Apothecary Diaries, A Writing Slump and A Ton of Videogames

Lab Notes for September 2024

September was a turbulent month on so many fronts but I still found some highlights in my reading and in the margins. Let’s dive in!

The Reading

• The Apothecary Diaries light novel volumes 7-8 (spoilers ahead)

  • Maomao is an apothecary from the pleasure quarter who ends up as attendant at the rear palace. Through her knowledge of herbal medicine and exceptional talent at deduction, she gets the attention of Jinshi, a beautiful eunuch overseeing the emperor’s courtesans, and is forced to work as food taster for one of the high courtesans. I’ve been enjoying how this moves between clever detective story and relationship drama.

  • In these recent volumes, Jinshi has been obsessed with self-harm and making Maomao his wife against her express wishes… This is the sort of cliché I would expect from an Asian historical drama but it’s still strangely touching to experience it through Maomao’s dry, fairly emotionless perspective—admittedly, I am a fan of it in fiction, if done well.

  • Overall, interactions between Jinshi and Maomao still range between swoon-worthy and hilarious. I’m rooting for them.

• Witch Hat Atelier manga volumes 6-10 (reread, spoilers ahead)

  • This manga has one of the best magic systems I’ve ever seen. I’m a fan of how it’s interwoven with the worldbuilding, how conflicts arise from how magic is viewed and understood in this world.

  • My favourite is Quifrey—in any given story, I will always favour characters with a secret dark past that has shaped them into who they are, making them into strong antiheroes or, in Quifrey’s case, determined to save other children from suffering the same fate.

  • I’m collecting the series in Japanese now, which is why these are rereads. There are 13 volumes so far and I’m keeping an eye out for volume 14!

• South of the Border, West of the Sun (国境の南、太陽の西) by Haruki Murakami

  • The story of Hajime, who grows up as a rare only child in a small town and befriends Shimamoto, a girl with polio and the only other only child in his class. They spend their time in her living room, listening to jazz records. Before high school, they’re separated and only reunite when they’re thirty-six. Hajime has a family and owns two upscale jazz bars but still feels there is something missing in his life and can’t stop thinking about Shimamoto. As an adult, she is beautiful and troubled but never shares anything about herself. Their continued meetings eventually put his marriage in jeopardy.

  • This was first published in 1992! The way Murakami writes about Hajime hoping for an adulterous relationship with a mysterious woman and even describes the sexual act must have been quite shocking back then… (although Hajime never actually commits the act with Shimamoto.)

• Never Split The Difference by Chris Voss (started)

  • With a career in hostage negotiation under his belt, Chris Voss is great at explaining and teaching skills that actually work. He provides plenty of examples for every tip he gives, making it easy to absorb and put into practice.

  • Like I mentioned in this note, negotiation is a skill that comes in handy in a variety of situations and I’m learning a lot from this book!

The Writing

• How to Break Open a Clamshell

• Morphine Lollipop

• A History of Women in Tea Ceremony

  • Arguing that women participated in tea ceremony as far back as the Edo period (1603-1868), even though it was widely believed that tea was the domain of men until the early 20th century.

  • Been stuck on this for a while because I’m not sure if my second example is strong enough to support the main point. Whenever I get stuck on a piece I tend to fall into the trap of just ignoring it and working on something else. I know brainstorming potential solutions would get the piece finished much sooner and yet I procrastinate every time…

• Added some scenes to After The Last Note, which is now past the midpoint.

• I’ve been in a writing slump for much of September but I’m slowly getting back to it through journaling–I hope to build the writing habit back up in October although I can’t say yet what I’ll be working on. Sometimes I still can’t deal with having an actual life with ups and downs and writing through all of it but I’m trying.

Scribbles in the Margins

I’m not sure where to talk about the video games I’ve been playing but I do want to include some opinions. It’s been a long time since I’ve had people around me who want to chat about games, it makes me want to chat about games even more.

• Persona 5 Royal

  • Finished after 130 hours. Let that sink in: 130. Hours. Some of the later palaces felt tedious and a certain boss fight was endlessly frustrating, the school and daily life parts were all the more beautiful because it’s set in Tokyo. The story was excellent—whenever I thought the stakes couldn’t possibly get higher, they did. The Royal part fell flat but only a little.

  • I wish there was more merch of Futaba. She takes first place for me.

  • Akechi is a close second. His intense but respectful rivalry with Joker is everything I want in a best friend too.

• The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim

  • Yes, I know this is an old game. I played it a little when it wasn’t that old but really got obsessed with it recently. 120 hours in and nowhere near finishing the main quest.

  • The Dark Brotherhood quest line is excellent but too short (compared to, say, its Oblivion counterpart).

  • My favourite quest line so far is the Dawnguard DLC on the vampire side. I’m seriously debating not curing the vampirism—being vampire lord has been a fun perk, despite the daytime debuffs and necessity of drinking blood every 1-2 days. As a side note, it’s funny how the Dawnguard is relegated to annoying surprise attacks by nameless NPCs as soon as you align yourself with Serana and the vampires…

• Traveler’s Factory

  • This is a little stationery shop by Traveler’s Company, a brand known for their unique customizable notebooks, in Nakameguro. After visiting, I shared some thoughts and pictures here.

• Tokyo Game Show

  • Went for the second time (the first was in 2018) and shared impressions and pictures in this note.

  • You’ve been asking me for a full newsletter and I have some ideas but at the same time, I’m not sure if I want to talk about it any more than I already did?

---

What have you been reading or loving recently? Do you have any recommendations for me? Let’s chat in the comments!