Books in the old unread pile: 9

I picked up Urban Odysseys: KL Stories, a collection of short stories, years and years ago (it was published in 2009), as an impulse buy supporting local publications. But I didn't read it then, because I was jealous of the writers who were published in it, as my own brief attempts to submit works to calls for local short stories didn't get any response.

I'm still a little jealous now, but I'm also aware than what I'd written back then was far from good enough for publication. I am also aware that I would now be able write something comparable to some of the works in this book -- not the better ones, I'm not skilled enough for that, but a middling entry, yeah, I could. But it's also true that in collating works for a collection there has to be a mix of different types of stories, so a writer needs to be able to fill a niche that doesn't even exist until everyone else has submitted their own, and there's the unseen challenge.

Anyway this book is a collection of short stories, some fully fictional, some perhaps partially fictional, with KL as its central character. Some of the stories fail at sticking on theme, some are not interesting, some are obnoxious, but there's a decent chunk that are neat and fun, and some got me feeling really emotional, and I'll take those good ones!

It does not surprise me that the first story is a ghost story (lol) but I would've preferred the order of stories to be shuffled, because I did not enjoy that the book opens with two stories back-to-back that feature graphic violence against women. But after that there's a mix of snapshots of mat rempit boys, old folk who knew KL before it got studded with skyscrapers, children and students, a homeless man, an immigrant worker (yes! Though I think it's telling that in all the other stories, writers would describe the people of the city by the races and style, including tourists, but not mention immigrant workers at all), women braving busy streets, complicated familial relationships, and so on. I did get an out-of-body experience when a character said, "Sorry no cure" -- a phrase I have not heard in literal YEARS, and maybe is still used by schoolkids all over, though not where I can hear.

I think it's interesting that the good stories tended to lean towards a melancholy nostalgia for what KL used to be over what it has become, but what that's really about is a struggle to hold on to a specific cultural identity and feeling that that identity was clearer in the past. (It wasn't; people were nostalgic then, too.) It does read to me as a kind of doomerism in that there's nowhere to go but down and that there's no point in looking beyond the commercialism and economic prosperity for a different kind of cultural identity. Remembering history is hella important, and it's good to record these memories for those who were not there, but too much nostalgia for "better days" and you'll miss out on the present. It's why the stories I liked best are those that have plot or forward momentum instead of navel-gazing.

Unfortunately the editing could've been better, as there were occasionally grammatical errors or plot errors (like Character A's name is used in a description that is meant for Character B). It's also unfortunate that, based on the authors' names (which don't tell the full story, but I have to work with something) it appears there was only one Malay author among the nineteen featured in the book. Maybe Malay authors prefer to write in Malay and they couldn't get enough for an English-language collection, but as 70% of the population, it does leave a curious blank spot in capturing local voices.

I'm halfway through season 2 of H2O: Just Add Water and as expected I'm not enjoying it as much as season 1. It still has some fun episodes (the girls get their new powers, the wish episode, Emma gets a scale sickness and in the last act it turns into a delightful mini horror movie) and some meatier ones (Rikki gets to stretch her chops with an emotional story that introduces her dad), but the main problem for me is that on the scales of wacky shenanigans there's been a tip away from mermaid-specific shenanigans and towards teenage love triangle shenanigans instead, courtesy of Charlotte. (Whose actress gets billed first in the end credits, presumably because the four actresses are listed alphabetically, but is still kinda weird.)

At the start of the season the girls get a power up! But this does not matter at all in the first half of the season, because they barely use their regular powers, let alone their new ones. Season 1 had the girls using their powers for getting into and out of trouble all over the place, but if I recall correctly so far after their power up, only Emma and Rikki have used their snow and lightning powers respectively once each, and Cleo hasn't used hers at all.

Cleo is my favourite but it bugs me that she's so much the focus of the season so far, thanks to Charlotte, plus her parents' divorce (which legit shocked me, though her mom was such a non-entity in season 1 you can retroactively read that as having emotionally checked out of the family). I'm offended on Emma's behalf, and though Rikki also has a comparative shortage, her stories are more thoughtful. If I could workshop it, I'd have Charlotte have connections to all three girls instead of just Cleo, eg. Charlotte's mom could be having business dealings with Emma's parents instead of Cleo's father, and maybe Charlotte would have some common ground with Rikki in being outsiders in their school.

As for Charlotte, her worst crime is that she's just not fun. An antagonist should be fun! Miriam was fun last season! I was hopeful when Charlotte first showed up because she seemed shy and unsure and I went oh??? Is this a corruption arc? Where Charlotte will slowly become the worst version of herself in opposition of how Cleo, Emma and Rikki became the best versions of themselves due to their friendship? But no, Charlotte's just a manipulative Other Woman who sneakily sabotages Cleo from the start, clings onto Lewis despite him not being all that into her, and doesn't seem to enjoy doing either that much. The only moment Charlotte's made me laugh was when Lewis took her on a date and he very seriously scheduled out their activities, i.e. the exact same needlessly micromanaging behaviour that made Cleo break up with him, and Charlotte briefly looked like she was regretting everything she'd done over the last nine episodes to "win" him. That was great! But other than that, Charlotte's machinations are not OTT enough to be enjoyable, and her desperation for Lewis is sad instead of deliciously vicious. She should have been camp, IMO. Even 50% Cordelia energy would've been more enjoyable, and 10% Callisto energy would've been sublime. It's not all the actress' fault either, because the writing for her is very pedestrian, especially when you compare it to how Zane was used as the antagonist in season 1.

Edited to add: Right now I'm also making my way through Aryana which has a similar-ish dynamic of Megan to Aryana, as Charlotte is to Cleo, in that Megan comes off as a wannabe trying to be Aryana and steal her guy. Although the power differentials there are not the same, and Megan is so much meaner than Charlotte, Megan is also SO much more entertaining to watch. She's a big and broad character who commits to her petty nonsense, unlike Charlotte, who now I think about it is written to be an antagonist but also an underdog compared to Cleo and her three friends, who are cooler and more fun than she is. You can't have it both ways, it's just not that kind of show. Either we root for her, or against her; they needed to pick one.

I made a prediction in my last H2O post that the new girl should have green in her colour scheme. Charlotte does not, but I did laugh the first time she showed up because she's a redhead, to Cleo's brunette, and Emma & Rikki's blondes. One character IS getting a lot of green this season though, and that's Cleo! Symbolic of her envy of Charlotte, perhaps? The colour scheme is much looser this season, or more tied to their mental state that I can't be bothered to track, but basically Rikki is the only one sticking strictly to her red & black, while Emma is getting more yellows along with her blue and white, Cleo is a lot of greens but also deep pinks and purples, and Charlotte is mostly pale pink. Does Charlotte's pale pink to Cleo's deep pink imply that Charlotte is a pale imitation of Cleo? Though there are two episodes near midway of the season where Charlotte "loses" when Lewis prioritizes the girls over her, and what is she wearing both times? GREEN.

Other random things!

A boy who I thought might be Emma's new love interest appeared in one episode, and when he first appeared up on the screen, I went oh!! And felt like an awkward teenager again. The actor was in his early twenties at the time, but basically he is very much the type I was into when I was young.

Speaking of love interests, we get so much less Zane this season, like in-universe the reason is that he and his father have moved away and he's now at another school, but this means that instead of a presence who is constantly in the background, every episode he's in (and there's only a handful) he gets a proper story about him and Rikki. I'm just curious if this was a negotiation thing for the actor, and it also allowed him to be do other projects at the same time and only be on set if his part was substantial.

Another funny thing is that last season Lewis made a big deal about researching the girls' water transformation, and that got forgotten as the season went on. This season started out with Lewis making a big deal researching the girls' weather power upgrades.... but that also got forgotten within a few episodes, just as they forgot about their powers. Again, this may come back later, but it's just funny. I miss Ms. Chatham and her vaguely helpful/unhelpful comments about the mermaid powers! I don't need mermaid lore or an explanation of the powers themselves, but I did enjoy the whole reveal last season that there have been other mermaids in the past.