Tag: anon asks

Do you love old movies? Can you share some?

I do love old films, but my idea of ‘old’ and your idea might be two different things.  If you’re into works from the 30s or 40s, I recommend finding The Archers films – that’s Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.  They made The Red Shoes, I Know Where I’m Going! and Black Narcissus, amongst so many others.  Their style was innovative and influential to so many filmmakers today.  One film of theirs, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp still has resonance today.   Is there a specific genre or time period you’re interested in?  

Hi there another old timer Xena fan! So so so good to read you remember all the oldie fan writers. I remember reading the apocalypse books and devastated it was never finished! Brigit Morgan was a wonder. it would have made a great film. Thanks for sharing your memories!

Hello fellow oldtimer. 😉  The Apocalypse series is one of the great, tragically unfinished works of fan art. She wrote some brutal ‘uber’ pieces as well.  Would love to know if some of these writers like Morgan are still about, still writing, maybe repost their works.  They deserve an audience today, especially younger fans who want more of these stories and can’t find them.  

thedoctor-smith:

teddywestsidelove:

thedoctor-smith:

alyciadayumcareys:

throwback to season 2 where Lexa had already lowkey sworn fealty to Clarke + highkey took care of her wifey (▰˘◡˘▰)

This is what gets me about Lexa’s storyline. She was never written to be a romantic hero/foil for Clarke.  She was written to be the Betrayer.  The tribal leader who capitulates to the desires/needs of the would-be colonialist overlords.  Gustus and Titus both see what the Skaikru are or what they could be (the end of the Grounder’s way of life) and are desperate for Lexa to uphold the will of their people instead of being swayed by Clarke.  They know it will end badly.  

Lexa was never intended to be anything but a tragic figure who betrays her people and must be punished by them for it.  Her relationship with Clarke is the heart of that betrayal.  Only when she is offered the ‘deal’ is she forced to return to the path of putting her people first.  She means well.  She wants peace.  But her people will not accept Skaikru.  In series 3, she tries to pull her people into her way of thinking, but Titus recognises she is so besotted with Clarke, she will not put her people first (even if she sees a bigger picture than he does).  That he becomes the one to mete out her ‘punishment,’ adds another layer to her pointless tragedy.  

And the fans saw something so much bigger and better in that storyline and completely rewrote the narrative to suit themselves.  It created a disconnect between the audience and the show – which is a shame. The producers could have looked through the eyes of this audience and seen how much bigger their show could have been.  Such a shame.  A waste.  

Love this.  

I think it’s clear that Jason never intended for Clexa to be this massive thing that took over the show.  Once he realized how popular it was becoming in season 2, he saw $$$ and brought Lexa back in season 3 to bask in the hype and positive press that Clexa was getting during the hiatus.  

The problem was that he never actually cared about the character or the relationship the way the fans did.  Storylinewise, Jason brought back Lexa SOLELY to kill her and reveal his “brilliant” AI plot twist.  That was it.  All the clexa stuff that happened before that was just for ratings and media hype.  

Very well put.  

The differences between ‘show Lexa’ and ‘fan Lexa’  are jarring.  On one hand you have The Commander who is only a tiny sliver of the overall narrative, on the other, you have fans building an entire universe around all the possibilities of her character and her relationship with Clarke.  The show isn’t going to explore those possibilities, likely not even if there was time to do so. I doubt the producers were ignorant of how the fans saw her, it was simply, as you say, nothing they cared about.  A writer is going to write the story he wants, not the one his viewers want.  

Where it took such a cruel turn was the naked greed of using and manipulating that vulnerable audience to increase numbers and achieve renewal.  

Every showrunner looks for a hook to grab an audience.  Lexa/Clexa was JR’s unlikely hook.  He and his  team played into it.   They weren’t interested in investing anything real into Lexa – her death was assured from the first time she was seen on-screen – but they were going to play up the fan’s love of her.  They wrote the first half of series 3 in the manner of total fan fiction: all of it designed to please a Clexa fan.  All of it designed to keep them watching, keep them hooked.  Big, crowd-pleasing moments like Lexa kicking the Azgeda ambassador off her tower or kneeling to Clarke or fighting Roan and killing the Ice Queen. Clarke sketching sleeping Lexa (how did that scene come about?).  Nothing real.  It was all fantasy-within-a-fantasy.  If substance had been involved, we would have been given the Ice Nation as the big foe, we would have been given backstory on their history, on Nia and Lexa’s feud.  It would have somehow paralleled all that was happening with the sky people and their struggle.  All of it would have tied together into the greater narrative.  

Keep reading

Sharing this again for my Lexa anon – I know you’re anxious, hope this helps a little.  

god i felt such rage reading sar’s posts! i don’t blame anyone for sharing it but it hurts so much. its worse now b/c there are clexas BeGGING for them to bring lexa back. i think he’s just going to spit on them. it’s going to make everyone with this show look bad. i just wanted to thnak YOu for being so supportive this last yr. i hope you not watching either.

I hope my reposting it wasn’t a major trigger for you, that wasn’t my intention and hope you’re okay.  I do agree, though, that what happened was so wrong and disrespectful and I do worry about those very fans you mention who are campaigning for Lexa’s return – they’re going to be so disappointed and there is no need for them to be hurt again. I worry, too, that after being so humiliated this past year, he might have written something in just to spite those very fans who helped bring his show such positive attention and acclaim – and who rightly called him out for using and abusing their trust.  

I live in Scotland, so no live watching from me, though I’m sure I’ll pay attention to what happens.  One thing to watch out for: any interviews/promotional work the cast/crew does. Regardless of how ‘supportive’ fans might imagine these people to be of Clexa/Lexa, this is their job and there is no reason to discuss Lexa at all – and this is bound to lead to more dragging and disturbance in the (ex?) fandom.  Again, more agony that need not happen.  Anyone harmed by this show, I hope they stay away from all of it.  Thank you for writing and apologies for my rambly response. 

i’m your xena anon thanking you for finding that post and i found the others too. are you going to write about the new show or are you more for the old one? who do you think could be a new xena?

You are welcome.  I’ve no idea if the new show is even happening or not at this point, it’s now been a little over a year since they announced a new showrunner and nothing has gone forward, far as I know.  I would certainly watch if it came about and very likely would write about it.  

I’ve a very hard time imagining anyone other than Lucy Lawless in the part and I can see casting a new Xena must be something of a nightmare.  How do you match her physicality, humour, charisma?  She owned it so completely.  

I’d really hoped they would do a short series with Lawless and O’Connor, set 15 years after the finale, do something fun to bring her back then carefully transition into a new time period, reiterating their ‘soulmate’ status with a new Xena and Gabrielle, maybe in a post-dystopian future where a new ‘Rome’ and a new ‘Amazon nation’ arise.  Similar themes and characters, but a new look.  I thought this would help make the transition for the audience much easier, as well as honouring the fandom that has waited so long and kept her alive when there was no show.   

It will be nice to see if JGM’s version ever comes to light and how it will be handled (happy to give it a chance), but I worry that the sand-in-yer-sandals-with-swords is a bit overdone by now.