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Siren Queen

 Siren Queen
type
TVTItem
 Siren Queen
label
Siren Queen
 Siren Queen
page
SirenQueen
 Siren Queen
comment
“No maids, no funny talking, no fainting flowers.â€� Luli Wei wants to be a star, but in pre-Code Hollywood, there aren't a lot of good opportunities for a Chinese-American girl from a poor part of town. She's determined not to let that stop her, though. Soon, she finds her niche playing villains and monsters. She's never the hero, but at least she's not a fainting stereotype with a bad accent.But there are far worse monsters behind the silver screen than on it, and they're not just metaphorical. "Movie magic" isn't a euphemism—there really is magic in Luli's Hollywood, from huldras kidnapped out of their forests to be leading ladies to studios powered by deals with the devil. And stars that rise can just as easily fall.
 Siren Queen
fetched
2024-04-18T08:14:41Z
 Siren Queen
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2024-04-18T08:14:41Z
 Siren Queen
processingComment
Dropped link to MagicalRealism: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN
 Siren Queen
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MagicalRealism
 Siren Queen
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DBTropes
 Siren Queen / int_1b596e24
type
The Beard
 Siren Queen / int_1b596e24
comment
The Beard: Luli's friend Harry Long, who's also gay, is forced to marry an actress by the studio. Luli's first stipulation after her star rises is that she will not be doing this, thank you.
 Siren Queen / int_1b596e24
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Siren Queen / int_1b596e24
 Siren Queen / int_4f10672d
type
Wrong Guy First
 Siren Queen / int_4f10672d
comment
Wrong Guy First: Wrong girl first. Throughout the book, there are interjections from a woman named Jane who's clearly Luli's long-time lover, but first Luli hooks up with Emmaline (a fellow actress) and Tara (a screenwriter), in that order.
 Siren Queen / int_4f10672d
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1.0
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 Siren Queen
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 Siren Queen / int_571833a
type
Aren't You Going to Ravish Me?
 Siren Queen / int_571833a
comment
Aren't You Going to Ravish Me?: Non-comedic example. When Harry invites Luli to eat lunch at his house, she assumes it's a case of an older, established star putting the moves on his younger coworker, and goes along with it because she feels she needs a famous white man in her corner. She's completely thrown—though not displeased—when it turns out he really did invite her just for lunch (not to mention it's a double case of Incompatible Orientation).
 Siren Queen / int_571833a
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 Siren Queen / int_6774150c
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If I Can't Have You…
 Siren Queen / int_6774150c
comment
If I Can't Have You…: Hezibah Wiley weaponized this against herself to get out of her contract on her own terms. She knew that if Oberlin Wolfe couldn't have her dancing in his movies anymore, he would at least take the cachet of having made the only movies she ever danced in—so she cut her feet off. Greta does the same thing, mutilating her face so that Oberlin Wolfe will possess the sole movie in which "Caroline Carlsson" ever acted.
 Siren Queen / int_6774150c
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Siren Queen / int_6774150c
 Siren Queen / int_6f66bef7
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But Not Too Foreign
 Siren Queen / int_6f66bef7
comment
But Not Too Foreign: The studio cooks up several fake backgrounds for Luli, which simultaneously fetishize her Chineseness and downplay it by claiming she's half-white (she's not).
 Siren Queen / int_6f66bef7
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Siren Queen / int_6f66bef7
 Siren Queen / int_8cf6aa
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Literal Metaphor
 Siren Queen / int_8cf6aa
comment
Literal Metaphor: Becoming a star means actually becoming a star—once someone achieves a certain critical mass of artistry and celebrity, they light up and ascend into the sky.
 Siren Queen / int_8cf6aa
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Siren Queen / int_8cf6aa
 Siren Queen / int_a5cc15c8
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Mystical Hollywood
 Siren Queen / int_a5cc15c8
comment
Mystical Hollywood: “Movie magic� is not just a figure of speech.
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Siren Queen / int_a5cc15c8
 Siren Queen / int_a76de48b
type
Troubled Production
 Siren Queen / int_a76de48b
comment
Troubled Production: In-universe, the titular movie becomes this after an unseasonably early wildfire interrupts a shoot, leading to a cascade of further disasters that forces the project into extensive rewrites and reshoots with a new director everybody hates.
 Siren Queen / int_a76de48b
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Siren Queen / int_a76de48b
 Siren Queen / int_a7850fbf
type
Only Known by Their Nickname
 Siren Queen / int_a7850fbf
comment
Only Known by Their Nickname: Luli Wei is a stage name, semi-accidentally stolen from the main character's little sister (accidentally because she didn't mean to say it while coming up with a list, semi because she didn't say no when Oberlin Wolfe picked that one). All actors end up being this, due to a combination of the studio wanting to give people names that sound cooler and I Know Your True Name. Greta stands out in part because she never answers to "Caroline Carlsson" unless she has to (since she doesn't actually want to be there).
 Siren Queen / int_a7850fbf
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Siren Queen / int_a7850fbf
 Siren Queen / int_aa58bf92
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Working with the Ex
 Siren Queen / int_aa58bf92
comment
Working with the Ex: When the reshoots commence, the actress cast to play the new main character is none other than Luli's ex Emmaline. Things were tense on-set to begin with, and this certainly doesn't help.
 Siren Queen / int_aa58bf92
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Siren Queen / int_aa58bf92
 Siren Queen / int_acf33d00
type
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain
 Siren Queen / int_acf33d00
comment
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: The new scene Jacko demands be added to the Siren Queen movie is intentionally geared to humiliate the villain Luli has claimed so much power and enjoyment from playing, turning her unrepentant, badass monster into a craven Ain't Too Proud to Beg worm. But Luli turns the tables by acting the hell out of it, transforming the cowardly begging into the poignant mourning of a proud warrior who's outlived her entire people and realizes the last vestige of everything she loved will now be destroyed with her death. It's so iconic she immediately becomes a star.
 Siren Queen / int_acf33d00
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 Siren Queen / int_b47d95be
type
No OSHA Compliance
 Siren Queen / int_b47d95be
comment
No OSHA Compliance: Luli's Siren Queen tail is pretty unsafe—she slices up her fingers and almost breaks an ankle when she has to get out of it quickly. The sets in general aren't great either. At one point she raises the possibility that a director could work her until she faints, and during her first movie, Harry has to force the shoot to stop for the day when Luli gets hit in the head.
 Siren Queen / int_b47d95be
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Siren Queen / int_b47d95be
 Siren Queen / int_cb70651c
type
Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane
 Siren Queen / int_cb70651c
comment
Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: The fate of Harry, after the fire. Luli believes he didn’t truly die, but she’s also sure she’ll never see him again. Was it a case of Faking The Dead? Something more mystical? Both? Neither?
 Siren Queen / int_cb70651c
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Siren Queen / int_cb70651c
 Siren Queen / int_e9e35e8f
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Exact Words
 Siren Queen / int_e9e35e8f
comment
Exact Words: During her first contract negotiation, Oberlin Wolfe demands Luli give him a kiss. Since he said simply a kiss, not that Luli herself should do the deed, she's able to satisfy his demand by giving him the kiss she received from the former star Maya Vos Santé, which has been on her forehead ever since.
 Siren Queen / int_e9e35e8f
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 Siren Queen / int_name
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Siren Queen

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Siren Queen
hasFeature
But Not Too Foreign / int_cc295972
 Siren Queen
hasFeature
Literal Metaphor / int_cc295972
 Siren Queen
hasFeature
Literature of the 2020s / int_cc295972
 Siren Queen
hasFeature
Mystical Hollywood / int_cc295972