#POE critical

[nateofgreat]

I think that form of atheist storytelling is based on an overlying ideal that freedom is better then anything

Many atheists feel that the existence of a gid or destiny makes free will ultimately irrelevant or non existence, or they view the gods as powerful tyrants lording over humanity, all this of course in the fantasy scenario where god’s actually exist

Thus they try to “free” people from the tyranny of gods in their storie’s

Personally I understand the sentiment but like you said if it’s causing mass deaths then it shouldn’t be worth it, it’s your story you didn’t need to include that lol

If you want your atheist character to fight to free themselves from god? Totally understandable, have your atheist hero kill god in a Denny’s parking lot, have them lead a revolution against the gods,

Or in a more realistic world, show them that there’s a better way that doesn’t require gods at all

Full disclosure; I'm a Christian, so obviously I disagree with your thoughts on God and religion in general.

That said, I don't have any more of an issue with atheist promoting their worldview in fiction than I do with Christians or other religious people promoting theirs. It's their right to do so, and the big secret of fiction is everyone from every worldview can be super preachy; it's just that you tend to not notice if it's promoting ideas you agree with.

Atheists fantasize about "saving people" from religion just as much as religious people fantasize about saving people's souls.

So if an atheist wants to write a story about atheism, they can do that to their hearts content. My issue is the way some of them portray religious people as essentially subhuman.

Going back to Fullmetal Alchemist, the genocide of a religious nation was depicted as bad, sure, but the "villain" who started murdering the people responsible was viewed as a lunatic... For praying. Like the mere act of being religious is nearly as disturbing as the genocide itself.

Chris Avellone games are a masterclass on this. Pillars of Eternity specifically. The thing about fantasy settings is that you can do whatever you want with in-universe religion. So he could've just written them as jerks and left it there, and it'd have been fine. But for him to go on to make the games such an on-the-nose critique of religion despite no IRL religion believing anything close to what he's depicting is... Pretty lame.

If you write fantasy just stick to your fantasy. A good example would be the God of War Norse Saga (the Greek games being more of what I was talking about by the third game) that stayed perfectly self-contained and is thus enjoyable to me despite having a bit of an anti-religious worldview.

[armitagehux-askblog]

Champagne?

I'm uncertain whether you're asking if I drink champagne or if you're inviting me for a drink, but sure.

I do consume alcohol on special occasions if that's what you're implying.

[artigas]

i love my job. i am very lucky to be doing my job. it is a privilege to be pursuing your dream career. but last night i spent four hours grading essays where my students argued that edgar allan poe's attraction to the fictional character annabel lee is proof that he was a child predator. i cannot explain to you the psychic damage and profound concern i suffer when i am forced to grade.

[lieutenant-teach]

Questions to Star Wars Sequels

Rewatched the Sequel Trilogy with actual knowledge about Star Wars.

1. Why copy the planet or Rey’s origin? Why not jungles or literally anything else? I said more in another post [link].

2. Why make stormtroopers brainwashed and taken from childhood? Now it’s unfair to kill them if they didn’t have any other choice. There were words like ‘reprogramming’ – reminds of clones. I’ve always thought that stormtroopers are soldiers who believe in the cause of the Empire\First Order.

3. Give more competence for Finn! Poe pilot, Finn fighter/shooter, Rey inventive brain and hand-to-stick fighter / later Jedi. Overall give decent character arcs for main heroes – Finn loses his arc from TFA in the next movies, Poe doesn’t seem to have one, Rey’s motives to become a Jedi are unclear. Main trio doesn’t feel connected – Poe doesn’t meet Rey until the end of the second movie, unlike in the OT (what they did to the OT characters, was covered million times by others, won’t repeat). Kylo could’ve been somewhat good as a villain, but he’ll always be compared to Darth Vader and lose – he’s not so impressive at all (his fits of anger made him look pitiful in my eyes). Their romance is toxic and doesn’t have any chemistry. I ship Finnrey, I see they really care about each other.

4. Characters speak with typical action blockbuster clichés – app.15% of actually meaningful to the plot phrases throughout the whole trilogy. Makes me miss the dialogues of the Prequels. The plots in general are so dragged out – the Lego game (!) is much more dynamic.

5. Why don’t you kriffing EXPLAIN all this shit about strand-casts in the movie??? Why must I read supplementary material to understand this? When I was watching, I couldn’t understand why Snoke is so deformed for a clone, and Palpatine’s cloned ‘son’ doesn’t look like young Palps in the slightest. AND THEN I READ WOOKIEPEDIA. I want to watch a movie and understand what’s going on in it! Not go looking for info somewhere else! (Won’t comment on an utter idiocy of making Rey a Palpatine.)

6. Usage of the Force through a hologram?

7. Sudden psychometry, just like with Ahsoka – useful to the plot. Sudden healing – why did Anakin worry so much? Apparently, if you really want it, you can do it.

8. Why do we need D-O droid? He brings nothing to the plot and quite irritating!

9. Why are there lots of Sith acolytes/apprentices/disciples? Wasn’t there the Rule of Two?

I give it – ‘I’m all the Jedi’ was cool, I liked it. It’s just the build-up to this moment was unearned.

John Williams’ score was the best part of the whole trilogy.

[sjbattleangel]

Behold some of the worst Star Wars takes you've ever seen. "I love Star Wars!" No you don't, Lily. Just like certain reactionary hacks, you hate Star Wars for the most idiotic reasons ever. Case in point: 1) Lily decides to rewrite the sequel trilogy into angst-fest that over-worships the Sith as a misunderstood, persacuted race of people, turns classic characters like Luke and Leia into "old racist white folk" and of course, has her "heroic" character straight-up murder unarmed rich people!

Plus, as someone who adores The Last Jedi as one of the best Star Wars films since The Empire Strikes Back, Lily completely missed the point of the film! It doesn't need to be "fixed" as it's already a compelling deconstruction of Star Wars that challenges the notion of destiny and fixed traditions by having the characters grow through their mistakes: Like Rey learning she doesn't need to be related to someone special know where she belongs; Poe learning to stop and listen to other people's ideas; Finn learning about how other people are effected by the war; Luke learning not to give up on himself.

I get the feeling Lily's bitter because it didn't line up with her own bloated "SWTOR-and-KOTOR-II-are-the-only-SW-media-that-matters-and-the-Sith-are-the-real-good-guys" headcannon.

That and the real reason Lily hates Rose Tico is because she wasn't a sexy traumatized black lesbian with a high body-count. Because, let's face it, Lily didn't create Darth Amorosa because she wanted "diversity" and "representation". No, it was simply because she wanted a black woman to fetishize.

[just-a-speck]

oh how nice it was when times were simpler

when showing up to school was not so difficult

when my parents' faces beamed with pride

though all i did was just laugh and smile

but as poets say time waits for none

it didnt for me and suddenly life had no fun

i grew up slowly or thats what ive been told

i feel no different and now theres noone to hold

do this do that thats what you real man must do

but these bring me no joy and who do i say this to

i want to flee and run to the hills but that too

is just a dream, a dream it will be, but i feel though

sometimes, late at night, like this one here

if im in the wrong and i really should fear

what if im the mistake and a shame on my loved ones

what if i am defective for wanting to run away

what if i really dont deserve to just happily play

what if i am undesirable and a black sheep

with all this baggage that in my heart i keep

what do i do, i cant see clear

to whom do i say, who do i hold dear

sometimes i wonder, on nights like this one here, if its even worth it at all

[frecklef0x]

Some Patreon sketch rewards for June and July!

(I was mentally preparing to share all these separately over time to appease the algorithm, but then I remembered! That shit doesn’t matter here! I love tumblr dot com)

[poelya]

actually, speaking of lore consistency, i've been thinking about a lot of the tie-in material for the sequels here lately and i have to say there's a lot less consistency I feel like than there could have been. and i'm not just talking charles soule 'oh fuck what tfa said about the fall of luke's temple actually', but like...generally speaking i feel like so much emphasis being put on, at the time, that everything expanded 'verse worked consistently with the films, actually harmed the perception of the films themselves.

because when you divorce the films from their book/comic tie-ins, they flow very well. better than typical criticism will have you think (and before anyone brings up Rey's parentage, first off I lived through tasm2. that shit WAS nonsensical. second off, traumatized brains genuinely work like that. doylist explanation of the writers waffling - something very common in star wars, unless you've forgotten luke and leia's romance fizzling out because hanleia was more popular and george last second retconning them to be sibs - could be criticized, but the watsonian explanation that Rey's memories are that badly fucked up from trauma fits. source: my memories are that badly fucked up from trauma). the only thing is that the movies don't remain consistent with the tie-in material.

which, duh. they're the source material, not these one-shots. the opening scrawl of tfa says that leia has support of the senate behind her with the resistance, which is why poe introduces himself as commander of the new republic fleet. it's why the resistance is in dire straits in tfa/tlj, they just lost their support system. but tie-in material built off a deleted scene, where the senate largely doesn't take the resistance seriously. so we wind up in this bizarre land of "the senate didn't support the resistance but actually they did". if it had been better fleshed out, it would've worked (my partner came up with a great explanation for how both would work and it's simply not there in the 'canon' text). then you have the poe comics, which decides that despite tfa making it extremely clear that looking for tekka was ren's responsibility (with battlefront ii backing this by having him torture del), we get....random first order intelligence officer being in charge of the hunt, because soule was more interested in doing mission impossible-esque stories than the kinds of stories that would better fit the tekka search. this isn't even counting the back and forth of poe's character development in the comics (listen i love those comics, but there's a LOT of two steps forward, three steps back, especially in regards to Poe handing Tekka over. That arc perfectly set up Poe from BTA growing into the Poe we see in the films, annnnnnnnnnnnnd then Soule like. retracted it in the very next issue. This does not upset me in the slightest, why do you ask [chewing through drywall] and like. poe and leia have no familial dynamic to them in those comics either, to the point that watching tlj for the first time was a tRIP for me because i had a !!! oh!!! they're family!!! moment bc that's not present in the comics, with the exception of maybe l'ulo's funeral)

and of course my favorite example of the source material going "ew wtf" is tros just. point blank. saying "who the fuck is resistance reborn?" specifically through poe. iconic, showstopping, i love it to pieces because that novel deserves a slow death rotting at the bottom of the ocean.

the best tie-in material is often either ones built AFTER the films all released (looking at u free fall) or the rare time you can tell the author genuinely loves the characters/era and writing it isn't just a gig. my point is i think by having authors largely ignoring the canon text, and making this very inconsistent lore built around a deleted scene, etc, very seriously harmed the sequels.

[gilmores-glorious-blog]

TALIESIN JAFFE SHARES A BIRTHDAY WITH EDGAR ALLAN POE??!?!!??!??!???!!??!!!!??!???!!

[haveyoureadthispoem-poll]

"It was many and many a year ago, / In a kingdom by the sea, / That a maiden there lived whom you may know / By the name of Annabel Lee..."

Read it here | Reblog for a larger sample size!

[nateofgreat]

So... The Sequel Trilogy

Alright, so with Adam Driver's comments getting me to think about it again, I wanted to lay out my thoughts on the not-at-all controversial trilogy. This is going to be critical but not a hate post. Strangely, I struggle to actually hate the Sequels despite all the drama around them.

I don't see the point in listing criticisms when everyone's probably heard them before so I'll just list my opinions and how I'd have done things differently while keeping the basic premise.

-I've always liked the characters of the ST. Rey, Finn, Poe, Rose, etc were all likable to me with interesting backstories, personalities, and such. What I'm not a big fan of is how the plot utilized them.

-Wiping out the Jedi again was a mistake in retrospect. Greatly limited potential stories set in that time period. I'd have them still be around under Luke.

-Rey can be some nobody from Jakku who enters the plot the same way. Her being a prodigy (while I didn't mind it personally) ended up not being super important so she can have a regular level of Force sensitivity. She becomes a Jedi and maybe Luke's Padawan. She keeps her hangups on her parents and her feeling of insignificance, both are solved by finding a new family in her friends and the Jedi.

I'd keep Kylo Ren having feelings fo Rey and maybe her initially having some feelings for him because he offers her belonging she doesn't think she has. But no canon Reylo, I'd have Rey learn better and find what she's looking for elsewhere in a healthier way.

-Kylo Ren's character I'd have stick to the TFA and TLJ portrayal. He starts out wanting to emulate Vader, realizes he can't, goes mad, kills his Master, and becomes an unstable leader who's wild actions leave the First Order vulnerable.

-I'm sure everyone's heard the criticisms about how Finn was handled, with how his character was reduced to calling for Rey in TROS. Personally speaking, I'd have kept the ex-Stormtrooper backstory but had him start out as a Jedi Knight, though still with the same fear of the First Order. Maybe he's still a padawan in TFA because he struggles to overcome it.

From there he can overcome his fear and help the First Order's victims. Namely, the other ex-Stormtroopers.

-I wouldn't do the Poe fake-out death in TFA (yes I know it was because they changed their minds) I'd have him live and follow Finn to the camp where they find Rey. He pilots the Falcon, Finn's the gunner, Rey's the engineer/copilot.

-It's hard to pinpoint exactly where the plot started to awry for me... But I don't think the straight-up retreads (in things like visuals, etc) was a good call. It can have similarities but I'd change a few elements up. Also, keep the New Republic alive, they can be floundering under the First Order's new offensive but they don't have to be wiped out.

And this post is already getting too long... I'll have to organize this better another time. All that said, for all the disagreements I have with the ST I think the best thing for Lucasfilm to do with it now... Is accept it and move on with SW universe.

I get that people hate it but trying to retcon it, ignore it, or never move the story forward ever isn't the best idea long-term. Better to learn from their mistakes and move on.

All that said? Rey Skywalker > Ahsoka Tano.

[daincrediblegg]

oh yeah shoutout to one of the students in my class today who pointed out it was edgar allan poe's birthday which started an impromptu 52 man happy birthday chorus for him. legendary behavior.

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

[mysticdragon3md3]

[grandhotelabyss]

What are Edgar Allan Poe's best poems?

I'll give you three. First, I have a soft spot for "Annabel Lee." It's sentimental, yes, poised on the edge of bathos and verbal farce ("chilling and killing"), but the swooning anapests are irresistibly hypnotic. He should have called it "Anapest Lee." Second, Guy Davenport's "geographic" reading of "To Helen" has raised this deceptively slight and simple poem to an almost epic dimension in my mind: Poe seems in 15 lines to travel all the way from the Gothic cathedrals of Germany down through Rome and into Greece, and from Greece to the Levant, until our poetic pilgrim reaches Jerusalem. Finally, if Poe's poetry points toward an avant-garde elevation of the signifier over the signified, sound over sense, then we can find his furthest venture into such modernist verse in "The Bells," a poem drunk on its own rhymes and rhythms, delirious with verbiage, a poem that chants its own name like a child repeating a word over and over again until its meaning dissolves into sheer sonic vibrations.

[dateamonster]

the fact that theres no jonathan crane that just fucking loves horror stories like...........