#that one scene in book omens I really liked with the rainforest?

[onioneyez]

Another omen:

Lily of the valley growing through a wire

The garbage blown into my yard has just learned that insults are a thing but is not yet there on the execution

[go-events]

GO Rom Com Spotlight: @antikate​

The utterly splendid @antikate​ (Anti_kate on AO3) has claimed Romancing the Stone to adapt for Good Omens in the Good Omens Rom Com Event.

For reference, here’s a little background about the source material!

About Romancing the Stone: A romantic-adventure writer is hurled into a real-life adventure in the Colombian jungle in order to save her sister, who will be killed if a treasure map is not delivered to her captors. She is helped out by a brash mercenary, and together they search for the priceless gem located in the map.

We spent some time chatting about how the adaptation is coming so far, as well as future plans for it! Now, get to know @antikate​ a little better!

* * *

goromcom: Let’s start off with something about you. So, you know how if you open a Tumblr chat with someone you haven't chatted to before, Tumblr tells you two things they post about? I wanted to tell you that yours reports that you post "about #the good place and #ineffable husbands" Boy, are you gonna love my last question! :D

antikate: Yes, I am trash for The Good Place and The Ineffable Husbands (apparently semi-satirical explorations of What It Means To Be Good and the Power Of Love and It Was the Friends We Made Along The Way are a thing for me.)

goromcom: (Also guilty of that, myself over here!) But now, on to talking about your rom com. You chose to adapt Romancing The Stone. Is this movie a favorite of yours, or is there some other reason you chose it?

antikate: I grew up watching 80s action-adventure movies like ROTS, Indiana Jones and The Princess Bride, and I think the mix of action, romance and cheese really seared itself into my brain. ROTS is specifically riffing on the romance novels of the 1970s, such as The Flame and the Flower. These novels were hella problematic, and usually involve a heroine being thrust into terrible circumstances only to be rescued and ravished (problematic!!!!) by a handsome hero. I could go on at length about these novels and also the importance of “romance” as a genre to people who don’t necessarily see themselves in the media, but I won’t.

Anyway, the heroine of these narratives usually begins as very prim and proper, but discovers herself through the course of the story, and usually ends up taking charge of herself and her destiny and her sex life. Joan, the heroine of ROTS, goes on this journey, from being a shy romance writer who lives in her stories, to becoming a character with strength and agency who has an exciting story of her own. 

That made me think of Aziraphale (and the headcanon that I share with lots of other people that he thinks of himself as a damsel in distress with Crowley as the handsome hero, and also that he has a stash of romance novels in the bookshop, and that he’s a bookish person who needs ‘help’ being in the world).

As with a lot of older movies, ROTS hasn’t necessarily aged well, but it does have a really fun, over-the-top ridiculousness we don’t seem to get in that many action movies any more. I also decided I wanted to challenge myself to write something frothy and rompy and fun, as I can be a bit of an angst monster.

goromcom: What's your favorite moment of Romancing The Stone, and are you looking forward to presenting it in your adaptation? Any loose plans for that scene that you can share?

antikate: I think my favourite bit is the ridiculous “sliding down the hill in the mud and rain and landing on top of each other” scene because it’s so daft and silly.

However, I have really struggled to think about how to adapt that for a written fic and to fit my writing style. So I have adapted that part quite heavily, to focus more on the key element of that scene, which is our main characters getting very wet. There’s nothing more romantic than getting utterly drenched with a person you’ve just met!

goromcom: Oh my! (fans self)

Other than that scene making it in (albeit modified from the original), do you plan to stick very closely to the beats of the original story, or make bigger changes?

antikate: I’ve... gone really off the trail. I’m so far off it, I don’t know where I am on the map anymore. In fact I may have crossed international borders.The movie has A LOT of action and while I do enjoy writing action, multiple car crashes/chase scenes/shoot outs are not something I think I can handle writing. So I’ve simplified the plot, and giving myself more time for the important bits, which involves Two Morons Falling In Love. I’ve also been inspired by certain people (they know who they are) to up the thirst, significantly. And it’s hard to be thirsty in a car chase.

goromcom: One would think that thirst while driving would be the catalyst for accidents rather than being a fun little side benefit, indeed!! 

What's an interesting decision you've made in your planning so far--a notable casting decision, a changing of venue, or some other plan you have to paint Good Omens all over your rom com?

antikate: The original movie is set in Colombia, and I have decided instead to set my story in the tropical rainforests of Scotland. (Please don’t @ me.) Not just because Good Omens is Very British but also because the “exotic adventures in strange foreign climes” trope is, well, racist. Whereas Scotland is just far enough outside of the realm of the show that It feels a bit different. And it’s also isolated enough that some of the tropes I’m using make more sense. (Huddling for warmth! There’s only one sleeping bad/bed! Sexy hiking!)

This is also my first AU so it’s an interesting exercise in making my characters their own people without totally throwing away book/show characterization.

goromcom: If sexy hiking became your brand, I’m pretty sure that could only be a good thing. ;)

But let’s not give too much away about the story, and move on to the final question. I am blatantly stealing this from The Good Place: The Podcast, but here goes: Tell me something "good". It can be something big or small. It can be a charity you think is doing good work, or you can talk about how great your pet is.

antikate: I am an Australian expat and things in my homeland this summer have been ... not great. So I’d really like to say to everyone, please find a local Climate Change advocacy and activism group and get involved! 350.org does really good work.

goromcom: Such an important issue, and unfortunately, only going to get more relevant for us as time goes on. (But on a happier note, please remember to keep an eye open for the GO adaptation of Romancing the Stone, coming very soon!)