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oonajaeadira · 3 years

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The Mandalorian Tarot: Major Arcana

If you’re following me, you know this is a Mandalorian obsessive account. I love the man, I love the show, I write a Mando-fando that is all about pining and touch. I tend to go all in when I have an interest.

Another one of my interests? Tarot. A friend challenged me to Mandalorify the major arcana. And because Jon and Dave know their stuff and are good with archetypes (which is all tarot really is), it was an easy fit.

YOU GOT MANDO IN MY TAROT. YOU GOT TAROT IN MY MANDO. TWO GREAT TASTES THAT TASTE GREAT TOGETHER.

But. I can’t draw, so I’ve dreamed them in words and included the Rider-Waite-Smith deck illustrations that I would riff on if I could.

READY? LET’S PLAY.

(All tarot illustrations by Pamela Colman Smith. All Mandalorian images property of Star Wars/Disney.)

UPDATE! @heathenashtattoos has taken up where I cannot and is making these cards a reality! I will post them individually and come back to link them to this post as we go.

0 THE FOOL = THE MANDALORIAN / IT IS MADE! --->

The story of the tarot is the Fool’s journey, the arc of becoming. So it makes sense to me that Din would be the fool. Fits even better, since he has tremendous Fool energy in his himbo tendencies, just rushing forward into situations without a lot of planning--he’ll deal with it when he’s in it--ready to rely on others to show him the way or guide/help him to the next step.

If I could draw: Din on the cliff, with his jetpack on, meaning he has no fear of falling. Instead of the bindle-stick the Fool carries, he’d have his pulse rifle slung over his shoulder. Instead of the dog nipping at his heels, Grogu. And, of course, the landscape would be Tatooine/Navaro-esque.

~~~

1 THE MAGICIAN = LUKE SKYWALKER , IT IS MADE! --->

The Magician is someone who is still learning to bend the laws of magic/the Universe, but very adept with their tools. Since Luke is only a few years into his Jedi training at this time, he makes a pretty good Magician.

If I could draw: Luke in his blacks, holding up his lightsaber. The Jedi symbol would replace the infinity sign.

***

2 THE HIGH PRIESTESS = AHSOKA TANO / IT IS MADE! -->

High Priestess is further along the path of her magic than Magician, and her knowledge is more intuitive, her skills more effortless. Where the Magician is still learning the balance of light and dark, the High Priestess knows the value and pitfalls of both. It was always going to be Ahsoka.

If I could draw: Ahsoka sitting cross-legged in meditation mode, but with eyes open and a knowing smile. Instead of two pillars, she holds her lightsabers up and parallel to each other.

***

3 THE EMPRESS = PELI MOTTO / IT IS MADE! -->

The Empress is the mother figure, the energy in the universe that provides all that is needed and embodies the energy of creation. I can see the argument for Omera being the Empress--mostly because she is a mom and she’s soft and a lot of people see the Empress as a soft female figure, I get it. (And if I were to do a minor arcana, girl would show up as one of the Queens for sure.) But in the end, I gave it to Peli because she’s a recurring character, more relevant in his story, and if Din is the Fool, Peli is more an Empress to him. She’s able to be the provider of his particular needs; services to his ship to get him up flying, contact and location information, and she’s always willing to care for Grogu whenever she gets the chance.

If I could draw: Peli sitting in the dock, against the R4 unit, holding aloft a spanner and surrounded by her pit droids.

***

4 THE EMPEROR = BOBA FETT / IT IS MADE! -->

The Emperor is all about authority. And all I gotta say about Boba is BIG DICK ENERGY.

If I could draw: Just put him on the Jabba throne and let him lounge like a badass.

~~~

5 THE HIEROPHANT = THE ARMORER / IT IS MADE! -->

The Hierophant is the keeper of traditions and a spiritual guide. As the leader of the covert and keeper of the Way, The Armorer fits.

If I could draw: The Armorer, framed by her forge, holding aloft her tools, with Mandalorian acolytes. Instead of the crossed keys at the bottom, let’s just have a mythosaur skull.

***

6 THE LOVERS = FROG LADY AND FROG HUSBAND

This should be obvious and I will fight anyone who says it isn’t the right thing to do. I will die for this.

If I could draw: I would actually depart from the Smith depiction and just draw them embracing or holding each other by the arms and staring into each others’ eyes. Some kind of glowing background? Maybe the egg tank?

***

7 THE CHARIOT = THE MUDHORN

Oh. You thought I was going to say the Razor Crest, didn’t you. Don’t worry, I have plans for our beloved craft, but it ain’t here. The Chariot can be a ride, yes, but it’s about victory. Sometimes it’s about the victory over your inner “beastly” natures. To travel to the next phase in the journey, the Fool must take on the beasts that drive the Chariot and claim dominance over them, and when he does, they will carry him to the next level. Since it’s the victory of the beastly mudhorn that brings Din to his bond with Grogu and becomes his signet, Mudhorn for the win.

If I could draw: Again, I’d probably play on Smith’s imagery, put the charging mudhorn in the middle, and replace the rams with Din on his knees brandishing the vibroblade and Grogu in his pram with his Force hand up.

***

8 STRENGTH = CARA DUNE

Don’t come at me about including Cara. I am glad Gina got shown the door and I lose no love on that bigot. But. Cara is not Gina and to cut her out is to cut out Jon and Dave’s creation and I won’t do it. I actually love her a lot--she’s got her flaws, but she’s sassy and strong and solid, and I would happily accept a piggyback ride from her any day. She’s also a major player in Din’s story and deserves a spot in it. Strength comes after the Chariot--once you’ve conquered the beast within, you have confident dominion over it and it becomes a companion or a tool for your use. Cara is one with her toughness, she’s used it to do some good and bad shit in her past, and she continues to wield it effortlessly and fearlessly. She is absolutely this card.

If I could draw: I would put her maybe sitting on top of the downed ATST. I’d replace the infinity symbol over her head with the one on her cheek (Rebel Alliance).

~~~

9 THE HERMIT = KUIIL

The Hermit is a loner, yes, but in his solitude he looks within, learns from all he’s been through, and becomes wise. He holds aloft a light of wisdom and truth. This was always going to be Kuiil.

If I could drawn: Just our buddy, looking out over the Arvala-7 landscape, holding aloft an in-universe working lamp. No need to get fancy. He would want it to stay simple.

***

10 THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE = IMPERIAL SYMBOL AND STORM TROOPERS

The Wheel is fate. You win some, you lose some. Sometimes you’re on top, and sometimes the Wheel crushes you beneath it. You are helpless to its roll and where you’ll land. Storm Troopers are such a sad bunch. They are keepers of Imperial Law on the ground. On a good day, they capture a Rebel or hold off an attack. On a bad day, their Moff just blasts them to make an example.

If I could draw: The wheel would just be the Imperial symbol and there’d be Troopers on and under it. Maybe the one on top is just standing there, looking authoritative. The one underneath has been blasted. Some Wheels have two more figures--one on each side--and I’d add those too. The one on the down-going side would be falling, arms flailing, blaster shooting (if only sound were available, there’d be a Whilhelm scream), and the one on the up-going side would just be dangling by one arm, along for the ride.

***

11 JUSTICE = COBB VANTH

Well, it just feels right to make the Marshal into Justice. But it’s not just a literal translation of making sure the right thing gets done and the bad guys are punished. Justice is about wiping away emotion and making decisions with bare truth, looking at every side of the situation and understanding what is really there. And I think Cobb fits this well. He doesn’t want to give up his armor because of what it means for the protection of his people. But he’s willing to consider it, if there’s another way he can protect them. Emotionally, he doesn’t want to deal with the Tusken Raiders, but he does it because he can see it’s the best course of action. He flies into battle with the Krayt Dragon. He gives up his armor without a fight. He makes a fair trade and sees the balance in it because he walks away from the emotion and chooses the best course of action. Cobb Vanth for Justice, errybody.

If I could draw: Cobb in the Fett armor, but with the helmet at his feet. In one hand, a bottle of spotchka. In the other, the Tusken mushroom drinky thing; he’s holding them with equal balance.

***

12 THE HANGED MAN = MIGS MAYFELD

The Hanged Man is not just about a dude who’s hanging upside down. (If that was the case, I would have just gone with Gor Koresh and called it a day.) Hanged Man is about changing your perspective to see things in a new way so you can grow. Many times, this growth also requires sacrifice. Over the two episodes we see Mayfeld, we know he goes from Imperial sharp shooter, to traumatized deserter, to merc, prisoner, and exonerated friend. He’s seen some shit, given up a lot, and he’s willing to see how he can be a help to others and find redemption for himself.

If I could draw: Hear me out. Take the image of Mayfeld hanging upside down from the Crest hatch into the prison ship. Mirror that above with an image of him in his Imperial Ground Transport gear. Flip it all upside down so bad Mayfeld up top, good Mayfeld on bottom, images mirrored but inverted, hence “looking at things a new way and getting everything a little topsy-turvey.”

~~~

13 DEATH = MOFF GIDEON

Death is about transformation, so it’s not always the most sinister card. But Death does not discriminate. It comes for us all, constantly stalking, and it will strike you down to serve its needs. You need to face Death to get to your redemption. But really, Gideon is our big baddie here, so why the hell not.

If I could draw: I would forgo the Smith illustration and go for the Marseilles tradition on this one. Gideon and the Darksaber replaces Death and the scythe.

***

14 TEMPERANCE = IG-11

Temperance is the transformation that comes after Death. Once Death has chopped your physical being into pieces with his scythe, Temperance is there to take all your pieces and put them back together into something new and better. It’s also a card that asks you to re-evaluate your priorities and see if you can find better motivations than you previously had. IG’s death and reprogramming speak loudly to me on this.

If I could draw: IG pouring the tea.

***

15 THE DEVIL = THE CLIENT

Here’s another baddie card that’s all about your worst faults, about excess and giving into the stuff that will eventually kill your soul. The Client holds on hard to the Empire, doing whatever he’s ordered to do to be one of the top dogs. And in the end, it doesn’t matter. Gideon takes him down like he’s nothing.

If I could draw: The client, wearing his Empire bling, with chains around Doctor Pershing and a rough-looking Storm Trooper.

***

16 THE TOWER = THE RAZOR CREST

I don’t know about you, but Chapter 14 killed me. And not because the Dark Troopers flew away with Grogu. We all knew Din would never stop at getting him back. But when the Crest was destroyed, it was like someone punched me in the soft parts, and I made a lot of severely anguished noises. The Tower is the most tragic card in the tarot. It’s when forces beyond your control make a very big (and usually negative) impact in your life and everything changes. You are left to pick up the pieces and survive any way you can with the skills and resources you’ve been blessed with.

If I could draw: Just that moment of the ray hitting our beautiful Crest, just as it begins to break apart, maybe with Din, Boba, and Fennec watching in horror in the foreground.

~~~

17 THE STAR = GROGU

The Star is hope. It comes after the biggest tragedy in the deck to tell you that not all is lost. There is always something there to live for. C’mon, kids. In this series, there was only one choice.

If I could draw: Just Grogu. Maybe drinking his soup. Or maybe he’s levitating his metal ball overhead, reaching up to it with a smile on his face. *coos*

***

18 THE MOON = BO KATAN KRYZE

We all like Bo Katan, sure. But remember my Clone Wars/Rebels fiends, she was Death Watch, and they were terrorists. She sided with Maul to take over Mandalore. Sure, she’s come a long way and her path is a bit more honorable now, but she’s got an agenda, which makes her hard to trust. Since the Moon is about more feminine energies and has themes of illusion and deception--things look great in the moonlight, but maybe not as they really are--Bo Katan’s our girl.

If I could draw: Head and shoulders profile, double-imaged so you see her face, but her Nite Owl helmet superimposed in profile over it. Nite Owl signet on the bottom. Possibly flanked by her two Nite Owl cronies.

***

19 THE SUN = GREEF KARGA

Everything's sunny when Greef’s around! He’s the feel-good gramps that’s going to make any situation A-Ok! If you’ve got a problem, Greef can sort it out...or he knows someone who can! The sun is always gonna shine on you and take you back.

If I could draw: Just Greef smiling and being cheesy with the halo of the sun around him.

***

20 JUDGEMENT = FENNEC SHAND

This card traditionally shows the resurrected rising from the grave, ready to be judged. Fennec’s got a lot to answer for in her life, but she is being given a second chance, and my number one girl crush is going to do new and wonderful badass things with it.

If I could draw: I’d either just show her opening her gut pocket to show her new works, all full of aura, with her looking down at it reverently. OR I might do a scene of her being rescued by Boba.

~~~

21 THE WORLD = THE HELMET

Din’s helmet is the world he lives in. But it’s also a symbol of The Way. The World represents completion, a wholeness of self and being, the end of the journey. And since Din is our Fool, his journey is an exploration of his morals and honor, what it means to walk the way of the Mandalore, and what the meaning of the helmet is for him. He may choose ultimately to keep it on and go all-in on Mandalorian-4-lyfe (Child of the Watch style), or he may understand that the helmet is just a symbol and the honor was in him all along; he can wear it or not wear it and it’s all the same.

If I could draw: The World usually depicts a circle or sphere of some kind, the symbol of perfect completion. The helmet is close enough, so it takes up the center. Traditionally, there are four symbols in the corners that give more meaning to The World, and I would replace them with The Razor Crest, Grogu, the Mudhorn Signet, and the pulse rifle or blaster. These represent his home, his foundling, his clan, and his religion, all of which make up more of the whole; what it means to him to be Mandalorian.

~~~~~~~~~~

Challenge accepted and faced.

Adira dops her witchy mic….

#the mandalorian #mandalorian #tarot #mandalorian tarot #star wars #din djarin #luke skywalker #ahsoka tano #grogu #bo katan hate gang

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ograndebatata · 5 years

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My thoughts on some issues with Season 3 of Elena of Avalor

Disclaimer: This post is only an exposition of my personal opinions on what I think are bad aspects of a series that I overall like. It is not meant to reflect my thoughts on the series as a whole, on the show’s creators, cast members, or anyone else involved in its production. It’s also not meant to reflect my thoughts on fans of the show who don’t find any problem with the things I’ll be pointing out.

However, while I will do my best to go about it politely, said opinions are still about ‘less good’ points of the series.

I’m not saying any of you has to agree with everything I said, or even with a word with it. And I’m also not saying I posted this because I wanted to start an argument. I just happened to find enough issues with the series in too few episodes that I wanted to put forth my thoughts on them.

All those who feel curious as to what those are, feel free to read on.

Introductory words

This one is a first for me.

To the best of my memory, I never actually wrote such a lengthy piece of text offering criticism on any kind of media, be it a book, a video game, a TV series, or anything else.

But despite how little my Tumblr may or may not reflect it, I am a fan of various TV series and book series and film series, and many books and films that aren’t part of any series as well.

Two shows that I can safely say I am a devoted fan of are Sofia the First and Elena of Avalor. Yes, it may sound odd that a guy my age likes TV shows meant for preschoolers (at least regarding Sofia the First, as I have seen some debate on whether Elena of Avalor actually is for preschoolers) but both of them, in my opinion, are good for all ages.

To those who might be dropping in out of nowhere and are at a loss on what I’m talking about, I will offer some context, in case you’re interested in reading more about this. However, I strongly recommend you watch both series before diving in, especially because this will contain spoilers for recent episodes.

Sofia the First is a series that aired on Disney Junior from 2012 to 2018 (in the USA, at least, as other countries had different release dates), about a princess whose widowed shoemaker mother falls in love with a king. As a result of her mother’s eventual marriage, Sofia gains a new father and two new siblings, but also the responsibility of learning to be a princess, even though she doesn’t become the crown heir.

It was a fun show, with lots of good elements, such as likable characters, fun adventures, defiance of gender stereotypes (both from girls and from boys) and occasional cameos from various Disney Animated Canon characters, such as Snow White, Mulan, and Olaf. I strongly recommend it.

Elena of Avalor started airing in 2016, and takes place in the same universe as Sofia the First, with its intended premiere actually being a spin-off of Sofia the First called Elena and the Secret of Avalor, meant as a backdoor pilot to the series, but which eventually became an episode with a framing device in present day added in. It premiered on Disney Channel, but it was eventually reclassified as part of Disney Junior.

In my opinion, it is even better than Sofia the First. Besides including the same kind of likable characters and fun adventures, it also focuses on elements like family relationships, dealing with trauma, mourning deceased loved ones (with onscreen murder of the protagonist’s parents actually being committed by the show’s starter villain), and a few characters that can’t be so easily labeled as heroes or villains. It also has character growth from the leading characters, which by itself makes it stand out. I recommend it even more strongly than Sofia the First.

However... I do feel both series have their points where they seem to show lack of work put into them, for lack of a better description.

For Sofia the First, I feel those started in the fourth and final season, when the series became more serialized. And coincidentally or not, they seem to be starting in Elena of Avalor in its (so far, at least) final season (in this case, its third), which has also been said to feature a single, largely serialized arc.

This is, by and large, my attempt at laying out the current on that front in Elena of Avalor, and my general feelings on them.

I will give from the get-go that the bulk or even the entirety of these are bound to go over the heads of the target audience, which is not made up of adults like me. However... I am someone who likes consistency and continuity in the media he consumes, and while I don’t mind some wiggle room, I find that there are limits. And while things like action and humor and the like aren’t handled the same way for all audiences, I feel that general attention to detail should be applied with the same rigor whatever the target demographic.

Anyone is welcome to read, but once more, people who didn’t watch the series are bound to have no idea what I’m talking about, and will get spoiled in case they decide to watch either series later.

To use somewhat of a stereotypically stern sentence... don’t say I didn’t warn you

Overview of Season 3 so far

Let me make one thing clear. Just because I’m speaking of negative points in Season 3 of Elena of Avalor, it doesn’t mean I hate the season. It’s not horrible, or even bad.

It already showed a lot of strong points, of which I will list a few.

- We get to see interesting new locations, both within Avalor itself (like Xotep and the Sunbird Temple) and outside (like the Grotto Metamo in the realm of Vallestrella and the Kingdom of Norberg)

- Old characters that haven’t been seen in a while return, such as the noblins, Princess Valentina, and the sunbirds Lama, Qapa, and Hool.

- We got to meet fun new characters, such as Queen Abigail and Princess Chloe of Norberg, and the vulture-humanoid imp Zopilote.

- We’re seeing more character development, both for heroes, like Elena, Isabel and Migs, and for villains, like Victor Delgado, Carla Delgado, and King Hector.

- The animation is still overall great, despite minor goofs here and there.

But overall, I do find this season ‘less good’ so far when compared to the previous ones, as well as indicative of a certain sloppiness from the creators. And the main reasons why are below.

Just where is the source of all magic?

In Sofia the First, a plot-point that has been accused of being tacked-on is the element of the Mystic Isles, a floating magical archipelago which forms an important plot-point of the series’ fourth and final season, and was only introduced in said season’s first episode.

Overall, I see where that statement is coming from. While there was nothing before that directly contradicted said place’s existence, it did suffer from a lack of foreshadowing.

Granted, one thing many shows end up falling into is having to come up with new plot points for upcoming seasons if a series lasts longer than expected even though the creators had been planning to wrap everything up before. And sometimes, that’s difficult.

And despite it seeming relatively out of nowhere, the Mystic Isles had fun elements (like Sofia’s general exploration of the Mystic Isles), interesting characters (like Chrysta, Sofia’s trainer as a protector) and lessons relevant to the target audience being taught (such as being accepting of differences).

However, in Sister of Invention, the premiere of Season 3 of Elena of Avalor, we are introduced to the concept of Tacaina, which is said to be the source of all Maruvian magic, and a place that supposedly can be found through a special map which is only obtained via the cracking of a special puzzle.

Fans who never watched Sofia the First most likely will not notice this element, but as someone who did watch it, I’m a little confused. After all, both shows are set in the same universe, with both series referring to the world they’re set in as the Ever Realm. And in Sofia the First, the Mystic Isles were specifically said to be the source of all magic, period.

I will give it is possible that said information was give by someone, shall we say, not fully informed on the matter (in Sofia the First, it’s given by a painter seen at the Conjurers’ Conference in the Season 4 premiere). But in Sofia the First, the Mystic Isles seemed to be enough of a widespread secret there that wizards knew about them and what they were. So I’m not sure how likely this is.

Overall, some kind of actual confirmation on this would be nice, if one is to determine what is specifically canon.

Otherwise, it’s a plothole, although one that’s admittedly hard to spot.

What makes a villain?

One thing that has been praised, and fairly so, is how most villains in Elena of Avalor are not only fun to watch, but well developed enough to have some kind of motive. Those motives may be simple, but they do exist. Troyo wanted to be King of the Jungle, Fiero wanted revenge for not having been Royal Wizard, Victor and Carla want respectively respect and an escape for loneliness, and the list could go on.

The only two villains which were so far shown to have a complete lack of a motive (going only by what we see on the series) are Shuriki and Zopilote. The former was an evil old hag who wanted to oppress, the latter is an evil old creep who wants to destroy.

Adding to that, many villains were shown to be dead serious and had genuinely unsettling vibes even for an adult audience. Shuriki committed onscreen murder and oppressed a kingdom for 41 years, Fiero could have left a whole ballroom’s worth of people petrified for eternity, and Marimonda could have killed thousands or even millions with her magical gardening if her rampage had continued.

For Season 3, we have Ash Delgado, who despite being tamer than other villains in the show, already proved to be a threat to be wary of, having come almost as close to killing Elena as Shuriki (although I do still think Shuriki is scarier).

But... there are things about her which don’t seem to add up.

For one, in her first villain song, The One And Only, she claims that Zopilote took everything he wanted from her town, including her two pet mice, and that the deed made her realize that the most wicked always wins and caused her to say goodbye to goodness.

A bit simple, but I think it still serves its purpose, especially if those pet mice were, for some reason, the only family she had.

But then, she tracks down the very same malvago that took her pet mice from her and wants to learn magic from him specifically.

It seems odd.

There’d be other malvagos as well for sure. Why would she want specifically that one? After all, supposedly she would hold a grudge against him for taking what she had. Yes, she specifically alluded to saying goodbye to goodness, but... even from a practical sense, it doesn’t seem like a good decision. After all, there were all sorts of inherent risks.

Could this actually be some kind of long game at revenge? Or was losing her pet mice just an excuse to be a shit, which she actually always was from day one after all?

I’ll give it’s the kind of thing that we can get actual confirmation on later in the series, but... it’s still a bit of a confusing setup.

When are we again?

One thing that I personally always found strong in Elena of Avalor, and which I loved since it was first implemented, is the general attention to continuity. While some episodes, most notably Realm of the Jaquins and Two Left Fins, did have their first airings out of order, they were somehow conveyed to be out of order, and could be retroactively fit into their right place in an appropriate way.

Overall, it largely seemed like there was a clear timeline of events, despite a few minor hiccups.

But now, things are just getting confusing there.

First, Sister of Invention seems to show a sort of graduation/end of the year diploma for Isabel after she finishes her stint at college. However, the bulk of indications suggest that said stint should have ended months before, given the duration of the average school year.

Yes, it’s possible that the school year in Avalor is one of those that goes from February to December, like those in the Southern Hemisphere in the real world. However, going by the very long vacation Isabel took in Nueva Vista, it doesn’t seem likely, unless the time we saw her in Return of El Capitán was some kind of temporary leave to attend Dia de los Muertos with her family.

Which is a possibility, especially given how the upcoming Carnaval episode (which has to be set in either February or March) will take place shortly after Season 3 begins, but it’s another kind of thing that would be nice with some concrete indication.

Second, the episode The Incredible Shrinking Royals has a feast of friendship somewhere between January and March. Season 1 showed it to be somewhere in July or August (given how Party of a Lifetime was specifically said to take place in July, and Masks of Magic seems to have taken place either afterwards or not very long before), but now we have it in February or March.

Fair enough. Maybe this year’s Feast of Friendship happened earlier... but then there is another problem that comes from a line of dialogue in the episode. It’s when Elena tells Doña Paloma that it was she who told her that what matters is what people do when they arrive where they want to be... at the previous year’s Feast of Friendship!

Which I’m sorry, doesn’t add up.

Between Masks of Magic and The Incredible Shrinking Royals, there was one Dia de Los Muertos in The Jewel of Maru, and another in Return of El Capitán. By that reckoning, more than one year has passed between the two. And also, Doña mentions that the feast in the latter episode will be her thirteenth, when it should be her fourteenth. Yes, maybe there wasn’t a Feast of Friendship on that missing year for some reason, but still, the Feast of Friendship on which Doña told that to Elena would have been two years before not the previous year.

This one is actually a repeat of a prior error, as in All Kingdoms Fair Julio told Doña that she helped them build their float last year and they had a parranda. Granted, things could have happened exactly that way in the Christmas we didn’t see, but well... it just seems more like a goof.

How much time to traditions?

I will admit, this one is largely nitpicky.

But it’s still something I noticed, and thus I felt it should be included.

In Father In Chief, Chief Zephyr briefly sits down on what seems to be some kind of magical stone that makes his statue, which in turn is inside the Commander’s Rock, which we first saw in Shapeshifters. Skylar calls it a jaquin tradition. Which on itself, seems fair.

But in Shapeshifters, Chief Zephyr specifically mentioned that it was Alacazar who built the Commander’s Rock. Alacazar, who was King Raul’s Royal Wizard, less than fifty years before. Yes, Alacazar could have been the Royal Wizard for longer than that, but given how long-lived jaquins seem to be (King Verago has ruled for over fifty years and still looks fairly youthful), Alacazar would have to be very long-lived to have built the Commander’s Rock long enough ago for all those jaquin chiefs to exist. Which doesn’t seem likely, given how in Elena and the Secret of Avalor he seemed to largely age at the rate of a regular human.

Yes, I will plead guilty to wizards in my fanfic continuity also being more long-lived than non magical humans, so I can’t fault canon for doing the same, but.. by that much? It just seems... well, unnaturally rushed.

I will give it’s also possible that the jaquin statues and the plaque that makes them were elsewhere before and were moved to the Commander’s Rock later... but again, it seems something that could have had more of an explanation in canon.

If love really is in the air, it started floating a bit suddenly

If the page about him on TV Tropes is anything to go by, Craig Gerber isn’t big on romance in the series he conceives, at least between the main characters.

That said, for a series where romance isn’t the main focus, he and his team overall do a very good job of portraying nice romantic relationships in it, whether they’re between couples that have been married for decades (such as Francisco and Luisa, who in their time together are clearly shown as very much in love after all these years) couples that fall in love at first sight (like Charoca and Charica, who were just adorable) or what appears to be a sum of both (like King Pescoro and Queen Camila, who look like they fell in love at first sight, but have nurtured that relationship over time and been together for around twenty years, if not longer).

And if Elena and Mateo end up becoming a romantic couple, I can say without exaggeration that it will be the best progression from friends to lovers that I have seen in recent television.

Still... I can’t help but think they kind of dropped the ball in the most recent relationship they have apparently introduced.

I will give I may be unduly biased, given my shipping preferences for the characters... but I promise I’m trying my best not to be.

In a recent Twitter post, I called it a romance that seemed out of nowhere.

In a more recent Twitter post, I said it seemed less out of nowhere, but still an abrupt leap.

And well... as I write this, I still stand by the latter statement.

I’m sorry, but I feel that, on a canon level, if Gabaomi is really meant to be portrayed as romantic, it got the short end of the stick on portrayals of couples in Norberg Peace Prize.

Maybe it has to do with different expressions of affection across cultures, as well as with my personal views on affection. I mean, I hug my best friend when we meet after we don’t see for a while, and we’re both guys and hetero. And it’s not at all unusual here in Portugal for friends of different genders to greet each other with hugs and cheek kisses. On a familial level, it’s also common for mothers and children of both genders, as well as fathers and children of both genders, to greet each other with cheek kisses.

So to me at least, mere hugs between two friends, even if of a different gender, don’t exactly scream ‘ROMANCE!’.

I will give that Gabe and Naomi had subtle moments so far that could be interpreted as romantically coded, such as their dance in My Fair Naomi, their hug in Song of the Sirenas, and their hug in Naomi Knows Best. But... well, again, it doesn’t exactly shout like there was a romantic relationship upgrade.

I also know it’s a Disney Junior show, and that there possibly is some form of rule against explicit romance, at least between younger characters, in the series. But unfortunately, I feel that only makes the whole thing even more confusing.

Is it romantic, or is it not romantic?

If it’s not... then perhaps this is all a mountain made out of anthill.

If it is... it does feel a bit sudden, despite those subtle moments. I feel there should have been some kind of ‘more overt’ display between Naomi Knows Best and Norberg Peace Prize. As is, it feels a bit too sudden of a leap.

At least to me.

I have no idea what lies in store on that front. It’s possible that this was never romantic to begin with. It’s possible that this ends up being a relationship that doesn’t work. And it’s also possible that this is it.

Either way... well, the whole plot point doesn’t outright have me go ‘EW!’, but it does have me a fairly bit puzzled.

Again, maybe it’s something else that will turn out to be clearer as the show goes on.

But if the current status of things is really it, period, then I have my doubts.

Full sum

To reiterate the point I made in the beginning, Season 3 of Elena of Avalor still has a lot of good things going for it.

To add a few to the list I made above:

- The cast members’ performances are as good as always, like those in the scene where Elena and Esteban have their... tense moment after Esteban admitted he sabotaged the Feast of Friendship hosted by Julio.

- There are plenty of hilarious moments, such as the antics between Queen Abigail and King Hector.

- The action scenes so far, such as the battle in Sister of Invention, are great.

Once more, the list could go on.

But despite that, if Season 3 already has so many issues in so few episodes (and I’m not even including things like animation goofs in these things I point out) I feel it’s not presenting the best image of itself so far.

Yes, individually, each of these things is fairly small, but when all of them add up and one keeps in mind that the average is basically one issue per episode... well, being as gentle about it as possible, it doesn’t exactly give as good an image of the series as it once had.

It’s not an awful series for sure, but I do feel sad that it started to show so many signs of ‘less effort’ in a row.

That said, it’s true things can still improve on the remainder of the season. And being a fan of the series, I hope they do.

Thank you to all those who actually made it to the end of this essay. I look forward to knowing your thoughts on this, whatever they are.

Peace out.

#elena of avalor #elena of avalor spoilers #eoa spoilers #spoilers #essay #my opinion on a few things

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braindamageforbeginners · 6 years

Text

Intermezzo: Writing

Pre-Cycle 11

I will not be writing about my Thanksgiving, again, although I intend to once I can feel my left side (again, nothing bad happened but I’m still amazingly worn-out, which, for neurology patients, is a uniquely terrible feeling because it usually exacerbates your symptoms). However, when I come back and discuss Recent Personal Events, one thing I wanted to cover was the writing process. Or my writing process, anyway.

As usual, I tell most people that even though I might exaggerate some things or clarify details or the sequence of events, I try not to to fictionalize my experiences too much, not only because that would possibly be a disservice for anyone trying to replicate my “results” (again, for the complementary stuff, I do take CDB and a combined THC/CDB edibles for pain/chemover issues, I eat mostly fiber-based stuff, and lots of protein - usually in the form of protein supplements, but I’m not picky; make no mistake, I don’t think those will cure me, but they will enable me to survive the cure by eating, going to the gym, and those other issues that tend to promote health while not simultaneously giving the disease an edge)(also, to my LDS friends who were asking about medical marijuana, the new law says that it’s acceptable for “cachexia” - that’s the wasting that comes from final-stage cancer, by which it has so thoroughly taken over your system, it’s actually stripping you of nutrients - you want it to fight the weight-loss that comes with chemo, especially since even dear ol’ Zofran will make you too queasy to eat regularly); but also because I genuinely don’t have a good enough imagination to improve upon reality. This isn’t to say that I don’t like fiction or that it doesn’t have its place, just that, if you know how to look, you can find stuff that is way, way weirder than fiction. Case in point, my neighbor is a cop (true), owns a bloodhound (sorry, coonhound - I guess it’s bad form to mix up hunting hounds) which he uses to hunt... wild boars, not raccoons (also true). Which he makes into sausage. He also makes his own wine. When I was introduced to his dog, the line used was - and this is verbatim - “He’s named ‘Henry,’ but he prefers ‘Hank.” Let us just pause and appreciate what a glorious universe we live in where that line could be used unironically to describe a dog. All of this is true and not exaggerated - or not consciously exaggerated, anyway. Faulkner himself couldn’t imagine a character that good.

And that’s really how I was trained to write. Even though I’ve had many, many formal classes on writing, they were mostly focused on history, or science, or art/literature discussions - really, I’ve had a fair amount of training as a journalist more than a creative writer (I’m not really sure I’ve taken a creative writing class, come to it). Again, though, sometimes you can, with some research and observation, find something far more interesting than fiction. Which brings us to the main topic; a recent, hilariously bad attempt at contacting a real-life lost tribe. I normally try not to describe current (or even historical) events, but, sometimes, I just can’t help myself. So, before I go on, I will go with my usual warning that this is not a broad endorsement or condemnation of anything other than stupidity and/or incompetence (I have specific opinions that we’ll get into shortly, but, this tale does feature the world’s most disastrous missionary attempt, and that might put people on edge),

So, bit of background, We live in an era where there are almost no blank spaces left on the map. Hell, thanks to Google Earth, we have a few photos of the Area 51 terrain (again true, but it happened almost 10 years ago). However, there are a few left, like the Darien Gap (the undeveloped jungle-y area between Panama and Colombia, inhabited mostly by drug or gun-running operations), the Kibera Slums of Nairobi (by all accounts, an exceedingly dangerous place to go), parts of Beirut and the Gaza strip, and northern Pakistan. I realize it might be a bit of a stretch to cal them terra incognita, but, go ahead, try and get there and back. I’ll wait. There is also North Sentinel Island. That last one has been featured in a few Cracked articles. Now, even though I loved visiting France - and would do so again, especially if I didn’t have to do it as part of a package tour - I have, later in life, developed a much more, shall we say, spartan view of travel. This really kicked into overdrive after going to the Emerald Pool in Dominica, which I would absolutely endorse to anyone who doesn’t mind a few mosquito bites, and is largely protected because it’s way off the beaten path (if I hadn’t gone to grad school in the vicinity, I probably wouldn’t have gone). Even though I love the Met and Times Square, my most memorable stories from my week in New York a few years ago are from venturing out to Brooklyn, to find a little-known nerd bar that was Doctor Who themed (also true; it’s called The Waystation). My favorite spot in Miami was a dive bar in the middle of an upscale neighborhood (it has, sadly, since been demolished). In other words, I prefer those weird, unique places that seem to last only for a minute or two before they implode. Places like that require finding, and, in some cases, some reliable, competent guides or local fixers to get you there and back (well, not to Zeke’s in Lincoln Road, although finding a parking spot was hairy). North Sentinel Island, however, has stayed on my radar for a while, under the “NONO” file, because the minute it opens up for a nanosecond, it will vanish (it’s worth noting that, even though); also because, like traipsing through Waziristan, being the first one there is not a good idea, for reasons we’ll get into very quickly.

North Sentinel Island is home to a completely uncontacted tribe. And they (the Sentinelese) are super-murder-y. This is an island in the middle of the Indian Ocean - so it’s not like you’d bump into it on the way to Monte Carlo, so I can understand the appeal and mystique right away. The tribe in question hasn’t had contact with the outside world for... well, my sources differ, but since we’ve had records in the area, certainly. If they came over when the aboriginal tribes of Australia migrated from Asia (that’s a weird anthropological riddle unto itself, but we’ll talk about it another day), 30,000-40,000 years wouldn’t be out of the question, although, again, my data on this subject is from anthropologists and/or travel writers, which aren’t exactly “hard” sciences. That’s like “Skull Island” in Kong. Except scarier, because, what do have definitive, written records of, is a very, very hostile environment combined with the Home Owner’s Association from Hell. Literally every single account of the place involves the natives - or the terrain - killing and driving back any outside force. For all of our recorded history. The most recent recordings we have are from fishermen who go near the island, being harassed and shouted at by the inhabitants; that was twenty years ago. None of this is not an exaggeration, although that’s all from secondhand sources, at best (and I’m not going out there), and I’m trying to provide the sort of context I use to figure out if something’s interesting or not. If you’re like me, you’re getting an odd tickling sensation at the top of your spine that indicates something far more interesting than fiction is in the offing. Because no one has any real contact with the Sentinelese (well, no one’s coming forward, anyway), even though most experts think they’re related to other tribes in the chain (which may not mean much - as Maarten Troost points out, some of these islands can be such dangerous, divided places that over a dozen completely different languages were spoken on a single island), they’re also all completely susceptible to modern germs. Which is another one of life’s delightful oddities to consider that a used Kleenex might wipe out the scary natives (well, it would be more delightful if we weren’t celebrating that one time the European powers successfully used that approach to colonize the Americas and utterly decimate the locals long before most had even seen a white man). The Indian Government - who has jurisdiction over the area - has declared it off-limits to anyone without special government clearances and permission. Which I think is fine and agree with, but, I also think it’s to ensure that the Sentinelese don’t get access to boats and decide to expand the neighborhood. Again, we are talking about a people who the British Crown thought it wasn’t worth the risks to actively conquer, and we all know Queen Victoria’s life expectancy was dependent on how many countries her own occupied (okay, so that’s not true, but if you compare how long she reigned vs how many places she claimed ownership of, there’s an odd correlation). Like the other places on my list of “Don’t Ever Go There/Travel Musts,” it combines seclusion with danger, and I’d think the Indian Government might be as effective at banning travelers to it just by ignoring it and discouraging commercial activity in the area. Telling people not to go there or do something isn’t always the wisest policy, as Adam and Eve can attest. At the same time, 30000 years?! The last time they had contact with the rest of the species, we were eating Mammoths. And they’ve been actively resisting/killing everyone else for that long (okay, terminal cancer patient moment, there’s a bit of me that’s shouting.”I hope they never give in!”).

So, the second part of this drama involves organized religion. I will try not to get into my snide, militant agnostic (the older I get, the more I think it utter arrogance to claim absolute certainty - one way or another - about anything, let alone deities), but it will, at points, be somewhat unavoidable, because it’s both too amusing, and because someone claiming to represent God made something of a boo-boo that might endanger our bloodthirsty paleolithic friends there. Or, worse, give them access to boats. So, to all my religious friends, I don’t have any particular problems with your beliefs, as long as you aren’t doing anything horrible with them (like the Catholic Church and that long-running problem regarding pedophilia in the employees)(also, to all my friends who got in touch about the recent legislative/ballot measures, even though I love you all and your church, I hate to say it, but it’s not like your church would be above the sort of greed and corruption that plagues any institution run by humans, and I’d be immediately suspicious of the stock portfolio or intentions of any authority figure who tells you how to vote), but, at the same time, historically, religion has not always been, shall we say, totally beneficial to every situation. Which is important in this context because some nitwit recently tried to make contact with the Sentinelese in order to convert them. That was his stated intention; if I were inclined to be cynical, I’d point out that visiting Skull Island would be the travel story of a lifetime, and, as a species, we are amazingly good at rationalizing selfish motives to unselfish ones; and I see lonely, desperate people in the chemo ward every Tuesday who’d probably love to talk to you about beliefs (in other words, if you’re actually serious about converting someone, there’s far more receptive and easily-accessible groups than the Lost Atlantis Colony). This is particularly important because John Chau’s method of first contact was also uniquely unsubtle, and had a depressingly predictable (albeit amusing, if you have my twisted sense of humor) outcome.

Just as I kind of have to give props to the Sentinelese for utterly committing to their way of life, I have to admit that religion has - mostly for the better - evolved with us. It’s had to - we started off painting on walls in France in the hopes it’d control aurochs, and now it’s an entity in the modern array of nation-states. In order to do that, it’s had to reign in that impulse to spread the word of God at the end of a sword, and use much more subtle techniques. Again, that sort of sentiment isn’t something you think about until you see the world’s most convoluted form of suicide in action.

And I bring this up because, when I thought about it, if I decided to visit Mega Murder Island (and I’m not sure I would, since I still have strap on an ankle brace any time I think I’m going to need to move at more than two miles an hour, and I still haven’t survived any of my other “Amazing/Awful Travel Destinations”) there might be a few ways I’d go about it, 1. Go back to school and study anthropology and/or linguistics (as needed) and become a Noted Figure in the field, and get official public permission/funding for such a project. 2. Hire a PMC or similar mercenary group to storm island and force my way into the interior at gunpoint (not recommended, this was the approach the British took in the 19th century and they still didn’t subdue the natives). 3. Make friends/contacts among similar tribes in the island chain, in the hope that one of them would offer an “in,” 4. Very quietly organize some sort of quiet, covert expedition to reconnoiter the island while avoiding the Sentinelese in hopes of parlaying that information into a better strategy later, also while staying alive.

It’s not often you get John Chau’s approach, which is to bribe local fisherman to take you within kayak-range of the shore, and read the gospel to the natives, loudly, and then, after a while, paddle back to the waiting fishermen. Let us just pause - again - and appreciate that the same way you ask for directions in Helsinki or St. Petersburg when you have a clumsy phrasebook was the chosen method of contact by a modern human to people whose customs and culture would - if the estimates are correct - completely predate the Lascaux cave paintings. Again, to put it into context, to paraphrase Dan Carlin of “Hardcore History,” it’s a little hard to understand or empathize with writers from 500 BC, because the values and beliefs of the time are so out-of-sync with modern thought. And now imagine a culture that branched off from the rest of us over ten times earlier than that. Predictably, like every other time the outside world has tried to intrude on their island, the natives killed him. I guess the moral of the story is that Jesus won’t interfere on your behalf if ten minutes’-worth of research on a smart phone would inform you that, hey, maybe going to visit the uber-hostile cavemen isn’t a good idea. Another dream deferred, perhaps, but such is the price of remaining not-killed-by-obviously-not-friendly locals. Yes, my finding this darkly hilarious is probably callous on my part, but, at the same time, in the wake of Honnold ascending El Cap unaided, I’m thinking we, as a society, need to have a discussion about the difference between a calculated risk, and recklessness. Also, as mentioned, life is frequently weirder than fiction, and if you develop an instinct for that (and it’s very easy to do), there’s really no need to agonize over character motivation or plot.

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