Ari Bach's Blog, page 69
February 23, 2017
Nel: Am I just supposed to sleep on the floor?
Vibeke: It's called the ground when it's outside.
February 17, 2017
Nel: I'm not interested in you that way.
Veikko: What way?
Nel: Pick one.
February 15, 2017
"Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!"
-
Vibeke [to Mishka]
(via incorrectvalhallaquotes)
Oh man there are like 50 times this line could’ve been there. Sad fact- I only saw Firefly like a month after I finished the last book. I’d seen Serenity when it came out and didn’t really care about it, but then I saw the series and then the movie was AMAZING.
February 11, 2017
A New Film
Hi all! I hope you’re enjoying Jealous Gods now that it’s complete! If you haven’t seen it yet but supported the campaign please let me know so I can get the link to you ASAP!
In newer news, the assistant director from Jealous Gods is about to begin his own feature film, a Pulp Fiction type crime drama! If you have any interest in further supporting independent cinema, please check out the IndieGogo!
February 9, 2017
Talking with writers online
Their stories: Amazing grammar, soaring vocabulary, beautiful imagery and prose which flows like a river.
In chats: no capitalisation or punctuation, swears like a sailor, misspellings everywhere, acronyms and abbreviations every five words, idek
i beg ur fucking parddon
February 8, 2017
sharkchunks:
The most offensively misogynistic lines of James...
The most offensively misogynistic lines of James Bond (in chronological order):
“Just do as I say, will you?” in From Russia With Love
“I may just retire here,” in You Only Live Twice
“I approve of your frock. Tight in all the right places, not too many buttons,” in The Man With The Golden Gun
“A woman?” in Moonraker
“Sexual discrimination? I’ll definitely have to pay it a visit,” in Octopussy
“The bitch is dead,” in Casino Royale
“It’s a waste of good scotch,” in SkyfallNote that despite the negation of some sexist elements as time went on, the more recent lines are the most cruel, with the Craig films having a far more angry and demeaning nature than the others, which were often humorous and even self deprecating (that is not to say that a humorous sexist remark is a great deal more forgivable than a mean one). Brosnan’s films were easily the most progressive, often ridiculing the previous sexism of the series and introducing the first female characters of strength who are not punished or demeaned for having it.
The modern Bond films seem to do for the character’s misogyny what the Abrams Star Treks did for the cliches of the series- Amplifying what the general public knew about the show as jokes (red shirts die, Bones and Spock argue a lot, Kirk sleeps with many aliens) at the cost of what actually made the show good. The new Bonds seem to be made by people who heard the series was sexist, so they made it sexist without any apology, thinking they were taking the series back to its roots.
Perhaps they did and did it well, but of all the things to bring back from the dead, was Bond as a negative portrayal of women really the one to focus on?
And here we have the origin of about 30% of the Valhalla series.
Valhalla was always meant to be a modern James Bond, among other things. The problem is that the Bond series, while generally supplying the best action film of any year one comes out, is sexist as hell. I recognized this (thanks to my parents) from the very beginning and never fully accepted the series as a result. So when I wrote my own action stories, I resolved to fix a few things that I felt Bond did wrong.
First, this was probably the reason my series had a female lead from the very beginning. The fastest way, to my teenage mind, to erase the concept of subservient women and superior men in action was to feature a female lead who was never demeaned by the writer for her femininity. One who was strong, strongly developed as a character, who would outdo anything Bond did in his films (half the action scenes from the first book are my attempts to outdo Bond film action sequences, Varg’s intro chase is actually a unified spoof of five different Bond chases) and who would not swoon for any attractive male spy. The offensive concept of Pussy Galore (because Fleming seriously named a character that) being lesbian but ‘changing’ for Bond because he’s just such a stud that women will change their orientation to be with him, is also likely a contributing reason that Violet is gay, and is never not gay.
Varg is the other half of the response. Where Violet takes all the negatives and inverts them, Varg takes all the positives and rescues them. He is hyper-masculine, he has sex with every woman he can, he’s big and buff and macho and all that, but he’s all that without ever having to demean women to be it. Bond was the masculine ideal for 50 years. He probably still is for most guys. I wanted to make it clear that there can still be a male ideal in a feminist world, in opposition to those who claim feminism demeans men. It doesn’t demean men, it frees them. So he’s the most light spirited character, and likely the most moral character, in contrast to what many readers expect.
I’ve had many letters expecting Varg to be the villain or at least a jerk because he’s so macho, some later in disappointment that the macho guy turned out to be good. For toxic masculinity, one need only look to Wulfgar. Varg is simply what James Bond could’ve been were Fleming not a sexist dipshit. It’s in response to more recent developments that he never upstages Violet or Vibeke, specifically the Matrix syndrome of badass women who train dull men who become the main character. Other tropes and binaries to negate inspired later bits of the series as I became aware of them.
TL;DR a good deal of Valhalla started as my childhood attempt to undo the sexism of the Bond series.
February 5, 2017
aribach:
“Stop”
My third film after Point Five and Jealous Gods....
“Stop”
My third film after Point Five and Jealous Gods. It’s in 3D, select side by side mode on any 3D viewing device to watch it in its intended form. Otherwise, just watch one side of it and ignore the other.
February 4, 2017
The Abstract Machine
Welcome to my 6 book series! Featuring a main trilogy set 900-1000 years after the merging of Hell and Earth in 2075. Demons and humans breeding together over countless generations. The first novel A New World has been in development for 2 years, the entire series growing with me as I’ve come into my own as a person. It’s a coming of age story that’s more focused on making the individual believe in themselves, rife with tragedy, strategy, fantasy and violence! With giant monsters, primordial beasts, serpents and dragons!
The two main characters Mali and Aoife are partners in life and battle. Together since they were little, undeniably in love with each other. This is a story about bonds to live for, bonds to die for. A tragic tale of young lovers, one homosexual, the other asexual. As they swear their bodies to battle and search for meaning in why they fight.Also featuring an upcoming prequel trilogy(currently in short story form) set before and during the apocalypse. The story centers around a darker romance between a faerie and a human, as lost love begets blood and hunger as they struggle to survive through the end times.
Warning, this series contains: Violence, lesbians, the perversion of biblical history, dragons, ghouls, angels, demons, nephilim, child abuse, dismemberment, prosthetic swords, the concept that you can be in love without sex, nerdy nephilim boys, Gods, souls, dolls, bad fathers, absent parents and so much more!Main Trilogy
- A New World
- The Path We Paved
- SolacePrequel Trilogy
- Darker Flavours
- Devil’s Food
- Sweet AmbrosiaFeedback is highly encouraged. This is my life’s work and I want it to be a truly great piece of art, something for all ages and to heal and disturb. Humanity bogs itself down with doubt, we all deserve to believe in the power of the self. The individual has infinite potential, it is our right to claim it.
- Tiernan Blair-Mitchell
Please check it out!
February 2, 2017
Valhalla; A trilogy by Ari Bach
Well, this review is long due, thanks to my laziness in reading and writing. But it is finaly here, and I owe @the-walrus-squad one for sure.
Disclaimer: This is not a professional critique, I am just a nerd who loves books.
Valhalla is a trilogy of books by Ari Bach, consisting of Valhalla, Ragnarok, and Gudsriki. But, I mean, I’ll leave out all the information you can, like, google.
How are the books, though?
Well, in my opinion, pretty good.
The story is nice, flows well, and Ari pulls some twists which not even George R.R. Martin would be ashamed of. Be warned, there are lots and lots and LOTS of scenes of extreme violence, and it’s all fucking amazing.
As all good sci-fis, the books show us the possibility of humanity’s future, tackling morals, capitalism, the internet, and, frankly (un)suprisingly, religion, and fanaticisim. That said, these themes are in no heavy focus. Apart from the religion, and even that is not the main focus of the trilogy. It’s not a series with any intended deeper meaning, I think, and it doesn’t have to be. What it does it does well, and what it does is provide a great story while providing some food for thought as a side dish.
The writing is good, if you’ve ever seen @facts-i-just-made-up, you know what you’re in for. There are times when I get lost in it, especially when it comes to fights, but that might just be a personal issue. There’s also often a lack of descriptions of places, people, and machinery, which leaves a lot to the imagination, yes, but can also lead to confusion. I think it is not revealed that Pytten has an eyepatch until the very end of the series, unless I missed something.
That is a thing to praise, thouhg. Inclusion, everyone loves inclusion now, right? In Valhalla you can find lots of canonically gay and bisexual characters, and Pytten is a genderless fish person!
Over all, Valhalla is one hell of a series, and I recommend everyone to give it a shot.
Well that’s one badly-done review over, have a nice one!
Thank you so much for reading them! I’m glad you liked them :D
jupiterandbeyondtheinfinite:
The Geki: Don’t fuck shit up
Trump:
The Geki: Don’t fuck shit up
Trump:
