#these movies have a lot of little details with deeper meanings but the cape thing just isn't one of them sorry

[stairset]

I think the portrayal of Spider-Man 2099 in Across the Spider-Verse is in-character in that aside from like Shattered Dimensions he's always been portrayed as a bit of an asshole who slips into anti-hero territory at times and generally has a "needs of the many over the needs of the few" mindset and given his specific circumstances in the movie it's not unreasonable to think he could take the actions he does. However it does kinda suck that since like 99% of moviegoers had no idea who he was before the movie came out their first impression of him is when he's in an antagonistic role and people think "antagonist" and "villain" are synonyms so now I'm gonna have to listen to people who've never read a comic saying he's a villain or isn't a real Spider-Man for the rest of time or at least until he inevitably changes his mind in the third one.

[the-odinson]

Thor 🗲 Intro

“Fortunately, I am mighty...”

OOC PORTION —

NAME: Danny

PRONOUNS: he/him

AGE: 23

TIMEZONE: GMT +1

TRIGGERS: None

IC PORTION; BASICS —

CHARACTER NAME: Thor Odinson

FACECLAIM: Chris Hemsworth

AFFILIATIONS: The Avengers

AGE: 1500s/appears mid 30s

SPECIES: Alien (Asgardian)

IDENTITY: Public

DOES YOUR CHARACTER LIVE IN THE MOUSEHOLE? IF SO, WHAT ARE THEIR DUTIES? Yes, but he doesn’t particularly like it there. He doesn’t feel the effects of the cold, but Thor has never liked being confined so prefers to get outside as much as possible. Thor has decided to take on the role of a hunter/gatherer. The vast forests of Europe aren’t too dissimilar to the Asgardian wilderness and, while the beasts aren’t as ferocious as back home, what’s a king to do if not revel in the hunt? When needed he will also help with aid work: he can cover great distances with ease and carrying heavy loads is hardly a problem for him.

DESCRIBE SIX TRAITS (3 positive, 3 negative) YOUR CHARACTER HAS AND HOW THESE AFFECT THEM:

Dependable: A man of his word, Thor is trustworthy and reliable; an asset in any team and to anyone who has a favour to ask. Endearing: Those who truly get to know Thor speak of him with admiration; his warm smile and welcoming personality don’t come to all, but if he lets his guard down you’re guaranteed a friend with whom you feel truly comfortable. Benevolent: Thor (usually) means well and (usually) tries to be kind to anyone he encounters. His exterior may come across as brash but there’s no malice involved, often just a difference in culture and upbringing. Obstinate: While being headstrong may not always be a negative thing, Thor hates to admit he’s wrong and has a tendency to steamroll down a chosen path rarely reassessing whether the choices he made were the right ones or simply the first ones. Distrusting: Thor enjoys being social but mainly around those he’s close to. He can appear a little hostile to strangers: while he wants to believe in the good in people, he’s been around long enough and seen a lot of the universe to know of the potential darkness inside them too. Reckless: Thor often acts on impulse and charges into situations unprepared. This can lead to serious damage caused to both himself and those around him.

POWERS AND/OR ABILITIES: Super strength: Son of Odin and King of Asgard, Thor is physically the strongest of all Asgardians, with feats including being able to go one-on-one with the Hulk and other powerful entities. Flight: Thor’s magical axe Stormbreaker grants him the ability to fly. Electricity Manipulation: Thor is capable of generating electrical energy within his body and can expel it in the form of lightning bolts. Using Stormbreaker makes the energy generation and expulsion much more powerful and efficient. Weather Control: Similarly, either with or without Stormbreaker (although with Stormbreaker is easier), Thor can control the sky and create storms. Durability: His Asgardian physiology grants much more durability than a human one, able to shrug off energy blasts and recover from injury much quicker. Thor can also survive in space and alien atmospheres. Allspeak: Also called the All-Tongue, Asgardians speak a magic-based language, granting the ability to understand and be understood in all the languages of the Nine Realms. Bifrost: Stormbreaker also gifts Thor the power to summon the Bifrost, the Rainbow Bridge connecting all realms, allowing intergalactic travel between worlds in a matter of moments.

WEAKNESSES: There aren’t many things on Earth that could pose a threat to Thor, so it’s hard to pinpoint any specific weaknesses. Perhaps for someone like Thor, the word god comes up so often that he sometimes forgets it’s not true: he is mortal and, while far more durable than a human, he can get injured and he can get killed, a fact that he often brushes to the side when charging into battle. However he has become far more self-aware after losing an eye (and almost his life) to Hela.

IC PORTION; DETAILS —

WHAT BROUGHT YOUR CHARACTER TO SOKOVIA?

Sokovia is where the majority of Thor’s allies are, and he needs their help. His world gone, his people stranded on the nearest hospitable realm in need of a home; Thor knew of a place where the Asgardians could blend in and live peaceful lives. The problem is, however, it seems Earth is not quite at peace right now. When he couldn’t track down the Avengers in New York, he followed the trail to Novi Grad. His priorities are conflicting: while he came back to Earth to ask the Avengers’ help in establishing a new Asgard on this planet, he feels he should stay to try and help his friends however he can in aiding the Nomad’s cause.

DID THEY SIGN THE ACCORDS? WHY OR WHY NOT?

No - the whole Accords situation is mostly unbeknownst to Thor due to being offworld at the time of signing. From what he can gather, it isn’t something that would appeal to him. He feels the affairs of humans are mostly petty ones and, despite his growing acclimatisation to Earth and its customs, he doesn’t understand why humans have to be so divided about, well, pretty much everything.

PROVIDE 3-5 HEADCANONS RELATED TO YOUR CHARACTER: 1. Although Thor is an alien, he has spent enough time on this planet (in both modern and ancient times) for the culture shock to lessen so that now Earth to Thor is more comparable to a human travelling to a different country - he acknowledges that the differences are neither better nor worse and he chooses to respect them. He knows he will make mistakes and appear strange, but sees that now as an opportunity for personal growth. 2. One thing he doubts he will ever understand however, is the human version of ‘entertainment’. Thor cannot stand movies. On Asgard, they would entertain themselves by slaying fearsome monsters or engaging in a friendly drunken brawl, the more broken furniture the better! But on Earth they amuse themselves by… sitting down and staring at a screen for hours on end. While both Asgard and Earth had/have magnificent technology, it’s clear they used it very differently.

3. Since returning to Earth, Thor has become intrigued in the Norse tales of himself and his people from over a thousand years ago and their alleged feats. He finds it highly amusing how inaccurate the stories are, but it has led to a fascination of human mythology and the various pantheons across history and the world. He wonders if he will ever meet any other of these so-called gods.

4. While a human brain only has capacity for almost a century’s worth of memories, an Asgardian brain is built for a few millennia’s worth. Therefore Thor has a much more acute long-term memory than his human companions, although occasionally his short-term memory leaves something to be desired, especially after several pints of mead.

WANTED CHARACTER CONNECTIONS: 

Loki: His brother and the person he loves (and hates) most in the cosmos. I know a thing or two about brotherly love (I’ve been experiencing it for 23 years) so would love to write for Thor with his undeniably most personal connection. Wonder Woman: Both ancient, both ‘gods’ and both so very far from home. Despite their different allegiances I think it would be great to have Thor bond with perhaps the one person around here who may truly understand him. Superman: If anything they both have fabulous red capes. They are quite similar power-wise, although I know Superman is stronger but Thor definitely wouldn’t want to admit that. It could lead to some healthy (or unhealthy?) competition between the two, especially seeing as Thor isn’t too fond of the Justice League. Captain America & Iron Man: The two splintered team leaders. Thor respects them both (Tony a little less, perhaps…) and, since he doesn’t really understand the extent of the accords, would like to hear their sides of the story and what has happened since the Ultron incident. Bruce Banner: Thor has fought with the Hulk a couple of times but feels this has brought the two closer, learning more about how Bruce ticks and now he feels there’s a protective bond between the pair. I think the interactions they have could bring out the comedic style of writing which I love!

POTENTIAL CHARACTER ARCS: In the previous paragraph I said I like writing comedic characters (of which Thor fits the bill) but I also want to explore the deeper aspects of his personality such as the emotional pain of losing his parents, his childhood friends and his home. This could manifest in him not wanting to form bonds with others in the Mousehole at first because he’s lost so many people: why would he want to get close with anyone else only to lose them again? Perhaps a dramatic fallout with someone from a different team could lead to serious consequences for him or the team as a whole.

The reason I chose for placing Thor in Sokovia is that he’s seeking a location for New Asgard: maybe with all its emigrating population and empty buildings Sokovia could be the perfect location… I’m not sure how it would work in the group, but maybe Thor could eventually bring the Asgardians here, both to settle and to help with the restoration of the country.

CHARACTER BIO —

You know the story. An Asgardian prince, lacking in humility and exiled to Earth in order to learn what it means to be worthy. A classic tale, but at its heart, a tale of loss, and a tale of what it means to truly be human: even if you’re not. Thor has lived for well over a millenia, but only in the last decade has his life really begun. From landing on Earth a long time after people stopped worshipping him, he slowly began to understand the importance of relationships; from forming close bonds with the Avengers (and wary acquaintances with the Justice League and X-Men), to experiencing true love for the very first time. All his life Thor had assumed that humans were lesser beings, so why then did he feel he was learning so much more from them than he had ever learned from his own kind? 

After experiencing the death of his mother, then later on his father and three close childhood friends, Thor was at breaking point when his home realm of Asgard was obliterated during Ragnarök by the fire demon Surtur. With the title of King thrust upon him, Thor decided his duty to his people had to consume him before his emotions did. Pursuing the quest of a new home, he led them to Nidavellir, the homeworld of the dwarfs; unsurpassable smiths and mechanics with the power to forge almost anything the mind can dream of, ruled over by their King, Eitri. Eons ago, Eitri had forged the legendary hammer Mjölnir (destroyed by Hela) at Odin’s request, now he oversaw the creation of the glorious axe Stormbreaker when asked by Thor, capable of summoning the rainbow bridge despite its apparent destruction on Asgard. Armed with his new tool and a promise to the Asgardians of a brighter future, Thor set out alone across the stars, heading to Midgard to find his old allies the Avengers. He’d helped the humans many times before, hopefully they’ll be able to help him and his race this time. 

It took Thor losing everything to appreciate what he has. As he enters the next phase of his life in Sokovia, without family or a home, he is truly the definition of a nomad.

[chibimyumi]

Dear @lunitamoon​​,

First of all, I am sorry it took so long to get to you, but thank you very much for your sweet compliments! The day you sent the ask was great, and so is today. I hope your life is good to you too.

But now without further ado, your question.

Uchikawa Reo

I think Reo is a very good actor. My first opinion of him when I saw him in Noah’s Ark Circus 2016 was that he has a lot of talent. Some of these talents were not polished yet, (his singing being one example, but given his young age I couldn’t possibly blame him), while other talents were already polished to a sparkling gem. When people talk about Reo, it is usually “cuteee, so tiny!!!” or compliments of the like. His looks make people shove his remarkableness as an actor under these irrelevant external qualities. That is a shame, so please allow me to highlight a few things that are remarkable about this boy.

Character interpretation and understanding

I think Reo understood the character of O!Ciel very well and he was able to deliver many of the nuances even his first time in the role. When hastily interpreted, O!Ciel’s character runs the risk of being taken for nothing but cranky, sulky and haughty. Reo however, even at the age of 12 managed to see that these three obvious traits have a much deeper root: ‘doneness’. O!Ciel is done with his butler’s sauciness, done with people around him imposing their opinions on him, done with the world. Uchikawa Reo managed to capture this fatigue quite well.

In the scene where Soma is altogether a bit too clingy, I think many would think O!Ciel would push the prince away or slap him away. Reo however, did not. He was trying to pull away Soma’s hands, but he never showed antagonism. Just doneness. Regardless of whether O!Ciel does or doesn’t see Soma as his ‘big brother figure’ and ‘friend’, he does care about him. Even when Reo-bocchan said: “I’m exhausted because of you,” there was no callousness in his voice; just irritation.

Reo managed to find a beautiful middle ground between ‘warm’ and ‘cold’ for O!Ciel, and that is exactly what I believe our Trash Baby Lord is. That is a lot more nuance in character study than I could possibly expect from most actors, let alone a 12 year old one.

Another example of Reo’s great understanding of his role is in the scene where he questions his butler whether he would be able to bring them to Baron Kelvin’s manor within an hour. Here he raised an eyebrow as he spoke. This raised eyebrow is very significant.

In the post ‘That Butler, Punchable‘, I discussed in detail how Sebastyun is constantly being very snarky at his master, presumably so because he did not consider the boy worthy of his full respect. In the scene of this example however, O!Ciel has earned the demon’s full respect, and he knows it.

Raising an eyebrow, O!Ciel shows that he has reestablished dominance as master, and that intellectually he is on the same playing field as the demon. He knows what he is doing, and unsurprisingly, the question asked was thusly phrased as a rhetorical one. Hence I did not translate this line as: “can you?” but instead as “you can, right?” Through this nuance, Reo-bocchan shows a great level of confidence and his grasp over the case.

Something else remarkable about 12-year-old Reo is his body-language. In the showdown between him and Baron Kelvin, Reo knew very well how to deliver his actions and the tension of the scene to even the people in the furthest back of the theatre. He takes his time to carry out every movement with meaningful decisiveness. One powerful kick. Re-assume stance. Walk behind his victim. Trap him under his foot. Point the gun at him. Had Reo just kicked Kelvin and stood on him in one consecutive movement, then the impact would have been broken.

I am not sure whether this was intentional, but before Reo pointed the gun at Kelvin, the hand that held the weapon was relaxed, which meant it would not attract attention away from his footwork. Only when the footwork was finished did Reo reveal his gun again from underneath his cape, effectively re-shifting attention back to the weapon when that should be the central focus again.  In theatre where audiences don’t view the production through edited and selected footage, it is vital that actors know where they should draw attention to, and reversely, where not to. Reo did well.

Reo’s natural flair for comedy is also noteworthy. O!Ciel’s character’s funniness is mostly his insane cuteness and inability to can at times; not because he has funny remarks to make. Trying too hard to be funny is a big theatre/movie sin, but Reo is luckily no sinner

As demonstrated above, Reo has an excellent understanding of his role and is careful in maintaining it even when the musical calls for comedy. Reo employed a very advanced technique of achieving comedy; namely discrepant solemness. He does not loosen up or start monkeying around; instead he maintains his usual up-tightness while tricking Aberline into saying his own name wrong. The brilliancy in this scene was not just Reo’s ability to employ this advanced comedy technique, but also that the nature of this skit was perfectly in character for this insidious, manipulative brat.

In Tango on the Campania Reo filled most of the ‘space for growth’ he still had in the previous musical. Even though Reo’s body language on stage was already great in Noah’s Ark Circus, he did have the tendency to stand idle when the scene’s focus was not on him. In the latest musical however, Reo would not forget to also act when he was in the background.

His singing also largely improved, and was able to prolong his notes as well as transitioning between the notes. He still had trouble hitting the highest of notes, but his voice would no longer die off mid-way in its ascending.

Fukuzaki Nayuta

I think Nayuta is a great actor too, and personally a seemingly very underrated gem. In the first run of the Lycoris that Blazes the Earth (2014) Nayuta was admittedly not the best actor ever seen in theatre history. However, he did up the game for Ciel actors even at the time. Acting style is more preference-bound, but undeniably Nayuta’s singing was more solid than any past Ciel performer before him. Despite him having outclassed past Ciels’ singing, Nayuta received a lot of hate from fans, most amounting to: “I can’t watch this, he is too ugly.” (Yes, very constructive, very legit. Ughum. The Kurofandom never fails to remind me how so many are here just for the pretttiiiiiiessss >_>)

In 2015, Nayuta’s voice was actively dropping, sending him in a constant swing between up-and-down. I don’t have experience with a dropping voice, but I heard from everyone who did that it is incredibly hard to control your voice in speaking, let alone singing. And yet, though his voice was rough at all times, Nayuta did manage to hit all the tones. I find that very impressive. I think technique-wise, Nayuta is the strongest singer among all Ciel stage-actors so far. I haven’t heard his singing after his voice-change was complete, but I can imagine him having become a very good singer now. His capacity for control over his voice is superb, after all.

Nayuta’s acting is very subtle but convincing. When Nayuta-bocchan was in his cage, he even added some little movements of the hand that would not be in people’s usual expectations given the situation. To me, this little quirk seemed to convey how despite already having hit rock bottom, the last straw had only fallen just now. This boy is not just scared and desperate, he is murderously angry and resolute.

Nayuta’s subtle and yet convincing body-language can be seen throughout the musical. To demonstrate what I mean by ‘convincing’, I wish to point at Tango on the Campania. Compare Nayuta’s shaking to the headbanging of the stand-in for O!Ciel... Nope. (This actress is not a child, so I can be harsher.)

Again, Nayuta’s acting is subtle, but it does mean it is easily missed, especially in a live theatre. (’Overacting’ is obviously a thing (see demonstration 1 above ⇈), but to the people who initially criticised Furukawa for “moving around too much”, that’s the theatre medium for you. Theatre was not made to be recorded and viewed in close proximity. Moving any less will basically be invisible in a theatre (see my analysis of Tamaki’s performance as Snake).)

Enough side-tracked, back to Nayuta. In the scene where Nayuta-bocchan just woke up, he performed the panic dying down slowly expertly. We can tell that the shaking and heavy breathing really got the better of him, but that the boy was actively trying not to show his butler.  This was probably not visible live, but we have footage of it, so let us savour the panic-dying-down for what it is.

Though I might go as far as to say Nayuta might be better suited as a film-actor than theatre-actor, what was not missed on live audiences was this iconic scene below ⇊ when it finally dawned in O!Ciel that he had been chasing the wrong tail all along.

The atmosphere he created was incredibly tense, and we could practically hear the gears grinding and suddenly coming to a shocking halt. Bravo. It is ultimately for this scene that I think Nayuta would make a phenomenal stage-actor with just a BIT more stage-oriented instructions from the director.

Another scene that also conveyed the tension excellently was when O!Ciel was putting up with the Viscount. Nayuta knew better than put on an insulting high-pitched voice in parody of “a girl’s voice”, instead he minded the intonation of speaking and subtler mannerisms girls are socialised to perform.

When the Viscount really got way too close, Sasaki’s acting was incredibly flamboyant and loud, and yet it never threatened to overshadow Nayuta’s performance. Nayuta knows very well how to keep people’s attention on him even when he doesn’t have lines to say. When the Viscount turned Nayuta-bocchan around, the boy’s facial expression spoke voluuuumes.

Sakamoto, Nishii and Tanaka

I don’t have footage of them, and I am not going to get them legally or illegally, so I will include no visual examples of them in this post.

I don’t want to be harsh on children, they all did their best I believe, but do allow me to say that I am not very enthusiastic about their performances.

Sakamoto’s performance of Ciel was not very memorable, but I think it mostly has something to do with his part in the script just not being memorable at all. To sum up; Ciel in ‘Friendship’ received some guests from Japan, played chess, and stared wide shifty-eyed until the case solved itself. Sakamoto’s singing was decent, though. I wish they capitalised more on that.

Nishii... I think many people were initially especially enthusiastic about him because he did not “look like Vincent Phantomhive”. He did his best, I could tell he had fun in the performance, but whatever acting-talent he might have, the musical never gave him any chance to shine. That musical gave his character ZERO nuance. Nishii’s singing was very unpolished, and in the mere 3 weeks of audition time, there was also no time to get it polished. But then again, the same goes for the singing of most of that cast.

Tanaka... I could tell he did his best, but perhaps he was doing his best not to f*ck up a bit too hard. The songs in this musical were rather challenging, and Tanaka always seemed very tense as he was trying to chase the notes. It was like he was desperately clinging to his spot within a safety-zone, which ultimately meant he didn’t explore any potentials outside the range of monotony. When it comes to acting, it also seemed like cranky outbursts were the only emotion he dared touch upon.

So that was that! Thanks for reading!

[adamrevi3ws]

Joker

When I first heard that they were making a Joker solo movie, I was frankly annoyed. In my opinion, Joker is possibly one of the most overrated and overused fictional antagonists of all time, being stretched so thin that the character essentially feels like a blank slate often used for nihilism, contrarianism, social critique, and cheap horror. The more I heard about the movie the more I internally groaned, with its extremely loose take on the comics come off as nothing more than a movie made by the type of idiot (or wannabe school shooter) who saw Heath Ledger’s performance in The Dark Knight as something far deeper than it actually was, you know, the “this says a lot about society” type schtick, and decided to make a movie entirely off that premise (these fears are becoming more and more real seeing the director’s recent comments complaining about cancel culture or whatnot). However, I am not entirely just a grumpy old man comic book nerd. I have a soft spot for superhero movies that try to be something a bit more than the hollow yet spotless cash cows of the marvel model, whether they excel (like Logan) or fail (like Batman v Superman). It looked like a clear-cut Scorsese clone, and I generally enjoy those (see: I Tonya), so I decided to give it a try.

And, well, it’s….something…

I’ll start out with the good. The directing, or at least the cinematography, is phenomenal. I love this movie’s version of Gotham City. Time period aside, it seems completely different from what we’re used to, and I dig it. I came in thinking it’d be a knockoff of New York, but no, it was much better, being this neverending disgusting concrete and brick dystopia, that felt like an exaggeration of everything negative and ugly about a city, as Gotham should be. In addition to its great capture of the setting, this movie is filmed in a way that feels the complete opposite of your standard superhero flick, and I am EXTREMELY open to more cape films looking like this. I love it.

Another highlight is that Joaquin Phoenix, of course, is the best of the best. While I have some issues with his characterization itself (which I will detail later), he is one of those actors where I will have extreme difficulty differentiating the character from the actor himself. I think one of the biggest highlights of his portrayal is his movement. Despite being written as far as possible from the character in the comics, Phoenix moves exactly like a weird live action cartoon character to both a funny and terrifying extent. I don’t think this movie honestly deserves that many Oscar nods, but I wouldn’t be unhappy if he got a nomination.

But that’s honestly all the best parts of the film.

There are two issues with this movie that have been pointed out by other critics, and frankly they’re kind of right.

The first is that this movie touches a bunch of social issues but doesn’t really have a message. Frankly, I don’t need Joker to be some sort of social critique. Everything IS political, but the character of The Joker shouldn’t be some sort of political icon. While he may occasionally bounce on social issues or his origin might reflect Gotham’s extreme income inequality (which has been a social issue integral to the setting, not the character), he’s always been chaotic evil, not lawful evil, and doing otherwise just feels awkward and unnecessary. While its exploration of social issues isn’t nearly as cringeworthy as I feared (although there is ONE quote at a pivotal moment made it difficult for me to take the movie seriously), its social critique just doesn’t really go anywhere? There’s a bunch of plot threads and elements that try to say something but never really pay off or properly connect to the rest of the overall character arc? Like I said earlier, there was a point where I couldn’t take the movie seriously anymore, and even though that was mainly due to a certain quote, it also coincided with when the movie’s take on social issues became even more heavy-handed. It felt like the movie was trying to say so much, but without saying anything at all? Although it was nowhere near as fake deep as I feared, it just felt unfocused and unnecessary.

The second critique that I agree with is that this movie has been marketed as a normal guy being driven to snap by “”society”” [FAKE DEEP INTENSIFIES] it never feels like he was a normal guy, to begin with? Despite Phoenix’s phenomenal acting, the character progression is frankly a bit too subtle and possibly nonexistent. I genuinely hoped that this movie would take The Killing Joke’s plot of a Gotham everyman snapping after “one bad day,” but that never happened? I genuinely thought by the end of the movie, he’d finally be as devious and diabolical as the Joker we know in his many incarnations, but at the end he’s just the same sad and weird character as he was in the beginning, except a lot more okay with killing people. For a movie that acts like it’s about being someone being driven to the edge, it’s just about a messed up person going through a lot of depressing things, and maybe expressing their messed up side a little more.

I think the last thing to address with this movie is all the fears of it encouraging incels and school shooters. Although I don’t know how provocative I consider it, I think the best way I can describe it is like Fight Club or Taxi Driver, except without the parts that clarify that the messed up main characters are in fact wrong in what they’re doing. That being said, it is in no means far-right propaganda, so I think while its criticism is valid, it might be a bit overblown. Another apt comparison would be to Tyler, the Creator’s first few albums. It’s obviously extremely disturbing and people will definitely take the wrong message from it, but it’s still decently art if interpreted in a certain angle and doesn’t reeeally need to be censored, but that’s just my flawed opinion.

Overall, Joker is nowhere near as bad as I thought it’d be but all the hype and critical acclaim is almost entirely unnecessary. It’s similar to Venom as in it’s probably the best execution we can get  to a frankly horrendous concept. I’d also like to note that some may find this movie is EXTREMELY depressing and disturbing in general, so I wouldn’t exactly recommend it to everyone even if I liked it.

Seven “damaged” tattoos out of ten. Did Joker say a lot about society at the end? Not really.

[booksbwaybadflower]

CURSED CHILD!!

One of the biggest queerbaits of 2016, but still a high-quality story before the Scene Which Must Not Be Named. This was honestly one of the best experiences of my life and I have to tell you guys about it, or at least type it all out before I forget the details (I mean, it took all day to see.)

Naturally, this will contain MAJOR spoilers for both the live show and the script (as well as the seven-book series), so read at your own risk! (I really can’t do this thing justice by writing it all out, either, so if you’re willing to die for a ticket, trust me, it’s worth it). There were signs everywhere around the theatre telling me to #keepthesecrets, but it was hard to be vague in some places. Trying my best not to be Wormtail. If you haven’t seen it, just don’t read this. :)

First things first, the LIGHTING. I am a slut for good lighting effects and this was no disappointment. Smoke machines to reveal beams of light, dry ice for the dream sequences, projections and colors and perfectly-placed spots, this show had everything. That, of course, paired with the fantastic backdrop, and it was breathtaking. The set consisted mainly of old-fashioned suitcases – doubling as gravestones, the top of the train, chairs, tables, columns, and more – and were so fun to see be taken offstage in unison.

The scene changes were choreographed! Along with the score that fit perfectly with the story (and wasn’t at all your classic, whimsical Harry Potter theme music, I might add, but much deeper and more intimidating), actors would swoosh their capes over the set piece they were about to take off IN TIME TO THE BEAT OF THE UNDERSCORE. And it was like a movie – music going in and out unnoticeably. Sadly there was no live orchestra, but the music cues were all exact. As for the choreography, anytime they wanted to either buy time or add intensity, the ensemble members came onstage with their cloaks to do twirls and jumps and bring the props in and out of the center all symmetrically, then the lights would snap on and everyone would snap to position almost as if it were a jumpcut in a movie. It was astounding.

Now, the effects. I have no idea how they did most of them! They held the time-turner between their hands – suspended in the air – but I’m pretty sure there were no strings, with the way they were tossing it around. Going into the Ministry of Magic, the actors turned around, walked into the telephone booth, and the thing SUCKED THEM INTO THE PHONE. I DON’T KNOW HOW. Despite watching for a trapdoor opening or SOMETHING, there may as well have been actual witches on that stage. Similarly, the polyjuice potion. Sure, they’d stick their head under their cloak and another head would come out, so it’s easy to assume that the second actor was under the cloak. But here’s the weird part – Delphi, for example, transformed into Hermione, then, once transformed, flung her cape over her shoulder and walked to the other side of the stage. No lump of another person. But the one where I actually muttered “no way” out loud to was when she and Scorpius-turned-Harry ran through a door stage right to escape from the voices of the real Harry and Hermione growing closer and closer, then the moment the door closed behind them, Harry and Hermione entered stage LEFT. This, my friends, is not possible. Either they both have identical twins, or there was actual teleportation happening on that stage. There was not enough time at all for them to slide through a trapdoor and take off their cloaks and return to the other side of the stage. I can’t stop thinking about that. And the DEMENTORS! I can’t believe how good they looked. Whatever material they used was perfectly flowey, and when they first came out at the end of Part I, one of them flew out into the audience and directly in front of where I was sitting. Chills, dude!

The invisibility cloak bit was cool – Albus and Scorpius duck under it and hide behind a bookshelf in the library, then McGonagall enters, trying to catch them. She looks around for a moment, and a chair shifts in front of her. Then another chair. Then a stack of books topples over. She pretends she doesn’t see anything (love her), and then Scorbus appears behind a different bookshelf. I’m literally so impressed.

The swimming during the second task reminded me of how The Little Mermaid did some of their swimming effects when travelling Broadway brought it a few months ago.

Every time someone used a time turner and landed at their destination, there was this ripple effect that effected the entire stage that I can’t describe in words. The whole audience went “whoaa” the first time it happened; we were all so convinced that the solid walls were wavering. Maybe it was lighting or something, but if it was, even staring at one stationary beam on the fly didn’t get me to see it. The illusion worked so well as an indication of time travel, especially with the underscore!

Now, it’s been a while since I read the screenplay, but as an actor I know that no one sticks exactly to the script when performing live. It’s hard to say how many of the added lines, directions, expressions, and pauses were character choices versus improvised today, but they all worked great. Specifically in Part II, when Scorpius comes back into reality from the hell dimension. He sings a few of his lines, and shouts a lot more lines than necessary, which leads me to…

When Scorpius doesn’t know what to do, he just screams. Some notable examples –

Scorpius is on the train alone, and Albus decides to sit with him. He offers him sweets. He screams.

Albus and Scorpius are trapped in Godric’s Hollow, 1981. Their parents travel back to find them. As soon as Albus sees his parents, he runs to them and hugs his father. Scorpius runs to his dad and then stops. He screams. (“We can hug too, if you like,” Draco says.)

Scorpius is getting emotional trying to explain to Delphi how much they’ve screwed up time. He screams. Then he quickly mutters “sorrysorrysorrysorrysorry.”

That’s the thing, too. He’s so unbelievably human. This actor has such a way of getting into this character’s head and making him three-dimensional that it’s brilliant. Not only does he quickly back off as soon as he finds himself shouting, he is jumpy and self-conscious and always unsure what to do with himself, trying so hard to win everyone’s approval. His hand gestures – especially in Part I – are awkward and fidgety, but as he gets to know Albus better and better, he relaxes around him and doesn’t shout so much. That might be what made the montage so sad, when they were forbidden to see each other. You watch Scorpius’s walls go back up. You watch him recede into his old, outcasted, eleven-year-old self. Hence my tearing up when Albus told him that he never believed the rumors about Scorpius being Voldemort’s child since he was so kindhearted. When Scorpius teared up (probably the first time he had gotten a genuine compliment like that), I did, too.

For some reason, Scorpius is oddly obsessed with Bathilda Bagshot. When they go to Godric’s Hollow, he sees her door there and exclaims that he recognizes it. She opens the door and walks past, where Scorpius then jumps up and down in excitement. “My geekiness is a-quivering!” Later, they need an ingredient from her house and he knows that she notoriously left her house unlocked. He tries the door. It opens. He quietly screams.

And the characters. Scorpius was of course my absolute favorite thanks to the brilliantly talented actor’s – Anthony Boyle’s – take on him, but Ron was the perfect comic relief. Young Harry was adorable and just how I imagined him in the books. Ginny was just like her mother, and Draco just like himself. Also the Sorting Hat was a fedora. I personally felt like Delphi was too flat of a character and therefore we do see her big plot twist coming a little bit, and I didn’t like that Harry shouted so much (sometimes it’s more fun to see an actor trying to fight an intense outbreak than exploding into one), but otherwise this was a very well-cast show. My favorite part of Ron’s character was his lack of a filter, in a sense. Whatever he was thinking, he said. While standing up and removing his coat, “I’d like to volunteer to be transfigured into Voldemort. I don’t know why I’m taking my coat off.”

And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for, my analysis on how gay this particular performance was! As we all know, the lines in themselves are very cute (“Hi, Scorpius. No, I mean I’m Scorpius. You’re Albus. Scorpius.” “If I had to choose a companion to watch the return of eternal darkness with, I’d choose you.” “Always.”), but there were little things, too. Like Amos pointing his wand at Albus to threaten him, and Scorpius instinctively putting his arm in the line of fire should he try to curse him. All of the hugs were balancing the line between awkward and sentimental. There was even a little nose boop during the Scene Which Must Not Be Named. The flirtiest part, though, was definitely in the bathroom with Moaning Myrtle. “Engorgio,” Albus commands a piece of soap, which then magically grows. “Consider me engorg-impressed,” says Scorpius before turning around and walking out, covering his face with his hands. Tell me that’s not a really bad pickup line he’s embarrassed that he actually said.

It’s just odd how much of the show is read differently than it was performed. I read Scorpius to be this shy, insecure kid, but Anthony Boyle played him to be constantly embarrassed by himself and shouting nearly everything he says, then regretting it. The scene I sobbed the most at while reading – Hagrid finding baby Harry – was played comically live. The scene I found the most hard to read – Harry seeing his parents die (and every other character’s reaction) – was the most heartbreaking live. I am literally blessed to have been able to see the difference between stage and script (and meet the actors at the stage door!!) and it was worth every pound.