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Hashem’s family is currently trying to get to safety out of Gaza. There is his father Maher who is 54, his mother Mona who is 47, and his brothers and sister, Areej who is 25, Mohamed who is 21, and Khalid who is 15.
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commenting on some replies from a previous post
It's never really explained what it is, though tbf. It could be a bolt of ice or frost, but I prefer the idea that he's performing a sort of superfreeze move that's turning all the water in the air around him/in a direction into ice crystals,
which is why the sand explodes almost from the inside out, and curving along the arc, it's got more water in it (presumably bc the nightmares are living, breathing, creatures) than the surrounding air.
hence.. sparkle powers.
A big part of why I love the idea that he's a civilian is because it pulls back from the prodigy archetype.
There's not a lot of reason for Jack to be a prodigy either. He's the audience surrogate, the guy who needs things explained because the audience doesn't know either. His background is meant to show his isolation, set up his motivation, and having him be a prodigy would raise questions that the movie doesn't have time to answer - why is he a prodigy, who trained him, why couldn't he just hang out with this trainer who could see him?
(the idea that there's this host of other spirits available to talk to is also complete fanon, and no the Rufftoon Comics don't count, neither do the GoC books. There is canonically 2 known spirits outside of the Guardians and Jack - the Leprechaun, and the Groundhog.)
It also just makes him more sympathetic, and builds Pitch up as dangerous. A civilian vs. the Joker is more frightening than Batman vs. the Joker.
Jack's a bad fighter. He lowers his guard too readily, he rushes in without a plan, he freezes up, his moves are predictable and limited.
And while that might be my opinion, I think it is backed up by the juxtaposition of the Guardians to Jack in just about every fight. He's shit scared, frozen up, caught in a bad position and needing a rescue - while they're moving perfectly in synch, reading each others minds, picking up each others slack (including Jack's most of the time). If nothing else then I think the sheer confidence and ease they show in every fight proves that Jack is subpar.
The final fight still has Jack make multiple mistakes that he needs rescuing from - mistakes that build tension, that wouldn't exist if he was already a good fighter.
This one I'm not actually willing to put up for debate, lmao sorry. He sees an attack coming that he doesn't expect/can't dodge, he freezes and then he is saved by Tooth and Sandy.
I feel it worked better as a new power discovery, because there was more theming to suggest that course of action. There was a significant amount of screen time dedicated to showing Jack's powers as proximity based (prior to the reveal). The opening scene in particular was quite poignant,
and as I said in the previous post, theres a lot of moments where Jack is shown to touch his staff, or his hand or even use his breath to cast his powers onto a surface,
it just felt very intentional to me. It would be a shame if it wasn't, all for the sake of two blink and you'll miss it scenes?
Jack's powers being limited to proximity based created an interesting weakness, an opportunity to power crawl, and a visual comment on his desire to touch all in one. Yet in two throw away scenes - that are never mentioned again, nor have any attention dedicated to them - that is all lost?
plus I think it weakens the reveal scene iteself. If it's a simple power up, instead of a new development, then... Jack's not gaining a new perspective in battle (ranged attacks), and he's not confronting his relationship with touch (by withdrawing from it, taking the focus off of it, being able to survive without it).
All Jack gains from a power up is confidence. Which he gets with a new development anyway.
So, maybe it wasn't a continuity issue, but I sure hope it was.
i really like this exploration and look into his powers. i do agree he's very untrained, et cetera. i suppose i have only like two real potential thoughts on all of this overall
(and this is for merely my sake and not something i like need OP or anyone to try and answer/debate with me. and this isnt me like attacking the argument OP is making just like vibing and thinking further on it for my benefit solely. it just wont fit in the tags lmao)
the main being the ranged... i could see this less as continuity issue and more they just dropped the ball in certain aspects of showing. the way i've always personally read it is that most guardians also don't really need anything physical per se to channel their more magical abilities (or outright magic). but jack's staff acts a lot like, well-- a staff like you might find in a lot of fantasy worlds for magic users: which in these stories, isnt the source of magic but rather helps channel it in more manageable ways.
even if it is the sole source, i could see the magic perhaps just being easier to manipulate and maintain via physical touch; so he can do ranged but it's a more concentrated effort on his part. especially if it's not something he needs to utilize often. and his little ranged smack to another guardian & the nightmares in small scale is kind of the equivalent of dropping ice cubes down someones shirt; vs what he did in the battle with pitch...
like others, i read his shocked reaction to be that he's surprised he could be that powerful. and if anything i read like his little dart like is meant to be the foreshadowing and in most movies and to the average audience member is the foreshadowing of said ranged abilities?
(especially when you also remember pitch's like attempts to recruit jack isn't solely based around tempting him with memories. pitch does point out they could be a very powerful combo; and iirc implies the idea of jack being held back in ways? it's been a hot minute since i've watched the movie so admittedly i can't remember everything....)
but i do agree i like that him being a "civilian" as OP puts it, because it does pull back from the ace/prodigy archetype. he is as much audience insert as like, jamie, who would in most cases probably be the actual MC. though it being jack it's that fine line to balance: yes he's had 300 years to get good at his craft; but he's spent those 300 fucking off to make small scale silly stuff. which we are continuously reminded of, even by other guardians; things that make kids smile and entertain him.
it could also be that he needs his staff still because while he's skilled with it, he just hasn't taken the time to properly learn how to channel his abilities without it. if anything if you look at it that way i personally think it really adds to that 'civilian' thing: it shows that he's spent the last 300 years just fucking around. he isn't as skilled as the others. he needs his staff in order to properly channel his powers because he's never tried not to or has never seriously dedicated the time to learning.
there is a difference between not relaying certain information effectively in the constraints of a movie vs genuine continuity errors.
(not that OP is making that error or anything close, just more of @ me and in general-- it's important to remember. all art mediums have their limitations and when you have to prioritize a lot of moving parts; you sometimes have to let the ball drop in areas as to not drop everything).
EDIT: there are parts that were in my tags originally but i decided to just them here so hence why more informal/look funny bc im lazy so just copy pasted them lmao
the tags i originally had added:
from here is just me rambling a lil about the books and not really related much to the above points
I hope you don't mind me chiming in again, not debating but agreeing mostly?
I think sparkles being foreshadowing is a pretty good read, and one I had kinda forgotten about tbh. I'm mostly just sore that my preferred interpretation is skimped over in favor of foreshadowing.
also love love love the idea that the reason Jack doesn't have much fighting know-how is because he was too busy playing! Like, not every person is going to get magic and immediately learn to fight with it? There are other applications, like art!!
that feels like a more developed, tricker ability than most others he uses. Which is super interesting considering that he did have 300 years to develop his powers, and this is his most complex move? He's a little artist!!
but, yeah, while I'm on this tangent - why is fighting considered the only route that a person with magic can go down? What about the creatives, entertainers, bakers, builders, lawmen, conservationists, carers, healers, etc. etc. ?? Not everyone who has magic is necessarily a fighter.
So Jack not knowing how to fight, even after 300 years to learn, doesn't seem that weird to me. He was doing other things, perhaps learning how to read, or speak different languages, or make art - probably all self taught too, which is infinitely harder.
I think Jack's one of those people who is super intelligent, but never really shows it. Partly bc it means they get given more work, and partly bc it's not necessarily a relevant skill. For all we know, Jack's learned 7 different languages, but we don't ge the opportunity to see that.
also, Jack didn't necessarily have anyone to fight with, so it may have been an irrelevant skill for those 300 years. Learning to read or fly were probably better uses of his time.
and I do very much agree that his staff is merely a channel for him, considering they included an entire subplot about it lmao.
Do you think there are times that Bunny and Tooth are jealous of North?
Like, how is he so much better than them? How is his holiday so much more celebrated than theirs when they put as much effort as he does? Why are we on the sidelines when our purpose is just as important as his?
I think the worst of all is that, in my eyes, North suffered the least tragedy of them all.
So how? How is that so? How was he able to save the family he's gained time and time again and yet they couldn't? It's not fair, they have powers beyond what a mere human can do, why is it that they failed and he didn't?
You didn't have to go that hard in the tags of the jack post
this one ?
I will stand by my belief that Jack is a civilian, not a fighter. I mean, aside from the fact that he looks shit scared and completely out of his element whenever theres a threat,
(some exceptions notwithstanding) there's also his total lack of fighting technique.
He has maybe 3 moves, total:
2. using momentum or distraction to carry a hit (see how he's gripping the staff towards the base so he can give it a wider swing - generating more momentum which makes the hit harder)
3. sparkles attack
and sparkles attack is a very new thing for him, it's the only reason he has any confidence in a fight, because he thinks he's discovered the atom bomb of attacks.
but it's not actually that effective, it caught Pitch off-guard sure, it revealed Jack's potential, sure, but once Pitch knew what he was up against he countered it easy-peasy.
what the sparkles attack actually does is give Jack a ranged attack, which is where he's most comfortable.
(side note: rotg does have a continuity issue with the sparkles attack. It's supposed to be a new thing, as previously he was limited to using touch to summon frost/ice onto a surface,
even in the sled scene, he's still using touch by dragging his staff on the ground, summoning the ice and then directing it after the fact.
but there's two instances prior to the sparkles being discovered where he uses that ranged ability,
he shouldn't have that ability yet, hence, continuity issue).
so having that ranged attack allowed him a foothold in a fight, but he's still inexperienced, so you end up with those moments in the final fight where he's caught off guard,
and while I'm arguing here that it's because he's a civilian and is not trained to deal with these situations, there's also his overarching development coming into play here.
He's spent the rest of the movie relying on others, dodging responsibility, and the antartica/memory scene really signals a change for him where he accepts that he needs to hold his own weight a little more. Him charging into this fight solo?
to me, that's the warning signs that Jack's taken that lesson too far. He's aware that he needs to hold his own in a fight, but he lacks the experience to understand that he needs to do so in moderation.
but that's a problem for future Jack (and fics) to deal with.
I want to circle back for one last point,
the comfort staff. Jack is constantly holding his staff up like this - close to his body, both hands gripping it. But this isn't a good defensive stance, he's not ready for an attack here.
Jack's attacks have him holding the staff in one hand,
there are some exceptions, but in general, he's attacking one handed. Again, using the momentum of the swing to carry his shots.
A much better defensive stance for Jack would probably be, funnily enough, a more open one. But that's where confidence is needed, and confidence comes with experience, which Jack doesn't have.
Jack behaves like a scared civilian, because he is one as far as I'm concerned lmao.
anyway, I apologise for the tangent, I'll take any excuse to yap about my boy.
Bunny has lived for a long, long time on earth. Do you wonder, how many children lit up at the sight of him and call after his name, alight in joy and wonder, in same way Sophie does?
Do you think he thinks about them? That every time Sophie greets him, he hears millions of children at the same time, in the same breath, in the same chime as she speaks?
Do you think about how he'd feel? Do you think about how much affection he harbors for these children he knows so little about yet loves so much?
Does it ever struck you how much Easter means to him, knowing all of these now?
i can’t stop drawing Her, the most beautiful woman in the world (she is the world)
