#i was thinking they made a Tolkien easter egg at first

[harmonictechnicality]

Memory Log Easter Eggs and Brain Worms

There’s quite a few of these, so I’m gonna do my best to scavenge for all of them. I’m going to start with the most important one:

Waking up Max: there were 3 key elements that were vital in waking up Max. 

Max’s birthday - I purposefully picked November 6th as Max’s birthday because it is the day that Will went missing in 1983. I think there is something so significant about the Upside Down being frozen in time on that specific day. That day must hold some sort of power and therefore, I needed Max to be tethered to that day somehow. Hence the November 6th birthday.

The happiest memory item/song - Max has been through a lot, especially as a kid. It is common for people (younger people especially) to repress their trauma in order to function day to day. However, a lot of good memories often times get repressed with the bad memories. The brain is just trying to stuff it all away and that can happen. So it made sense to me that Max couldn’t find her happiest memory because she repressed it, and needed to hear the song from the bear to pull the memory out of storage.

The witching hour - the time of day when supernatural entities are said to reach maximum power. Therefore, if Max’s consciousness is stuck in a supernatural realm, she would need as much power as possible to escape. This time of day gave her and Eddie the best chances of surviving.

(All three of these things needed to happen in order to set them free. The perfect storm.)

Going off of this, there is distinct significance in Max waking up on Day 77. Seven is commonly used as a number of extreme luck. So I used this day to represent that not only did they need those three conditions, but they also needed tons and tons of luck on their side.

And if you’re into math (I’m not, but I kinda had to for this fic), you’ll notice that Steve and Eddie kiss on Day 71. And if Max’s birthday is on Day 77, that would mean that their first kiss is on Halloween. Something, I doubt Steve cares about - but if Eddie’s memory had been better, I’m sure he would’ve be fucking STOKED.

The book behavior choices! Taming of the Shrew is such a nod to this fandom. I’ve seen a lot of people in the steddie nation that love 10 Things I Hate About You. And like, same. But 10 Things I Hate About You is a modern adaptation of Taming of the Shrew, by William Shakespeare. So, I threw this in there as a little nod to this community and their shared love of that tale :)

Jekyll and Hyde… this one is pretty obvious. One is nice and the other is a monster (via potion). I’m assuming that Eddie is on a lot of medicines, some probably affect his moods, so that’s why I chose this one.

Beowulf - okay, so I’ve read articles on how Tolkien LOVES Beowulf, and therefore, I think Eddie would also love Beowulf. It totally checks out with his love of fantasy worlds.

There’s a moment in chapter 3 where Steve calls Eddie “hero” and I think this is less of a term of endearment, and more his way of showing Eddie that he did indeed read Beowulf for him (even though he did not read it lol). It’s also a nod to s4 when Eddie says they are ‘no heroes.’ Even though Eddie doesn’t have memory of this moment, Steve calls back to it so that Eddie feels like a hero (just like Beowulf) for surviving the Bad Days.

The heart monitor - this became a huge symbol for Steve in determining Eddie’s feelings. Whether he was feeling sick or flustered or sleepy, all of those beeps sounded different. But then, Steve ALSO uses it to determine that Max is waking up. I think it is fun to play off of this thing that he saw as a reminder of mortality, and ends up using it to know that his friend is being revived.

I picked the Corduroy bear because the story reflects Eddie in a lot of ways. In the Children’s book, the bear is searching for his missing button. In this fic, Eddie is searching for his missing memories. I just liked the idea of connecting him and Max in yet another way.

The heart sticker being underneath the bear’s overalls is another callback to s4 - the Russian Doll with the note inside. It’s not entirely the same, but it’s a tiny detail I threw in there to pay homage to that scene (and it ultimately led to breaking someone - Hopper - free). Just like Max and Eddie were set free.

In the final chapter Eddie says this about the bear: ‘Looks like she sewed it back together with yellow threads?’ The color yellow is used to represent Steve throughout this fic (and the whole damn fandom). So I liked having it symbolize the thread holding this bear together, like Steve is the person that has brought them all together on this quest to wake up Max.

The Firestarter reference - I used this particular movie/novel for a few different reasons. The first is that it’s by Stephen King, and the show (in canon) makes TONS of Stephen King references. At the end of s4, we see Lucas reading The Talisman to Max, so we get the sense that she’s a fan of his books. I also chose it because Max’s hair is red, so I thought Eddie would immediately associate her with fire :)

The Nightmare on Elm Street reference - again, a lot of s4 paid respect to this movie, along with lots of other Teen Horror Slasher films. But since this fic is dealing with lucid dreaming, I felt it had to be mentioned at least once.

I based the original character of Sam off of the Nurse from Romeo and Juliet. Lets be honest: Romeo and Juliet are shitty people. But the Friar and the Nurse are literally carrying the whole damn play on their overworked backs (so is Mercutio until he bites the bullet). The Nurse helps Romeo and Juliet meet in secrecy and protects their relationship. So having an actual nurse do the same thing for Steve and Eddie seemed like a no-brainer in my Shakespeare-obsessed brain.

In the epilogue, Eddie tells Steve “Would be a complete idiot not to fall in love with you, Steve Harrington.” I used this to negate Nancy Wheeler saying “you’re an idiot, Steve Harrington” all throughout s1. While she probably means this in an endearing way, I can’t help but wonder how this affects Steve. Especially after seeing her response to his essay in the next season. Yes, it might be playful, but it becomes a very real opinion of hers a year into their relationship. So I thought it was important to have Eddie twist that phrase and tell Steve that someone would be an idiot not to fall in love with him. That seemed healing and important to me.

The final line. This is in reference to them holding hands in chapters 4 and 5. Each time they do so, it means something different. At first, it is a sign of “helpless support.” Steve cannot fix Eddie’s medical problems, but he can literally offer his hand to show that he’s physically there for him. Once they kiss in Chapter 5, Steve says “it means everything,” in determination to get Eddie’s memories back once and for all. And finally, he repeats this because the gesture now represents their togetherness. Their bond. When they hold hands at the end, it means everything they’ve experienced as a pair.

I hope this was interesting and not too boring. Sorry if it was! I cannot thank you all enough for the love and support on this fic. It was a joy to share with this community.

[camille-lachenille]

Hold on a second, I had an epiphany! I was thinking about the links between the Hobbits and other ‘grander’ stories by Tolkien in terms of narration and worldbuilding. And there’s these two lines from the poem The Dragon is withered, when Bilbo arrives in Rivendell on his way back home that really struck me:

The stars are far brighter/ Than gems without measure,

The song seems a bit silly, with lots of tra-la-la-lally, but these two lines really made me think of the Silmarillion. Of course the Elves are singing about Bilbo’s adventure and refer to the Arkenstone. But. We know from FotR that there are survivors of Nargothrond and Gondolin living in Rivendell. Survivors from two cities destroyed by dragons, but also survivors of the third Kinslaying. A Kinslaying over a magical gem everyone wanted, just like the Arkenstone. These tra-la-la-lally Elves saw first hand what ‘gems without measure’ lead to. And guess what the Silmaril becomes? A star. The brightest star of the skies even. And that’s just two lines of this song!

Am I reading too far into it? Maybe. But knowing how careful Tolkien was in his choice of words, especially in his poems, I think this is a valid reading. He also makes a clear allusions to past collaboration between Dwarves and Elves in the third stanza of Far over the Misty Mountains cold:

For ancient king and elvish lord/ There many a gleaming golden hoard/ They shaped and wrought, and light they caught/ To hide in gems on hilt of sword.

I understand these lines as a reference either to the alliances between Dwarves and Elves in the First Age, when they crafted the Nauglamír and helped building Nargothrond, or the collaboration between Celebrimbor and Narvi in the Second Age, where they use Ithildin for the Doors of Durin, this material that reflects only the light of stars, or both.

Anyways, there are these little easter eggs hidden in the details of the songs, these allusions to a larger world and ancient History surrounding the quest to Erebor. Tolkien had already written a good chunk of the Silm material before the Hobbit. The Fall of Gondolin was almost two decades old and the Lay of Leithian just over a decade. He knew about Eärendil carrying a Silmaril in the sky. He knew about Nargothrond falling to dragon fire and the Sons of Fëanor slaying their kin for gems.

I haven’t read the Hobbit in over a year so I’m sure there are other references I’m missing, but my point that the Hobbit actually fits so well in the wider frame of Arda and Tolkien’s legendarium stil stands. Sure, it’s a children’s book and the tone is so much lighter compared to the Silm, and even LotR, but the myths and History are already there, setting the foundations of the stories published later.

[starspray]

For the fanfic director’s cut: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ooh boy writer's choice! I'm gonna talk about Mysteries Too Marvelous, a Smith of Wootton-Major fic I wrote for this year's TRSB.

The art is of the Sea of Windless Storm, and the prompt asked for worldbuilding, about the Sea itself and the elven mariners, or also Faerie in general--I did my best to include both, and from the very first I wanted to write about Tim of Townsend, Smith's nephew who receives the star after him. He's got just enough characterization from the way Smith and Alf talk about him to build off of, and aside from his mom being Nell's sister, and his grandfather being Old Nokes, his family's Free Real Estate. So I gave him a sister.

The challenge for this fic was getting a balance between the Faery we know from Smith and adding new things--I wanted it to echo a little, and to rhyme, but not just be a repeat of Smith's experiences, and honestly I think I did pretty well. That's why I made Tim's father (and Tim, in his turn) a carpenter--they make things, but it's quite different from smithing. And why the people of Faery call Tim Star-child, as they called Smith Starbrow before.

I also added some little easter egg allusions that I'm rather fond of. Bombadil's distant cousin on the mountainside:

Once he met a very old man by one of those springs, seated on a stone, comfortable as a cat in the sunshine, with a wide-brimmed yellow hat and a long white beard into which were braided many flowers. He told Tim many tales, and sang many songs in a language that Tim didn’t know, but which felt ancient—ancient and filled with strange joys and sorrows.

Fairy folk having parties in the woods and vanishing without a trace in the blink of an eye:

Tim stopped at the edge of the trees, suddenly unsure. He did not want to intrude, but when he was noticed the fair folk all called out to him in glad greeting, welcoming him with open arms. “Come, join us Star-child!” they cried. “Welcome!” They drew him into their fold, and there was more laughter and much music, and Tim found himself feasting and dancing and never growing tired, and singing new songs that he hadn’t known before that night, and yet could find the words on the tip of his tongue. The night passed with amazing swiftness and yet seemed to stretch on forever, until at last he found himself alone in the meadow with no trace of any party to be seen around him—not even a crust of bread or a speck of ash from their fires—and the sky was brightening with the coming morning as he breathed deeply the crisp cool air, and felt the dew gather in his hair.

And I had both Arwen and Tolkien's simile of the "elf queen clad in living flowers" when I wrote this description of the Faery Queen:

His mariner companions drew him along with them until they came to one table set on a dais, where the most beautiful lady Tim had ever seen was seated on a chair that was more like a throne than anything else, with a canopy strung with silver and pearls above her. She was clad all in flowers, and gem-bright butterflies flitted about her shoulders. Her eyes were bright as stars beneath a diadem of gold and emerald, and her smile was blinding and very kind as she looked down at Tim from her high seat. He bowed along with his companions, feeling very clumsy and young and ridiculous.

And I happened to have The Lady Of Shalott on my writing playlist so this happened:

The road took him down out of the hills and along a wide river, upon which boats and barges drifted. The folk upon them called out merry greetings to Tim, and he stopped often to cool his feet in the shallows where tiny fish—silver and gold and copper—darted in to nibble at his toes. One morning he came upon a tower sitting at a bend in the river. A small boat was tied to a small dock at its base, but neither had seen use in a very long time, and were adorned with moss and cobwebs that glinted with morning dew. The morning mist drifted over the water and about the base of the tower, giving it a strange and ghostly look. From a high window he thought he heard a steady thump and clacking, as of someone busy at a loom. But no faces appeared in the windows, nor did any voice call a greeting to him, so he went on down the road. A group of elven knights in shining silver and golden armor passed by on great white horses, singing songs as their bright-colored banners fluttered in the wind of their passing.

[smhalltheurlsaretaken]

I cannot, for the LIFE OF ME figure out what they were going for with this scene.

I mean, anybody reasonably familiar with the Hobbit or anything else written by Tolkien would know Orcrist was very much not forged by Legolas’ kin and that he’d have absolutely no reason to claim that (especially not in Elvish which the Dwarves can’t understand - if he was saying that for their benefit and using ‘my kin’ as shorthand for ‘other elves’ it might make some vague amount of sense but he’s just thinking to himself, and there’s no way in hell he privately identifies with the Noldor enough that he’d think of them like that) but that’s not the weirdest thing about this. 

In the ACTUAL Elvish that he is ACTUALLY speaking in this scene, he’s saying:

“This sword was made in Gondolin. Forged by the Noldor.” (source)

Which is actually correct. Why oh why would they go to the trouble of writing a piece of Elvish dialogue saying one thing and saying exactly the opposite thing in the subs? 

If it was about the copyright issues of not being allowed to reference the Silm but they still wanted to have the actual facts as a little easter egg, couldn’t they tweak the subtitles so they’d fit better? Like saying “this is a blade from one of the old Elven kingdoms, forged by the High Elves?” Hell! It can’t be that, the LotR movies had Galariel use the word ‘Noldorin’ to describe the daggers she gives Merry and Pippin, AND the first Hobbit movie had Elrond spelling it out for us by literally saying: “This is Orcrist, the Goblin-cleaver. A famous blade... forged by the High Elves of the West, my kin.(...) And this is Glamdring (...) Sword of the King of Gondolin. These were made for the Goblin Wars of the First Age” SO WHAT EXACTLY IS THE ISSUE HERE?! 

If they wanted to have him say exactly what he’s saying in the subs, couldn’t they have him actually say that instead of distracting me with the word ‘Gondolin’? Is it that they recorded the dialogue to echo Elrond’s words in AUJ, and then thought “hmmm, casual viewers won’t get that even though we referenced that in the first movie” and so they subbed it with the exact opposite of what he’s saying?? To also echo what Elrond said except this time it has the unfortunate consequence of implying that Legolas and Elrond are kin which would be bound to confuse casual viewers even more?! 

Which version am I supposed to go with now? Is Legolas merely confused about Dwarves carrying a First Age Noldorin weapon - which is what his real dialogue and initial reaction tell us - or is he offended that Dwarves apparently stole something that belonged to ‘his kin’ - which is what the subtitles establish and what the movie goes with?? Why is the movie operating on two separate and contradicting levels of reality?!

I mean, his reference to Gondolin makes his bitchy attitude even more unwarranted and pointless than it already was, because if Thorin had stopped being a cryptic asshole for all of two seconds he could have just said ‘Lord Elrond gave this to me’ (truthful + Elrond is the kind of guy you absolutely namedrop if you want an Elf to listen to you) instead of ‘it was given to me’ (needlessly vague, antagonizing and dumb) and Legolas would have gone ‘Elrond is pretty significantly connected to Gondolin, what with his grandparents being from there, and a Dwarf probably wouldn’t think to use that info to convince me, so it’s probably not a lie.’ 

Why do I get punished for knowing what they’re talking about? 

[demonscantgothere]

I dont know if you are still doing this but for the question game

3, 4 Litost, 6 Litost, 17, 24 Litost, 26, 34, 41, 47 Litost, 49, and 50.

In case it wasn't obvious, I love Litost. Thank you so much for the absolute gift from the heavens that is that fic.

Oh wow, you have really made my day with that! Thank you so much!!! I don't think anyone's ever called Litost a gift from the heavens yet, so oh my God, I think this one is gonna stick with me for a minute!!! 😭❤️

3. What are some tropes or details that you think are very characteristic of your fics?

. . . Alternate Universe, preferably canon divergence. Sharing a bed. Lots of hand touching. Face touching with hands. Hand porn is a thing. Angst. Lots of angst. Kidnapping tropes. Hate to love or Love/Hate being two sides of the same coin. The opposite of love is apathy, Galadriel, and you are not good at it.

4. What detail in [Litost] are you really proud of?

“I would comfort you,” he whispered, such sorrow in his own voice. “But it would only repulse you.”

6. What’s one fact about the universe of [Litost] that you didn’t get a chance to mention in the fic itself?

So, Theo and Valandil have rings of power, but . . . there are others who have had them much, much longer. 😈

24. Are there any easter eggs in [Litost], and if so, what are they?

I don't think so unless callbacks to canon count. Galadriel's circlet that Halbrand makes her is the one from The Hobbit movies. The description of Theo's ring is based on one of the Dwarven rings from the original trilogy. In a future chapter there will be canonical name drops and inclusions of characters from Tolkien's works that haven't shown up yet. Also more callbacks to the original trilogy.

26. Would you rather write a fic that had no dialogue or one that was only dialogue?

No dialogue. If I read something with only dialogue, I'd lose my mind, haha. I'd rather read action with silence.

34. What aspects of your writing are inspired by/taken from your real life?

Occasional experiences here or there.

41. Link a fic that made you think, “Wow, I want to write like that.”

With every update to The Lesser of Two Evils, I often feel this way about Thrill of Hope's fic, though she is going to think I am pulling her chain by saying that. Her writing is exquisite to me.

47. If [Litost] was a pair of shoes, what kind would it be? Describe the shoes.

Lol, I have no idea!

49. What are you currently working on? Share a few lines if you’re up for it!

A sequel to The Greatest Slavery.

The golden leaves on the edge of Lothlórien faded away to a world of green as the carriage bumbled along the path. Celebrían cast her gaze upward to the top of the canopy of mingling shades, her own eyes a reflection of them—green but golden amber in the center. Her eyes drew forth much attention in Lothlórien, for Elves were known to have grey eyes or blue, but never green or amber. Often, it caused her to cast her gaze downward to avoid the stares. Too many of them, so many eyes, and all of them blue or grey.

50. Answer any question of your choice, or talk about anything you want to talk about!

Trying to pick what to write tonight! I have multiple projects and no idea where I want to start! I've got the next chapter of Litost, of course, continuations of The Greatest Slavery and Eyes Closed, unnamed one shots sitting on the backburner, the next chapter of Beasts (which I think I'm waiting for Litost to be finished first, anyway), and then the finale installment for Dark, Dark My Light.

. . . I have no idea where to start.

[2shayll]

as someone who has been a distant fan of the LOTR world, I was intrigued to see that there was going to be a prequel. A friend of mine was a die hard fan and loved the world so much so that she took up cosplay and loved creating the costumes and armour inspired by the series. I only know a little of the more intricate aspects of the world. Knowing only basic things like Mordor and Sauron or Frodo and trying to defeat Sauron with his fellowship. I apologize if I missed anything die hard fans lol. 

When I first started The Rings of Power, I was immediately immersed into the world and was reminded of the beauty of the cinematography and the landscape of middle earth. I was mesmerized. 

I heard all the criticism of the show, many die hard fans bemoaning the fact that some time line issues didn’t match up to the original Peter Jackson movies or that the writing was bad. Being only a distant fan, I wasn’t able to see any issues. I know that there was also something going on with Amazon and people saying not support it. But take heart to those who criticize Amazon, I may have used...a more discreet method to watch it let’s just say. 

Anyway, with the finale of the show, I was on the edge of my seat. The storylines finally come to make sense in the grand scheme of things. Nori and ‘the stranger’ figure out who he is (sort of), the Numenoorians sail back to Numenoor but something dark is brewing. And... spoiler alert...Galadriel finds out that Halbrand, her friend, her brother in arms, is none other than Sauron. 

To be honest...I was disappointed. The fact that I saw how people were picking out the Easter eggs and the clues shows me that it was predictable. I even started to pick out clues from episode 6 even though I barely remember the LOTR movies which I watched a long time ago. I may be biased but I wasn’t a huge fan. 

I know that this is a prequel so fans will know what happens since this leads up to LOTR however, I wanted less of a real I knowing of what was to come. in this case, I was thinking what if? 

what if Halbrand is an actual human and Sauron just possessed him? What if Sauron corrupted by his enemies? Now, as mentioned, I’m not an avid LOTR fan so I don’t know everything that Tolkien wrote concerning this. I only know that which I read from reading only the Hobbit and the Fellowship of the Ring plus watching the movies (a while ago). Nonetheless I was wondering what other twists the show runner could add. 

One big thing though that made me disappointed was that Halbrand was a favourite of mine. He reminded me of Aragorn not only in his look but his skill with a sword. And...I couldn’t help but ship him with Galadriel. 

Of course I know that Galadriel eventually marries Celeborn but I couldn’t help but notice the chemistry with Halbrand. I shipped them before I knew he was Sauron and with everyone theorizing that he was Sauron, I hoped it wasn’t true and that he was just a human king who had a dark past. But it became more obvious as the finale went on. 

My main issue with this ship is this. I saw people shipping Haladrial and I became a stan too. However, when Halbrand was revealed, it reminded me a lot of Darklina (from Shadow and Bone) and Relyo (Star Wars). I was not a fan of either of them. Unless the writers told me that they were joking or that Sauron wasn’t all bad would I ship Haladrial. As a writer myself, for continuity, it would just not make sense writing wise. Sometimes I wonder where people draw a line between good and evil. I know that it is fiction and all that, its fake. But I couldn’t help but think that morals sometimes come into real life conversation. for instance, to a kid who consumes media, you’re not going to tell them that this is okay. It’s really not. Morality is something that kids learn between right and wrong. 

my point here is that I while I came to like Halbrand, I liked Sauron for a different reason in that he is a good evil that deceived. 

[tuuliii]

The Lord of the Rings, Turku 2018 Part1

Watching the musical stream yesterday got me very sentimental about this play the Turku City Theatre did back in 2018. I saw it three times and it ran from February till December with a two month summer break. Opening night was February 15th on the big stage of the theatre.

The running time of the show was about four hours, with two 20 minute intermissions. It was LONG, but honestly, the time went by so fast you really couldn't tell it was that long.

I've consumed all the media I have been able to find about this thing so let me tell you a little about the production.

Director Mikko Kouki had had a dream about doing LOTR for years so when they decided to apply for the rights, they had no expectations of actually getting them. Then, Tolkien Estate answered "Yeah sure go ahead" and they started planning big time. Apparently they also got the rights for the Hobbit, but the upcoming production has been very secretive so far. They've only shared a couple of Easter eggs on their social media.

The set was huge. Like, the width of the stage is not that great, but it has a lot of depth, so they were able to make awesome things with it. The Black Gates and the Ents for example. I visited the back stage once, and the amount of stuff that was in storage there was mind-blowing. The cast also wasn't that large in number, so pretty much everyone but the main characters had multiple roles. Mainly playing orcs and minor characters.

Here's the cast:

(Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Gandalf, Aragorn, Gollum, Boromir/Mouth of Sauron, Gimli/Underhill1, Legolas/Tom Bombadil, Bilbo/Gorbat/Haldir/Gatekeeper, Arwen/Goldberry, Galadriel/Vhispering voice, Saruman, Éowyn/Rosie Cotton/Underhill2, Isildur/Shagrat/The voice of the Black Rider, Wormtongue/Barlyman Butterbur/Elrond, The Witch King, The Black Riders, The voice of Treebeard, The voice of Sauron, Elves/Ents/Orcs)

Let me just fangirl about Sam for a second. He was ultimately my favorite hobbit. Hannes Suominen did an amazing job and was perfectly suited for the role. The other hobbits were very good as well. Frodo was adorable and I really liked how they casted the hobbits according to their ages in the books.

Lets start from the beginning now.

The play began with a quick prologue about the history of the ring, how Bilbo found it and of the Last Alliance. The fishing scene with Smeagol and Deagol was also in the prologue. Then we move on to the Shire.

This is Bag End. Bilbo's party was mostly cut, but he leaves and gives the Ring to Frodo. Meanwhile Merry and Pippin spot a black rider and run to Bag End to tell their friends about it.

Gandalf arrives and snatches Sam through the window and sends Frodo on his way. This was very quick, but understandably so. It got the job done and Merry and Pippin were hilarious. (In the actual production, a picture of Tolkien was hanging on the wall of Bag End btw)

Next, they are being chased by a Black Rider and decide to take the shortcut through the Old Forest. The riders looked amazing. They were puppets with a rider standing in the middle on stilts.

This production had TOM BOMBADIL! I really loved that, cause he's usually the first one to get cut, or like in the musical he only got a name drop in the end.

Here he is saving the Hobbits from Old Man Willow. And yeah, there were A LOT of pyrotechnics involved.

I think this scene with Gandalf and Saruman was next. I really loved Saruman, and Gandalf got slammed onto the wall. It was cool. (sorry about the quality)

Then there's Bree and the Prancing Pony, which rose from the firkin floor. I got such bad chills every time. This was the only pic I could find, but this was an amazing scene with lively folk music and lots of drunken people, that kept harassing Frodo. Aragorn ominously smoked his pipe in the corner, till Frodo put the ring on.

Here, the Hobbits are trying to decide weather to trust the Strider or not. (From left to right: Merry, Pippin, Frodo, Sam)

Then, Frodo is stabbed at Weathertop and Strider sets a couple of Black Riders on fire. Like...he actually set their clothes on fire...

Anyway, they reach Bruinen with the help of Arwen, who conveniently replaces Glorfindel again. The black riders get swept away and Frodo is rescued. Also the elves of Rivendell had colorful hair and I'm all in for that:D

Then becomes this sus scene with Aragorn and Arwen. Aragorn is in love with her (obviously), but this Arwen is a little reluctant to give away her immortality and marry him. Aragorn proposes to her and she literally says "No❤️". Aragorn is heartbroken for a second but then we move on to the council of Elrond.

Here's the Fellowship. Arwen and Elrond on the back with Bilbo.

This is where act 1 ended.

Act 2 starts in the snow storm in the mountains and the Fellowship decides to go through Moria. Here are the gates. Very bad picture, but that was the only one I could find.

Moria goes pretty much according to book. Pippin does dumb shit and the orcs are woken. Their cave troll looked like a literal Michelin man, but the Balrog made up for that. Pity there aren't any pictures of it, but it was super cool. There was fire everywhere and the puppet looked really scary. I petted it, when I visited the back stage; from close up, it was very cute.

Apparently only 10 pics are allowed per post so part two and maybe three are needed. Part 2 starts with Lothlórien.

[hecallsmehischild]

Recent Media Consumed

Books

The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien. About ten or fifteen years ago, I tried to read this and was totally overwhelmed by it. I kept it around, hoping maybe someday I might be able to read it. I finally have, and here are my impressions: WHY SO MANY NAMES. WHY YOU HAVE TO NAME EVERYBODY, AND EVERY TRIBE OF PEOPLES, AND EVERY INANIMATE OBJECT, AND EVERY LANDSCAPE FEATURE. WHY. *ahem* So. I have a general comprehension of the events of The Silmarillion, but I dealt with it by doing what you do for an impressionist painting. I (mentally) stepped way back and let all the names flow by me, and if there were names that were repeated a lot, then I mentally attached appropriate plot points and character details to those names so I could track with who they were and what they were doing. And, actually, I found myself able to hang on and enjoy the book for the most part. This is going to lead into a re-reading of the Lord of the Rings books, since I haven’t read those in about as long…

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. I haven’t read some of these books since pre-teen years, with one required re-read of The Two Towers in high school (i.e. it’s been many an age since I’ve read these and my memory of the stories has been far more heavily influenced by the movies). In re-reading the first book, I was struck by the extreme tone shift for the Elves and Dwarves. Elves seem much closer to happy, mischievous fairies than these ethereal, solemn pillars of elegance and grace the movies show them to be. And Dwarves are far more bumbling and craftsmanlike than the movies show. Aside from that, The Hobbit was a pretty solid adaptation from the book, and the book also reminded me that this story was the first time I experienced “NO, MAIN CHARACTERS DON’T DIE, HOW DARE YOU,” and probably was the first book to make me cry. I must have been 8 or 10 years old. I FORGOT HOW MUCH THIS STORY INFLUENCED ME.

A Conflict of Visions by Thomas Sowell. I have a longer-than-usual list of things to say about this book. First is that it was just that level of difficult that I was struggling to understand while reading it (on Audible), but I think I got it. Sowell has several base concepts that I see repeated throughout his books, though he does like to dedicate whole books to specific aspects of the same topic. He is pretty damn thorough that way. So, for example, I would put this book in the middle of a three-book spectrum of similar concepts: Intellectuals and Society (most concrete and easiest to read), A Conflict of Visions (next-level abstraction, a little difficult to read), Knowledge and Decisions (root abstract concept, very difficult, I have not been able to get past chapter 2). The second thing I have to say is about a couple interesting concepts it proposes. Its whole point is to help readers understand the roots of two ways of seeing the world that come into severe conflict politically, and he calls them by their root titles: the constrained and the unconstrained visions. He traces the path of each back through the intellectuals that most spoke of them (tending to contrast Adam Smith with William Godwin and Condorcet). Though he leans heavily toward the constrained vision (based on reading his other works) he does his best to make this book an academic study of both, with both of the visions' strengths and flaws and reasoning and internal consistencies fairly laid out. In doing so, he helped me understand a few things that make this situation really difficult for people on opposing sides to communicate. One of them is that root words and concepts literally mean different things to different people. I had some vague notion of this before, but he laid out three examples in detail: Equality, Power, and Justice. It was kind of astounding to see just how differently these three words can be defined. It makes me think that arguing about any specific issues rooted in these concepts is fruitless until first an understanding has been reached on terms, because otherwise two parties are endlessly talking past each other. Another really interesting idea he brought up is the existence of “hybrid visions” and he named both Marxism and Fascism as hybrid visions. This was especially fascinating to me because I have seen the accusation of “Nazi” flung around ad nauseam and I wondered how it was that both sides were able to fling it at each other so readily. Well, it’s because Fascism is actually a hybrid vision, so both sides have a grain of truth but miss the whole on that particular point. In any case, this was a little difficult to read but had some fascinating information. For people who are wondering what on earth this gap is between political visions, how on earth to bridge the gap, or why the gap even exists in the first place, this is a really informative piece.

Movies

The Hobbit & Fellowship trilogies (movies). I mean, it’s definitely not my first watch, not even my second. But I went through it with Sergey this time and that means the run-time is double because we pause to talk and discuss details. This watch came about partly due to Sergey’s contention that Gandalf’s reputation far outstrips his actual powers, so we ended up noting down every instance of Gandalf’s power to see if that was true. Conclusion: Gandalf is actually a decently powerful wizard, but tends to use the truly kickass powers in less-than-dire circumstances. That aside, this movie series was always a favorite for me. I rated The Hobbit trilogy lower the first time I saw it but, frankly, all together the six movies are fantastic and a great way to sink deep into lore-heavy fantasy for a while. And I’m catching way more easter-egg type details after having read the Silmarillion so it’s even more enjoyable. (finally, after about a week of binge-watching) I forgot how much this story impacted me. I forgot how wrenchingly bittersweet the ending is. I forgot how much of a mark that reading and watching this story left on my writing.

Upside-Down Magic. Effects were good. Actors were clearly having fun and enjoying everything. Story didn’t make enough sense for my taste, but it was a decent way to kill flight time.

Wish Dragon. So, yes, it’s basically an Aladdin rewrite, but it’s genuinely a cheesy good fluff fest that made me grin a whole lot.

Plays

Esther (Sight and Sound Theatres). < background info > This is my third time to this theatre. There are only two of these in existence and they only run productions of stories out of the Bible. The first time I went I saw a production of Noah, the second time I saw a production of Jesus. My middle sister has moved all the way out to Lancaster, PA in hopes of working at this theatre. My husband and I came out to visit her. < /background info > So. Esther. They really pulled out all the stops on the costumes and set. I mean, REALLY pulled out all the stops. And the three-quarters wrap-around stage is used to great effect. I tend to have a general problem of not understanding all the words in the songs, but I understood enough. I highly recommend sitting close to the front for immersive experiences. This theatre puts on incredible productions and if you ever, ever, EVER have the opportunity to go, take it. Even if you think it's nothing but a bunch of fairy tales, STILL GO. I doubt you'll ever see a fairy tale produced on another stage with equal dedication to immersion.

Shows

The Mandalorian (first two seasons). Well. This was pretty thoroughly enjoyable. It felt very Star-Wars, and I’d kind of given up after recent movies. Felt like it slipped into some preaching toward the end? Not sure, I could be overly sensitive about it, but I enjoyed this a lot (though I did need to turn to my housemate and ask where the flip in the timeline we were because I did NOT realize that the little green kid IS NOT ACTUALLY Yoda).

Games

Portal & Portal 2. Portal is probably the first video game I ever tried to play, back when I had no idea what I was doing. Back then, I attempted to play it on my not-for-gaming Mac laptop. Using my trackpad. Once the jumping-for-extra-velocity mechanic came into play, I just about lost my mind trying to do this with a trackpad and gave up. Later I returned to the game and played it with my then-boyfriend on a proper gaming computer. Now, after having played several games and gotten better at "reading the language" of video games, I decided I wanted to see if I could beat the Portal games by myself. Guess what. I BEAT 'EM. Yes, I remembered most of the puzzles in Portal so that's a little bit of a cheat, but I'd say a good 2/3 of Portal 2 was new puzzles to me. It is crazy how proud I feel of myself that I could beat Portal 2, especially. Learning how to play video games at this age has really knocked down the lie, "You can't learn anything." Though I still suck at platformers and games that require precision. Since I find those types frustrating, I probably won't be playing many. Games are about enjoyment, so I'll push myself a little, but not to the point where I can't stand what I'm playing.

The Observer. I like the concept and the art but I don't think I could keep trying to play this game. It's really depressing. My in-game family members all died of illness or accident or committed suicide. I also kept getting executed by the state. In order to keep us all alive I'd have to do pretty terrible things that I have a hard enough time contemplating even in a fictional setting.

Baba Is You. Fun and interesting concept, but I got stuck pretty early on. Don't think I want to push as hard on this one.

[shelf-care]

Get to know the writer

This ended up taking longer than I wanted to, but I'm okay with that. It's a good warm-up.

Age: 22

Gender: Female

Status: Single

Zodiac Sign: Capricorn

Where I’m From: Texas

Favorite Color: White, gold, forest green

Does writing energize or exhaust you?

It does a little bit of both, I save up ideas to the point that when I actually sit down to write them I become so concentrated on them that when my brain is finished I get tired, but I get excited about the project since there's progress being made.

What’s your writing kryptonite?

The blank page is a big one. Or having more than one idea for a story and trying to make it cohesive and it's just not coming together.

Do you use your real name or a pseudo?

kind of both. I have my real first name attached to my writing but I don't use my real last name because it just doesn't ring or roll off the tongue like it should.

Do you tend to write what you want, or what your readers want?

100% of the time I write what I want, only when someone requests something specific do I do what others want. (Which I'm open to).

What other writers are you friends with?

I would say I'm friends (or at the very least) mutuals with @rainydaydream-gal18 and @fizzyxcustard @fromthedeskoftheraven

Their writing can always brighten my day without a doubt.

Do you prefer to write one-shots or series?

I wish I could write engaging series, I tend to lean towards one-shots or standalone stories the most.

If you could tell your younger self anything, what would it be?

Writing isn't like the movies. It's a cutthroat industry and if you are passionate and want it enough, don't be afraid to take risks. It doesn't matter if people like your work if you like it that's enough.

What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel?

Probably Circe. No one talks about that book at all. It's strange to me since HBO is developing a TV series based on the book too.

What’s your writing spirit animal?

A lizard. I say that because I take everything in spurts.

How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?

I have two. I have one book that is so close to being done. The other I just have ideas here and there and I write the scenes as they come. Idk if it'll ever see the light of day, but who knows.

How many hours a day do you write? Days per week?

I try to write every day. Though it's hard when writing isn't your full-time job. on a good day, I write for about three hours. I'll do this about three days out of the week considering I have the time to commit to it.

How do you select the names of your characters?

Pinterest. Thats one of the only sites I use. I also use "Fantasy name generator" if I want something out of this world or just weird.

Are you primarily a writer? Or do you consider it a second career?

I would love nothing more than to be a writer full-time. (I'm doing my best to take on freelancing and editing for my full-time gig.) At this very moment in time, it's on the back burner and most definitely secondary.

Do you hide secrets/easter eggs in your books?

I try to, but unless it's fan fiction, I like sticking to my own world and writing.

What types of scenes are hardest for you to write?

Pain. Physical pain and parts where the character is in inhuman amounts of pain are really hard for me to write without it coming off as a William Shatner scene.

What’s your biggest writing flaw?

Grammar and punctuation. Just, no matter how many times I proofread. There's always something to correct.

Do you have a specific process for writing?

I have to be completely undistracted. I have to have a hot beverage by me. (Tea, coffee, cider.) I have to have music on most of the time. But the music has to be instrumental or something I've heard a million times, or else I'll get distracted.

What’s your writing setup like?

It's simple. Either my bed next to my bookshelf so I have all my references near me or my desk where I try to pound out as much as I possibly can. There are some days you can find me at the dining table writing away in the kitchen where I can refill my coffee or get something to eat and sit right back down.

How long does it take you to finish your first draft?

Depends on the project. An article takes me maybe an afternoon after all the research and writing and fact-checking. A book takes me about a year to two years. It's kinda ridiculous.

Do you believe in writer’s block?

I'm suffering from it right now. Of course, there's such thing as writer's block! I think most of it has to do with the aforementioned "Blank page." If it's not that, it's getting in the correct headspace to actually write what you want.

Do you want to be/are you professionally published or self-published?

At the moment I want to be traditionally published so I can get my name out there, but I don't want to have to check a bunch of story boxes so I can make it. I'll probably be going the self-published route.

How would you feel if your story turned into a movie?

Like any other writer, I'd be ecstatic! But I'd be worry about how a studio would take my story and rewrite it for the screen. It can't be avoided. It's the way someone does it and how it's edited is how it matters. Also, I'd want to be involved with the scriptwriting process.

Are you a planner or a pantser? Or somewhere in between?

Oh, I'm a pantser. I've tried to have an outline for any of my projects. It just never works for me personally. I know where I want my story to go and that's about all I got.

What inspires you as a writer?

J.R.R. Tolkien, John Favreau, and Dave Filoni are my biggest inspirations. they all do so much and put their hearts into the projects. they think about the story and how it will affect people not only emotionally but mentally as well. I can only dream of making people feel something from my writing. Their narratives are always relevant and inspiring.

Are your characters based off of people you know? Yourself? Or no one at all?

I'd rather not base my characters off of people I know. There's maybe one character that I have in one of my books that was based on the worst co-worker I ever had. But that's about it.

What made you decide to write your story?

There's always been something in me to do anything in the realm of storytelling. I just didn't know it until I was about fifteen. I think I have some stories to tell. I just hope people find comfort and escape in them.

If any of you want to do this I highly recommend it. It really makes you think about who you are and why you are writing.

[ren-c-leyn]

QnA tag game

I was tagged by @hyba​ to play this. Thank you very much.

rules: post your answers, and tag some pals.

1. When did you first learn you enjoyed writing?

Honestly, I used to hate writing. It wasn’t fun, it was boring school essays and annoying prompts on exams. That being said, I had always enjoyed storytelling, and had been telling stories since before I could remember.

How I reconciled that gap between the written and the spoken was I went through a really shitty period of time in my life and I took up poetry to help vent. And it was so freeing and fun that I kept with it.

I had been doing that for a while when I decided to try writing some fantasy story that popped into my head, though I can’t quite recall why I bothered to try. It wasn’t a very good story, but I filled up like an entire notebook with it and started writing it on another, and I discovered ‘hey, writing can be fun... if it isn’t about something boring.’

And over the years, fantasy has over taken poetry. I still write poems from time to time, but not like I used to.

2. Tell us about the first project you ever wrote.

It was one that tried cramming way too much into one story, but there’s elements of it that I still use a lot of. I can’t remember the exact plot I had in mind for it, because it was all over the place, but I remember there being some sci-fi, a lot of fantasy weirdness, and a chosen one who was both angry and horrified that her world ended when she had the power to save it, because no one knew what she was or that their world was in danger. It never got finished, but I had fun with it while I was working on it.

3. How does your favorite media shape who you are as a writer?

In ways I don’t even realize it did, I’m sure. Particularly since I binge read without really analyzing the writing techniques of people. My writer brain turns off and reader brain takes over. Which many people say is bad, but it works for me. That being said, I can draw some obvious parallels between things I’ve read and my own works.

I know that Tolkien was a big influence for my ‘this string pulls on this person’s string, which does that, which leads to a poor hobbit having to lose his finger to throw a cursed ring into a volcano and save the world’ kinda plots. I also enjoyed his world building, but, and this is just my opinion, it slowed the Lord of the Rings triology down a lot and made it a little clunky to read. So it taught me both what I kinda wanted to see in my world building, but also how I didn’t want it to come out in the story. Plus, The Hobbit is the book for me. It is one of the first ones I got when I finally learned ‘oh, reading can be fun’ (because child me hated reading like she also hated writing boring essays), and it’s the one that got me stuck on fantasy.

Douglas Adams, there are many who will probably consider it a crime I have not read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and yet still list his name in this, but my favorite book of all time is probably The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, and it was the way the characters existed and the hidden easter eggs that I’m still finding like 7 read throughs later and the pacing and red herrings. I learned from and loved a lot about that book alone.

There was also J.A. Jance, the author of many of the murder mysteries my grandmother loaned me, and it was from her and other mystery authors that I finally, finally figured out how to set up suspense and tension. They were also really good studies in character motivations and how a character’s mindset can change the way they perceive the world and the things they notice and miss.

Video games is another thing I know has influenced me. I like story and lore rich games. Dungeons and Dragons is another thing I play a lot of and has followed me through my writings. The stories that get told can be every bit as awesome as a book, and the mechanics are also part of what helped me learn to structure my magic systems. Because if the wizards didn’t have rules, who would play a fighter who does? The same idea got translated into my writing very early on, ‘if I don’t give my wizards rules, why would warriors exist?’

And I can keep rambling, but I think I’ll leave it at this for now ^^

4. What’s something you’ve wanted to write, but aren’t sure you could? (A tv show, a genre, a style, a time period, a video game, etc)

I had an idea for a fantasy world inspired by various Asian myths, and even had a basic map drawn out in my head and some ideas for a magic system, but I’ve been too terrified to actually do anything with it, and it’s been so long since then that I don’t remember anything about it. Plus, I had no plot to use for it at the time.

I also wanted to write a mystery, but when I tried I found that while I has suspects and everything, I couldn’t think of the crime or how the heck anyone would just kinda figure it out from a bunch of random things normal people could just play off or not notice XD

5. What is the thing that keeps you from writing the most?

Procrastination is sometimes a problem, and I do occasionally need to kick myself in the shin. But there’s also life and plot snags and just days when a story isn’t working for me.

6. How do you deal with an inner editor?

That depends. Sometimes the inner editor saves me a lot of headaches later, and sometimes a tiny mistake can break the flow of writing. I normally don’t have an issue with fixing things on the spot, but on nights I need to focus on writing I just keep myself from reading back.

7. How long have you been writing?

I mean, they make kids write really young for school, so begrudgingly that long. Creatively and for fun? I’m not sure. I can’t quite recall how old I was when I started with the poetry. But considering the notebook I have the earliest pieces in is falling apart, I think it’s been a long time. lol

8. What is your general writing process? Do you write chronologically? Do you do a lot of planning?

I normally get this idea that shows up out of the blue as a daydream or a random thought. Then, there’s at least a month. If it’s still there, it gets considered. If it’s grown and expanded into something resembling either a world or a plot by then, it’s probably getting written.

After the idea finally bugs me enough, I’ll start world building and building a bare-bones plot, complete with bare-boned characters. I never flesh anything out completely, since I do most of that while I write and having strict outlines suffocates my story.

If the world building, characters, and whatever I have of a plot are interesting, I’ll start chronologically and keep moving from there.

9. Assign a scent to your writing style.

A scent for my style? Um... that’s kind of a weird question and I have no idea how I would even begin to think of an answer for that. Like, how do you translate comma usage and word choice into a smell? I mean, I use roses a lot in my stories, so maybe that would work?

10. One book you hope everyone reads?

I have to agree with hyba that I hope everyone just finds their version of the book. The one that gets them through a hard time, the one they really need, and that that book won’t be the same for everyone.

11. What is it about your least favorite genre that makes it your least favorite–and how might you change that to better appeal to you?

Oh that’s simple, it’s because horror does it’s job. That’s it. It’s nothing particularly about the style or anything besides that the genre is what it is.

12. Design a “collector’s edition” for your first novel. Include items that might be of interest to your audience.

Never thought about it, but I guess I could throw in the world map I drew for The Plight of a Sparrow into it.

13. If one thing was real from your project, what would you want it to be?

Nothing in particular? I can’t think of anything that would make sense to transfer from my projects to the real world, because I don’t want magic to be real, because my magic systems tend to be brutal, but also, we have stuff like or better than a lot of what doesn’t run off magic. Maybe some of the creatures would be cool, but I don’t know how that would affect ecosystems.... probably not for the better.

14. What’s something you always include in your work? Do you have any other Easter eggs?

As far as easter eggs, I can’t think of anything off the top of my head. If I do, it probably wasn’t intentional.

15. What is your favorite passage from your own work?

I still am not really comfortable with sharing things out of my WIPs on here. As far as things I’ve written for the blog itself go, there are quite a few pieces and passages that turned out really good. I think one of my favorites is from a really old piece I did back before I was doing fusion stories. It’s from this one specifically, if anyone would like to read the full tale, it is a grim one, though.

The very edge of the forest was about as welcoming as a gallows. Crows watched us hungrily, like we were dead men about to sway. None of them made so much as a peep as their dead eyes followed our trek through the knotted mess of brambles, ivy, knotted shrubs, and gnarled trees. We hacked at the plants, and they hacked right back at us. We traded blows like it was a war. hatchet and sword blows countered with sharp thorns and parried with thick branches.

I’m going to leave this an open tag, jump in if you’d like to. =D

[nomnomzombies]

8x04 Identity, Symbology and Implications

In my 8x04 analysis, I talked about how Ghost and Rhaegal are the physical embodiment of Jon’s dual identity--which, really isn’t news... people have known and discussed at length the symbolism behind the fates of the direwolves and their respective owners. But one thing that I hadn’t talked about were the fates of the two animals in this last episode. In my analysis I talked about how their state after the battle was heavily symbolic of Jon’s security in his identity. 

In the face of some of the leaks that have been floating around, I thought it would be important to dissect some of the easter eggs and symbology that’s at play with the two animals. So, given the information that’s already canon, and the information that’s speculative, let’s look at what 8x04 was telling us in terms of the fates of Ghost and Rhaegal, and what’s in store for Jon Snow. 

First, and foremost, the Eulogy that Jon gave: 

“We’re here to say goodbye to our brothers and sisters; to our fathers and mothers; to our friends; our fellow men and women who set aside their differences to fight together and die together so that others might live (1). Everyone in this world owes them a debt that can never be repaid (2). It is our duty and honor to keep them alive in memory (3) for those who come after us, and for those who come after them, for as long as men draw breath. They were the shields that guard the realms of men, and we shall never see their like again (4).” 

(1) Jon’s Wildling speech at Hardhome

(2) ADWD “The North Remembers” Speech--”Even when I threatened to have her tongue out, [Wylla] reminded me of the debt White Harbor owes to the Starks of Winterfell, a debt that can never be repaid.” Interesting note? Wylla was the name of the woman that Ned Stark had said was Jon’s mother. 

(3) Jon’s conversation with Qhorin Halfhand, “...your death will be a gift for them South of the Wall. They’ll never know what you’ve done, they’ll never know how you died, they won’t even know your damn name, but they’ll be alive because some nameless bastard North of the Wall laid his life for theirs.” 

(4) Obvious Night’s Watch reference. 

Everything about the eulogy is in reference to The North, and the Night’s Watch. This seems pretty obvious, right? Because that’s every part of who Jon Snow is. How he was raised. His entire life up to this point has been centered around the North and the Night’s Watch. Jon was never going to embrace a Targaryen identity that he doesn’t have. He was raised with Ned Stark’s values, teachings, ideologies.... Everything. The only thing that Jon knows about the Targaryens are from 1) Dan and 2) literal horror stories that he was told throughout his entire childhood. 

Any hope that Jon had for developing a Targaryen identity died with Daenerys’ ambition for the throne. 

And this is directly addressed in canon by Dan forcing an injured Rhaegal to fly south and Rhaegal being shot down as a result. In my previous analysis, I talked about how Dan marching south on the backs of a compromised host was telling of her current mental and emotional state following RLJ, and it’s likely that Dan forcing Rhaegal to fly south despite being gravely injured is an allusion to the fact that Dan is relentless of Jon in the wake of RLJ and “begging for secrecy.” (Rhaegal is shown as flying poorly. Euron was able to shoot down Rhaegal so easily because he first shot him in the chest--the exact place where Viserion had ripped apart his scales. Rhaegal was also an easy target because he was injured and flying poorly as a result. Not only that, but we’ve only seen dragons die when they are riderless, likely pushing the “lone wolf dies” mantra).  

Ghost should have stayed in Winterfell with Sansa.

There, I said it. Ghost has been in Winterfell and in the presence of Sansa for years now. They’ve bonded, they’ve connected. /rant

 Fanservice aside, what does it mean?

WHY should Ghost have stayed in Winterfell with Sansa? (symbolically speaking) If we look at Game of Thrones like the massive chess match (or cyvasse, arguably, since we have dragons and shit), Sansa is Jon’s queen. Regardless of shippers, regardless of all of the parallels between Jon/Aragorn and Sansa/Eowyn, Sansa is playing the game. And the queen is the strongest piece on the board. 

So why did Jon send Ghost go North of the Wall? Just like with the death of Rhaegal, the animals are representing what is happening NOW, not what WILL happen. Jon’s hope of a Targaryen identity died between Jon and Dan in “begging for secrecy.” He chose his Stark heritage by telling his family, and sending Ghost North of the Wall is one form of protection, but it’s also respect. He knows that he can’t give Ghost the life he deserves at Winterfell, and wants to give him the opportunity to live the life he was born to live. Sending Ghost North of the Wall represents his desire to escape, but also his feelings of inferiority as a “real Stark.” He’s refuting his Stark identity because, after everything, he still doesn’t feel good enough. His gazing down at Lyanna’s body during the funeral showed all of his guilt for feeling as though he betrayed the North for bending the knee to Dan. 

Moreover, they’ve done a lot to parallel Jon and Dan to Jon and Ygritte. The infamous How to Train your Dragon sequence in 8x01 was an interesting parallel to Ygritte showing Jon the ways of the Wildlings, right down to the banter. And where did it end up? At the waterfall, with Daenerys saying, “We could stay here for a thousand years,” and Jon’s pensive silence. This is a direct reference to the playful banter between Jon and Ygritte that lead them to the cave and Ygritte saying, “I never want to leave.” And what did Jon say? *insert pensive silence here* 

What’s the point of paralleling Jon and Ygritte other than to emphasize Jon’s inner turmoil in the face of a broken oath and a doomed romance.

Jon felt like an oathbreaker for running with the Wildlings, just like Jon feels like an oathbreaker for bending the knee to Dan. It was obvious that Jon was enjoying his time with Ygritte, and had a deep affection for her. There’s evidence that Jon’s enjoyed his time with Dan and had affection for her, too. There’s plenty of things to like about Dan, but it doesn’t change the fact that she’s fundamentally flawed. Her entire arc, since season 1, has been a direct parallel to Cersei, and her interactions with Sansa have been very telling of the Cersei 2.0 action that’s been happening while Dan’s been in Winterfell. 

So Jon sending Ghost north could be seen as heavily symbolic of his Ygritte arc, as well. Tormund even told Jon that he’s got the real North in him. And, let’s not forget, that Ghost was running around North of the Wall the entire time that Jon was with the Wildlings, as well. 

So where do we go from here?

Honestly? I think that there are a handful of really great metas floating around that discuss the LotR parallels that are emerging, and in my humble opinion, I’d have to say that Jon is emerging to be Aragorn, NOT Frodo. But I’m really not a Tolkien wiz, so please see @fedonciadale for insight on that. 

.

If you’ve made it this far, thank you so much for your overwhelming support of my last analysis! I know that I initially talked about analyzing the Sansa/Dan dynamic and literary symmetry, but the more time has passed the more I’ve been consumed with the unethical treatment of Ghost. And.... I also typed up a several page essay that paralleled Dan and Cersei’s arcs without doing my research first.... (this is awkward), but I spent a lot of time on it, and if you have the time to give it a read, I’d really appreciate it! I had a lot of fun doing the analysis. If you’re enjoying my metas, please drop a line and let me know, or give me suggestions about what to talk about/how to improve! I’m still very new to this. Cheers!

[adamwatchesmovies]

The Worst of 2019 (So Far)

And now we get to the opposite of yesterday’s post: the worst of what we’ve seen so far. Time to give them a proper thrashing before they (hopefully) fade into obscurity. Disappointingly, there's a general lack of films that were bad but in an interesting way. Mostly, it’s either been the same sorta dreck we usually get with a couple of unusually offensive stories and a couple of soul-crushingly bad superhero flicks. Curious? Read on.

10. Serenity

I like to save my #10 spot on the “Worst of” list for a movie that has a chance of becoming a favorite among those who love bad movies. Serenity is competently enough made that it does not belong in the same category as The Identical or Runaway. It’s another kind of bad movie, the kind that baffles anyone who sees it and who will have film historians scratching their heads in the future. It’s not quite on the same level as 2017’s “The Book of Henry” but close. Top-notch actors at the top of their career in a story so poorly conceived it would’ve been brilliant if it weren’t awful and utterly absurd.

The revelation that everything we've been seeing is actually part of a video game programmed by an angry teen who hates his abusive father, and that his actions are tied to those of Matthew McConaughey's character is the kind of nutty decision someone at some point should've questioned. My advice? Surprise some unsuspecting friends with it. Periodically pause the movie so they can write down how they think it'll all fit together and then watch their faces as they're proved wrong.

9. After

I’m not going to remember After down the line so this is my opportunity to give it another flogging. I can’t believe fan-fictions of real people is a real thing and that one of them was deemed legitimate and popular enough to be turned into a movie. It plays out like the clone of a clone of a clone of Twilight. At least that movie had danger in the form of vampires and werewolves. This has nothing to offer except embarrassing drama and a prepubescent’s idea of what romance and love look like. I saw it in the theater with a friend and thank goodness she was there; it made what would've been a chore... slightly more bearable.

8. Dumbo

I’ve already gone on about how I feel about Disney’s string of live-action remakes. For the most part, they fail to validate their own existences; they’re just copies of the original but with “real” actors dancing around animated backgrounds, objects and locations instead of everything being traditionally animated. Dumbo isn’t like Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast. It does try new things. It diverges from the source material significantly in the worst way. The titular character winds up playing second banana to a bunch of circus performers no one cares about and in the end didn’t contain an inkling of the emotion the 1941 version did.

7. Dark Phoenix

This one’s a triple-whammy. Not only was it a deeply disappointing way for Fox’s X-Men series to end, it retreaded old material in a way that was worse than X-Men 3: The Last Stand AND it was a box office bomb. By the time the story finally comes alive… it’s just about over. The whole thing feels like a mistake, bringing in aliens and asking us to invest in characters we just haven’t had enough time to fall in love with. Makes me wonder what the future of the characters is going to be like. Yes there are a number of heroes and heroines we haven’t yet seen, but are people going to care, even when the brand gets a new coat of paint from Marvel Studios?

6. Men in Black: International

Was anyone asking for the Men in Black series to return? Maybe if they'd had a dynamite story this could’ve overcome the public’s general disinterest, but this was an extremely generic plot you could figure out easily minutes in and lost touch with what endeared us to the first. Even with the combined forces of Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth failed, it to generate many laughs. Worse, to make sure I got any references or Easter egg it might drop, I re-watched all of the previous Men in Black movies, including the horrific Men in Black 2.

5. Replicas

This movie goes about itself in such a convoluted way. First, Keanu Reeves plays a scientist working for a company that wants to transplant the mind of dead soldiers into androids. Then, his family is killed in a car crash, prompting him to use the mind transfer tech to put their memories into new clone bodies of themselves. Problem is, he only has the means to clone three out of four family members. This means he has to erase all memories of his youngest daughter from the others’ brains. Following me so far? Good because it keeps going from there. Actually, that’s just the start of it. It’s a classic case of TMSGO - too much sh*t goin’ on. Even with all that, it STILLL managed to have gaping plot holes. No surprise it came and went as quietly as possible.

4. Hellboy

This one hurt. I wanted to see a superhero horror film badly. The early interviews I read about them wanting to adapt Mike Mignola’s books more closely than the Del Toro films got me excited. I was a little apprehensive when the trailers showed some goofy stuff but I figured these were included to draw people in. I should've listened to that sinking feeling. The actual film is awful, one giant mistake after another. Without a doubt, this featured the year’s worst special effects and even this I could've forgiven but the would-be humorous tone was badly misjudged and the story bloated with way too many elements that might've worked... if we weren't also trying to tell the character's origin at the same time. Hellboy ends with a teaser promising more and there’s no way we would’ve seen a sequel even if this had made money at the box office. Cool demons though, for what it’s worth.

3. Shaft

Looking back, I’m struggling to think of anything worth seeing in Shaft. I hated the film’s approach at comedy, particularly when it reverted Samuel L. Jackson’s John Shaft into the kind of man who proudly doesn’t understand modern sensibilities and spews out one homophobic joke after another. The plot was uninspired and uninteresting - not to mention generic - and none of it felt like it belonged on the big screen. On the upside, it prompted me to view the original trilogy with Richard Roundtree and those were enjoyable.

2. Simmba

Simmba is unlikely to be on the “Worst of 2019” list next January. It probably won’t be at the #2 spot. The film mixes two wildly different tones but not well. It begins as a romantic crime comedy, a dated one, sure. Simmba staging a phoney crime in order for the woman he’s attracted to to call him for help and then use the call as an excuse to stay with her through the night is creepy but I guess it might’ve passed like 20 years ago in North America. What makes this a bad film is the way it then introduces a character’s gang rape and murder as a way to prompt the anti-hero onto a righteous path. From there, it turns into this vigilante revenge film that has disturbing implications. You probably haven’t heard of it before now, much less seen it. I don’t recommend you check it out.

Runner Ups:

Aladdin

A controversial choice, as many casual filmgoers seem to have fallen madly in love with it (similar to the way they ate up 2017’s Beauty and the Beast) but honestly, what does this film do better than 1992’s Aladdin? Add an unmemorable song for Princess Jasmine to sing? Reduce the number of talking animals in order to give us more… nothing? Pile on the CGI to the point you wonder why it was made with live-actors in the first place? Like the innumerable direct-to-video sequels of classic films who've been all but forgotten, I tell you this Arabbian adventure won't endure.

Tolkien

So much potential squandered on a boring story. It didn’t take an astute viewer to recognize the film was crippled by the studio failing to obtain the rights to Tolkien’s actual work. I get the feeling we'll see another shot at a biography of J.R.R. Tolkien in a couple of years and this will be the Christopher Robin to the much superior Goodbye Christopher Robin.

The Hustle

It’s an unfunny comedy, what more is there to say? Rebel Wilson makes yet another bad career choice playing the same character she always plays. I only realized it was a remake of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels while writing my review, which is unfortunate. Hopefully I can expunge this film from my memory soon enough and forget anything it might’ve spoiled about the original Bedtime Story or the 1988 remake.

1. Unplanned

The numerous instances of technical incompetence - mostly coming from the performers who are given lackluster material - would be enough to condemn Unplanned to this list. What made me hate the film is the way it blatantly lies and attempts to manipulate the audience into further entrenching themselves in a certain point of view through cheap, manipulative means. I can respect that genuine passion was poured into the project but the way it goes about it is shameful. Do not go see it, even if you're curious.

Yuck. That last one really left a bad taste in my mouth so I'm going to talk about a movie I did enjoy and am enthusiastic to direct you towards Alita: Battle Angel. Rosa Salazar as the titular Alita impressed me and I really dug the action scenes. I'll also right a wrong from last year by reminding you to find and watch Paddington and Paddington 2, both movies I should've put on my "Best of" lists the years they came out. I don't know what I was thinking but I keep coming back to these in my head. They're excellent for kids and adults.

And with that said, the list is over. Back to our regularly-scheduled film reviews until something big comes up. Thoughts or comments on the list are welcome and I hope you enjoyed reading.

[aion-rsa]

Eternals: Who is Marvel's Black Knight?

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Kit Harington will play Dane Whitman, Marvel's Black Knight in the Eternals movie. Here's what you need to know about the character.

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You Know Nothing…about the Black Knight.

Get it? Because the Black Knight is being played by Kit Harington? You know, the dude that played Jon Snow on Game of Thrones? So like, “you know nothing…” Ah, forget it.

Ahem.

So it seems that the Black Knight is joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe in The Eternals. This is a bit surprising considering that the classic Marvel Comics Black Knight really has very little to do with the world of the Eternals. But, Dane Whitman, the Avenger known as the Black Knight, is a great character with a rich and surprising history that stretches back to the early days of Marvel. Now, there is some history with the Eternals which we will get to in a bit, but not enough to make the Black Knight’s inclusion in the movie anything but surprising.

So, let us go on a regal and honorable quest and check out the history of Marvel’s latest cinematic champion: the Black Knight. Along the way, we’ll indulge in some speculation on how this swashbuckling swordsman could impact the MCU and The Eternals.

The First of His Name

Dane Whitman wasn’t the first hero to hold the name. The first Black Knight was Sir Percy of Scandia, a knight of Camelot. This early Marvel legend first appeared in Black Knight #1 (May 1955) and was created by Stan Lee and Joe Maneely. There were very few costumed heroes in these bygone days of the '50s, so Black Knight remains a little explored gem of a comic.

read more: Everything You Need to Know About The Eternals Movie

Sir Percy was a Knight of the Round Table who proudly served King Arthur and fought threats like Mordred and Morgan Le Fey, two villains who would appear years later in the Marvel Universe. The Black Knight wielded the Ebony Blade, a magic sword carved from a meteor by Merlin himself. Later, it is revealed that Percy was killed by Mordred and the mantle of the Black Knight began to be passed down to the fallen knight’s descendants. Some did him proud, but one darkened the once heroic name.

The Blackest of Nights

The Black Knight who would go on to join the Masters of Evil first appeared in Tales to Astonish #52 (1964) and was created by Stan Lee and Dick Ayers. One of Percy’s descendants, Nathan Garrett, a brilliant research scientist, led a spy ring until he was defeated by Giant Man (that's Hank Pym, folks). Disgraced, Garrett ran to Europe where he found the tomb of Sir Percy. Garrett was rejected by the Ebony Blade because of his dickheel tendencies. Embittered, he became a new Black Knight, but profaned Percy’s good name by becoming a villainous facsimile of Camelot’s champion.

read more: Marvel's Eternals Characters and History Explained

Instead of wielding the magic of Camelot, Garrett built weapons like a blaster lance and other hi-tech medieval nonsense. He also created a genetically engineered flying horse named Aragorn because I guess even villains like Tolkien?  But yeah, dude, don’t sell your method of making flying horses to make cheese, rob banks! The second Black Knight was a douche. Anyway, Garrett was again defeated by Giant Man, the Avengers, and Iron Man. In his final battle with Tony Stark, Garrett fell from Aragorn and was mortally wounded. Dying, Garrett summoned his nephew Dane Whitman which brings us to our man of the hour... 

Avengers, Hero, Eternal?

So is Dane Whitman, the third Marvel character to use the moniker of Black Knight an Eternal? No, he is not. So who the hell is he?

Whitman is the nephew of Nathaniel Garrett. When the evil Black Knight lay dying after his battle with Iron Man, he summoned Whitman to see his side. There, Garrett made a face turn and begged Garrett to take the mantle of the Black Knight to restore honor to Sir Percy’s legacy. Whitman created his own costume, adapted some of Garrett’s weapons, saddled up Aragorn and became the new, modern Black Knight. 

read more: Marvel's Eternals Comics Reading Order

This all happens in Avengers #47 (1967) by writer Roy Thomas and artists John Verpoorten and George Tuska. In his first adventure, the Avengers mistake Whitman for Garrett and a superhero smackdown ensues. To prove his worth, Whitman infiltrates the Masters of Evil and helps the Avengers. Earth’s Mightiest Heroes offer Whitman membership and the heroic legacy of Black Knight begins again.

Over the years, Black Knight has appeared in a handful of memorable stories. He was the catalyst of The Avengers/Defenders War when each team raced to find a cure after Whitman turns to stone thanks to a kiss by the Enchantress. Black Knight focused stories were few and far between even though the character was seemingly ever present in Avengers and early issues of Defenders. The first major change to Whitman came in Doctor Strange #68–69 (1984) by Roger Stern and Paul Smith where Whitman finally finds the Ebony Blade, the Merlin-forged sword of Sir Percy.

The Ebony Blade is more of a curse since if the sword draws even a drop of blood, Whitman will be horribly cursed.  With this tragic twist, Whitman rejoins the Avengers and becomes a member in good standing until Namor uses the sword to draw blood. Whitman is cursed and begins to transform into the same metal used to forge the Ebony Blade. What’s with Black Knight petrifying? It’s a whole thing.

Anyway, Whitman is cured by the ghost of Sir Percy and creates a high tech laser sword for himself. Yes, essentially, Black Knight began wielding a lightsaber. I swear to Kirby, if Kit Harington wields a lightsaber in these movies... 

So What is the Black Knight Connection to the Eternals?

So where does all this fit in with Eternals lore? At one point, Black Knight became the leader of the Avengers. At the time, the roster experienced a major shakeup with a number of new members that included Crystal of the Inhumans and Sersi of the Eternals. As members of the Avengers, Black Knight and Sersi became lovers as the Eternal sorceress took a liking to the scion of Camelot. Sadly, a love triangle begins when Whitman develops feelings for Crystal and a whole mess follows. A villain named Proctor complicated matters further. This convoluted baddie was an alternate universe version of Whitman possessed by the Ebony Blade. To battle Proctor, Sersi and Whitman undergo an Eternal process called gann josin which bonds Sersi and the Knight together.

read more: The History of Ms. Marvel

So, for a short time, Whitman gains Eternal power and really, the whole thing is an overwritten mess because that's '90s comics for ya. But, this whole gann josin stuff creates a bond between Black Knight and Eternals lore. Could the film versions of the Knight and Sersi be lovers? In the comics, Sersi had a profound impact on Whitman. After they bonded, Sersi turned Black Knight’s heart to “stone” (again with the petrifying!) so he could remain emotionally removed from humanity and better serve the world as a champion. 

The Eternal Future

As if this wasn't crazy enough, Black Knight eventually joined a team known as MI: 13, a British agency that battles the supernatural. There, Whitman believes he once again bonds with the Ebony Blade, but it turns out the sword is a fake forged by Dracula (!) with the purpose of corrupting Whitman. The Black Knight is too strong for the blade and uses the vampiric sword to battle Dracula’s forces. At this time, Black Knight also meets and falls in love with Faiza Hussain, a doctor who becomes Black Knight’s squire and eventually wields the blade Excalibur because good lord comics are awesome.

read more: The History of Moon Knight

So what role can be play in Marvel’s The Eternals?

Could the braintrust of the MCU combine the legacies of Percy and Whitman, revealing that Whitman is immortal, an act that would truly make Black Knight Eternal? Think about it, the Black Knight could have fought in Camelot as Sir Percy (and don't forget, Black Knight's armor showed up as an easter egg in Spider-Man: Far From Home) but also live in the modern world as Whitman. Will Sersi and Whitman continue their troubled romance? I guess we’ll learn next November as the saga of Marvel’s Black Knight takes a giant step forward when Eternals hits theaters.

As long as Whitman doesn’t turn to stone in the first act. 

The full Marvel movie release calendar can be found here.

Read and download the Den of Geek SDCC 2019 Special Edition Magazine right here!

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Feature

Books

Marc Buxton

Aug 25, 2019

Marvel

Eternals

Kit Harington

from Books https://ift.tt/2Zvi6gh

[sol1056]

I've just read that word of god post you've reblogged and i agree that if it's not in the canon then it's not in the story. but what is the canon exactly? if we take vld as an example, can the extra materials like the guide books or interviews be considered canon when they give us information that is never talked about in the source material, that is in the show itself?

Canon, at its simplest, is “what the community consider the official record.” Its ‘things recognized as authentic,’ and by extension also ‘a standard by which something is judged [as genuine]’. Frex, to say ‘this album is modern jazz’ requires comparing the music to the modern jazz canon. 

For fiction, canon applies the idea of an ‘official record’ to the story itself. The purpose is to delineate the ‘actual’ (genuine) story, and the standards by which new stories (sequels, spin-offs, etc) become canon. The common standards tend to be: who created it and/or was involved, form of distribution (ie official channels), and how widespread it was. Frex, a song played once in a small club in Chicago and never recorded would probably not be considered part of the ‘canon’ of modern jazz (that is, would not be used as the ‘standard’ by which newer works could be judged, because the work is too obscure). 

That brings us to the next level (and often the most fiercely debated): which texts are deuterocanonical. It’s a fifty-cent word but it’s exactly the word we need, here. It means ‘secondary canon’ and it’s texts that could be canon but fell short by some measure. Different author (or ghostwritten), written years later or years earlier, retcons everything, completely different story but with cameo of canon character, and so on. 

Adaptations are often deuterocanonical: a book to a movie, a movie to a TV series, a TV series to graphic novels. Each media has different storytelling conventions, so the story changes, and if you were a fan of the ‘real’ story, you might see the adaptation as just a shade too different. Plenty of fans of the Fullmetal Alchemist manga see the first anime (which diverged wildly) as a secondary canon — interesting, but not crucial; fewer say the same of the second anime, which was much more faithful.  

Continuations also tend to be deuterocanonical, especially when the media changes. If your intro to a fandom includes the warning that everyone ignores a certain continuation, sequel, or spin-off, the community may have decided the later works are a secondary canon. This dismissal comes with the usual flamewars, at least until the fandom agrees to disagree.  

Best criteria is whether parallel or subsequent stories impact or develop the ‘main’ story. Agents of SHIELD is a spin-off of the Avengers movie series, and it pivots mid-story due to movie events. The TV show may be deuterocanonical for movie fans, but the movies are canonical for TV show fans, because those stories have significant impact on the events in the TV show’s storyline.

And then we get to words about the story: meta. Tolkien’s estate has published his drafts and notes; these books satisfy canon per authenticity (written by Tolkien), and stamped as official by the estate. You don’t have to read every rough draft to get the final version, so Tolkien’s notes aren’t really primary canon, but they probably would be considered deuterocanonical. 

The same doesn’t apply when it’s just anyone writing meta, even a published Field Guide or Annotated Glossary — a fancier and footnoted version of the same kind of meta fans have always written on their favorite works. No matter how well-researched, that third-party meta is not canon, no matter who wrote it or where it was published.  

And then we get to word-of-god, however it’s relayed (panel quotes, interviews, tweets, blog posts, etc). Word-of-god, like handbooks and marketing material, are not the story; it’s talk about the story. It’s meta, and as such it can never be more than – at best – secondary canon, and even then under limited circumstances. 

The next thing to consider in word-of-god is: who’s the god, here? It’s easy enough with Tolkien, Rowling, Kipling, Austin, any one-author work where one voice did the bulk of shaping the ideas and words and story. It’s another matter when we get into multi-creator, collaborative stories like movies, television shows, even stage plays or dance where the work passes through multiple hands on the way to becoming a final product. 

If the actor chose to read those lines as though the character were in love, that has an impact on your experience of the story. Is it enough of an impact? Does that make the actor right to say, “this character is in love”? Does the actor have that authority? Or an executive producer who didn’t write the script, direct the episode, voice any of the lines, storyboard any scenes, or animate any frames? How do we measure the contribution of ‘enabling others to create’ to determine whether word-of-god applies? What about a story editor whose outline was informed entirely by exec notes? Can we say the writer of a particular episode even has word-of-god authority, if every line was altered by the actors to a smaller or larger degree? 

Beyond that — and this applies from one-author texts up to multi-season series with a production staff in the hundreds — we cannot assume the author (if there is a single identifiable hand in the story) actually knows the story they’ve written. We writers can tell you what we meant to write, and what we wanted to write, but what we ended up with isn’t always where we’d planned to be. Hell, sometimes we don’t see the themes until a long time after the work is written, the same way we don’t always see where the story’s failed on other counts (representation, gender, cliches, plot holes, etc). 

I could add a lot of words, but here I’m just going to quote some of TV Tropes at you, since the entry does a good job of covering all the bases. 

A number of people reject [word-of-god]… If the creator had wanted a certain fact to be canon, the thinking goes, they should have included it in the work to begin with. [Others] go even further, considering the uncertainty and ambiguity of canon to be a good thing… Wimsatt and Beardsley’s “The Intentional Fallacy” and Barthes’ Death of the Author essay both argue that the interpretation of a work cannot be limited to attempts to discern the “author’s intentions.”

Another thorny issue is … collaborators may not actually agree with interpretations of their story that weren’t made explicit in the work. This is especially likely if they no longer work together, and particularly if they had a real-life falling out. In this case, there are multiple “Gods” given potentially contradictory explanations, so whose word is to be considered correct?

If a story requires the author pop up to explain each scene in some nightmarish reverse-MST3K scenario, then the story has failed. Point blank, full stop, do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars. The story has failed. 

But let’s pretend the story is fine, and you just can’t take lying awake at night wondering about that damn watermelon. There’s a place and time for creator explanations; easter eggs (like in-jokes and homages) definitely count, and can be a lot of fun. There’s nothing wrong with word-of-god, after all, so long as it’s taken in moderation. In the end, it’s just a slightly more knowledgeable voice, but never let it drown out your voice or your experience. 

Ultimately, this incessant emphasis on word-of-god has two sources. 

One is the current penchant for throwing wild swerves as a way to combat audience boredom. These get called ‘plot twists’ but in the hands of less-skilled creators, they’re just cheap shocks. Pushed too far, they’ll break the story. Groundwork and foreshadowing are left off the page or screen for fear the audience will ‘figure it out’ too soon, and the result is an audience struggling to make sense of the quagmire. Word-of-god doesn’t fix the story, but it can at least provide closure. You know why the watermelon was there, and you can move on to obsess about something else. 

The other source is our immediate and seeming direct access to a lot of creators: writers, directors, storyboard artists, voice actors, producers, all up and down the line. We could sit down and think hard about the story (if the story isn’t so broken that’s moot, at least), or we could just tweet or blog or tag a creator and ask. Or hope someone asks our question at a panel, or a podcast, or some other interview. Why bother with meta, when you can get a slightly more-informed meta from someone who looks like an authority? 

Hey, authors have been getting questions from readers since Lady Murasaki sat down to write. No, the real issue are creators who’ve come to crave (and encourage) the audience asking how to interpret the story. It’s a pretty heady thing, getting that kind of attention, and it can get away from you really fast. What began as a simple question about indestructible fruit becomes an ongoing interpretative dance by the author on behalf of the work. 

It’s flattering to have the audience clamoring for your words, but… it’s not about you, as the creator. It’s about the story. A creator needs to step back and let the story do the talking. The sooner some creators remember that, the sooner some fandoms will calm the fsck down. 

Primary or secondary canon, word-of-god or radio silence; in the end, the story’s got to stand on its own. If it can’t do that, no amount of explanation in the world will prop the story back up again. 

[writingsofawanderingwonderer]

Game Postmortem: The Heart of Tales

Hello, and welcome to the Behind the Scenes article for my game, The Heart of Tales.

Quick intro here. This will contain spoilers for the game.

I've sorted this article into different parts: WRITING, ART, MUSIC, and the POST MORTEM. Each of those parts has different sections, and so on. You can skip ahead to the sections you want to read about.

Also, I'll refer to the player character by her default name, Hiro.

I tried to keep everything short, but it ended up being this long.

Now with that out of the way, let's begin.

=====WRITING=====

Inspiration: From Baldur's Gate to Tolkien

The Heart of Tales is inspired by various RPG games with medieval fantasy settings. Worlds where swords can talk, and you can take mysterious items to a shopkeeper to identify them. I decided to make The Heart of Tales follow similar "rules" to RPGs than to, say, medieval Fantasy television series. Because of that, The Heart of Tales is more eclectic in its nature (pulling from Greek Mythology, Arabic folklore, etc.--like many Dungeons & Dragon games) than historic or purely medieval European.

Some notable inspirations include the games Icewind Dale, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, and Undertale. I was also inspired by Tolkien's novels and the German folklore surrounding the jester/trickster character, Till Eulenspiegel.

Icewind Dale

In Icewind Dale, there's a scene near the climax of the game where the main villain gives a big speech of how powerful they are. Like in The Heart of Tales, the player character in Icewind Dale has the option to reply to the whole speech with, "Woah."

Undertale

Undertale inspired the idea to let the player choose whether or not Hiro goes back to adventuring or stays retired by the end of the story. To me, it was important that the player was happy with Hiro's choice, so I didn't want to make the choice for the player.

Princess Maker 2

The line in the game where Hiro is rumoured to have been "born from the sky" is a reference to Princess Maker 2,

12 Kingdoms

The idea of a world or continent being divided by 12 kingdoms is a common trope in fantasy stories. In The Heart of Tales, I pictured that the continent is made up of 12 kingdoms, and the closer you are to the 1st kingdom, the more rich and upper-class the inhabitants are. The 12th kingdom would be the poorest.

Jester Till

I like bards. Bards are one of, if not my favourite, class in Dungeons & Dragons games. Neverwinter Nights used them to a good effect (meaning they have a balanced character build), but many other games overlook and/or don't include the bard class.

Till Eulenspiegel is a character who brings bards and jesters into the forefront of storytelling, by making the main character a jester.

Route Designs

I learned from Three Guys That Paint that having three love interests complicates things compared to two love interests. If you give the player three "A or B" choices, then the possible results can be three points to A or B, or two points to A or B. But adding a third love interest creates a programming problem: What if the player gives one point to each possible love interest? Then the game doesn't know what to do! And adding a fourth choice would add further problems.

That's the problem I had when I added Sareth's route.

I fixed this by making Sareth's route unlockable. The player had to pick New Game+ and that transports them to the "gift" choice, skipping the first choice. So instead of three choices, the player gets two. To add difficulty for the player, if they give one point to Sareth's route and one to Mithamoore or Cole, they fall into Mithamoore of Cole's route instead of Sareth's.

Making Sareth's route unlockable also implies that Aemza gets stronger and stronger with each playthrough, which is why he gains the ability to possess Hiro in Sareth's route.

Writing Process

The writing process was very similar to how I wrote Three Guys That Paint and Must Love Jaws. I started with a plot summary of the whole story. I separated the plot summary into scenes, and then I expanded each scene's summary into dialogue and narration. There were about 20 scenes total, and I wrote each scene in chronological order.

Then I took it all into Ren'Py and added coding like sprite movements and sound effects.

Theme: The Art of Violence?

Even though I've never been able to play any of his games (due to platform issues), I admire that Yoko Taro as a creator who makes video games that use the medium to help tell the story, such as giving plot explanations for the player character's ability to save and reload. The game mechanics have an in-universe explanation and the characters have an awareness of it.

In a video interview, he says the following (though note that this is an English translation), "[While working on the original Drakengard,] I thought about the meaning of "killing." I was looking at a lot of games back then, and I saw messages like "You've defeated 100 enemies!" or "Eradicated 100 enemy soldiers!" in an almost gloating manner. But when I thought about it in an extremely calm state of mind, it hit me that gloating about killing a hundred people is strange. I mean, you're a serial killer if you killed a hundred people. It just struck me as insane. [...] You don't have to be insane to kill someone, you just have to think you're right."

Anemza: Writing "True Villains"

I've also been noticing this change in storytelling, particularly in Western animation: More and more stories are having villains who are either:

a) Misunderstood and not really villains underneath, requiring the hero to "defeat" them through non-violent means. The hero instead has to show empathy and defuse tension when they face the antagonist (examples: Moana, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and Steven Universe),

Or b) The villain turns out to be a character who was originally displayed as "nice" or "meek" and was thus overlooked by the hero (recent examples include Zootopia, Frozen, Wonder Woman).

At first, I was really frustrated with this; I missed "true villains" from the Renaissance Era of Disney and I didn't know what to make of this new trend with antagonists. I missed villains who had a lot of build-up and screen time. I missed villains like Megabyte (Reboot) that had a grand sense of presence. But then I realized why this change was occurring: It's important to teach people, especially young children, the importance of not just being brave and standing up for yourself. It's also important to teach them the importance of knowing that you can defuse confrontations in pacifist manner.

So even though I gave the game a "true villain" I also gave the message that for every act of violence, there's a consequence.

He's defeated because he couldn't have been changed: A person has to want to change in order to change.

Body Count: Is Hiro a One-Woman Army?

Hiro tells Cole that she's killed at least 447 beings before she "lost count."

To put this into perspective: The average kill count for the RPG D&D game Baldur's Gate is said to be around 1,500 for its full campaign. In that game, you are usually playing as a party of six characters.

Theme: Faith

I was very concerned about getting the romance routes in this game right because I think the romantic elements in my earlier game Three Guys That Paint were one of its weakest points.

So I realized that I had to focus on a specific aspect of relationships. For this game, I focused on the idea of faith in your partner.

Relationships are about sacrifice. It's about changing the idea of "me" into "we." It isn't just about liking what your lover is like. It's also about liking what you're like when you're with that person. Some partners bring out a certain strength in their partner.

The Meaning of 0451

0451 is a "Easter Egg" number used in a variety of games. Originally created as a reference to Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, the number is generally used to state that the developers of the game in question (usually an immersive sim like Bioshock, System Shock, and Thief) has themes of an ideology going wrong. For more information on this number's history and significance, I recommend checking out Errant's Signal's video essay on the topic.

One of the themes in The Heart of Tales is the idea that the main character is suffering from being put on a pedestal--and an ideology--that she no longer believes in. She is 0451. That's why during the climax of the game in Sareth's route, she says, "I am nothing. I am the fourth. The fifth. And lastly, I'm the first..." (Which translates to: "Nothing/Fourth/Fifth/First" = 0451). I mean, a lot of games in general are about a fantasy world going wrong, but I still thought it was an intriguing reference. An ideology crumbling.

Rejecting "Kindness Coins"

"Kindness coins" is a term used in visual novel development that refers to the "points system" often used in romance VNs. The player makes choices to unlock a romanceable character. The more choices they make to please the love interest they're pursuing, the more likely they'll unlock that route.

The term is not thought of highly and is generally used in a negative context: The implication is that, so long as the player acts nicely to the love interest and says what the love interest wants to hear (rather than being honest or properly roleplaying as the player character), the player will "earn" a romance with the love interest.

Which is a rather odd design mechanic, since in real life, being nice to someone to get something from them is not true kindness. And romantic partners in real life are often opposites who don't agree on some things.

In The Heart of Tales, Anemza tries to call out Hiro on her choices, saying that a few simple choices lead to the various routes she walked down. And if Hiro fights a possessed Cole or Mithamoore, they also accuse her of manipulating them. The game raises the idea of "kindness coins are bad"... only to reject it. Because Hiro ultimately defeats Anemza and wins the heart of her love interest, with little to no consequences.

This is because I find the idea that "using kindness coins makes the player a manipulator" is untrue, and that punishing a player for playing a romance game is rather... a bit much.*

It's because I find it similar to the idea that violent video games leads to violent people (which I think is utter tommyrot). People who kill in video games are not killers. They are actors reenacting a play. They are roleplaying. You may as well punish an actor for playing a villain.

The player in The Heart of Tales may be making choices to get a certain outcome (or they may not), but at the end of the day, they are still playing Hiro. And Hiro is the one who falls in love.

* (Footnote: There's only a few games I've seen that have managed to pull off this idea of punishing the player for their well-intentioned choices. And it's usually for playing the game a certain way, rather than playing the game at all.)

Hiro: The Difference Between a Grump and a Jerk

I tried to make sure that players liked Hiro, despite her wanting to turn away Mithamoore and Cole, as well as deceiving to them to try and get rid of them.

To me, there's a huge difference between being a grump and being a jerk. Hiro is written as the former, which I think makes her empathetic to players.

I don't like writing jerk-type characters, so that helped.

Mithamoore: Making a Likeable "Bad Boy"

A great irony with The Heart of Tales is that my last completed game, [redacted] Life, pokes fun at character archetypes found in otome games, including the "bad boy" archetype. Yet in The Heart of Tales, the tropes are played straight, rather than deconstructed.

I wanted to make Mithamoore intense yet likeable. It was a challenging balance to make (after all, he does begin the game wanting to kill Hiro). I think what helped was showing his vulnerability. He's unused to being human, and unused to reacting to feelings of romantic love.

I also had each love interest introduced one by one. I wanted Mithamoore to be introduced before Cole because Mithamoore is more aggressive and therefore would probably be harder to like. That was my theory at the time, but I've discovered that Mithamoore ended up being one of the more-popular routes.

Cole: Putting Heroes on a Pedestal and Hero Worship

Cole's character was influenced by the character Leo from Scrapped Princess, one of the first anime series I ever watched. Leo is a knight errant who struggles with the meaning of chivalry, as he gets torn between his duty as a knight and wanting to protect the main character, who is a princess wanted dead by the kingdom to prevent a dark prophesy from fulfilling.

When I was writing Cole, I wanted his character arc to be about overcoming his hero worship of Hiro. He's placed her on this pedestal that she can't possibly measure up to, and he has to learn to accept that and love her for who she really is.

Cole as a Fighter

Cole constantly quoting from the Knight Errant's Mantra was inspired by the character Double H from Beyond Good & Evil, who often quoted a fictional manual called Carlson and Peters.

His maneuver and defence names, Durer's Defence and Wallerstein's Codex, are references to famed engraver Albrecht Dürer (of the German Renaissance, who made many illustrations on sword fighting techniques) and the Codex Wallerstein (a compilation of three 15th-century combat manual manuscripts). Some illustrations from both can be seen here.

Cole as a Cook

I liked how I made Cole a good cook and made Hiro bad at cooking. In terms of gender roles, the stereotype is usually the opposite. Clinging to stereotypes just doesn't feel as believable to me.

"He Didn't Actually Blush"

I made sure that the characters never blush at any point in the story. Falling back to blushing as a way of showing romance is a big pet peeve among writers. I'm okay with others using it in moderation, but I decided to not use it myself.

Sareth: The Final Piece

Originally, Sareth wasn't a love interest. But after I started posting work in progress information on Twitter and Lemmasoft, several people lamented that they wouldn't be able to date the talking sword.

And the more I wrote the story, the more I thought about Sareth becoming a love interest. And the more it made sense. I slowly went from, "I'd be crazy to write this," to, "I'd be crazy not to write this."

So basically, I blame all of you for Sareth's route. ;)

Inspiration Behind Sareth

The biggest inspiration behind Sareth is Enseric the Longsword from Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark. Neverwinter Nights was the first RPG I ever played, and it's one of the reasons why I love RPG games.

Enserric was a weapon you obtained during an early section of the game (a dungeon created by a mad wizard). Enserric is a talking sword, is one of the most powerful weapons in the game, and had an entire, elaborate backstory (he was originally a mage who got his soul trapped within the sword and left for dead by his fleeing companions). I've also heard rumors that a side-quest was cut from the final game, which involved finding a body for Enserric before his consciousness completely disappeared within the sword.

Like Sareth, Enseric could taste the blood of the enemies he fought, and had a very inflated opinion of himself.

Anemza's Plans

Anemza explaining his plans on what he was going to do to Hiro (before he decided on his final plan) were actually some of the ideas I had before deciding on the idea I went with.

The Shopkeeper is Based on a Real Person

The ambiguously-gendered, mysterious shopkeeper is loosely based off of Ibn Battuta, a Moroccan scholar who widely travelled the medieval world, including Africa, the Middle East, India, Central and Southeast Asia, and China. He has been described by author John Green as "probably the most well-travelled person before the invention of the steam engine." During the twilight of his life, he wrote an account of his journey, referred to as The Travels, which provides a picture of medieval civilization that is still widely consulted today.

[images: Ibn Battuta and the shopkeeper sprite]

What's in a Name?

I actually came up with Cole and Mithamoore's names pretty late. While I was writing the game, I labelled them as Knight and Dragon.

Hiro's Name

Hiro as in hero, get it? Ha... heh... (sheepishly grins)

The following events happen if you try to name the player character these names:

Choosing nothing, or choosing Hiro/Hero:

"Her name was Hiro. And that should have been the very first clue. [name]."

Naming her Mithamoore: "Her name was Mithril. Named after the beautiful metal used for the armour of heroes."

Mason: "Her name was Morgan. Named after the beautiful gemstone from the darkest caves."

Cole/Caldwell: "Her name was Nicole. The name that stood for 'victorious people.'"

Sareth/Sword/Claymore: "Her name was Sara. It meant 'princess.'"

Anemza: (The music suddenly stops.) Anemza's dialogue goes: "I AM THE DEMON THAT COMES WHEN YOU CALL MY NAME." (The game proceeds to automatically quit.)        

Shopkeeper: "Her name was Shoppy. A name that evoked merchants and traders."

Jester/Till/Bard: "Her name was Tilli. Named after the famous jester, Till."

Adventurer: "Her name was Farryn. It meant 'adventurous child.'"

Villager: "Her name was Mariko. It meant 'true village child.'"

Poop/Sh*t: "Her name was Showell. It meant 'to shovel.'"

Anti-swearing feature. If you type in some swear words: "Her name was Liliha. It meant 'to angrily disregard.'"

Dave/Davette/Ogu Pigu/OguPigu: "Her name was Davette."

Mithamoore's Name

I looked at Skyrim dragon names to help come up with a dragon name. I wanted something long yet easy for me to remember. ^^;

The idea of giving him the title of Mithamoore the Earthburner was inspired by The Hobbit's Smaug and his various titles.

Cole's Name

Cole's name was probably from Cole Phelps from the game LA Noire, where Phelps is a very straight-laced, follow the rules-type young detective. I wanted to invoke that feeling.

Anemza's Name

Anemza's name I basically came up with by doing the following:

Start with the name Jasmine.

Remove the first letter: Asmine.

Reverse the remaining letters: Enimsa.

Change some of the letters to other letters that sound phonically similar: E into A, I to E, S to Z: Anemza.

What really settled it was when I realized that Anemza sounds like the word "anemic," which can mean "lacking blood or warmth."

So yeah, Anemza is basically the name Jasmine put through a blender.

=====ART======

Inspiration

The Heart of Tales' overall art style was inspired by games like Princess Maker 2 (detailed illustrations with a pixelated texture), Undertale (giving each background a limited colour palette, and associating home with the colour yellow), and older games like Psychic Detective and Phantasmagoria (using smaller CGs in framed boxes).

Art Process

Preproduction

Before I start production work on any game, I create a folder and fill it with images I've found that give me ideas on what the game should look like. I've only learned recently that this called a "swipe folder."

Then I start drawing sketches on paper, and use those as concept art for the final sprites, backgrounds, CGs, and user interface.

 [Image: My paper notes]

Index Painting

I used Dan Fessler's wonderful tutorial on creating pixel art through HD index painting.

Basically, the steps are like so:

1) Paint the artwork in Photoshop like you normally do, but using no colour. Only use shades of grey.

2) Apply a Dither layer on top using the Paint Bucket Tool.

3) Add a Black and white Adjustment layer on top of that.

4) Add a Posterize adjustment layer on top of that.

5) Add a Gradient Map adjustment layer on top of that. Edit it to get the colours you want.

I basically reverse-engineered Dan Fessler's Photoshop file that he provides in the tutorial.

Hiro's Design

I wanted her outfit to imply a bunch of different possible backstories, so I gave her puffy sleeves (bard), a tunic with light-coloured trimming (noblewoman), a tunic (adventurer), and a symbol that resembles the game's mouse (implying that she has her own personal symbol).

Mithamoore's Design

I'm not sure where I got the idea for his outfit. I wanted the outfit Hiro gives him to make him look like he values art, culture, and good craftsmanship.

I think I based his hair on Benedict Cumberbatch playing Sherlock Holmes. Which is ironic, because Cumberbatch also played a dragon in The Hobbit.

Cole's Design

Cole's armour design is loosely based off of Leopold Scorpus from Scrapped Princess.

I made Cole the tallest character and gave him armour that looks a lot bigger than himself. I like the "Popeye-arms" effect it gives him.

Anemza's Design

I wanted Anemza's design to look like a creature from another dimension. I looked up animal and monster designs medieval tapestries and manuscript. There are some really bizarre, amusing, and creative designs, so I gave Anemza the body parts of various animals. I made a conscious decision to make Anemza the only animated character, to make him feel more otherworldly.

I was influenced by Terry Gilliam's Monty Python cut-out animation, as well as the designs of the witches in Puella Magi Madoka Magica, and "Omega Flowey" from Undertale. 

[images from Monty Python's Flying Circus, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, and Undertale]

I specifically avoided using rigging and tweening when I animated Anemza, to give him a more stop-motion quality. I animated the body parts frame by frame in Photoshop CS6.

I also programmed Anemza's sprite to "glitch" at randomized intervals, and in different ways.

 [Image: Just a few of Anemza’s “glitching” animation frames]

=====MUSIC=====

The OST music was created by the wonderful Noyemi K.

I asked Noyemi to create seven leitmotifs:

1) A romantic theme.

2) A sad theme.

3) A scary theme.

4) Mithamoore's theme.

5) Cole's theme.

6) Anemza's theme.

7) Anemza's hopeful theme.

I gave a description of each of the characters, and I specifically asked for Anemza's "hopeful" theme to be a remix of Anemza's "scary" theme. Noyemi creating a "glitching," stuttering sound effect for Anemza's theme to give the idea the Anemz's mere presence is breaking the game.

=====POST MORTEM=====

What Went Right

The Characters

I'm glad that players were okay with the idea of dating a dragon and a sword. I'm glad people embraced that.

Portraying love

Ever since Three Guys That Paint, I've been skeptic and unsure about whether or not I could write love stories. The romances were the weakest part of Three Guys That Paint in my opinion, so I wondered if I needed to try again, or if writing romance just wasn't going to be one of my strengths. I'm glad that people liked the romances in The Heart of Tales. I think a lot of it comes from the love interests feeling more fleshed out to me here than Arthur and Terri from Three Guys That Paint.

Original Music

Working with Noyemi K was an absolute pleasure. Players commented on how much they liked the original sound track. I plan on working with Noyemi on a future project.

Persistent Data

"Persistent data" is a term I discovered while making [redacted] Life. Persistent data allows a Ren'Py game to remember previous choices a player has made, and keeps that information, even if the player reloads or deletes their previous progress.

Although I didn't use persistent data nearly as much as I did with [redacted] Life, I did use it for some of Anemza's dialogue (he notes that he knows about players' previous playthroughs). Many players commented on how they were impressed by that detail.

What Could Have Been Better

Getting Ideas Last-Minute

The pro to it was that there was less research notes I wrote that I needed to read through.

The con was that I usually like to come up with an idea and mull over it for about a year or more. After that amount of time, I have a better idea of where I want the project to go.

Here, I had to make quick decisions like adding Sareth's romance route and realising the theme of the central game was faith in others. Feeling my way through the story as I was writing was slower.

Coincidence

The Heart of Tales relies on a lot of coincidence (Mithamoore and Cole meeting Hiro on the same night, Hiro's companions finding the goblins, etc.). Avoiding coincidence is something that I'll have to try to avoid in my future games.

What I Learned

Ren'Py's New GUI

This is the first game I've made using Ren'Py's updated user interface design (I've tinkered with it on Eight Sweets, but at the time of publishing this, I haven't finished making that visual novel). It took a while getting used to it (and a lot of question-asking on the Lemmasoft forums!), but I've ended up really liking it. I feel much more confident using it.

The Three Act Structure is Good for Revisions -- Not First Drafts

An age-old question among writers is, "Is using the three act structure useful?" I think I learned during this project that you can't shoehorn the three act structure into your story. You just plot out the thing, and then you look at it and see if it feels complete. Our subconscious is so used to the three acts that your story will have them anyway.

But if you write the first draft of the plot outline and find that the story feel incomplete, you can go back and use the three act structure to find out what the problem is.

Basically, I had to do that for The Heart of Tales because of how fast I came up with the story for the game jam.

Le Morte d'Author/The Death of the Author

I think it's this game that taught me that there's a point at which I have to stop explaining things to the audience through social media. Either a player "got" what I was trying to say, or they did not, and I failed to explain or show things in a clear enough way. Or the player interpreted something in a way I didn't even think of, and I shouldn't take that away from them because they're using their own experience and viewpoints to interpret the game.

I see this as a fun challenge, because I know that the audience is smart. As Pixar's Andrew Stanton said, "Don't give [the audience] four; give them two plus two." I'll still answer questions if they're directed at me, but I also feel more comfortable to say, "It's up to your interpretation."

I also feel more comfortable letting the viewer "do the work" when it comes to interpreting a thing that can be interpreted many different ways. For example, I never give a clear answer to the hero's origin story. Was she a princess? A farm girl? A bard? Did she come from the sky? Every player will have a different answer to that question.

I think Davey Warden's 2015 game, The Beginner's Guide, made me think about this more. The idea that the player's interpretation often says more about themselves then it does about the creator or even the work itself.

Audience interpretation is a form of interaction.

We Don't Create Our Work in a Bubble

I've been thinking a lot about how my work affects people, and how work I see affects me. I learned that what I create is not made in a bubble. My own experiences and viewpoints affect the work. To paraphrase an old saying, every painting is a self-portrait. I feel like I have a kind of responsibility to make sure that my art helps people rather than hurts.

The Heart of Tales involves themes of the consequences of violence, yet the climax involves fighting a demon to save the day. I guess trying to defuse situations through talking only works if the other is willing to listen too? Like Cole and Mithamoore? Anemza is the personification of evil, after all.

It's also made me think about how time-sensitive my current and future work's becoming. If I made The Heart of Tales a year earlier, it would have been written a lot differently than how it's ended up now. And not just because I learn and gain developer's experience over time.

I know a lot of artists who have said that they are struggling with finding value in their art, or have completely come to the conclusion that creating art to change people for the better is a futile effort, but I don't buy that. I don't buy that because artwork that I've seen, made by other people, has changed me. And improved me. Stories have made me think about judging others by their appearance. About what it means to be Good, with a capital G. About what it means to try and follow your dreams. And stories have been doing that ever since I was a child.

Surely I'm not the only one who's been affected by art in that way...

[fardell24b]

Lawndale and Sandi Griffin’s Genie - Chapter 1 - Part 2

“These are new,” Jean said, as she looked at the computers.

“Were not there any computers the last time you were out of the Emerald?” Sandi asked. She was wondering how long Jean had been in there. 'Long enough for these computers to be surprise,' she thought.

“They did exist, but they weren't advanced enough to be used as a cataloguing system in a High School library.” She looked to be in awe at the advancement of technology.

“Interesting,” Sandi stated. She then wondered how they could be easier used. She decided that voice recognition would be interesting to have: At least that is what it is called in those shows that Stacy watches,’ she thought. She grabbed the emerald, which was on a necklace that she was wearing. ‘Good thing that its green matches that of my eyes.’

“I wish that the computers in the school will be able to be controlled by voice, and that they would have the components necessary for that to work,” she said.

 “This will take a few moments,” Jean said. She closed her eyes and concentrated as she and the emerald scanned all the computers in the school. (She had been aware of them earlier after Sandi had wished for her to be on the enrolment records, but now she needed to understand them better.)

 After scanning the hardware and the software of every computer in the school and then understanding all of them, she was ready.  She granted Sandi’s wish. A barely visible ripple emanated out from Jean and the emerald, carrying the wish granting sound with it. As it struck each computer in the school it changed them, giving them microphones, speakers and voice recognition software compatible with the operating system that the particular computers were running.

Where there wasn’t enough hard drive space, the wave increased the capacity of the drive to compensate. All the computers in the school were affected, from the more recent Pentium II’s running Windows 98 and iMacs running MacOS 8.5, through to the 386’s running Windows 3.11 and Macintosh II’s running System 7.5. Jean also placed some ‘Easter Eggs’ on many of the computers...

 “The wish is granted,” Jean said, once the conversion processes were complete.

 “I would have thought that it would have been quicker,” Sandi said.

 “The bigger the wish, the longer it takes to be completed,” Jean said. Sandi gave this some thought. “I suppose so,” she said. She lead Jean over to the closest of the cataloguing computers.

 “Catalogue: Like, show me the listings for any books containing information on genie legends,” she said. After a few seconds the database software returned Sandi’s query. There were 3 books.

 “Cool,” she said. She took out a notepad from her purse and wrote down the Dewey Decimal numbers that had come up.

 “Let’s go,” she said to Jean as she went towards the first relevant section of the bookshelves.

  However, Sandi did not know that the School Librarian, Michaela Daniels, had seen and heard everything after her wish for the computers to be able to be controlled by voice.

 As Sandi and Jean walked into the midst of the non-fiction section she ran what happened through her mind. Sandi’s wish, Jean’s response and gesture, the wish granting noise, the ripple carrying the wish granting noise, a different noise coming from the computers in the library as they were altered and Sandi ordering books via voice... She came to the conclusion that Jean was a genie (though she still didn’t know her name).

  Meanwhile at the front of the school, Stacy Rowe and Tiffany Blum-Deckler had arrived. “Whe-ere’s Sand-di?” Tiffany asked after a minute of looking for her.

 “I don’t know,” Stacy said. ‘Maybe she is late,’ she thought. Tiffany reached into her handbag and took out her cell phone.

 “Tooo bad Sand-di doesn’t ha-ave her own Ce-ell Pho-one,” Tiffany said.

 “You could try her house,” Stacy said.

 “Oh Yeaaah,” Tiffany said, as she dialled the Griffin’s home phone number.

 “Hello; you have reached the Griffin’s Residence, we are not at home now. Would you please leave a message,” came the recording of Linda’s voice from the Griffin’s answering machine.

 Stacy looked at Tiffany. “We will wait for Quinn. She will know what to do,” she said.

 “Oh Yeaaah,” Tiffany said. She placed her cell phone back into her handbag and took out a mirror. Stacy sighed.

  Back in the library Sandi was talking to Elias Howarth, whom she had dated a couple of times.

“...Like, I am looking for a book for class. Mr DeMartino gave me a C on my last test. My Mom insists that I keep a B average,” Sandi said after Elias had asked why Sandi was in the library. ‘And most of it is true,’ Sandi mused. Linda did insist that she had moderately good grades and Mr DeMartino had given her a C on her last test.

 “That is fine, Sandi. It’s not like you’re a brain, like a certain Junior I have often run into,” Elias said.

 ‘While dating Quinn no doubt,’ Sandi thought.

 “Anyway, who is this new friend?” Elias asked.

 “Hi Elias. I am Jean Jenner. I am on exchange from Britain, staying with the Griffins. It seems that I have picked up the American accent well.”

 “Interesting. If you are available at Recess I would like to find out more,” Elias said.

 “Sure,” Jean said. Elias said goodbye to Sandi and left.

 “He is a little geeky, but, like, his cuteness makes up for that geekiness,” Sandi said. She then found the first of the books that she was looking for. She grabbed it from the bookshelf...

  Meanwhile Quinn Morgendorffer had arrived at school. She had walked up to Stacy and Tiffany and asked; “Where’s Sandi?”

 “We-e Dooon’t knooow,” Tiffany said.

 “I thought that maybe you would know,” Stacy said. Quinn thought for a few seconds.

 “Something may have come up. I am sure that we’ll see in her in class,” she said.

 “Oh Yeaaah.”

 “That is a good idea, Quinn,” Stacy said. The three friends then went into the school.

  Michaela had gone to the CD-ROM reference computer and had started to use the voice recognition software. Elias noticed her and went over to her. He was quite sure that even if voice recognition software existed that the school wouldn’t be able to afford it. “Since when do we have computers with voice recognition software?” he asked, the curiosity showing in his voice.

 “I am as confused as you are,” Michaela said.

 “Really?” Elias asked, surprised that the librarian would admit that.

 “You have met Sandi’s new friend?” Michaela asked. Elias nodded in the affirmative and she continued, “She could be some kind of genie. I think I heard Sandi wish for the computers to change.” She also explained Jean’s body language and the strange sounds.

 “That is only a possibility. There could be others,” Elias said. He was uncertain. A genie could explain at lot of things. “I will investigate Jean, that is the name that she gave me, and I’ll get back to you,” he continued.

 “That would be a good idea,” Michaela said. Elias went over to the Cataloguing computers.

  Ted Dewitt-Clinton was already at the cataloguing computers, looking something up. Elias could see that Sandi and Jean were out of sight, somewhere in a distant corner of the library. He decided to tell Ted the librarian’s suspicions.

 “Ted? Have you seen Sandi Griffin this morning?” he asked.

 “Why do you ask?” Ted asked, curiously.

 “She had this person with her. It wasn’t one of her usual Fashion Club friends,” Elias said.

 “Yes. I did see her and someone else enter the library earlier,” Ted said.

 “Anyway, Ted, Mrs Daniels thinks that that person is a genie,” Elias said, hoping that Ted did know what a genie was.

 “You mean a genie like one in the old Arabian tales, or like the more recent Disneyfied versions? Why would she think that?” Ted mused.

 “The computers in the library can suddenly respond to voice commands,” Elias said to Ted. Then to the computer “Computer: List all works by JRR Tolkien.”

 Ted gave Elias a dubious look as he gave his answer but then he looked at the screen.

 AUTHOR SEARCH: JRR Tolkien

 Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring TOLK 5 copies

 Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers TOLK 5 copies

 Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King TOLK 5 copies

 Lord of the Rings: Omnibus Edition TOLK 4 copies

 The Hobbit TOLK 6 copies

 The Silmarillion TOLK 2 copies

 The Unfinished Tales TOLK 1 copy

 “Amazing!” Ted said, more at the computer having voice recognition software, rather than the school having multiple copies of most of the Middle Earth Legendarium, although he appreciated the latter too.

 “See?” Elias asked. He already knew that the library had multiple copies of LOTR.

 “Ok. Possibly, I will look into it,” Ted said, thinking that there could be other reasons why the computers suddenly had voice recognition software.

 “Cool. I will do so as well, but we have to be discrete about it,” Elias said.

 “No problem there,” Ted said. Then the bell rang. They quickly left the library, not knowing that Sandi had heard most of their conversation.

 “Gee, Jean, I hope that they will not, like, confirm their suspicions,” she said.

 “You could have made a subtler wish,” Jean said. Sandi placed the book she had been reading down next to the cataloguing computer, glancing at the Tolkien list.

 “Maybe, but now I have lost track of time. Quinn could be turning Stacy and Tiffany against me,” Sandi said.

 “In fifteen minutes?” Jean asked as they left the library.

 “You don’t know Quinn! Let’s go to homeroom. You did put yourself into my homeroom didn’t you?” Sandi asked.

 “Yes, of course I did,” Jean said. They went towards the building in which their homeroom was...