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mr-smith-stories · 1 year

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Note: This next story pays homage to SNL’s ‘Celebrity Jeopardy’ skits I always loved, with a Mr. Smith-esque twist to it. Enjoy!

Mr. Smith #23- Mr. Smith Plays Jeopardy

It was near the end of March, the midpoint of the semester at MIT, and spring break had just begun for Leo and Ritchie. Ritchie had suggested to Leo they do something different this spring break, so they filled out an application to be on Jeopardy, a show Leo had always loved. They had filled out and mailed the form weeks ago, and were set to appear on the show with fellow contestants Miguel, Marge, Harry Styles, Lili Reinhart, John, and Yosef. Leo was very excited to meet his fellow contestants and prove just how knowledgeble he was on this game show.

After class let out that Friday, Leo and Ritchie took a plane to Los Angeles. That Sunday they showed up early to the set if the famous game show, but were surprised to see only the host had arrived. “Mr. Trebek?” Leo asked. “Where are the other contestants?”

The door flew open and in came Mr. Smith, Kitty, Philip, Simon, Susan and Amy. “Sorry we’re late!” Mr. Smith yelled. “Yosef was afraid of flying in planes and started crying in the airport, so we missed our flight!”

“Yosef?!” Leo asked incredulously. “That’s not Yosef, that’s Simon! And you’re Mr. Smith!”

“I am not Mr. Smith, he’s my cousin, we just look alike because we’re also twins! I’m Mee- goo- well!” Mr. Smith stamped his foot.

“Twins? Cousins can’t be twins! And the name is Miguel, not Mee- goo- well!” Ritchie snorted.

Mr. Smith scratched his head. “What is a twin again? I just forgot.”

Alex Trebek cleared his throat. “Let’s get started. Everyone, go to your podiums, please.”

Leo and Ritchie went to their podium, Susan and Amy to one marked Lili Reinhart and Marge, Simon, Philip, Kitty, and Mr. Smith to Yosef, Harry Styles, John and Miguel, respectively. The categories appeared on the screen. Trebek cleared his throat. “Our categories are Letters of the Alphabet, Famous Historical Figures, Name The States in The US, Numbers Less Than Ten, and Name That Animal.”

Ritchie pressed the button on his microphone. “Why are all of the categories so easy?”

Leo activated his mic. “Yes. Letters of the Alphabet? This might as well be called Jeopardy for Kindergarteneners.”

Kitty pressed on his mic. “I made it all the way through Kindergarten!” He exclaimed, clapping his hands, proud of his accomplishments in life as a 32 year old.

“But then first grade was too challenging for you so you dropped out,” Leo drawled.

Mr. Smith scratched his head. “Does first grade come before or after second grade? Elementary school was so confusing for me that I can’t remember anything I learned.”

Leo sighed. “How are you even on this show? You can’t even do basic math!”

Mr. Smith began to gesture, pointing to places in space. “Is basic math a type of drug?”

Ritchie chuckled and Leo snickered. “Math is a subject in school!”

Mr. Smith rolled his eyes. “There are no submarines in school! They wouldn’t fit!”

Leo’s jaw dropped. “A subject is not the same thing as a submarine!”

“OMGG!” Amy squealed. “I LOVE submarines! I had one for lunch yesterday!”

Susan gasped. “I LOVE SUBMARINES TOOOO! I work at the deli with Mr. Smith on weekends, and he makes me subs all the time! I still can’t believe I never had a sub before then, I didn’t know what a submarine was before last week! So cool!”

Trebek cleared his throat. “Please pay attention. We are going to start.”

“What- ever,” Amy huffed, and Susan rolled her eyes.

Trebek gestured to Leo and Ritchie, on the far left. “Your team goes first. Choose a category, please.”

Leo sighed. “I’ll take The Fifty States for 500.”

Trebek clicked on the button and read the question. “Your question is… Is Camel a state in the USA?”

Leo and Ritchie both huffed. “Are you serious?!” Ritchie demanded. “Why is that even a question?”

“Camel is an animal, NOT a STATE!” Leo exclaimed, exasperated.

Trebek looked down at his phone as it pinged, then looked up. “I’m sorry, but you are incorrect.”

“Incorrect? Camel is NOT a STATE!” Leo insisted. “We got the question right!”

Trebek sighed, looking at his phone again. “I’m afraid Camel is in fact a state. See?” Trebek clicked a button and a children’s illustrstion of the US appeared, displaying “The Ten States” with “Camel” labeled as the entirety of New England. “It’s right there.”

Ritchie huffed. “That’s not even a real map. Why is Camel spelled with two A’s?”

Trebek looked at his phone again, then at Ritchie. “That is the proper spelling of the word camel.”

Ritchie sighed. “Whatever. Just continue the game.”

Trebek moved on to Susan and Amy. “I played a game like this once in High School! It was high stakes and required a lot of hard thinking, just like this!” Amy squealed.

“Ooh, so cool! What was it?” Susan asked.

“We had to play with these blocks, and the first one to knock it over lost! I did so well! I came in third place!” Amy squealed.

“So you actually did well for once? That’s a shock,” Leo said.

“I knooow! I even beat my friend Jamie, who’s really smart! She came in fourth and last place.”

Leo shook his head. “Oh my God. You’re stupid.”

Trebek cleared his throat. “Please pick a category.”

Amy squinted at the screen as if confused. “I pick Name That Animal for S-O- O.”

Trebek sighed. “It’s 500, but close enough.” He clicked a button, and a question appeared. “What animal says ‘quack quack.’”

Mr. Smith buzzed in. “A chimpanzee!”

Trebek sighed. “It is Amy’s turn. And you are wrong.”

Amy buzzed in. “Yes?” Trebek asked.

“A chimpanzee!” Amy said.

“Oh my God,” Leo sighed.

“You’re a moron,” Ritchie said. “He just told Mr. Smith that was incorrect.”

“I thought that maybe Trebek would change his mind,” Amy said. “Maybe he didn’t realize Mr. Smith was right.”

Trebek sighed. “Yosef, it is your turn.”

Leo huffed. “His name is Simon, not Yosef!”

Mr. Smith pounded his fist on his table. “If his nametag says Yosef, his name is Yosef!”

“What happened to the REAL Yosef?” Leo asked.

“Simon IS Yosef! I mean, Philip is Yosef! No, Yosef is Yosef! He is Yosef!” Mr. Smith yelled. “I am Yosef!”

Leo and Ritchie both laughed. “You can’t even decide who is impersonating Yosef.”

Mr. Smith scratched his head. “Is impersonating another name for someone who wants to be president? And what is a Yosef?”

“Oh my God,” Leo groaned while Ritchie sighed.

“Anyway,” Trebek said. “Yosef, choose a category.”

Simon began to cry. “I can’t do this, it’s too overwhelming! There are just so many options to choose from! I can’t take this pressure!”

Trebek sighed. “Alright, Yosef. You can skip your turn. We will move on to Harry Styles.”

Simon sobbed harder. “Now I look like a crybaby! I have to go cry in the bathroom if I can find it!” Simon ran out of the room.

Trebek addressed Philip. “Harry Styles, it is your turn.”

Philip spoke. “I’d like a difficult one, I’m up for a challenge. I’ll take Letters of the Alphabet for 500.”

Trebek clicked a button and read the question as it appeared on the screen. “‘The first letter of the alphabet is A. The answer is yes.’”

Ritchie grumbled, “Why does the question have the answer in the question? It’s not a hard question.”

Mr. Smith buzzed in. “The answer is Zeetch!”

Leo looked horrified. “That’s not even a real letter of the alphabet!”

Mr. Smith scratched his head, then began to gesture and mouth things. “Yes it is. My father told me so yesterday! He discovered that the alphabet most people use is wrong! My dad is very smart. He found the answer on a wikipedia page Grandpappy Smith made.”

“Your grandfather tricked your father? No, you know what, I’m not even surprised.” Ritchie snorted.

Mr. Smith scratched his head. “There are no puppies around to perform tricks, they’re all at the puppy farm.”

Trebek interrupted. “Miguel, it is not your turn.”

“What is a Miguel?” Mr. Smith looked bewildered.

Trebek looked at his phone as it pinged again. “Nevermind. It is not your turn. Harry, please answer the question.”

Philip shrugged. “I am not sure the alphabet exists. Bob and Frankie told me the alphabet is just a government conspiracy to oppress the skeptics who question the logic of modern “science” in the working class. All of academia is just an illusion to baffle us.”

Trebek sighed. “That is false. Miguel, as it appears your friend “John” has disappeared for no reason, you are next.”

Leo raised a hand. “Where did Kitty go?”

Philip shrugged. “He found some yarn in his pocket he had forgotten was there, so he left to go play with it in the hall.”

“Miguel, it is your turn,” Trebek said again.

Mr. Smith scratched his head. “My turn for what?”

Trebek gritted his teeth. “We’re playing Jeopardy. It’s your turn to pick a cateogory.”

Mr. Smith stared blankly for several minutes. “What is Jeopardy? And what is a category? Is it a type of cat, like Kitty?”

Trebek sighed. “Just pick a square with a number on the board.”

“Numbers Less Than Ten for 100. I want to start with an easy one to warm up before I show off my infinity level IQ.” Mr. Smith clapped his hands, proud of himself.

Trebek clicked a button and read the question. “How many numbers are there that are less than ten?”

Mr. Smith looked panicked. “I thought this would be an easier one!” He yelled in a petrified voice.

“It is easy. I’ll give you a hint. It’s ten minus one.” Trebek said.

Mr. Smith’s eyes widened to the size of saucers. “That math is too complicated for me to understand! Can’t you just tell me the answer?”

Trebek sighed. “I could, but then I’d be cheating.”

Mr. Smith scratched his head. “If this is on live television I could get caught cheating. I’ll try by myself.”

Trebek smiled. “You can use the calculator on your phone.”

Mr. Smith waved his hands animatedly through the air. “I only know how to use a traditional calculator! Using the app on my phone is too confusing, I sometimes forget how to open different apps. I click the wrong spot on my phone every time. If I don’t use the app often I just forget how to open it.”

Trebek sighed. “Just count on your fingers.”

Mr. Smith scratched his head. “What is this… “fingers”? I have never heard of that before.”

Leo gritted his teeth. “The answer is 9! It’s obvious! This is ridiculous! You’ve made a mockery out of this show! This is the most absurd game I’ve ever played and I’m sick of it. Ritchie?”

Ritchie smiled. “Yes?”

“Let’s go. This is completely ridiculous.”

“Wait!” Mr. Smith yelled.

“What?” Asked Leo.

“I want to win this game right. If you stay, I promise I will finally admit you are both smarter than me.”

“That’s absurd-“ Leo began.

Mr. Smith quickly added, “And if we ever meet again, I will never make your lives miserable by refusing to help you at my job or disrupting the classroom.”

Leo smiled. “Deal.”

Mr. Smith turned to Trebek. “The answer,” Mr. Smith said smugly. “Is nine.”

Leo and Ritchie facepalmed. Trebek smiled. “Mr. Smith, it appears you have won this game of Jeopardy.”

Mr. Smith cheered and clapped his hands. “Where’s my three billion dollars?”

Trebek looked confused. “What?”

Mr. Smith looked confused. “I demand my prize for winning be three billion dollars, three new sports cars, and to kick the French out of Versailles so I can live there.”

Trebek frowned. “We can’t just kick then out-“

Mr. Smith pounded his fist on the desk. “And I want a hot air balloon filled with enough food so Simon doesn’t get hungry and start crying, a pony- make that six ponies, my own zoo with friendly bears that won’t eat me so I can live among the bears, and a rocket ship with my name in big black letters on the side, reading “The Mr. Smith Shuttle” which will be used to bring my friends and I to the moon whenever we want.”

Trebek’s phone pinged. Finally, his calm demeanor was replaced by rage. “Harold Smith, that is enough! I will not listen to your demands anymore! Enough with the texts and blackmail! I cannot give your son what he wants, this is ridiculous! Let the world know that I’ve been stealing cattle from my best friend’s farm out of spite! He deserved it! Yes, it was ME, Jim. Me, your best friend Trebek! That’s what you get for stealing my girlfriend in middle school! There, I said it! I’m still mad! Mr. Smith, you are disqualified from this show, and so are all your friends, who are in fact not who they say they are! Leo and Ritchie therefore have won 3,000 dollars!”

Mr. Smith’s face turned red. “That’s NOT FAIR! I WON! Give me what I want, NOW, or else!”

Trebek shook his head.

Mr. Smith shrieked, then ripped his mic out of the podium and threw it offstage. “Take that!” Then he took his water bottle and threw it at Simon, who had finally returned from crying in the bathroom. “Screw you, Simon! I hate you!” Then he ran over to the camera and knocked it over. “Ha! You won’t be using this anymore, you piece of trash jerk!” He yelled at the cameraman. Then he picked up the cameraman and threw him at Simon, who ran out of the way. Finally, Mr. Smith ran backstage and found Cheese Whiz, then ran back and began trying to spray anyone who came across him with the cheese whiz, including the security guards trying to escort him away. After twenty minutes of running around, they finally took Mr. Smith and his friends away, arresting them until Mr. Smith’s father gave all the police snicker’s bars, and Leo and Ritchie enjoyed spending their 3,000 dollars on the perfect vacation.

***

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kenobiapologist · 3 years

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Star Wars Novel Rankings

In celebration of the end of this year, I made a tier list of all of the Star Wars novels I’ve read since I joined this fandom in 2017 (which you can use to rank these books too). And I named all the tiers in a dorky but appropriate fashion. I would love to hear your thoughts on my rankings, as well as how you’d rank the books yourself! I’ve had a blast reading Star Wars novels from both Disney’s canon and the Legends extended universe over these past 3 years. Here’s to many more years of reading stories from the galaxy far far away!

I put longer (but not more coherent) thoughts below the cut.

The Chosen One: Bringing Balance to the Force and My Depressed Soul

1. The first spot of top tier had to go to Matthew Stover’s Revenge of the Sith novelization for obvious reasons. You simply cannot beat it. It’s a masterpiece. I literally had to put the book down to scream when I read the prose associated with the opening battle over Coruscant. It gave a whole new meaning to the triumphant music and the synchronous twirling of Obi-Wan and Anakin’s starfighters as they weave through blaster-fire in the battle over Coruscant. The rest of the book is the same way. You can’t put it down. I have wAyyYyYy too many feelings about this book oh my god.

2. Thrawn was a surprising book for me. For being centered on an admiral of the Empire’s navy, it had so much heart in it! I loved reading from Eli Vanto’s perspective too. god dammit I love that freaking Wild Space hillbilly dweeb with all my heart. I think his experiences getting to know Thrawn and learning from him guides the reader to feel much the same way as Eli by the end. Thrawn is a trusted friend, not the enemy you expect him to be. I could have done without Arihnda Pryce but she’s supposed to be unlikeable so I won’t blame Timothy Zahn this time.

3. The Clone Wars Gambit duology is basically Karen Miller writing fanfic and I’m HERE FOR IT. As is tradition with Karen Miller’s Star Wars novels, the emotions are dialed up the eleven. Our favorite dumbass Jedi team is back at it again with a mission to save the galaxy and this time they end up going undercover as two lumberjacks from the boonies. Anakin holds an energy shield back from collapsing with his bare hands like a total badass. Obi-Wan is in love with another woman despite it always ending in tragedy, while also bickering like a married couple with Anakin every ten seconds. get a fucking room, you two. These two books inspired one of my fics so they’re near and dear to my heart.

Jedi Master: These Books Have A Seat On The Council Too

4. Wild Space was appropriately named, I’ll tell you that. It’s a wild ride from start to finish. *slaps the front cover* this book can fit so much of Obi-Wan’s suffering in it! @forcearama has elaborated on the many reasons why this book is a gem in Snark Wars blog posts (linked here). It’s also the beginning of the best team-up since Anakin and Obi-Wan...Bail and Obi-Wan! These two bastards get under each other’s skin but it makes for the perfect character development. This book is the reason I screech with delight whenever Bail Organa appears on screen, or is mentioned in conversation. Bail gets a mysterious tip about trouble on a planet, and Obi-Wan decides to go with him to investigate. Cue Sith-induced suffering. It’s cool to see a normal person experiencing the weirdness of Force sensitives and how the world has this extra level of sensory information in it. Plotwise this one isn’t the best, but I think the interactions between characters really shine in this novel. Karen Miller’s writing is like a cup of hot chocolate to me. Indulgent character insight, full of sweet moments, has a bunch of extra marshmallowy dialogue, you’re reading it to have a good time but not to be satisfied with plot. You get me?

5. Do I even have to explain myself here? Kenobi by John Jackson Miller is both an interesting western-style tale set on Tatooine, and a beautiful character study of a man stricken with grief he keeps suppressed. How does one continue on when their whole family was murdered and their whole culture burnt to ash? I wanted to give Obi-Wan a hug the entire time I read this. The characterization was spot-on, from the way he wrangled animals to the way he severed a man’s arm off in a bar with his lightsaber. And when he meets a woman named Annileen Calwell, or Annie for short, Obi-Wan can’t bring himself to call her by her nickname ever and if that doesn’t just break your damn heart fucking fuck.

6. Ahsoka was the first Disney canon book I ever read and it kickstarted my love for E.K. Johnston. The writing is simplistic, but that makes it easy to jump into. Overall, it’s a quick and enjoyable read. By far the best parts are the flashbacks that mull over memories Ahsoka has of the time before Order 66. That shit hits you right in the heart, man. And the part where Ahsoka equates Obi-Wan and Anakin to her adoptive family ohhhhhhh god the tears they flow like a river. There are scenes that allude to Ahsoka becoming the vital part of the Rebellion we know her to be from Rebels, balanced with her current struggles to survive and find herself. Despite having cast away her identity as a Jedi and having any remaining bits of her culture destroyed by Palpatine, Ahsoka shows us all how bright a hero can shine in the darkest of times. AND SHE WAS WRITTEN AS QUEER! finally some good fucking food.

7. Oh shit, another E.K. Johnston book? Don’t be surprised. She’s a prequel fan and so am I, hence why Queen’s Shadow is so high on the list. E.K. Johnston pays homage to our favorite queen and badass senator Padme Amidala. There’s politics, there’s solidarity between female characters, and Bail Organa is in it so you KNOW I simply must give it a high rating. All jokes aside, I thought the story added lots of little details to the world of Star Wars without it being all stereotypical sci-fi nerdy language. You know how people want to describe something beyond our technological capabilities so they throw a bunch of nonsense together like “pre-praxis crystal bio-anode circuitry”? I’m looking at you, Karen Miller, I love you but please. There is none of that in this book. It makes sense, it adds color and culture and life to the worlds of Star Wars. Most of all, it devotes time and love to developing Padme outside of her place in canon as Anakin’s wife, Queen of Naboo, and Senator. She is all of these things, but she’s human too. I do agree that the pacing is slow, but it’s something meant to be savored, I think. E.K. Johnston really shines when she’s writing dialogue because she gets these characters. That’s something to appreciate, because not all canon books agree with the way we’ve perceived the characters as an audience.

8. Rogue Planet chewed me up, spit me out, and declared me an even bigger stan for The Team. People who say Qui-Gon would have been a better master for Anakin can ~get out~ because I could read about these two hooligans getting neck deep in space shenanigans all damn day. Anakin is like twelve, which is a time in his training that we don’t get a lot of in canon. Personally, I think it was equal parts heartwarming and funny to read about their adventures. There is some angst sprinkled in there because hey, we’re reading about Anakin here, let’s not forget the emotional trainwreck that is Anakin Skywalker. The duo is sent to a planet that makes super fast ships that are ?sentient? or at least biologically active. They bond with the pilot, which makes Anakin perfect for this mission. There’s a scene where these little floof things attach all over tiny Anakin because he’s so strong in the Force and it’s god damn adorable how dare he?? I’d probably rate this one even higher if I read it again, but it’s been awhile. Characterization is spot on and reminiscent of Matthew Stover’s writing in how it highlights the strong bond between Obi-Wan and Anakin, how they’re fated to know each other. I’m a sucker for soulmates, what can I say?

9. Lost Stars reads like a movie. Not a script, but just the perfect amount of detail that you can imagine the scenes but the pacing is still quick, the dialogue smooth and natural. I couldn’t help wishing this was a film because the story was so all-encompassing. The highs and lows of the emotions of both protagonists, their relationship developing, the differences in culture. Folks, this book has it all! It’s a totally different perspective on the events of the original trilogy, seen from the side of Imperial cadets training to become pilots. Eventually, one splits off and joins the Rebellion while the other perseveres in the Empire. It’s like star-crossed lovers, but covers so much more ground than that. And the characters are fully developed. These original characters knocked my socks off, and that’s hard to do since I’m usually an Obi-Wan stan through and through. For anyone uncertain of reading Star Wars novels, this book is a great place to start. Action-packed, emotion-filled, and stands on its own despite weaving perfectly into the established universe. What more could you want?

10. Back at it again with the prequel shit, amiright? Queen’s Peril is E.K. Johnston’s most recent Padme-centric novel and it does not disappoint fans that wanted a taste of the Queen’s side of the story. Set during the events of The Phantom Menace, we get a “behind the curtain” look at how all of the handmaidens came to be more than their title suggests. There’s teenage girls getting stuff done! It makes more sense why Padme was elected ruler of her home-world, and you come to appreciate that a royal leader is not alone; there’s actually a whole team at her side to help her overcome everything from the drudgery of daily governing to Trade Federation blockades that threaten to starve her people. I think if you enjoyed Queen’s Shadow, you’ll enjoy this book a lot. For those that are unfamiliar with Johnston’s work, I wouldn’t recommend this one first because it does cover events you’ve already seen in movies and therefore is a less suspenseful companion to them. On the other hand, because it does tie in with TPM, it doesn’t suffer from the pacing issues of Queen’s Shadow to the same degree. I read this all in one sitting, so it’s definitely fun, but wasn’t compelling enough in its character development to elevate the book past some of the others I’ve listed already.

11. Thrawn: Treason was a refreshing return to the Grand Admiral we all know and love after the second installment in this series slowed things down a bit. Although it wasn’t as character-driven as the first book (which I love with all of my heart), there were still many moments that had me cackling at the disparity between Thrawn’s immense intellect and the other Imperials’ sheer stupidity, and that’s what we’re here for in a book about the Empire, right? There’s a lot of pressure on Thrawn, as his TIE Defender project has been pitted against Director Krennic’s Project Stardust. Who will get the funds? We just don’t know?? Tarkin sits in between the two and as usual, manipulates everything to his advantage. Palpatine questions Thrawn’s allegiance to the Empire after some of the choices he has made, leaving him in even more of a pickle. Thrawn is sent on a wild goose chase task that should definitely end in failure (on purpose because Imperials all want to watch each other burn as much as they want to watch the Rebellion burn), but you know Thrawn will find a way. My main squeeze Eli Vanto makes his return after being absent from book 2. Missed you, my sweet sweet country boy. He doesn’t have a leading role in this novel, but every scene he’s in makes the story better. Thrawn says “perhaps” way too often for my taste, but if you can ignore that, this book is a solid read. Equal parts action and deductive reasoning, as any Thrawn book should be.

12. Most of Dark Disciple had me thinking this was going to be a top tier book, and damn do I wish we could have gotten this animated. We follow Quinlan Vos and Asajj Ventress on a mission to assassinate Count Dooku. Why the Jedi thought this was a good idea, I don’t know. But I’m here for it all the same. 3/4 of the adventure were intriguing, but the ending didn’t do it for me. I won’t spoil things for anyone who hasn’t read this yet, but after all of the character development, to have it squandered so quickly just left me disappointed? I got really attached to everyone in this novel, and I’m sure you will to. I’ve read this and listened to it as an audiobook, and actually I think it’s more memorable as an audiobook. Would recommend, except for Mace Windu’s voice being exceptionally southern for no reason. Weird. I think this novel captures all of the great things about The Clone Wars show; time to really get to know each character and their motivations, action and adventure with the darkness of impending doom tinting everything, and lightsaber fights! Plus, Obi-Wan and Anakin make appearances in this book and it just adds that extra bit of spice. Worth the read, even if you know they aren’t going to get Dooku in the end (which I am still mad about, screw that guy).

Jedi Knight: Passed the Trials but There’s Room for Improvement

13. Few books in the Star Wars universe are centered around characters with no use of the Force, but in Most Wanted, we see a young Han Solo and Qi’ra struggling to survive on Corellia and it provides a humorous but compelling backstory to both characters in the Disney canon. Han is his usual lucky goofball self, and Qi’ra is smart and cunning. You can see how they grew into the versions of themselves in Solo. While the book stays on the lighter side of things (typical of stories written for a younger audience), there are still moments of depth on droid rights, viewing the Force as a religion, and what life is like in a crime syndicate. Addressing these heavier topics without it killing the pace of the story is hard to do, but Rae Carson pulls it off flawlessly. I went into this book with no expectations and was pleasantly surprised by how much fun I had. Han and Qi’ra start off as competitors, but eventually have to learn to work together to survive as more and more people start hunting them down. They’re honestly so cute together, I loved their dynamic. It makes Solo a better movie, and although I liked it on its own, characters like Qi’ra needed a little more time to get to know, which you can get here!

14. Thrawn Alliances was not what I expected at all, and it took me a lot longer to get through. Hell, it has Thrawn, Anakin/Vader, and Padme in it! What’s not to love? Apparently, a lot. The different timepoints and perspectives in this were more jarring than anything else. Although the interactions between Thrawn and Anakin/Vader were enjoyable, it was not enough to elevate this book into the Jedi Master tier. Things felt dry, the characters didn’t grip me like in the first Thrawn, and it all felt like a ploy to introduce Batuu into canon before the launch of Galaxy’s Edge.

15. Leia: Princess of Alderaan was a dive into young Leia’s life before we see her in A New Hope even though this was marketed as a journey to The Last Jedi book, which I disagree with. We really haven’t seen any content about Leia in this time period before, and although I can’t say I was looking for this, I did enjoy it. The book was a little long, but there was adventure and the seeds are planted for Leia to be a bigger part of the Rebellion. The romance wasn’t too memorable, but Holdo wasn’t pointless in this (a stark contrast to her brief appearance in TLJ just to sacrifice herself). There’s a hint about Leia being Force-sensitive but it’s not in-your-face. It’s a typical coming-of-age story but in the gffa. The best part about this is seeing Bail and Breha as parents. I’m forever in pain that we didn’t get to see more of this in movies because it’s so so sweet. Leia must choose what kind of person she is going to be--and what kind of princess she will become. It won’t be for everyone, but I liked it.

16. Master and Apprentice was a typical Star Wars novel, which means it’s full of original characters that are strange and outlandish to serve the plot, a new world full of beautiful landscapes, and Obi-Wan suffering. I want to make it clear that this book is 80% Qui-Gon, 10% Rael Averross, and 10% Obi-Wan. I was expecting it to be 50% Qui-Gon, 50% Obi-Wan, as the cover suggested. Although I was disappointed by that, the story overall was okay. Qui-Gon is kind of an asshole in this? When is he not, though. We really get to sink our teeth into the way he and Obi-Wan fundamentally disagree with each other, so much so that their teacher-student relationship is falling apart. Tragic! They go on one last mission before calling it quits. Qui-Gon is in over his head with prophecies, Obi-Wan just wants to follow the rules, and Rael Averross is Dooku’s previous apprentice that is living his best life as a regent until Pijal’s princess comes of age. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a solid book. I just don’t vibe with Qui-Gon and want to whack him upside the head every time he avoids confrontation with his own student. My protectiveness for Obi-Wan is showing again, isn’t it? Yikes.

17. James Luceno is one of the most analytical authors I’ve ever read anything from, but it seems to always work? Tarkin is all about...well, Moff Tarkin. He’s ruthless, intelligent, and just downright evil. His backstory was compelling and I found myself drawn into the story by the details, although it is dense and took awhile to finish. I’m not interested in him as a character, but despite that, I enjoyed this story. The plot wasn’t memorable enough for me to recall after 3 years, but it’s similar to how Thrawn rose through the ranks of the Navy, just in a different part of the Empire’s governing body. We don’t get many books completely focused on a villain (I don’t count Vader ones because we know who he was before and the whole damn saga is about him), but this one is good! Don’t be fooled by it only being in the Knight tier. I think people who read a lot of sci-fi will like this book a lot. This is like the opposite of Queen’s Shadow, basically. If you had gripes about that book, you might like this one instead.

18. Battlefront II: Inferno Squad was a worthwhile read for anyone who played Battlefront II. Iden Versio is a great protagonist in the game, and I think Christie Golden totally gets her character. She’s nuanced and relatable. The whole team is interesting and getting introduced to each member before the events of the game makes everything mean more. That’s the real goal of any prequel story, I think. Accomplished! The action scenes are on point, the plot served to highlight what makes Inferno Squad special, and you get a sense for the morally grey area anyone must function in as an operative for the Empire. Although not necessary for the greater canon, it’s a great adventure. Iden and her squad members infiltrate the remains of Saw Gerrara’s group (they’ve become a bit of extremist) and destroy them from the inside. It’s got the suspense of a spy thriller and all of the nerdy space opera elements you expect from Star Wars. Although it’s weird to jump into a story not knowing any of the characters, you’ll get attached to Inferno Squad fast. Well, except for Gideon Hask maybe. He’s kind of a dick.

19. If you’re craving some Dark Side action, Lords of the Sith will give you what you’re looking for. Sidious and Vader crash-land on Ryloth and have to work together to survive, and also defeat the Free Ryloth Movement led by Cham Syndulla. It’s all fucking connected, guys. I love when people weave together stories that fit into the canon timeline like this, bringing in side characters and allowing them to develop some depth. And a chance to sink into the mind of a Sith Lord is always fun, if you’re in the mood to read about destruction and anger. It’s cathartic sometimes. If you’re always wondering, why didn’t Vader just stab Palps when he had the chance, this book explains their dynamic more. It didn’t really change my opinion of any of the characters, which is why it’s not higher on the list.

20. Catalyst suffered from being in a really boring part of galactic history. Despite that, Galen Erso and Orson Krennic have a hilarious relationship that I would have loved to see on-screen. This book really develops Krennic to become more than just the whiny entitled evil man we saw in Rogue One. He’s ten times worse now! But I mean that in the best way, I laugh whenever he’s in a scene, that sassy man just brings me joy. James Luceno is at it again, making things as detailed and dry as possible. I read so many of his stories right at the beginning of my journey through Star Wars canon and it’s a wonder I didn’t quit. Some of them are dark as fuck. And also slow as hell. With this one, I think it all comes down to what you want out of a Star Wars novel. Some people will really enjoy the plot. I think seeing how Galen became a part of Project Stardust was interesting and every time something about the Death Star became more clear, I screeched because I knew what it would eventually become. This book may not hold your interest though, which is why I put it lower on this list.

21. Star Wars: Clone Wars was a decent retelling of the Clone Wars movie. I liked it because I liked the movie, but you have to be able to sit back and enjoy the ride, not thinking too much about the silly parts. For that reason, it’s pretty far down in the rankings. Ahsoka is young and liable to get on your nerves. I certainly wasn’t her biggest fan at this point in the series. The biggest problem is that Karen Traviss is very anti-Jedi. Some authors for Star Wars tend to do this? To me, it’s weird. I didn’t notice it too much because it was one of the first Star Wars books I read, but it contrasts starkly with the truth of the prequel trilogy and some of the other entries in the Clone Wars Novel timeline, like Karen Miller’s books. Needless to say, although this book wasn’t super memorable aside from the familiar plot, it kept me reading Star Wars books, and so it is at least an average book. Plus, any content with Anakin and the clones is worth it for me. I love them.

22. A New Hope was good, for Alan Dean Foster. I’m not a fan, I’ll be honest. But this novelization stands on it’s own. I’m going to have to do a re-read to really go in depth on why this isn’t farther up on the tier list, but the movie is always going to be better to me. If you want to re-live the great beginning of the Original Trilogy, it’s worth your time. I mean, the story is full of adventure and mystery and lovable characters. What’s not to love? I just feel like the movie really elevates the narrative with a great score and fun character design/costumes/sets.

Padawan: These Books Have Much to Learn

23. Attack of the Clones was more entertaining than The Phantom Menace because the characters are in funnier situations. Obi-Wan and Anakin chasing Zam Wesell through the levels of Coruscant? Hilarious, just like the movie. Anakin and Padme falling in love as they spend time together? Holy fuck it’s so much better than the movie. Please read it for that alone. Outside of that, the writing style didn’t really impress me. And my experience with it wasn’t super memorable. There was potential to really make the inner dialogue of these characters impactful, to really develop the story of Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Padme beyond what we could get from the movie scenes alone. I didn’t think it went above and beyond there. Not a bad story at all, but you don’t get to look at Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman, or Ewan McGregor the whole time either, so therefore I must rank it lower. So many beautiful people in that movie, holy shit. You can understand my, dilemma, yes?

24. I enjoyed parts of The Phantom Menace book, like deleted scenes with Anakin living on Tatooine before Qui-Gon and Padme meet him. The additional depth is lovely, but I think a story like Queen’s Peril adds more to TPM than this book does. The story overall is still fun. I love this movie so much, it’s hard for me to be critical. I did put a lot of post-it flags in my copy, so it does develop the characters and get you thinking beyond your expectations from the movie. What more could you ask for from a movie novelization? I’d say not much, if I hadn’t read Revenge of the Sith and had my fucking mind blown. In comparison to that, this one is just okay.

25. The Last Jedi novelization wasn’t bad, necessarily. It tried its best to bring this story up to par with some of the interesting novels that don’t have movie counterparts. But still, the plot suffers because of how this movie was made. It’s very focused on Rey and Kylo, and Finn’s little adventure with Rose seems pointless in the grand scheme of things. I’d rather read this again versus watching the film, but that’s all I’ll say on this because I’m trying to keep my opinions on this movie to myself to avoid digging up old arguments. Jason Fry did well, and of the two Sequel Trilogy books I’ve read, I would recommend this one over Ep. 7.

26. The Force Awakens falls short and I think it’s because of Alan Dean Foster’s writing style on this one? It didn’t really expand on anything from the movie, while taking away the beautiful music and visuals. This novel is the antithesis of Revenge of the Sith’s novelization, and for that reason I ranked it fairly low. I wouldn’t read this one unless you really really love the Sequel Trilogy.

27. To be fair, I read the new Thrawn book before I went back and read this one. Even so, Heir to the Empire didn’t impress me at all. Thrawn didn’t seem like a thrilling villain with lots of depth like he did in Timothy Zahn’s reimagined Thrawn novel. We barely saw him. A lot of time was spent on the Original Triology’s trio, which waasn’t bad. I thought Luke, Leia, and Han were all written fairly well. The latter part of the story was redeemed by the interactions between Mara Jade and Luke, for sure. Enemies to lovers, anyone?? Without Thrawn, this book would have been an entertaining story, but for all of the praise it has received from long-time Star Wars fans, I was expecting to be blown away and I wasn’t. Maybe I have to continue the triology to figure out what all of the fuss is about, but after this one, I’m not super motivated to read more. Change my mind?

28. Cloak of Deception really shines when you’re following Palpatine’s perspective because you can feel the undercurrents of his master plan to destroy the Republic underneath his calm persona as a Senator. Other than that, it’s a forgettable plot. This is all about galactic politics and some terrorist group trying to blow up some government officials. Basically the most boring parts of the prequel trilogy. I listened to the audiobook of this at the beginning of this year and I already forget what it’s about. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan should have been able to bring some humor and energy to get you rooting for the good guys, but there was barely any of that. I was disappointed in all of the characters. Everything felt distant, removed from the heart of the characters. Some people in reviews have argued that the events of The Phantom Menace really pinned this novel in a corner because you already know what happens, but I disagree, because we know how Revenge of the Sith goes and The Clone Wars show is that much more tragic and heartbreakingly beautiful because of it. Prequels can be done right. This ain’t it, Luceno. Sorry.

29. Star Wars: The Old Republic, Fatal Alliance needs to go home and rethink it’s life. I’m a huge fan of the Old Republic and I’ve put like 200 hours of my life into playing that game, so I was hoping for some fun content in this part of the timeline. Sadly, this book captured the worst parts of the game, like the fact that there’s way too many factions at war with each other. Jedi, Sith, Empire, Republic, Mandalorians. They’re all here. They’re all ready to throw down. And I’m tired. As with many of the books in this lower tier, I felt there wasn’t enough description of the world or the people in the story. We’re in the gffa, be a little weird and wacky. Be big and bold! Make things terrifying, or beautiful, or both. But give my mind something to work with. The number of characters made the plot messier than it could have been, and it definitely isn’t worth the read. I can’t speak for all Old Republic books, but this one didn’t impress me.

A Sith Lord?! On My Bookshelf? It’s More Likely Than You’d Think

30. So underwhelming, you might as well just read the first half and then stop. Last Shot is absolutely terrible, except for Lando Calrissian’s characterization, which was spot-on. If the whole story had been from his perspective, I probably would have a much difference opinion on the novel as a whole. Sadly, this is not the case. Han was boring, he bottled up his emotions, and seemed drastically different from the badass he was in the original trilogy. There are different timepoints in this novel, and in all of them, Han is unrecognizable. Don’t nerf one of your main characters like that. Daniel Jose Older and I might just not get along. I thought his writing style didn’t fit Star Wars at all. It was like breaking the fourth wall, totally pulling me out of the story constantly. Also, there were little to no descriptions of body language, locations, or movement. It left me feeling disoriented the whole time I was reading. I thought one of the most interesting things would have been seeing Han, Leia, and baby Ben being a family at this point in time, but Han’s family was there as a prop, nothing more. There was a big bad item that was going to cause galactic destruction and our heroes had to go save the day. There was barely any tension and no one lost an arm so I’m pretty pissed off. Is it Star Wars if no one gets their appendage removed? I can’t tell you how much I disliked this book. Which is sad because I was hoping to enjoy it. I like Han. I like Lando. I like space adventures. I’m not that hard to please, or at least I don’t think so.

#Star Wars Novels #tier ranking #long post #i worked hard to put my thoughts into words for you guys #i read these books over a long period of time but I thought I'd encompass all of it in one post #sw lit #i've had so much fun becoming a part of this fandom #and I love the conversations about the books and the gffa in general #hopefully this will inspire some discussion!#i would love you guys to make tier rankings as well #they're always my favorite youtube videos to watch

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fandumbstuff · 3 years

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The Star Wars Saga, ranked best to worst.

1. The Empire Strikes Back Directed by Irvin Kershner

Upon close consideration, I’ve come to the shocking conclusion that Empire is the best Star Wars film. There’s a wealth of world-building and character development here that in many ways makes Star Wars the living breathing universe it is now. A richly complex melodrama lies at the heart of Empire, giving a whole new meaning to the term “space opera”. The performances here are some of the strongest in the entire franchise. Mark Hamill not only fleshes out Luke’s character, but in his training with Yoda and his duel with Vader he establishes the profound nature of the force, and how every future character interacts with it. As Han and Leia, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher create authenticity to their characters’ relationship. Often misinterpreted as playfully hostile or sassy, there’s a real and endearing sense of affection between them, particularly in the infamous “I love you”/”I know” line- shedding their previously petty flirtation and affirming their true feelings. The emotional crux of Empire lies not in the most memorable twist, but in the moments immediately following it - In Luke and Leia reaching out to each other, reconnecting a relationship that was lost, rekindling hope in the force after we thought it was lost.

2. A New Hope Directed by George Lucas

I’ll be the first in line to make fun of dorky George Lucas and his woeful attempts at writing dialogue or romance. However, it’s pretty damn impossible to ignore what he achieved with Star Wars in 1977. The sheer audacity of his vision and his determination in executing it despite the naysaying from producers and supposed friends. Lucas had the bold idea of using cinema for it’s absolute worth- more than just a storytelling medium but a theatrical one. A cacaphony of sight and sound that could draw mass audiences and create a lasting impression. It’s a formula that every Hollywood and Bollywood blockbuster strives and more often than not fails to follow. It’s hard to dissociate A New Hope from the cultural phenomenon it helped create, but when you do, it stands as an impressive film on it’s own. Groundbreaking in terms of it’s visual effects and nostalgic in the simplicity of it’s sci-fi serial story, Star Wars ticked all the right boxes for so many people. If I was to boil Star Wars down to an essence, i think it lies in 2 scenes: Luke looking out at the binary sunset on Tattooine, and Han Solo yahooing after the Falcon saves Luke in the Death Star trenches. Those two scenes, Wistfulness and Exuberance, are the two sides of one concept- Adventure. Star Wars ignited those emotions in every child’s imagination, and it’s a flame that’s likely to never go out.

3. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Directed by Gareth Evans

Hard to believe this is a Disney movie. While the house of mouse may have a reputation for emotional gut punches in kids movies, it’s never felt quite so... permanent. Rogue One is an unrelenting emotional journey barelling towards surefire tragedy. We spend moments with characters that seem to be carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders. The sense of desperation that permeates the movie almost overpowers any sense of heroism. It’s so unlike anything we’ve seen in a Star Wars movie. Their courage comes from a place that is wholly genuine and believable. We see the rebellion for the despondent group that they are. Sorely outnumbered by the Empire, their actions in this movie show a reckless, darker side to them and makes the morality of Star Wars so much more complex. The first time we meet Cassian Andor- the stand out performace of the film by Diego Luna- we see him kill another rebel to protect their secrets. It’s a movie that reframes the original Star Wars trilogy, making it a richer, complex universe and more intriguing as a result. Also, the last five minutes might be the best five minutes in any Star Wars movie.

4. Return of the Jedi Directed by Richard Marquand

The one sore spot in the original trilogy for me are the Ewoks. I realise it's ridiculous for me to complain about kid-friendly creatures in a kid's movie, but Star Wars has done this a lot more tolerably in the form of Porgs and Baby Yoda. Just something about these furry, Tibetan speaking monsters who somehow have the wherewithal to defeat an elite and well equipped empire rubs me the long way. Anyway, other than that, the movie's pretty fantastic. The culmination of Luke's journey comes to a head in an extremely emotional and effective climax. John Williams score crescendos to operatic heights and Mark Hamill's stellar performance sells Luke’s torment. It’s also worth noting that in those final moments of moral dilemma, Darth Vader is silent- it’s David Prowse’s performance entirely that sells this. His incredible presence throughout the trilogy builds to this moment and you can feel the weight of it in those closeups on Vader. Every other cast member rounds the story out perfectly- from Lando and Han’s playful rapport to Leia’s more militaristic side in planning the rebellions final moves. I still bemoan the fact that they changed the final song- an opinion that I’m apparently a minority on- but it’s a pretty incredible ending altogether and wonderfully cathartic to watch over and over again.

5. The Last Jedi Directed by Rian Johnson

With Last Jedi, Rian Johnson analyzed the universe Star Wars inhabits, and what drives it’s characters. The characters that we love are pushed to their limits, struggle against insurmountable odds and their own innate flaws. And we see all of them fail in turn. It is remarkably bleak, but not without purpose. It is out of this failure that the Resistance needs to recoup and come back stronger. The performances here, are arguably the best you’ll find in the entire franchise. Daisy Ridley has to break down Rey’s naivete and find a deeper sense of self actualization. Adam Driver hands in some of his best work, by swerving the audience into believing Kylo Ren and then creating a desperate plea in THAT throne room scene, and eventually turning him into a snivelling villain, all in the same movie. Mark Hamill’s performance here is heartbreaking- revealing the bleakest version of Luke, and struggling to find his redemption. Last Jedi is a bold deconstuction of these characters, of what they stand for, and what makes Star Wars beautiful.

6. The Force Awakens Directed by J. J. Abrams

In many ways, a safe movie to announce the return of Star Wars. But it’s hard to fault this. Disney’s decision making was shrewd here, bringing on J. J. Abrams to pay homage to George Lucas’ original vision, returning the franchise to it’s roots of practical effects and shooting on film. There was something truly special about experiencing this film in theatres, so much so that I did it eleven times. It captured a sense of wonder for fans new and old- hearing the scream of Tie Fighters, John Williams herald the return of the Millenium Falcon, and the look of awe on Rey’s face as she clutches her destiny in her hand. I’ll be honest, the film loses some of this magic without the shared experience of an audience, and it’s flaws are more noticeable. But being swept up in the excitement of adventure felt so darn good in 2015, and that’s so key to this franchise.

7. Revenge of the Sith Directed by George Lucas

This movie has risen so much in my opinion, entirely due to the animated Clone Wars series. Revenge of the Sith depicts the overwhelming tragedy that frames the original Star Wars. Watching Clone Wars explains explicitly what makes this film so tragic. But it’s more than that- it’s a catastrophic failure on behalf of the Jedi Order. Ignorance and pride allow evil to fester and grow. George Lucas took the simplicity of the moral struggle he established in 1977 and tried to give it depth and complexity with the prequels, and it pays off in Revenge of the Sith. It leads into the original trilogy quite brilliantly, with a promise of hope and resilience.

8. The Phantom Menace Directed by George Lucas

It has not aged well. While the advent of CGI I’m sure felt exciting at the time, and you almost can’t fault George Lucas for his insistence on staying at the forefront of VFX innovation as he has always done, it’s his reliance on so much of it that fails horribly. Like a kid in a candy store, Lucas stuffs the pockets of this film with so many bizarre effects for absolutely no reason. That sea monster scene is one of the worst displays I’ve ever seen and it’s absurd that it sits in a Star Wars film. Add to that the boring political plotline and ridiculous midichlorian dilemma and there’s very little redemptive about this film. However, it does have podracing, and Duel of the Fates, and it’s remarkable how much that salves the wound.

9. The Rise of Skywalker Directed by J. J. Abrams

Alright, well obviously this film has been problematic. However, I’m not about to bemoan the idea that Disney has ruined Star Wars and I have nothing left to live for. So let’s all just calm down. Ultimately J. J. Abrams was faced with the impossible task of wrapping up the Skywalker saga, with very few Skywalkers to work with. I firmly believe this would have been a very different film if Carrie Fisher was around to complete her performance. But left with nothing but the new cast, Abrams is caught between summing up the past while also looking to the future. It forces an awkward plotline with Palpatine- despite Ian McDiarmid's solid performance, the writing here seems wildly derivative of the franchise. There are some truly beautiful scenes, most notably the chemistry that Adam Driver gets to share with Harrison Ford, and Joonas Suotamo’s critically emotional outburst as Chewbacca. Some of the production design and score is so entirely different from the rest of the franchise it's inherently intriguing. But there’s very little here to save some of the poorer choices the film makes: the open plot hole with Finn, the derailing of Rey’s character development, and most crucially, the deeply perturbing culmination of Rey and Kylo’s relationship. The audience literally went “ew”.

10. Solo: A Star Wars Story Directed by Ron Howard

The biggest problem with Solo is that it operates under the presumption that people will be enamoured and invested in it. Not just in one movie, but in an entire series of movies. Solo clearly operates as a setup for further sequels. As a result, many plot lines remain unresolved, and Qi’ra winds up being a completely under-baked character. Her motivations make no sense, and a twist ending that I assume was supposed to be exciting is instead downright confusing. There’s a lot of unnecessary exposition into Han’s past too. As an origin story, I don’t need to know every aspect of Han’s past- especially not cute winks at inane things like “Why’s he called Solo?”. All this being said, The movie features some solid performances- Donald Glover is expectedly phenomenal as Lando, and Alden Ehrenreich excels as Solo, adding some welcome flavour to the character- particularly his friendship with Chewbacca, and a brilliantly executed final scene between him and Woody Harrelson’s Beckett.

11. Attack of the Clones Directed by George Lucas

How in the world this film made it all the way to production and into filming, with no one pulling Lucas aside and saying “Hey George, those kids have no chemistry” is beyond me. And I’m not going to blame Hayden Christensen or Natalie Portman on this one, because the whole damn love story makes no sense. Maybe falling for a dude who admits he murdered women and children isn’t such a great idea? Then there’s the increasingly convoluted political climate set up in Phantom Menace, and the machinations of the dark side that would take the entire Clone Wars series to fully explain. All this being said, Temuera Morrison, Samuel L. Jackson, Ewan MacGregor AND Christopher Lee are all in this movie. And they’re pretty damn fantastic.

12. The Clone Wars Directed by Dave Filoni

It’s inexplicable that Dave Filoni would go on to have a hand in some of the best Star Wars content ever made in Clone Wars, Rebels and the Mandalorian. And yet he got his start in the franchise by putting up this piece of junk. And junk is being a little generous. The humour is so juvenile it’s insulting to even the youngest of audiences it’s intended for. The plotline feels way to thin to warrant a feature film, and if this was in fact intended as a pilot for the TV series, they sure picked to most uninteresting story to pique our interest. Skip the movie, watch the show.

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everlarkbirthdaygifts · 4 years

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Happy Birthday, kelskels95!

Happy Birthday, @kelskels95! We hope you’ve got a wonderful day planned, with a delicious cake to look forward to at the end! To start your party off right, the lovely @endlessnightlock has written a story just for you!

This fic is part two of something I wrote for Everlarkbirthdaygifts a few months ago- you can find a link to that story here; this part is based on the 1952 John Wayne/Maureen O’Hara movie The Quiet Man, which is set in Ireland during the 1920s.

John Wayne plays a disgraced former boxer who moves to his family’s homeland for peace after accidentally killing a man in the ring. Maureen O’Hara is his tempestuous love interest. It’s a fun, beautiful, very romantic, and funny (she is a real hothead in the film, and they have great on-screen chemistry) movie that I highly recommend.

I hope you enjoy this little homage to The Quiet Man.

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“Ah-ah-ah,” Haymitch stops me in my tracks when he glances over his shoulder and locks eyes with me. The village drunk is certainly the laughing stock of this little sheep-farming bit of countryside where I’ve been living for the last six months, so I wait, fully expecting him to crack a joke and cut the tension suddenly formed between us.

I wait, and Haymitch waits. He doesn’t smile- instead, he stares me down as if I were a thief flinching his best white liquor from his cabinet in the middle of the night and not a man in the middle of courting a young lady, trying to lift her down from the buggy.

I guess even Haymitch takes some responsibilities seriously. I just wished for my own sake it wasn’t this particular responsibility. The confounding traditions these people have are outrageous enough on their own without his overbearing attitude. Back in the States, a guy could just pull up to a girl’s house, honk the horn, and wait for her to run out and meet him.

A fella wouldn’t be forced to sit on opposite facing seats in this “courting buggy,” driven around the countryside by the town drunk, unable to carry on any real conversation with his girl.

Not that I would ever honk for a girl, at least not for Katniss Everdeen, anyway. She is small and beautiful and fiery and has the loveliest grey eyes I’ve ever seen. I might have enough sense not to pull up to her door and honk my horn (I’d have to have a car in this country to do such a thing, anyway), but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like to spend a little time alone with her, now that I’m officially seeing her.

Damn it all; there is an honest to God twinkle in Haymitch’s eyes when he addresses me again, but only after I’ve dropped my hands away from Katniss’s waist and stepped away from her. “Mr. Mellark-”

“My name is Peeta if you please. My father was Mr. Mellark,” I remind Haymitch, crossing my arms over my chest and staring back at him. I’m much bigger and stronger than him (I’m bigger and stronger than most men actually, or I wouldn’t have had the boxing career I left behind in the States), but that doesn’t deter him the least.

“Ms. Everdeen is a fine, healthy girl,” he continues, leaning back in his seat and waving his hands at us, his expression knowing, “and she is quite able to climb out of the buggy by herself. So there’ll be no need for any patty-fingers there, Mr. Mellark.”

I frown up at Haymitch and his sly words. There were no, as he implied, patty-fingers involved. I was simply grasping Katniss’s waist to help her get down from her side of the buggy. I know she is an excellent climber; I did just dislodge her hair and hat from a tall tree limb last week in the middle of a disastrous rescue of her sister’s cat.

All three of us are aware that we are doing today is simply an exercise in etiquette.

Katniss and I have spent this evening, our first official “courting” outing, chauffeured down the local countryside’s winding roads. It’s so beautiful in spring’s palates of greens-

(I love the beauty of this land. I don’t think I will ever tire of it- I’ve never seen such shades of green all my life. The land wasn’t like this back home in Chicago, but of course, when you grow up in an apartment above the family bakery, how is a fella to know what nature looks like? Sunday trips for a stroll around the park didn’t quite cut the mustard, either.

Here, the surroundings are a feast for the eyes. Everything is colored in varying shades of green, rolling on for miles and miles: the trees, the pastures, the pretty dress that Katniss is wearing today. It goes so smartly with her straw hat, which, I can’t help but notice, is the same one I had to help her dislodge from a tree branch just last Sunday. This place is serene and peaceful, exactly why I chose to come back to my ancestral home after leaving the boxing ring behind.)

- past neighbor’s farms, and stone fences as far as the eye could see. In his given role as one of the senior men (and the local drunk) in the village, Haymitch has driven Katniss and myself around. We are not to be alone together now that I am courting her- even though she has visited many times at my farm, alone, without any threat of ruination. The “courting” title is the only difference in any of it; I’ve wanted to kiss Katniss’s pert little mouth since the first time I laid eyes on her.

“Patty fingers?” I ask indignantly, although I do drop my hands from Katniss’s waist. A scowl forms on her lovely face, wrinkling her nose adorably.

“Quit your fussin’, boy. Now what I’m doing here, well, this is a good stretch of the road leading into town. I’ll let you do about a mile or so on your own; give you a chance to see how you feel walking together. I’ll be right behind you, so no funny business,” he directs. I move to put my hand on the small of Katniss’s back but am quickly tut-tutted by Haymitch. “Patty fingers!”

Katniss’s and my eyes meet, and she rolls her eyes at Haymitch’s evident enthusiasm for his task.

Ha- see if I’m eager to buy him another pint at the pub!

Instead of speaking, we walk close beside each other, not touching- the only sound the click of her low heels on the packed-dirt road. Once there is some distance between us and the buggy, I hear Haymitch make a clicking sound at the horses and snap the reins, and soon he is moving down the road, following us again.

At least this time, Haymitch is keeping a little distance- I know he is giving us some room to speak with each other, but I cannot think of a single thing to say to Katniss with an audience. We continue in silence, neither of us anxious to speak, which is unusual because I am quite the talker. Katniss, while not overly verbose, is rarely short of things to remark upon when she is alone with me.

Finally, I open my mouth. “You look lovely today, Katniss,” I say, admiring her because it is the truth, and you can never go wrong telling your girl she is lovely to you.

Her eyes skate over my frame quickly before she faces forward again. “Is that your best suit you’re wearing today, Peeta Mellark?” she asks, a grin forming at the corner of her mouth.

I smile at my full name crossing her lips; it reminds me of a prim schoolmistress- I like it very much. “Yes, it is my best suit, Katniss Everdeen,” I answer in kind. “Do I pass muster?”

Katniss’s eyes slide to the side; I catch her watching me. “It does look quite fine on you,” she says softly, glancing forward again.

I hear the buggy come to a halt behind us as Haymitch stops to speak to the vicar, so we stop in the road as well. Katniss faces me, and when our eyes lock, I have an overwhelming desire to be alone with her, talk with her, make her laugh, and maybe earn a chaste kiss. I want to know everything there is to know about Katniss Everdeen, and I cannot do any of those things with our chaperone in tow.

Although I would never say time spent with her is a waste, I am mourning the freedom of those evenings she would visit me at my farm, when we were alone to talk, even if it was only in the manner that friends do.

I sigh.

Katniss shrugs her shoulders. “This is quite ridiculous, isn’t it?” she bites back a smile. I think she’s growing as tired of the proprieties as I am.

“It is.” I agree. Neither Katniss nor I are youths needing looking after. I just passed my 26th birthday, and she is only a year younger than I am. Considering what I’ve been through in those short years, it’s been much longer than one would think since I’ve felt like a boy.

I catch sight of something then- a two-seater bicycle, leaning against the side of the pub, and it gives me an idea. “Can you ride?” I ask, nodding discreetly at the tandem. Katniss glances over her shoulder then, and so do I.

Haymitch remains in conversation with the vicar.

In unison, Katniss and I take off in a dead sprint for the tandem. Reaching it, I hop on the back of the two-seater bicycle, and she climbs onto the seat in front of me. Moments later, the two of us are riding the bike through the village on our escape route out of town, all to the sounds of Haymitch bellering indiscernibly behind us.

#everlark #everlark fanfiction #everlarkbirthdaydrabbles #everlarkbirthdaygifts #fan fic #by endlessnightlock

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davidmann95 · 3 years

Note

How'd you like the new Death Metal special (and, more broadly, this week's comics)?

pretenderoftheeast said: Comics this week (12/9/2020)?

Batman: Black and White #1: The first of a platter of anthologies today:

* The Tynion/Moore story is predictably fire.

* JHIII is JHIII. Also he does a really nice surprising story about how Batman’s relating to this moment of the time, but let’s be real, you’re here because JHIII, and be assured he is JHIII as helllll here and it’s great.

* Dini/Kubert plays as the former building a story around accommodating requests by the latter, but that’s not a bad thing, and glad to see Kubert’s kept up the pace since his DK3/Up In The Sky creative rejuvenation.

* Ok I’m a philistine who has no idea what that Emma Rios thing was about but it was certainly pretty.

* Wilson doing Batman is surprisingly disappointing, but Smallwood doing Batman definitely isn’t.

DC’s Very Merry Multiverse: Not a very merry time! I hate to say it given this should be so geared to my interests, but this is the weakest overall effort we’ve gotten from one of DC’s quarterly anthologies in a good long while, at least among those I’ve picked up. Not to say it’s a dud, there are several nifty little stories in here including the much-hyped first appearance of Kid Quick (destined to become the Flash of Future State) and really almost everything here reaches ‘pretty okay’. But for $10, and a creative space that should reach so much more than ‘pretty okay’, I don’t know that this is a justifiable recommendation unless you’re understandably desperate for all the President Superman content you can get your hands on.

Tales of the Dark Multiverse: Flashpoint: I’m surprised I got it too, but the preview grabbed me and in practice it was a fun, mean little high-concept adventure of Reverse Flash being a total cock.

Wonder Woman #768: Credit where it is due, this has been getting a bit better in its closing stretch.

Dark Nights: Death Metal: The Last Stories of the DC Universe: This ruled. Obviously there was the one story folks are most interested in, but almost all of the tales in here lived up to being a ‘final’ story of sorts for their leads.

* The Titans bookenders were pretty nice even if it’s hilarious that their big rallying cry basically amounts to “by god, our book may be shit, but we’re valuable IP so we’ll never be cancelled!”

* Green Lantern is basically an epilogue to Johns’ run sans the baggage of bringing back Johns (that we get in two weeks with Secret Origin and god forgive me I’m so looking forward to that), and definitely one of my favorite efforts from Lemire.

* Wonder Woman’s the stinker in what’s nominally her own event. I can parse the roots of most bad Superman stories one way or another, but I just can’t understand what’s behind most bad Wonder Woman stories beyond that the people handling it simply don’t give a shit.

* Astonishingly, the Green Arrow and Black Canary chapter in here might be my favorite of the bunch? Simone at her best, a really sweet slice of playful, sincere romance about two characters I’m not by default invested in but ended up quite caring for here.

* This Aquaman story is everything I generally hate in Aquaman stuff, a big long maudlin speech about the weight of the world as he swims through a black featureless ocean, except here between the real heart Sebela brings to the script and the mood artist Christopher Mooneyham manages to evoke, it all clicks together.

* The Batman Family story feels like it can’t quite make its pacing work, but it’s still a heartfelt little ode to the theoretical power of the concept.

* Hey, that Mark Waid guy? Turns out he can write him some Superman. It’s not perhaps the total barnburner you might have expected - I imagine he’s saving his biggest hits for later - but it’s a very solid execution of a gangbusters concept, and Manapul steals the show with absolutely sensational, gorgeous scenic Superman imagery. I’mma say 60/40 in favor of them doing a Superman project together on either a main book or Black Label (I know Manapul was supposed to be locked into a creator-owned thing with Scott Snyder but that was ages ago), because this is a paring that’s yielded some immediate results and I imagine everyone knows it. And given my upbringing, nice to see a big, iconic, beautiful Superman story with him rocking the mullet.

Anonymous said: Haha holy shit Crossover is literally Cates taking that page where Spawn meets all the corporate heroes locked up and spinning it out into a series

Anonymous said: Does Crossover #2 hold the crown for the funniest, dumbest, most baffling opening page ever?

Crossover #2: Readers I’m not too big to admit I laughed my ass off at the first page, and at least a little bit for the actual reasons intended. The sense of homaging that Spawn scene in the context of a book about “Gosh, isn’t IP the best folks?”, or Cates’ dialogue...(shall we say) proving why he likes the concept of ellipses enough to name a character after them aside though? That it’s already crossed the line with its central metaphor from “indefensibly insensitive in its ridiculous self-centeredness” to “out-and-out cartoonishly offensive” somehow actually makes it more rather than less palatable; there’s no longer the secondhand embarrassment of waiting to see how bad Cates is going to handle this, it simply is the worst it could possibly be and readers have to accept and perhaps revel in the sight of him stepping on rake after rake. I cannot wait for him to finally give an interview on this book where he explains what the hell he thinks this looks like, and I hope my dad keeps somehow enjoying it forever because I totally wanna see what pit this descends to next.

Penultiman #3: This is absolutely agonizing and probably the most relatable take on a ‘superman’ ever.

Home Sick Pilots #1: A new creator-owned book from Dan Watters (whose big two credits include the stupendous “Afraid of America” with John Paul Leon in the last Batman Secret Files, and the upcoming Future State: Superman/Wonder Woman) and Peter Cannon’s Caspar Wijngaard, this new book set against the backdrop of a Californian high school’s punk scene in 1994 describes itself as “Power Rangers meets The Shining (yes, really)”. The former influence isn’t much in play yet, but thus far this is a book that merges building tension and freewheeling dopey teen bullshit to an extent that’s subtly impressive as hell, and seems likely to proudly take a place among the current horror comic renaissance.

Warhammer 40,000: Marneus Calgar #3: Ok again I don’t have any experience with this franchise but you’d better believe that cultural osmosis was enough that I popped for BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!

King in Black: Namor #1: Kurt Busiek’s return to Marvel...sucks? Such is the power of Knull I guess even if he doesn’t manifest within the actual story here, this is a complete nothing of a comic and I’m not tuning in for issue #2.

Avengers #39: Eh, I’m not liking Aaron Avengers when it gets remotely serious nearly as much as when he’s doing stuff like having them finally help Blade with all those vampires or Captain America assisting with the delivery of an exploding space-baby in the back of a muscle car.

Anonymous said: That new Guardians of the Galaxy was something else. What do you think the odds are that Comic Books, with a decade or two of hindsight, recognizes Ewing as one of the best to ever do it?

Guardians of the Galaxy #9: I lack much context here beyond recalling from an interview that this is Ewing’s way of grappling with the ideas from Steve Englehart’s original unrealized vision of Star-Lord’s character arc, but wherever it stems from this is a hell of a comic.

S.W.O.R.D. #1: This is everything I’ve wanted from the non-Hickman X-books since the moment HoXPoX ended, and so much more, and also it is basically hilarious that Ewing is all but explicitly using his clout to force Marvel to let him to Ultimates3 under a currently cancellation-proof banner. Most importantly of all, Ewing has already mastered the subtle art of writing not merely Magneto, but the infinitely superior Jonathan Hickman Magneto. And good lord Schiti and Gracia, I already knew they were top-tier but these pages’d make a grown man cry.

#Week's Comics #Opinion

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afaimsarrowverse · 4 years

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The 35 Craziest Arrowverse Episodes

„Crazy“ is an ever changing measure, especially in the Arrowverse. When Time Travel and Parallel Universes were introduced it was a heavy leap from the norm. A couple of seasons later it was pretty much normal. So this list reflects changes in the norm, episodes that pushed the crazy and unusual. What is crazy for on show is not crazy for another one. So if you mix it you might not find it as crazy as something below it, but it is as crazy … for the show it’s featured in.

So, let’s get into it:

35. Haunted (Arrow Episode 4.5/74, Written by: Brian Ford Sullivan, Oscar Balderrama, Directed by: John Badham)

John Constantine crosses over in the Arroverse in this episode which reveals Olivers dealings with him in the past and shows him restoring Saras soul. With this episodes the show started to embrace it supernatural arc, here „Arrow“ got mystically weird.

34. Hey, World (Legends 4.16/67, Written by: Phil Klemmer, Keto Simizu, Directed by: Kevin Mock)

In the Season 4 Finale of “Legends” Nate is brought back to life by the power of love and song, Vandal Savage returns in an unusal way and we meet a dancing dragon. Good stuff indeed.

33. Mr. And Mrs. Mxyptlk (Supergirl Episode 2.13/33, Written by: Jessica Queller, Sterling Gates, Directed by: Stefan Pleszczynski)

Do not listen to the haters. This is basically the “Supergirl”-Version of the 90s Trek-Episodes with Q in it. This one is probably the most comic book-y episode “Supergirl” ever did and it’s great.

32. Welcome to Earth2/Escape from Earth2 (Flash Episodes 2.13-14/36-37, 36: Written By: Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, Katherine Walczak, Directed By: Millicent Shelton, 37: Written By: Aaron Helbing, Todd Helbing, David Kob, Directed By: J. J. Makaro)

Like I said, we got used to multiple earths. However this two parter is the first time we ever visited one. We visit Earth-2 in this, where pretty much everything and everyone is different. We are in for a lot of surprises.

31. License to Elongate (Flash Episode 6.6/120, Written By: Thomas Pound, Jeff Hersh, Directed By: Danielle Panabaker)

This one is the „Flash“-Version of a James Bond Movie, with Barry and Ralph encountering a Bond loving villain who steals ideas and lines from movies, which is exactly as much fun as it sounds.

30. The Book of Resistance Chapter 4: Earth Crisis (Black Lightning 3.9/38, Written by: Lamont Magee, Directed by: Tasha Smith)

In this one „Black Lightning“ discovers the multiverse and Jennifer meets different versions of herself, which lead to the shows best episode in quite a surprising way.

29. Cause and XS (Flash Episode 5.14/106, Written By: Todd Helbing, Jeff Hersh, Directed By: Rachel Talalay)

It’s the “Flash”s time-loop episode. More dark than funny, but with a lot of deaths and an happy ending, so in the end really worth it.

28. An Un-Birthday Present (Batwoman 1.11/11, Written by: Chad Fiveash, James Stoteraux, Directed by: Mairzee Almas)

„Batwoman“ goes into the whole doppelganger business with this unusual episode, where Beth is back, which is a surprise for Kate, even more given that Alice is still running around as well.

27. Invasion! (2) (Arrow (5.8/100, Written by: Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Wendy Mericle, Directed by: James Bamford)

While the writers cleary had fun with Barry and Kara in this one, the heart lies in the dream reality, where weg et a look at a world where the Gambit never sunk.

26. Doomworld (Legends Episode 2.16/32, Written by: Ray Utarnachitt, Sarah Hernandez, Directed by: Mairzee Almas)

Alternate timelines are kind of an Arrowverse thing, but this one did not came to be through time travel but through the Legion of Doom rewriting history to their own liking. Therefore there is no cause and effect to the changes, which allowed the writers to have a lot of fun.

25. Camelot/3000 (Legends Episode 2.12/28, Written by: Anderson Mackenzie, Directed by: Antonio Negret)

From the far future to Camelot and King Arthur – this episodes travelled far and mixed those two areas up quite nice.

24. Witch Hunt (Legends Episode 4.2/53, Written by: Keto Shimizu und Matthew Maalaa, Directed by: Kevin Mock)

Here „Legends“ inserted the a singing Fairy Godmother into the era of the Salem Witch Trials. The Fairy Godmother was really not the fairytale kind, but rather an evil one, but boy, she could sing.

23. Back from the Future Part 1 (Supergirl (Episode 5.11/98, Written by: Dana Horgan, Katie Rose Rogers, Directed by: David Harewood)

An evil Winn from another earth turns up, which brings back our Winn and we get a Winn-Off, so to speak, and Winn with Clark Kent glasses so he wouldn’t be recognized.

22. Elongated Journey into the Night (Flash Episode 4.4/73, Written By: Sterling Gates und Thomas Pound, Directed By: Tom Cavanagh)

This episode introduces the main one, which was Ralph of course, who discovers his new powers in this and is not as amused about them as we are.

21. What’s Past is Prologue (The Flash Episode 5.8/100, Written By: Todd Helbing und Lauren Certo, Directed By: Tom Cavanagh)

In the 100th episode Barry and Nora time travel through the history of the show, face down the Flash greatest villains of the past while trying not to change the time line, which of course does not work out.

20. Reset (Arrow (Episode 8.6/166, Written by: Onalee Hunter Hughes und Maya Houston, Directed by: David Ramsey)

Yes it’s a time loop episode in „Arrow“! It’s probably the moment the show embraced it’s funny pages origin the most wholehearted.

19. The Virgin Gary (Legends Episode 4.1/52, Written by: Phil Klemmer und Grainee Godfree, Directed by: Gregory Smith)

John Constantine joins the Legends in the time for a murderous unicorn at Woodstock that roofies most of the team and gets Ray to snog a tree, Mick and Nate to exchange loving vows, and Zari to chase lights.

18. Helen Hunt (Legends Episode 3.6/39, Written by: Keto Shimizu und Ubah Mohamed, Directed by: David Geddes)

Helen of Troy single handedly destroys the Golden Era of Hollywood, simply by being there and driving men nuts. Studio exes try to kill each other in order to get her, while Damien Darhk becomes her agent to wreck even more havoc.

17. The Fellowship of the Spear (Legends Episode 2.15/31, Written by: Keto Shimizu, Matthew Maala, Directed by: Ben Bray)

This episode is “Legends”-Homage to Tolkien and his works. However the most quotes and nods go to the Peter Jackson Movies, which is no problem, because we love them too.

16. Starling City (Arrow (Episode 8.1/ 161, Written by: Beth Schwartz und Marx Guggenheim, Directed by: James Bamford)

We are essentially reliving the pilot with a few signifcant changes. Turns out we are actually on Earth-2 and Oliver pretends to be his doppelganger in order to do a thing for The Monitor.

15. Séance and Sensibility (Legends Episode 4.11/62, Written by: Grainne Godfree, Jackie Canino, Directed by: Alexandra La Roche)

What have Jane Austen and Bollywood in common? Both a represented in this episode that features a Bollywood number and the death of Jane Austens writing career.

14. Luck is a Lady (Flash Episode 4.3/72, Written By: Sam Chalsen und Judalina Neira, Directed By: Armen V. Kervokian)

This episode introduces Hazard, a Meta who generates Bad Luck in order to have Luck herself which creates a lot more chaos than you would think.

13. Emerald Archer (Arrow Episode7.12/ 150, Written by: Marc Guggenheim und Emilio Ortega Aldrich, Directed by: Glen Winter)

„Cops“ meets „Arrow“. This is a documentary about Team Arrow, or rather the making of the documentary about Team Arrow or rather a very special very unsusal episode.

12. The Bottle Episode (Supergirl Episode 5.10/97, Written by: Derek Simon, Directed by: Tawnia McKiernan)

We get a lot of doppelgangers, most of them Brainys, and a lot of chaos, I mean more chaos then most other shows usually have, except for „Legends“.

11. Aruba (Legends Episode 2.17/33, Written by: Phil Klemmer und Marc Guggenheim, Directed by: Rob Seidenglanz)

The Finale of Season 2 features two sets of Legends, while the team goes back and while Malcolm, Damien, and Snart are mostly confused Eobard strikes back by recruiting a lot of his former selfes.

10. The Good, the Bad and the Cuddley (Legends Episode 3.18/51, Written by: Marc Guggenheim und Phil Klemmer, Directed by: Dermott Downs)

In the Season 3 Finale we got a massive Beebo who fights a gigantic demon. The Beebo was created by a Legends Orgy and symbolizes … well love I guess.

9. Raiders of the Lost Art (Legends Episode 2.9/25, Written by: Keto Shimizu, Chris Fedak, Directed by: Dermott Downs)

This is officially the episode where „Legends“ went nuts. Oh and it’s a delicous one. George Lucas never became a filmmaker after being scared of by Malcolms and Damiens attempts to kill amnesiac Rip Hunter who thinks he is an American filmstudent, whose script is basically the plot of the shows first season of „Legends of Tomorrow.“

8. It’s a Super Life (Supergirl Episode 5.13/100, Written by: Robert Rovner, Jessica Queller, Derek Simon, Nicki Holcomb, Directed by: Jesse Warn)

The 100the episode watches videos of the show and comments on them, then inserts Kara into the past and let her change things and create alternate timelines, what ifs, so of how things would have turned out if she had made different choices.

7. Beebo the God of War (Legends Episode 3.9/42, Written by: Grainne Goodfree und James Eagan, Directed by: Kevin Mock)

Mostly it’s the episode about Beebo Day. You know, the blue god, who hungers for war and conquest? Whose birthday we celebrate once a year in december and … wait? What was I talking about?

6. Crisis on Infinite Earths Part 1-5 (Supergirl, Batwoman, Flash, Arrow, Legends, Part 1: Supergirl Episode 5.9/96, Written by: Robert Rovner, Marc Guggenheim, Derek Simon, Jay Faerber, Directed by: Jesse Warn, Part 2: Batwoman Episode 1.9/9, Written by: Din Whitehead, Holly Henderson, Directed by: Laura Belsey, Part 3: The Flash Episode 6.9/123, Written By: Lauren Certo, Sterling Gates, Eric Wallace, Directed By: David McWhirter, Part 4: Arrow: Episode 8.8/168, Written by: Marv Wolfman, Marc Guggenheim; Directed by: Glen Winter, Part 5: Legends of Tomorrow Episode 5.0/68, Written by: Keto Shimizu, Ubah Mohamed, Directed by: Gregory Smith)

In the biggest and craziest Crossover in the history of television the multiverse is destroyed and rebuilt, Oliver Queen dies, we meet an evil Batman and we get a Supermen Team Up, among many other things.

5. Legends of To-Meow-Meow (Legends Episode 4.8/59, Written by: James Eagan und Ray Utarnachitt, Directed by: Ben Bray)

Sulky about missing out on the Crossover the Legends crossovered with themselves in Season 4. John and Charlie destroyed the timeline for selfish reasons, and now everything is wrong and everything they do makes things worse instead of better.

4. Meet the Legends (Legends Episode 5.1/69, Written by: Grainne Godfree, James Eagan, Directed by: Kevin Mock)

This episode is the documentary and the making oft he documentary. Think Arrows „Emerald Archer“ only way carzier and funnier.

3. Duet (Flash Episode 3.17/63, Written By: Aaron Helbing, Todd Helbing, Greg Berlani, Andrew Kreisberg, Directed By: Dermott Daniels Downs)

It’s the Musical Episode! The „Supergirl“-Crossover has all the jazz – singing, dancing, kissing, opening up about feelings – and also a mini „Glee“-Reunion.

2. Elseworlds Part 1-3 (Flash, Arrow, Supergirl, Part 1: The Flash Episode 5.9/101, Written By: Eric Wallace und Sam Chalsen, Directed By: Kevin Tancharoen und Tom Cavanagh, Part 2: Arrow Episode 7.9/147, Written by: Marc Guggenheim und Caroline Dries, Directed by: James Bamford, Part 3: Supergirl Episode 4.9/74, Written by: Mac Guggenheim, Derek Simon und Rob Rovner, Directed by: Jesse Warn)

In this Crossover Oliver und Barry switch identities which no one on Earth-1 believes, but Kara’s help leads to an evil not-quite Superman and a brand new reality.

1. The One Where we‘re Trapped on TV (Legends Episode 5.13/81, Written by: Grainne Godfree, James Eagan, Directed by: Marc Guggenheim)

And the award for the Craziest TV Episode of all time goes to this one, where the Legends are trapped on TV. We get very familiar but strange versions of „Friends“, „Downtown Abbey,“ and „Star Trek“ with the Legends as the main characters instead.

#Arrowverse #Arrow #The Flash #Supergirl #legends of tomorrow #Batwoman #Black Lightning #Craziest Episodes #favorite episodes

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casebasket · 4 years

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The Mystrade Treatise

I am long, long out of the Sherlock fandom, but I still have a soft spot for mystrade after ~ 7 odd years (the only thing I really cared about in the show), so when a friend asked about mystrade I hit them with a spontaneous 2000 word block of text. I thought I’d share it as an homage to the still quietly existing community of mystrade shippers out there. Basically, in this essay I will argue for my interpretation of how the BBC TV show Sherlock (2012) establishes an implied relationship between Mycroft, (The Government) and Lestrade (The Force) in the subtext. This analysis will be broken down to two parts: 1) show chronology / their history and 2) their compatibility, which can be further split into 2a) personalities and 2b) external circumstances.

(The beginning is the only formal(ish) part of - I’m calling it a treatise -, the rest of the piece is written in “I typed it all in messenger app” style. This all came out off the top of my head, so if you think I’m missing something I’m open to the callout)

TL;DR: I’m still mystrade trash and I’m pulling the receipts on mystrade canon

1) Their history - it's clear they know each other and are in communication with each other since the very beginning - and very likely even before - the events of the show. Just a show tidbit, the ending of the pilot episode has Lestrade watch John and Sherlock walk away happily staring into each other's eyes and tell Donovan about their potential as partners, whereas the actual first episode replaces him with Mycroft talking to his assistant Anthea, which shows their character parallels. In one aspect, their role as "aggravated older guardian" is a shared one and one that - rationally, but in fanon - allows them to commiserate with other another. Also, Mycroft kidnaps John in his very first day of him meeting Sherlock, so reasonable to conclude he did the same to Lestrade, so they've clearly met. And, I believe it's canon that Lestrade helped Sherlock with his drug problem, so he's clearly run into Mycroft, whether it's because his brother's OD'd or found with possession or whatever whatever. The possibilities are endless.

We have hints of them knowing each other throughout the show - in season 2 episode 2 the Hound of Baskerville (I am surprised and appalled I know this off by heart instead of more important things), the duo meets Lestrade in a tavern where he's clearly back from holiday and when Sherlock eggs him by basically calling him Mycroft's lackey, he, aggrieved, says "I don't just do what your brother tells me", which is a line I still unfortunately remember over 5 years later, and that is the first precedent set in canon that they clearly communicate. We can interpret this line, given the circumstances, that Mycroft asked him to cut his vacation short to go check up on his brother, and Lestrade, being whipped, was like fine.

This is mere speculation, but in that mini episode, Many Happy Returns, Lestrade is listening to Anderson go on about his conspiracy theories on how Sherlock is still alive, and at the end of it he passes a newspaper article about Sherlock, and he smiles at it like he KNOWS he's still alive somewhere even though he just walked out calling Anderson on his bullshit and dismissing his theories, and I like to interpret that as Mycroft told him Sherlock's still alive. Plus, when Sherlock greets him after his two year absence, the way Lestrade reacts is less “am I seeing a ghost because you’re supposed to be dead” and more “you’re finally back I already know you were alive because my boyfriend Mycroft told me”.

The first time we see them in frame together (in the mystrade community this is famously known as the 29 frames moment because they only showed up for - 29 frames, like 2 seconds) was in season 3 episode 3, where Sherlock goes missing and everyone looks for him in the hidey holes they know of. Lestrade is seen in Mycroft's office while Mycroft tells him about potential hiding spots. Honestly he did look hella dismissive and rude but you know what? Everyone was stressed. But this shows not only is Lestrade trusted in his secret government offices - and likely this was the secret one because it looked like a cellar - but he trusts Lestrade implicitly. When Sherlock is about to leave on a plane, Lestrade's in a pub watching the TV screen when Moriarty's face is all over it and the very next scene we see Mycroft on the phone with someone getting the news that this was happening. Coincidence? I think NOT - Lestrade called up Mycroft and told him, CANON.

And then there's the Christmas special or whatever it was, about the abominable bride, and yes, this one is set in Sherlock's drug fevered mind, but that only means that, in Sherlock's mind, he sees the two of them as a set (Sherlock ships it confirmed lol). During the whole episode when we see the canon versions of Mycroft and Lestrade they are together as a unit. When John leaves him, Sherlock's mind goes to the most reliable thing in his life to help him, which is his brother (and his brother's boyfriend) and his friend Lestrade to help him, together. Sherlock asks the two of them to help him dig up a body and they share a Look, which is clearly Mycroft's way of asking Lestrade to do the dirty work of actually digging and Lestrade resignedly concedes because there is no other way to analyse the Look, and in the next scene we see Sherlock and Lestrade digging in a grave while Mycroft holds up a lantern because Mycroft doesn't like legwork and Lestrade, clearly his boyfriend in Sherlock's mind, understands this and is willing to accommodate.

And then we have the whole of S4, or as I like to call it, Johnlock hell but mystrade victories!, because in s4e1 when Mary is shot in the aquarium, the first person they look at is each other, indicating they take some level of comfort or seek it out from one another in a room full of other people, also the two of them arrived together so they clearly coordinated, also when the gun was lifted Mycroft looks shocked and steps back a bit while Lestrade moves forward in a “ready to step in” protective gesture, and this all happened in the same frame, and there are gifsets of this happening, and everyone was quietly screaming (Johnlockers in pain, mystrade shippers in "look at them sharing a frame together look at these scraps we're getting"). In the second ep we don't see them together but we do see Mycroft getting hit on by Lady Smallwood and he looks hella uncomfortable about it, while Lestrade is talking with another detective and Sherlock shoots him down telling him she's not the one (because clearly we all know who is the one and Sherlock knows it's his brother).

Oh yeah also jumping back to S3, Mycroft is saying no one can match him and he sees everyone as goldfish but Sherlock is like oh really and was lowkey concerned about him and that's how the mystrade fandom got this whole goldfish thing and it's adorable (special shout out to duchessclovery ‘s masterful fanvid romcom series A Fish Called Greg), and in the wedding ep Sherlock calls Mycroft to attend the wedding but he refuses, and Sherlock says "specter in the feast" to entice him and I like to interpret that as him lowkey jabbing him with a *in*spector in the feast because Lestrade was there looking tired and lonely throughout the whole ep lmaaaaaaaaaaaaao.

Anyway back to S4E2, Mycroft is getting hit on, Lestrade is the most tired we've ever seen him, Sherlock is trying to waive off Lestrade's suitors to save him for his brother. Why is Lestrade so tired? Yes, he's questioning a suspect or something, but also! maybe it's related to his love interest getting hit on, who knows???? And lastly, the last ep of S4, the golden era of mystrade, at the very end of the episode after we've seen Mycroft at his most vulnerable, Sherlock asks Lestrade to "take care of him (Mycroft). he's not as strong as he seems". This was an explicit request by Sherlock, addressing Lestrade correctly for the first time, to take care of his brother, and Lestrade says yes. Of course I will. S4 ended with the promise of the him taking care of Mycroft and honestly I don't care about the entire episode except that part

2) A: their personalities: so, Mycroft, as his colleagues know him, is ~ the ice man ~. He's hard to know, even harder and more stubborn and isolated than his brother, and on top of that he's like, contractually obligated under his top secret government job to not be known. That makes him, and this is canon as Sherlock discussed his loneliness with him in S3, even more lonely than his brother, and probably, as much as he likes to think himself more accommodating than his brother and he can definitely pretend for the sake of appearances, more difficult to deal with than Sherlock if he really sets his mind to it. But he's not a complete block of ice - after all, ice can melt - and he has soft spots for his family, esp. his unruly little brother, and by extension (maybe more necessity than real care, but still) the people his brother affiliates with. Because Sherlock is so tricky to deal with, I believe he has a soft spot for people who share that softness for his spiky sibling, and no one cares for Sherlock as he does except for Mrs Hudson, John, and Lestrade. Lestrade's done it for even longer than John, and in the show plays a somewhat paternal figure to Sherlock despite him causing him even more stress sometimes than solving cases for him would relieve. Lestrade is shown to drop everything to help Sherlock when he needs it, and is considered one of his best friends when Moriarty put a sniper on each of Sherlock's closest acquaintances (Lestrade was a target). Lestrade always saw the good in Sherlock despite everything, and believed he could be great. Very few sees the same potential, or shows that level of kindness for - lets be honest here - someone we would want to kick in real life. Lestrade's kindness and patience, enough to deal with Sherlock, surely can be extended to involve Mycroft, as Mycroft's protectiveness extends somewhat to Sherlock's friends.

And this is not a one way street of just Lestrade being kind and accepting. The people Sherlock surrounds himself with appear dull, and have "normal" lives, but secretly either have a florid past (Mrs Hudson) (and her present with the race car and her quick thinking when the flat gets ransacked) and/or crave adventure and danger and intrigue (John) (Molly). Lestrade is the probably the same. He seems aggravated by Sherlock but still like him a whole lot and truly care for him, and you don't go into policing if not for some kind of excitement. He has a failed marriage with his wife who boringly cheated on him with a PE teacher, like how predictable and cliche, and they broke up. Lestrade is loyal, and he wants to fix things, but in the end it doesn't work out. The show doesn't really tell us why, but given what we know of his work and his habits, he probably spends way too much time on the job and in part, neglected his home life. That isn't to say the cheating his wife did can be condoned, nor was it justified, but it does tell us that Lestrade is a workaholic who craves excitement and adventure which explains his attachment to Sherlock. Who else can match that with him in a relationship? Another workaholic who surrounds himself in government intrigue and MI6 bullshit cloak and daggers who also share a soft spot for the most annoying detective consultant, of course!!! For all we know from the show, Mycroft is Lestrade's one constant relationship outside of work. Their common interest is keeping their shared loved ones safe. Beyond that, even though Mycroft feels bored by everyone because "no one is as smart as i, hohoho", Sherlock used to be the same but he found John. We see Lestrade able to hold his own against Sherlock sometimes too, and he is a detective inspector, so as much as Sherlock likes to call him dumb we know that Lestrade's actually pretty smart. If he can hold up his own against Sherlock, he can hold up his own against Mycroft. Mycroft needs someone with the patience to go through all his bullshit, and Lestrade needs someone smart and interesting and protective, because as a protector himself sometimes you forget you need someone to protect you in turn. And that is basically their whole thing - two fierce guardians, trying to protect the world, finding they also need protection, and finding it in each other (end of season 4). Also there's this scene where Lestrade is sitting by his desk with his feet propped up while he eats a donut and says "not my division" which looks exactly like this scene where Mycroft is sitting by his desk with his feet propped up looking smug, or as the mystrade shippers like to call it, "boyfriends picking up each other's behaviours". Essentially, the johnlock relationship sort of parallels the mystrade relationship in that we have a smartass, spiky, secretly vulnerable one paired with a badass, patient, relatively more sunny one. But more mature. And also preferable. The two of them share some kind of relationship that has reached the point of nonverbal understanding, as we can see in their quiet glances towards each other during the few times we see them on screen together, that requires a level of trust and time.

2) B: compatibility in external circumstances - this is a short one, it's mostly that they're both workaholics who needs someone to understand their unpredictable work schedules, and also how minimal their social life can get being a) married to work and b) work can be classified and you can't tell anyone about your case files / government coverups. No one could understand the need for secrecy and getting up in the middle of the night for a case/subterfuge than Mycroft and Lestrade, as their career roles work in tangent with each other. And they share (1) chaotic child between the two of them, so they just. get it when one receives a call telling them to fish this loud annoying bitey man child out of the Thames. Their jobs get in the way of establishing close relationships, so who better to relate to than another who live the same kind of life and can understand?

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squidproquoclarice · 3 years

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For the Sunrise AMA, What was it like writing the chapter where they find Susie? I remember reading that and being like whoa, it was very good.

So this developed gradually. It was another thing where I wanted to respin some of the in-game Epilogue and do my own homage to it rather than just write a totally different 1907. But I also desperately wanted to fix its huge problem of being almost entirely plot device/deus ex machina based writing rather than organic plot and character evolution like the first six Chapters. What we have in-game is nobody having any clue for the longest time Micah’s anywhere nearby so Sadie doesn’t feel obligated to go after him. Then suddenly Sadie knows Micah’s around, he’s a threat with a whole gang of his own, and gosh, conveniently, one of his men is right there in Strawberry to interrogate! And then Cleet spins some yarn about arguing with Micah about killing a little girl and that causing them to go separate ways. So: it’s fairly nonsensical that Micah could be operating a large, violent criminal gang and even be mentioned by name in the papers without Sadie as a very seasoned multi-state bounty hunter having any Goddamn clue he’s around. It’s also fairly nonsensical that a vicious sadist like Micah would just let Cleet walk away from the gang after crossing him and proving he’s “weak” in Micah’s eyes. I tried to patch some of that as best I could. Micah not being seen or identified by anyone got explained as his level of violence deliberately leaving no survivors--which is fitting with his in-game actions. I also ended up revealing he has practical reason to do so given his distinctively identifiable eye patch. I did take that one aspect from the High Honor “go for the money” ending and transport it to the fight up on the ridge, and explained it as Arthur breaking Micah’s eye socket and the bone splinters in the eye needing its removal. It felt like a selfless Arthur who rescued John deserved to leave that mark on Micah for the next eight years for Micah to think about, and not just a selfish Arthur who weirdly decided he cared most about money he didn’t expect to survive to spend. (I’m still kind of “What the fuck?” about the non-logic of the money ending.) As for Cleet, I was leaning towards that issue of killing small children being genuine for him. It could have been Cleet lying, but it did feel like it could be a genuine fracture point. You can be a monster who still has some limits. So I figured they might run across Cleet at a homestead, where that argument about killing a small girl meant Micah shot him and left him to die slowly, because that felt like Micah’s style of indiscriminate “so there, that’ll show you” violence. And Cleet could still be the one to tell Arthur and Sadie that this dangerous “Big Valley Phantom” is Micah, and where to find him. The Hagens were originally one-shot NPCs for Arthur and Sadie helping guide them to their homestead in 1901 on their way up to Adler Ranch for Sadie to say goodbye to Jake before marrying Arthur. I went for Shepherd’s Rest because it would be there on the map in 1907, and it being there in 1901 seemed possible. Then I was reminded of them being there in 1907. I think I dropped a casual mention or two of the Griffiths dropping in on the Hagens while trying to pick up the trail of “Jim Milton” since they would be in the area as an “Oh yeah, someone they knew, they’d probably say hi since they were right there, and the Hagens did say to drop by if that ever happened.” I didn’t do much with it right then given the Hagens didn’t figure into my plans yet (and therefore ended hastily patching some mention of it in later about renewing the friendship that spring when they stopped by...yeah, it’s this kind of thing I’ll probably try to smooth out a bit on the edit) Then at some point I realized it could work for the Hagens to be the ones involved. They were newlyweds in 1901, so they could have a small child. There’s unfortunately always going to be more narrative punch when events involve someone you know rather than Random Citizen #2. I’d also been having the thought that Sadie and Arthur would end up adopting kids in the future, but the survival of a little girl from a violent attack, especially the daughter of friends, would be a reason to make her part of their family. So it all seemed to work together. But a lot of the weight of it hit me only in the moment when I was writing the chapter. I like to let things largely play out as I write them, and this was no exception. So you get both of them riding up and sensing that something’s wrong that the Hagens didn’t meet them as planned, and the stillness of the homestead, and then being reminded of past traumas. Arthur’s reminder of riding up to Eliza and Isaac’s cabin and seeing the silence along with those fresh graves with two crosses. Sadie’s reminder of her own home being broken into, and Jake’s murder and her own ordeal. They’ve got their kids there too, which makes it even harder. And then Sadie deliberately saying she’ll go see about Susannah, and Arthur saying he’ll go check Nils and Margit’s bedroom, is each of them agreeing to shield the other from more direct triggers. Arthur can’t see a murdered small child, and Sadie can’t see a married couple presumably surprised while asleep in bed and then murdered, especially the husband. Finding Susie alive and hiding, and seeing Cleet’s still alive and able to tell them what they need to know sets off two different and disparate missions: taking care of this orphaned and traumatized little girl and their own kids, and hunting down Micah. And the conflict and tension between those does inform a lot of the next few chapters in trying to figure out where their responsibility lies, the nature of duty vs vengeance, etc. It was a really rough chapter to write between the emotions and the aftermath of violence, but I think it’s probably one of my better ones for all that. I knew a lot hung on this one, given the payoff of finding Micah was something that had been left pending and gathering tension for readers who knew it had to happen at some point.

#rdr2 #sunrise ama #sadie adler #arthur morgan #may the sunrise #writing #fic from the parking lot #foundynnel

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recentanimenews · 3 years

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OPINION: WandaVision, SSSS.Gridman, and the Beautiful Prison of Nostalgia

Just to warn folks: this article contains spoilers for WandaVision and SSSS.Gridman.

In 2021, in the middle of a pandemic and floundering movie theaters, the most discussed show of the year so far is Marvel's WandaVision. Fans and culture writers have been busy diving deep into what the show is about. Is WandaVision a successful portrait of the process of grief? Does it successfully humanize Wanda, a character who’s so far evaded the spotlight given to characters like Iron Man or Captain America? Is “what is grief but love persevering” a good or a bad line? Where was Mephisto in all this? Most difficult of all: in allowing Wanda some relief and kind words after she brainwashes an entire town into doing exactly what she says, does the show let her off the hook?

Listening to my friends and coworkers argue over this show over the past few weeks reminded me of one of my favorite anime of the past few years — a series that tackled themes of grief, nostalgia, and whether a monster can be redeemed. A series that predates WandaVision by three years and has a sequel coming out next month. That’s right, I’m talking about SSSS.Gridman!

Like WandaVision, SSSS.Gridman is a show about a girl (Akane) who escapes to a bubble world when life becomes too much for her to bear. She uses special technology to manipulate people’s awareness, and through the power of a mysterious entity known as Alexis Kerib, summons giant monsters (kaiju) to murder those she doesn’t like. Our heroes, a trio of her classmates who join forces with the space cop Gridman to defeat the kaiju endangering their friends, eventually turn their attention to saving Akane, the “god” of their world, from herself. They do this over the course of 12 episodes and many exciting, well-choreographed battles.

While Yuta (Gridman’s friend and partner) is technically the protagonist, Akane quickly steals the show as the most developed and layered character in the series. She’s capable of astonishing violence in the pursuit of her own happiness, but just as easily bruised when her plans fail and her creations turn against her. We see the moments when she regrets her actions, but also the moments where she makes terrible decisions despite knowing their costs. Just like Takeshi, the villain of SSSS.Gridman’s live-action predecessor, Akane is defined by weakness as much as strength. Even when her actions put other people at risk, they are driven as much by anxiety and fear as they are by hate.

Just like with WandaVision, there was plenty of discussion as Gridman aired about whether or not Akane could be redeemed. Like Wanda, Akane has hurt and even killed many people. At times she even attempts to manipulate them. Yet at the end of the series, when she “opens the door” to Yuta and her friends and escapes Alexis Kerib’s influence, I was overjoyed. How could this be?

Here’s my guess. Like WandaVision, Gridman isn’t just a show that attempts to humanize a villain. It is a show about nostalgia. As each episode of WandaVision is an obsessively detailed homage to American sitcoms, Gridman is a 12-episode love letter to live-action dramas and giant robot shows. Obscure alternate universe Transformers tie-ins, past episodes of Ultraman, Gridman scripts and guidebooks that were never produced — it’s all there, packed in not just by the dedicated staff but presumably through scriptwriter Keichi Hasegawa, himself a legendary Ultraman writer.

Unlike Takeshi, Akane is a cool, stylish teenage girl. But deep down, she’s as much a geek as Takashi was, fiendishly dedicated to kaiju and robot shows. The kaiju she creates aren’t just a means by which she exerts control over the world, but an expression of her love. When Gridman destroys these kaiju to protect Yuta’s friends, Akane can’t help but take those losses personally. It’s not just the desecration of her favorite hobby. The failure of her creations is a consequence of her own lack of imagination. She can’t imagine any other way to manage her problems than to create a bubble world where everyone loves her.

The trick of SSSS.Gridman is that while Yuta and his friends are the heroes, Akane is the true audience surrogate. How many of us also feel as though we are ostracized nerds with low self-esteem? How many use our favorite shows or games as an escape? In WandaVision, we see how Wanda watches sitcoms as a child as a way to cope with daily uncertainty. There’s nothing wrong with sitcoms; the creators of WandaVision clearly love them, having built such an elaborate homage to them. But if you spend the time watching sitcoms that you could be using to sleep or to eat (or, say, turning a town of people into a sitcom to avoid dealing with the death of your lover) then something will inevitably give.

In Episode 9 of Gridman, Akane traps Yuta and his friends within their dreams in a last-ditch effort to turn them to her side. Each rejects her, choosing their responsibility to their friends rather than their god. At the end of the episode, we see that Akane, herself, is trapped in a dream. Despite holding unlimited power, all she can do is retreat further and further into a shell that she has built out of her own self-loathing. It is a shell that not even a superhero like Gridman can break. In the end, at the very last moment and with the help of her friends, Akane breaks it on her own.

You could point at other similarities between WandaVision and what SSSS.Gridman did back in 2018, if you really wanted to. For instance, the way that both series (through Vision and Anti) approach the question of personhood and what it means to be a “monster” or a “robot.” You could parallel the efforts of Yuta, Rikka, and their friends to pull Akane out of her hole with the way Monica Rambeau becomes an empowered hero surrogate in WandaVision. If I would point at one way in which Gridman differs from WandaVision, it is how Gridman’s embrace of live-action superhero shows and giant robots better lends itself to a finale where human evil is punched into submission. By comparison, by the time Wanda starts throwing energy balls around in WandaVision, it jars with the sitcom homage and character study of earlier episodes.

All things said, at the end of the day I prefer Ultraman and giant robots punching each other to Cheers and Marvel films. That’s not to say the latter is worse; it’s more a matter of personal taste. Either way, I’m glad that art continues to be made that grapples with the messy contradictions of human behavior. Though I’ll suggest: if you’re looking for genuinely challenging, ahead-of-its-time source material for a Marvel adaptation, X-Statix is right there!

Did you watch WandaVision as it aired? Are you looking forward to SSSS DYNAZENON? Will we ever see an animated adaptation of Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye? Let us know in the comments!

Adam W is a Features Writer at Crunchyroll. When he is not loudly shouting the praises of John Allison and Max Sarin's Giant Days, he sporadically contributes with a loose coalition of friends to a blog called Isn't it Electrifying? You can find him on Twitter at: @wendeego

Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a feature, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: Adam Wescott

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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Why Eliza is the Real Hero of Hamilton

https://ift.tt/2ZATEMv

We can all woop King George III style now that Hamilton is now available for the world to watch on Disney+. The long awaited recording of the global sensation is 2 hours and 40 minutes of pure magic – a beautiful retelling of the life of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton. We presume the show is all about Alexander, as he is in nearly every scene. Although he played such an important role in the Revolution and in forming the nation’s government, the show’s namesake – Hamilton – also plays homage to his wife, Eliza Hamilton.

It may take the story unfolding for us to realise that Eliza was, in fact, the real hero of Hamilton. Not only did she play a huge role in the show, but in American history.

Eliza, then a Schuyler, is introduced with her sisters Angelica and Peggy in an early number before she takes centre stage during ‘Helpless’. Not only does she sing about how she isn’t one to ‘grab the spotlight’, but she has no concerns with the fact her fiance is penniless, and that she would be settling for far less than the high society she was born into. Her father Philip Schuyler was a Revolutionary War General, and her mother Catherine Van Rensselaer Schuyler was born into one of the richest and most influential families in New York. Whereas her Alexander was born out of wedlock to an already married woman, Rachel Faucette, and a Scotsman that abandoned the family some years later. Through the lyrical genius of Lin Manuel-Miranda, Philipa Soo explores the true selflessness of Eliza during the song.

The next time we really see Eliza is during ‘That Would Be Enough’ where she sings to her husband upon his return from war. Pregnant, emotional and not having heard from or seen her husband in months, she still remains the rock when he breaks down. She reiterates how the only thing important to her is that he remain alive and meet their son, and talks about how amazed she is by his accomplishments thus far. During this time, the real Eliza Hamilton was also assisting her husband in his political writings – much of the information laid out in the letters that would go on to be hugely influential in American Revolutionary history, were in her writing.

Then our hearts start to break. We begin to see the impact Alexander’s tenacious, legacy driven lifestyle is having on his family life. Remaining ever calm, Eliza pleads with her husband during ‘Take a Break’ rather than going full crazy mode on him (like we would…) for missing important milestones in his children’s lives. All she wants is some love and affection from her husband, not even half the devotion he gives to his country, but still remains happy when he refuses her proposal.

In 1787, pregnant with their fourth child, Eliza took in Fanny Antill, the two year old daughter of Hamilton’s closest friend Colonel Edward Antill, who had recently lost her mother. She mothered 8 Hamilton children, as well as suffering a miscarriage in the wake of her youngest child falling ill. Eliza managed to do this while maintaining her household throughout multiple moves to accommodate her husband’s career (yes, really – she did maintain her own household despite living in a very sexist and classist society), being at the forefront of American society, constantly attending dinners and having little to no private life. Sounds like the dream, right? Having your every move sprawled across the national press, and being constantly watched and judged, is the modern nightmare.

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What we don’t see in the show, is that Eliza aided Alexander hugely throughout his career. She acted as a mediator between Alexander and his publisher for The Federalist Papers, and is reported to have helped him perfect Washington’s Farewell Address in 1796. It’s perhaps surprising – this was the 18th century, and she was a woman – but it’s true.

Here comes the real hard-hitter. In 1797, Alexander Hamilton admitted to his one year affair with the much younger Maria Reynolds that had taken place 8 years prior. In case you missed it in the show, he doesn’t just admit his infidelity to his wife, he instead published the Reynolds Pamphlet, a 95 page document detailing how he brought Mrs Reynolds into his marital bed behind his loving wife’s back. The Hamilton-Reynolds affair was one of the first sex scandals in American political history, and was just another example of how hard it was to be a powerless wife in the limelight at this time. Most of us would up and leave the sorry man that did that to us, but instead, despite being pregnant with their sixth child, Eliza composed herself and relocated to her parents house in Albany to give birth and escape the drama.

It’s impossible not to feel your eyes flood with tears when Eliza sings ‘Burn’. Devastated when she learns about her husband’s affair through the public Reynolds Pamphlet, Eliza, like all of us would in that situation, questions whether the words he had said to her throughout their relationship had meant anything at all. She worries that her children will feel the effects of the affair, and sings with passion about her anger, shock and humiliation. For the first time, we see Eliza consciously grip control of the situation and ‘erase herself from the narrative’ in one of the show’s most powerful scenes.

Her life continued to be marred by tragedy. Just 4 years later, her eldest son Philip Hamilton was killed at 19 in a duel after his father had encouraged him to delope (fire into the air) and throw away his first shot, counsel that would lead to his untimely death. Again, we see Eliza continue to sob her way through the next number as she prays for her son to survive during the reprise of ‘Stay Alive’.

‘Forgiveness, can you imagine?’ Embarrassed and betrayed by her husband’s affair, and now heartbroken by the death of her son, which was influenced by the advice of his own father, broken and beaten, Eliza chooses to forgive and stand by her husband. Of course, this shouldn’t be overly celebrated, because Alexander was a total idiot in making those decisions, but choosing to stand by her husband’s side shows the compassion and love deep rooted within her. Just a few more years later, her brother and sister Peggy died unexpectedly, followed by her mother and then her husband in 1804. Although she had enormous privileges throughout her life, it was one also filled with sorrow and unrest.

The final scene is perhaps the most important in letting us into something that may have been quite hard to identify throughout the rest of the show. Although the majority of the story is about Alexander, we learn that the storyteller, in this case Eliza, is just as important as the person that the story is about. Let’s not forget that Rob Chernow cited Eliza as being one of the most important sources when writing the biography Alexander Hamilton, which the show is based upon. This is Eliza’s story, too. Without her, we wouldn’t know as much about Alexander, or his role in the Revolution and American politics, as we do today.

A new element of the story is introduced in the final few moments when Lin Manuel-Miranda steps outside of his character as Alexander, and into his real self. Lin then introduces Eliza to the audience, where she can see what her work has done. She gasps and grabs hold of her heart in astonishment as she sees how she has helped immortalise the story of her late husband, and of a huge chunk of American Revolutionary history.

We don’t see much from Eliza after the death of Alexander, but we do learn about some of the things she accomplished following his death. She helped raise funds to memorialise George Washington with a statue in D.C., she spoke out against slavery, and defended her husband against his critics and dedicated the rest of her life to telling his story. But there are stories we don’t see. Eliza was so devoted to preserving his legacy that she reorganised all of his paperwork and letters along with their son John and fought relentlessly to get his biography published. With the help of his mother, John C. Hamilton would go on to publish his father’s first biography. She was known for wearing a small package around her neck that contained a sonnet which Alexander wrote for her during their early courtship. Even during her nineties, she prompted Congress to allow her to buy and publish Alexander’s works, adding them to the Library of Congress to help future historians know him.

But what is she proudest of? She founded the Orphan Asylum Society, dedicating over 42 years of her life to caring for and educating over 700 children. Eliza is noted as being one of the first female philanthropists, and is regarded as one of the most generous Americans that reformed the nation.

At the very end when singing with the ensemble, she asks for the first time “will they tell my story?” rather than “will they tell your story?”, showing that she remained modest and selfless to the very end. Everything was all about the greater good or her family.

She really is the ‘Best of Wives and Women’.

The post Why Eliza is the Real Hero of Hamilton appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3gFJp03

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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fairydust-stuff · 4 years

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Wendy Darling Embodiment of Motherhood

Here’s the thing ,I have never been a big fan of Wendy Darling from JM Barrie’s classic novel Peter Pan. Not only is she a cocktail of every bad stereotype about Victorian women casually thrown into a blender to make the ultimate Grimm’s fairy tale heroines are more bad ass then you smoothie. But Wendy is just straight up the most boring character in Peter Pan. That being said she does play a very important role in Peter Pan. Also it’s gotten the point where I’m a bit tired of seeing this idea that the Never land ladies have nothing to offer. If we don’t change everything about them or let’s just leave them out entirely trend via Hollywood. Seriously when is the last time Tink got more than a cameo and I’m not talking about the sugary princess clone Disney created from her mutilated body. Anyway I want to take a look Wendy Darling how she works, how she doesn’t work what she embodies and how she’s been portrayed in various adaptations.

First let’s take a look at some themes. Peter pan is at its core a coming of age story about accepting the inevitability of growing up. However Wendy as a point of view character is kind of an odd choice for this theme. In the original novel Wendy brings a flower to her mother who declares “Why can’t you stay like this” Then the narrator proceeds to talk about how Wendy knew she must grow up. So we already have a character who accepts the fact she must grow up on page one. In fact Wendy doesn’t run away to Never land as much as take a holiday, and to be fair John and Michel suffer from the same problem. Honestly I think the closest thing we get to a character arch in the novel is George Darling who is a seriously underrated character in my opinion. So Wendy just never struggles with growing up. However another theme of Peter Pan is motherhood and oh boy does Wendy fit into that.

“She used to come to me in my and I’d say pretty mother, now she has come and I’ve shot her” Tootles laments after thinking he shot and killed Wendy. Even Hook want to take Wendy to be the mothers of himself and his crew in typical pirate fashion coveting what Peter Pan and the lost boys have Wendy becomes a treasure for them to steal. Smee when carrying Wendy even promises “I’ll save you if you promise to only be my Mother” Every boy and man child in Never land craves a mother and want Wendy to fill the position. Wendy taking on the role turns her into a kind of ideal in the eyes of everyone in Never land even her own brothers get in on the treating her as the perfect mom.

In fact Wendy only gets to be a little girl in the narrative when Hook offers his hand to her and she takes it and only because the narrative felt the need to defend her submission to her own capture. But looking back that may very well be the point when you look at Wendy and Peter’s relationship without the shipping googles it’s actually quite interesting. You’ve got two pre teen’s on two different wave lengths. Wendy states in the novel “Peter what are true feelings towards me?” and is displeased with Peter’s answer “That of a devoted son” this seems up their relationship perfectly. Wendy uses the role of mother to try to basically become Peter’s wife something which he is deeply uncomfortable with needing constant reassurance that playing an adult couple is “ Only make believe” now whether or not Peter is flat out not interested or scared of his own feelings is up for debate. I personally lean toward the former because Peter is constantly surrounded by busty topless mermaids who like to flirt with him. So if he hasn’t had his sexual awakening yet it’s not happening ever, but the point is Peter uses the reaffirmation of Wendy as Mother to keep her at a distance. When Wendy returns home Miss Darlings offers to adopt Peter which he refuses. This highlights the fact when given the chance to have an actual mother he doesn’t want one.

Wendy is a reflection of Peter’s warped relationship with motherhood. He confesses to Wendy that he did at one point did return to his mother only to find the window barred and “There was another little boy sleeping in my bed!” It could be argued Peter’s desire to stay a little boy forever actually steam from the fear of abandonment and being replaced. This shapes Peter’s relationship with Wendy in sense he wants a mother he can actually control. One who never makes him feels too grown up or who challenges him or his choices in a meaningful way. This shows that motherhood is important and that without a proper mom boys will never truly grow into men.

Wendy plays a similar role to the lost boys only she actually ends up helping them. While the lost boys clearly already have mommy craving’s Wendy gives them a taste of what having a mom is actually like or at least what an ideal mom from a Victorian upper middle class family structure would be like. So when Wendy wants to go home the lost boys who getting a taste of what their missing decides to go with her. Where they get adopted into the Darling Family and grow into respectable members of society who all get boring office jobs in the prolog which completely contrast their colorful energetic personalities, moving on. Wendy acts as kind of encouraging benevolent guide for the lost boys and Peter her inevitable goal being to encourage to move beyond the superficial trappings of childhood and take a step forward into adulthood. Peter is the failure, deficient as the novel itself states but the lost boys are a triumph of the power of proper maternal nurturing.

Wendy Darling has appeared in various adaptations and Spin offs though I’m mostly going to focus on Movies and TV because most of the Peter Pan book retellings where Wendy plays a key role just do not fill me with any positive feelings. And I want to mostly focus on the good today with some casual snark thrown in.

So let’s start with Wendy from the 2003 Peter Pan Live Action adaptation. I love this version it makes changes from the novel while still paying homage by using actual lines from the book. Though I have very mixed feelings about 2003 Wendy.

The movie heavily leans into the annoying I’m not like other girls trope. Here Victorian lady Wendy turns fairy tales into gore fests, and has an interest in sword play and pirates. I’m not saying girls from that era can’t have those interests but it just feels like their Wendy is the product of listening to too many focus groups not to mention she learns to be an expert sword fighter who can go toe to toe with adults after five seconds with Peter. And what is with the sudden unexplained blood thirst? Where did that come from?

Though I do like how the film unlike the novel actually gave Wendy an arch. Wendy’s aunt is mortified at her niece’s interest in becoming a novelist who travels the world. She insists Wendy’s parents separate Wendy from her brothers and allow her to tutor, Wendy to teach her how to be a proper lady. They also have a school teacher shame Wendy for drawing a picture of Peter flying above her bed. This seems to be subtext for the Victorian shaming of sexual expression from girls as dirty and shameful. This actually makes Wendy feel like her life is changing way too fast and it scares her. Since she is twelve and her family is already talking about marriage prospects. While the scene where Peter and her meet is pretty much played like in the novel. There’s the added moment of Peter whispering in Wendy’s ear “ Forget them Wendy Forget them all come with me and we’ll never ever have to think about grown up things again” which unlike the novel frames Wendy as running away from growing up.

Then she develops a crush on Peter Pan and this being Hollywood they go with the scared of his own feeling interpretation. I guess her whining and screaming his name for a day was just too sexy to resist. Wendy contemplates joining Hook’s crew because when your crush rejects you validation by pirate man children is good salve for your wounds. But then realizes she can’t remember her mother and much like the novel becomes scared that her and her brothers have forgotten their parents. Then they all get kidnapped by the pirates and Hook and Peter have a show down which is way better than the novel because here Hook attacks Peter’s abandonment issues and actually brings him to his knees. But then Wendy kisses Peter and he gains the strength to defeat Hook. Basically the implication is Wendy realizes growing up is ok because romantic love is a thing. Hey, I didn’t say it was a great arch but it’s more than the novel gave her or anyone. I’m not a huge fan of this Wendy depiction but I’ve got to take my hat off to the writers for at least giving Wendy a coming of age narrative.

Disney’s classic Peter Pan pulled a similar move taking the focus from Peter and putting it entirely on Wendy. The implications at the end imply that Wendy’s adventure was all a dream and that Tinker bell and Tiger Lilly were reflections of her own manifesting sexuality. Peter Pan her desire not to grow up and Hook I’m going to guess that he was her daddy issues.

I actually think Walt did Wendy a solid in her characterization. This is one of the few Wendy’s were her concern for her brothers and the lost boys don’t feel tacked on. Since most adaptations do very little to build Wendy’s dynamic with the other kids. Here it’s in every face wipe and tearful good bye and every “Do be careful” thrown over Wendy’s shoulder.

Also the Disney movie does a one eighty from everyone in Neverland worshiping her to Neverland treating her rather badly. It takes Wendy’s annoyance from called her squaw from the Novel and has the Indians bully her into fetching firewood instead of joining the celebrations. Also the mermaids not only try to drown her but Peter thinks is all a big joke. Disney’s Wendy constantly stands up for herself but often gets brushed off or forced to walk the plank. In this version you can one hundred percent understand why Wendy is so done with this place and ready to grow up. Here the reality of what it’s like to experience everyone acting like a self-centered child is here on full display.

Also Disney’s Wendy is not perfect she gets angry and loses her temper attacking mermaids or yelling at Indians. She gets jealous of Tiger Lilly being all over Peter and is sour towards him. Wendy is dreamy eyed, and polite but this version of her also doesn’t take anyone’s crap and will let you know if you’ve crossed a line or if you’re flat out awful. But she’s still pleads with Peter on her attempted murder’s behalf. Wendy also reminds Peter that Tiger Lilly is drowning when he gets caught up in celebrating his cleverness. She still makes sure she can say goodbye to her brothers and the lost boys before Hook kills her. Even on her worst day Disney’s Wendy is a kind person even when those around her are less so.

But my favorite portrayal of Wendy has got to be from the 90’s classic “Peter Pan and the Pirates” TV series which aired on Fox was about one season then got cancelled. While it doesn’t really focus on Wendy a whole lot since its more concerned with the relationship between Peter Pan his lost boys and Hook’s crew.

She still has a pretty important role. Wendy often serves as a voice of reason to the group which doesn’t go against her original role in the novel since she takes a cake that’s been left out all night away from the lost boys. Which does present her as the one with the most common sense but the show lets Wendy tell Peter this is a bad idea way more often than the book and blow up at him after he does the stupid thing every one told him not to do. Also Wendy gets to be more of a moral center lecturing Peter for stealing the picture of Hook’s mother in the episode “Hooks mother” and encouraging him to return it and even getting Peter to take care of Hook after he’s injured. This is in a positive change in my opinion because it actually expands on Wendy’s role as a guide to adult hood. Here Wendy Darling encourages a kind of good behavior she helps build moral character in her boys. Wendy has strong ideals and this adaptation actually has her stand by her principals for better or worse. This not only gives her more of a central role in the story but also gives her more chances to be active. Yay character agency!

Also this version of Wendy was the first to have a bit of an interesting relationship with Hook. (Who is voiced by Tim curry and does an excellent job.) While the writers got rid of the almost pedophilic undertones of Hook wanting to keep Wendy from the novel and the “My beauty” pet name. Thank god for that even in the novel i thought it was too much. There’s still a bit of a dynamic even if its way more innocent.

In the episode In Peter on Trial Wendy not only lands on the ship unharmed but reminds Hook executing Peter without a trial would not be proper form at all. She then hits Hook in the ego by declaring “Surely you don’t doubt your powers of debate against that of a mere girl” And not only gets a trial but manages to win even when the trial is rigged against them. Hook even congratulates her before proceeding to find his own loophole and kill Peter Pan anyway. The point is this suggests this Wendy has a bit of an insight into Hook maybe more so then Peter. She knows he’s obsessed with good form and has an ego that prides its self on being the smartest person in the room.

This cuts both ways while Wendy is capable of manipulating Hook, he also consistently manipulates Wendy by offering his word as a gentlemen when he intends to break it as a pirate. This dynamic highlights Wendy’s flaw of trusting dangerous people and allowing them to hurt her friends. Hook has picked up that she trusts or wants to trust him. In this version Hook actually treats Wendy as opponent vs the usual she belongs to Peter and I want to steal her like in most adaptations. Also despite Hook being terrifying Wendy has no problem being all “There’s no need to get cranky Captain” and I kind of love how comfortable she is with the guy despite him being an enemy.

This proves Wendy doesn’t have to be a sword wielding “Who are you to call me girlie” action girl to be a good character. She can be flawed but still remain a good person and giving her a spine is always appreciated.

Wendy Darling is at her core a guide into adulthood with a strong moral character and a voice of reason who is used to shine a light on how important motherhood is since the result of mothers abandoning or neglecting their children shape the Peter’s of the world. This makes her important to the overall story and themes of Peter Pan.

#wendy darling #wendy darling appreciation #peter pan disney #Peter Pan 2003 #Peter Pan and the Pirates

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illustratedbrum · 4 years

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Large Letter A Mail Art Project: With Love From Birmingham, England

"Mail art has no history, only a present." —Ray Johnson

Hey folks and greetings from my flat, which currently contains a measly 3 toilet rolls ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I wish I was writing under better circumstances (more loo roll, less threat to humanity, etc) but watching the COVID-19 pandemic begin to sweep the UK and the global media with ever-increasing magnitude, we are all in the same boat wondering how we can best support our neighbours, our wider city, and those further afield without compromising the health of those most vulnerable by travelling or being around others unnecessarily, particularly given that the ramifications could well affect life as so many of us know it increasingly for many months to come.

As we watch on as upcoming festivals such as our pals at Glasgow Zine Festival, NW Zine Festival and more cancel / reschedule their forthcoming IRL activity, as well as smaller, local, more regular meet-ups, clubs and workshops being on hold, we know the effects of key places for marginalised makers to connect are going to be felt. We know that practitioners on the fringes of mainstream creative culture are going to experience interconnected, interlacing barriers to navigating this turbulent time, making West Midlands Artists Coronavirus Impact Fund by MAIA and equivalents across the country so significant and urgent, along with incredible people on the front lines doing the most to ensure the needs of everyone in our communities are met, no matter what their circumstance. If can absolutely feel like a fucking impossible time to be creative, to think and to process; to create anything new.

“So Because Abled People Might Get Sick Now...“ At present, the advice in the UK is around social distancing, and this is really important for keeping those most at risk as safe as possible. As Dave Grohl put it, “let's do this right and rain check shit.” But that absolutely does not mean we must be emotionally distant. Our thoughts are not only with those who are self-isolating due to the coronavirus pandemic, but those who feel this risk as part of their everyday lives due to longstanding conditions for whom this will be an additionally isolating and anxiety-inducing period, many of whom are zine makers we know and love. Disabled, chronically ill, immunosuppressed, homebound, and neurodivergent people are, in the words of @kateandcrps, currently witnessing “ableds accommodating themselves with the accessibility that we disabled people fight for every day, all because of #COVIDー19″. How do we end up not going straight back to inaccessible practices in the creative sector? How do we position a whole range of creatives genuinely, meaningfully; nobly?

The effects of social isolation of any cause is mostly unappreciated, misunderstood and misrepresented by able-bodied, neurotypical dominances in society, and, for those for whom it is a part of their day-to-day reality, we hope the disruption to life for many of us can be a chance to experience increased empathy, awareness and action in connecting with others, particularly when we are well enough, and have the resources available to us. There’s also no reason why these folx would only be on the receiving end of projects, as long as they are designed inclusively, and we’re proud to exist deliberately to celebrate and centrally position badass makers of all walks, wheels, and movements of life, those that weirdly (systemically) much of the creative world renders completely invisible. With so much disruption and uncertainty, so much potential for offline isolation, inner turmoil and digital overwhelm, we wanted to orchestrate a simple but meaningful, low-cost, playful, experimental creative project that anyone can take part in from their homes, designed specifically to create connections. It absolutely embraces the relative leveler of all being stuck indoors as a result of COVID-19 yet will continue in its format indefinitely for the shared benefit of whoever wishes to take part over the long run. Everyone is able to participate in the same manner, at their own pace, for as long or short as they like, with no deadlines, and withdraw at any time with no consequence, or guilt.

Zines, Zines, Good For Your Heart Every single day, all across the world zinesters are making, sending and receiving zines, connecting with one another across great distances, around intimate moments, radical hacks and big ideas. We are lucky to feel meaningful, creative connections with complete strangers that go beyond digital interfaces from the comfort of our own letterboxes. Making and mailing is in our blood; our DNA. Holding something that someone has made in our hands can breathe a life into us that even instant messaging and Zoom calls cannot explain; something that may be missing in the daily lives of many people’s normal realities, and for even more of us during this socially distant paradigm. Mail art is a movement centered on sending small scale works through the postal service. It initially developed out of what eventually became Ray Johnson's New York Correspondence School in the 1950s and the Fluxus movement in the 1960s, though it has since developed into a global movement that continues to this day.

"The purpose of mail art, an activity shared by many artists throughout the world, is to establish an aesthetical communication between artists and common people in every corner of the globe, to divulge their work outside the structures of the art market and outside the traditional venues and institutions: a free communication in which words and signs, texts and colours act like instruments for a direct and immediate interaction." - Loredana Parmesani Zines can be an example of mail art, but so can postcards, paper, a collage of found or recycled images and objects, rubber stamps, artist-created stamps (called artistamps), drawings, but also music, sound art, poetry, or anything that can be put in an envelope and sent via post. You can create one-off pieces, or make duplicates with a copier.

You’ve Got Mail Art! Mail art is considered art once it is dispatched. No money exchanges hands. Mail art is exchanged between people, not bought and sold. Mail art is given freely, without the expectation of something in return. No judgements are made about the artwork or its quality. We will prepare and share lots more resources, ideas and prompts around creating and sending mail art, but for now we mostly want to know if you’d like to participate, as a sender, a recipient, or both. You don’t have to consider yourself an artist, have any training or equipment, or have any money. We have a postage pot to distribute small funds to cover postage if needed, otherwise the only cost will be a stamp or possibly some rudimentary materials. Maximum size is a UK Large Letter, i.e. not exceeding: Length: 35.3cm Width: 25cm Thickness up to and including: 2.5cm Weight limit: 750g No minimum size.

If you are feeling well and able to do so, we would love to give you an excuse to make a little something with someone else in mind, or receive something, so here we are, just a zine festival sitting in front of a computer, encouraging you to make things; weird and wonderful things, scruffy things, beautiful things, any things.

Please note: On 17th March 2020 The New England Journal of Medicine published a study reporting that coronavirus can remain viable on paper and cardboard for up to 24 hours. If you have tested positive for COVID-19, have symptoms, or are living with someone who has symptoms, please opt to receive mail art only, and not send anything until you are feeling better or are beyond the quarantine period (7 or 14 days respectively). All personal details such as postal addresses and contact details will be stored securely / not used for any purposes beyond you receiving something charming, stimulating, or just plain confusing, in the mail. If you have any concerns or questions please contact us at: [email protected]

Image credits: [1] Leave Me Alone, I Am Sick via Dispatch From LA [2] Zine-Making for Kids by Diane Gilleland [3] John Held Jr. Please Add To and Return To: Mail Art Homage to Ray Johnson, 2015

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janiedean · 5 years

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Since we're in topic, do you have some advices for writers? Where do you begin when you write original stories and characters? The plot, the concept, the description of characters?

spewell considering that you’re talking to ‘oh hey I have the original idea that might work but I’ve been figuring it out for a whole year and a half’ take them with the necessary skepticism but since I did come up with some decent ocs in fic apparently my advice is probably not entirely shitty lol so with the premise that writing is Not A Science and other than reading a lot no advice is 100% foulproof especially if it doesn’t work for you...

I’d start with the concept, ie: what do you want your story to be about or what message do you want it to be about or what do you want to do with it. do you want to scare people? do you want to make people happy with quality entertainment but without writing a Serious Novel? do you want to write a sad thing to make a point? like, you need to know where you’re going with it in general;

when you have your concept, whichever it is - for one, without going in-depth let’s just say that my original novel concept that I’ve been trying to figure out for good is ‘blade runner meets high fidelity’ (don’t worry IT MAKES SENSE) -, you need to work at once both on main setting and protagonist. I mean, idk let’s just discuss a thing I wanted to write last year when I was thinking of sending original writing to this scifi anthology and then never managed because time and drama and real life happened and I couldn’t commit to it;

so, the theme of that anthology was ‘alternate peace’ ie write a short story where a situation that in history ended up in a fight/war/bloodbath is solved peacefully and write the alternate universe coming from it. so: I had to come up with the idea first because otherwise I wouldn’t have known where to start, then the worldbuilding, then the characters - ngl I think that if you have the worldbuild the characters come a lot easier but that’s me. so: I was like ‘what if I wrote something where the ludlow massacre never happens?’ (the ludlow massacre was tldr a strike in colorado which ended up with the strikers being mass killed by the national guard and in turned caused enough scandal to get unions/unionized labor a lot of traction in the US at least until maccarthysm.) then I didn’t, but in order I went like:a) if what happened is that it had repercussions on the history of unionized work in the US, if I did it so that the workers accepted a plea or smth and the rockfellers won without no one dying, those repercussions would Not Have Happened, nor it’d have created all the left-leaning literature/politics/thinking that came out of it, john reed wouldn’t have written about it etc, so I had elaborated an entire situation post-wwii where unions had all died long before, people were pretty much without any single social lifesaver and could get fired at will and it was basically dystopian hell with mccarthy being president or smth;b) at that point I was like, who do I put in this, and at that point I didn’t manage to go much forward but I had a feeling I should have some young person who was born after the not-massacre who had no idea of what went on talking to an older one that had actually been there and wished they hadn’t taken the deal;c) young dude would have been more or less cynical/not really much of a politics person, old dude would have been old school leftist who still wishes there could have been a better world and wishes the new generation would put two and two together and talk to their elders;d) young dude wouldn’t have known how to read/write because he wouldn’t have needed it for factory work, old dude would have etc;at that point I could have probably gone and gave them families (or not), or a friend (or not), and my general idea was having them discuss politics for the main part of the story, then old guy dies or smth like that and young guy actually gets the message and idk I basically wanted you to read it and feel like I felt when I listened to the ghost of tom joad, that was the general idea;that said, the characters were the last part i came up with because I needed the worldbuilding to know what character I wanted in it, which is why I’d say worldbuld first if you’re writing that kinda thing ie scifi, alternate history etc;

now, obv. if you’re writing the coffee shop au just in novel format or if you’re writing something lighter where the setting doesn’t matter, you need good characters first. I mean, if you write the coffee shop setting just to have a good love story you might want people to pick yours and not the umpteenth version of it with the same dynamic (same with the YAs with the sixteen year-old girl who thinks she’s ugly falling for the hot dude with abs and a bad attitude), so in that case I’d go for the characters. for one, if I had to write a YA, I’d make it with a girl who is actually ugly and has hobbies other than just reading and maybe plays in the school band or has some peculiar post-school job or idk can repair cars but is not good at everything she does and the guy would be moderately hot though not THE SPIT COPY OF DAMON SALVATORE JUST WITH GREEN EYES, he wouldn’t have a license and he wouldn’t think that it’s sexy to tell your girlfriend that you own her, and while I’m nowhere near interested in writing YAs, that would differentiate it from 99,9% of the YAs around from what I see, and so at that point I’d make sure I got the main two down and then I’d work on the friends and family and make them less stereotypical as possible so my YA is different from everyone else’s YA, and if any of them is a supernatural creature they suck at it and hate having supernatural magic and the likes. I mean, you want your characters to have a personality, but if you have a good worldbuilding behind them it might come after, if you don’t gaf about the worldbuilding and just want the standard setting work on the characters and try to give them depth before you plan anything else;

figure out where do you want your story to go before writing it - ie: the only reason I haven’t written the original yet is that idk what kind of spin I want the ending to have and I’m not 100% convinced so I’m not doing it yet, but if you don’t have the backbone of it planned then you’re going to lose steam or the plot will fuck you over (in my experience). like, try to have at least clear what happens in the main arc so that you know how to get from beginning to ending without needing to figure shit out as you go along, then you start, and if you change your mind while you do go with it, but try to start it knowing where you’re headed because it makes it easier imvho;

if you go for complicated shit like time travel figure that shit out before you start writing it including every possible repercussion because you’ll hate yourself if you don’t;

don’t try to re-do what others did obviously. I mean, if I wanted to write rep for non standard attractive cishet women I would not try to re-write brienne of tarth just changing the hair color. I would try to take the same tropes he’s using, change the setting and go with it, but it shows if you read a book and your character is the exact same as your favorite writer’s. like, if you read ian tregillis’s milkweed tryptich it’s going to be obvious that one of the main characters is the same tropes as jaime but that guy has enough personality differences and an enough different background and circumstances of upbringing that while you can see it has the same basics (generally nice guy forced to do horrid things who wants to redeem himself, live without his overbearing sister who wants to control him and has a generally straight moral compass), you don’t think ‘oh ian tregillis who is grrm’s friend has copied from him and put jaime lannister in a wwii alternate history trilogy’. like, we all have our tropes and our favorite writers and it’s good to take inspiration and homage them, but try to give your spin on those tropes you’re using, because otherwise it’ll just look lazy;

do whatever the fuck you want with your plot. don’t think about what others would want to read - it’s your story and you should tell it the way you want to. then please listen to criticism and find people who’ll provide it for you without tearing down your work but telling you what works and what doesn’t, but like... if you want to touch some themes or write characters from a different background or whatever do it;

also, do your research. I mean, I could have written the ludlow massacre story because:a) I read all of john reed’s articles pertaining to that specific happening and those articles include interviews with the people who were there, a description of who they were, an extremely detailed reconstruction of the facts and so on;b) there’s folk songs, two novels and one opera on ludlow not including history books, so it’s not only easily readable upon, but you also can see the impact it had in media/the american culture.so, even if I’m not american, having read all of that, I could have probably gone for it and done a decent job, find someone with a history degree to veto it and go for it. but like, again, unless you’re writing the coffee shop au or the ya or the kind of novel that does not require an established setting or you are making the entire worldbuilding up from scratch with no influences from the real world, you can’t not do at least some basic research. and when reading something, it does show if the author has at least done basic research or if they’re winging it. then they might be good enough that you don’t care they’re winging it, but still, research XD because research also gives you a lot more ideas that you might not have taken previously into account and might save you a plot detail or so;

I also would advice not to write what you know - because that’s easy and it doesn’t let you go out of your comfort zone and at some point what you know will finish -, but: write something you know. as in, my blade runner + high fidelity au should be scifi and touch stuff idk shit about, but since it’s a high fidelity au half of it is supposed to be set in a (pseudo) record shop and the protagonist miiiiiight have a thing or a hundred for springsteen. now: who has spent half of her life in record shops and is into bruce? yes, me. now, the character in question has zero in common with yours truly except for that, but let me tell you that if there is one thing I know how to write that you can’t convince me I couldn’t write is someone into springsteen who hangs around record shops. I know my people and I know why someone would be into springsteen. like, when making up characters and you want to make them relatable or you want to relate to them more, give them one thing you can relate to even if it’s dumb - idk you like strawberries? that character also likes strawberries and so on - because that will get you closer to them and your reader will feel it. it’s a thing I do with fanfic all the time - like if I have to try and write someone IC I try to relate to one thing they have if I can, because that makes the characters more relatable and it’s easier. ie when I was like ‘how do I crack the jaime pov’ the answer was ‘ALL THE BAD SELF-DEPRECATING HUMOR YOU DO ALL THE TIME GO DOWN ON IT’ bc that’s what I relate to jaime for and so on. idk that is a thing that’s always helped me when coming up with any character so I guess it might be useful advice? *shrug*

(obv: if you’re writing a 100% bad guy that you don’t empathize with then you don’t have to, I mean grrm did say he had to take a shower after writing chapters from A Certain POV because it’s horrible being in their head so like.... you can feel disgust at what you’re writing esp. if it’s the POV of a terrible person, but That Character resonated with people and felt relatable to some of them because to them they had... RELATABLE moments/humane moments too so if you’re writing bad guys but try to not make them cardboard cuts/TOO HORRIBLE it will make them stronger as *bad guys*. mvho.)

but mostly: read a lot of stuff, try to put your spin on things and don’t gaf about what people think until you finished it. then you can worry about concrit xD

#janie writes #long post for ts #writing advice #i guess #Anonymous #ask post

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nellie-elizabeth · 5 years

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Supernatural: Lebanon (14x13)

Hmm. So I... Hm. I have a lot of thoughts and feelings to discuss. This is probably going to turn in to quite the review. It's one of those ones where I really don't know how I'm going to fall on the scale when I grade it at the end. I'm just going to start writing, and I'll get to my thoughts through that.

Cons:

If I were to review this episode by comparing it to the milestone 200th episode, I might look on it with some disfavor. Why? Well, this was an episode centered around the nuclear Winchester family. So, the focus was on Sam, Dean, John, and Mary. And I'm cool with there being an episode focusing on that dynamic, and it's neat that Jeffrey Dean Morgan was able to come back and all that. But the 200th episode managed to focus on the themes of the show as a whole. It focused mostly on Sam and Dean, but it referenced everything from Adam to Destiel to Chuck to the Samulet and so much more. It was an episode that managed to be about the ever-changing, twisting road that is Supernatural over the seasons. This episode, by contrast, was kind of a "taking it back to basics" sort of episode, that encapsulated the original, long past, aims and themes of the show. Not a bad idea for an episode AT ALL. Just an interesting choice for such a big milestone. Barely any Cas, no Jack, no other recurring guests or even mention of them really... it felt like this episode existed in a time capsule, a little bubble that could have landed anywhere in any season and felt just as appropriate. Is that a bad thing? I don't know.

The elephant in the room here is that John Winchester was a demonstrably abusive father. Supernatural demonstrates that, but ever since his death back at the start of Season Two, the show has been inconsistent in how it's treated the memory of this character. It makes perfect sense, and is indeed good, that Sam and Dean themselves would have conflicting emotions. I don't mind that sometimes Dean brings up how awful John was, and other times seems to canonize him as some sort of a saint. That makes sense for his character. I don't mind that Sam has forgiven John for everything and has his own regrets about their tempestuous relationship. But here's where it gets a little more shaky for me. Think about it: from John Winchester's perspective in this episode, he's in 2003. He and Sam are not on speaking terms. He is continuing to emotionally and perhaps physically abuse and manipulate Dean, who idolizes him in an unhealthy way. Sam and Dean can remember their dad with rose colored glasses, but a more interesting, and more real, interpretation of the John Winchester that they should be meeting in this episode would be one that's so full of anger and grief that he lashes out at his two sons and can't accept Sam wanting to do anything outside of the hunting life.

I like that Sam and John had their big apology/reconciliation scene. I like that Sam expresses that he put their arguments aside a long time ago. But what about Dean? The problem is, John is right in the middle of things with Dean - from his perspective, he would have no reason for apologizing. And Dean would never ask for that apology, or express any anger. But Dean deserves to feel that anger. He deserves for his years of perspective to have taught him that his dad wasn't really a good father to him at all. He was, at minimum, neglectful, and Dean doesn't get to confront that in any meaningful way in this episode.

A couple of smaller notes: as I said above, I understand that this episode had a rather narrow focus on the Winchesters, but it did include a few other characters - namely, Cas and Zachariah. If you were going to do the whole timeline being rewritten thing, cool. If you were going to throw in a few cameos, cool. But this is the 300th episode, people! Is Zachariah really the best pull you have? No Bobby? No Naomi? No Charlie? Gabriel? Jody? Nothing? Time is being rewritten! There are so many creative cameos you could have done here, and it could have been brief, and not taken away from the focus on John. Zach just felt like a very odd choice for such a brief reappearance. Also, does killing him mess up the timeline even more? Time travel makes my head hurt.

I liked the random teens at the beginning of the episode, but it felt odd to cram in this story at the start of the episode, and then toss it aside for much of the run-time. There was just a bit too much focus on the kids to discount it as window dressing, and not enough focus to really bring them in to the limelight as characters in their own right.

Pros:

If I try to tear myself away from reviewing this as a milestone episode, I think I look at it with much more favor. John Winchester has long been a looming presence on this show, and I think the opportunity to focus on him, and more specifically, on his sons' memories and relationships with him, is a great concept for an episode. I personally think John sucks, and I might have wished for him to be treated a bit less kindly by the narrative in this instance. But I'm on Sam and Dean's side, always. I want what's best for them, and a happy family is what they want and totally deserve. I liked seeing that.

For me, I would forgive a hell of a lot of crap for just the moment with Sam and Dean washing up dishes after dinner. That scene for me was the one moment that most made this episode feel like the 300th. It's just Sam and Dean alone, talking about what a shame it is that they'll send John back and he won't remember anything, thus making the whole trip pointless. But Dean points out that as hard as their lives have been, he doesn't want to change anything because then, what would that make them? Dean says he's good with who he is, and with who Sam is too. That is freakin' HUGE. That is a capstone moment for Dean Winchester's character development, and it made me instantly misty-eyed.

Let's do a little check-in with the Cas corner here. Yeah, I might be slightly bummed he wasn't in more of the episode, but there are several things to discuss even so. First of all, Misha killed it with his performance as the back-to-Angel-basics Castiel that we saw. We see the wings, he calls himself an Angel of the Lord, and he kicks the crap out of Sam and Dean. First of all, I'm sure Misha took great satisfaction in that. Second of all, I love the way that Cas is used as a shorthand for everything that's wrong with this changing timeline. Before this moment, Dean was happy to accept the changing universe as recompense for having John back. After this encounter, Sam and Dean both know that things have gone too far. A world where Cas doesn't know them, and tries to kill them, is unacceptable. I also like that Sam and Zachariah paired off for the fight, leaving us with the delicious angst of Dean trying to stop Cas from killing him. (Again. Sheesh). I love that bewildered, heartbroken look on Dean's face when he realizes Cas doesn't know him. And I also love that as the episode ends, the real Cas, our Cas, returns to the bunker, solidifying his place among the core cast of the show, and among the family.

Another thing that I was struggling with a bit in this episode is that the focus was so much on the family, but the family seemed only to include the Winchester four. "Family don't end in blood" is one of the more powerful lines and sentiments from this show's long history. But as the hour progressed, I realized that this core message wasn't being disregarded. Sam and Dean fill John in on everything that he's missed, and they're clear to emphasize that they live in a bunker with an angel and with Lucifer's son. They don't have time to go in to all of the details, but they're sure to fill John in on the state of their family - Sam, Dean, Mary, Cas, Jack. That's family to them now. This important point is re-emphasized again as John has a moment with Dean, lamenting that Dean never got out of the life, and instead was pulled in by John's mission. He says he thought Dean would have a family of his own one day, and Dean instantly responds: "I have a family." This moment is strengthened by his later saying to Sam that he's good with who he is. Yes, he never settled down with a single romantic partner and had babies of his own, but he is not at all dissatisfied or unfulfilled when it comes to a strong family system. It's not just the Winchesters vs. the rest of the world anymore, and that's important to point out.

I know that I earlier said that I had some qualms about the opening sequence with the teens, but I actually really liked the stuff with the pawn shop, the magic items, and Sam and Dean on a regular hunt. It felt a little imbalanced within the pacing of the episode, but I also think it's important to note another key aspect of this story: an homage to the humble beginnings of Supernatural. Sam and Dean are on a simple hunt. They have to burn an item to defeat a ghost. There's a hilarious gag about the ghost of John Wayne Gacy, given Sam's hatred of clowns and fascination with serial killers. It's all very classic Supernatural. It's a sequence that could fit into the show in any season at all. It's also a chance for us to spend some time with Sam and Dean alone, doing what they do best. That was once the only heart of this show that mattered, and it's still one of the most important pieces to the puzzle. We also get John fighting Sam and Dean in the dark, in a nice echo of Sam and Dean's fight in the pilot. All of this serves to show that this 300th episode is about honoring the show's origins, instead of trying to encompass the whole thing. I have conflicting feelings about that, as shown above, but mostly I think it's done really well.

On a smaller note, I love the introduction of the concept that Sam and Dean go about town in Lebanon as the Campbell brothers, and that they've become something of a local legend. That was such a cool idea. I never really thought about their day-to-day reality, but it's cool to think about them being an urban legend, because it kind of brings the show around full circle. From hunting urban legends to becoming one! And the kids describing Cas and Jack was hilarious. Another moment to emphasize that Team Free Will includes all four of the boys.

And now to the performances. Because... holy hell. This episode starts to fall apart a bit if you scrutinize the plot too closely. John Winchester, as I mentioned, is not behaving very John Winchester-y. But this is about Sam and Dean getting closure, and let me tell ya... all four of these actors (Padalecki, Ackles, Morgan, and Smith) were giving it their all, and I felt every one of those heartbreaking, heartwarming moments. I'm going to rapid-fire some of the best things I noticed:

- The way John's voice cracked on the word "Mary" when he heard her voice.

- John and Mary holding hands, and John saying "my girl" to her... instant tears.

- The look on Sam's face when John said "I'm proud of you."

- The hug between John and his two sons, complete with all three of them crying.

- Dean saying "I love you too." Just like... wow. Dude has been throwing the love word around a lot and I am all about it.

- Dean flinching when Sam crushed the pearl.

- Sam saying that he thinks about John a lot and doesn't think about their fights, but thinks instead about not getting to say goodbye.

- Both Sam and John saying "I'm sorry."

- All of the overly sappy yet beautiful shots during the family dinner, of the family laughing, and sharing stories, and eating Winchester Surprise. The fact that this is the ONLY family dinner that they've ever had that way is just heartbreaking. But I'm so happy they got to have it.

Well, what did I tell you? This review is long. I knew it would be. 300 episodes, you guys. Holy crap. And we've got a Season Fifteen coming around the bend. I was really pleased with Jeffrey Dean Morgan's performance, and I thought Jared and Jensen killed it with the emotional material as usual. Are my thoughts conflicted? Yes. But is this one of those episodes that I'll probably go back and watch again? Also yes. It stands out, and it made me emotional. That's kind of all I can ask for.

8.5/10

#review #supernatural #supernatural review #spn 14x13 #spn 300th #spn

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