The Villains I Love to Love #redemption

Hello, I'm Pippa Jay, author of scifi and supernatural stories with a romantic soul. This month's topic is supposed to be villains we love to hate, but I'm not sure I can say that about any villains. I find hate exhausting, and if I really hate a villain chances are it's something in a genre that I don't like any way, and they can't get their comeuppance soon enough to satisfy me. Besides, hate leads to suffering... The Dark Side of the Force!

No, what I love is a redeemed villain. The bad guys turned good. It gives me hope (especially at a time when we could all do with a bit of that). So I'm going to tell you my top five redeemed villains, and you can tell me yours in the comments after.

1. Megamind. Oh come on, if you pretend you don't watch animation when you're a grown up well...I don't believe you. Some of my favourite films are animation - it doesn't make them any less complex or adult. In the case of Megamind, you have an alien with a Superman origin story but something goes awry with his arrival on Earth thanks to another alien, and he ends up living a completely different life when he lands in a prison exercise yard. Smart but bullied for being different, he decides that if everyone is going to call him the bad boy, that's what he'll be. But his life eventually takes a turn and he has to step up when the lifelong hero decides to hang up his cape and move on. There's even a heartbreaking touch of romance in the story. 
Favourite line: "I'm the bad guy. I don't save the day, I don't fly off into the sunset and I don't get the girl." 

2. R from Warm Bodies. Okay, if you read my posts regularly you might remember my weird obsession with a certain zombie film. Never a fan of horror, I gave this a try based on the comedic trailer and was instantly hooked. This film made me fall in love with a ZOMBIE. Of course, R isn't your typical zombie. We get to see the story through him, a zombie who thinks, who has feelings, who really doesn't like being what he is. When he does the unthinkable and saves a living girl rather than eating her, it sets off a chain reaction that not only changes his life, but that of every zombie in existence. A bit of a play on Romeo on Juliet, but kind of in reverse. 
Favourite quote: "So much for dreaming. You can't be whatever you want. All I'll ever be is a slow, pale, hunched-over, dead-eyed zombie. What did I think was gonna happen? That she'd actually want to stay with me? It's hopeless. This is what I get for wanting more. I should just be happy with what I had. Things don't change. I need to accept that. It's easier not to feel. Then I wouldn't have to feel like this."

3. Kylo Ren from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Now, I have to admit when the new Star Wars trilogy started, Ren was my least favourite villain. He came across as the same petulant brat as his grandfather had in the prequels, throwing a tantrum at every setback. General Hux was far more impressive, even terrifying when he gave his speech to the First Order before the destruction of several planets with their Starkiller Base. By The Last Jedi my opinion changed completely as he engineered a major power grab. And *spoilers* he made the ultimate sacrifice, all for love (sigh). No favourite quote because the clip says it all.

4. Snape from Harry Potter.

Now, there's a lot of controversy over this one because some fans are outraged about Snape's treatment of Harry throughout the films, but to me, while Snape was neverendingly spiteful to Harry, he never once allowed him to be in serious danger (even if his method of doing so was sometimes to hurt or injure Harry himself). And I'm not even going to start on the latest controversy about the author, other than I'm saddened by her attitude. But I'm not up for arguments on this. Snape was a man who suffered for the entirety of his life, who had every reason to be a villain, but ultimately did what needed doing (even if it meant killing people - the risks of a double agent) to keep Harry alive (if not necessarily happy). His adult life was spent living a lie, and again it was all for love (starting to see a pattern here!). The clip below is from the final film where the truth about Severus Snape is revealed at last.

Favourite quote: “Look...at...me..." he whispered. The green eyes found the black, but after a second, something in the depths of the dark pair seemed to vanish, leaving them fixed, blank, and empty. The hand holding Harry thudded to the floor, and Snape moved no more.”

5. Riddick from The Chronicles of Riddick. This is my favourite of the three films because, yes, yet again it involves and (almost) romantic sacrifice. It's a bit different to the others though, because Riddick is much more of an anti-hero than a villain (although those on the receiving end of his abilities might want to argue that). Riddick is not a good man - he's a stone cold killer - but in the first film, Pitch Black, he does put himself out to save people (though I think it was mostly out of his disgust with the real villain of the story). And he obviously has a conscience that prompts his actions when, several years later, he discovers the girl he helped save in the first film is in trouble again. The Riddick films are also gloriously cinematic scifi in the style of Dune but without all the heavy deadweight, and Judi Dench rocks as the air elemental Aereon. The clip is the deadly escape run across the surface of Crematoria, a planet where reputedly Hell would make a pleasant holiday destination in comparison. 

Favourite quote: when he doesn't get eaten by the man-eating alien beast and is found petting it instead, "It's an animal thing." (Riddick is a man of few words!)

And there you go. Hope you enjoyed those (I'm excited I made a discovery about why these are my favourites, so I've learned something new). Let me know if you agree with my choices or not, or feel free to add your own.

MAKE-OVER MARGARET TANNER STYLE

MARGARET TANNER'S MAKE-OVER

As the countdown to midnight began so we could farewell 2012 and welcome in 2013, I wondered what the New Year would bring. Wealth, a multi-book contract and mega sales came to mind. But isn’t the health and happiness of your loved ones and yourself more important? World peace, the cessation of world hunger, these are all important. Not that I am going to write about these things. Today, I want to talk of make-overs. Not the kind where you get a new hair style or update your wardrobe to something more modern and sophisticated.

My make-over is to do with manuscripts.

You know what I mean, those manuscripts hidden away in a drawer, stuffed under the couch, or packed away in a box in the shed or on a USB stick shoved in your jewellery box, never again to see the light of day. Those clumsy first novels that you poured your heart into, wept over, and then mourned their passing when you decided they couldn’t be resurrected from the dead.

Fortunately, you kept on writing, honing your skills, sending off query letters and sample chapters until finally it came: The acceptance. What a thrill that was. You contacted all your friends and family, did the happy dance, joined the loops and created your own website.

Edits came and went, then your book arrived. You held it in your hand, drooled over the fabulous cover, caressed the pristine pages, and like vintage wine you savoured the perfume of new paper. You had made it. Your perseverance had paid off. So, you wrote a couple of more books and they were accepted. You were a multi-published author now.

You attended the conferences, gave talks at the local library, revved up your internet presence, and all the while, those manuscripts, those first few stories rotted away in the shed or hid in the jewellery box, cruelly cast aside and forgotten in the excitement of being a published author. You didn’t need them, like one of the rakes in your novel, you dumped these poor souls and left them alone and unloved while you went on to the next conquest.

Fast forward a couple of years. Your publisher is screaming for another two manuscripts from you. There is a deadline, but your creativity has suddenly disappeared. You heard on the grapevine, that those authors who don’t produce the required number of books would be dumped. What can you do?    Desperately you rack your brains, stare at the unforgiving blank computer screen. Your muse has gone. Deserted you in your hour of need. BUT all is not lost. You can pull out the old manuscripts, breathe new life into them, and send them off to your publisher.

I did this with my manuscript Savage Possession. It had lain dormant on my computer for a several years. Under a different title it had made it into the semi-finals of the Amazon Break Through Novel Award and for reasons I don’t recall, I relegated it to the bowels of my computer and virtually forgot about it, until my publisher, anxious to fill in an unexpected gap in their publishing schedule, asked me if I had anything suitable.  I rescued my manuscript from the deepest, darkest depths of my computer, gave it a make-over and sent if off, all within a month.

SAVAGE POSSESSION

Raw sexual emotion, revenge and redemption. If you want a sugar-coated romance, Savage Possession is not for you. In colonial Australia it took hard men like Martin Mulvaney to tame a harsh land.

A sweeping tale of love's triumph over tragedy and treachery in frontier Australia.

A mistaken identity opens the door for Martin Mulvaney to take his revenge on the granddaughter of his mortal enemy.

An old Scottish feud, a love that should never have happened, and a series of extraordinary coincidences traps two lovers in a family vendetta that threatens to destroy their love, if not their lives.

 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008EL0FTI

 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Savage-Possession-ebook/dp/B008EL0FTI/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1351309491&sr=1-4