I found this note I wrote a year and a half ago. Man has my writing improved. But maybe because I wasn't putting much effort into this one. Nevertheless, here is a little rant about heroes.
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Sometimes, I disappear to somewhere quiet, and just sit there and think.
It's not neccisarily intelligent thought, it's just...using "The Nothing Box."
And I realized that I look up to alot of people; I have alot of heros, and I never knew it.
Some heros are real people in your everyday life; like for me, it's people like my Dad, Rachel, my Grandma...people who inspire you by the way they handle things, or treat other people.
Other heros are people who you've never met, never seen or might not have even lived; legends and characters who inspired you more than you knew, unknowingly making them affect the way you conduct yourself, the way you look at other people, the way you live, and what you do in your spare time.
I really had no idea whatsoever that these characters affected me like that, but sitting there, I realized that these people that I've never even met have given me a passion and aspiration for chivalry, honor, self-sacrifice, knowledge, action, courage and strength.
It's a weird feeling, realizing that. "I'm being influenced by people that might not have even been alive..."
Not neccisarily a bad one, but definitely weird.
It's mostly people in books that struck me like that, but there's even a few I realized I look up to that are characters in movies; that sounds kind of shallow, but it's very true. Not all of them were neccisarily main characters and weren't used much in their stories, but I loved them just the same.
I can't name all of these heros, because so many have struck me as truly heroic, but here's a few that will forever stay in my mind as heros I never knew:
-Sir Gawain-
Probably my greatest hero, he was the Knight of King Arthur whose manners and chivalry made him great amongst the others. His strength in battle grew greater as the sun rose, but when it began to sink, his strength returned to normal as well.
The French writers tend to portray Gawain as an anti-hero and a womaniser; a ruthless and treacherous knight. They preferred their romantic Sir Lancelot; the morals Chivalry were dying out.
Sir Thomas Malory depicted Gawain as an angry, barbaric man full of hate and vengance, but that book was written after the morals of chivalry had become much less popular and a thing of the past.
In The Once and Future King, T.H White nailed Gawain's character--or at least, to my mind he did. His Gawain was proud, stubborn, leonine, dangerous when provoked, volcanic-tempered, and sometimes harsh or needlessly violent. He was also fiercely loyal, family-oriented, gentle, thoughtful, determined, and honorable to the end.
I find him strangely relatable.
-Ferdiad MacDaman-
Died fighting CuChulainn, his best friend, for the sake of his honor. A mighty warrior and fierce friend.
"...Ferdiad came with them for the sake of his own honour, forasmuch as he deemed it better to fall by the shafts of valour and bravery and skill, than to fall by the shafts of satire, abuse and reproach..."
He died as a man, fighting against his childhood friend who was armed with magical weapons and otherworldly powers.
Man after my own heart.
-Robin Hood-
or Rhu Bran Hud.
Everybody knows who he is.
-Katsumoto-
The Samurai lord who died fighting for his country, people, and honor.
From The Last Samurai.
Cool guy.
-William Wallace-
A Scottish patriot who fought and led his country on one of the most intense wars against the opression of England. He was excecuted for high treason.
You know his story from Braveheart...which was a mite inaccurate, but we'll let it slide. Because he is a might hero in the film as well.
-Andre Marek-
Read Timeline by Michael Crichton; you will understand, and be enlightened.
-Aslan-
The christ-like lion in The Chronicles of Narnia.
I cried the first time I read the part when he gave his life in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. If you didn't, or had a hard time not doing so, you're a cold-hearted monster.
-Boromir-
from J.R.R Tolkien's Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Also in the movie, where he was depicted perfectly by Sean Bean.
The son of the Steward of Gondor, noble and proud, a mighty warrior afflicted by the temptation of the Ring. He died defending those weaker than him, and confronted his corruption like a true hero in the end. I weep shamelessly when I watch or read his final scene. Such humanity. Such dignity. Such true Heroism. Courageous.
-------------
So you've read all about some of my greatest heros;
I'd like to know who yours are.
-------------------------------------------------------
Sometimes, I disappear to somewhere quiet, and just sit there and think.
It's not neccisarily intelligent thought, it's just...using "The Nothing Box."
And I realized that I look up to alot of people; I have alot of heros, and I never knew it.
Some heros are real people in your everyday life; like for me, it's people like my Dad, Rachel, my Grandma...people who inspire you by the way they handle things, or treat other people.
Other heros are people who you've never met, never seen or might not have even lived; legends and characters who inspired you more than you knew, unknowingly making them affect the way you conduct yourself, the way you look at other people, the way you live, and what you do in your spare time.
I really had no idea whatsoever that these characters affected me like that, but sitting there, I realized that these people that I've never even met have given me a passion and aspiration for chivalry, honor, self-sacrifice, knowledge, action, courage and strength.
It's a weird feeling, realizing that. "I'm being influenced by people that might not have even been alive..."
Not neccisarily a bad one, but definitely weird.
It's mostly people in books that struck me like that, but there's even a few I realized I look up to that are characters in movies; that sounds kind of shallow, but it's very true. Not all of them were neccisarily main characters and weren't used much in their stories, but I loved them just the same.
I can't name all of these heros, because so many have struck me as truly heroic, but here's a few that will forever stay in my mind as heros I never knew:
-Sir Gawain-
Probably my greatest hero, he was the Knight of King Arthur whose manners and chivalry made him great amongst the others. His strength in battle grew greater as the sun rose, but when it began to sink, his strength returned to normal as well.
The French writers tend to portray Gawain as an anti-hero and a womaniser; a ruthless and treacherous knight. They preferred their romantic Sir Lancelot; the morals Chivalry were dying out.
Sir Thomas Malory depicted Gawain as an angry, barbaric man full of hate and vengance, but that book was written after the morals of chivalry had become much less popular and a thing of the past.
In The Once and Future King, T.H White nailed Gawain's character--or at least, to my mind he did. His Gawain was proud, stubborn, leonine, dangerous when provoked, volcanic-tempered, and sometimes harsh or needlessly violent. He was also fiercely loyal, family-oriented, gentle, thoughtful, determined, and honorable to the end.
I find him strangely relatable.
-Ferdiad MacDaman-
Died fighting CuChulainn, his best friend, for the sake of his honor. A mighty warrior and fierce friend.
"...Ferdiad came with them for the sake of his own honour, forasmuch as he deemed it better to fall by the shafts of valour and bravery and skill, than to fall by the shafts of satire, abuse and reproach..."
He died as a man, fighting against his childhood friend who was armed with magical weapons and otherworldly powers.
Man after my own heart.
-Robin Hood-
or Rhu Bran Hud.
Everybody knows who he is.
-Katsumoto-
The Samurai lord who died fighting for his country, people, and honor.
From The Last Samurai.
Cool guy.
-William Wallace-
A Scottish patriot who fought and led his country on one of the most intense wars against the opression of England. He was excecuted for high treason.
You know his story from Braveheart...which was a mite inaccurate, but we'll let it slide. Because he is a might hero in the film as well.
-Andre Marek-
Read Timeline by Michael Crichton; you will understand, and be enlightened.
-Aslan-
The christ-like lion in The Chronicles of Narnia.
I cried the first time I read the part when he gave his life in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. If you didn't, or had a hard time not doing so, you're a cold-hearted monster.
-Boromir-
from J.R.R Tolkien's Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Also in the movie, where he was depicted perfectly by Sean Bean.
The son of the Steward of Gondor, noble and proud, a mighty warrior afflicted by the temptation of the Ring. He died defending those weaker than him, and confronted his corruption like a true hero in the end. I weep shamelessly when I watch or read his final scene. Such humanity. Such dignity. Such true Heroism. Courageous.
-------------
So you've read all about some of my greatest heros;
I'd like to know who yours are.
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