I remember the Mel Brooks satire on Star Wars known as Spaceballs. In one scene, Dark Helmet’s ship undergoes “Ludicrous Speed”, which is an extreme version of light speed. I recently discovered just how fast Ludicrous Speed is. It is less than one and a half trillion kilometers a second! I’m surprise their engines did not overheat instantly!
For my new space opera story, I am thinking of doing a plot twist that will involve a heroic sacrifice. This sacrifice will decide the fate of an entire star system and potentially the interstellar government as a whole. Just thinking about it gives me chills and thrills at the same time.
I had an interesting thought for my third fantasy book. At some point in the story, the main character will do something that will cause his more pious subjects to rebel against him. I will be drawing inspiration from how Henry VIII changed the Church of England during the Reformation. Both my character and Henry VIII did things that would secure the future of their dynasty and the zealots in their kingdoms turned on them for it. Henry VIII tried to secure his dynasty by having a male heir no matter the cost. My character tries to secure his dynasty by rediscovering and utilizing long forgotten magical secrets that his more pious subjects consider dark and unnatural. Overall, I think this is going to be an intriguing concept to tinker with as I continue to write.
I am continuing a system that I started a year ago with my writing. Normally, I would write a story one chapter at a time from start to finish. Now, however, I am writing sections of the story that I had planned out in advance. That way, I won’t have to suffer from writer’s block and I can write as much as I want. Who knows? I might be able to apply this tactic when writing multiple books at the same time, which is something I don’t normally do.
As a devout Star Wars fan, I watched The Mandalorian show and I love it so far! The main character is like a space version of Clint Eastwood. In particular, the protagonist resembles the version of Clint Eastwood from The Unforgiven, who is a morally ambiguous gunslinger. I am glad that they brought back several things from the Old Expanded Universe in this show. For example, we got to see Beskar iron in live action for the first time. Beskar is an indestructible metal that not even lightsabers can cut through and Mandalorians often forge weapons and armor from it. The main character also displayed a trait that I like about Mandalorians: despite being battle-hardened warriors, Mandalorians have a soft spot for children. In the Old Expanded Universe, it was customary for Mandalorians to adopt orphaned children from battlefields and raise them as their own. As the old Mandalorian saying goes, “family is stronger than blood.” Apparently, the main character is continuing this age-old Mandalorian tradition by rescuing and adopting an infant from Yoda’s species. I also like how the show illustrates how some Imperials who were not assimilated into the First Order were reduced to being warlords and mercenaries, clinging on to whatever power and influence they could. I look forward to seeing how the show will progress because I am loving it so far. Hopefully, we will see the epitome of another Mandalorian saying, “a warrior is more than his armor.”
I thoroughly enjoy the film Sideways, which depicts two friends having a week-long stag party in wine country. Paul Giamatti plays a depressed, divorced, and struggling writer who is seeking to publish a book while undergoing a stressful time in his life. Thomas Haden Church plays a self-centered and impulsive actor who is past his prime. Throughout the movie, these two men get into all kinds of trouble, including one of them getting his face caved in. Even though there were scenes in this movie that are depressing to watch, there were many parts that were both funny and relatable. I would recommend this film to anyone who enjoys life stories and good humor.
I am thinking of one day engaging in traditional publishing. I haven’t done this since after I graduated from high school. I remember being rejected countless times, but I never let that stop me. Now that I have evolved as a writer and have come a long way since those days, I am thinking of getting in contact with big publishers one day. The main drawback I don’t like is that I have less control over the process, but the marketing and royalties will be much better than it is now. It is a long shot, but I am eager to fight to good fight one day. Wish me luck!
I just realized something significant about House Targaryen! Even though Daenerys is dead and “Jon Snow” is exiled, they are not the last of the Targaryens; far from it! Allow me to explain. Over a hundred years before the main story of Game of Thrones, Aegon the Unworthy legitimized ALL of his bastards on his deathbed. This led to the five Blackfyre Rebellions. However, Daemon Blackfyre, Aegor “Bittersteel” Rivers, and Brynden “Bloodraven” Rivers were not Aegon’s only bastards of noble birth and not all of Aegon’s bastards of noble birth were acknowledged. Also, even though Aegon had nine prominent mistresses, the exact number of women he had children with are unknown even to him. He definitely had more bastards than even Walder Frey or Robert Baratheon and he legitimized ALL of his bastards including the ones who were unacknowledged or of low birth. The only catch is that these legitimized bastards and their descendants don’t know who or what they are. Even though most of Aegon the Unworthy’s noble bastards mostly killed each other off, his unacknowledged and low birth bastards and their descendants still live. With no one knowing who they are, they will not be hunted and killed like their known relatives. Because they were legitimized, they and their descendants are not bastards anymore. Due to this House Targaryen still lives, but only in secret.
I watched the third season of The Dragon Prince and it was well worth the year and a half long wait! I was particularly pleased to know that the theories I came up with about Aaravos in my previous posts have either been confirmed or implied this season.
First, it seems Aaravos really did teach humanity dark magic. In the first episode, we were shown a conversation between the former Dragon King Sol Regem and the first human dark wizard. In that conversation, the dark wizard said he received his staff from one of the “Great Ones.” Considering Aaravos’s extensive knowledge and power in magic, it would be safe to say that Aaravos was this “Great One” the dark wizard referred to.
Second, it has been confirmed that the previous Dragon King really did seal Aaravos in his magic mirror and the very mention of the Dragon King’s name angered Aaravos. These two facts of Aaravos giving humanity dark magic and being sealed by the Dragon King is similar to the tale of the titan Prometheus. When Prometheus steals fire from the gods and gives it to humanity, Zeus punished him by chaining him to a rock and having an eagle rip out his liver repeatedly day after day. The previous Dragon King had power over thunder and lightning just like Zeus and his home was an unmatchably tall mountain like Mount Olympus.
Third, it seems I was right that Aaravos needed the Dragon Prince to escape his prison. Through Viren, Aaravos was able to absorb some of the Dragon Prince’s power. By the end of the season, it was revealed that Aaravos’s larval form had wrapped itself in a cocoon. Aaravos probably needed some of the Dragon Prince’s power to serve as the catalyst for him to remake his physical body. By next season, Aaravos may emerge from his chrysalis and be free to continue his reign of terror. According to legend, Hercules, the son of Zeus, was the one who freed Prometheus from his prison. The Dragon King was a representation of Zeus and the Dragon Prince is his son, so this is a clear reference Prometheus’s escape.
Overall, I am glad that my predictions in The Dragon Prince came true so far and I look forward to seeing what will happen next now that humans, elves, and dragons finally put aside their differences and joined forces.
As excited and thrilled as I was at Galaxy’s Edge, my only complaint was how expensive all the merchandise was. I mean it costs $200 just to build and buy a lightsaber! I know Disney is milking Star Wars for everything it’s worth, but come on!
Grady P Brown - Author 