Ben Taylor

What I love about chest colds is that I can lie about doing nothing, partake of simpler pleasures, and not feel guilty about it. Since I've actually been fairly busy this month searching for my next job and contributing at the VOC, this comes as a nice break. When I'm not hacking up my esophagus.

So this week I've started playing Romancing Saga, which I picked up for its eccentric reputation. That reputation is well-deserved. Romancing Saga has a non-linear story structure. You can begin playing with any one of the eight protagonists, choose your companions and pursue different quests at will. It's quite a departure for Square, the Final Fantasy developer, though not quite so byzantine as Troike/BlackIsle's RPGs (Fallout, Torment, Arcanum). There are few dialogue branches in the game, which doesn't have especially much dialogue anyway, though I've been satisfied with its quality. However, the storyline can appear to branch by spending time in one area of the world versus another. The game guides recommend avoiding battles to see more of the game's events in one playthrough. So perhaps some subplots could turn out differently if I don't participate in them myself? I'm not quite sure, because I haven't played through yet.

Personally, it's satisfying to play a game which can frustrate my ambitions with a tricky, well-designed system of mechanics. The first few times I played this game I became quite frustrated because I assumed I could easily master it, but I realize now that Saga will not give up its secrets right away, and that's ok. I've been playing with Sif, the warrior woman from the frozen wastes, who rescued a boy prince from a shipwreck. Her first duty's always to protect her snowy homeland from the encroaching monster hordes, but she's travelled far since taking the boy back to his kingdom to report some dreadful battle. Now Sif and the boy are a team to kick ass, take names, and eventually save the world, assuming it needs saving. She doesn't know yet; she's heard some legends about this dark imprisoned god, and the prophecy of a possibly luny sorceress, but no matter. Sif knows that if there's an ass harassing good people, her's is the foot to kick it.

So for today I'm fighting the good fight in Mardias, but soon I'll have to get back to work. I intend to get a new programming job this season, and I've got another preliminary interview to look forward to next Monday.

So for about fifteen minutes I was seriously considering switching to Blogger. I think it was mainly a self-aggrandizement impulse. I've associated Blogger with the heavy hitters, and since I could now create a Blogger blog for free, I could now step on the stage of the serious writers of the Internet. "Oh, I am so ready for the big time!" For my first post I would rationalize the move, to explain why I was disappointed with LiveJournal. "I wasn't excited with its surfeit of social rigging", I was going to say (having double-checked the definition of 'surfeit'), but I tripped myself up when I returned to LJ for some illustrative examples. I clicked on my 'Friends' link, and in thirty seconds I knew I'd been a dork.

My friends have been writing about themselves on LiveJournal! One new friend is looking ahead to the Singapore Writers Festival. My pal Kelly can't wait for the holidays to be over. Peri downtown is still dangerous at her keyboard. Sue in Toronto has a new job! And Adam in the UK is still finding good anime to watch, which is always a very good thing

So long story short, I came up with a new topic for a blog post. All's well that ends well, right?

Oh, and as for the title of this post: once I put down some money for a full account, I already know the name I want to give this journal.

Or maybe it's just that I feel lonely. While I had that computer training situation last winter, I felt pretty good about myself and met a lot of people each day. When I left I intended to start volunteering again at the VOC, begin my T'ai Chi classes again, and drive into the city every Saturday for Jayce's lunch meets, to evade this depression hit. Maybe that could've worked if I'd started promptly. Certainly while I'm by myself its easier to dwell on self-criticism.

In the past I socialized a lot online, so it's plausible to expect I could make it happen again through blogging, but it's difficult to write not knowing who I'm writing for. Nobody may find it, but its not safe to consider this a private journal. Assuming its public I also would like this to gain the qualities which make a blog worth reading: concise, regular updates and interesting material. Perhaps I shouldn't worry too much yet about "interesting material"; my friendly readers will probably be satisfied to read about me or what I'm finding interesting. Concision and regularity are liable to be my greatest adversaries.

I began today by watching some new anime fansubs. Negima looks like a brainless, fun romantic comedy series. Lucky Star is just insane, particularly the Lucky Channel segment with super idol Minoru Shirashi. Claymore may turn out to be an interesting horror series, but if not it's got a hot tsundere protagonist. Unfortunately, Gurren Lagann made me aware that I'd lost AAS soft subtitle support in Mplayer (why hasn't Gentoo folded that in yet?), but I'm eager to see what Studio Gainax is up to this year. There's some brouhaha on the grapevine about episode 4 and 2ch. I can't wait.

My room has become distressingly disorderly; I might feel better about myself if I can sort it out today. There's so much shit I need to take care of, but this most of all.

Because I could not stop for Death -
He kindly stopped for me -
The Carriage held but just Ourselves -
And Immortality. ~~ Emily Dickinson

I've begun watching a new anime series, Simoun, a speculative yuri drama. While that isn't unusual for me, it is unusual for me to explain my impressions in writing. I have believed that I engage further with stories when I analyze them, rather than "reviewing" stories to persuade or dissuade others of their entertainment value. Preparing the notes for this post has already improved my appreciation for this beautiful and imaginative series.

A nation of craftsmen have begun an invasion by air of a "beautiful and peaceful" empire called Simulacrum. Their fleets of dirigibles and cramped & fragile fighters must travel between lightning clouds and a treacherous sea for their objective - to observe the empire's flying machines. The empire has literally revered this technology as the expression of God's will, but now uses them to repel the invading craftsmen. These machines are Simouns, gloriously nimble dervishes that paint mystic pattern-trails upon the sky, summoning great explosions. Simouns carry two pilot-priestesses, who provide the machine with its activating principle: their kiss. In other words, this anime provides a fantasy world where female homosexuality is not only accepted and validated, but is the key to the kingdom: Girls are kissing, while the world hangs in the balance!

But this isn't Ragnarock City: any shagging goes on discretely off camera, and Simoun has paid as much attention to creating a plausible, self-consistent world as it has to its characters' relationships. The technical and architectual design evokes a feminine, shoujo esthetic. The spinning disks from God which move the flying machines can also move the empire's locomotives. The persistence of the species in the absence of boys receives an explanation more artful than "they use cloning vats and genetic engineering".

Within Simulacrum, all people are born female, but individuals choose their ultimate gender when they reach maturity at 19. Tempus Patieum, the same mystical entity which empowers the Simouns, also transforms the teenage girls into adults when they visit its holy spring. However, only young love can activate the Simouns' power source. Mature human beings who've chosen their sex cannot fly them. Priestesses of the Simoun Simula, the organization which runs the empire's flying machines and now its defense, ordinarily would follow their society's expectations to visit the spring at 19, but can now delay to continue flying (for war, for freedom, for love).

So this is Simoun's premise; I cannot yet judge how well it uses it, having seen only the first three subtitled episodes. (Thank you, Sue, for the episode synopsises.) This anime could raise some of the Big Questions about War as it relates to Beauty. I expect it will provide a robust setting for fans' erotic fantasies (more so perhaps for women who love women, though I am not complaining). I've enjoyed the visual and musical presentation. The character designer has given the pilots varied & appealing appearances, and the adult women & men appear true to their ages. The environments look gorgeous, and the Simouns themselves appear as beautiful as this story requires. As for the music, Simoun uses some nice classical arrangements.

Now I'll voice a few questions that've been bugging me:

• The Call Tempus attaches cables between their ships and a crippled member of Call Cup's to converse with the surviving pilot, apparently because the empire does not have radio. But when they fight the craftsmen later, a group of Simoun execute the same Remergion pattern-trail in unison. How do they coordinate so accurately in battle?


• As Erie and Neville travel to the spring, Erie considers her choice, saying, "And if I don't choose to become a man, it'll limit what jobs I can do in the future." However, adult women have appeared to hold most political and military positions. So how, if I trust the translation, do the adult men enjoy greater vocational flexibility?


• Simulacrum has been referred to as 'the Imperial Nation', which sounds redundant and awkward to me. Is there a more accurate translation?

I expect I'll have more to say about Simoun after I've seen more of it, but not before I write about some of the other new anime I've seen.

I care about my writing. I choose words deliberately, and avoid needless expression. But knowing what would genuinely interest readers is often difficult, particularly in this context. What's interesting about my day, my interests, or my problems?

Perhaps that question is an appropriate focus for my blog. LJ provides for comments, so contribute feedback, please. A hundred, a thousand, a hundred thousand ask for this: the typical human drive for contact. What is so interesting about my question? The answer seems to lie in the context.

I care about computers. I've known how to program for two decades now, and I've used the Internet for 16 years. The genial abstractions of computer science fascinate me; I'd like to return to college eventually to do graduate work. At present I teach at a computer lab & diagnosis PC's for local vets.

I care about games; both electronic and non. I watch anime, read manga, and appreciate other elements of Japanese culture such as soba noodles and Zen Buddhism. (My old alias, MacGuges, is reference to a favorite manga.)

I worry about the war and my country. I grew up here in America & can remember the warm feelings of pride I'd have on Flag Day. Yeah, I was born into the place founded on rational humanitarian principles! It saddens me what vengeance & duplicity has been done for "9/11", and I continue to donate to the Red Cross.

I enjoy conversation & fair argument; it's valuable to me to keep up my rhetorical chops. I value doubt over faith. Beliefs will happen, but confusion precedes discovery. We ought to make the most of such opportunities.

Hail Eris!