Screenwriting, Lyrics, Art, and Investigation
Posts related to the Enneagram Storytelling System and/or the personality typing of the Enneagram.
Before I can delve into the catacombs for the Salvation quest, I need to start a new vocation. As a Magic Archer I gain the ability to do this:
Also, when one is facing the undead, Holy Light is an important weapon. Level up once or twice, and the Magic Archer acquires an essential skill.
Magical Flare is light in a dark place, and one that can be shot to a distant corner where the creepiest enemies hide.
And now I’m ready for the catacombs.
The second movie in Nolan’s trilogy is The Dark Knight, again with Bale. In the first story Batman is very traditional, very canon. Any changes here?
Well, for the first half of the movie Batman is nothing. He either only reacts or is characterless, just a warm body in the story. We have Heath Ledger’s performance as Joker, which steals all the oxygen, and we have Eckhart’s Harvey Dent/Two Face, which is quite good. Even Rachel, now played by Gyllenhaal, is mesmerizing. The limelight has no room for our titular hero. At this point I give him a Null Enneagram.
He has a bit of a run-in with Fox, who’s offended by Wayne’s use of the R&D department to develop an invasive sonic-based spyware. Batman flirts with a moral line in this movie, eventually landing on the side of honor. That’s his quandary, his conflict. Does the Joker — his nihilism and his malevolent genius — warrant breaking the code, taking human life, in order to defeat him? The answer is eventually no.
Any number can confront this problem. We’ve learned nothing new about Batman’s Enneagram here.
Ultimately, the story settles on sacrifice as its moral answer. Batman will take the blame, become the city’s scapegoat, in order to keep the memory of Dent clean and inspiring. It’s a very classical solution, and it’s Batman’s idea. Batman will assume the role of villain so that Dent can be a martyr.
Nope, I can’t get there. I can’t find a character in this version of the Bat. It’s hinted that he wants to be free of his alter ego, free of the responsibility of saving the city, and that he wants a chance with Rachel, but I don’t see him pursuing that desire. He’s not even really thwarted. Rachel is fridged.
The movie is a mish-mosh and the hero is bland. The supporting work is outstanding and worth the time. And that’s that.
ONE
The French narrator shows us Jellyfish Fields. But where is Spongebob?
TWO
He’s in a coral-encrusted ghillie suit shaped like a square. Heh. Safety goggles and his net ready, Spongebob slides closer and catches a jellyfish.
THREE
Tossing on a ten-gallon, fiddle music over, Spongebob “milks” the jellyfish onto a slice of bread.
Continue reading “JELLYFISH JAM”Batman Begins is an origin story that I remember really liking when it was released. Christian Bale brings a great physical presence to the character. Director Nolan treats the comic-book world with gritty realism.
What does this interpretation bring to a Batman Enneagram, and what are the constant characteristics for Batman across all iterations?
Here are the basic facts: a rich man devotes his time and resources on training as an uber-martial artist. This speaks to a level of obsession. He’s loyal to his family, including the butler. He’s not particularly romantic or social. No dogs! He’s mostly honest, and he’s not a killer.
So, our generic Batman is no Heart Type. He’s charitable, but he doesn’t really need people in an emotional sense. The odds are he’s a Body Type. Anyone can combat train, but his dedication speaks of a larger connection to the physical. He seeks conflict and doesn’t shy from aggression. I think we’re looking at an Eight.
Does Bale’s Batman deviate from that pattern?
Wayne’s anger leads him to the edge of society. At the start of the movie he’s in prison somewhere in the cold parts of Asia. He has no interest in or connection to socializing. Alfred has to drag him to a party. He has his loyal core team — Fox, Rachel, Gordon — and that’s it. The job of being Batman is everything.
He really sticks to the traditional Batman build.
He likes living in the middle of the heat. No flinching from the dirty work. Eight.
I can’t help myself. I must step into the Bitterblack DLC, just briefly, and experience the high-end fighting. Of course, I’ve cheated and taken two experienced pawns with me, so the danger is minimal. One of the monster-monsters shows himself long enough to intimidate us. Death is the trickiest boss in the game.
After this thrill, I return to the castle and turn in my completed Wyrm Hunt quest and take on the next. Investigate a cult, it says. Now I will dive into the Salvation mystery.
I’m told it’s a secret society that worships the dragon. They like the “perdition” it brings.
Mason has been asking questions about Salvation but no one will confide in him. As he says, he’s “cursed with a villain’s mien”.
He’s not. I have his screen grab as evidence.
It’s my job to investigate. After asking around, I learn that the “gathering” will have a “high officiant presiding” and will be held in the catacombs. If that sounds creepy, it’s because it is.
Preparing to leave Gran Soren I hear the town crier: “Can this Arisen slay the dragon as our Lord Grace did?” Duke Edmun continues to reveal his backstory via dropped asides.
Also, no pressure lol.
(Winter Solstice, Part 1)
This is another episode with two Enneagram paths, one for Aang and one for Zuko. I’ll approach them in the order of the show.
Also, even though this is a part one, it is a complete story. It should have all the pieces of an Enneagram. Will the overarching “Winter Solstice” two-parter have an Enneagram? We’ll see!
ONE (AANG)
The gang rides high on a flying Appa, wondering what fluffy clouds feel like.
TWO (AANG)
Down below they see that the land has a burn scar and fly down to investigate.
THREE (AANG)
Aang is deeply saddened. As the Avatar he’s supposed to protect nature. But how? No one can train him. If only he could talk to Roku, the previous Avatar.
Okay, let me unpack some of this.
Continue reading “The Spirit World”The second Wyrm Hunt quest involves helping The Faith survey an ancient ruin hidden behind a waterfall. Upon entering I am told by the pawns that this was once “a place of worship and training for clerics of the old gods.”
Apparently The Faith has supplanted or incorporated elements of an older religion? And this earlier, presumably more nature-based, worship knew about the dragon?
Don’t try to understand too much. Just go with it.
We find poor Brother Jean dead on the ground. And it becomes obvious what caused his demise.
The cyclops drops an orb (was it in his eye socket??) that unlocks a mysterious door. We drain the water in the lower levels, fight some skeletons, and recover five ancient texts.
These slates may have “revelations of vast importance”, which The Faith will decipher.
Someday maybe I’ll know what they said.
This John is played by Oscar Isaacs. So, John is a hottie now lol. During the movie John legitimately (rather than through trickery) becomes king after Richard’s death. His regency is not as important to this story. It’s his ultimate signing of the Magna Carta — his compact with the barons — that drives this John. We’re already in very different territory (historically and motivationally) from the classic of 1938.
John is volatile. When his queen advises him and he doesn’t like what she’s saying, he’s physically threatening and verbally abusive. Rains gave John a certain mustache-twirling villainy; Isaacs gives John something more realistic: unlimited power dictated by whim. No one, not even Hood, can stop him if he doesn’t want to be stopped.
This version’s King RIchard is no hero popping in at the end to save the realm, but he’s still a knight on Crusade and John still feels that baby-brother envy. I would say that Rains’ influence on the John portrayal is in effect. We will always have a Heart Type John, regardless of who he really was.
I want to say Three, though, rather than Four. This John, compared to Rains’, is harsher. Isn’t that funny? He doesn’t even try to have his brother murdered! He’s a man, though, who doesn’t like to hear “No”. He hates being thwarted, he hates being wrong, and he hates being held accountable. Meanwhile, he’s a handsome young king. Life is pretty golden for John. And the kingship lands in his lap.
I mean, c’mon. So Three.
Claude Rains is magnificent. He’s so beautifully oily and conniving. Has he set the tone for how John will be portrayed in all the films to follow?
In real life John was 33 when he was crowned. A grown man, was he as self-indulgent and childish as he’s portrayed? Did he machinate and plot his brother’s death? Whatever is true about John, Richard really was a warrior’s warrior, more interested in fighting than in staying home and ruling. Rains’ portrayal conveys some of the sense that being king is unglamorous and thankless. Everyone loves Richard, who’s not a great administrator. John, collecting taxes and running the country, is the villain.
Envy. This is what Rains works with. His John doesn’t just want to be king, he wants revenge against Richard on a personal level. Rains isn’t tall (as John wasn’t) but he’s playing a Four. It’s that sardonic temperament. He’s detached yet focused, hurt yet impervious. He’s winsome and deadly dangerous. Of the Heart Types, only a Four can embody such an interesting dichotomy.
Remember when Mason asked us to shadow Salvation’s spy as he left the castle? Well, I was near the gate at night when a cut scene took over. I pursued the quest, following a manly man in a blue cape.
I hate following someone in a game.
He did pause and look back. Hah — missed me. I did not have to start all the way back at the beginning of the trail. Eventually he knocks at the door of an abandoned house and we peep through the window.
It’s a shop owned by Madeleine. She seems to be passing him a scrap of paper, although it ends up in her cleavage for a moment. He rebuffs her overt advances, leaves, and the sneaking is over. I report my finding to Mason’s agent — A Knight is the spy — and that’s it for now.