#like . a nonbinary actor as the Lead in a tv adaptation of one of the most popular and most awarded video games of all time ???

[oddinry]

it makes me so happy that a nonbinary actor is playing ellie :')

[horizon-verizon]

HotD and the Golden Globes

House of the Dragon may have won the Golden Globe for "Best Drama TV Series", but it doesn't validate the characterizations, the writing, or ideas present in the writing of the show. Even if Fire and Blood didn't exist, this show is not very good once you think about it. There are too many inconsistencies of logic and the show's own internal lore to see it as a well-written story. And Ryan Condal 's "theory of accidents" is not a good or logical way to characterize or set up a character's motivations since it makes them more reactive instead of active (Seth Abramson on Substack). It also reduces both agency and accountability for characters like Alicent and Aemond, while muddling their motivation and creating doubt in their ability to reason. These are not even minor charater's, either. Both are absolutely essential to how the Dance went as it did, and the first's actions against Rhaenyra is the reason why the Dance even existed in the first place.

And then, once you do take into account that this is supposed to be an adaptation, the logic, characterizations, themes, etc actually all so different or inconsistent from those things that are unbiasedly true in the canon account of the Dance of the Dragons in Fire and Blood, it is impossible to count this as a adaptation and not a poorly written fanfiction. Especially in context of the treatment of women in Westeros after Rhaenyra's death and what Daenerys "Stormborn" Targaryen does and represents in the book series A Game of Thrones and the TV adaptation Game of Thrones. @brideoffires writes this POST and @la-pheacienne writes this ONE about ASoIaF's world's misogyny.

A show getting awards does not automatically make it a good show in of itself nor prove its excellence, since it is also clear that awards like the Globes do not necessarily hand awards because the show is well-written. The Globes is a huge culprit of dirty business or susness because the people responsible for choosing who/what wins or gets nominated for any Globe -- the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, or the HFPA-- is suspect and has a real history of being bought out or "wined and dined" and excluding or snubbing much better shows and films. And some or most of those snubbed have a pattern of being PoC-written, PoC-starred, etc. Emily in Paris over I May Destroy You, anyone?

The LA Times article that I listed has this:

Over its nearly eight-decade history, the HFPA has weathered a string of embarrassing scandals, lawsuits and often blistering criticism of its membership. The group has been the butt of jokes even from the stage of its own awards show. Hosting in 2016, Ricky Gervais dismissed the Globes as “worthless,” calling the award “a bit of metal that some nice old confused journalists wanted to give you in person so they could meet you and have a selfie with you.” In a 2014 interview, actor Gary Oldman said the group was “90 nobodies having a wank” and called for a boycott of the “silly game” their awards represent.

Yet despite all this, the HFPA has managed to carve out a unique and improbable position of influence. Its members — relatively few of whom work full time for major overseas outlets — are routinely granted exclusive access to Hollywood power players, invited to junkets in exotic locales, put up in five-star hotels and, as Globes nominations near, lavished with gifts, dinners and star-studded parties. To the studios, networks and celebrities that court its favor and exploit its awards as a marketing tool, the group is at once fawned over, derided and grudgingly tolerated. (Four years after blasting the HFPA, Oldman thanked them when accepting his first-ever Globe for his turn as Winston Churchill in “Darkest Hour.”)

Now, I am not talking about Emma D'Arcy's nomination for "Lead Actress" (despite them being nonbinary), because as an performer Emma is and was great in HotD. I am talking about the show and its writing.

[undertheinfluencerd]

https://ift.tt/2WPxLM9 #

Netflix’s live-action adaptation of the beloved series Cowboy Bebop is changing the anime for the better. Ever since this TV show’s release in the late 1990s, it has been considered one of the greatest anime series of all time, and one of the only instances where the English dubbed version is preferred to the Japanese. Cowboy Bebop follows a ragtag group of misfits aboard the “Bebop” who struggle to find work as bounty hunters.

Cowboy Bebop has been praised for its complex yet likable characters, its mix of genres, its category-defying soundtrack, and its deep, thought-provoking themes. Netflix’s announced live-action Cowboy Bebop show received skepticism from some fans who worried the series would suffer the same fate as many other live-action anime adaptations, which have been critical and financial failures. However, Cowboy Bebop has the chance to break this trend.

Related: Cowboy Bebop Cast & Characters Guide: What The Voice Actors Look Like

It would have been a mistake to simply duplicate a series that many fans consider already perfect. John Cho, the lead actor playing Spike Spiegel, said in an interview (via Vulture) that he only agreed to join the project after being reassured it would not be a shot-for-shot remake. Cho explained it “was a recipe for encouraging unflattering comparisons.” Viewers would fixate only on comparing this Cowboy Bebop to the original, and the Netflix series would fail before it even began. Cho also admitted in the interview that he was initially insecure about his age difference. In the anime, Spike is 27 years old, while Cho is 49, one of many differences between Cowboy Bebop‘s adaptations. Yet, Cho believes he can portray the character more successfully since he’s older. He can better convey Spike’s emotional depth which, considering the show’s themes about loneliness and confronting one’s past, is arguably more important than sticking with the original character’s age.

Some of Cowboy Bebop’s material has also been updated for modern times. Faye Valentine (Daniella Pineda) has a more practical outfit with clothes that actually enable Pineda to perform stunts while wearing them. Although some fans expressed outrage over the change, it’s a necessary adjustment when translating character designs from animation to live-action. Another update concerns the minor character Grencia Mars Elijah Guo Eckener, nicknamed Gren. In the original anime, Gren was a war veteran who took an experimental drug that increased their estrogen levels, causing them to grow breasts. Set in the year 2071, Cowboy Bebop was revolutionary in many ways, but a lot of the vocabulary that exists today for the LGBTQ community did not at the time it first aired. For the Netflix show, Gren’s character has been reimagined as nonbinary and is portrayed by nonbinary actor, Mason Alexander Park.

Regardless of the reasoning behind a change, some fans will only care that it is no longer perfectly accurate, as proven by reactions to Faye’s outfit. Perhaps they can be sated with the knowledge that the anime’s original composer, Yoko Kanno, has returned, and the director, Shinichiro Watanabe, is a creative consultant for the series. Their involvement with the live-action project shows that Netflix is committed to creating a series that is faithful thematically and artistically to the original, even if some elements have been updated.

Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop is changing the anime, and that’s a good thing. When Cowboy Bebop airs in fall 2021, the talented cast and crew will be introducing a beloved series to a whole new generation. Hopefully, regardless of whether viewers have seen the original anime, they will walk away from this adaptation pleased with the results.

Next: Why Cowboy Bebop Ended After Just 26 Episodes (Was It Canceled?)

#marvel #avengers #marvelcomics #spiderman #mcu #ironman #comics #captainamerica #thor #avengersendgame #marvelstudios #xmen #dc #marveluniverse #art #cosplay #tomholland #hulk #disney #comicbooks #dccomics #peterparker #tonystark #blackwidow #marvellegends #endgame #deadpool #marvelcinematicuniverse #loki #bhfyp

The post How Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop Is Changing The Anime (& Why That’s A Good Thing) appeared first on undertheinfluencerd.net.

#entertainment, screenrant #tumblr #aesthetic #like #love #tumblrgirl #follow #instagram #photography #instagood #likeforlikes #s #likes #art #cute #o #girl #followforfollowback #a #tumblrboy #grunge #fashion #photooftheday #tiktok #l #photo #sad #k #frases #f #bhfyp

[aion-rsa]

How Y: The Last Man Updates Its Story for the Modern Era

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

It’s no secret that Y: The Last Man took its sweet time in getting adapted. The story, first told in comic format from 2002 through 2008 by writer Brian K. Vaughan and illustrator Pia Guerra, was optioned to become a film as far back as 2007 with David Goyer producing.

The film project eventually developed into a TV pilot at FX in 2015. The show then ran into behind the scenes issues cycling through several producers and lead actors before settling upon Eliza Clark as showrunner and Ben Schnetzer as protagonist Yorick Brown. Now the sci-fi story about a virus that wipes out every man on Earth save for Yorick and his capuchin monkey Ampersand is finally seeing the light of day via FX on Hulu…amid a pandemic, no less! 

Given that the comic series (of which 60 issues were published) debuted nearly 20 years ago, it’s reasonable to wonder if its premise can even hold up to modern expectations. That was the question that Clark, Schnauzer, executive producer Nina Jacobson, and the cast endeavored to answer during the show’s appearance at the Television Critics Association summer 2021 press tour. 

“I read this comic book 10 years ago and fell in love with it,” Clark told reporters via Zoom. “I think it’s a beautiful story about survival. It examines characters in a landscape that is constantly pressing on really interesting ideas on power and systematic oppression. The comic book is also 20 years old. One of the things I was most interested in doing with this adaptation was taking all the things I loved about this comic and updating it.”

While the book’s central conceit of “What if…women?” was fairly progressive for its post 9/11 era, many other stories have charted similar socio-political waters effectively since. The comic’s depiction of sex and gender wasn’t always as sophisiticated as modern interpreations either. Though Vaughan’s story does feature a handful of trans male background characters, it doesn’t fully reckon with the implications of a virus that wipes out every mammal with a Y chromosome.

“There’s so much more that can be explored within that. Gender is diverse,” Clark said. “Chromosomes are not equal to gender. Every living mammal with a Y chromosome dies. That includes many women. It includes nonbinary people. Intersex people. That is central to my understanding of the show. We are making a show that affirms trans women are women. Trans men are men. That is part of the richness of the world we get to play with. The show asks ‘What makes a man? What makes a woman?’”

Actress Diana Bang steps into the role of Harvard geneticist Dr. Allison Mann and discussed how her character is crucial to the show’s updating of its sex and gender perspectives. 

“There’s this one scene that I really love between Yorick and Allison. She tries to make it clear to him that her sole interest isn’t about bringing back cisgendered men. It’s about bringing all diversity back into the world. That includes transgender women, non-binary people, and people with intersex traits. In that scene she really tries to communicate the depth of loss and it sets up the journey for the rest of the show.”

Elliot Fletcher plays Sam Jordan, a new character to the story. Sam is a trans man who is connected to Yorick’s sister Hero’s storyline. According to the actor, the show’s modern understanding of gender had equal parts social and practical advantages.

“One of the hilarious things about this show is that (after the virus), Yorick can walk around without a mask on because he’s assumed to be trans, rather than (before the virus) people are assumed to be cisgender. I just think it flips the traditional idea of gender completely on its head, and so I was very comfortable joining a project that knew that ahead of time and committed to it fully.”

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

One area that Y: The Last Man doesn’t deviate from its source material, however, is its depiction that a world run by “the fairer sex” isn’t any less complicated or violent. 

“What was exciting about the book was the idea that a world that was filled with mostly women that it’s not necessarily a paradise. Women uphold systems of oppression like patriarchy and white supremacy and capitalism,” Clark said. 

It’s also notable that not everything about Y: The Last Man‘s gender politics needed updating. The first issue of Vaughan and Guerra’s book begins with a series of statistics about men and which professions they dominate like commercial pilots, truck drivers, and ship captains. According to Clark, not much has changed on that front.

“Basically what I learned is that our entire economy runs on trucks. And I think 5% of truck drivers are women,” Clark said. “And so, this is definitely a world that has been decimated because cisgender men make up the vast majority of most industries, including our own. And so, I think in that way the world does look pretty similar to the book.”

Perhaps 2002 wasn’t that long ago after all.

Y: The Last Man premieres Sept. 13, 2021 on FX on Hulu.

The post How Y: The Last Man Updates Its Story for the Modern Era appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3iKHIT3

[con-txt]

Call for more panel moderators!

The panel votes are tallied and the schedule is coming together, but we are still looking for a few more people to join our cohort of forty-something panel moderators. We have eight popular panels with no moderators at all and four with only one moderator who'd like to work with a co-mod or two.

At CON.TXT, a panel moderator leads (or co-leads) a discussion among the attendees. Generally mods prepare leading questions to keep the conversation moving; some panels include a lengthier presentation by the moderator. We can work with you ahead of the con if you'd like some guidance.

Interested? Email us asap to volunteer as a moderator.

The following panels currently have no moderators, so if you take them on you're welcome to update the descriptions to your satisfaction -- but remember that they were voted in based on the current descriptions, so you might want to keep that in mind.

Title: How Slash Fandom Talks to Itself  (Meta) Description: Fandom is all over the web, on a bunch of different social media sites with different norms and formats, and seems to still be seeking a perfect home. Where are we now? How do those places work, and how can people find fandom friends in them? What do we want in an online home for slash fandom?

Title: Writing Outside the Binary  (Meta) Description: What are good fandoms and communities in fandom for non-binary-gendered or genderqueer characters (canon or fanon)? What are good fanworks to rec? Share the joy of writing an OT4 where everybody has a different pronoun, talk about what we'd like to see in fandom and fanworks, and share tips on writing nonbinary and genderqueer characters.

Title: But That Wasn't in the Book!  (Multi-Fandom) Description: Novels have always been translated to the screen, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. Let's talk about the most recent adaptations (A Wrinkle in Time, Altered Carbon, Game of Thrones, whatever else). What makes them better or worse? What books haven't been made into movies that need to be? What should never have been touched?

Title: Fairy Tales (and Where to Find the Good Ones)  (Multi-Fandom) Description: Fairy tales are an old-old fandom, and some of the modern retellings are pretty great. Perhaps it's the female leads that are kicking it up? Let's talk about which version of Red Riding Hood and Cinderella we love best, and why Evil Queens simply rule.

Title: Fandom Drought  (Multi-Fandom) Description: I haven't found a new pairing since Hannibal was cancelled. What do you do to find a new fandom or pairing? How long have you ever been without a fandom? Come pimp your fandom or hear about obscure ones.

Title: Large Fandom Speed Dating  (Multi-Fandom) Description: You're between fandoms, and you want something where there will be new fic every day--let us match you with the large fandom you've been waiting for.

Title: Black Lightning (Single Fandom) Description: Let's talk about Black Lightning--what it has to say in dialog with the rest of the DC tv-verse, and in thematic dialog with Black Panther and other Black-led superhero stories. (And, of course, about the awesome women.)

Title: But They Keep Not Running Away: Marvel's Runaways (Single Fandom) Description: The Runaways is a great comic and now a fascinating live action show. The actors playing the kids are amazing, and even better are the adults! Let's talk about all the great cross-generational, cross-species, and incestuous slashy goodness. And why is it taking them so long to run away?

The following panels have one moderator already, so if you join them you can decide amongst yourselves whether anything should be updated. We'll put you in touch if you're not familiar with each other already.

Title: Zines and Archives (How-To) Current mod: Melannen Looking for: prefer to have a co-mod or two who was/is involved in slash fandom zine communities Description:  Learn all about non-computer-based fanfic. What are zines and zine fandom like? How do you read them, learn about them, make them, own them, archive them?

Title: Good for a Laugh (Multi-Fandom) Current mod: monkeypie Looking for: anyone Description: Smart sitcoms can combine sharp writing with great characters to deliver more than just a good joke. Current comedies like Brooklyn 99, One Day at a Time and the Good Place have all given us queer characters and addressed current issues of race, class and gender. Or maybe you're more interested in discussing which Golden Girl was the best? Let's talk about modern and classic sitcoms that have something more to say.

Title:  One-Shot Wonders (Multi-Fandom) Current mod: KateKintail Looking for: anyone Description: Drowning in WIPS? Don't have time to read yet another novel-length fanfic? Come share your favorite one-shot recs! This is your opportunity to share that perfect one-shot you read once upon a time that will make everyone fall in love with your favorite fandom or pairing. Or maybe you've got a one-shot that's too wild or too hilarious to make it onto a normal rec list. Bring us your PWPs, your fluff, your crack pairings yearning to be read!

Title:  You Must Be At Least Four Centuries Old To Enter (Multi-Fandom) Current mod: Melannen Looking for: anyone Description: The best fandoms are the old fandoms. The really old fandoms. From Shakespeare to Gilgamesh to the Sagas of the Icelanders, when will our OTPs finally get together? Which ancient text is slashiest? Which is the best adaptation of Journey to the West? Is it really best translated as the "The Discourse"? What is our favorite Julius Caesar joke? And will we finally solve, once and for all, the question of whether Achilles was a bottom?

Also, we have two people who offered to mod panels that we haven't been able to match to an email address or haven't been able to get in touch with:  Donna and Mizubyte. If this is you, please email us and let us know if you are still interested.

[bellabooks]

10 Lesbian, Bi and Queer Women in Sci Fi and Fantasy TV Right Now

Lesbian, bisexual, and queer erasure has pretty much always existed in media, but it has seemed pronounced lately, especially in Science Fiction and Fantasy (SFF) movies. We’ve seen Valkyrie straight-washed, as well as Wonder Woman, Constantine, Harley Quinn, Iceman, and Mystique. (I’ve barely scratched the surface. The list goes on and on.) In SFF TV, though, queer women are showing up in force. They’re super-powered and super-smart. We still need more and better representation, particularly for queer women of color, trans and nonbinary folks, queer women with disabilities, and every other member of the queer community who do not see themselves represented on TV.   Jeri Hogarth, Jessica Jones Jeri Hogarth (Carrie-Anne Moss) is a powerful, intimidating lesbian, lawyer, and counsel to the super-powered in Hell’s Kitchen. (Moss also played Trinity in The Matrix so you already know she’s one attractive lady.) In the comics, Jeryn Hogarth is a sort of dumpy lawyer and confidant to heroes. He’s more of a side character than an antagonist, while the Hogarth from the Jessica Jones TV show (and the other Netflix adaptations) is anything but a sidekick. She’s manipulative, conniving, and ruthless. In one of the eerier choices she makes, she salvages the potentially powered aborted fetus of the child of Kilgrave, a super villain who can make anyone do anything he wants just by saying so. She takes the cell tissue to see if she can find a way to harness his powers. She even helps Kilgrave escape from Jessica so he can help her with her own divorce negotiation. In the end, Kilgrave supercharges himself with tissue samples from the aborted fetus, which make him that much harder for Jessica to defeat. In Iron Fist, Hogarth helps Danny Rand prove his identity and get reinstated with his family’s company after he returns, and she hires Daredevil’s best friend, Foggy Nelson. She has him represent Jessica when she gets caught up in another huge case in The Defenders. You may not like Jeri, but her tenacity is admirable. Check her out in season two of Jessica Jones, which is set to release on Netflix on March 8th.   Anissa Pierce/Thunder, Black Lightning Anissa Pierce (Nafessa Williams) recently started feeling strange. In times of great stress, she has exhibited supernatural strength and the ability to create shockwaves when she stomps. Unbeknownst to Anissa, her father, Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams), the principal of the school where she works, is the superhero vigilante Black Lightning. As Jefferson comes out of vigilante retirement, Anissa begins exploring her powers and finds that she is frighteningly strong. The first time she uses her powers on humans, she worries that she might have killed the drug dealers she was trying to scare. In a community plagued by police brutality, gang activity, and racism, Anissa starts to believe her powers are not just a gift, but a responsibility. Time and again, throughout the show, we see Anissa assuming the role of protector. One of the best things about Anissa is the fact that she’s just out. There’s no coming out story in the TV show, though her parents do reference her coming out at one point. She lives her life as a lesbian without remorse or regret. She has a girlfriend she breaks up with and meets the very cute Grace Choi. To see her manifest her powers on top of all her confidence and power is a sight to behold.   Grace Choi, Black Lightning Grace Choi (Chantal Thuy) is a cute comic book nerd who Anissa meets in a library. They immediately connect and start flirting while talking about genetic mutation, which Anissa is researching. When Grace is knocked unconscious by a gang member, we see Anissa express her powers more drastically than ever before. Later, while she’s holding Grace, she wonders aloud if someone who could do something to right the wrongs of the world should. Grace affirms that they should. Grace has Anissa’s back and believes in her, even though she doesn’t yet know about her powers. Grace is out and open with her bisexual identity, even joking about it with Anissa. We don’t know if Grace will exhibit the powers she has in the comic books yet, but the first season has just begun. Power Coupling: #Thundergrace So far in the TV show, Anissa and Grace are just getting started as a couple and as heroes, but their attraction and support of one another has me really rooting for them. They are an extremely rare example of a relationship between queer women of color and we need more positive examples out there. Bring on #Thundergrace! You can see Anissa, Grace, and the whole Black Lightning team on Tuesdays on the CW.   Sara Lance/The White Canary, Legends of Tomorrow After surviving a horrific boat accident, Sara Lance (Caity Lotz) is recruited to the League of Assassins, naturally, and becomes a lethal force. While living with the League, she falls in love with Nyssa Al Ghul, daughter of the leader of the League. Sara, who made her first appearance in Arrow, fights alongside and dates the Green Arrow (or Arrow or Hood, or whatever Oliver Queen is calling himself at the time), survives her own death by use of a magical hot tub, and is recruited to join a team of time traveling vigilantes. A typical tale. She assumes the identity of the White Canary for her new role and as she travels through time, Sara flirts with and kisses nurses, a female Merlin, and her teammate, Leonard Snart. In the second season of Legends of Tomorrow, Sara becomes the ship’s captain and leads with humor, grace, and many, many stunning fight scenes. She tempers the ragtag team of heroes and damn, it’s nice to see a woman in charge. Season three of Legends of Tomorrow is still in progress, and things are heating up with Ava Sharpe. You can catch my favorite bisexual time traveling captain on Mondays on the CW.   Alex Danvers, Supergirl Agent of the Department of Extra-Normal Operations (D.E.O.) and member of her sister Supergirl’s team, Alex Danvers (Chyler Leigh) comes out of the closet in season two of Supergirl. Some of us might be sick of coming out stories, but for a show created for a younger audience, this coming out story is powerful. Alex describes herself as always feeling like something was wrong with her, as if she didn’t want to date, until she met Maggie (Floriana Lima). An out and proud cop, Maggie assumes Alex is gay, which helps Alex out of the closet. The two begin dating, while fighting super villains and teaming up with heroes from other universes. Ultimately, Alex and Maggie split because Alex wants to have kids and that doesn’t work for Maggie. In the end, the actor, Lima, decided not to return to the show, so the split was inevitable. Decisive, powerful, loyal, and quite the fighter, Alex is a credit to queer women. You can see her on season three of Supergirl which is currently airing on Mondays on the CW.   Waverly Earp, Wynonna Earp The younger sister of the heir to the Earp Curse, Waverly Earp (Dominique Provost-Chalkley) is whip smart, adorkable, and an irreplaceable member of her sister Wynonna’s team. When we first meet Waverly, she’s wielding a shotgun, which is aimed at her sister Wynonna (Melanie Scrofano), who she believes is currently hooking up with Waverly’s boyfriend. Over the first season of the show, we see Waverly begin to question her relationship and her sexuality, as she comes into contact with the very sexy police officer, Officer Haught. When Officer Haught kisses Waverly for the first time, it is powerful, sensual, and blows Waverly’s world right open. As Waverly explores her sexuality, we see her transition from a shy woman testing the waters to a powerful woman who goes after what she wants. The second season also finds Waverly questioning her relationship to her family and her future.   Officer Haught, Wynonna Earp Officer Nicole Haught (Katherine Barrell) is an unshakeable force for good on Wynonna’s team. At first, the group keeps Officer Haught in the dark, but she’s a great detective and figures out that something is amiss in the Ghost River Triangle. When the supernatural happenings are confirmed for her, she doesn’t freak out. She’s just relieved she’s not the only one who knows something is wrong. She fights heterosexism, small town politics, and demons throughout the show. In the second season, Officer Haught is wounded by a demon-widow and falls into a coma. The audience feared the worst for Haught, but she comes out of the coma and lives to fight another day. Power Coupling: #WayHaught Officer Haught and Waverly are both awesome on their own, but together they make cute-sexy-funny-loving relationships seem natural. Things aren’t always easy—they make it through their own fair share of supernatural mishaps—but they’re an example of what love between two women can look like. You’ll be able to watch #WayHaught’s evolution in season three of Wynonna Earp, which is slated to air on SyFy sometime in 2018.   Karolina Dean/Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, Runaways What do you do when you find out your parents are super villains? Karolina Dean (Virginia Gardner) and her friends try to answer this question in season one of Runaways. While sleuthing and being a hormonal teenager, Karolina also finds out that she has superpowers. She can manipulate solar light and fly. When the bracelet she was given as a child isn’t inhibiting her abilities, she shines like an iridescent rainbow. Can she get any queerer? In fact, she can! As they prepare to act like normal kids for a night at the high school dance, Karolina finally makes her feelings known and kisses Nico, her friend and eventual leader of the Runaways. They go on to kiss again later in the season and share a very sweet moment complete with eye batting and sly smiles.   Nico Minoru/Sister Grimm, Runaways Nico Minoru (Lyrica Okano) is a bad witch you do not want to mess with. She can do anything, but she can only do it once. (It’s a limitation of her magical powers.) She’s a member of the all-female Avengers called A-Force, and a general badass. Long before her reign as bad witch, though, Nico was just a kid in California–a kid with super villain parents–but a kid nonetheless. This is where we meet her in the TV show Runaways. She’s emo, she’s angry, and she’s mourning the death of her sister. When she and her friends find out that their parents are evil, she starts investigating her connection to a family heirloom, the Staff of One, which gives her the ability to manifest anything she can think of. During this confusing time in Nico’s life, she kisses Alex, another teammate, but after she finds out that Alex has been keeping secrets about her sister’s death, she rejects his advances. She and Karolina share a passionate kiss and this sets Nico down an entirely new path of self-discovery. Power Coupling: #Nicolina One of the best things about Karolina and Nico’s relationship is how far it deviates from the comic books, which are filled with off-hand heterosexist remarks and Nico distancing herself from Karolina when Karolina expresses an interest in her. In the TV show, we see two young women acknowledging their attraction. We’ve barely seen either use their powers and I’m really looking forward to what happens to #Nicolina in season two. You can join me in watching their relationship to each other and their parents evolve in season two of Runaways, which has been renewed for a second season on Hulu. Given when the first season aired, we might see the second season as soon as fall 2018.   Cassandra Cillian/The Librarian, The Librarians  Cassandra Cillian (Lindy Booth) is a genius with a brain tumor, which essentially gives her super powers. Recruited by the mystical Library to preserve magical artifacts, Cassandra is one of the three librarians who is new to the game. For much of the show’s run thus far, the show seems to flirt with the idea of Cassandra’s queerness. She gets enchanted and becomes a female Prince Charming. All the ladies in the town start fawning over her and she likes it. She flirts with a diplomat and gets her phone number, while also stealing her earrings, which are magical artifacts, so it’s totally fine. And, on more than one occasion, she makes eyes at her Guardian (not that kind of guardian, gross. It’s a magical thing.), played by Rebecca Romijn. I also make eyes at Romijn in this TV show. At one point, Cassandra makes advances toward an older male character and seems to have some sexual tension with another librarian who is male. After three seasons, the show finally lets Cassandra be out. When Cassandra’s life-threatening tumor is removed, she realizes how close to the end she was and rushes to see her friend, who is a vampire that she has been relentlessly flirting with the entire episode. They share a passionate kiss and boom, Cassandra’s out of the closet! The season finale of season four of The Librarians just recently aired. We’re waiting with baited breath to see if TNT will renew the show for a fifth season. http://dlvr.it/QJKcGZ

[literaryinspiredwebserieslove]

LIW Review: Bright Summer Night

Before I even start, I have to say that Bright Summer Night is probably the most artistic LIW that has ever been made. That plus the fact that it’s made by The Candle Wasters should be enough of a reason to watch it.

BSN is loosely inspired by Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The entire thing is set at a house party in Wellington over the course of one night. There are three main groups, the Lovers, the Fairies, and the Mechanicals, just like in the play, with Puck as a floater between all three, and there are nine point-of-view characters. Everyone is in love with everyone else, and there are drugs and songs about climate change and a shocking lack of running water.

Format:

Filmed entirely in traditional TV style (because The Candle Wasters had actual funding for this one, hurray!). There are ten episodes, nine from the point of view of one of the main characters (Puck, Lena, Petra, Bryn, Zander, Nicky, Deme, Mia, Awhina) with the final episode as the finale.

Realism:

BNS is not even partially a vlog, so that type of realism is not an issue. The whole thing is very surreal, so it might take some concentration to understand what’s happening, but unlike in the original play, there isn’t any magic, so the actual events are pretty grounded in reality.

Representation/diversity:

Amazing. So, so good. NMTD and LLL were both mostly white (with a few notable exceptions). BSN is about as racially diverse as it’s possible to be in New Zealand. I won’t go into the details because I will inevitably get someone’s ethnicity wrong, but the diversity here is excellent.

LGBT representation is also fantastic. In such a short series, it was hard to officially acknowledge characters genders/sexualities, but here’s a breakdown based on the story: Puck is nonbinary (potentially demiboy) and at least a little interested in men. Deme is gender fluid (played by an actual gender fluid person) and is interested in women (and probably other genders as well, we just don’t see it). Thea and Poppy (Mouce Young, aka Paige Moth from LoLiLo) are a lesbian couple. Lena’s sexuality is completely unknown because the only person she expresses interest in is gender-fluid Deme. I won’t name any more because I don’t want to make assumptions about the other characters, but regardless the most that can be straight is probably four (and I’m 99% sure Mia is bi anyway).

Puck has serious mental health issues that, while not explicitly named, are acknowledged much more explicitly than any of the mental health issues in LoLiLo. Lena also has the most horrific social anxiety, and I really appreciate the way The Candle Wasters deal with that.

Also, politics! The Mechanicals talk about Trump, climate change, Palestine, gun rights, and a number of other issues, and a lot of current social and world issues are themes throughout the whole series, culminating in the song “Relationship Problems and the Environment” in the finale.

Film Quality:

Off the charts incredible. They had funding, so they filmed using multiple cameras and angles. The lighting and effects are fantastic. The background music is perfect at all times. AND they got a crane to use in two episodes. WHAT. There are a few moments when the editing could have been more professional, but since it was their first traditionally-filmed series, I think we need to cut them some slack.

My three favorite things about BSN:

1) Puck. Everything about them is so perfect. And, interestingly, more true to Shakespeare than anything else in the series (I’ve always thought that Puck could be played/headcanoned as any gender, and this is a great example of that).

2) The costumes. Deme’s flame jacket, Nicky’s giraffe onesie, Petra’s whole aesthetic. Frankie’s hair. Mia’s bralette. They just all look so good.

3) The amount of depth they managed in ten episodes, which was incredible.

Difficult things about BSN:

There are only ten episodes, so it’s hard to get attached to the characters. There’s a lot of information that isn’t developed or is sprung in suddenly without much lead-up (polyamory mention in “Mia”). Also, the acting, writing, and production design are so good that it’s sad it had to be so short and that we’re never going to see more of these characters. The end of the plot is a little hurried as well, since the first seven episodes only manage to get through about half of the source material, but everything still gets resolved without any loose ends.

Verdict: The aesthetic is fantastic, the music is fantastic, the script and acting are fantastic. The editing only has a few slight issues. The characters are wonderful. It is far too short, but it’s also so, so good. I cited BSN heavily in an essay about climate change and social responsibility, and my teacher loved it. 

This series is amazingly well made, but it isn’t quite perfect. The format is so innovative and new that it isn’t quite there yet, and as I mentioned before, it’s hard to get quite as invested in the characters in only ten episodes. 

Overall, I give Bright Summer Night 4.5/5 stars.

Awards!

BSN is up for the LIWAs! Nominations are open until April 15, with final voting after that. They’re eligible for Best Costume and Set Design, Best Script, Best LIW, and Best Chemistry for several different combinations of characters. I don’t know what to say about the acting awards because The Candle Wasters haven’t made any formal announcement in that department and it’s hard to know which characters belong in which categories (Are all nine POV characters leads? If they use they/them pronouns, do we nominate them for best actor, best actress, or both?).

EDIT: The Candle Wasters have answered the nomination question. All nine POV characters are leads, with Puck as a little more of a lead than the rest. Meesha Rikk and Dani Yourukova shouldn’t really be nominated because they don’t fully identify as male or female, though they still deserve many awards. Read that post here: 

https://literaryinspiredwebseriesreviews.tumblr.com/post/159481476531/hey-just-wondering-how-you-want-nominations-for

Cast:

Puck Goodall – Meesha Rikk

Awhina Parekura – Neenah Dekkers-Reihana

Bryn Alberich – Jack Buchanan

Lena Balavu – Kalisha Wasasala (Jaquie from Lovely Little Losers)

Deme George – Dani Yourukova

Zander Makau – Shane Murphy

Mia Selene – Maddie Adams

Nicky Xing – Gala Baumfield (she has a YouTube channel!)

Petra Quince – Thomasin McKenzie (who has been in actual things like Shortland Street and The Hobbit. no joke)

Frankie Piper – Nova Moala-Knox

Taylor Sutton – Brendan King

Poppy Hoú – Mouce Young (Paige from Lovely Little Losers)

Thea Quince – Freya Milner

Created by The Candle Wasters @thecandlewasters

Ran from July to September 2017. Ten episodes. 1 hour 18 min long, making it the shortest adaptational literary-inspired webseries.

***NOTE: Although BSN does not take place in the same universe as NMTD and LLL, there are several promo videos made by those characters, specifically Jaquie and Costa and Ben and Bea. In-universe, Paige and Jaquie are playing Poppy and Lena.***

Watch Bright Summer Night in full here:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ4M4eic7acRxRp2L-0Lrcvd_c1PpP1Fp