The Desert Mermaid

Here's an entertaining take on how the Heath Ledger Joker might actually be the hero of The Dark Knight.

I admit it, I'm a sucker for off-the-wall fan theories, even if I don't buy them. I like this one.

Though, when you get down to it, this theory only goes further to change the Heath Ledger Joker into something of an "average" terrorist who thinks he's the hero fighting an evil system.* Which is a totally legit direction to take him, I guess,** but also serves to remove him further from my default view of the Joker as a goddamn psycho maniac trolling the world, and especially trolling Batman. In my head he's larger than life, an evil trickster god, so the Nolan attempt to bring him closer to the Real World (TM) doesn't catch my interest as much. (Same goes for Batman, too. Somehow trying to pull them closer to reality only serves to push them farther away for me.)

Still, though, it's fun to have a character you can reinterpret so much. And like I said, I love me some fan theories. So thanks to anagramofbrat for the link!


*Which does bring up interesting questions. Sometimes you do have to fight an evil system, and the question of whether your tactics are acceptable are subjective

**I'm working on a post that talks about new interpretations and directions for characters, because my coworkers and I got into an interesting discussion about who likes which Joker after that Leto image came out. Also there was something about Star Wars in there, because of course there was.

DANG. I am a fan.

WHY THE HELL AM I SURPRISED BY THIS

One quote from Scott Cawthon, the game maker: "The story really lends itself to being a movie ..."

It ... it does?

I dunno. I think it lent itself pretty well to being a video game, but I am really curious to see what they come up with.

Every so often I check just to see if it's shown up yet.

It has.



As far as I can tell, it's using this version, though I think it scans better than she sings it--she seems to rush it a little bit.

One of these days I'll get me some good recording equipment and blast out my sprite version, because I am both an unrepentant Frozen fan and an unrepentant nerd. But for now, you can enjoy it in Classical Latin or Esperanto if you're so inclined. No Klingon yet, but I'm gonna keep watching. You never know.

I think the funniest thing about Linkara's The Hobbit reviews (which I am rewatching at the moment) is that I don't disagree with any of the critiques he has to the storyline--it's all spot-on true for how to build a good story. The extra characters, the climax, Bilbo's role in it, the second climax, etc.--none is particularly good novel technique.

--And yet, at the same time, every single thing he critiques is another reason why The Hobbit is my favorite book in the world.

Most of it boils down to one thing--that it really is Bilbo's story. It gives us his point of view, and while he's a hero, he's not a Hero. So I like that the Dwarves are kind of an amorphous mass, with one or two personality traits materializing out of it sometimes, because I have the feeling that's kind of how I'd perceive it if I was sort of accidentally dragged on this adventure. I like how he was accidentally dragged on--for all that it's nice to show him consciously deciding to change his life in the movie, I like how Gandalf actually just flusters him into joining in the book. I really like that he bitches the whole damn way--I hadn't realized how important it was that he piss and moan all the way to the Lonely Mountain until it was taken away in the movies. Yeah, he's rising to the occasion, but by god, he's not happy about it.

But what I especially like is Linkara's big complaint--the double-climax and how Bilbo plays into it.

I like that he doesn't slay the dragon. I like that his contribution was a small one--a critical piece of information that would get around to some other hero to do the job. Here in a world were we can't actually do heroic, world-saving deeds, the idea of doing a small thing that still touches off a great change is a really uplifting one.

I like the Battle of Five Armies. Aftermath is difficult and more complicated than a usual denouement is. And your friends can turn into jerks even then.

And most of all, what I like is how Bilbo tries to handle the standoff leading up to the battle. His true bravery is in his attempt to make an outcome that works out best for everyone--trying to do the right thing despite his own friends' not appreciating that. And that he tries to solve it peacefully. And that he fails--but that everyone realizes what he was trying to do, and winds up respecting the hell out of him for it. He may have changed them a little more for next time--maybe they'll try a little harder to fix things.

So, yes. It doesn't really reflect everything we're used to in a story, but it's something I really love. His story is one of the small people who don't slay dragons or move mountains. He's just the guy who flubs his way through the adventure he's dragged on, trying to do mostly the right thing as he goes. It's not the person we like to imagine ourselves as, but it's rather nice to realize that the person we actually are, for all our flaws, can be respectable, too, in our own small and admirable ways.

And that he snarks the whole time. Really, I can't overstate how important it is that he whines so much.

Oh, man! How did I not know about these fantastic posters sooner? Exoplanet travel posters? So dang cool!

(PS: Can I tell you how happy I was when the above icon there, the great Steve Thomas's Venus by Air, is slightly more realistic now? That is kind of hilarious.)

Happy 75th Batday, everyone!

She wasn't perfect. "Throw the ball," her tough sports coach yelled at her. "Ahh," she said, and she squeezed her eyes closed, and threw. The ball exploded. Then she fell down the stairs. "Oh NO," she moaned. "How am I supposed to do business at the bottom of the stairs?

Just the beginning of Mallory Ortberg's Flaws Only A Protagonist Could Have. It's hilarious. Go read it.

I've seen a few of these around, but this is my favorite version of Waterbender Elsa. Sorry, Admiral Zhao. Your fish-punching antics will not avail you with this Waterbender! She runs on emotions!

Also, she's not just a Waterbender! She's not even just a healer. SHE HAS THE BREATH OF LIFE, DAMMIT. She created Olaf on a whim, and then after realizing it* she conjures a three-story spiked snow golem who likes to feel pretty. Can you imagine what sort of stuff she'll be able to come up with after a bit of PRACTICE? Good luck trying to take over Arendelle once she's got her flight of frost-breathing goddamn ice dragons rising from the fjord!

Anyway. That artist is pretty exellent. Check out the other Disney/Avatar mashups. I mean, how can you argue with Ursula the Bloodbending Sea Witch? THAT'S RIGHT YOU CAN'T.


*I love how this is glossed over in the film. She sees Olaf and is like "You're ALIVE?" and he's like "... yes?" and she looks at her hands like DAMN--and then the plot sweeps her along. And you're like "Dude, hold up a minute."