Beginnings

Finished (hopefully) the edits on the first chapter. Sent off two different options for the opening and the modifications for the rest. Reasonably happy with both openings. I think they work better than before. It all still feels a bit rushed for me from how it was before, but I can understand why the editor wanted to move the action-y bit forwards. It was too much backstory, even if it was lovely backstory. :)

Still so tired today. I'm not sure why, but I feel like a wrung out dishrag. I want to take a hot bath and then hibernate. Maybe some of that is because life has felt like an endless series of small and large potential disastery-ness for the last two years. But some of it is working itself out now and some semblance of normality has been achieved and my brain is trying to catch up to that.

Or maybe it's just the weather. Who knows.

Epic Fantasy World Selfie

I did take a little time out to watch two episodes of In Another World with My Smartphone because I had to catch up to where the little dude was. He's so happy to have a show that we can watch together! Me too. Even though this one is very very very similar to a lot of other shows.

There's KonoSuba, which I do enjoy, though I feel old and guilty when I watch it because there's entirely too much boobage -- which is why I don't let little dude watch it even though the humour in that show is right up his alley. It's a pity. And even Sword Art Online -- though this one is not nearly so heavy as that (no one ever dies in In Another World)...though they look to have made a conscious effort to make the main character look a lot like Kirito, down to wearing a long, flowing jacket (but it's white to Kirito's black, which is fitting as this character is as pure as the driven snow practically).

And another one that we are also watching: Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody...which totally wins for most awkward title. That one has almost exactly the same premise but there it's an older game developer who wakes up inside the game he was working on. The main characters even almost look the same, though Death March isn't as comic. As that season is still ongoing, we haven't gotten as far, so hopefully it stays tame enough and doesn't steer into ecchi territory. The main character is just as overpowered as the one in In Another World... And he looks nearly the same...dammit, they all look like Kirito. C'mon, people. Enough with Kirito.

Oh, look...another harem.

Anyway, back to In Another World...it's one of the rather tired storylines where the young protagonist dies due to some mistake. In this case, God accidentally struck him with lightning and felt guilty. So he's been resurrected on another world -- a fantasy, magic kind of realm. The one thing he asked to bring with him was his smartphone, which God has kitted out for him so that it maps his new world, etc. God has also basically powered him up so that he's the most powerful magic user EVER in the history of this world and made him well-nigh impossible to kill.

Good thing this character is so nice. Otherwise he could have taken over the world. Instead he just wanders around saving people and kingdoms and collecting a harem of girls who adore him and all want to marry him (but are at least strong and capable in their own right). Polygamy is the norm in this world, apparently, though the King and Duke only appear to have one wife each. Hmm. Anyway, it's ridiculous. Nothing bad ever happens. They win every fight. Nothing comes close to hurting them. I don't think he's ever even gotten a bruise. He defeats a dragon and is like, oh, yeah, that was easy. If someone does get mortally wounded, the hero just saves them with his healing ability (including the King, which is how the Princess decided she wanted to marry him). At least it is always the girls chasing him and him thinking, whoa, I'm too young for this. And the chasing, so far has been very tame (they played paper, rock, scissors to see who got to hold his head in her lap when he was sleeping).

So, in other words, an absolutely rubbish story as far as what a normal story is supposed to include. No conflict. No danger. All happiness and light.

But it's perfect to watch with little dude. It's like his ultimate wish fulfilment anime and for once it doesn't have a non-ending stream of absolutely ridiculous ecchi elements (I'm looking at you, KonoSuba). There are a couple of things that are right on the edge of what I'm comfortable with him seeing, but nothing too horrible. They actually wear clothes that cover them up. Basically, it's fun. He loves it. I love it because he loves it. Hopefully we can find some more shows to watch together.

EDIT: The last couple of episodes had some slightly dodgy bits. Not so bad as Sword Art Online or KonoSuba or anything or even some of the movies we watch (we let him watch some 12's) but both of us giving it the side-eye. We talked about it and I think it's good that little dude knows to think about what he sees and evaluate things. He's started on My Hero Academia now, which seems very promising (mostly a battling kind of thing, nothing dodgy).