Notorious Shipper

Okay, resident mythology nerd has to chime in on the forthcoming cinematic interpretation.

I will dispense with the surface-level arguments against certain casting choices for the central figure of the Iliad narrative - Helen of Sparta - because my objections to the actress cast in the role are not based on appearance.

1. Helen, at the time of the Judgment of Paris, was Queen of Sparta and had anywhere from 1-3 children with Menelaus - her daughter, Hermoine, was definitely born, it is uncertain whether her sons with her husband were born before or after.

- Point is, Aphrodite - the Goddess of Beauty - determined that the "most beautiful woman in the world" was a "hot mama".

- Thus far, the only actress to play Helen in a tv/movie production who was a mother by the time of the role was Rossana Podestà in the 1956 "Helen of Troy" movie.

2. Helen and her brothers were demigods, as they were children of Zeus (as a Swan) and their mother Leda - though there is some debate as to the nature of Zeus' relations with mortal women, for some accounts hold that there weren't physical unions but rather "blessings" which instilled divine nature upon the unborn children - but that's a conversation for another time.

Point is - Helen and her brothers were demigods, and according to Roman versions of Greek myths, Helen was as strong and as fast as her brothers.

- Given that Helen was Spartan, and Spartan women were expected to be physically active and strong, with the mindset that strong women = strong children = strong warriors - Helen was therefore a (for lack of a better term) "Muscle Mommy".

- None of the actresses who have played Helen live up to this "VERY IMPORTANT" characteristic.

That is all... sorry for wasting your time.

I have been actively writing my first novel for three months now, and I still get the "this is horrible" "you're not good enough" "nobody is going to read this" and "you're a fraud/plagiarist" thoughts - but not as often that I used to.

I've reached chapter 29/32 planned on this novel's first draft (yes, I'm a planner, not a pantser) and honestly I've noted that I have been more positive towards others and myself. Sure I still have the usual challenges of mental/physical/spiritual health - but I am optimistic, I am trending upward. I have been more patient with my failings and setbacks.

So even if my dreams of this novel being a success don't come true - I feel that I can keep moving forward with this version of myself.

...on a facetime call with my nephew (13) and he asks me how things are going and I tell him about the book I'm writing and as I attempt to describe the foundational elements of the story he gets that "dead look" upon his face which is typical of the age. And part of me knows that I probably just did a bad job of explaining my book, but another part of me thinks that it is going to be impossible to market this novel to the younger generations as they have no cultural point of reference to what my novel is about.

3 weeks, 35,000 words, 9 + 1/3 chapters, splitting chapters, rewrites, edits, planning new outlines, research, more research, fits of depression, crying over stuff I haven't written yet, crying over intrusive thoughts telling me I'll never get it on the page as beautifully as I have it in my head, letting my depression and imposter syndrome fight over which one gets to wear me down and crawling across the floor of my subconscious so I can write in peace while they take up the majority of my headspace....

When you're a 40-year old, pacific northwest man writing a chapter featuring a coming of age party for a 16-year old girl in 18th Century Andalusia Spain and you're looking at teenage girl blogs to get the right mindset.

When you like the bad girls, not in a "I can fix them" sort of way, but in a "I see nothing wrong with them" way.

No, seriously. You have no idea how much I love Cima Garahau.

This - this right here. I hate this. It's one thing to playfully slug the upper-shoulder area in reply to a verbal ribbing/jab. But a full on gut punch is out of bounds. Now we can talk about the nature of healthy communication and boundaries - but responding to verbal abuse with physical violence is no good. This is a very bad example, which only gets weirder since the trailer starts in a group therapy session.

Physical and Verbal abuse are not okay, and playing this as a comedic moment in a trailer is bad broadcasting, and I'm sure in the movie it'll all work out in the end and everyone will wind up a better animal but nothing will actually change because they were always perfect and it's about seeing the other person's point of view that matters... or some rubbish like that.

I was talking with a friend of mine, who is a proponent of AI-generated art, text, and code. For my part, I find most AI generations to be really bad, bordering on offensive - the fact that these programs are getting more advanced makes me all the more resolved to never rely on them for any of my own creative projects.

But the Studio Ghibli/Hayao Miyazaki Ai generations got me down a strange rabbit hole of thought. In the days when these programs become sophisticated enough that they can frame-by-frame recreate entire movies in that style - what movie would be the most distressing to see done in a Studio Ghibli style?

The ones that came off the top of my head were: - The Deer Hunter (1978) - Dances With Wolves (1990) - RRR (2022) - Excalibur (1981) - A Night at the Opera (1935)

After that Sabertooth does not show up to the bar on Wolverine's birthday, but Squirrel Girl does and she even has a cute little cake and everything and Logan is just sitting there in shock because he can still smell Victor's blood on her but she's all sunshine and smiles.