The Big Picture: Next Light

[Elijah Newton]

They're called Nephilim.

If you're going to used established races, don't make up random names for them to make them sound cooler. The sons/daughters of man and angel are called the Nephilim. No shadow-sausages, or whatever two words you crammed together to make them sound cool.

Nephilim. Say it with me now, Nephilim.

Easy there, hoss. People make up new names all the time and with good reason - maybe this author didn't want to use a word freighted with meaning from the Old Testament. Consider how comic fanboys react when someone messes up an origin story. If I was an author writing pulp fantasy I'd probably cross to the other side of the proverbial street to avoid a confrontation with bible fanboys. Or maybe it was to clarify - a quick wikipedia check of the word means that one translation that's been passed down simply means 'giants' or 'fallen warriors'. And while Nephilim is indeed a name given to the children of angels and men, I suspect there are words from other cultures which are no less on the mark. So, you know. Chill.

If you're spinning a yarn from the Judeo-Christian ball, then you may aswell stick with the vernacular.

It's like writing a story in the Lovecraft universe and then calling 'Dagon' 'the almighty fish' or something.

I'm not saying they need to stick to their inspiration/source material verbatim. It'd be awfully dry if they did.

But don't go and reinvent the wheel. If you're having angels and demons and calling them angels and demons. Don't then go and take the Nephilim and call then shadowhunters because it sounds angstier.

Hm. If they are spinning a yarn from the Judeo-Christian ball (great phrase, btw), then touche - you have a good point. I'm not crazy about finding myself arguing on the side of the woefully generic 'shadowhunters' as it is. From a phonetic standpoint 'nephilim' sounds pleasant and, as an attention-getter, is more interesting. Both subjective observations, of course.

 

[Taunta]

I had a friend who read the Mortal Instruments series and she already told me the big spoiler, and yeah it's weird, but you sure it's gonna be a big deal?

Spoiler

After all, Star Wards seemed to do just fine despite the incest.

 

[TheHardcase]

Oh, and for the sake of education...

Spoiler

This?

Half brother and sister from the father's side so at least there won't be any problems if they have kids (that only applies if they had the same mother or there mothers were siblings)

Yeah, no.

Autosomal recessive disorders occur in individuals who have two copies of the gene for a particular recessive genetic mutation. Except in certain rare circumstances, such as new mutations or uniparental disomy, both parents of an individual with such a disorder will be carriers of the gene. These carriers do not display any signs of the mutation and may be unaware that they carry the mutated gene.
Since relatives share a higher proportion of their genes than do unrelated people, it is more likely that related parents will both be carriers of the same recessive gene, and therefore their children are at a higher risk of a genetic disorder.
The extent to which the risk increases depends on the degree of genetic relationship between the parents: The risk is greatest when the parents are close relatives and lower for relationships between more distant relatives, such as second cousins, though still greater than for the general population

More Mortal Instruments spoilers sort of

Spoiler

This isn't really a good reason to find incest disgusting. Unless you hold that love and sex is only for procreation.. Frankly, if a guy gets snipped and bangs his sister, how does their genetic similarity come into it at all? People would still find it gross. I don't know, I just think this is a really poor argument. The odds of an older woman and an older man producing a child with some genetic problems is hardly low, but nobody is gonna tell old people not to fuck because it's an abomination.

 

[Spud of Doom]

Thanks Bob for the reminder of why I only go to the theatres a max of twice a year, and I've already spent my yearly allotment on Wreck-it Ralph and The Avengers.

Unfortunate to miss DKR and The Hobbit.

 

[Jennacide]

Thanks Bob for the reminder of why I only go to the theatres a max of twice a year, and I've already spent my yearly allotment on Wreck-it Ralph and The Avengers.

Unfortunate to miss DKR and The Hobbit.

I did end up seeing DKR in a screening, but not super enthusied to see The Hobbit.

 

[AvsJoe]

I'm looking a little more forward to these upcoming films than I probably should. None seem genuinely terrible (Warm Bodies kinda does, but it's a wild card. I won't judge it just yet). I figure they'll all be similar in quality to the recent Red Riding Hood and Snow White and the Huntsman, with one being noticeably better than the others and one being noticeably worse. Either way, there's a pretty decent chance I'll see a couple of them and that alone says plenty about my expectations.

 

[walrusaurus]

I don't know why but I always get too angry at seeing two guy-one girl love triangles.
I always try to find to opposite after seeing those by mistake but never succeed. This episode kind of angered me again because of that reason.
Does anyone know any movie that features the opposite love triangle?

B/c movies that go the opposite route are almost without exception labeled as chauvinist (often rightfully so).

 

[Th37thTrump3t]

Did anyone else notice the little girl at 3:50? Is she the same girl who played as the Red Queen in the Resident Evil movies? I can't tell.