What Every Fairy Tale Needs

Three of the greatest villains ever created.

Three entirely different characters.

What makes them all so amazing?

So different?

So evil?

Or in some cases, so sympathetic?

Moriarty, Loki, and Sauron are three popular examples of what I like to think of as the three main villain archetypes.

First of all, we've got Moriarty.

Moriarty just wants to have fun.

He doesn't have a specific goal in mind. He doesn't want to take over the world, even though he could, in a heartbeat.

Some would call him crazy.

I suppose you could say that.

But he's not. Not really.

He's perfectly capable of having a nice cup of tea with his archnemesis.

Perhaps that's what makes him so terrifying.

He's perfectly mild, perfectly calm, perfectly reasonable.

One  minute, he's calm. Almost friendly. Greeting you like an old friend.

The next, he's...

Well...

Next up, we've got Loki.

Loki is the sympathetic villain.

Sometimes, he's even a hero.

How does that work? How can he be villain one moment, hero the next?

Well, unlike Moriarty, he's got motivation.

He isn't just doing this for fun.

He wants the approval of his father.

He's been hurt. Ignored because of his Frost Giant lineage.

But he doesn't go about it the right way. He makes a bad choice, the same as we all do.

Perhaps that's what makes this archetype so powerful.

None of these villains are necessarily "evil". They make bad choices, and suffer the consequences.

Finally, for Sauron.

Sauron is the Old Fashioned Villain. 

The fairy tale villain.

He's just plain evil. He wants to destroy Middle Earth and take it for himself.

So he creates an all powerful weapon, a tool to achieve his goals.

But the Old Fashioned Villain doesn't function very well on his (or her) own, except in fairy tales and bedtime stories.

That's what makes the Ring so important.

An Old Fashioned Villain doesn't provide the depth that every good story needs.

The Ring gives Sauron the motivation he needs; it provides an extra layer to to book that Sauron himself cannot provide.

Goats

The Neptune Project Book Review

Yay! I finally got around to a trip to the library this weekend and ended up checking out 28 books. Decisions, decisions. So, for my first review, The Neptune Project, by Polly Holyoke.

First, I'm unsure as to why this book doesn't have a fandom yet. Okay, okay, it just came out last year, but it's utterly amazing.

So. Quick summary.

*Spoiler Alert*

Nere grew up in a small coastal city in California. She suffered from asthma and bad eyesight (One of the reasons I loved her as a character, but more on that later) but also had the gift of powerful telepathy, which she inherited from her mother. The Neptune Project takes place in a dystopian society hundreds of years in the future (More on that, too). Human societies are dying, but a group of brilliant scientists have found a way to save it. Nere's mother, along with several other genetic scientists and marine biologists across the west coast, have genetically engineered their children to survive underwater.

Now. First of all. Nere, Nere, Nere. One of my new favorite characters.

First of all, in her mind, dolphins and animals are no less important than humans. They deserve the same respect and compassion that you would give a sibling or friend.

Second. She puts survival first. She's in the middle of a love triangle, but why let that stop her? Unlike certain other female protagonists (*coughcoughKatnisscoughcough*), when she's stuck in a life or death situation, Nere doesn't wait around and worry about her boyfriend. She's got friends to take care of, first and foremost. She's also socially awkward, and doesn't exactly know how to respond when straightforward Dai begins to flirt with her.

Third, I like to believe that the fact that I have asthma is simply due to me being part fish.

Alright. Now on the beautiful world building.

There aren't paragraphs and paragraphs of description on this futuristic society. It's just there, yet it's completely believable. Polly Holyoke certainly knows what she's doing when it comes to creating realistic future societies.

So, that's about it for tonight- I've got to go.

Rating: 9/10

Way to Go, Marvel!

I love superheroes as much as the next girl. Possibly even more. But I must say, it gets a bit annoying when you have to slog through pictures like



or even



to find just a single decent, modestly dressed, somewhat realistic rendering of your favorite characters. I'd love to be able to find a good role model in the Marvel universe, but its tremendously hard to do when the majority of the female characters are under dressed Mary-Sues. I mean, so far we've had two main personality types. I mean, we've got two main personality types among the Marvel women.

Hot headed, independent, with a single soft spot for this one guy and a fair bit of cleavage, like the Black Widow




or even worse, wimpy and overall annoying. Like Mary Jane Watson.



Of course, she can have a fair bit of cleavage too.

Marvel has no shortage of realistic characters, but unfortunately the majority of them are men.

That's why I was so happy when I found out about the 'Characters and Creators' program, though Pintrest. Marvel is aiming to create more representation for their female characters, including a focus on the female X-Men, plus solo comic books for She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel, and more. Sweet!

The new Ms. Marvel, to be frank, seems utterly amazing. A sensibly dressed, Muslim heroine will throw a wrench in the traditional rut and bring a whole lot more diversity into the universe.



Now, to clear things up a bit. I've got no problem with a few exposed midriffs, or even the occasional Emma Frost type. But when I'm looking at, say, Storm, in a similar outfit, it gets annoying. I understand if the costume fits the character, but if it doesn't, I don't.

With the changes Marvel is going to make, I'll hopefully be able to empathize with a few more characters, and have more fun enjoying plain old superhero awesomeness at the same time. So thank you, Marvel.

Photo Editing

The Original



After Editing on Pixlr

Photography

One of our beautiful chickens, Skywalker. 

A picture of the leaves on our banana tree. I like the textures in this one.

Some of the books on my bookshelf.

Another chicken pic, still Skywalker...

And another! This one is Spirit. It turned out quite a bit blurrier than I would have liked.

A lemon on our lemon tree.

A wood heart... I really like the color in this one.

A windchime hanging on our lemon tree.

Looking out of a hole in our fence... it looks a bit like fairyland, so I made the colors a bit more vibrant.

A parasol hanging on my bedroom ceiling. I like how the angles and shadows.

Wings of Fire: The Dark Secret Book Review

So. I promised you all a few more book reviews, and look! Here's one now.



*Spoiler alert!*

So, this series is quite a bit below my reading level, but I still enjoy it. I mean, dragons, prophecies, and warring rival queens... What's not to like?

First of all, I must say, I loved this book.

Number one, it changed the focus of the series. Instead of focusing on the battles, it focused on revealing more about Starflight and Sunny's characters, which really needed to have a bit more focus on them- the romance between the two is adorable, but it doesn't really work up until now because there was very little characterization. Starflight is the smart one, and Sunny is the sweet one. Up until now, the series never really went further than that.

Number two, it revolved around secrets and lies- perfect for a book mainly about the mysterious NightWings.

Third... Man, that was a major plot twist! Morrowseer made up the prophecy himself to create a powerful bargaining chip in the war, so that the NightWings could get a new, less dangerous territory.

Fourth, I was glad to learn a little more about quite a few characters other than Starflight and Sunny. Deathbringer isn't just an assassin- he's a rebel. Blaze is being manipulated by Queen Glacier, so she definitely isn't a good choice for a queen.

Overall, I'm going to give this book a 8/10.