quote of the whenever

“Home is behind, the world ahead” – Edge of night, LotR song

Thursday, June 29, 2017

Moana Life Lessons

Hello!
Sorry for that depressing post last time. There's more where that came from, believe me, but I do not like being unhappy. Especially not when it's pointless. And so, I have a tiny anecdote from my Chicago trip to share with you.
We were all listening to Disney music in the back of a car when a song from Moana came on. One of the girls in the front seat groaned and said "What's even the point of that movie?". Well. Let me tell you girly.
FIRST of all, just because you don't necessarily like something doesn't mean people can't like it (and if you dislike Disney it's probably because you're a dark psychopath or sociopath. Or you secretly like it but like people thinking you're manly/tough/edgy and think that you should say you don't like Disney to feed your ego). Like, seriously, is it so hard to wrap your head around the fact that someone else may like something you're less inclined to? Some idiots dislike Skyward Sword, or Twilight Princess or, dare I say, Harry Potter and Star Wars. And if  you question why adoring masses love all those things, I will be happy to tell you in GREAT detail.
After punching you.
A few times.
Don't insult my fandoms, m'kay?

So, after that long intro, may I introduce you to: Top Ten Lessons (one may, if they choose to gain) From Moana:

1: You are what makes you you
Let's get the obvious one out of the way. Moana straight up says this to Maui, so if you somehow missed this point, I think you need to pay better attention to the movie next time you watch it. And there WILL be a next time. But I digress. Maui did all the work of his heroics for people, for their praise and love. But their praise and love isn't what made Maui Maui. He is. He couldn't shape shift when he was doing it for their praise and love, for their acceptance. He could only do it when Moana said maybe HE was what was worth saving, he was Maui no matter what.

2: That voice inside is who you are
"And if that voice starts to whisper, to follow he farthest star, Moana that voice inside is who you ah-ah-are". Maybe "But nothing on Earth can silence, the quiet voice still inside you". Or perhaps "It calls me... And the voice isn't out there at all it's inside me! It's like the tide, always falling and rising!" Either way, it is definitely a point of this movie. I believe everyone is firmly drawn to something they love -- Doctors to helping save people physically, Engineers to innovation and new ideas, Moana to the see. And maybe, just maybe (I was born to break the silence?) that isn't some worldly calling or push for them to be rich and famous, maybe it's who they're meant to be, maybe one should embrace the voice that tells them to follow the farthest star, because perhaps that's how one can truly learn what they're meant to do in life.

3: The ones you love will never really leave you
Okay, as if this hasn't been in every Disney movie since the beginning of time. Every movie, every book, every story perhaps. And with lines like "The the people you love will change you, the things you have learned will guide you" or "I will carry you here in my heart, you'll remind me, that come what may, I know the way!" you know they affect you a lot. And although people we have loved who have died haven't started reappearing as manta rays, I believe that Moana's line fits a little better. I will carry you here in my heart. They won't physically be there, but... You've still learned from them, and they influence what you think, what you do. Cheesy line -- they'll always be a part of you. But, really. Your experiences make you you. The people you love make your experiences. They're intertwined in who you are.
Image result for grandma tala gif


4: It's okay to give up
Here you might be thinking "You talk a big game about watching the movie for someone who thinks the movie was about giving up". And I do. Because it's 1/10 lessons. And honestly, the movie isn't. But it's a lesson that comes from the movie. "It's not your fault. I never should have put so much on your shoulders. If you're ready to go home, I will be with you." No judgement. No "you should've been able to do it". Just simple clean I understand, and I love you anyways. Which is pretty much one of the best and most underused lessons. It's okay if everything is too much for you to handle. The people you love will still love and support you through it.

5: Every path leads to where you are
Yeah, maybe the song, for the most part, sounds very rigid and non-metaphorical. But just like let it go's "I'm never going back, the past is in the past!" Where you are's "Every path leads you back to where you ah-ah-are" doesn't mean a physical place. Your job, your success, your future situation doesn't really make a difference on where you are in an abstract sense. Those who are happy with anything will, no matter which path in life they go on, be happy. Those that are unhappy will, no matter if their path leads them to mind numbing fortune, will be left wanting. It is very likely and possible that you yourself change. But it isn't the path's job to change that. It's your own. Because the paths lead you back to where you are -- You change where you are.

6: You can find happiness right where you are
"Now you're just making all your lessons quotes of Where you are, Raven" You think begrudgingly. Or maybe you don't. Maybe you're hungry and trying to figure out what to eat. Either way, not the rest of them are going to be like that. Not from Where you are at the very least. But it's true. People think happiness is the light at the end of the tunnel, something they'll obtain as a reward for beating this side quest or it's just sitting by the road at this mile marker. But it's not. It's a tiny little animal trotting along next to you waiting for you to see it. It's just right there beside you, no matter where you are or what's happening in life, "if we're only brave enough to see it" (No, that quote is not from Moana. Deal :p )

7: Sometimes our strengths lie within
*Hei Hei coughs up rock and goes back to trying to eat it* "Far beneath". Yeah, maybe she just said that one throw away line about Hei Hei, the worlds dumbest rock eating chicken. And if they're eating rocks, Hei Hei does not have heavy hitting competition. But if he wasn't there, Moana would have failed. Multiple times. Maybe eating rocks doesn't seem like a strength, but he helped Moana when it counted. Hei Hei, the real hero of this story!
Image result for hei hei gifs

8: Your parents do try to help you
"Braski, she literally spent the whole movie doing the thing her dad told her not to do," I put as dialogue from you even though, who the heck says "Braski"?
And yeah, she did. But even Ms "I'm his mother, I don't have to tell him anything" said "You are your fathers daughter, stubbornness and pride, mind what he says" and even if you remember, you may hear a voice inside and that voice maybe be who you are, she still says that yeah, what he says matters. And Moana's mom? He doesn't want you going out on the ocean because he was you. He couldn't save his best friend, but he's hoping he can save you. The dad bad at all, heck, he helps go back to way-finding. He was just trying to save his daughter. Like, really man, you can't blame him for that and it's pretty legitimate. So, seriously dear readers, mind what your parents say.

9: It's what's on the inside that matter
Okay, not as prominent here as other Disney movies, but c'mon, the villain is the one who sings about how looks are the only thing that matters. And maybe not everything villains says can automatically be dismissed as untrue, but when you think you agree with them you might want to take a step back and say "yeah no". Maui makes a big deal about how the ocean's crazy for choosing a little girl like Moana, and Moana makes the point to Maui about how maybe the ocean saw someone worth saving in the child no one wanted. And Moana sees how Te'ka is really -Spoilers- te'fiti. As if the scene of the teenage girl standing up to a giant lava monster isn't awesome enough. Image result for te fiti gif

10: What defines who you are?
I've already done the "who you are" thing in not just one but TWO points so far. So gloss over this one, lump em together and say I'm short on points (and then I'll just bring in some of the stuff that was cut from the film to make a point. Unstoppable and More anyone? ;-) ). But this has more to do with Te'fiti than it does with Moana and Maui, the previous points in the huge overarching theme of who you are. "I know your name, they have stolen the heart from inside you, but this does not define you, this is not who you are, do you know who you are?" Sometimes people don't know who they are. Sometimes they become twisted by things like grief, like lies, like stealing their green stone heart. But this does not define them. This is not necessarily who they are. Sometimes all people can see of
themselves is Te'ka, and someone has to be able to recognize the Te'fiti. Usually that's the best way to help people, and only permanent way -- restoring Te'fiti.
Image result for te fiti gif


Well, thank you for indulging my ramblings and love of Disney's Moana. I'm willing to do this for other things too, and might even. Tell me if y'all want it. Or don't and I probably will anyways. Thanks either way :-)
Princess
super-chu
Raven DeWitt

Pyramid, whoo-hoo. :-)


. I never should have put so much
on your shoulders.
If you're ready to go home.
I will be with you.

Read more: http://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/movie_script.php?movie=moana

Monday, June 26, 2017

Hate and secrets and posion

Hello.
I don't think I have some great, majestic, important opening line for this post.
I guess I can start with this; everyone kinda knows that hate is bad for you. It has a quote that says it's "the poison you drink to kill someone else". It doesn't do anything to the other person. Hate all you want, but the one the poison will affect is you, not them. Whether you straight up tell them you hate them or let them figure it out for themselves, or fake the heck out of it so no one knows, they won't be hurt by it nearly as much as you are. If they're hurt at all. If you hate, that's on you, and you're the one who's going to be twisted and angered and almost consumed by it.
On a similar note, and something that isn't a universally acknowledged phenomenon, I believe secrets can do that too. Minor secrets or major ones, they're a little like hate. They mostly twist you, instead of someone else. Even minor secrets feel like a burden to keep and bear. The worst part, I think, is that hate is something that you can see it working from the outside. When people hate you notice it's not good for them. When they're that consumed by anger. But secrets? It's like the worm on the inside of a fruit, eating it's way out. You don't see it until it's done it's damage. It's an inner wall of blocking out those you love and those who love you, and keeping you alone. It's a barrier, but not a protective one.
Sorry, that was depressing. It's just... I get kind of frustrated with people keeping secrets, or swearing me to secrecy and... Don't you see that it's pointless? No one cares. The only thing it does is close you off -- the people who love you will love you just the same, no matter the secret. Argue against all you want, but for every secret I know about one of my friends, it's true. I don't care how dark you claim your secret is. How weird you think it'll make relationships. The people who love you love you, and I don't think almost anything can stop that. So why do you make yourself locked into the tiny little box of secrecy and lonesomeness?
That was serious. And I apologize. I mean, I think some of my posts will be serious, but I hope to mostly keep it to the usually sassy, sarcastic me and not serious me, because being serious is boring. Also, depressing. I'm just... frustrated, and because this is my blog, this is where I'm putting all my being frustrated and stuff. Deal? What do I care, it's not your blog :p

Seriously, thanks and sorry
Sarcasm next time, m'kay?
Superchu
Raven DeWitt

Monday, June 19, 2017

Chicago

Hello,
I just got back from a mission trip in Chicago. Well, by just I mean late Saturday night. It was... okay. It felt more like a campaign than a mission trip. More "look at the brokenness. Doesn't it suck?" than "let's do what we can to help, even if it's for these few days". I get what their point was -- we're not permanent and they're not here to give us warm fuzzies from helping people who can function perfectly well without us. Their point was this is what's happening, and this is how we're working to fix it. You are temporary and, no offense, unnecessary. Don't feel like a savior just because you volunteered for a week -- some of us full time live here.
I get their point and agree. But, we're still volunteering and trying to help. We didn't come here for your political campaign.
But, overall, it was enjoyable. Friday, after helping at a food pantry to sort the food, we went to the shed aquarium. I got to pet sting rays. It was pretty awesome.
Then, on Saturday, we went to six flags. Which is an amusement park. That's heavily DC themed. I didn't know about that, but it was AWESOME. If I'd known it was DC, I think I'd have brought more money and worn my DC comics Bombshells T I made. And my Harley Quinn shorts. I went on a ride called the joker, Image result for six flags the joker ride
Which is that. Right there. It's the waves. The carts, are two next to each other connected to the thing that is connected to the tracks by one point it pivots at. If you way more you'll spin and flip upside down more. Almost every cart will do that least once I figure, though. I liked it a lot.
And then I came home and my dad was sick on Father's Day. Fun times. And now I'm here. So, hello.
I think that's about it...
Thanks!
Super-chu
Raven DeWitt

Friday, June 9, 2017

Catching up

Hi.
Sorry. I think it'll be quite a long time before I stop apologizing for disappearing. But, hey, let's do what this post is named and catch up?
So, let's see, what all do I need to tell you?
So, I got a boyfriend. A year and a half ago. I've liked him for, wow, about two years now. Seven months before we started dating. He's basically a real life version of Link, at least looks wise (minus the fact Link is totally short). He's a nerd, like me, but less advanced (; and, well... I don't exactly know how to describe him. A total dork, likes building stuff and working on projects, just kinda calm and chill and... yeah.
My best friends have stayed July and Jessie, except with the addition of my real life Link. Don't worry, none of them is neglected in pursuit of one of the other friends.
Classes have been crazy. So, I took college Japanese, I took web and game design through the local tech center. And loved it. I can now code basic websites and use gamemaker and basic C++. Whoo. I loved it, but didn't learn a lot. Enough to know I'm not good, I need to work hard, and... I think this might be what I want to do. If not, I'm taking a year off of school (a gap year before college), and... I'm going to work on it during this free year and see if it really is. Well, mostly free year, because work but yeah. Anyways.
What I do know is I love stories and fictional worlds and creating them and... Through maybe books and maybe comics and hopefully games, I know that is what I want to be doing. And coding can get me to the games part. All I need is to learn art -- The industry is made of people who can do it all. I... I have no inkling of an idea what to do if not create stories. Maybe AI and bio-tech. Like cyborg parts. Maybe that's where I'll start my real jobs and just create life as a hobby. It all depends on college and... Just, who knows? Who knows what will happen, because it's certainly not me.
On a less tragic note, I was the pilot on our robotics team this year. It was amazing, we made it to quarter finals of our field in worlds and I loved every minute of the ride. And I will tell you more about all that jazz soon. Don't worry your pretty little heads.
And, really... I think that's all for today. Maybe I'll be able to get to some book, comic, game and movie reviews soon, some top fives or top tens and DEFINITELY some rants. I'm always up for a good rant.

I'm back baby! :p
Super-chu
Raven DeWitt