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sandersgrey · 3 years

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Juno Steel and Sam Vimes are the same person

Well, no. Not actually. That's what I want to talk about.

They do have a lot of similarities: both have an intense relationship with their city, which they understand to be corrupted down to its core but which they nevertheless couldn't see themselves leaving even after it repeatedly almost killed them; both were raised (a generous word when applied to Sarah, but still) by their mothers with no input from a father; both are or had been cops in a failing, corrupted system; both have a moral core of, if you'll forgive the wordplay, steel, to the point where their moral outrage is seen as a defining trait; both are very smart, but tend to rush in; both have had symbolic eye injuries at one point; both were manipulated by the ruler of their city.

Same person, except their arcs end in incredibly different places, don't they? Why is that?

That's because The Penumbra Podcast and The Watch have different themes at their core.

Let's tackle their arcs individually, shall we? Spoiler alert.

We meet Sam Vimes at the absolute bottom, in a ditch, raving about Ankh-Morpork in a monologue that is similar in meaning, if not in articulation, to Juno's monologues about Hyperion City. He's an alcoholic. The Watch is a joke and has next to no actual power, consisting of only Sam, Nobby, and Colon. Their fourth man's funeral had just happened.

Yet, at the end of The Watch series, Sam Vimes is the richest man in the city, a Duke, with a loving wife and a son, extremely respected and having reformed the Watch to a point where it is efficient and the most diverse organization in the city. The cops he trained are in high demand in the country and are called sammies. He has shaken hands with kings and is highly respected by the Patrician.

How did he get there?

That's where The Watch's theme comes in: Sam Vimes is a very smart man, but he's only ever able to make actual change in the city due to the support and help of other people. In Guards! Guards!, those people are able to be counted in one hand, but some of them are also powerful: Sybil is the richest woman in the city, and one of the noblest; Vetinari, who impeded Vimes' investigation at first, ends up helping him out of the dungeon and rewarding the Watch at the end of the book; Carrot is the king by all rights, except for the fact that he doesn't want to be. Vimes'd go spare.

They are just people. But they're people who, at least at times, actively try to make the city better. And Vimes' support only grows with time.

Powerful people listen to Vimes. Most of them are even trying to do good independently of him, to make things better one step at a time. Goodness is something that is built slowly in places like Ankh-Morpork.

Sam Vimes tries, again and again, to do things on his own, only to be thwarted when people keep going with him. This isn't just his fight. He only gets to grow when relying on other people.

And he does grow. He stops drinking, and finds purpose in reforming the Watch with Carrot and Sybil's help, and then with the help of a dozen other people. He unlearns his prejudice.

There is a case to be made that, in staying in Ankh-Morpork and dedicating so much of himself to it, to the point where it more than once endangers his family, Sam never gets to stop overworking himself. He doesn't know how to take a holiday or a break. He canonically leaves Sybil alone for longer than she'd like.

It's impossible to imagine Sam Vimes retiring out of his own free will. That is not a good thing.

But, on the whole, he's in a much better place than at the beginning- and not only him, but the city; and not only the city, but the world. The Watch is a love letter to collectivism, even if it doesn't seem like that at times.

It says if enough people get up and do the job that's in front of them, the world gets better for it.

That is not the core of The Penumbra Podcast.

Now that we've seen what happens to Vimes, it's pretty easy to spot the difference when it comes to Juno's arc. While The Watch believes in organizations and communities, the junoverse believes in families and friends. While it does touch on the whole, it puts its faith on those small human connections.

Hyperion doesn't get better because a lot of people decide to work hard on it. Hyperion gets better because of a manipulator who could have ended humanity as we understand it and who believed Good meant taking people's lives off their hands. The result is almost collateral to Ramses' plan. And that's what drives Juno off world.

We don't actually see Juno at his worse. We know he drinks, that he's depressed and passively suicidal, that he drives almost everyone away, but his time in ditches is only referred to. When we meet him, Juno is mostly functional.

While Vimes' Watch was powerless, the police force in junoverse is very much powerful, if intensely corrupt, which is why Juno couldn't stay as a cop and still be a likable protagonist.

Whille powerful people do help him, it's often in their own interest: Vicky wants him to solve a case for her; Ramses wants him to assuage his guilt. Most often, the people who do help him with little to no ulterior motive are Rita, who's an incredible hacker, but in no way powerful beyond that as far as we know; Peter Nureyev, who does not want a whole planet to be wiped but really doesn't want to stay and work on its other problems; and Jet and Buddy, who do have the ulterior motive of wanting him to work for them but deserve a honorable mention for actually coming to care about him as a person later on.

Juno is not a person to Ramses. He's a tool, and a moral compass Ramses refuses to actually look at, and a victim he feels the need to recompense.

Is it any wonder, then, that Juno's arc leads him off Hyperion? That his epiphany is that he cannot, should not, pour himself into the city until it drains him dry? (There can be some symbolism in the test of generosity, if you look.) Juno grows by prioritizing himself and the people he cares about (Rita, at that point it's mostly Rita) above the city that has given him nothing.

Neither narrative is worth more or less than the other. Stay and help- a purpose can give you reason to work on yourself, and it is possible to make things better and Go, make sure you won't die here, the only reason you need is that other people care about you, and that you can learn to care about yourself are both very important messages.

Junoverse is far from over, though. Who knows what it will say when everything done with?

#alex wont shut up #discworld #the penumbra podcast #tpp #juno steel #sam vimes #meta #junoverse #this is a post for an audience of one

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letsbenditlikebennett · 4 years

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Beyond the Veil || Solo Scene

TIMING: Current SUMMARY: Ariana digs into Lydia’s subreddit as she tries to figure out how she’s going to save Ace (aka Sammy aka Lydia’s human)

It’d been three nights since she had last seen Ace. She’d gone back to their spot every night since, hoping against all reason that he’d be there again. Ariana had been so weary in letting him leave in the first place, but she knew there was no stopping him. Whatever hold Lydia had on him was strong and there was no saving him until she could figure out how to break that. It left her heart aching no matter how busy she tried to keep herself. Nothing could take away the lingering feeling of worry that she simply couldn’t shake. Well, nothing outside of seeing and holding him in her arms again. Some sort of tangible proof that he was alive and healthy for the moment. That she hadn’t waited too long.

She paced around their spot for a few hours before she let out a defeated sigh and made her way back to the trailer. Night after night of little to no sleep was catching up with her, but her mind couldn’t relax. Now was as good a time as any to dive into that subreddit that Ace had mentioned. Hopefully it would be more enlightening than the books she read. As she paused her steps to tiredly rub her eyes, she knew a whole pot of coffee would be necessary to get through all the digging she’d likely need to do. After all, she promised him she’d save him. She promised him everything would be okay. These were promises that she was determined to keep because the alternative was far too grim to even think of.

Once she quietly let herself back inside the trailer, she brewed some coffee and set herself up with her laptop at the table. A glance at the clock told her it was one in the morning as she dove headfirst into Lydia’s section on subreddit. Prior to learning that Lydia had Ace, she hadn’t really cared to learn all that much about her. She was cordial enough when she joined that soccer game with Simon, but she seemed a little uppity for Ariana’s taste. Now every bone in her body felt rage just thinking of what she may be doing to Ace. As far as Ariana was concerned, it didn’t matter what Lydia was. Ace deserved better.

She found herself in an endless loop of scrolling. The photos from the 1970s caught her attention. She only looked a few years younger than she did now and that was nearly 50 years ago. That definitely took human out of the equation, though she’d been sure she was fae for a while now. The article showing that photo said her name was Vicky Andrews and she was on the set of some old Hollywood film that Ariana had never heard of. She squinted, looking it over as closely as possible. The photo was blurry, but that was definitely Lydia. The thread went into a debate that quickly shut down, but she found that hardly mattered. This subreddit was mostly humans who wouldn’t even be able to understand how that was possible. She scribbled down the name Vicky Andrews. If that other book was right, finding her true name could give Ari a huge advantage.

Several other names were thrown around from Allison Jacobs and Sarah Baker. Both were connected to other forms of art. Allison being a renowned poet and Sarah being a skilled painter. She remembered some of the books referring to the Leanan-sidhe as some sort of muse that usually drained artists somehow. Ace being an artist would check out. He always vaguely smelled of clay. The small smile on her face remembering his comforting scent quickly faded when she realized what that could mean. No, it had to be something else. No one could possibly be doing that to Ace. Not Ace. How could anyone look at him and want to hurt him? All she had ever seen from him was kindness and laughter. Even when he was upset with her, he was never cruel. The idea of him slowly just fading away made her stomach turn. “Fuck,” she whispered under her breath.

As she continued scrolling through the subreddit, she occasionally jotted down new discoveries about Lydia and when she released certain books. Any other aliases were also written down, she’d try them all to see if it gave her any sort of power over Lydia. She glanced back at the clock and saw it read three in the morning. She grumbled. She was definitely going to be in rough shape at soccer camp tomorrow and opted to just pull an all nighter. This time she searched displays at current galleries. She didn’t find anything pottery related as much as she hoped she would. He’d never explicitly told her he did pottery, but she could figure out as much based on the way he always smelled of clay. Part of her longed to see some of his work. See something more personal to him. See some of the parts of himself he wasn’t free to share. She’d found some that were sold to local businesses that Lydia’s name seem to be very vaguely connected with. The one that spoke to her most had vaguely moon-like designs across it. Thinking it could possibly be something Ace made only stung.

She was a leanan-sidhe. She had to be. He was an artist and she was his “amazing” muse. The thought of the word amazing describing Lydia as amazing only caused her to dramatically roll her heavy eyes. She poured herself another mug of coffee and cupped it carefully. What exactly did that mean for Sammy? She had only the vaguest of notions what being a leanan-sidhe meant. Some books called them some type of succubus. Others called them muses. The more disturbing ones said they kept the bodies of their victims to keep them looking young. She slammed the lid to her laptop down. No. No no no. Absolutely not. Ace wouldn’t become a body. She’d go to a real source. She’d figure this out and he’d be free to live his life.

Maybe he’d even stay. She’d be lying if sometimes her mind didn’t drift to a daydream of them working side by side on their crafts every time she smelled him. Her mind could so easily smell the clay and sawdust filling the air. It was a good dream and the only way it could come true was if she managed to somehow break him free from Lydia. Her heart was thudding quickly in her chest, worry filling her, but the click of a door open broke her away from her thoughts. She quickly wiped her eyes, unsure of when tears even began to fill them, and flipped the pages in her notebook. No need to get Layla or Ulf involved in this. Not yet, anyhow.

#wickedswriting #sammy #ace #lydia #beyond the veil

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creativity-is-rebellion · 4 years

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Top 10 Favourite Movies I Have Seen (So Far)

How to Make an American Quilt (1994)

I’m not sure exactly why, but I have always had a thing for intergenerational movies that go back and forth in time, which I think that this movie does superbly. You get to know each of the character’s backstories, and it is also a coming-of-age film where the main protagonist must choose a path and be happy with the one she goes down. This was a film I would watch again and again as a teenager when I was sad (movie marathons were always the cure for my blues back then). More recently, there are other reasons why this movie appeals to me; I can relate to Finn’s thesis-writing (I know it’s frustrating and easy to distract yourself from), and I can also relate with her dilemma in choosing what kind of future she will have. Also, Winona Ryder can do no wrong. Winona forever.

The Joy Luck Club (1993)

Another intergenerational film, I think it does a great job of juxtaposing the difference between parents who immigrate to another country and their children who do not really understand the sacrifices they have made to actually get there, which can cause rifts and divides. It does this specifically with the Chinese culture in mind, which is fascinating in its own right, and quite different to the US, which is where they immigrate to. The daughters who try to understand their mothers are able to bridge the divide when they are able to empathise with where their parents are coming from, by the parents telling them tales of their origins. My favourite character is hands-down Ying-Ying St. Clair, whose backstory is definitely the most tragic. In China, Ying-Ying was happily married to Lin-Xiao (Russell Wong) with a baby boy in China until Lin-Xiao abuses her and abandons her for an opera singer. Overwhelmed by her depression, Ying-Ying begins to dissociate and accidentally drowns their baby son in the bathtub during one of these episodes, which haunts her ever afterwards. Years later, she has emigrated to America and suffers from trauma of her past, worrying her new family, including her daughter Lena. When she is able to get Lena find her voice and to leave her own abusive husband, Harold. I have nothing but love for this film, which breathes life into Amy Tan’s equally beautiful novel. This film adaptation does the novel proud; It’s well-acted, well-told, and simply just heart-warming.

Sinister (2008)

I love myself a good horror movie, and Sinister flips the script by starting out as a crime mystery before going bananas and introducing Mr. Boogie (or Bughuul), a pagan demon who manipulates the lives of children, having them kill their families, until he can consume the child's soul. Ethan Hawke, who both directs and stars in this film, does a phenomenal acting job as washed-up crime author Ellison Oswalt, who moves his family into one of the homes which was the scene of one of the ‘crimes’, where a whole family has been massacred and one child is missing. It isn’t long until he finds a bunch of 8mm tapes in the attic, which represent the equivalent of snuff films, detailing previous family massacres occurring elsewhere. Seriously, some of these 8mm tapes are both difficult but strangely thrilling to watch, due to their haunting quality. It takes him a while before he becomes aware of Bughuul, who he discovers hiding in the corner of one of the tapes, and who he is able to get to know about with the help of a rookie cop and a professor. The ending is also a delicious twist, and indicates the inevitability of not being able to escape evil. Seriously, it’s a must-watch, as it breathes rare new life into the tired horror genre.

Insidious, Chapter One (2010)

Another worthy 21st century horror addition, the Insidious franchise (especially the first film) delivers some great twists, and creates a rich universe way beyond any ordinary haunted house or child-plagued-by-demon trope, by introducing some genuinely scary characters (The Lipstick Demon, Doll Girl, and the Bride in Black, anyone?!), and also introducing The Further, a dark and timeless astral world filled with tortured dead souls and nightmarish spirits. I love the twist that the end of this movie delivers, and also the appropriate jump-scares throughout. It is yet another horror movie that breathes life into a somewhat tired genre. 10/10, I highly recommend this movie, even if The Lipstick Demon looks kinda like Darth Maul, lol.

Reality Bites (1994)

Although it’s kind of aged badly, due to advancing technology, this movie was one of the first to introduce the idea of reality television, whilst also capturing the zeitgeist of Generation X, with it’s rather nihilist message about life after college, and the trials and tribulations of growing up. Some of the characters (especially Lelaina and Troy) are self-indulgent, immature, intellectually snobby and navel-gazing, but you root for Lelaina to succeed because she is played with enough sympathy by the amazing and incomparable Winona Ryder that we believe she deserves better. This is one of the reasons I hate that she ends up with Troy, even if he is the broody bad boy we are all expected to swoon over. Seriously, he treats Lelaina so badly that I just want to punch him in the face. It also has some great side characters, like Vicky, who works at The Gap, but is scared to find a real job, and Sammy, who is gay and afraid that he may have HIV. It is also relatable for me as a Millenial who graduated from university when the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) hit, making it complicated to find a good job, mirroring the recession that these characters graduated into. I love that it talks about pivotal Generation X issues, as well as universal issues that encompass growing up and moving into adulthood. Also, again, Winona forever.

Candyman (1992)

Candyman is a horror film that subverts horror movie expectations whilst still managing to deliver some great scares. Being set in the long-gone notorious Chicago housing projects Cabrini Green, a name synonymous with vice, violence and murder, and a place which instils non-supernatural horror in an individual all on its own, tells the story of thesis student Helen, who is researching urban legends, and through her participants, she learns the story of Candyman, a vengeful rendition of the classic Bloody Mary, who will split you from groin to gullet with his hook for a hand if you say his name five times in the mirror.

The people who recount this legend go on to recount a notorious murder that has taken place recently in Cabrini Green which has been attributed to Candyman, and Helen chooses to investigate the claim. Helen rationalises that the residents of Cabrini Green use the legend of Candy Man to cope with their stressful daily lives. Before visiting Cabrini Green, Helen and her research associate decide to test the theory by saying ‘Candy Man’ five times in a mirror, but nothing happens, at least not yet. In real life, the murder rate in Cabrini Green peaked in 1992, the same year that Candy Man was made. Candy Man himself (played with great aplomb by the legendary Tony Todd) doesn’t show up until around 44 minutes into the movie, but when he does, he steals the show with his dangerous charisma.

In total, Candy Man subverts 3 horror rules: Number one, that you need to have a high body count to keep audiences engaged. By doing so, it stretches out the tension for as long as it can. Number two, there is a Black antagonist. There were some issues addressed by Black critics that this depiction played into some racist stereotypes, such as the idea that Black people need a White saviour, that Black people are especially superstitious, and that Black men prefer to pursue White women. But one could say that Candy Man is more a depiction of the White fears associated with Black poverty, and specifically, White Liberal fears that Black poverty can’t be helped, despite their best efforts. Helen doesn’t mean any harm (some may even call her an ally), yet she dies anyway.

By making the antagonist Black, the film becomes about so much more than just visceral horror, it is about societal, racial and historical horror as well, albeit told from a White perspective. It also plays into the fear that Black people, through no fault of their own, could be killed for no reason at all but panicky neighbours. Finally, number three, this film is more sad than scary; sadness tends to be the most common negative emotion that I experience, so I am drawn to movies that have something to say about it. The only reason Candy Man gives for wanting to kill Helen is that she demystified him, which seems pretty petty and vindictive. She is also supposed to resemble his long-lost love that got him killed in the first place. When Candy Man kills the psychiatrist in the movie, it is literally the only on-screen proof we have that Candy Man isn’t just a figment of Helen’s imagination. Candy Man, like my most favourite horror film, The Shining, begs the question: Are there really supernatural elements at play here, or is the main character simply going insane? Phew, this was more than I planned to write, but I guess this film is complex enough to warrant it. See it for yourself.

Final Destination (2000)

As time wore on, the Final Destination franchise became more well-known for its gruesome deaths (and tired plot) than anything else, but the first addition was a fresh take on the inescapability of death, and the vengance Death Itself may take if you screw with his Design. The first 15 minutes of the film are truly thrilling through the main character Alex’s premonition, and the wait after the gang have been kicked off the airline for the plane to blow up without them on board. Seriously, that scene gave me aerophobia more than any Air Crash Investigation episode. What follows are some truly twisted, macabre domino-like deaths that prove that Death has a wicked, dark sense of humour. That every character in this franchise dies eventually is kind of disappointing, and definitely places Death in this franchise as possibly the most diabolical villain in all of the horror genre (move over, Jason and Michael and Freddy). The mysterious undertaker played with delightful maliciousness again by Tony Todd adds to the mystery of understanding Death’s Design. and the reality that no matter what the survivors do, Death will eventually come for them, really adds to the overall hopelessness and nihilism of the whole situation. The way that the last film of the Final Destination franchise, which is really a prequel to the first film, rounded out the franchise really well, and provided a twist as good as the original film was epic. If you are going to watch any of the films in this franchise, I cannot recommend the first and last film enough.

Now and Then (1996)

I love this film more for the cheesy, feel-good memories of my childhood it gives me. Christina Ricci is also one of my all-time favourite actresses (I absolutely loved her as Wednesday Addams), which just bolsters this movie in my eyes. Thora Birch does a good job as well. But seriously, I can pop this movie on any time and it’ll just make me instantly happy for a simpler era. Even if I wasn’t born in the 60′s or 70′s, there is a lot to relate to about bridging the gaps between childhood and the inevitable teen cross-over. I mean, who didn’t have seances in graveyards with their friends as a 12-year-old girl? No-one?! Just me then. OK. Ahem. I think my favourite character was hands-down Gabby Hoffman’s Sam, who is trying to cope with her parent’s divorce in a town and time when divorce is unheard of. I like that her grown-up character played by Demi Moore is a successful writer, and is also the narrator of the entire movie. If you want to watch a truly feel-good movie that promotes feminist ideals, this movie is for you.

IT: Chapter One (2017)

Since I watched the 1990 TV miniseries in 1992 at the tender age of 7 (my parents never monitored what I watched - which sometimes led to some gnarly nightmares), I have been waiting for a worthy remake. I, like most of the aficionados that watched the miniseries, loved Tim Curry’s rendition of the demonic entity of IT, but weren’t quite happy about the spider ending. If you’ve seen it, you know what I mean. You may be asking why I haven’t included Chapter Two that came out this year (2019), and the reason is, despite Bill Hader’s wonderful performance as the grown-up Ritchie, a cameo by Stephen King himself, and more screen-time for Bill Skarsgaard’s scary clown, the ending here was also disappointing. IT’s true form just doesn’t seem to translate well onto screen. It was adequate. Meh. Anywho.

IT Chapter One, however, is awesome. Instead of jumping back-and-forth in time like both the mini-series and the book did, it focuses on the well-acted ‘Loser’s Club’ as kids, and is truly scary like this story should be. The bully Henry Bowers is truly sociopathic, and Bill Skarsgaard as IT truly nails the fact that IT is so much more than just a killer clown. The death scene with Georgie at the beginning of the film is quite subversive and daring, as it actually shows you the death of a child in all its gory detail. My verdict? Watch the first with gusto, but do not expect anything great from Part Two. Part Two has to exist for continuity, but the first film outshines the second installment in every way possible.

Lady Bird (2017)

For an Indie sleeper film, this story is fantastic as both a coming-of-age film and a depiction of separating from your parents and becoming your own person. Ladybird’s mum is overprotective, and Ladybird needs to break free, whilst also trying not to cause a permanent rift. She’s a different kind of gal, sensitive, intelligent, artistic, and so not meant for a dead-end small town. Her transition toward independence is extremely relatable to me, as I grew up with an over-bearing, interfering mother myself. Also, it’s set in 2002, the year I graduated, with adds to my feelings of nostalgia. It’s the relatablity of Ladybird that makes it so re-watchable to me. I grew up in a dead-end town, was creative and different to my peers, and went to a fancy private school that I didn’t fit into as well. So Ladybird is a cinematic delight as you see her progress to something more hopeful in the future. A must-watch.

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