Screenwriting, Lyrics, Art, and Investigation
This was a completed piece, a screenshot of an Auridon sunset from The Elder Scrolls Online game. It was so unremarkable I never posted it here. Over time, the color faded. (I don’t use archival papers. Maybe I should reconsider!) Now it’s another repurposed piece. Pink from the sunset, barely fading through at certain points, is all that remains of the original.
I’d like to try looking at the Story Enneagram of another game, and the grandaddy awaits, Mass Effect. Can I do it? I bought myself the Legendary Edition, all three games, and I haven’t played in years, so I have a tiny feeling of freshness and a large feeling of nostalgia. The minute that menu music started playing, I teared up. This and Dragon Age were my first RPGs. Let’s try!
Backstory begins. We’re told that humans in the year 2148 discovered alien ruins on Mars that jumped our space-faring civilization forward. We now have the plans — I think? — to build a relay machine, the Mass Effect. Yet, the universe and many alien races already use this technology, so Mass Effect relays are spread about the cosmos.
Oh, what a great episode to watch after a long break! Finally, Toph. Yay!
ONE
Sokka, shopping in a city, wants to buy a bag. It’s too expensive, but he gets it anyway. On the street a salesman approaches Aang with a flier for an earth bending academy. We’re reminded that the Avatar needs a teacher.
TWO
Cut to Aang in a silly uniform, surrounded by a bunch of little kids taking class. Master Yu teaches. (It’s pretty much the kind of “quick karate” school we’d see in our own time.) Aang leaves, knowing this isn’t the training for him. Two students walking by speak about an earth bending tournament. When Aang, excited, asks them about it, they ridicule him and don’t respond.
THREE
Katara will take care of this: “Hey, strong guys, wait up,” she says with a flirting voice as she pursues them around a corner. She returns, saying, “We’re going to Earth Rumble Six.” How did she do it? We get a shot of the two boys, perpendicular to the street, encased in ice against the buildings.
Continue reading “The Blind Bandit”
I immediately want to say Eight. His reaction to everything is physical. He has a bluntness that I think goes beyond the literal thinking of his people. He’ll say anything, which is an Eight trait. The filmmakers use that, an Eight’s willingness to speak without a filter, and combine it with his innate lack of metaphor, to drive much of his comedy. He calls a sympathetic character, Mantis, ugly and we laugh. That’s a tough balance to hit.
At the end of the first Guardians, he comforts Rocket by petting him. It’s such a beautiful, honest moment that feels perfect. That is the Eight coming through. Physical, tender, and the absolute right thing to do when a heart is broken.
Check the Critical Notes after the breakdown for my thoughts on the structure of the entire series. I figure out why I felt so dissatisfied when the season ended.
ONE
We pick up where the last episode left off. Wanda’s twins are bound by Agatha’s magic purple rope. The witches fight, and Agatha holds Wanda’s red power beams. “I take power from the undeserving,” she says. Wanda’s hand withers and turns black from the drain. Just when Agatha appears to be winning, Wanda hits her with a car that crashes through a house window. Looking through the broken glass, Wanda sees two empty boots under the car in a Wizard of Oz homage. (I laughed.)
TWO
Behind Wanda, White Vision floats down. He touches her cheek in what appears to be a tender moment, then squeezes her head in a vise grip. Our Vision rams him away. Wanda says to him, “I should’ve told you everything.” They’re a team, though. “This is our home. Let’s fight for it.” The Visions fly off in one direction, and the witches go the other.
THREE
Meanwhile, Pietro has Monica trapped inside his house, using his superspeed to corral her.
Continue reading “The Series Finale”
Well, rats. The Hawkeye finale is not up to the standards of the last few episodes. It’s fairly generic, with obligatory fight sequences and stilted humor.
Ah, I just noticed. The episodes I liked were directed by Bert and Bertie. The ones I didn’t were directed by someone else. Fascinating. Let’s jump in.
ONE
Stepping into frame is a cane and a large body in a suit. It’s Kingpin. This is his meeting with Eleanor that was teased at the end of last episode. We get a little backstory: her husband owed a small fortune to Kingpin when he died. Eleanor, working with him all these years, has repaid the debt ten times over. Now that Kate is getting close to the secret, Eleanor wants out. Kingpin is not happy.
TWO
The video of this scene plays on Kate’s phone. We’re back with her and Clint at the kitchen table. Kate freaks — I need to talk to her — and Clint says, Your mom needs our help. When Kate tries to send him home, Clint declares that they’re partners. “Your mess is my mess.”
THREE
We’re back at Kingpin’s lair, or whatever. (It’s a small room surrounded by colored hanging beads. No idea why.) Maya arrives to apologize, declare her loyalty, and ask for time off. Kazi, who’s already there, translates for her. Slowly and deliberately, Kingpin signs to her, I love you. She signs it back. After she leaves, Kingpin says to Kazi, “Maya, my Maya, has turned on us.”
Continue reading “So This Is Christmas?”
A real angel would have no Enneagram, I suppose. Dudley, however, has many human traits. He feels romantic love for Julia. He takes a perverse pleasure in wrapping Henry around the axle. Even with the Professor, whose alcohol bottle Dudley magically replenishes, he likes confounding him and playing with his expectations. Dudley is an imp as a character archetype and, possibly, as a religious one. Henry has doubts, calling him a demon. I have doubts, too!
So, what Enneagram is the Mischief Maker? Dudley can ice skate beautifully, although I credit that with magic rather than a physical proclivity. Not a Body Type. He’s not particularly intellectual. His purpose on Earth, ultimately, is to save Henry’s soul. A different Enneagram, a Head Type, would argue with Henry and engage him in philosophy in order to guide him. Dudley, instead, goes right for the social levers.
In general, a Four is quite impish. It’s one of the things we love about them, that mischievous sense of finding buttons and pushing them, even their own. Dudley isn’t very self-reflective, though. It’s everybody else’s weaknesses he likes to manipulate.
I’m going to say that the writer purposely subverted the angel trope in order to create humor. It must’ve been funny in 1947, or it wouldn’t have become a beloved Christmas movie. In my lifetime, though, it’s gone from charming to drudgery. For me, The Bishop’s Wife is now unwatchable, and a lot of that centers around Dudley.