8 TV Shows to love and find inspiration from

/ Ajmorse / 2 Comments

I get a lot of my inspiration from great TV shows, and I think people sometimes forget that TV Shows are only as good as the writers behind them. It has to have all the pieces in the formula to make it complete: great characters, an interesting and believable world and a great story.

I get inspired by these great stories and characters and love them sometimes just as much as my favorite books. So I thought I’d share some of my favorites of the past several years and why I think they deserve a good watch.

(It all depends on what you are into, too.) Me, I love science fiction/fantasy and alternate realities, but mostly I love great characters and these shows have all that and more:

8. Once Upon a Time Once-Upon-a-Time-Poster

From the brilliant creators of LOST, the first few seasons follow Emma and the other characters of Storybrooke, Maine in a world where fairy tale creatures don’t know who they truly are. The show presses you to believe in them as you follow these troubled characters and hope that they’ll be able to find true happiness. There’s true love between Snow White and Prince Charming, and despite the clichés, there happens to be something different and fresh about each character you see here, and you will see all sorts of fairy tale characters from multiple worlds.

7. Chuck1024x768chuck_sarah1

One of my favorites, but clearly not up to par as a show like Game of Thrones. Chuck is about “Chuck,” a man who works at a Buy More (think Best Buy) whose life changes when he has a super computer downloaded into his head. Mostly I love this show because of Chuck played by Zachary Levi. Others might know him as the voice of Flynn on Disney’s Tangled. He’s that awkward, yet handsome nerd that everyone has in their lives and knows and loves. He’s relate-able, there’s action, there’s chemistry, and instead of becoming repetitive, the show and the characters continue to grow throughout the seasons.

6. BonesBones_(1)Bones is about forensic anthropologist, Dr. Temperance Brennan, and how her partnership with the FBI helps them solve murders. I love the chemistry between Dr. Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel) and FBI agent, Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz). It is a relationship that definitely has more depth to it than just physical chemistry. You begin to understand that at the end of the day, these two are best friends, and can overcome any odds together. Plus, there’s a great cast and a humor that evens out the gruesome deaths and murders that the crew solves on each episode. Without the chemistry between all the characters, this show would have died a quick death a long time ago.

5. Downton Abbey

DowntonAbbey1A period drama that focuses on the lives of the people who live and work in a large house, “Downton Abbey” that functions in the early 1900s and into the 1920s. Each character faces trials and tribulations, and the characters downstairs, (the kitchen, maids, footmen, etc.) are just as important as the lords and ladies of the manor in all their finery. Maggie Smith delivers great one liners, and the costumes, colors and dialogue transports you to a world that is very different from the one we live in now. I have a hard time writing after watching this show, merely because the character’s accents and mannerisms get in my head and it is sometimes hard to switch it off! It is a great show if you need to escape for a while.

4. Breaking Bad

Breaking-Bad-Season-51It is fourth, merely because there are other TV shows that I love more, however, this one takes the cake when it comes to great writing. The show is about high school chemistry teacher, Walter White (Bryan Cranston), who is diagnosed with lung cancer. He decides to make and sell crystal meth to leave a legacy for his family.  I love the bro-mance between Aaron Paul and Bryan Cranston’s characters, and each season amps up the suspense as you’re taken along with Walter White on his journey of self discovery. It challenges the idea of right and wrong and each episode feels like a movie – there’s a lot of cinematic moments, great landscapes; Vince Gilligan is a pro when it comes to the awkward conversation.

3. Game of Thrones

Game_of_thrones_castGeorge R.R. Martin’s books come to life on the screen, the phrase “Winter is coming,” should be heard throughout the realm – this show airs on HBO on Sunday nights, although now we have to wait a whole year for the new season! The show follows several characters, (more than several actually) as they make their way through the seven kingdoms; some with desires for the throne, some with dragons, some with destinations of their own. There’s gruesome deaths, sex, love, fights, dragons, and epic fantasy. If you love all that…then this show is for you. The show doesn’t skimp on the special effects either…it is HBO after-all. Not for the faint of heart, but that’s what makes it so great.

2. LOST

lost-headerAnd yes, I wrote it in great big capital letters, like it appeared on the show. (Writing it in lowercase just seems an insult to the show really.) LOST follows the lives of several survivors of a plane crash on an island somewhere in the south pacific. Unbeknownst to them, there is a greater purpose at work here as we learn how these characters lives are interconnected. There are so many themes in here for the starving English major: Death/Life, Science/Religion, Heaven/Hell, Right/Wrong, Retribution/Rebirth; it is a conspiracy theorist’s paradise and the skies the limit on what may or may not happen here. I fell in love with this show, and it is definitely worth it to see great actors, Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly, and of course Josh Holloway’s dimples.

1. Firefly

FireflyI don’t know if you have heard the story: Firefly, the almost was. It aired for 14 episodes, when producers cancelled the show, not realizing (apparently) that it was starting to grow a fan-base; a fan-base so large that they were able to make a movie to conclude the show! I don’t know if there is a producer somewhere kicking himself for the mistake (there should be!) but had this continued on for five or more seasons it would have been a huge hit. Like every Firefly fan, it bugs me to no end that there weren’t more episodes to this show…ANYWAY…

Firefly follows Captain Malcolm Reynolds and his crew on Serenity as they ‘keep on flying,’ in the black; taking jobs when they can, either legal or illegally all while trying to exist under the empire of the Alliance, which tries its best to make the little man feel very small and insignificant. It touches on the idea of freedom and what it truly means; as well as friendship, loyalty and love. But mostly what draws you in is the great characters – a testament to Joss Whedon’s writing skills, of course. Viewers are usually hooked after the first episode. (I know I was!)

Well, that’s that! If you have other great TV shows that deserve a good watch, let me know! I’ve also recently started watching Orange is the New Black – and that one has got me hooked as well!

Happy Writing people!

 

 

 

 

15 Minute Journaling: Every Rose Has Its Thorn

/ Ajmorse / Leave a comment

It is raining here in upstate New York, coming down like it means some business. We’ve had a flash flood warning, have been threatened with 3 or 4 inches of some good rain, but I’m not afraid.

Sherrie, in Rock of Ages. I thought the whole Tom Cruise rock star thing was a little freaky at first. But you can barely recognize that its him.

Julianne Hough as Sherrie in Rock of Ages. I thought the whole Tom Cruise rock star thing was a little freaky at first. But you can barely recognize that its him in the movie.

Instead, I’m in that writer-like dream mode. The rain reminds me of sad stories, lost loves, that sad aching feeling of something once remembered, something cherished.

Just finished watching Rock of Ages while doing some much-needed dishes, and near the end of the movie is the song, “Every Rose Has its Thorn.” I don’t know why, but it inspires me…So I’ll use that as my inspiration for my next 15 minute journal session.

My 15 Minute Jouraling posts are something that I started as a warm-up for myself, so as to keep myself writing and the creative thoughts flowing. It’s something we used to do in my creative writing classes with a prompt given from the teacher. Anything can inspire me and I thought I’d give it a share.

I’ve done some other entries too, if you are curious, you can view them here, and here.

Also, it helps if I have that song playing in the background…I’m a sucker for covers and I really like the version on the Rock of Ages.

Here’s where I’ll put 15 minutes on the clock and do that thing that I do, GO!

>>>>She stared out the window at the rain, watched it come down in sheets and sheets of water that fell so hard it looked almost white. Her mother told her not to do it. Told her not to move away and live with a boy she’d just met.

The town they had moved to was in the middle of no-where. Except for the nuclear power plant a mile away, there was nothing there – except for a few dusty stores and cows that bellowed in the fields nearby. Her mother told her once that she hated the sound, that bellow. It was empty, mournful, made her think of her father that had up and left them. Angel said that the cows bellowing gave her stomach ache. It sounded like they were going to be sick and she’d rather steer clear of them.

Except there wasn’t anywhere to go in the empty town. She liked the look of the green grass and the trees that waved in the wind in the summertime, but come winter all she felt was loneliness. It was the kind that bites. That seeped into the cracks of their trailer and left a chill in her heart, an edgy-ness. Everywhere she went in that small town she could feel them watching.

And Angel knew that she wasn’t meant to stay.

It didn’t matter that she had no money. She wasn’t going to ask her mother for any either. She’d pack her bag and leave and feel the sun on her face once more. It was time she did something for herself rather than others.

She didn’t know how much that her boyfriend would put up a fight.

She’d told Andrew on a Tuesday that things weren’t right. He’d crush the beer can he’d held in his hands. Yes, he was the typical red-neck…complete with wife beater and ratty faded blue jeans. She’d like the grease on his hands at first. She liked the way he swaggered.

Now, she felt afraid.

“You’re not going anywhere,” he said as he lit his cigarette. She’d told him not to smoke in the house.

Angel fumbled with the dishes that she was drying and nearly dropped it on the floor. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, nothing,” he said, and laughed and got up and kissed her bare shoulder, traced his hand along the edge of her tank top. “You won’t go anywhere without me.”

“May…maybe I’m meant to be,” she stuttered, and followed him into the next room, her hands still soapy. “You once told me I could do anything.”

He sat in front of the TV. “Yeah, that what I said?”

“Well, I’m going to do it,” she said with one hand on her hip. “I’m going. And you won’t hold me back.”

He laughed a laugh that had no emotion. She wondered if when he said that he loved her, if he really meant it. “Do what you want, Angel,” he said. “It doesn’t matter to me.”

If it didn’t matter, why was she so afraid?

By the next week, she had her bags all packed. She’d filled her car full of gas.

ANNND…that’s all the time I have. I used online stopwatch and the alarm just rang, scared me, lol. If I were to end this story, it’d probably go something like this:

She left him standing in the driveway, mouth wide open, his eyes finally open and lonely. The coldness had dropped from his face, and his shoulders drooped in that ratty wife-beater. It reminded her why she had loved him. He was so tall, and broad-shouldered, his eyes dark and beautiful. When she’d first met him, she thought he was so strong and steady. That he’d protect her, make the monsters of the world go away.

She imagined someone tough and blond-haired would marry him. She’d probably be a girl who grew up in camo and went hunting with her brothers on a regular basis. She wouldn’t be beautiful, but she wasn’t ugly either. She’d swear like a sailor and be stubborn. She wouldn’t take Andrews crap, and eventually he’d turn to alcohol anyway.

Angel felt her stomach twist as she turned onto the highway. Felt the tires run on the open road and breathed a sigh of relief. Yet, she felt a jolt in her heart as she felt the pressure on her abdomen and she pulled over to the side of the road and threw up in the ditch.

Bile clogged her throat and bits of her breakfast went back down as she swallowed. And she ached all over, felt a kind of dread that defeats tiredness, it brings on its own kind of weary. Tears ran down her cheeks and she snuffed loudly as she tore around in her backseat for a tissue. Her fourways blinked and clicked obnoxiously as a semi bellowed past.

It was too late. She wasn’t in this alone anymore. She’d never be alone again.

Whoa. That took a different turn, geez. I didn’t really do any editing, except to fix spelling errors and I think I’m going to keep to that. I might use this as inspiration for something else someday.

Anywho, thanks for reading and now perhaps I can run to the store now that its not raining buckets and get eggs so I can make cupcakes!

What inspires you? Thoughts below if you want!

Game of Thrones Season 4, episode 9 Review: The Watchers on the Wall

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This review is based purely on what I have seen on the TV series. Beware, spoilers ahead!

Ygritte dies a tragic death in this episode of GOT

Ygritte dies a tragic death in Jon Snow’s arms.

Jon Snow and his fellow comrades on the night watch are hell-bent on defending the wall and Castle Black against the attack from Mance and his army. Finally we have an episode based purely on just a few characters, and I don’t know where to begin!

First with a little romance perhaps? Sam wants to know from Jon what it was like to love a woman, to be with someone. Jon tries to describe it, but blusters out that he’s no poet. According to Ygritte, though, he’s a great lover and any episode dedicated to the adorable Jon Snow, is one I’m sure to enjoy!

Gilly and her baby manage to make it to castle black safely, just in time for the attack on the castle. It is the first time I have ever heard Sam Tully swear when he orders the guard to open up the gate for her. He promises that wherever she goes he will go with her, and he manages to stow her away safely in the castle.

Meanwhile, Jon is on top of the wall, but Janos Slynt hides in the castle and inadvertently leaves Jon in charge. While heroic and sweet in his treatment of Gilly, Sam manages to live another day as he is never directly in any of the fighting. He helps another comrade load a crossbow, he runs errands for Jon and lets out Ghost. He does kill one of the cannibals though.

Jon is everywhere at once. He is shouting orders, he is on the top of the wall, then he is at the castle gate, fighting several foes at once. After an exhausting fight with one of the cannibals, Jon finally comes face to face with Ygritte. After shouting to the rest of the Wildings in a previous scene that Jon Snow was hers, she still hesitates when it comes to shoot him.

In a bit of irony, she is then shot with an arrow from the boy whose family was murdered by Wildings. Moments before, the boy was huddled in a corner away from the fight, that was until Sam encouraged him to fight back. Ygritte then dies tragically in Jon’s arms and he is left stunned. “Remember the cave?” she asks him. “We should have stayed there,” she says. Jon tries to sooth her and says that they’ll go back there someday, to which she replies:

“You know nothing, Jon Snow.”

(As I write this my pandora station just started playing “A Drop in the Ocean” by Ron Pope! I’ll let this be my farewell to Jon Snow and Ygritte’s love…aww…lol)

Anyway, how stunning were those giants and wooly mammoths? This is why we love Game of Thrones so much – they don’t skimp on anything and that includes the special effects!

“Light those fuckers up!”

At the top of the wall, the night’s watch throws everything they can at the Wildings trying to scale the wall. Including arrows, exploding barrels and a giant hook that swings and scrapes off all those trying to climb up its side. And we get an amazing line from the top of the wall: “Light those fuckers up!”

Alliser Thorne gets injured during the fight, and we don’t know if he is dead yet. Bummer. Tormund is captured, and at the end of the episode Sam discovers that Janos Slynt has found his hiding place for Gilly.

Still stunned at Ygritte’s death, the episode ends with Jon heading out into the snow to kill Mance. “You’re not a lord commander,” Sam tries to reason with him, but Jon returns with: “Whose left?” And asks Sam if he has a better plan. Jon walks out into the snow and the screen fades to white and the episode ends.

My heart is still pounding at all the excitement in this episode. And I drank a whole glass of wine in about two minutes during the episode, too, I was so nervous about what was going to happen and who was going to die next. I was so certain Sam was going to die, and I hope Alliser Thorne eventually does.

There’s a lot that happened in the finale, after I re-watch the episode, I’ll finally post my thoughts on that one!

What I do know though: I don’t want to wait a whole year to watch the new season! Thoughts below if you got ’em!

 

 

 

The FIFA World Cup, pizza and a quiet summer evening

/ Ajmorse / 2 Comments

Me and my boyfriend are broke, broke, broke. I’ve stayed home all weekend all with the intent to save money on gas…I’ve missed birthday parties, festivals, and good times with old friends. I’ve been bummed, I’ve been frustrated, but I push through all with the knowledge that hard times are there to teach you to learn from your mistakes, to push harder, to be tough in the times of great stress.

Even though it seems like life sucks, I remind myself that it is not the end of the world, that I have a place to live, people to love me and food in my belly. I mean, that’s all a person needs, really.

pizzaAnd lotsa, lotsa, pizza! (Just kidding, tehe)

But enough of the drama, we might be poor but we can appreciate the little things and that includes spending time together, enjoying pizza and watching the World Cup – here we Americans call it Soccer, of course.

I, personally, like the term “football,” really, as I’m not a great fan of American football (I know, I’m a traitor to everything American, whatevers,) but we are both thoroughly enjoying this great opportunity to view something that we don’t normally get to see. And who said that Americans never watch Soccer? Pssh.

I’m starting to notice the different styles between the countries. The Japanese are fast, quick. Ghana has great footwork. Greece, great defense. And the US? They play differently than EVERYONE.

soccer

USA vs Portugal, FIFA World cup

Their passes are long, their dribbling not as intricate… (well, maybe right now is not a good time to judge, we are down by 1 – AH, never mind, they just scored! WOOO!

I am falling in love with “football.” We never get to watch it here in the US, a sport that is more popular everywhere in the world but here, and most of the time, we Americans don’t get a chance to watch it. There’s so much drama, strategy and excitement.

Every game is just one big stress-ball, next minute one big party. I’m ready to jump in line with all the other soccer hooligans, I’m ready!

Well, just thought I’d say a quick hello, and hope everyone in the blogging world is doing just grand and had a great weekend! I’m enjoying this warmer weather here in upstate New York and love that there is blue sky and green on the trees. Enjoying the simple things…whatever they may be.

Happy Writing people!

(FYI my final reviews for GOTs to come soon.)

Have you been keeping up with the World cup? Who do you want to win?

3 things to think about this thursday evening

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I stopped at a KFC on my way home from work and there was a long line. I figured hey, I’m hungry I’ll wait a few extra minutes. It took a while for some customers to receive their food; as the workers were scurrying around the kitchen, they inform some customers of the wait, as they had to make some new batches of sides.

As you can imagine, one customer put up a fit. “This isn’t fast-food,” he says loud enough so the whole dining room can hear him. “We’ve been waiting for several minutes and you don’t have any food. You have to make everything, this is ridiculous. This is the last time I’m coming here!”

The manager was called out to console him, and while the man complains, I can just feel the atmosphere in the room drop: it’s so heavy, full of implications, irritation and impatience.

I roll my eyes and cross my arms. I am irritated because I am hungry and tired, but I know better than to take it out on the poor teenagers making minimum wage. I fantasize taking a big stick and whopping it on the back of the man’s head. I think about confronting him and being like, “Let it go. What is your problem?” But I don’t.

The rude man who is being difficult is asked by the manager, “how can I make this better? What can I do for you? You are our guest, we want to make you happy.”

I’m thinking: What about the rest of us who has to listen to HIM? Who’s going to console us?

Somewhere in this predicament of bad customer service, I think that somethings gone terribly wrong. It makes me think:

  1. How there are two sides to freedom of speech
  2. How social mores sometimes hinder society
  3. And how we need more heroes to stand up to the A-holes of the world

Just something to think about. It was a long wait, lol.

Food for thought…as it were. 😉 Happy Thursday everyone!

15 Minute Journaling: Don’t let fear get you down

/ Ajmorse / 3 Comments

I need to do some writing, so what am I doing? I’m sitting here doing everything but that. I’ve painted my fingernails, I’ve gotten on Facebook – I’ve even read a few other blogs here on WordPress, including some of my own posts. Then why aren’t I writing? What am I afraid of? I thought I’ve gotten past all this.

Me, being silly!

Me, being silly!

I guess the fear was this: What’s the point of writing if its going to turn out terrible? Well, that’s not the point is it? The point is WRITING.

All things writing. Write, write, write, write, write!!  Gahhhh….Now why am I sitting here staring and fearing the blank page?

In all things in life you can’t let fear let you get behind, and that includes writing.

I’m even sitting here with my new headphones on (a nice birthday present from yesterday, woo hoo!) trying to drown out the world, and FOCUS.

Hmm…okay, let me visit my book shelf and see if I can scrounge up some writing prompts. That might help.

A few weeks ago at the Barnes and Noble, I found this book: A Writer’s Book of Days: A spirited Companion & Lively Muse for the Writing Life by Judy Reeves.

IMG_20140608_171217531

It’s basically like a writing devotional. It offers you daily writer prompts, as well as lessons for each month on writing and how to improve the craft. I have a tendency to over think some of the writing prompts – actually now I’m starting to realize that I work best sometimes with a challenge. It’s okay to take the prompts where you need them to go.

It is fun sometimes to see how creative you can get. Instead of just one word or one sentence to get the creative juices flowing, lets try about five of them.

Here are the prompts for five days in June from June 6th – June 10th:

June 6:  While the world sleeps

June 7:  I have a confession to make

June 8: “There is a place somewhere called Paris”

June 9: Across the railroad tracks

June 10:  The place where wild pines grow

15 MINUTES ON THE CLOCK….GO!

“There is a place somewhere called Paris,” she told me with a flick of her blond hair as she started reapplying her lipstick. She squinted at herself in the tiny blue compact mirror and then smacked her lips loudly. “They say that everyone walks around naked, I’d like to go there sometime.”

I eyed her smooth body, the tan legs and free arms, the way her hips curved over her jean shorts. “I bet you would.”

“Don’t be an ass,” she snorted as she put her make-up away. “It exists somewhere out west they say, across some railroad tracks at some nudist colony. You know, the place they say where the wild pines grow.”

I couldn’t imagine her anywhere surrounded by naked people, much less trees as a walk through the park seemed too much for her most of the times. She hated the squirrels that scurried down the trees, she hated the babies that cried on the playground, sometimes I think she even hated me.

I was her boyfriend, too. The one she was supposed to love – supposedly.

“I have a confession to make,” I breathed into her ear as I wrapped my arms around her thin frame and crushed those curves against me. “You’re beautiful.” I kissed her neck. “You’re sexy.” My hands trailed down her hips. “You’re lovely.”

She laughed a cruel, sarcastic laugh, and pushed me away. “Please,” she said with her hand on my chest. “Don’t make a fool of yourself.”

“I didn’t want to be here anyway,” I muttered. She’d taken me for a drive, and then had parked on the side of the road across from the local park. I could see pine trees and several screaming kids running towards picnic tables as she’d put the car in park. The air tasted fresh on my tongue, was cool and fresh in my nose.

Then she’d uttered those dreaded words as she turned towards me. “We need to talk.”

We walked hand and hand for about two minutes and then she pulled away from me. I could see the coldness in her posture, the way her body seemed to be trying to avoid me. She adverted her eyes, pretended like she was crying. But I knew she wasn’t.

“You live in your own world,” she continued then. “Like, everyone else could die, and the world could continue sleeping and you would be the one outside of it, like in slow motion or something. Living your life oblivious to those around you.”

God, she was so stupid sometimes. “I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“Of course you don’t. The world doesn’t evolve around you Isiah Crane.”

“It doesn’t revolve around you either,” I said.

“This is exactly what I’m talking about!” she cried, as she turned back towards me. “That sarcasm! You’re so God-damned sure of yourself!”

I thought about that. I mean, why wouldn’t I be? I was smart, strong…and intelligent. I was pretty sure I was good looking. I shrugged. “Yeah, I got nothing.”

She started to cry then, loud, horrible tears. “I don’t understand why you’re so mean to me.” I didn’t really understand anything either. How she seemed to use everything but the truth to get what she wanted. She played games. She probably thought: maybe today, I’ll grab his balls and tug just a little bit more. I winced as I thought about it.

I didn’t want anyone tugging anywhere. “So this is it, huh?”

She brought her hands away from her face. Her mascara had left black tracks down her cheeks. “Aren’t you even just a little bit sad?”

I looked out at the fresh air surrounding us, the trees and green grass and water gurgling in a fountain nearby. Everything seemed brand new all of a sudden. I laughed once. “Should I be?”

 

 

 

 

 

Game of Thrones Season 4, episode 8 recap: The Viper Vs. The Mountain

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Some drama happened at my apartment this week, so I was unable to post this till now. If you haven’t seen Game of Thrones season 4, episode 8, beware – spoilers ahead!

mountain-viper

Photo credit: HBO

Well, we’ve been waiting for it for 2 weeks now: Tyrion’s trial by combat! Was it as good as you expected? But first, a bit of an episode recap. Of course, they wait until the very end of the episode to show the trial, geeze.

In Meeren, Ser Jorah recieves a royal pardon from Robert Baratheon. Dany learns of his betrayal; he spied on her when she married Drogo and reported this news to Varys. He begs her forgiveness, but Dany is not in a forgiving mood. She banishes Ser Jorah from the city and says that if he isn’t gone by sun down, she will have his head.

Missandei notices that the commander of the unsullied, Grey Worm, has noticed her. Dany wonders if when Grey Worm was cut, if they took both “the pillar and the stones.” An awkward line I thought for the Khaleesi, but Missandei decides that she is not sorry of his interest, neither is Grey Worm.

In the Eyrie, Lord Baelish is questioned about Lysa’s death. He claims that she has committed suicide. Sansa is asked to testify against him, and finally dear Sansa has learned to play the game. She tells her tale, admitting that she is Sansa Stark and that Lord Baelish has only lied about her identity to keep her safe. She agrees that her aunt Lysa was always a “troubled woman” and that Lysa was extremely jealous of Sansa when she saw Lord Baelish kiss her cheek. JUST a kiss on the cheek, she claims. Distraught, she says that her aunt Lysa then committed suicide by throwing herself through the moon door.

The committee seems to believe her tale, and later Baelish asks her why she didn’t tell the whole truth – why take the chance on him? Sansa answers because she knows what he wants. (She seems to look at him knowingly when she says this.) Baelish says that she was a child when she first arrived at King’s Landing, but it is clear she is a child no longer. It begs the question, does Sansa want Baelish? Also, Baelish decides it is time for Robyn Arryn to leave the nest.

Meanwhile, Ramsay Snow uses Theon Greyjoy or “Reek” to take back parts of the North. He says that it is time for Reek to pretend to be Theon Greyjoy and help him. Greyjoy acts as Ramsay’s ambassador and manages to convince the people of Moat Caitlin to surrender and spare what lives they have. Greyjoy is questioned and called a woman and not a true Greyjoy which almost unravels him. However, the men decide to take the pardon, yet Ramsay slaughters them anyway. The scenes with Ramsay end with his father honoring him with the title of “Ramsay Bolton.” Yaay….NOT.

We then get an amusing scene between Arya and the Hound as they make their way towards the Eyrie. Arya thinks that she should be happier about Joffrey’s death, but she’s not. Maybe it was because she didn’t get to see him suffer or something. The Hound’s bite is hurting him and Arya says that he should have let her burn it. He also says that poisoning is a woman’s weapon. They arrive at the Eyrie only to find that Arya’s aunt Lysa is dead – to which Arya laughs and laughs at the news. It is kind of amusing and ironic for the Hound: every family member that he tries to ransom Arya to does have a strange habit of being dead beforehand.

Farther north, Gilly and her baby are still in the tavern where Sam left her. The town gets raided by the Wildings, but thanks to Ygritte, she manages to survive. Meanwhile at the wall, Jon and the others are wondering how 100 men are going to stand up against 100,000. And Sam is kicking himself for leaving Gilly in the town by herself, he should have known better.

Finally we get to the battle between the Viper and the Mountain, Gregor Clegane. There is a scene between Tyrion and Jaime before this where they talk about their slow cousin and how he used to smash beetles. Tyrion is tortured by the thought of it, the waste of all those beetles. He ask Jaime, “Why? Why did he think their cousin did that?” To which Jaime has no answer.

Prince Oberyn performs well in the battle, he dances quick around the Mountain, taunting him, wanting his opponent to admit to the death and rape of his sister and the death of her children. He manages to get a few hits on him, and stabs him in the chest with his spear, but he won’t let the Mountain die until he admits to the crimes that he’s committed against the Martel family. Did anyone else have a ‘hello my name is Inigo Montoya moment?’

As the prince dances around the dying Mountain taunting him, Clegane uses his last bit of strength and strangles Prince Oberyn in a most gruesome way, gouges out his eyes and literally crushes his head with his hands. And thus, Tyrion’s champion is the one that dies first, meaning that Tyrion gets to die as well. The episode ends with a look of shock from Tyrion, and Cersei’s satisfied smile.

Well, what did you think?

My thoughts:

  • Anything with Arya is always entertaining. I always want to see more scenes with her!
  • Dany’s treatment of Ser Jorah is understandable, but she might also be making a mistake. If she can’t trust him, this man who’s stuck by her side through thick and thin, who can she trust? Just makes me wonder what kind of road are we going to see Dany on in the next seasons or so. Is she going to be led astray? Was her treatment of Ser Jorah too harsh?
  • The scenes in the Eyrie are playing out how I kind of thought they would, however, I am interested to see what Sansa’s game is. Does she truly know what is going on?
  • And Tyrion can’t die! He’s one of my favorite characters! Is Jaime going to try and help him out? I hope so!
  • I wonder if we are finally going to get a reunion between Arya and her sister, Sansa? If so, how are the two going to react after seeing each other? The two were different before, but now look at them!

Only 2 more episodes left in the season! Thoughts below if you got them!

 

 

Character Files: “The Conductor”

/ Ajmorse / Leave a comment

I’d like to try something new to add on here – I call it “Character Files.” In my struggle to find some kind of story inspiration some time ago, I purchased a book called Writerific II: Creativity Training for writers by Eva Shaw, which offers encouragement, but most importantly, writing prompts for the creative writer.

One such prompt, has a page full of groups of words. Each group of three words is meant to inspire a story, by using each word in a story or situation that you may create. I decided to take it a step further, and as such created – Character Files.

spy8Each group of words inspired me to create a character, someone who may or may not have a story – a character that I could store away in a file with other characters I created, that I could return to and use that character for story inspiration if need be.

There are a lot of word groups in the writing prompt, and I’ve only created a few different characters already. But I was pleased with the different results. This particular example took me to a place and genre that I don’t normally write, but it allowed for some nice practice of sensory images. Here goes…

The words are:  pigeon   voltage   train

“The Conductor”

He is a nobody, tall and willowy with a pale face, and dark brown hair. His back is straight as he sits on the park bench in his navy blue conductor’s uniform, his long legs bunched up in front of him as he reads the newspaper.

            Looking at him, no one would know that he’s killed someone and framed somebody else for it, although, he twitches occasionally at every other sentence he reads. His brown eyes squint, his face bunches and then goes straight. Two-thousand volts of electricity frying their way through his veins. It could have been him. The memories eat at him, peck at his brain like a flock of crows.

            The sight of the butchered man he killed in the alley late that night. The rain pouring in his ears and over the curve of disgust on his lips. The bastard he caught sleeping with his wife…maybe he should have killed her too.

 

He smelled the rain that night, and he never smelled anything more visceral. Felt his thoughts mix with the sewage and the blood water that swirled around the man’s body, the man that he killed, a milkman, another nobody. What was so important about this stranger that made his wife take her pants off?

He thought, just once – it was a fleeting thought really – that maybe he should be down in the sludge and the darkness of the alley, too. Let the smell of something putrid, the river of feces, blood and rain water pour over him. Feel the fear of something cold and slimy creep its way across his bare skin. Let it feed off of him for a moment and taste the sponginess of his brain, the holes there, the parts that were missing that tasted brown, like something sweet and rotting. Let blood pour out of his nose and his eyeballs bounce down his face. Let him feel hell just once.

Instead, he swiped at the water on his chin, shook his head like a dog, shivered once, pulled his coat around his shoulders and walked home. The knife he used on the stranger who was defiling his wife, he hid in his cousin’s apartment, still wet, the blood dripping.

The next day, while drinking his morning coffee, he placed a call to his local police department to let them know that his cousin, an alcoholic and a man who occasionally liked to feel up little girls, was in town and that he came around the other day begging for money. His cousin had threatened him with a knife, which the conductor described to the police in great detail. A butcher’s knife, he said and then shuddered with a slight catch in his throat. There were groves and barbs on the blade, the kind that shreds through skin when you use it. Mostly likely cut a man in two. Or remove somebody’s head.

The next day he read the front headline of the newspaper while he sat on a park bench on his lunch break: Child Molester Arrested for Murder. He folded the newspaper carefully and tucked it under his arm. The sun felt warm and soft on his navy blue uniform and he looked down at his shiny, black shoes and smiled to himself. It was going to be an excellent day.

Godzilla 2014 Movie Review: The Hero of Mankind

/ Ajmorse / Leave a comment

A few weekends ago, I went and saw Godzilla in I-Max at the theater in Syracuse, NY and thought I’d give my thoughts on the remake. I almost forgot to post this, and am kicking myself for the mistake. Here’s some thoughts that I had. Spoilers ahead, people!

Image source: http://www.forbes.com

After disaster strikes at a nuclear power plant in Tokyo, Japan, fifteen years later, Joe Brody, (Bryan Cranston) is still trying to find out what happened to his wife. What he and his son, Ford Brody (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) learn is that the Japanese government, led by Dr. Ichiro Serizawa (Ken Watanabe) have pulled a massive cover up: a monster larva has burrowed deep in the ground over the remains of the nuclear power plant.

When the monster hatches, it attracts a mate, another monster bug, or Muto, that wreaks havoc over the Pacific and in Hawaii – Oh, and this Muto can fly. Meanwhile, the U.S. government, under Operation Monarch, have hidden the discovery of another monster: Godzilla.

Attracted by the calls of the other giant beasts, Godzilla begins hunting the Mutos, or as Dr. Ichiro Serizawa says, “to restore the balance.” But the U.S. Government believes that now isn’t the time for more “cover-ups” and instead plans to attract the Mutos and Godzilla with a large nuclear missile and then destroy them all in a massive explosion.

Naturally this doesn’t work, and the rest of the movie pits Lieutenant Ford Brody, who just happens to be a bomb specialist, against all odds as he tries to get back to his family and save the rest of the world against a bomb that could have the potential to destroy a good portion of the human race.

The compassion and the strength that is shown in Lieutenant Brody’s character and in the other soldiers that fight around him is comforting and inspiring. Where Lieutenant Ford Brody gets his strength or his drive, it is hard to fathom, but it was refreshing to see a character who goes above and beyond for the sake of others. He saves a young kid who isn’t even his own, and takes it upon himself to return the kid when he gets separated from his parents.

The Mutos mate and the female Muto gives birth to more larvae. At the risk of his own life, Brody destroys the larvae, knowing that there will be some kind of retaliation. When he and his fellow comrades are trying to get the armed missile away from the general public, Brody, who is the last survivor, just manages to drag himself onto a boat and sends himself away offshore. He knows it’s a one way stop, but he keeps going anyway. He’s doing it for the greater good.

But there is also more than one hero in this movie.

After Lieutenant Brody kills the larvae, there is a time shortly after where he is face-to-face with Godzilla. The monster has a chance to gobble him up, but instead Godzilla bows his head slightly and closes his eyes as if to say, ‘thank you,’ and then retreats back into the fog. This suggests that the Godzilla in this movie is intelligent, and aware of his surroundings, not just a monster intent on destroying his prey. It was a refreshing take on the character, and exciting even. The potential for such a character…it would be interesting to see many sequels with this Godzilla at the helm.

He destroys the Mutos and we get some epic fight scenes pitting monster against monster and earth-shattering roars and crumbling buildings. At one point, Godzilla has one of the Mutos in his clutches and pries open their mouth and with a roar, blasts his atomic fire down the throat of the monster and rips its head clear off. It was a moment where everyone in the theater cheered – something that doesn’t always happen very often when viewing a movie – that’s how much this movie picks you up and takes you for a ride.

You’ve got giant monsters destroying each other and most of the architecture around them, but you also have strong, compassionate soldiers, epic fight scenes, gigantic monsters, and a story-line that keeps moving, never lets you get bored from one scene to the next.

The movie is exciting, well written, and satisfying!

(Oh, and In I-max, the sounds cannot compare and if you have a chance to see the movie in I-Max…I say go for it! It was awesome!)

I tried to think of something that I didn’t like about the movie, and I really couldn’t – the only thing really, was that I wanted to see more of the movie, more monsters and more fight scenes. I really enjoyed that they gave this Godzilla more of a character, instead of just a mindless killing machine. I thought it gave more meaning to the movie.

Were you able to see Godzilla? What did you think? Thoughts below if you got them!