Fandom stuff..and Doctor Who's finale

[shadowkat]

1. So I decided to put up a fandom stocking for the first time ever. I've no idea if it will work. When it goes up...I'll show it. Mainly I want Cyclops fic, but I doubt I'll get any. I gave a lot of fandom options.

Fandoms: BSG, Doctor Who, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Star Wars, X-men, MCU, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Killing Eve, Black Panther, Farscape, Hamilton, Kate Daniels Series, Chronicles of Lymond,


'Ships (slash, het, gen, and femslash): Apollo/Starbuck, Doctor River Song/Doctor Who, Daredevil and Jessica Jones, Daredevil/Electra, Eve/Villenelle, Cyclops/Jean, Cyclops and Wolverine, Spangle, Spuffy, Faith/Willow, Crichton/Aeryn, Han/Leia, Han and Luke, Han an Rei, Cyclops and Havok (platonic), Wonder Woman/Batman, Batman and Superman, Loki and Thor, Iron Man and Doctor Strange, Curran/Kate, Barabas/Christopher (Kate Daniels Series), Hugh and Kate (platonic), Julie/Derek (Kate Daniels).


Characters Doctor River Song, Apollo, Starbuck, Aeryn Sun, Buffy, Spike, Willow, Han Solo, Daredevil (Matt Murdoch), Jessica Jones, Eve, Leia, Doctor Who, Lymond, Hamilton, Burr, Crichton, Rory and Amy, Cyclops (Scott Summers), Iron Man, Loki, Doctor Strange, Luke, Logan, Jean Grey, Kitty Pryde,


Fic Likes: family issues - siblings, particularly brothers or brother-sister, star-crossed, AU, gender-bender, romance, comedy snippets,back from the dead, amnesia or memory loss, family bonding,


Fic Dislikes: babyfic, marriage fic, mpreg, rape, real person fic, parody, no one being eaten, no heavy torture fic, torture porn, and no Bangle and no Wolverine/Jean pairings.


Anything Extra: *icons -- particularly strong female characters from MCU and/or Killing Eve.

*Christmas greetings or any holiday greetings are welcome.

* fanvids -- specifically Spuffy, Spangle, BSG, Farscape, Killing Eve, Cyclops, Doctor Song/Doctor Who,



We'll see. It's been a tough couple of months. And I'm dreading next week...for reasons I won't go into. Really wish I could just fall madly in love with someone and be whisked away on an all expense paid trip to Hawaii.

2. Watching another James Marsters Q&A...okay listening to it. This is the November 2018 London one or the October, can't remember which. I like them because he really goes into the process of what doing television is like for an actor.

What I found interesting was he does this spiel about what it is actually like to try to kiss someone on screen. He explains it's a glamour. That the better it looks, the faker it is. So the pretty people on magazines -- don't look like that. (I already knew this -- my sis-in-law's best friend is a Hollywood makeup artist. She does the makeup for people prior to their photo shoots, men and women. She made it clear -- they don't really look like that.)

And a kiss is highly choreographed. Because when you are in a scene with another person, you have to get out of their light. Or shadow. So he has no clue what it is really like to kiss the actors he's kissed. Because they don't really, they have to do it like a robot. The first time he kissed Sara (Buffy), he did 14 takes. She kept telling him to stop acting and just act like a robot so they could go home. He finally got it.

Also stated that when you act on tv, you are like a waiter -- all you do is take it from one place to another. Or a piece of celery.

And...I liked this, he said when they were doing Buffy they were working 18-20 hour days, were exhausted at the end of the day, so didn't really know what each other were like until the reunion -- and thought, oh, you are a really cool person. Whedon was a hard task master -- most directors leave the actors alone and let them do their thing -- to get through the material, but Whedon was a control freak who left millions of notes.

Makes it clear that if you want to be a musician/actor or performing artist -- you are going to be poor. It's highly unlikely you will do well. He lucked out -- sort of like going to Vegas. (He's right about that. I know a lot of very good, unemployed professional actors, musicians and artists who gave finally and chose to do something else. Also various family members, myself included.)

Apparently he didn't get to come back to some parts -- because his manager charges a lot for his services. (I think he began to charge higher after Buffy completed it's run.) Said the most painful thing he did was bleach his hair.

I can see why he was popular with the cast and crew on Buffy during S4 -- he would stay and act his bit off screen -- so the other actors had something to act against. Often when they film close-ups or scenes, they film one actor, then the other one. Which is why it was possible to film say the Giles and Buffy scene in the graveyard during LMPTM, with ASH in one location and SMG in another. Or on different days. Actors don't have to both be present when they are filming a scene. Television really is a smoke and mirrors game.

He said on Buffy, they made the sets smaller to make SMG look bigger, so he looked really tall on Buffy. But on Smallville, he was so short, they had to but him on a runner when he was walking with Tom W. who played Superman. He kept falling off the runner. He's not a big man -- about five foot six if that. I know I saw him in person, on stage once, and I thought...whoa, this guy is tiny. But I already knew about that trick -- one of my actor friends informed me that sets are really tiny. And the smaller you are -- the better.

My take? Here's the thing about cameras and mirrors -- they lie. What you see is an illusion, it's not real. Once you figure that out...life is a bit easier to take.



3. Doctor Who Finale

I have to admit I found most of this season rather slow and difficult to get into or follow. I'm not emotionally invested in anyone, really. Sort of like YAZ, but don't know a lot about her. Graham also is fun. But outside of that...meh.

I want to like Jodi Whittacker's Doctor, but frankly she irritates me in the same way that Matt Smith did at the beginning, until he grew on me, and David Capadali. Too frenetic and crazy energy all over the place. I want to tell her to chill.

This episode was okay. It's clear that the writer's were hammering home the theme of solving problems without violence and restraining from doing any lasting harm or killing anyone.

I'll write more later. When it's not 12 midnight and time for me to go to bed, or long past it.

Comments

[kerk_hiraeth]

How differently people can see the same things; Matt Smith & Jodie Whittaker from th enew show that seem like 'The Doctor' to me; did so from the first moment. Glad to say I'm writing and posting again; hopefully, with elisi's help moving my stories on to ao3 and glad to be reading what people are doing/reading/writing again. Watched James Marsters' last appearance )I think) on Torchwood yesterday, and still love the chemistry between his character and Jack Harkness; even if it doesn't make me want to watch the show anymore than I have in the past. Happy holigays btw' actually got something planned for Solstice this year; xmas best not so much. kerk

[shadowkat]

It's probably worth noting that I didn't start watching Doctor Who until RT Davis rebooted it with Eccleston (the 9th Doctor), who I loved in the role. Took me a little while to get used to David Tennant -- who I thought at the time was a bit too frenetic. And the only Doctor that I'd seen prior to Eccleston was Tom Baker's 4th Doctor, who was also a bit more restrained.

Anyhow, glad to see you again, hope things are getting better.

[wendelah1]

Marsters seems like a very cool guy.

Television is hard work, especially on network TV, with those 22 episode seasons.

[shadowkat]

I don't know what he's actually like in person, but he does great Q&A's. The man knows how to talk in front of large audiences and entertain them. Not everyone does -- I've watched others do it -- and they just can't cut it.

Agreed - Television is painful and hard work. Most actors hate doing it. Particularly theater trained ones. They don't say it outright -- but I've talked to and listened to enough of them now -- to realize they hate it and would prefer doing a play on stage instead. Dirty secret of the glamour biz -- is the work is really painful and hard and can feel meaningless.

[trepkos]

Can you explain what you mean by "Apparently he didn't get to come back to some parts -- because his manager charges a lot for his services." What parts - roles? Or parts of the country?
I agree about the new Doc. She gibbers a bit too much.

[shadowkat]

They really wanted him "to come back and do more Supernatural, even be on the series, but his Manager charges an exorbitant amount of money for his services."
(His words not mine.) In other words, as Marsters put it, he's expensive.

Most actors don't enjoy doing television. Particularly if they are theater trained actors. I can understand why -- after walking through and seeing various television and film shoots. Also watching raw footage -- the raw footage just looks painful. They spend 75% of their time sitting around waiting for so-and-so to get the lighting right, the camera angle right, etc right -- then they came in, go to their mark, say their line. Then do it again. And again. And again. And again. Often it's a line no longer than "Hello" or "I didn't want to hurt you much" and if they say it "I didn't want to hurt you too much" -- they have to say it again. And the shot they liked the best, most likely the first one, and that they were wonderful in -- is on the cutting room floor, while the shot they hated and did horrible -- gets on screen because everything else is great. Add to all of this - each scene is shot out of sequence. And your acting partners aren't always on screen with you.

So -- once an actor gets a name for him or herself in the television industry or makes enough -- they get increasingly expensive. Guest stars on television can cost anywhere between $10,000 - $60,000 or more an episode. Some are paid by the hour, most by episode, depending on the contract price. They don't negotiate it -- their agents or manager's do. And you want a really good manager, who will fight for you. Because otherwise, you are doing a fight scene in the rain for twenty hours...and seeing next to nothing for it. I don't know about you, but if I had to do twenty-takes of a fight scene (and guest stars often have to do their own stunts), I'd want to be paid a lot to do it.

[trepkos]

I'm a bit surprised that he does so many conventions - they must pay better than I thought. Also surprised that he wouldn't take a recurring role on a show like SPN, when not long ago he was crowd-funding to finish the effects on a film. His choice, obviously, but he doesn't seem to have been super-busy since Buffy ended.

[shadowkat]

Well, you don't know what he's doing. I know a lot of professional actors or have over the years -- and half the stuff they do, we never see. He does audiobooks, his own web series, theater, films, voices for games, voices for animated work...

Go HERE .

He's been very busy after Buffy, just hasn't done films and shows with wide-distribution. Keep in mind regardless of whether we see it -- he still gets paid well. SPN is a 22 episode series, a lot of waiting around, and makes it difficult to do other things -- also it has two main leads, and not much room for ensemble.

Runaways is an ensemble drame with six to ten episodes a year. I don't blame him, I'd have charged SPN - a long-running series with two main leads and 22 episodes a year, a heck of a lot for my services too. Network series are hell.

Going to Cons is a networking opportunity, maintains a fandom, and pays well. Big ticket folks like Marsters get upwards to $250,000 a con (that's more than 90% of us make a year), sometimes more. And Marsters likes cons, he went to Star Trek ones as a kid. And he's an extrovert.

[trepkos]

Well, I did check IMDB, and it doesn't look like a lot of work to me. But I didn't realise cons could pay so well. He definitely wouldn't have got paid that for the Vampire Ball in London recently! about 300 guests max., so the whole thing can't have netter more than £100,000, and there were 11 guests. But he does seem to enjoy them!

[shadowkat]

$100,000 sounds like a lot to me. That's a years salary. Unless 100,00 pounds is a lot less than I think it is?

[trepkos]

That £100,000 would have to pay the 11 guests, plus their hotels and travel expenses, plus the organiser's wages, plus whatever the venue charges for its rooms. I doubt any of the guests went away with more than £5,000. Not bad for two and a half days' work, but not a fortune either. I think some of them were in the UK anyway for other reasons, so it would have been easy money.

[shadowkat]

I doubt it was the only thing he sold though -- autographs, photos, also the London Q&A may have been for a lot more than that.

In any event, we don't know how much SPN offered and what they consider expensive. SPN is cheap show on a cheap network, with a low budget. All their money is in the leads. So a typical guest gig is maybe $1000 for a week's work of filming, think 12-18 hour days, and obnoxious stars who play pranks. We also don't know how much he typically makes at the cons. That information is contractual and negotiated. Nor do we know the arrangement between him and his manager.

I think it's impossible to understand that situation fully without a lot more information, and honestly? It's none of our business what jobs actors take or don't or why. There could be a lot of factors -- that have zip to do with money, which he really can't convey.

[trepkos]

Oh - what's the sitch with the SPN guys? I hadn't heard anything bad about them ...

[shadowkat]

Depends on your pov...but while Marsters was doing his close-up, one of the guys thought it would be funny to fondle his crotch with their foot. They pull pranks like that all the time. Marsters didn't blink -- and they praised him profusely. (He'd gone through far worse on Buffy with Gellar and Angel with Boreanze, this was nothing.)

Honestly? You couldn't pay me enough to be network television actor -- it sounds like pure hell. You have to put up with over-paid adolescents and bad writing. (I watched that episode he was in of SPN, it was horribly written and directed.) No, the people with the power in television are the show-runners and producers.

[trepkos]

Oh ... what fun ... I can well see how that would have caused him to put his price out of their reach!

[shadowkat]

Yeah, I mean ..if you listen to what he says...the pattern behind the subtext is interesting. His best experience was on PS I Love You -- where he was surprised by how professional everyone was. On Buffy - he has story after story of how highly unprofessional the cast and crew were. It's the one consistent thread through the Q&A's. They whined. They over-worked the cast and crew. There was no room to improvise or move. He was constantly worried about his job. It was not a safe work place. Nor, was SPN. Nor Torchwood apparently.

I can see why he's learned to charge a lot for his services. And has turned down roles.

[dar_vidder]

So was James up on stilts on Angel then? Because David Boreanaz is over six feet tall and I don't recall James looking super short next to him. All this time I imagined he was 5'9" or 5'10". So weird.

[shadowkat]

He's about 5'6 or 5'7 if that. I remember being shocked, even though I'd been forewarned by friends shorter than I was, who told me how tiny he was. And they designed the sets a certain way, they aren't as big as you think. Also his boots had platform heels. That's why he doesn't look tiny next to Xander and Riley, who are 6 foot. Also keep in mind SMG is five foot.

Davy Jones of the Monkeys? 4 Foot.

I remember in college I was walking around with a friend of mine who was four foot five, if that. My other friends who were five foot, worried that's what they looked like walking next to me -- I'm six foot, my brother is six foot five.

[frelling_tralk]

Apparently he didn't get to come back to some parts -- because his manager charges a lot for his services. (I think he began to charge higher after Buffy completed it's run.)

I remember the people from Smallville implying as much, they really liked him as an actor and were excited to use him more, but he was pretty expensive. Honestly I’m surprised that he would charge extortionate amounts of money in his own words, because while he was obviously a beloved character among cult fans, I wouldn’t have thought that he’s all that big a name otherwise? When they have ‘where are they now’ articles, it’s generally mentioned that he wasn’t one of the actors that really went on to big things after Buffy, although he obviously has been working steadily in smaller projects

Acting on television did look really boring from what I saw on the Buffy dailies, it looks like they have to do multiple takes of the same scene, so I can understand why method actors in particular would prefer threatre where you have to just stay in character and keep going with the performance whether you flub a line or not

I want to like Jodi Whittacker's Doctor, but frankly she irritates me in the same way that Matt Smith did at the beginning, until he grew on me, and David Capadali. Too frenetic and crazy energy all over the place. I want to tell her to chill

Honestly I really miss Peter Capaldi, it felt like he brought so much gravitas to the part. Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor does remind me of David Tenenent (who frankly was always my least favourite Doctor. I couldn’t stand him with Rose, and only learned to tolerate him more with Martha and Donna). Oddly I did like Matt Smith’s Doctor right away though and I suppose that he was just as manic, but there’s something about both the Tenth and Thirteenth Doctor that I find irritating and a bit too try hard, whereas Matt Smith felt more natural to me in the role. I’m not sure how to explain it exactly, but I suppose I just get the feeling that they’re too aware of the audience, that they’re trying too hard to come off as goofy and quirky

[shadowkat]

I remember the people from Smallville implying as much, they really liked him as an actor and were excited to use him more, but he was pretty expensive. Honestly I’m surprised that he would charge extortionate amounts of money in his own words, because while he was obviously a beloved character among cult fans, I wouldn’t have thought that he’s all that big a name otherwise?

I think it has a lot to do with how he may feel about television acting. Because I remember after Buffy ended, his price went up. And it was up in the air for a bit whether he'd go over to Angel -- because he was charging more. Keep in mind that Eliza Dushku charged $35,000 an episode for Bull. Marsters was getting paid $1000 an episode when he first started on Buffy in the 1990s. Smallville and SPN probably can only afford up to $10,000 if that.

Now..by an episode -- I mean 12-18 hour days for two weeks, not 8 hour days. Also stunts and putting up with some uncomfortable behavior from the stars. Also, you might have to shave your head, take your shirt off, bleach your hair.

I honestly think he's at a point in his career in which he feels he can choose. (He's worth $5 Million and from his perspective that's a lot.) And Runaways is probably paying well enough. SPN probably didn't offer as good a deal as someone else. I mean we have no idea what he was offered, or what his manager requires.
Or what other projects offered. From our perspective -- SPN may seem to be a better deal than Runaways or Smallville was, but we don't know what it was like on those sets, etc. And he's never going to tell you -- he can't. Hollywood is a small town.

but there’s something about both the Tenth and Thirteenth Doctor that I find irritating and a bit too try hard, whereas Matt Smith felt more natural to me in the role. I’m not sure how to explain it exactly, but I suppose I just get the feeling that they’re too aware of the audience, that they’re trying too hard to come off as goofy and quirky

Yeah, I felt the same way. I did however like the Tenth or Tennant in the later seasons of his run, when he was paired with Martha Jones and Donna, he seemed more comfortable somehow. Also, I liked Capadali in his last season -- honestly, I don't think my problem was with Capadali but with Clara, because once she was replaced with Bill -- or anyone for that matter, I was fine with it.

At any rate -- I understand what your talking about. I was trying to say it above but wasn't quite sure how to convey it. I feel like she's trying too hard, somehow. And I want to tell her -- chill, you're doing fine. I think the role of the Doctor is hard to play because of the fandom and the longevity of it -- and it is a particularly difficult role to take on for a woman, also because of the fandom and it's history and the expectations. I've noticed that with the exception of maybe Eccleston and Capadali...the people who take it over seem to feel a little out of their depth at first...and take a little time to grow into the role.

[frelling_tralk]

Oh it does make sense if it’s just a question of wanting high compensation for doing network tv I suppose, I just found it a bit odd that his manager is apparently charging really in-demand fees for him when I’ve always seen him as a not particularly in demand working actor who takes what jobs he can get, but apparently not! I am interested in checking him out in Runaways one of these days, I can definitely understand why a shorter tv season would be more appealing, I don’t know how American actors deal with these 22 episodes a year seasons of 12+ hours a day shooting


I did however like the Tenth or Tennant in the later seasons of his run, when he was paired with Martha Jones and Donna, he seemed more comfortable somehow

I thought that Tennent worked particularly well with older actresses for some reason, I remember really liking his scenes with Jackie, and his dynamic with Donna was so fun to me as well, but I hated how hyper the Tenth Doctor and Rose got together, their mania didn’t feed off one another in a positive way imo. The opening of The Impossible Planet two-parter was the most grating moment to me when they both loudly and smugly laugh in one another’s face at their own private joke :shudders:

And I did like Jodie a lot in the premiere, I felt like she really got a handle on the role early on, but since then (partly because of the writing as well of course), I just don’t feel that she’s brought that much to it. I really find it quite irritating when she has her mouth hanging open, it just feels like such an obvious acting tic to to try and play at the part of being the Doctor for the kiddies in the audience, instead of just being the character, and it was the kind of thing you often saw with Tennent early on as well