Actually the computer lab is kind of peaceful. The chairs are more comfortable.
So in my laptop-less funk of Well What Am I Going To Do All Day Now, my friend S let me borrow a book that she had just finished. It was, she said, actually a sequel, but since it was about completely different characters and took place in a different country you did not really need to have read the first book to understand it. It was also, she said, filled with an abundance of what she calls so much friendship. Which is a thing that I like! So I read it. The book was Shadow Magic, and has nothing to do with shadows and very little to do with magic, and in fact the entire back blurb is just nothing but blatant lies, but it is indeed full of so much friendship and. Okay. Let me break this down for you. The main characters are two pairs of guys who are all involved in the awkward kerfluffle that comes from a country having to admit that it has just lost a war and must now be cooperative with the winning side. The first pair--from the winning country--are like this:
GUY A: Hello there, fellow forced-to-be-a-diplomat! We are going to be best friends.
GUY B: No we're not.
GUY A: Barricading the door between our rooms will not stop me! Submit to friendship.
GUY B: Oh god I hate everything. Everything.
GUY A: I had them make us matching outfits! :D :D :D
GUY B: ...well that is my favorite color BUT WE ARE NOT FRIENDS, OKAY.
GUY A: It's okay. I can be patient.
and it basically just goes on like that. The second pair, from the losing country, are like this:
GUY C: Gosh, loyal retainer, I sure hope my brother suddenly becoming Emperor won't cause him to go insane!
GUY D: Yeah see he's ordered you dead we are getting the fuck out of here
GUY C: I am okay with this! But where will we go?
GUY D: Well, um, I've got family in this remote village so we could maybe, um, maybe live together if you want
GUY C: That sounds great! Because we are totally not just prince and retainer--
GUY D: :D ?
GUY C: --we are friends!
GUY D: ...I hope you like crossdressing because you're going to have to do quite a lot of it.
and it, too, basically just goes on like that. The authors, in their introduction, thank the LJ comm of their previous book. That. That is pretty much the best indicator of what this book is like. It is made by and for fandom and it shows. Fortunately, it is also pretty good! I have ordered the first book and would order the third if it didn't cost three times as much due to not being in paperback yet. Apparently the first one does have actual canon gay, so. Yeah. I'll be on that.
GUY A: Hello there, fellow forced-to-be-a-diplomat! We are going to be best friends.
GUY B: No we're not.
GUY A: Barricading the door between our rooms will not stop me! Submit to friendship.
GUY B: Oh god I hate everything. Everything.
GUY A: I had them make us matching outfits! :D :D :D
GUY B: ...well that is my favorite color BUT WE ARE NOT FRIENDS, OKAY.
GUY A: It's okay. I can be patient.
and it basically just goes on like that. The second pair, from the losing country, are like this:
GUY C: Gosh, loyal retainer, I sure hope my brother suddenly becoming Emperor won't cause him to go insane!
GUY D: Yeah see he's ordered you dead we are getting the fuck out of here
GUY C: I am okay with this! But where will we go?
GUY D: Well, um, I've got family in this remote village so we could maybe, um, maybe live together if you want
GUY C: That sounds great! Because we are totally not just prince and retainer--
GUY D: :D ?
GUY C: --we are friends!
GUY D: ...I hope you like crossdressing because you're going to have to do quite a lot of it.
and it, too, basically just goes on like that. The authors, in their introduction, thank the LJ comm of their previous book. That. That is pretty much the best indicator of what this book is like. It is made by and for fandom and it shows. Fortunately, it is also pretty good! I have ordered the first book and would order the third if it didn't cost three times as much due to not being in paperback yet. Apparently the first one does have actual canon gay, so. Yeah. I'll be on that.