#also the mocap continues to be glorious

[blackjackkent]

OK, I feel like we might as well bring Astarion to talk with Araj before we move on anywhere else in Moonrise Towers, so back to camp we go!

We don't actually have the option to tell him where we're bringing him and why before doing it, so we'll just dive right in.

Hey, Araj, I brought you Astarion like you wan--

"I never thought I'd see one in real life... I read about your kind for so many years, but you are a finer specimen than any bestiary could describe."

Hm.

So given how flustered she was before, I was like 95% certain that they already knew each other, but the 5% has it; she's looking at him like a piece of (scholarly) meat.

Astarion, to his credit, did not immediately punch her, but just cocked his head to one side and gave the most frankly bemused expression I've ever seen from him.

This was a truly glorious bit of expressive mocap; he looked like he wasn't sure whether to laugh, be angry, or have her committed.

"You're really a vampire? At least one of their spawn..."

Astarion does a creditable impression of a carefree laugh, clearly wondering why the hell Hector brought him to this conversation. "Don't worry," he says brightly. "We're all friends under the Absolute."

His head drops and his eyes narrow slightly, his smile turning brittle. "I won't bite."

Araj smiles coolly. "Oh, I'd prefer if you did."

Her eyes flick to Hector. "And he's yours to command. My envy is palpable."

The image compression doesn't really help much here but both of them are making 100% apropos faces in response to this. Hector is baffled and Astarion thinks the idea of being Hector's to command is the funniest fucking thing in the universe.

"Excuse me?" Hector says firmly. "He's his own person." Whatever Araj might have in mind, he is not going to be party to anything that puts Astarion back under anyone's yoke.

Araj smiles disdainfully. "I'm sure he really believes that. How utterly adorable."

She turns back to Astarion briskly. "Do you have a name, spawn?"

He blinks at her. "Astarion. But hold on--"

"Good," she cuts him off. "Now, Astarion..." Her head tips back slightly and her lips part, and she looks him over with a gaze that can only be called lascivious. "I've dreamt of being bitten by a vampire sinc eI was a very young girl."

Hector and Astarion both stare at her. "I'm sorry? You *want* to be bitten?" Astarion asks. Hector glances sideways, expecting to see him with that wide, cocky, hungry grin - but to his surprise, the elf looks thoroughly uncomfortable.

Araj's smile widens, a touch of madness, of obsession in it now. "To feel your life's blood slipping away? To dance on the edge between life and death? Yes...I want it..."

Hector is struck by a sudden, visceral memory of that early night in camp, long before Karlach ever touched him - the heady weight of Astarion's body pressing into his and the sharp icepick incision of teeth into his neck. The descent into dizzy, drifty euphoria as the blood flowed out of him. A bewildering sensation - not one he would seek a second time, though...

Araj seems to recognize that she is not getting the snappy response that she wanted. "I'll even compensate you," she goes on hastily, looking towards Hector, not Astarion, as she says so. "A potion of legendary power that forever increases the strength of the one who consumes it. It's not for sale, but it's yours if you bite me."

Astarion lets out a nervous giggle. "I will have to decline," he says before Hector can say anything. He's still smiling brightly but the facade is cracking. There's fear under the denial.

Araj's eyes flash angrily. "Excuse me? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and you're squandering it."

"I GAVE you my answer!" Astarion snaps, taking a step back; the mask has cracked completely now and his expression has gone tight with fear and anger, a look Hector has never seen there before.

The strangeness of this moment, while not lost on the party, is very lost on Araj, who simply rolls her eyes and looks towards Hector with irritation. "Can't you talk some sense into your obstinate charge?" she demands.

Hector hesitates. The potion sounds nice, of course, but it is a complete non-issue to him if Astarion doesn't want to bite this woman; he's certainly not going to force it. But he's confused. He's never seen Astarion in this state before. "I am surprised, Astarion," he says mildly. "I thought you'd jump at a chance like this."

His confusion is sincere - but Astarion clearly doesn't read it that way. His eyes narrow coldly and he looks from Hector to Araj and laughs humorlessly.

"I'm sorry, but -- would you excuse us for a moment?"

Without waiting for a response, he grabs Hector by the collar and drags him several feet away.

"Are you seriously asking me to do this?" he hisses furiously. "Trading me for some potion?"

Hector opens his mouth to say that no, of course he wasn't trying to trade Astarion for anything, that he was just surprised, but the elf is still talking.

"Because there's *something wrong with her blood.*" He draws back, wrinkles his nose. "I can smell it from here. It's *rank*."

Hector tilts his head quizzically. "What do you mean? What's wrong with her blood?"

"I can't say," Astarion snaps. "It just smells wrong. Unnatural. Drinking it wouldn't kill me, but it would *not* be pleasant."

His lips curl and his shoulders square, and Hector realizes very abruptly that he is fully ready to fight rather than be forced into this decision. And the reason for that is, when he thinks about it, obvious.

This isn't about food. This is about power. This woman doesn't want to feed him, or even trade with him - she wants to use him.

And Astarion has had 200 years of being used, and even now he is willing to believe that Hector wants to use him just the same.

A flash of grief and compasson goes through him that is almost painful in intensity. I thought I had earned more of your trust than that. But then again...I have centuries of your history to stand against.

"I don't have all day, True Soul," Araj puts in impatiently.

Astarion is looking at him like a frightened horse ready to bolt. Hector shakes his head once slightly. "Don't do anything you don't want to," he tells the other man gently, and then is silent.

Astarion stares at him for a long moment. "...All right," he says, and his tone is remarkably devoid of anything sarcastic or harsh. He sounds stunned. The tension goes out of his shoulders, and then he smiles. "Thank you."

He turns back to Araj, and his bearing has straightened a little, more confident and direct; without realizing it, he had slipped into a slump-shouldered posture as he expected Hector to deliver him over, but he has command of himself once again now.

"It's still a no, I'm afraid," he says firmly.

"How very disappointing," Araj sneers.

Astarion turns and walks away without a backward glance, and the rest of the group trails behind him down the corridor. It's only when they are out of earshot that he stops, and looks at Hector with wide eyes, and after a moment's hesitation puts a hand on the taller man's shoulder. "Thank you," he says softly. "I appreciated that."

[krokodile]

movies watched in 2017

wonder woman - it was...fine?  i liked it more than i’ve liked any other superhero movie, and the character driven bits (and some of the action sequences) kept my attention, but the longer fight sequences had me dozing off.  these types of movies just aren’t my thing.  as far as they go, though, this had more things for me to like than most of them do, and damn, gal gadot is charming af.

power rangers - the nostalgia movie boom seems to have skipped directly over my childhood.  transformers was a bit before my time; power rangers was a bit after.  but this movie looked entertaining enough for me to check it out, and...yeah, it was.  obviously i didn’t get any of the references or have any idea of how it worked as an adaptation, but as a kids’ action flick, it had a fair bit of heart and some really good performances.  god help me i am really starting to like elizabeth banks, which...if you’d told me this ten years ago, or even two years ago, i would’ve called you a damn dirty liar.  is it me, though, or was there not a ton of actual action?  not a complaint on my end, but i feel like it might have been for the people there for the nostalgia, or little kids there to watch the power rangers kick ass.  

the perfect host - i loved this so much i immediately made my mother sit down and watch it.  david hyde pierce is just the fucking greatest thing ever in this.  it’s also pretty damn amusing to realize that this character is, really, just what would happen if niles crane just snapped one day.  it’s a shitton of fun and i can’t recommend it enough.

war for the planet of the apes - really enjoyed it.  as with rise, i regret not seeing it on the big screen; it looks awesome.  andy serkis continues to be perfect.  woody harrelson is disturbingly hot as amon goeth but with apes.  i’m not proud of that last sentence but things are what they are.  the kid playing nova (who looks startlingly like a small linda harrison) is an absolute star - no dialogue, acting opposite a bunch of dudes in mocap suits, and you believe every fucking second of her performance just from her face.  it didn’t even OCCUR to me until the movie was over that, oh right, there weren’t actually apes there.  which also says a lot about just how goddamn well-acted those apes are.  i already mentioned andy serkis, but karin konoval deserves every bit as much credit and praise as maurice.  it’s not my type of film - rise was the one from this trilogy that was more my cup of tea - but it’s so flawlessly done that i really loved it regardless.

wind river - look, i hate that guy who says “this film is important.”  i don’t want to be that guy.  but i have to be that guy.  this film is important.  you need to see it, and with the understanding that this is based on a true story in more than one respect.  as the film takes care to point out, native women are the one demographic for whom missing persons records are not kept.  this is loosely based one on person’s precise experience, yes, but it’s also the truth of thousands of native women no one ever looked for; women whose families never had the hope of closure, let alone justice.  it’s the truth of countless women who are treated as objects by white men, who are raped, who are murdered and who are conveniently forgotten by law enforcement.  in 1978, the supreme court declared that white people couldn’t be arrested and prosecuted by native people for crimes committed on native land, and it’s only as of 2015 that non-native men can now be prosecuted through the tribal courts for domestic assault against native women.  

it’s also just excellent as a film.  i do understand the potential issues with having the main character be a white guy, and “white savior” complaints wouldn’t be out of line.  but i also have a feeling that the studio likely didn’t think this film would find an audience at all without a white lead, and they’d probably be correct.  jeremy renner, for what it’s worth, does well with the character, and while we didn’t really need the liam-neeson-in-taken-esque turn at the top of the mountain, it’s about what you’d expect from taylor sheridan.  

elizabeth olsen...can someone be declared a revelation twice?  because every fucking SECOND of her performance is flawless.  she won me over in martha marcy may marlene, and she’s grown so much as an artist since then.  her character is also well-used near the end of the film to pull focus away from the white leads to refocus on the victim, and...fucking hell, that scene should’ve earned olsen an oscar nomination.  it won’t; this film is criminally ignored.  whether it’s because of the weinstein connection or just because hollywood has hit its quota of “minorities in america” films for this year and the white powers that be have lost interest, i couldn’t tell you.  

the supporting cast, as well, is just spectacular.  gil birmingam is the unsung backbone of this film and his performance is glorious, managing to be both passionate and understated.  graham greene is impossible likable with amazing delivery.  martin sensmeier doesn’t have much screentime, but the minutes he does have are absolutely gutting.  teo briones has only a few scenes as jeremy renner’s half-native son, but he makes a real impression (and is the son of jon jon briones, which you have to love; i guess crazy talent runs in the family).  and kelsey asbille is given precious few minutes to make us fall in love with a young woman we all know is doomed, and she manages easily, although the fact that she isn’t actually native gives me some pause with regard to her being cast.  still, she does a great job with the role.  

it looks incredible.  taylor sheridan isn’t the person i would have expected to write or direct this one, but damned if he didn’t do some amazing work.  this movie deserves to be seen.  

personal shopper - if this movie doesn’t stop people from having that weird “kristen stewart can’t act” belief, i suppose nothing will.  this is her best performance yet, and yes i did see clouds of sils maria; she’s somehow managed to outdo her work in that film.  loved the movie for all its weirdness.  never knew what the fuck was going to happen from one moment to the next and i appreciate that.

eyes of laura mars - i can’t tell if this movie was supposed to be taken seriously or not.  i have that issue with faye dunaway movies a lot though.

amityville: the awakening - i’ve never liked an amityville movie - i  tolerated the aughts remake because chloe moretz was a friend’s client and it had melissa george (not sure if i knew who rachel nichols was at the time but if i did, that would’ve been another bonus) - and i have not started now.  

ingrid goes west - not really what i was expected tonally, particularly the ending.  didn’t love it, didn’t dislike it.  can i finally admit that i just don’t like aubrey plaza that much?  o’shea jackson jr. is fucking adorable though.  

serpent - i appreciated that there was actual effort put into this, but it was destined to be crap with the premise of “stuck in a tent with a snake for most of the film.”  unless it’s ian mckellen and patrick stewart, you’re just NOT going to enjoy watching two people sit in one place and do little of anything for an hour and a half.  (and really, you’re going to fight about your relationship NOW??  like, i’m a pretty petty person but damn.)