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pokenimagines · 1 year

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SFW | Clavell | Fic

Reader teaches Clavell how to be 'hip' and 'cool' w the kids. Someone please help this poor man out.

I was so overjoyed and giggling for several minutes after seeing Clavell, I mean.. "Clive" walk onto screen.

MAJOR SCARVIO SPOILERS BELOW

Okay but seriously, the man needs help.

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SFW Clavell: Cheugy Old Man

It was painful to watch your friend Clive try to be hip. It was so painfully obvious to you the moment you made eye contact with Clive that he was the director. He could hide behind that atrocious wig and sunglasses, but you couldn't change your facial structure. So when he tried being hip and cool, it was painful. You even tried pointing this out to Clive a few times, but he wasn't hearing it.

So you did what you had to do: You approached the Director during school hours to have a discussion with him. It actually came easier to you than you thought, when he asked you what a slang word meant, and you explained it meant "Out of Date" or a "Try Hard".

"Ah, I see...thank you for informing me." Clavell said, lacing his fingers together.

"Ya, it's not really a super common slang term honestly..." You said awkwardly before clearing your throat, "If you want, I can teach you a thing or two about other slang you might hear, as well as what's cool in the moment."

"Really? You'd do that?" You could see the spark in Clavell's eyes as you nodded.

"Ya uh let's go over appearances first." You decided, wanting desperately for his Clive outfit to look better. "The in style for hair is like cleaned up over the ears and off the next...maybe some bangs but some style it going to the side...and long side burns are out." You said and Clavell was about to open his mouth while you continued, "And aviator sunglasses or sport sunglasses look pretty cool as well...also wearing the longer pants rather than the shorts are more stylish. The school shorts are too big, y'know?"

Clavell was taken back as he nodded is head, "I see...so these are seen as cool?" he asked and you nodded.

"Yuppers!" You wouldn't lie, a lot of it was for your own comfort. If you had to keep seeing the Director in those shorts, you might actually be sick, "Also gloves are in for trainers, especially the fingerless ones." You said, giving him some advice on how to hide his age a bit more. His hands were definitely old and withered and were an easy tell that he wasn't young.

"I see, this is enlightening information." He said "I'll have to buy a new wig and clothes..." He murmured the last part, but you barely caught it.

"Ya, that's the lesson for today. I can teach you sayins and stuff on another day." You said as you looked at the clock.

"Thank you, it would be much appreciated. Now I'm sure you need to head to your next class. To be safe going." Clavell said and you nodded. You could only hope he took this advice to heart so he wouldn't look as dreadful the next time you went to take on a Team Star base.

•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅• Thank you for reading! Did you know we have a discord? It has everything from RPs, General Discussions, and even an 18+ area to go hog wild in! We even do announcements early for when the inbox is opening for requests, as well as other events! Come in and join us!

#Pokemon Scarvio #Pokemon Scarlet #Pokemon Violet #Pokemon Scarlet and Violet #Pokemon Scarlet and Violet x Reader #Pokemon Scarlet x Reader #Pokemon Violet x Reader #Pokemon Scarvio x Reader #Scarlet Salts #Clavell x Reader #Clavell #Pokemon Clavell #Reader x Clavell #Clavell Fic #Clavell Fanfic #Pokemon Clavell x Reader

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frontierpodiatrist · 1 year

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clavell character analysis

y’know, while i do like clavell, i think a lot of people sort of underestimate his nuance as a character

while yes, his primary trait is being sort of disarmingly naive or seemingly ignorant of things going on, and just being a bit sillay, and he Does care about his students—i see SO much found family art of him and arven, without like...anyone acknowledging that he’s kind of...not great to him actually? in post-game immediately after turo/sada’s death, he just kind of is like “well you still need credits to graduate sorryyyy” and then says, in essence, he’s proud of everyone and “they all have a role to play”...except for arven, who specifically calls him out on it, and then when arven asks if his role’s obvious, the scene just ends

i’ve also seen mention of him looking away when he says to arven he’s sorry for their loss, and i saw someone mention it’s bc he’s about to cry, but personally, i interpret it more as guilt

what i find most interesting is how much of a role he takes w team star, really stepping up to the plate to help them, and yes i do believe he genuinely wants to help and love his students, just that his relationship with arven (due to his relationship with his parents) is a bit...complicated. but my personal feeling is that while he did also want to help team star bc they needed it, he also already felt guilt for unintentionally ignoring arven, and couldn’t withstand not taking action a second time. in a way, he probably wanted to atone and help other students where he failed to help arven

the way he fondly speaks of sada/turo, and how he refers to them as a dear friend, and how he even conformed their old lab space into his own, it definitely reads as “beyond friendship” and more into a romantic leaning, as a lot of ppl hc, but more importantly BECAUSE of this. because he was blinded by rose tinted glasses, and could only ever really see the good in them/his own relationship to them—that he really just...did not notice what was happening with arven, and not purposefully ignored his own plights, much like the old school did with team star

as what’s seemingly established in the game, arven doesn’t really have an already established relationship with clavell like nemona does, or at least not one that’s said, so to me it seems as if they’re no closer than any other characters. i think a more interesting take on it is that clavell was never able to see the damage being done to arven bc he was so caught up in his own longing for the professor, that by the time he noticed anything was up when arven was much older and acting up/being a delinquent by skipping school and stuff like that (which is when he took up the director position), it was almost too late to intervene

there’s also the fact that based on his dialogue at the beginning he knows they were building a time machine and despite this, never took legal action or anything grand to stop them instead just choosing to...walk away, which i think says a lot about his character, and how they were a sort of weak point of is

that being said, i think found family with him and arven is cute, i just think there’s a lot of unresolved emotional turmoil b/w the two of them by the end of the game that i’ve not really seen anyone talk about but that’s just my two cents ✌️ 😌

them talking in postgame IS interesting, i mean arven doesn’t really have anybody else he can ask about them, but it’s notable also how whenever arven says something like “ig building a time machine is more important than taking care of a child” or “i never bothered to know them” (even though they were neglectful) clavell never goes out of his way to correct him. and i feel as if he would, were it anybody else’s child

to clavell, they WERE special and they still are. he isn’t purposefully alienating arven by speaking about them in such a fond way, but he’s still doing it nevertheless. you can fail with one child (arven) and still succeed with others (penny and the rest of team star) and really i'm sympathetic for him that would be an insane situation to be in

#pokemon clavell #pokemon arven #pokemon turo #pokemon sada #pokemon scarlet and violet spoilers #pokemon scarlet and violet #pokemon headcanons

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airyairyaucontraire · 1 year

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Afterthoughts about the main story of Pokémon Scarlet (spoilers obviously):

At various points in the game I felt that things had been half-assed, probably due to time crunch and insufficient staffing, like the lack of fun NPC interactions, poor town planning and shopping options. The plot which culminates in “The Way Home,” however, my word, they whole-assed that. This was my best experience yet in terms of feeling like I got to be in the anime, either the climax of a season or one of the movies, and that was super cool and satisfying.

I know now why I love Arven so much, he’s a blend of the grumpy but caring big brother (eg Piers) and the traumatised character you are there to help heal through your journey together (eg Lillie). I like this SO much better than a rivals plotline where you’re supposed to crush some other kid’s dreams to achieve yours (eg Hau, Hop). They even addressed this with Nemona, the most conventional rival, by having Paldea’s Pokémon League structured differently so that Champion is a rank multiple people can hold at the same time. You don’t have to knock Nemona off her perch to succeed and she’s just absolutely thrilled to have you rise to join her.

Is Penny so sarcastic and unpleasant because she was bullied and it’s made her defensive, or did people take against her because she’s sarcastic and unpleasant? No kid deserves to be bullied but some kids are disliked for a reason. Anyway Penny, you have cool hair and a cosy hoodie but you’re coming off as a bit of a dick, maybe work on that.

Nemona, you are one of nature’s sunbeams and if I shook you I would hear your brain cell rattling around like a bead. I loved it when Koraidon was nervous and she petted its nose.

The dynamic in the crater of everyone wanting to claim me as their BFF was pretty amusing. For the record, Arven is my bestie (we shared a life-changing field trip after all), I like Nemona very much and I am taking care of Penny because Clavell asked me to.

The team-getting-to-know-each-other dialogue text as we moved down through the crater went by a bit too quickly and without pausing to let me press A when I was ready to advance, which was strange.

Also strange was the apparent last-minute attempt to give Nemona some backstory. She’s… posh. Well shit, I’ve seen her house, I could have told you that - and it has no bearing on what she wants or how she behaves at all. Not even “I want to earn my own achievements and not be treated differently based on my family’s status.”

While I thought that the storyline about Arven and his parent (mother in Scarlet, father in Violet) was really good emotional stuff, I was struck by how - well, S/V are interesting with regards to gender. There’s been a deliberate if flawed attempt to make the player character customisation gender-neutral (but in the “unisex means everyone wears boys’ clothes” way rather than providing a skirt version of the uniforms that anyone could wear - at least they didn’t limit the hairstyles) and there are characters who are distinctly unconventional in their gender presentation - Rika with her dapper butch style, Grusha who many people mistook at first sight for a pretty girl, Mr Saguaro in general (although he seems a bit more like the incongruous comedy option). You can also see the two professors option as an effort at balance, but it has the side effect that while both characters are neglectful parents to Arven, a neglectful mother tends to be perceived more harshly than a neglectful father, particularly if she prioritises a high-powered career over her child. I may have missed something but I caught only a glancing reference to who Arven’s other parent might be and Arven makes no reference to feeling let down by that person. Thus, playing Scarlet, I sometimes felt a bit uncomfortable about the impression a child who only played Scarlet and didn’t know about Violet would be getting.

It’s interesting to look at Sada alongside Lusamine. We get a much clearer impression in S/M that Lusamine is narcissistic - that she’s built up this idea of how great she is being so loving and caring to all those rescued Pokémon, and she thinks of her love as this fabulous blessing and gift, rather than something Lillie and Gladion should be able to expect. (I won’t say “take for granted” because children should appreciate their parents’ love and care, but not with a sense of obligation or unworthiness for it.) Sada doesn’t really have the same kind of dialogue getting that point across, although you can infer she’s a similar kind of person. I appreciated the exchange between AI Sada and Arven when she speaks to him apparently from the real Sada’s memories and emotions, and apologises and Arven says that she can’t just say something like that now. It doesn’t really make things better for him and it would take more time and effort than a few loving words, however sincere, to make the necessary difference.

Of course, then she almost immediately peaces out to go back to the Stone Age rather than stick around to try to make it up to him. (Complicated, to be sure, by the fact she isn’t his actual mother, she’s a robot who’s kind of trashed and riddled with weird crystals and frankly probably won’t survive long where she’s going, but still, she chooses to leave him.)

I was a bit saddened by the fact that part of Arven’s acceptance of what happened seems to be a belief that it was understandable for his mother to be more interested in a time machine than in him. No it wasn’t! You’re a good boy! Evidently his little buddy is going to have to stick close and encourage him to think better of himself. And maybe we can go on an Adventour with Peony, I think that would really cheer him up.

Also, unbelievably awful that Sada or Turo made him responsible for Koraidon or Miraidon when he was just a kid, gave him no help to look after a Pokémon no one alive has any experience with, and made him feel like it was his fault when he lost control of the situation. What bloody useless parents. No wonder Arven resents Koraidon or Miraidon, and it’s a sign of his good character that despite feeling that way he’s still basically kind to it.

Anyway, I’m glad we healed his dog.

And all that said, “the Professor is the Big Bad” was a really fun twist and also kind of economical character-wise. Chairman Rose was an absolute dud of a Big Bad, particularly after a batshit powerhouse like Lusamine, so I was pleased to see he was an anomaly rather than typical for the games going forward.

#pokemon sv #long post #spoilers

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shadowonwater · 1 year

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Pokemon Scarlet Playthrough part 15: The gang gets together, beginning of the journey into the sparkling land, and Time Machines

Playthrough Masterlist

So it really is just a coincidence pretty much that Arven happened to recruit my other friends. I find it very funny that all Arven needed to do to get Nemona on board was to tell her that there would be strong Pokemon, that was all she needed, ha ha, that's my Nemona!

With Penny he asked Clavell about people who were good with technology. I figure he didn't tell Clavell why he wanted someone who was good with tech though. Arven mentioned that they were doing this to help me, and that's why Penny got on board. Arven mentioning that she's old fashioned with how she feels about debts got me thinking about Team Star's code.

So I do find it funny that I'm the only one here who's friends with everybody. Makes me think of a birthday party. Like you can have a core group of friends but the members of that group will still have friends outside the core friend group. So it can be odd going to a friend's birthday party and like the core friend group is there and makes up most of the people, but then there's a few other people there who are just strangers to everybody else but the birthday kid.

We hear Sada and she's like "oh good you're here [insert my name]. And you brought friends" So she tells us where to go. I feel bad for Arven because it looked like it wanted to say something to his mom. She's also paying more attention to me than she is him. I feel bad for him. So yeah, I'll go in the gate next, see what happens.

So poor Kori is scared because it was already hinted that something traumatic happened to it. And Sada says to ride it down to the ground. And immediately I'm like "all four of us? is there enough room?" Well I guess there was, although Penny had a precarious position.

So we get to the ground and I'm like "Wait, where's Nemona?" But the other character's are focused on Koraidon's fear. Kori's like "I'm out of here" and hides in its Pokeball. And then they're like "Wait where's Nemona?" Well she comes running up and is like "yooooo this place is awesome!" And she's right, it is.

So I noticed that 1) I can't ride Koraidon because its hiding 2) the music is fucking amazing 3) the Pokemon battle music is also amazing. Seriously I'm going ham for this music! It's fantastic! It also has got me thinking about how good the dungeon music was from PMD.

Going on, this place is so sparkly! There are sparkles in the wind, the water is sparkling. Some of the trees have crystals at their base. This place is beautiful! tbh, I was imaging Area Zero to be more like a thick jungle, but this place feels like some kind of fairy land. And I mean that, in that this place is both dangerous and pretty.

So Sada told us to go unlock the locks on her lab. I gotta say, why do people put locks on the outside of places? Locks should go on the inside unless you want to trap someone. It's just bad design. So we gotta go to the research centers to unlock them. I bet there will be boss fights. I'm guessing... Tera raids? Tera raids do take four people and there are four of us.

Also one thing I should bring up... Sada talks like a robot and I'm quite sure I know why, unfortunately. I saw fanart, and it's not like I was looking for Scarlet fanart, mind you, it just showed up in my feed because I like Pokemon. So I kinda know what's up. I don't know specifics at least.

So while walking there occasionally my friends stop to chat. But I need to pay attention or else I'll miss what their saying. The first went fine. But the 2nd time a bunch of wild Pokemon were chasing me and they kept interrupting the conversation by battling me. It's hard to read when you're also trying to dodge wild animals tackling you. I think I missed part of the conversation. :( They were all talking about how they met me though. Of course Penny didn't go into details, lol. Going to the research base next.

So I've reached the first research station but I forgot a few other comments I wanted to make. 1) there are some weird berries here that I've never seen before in Pokemon games, help to make this place feel alien. 2) When I was talking about how sparkling this place is I forgot to mention that it fits with the whole Tera thing. What with the crystal theme.

Anyway a Glimmora blocked out path. I guess it was maybe supposed to be a boss battle but I didn't even get a chance to attack. Nemona's Lycanroc took it out instantly. Is this how Arven felt when I was doing all the kickass-ing when we were fighting the titans? I was kinda hoping for a more epic boss battle with all of us, but hey there's time for that to happen still.

So Glimmora is for sure weird looking but I have one and so does Geeta (which Nemona mentions) I did happen to find it in a ordinary cave but I got the feeling it was a rare spawn. I know that they drop the material for Tera blast. Since Geeta has a Glimmora and gave me Tera blast, and that Glimmet are probably more common in Area Zero... I bet Geeta has been here before.

We unlock our first lock, and poor Arven is completely ignored by his mom again. And there's a gross dusty old bed that can restore my health if I so wish. But most interesting are the notes on the desk. It talks about a [redacted] being that tera energy seems to come from and something about it having a hexagonal pattern. I bet this thing is like Eternatus. Like something that has Ultra Beast/Alien vibes. It's be weird and spooky I hope. And like Eternatus, it's where this special energy comes from. I will continue on now.

Made it to lab two. At the point where Arven was talking about what happened last time he went to Area Zero, right after he mentioned being attacked by a mysterious Pokemon, I ironically was attacked and pulled into a Pokemon battle with Corviknight. So yeah Arven snuck in to try to find his mom but had to retreat because his dog got hurt.

I feel real bad for him. He grew up taking care of himself and learned cooking because no one did it for him. He literally had no one looking after him. Does Pokemon have child protective services? I think Arven really could have used them.

So when we approached the 2nd station we had a run in with a Scream Tail. Afterwards Arven and Penny are like "Was that even a Pokemon?" And me a Nemona are like "well yeah it's a Pokemon, it looks like one and uses moves, doesn't it" what looks like a duck, quack likes a duck. I find the game's insistence of not calling them Pokemon annoying. They are 100% Pokemon, like why is this being called into question?

If I lived in the Pokemon World and saw a Scream Tail with no context, I'd be like like "Oh, it's some weird form of Jigglypuff I haven't seen or heard of before, I wonder where it's from." Like Pokemon forms are a thing. Just because it doesn't look exactly like you thought it would doesn't mean it's not a Pokemon. My gosh!

So Sada is like, "yeah that's a prehistoric Pokemon." and "There's a time machine in my lab." And Penny's like "say sike right now." Anyway from the sounds of it Arven knew she was working on a time machine and was trying to get it working.

Reading the notes around the lab, they just talk a lot about how unstable Tera energy is. But I guess Sada figured it out eventually. In other news... warp pads! Haven't seen these in a while. I can go to the other visited Research Baes or the Gate itself. Oh right and another thing... I wonder how Arven managed to get to the ground from the gate. It's not like he had Koraidon back then.

I'll cut this post off here, but i'm going to keep playing and start working on a new post, see you soon.

#pokemon #pokemon scarlet #scarlet and violet #pokemon sv #first playthrough #playthrough #live posting #area zero

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phoenixmaiden-gaming · 1 year

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I found another Star Team camp and Mr. Clavell, I mean, Clive showed up. He said that thanks to me he had been accepted into Operation Starfall. He went on to say that he wanted to revolve the situation with Team Star and find out what was causing it’s members odd behavior. I asked him what he meant and he said that Team Star’s bullying has caused a lot of students to drop out of school and that the members were holed up in their bases plotting something. Team Star has been skipping class for a while now and with them causing trouble, he had taken it up on himself to issue a direct order for them to disband and if they refuse, he would have no choice but to expel them. But there has been no response from them...for someone who is supposed to just be a student, he has a lot of power to be able to expel them...lol

#phoenix be gaming #Pokemon Violet #Nintendo Switch #gaming #gameplay #playthrough #game #games #video games #gamer #gamer fun #gamer girl #gamer life #Entertainment #Nothing is Queue Everything is Permitted

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taiwanpuppetryproudthunderbolt · 4 years

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interview 24

(1983)

Richard Chamberlain: Beyond Romance

For Richard Chamberlain, the last few years have been a time of tremendous personal and professional growth. "A time of questioning old assumptions, of pursuing various courses aimed at an expansion of awareness, of opening up as I’ve come to like myself better," the actors say between takes of "The Thorn Birds" at Burbank Studios in Hollywood. He is in "age" makeup for filming of the final scenes in the nine-hour ABC mini-series based on Colleen McCullough’s best-selling novel, but the gravity lent him by a gray wig and latex wrinkles is belied by his boyish lankiness, clear, animated blue eyes and expressively rangy voice. In fact, it’s hard to believe he’s in his mid-40s.

Playing Father Ralph, the protagonist of "The Thorn Birds," is surely something Chamberlain could not have done comfortably without questioning some old assumptions.

"Father Ralph," he explains, "is a Catholic priest who’s sent from Ireland to Australia as a kind of punishment for having lost his temper and insulted a bishop. In Australia, he serves the owner of a giant sheep ranch, Mary Carson (Barbara Stanwyck). She engineers a situation that forces him to choose between receiving her estate on behalf of the Catholic Church, which would restore him to their good graces, or allowing it to go to the Cleary family, whose daughter, Meggie (Rachel Ward), he has fallen in love with. "Ralph," the actor summarizes, "is, in fact, torn between three incompatible loves. He is very taken by the power and glamour of the Church in Rome. He is deeply in love with Meggie. And he is deeply in love with God -he’s a priest with a genuine vocation."

As a boy growing up in Los Angeles, Chamberlain had gone to Presbyterian Sunday School, but he says, "That really didn’t take, and as an adult, I’ve never felt the urge to become part of an organized religion." As well, he admits to having had "some negative preconceptions about the priesthood and about the Catholic Church as an organizational structure." How, then, could he portray a priest with the kind of commitment and understanding necessary to involve an audience in his plight?

"We’ve been fortunate to have as our technical advisor a Jesuit named Father Sweeney," Chamberlain answers. "Father Sweeney just blew me away. He’s so -well, for real in his love of God and his wanting to open people to God’s love, which is his basic reason for being a priest.

"He set it up for me to spend a couple of days at a Jesuit novitiate in downtown Los Angeles. I got to speak to these young and not-so-young novice priests and watch them work: They pray and study and meditate in the morning and go out to work in the community in the afternoon -at the county jail and some really tough, low-down places. They bring hope to people who are really hopeless and not otherwise cared for in human terms. What the Jesuits were doing -they were the only order I observed -was profoundly spiritual and apparently very effective in the community."

While "The Thorn Birds" project has changed his concept of organized religion, it is not the first movie role to alter his perceptions and tastes. After filming "Shogun" for the hit TV series based on James Clavell’s novel, Chamberlain developed an appreciation for the Japanese lifestyle, and after returning from several months of shooting the epic mini-series in the Orient, he began to find much of Western domestic architecture oppressive. As a result, for more than two years now he has been drastically altering the interior of the ranch-style Beverly Hills bachelor house where he spends most of his time. (He also has an apartment in New York and a vacation hideaway in Hawaii.)

"The previous owners of my house had made various additions to the basic structure that really didn’t make a great deal of sense spatially," says Chamberlain. "However, what began as a minor job of renovation to accommodate the tokonma" -a flower- or scroll-decorated platform- "and a few other pieces I acquired in Japan became something much larger. It was: ‘Well, if I’m going to do this, I might as well do that, too- and that and THAT and THAT, as well.’"

Things eventually became so chaotic that the actor moved to the house next door, which just happened to be for rent, and from there supervised the continuing renovations. "A strange way to live, to put it mildly," he laughs. "But when everything’s finished, which will be soon, I’ll have an open, airy house that’s very much mine -it’s the most personal house I’ve ever lived in.

"I built an area in my office especially for painting," adds Chamberlain, who had studied art at Pomona College before scoring in student theatricals changed his career plans. "The problem has been to set up and take down every time I had the urge to paint, so I figured if I had a place where I could set up and leave stuff, I might get to it more often. Finding the time and the focus is a problem, though, as I’ve learned I can only spread myself so thin."

Actually, Chamberlain’s life has opened out so that it tends to accommodate more and more activities. As busy as ever on stage (last year he was Wild Bill Hickok in a new play called Fathers and Sons) and screen (the thriller Bells will be released soon) as on TV, he has also identified himself with a political issue for the first time.

"I’d never been directly approached about lending myself to anything political, except for one local candidate who I had to turn down because of scheduling conflicts," he says. "And I haven’t had the time to do the kind of research that I feel one should do before getting behind any particular movement or candidate. But then I recently went white-water rafting down the Tuolumne River through Yosemite. It’s a perfectly balanced river at the moment, with a certain amount of dams, a certain amount of water for agriculture and a certain amount of water for rafting or fishing. But now the city of San Francisco wants to put another dam on the river. I told the guys who ran the rafting trip, who are very ecologically minded, that if they wanted a spokesman, I’m willing. The only thing they’ve asked me to do so far is host a pro-Proposition 13 art sale in Los Angeles, which I did."

The conservationist Proposition 13 was defeated in the November 1982 election, despite support from the powerful Los Angeles Times. But Chamberlain is undaunted, offering himself up to "anybody who has a sensible plan for water management in California."

Travel is another means by which Chamberlain is branching out and reaching out. Of course, he has probably travelled in the line of duty as much as any contemporary actor. In addition to the Japanese sojourn for "Shogun," he has gone to Australia to shoot "The Last Wave" (but not "Thorn Birds," which was filmed in Hawaii and Simi Valley, California); to Spain for 2The Three Musketeers" and it’s sequel; to Italy for the TV film "The Count Of Monte Cristo," and to England for numerous film and TV assignments and the 1969 stage production of "Hamlet" that clinched his transformation from pretty boy of the "Dr. Kildare" TV series to serious actor.

But even in his private travels, he has rarely had the opportunity for the anonymous, in-depth study of another culture that he did last year when he went to South America. "A bunch of us -20-odd people, mostly from outside of show business, but all interested in feeling out a place on more than just a tourist level -went for six weeks," he relates. "We sometimes stayed overnight in monasteries, and I was able to enjoy, immediately, the kind of person-to-person contact that takes longer to establish when you’ve got to get past my public ‘identity.’

"By that, I mean both the qualities that people rightly or wrongly project onto me and the feeling on my part that I have to keep pumping energy into upholding some kind of public image or persona. In Lima," he laughs, "a photographer chased me around a hotel lobby trying to take my picture, but that was the only event of that kind in all the time in South America."

Professionally, Chamberlain has expanded his horizons by forming his own production company. The plan is for the company to produce and Chamberlain to act in a number of two-hour television movies for CBS. The first is to be "By Reason Of Insanity," a drama in which he will play a writer who murders his wife while in a state of mental incompetence, then recovers and has to deal with the consequences of his act.

"I wanted take the responsibility, at least in part," he explains, "of providing myself with material I found exciting to act and of having a bit to say about the actual production of it instead of being somewhat at the mercy of another producer. Then, practically speaking, I had the opportunity to do so because "Shogun" put me in a rather nice position. But I can’t point to a particular moment when I had an amazing insight and suddenly went out to be a producer. I rarely have gigantic breakthroughs -a slow, steady growth is more my process."

To a significant degree, Chamberlain attributes his recent growth to the teachings of Dr. William Brugh Joy, a physician turned holistic doctor who teaches at a retreat in Lucerne Valley, California. Chamberlain learned about Joy from a friend and spent two weeks at the retreat to acquaint himself with Joy’s precepts. There he learned of the doctor’s amazing story.

"He’d been a medical doctor with the absolute best training and a stupendous talent for his work," Chamberlain relates. "But all his life, he’d had certain sensitivities to other aspects of existence -spiritual things, things tat are not part of traditional medicine. He began to find he could feel people’s energy with his hands. He himself could transfer energy to people -be a kind of conduit of energy. He could relieve pain, for instance. The use of morphine went way down on his ward -mostly terminal cancer patients."

According to Chamberlain, Dr. Joy was eventually questioned about his unorthodox holistic methods in a staff meeting at the hospital with which he was affiliated. Opting for full disclosure when he could easily have skirted the subject, he received an ultimatum from his chief of staff: "If you wish to continue here, you must practice in the prescribed way." Joy decided to follow his own lights, but Chamberlain says that "he’s primarily a teacher now; he doesn’t do a lot of healing. He’s written a wonderful articulate book called Joy’s Way.

For Chamberlain, subscribing to some of Joy’s precepts does not necessarily preclude consulting practitioners -or even untraditional one, such as acupuncturists. In fact, Chamberlain numbers an acupuncturist among his friends and has even visited one, though he says it’s impossible to tell if the treatment was effective because he was not in excruciating pain, as were friends who have claimed to be helped.

Chamberlain’s eclecticism extends to the areas of diet and exercise. "I do a certain amount of exercise every day," he says, "because I don’t feel good otherwise. Sometimes I run, sometimes I play tennis or ride, sometimes I do callisthenics. I once took dance, so I know a lot of stretching exercises. Because I travel and live in hotels so much, I’ve figured out how to turn my room into a gym -do pull-ups on the door, lift chairs. I eat the usual American balanced diet: quite a lot more meat than most of my friends" -beef stew for lunch on the day of this interview- "plus vegetables, fruit, whole-grain bread and rice. Varied but not strict."

Chamberlain has probably acted in more period pieces than any of his American peers, and he admits that he, personally, has felt the pull of the more romantic eras of history. "But there’s an element of escapism in intense romanticism," he says. "I’m now more and more interested in the life around me. One reason I was attracted to "By Reason Of Insanity" is that it’s a contemporary story with a hero who’s not romantic in any way."

After "By Reason Of Insanity," Chamberlain hopes to produce and act in a TV movie with a contemporary setting but a hero that could be said to be romantic in his way -William Brugh Joy. "Because Brugh’s story is really an inner journey," he says, "dramatizing it has been rather difficult. But after several years’ struggle, we’re finally coming up with a wonderful script."

Is there not a sense of things coming full circle in Chamberlain playing the maverick Joy when his first fame as an actor came from his portrayal of the very conventional Dr. Kildare?

Chamberlain doesn’t think so. "The fact that they’re involved in the same profession doesn’t have a great deal of meaning for me," he says. A point well taken, for surely each is unique in his own way, and just as surely Richard Chamberlain is the man to appreciate that uniqueness and portray it.

http://www.richard-chamberlain.co.uk/online.htm

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thecosydragon · 7 years

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My latest blog post from the cosy dragon: Interview with David Meredith

An Interview with David Meredith

I’m going to be reviewing your newest novel, but from your other published novels, is there one that is your own personal favourite?

Actually I’d say my favorite is one I haven’t published yet. It was one I started WAY back in 2004 that is mostly complete. It is a fantasy series based upon Japanese myth, legend, and folklore, rather than the European model that is so prevalent in fantasy literature today. Originally it was a 406,000 word behemoth, but I’ve edited it down to three volumes that are between 95,000 and 120,000 words each. It’s still kind of my baby, so I’ve been holding back on publishing, but I think that time is coming. I wrote most of it while I was living in Japan. It is based on many of my experiences there and borrows heavily from the mythology and folklore of Northern Japan where I spent the bulk of my time. It is probably the one thing I’ve written that is the most personal to me so I’ve been reluctant to release it until I’m sure it’s perfect.

Everyone has a ‘first novel’, even if many of them are a rough draft relegated to the bottom and back of your desk drawer (or your external harddrive!). Have you been able to reshape yours, or have you abandoned it for good?

Well, I definitely had several false starts, (I think I got 50+ pages into four separate novels before abandoning them for various reasons) and those are probably well and deservedly dead, but they were all extremely important in helping me develop as a writer, especially in terms of learning what didn’t work. However, the piece I mentioned before was the first novel that I actually finished. It has gone through countless rewrites and now 13 years after starting it, I think I finally have the writing chops to realize my original vision in a way that other people will actually want to read and the knowledge as an Indy writer to promote it the way it deserves. It will definitely be published at some point. It’s just a question of when.

Some authors are able to pump out a novel a year and still be filled with inspiration. Is this the case for you, or do you like to let an idea percolate for a couple of years in order to get a beautiful novel?

I probably could, but I don’t think I’d be very happy with the final result. I easily take at least twice as long editing and revising my completed work as I do writing the initial draft. Maybe others are different, but I really need to see that complete final vision to truly understand where it’s working where it’s not and how to tighten it up. I don’t really let ideas percolate, per se. I do however, try to get new ideas down as soon and as quickly as I can, but I don’t like to release until I’m sure a piece is as solid and tight as it can possibly be.

I have heard of writers that could only write in one place – then that cafe closed down and they could no longer write! Where do you find yourself writing most often, and on what medium (pen/paper or digital)?

Especially since I just finished my doctorate degree, I’ve been pretty busy. I usually work on my laptop whenever and wherever I have a couple of free minutes. Home, office, coffee shop, kids’ sports practice, even parked in the car! I can’t afford to be fussy if I want to get anything done.

Before going on to hire an editor, most authors use beta-readers. How do you recruit your beta-readers, and choose an editor? Are you lucky enough to have loving family members who can read and comment on your novel?

I impose often on talented friends and family. My wife is my first proof reader, and she offers a lot of valuable insight. Other friends also offer their two cents, but recently I’ve started doing Beta-Trades through Goodreads. I Beta-read theirs. They do mine, and that has been an enriching experience so far. I infinitely prefer Beta-Trades to review swaps, which I really don’t like doing. In trading reviews I always feel compelled to spin a book as positively as possible or risk hurting someone’s feelings. Telling someone their completed masterpiece is awful never feels good. With Beta-Trades on the other hand, I feel like I’m offering valuable constructive criticism that will hopefully make the final product better. I have a great deal more freedom to be honest, and feel much better about myself in the end as well. Then of course, the feedback I receive is extremely valuable too. It has been a great way to get a number of diverse perspectives on my work, and see things in a way I might otherwise not have.

I walk past bookshops and am drawn in by the smell of the books – ebooks simply don’t have the same attraction for me. Does this happen to you, and do you have a favourite bookshop? Or perhaps you are an e-reader fan… where do you source most of your material from?

The smell of my dad’s office growing up is a foundational memory for me, so I understand what you mean. I do like physical books. Given the choice, I honestly prefer them, but as time has gone by I find myself reading more and more electronically. My favorite shop though is actually a used book store named McKay’s. They have several outlets here in Tennessee and are all opened in old warehouse buildings stacked floor to ceiling with used books. It definitely has the smell you’re talking about.

I used to find myself buying books in only one genre (fantasy) before I started writing this blog. What is your favourite genre, and do you have a favourite author who sticks in your mind from:

I read mostly fantasy for my own entertainment though I have branched out some in recent years. It’s still my strongest inclination and preference. In terms of my own writing, so far all of my fiction work has had some kind of fantastical element to it. I really enjoy the freedom that speculative fiction offers. Most of my reading lately has been required course material for my doctoral program, but some of my favorite authors are Tad Williams, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Robin Hobb. I also like work by Robert Jordan, Liza Dolby, and James Clavell. I still reread Tad Williams’ Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn Trilogy every couple of years.

childhood? Dr. Suess – Wacky Wednesday (I wore that book out) and the Winnie the Pooh stories by A.A. Milne. I also spent a lot of time at Number 32 Windsor Gardens J.

adolescence? I read A LOT of Dragon Lance and Forgotten Realms novels.

young adult? LOTR by J.R.R. Tolkien and the Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn Trilogy by Tad Williams

adult? I really liked Shogun by James Clavell and The Tale of Murasaki by Liza Dalby. They helped me make sense of the Japanese people and culture I found myself immersed in for nearly a decade. Both are great stories, but even better resources for getting into the nuts and bolts of the Japanese psyche in a way that is easy for westerners to understand.

Social media is a big thing, much to my disgust! I never have enough time myself to do what I feel is a good job. What do you do?

I was not a natural in terms of using social media to promote my writing. I still struggle with it honestly, but make regular use of Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads in particular. It is admittedly however, an area where I still have a lot of room to grow.

If you manage your own profile, please tell me as much as you are comfortable with in regards to your preferred platform and an estimate of time you spend doing it.

After a book is released I easily spent two or three hours or more a day sending review requests (I use Twitter heavily for finding book review sites), working on my Facebook writer page and monitoring sales and promotions. I easily spend as much time and effort on online promotion as I do actually writing the book if not more. I’ve gotten to where I have accepted it as a necessary evil, but I enjoy working on the promoted pieces themselves much more than their promotion.

Answering interview questions can often take a long time! I try to make my questions as interesting as possible, is there anything else you wished I had asked? And tell me honestly… Are you ever tempted to recycle your answers from one to the next?

Maybe, “what do you want Aaru to accomplish? What do you want people to get out of it?”

Aaru is first and foremost an entertaining and emotional YA/NA SyFy/Fantasy novel. It is at its core a story about the love of two sisters, and how they struggle to cope as the paradigms of what they’ve always been taught is true and good is challenged and shifted in a monumental way. However, Aaru also explores a number of what I think are fundamentally human questions: What happens when religion and faith conflict with technology and science? Is there a way to reconcile the two? What constitutes a human being or human soul? What would happen to religion and faith if the fear of death was removed from society? How would that change the way individuals choose to live their lives? In a world where people in power can essentially choose who is and is not saved, how should that determination be made? Who should be saved? Is the act of choosing winners and losers, judging who is righteous and worthy vs. who is not in and of itself even moral at all? I suspected that the answers would be a lot messier and more complicated than the utopian realization of John Lennon’s Imagine lyrics and lead to a great deal of conflict as people try to hash it all out. In the end, Aaru doesn’t really answer any of these questions, nor is it intended to, but it does speculate on what the answers of different people from different circumstances and indeed society at large might be. What I want people to get out of Aaru is an intensely emotional experience that stimulates some productive introspection even as they enjoy it as a compelling story about the fierce love of two sisters that transcends even death.

And as to the other question… Sometimes… J

from http://ift.tt/2zcZogu

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