#but shadow and bone had a chosen one type heroine

[cto10121]

Honestly, Shadow and Bone was literally what many people disparage Twilight for being (but was actually not): A terribly-written romance drenched in creepy American purity culture with a much more interesting but underutilized fantasy world.

[selfdiagnosedeyemotif]

Chapter Five (Praem), pt. 4:

The Final Phase: Scion of the Fate-Spinner

This one’s like. A fun design fusion between Doctor Facilier and the Other Mother.

A massive shadow is spread on the wall behind it, with the Scion itself being horrifically lengthened beyond that which a human could survive

It gains some claw-type attacks, and when the animation for those plays it almost looks as if… the shadow is puppeting its scion rather than the other way around

Must be my imagination. That could never happen!

The gimmick of this fight is that the party members “cannot see each other”, which effectively means that any and all support skills will not be usable on anyone but the user

So if you’ve got a dancer in the party and want to use Peacock Strut, you can only target the dancer with it

This extends to items and AoE support skills like Heal Wounds

The battle screen itself follows this same rule: it will only show the character whose turn it currently is

As with the conventions established in the second game, this effect is only lifted while the boss is broken, so there’s a good chance that if you’ve built your team with only one healer, you’ll be using your break time to recover rather than dish out damage

One of the more annoying actions the Scion can take is Dropping the Veil, which makes it so that all of your travelers have a chance of accidentally attacking each other in the darkness

There is one saving grace to this: Praem is completely immune to all of these effects; she sees through Dropping the Veil and is, if you’ve chosen to give her support skills, capable of buffing and healing the team

The Warrior class in this game will likely have Cover (a support skill from the first game that allows the user to tank fatal damage in the place of an ally) and that will also function exclusively for Praem

I might also give the Scion a shadow clones ability for further trickery but I’m not 100% sure on that

Overall the focus of the second phase is to make it very hard to properly set up and land hits on the boss

Effects like Silence might also be employed to further that goal

Oh and p.s. Theft of the Future is still active. You still cannot see the turn order properly. teehee and all that

Astonishingly I have less to say about Praem’s actual final boss than I do about her penultimate boss but to be fair the fight against Ekaterina was like. The climax of the story.

After the fight the Scion crumples to the ground in a heap; its shadow stays up on the wall

“I am… his hands… I will not… fail…”

After uttering those words, the Scion goes limp and dies

At this point its maybe like. Eleven feet tall. More bone than flesh.

As the Scion dies, the shadow on the wall somehow turns away from it and fades away

Needless to say, all this business has been most distressing for our two heroines

Praem is the first to speak. “I almost pity the wretch at this point. He hadn’t even a name. He was just… a vessel for that thing upon the wall.”

“But I still cannot bring myself to feel for him. Not when he served such a master.”

Ekaterina turns to her. “That master was… that was the thing that would have forced you to kill me, wasn’t it?”

“I pray it is gone, but I know not to be such a fool.”

The two take a moment to quietly deliberate on the events that had happened

“It really is done, it is not?”

“I am free of this horrid thing.”

Praem shakes her head. “Well, not free. But it is now mine, and mine alone to wield.”

Ekaterina gently elbows her. “But you’ve escaped the worst of it, no?”

“Your fate lies dead at your feet in the form of a pile of bones that was once a man.”

“What shall you do with this freedom of yours?”

“I believe I shall take a moment to rest, and then begin a dogged pursuit of that thing the prophet served.”

[this text only appears if other travelers have incomplete stories] “And I believe that there are a few more people who I might need to fight side-by-side with yet.”

If the travelers with incomplete stories are in the party, they’ll make an appropriate comment (yeah the party was sorta just standing there while Praem and Ekaterina talked)

Praem finally sheaths her sword at this point. “Regardless, I believe that this strange curse of mine… well, it shan’t be nearly as much of a hindrance from hereon out.”

“Mayhap even a tool to aid me in the coming days.”

[You can now use the EX Skill: Mist-Cleaving Blade]

Not nearly as potent and dramatic as Aestia’s conversation with the Makers but that was like. My finest work. I shouldn’t compare myself to that every single time.

But with that there’s one last thing for the story to cover

The gang exits the Liar’s Mausoleum and finds that the town of Skyglass has been completely deserted.

All of the villagers are gone

The story ends with Praem remarking that far more work need be done than she had first thought, but she has allies to help her along the way now

You’ve heard the schpeal. You’ve read Aestia’s story at this point probably.

Regardless, with this, the mist clouding the eyes of one Praem Saeci has finally been cleared

The slave of the whims of fate is finally free

For destiny is written by none but human hands, and never walks a single path

It is not without considerable effort that one can be “doomed”, per se

There is no hole from which one cannot climb out of, no matter how certain the bottom seems

One need only clear the fog around them and look clearly, for there are paths innumerable ahead of them, and the one that leads to doom is not nearly as all-encompassing as it might seem

Thank you for reading.

[beantothemax]

[continued]

The Final Phase: Scion of the Fate-Spinner

This one’s like. A fun design fusion between Doctor Facilier and the Other Mother.

A massive shadow is spread on the wall behind it, with the Scion itself being horrifically lengthened beyond that which a human could survive

It gains some claw-type attacks, and when the animation for those plays it almost looks as if… the shadow is puppeting its scion rather than the other way around

Must be my imagination. That could never happen!

The gimmick of this fight is that the party members “cannot see each other”, which effectively means that any and all support skills will not be usable on anyone but the user

So if you’ve got a dancer in the party and want to use Peacock Strut, you can only target the dancer with it

This extends to items and AoE support skills like Heal Wounds

The battle screen itself follows this same rule: it will only show the character whose turn it currently is

As with the conventions established in the second game, this effect is only lifted while the boss is broken, so there’s a good chance that if you’ve built your team with only one healer, you’ll be using your break time to recover rather than dish out damage

One of the more annoying actions the Scion can take is Dropping the Veil, which makes it so that all of your travelers have a chance of accidentally attacking each other in the darkness

There is one saving grace to this: Praem is completely immune to all of these effects; she sees through Dropping the Veil and is, if you’ve chosen to give her support skills, capable of buffing and healing the team

The Warrior class in this game will likely have Cover (a support skill from the first game that allows the user to tank fatal damage in the place of an ally) and that will also function exclusively for Praem

I might also give the Scion a shadow clones ability for further trickery but I’m not 100% sure on that

Overall the focus of the second phase is to make it very hard to properly set up and land hits on the boss

Effects like Silence might also be employed to further that goal

Oh and p.s. Theft of the Future is still active. You still cannot see the turn order properly. teehee and all that

Astonishingly I have less to say about Praem’s actual final boss than I do about her penultimate boss but to be fair the fight against Ekaterina was like. The climax of the story.

After the fight the Scion crumples to the ground in a heap; its shadow stays up on the wall

“I am… his hands… I will not… fail…”

After uttering those words, the Scion goes limp and dies

At this point its maybe like. Eleven feet tall. More bone than flesh.

As the Scion dies, the shadow on the wall somehow turns away from it and fades away

Needless to say, all this business has been most distressing for our two heroines

Praem is the first to speak. “I almost pity the wretch at this point. He hadn’t even a name. He was just… a vessel for that thing upon the wall.”

“But I still cannot bring myself to feel for him. Not when he served such a master.”

Ekaterina turns to her. “That master was… that was the thing that would have forced you to kill me, wasn’t it?”

“I pray it is gone, but I know not to be such a fool.”

The two take a moment to quietly deliberate on the events that had happened

“It really is done, it is not?”

“I am free of this horrid thing.”

Praem shakes her head. “Well, not free. But it is now mine, and mine alone to wield.”

Ekaterina gently elbows her. “But you’ve escaped the worst of it, no?”

“Your fate lies dead at your feet in the form of a pile of bones that was once a man.”

“What shall you do with this freedom of yours?”

“I believe I shall take a moment to rest, and then begin a dogged pursuit of that thing the prophet served.”

[this text only appears if other travelers have incomplete stories] “And I believe that there are a few more people who I might need to fight side-by-side with yet.”

If the travelers with incomplete stories are in the party, they’ll make an appropriate comment (yeah the party was sorta just standing there while Praem and Ekaterina talked)

Praem finally sheaths her sword at this point. “Regardless, I believe that this strange curse of mine… well, it shan’t be nearly as much of a hindrance from hereon out.”

“Mayhap even a tool to aid me in the coming days.”

[You can now use the EX Skill: Blade of Mist]

Not nearly as potent and dramatic as Aestia’s conversation with the Makers but that was like. My finest work. I shouldn’t compare myself to that every single time.

But with that there’s one last thing for the story to cover

The gang exits the Liar’s Mausoleum and finds that the town of Skyglass has been completely deserted.

All of the villagers are gone

The story ends with Praem remarking that far more work need be done than she had first thought, but she has allies to help her along the way now

You’ve heard the schpeal. You’ve read Aestia’s story at this point probably.

Regardless, with this, the mist clouding the eyes of one Praem Saeci has finally been cleared

The slave of the whims of fate is finally free

For destiny is written by none but human hands, and never walks a single path

It is not without considerable effort that one can be “doomed”, per se

There is no hole from which one cannot climb out of, no matter how certain the bottom seems

One need only clear the fog around them and look clearly, for there are paths innumerable ahead of them, and the one that leads to doom is not nearly as all-encompassing as it might seem

Thank you for reading.

wow. iris I’ve said this for every story so far and will say this for every story to come but just. I don’t have words.

well one thing I do have words for is this line, and those words are ‘I’m going to be thinking about this for the next few day’

the entire scion of the fate-spinner concept was. genuinely terrifying to me. I know this is just game mechanics you’re describing but the idea of your entire party being shrouded in darkness, unable to even see or assist your teammates, or, heavens forbid, accidentally striking them instead of the foul puppet in front of them is. it genuinely gave me chills

and just. praem’s entire story has been absolutely amazing to watch unfold. I adore all of the travelers I’ve met so far but I think praem might be my favorite.

and Iris, thank you for writing.

[insomniac-dot-ink]

Books I’ve Read in 2020

AHello! I’m trying to read as many books as I can during the quarantine, here’s what I’ve finished so far:

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong (literary fiction): a son writes a letter about his life to his illiterate mother. Breathtakingly beautiful with it’s way with words this book is lovely and real in the hardest and sweetest ways. The author’s combination of prose and poetry is dazzling and intricate, this book has stuck with me for days afterward. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik (fantasy): a money-lender gets in trouble after bragging she can turn silver into gold and is kidnapped and ordered to do so by a fey creature. It may be that I am the perfect audience for this type of book, but it’s my favorite thing I’ve read all year. It’s a book that equally takes on the fantastical and real-world with compelling female characters at the center of the whole thing. A wonderful fantasy journey inspired by eastern-European Jewish folklore. 5 out of 5 stars.

Through the Woods by Emily Carroll (horror graphic novel): a series of short horror comics. Absolutely bone-chilling! This was a really fun type of scary story, especially the last one which made my skin absolutely crawl. Deliciously eerie, this was treat to read if not a little too short. 4 out of 5 stars.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender (magical realism): a young girl can taste other people’s emotions in their cooking and begins to understand her family in new ways. This was a weird book, but it has everything you’ve got to love about that combination of the surreal and mundane. It’s sense of character was electrifying and I had fun engaging with this type of off-kilter real world. I was a little frustrated in parts bc of some characters choices, but that too was true to life. 4 out of 5 stars.

Crier’s War by Nina Varela (steampunk fantasy wlw): about a Made automaton heir to a throne and her human hand-maiden that is trying to kill her. This was an easy read with a lot of tension between the two main characters that I liked, but the writing itself was very weak. There was waaay too much exposition in parts and the dialogue had some really hockey lines. I enjoyed the twists and turns in the middle of the book, but the beginning and end didn’t have much movement. 2.5 stars out of 5.

The Huntress by Kate Quinn (historical fiction): honestly, I’m a little disappointed. This book just did not hit my sweet spots, it wasn’t fast-paced enough for me to get immersed in the plot, and the characters weren’t real enough to be wholly invested in them. That said I adored Nina Markova and the Night Witches, so that did help. 3 starts out of 5.

The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White (horror sci-fi retelling): HAND IN UNLOVABLE HAND. A retelling of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein from the perspective of Victor Frankenstein’s wife and my God! The characters! The plot was well-enough, but the characters took the whole show for being complex and compelling. The main character was breathtakingly layered and I was wholly invested in Elizabeth and her story and the triumph at the end of this story was tangible. 4 out of 5 stars! 

Uprooted by Naomi Novik (fantasy): A story of a young woman who lives in a valley where a girl must go live with a wizard for 10 years. She is certain she won’t be chosen, but ends up having to be “uprooted” herself. I enjoyed most of this book! However, I think I liked “Spinning Silver” a lot more just because the ending of this one somehow lost me. The characters were good and plot compelling, but (SPOILERS) the big battle at the end seemed to drag and didn’t interest me somehow. 3.8 out of 5 stars.

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (fantasy): excellent read! A story of a young woman in Jazz Age Mexico who goes on an adventure with a Mayan death God who is trying to regain his throne. A romp across the country absolutely brimming with likable characters and fairy tale twists. My only complaint would be that most of it felt a little predictable due to the fact we knew where we were going throughout the whole story, However, it was still greatly enjoyable for the heroine herself, Casiopea. 4 out of 5 stars!

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng (literary): a story of two families in a progressive “planned” community, how their lives intertwine, their secrets, and a central question surrounding motherhood. Deeply empathetic to its characters and introspective, this is an every-day story of people in suburbia that reads like a thriller. I could barely put it down and felt deeply for its characters and situations, 5 out of 5 stars!

Wilder Girls by Rory Power (YA sci-fi suspense): a story of a group of girls at a boarding school on an island affected by the “tox” which alters their bodies in strange ways like giving them scales or an extra spine. This was an eerie, interesting read with a wlw romance! Watch out for the body horror in this one, but it was very gripping and held my interest. Some of the pacing was off in places (like the romance), but had a very creepy atmosphere that did it for me. 3.8 out of 5 stars!

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio (thriller-mystery): A thriller about a group of Shakespeare actors in their last year of college and one of their classmates who turns up dead. I enjoyed the murder mystery part of this novel more than I expected despite the fact I had guessed who had “done it” pretty early on. I really enjoyed the James-Oliver dynamic with its growing homoeroticism, but I didn’t like how the character of Meredith was handled at all. She felt like a one-note aside. I might have given this book four stars, but the ending was EXTREMELY frustrating for me and I did not like the “open-ended” conclusion. 3 out of 5 stars.

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (literary humor): a weird character-driven comedy about an old grumpy man and a new family that moves in next to him. Warning for themes of suicide. Anyway, I don’t normally indulge in cliches like “I laughed, I cried, I loved one Cat Annoyance.” However, that’s exactly what I did. I laughed out loud, I cried my eyes out (THE CAT’S HEAD WAS IN HIS PALM), I loved this book. It was sweet and compelling and thoroughly immersive. 5 out of 5 stars!

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow (historical fantasy): set in the early 1900s comes a story of a young girl and her experience with “Doors” that lead to different worlds. This book had a lot of great character development and really interesting descriptions, however, I didn’t like it as much as I wanted to. I found it hard to get myself to sit down a read it. There was just something missing with the push to “page-turn,” but it was still a really good book. 3.7 out of 5 stars!

Gideon the 9th by Tamsyn Muir (high fantasy, kinda gay): I AM FILLED WITH EMOTIONS. This was book was definitely a page-turner. I was very confused with it at the beginning, but the characters and their interactions were, forgive the expression, the life blood of the story and kept me wholly invested. The ending has CRUSHED my heart, but damn did I have a good time reading it. 4.5 out of 5 stars!

Harrow the 9th by Tamsyn Muir (sequel to Gideon the 9th): I really enjoyed this book. It was just as strange and twisting as the first book, though I think I enjoyed the first one a bit more since I love Gideon. It was fun ride overall, though the ending was kind of really confusing. So 4 out of 5 stars.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (historical fiction): Overall, I really enjoyed this book! The writing style was personable and grounded in reality. I found myself really liking the main characters and the exploration of the life of a bi main character was really well done I thought. A solid book with drama and glamor to boot. 4.6 out of 5 stars!

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah (historical fiction): A story of two sisters during WWII and their resistance to Nazi occupation. To be honest, this book wasn’t my cup of tea. It was compelling, but also wholly depressing and I felt like gloried in the pain of the two main characters too much. The history was wonderful and realistic, but it didn’t make me feel anything good afterward. It was just dark. 3 out of 5 stars.

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (mlm romance): I finally finished this after the heaviness of The Nightingale. This is a story of the First Son of the USA falling for the prince of England. And it turned out to be a very fun and light hearted read! Some of it was kinda generic and too political, and it coulda been shorter, but I thought the romance itself made up for it. It just made me feel so sweet and lovely inside. 4 out of 5 stars!

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman (literary humor): I’m searching out heartfelt books and this one ticked off all the marks on my “sweet” list. A lovely book that made me cry more times than I would like to admit. Compassionate beyond belief, funny and heartfelt. I think I enjoyed A Man Called Ove slightly more, but this book was also dear to me and something I hope to reread in the future. 4.2 out of 5 stars!

Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel (sci-fi): A post-apocalyptical story about a group of traveling Shakespeare actors and a symphony. Overall, an excellent read that somehow pictures a more realistic or even softer version of the apocalypse. At first, I wasn't happy with the jumping around of the story, but as I progressed I grew fonder and fonder of the interwoven characters and their journey. A very fascinating read about a world that hits a little too close to home. The appreciation of the arts and preserving humanity was somehow very hopeful and I was fully engaged with this story. 5 out of 5 Stars!

Up next: The Hidden Life of Trees by by Peter Wohlleben (nonfiction science), The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin (urban fantasy), The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (fantasy)

[aion-rsa]

How Shadow and Bone’s Jessie Mei Li Grounds the Grishaverse

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If you’ve watched Shadow and Bone, then you’re probably curious about the literal sunshine at its center. Her name is Jessie Mei Li (she/they) and, though she’s a relative newcomer to the world of mainstream entertainment, that seems poised to quickly change. Between Shadow and Bone‘s current status as one of the biggest TV shows on the planet, and Li’s upcoming appearance in Edgar Wright’s psychological horror Last Night in Soho later this year, the 25-year-old British actor is surely at the start of an exciting storytelling career. We had the chance to sit down with Li prior to the release of Shadow and Bone to talk about where she’s come from and where she might be going.

“I really don’t think I’ve considered this show and the fact that people will actually watch it,” Li says, with a laugh, when I talk to her ahead of Shadow and Bone‘s April 23rd global release. “So much of what I’ve done hasn’t come out yet. So I guess the way I’ve been working is just having fun. Then I sort of just follow that, just get really immersed in it.”

Li has to be downplaying the skill and work that went into her warm and grounded performance as Alina Starkov, the orphan-cartographer at the center of Shadow and Bone’s excellent first season. It’s not easy to play a likable “Chosen One,” a character type that is often strapped with all of the angst and none of the fun of a fantasy epic, but Li makes it look like it is. She never makes the mistake of conflating fierceness with apathy, infusing Alina with an emotional intelligence and complexity that is apparent in every scene, whether it involves our protagonist light-heartedly teasing new Grisha friends or fighting for agency over her own body and power after a visceral betrayal. 

“[The actors] have to infuse the character with truth and the honesty, and they have to be brave,” says Mairzee Almas, who directed Li in episodes 5 and 6 of Shadow and Bone. “Jessie has a huge part in creating this character. Yeah, it’s in a book series and, yeah, here we are, it’s in the script—all of that’s true, but she has to bring her own humanity and her own fear and her own bravery and all of those things to the character.”

When talking to Li and looking back at her career so far, it’s clear just how much the actor’s bravery and humanity, focused by a joy of acting and a love for people, has driven her path so far. It wasn’t so long ago that Li was studying languages (French and Spanish) at university, unsure of what she wanted to do with the rest of her life, but increasingly sure that it wasn’t uni life. “I always loved playing dress up and doing little scenes and puppet shows and things with my brother and friends growing up,” says Li, who grew up in Surrey to an English mother and a Chinese-born, Hong Kong-raised father, “but I never really thought of it as something that I could actually do as a job.” 

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It’s easy to understand why Li grew up without considering acting as a viable career path. While we’re encouraged to think of acting as one of the more egalitarian professions, it exists in an unequal society that privileges certain groups of people above others—and some U.K. actors, like James McAvoy, who do not come from the kind of immense economic privilege as the Benedict Cumberbatches or Tom Hiddlestons of the world, have become increasingly vocal about the class ceiling, while British actors of color, like John Boyega, has spoken about the barriers that exist for BAME actors, even when they’ve been cast in one of the biggest film franchises in the world.

Li, who doesn’t come from an acting family nor from the elite Oxbridge world that churns out a disproportionate amount of the U.K.’s best-known actors, is also multiracial in a majority White industry. She might not have seen a clear path forward for her acting career, but she followed her passion nonetheless. After two years, Li left college before completing her degree and began working as a tutor, a waitress, and then as a teaching assistant. “During that time, I wanted to just do things that I liked doing,” says Li. “And one of those things was doing a bit of acting and then slowly over time, I was like, ‘Oh, this really makes me happy. I can really express myself doing this.’”

Li’s first foray into more formal acting training came in a summer course at the National Youth Theatre, a youth arts charity with a mission of “giving accessible opportunities both onstage and backstage to young people aged 14-25 from all corners of the U.K.” Li wasn’t intending on auditioning, but when the eldest son from a family she used to babysit for went to audition, the family encouraged Li to go along as well. While at the four-week program, Li learned about the Identity School of Acting, a part-time drama school in London “with a mission to disrupt the industry with a new, diverse generation of talent.” In addition to Li, its alums include Boyega, Letitia Wright, Sabrina’s Chance Perdomo, and Hanna’s Áine Rose Daly. For Li, the experience was as much about the relationships she made there as it was the skills honed.

“It was just so nice to meet people,” says Li. “I think that’s what really made me want to do these classes. It was to make friends who were like-minded. I’ve met some real lifelong friends through the National Youth Theater and Identity. So, yeah, it was definitely worthwhile for the relationships I made.”

Li might say the same about her experience working on Shadow and Bone, which filmed in Budapest from October 2019 to February 2020. Suzanne Smith, who did the casting for the Netflix adaptation and whose previous work includes Outlander and Good Omens, brought together a cast that is much more representative of the world than the average TV ensemble. Though the production includes veteran actors like Ben Barnes and Zoe Wanamaker, the vast majority of the series’ stars are younger newcomers, and they are delightful.

“This is a story about young people who have been overlooked and who’ve never had the chance to show people what they can do, who have all this talent and all of this power,” Shadow and Bone author Leigh Bardugo tells Den of Geek. “So it made a lot of sense in terms of the soul of the books for us to have all these incredibly gifted young people that arrived on our doorstep, like a magical gift in the show.”

It’s also a cast that seems to genuinely love and respect one another, as the many, many seratonin-inducing clips from the Shadow and Bone virtual press junket have made apparent. When speaking about what she is most looking forward to about the show’s release, Li immediately and enthusiastically shines the spotlight on her co-stars, saying: “I think everyone is amazing in this show. I can’t wait for people to fall in love with whichever character is their favorite.” (If you were wondering her favorite characters are Mal and Inej: “I think both of those characters just made me cry.”) This cast are each other’s original #1 fans, and, in an time when Hollywood is getting slightly better at discussing abuses of power on set and in executive offices, it is important to celebrate the shows that prioritize supportive and collaborative work environments as vital to the artistic process.

When I ask showrunner Eric Heisserer if it was a priority to cast good people, he says: “Absolutely. I mean, you can’t always be sure of something like that, but there are certainly flags or behavior patterns that let you know a little bit more about that. And it was vital to me in a show where you’re building long-term relationships to begin with.” Heisserer says it is especially important to cast kind people when working on a (hopefully) long-running TV series versus a feature, which is usually a one-and-done production.

“Here, this is a pretty long-term group monogamous relationship,” says Heisserer. “And I’ve seen on the sets of shows I’ve shadowed on before that one bad apple can really turn the whole place toxic. So it was a careful set of choices here and a not insignificant amount of luck. I count my stars that we found the people that we did because the alchemy here… they’re so good to each other and they’re so good in their hearts.”

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This sense of gratitude for the opportunity and experience is reflected in how Li speaks about the project: “I’m so lucky to have had the opportunities I’ve had,” she says, when asked if there has been a point at which she feels like she “made it.” “I know so many actors who are far more talented than I am, who haven’t quite had that break yet. So I do feel really, really blessed to be where I am.”

While it’s not necessary to see this kind of behavior modeled in order to embody it yourself, when Li talks about what she learned from her first “big break” project—a West End production of All About Eve starring Gillian Anderson and Lily James in which she played a small role (as Marilyn Monroe)—she doesn’t speak about the lead actors’ performances but rather their professionalism.

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“They really set the bar for how much hard work goes in,” reflects Li. “Those two and the other cast members worked so hard and must’ve been exhausted and were just really great leaders in terms of bringing everyone together and getting us all cakes and doughnuts once a week and things like that. It was lovely to see these two women at the helm of this cast and how strong they were.”

After early 2019’s All About Eve, Li’s career continued to take off. She got confirmation she had won the lead role in Shadow and Bone just before production began on Last Night in Soho. Li will play the minor role of Lara in Wright’s 1960s London-set period story about (via Deadline) “a young girl [played by Jojo Rabbit‘s Thomasin McKenzie] who is passionate about fashion design, who mysteriously enters the 1960s where she encounters her idol, a dazzling wannabe singer.”

“Reading the script, I was like, ‘I’ve never read anything like this,’” says Li. “And it was such a great experience because I love Edgar Wright. I think I’ve watched Hot Fuzz more than any other film ever. So it was really great to meet him and work with him and see the way his films work. Everyone works so hard and it’s really set the bar. I keep saying that, but then going to do Shadow and Bone, I was like, ‘That’s the level of professionalism I want to bring to our set on Shadow and Bone.'”

While Shadow and Bone Season 2 has yet to be officially announced, the Netflix fantasy series debuted in the streamer’s Top Ten and was met with critical and fan acclaim. We’ll likely be seeing much more of Li’s Alina in the next few years. That’s good news for us and good news for the actor, who genuinely seems to love her character and can’t wait to see what happens next: “I think I’m really excited for us to see how Alina deals with everything,” she says. “It’s kind of how I feel at the moment in terms of: we’ve got this show coming out and now people might know who I am. And I feel like that happens to Alina too.” 

Shadow and Bone is now available to watch on Netflix.

The post How Shadow and Bone’s Jessie Mei Li Grounds the Grishaverse appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/332TEa7

[academia-krp]

Please welcome our new [student]. [He] goes by the name [Elixir] also known as [Ahn Intak]. He has an [emitter-type] quirk called [biokinesis]. He has been assigned to the [terra] dormitory in [student room 102]. He has been assigned to [Sixth Sense’s] squad.

You have chosen wisely.

Quirk:

Quirk: Emitter–Biokinesis

Sub-Abilities: While he’s able to manipulate biological matter, making it possible for him to aid those in healing, he’s got a deadly side effect to him. He’s recently (while at S.N.H.A.) developed a sub-ability: Poison emission. If his lips make contact with organic matter, this sub ability can activate and a nerve agent can cause paralysis in the target. This poison emission is not deadly as of the moment and can only last 5-7 minutes depending on how big the person is.

Weaknesses:

For biokinesis, Intak can only heal a wound that he knows the condition of. He needs to know how badly the person is injured, he needs to be able to see what he’s working with. If he can’t see the wound and he’s unable to gauge the seriousness of the injury he isn’t as effective. He also cannot use this power for prolonged periods of time. It will do damage to his own body.

As for his Poison emission, One of Intak’s weaknesses is having to be up close to the target and make physical contact in the most intimate of ways. It leaves him in danger if he isn’t careful. The biggest weakness of all is he isn’t immune to this gas either. If the poisonous gas that he emits is reintroduced into his own respiratory system, he’s also susceptible to paralysis.

Biography:

Background: Being a hero is pretty cool. Or, at least that’s what Ahn Intak believed growing up. His mother, a well-known heroine with a force field generation quirk and his father with enhanced strength–he knew the perks that came with being a hero. People loved them, they couldn’t go anywhere without being thanked and pampered and treated. Intak couldn’t even remember the last time he went out to eat and the meal with his family wasn’t comped by the owner of the establishment.

Being a hero paid off in ways he couldn’t wait to experience. But then, his own quirk began to surface. At the ripe age of 11, Intak noticed that he could manipulate biological matter. It started small, like the bird with the broken wing that lived outside his window. He noticed the injury and was able to heal the little one in hours. Of course, once it was healed, it flew away, never to be seen again. No thank you required. On the surface, and at first, Intak thought this was a great power. His whole family sure gassed him up to believe that. But the more people he helped, the less credit he seemed to receive. He could pick up whole buildings or move cars for trapped people. He couldn’t generate an kinetic shield to deflect danger. All he did was tend to wounds like a military nurse. And soon, what seemed to be a great quirk became a C-list quirk in a family full of A-list quirks. Even his younger brother had a cooler power than him. He could manipulate the weather–THE W E A T H E R.

There was no discussion about whether he would go to S.N.H.A. or not. He was going so he could develop his gift and join his parents in being heroes. But for Intak, that couldn’t fly. He didn’t want to live in their monstrous shadows and even more than that, he didn’t want to live his whole life being a stupid sidekick that no one ever thought to mention or thank when he saved them. No, he’d learned in his experiences with helping his parents that people, these normal, salt-of-the-earth people who needed protection–they’d never notice him for saving their lives, for stopping all that bleeding or repairing a fractured bone within the same hour they broke it. No, they’ll only remember how his father was able to carry them and four other people out of the burning building or how his mother protected them as she led them out of the burning building.

Being a hero was non-rewarding if you didn’t have a flashy quirk. That was…until a sub-ability began to develop. One day, while working out in the cardio room, Intak fell, unable to move or scream for help or anything else. And he laid there for what seemed like forever before they were able to move him to the infirmary next door. There, they found a gas in his system, a nerve agent. At first they wondered if this was an organized attack but he was the only one effected in the cardio room. With further tests, they realized the gas was actually coating his entire mouth, a secretion much like saliva enzymes just there, as if it were natural.

He’s done a lot to keep this particular sub-ability a secret. He doesn’t want anyone knowing that with his ability to heal he also has the ability to do harm.

Personality: Intak is over all a friendly guy. He’ll talk to just about anybody and is a flirt. Doesn’t matter if it’s a guy, girl, non-binary–he will flirt because that’s naturally a part of his personality. He takes care of his body and believes he has to overcompensate in cardio and strength since his quirk is “sub-par” for fights and other activities heroes take part in to save people. He’s resentful of those with “cool” quirks but will never show it. Hides a lot of the negative aspects of his personality because he can’t deal with them.