User:JEV3
I'm a sixteen year old boy with a major interest in Sonic, Lord of the Rings, and Redwall. Generally one interest takes the back seat periodically, almost seasonally, and I tend to adapt my hobbies to whatever my chief interest rests in.
Interests
I had many interests which easily became the main thing I worked on, for, and towards for much of my life. I will note that some interests were left out on account of being completely and totally dropped, chiefly Harry Potter and Pokemon.
Lord of the Rings
Probably the first and foremost of my interests, I had maintained a great interest in Tolkien's world before the movies were ever released. I had watched the movies and due to the sudden burst in popularity, had reached a certain level of similar interests with my peers. In the first stage of my internet activity, I started, and ran a modification for the video game series based on the movies, Battle for Middle Earth 2, The Rise of the Witch-king. My favorite sub-story had always been the Witch-king and how he brought about the Fall of Arnor, which seemed both paid tribute and mocked with the release of the game. It still remains to be a part of my internet activity today despite Sonic's recent advance into my main interest.
After reading the main series, I spent the next several years learning all I could about Middle-earth which included listening to, reading, and rereading the Silmarillion. My favorite stories were Beren and Luthien, one of the only romances I've ever enjoyed, and Children of Hurin, which had a slightly depressing and disturbing tale of a man who was cursed by the devil (Morgoth) because of his father's steadfast position against him. I had always like Turin, who seemed to have advanced a great distance in every effort against Morgoth while drowning in despair and designed misfortune. Even at his end where he the evil dragon and servant of Morgoth had successfully played him into the most dishonorable position held by those who defied Morgoth, he still maintained a legacy of heroism that outlived his shame. In the drafts and notes of Tolkien, it was he who dealt the final blow to Morgoth in the utmost end of Middle-earth.
Sonic the Hedgehog
My first game ever was Sonic the Hedgehog 3 for Sega Genesis. I played it and enjoyed it instantly and it continued to entertain me for years. I would make up sub-stories and sequels to the storyline I had drawn from Sonic 3. My family had always associated Sonic and video games in general as a little kid's game, to the point where when I made a Sonic costume for Halloween at around 10-12 years old, I was not allowed to show it to anyone except a neighbor that was half a dozen years younger than myself. This still troubles me to this day where my work associated with Sonic is ridiculed and passed off as childish by my mother and sometimes by my brothers and sisters.
My first discovery of Shadow was in a magazine which showed a quick picture of Shadow grinding. My brother exclaimed that there was an evil Sonic to which I replied that it was merely the lighting. I eventually played Sonic Adventure 2 at a friends house, and enjoyed it quite a bit while being frustrated by Tails' Clumsy Machine and the fact that Shadow was always talking about a character I knew nothing about. (the game was already partially finished when I played it) Having only briefly seen him, his entrance in Sonic Heroes was quite fascinating to me, but got old real fast by the time the next game came out. At this point, I don't have anything against the SA2 storyline except that it was practically mocked by later games and had departed from the general fantasy tendency of the games. However, Shadow and his entrance was what had convinced me that Sonic was not a kiddy game.
The only character I had ever been extremely fond of was Tails, which was somewhat destroyed by his 'good-eggman' character element in some of the later games. I had also enjoyed E-102's appearance and Tikal despite my initial misgivings about her story. I had always loathed the character of Amy Rose especially in Sonic Heroes when she started demanding that Sonic marry her. The only thing I ever liked about her character was when I recently played Sonic Adventure and her character had taken a completely different turn than what I was used to. Maintaining this as the Amy Rose that should have been kept, this has continued to influence my view on the characters today.
Redwall
Years ago when I was still in grade school my family would all try to get up unusually early on Sunday morning to watch a cartoon about mice and rats. I soon found out that it was based off of a book but I never ventured to read the series until only a handful of years ago. I had run out of interesting things to read and finally asked about Redwall.
Upon reading it I immediately like the author's style of telling the story from the perspectives of every major character, good or bad. Every view was covered and the story had would transition from one sub-plot to the next, until in the end they all came together in one climax. I read the series over and over again each time taking more interest in a different point of view. While at one point I was most interested in the hero's quest to save his friends, I was at another time more interested in the mysteries that the characters tried to solve at home, and again I would be interested in the deception and mutinies in the evil character's story...
I also introduced some of my friends to it, and would for a time hold a fan club with activities based on the series and reading out of the first book in the series. I also went through studying the characters and making short character bios in the form of Redwall Collector's Cards...
Redwall soon became a part in an alternation of interests, normally taking up the Summer while Lord of the Rings remained my favorite over the winter.
Pirates of the Caribbean
A rather recent interest but nonetheless one that intrigues me is the cleverly woven tale of Pirates and trickery that has recently surfaced in Theaters. Being brought up to carefully distinguish good guys from bad guys, this movie threw that viewpoint in a tailspin which gave me an opportunity to view the characters individually from their perspective and not from a global right or wrong perspective.
The first movie brought brought its excitement with the hilarious Jack Sparrow, and for the duration of the entire movie, I didn't know who was on who's side. The second movie explored some new ideas and I still enjoy the handling of the story of Davy Jones. Particular well-crafted parts that were prime examples of the depth of the movie were...:
--Cutler stating that "There is a price which everyone must accept, even for that which he hoped never to sell" upon placing the governor in a puppet position, and then cutting straight to the gambling sequence on the Dutchman where Will gambles with his soul, in exchange for the key to the Dead Man's Chest.
--The gambling sequence itself which builds in tension until Will can no longer make a reasonable bet and to save him his father makes an outrageous bet, forfeiting the game and his soul.
--The entire scene on Isla Cruces where everything comes together and everyone is scrambling for possession of the chest.
--The contrasting development of the characters Jack and Elizabeth. While Jack claimed that Elizabeth would want to act on selfish impulse and therefore come to his side, Elizabeth tells him he will want to do the right thing, albeit for skewed intentions and show that he was a good man. At the end Elizabeth chains Sparrow to the mast while kissing him to both distract him and satisfy her tempting desire. Meanwhile Sparrow returns to his crew and saves them from certain death, and upon being trapped on the ship, he dies a hero, standing against the monstrous Kraken.
--The interesting twists in the third movie where all the characters were willing to turn one another in for their own motives until finally they are forced to choose a side in the big climax.
All of these scenes and more were examples of the storytelling of Pirates that made it stand out.
Jericho
Everyone has different fears, but one of the more common fears barring arachnophobia and the fear of heights, is a post-apocalyptic scenario... Namely, getting nuked. So we can imagine how horrid it would be to be one of the people instantly wiped out when something goes off, or to survive in a city decimated by this bomb. But say you live in a town that only glimpsed it on the horizon, and other than loss of communications, remains pretty normal.
Jericho begins with a young man, Jake Green returning home after five years, but is unwilling to share where he's been. His best friend is going to lose his farm to an IRS agent, his girlfriend's fiancée is on his way back from Chicago, his father is preparing to hold onto his position as mayor for another election, and his brother has stuck with them through thick and thin. After his father turns down his earnest request for the money his late grandfather left with him he leaves again... then a mushroom cloud appears on the horizon.
What follows develops as a character based story which is charming if not always action packed. Jake becomes a reluctant hero and all the other characters are explored in the aftermath. While he is helping the town, his friend Stanley begins to fall in love with the IRS agent, his girlfriend's criminal father returns to town, Mayor Green becomes desperately sick in need of medication from another town, Gray Anderson tries to gain political support for mayor, and the mysterious Robert Hawkins follows information about the bombs and tries to become part of his family again.
Late in the season Robert Hawkins reveals to Jake Green the secrets behind the bombing of 23 cities and a neighboring town is making war on Jericho for its coveted supplies. Season 1 ended just at the beginning of a skirmish. Due to poor ratings the show was canceled at the last minute but 20 tons of nuts from the fans guaranteed a Season 2.
With the fans in mind, the producers did away with most of the boring love triangle elements and forced by the seven episode restriction they quickened the pace. The story starts with military relief from the newly formed Allied States of America while Jake and Hawkins try to expose the upstart government. Other characters find themselves involved in a rapidly forming conflict. One of the new characters, Major Beck, struggles with internal conflict when Hawkins suggests that his leaders are corrupt.
Unfortunately while the show was almost perfect during the short run, the ratings still don't seem to show it, though the evidence of its success is everywhere else. CBS aired the last episode as the series finale, but there is still room for much more story if they decide to shop the show. If it sounds boring, blame my poor summarizing skills.
Hobbies
Modding
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Wadding
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Graphics
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Writing
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