#on the themes of hospitality and it’s relationship to morality in the Odyssey

[legendstrauma]

Just a remix of that one pride and prejudice meme.

[vanessakirbyfans]

Vanessa Kirby pulls out all the stops when she prepares for a role.

To portray Princess Margaret in The Crown, the actress papered her home with photographs of the Queen’s sister to ‘imbue’ herself with her style and spirit.

And for the smouldering, scheming White Widow in the Tom Cruise film Mission: Impossible — Fallout, she studied screen legend Lauren Bacall.

In Pieces Of A Woman (her first lead role), one of two pictures starring Kirby that will screen at the Venice Film Festival over the weekend, the 32-year-old South Londoner plays Martha, a Boston woman who loses her baby during a traumatic home birth.

‘I couldn’t have acted that, because I’ve never given birth myself,’ she told me.

So instead, she spent a lot of time with a midwife and a paediatrician at the Whittington Hospital in North London.

‘Just by pure chance an amazing woman allowed me to watch her give birth,’ Kirby said, explaining that the health experts she was shadowing arranged for her to be a witness.

‘I didn’t know her but she was so generous and allowed me to be there when her boy was born.’

The actress — along with screen husband Shia LaBeouf and director Kornel Mundruczo — wanted the birth scenes early on in the film to be as authentic as possible. ‘There’s a 26-minute continuous shot of me, as Martha, giving birth, so I’d better know about contractions and everything else,’ she said.

The child, a girl, does not survive and Martha embarks on an ‘odyssey of grief’, from the crumbling of her marriage to a harrowing court case.

Kirby spoke to several women about how they coped after losing their baby. She noted that there’s often, totally unfairly, a stigma attached to the mothers in such cases; and the film is as much about that as it is about a couple’s relationship imploding.

She observed that a friend of hers had been through several miscarriages and ‘she said she received more support when her dog was put down by the vet’.

Another key theme is Martha’s estrangement from her forceful mother, played by Oscar-winner Ellen Burstyn.

Kirby said she and LaBeouf went over some scenes at Burstyn’s New York apartment. ‘In the room with all her awards!’

Kirby marvelled, as we discussed Burstyn’s movies, including Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, which Martin Scorsese directed in 1974. Scorsese is an executive producer on Pieces Of A Woman (‘Ellen’s really happy to be reunited with him’).

Kirby will dominate the red carpet in Venice over the weekend. Tomorrow, she will make an appearance for Pieces Of A Woman.

And on Sunday it’s the turn of The World To Come, a film set in the Wild West, in which she and Katherine Waterston (Fantastic Beasts) play two women who aren’t happy being home on the range.

‘I couldn’t believe the extent to which the women were owned,’ Kirby said.

‘These women were the property of their husbands. They didn’t have a choice to do what they wanted to do, let alone love who they wanted to.’

Kirby’s trip to Italy (she was flying out yesterday) is the first time she has been out of London this year. She spent lockdown in the house she shares with her sister and some friends.

‘Venice is like the first coming together of the film industry since lockdown,’ Kirby said. ‘It’s going to be a morale-booster.’

Jury head Cate Blanchett will be in attendance, as will Tilda Swinton.

There will be a socially distanced red carpet, masks (perfectly suited to Venice) and health and safety protocols.

Once she returns from Venice, Kirby will prepare to resume her part as the White Widow for Mission: Impossible 7. Tom Cruise will be heading to Norway soon to shoot action sequences, but she won’t join the party until producers work out where to film next.

She told me she’s looking forward to playing the ‘enigmatic’ femme fatale again. ‘She’s disarming, fun and strange,’ she said.

Kirby admitted she ‘misses’ Princess Margaret and would have ‘enjoyed carrying on playing her’.

But she said she was ‘beyond proud’ that first Helena Bonham Carter and now Lesley Manville (who will portray Margaret in the final two seasons of The Crown, which begin shooting next year) are building on her groundwork.

[starbound-surviivxr]

Dossier: Kal-Sar

Name: Kal-Sar Nickname(s): Kal, Shadow, Scourge of the Exodus Race: Uldarik’an Gender: Male Age: 562 (Equivalent of 25-26) Height: 9′11″ Weight: 398lbs Voice Claim: N/A (He’s mute) Affiliations: N/A Family: Kai-Shi (mother, deceased), Iz-Zyl (father, deceased)      *Later has two daughters, Diara and Sul-Nai Sexuality: Bi-romantic, Demi-Sexual Relationship status: Verse dependent Moral Alignment: Lawful Neutral Theme songs:

Starset - “It Has Begun” Halo 2 Soundtrack - “Follow” (1st Movement of the Odyssey) Seven Nation Army (Glitch Mob Remix)

Personal History:

*Note: this section harbors sensitive material, trigger warnings are in the tags and sensitive material will be under a readmore.

Like Vynera, Kal-Sar finds himself an unlikely survivor of the Exodus invasion. Unfortunately for him, however, he didn’t make it off of the planet and was instead enslaved along with any other survivors. After watching his parents being executed, he was dragged off into the various camps where he and the others were forced to work and build the factories that would begin to strip their planet of its resources.

The once somewhat-timid young man is then hardened by hard work and hate. As he grew older, he began to act out often in order to divert attention away from others and onto him. As a result, the Exodus began piercing his ear with a tag that would mark him as troublesome. In defiance, he would always rip the tag out until the Exodus got fed up and just took a large chip out of his ear. 

Another notable scar is a large symbol on the left side of his chest which is the Exodus symbol for ‘animal’ and was burned onto him after he continued to act out as much as he could. 

After the branding, though, Kal-Sar was moved to a different area. There, instead of being put to work, he was forced to fight against his own people for their enslavers’ entertainment. Despite not wanting to, Kal-Sar came out triumphant every time and has since earned a deadly reputation among both his people and the Exodus.

*

As his popularity increased, Kal-Sar was then put back to work. However, several times he was pulled out, and introduced to a surviving woman of their kind. He learned then that they were trying to breed a new generation, and anyone who refused it were executed. Because of this, Kal-Sar has sired four children, but has never had the opportunity to meet them either through being separated or learning later that the child in question did not survive.

After what feels like an eternity of pain, the uprising begins when Vynera returns to their planet and unleashes a hidden, forgotten power that summons the spirits of the Great Four. In the confusion, Kal-Sar himself leads any capable survivors and breaks free. 

During the fighting, however, Kal-Sar obtains an injury on his neck from an Exodus blade. The injury itself nearly kills him and it severs his vocal cords in the process. Later, he claims to have seen the spirit of Sephyr herself before losing consciousness, and then waking up in a makeshift hospital. 

Finally, he’s officially established as Uldiria’s military advisor. As unfortunate as it is, the absence of a proper military in the past was what enabled the Exodus to invade them so easily. Kal-Sar is intent on never letting that happen again. 

As such, he’s extremely distrustful of aliens and will only ever interact with those that Vynera trusts and there are very select few that he will willingly seek out, which are the only one’s he’ll ever truly trust. 

[dansphlevels]

12 Days Of Prompts (2017) Masterpost

‘12 Days Of Prompts’ is the 12 days of stories I wrote on the days leading up to Christmas 2017! This year was filled with fluff, with a touch of darkness (‘Smelling Of Smoke’), of humor (‘Red Nails And Chapped Lips’), and of fantasy (‘Caudal’ and ‘Turquoise Stains’), with a long oneshot filled with stolen Calculus books, angst, and slurred quotes from Homer, ‘The Odyssey’. Click under the cut to see the full list of fics with summaries, and if you want me to write a story for you or have an idea for one, you can request it here (even if it’s not December)!

December 14 - Prompt: Fluffy Cuddling

Title: Bliss <1k 

Summary: Fluffy!Phan cuddling in bed with absolutely no desire to get up.

December 15 - Prompt: Artist!Pastel!Dan having relationship issues, comforted by Phil

Title: Beautiful Browns 1.2k

Themes: fluff, artist!pastel!dan, artist!caring!Phil, crappy high school dating dynamics

December 16 - Prompt: Mermaid!AU

Title: Caudal 8k

Summary: The cave has two exits. One, a hole in the ceiling, wide enough that Phil could see the stars glitter at night. The other exit was through the pool in the middle of the cave, where they’d come from. The siren leaned against the cave wall a few meters away, tending to his wound. It wasn’t bleeding anymore, but the damage was done. Sharks circled in the pool, desperate for a taste of the merman. The hole in the ceiling was too high up, the walls too steep to climb. The sharks circled in the pool of water, ready to eat whatever comes their way. No way out. Phil was stuck, with no food, no fresh water, no hope to escape, and a siren who had tried to drown him not hours before. Themes: merman/mermaid/siren!au, sharks, survival, enemies to ?

December 17 - Prompt: Dan realizes he liked Phil during tatinof and asks him on a date and they share a milkshake with two straws

Title: Nothing And Everything 3.5k

Themes: tatinof, friends to lovers, ‘friendly kissing’, cereal stealing, milkshakes with two straws

December 18 - Prompt: Smelling of Smoke pt. 5

Title: Smelling Of Smoke (And Hearing Voices Not There), Chapter 5, 1k

Ao3

Summary: Phil was a quiet type of crazy. Dan’s eyes were so loud that they made everyone take a step back from his madness- everyone but Phil, who instead, stepped forwards.

Themes: chaptered fic, au, mental asylum, trigger warning, insanity, dark

TW: mental illness, schizophrenia, depression, mentions of suicide/suicide attempts, mental hospital, abuse

December 19 - Prompt: Dentist

Title: Words Aren’t Always Needed 2.5k

Summary: After a bad reaction to painkillers administered by his dentist, Dan loses the ability to speak for a few days. Which wouldn’t be that big of a deal if they didn’t have plans, including an important business meeting and going to the Star Wars premiere.

Or, the one where Dan loses his voice and Phil has to interpret for him like an extended, inappropriately timed game of charades.

TW: For light (but semi-frequent) cussing

December 20 - Prompt: Fluffy ‘But Love Is Overrated Anyways’ Chapter

Title: But Love Is Overrated Anyways (Pt. 15 = 2k)

Summary: Dan is an angry mutant with the ability to control the cold. He shares a tent with a man Phil, who has powers over fire but refuses to use it for evil. Dan has no such moral qualms.

Theme: Superpowers, Mutants, Dark, Dystopian

Ao3 / ‘But Love Is Overrated Anyways’ Masterlist

December 21 - Prompt: Color Schemes

Title: Turquoise Stains <1k

Themes: Fluff, colors, a lil bit of fantasy

December 22 - Prompt: Nail Painting

Title: Red Nails And Chapped Lips 1.8k

Summary: After Dan goes and gets his nails painted at a professional salon, he and Phil embark on a quest to Target for last minute Christmas shopping, and together they must decide whether having painted nails is gay or just hipster. Includes Dan and Phil style bantering, questioning of gender stereotypes, chapped lips, and a clerk at Target who horribly misunderstands what Dan needs vaseline for. 

Themes: nail painting, Christmas shopping, domestic!Phan, humor, innuendoes.

December 23 - Prompt: Asexual  

Title: Aced It 2.5k

Summary: Dan and Phil are in the process of pursuing a relationship. There’s only one issue: Dan’s asexual and doesn’t want to get physical with Phil but has no idea how to tell him.

December 24 - The Odyssey (enemies to friends to lovers, highschool au) 

Title: The Odyssey 12k

TW: bullying, homophobic slurs, language, drinking

Summary: High school au where Phil is bullied for being gay and Dan thinks he should have just stayed in the closet. But it just so happens Phil has a big family and can’t get any studying done, and Dan’s house is the perfect place to study.

Themes: highschool au, enemies to friends to lovers, bullying, boxer!dan, studious!phan, Homophobia, family/sibling drama

December 25 - Prompt: Fluffy Oneshot Where Phil Meets Dan’s Family Dog

Christmas With Colin (And The Rest Of Dan’s Family) 1k

Summary: Dan and Phil go to meet Dan’s family for the first time, and things go better than accepted, especially considering that Dan’s parents hadn’t always been accepting of his sexuality. They’re more interested in questioning him on other things- like, for example, when Dan’s planning on giving them some grandchildren.

Themes: fluff, meeting the family, Colin the Good Boy (Dan’s family dog)

So much fluff, I’ve had to think such cute, wholesome thoughts to finish these. I hope you enjoyed them! You can request a fic here, or check out all of my fics here.