So I have contracted an obsession with the works of Rosemary Sutcliff, who wrote approximately a million historical children's/YA novels set in, among other places, ancient Roman Britain
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He's always hated you, and the movie doesn't bother to explain when or where or why he stopped. Although clearly he did. At some point. For no apparent reason.
I think this is the single biggest obstacle to writing movie fic; I'm probably writing fusion fic all the time by accident because of it. :-( So baffling. (The shooting script was a million times better in almost every way, and made considerably more sense. I do not know why they did not make that movie instead.)
ALSO IF YOU HAVEN'T READ IT YET, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND FRONTIER WOLF. It is tied for my favorite Sutcliff, and it is so amazingly awesome I have no words. Or rather I do, but they are capslocky and mostly consist of "YESSSSSSSSS."
Did the shooting script have an explanation for Esca's sudden decision that he actually totally likes Marcus? Because the lack of explanation for the turnaround drives me crazy and is one of the reasons I can't see my way to writing movie fic, because I really can't square Esca-in-the-first-half to Esca-in-the-second.
...maybe he was possessed by a demon. A demon that, for some reason, really liked Marcus. I KNOW. He was possessed by the ghost of a dead centurion while they were at that the battlefield of the Legion's last stand!
I've heard of this Frontier Wolf book! But I haven't read it because no one has a copy and I don't have an e-book reader. :( But hopefully that will change after my birthday!
Well, they're considerably less antagonistic in the first half, and spend some time talking about ~personal history~ and stuff. For example, the "Fuck you, Romans killed my family" speech comes earlier, after the hunting scene, and is delivered with more of the tone of that scene in the book. They're not the best buds they are in the book, but Esca isn't all "I KILL YOU WITH MY DEATH GLARE" either. And a number of things that happen in the north make more logical sense. Marcus is overall, um, smarter. (The one thing I hate about it is that Esca lost his faith in the gods because bad things happened to him, and then he gets it back in the end because now he's happy, which is a stupidly modern narrative, IMO.)
I can send you a copy if you want.
Frontier Wolf is the besssssst. :-( No copies in your local library? (I admit, I'm at the point of Sutcliff obsession where I've been buying some of the more obscure ones for moderately ridiculous sums...happily, FW is still in print and available as an ebook.)
Whyyyyyy did they change it? I DON'T UNDERSTAND. "There's too much logic in this script, people. Viewers won't be able to identify if Marcus isn't stupider!"
The one thing I hate about it is that Esca lost his faith in the gods, and then...,
Wait, they what now? That seems like a tragically ill-advised subplot.
My local library is so tragically ill-stocked, it doesn't even have Eagle of the Ninth. (It does, inexplicably, have Blood and Sand and Blue Remembered Hills.)
But the public library near the grad school where I'm going next year has ALL THE SUTCLIFF. Which means I will totally be able to read Frontier Wolf in time to write Yuletide fic about it.
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I think this is the single biggest obstacle to writing movie fic; I'm probably writing fusion fic all the time by accident because of it. :-( So baffling. (The shooting script was a million times better in almost every way, and made considerably more sense. I do not know why they did not make that movie instead.)
ALSO IF YOU HAVEN'T READ IT YET, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND FRONTIER WOLF. It is tied for my favorite Sutcliff, and it is so amazingly awesome I have no words. Or rather I do, but they are capslocky and mostly consist of "YESSSSSSSSS."
Reply
...maybe he was possessed by a demon. A demon that, for some reason, really liked Marcus. I KNOW. He was possessed by the ghost of a dead centurion while they were at that the battlefield of the Legion's last stand!
I've heard of this Frontier Wolf book! But I haven't read it because no one has a copy and I don't have an e-book reader. :( But hopefully that will change after my birthday!
Reply
I can send you a copy if you want.
Frontier Wolf is the besssssst. :-( No copies in your local library? (I admit, I'm at the point of Sutcliff obsession where I've been buying some of the more obscure ones for moderately ridiculous sums...happily, FW is still in print and available as an ebook.)
Reply
The one thing I hate about it is that Esca lost his faith in the gods, and then...,
Wait, they what now? That seems like a tragically ill-advised subplot.
My local library is so tragically ill-stocked, it doesn't even have Eagle of the Ninth. (It does, inexplicably, have Blood and Sand and Blue Remembered Hills.)
But the public library near the grad school where I'm going next year has ALL THE SUTCLIFF. Which means I will totally be able to read Frontier Wolf in time to write Yuletide fic about it.
Reply
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