andromedaa-starss

[andromedaa-starss]

i keep thinking i should post more on here and then i never do. rip.

[andromedaa-starss]

Mixed media sculptures by Chris Haas

[andromedaa-starss]

ppl need to learn how to be normal abt east asian ppl and they need to learn it NOW

[andromedaa-starss]

"Les Misérables" musical character interpretations: Éponine

Next in my series of characterization comparisons: every audience's darling, Éponine.

These five interpretations of the character are the main five I've seen in various performances. But they can also be combined with each other to create still other portrayals. For example, in the bootleg video of the US tour performance from 2000, Sutton Foster's Éponine is "the Wolf Child," but her natural charm and humor adds an underlying layer of "the Gamine Next Door." Whereas Joanna Ampil's Éponine in the same year's London video – from what I've seen of it – is also a "Wolf Child," but with the underlying fragility of "the Waif." And when I recently saw the current US tour, I thought Christine Heessun Hwang's Éponine was a cross between "the Gamine Next Door" and "the No-Nonsense Street Kid."

The Gamine Next Door

            This is a simple, straightforward portrayal of the musical’s Éponine, who projects an air of easy likability. First and foremost, she’s a spunky, sassy, cheerful street urchin, much like an older female Gavroche. She might occasionally hint at the true sadness of her life (i.e. “Look what’s become of me”), but she always quickly hides it behind a bright, cheeky smile. And as her name implies, her interactions with Marius have an air of a tomboyish “girl next door,” with free and easy playfulness and warmth. She might sometimes add a hint of flirting, but she never crosses the line into bad manners. This isn’t to say that she can’t be gritty when necessary: her “Attack on Rue Plumet” can be very fierce and angry, although she’s more likely than some Éponines to mix relatable fear with her defiance. Nor does her lighthearted veneer mean she’s immune to suffering. When she’s alone, she gives heartbreaking voice to her starry-eyed yearning for Marius and her abject anguish that he doesn’t return her love. Of all possible Éponines, this one is the most idealized compared to the novel’s Éponine, which obviously won’t suit everyone’s taste. But in general, audiences are guaranteed to like her, pity her, and relate to her. Teenage girls, in particular, who are in the throes of their own first unrequited loves, will embrace her as one of their own. 

The Waif

            This Éponine is the most vulnerable of them all. She’s likely to be small, delicate, and “kittenish” in appearance. She’s more soft-spoken than other Éponines too, although still with a powerful singing voice for “On My Own,” and with a gentler, more girlish demeanor. Of course, she does affect a tough, sassy veneer, boasts about her street smarts, and stands up to her father and Patron-Minette with all the necessary fierceness. But that veneer is more fragile than glass. She constantly seeks Marius’s attention with a look of wistful yearning – even if he fails to see it, we can – and when they interact, her teasing is obviously a cover for the shyness and awkwardness she feels, knowing how out of her league he is. Nor is anger and aggression her first response to danger. In “Attack on Rue Plumet,” expect her to try to reason with the men at first, and to only turn defiant when they won’t listen. Above all else, the audience will remember the tenderness of her longing for Marius and her raw anguish that he’ll never be hers. Where other ‘Ponines express their pain without crying, this one’s rendition of  “On My Own” will more likely be drenched in tears. Throughout the show, the audience will want to hold her. shelter her, and comfort her, so in “A Little Fall of Rain,” however sad the circumstances, they’ll be glad that Marius finally does.

The Wolf Child

            This feisty tomboy is very much a street urchin, not a street waif, and very much the Thénardiers’ daughter. She’s a grubby yet self-assured, iron-willed survivor, just like her father, and she has more than a little of her mother’s brashness and temper. Among Patron-Minette or with Gavroche, she’s clearly “one of the guys,” and when the time comes to fight off her father and the gang at Rue Plumet, her anger and ferocity are positively feral. Expect Montparnasse to get a good kick or punch if he dares to bring his knife near her throat. Her teasing of Marius is bold, boisterous, and physical: expect to see her pushing and pulling him around in a very unladylike manner. This girl is determined to gain his attention, and apart from brief moments of despair, she clings stubbornly to the hope that he’ll fall in love with her someday. But in “On My Own,” she’s forced to admit that she’s been fooling herself. She faces this sad truth with heartache, as all Éponines do, but with anger too. Anger at Marius for his blindness and failure to appreciate her, at the world for being empty when he’s not with her, and at herself for being vulnerable in this way, when she’s usually strong enough for anything. Of course, her story ends in tenderness, with her final moments of bliss in Marius’s arms. But what the audience will remember most are her toughness and her fiery passion.

The Wild Urchin

            This girl comes as close to the novel’s Éponine as the musical allows. Physically she’ll probably be dirtier than other ‘Ponines, with bad posture and skittish movements that recall an abused dog or a stray cat. And more than any other musical ‘Ponine, she gives off an air of mental instability. Yet she combines it with a lively, free-spirited nature, and the result is a wild, whimsical, childlike quality that’s strangely endearing, even as it earns pity. She “frolics about,” swinging her legs as she sits, playing with her skirt, kicking stones in the road, or casually lying down and stretching out on the pavement. With Marius she’s even more forward and unladylike than the Wolf Child, freely invading his personal space, and sometimes trying to flirt in a way that recalls her father with the girls at his inn. This might make even Hugo’s Éponine blush, but it drives home the point that her social skills are lacking. She strives hungrily for Marius’s attention, but between her upbringing and her mental state, she doesn’t know how to begin to win his heart. She’s also more ashamed of how awkward and “odd” she is than she pretends to be, which we see when she’s alone, along with her wistful dreams and the pain of her hopeless love. She’s a “crazy homeless girl” whom in real life, we might try to avoid on the street, but we’re forced to understand her, empathize, and care for her anyway.

The No-Nonsense Street Kid

            This ‘Ponine is less fierce than the Wolf Child, but she has a similar toughness, and though she’s quieter than other ‘Ponines, it’s not a gentle quietness like the Waif’s, but a hard quietness. Her usual demeanor is sullen yet stolid, unhappy yet resigned to her lot and ready to “tough out” anything. She stands up to her father and the gang with hard, calm defiance and mocking disdain, and though she can be sassy and playful like all Éponines, her humor is drier and more subdued than most. Her only genuine smiles are reserved for Marius. Yet she might be a mild tsundere toward him, as they say, teasing him in an “annoying little sister” style, but closing herself up and pulling away if he offers her too much friendship. She doesn’t expect him to fall in love with her; she knows it’s foolish to hope. But she can’t help but hope anyway. She wants to be resigned to living without him, but though she tries, she can’t conquer her anguish, yearning, and secret fragility. Even when dying, she’ll still be tough, walking away from Marius to try to take care of herself, only to collapse; only when Marius takes the initiative and holds her will she finally show him her inner tenderness. This is different from Hugo’s Éponine, as is her grounded personality compared to the free-spirited Wild Urchin that Hugo wrote. But this portrait of a “hard nut” slowly cracking is moving in a different way.

More comparisons to come!

[andromedaa-starss]

If you find this story funny, please read this. This is my sister living with me in northern Gaza. I am trying to build a future for her but the ceasefire hasn’t helped a lot with that. Our house has been destroyed and prices are still way too high for food, medicine, clothes, everything. Our rent has been increased.

She’s an ordinary child who deserves to live just like yours. Please donate so I can give her the safety and stability she deserves, and if you can’t donate that’s okay, but please at least share.

✅️Vetted by @gazavetters, my number verified on the list is ( #347 )✅️

PLEASE DONATE HERE

I hope with all my heart that you will help us 🙏🇵🇸

[andromedaa-starss]

Drawing fat characters will make you a better artist, btw. Unironically, once you know how, you will not want to go back

[andromedaa-starss]

happy late bday nova!! hope you had the greatest day ever ✨️✨️

(sorry for my random chinese combeferre design 😔)

AHHHHHH THANK YOU SO MUCH OMG IT'S FERRE!!!!! HE'S SO CUTE THANK YOU THANK YOU

[andromedaa-starss]

seeing some gifs of @dimension20official's dungeons and drag queens making me remember how like...

drag is a culturally important part of queer self-expression, and there's a non-negligible overlap between drag queens and trans women. but it's frustrating how so many places will treat drag queens as perfectly substitutible for trans women, in terms of representation and inclusion, when that is not true.

and working in the framework that it is true has the effect of both directly excluding trans women (by filling the room with non-trans-women drag performers) and indirectly excluding them (by creating a hostile environment where they will be considered exactly equivalent to a cis man in drag)

yeah. anyway. dropout please bring more trans women on your shows. ideally in contexts other than "drag queens as a feature, alongside and mixed among cis male drag queens"

[andromedaa-starss]

please don't forget that this ceasefire is just a reprieve from the ongoing genocide. we need to continue boycotting companies supporting the israeli occupation and show our solidarity towards our fellow humans in gaza. please please continue to care about all of this till the state of palestine is liberated.

gaza has faced a lot of damage in the last fifteen months. the sewage system has been destroyed. houses have been flattened forcing people to live in tents. hospitals are barely able to function. schools, offices, businesses, parks and so many other things have been turned into rubble.

it is crucial to help palestinians rebuild gaza during this ceasefire. i request you to support my friend alaa rebuild her home and provide her children with a roof. her fundraiser has been verified.

please help my friend rebuild her home

[andromedaa-starss]

Do you still make free poses?

Yes, ABSOLUTELY! Loads and loads. Most of my pose references are free and dozens of new ones go up in many locations every month. Here's where you can find all the free stuff: 🎨 AdorkaStock.com Pose Gallery - This is where the newest stuff is regularly uploaded (~3x/week) and you can sign up for email digests of new poses one a week or once a month.

🎨 My DeviantArt Archive - this is an archive of my oldest poses and while it's not getting anything new anymore the old stuff is still here. I'm hoping to move everything to my new gallery soon but as you can imagine it's a HUGE undertaking so it might be a while.

🎨 Social Media - I regularly post pose refs on various socials and you can visit my link hub to get all my accounts. Follow me on the platform you love but I am most active here on tumblr, bluesky, and on imgur where I do 'a pose a day' on weekdays.

🎨 Patreon - yes, Patreon is also where you get some paid access to content but there's TONS of free stuff there, too! You can check the Master Post which outlines all the content including the huge swath of Free Sets. You can also just browse the free tag on Patreon.

🎨 Ko-fi Shop - again, this is where you can get my paid stuff but there's a few free things here as well.

I am releasing free content all the time through these channels, including recently hired models and recent themes in rotation with older stuff.

The vast majority of the paid stuff that I sell will also eventually be free. For themed packs it works like this:

I hope that helps you find everything!! 🥰

[andromedaa-starss]

you think you’re going to have a normal field trip and she shows up wyd (cw *slight* flashing images)

✦ find me on instagram @the.flightless.artist ✦

[andromedaa-starss]

"writing about fucked up things doesnt indicate your values as a person" and "the way you write about things may indicate some of your values" are not conflicting statements if im going to be real

[andromedaa-starss]

i think us big blogs should unionize against the opressive force that is the common people

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everyone riding the train today got 250 xp after a level 32 dracula wandered onto the tracks

[andromedaa-starss]

2024 may be ending soon but with your help we can still make this a reality. join now to help unify Ireland.

[ID: An image from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Picard and Data are facing each other, with the text saying "the Irish Unification of 2024." end ID]

[andromedaa-starss]

“average show has 3 injuries per performance” factoid actually just statistical error. average show has 0 injuries per performance. Cornley Georg, who has 2 actors get knocked unconscious every 10 minutes, is an outlier adn should not have been counted

[andromedaa-starss]

turned 37 today 👍 i was going to take some pictures outside to celebrate it but i literally haven't seen a single wild pokémon like all of today. even in the wild grass. is there like a meeting they scheduled that i don't know about