Against Prophecy

I think I have a serious peeve, twitch, irk, grating aggravation conception against Prophecy in Fiction. But it's a specific type of prophecy - because I'm sat here thinking that ' I know Duke Crocker from Haven's meant to die at the hands of someone with a particular tattoo and it doesn't bother me'.


So, what's the difference? Well first of all? It's who made the prophecy. I actually know. And when it was made - recently. And why it was made - because this was the seers gift/curse to see how people will die.


Does such a curse/gift make sense? No, not really. But I can take a step back for the sake of the in universe logic. Such an ability exists. And it has foreseen this main character's death.


Which leads to number four. This is a prophecy about how someone will die. It's specific. Most of the time it's 'The prophecized one' and there's some hazy handwavium about greatness against darkness or against the ultimate or some shite like that. Sometimes it's 'this is the one prophezied to end you - great evil mustache twirling baddie'. And there's only one prophecy of such type I actually buy into - the one regarding a certain baby ending the days of a certain King. Ahem. And it's got nothing to do with faith. It's got everything to do with the structure of the story making it seem like fate is sending out wireless signals, and of course this king had a hookup with the right people to try and clone those signals and read the messages. It was not, let's say, a message he was supposed to get - but he was working the angles.


So I guess that's the second kind of 'prophecy' I can handle. When something is on the wings of magic or existence and some folks with the skill to read it (but who shouldn't be reading it), hijack into the future to find out stuff. And then?  I honestly can't remember in this case if it was one item amidst dross, or if they were particularly searching for 'shall our employer be thwarted and leave us all out of jobs'.


I guess, I guess now that I'm writing it out - the thing that's upset me, aggravated me, pissed me off about prophecy in spec fic is that it's mostly a shortcut path to 'This is our chosen one - awwwh!' (cue the choir). The prophecy makes the character special. The prophecy means they were MEANT to do xyz and 123. The prophecy is guiding the tale, guiding their lives, blah blah blankety blah blah.


No one ever knows who gave the phrophecy. No one ever discusses the reliability of the source. No one ever discusses the possibility the information within it might have been warped - given that these shortcuts to greatness tend to be decades upon decades old, sometimes centuries old. Who the heck was trying to hijack the future that far ahead and for what purpose? it's just 'There is a Chosen One w/i this prophecy and that prophecy and this is the one! Awwwh!' (cue the choir again).


There's never a culture set up in these universes of honoring prophets either. Of say, having individuals for whom jacking into fate or the future is their gift/curse, and they have special school/temples/complexes with archives and librarians and they just see EVERYTHING (the poor suckers) and it all gets written down and someone somewhere decides that this prophecy is nothing but The Farm Cycle. And that orphecy is 'OMG The Royal House Shall Fall!!!'


Also, why are there never any consequences involving these prophecies? And no, I'm not meaning just in time for the protaganist to have some conflict. But why hasn't the 'Royal House' which 'Shall Fall' not hidden the prophecy, destroyed it, refuted it, burnt and salted the earth of the place where it came to be. Why isn't there a culture AGAINST seers (as much as there should be one for them)? Why isn't there misinformation purposely spread so this or that noble house could continue to survive, so that someone couldn't attempt to fit the bill of said prophecy in order to defeat their enemies (or maybe just people they didn't like)?


There is one other prophecy I actually liked. From the movie BulletProof Monk. And what I liked about it there is that the SAME prophecy held true for each individual who'd end up being 'special' over the years. That it was like a contract with fate "Once these circumstances happen, these individuals will be primed to be the next xyz." Like a program with a loop. In which case it feels less shortcut and more 'When the time is right, you will begin to know because fate loops this way. These things will always happen'. When you say something will ALWAYS happen - then it gets mystical to me. Then I don't take a step back so much, or at least can take a step forward into the world again, because the same circumstance for each individual through the years? That's actually interesting to me. And in the case of BulletProof Monk (the movie) it's VERY interesting. Because it's very specific. But not just for 'one' chosen, for every chosen. Ever. Forever. And it says nothing about whether said individual will succeed or fail - just that 'when these things happen, pay attention to this individual - it will be important'.


So what do we have, what do I have?


I need to know who made the prophecy. Why they made it. When they made it. How it's lasted so long (if it's been years and years). Is it untampered? What about it gives it the ring of truth? Was it specifically looked for? Is it about a specific situation? A specific circumstance? Was the seer trustworthy? Why does this prophecy matter? Why was the prophecy created ?

What I don't need; what I cannot enjoy reading is 'And the BLAH TITLE BLAH Prohecy has states a chosen one will come, and lo there will be turmoil, and yea verily the ultimate moment of the ultimate struggle shall arise....'


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[hah, it looks like somethings just feel as if they belong here - even though, OMGWF is w/ all the white and open space blogger. Oh my EYES. Andwhy are my tags all squished up in a corner? OMG the gurbleick!]

MY BIRTHDAY; a little happiness, some rant, some smack talk and plea for reccs

Let us describe what I did with my birthday.

I relaxed. I had easy, yet delicious food. I bundled up for warmth. And I read comics. All. Damn. Day.

I read me some NextWave. Agents of H.A.T.E - FINALLY. And got me some squee over Monica (Who will ALWAYS BE MY CAPTAIN MARVEL).

I read me some Shadowpact. Ragman is f*Cking cool! Seriously. Jewish hero. Kicking ass. Taking names. And BRINGING YOU YOUR REDEMPTION!

I think I'm in love.

Also it was very sad to learn that they stopped at #25. Also I only read up to #21.


Also also? Shadowpact? That was one white ass team, yo. WHITE. ASS. And I sincerely appreciate Nightmaster's vague allusion to that fact (mentioning getting his white ass handed to him)

Also? The JL in that series? WHITE AS WONDER BREAD.

Are there no POC magical heroes in DCverse? And please don't tell me Blue Devil is a person of colour, or I will rip your still beating heart from your chest and piss on it.

Which reminds me I've had a post brewing to one side about Supergirl getting kicked to the curb from the WHITE AS MOON ASS Teen Titans - but it's a rant involving lots of frothing at the mouth from me, at how things went down via summaries from Maid of Might and scans_daily. So it might not ever see the light of day.

Seriously the only way that whole set up could be redeemed to me is if someone comes back and does THE STORY WE DIDN'T KNOW, where Cassie fricking Stargirl had herself some lesbian experimentation using Super-Girl as something to hump in her grieving over Kon-EL, selfishly not considering that using a person, moreover a person with limited understanding of human interactions and no clue this could be a possibility, is WRONGER than WRONG especially when one calls oneself a hero.

*breathes at that run on sentence*

AND the misunderstanding between Cassie and Kara when this is all explained is that Cassie confesses and Supergirl is understandably pissed off and is all very much "Lose my number you user skank!"

*breathes, exhales*

But where was I? Oh yes.

GREEN LANTERN CORPS.

Seriously - WTF is up with that? I repeat. WHAT. THE. F*CK. IS. UP. WITH. THAT.??!

A girl on her birthday tries to get into GLC, look at some stuff, cause the Rainbow Wars look interesting and the latest previews look exciting.

AND................

Apparently in order to know WTF is going on, I have to read shite from 2004! Because Geoff Johns is a -looooooong- view writer?

SERIOUSLY?

SERIOUSLY?

This is supposed to encourage me to buy the TPB's HOW?

Cause you know, so far on my list of things to acquire by the end of the year, I've got - NEW EXCALIBUR (the first half 1-15) and NEXTWAVE.

But I need to know about ION and Sinestro Corps War in order to appreciate The Alpha Lanterns and the fact that the big headed blue dudes have felt fear and like George Bush Jr after 9/11 are now running around going 'PATRIOT ACT!' and 'ILLEGAL PHONE TAPS' and 'OH NOES WE NEEDS US SOME CIA INTERNAL AFFAIRS IN HERE!' ?????

I don't have a clue if I'll even like GL, why do I need to know all that? How is this attractive to the causal but intrigued new series reader?

Also GL fans, are you aware that while Kali921 is one of you, she's also a Nova Corps fan? Not only that, but she and others have been pimping Marvel's Cosmic Comics at me, like it was naked women covered in chocolate whose mouths constantly produce whipped cream and caramel?

And one of the bloody damn hooks of Nova Corps & Anahilation is that I don't bloody well have to do bloody homework in order to understand it??

Despite some scant knowledge of GL's from my childhood, including a parent's love of Alan Scott, I am a definitive DCAU baby! I have one true Lantern and his name is not HAL or KYLE. And my kickass female lantern love is PINK and likes dark meat!


Why do I need to read about people I only know of as peripherals in order to understand a story that seems as if it should have a broader more encompassing pov? Is the Rainbow Corps not a truly epic undertaking after all? Epic as in universal, as in not complicated requiring endless footnotes to comprehend???

*breathes*

Seriously though Nova has a Raccoon and the GLC has a chipmunk, or maybe it's a squirrel. Either way, glowy people kicking ass to save the universe. My money's only going to be spent on that story ONCE. And it's going to be spent on something that's enjoyable and doesn't give me a damn headache.

So if any GL fans out there want to point me to something, or inform me of what to read that's not 4 trades prior to what's going on right now. I think my vote's been cast.

Also. Nova has/is a lesbian.

So seriously. Y'all GLC pimpers are getting rolled!

Right, now that all that bemused WTF is out of my system :) And it is bemused, cause I was all about the happy on my b-day....

Who wants to recc me something to spend birthday money on? Keeping in mind my icons are generally women, with close to cosmic level powers who'll kick a bad guy in the face or groin?

Also, is there a light based heroine (maybe even hero) I DON'T know about?

Monica, Allison Blaire... (I know I'm forgetting someone)

Got the name.