There was a tweet, as much as those have value these days, that has stuck with me from Randy Milholland, who writes and draws the webcomic Something*Positive, that I remember seeing sometime between 2012 and 2015 that said, “It’s not an affront to dislike something. People are allowed to dislike things you love.” Something I like to keep in mind when other people discuss what I love, and something you should keep in mind when reading this.
Books – Samantha Shannon’s The Roots of Chaos
Have you ever been recommended something so much that it acts as a deterrent to you actually trying it? My good friend recommended the first season of True Detective so much in every conversation when we saw each other that it made me want to avoid watching it even more. However, when a bunch of us got together to watch it, it turned out to be pretty good. The Priory of the Orange Tree was one of those books that every list, every algorithm, every book influencer, every bookshop recommended as a must-read fantasy book to the point where I resisted reading it. It helped that the book had an enormous page count, but when my friend Tim, with whom we’d exchange DMs back and forth about the books we were reading, told me he was loving it so far, I finally decided to try it. Turns out this book was recommended for a reason. Despite its length, it felt entirely earned, and while the pacing wasn’t fast, it was steady and never felt like it overstayed its welcome.
My main bookcase is organized unusually. They’re separated by hardcovers and paperbacks, and then organized by favorite series / favorite authors, in descending order. This is because I got tired of Tolkien being at the bottom of my shelf, where I couldn’t see the books. I bring this up because The Priory of the Orange Tree, after reading it, shot up to the second shelf, that how much I loved it right away. I thought of it because there is a new The Root of Chaos book out, Among the Burning Flowers, that takes place shortly before Priory, which I want to read sooner than later.
So on the podcast, No Page Unturned, our episodes where we cover one book on one episode are called Booklings from the word booking, meaning little books. We’ve been developing a tradition to do a horror book Bookling, and this year we’re doing The Eyes are the Best Part by Monika Kim, about a Korean-American woman in college development into a serial killer. As of writing this, I’m seventy percent through it, but by the time this is published, I’ll probably be finished with it. The main character, Ji-won, deals with divorce, her father disappearing from her life, her mom’s racist boyfriend, a stalker-ish college student who can’t del with rejection, and failing grades. All that plus a lot of eyeballs. I highly recommend it
Games – Trails to the Sky 1st Chapter Remake
When I got my first gaming PC, a game a friend insisted I had to try because he believed it was an action RPG that deserved just as much love as The Legend of Zelda was Ys: The Oath in Felghana. I loved it, but little did I know that so many years later I would find myself playing another series from Nihon Falcom, particularly a remake of a beloved game. I picked up the original version of Trails to the Sky 1st Chapter last year after I got my Steam Deck OLED, having zero idea that there was a remake in the works. All I knew was my friend Ben loved the series, and I wanted to start with the one that was commonly suggested to start with, plus it was on sale during a Steam sale for a great price.
I got a few hours into the original game throughout the year, but it wasn’t until late August that I found out there was a remake coming out. That is the version I’ve been playing the most and plan to complete. Eventually, I’ll go back to the original, but I think I’ll play that in bed on my Steam Deck here and there.
Now, I know very little about the Trails series in general, except that I’ve heard of the main characters Estelle, sometimes referred to as Bestelle, and Joshua, which, well, is my name also. I have seen some call Estelle annoying, but that is far from how I feel about her. She’s brash, naive, reckless, headstrong, hyperactive, blunt, and maybe lacks some tact, and quite frankly, I love her and she’s the best. In a way, she kind of reminds me of Naruto, as they both learn better in the field than by studying, and will jump headfirst into danger to help someone else. Both characters are also called annoying.
You know who Joshua reminds me of, then? That’s right, Sasuke, and quite frankly, like Sasuke, Joshua is the one I find fucking annoying. Constantly acting like a know-it-all, correcting everything Estelle does, undercutting her actions, no matter the decision she makes. Unlike Sasuke, Joshua can recognize all of Estelle’s good traits, but man, is this character constantly getting on my nerves. From what I can tell, not a lot of people see him that way. It’s not taking me out of the game, no, this is more like the good kind of annoying, as in I’m interested to see how this character grows, changes, and possibly change my mind. I just hope it’s not with a oh, poor me backstory because that isn’t going to cut it.
Wrestling – AEW WrestleDream Card
WrestleDream is turning out to have a real stellar card so far. They’ve added AEW World Tag Team Champions Brodido (Bandido and Brody King) versus Kazuchika Okada and Konosuke Takeshita this week. I’m actually pretty excited for how the future feud between Takeshita and Okada develops from this match. I imagine things will break down, and they’ll lose, causing a rift between them. Ever since Okada joined the Don Callis Family, I’ve been highly anticipating a face turn from Takeshita. If we can get Kenny and Hangman in the mix, I’m all for it, too. A scenario that involves Hangman Page vs Takeshita for the AEW World Title right before Takeshita fully turns would be an ideal situation for me.
It’s not an affront to dislike something. People are allowed to dislike things you love.
– Randy Milholland
FourofFiveWits 