seirei 23

Of all the unexpected things... I just played an mkv on my poor little now-obsolete powerbook. Unbelievable, because I've been fearing that as more and more fansubs move to the mkv format -- granting that I hear it does make the subtitle/timing/compression issues much simpler and faster -- that I'll need to invest in a new and sadly expensive computer just to keep up... and the ignition on my car needs to be replaced. I can't do both at once!

[Story summary: Seirei no Moribito is about Chagum, the Second Prince of an empire, the carrier for the world's water spirit until it's ready to be reborn. The empire's astrologers believe the water spirit a demon, and Chagum's mother hires Balsa to protect Chagum from assassins. As the story develops, the astrologers discover falsehoods in the empire's history/folklore. Meanwhile Balsa works to keep Chagum safe from assassins while her friends Tanda and his master, Shaman Torogei, seek answers via indigenous knowledge. Yes, there is strong correlation between Conquerers/Invaders and Conquered/Indigenous in the cultural undercurrents, and the coming-together of the two sides is part of the tension.]

Anyway, to my shock, the mkv played on my laptop without a hitch, lovely, lovely. High point of this episode (okay, one of many) is when Chagum, the 12-year old protagonist, approaches Tanda, who'd made a sort of roundabout proposal that Balsa stay and make a life together. Tanda -- at first startled to learn Chagum had overheard, then a little embarrassed at the directness -- admits to Chagum that Balsa hasn't exactly given an answer. Chagum asks -- in that so-realistic, straightforward, disingenuous way that a young man can have: "Why don't you just sleep with her?"

( But that's just one instance of why I love this series. )

*starts counting down to next Monday's distro*

pick any word... just not that one.

Here I am, reading again, and on page two, I find the protagonist is face-to-face with someone who's got a body made for lust. Based on references in the opening paragraphs, I'm guessing it's about the 1890s or so; also noted, the protag's surname is Baptiste and seems to be Parisien or at least has lived there for some time. I should probably mention, this is yet another variation on the vampire mythos (not my normal cup of tea, but I was willing to give it a try thanks to the twist in the teaser and a few reviews). Anyway, the protag comes around a corner and is greeted by the aforementioned body-made-for-lust. Fine, I'm still in the "read and see" mode, until I get to this sentence:

Schlepping his tongue across that stomach would be a salty, tasty treat.

Uhm. Now, I could be wrong, but last time I checked, "to schlep" is "to take an arduous or tedious journey", and "a schlep" is "a clumsy or stupid person". Neither exactly inspire quite the, erm, visual I think the author intended, let alone images of being a treat, regardless of salt content. I mean, my best guess is the author thinks "to schlep" means "to drag" -- but even "to drag" does imply pulling against a great weight. I'd say "sweep" might be a better word choice than "drag", but still... anything's better than "schlep".

Not to mention the reaction following close on the heels of that complaint: so this guy's a Jewish vampire? Hunh. Anyone got a Magen David handy?