Story idea 2 - Feb 18

 Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks, even the weather, so here is another story idea; but first, a shout-out to the ‘Knight’: HBO’s Westeros underdog is coming into its’ own at last.

Why? Because it is finally moving past the bloody tourney and into the greater Westeros: in the penultimate S1 episode, we have to see a bit of a Blackfire rebellion, and, um, we have an active Targaryen killing Targaryen action once more. This time it is Baelor who is dead and Daeron (the Waffle) who did the deed – unintentionally, unlike how it went down in HoD…

What does it mean for Westeros? Strife and war, of course, because those are the only things Mr. Martin makes there; there’s also scheming, of course, but as a rule it leads only to violence and little more. At the beginning of D&E S1, the Targaryens are at peace with each other, Westeros is peaceful, inasmuch as it can be, but now peace is ending again – the heir to the throne is dead, and his siblings, children, and so on will soon be jousting for the Iron Throne because, hey, it’s Westeros. I am no so desperate to research in depth just how many Targaryens there are in Westeros at this point In Westeros’ history, but since we know that the throne will go to Egg in the end game of ‘Knight’, it doesn’t matter anyhow.

…I do not know if Mr. Martin intended it or not, but a lot of Westeros action ends up being rather pointless, as the throne is kept by the Targaryens no matter what. In the novels, in particular, it is becoming clear that Jon and Dany will eventually occupy the Iron Throne, (i.e., the Targaryens will recover their rightful kingdom and domain), and in the TV series… well, HoD has Targaryens fighting each other while everyone else plays a supporting role, and ‘Knight’ until now it was almost a Medieval RPG, with Dunk trying to find his place in the Westeros society now that his father figure, mentor, and master, is dead and he is anchorless… So now, the choice is the familiar, by now, Targaryen vs. Targaryen violence, or more of the lukewarm and rather shallow Medieval RPG that we had before. Maybe HBO will throw in another CGI-looking robin in for a good measure…. Where were we?

My latest story idea, seeing how real life sucks, thanks to the Donald and his late friend Jeff – but also thanks to the Donald’s opposition, and how they’re handling the situation; spoilers – they don’t. Let us get back to fiction, shall we?

…A world populated primarily by the ‘goblinoid’ races (trolls, orcs and ogres are not a part of them, they are separate). To wit, they are, as follows.

The bugbears. They are the physically biggest of the goblinoids, but also the least numerous. In a big part because they are also anti-social loners – they hate most other sentient beings, including their cousins, as well as each other. A bugbear is quite happy dominating hobgoblins and goblins and never meeting another bugbear in their lifetime – hence the low population numbers. Only now, with more powerful beings, such as evil dragons and the mind flayers being also around, this lifestyle is no longer working, and bugbears need to re-think it, or else they just might go extinct.

The hobgoblins. If the goblins are smaller than the humans are, and the bugbears are bigger, (and stronger, and more formidable and imposing), then the hobgoblins are human-sized and are rather humane in their lifestyles, etc.

Enter the dragons. They are blue dragons, meaning that they exhale lightning (electricity) rather than fire, and are immune to electricity, not fire; they’re also lawful, as in tyrants, and have enslaved the hobgoblins, (not that they resisted much, because hobgoblins themselves are lawful evil). As a result, the hobgoblins became racially diverse, (among other effects).

There are now four races of hobgoblins. There are the ‘ordinary’ hobgoblins, (the ancestral race), the half-dragon hobgoblins (obvious), the draconic hobgoblins, and the ‘sunscorch’ ones. The draconic hobgoblins look like scalier, more feral versions of ordinary hobgoblins, while the sunscorch are really just ordinary hobgoblins, but smarter, and with blue eyes or blue-tinged hair. The hobgoblin society is acutely hierarchical, of course, and plenty of them are trying to rebel – well, trying to figure out how to rebel, not just because they are afraid of dragons, but also because they are not good at rebelling in the first place. (Scope aside, the hobgoblins aren’t that better than the blue dragons are).

The goblins. They are the smallest and the most numerous of the original goblinoids… and are dominated by the mind flayers. (Some of whom are liches, or alhoons, in the mind flayers’ tongue). Therefore, some of the goblins become Dekanter goblins – a mix of goblin and anthropomorphic rhino – and they are more formidable, given their relatively small size…

The Dekanter goblins serve the mind flayers loyally, (moreso than the ancestral goblins), but the mind flayers meddling had unexpected side effects. First, some of the goblins are born with blue skin color, eyes…, and psionic powers of their own; they are smarter than the ancestral goblins are, and are slowly forming their own councils, trying to counteract the mind flayers.

Second, some of the goblins are born as worghests instead – those are the goblin analogues of tieflings, but rather than from demons or devils, they are descended from barghests instead. (The barghests themselves may still be around, but they are not making themselves known in the immediate moment). Those worghests are anarchists instead, spreading chaos, (not that that goblins themselves are bad at it but their worghest kin are even better).

…The blue dragons and the mind flayers are aware of each other, of course, but neither side is ready to be actively hostile – not yet. In addition, their goblinoid pawns are slowly discovering their own free will and initiative as well.

This already heterogeneous mix of related races and conflicted interests develops on the background of a greater conflict – the orcs are going to war against humans, elves, and dwarves. How will the goblinoids (and their puppeteer masters) affect the conflict is an open question…

Therefore, this is my new story idea. I hope that you will like it, too. See you all soon!

Minions and Monsters 1 - Feb 10

 Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks, so let us turn to the movies, and… what is that? The seventh ‘Minions’ movie? Why, for the love of God?!

Let us try again. The DM1 film (I am just numbering them, come on, all know which DM movie is which); the DM1 film was about Gru adopting three orphan girls as his stepdaughters and becoming less despicable and villainous. DM2 introduces Lucy, his love interest; DM3 – his brother, and the trilogy was complete.

The DM4 film explained the origins of the Minions as well as their metaphorical journey to become, well, the Minions. DM5 – showed them becoming, well, minions to Gru when he was a teen or some age like that. DM6 introduced Gru and Lucy’s new baby son, as well as Poppy, a teenage girl that becomes somewhat of a family friend – eventually. It also introduces the Super-Minions, but they do not appear to be in this film, at least – thank God for small mercies. What next?

The DM7 film appears to be a new expansion of the DM-verse, as the Minions are going for the Monsters to have them star in the Minions’ movie. Guess someone watched MCU’s ‘Wonder Man’ series, eh?

Right, Disney/MCU’s ‘Wonder Man’. It is more ambiguous than it looks. Namely, on one hand, it looks to be the culmination of Disney/MCU’s desire to have a mini-series with a P.O.C. in charge; they tried it with RiRi ‘Ironheart’ Williams, and when her own series failed first, and Marvel Zombies cartoon series were almost just as bad, they went with Wonder Man instead. Therefore, on the other hand, WM appears to be more like ‘Agatha All Along’: it is connected to MCU but doesn’t appear to influence it; as Agatha and co. were dismissed after AAA finished, so did the WM – it is done, it is gone, Disney/MCU has its’ feel-good, and it puts WM into the storage, right next to AAA, if it ever will need either of them again. (It will not). What next?

‘Knight of the 7 kingdoms’ continues apace, with even more Targaryens that we ever wanted. The people are continuing to watch it; they like it well enough, but nothing more; the fan support is getting there, of course, but slower than they had with HoD, so there is that. Dunk and Egg are joined by Waffle – I mean, Daeron Targaryen and are about to go against Aerion the Monstrous; say what you will, but Aerys from GoT (ASOIAF) was much worse by far out of the two (for now). Guess we will have to wait to see if he does live up to his moniker, or not.

In addition, it will be curious to see just how Lyonel Baratheon’s friendship with Dunk and Egg will evolve. The Baratheons were Lords Paramount of Stormlands, and as such – just below the Targaryens themselves, but Egg is a Targaryen, (and will become king, cough), while Dunk will become the Lord Commander (and the ancestor of Brienne), so Lyonel’s friendship with them can easily become a Good Thing for the House Baratheon – and maybe it did. Certainly, until the Targaryens did that shit with the Starks the Baratheons were loyal to them well enough; why, everyone was loyal to them until Rhaegar listened to his inner Tarquin, and then almost no one was. (Just look up Shakespeare’s poem ‘The Rape of Lucretia’ would you? It is that Tarquin). What next?

Well, DM7 is going to be a cash-grab; good or bad is another story, but this one? It is going to be a cash-grab. ‘Illumination’ is already sticking Minions wherever, anywhere, regardless of whether people want it or not, and now they are getting their own movie. Again. DM4 was their first movie, and it did lay the groundwork for the second DM trilogy, but you have to admit that the DM6 film has a rather final feel to it, especially the last scenes that just re-introduce all the main characters from all of the six films in one capacity or another; it leaves Gru with his wife, daughters, son, and even brother (and some family friends) on his lawn – clearly, it was supposed to be the series’ finale. Now we are having a new Minions movie, (just when the U.S. movie industry seems to be struggling as it is). Why, for the love of God?! Oh, wait, it’s real life. It sucks. Yay.

Well, this is it for now anyhow. See you all soon, instead.

Clothes make the woman - Feb 5

 Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks, so here's a drabble to cheer you up!

The empusa was still on the roof, tangled in the net like some sort of a giant moth or bat, her arms, legs and wings tangled in the wire.

Rafael approached the daemon carefully: “Still stuck?” he asked the obvious.

“Yes,” and his interlocutrix did not bother to hide the tears, and not just of frustration. “Can you please leave? If I am to die for real, I do not want an audience-“

Rafael took a deep breath and acting quickly, untangled the net, leaving the empusa on the roof, sitting on her butt without ceremony. “There, you’re free, now hide or whatever-“

“I can’t!” the empusa raced to him, still looking desperate. “I need human clothes, they’re in the apartment, the apartment’s locked and the key is inside. I need human clothing to make it through the day-!”

“I have only masculine clothing, and you’re standing on my leg,” Rafael muttered. “Listen, Lena-“

“You recognized me?”

“Up close – yes,” Rafael muttered as the two moved slowly into the building. “Hah, your hooves are soft-“

“And they need shoes,” Lena muttered, but then they entered Rafael’s apartment and she turned into a blur of motion as she grabbed shoes and clothing and raced with them into another other room, to change, apparently. Rafael just sighed:

“Same old Lena.”

Here you go, enjoy, see you all soon!

Robins - Jan 22

 Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks. Somehow, when we talked about the premiere of HBO ‘Knight’ last time, I did not expect to be suckered into talking about robins of all things. To Mr. Martin, robins are somewhat important, I think, as there are a couple of secondary characters that are named, or nicknamed, ‘Robins’, in the honor of the bird. I am guessing that Mr. Martin was inspired, a bit, by the British folk song ‘Who killed Cock Robin?’ here. If he was, good for him.

…Robins are an important feature in the British culture; even Shakespeare, (one of Mr. Martin’s most important inspiration sources) mentioned them in his plays from time to time. Those are the European robins, Erithacus rubecula, the robin redbreast of the British poems, songs, and the like. They are smallish songbirds, about 12.5-14.0 cm in length, and are members of the Old World flycatcher family – meaning that they specialize on insects, and forage on trees and shrubs rather than elsewhere. Their breasts and faces are orange-red; their upperparts are brown, while the underparts are white instead. Overall, the European robins give the European winters a splash of color, (they do not usually migrate south for the winter), and are popular birds, especially in the U.K.

The other birds named robins are different. The most known one, of course, is the American robin, Turdus migratorius. It is a member of the ‘true thrush’ family, and is a thrush itself. In the wild, it is an exclusively New World bird and is not found anywhere else, (i.e. not an introduced species). It is the bigger bird out of the two – at 23-28 cm in length, it’s twice as big as the European robin is, and like many thrushes, it feeds both on the ground and in the trees; its’ legs are long and strong; it has a red belly rather than a breast, its’ back is black, (especially in the adult male birds), as is its’ face. (Its’ beak is yellow). It lives on the North American continent and does not go further south than Mexico in winter. It is a lively and a common North American bird.

Other robins are much more exotic to the Western people. The so-called Pekin robin, also – the Pekin nightingale or the Japanese nightingale, is one of them. The modern name is the red-billed leiothrix, Leiothrix lutea, and it is a handsome and colorful bird. It is 15 cm long, about the size of the European robin and it behaves similarly – i.e., it forages among the shrubs, and it prefers animal matter (insects) rather the plant matter (fruit and the like). The American robin, conversely, is more of a generalist, (though the chicks do prefer insects), and it prefers to forage on the ground instead. Moreover, the red-billed leiothrix is olive-green, but its’ yellow throat does have an orange shade to it, as are the edges of its’ wing feathers – in fact, they are red, orange, yellow, or black, as is its’ olive-brown forked tail – at the end, it is more blackish in color. Overall, the red-billed leiothrix is vaguely similar to the European robin, but its’ family, the Leiothrichidae, while related to the Old World flycatchers (and thrushes), are separate from both.

It should be noted that Andersen, whose stories ‘The Little Mermaid’ and ‘Snow Queen’ were adapted by Disney, also wrote a shorter story called ‘The Nightingale’ that was about the relationship of the nightingale and the emperor of China. The European nightingale that Andersen knew well doesn’t live in China, and neither does the red-billed leiothrix, but when did that stop Disney? The live adaptation of TLM was a biological/biogeographical mess in particular, so if Disney decides to adapt ‘The Nightingale’ next, why not use a red-billed leiothrix instead? It is more closely related to the common nightingale (and the European robin) than a gannet is to a sea gull…

Back to the robins proper, we have the scarlet robin, Petroica boodang, or rather several Australasian passerine birds known as the Australasian robins. Again, they have their own family among the passerines, the Petroicidae; the scarlet robin, as a sample bird, lives only in Australia in the wild. What does it look like? Unlike the previous three bird species, the scarlet robin is sexually dimorphic – the adult males and females of the species look different. Namely, the males are black and white with red, or even scarlet, underparts, while the females are much more drab and subdued. Up to 13.5 cm in length, they are roughly the same size as the European robins are too, as is their behavior – sort of. In the summer, they feed on trees, while in winter – on the ground. (Keep in mind that since Australia is south of the equator, the summer and winter months are opposite of ours).

Finally, we have the forest robins of Africa. They are three species in the genus Stiphrornis… and they are the closest relatives to the European robin out of all the birds mentioned here – they are a part of the Old World flycatcher family too. The orange-breasted species, Stiphrornis erythrothorax looks especially robin-like: is about 12 cm long, (the same length as the European species), has dark upper parts, while its’ throat and chest are deep orange… or yellow-orange – close enough. The behavior is similar too – foraging on trees rather than on the ground. Pause.

Are the African forest robins the most accurate imitations? From one point of view, they are the closest relatives of the European robin that we went through here. From another, the designation ‘robin’ is a human one, and all of the robins talked about here do not perceive themselves as ‘robins’; what do they perceive themselves is another question, one that we do not know the answer to – yet. The cow that used a human tool to scratch herself is Austria may very well know – we just do not know how to communicate with her… What we do know is that all of the ‘robin birds’ are perfectly adapted to life on trees, on the ground, or both… and that is good enough for them.

And for now, moreover, this is it. See you all soon!

Knight of 7, series premiere - Jan 21

 Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks. Toronto Public Library, of which I am a card-carrying member and all, decided to remake its’ website fully, and so now I had to re-register myself online and all. It was unnecessary, redundant, and all, but they did it regardless. Damn them.

The weather is just as bad – this winter is a bad one and the weather network cheerfully reiterates it day after day. Between that, and our apartment needing repairs, life sucks. So, let us look at HBO’s ‘Knight of the seven kingdoms’, shall we?

…Well, my first avenue of escape from reality was our RPG, based on D&D 3.5. (Why is a story for another time). One of our opponents was a Green Star Adept, that is to say something of a magic user who is slowly becoming a construct instead. The person who was designing this opponent just had the GSA be a wizard before becoming a GSA; one of our players wanted the GSA’s base class story to be more diverse, and so the gaming session just imploded; person 2 proclaimed that the GSA was just a basic wizard with the prestige class tackled on and that the base class history should’ve been more diverse, and person 1 pointed that a lot of GSA’s skill requirements were Knowledge skills, and so a wizard was a best choice… it was a mess. Onto the ‘Knight’?

Eh, after watching the series’ premiere I have one question: what happened to HoD? GoT was able to finish itself, though no one was pleased as to how it happened, and HoD? HoD ended with S2, so far there is no info when HoD will go onto S3, and HBO is already presenting an entirely different Westeros show. Is HoD on a hiatus or something? People would like to know, I bet…

As for ‘Knight’ itself… it is an RPG. It is a quasi-historical RPG, set in a quasi-England, with Dunk and Egg being the main players. They have to pass obstacles, surmount challenges, flat-out survive and all… it is not a bad concept, and not a bad delivery, and I, for one, have no problem with ‘Knight’, but that robin…

One of the scenes in 1x01 is Duncan hearing – and seeing – a robin in a tree. Since Westeros is based on England (of Shakespeare, and Chaucer, and even Bearns, just a bit), I am guessing that it is a European robin rather than some other – in our times the name ‘robin’ is applied to several bird species, not really related to each other. Of course, given how Westeros is imaginary, and that Mr. Martin tends to use animals in his novels as random monsters if at all, HBO could’ve used an American robin just as well, seeing how no one cared; but.

But what exactly did they do with the robin? I am reckoning that they could have gone into public video domain and got the footage of the European (or any other) robin to use in their show. Instead, I am mostly convinced, they used some sort of an AI to generate the bird; it is not a bad idea, it just makes the bird look rather fake. Duncan’s (ok, his actor’s) look at the singing bird only drives this point further – it’s quite fake and the show didn’t even tried to pretend that the fellow was really staring at an actual bird; instead, the actor just did his best to look incredulous… at nothing in particular. Fun!

That said, CGI-birds and the like aside, ‘Knight’ is a good TV series and I am surprised at the general lack of reaction towards it. Sure, there are reviews about it online, but little else; seemingly the Westeros fanbase itself is suspicious of HBO’s new move, even though ‘Knight’ does work. Oh, and Mr. Martin is teasing his new book, ‘The Winds of Winter’. Sigh.

Did not want to go there, but perhaps part of Mr. Martin’s, and HBO’s, problem is that people are moving past Westeros; his books aren’t selling as they did before, and overall the franchise’s popularity is waning; HBO tries to fix this, and they’re doing it better than how Disney did with SW, but regardless…

Regardless, it might not be enough. Right now, it’s winter 2026, it’s a bad and snowy one, and the Donald seems to be trying to destroy democracy on the planet, so of course people will watch anything to escape reality, and ‘Knight’ is a good show. Of course, so far, it is just the series’ premiere, so what happens next is anyone’s bet, but so far, the show is promising, so let’s be optimistic for the moment, even though real life still sucks.

Well, this is it for now, actually. See you all soon!

Story idea 1 - Jan 14

 Obligatory statement - real life sucks, so here's an idea for a fiction story if anyone's interested:

Story outline.

Aphrodite is a schemer, like most other Olympians are, and she planned to make one of her children into something more than just a demigod. Initially, she was going for Silena, grooming and preparing her for her potential destiny discreetly but Silena died during the war with Chronus, and Aphrodite had to start anew.

Not a problem, she has two candidates, the heir – Piper, and the spare – Drew. Well, Drew is mostly out because Piper seems to be perfect, doing exactly what Aphrodite wanted her to do, including saving Olympus from Gaia and the giants, but also a relationship with Jason.

Jason is the youngest son of Zeus/Jupiter, (so far, officially), and the latter has an ambiguous relationship with all of his sons: he keeps a close watch on them, and if they stand out and rebel (by the Thunderer’s standards), he ends them. Initially, Piper’s job was to occupy Jason’s attention and ensure that he did not do that – and in return, both she and her mother were to receive benefits from the king (and the queen) of Olympus.

At first, it worked, but when the pair moved to college, it stopped. The relationship ended, Jason stood up for Apollo, (who was in Zeus’s bad books now), and ended up dead with no chance of coming back, because you do not come back after you argue with Zeus. Hera is not happy and scheming, but Aphrodite and Piper are not a part of it.

Aphrodite tries to manipulate Piper by giving her Shel – who is almost a literal shell of a person, but it backfires: Piper is done with gods, demigods, and monsters, and takes what Shel de-facto offers her – a life as an ordinary mortal. (There is some squiggle room, but since Piper has de-facto renounced her status as the daughter of Aphrodite, none of the options are good). Aphrodite goes to Drew.

Drew knows that Aphrodite came to her only after Piper is done, and knows that for Aphrodite she is the last option. Still, Aphrodite is her mother, and so, when Aphrodite gets her to go on a quest, Drew accepts.

The quest is the first step out of several that are supposed to make Drew into something more than a demigod, almost like a junior partner for her mother. Drew suspects that something is off from the start, and though she loves and obeys her mother, she doesn’t do so without questions and doesn’t do all the right moves fully, and Aphrodite can’t manipulate/force her to do that, because that would ruin her whole plan – so now the mother and daughter are stuck in a very precarious position as both found themselves bound to each other by Aphrodite’s plot.

Add the Egyptian magicians, led by the Kane siblings. They do not know the Greek-Roman world too well, but Drew is helping them learn, (and learns back), and they recognize enough of Aphrodite’s plan to be wary. (Drew wants them to stop it, on some level). The story is set, and many people are going to have headaches before it ends.

This is it for now. See you all soon.

PJO S2, take 2 - Jan 13

 Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks, so let us return to PJO S2 once again.

We start with ‘the Sea of Monsters’, obviously. Riordan’s novel was one thing, and Disney+ went with something visibly influenced by the PotC franchise – remember the entire Depp vs. Hearst RL story? Yes, that PotC. Disney is continuing to play fast and loose with its properties – guess the Sequel Trilogy of SW did not teach them anything…

No, really, let us expand. In the SW 7-9 films, Disney tried to push female power and other progressive politics onto the movies’ audiences, and failed. The state of affairs where Disney/SW just swung back and forth between bending backwards to appease the viewers to flat-out defying them (Witcher S4 style) to elsewhere made it worse. In PJO S2, this state of affairs is not present, instead we have POCs, especially young women of Afro-American origin, being the main characters – mostly. Circe took over for Medusa here, (sort of – out of the two, Medusa is the more appealing character), and PJ (who is played by an Anglo-American male), and Grover, (who is a POC, but male, rather than female), are still important to the plot. However, otherwise? Athena is depicted here as a POC. Not a problem – she is a goddess; in Homer’s ‘Odyssey’ she tended to alter her appearance constantly whenever she was in the mortal world – she could appear as anyone, male or female, as well as human or bird. Right now, we behold her as a woman of color, just as Zeus is an Afro-American man – but that does not matter at all. Zeus courted Europa as a bull, Danae – as a shower of gold, Alcmene – as her legitimate husband, and Leda – as a swan to name a few; right now he looks like an Afro-American man; in the next moment he can look like an animal, an inanimate object, or, Tartarus, even a woman – he seduced and impregnated Callisto in the shape of his another daughter, Diana slash Artemis of the hunt, so, clearly, the divine equipment is different from the mortal on many levels…

Athena, of course, is supposed to be a virginal goddess. Pause. In the second series, Riordan made it so that Minerva is a virginal goddess, but Athena isn’t – and now, in ‘The Court of the Dead’, there are ‘legacy demigods’ of Minerva too. He is clearly doing his best to adapt to whatever Disney is doing with his franchise, for what else is there?

Calling it quits and leaving with some originality and integrity intact. As king Midas showed, you cannot have all the money in the world, and Croesus showed that you could be rich, but still have an unhappy ending to your life. (Neither appeared on PJO yet). Riordan has 15 books on the Greek-Roman myths, 3 on the Egyptian, and another 5 on the Norse – plus oodles of supplementary books. That is quite enough for a single person; the royalties for them should last him a lot – and then there are the ‘RR presents’ YA novels – but we’ll talk about them another time. Right now we reach the point that Riordan’s characters can be POC or WASP and move to the fact that Disney is trying to pull an ‘Ironheart’ here – Annabeth, Clarisse, even Thalia (in the flashback), all are POCs, and they almost steal the show from Percy, who is not. The show is good, but now the fans have reached the acceptance stage – they do not care about the race bending, (good for them), or about anything else. They just watch the episode of the week, and move on. Riordan and Disney tried to reinvigorate the franchise. It does not appear to have worked. Of course, if they kill Clarisse, (rather than Luke) on the show, I will be sad and disgruntled for one, but that is unimportant. I believe they are trying to make Clarisse almost like a mentor/big sister to Percy and that, again, is original content. Pause.

There is nothing wrong with original content; Hell, Tom Holland’s ‘Spider-Man’ movies are full of it, and if original content is delivered correctly, (in those movies it is), it works. Otherwise, you have ‘Ironheart’ or even ‘Marvel Zombies’, where it does not work. What next?

Clarisse’s heartfelt speech in the scene with Scylla. Of all the depictions they could have taken with the sea monster, this one was disappointing – a watered-down version of the PotC Kraken. Seriously, they just could have made her a giant squid and be done with it, ‘cause why not? In addition, on another note, it is Epic: the Musical. What?

In JRH’s version, Odysseus sacrificed a random half-a-dozen of his crew so that he, and the rest, could get through and to Ithaca, eventually. In Homer, Odysseus prepared to fight Scylla, but since six heads can be smarter than one, Scylla launched a surprise sneak attack and stole six of Odysseus’ crew before Odysseus could do anything. In addition, here, in PJO S2, we have Clarisse and co. doing their best to save Clarisse’s crew (who are not entirely human themselves, but Scylla does not care)… with mixed success, but still. I honestly wonder if the script of Epic: the Musical, (there the Scylla episode is something of a response to the ‘Survive’ song set in Polyphemus’ cave), hadn’t influenced Disney’s PJO script writers and they went the other way…

Polyphemus, of course, is Polyphemus, (just as Tyson is Tyson). Here, the PJO script did something different from the book again – the Tyson vs. Polyphemus fight, for example. Clearly, the PJO scriptwriters felt that they needed to do something different from the book (and the movie) here, and they did. It was certainly dramatic, too. Good for them. Pause.

Do I like the PJO S2? It is not bad. It is full of progressive politics, just like Ms. Haynes’ books, and as I wrote before, Ms. Haynes seems to be doing her best to be noticed by Disney and co. – but she does not appear to have much luck in this direction. As it was written earlier, her writing usually does not have any passion, any investment – it is not written by an A.I., but that is not necessarily an improvement.

What is the advantage of A.I.? It allows you to bounce your ideas around, to see what they look like as a draft.

…Ok, it can enable you to do a lot more – write an official letter, an essay, explain a complex myth to your child and so on. The A.I. is here to stay, but you must learn how to handle it precisely – a slight mistake and the result is nothing that you wanted. If this sounds familiar, it is. It is Athena and her wisdom – she can help you see clearly, (or clearer), what you want, but nothing else. You are in charge, in fact, you decide where to go from there, what to do with this advice, and so on. The ‘Odyssey’ shows this clearly – Athena, disguised as Mentor, (a man – therefore, for all that we know, she was hanging around Annabeth regularly, Annabeth just never knew that it was her mum), helps Telemachus to organize his thoughts, make up his mind, design his plan, and go off to execute it. It is clean, precise, methodical, and not exactly humans – but the gods of Olympus are not exactly human to begin with, and neither is A.I. I am not saying that Annabeth is the daughter of a divine Skynet, but wouldn’t it be cool if it were?

Back to PJO… it was not written by A.I., or at least – not purely by A.I., and neither were Riordan’s original YA novels, and therefore, the PJ franchise feels more emotional than Ms. Haynes’ works. Her non-fiction works are something else, and ‘1000 ships’… well, it has Odysseus and Penelope in it, and so it is a much more interesting read than ‘Stone’; as for ‘House’ (her upcoming 2006 novel), we will just have to wait and see.

For now, though, this is it. See you all soon.