#phangs asks

Aw, thank you! I'm so glad you enjoyed it (and I hope you're not too fatigued now)!

Kitty and Riya are indeed being set up to be together; I am glad I broadcasted that well enough :D

The period-typical homophobia is indeed significantly dialed down. It still exists and crops up from time to time, but it's not the main feature of the narrative. Miles is an example of this and of someone who drinks deeply from the cup of Imperialism and respectability politics that allows that kind of insular bigotry to creep up on you.

Oh gosh, I'm going to throw this one out to the crowd because I have no clue. I do have a fancast phangcast list (part 1, part 2) if that's of interest to anyone, but even I'm open to being persuaded otherwise!

I do kind of like the idea of Tom Hiddleston for Vlad, but I think that's because I'm listening to him read Dracula at the minute so there's some crossover going on in my head.

Y’all wanted to see more of who I’d pick for Hunger Pangs: TLB casting, so here we are. Part One is Here.

Supporting Cast:

From left to right.

Kitty Collins: The first time I saw Jenna Coleman having carefully calculated histrionics as Lydia Wickham in Death Comes to Pemberley I couldn’t picture anyone else as Kitty Collins. Kitty is often dismissed as silly and even perhaps a little bit scheming, and relies a great deal on people perceiving her as shallowly as possible. But underneath it she’s really quite vulnerable and innocent, which I think Jenna would portray well.

Elizabeth: I know this one is going to be controversial, but allow me to counter it with: don’t you want to see Keira Knightley with fangs? Don’t you want to watch her going absolutely feral? Don’t you want to see Keira Knightley living her best life as the villain? I sure as fuck do.

Alfbern Brandr: In my head, Alfbern (Uncle Alfie) is a cross between Brian Blessed and Kristofer Hivju. If I could combine the two, I would. But I’m pretty certain that’d be a breach of some ethical mad scientist law, so I’m going to go for Kristofer Hivju. Put some more grey through his beard and the weight of the world on his shoulders, and you’ve got Ursula’s Old Bear.

Miles Northland: James McAvoy is exceptionally good at playing characters you love to hate, and Miles is basically the walking equivalent of a toothache. I’d be interested in seeing where he takes the characterization of someone like Miles.

Lieutenant Octavius Humperdinck Fiddildy: Simon Pegg was born to play the Shakespearian role of the comedic grave digger. He’s got that very British style of comedic delivery that Fiddildy is very much a love letter to: a mix of the deadpan and the ridiculous that hits you like a custard pie delivered via projectile cast iron skillet.

Dr. Allen: I just want to see Pedro Pascal as a loveable mad scientist, totally-not-a-necromancer alternative life doctor. He’s got the heart and soul for it, but also a defiant sort of kindness that Dr. Allen embodies. 

Mrs. Collins: Again, Joanna Scanlan is a love letter to the style of British comedy I was raised on. She’s able to deliver second hand embarrassment like a kick to the teeth, whilst also being incredibly capable of great sentiment and gravitas.

Dardanos Rosa:  Demon Rose as herself, obviously.

General Howlzein: I’m not very good at forming pictures in my head. I don’t have an inner movie reel, it’s all just... words. So a lot of the time I don’t really know what characters look like when I’m writing them. Howlzein was someone I had no idea what they looked like, not even after the book went to print. And then someone on a discord chat suggested Giancarlo Esposito would make a good werewolf and they were 100% right. And now I really want to see what kind of genius Giancarlo could come up with as a werewolf general who turns his back on the Nevrondian Empire and his oldest friend because it’s the right thing to do.

Oh gosh, this is going to be hard. Okay, let’s see if I still have my inspiration boards! 

Hunger Pangs: TLB Fancasts, from left to right.

The Triad

Nathan Northland: Tom Bateman, but specifically Tom Bateman in Vanity Fair when he’s dressed up in his distinctive red uniform while bouncing a baby. That’s just *chef kiss* peak Nathaniel vibes right there.

Vlad Blutstein: I blame this one on @ahzuri. She told me when I first started writing Phangs that she always pictured Vlad as looking like Brendon Urie and I’ve been unable to picture him any other way since. No idea what his acting capabilities would be like, but he’s got very chaotic Vlad energy and looks good in eyeliner, so that’s who I’m going with.

Ursula Brandr: This one borders on near on impossible because I have such a distinct mental image of how Ursula looks, but we did model Ursula’s features heavily on Nathalie Emmanuel when it came time for @jensington to do the cover art sketches (especially when she had the blonde/red hair). My second choice would be Lenora Crichlow, but she may have an unfair advantage, having already worked with a vampire and a werewolf :P

The Blutsteins

The Count: It feels almost like cheating to cast  Mads Mikkelsen in the role of a vampire patriarch, but that might just be because I’m not unconvinced he isn’t one already. I feel like he’d be terrifying though, and short of resurrecting Bela Lugosi himself, the closest thing we’d get to Vlad’s father.

Riya Blutstein: Listen, I’d sell my soul for Lupita Nyong'o to portray Riya. Actually, scratch that, I’d just sell my soul for Lupita Nyong'o if she asked me to. I think she’d rock the fantasy Victorian jewel toned goth look to perfection. 

Lady Margarete: Olivia Colman, hands down. She’s just got such a fantastic range and I love her when she’s doing serious drama, but her capacity for comedy is just beyond brilliant.

The Northlands

Thomas Northland: I swithered back and forth over who to pick for Nathan’s father, but Iain Glen eventually won out. He’s got that worn down by the responsibilities of life look one would expect from the Wolf Lord.

Moira Northland: So, what you’ve got to do is remember how Laura Fraser looked as Kate the blacksmith in A Knight’s Tale, and age her up to her mid 50′s, and that’s Nathan’s mum. Hard as nails when necessary but a heart of gold under the iron.

Uncle Ivar: Okay, so, hear me out. But Michael Sheen with an eyepatch paired with Ivar’s feral old man energy. That’s it, that’s all I've got. Thank you and good night.

Let me know if you want to see anyone else! Also, let me know who all y’all would fancast for the Hunger Pangs: TLB. I’m really curious to see what folks come up with!

This is actually a fairly major theme going forward in the series, so I’m reluctant to give too much away. But I can say with confidence, neither of them are huge fans.

Nathan doesn’t really think much about it until he has to. Mostly he just hopes  Vlad is right when he says it will lead to a boom in industry, trade, and automation that will free people from the shackles of dangerous working conditions. He’s not a fan of the expanding cities, though. He doesn’t like how they’re eating up the countryside. Nor the smog that comes with them.