[Original: The City Adel] (Pevi/Ivahn) "Magic Mayhem" Theme #2: I play one on TV Title: Magic Mayhem Author:ivoryandhorn Fandom: The City Adel Pairing: Pevi/Ivahn in a roundabout sort of way Rating: PG Warnings: mentions of m/m Length: 1939 words Theme: #2 - I play one on TV Summary: As April 15 and Starlight Orden’s debut draws ever closer, Magician visits the set of Starlight Orden to have a chat with Andrea about what’s to come from this adaptation of Darkens’ masterpiece.
MAGIC MAYHEM
When Compass Continent Comics first published Starlight Orden, no one knew that this modest creator-owned property by Atticus Darkens (Dracona, Sword, Scythe, and Lantern, Darkness3) would showered with praise and accolades, hailed as the next Y: The Last Man. Now, as more and more comics hit the silver screen, fans have been eager to see Darkens’ work receive the same star treatment. But in a twist on the usual theme of comics-to-movie, Darkens recently announced that Starlight Orden was being made into a TV series, with himself helming the project alongside director Andrea Hsu, last seen directing The City Adel--which finished airing two years ago to great critical acclaim and more than a tear or two shed to see it go. As April 15 and Starlight Orden’s debut draws ever closer, Magician visits the set of Starlight Orden to have a chat with Andrea about what’s to come from this adaptation of Darkens’ masterpiece.
Magician: Why don’t you give us a little refresher on what exactly Starlight Orden’s all about?
Andrea: Heh, no problem. Starlight’s about people who deal with the supernatural, mostly people who police the supernatural. The people in this series, they live sort of on the fringe of this supernatural police culture. As they come together, they uncover hints and clues that Something Big is going to happen. And with it, questions—What is it? When will it happen? Is it good or bad? How do they stop it? Should they stop it? Things like that.
Excitement galore, eh?
You bet.
Were you a fan before hand or did Starlight totally blind side you?
I didn’t actually start reading it until about halfway through its run; a friend recommended and lent it to me and I didn’t have anything better to read so why not? But it was when I read the Eternal Life [for the Low, Low Price of Your Soul] arc that I was well and truly hooked. I’ve been a fan of Starlight and all of Atticus’ other work ever since.
So how did you get involved with this project?
I mentioned I was a fan, right? A few years ago I was privileged to attend one of the cons Atticus was attending. I went to one of his panels, and stayed back for an autograph, but he recognized me from City Adel and we started talking…anyway, he mentioned he was putting together a proposal for Starlight Orden and I offered to help him out and that was it! We’ve been working on this together for a while, and now both of us finally get a chance to see our work come to fruition.
Knowing that this comic has quite the fan following (you included!)…how did you choose the actors and why?
I was conscious of what I wanted from the actors of these characters right from the get go, so I kept all of that in mind as we watched auditions. For Pevi, the decision was quite hard…there were some excellent actors who auditioned, but we finally settled on Adrian, because we felt that he had the right kind of chops to depict Pevi in all his moods, especially when we took a look at some of his other work—Da Capo al Fine, Between You and Me, Monsters are People Too. He has amazing range, which is what we needed and wanted for Pevi.
He can be pretty moody at times, huh.
And hyper and broody and noble and…yeah. [laughs] I see you know how it is with him!
So what about Ivahn?
For Ivahn it was rather easier. The moment we saw Anthony we knew he had to be our Ivahn. He could bring it all—the right attitude, the right manner, the right mix of expression and repression. The stage training was just the icing on the cake. Delicious, wedding-cake quality icing to make you weep.
How well would you say your adaptation ties in with the comic book canon?
I’d say we follow it almost to a T. We mostly had to make changes to the sequencing of events to make sure Starlight would translate well to TV—but Atticus was cool with it, he knew why we had to make the choices we did, and he was more than happy to help make sure the choices were what he’d have wanted to happen. While we do keep most of the original story arcs, and include all the major themes somewhere in the show, much of the adventures the Orden’ll be embarking on will be wholly new, fresh from Atticus’ head.
Some fans are a little concerned that the main relationship will be removed from the series to keep it safe for the kiddies…\
Ahhh, here we go.
What do you have to say to that?
Just to be clear, we are referring to Pevi and Ivahn here, yes?
Right.
What, you really think Atticus would let us gut his baby like that? [smiles] No way! Okay, it’s true we do have to cool things down a little, but rest assured for all fans, that there is no way in hell that I’d leave out the relationship between Pevi and Ivahn.
So it’s going to be there?
Yes indeed.
Earlier on you mentioned cooling things down. Care to elaborate?
Obviously there are some boundaries to what you can show on TV—we don’t intend for kids to be watching this, but teenagers probably will be, so yeah, we do sort of have to keep that in mind. But I mean, it’s not just going to be heavily implied subtext or whatever. It’s going to be explicit in the sense that there won’t really be room for doubt that Pevi and Ivahn are, or at least will be, in love. But don’t expect any gratuitous fan service.
How do you feel knowing that Starlight Orden’s going to be one of the few shows to not only contain but feature a homosexual relationship?
I’m glad and pleasantly surprised that we’ve progressed enough as a society that we could get the show proposal approved. But to be honest, I’m not really that phased—I always thought they were a good couple in the comic; I can’t think of any reason to break them apart. I, personally, believe that two men or two women have the right to be together, as a man and a woman have that right. Why should my work reflect anything less? I won’t compromise what I believe, nor will I compromise Atticus’ story, because people are uncomfortable with the thought of what we’re doing.
Do you think the prospect of their relationship will attract curious watchers or drive them away?
Well, I can’t say anything to that, though I’d ask people to at least give Starlight a try. It’ll be quite a ways before we get to any relationship, since they start out as basically strangers to each other. My hope is that by then any uncomfortable viewers will, by the time we start getting to all of that, be invested enough in the characters regardless of what’s in store for them—enough to be glad to see them happy, rather than focusing on the fact that they’re both men.
I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
Guess so.
So what’s it like working with the original creator of Starlight?
It’s just great; there are no problems with canon, you know? If I have a problem with some part of the world or slang, I just ask Atticus, and he’s so pumped to be able to really explore this world he created for Starlight. He constantly has all these great ideas for how to expand the world of the comic, all these stories to tell about Pevi and Ivahn, Yelina, Sarha and Ralin—it’s like he just had this well full of ideas waiting to burst open, even though he had a definitely ending in mind for the comic. I’m constantly in awe of his creative energy, and honored to be helping him bring his stories to the screen. Also, I sleep safe with the knowledge that fanboys can’t kill me for any moves away from canon—because Atticus IS the canon!
BONUS INTERVIEW with Adrian Travers and Anthony Monaghan, the leading men of Starlight Orden.
Magician takes a quick moment to touch base with the actors who will be bringing the protagonists to life.
Magician: Quick, gentlemen—character recaps in 50 words or less?
Adrian: Pevi’s an ex-demon hunter who now attends grad school and doesn’t really want to be mixed up with all this supernatural stuff again, thanks ever so. He’s a pretty normal guy at first glance, but there’s stuff happening to him that he’d reeeeeally rather have happening to someone else.
Anthony: Ivahn sort of an expert of demonology and thus highly sought after as consultant by people dealing with the supernatural elements of their society. He has strained relationships with his family, rather better relationships with his friends, and he’s most definitely a geek of the highest order.
Adrian: Together, they fight crime!
Anthony: …not quite. But close.
Have either of you ever read the original comic series?
Adrian: The moment I got the part I bought every trade I could find, and then the ones I couldn’t, and then I read it. It was almost as delicious as the hot chocolate I was drinking at the time.
Anthony: A worthy compliment—Adrian’s hot chocolate could summon the dead, I swear. I also hadn’t really read the series but I’d flipped through it once or twice because my sister followed it religiously…when she found out I got the role she practically shoved all the issues down my throat, and that’s when I finally sat down and read Darkens’ masterwork in full.
How true to the original do you think your portrayals of Pevi and Ivahn are?
Adrian: Hmm. Obviously there are some ways I want to be true to Atticus’ work, but—at the same time, it’s not like I can know exactly what he intended for Pevi, y’know? I’m taking cues from the original for sure, but I’m putting some of my own interpretation into it.
Anthony: A tough question. If you look at the myriad productions of, say, Romeo and Juliet—they’re all based off the same basic text, yet different people bring their own flavor to the characters and craft their own interpretations from the text. I’m using the original as guidelines, but I’m trying not to let them limit me in what I think and how I feel about Ivahn’s thoughts and feelings. As for how true I am to the original—well, you’ll have to judge that for yourself.
Adrian: I don’t want to be deviating wildly from the comic but at the same time, I don’t want to just be aping it. Where’s the fun in that?
What’s it like knowing that the man who created your characters is watching your every move?
Adrian: Nervewracking. You keep wondering whether you’re doing it wrong or something. I keep expecting Atticus to march across the set and tell me that Pevi would never, I don’t know, sit with his legs crossed. I keep hoping I’m not, like, disappointing him somehow.
Anthony: But at the same time, compliments from him feel about ten times more…special? Momentous? Darkens wrote these characters, he knows them all inside and out, and they’re some amazingly complex and real characters to boot—to know that he approves of your personal characterization of them…
Adrian: You just kind of gibber incoherently and hope you’re not drooling or something.
Anthony: Exactly.
Author's Notes: ...I was so tempted to use some variation of my name or alias as the author. But I opted for an RL version of another character. Andrea & Atticus are peripheral characters in the actual Pevi/Ivahn universe, which is why they get "behind the scenes" roles (other peripheral characters who get a role in this AU include Deirdre Chambers, the make-up artist, and Barnaby "Bar" Kiel, in charge of special effects, and Evelyn Anne Morgan, who does something that pertains to bossing people around a lot.)
Figuring out how Adrian & Anthony (augh I didn't realize I used this many names starting with A until now!) were different from Pevi & Ivahn helped me flesh Pevi & Ivahn out more, which was kind of cool.
...I imagine Anthony to have been more of a stage actor until landing the role of Ivahn (he auditioned mostly at the behest of his sister, the Fangirl). He was pleasantly surprised when it happened and quickly gained enthusiasm for it, especially after reading the original comic.
...I imagine Adrian to be that kind of really intense, dedicated kind of actor--the kind who wears the costume to go camping in order to give it an authentic worn-out look, the kind who drops 60 pounds for a role, youknowwhoI'mtalkingabout. I think he was more in movies prior to this--mostly sort of fringe, indie-ish types, not really mainstream blockbuster types.