LEGION

[sivaroobini]

Today I had to leave my library club meeting early (well, all the important things and admin stuff were over and we were just preparing things for events over the next few weeks) and rush to the Toa Payoh MRT station to meet my sister at 5 because it was an emergency. (I got there at 4.30, she got there at about 5.10)

The emergency: She, her friend Andy and I were going to watch Legion. 8D

And lemme tell you, it was AWESOME. Alright, so it was more of an action/horror movie, which is usually not my thing, and they should have been able to use angelic powers or something instead of relying so much on the guns, but hey, it was cool. :P

For starters, we actually had the entire theatre to ourselves! It was amazing. We talked and laughed at a normal volume instead of hushed voices, rested our feet against the seats in front of us, bickered over the delicious popcorn, laughed our heads off and did not have to be distracted by things like other people talking at crucial plot points or babies crying. We just distracted each other. ;) Watching a movie with Andy and my sister means lots of extra commentary; near the end, one of Andy's jokes made me literally spit out a mouthful of Sprite, spraying it all over the seats in front of me. :X I sincerely hope they managed to clean it off. My sister loves making me laugh when I'm drinking at home because I cannot control my laughter. >.<

And Michael was kickass. I've been a Michael fangirl for ages, thanks to steadfast 's awesome version, but this version was different - rather like my version of Gabriel, cattygabriel , in fact - and still different and awesome. I loved the scene when Michael tells Jeep (though really, who names their son Jeep?! O.o) about how much he loves humans, how he was the first to bow to them back when He first created them (which reminded me of Lucifer refusing to bow before such inferior beings) and how he's watched them basically destroy themselves over the millennia, and yet there are some who cling to faith and hope. Even if it hadn't been like my own Gabriel, it was a really touching scene. ^_^

His utter calm in the face of practically everything also rather reminded me of the Michael from DC Comics' Lucifer, in fact. And the things coming after them... I thought they were demons, at first, but then Michael said they were angels. O_O That old lady, and the two kids... my sister says she's never hugging our grandma again. xD Thankfully ice-cream trucks aren't exactly common here. As Andy said, "If that's Heaven, I'd hate to see what Hell coming after them would be like."

I've always associated angels with flaming swords, but seeing Michael come out with two really cool guns and start blasting was A.W.E.S.O.M.E. And he kicked ass at hand to hand combat too, but the gun scenes were seriously amazing. I loved the bazooka bit as well.

Gabriel, however, made me facepalm - why does everyone make Gabriel out to be the villain? >.< First the Hellblazer comics and the movie version (Constantine), then the Lucifer comics, and now this. He's always portrayed as a self-righteous arse and a Snob with a capital S. I literally groaned when Michael, near the end, had a sword pressed to his throat and then spares him and Gabriel says something like, "Why did you show me mercy? I would have none for you," because, seriously, Gabriel IS the Angel of Mercy. I have done my research. :P But freaking hell, his wings and his fighting were COOL. My jaw dropped. And oh, Michael's seriously cool dagger. And his sword. *sigh*

For my eighteenth birthday, this July, I want Michael's dagger, his sword, and his wings. xD My sister can keep Paul Bettany himself, she was fangirling enough in the theatre.

Comments

[sirius-luva.livejournal.com]

xD When I first saw the trailer I was like ANGELS! WINGS! ARMAGEDDON! I'M WATCHING THIS! and my sister was like PAUL BETTANY! I'M WATCHING THIS!

Exactly! I've actally read or heard of most of those things about Gabriel ^_^ and so I do get that Gabriel is fully capable of vengeance and kickassery. (My Gabriel hasn't destroyed any cities yet, but I'm beginning to feel like I need to show that he *is* a warrior) But I think that being temporarily exiled once and then being accepted would be quite a hard lesson, so now Gabriel is either a rogue or very loyal to Him. But so many things take the first route. :\

I thought it was Metatron who stopped Abraham. O.o And I am IN AWE of your research. 8D Ooh, I didn't know that Persian stuff but it's really cool.

Nope, I think it's cool, you're awesome and I'd love to hear more. :D Where do you get your info from? Internet research seems to throw up the same stock info - bunch of info A and bunch of info B, that often contradict each other and get repetitive. And I can't seem to find any books on angelology here, whether in large bookstores or in those tiny second-hand corner bookshops.

[eidolon-bird.livejournal.com]

As others have said, I think Michael and Gabriel get used so much in pop culture because they are the only two mentioned by name in Hebrew and Protestant scriptures and thus are the angels people are most familiar with. Michael is most often thought of as the general, associated with protective figures and patron saint of policemen and is therefore the obvious good guy, so Gabriel ends up being shoved in the role of antagonist. (If you do want to write something kickass with your Gabriel, I would love to read it, but don't feel obligated to write the RAAR SMITEY ANGEL stuff just because that is what fandom seems to do.  I rather like your Gabriel because he is less an angel of vengeance and more an angel of mercy.  And without giving away too much I will say Supernatural's Gabriel is a bit of a joker, so not EVERYONE portrays him as traitorous and vengeful.)

The thing with angels is that there's almost always at least half a dozen angels associated with any particular action wherein the angel was not outright identified by name.  Both Metatron and Michael are thought to be the angel who stopped Abraham.  The angel who destroyed the hosts of the Sennacherib has been identified as Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, Ramiel and so on.  The angel who wrestled with Jacob could be anyone from Phanuel or Gabriel to God himself.

The problem with the internet is that so many pages are copies of a paraphrasing of another copy with random bits of recent (and sometimes bizarre) new age theory or personal visits from "angels" thrown in and quoted as fact.  Even in the original source material (canon of the Old and New Testament, or apocrypha such as the Book of Enoch or the Book of Tobit) tends to contradict its self, so you have to do a lot of picking and choosing of what info you want to use.
As for books on angelology, I HIGHLY recommend Gustav Davidson's "A Dictionary of Angels".  Almost all of my information comes from there or it at least serves as a jumping point to find other articles and books (and I notice most of Wikipedia's articles on angels seem to be heavily based on the book's entries, though they don't always quote it outright).

[sirius-luva.livejournal.com]

Ahh, yeah. (I don't feel obligated xD but I do feel like showing that just because he doesn't seem to fight much doesn't mean he's not capable of doing so very well. Won't be anytime soon, though. And awesome! I can't wait to see SPN-Gabriel! :D)

Exactly. :S it makes research extremely annoying and I do pick and choose. I have been recommended that book by a couple of other people but simply cannot seem to find it. :S After I get birthday money I'll see if I can place an order at Borders or something.

[eidolon-bird.livejournal.com]

(SPN Gabriel does not fit anyone's definition of an angel, but he does bring up some very interesting points about Heaven and his family. He doesn't show up until season 5, but there are some earlier episodes that are almost mandatory for his backstory.)

I would think Borders should be able to order it. I ordered mine from Amazon.com (I swear I buy EVERYTHING from Amazon - if they offered groceries, I would never leave my house).

[sirius-luva.livejournal.com]

(:D Lovely. Let's hope those aren't during exam period.)

Customer service here is probably of a different stahdard >.< so I hope they do! (LOL!)