Day Late and Dollar Short — mnchrm vol. xlv

Hello my friends and fellow drifters! Sorry for the late letter this week; I was on set Monday and it went way late. Then yesterday, I had one of those days where I just couldn't find any motivation to do anything. The day came and went, and I had spent all of it just hoping it was already time for bed (no such luck!) 

However, even a day late and a dollar short, I wanted to send something out to all you lovely people.

I'm just getting word I've sold (as in, for money) my first piece of writing. So far, all the pieces I've had published have been volunteer work. Yet, I sent an email to an editor, they said yes, and I'm off to the races. It's not a lot of money of course, but I hope it's a start in a new direction for me.

I'm not sure how much I should say or not (still learning what the writing faux pas's are), but it should be in Electric Literature by August.

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I just put the laundry in the drier and it's starting to rain. Unfortunately, the laundry room is in a different part of the condo building. Let's see if I can retrieve the clothes without getting them wet. But for now, it's a good time to write.

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The anime season started, and it's good. This season really does feel like there's more good shows than usual. Not sure why.

If you like shounen, Fire Force (Enen no Shouboutai) is way more fun than I expected. When I heard it was a firefighter shounen, I was kinda iffy about it, but it's hype-- I've rated it on par with Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, which is continuing from last season.

My favorite show so far is Maidens of the Savage Season (Araburu Kisetsu no Otome-domo yo.), however. It's a drama about a high school literature club which is all girls for some reason, and all the members clumsily coming to understand their own sexuality and puberty. It's a bold plot, but I'm a sucker for character-driven dramas like this. The first episode ends with an incredibly squirmy moment of cringe, IMO, but pulls it off. Might recommend watching parts of this in the comfort of your own home.

Final one to look out for, and my vote for darkhorse of the season, is Granbelm. It's a show about mech fighting, except the mechs are powered and controlled by magic, and the manifestation of the character's hearts? One of those story ideas that just doesn't really exist in the Western market. It's a little too stereotypically moe (or cute, for the non-depraved), and the mechs look like they're designed to be capsule toys (which, straight up, they might be). However, the animation quality is way higher than expected, especially during the fight scenes. Already got some cool Persona-eyes.

Never watched anime, have no idea what I'm talking about, and tuned out for most or all of this section? Want to give it a go? Give Cowboy Bebop or Chihayafuru a try.

For my money, anime is one of the mediums of storytelling with the widest and most interesting breadth of stories. Of course, there are stories meant for children, but also stories meant for adults. And none of this is really viewed as lesser. It's a big career goal of mine to get good enough at Japanese to write something that gets adapted into an anime. I'd probably just check out from there.

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My friends invited me to go see Midsommar last week, and as someone who will generally see anything that plays after that sexy, sexy, A24 logo, I said sure. I knew it was directed by Ari Aster who did Hereditary, a movie I decided I did not want to see. And I also knew I was a big wuss who does not like horror films. Somehow, I convinced myself this would not be a horror film in the traditional sense, but instead one of those existential-type horror films, that confront you with the fact that you will one day die. Nevertheless, I got on the bus. 

It wasn't until I was ON the bus that I decided to read the Wikipedia plot summary, as a defense mechanism. And it wasn't until I got off at the stop the movie theater was at that I decided I absolutely did not want to see this movie, either. So I told my friends I couldn't make it, and walked home. 

Does this make me a coward? That's a bridge I've long since passed. However, I do think there's something to be learned from here. Not every bit of media, not every story, is for everyone. Not every story is for you, or for me! I generally don't like stories that seem to delight in cruelty, or with excessive violence or gore. I don't want to be scared that much!

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I said last week I'd write about closing pitchers, and I remembered. But uh, I'm not as interested in writing about that right now. The gist was sort of about the power and ability in the human body, and what the most physically talented among us can do. Honestly, it's sort of baffling to see any professional athlete do their thing, especially someone who can throw a ball at nearly 105 mph. 

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This letter is a bit shorter than usual, hope you guys don't mind! The rain's cleared up, and I'd like to go read some fiction. Don't worry, the laundry retained its dryness all the way into the apartment. Hope you all have a wonderful rest of your week!

Your faithful commander,
 — I