Five things commentary meme
A deal's a deal, can't go to bed before writing this! ;)
According to the meme posted by dqbunny, I am to write about the following things:
1. If Hajime Kanzaka asked you to write a 16th Slayers novel, what would it be about?
Well, first of all I would tell him that he's out of his mind. :P But anyway...
I gave this some thought, and one thing that stuck in my mind was Kanzaka's line in an interview, when he was asked if Lina and Gourry were a couple after novel 15: he said "they are, but they aren't." (Or something very close to that, can't find the original quote right now.) Cryptic, I know, but getting straight answers from Kanzaka in romance-related subjects is not something I would count on. XD
Given the nature of light novels, if there is one thing they're especially "light" on, it's closure. Sure, it's not that characters receive zero closure, but things move so fast that what they're given isn't always the best it could be. So, such literary works (or even anime in some cases) can benefit from a story where closure is the main event itself . You can be cynical and call that one volume of pointless fanservice, but I did saw this done magnificently for the ".hack" storyline/metaseries/whatshouldIcallit, for instance. It won't bring any new fans to the franchise, but it is all the more gratifying for the existing ones and can make a good series even more memorable.
So, if I were to write a 16th volume for the main Slayers novels, instead of starting a new story arc (which for one single novel would be pretty pointless anyway) I would focus on closure. Mind you, closure does not necessarily mean writing the wedding of Gourry and Lina, as that would be incompatible with the tone of the previous volumes, anyway. But I could have them go to Zephilia, Gourry could meet Lina's family (and her dad who he already knows ;) ), they could laugh at Spot, as Kanzaka mentioned they probably will once they see him. I could tie up so many small plotlines that were partly left hanging, they could have short meetings with main characters who didn't show up since a while, and lastly, in such an environment their relationship could be given a definite direction even without dragging the two of them in front of an altar.
All of this could be wrapped into a typical Slayers storyline with some local villain who isn't on the same level as Ruby Eye, but can keep things serious, not to mention keep the plot from becoming one big pile of mush.
I think it could work, and it would be a fun cadence to an already great series. And you know what? The cover for this novel already exists. It's the new cover for novel 15, which partly goes beyond the events of that story, perhaps for this very reason - it's visual closure, in a way. Thank you for that, Araizumi Rui. You're awesome. :D
2. What is one friendship you regret losing?
I'd like to think that none of my friendships are beyond repair, but if there's one I feel especially bad about is David from kindergarten. Yeah, that was a while ago XD, but we've met many years later, and I wanted to talk about so many things with him - but because of my stupidity and unfortunate circumstances, things ended up looking like I was ignoring him. I fear he did not take that too well. I still feel very guilty and sad about that one. :( I hope life will give me another chance at patching things up.
3. Coffee or tea?
Neither, if possible. If I have to stay awake somehow, I'd rather drink tea, but it usually doesn't work. :/ (And neither does coffee, or at least the effects disappear maddeningly quickly.) I also drink tea when feeling sick, with lots of lemon and honey. (The thought of pouring milk into the tea scares me to death, although my grandma loved it for some reason.)
4. Your dream mode of transportation
Well, flying of course. :) This dream is actually getting closer to reality every day, with products like this coming out soon:
http://pal-v.com/
This flying car/motorcycle/whatever is definitely near the top of my "things to buy when I get filthy rich" list. ;) The problem is that I would still need to find some kind of runway to operate it... and the back lawn of my workplace is likely too small. XD
5. Pie.
My sister makes fantastic apple pies. They are so good in fact, they're almost addictive. I guess it should come as no surprise then that she makes them only very rarely. XP Perhaps she's more of a experimenting type: once one recipe succeeds, it's no longer interesting. XD Mmm, now I just have to ask her to make another one soon...
According to the meme posted by dqbunny, I am to write about the following things:
1. If Hajime Kanzaka asked you to write a 16th Slayers novel, what would it be about?
Well, first of all I would tell him that he's out of his mind. :P But anyway...
I gave this some thought, and one thing that stuck in my mind was Kanzaka's line in an interview, when he was asked if Lina and Gourry were a couple after novel 15: he said "they are, but they aren't." (Or something very close to that, can't find the original quote right now.) Cryptic, I know, but getting straight answers from Kanzaka in romance-related subjects is not something I would count on. XD
Given the nature of light novels, if there is one thing they're especially "light" on, it's closure. Sure, it's not that characters receive zero closure, but things move so fast that what they're given isn't always the best it could be. So, such literary works (or even anime in some cases) can benefit from a story where closure is the main event itself . You can be cynical and call that one volume of pointless fanservice, but I did saw this done magnificently for the ".hack" storyline/metaseries/whatshouldIcallit, for instance. It won't bring any new fans to the franchise, but it is all the more gratifying for the existing ones and can make a good series even more memorable.
So, if I were to write a 16th volume for the main Slayers novels, instead of starting a new story arc (which for one single novel would be pretty pointless anyway) I would focus on closure. Mind you, closure does not necessarily mean writing the wedding of Gourry and Lina, as that would be incompatible with the tone of the previous volumes, anyway. But I could have them go to Zephilia, Gourry could meet Lina's family (and her dad who he already knows ;) ), they could laugh at Spot, as Kanzaka mentioned they probably will once they see him. I could tie up so many small plotlines that were partly left hanging, they could have short meetings with main characters who didn't show up since a while, and lastly, in such an environment their relationship could be given a definite direction even without dragging the two of them in front of an altar.
All of this could be wrapped into a typical Slayers storyline with some local villain who isn't on the same level as Ruby Eye, but can keep things serious, not to mention keep the plot from becoming one big pile of mush.
I think it could work, and it would be a fun cadence to an already great series. And you know what? The cover for this novel already exists. It's the new cover for novel 15, which partly goes beyond the events of that story, perhaps for this very reason - it's visual closure, in a way. Thank you for that, Araizumi Rui. You're awesome. :D
2. What is one friendship you regret losing?
I'd like to think that none of my friendships are beyond repair, but if there's one I feel especially bad about is David from kindergarten. Yeah, that was a while ago XD, but we've met many years later, and I wanted to talk about so many things with him - but because of my stupidity and unfortunate circumstances, things ended up looking like I was ignoring him. I fear he did not take that too well. I still feel very guilty and sad about that one. :( I hope life will give me another chance at patching things up.
3. Coffee or tea?
Neither, if possible. If I have to stay awake somehow, I'd rather drink tea, but it usually doesn't work. :/ (And neither does coffee, or at least the effects disappear maddeningly quickly.) I also drink tea when feeling sick, with lots of lemon and honey. (The thought of pouring milk into the tea scares me to death, although my grandma loved it for some reason.)
4. Your dream mode of transportation
Well, flying of course. :) This dream is actually getting closer to reality every day, with products like this coming out soon:
http://pal-v.com/
This flying car/motorcycle/whatever is definitely near the top of my "things to buy when I get filthy rich" list. ;) The problem is that I would still need to find some kind of runway to operate it... and the back lawn of my workplace is likely too small. XD
5. Pie.
My sister makes fantastic apple pies. They are so good in fact, they're almost addictive. I guess it should come as no surprise then that she makes them only very rarely. XP Perhaps she's more of a experimenting type: once one recipe succeeds, it's no longer interesting. XD Mmm, now I just have to ask her to make another one soon...