media round-up

[sideways]

• Severance had such a strong first season, so I really hate to admit I have mixed feelings about the follow-up. It started off so well, but after episode three... the reveals did not always justify the build-up, the character motivations (and focus) grew increasingly wobbly, and there were an awful lot of long artistic scenes that did not sufficiently distract me from how little material forward progress was being made. If Arcane's season 2 frustrated me in part because I felt it needed to be split into two seasons, Severance makes me want to tap on Ben Stiller's window like, hey, I think you could have fit a lot more in here, actually. I did still enjoy having something weekly to chime into.

• Comfort food: Schitt's Creek and His Dark Materials, which incidentally pair well because daemon-typing the SC cast is very entertaining (bird-of-paradise for Moira Rose and I won't hear otherwise). HDM has its own minor frustrations, of course. The first book is one of the richest and most thoughtfully detailed explorations of another world I've ever read, and then Pullman spends the rest of the series never quite devoting the same time or care to it. I haven't found myself a fan of the sequel trilogy either.

• I think I have to reluctantly put Angelmaker back on the shelf for now. I'm intrigued! But Harkaway's particular style of "never say in ten words what you can say in four theatrical pages" just isn't holding my tired and fractured attention and I keep forgetting who people are. One day.

• I am similarly finding myself thwarted in my attempts to play Avowed! It doesn't help that my poor laptop can barely run the thing.

Comments

[cosmicjellyfish]

Oh, I think we have similar feelings re: HDM! The first book has a permanent place on my list of Childhood Faves That Still Hold Up, while the second and third… have their moments/strong points, but never quite hit the same spot for me. (I don’t think younger!me ever quite forgave him for shifting the focus away from Lyra, either.) I read the first book in the sequel trilogy and it just did not compel me enough to go after the rest. I’ll get to them one day! (I’m not up to date on the miniseries - should catch up with that as well. And watch Schitt’s Creek, which keeps getting recommended to me.)

I was about to be like “ooh, is Angelmaker a new Nick Harkaway?” and then saw it was published in 2013! Apparently I either memory-holed its existence or it just passed me by. Anyway, I 100% know that “it’s just not the right time” feeling when it comes to books.

Avowed is definitely a laptop-eater! I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to run it (my brother got it for free and we’re in a Steam family together, so I was kind of relieved to be able to try it out with zero risk of needing a refund) - turns out it does run okay on low settings, but the cracks start to show a bit in crowded areas/combat with lots of enemies. My laptop also gets hot enough to cook a fry-up on, but that’s standard.

[sideways]

Will is a good character, but the nerfing Lyra takes is SO noticeable :( This is the girl who engineered the fall of Bolvangar and a polar bear coup back to back, and then suddenly she's helpless to retrieve her own alethiometer? I'm not quite buying it.

You seem to be really enjoying Avowed! What I played of it does seem pretty fun, and it's interesting to see familiar creatures and items in first person 3D hehe. Part of me still wishes they'd kept to the old format just because... well, it runs more smoothly, plus it's a bit of a fading art! But at least the writing seems about on par for the series.

[cosmicjellyfish]

I like Will, but the swerve into Lyra becoming a more passive character is so jarring. :/ Wish he’d handled their co-protagonist status a bit differently.

I’m having a lot of fun with Avowed, despite the odd bit of chop (which seems to have improved a lot lately). Without spoiling, it has multiple story elements that are absolutely delicious to me. I definitely feel that pang of sadness for the old isometric format, but feel like they’ve translated it pretty well + kept that Pillars vibe intact. Also, seeing sky for the first time made me unexpectedly emotional (it’s gorgeous!!)

[sideways]

Once I realised I would not be getting through Avowed any time soon, I spoiled myself for the secret of the Voice because I wanted to know if things went the way I'd suspected they would. The answer is... not quite! But not that far off either. And in fact HILARIOUSLY close to the alternate story I'd written for my Watcher. Still not sure what to do with that.

All of which is to say I have been enjoying reading the bits and bobs of Inge's adventures c:

[cosmicjellyfish]

Now I’m really curious to know what you thought was going on with the Voice! I’m in endgame now and… my #1 prediction didn’t come true, but wasn’t entirely off base.

Ooh, is this the fungal plague story set in a non-Pillars universe?

[sideways]

World-soul theory! The reincarnation cycle existed before the Engwithans slapped their custom-built gods and Wheel over the top to force it to work the way they wanted, and the world has always been seeded with adra - seemed a good set-up for the revelation that there was in fact a massive living soul at the centre of Eora, just casually doing its own thing without special interest in its occupants or need of worship. Sapient exceptionalism decided kith could run nature better than nature itself and now everything's going to shit and it's tapping on the glass to say hey, cut it out. Sounds familiar.

And yes, the fungal plague! Because. You see. The twist there was always that the plague had actually been caused by the emergence of a new god that was then aggressively suppressed by the territorial existing pantheon (sending it into deep dormancy with its anchors to the world remaining in a handful of plague survivors). So. You can understand why Avowed is turning out to be very funny to me.

[cosmicjellyfish]

Oooh, yes - that idea is both very fun and very plausible. Definitely not too far off the actual truth, either! Also, the Cool Factor of getting revealed to be an Eora godlike…

I’m CACKLING. You are prescient!!