Movies and lions (only in Kenya?)

[taotrooper]

So, what have I been doing this Holy Week break? Well, I played some Zelda yesterday, and now I finally have the Master Sword (shut up, I'm slow and lazy)

But also, I've been downloading movies I was meaning to watch for some time, be it because I never watched the whole thing on my childhood, or because I keep hearing about it. So it was:

• Labyrinth (yeah, the one with David Bowie; my inner child approved, and now I have CCS plotbunnies, goddamit)


• Dogma (which was amusing, kinda like Good Omens but more serious and with prettier people)


• Clerks (since I was already checking Kevin Smith movies... *shrugs*)


• Kiki's Delivery Service (so adorable! it was odd how I could relate with Kiki in some aspects, and the fact that city looked like a nicer version of Coruña didn't help. where can I find a cute nerd like Tombo to flirt with me? or my own Jiji? :3)


• Nausicäa of the Valley of the Wind (because I want to watch as many GHIBLI movies as I can; I adored this one, old school Miyazawa is surely amazing)

Now for some meta, and I'll go to bed.

You know, when it comes to mythology and we talk about winged lions, there are only three things to come to mind. One is the lamassu, the Asirian creature who's a winged lion with a man's head. The second is the griffin, half an eagle and half a lion. Nonetheless, those two monsters are very different to Clow's very own Cerberus. So far, what I've seen as most similar is St. Mark's evangelist symbol, which is pretty much a lion with angel wings (and St. Matthew's fits Yue, kind of). I was forced to learn the Evangelists when I was in elementary school (lol nuns), you see.

But today I was googling aroung to see if I could find something interesting about winged lions, and I stumbled with St. Mark's Clowcktower or Torre Dell'orologio in Venice. Pictures and descriptions of that place set me aback.

The outermost displays the number 1 to 24 in Roman numerals, and a hand embellished with a depiction of the sun indicated the hour. The second dial depicts the twelve signs of the zodiac, picked out, like the inner dials, in gilt on an enamel blue background. The inner dials indicate the phases of the moon and sun.

...For something so Catholic, it gives me too many vibes about a fictional Chinese-English man who most probably didn't believe in this god. Oh CLAMP. Like British crown jewelry wasn't enough, now you have to bring Venice! Someone write Clow in Venice and writing down ideas right now.

And the worse part of the tower is, of course, the lion statue. With starry background. Yessss. And it's not the only winged lion in Venice, mind you.

And to wrap it up, the WTF link of the day, just for this paragraph:

The winged lion is a symbol of peace.
The lion with an open book is a symbol of peace,
with its book closed is a symbol of war.

...*facepalm*

Comments

[kirarakim.livejournal.com]

OMG Labyrinth! I love that movie so much. Now I have the dance baby dance song in my head. XDDDDDD

And Ghibli is always wonderful

I also saw that clock tower when I was in Venice. :)

[rainmage.livejournal.com]

It's really cute to see Labyrinth as an adult. I could never watch it whole when I was little (neither The Princess Bride, which I watched whole like a year ago for the first time). And that song is so catchy it's evil, I tell you.

Fandom stupidity aside -it reminds me of some favorite characters of mine too much, which is what prompted the rant (hi winged lion :D (http://gallery.aethereality.net/download.php?id=32))-, the clock looks really cool. Then again, sun-and-moon motif and zodiacs fascinate me.

[laurus-nobilis.livejournal.com]

You know, I think our brains really are connected or something. Because this weekend I've been writing a CCS/GO crossover where I mention St mark's lion. XD Not in so much detail, though. The abridged version goes more or less like this:

"It's because of those pagan images!"
"No, it's Mark the Evangelist!"
"Actually, it's because he looks so pretty ^_^"
"..."
"..."

[rainmage.livejournal.com]

OMG!

I so want to read that now ♥ My plotbunny was in the lines of pre-guardians!Clow as a tourist at Venice, and asking his guide if the winged lion on the tower is any similar to the watchdog lions at Buddhist temples at China. So we can write them separately :3

[laurus-nobilis.livejournal.com]

It's going to take me a while, because Crowley is kind of difficult to write for me. But Clow pissing off the GO guys is too much fun. :P

And I posted the other comment before I read this one, so just ignore it. ^_^ I have more than enough bunnies as is...

[rainmage.livejournal.com]

Actually, I already got myself a plotbunny. Not as geeky/crossovery, though. But you're welcomed.

By the way, I just noticed I have a sort-of-Freudian slip in my post: St. Mark's Clowcktower

[hamsterfactor.livejournal.com]

Kiki and (especially) Nausicaa are so much love ♥

I really like Dogma, it's lots of fun and LOL Alanis Morissette. I still need to watch Clerks, it's a big cult movie and all that. I think my favorite Kevin Smith movie is Chasing Amy 'cause LOL lesbians falling in love with guys! Though it's actually more serious than his other films. Mallrats was way cool, too (in a weird campy sort of way).

I think I watched Labyrinth too late and didn't enjoy it that much because of that... though I recently watched The Princess Bride for the first time and actually liked it a lot... :-/

[rainmage.livejournal.com]

Clerks was okay, but since I watched Dogma right away my brain got distracted. Which is unfair since they're completely different genres that only have two characters in common. I should download the other Smithverse movies one day.

I still like childish things, lol. The Princess Bride is great, but I'd also read the novel since it's amusing and has backstory for Iñigo and Fezzik :D *is a sucker for secondary character backstory*

[haro.livejournal.com]

I love all Miyazaki movies, but I have a special fondness for Kiki. It's the first I saw (well I saw Totoro raw in fourth grade, but I had no idea what was going on), and is my favorite.

[rainmage.livejournal.com]

I discovered Ghibli and Miyazaki movies quite late: my first one was Spirited Away even though I had heard about the studios and some of the films. I still haven't watched Totoro, but it's on my list. It looks so painfully cute!

[clow-shirow.livejournal.com]

¡Laberinto! Esa si que es una de mis películas de la infancia *__* llevo años y años haciendo referencias al "pantano del hedor eterno" y similares XDD, te la recomiendo sin duda xD.
Y yo a ver si veo también Nausicäa, que no puedo decir que soy fan de Ghibli sin haber visto una de sus piedras angulares >_<.

[rainmage.livejournal.com]

Laberinto estuvo muy bien. Yo nunca la pillaba completa por televisión cuando era niña, y ya me sentía algo perdida con las referencias en pop-culture XD

Nausicaa está en trama y gore level entre Laputa y Princesa Mononoke, aunque también con sus tintes post apocalípticos a lo Blade Runner: es la típica peli vieja de Ghibli con vetas fuertes de ecología y del hombre destrozándolo todo, y la chica humana salvando el día de la venganza de la naturaleza. La verdad que me gustó mucho, y te la recomiendo.