Yay! Glad to see you're still out there, Rob--I was starting to wonder if you'd dropped off the face of writing like Kenko apparently did (I want more
Girl Days, fragnabbit!)
In any case...I'd say the writing was worth the wait. Despite the kvetching you've apparently gotten elsewhere, I'm not seeing much to complain
about, other than things that I'm hoping get addressed in the next part. (Among other things, resolution of
Megumi's hate issues--it sounds like she needs a Confession session, the need for Doug and Chris to take a trip to
the Head Office and jack Kami-sama in the face a few times for his dickery, and the backstory of Doug's newly gained Blessed Staff of Ass-Whupping -and the
resultant trip to punch out whoever was responsible for that bit of mayhem, presuming it wasn't more
Kamidickery..)
As for the much maligned Confession itself--it made perfect sense to me, actually. It's 'cleaning house' on the karmic/spiritual level, same as
sleep is for the physical level and meditation is on the mental. With this particular kind of spell casting which focuses so heavily on the spiritial level
instead of just pure power manipulation, failing to do so would have the same kind of negative effects the lack of the other two would. And, of course, it
served to get Chris more in tune with his abilities and be more comfortable with himself, rather than trying so hard to hang on to being 'mundane' and
resisting what he's become.
A couple of odd thoughts of my own, though--first off, why do I have the feeling we'll be getting Stan Bush lyrics in the next section? ;-)
And...out of curiousity--reading the very last few lines in this part, I wonder if either of you have read Terry Brooks' book 'Magic Kingdom
for Sale Sold'? That bit reminds me very much of the
climactic scene from that book (which I won't spoil unless asked), both in the particulars of the situation, and the emotions behind it.
Edit: Oh, BTW--It's kinda funny to see a complaint about the wardbreaker being described as a magical siege engine...especially since Disney of all places has long since provided a handy visual referent for the thing that even fits perfectly with the 'world of
data, with the deities as sysops' paradigm being used. Go watch 'Tron', and fast-forward to the scene with the 'logic probe'. ;-)
Girl Days, fragnabbit!)
In any case...I'd say the writing was worth the wait. Despite the kvetching you've apparently gotten elsewhere, I'm not seeing much to complain
about, other than things that I'm hoping get addressed in the next part. (Among other things, resolution of
Megumi's hate issues--it sounds like she needs a Confession session, the need for Doug and Chris to take a trip to
the Head Office and jack Kami-sama in the face a few times for his dickery, and the backstory of Doug's newly gained Blessed Staff of Ass-Whupping -and the
resultant trip to punch out whoever was responsible for that bit of mayhem, presuming it wasn't more
Kamidickery..)
As for the much maligned Confession itself--it made perfect sense to me, actually. It's 'cleaning house' on the karmic/spiritual level, same as
sleep is for the physical level and meditation is on the mental. With this particular kind of spell casting which focuses so heavily on the spiritial level
instead of just pure power manipulation, failing to do so would have the same kind of negative effects the lack of the other two would. And, of course, it
served to get Chris more in tune with his abilities and be more comfortable with himself, rather than trying so hard to hang on to being 'mundane' and
resisting what he's become.
A couple of odd thoughts of my own, though--first off, why do I have the feeling we'll be getting Stan Bush lyrics in the next section? ;-)
And...out of curiousity--reading the very last few lines in this part, I wonder if either of you have read Terry Brooks' book 'Magic Kingdom
for Sale Sold'? That bit reminds me very much of the
climactic scene from that book (which I won't spoil unless asked), both in the particulars of the situation, and the emotions behind it.
Edit: Oh, BTW--It's kinda funny to see a complaint about the wardbreaker being described as a magical siege engine...especially since Disney of all places has long since provided a handy visual referent for the thing that even fits perfectly with the 'world of
data, with the deities as sysops' paradigm being used. Go watch 'Tron', and fast-forward to the scene with the 'logic probe'. ;-)