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addictedtoeddie · 4 years

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The full Esquire Spain interview translated from Spanish:

Eddie Redmayne trial: guilty of being the most talented (and stylish) actor of his generation

The Oscar winner talks about what it means to premiere a film with Aaron Sorkin (The Chicago 7th Trial on Netflix) and filming the new part of the most famous saga of all time under the watchful eye of its author, J.K. Rowling.

By Alba Díaz (text) / JUANKR (photos and video) / Álvaro de Juan (styling) 10/23/2020

At the Kettle’s Yard Gallery in Cambridge, stands alone and leaning on a piano Prometheus, a marble head made by Constantin Brâncusi, and the only piece of art that Eddie Redmayne (London, 1982) would save from possible massive destruction. He tells me about it as he leaves the filming set of the third installment of Fantastic Beasts in the early days of an autumn that, we suspect, we will never forget. It begins to get dark as the actor nods seriously: "I promise to do my best in this interview."

Eddie Redmayne made himself in the theater despite some voices warning him that he could not survive in it. "Many people were in charge to tell me that it would never work, that only extraordinary cases make it and that I would not be able to live from this professionally." Even his father came home one day with a list of statistics on unemployed young actors. Redmayne, who is extremely modest, polite and funny, adds: “But I enjoyed theater so much that I got to the point of thinking that if I could only do one play a year for the rest of my life… I would do it. And that would fill me completely.

Spoiler: since then until today he has participated in many more. He set his first foot in the industry when he debuted at the Shakespeare’s Globe Theater and won over critics and audiences. He then landed his first major role in My Week with Marilyn opposite Michelle Williams. And then came one of the roles of his life, the character he wanted to become an actor for, Marius. With him he sang, led a revolution and broke Cosette's heart in Les Miserables. “I found out about the Les Misérables auditions when I was shooting a movie in Illinois. Dressed like a cowboy. I picked up the iPhone and videotaped myself singing the Marius song. I always wanted to be him ”.

Now Redmayne is an Oscar winner - thanks to his portrayal of Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything - and the protagonist of one of the most important sagas in history, Fantastic Beasts. He plays the magizoologist Newt Scamander in it. When I ask him what it means to him to be the protagonist of a magical world that is so important to millions of people, Eddie sighs and takes a few seconds to answer. “I have always loved the Harry Potter universe. Some people like The Lord of the Rings or Star Wars ... But, for me, the idea that there is a magical world that happens right in front of you, that happens without going any further on the streets of London, that. .. That exploded my imagination in another way.

During the quarantine, J. K. Rowling, who has been in charge of the script of the film, sparked a controversy through a series of tweets about transgender women. Redmayne assures that he does not agree with these statements but that it does not approve of the attacks of some people through social networks. The actor was one of the first to position himself against Rowling alongside Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and other protagonists of her films. "Trans women are women, trans men are men, and non-binary identities are valid."

After having spent a while talking, Redmayne confesses to me that he has never been a big dreamer not to maintain certain aspirations that ended up disappointing him. So he has always kept a handful of dreams to himself. One of them was fulfilled just a few weeks ago with the premiere of The Trial of the Chicago 7, a film written and directed by Aaron Sorkin that can already be seen on Netflix and in some - few - cinemas. “I was on vacation with my wife in Morocco and the script arrived. I think I called my agent before I even read it and said yes, I would. She probably thought the obvious, that I'm stupid. After that, of course I read the script, which is about a specific moment in history that I knew very little about. I found it exciting and a very relevant drama in today's times. "

And it is that having a script by Aaron Sorkin in your hands is no small thing. Eddie Redmayne has been a fan of his work ever since he saw The West Wing of the White House. “His scripts have delicious language and dialogue. As an actor, it's fun to play characters that are much smarter than you are in real life. That virtuosity is hard to come by. I really hope that audiences enjoy this movie and feel that there is always hope. " He remembers that since he released The Theory of Everything he has recorded, to a large extent, English period dramas, “and although the new Aaron Sorkin is not strictly contemporary,” says Redmayne, “to be able to wear jeans and shirts and sweaters instead of so much tweed is great ”.

Besides acting, art was the only thing the actor was interested in, so he ended up studying Art History at Cambridge University. “My parents are quite traditional and when I told them I wanted to act they gave me free rein but on the condition that I study a career. And I'm very grateful for that because ... Look, beyond that, when I play a real character I usually go to the National Portrait Gallery in London quite often. There I lock myself up. Now, for Sorkin's film, I went through a lot of photographs and videotapes. Art helps me to be more creative, to get into paper ”. If he were not an actor, he would be, he says decidedly, a historian or perhaps a curator. "Although I think he would be a very bad art curator."

Against all logic, Eddie Redmayne is color blind. But there is a color that you can distinguish anywhere and on any surface: klein blue. He wrote his thesis on the French artist Yves Klein and the only shade of blue he used in his works. He wrote up to 30,000 words talking about that color with which he became obsessed. “It is surprising that a color can be so emotional. One can only hope to achieve that intensity in acting. "

Like his taste for art, which encompasses the refined and compact, Redmayne seems to be in the same balance when it comes to the roles he chooses. When I ask him what aspects a character he wants to play should have, he takes a few seconds again before answering: “I wish I had a more ingenious answer but I will tell you that I know when my belly hurts. It's that feeling that I trust. In my mind I transport him to imagine myself playing that character. When I read a script I have to really enjoy it. You never fully regret those instincts. It's like when you connect with something emotionally. "

So we come to the conclusion that all his characters have some traits in common. "You know what? I never look back, and this is something personal, but I do believe that there is a parallel between Marius in Les Misérables trying to be a revolutionary, someone who is quite prone to being distracted by love but at the same time is willing to die for his cause, and Tom Hayden from The Chicago Trial of the 7 who was a man who had integrity and was passionate and fought for the things he believed in. So I suppose there may also be similarities between a young Stephen Hawking and Newt Scamander. There are traits in common in all of them that I don't really know where they come from ”.

When we talk about the year we are living in, in which it is increasingly difficult to find hope, we both let out a nervous laugh. "There must be," Redmayne says. “There is something very nice that Tom Hayden, the character I play in Sorkin's film, said to his former wife, actress Jane Fonda, just the day before she passed away. He told her that watching people die for their beliefs changed his life forever. In that sense, I also think about what Kennedy Jr. wrote about how democracy is messy, tough and never easy ... As is believing in something to fight for. I look at history and how they were willing to live their lives with that integrity to change the world and I realize that somehow that spirit still remains with us. " We fell silent thinking about it. "There must be hope."

I tell him about my love for Nick Cave's blog, The Red Hand, and one of the posts that I have liked the most in recent weeks. In it, the singer affirms that his response to a crisis has always been to create, an impulse that has saved him many times. For Redmayne there are two activities that can silence noise: drawing and playing the piano. “When you play the piano your concentration is so consumed by trying to hit that note that you can't think of anything else. Similarly, when you draw something, the focus is between the paper and what you are trying to recreate ... There I try to calm my mind.

Before saying goodbye, I drop a question that I thought I knew the answer to, but failed. What work of art would you save from mass destruction? "How difficult! I could name my favorite artists but still couldn't choose a work. Only one piece? Let me think. I am very obsessed with Yves Klein, but I would stick with a work by Brancusi. There is a sculpture of him, a small head called Prometheus, in Cambridge's Kettle’s Yard, on a dark mahogany piano. The truth is that I find it very ... beautiful ”.

Before leaving, he confesses to me - with a childish and slow voice - that he would like to direct something one day. We said goodbye, saying that we will talk about his next project. Next, the first thing I do is open the Google search engine. "P-r-o-m-e-t-h-e-u-s". Although Eddie Redmayne has trouble distinguishing violet from blue, he doesn't have them when choosing a good piece. He's right, that work deserves to be saved.

* This article appears in the November 2020 issue of Esquire magazine

Source: esquire.com/es/actualidad/cine/a34434114/eddie-redmayne-juicio-7-chicago-netflix-entrevista/

#eddie redmayne #esquire2020 #esquirespain2020nov #esquire spain #chicago7promo #chicago7interview #interview2020 #photoshoot2020 #juankr #my translation

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nutty1005 · 4 years

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(Fluff warning) Why is Xiao Zhan a god-tiered beauty? A deep shallow analysis…

Original Article:https://www.weibo.com/ttarticle/p/show?id=2309404476336126165027#_0 Original Author: 织世靳靳子

(TN: This is a fluff piece, written entirely by a fan to praise his good looks. There is also quite a fair bit of Chinese beauty standards in this. Enjoy the pictures!)

(TN: Also, beauty should be beyond gender boundaries.)

What properties should a god-tiered beauty have?

When you think of a god-tiered beauty, who pops into your mind immediately? Is this adulation, or is Xiao Zhan worthy of this praise?

When a person is considered a god-tiered beauty, it usually means that this person is flawless, but is this absolutely politically correct?

I think not.

Beauty comes from imperfection, and they do not need to be hidden, because vividness comes from such imperfections. Audiences can be very sharp – no matter how much “beautiful” labels you attach on a person, these labels will not stay if the person cannot uphold these labels. The entertainment business is full of attractive people, but when you remove the make up and filters, you can really gauge the true physical attractiveness of a person.

I got a lot of surprise studying Xiao Zhan.

When deciding if someone looks good, we do not linger on how big his/her eyes are, or how tall his/her nose is, but instead we look at the proportion and general aesthetic.

If you were to choose the magical touch on Xiao Zhan’s face, which feature will you choose?

I would choose his eyes.

The truth is that in terms of absolute size, Xiao Zhan’s eyes are not very big, but it stands out because of their aesthetically pleasing shape.

The shape of his eyes appears to be almond-shape (but more stunning), with a full lower eyelid and rounded upper eyelid. This gives off a sense of innocence when he looks up. In addition, the the shape of his eyes slant downwards but the outer ends hook up, and with the shadows of his thick lashes, which brings his shape closer to what the Chinese call “Phoenix Eyes”. All in all, the shape of his eyes is one of the rarest eye shape – “Favored Phoenix Eyes”.

The lines of his eyes have always been aesthetically pleasing, but this is further enhanced once he had learned to control his gaze (see X-Fire competition period). The focus of his face is on his beautiful and lively eyes, which elevates the entire aesthetics.

Inner eye corners are more rounded among the Chinese, but because his eyes are pointed and long, giving off a very oriental appeal.

If you study carefully, you will notice that his eyes follow an “S” line. His inner eye corners are rounded, the outer edges slant gently downwards but quickly end with an upward tilt. This is a very rare type of demure oriental beauty. His usual make up is very light and natural, but if there are additional touches on his outer edges, bringing emphasis onto the lines of his eyes, his aura will switch from harmless and innocent to sharp and aggressive.

You probably cannot stop yourself from imagining dating him

When he is not smiling, you can feel that sharp and aggressiveness off him. He gives off a nobility aura and he can keep up his appearances at any event.

In videos, his eyes are large and energetic, and so alluring, it is almost as though these eyes belong to an anime character or a CGI character. Given that we know that the camera would magnify flaws and moderate the overall aesthetic level, we can only imagine how he looks like behind that camera, and it is probably not that “normal good looking person” like he says he is.

Xiao Zhan does not depend on strong features – his brow bone and nose ridge are not tall.

Rounded features, not strong

If I were a famous director, I would be very satisfied with Xiao Zhan as an actor. In my Weibo pinned post, I spoke about how he does not depend on shading make up to sharpen his features, but instead, he depends on simply on lighting. This is evidence of his good bone structure. He does not have the standard issues of sunken temples or broad zygomatic bow (TN: the bone area to the side of the eyes) that are common among Asian faces; his zygomatic bow does not broaden sideways, but instead expands outwards proportionately. This advantageous bone structure shows itself most evidently in period dramas, where an aura of heroism is required. This balances out his soft features.

This is an unedited raw image from a HD camera – his features are simply enhanced just by lighting

This face of his looks good in any lighting. Under paramount lighting, his cheekbones stand out and makes his face even smaller. (TN: Smaller faces are considered more aesthetically pleasing in Chinese culture.) Under rembrandt lighting, his gaze becomes more vivid, and the shadows from his nose and cheeks makes the picture more dramatic.

The Chinese have 4 ways to describe dimensions on facial structure – tall, low, flat and sunken. Most Chinese faces have low nose bridges and sunken structure, and for those who have this, when seen on HDTV, their facial muscle movements can be very obvious. In the case of Xiao Zhan, his facial muscle movements are clean and his facial expressions are especially pleasing, even when expressing extreme emotions. In addition, he does not require special lighting and can even withstand odd lighting.

Looks good even when expressing extreme emotions

This is the true meaning of “no bad angles”.

This is a random screen capture off a HD video. Still beautiful.

Generally, if anyone of us takes a picture from this angle, we probably end up looking like crap, but Xiao Zhan looks as thought he had been touched by Aphrodite. His cheekbones is the olive branch from Cyprus; his lips are the roses from Damascus; his Adam’s apple is the shackles of Prometheus, Mount Kaukasos. From head to toe, he is the real life representation of the sonnets of Shakespeare.

His beauty is breathtaking.

He looks like he descended from anime-land, but yet more vivid than ever

At the same time, Xiao Zhan’s features are tight knitted and his eyes sit lower in his face. This gives him a general youthfulness, hence he seems a lot younger than his actual age. I have often felt that his face looks almost anime-like, and in some instances, his expressions make him seem almost unreal.

If we try to convert some of our favorite anime characters to actual humans, how would they look like? From the side profile, the eyes should be position lower, almost towards the middle of the nose bridge. However, it is very difficult for this to occur while maintaining proper facial proportions.

We can immediately see from this picture that the middle section of his face is not too long. A long middle section usually ages a person.

Under further study, you will realize that the mouth-lip area of his face is not too short either. However, his philtrum (the midline groove in the upper lip) is deep and slightly pointed upwards, which moderates the length visually.

The shape of his lips are rounded, but given his sharp eyes and tall nose, the “roundness” and “sharpness” matches in equilibrium, resulting in him looking incredible whenever he smiles.

I am an art student and I am studying his features simply from the angle of an art model, instead of the angle of his fan. The conclusion I have drawn is that his facial features are simply outstanding. Plastic surgery may be able to change the facial features, but will not be able to change proportion; moreover, we know that Xiao Zhan did not go through any of that.

In general, people with good facial proportions will standout in a crowd, more so with Xiao Zhan, who has great features, and these will be especially brilliant after he has good control of his facial expressions.

You cannot hide the smile even if you cover the lower half of his face

Xiao Zhan is an expert in facial expressions control. His smiles can be viewed over and over again, and they are not easy to recreate – I have slowed down GIFs to capture his expression sequence.

When bringing forth a smile, he will move the muscles around this eyes to bring up the outer edges, and this brings the joy onto his face even if you cover the lower half of his face.

He pays attention to the movement of the muscles on this brow and the area around his eyes, such that he is able to pinpoint the emotions in this gaze. This is actually not easy to do such that it looks continuous and natural.

The essence of facial expression control comes from knowing your weaknesses during the training done in front of the mirror, and correcting them. I’m guessing here that he spent a lot of effort in his training, not because he has a lot of weaknesses, but because he has always been very strict with himself.

This is his signature smile. He has a multitude of combinations in his expressions, none of them fixed in any categories but serialized, and recreated in sequence when needed. If not for that fact that he sweats so much, I would have thought that he is an AI, but then again, could AI create this magnificence? I think not.

Xiao Zhan’s signature smile is smooth and stunning – it captivates people because of his confidence and ease.

The entertainment business has always been filled with beautiful people, but what makes Xiao Zhan stand out is the purity in him. He stuns people around him his clear eyes and his innocent smiles – and we pray that he will never lose this.

I know this – with his good bone structure, he will remain handsome for at least another 30 years.

Xiao Zhan is not just a “top celebrity” of this area, but he will also become “that god of period dramas” some decades later, and he will continue to shine bright as an icon of this generation.

#xiao zhan #sean xiao #xiaozhan #肖战

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dingoes8myrp · 5 years

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Alien Franchise Thoughts

This weekend I happened to catch and rewatch Alien: Covenant. Right after that I caught and rewatched Aliens. This was sheerly through channel surfing luck that I watched these movies in this order. But, in doing so I connected some dots and had some realizations that gave me a new appreciation for the prequel series.

A Bit of Background

I can’t remember if I saw Alien or The Terminator first, so Ellen Ripley and Sarah Connor get equal billing for being “the first” female action heroes I ever encountered. Prior to them I’d seen Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Bruce Willis watching action films with my dad. So seeing not Tom Skerrit’s Captain Dallas or John Hurt’s Kane but Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley take on the role of Action Hero was essential to my development as an eleven-year-old girl. I’m not even exaggerating for the sake of drama. Watching Ripley in Alien was one of the first examples I saw in media of a woman in a role I’d only seen taken on by male characters before. For this reason alone, the original Alien holds a special place in my heart.

The Original Series

I have mixed feelings about the franchise as a whole. I loved Alien and Aliens to me was just as good and is one of the few sequels that measures up to the original. It lost me at Alien 3 when they killed off Newt and Hicks in the opening crash land. Forcing Ripley into the “sole survivor” role becomes formulaic here and… honestly I’ve had no desire to rewatch Alien 3 and completely forget the entire plot other than the fact that it takes place in a prison setting and Ripley had to shave her head. And they killed off Ripley! I remember being very upset all around at Alien 3 and I think I mentally disowned it.

Alien: Resurrection brought me back around because Ripley was back! And there was Winona Ryder! However, Ripley wasn’t the same Ripley we remembered. She was some clone or hybrid or… I don’t really know what they were going for there. But, I looked at this film as a standalone almost AU installment and I’m actually very okay with it. Not my favorite by a longshot, but a slight redemption from Alien 3’s mess.

Alien vs. Predator

No. Just no. Denied. Why? What even? WHY?!

I’ve seen a few of these movies and if you’re a fan of big monsters fighting one another with a bunch of random humans caught in the middle, these movies might be your jam. If you’re a Predator or an Alien fan, though, it kind of doesn’t fit in with either in my opinion.

The Prequels

When I watched Prometheus I hadn’t done any research on it at all, so I had no idea it had anything to do with the Alien franchise. I saw a space-themed action-horror film with Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Noomi Rapace, and Michael Fassbender involved and I was IN, man. Honorable mention to Logan Marshall-Green, who is also awesome but I didn't catch in the trailers. So he was a nice surprise.

The opening scene was unworldly and gorgeous, much like the opening of The Mists of Avalon, which is a weird comparison, I know. But I was enchanted by this opening scene much like I was as I watched Morgaine Le Fey float through the mist that served as a doorway to a magical world. We see an unknown being on an alien planet perform a mysterious ritual and then plummet into the water. The first clue was the title card, which even then I thought “Oh, cool! They did the Alien thing!” but hadn’t connected it as directly related. I’d just thought it was a subtle nod because of the Ridley Scott connection.

I loved Prometheus as a film. I had a very similar reaction to it that I had to the original Alien movie. We had an ensemble of characters, all with their own personalities and enough development to make us care. Noomi Rapace became the reluctant hero as opposed to the expected Charlize Theron, who had been in the Ripley role (“He’s not coming on my ship.”). As the Alien clues dropped, I picked them up and quickly (excitedly) realized the film was somehow connected – it had to be. For me, that was just the cherry on top of a fantastic film.

Alien: Covenant made me feel much like Alien 3 did. The ending of Prometheus had been hopeful, echoing both the endings of Alien and Aliens. Our hero Elizabeth Shaw had survived and would bring android David along to find the Engineers and get her answers. Ridley Scott himself spoke about a possible sequel involving Elizabeth and David trying to do just that.

And then we got Alien: Covenant. Elizabeth and David were nowhere to be found and instead we were (hastily) introduced to an entire new crew of characters whose development was severely lacking in the film. We don’t even know everyone’s paired up in romantic couples until people start dying. When David did finally appear to rescue everyone I was excited. Yes! Finally, a tie-in to Prometheus. And then we learn Elizabeth died suspiciously and the franchise is turned over to David. To say I was infuriated would be an understatement.

I was more excited about the project Sigourney Weaver and Michael Biehn spoke about at a comic-con panel that would’ve followed Alien and Aliens (and maybe retconned some stuff) than I was about whatever Ridley Scott did next (I still kind of am, if I’m honest). Why would someone take a franchise helmed by a powerhouse female action hero and then make its lead an insane android and his pet virus? Why would I want to follow this asshole instead of Shaw, Daniels, or even Vickers?

Final Analysis

Watching Aliens right on the heels of Alien: Covenant made it easier for me to make some connections and parallels. In Aliens, a group of marines attempts to travel to a space colony that lost contact to see what’s going on. Ripley is brought along (with Burke, that shit) as a consultant “just in case” (even though everyone treats her like she has a case of the vapors when she tells them about the xenomorphs). The premise makes little sense on the outset. However, when we later learn Burke’s true motivation it makes perfect sense. Burke believes Ripley, although he makes a show of the opposite. And he wants to bag an alien to bring home and sell to the highest bidder. When the soldiers start stomping carelessly around blowing holes in things with there big dumb weapons, it’s infuriating to the audience, knowing what we know. However, it’s also infuriating to Ripley and we’re reminded why she’s there. These are soldiers who, of course, have no idea what to do with an alien species and probably aren’t used to exploring alien environments.

This is very similar to what’s going on in Alien: Covenant. Not made clear in the film due to the character development scenes (such as “the last supper” prologue) being cut, this crew are explorers and colonists. They’re not astronauts or scientists. A few of the characters appear to be military escorts or officers. Of course they’re tromping around without a care in the world. They don’t know any better. Their captain, Jake Bronson, dies mid-journey and his second-in-command, Billy Crudup’s Oram, is super insecure about his new position. This is frequently shown in his interactions with Katherine Waterson’s No First Name Daniels, who was also Bronson’s wife. Daniels has a comradery and respect with the crew not present with Oram. So, when Oram has to start making decisions he’s acting more on his insecurity and his need to Do Something and be taken seriously than acting on the information and advice he’s given. Also, once we know the relationships between characters everyone’s bizarre anti-survival behavior makes a ton of sense. After a certain point in the film, everyone has lost a spouse and/or a ton of friends. Everyone is grieving, scared, and not at all trained to be doing what they’re doing, and they don’t have a Ripley on board to help guide them. “Game over, man! Game over!”

Yeah, Alien: Covenant is what happens when you make every character a Hudson.

Watching Ripley’s reaction to Bishop in Aliens reminded me how iffy Ash the A.I. was in Alien. You know, he got all murdery and everything.

Then I remembered – oh, yeah – Alien: Covenant is a prequel. This means David is an A.I. precursor of some kind to Ash… which means he’s a faulty A.I. Also, Ripley encountered creatures and situations no one had discovered before to our knowledge (due to everyone’s reaction to Ripley’s story in Aliens). This ultimately means no one can make it out of these prequels alive or it compromises Ripley’s established story.

David is a faulty A.I., which hasn’t yet been experienced by anyone living who has encountered androids in space exploration if we go by the example of Ash in Alien. Failsafes haven’t been given to androids yet to limit their emotional depths or put rules in place to prevent them from harming humans. He’s creating creatures that are new. No one knows they exist, so no one is prepared for them (just like the crew of the Nostromo wasn’t prepared for the xenomorphs in Alien). Even heavily trained soldiers, scientists, and astronauts will be encountering deadly things they don’t know are out there: a highly intelligent rogue A.I. capable of experiencing emotion and evolution, mutated weaponized creatures unlike anything they’ve ever seen before, and an alien virus that mutates its host and is undetectably ingested.

Guys, ain’t nobody emerging as the lone heroic survivor of anything in this franchise (except the fucking xenomorph).

Having digested and accepted that information, I am grimly awaiting what happens next, and I really hope with all my giddy little heart that theorized Aliens sequel Sigourney Weaver and Michael Biehn teased is going to happen. I’ll even take a video game version.

Hicks and Newt deserved better and I stand by that.

#alien #aliens #alien covenant #dingometa

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nervousalpacahologram · 6 years

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Night Lights

For @chartlana

O5-8 was nervous. Six had just asked if he could introduce Eight to his family, and he had said yes, almost without thinking. The stories of the Bright family were almost legendary amongst the Foundation, three members of the family having been O5’s. Adam, Six and Tamlin easily coming to mind. There were as many allied with the Foundation as there were against it, the names Evelyn Bright, a potential O5-3 being synonymous with Prometheus Labs, the name David Blindman reminding them of the Serpents Hand.

This was why Eight found him self in front of One’s office, the sound of clockwork mechanisms echoing inside the walls of Site-01. Steeling himself, he slowly opened the door, finding himself in the Founder’s office. The room was large, grey concrete and bronze, clocks and machines filling the vast space. The Founder sat at the center, a large oak desk covered with paperwork. He sat in a wheelchair, a piece of Mekhanite technology that moved across almost any terrain like a bug, metal limbs skittering and shaking.

One looked up, oxygen mask glowing with strings of crimson lights, a feature that many of the other o5’s were certain was just an aesthetic choice. After few seconds of only clockwork ticking and muffled breathing, the Founder spoke.

“What is it Eight?” He asked, voice cold and buzzing. More than one person had accused him of being a machine, and they were often closer to being right than they thought.

“Well… I was hoping to request a day of sick leave until Tuesday.” He shifted on the balls of his feet, One’s mechanical eyes piercing him.

“Interesting. You take some sick days at the same day that Six heads to his reunion.” He looks back down at his papers, retrieving his pen from where he set it. “Very well. Permission granted.” He paused, glancing back up at him, “Give Evelyn my regards.”

Without a further word, One dismissed him with a wave of his cybernetic hand, lights glowing underneath the frail skin. Eight smiled to himself, knowing that he had only just evaded one of the Founder’s famous admonishments, rebukes that had been known to make even Kondraki feel ashamed. Smiling to himself at the thought of the Founder yelling at Kondraki, he was stopped by One’s voice again, causing him to stop dead in his tracks.

“Just remember, you and Six better remain professional.” He turned just in time to catch a faint smirk on the Founder’s normally impassive face, but it was gone before he knew it. Shaking his head, he exited the room, walking through the hallways and away from the ticking of a massive clockwork machine.

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Mikell Bright knew it was a risk, unknowing of how his family would take him bringing his boyfriend to a meeting. No matter, it was a risk he was willing to take, and his love’s presence would give him the courage for what he would have to do. Mikell sat and studied his gun, making sure it was clean before stowing it in his drawer, weapons having been banned from family reunions after David attempted to beat his head in with his cane.

He was interrupted from his reverie by the door opening, Eight poking his had inside.

“Hey Six, are you ready to head off?” He asked, eyes showing his nervousness through pools of deep hazel green. He smiled softly, standing up to grab his suitcase and hat. He walked up to Eight, taking hold of his hand before he locked the door, both ready to face whatever would wait for them.

They passed the grey walls of the Site, emerging into the burning sunlight. They entered their car, a memetically cloaked vehicle to take them to the Meeting Place.

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When they arrived at the Meeting Place, both of them were exhausted, no new topics either wanted to speak about. They exited the car, grabbing their luggage and tiredly stumbled into the building. It was obviously chosen with Six’s sense of aesthetic in mind, a three-story ranch house in the fields of Oklahoma. Wheat fields fanned out in every direction, a plane of yellow as far as the eye could see.

They were greeted warmly by Tamlin, glittering green eyes shifting hue.

“Ah, I can see you brought Eight here… I’m not quite sure how the rest of the Family will react on his presence…” They paused, turning his head to the side to look directly at the far wall. After only a handful of seconds, they turned back to them, smiling a bit wider. “One of the family is already okay, let’s hope the rest shares her attitude. Come, let’s get this party going!” Tamlin turned around quickly, walking jauntily deeper into the house.

Both Six and Eight glanced at the wall that Tamlin was looking at, and finding Nobody there, followed the potentially eldest and youngest Bright. They entered the main room, much too big for the size of the building. Eight made a mental note to have the place checked out later. Rings of catwalks wrapped around the edge of the room as it ascended upwards, capped by a large glass window showing the moon and stars above.

The room was filled with several of the more well-known members of the Family, some that Eight could recognize on sight. He saw David Blindman in a red suit, eyes obscured by shadowed glass. He could recognize Evelyn, pregnant with yet another child and the picture of motherhood. He recognized TJ Bright: SCP-590, he saw Jack Bright, and Tamlin, but that was it. Several other Family members were dotted around the room, their eyes turned on him. He could tell that almost no one in the room accepted his presence almost immediately.

After a period of silence, Jack spoke.

“Mikell, who is this?” He arched his eyebrows incredulously, looking towards Six balefully.

“Well,” Six said, surveying the room with the best smile he could muster on his features, “We’re getting right to the point, aren’t we?” He laughed, the sound echoing awkwardly in the silent room.

“Yes, yes we are,” Jack replied, eyes hard as he stared at him, Bright family eyes, but not looking at him softly like Six. No, his eyes were cold like the Founder’s, but angry, a whirlwind of painful emotions.

Six sighed, closing his eyes before he placed his palm on Eight’s back, a possessive hand that showed exactly how much he cared for him.

“Now, boyfriend is such a banal term, but in this situation, it’s the best of a few words that make sense. Ladies and gentlemen of the Bright Family, I would like to introduce O5-8. He is well… you get the picture.” There was a significant pause in the room, the only sounds being a few quiet gasps, some in surprise, some in anger. It was a minute before an elderly man with a falcon-headed cane spoke.

“Mikell… an O5? Really? Even if he is your…” A sneer of disgust, “boyfriend, he leads the Jailers, you lead the jailers. I want you t-” He was cut off by a hand gripping his shoulder. Eight looked at the man that had quieted him and let out a small gasp of his own. Standing there was the previous O5-12, Adam. He looked almost exactly how the pictures showed him, a bald man in a wheelchair. His clothes were grandfatherly, his eyes a warm, dark brown. But now they were serious, a scolding look placed on the elderly man.

“Now Alexander, that was not polite, he is your uncle, and that is no way to speak to him.” He looked up, removing his hand to gesture at Six, who gestured at Six to speak. “I’m sorry for Alexander, my son, he is in no place to speak about who one can and cannot fall for.”

“Thank you,” Six replied, gripping Eight’s hand. Eight was now rather sure of Six’s true name, making sure to talk with his love about it. “If you have any words to say about our relationship being wrong, take a look around you. Everyone in this room is around because someone fucked an anomaly, half the people in this room have fucked anomalies.”

“Indeed,” Adam said, smiling thinly. “I would have been a bit less rude in saying that, but you got the point across very well. Now! Any other grievances will not be expressed publicly, so let’s start with the reunion, as Evelyn has been gracious enough to provide us with the food.” He gestured to a buffet table, piled high with food that got Eight’s stomach growling.

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As everyone dispersed to eat, drink, and converse, Eight pulled Six close to a wall and began to speak.

“So, your real name is Mikell?” He asked, grinning as Six blushed, casting his eyes downward as he was clearly unused to having his real name used.

“Yes, it is Eight, and please don’t just throw it around, especially if there are people we can’t trust around.”

“Come on.” He replied, “It seems that everyone already knows your name here, they would have done something already… Mikell.” Eight watched, satisfied as all the blood rushed to his lover’s face, turning it a glorious shade of pink.

“Excuse me for a second.” He says before walking away, a calloused hand covering his burning face. Eight smiles, walking over towards the buffet table, hoping to get something to fill his empty stomach.

Before he can get there however, he feels a hand grip his arm and yank him to the side. Turning swiftly, Eight finds himself face to face with David Blindman. He whips off his glasses, staring at him with eyeless pits.

“Do you have any fucking idea what you’re getting into?! Look at what he did to me! He had my fucking eyes torn out!” Eight could see the veins bulging in the suited man’s neck, anger expressed all over his features. “He fucked around and mutilated every child, every one-night stand when he was done! What makes you think your any different!”

Eight froze, for the first time actually thinking about his love’s agent days. The blind man was right, many Bright family members having been mutilated or neutered in some form. TJ was given a host of mental illnesses, but that was Jack. He knew that. David pushed him away violently, scowling at him.

Dazed, Eight staggered to a chair in the corner and sat down heavily. The more he though about it, the more things cropped up. He had just thought that Mikell had attempted to destroy the anomalies in only a few of the family, but as he looked around, nearly everyone had been scarred. The realization that many of these were Mikell’s children hit him next, the thought that he had so many, and had hurt almost them all… The next second found Eight in a mad dash to the bathroom, retching up his empty stomach into the toilet bowl.

The sting of bile burned his throat, searing his mouth as he vomited into the bowl. Pictures of Bright Family members flashed through his head, anomalous men, women and children with their powers gone, features disfigured. He was ripped from his thoughts by a voice from the door. Mikell’s voice.

“Eight? Eight! Eight are you okay?!”

Eight felt his heart beat quicken, and for the first time in a long while, he felt fear.

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While Six walked back from trying to get his erection under control, he saw Eight, staggering towards the bathroom and closing the door. As he approached, the smell of vomit hit his senses, making him stumble. He could here Eight retching inside the room and the sound of vomit falling into water. He frantically knocked on the door, and when that garnered no response, he began to talk.

“Eight? Eight! Eight are you okay?!” There was no response besides the frantic scrabbling on a tile floor. “Eight, I’m opening the door okay?” The only response this time was the sound of retching, but no vomit. He opened the door, finding Eight backed up against the tub, his shirt collar stained.

“Stay back Six.” He said, eyes wide with disgust. “I know what you’ve done.” Mikell stood, bewildered at his pained and disgusted lover, vomit staining his black dress shirt.

“Eight, what’s wrong, what happened!” His heart was beating a t a million miles an hour, mind screaming at him.

Fix it there’s a problem you need to fix it fix it somethings wrong fix it.

“What’s wrong is that I can’t trust you not to hurt me in the future! You tore out your own son’s damned eyes for god’s sake!” At this moment, Six felt something deep in his chest crack. He knew that some day Eight would learn about what he’s done in the past, knew that he would most likely learn at this meeting. He knew he would have to act fast if he wanted to salvage anything, and taking a deep breath, he reached out to take hold of his love’s hand.

It took some gentle coaxing to hold it, moving it up to his cheek. He felt Eight relax and lean into his touch, eyes closing with a shuddering breath. He gently quieted Eight, hushed words to calm the shaking of his lover.

“They’re not wrong. I was an awful person, convinced that it was the best thing for them, unable to see past my own hubris, and it cost me a family, cost me their love. I drowned myself in being an agent, a veritable James Bond, complete with the alcoholism and depression to boot. And then I held the weight of the world on my shoulders. I saw the problem, and I did my best to rectify it.”

“They took their pound of flesh, their quart of blood. But some still hold their grudges, their hates, and I don’t blame them.” He felt hot, stinging tears trace down his cheeks and through his faint stubble.

“I can never fix my mistakes, but I can try. I can hope that one day they will forgive me, but I can’t force them. What I can do, is ask if you can one day not forgive me, but that one day, you won’t see me as such a monster.” He closed his eyes in a vain attempt to quell the tears that fell from his eyes, carving trails of glimmering quicksilver sown his face. Before he can open his eyes, he feels Eight leap forward, wrapping his arms around Mikell’s shoulders in a tight embrace. He ignores the smell of vomit and the tears on his cheeks and buries his face into Eight’s shoulder, a desperate attempt to hide his tear-stained visage. He shook as he returned the embrace, attempting to suppress the raucous sobs that escaped his mouth against his best efforts. He tried to open his eyes, finding them pressed hard against his lover’s shoulder. He could here Eight like a distant echo, a soft voice filling his ears.

“Hush my love, hush. I love you, I love you no matter what you’ve done. You couldn’t make me not love you. Just please don’t hurt me. Promise to keep me safe, promise to love me. Please… Please.” The feeling of his lover’s arms surrounding him and the painful, yet heartfelt words brought about another round of tears, and in a shaky voice answered.

“I won’t leave you. I swear to Seven, I won’t ever leave you unless you want me to. I love you, I love you.” He gasps as he attempts to breath, his lungs desperately trying to bring in air. He looks back up, staring deep into each other’s eyes. It’s only a moment before he speaks again.

“We can leave now, go somewhere else, we don’t have to be here.”

“Yeah… let’s go.” Eight replied, wiping the tears from his eyes. Wiping his own eyes, he helped Eight up, and slowly walked back to their car. Evelyn stopped them on the way out, asking what was wrong.

“We’re leaving, please don’t stop us.” Was all Mikell said, continuing on their way. Eight stopped for a second, catching Evelyn’s arm.

“One sends his regards.” Is all he says before turning away, catching a smile on Evelyn’s features. They continue to the car, Six laying Eight into the passenger side seat and helping him out of his stained shirt. He draped his suit jacket over him, and watched, satisfied as Eight pulled it towards his cold body.

“I’ll be right back love, just… who talked to you?” Eight replied in a tired drawl, a faint Louisiana accent coming through his words.

“David… why?”

“Shh, I’ll just be right back.” He placed a kiss to Eight’s damp forehead and turned right around. He retreated into the house, running towards a stack of soft blankets in the corner. After grabbing two, he walked up to David, who looked up fearfully. it was a moment before Mikell spoke.

“Next time we meet, we will talk about this,” a pause, “David.” He turned and walked straight out of the door, not seeing Adam place his hand on the Blind man’s shoulder before speaking.

“What did I say about not judging, David?”

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As Eight and Six drove down Route 66, radio blaring some obnoxious country song, Six could feel Eight grab his hand, cold and warm skin meeting in the dark car. Eight looked out at the country as it flashed by, trees and dilapidated buildings, eyes in the forests and figures in the wheat fields. They didn’t say anything, their firm handhold speaking for them. As the two O5’s drove deep into the forests and fields in the dead of night, they comforted each other with the ideas of the future, visions of bright days and fluorescent lights dancing in their heads.

For now, they were okay.

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cartoon-hell · 6 years

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New interview with Ehasz. Mostly they talk about Korra and ATLA, but here’s some bits I found interesting:

kn: What’s your favorite Greek myth?

AE: There are so many intriguing myths to choose from – I think if I have to choose I would say the Prometheus myth. The titan stole fire and gave it to humans, elevating them – and was punished by the gods for this. I feel like there are parallels to the biblical story of the serpent tempting Eve to eat the apple, and its effect on humanity… and the comparisons are sort of fascinating.

I am interested in both the mythic/divine messenger who stole/shared these gifts with humanity, and the story of what humans chose to do once they had these gifts.

Possibly dark magic is meant to be a parallel, either to the fruit in the garden of Eden, or the fire Prometheus stole? Or both? A human discovering powerful knowledge, sharing it, and being kicked out of an idyllic land that's then gated off and guarded by an unearthly powerful being is... very evocative of Genesis. What happens when humans kill the angel who guards the gates of Eden?

kn: Who is your favorite character in TDP and why?

AE: I love King Harrow so much. He’s the King, but he cares so much about being a great Dad. He wants to do the right thing, he is a very principled person, and a good person – but he has made mistakes, big ones. He has quite a bit of wisdom, but he is growing and learning every day.

In a lot of ways, he taps into a similar character-source as I was thinking about with Uncle Iroh! (BTW for both of those characters I drew on aspects of my own step father, who passed away a few years ago.)

I really wanted to know more about Harrow just from the brief time we got to spend with him, and now I want to know more about him EVEN MORE

kn: By the end of Season 1, King Harrow has been proclaimed dead by Lord Viren. But like you, he’s a lot of people’s favorite so there are rumors abound that there’s more than meets the eye to his true current status. Have you seen the fan theories, and without saying too much, has anyone guessed correctly?

AE: I have seen some great theories. I have seen correct theories, and wrong theories – and I’ve enjoyed both! FWIW, there are some intriguing stories about Harrow that take place in the past that we would love to explore.

The chances of Harrow actually being dead were already vanishingly small, but at this point I feel confident enough in the bird Harrow theory that I'd put money down on it. The fact that Pip was included in the storyboards of the "on your knees" scene confirms that that wasn't just a weird little detail the animators included or something.

And lastly, some nice ambiguous speculation fuel for shippers:

AE: I will tell you that in Dragon Prince I had some initial instincts about some of the characters from a shipping perspective that over time are already starting to surprise me… but more on that later!

#tdp #tdp spoilers #the dragon prince #aaron ehasz #my stuff #words #WHEN is 'LATER' AARON

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hellyeahheroes · 6 years

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Bad Guy Files #15

Okay, so we’re a halfway through Dark Nights: Metal and it seems at least one of the Dark Knights may stick around. And to no surprise really - a good design, very quotable speeches, a personality mixing traits of two extremely popular characters, minions that are a disturbing, dark twist on a beloved concept - I totally see why this guy is popular. Hell, I bet many fans were experimenting with his concept in fanarts or fanfictions over the years. So outside of the usual points, I do for this series, I’ve decided to do my own list of five things DC should do to not waste the potential that lies in the Batman Who Laughs.

Who Is He: Twisted, evil version of Bruce Wayne, who has been forced to kill the Joker, but became infected with a special version of his toxin in the process. It made him become as much of a murderous monster as the Joker, while keeping his brilliant, methodical mind. He proceeded to murder his entire world, before joining dark god Barbatos to do the same to other worlds, leading his evil Dark Knights - six other twisted Batmen.

Who He Fought With: Interestingly he already had an encounter with Teen Titans in an early phase of Metal, where he took over Gotham. Granted, he mostly just threw his minions - twisted children dosed with Joker toxin dressed as Robins - at them, then let his son - corrupted version of Damian Wayne - dose them with the toxin and use to fight main Universe Damian. But he did seem to have interest in Raven - one I discussed before.

And now to the points:

1. Let Him Go Big - One of the biggest risks of ruining this character is to keep him in Gotham and battling only Batman-related foes. Don’t get me wrong, there is great potential in having him go against members of the Batfamily, but Gotham itself is a huge setting with many possible threats. It doesn’t need another one, especially one with such backstory and goals as his. He needs to be allowed to carry out plans that threaten more than one city but entire world or worlds maybe. He said he is what Joker could be if he allowed himself to see the bigger picture - let him. Don’t make him a guy for Batman or Batman and Robin or entire Batfam to beat, make him a guy that requires teams like Justice League or Teen Titans to rally to save the world.

2. Let Him Live Up To the Hype - Worst thing you can do to this guy is to make him not live up to the hype, be easily defeated. After a very well-received first story, he needs to follow up and keep being as menacing as possible. Let him be the mastermind, devise plans that keep people on the edge, adapt as he claims is his specialty. Don’t overuse him but make sure whenever he shows up it’s a sure sign things are about to turn bad.

3. Don’t Make Him Overpowered - At the same time, remember how your last attempt at having an evil Batman, Prometheus, turned out into a colossal gary stu, that has become associated with a widely-panned Cry For Justice series. Yeah, don’t do that. Don’t make your heroes idiots who cannot do a thing, don’t let every plan of this guy go off without a hitch. He says his gimmick is an adaptation, remember that - let our heroes foil his plan a and then have him improvise plan b on the spot, show us realistic take on a mastermind. Don’t make him into a villain stu evil Steve Rogers was for Marvel, where we know he is a mastermind because he cannot even stumble for a second on hsi way to victory right until the final act.

4. Let Him Branch Out - Due to his nature and goals, this character can easily fit into stories that Batman or Joker usually wouldn’t. I mean, there is a reason why Batman stays in Gotham and if he teams up with some more out there characters, like John Constantine, Swamp Thing or Etrigan, they come to him. Batman Who Laughs can be a character who comes to them. He has well-explained goals, grand scope - it’s not a problem see him go after characters like Blue Beetle or Raven or Klarion or Justice League of China, whatever his new scheme to kill the world or all worlds would be.

5. Choose His Opponents Well - Again, at the same time he shouldn’t really be jumping on to any enemy. It is important to try to think what enriches his confrontation with a particular character. Thankfully, being an evil mix of Batman and Joker, he has a large range of possibilities. He works as an enemy for Raven because he is a person who was twisted into becoming evil and her greatest fear is that happening to her. Similarly, he can be a good cautionary tale for Klarion, what happens when you take your love of chaos a bit too far. He might be an excellent choice to play against both mastermind types and the tricksterish ones, crossing both from two worlds as he needs. His potential lies in the fact he can play as such great evil foil to many people when even Batman or Joker couldn’t.

- Admin

#Bad Guy Files #Dark Nights: Metal #Blue Beetle #jaime Reyes #Raven #Klarion #Klarion the Witch Boy #Justice League of China #DC

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lj-writes · 7 years

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Finn the trickster hero

Finn is a lot of things--a military genius, a conscientious objector, a crack shot, an iconoclast--but beyond the realm of military and politics he also has mythological qualities in embodying certain archetypes, and to me the most prominent is that of the trickster.

Trickster figures are recognizable by distinguishing traits such as solving problems by wit and resourcefulness, actions that upset the social order, humor, crossing boundaries between realms, and physical transformation. Finn’s story contains all of these and more, with the effect that he plays the trickster’s role, a bearer of the unexpected and an agent of change.

A trickster is first and foremost defined by, well, trickery. Some tricksters are conspicuously lacking in physical force, such as Jacob in the Old Testament of the Bible in contrast to his stronger brother Esau. Some are depicted as smaller, weaker animals compared to their adversaries, such as Reynard the Fox in Western European fables in comparison to the wolf Isengrim, or Bre’r Rabbit of the Southern United States in comparison with Bre’r Fox. Other times martial prowess simply isn’t a big part of their story, such as Coyote of the Crow and Plains tribes’ mythologies and Prometheus in Greek mythology. Rather than physical force the trickster often uses some flaw in their opponent, such as vanity or cruelty, to get out of a tight situation or win the prize in a situation where they are at a disadvantage.

This is true of Finn, who made and executed a plan to steal a TIE fighter and rescue a Resistance pilot from under the First Order’s nose. In doing so he ingeniously exploited a flaw in the First Order’s organization by claiming it was Kylo Ren who wanted the prisoner--Ren, who reports directly to Snoke and is not a part of the strict military hierarchy that Hux so prizes, who has his own agenda and will act for it rather than his given orders, as he demonstrated more than once in The Force Awakens.

If Finn had tried to claim the prisoner transfer order had come from Hux or Phasma he may well have been required to verify the command, given that both these figures operate within the standard military system. But Ren? Who was going to question him and risk his explosive temper, short of Hux or Snoke himself?

In other words, Finn used the personal and organizational failings of his oppressors to brilliant effect in planning and executing his escape, and this planning made it possible for him and Poe to reach the TIE fighter without a single shot fired. Once they flew the TIE and hit a (literal) snag shots were fired indeed, in a sequence I have analyzed at length. A confrontation was inevitable at some point anyway, but it was due to Finn’s clever subterfuge that he and Poe were able to get so far without attracting deadly attention. This is itself a significant achievement that may have saved their lives when they were seriously outnumbered and Poe had endured physical and mental torture.

Finn also uses a subtle trick on the Resistance but of a different sort, which I will discuss near the end in the section about the trickster as communicator.

A characteristic of tricksters related to their trickery is humor. Trickster stories are replete with wit and fun, like Bre’r Rabbit laughing behind his hand as he begs Bre’r Fox not to throw him in the brier patch, or the Yoruba trickster god Eshu breaking his penis while using it for a bridge. (All I’m saying is, never, ever question Eshu’s dedication to infrastructure.) They are not adverse to being the butt of the joke, either, as when Anansi the spider, a beloved trickster figure of West Africa and the Caribbean, failed to hoard all the wisdom in the world and ended up dispersing it instead.

A few trickster stories are dark and frightening--no, I’m pretty sure the broken penis doesn’t count--usually when the forces of order and hierarchy catch up to the trickster and mete out torment as punishment, most notably with the Norse Loki and the Greek Prometheus. Even then, however, the trickster has a long and laughter-filled streak before they’re caught.

John Boyega made it clear in an interview that he explicitly went for humor when he auditioned for Finn, and the character correspondingly has a lot of funny moments in The Force Awakens. In fact, some of Finn’s tensest moments are also his funniest, as when he pleads with BB-8 to tell him the location of the Resistance base, or when he helps an injured Chewbacca who is in pain and lashing out violently.

[Image: Chewbacca has gripped Finn by the throat and pulled him close]

The trickster’s humor has a larger basis in his subversion of social norms, the way he upends the social expectations placed on him. The trickster’s stories are a surprise because they invert the prevailing power structure: the weak triumph over the strong with fast talk and wits, laughing at the high-and-mighty all the while. In this way the relative weakness, trickery, and humor of the trickster all act together to turn the tables on the strong and oppressive.

You can see this with Finn throughout The Force Awakens in the way he defies expectations of his role as a Stormtrooper. I mean, Stormtroopers don’t care about anyone or anything except the mission, right?

[Image: Finn bends over a dying Slip]

Stormtroopers follow orders without question.

[Image: Finn lowers his blaster, unable to shoot the prisoners]

They don’t think and act independently. They don’t go out of their way to help people. They respect their superiors no matter what. They- well, you get the idea. Finn takes every idea about Stormtroopers and turns it on its head. Heck, the guy can even shoot!

This upsetting of the social order means that tricksters are necessarily agents of change. They smash the status quo and bring not only laughter and fun but also insights into life and new ways of being.

As quite a few fans have rightly pointed out, nothing in The Force Awakens would have happened without Finn. The awakening of his conscience and his resulting determination to get away from the First Order, both of them unexpected and indeed unthinkable developments that threw the First Order brass into confusion, were the catalysts for all the major events of the movie--Poe’s escape, Rey and BB-8’s departure from Jakku, and the destruction of Starkiller Base. He was not the only mover and shaker in these events but he provided the spark, the first push.

Such changes are a crossing over from one state of being to another, and indeed it is a common trait of tricksters to cross boundaries, both in the external world and sometimes in their own selves by changing gender and shape.

In the former capacity as a boundary crosser the trickster brings gifts from another world, such as the celestial or underground regions, to the earthly realm. This is the case with such figures as the Rainbow Crow, from the myth of the Lenni Lenape tribe of the Northeast United States, who flew up to the heavens to bring back the gift of fire; Coyote of the South Plains in the United States who released the buffalo from Humpback’s enclosure onto the earth; and Anansi of the Ashante people of Ghana, who bargained with the god Nyame to bring stories to the world.

In the latter capacity as a shapechanger the trickster changes their own shape and identity, again flitting around and between boundaries except this time within themselves and their relationship to the world. The aforementioned South Plains Coyote changes first into a bird and then a dog to release the buffalo. Loki of Norse myth is another famous example who frequently changed his race, gender, and species in stories.

Finn is both a boundary crosser and a shapechanger who went from the servitude with the First Order to freedom, bringing the Order’s secrets and his inside knowledge to the cause of fighting it. He also changes his identity and literal shape in the process, going from a Stormtrooper to a purported Resistance fighter to a traumatized fugitive to an actual Resistance fighter, though one who fights alongside the Resistance rather than giving himself fully to them. We even get a beautiful metaphorical scene of his transformation in a desert, reminiscent of Moses from the Old Testament after he himself fled from a genocidal, enslaving regime:

[Image: Finn walks through the desert, pieces of discarded Stormtrooper gear marking his path]

The ability to cross boundaries also means that the trickster is a communicator. Whether the boundary in question lies between socially expected behavior and unexpected/prohibited behavior, between states of being, between worlds, between identities, or between people, the trickster navigates these boundaries, shows that they are more porous than at first sight, brings goods from one side to another, and creates change through exchange across these divisions.

This communicator aspect is very explicit in the Yoruba god Eshu (Legba in the Fon tribe), a god of languages and information, and the Ashante god Anansi, a god of knowledge and stories. There is a story about Eshu that he walked on the boundary between the fields of two friends while wearing a hat that was black on one side and red on another. The friends quarrelled about what color the man’s hat was, only to to have Eshu intervene to show them the trick in the hat and tell them off for not putting him first in their dealings with each other.

I understood this story, besides being a wonderful example of trickster humor, to be an emphasis on the importance of communication in relationships. If you don’t try to see the other person’s point of view and open yourself to the possibility of transcending your own narrow perspective, you’re inevitably going to have misunderstandings and fights. Also remember, when the internet has a collective freakout over the color of a dress or a sneaker, that’s Eshu totally playing us.

[Image: A statue of Eshu]

Comparing Finn to a god of language and communication may seem paradoxical, given that the character is only shown speaking Basic and is not presented as multilingual, being unable to speak Shyriiwook or Binary in contrast to Rey who understands these and more. In fact Finn’s lines make a point to emphasize his lack of knowledge (”You can understand that thing?” “I don’t speak that.” “What’d he say?”).

What interests me, however, is just how effectively Finn communicated with Chewie and BB-8 despite his inability to understand their languages. Think about it: He successfully saved Chewie’s life, reasoning with him despite the language barrier (a boundary, to put it another way) and faced with a much larger and stronger being who was getting violent from pain and fear. Finn also convinced a Resistance droid to reveal the location of their secret base with the same linguistic difficulty--and this, right after revealing to said droid that he was not actually Resistance.

The levels of empathy and trustworthiness it took for Finn to work with and talk to these beings under these extraordinary circumstances are simply phenomenal. These incidents demonstrate that Finn is an extremely effective communicator even when he is hindered by language. He crosses the boundaries of interpersonal mistrust and caution on a level that goes deeper than words.

In their capacity as communicators tricksters may also use and manipulate language, especially in situations where they experience a disadvantage in power. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. called this act Signifyin’ after the Signifying Monkey, which he treats as an equivalent to the Yoruba god Eshu. The Signifying Monkey uses the power of figurative language to outwit Lion, his oppressor, something Gates compared to dismantling the master’s house using the master’s tools, repurposing the quote of activist and writer Audre Lorde that “the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.”

We watch Finn engage in this careful use of speech when he talks the Resistance into letting him onto the mission to Starkiller Base. When Han asks him whether he can disable the shields around the base, Finn replies:

“I can disable the shields. But I have to be there, on the planet.”

When Han asks him again later on the base, of course, Finn freely admits he doesn’t know how to disable the shields; he was just there to get Rey.

Notice, however, that Finn did not lie outright as he did when he told Poe’s guards that Ren wanted the prisoner or when he told Rey he was with the Resistance. Finn’s words can be interpreted as, “I can disable the shields [by figuring out how when I get there]. But I have to be there, on the planet [so I can see the situation for myself and make a plan].” In this sense this statement is not factually incorrect per se, rather an expression of confidence spoken with the certainty of fact.

Finn knew, however, that saying he definitely can disable the shields in response to Han’s question would be taken as saying yes, he knew how to disable the shields. He was, if not lying, deliberately misleading the Resistance here by exploiting a gap between the literal meaning of his words and the understanding of them in context.

Just to be 100% clear, I don’t blame Finn for this deception one bit. He did in fact find a way to disable the shields and it’s not like the Resistance had any better options, so anyone who wants to hold this conversation against him can fuck off. He employed this trick not out of malice but because he was trying to overcome a disadvantage: If he wasn’t seen as someone who could contribute, he wouldn’t be able to go on the mission with Han and Chewie, and his strengths in having worked on the base and his considerable tactical smarts might be dismissed in a newcomer and stranger. The Resistance may not have been his oppressors but he had just met them, and it’s not a stretch to say his trust of authority in general was running low after his experiences with the First Order.

So what does Finn’s role as a trickster hero mean for the future of his story? For one thing, I believe he will continue to bring about profound change to a galaxy far, far away in whatever capacity he is in--whether as a Jedi, a badass Resistance fighter, a leader in the renewed Republic, or, my favorite possibility, the leader of a Stormtrooper uprising.

Another thing we can infer about his character is that he won’t get complacent. The Republic (Old and New), the Jedi Order, even the Rebel Alliance at points became set in their ways and a hindrance to progress and justice. Finn as a trickster can keep subverting expectations and changing course so that any organization he leads or influences can keep its actual goals in sight instead of blundering forward out of sheer inertia.

Finn’s ability as a communicator, the way he resonates with people on an emotional level, and his commanding grasp over language and story also open exciting possibilities for his character. Remember how beautifully he told his truth to Rey? Imagine his story inspiring thousands. Millions. Imagine him setting people’s spirits across the galaxy on fire with his inspiring speeches, as Anansi the Spider did in American Gods, urging them to fight, to reach out and grasp justice in their hands.

We have in Finn a character who constantly renews himself and the world around him, who upends power structures, and keeps us laughing all the while. Life with a trickster is never dull, and if used correctly the character of Finn will keep us guessing, keep us interested, and keep us inspired. That’s what being a trickster hero is all about.

#rebelfinn #meta #finn #trickster #mythology #star wars #the force awakens #first of all

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austencello · 7 years

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HVFF Portland - a recap

Last weekend, I attended HVFF in Portland for the first time (HVFF and Portland) and had a blast. I know a lot of people on Twitter have seen pictures and videos but I wanted to share a little of my account. Half of the fun is sharing the experience with other friends and fans. I met up with friends, people I follow on Twitter, and met new people creating new friendships. Overall, eight of us arrived a day early and hung out after getting our tickets. This really helped getting to know each other in person before the con started. (I had only met Academy of shipping in person before) Then we could break up into different groups at the con and rejoice over mini-Felicity and Alejandra's amazing ability to connect with the actors as we came back together. Stephen Amell's panel was first on Saturday. We were much closer than I expected which was so much fun. He was engaging and funny and most of the questions felt new. Highlights: - He is looking forward to scenes with Jack (William) and they have cool scenes in 6x01 - most embarrassing moment is dropping Katie Cassidy in their make out scene in S1. A kid asked the question, so his avoidance and explanations for why he was carrying her (she was tired) was hilarious. - Stephen is tired of the beard (for Code 8). Also, he is much better than night shoots then his cousin, Robbie. - Jesi's daughter dressed as Felicity (mini-Felicity) was going to ask a question but then Jesi had to ask instead (when will Oliver marry Felicity - answer: maybe in Season 6. Maybe not) However, she charmed Stephen (giving her name as Felicity) which led to two days of glorious moments and pictures with Stephen and the entire cast for that family. - asked if he would break his promise of no dancing for a slow dance at Olicity wedding, he responded yes since he didn't count slow dancing as dancing (and he would be better than Grant) - invited to the Navy Ball and accepted if his schedule allows - another Navy officer (after joking that he also was going to ask him to the Navy Ball) gave him a challenge coin from his crew since Arrow is one of the shows they watch away from home. Stephen got off the stage and gave him a hug. - favorite villain: most iconic, Deathstroke. Favorite, Prometheus. At this point, we started to break up and visit different actors booths for autographs or selfies. I had written out all the music themes for each person there to sign which meant I did not do any photo-ops. Cons are expensive! I started with Katrina Law mostly so I could follow Janis and her daughter and see Ava meet Nyssa. If any of you follow Janis, you will know that Nyssa is Ava's favorite character and it was fun to see Katrina pick her up and swing her back and forth. I showed her my music sheet and Katrina was very excited to learn that Nyssa had her own theme and thought that was really cool. My next stop was David Ramsey's table. David Ramsey is a wonderful human being and made sure to take time with each fan. He was the last one to stay both evenings because there were so many people and because it took so much longer (but everyone would agree it was worth it!) He asked me my name, at which point he mentioned it was one of his favorite names and then proceeded to name four other favorite names, one being my sister's name which we both found very cool. Then I showed him the music and his eyes grew big as he asked where I got the music. I told him I transcribed it which greatly impressed him. Then he asked me to sing or hum Diggle's theme for him! I did my best but told him that it sounded much cooler with electric bass and then babbled about how it was in the last episode with Deathstroke, Diggle and Wild Dog's themes as they fought (I told Rick the same thing the next day) which was really cool. David them told me that I was amazing for listening to all those details and signed my paper. He asked if I was a musician and told him that I was a cellist. Since I was dressed as Felicity the first day, he guessed that at the end and gave me a high five. I returned to Sarah and Bre red-faced, a huge grin on my face, and slightly shaking! The three of us went over to Juliana's table next. There were a lot less people at her table which meant we could spend more time. First of all, she is gorgeous and has the most lovely smile. I certainly hope we can see more of it on Arrow. We all shared how much we loved her as the Black Canary and thought she did a fantastic job. This meant the world to her and she told us she hoped to do us proud in Season 6. When I showed her the music, I shared how her theme stemmed from the previous Canary themes but is her own. She found that really cool and was a little blown away, I think. I'm not sure she even knew there were soundtracks for Arrow. She asked if she could take a picture of it so she could play it home. She signed Dinah Drake first starting in a D on the staff paper which was a cool little moment. My last signature was with Stephen Amell. I had this whole spiel I was going to say on thanking him for his work this year but I was a little overwhelmed being so close to him (he is quite handsome) that most of it left my brain. He was very nice and asked where I wanted him to sign. I pointed out his three themes and then he signed next to each one. It took a little while for me to recover. Since I didn't get a photo-op, a group of us hung out nearby waiting for those who were getting photos (a bit of a revolving door between 8 of us!) Rick Gonzales was walking by which Bre and I pointed out to Alejandra, who called out "Rick!" She had already had met him so he turned around, smiled, and then came back and gave her a hug, remembering their conversation beforehand. Before he left, he gave myself and Bre hugs even though we had never met him! We also got to witness her joy/freaking out when Rick included her picture on Instragam and responded to her on Twitter and then Stephen Amell's response to her Mini-Felicity picture "I like hugs". Needless to say, both days we all were on our phones enjoying the amazing responses of the fandom and cast. The next day, we attended the Arrow cast panel and deduced that Juliana and Rick were added since two chairs appeared as we sat there (before seeing the announcement via Twitter) It was nice to see the interactions but everyone was a little tired so the questions and answers were not as engaging as Stephen's. Highlights: - favorite and funniest moment in set. Willa mentioned it was hard to choose with John Barrowman on set. Rick and Julianna took the more serious route with Rene and Zoe moments from 5x13 and Dinah's first Canary cry. David and Willa joked that it was hard to follow that with fart jokes and Barrowman. - most surprising moment to read in the scripts. Katrina was shocked that Oliver and Nyssa were getting married ("we all were" said the moderator) and Willa mentioned the many times she died. - they all did joke about the possibility of dying on the island and whether they were coming back. "We are all dead." "It's a dream" Rick joked about needing to find another job. David said that Stephen had read 6x01 and just kept teasing him the night before "Dude, ...., you didn't buy a house, did you?" - they were asked about relationships on the show they would like to see. Katrina said "Nyssa and Felicity" (after mentioning wanting a flashback of Sara and Nyssa earlier), Rick mentioned Rene showing interest in Thea, Willa mentioned that relationships don't last well in the show (although she did mention later that she would love for Thea and Roy again) which David disagreed about. - Willa was asked if Malcolm was a good father. She hemmed and hawed since Malcolm did sacrifice himself for Thea. She did acknowledge that her love for John clouded that statement and gave a yes - what their doppelgängers would be like on Earth 2. Rene would be a cook or baker and very friendly. Dinah would be docile and wear pink dresses. Diggle would have a green power ring which would be ironic working with Aliens since Diggle is freaked out by aliens. I visited Willa's table first and got her signature in Green and then a selfie. She thought it was really sweet that her theme was called "Purest Heart." I mentioned that I almost put down the Theroy theme as well because I love it and them. She said she missed them too. Very cool. Next was Rick who was also blown away that I had written down all the themes and that Wild Dog has his own. He asked if he could take a picture of it as well and really appreciated it. I again babbled that it appeared in 5x02 and the fight scene in 5x23 and he was kind of impressed that I noticed those details. I told him that I loved the piano theme for Rene and Zoe and am hoping it will be on the soundtrack. He mentioned that they will address Zoe and Rene in Season 6 and gave us (Sarah was with me) hugs. He also has a beautiful smile which we need to see more on the show! We then went to Brandon Routh's booth. Brandon looks exactly like he does on screen: tall, handsome, and smiling. Turns out that Brandon plays trumpet and piano and so actually read the music in front of him. He said the range was a little low for trumpet but I had written the French Horn range (the Atom theme is both in horns and trumpets) so we proceeded to talk about trumpet ranges. He also asked to take a picture of it. I mentioned that I enjoyed Legends and was excited to see where it goes next. He smiled and said that it was going to be pretty crazy. We proceeded over to Milo Ventimiglia's booth because I am a big fan of "Gilmore Girls" and "This is us." He is like David in that he wanted to know each person's name and have a conversation. Plus, they both make serious and funny faces in selfies. I thanked him for the role of Jack: a good husband and father, which is rare to see on TV these days. To have both Jack and Randall on the same show as good men is a blessing and a rarity and he said he would pass that on to Sterling! We both agreed that Jack was the true Superhero because he was a real man in a world without superpowers. We then attended his panel and we sat two rows away from him, thanks to Sarah. He was engaging and thoughtful in his responses on the stage as he is in person. He always asked for each person's name. He was asked about Gilmore Girls: "no, the baby is not Jess's baby" and that he loved working with Scott Patterson - a very special pairing and relationship. He also said the newest segment was like an encore in a concert. He was asked about "This is Us" and what a good man Jack is yet still flawed and his deep love for Rebecca. He spoke of the importance of knowing everyone on the crew which he learned thanks to his first line on "Prince of Bel Air" with Will Smith who knew everyone and took a few moments to speak to him. The panel went from his favorite books to what he likes to do on his down time to how he approaches acting. All responses were beautiful, engaging and fun. We returned to the booth areas to find out about the mini-Felicity pictures/hug video (she was dancing with Rick at that point) As the day closed, we all traveled over to Juliana's booth (thanks to Alejandra) and we talked about the new costume which had been revealed over the Internet and how it looks awesome. We did mention something about the weather (the bare arms for a few inches) and she appeared a little surprised and admitted that didn't occur to her! She said if she is shivering, we will know why! She thanked us and gave us all hugs. We then went once more to Rick's who gave Alejandra and Heidi hugs and then as he left, saw me (remembering me from earlier) and shook my hand thanking me. Very sweet man. We finished the day by watching Wonder Woman in an incredible theater that was more like a lounge or living room (couches, bookshelves, food). A wonderful end for an amazing weekend. (My computer's wifi does not work well since I moved a month ago. I did have pictures interspersed in this but Tumblr is acting weird. I did post most of them earlier however. I apologize for any weird formats from my iPad!) @academyofshipping @so-caffeinated @dust2dust34 @latinasmoak

#hvff portland #friends #music

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muthur9000 · 7 years

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S.D.Perry talks about Weyland-Yutani Report

Excerpt from AVP Galaxy forum

A general note on canon, which may answer a bunch of questions–bear with me if you know this already, as I’m sure many of you do: it would be all but impossible to create a consistent universe for any franchise, or explain every contradiction therein. The Aliens universe has movies, books, comics, video games, more movies, etc. Editors quit or move on, publishing rights change hands, directors have their own ideas (and since movies are where the big bucks are, they will inevitably win), writers don’t have time to read a tenth of everything, and there are ALWAYS financial considerations… it’s inevitable, if a movie makes money, more of them get made. If one or more of the sequels tanks financially, or is so badly executed that fans hate it, the mother company–in this case, Fox–is likely to politely ignore it, and focus on the cool franchise aspects for the next project, which is not always successful. This makes canon flexible, as contradictory as that seems. I don’t have an inside line to Fox or anything, but have worked in a number of universes (Aliens, AvP, Predator, Star Trek, Resident Evil, etc.) and I find that this is usually the case.

predexo, watching something you felt to be canon getting shot down is rough–it sucks to have one’s choices made for them–but thankfully, in this day and age, we get to keep copies of the things we care about. Whether or not someone else says it’s legitimate, who cares? That shouldn’t change how you feel about the movie/book/whatever. It’s your right to enjoy what you enjoy, and if the Man makes bad decisions, it’s your right to take your money elsewhere.

Other stuff: - At the moment, Aliens has its own universe, Predator has its own, AvP has its own. That may change, but again, I don’t know anything. For this project, I was strictly in the Aliens universe. - Hicks does mention in passing that there were already some Marines at Hadley’s Hope. That is a reference to one of the new novels, I was asked specifically to put it in. - Would I write a book narrated by Morse? Sure, if asked. Morse is hilarious. - I didn’t know anything about the new Prometheus movie, except that I was asked not to speculate (much) about the alien’s origins in this book. Well, I know one thing, but if I spilled, I might be flayed alive. - For the timeline, I was told to always defer to the movies as canon, and occasionally the movie novelizations for additional detail. So, comics, original works, and games were mostly left out, except for a few references I was specifically asked to put in, to help promote some of the newer projects. I wasn’t asked to exclude anything. I’m not actually sure how it finally turned out, as there were several uber fan continuity checkers hired on to look for mistakes. - Using the actor names for the characters was an Aliens thing, so when I had characters with only a last name listed, I put in the actor’s first name. I didn’t know if Fox would sign off on it, but they did. My editor, Chris, who was awesome, BTW, also thought it was a good idea.

Xenomorphine, lots of questions! You get your own section. I’ll go by number. I would cut and paste the questions, but last time I did something like that I totally messed it up and looked like an idiot. Hopefully you’ll remember the questions from context. 1. Let’s see… alien shape is based on the host’s DNA, you already know that. We didn’t discuss age-related morphological changes in this book. As SM mentioned earlier in a comment, this book is a Company report, and while they have plenty of theories, they don’t know everything about the aliens… 2. …Or Hicks! I’m not privy to everything canon–there are so many projects connected to the universe, contradictions occur all of the time–but as I may have said earlier, the editors that work in established universes try to focus on what really works, ignoring stuff that won’t support their project. We’re always struggling (writers, editors, game makers) to define and make sense of an ever changing universe. Every new movie adds or contradicts. The universe is so big, there’s a lot of room to just make up new stuff, which happens plenty. 3. I’ve been doing Aliens related novelizations since I started writing, 20+ years ago, so nothing surprised me, really, though I had to take my vague assumptions and firm ‘em up with some actual science. This was a pretty research-intensive project. I learned some neat stuff, though, mostly about insects. 4. Fox wasn’t involved until after I wrote the first draft… I was asked to include some references to the new Titan books and the new game, asked to take out a detail here or there for style’s sake, but nothing unexpected. The Fox contact, Josh, was very nice, and super enthusiastic. 5. I did not contact Mr. Giger… again, this is a Weyland-Yutani report, not a definitive encyclopedia on aliens. Plus, I wouldn’t have had the nerve! 6. Yes. Writing for big franchise universes is tough– there’s so much that you have to try not to contradict–but Predators are wicked cool. I think if this book does well, Fox is open to doing something similar in the Predator and/or AvP universes, but again, don’t quote me. No promises were made! :) As a mostly work-for-hire writer, I’ll write whatever… Aliens, Xena, My Little Pony. Preference doesn’t really play a part, and I’m not at a level where I get to pitch book ideas. 7. Hmm… If I had to do more, probably Resurrection, just for symmetry’s sake. I was not a fan of the movie, and of course, the USM ran the experiment, not the Company, so they (WY) were very dismissive of the whole thing. There’s less detail there than elsewhere. If I got to pick for fun, I’d do more with the prisoners on Fury 161. Just cuz. 8. No. I’ve had to write fast (did a novelization once in 21 days; for me, that’s fast) and have certainly at times been sloppy, especially at the beginning of my career, but if I couldn’t appreciate the source material, understand what makes it magical to some people, then I wouldn’t be very good at my job. I know that paint by the numbers writers exist, but I don’t know any personally. To write contract work professionally, one must always embrace the inspiration, IMHO. If I can’t, I’m at least a decent enough writer to fake it.:) Luckily, I’m an Aliens fan. 9. I had some influence over layout, but in a very roundabout way. My editor sent me some of the movie images, then I came up with a general script. He and I went back and forth on that, trying to strike the right tone, trying to give format and opportunity to the artists. The artists made art, and it went back to us, finding or writing text that would fit, captioning things. It was a very interactive experience. So I played a part in the final look, but really, a very small one near the beginning. 10. Once I turn in a final draft, and all of the last minute touches have been made, I have NO IDEA what happens next. Some writers, presumably the smart ones, find out everything they can about when their work comes out and how much and what format; me, I like to write, and not much else. I’m a terrible business person. I’d love to see it on my Kindle, though!

#s.d.perry #weyland yutani #weyland industries #weyland corporation #weyland yutani report #avp #yutani-weyland #alien #aliens #alien 3 #alien resurrection #alien covenant #prometheus #yutani assets

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cripplinganxietyflix · 7 years

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I saw Valerian.

If you’ve ever spoken to me at length about movies, there’s a good chance my thoughts on “headache cinema” have come up. It’s an umbrella term I’ve come up with that encompasses the deluge of loud, obnoxious, brainless, neutered, hundred-million-dollar-budgeted trashfests that are destroying theater culture as we know it. I’m talking about the Disney’s Marvel franchises, the post-Matrix Wachowski migraines, the Transformers films- head-exploding visual fuckfests that leave the average adult feeling like they’ve crawled out some hellscape version of a McDonald’s play palace birthday party. This brand of film is easily my least enjoyed and most disliked. The vast majority of the time these movies are castrated down to a PG-13- or worse, a PG!, they’ve got bloated budgets, dumb plotlines, stupid dialog, and best of all: punching, loud noises, explosions, TOTAL SENSORY OVERLOAD.

For many years I have hated superhero movies and glazed over at Hollywood’s air-horn retreads of movies like Clash of the Titans and Independence Day: Resurgence and the recent Ghost in the Shell mishap. I hate movies like this and I find them at least majorly to blame for the death of the hard R-rated action flick. There are exceptions to the formula, like Mad Max: Fury Road, the 2014 Godzilla, and Dredd, but generally speaking, they’re unwatchable. I will be the first to admit that I’m not a big fan of whimsy, but I will be happy to defend my position on this. Giant blockbuster action movies are generally dumb and boring if you’ve got more than two brain cells to rub together. I do try to balance my feelings about people who like brain-dead, ham-fisted, infantile PG-13 sci-fi action movies with my penchant for unrepentantly trashy, low-brow 70s and 80s exploitation horror films. I know for a fact that there’s a certain segment of cinema elitists who would see my interest in that subgenre as an undeniable sign of being a philistine troglodyte, which slightly tempers my extreme prejudicial judgment of those who love headache cinema.

I can pick up the hanging thread to unravel this tapestry. It’ll lead you through all of the recent loud crashing DC fiascos and the rainbow of annoying apocalypse and disaster films and CG shitshows. Once you hit the Star Wars prequels, you’re getting close. But the film that started all of this hatred is Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element, easily in my top five most despised films of all time (that’s a list for another day!).

It feels a little bizarre for me to say that I hate Luc Besson. Léon: The Professional is one of my favorite films of all time, and easily my favorite film of 1994. But aside from that and 1990′s La Femme Nikita, I find Besson wholly intolerable. His movies tend toward obnxious, incomprehensible, overwhelming, anxiety-inducing horse shit. And while many people are happy to agree with me, it seems no one outside of myself is willing to slaughter the sacred cow that is The Fifth Element. Some see a sci-fi fantasy classic, I proffer that it’s a grotesque panacea of ADHD, loud noises and cringey acting. To Besson’s credit, most of the time his films don’t take themselves seriously, and that’s fine. But The Fifth Element is the first film in my memory where I felt literally assaulted and invaded by the unfettered gaudy head-spinning madness of big, loud, overwhelming movies. My level of general calmness could be compared to a that of a frightened rabbit with combat shock, so I try to be cognizant that this dislike has less to do with objective quality and more to do with my personal preferences and tolerance levels. Let’s be real- I’m a person with severe, crippling anxiety. Headache cinema is not made for me.

That being said, I saw the trailers for Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, and I immediately started getting Vietnam flashbacks of Chris Tucker in a wig and leopard print jumping out of my television and screaming into my face. My significant other has a much more relaxed attitude toward these things and a seemingly endless well of patience for Luc Besson, so I had a feeling I was going to end up seeing this film in theaters and I started mentally preparing for it. And I’m really glad that I did all that emotional gestation, because I found Valerian to be surprisingly tolerable, aside from being a chaotic discombobulation of ideas that all generally have the potential to be good but fail because Luc Besson must have the attention span of a squirrel. And squirrels plant trees because they literally can’t remember where they’ve left their nuts. I couldn’t dream of a better summation of why Luc Besson turns nearly everything he touches into abject shit.

Valerian is essentially a very straight-forward narrative about a couple of federal agents (?) in space (???) who uncover a conspiracy involving a group of displaced aliens. They spend the film unraveling a mystery surrounding an enigmatic void in the middle of a space ship (?) or man-made planet (???) that contains thousands of different species from throughout the universe that live in surprising harmony. The alien refugees and the void on the ship or planet are related, you will later find.

That’s basically it. It’s a simple storyline with simple elements like “war is bad” and “the powerful oppress the powerless” and “love is universal and always wins.” If you dig down past all of the color and noise and distraction, that’s the basic bedrock. I think I was expecting this movie to be a convoluted mess, and to a great extent it absolutely was. But I wouldn’t say that the story was the weakest part of the film.

What did some substantial damage was the acting and dialog. The two leads had no chemistry and the actor playing the title character (Dane DeHaan) had a stunning drought of charisma. I think that his opposite, Cara Delevingne, has the potential to be a fun leading lady, but she never had a chance in this movie. The love angle was hackneyed and totally unnecessary to the point that the film would have fared much better if Valerian and Laureline were friends instead of a ~~will they or won’t they???~~ couple. I thought it was insulting to my sensibilities, and that sucks since the romance thing was such an ingrained aspect of the movie. I couldn’t tell if they were even in a relationship with each other or if Valerian had puppy love and Laureline has simply spent their entire careers fighting off his advances only to reluctantly agree to marry him after the film’s climax. This film could have really used a competent screen writer. I think I even could have lived with some of the eye-rollingly dumb but baseline-acceptable dialog you hear in Disney’s© Marvel™ Avengers Part 2: Electric Boogaloo. The villain (played by Clive Owen) was such a stupid caricature of literally everything that is wrong with Bad Guys in major American cinema- instantly hate-able, predictable, no angle or point of sympathy, stupid rationale for his actions-type of shit. And what’s really frustrating is that the Owen’s villain had a completely rational and utilitarian motive for his actions. But that gets torpedoed by the giant flashing neon signs that say “HE’S THE BAD GUY” and “EVIL PIECE OF SHIT” hanging over his head in every scene he’s featured in. It absolutely felt like the characters were totally empty and needed to be reworked from the ground up. I even thought Rihanna’s character had more depth than either Valerian or Laureline. Valerian’s a by-the-books soldier with a heart of gold? Could have fooled me! Laureline’s a toughgirl with a penchant for violent overreaction but still maintains a balanced moral compass? Hard to see through the horse shit nonsense they wrote for her. Character development and the script were both a total, unmitigated disaster.

Another thing that I think the film failed at was building tension. Everything felt a little too whimsical and inconsequential. In the beginning, a bus full of mercenaries (?) is attacked by a violent hexapedal alien and Valerian and Laureline watch all of them die savagely with nothing more than a smirking “glad we made it outta that scrape!” reaction. It never really feels like they’re in any danger or that there’s any emotional peak or valley for the characters, with maybe a single, small exception. You watch a lot of people get shot to death and even a head get blown clean off and another cut right in half, but it all seems so cartoonish and trivial that you can’t help but feel like nothing really matters and it’s all just a low-stakes video game.

But I don’t want to give you the impression that this movie is a complete trainwreck (it tries, believe me). There were things that I liked and appreciated. The visuals and alien designs were inventive and there was never really a moment where you couldn’t get lost in the scene. It kind of felt like Rick and Morty without the nihilism and good writing. Everything was very colorful, the universe felt very inhabited. Around halfway through, Valerian and Laureline have an almost brilliant run in with a species of giant food-obsessed frogs (I actually went through the trouble of looking it up; they’re called Boulan-Bathors) and I found the whole scenario to be kind of charming and cute. I didn’t really mind Rihanna’s cameo. The refugee aliens, the Pearls, were cool and appealing in the same translucent way as the Engineers of Prometheus. While I definitely felt some Avatar vibes, the whole opalescent, iridescent aesthetic was visually pleasing and I really liked the semi-androgynous thing they had going on.

I think the strongest part of this film is the first several minutes that lays out Earth’s journey into space. It was beautiful and touching and enough to make you feel really depressed about the state of our space exploration programs and the hopelessness and polarization of our world affairs. I would liked to have seen more of a thematic connection to the introduction because it felt extremely dissonant with the rest of the movie, which, by comparison, is hard to feel particularly emotional about. If you’re not planning on seeing Valerian, I would at least recommend watching the first few minutes. If the movie had come full circle to it, you can see how it could have been brilliant.

Overall, Valerian is kind of a giant mess, and by all means I should have absolutely hated it, because it is textbook headache cinema. I think that there was a wide dearth of missed opportunities with the material, and with a more competent screenwriter, a better cast, and maybe someone else in the director’s seat, we’d be talking about a viable start to a franchise. But too often Valerian ties its own shoelaces together and eats shit and expects us to be engrossed and entertained. The relationship between Valerian and Laureline- both as a friendship, coworkership and romance- either needed to be reengineered from the ground up or scrapped entirely. I think Dane DeHaan was totally wrong for the part of Valerian and I could see this movie succeeding in more ways had someone with more charisma been the leading man. Valerian desperately needed some tension, and the total absence of crisis or consequence left an unbridgeable emotional void. It’s beautiful- but it’s a mess, and that seems to be Luc Besson’s calling card. I doubt we’ll ever see another Léon, but if Besson’s next film is as much of an improvement on Valerian as Valerian was on Lucy, then we might have the potential to see something really special. And maybe in five to eight years when everyone has forgotten about this spectacle, we’ll get a decent reboot for the Valerian material.

★ ★ ½

#valerian #luc besson #the fifth element #cara delevingne #dane dehaan #clive owen #movies #movie reviews

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cosmic-stories-blog · 7 years

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Alien: Covenant - illustrated movie poster

I saw the movie on opening night, and although I left the theater feeling less satisfied than I had hoped (I’ve probably never been more hyped for a movie - let’s face it, the trailer had everything the rare fan of both the original Alien and, yes, Prometheus too such as myself could want), now that I’ve had time to process and reflect on what is in my opinion something of a missed opportunity, I keep coming back to it with more and more appreciation for the fairly numerous scenes that stick out in my mind. Looking at Alien: Covenant as the transitional movie that it is, converging Prometheus with the set-up for the original Alien to be explored in at least two more Scott prequels, its easier for me to set aside my high expectations as a die-hard fan and patiently hope that many of the unanswered questions this prequel series wouldn’t have even been made without, will eventually be resolved five more years from now. Either way, I have to admit that I’m one of the few who really buys into Scott’s bold vision for the xenomorph origin story, and with Covenant it became clear to me that his take on this has shifted from the bigger complexities first posed in Prometheus ala the Engineers to the much more interesting and personal journey of one character in particular. For the most part, it works.

*spoilers*

what I liked:

David. Walter. Let’s just say Michael Fassbender.

The entire med-bay/backburster/baby neomorph attack sequence. A very effective rendition of the familiar scene, especially as the first in the film after a patient build-up, that makes the creature undoubtedly terrifying from the moment of birth.

The score. Perfect.

Tennessee. Danny McBride feels oddly at home in the Alien franchise.

David being the creator of the xenomorph. At the use of the line ‘the perfect organism’, I was sold. I liked that this gave the original android baddie Ash more weight as a character, or a species of character in this universe.

The production design, cinematography, direction. Visually, you couldn’t ask for much else in a sci-fi horror epic.

The shockingly beautiful chestburster scene. Its essentially the most important moment in the franchise as far as Alien: Covenant is concerned, and again, is one of the film’s ways of successfully subverting our expectations of the Alien franchise’s tropes. Unfortunately, the film’s success rate in this feat is admittedly uneven...

what I was disappointed with:

*sigh* the xenomorph. It’s not that the design is bad, or that the CGI is too bad, or that it isn’t scary enough - I actually enjoyed the speed and animalistic ferocity of the protomorph - it’s just that we don’t get a good enough look at it. There are some effective scenes that could have been much more effective if, in my opinion, we had been given a couple of moments to truly take in the pure presence of the alien. Perhaps a practical model of the alien’s head for a shot lasting up to 3 seconds intergrated with the general CG would have been more effective. I was surprised to see that after the incredible practical effects pioneered in the original films for the titular alien have been left behind, but I understand that he needs to be able to catch up to, grab onto and crawl all over flying vehicles these days, so it’s a tricky scenario.

The film’s pacing and tone is inconsistent, especially with the third act, which is essentially the original Alien condensed into 10 minutes with a very predictable twist ending (which I wasn’t mad at, actually. It didn’t need to be shocking, but it was needed to serve the story and, again, David’s storyline is arguably the best part of the new films.)

Too many characters. Although the couples dynamic works to give them a latching-on point and emotional core to react to when the bodies start to pile up, I didn’t know half of their names and the film takes too long killing the crew off to get to the focal point of the story, which isn’t the Covenant - it’s David.

Daniels isn’t utilised effectively as the story’s protagonist. Her joint fragility and resilience are interesting qualities that could work very well for the nature of a film in the Alien franchise, but there’s too much going on around her and too few scenes with her character to see her as much more than a Ripley stand-in, especially when it comes to balls-out Alien-style confrontations with the Alien. Which brings me to...

No one mentions the monumental fact that the Covenant crew has- to their knowledge - encountered alien life for the first time in human history. Not only that, but they are running around the ruins of an ancient and godly race. In Prometheus, that was kind of the whole point, and everyone had something to say about the concept of life outside of Earth.

The alien is just too easy to beat, considering it actually appears more ferocious than ever.

Well that was a long post. I think I’ve got most of the Alien in my system out for now.

All mixed feelings aside, I do recommend you go see Alien: Covenant. It’s visually arresting, a bit familiar but with a few new delightfully horrific twist and some big ideas carried over from Prometheus in something of a more stripped-back and human story, for all its grandiose themes and references to the prodigies of old. If you want the xeno, which you do, you get it. But this is the sequel to Prometheus. Don’t expect to see everything you want to see - try and think of the big picture, and keep your fingers crossed that Scott keeps going weirder and gorier with each new twist in the Alien tale. Its braver than a lot of famous franchises with the same level of popularity, no doubt about it.

#alien #alien covenant #alien covenant review #poster #movie poster #film #scifi #horror #xenomorph #ridley scott #ink #drawing #pen #neomorph #prometheus #aliens #protomorph

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trashartandmovies · 7 years

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Alien: Covenant (2017)

Dir. Ridley Scott

*This review contains some spoilers.*

Is it possible for an Alien movie to still offer surprises? If you've been following the trajectory of these movies for the past few decades, you'd be forgiven for considering the series exhausted. And while I'm willing to admit that lowered expectations may influence my appraisal, it doesn't diminish the fact that Alien: Covenant is by far the best of the last thirty years. But not only that, it's a terrifically twisted horror movie that stands rather well on its own.

In fact, this movie is so good it can make you reassess your thoughts on Prometheus, the 2012 movie that marked the return of original Alien director, Ridley Scott, yet was perhaps too shy or too convoluted about its lineage. Covenant feels like Scott and the writers were out to make sure they made up for the mistakes of Prometheus, but it doing so they've made a movie that is not only a significant improvement - it's also a very natural tying-up (or continuation) of the story threads that Prometheus left frustratingly dangling.

What's really impressive though, and what makes Covenant so unexpectedly worthwhile, is that it tells a story that has genuine purpose. It might be a story that's very similar to countless Frankenstein homages and other mad scientist movies, but Scott executes it magnificently -- certainly better than Alien: Resurrection, which stumbled over some similar territory.

So what is going on here? Well, like the previous movie, Covenant is the name of a ship, which is this time filled with a colonization team that plans to terraform a planet called Origae-6, making it habitable for their cargo of two thousand hypersleeping people. Unlike previous Alien crews, everyone here is personally invested in the mission. Their journey is the culmination of exhaustive research and meticulous, big-picture thinking - they also have a thousand embryos to help ensure a bright, fertile future for the civilization they're trying to establish.

When we first step aboard the Covenant, its fifteen years after the events of Prometheus and the sleeping crew and chilled eggs are being tended to by Walter, the ship's token android, played by Michael Fassbender. Yes, even though this is a colonization mission, it's still being bankrolled by Weyland Enterprises and Walter is the latest updated version of Peter Weyland's most prized invention.

The movie actually starts off with an eerie prelude featuring Guy Pierce as Weyland, having a very existential conversation with David, the synthetic that ended up like the head of Alfredo Garcia at the end of Prometheus, agreeing to accompany Elizabeth Shaw on a road trip to the home plant of those very big, pale and hairless dudes known as the Engineers. Yes, we visit the Engineers again in Covenant, but if you weren't a fan of these guys complicating the Alien mythology, you'll be happy to know that things don't go very well for them here.

Really, things don't go well for anyone. The crew of the Covenant get rudely awaken by a very violent flare that tears a hole in their solar sails - a nice touch, as the sails give the Covenant even more of a Noah's Ark vibe. But it also causes some malfunctions that sets fire to the sleeping pod containing their captain, which puts some very unwanted pressure on Billy Crudup as the crew's new leader.

He's got some choices to make: As a few crew members venture out in space to fix the sails, their communication gear picks up a very human signal that gets traced back to a nearby planet. They're all supposed to be asleep with the better part of their journey to Origae-6 still ahead of them. But maybe there's a perfectly habitable planet right around the corner. Maybe they don't have to go back to sleep for another 10 years.

Of course, we all know they shouldn't go. But Covenant isn't interested in subverting the traditional elements of the horror movie - it's here to use them and play within the horror movie rules the majority of the Alien movies more or less honor the same horror movie set that goes back to, at least, Psycho. What the movie does well in these early goings is to establish some better than usual characters, making Billy Crudup's character a good Christian to help fuel his self-doubt and leadership anxieties, and making everyone in the crew someone's husband or wife. This way, when those people start turning into alien incubators, the reaction shots from their friends and family actually carry some weight.

The way we're introduced to the Covenant crew also makes it slightly less obvious as to who will be turned inside out first. But once a reconnaissance ship is sent out to track the signal on this mysterious planet, it isn't long before people the wonder of seeing water, trees and grains turns to the horror of chests bursting open and loved ones being lost. Yes, in these moments, dumb mistakes are being made - but again, these aren't highly trained soldiers or scientists. From the moment they wake up they're grieving civilians, in over their heads and trying to deal with a situation that no amount of protocols can prepare you for. In other words, as your life's work is crumbling before your eyes, some common sense is bound to go out the window.

It's not long before the crew tracks the signal down to a very familiar looking ship -- the one Elizabeth Shaw and David flew off in at the end of Prometheus. Indeed, it turns out that David and Shaw did find the Engineer's home planet and when they arrived David unleashed holy hell on the entire population, wiping the slate clean to play god in his own twisted way.

We spend a large portion of the film's second half down in some dank catacombs, where David has set up shop and where he reassures the rapidly dwindling number of Covenant crew that they are safe. As a storm begins to rage, some try desperately to contact the mother ship hovering above the clouds, while others begin to piece together David's ulterior motives for his new supply of human meat sacs.

Scott clearly loves the damp surfaces of these corridors, and the camerawork by his frequent collaborator, Dariusz Wolski, evokes an eerie primitiveness. This is the kind of cavernous place where you find an underground pond filled with albino reptiles that have those milky, blind eyes. Around every corner is another room containing evidence that adds a layer to the horror story of what David has been up to these past fifteen years.

Like a psychotic Michelangelo, David has been hard at work creating sketches of his dreams and inventions. Walter, the Covenant's synthetic, is tasked with finding out more about what David's been up to, which leads to a series of amazing Fassbender-on-Fassbender scenes -- including a very special one involving a flute that has me eager to see the movie again. Yes, seeing Fassbender's amazing control of his physicality and acting chops is worth the price of admission itself, but the reason it's so thrilling is that there's a great story here with a very satisfying reward.

It eventually becomes clear that Covenant intends to turn David into the grand architect behind the Xenomorph, and this is what he's been doing these past fifteen years -- speeding up the evolutionary process to make this most ideal creature of death. In true Alien fashion, by this point were down to our last survivors, including the very Ripleyesque Katherine Waterston. Covenant also carries on the tradition of having a couple different endings, with varying levels of effectiveness. In this case, I admired the roller-coaster effect of the first ending, which finds Waterston swinging around on a rope, trying to knock the Xenomorph off the ship while it tries to lift off and escape the pull of gravity. For a special effects set-piece it did have a remarkable sense of real weight to it all, even if it was a bit silly.

But there's nothing wrong with a bit of silliness, folks. There's no reason an Alien movie has to be a dour bummer. Alien 3 proved this perfectly well. Alien: Covenant is filled with laugh-out-loud hilarious bits that made it all the more enjoyable. Fassbender's David is proving himself to be one of the great cinematic villains, up there with Anthony Hopkins's Hannibal Lector.

Since I was too young to catch the first two entries in their initial run, this is the first time I've left the theater after an Alien movie feeling completely satisfied and genuinely thrilled by the experience.

#Alien: Covenant #Ridley Scott #Michael Fassbender #movies #movie review

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jaskiersbard · 7 years

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04/05/17 - Alien: Covenant premiere at Leicester Square (and some other rambly stuff)

Alright, guys, I’m gonna talk real quick (not) about my experience with the Alien: Covenant premiere today – I’ve calmed down a bit, so this is not completely negative at all. I’m just going to go over what happened during the day, in case anyone ever thinks of attending a premiere or anything.

So, I got to Leicester Square at 10:20am; they were already setting up barriers, setting up ramps and lighting, fiddling with lights above the screens outside the cinema etc. I wandered about a bit, kinda just checking stuff out, and ended up waiting outside the TGIF next to the cinema where a small group was gathering. They soon started putting together a Neomorph statue-thing (pretty damn good actually), and I watched them do that whilst listening to one of the other onlookers and a security guard chatting – it was through this that I learnt that, in order to get a position by a barrier to get autographs or the like, I needed a blue wristband. I collected one and found that I was “147”.

Apparently there were people who got there at 6am for these wristbands – and the cinema didn’t have them at that point so they had to write the numbers on people’s hands. I spoke to the guy who was number 17 – he had gotten up at 4am. I kid you not.

I’m going to be honest, the day was pretty…dull. I mean, it was exciting because – oh my gosh, film premiere, celebrities – but the waiting part is exhausting. The security guards clearly had no idea what they were doing; they sent us to wait outside McDonald’s at 11:30am, telling us that they’d start putting us into the fan pens at 12. It got to about 1:30pm and a group of us asked how much longer – they said “10 minutes”. It got to about 3:30pm and still nothing. They finally started trying to organise us after 4pm, and I swear to God there was the rudest man – not a bodyguard, but someone with a fan wristband – cussing and swearing when approx. 250 people couldn’t immediately get into numerical order. Security guards, of course, laughed and did nothing despite the fact a lot of us were disgruntled and didn’t want to be near this guy.

When they loaded me and some others into a pen, they walked us straight past a half-full pen with space at the front and into a tiny little box that already had people squashing. Of course, I ended up behind the aforementioned cussing/swearing asshole – and I knew he wouldn’t move if I wanted to take pictures or get autographs. So me and a few other girls walked out of the pen and asked the guard to go into the half-empty one; he shrugged and said to do whatever.

So at this point, I was at the front and pretty damn excited; I had my camera at the ready, my notebook and Sharpie for interviews, my glasses so I could see everything in great detail. I had fun in the warm-up (cheesey though it was), and was cheering as the stars started to arrive.

First was Ben Rigby, and he was the only cast member who did the whole autographs and photos thing – maybe because he’s kind of new, maybe because he had the most time before everything got crazy, I don’t know. I got his autograph (he was my second – the first was Benedict Wong, who starred in Prometheus) and a lot of people got both a photo and him signing something.

It gets kind of fuzzy after this because then the “guests” started to arrive – and by “guests”, I mean the hundreds of people who weren’t celebrities but had preview tickets. Yeah, they walked the carpet and literally got in the way of EVERY photo us fans tried to take. The security guards also got fed up with them and kept telling them to move but there were so many acting like they were celebrities by taking selfies etc.

Now, I know you all want to hear about Katherine – and I will talk about it.

I was hopeful that I would get her signature and perhaps a picture with her; perhaps I shouldn’t have been, and that’s my own fault for having such high expectations. She arrived and I was so excited that I thought I was going to faint because she looked stunning and I was so pumped to see her in person.

So after she talked to the first host doing interviews, she did the TV/Media pen interviews – you know, the ones broadcast on ITV, MTV etc. I watched as she talked to all of them, attempting to get a good photo but being blocked because people kept walking in the way at the right moments. I got a lot of shots of the back of her head, and as glorious as that back-of-the-head is, you can kinda understand why I was getting pissed off with the crowds getting in the way.

She went up on the elevated stage halfway through Michael Fassbender’s interview and I watched her from afar; I got a few blurry shots of her face, but you can tell it’s her and she looked damn good. I was excited because I thought that after that interview, she and Fassbender would do the autographs and pictures with us.

Nope, instead they both walked into the cinema.

Almost immediately, the security guards were telling us to “get out” and leave so that they could take down the decorations and barriers; I heard someone ask if Michael Fassbender would be coming back out, and the security guard said – I quote – “No, he’s not allowed”. I’ll return to this later.

I’m not going to lie – I was sure I was going to cry as I dejectedly left Leicester Square this evening; I was forcing myself not to bawl, and I could feel my chin twitching or whatever because I was that upset. I had, at this point, waited nine hours to try and get an autograph and/or photo with Katherine Waterston, and it hadn’t happened. I’m sure a lot of you are aware that I’ve been having a hard time lately, that I’ve been dealing with suicidal ideations and an increasing depression (I am currently seeking help), and I thought that by meeting Katherine I would feel better – she’s my idol, someone I look up to and respect. This will perhaps sound weird or stupid, but there are some days where the only thing keeping me from hurting myself or attempting suicide are watching Katherine’s movies/interviews or seeing pictures of her. Perhaps that’s not healthy, but it helped me and I felt that if it helped me then who really cared?

I ended up ranting online to a bunch of people (including here and Instagram…and Twitter) about how I felt like an idiot; about how awful I felt because it was as if Katherine didn’t care about her fans, about how she hadn’t bothered. However, after having a good cry (and doing things I shouldn’t have) about it, I started to see it in a more reasonable and sensible light.

Am I still upset? Of course, greatly. But I’m not so much angry as I am upset now.

As aforementioned, a girl I was standing near was told that Michael Fassbender “wasn’t allowed” to come and sign autographs or take pictures with us. Now, I remember looking at my watch and noting that it was 7:15pm – the film was slated to begin at 7:30pm, and the cast were sure to have to make a speech on-stage before the presentation. They were probably pressed for time.

I think that this applies to the entire cast – Katherine included. Katherine was the very last cast member I can recall showing up, and while every single other cast member had an interview completely to themselves, they shoehorned her interview into a shared one with Michael Fassbender. That might seem strange, considering that Michael and Katherine are pretty much the leads, but I think it was just time issues.

Ben Rigby was the only cast member who did the full line of us waiting – and that was because he was the very first person to arrive and so had more time to do so after his interviews. Katherine showed up pretty late and probably had longer interviews because she’s the leading lady of the film – by the time she was finished with the press people, the agents probably realized that they were pushed for time and told her to get on-stage in the middle of Michael Fassbender’s interview to save time.

I honestly think that this was why the cast didn’t do autographs for us now – it’s not even the cast members’ decisions, they do what the agents and people running the event say.

To add, Katherine is pretty awkward and somewhat introverted – she comes across as a bit nervous in a lot of her interviews, at least to me. She’s also rather new to this whole fame thing – before Fantastic Beasts, she probably didn’t get a lot of publicity and now with both FBAWTFT and Alien: Covenant – two big franchises – chances are that this all feels very sudden and intimidating. I don’t know her, I’m just taking a guess here, but it wouldn’t surprise me if she feels uncomfortable with all of the sudden attention. I’m sure that she did an interview back before FBAWTFT (just before) where she said that she prefers working on smaller independent projects, mostly because of the intimacy of it or something. These big franchises – while exciting to film and create on-set – are probably a nightmare to deal with when they come out.

I mean, pretty much every interviewer in the past few months who’s spoken to Katherine has asked “do you feel nervous about being ‘the new Ripley’? A character that so many fans across the world love?” – she kind of half-jokes an answer but it wouldn’t surprise me if constantly being asked that terrifies the shit out of her. What if she’s screwed up the franchise? What if she lets the fans down?

So, yeah, I think that she’s not particularly sociable – hence why she may come across as somewhat standoffish to some (I’ve been informed that someone at a FBAWTFT event – a boy – called Alison a sweetheart but Katherine “arrogant” and the like when, to be honest, she probably just isn’t comfortable talking to people she doesn’t know).

I do think Katherine is genuinely lovely; the other day I saw a picture that someone had posted where Katherine had posed with their daughter, all smiles. She seems like she’s fundamentally a good person in her interviews, and by the way her cast members/colleagues talk about her. I’ve seen pictures on twitter where she’s posed with fans outside of events, like on the street or getting coffee. If she didn’t care about her fans or wasn’t a good person, she wouldn’t do this I think.

A premiere? Today’s premiere especially? Big crowds. It was being live-streamed on Facebook across the world and on television (my parents said they saw her on the news). In her interviews, she has to remember not to give away too much about the movie. All of this plus the fact that a premiere is bright lights, very loud, crowded, and perhaps even the fact that she’s a bit awkward/introverted. It wouldn’t surprise me if she wanted to just escape inside, really, and not stick around to deal with screaming fans.

Or, on the other hand, perhaps she doesn’t realize she has fans? She was relatively unknown until recently – and now she’s got two films that are part of big franchises underneath her belt, and she’s attending a big premiere. The idea of fans wanting to see her and only her (like myself, if we’re being honest) is probably new and foreign to her – all of the attention because she’s a leading lady now.

What’s been interesting for me is, as an aspiring actor myself, seeing what actors really have to put up with on the carpet; the amount of people screaming “MICHAEL” as he was trying to conduct an interview was annoying to me, let alone someone trying to concentrate. The amount of pictures that they had to pose for, they were asked the same questions multiple times…it’s trying.

If I put myself in Katherine’s shoes, for example, I can understand – all of this going on would scare the shit out of me as an actor. It would be distracting and overwhelming, and I feel guilty for joining in with the people screaming her name now.

Ultimately, though, I do think that it’s because of the time restraints; the people running the show tonight fucked up and didn’t know what they were doing. The fans were treated like cattle, being herded into pens and told to go away as soon as the actors were inside. The security people were still setting up the carpet as the first arrivals came, still stapling and hoovering it. The interviewers all want to interview the stars – especially the leading ones and Ridley Scott himself – and it’s the actors’ jobs to put up with it. Even if the actors just wanted to sign autographs and talk to people, they can’t because they have to do interviews on the carpet to promote the film – they’re being paid to do it. Interviews first, fans second, unfortunately.

By the time the big names such as Michael Fassbender, Ridley Scott and, yes, Katherine Waterston had got through all of the different interviews, they just didn’t have time to sign stuff or take pictures. They had a limited time before the movie was scheduled to start, they can’t break the schedule, and so for this premiere they had to skip it.

Again, am I disappointed? Of course I am. But I don’t feel as angry towards the actors anymore – and I don’t feel anger towards Katherine either, not really. Having calmed down, I understand why I didn’t get an autograph or a picture, and it’s awful but there’s nothing to be done really.

I still have my fan letter sitting in my drafts (it will need tweaking a bit considering I wrote it back in January) so maybe one day I’ll have the courage to send that to her. I probably won’t hear back but still…the chance is always there, right?

#Katherine waterston #personal #now time to retreat back to my hole #alien: covenant #alien: covenant premiere

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queencanaries · 7 years

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So, there’s some news about John Barrowman and his future in regards to all of the DCTV shows, and I wanted to talk about it. But first, here’s the link (x).

It doesn’t surprise me that Barrowman won’t be in any of the DCTV shows next season. Personally, I never thought that the writers would write him off the show because they love him so much and never thought they could get him on their show to begin with when ARROW first started. But the show moving beyond the planned five-seasons forces them to switch gears a little, and push beyond a plan they may have had written.

Ever since Mericle said there “might be losses” it’s been bugging me. It’s bugged me because she doesn’t necessarily lie but whenever she says “might” it means “maybe.” Like “maybe” Flashpoint has something to do with Laurel being alive and well. You know what I mean? That didn’t happen, but “maybe” it could have. When Marc Guggenheim started answering questions on his tumblr about who would be back next season, he basically confirmed that the entire main cast (not including Prometheus/Adrian Chase) would be back as regulars, with the additions of Black Siren, Dinah Drake, and Wild Dog. So it bugged me that Mericle was here talking about “losses” when the other executive producer is basically saying everyone makes it out alive, and will be in the majority of next season as main characters. But then I thought about Malcolm Merlyn, and how the show - as it is - is coming to an end (not the end but an end).

The five-year story is closing out, and it all kind of began with Merlyn — he made the boat go down that pushed Oliver on his journey, and triggered a five-year story about surviving on the island, in Hong Kong and Russia, before returning home as The Hood, The Arrow, Green Arrow. He’s also responsible for pushing Laurel on her journey to becoming the Black Canary (as Sara was on the boat that went down) and for Thea on her journey to becoming Speedy (as she lost Oliver, spiralled, and was eventually trained by Merlyn anyway). They can’t end this five-year journey without him, and I think it’ll end with his death.

Now, I think there has to be a powerful message behind his death. With Tommy, it was about being a hero and doing things the right way. With Moira, it was about sacrifice, especially when it comes to family. With Sara, it was about confronting the harsh realities of this life of being a hero and whether or not you could have a world outside of it. With Laurel, it was about this idea of legacy and what gets left behind and what you want to leave behind. I think Merlyn’s death could and definitely should represent the idea of redemption with Merlyn sacrificing himself in the process of saving Thea (and/or Oliver and/or everyone, including Thea). I think it would be the perfect bookend to the story as it shows Oliver that you don’t have to be shackled to the past (as ARROW will no longer have flashbacks to the island, and therefore Oliver can move beyond the five years in hell on a journey towards happiness). I think they could also make it be something that Merlyn considers because of Oliver — not in the sense that Oliver has to convince him to sacrifice himself, but that his actions during the past five years have had an impact in evolving Merlyn. Oliver’s journey, in a way, redeemed someone that was considered irredeemable.

I also think his death would have a huge impact on Thea’s journey into the next season, and would offer a conclusion to her story in Season 5. Thea has struggled with the idea that she’s turning into her mother, just like she’s struggled with the idea that she’s becoming her father. Both seem daunting to her. I think she gave up being Speedy because of Malcolm in a lot of ways — it represented the bloodlust, and a side of her she didn’t want to become that Malcolm encouraged her to become. If Malcolm can redeem himself, and sacrifice himself to save Thea (and her brother and anyone else on the island) then it shows her that both her parents had a heart and found strength to make the hard choices in their family, and I think it would destroy this idea in her head that she’s becoming a monster, which I think is what gets perpetuated when she’s these roles of being a vigilante and working in a position of power. Malcolm doing the ultimate act of good by putting everyone else before him and his own motivations... it could help allow Thea to accept her identity, and be okay with who her parents were and what she was born into, and allow how to find comfort in the fact that family always pulled them back from the darkness. Thea would realise that as long as she has Oliver in her life - as long as she has her family - she knows that she can make the right decisions, and she can return to saving the world as Speedy, and return to a position of power in the Mayor’s office, as long as she has her brother there to reel her back from the darkness.

Now, as a character, I think Malcolm Merlyn has provided all that he can and done all that he can. He was the big bad. He was a constant thorn in Oliver’s side. He became Ra’s Al Ghul, claiming the “ultimate position of power.” He was a father that got the chance to finally know his daughter. And I think I’d be satisfied if there’s no more Malcolm Merlyn in the present day storyline.

Now, that wasn’t always the case. I’ve said since day one that Malcolm can’t die, and that he needs to be this reoccurring threat for the entire length of the series because he is the arch nemesis of Oliver. But the show - as I’ve known it over the years - has fundamentally changed. It’s abandoned the majority of what it used to be in favour of “OTA” and “Olicity.” And it’s moving beyond the original plan of being a five-year story. If the show goes for another five seasons, it makes sense for them to bring in some fresh blood and a new arch nemesis, and let Malcolm’s death be the end of this chapter. And hell, it might trigger a storyline where someone takes up the mantle of Dark Archer (as Malcolm was barely referenced as the Dark Archer during his run) who will be a prominent threat for the next potential five seasons of ARROW.

I’ve had my fair share of problems with the character. I think everyone has, and I think they’re all valid. From my point of view, it’s like the writers wanted to have their cake and eat it too — they wanted him to be this big bad, but allow us to see growth and development through being a father. Sadly, it always felt like one step forward and two steps back, and his reasoning and logic behind his actions became illogical and/or convoluted (Season 3, and joining Darhk). Beyond that, he’s been watered down with each subsequent appearance, and his run on Legends of Tomorrow and his guest spot in The Flash musical kind of turned him into a bit of a joke for me. It’s hard to take him seriously, and I hate that because he was honestly the best villain the show ever had (and no, I was never a fan of Slade/Deathstroke).

His death, triggered by a sacrifice to save Thea, would show that the growth he did have meant something, and it’d have a huge impact for Oliver and Thea. So, if they are killing this character off, I truly hope it’s done in a way that has meaning and isn’t another “shock death.”

#malcolm merlyn #arrow spoilers #arrow talk #long post

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'Arrow' Boss Talks Laurel's Return, 'Uber-Villain' Prometheus & Felicity's 'Revenge Mission'

Laurel Lance

“Laurel is back!” executive producer Wendy Mericle told ET ahead of the CW superhero stalwart’s winter return. “True to form, we brought her back, and obviously that’s going to raise a whole host of questions.”

While Mericle would not confirm any speculation regarding time travel or Earth-2’s Laurel Lance -- who fans of The Flash have met as Black Siren -- she did note, “We always bring people back and they’re never quite who we think they’re going to be. We always have a twist somewhere in there.” Fans will also have to wait and see how Laurel’s return factors into the plans of season five's big bad

Prometheus

Mericle described Prometheus as an “uber-villain” whose ultimate goal is to prove to Oliver that “he’s not the hero he thinks he is.”

“However he can do that -- by hurting the people around Oliver, by hurting the people who work with him -- he’s gonna do that,” she explained. “It’s more of a psychological game, he doesn’t want to kill anybody necessarily, but his ends are to bring Oliver to his knees.”

“There is absolutely more to the mystery… We’ve never dealt with anybody like this,” she revealed. “He’s really playing the long game, and it’s a very long, psychological con that he’s pulling on Oliver. He’s really smart. He’s really good at what he does. So there’s a lot more mystery to unravel in the back half of the season.”

Felicity Smoak/John Diggle

Felicity, in particular, will be be “hellbent” on making Prometheus pay for orchestrating the death of her boyfriend, Detective Malone, Mericle said, gearing up for a true “revenge mission” in the second half of the season.

“She’s definitely seen her share of dark times,” Mericle said of the character, whose harrowing journey last season included her role in the Havenrock nuclear blast as well as temporary paralysis and her breakup with Oliver. “But this is very different, and it’s very personal this time, in the sense that, this was her boyfriend and he wouldn’t have died if it hadn’t been for her. She knows that despite what Oliver did, Prometheus manipulated the entire thing, and she’s hellbent on getting him and making him pay.”

Part of Felicity’s battle, Mericle explained, will include lending a hand to Diggle, who was captured at the end of the midseason finale.

“I think the key thing for [Diggle] emotionally is, whereas in the past he was willing to let Oliver bust him out of jail, now he’s not,” she explained. “He’s going to fight on his own terms, through the right channels, and Felicity is going to be the one that really seals the deal and helps him get on the other side of this.”

“It’s really in keeping with what we’ve been doing this season, which is trying to have Felicity and Digg experience a lot of what Oliver’s gone through in the past four seasons,” Mericle added. “Felicity’s going to understand what it’s like to lose somebody close to her -- as a result of her being a vigilante -- and Digg is going to know what it’s like to sort of have to live underground with a secret life and a secret identity. It’s going to bring the team closer together, emotionally, and as a team.”

Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak

The Arrow EP says that the former couple will still be divided, fighting separate battles towards the same goal.

“Going forward, to continue that, Felicity is going to be on a revenge mission against Prometheus. She doesn’t blame Oliver for what happened in 5x09, I think rightly so, and she’s going to be on her own path towards avenging Malone’s death. And Oliver will be on his own path dealing with Prometheus. Ultimately, they’re both going to be facing off and dealing with Prometheus, but in their own, independent ways.”

For Oliver, that path includes factoring in his personal growth through the years, as well as his responsibilities beyond the Green Arrow hood.

“We’ve said many a time that this [season] is our answer to season one, and him looking back at his legacy,” Mericle noted. “I think it’s different in the sense that he’s more evolved, he’s more mature. He’s not as quick to go on that revenge journey the way that we’re going to see Felicity do.”

“The other difference this season is that he has a different legacy evolving through the mayor’s office,” she added. “I think we’ll make him question which path is the right one, which path is the one that’s more effective for accomplishing his goals of helping the city.”

Tina Boland

Helping [Oliver] along the way will be one of the show’s new characters, Tina Boland, who Mericle describes as a cop who “knows how to handle herself with a gun.”

“She very much a badass, she’s a very accomplished fighter,” she added. “She’s very much an equal of Oliver’s, and I think we’ve never seen anyone quite like that -- Laurel had an evolution in training, as did Speedy, when Thea was donning the hood -- but she’s going to be a different type of colleague for Oliver, which we’re all very excited about.”

Talia al Ghul

The show is also gearing up to introduce an adult Talia al Ghul, daughter of legendary DC villain and former Arrow big bad Ra’s al Ghul, who was first seen as a child on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. Mericle cryptically describes Talia as “someone who trained Oliver in the past.”

“He doesn’t necessarily know the full extent of her backstory,” she warned. “We’ve come up with what we hope is a really cool, surprising way of revealing that to him. She’s definitely not who she seems.”

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#arrow #arrow spoilers #news #s5 #laurel lance #prometheus #felicity smoak #john diggle #oliver queen #tina boland #dinah drake #talia al ghul #interviews

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