#like the way it's so. antithetical to an actual escape attempt still gets to me

[cdroloisms]

thinking about how one of the only things we know about the post-techno era of prison is how c!Dream had apparently, on multiple occasions, broken the glass barrier in the front of his cell

like. look at sam's tone! what a difference, right, from how pedantic he is about security risks earlier in the prison and to anyone outside of it. the air of familiarity to the point where this is just a blip in his routine, how he's straight up telling c!bad to calm down because c!dream isn't escaping. c!dream hints at this too, when he tells c!techno multiple times about how the observers will go off -- coupled with c!sam's reaction, it once again speaks to the idea that this is something that Happened, after the glass got put in.

(it's worth pointing out that despite c!dream saying that all the guards can be summoned, c!ant obviously wasn't around and c!bad seems totally confused, while c!sam is obviously. very used to this. it stands to reason that whoever did deal with this in earlier instances of the glass breaking, c!sam handled the majority of it.)

and you know, disobedience to make c!Sam pay attention to him is far from a new thing in this prison, obviously. but unlike the clock, unlike burning himself in lava, there is nothing about breaking a block of glass with mining fatigue iii that can be easily done on impulse. c!techno demonstrates how long it takes for his maxed out netherite pick to make a single crack, and all c!dream has are his fists. sure, it's easier work than breaking obsidian, but that's still hours of continuous attention. hours of work. hours that would perhaps be more productively spent on trying to break obsidian, like he'd been doing when techno was there, especially because it's not like there were that many observers added into the cell walls. thinking about what he must've thought to himself, chipping at that glass for hours. for no reason other than to bring the Warden back to the prison. to bring him back into his cell. was it a sort of comfort, knowing that he always had that tie to him, if need be? that no matter where c!Sam was on the server, he had this button he could press that would tug him back, that he wouldn't be completely forgotten? it's not like there's much else he could do. it's not like he can make anyone else come back.

[seeminglyseph]

I hate when 'I've got something to do today' worms so deep in my head it makes me stress sick.

Little girl and her father are hyped at the idea of me being a mentor playmate. Apparently the waitlist for Big Brothers and Big Sisters is suuuuuuuper long, and the dad had looked at it before. We arranged to play today but my head's getting bees about it and my uterus is causing more sickness and pain on top. Hopefully it still works out. I thought she was older than she is, but it just kinda means she needs someone even more you know? The earlier you can offer help the sooner damage can be dealt with, right? The sooner you learn you deserve to be treated with kindness and have your boundaries respected or like even that you are allowed to have boundaries the longer you have to develop those skills and you have them to deal with abusive people along the way.

There should really be a serious class for kids about this. So many kids don't know they deserve boundaries and respect, and teaching them to be good obedient children is absolutely antithetical to teaching them how to cope in a healthy way with abusive people.

Lessons more people dealing with children need to learn. You can gain respect as an authority figure without demanding obedience. In fact it's way better to get people to do what you want through means other than obedience, because then they actually learn something about the "why" right? God every parent is laughing at me, but still I would have done much better as a kid if someone had told me how to deal with bullying and abuse. Not just 'they're jealous' but like someone saying "what they're doing is bullying and abuse, it's something that everyone has to face, even your bullies have bullies sometimes. There will become steps you can take to escape or fight back, but the most important thing to learn is that it isn't about you to them. It's about power and pain, and while people will suggest being the bigger bully to overcome this, the key is knowing that while the pain is real, they can't take your power. And eventually, you can learn to see the attacks as the attempts to steal power that they are and deflect them. In the end it doesn't matter how you look, what you like, or any harmless thing you do. If you cut them out abusive people will find something else until they get bored, the more things they can make you give up the more powerful they feel and the more powerless you feel. Refusing to give in may make them worse in the moment, but learning to hate something about yourself lasts longer and hurts more.

Idk now I'm overthinking. Part of me is worried she'll face the same bullying I did and I'm like "fuck what would have been the best way to deal with that?" And while technically in almost all cases while I was a kid the answer would have been have an authority intervene you can't count on that. I mean I feel like no one would be happy if I showed up at her school to yell at bullies... so. What tools make dealing with it all easier? But we're just having fun. So time to entertain. Maybe I can find a decent collection of cheap dolls to paint or customize? Since she loves lol dolls she would probably think customizing was fun? Kids love crafts, why not mix it with dolls?

[toasttz]

From the Tabletop #7

For all my one (1) reader(s), I apologize for the delay on this instance of From the Tabletop. Everything I said at the end of the last post was clickbait, too, as this time, we're actually going to ping-pong back to Exalted with a brand new circle! FUNTIME! This go-around, our circle composition was markedly different to start, as two of our players from last time dropped out - one couldn't make the first session of the new campaign due to work and the other decided to become a total bitch-baby and pussed out entirely. However, at the same time I recruited two close friends to take their seats. And, due to other meatspace shenanigans, our usual GM had to be gone for the session as well, so Valentinian's player once more took on the mantle of GM for the campaigns kick-off. To begin, let's introduce the first batch of characters we'll be following. First is Rakis. Rakis, according to his player, was inspired by Desert Punk, if you're familiar with that at all. He's a short, wild-child, driven from his desert town into the desert wastes as a child by a mob who murdered his family in cold blood, leaving just him and his brother. His brother then got eaten by a massive sandworm (mechanically, for those who care, a reskinned River Dragon, just replacing the words "water" for "earth"). The worm then seemed to take on a totally different demeanor toward Rakis, and the boy began to believe the worm was his brother reborn. Rakis is a Solar, a survivalist who battles with tricky melee tactics, in tandem with his worm, but struggles in social settings. Then there's Doran, a metalsmith of some repute, whose family was held hostage by some mafia-esque organization until he followed very specific instructions to forge a fairy weapon to their specifications. However, due to not fully knowing the origin of the materials at play and the true nature of what he was making, the weapon took on a ghastly and dangerous set of properties, making it extremely lethal but draining to use. When he went to make the exchange, it was already too late, and his wife and children were already brutally slaughtered. Doran thus swore a quest for revenge. Also a Solar, Doran is a skilled melee fighter, who tries his best to not use the dark artifact in his bag, knowing full well what it can do. And lastly (for now), was my character, Albin. Albin was a design I've had in the wings for a long time, as a scholarly sort who ended up being really heavy into craft, loving both first-age tech and woodworking, from whence he created his main weapon - a wooden longbow. For emergencies, I also have a Prayer Piece firewand, a sort-of rifle but one powered by prayers to Sol Invictus and very, very expensive ammo to make. I play Albin as incredibly deadpan and flat, as some of his flaws include that he doesn't understand metaphor or people very well. And despite that, this character ended up as the face of the party (due to Rakis being socially inept, and Doran being socially hostile) for the first session, at least. Anyway, we agreed the three already knew each other, as Albin worked as a field scholar for Great Forks University (Slogan: Go Fork Yourself!), and the three had reasoned that the MO of both groups that hounded Rakis and Doran made it sound like they might very well be one and the same, so the three agreed to pursue this lead best as they could. Rolling into a random town in the 100 Kingdoms, we asked around about local legends at the guild building, which got us sent to... a crazy hobo who began spouting UFO and "evil shadowy government cabal" conspiracy theories at us. Rakis, quickly tiring of the man's ranting, used his knife to intimidate the man, ultimately causing him to pass out from the shock of the threat. However, we did gleam some useful information - something about the castle outside of town, full of murderers and thieves. Which sounded just like the men we had been tracking. So, off we went. We ventured toward the castle as the sun sank (to mask our approach, this decision was made consciously) and we were accosted by zombies. Which Albin has a distinct advantage over, since Prayer Pieces deal Aggravated damage to undead and creatures of darkness. I also seem to roll freakishly well when I have a firewand on my character. I can't begin to account for that. But we mopped them up and in short order, were making plans on how we were going to enter into this dreaded castle, guarded by spirits and clearly a not-good place to be. Rakis leaped up over the castle wall and stealth'd his way inside, narrowly evading patroling spirits with really wicked-looking knives. Eventually ninja'ing his way around to open the door from the inside for Doran and Albin to enter. The three snuck past a sort of enclosed dungeon area, with a blond(e?) person inside, being beaten by a huge brick house of an aggressor wailing on them. The following exchange actually happened: Rakis: Yeah, this isn't for us. This is probably their fetish. Blond: No, it isn't! Albin: They might have consented to this. Blond: No, I assure you I didn't! Doran: We should ignore them. Blond: No, you shouldn't! Albin: My goodness, that prisoner has opinions on this. We actually started to walk away at this point, and then the captive began singing "All by Myself". So, eventually, we relent (somewhat for meta reasons and also because the GM made us laugh pretty hard on this), and provoke the prison guard to open the door, whereupon Albin lit them up with his Prayer Piece. It took some doing, but we eventually killed the guard and liberated the ma... wo... uh... Lunar within. For the sake of this session, a GMPC, but a welcomed member of the team, Kharas the Blade. Kharas also has a tragic backstory, but it involved markedly less familial homocide. He was betrayed by his old team, who left him to die, hence his Lunar exaltation. Anyways, as the four of us moved up the stairs, we got chased by one of the guards and backed into a room, whereupon I had the idea to invoke the gods for help. This roll was... passable but not amazing, as the god I summoned was a Mouse of the Sun. However, its presence was still antithetical to our pursuer, forcing him into a bottle-neck in the doorway, where Kharas attacked from one side and Albin, Doran, and Rakis held him from the other, eventually leading to our victory. Heading up the stairs, we eventually overhear a discussion between two of the "Six Guns of Black Heaven", which ultimately results in us having a shootout, and capping at least one of them (I actually had to step away from the table for a brief moment, and I missed part of this), and the other came back with us as a hostage. As we escaped the castle, just in time to learn that the castle's original intent was to be a portal between worlds... and it sank into a dark void abyss, just in time for us to learn its name: Castle. Vania. Hahaha... For context, this transitioned into session 2, our GM was back and Kharas was in full player-character role now. Returning to town, hostage in tow, we awkwardly make small-talk to get past the innkeep (barely worked), and then began interrogating her (didn't work), then she launched a surprise attack with a dark-enchanted weapon, which attempted to strangle Doran. She bolted for it, with Albin and Rakis in pursuit of the hostage while Kharas and Doran attempted to disarm the wire-weapon that was in hot pursuit of Doran's neck. Kharas: Wait, it's going for me now?! Wait! I'll turn into a snake! Snake's don't have necks! GM: But, Kharas, snakes are nothing BUT neck! Kharas: ... OH CRAP! Meanwhile, Rakis and Albin are tearing down the hall in hot pursuit. This exchange happens, nigh-verbatim. Me (OOC): I have an ability that can translate sentences into languages I don't know. You speak Flametongue, right? Rakis (OOC): Yeah. What's your idea? Me (OOC): I'll shout out our strategy in Flametongue using my charm. Thus, she won't know what we're up to. Rakis (OOC): I'll hit her high. Can you shoot low? Me (OOC): Yeah. That'll be our plan. I'll use a burning arrow on the floor to prevent her from evading your attack. GM: *Makes a noise that I can't tell is a sob or a laugh* Kharas (OOC): What's up? GM: We have a circle that DOESN'T SUCK!! Ultimately, we managed to plug an arrow into her head, ending her futile struggle. And we probably could've done something about the mess and gotten away largely undistracted, but Rakis then began bragging about what we had done to the barkeep, and we had to skip town. Kharas was even kind enough to transform into a dinosaur and gave Albin a lift, as Doran and Rakis piled onto Mr. Wormsworth and rode out of town. Ultimately, we planned to go to A'Barr up in the north, a large city where we could lay low and maybe find information on our group of serial murderers. En route, Kharas requested Albin make a hurdy-gurdy. Yes, that's a real instrument, look it up on Youtube. Albin, being very hard into craft, easily cobbled one together, and accompanied Kharas in a rendition of Maiden by the River. This means nothing to you, but let me explain about this song. Every time - and I mean every time - this song was performed, someone botched SOMETHING and it usually resulted in a town burning down or something. It was reportedly the song that played before the terrible plague wiped out Scarlet's hometown of the better part of its population, giving the pirate an extreme phobia of the piece. However, we both... rolled 5 successes each! We broke the curse of this damned song! Doran and Rakis didn't fully understand why this was such a milestone for us, but it was an amazing moment for us all. In fact, Doran's player was kind enough to WRITE AND PERFORM THE DAMN SONG. I include the link for your enjoyment: https://www.mediafire.com/file/adyf20gdd3cp5jd/MaidenByTheRiverDraft.mp3/file Not long after, we arrived in A'Barr and began setting to work. But this has gone on quite long enough for today. Join us next time in Exalted where: Rakis tries to burn down half of Great Forks! We battle an Indominus Rex! A fifth Exalt joins the circle! We meet one of Albin's siblings! Doran dies in boiling magma! See you there!

[squeakys-stories]

Whumptober Day 1

To be honest, I'm not used to sharing this kind of content although I do enjoy it. It doesn't exactly match my "brand" as a middle grade author, but this isn’t my main blog so I can do what I want. We'll see how far I manage to get.

Prompt: All Trussed up and Still Nowhere to Go/ Bound

Character: Bri

Universe: Stringworlds

Word Count: 1,231

"Stay out of the woods." That's what his mother had always said to him, although Bri had never needed any warning to stay away from them. He knew better than anyone what lurked there.

And yet, here he had ended up anyway.

He tugged futilely at the ropes binding his wrists. The rough twine dug into his flesh, staining itself and the stone altar below him in splashes of crimson. He didn't care, he could barely feel it. A little physical pain was the least of his worries right now.

"You're special," his mother had always said to him. "You have the ability to do great things, you have the ability to help people."

When the elders had first come to him with this 'request', he had begged them to reconsider. He had never asked anything of anyone. That had been his first - and last, he resolved - attempt to rely on anyone. They had ignored him in any case. He had also never done anything to anyone, but they all thought he needed to be punished anyway. It wasn't his fault that his mother had fallen in love with a god and abandoned her marriage. But she had escaped their critique and punishment by pining herself to death, and only he was left behind to bear the burden of sin for both of them.

"You're different," his mother had always said to him. "People fear what is different, that's why you should try hard to be good, and never cause trouble for anyone."

Until that moment, he had tried hard to follow her advice.

At that moment, he had fought back as best he could, one fifteen-year-old against multiple full-grown adults. There were bruises on his arms, the back of his neck, and also on his knees from when they forced him down. But much like the raw and shredded skin on his wrists, those were not what bothered him.

He was bound by more than ropes, there was also the spell.

He could feel it, almost like a living thing in and of itself. It had its claws in him, but it was ready to crawl out of him and swallow something else. He tried not to gag. Realistically, he knew that the spell had no physical form, but he couldn't help feeling like it was choking him from the inside anyway. Perhaps sensitivity to magic was just some other dubious blessing bestowed on him by his mixed blood.

But the worst thing, the worst thing was the forest itself. Because there was something in the forest, and he could feel its presence in an evil miasma all around. In much the same way that a bird would not want to find itself trapped underground, and a mouse would not want to find itself adrift on an ice flow, Bri knew that this was not where he should be.

And the presence in the woods was only getting stronger, because that thing was getting closer.

Coming for him.

He should not be here, he should be running for his life, and he would be if it weren't for the damn ropes, if he could only break them, if he could only-

"Well, well, well."

The voice came from everywhere and nowhere. There was nothing to see, no physical body, but Bri knew that it was there with him.

While before his mind had been consumed with thoughts of escape, now it went completely blank as a wave of terror washed over him. His heart pounded so fast he had brief thought that it might be trying to claw its way out of his chest altogether. It would save him a lot of trouble if it did.

But his reaction only served to amuse the creature.

"What a cute little rabbit you are," it said, "I guess that makes me the wolf."

Something touched his cheek and he jerked back instinctively, but he was bound too tightly to actually accomplish anything. His skin burned where it made contact, and its subsequent laughter made his bones ache.

"It's been such a long time since any of the villages have left me a sacrifice, it's so good to see that some people, at least, remember the old ways."

He could see nothing, but he could feel clawed fingers trace their way down his throat and across his bare chest. Lines of pain trailed in their wake.

This was the thing that they wanted to trap in his body? No, he couldn't. He would die, this thing was antithetical to him, to his very nature. It would kill him, it would kill both of them. Some small part of him that had not yet completely succumbed to panic reminded him cynically that that was the point. The only way to kill this thing was to give it a physical body, and by using his the village was doing nothing but killing two annoying, unwanted birds with one stone.

Assuming, of course, that he stayed alive long enough for the conditions of the spell to be met, so that this thing could be trapped. Right now, he wasn’t sure about the likelihood of that.

"Oh don't cry," it said. He hadn't noticed, but its invisible hands brushed tears off of his cheeks. "I promise I can be quite an amusing host, we'll certainly have plenty of fun together little rabbit." It began laughing then, and laughed, and laughed, and laughed.

Bri was the son of a god, at least so everyone claimed. In a story he would've had something he could have used to protect himself. Magical powers, or perhaps miraculous strength. But he didn't have anything like that. He was no different than any ordinary mortal child, and he knew that he was as helpless before this demon as he had been before the men who brought him here.

His mother had never given him any guidance for situations like this.

Bri closed his eyes.

That just made it worse, made him even more hyperaware of the malicious and predatory nature of the thing toying with him. He shuddered when something that could only have been a tongue lapped at the blood dripping down the length of his arm.

"They've been so accommodating, trussing you up like this," said the demon. "But to be honest, rabbit, I don't really like helpless prey. I'd rather play games with you."

He did not see it cut through the rope binding his ankles, but he felt their sudden freedom and lashed out instinctively. His legs were caught before they could make contact.

"Patience, rabbit," it chastised him. It sliced through the rope binding his wrists and Bri tumbled off the stone altar and into the snow below.

"What do you think, will you be able to make it to the edge of the forest before I catch you? Don't worry, I'll give you a head start."

Bri didn't bother with an answer. After several hours of being tied up in the cold, his body was stiff and awkward, but fortunately there was enough adrenaline to make up for that. He forced himself to his feet and fled.

He already knew, just as the demon must have, that there was no way he would escape. But if he didn't try…

If he didn't at least try…

It’s horrible laughter followed his stumbling progress through the woods. 

[thewebcomicsreview]

[I tried to reblog this but Tumblr got mad at me for some reason so I’m doing a link post instead. Damn it, Tumblr]

Okay. Fair warning, I’m not a huge Star Wars fan, but I have seen the movies, and I don’t much care for the EU. Quotes come from IMDB.

The problem with this is that Star Wars, as a film series, has always been about how all of those things are terrible. Individualism and romanticism are always presented as chauvinistic and antithetical to the common good

In what way is the totalitarian fascist empire based primarily on Nazi Germany “individualistic” or “romantic”? Totalitarian governments are about as far from individualistic societies as you can get, and what romantic ideal does the empire use to justify its rule?

Governor Tarkin: The Imperial Senate will no longer be of any concern to us. I have just received word that the Emperor has dissolved the council permanently. The last remnants of the Old Republic have been swept away forever.

General Tagge: But that's impossible! How will the Emperor maintain control without the bureaucracy?

Governor Tarkin: The regional governors now have direct control over their territories. Fear will keep the local systems in line. Fear of this battle station.

“Fuck you, Death Star”.  There’s no indication ever that the Empire has any ideals that it’s supposed to stand for, or that there are places where the locals are pro-empire. In Episode 3, Palpatine says he’s becoming emperor for security reasons, which has less to do with the philosophy of Star Wars and more to do with the Patriot Act,and was pretty explicitly not the rationale by ANH.

Success and failure in every Star Wars film is measured by whether or not characters embrace and cultivate collective action

This is only true if you ignore the bad guys generally, and specifically ignore Revenge of the Sith, where Palpatine teamkills everyone and wins completely as a result, and then makes an empire of bad guys who work as a coherent unit and still fail.

That being said, the leftism in the original trilogy is embedded far deeper in the story. In A New Hope, Luke and Han grow as characters by expanding their view of the world and understanding that they have a moral obligation to participate in something bigger than themselves.

It’s a massive stretch to say “protagonists have to work together to fight bad guys” is an inherently “leftist” trope. Doubly so in the Vietnam War context of A New Hope. The problem with America’s involvement in Vietnam wasn’t that soldiers weren’t working together.

In The Empire Strikes Back, our heroes face ruin when they’re separated from the Rebel Alliance, and Luke nearly destroys himself by acting out of selfish impulse and valuing the defeat of Vader over the greater good.

I know I just said this one, but

[Luke has seen a vision of Han, Leia and Chewie being tortured in Cloud City]

Luke: I saw - I saw a city in the clouds.

Yoda: [nods] Friends you have there.

Luke: They were in pain…

Yoda: It is the future you see.

Luke: The future?

[pause]

Luke: Will they die?

Yoda: [closes his eyes for a moment] Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future.

Luke: I’ve got to go to them.

Yoda: Decide you must, how to serve them best. If you leave now, help them you could; but you would destroy all for which they have fought, and suffered.

Luke didn’t go to Cloud City to fight Vader. He went to save his friends. Yoda wanted him to complete his training so that he could beat Vader, but Luke considered his friends more important than his destiny. It was Yoda who wanted the big one-on-one anime fight, that’s why he withheld Vader being Luke’s father because he (correctly) thought knowing that would make Luke unwilling to kill Vader.

Only the collective actions of Lando and the people of Cloud City allow our protagonists to survive

What? “The people of Cloud City” don’t do shit. Lando turns on the stormtroopers, then announces “Hey, yo, I just turned on the Empire so everyone better bail” and everyone bailed. There were no useful NPCs on Cloud City helping save the day. The only thing the people of Cloud City did that Lando didn’t tell them to do was deactivate the hyperdrive on the Falcon to prevent the heroes from escaping.

It’s essential that Luke’s redemption of Vader is not what defeats the Empire- that’s just his personal journey. His contribution is to distract the Emperor to aid in the mission’s success. Even if Luke had failed and turned evil, the Emperor and Death Star would still have exploded.

The Death Star would’ve exploded, but Luke had enough time to drag Darth Vader to the shuttle. If they all turned evil, the Emperor could’ve walked to the shuttle himself and flown off to his fleet of Star Destroyers just outside (that all, uh, magically disappear in the actual movie, but shh).

When the Clone Wars erupt (caused by capitalist powers run amok), instead of protecting the people as their historical role is described, the Jedi become generals in a conflict with disposable soldiers to protect the property of the Republic, going so far as to become bodyguards to its Supreme Chancellor.

1. The Clone Wars are caused by Palpatine as an attempt to overthrow the government, and have nothing to do with capitalism except that the trade federation is allied with him for reasons never really explained in the movies. 2. I have no idea where Diaz is getting the idea that the Jedi weren’t protecting people. I’m pretty sure Yoda defended a bunch of Wookies in Episode III. 3. Also they protected the Supreme Chancellor, who by my count is a people. Sure, he was evil, but the Jedi stopped protecting him when they figured that out.

4. It kind of undercuts your “Star Wars is pro-collectivism!” theory when you attack the Jedi for using an army of literal clones to defend the Republic. The original stormtroopers were not individualistic, and this carries over to the First Order as well.

Poe Dameron: What's your name?

Finn: FN-2187.

[pauses]

Finn: That's the only name they ever gave me.

Poe Dameron: Well, I'm not going to call you that. Let's see... FN... I'm going to call you Finn. How about that

Finn: Yeah, Finn. I like that.

Finn literally doesn’t have a name until Poe gives him one. Their bond starts with Poe recognizing Finn’s individuality in an actually kind of aggressive way.

If Yoda killed the Emperor, he’d be arrested and the Emperor’s claim of Jedi traitors would be validated. Some other horrible person like Tarkin would take over, and the Galaxy would hate the Jedi even more. Yoda and Kenobi were still overvaluing individuals at the expense of understanding the systemic causes for their situation; they’ve already lost, and this is why they don’t take serious action again until the people of the Galaxy begin to unite together on their own

[Citation needed]

The Republic was willing to support Palpatine because of the droid army he was secretly running. Killing Palpatine would end the clone wars, and thus end the crisis was was threatening democracy. The war WAS the systemic cause, and killing Palpatine would end it.

Canto Bight shows those capitalist forces never went away: Finn and DJ discuss an arms dealer who has literally been in business selling weapons since the time of the original Empire.  

DJ does give a “both sides are the same vote Jill Stein” speech, but DJ also sells them out to the empire, so it’s not over because he doesn’t have the moral high ground

Poe plainly thinks being a good pilot is “blowing something up” because that’s what Luke and Lando did, forgetting that the successes of those characters were the result of intense, meticulous planning and cooperation. Poe is preoccupied with glory, the easy-to-remember parts of the Rebellion. Of course, the old Rebels never went off script because they understood their job was part of a disciplined group effort, but Poe fails to internalize this. This kind of chauvinism doesn’t just cut Poe off from others and cloud his judgement, it gets almost the entire Resistance killed.

Poe’s flaw in TLJ is that he takes huge risks that don’t always pan out, and that he doesn’t unquestioningly follow a leader who refuses to tell anyone why her plan isn’t a suicide mission for reasons that rapidly make less sense over the course of the movie. Poe’s plan didn’t involve blowing anything up, it was literally to disable the tracker so that all the rebels could escape, which he did because he thought that was the only way they could escape because no one told him about the secret base their cloaked ships could escape to because that plotline honestly doesn’t make much sense the longer it went on.

Finn’s attempted suicide run against the “battering ram,” while seemingly selfless, is still grounded in selfish desire to “win,” unlike Admiral Holdo’s sacrifice. Poe even tells Finn that it’s too late to destroy the laser weapon, but Finn goes anyway. Even if Finn had destroyed it somehow, it wouldn’t have saved anyone, just possibly delayed the First Order, which was the point of their attack before Poe called it off. Holdo’s sacrifice was different because she was directly saving defenseless ships from being exploded.

Can you hear it? Can you hear the creaking of Aaron Diaz bending over backwards to fit the plot of the movie into his theories? Holdo wasn’t trying to save the resistance’s property. She wasn’t worried about the poor defenseless ships. She was worried about the people, and her sacrifice bought them some time. Which is exactly what Finn would’ve done had Rose not pushed him out of the way. He would’ve destroyed the lasers, the resistance would escape out the back door, badabing badaboom.

I know this would’ve happened because it’s literally what happens when Luke shows up and heroically sacrifices himself instead.

Yes, it’s kind of strange that the movie goes “heroic sacrifice is bad” immediately before a heroic sacrifice saves the day, but blame Rian Johnson for that I didn’t write this shit.

Despite appearances, it’s not Darth Vader that Ren idolizes, but Luke. Unlike Finn and Poe, Ren grew up around his hero, but when it was clear that Luke didn’t compare to the legend of Luke, Ren retreated to a legend he could never meet: Darth Vader.  Ren was also trained with an incomplete, sanitized version of the Jedi, and once again when this sanitized version fell apart, he turned to evil  

A reasonable fan-theory with no textual support. Luke tries to kill Kylo after Kylo turns to the Dark Side. We have no idea what made Kylo listen to Snoke.

Appropriately, unlike our heroes, he doubles down on his chauvinism and never learns the lesson

Kylo is not evil because he’s sexist (1), because he feels any great attachment to the Sith (2), or because he’s patriotic (3), so I don’t think you’re using the word “Chauvinism” correctly. He doesn’t even care about Vader anymore by the end of TLJ.

Luke disappoints Rey, but this doesn’t have the disastrous impact that it had on Ben Solo because Rey’s aim is understanding, not personal glory.

Let’s ask Rey what she came to Luke for.

Rey: I need someone to show me my place in all of this.

Hm. It sure seems like Rey wanted to know what her individual role in the story was, and perhaps even had hopes that it would be “the hero”, which is why she’s reduced to tears when she learns her parents were some randos. Rey absolutely wants the personal glory, but she’s willing to accept not being super-special because protecting the resistance is more important to her.

Facing the Emperor, Luke wasn’t tempted by his offers of personal power and glory because that’s not really what he wanted. Rey was tempted, but resisted. It’s her character arc! It’s a big part of why she wanted to turn Kylo good, because she wanted to do it.

Rey: You didn't fail Kylo. Kylo failed you. I won't.

Amazingly, "Rey wants personal glory but rejects it in order to save the resistance” works way better for the point Aaron Diaz is trying to make then his own interpretation, but Diaz has some thing where he doesn’t want to admit flaws exist in his favorite characters even when their whole storyline is about overcoming said flaw.

That spark is carried most clearly in Rose and Rey. Both have humble origins and never aspired to be recognized as heroes, both are disillusioned by meeting their heroes, and both grow from that experience while inspiring others to take up hope.

Diaz ignores Rey’s arc and Rose kind of doesn’t have one (certainly not one related to being crushed to learn Finn’s a wuss) so I’m not sure how they both grow but okay.

I’m spending way too long on this. Star Wars as a franchise isn’t “about” anything, because a billion different people have worked on it (Marcia Lucas, George Lucas, Kathleen Kennedy, JJ Abrams, and Rian Johnson being the most important) and they didn’t all share an artistic vision or even a cultural context.

[inhumansforever]

Uncanny Inhumans #20 Review

spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers

It’s the grand finale, with the twentieth and final issue of Uncanny Inhumans, a post script to IvX, and Charles Soule’s last (just for the time being hopefully) Inhuman story.  With art by Ario Anindito, Kim Jacinto and Java Tartaglia and covers by Declan Shalvey and Frazer Irving.  Full review and recap following the jump.

Maximus’ madcap adventure to create synthetic Terrigen Crystals has taken him and his gang all over the globe as the various components and ingredients for the formula have been collected (along with some extraneous, unneeded ingredients gathered merely to keep the recipe a secret).  Their journey has terminated in India where they are met by the Inhuman gangster, Banyan.  Bayan has recruited his former crony,  Kludge, who has built the mechanism required to combine the ingredients into artificial Terrigen.    

Kludge, an Inhuman who is clinically insane and loves to build deadly machine and Maximus, who is also quite mad and very much appreciates deadly machines, get along famously and they start right to work on building the device that promises to produce synthetic Terrigen.  The others wait idly by, busying themselves by playing cards and watching old Bollywood films on television.  

Lineage expresses concern that Maximus will do away with them, as he had The Unspoken, once they are no longer needed.  Triton returns that he has played along with Maximus only to the extent that he can produce the Terrigen; once he succeeds it will be Triton who will do the backstabbing, ending the threat Maximus poses once and for all.  

Maximus and Kludge finally finish, only what they have created is not a Terrigen creating machine at all.  Rather it is a giant killer robot.   Max’s explanation is that simply making Terrigen is boring, something ‘Maximus the Mundane’ might do.  No, a giant robot is more is fashion and offers the others room int he cockpit as he takes the robot off to go squash this no good evil Mutants.  

Before anyone can respond to this unexpected turn of events, the plant they’re work at is besieged by a ginormous aquatic monster… a mega-prawn that carries inside it The Unspoken and his would-be queen who have sought out to extract revenge on Maximus for his betrayal.  

Maximus wastes no time.  He and Kluge board their ridiculous power ranger-style giant robot to battle this equally ridiculous  power ranger-style monster.  And like any ridiculous power ranger-style giant robot, Max’s robot is equipped with a laser sword, which it uses the cut through the mega-prawn like so much sushi.  

Unfortunately, the laser sword is actually powered by synthetic Terrigen, which The Unspoken is able to absorb and trigger his Inhuman abilities.  The Unspoken grows into a hulking version of himself, tearing Maxims’ robot in two with ease.  Max escapes the wrecked robot, crawling from its wrecked cockpit while continuing his warped self-narration, stating it is now up to him to save the day.  

Banyan has had it.  Maximus’ plan to manufacture artificial Terrigen was meant to make him rich, yet all his investments have gone to this goofy robot.  He’s had it and lunges at Max.  Triton springs into action, fending Banyan off as Maximus focuses his telepathic powers on The Unspoken.  Lineage is quite surprised by the turn of events.  Triton had the perfect opportunity to turn on Maximus; why is he now acting to defend him?

The Unspoken’s Inhuman powers are quite impressive, yet his one glaring weakness is uncreative and, in the final analysis, rather dim.  As empowered as he is, The Unspoken’s mind is no match for Maximus’ telepathic manipulation.  Max is able to take control of The Unspoken’s will, causing him to fire off the Terrigen he has stored in him in the forms of force beams that shoot harmlessly off into space.  Depleted of this Terrigen, The Unspoken reverts to his former, enfeebled self.  Triton’s twin blades, meanwhile, has rendered Banyan into a harmless stump of his former self (un-fatal, however, in that he has shown the ability to regenerate his tree-like form with time).    

Still monologuing, Maximus spins this clear defeat into a moral victory, stating that he chose not to produce artificial Terrigen because it is up to the Inhumans to finally learn to adapt and evolve on their own.  Truth be told, Maximus merely wants to keep his secret recipe for synthetic Terrigen to himself, making him invaluable to his people… offering him all the power and influence he so desires.  And it is for this that Triton chose to defend him rather than allow Banyan to kill him.  As long as Maximus possesses this secret he remains untouchable…

And it is here that this silly, unnecessary but nonetheless fun tale comes to a close.   With what will eventually happen to Maximus and his goon squad left to be addressed in the pages of next month’s Inhuman Prime.  

The issue ends with an epilogue, tying off the events of IvX.  Medusa and Black Bolt are meeting in the Quiet Room.  Whatever procedures the X-Men had used to nullify Black Bolt’s voice are gradually wearing off.  In the meantime, however, it offers the two the rare opportunity to talk with one another.   

They discuss all that has transpired, the war with The Mutants, the destruction of The Terrigen Cloud, and  Medusa’s abdication of the throne.  Medusa also looks back on all that has happened to them, the various trials and adventures they have faced, the battles they won, those they lost and the new challenges that their people now face. 

Medusa asks Black Bolt bluntly if he had any knowledge that The Terrigen Cloud would prove fatal to Mutants.  Black Bolt offers an emphatic no; he never considered that the cloud would change in this fashion and he would never have triggered the Terrigen Bomb had he known that it would have resulted in so many Mutant deaths.    

Flagman arrives and escorts the two to a banquet room where many of their colleagues have gathered to offer one last gesture of thanks and gratitude to their former queen.  Medusa counters their sentiment, tasting instead to the future and all that it may hold for them.    And it is here that the issue and the entire series comes to its conclusion.  

Well, that was… something.   This three-issue tie-in to IvX did not really have much to do with the war between the Inhumans and X-Men at all, but was rather just a silly adventure.  Although its lightness and humor offered a nice counterbalance to the grave heaviness of IvX.  It’s true saving grace is that writer, Charles Soule so excels at scripting Maximus.  He channels Max’s unhinged and manic glee just wonderfully; and  Ario Anindito’s illustration with Max’s wild eyes and contorted features pairs perfectly with he dialogue.   The story is kind of a waste in that it could have been used to shore up the significant plot holes in IvX.  Instead we got an irreverent romp with a goofy giant robot and an even goofier giant sea monster.  And yet it’s forgivable in that Max and his let’s-go-ganging gang is so much fun to read.  

Less fun is the epilogue scene.  It’s a nice recap of the series as a whole, yet Jacinto’s illustration is rushed and Medusa and Black Bolt’s discussion regarding the Terrigen Cloud proving deleterious to Mutants left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth.  

There was a good deal of revisionist history in the ways in which IvX wrapped up.  The plot was tweaked in a fashion to exonerate the Inhumans’ culpability over all of the Mutants who had died due to Terrigen poisoning.  This is fine in and of itself, but it is also a bit antithetical to who The Inhumans really are.  The Inhumans, the Royal Family and those of Old Attilan, were never meant to be traditional superheroes with noble, lawfully good values.  They’re not evil, but they’re not good either; just different.  Medusa’s reframe that ‘an Inhuman’s right to go through Terrigenesis is not worth a single Mutant life’  is both contrary to her actions in the past as well antithetical to the true values of her people.  And Black Bolt’s statement that he would never have triggered the Terrigen Bomb had he known what it would do to Mutants seems… well, let’s just say I don’t believe him.  

It seems to me that editorial wanted The Inhumans to look more heroic and sympathetic in the wake of IvX and Soule played along.  Not only did the attempt not work, it feels untrue to who The Inhumans are and what makes them so interesting to read about.  

This gets at the root of the challenge Charles Soule has had to deal with throughout his tenure on Inhumans.  At this point I feel confident in positing that Matt Fraction left the book because Marvel very much wanted the Inhumans turned into ersatz X-Men and that was something he had no interest in.  Soul was brought on board last minute to fill in for Fraction and likely given the same assignment.  He did as asked, but managed to do it in a way that retained the true essence of who The Inhumans are.  

Soule made The Inhumans into more traditional superheroes, but also held onto that key alien and unsettling quality hat makes them unique… balancing more conventional superhero tropes (Inferno’s origin and Linage’s dastardly schemes) with the outré weirdness more expected of The Inhumans (Reader’s origin, the introduction of Ennilux and the squad’s battle with Kang).  

Some aspects worked quite well, with he addition of a bevy of great new characters and the rich development of Medusa’s character; while other parts didn’t work as well…  Soule’s version of Black Bolt is very much out of sync with my own impression of who the character is and Triton, Gorgon and Medusa spent too much time int he background for my tastes.   Not that I’m complaining, I grew up having to wait months, sometimes years, for appearances of my beloved Inhumans…  Getting new Inhuman books nearly every week has been all but an embarrassment of riches and I’m more than happy to take the good with the bad.  

Rather than morphing The Inhumans into replacement X-Men, feared and hated for their differences, Soule took a different route and utilized the formation of New Attilan and its displaced populace of Inhumans as a metaphor for the immigrant/refugee experience in the West.   I feel that it worked quite well; as well as underscored how easily both he Mutants and Inhumans can coexist in the marvel Universe.   Tribalism, bigotry, cultural assimilation and xenophobia are matters easily big enough and important enough to be tackled in both The X-Men as well as The Inhumans

The whole Inhumans versus X-Men cross-over event ended up forcing the narrative in Uncanny Inhumans to streamline and consolidate so to fit in with the event’s plot.  A number of longstanding threads have thus been left unaddressed.  We still don’t know what the Sky Spears are all about; what young Ahura has planned as the leader of The Ennilux Corporation will have to be told later; and the romance between Medusa and Johnny Storm came to a conclusion in a quick, less than satisfactory fashion.  I have to imagine each of these matters might have been better addressed had Soule’s narrative not been forced to roll into IvX.  

That said, Charles Soule’s tenure on The Inhumans has been wonderful and he has my great gratitude for steering these favorite characters into the uncharted waters of the big push to make them a more centralized part of the overarching Marvel Universe.    

Whatever endeavors the future brings for Mr. Soule, I wish him the best of luck.  Welcome to the Astonishing X-Men, Charles, hope you survive the experience!

Two out of Five Lockjaws for the issue;

Five out of Five Lockjaw for the entire series

[emmagreen1220-blog]

New Post has been published on Literary Techniques

New Post has been published on https://literarytechniques.org/motif-in-literature/

Motif in Literature

Examples of Motif in Literature

Motif, in essence, is a recurring element, whether a concept, a phrase, an image, an object, an event, or a situation. This element can reappear within a single work, but also across many works written by one or numerous different authors (not always consciously imitating each other). Modern scholars tend to distinguish these two meanings of the word “motif” in literary studies by labeling the recurrence of elements in a single work with the German word leitmotif (“leading motif”)—borrowed from early analyses of the music of Wagner—and by referring to the repetition of concepts and themes across literary works with the rather old term topos (pl. topoi; “(common) place”)—borrowed from ancient rhetoric. So that you can understand better this distinction, below we provide examples of both topoi and leitmotifs, i.e., the two different types of motifs.

Across Many Works (Topoi)

Example #1: Ubi Sunt

“Ubi sunt” is Latin for “where are… [they]?” and it is one of the oldest and most pervasive motifs in world literature. It is a melancholic comment on the transience of life, usually made through a series of rhetorical questions concerning the fate of the most exemplary people of the past, be they the bravest, the wealthiest, or the most beautiful. Sometimes, ubi sunt can also take the form of a nostalgic yearning for “the good ol’ days;” in this case, the mood it tries to convey approximates the one captured by the numerous variations of another widespread motif: the “golden age” motif.

The Bible

You can find one of the earliest appearances of the ubi sunt motif in the Book of Baruch (33:16-19), a deuterocanonical book of the Bible (meaning: it is considered to be part of the Bible only by Catholics and Orthodox Christians). In fact, the expression ubi sunt is derived from the Latin translation of the first two words of this passage:

Where are the rulers of the nations, and those who lorded it over the animals on earth; those who made sport of the birds of the air, and who hoarded up silver and gold in which people trust, and there is no end to their getting; those who schemed to get silver, and were anxious, but there is no trace of their works? They have vanished and gone down to Hades, and others have arisen in their place.

Medieval Poetry

Medieval poets attempted to bring to mind this feeling of fleetingness pretty often, and you can find the same motif expressed in numerous poems written in many different languages during this period of time. Thus, the Old English poem Wanderer asks “Where is the horse gone? Where the rider? Where the giver of treasure?/ Where are the seats at the feast? Where are the revels in the hall?” and 13th-century French trouvère Rutebeuf sings “What has become of my friends/ That I had held so close/ And loved so much?”

One of the most famous evocations of the ubi sunt motif can be found in another French poet of the Middle Ages, the notorious François Villon. In his “Ballade of the Ladies of Times Past,” he sings that all the most beautiful maidens in history have disappeared just like last year’s snows. The poem contains perhaps the most imitated and alluded-to refrain of this kind: “Where are the snows of yesteryear?”

On a more positive note, the well-known academic commercium song “Gaudeamus igitur” contains the verses “Where are those who trod this globe/ In the years before us?” but only so as to inspire those who listen to seize the day, which is another prominent literary topos sometimes associated with the ubi sunt: the carpe diem motif. But we’ll get back to it later.

Renaissance and Romanticism

Shakespeare revisits the ubi sunt motif in the “Alas, poor Yorick” speech given by Hamlet in the fifth act of his most celebrated play, as does James Macpherson in his pseudo-translations of Ossian, Fragments of Ancient Poetry: “Where is Fingal the King? where is Oscur, my son? where are all my race?”

From the Romantic period come two more personalized and, thus, more devastating manifestations of the ubi sunt motif. The first one can be found in Goethe’s “Dedication” to Faust, in which he bemoans the fact that the people he wrote his poems for can no longer read them:

They hear no longer these succeeding measures, The souls, to whom my earliest songs I sang: Dispersed the friendly troop, with all its pleasures, And still, alas! the echoes first that rang!

The second example comes from Charles Lamb’s brief poem “The Old Familiar Faces” which opens with this heart-rending tercet:

I have had playmates, I have had companions, In my days of childhood, in my joyful school-days, All, all are gone, the old familiar faces.

We can list many more examples, but we guess the above should suffice. As you can see, all of the works quoted here essentially say the same depressing thing—namely that life ends and that even the most remarkable among us will eventually die. Because of this, they can all be considered variations of the same theme, in this case labeled the ubi sunt motif.

Example #2: Ars Longa, Vita Brevis

Ars longa, vita brevis is another Latin phrase which is used as a common designation for a recurring theme in literature. Meaning “art is long, life is short,” this motif is essentially the optimistic other side of the ubi sunt coin. It says that even though our time on earth is short, and our beauty, bravery and wealth mean little when death arrives, our artistic creations remain long after we’re gone and can outlive us by centuries; death may conquer life, but art triumphs over death. The phrase is most frequently used with reference to the timelessness of the written word, or more particularly, poetry.

Ancient Rome

Interestingly enough, the antithetical phrase “ars longa, vita brevis” is a misinterpretation of an aphorism by the Father of Medicine, Hippocrates, who actually says (as translated by Chaucer): “the life so short, the craft so long to learn.” It is in this manner that Seneca quotes him in On the Shortness of Life from where the Latin phrase originates. However, the word “ars,” which originally meant “craft” or “technique,” in time came to mean “the fine arts,” which inspired many poets to reinterpret this initially pessimistic quote into the much more hopeful idea that art outlasts its creator.

The most celebrated ancient meditation upon this ars longa motif is the final poem of the third book of the Odes by Horace, in which the poet confidently—and correctly—predicts that, through his poetry, he has built himself a monument as enduring as time itself (tr. Sidney Alexander):

I have erected a monument more durable than bronze, loftier than the regal pile of pyramids that cannot be destroyed either by corroding rains or the tempestuous North wind or the endless passage of the years or the flight of centuries. Not all of me shall die. A great part of me shall escape Libitina, Goddess of Death.

William Shakespeare

If that first line from Horace above rings any bells, it is because you’ve probably already read it rephrased into English by none other than Shakespeare in his Sonnet 55: “Not marble, nor the gilded monuments/ Of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme.” However, as he informs us in the second stanza of the same sonnet, Shakespeare is interested in the timelessness of poetry not because of his own fame, but because of the beauty of his lover:

When wasteful war shall statues overturn, And broils root out the work of masonry, Nor Mars his sword nor war’s quick fire shall burn The living record of your memory.

Shakespeare restates these feelings several times, most famously in the closing couplet of Sonnet 18, which, referring to itself, claims that:

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Romanticism

Far from being the only one, Shakespeare is merely one of the hundreds and hundreds of poets who adapted Horace’s ode and generated their own variation of the ars longa motif. Alexander Pushkin directly imitates Horace in “Exegi momentum,” and both Keats’ “Ode on a Grecian Urn” and Shelley’s “Ozymandias” comment upon the timelessness of art in connection with the brevity of life—though in a much less confident manner. One of the most popular Romantic poems which uses this motif is certainly Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “A Psalm of Life” which, among others, contains these verses:

Art is long, and Time is fleeting, And our hearts, though stout and brave, Still, like muffled drums, are beating Funeral marches to the grave.

Example #3: Carpe diem

Of course, in addition to producing artistic creations which may outlast you, there’s another way for you to confront the brevity of life; and that is by living it to the full. Made famous by the 1989 movie, Dead Poets Society, this motif is most succinctly referred to as the “carpe diem” motif, which is Latin for “seize the day” and which, once again, comes from Horace (I.11): “Even as we speak, envious Time is fleeing./ Seize the day: entrusting as little as possible to tomorrow.” Horace himself has written quite a few verses expressing this very same feeling, and who knows how many poems written after him are no more than variations of this motif! Here are just a few.

Pierre de Ronsard, “Sonnet to Helen” (II.43)

Pierre de Ronsard was the first French poet to be called “a prince of poets,” and it is only because he wrote in French that he is not that famous in the English-speaking world. Few of his poems have, nevertheless, reached a wide audience. Famously adapted by W. B. Yeats under the title “When You Are Old,” the most famous of Ronsard’s numerous “Sonnets to Helen” is undoubtedly one of the most memorable expressions of the carpe diem motif in any language. In it, Ronsard warns Helene that one day he will be dead and she just an old crone, sitting by the fireside and regretting the fact that she had once scorned the advances of one who loved her and thought her beautiful; however, the poet doesn’t want Helene to recognize this as a reason for concern, but as an invitation to enjoy the pleasures of life (tr. Humbert Wolfe):

And since what comes to-morrow who can say? Live, pluck the roses of the world to-day.

Robert Herrick, “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time”

Writing a century after Ronsard, English Cavalier poet Robert Herrick voices the very same opinion in the 208th poem of his lifework, the collection of verses, Hesperides, with language which obviously echoes his French predecessor:

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, Old Time is still a-flying; And this same flower that smiles today To-morrow will be dying.

Andrew Marvell, “To His Coy Mistress”

In the last stanza of Herrick’s carpe diem masterpiece, the poet urges the virgins to “be not coy, but use [their] time” while they still can. Written probably just a year after “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time” was published, “To His Coy Mistress,” Andrew Marvell’s most famous love-song, is merely a modification of this advice, in this case, addressed to one particular lady.

In the first stanza of the poem, Marvell explains to this shy maiden that if they had “but world enough, and time,” he would have courted her for millennia, praising her eyes for at least a century and adoring each of her breasts for twice that time. However—he goes on in the second stanza—he can always hear “Time’s wingèd chariot” behind him, making him fully aware that, before too long, his lust will turn into ashes, and his beloved’s “long preserved virginity” will be tried by worms.

And if that is the case—Marvell finally gets to the point in the third stanza—then why all the coyness? “Let us sport us while we may,” the poet urges his beloved, “and tear our pleasures with rough strife/ Through the iron gates of life.” That way the two will have nothing to regret when they die because they’ve made the most of their lives:

Thus, though we cannot make our sun Stand still, yet we will make him run.

In a Single Work (Leitmotifs)

Example #1: William Shakespeare, Macbeth (1606)

Back in the time when there were no computers and Ctrl+F shortcuts, an English literary critic by the name of Caroline Spurgeon managed to diligently index every single image and metaphor in all of Shakespeare’s plays.

“It is a curious thing,” she notes at the beginning of Chapter XV of her pioneer study Shakespeare’s Imagery and What It Tells Us, “that the part played by recurrent images in raising, developing, sustaining and repeating emotion in [Shakespeare’s] tragedies has not, so far as I know, ever yet been noticed. It is a part somewhat analogous to the action of a recurrent theme or ‘motif’ in a musical fugue or sonata, or in one of Wagner’s operas.” And then she proceeds to trace “the recurring images which serve as ‘motifs’” in each of Shakespeare’s great tragedies, after having done the same with his histories, comedies, and romances in the previous three chapters.

Spurgeon singles out Macbeth’s imagery as “more rich and varied, more highly imaginative, more unapproachable… than that of any other single play.” However, among the several motifs she registers, one seems to stand out—that of Macbeth’s ill-fitting garments. Shakespeare makes recurrent allusions to this humiliating image of “a notably small man enveloped in a coat far too big for him.” First, it is Macbeth who brings attention to it, after he is named the Thane of Cawdor in the third scene of the first act (I.3.108-9):

The Thane of Cawdor lives: why do you dress me In borrow’d robes?

Just a few moments later (I.3.144-6), Banquo explicitly calls it to mind by claiming of Macbeth that:

New honours come upon him, Like our strange garments, cleave not to their mould But with the aid of use.

And when Lady Macbeth later scolds her husband for his hesitation in relation to the murder of King Duncan, she admonishes him with these words (I.7.36-7): “Was the hope drunk/ wherein you dress’d yourself?” Macduff also resorts to clothing imagery in an ironic comment on Macbeth becoming the new king just as he sends Ross to the coronation in Scone (II.4.37-8): “Well, may you see things well done there: adieu!/ Lest our old robes sit easier than our new!”

Shakespeare returns to this same motif twice more in the second scene of the fifth act when, first, Caithness describes the already shaken Macbeth as someone who “cannot buckle his distemper’d cause/ within the belt of his rule” (V.2.15) and, furthermore, when Angus, just a few verses later (V.2.20) “sums up the essence” of Macbeth:

now does he feel his title Hang loose about him, like a giant’s robe Upon a dwarfish thief.

The motif of Macbeth’s “ill-fitting garments” is probably not something one is capable of noticing at first or even third reading; however, as Spurgeon demonstrated, it was always there in the verses, appearing over and over again across the play, so as to serve as a sort of a soundtrack for its main protagonist; just like a Wagnerian leitmotif.

Example #2: William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury (1929)

William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury is one of the indisputable masterpieces of 20th-century modernist literature (though Wyndham Lewis and Vladimir Nabokov would probably disagree). Similarly to a few other books which share comparable reputation—think Proust’s In Search of Lost Time—Faulkner’s novel deals prominently with the topic of subjective vs. objective time. Faulkner uses several motifs masterfully, not only so as to periodically suggest and hint at the theme (mainly that of arrested development), but also so as to provide some unity to his highly experimental work.

And this is especially evident by Faulkner’s prominent use of motifs in the first two parts of his work, which are narrated, respectively, by the intellectually disabled Benjamin “Benjy” Compson (who acts as if he is 3 even though he is 33 years old) and the depressed and deteriorated Quentin on the day of his suicide. Since both of these parts are presented in a stream of consciousness fashion, it can be difficult for the reader to make out the chronology of the described events or detect any intelligible storyline. However, by saturating Benjy’s and Quentin’s accounts with sporadically reappearing motifs, Faulkner successfully compensates for this lack of narrative clarity, transforming the first half of his novel into a sort of a lyrical exposé, rich with refrains and repetitions.

Think of these Faulknerian leitmotifs as conspicuous cues planted in the text so as to remind the reader from time to time that it is still the same story he’s trying to get to the bottom of, even though occasionally it may not seem like that. To understand this better, just consider how the word “caddie”—often uttered at the golf course—reminds Benjy of his favorite sibling’s name and stirs his mind into a whirlwind of unrelated associations of his sister Caddy. The word “caddie” itself doesn’t stand for anything here, i.e., it is not a symbol; it is merely a cue for a stream of connotations, a motif Faulkner spins out into something more important for the overall theme: the brothers’ relationship with Caddy.

Another thing that Benjy is passionate about is fire. It is an image he is fascinated and calmed by, and it often comes to his mind for no apparent reason whatsoever. A few examples should suffice: “I liked to smell Versh’s house. There was a fire in it…;” “There was a fire in the house, rising and falling…;” “He was just looking at the fire, Caddy said”… The fire-motif here works the same way choruses work in songs: reemerging from time to time to create a lyrical pattern. It is difficult to say whether the fire is meant to represent something: to Benjy, it is probably a friendly element and, just like caddies, it seems to have some kind of a warm connection to Caddy.

However, the fire-motif is infused with other meanings when it reappears in the second part as in this meditation by Quentin:

If it could just be a hell beyond that: the clean flame the two of us more than dead. Then you will have only me then only me then the two of us amid the pointing and the horror beyond the clean flame.

In Dante’s Purgatorio, poets are purified by passing through a wall of fire; it is what Dante has to do in order to see Beatrice. However, Quentin’s love for his sister seems something beyond purification, which is why he associates fire with both “clean flames” and “hell” at the same time: on the other side of the “clean flame” there is no Paradise, but “pointing and horror.” The phrase “amid the pointing and the horror beyond the clean flame” reappears four times in Quentin’s musings, thus becoming a sort of a sub-motif which always recalls and points to something more than what the phrase itself contains.

It is difficult to say here more without getting into unnecessary details with regards to our keyword, but, if you are interested, an excellent place to go on with your research is Sartre’s exceptional essay “Time in the Work of Faulkner”: large parts of it treat some of Faulkner’s time-related motifs, mostly in Quentin’s part (reference).

[ethanalter]

Rob Corddry previews the season finale of 'Ballers' and talks 'Twin Peaks'

Rob Corddry in Season 3 of ‘Ballers’ (Photo: Jeff Daly/HBO)

After overseeing his own show, Childrens Hospital, for seven seasons as a producer, director, writer, and star, Rob Corddry approaches his acting gig on the HBO series Ballers almost as a vacation. “Childrens Hospital was like swinging three bats in the batter’s box,” the actor tells Yahoo Entertainment. (The cult Adult Swim series wrapped up its run last year with a surprisingly dramatic series finale.) “Ballers is like stepping up to the plate with only one bat. It’s very light and fun!”

A big source of fun for Corddry is the opportunity to play sidekick to one of the world’s biggest stars, Dwayne Johnson, who headlines Ballers as football star-turned-financial manager Spencer Strasmore. On the show’s third season, which concludes Sept. 24, Spencer and his work buddy, Joe (Corddry), take their wheeling-and-dealing ways to a whole new level, trying to be the instigating forces behind a major league deal in the sports world. “What I liked about this season is that Joe wielded a lot of power and responsibility, and really enjoyed it,” Corddry says. “In the beginning, I thought, ‘How do I portray this guy who can drink all night and go to work without a hangover, yet make it clear that he’s very good at his job?’ Each season, you find him getting a little more responsible and taking the reins a little bit more.” We spoke with Corddry about this year’s big Ballers storylines, his love for (and theories about) Twin Peaks, and what to expect from his upcoming Childrens Hospital spin-off.

Ballers made news earlier this year when Elizabeth Warren revealed she was a super-fan. What was your reaction when you heard that news? I got emailed something by someone, and my first reaction was, “No. No she’s not.” And then I realized she actually did say this; it’s literally in the first page of her book! She didn’t wait until page two or chapter five. I still had some doubts, and thought that maybe it’s just for a certain voting demographic. But then Sam Bee invited me on to her show, because she was interviewing Elizabeth Warren and she was going to surprise her with me. And right up until the interview, Sam and I were a little worried. Like, what if she doesn’t actually care about Ballers and has to fake it?

But then I walked out and the Senator went, “Joe!” [Laughs] It was crazy. But now it makes sense to me that she likes the show; she’s the fiscal policies senator, so she’s always dealing with people that want more or maybe that have just gotten more for the first time. It all revolves around money, so I can see why she’d be very fascinated by the show. The show has a very diverse fan base; I am approached by the most unexpected of people, and she’s the best example of that. On Election Night, once she knew that Hillary was going to lose, she and her husband just binged Ballers as escapism. So that’s where this soft spot came from; it was a comfort to her during one of the worst times in her life.

The big storyline this season involved Spencer and Joe’s attempts to bring a football franchise to Las Vegas. Have you had personal experience being in a city that’s gained or lost a sports team? No, I’m from Boston and then lived in New York for a long time, so the sports teams are pretty entrenched there. But here in L.A., we just found ourselves with two football teams, neither of which I care about. [Laughs] That’s my very limited experience with it. Vegas, however, is a different beast altogether. I think what makes this show so good is that it gives people a peek behind the curtain. We have former football players on our writing staff, so it’s very authentic.

One of the big joys of this season is seeing Steve Guttenberg as a Vegas bigwig. I imagine you grew up watching him in movies — what was it like acting opposite him? Doing this show, I hardly ever get to the see the rest of the cast, but they make up for it in spades by putting me with people like Steven Guttenberg. This role is really antithetical to how we picture him, and he plays it in this really friendly, gleeful way, just on the edge of smarmy. But also so creepy! He almost reminds me of a David Lynch character. They say that you should never meet your idols, but Steve does not let you down. He’s one of those guys like Henry Winkler; a golden soul who I love to be around.

Corddry and Will Sasso on ‘Childrens Hosptial’ (Photo: Darren Michaels/SMPSP)

I’m surprised you never offered him a role on Childrens Hospital. He seems like a natural fit. I bet he was brought up! And I bet the Party Down connection pushed him back a little bit. We shared cast with Party Down, and we made Party Down references in one of our episodes. He had done that Party Down cameo and it was a very memorable one. So we probably felt that we’d be beating it on the head.

You mentioned that you don’t get to hang out with the rest of the cast very often. You also notably don’t have a love interest on the show. Are you pushing for that to happen? The writers actually told me they were considering it for this season, but ultimately killed it. And you know what? I totally agree. I don’t think we need to see that side of Joe. I mean, I would like to see more about his wife, who died mysteriously on a boat. That little Easter egg was dropped in Season 1, and he references it every once in a while. He referenced it this season, talking about how great it was when his wife died. So that’s a whole thing that might be worth thinking about. But no, a girlfriend [isn’t in the cards]. It’d probably be interesting because she’d be a lunatic, just like Joe. I can’t see him being like the settling-down type.

Did they share their idea for what a Joe-centric romantic storyline might have looked like with you before they killed it? They did, and it was one of those things that sounds good when it’s pitched in the writers’ room, then you think about it for a little bit longer, you realize nothing’s happening there. How does it serve the larger story of the whole show? Because my character is there to serve. He can be a good plot device, and he’s also there to serve at the pleasure of Spencer. If you want to do something, do something with that. Make people wonder if he’s gay. Or, gay for Spencer! Make that a storyline. That’d be interesting. Because he’s not gay, but he’s totally in love with him.

If they ever do get around to telling the story of Joe’s wife, who would you want to play her in flashbacks? Natalie Wood. [Laughs] No, Lizzy Caplan. She is someone that Joe might want to murder. And someone who I would love to hang out with for a day or so.

And it ties back into that whole Party Down/Childrens Hospital thing. There you go! We’ll get them all eventually.

Dwayne Johnson is known for having a crazy work schedule; it seemed like he was making several different movies while also filming Ballers this year. Does that ever impact your relationship onscreen at all? No, I admire the guy. He is nothing if not driven. Back in the first season, I was watching the Oscars one night and I had to turn it off at 9:00 because I had a 7 a.m. call the next day. And goddamn it if he didn’t show up presenting an Oscar! I was like, “You gotta be at work at 7 a.m. — what are you doing?” He just does that. He loves to work. So it hasn’t impacted my personal or professional relationship with him at all, except to say that I love seeing him when he’s tired.

Corddry and Dwayne Johnson in ‘Ballers’ (Photo: Jeff Daly/HBO)

What does a tired Dwayne Johnson look like? He just tells you he’s tired. We know each other pretty well by now, so I would ask him, “You tired today?” And he would just go, “Oh, dude.” He’s not a snapper. If anything, he’s nicer to people when he’s sleepy. And you know, he’s got a new kid, too. So I love just watching the monitors and going, “Okay, you’re human.”

Does this season end on a cliffhanger? There is a cliffhanger of sorts, but the Oakland Raiders-to-Vegas story is resolved in a very cool, creative way. You kind of don’t see it coming. They kept having to re-write the show as we got closer to the end, because there was movement to bring the Raiders to Vegas in real life! If that happened, they wanted to be able to have art imitate life.

The core cast of characters has been pretty stable throughout all three seasons. Is there a big death or departure looming? Well, if you’re playing Spencer’s girlfriend, don’t buy a helicopter! [Laughs] That’s what I’ve learned. Otherwise, no. If anything, it looks to me like people’s roles are growing. Like Reggie [played by London Brown], he had a cool storyline this year and I think there’s a bright future for his character. And you know who I’m really impressed with this season? Troy Garity, who plays Jason. He’s like me in that he serves other peoples’ stories, but I think he’s a really good actor and so well cast.

It’s almost like he has Jane Fonda for a mother. I know, right? I didn’t even know that until well into the first season, maybe even the second. It’s very funny.

Has she ever dropped by the set? Yeah, she stops by all the time, and is like, “Do it better you old poop.” [Laughs] Boy, I wish! That’d be fun.

What are your off-season plans now that Ballers is on hiatus and Childrens Hospital is wrapped? I have three shows in development. One is another Mr. Neighbor’s House special for Adult Swim, and another is a Childrens Hospital spinoff. I can tell you that it’s, of course, the same comedic tone and shares some of the same actors. But it’s completely different from Childrens Hospital in any other regard. It’s more like a global thriller/mystery told serially with cliffhangers every week. Where we shunned continuity before, we really have to adhere to it here. That’s really hard, man. I don’t know how these guys do it.

So now you have a sense of what Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse experienced on Lost! Oh my God! Never get yourself in a situation like that unless you’re David Lynch. Did you see Twin Peaks: The Return?

Kyle MacLachlan on ‘Twin Peaks: The Return’ (Photo: Showtime)

Oh yes. It’s a masterclass in madness. It is! I’m still obsessed with it. I don’t want it to be over, and I loved the finale. I would love to do something like that. That’s probably what people said when they saw Twin Peaks the first time. Maybe someday I’ll figure out what my version of that is, because I just love the mythology.

What’s your personal take on what happens at the end of the finale? I don’t mind that there was no defined resolution. I think that freeze frame of Laura whispering into Cooper’s ear says it all. There’s a secret that we cannot know, and the viewer will never be privy to. So why not just be satisfied with this? Well, because we love the characters, and it’s hard to let go of something like that.

Ballers airs Sundays at 10 p.m. on HBO.