englishlotusflower

[englishlotusflower]

The problem with Victor Frankenstein isn't that he's not as smart as he thinks he is. The problem with Victor Frankenstein is that he's exactly as smart as he thinks he is in one very specific area, and he just expects that to automatically translate to every other area of his life and is taken completely by surprise every single time it doesn't.

[englishlotusflower]

[englishlotusflower]

dune has the best women characters because there's no fake girl power hand-holding trying to over-justify their unethical decisions or make them badass. instead they're all mask-off cringe fail bioengineers and deranged cult leaders, in some cases before they're even born

[englishlotusflower]

-Medusa-

I've had this sitting around as a sketch for awhile, finally had time to finish it! Hoping to do more mythology illustration this year.

[englishlotusflower]

"Luke Skywalker isn’t like the old Jedi. He saves Vader with his attachments!”

Wrong!

Luke Skywalker, at the end of Return of the Jedi, after his confrontation with the Emperor drags Darth Vader through the destructing Death Star. He’s desperate, knuckles white under the heavy weight of his father’s body, a little boy dragging his dad to safety. He sets Vader down for a moment, to catch his breath or maybe to get a better grip. He goes to grab Vader again, but Vader, uncomfortable and in pain, asks Luke to take off the mask. He wants to see Luke through his eyes instead of the eyes Palpatine built for him. Luke refuses, says that removing the mask is a sure way for Vader to die. Luke doesn’t want Vader dead, he wants Vader alive. Not to hold him accountable for his many evil acts, but for the same reason why Luke Skywalker can’t kill Darth Vader; Vader is his father and Luke loves him.

And yet, after a moment, Luke removes Vader’s mask. He doesn’t want to, he hesitates, but he removes the mask with enough slowness to allow Vader to take it back. In that moment, Luke sets aside his desire for Vader in his life, sets aside his desire to see him live, and sets aside his entire mission, the reason he was even on the Death Star in the place. In his compassion for his father, Luke stays with Vader until he dies. It is this moment where we see him be the best damn Jedi he can be. I’d even argue that this moment is the greatest example of non-attached love we see. Because Luke lets Vader go! He lets his father die, and in some ways, by removing the mask, he too kills Vader, he stays with him until his last moment, gives him the kindness of granting his last wish and finally chooses Vader.

And Luke doesn’t have to do this. If Luke Skywalker’s love for his father was an attachment, he would ignore Vader and continue dragging him to the escape pod, put his desire for a father as his central focus and ignore Vader’s wants and discomfort. Maybe he would even save him. But he doesn’t. Instead, he watches as Vader dies.

He builds a Jedi burial for his father and watches it burn the remnants of Vader and Anakin Skywalker away. He mourns Vader, he mourns what they could’ve had as father and son, considers what ifs and maybe-if-I-did-this. Vader/ Anakin is released from his mortal body, from his ‘crude matter’ and Luke lets him go. He says one final goodbye to Anakin. Then, he joins Leia, Han, Chewie, Lando, and the rest of the Rebels and celebrates their victory. He lives in the present and celebrates what he has instead of what he lost.

Luke Skywalker is THE Jedi. Everything about Luke Skywalker serves as the foundational cornerstone of the Jedi, everything about the Jedi as a culture and philosophy is reflected in his character. Luke’s desire for the New Jedi Order isn’t to throw away the values of the old Order, but to vitalise them, breathe life back into dying lungs, and rebuild a path that people set out on their way to destroy. (Yes, his Order is different from the Old, but that’s because it has to be. He doesn’t have the resources or the safety of the Old Order.) The philosophies of the Jedi are difficult and they aren’t for everyone, and like the perfect Jedi that Luke is, he struggles and stumbles and sometimes he even rejects it. But, no matter how far he falls, it is a way of life he chooses again and again and again. It is a way of life that welcomes him back each time

[englishlotusflower]

This is EXACTLY why Bucky Barnes is my favorite character and it brings me so much joy to finally see a little bit of it on screen.

[englishlotusflower]

This is EXACTLY why Bucky Barnes is my favorite character and it brings me so much joy to finally see a little bit of it on screen.

[englishlotusflower]

This is EXACTLY why Bucky Barnes is my favorite character and it brings me so much joy to finally see a little bit of it on screen.

[englishlotusflower]

This is EXACTLY why Bucky Barnes is my favorite character and it brings me so much joy to finally see a little bit of it on screen.

[englishlotusflower]

Ulmo, in his elaborate matchmaking effort to make sure Earendil was born, looked at Tuor and Idril and said "THIS SHIP WILL SAIL AND NEVER SINK" and then personally made sure of that, sending Earrame straight to Valinor and getting Tuor immortality so he and Idril could stay together forever.

Ulmo, despite being single, and besides from being the Lord of Waters, is also the Lord of Ships, in more ways than one.

[englishlotusflower]

God I’m just thinking. And ugh, the Jedi’s martial arts must have been amazing. They had seven distinct styles, passed down over a thousand generations, by uncountable lineages.

Every lineage must have had their own katas, their own training methods and distinct variations on the forms. There were probably inter-lineage feuds on what type of sparring they taught, variations on specific katas, which techniques were acceptable in sparring, anything. You KNOW those High Republic Outpost Jedi must have created new styles that were gradually subsumed into the 7 forms.

What would a Jedi Tournament have looked like? Were there ones for specific forms, like Soresu-only competitions? Did they have some kind of point sparring? Was there an endurance/blocking division? How would they have measured Force abilities in a tournament setting? How did they score?

In conclusion, SHOW ME THE SECRET JEDI MARTIAL ARTS LORE LUCASFILM

[englishlotusflower]

Dramatic ass vampires: oh woe! I cannot go in the daylight or I shall burn! Tis my curse!

Spike: *running around with a blanket cape* i have shit to do fuck the bloody sun *flips the bird to the sun before sizzling*

[englishlotusflower]

Vampires today aren’t as bloodthirsty as they were centuries ago because the average modern human provides more nourishment than 5 sickly Victorian chimney sweepers combined. Woman who eats 3 square meals a day with dessert: are you okay? The vampire who bit her:

[englishlotusflower]

JEDI YOUNGLING ROBES

Jedi younglings had two outfit variations - long and short robes with trousers. All costume pieces were interchangeable between genders.

“I made sure that we didn't ever see two people who looked the same…because they're all individual people, from different places and different cultures and all with different builds and bodies. I think it’s much more visually interesting.” -Trisha Biggar, Prequels Costume Designer

[englishlotusflower]

Yoda’s teaching on emotions in Episode V is simple and explicit: do not draw your strength from anger, fear and aggression, because they energize you easily and quickly, but they also kick you out of the driver’s seat and they will lead you to a place where you’re doing evil things, like Darth Vader. If you give in to them once, that will leave a permanent mark around which your future will unfold. In order to discern the currents of strength that are the energies of anger, fear and aggression within you, bring yourself into a peaceful, calm and non-reactive, i.e. passive state. This is what Luke fails to do in the cave, when he faces with his own fear, anger and aggression in the form of Darth Vader. And this is what he becomes a master of in Episode VI, when he manages not to give in to his dark parts, and choose compassion, selflessness, kindness and hope instead of fear, anger, aggression and hatred, and becomes a Jedi Knight. He faced Darth Vader - both within and without - and truly won the fight.

[englishlotusflower]

Shirt that says REJECTING ONE INCORRECTLY BLACK AND WHITE VIEW OF HISTORY FOR ANOTHER IS NOT PROGRESS

[englishlotusflower]

Iphigenia, gardening: Hey, can you bring me a hoe? Clytemnestra: Yeah, sure. *A few minutes later* Clytemnestra: Here you go. Iphigenia: Clytemnestra: Agamemnon: Why am I here?