Microblog

September 5, 2023
That said, I would really like a drink.

September 5, 2023
It's been so long since I've felt like a proper idiot and it's really good.

Stupid, unsexy five.

August 23, 2023
It's good and it breaks me that the season is almost over. I'm regretful to have fallen so deeply so late in the season, but there's certainly a comfort in knowing the season is so long, and will be back again soon enough. In the meantime, there are plenty of old games I can watch, too.

August 5, 2023
I'll agree with the consensus that Ken was a scene stealer, because some of the campiest, iconic moments are ones where he's just being Ken. Every Ken Rivalry scene comes to mind when I look back on which parts made me laugh raucously aloud.

August 5, 2023
I also watched Oppenheimer, though my feelings are bit more mixed about that movie. Justifiable, since it's a biography piece that covers a lot of uncomfortable history. I think it was harder to appreciate the story of Oppenheimer's life when in contrast to the deaths caused and lives impacted by the Trinity Project. There's no way to cover every facet of history in a 3 hour film, but there is the grim possibility of audience assumptions and misreadings that could occur from only seeing a slice of a Made-For-Hollywood story. I will applaud the visual and sound design, but it's a topic I think that is...hard to adapt for the silver screen without losing/burying/ignoring a lot of critical pieces. It left me wondering what compelled Nolan to adapt this particular story to film, and what he hoped the reaction would be vs the actual reception from average moviegoers.

August 5, 2023
I also FINALLY watched Across the Spiderverse. While I felt it was less narratively clean than Into the Spiderverse, I found that this did not diminish my enjoyment of the film at all. While it's hard not to just primarily view the movie as a set up for the sequel, I also wasn't terribly bothered by this. The theme felt strong enough to provide enough of a throughline, and honestly, what made me most excited about the film was that it felt like a triumphant celebration of art for art's sake, which is rare enough in films, and rarer still in animated films. I mean, if you're GOING to have a Wassily Kandinsky inspired segment, you know I'm going to be pounding my chest whilst hooting and hollering. That legitimately blindsided me in the best possible way.

August 1, 2023
Art became less of a priority in 2021 since I was feeling burnt out and unhappy about art feeling like more of a commodity and obligation. Now that I am trying to draw what I actually like and want, it's less of a chore, and the resentful feelings have certainly scaled back significantly. However, the desire to improve skill-wise and try new things has also slowed some aspects of art creation down. Despite the occasional frustrations with the process, it feels much healthier.

August 1, 2023
The antithesis to this is a tickling thought in my head about doing a really small table at a con again in the future. I think I'd be a bit more savvy about how I'd approach that if I ever did. Ironically, focusing more on a cohesive narrative would be nice. I think I can say that now, since personal art is actually...personal, and con art would take a softer swing towards business. I can't explain this very well lol. Maybe it's that my relationship with art feels less entangled with my person.

July 23, 2023
It's partially the magic that Shohei Ohtani has brought to the sport that's been a large draw. But more personally, it only recently dawned on me that a lot of baseball is psychological mind games hell, and of course, I eat that shit up like a clown. Sometimes shit seems so scripted, it's like looking at the sports equivalent of a slot machine. It's amazing, and I have a feeling some of the new rules introduced this season have definitely improved its watch value.

July 23, 2023
And of course, the penchant I've always held for the sport: the uniforms are damn fly, and the romanticism of baseball as America's Pasttime still gets to me.

July 5, 2023
Been spending a lot of time in meatspace though. It's been a good feeling, and I feel like there's some good times ahead. Time with friends, folks you care about...man. I've never been good with digital correspondence, and it's been kind of a relief being able to glide back into physical interactions, being able to actually talk and work through things in a way that just intuitively *works* for me. (I think there are definitely people who can make digital/virtual hangouts work, but it's always a goofy time remembering that is Not Me).

June 17, 2023
Unrelated: Ram Trilogy's remix of DJ Krust - Warhead is actually insane, and the first song that's made me unconsciously break into a smile while driving for the first time in a while. Play this one on a good sound system...the textures are a delight.

June 17, 2023
Of course, they have their own individual appeals. As a huge fan and player of riichi mahjong, I've really been enjoying the series (almost done tbh but I can't just keep binging anime lol). I also enjoy that the two stories are set "in the past" (Akagi in the 1960's and Kaiji in 1996 if I'm not mistaken) so there are some flavors of that time that are within the anime as well, but obviously moreso in Akagi.

June 17, 2023
Other small things: I enjoy how different Akagi and Kaiji are as protagonists. It also appears that Akagi aired as an anime before Kaiji as well, and I really like that Akagi feels somewhat rigidly faithful to FKMT's style, whereas in comparison Kaiji feels like the studio began to really hit its stride and felt comfortable pushing the envelope by being even more extreme about those thick lines and absolutely demented expressions/emotions.

June 17, 2023
Watching Akagi sometimes seemingly just toss tiles willy-nilly makes a player want to tear their hair out in fear though. The number of rounds they play makes me want to lie down and cry. "The Terror of Riichi" is too true. Akagi as an anime is a dream come true for all mahjong fans.

June 9, 2023
I liked the anime a lot though! I would like to plan on picking up the manga at some point as well. I already burned through all of Tonegawa Middle Management Blues (because as a once-middle-manager, who could resist), and ultimately, I genuinely do like FKMT's intense art style and its adaptations. I think a YouTube essay partially described it as "large beady eyes, fully drawn set of teeth, giant chin, giant nose, protruding forehead, protruding eyebrows" and honestly if that isn't what my teenage self was aspiring for back in the day then I would be lying to you.

June 9, 2023
Ultimately...selfishly...I'm happy to be delving deeper into media that genuinely resonates with me; to feel like I'm approaching visual languages that feel closer aligned to my own interests. I'm still in the process of exploring many different ideas and styles again in some manner of artistic renewal and desire for self-improvement, but at the same time, there is some comfort in that sort of external reflection.

June 6, 2023
Also the existence of a Kaiji pachinko machine...seems kind of cursed???

June 6, 2023
Unrelated to the events of the current episodes, Kaiji's mom...is adorable...

June 3, 2023
There is a "valid reason" for it, and it's because I want to avoid using out-of-the-box CMS moving forward, but I also want to avoid the pains of hand-coding every single entry. But I've been putting off learning all the tools that could be useful for it...

June 2, 2023
The fact that Duke really seems to fancy white suits and pastels (particularly in manga illustrations) never fails to make me stare directly into the camera. Is that what they call fashion goals...the ability to rock pastels while still exuding homicidal energy?

June 2, 2023
This screenshot comes from an episode/chapter that also makes me laugh consistently, "The Unceasing Night". It starts off with Golgo checking into a small hotel in a French village, and readers are likely to assume he's here to kill someone as per usual. As it turns out, he is literally just there on vacation. Said vacation proceeds to be ruined shortly after, as all Golgo-goes-on-vacation-episodes typically end.

May 24, 2023
I haven't actually bought Hitman 3 (and by extension the World of Assassination full series collection)...I actually hadn't planned on doing so when it first came out, but now that I actually like playing Hitman...lol.

May 17, 2023
It's one of my favorite pieces...so I'm happy to see it taking new life even thirty years later (whoaugh).

May 17, 2023
After that, I went and bought Fanette's latest chapters like a chump LOL... It's a different flavor but there's just a lot of charm to "I'm a healer schoolgirl, but *cocks gun*"

May 17, 2023
I really want to be careful about how many books I buy in a physical format, but I think I do want to at least grab the first collected volume of Fanette...I'm also very excited that "The Serizawa Murder Case" is getting its independent re-release (alongside "G Gene")...I'll never stop thinking about that episode...

May 17, 2023
There are a lot of very compelling and cool origin theory stories, but "Serizawa" captures a very particular atmosphere, and I think that has a lot to do with the framing of Shukiro and Goto, as well as the semi-horror of the reader and Goto getting to watch his friend/colleague descend further and further into a sort of sickness regarding the unsolved case.

"Forty kilograms from the butcher's shop...I figured that would have been about right." That sequence of pages is immaculate.

May 17, 2023
(Also selfishly, if Golgo is Goro Serizawa, and if Fanette is related to him, I think it's a small kindness (at least so far) that Fanette has (mostly) been able to live a normal life because that entire origin story is...delightfully sinister.)

May 17, 2023
"The Serizawa Family Murders" is one of the only origin stories with an official EN translation done by VIZ, so I recommend it a lot. I think people can enjoy it, even without knowing much about the series... Anyways, I want to find time to start that Golgo 13 blog LOL.

May 13, 2023
I will always want to endorse the masterpiece "Shadow of Death"/"Deadly Shadow of the Setting Sun" [第105話：落日の死影], an episode that is blessedly adapted into anime form, and was also given an official English translation/adaptation. It's a spy-vs-spy "East" vs "West" 70's action flick. Golgo 13's path crosses with a rival professional with the same job, and their interactions are some of the coolest and memorable to date. The art style of the 70's has a particularly heavy and magnificent touch, making for a very cinematic and dramatic episode

May 13, 2023
The anime episode is also a very faithful and cool adaptation. AX-3's voice actor in both JP and EN worked really well. The action sequences are grin-worthy, and it really demonstrates how much Mr Saito was thinking about creating dramatic pictures and compositions when you see the direct parallels from the original manga work. I will say the English adaptation is a bit embellished (and...dare I say, touched with a vague hint of homoerotic energy? I don't know, I know it's just two men having an intense showdown on the beach after one of them waxes poetic at the other...but...), so some story beats might appear different in the anime if you didn't read the original JP.

May 13, 2023
I'd also like to recommend "Golden Dog" [第382話：黄金の犬], even though it's only in Japanese. It's an episode that plays up the "man-and-his-dogs" story to eleven. I won't try to explain it as in-depth in fear I may have missed pieces of key context, but it's a rare time you can see a fair bit of Golgo's humanity in a heartwrenching ending.

May 13, 2023
Speaking of "human Golgo" episodes, "Golden Man" [第305話：黄金の男] (JP only) is a funny and heartwarming episode where Golgo repays the kindness of a family that was under the pressure of a local drug organization. Golgo...is (usually) kind to children (unless they make an attempt on his life, which in that case they are dead but that's beside the point here)... Paco, a child who says, "Uncle is invincible!" I wonder if Golgo dryly laughed to himself...

May 11, 2023
Rosaleen is an unusual character, but her upbeat personality was...well, it's a bizarrely cute foil LOL. To some degree, I'd like to extrapolate that she has some pride in her grandfather's work, and perhaps carried his pride to the name and service of black cabs. A child of the modern era, but a unique character who demonstrated a level of carefree professionalism...it was really charming... "I saw the ghost of Bayston Hill!" and I suppose he compensated you enough to continue college too, is that right Rosaleen...?!

May 11, 2023
Ah...but even after all these years...I'm sure Lord Hume is glad to know Golgo 13 continues to take requests for his nation, even years after he made his final request to Duke. (Hey...how old are you, Golgo...)

May 11, 2023
Anyways, how about the charm of a man in a disheveled and bloodied suit? Golgo...you probably worked really hard this episode, even if we didn't get to see it lol.

May 11, 2023
I think the tone has changed, as usual, but I want to imagine that future readers will look back on each decade of Golgo and be happy to enjoy a different kind of Golgo, from sloppy and emotive, to incredibly astringent and violently hardboiled, to a stoic but vaguely human touch, and...whatever this currently is (surreal Golgo?)

May 11, 2023
When I compare the Golgo 13 stories from each decade, there are some large gaps in character even though certain core principles stay the same. I think it's easy to fall into the trap of believing Golgo is a completely static and near-robotic character, but even if not for the fact there are different writers through the decades, I think Golgo always has had a human touch that comes and goes. It's easy to look at the unchanging face and make an assumption. But while his principles do remain strong, he does change from story to story, and I think that's also part of the charm LOL. Maybe the greatest disservice you can make is assuming he's a stone-cold machine when there are many episodes that demonstrate a swing between both sides (until it's revealed he's actually a machine LOL)

May 11, 2023
Anyhow, I had a lot of fun this chapter. A bit of a gag flavor, but I want to enjoy it wholeheartedly... "A big fish probably jumped up..." Golgo lies without missing a beat, but even that seems...Rosaleen, doesn't that seem...?! A cheery read that also leaves the readers of decades ago with some sentimental feelings.

May 3, 2023
I'm grateful for the chapters that leave me with a heavy feeling in my chest, and...I can't help but wonder what Duke was thinking about when he asked Arak about if Arak could really quit as a professional (hunter, not assassin, in this case). I'm reminded a bit of the chapter where Golgo shoots a lookalike someone made of him, with a strange, considering expression on his face. Regardless of a legendary status, and being described as a "god of death", the shadow of mortality inevitably hangs over him, anyhow.

May 3, 2023
The only way to "quit" as a "professional" in this "world" is death, isn't it...? It's despairing. As a sort of cold comfort, I can't stop wondering which one of the origin stories, if any, are true...but even if an origin were to be canonical, in the end, it still probably wouldn't make the despair any less prominent.

May 3, 2023
More chapter thoughts. I'm thinking back a little about "＋ワンショット" and how a young man, Roy, who tries to avenge his family, dies at the end -- not by the cartel members who killed his parents, but because Duke gives him what's essentially a mercy killing before the cartel members torture him to death... it's an episode that leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. Half the fun of Golgo 13 is to overthink it. Did Duke wait to shoot because he wanted to give Roy the opportunity to shoot? Was it something of a test of resolve? Was there some cold comfort in knowing he killed the cartel head after Roy missed? Was he using Roy as a distraction for his own escape? Either way, Roy knew what he was getting into when he decided on revenge, so there's not really any point to speculate, but...

May 3, 2023
Also I'll never forget "Mouse" from "Sleep Inside the Cage", who, in the anime, begged Duke to take him with him as Duke and Blue-Eyed Zaleth escaped prison...only to lead the warden to their location... When the warden turns his gun on Duke, Mouse grabs the gun and fights against the warden, only to get shot. Duke clocks the warden in the face immediately afterwards. It makes sense with regards to their escape and survival, but Duke and Zaleth's collective shock at Mouse's sudden fight, and then Duke's immediate reaction to punch the warden off the wall and to his death...Yes...it's only natural...but...comeuppance...

February 24, 2023
弟弟帶我逛了台北，今天他要和媽媽一起去日本了...好嫉妒...他問我想不想去（我當然想！！！）但是我沒有時間...下次！下次！！！

February 24, 2023
在台灣可以看到很多東西。 希望我能在台北住幾個月...

February 14, 2023
Or maybe it's that, it would be better organized into categories (G13, Art, and Climbing)? Having it be vague and unfocused doesn't feel right. I'll think about reorganizing it later.

February 10, 2023
If I was a character in Golgo 13 I would 100% already be dead because I'd be Mandy Washington, except unlike Mandy I would absolutely be too stupid and too stubborn to know when to quit.

February 10, 2023
No. 213 - I love that Fanette is an action girl while also perpetually going way out of her depth. She's a teenager and a student, after all. But also, her grit and determination while performing a hefty blood transfusion... *sobs*

February 10, 2023
No. 213 - Every time Duke looks Incredibly Done at an antagonist of the week and then shoots them before they can mouth off any further, I gain back a year of my life. There's never any dialogue, but I always insert a "You stupid motherfucker" in for a laugh...

February 10, 2023
No. 213 - That kind of dialogue would never happen, of course, but after all the harrows Duke typically goes through in some chapters where the operation is less clean, I think he would deserve it...

February 10, 2023
No. 215 - The volume that I hadn't planned to buy that came with one of the other books. But there was a chapter with Dave in it! There's a funny moment after Dave hands his latest work to Duke. I can't help but feel like Duke is actively messing with Dave sometimes.

February 10, 2023
No. 215 - Dave's Tired Energy is life-giving... Talking about how he stayed up all night to complete the work, and how some words of gratitude would be nice... Dave...by now, you know what to expect, but it's nice he feels he can speak so freely like that.

February 10, 2023
No. 218 - I...Ivanova!! Her enthusiasm and passion was even larger than I had thought it'd be... The implication that Duke even looks at Facebook or any manner of SNS makes me laugh though...

February 10, 2023
No. 218 - When Ivanova grabs Duke after he dresses her wound and Duke lies there and says "I don't feel like doing that right now"...The entire situation makes me laugh, because they just escaped "evil spirits" and are now tangling with the potential of hypothermia.

February 10, 2023
No. 218 - Regardless of what Duke was thinking, I would say "life-and-death situations, combined with the threat of spooky ghosts, would put anyone out of the mood".

February 10, 2023
No. 218 - Even though Ivanova struggles with a lack of romantic partners, I think it was better avoided anyhow because she got to work with Duke as a comrade-in-arms instead...sentimentally, I think that was more meaningful...emotionally, it was spicier LOL...

February 10, 2023
No. 218 - Also, I can't help it...the three times Ivanova hugs Duke while crying openly, and each time you can't see Duke's face at all...and then at the end, his incredibly wry/bemused expression when they part ways. It's surreal...?! I can't help but laugh and scream a little...

February 10, 2023
No. 218 - The greatest shock though: a chapter revolving around the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg?! I read "RBG" as "Red blue green" like...lights... I didn't make the connection until I opened the page to what was clearly politicians being politicians and then realized...

February 10, 2023
No. 218 - I haven't taken the time to read Silver-Winged Bride, but I don't think I'm ready for it...something about the strong, intense, almost mindless feelings of people when they're feverishly in love, and the descent into madness, etc etc...

February 9, 2023
It's fun to recognize AX-3 was involved extensively in his own line of professional business and escapades, until the day he meets his match against Duke...anyways, I'll have to look more deeply into this.

February 9, 2023
It's a good thing, because that's what should be expected by this point, but it doesn't change it from being a gut punch every time. It's "fun" in its own way?!

February 9, 2023
A very recent chapter released in Big Comic sounded interesting, so I picked up the digital version while it is still in publication. But wow...I guess I will never get tired of the concept of people dying for their revenge ;_;

February 10, 2023
I can't lie that I'm a little nervous because I think pieces of the tone and style have changed a bit since Takao Saito passed away, but at the same time, I also want to recognize that the series has changed and evolved a lot over its 50+ year run.

February 10, 2023
Ultimately, what happens is what happens, so I only hope for the best.

February 8, 2023
Went over the usual limit of routes...think it was about seven routes, three 5.9 and below routes, one 5.10a route, two 5.10b routes, and one 5.10c route. Normally I only do about four or five per session with only one or two challenges, so everything hurts now, but it was great!

February 8, 2023
The unfinishable 5.10b during the clinic is now much easier to do. It's still not possible to overcome the crux on the first go, but this third time it only took three attempts, unlike the second time which was maybe six furious tries of floundering.

February 8, 2023
Still, there's the challenge of outdoor climbing, and recognizing the limitations and softer grading in gym climbing, but it's been wonderful watching everyone's improvement and knowing we are climbing with better form and technique than when we first started at all.

February 8, 2023
Going to the bookstores and department stores will be exciting, too. It's my first guilt-free extended vacation since joining the workforce so I want to make the most of it ^^

February 6, 2023
Eventually want to look into finishing it, but playing on a busted old 3DS makes it less appealing...the rubber cover on the joystick fell off ages ago and I could never bother to buy a new one...(my god, the 3DS came out over a decade ago...)

February 6, 2023
One of the orders will come with a volume I hadn't planned on buying, but was bundled with the volume I did want...I probably have just about a little space remaining on my bookshelf for all of them...

February 2, 2023
Namely, bad eating habits, broken sleep schedules, and coffee consumption habits tended to peak during those times. This time, eating and sleeping habits will stay resolutely the same, but coffee...is a vice I'll allow for a day or two...

February 1, 2023
But I was weak, and really wanted to see Ivanova, a buff woman who hires Duke to help her exterminate the "evil spirits" in a forest...the heroine of the chapter whose larger-than-life personality makes even the stone-faced Golgo smile wryly...?!

February 1, 2023
I want to read the chapters with Fanette... I'm also sorry to Mandy Washington, the reporter who keeps being dragged back into the gravitational pull of Golgo, who I once called "some guy" because I didn't realize he had appeared in many prior chapters. I want to read those too!

February 1, 2023
Eventually, reading every chapter that Hume shows up would be good too... It's good that there aren't too many recurring characters in the series, but those who do return are still quite beloved.

January 31, 2023
(Breaks into a smile every time I see my tiny EN media collection...at least I have 26 translated chapters I can read whenever...for that, I'll be grateful.)

January 31, 2023
It's a little strange. Drawing on a screen tablet with a computer was fine for several years, until all of a sudden it wasn't. Probably something to do with posture and age, ha ha.

January 30, 2023
But the experience of being handed any one else's AE project is universal suffering...it doesn't matter how skilled the other person is. It's suffering.

January 30, 2023
It was surprising how long it took before a first crash occurred, considering the low-end specs of this work laptop is. Welp :P

January 27, 2023
A while back I got an old copy of MH4U and really enjoyed it, sans the sticky buttons of my 3DS. The new features in Rise make it all the more enjoyable though. Movement feels really powerful and intuitive in this one.

January 27, 2023
The Japanese theme for this installment is incredibly charming...I miss the significantly goofier energy of the Eating Food cutscene in 4U, but the inkwash painting style of the interstitial loading screens are wonderful.

January 26, 2023
Normally I don't stick to one interest for a long enough time though...usually original stuff is on the forefront... But it's something that's been on my mind lately.

January 27, 2023
I had a similar thought for another series I had gotten into briefly, but collecting the various outfits Duke wears into a series of books...would be a enormous undertaking, but is something that would be nice to see in the world...

January 27, 2023
The sailor getup from Melancholy Summer is a funny and notable disguise. There's also the time he dressed as a priest, and the time he was disguised as a crew boy/bartender/waiter (I really don't know what he was supposed to be) and it was totally unconvincing.

January 27, 2023
It's wonderful that the world's greatest sniper is absolute rubbish at disguise because his face and presence just gives away the fact he's not a normal person lmfao...the anti Agent 47...

January 27, 2023
Speaking of memorable and funny, there's the time Duke is lifting weights in the gym and Jonathan Earp starts checking him out (because he realizes Duke must work with guns) but the whole thing is just...SO much in the English dub...

January 27, 2023
Something about a splendid body and just two guys enjoying a thick juicy steak...the dub is terrible, but they clearly had very much fun with that segment.

January 26, 2023
It's a stupid brag, but I smashed my arm on a boulder during one of my attempts to pass the crux and tore off some skin, but didn't even notice until a later route because I was so focused on making it past...

January 26, 2023
Again, TERRIBLE brag, but sometimes it just feels good to celebrate the moments you get to be a meathead when you live an otherwise peaceful lifestyle lol.

January 26, 2023
I'm looking forward to our next climbs...we have all hit plateaus for a while now, but after a recent clinic, it feels like there's a breakthrough coming up...

January 26, 2023
Things have still been difficult/busy, and it's been hard to find time to take care of personal business so at least the day job has provided a few wins here and there...

January 25, 2023
Things have been a bit more stressful in different ways as of late, but I'll try to be grateful for the little things.

January 22, 2023
Used to put 30 Rock on in the background when I had deadlines to hit and needed to concentrate...today, I'll try that with Golgo 13's subs (not dubs because that would make me laugh)...

January 22, 2023
But immediately I fear it's a mistake, because I randomly started at "Cold Hearted Catherine" and I forgot "Love Moans on an Arctic Night" is an episode very shortly after...oh, it's a time for bummers abound...

January 22, 2023
My kingdom for the settei and boards of "Love Moans on an Arctic Night" though...

January 19, 2023
(It's also fun to have a very reading-intensive comic. The reading pace is definitely a lot slower, but it really plays up the cinematic nature of each panel. It's seriously master work...)

January 19, 2023
Having started with Vol 1, it was challenging at first to let moments land. Notably, in Ch 1, the panels of Duke staring out the window in nothing but briefs is often referred for laughs. Seeing the colored reproduction made it clear what Saito was trying to do, and it's amazing.

January 19, 2023
Duke's first noted rival, the blind assassin Ixion in Ch 9 - "Cote d'Azure", and the devastating note upon which that storyline concluded...at that point, I was hopelessly hooked. The bleak emotions it left me with were incredible...

January 19, 2023
I want to read Saito's adaptation of Onihei Hankachō too...

January 19, 2023
Actually, 10,000 km Sniper is also a fun chapter because Golgo spends a great number of pages looking deeply irate (well, in extreme pain too, but he makes the most bitter face at the drone operators...)

January 19, 2023
Affectionately, 10,000 km Sniper could also be called "In which Duke Togo pulls an Edward Elric* (*gets a pipe to the abdomen)". The alchemy he performs is bullying a random woman into driving him to a hospital.

January 19, 2023
An accurate but understated summary of the chapter would be: "Duke Togo Is Genuinely Minding His Own Business For Once And Just Happens To Be Driving The Wrong Car At The Wrong Time". It's a disturbing coincidence.

January 19, 2023
(It's a stressful chapter. It's great that you have a protagonist who always gets out of a pinch, but you still wonder how he'll survive this time. Also, there's a very cool line Duke has. Maybe it's too cool for how close he is to dying.)