The Wandering Inn 1 End

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So yeah, I didn’t really post a lot about this series. It was interesting, but I don’t think I can do more than 1 or 2 parts at a time.

I love the set up and slow build. First part was dedicated to the inn itself. The second part was for Erin and her struggles. I like the Isakai “trapped in another world” genre, and now that it was established as the video-game sub-genre, it really has my attention.

It was great at setting up atmosphere, I can really feel the dust and smoke, the haunting ominous feeling the inn has. It just really sets the stage to see how Erin can manage to not only forge a new life for herself, but thrive by changing this haunted dump into probably a 5 star hotel.

I would give my Fibonacci rating, but honestly I am not sure entirely. Rating wise, it would be an 8 for me to continue. It would be a 13 for me to just straight up read it, but I am not sure how well me live-blogging this really worked out. It’s different, talking about a story medium like this, as opposed to comics and videos, more visual stuff. Please give me feedback, or advice, on how well I did. Because it could determine on whether or not I’ll continue doing stories like this in the future. 

Wandering Inn 1.01

Next part, new day.

I love this, this new (section?) part is just so good. I love how her title changes depending on the situation. If she was outside, she would be a traveler. But at the moment, she is a woman. That casual identity change is so creative.

Ever had to take a leak and find yourself staring at a monster?

The dragon was probably from her last encounter, and so to make sure she isn’t going nuts, Erin decided to make a mental check on all the shit she has. Smart move really.

Looks like you a modern girl Erin. A girl that is used to all of this magical bullshit you had been facing. How long were you here for?

I like this line. There is just so much depth to it you can take it in any direction.

Right, back to the story. So looks like Erin wasn’t here for too long. Went to the bathroom, saw a dragon, almost died and ran the fuck away, and found refuse at the inn. Less that a day, tops. Happy first day of the rest of your life.

Oh ABSOLUTELY!!! I love where this is going. She stays here, cleans the place, calls it her home, and then the inn teleports to a new area. She picks up friends, followers, customers, makes her life established as a wandering innkeeper. This is a good plan to follow

She starts cleaning, and honestly I would probably do the same. She has no way home, no idea what to do next. Cleaning would give her a more sense of control and a nice distraction from her entire situation.

So she searches for a rag, we find out that it was a mix of dragon and goblins that attacked her. She she is hesitant in this spooky place of what could be in this inn. Understandable, considering she might have second degree burns.

The story does well to convey her sense of dread and unease in this place. With the dark and the unknown, her slowly growing fear, and then when she actually hears rustling?

She just keeps chanting and moves on. Just ignore the sound and hope it doesn’t chase you. Same.

Turns out, they were curtains. And it did freak me out a bit reading it (seriously, the pacing is slow but really builds up the atmosphere). Instead of exploring the rest of the place (valid) she takes the curtains to return downstairs and starts cleaning.

She cleans everything but the floor by the time night falls. I am sure the Inn will be please with her work. So she relaxes for the next day

Until her class skills come up. I guess this really is an insakai, at least the video game styled ones. She is going to be a master someday, given how she has nothing better to do. 

Wandering Inn 1.00

So, the story is separated into chapters, then like mini-chapters? Can’t tell if this is a prequel to chapter 1, or if it is really worth like $1.

I love how the inn is described here as this vague mysterious possibly sentient/feeling thing. Not aware of itself, but still aware on some level.

^that. That is some good set up right there. And that stuff continues when an injured lady comes in and runs straight for the inn. Like, heavily injured, burnt, cut, everything. And she goes to the inn like it’s her last hope.

But THIS^^^ So this world establishes that Inns are used as meeting points, quests, etc which is used in all sorts of D&D campaigns and video games. Get food, friends, information, all that fun stuff.

This this inn is dark. Nothing in there, just isolated and empty.

Creepy right?

ooh la la, is this an isakai I see? A stranger in a strange land? Oh do go on.

And it does. Gives great descriptions on her feeling alone, in this obviously empty and deserted place. A place that was once filled with greatness but fell so far. Even so, it is still a lot safer than where she just came from. So she stays, rest, then the exciting conclusion:

I love that. I love how something mundane like wanting food can start something so magnificent. Did the Inn burst into life via “Be Our Guest” song number? Did it slowly transform into something decently livable in? No idea, but now I really want to know how her quest for food somehow gave birth to something magical.

in ,

So right, DaFukin’ Wheel spoke again. This time, it is the Wandering Inn. Sounds like it could be those Anthology type supernatural stories. Where each chapter it is a different character inside the Inn. At least, that is what it feels like.

Not going to lie, this will be the first time I have ever reacted to printed words. I mean, that paranatural one-off, but that shouldn’t have counted since it was more like a side story. This is the big leagues people. Let’s see how well it goes.

So that was Sleepless Domain.

Thinking back, I think this is my first Magical Girl series I have done for this blog. And it is so obviously magical girl in every sense since they even had it in the title! Transformations. Color dictating personalities/powers. Final moves and elemental powers. All very in the trope.

I love how they can combine powers to make other elements. Like Firestorms and plants. That was extremely clever to use. Not entirely sure about Aether, since all I really know is Aetherial plane for casting Blink spell (D&D) and shooting lasers, but it was an interesting choice to put with the other elements for a set of 5.

The idea that the magical girls are known, common, and used as nightly protectors of the town are interesting. They are celebrities. They pose, have agents and cameramen. It makes me wonder if they were “chosen” for the job, or just “hired” for it.

The girls are all find, a fun rag-tag gang that work together to solve problems. Slightly cut and paste, but that might be 1) Magical Girl genre uses color as a way of defining personality traits, like red = aggressive, blue = mature/thoughtful, so I might be reading a bit too much into that, and 2) the first chapter was just us seeing them in battle. Sure it gives us a basis of what is going on setting and plot wise, but not a lot of character introduction outside of battle, like their normal daily routines. Just missing a bit of that.

And “Complacent”…damn that was a good word. It shows that they are being mislead, or unable to prepare. They got so used to that routine of fighting at 10pm that they missed Everything important until it was too late.

For my Fibonacci Scale of 1 to 21: I am giving this a 5. The fight scene, while well directed, didn’t really pull me in as much as I would have hoped it would. The characters are fine, but sometimes it gets tiring to just know the default personality type instead of actually learning something about them. And I do like the Magical Girl Genre, and the subversion of Magical Girl Genre, but I have seen too much currently for it to engage me more.

Overall, it’s a good first chapter, just wasn’t in the mood really. Maybe in a while I can revisit this for a second chapter, but not right now.