to read makes our speaking English good
May. 9th, 2014 11:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lunabee34I just finished the first volume of Fruits Basket.
So, far I'm enjoying it. I'm glad I watched the first couple of episodes of the anime before it disappeared from Netflix because I think that helped me as I was learning to navigate the panels.
I don't think comics, manga, graphic novels are ever going to be my preferred medium. I find it hard to look at the pictures and read the words at the same time. Which makes me sound sooooo stupid LOL but it's true. Even on this read, I had to force myself to look at the pictures instead of just reading the words and going on.
I am not a visually oriented reader, though, which boggles my husband's mind. Reading for him is like watching a movie in his mind. Reading for me is like listening to someone read aloud. I know what things look like, but I am not picturing them as I read for the most part.
So far in this first volume, we have learned that Tohru's mother has died, she's gone to live with her grandfather, and she's left her grandfather's house to secretly live in the woods in a tent (she tells him she's going to stay with friends) because his house is being remodeled? I think. Either that, or he's going to live with one of his children and *their* house is being remodeled to accommodate him.
Tohru happens to camp out on the property of the Sohma family where Yuki (the heartthrob she goes to school with) and Shigure are living. IDK the relationship between Yuki and Shigure. Are they brothers?
She learns that they are actually iterations of the Chinese zodiac who turn into their respective animals when hugged by someone of the opposite sex who is not also of the zodiac.
Kyo turns up and is the cat, the animal who was tricked out of belonging to the zodiac.
Tohru is clearly set up for a romantic choice--Yuki vs Kyo. Yuki is nice to her, a bit of a rebel as he goes to school against the wishes of his family, and conflicted about his ability to transform. Kyo is angry and mean to Tohru but not on purpose a lot of the time. He wants to belong and he's fixated on Yuki (I'm gonna bet Yuki/Kyo is the juggernaut slash ship), and he likes Tohru despite his blundering behavior.
A female Sohma shows up who is totally smitten with Kyo. At this point, Tohru isn't interested in Kyo romantically but I sense a rivalry starting.
We also meet Tohru's friends at school, two female friends in particular, but their introduction was weird and confusing to me. I was glad I had seen the manga so that I could put that part together.
Not having read any manga before, I wasn't expecting all the authorial asides about her daily life and interests. I LOLed when she talked about finally getting the internet in her home but not being sure what to do with it. :)
I also read Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer this week. Whoa. All female cast. Science fiction. Science. Mystery. Creepy. Dystopia. Such a damn good read. Highly, highly recommended.
So, far I'm enjoying it. I'm glad I watched the first couple of episodes of the anime before it disappeared from Netflix because I think that helped me as I was learning to navigate the panels.
I don't think comics, manga, graphic novels are ever going to be my preferred medium. I find it hard to look at the pictures and read the words at the same time. Which makes me sound sooooo stupid LOL but it's true. Even on this read, I had to force myself to look at the pictures instead of just reading the words and going on.
I am not a visually oriented reader, though, which boggles my husband's mind. Reading for him is like watching a movie in his mind. Reading for me is like listening to someone read aloud. I know what things look like, but I am not picturing them as I read for the most part.
So far in this first volume, we have learned that Tohru's mother has died, she's gone to live with her grandfather, and she's left her grandfather's house to secretly live in the woods in a tent (she tells him she's going to stay with friends) because his house is being remodeled? I think. Either that, or he's going to live with one of his children and *their* house is being remodeled to accommodate him.
Tohru happens to camp out on the property of the Sohma family where Yuki (the heartthrob she goes to school with) and Shigure are living. IDK the relationship between Yuki and Shigure. Are they brothers?
She learns that they are actually iterations of the Chinese zodiac who turn into their respective animals when hugged by someone of the opposite sex who is not also of the zodiac.
Kyo turns up and is the cat, the animal who was tricked out of belonging to the zodiac.
Tohru is clearly set up for a romantic choice--Yuki vs Kyo. Yuki is nice to her, a bit of a rebel as he goes to school against the wishes of his family, and conflicted about his ability to transform. Kyo is angry and mean to Tohru but not on purpose a lot of the time. He wants to belong and he's fixated on Yuki (I'm gonna bet Yuki/Kyo is the juggernaut slash ship), and he likes Tohru despite his blundering behavior.
A female Sohma shows up who is totally smitten with Kyo. At this point, Tohru isn't interested in Kyo romantically but I sense a rivalry starting.
We also meet Tohru's friends at school, two female friends in particular, but their introduction was weird and confusing to me. I was glad I had seen the manga so that I could put that part together.
Not having read any manga before, I wasn't expecting all the authorial asides about her daily life and interests. I LOLed when she talked about finally getting the internet in her home but not being sure what to do with it. :)
I also read Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer this week. Whoa. All female cast. Science fiction. Science. Mystery. Creepy. Dystopia. Such a damn good read. Highly, highly recommended.
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Date: 2014-05-21 02:22 am (UTC)I hope the surgery will happen soon.
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Date: 2014-05-27 08:47 pm (UTC)Just so you know, I've so far been inspired to write c. 3.5K words of the Annihilation fic, and found a good place to break for a chapter. Given you're probably one of two people who might like to read it (the other being Louisa), it's up at AO3 here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/1700423 or at my DW account.
Hope it's not too bad!
Seana
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Date: 2014-05-28 03:02 am (UTC)YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(also, your name is so lovely; I love that spelling)
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Date: 2014-05-28 12:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-05-28 02:16 pm (UTC)I didn't actually have a chance to read last night; my husband and I were arguing (in that way you do when he's sick and you're hoping the baby does not wake up at 4:30 again and you've washed the same load of laundry twice because you forgot about it), and I just gave up on awakeness. LOL Today to the reading!
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Date: 2014-05-28 03:02 pm (UTC)The great thing about having zero expectations for this story is that I can quite cheerfully look at it and go ‘7 hit and 1 kudos? That’s *way* more than *I* was expecting.’ (I just hope that no one is reading this just because they’re a habitual reader of my fic, because this is fairly different structurally to most of my work. And the least happy fic I’ve written for quite a while.)
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Date: 2014-05-29 03:44 am (UTC)I bought the second book this weekend. I'm not ready to start it though. My head is too much in getting my summer classes together and I need to be in the right mood to dive in.
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Date: 2014-06-17 04:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-06-18 04:34 pm (UTC)