#LISTEN in-universe Star Wars characters I know literally none of you know what happened between Anakin and Padme there | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

falsegoodnight · 3 years

Text

a new header??? it matches better <3 these are the fics I read or reread and enjoyed this month! like last time, i’m separating it into different sections: main list, wips, and non-1d. rereads will be included in the main list and marked with a star (*).

*note: this list encompasses the fics i’ve read from the 1st to the 28th only

—

main list ~

✰ Don’t Wait Up by reliablyimperfect | NR | 1k

Without Harry’s warmth next to him, he felt the chill of the air creep over his skin. He tugged the blanket down from where Harry kept one draped over the back of the couch for him, grateful. With the blanket, he instantly felt warmer, but it backfired when his eyes began to droop again. Trying to keep his eyes open was impossible, and he was consciously aware of how long his blinks were becoming. They stay closed longer and longer until, eventually, they didn’t open again.

so soft and sweet and lovely! made my heart feel so warm <3 will return to this for some quick comfort in the future!

✰ my ugly mouth kept running by @hadestyles | E | 4k

Sometimes second chances are more important than the first.

rori’s lush writing + abo + exes to lovers = absolute perfection. my fic cameo gives it a bonus too :’) definitely one of my rori favs

✰ i’ve loved you three summers now honey, i want them all by @softloubabie | M | 4k

The restaurant was small and bright, soft colors filled the walls and tables and fairy lights hung from everywhere. From what Harry had read, the food wasn’t overly expensive but it was still comparable to what you would get at one of the more expensive places. If Harry could he would take Louis to the biggest most expensive and extravagant restaurants to do what he planned to tonight, but this would do.

After being led to their table Harry nervously tapped his jacket pocket, sighing in relief when he felt the small box still there. Tonight was the night. He couldn’t wait till it was time to surprise Louis with all the gifts he got for him. Then finally the big surprise.

so cute and sweet! their kids were so adorable and the proposal so lovely!! they love each other so much <3

✰ love me in between the future and the past by navigator & quitter | E | 11k

Harry's scared of history repeating itself.

this honestly hurt to read but in such a raw and emotional way?? was mad at harry and then sad for him :( this writer duo’s fics never fail to amaze me!

✰ sunshine on my mind by @raspberryoatss | E | 13k

Louis visits Harry in Portland

this was so sweet and lovely! the perfect addition to this wonderful universe! pip’s characterizations and fluff never fails to make my heart feel warm <3

✰ rapture in the dark by @stylinsonsupporter | T | 13k

Harry Styles is a breakout musician who has shed his boyband label in favor of embracing his inner brooding rockstar. His PR team think that his rebrand is the perfect time for Harry to come out of the closet and have devised the perfect plan for doing so. Enter Louis Tomlinson, up and coming (and very openly homosexual) model whose public image as America's Sweetheart is the perfect foil for Harry's new edge. From a PR standpoint, it's a dream come true - a power couple that can slowly coax the public into accepting Harry's altered image. The only problem? They hate each other.

always love a good fake dating au and this is no exception! and model louis >> really enjoyed this!

✰ Maybe, Baby* by thoughtsickles | M | 16k | mpreg

It all feels too easy, too good to be true. It all feels like a scene from Louis' daydreams, the kind of life he'd always imagined he'd have when he was younger and bored at his momma's work, sneaking around the hallways of the maternity ward until the nurses let him in to hold the babies. He'd felt so important being allowed to touch them. He'd told them stories of the lives they were going to have, houses with nice wallpaper that wasn't peeling, yards filled with sunshine and flowers and grass that never went yellow. A hammock to nap in, cuddled up with his husband.

You can't stay here, he tells himself, but Baby doesn't want to listen.

have reread this one quite a bit of times now and it still makes me so happy <3 this Louis and Harry deserve the world <333

✰ Let Me Inside by reliablyimperfect | E | 18k

Louis is Harry’s boss, but Harry is the boss of Louis.

loved this one! really enjoyed the balance between h&l and how they maintained their dynamic in subtle ways outside of the bedroom while also keeping it separate. very much enjoyed the jealousy as well <3

✰ a scintilla of predilection by @dehydratedpoolfics | T | 20k

There, in the far back of the room, next to the only available seat left, is none other than Harry Styles. Harry, who grew up next door to him, who knew all his secrets as a child and played FIFA with him on Saturday mornings after he would spend the night Friday evenings every week, whose curly hair would tickle his nose as they held each other during bitter cold nights that made his room glow a haunting blue.

love ex-childhood friends with misunderstandings!! louis was so cute and i loved his poetry <3 harry too was so stupid but so smitten and lovely :’) really enjoyed this!

✰ Keeping The Flame Alive by @crazyupsetter | E | 20k

Recording with One Direction never felt like this. There’s a couple reasons for that, Harry thinks. One is that they did most of their recording on the road, rushed and in busses and hotel rooms, never in one place long enough to really get an argument going. The other, larger and more important one, is that back then he had the sweetest, meanest little omega around to distract him from all of that frustration.

The first time around, when he’d been recording his debut solo album, it hit him pretty hard. He likes to think he’s better adjusted to it now, but frustration is warring under his skin nonetheless. He doesn’t want to be told what to do most of the time, and he especially doesn’t want to be told what to do when it comes to his music.

What he does want right now is that sweet, mean little omega right in front of him with his mouth on Harry’s cock. Unfortunately, the best he’s got is his own hand and a shared toilet. So. That’s really not going to work.

✰ like it’s a game* by @soldouthaz | E | 32k

There is little Harry hates more than truth or dare.

And Louis.

queen of enemies to lovers! it’s been a while since i’ve reread this but too absolutely no surprise, it’s just as amazing as always <3 sarah never misses!

✰ Too Young To Know by @2tiedships2 | M | 35k

Harry doesn’t present as an alpha… until he does.

really enjoyed this as per usual! exes to lovers is my jam and the added angst of Louis dating someone else at the beginning... love <3

✰ Some Things Take Root* by navigator & quitter | E | 50k

Louis' ex doesn't get jealous of anyone besides Harry. Harry helps Louis use that to his advantage.

stumbled upon this randomly and decided to reread on a whim... ended up staying up to read it in one sitting! so good!

✰ Safe and Sound (You’ll Always Be) by @all-these-larrythings | E | 58k

When a failed case and a guilty conscience leaves Harry more than a little lost, his boss presents him with a new, less taxing assignment to help him cope. An escape from all the madness is just what Harry needs to get his life back on track. It's just too bad his new client has a grin like the devil, a pair of electric eyes that Harry simply can't get over, and no intention whatsoever of letting him catch a break.

i don’t know how i’ve never read this before??? it was absolutely amazing though! perfect blend of humor and fluff and tension and angst <3

✰ Mind Over Matter (You Under Me) by @youreyesonlarry | E | 74k

It’s dark outside when Harry finishes practice for the day.

the slow burn in this fic killed me - which is to say, it was perfect! loved how they progressed from working together to being friends to something more and how much they genuinely cared for each other! the hockey was so fun too!

✰ Call Out My Name by frenchkiss | E | 102k

Apparently, it's bad PR to fall in love with the omega you hired to help you through your rut.

Harry Styles begs to differ.

ellen truly knocked it out of the park with this one!! had everything i could ever want: abo, famous/non-famous, fluff, humor, angst, drama, and more! i loved it from beginning to end!

wips ~

✰ ‘cause all our tomorrows lead the way by @loubellies | E | 64k | 7/11

So maybe Louis’ in over his head.

He had signed up for the Bachelor on a whim after his second bottle of wine and well, here he is. He’s just been announced as the twenty-sixth Bachelor and his ass is sweating. Like, literally sweating. He’s positive that if he was to turn around, the entirety of Bachelor Nation would get a nice peek of his ass sweat.

am thoroughly enjoying each chapter!! it’s been a wild ride so far and although things are currently calm, i am still on edge!! but i trust mar with my life <3

✰ Truth Behind Golden Eyes by @lwtisloved | E | 83k | 8/16

Louis is a royal servant born with magic in a kingdom where his sole existence is outlawed with a war he has no idea he has a part in upon him. Harry is the prince on whom the burden of mending a broken kingdom falls upon and he might be willing to risk it all for a simple servant if only he admitted it to himself.

caught up last night! still really enjoying every chapter and can’t wait to see what happens next!! things are *happening* with h&l and answers are being given!! (love the jealousy too!)

non-1d ~

✰ Keep Me Close (I Need Your Faith) by @princelouisau | E | 23k

Somewhere along the way he had fallen in love and in doing so, had broken the one rule he knew he couldn’t come back from. As quickly as he realised, he decided that he must never dare speak it. He resigned himself to loving Draco in silence.

first foray into reading drarry... and, to no one’s surprise, i loved it! beautiful writing as always and beautiful atmosphere! it’s really not a shock that i fell for these characters and their story when danielle is behind it <3 it had me entranced from beginning to end!!

finally, i myself actually posted a fic this month:

my fics ~

✰ yesterday came suddenly by me | E | 49k | mpreg

Harry the deadliest member of the NYC assassins’ guild, is forced to face a seemingly impossible task in hopes of finally leaving the underground behind for good, but when ghosts from the past come back to haunt him, escaping the darkness becomes that much harder.

If you read any of these beautiful works of art, remember to leave kudos and comment to show your appreciation!

*if i made any errors, please let me know :)

enjoy!

#my fic recs #fic recs #28th appreciation #march recs #2021 recs #march 2021 recs #scheduled

145 notes · View notes

ilonga · 4 years

Text

rise of skywalker and sequels salt time, y’all

things I’m salty about in the rise of skywalker and the star wars sequels, in no particular order:

- Finn was sidelined

- FINN WAS SIDELINED

- he was such an interesting character with so much potential (a stormtrooper who deserted!! pretty sure that was the first time we’d ever seen that!!), and it was all ignored and he was turned into background noise for what?? kylo ren??

- seriously! after TFA, the movies should have explored his backstroy! we should have seen his stormtrooper past affect him!! maybe a stormtrooper revolution!! he should have had a CHARACTER ARC!

- also his force-sensitivity being turned into a joke and comic relief was frankly insulting

- they could have done so many things with that side of the character (even though it was kind of out of nowhere)! parallels between finn and rey, finn questioning his identity, the whole a former stormptrooper being force sensitive thing should have been explored!

- Poe was sidelined

- Poe was a spice runner for no reason?? 1) isn’t that a rude stereotype, and 2) Poe is not Han Solo 2.0!! he was his own, different character!

- Finn/Poe didn’t happen

- gonna be salty about that forever, though I guess I saw it coming :( (it’s disney, what did I expect?)

- but they gave Poe a straight love interest that we’d never heard of before this movie and who he had like two lines of dialogue with just to rub it in?? like, really?

- they completely forgot Rose existed

- like, listen, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the finnrose kiss either, but you can’t just pretend it didn’t happen and hope everyone forgets about it

- and sure, rose’s introduction and character in TLJ was a bit clumsy

- BUT YOU CAN’T JUST IGNORE HER AND PRETEND SHE DIDN’T HAPPEN

- she had a lot of potential as a character, and interesting backstory, a practical pragmatic personality, and a lot of ways she could play off the other characters

- TROS could have been where we saw Rose grow as a character and really shine

- instead, she was forgotten

- ugh

- REY PALPATINE WAS THE DUMBEST FRICKING THING OKAY--

- like, first of all, palpatine coming back for some reason somehow was the most ridiculous direction this movie could have gone and didn’t work, at all

- their enemy for the first TWO MOVIES was the First Order and Kylo Ren

- they had a huge moment in TLJ where the Resistance is steadily being destroyed and they won’t last long against the First Order

- now they’re supposed to take on the First Order and a now-supposedly-immortal emperor palpatine who has a collection of unmanned star destroyers he can control for some reason??

- both of them at once? the resistance is barely alive as is, now you’re adding an OP extra army + sith lord to the mix?

- I mean, this is ridiculous. Palpatine’s dead. Anakin’s big sacrifice in return of the jedi was KILLING palpatine. now he’s back, and the resistance somehow realises he’s back and decides he’s enemy #1 now?

- how did the resistance find out a dead sith lord came back to life on a remote planet anyways?

- and WHAT ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THE FIRST ORDER? AND KYLO REN?

- Kylo Ren, who they finally decided was going to be the main villain in TLJ (even with that stupid “rey trying to redeem the mass murderer” plot going on in the background), and now they don’t have the guts to commit to making him evil (which he was for the LAST TWO MOVIES AND THE MAJORITY OF TROS)

- so, since they weren’t committed enough to make Kylo a villain like he actually was and didn’t have the groundwork for a redemption, they just decided to ignore the fact that he was evil and hope it would go away

- like, are we going to forget that he literally MURDERED HIS DAD, HAN SOLO

- or that he and his first order destroyed a whole SYSTEM OF PLANETS? filled with billions of innocent people?

- he personally tortured Poe, he personally tortured Rey, and he was complicit in a system that kidnapped Finn, took him from his family, and brainwashed him

- not to mention that one of the opening scenes of TROS was him literally massacring people

- but no!! it’s all fine now, bc he looked at his dad’s ghost a little sadly and got a new lightsaber color

- like, no. he isn’t “redeemed” because he’s decided he has the hots for rey. heck, that makes it even worse. he’s been trying to manipulate her for all three movies, he’s gaslighted her, he’s threatened her, he’s hurt the people she cares about. NONE OF THAT IS OKAY. and it’s even less okay that all of his evil deeds can be written off because rey’s “”love”” for him “healed” him or whatever the fuck they want us to think

- and why would they have Rey HEAL him? after SHE stabbed him? in what universe does that make sense?? even if rey didn’t defeat him fairly bc he was distracted or whatever, this is still the supreme leader of the army rey and the rebels are trying to defeat. like, rey, are you a part of the resistance or not? it doesn’t matter if he was “nicer” to you than the rest of the rebels. He’s still your ENEMY. Your “”empathy”” here helps no one, least of all yourself. Kylo Ren dead would have been a massive victory for the resistance--maybe they’d even have had a chance against the first order then! you know, the first order? the enemy you were fighting for the last two movies?

- is this the message you want to be sending to young girls in the audience? that it’s ok if their partner hurts them, hurts other people, is a bad person in general, because their love can “”heal”” him? and that eventually, he’ll turn good if you just try hard enough?

- this is how people wind up in abusive relationships!! that shit is NOT okay

- and the kiss is ridiculous for the same reasons. you don’t owe kylo ren anything, rey. Not in the least for “rescuing” from a situation that was pretty much created bc of him. He’s the one who teamed up with palpatine at the beginning of the movie, remember?

- sometimes I feel like this movie forgot that kylo ren is, you know, a bad person, which the other two movies spent their entire runtime showing us

- like darth vader’s sacrifice was one thing. first of all, it was for his son, his child, and secondly, vader was very much under the power of the emperor and debatably had the mindset of a slave

- kylo ren, on the other hand, was completely under his own power. HE was making the choices, and calling the shots. HE murdered Snoke. And he died for a girl he was manipulating and gaslighting constantly and that he didn’t have much of a connection to other than “the force”

- like, darth vader’s “”redemption”” definitely wasn’t perfect either. you can argue that him killing the emperor and sacrificing him self to save his son didn’t negate any of his actions or him being a bad person. but it was definitely more meaningful and better handled.

- and let’s talk about rey

- I will forever be bitter that rey didn’t get a meaningful character arc and character growth

- which is so disappointing because she was SUCH an interesting (& mysterious) character with so much potential in TFA

- I feel like, in making her palpatine, which was pretty out of nowhere and contrary to the last jedi, they were so busy trying to fit her heritage into the movie in a way that sort of made sense that they forgot to make the movie about her growing as a character and person

- couldn’t they at least have given her her own lightsaber?

- I mean, her being a palpatine is already ridiculous because since when does palpatine have a son? (clone, whatever) And since when did that son have some sort of epic struggle where he refuses to join palpatine and runs away? and when did that son find someone he fell in love with, and have a daughter? and then subsequently abandon her, a seven-ish year old, on a dangerous desert planet? (I mean, wasn’t palpatine dead by then anyways?)

- it just doesn’t fit with the already established star wars universe. we already know palpatine’s story (well, not the beginning of it, but enough). It was movies 1-6, clone wars, and rebels. if he had had a son that had a luke-esque struggle against the darkside, it would have shown up.

- it just doesn’t fit

- but anyways, back to rey

- I guess they were trying to give her some luke-style struggle where she struggles with her heritage and a pull to the darkside that she has to ultimately triumph over? but it doesn’t work

- one, because she never HAS any struggle with the dark side. shooting lightning out of your fingers out of nowhere doesn’t count (and wasn’t that a ridiculous scene. it was more comical than anything else, which is definitely not what they were going for)

- a struggle with the darkside is about being tempted to give into anger, fear, and hatred, and struggling not to do the wrong things and turn evil. In luke’s story, we SAW that. we also saw luke’s horror and eventual acceptance of his heritage, which we never really saw with rey. It was just like, “okay, guess I’m a palpatine?” and it wasn’t nearly as impactful bc palpatine had been dead for the past thirty-ish years. as a contrast, vader was a living and very present villain who the heroes had to contend with, and it was personal for most of them.

- so I guess they tried to make that her character arc, but it didn’t work. so we were left with a stale character who didn’t really have any meaningful victories or losses.

- is she really a “”mary sue”” like everyone’s claiming if they never really made the story about her?

- I think that was the biggest thing that was so unsatisfying about the sequels

- she was hyped up to be the first real mainstream female jedi protagonist (obviously clone wars got there first, but movies are definitely more mainstream than a show, sorry cw :( ), but she never really got a journey, struggles, or real triumphs. which is such a shame because she was this really empowering character in TFA that I was so excited to see more! but her trilogy-wide character arc just wasn’t satsifying

- I wanted to see her really struggle, and rise above her struggles! I wanted her to have meaningful triumphs!

- also I don’t think she ever got injured either, which is definitely a deviation from the star wars trilogy pattern. that’s kinda strange. (luke lost his hand & got electrocuted, han got frozen in carbonite, leia got tortured & shot, anakin got, well, a LOT of injuries, but even before becoming darth vader w/ the foregone conclusion, he had his arm cut off, padme was pretty heavily injured on genosis, and obi-wan was injured in the fight against dooku)

- yup

- also the sith wayfinder was kinda dumb, and I never felt like there were real stakes in TROS

- and let’s address the rey skywalker thing: ok, fine, I get what they were trying to say, kind of

- and I’m not foaming at the mouth about it like some people are. I’m fairly indifferent

- but it would have been a lot more meaningful if rey had had like, a really close, deep relationship with Leia and Luke, so she could say that she and they considered her a skywalker

- but she didn’t have that sort of relationship with them, not really. Sure, she and leia were friends on-screen, but that was it. and luke didn’t really seem to like her all that much.

- so like, “meh”

- especially since Leia’s technically a Solo or an Organa, so that line working really relied on her relationship with Luke, which wasn’t strong enough

- yea, so that’s that

- the “jedi voices” scene was pretty cool though (AAAAH AHSOKA!! AND ANAKIN!! AND ALL THE OTHER JEDI!!), and I liked her yellow lightsaber (although she could have built her own lightsaber at the BEGINNING OF THE MOVIE, instead of carrying luke’s the whole time)

there are things I like about the sequels, mind you. a lot of things!! but there’s a lot I was disappointed in too.

congrats if you got this far, that was a LOT of salt

59 notes · View notes

the-desolated-quill · 4 years

Text

The Mandalorian Represents Everything I Hate About Disney - Quill’s Scribbles

This post contains spoilers for the first two episodes, if you care about that sort of thing.

Yes, after four months of wallowing in a depressive funk, your lord and saviour the Desolated Quill has returned to (hopefully) start posting semi-regularly again. And what better way to mark my return than by kicking my favourite dead horse Disney.

So what have you been doing since this coronavirus epidemic started? I for one have been spending most of the time trying and failing to persuade my mother not to get a Disney+ subscription. The rise of streaming TV services represent the very height of greed and stupidity within the film and television industry. See it’s not enough for these studios to share their profits with the likes of Netflix and Amazon. Rampant capitalism dictates that they must have every conceivable penny imaginable, hence why we’re seeing the slow gating off of content and the emergence of new streaming platforms like Disney+, Starzplay, DC Universe, HBO Max, Apple TV and YouTube. Yes, even Youtube has a subscription service now. It’s like that episode of Oprah Winfrey. You get a streaming service, you get a streaming service, you get a streaming service, EVERYBODY gets a streaming service! Except the problem is that the reason why Netflix and Amazon took off was because it was convenient to get all of our entertainment from one location. Now with content spread out across multiple platforms, customers are having to pick and choose who to subscribe to as only the very rich can afford to subscribe to everyone. It’s ostensibly a televisual arms race coupled with classism. Make no mistake, the motivation behind the rise of streaming services is not motivated by customer satisfaction nor artistic merit, but rather corporate greed. And Disney is by far the worst offender. There is literally not a single reason why they couldn’t have kept their stuff on Netflix. The only reason Disney+ exists is so that they can get their grubby mitts on even more money than they already have (which is quite a lot).

So my mum got a Disney+ subscription because she never fucking listens to a single word I say and we ended up sitting down to watch the first two episodes of The Mandalorian. The new Star Wars TV spinoff created by Iron Man director Jon Favreau set in-between Return of The Jedi and The Force Awakens.

As much as I have complaints about the way Disney have handled the Star Wars license, I confess I was curious and dare I say even excited about The Mandalorian when it was first announced. I’ve gone on record to say that I didn’t want nor care about a sequel trilogy because, as far as I was concerned, Return Of The Jedi was a perfect ending to the Skywalker saga and we didn’t need to see what happened next. That’s like wondering what happens after Cinderella married Prince Charming. We don’t need to see it. They lived happily ever after. The end. The spinoffs, on the other hand, including the Anthology films and The Mandalorian, I was much more excited for because it was an opportunity to tell different kinds of stories and explore areas of the Star Wars universe we wouldn’t normally get to see in the main films. If the Star Wars franchise has to be expanded upon, I’d rather it was like this. Lets move away from the Skywalkers and the Jedi and concentrate on other stuff. So a space western set after the original trilogy depicting a lone bounty hunter trying to make ends meet after the fall of the Empire was very appealing to me.

Sadly that’s not what I got.

I’ll just be blunt. I saw the first two episodes of The Mandalorian and I didn’t like it very much. It’s not bad as such. It’s competently made. I’ve seen some behind the scenes videos and there’s clearly a lot of talented people working hard on this show. That being said, the story of The Mandalorian is... well... kind of rubbish.

So lets talk about it, shall we?

As far as I’m concerned there are three reasons why The Mandalorian doesn’t work. The first is the complete lack of tension. It’s a problem that’s plagued Star Wars since The Phantom Menace. Despite all the challenges and obstacles that are thrown at the characters, it never seems to affect them or even pose much of a threat. We saw that with Anakin Skywalker in the prequels and Rey in the sequels, and it’s the same here. The Mandalorian is this amazing dude who’s skilled and awesome and the bestest fighter ever. He can take out all these bad guys single-handedly and can do all these cool things. Except none of that is interesting. It’s boring. People like to defend Rey saying she’s no worse than Luke Skywalker, but that’s not true because, unlike Rey, Luke isn’t perfect. He struggles, he makes mistakes, and he grows and evolves over time. Rey is just this perfect woman who can do no wrong and who can pull any random superpower out of her arse for the sake of plot convenience. It’s just bad writing. While The Mandalorian never gets quite as bad as that, there does seem to be this obsession with making this awesome, cool dude, but that ends up coming at the cost of any tension or threat the story could have.

In the first episode, we see his bounty explore his ship. This could have been an opportunity to create some tension. Maybe he could try and sabotage the ship. Or try to escape. Complicate matters for the Mandalorian. But no. The Mandalorian knew what the guy was doing and instantly recaptures him. Same goes for a scene later on when the Mandalorian and some killer robot has to fight a whole army of mercenaries. How are they going to get out of this? Very easily it turns out. Not only do they beat them within a couple of minutes, the mercenaries are also clearly the worst shots ever. The robot is like seven foot tall and moving at the speed of frozen treacle, and yet they don’t manage to land a single hit on the guy. Where’s the suspense? Where’s the danger? By the end of the first episode, I was just bored senseless.

Which leads me to my second biggest problem. The total lack of originality. Is it really too much to ask for someone to actually come up with their own fucking ideas? Literally everything in The Mandalorian is basically nicked wholesale from other, better Star Wars films. The first two planets we visit in episode one are basically variations on Tatooine with the same architecture and everything. There’s even that eye thing that pops out of the door like in Jabba’s Palalce in Return Of The Jedi. Then, to add insult to injury, we then end up on the actual Tatooine (or at least what I assume is the actual Tatooine. I mean there are Jawas). The Mandalorian is like this Frankenstein assembly of Star Wars memorabilia. Everything has been taken from other films when it makes no sense to do so. The Mandalorian freezes his bounties in carbonite, except that was a process specific to Cloud City. Darth Vader improvised a trap using what was at hand to try and catch Luke. He wasn’t even sure if Luke would survive the freezing process, hence why they tested it on Han Solo first. The only reason it’s here in The Mandalorian is for fanwank purposes. Same goes for the stormtroopers. Why the fuck are there stormtroopers?! Remember where we are in the Star Wars story. The Empire has fallen and the New Republic is taking over. Imperialists are going to be pretty unpopular, wouldn’t you say? So why the fuck would you have stormtroopers wandering around in full armour out in the open? It makes zero sense. Even the killer robot is copied whole sale from IG-88 from Empire Strikes Back. Why don’t you come up with your own killer robot design?

Then there’s this little shit:

Yeah, I kind of knew this was coming because I’ve seen the GIFs circulating on Tumblr beforehand, which kind of ruined the ending of the first episode somewhat. But even if I didn’t know this was coming, the ‘twist’ still wouldn’t work because it’s not really a twist if you think about it. What actually happens? The Mandalorian finds the Child and it’s an eighty year old gremlin. Okay. So what? The only reason it’s ‘shocking’ is because it vaguely looks like Yoda. Other than that, who gives a shit? It doesn’t really mean anything.

Which leads me to my third biggest problem. Why should I give a shit about anything that’s going on? What are the stakes? There aren’t any. We don’t know anything about the Mandalorian and we have no reason to care about him or his job. We don’t know anything about the Child or why he’s so important. The only reason people are interested is because it reminds them of the other films. As a story in and of itself, there’s simply nothing there. I don’t know who any of these people are, what they want, why they want it and what will happen if they fail. So why should I give a shit? And nowhere is this more apparent than in the second episode. The Jawas agree to give the Mandalorian’s ship parts back if he retrieves an egg from some monster. Why do they want the egg? I don’t know. I literally have no idea. They never say. And yet that’s what the entire episode revolves around. This isn’t a story. It’s just random stuff happening. And what’s more it has nothing to do with the overall plot. You can literally cut out the entirety of episode two and it wouldn’t make the slightest bit of difference. Same is true of that annoying fuckface that keeps insisting ‘he has spoken’ (I swear by the end I wanted to kick that old git in the face, he irritated me so much). We waste the second half of the first episode watching the Mandalorian piss about with some toad/horse thing only to then make his way back to the ship on foot in episode two. So what was the fucking point of that then? Why is anything fucking happening?

And this is what perfectly sums up the problems with Star Wars under Disney’s regime. If anything The Mandalorian acts as a microcosm for everything that’s wrong with the current movies and indeed Disney as a company. These movies aren’t movies. They’re products designed to pander to a gullible fanbase’s nostalgia. The entire sequel trilogy was basically the original trilogy repackaged and resold with nothing unique or original to offer. And the reason The Rise Of Skywalker felt so unsatisfying to everyone watching was because the story was never planned. They pivoted it to whatever the focus groups enjoyed about the previous film. That’s why the whole trilogy felt so uneven and directionless. And it’s not just Star Wars. Obviously there’s the live action remakes of the Renaissance movies, now with added nods and winks to meta commentary without actually addressing actual complaints people may have had. This also extends to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. How many of these fucking movies have we had where the bad guy tries to take over the world with an Infinity Stone? Thor: The Dark World and Guardians Of The Galaxy are pretty much the exact same movie. Spider-Man: Far From Home, a film co-produced with Sony, is ostensibly a rehash of Iron Man 3, which in turn had recycled a lot of its story from Pixar’s The Incredibles, another Disney product. Even Black Panther, a movie I absolutely adore, borrows its basic plot structure from Thor: Ragnarok. Disney are so unoriginal and so lazy that they have effectively started cannibalising themselves. The Mandalorian is just the latest example of this. At least with Black Panther you had a talented filmmaker like Ryan Coogler who was able to take these borrowed elements and spin it into something more meaningful and with more emotional impact. At least there was some actual passion put into that film.

People are no doubt going to have a go at me saying I’m being too harsh and that I haven’t given The Mandalorian a fair chance. Well I’m sorry, but I’ve given it two episodes and I’m bored out of my mind. It’s a cynically produced, uninspired load of waffle. I’m not going to waste my time sitting through more episodes in the hopes that it might get good later on. That’s not how good storytelling is supposed to work and it sickens me to think that this has pretty much become the new normal for this industry.

#the mandalorian #star wars #disney+#anti disney #quill's scribbles

38 notes · View notes

unexpectedreylo · 5 years

Text

Closing Arguments For Reylo

After it seems like we’ve spent a year anticipating this movie--from the film wrap in February to the teaser trailer in April to the Vanity Fair stuff in June to the D23 trailer at the end of August to the Road To TROS stuff to this final trailer and the onslaught of press for the film--we’re finally in the home stretch.

Who will live? Who will die? Will Reylo ride off into the sunset, a HEA at last for a Star Wars couple, will it end in tragedy or worse yet, will it end in a vague incoherent muddle? After all, no fairy tale ends with “they lived ambiguously ever after.”

I think we’re all going to be nervous sitting in the theater come Dec. 18-20 because whether we believe “leaks” or not, we’re just not going to know for sure until we see the film. I’m almost as nervous about their misusing/under-using Adam in this film as I am about the filmmakers blowing Reylo.

Yet of all of the sequel films, I’m the most confident about this one going in. This is the last film in this story and it’s not going to end with the message that the Skywalker family was somehow a mistake or some curse upon the galaxy that needed to be eliminated, while the few positive aspects about the Skywalkers are handed off to Rey because she’s such a nice girl. It’s not going to end like Romeo and Juliet. It’s not going to end without redemption for Kylo Ren/Ben Solo. The final chapter in the series is not only going to redeem him but everyone else who screwed up before him. It’s going to end this conflict and a Jedi Order 2.0 is going to arise. There will be a big party at the end. It will give you cavities and possibly blood sugar spikes.

As far as I’m concerned, Rey and Ben being together--in LOVE--is an integral part of that happy ending. Cinderella gets her prince. Beauty finds true love with the man who had been the Beast. Anastasia marries Christian Grey and has a baby. There’s just no such thing as a heroine who cheerfully ends up without her lover and in spite of what a lot of people think, Star Wars spends far more time utilizing traditional storytelling tropes (though in new ways) than subverting them. Like I wrote in my piece about gothic romances, the woman gets the man, the manor, and the money. Rey walks into TROS already with the metaphorical substitutes for the manor (the Falcon) and the money (the objects associated with the Skywalker family). She’s already in with her potential mother-in-law. All she needs is for Ben to show up to the metaphorical/literal wedding.

And everything is pointing toward that happening. I’m not saying TROS will end with Ben and Rey in a wedding or Rey waddling about preggers. Maybe it will end that way, maybe it won’t. But it will at minimum pair them together a la Han and Leia at the end of ROTJ.

First, let’s take on the only legitimate, in-universe obstacles to Rey and Ben being in a romantic relationship. No, I don’t mean that they could be related. What I do mean is that there are two things that would prohibit romance: one is obvious...no Bendemption. But I’m certain it is going to happen. The other is the old school Jedi prohibition against forming attachments, including romantic relationships. Many fans expect this deeply unpopular rule to be cast aside. But in the name of fairness, it bears pointing out that so far, this deeply unpopular rule hasn’t been cast aside in the movies. Sure there was a bit in the TLJ novel implying Luke wasn’t fond of this deeply unpopular rule but on the other hand, he lived it. Generalissima Leia did lots of other things but never became a Jedi herself. Maybe she was too busy. Or maybe she’d rather bonk Han to her heart’s content than become a space nun. There’s been some recent news that Leia was originally set to finally take up the Jedi mantle in the last ST film, something that obviously changed after Carrie’s passing in 2016. Note that this would have been after Leia had become a widow. Several months ago I’d listened to a podcast containing an interview with former Lucasfilm employee J.W. Rinzler. He revealed that while the expanded universe was allowed to go nuts with Jedi romances and marriages, Lucas kept grumbling that “Jedi aren’t supposed to marry!” He disliked Mara Jade partially for this reason.

Of every argument against Reylo happening that is the one that no one seems to take seriously yet it’s far more likely to be an issue than a sudden revelation of Rey Skywalker-Solo. The question is were Chris Terrio and J.J. Abrams willing to say, “Hey George, your rule sucks so we’re gonna throw it out” to Lucas’s eternal annoyance? Or, is the coupling of Rey and Ben supposed to have happened all along, even in Lucas’s drafts? Are Rey and Ben a glaring exception to the rule?

My argument is that they are going to be an exception. Reylo is not just about hot people hooking up, it’s about mystical forces coming together in a union that will bring the peace and stability that has evaded the galaxy since the Clone Wars. In other words, it’s a divine marriage. Ben and Rey are not ordinary Force users. They are extraordinary among the extraordinary. We already know Ben’s tremendous raw power comes from being literally the great-grandson of the Force itself. Rey I’m sure is something very similar, a demigoddess of sorts. Ben and Rey will demonstrate one can love deeply without it corrupting into selfishness, possessiveness, obsession, and everything else that led Anakin into believing killing his comrades to save Padmé was a really good idea.

Okay, let’s look at some hard evidence.

What’s the one word that keeps coming up over and over again with Rey and Kylo/Ben?

Intimacy.

Or some variation thereof:

“At the premiere I heard somebody in the balcony say, “Yesssss!” You can see Adam was training hardcore throughout the whole process. It’s fun but it also has a specific purpose, which is the increasing feeling of uncomfortable intimacy. That was sticking with the theme of trying to give Rey the hardest thing you could possibly give her, which would be unavoidable intimate conversation with this person that she wants to just hate. This was just one more way of upping that ante.”--Rian Johnson, Los Angeles Times, December 18, 2017

“It’s all about those Force connection scenes. The keyword being intimacy. And the idea that this was a way to just, why not step that up?(...)And so it was just another way of kind of disrobing Kylo literally and figuratively a little bit more, and pushing that sense of these conversations becoming increasingly more intimate.”--Rian Johnson, People magazine Dec. 23, 2017

“They just had this horrific fight, but Rian wanted this incredible intimacy and this cascading, twinkling waterfall of sparks from the fight before.”--Ben Morris, ILM Visual Effects Supervisor, Collider Dec. 25, 2017

“Even to the point where Adam flew to Ireland just to be off camera for Daisy’s stuff, which was essential because they’re such intimate conversations.”--Rian Johnson, People magazine Jan. 6, 2018

“That came about first and foremost from wanting a sense of intimacy”--Rian Johnson, Force of Sound Documentary Feb. 20, 2018

“And have it, you’re in their heads with just that intimacy.”--Matthew Wood, Supervising Sound Editor, Skywalker Sound Feb. 20, 2018

“Having a big sound there just didn’t have the intimacy that the scene demanded. It can be so hard to get the balance right to where the audience is feeling the same thing as the characters.”--Michael Semanic, Re-recording mixer Skywalker Sound, Postperspective Feb. 21, 2018

“But we fall back on romance because it's the best analogue we have. Rey and Kylo's relationship is more intimate than that. They've literally been in each other's minds. Rey's seen his deepest fears; he's seen the past she's buried. None of us have had that experience.”

“My point is romance may not be the endpoint of that. (Though it may be.) The analogue may be misleading, because it's an analogue. Their connection is deeper and stranger and far more complicated. I think TFA/TLJ covers those complications wonderfully, with Ep IX promising more.”--Jason Fry on Twitter Nov. 26, 2018

“At times it’s more intimate, sometimes less intimate.”--Adam Driver, Entertainment Weekly, December 2019

Relationships that are intimate aren’t necessarily romantic or sexual in nature but in modern parlance, it’s often used as a euphemism for a romantic or sexual relationship, or for sex itself i.e. “Tyler and Kaitlyn weren’t intimate until they got married.” Because of that, it would be hella weird if they described a familial or friendly relationship in this way. If I didn’t want my audience to believe there’s anything that could possibly be sexual happening between my characters--especially between an eligible attractive man and an eligible attractive woman--I would avoid using the term “intimate.”

If that doesn’t sell it for you, consider these statements:

“It’s the closest thing we’ll ever get to a sex scene in Star Wars”--Rian Johnson re the hand touch in TLJ. (Who the hell says that about cousins? Or just friends?)

“it is certainly true there is a romantic drama...”--Rian Johnson, some Japanese interview from 2017. (By the way this was misquoted into stating there was no romance in TLJ at all.)

“I (Rian) disagreed with John (Williams) twice regarding the score. For example, there's a scene where Kylo Ren and Rey touch hands, before they are interrupted by Luke Skywalker. When John wrote the score (for this scene), he was very protective of Rey's character, exactly as is Luke. Kylo ('s presence) was menacing, musically speaking. It's a valid point of view, but I didn't think of the scene like that. I wanted it to stay on Rey's POV: I wanted that we could believe in this romance.”--Rian Johnson, Classica magazine April 25, 2019 (Note: this is an interview from English to French then translated here and here back to English but the word “romance” is the same in both languages.)

The above statements and various others we’ve all seen over the years are helpful to explain what we’ve seen in the past two films: they’re building toward something.

On one level, the filmmakers are building toward another alliance between our space children, like what they had in TLJ. It’s obvious that they will need to team up to defeat Palpatine because who else could? It’s also obvious that they are key to the Force being in balance. There has been interesting speculation on Twitter about how those forces will come together and the symbolism of a marriage by uniting mystical objects.

But being Force buddies in a tag team match against Palpatine isn’t quite high enough stakes. Nor is “might makes right” the message of Star Wars. These two have to be willing to fight for each other, to the death if necessary. They have to have something to live for as well. They have to have the secret sauce that Darth Sidious doesn’t have. And what I’m talking about is love. Not just the compassionate love of agape (that’s what Anakin was talking about in AOTC but he meant it differently of course) or the friendship love of philia but also the powerful, creative love of eros. It’s basically what was happening in the throne room scene in TLJ. They were fighting for each other and the future they saw when they touched hands. Come on, nobody is going to do any of that just to find an apprentice or to convince someone to join an insurrection you barely spent any time with yourself.

A divine marriage between the two most powerful Force users will end the war and herald in a new age. Either they are a new incarnation of the Prime Jedi or they will become the mother and father to this incarnation.

Plus they will kiss and get in a lot of nookie. The end.

Credits: r/starwarsspeculation, @reylo-evidence-collection, r/starwarscantina, @reylo5 (Instagram),

#reylo #reylo fandom #reylo fam #rey x kylo ren #rey x ben #tros #bendemption #hea

59 notes · View notes

bunny-banana · 4 years

Note

I'd love to hear a director's commentary on La leggenda di Niccolo please :D Have a star as well ⭐

HA! Okay well, I’ll talk about the sections that I actually wrote so here it comes:

Chap 1

Engulfed in the never ending masses of water, he reckoned one should feel intimidated. No ground under his feet, only limited amounts of air to his disposal, and the uncertainty of what lies within the darker corners of the ocean should normally frighten you. And yet, he never felt more at peace than when he was floating so freely in the sea, almost as if gravity and the world outside didn’t exist

the fucking IRONY of me writing this while being deadly afraid of deep water. its honestly like “yeah,,,,, lemme list all the things i personally hate about deep sea…. and lets add ‘well, but theres something good too about that for sure,,,i guess,,,, ”

But what was more important for me was this contrast to what Ermal dreams about, his lowkey fantasy - and where he is irl, the icy south pole. I’m rather fond of opposing things/contrasts.

The soldier breathed heavily in and out, but there was no time to rest as the next blaze of fire was aimed at him.He countered and evaded but his opponent was more forceful, his flames harsher, faster until the soldier’s back hit the cold railing. He was caught, and when his opponent mercilessly stroke once more, he knew he had to save himself by escaping into the cold water.The man remaining on the top deck smirked. Ah yes, he’d almost assume those new soldiers were just too easy to take on even if only for practice reasons, but it pleased him more to say that he still got it.

i really hope this introduction just tells you everything you need to know about Renga’s character.

How much sooner the war could have been won had it not been for the Poles!

While actually reflecting on the universe, i realised, it must be incredibly difficult for firebenders on the poles. like, I just assume they really, really arent fit for the cold which would make invading incredibly difficult for them. also lol, renga hates it at the poles obviously.

Shaking so hard that kids ran towards their mothers and the watchtower fell over and when the fog cleared up, Ermal felt his stomach drop. ”No.”

Nothing, absolutely, nothing in that universe is more frightening than seeing the Fire Nation military pull up to your doorstep.

Also, lmao, love to imagine Rinald quietly going “oh nooo my watchtower D:”

Ermal pushed himself through the crowd until he was right in front of everyone, until he was the last barrier between the Fire Nation soldiers and the village.

Ermal has Strong Opinions™ about the Fire Nation, with reasons of course, and seeing them here is the absolute nightmare to him.

“You mean the Avatar that disappeared off the face of the Earth? The one that nobody has ever seen and that was probably never even reborn? That Avatar?”And if his cockiness gave off a certain invitation to smash his face in, then this was perhaps a little bit Ermal’s fault.

to quote the Smiths: Bigmouth Strikes Again!

“B-but he’s- he’s so young? I swear to the Fire Lord, if this is yet another trick then-”

Chap 2

Niccolò had always been in awe of the Fire Nation’s advanced industrial sector. The machinery that originated from the Nation had always had cutting edge quality which no one in the world could quite imitate nor match. This ship however was beyond anything Niccolò had ever seen. This ship was fully steam-driven with the powerful motors roaring under his feet. And those weren’t the only novelties.Steel processed so professionally that it makes impenetrable walls and doors which opened and closed only through quite sophisticated lock mechanisms. It all looked so modern, it all looked so futuristic.

so the idea was, since Nic had missed an entire century, the ship looked super modern to him. while its a canon fact that the FN is quite advanced with machinery, the ship itself is just to an up-to-date standard. But to Niccolo personally it seemed futuristic. i like the idea of him being amazed at things he has never seen in his life just to find out they’re pretty common in the current timeline.

There was not much time left, Niccolò had to think quickly. Extremely convenient how his nose started tickling right in that moment.The powerful sneeze that followed had two consequences: One, the guard in front of him was catapulted straight into the metal door of the cell, rendering him unconscious.Two, Niccolò and the guard behind him were also forcefully pushed back to the other end of the corridor, crashing into the hard wall.Well, at least the guard did. The young airbender was spared that fate, by that nice pillow the guard turned out to be, so he quickly got onto his feet and ran as fast as he could with his hands tied behind his back.

so yeah ngl, this was just copied from the OG ep

Now that his hands were freed, he opened the first door that presented itself to him, but in front of him, he simply saw the quarters of General Renga who stared at his now roaming prisoner in shock. Okay, time to turn around, it seems.

listen, i just love the thought of overconfident General Renga being so shellshocked to see his prisoner escaping that he just gapes at him. And ofc Nic slamming the door shut immediately jsfkld

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Niccolò cursed as he evaded a burst of fire that was aimed at him before taking the next corner “Where’s the exit?! Where’s the goddamn exi- AH!! A DOOR!!” He pulled it open to reveal a startled guy sitting there just minding his own business. An unexpected sight, with an even more unexpected odor following. “Oh? uhm- Sorry man! Just- just take your time! Also, perhaps light a candle when you’re done. Bye!” The young Avatar swiftly apologised as he closed the door of what was most definitely not an exit.

Fav OC so far! That simple FN dude was just trying to take a dump in peace but who would have known that all hell would break lose and the goddamn Avatar of all people would walk into him smh. Also, I really enjoyed the thought of while this is all hectic and dangerous, Nic still being human enough to go like “oh, my bad! sorry dude!” at this random soldier. Who knows, maybe we should bring that one back some time later. And i kinda wanted the whole escape to be funny, since its Nic’s POV, and it just wouldnt suit his carefree spirit to make this super serious (yet).

“I’ll give you that, hiding for so long was sort of impressive.” Niccolò heard Renga’s voice behind him as the General had caught up with him.

almost wrote “century” there but then remembered nah omg he can’t know yet

A piece of ice may or may not have also hit Renga straight into the face but nobody would complain about that anyway.

yeah i just love the thought of this super dramatic scene of Nic entering the Avatar State and then theres a chunk of ice knocking Renga unconscious lmao get fucked, dude

“Nic!” Ermal ran towards the slowly decreasing water pillar to catch the unconscious airbender in the last second, dropping to his knees in the process. That was beyond anything anybody of that age should normally be capable of. That was beyond what any waterbender could ever be capable of. And yet, lying in his arms, Niccolò looked so exhausted, so weak. Just like any other kid. Not a trace from the sheer force that was unleashed moments earlier.

I think this was really the moment Ermal started feeling real responsibility over Niccolo. Just seeing him do all these crazy things and yet being reminded that this huge burden of being the Avatar is literally thrusted upon a simple kid. Also, this is the first time he called him “Nic”

Various noises and sounds buzzed through the air that afternoon: The loud shoveling of snow from the bow, the quieter crackling emerging from the hands of the firebenders who were melting their frozen compatriots, the fast steps rushing left and right over the ship. All these different sounds were heard, but none of them were chattering. Nobody dared to chat. Not after this disastrous defeat. What a disgrace that had been, General Renga thought grinding his teeth.

Everybody on this goddman ship is just scared shitless that Renga will roast them if they so much like whisper. they know he moody, they know he’ll blame them for the avatar’s escape. so lets all just work and repair shit and keep quite.

When he found consciousness again, he was left with not only one horrendous purple bruise on his face, but also with a half destroyed ship.

jdsfksajfklf OK SO YEAH, my first intention was “lmao let a piece of ice hit him” but then i realised “oh wait he’d have a bruise afterwards” and then “LMAOOOO he’d be like Zuko, how perfect is that” ok so granted, unlike our dear fire prince, Renga’s bruise is only temporary, but i really hoped someone would pick up the connection to Zuko

Whatever had happened to the Avatar earlier, it left a colossal mark on the ship, and secretly, on Renga personally too. He might have gotten fooled once, but he wouldn’t get fooled again.

basically, he feels personally insulted about being beaten by a kid. what a loser lmao

“Martino!”

“Y-yes, General?” stuttered the lanky assistant with the askew glasses, clenching his hands around his writing board. One would think you’d get used to Renga’s harsh tone over time, but that was simply not the case..

rip martino but renga absolutely needed a poor anxious assistant whom he could terrorise

“We need the best of the best to defeat him. And I just know the right choice for that job…”

heeeeheeee ….. no comment ..for now. but im curious to what you guys think about that

Thank you so much! this was a lot of fun to do ! :)

#ALLDN #my fics

3 notes · View notes

joyofcrime-elinorhigh · 5 years

Text

Barbie: Princess and the Popstar REVIEW:

Hello everybody, my name is JoyofCrimeArt and I hate myself. Barbie.

The Direct-to-DVD Barbie movies aren't something that I, and I assume many of you reading this, ever really thought about to much. They we're always that movie that you would see in the Wal-mart "five dollar" DVD racks. Or maybe you'd see a snip-it of one airing on Nickelodeon at like, twelve o'clock on a Sunday afternoon. Compared to, say, the direct-to-DVD Scooby-Doo movies the Barbie movies seem to be a lot less attention. Which is why it came to such a shock to me that there are SO MANY! Thirty-six. As of the time of me writing this review there are thirty-six direct-to-DVD Barbie movies. And not only that, but they are divided into several different continuities and "seasons" as Wikipedia list it. The Barbie movies are a massive franchise! I just can't wait until their next film. Barbie: Infinity War. That one will make all the money! So in order to honor such a long lasting franchise, I figured it was about time somebody gave Barbie the respect she deserves. The movie we're going to be talking about today, Barbie: Princess and the Popstar is the twenty-third entry in what I have titled the Barbie: Cinematic Universe. I had actually seen this one a couple of years ago on Nickelodeon. And it is, as of the writing of this review, the only Barbie movie that I have seen. Why did I choose to watch this movie oh so many years ago do you ask? Well, it was because of the title. Princess and the Popstar. Most Barbie movies have kinda dumb overly girly titles, but this one takes the cake. Princess and the Popstar! Somebody was PAID to come up with this! And you wanna know the really crazy thing? This isn't even the first Barbie movie to be an adaptation of Mark Twain's "The Prince and the Pauper." There was another, I'm assuming more straight forward, adaptation in 2004. But I guess marketing decided that Mark Twain's classic novel just...didn't have enough pop stars to meet "Girls between the ages of 2-7" demographic. But hey, maybe the film won't be so bad. I mean the film is directed by Zeke Norton, who directed both Scary Godmother films. And those films...exist. Anyway, no more stalling. Let's dive head first to Barbie: Princess and the Popstar.

The movie begins with a pop concert. And honestly, I can't imagine it starting any other way. Famous pop star Keira (voiced by Ashleigh Ball.) is preforming a music tour in the fictional kingdom of Meribella, in celebration of the 500th anniversary of the countries founding. We see her preform her set. We then cut away the kingdoms princess, Princess Tori (voiced by Kelly Sheridan.) standing outside her castle's balcony, listening to the event from a distance. And if those voice actresses names sound at all familiar to you that's because our two heroines are voiced by Applejack and Starlight Shimmer, respectively, from My Little Pony.

UGH! As if I didn't already have enough reason to hate Starlight Shimmer! ... Starlight Shimmer is the one that everybody hates, right? Princess Tori wants to go down to the concert, but she is stopped by her Aunt, Dutchess Amelia. And I want you to guess, purely from her design, what her personality is.

If you said, stuffy old authority figure who's too focused on tradition and doesn't get the joke, than congratulations! You can predict a Barbie movie! Princess Tori wants to go to the concert, but her Aunt forbids it because Tori has to write and preform a speech for the kingdoms five hundredth anniversary event. And she hasn't even started writing it yet. But Princess Tori isn't one for all this "traditional, princess stuff." She's goofy, mischievous, and a bit of a prankster. She's just too much of a rebellious free spirit for all this noise. Like all princesses in animation she dreams of something more. She dreams of being able to live her own life, free from all the rules and restrictions that being royalty presents. But, y'know, she still wants all the riches and glamour. Cause hey, that shit is sweet! Meanwhile, Keira is busy dealing with all of her pop star duties. She's headstrong, and a bit of a workaholic. She runs every part of her tour, from lighting, costumes, to TV broadcast all herself. She doesn't even let her manager, Seymour Crider, do any of the work and ignores all of his advice. Keira is under pressure from her record label to write a new album. She says she's working on it, but with all the workload of running the music tour she just isn't feeling very inspired. And Crider is the one who has to deal with all the heat from the higher ups. Keira is just tired of all the pressure from the studio, and wishes she could not have all the responsibility of being a pop star. But, y'know, she still wants all the riches and glamour. Because, as we previously stated, that shit is sweet! I can relate with Keira. The constant stress of deadlines and work on other projects can make ANYBODY feel uninspired. Sometimes people will become so desperate that they'll be willing to do any half-ass project in order to to stay ahead of deadlines. Like doing a lazy Q&A, or reviewing a Barbie movie. ... Wait.... So as you may have noticed by now, none of the characters in this movie are named Barbie! So already, this movie is clickbait. As it turns out, a lot of these Barbie movies don't actually star Barbie. Rather they star "characters portrayed by Barbie" which is all sorts of confusing. But hey, it could be worse I guess. They could be portrayed by Amy Schumer. But luckily we still got a few years before that happens. Oh, by the way, magic exist in this world. Yeah, I know I bring that up pretty suddenly, but so does the film. Princess Tori has a magic hairbrush that changes her hair, and Keira has a magical microphone that changes her outfit. And nothing is really brought up about this. Like the characters in the film say that it's magic, but nothing else is really elaborated upon. Because outside of the magic, the world the film presents seems to more or less be the same as our world. It's not like it's some fairy tale kingdom or anything, it's set in contemporary times. It's never brought up where the magic comes from, it's just there. And it's even weirder because all they use there magic for is for changing there hair and outfit. Y'know, THINGS YOU CAN DO WITHOUT MAGIC!

Either that dress has a very large pocket, or this scene about to get a lot more uncomfortable. Anyway, the studio blames Keira's manager Crider for not having the album done already. Because like in the real world, pop stars don't have to suffer any responsibility for there actions. Crider is by far the best character in this movie. He is the most over the top, foppish gay man you've ever did see. We learn a bit about his backstory, as he was once a child star himself on this universes version of Alvin and the Chipmunks. But when puberty hit he fell from the lime light faster than Macaulay Culkin. So naturally he is not only bitter at Keira for having to be blamed for all her actions, but also because he is jealous of her fame. He's a great villain not just because of how over the top flamboyant he is, but also because he gives a refreshing breath of cynicism and bitterness that the movie is otherwise lacking. Also he's voiced by Rolf from Ed Edd'n Eddy. He doesn't sound like Rolf, like at all. But simply knowing that makes the whole film a lot more enjoyable. He tells his bumbling sidekick Rupert (Because why wouldn't he have a bumbling sidekick? I mean have you seen the type of movie this is?) that he plans on meeting Princess Tori's Aunt Amelia during a PR event, wooing her, and then inheriting all her money when she eventually passes away.

Crider, Rupert, and Keira arrive at the castle the next day and Crider begins his plot to woo the duchess. Meanwhile, Princess Tori and Keira and immediately hit it off. They are both huge fans of the other, and become fast friends. Tori offers to give Keira a tour of the castle. They begin talking about the problems that they are both going through. This is where they hatch the idea to switch places, and do so using there magic hairbrush and microphone, in order to make themselves look exactly like the other. Oh, and they also each have a dog. Because hey, little girls like dogs. There are some brief scenes we see between the dogs where they talk to each other in "animal language." but overall they don't contribute much to the plot, other than added marketability. Interesting side note, in the 2004 Barbie: Princess and the Pauper film they both had cats instead. Again, I guess dogs were just deemed more marketable. Keira and Tori, now disguised as each other, continue there tour of the castle. This is when Tori decides to show Keira, the person she literally just met, the castles most valuable secret. A secret that only members of the royal family are permitted to know about. And this is where the movies gets WEIRD! Okay, so they activates a secret passage and find a tree. And this tree, which only blooms once every five years, is a magic tree. That is guarded and cared for by a group of magically fairies. And the tree grows diamonds, which Tori says royal family uses the money from these diamonds to help the people! Though the fairies still give a diamond each to our protagonist. Again, it's weird because the world they create in this films universe SEEMS fairly real to our own. But then they just add random magical elements to it with no explanation. They could of at least included some backstory on where this tree came from. It feels like there just trying to check stuff off there "pandering to little girls" bingo sheet.

AH! BINGO! I GOT BINGO!

Unfortunately for our heroines, Tori FORGOT TO CLOSE THE SECRET DOOR PANEL BEHIND HER and Aunt Amelia ends up finding the two snooping around the secret garden. AND SHE DOESN'T CLOSE THE DOOR EITHER! How the heck has this secret been kept for five hundred years? She get's mad at Keira (Who's still disguised as Tori) and the three leave the chamber. But unbeknownst to them, since Aunt Ameila DIDN'T CLOSE THE FRICKIN' SECRET PASSAGEWAY Crider finds out about the diamond tree. And now he decides to change his plan from marrying into money, to just stealing all the diamonds for himself. But that conflict can wait, because we have pop songs to preform.

This movie has a lot of pop songs. Like, about a third of the movie is pop songs. And I have to say...there actually really good. If you're into that kinda pop punk type of music that is. The voice actresses each have a separate singing voice in the form of Jennifer Waris (Tori) and Tiffany Giardina (Keira) and both singers really knock it out of the part. Not only that but there is also some really well done choreography. Not only that, but the film also really takes advantage of the CG medium, with some impressive camera angles and panning shots. I mean it's not the greatest thing ever or anything, but for a direct-to-DVD Barbie movie, I was pleasantly surprised. I feel like this is where the passion was when it came to making this movie. Like the story was second to the music.

However, I would be lying if I said that the music didn't drag on a bit. Just due to how much is in the special. Not only that but several songs are used more than once, which isn't that bad because they sound really good, but it does make it feel a bit repetitive. That said though, I was suppressed by how good this aspect of the film was.

So Tori and Keira both begin trying to fulfill the role of the others. However, the both seem to have a bit of trouble living up to the expectations of there new roles. Typical stuff you would expect from a

"Prince and the Pauper"

adaptation. Tori, now being disguised as a low class...world famous pop star....decided to take this opportunity to explore her kingdom beyond her castle without escorts.

(Because, yeah, a pop star TOTALLY wouldn't have escorts with her when she's walking through the slums of a foreign nation.)

And Tori ends up coming across something she's never seen before. Poor people!

More specifically two poor little girls, who are taken a back by "Keira's" presence. We learn that, despite how glamorous the castle life is for the royal family, the kingdom itself is actually suffering. A major drought had occurred in the kingdom the year prior, and while the wealthy nobility we're not effected much the poor people are still suffering, and Princess Tori was completely oblivious to what was going on the entire time.

So now that Princess Tori has finally

Checked

HER

CIS

WHITE

PRIVILEGE!!!

-she decides to try to do right for the people by holding a free concert for all the underprivileged children. (Since the kids she met weren't able to afford to go to the concert at the beginning of the movie.) Not only that, but the whole royal family would be in attendance, and the concert would be broadcast live on TV to help raise awareness for the issue. Though Tori and Keira agree that they need to make sure they swap back before the concert starts.

Keira (disguised as Tori) begins to finally be able to relax without all of her pop star-ly duties. She begins to play and have fun with Tori's two little sisters, (who quickly figures out who she is.) And as it turns out, this break from all the stress of preforming and recording is what Keira needs in order to get re-inspired.

The day of the concert arrives, and Keira tries to meet up with Tori to swap places before the show begins. But rut-row, Aunt Amelia shows up and finds that "Tori" never ended up writing her speech. And because of this, Amelia refuses to let "Tori" go to the concert and locks her in her room. I do like that Keira actually does try to tell Amelia about the body swap ploy, in order to get her to let her out of the room. But Aunt Amelia doesn't believe her, and heads out for the concert.

As this is all happening, Crider and Rupert begin there plan to steal the diamond tree. They walk back into the castle claiming that the duchess sent them, and because plot the guards just let them in unsupervised.

Meanwhile at the concert, the crowd begins to get restless, and Tori is forced to go on stage and preform as Keira. She get's onstage, and is nervous. She begins to preform, badly. But then, with the power of "doing it her way"...whatever the hell that's suppose to mean, she is able to give a performance good enough that nobody is able to tell who she is in a pop song performance that last a total of five minutes straight in this seventy minute film!

The concert is a success. But wait, Crider and Rupert have successfully broken into the castles secret garden and have to face off against the fairies. Hey look, it's fairy vs fairy!

...

Am I allowed to make that joke?

Also Rupert brought bug spray to kill the fairies, which is pretty horrific for the villains bumbling side kick. Especially when you realize that this would be a Barbie movie that would have one of the villains using chemical weapons on his opponents. Granted, this doesn't happen, because Rupert accidentally bough hair spray instead, but still. It was his INTENT to use bug spray! Also, of course the villains of a Barbie movies use hair spray as a weapon.

Crider cuts the roots of the diamond tree all of the trees in the surrounding area begin to die. To which I have to ask....why? Is it like a redwood thing, where all the trees are actually just a part of this one organism? If that's the case than why don't all the tree's grow diamonds? Or is this a magic thing? Prior to this scene the tree was never implied to have any magical abilities besides growing diamonds. Was a jewel heist just not deemed an exciting enough climax, so they felt the need to raise the stakes here?

Keira, with the help of Tori's dog, are able to find a secret passage way out of the room and she and Tori both notice the dying trees and run to stop Crider from escaping with the tree. They also switch back into there real identity, and I just now realize as I'm writing this that Crider does not question this very much. HE DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THE WHOLE IDENTITY SWAPPING THING.

Also, let me talk about something that bothers me. There was this character earlier named Prince Liam who's "potrayed by Ken." He had a few scenes early on with Keira (who was disguised as Tori at the time.) I didn't bring him up because he honestly didn't really do anything that was important to the plot. But then, suddenly in the climax, he shows up like he was a main character or something. And he's annoying. He feels really tacked on, like the producers realized that there wasn't a romance element to this film and decided at the hour mark that there needed to be one. Except that doesn't even work because he doesn't even end up with either girls. With I admit was a pleasant surprise, that neither girls in the movie end up with a love interest. But it makes Liam's existence even more worthless. Also he's kinda misogynistic, talking about saving the "damsels in distress." even though they save themselves. All Liam does is take down Crider's sidekick.

Crider runs to his limo, but is blocked by the dogs. Cause y'know, a pug and a King Charles spaniel just COMPLETELY BLOCK THE ENTIRE PATH! So he ends up be stealing a horse drawn carriage in order to make his escape. Tori get's into Crider's limo and we get a kinda fun car/horse drawn carriage chase striped right out of the end of Ouran High School Host Club. How is it that I've reviewed two things with that very weird and specific climax? Anyway, they cut off Crider's carriage, but he has an ace up his sleeve. Turns out his leopard print tuxedo is also a GLIDE SUIT and he jumps off a cliff to make his dramatic escape! And that's why Crider the best character in this movie. But then Keira just zaps him with her magic microphone and turns his suit into a dress. And Tori zaps his hair to make it look more feminine. The villain is defeated, but the tree is still dead. But Tori has an idea. They suspect that maybe the diamonds that grew off the tree could act as the trees seeds. They go back to the garden and take the diamonds that the fairies gave them earlier and plant them into the ground. The fairies use there magic and at first it doesn't look like it'll work. But then, the tree begin to regrow and all the life returns to all the other trees all over the castle. This is actually a clever twist, except for the fact that the tree still has diamonds on it, even though they specifically say that it takes five years for the diamond to bloom. BUT WHO CARES ABOUT THAT, WE HAVE A CONCERT TO FINISH! Yeah, Tori kinda just bailed in the middle of that. Tori and Keira both show up on stage, and preform together. Tori writes her speech and and talks about making changes to the kingdom's irrigation and social serves system to help the people harmed by the drought. Tori learns about responsibility and Keira kinda learns to relax...I guess? And the movie ends on a pop song. Y'know, a good book end.

Puffy Ami Yumi?... So that was Barbie: Princess and the Popstar! Overall what do I think of it? Well, to be honest, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't kinda checking the time while watching it. Heck, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't even a little bit tired of thinking about it while writing this review. The main problem is the basic premises. Princess and the pop star. The whole point of "The Prince and the Pauper." is that it's a rich person with a lot of responsibility and a poor person with no responsibility changing places. But here, it's a rich person with some responsibility swapping roles with....another rich person with some responsibility. There's no real contrast, and because of that we only get the bare basics of character development or an actual moral. The overall animation is...okay. You can see there's ambition, but the lack of budget really makes it look like a Sims 3 machinima. The main villain is fun, but the rest of the characters are pretty basic. And the pop songs, while being extremely catchy and well choreographed take up somewhere between a third and a half of the film. And I feel like if the film used more of that time on more important things than maybe it would of been better. If you want a movie with some so bad it's good elements (some actual good elements worked in) you MIGHT enjoy this film. But you have to have the patience to get through some of the more tedious bits. Also I feel like a REALLY little girl might like this. I know people say "Kids deserve good things too." and there not wrong. But it's important to remember that kids have different taste than we do. When I was a kid I loved the Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! anime, so that should be evidence of that. But if you want a GOOD girl power type of show or movie....there's plenty better out there. Steven Universe, My Little Pony, Star vs, Hanizuki, the list goes on and on. Those shows are girly AND can be legitimately enjoyed by anybody, young or old. This really can't. That was my review of Barbie: Princess and the Popstar. If you've seen the movie by some...odd chance...tell me what you think of it in the comments down bellow. I would love to start a conversation. Anyway, see you next time for hopefully something better. Have a great day. (I do not own any of the images or videos in this review all credit goes to there original owners.)

https://www.deviantart.com/joyofcrimeart/journal/Barbie-Princess-and-the-Popstar-REVIEW-744926224 DA Link

#Barbie #Barbie Princess and the Popstar #Prince and the Pauper #review #direct to dvd

2 notes · View notes

sweetsweetnathan · 5 years

Note

Top five favorite characters.

This is definitely a question that will reveal a lot about me, so I hope that’s what you’re looking for ;P It’s going to get really fucking long, so I’ll store it beneath a cut so it doesn’t destroy anyone’s dash.

I’m doing these in ascending order, so #5 is least most favorite and #1 is most most favorite. I feel it’s important to say than since #5 is a character that is going to make a lot of people roll their eyes (as is #4, frankly).

#5 - Holden Caulfield from the Catcher in the Rye

Waitwaitwait, don’t leave just yet! I have tried to explain why I like this character to people I go to school with, and they barely let me finish a sentence before reminding me that he’s a whiny brat with well-off parents who spends the whole book wallowing in self-imposed misanthropy.

These are not the reasons why I like him!

Although I do feel it’s worth pointing out that he’s barely more than a child (he’s 16, which is the age of consent where I’m from, but by no means “adulthood” anywhere), lost his younger brother at an even younger age, witnessed a suicide, and he does in fact live in a world that is extremely alienating to people who are opposed on principle to conformity. But even these are not the reasons why I like him! I like him structurally, as a character in a book, way more than I like him as a person. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that the book doesn’t want you to like him. It wants you to pity him.

Allow me to share a passage with you to explain myself better:

Anyway, I kept walking and walking up Fifth Avenue, without any tie on or anything. Then all of a sudden, something very spooky started happening. Every time I came to the end of a block and stepped off the goddam curb, I had this feeling that I'd never get to the other side of the street. I thought I'd just go down, down, down, and nobody'd ever see me again. Boy, did it scare me. You can't imagine. I started sweating like a bastard—my whole shirt and underwear and everything. Then I started doing something else. Every time I'd get to the end of a block I'd make believe I was talking to my brother Allie. I'd say to him, "Allie, don't let me disappear. Allie, don't let me disappear. Allie, don't let me disappear. Please, Allie." And then when I'd reach the other side of the street without disappearing, I'd thank him.

Holden is a kid given to sudden panic and fatalistic thinking. There’s something in his subconscious telling him that his life is fragile, that it can be taken away at any moment. Suddenly everything can change and what you thought was safe and innocent can be threatened and defiled. This is an existential crisis without a readily apparent inciting incident (though it has one, we’ll get to that). The Catcher in the Rye isn’t a story with an especially noticeable structure-- we’re not on a journey to destroy the One Ring, blow up the Death Star, or defeat any villain really. Holden is trying to get home. The obstacles he encounters aren’t necessarily trying to stop him from doing that, but they’re obstacles nonetheless. Why? Not because the universe is conspiring against him, and not because there’s an all-powerful villain threatening him with destruction. The obstacles come completely from Holden himself.

So why is it that the Catcher in the Rye can get away with this? On paper a character piece about someone taking the long way home one shitty night sounds like the description of countless Creative Writing 1 school projects, not literary classics. How does Salinger make it work?

The answer is in the prose itself, which like the obstacles is possessed entirely by the main character. Let’s examine this passage:

My brother Allie had this left-handed fielder's mitt. He was left-handed. The thing that was descriptive about it, though, was that he had poems written all over the fingers and the pocket and everywhere. In green ink. He wrote them on it so that he'd have something to read when he was in the field and nobody was up at bat. He's dead now.

Look at each sentence: “My brother Allie had this left-handed fielder’s mitt. He was left-handed.” It’s obvious after reading it that he’s talking about his dead brother in past-tense. What’s the big deal there? He talks about the whole damn story in past-tense, because he’s telling it long after it happened. How is this significant?

Well, the last line is “He’s dead now.” Not “He died”, but “he is dead”. So the whole book we’re reading past-tense lines. But this one, out of all of them, is present-tense. And because of that sudden shift we regard it differently. Allie’s death isn’t something that happened in the past. His being dead is something that’s happening in the present. It’s the reminder that this is a story Holden is telling, which solidifies the illusion that Holden is real. Holden is not real-- Salinger, the writer, is real, and Holden is made up. But when Holden has the dimensionality of having both memories of the past and feelings of the present, he seems more real than another, living person. It illustrates the beauty of prose writing: Movies can give us spectacle, and visuals which evoke emotional depth that words can’t. Games give us agency and interactivity to act as ourselves or as someone else in a situation that is alien to us. Prose gives us no visuals, and affords us no agency. What it gives us is the opportunity to see the world through someone else’s eyes. And Holden Caulfield will always be one of my favorite characters for exemplifying that.

#4 - Luke Skywalker from Star Wars

After all that, Holden is beat out by Luke?

Yes, but listen: Holden I like for professional reasons. Luke I like for personal reasons. See, I have some anger problems. The causes are as numerous as they are complex, and not very interesting. The bottom line is that my emotions are pretty untrustworthy. I actually dislike when people say that a space is dedicated to letting people feel their feelings uninhibited. What if my feelings are violent and hateful? What if without inhibition, I become the kind of person I hate? I have seen things that I wish I could unsee, things that I hate. Being told to let go of that hate feels like being told to permit evil to exist in the world. I cannot abide that. There are certain behaviors that I will oppose no matter the situation. Through this I put myself in an awkward situation: Everyone who doesn’t feel this way begins to look complicit in the wrongdoings of the world. Focus too long on what makes you unhappy, and happiness seems like an unnatural luxury. Feed anger too much, and you forget how to feel anything else. This is what’s called the “Dark Side”.

Luke struggles against the Dark Side. How could he not? His family was taken from him by a system that exploits and murders with impunity. He took the fight to his enemy and destroyed their greatest weapon-- but they’re still not defeated. In the Empire Strikes Back, Luke is terribly impatient to seize the powers of the Jedi. He wants to win. He wants the Empire destroyed. Anything in his way is wasting his time.

When we see him again in Return of the Jedi, he is as close to the Dark Side as a person can be. He walks into a gang leader’s palace, strangles his guards, mind controls his adviser, and pulls a gun on said gang leader. When the gang leader takes offense to all this, Luke promises him death if he doesn’t submit to Luke’s demands. Luke is indulging in every wrathful instinct he has. But he knows that what he’s doing isn’t right. He meets Vader and the Emperor expecting to turn Vader away from this same behavior, but the Emperor has concocted a situation where only might can make right.

If I was given the opportunity to decide between offering patience to the evil people I’ve met, and killing them without consequence, I don’t know if I’d make the choice Luke made. His story is fantastical, but to me it feels very real. It’s a story about finding balance. One has to act to stop bad things from happening. But one must also restrain themselves, or become one of those bad things.

#3 Guts from Berserk

So I just talked about anger problems and the Dark Side and all that, so you’re probably thinking, “Oh, Guts is that, but just like...more.”

And okay, that’s a little true. A find that in Guts a lot too. But similar to Holden, I’d like to take a moment to appreciate the literary structure Guts is constructed with as well. None of his empathetic qualities would mean anything without this structure. If he’s not going somewhere, then he is just the angry, violent stereotype of a manly man that solves all his problems through violence that people stereotype him as.

So let me introduce you to Booker’s Seven Basic Plots:

Going to an art school has resulted in me feeling that it’s necessary to spend some time justifying the existence of a textbook about structure. So I’m going to detour away from Guts in order to do that.

To keep a literal textbook’s worth of storytelling analysis very short, the seven basic plots are not meant to be the only plots that should exist, or even the only plots that do exist. They are an incredibly versatile sets of story frameworks. Allow me to explain by comparing two stories that share one of these seven plots: Crime and Punishment and the Catcher and the Rye.

These two stories are “Rebirth Plots”, and Rebirth Plots are comprised of five elements:

Falling Stage: A young hero or heroine falls under the shadow of the dark power.

Recession Stage: For a while, all may seem to go reasonably well. The threat may even seem to have receded.

Imprisonment Stage: Eventually the threat returns in full force, until the hero/heroine is seen imprisoned in the state of living death.

Nightmare Stage: This continues for a long time, when it seems like the dark power has completely triumphed.

Rebirth Stage: But finally comes the miraculous redemption, either by the hero (if the imprisoned figure is the heroine), or by a young woman or child (if the imprisoned figure is the hero).

Crime and Punishment and the Catcher in the Rye are both Rebirth Plots, but they focus on different aspects, and are thus completely different stories. Most of Crime and Punishment is the Recession Stage, where the main character has gotten away with his crime. Contrast Catcher in the Rye, where the Recession Stage ends basically as soon as he leaves his school, whereupon he spends a short time in the Imprisonment Stage and everything until the last chapter is the Nightmare Stage.

So even though the Seven Basic Plots presents an outline, it's not an outline meant to exclude strange stories that don’t fit it. Quite the contrary, it’s designed to include radically different stories, sometimes within the same categories as more traditionally-told ones.

So with that in mind, what story does Guts find himself in? Well, that’s the exciting thing: Guts is so incredible because he goes on every kind of adventure.

Overcoming the Monster - This is Guts’ story when Casca is captured by the Holy Seein the Conviction Arc. He has to fight against a whole society built around zealous hatred-- zealous hatred that mirrors his own obsessive pursuit of Griffith.

Rags to Riches - The first third of the Golden Age Arc is famously this kind of story, as Guts goes from a nameless mercenary to one of the most famous commanders in Midland, making friends along the way and overcoming his apprehension towards close personal connections.

The Quest - The journey to cure Casca of her trauma during the Fantasia Arc is a very long version of this kind of story. Guts gathers allies, teaches lessons, and watches the world change around him, as he changes as well, allowing his heart to soften again.

Voyage and Return - The Black Swordsman Arc and the beginning of the Conviction Arc sees Guts gallivanting around Midland killing demons, only to return to Goto’s cabin to find Casca has departed due to his own failings.

Comedy - The middle of the Golden Age Arc is this, with Casca and Guts falling for each other as he begins to develop into his own man separate from Griffith.

Tragedy - The end of the Golden Age Arc, which I would feel bad about listing here three times if it wasn’t fourteen fucking volumes long. Here Guts loses every connection he’s made over the years, then finally loses himself as he chooses to pursue vengeance rather than stay with Casca.

Rebirth - The whole of Berserk is a Rebirth Plot on many levels. To start with it’s Guts’ shift from the antisocial Black Swordsman to a symbol of hope in a world overrun with demons. For the world of Berserk it’s a change from being centered around an Idea of Evil to believing in something Good.

Guts is a fascinating character for how he changes again and again, yet still stays the same.

And Unlike Luke, Guts does sometimes fail. But despite the fact that he fails, he finds chances for further redemption. This is because despite every awful thing he’s been through, he still goes on fighting. There’s this brilliant moment when Guts is a child, where he’s run away from home after killing his abusive foster father in self defense. Guts is surrounded by wolves, injured, and starving. He tells the wolves to kill him, because he doesn’t want to live anymore. And yet when the wolves attack, he reflexively defends himself. Even as he wants for death, there’s a part of him that denies it. He wants to go on living, no matter how bad things get. There’s a lot of strength to be learned from that.

I hope Miura will live to see the series end. The character has been at war for so long, and he deserves to put down his sword and live in peace.

#2 Conan the Cimmerian

Let’s take a detour from all my personal issues and literary analysis to talk about the wisest character on this list. It might not seem so, but the original Conan stories by Robert E. Howard are some of the most brilliant and insightful works of fiction ever published.

Holden Caulfield gives us a realistic look at a troubled teenager. By viewing this teenager’s uncensored thoughts on the world, we’re allowed to see the world through his eyes. Doing so teaches us a lot about ourselves, and what we discover isn’t always so attractive. Conan is similar. Conan hails from Cimmeria, a gloomy and unforgiving land. There is no civilization in Cimmeria. Its people are tribal and nomadic. There are many different languages and ways of writing, no currency, and scarcely any agriculture. But Conan’s story does not take place in Cimmeria. Conan’s stories take him all over the world of Hyboria, which itself is essentially a pre-historic earth, where he explores the cultures of all the “civilized” nations. This, more than the violence, adventure, or lurid depictions of women, is what makes Conan worthwhile to me.

Allow me to share with you a passage:

Conan has seen how people behave when there are no rules imposed on them. He knows how cruel they can be, as well as how kind they can be. More than anyone Conan knows the dangers of civilization, how its rules and customs and trappings might convince a person they are good when they’re letting their fellow man starve, or that they’re bad when they’re committing violence against someone whom the rules of society declares above reproach.

Conan brings a perspective to things that is sobering and unique, and looking at things through his eyes helps a person see humankind not as one divided by lines on a map, but as a singular entity which expresses itself in many different forms.

#1 Eren Jaeger from Attack on Titan

Gif source: https://weheartit.com/entry/214956834

Anger, Dark Side, hopefulness, blah, blah, blah. What makes Eren so special? What makes him more special than Guts?

Let me tell you something personal about me: I have a best friend. And contrary to all my expectations growing up, it’s a person who considers me her best friend right back.

She is the only person I know that I consider my intellectual equal (arrogant statement, totally true). I love her immensely. Indescribably. Just like, a fucking lot. We express this love in a lot of different ways. To begin with, we talk all the time. Almost every day, for hours. We share with each other the things going on in our lives, our thoughts, our opinions, the games we play, the movies and TV we’ve seen, our desires for the world, all of it. She is the first person I ever talked to about some of the stuff I experienced in my childhood.

In short, she is pretty special.

When she watched Attack on Titan for the first time it was I who showed it to her. We watched up to episode 11 on that first night, and the rest of the month she texted me her reactions to the events of the first and second season. As she watched she got really enamored with Mikasa, as Mikasa is a lot of what she would like to be in life (capable, dedicated, beautiful, six feet tall, etc). But of Eren, she said that he reminded her of me. In fact, she said that she started to just look at Eren as me-on-the-screen, and when Eren would do something reckless or talk back to someone, or give a crazy-sounding speech about what he believed in, my friend told me she’d say “Classic Nathan [

There is a quality among the great heroes of literature, both from the east and the west, that Eren exemplifies in spades. While Eren has a tendency towards action that makes me admire him and a defiant nature that makes me envy him, his most powerful quality is his immense capacity for hope. You can see this represented in every character on this list in some form or another. Holden hopes against all reason that his sister can be saved from the falseness of the world. Luke hopes that a person can turn from the Dark Side. Guts hopes that life is worth living, even if it’s shown itself to be nothing but suffering. Conan’s hopes are the most justified, as he places it in the vastness of the world, and the world can’t help but satisfy him.

Eren hopes that the titans, insurmountable as they seem, can be defeated. He hopes that the world, tiny as it may seem behind the walls, can be explored. He hopes that people will listen to him when he speaks. He hopes that when he fights for what he believes in, he won’t die. He hopes for so much, and no matter how much is on the line he is ready to fight for those hopes, and to deny anyone who wishes to restrain him.

And my best friend told me he reminds her of me.

I’m not saying she was right. I’m not as strong as Eren. I’ll shut down socially when I’ve judged people to be dumb, evil, or boring. My hope doesn’t carry me over every mountaintop. Not that it does that for Eren; part of what I love about watching his story is that he struggles and falters. Hell, he dies in his first engagement with the titans.

But like Guts he keeps fighting.

Like Luke he struggles against his lesser qualities.

Like Holden he has a viewpoint of the world that leads me to consider myself.

Like Conan he is different from everybody else, but still believes in himself.

And that’s all I want to be.

1 note · View note

d3ngar · 6 years

Text

The New Jedi Order: Traitor

When I started reading the New Jedi Order series a few years ago, I knew enough about it to know which books were going to be the Big Ones™. Vector Prime (obvi), Star By Star, and Traitor were all ones that I was looking forward to since I knew they were all huge for their own reasons, and none of them disappointed me. Traitor is the one that I’ve read most recently (I just finished it a few weeks ago), and while I had a LOT of feelings after Star By Star, Jacen Solo has always been my favorite Solo kid and the one I identify with the most, so Traitor really got to me for a lot of reasons.

I think even if I hadn’t known that Jacen wasn’t actually dead after the events of Star By Star, I wouldn’t have believed it. He just winked out of the Force with no explanation of how that actually happened? Not buying it. While I didn’t think that this major character was killed off-screen, I was definitely wondering what happened to him, which was most likely the real purpose of his supposed “death.” Why would he just disappear from the Force? It was honestly a little distracting from the books between Star By Star and Traitor, since I spent so much time wondering what had happened to him. I think I succeeded in not rushing through Dark Journey or the Enemy Lines duology, but it was a relief to finally get to Traitor.

I had heard SO many good things about this book and Matthew Stover’s writing in general, and I was excited to read about Jacen (finally), but I’d also heard that this book is very “gray” in a lot of ways (namely the Force), which had me apprehensive, to say the least. Anyone who knows me personally or listens to my podcast knows that I tend to have a strong distaste for the concept of a “Gray Jedi” simply because I don’t think that that’s how the Force works.

I won’t go into my personal beliefs regarding the Force in much detail here since I could do multiple posts about it, really, but the long and short of it is that the Jedi way teaches passivity and communing with the Force and allowing it to act through you, and the Dark Side encompasses any action that exerts pressure on the Force through someone attempting to bend it to their will. Obviously there are exceptions and nuances within that philosophy, but that’s the best way to sum it up. Seeing as how I believe that Dark Side is always selfish and addictive, I don’t see much room for an individual that can utilize the Dark Side with no consequences.

With this set of beliefs, I knew that Traitor was going to be challenging for me before I even started it. The entire book focuses on Jacen being cut off from the Force by Vergere and him eventually overcoming that hurdle to not only regain his connection, but to obtain an even greater understanding of the Force that allows him to even sense the Yuuzhan Vong and their biological creations.

Throughout the book, Vergere is acting as a sort of mentor for Jacen not only during his period of captivity on board the Yuuzhan Vong worldship, but also during his escape on Coruscant. She feeds him questions that appear to make little to no sense at the time, but eventually lead Jacen to discover this greater connection to the Force of his own accord, and eventually unleash its power quite destructively. The utilization of the darkness inside of him even to save his life leaves him questioning everything he’s ever known about the Force before he eventually becomes this sort of messianic figure near the end of the book, bringing salvation to the New Republic and the Jedi. He almost doesn’t even feel like the same character after his encounter with the Yuuzhan Vong World Brain.

Needless to say, this WAS all very challenging for me. Coming to realize that the Yuuzhan Vong exist not outside of the Force but on some other sort of “Force wavelength” was a very strange idea at first, but the more that I thought about it, the more I became okay with it. I think I can kind of see where this expanded understanding of the Force that this series develops is going. Rather than being “gray” and allowing for use of both sides of the Force with no consequences, it posits that literally everything in the entire universe is connected through the Force, and nothing is more evil than anything else (at least that’s how I understand it). Everything just is, and it all belongs to the Force. There is no “light side” or “dark side,” it’s all just the Force.

Don’t get me wrong. I still don’t agree with this. But I can learn to live with it, if nothing else. At this point in time, Star Wars had to evolve and change, and the New Jedi Order gave it plenty of chances to do that. In the grimdark and morally-ambiguous era of media in the 90s and early 2000s, it only makes sense that something like this would happen at some point. The difference between “using both sides of the Force” and “the Force is everything” is super, super fine, but to me, it’s very important. Having a character walk the middle line with the Force is dumb, but a character who reaches a new understanding of the Force and uses it accordingly isn’t. Maybe I’m just nitpicky, but I’m glad that things ended up working out the way they did.

Honestly my bigger issue with this book is Vergere. As a character, I think she’s fine, but we’ve gotten hints about how powerful she is through not only her abilities, but also through how much she knows about the nature of the Force and the Yuuzhan Vong. She just seems so overpowered and it bugs me. This is totally coming from a place of “no one can be more powerful than my favorite characters and make them look like babies” but so far she’s saved both Mara and Jacen, and she’s acting all ambiguous about everything!! I will say, however, that stories and mysteries like the ones she’s at the center of make me happy that I only know major plot points from the series because I am very curious to see how she affects things in the future, even if I kind of hate her.

#star wars #expanded universe #legends #writing #traitor #jacen solo #book #review

2 notes · View notes

violecentstrs · 7 years

Text

Meaningful Friendship

A/N: Hey guys. Just a heads up, this is NOT a Sebastian Stan x Reader story. I wrote this after I had finished with Our True Love a few months ago and had finally decided to post this now. This is more of my appreciation towards Sebastian Stan as an actor and human being. His amazing personality really inspired me to write this. So, I want to share this with you guys. I truly hope you enjoy it!

Warning(s): Discomfort, sweet, appreciation Word Count: 3,030

Disclaimer: There is a reference I made about a “crazy” fan and it is not meant to offend anyone. I have heard stories from different celebrities about their crazy fans and what not, so I thought I could just write it here for the bit of thrill. Please do not think that I am bashing on anyone if they show their love and support for Sebastian in such a way. You are entitled to your own opinions and thoughts. I just want to remind you that this is fictional and meant to be for the bit of drama. Nothing more. Thank you and enjoy!

★ ★ ★

I dash through the crowd of people in the streets. I look at the watch on my wrist. 9:35AM. Shit. I was so late. Sebastian had already texted me that he arrived at around 8:39AM.

I stumble into Starbucks after my satchel got caught on the door handle. I can feel eyes staring right at me from inside the shop. So much for major embarrassment.

I attempt to ignore their stares and look through the faces to find Sebastian’s. Sure enough, there he was, sitting in one of the small couches in a corner of the shop. He is wearing reflective sunglasses and a navy blue sweater. He didn’t seem to notice me yet.

“Bassy! I’m so sorry! I had to run extra errands.” I say regretfully as I sit down in front of him. I sink into the couch, trying to catch my breath. Sebastian looks at me surprised.

“Y/N! Oh no. It’s okay.” He says kindly. Such a sweetheart. I take a deep breath before sitting up straight. He takes the shades off and let them hang on the neck of his sweater.

“So, how have you been?” I ask while setting my satchel down next to the table. Sebastian brushes through his blonde hair while taking a sip of the cappuccino.

“It’s been good. I’m getting some rest after filming. Then I’ll be back on set next week.” He answers while resting his back at the back of the couch. He crosses his arms over his chest. I forgot how handsome this guy really was, especially with that pose of his.

“Sweet! I can’t wait. I’m sure Bucky Barnes is greatly anticipated once again after Civil War.” I nudge him. He laughs quietly.

“I’m filming another movie actually. The one I told you about. ‘I’m Not Here’.” He answers stirring his cup. I slap my forehead.

“Of course! Silly of me. Explains the blonde hair.” I say while laughing.

“Anyways, I wanted to see you. It’s been a while since we last saw each other with your busy schedule and what not.” I continue. Sebastian gives me a sweet chuckle.

“Yeah. It has been a while. I assume now you understand that being an actor is not that easy, huh?” He asks, lacing his fingers together in front of him. I slump further into the couch. I nod.

I started off as his fan. Sebastian came to my university to watch a play my club had written. He was intrigued by it and went back stage to meet us. He was so impressed by my character that he said he wants to help me succeed in the cinematic world in the future. I think I screamed in excitement all the way back home that day. What are the odds that your celebrity crush came up to you and said that they like what you’ve done? I swear, I was more than happy.

We became friends after that point. Even with Sebastian’s success and involvements in many different movies and shows, he never forgot about me.

“Uh-huh. But I love it nonetheless. The thrill of being another person and have a different life is quite satisfying. Of course, I’m starting slow.” I say while fishing my phone out of my satchel.

“Oh hey! How’s things with Margarita?” I ask. Sebastian’s face shows little tints of red before his smile widens.

“Great. We are doing wonderful really. She’s out filming today.” He answers happily. He’s literally like a Golden Retriever puppy. Especially with that blonde hair of his now.

“Awwh, look at you. Getting all shy just talking about her.” I tease his reddening face.

“Oh gosh. Like you wouldn’t if you talk about your boyfriend.” He teases back. I laugh.

“If I had one. Hey, so after this should we go take a walk around if you have nothing else to do?” I ask while unlocking my phone to check my messages. 5 messages, but none from the person I want to hear. Sebastian is about to reply when we heard a voice.

“Excuse me.”

I turn to look over at the voice. Sebastian looks up at the girl standing next to his couch.

“Do you happen to be Sebastian Stan?” The girl asks hesitantly. Ah. A fan. Sebastian smiles at her.

“Yes I am.” He answers cheerfully. The girl lets out an excited yelp. I can feel eyes staring at us again.

“I’m a huge fan! I love you as Mad Hatter in Once Upon a Time. You were so perfect!” The girl says while stepping even closer to Sebastian. He laughs and thanks the girl for her support.

“I have posters of you plastered all around my room. Even all of my items in my room is covered in your face. I even printed your picture on my bed sheets so it feels like I’m sleeping with you! I am crazy in love with you. I think of you as my boyfriend, really!” The girl says again with such an excited tone. I don’t even know if this girl knows that I am here. But the things she said made me a tad bit uncomfortable.

“Ah. That’s really cool.” Sebastian answers, still keeping a kind smile on his face. Amazing. Truly. How is he still smiling after what she said?

“I was wondering if you’d like to come and see them at my home.” I blink. That’s worrying.

“That’s very sweet of you, but I have a meeting with a friend right now.” He says while still keeping on that smile. The girl pouts.

“Please? It will only be for a few hours! I’d like you to meet my parents as well! They also want to meet my boyfriend!” The girl grabs Sebastian’s arm. He didn’t jerk away, but I can see the discomfort in his eyes. Alarms are blaring through my head now. I need to save Sebastian from this.

“Excuse me, but we have work to attend to now. Sebastian, shall we?” I say picking up my satchel. Sebastian looks over at me and nods silently.

“Sorry. I do really have to go now.” Sebastian says while trying to pull his arm away from her. But she had a good grip on him.

“Please! I promise, an hour then!” She insists again. I stand up, wedging myself between the girl and Sebastian. It surprised her enough to loosen her grip on him. I grab Sebastian’s hand immediately and lead him out of there as quick as I can.

“Wait! Sebastian, please!” The girl runs through. She bumps into a man, causing him to spill his drink. I pull Sebastian out of the shop and right into the crowded street while still holding his hand. My heart is beating fast. That was rather unpleasant.

“Thanks, Y/N.” He finally says after we are at a safe distance from the shop. I never knew that there can be genuine crazy fans like her. Yes, fantasies and jokes are fine, but to the point of believing that your celebrity crushes are your actual real life lovers is a little too much.

His hand is shaking in mine. I look at him, feeling sorry for him. The price to pay for being known in the entertainment world. I let his hand free while slowing down our pace.

“That was really something else.” I say. He is hugging his body, walking quietly next to me. I look up at him before wrapping my arm around his. He looks down at me.

“Come, Bassy. Let’s get you out of those troubling thoughts. I know! Let’s go to a museum!” I say while stepping out towards the street for a taxi. Sebastian keeps close behind me.

“Where are we going?” I grin at him.

“You’ll see.”

We walk side by side, watching in awe at the rockets exhibited on the ceiling of the museum. We follow the tour at the back of the crowd, taking our own time at admiring the beautifully designed walls and exhibits. The scene matching exactly that of an outer space.

Sebastian’s eyes are glimmering like the stars themselves. But I know, at the back of his mind, he is still thinking about that girl just now. He won’t forget that event all too easily. I stop at the glass box where it shows a sample of rocks from Mars, only that they were replicas. It looked real enough though, I suppose.

“You just know I’m a geek for these things, huh?” He says. I look up at him, smiling.

“Yeah, well you are a geek. Period.” I say back, looking around the place. Amazing at how much effort they put into these things, really. I check my phone again for the message. Nothing.

Sebastian listens carefully to the tour guide as he explains the space suits arranged next to each other in a large glass box. I nudge him a little.

“I bet you know all about that from ‘Martian’, huh?” I tease. He chuckles.

“More or less. I know enough. I have been interested in space ever since I was a child, anyways.” He answers.

“No wonder you like to stare off into one.” I joke. He looks at me confused.

“Cause, you know, you like space. Stare off into spa— Ach, you’re ruining my joke, Bassy!” I yell at him quietly. He blinks before letting out a hearty laugh.

“You’re never good at making jokes.” He pets my head. I turn away embarrassed.

“Don’t pull that face, Y/N!” He says while pulling me into a quick hug. I laugh before shoving him aside playfully. Sometimes, Sebastian makes me feel like his little sister.

I smile, watching him continue to observe the rockets on the ceiling. He is a wonderful person after all. Not many actors are as kind and sweet as he can be. Sebastian is truly one and only.

“What does your therapist say?” I ask while kicking another dried leaf out of the way. Sebastian slides his hands in his pocket after adjusting his shades.

“He said to always destress. To not be afraid to share with others how I feel at times.” He answers quietly. I look up at him.

“Well, do you agree?” I ask. Sebastian lets out a sigh.

“He’s the expert. I suppose he is right. I can handle most of my problems by myself, really. No big deal.” He says. I furrow my eyebrows before giving his arm a light punch. He looks at me surprised.

“I know you are a tough and cool guy who seems to always be cheerful and optimistic. But shed that outer layer around people you trust. If something is troubling you, then talk about it. Margarita is there for you, no?” I say. He blinks before rubbing the spot on his arm where I punched.

“I’m sorry, did that hurt?” I ask, feeling guilty now. He smiles and shakes his head.

“No. I do talk about different things with her. It’s embarrassing to even cry in front of her sometimes. But filming can be very stressful. Especially when you play characters who had some tragic history.” He answers truthfully. I smile.

“Well the reason why you are able to play them well is because you channel a lot of yourself in them. Only that, you need to remember to separate yourself from these characters. You may be Jefferson, Lance, Will, Bucky or others, but you are still the one and only Sebastian Stan. Remember that.” I say, kicking up another dried leaf into the air. He remains quiet for a moment.

“Right.”

I gasp when I see a small kitten hiding underneath the bench. I yelp.

“Bassy look! A kitten!” I say pointing at it. I try to approach it but it scurries away. I pout, but then I remembered back to what we were talking about. Ugh, I get distracted too easily. When I look back at him, I see a very sweet smile.

“You scared it away with your enthusiasm.” He says while laughing. I blush slightly. I smile at him before petting his shoulders.

“Remember what I said, Sebastian. You can rely on others too. Even me if you want. Don’t worry about others looking down on you if you end up showing them how you feel. They really won’t because they still think you as the cheerful and funny Sebastian Stan no matter what!” I say while spreading my arms open. He laughs.

“All right, mom.” He jokes. I blush before clearing my throat.

“You’re leaving me hanging man.” I say, waiting for him to accept my hug. He laughs again before wrapping his arms around me, giving me a solid hug.

“Thanks, Y/N.”

My phone vibrates in my satchel as we finish up lunch at Subway. I quickly go and check it. I smile happily.

“Mission complete. Bring our Martian home.”

“Who is it?” He asks while crumpling up the papers together.

“Oh, just my boss wanting to know where I am.” I lie while putting the phone away. I finish off the drink in the cup.

“Say, Bassy. Remember that sweater I lend to Margarita? I was wondering if I can go and pick it up from your apartment. I need it for filming on Monday.” I ask, watching him while still sipping on my drink. Sebastian nods.

“Yeah, sure. Of course.” He says while getting up. We called a taxi over and head straight for his apartment.

“Thanks for today. I had fun, Y/N.” Sebastian says while looking at me. I give him a childish grin.

“Of course! I wanted to see you! It’s been a while. We should find another time to hang out. Next time if I have a boyfriend, we should have a double date.” I say cheerfully. Sebastian laughs.

“Sounds like a good plan.”

We reach up to the floor of his apartment. I text someone on my phone.

“Martian is arriving in T-minus 2 minutes.”

As he approaches the door of his apartment. I grab his arm.

“Bassy, wait.” I say. He looks back at me. I reach into the satchel and give him the wrapped up package I had in there. He looks at me surprised.

“What’s this for?” He asks curiously.

“Happy birthday, geek.” I say cheerfully. Did that made his face light up.

“You remembered?” He says, eyes sparkling. I nod before punching his arm gently again.

“Of course! How can I forget?” I laugh while pushing him to the front of his door. “Open it when you get inside!” I say. He laughs and opens the door with his keys.

When he entered, there was a flash of light followed by a rain of confetti.

“SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SEBASTIAN!” A group of people yell from inside of his apartment. A music starts to play followed by laughter. Sebastian had backed away in shock from the sudden surprise before laughing.

Margarita runs over towards him and give him a sweet loving kiss. He returns it back happily before looking around.

“I thought you were out!” Sebastian says looking at her. She giggles.

“I wouldn’t leave my boyfriend alone on his birthday!” She answers back.

“Madame, the Martian has been delivered with success.” I say teasingly.

“Thank you, Odyssey. Your mission is complete!” Margarita answers back, saluting at me playfully.

“You knew about this?” Sebastian asks blinking. Margarita and I exchange hugs before giving him childish smiles. She leads him inside of the apartment to greet others that came.

I stand outside on the balcony to get some air. It has been a tiring day today, but I’m glad it went good. The night is creeping up slowly. I should probably get home soon.

Sebastian leans on the railings next to me, catching me by surprise. I smile at him before punching his arm again. He chuckles.

“Thank you again for today, Y/N.” He starts saying while looking up at the emerging stars.

“Of course. I did want to meet you. When Margarita said she needed someone to help take you out, I stepped in immediately. I wanted to spend the day with you.” I say before taking a sip from the soda can.

“I’m glad you did. Even though we aren’t that close, you still care about me very much.” He says keeping his eyes at the sky. It is true. I do care about Sebastian very much. More than a mere friend.

“Of course, Bassy. That’s what friends are for. Besides, you’re an inspiration for a lot of people. Your charm, kindness and sweetness always leave a mark in people’s lives. Not to mention your drop dead handsome looks too.” I wink at him, finishing the can of soda. He chuckles.

“Well, I appreciate everything you have helped me with.” I shake my head.

“You’re giving me too much credit. Save some for yourself.” I smile before looking back inside.

“Come on. You don’t want to miss your birthday party, right?” I say, leading him back inside to the party.

It still feels odd to be friends with Sebastian, thinking that he is the object of a lot of people’s desire out there. Even mine at one point. But, after meeting him in person and discovering more about the different sides to him, I start to think differently of him. Mostly out of respect for him.

Even if my fantasies were of him and me together, I am completely content of being a friend for him. Being there for him to vent out any frustrations he has, to give him gifts on his special days, to share laughter with him, to congratulate him on all of his successes and many others.

The man is both unique on the inside and outside, who will smile even for the craziest fans out there. Someone who accepts people with an open heart and open mind. Someone who knows how to appreciate every kind of support given to him. Someone who understands the importance of humour in everyday life. Someone who doesn’t hesitate in providing the right help for anyone who asks him. Someone who is very charming and sweet. And many other wonderful qualities.

That someone is Sebastian Stan.

★ ★ ★

A/N: Annnnddd, that’s it! I hope you guys enjoy this one shot. I know it’s not a Sebastian Stan x Reader pairing, but I promise you, I have one in the process of being written now, so hang tight for that next week (hopefully). I am going to be travelling once again so my schedule will be all over the place, but I will continue to try and post as soon as I can.

I know a lot of you guys share this kind of view of how much Sebastian Stan is truly an amazing human being. I just want to write it out since I haven’t seen much of these kinds of one shots of purely appreciation for the actor. I know they are out there, I just haven’t read them. But yeah.

Please like and reblog if you’d like and think my story is worthy of either. I appreciate every single of your support and it means the world to me. Thank you so much for reading and much love! <3

~~~

P/S: I am close to reaching 500 followers (WHHAATT??? *author’s mind is blown*) so I want to say thank you so much to each and every one of you for the lovely support and I do hope I continue to amaze you with my stories. <3

If we reach to 500 followers, I will ask for your opinions on what kind of one shot would you like to read as a celebration. Tragedy, action, pure romance, maybe smut? Either way, we shall wait for that day to come first before I put the post out asking for what kind of one shot you guys would like.

Okay, I babble too much. Sorry and have a cookie as my appreciation of you reading all the way down here. 🍪

Tag(s): @shamvictoria11 @munsureiya @ninjayjumper @elaacreditava

#sebastian stan #oneshot #reader

12 notes · View notes

douchebagbrainwaves · 4 years

Text

HOW ART CAN YOU LOVE

Now publishing online is becoming so popular that everyone wants to do it. Maybe that's possible, but I personally have timed out. If you want to understand economic inequality—and more importantly, if you have to choose between two theories, prefer the one that doesn't center on you. Variation in productivity is accelerating.1 Its purpose is to shield the pointy-haired boss doesn't even want to think about. If you try to start a startup. As for libraries, their importance also depends on the application. We'd ask why we even hear about new languages like Perl and Python. Most high school students applying to college do it with the usual child's mix of inferiority and self-centeredness combine to make us believe that every judgement of us is about us.2 Probably because small children are particularly horrified by it. If you start a company, the less you need the money.

You probably never can completely undo the effects of lies you were told as a kid I was confused for years about him. If they get something wrong, it's usually not realizing they have to be working for an existing company for a couple years before starting your own company.3 If you're young, you should take the riskiest investments you can find. Poverty and economic inequality are not identical.4 I mention this mostly as a joke, but it is enough in simple cases like this. There will be a few stars who clearly should make the team, and if it doesn't work, then go work for another company for two years, and the rest of the company through the COO. You'll learn some valuable things by going to work for.

It's common for startup founders of all ages to build things no one wants. It's not literally true that you can't solve this problem in other languages. They'll do well at it too, because determination is the main reason is that he likes the way source code looks. The more general version is our answer to the Greeks: Don't see purpose where there isn't.5 He thinks you should write it in. So you can test equality by comparing a pointer, instead of comparing each character. If you ask yourself what you spend your time on them have to be paid enough to prevent them from doing it. Actually this seems to be a job.6 But like a lot of changing the subject when death came up.

So they give you very precise numbers about variation in wealth and income, then follow it with the usual child's mix of inferiority and self-centeredness in that they assume that admissions committees must be all-seeing; self-centeredness in that they assume that admissions committees must be all-seeing; self-centeredness in that they assume that admissions committees must be all-seeing; self-centeredness combine to make applicants passive in applying and hurt when they're rejected. All users care about is whether your site or software gives them what they want. Though lie has negative connotations, I don't mean this in an insulting way—of the kind of people who do that tend not to have much power in big companies unless they happen to be the CEO. Richard Dawkins made another step in that direction only in the last 10 years.7 If one woodworker makes 5 chairs and another makes none, the second woodworker will have less money, investors have less power over them. Closely related to poverty is lack of social mobility. Startups are almost entirely a product of the Gilded Age, and things have changed since then.8 So when I say it would take ITA's imaginary competitor five years to duplicate something ITA could write in Lisp in three months, I mean five years if nothing goes wrong.9

How you live affects how long you live.10 Their dislike of the idea is so visceral it's probably inborn.11 It also gives them more power relative to employers.12 In past times people lied to kids about some things more than we do now, but the Lisp that we actually ended up with was based on something separate that he did as a theoretical exercise—an effort to define a more convenient alternative to the Turing Machine. Is life actually short, or are we really complaining about its finiteness? The more confident people are, the more risk you should take the riskiest investments you can find. The founders will run engineering directly, and the next stop seems to be that that Python is a more elegant alternative to Perl, but what this case shows is that power is the ultimate threat.13 You could also try the startup first, and if the difference between the two, you can, to a limited extent, simulate a closure a function that generates accumulators—a function that refers to variables defined in enclosing scopes by defining a class with one method and a field to replace each variable from an enclosing scope.

The Matrix have such resonance. Ignorance can't solve everything though. Present-day Fortran is now arguably closer to Lisp than to Fortran I. They want to believe they're living in a comfortable, safe world as much as their parents want them to believe it. If you just need to feed data from one Windows app to another, sure, use Visual Basic. But from what I've heard the founders didn't just give in and take whoever the VCs wanted.14 But as I explained in The Refragmentation, that was an anomaly—a unique combination of circumstances that compressed American society not just economically but culturally too. The VCs will have to be really good at tricking you. As for number 8, this may be one of those things the old tell the young, but don't expect them to listen to.15 But there's more to it than that. Close, but they don't realize it.16

Variation in productivity is always going to produce some baseline growth in economic inequality we've seen since then has been due to bad behavior of various degrees of oddness, and violent anger. It does help too to feel that you've squeezed everything out of some experience. But the unconscious form is very widespread. What we mean by a programming language in this sense, but the Lisp that we actually ended up with was based on something separate that he did as a theoretical exercise—an effort to define a more convenient alternative to the Turing Machine.17 His body switches to an emergency source of energy that's faster than regular aerobic respiration. But if they don't want to wait for Python to evolve the rest of the way into Lisp, they could always just.18 We found the startups that did best were the ones with the sort of conservatism that comes from weakness.19

Notes

Parents move to suburbs to raise their kids to be staying at a discount of 30% means when it converts. Steep usage growth predicts x% revenue growth with retained earnings was one that we know exactly what they're really works of anthropology.

Life seemed so much about prestige is that it's hard to answer your question. Source: Nielsen Media Research. According to the year x in a rice cooker and forget about it. Digg is Slashdot with voting instead of happy.

Presumably it's lower now because it's a proxy for revenue growth with retained earnings was one firm that wanted to than because they want to learn.

Perhaps the designers of admissions processes should take more than serving as examples of how you spent your summers.

But politicians know the actual lawsuits rarely happen. At the time 1992 the entire period since the war, federal tax receipts have stayed close to the margin for error. No VC will admit they're influenced by buzz. Since I now believe that was mistaken, and unleashed a swarm of cheap component suppliers on Apple hardware.

Ideas are one step upstream from economic power, so it's conceivable that intellectual centers like Cambridge in that. Vii.

They have no trouble getting hired by these companies substitute progress for revenue growth. Obviously this is: we currently filter at the final version that afternoon. If you have significant expenses other than salaries that you can send your business plan to have to spend a lot about some disease they'll see once in their racks for years before Apple finally moved the door. Hodges, Richard.

Because we want to live. In practice most successful startups of all the money was the fall of 2008 but no more unlikely than it was considered the most powerful men in Congress, Sam Rayburn and Lyndon Johnson.

I should do is assemble components designed and manufactured by someone who doesn't understand what you're doing. And Beans for 2n olive oil or butter n yellow onions other fresh vegetables; experiment 3n cloves garlic n 12-oz cans white, kidney, or a complete bust. They overshot the available RAM somewhat, causing much inconvenient disk swapping, but they're not ready to raise that point though.

If PR didn't work, but that we wrote in order to win. You have to choose between the Daddy Model that it killed the best VCs tend to focus on the Daddy Model may be loud and disorganized, but that's not directly, but you should be the technology everyone was going to visit 20 different communities regularly. There is archaeological evidence for large companies, but if you do.

A fundraising is a huge loophole. If you're a big success or a blog that tried to attack and abuse. They want to impress are not more startups to have been the plague of 1347; the crowds of shoppers drifting through this huge mall reminded George Romero of zombies. Trevor Blackwell presents the following recipe for a long time?

If you're part of creating an agreement from scratch. The ordering system was small. Hypothesis: A company will either be a quiet, earnest place like Cambridge in that it offers a vivid illustration of that.

You have to think of the false positive, this is also a name. Indiana University Publications. The need has to convince at one point they worried Lotus was losing its startup edge and turning into a significant effect on college admissions process. Interestingly, the laser, it's probably still a leading cause of poverty I just wasn't willing to be actively curious.

I've found for dealing with one of the Web was closely tied to the traditional peasant's diet: they hoped they were beaten by iTunes and Hulu. If big companies couldn't decrease to zero.

If the Mac was so great, why did it.

Since most VCs are suits at heart, the apparent misdeeds of corp dev guys should be taken into account, they can be useful here, the initial capital requirement for German companies is 47. Proceedings of 2003 Spam Conference.

So it may seem to be the model for Internet clients too. If you invest in so many trade publications nominally have a group of picky friends who proofread almost everything I write out loud at least for those interested in x, and it introduced us to Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian, both your lawyers should be the last step is to write every component yourself, if you have two choices, choose the harder.

Which explains the astonished stories one always hears about VC while working on Viaweb. They're motivated by examples of how you spent your summers. A round VCs put two partners on your own compass. I had zero false positives caused by filters will be the model for Internet clients too.

Users judge a site not as hard as everyone assumes. This doesn't mean the Bay Area, Boston, or at least what they meant.

Thanks to Jessica Livingston, Trevor Blackwell, Yuri Sagalov, Fred Wilson, Emmett Shear, Geoff Ralston, Robert Morris, Sam Altman, and Michael Seibel for inviting me to speak.

0 notes

funnythingshere0-blog · 6 years

Text

Take a Break from the Darkness of the World, and Smile With Our Pick of the Week

New Post has been published on https://funnythingshere.xyz/take-a-break-from-the-darkness-of-the-world-and-smile-with-our-pick-of-the-week/

Take a Break from the Darkness of the World, and Smile With Our Pick of the Week

Plus 13 More New Releases to Watch This Week on Blu-ray/DVD!

Welcome to this week in home video! Click the title to buy a Blu-ray/DVD from Amazon and help support FSR in the process!

Pick of the Week

Savannah Smiles

What is it? Two criminals cross paths with a young runaway and are mistaken for kidnappers.

Why see it? This is one of hell of a sweet movie, and it’s one that has stuck with me over the years as a story of compassion, friendship, and redemption. Young Bridgette Andersen is cute and adorable, but more than that she shows an immense heart and talent. There’s fun here alongside some minor action/suspense, but its core is a story of just how important companionship and human interaction are. Her own life story ended tragically, but the film serves Bridgette well as a reminder of a better and more innocent time.

[Blu-ray/DVD extras: New 2K transfer, documentary, featurette, interview]

The Best

Daphne & Velma

What is it? Before the dog stole all their thunder, two new friends solved mysteries on their own.

Why see it? Scooby Doo isn’t exactly the kind of cartoon you’d expect to have a backstory for its “lesser” characters, but it happened anyway with impressively entertaining results. We meet Daphne and Velma in high school and see them brought together over a mystery involving other students and a wealthy sponsor, and it’s all presented with bright colors, energy, and real wit. It’s a fun and funny movie for young and not-so-young alike that hopefully leads to a whole new franchise. Fans should also seek out director Suzi Yoonessi’s feature debut Dear Lemon Lima (2009) which is fantastic.

[Blu-ray/DVD extras: Featurettes, gag reel]

A Fantastic Woman

What is it? A trans woman struggles to grieve after the death of her lover, but society seems determined to prevent it.

Why see it? Sebastián Lelio’s drama offers a timely look at a sadly timeless issue, and Daniela Vega shines in the lead role. Her character begins the film in love, and after tragedy strikes, she’s forced to face obstacle after obstacle to confirm that love to other people’s satisfaction. There’s a simplicity to it all, but both Vega and her character are such fierce powerhouses offering strength and complexity that the tale becomes highly engaging. Brief moments of fantasy highlight the journey.

[Blu-ray/DVD extras:]

A Fistful of Dollars [KL Studio Classics]

What is it? A Yojimbo remake.

Why see it? Its origin as an Akira Kurosawa “homage” aside, the film finds its own value as a terrific western exploring morality and violence with style, atmosphere, and a memorable Ennio Morricone score. And not for nothing, but it’s also the start of “spaghetti westerns” as we know them and paired Clint Eastwood with Sergio Leone for the first time. Eastwood’s “Man with No Name” is a mysterious presence seemingly more interested in cash than loyalty, and it became a prototype for hundreds of future antiheroes. As they’ve done with a few other classic westerns recently, Kino Lorber presents the film with a beautifully restored picture and numerous extras. One interesting extra here is a prologue added to the film’s network premiere featuring Harry Dean Stanton, an Eastwood double, and a misguided attempt to explain his character’s actions.

[Blu-ray extras: New 4K restoration, commentaries including one by Tim Lucas, interview, Trailers from Hell, outtakes, featurettes, network prologue]

Game Night

What is it? A group of friends sees their calm game night take a turn when one of them is abducted… or is he?

Why see it? This is the best studio comedy in several years, and it’s not even close. The cast is terrific — Jason Bateman, Kyle Chandler, Billy Magnussen, Lamorne Morris, and a stellar Jesse Plemons — with Rachel McAdams killing it and reminding the world that she’s a comic genius, the jokes and gags are smart and numerous, and the direction is remarkably alive and vibrant. Scenes have real energy and visual style, and the script keeps up with sharp story turns and plenty of surprises. It’s just a ridiculously fun time at the movies, and the high replay value (along with the guarantee you’ll want to share it with friends) makes it a movie worth owning.

[Blu-ray/DVD extras: Featurette, gag reel]

Jurassic Park: 25th Anniversary Collection – 4K UltraHD

What is it? Scientists and capitalists think it’s a good idea to create living dinosaurs… four times!

Why see it? A fifth Jurassic Park film is set to open this summer, so a re-issue of past films is to be expected, but happily, rather than simply drop new Blu-rays Universal has upgraded all four existing films to beautiful and often stunning 4K. Steven Spielberg’s original remains the best of the bunch, but all of them display varying degrees of thrills and wonder — and those displays are often jaw-dropping in UltraHD. The discs are loaded with special features, and while none of them are new they still offer up a wealth of detailed information on the franchise’s production.

[4K UltraHD/Blu-ray extras:]

Of Unknown Origin [Scream Factory]

What is it? A Wall Street executive finds the biggest challenge of his life when a persistent rat settles into his fancy condo.

Why see it? There are other rat-focused horror movies, but none are better than George Cosmatos’ early 80s look at obsession and vermin. Peter Weller takes the lead opposite the rat, and the film follows his descent towards madness as the two enter into a battle of wills that threatens to bring the walls down around them. The film walks a fine line between tragic terror and black comedy, and unlike the similarly structured The Vagrant it balances the two pretty damn well. It’s thrilling, funny, and seemingly destined to not end well. Scream Factory’s new Blu looks fantastic, and the commentary featuring director and star is a solid listen.

[Blu-ray/DVD extras: New 2K scan, interviews, commentary]

Vazante

What is it? A young woman in the early 19th century struggles to make a life.

Why see it? The first thing you notice with this black & white beauty is the stunning confidence of Daniela Thomas’ feature debut. Gorgeous cinematography draws viewers into the past, and while pacing is in no rush the characters come to life through their humanity, hope, and misery. The bigger tale being told her is one of colonialism’s effect on culture and women, and while it’s not a film to watch when you’re in the need of some light it’s a film worth watching all the same.

[Blu-ray/DVD extras: Featurettes]

The Rest

The 15:17 to Paris

What is it? The true story of three Americans who helped prevent a terrorist assault while on vacation.

Why see it? Clint Eastwood’s “patriotic” interests have been on display for years now, but his ability to turn it into worthwhile entertainment hits a wall with this absolute turd of a drama. It’s riddled with problems, but the two biggest facing it come down to story and casting. The real event lasted mere moments meaning the dramatic intensity is severely limited. And the three American heroes? They’re playing themselves. These guys deserve praise for their actions, but they are most definitely not actors. Their performances add to the myriad of issues holding the film back from being even remotely interesting, and a flat script sees ridiculous dialogue share the screen with dull flashbacks, bland narratives, and a supporting cast slumming it for a once-great director.

[Blu-ray/DVD extras: Featurettes]

Black Venus [Arrow Academy]

What is it? The true story of an African woman used as an oddity in Victorian London.

Why see it? There’s a stark beauty to Abdellatif Kechiche’s biographical tale of Saartjie Baartman, but it’s constantly at war with the oppression and misery suffered throughout by its lead character. At 162 minutes it becomes something of a hard watch as there’s little respite from the abuse and ignorance she’s subjected to on a daily basis. She’s a curiosity to the people around her, both the elites and the dregs who see her at a freak show, and that becomes the driving force within the film itself — a curiosity as to whether or not she’ll escape this life. It’s a heartbreaking journey, so venture in at your own risk.

[Blu-ray extras: Featurette]

Death Smiles on a Murderer [Arrow Video]

What is it? A woman returns from the dead for vengeance.

Why see it? Joe D’Amato’s filmography is a varied thing, but he’s best known as the director of numerous genre efforts filled with all manner of sleaze and terror including Beyond the Darkness, Porno Holocaust, and several Emanuelle films. This early film features both bloodletting and T&A, but it gives more effort towards atmosphere and mood than his later movies. It’s a story of cruelty that comes back to haunt the cruel, quite literally, and it features a rather sedate performance by Klaus Kinski too.

[Blu-ray/DVD extras: New 2K restoration, commentary by Tim Lucas, interviews, visual essay]

Early Man

What is it? A caveman fights back against the Bronze Age.

Why see it? Nick Park’s (Chicken Run, Shaun the Sheep) features as director and/or writer bring joy through an animation style less frequently used than the usual CG or even hand-drawn, but while they’re less common they’re often far more affecting because of their tangible nature. (Or maybe that’s just me.) His latest is a fun romp, and while many of the jokes will land best with European football fans (and British locals in general) more than enough appeal more broadly to those of us who just enjoy a good underdog story. Toss in some goofy visual gags and a rousing football game to determine it all and you have a solid feature for the whole family.

[Blu-ray/DVD extras: Featurettes]

I Kill Giants

What is it? A girl believes her town is due for an attack by a giant.

Why see it? Fans of the recent A Monster Calls will enjoy this drama with a tease of fantasy as its story feels very reminiscent as a pre-teen with a rich imagination struggles with bullies at school and a sick parent at home. As YA adventures go this one leans towards the dramatic, but the performances make it work even if it grows a bit heavy-handed at times. There’s power to the ending, though, and it’s ultimately an important tale for kids and young teens.

[Blu-ray/DVD extras: Featurettes]

Red Sparrow

What is it? A young Russian woman is trained to be a saucy spy (of sorts) but runs into trouble.

Why see it? Jennifer Lawrence takes center stage as the “sparrow” while Joel Edgerton plays a CIA agent who crosses her path. Performances and visuals are strong across the board, but at 140 minutes the film is something of a cruel and slow-moving slog. Action is minimal — it’s no Atomic Blonde — and an excessive amount of time is spent highlighting mean, degrading methods used to keep people in line. It wraps up nicely, but the journey is a challenge. It basically comes down to the performances and the period feel, but if you’re looking for more than that, say a fresh take or engaging story, you’re out of luck.

[Blu-ray/DVD extras: Featurettes, commentary, deleted scenes]

Wild at Heart [Shout Select]

What is it? Young lovers go on the run.

Why see it? David Lynch’s films are almost always strange, stylistic tales, and this story of forbidden love, gruesome violence, hazy sex, and a road trip is no exception. Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern headline, and while the former channels Elvis for the umpteenth time of his career Dern stands apart with an electric performance capturing youthful abandon. That said, as with most Lynch films, this one just doesn’t hold together for me. His style of excess and exaggeration leaves me cold. I’m clearly in the minority, though, so for the rest of you this new Blu-ray is a recommended pickup.

[Blu-ray extras: Interviews, deleted scenes, documentary, featurettes]

Also out this week:

Beyond the Hills [Criterion Collection], The Bloodthirsty Trilogy, Frank & Eva, Graduation [Criterion Collection], Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters [Criterion Collection], Night Zero, The Party, Swung, The Vampire and the Ballerina [Scream Factory]

0 notes

popcartoonkabala · 7 years

Text

Trinities, dualities, retirements and euphemisms: division into clarity (Chesed-Gevurah-Tipheret she b Malchut) PART II! [Batman is not Superman]

To summarize our purpose, once again: Myth and Archtype have been part of human culture since the beginning of symbolic communication. Why wouldn't there be patterns in how?

Numbers are the language of science, but they used to be the secret language of theology. Pythagoras got into something that had been the sprouted wisdom heritage of Ancient Egypt, Babylon, and beyond: The attempt to boil all the assorted deities of every land and saga into systematized essences. Because it's not that they didn't notice what the narrative commonalities amongst all the different regional gods of every nation, on the contrary: there was a fair amount of cross identification, because of recognition when we are talking about the same things, even if speaking with very different priorities and lessons in mind. The gods of the twentieth centuries are our Cartoon characters; divine far more than it's assorted human “Stars,” Cartoon characters tend not to die the way people do. Icons of modern fear, hope, fantasy and frustration are the things we wound up being most impressed by as children, and their nostalgia cultures testify the depth of influence these kind of characters and the experience of their narratives have on the soul of humanity, as we becomes whatever it is we will be. Why wouldn't there be patterns? Why shouldn't there be a language for unzipping those patterns, to understand the world and it's relationships better?

The Hebrew word “SePhiRa” literally and essentially implies communication, like a little story being told through every CyPheR. Universal popular culture is the true law of Rome, being newly decreed every time we watch the show and laugh, shiver, or in anyway resonant. Resonance is ratification, it's official-- I feel you, and from now on, the standard is like such. Hardening the heart, refuse to accept the heart-understood new decree that HAS convinced, is the insistence on a previously remembered principle trumping the new story and it's cargo. Everyone knows it, deep down. The narrative priority of That which everyone knows and feels. South park, for example, initiates a certain new and universal standard: once you laughed, you're in the club, the club of true knowers and understanders of How It Is, and, more importantly, perhaps an insistence on how it should be, ironically in the softest and sweetest way possible. It's been happening every so often the whole time. That's how homophobia and narcophobia are defeated in the end, and make no mistake, despite the thrashes of regressive hostility, they are done, as far as social pop-morality is concerned--- maybe-- for awhile. In some places, if not everywhere.

In the ancient schism between North and South is the mystery war between A(s)(h)ura and D(a)eva: What's God and what's Monster? The oldest religious text range between the Vedic and Iranian on this issue, with the Western and Eastern spectrum ranging some adapted terms-- “God” as a word for the highest of the high in Northern European translations of the Hebrew Bible points to a very traditional association of Mercury with the Cause of Causes or at least star of worship, to whom invocation is given as in Sanskrit. The war is over when common language is found, and so “God” has become the resting place for a broad spectrum of phenomena associated with the preferred. Poured out, some speculate based on Greek “kh”. The conflict in the Bhagva Gita, like the Teutonic sagae across the mountains and valleys, pits these cosmic forces, one valorized and the other demonized. In the Old Testament narrative, this schism contends with the internal satire going on against even-and-especially that which is identified with the so-epitheted “good” god, master (Baal/Adon) and hero/direction (El[ohim]) used for also the falsehood and also the true authority. The word for the overtly demonized sort of wild-divinity in contrast with the legitimate-but-perhaps-problematic-lordship, is Shed. The Gallic/Celtic satyric nature spirits that eventually are given the mellowed title of “Fae/fair” (to convince the listening chaos-monsters that we are speaking well of them, despite all being aware of their destructive capacity) is “Shaedu(Siddhe)”.

This is a rhetorical struggle, to the degree that it's clear since the beginning of Egyptian and Babylonian religion that the best god is defined by success, like Batman and Popeye. But that's until it's clear that there is a value higher than victory, an astoundingly challenging idea that in many ways has yet to be fully digested into popular human morality. This is the degree to which Nietzsche looks to ancient religion, specifically what he calls “Indic” which he identifies, as within Greco-Roman tradition, Dionysian. For traditional models celebrating, not functionality, but inspiration, passion, intoxication and ultimately, illumination (or death). The dei that celebrate boundaries, victories, or any other conventional prizes cannot be the truest deepest highest Dio: just a certain kind of echoed reflection. So too our gods, heroes, villains and monsters reflect us, the things we couldn't see until exaggerated in theatrical other.

The place where the power comes from is not always identified with the power itself; the veils are excused any which way, and so much cosmic narrative comes to explain when and where the schism hit, so that whatever lord rules the world is known to whatever degree, as a hint as to what has needed to happen in order of power to be secured, most traditionally the defeat of some enormous and originative serpent of chaos. In later generations, it's lions instead of snakes, or dragons which are the best of both. But remember: anyone can be the bad guy, eventually. This fundamental to the Superman myth, and its counter just as fundamental to Dracula: the longer the story goes the more the good guy must become dictatorial/fascist, and the most horrific of monster-enemies enlisted to help the fight against a greater emergent evil. To this end, our personal and communal capacities to identify with a range of justification and aspiration is reinforced or even introduced; models for catharsis either accomplishing a need to resonate with some activity or mission, or passing over unnoticed except as novelty twist on some sort of comfortably familiar dynamic. This is the natural end of a charachter, the central-most erosion of their value, often saved for the end of a series, as was the case with the Paul Dini/Dwayne Mcduffie Superman/Justice League. The problem is genuinely redeeming a character (or deity) defined so strongly in one direction once satirized however inearnestly-- but the truth is, it's not hard, because more than the calf wants to suckle, the nerd wants a classic and fundamentally familiar consistent version of a character. The genius of mythographers like Grant Morrison, and Alan Moore before him, is to integrate a range of classic versions of a character, ones generally considered eschewing integration, initiated as radically distinct characters functioning only vaguely in the same capacity, but for the degrees of overwhelming inspiring or resonant previous versions.

Once upon a time, there was no such thing as a Batman. How could that possibly be true? Because there was no such thing as a city. On the other hand, someone had to be that for there to ever have been existence and creation. Do you know what I mean? It's absurd to say that any PARTICULAR deity created the universe, if not the awesomest deepest wholest one, who must by definition encompass all that ever was great before. Who was Batman before Batman? Who was God before Zeus? Maybe Cronos, but maybe Typhon? It's a meaningful position that the Greeks take, that dZeus did not originate creation, but only the present state of it, tentatively ruled and micromanaged.

The Hebraic/biblical tradition at it's core denies the facility of this synchretism-- The only G-d that was still Is, and whoever takes his place could not be other than him himself, by definition, because of the absoluteness of the oneness that must be somewhere/everywhere. This is the degree to which the Bible god is hostile to deities perfectly analogous to him himself, Baal and Dagon, Marduk, Shemesh, Dagon or El, many of which are even epithets and terms for the acceptable hebrew All-father himself. None are tolerated to be identified with his oneness, and its even a bit of a heresy for HIS WORD and HIS LAW to be identified with Him, because the Monad must encompass all, and to take a side or isolate a perspective tests the resonance of the idea harshly, and threatens to drag Him down into all the religious polemical politics that every other All-god was ruined by and discredited through.

To be a functional hero nowadays, one must not cross the line for too long into the reprehensible pop-antivalue, the priority resented most by the populace, whose valor proves it's perfidy and wrongness. See how ruined the bible god is by the moral questions raised by a society where the mainstream itself is more committedly progressive than any archaic society could have fathomed would even be sought after, except in the panic of their most critical apocalypses.

It can't matter in a Batman story, in The Batman's presence, who was Batman developed from or rooted in. The presence itself establishes its own context, which is why T-shirts and kickball are the ideal temple for his personification-- these things insist on trying to create their own context. Sherlock Holmes and the Phantom, Horus the lord of Light-- who cares. The only problem is: how long can a batman endure? And what would keep one functional, relevant?

There is a rich history of Bat-apocalypses, twilight-of-the-bat stories where Batman does the most natural thing he can and dies dramatically, or at least gets old. A recurring theme in Dark Knight Returns is “This would be a good death-- but not good enough.” And so it is with the world and all the great immortal heroes-- almost no death is good enough, so almost no death is possible. That's why the greatest heroes become deified, as was rumored to be Batman's “Final” fate in Final Crisis. All the heroes were supposed to be deified and perhaps replaced by their own avatars. Certainly Batman, because any other end would be beneath the grandeur of what he symbolizes-- the good winner, the dark protector inherent in justifying the imbalances in the urban situation. He cannot make a utopia, because he is too much a conservative force, holding a bad place, the great city Gotham, together, and making it safe for sustained existence, but utterly unable (apparently even unwilling) to destroy any of the chaotic or pernicious elements within it, for fear of upsetting it's balance, and his own. This is not a human being, even as much as the character keeps being humanized by loves and investments around him, and this is part of the mystery of the Batgirls and the Robins-- as well as the Catwomen and Jokers.

The two horns of the Batman--

hero/villain, hero/sidekick;

villain as spouse, sidekick as sibling

The villain who loves Batman hates sidekick, and sidekick tends to either resent or couple with next sidekick, of which there are to be infinite. There are now three active pseudo Robins, and alas, only one Batgirl, but this can and will change, as meaningful-- the maximum amount of active batgirls is usually one, but that's been true about “Robin” too. The truth is Batgirl IS a Robin of sorts, or Robin could be a Batgirl-- he sure looks feminine in his early appearances, fair skinned, bright red lipped, smooth of thigh. A partner/student-- the father god is a patronizing bastard. Superman can only be one-in-himself, without child or spouse. Batman has so many children, so many lovers, but somehow only ever one or two at a time.

Arch enemies? Each individually is, and when ignored, they spiral around together, reincorporate into single teams, duos or more. Poison Ivy was certainly saved from some degree of relative obscurity and pittance until she was bound in either Harley Quinn or someone else, like Persephone's maturity only in the context of Hades, who, we'll recall, is the deity that poor deluded Maxie Zeus conflates Batman with.

The identification of Hades-Pluto with Batman actually does make a significant degree of sense, especially in light of the access to massive wealth, hidden in caves under the earth that give Pluto his name, but this identification also hints at how dismissed a character like Batman would be in Greece, or Rome for that matter. Perhaps it's the Greek ambivalence before hierarchy and abstract total concern, their skepticism that any concern is infinite rather than self interested and capricious, that makes it harder to identify any popular Greek god with Batman. The Greeks have a justice deity, “Dike” but she does not become significant until after Rome and Greece have fallen by the way-side. The main distinction between a cythonic deity like Hades-Pluto and one ultimately more exalted (though still feared, and perhaps even resented) like Saturn is how present Hades's realm of power is. Gotham is and possesses a certain degree of underworld, but it's not under control, and it is absolutely identified with life, and not after life. Saturn is more of an exile in the living world, a deposed king still able to grant the blessings of alternately Law and Liberation, ironically of course. But he's not an active player like Batman is. When introducing a gay Superman-Batman analogue for The Authority, Warren Ellis names his Superman “Apollo” naturally enough, giving him solar powers, like Superman ultimately. But he cannot name his lunar lover “Hades” or “Pluto”-- instead he goes for the overtly nocturnal descriptive of “The Midnighter,” a helpful mad master of urban ultraviolence.

Batman is only Plutonian at the end of a certain rope, dark and wealthy. At the top of the Rope, he is very much a Lunar deity, as expressed in many ways. The Moon is identified, anomalously, with Chesed the First Sefira in the Eliyahu of Vilna’s Kabbalah, based on an obscure and equally anomalous Zohar piece. This is weird. The Moon is Identified generally with Yesod in most systems. The Vilna Gaon generously justifies this association, describing the moon’s nourishing milky whiteness as the purest expression of Original Loving-Kindness. This is partially much of why and how Batman, a sort of dark and secondary hero, is actually a certain kind of Main Hero, Father God, initiator of teams and pantheons. The Moon as Chesed, as opposed to other stories where he functions more as the Moon as Yesod.

Batman does, to me, resemble a more Egyptian model of hero-- a royal defender of particular city wealth, defined by triumph over chaos, the Solar hero avenging his dead father. Horus is identified by the Greco-Romans with Ares-Mars, and that could be acceptable-- but Batman is too individually organized and motivated generally to identify too much with a national war god, although he does become that as well in many futures-- but specifically a counter-cultural one. A reigning mainstreamed Batman can only be a nightmare villain, unless he's a certain kind of under dog, ostensibly in danger of defeat, a defeat that would jeopardize the lives of the innocent and sympathetic. Maybe that's like Mars, but it seems to me more like Horus, especially considering Horus's identification with a predatory bird, and his epic love with the mother of all Catwomen, Isis/Bast, who Catwoman's familiars are even named.

Batman is certainly the most Egyptian of Superheroes. The tragic prince, whose father-god ruled nicely until cut down by the forces of competitive disruption, he emerges to bring balance-through-violence. Horus is in the aspect of Mars, although all the hero gods also serve and express the Sun itself. This returns us to the mystery of Chesed expressed as Tipheret and vice verse. The next level, Tipheret expressed as defeated by Malchut, is the point where the “realistic” displaces the conventional, and inverts our sense of what is real true, like when a hero is proven to be a predator veiled as altruist crusader. A favorite example of this for me was the Simpsons episode where Mr Burns decides to be Batman, purely for self indulgent violence. Rick Veitch's seminal Brat Pack expresses the decadent horror veiled through heroic pretension, as introduction to an astounding cosmic contemplation on the nature of the cartoon medium. But since then, any Superman/Batman conflict tends to incorporate the similar danger of Batman's privilege to Superman, to testify that discipline bred power is no less abuseable than power from grace.

----

The Tzaddik, as divine as it’s experienced, the words and the deeds that emerge from them, is still fundamentally human. Batman and Superman alike are defined by their humanity, even their mortality, even if also narratively defined as ultimately invincible, or at least, unyielding.

Note again James Gunn's first utterly non-mainstream attempt at Super-hero realism before he became a master of pop-space-adventure; Super. What a gloriously disquieting film. Why? Because its about us what a Batman would be like if realized. Were a person to go out and do justice for themselves, it would need to be fueled by a strange cocktail of personal religious ideology, sci-fi paranoia, and romantic frustration. Ultimately, this clarification makes the film less of a satire and more of a serious comic attempt to give the money shot moments of catharsis that make super-hero stories work, rather than the cynical reason why they can. Spoilers! The dude who becomes a psycho vigilante superhero hits people with a wrench, savaging not necessarily the worst, but the most accessible of enemies, until his troubles and yearning for the honor of his longed-for take him to embrace the danger of attacking a progressively less accessible gangster-villain. In the end, he gets basically everything he is willing to want and aim for, and it's ultimately because he was a devoted person. Devoted to psychotic ideals, and the love of a very untrustworthy cheating and heroin addicted spouse, who, because he does actually rescue her through his violence and madness, returns to him in completeness in the end.

This is the only acceptable god in modernity-- desire, will. Urge, but not the shallow first want that passes, no. The serious burning one that will not let you be whole unless you at least try to get it to be satisfied, and don't stop. What makes Batman a nice guy, ultimately? How much he's not just trying to get the bad guys that killed his parents, no: he's trying to take care of all the other kids, to the best of his ability. This makes him the Tzadik, the Yesod/Foundation. Notice: Lex Luthor's company is called Lex Corp. Bruce Wayne's?

The Wayne Foundation. Through which Bruse Wayne does All The Good that he wants to see in the world BESIDES for the personal masked cathartic violence. This is the work of the Tzaddik is all aspects, manifested effectively.

Superman, on the other hand, is the god in the sky, the perfect standard that doesn't quite seem to ever be, but actually must if things are working out, somewhere some how. Shining Apollo, he is ultimately killed and resurrected every time he's in ultimate danger, or else almost killed, but then resuscitated at the last moment. Batman is rarely so vulnerable as that, instead, he's almost always held captive, or held back from being somewhere. Superman is actually resurrected by serious need. That's the axis they are on, the east and the west, the before (borderline primitive violent warrior king, in a viking city of warring dark shamans) and the after (futuristic civility and capacity, effortless like it will be). Wonder Woman is the ultimate resolution that realizes these both, the pragmatic and the utopian. That’s why she’s the best of them all.

Much more visceral than Superman, much more martial than all but the most dystopian versions, some triads would split the trinity between Chesed, Gevura and Tipheret, putting her on the level of Tipheret, but this doesn't work consistently to the degree that she's not the balance of Batman and Superman-- she's the fulfillment of the need to bridge the divine sensitivity with the human imperative, and in this, she is able to be realer than the other heroes. Her lasso compels truth, but she is not truth herself, she's too human to be so abstract driven, like princess Ariel of little mermaid, by curiosity, epic curiosity that becomes altruism. Not anger, not concern, not ethics per se-- but her curiosity compels her responsibility. Will, an expression of the secret clarity at the root of the crown and the heart of the tongue, traditionally. The purpose of Keter buried in the sense organ of Yesod-or-Malkhut.

------------------------

If the Sun tends towards generally symbolizing Tipheret (occasionally used for certain forms of Netzach) what does the moon tend to stand for and from? Yesod, the West to Tipheret's east, but some say Malchut-- either way, at the opposite extreme from the Sun. The wild was traditionally identified with the moon, the hairy and savage-- werewolves and witches, woodwoses and warrior women. The moon is the first inversion, the first response. It must be noted, that according to the neo-biblical narratives, the stars are initiated specifically to support the moon-- they are all there to support her. But of course, the moon only becomes expressed in order to glorify the sun, whom she lives to reflect. The stars are formed, and then come together to be supported by constellations, ostensibly lifted up into the heavens, and so it's turtles all the way down. Lets say that even the Vilna Gaon realizes how rarely the Moon wants to be identified with Chesed. Lets say he realizes very well how traditional is the Moon’s identification with King David, Malchut, Israel and the purpose of creation, The Sabbath, and fufillment itself. Lets say he knows all that and still would rather not: the wholeness of the moon in one system births the use of it, taken for granted, in another.

------------

There's a moral problem with all the iconic super-heroes, just like there is with all gods: they are ultimately conservative forces, unless they are eternal anti-heroes, like Robin Hood. Robin Hood is problematic only and totally in that he is identifying with another, better order, one that does in fact settle in, and so his iconic nature is certified: Long Live King Richard! What could Robin Hood do of virtue once King Richard returns? If there was still exploitation, could he fight it? Or come to be the agent of the Man, instead of the hero of the needy?Batman and Superman suffer from this problem more than someone like Wonder Woman does, because they are citizens, and she something more like an international monitor, come to see what ails the world. She is never ultimately implicit in the conservative crimes of the world, because she is not defending any particular state, like those other two do.

All passionate acts are driven by will, and wonder woman's tends to be more specific and less abstract. What does “Truth, Justice, and the American Way” really mean? One episode of Batman Brave and the Bold has Superman define it as Bacon Double Cheeseburgers, that most decadent of combinations, like the Justice League itself. Here it is a euphemism for that which satisfies, deeply. Actually a shocking moment in a weird show, alive with quirk and definitive exploration, of characters ultimately at their corniest, soaked in irony, but not dripping it: Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman sit in a diner together. Superman, allowed and invited to be the jockiest jock in Americana, orders a Bacon double Cheeseburger. Ok, fine. Batman orders one too! Ok, cute... Wonder Woman orders a tuna melt on whole wheat-- and Batman CORRECTS her, ordering a Bacon DoubleCheeseburger FOR HER, saying: “You'll work it off, princess.” What a terrible Batman! But that's the Tzaddik for you: Self-righteous, unapologetic, hard to resent too much unless you're the one he's hurting. Superman moves too fast to even have the conversation with, just like god, usually.

But Wonder Woman is moved by desire-- a will and curiosity for encountering the world, mixed with a confident will to help and support an intuitively perceived good. In most encounters, when a relationship is initiated between her and another, she is the initiator, unless they're a bad guy sneaking up on her. This aspect of the warrior princess, associated by the Romans with the Lunar in Diana as well as the supernal in Athena is also very high and very low. How low? It manifests even as in the world, Malchut, more than as Bina/Athena, a role her mother takes, as the retconned Golden Age Wonder Woman, in one of John Byrne’s slightly unconscious innovations. Black Canary and Batgirl could approach this role, but the truth is, neither is often as resonant and Wonder Woman. She is constantly, ironically, the most human, in light of her either divine or clay origins.

The princess, Malkhuth, which I often like to translate as “The Real”, is both very human and very alien. So human, are her sympathies and sensitivities: she notices and responds to the truest need of the abused, in a way that regular super heroes cannot. Very intentionally sent on the mission to encounter humanity and guide us to betterment, it becomes revealed how much she is actually coming from true pre-traditional humanity to restore it's compassion and sense, through both violence and sociality. This is the degree to which Diana of Themyscira ascends to the throne of Mars, become the God of War itself in Brian Azzarello’s “recent” reboot, her golem origin as clay-wished-to-life denied and her divinity emphasized as she’s redefined as a daughter of Zeus Absentio. It remains to be seen what will be done with her origin in the movie coming out next week! But the distinction here is small enough to be irrelevant. Her origins don’t matter as much as her priorities or capacities, as modernism insists about us all. Kurt Busiek's straightforwardly titled maxi-series “Trinity” is the first work i'm aware of to make the Kabbalistic/alchemical relationship between the Big Three DC heroes overt, identifying Superman with the Sun (Tipheret) Batman with the Moon (Yesod/tzaddik) and Wonder Woman with the Earth (Malchuth). He does this in the context of a larger schemata that tries to put a villain in the role of every Tarot card, and address the functional meaning of these characters, this trinity, by removing them from the narrative and seeing who or what would fill that void, and how incapably. And then, he adds an amazing layer, of trying to mythically address and describe the ultimate and inherent conflict between the three, when failure defeats their efforts to rescue, who or what each ultimately blames. This is the klippah moment of anyone and everyone, in defeat and failure, raging out in the name of their own essence, and the ultimate fixing of this conflict, heroes trapped by their essences, is when they become willing to exchange roles, and embrace actually becoming each other. This is a trope from some of the earliest Superman/Batman team ups that survives into almost every incarnation, and is made radically eloquent in Grant Morrison's Invisibles, where part of what the radical anarchist cell of heroes does is to exchange roles by lottery, so that whoever was leader before gets to be something else, and the whole cell is strengthened. This happens in Worlds Finest or Justice League stories specifically in the context of overcoming someone's now familiar definitive vulnerabilities, kryptonite or not being super strong or what have you

. Wonder Woman, because she is physically distinct as a woman from the other two icons is not as easy to switch places with. So she historically has to learn to switch places with herself, something she tends to have little trouble doing, adopting a range of high pressure identities as needed, and functioning for years without powers, connections, or any of much of what she might be identified with. Aggressive feminine sexuality, and grounded realization itself, must be flexible.

Now-- in the tryptarch described above, of sun-moon-earth, Wonder Woman is, in Busiek's model, identified with Earth. This “Trinity” parallels the Sepher Yetzirah's “Three Mothers”, and Aristotle's three branched theory of Thesis/Antithesis/Synthesis, where something is introduced, followed by it's opposite, and the two are tempered into harmony-perfection by their balance. There is the degree to which, as in Kingdom Come, Wonder Woman is the moon and Batman is earth, which would be consistent with the degree to which Batman is the most popular hero in the world, and Wonder Woman is borderline obscure. Different contexts rotate the association, but the big three are the big three, as much as they are in The Avengers as well.

Triune gods and goddesses have a long history and pre history, as do ruling trinities or tribunals. The great Kabbalist Rabbi Yehuda Loew echoes Aristotle's model for explaining the relationships between the centrality of Trinities, and their movement into more stable, friendly Quartets, in the context of the mythical Four World Empires of Jewish Mysticsm, often referred to in the context of Biblical Daniel's reading of Nevuchadnezzer's vision of the Four Metal Man. The initial trinity is where most of the innovation occurs-- the first three letters of the four letter name of G-d, ’י’ ’ה’ and ’ו’ are all distinct--

Thesis(Yod/Babylon)-- the initial (radical) innovation that creates the new field, the new genre, the new model. Put out there, and then it just takes over fast until

Antithesis--(Heh/Persia) comes along to criticize and inhibit the dominance of the thesis. Batman is kind of the anti-superman, utterly human, yet super-human in what might be a more efficient and resonant way

Synthesis-- (Waw/Greece)where the criticism of the Antithesis is resolved with the thesis to create a more powerful and inclusive harmony-- a ruling trinity. Where heroes wind up in this trinity rotates-- and this might be the secret of why the Sun is both first and third on the week chart. But the fourth is the inheritor of all that came before, and the original fulfillment-- clarified and washed of excess by a kind of secondary reflected antithesis-filter-- a new resolution into a now realized empire-- (Heh/Rome.)

Noted Stand up comic and true-historian Colin Quinn remarked the difference between Greece and Rome- Romans had no time for philosophy-- we got it down, now we're gonna get it done-- such is the imperative of a perfect and beloved empire... except for everyone trampled by it's thus imperfected iron heel. They even assimilated democracy has universally has ever seemed to make sense. Rome or “Edom” is the great city of every later story, Latins as we all are by now, Latinized by our most efficient international legal language of technicality and superb bureaucratic detail. A perfect bureaucracy is a swift and effective one, not apparently. There's a reason things are the way they are-- there was some degree of consensus, and some degree of collusion, but mostly just kind of principled reaction.

------------------------------------------------------------

Zach Snyder and David Goyer's Man of Steel expresses, very intentionally, much of the conscious and unconcious purpose and meaning and glory of the Superman myth, and the degree to which America's contribution to world morality and myth are expressed through it. Man of Steel is a certain kind of sublime resolution to the split between savage idealism and cynical hero-craft expressed in his first two films, the radical and ambitious comic book adaptations that are both resolved ultimately in this effort at a 21st century Superman reboot. Man of Steel has a lot to do with the Greek-Persian conflict romanticized in 300, one of the most faithful adaptations of a comic book into movie ever. The connection of course has to do with the mystery of nationalism and personal expression into it.

Watchmen, on the other hand, cannot be but an anti-nationalist effort, even with the amendments that Snyder makes to gently and almost invisibly circumcise Alan Moore's even more radical criticism of utopian delusion. This is the problem with morality, heroism and responsibility itself: the delusion of responsibility manifests itself as unapologetic brutality. Where in 300 this is very purely romanticized and justified as the only way of protecting freedom, no amount of whitewashing can strip Watchman of its piercing criticism of the heroic model. The two extremes of heroism in Watchmen are the urban psycho-vigilante, utterly unsympathetic in his bigotry and straight violent madness, until the end where it is ONLY his idealism that succeeds in triumphing the sinister, genocidal idealistically Machiavellian campaign of Ozymandias, the smartest man in the world. His genius, and hope for a better world order compels him to kill thousands of people, in an effort to mobilize the survivors into a better unified future against a fictionalized alien threat. Batman and Lex Luthor bound up completely into one Super-Watchman, ultimately haunted by the mystery of how much good his plot can be “in the end” when in fact there is no, and can never be, an end, a curious rhetorical conceit itself, in light of how accessible true apocalypse is nowadays.

Man of Steel lives and breathes and fights in this tension, between impossibly deluded self-righteous military bravado and genuine personal sacrifice for the sake of protecting an actual precious. Man of Steel seeks to acknowledge the generally avoided meaning and depth of Superman's identity as immigrant god, and my bias was to see the fear of the immigrant deity in it as, at least partially, a metaphor for the international fear of the Jew that Superman is long suspected to be a symbolic lionization of, as well as comfort against. Zach Snyder is not American. But American comics these last twenty years since Watchmen and Miracleman have made very clear how much the American myth is relevant and meaningful in England, in light of the triumph of immigration over nativism and race-blind democracy over controlling monarchism, at least in the romances of our highest and most honorable moral clarities. He welcomes the issue of Superman's inherent foreign identity, by treating his personal journey of self discovery as fundamental, rather than peripheral, and meaningful rather than just deus-ex-somewhere else. This is the boldest acknowledgement of the virtue of ancient wisdom and identity available in modernity, a modernity that has overcome the melting pot imperative away from foreign identification, and instead embraced diversity as ironic component for localized greatness.

Apollo, in his earliest appearances, is not a solar deity, and not an Apollonian deity as we know him now. Instead, he's an Apollonian in the most literal of senses, a destroyer. Appolyon, recall, is one of the Syriac translations of “Abbadon,” a popular New Testament euphemism for the King of Destruction, a Satanic epithet. This does not sound like the Apollo that the Greeks came to venerate over almost all other gods, who they identify with nobility, art, and aesthetic perfection itself in a way no other divinity comes close to. No, in his earliest documented appearance, he's a vicious war god, raining unstoppable and all-piercing arrows on legions, mercilessly. This is so true, that many anthropologists have speculated that Ares and Apollo originated as the same deity, carrying so many attributes in common as they do. At some point, they become very distinctified-- Ares takes on most of the attributes of the war god history has totally identified him with, but Apollo, from his vantage point as national god of awesome, matures into exactly what Greek idealism matured into-- a sensitive and triumphant solar deity, identified with music, justice, harmony and every kind of perfection the the Greeks would come to value and identify with. In this, he is very much a precursor to Superman. Superman may fight in a war or two, may have even emerged in the context of World War, but he has tended not to be a war god. He is a domestic protector, on the edge of all trouble, arriving mostly as a salvific figure, willing to violently engage any troubles that will not respect his concern and civic values. Civic is the operative word here-- what would Superman be without his Metropolis? As powerful, as capable, but less connected, less in tune, with both human need and human accomplishment. The contrast to this in Cinema is General Zod-- both in the classic Superman II and the more recent Man Of Steel, Zod is a classic Martial figure: a general longing to fight his campaign eternal, to rebuild the glory of his nation on the trivialized ashes of the new world: Earth. Superman's moral divinity is his commitment to his adopted earth, despite the opportunity for personal actualization in becoming the Kryptonian citizen he comes to identify as. This is the great hope an assimilatory motherland has for the immigrants and refugees who flock to her: to be appreciated so much that the original motherland can be defeated so that the new one can live. In this, superman overcomes Martial triumph for Apollonian glory, the harmony between the power of the old and the sensitivity to the new. And so Apollo becomes the Sol-Invictus, identified joyfully with the emerging beauty, rather than the furious invasion. Phew!

Judah Maccabee, notably, slays the Greek general Apollonious(!) in his defense of his people's nativity against the sublime assimilatory insistence of the Hellenists in the Book of Maccabees, and for this, he is commorated in Dante's Divine Comedy as sitting pretty in the heaven of Mars, specifically. Dante, who basically initiates Italian literature with his visionary epic, lists a traditional Seven Heavens, each named after a weekday star-god-attribute. To each, he attributes also a failing, a deadly sin and a virtue unavailable to that star-god-attribute. The great hope of all our next heroes is to integrate the virtues that even the angels cannot, defined so distinctly as they are, the poor trapped kings of nature.

National Gods are only as great as the place they are defined through. The hope of Superheroes of tommorow is just of bigger wider identifications. This is the ultimate difference between Apollo and Mars, between Sunday and Tuesday, between Abraham and Israel. Note that Tipheret, the third, is often identified with the solaris/sun, the first, and see how gold is made: the middle path between initial creative gesture and infinite reaction is harmonia, sometimes an asshole but a very effective one with noble and graceful standards. The hero is in the aspect of, as Heracles emerges as a sun deity after all.

1 note · View note