#(i think we had just seen the film adaptation of Man from UNCLE so that's definitely a huge influence)
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Aug-UST Day 17 - From rival factions
Some original fiction of character ideas that have been rattling around in my brain for a while now, based on a prompt from @thepromptfoundry
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I heave against the barn door and in a horrible cacophony, it grinds closed. It's still cold as hell, but at least we're out of the wind and snow.
I should probably place wards on the doors... and windows... and...
I glance up at the roof of the barn where wind whistles through more than a few holes that need patching. Yeah, no amount of warding is going to make this place defensible. Honestly, it's probably better not to use any magic at all, lest we give away our position.
That and I'm completely exhausted, I very much doubt I have any effort to spare for a half decent ward.
Getting eaten by zombies on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain was not how I imagined myself going out.
A hiss of a match brings my attention back to the here and now. Katerina is stooped over a glass lantern that shortly casts a sickly yellow light over the room. For a moment, I get that same brief impression of too many shadows around her. Spending a week with her has done little at temper the strangeness of her magic to my senses, that blend of traditional Eastern European craft and whatever the hell the Soviets have been dreaming up.
She straightens, bearing the lantern aloft and peering around the room as she carelessly brushes the curtain of her dark hair behind her ear. The flickering lamplight casts her bony features in sharp relief, and it really isn't that hard to imagine her as some witch living in a hut in the woods that walks around on chicken legs. There's something hard yet beautiful about her. She's...
"Elizabeth, you are bleeding," she says cutting through my thoughts.
I raise a hand to the wet spot on my temple.
"It's just a scratch," I reply. "It looks worse than it is."
She frowns and strides towards me.
"Let me see," she demands.
"It's nothing," I insist, probably sounding petulant, which is not at all my intent.
"It is not nothing if those beasts hunt by smell."
Damn, she's got me there.
She sets the lantern on the ground and takes my head in her hands. Her touch is surprisingly gentle as she makes her examination.
My heart speeds up at the touch.
Get it together Liz, I tell myself. She's the enemy.
Is she though?
Only a few months ago, our two nations were bearing down on one another in the waters between Cuba and Florida. Even the mundane world understood how close everything had come to all going to hell.
Right now though? Here in this barn in the East German countryside? We are just two witches, just two women united against a common enemy.
She murmurs something in a language I don't recognize and a blessed warmth flows through me, centering on the cut on my scalp.
Her eyes meet mine, those dark pools of intensity captivating me. The gaze lingers. The gentle touch of her fingers against my cheek linger. Her eyes flicker to my lips briefly, erasing any doubt that she hasn't felt the exact same feelings that had been haunting me.
Unbidden, my breath hitches. We are so close, it would be the easiest thing in the world to close that distance between us.
This is...
This is a terrible idea. At the end of the day, common enemy or no, we are still agents of rival governments.
I watch as the exact same thought plays out in her head. Something in her expression closes off and she jerks her hands away.
"We should get some rest," she mutters. "We will both need all our strength in the morning."
"Yeah..." I agree reluctantly.
#my writing#writers on tumblr#lesbian#fantasy#writing prompt#hey look my cold war urban fantasy girls have finally seen the light of day!#so basically i had this dream a few years ago about going into East Germany to team up with a Soviet wizard for some reason#(i think we had just seen the film adaptation of Man from UNCLE so that's definitely a huge influence)
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'Andrew Scott cut a dapper figure as he attend the National Theatre Live screening of his play Vanya at The May Fair Hotel in London on Tuesday.
The actor, 47, wore a long brown coat with large lapels over a white vest top.
He wore a pair of trousers to match the coat and opted for a pair of smart black shoes.
The star was seen posing with designer and co-creator Rosanna Vize who wore a black leather jacket and trousers in the same colour for the occasion.
He was also seen smiling as he posed alongside director and co-creator Sam Yates who wore a black jacket and matching suit trousers.
He completed his look by wearing a white polo shirt which he wore buttoned up at the collar.
Performing in the play, Andrew brings to life multiple characters in adapter and co-creators Simon Stephens' radical new version of Anton Chekhovâs Uncle Vanya.
Comedic and tragic, Antonâs examination of people's shared humanity - hopes, dreams, regrets - is thrust into sharp focus in the production.
This play explores the 'kaleidoscope of human emotions, harnessing the power of the intimate bond between actor and audience to delve deeper into the human psyche'.
It comes after Andrew said being an openly gay man in the modern age is a 'wonderful gift' that has helped him establish firm friendships within the queer community.
He told Attitude: 'I think it's such a wonderful thing to me. It's an extraordinary gift to my life and just to be able to see the real beauty in being gay is completely wonderful.
'The older I get, just the more I feel so lucky to have been born gay and that pervades my life in the sense of all my friendships.
'I have so many amazing queer friends in my life now that I just adore.'
He added: 'I feel such a huge sense of camaraderie with other queer people now, and without sounding too hippy about it, I feel like I just want to spread that love and positivity in our community because we've come such a long way and it's important that we are kind and look out for each other, and celebrate how uniquely different and how f**king wonderful that can be.'
Meanwhile, Andrew and Paul Mescal dmitted they weren't too keen on their family members watching their new film All Of Us Strangers.
The movie stars Andrew as a screenwriter who enters into a relationship with a mysterious neighbour, played by Paul, 27.
It features several intimate scenes between the actors which the pair discussed during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show.
Asked if their families had seen the flick, Paul said: 'With the Irish premiere, trying to allocate tickets to all the aunties and uncles is a tricky business.
'They have seen my bum before but there is a little more going on in this movie I would say!'
Andrew added: 'I don't want to be there when my parents watch it!'
All Of Us Strangers dominated the competition at the British Independent Film Awards, earning a staggering seven gongs in total.
Among the awards was the top prize for Best Film, beating Femme, How To Have Sex, Rye Lane and Scrapper.
All Of Us Strangers also scored Best Director and Best Screenplay for Andrew Haigh, who is known for his work on films Weekend and 45 Years.
Paul shared the Best Supporting Performance gong for his role in the film with Shaun Thomas from How To Have Sex.'
#Andrew Scott#Paul Mescal#British Independent Film Awards#Vanya#National Theatre Live#Uncle Vanya#Sam Yates#Rosanna Vize#Simon Stephens#Anton Chekhov#The Graham Norton Show#Andrew Haigh#Weekend#45 Years
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Disney Month: Kidnapped
First review oF Disney Month is a review of an adaption of A Robert Louis Stevenson classic,Kidnapped
In this 1960 film David Belfour (James McArthur) is kidnapped by  Captain Hoseason(Bernard Lee ) on orders by Davids evil uncle Ebenezer (John Laurie ) to sell David into slavery ,but DAvid joins forces with the Scottish soldier Alan Breck Stewart (Peter Finch ) to escape and reclaim what is his
So I had never heard of this film till a few years ago,no one talks about it......Which is a shame cause it is great ,in fact I like it better then Treasure Island which critics at the time compared it unfavorably to,this might be a new favorite of mine
I like are two heroes.I can see someone seeing David is dull,but while he isnt as colorful as the other characters,he is a likeable heroic character ,I liked when the Captain and Shuan are letting David in on their plan to murder Alan ,David immediately goes to Alan who he doesnt know and is like "The Captain is planning to kill you ,I dont trust him,I'm teaming up with you " .PEter Finch as Alan pulls off being both arrogant but a badass who readdly cares for DAvid
The villains are great,Uncle Ebeneezer is the main antagonist ,played to hammy perfection by John Laurie ,hes definately a somewhat comical villain but still a creepyness and almost despertness to him .I also really like Captain Hoseason,who I think is a very realistic villain ,a shady oppurtunist and I gotta admit,as a James Bond fan ,it was a real treat to see BERNARD LEE AKA M play a man of dubious morals
Now this is more of a dramaperiod piece then an out and out adventure ,but we still meet some fun characters ,and there are some great set pieces ,the best being David and Alan fighting off Hoseasons crew from within a cabin ,that was badass
I have two sets of questions ,lets start with 3 from @ariel-seagull-wings
1-Is the Pirates of the Caribbean ride influenced by the production of this movie?
Honestly no ,I see no connection between the two other then seafaring adventure.The villains arent even pirates,they are just normal corrupt sailors
2-Is Peter O'Tooles role already revealing of his capabilities as an actor?
Oh hell yeah.This is O'Tooles film debut and I was worried hed be just a background character,but he has a whole damn scene where he struts his stuff and he has just such a screen presence .Apparently he was suggested by Peter Finch and they play off each other beautifully
3-Should Disney make more dark movies like this?
First off I wouldnt call it dark ,but mature and honestly I would love them to do more films like this . Like it is rare I have seen a movie where the hero kills a man ,,,,,And has a moment to just fall apart ,like the gravity of the moment isnt lost ,and when DAvid breaks down and Alan gives him a moment is probabbly my favorite scene.I want more films like this
And now 3 questions from @the-blue-fairie
1-Much of the dialogue is lifted verbatim from the book. Is this evident on a first viewing and does it give a different quality compared to other Disney films?
I couldnt tell it was book dialogue but the film has a diffrent vibe then most Disney films and the dialogue is part of that
2- I've always felt that this film has more of a focus on historical time and place than a usual Disney swashbuckler-type movie. What do you think of that? Do you think this makes the film feel dryer in places or does it add color?
Adds color .This film,while it does have humor (Mostly from Uncle Ebeneezer) doesnt FEEL Disney ,and I kind of like that ,it feels like a solid period piece .I honestly really love this movie
And spoilers
3-"And the question closest to my heart, what are your thoughts on Ransom, the cabin boy? "-"Specifically, what are your thoughts on his interactions with Mr. Shuan and their result, as well as the matter-of-fact way it shows him carrying a knife in hopes of one day possibly killing his abuser? Did you expect the child in a Disney film to be unceremoniously murdered by a drunkard?
Sooooooooo I thought Ransome was gonna be the kid sidekick,or hed be the one to kill Mr Shaun.....I DIDNT EXPECT THE KID TO GET MURDERED IN THE NEXT SCENE .When his death screams are heard ,I screamed "JESUS " and my jaw hit the floor when we saw the body .To answer your question,I did not see it coming.I liked Ransome in his brief moments on screen,and frankly it shows how awful are villains are ,with Shuan just drunknly and casually murdering a child ,and Captain Hoseason is ready to just cover it up to save his own skin
Overall this is a great underrated movie that I highly reccomend
@goodanswerfoxmonster @themousefromfantasyland @filmcityworld1 @amalthea9 @angelixgutz @princesssarisa @marquisedemasque
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hello! i hope you have a happy holidays!! just a question: do you know any good crossover fics? :0 thanks so much! đ„°
Hi Nonny!!Â
Thank you! My holiday season was great <3 Sorry for the delay on the reply, but your ask was a great one because Iâve wanted to do an update list to my âmovies and booksâ list, so Iâm updating it to just âcrossoversâ because I have more to add and that makes me happy!!Â
This list ended up getting split across two asks, so for this one, this list is all my bookmarked fics. A part 1.5 with my MFLâs is coming shortly with another ask, and I ask yâall hold off to add your own suggestions to that list instead, please :) Thank you!
CROSSOVERS and FUSIONS (Feb 2021) Pt. 1
See Also:
Fairy Tales and Fantasy
TV, Movies, and Books AU (Fantasy Pt. 2)
Wonderful Life AU
Sherlock / Hannibal Crossovers?
Science Fiction / Fantasy
Faes / Faeries
Disney-esque Fics
Moulin Rouge AU
Crossovers & Fusions Pt.1.5 [MFLs]
It's After That Hurts by jonnyluvssherlock (T, 2,791 w., 1 Ch. || City of Angels AU || Fantasy, Fallen Angel Sherlock, Soldier John, Pining Sherlock, Friends to Lovers, Permanently Incomplete Fic) â Sherlock's an angel stuck as a guardian to danger addict John Watson. Everything is fine until he gets too involved. Now he has to make the choice, eternity alone or one life time with a man who may or may not love him.
Caffeine and Adaptive Programming by DemonicSymphony (E, 5,540 w., 1 Ch. || Androids AU / Bond Fusion || Android Sherlock, Coffee Shop AU, Pining John Hinted Bond / Q, Toplock) â Sherlock is a coffee shop android slowly falling for a regular customer. But he's not supposed to be able to feel emotions.
Captain John Watson, Genetics, and Other Crazy Things by cyerus (M, 5,581 w., 1 Ch. || Torchwood Crossover || Â Humour / Crack, Jealous Sherlock, Sexual Magnet John, Captain John, UST / RST, Three Continents Watson) â The explanation for John "Three Continents" Watson? Jack Harkness is his father. Sherlock doesn't know whether he's going to die from jealousy or sexual frustration first.
The Frost Child by twistedthicket1 (M, 9,994 w., 2 Ch. || Frozen-ish AU || Magical Realism, Christmas, Angst, Fluff, Powerful John) â In a world where people are born with a Gift of varying levels, simple John Watson is the last person one might look at when thinking of any strong Magick capabilities. Hiding comfortably in the shadow of Sherlock's brilliant deducing abilities, John is content to keep it that way...
London Gods by a_different_equation (E, 11,092 w., 5 Ch. || American Gods Fusion || Magical Realism, Sex Magic, True Love, PTSD John, First Kiss/Time, Marathon Sex, Sensuality, Genie Sherlock, Human John, Internalized Homophobia, Star-Crossed Lovers, Soul Mates) â Sherlock Holmes is a jinn who does not grant wishes. However, when Dr. John H. Watson, recently returned from the war in Afghanistan, gets into his cab by "accident", it might not even need magic to grant both men their deepest wish: love.
Equilibrium by augustbird (M, 12,351 w., 1 Ch. || Flowers for Algernon Fusion || Jealous then Worried Sherlock, Sick John) â At Baskerville, John is infected by a virus that turns him into a genius. But when the infection progresses into neurodegeneration, it's a race against time to save himself.
The Nutcracker by Odamaki (T, 13,758 w., 7 Ch. || Nutcracker AU || Â Christmas, Dark Magic, Dolls) â Sherlock is unimpressed with Uncle Rudy's present. A doll? What does he want with a doll?
Wonderful, Etcetera. by VictoryCandescence (T, 16,955 w., 3 Ch. || Wonderful Life AU || Alternate Timelines, Brotherhood, Homophobia, Suicidal Ideations, Mentions of Drug Use, Friendship, Different TRF, Sherlockâs Past, Victor Trevor is Past Boyfriend, Depression, Hallucination, Love Confessions, Christmas, First Kiss) â Sherlock thinks everyone would be better off if he had never existed, including and especially himself. When he finds himself in a world in which his wish has been granted, he begins to think perhaps even he could be wrong â but it takes an unlikely chaperone to make him not only observe, but understand.
Uncharted Territory by J_Baillier (T, 19,603 w., 4 Ch. || Dystopian Future / Black Mirror AU || Alternate First Meeting, Angst, Drama, Homophobia, Bisexuality, Technology, Humour, Romance, Near Future, Happy Ending) â The System puts people through a series of assigned relationships in order to determine who their Perfect Match is. John believes that it works; Sherlock really, really doesn't. One of them is probably going to be wrong.
Once Upon a Beast Becoming by antietamfalls (T, 24,042 w., 6 Ch. || Beauty and the Beast AU || Magical Realism, Folklore, Celtic Mythology) â An act of pride, a druidâs curse, an enchanted leaf; Sherlockâs torment has lasted an age. Hope arrives in the form of one John Watson, a man uniquely suited to break the spell. But with a single night to win his affections, Sherlock finds his carefully laid plans disrupted by a monstrous killer whose sights are set on the only thing he has left to lose: John.
Classified(s) by blueink3 (E, 36,153 w., 4 Ch. || Wedding Date AU || Fake Relationship, Jealous, PIning, H/C, Idiots in Love, Happy Ending, Mary is not Nice, Escort Service) â Clara's American father is the ambassador to some such territory that Great Britain probably used to own, but she (and Harryâs undying love for her) is the reason John is getting on a flight at 12:30pm, flying across the second largest ocean in the world, and pretending to be in a perfectly happy, healthy relationship with an undoubtedly perfectly coiffed stranger. See, Clara is not only American (and wealthy to boot), she's also best friends with Johnâs ex-fiancĂ©e. Whom she's placed in the wedding party. As Maid of Honor. And John just happens to be Best Man. Bloody brilliant.
The Boy Who Drank Stars by kinklock (E, 36,157 w., 4 Ch. || Howlâs Moving Castle AU || Witches and Wizards, Slow Burn, Magic, Jealous John, Happy Ending, Bed Sharing) â âIâm looking for a castle,â John informed the scarecrow. âA moving one.âExcept that, as it turned out, it was not a moving one at all.
we have never seen a greater day than this by Lediona (T, 36,420 w., 7 Ch. || A Royal Night Out AU || WWII / VE Day, Prince Sherlock, Soldier John, Alternating POV, First Kiss, Bittersweet Ending, Homophobia, Dancing) â Peace. At long last. Itâs VE Day and Prince William desires to join the celebrations. It is a night of excitement, danger and the first flutters of romance.
Malediction by MapleleafCameo (M, 36,680 w., 11 Ch. || Ladyhawke AU || Magical Realism, Romance, Curses, Eventual Happy Ending) â Cursed to a half-life, John and Sherlock must fight the forces of evil to be reunited once again.
Only To Be With You by SinceWhenDoYouCallMe_John (M, 40,768 w., 4 Ch. || Black Mirror / Future AU || Character Death, Future Technology, Sickness/Cancer/Illness, Heavy Angst with Happy Ending, First Person POV John, Pining John, Heart-Wrenching Angst) â I tell myself that next time Iâll come near this same place again. Wait around for the mysterious stranger in his coat to dash past me, hot on the heels of a new criminal in black. I think this all the way back to my Exit, planning where Iâll wait and what Iâll say when I see him. Scheming on how to get his name. Itâs only once I reach the Exit Point door that I realize two hours and forty-five minutes have passed, and I realize that this wonât be the last time I Visit. It wonât be the last time at all.
The Curious Adventure of the Drs. Watson by ShinySherlock (M, 40,883 w., 14 Ch. || BBC & ACD Fusion || Victorianlock, Time Travel / Magical Realism, Friends to Lovers, Love and Kissing, Romance, Body Swap) â What if ACD Watson and BBC Watson switched places... Â âImposter!â Hands clenching the lapels of Johnâs coat, Holmes shoved him anew. âYes!â John agreed, nodding, and then grimacing. âSort of!â
The Soul Remembers by i_ship_an_armada (E, 43,636 w., 10 Ch. || Oblivion AU || Post-Apocalypse, Movie Fusion, Science Fiction, Action/Adventure, Angst, Dreams, Bittersweet Ending) â John Watson is the lone security repairman stationed on a desolate, nearly-ruined future Earth. His dreams are plagued by a tall, dark-haired man, and when his dreams meet reality, he will be forced to question everything he believes is the truth about his life.
Anchor Point by trickybonmot (E, 49,856 w., 80 Ch. || Truman Show AU || Psychological Drama, Suspense, Slow Burn, Dark Characters / Fic, Alternating First/Third Person, Protective John, Anxious/Worried Sherlock, Tender Moments, Love Confessions, Hand/Blow Jobs, Cuddling, Jealous John, First Kiss/Time) â The world tunes in nightly for Sherlock, the ultimate in reality TV: Sherlock Holmes, a real person with a legendary name, unknowingly lives out his life in a staged setting contrived by his brother. Things get complicated when a retired army doctor joins the show to play the part of Sherlock's closest friend. This fic borrows its concept from the 1998 film, the Truman Show. However, you don't need to have any knowledge of the movie to enjoy this story.
Coventry by standbygo (E, 52,020 w., 26 Ch. || Dollhouse AU || Case Fic, Slow Burn, Sci-Fi / Fantasy, First Kiss / Time, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, BAMF John, Falling in Love) â âLet me get this straight,â John said, wondering when his life had become a science fiction film. âSome guy orders up a personality, a person, to his specifications, and they program this into a real live person, who has consented to do this, and she goes to this person and acts as his wife, or lawyer, or Royal Marine, or Navy Seal or what have you, and she has all the skills, all the knowledge, everything? Then you say the magic words, and she follows you back to The House, and they erase it all until her next appointment?â
floating through a dark blue sky by Lediona (M, 58,966 w., 15 Ch. || Notting Hill AU || POV John, Celebrity Sherlock, First Date / Time / Kiss, Past Drug Addiction, Angst with a Happy Ending) â Of course, Iâd seen his films and always thought he was, well, brilliant -- but, you know, a million miles from the world I live in. Or, when John is the owner of a travel book shop and the famous Sherlock Holmes stops in one day.
Perdition's Flames by i_ship_an_armada (E, 63,435 w., 21 Ch. || Treklock AU, Est. Rel, Genetic Engineering, Angst & Fluff, BAMF!John) â Sherlock would do anything to save him. Risk anything. Give anything. His money, his life. His soul. What he does, though, is change both of their destinies forever. Genetic re-engineering is the only option left. It turns out researchers underestimated the life expectancy and potential abilities of genetically re-engineered subjects. The British government and what would eventually become the United Federation of Planets, however, had not. Part 1 of PF Universe
This Thing All Things Devours by cypress_tree (E, 63,844 w., 15 Ch. || In Time AU || Science Fiction, Dystopian Universe, First Meetings, Action / Adventure, Romance) â In 2169, time is moneyâliterally. Humans are genetically engineered to stop aging at 25, when the numbers on their arm start counting down from one year. When that time is up, they die. The only way to get more time is to earn it, borrow it, or steal it.John Watson lives day-to-day in the crowded slums of Zone 13. He never imagined living any differentlyâuntil he meets the practically-immortal Sherlock, and helps him on a case to track a local time-thief...
Being John Watson-ish by elwinglyre (E, 69,902 w., 17 Ch. || Bodysnatcher AU || Author John, Cranky Sherlock, Angst, Sexual Tension, First Kiss / Time, Falling in Love, BAMF John, Past Soldier John, Feelings, Inside Someoneâs Brain, Shy Sherlock, Sherlock Loves John, POV Sherlock, Switchlock, Slow Burn, Internal Dialogue, Mental Turmoil) â When consulting detective Sherlock Holmes steps on one toe too many at a crime scene, he's consigned to a desk job in an archaic office on the seventh-and-a-half floor of the New Scotland Yard. Itâs in this bleak office that Sherlock discovers a portal into the mind of renowned author John Watson. Grander than his mind palace, this new wonderland affords Sherlock new vistas of experimentation. To learn more about the mystery behind the portal, Sherlock seeks out and befriends Watson. But then it all goes wrong when others find the secret portal doorâincluding the man whose brain he visits.
The Baker Street Nativity by SwissMiss (E, 99,662 w., 23 Ch. || Nativity! AU || Teacher Sherlock / TA John, Pining, Sherlock POV, UST, Angst, Christmas, Music/Song Fic, Anal / BJâs, First Kiss / Time) â Fusion between Sherlock (BBC) and Nativity! (2009 movie starring Martin Freeman). Sherlock is a primary school teacher and John is assigned to be his classroom assistant. Together, they are charged with putting on the school's Nativity play. What could possibly go wrong? Part 1 of The Baker Street Nativity Verse
The Cost of a Wish by slashscribe (E, 102,493 w., 12 Ch. || xxxHolic Fusion || Spirits / Ghosts and Magic, Love Confessions, Slow Burn, Soul Mates / Fated Lovers, Adventure, Immortal Sherlock, Powerful John, POV John, Frottage, Wish Granting, Angst with Happy Ending, Nightmares) â John has been plagued by a secret his entire life that has made him feel hopeless until he meets a mysterious, seemingly omniscient man named Sherlock Holmes who owns a wish-granting shop. Their meeting sets off a series of inevitable events that will change the course of both of their lives forever.
The Swan Triad Series by Pennin_Ink (T, 121,660 w. across 3 works || Swan Lake AU || Magical / Fairy Tale AU, Romance, Falling in Love, Pining, Psychological Torture, Transformation) â Sherlock and John grow up spending every summer together. Their mothers' attempts to play matchmaker only fuel their mutual resentment and scorn. But then, one summer.
Colors by Quesarasara (E, 140,537 w., 17 Ch. || Pleasantville-Inspired AU || Soulmates, Colour Bonds, Alternating POV, Angst, Fluff, Pining, Case Fic, Medical Procedures) â Everyone on earth is born with eyes that see in black, white, and an endless series of greys. When you meet your soulmate, you finally see the world in color. We're all searching for the person who brings color to our lives. John and Sherlock are no exception. Part 1 of The Colors 'Verse
Mise en Place by azriona (M, 161,004 w., 28 Ch. || Restaurant (Kitchen Nightmares) AU || Sherlock is Gordon Ramsay / Celebrity Sherlock, Restauranteur John, Harry Plays Prominent Role, Alternating POV, Mutual Pining, Cranky Sherlock, Bed Sharing, Slow Burn) â John Watson had no intentions of taking over the family business, but when he returns from Afghanistan, battered and bruised, and discovers that his sister Harry has run their restaurant into the ground, he doesn't have much choice. There's only one thing that can save the Empire from closing for good â the celebrity star of the BBC series Restaurant Reconstructed, Chef Sherlock Holmes. Part 1 of Mise en Place
Proving A Point by elldotsee & J_Baillier (E, 186,270 w., 28 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Me Before You Fusion || Medical Realism, Insecure John, Depression, Romance, Angst, POV John, Sherlock Whump, Serious Illness, Doctor John, Injury Recovery, Assisted Suicide, Sherlockâs Violin, Awkward Sexual Situations, Alcoholism, Drugs, Idiots in Love, Slow Burn, Body Image, Friends to Lovers, Hurt / Comfort, Pain, Big Brother Mycroft, Intimacy, Anxiety, PTSD, Family Issues, Psychological Trauma, John Whump, Case Fics, Loneliness, Pain) â Invalided home from Afghanistan, running out of funds and convinced that his surgical career is over, John Watson accepts a mysterious job offer to provide care and companionship for a disabled person. Little does he know how much hangs in the balance of his performance as he settles into his new life at Musgrave Court. Part 1 of the Care And Companionship series
#steph replies#johnlock fic recs#my fic recs#crossover fics#sherlock au#fusion fics#Anonymous#long post#e-rated fics
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When did Storm Shadow Become a Villain?
There is a scene in GI Joe Resolute where Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow are having their obligatory Ninja Battle and (Spoilers I Guess) Storm Shadow reveals that he orchestrated his uncle, The Hard Masterâs, death and that he fully meant to kill Snake Eyes as well, out of jealousy and because his uncle would not teach him the final secret to killing a man in seven steps, fearing that young Storm Shadow was too volatile and violent. Towards the end of the battle Storm Shadows wrist bands come off, revealing his Arashikage tattoo on one arm and a Cobra Sigil on the other.
This version of Storm Shadow (Voiced by âevery Beagle Boy on Ducktalesâ Eric Bauza) stands out amongst his post-2000 incarnations as an unrepentant psychopath, but still falls in line with the prominent view of Storm Shadow as a villain--one of the main villains with a special hatred for his GI Joe counterpart.
This is the version I grew up with. GI Joe vs Cobra through Sigma 6 were the prominent Joe adaptations when I was the target demographic and all throughout Storm Shadow was a bad guy to varying degrees.Â
I knew in the classic Hama stuff he eventually defected, but I was not prepared for just how much heâs a heroic character from the start. Thereâs no big sword dual with Snake Eyes, no Anakin and Obi Wan style âfriend turned bitter enemyâ dynamic. Itâs made clear from jump that Tommy is undercover in Cobra and remains an honorable man in search of justice. He leaves Cobra quickly and is branded as a Joe in all his figures until 2000--when they started packing their characters in two-packs with one Joe and one Cobra. In all appearances, Storm Shadow is more a Joe than a Cobra. So what led to the the modern view of Storm Shadow as a bad guy, who, even when he gets his redemption, still has a mean streak and a cruel manner? How did a character in a toy driven franchise who had more toys as a hero than a villain end up as one of the franchiseâs most consistent villains?
*(For simplicityâs sake, this is only going to cover film and television portrayals of the character).
*Spoilers for pretty much every GI Joe adaptation to follow.
The first portrayal of Storm Shadow as Cobra Commanderâs loyal and competent hatchet man (one of the few) is not too much older than Hamaâs original Marvel version. The Sunbow version of Storm Shadow (voiced by âguy youâve heard in everythingâ Keone Young) remained a loyal cobra agent--with none of the Hama versionâs depth.Â
He had what you might call âstandard cartoon Ninja honorâ where he clearly had some kind of code of ethics, but was primarily an arrogant killer (as much as he could be in a cartoon) who fought primarily with Spirit and Quick Kick (voiced by wonderfully talented âguy youâve seen in everythingâ Francois Chau) as Snake Eyes was largely shunted to the side in the cartoon. The echoes of Sunbow Storm Shadow can be seen in pretty much every non-comic adaptation that followed.
Skipping right over the Dic continuation of the Sunbow cartoon because Storm Shadow actually is a Joe in that, as he was in the comics and figures of the time (and because I havenât seen it) we come to the 2000âČs era.
The Spy Troops and Valor vs. Venom DTV movies had a Storm Shadow (voiced by âguy who got his blood ripped out by Magneto in X2: X-Men Unitedâ Ty Olsson) who was essentially his Sunbow self with one major change. He actually had a history with Snake Eyes, and a bitter rivalry. The details are not gone into in either film (you get a little more in the figure file cards and mini-comics of the era) but Storm Shadow accuses Snake Eyes of betraying the Arashikage. The implication being that either Storm Shadow blames Snake Eyes for some crime or another or that there was a schism in clan.Â
The File cards of the time movie go from acknowledging Storm Shadowâs time as a Joe, and claiming heâs working with Cobra again for unknown reasons, to establishing their own canon that Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow were once best friends and âSword Brothersâ before Storm Shadow fell to the dark side and joined Cobra. Though Storm Shadowâs file card does end with the ominous implication that heâs got his own agenda in working with Cobra (just like his Hama incarnation) the DTV films imply that heâs a Cobra loyalist in addition to his feud with Snake Eyes.
Spy Troops and Valor vs. Venom lead in a semi-canonical way to GI Joe Sigma 6 where Storm Shadow (voiced by âguy whose only other role I recognize is pulling double duty as Zeke Stane and Living Laser in the Iron Man 3 videogameâ Tom Wayland) more or less continues the previous two iterationsâ version of Storm Shadow. He once again accuses Snake Eyes of some great betrayal that broke their friendship. The GI Joe website at the time includes the detail that Storm Shadow was infiltrating Cobra when he was brainwashed into becoming a loyal Cobra agent. Itâs another concession, like his 2001 file card, to Hamaâs heroic double agent, while still portraying him in line with Sunbowâs villainous henchman.Â
GI Joe Resolute comes next, where we see a departure from any pretense of Storm Shadow being a good guy. Resolute, in many ways, comes off as a gritty direct continuation of the Sunbow series, and it takes Sunbowâs villainous Storm Shadow and strips him of even the token bits of honor and humanity he had. It also, as near as I can tell, begins the trend of Storm Shadow outright resenting Snake Eyes, rather than being his one time friend.
As an irrelevant aside, I have my problems with Resolute but I do love everyoneâs character designs and Eric Bauza does a fantastic job as one fourth of the cast. His Sean Connery impression for Destro is particularly inspired.
This brings us to the big ones. GI Joe: RIse of Cobra and GI Joe: Retaliation where Storm Shadow is brought to the big screen by Lee Byung-Hun (who I donât have a snarky/informative aside for because shamefully despite how prolific he is Iâve only seen him in these movies and The Magnificent 7 remake) and as a child by Brandon Soo Hoo (heâs also been in a lot of stuff, but I particularly liked his turn as Beast Boy in the animated New 52 DC movies).
Leeâs Storm Shadow in the first film falls in line with his portrayals up to this point, probably skewing most closely towards Sunbow. He has a code of ethics (he doesnât kill women apparently) but heâs still a bad guy and he seems to quite like it. Lee brings a charm to the character that had not really existed up until that point. He also spends a lot of time maskless (and itâs hard to blame the production team for that one, heâs a very handsome dude) which was a shock for anyone who grew up with the 2001 era storm shadow where the thought of him without a mask was so insane that it was relegated to a mail in figure (As a kid I seriously thought he had some Mandalorian style code of not removing it)
His origin in this version takes bits of Hama and bits of Resolute (or Resolute took from this, Resolute came out first but this might have been in development). It is, as far as I can tell, the first version to have Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes train together as children and it portrays Storm Shadow, even as a child, as an arrogant and jealous person.
Now, at least in my opinion, itâs fairly obvious that the first movie fully intended Storm Shadow to be a baddie, full stop. Thereâs a little wiggle room given that we never see him stab The Hard Master in the flashback (the Hard Master in this version is Storm Shadowâs father rather than his uncle) but the way he taunts Snake Eyes about it during their final confrontation makes a pretty compelling case for his having committed patricide.
The sequel would bring back elements of the Hama backstory. Zartan killed The Hard Master and Storm Shadow had to infiltrate Cobra to discover that. Given Cobra Commander and Storm Shadow are of roughly the same age (Storm Shadow being a bit older I think) and this event occurred when they were both children itâs unclear on whoâs orders Zartan did this but we do know it was done to turn the already volatile young man into the perfect angry ninja assassin (given this canon is pretty much over weâll probably never know for sure, but my guess based on the IDW movie universe comics is that Zartan either did it at the behest of the Red Ninja Clan or just to have a tiny assassin of his own, probably the former since they seem to regard each other as unpleasant colleagues who sometimes work together).
What I particularly like about this version is that, because the first movie portrayed him as this charmingly sadistic Bond Villain henchman, even after he switches sides in the sequel heâs still kind of a belligerent dick. Itâs a fun piece of characterization that even once heâs cleared his name, avenged his father, and made his peace with his family, it doesnât change the fundamental fact that heâs not a very nice person.
This is something that would persist into the next (and for the moment last, but more on that later) onscreen version of Storm Shadow.
GI Joe Renegades (the best GI Joe Cartoon, fight me) saw Storm Shadow (voiced by âholy crap this guy originated the role of Saw Gerrera in Clone Warsâ Andrew Kishino) as the leader of the Arashikage Clan (explicitly a crime syndicate, harkening back to implications in Hamaâs version) who operates independent of Cobra except very briefly and only to fulfill his own ends (again bringing him closer to Hamaâs version than any of his predecessors). Falling in line with the implications of the movie and Resolute, he and Snake Eyes were uneasy classmates more than friends and trained together as teenagers. An attempt to kill Snake Eyes went awry and resulted in the death of the Hard Master (who again, seemed to favor Snake Eyes over his own nephew). Storm Shadow believes Snake Eyes to have killed The Hard Master(somehow failing to connect the dots given his own murder plan failed the same night Snake Eyes allegedly murdered his uncle--or hell heâs probably just in denial until the truth slaps him in the face).Â
Also, irrelevant aside number 2, in contrast with Resolute I really donât like this character design. Renegades had pretty good character design all around, neatly bringing together various versions in a way that felt coherent but I donât like the little tufts of hair sticking out of the mask or the way it kinda hangs in front of his mouth. Is he hiding his face or not? It seems like heâs not so much wearing a mask as a bandana and an oversized turtleneck.
This version neatly ties together the âSnake Eyes betrayed usâ of the early 2000âČs, the âarrogant unfavoriteâ of the mid 2000s and the âout for justice assassinâ of Hamaâs run. He is, again, an arrogant prick from the start, but his genuine shame and resolve to abandon his quest for vengeance and his extremely short partnership with Cobra make his eventual redemption (or the start of what you assume would have been a longer redemption arc had the series continued) more believable than the live action movies--if a mite less fun.
And thatâs where it ends, at least until the much delayed Snake Eyes live action movie is finally released, where Storm Shadow is set to be played by âguy from the best episode of American Gods Season 2âł Andrew Koji. I quite like the look of the cast of this movie, and Iâm excited to see what Koji brings to the role. Will Storm Shadow be arrogant, murderous, honorable, charming, brooding, misunderstood, cruel, vengeful...some impossible combination of all of the above? Weâll have to wait and see.
*Including the various alternate comic book versions probably would have painted a more complete picture, but Iâve only read Hamaâs run and the IDW reboot (where Storm Shadow is kind of a non-entity), besides this was more about tracing Storm Shadow through the adaptations I watched as a kid.
*None of the adaptations seem to go with Hamaâs original detail that Storm Shadow and Jinx were from Northern California. On the one hand I see why you transplant them to Japan with the rest of their family (itâs a globetrotting element and makes the cast more cosmopolitan) but I always liked the idea of that they were children of immigrants.
*Adaptations have been touch and go about casting Japanese actors in the role but I was impressed to find out that Sunbow cast Japanese Americans as both Storm Shadow and Jinx, making them probably the most faithful casting in relation to their original backstories.
*Apologies for my complete inability to get screenshots of roughly the same size or resolution.
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Racism in modern media.
A lot of controversy over the depiction of people of color (POC) in modern media has arisen. With both the Black Lives Matter and Stop Asian Hate movements that have happened in the last year, both new and old shows and movies have been brought forward as examples of what is not okay. Now, with some research, I'd like to go through these examples and go through what has made them controversial.
"Stock characters and slapstick tropes have always existed in theatre, from Shakespearean comedies to even something as seemingly benign as the Disney Channel show âThe Suite Life of Zack and Codyâ (remember Esteban?). But ethnic stock characters have been tricky to write in an increasingly politically correct 21st century, despite their appearances in such Broadway classics as âWest Side Storyâ and âThe King and I." (The Muse at Dreyfoos)
âSong of the South (Disney film) - By far one of the most controversial and well-known instances of controversy. So much so that Disney never sold the movie on DVD and will not be putting it on Disney plus. Disney's most recent effort to erase the racism from their history (also see: the crows in Dumbo and the original draft of Fantasia), was to go farther in changing Splash Mountain. Originally they had gotten rid of the characters on the ride (who were all characters from the movie), now, however, they are changing the ride altogether, changing it into a Princess and the Frog-inspired ride. "Song of the Southâs African American characters are treated warmly, particularly Uncle Remus, who is Johnnyâs best friend and confidant, a charismatic storyteller, and, most importantly, the filmâs conduit to the animated world of Brâer Rabbit... The problem isnât necessarily what Song of the South depicts, but what it chooses not to depict. Although Harrisâ Uncle Remus stories were set in Georgia after the Civil War, the film adaptation never makes it clear when the story is taking place... If youâre not a scholar or an Uncle Remus expert, itâs very easy to assume that the film is set before the Civil War, and that Remus and Aunt Tempy (Hattie McDaniel) are slaves â and that they are completely fine with that." (Quotes from Screencrush) "By stripping out any concrete details of time and place, Disney essentially turned the plantation system into a ludicrous utopia where blacks and whites live in harmony â a harmony where the only thing thatâs clear is that the blacks are inferior and servile to the whites, but are content to work the fields anyway." "Several of Remusâ stories are about Brâer Rabbit wanting to run away from his problems; the moral, inevitably, is that you canât avoid trouble and thereâs no place like home. These lessons are particularly important to Johnny because he doesnât like life on the plantation initially and wants to run away to live with his father in Atlanta. But when coupled with the African American charactersâ oddly cheerful attitude about their social status, the movie seems to be arguing on behalf of complacency. Donât leave the plantation, donât try to better yourself. Just go with the flow."
Thoroughly Modern Millie (Broadway show) - The show is about a young girl named Millie who moved from a small town to NYC, and the show is known for having "the subplot and the peddling of outdated Chinese stereotypes". (A lot of this will be in quotes from the previous link). Although "the play is set in the 1920s... the script was written in 2000, based on source material from the 1967 film of the same name" On Playbill, another study is done, "As much as the 2002 Tony-winning Best Musical is a love story about making it in the big city, the showâs major subplot centers on âwhite slavery.â" An argument could be made that âTo actually have real Chinese guys singing and speaking in their own language and meaning it, and to link their immigrant story to the same story as Millie ... and come to America because of the American Dream, all these people who come to New York to reinvent themselves and be modernâI think is exactly what the Chinese guys are all about." (This is irrelevant if the characters are not played by someone who's Chinese). With accurate casting then it might be "another opportunity to cast shade on racist attitudes and assumptions about us [the Chinese] and what we know and how smart we are and what weâre capable of..." However it still "can be racist if you do it racist. This show can be done racist but it doesnât have to and actually, it can actually be anti-racist." Personally, I think if the line you walk is so fine and covered in eggshells, it may not be worth it (but of course, it's an opinion, even if it's widely accepted). Even Ashley Park, who wanted to be Millie, thought âItâs one of the characters that Iâve loved, always, but I always figured Iâd never play it just because of the race stuff thatâs in [the show].â because she's Korean-American.
Emily in Paris (Netflix show) - Speaking of Ashley Parks, let's talk about Emily in Paris, one of Netflix's most controversial and most hated shows. To put it simply, the show (which I have not seen) is about an American girl who moves to Paris. Yep. That simple. In a video by Friendly Space Ninja (who's French), he says "I've been insulted by this show, more than once... Emily in Paris has a huge racism problem... and it also comes up as arrogant." He goes on to say, "When people say Emily in Paris portrays French culture in a very insulting way, they're not exaggerating." "The French in this show think Americans are the greatest and they aspire to be more like them and as a French person myself... Yeah no that's not accurate." "During the entire show, Emily tries to teach the French that doing things the American way is the right way." (I highly recommend watching this video if you don't mind the swear words, it has good points, that's why I'm just using quotes). "Emily in Paris only has two characters of color... these two characters of color are made of degrading cliches..." "All of the racist things [Mindy, a POC character,] says were written by a white writer." "The other non-white character is this guy... He's one of Emily's co-workers and he's gay... and I had to read he was gay online... and his entire point of existence in this show is to be the most stereotypical gay man the writers could come up with... all he does is stand in the background and act sassy... The writers are so dismissive with him I'm pretty sure the only reason they made him black is so they could kill two birds with one stone." "Emily in Paris has two actors of color and both of them feel like an afterthought." My thoughts: Don't watch this show. It has a season two coming out, don't watch it, even if you want to see how bad it is. There will be someone online who will tell you why it's bad and you'll save time reading or watching their review instead of giving Netflix a reason for a season three.
Anyways, those are just a few (obvious) examples of how racism isn't okay, even if it isn't inherently meant to be racist. Song of the South was meant to be a heart-warming movie full of stories about morals, but it's been banned and basically erased from Disney history because it comes off as being pro-slave. Millie was meant to be a commentary on Asain stereotypes while lifting up Asain actors so they were given more opportunities, yet most schools have banned it. And Emily in Paris, despite its connections that got it nominated for awards, was such a dumpster fire, a good review is near impossible to find.
#black lives matter#stop asain hate#song of the south#disney#thoroughly modern millie#broadway#ashley park#emily in paris#netflix
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The Sound of Music (1965); AFI #40
The next film that we reviewed from the AFI Top 100 was the most successful movie adaptation of a Hollywood play of all time, The Sound of Music (1965). The story was based on the 1949 memoir of Maria Von Trapp, who became a nanny for a retired naval officer and his children. They lived together in Austria and had to escape from the invading Nazi party right before the start of WW2. That story was turned into a musical by the dynamic duo of Rogers and Hammerstein and eventually translated to a Best Picture Oscar winner directed by the great Robert Wise. The film was nominated for 10 Academy Awards and won 5 of them. This truly is a phenomenal story with great music and I can't wait to get into the breakdown. Of course, I do need to mention...
SPOILER ALERT!!! IT IS NOT LIKELY THAT MANY PEOPLE DON'T HAVE AT LEAST AN IDEA OF THE PLOT OF THIS FILM, BUT I REALLY GO OVER THE DETAILS!!! MAKE SURE THAT YOU REALLY KNOW THE STORY AND HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE BEFORE GOING ANY FURTHER!!!
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The film opens on that iconic spinning shot of Maria (Julie Andrews) from a helicopter and establishes the beautiful hills of Austria. The whole movie is set on and around the city and hills of Salzburg, Austria. It is 1938, dangerously close to the rise of the the Third Reich and Nazi occupation, but Maria is not involved in such things at the time. She is young, enthusiastic, and completely lacking discipline. Turns out she is training to be a nun at the millennia-old Nonnberg Abbey and the Mother Abbess (Peggy Wood) is considering what to do with her. It is decided that Maria will leave the abbey for a time and work as a governess for one Captain von Trapp (Christopher Plummer) and his seven children.
On the day she arrives, Maria learns that the Captain cares for his children with strict military discipline and also that the kids have caused a lot of trouble for their previous governesses. It seems that their mother has died and their father is distant, so they act out to try and get attention. The kids put a frog in Maria's pocket and place a pine cone in her chair at dinner, but she instead thanks them for their warm welcome and they all cry out of guilt. That night, the eldest daughter Liesl (Charmian Carr) goes out and meets with a young suitor named Rolfe (Daniel Truhitte). They sing together in the rain and then she returns to the house via Maria's room. While there, a thunder storm begins and all the other children join out of fear. Maria sings with them about getting over their fears by imagining good things and the children begin to trust her. The next morning, the Captain leaves to go to Vienna giving Maria a chance to bond with the children even more.
While the Captain is away in Vienna, Maria decides she will teach the children to have fun and allow them to play. She tears down drapes and makes play clothes for the children, then takes them around Salzburg and the surrounding mountains. She teaches them how to sing, allows them to climb in trees, and piles them in a boat to go rowing. The Captain unexpectedly returns to the villa with rival love interest Baroness Elsa Schraeder (Eleanor Parker), a rich Viennese socialite and widow looking for a new husband, and mutual friend "Uncle" Max Detweiler (Richard Haydn). The Captain and his guests are greeted by Maria and the children returning from a boat ride on the lake that concludes when the boat overturns. Displeased by his children's clothes and Maria's impassioned appeal that he get closer to his children, the Captain orders Maria to return to the abbey. Just then, he hears singing coming from inside the house and is astonished to see his children singing for the Baroness. Filled with emotion, the Captain joins his children, singing for the first time in years. Afterwards, he apologizes to Maria and asks her to stay.
Impressed by the children's singing, Max proposes he enter them in the upcoming Salzburg Festival but the suggestion is immediately rejected by the Captain as he does not allow his children to sing in public. He does agree, however, to organize a grand party at the villa. The night of the party, while guests in formal attire waltz in the ballroom, Maria and the children look on from the garden terrace. When the Captain notices Maria teaching Kurt the traditional LĂ€ndler folk dance, he cuts in and partners Maria in a graceful performance, culminating in a close embrace. The children get together and sing a goodnight song to the party crowd and the impressed Max insists that Maria join the group for dinner. Confused about her feelings, Maria blushes and breaks away to change clothes. The Baroness, who noticed the Captain's attraction to Maria, hides her jealousy while convincing Maria that she must return to the abbey. Instead of joining the party, Maria leaves a note and runs back to the abbey.
Intermission
Back at the abbey, when Mother Abbess learns that Maria has stayed in seclusion to avoid her feelings for the Captain, she encourages Maria to return to the villa to look for her life. We get the very appropriate, but perhaps the most out-of-nowhere and cringy performance in the film, "Climb Every Mountain" sung by the Mother Abbess. It is convincing and Maria returns to the villa, only to learn about the Captain's engagement to the Baroness and agrees to stay until they find a replacement governess. The Captain's feelings for Maria, however, have not changed and he breaks off his engagement with the Baroness and proposes to Maria. The announcement of the first engagement, the return of Maria, the break-up, and the second engagement all happen in a single day in film and about 20 minutes of run time, so make sure to pay attention.
While they are on their honeymoon, Max enters the children in the Salzburg Festival against their father's wishes. When they learn that Austria has been annexed by the Third Reich in the Anschluss, the couple return to their home, where a telegram awaits informing the Captain that he must report to the German Naval base at Bremerhaven to accept a commission in the German Navy. Strongly opposed to the Nazis and the Anschluss, the Captain tells his family they must leave Austria immediately. That night, as the von Trapp family attempt to leave, they are stopped by a group of brown shirts waiting outside the villa. When questioned by Gauleiter Hans Zeller, the Captain maintains they are headed to the Salzburg Festival to perform. Zeller insists on escorting them to the festival, after which his men will accompany the Captain to Bremerhaven.
Later that night at the festival, during their final number, the von Trapp family slip away and seek shelter at the nearby abbey, where Mother Abbess hides them in the cemetery crypt. They are about to get cleanly away when the are discovered by the boy who was courting Liesl. Rolfe is sill a boy but is shouldering the responsibilities of a man. He lets the family get by because he can't bring himself to harm them, but he does call for backup. More brown shirts soon arrive and attempt to pursue, but they discover their cars will not start as two nuns have removed parts of the engines. The next morning, after driving to the Swiss border, the von Trapp family make their way on foot across the frontier into Switzerland to safety.
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I think the first thing to mention is the undeniably beautiful music. I absolutely love the music of this film and how each song starts off simple and just builds in complexity. The best songs either set the scene or progress the plot and are magnificently placed. From the opening song that sets the scene, to the discussion of how to deal with a woman that doesn't fit in, to the discussion of what to do when you are afraid, to putting your love and affection towards somebody who can't love you. The themes are incredibly deep when you consider the lyrics of the songs as foreshadowing the rest of the movie. The von Trapp family has to escape into the hills and they do it using their musical skills. When the family is trapped and has to keep quiet despite extreme fear for their lives, they are able to make it through because they have been taught to suppress their fear thinking of their favorite things. "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" has the young German boy talking about being a man because he is slightly older then the eldest von Trapp daughter, yet he is charged with finding the family and turning them over to the German military and he can't do it. The music serves a purpose and the movie would be far less palatable for it, despite the story being a truly fascinating real life drama.
The great actress Julie Andrews does such a good job as Maria. This was most definitely a perfect role for her and might be her greatest performance. It is between this role and the part she played in Mary Poppins the year earlier. In fact, Julie Andrews was much better known for her Broadway performances at the time of this film. Mary Poppins was the first feature film role for Julie Andrews and The Sound of Music was technically her third. She jumped on the Hollywood scene and was exceptionally lucky that musicals were popular and she was a beautiful young triple threat (acting, singing, and dancing). She is the perfect example of success being a mixture of preparation, luck, and opportunity.
One thing I forget about musicals from this time period is how quickly plot points (like falling in love and building relationships) happen. I don't mean in terms of run time, I mean in terms of time passing by in the story. Maria is sent to be with the von Trapp family and the children go from hating her to needing and trusting her in a single day. She goes from being a beloved nanny to running away to rejoin the nunnery in one evening. The captain goes from proposing to the Baroness to Maria returning to breaking off his engagement to asking Maria to marry him in a 48 hour period. The Captain and Maria return to Austria after their honeymoon and enter a singing competition to escape to Switzerland all on the same day. In terms of run time, that first day actually takes up the first hour of the film. That last night takes up the last half an hour. I doubled checked this just to make sure, but it is true: only 4 critical days are shown in the film. Maria leaves the convent and arrives at the von Trapp house. Time passes, The Captain returns to fire Maria but changes his mind and instead throws a party where Maria runs away. Time passes. Maria is convinced to return and arrives to find the Captain is engaged before he changes his mind to leave the Baroness and immediately proposes to Maria. We see them on their wedding day. Time passes. The Captain and Maria return and he is ordered to join the Navy, but he instead using the children's performance that night as cover to escape with his family. End of movie.
Despite the story being about a young family escaping the Nazis, this film has the lightest rating (G) of any best picture winner. Some films were not rated at the time that would now be considered a G rating and Oliver! in 1968 had a rating of GP (general public) that no longer exists. It seems like a movie that doesn't have at least a bit of a serious tone can't win a Best Picture and that comes with a heavier rating. It was funny that the Amazon Prime virtual copy that I saw most recently starts out with a screen that says rated G for violence, language, and adult situations.
There are some funny behind the scenes stories since there were many young children in the film. This means that many of them are still alive and can relive their memories with young fans. We are also lucky enough to have Dame Julie Andrews still working and sharing her experiences like a champ. She really is a treasure. The young girl who played the adorable Gretl von Trapp (Kym Karath) is only in her early 60s since she was only six in the film. it was actually her 4th picture, giving her more experience in film than Julie Andrews at the time. There were plenty of specials commemorating the 50th anniversary of the film back in 2015, so there are actually some really good interviews with the surviving cast that are relatively recent. I would highly suggest the 20/20 review of the film that can be found on YouTube:
NBC|ABC|20/20: The Untold Story of 'The Sound of Music - YouTube
There was some concern from the cast and the producers that a film version of a musical would not be financially viable. Other Rogers and Hammerstein musicals had been adapted to film and had not lived up to the success that was found on Broadway. Luckily, director Robert Wise used the natural lighting and countryside of Austria and Germany to slightly excuse the sudden singing of a musical that seems out of place in film. Also, he had recently directed West Side Story and knew how to best accomplish this. Then again, who wouldn't want to dance around and sing in those mountains? Wise did some things like lowering the tone of the song "Climb Every Mountain" and moving Maria through the countryside while she was singing "Confidence in Me." This helped reduce the cringe factor.
So does this film belong on the AFI top 100? Oh God yes. It is a great story adapted by the greatest American songwriting duo and directed by one of the great American directors who specialized in musicals. The list would be lacking if this film was not on it. Would I recommend it? Oh man, yes. Go watch it right now. Oh, you just saw it? Watch it again. It's that good.
#robert wise#julie andrews#the sound of music#musicals#introverts#introvert#60s#classic film#best picture#Oscar Winner#rogers and hammerstein
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March 12, 2021: Jason and the Argonauts (1963) (Part One)
I am so goddamn excited for this one.
Back to Greek mythology, my first mythological love! And not just Greek mythology, because this...THIS...this is the first true Avengers story. Oh, yeah, like The Avengers.
After all, mythology produced the first equivalent of our modern superheroes, with demigods and legends that wield fantastic abilities and powerful items to fight the forces of evil. I mean, itâs the most superhero thing I can think of, and itâs literally a story as old as time. Fact of the matter is, I love superheroes, and I love mythology. Which is why Iâm excited to finally see an adaptation of one of the biggest superhero team-up stories ever: Jason and the Argonauts!
See, it all starts with Hera, queen of the Olympians and petty as FUCK.
See, the newly (and wrongfully) ascended king of Iolcus, Pelias, honored the gods after stealing the throne from his brother. Well, all of the gods except Hera. So, Hera, rightfully pissed off, decides to fuck Pelias over by recruiting his nephew, Jason. Jasonâs a naturally hot blonde kid who was raised by the centaur Chiron, also making him wise...theoretically.
Hera tests this kid, and he passes, so she gives him her favor, and tells him to fuck up his uncle. Jason arrives in Iolcus, and demands the throne from Pelias. His uncle agrees, IF he can bring back the Golden Fleece, a legendary treasure that is guarded by a vicious monster and a zealous king. Pelias didnât think Jason had any chance, but Jason had the gods on his side. They sent their best subjects to his aid, and Jason procured an awesome ship, the Argo. So, whoâs coming to help? Oh, you ready for this? ARGONAUTS ASSEMBLE
Now there are anywhere between 46-85 heroes that are assembled in the Argonauts, with different members in different iterations of the myth. But the big members are:
Heracles, son of Zeus, with the strength of a thousand men
Orpheus, son of the muse Calliope, and master musician
Calais and Zetes, sons of the North Wind, with the ability to fly upon it
Atalanta, the swift-footed huntress, and only female member
Castor and Pollux, twin half-brothers (yeah, really) and horse-riders
Theseus, son of Poseidon, and slayer of the Minotaur
Tip of the iceberg there, but you get the point: weâve got a superhero team on our hands! And these heroes would perform MANY great deeds on their journey to the Fleece. They fought the Harpies to defend an oracle, they passed the dangerous Clashing Rocks, they battled the Stymphalian Birds, with feathers of metal. Sirens, fire-breathing bulls, and a giant bronze man named Talos.
Different one. Eventually, they procured the Golden Fleece on the island of Colchis, where they fought a dragon with a help of the young sorceress (and niece of Circe), Medea. She fell in love with Jason, and the two fled the island, married, and had twins. Only for Medea to reveal herself as a stone-cold sociopath, and only for Jason to ditch her for another woman. That goes...VERY badly for Jason. Breaking off his marriage pisses off Hera, THE GODDESS OF MARRIAGE, and he dies sad and alone after Medea does...Medea does a lot, Iâll just leave it at that. Jason, completely fucked at that point, takes a nap at the foot of the now rotting Argo, which collapses on top of him and kills him.
For the record, I truncated that story A LOT. Thereâs a lot to it, but I have a movie to watch, goddamit! And Iâm really excited because this is my first Harryhausen movie! You know, Ray Harryhausen, one of the early greats of practical special effects in film? A specialist in stop-motion from its earliest days, he revolutionizes the art throughout films in the 1950s and 1960s, with this one being one of the most successful. Youâve definitely seen his influence, from stuff that heâs done directly...
...to those inspired by him and his methodology...
...to the arts that were descended indirectly from his groundbreaking effects.
Oh yeah, Iâm fucking GOING THERE. Fun fact: Ray Winston Studios, a stop-motion group active during the â80s and â90s, and a descendant of Harryhausenâs works, were originally going to do the animation for the dinosaurs in this movie, in Claymation. However, the recent advent of advanced animatronics, alongside ILMâs founding, caused them to take some of those principles, and apply them to CGI and animatronics. So, yeah, Iâm claiming an indirect connection here!
Anyway, enough being a nerd, LETâS WATCH THE GODDAMN MOVIE! SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
Recap (1/2)
As the bombastic and epic score plays, the credits role of a Greek-style fresco, detailing the various adventures of the Argonauts. And before the movie starts, I come to a realization: there is a high chance that Iâm going to hate this movieâs inaccuracies to Greek mythology. Itâs not impossible. Iâm real persnickety about my mythology adaptations, just warning you all now. Iâll probably get into it in this Recap, too. Full goddamn warning.
We begin with a seer, reading the future for the treacherous Pelias (Douglas Witmer). He sees first a Golden Fleece at the end of the world, but Pelias ignores this, and asks of his upcoming conquest of the kingdom of...Thessaly. Not, uh...not Iolcus. Mmmkay.
The seer fortells that Pelias will seize the throne, by force, from his brother and the king of Thessaly...Aristo...not Aeson. OK then. The seer says that he will be successful, but will eventually fall to one of Aristoâs kids, who will take his throne. He has two daughters, Philomena and Briseis, and one son, Jason. Looks like theyâre gonna die, too.
The invasion begins! Amongst the chaos, Briseis (Davina Taylor) takes her baby sister, Philomena, into the temple of Hera, and pleads to her for her protection. However, theyâre found by Pelias, who asks who she is. Heâs interrupted by a priestess of Hera, who claims that the Queen Goddess has answered the girlâs prayer for protection.
Pelias responds in kind.
Well...Iâm sure thatâs gonna piss off Hera. He claims it to be the will of Zeus, but she states that it is his will, not Zeusâ. The gods have abandoned him, and he will one day fall to a one-sandaled man, Jason. And as the woman reveals this...she disappears. Nice. FUCKINâ NICE.
This âpriestessâ is Hera (Honor Blackman), of course. She goes to her husband, Zeus (Niall MacGinnis), and asks if he ordered Pelias to destroy and profane her temple. He says no, as that was Peliasâ attempt to stave off his inevitable fall by Jason. However, Jason has escaped Peliasâ wrath, as has his sister Philomena. Hera decided, however, that she wants to take down Pelias, and Jason is the best was for that to happen. Hence, she wishes to sponsor Jason.
However, Zeus, being the classic misogynist, says that he will allow it, but she may only help Jason 5 times, once for each time that the fallen Briseis prayed to her. She agrees, and waits 20 years to start fuckinâ with Pelias. Pelias, meanwhile, is growing more paranoid over the one-sandaled man prophecy that Hera gave him.
One day, on the bank of a river, Hera appears to make Pelias fall off of his horse into the river. Heâs saved from drowning by a young man, who loses his sandal in the process. This is, of course, Jason (Todd Armstrong), who was already on his way to see Pelias for some reason.
For the record, this is an adaptation of the original story, in which Hera disguises herself as an old beggar-woman, and Jason proves himself to her by helping her across the river, after which she gives him her favor. To be honest, I like this a bit more, or at least as much.
Pelias brings Jason back to a camp for a celebration, with him as an honored guest. Jason reveals exactly who he is, and that he was raised outside of the city by one of his fatherâs loyal soldiers. He has come to reclaim his right place as king of Thessaly, and to restore it to itâs rightful glory. However, Pelias hasnât revealed himself as king, and asks Jason how he plans to accomplish these feats. Jason replies with his ultimate plan: obtain the Golden Fleece.
Hereâs the deal about the Golden Fleece. One of the most legendary items in Greek mythology, the fleece is essentially a symbol of royalty, and is the coat of a ram with wings found on the island of Colchis. Now, the meaning of the fleece has long been debated, with the main consensus stating that itâs a symbol of royalty. However, some claim that itâs a symbol of prosperous farming (golden grains of wheat), the forgiveness of the gods for some unknown deed, Zeus in the form of a ram, or simply the promise of the unknown at the edge of the world.
What it DEFINITELY ISNâT is a magical healing garment, as Jason claims it to be. But OK, whatever, we need a good reason to get the Fleece, sure. Pelias, not revealing himself, says that Jason should try to get the Fleece, with a boat and a crew, and bring it back to Thessaly, returning and killing Pelias in order to take the throne. Of course, Pelias thinks that this is impossible, which he says to his son Acastus (Gary Raymond). He also knows that if he kills Jason, he it will mean his own destruction, as Hera told him.
Jason goes to ponder this journey, only to encounter the seer. The seer asks if he has come to pray to the gods, to which Jason states that he doesnât believe in them, nor does he have cause to. The seer offers to give him that cause, and reveals himself as Hermes (Michael Gwynn), the swift-footed messenger god, god of medicine, and trickster god of the Olympians.
Hermes isnât usually directly involved in the myths of Jason, but thatâs OK. He also does something particularly unusual, and brings Jason TO Olympus to meet the Gods themselves. Which, uh...yeah, hot damn. Zeus and the rest arranged for Hermes to bring Jason to them. They ask how they can help him on his quest. Zeus offers him a ship and crew, but Jason refuses, much to the gall of EVERYBODY.
Hera helps him by telling him where to find the Golden Fleece: the island of Colchis, at the other end of the world. To get there, though, Jasonâll DEFINITELY need a ship. He decides to go to the shipbuilders of Greece, and tell them that great treasure lies on Colchis, and they may receive some for their aid. As for the crew, heâs got a similar tactic. Offer the reward to the athletes and heroes of Greece, who will compete in games to determine their eligibility.
Not from the original myths...but it actually makes a lot of sense. Goddamn, is this going to be a good adaptation? Iâm excited! The games are held, and many athletes win their place on the journey. They include: Castor and Pollux (Ferdinando Poggi and John Crawford), Acastus, and of course, Heracles (Nigel Green). And yeah, heâs called Hercules here, but I donât care.
When Hercules arrives, this grabs the attention of the young Hylas (John Caimey), who arrived to late to compete in the games. He challenges Heracles to something, believing that beating Heracles in something will guarantee him a place on the ship.Â
While everyone mocks this, Heracles agrees to go up against him in a discus-throwing contest. They must hit or pass a rock in the ocean by throwing their discus. Heracles hits it easily, of course. And the frail Hylas...
...Nice. Did not see that coming, and thatâs actually very smart. Also takes a lot of skill, because I could NOT do that. Hylas wins his place in the ship, to the delight of both the crowd and the Olympians. And yes, Hylas actually is a companion of Heracles in the original stories, so thatâs neat!
Now for the boat, being built by master builder Argus (Laurence Naismith), who is coming on the ship with them. He notes that something appears to have guided his hand during the shipâs construction. In the original myth, that would be Athena. However, here, itâs probably Hera, as the figurehead is specifically carved in her image. And is also...alive?
Well...to be fair, in many myths, the ship contains wood built from a magical tree that could speak, and see the future. So, OK, magic ship, fair enough. Well, hopefully, that shipâs guidance will happen soon, as the voyage immediately proves difficult. No water, no rest, and frustrated men.
Jason asks the figurehead for help (which would be help #3) and Hera speaks through it to tell Jason to head to the Isle of Bronze, where Hephaestus once had his forge. However, the island is lorded over by a powerful something called Talos. I know what Talos is, but the movie hasnât revealed him yet.
The Argo makes its way to the island, and the men head ashore to get food and water. They see goats there, which will provide them both food and drink, and Heracles and Hylas chase after them for just that aim. And thatâs when they blunder into a giant bronze statuary, lorded over by the statue of Talos.
The two enter a chamber in the statueâs base, which is filled to the brim with gold and treasure. However, Jason warned the men of the Argo not to take anything from the island but food and water. Hylas remembers this, but Heracles doesnât care, and takes a golden staff from the chamber. And Talos...Talos doesnât appreciate that.
Oh, thatâs a great place to take a break! See you in Part Two!
#Jason and the Argonauts#don chaffey#ray harryhausen#todd armstrong#nancy kovack#honor blackman#gary raymond#laurence naismith#greek mythology#argonauts#argonautica#apollonius rhodius#user365#365 movie challenge#365 movies 365 days#365 Days 365 Movies#365 movies a year#movie recap
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You've given us your favorite records, so how about your favorite movies?
Okay, sure! Under a cut though, because itâs long.
In no particular order!
Strictly Ballroom (1992)
Oh my god, one of the funniest movies ever made. Every single thing about this movie makes me laugh out loud - in fact, I laughed so loud in the theater when I saw it the first time Iâm surprised they didnât kick my ass out. I canât tell you how many times Iâve watched and re-watched it. My late wife and I used to quote this film back and forth to each other all the time.Â
âArms, Clary!â
âThat was unexpected.â
âIâve got my happy face on today!â
Thereâs a lovely little romance going on and a quote that I live by:
A life lived in fear is a life half lived.
Thank you, Baz Luhrmann.Â
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Screwball comedy romance with Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn. Still funny, over 80 years later. Mistaken identities, a harrassed archeologist and a clueless rich girl, so on and so forth. If you watch it, you will see shades of Wu and Sayuri in Susan, for sure. (And some Zu in David.) The comedic timing of this movie is sheer and utter perfection. Not a single beat wasted. Brilliant, the entire thing.
Moonstruck (1987)
God, what isnât there to love about this movie? CHER. A woman coming up on middle age who has settled into widowhood without a whimper decides to marry a man sheâs fond of for no other reason than she thinks she should meets the fianceâs younger brother and her entire life goes, as her Italian Catholic mother says in the middle of church, â...down the toilet.â This movie was handled with so much love and care, it deserved its Oscars. If youâve never seen it, you should.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
I saw this movie the one and only time I visited the States after I moved to Finland. I had left my wife here in Finland but had my 20 month old autistic twins along and my mother was being beyond horrible to me and I was exhausted and just wanted to go home. There was one afternoon where my favorite uncle came to me, gave me his car, and told me he was going to watch the kids and for me to go out and have a breather. I decided to see a movie - I canât remember which one - but the paper had gotten the time wrong and it had already started by the time I got there. I asked the woman selling tickets what she recommended that was coming up and she very fervently told me to go and see this one.
Still one of the best movies I have ever seen. The acting is so subtle, so beautiful, and the scenery! The ending broke me, just shattered me into a million pieces. Years later, when my wife died, I knew exactly that feeling of desperately wanting to go back in time and somehow do it all right and all I can say is, both Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi get all of my love forever for doing it the way they did.
I bought it when it finally came out on DVD with English subtitles and I made my late wife watch it with me and she sobbed at the end and told me I was cruel for making her watch it. (Guess what, babe? You were crueler for making me live it.)
The Handmaiden (2016)
Normally I am not all that keen on books being made into movies. I fucking loved Sarah Watersâ Fingersmith and wasnât sure about it being taken out of its Victorian England setting into 1930âČs Korea but oh my god I have never been happier to have been proved wrong in my life. THIS FILM. Listen, it is one of those rare times when a book and an adaptation can stand next to each other, equally as good, equally as strong, despite the differences. There is so much to unpack about womenâs experiences with sex and how that compares to how men dictate those experiences to them and the movie never drops the ball with this. Frankly, I had seen Oldboy and Snowpiercer (among others) and I really did not think Park Chan-wook had it in him and shame on me for that.
Warning: this movie is HOT.
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
This is a damn good movie. Charlize Theron elevates anything she is in, and as Furiosa - dirty, grim, disabled, clinging on to tattered hope with desperation - she just takes this film to another level. Plenty of other good performances - including Tom Hardy, whoâs never afraid to drop himself into a role - and some frankly astonishing editing work by Margaret Sixel as well as a male director who understands, deeply, how to film women without subjecting them to the male gaze. This is not a schlock film, despite the franchise it belongs in. Itâs good.
I saw this film the night before my wife died; the last time I spoke to her on the phone I told her that Iâd take her with me to see it again, I knew sheâd like it. I donât know if Iâll ever be able to separate this film from that loss, but thatâs how it goes sometimes. Still wish you could have seen it, babe. You would have loved it.
The Great Race (1965)
Is this a great movie? Not critically speaking, although Jack Lemmon is brilliant, as he almost always is. Rather, it was a movie my father and I loved together, and I have so many good memories of watching it with him whenever it would play on TV (these were the years before VHS even, never mind Netflix) and eating popcorn and laughing together.
We loved the huge pie fight scene so much that on my 16th birthday my father bought 3 dozen store bought pies, defrosted them and/or baked them (with the help of our neighbor, who was in on the secret) and he woke me up that morning, told me to get dressed and come outside, and he got me with a pie to the face right as I walked out the door and the two of us chased each other, throwing and dodging pies, making an unholy mess, slipping and sliding all over our deck and driveway, stumbling and laughing hysterically.
It is one of the best memories in my life. How many other girls can say their fathers gave them a pie fight for their sweet sixteen? This movie makes me laugh and, more importantly, remember my father with so much love.
The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
I did love all three of these films. Were they perfect? No. (I am still salty about Faramirâs entire movie arc and the fact that Merry was just Pippin 2.0 instead of the distinct character he was in the books.) But they were made with so much love and heart by people who loved and cared deeply for the source material. And they were astonishing in scope as well. Just glorious to see in the theater.
I first read those books when my father lent me his copies when I was eight and they were a vital part of my growing up; to see Peter Jackson and his entire cast and crew love them as much as I did was genuinely special for me.
The other two films are just as good with some astonishing moments (Billy Boyâs last minute song in The Return of the King still gives me goosebumps) but this was the first one, and just remembering holding my wifeâs hand as we both gasped together over the scope of it was a memory I will keep with me always.
When my wife and I went to see this one here in Finland I was pregnant with my twins and I was like, oh my god, please die already Boromir because were twins on my bladder and I knew if I didnât get to a toilet soon it was going to be all over. (It was a long movie without a pee break for a pregnant person, let me just say.) I was never happier for a tragic end to a movie in my life, LOL.
The Matrix (1999)
Dude. Dude. Just the concept of this movie. The Wachowski sisters have never limited themselves and thatâs what makes them so different and so exciting. One of the greats of Sci Fi and, as far as I am concerned, one of the greats bar none. Yeah sure, I know it isnât a critical darling but lord, I am not a film critic, just someone who loves movies. And I love this one.Â
(And excuse you, Elon and the rest of you alt-right menâs groups, you dicks, for appropriating the whole blue/red pill thing: itâs a concept from two trans sisters, so fuck right off with that.)
My best friend, who saw it with me the first time (I took my late wife to see it later in the year when she arrived in the States) laughed at the whole little kid with spoon scene. Thatâs like listening to you, she said. I never know what is going to come out of your mouth or whether Iâll understand it in the moment but it will eventually make sense to me. Which pretty well sums me up, I think. And this movie as well.
The Piano (1993)
There is a moment, in this gorgeous, deeply beautiful, aching film, where Harvey Keitel fingers a small hole in Holly Hunterâs stocking and it is the most erotic heterosexual thing I have ever seen. Trust a woman director to understand why women would love this. Thereâs Harvey Keitelâs character: older, soft around the middle, barely literate, covered with traditional facial tattoos. Heâs nobodyâs idea of hot. But he understands what this woman in particular needs, understands what she is telling him without words, and thatâs what he gives her and it is erotic beyond measure. Itâs not about what he looks like; itâs about how he understands her.
Holly Hunter does this movie without speaking a single word or getting any subtitles and short of a few brief translations by Anna Paquin playing her young daughter still manages to express herself. Itâs brilliant acting. (And look, I know - today weâd look for an actress who was mute to play the role, and rightfully so. It still doesnât take away from Hunterâs performance.)
Ada drowned in the original script but Jane Campion changed it at the last minute when filming and it was the right choice. The absolute right choice. Ada deserves her freedom and her chance to pursue her own happiness.
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Rewatching Snyderverse Part 1 - Man of Steel
Not, let me preface this by saying that my opinion of Zack Snyder as a director prior to MoS was mixed. I really liked his Dawn of the Dead and 300 was a lot of fun. But I hated Sucker Punch and while there are some merits to Watchmen, I think he was a bit too slavish about adapting the comic without really getting the spirit of it along with a few fatal miscastings. But Nolan had endorsed Snyder for the movie so I was optimistic. My overall opinion of the film ended up being a big âmehâ. I have seen the movie a few times, including last night and my opinion has never changed.
Now I donât hate the movie. The film is split into two halves. I really quite like the first half of this film. The Krypton sequence is my favorite action sequence of the entire film and Snyder does create a unique version of that world. I enjoyed everything about Clarkâs past with Jonathan and Martha, interspliced with him figuring out his Kryptonian heritage and finding the scout ship. I liked that Lois Lane is shown to be a smart reporter and having tracked down Clark all on her own, and I really liked how the idea of first contact with aliens is handled. I mean Zodâs arrival on Earth is very creepy and well handled. There are a few eye rolling moments like Clark being able to fake his background check and being able to make it onto a secret military installation despite just being a grifter. But those are relatively minor. Supermanâs first flight is a gorgeous scene, capturing Clarkâs glee quite wonderfully. The casting of the parents is excellent. Crowe as Jor-El, Costner as Pa Kent, and Diane Lane as Martha Kent are all really good.
To me, the film takes a pretty big downturn after Zod enters the picture. His arrival on Earth is well handled, but then the film turns into one brawl after another, starting with the Smallville sequence. To me, the action sequences are what I call destruction porn. Snyder seems to revel in causing as much destruction as possible. Certainly the camera lingers constantly on buildings falling and explosions. It just gets boring and monotonous after a while. And its basically one after another. The Smallville fight is followed immediately by the gravity beam destruction, accompanied with Clark trying to destroy the World Engine, followed by creating the singularity, followed by the Clark vs Zod fight. There is no relief found for the last 40-50 minutes at all because its just non stop destruction. I also found Shannon to be overly hammy. There are moments where heâs really good but a lot of it is just him screaming. Faora was a more intimidating figure in the movie. There is also some pretty hokey dialogue. Like Zod screaming âThere is only one way this ends Kal. Either you die, or I doâ. Every time he says this I canât help but say in my head that that is actual two different ways how it can end. There are some big tonal issues. Like Metropolis goes through unimaginable destruction and tragedy and we have Lois and Clark kissing at basically ground zero like its a big romantic moment, and then a few scenes after Zodâs death, we have Lambard flirting with Lois and Jenny about going to the basketball game. The film also wastes a lot of characters. I mean, Fishburne, Meloni, Lennix, Schiff etc... are all good actors who are basically just spouting exposition grimly. I am a huge fan of Richard Schiff from TWW and its criminal how he is basically just used to just explain to the audience what is going on.
My big issue also comes down to casting of Henry Cavill and Amy Adams. Now, I think Henry Cavill has great potential to be a fantastic Superman and he has the looks and the acting chops, but for some reason heâs always been a tad too bland in this role. I have seen him be way more charismatic and better in other movies like in The Man from UNCLE and MI: Fallout. Heâs not bad at all. Heâs decent, but whereas the best superhero castings like Bale as Batman, RDJ as Iron Man, Evans as Cap, and even Affleck as Batman, have grabbed me immediately, he didnât really make me feel that heâs The Superman. And I had never seen any Superman movie prior to MoS other than Superman Returns, so I had no Christopher Reeves nostalgia. Amy Adams is one of my favorite actresses and I have loved her in many, many movies but like Cavill, sheâs a bit bland in this role. And the most fatal problem is that Cavill and Adams have no chemistry. Given how important that relationship is in the context of this film and the films that came after and were planned for the future, its a big problem.
In the end, I canât help but make direct comparisons between Man of Steel and Batman Begins. Both have a very similar structure with the first half going back and forth between the heroâs past and what heâs doing currently, and in the second half we have the hero dealing with a villain from his past. Batman Begins managed to do the second part a lot better than Man of Steel did and it utilizes its cast a lot better despite Man of Steel having more than its fair share of quality actors. At the end, I was a little let down because the first half of the film gave me a lot of hope for a great Superman origin movie but the last hour of the film just gives me a headache. It was still an acceptable movie. there are a lot of worse Superhero movies out there, but in a world where we had great superhero origin movies like Batman Begins, Iron Man, TFA, Spider-man etc... this one paled in comparison overall. But it had laid a pretty solid foundation, if they had only followed it up properly. Overall, it was a 5.5/10 type film.
#man of steel#zack snyder#henry cavill#amy adams#superman#clark kent#lois lane#richard schiff#christopher meloni#harry lennix#lawrence fishburne#michael shannon#zod#snyderverse
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'The 2024 BAFTA nominations were announced last week and one of the biggest contenders with six awards was Andrew Haig's All Of Us Strangers. The film stars Normal People's Paul Mescal and Fleabag's (Hot Priest) Andrew Scott and has been put in the running for Outstanding British Film, as well as Best Supporting Actor for Paul Mescal.
It has already caused a buzz on the awards circuit already with Paul taking home the award for Best Actor (Drama) at the Golden Globes. The BAFTA nominations mean the film has been listed for more awards than two of the most talked-about movies of last year, Barbie and Saltburn - cementing it as one of the ones to watch in 2024.
Part ghost story, part drama, part romance, All Of Us Strangers is one of the more unique films in the running this awards season. This is everything you need to know about the film that's captured the attention of critics and viewers alike.
What is All Of Us Strangers about?
The film is a loose adaptation of Strangers, the 1987 novel by Taichi Yamada, which follows the inner turmoil of the central protagonist after he meets a man who looks like his dead father. All of Us Strangers centres on Adam, a reclusive screenwriter whose day-to-day life revolves around watching re-runs, takeaways and a lot of screen time. By a seemingly chance meeting, he meets Harry, who encourages him to open up about his childhood and his long-deceased parents.
With Harry's encouragement, Adam travels back to his childhood home in the suburbs and is confronted by his parents (played by Jamie Bell and Claire Foy) who are full of questions about their now grown-up child.
The two central characters straddle a line between love and friendship, providing some connection in what is otherwise a very solitary existence. Paul recently reflected on the debate around a straight man playing a gay man, he told The Sunday Times: "It depends who's in charge of telling the story. The issue is that there have been so many queer performances in cinema that have been offensive. But that's because the filmmakers and the actors have been careless. I donât think this film exists in that conversation whatsoever. And that's it."
It's safe to say that the film has some steamy scenes as the sexual connection between Adam and Harry intensifies. When asked on The Graham Norton Show whether their families had seen the film yet, Paul replied: "With the Irish premiere, trying to allocate tickets to all the aunties and uncles is a tricky business. They have seen my bum before but there is a little more going on in this movie I would say!" This was followed by an admission from Andrew: "I don't want to be there when my parents watch it!"
How can I watch All of Us Strangers?
...The movie currently has an exclusive theatrical release, meaning we won't be seeing it pop up on streaming services any time soon. However, once the film has finished its run in cinemas it will be available to watch on Disney+ in the UK and on Hulu in the US, according to reporting from Digital Spy.
Is there a trailer for All Of Us Strangers?
Yes, there's a trailer for All of Us Strangers...
The response from viewers has been extremely positive, with one commenting underneath the trailer: "This is one of those rare movies that makes you feel like you're stepping into an entirely formed and real world that you didn't know you needed to visit until you got there."
Another fan said of the film: "The kinda movie where that you get back from seeing in the cinema and come home immediately to watch the trailer twice over, just to feel a small sense of the scenes again. Iâm just really grateful for my parents and all strangers in all walks of life."'
#Andrew Scott#Paul Mescal#Disney+#Hulu#All of Us Strangers#Golden Globes#Strangers#Taichi Yamada#Normal People#Fleabag#Hot Priest#Jamie Bell#Claire Foy#Andrew Haigh#BAFTA
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My thoughts and opinions on the slew of recent trailers and announcements that no one asked for, but I needed to process all this information. These are just my opinions so donât hate me.
Marvel:
WandaVision - Not very interested in this and it looks a little too trippy for my taste, but might watch it anyway to see Jimmy Woo and Monica Rambeau (and Billy and Tommy?)
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier - Easily my most anticipated of Marvelâs offerings. I was disappointed that it was delayed but it looks like it will be worth the wait! The trailer was epic. It looks like an action movie. I love Sam and Bucky, and their relationship and banter. Also I canât wait to see my girl Sharon!
Loki - Not sure what to expect from this one and the trailer did not make things any clearer, but Iâm just thrilled that Loki is getting his time to shine away from the Thor franchise.
What If? - Now that Iâve seen the full trailer I am actually quite excited for this! Also the animation looks gorgeous.
Hawkeye - I am not a fan of Jeremy Renner or what they did to Clintâs character in the MCU - hopefully this series will correct some of that. However the dog is adorable, Hailee Steinfeld looks really good as Kate Bishop, and Iâm interested to find out what Yelenaâs role in the story will be.Â
Ms. Marvel - From the brief clips we have it looks like a cute, heartwarming, and inspiring story. It has jumped to the top of my list!Â
She-Hulk - Iâve hated Bruce Banner in everything after The Avengers so I hope his involvement in this show is minimal.
Moon Knight - Not interested at the moment.
Secret Invasion - I was never one of those fans who felt like this story had to be adapted for the MCU and I liked what they did with the Skrulls in Captain Marvel, but Iâm 100% for it now that Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn are involved!
Armour Wars - Finally giving Rhodey a leading role after playing pivotal supporting roles in a gazillion movies is long overdue. Sounds like an interesting premise. Will definitely watch!
Ironheart - Not very familiar with the character so I donât have much of an opinion at the moment. Will probably watch though.
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special - For some reason I have the feeling this is just going to be a Star Wars Holiday Special parody/rip-off.
I Am Groot - Will probably be cute.
Black Widow - Iâm over it at this point. Was never really into it. Should have come out years before Endgame. Will only be watching for Yelena Belova.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings - Admittedly was not familiar with the character prior to the announcement. I like Michelle Yeoh and Awkwafina though, and Iâm interested to see what the movie does with The Mandarin (after the disaster that was Iron Man 3). No real opinion until I see the trailer.
Eternals - Would not be interested in this at all except for the fact that I like Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, and Kit Harrington. The cast is massive and star-studded to the point of feeling bloated.
Untitled Spider-Man 4 - Not sold at all on the multiverse/spiderverse, but the previous MCU Spider-Man films are among my favourites and I thought they both sounded like crap initially. Will definitely reserve judgement until I actually see the movie. As much as I adore Tom Hollandâs Peter Parker, my wish for this movie is that we see a move towards more classic Spider-Man comic elements (The Daily Bugle and Peterâs photography, a mere mention of Uncle Ben, Harry and Norman Osborn, etc.)
Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness - Not really interested right now.
Thor: Love and Thunder - Will likely not be watching. An unpopular opinion but Ragnarok was my least favourite MCU movie.
Black Panther II - Right now I am just eagerly awaiting any announcement regarding their plans for where they are taking this franchise.Â
Captain Marvel 2 - I loved the first movie, Brie Larson, and Carol Danvers. Kamala Khan and Monica Rambeau appearing in this makes me so happy! Hopefully Goose will be back! The Ms. Marvel tv show seems to imply that Captain Marvel is famous enough as a superhero to have merchandise, so I hope this movie explains when and how that happened (presumably during the 5 years after the snap that we didnât see in Endgame).
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 - Very torn about this one. I really loved the first two movies, but my enthusiasm for the franchise has admittedly soured due to controversies involving certain members of the cast and crew. Will watch it, but not particularly bothered either way.
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania - I am truly upset by the decision to recast Cassie Lang, perhaps to the point of being irrational. Hopefully I get over it because I have been looking forward to this movie for so long. The plot sounds good and I am anticipating much family cuteness.
Blade - Never saw the original movies and only know the character from Spider-Man: The Animated Series.
Fantastic Four - We all knew this was inevitable. Just give me a comic accurate Susan Storm and a teenage/young adult Johnny Storm (because if we donât get Spideytorch content then whatâs the point?) and I will be happy.
Untitled Deadpool - Not the biggest Deadpool fan, but the second movie was amusing. Will probably watch out of curiosity.Â
Untitled X-Men/Mutant movie - Not sure how they are going to integrate Mutants into the already very established history of the MCU. If they do go ahead with this movie I hope that it focuses on different characters from the 20th Century Fox X-Men franchise. Personally I donât want to see Erik and Charles played by anyone else after Ian McKellan, Michael Fassbender, Patrick Stewart, and James McAvoy.
Star Wars:
Obi Wan Kenobi -Â We have Hayden Christensen! This is not a drill! Honestly I am so happy! He was absolutely incredible in RotS and he truly deserves all the love heâs been getting over the years. As exciting as a reunion between his Vader and Ewanâs Obi Wan will be, a tiny part of me is frustrated because I thought Episode IV implied that their encounter on the Death Star was their first encounter since Mustafar? Iâm sure they will find a way to make it work, however. Deborah Chow is an amazing director. I hope they cast a young Luke :3
Andor - Definitely my most anticipated Star Wars project after Obi Wan Kenobi. Really excited to see more of life in the Rebel Alliance, and loving the sound of the ânail-biting spy thrillerâ angle. Glad that Genevieve OâReilly is back as Mon Mothma. Keeping my fingers crossed for Jimmy Smits.Â
The Bad Batch - The animation looks stunning. Always interested to see more of the early days of the Empire.
Ahsoka - I donât want it
Rangers of the New Republic - Not a lot of information except that itâs âculminating in a climatic eventâ with other stories, which sounds ugh. Reserving judgement until we learn more and see a trailer.
Lando - Awaiting more info. No word yet on whether Donald Glover or Billy Dee Williams will be back, but we canât go wrong if either one (or both) are involved.
The Acolyte - Sounds like it could be interesting. Glad to see other time periods in the Star Wars universe being explored.
Star Wars: Visions - Will probably watch for pretty anime animation.
A Droid Story - Sounds like it will be cute, and I love droids so will probably watch.Â
Rogue Squadron - Unless itâs an adaptation of the EU Rogue Squadron, Iâm not particularly interested. If weâre getting Corran Horn, Mirax Terrik, Tycho Celchu, and Wes Janson, however, then I am 100% onboard!
Untitled Taika Waititi Star Wars - Not a fan of Ragnarok as has already been established, nor did I like aspects of his episode of The Mandalorian. Canât imagine that I will be interested.
Other:
Fate: The Winx Saga (Netflix) - This looks like a cheesy guilty pleasure at best and a dumpster fire at worst. I wish that Prince Skyâs hair was longer. W.I.T.C.H. would have translated better into live-action if they wanted to adapt a mid-2000s era cartoon.
Batwoman Season 2 (The CW) - This looks like a huge improvement from season 1. Judging from the trailer I think they made an excellent decision by bringing in Javicia Leslie. The character dynamics all look really interesting. My most anticipated CW show along with Superman and Lois.
#mcu#marvel#star wars#batwoman#fate: the winx saga#mcu criticism#star wars criticism#tagging to be safe#donât hate me#long post
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There are so many different adaptations and takes on A Christmas Carol and I kind of hate it? Look, I remember growing up and finding a bajillion specials on television that were different cartoons doing their own version of the story. Whenever a studio announced a major motion picture adaptation, I just didnât care. Iâd already seen the story done a million times, and I got bored of it!
Except for this one. For whatever reason, I canât remember ever getting tired of The Muppet Christmas Carol.
Mind you, when I was a kid I did get scared of it. I couldnât watch the âMarley & Marleyâ scene because the ghosts with chains and moaning--couldnât do it. And the Ghost of Christmas Future wasnât great for me either. Iâd just kind of⊠leave or skip or zone out during those segments. But other than that itâs a great film. Itâs a surprisingly great adaptation too--if you ever read the play or the novel, there are several lines and narrations lifted straight from the text in this movie.
Just. Yâknow. In the mouths of Muppets.
And yes itâs funny. Of course itâs funny. Itâs the Muppets. But one thing that I think is always important in telling a story thatâs both humorous and dramatic is that one never undermines the other. Yeah there are jokes, but the jokes in the movie arenât there to mock the drama of the original story. The main story is played fairly seriously. And when we get to the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, Gonzo and Rizzo leave the story because they think itâs too creepy for them.
[Probably to make sure they donât undo the heavy material of the ending.]
Supposedly Michael Caine (yes THAT Michael Caine) found playing Scrooge to be one of his favorite roles and had a lot of fun on this movie. Word on the ânet is that he just treated his Muppet co-stars like they were all members of the Royal Shakespeare Company instead of, well, puppets. And I think it kind of shows?
I guess what Iâm saying is: this very easily could have been a very stupid, annoying movie which just constantly jokes at audience about how silly it is that the Muppets are trying to reenact a piece of classical literature.Â
The casting is pretty great? Michael Caine is my favorite Ebeneezer Scrooge, in part because heâs not just crotchety and rude, heâs outright cruel in a way that works for the character. But heâs also someone who can turn around and convincingly portray a person who has learned from the lessons of the story to become a generous and kind person.
Gonzo as Charles Dickens is an odd choice. I donât know if it makes much sense, or it was just that they wanted Gonzo in the movie and put him in what was left. But itâs not that he did a bad job at all--he does fine. Heâs a fun narrator, one that puts a surprising amount of seriousness into the role. And he gets to bounce off of Rizzo (who plays himself) in a way that keeps the story fresh.
Kermit is a fantastic Bob Cratchit in that heâs a nice guy that everyone pushes around. Of course Miss Piggy plays his wife, and although I donât recall if Mrs. Cratchit is as...willful as Miss Piggy, I think it works for the story. After all, itâs good to see someone stick up for Bob Cratchit when heâs been so put upon.
I think that the man who plays young adult Scrooge is Raymond Coulthard--IMDB has like four performers listed as âYoung Scrooge.â They all do fine, but the one who does him as a young adult does the longest. I donât know if heâs as talented as Michael Caine in portraying a sympathetic Scrooge, but he doesnât have as much time to do so either, and in his first scene you could easily see how heâs charming.
The Ghost of Christmas Past still holds up remarkably well as far as effects go. Some of the flying doesnât, but even then itâs like something youâd see now on a cheap TV budget rather than truly bad. But again, for the most part she still looks great. Sheâs a bit unworldly and uncanny to look at, but thatâs the point.
The Ghost of Christmas Present in this film is my favorite rendition of the character, and not just because heâs got a fantastic musical number. To be clear, a lot of his sharper rebukes from the source material are toned down or removed to build him into a warmer character. One who is still just as effective, I think.
[Also, he and Future are Muppets designed specifically for this film.]
Ghost of Christmas Future gave me the willies growing up. Less so now. I donât know if his weird proportions (his arms are way too long and his legs are too short) adds to the creep factor. But regardless, the huge silent cloaked figure is incredibly creepy and is played masterfully.Â
Other highlights:
-Statler and Waldorf as the Marley Brothers (also their names are on a shop front in the set).
-Sam the Eagle as Scroogeâs teacher
-Fozzie as Scroogeâs first boss
-That cat that chases Rizzo
-Fred. Poor Fred, putting up with his uncleâs nonsense.
There is a contingent of fans who believe this is one of the best Muppet movies ever made. Honestly, I couldnât tell you--I really havenât seen that many Muppet movies, and the ones I have seen other than this one, I havenât viewed in years. This film, however, I try to view once a year around Christmas time. If you need another Christmas special to add to your list, I donât think youâll regret this one. I donât know if it will appeal to people who didnât grow up with it, or the Muppets, but I had fun with it so I canât help but recommend it.
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mdzs read diary part IV, the end
Itâs inspiring how much self care wwx is gonna finally get now that his husband will go along with whatever he does, so heâs gotta look out for lwjâs well being if not his own. that is emphatically the STUFF
dragging my hands down I face as I read this, after all these chapters of getting up close and personal with ghouls bleeding from every orifice, slaying ancient beasts, rebelling against the entire cultivation world, the two of them are absolutely paralyzed by middle school crush sleepover math
chicken
he actually drew kissy doodles .... he....
IDK I THINK I JUST DOCUMENTED THIS PART CUZ I WAS STILL SCREAMING you cant expect me to have very useful things to say at this point
this is torture you are both so mushy you are so GONE
This part really stood out to me, itâs an attitude I feel like wwx implies with his inner narration a few times but most clearly says here: heâs not one for allowing himself to exaggerate how bad his circumstances are/could be even a little bit - heâs already lived through some extreme low points and found a way to keep going, so he never makes sweeping statements about what he couldnât live without (Inner JingYi: youâre supposed to say youâd be lost without him here!!!) Instead he seems to accept as a given that being alive doesnât guarantee him any pleasantness or joy at all, and as a result his feelings toward being in TRUE LOVE are surprisingly pragmatic, but also colored with such gratitude. There are a lot of things in the novel that struck me, like this, as being just a little to the left of familiar tropes/sentiments, and were more touching for it. Whether it be the influence of culture difference as opposed to what Iâm used to reading in most western romance stories, or MXTXâs unique outlook, or a combination of both, it was really refreshing and made me pause over it. Not âI canât imagine living without youâ but âI could be living without you, but instead I get to be with you and I think thatâs the best thing that could happen.â
ADJFDKFJ THE UST BEING SO STRONG THAT EVEN THE VILLAIN COMMENTS ON IT IN THE MIDDLE OF EXECUTING HIS EVIL PLANS IS ONE OF THOSE THINGS THAT WILL NEVER FAIL TO MAKE ME LAUGH MY ASS OFF. hes like god damn! here I thought I had problems
it was at this moment that I realized we were doing this Now... Iâm still recovering. What a scene. I am so glad I saw the most incredible fanart soon afterwards, bc the fact that someone has already drawn a perfect comic of this part means I donât have to
I love you so much, you are so annoying, you are perfect... I like how heâs been experiencing openly requited love for all of ten minutes but heâs already figured out how to weaponize it to piss people off
doing!!! his!!! job!!!!!
ahh... itâs a really good story. JGY is a great character. One of the most interesting differences for me between drama watching vs. novel reading experience is that without an actor to bat his vulnerable doe eyes at you and smile faintly with his cute dimples, the book does not go much out of its way to try to lull the reader into a false sense of security around him or *endear* him to you the way the show does. But just by seeing events through wei wuxianâs POV, its still enough to evoke pity or understanding towards him. The overall impression is a bit more detached though, thereâs less emphasis on the spectacle of how he could manipulate everyone closest to him and more of a general feeling of resigned tragedy that everyones the worst on this bitch of an earth.
I CANNOT DEAL WITH YOU FOR EVEN ONE MORE SECOND!!!!
I clearly paused to take note of less and less parts at the end & the extras due to: a) too excited to reach the end b) too spicy to photograph and c) too sleepy cuz I kept reading in the middle of the night. but I absolutely took the time for Bro We Are Teens appreciation corner:
Iâd absolutely read 40 more extra chapters of their monster-of-the-week field trip antics.
god... poor Jin Ling now basically has to deal with divorced parents that talk shit about each other to him whenever he is saying with one of them. except they are both his uncles. just a disasterhood of all uncles from start to finish. AUUUGH wei wuxian and jiang cheng have fucked me up completely, I dream of them reconciling but I also REFUSE to believe it would ever be easy. let me know if theres a fanfic that absolutely tortures you for decades before they hug
HAHAHA oh no this man ainât making it to immortality thats for damn sure. HEâS JUST GONNA TRY AS HARD AS HE CAN HIS WHOLE LIFE NOT TO LOOK AT HIM BUT THEYRE *MARRIED* SDLKFJSF ohhhh itâs too funny, like... the mundane domestic family drama IN the fantastical swords and sorcery setting is what really ratchets up these things from amusing to fucking hilarious I think
aaaa the end... final random thoughts? No not final, I would like to please keep discussing at length and exhaustively, all the time please - CQL has gotta be one of the best TV adaptations Iâve seen. ANY adaptation of anything would be lucky to be so good!! reading the novel has just made me appreciate it even more.
- I donât think I can do justice to what I find most fascinating about comparing the two versions briefly, to do that I need to get drunk and ramble at my friends for hours but... the condensed version is something like this. Really all the significant differences between the two versions (besides the ones which can be attributed to censorship and therefore arenât worth discussing) are a side effect of the structure of how the story is told - thereâs barely anything changed arbitrarily. Aside from having a cold opening, the drama sticks to a very linear version of the story, and I think for a TV show or film, thatâs probably the best way to do it. We see everything, we get shocked and tricked and betrayed and surprised along with the characters, we feel the biggest impact at the climactic scenes having experienced all the build-up. The novel on the other hand is not only much more non-linear in WHEN we learn bits and pieces of information, but that information is also obfuscated under wei wuxianâs multiple layers of Unreliable Narratoritis, which are as follows: 1) difficulty remembering things because of personality/avoiding painful memories/actual memory loss, 2) No Homo Goggles still on, and 3) a wry sense of humor that makes the reader unsure of how much they can trust his attitude toward things, especially near the beginning. The experience of reading is a puzzle the reader has to mentally piece together through all of the above listed camouflage, and the puzzle itself is a three-sided mystery: One - How Bad of a guy was Wei WuXian really, and how exactly did all the bad stuff in his life go down; Two - wangxian epic pride & prejudice gambits; Three - political murder mystery. (I love stories like this btw... though I fully admit Iâm glad I watched first this time bc it might have taken me a long time to tackle otherwise.) Because of this, where the drama wants to pull you in and submerge you in all the most potent emotional parts, the novel in direct contrast deliberately side-steps around these things and asks that you hurt yourself by filling in the blanks. In fact the more intense emotions and painful memories involved, whether it be his relationship with jiang yanli, his DEATH, the darkest days of war times etc, the more the novel evasively withholds details. I actually really like both styles of storytelling but each one is obviously way better suited to its medium. ANYWAY.... THATS BASICALLY WHERE MY BRAINS AT WHILE IM READING GAY SWORD WIZARD BOOKS
- The extras are so saturated with domestic married bliss that itâs a good thing I stopped taking pictures because Iâd just take a picture of every page. this is too much for me to take... I did jump the gun a few times and read a few fanfics while I was still mid-read of the book (I tried to hold out but alas I am mortal) and at one point after finishing I was like âwow what fic was it in where lwj says something cute and wwx kisses him in public but theyâre in the corner of the restaurant so no one really sees... OH NO WAIT that was actually in there.â and ... and thatâs the LEAST OF IT... *stares into the distance* theyre married wow
- I ofc couldnât help but see a few vague blogs beforehand so honestly I was braced for something like, wildly ooc for the sake of porn to happen in the extras... I definitely appreciate how the incense burner porn interludes could be uhhh a lot for many people and not my personal cup of tea in terms of smut however [here follows the words of a poisonous frog who has dwelt her whole life in the rainforests of BL] the concept is also surprisingly SWEET SDFLKJF like wwx sees lan wangjiâs darkest mixed-up violent teenage fantasies and heâs just like aww babe you had a crush on me!! just... good for them
- I swear Iâm not gonna rehash every cute married thing they do but wei wuxian grading papers in the tub........................rEALLY GOT ME
- I want to Draw - ok thats enough if I keep going Iâll just write âwei wuxian grading papers in the tubâ seven more times probably
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ââLittle Womenâ Has a Little Man Problem.â
So reads the headline for an article on Vanity Fairâs website this month about the latest screen adaptation of the beloved Louisa May Alcott novel. The film has been lauded by critics and ostensibly possesses many of the qualities awards voters look for: an A-list cast (including Saoirse Ronan, TimothĂ©e Chalamet and Meryl Streep); a respected actress-turned-director (Greta Gerwig); and beloved source material.
But so far it has been noticeably underrepresented during awards season â two Golden Globe nominations and zero Screen Actors Guild nods â and Vanity Fair described the audiences at early advance screenings as âoverwhelmingly comprised of women.â One of its producers, Amy Pascal, told the magazine she believes many male voters have avoided it because of an âunconscious bias.â
While the box office numbers following its release on Wednesday suggest the movie has found a decent audience â it placed third, behind the new âStar Warsâ and the latest âJumanji,â on opening day â that unconscious bias has seemed to trickle down to the casual male viewer as well, if Twitter is any indication. The New York Times critic Janet Maslin recently tweeted her surprise at the âactive hostility about âLittle Womenâ from men I know, love and respect.â
She also described the movieâs âproblem with menâ as âvery real.â Someone tweeted in response: âItâs not a âproblem.â We just donât care.â
In 2019, this attitude seems like history repeating itself. When Ms. Alcottâs book was first published in 1868, it was an instant success â it was favorably reviewed by many of the top magazines and has never gone out of print â but that made it an outlier. At that time American womenâs novels were not most criticsâ idea of âseriousâ writing. While their female British counterparts â Jane Austen and Fanny Burney, for example â were considered giants on the literary landscape, in the United States a different spirit ruled.
The predominantly white and male guardianship of the literary and intellectual high ground tended to view the essential American story as a solo confrontation with the wilderness, not a love triangle or intimate domestic saga. Nineteenth-century men of letters âsaw the matter of American experience as inherently male,â the literary critic Nina Baym wrote in her 1981 essay âMelodramas of Beset Manhood.â It was a complete negation of womenâs points of view, not just an artistic dismissal.
That doesnât mean American womenâs fiction wasnât popular â like âLittle Women,â Harriet Beecher Stoweâs âUncle Tomâs Cabinâ could barely keep up with demand after its 1852 publication. But that widespread appeal was used to slight the genre out of hand and further relegate it to the status of mere entertainment. As Ms. Baym noted, Nathaniel Hawthorne, for one, complained in 1855 about the âdamned mob of scribbling womenâ whose inexplicably popular work he feared would hurt his own book sales.
Thereâs some truth in the notion that women strove to write works that would sell â Ms. Alcott herself said she wrote âLittle Womenâ âat record speed for moneyâ while men toiled away on epics like âMoby-Dickâ that would fail to generate much income. This was in large part born of necessity; women had far fewer opportunities to earn decent money, usually forced to unskilled labor. Who wouldnât write a book for money?
In some ways, we live in a different, more progressive era where recent onscreen stories by and about women have been highly regarded: the Emmy-winning âFleabagâ; the crowd-pleasing âHustlers,â which outdid expectations at the box office and could lead Jennifer Lopez to her first Oscar nomination; âPortrait of a Lady on Fire,â about a romance between two women in 18th-century France, which was nominated for the Palme dâOr, the highest prize at Cannes, this year. Itâs not as if men have shunned these women-led stories.
It may be that on its surface, âLittle Womenâ doesnât seem as fresh and progressive, comparatively. Maybe men feel itâs too familiar â the book has been turned into a movie no fewer than seven times, including a little-seen version released just last year. But in an era when sequels and remakes clog the film landscape (many of them male-centered), itâs hardly an exception.
Or perhaps the movieâs marketing undersold just how inventive Ms. Gerwigâs adaptation â which takes many interesting creative liberties, such as ditching the linear narrative â is. The bucolic imagery in the trailer underlines the cozy, even slightly sappy aspects of Ms. Alcottâs book: the March sisters with their flowing locks and billowing gowns, looking as though they just stepped out of a John Singer Sargent painting. Knitting around a fire. Lots of dialogue centered around whom the young women will marry (in England, the second half of the book was called âGood Wivesâ). Some may feel the story is solely about getting a husband.
But the book has always been about more than this; in the character of Jo March (played in this iteration by Ms. Ronan), Ms. Alcott created a rebellious, tomboyish heroine eager for adventure. âI canât get over my disappointment in not being a boy,â Jo declares in Chapter One. âAnd itâs worse than ever now, for Iâm dying to go and fight with Papa. And I can only stay home and knit, like a poky old woman!â From afar âLittle Womenâ may look like a standard 19th-century romance, but Jo is ready to subvert conventions from the start.
Ms. Gerwigâs film inhabits this spirit throughout. As in the book, the March sisters are intellectually curious, avid readers and artistically inclined, eagerly performing Joâs melodramatic plays. Amy eventually goes to Europe to pursue a career in art, Beth excels at piano, Meg shows talent as a performer. In a pivotal scene late into the movie, Jo tries to describe to her mother what writing means to her and why she isnât defined by wifely feelings. Women, she says, âhave minds and they have souls as well as just hearts.â
Thereâs reason to believe this new âLittle Womenâ has appeal beyond a predominantly female audience. Several male film critics have given enthusiastic reviews, and on Wednesday Ms. Maslin tweeted her belief that male opposition has receded now that the movie is out. âMen are loving it,â she wrote. âEven ones who said they wouldnât go.â
Yet that this concern even existed to begin with is disheartening. If many men havenât wanted to give it a chance because they donât think itâs meant for them, we still have a way to go in considering all kinds of narratives about women to be deserving of thoughtful attention.
We can turn to a much-canonized American male writer, David Foster Wallace, for a vivid phrase not far off from Joâs cry to her mother: Fiction writing âis what it is to be a [expletive] human being.â Thatâs what âLittle Womenâ is â a plea for women to be seen as human beings.
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SO Let me see if I got this straight. People who are in fanatical support of a movie that has nothing to do with men, who's target audience isn't men and was never marketed to men seem to think it's mens faults but it bombed.
WHY DO THESE PEOPLE THINK MEN ARE OBLIGATED TO JUST GIVE UP THEIR MONEY?
Men that don't only one there Financial labor.
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My Five Most Influential
Someone asked:Â Â Who are the most influential writers in your life?
Good question.
The broad answer is that one gets influenced many different ways by many different sources.  I enjoy poetry and song lyrics because they find ways of conveying the strongest emotional content in the most concise manner, music brings a sense of dramatic rhythm and fulfillment, the visual arts suggest ways of subtly adding many insights to a single strong idea, etc., etc., and of course, etc. (and that is also an example of a creative influence in my work).
ButâŠto boil it down to those whom I most consciously made an effort to emulate, we find ourselves facing five creators that primed the pump.
This is not to say others whom I began following after them didnât wield a lot of influence (thanx, Ernie, Bert, Jack, Bob, and Hank!) but these are the foundation of everything Iâve done in my career.
(And to those who notice a lack of diversity, I know, I knowâŠbut to be honest I have to acknowledge the truth, and the truth is for whatever reason, by chance or by choice, by fate or by fortune, these five dominated my sensibilities.  I trust that Iâve grown and expanded my horizons since then, but theyâre the hand I got dealt.)
. . .Â
Carl Barks
I loved ducks as a kid and my grandmother and aunt would always bring me a passel of duck-related comics when they came to visit.
There were some Daffy Duck comics mixed in there but while I know I looked at and enjoyed them, none of them stick in my mind like the Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge stories of Carl Barks.
Typically my grandmother would read these comics to me and Iâd imprint the dialog and captions in my brain, replaying them as I looked at the pictures over and over again.
Barks never wrote down to his audience, and his stories covered a vast array of genres, everything from straight domestic comedy to oddball adventures to screwy crime stories.
Donald and his nephews encountered dinosaurs more than once (another big favorite of mine), and Uncle Scrooge setting out to explore the asteroid belt in order to find a new home for his fabulous money bin was another tale I loved literally to pieces, but A Christmas For Shacktown remains my all time favorite graphic novel.
Iâll concede there are better graphic novels, but none of them warm my heart the way that Christmas story does.
Barks showed itâs possible to combine heart (not to be confused with sentimentality or =yuch!= schmaltz), vivid characters, and strong, intricate narrative.  His plots where typically filled with unexpected twists and turns but his characters were always deeply involved in them, not just along for the ride.
Heâs one of the greatest storytellers in the 20th century, and his work remains timeless enough to last for several centuries to come.
. . .Â
Ray Bradbury
The first Ray Bradbury story I remember encountering was âSwitch On The Nightâ in its 1955 edition, read to my kindergarten class towards the end of the school year.
This would place the event sometime in the spring of 1959.
âSwitch On The Nightâ captivated me because it was the first story Iâd ever heard that showed what could be seen in the dark that couldnât be seen in the day.
Even as a child, it made me realize the night wasnât scary, but contained wonders and insights we miss in the harsh glare of day.
I donât recall if the kindergarten teacher told us the name of the author, and if she did it didnât stick, but boy howdy, the story sure did!  Did it open the doors of the night for me, or was I already inclined to be a night person and it simply confirmed that as a valid identity?
I dunno, but Iâm typing this right now at 12:24am.
And the thoughts Bradbury planted in little Buzzy boyâs brain stayed and grew and flowered, as you can read in my poem, âThe Magic Hours Of The Nightâ.
The next time I encountered Ray Bradburyâs writing was in grammar school, certainly no later than junior high.  I was already interested in science fiction by that point, and had read âThe Pedestrianâ in one of my school English books (we werenât taught the story in class; the teacher skipped over it for whatever reason but I read it anyway then re-read it and read it again and again).
Anthony Boucherâs ubiquitous 2-volume A Treasury Of Great Science Fiction was in my grammar school library and in it was Bradburyâs âPillar Of Fireâ (which I would later learn was one of his alternate Martian Chronicles and a crossover with Fahrenheit 451) and in that story he offered up a veritable laundry list of outrĂ© and outlandish fiction to be tracked down and read, authors to dig up and devour.
Oh, man, I was hooked.
So of course I began looking for all the stories and writers Bradbury listed in his short story but I also began looking for Bradburyâs own work and before you could say, âMom, can I get a subscription to the Science Fiction Book Club?â Iâd read The Golden Apples Of The Sun and A Medicine For Melancholy and R is For Rocket never once dreaming that at some point in the future the roadmap Ray plopped down in my lap would eventually lead to us being co-workers (separate projects, but the same studio at the same time) and friends.
There is a beautiful yet deceptive simplicity to Rayâs work, and even though he wrote his own book on writing (The Zen Of Writing) that has lots of good insights and professional tricks & tips, he himself wasnât able to explain how he did it.
I donât think Iâve ever seen a good Ray Bradbury parody.
Iâve seen parodies that clearly are intended to evoke Ray Bradbury, but only in the same way a clumsy older relative might evoke Michael Jackson with a spasmodic movement one vaguely recognizes as a failed attempt at a moonwalk.
But, lordie, donât think we didnât try to emulate him, and while none of us fanboys ever came close, I think a lot of us did learn that less is more, that the right word carries more impact than a dozen paragraphs, and that thereâs magic in even the most ordinary of things.
And of course I discovered the film and TV adaptations of his work, and in discovering them I also discovered that there are some things that just canât be translated from one media to another, and that the light, effortless appeal of Rayâs work on the page (paper or pixel) can at best be recaptured with a good audio book reader but even the best dramatic adaptions -- even those by Ray himself -- are cold dead iron butterflies compared to the light and lively creatures flying about.
So eventually I stopped trying to write like him, and instead picked up the valuable lessons of mood and emotion making an impact on a story even if the plot didnât make much logical sense.
Decades later I would become a fan of opera, and would learn the philosophy of all opera lovers:Â Â Opera doesnât have to make logical sense, it just has to make emotional sense.
Ray Bradbury, opera meister.
. . .Â
H.P. Lovecraft
As noted above, Bradburyâs âPillar Of Fireâ tipped me to numerous other writers, first and foremost of which turned out to be Howard Phillips Lovecraft.
Okay, before we get any further into this, letâs acknowledge the woolly mammoth in the room:Â Â H.P. Lovecraft was a colossal asshat racist.
He was a lot of other terrible things, too, but racist is far and ahead of the rest of the pack.
Itâs a disillusioning thing to find people one admired as a youngster or a teen later prove to have not just quirks and eccentricities and personal flaws, but genuinely destructive, harmful, and offensive characters.
Iâve posted on that before, too.
How I wish it were possible to retroactively scale back that hurtfulness, to make them more empathetic, less egregiously offensive (in the military sense of the word), but that ainât so.
We have to acknowledge evil when we see it, and we have to call it out, and we have to shun it.
Which is hard when one of its practitioners provides a major influence in our creative lives.
Hereâs what I liked about Lovecraft as a kid:Â Â He was the complete opposite of Ray Bradbury.
Bradburyâs instinctive genius was in finding the right word, the simple word that conveyed great impact on the story, drawing the reader into the most fantastic situations by making them seem more familiar on a visceral level.
Lovecraft achieved the exact opposite effect by finding the most arcane, bedizened, baroque, florid, grandiloquent, overwrought, rococo verbiage possible and slapping the reader repeatedly in the face with it.
If Bradbury made the unreal real, Lovecraft made the weird even more weirder.
And letâs give this devil his due:  The Strange Case Of Charles Dexter Ward and The Dunwich Horror are two masterpieces of horror and serve as the bridge between Edgar Allen Poe and Stephen King, not to mention his creation of Cthulhu and other ancient entities existing beyond the ken of human knowledgeâŠ
âŠoh, wait, thatâs where the story simultaneously gets messy yet provides a convenient escape hatch for fans.
While Lovecraft created Cthulhu, he did not create the Cthulhu Mythos.
That was primarily the invention August Derleth, a writer / editor / agent and H.P. Lovecraftâs #1 fanboy.
Lovecraft had some loosely related ideas in his stories and several themes he revisited repeatedly (in addition to racism).
He also had a circle of fellow writers -- including such heavy hitters as Robert âPsychoâ Bloch and Robert E. âConanâ Howard -- who picked up on his ideas and, as way of a tribute, incorporated them in some of their stories.
Derleth took all this and Lovecraftâs unfinished manuscripts and short ideas he jotted down and turned it into a whole post-mortem industry, linking all of Lovecraft and other writersâ tales.
And he did a damn fine job of it, too.
So much so that the Cthulhu Mythos has taken on a life of its own, and pretty much anybody can play in that cosmic sandbox now (including Big Steve King and a ton of Japanese anime) and so Lovecraftâs works have an enormous influence on pop cultureâŠ
,,,but Howard hizzowndamsef can be -- and is -- cancelled.
Derleth and various biographers downplayed Lovecraftâs virulent racism for decades, and I donât think Ray Bradbury was ever aware of the scope and tenor of Lovecraftâs bigotry when he name checked him in âPillar Of Fireâ and other stories.
In a similar vein Bradbury didnât know -- because thanks again to overly protective literary executors, nobody knew -- just how big a racist asshat Walt Whitman was, either.  It is one thing to call shenanigans on a Bill Cosby or a Harvey Weinstein or a Donald Trump because their egregious behaviors were noted long before they were held accountable, but quite another to do so on a creator who died while hiding their most awful behavior from thousands if not millions of fans who felt inspired and uplifted by their work.
Itâs one thing to call out a contemporary bigot and not support them by not buying their work, itâs quite another when their bigotry has been shielded from view and fair minded, decent people have used their work to draw inspiration into their own creativity.
Of course, I had no way of knowing all this when I was in junior high and seriously began tracking down Lovecraftâs work. Â
He possessed a flair of the horrific and unearthly that to this day is hard to match (but easier to parody).  He was a tremendous influence on my early writing (truth be told, I zigzagged between Bradburyâs stark simplicity and Lovecraftâs overarching verbosity, giving my early oeuvre a rather schizophrenic style) and the ideas he sparked still reverberate to this day.
If only he hadnât been such a giant %#@&ing asshat racist âŠ
. . .Â
Harlan Ellison
In a way, Iâm glad neither Harlan nor his widow Susan are alive to read this.
I cherished Harlan as a friend and greatly admired his qualities as a writer.
But damn, by his own admission he should have been thrown in prison for aggravated assault on numerous occasions (he was courts martialed three times while in the Army).
Weâre not talking about arguments that spiraled out of control until a few wild punches were thrown, weâre talking about Harlan by his own admission stalking and ambushing people, knocking them unconscious or causing grievous bodily harm.
Weâre talking about sexual abuse and humiliation.
Weâre talking about incidents he admitted to which if true put people in life threatening situations.
And yet ironically, in a certain sense Harlan (a bona fide Army Ranger, BTW) was like the U.S. Marine Corps:Â Â Youâd never have a greater friend or a worse enemy.
I became dimly aware of Harlan in the late 1960s as I started diving deeper into literary sci-fi, transitioning from monster kid fandom to digests and paperbacks.  Harlan first caught my attention with his macho prose (years later a similar style also drew me to Charles Bukowski) in stories like âAlong the Scenic Routeâ (a.k.a. âDogfight on 101â) in which Los Angelinos engaged in Mad Max motor mayhem but soon it became apparent the macho posturing was just a patina, that the heart and soul of much of the work reflected great sensitivity and often profound melancholy (ditto Bukowski).
Harlan was a fighter, and again by his own admission, he acknowledged in his later years that he was not a fighter because his cause was just, but rather sought out just causes because he knew he would be fighting regardless of his position, yet possessed a strong enough moral compass to point himself in the direction of a worthy enemyâŠ
âŠmost of the time.
He hurt and offended a large number of innocent and some not-so-innocent-but-certainly-not-evil people.
He also helped and encouraged a large number of others, people who had no idea who he was, people who had no way of adequately reciprocating his kindness and generosity.
He defended a lot of defenseless people.
He also mistakenly defended a lot of terrible people.
If someone tells me Harlan was a monster, Iâll agree:  Monstre sacrĂ©.
What made his writing sacred was that no matter how outlandish the situation, Harlan dredged up from the depths emotions so strong as to be frightening in their depiction.
Skilled enough not to lose sight of humanity, outlandish enough to conjure up ideas and emotions most people would shy away from, Harlan hit adolescent Buzzy boy like an incendiary grenade.
Unlike my first three literary influences, Harlan was and remained active in the fannish circles where I was circulating at the time.  He regularly wrote letters and columns for various fanzines, including a few I subscribed to.
In a literary sense he stood, naked and unashamed, in full view of the world, and that willingness to go beyond mundane sensibilities is what made his work so compelling.
He certainly fired me up as an adolescent writer, and proved an amalgam of Bradbury and Lovecraft that got my creative juices flowing in a coherent direction.
I donât think I ever consciously tried to imitate him in my writing, but I sure learned from him, both in how to charge a story with emotion and how to fight for whatâs right regardless of the blow back.
I loved him as a friend.
But, damn, HarlanâŠyou could act so ugly...
. . .
H. Allen Smith
Who?
Most of you have never heard of H. Allen Smith, and thatâs a damn shame.
Iâd never heard of him either until I stumbled across a coverless remaindered copy of Poor H. Allen Smithâs Almanac in a Dollar General Store bin in Tennessee in the late 1960s (it was a memorable shopping expedition:Â Â I also purchased Thomas Heggenâs Mister Roberts and Letâs Kill Uncle by Rohan O'Grady [pen name of June Margaret O'Grady Skinner]).
Reading Smithâs editorial comments (in addition to his own essays and fiction he edited numerous humor anthologies) I realized Iâd found a kindred soul.
Smith had a very conversational tone as a writer; his prose seemed off the cuff and unstructured, but he slyly used that style to hide the very peculiar (and often perverse) path he led readers down.
He sounded / read like a garrulous guy at the bar, one with a huge number of charming, witty (and delightfully inebriated) friends in addition to his own bottomless well of tall tales, pointed observations, and rude jokes.
Of all the writers mentioned above, that style is the one I most consciously tried to emulate, and one I seem to have been able to find my own voice in (several people have told me I write the same way I talk, a rarity among writers).
Smith was hilarious whether wearing an editorâs visor or a freelancerâs foolâs cap.  If you know who H. L. Mencken was, think of Smith as a benign, better tempered version of that infamous curmudgeon (and if you donât know, hie thee hence to Google and find out).
Compared to my other four influences, Smith didnât need to add the fantastic to his fiction:Â Â The real world was weird and wacky and whimsical enough.
A newspaper man turned best selling author, Smith became among the most popular humorists of the 1940s-50s-60sâŠ
âŠand then he died and everybody forgot him.
Part of the reason they forgot is that he wrote about things that no longer seem relevant (TV cowboys of the early television era, fâr instance, in Mr. Zip) or are today looked upon askance (and with justifiable reason; the ethnic humor in many of his anthologies may not have been intended as mean spirited, but it sure doesnât read as a celebration of other cultures, viz his succinct account of an argument following a traffic accident between two native Honolulu cabbies rendered in pidgin:  âWassamatta you?â  ââWassmatta meâ?!?!?  Wassamatta you âWassamatta meâ?  You wassamatta!â).
Iâm sure I picked up a great many faults from Smith, but Smith also had the virtue of being willing and able to learn and to make an effort to be a better person today than he was yesterday, and better still tomorrow.
Iâve certainly tried applying that to my life.
Smithâs style was also invoked -- consciously or not -- by other writers and editors, notably Richard E. Geis, the editor of the legendary sci-fi semi-prozone, Science Fiction Review (among other titles).  Smith died before I could meet him, but while I never met Dick Geis face to face we were pen pals for over 40 years.
Geis certainly sharpened specific aspects of my writing style, but the real underlying structure came from H. Allen Smith.
Smithâs work is hard to find today (in no small part because whenever I encounter one in the wild I snap it up) but I urge you to give him a try.
Just brace yourself for things we might consider incorrect today.
. . .Â
So thereâs my top five.Â
With the exception of Carl Barks and Ray Bradbury, none of them are without serious flaw or blemish (though Smith seems like a decent enough sort despite his fondness for X-rated and ethnic humor).
In my defense as an impressionable child / teen, I was not aware of these flaws and blemishes when I first encountered their writing (primarily because in many cases efforts were made to hide or downplay those aspects).
The positive things I gleaned from them are not negated by the negative personal information that came out later.
I can, for the most part re the more problematic of them, appreciate their work while not endorsing their behavior.
Ellison can only be described in extremes, but his fire and passion -- when directed in a positive direction -- served as a torch to light new paths (his two original anthologies, Dangerous Visions and Again, Dangerous Visions, pretty much blew the doors off old school sci-fi and belatedly dragged the genre kicking and screaming into the 20th century).
Lovecraft I can effectively ignore while finding entertainment value in the Cthulhu Mythos.
But I must acknowledge this isnât the same for everyone.
For example, as innocuous as I find H. Allen Smith, if a woman or a member of a minority group said, âI found this in particular to be offensiveâ Iâd probably have to say, yeah, youâre right.
But I can still admire the way he did it, even if I can no longer fully support what he did.
. . .Â
By the time I reached high school, Iâd acquired enough savvy to regard to literary finds a bit more dispassionately, appreciating what they did without trying to literally absorb it into my own writing.
I discovered for myself the Beat generation of writers and poets, the underground cartoonists of the late 60s and 70s, Ken Kesey, Joseph Heller, Philip K. Dick, Ursula K. LeGuin, and a host of others, some already alluded to.
Some, such as the Beats and Bukowski, I could enjoy for their warts and all honest self-reflection.
Yes, they were terrible people, but they knew they were terrible people, and they also knew there had to be something better, and while they may never have found the nirvana they sought, they at least sent back accurate reports of where they were in their journeys of exploration.
By my late teens, Iâd become aware enough of human foibles and weaknesses -- every humanâs foibles and weaknesses, including my own -- to be very, very cautious in regarding an individual as admirable.
While I will never accept creativity as an excuse for bad behavior, if a creator is honest enough and self-introspective enough to recognize and acknowledge their own failings, it goes a long way towards my being willing to enjoy their work without feeling Iâm endorsing them as individuals.
Itâs not my place to pass judgment or exoneration on others bad behavior.
It is my place to see that I donât emulate othersâ bad behavior.
Every creator is connected to their art, even if itâs by-the-numbers for-hire hack work.
Every creator puts something of themselves into the final product.
And every member of the audience must decide for themselves if that renders the final product too toxic to be enjoyed.Â
    © Buzz Dixon
#how this writer's mind works#writing#Carl Barks#Ray Bradbury#HP Lovecraft#Harlan Ellison#H Allen Smith#influences
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