the essay itself is dry and opens with references to a then-occurring French Political movement,[1] and requires many footnotes to contextualize it. This is the same opening that also seems to argue that an Author’s time era and geographic position so also not be considered in criticism.

But I’m not really attacking the original essay as much as the “Customer is Always Right”[2] tone it gets thrown around with nowadays. Because it’s become a handwashing phrase audiences use to reject information that conflicts with their preferred interpretations (let’s be fair, their headcanons) and creators use to avoid being held accountable for their work.

Which is a fine system for, say, a political essay or other argumentative piece, where failure to communicate the meaning is a failure of the art itself. It’s when Death of the Author is applied to a fictional work, especially a serial one with a internal world, that I bristle.

Fantasy worlds exist beyond the scope of the story, as should the characters. A lot of details are required to build these things, details that cannot always be elegantly explained in text without breaking immersion. It’s why Tolkien has his indexes and web artists have their comments, because good writing should be able to casually reference world details without throwing the reader, and great worldbuilding also makes the reader interested in discovering more.

So to look at the Author’s words and dismiss them is an insult to the work behind those words.

For an Author to say their own words have no meaning is an insult to those eager to learn more, and an act that discredits the author’s entire library (or portfolio) of work. It comes off like the author doesn’t truly care.

Which is fine if it’s work created for a paycheck. Everyone needs to do soulless work from time to time. But if it’s a personal project, then why should I feel any passion for the work if the creator is insistent what they say on it carries no weight?

So, if you make something, then, yes, you’re allowed to comment and clarify through social media. You shouldn’t plan on it, because a work, foremost, should be able to stand alone. However, if you reach someone to the point they seek out more of your world, then respect your audience enough to grant your words canon weight.

So, that’s well and good for single-author works. But what about collaborative works? Like a television show or… superhero comicbooks? Things that have so many hands on it that creative direction can get muddled?

First off (and this applies to even single-author works) the source text trumps all else. If, for example, the author says his novel is about the evils of television, but the text makes it explicitly clear that it’s just a parable about an anti-intellectual society, then, sorry Bradbury, but younger Bradbury wins the argument.

Let’s call this Law 451, because I’m going to forget I gave this rule a name so might as well go for the joke in the moment.

Returning to multi-creator works, I will always give deference to the writer of any particular segment, followed by whoever the creative director is (whether that’s the initial creator or whoever took over for them), then director,[3] then artists as it applies (ie, decisions to who gets placed in backgrounds shots and so forth).

This isn’t to say you can’t criticize execution. If the author intended for, say, (and this is a spoiler for something I won’t name) a character’s memory wiping actions to be seen as a tragic and desperate attempt at fixing past wrongs, the audience are in their rights to say that, no, it came off as irredeemable and the character ignoble for it. But the audience can’t discount the intention. Basically, a creator can say what they intended from their work, but they don’t get to dictate audience reaction.

Everyone, whether creator or audience, brings different knowledge and experience. If there’s a gap where the two should overlap, then I think the creator and audience should be granted the benefit of the doubt and permission to reach out to share knowledge. So if a creator accidentally stumbles into an unfortunate trope, hold back the anger and share the context that they’re missing. If the author subtly alludes to the politics of hair, and their audience don’t know the history, the author shouldn’t respond with passive aggression, but instead pause and think “Ah, I miscommunicated a point. How can I rectify that?” then either modify the work to make it clear or calmly share resources.

I’ve… kinda forgot where I was headed with this essay…

Oh, right!

I feel that by cutting off the author’s ability to make clarifying statements or add periphery material, you not only hobble an artist's abilities and options, but also cut off an angle of criticism. Because, while media should be able to convey its intentions by itself, no one’s perfect, and if the critic allows themselves to seek out and find the author’s intentions, they find themselves with material to compare and contrast. For poor execution, the critic can point and say ‘this is where the author wanted to go, but these are the crags that sent them off track and how to avoid it.’ Alternatively, the critic may discover facets they hadn’t previous discovered, bring to light ideas and brilliance they may not have noticed if not given new context.

Also, ‘Deleted Scenes’ and the author's notes aren’t canon. Making art is as much about the negative space as the lines you actually put down.

My stance is simple: unless the author is literally deceased, their word is canon, absolutely. And even if the author isn’t alive, anything they’ve left behind explicitly stating canon carries that weight.

Kataal kataal.

[1] Which a joke from The Goon Show teaches me are a rather frequent thing. [2] The source of which isn’t advice for a worker to let customers walk all over them, but merely not question the goods and service they seek. If a customer is buying a thing, then they are correct to buy it. That’s it. That’s what that means. [3] Though, by virtue of the longstanding ‘Director vs. Writer’ debate, I’ll happily ascribe to ‘Death of the Director’. Screw you, guy, you’re just the guy clumsily trying to bring the words to stage.

[canvaswolfdoll]

Am I a Reader?

I seem to somehow garnered a reputation as a ‘reader’, even though I don’t think of myself in such terms anymore. Others may see me as such because I am writer,[1] but, to be honest, I don’t really read voraciously as I once did.

But, hey, I’ve talked about my history with various other interests, why not add what my life with books has been to that list?

I grew up in a house of books, parents reading for entertainment, excited to get to first grade and finally learn to read myself. Literacy was always seen as an important skill to possess, something to grant you entrance to the full world, and even other worlds.

My parents weren’t particularly restrictive with the television, and there was no demonizing of watching it. They merely led by example with media, outside some reasonable policing of content, which is important.

Also, PBS growing up was airing Reading Rainbow (boring and dumb)[2] and Wishbone (awesome incarnate). So even before I could read, I was being introduced to not just the thought of being able to read, but literary classics! Simplified versions, yes, but Wishbone and his costumes were more there to give the general impression of the story and the sense of grandeur that literature carries.

One of my favorite childhood toys is a Wishbone plushie. The show really means a lot to me, and I am still massively disappointed I’ve never seen the Phantom of the Opera episode in full! Gah!

Anyways, everything growing up taught me that being a reader is a noble and admirable trait. There was nothing more insulting than hearing a friend, someone I was supposed to trust, claim that reading is dumb and boring!

So, I learned to read, starting with picture books, and working my way up as I felt comfortable. The first series that won my heart was Nate the Great, a series about a child detective giving noir-esque narrations as he solved mysteries over plates of pancakes. Good books, everyone should a read a few of them.

Of course, considering the era when I was a youth, Harry Potter eventually crossed the horizon, establishing the all-consuming franchise and consuming us all!

I’m reviewing those books!

Anywho, my older siblings started reading the books, and I soon followed suit by the promise of there being a werewolf in Book 3! There was!

I finished book 4, and I faced, for the very first time, the wait for a new installment. Up until then, book series weren’t something I had to express patience on. I never had to worry about a continuing narrative that I can’t immediately access, or the concept of stories not yet published. They’re supposed to just be at the library, waiting for you to discover.

And it was that big wait between Goblet of Fire and Order of the Pheonix. Small Canvas didn’t have the patience for that! So, I grew distant from the series, and didn’t pick it up when the next book finally came.

Instead, I read a few other miscellaneous books, before coming upon Redwall.

This was, of course, spurred by my brother reading the series, and me quickly deciding to follow suit. It’s cute tiny animals waging bloody war! What’s not to love?

Redwall’s an… interesting series. It left quite the influence on me, both for what it had (rich and specific descriptions of food[3])and what it lacked (moral complexity). Because one thing that bothered me, even when I was young, was that the “good” critters were always good (mice, otters, squirrels, hares, and so forth) and the “bad” vermin were always barbaric evil (rats, foxes, and ferrets[4]). Besides voles, there were no grey areas, and that just seemed unfair. Why can’t a rat be a good guy? Why can’t a hare scheme to take the Abbey? Why did Veil get such a sour deal? Poor kid was actively despised by his adopted family, acted out because of it, went to meet his father, who then betrayed him, and then the mousemaid who raised him goes back to the abbey to preach about how unsalvageable he was! It was nothing less than a tragedy.

Plus, Swartt’s the only main ferret baddie the series ever got, so even that’s disappointing in retrospect!

Oddly enough, I’ve never actually read Redwall the book, starting instead with Marlfox and jumping around as I saw fit. In fact, I don’t think I’ve read any of the particularly big books of the Canon (Redwall, Mattimeo, Mossflower, and so forth). Just never could manage to get through, especially when the one time I tried to read the first book, it vanished under mysterious circumstances after I left it out during recess.

That mystery was never solved.

Soon, I tired of the formula of Redwall, and stopped reading the series. In middle school, I switched to comics (both web and print), and nudged at a couple fantasy books, but I don’t think I latched onto anything in particular. I did get through the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series, as well as Phantom of the Opera (finally), but no long running series.

I think I may also have tried Lord of the Rings in middle school, but it was unreadably dull and tedious, and to this day I cannot get through any rendition of the narrative.

Because Lord of the Rings is bad storytelling. Even had a friend who dreamed of being an author when he grew up, like me, and he loved the series, and tried often to get me to try it.

Nope.

An interesting thing I like to gloat about is how I got through school without once completely reading any book assigned to me, served mostly by taking in the teacher’s lecture on the assigned reading afterwards, and my own internal understanding of narrative. Now, I don’t actually suggest anyone do this, but the fact of the matter was I preferred to read by my own volition, read generally slowly, and have no fondness of the dead frogs that is the literary canon.

It's a comparison I often like to draw. A good story is an artistic expression, carefully crafted in hopes of invoking emotions from the audience, and, in doing so, creates a sort of magic.

But then there’s literature, or, rather, literature classes, which take books, once vibrant and engaging, and begin to dissect them, dissemble the pieces and analyze them, label them, and define terms and reverse engineer the functions. Sure, this can help give you an understanding of storytelling and thus maybe appreciate other stories more, but once you cut it open and dig around, even if you put it all back, you’re still left with a dead frog, the life gone and irretrievable.

Literature is just another name for dead books.

So I don’t tend to become invested in school-assigned reading for that reason. Besides, reading things that mock the literature is much more interesting!

To the point that I somehow ended up reading Wyrd Sisters as my class was covering Macbeth. So that was fun.

As previously discussed, during high school my attention came to the Discworld books. As they were very good, that’s almost entirely what I read, with occasional detours to the Haruhi Suzumiya books just to see what was happening there.

You can just read my essay on Discworld to get my full thoughts on the topic.

However, I was less thrilled by the Haruhi books that I did read.

I don’t know if it’s the source material, or the translation, or what, but the first couple books are a little tedious to read. A weird mixture of showing and not telling, while also being overly vague about certain things, as well as excessive use of the passive voice, makes the books very dull and uninteresting.

May not have helped that I felt obligated to read them to bridge the gap between the first season of the anime and the movie.

When I was in school, I’d always carry my reading book around, sometimes reading it under my desk instead of paying attention in class, though that became harder to do as I got older and teachers began to care if I was paying attention.

However, after graduating High School, I eventually stopped having whatever paperback I was reading in my coat pocket, and…

Quick aside, I prefer paperback books, at least when it comes to novels. They’re more comfortable to hold, take up less space, are lighter, and… I don’t know, it’s just my preference. I don’t bend the cover back or anything. I’m actually rather obsessive with the up keep of books, and try to keep them in pretty good condition (though spines are, admittedly, hard to maintain). It even seems blasphemous to write in the margins, or highlight. I can’t bring myself to do it, and it really irritates me when I see such things in books.[6]

Anyways, eventually it came that my reading occurred before bed, if I felt like it and am reading. There’s just so many other media vying for my time, that I can’t fit it all in. So many shows to try to get through, webcomics to follow, video games to play, and my own stories to craft and show no one.

So… yeah. I still read the occasional book. Making up for Harry Potter now, and between those books I’ve been making my way through the Spice&Wolf light novels (some of the same problems as the Haruhi books above, but not as bad)[7] and the Log Horizon Light novels are interesting from a world building perspective, though the formatting has a lot to be desired.[8]

However, it’s not as voracious as it once was, so I have a hard time to committing to the identity of “reader” anymore.

But, hey, it’s what people make of you sometimes.

Kataal kataal.

[1] As this post probably goes to show. [2] Yeah, I said it. I didn’t like it as a kid! I don’t care what random children had to say about picture books! [3] I am incapable of handwaving food. I’m compelled to specify what’s being eaten. [4] Am I still heavily associated with ferrets, or has that changed? I can’t keep track. [5] And I don’t recall if I ever bothered to talk about them in the CanvasWatches on it. [6] I bought a copy of Huck Finn specifically because the school supplied copy was just drowning in highlighter ink. Didn’t read it, of course, but still, what monster does that? [7] Also, I may be scheming to steal some of the plotlines for RPGs. [8] It rarely says who’s saying what! Come on, this is basic writing! 

[canvaswolfdoll]

a story about texts and motivations

some time ago, a couple weeks into my current job, my phone received a text message from a stranger.

it was a photo of financial documents.

seeing as i try to be a good person, i did the reasonable thing and immediately texted back ‘i think you have the wrong number.’

the stranger replied “I don’t think so”

words i remember clearly even now.

if this sounds like the start of a James Veitch routine, rest assured that i was also thinking that as i considered this response. obviously, an opening like this is rare, and i’ve always desired to be a mischief maker, and this stranger did just give the stupidest reply after a gentle nudge that they’ve sent sensitive material to the wrong person. this could be a teaching moment, since i’m not willing to steal identities, even if it might be an upgrade for me.

i am not, however, the hilarious James Veitch. and, as per the personal moral code i was suddenly learning i had and its boundaries, i’m not willing to screw with people who send me photos of financial papers, because the idea of making that big of a screw up is terrifying (remember, kids, verify the recipient first!). i will grant a firm mercy.

‘sorry, let me be clear: this is the wrong number. i’m a guy in [state i’m in].’

then i waited for an apology, maybe a light “silly me” joke.

then they doubled down. they insisted i gave them this number and i needed to stop jerking them around.

so, i took a breath and deleted the message thread. dangerous information that didn’t belong to me (what if my phone gets stolen!?), person not listening, just walk away and let them sort themselves out.

then, a few days later, they called me. i was at work, but fortunately the nature of the job let me step out to take it.

it was a man. he wanted to talk to paul.

i kindly told him that i don’t know paul, this was a wrong number, i’m an unrelated dude in another state.

this upset the man. he demanded to know my name.

having just gotten out of working two successive phone center jobs (where i used my middle name on calls), and being chillingly aware of how unique my name is, i flatly refuse to give him my name. basically doing my best to toss up so many red flags that this is not a professional work line and there’s been a mistake.

guy followed up demanding why my phone number’s area code was from a third state (which is true, and he got it correct. clearly was googling, yet still didn’t double check the number), somehow overlooking the fact that he was calling about a place in florida, which i neither claimed to be from, nor my phone number pointed to.

i firmly laid out that it’s a cell phone and i could’ve easily moved. might have finally bluntly told him he’s an idiot.

that’s when a coworker who was sitting in the hall beside me told me to just hang up, which i did.

guy attempted to call back, but i rejected the call.

i never heard from the guy again.

now, clearly, there’s no lesson to be learned here. i don’t know if the guy ever reached his landlord, and i don’t know how i’d want the story to end. i’m just a baffled third party wondering what causes a person, when told they have a wrong number, to think they’re being toyed with, and will fight for this belief tooth and nail, despite me enjoying the chance to be notably unprofessional on the phone.

sure, my overly abundant generous side hopes he got it sorted out and managed to secure that lease.

that part of me that wishes to be a trouble maker, however, takes note that i never received an apology, and wouldn’t it be funny if, somewhere in florida, there’s a landlord who just lost a tenant and got screamed at over an conversation that never included him.

[canvaswolfdoll]

CanvasWatches: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

I am often late to the game on media and landmarks of culture. There are many famous movies I’ve never seen, shows I haven’t watched, games I haven’t played, books I haven’t read,[1] and so forth. Things in the periphery, but I haven’t managed to personally consume.

Anime is actually riddled with such gaps for me. There’s plenty of landmark anime that, for the longest time, I just didn’t have access to. I knew about, say, Fullmetal Alchemist and Trigun as proper series and by name. Then there are the animes that would visually pop up on the young internet, and I was vaguely aware were important, but I lacked the tools to catch them.

Middle School is when I started to count Anime as an interest, even occasionally popping into the loosely related anime art club, but I didn’t actually watch it, because I just didn’t know how, since TV schedules eluded me, and I didn’t know where to purchase it (not that I had the money). So instead I read manga. It was alright.

Then the local library began to fill its catalogue with television shows, including anime, and Netflix took off, and between the two I began to educate myself and fill gaps.[2]

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya was actually a surprise find during this time. Saw it on the self, vaguely recognized the characters, and recalled the title from TV Tropes. So I had enough to know it was one of the big ones, but was otherwise ignorant.

Which is actually a pretty good way to start.

So, the library only ever had the first season. I’d put in a request for season 2, but unlike Lucky Star, it never came to fruition. Probably because the people that owned the dub license folded.

They did get Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya eventually, and I filled the gap with the light novels.[3] Then watched the movie.

That was my experience for many years, unable to get a hold of the second season, dubbed, legally, at a reasonable price.

However, this year Funimation has come to the rescue, and as I actually have an income and Amazon, I now own the Blurays.

Adulting isn’t always too bad.

Obviously, this means a mixture of a rewatch and a… fresh watch?

I’ve always watched the series chronologically, because that’s how the DVDs/Blurays organize it, and I didn’t know there was another way.

Honestly, I think chronologically is the way to go.

Yes, I’m nothing if not easily charmed by gimmicks and metanarrative, as this review will most likely show. Maybe seeing the Melancholy arc chopped up would’ve been fun. Jumping about the timeline, getting vague references to the event, and gradually getting the full picture.

But doing so also seems like tedious work, switching out DVDs and such.

However, even chronologically, the show plays with tropes and the format enough to delight me to no end.

I might even go so far as admit that, despite the hype,[4] and some controversial decisions, I remain a staunch fan.

In fact, it’s nice that, in this time of short half-lives for show interest,[5] to still have this piece in the “literary canon”[6] of anime, good or ill public perception.

Because it’s nice to have standbys you can talk to anyone about.

It’s a show involved deeply with cliches and tropes of its genre.[7] With a cast composed of the tsundere manic pixie dream girl, the moe eye candy, a reserved bookworm, a generic everyman, and… whatever Itsuki is, all hanging out after school for a loosely defined club, the story might seem a little cliche. Fortunately, the show quickly reveals that the fact that this setup being cliche is part of the narrative itself.

Because the titular Haruhi Suzumiya is… somehow subconsciously capable of reality manipulation. It’s never explicitly revealed how she has these powers, and it’s mostly unimportant.

What is important is that she desperate wants life to be interesting, filled with grand adventures, but she’s just a first-year high school student stuck in a normal world.

Which is especially depressing because her desires are right there, but strategically kept away. All she sees, despite her dreams and abilities, is the same boring world she’s always had.

Because, unbeknownst to her, her circle of friends includes a time traveller, a magical alien robot, a psychic secret agent, and a sarcastic Kyon. And they have adventures. All behind her back.

Haruhi is a tragic figure in that regard, one who is being betrayed at all times by those she trusts most, her relationship with a third of her club built from obligation and not actually mutual affection. Something I often fear is the case with those around me.[8]

She’s not even the central character of her own story. That honor belongs to Kyon, a boy whose real name we don’t even know, annoyed with the nonsense he gets pulled into. He narrates the stories and gets dragged along with the bizarre shenanigans of the rest of the club, so he act as the go between for the hidden side of the story and Haruhi herself.

It isn’t helped that (by Kyon’s narration, anyways) he’s not exactly her willing suitor, and just wants a nice normal life. Which is actually a neat undercurrent to the whole thing; Haruhi is clearly interested in Kyon, enough that the rest of the cast openly discusses it. But Kyon prefers Mikuru and dislikes Haruhi’s antics. At least, that’s what he claims, though it’s also clear he is charmed from time to time, and the periphery cast do assume he’s interested in Haruhi, which, considering the world operates through tropes and cliches…

It’s also cute whenever we catch Haruhi experimenting with a ponytail after Kyon admits he’s fond of them.

Haruhi and Kyon present a nice duality of what most people think they want (Haruhi’s desire for an interesting life) and how they’d probably respond upon getting it (Kyon’s desire for normality).

So, what of the abnormals of our cast? Well, to be honest, Yuki’s the only one whom I’ve gained any attachment to.

The SOS Brigade is mostly made up of heroes of stories we don’t get to see, all of which could carry it’s own narrative.

Mikuru travelled back in time on a mysterious mission involving Haruhi, and has superiors she must report to and secrets to be kept, with her future self also making appearances. However, we don’t actually learn much about her purpose, and she settles in as the fanservice character, where she stagnates despite her future self’s hints of becoming something more interesting.

Itsumi is a psychic superhero of some sort, backed by a shadowy organization at clandestine war with others. He fills the role of occasional facilitator and exposition dumper, but… his personality never became too clear to me,[9] so he also bores me. He’s just there, and outside of shock when he nearly gets killed filming a movie, he doesn’t even emote much, and is a little too calm in the face of danger.

Yuki Nagato, however, is interesting. As an alien being spawned from some sort of hivemind, she’s meant only to observe, and has a subdued personality. However, since she’s the resident Deus ex Machina, she gets the most action and some subtle growth. It’s actually a little strange that a being meant to do nothing but observe and scout is as bookish as she is, and directly interferes as often as she does. She saves Kyon’s life on numerous occasions. Saving him from others like her makes sense, as she can’t allow interference from others engaged in her mission, but she also provides a means for time travel and rescues the group from Haruhi’s abilities, going so far as to tackle Mikuru and remove a contact lens.

It’s a little hard to describe how curious this is, but… it’s actually interesting to see how Yuki plays the “fish out of water” character, trying to fit into humanity. Also, she’s curiously the only figure that Haruhi doesn’t dare push too far.

The show’s relationship with the actual mechanics of the fantastical elements and the related mysteries is hot and cold. Because of Kyon’s desperate desire not to become more involved than necessary, we only get rare glimpses. Itsumi’s closed space battles are only seen once during the introductory arc, and referred to casually from there, but never seen. Again, fitting the whole ‘Hero of Another Story’ theme.

Kyon even gets to time travel with Mikuru in the first second season episode, takes it in stride, makes a closed loop with the “Big Event” that kicked off Haruhi entering the cosmic stage (even if the exact details of its mechanics are seemingly never to be revealed).

Nagato just solves everything with what is essentially magic. Even Haruhi-Chan (the comedic spinoff show) lampshades how Nagato is the only character who’s remotely helpful.

One thing that I’ve come to realize is that I am easily won over by and forgiving of experimentations and things that are just different.[10] So, even though I didn’t watch it as such, that fact that the first season was broadcast mixed up chronologically, letting the audience in on the big event of Melancholy progressively is so cool. Then premiering the second season contained within a chronological broadcast of the full season is yet another enjoyable way to toy with the audience, and finally giving the three major stories that needed to be told to fill gaps.

So, how about those stories?

The six Melancholy episodes serve as a nice introduction to the characters, premise, and relationship. Especially with the subtlety of Haruhi’s character throughout. She’s introduced as constantly bouncing between clubs, and changing her hairstyle. When Kyon comments on it, she then gets it cut.

Weird act of passive aggression? Maybe. But, when we learn Haruhi’s personal defining moment (being exposed to how small and insignificant one is in a crowd of six billion people, on one blue marble orbiting one of uncountable stars), and her desire to be interesting and memorable, cutting her hair strikes me more of a social experiment. Kyon begins to talk with her because of her changing hairstyles, and then comments with his fondness for ponytails, and Haruhi cuts her hair, as a sort of test to see if Kyon would still be interested if she removed this point of interest from herself.[11]

In fact, a lot of story telling is done with hair. Haruhi decides against giving Mikuru a ponytail because she’s jealous of Kyon’s crush on the time traveller, and after the story climax, wears a ponytail by way of hinting she also remembers the event.

From there, the SOS Brigade’s primary mission is to keep Haruhi entertained as to prevent the end of the world. There’s worse ways to ward off an apocalypse.

Especially if it involves playing baseball!

I mean, as far as keeping a possible deity entertained goes, I guess sports aren’t the worst. I’d be terrible at it and, well, so’s the SOS brigade and the drafted peripheral cast, and that does not appease Haruhi. So Nagato must perform the first of her acts of saving everyone’s bacons. It’s a pleasant episode.

Bamboo Rhapsody (the aforementioned time travel episode) is a nice bit of origin story. It’s actually a very nice balance between the fantastical, toying with casualty, and charm as we see Kyon accidentally set in motion the events to occur in the series, specifically assisting young Haruhi do her first act of grand spectacle. Then Nagato saves the day without a second thought, as is her job.

Also, in terms of visual story-telling, Nagato representing which set of memories she has (divided in ‘pre-Kyon’ and ‘Post-Kyon’) by of way of wearing glasses.[13]

Mysterique Sign is… an okay episode. A lot of funny JRPG references, and the first onscreen mission of the SOS brigade, but it’s actually not that involved.

This is followed by the two part ‘Remote Island Syndrome’, which is a Itsumi-caused plot. It has a nice enough mystery, charming character interactions, gets the beach episode in, and references to Ace Attorney during the summation! It’s a solid story.

Then we enter Endless Eight.

The arc that, if TV Tropes is correct, all but killed the behemoth that was the Haruhi Suzumiya franchise.

Me? I love it. Absolutely.

Not that that should be a surprise to regular readers. I love stories that follow concepts to logical extremes, and changing the traditional perspective.

So, doing a groundhog day loop where we aren’t following the only person aware of the situation, and in fact that person (Nagato) is supposed to be unobtrusive and make no major changes? Amazing.

Doing so by making the same episode, from scratch, eight times (well, six times, plus the start and finish, so about 6.75 times) is the sort of zany meta-shenanigans I love.

I sat through all of it, quite happily. Watching for the tiny changes, the odd variations, the things dropped and portrayed differently…

How often does one get to actually experience how many different ways you can put on the exact same show, and compare and contrast them?[14] I had fun with it! Sitting there, watching, experiencing, trying to remember how the story ends.[15]

For the record, of the set, Endless Eight v is my favorite. It’s the one where the production clearly sat down and said “Okay, we’re halfway through. How can we have fun?” Ridiculous clothes, subtle script changes for a laugh, giving Kyon’s narration motion sickness. Gosh, it was swell.

I swear, I’m not doing a bit. I can see how some might find it tedious, but I do encourage first-time viewers to try and make the full journey.[16]

After living the month of August for 500 plus years, we then move to the next multipart story: Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya. The SOS Brigade are making a movie! It’s… a mess.

While Endless eight does a good job of highlighting the dangers of Haruhi’s powers on a subconscious level, merely disatisfied to not have an excuse to hang out with friends the day before school resumes, Sigh shows the dangers of Haruhi actively disregarding the welfare of others, and how dangerous that can be on multiple levels.

Because it’s also the arc where Haruhi really abuses the good will of the brigade, their friends, strangers, and on and on, and how someone with god powers can kind of end up as a spoiled brat. Up to and including sneaking alcohol into Mikuru’s drink.[17] It’s the arc where Haruhi is truly the villain of the story. Also, it’s the backstory for the choppily edited first broadcasted episode, which is… an interesting thing not to adapt until your second season.

While Endless Eight was caused unwillingly by Haruhi, and thus can’t be blamed on her person, Haruhi pushing her friends too far, giving Mikuru death eye-beams, and manipulating those around her can be held against her. Which Kyon rightfully does, nearly coming to blows. While Haruhi does finally get the message that others’ feelings matter, too, and begins to mellow down, it doesn’t exactly leave our title character in a great light, especially since she only maintains her friends out of third-party obligation (plus whatever reason Kyon elects to stick around). Itsumi also infers that there are bloody wars occurring over Haruhi, which must be kept secret.

It’s possibly one of the darker stories of the franchise.[18]

So, obviously, the next canon episode is watching the very film they made! It has eye catches, and I skipped it on my initial viewing. I made it through this time, and it’s… still not my favorite? Nice reveal shot of Haruhi at the end, though, so as the first broadcasted episode, I can give points for style on that one.

We get an episode of their school culture fair, which is rather low key episode of the ilk that I like. Kyon, tired from staying up late editing, wanders around with his non-brigade friends, visits the classes of the brigade members, takes a nap at the concert venue, and is woken up when Haruhi sings with a rock band, she and Nagato filling in for members who couldn’t make it. It’s also the first act that leads to Haruhi being noticed and actually appreciated.

In The Day of Sagittarius, the computer club challenges the brigade to a video game to reclaim a stolen computer. There’s some fun sci-fi fleet battles, and Nagato is treated as an equal and a person onto herself by Kyon, who gives her leeway and trust to counteract the computer club’s rampant cheating. He also nudges Haruhi to give permission for Nagato to play video games with the computer club.

It’s just some of that subtle character building that’s interesting once you notice it.

The final episode is Someday in the Rain, where it’s a very calm episode. It’s cold and rainy, the clubroom is drafty, Haruhi arranges to get a space heater, and sends Kyon to get it, then the remaining members have a Mikuru photo shoot while he’s out. No major crisis, no fantastical oddities. It’s a nice, simple, average day. Which, I think, makes a great ending for the anime. What can I say, I’m a sucker for low-key and meditative series finales. And I really love snap shots of normal life that occurs in the midst of alien fights, time travel, reality-warping, and so on. Plus, Haruhi waiting for Kyon to wake from his nap before heading home herself is actually a nice nod that, at least after Sigh, she’s learned a code of ethics for her brigade members, never leaving one behind on a rainy day.

So, after all these years, I would count The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya as one of the essential animes. Is it perfect? No. Is it still fun and charming? Yes. So hunt it down if you have the chance, it’s worth it.

Also, the spinoff Haruhi-chan is a great comedic companion. Watch that if you have the chance.

If you like this and my other works, maybe consider contributing to my Patreon. Your support could help me commit more time, effort, and resources to producing fun content for people. Like Haruhi Suzumiya, I just want to leave my mark, and I just need some brigade members to do it!

That… was cheesy… I shall not apologize for that, though! I’ll just leave it to fester and grow weird mold.

Kataal kataal.

(Psst! If you support me for at least five dollars, you can see my next essay right now! It’s a meditation on my reading habits!)

[1] Not that I particularly mind this last one. Books take time to read, and most literature has been flayed by academia. [2] Of course now I no longer live near the awesome library, and Netflix’s anime selection is eroding. It’s sad. [3] The writing of which are very substandard. But that’s a matter for another time, and possibly another blog. [4] Which I admittedly missed. [5] Seriously, most animes discussed nowadays seem rather flash in the pan. But that’s a rant for another time. [6] Ugh. [7] Admittedly one that may be a tad difficult to pin down. [8] I swear, if the improv club is having game nights without me… [9] Hence why I didn’t give him a tropey summary above. [10] I mean, as long as they’re not insufferably pretentious about it. [11] Considering how I toy with casually shaving my beard[12] just to mess with people, I can sympathise. [12] People are oddly fixated on facial hair. [13] The fact Kyon gets her to stop wearing glasses is a sin I may never forgive. [14] Well, okay, there’s always Shakespeare, but… that’s so rarely treated with such gleeful abandon, and it is rarely adapted as much as recited with maybe a few of the visual trimmings shifted to, say… the 80s? [15] I’ve read some of the books, remember! [16] Considering my answer to the great Fullmetal Alchemist debate is ‘2003, then Brotherhood’ there’s evidence that I’m not much for Abridgement. [17] As Mikuru’s true age is a matter of debate, I can’t make a ruling on if this counts as corrupting a minor. [18] It’s been a couple years since I saw Disappearance, so I don’t know where to rule on which is darker.

[canvaswolfdoll]

Canvas on Continuity, Superheroes, and So Such.

I was born the same day Superman died.

I know, it sounds like the opening narration of some sort of independent comic miniseries, wherein Superman is swapped out with an expy so DC won’t sue,[1] but it’s actually true! The comic where Doomsday killed Superman was released the day I entered the world.

My Mom sent my Dad out to get a copy, and it’s supposedly packed away somewhere. Probably not actually worth much, but eh. It’s a fun fact to give about myself. Not many can claim to emerge from the womb as a killer of a modern deity.

I’m also a rather nerdy sort, and grew up in America, so of course I grew up with some awareness of superheroes. There was the Christopher Reeves films which I’d seen in bits and pieces of as I grew up. There’re two Superman comics given to me to keep me amused during two separate car trips to Disneyland,[2] and I thought Superman as my favorite for a few years as I grew up, though never really fully comprehending the character beyond the basics, which is fine.

Still, I grew up and discarded Superman rather quickly, replacing him with a very slight nuanced love of Batman, then that drifted away, too, more or less.

The thing is, though I love comics, as a medium, deeply, I’d never got into Superhero comics. First off, I grew up in a small town with a very illogical name relationship with the nearest landmark,[3] and wasn’t sure if there was a local comic shop. Certainly wasn’t a LFGS in town, anyways. Much to my eternal resentment.

Second, I didn’t know where to start. Sure, I own an encyclopedia of X-Man lore, which was nice, but… there’s no actual, accessible beginning point for any of the significant Superheros, which I craved. Even now, I start every webcomic from page one, every show from the pilot, and so on, with very rare exceptions.

Because I desire a cohesive narrative.

I know everyone knows the origins of the big heros.

Superman came from a doomed planet.[4] Batman lost his parents in an alley. Spiderman got bit by a radioactive spider. And so forth.[5]

Yet, I actually don’t mind seeing the movie reboots, and the retreads of the origin stories. Because there are still variations on how to tell the origin proper, and continue the new-to-the-streets superhero narrative. It’s not necessary.

But, more than anything, I actually really appreciate the avoidance of complexity. Because, as the comics have shown, superheroes and theie mythos can get complex and very entangled. To the point that I, personally, have never been able to find purchase into the settings.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love lore. Lore is amazing. I love learning the odd facts and small bits of backstory. But I prefer learning such things as random snippets.

Like Star Trek. I hear so many fascinating things about the universe they built, the races and their unique traditions. But I can’t sink my teeth into the actual TV Series or Movies. It’s just so slow and methodical, and the stuff I find fascinating is usually learned through dry, throw-away dialogue.

And the DCU and Marvel Universe have many decades on that, and you never know what the writers will take for granted that the audience knows. As far as I can tell, they make comics for those already committed, without sparing a moment for potential new readers.

True or not, that’s the impression I get. And it’s off-putting.

Which is part of the appeal of the non comic portrayals. Batman: The Animated Series does open expecting you to pretty much know how Batman became Batman, but that’s because (even as I can admit) everyone already does. However, his Rogues Gallery are given introductions, new elements introduced as fresh. Considering they’re the real stars, that does seem appropriate.

Further, everything happens in Gotham, or near Batman, and we never need to worry about the DCU outside that frame. Even when Superman got his own cartoon and they crossed over with one another, TAS made sure to introduce characters as they crossed over.

However, then Justice League premiered. I’d never gotten into that series, because the stories didn’t feel as vivid, and the cast suddenly expanded into multiple heroes and narratives, that it started to feel like a slightly cluttered mess. Then, when it went Unlimited, suddenly the whole toy box was accessible, and there were thousands of characters struggling for screentime that no one really could shine, even the main roster getting written out often.

Teen Titans was the first series I really jumped on, and they did the structure right. We start with a cast of five: four of which are mostly unknown to most at the premier, and the fifth is Robin, the famed sidekick. You know what the series did? They just threw you into things. No backstory for anyone, no introductions, just put us into the action, threw villains around, and went comedic. It was obviously a show that took the source material, saw that they had the opportunity to create something anew, and just went the direction they wanted. It was the sort of ‘reimagining’ that didn’t take time to throw barbs at the previous versions.

Heck, we never formally found out which Robin the series had![6]

Then they expanded the universe. But they did so cleverly. They bring in other young heroes, other villains, but they never took the focus off the main five heroes. Not because the other character don’t deserve focus, but because the main five are the series’s anchors, the ones there for the audience to follow and love. A throughline for the whole series.

No wonder Go! upsets old fans. It flanderized the main five, throws vicious barbs at the old show, and insults the thing we loved about the first show.[7] It’s hard to tread the line of friendly mockery and superior insults. Comedy is a skill, afterall.

So, what about Marvel?

Well, to be honest, I’m afraid the Cinematic Universe is at serious risk of collapse, at least for me.

Because, yes, it was an exciting idea. We get the first Iron Man movie, which made a solid impact, then said ‘Hey? We’re doing more. And Iron Man’s going to be there.’ And they did. Hulk got a new movie, and Tony Stark came to give threads. Captain America got to shine, a unique origin story as far as movies go, and so forth.

Then came the Avengers, and the threads were tugged to bring the outfit together.

It was a good movie! Not my favorite, but it did its job.

But then came the post Avengers movies, and… I have to be honest, it’s been hard to keep up. Because the movies no longer stand alone. Most of the Marvel movies from then relied on knowing about what else is going on in the universe.

And they added TV shows. I can’t keep up with Agents of SHIELD to know the undercurrent of Winter Soldier. It stopped being separate stories that happened to be connected, and into one bloated ‘Marvel Heroes’ film series, with a risk of continuity lockout if you miss a film.

And I don’t get to movie theaters… well, at all anymore. I don’t have the time to commit to seeing movies upon release. I certainly don’t have time to watch Daredevil or Jessica Jones. It’s becoming a lot, to the point that Captain America’s third film was basically teased as ‘Avengers 2.5’.[8] They no longer do a Marvel film without bringing in other cast members.

You know what my favorite Marvel film is? ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’. Because it’s goofy, yes, but it’s also so far removed that, besides the infinity stone, it was capable of being its own creation without having to worry about have Robert Downey Junior getting his cameo. It was a relief not having to know the workings of the other universes.

But even that small respite will have to come to an end. The Marvel Universe is getting too reliant on its gimmick, that I see continuity lockout looming, and a gradual ejection of and rejection by those who can’t keep track anymore.

Yes, I like reboots. I don’t mind seeing origin stories retold. Because that means the creators are taking a step back and saying ‘We’re losing ourselves. We need to recenter, find the base elements, and build anew’.

Maybe I’m just weird that way.

However, it’s growing out from Marvel, isn’t it?

Because DC is trying to do the same with their films, but without putting in the leg work. They’ve hopped over introductions and put audiences into a phase two that didn’t get a phase one. They expect moviegoers, like comic readers, to jump into the middle of things and pick up the information, crucial information, through context and third party sources.

Okay, to be fair, I’ve refused to touch anything since Man of Steel, when I walked out and thought ‘I don’t know who Superman is.’ But that’s enough for me. We get a big, fancy Superman movie, and I can’t tell you anything about the main character except what powers he has. Does he have a moral center? Don’t know. Does he have loved ones? Maybe? Does he have a degree in journalism? Inconclusive. They made a Superman movie that wasn’t about anything, least of all Superman.

The movie took so for granted how well the audience knows Superman, that they didn’t even bother introducing him. They did the origin story, yes, but… who is Superman? The supposed point A didn’t say.

Now they’re threatening to do the same with Star Wars. It’s always had its expanded universe, yes, but that’s always been nicely contained. If you wanted it, yes, you can seek it out. But I don’t need to read Thrawn to understand the movies. The movies can stand by themselves.

Because the Main six were the pillars, the main Titans. There’s other stuff, yes, but it’s not necessary. It never was. You just need to cling to the Six movies, and be fine. Lucas seemed to understand that. In a universe where everything has a name and origin, the center six films don’t need any understanding outside themselves.

But now Rogue One is coming out. And a Han Solo origins movie. Disney is taking movies - what should be the purview of the center narrative - and doing Expanded Universe stories. And that annoys me.

I love the small details, don’t get me wrong. But I love it as trivia. I don’t want to feel like I forgot to study when watching a movie, or reading a comic or book. I just want to know where to start, in the text, and not worry about what came before textually.

Yet… I am reading Squirrel Girl. It’s the first superhero book I’m following issue to issue. Which is probably a convoluted reasoning on it’s own. But I was sold on that for a couple reasons:

I knew Squirrel Girl. I learned of her in the second trivia way I like to learn things, and she seemed fun. It’s her first series. No Vol.83 nonsense, no ‘first series in a new continuity’ confusion. Squirrel, before now, never had her own comic books. Squirrel Girl doesn’t take the universe overly serious. She’s a goofy girl with a goofy story, and puts fun first.

Which makes me actually a little hopeful she doesn’t come to film, or become popular. It’s very hipstery, but when heroes prove they can move merchandise to a major degree, they go everywhere, and their story gets pulled thin, and it’s easy to lose. It happened to Wolverine, it happened to Deadpool (who I used to distantly like), I really don’t want to lose Squirrel Girl in the same way. She’s on the new avengers, and I still am uneasy about that. Haven’t picked up any of those issues, and I’m scared that, by being a great character, she’s going to get torn apart.

So, yes. Me and superheroes: it’s complicated!

Hey, you like this? You like other things I do? want to help support me so I may pursue happiness and self-fulfillment? Why not check out my patreon? For 5+ dollars a month, you can see my text posts early! And other content, eventually, probably! Right now, you can read a review of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya!

Kataal kataal.

[1] It could lead into some sort of ‘Post-superhero’ narrative, set in a city ruled by the super villain who did it. Remind me to come back to this. [2] One of these was a crossover between Supes and Madman. [3] A joke I can’t fully tell without revealing too much information. But it’s a really stupid, but real, inconsistency. [4] Oh, I have an argument for how the DCCU used the wrong kenning for Superman’s solo film. Should’ve called it ‘Last Son of Krypton’, you doofuses. [5] Though, I will admit, I still a little fuzzy on Wonder Woman. [6] It’s Dick Grayson, though, let’s be honest. [7] However, Sitcom Dad Trigon is hilarious. I will never decry anyone for taking a dark, grim bit of lore, and twisting it to absurd parody. [8]I haven’t seen it yet. Haven’t had time or access.

[canvaswolfdoll]

cute girl: hey, is that [book]? i love that series!

me: it's my favorite series! i've read them all!

cute girl and i: [discuss various interests and thoughts]

cute girl: this is why we'd make such good FRIENDS! we have so much in common we'd be great FRIENDS!

me (internally): not sure if you're establishing boundaries or if you're trying to be some sort of coy.

me (externally): that'd be nice.

me (internally): i can never talk to this person again. i'll just ruin everything forever.

[canvaswolfdoll]

Canvas and Webcomics

Webcomics are important to me.

I was never one for actual superhero comic books, since they had decades of history that, no matter what anyone says, can be difficult to reconcile. What’s still canon? What details from the past do you need to understand for the current story? Who are half these people? I just don’t like to come in in the middle of the story, so I just don’t.[1] The medium of comics, however, was always enticing. It was a nice combination of visual and textual storytelling.

So webcomics were a gift. The full story, online, for free, waiting to be discovered. A low barrier to entry, and so much variety, since the creator didn’t need to appease a corporate office with market viability. That’s the nice thing about the internet: if you like it, there’s certainly an audience that’ll enjoy it with you.[2]

I don’t even remember what my first webcomic was, though I do recall I read a certain trio of the early 2000s: 8-Bit Theater, VG Cats (when it updated), and Ctrl-Alt-Delete.[3] I was vaguely aware of other comics, of course, but was careful about where I tread on the internet at the time.

Of course, eventually I expanded from those three, and began to check out sprite comics and other works of the internet. Irregular Webcomic remains a small influence on me, for example, and I even followed MegaTokyo for a while, dropping it when, as usual, I got to a page where I didn’t recognize any of the characters and realized I had no idea what was happening.

Then, as is known, I did my own webcomic with my brother for a while. It was fun!

It actually amazes me, looking back, to see what webcomics have grown into. When I crawled into the internet age, Webcomics were a fringe novelty. Now, they’ve grown and become a little more entrenched in the overall culture. It’s also fascinating to see what’s survived the gentle revolution.

Sprite Comics, of course, are dead. 8-Bit Theater was really the only one of critical note, and that ended a few years ago, the creator now heading the growing empire that is Atomic Robo, as he should. CAD apparently still updates, but I just got bored of it and stopped reading long before it reached it’s current level of meme-mockery. VG Cats still updates from time to time! That’s actually very surprising!

Then there’s the really involved ones: Girl Genius, a comic I heartily recommend, has been present for as long as I can remember, and I got into after reading an omnibus I got from the library,[4] has only recently entered its second act. Twelve years of continuous updates, and it’s maybe only a third of the way through! And it’s a continuous, planned story! That’s nuts!

El Goonish Shive, which I actually consider one of the best webcomics, has continued and grown in both art and writing, which has kept me enamored for all these years. Got into it for the cheesecake, haven’t missed an update in… must be over a decade now. It’s a good comic, and keeps getting better.

I’ve also managed to get around to reading Penny Arcade (it’s average, really, but it’s culturally significant, so I have to keep going), and the works of David Willis (I… have concerns on that front)the big named long-runners.

It’s really the small-time creators that make the medium what it is. Sure, there are people who managed to make a living from it and expanded into a bizarre geek empire, which is impressive, but webcomics still largely have the same barrier of entry as always: having a way to digitize your comics (either via a scanner or just producing them on the computer) and getting an audience (which, as my ~100 tumblr followers and vastly fewer twitch followers show, I’m not actually good at…). Though the competition and base standards have grown exponentially.

As mentioned, one can no longer get away with ripped game sprites. You just can’t. Perhaps that’s a good thing, adding a small hurdle to prevent over saturation of garbage, but… well, art is hard. And the art standard for webcomics has increased. Like, most successful comics have art quality beyond some published works. Which is great! We should be encouraging such high standards, but on the other hand…

Look, I’m a flopped creator, and what I miss about the wild west days of webcomics is that I felt able to just do my thing and have with it. Now… I just don’t think my best, art-wise, can stand. Which is sad. I miss the time when anyone could give the medium a try and find some level of success. I can do pretty good stick figures, sure, but xkcd has pretty much won ownership of that style, and Order of the Stick mixes its simple character design with subtle intricacy.

Now, when starting a webcomic, it seems you’re expected to have a freaking resume to justify it! I can’t recall the last exciting new comic to start whose creator hasn’t worked in animation or gone to art school. What is this? What happened to the ‘do-it yourself’ mentality? Or have my own standards just risen too high?

I admit, I no longer really hunt out new comics. I follow a bunch via RSS now, and cross-overs no longer are an exciting thing that happen, and the creators themselves have formed small pocket groups so it’s hard to find new stuff. So I mostly rely on chance to find new, good material.

Still, one thing hasn’t changed is the freedom to make whatever you want.

One of my favorite webartists started with a journal comic[5] and now is doing some sort of fantasy thing about communication hurdles? Runewriters is a thing that I don’t fully understand, okay?

Irregular Webcomic, after ending, has come back anyways. It’s still not amazingly funny, but it does continue to be interesting and a tad bit experimental. It’s actually odd lego-built comics never got big. That seems like a great medium! Actually, photo comics at all needs to be bigger. Fuzzy Knights of the Game Table was very interesting, but that just ended on a raspberry, so…

Harpy Gee, meanwhile, scratches that ‘slice-of-life in fantasy land’ itch I’ve always had.[6] Gunnerkrigg Court is the mature Harry Potter everyone wants, so go get it.

But… I don’t think I follow any small guys anymore. That’s… actually disappointing to me. I should try to alleviate that.

Kataal kataal.

[Psst! Psst! Wanna help support my creative works? Well, I have a Patreon! Five dollars a month gets you early access to blog posts. Currently have a review of Voltron: Legendary Defender up there! Check it out!

[1] I have, however, gotten into Squirrel Girl. It’s good, even if it’s been in my backlog for a bit due to… comic shop difficulties… [2] Also an audience that will scorn you for it, but, eh… don’t read the comments. [3] I feel no shame! [4] Didn’t think I’d manage it in this one, did you? Ha ha! [5] I actually don’t see those too often anymore. What happened to them? I guess they weren’t big to begin with, but still… [6] Not that I don’t intend to someday give the concept my own try. I have… ideas, but no means of execution.