#also i just wanted to mention that this song walked so hamilton's non-stop could run

[pardonmydelays]

IN THE HEIGHTS countdown: 17 DAYS!

song for today:

it's silly when we get into these crazy hypotheticals you really want some bread? then go ahead create a set of goals and cross 'em off the list as you pursue ‘em and with those ninety-six i know precisely what i'm doin'

[mtherhino]

One side, Two lives

Chapter ten

Is he ok?

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Warnings: slight gore, panicked attack, and mention of eating disorder

Where the heck am I?  Virgil thought as he took in his surroundings. He couldn’t see anything except himself, as I he was standing in a pit of nothingness. He tried to to walk around but the blackness seemed to go on forever so he started to panic. Where a I? How do I get out of here? Where are the others?! Are they here two? I have to find them!

           Suddenly the anxious side heard a scream from behind him in the darkness. That sounds like Roman! He thought. He turned around and there stood Roman, on his knees and grasping at his stomach which confused the other side. Why is he grabbing at his stomach? Never mind I need to get his attention.

“Roman!” Virgil shouted to the other, but the prince didn’t acknowledge him, he didn’t even seem to hear him. This in no way helped Virgils anxiety.

“Roman! Princy can you hear me!” He shouted again, but just like before the creative side didn’t seem to even know he was there. Out of no where Virgil heard a dark chuckle.

He turned his gaze away from the prince and towards the noise. The shape of a person had materialized from the darkness, glimmering in a golden light and having what seemed to be a cape dragging behind him. The whatever it was approached Roman’s fallen from, laughing the whole time.

“You see? Your nothing but a weakling, and theres no place for anything like that here.” Virgil watched in terror as the person drew a sword and used it to tilt Roman’s head up to look at him. The side had tears running down his face and blood leaking from his mouth. Why is he crying? Why is he bleeding!? Virgil thought.

He looked back down to the prince’s hand and saw that the normally pure white outfit was now stained in blood, the red liquid was still spreading rapidly. Virgils eyes grew wide with horror. The golden being ‘tsk’ at the downed side and kicked him in the stomach making him cough up blood. No! Stop! You’re going to kill him! That’s what Virgil wanted to say, but as soon as he tried to scream black tendrils wrapped around his mouth and kept him quite.

Never the less the anxious side tried to run forward to stop everything but he couldn’t. He looked down and his feet where somehow stuck to the ground. He tried to pull himself free but it became clear that it was no use. He looked back at the scene in front of him and saw the figure start to raise his sword.

“You really are worthless. You’re just a pathetic excuse for a side, a useless nothing, and you’re especially no hero.” As the thing said that, it swung it sword down.

“ROMAN!”

           Virgil jolted up from his bed, his hand outstretched like he was trying to reach for something. His forehead was covered in sweat and he was sure that if he looked in a mirror his face would be whiter than a ghost’s. He brought his hand to his chest and he found his heart was beating faster than he thought it ever had. Virgil took a deep sigh and tried to calm down, it didn’t work very well. He looked over at his clock and saw that it was around 3 in the morning.

           What the heck was that? Virgil wondered to himself. He couldn’t remember much of his nightmare but he remembered that he was more scared than he had ever been in his life. Just trying to remember what happened made the side start hyperventilating. Ok. I need to calm down or else I might give Thomas a panic attack. Virgil started taking deep breaths and began to calm down as he repeated his 4 ,7, 8 breathing exercise.

           Once he was calmed downed he realized that he probably wasn’t going to be able to go to sleep for a while and flopped back onto his bed in frustration. The one night I actually tried to get more sleep. Just great. The side pulled out his phone from under his pillow and grabbed his headphones from his bed side table. This wasn’t the first time he was woken up by nightmares, but this time had definitely been the worst.

           He put on his headphones and picked up his phone. He went though a few different playlist before he finally settle on just clicking shuffle on My Chemical Romance. He ended up on Mama and smiled. This song was slightly calmer than most of the groups songs. He went to tumbler and started scrolling though it, humming the lyrics as he looked at post. After about an hour of looking at memes and funny videos Virgil found himself starting to dose off, the residents of the nightmare going to the back of his mind.

           When Virgil woke up it was too Patton calling him down for breakfast. He groaned as he got out of bed and change into his usual style. He pulled on his signature jacket as he went out the door even though he knew that it was crazy to wear a jacket on almost any day in Florida. Virgil walked down the long hallway eyeing every corner suspiciously in case Remus decided to just pop up or something. Because of this he wasn’t looking where he was going and ran straight into someone’s back and fell down.

           “Virgil? Are you ok” a familiar voice said. The anxious side looked up and saw that it was non other than Roman who he just happened to run into. The memories of his dream flashed in his mind and he looked at Romans stomach glad to see that there was no kind off blood staining on the t-shirt he was wearing. He shook his head a bit to clear the image of the fallen prince in his mind.

“Yah, I’m fine Princy.” Virgil said. Roman extended his hand to Virgil and pulled him up.

“You need to watch where your going, wouldn’t want you falling down the stairs or something.” Roman said with a chuckle.  The smaller side smiled softly at the sound but pretended to cough into his sleeve when Roman looked back at him.

           “Kiddos! Come get your breakfast before it gets old!” That had snapped Virgil out of his embarrassed fake coughing fit and the two started heading towards the kitchen. When they entered they found Logan at the table reading a comic book? Roman turned to Virgil and raised an eyebrow in question. The anxious side shrugged and went to go sit down at the table. He took a closer look at the cover and saw that it was a horror comic and that only confused him more.

“What are you reading Lo? I don’t think I’ve ever even seen you pick up a comic book before” Virgil asked. Logan finally looked up from his book and he seemed kinda embarrassed.

“Well um, technically it’s a graphic novel and uh Remus asked me to read it over for him.” Logan said while he adjusted his glasses, and if Virgil wasn’t mistaken, he was ever so slightly blushing. As the gears in his head spun the smaller side started to smirk. It definitely seems like this guy has a crush Remus. Although it may not look it, Virgil didn’t actually hate the duke. They in no way got along, and Virgil didn’t trust the creative side as far as he could though him, but he didn’t necessarily hate the gremlin of a man.

           So, with this in mind, the mischievous raccoon in a jacket decided that as long as he was here, he might as well mess with people.

“I didn’t know you and Remus where such good friends.” Roman, who had sat down after getting a plate of food for himself from the kitchen, tried his absolute hardest not to burst out laughing as Logan stuttered and rambled to try and explain himself.

“He simply assisted me in conducting some research the other day and I wanted to return the kind favor.” Once more the prince and emo character shared a look. Virgil decided that was enough teasing for now. You have to spread out the torture to make it effective after all. So instead of continuing to make fun of his friend he decided he should finally grab some breakfast.

“Whatever you say Lo.” The former dark side walked into the kitchen to see Patton serving up a plate that he assumed was for Logan.

Today Patton had made some scrambled eggs, a few links of sausages, and some toast he was currently adding crafters jam to. Patton turned around to face his dark strange son and smiled widely.

“Hey kiddo! I made a plate for you if that’s alright. If theres anything you want to change about it go right ahead!” The fatherly side said in his usual cheerful tone. Unfortunate this kinda made the smaller of the two freak out a bit.

What if I don’t like whats on the plate? I can’t just mess with it Patton already put in the work to make the food and if I put any of it back it will look like I don’t like his cooking which of course into true but what if he thinks that? Luckily his worries were put to rest when he saw his plate had equal proportions of everything just how he liked it. He breathed a sigh of relief and went to go sit back down with the others.

When he got back to table Roman and Logan were arguing about some sort of play but the conversation was now going too fast for Virgil to actually pay attention to it.

“Don’t you dare say Hamilton wasn’t a good musical in my presence!”

“I’m just saying its historically inaccurate! For one thing the Skylar sisters did have an older brother so the part in the musical where Angelica sings about having to bring the family glory is false. Also she was already wed to a man before she met Alexander so she couldn’t marry him if even if she wanted to.” Logan reasoned in his calm yet frustrated ‘everyone-is-being-an-idiot-except-for-me’ tone of voice.

“Of course it isn’t entirely accurate to the real character. In theater you have to add a bit of drama to express the characters feeling in the scene better!” The royal side tried to explain while he waved his arm around in the air, surprisingly not hitting anything or anyone. Luckily before the two could continue Patton walked into the room carrying both his and Logan’s plate.

“Ok kiddos I think thats enough arguing for now, go ahead and eat instead of bickering please.” Patton said in a hopeful voice.  The two sides grumbled a bit to themselves but did start eating . Virgil looked over at Romans plate and saw that he once again had a lot less food on his plate than the rest of them. He had about two mouthfuls of eggs on his plate, one small sausage and half of a jam covered toast.

Doesn’t he need to eat more than the rest off us? I mean he goes adventuring all the time so he probably burns all the calories he gets from the meals Patton makes. Virgil pondered all this while he ate. If he was being honest he didn’t think he had ever seen Roman get seconds unless people insisted on it. Thats kinda concerning, what if he isn’t eating right because off stress? But why would Princy be stressed he’s the living personification of having a dreamy good life. Could something be wrong and we just haven’t noticed it yet?is he ok? Luckily he was broken from his thoughts as someone called his name.

“Virgil? Are you ok? You’ve been so pacing out for a while now, everything alright?” Roman said as he put a comforting hand on the anxious sides shoulder. Virgil gave the royal a small smile and took a deep breath. I’m just overthinking things. Roman’s fine, he would have come to us if he had a problem.

“Yah I’m fine Princy, just got lost in thought that’s all.” The creative side smiled at that and went back to eating his small plate of food.

           After everyone was done with breakfast they all went back to their own rooms, Logan still reading the graphic novel as he walked. Once Virgil got to his room he threw himself onto his extremely messy bed and was about to pull up something to watch on YouTube when he heard a knock on his door.

           What the, I was just with everyone, if they needed to ask me something wouldn’t they have asked me then? The purple side sighed and got up to open the door, only to find the hallway completely empty?

“Um, ok, anyone there?” Virgil said while he stuck his head out the doorway.

“Yup! I’m right here!” A choice shouted from behind him.

“Ahhh!” The smaller side screeched and accidentally slammed the door shut. There now sitting on his bed kicking his feet, was Remus. He wasn’t wearing his usual outfit for videos but instead a ripped up tank to and some black sweatpants.

“What the hell are you doing here?!” The anxious side said in an accusing tone.

“I was bored and decided that I might as well annoy you for a while.” The taller of the two said with a shrug.

Virgil groaned and destroyed any hope of having a peaceful day from his mind.

“Why in the world did you knock? You haven’t had any real manners since we were kids.” The purple clad side said as he sat down on a beanbag that he had in the corner. The duke shrugged.

“It was part of my grand plan to distract you so that I could scare you even better.” The insane side said with a sharp tooth smile. Before Virgil could make a retort the door burst opened. There stood Princy in a t-shirt and shorts, his hair looking slightly disheveled and with a sword in hand. He for some reason also looked a bit bigger than normal but Virgil discarded the thought as the lighting being weird.

           “Virgil! What’s wrong! What do I need to fight!” The red side exclaimed.

“Hey Ro! I just scared emo over here and he screamed like I had ripped out his guts or something.” The duke said as he threw his arm around his brother. Virgil was kinda surprised. Last time he had seen the twins interact Roman was out cold in seconds but now they were talking like they were best friends. Well I guess they are siblings after all. The smallest in the room said.

“Oh, ok then. Virgil do you need any assistance?” Roman asked. The former dark side thought for a minute and figured that he could handle Remus by himself, he had enough experience dealing with his craziness growing up.

“Yah Romano I’ll be fine.” Virgil said with a wave. Roman nodded but not without a sigh at the nick name and walked out.

“Oh but before I go,” the prince turned around and glared and the both of them, “if you two kill each other I will find a way to somehow resurrect you and get you both scolded by Patton.” And with that Roman left with a royal wave. The two remaining sides gave each other a look, Virgil’s one of distrust and Remus’s one of mischief.

“Sooooo,” Remus said as he jumped back onto the bed, “you like my brother huh?”  Virgil’s face turned bright red.

“I-I don’t know what your talking about!” The now highly nervous side shouted.  This only made the duke chortle.

“Chill out, I’m not gonna tell him, it will be a lot more fun that way.” Remus said with a grin. The hoodie wearing side breathed a sigh of relief.

“However you now owe me a favor.” The dark side said. Virgil grumbled to himself but agreed and asked what the favor was. The royal smiled widely.

“You have to help me beat Deceit’s high score in Mario cart.” The anxious side was surprised at first but then smirked.

“Sure, I’m not going to pass up the chance to piss off the snake.” The smaller jumped onto the bed as Remus summoned his switch that was nearly covered in stickers except for the screen.

           After a few rounds of Mario cart Virgil still hadn’t won once and he was getting annoyed, especially since Remus wouldn’t stop saying how he was the ultimate champion of this game. In this round they where nearing the finish line and Virgil was in second place while Remus was in first. He had dodged all of the shells Virgil had thrown at him but he still had one more.

There’s no way I’m letting this rat man beat me again. Suddenly Virgil had an idea and a dark smile formed on his face.

“So Remus,” the purple side said as he lined up the shot, “how did your date with Logan go?”

“What?!” Remus was so surprised that Virgil somehow knew about his sorta kinda date with Logan that he fell off the bed. Meanwhile Virgil threw a green shell at him and finished in first.

“Yes!” The smaller side exclaimed.

           “How in this wide terribly gruesome world did you find out about that?” Remus said from the floor. Virgil shrugged.

“Logan said that you helped him with some research or something while blushing so I figured you actually took him on a date.” The emo said while he leaned back on his pillow. He looked over at Remus who was now sitting on the bean bag looking slightly startled.

“Well I didn’t technically ask him on a date, I just offered to take him and give him a tour of the imagination.” The duke said while he messed with his white streak of hair. “I haven’t actually told him that I like him.” Virgil was surprised that Remus looked actually embarrassed saying this.

“I never thought I would see the day that you were nervous.” Virgil said honestly. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell Logan if you aren’t ready to tell him.” Remus gave him an incredulous look and started laughing like a mad man which slightly scared the smaller side. He suddenly stoped and got up.

           “Thanks emo, I got to go or else De is going to get mad at me.” While the dark side walked to the door he messed up the purple wearing side’s hair until it defied gravity. “Wanna help me beat the record tomorrow since that slippery snake has such a freaking high score that we couldn’t beat it today?” The crazy side asked.

“Sure.” Virgil said, surprising even himself.

“Cool! Se yah tomorrow emo.” Remus said as he slammed the door loudly. The anxious side relaxed on his bed with a sigh. Even when just hanging out with the others being social was exhausting for him. He remembered that Thomas had some sort of event for tomorrow but Virgil doubted that he would need him for anything. As he was starting to drift off to sleep for a nap he had one last thought. Isn’t the wedding tomorrow?

Well I hope everyone if ready for some angst to come. Hope you guys have a good next 24 hours, bye!

Tag list:

@lovelivingmydreams

[charming-charlie]

One More Chance

Title // One More Chance

Pairing // Anthony Ramos x Fem!Reader

Warnings // Light swearing, fluff, mentions of loneliness.

Summary // It’s been years since you last saw Anthony, one of your high school friends. What happens when you finally see each other during his Hamilton run?

Word Count // 2,879

Prompt // “Be kinder to yourself, alright? For my sake. I can't stand watching you beat yourself up like this.”

You thought for sure Anthony wouldn’t remember you. He was a big, fancy Broadway star. You had to be one of the last things on his mind, if you were even on there. But he came through. After you direct messaged him your address, which was in New York since you never left, he sent tickets and backstage passes to the show that he was a part of. This was a dream come true for you. Not only would you get to see your long-lost friend again, but this was also the first Broadway show you’ll ever attend. Tickets were always out of your price range, and you didn’t make enough money to splurge on such an extravagant purchase.

It would be nice to see him again, but you knew it would probably be wishful thinking that he would remember you in person. It’s been a while since the two of you were in high school. You could go on and on about the memories in English class, but you wouldn’t dare bring those up. No, you are only going just to enjoy the show. That’s it.

Perhaps that was also wishful thinking because the Richard Rogers Theater, on this particular Friday night, was packed. You shouldn’t have been surprised. Hamilton received glowing reviews. People were raving about it. It made sense that it was such a sensation. You found your seat with the help of an usher and you were equally surprised that it was in the center off to the right, close to the stage. You would get a clear view of facial expressions and everything. Damn, Anthony was really taking care of you.

You purposefully left the backstage pass at home. You didn’t want to bother him, or the cast, when they had other fans and people to see. It’d be okay and it was no stress off your back. You just wanted to see the show and have a good time. That was enough for you.

It was curtain time, and everyone took their seats. The lights went dim and you sat there in awe, watching Leslie Odom Jr. take the stage and begin the first song. You didn’t get to be immersed in the musical for long, because there he was. Your long-lost friend, dawning a white coat, hair pulled back, taking the stage as he began talking about the ten-dollar founding father without a father. That was all it took.

You could not take your eyes off him for the entire first half and you swore he saw you too. Though you knew that was impossible, with the dark lights in the theater and everything. But for a few moments, it brought you comfort that perhaps he recognized you and all was well.

His character, John Laurens, engaged in a duel and you wouldn’t admit it but your heart almost stopped at the count of ten. You knew it was fake, but the tension sent you in a bit of a frenzy. Still, you couldn’t hide the fact that you were genuinely upset that John Laurens didn’t make it to the second act, but the playbill said Anthony was credited as two characters. Luckily, he wasn’t done yet. Good, you weren’t ready to see him disappear from your life again.

Intermission came so fast, it shocked you. The pace of the show was fast and upbeat, and you were so engrossed in Non-Stop, you didn’t realize that was the end. At least, for fifteen minutes. Letting out a sigh, you stood up and stretched your legs. You weren’t thirsty but a lot of people were rushing out to grab a drink or use the restroom. You were fine. You checked your phone and tried to occupy yourself until you felt a tap on your shoulder.

“Excuse me, miss.”

You turn around and you saw a tall man wearing a security tag. Sudden panic rose inside you and he could tell. “Can you follow me, please?”

You nodded, saying nothing. The tall security man walked through a side door labeled Employees Only and you were quick against his heels. There was a lot of commotion backstage. People were rushing around, changing costumes, dancing in the stairwell, recording videos and taking pictures… it honestly looked like a good time.

The security man approached a dressing room and knocked on the door. It was Lin’s door. Wait, what? Your breath hitched in your throat. You read that this show was basically Lin’s baby. Were you somehow disrespecting it? Lin opened the door with a smile. He was in the middle of changing clothes, but he wasn’t rushing. “I brought the patron you requested,” the security guard said before turning and walking away.

Lin was adjusting the microphone in his hair and he opened the door to invite you in. There wasn’t much room in the tiny dressing room so you stayed out in the hallway, looking confused but feeling surreal that you were staring at Lin-Manuel Miranda. “Sorry if that scared you, but we’ve been waiting since My Shot to get you back here.” He held out a hand, offering it to you. “I’m Lin.”

You blinked and coughed out your name. “Y/N,” you said while shaking his hand.

He nodded, as if he already knew. “I’ve heard about you. You have some fans back here,” Lin said. He adjusted his shoes, putting on the final touches for whatever he needed for the second act. Fans? Surely he was confusing you with someone else.

He sensed your confusion, and he let out a soft laugh. “This must be a little weird, right? I mean, first Anthony asked for backstage passes for this girl, and then she doesn’t bother showing up with said passes. I’m assuming you forgot them. He thinks you don’t want to see him. Which one of us is right? We have a little bet going on back here.”

You felt like you should be offended but Lin was so polite about it. The way he was talking about it, it made it seem like it was a joke, all in good fun, his attempt at jest.

“I um… I mean, I didn’t think it was…” you were stumbling over your words, not sure how to put it into a coherent sentence. This was definitely off putting, and Lin was sensing your discomfort. His smile fell and he looked apologetic.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way. Come with me,” Lin said, and he nodded his head in the direction of a hallway. He began walking and you followed him. You passed several people, including some you recognize from the show. It was a bit frantic though. There was not a lot of time between the first and second act, but everyone looked as though they had a routine and it worked for them.

“Hey Anthony, I found your girl for you,” Lin said and he turned to you, “we’ll get you another backstage pass. No worries about forgetting it at home.” He winked at you and left you standing in the doorway of Anthony Ramos, your long-lost high school friend. He was out of the blue coat and was wearing something entirely different. This was probably his second character. You wouldn’t know since you ignored his section in the playbill completely. You couldn’t bring yourself to read about him, not after everything.

He turned to look at you, his eyes alight and a soft smile on his face. “Y/N,” he said, and damn did your name sound good on his lips, “you made it. Come in.”

He extended an arm and you walked into his dressing room. It was jam packed with all kinds of stuff. You sat on the couch and he turned back to the mirror, fixing whatever he needed to do in order to prepare for the next part of the show. He looked at you through the mirror, studying you a bit.

“I didn’t think you’d remember me,” you said suddenly. Your eyes shot off him, avoiding his gaze. You felt your face get hot. You were not expecting to suddenly just say whatever was on your mind.

Anthony’s smile turned into a slight frown and he turned around to face you. “Really? Tenth grade, Chemistry partners. You, Ms. Y/N, broke a slide under a microscope and I took the fall. Remember that?” he folded his arms across his chest, slightly tilting his head. His voice didn’t sound accusatory, it was more like he was trying to light up your memories that you hid in the deep corner of your brain. You honestly forgot about that situation.

Not wanting to be outdone, you stood up. “Freshman English, Shakespeare partners. We made fun of Romeo and Juliet for their stupid, short love story where like, eight people died in three days. I called it tragic, and you called it teenage drama. We got lunch detention.”

Your memory caused Anthony’s smile to come back and he moved in with his arms outstretched slowly. Since you were now positive that he remembered you, you wasted no time pushing yourself into his arms and hugging him. It felt really good. It felt like old times, like for a split second, a tiny moment, you had your friend back. He wasn’t just some big, hotshot Broadway star. He was your Anthony Ramos, the goofy kid in high school that made you laugh and made school so much more bearable.

“I’m glad you reached out to me,” Anthony said as the two of you let go of the embrace, “how have you been? What’s life been like since high school?”

That was a conversation you wanted to avoid completely. Instead, you turned the conversation back on him, ignoring his raised eyebrows at the sudden topic change. “I never thought I’d see you on Broadway. You look good. I mean… you look happy, not that you look good. I mean, you do look good but that’s… you know what, never mind.”

Damn you and your stupid word vomit. Anthony only laughed.

An announcement above said that there was ten minutes left until showtime and Anthony looked completely unfazed by the sudden voice. He was so used to it, he probably has the intermission down to the second.

“Shouldn’t you get ready?” you asked him, unaware of his overall routine.

To your surprise, he shook his head. “I just have one thing left to do, and I have time. I’m not in the first song when the show comes back.” He could tell you were sort of closed off, and he didn’t want to push, but you could see the curiosity in his eyes. “I had a crush on you in high school, you know.”

Your head snapped in his direction and you refused to believe it. “Stop, that’s not funny.”

“I’m not joking.”

You folded your arms over your chest, taking on a defensive stance. He was trying to get you to talk, but you didn’t want to tell him. You didn’t want to tell him that you liked him too, and when the two of you stopped talking, you drifted into an unhealthy mental spiral. It was stupid how much you relied on him when you were younger, how much you needed him in your life, and he just left you in the dust. Not that you held that against him, it all worked out. For him, that is.

“Well, thank you,” you manage to say but that wasn’t enough for him. He leaned forward and grabbed you by the arm, but your arms were tightly linked together over your chest. He didn’t relinquish his grip though.

“That’s it? A thank you?”

“What else do you want me to say?”

“Say what you always wanted to say.”

Of course, he didn’t mean that. That was some word vomit you wanted to keep in. This was the first time in how many years since you’ve seen him, and you didn’t want to say something you would regret. Yet would you regret it if you didn’t tell him what was running through your mind? Your eyes turned to look at him. He looked somewhat sad, a tiny frown twitching at the corners of his lips.

“You left without saying goodbye. Which is fine, you had some great opportunities, but you were honestly my best friend. I liked you too and it sucks because I didn’t think you would leave this giant hole in me. How stupid is that?” you asked, and you practically slammed your mouth shut. No more, you don’t need to say anything else.

Anthony genuinely looked like you slapped him. There was a look of pain that graced his freckled face and he let go of you.

“Here, fresh off the press. Or… the box. Whatever.” Lin laughs while swinging a backstage pass from his fingers. He sensed such tension that he stopped in his tracks, his face fell in surprise and he slowly looped the backstage pass over the doorknob of the dressing room. “Uh… there’s like five minutes until curtain, Ant. Don’t forget to fix your hair. Philip hair, remember? That’s not Philip hair.”

Lin disappeared shortly after that and that was your cue. “Thanks for the invite. I’m going back to my seat now.” You turned on your heels and made one step toward the door, but Anthony’s reach was fast. He grabbed you by the elbow and pulled you back. You stumbled just a bit and regained your balance thanks to Anthony’s grip. The moment you turned to look at him, he stared at you, a sort of boldness now making its way through his face. In the blink of an eye, it all changed.

He kissed you.

You don’t even recall him leaning in. One minute, you were about to tell him off, and then the next, he was kissing you. It was soft and sweet, a gentle touch that let you relax against him. Anthony, however, kept a grip on your arm, which was probably for the best. You liked the fact that he was trying to keep you in place.

His forehead rested against your own and he let space come between your lips and his as the kiss came to an end. He whispered softly, “Be kinder to yourself, alright? For my sake. I can't stand watching you beat yourself up like this.”

Letting you go, Anthony grabbed the backstage pass off the doorknob and looked at it. He turned it back and forth, like he never seen it before. “If I give this to you, are you going to use it this time?”

Your mind was still swirling from the precious kiss and you couldn’t manage to say anything. Instead, you just nodded. He smiled, approached you, and placed the pass around your neck. It weighed next to nothing. Anthony’s fingers traced the lanyard, down to the pass itself, but his hands continued moving. They finally stopped on the curves of your waist.

He was going to kiss you again. God, you hoped he would.

A voice on the speaker crackled through, warning the cast, crew, and ensemble that there was one minute left until curtain and then the second act would be in full swing.

“I need to finish getting ready,” he said, sounding a bit sad.

“What’s Philip hair?” you asked out of curiosity.

Anthony turned to the mirror, reached a hand up to his hair and pulled the tie out. His long hair fell out of place and he grabbed a brush, brushing it out. “Philip hair.”

You laughed which caused him to smile. “That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

He turned back to face you, letting an arm slip over your shoulders as he pulled you in for a side hug and held you in place. His lips pressed themselves against your temple and in that moment, things felt right. He was patching the hole that he left you with. He was fixing you, even though he shouldn’t have to. He didn’t do anything wrong. Still, it felt nice. It was nice that he cared.

“You are free to go back to your seat and finish the show, but I want you back here when we bow out,” Anthony said. The demand was enough to send some butterflies swirling in the pit of your stomach.

“I’ll be here. Good luck.”

What’d I Miss started playing in the background and he kissed you again. You had to break free and go back to your seat, you were already missing part of the show. It wasn’t difficult to find your way back, and you caught Lin’s eye as your sat back down. You sent him an apologetic look for disrupting the show, but he only smiled and nodded before doing his bit in the song.

This night was the first time in a long time where you smiled so much. It was going to be tough to sit through the rest of the show when all you wanted to do was go backstage and be with Anthony. Your long-lost friend wasn’t long-lost anymore. The hole in your heart was almost filled in. You couldn’t wait for the show to be over. Soon, you’ll be back in Anthony’s arms. He’ll be waiting for you. Finally.

[detectivesplotslies]

SPEAKING OF MUSICALS what’re some songs that fit some v3 ships or moments in the game? Atleast In your opinion

Oh boy. Some of these are gonna be dumb and biased as a warning. I don’t know how many will be ships but I definitely have some moments from the game/character thought ones. This is gonna be a long post cause I like throwing in lyrics SORRY! Anon I hope you don’t regret this lmaoThis is getting…. very long so I think I’m gonna put them under the cut! :’DThere’s some Wicked, Chicago, Avenue Q, Scarlet Pimpernel, Hamilton, Into the Woods, RENT, The Greatest Showman, Little Shop of Horrors, The Producers, Come From Away and Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along BlogThere’s some Oumota, Saimatsu, Saiibo, and loose Saiouma in here, but also a few more general ones!

As most of you know, I have a Oumota Wicked AU, but there’s one song I’d like to point out that’s not for the ship that I quite like for the character in question, and that’s Wonderful, for Tsumugi. This one I found to be a great one for comparing what she does there in that au with some actual stuff in the game.Have some lyrics! I guess I just - wanted to give the citizens of Oz everything.

So you lied to them.

Elphaba, where I’m from, we believe all sorts ofthings that aren’t true. We call it“history.”A man’s called a traitor or liberatorA rich man’s a thief or philanthropistIs one a crusader or ruthless invader?It’s all in which labelIs able to persistThere are precious few at easeWith moral ambiguitiesSo we act as though they don’t exist 

—Another song, this one I discussed in a discord server with some awesome friends so not taking full credit for it, is We Both Reached For the Gun from Chicago for Kokichi and Gonta. The interview plays like the setup trial and while not exact is DEFINITELY an awesome play on the vibe and how it was done. Puppetry and motives running the entire show~! Also has some of the best choreography! And when the reporter starts agreeing that there is Shuichi proving it all.

Then describe it.He came toward me.With the pistol?From my bureau.Did you fight him?Like a tiger.He had strength and she had none.And yet we both reached for the gunOh yes, oh yes, oh yes we bothOh yes we bothOh yes, we both reached forThe gun, the gun, the gun, the gunOh yes, we both reached for the gunFor the gun.

—

The next one might be a weird one, and the dramatic delivery might not suit her as much, but I associate Falcon in the Dive from The Scarlet Pimpernel with Maki in chapter 5. It’s about a manhunt, hunting down an enemy, and how your own morals are already done and it’s up to you. There’s a bit of conflict in it about being bitter about it too and it fits some characterization I wish they had shown there there. It plays in with the memories they barely have as well. Have some lyrics!

There was a dream - a dying ember.There was a dream - I don’t remember …but I will resurrect that dream,though rivers stream and hills grow steeper.For here in hell, where life gets cheaper -oh, here in hell, the blood runs deeper.And when the final duel is near,I’ll lift my spear and fly.Piercing into the sky, and higher!And the strong will thrive!Yes, the weak will cower,while the fittest will survive!If we wait for the darkest hour‘til we spring alive,then with claws of fire,we devour like a falcon in the dive. —In a lighter tone, There is Life Outside Your Apartment from Avenue Q is a Kaito drags sidekicks to training song, I dare you to prove me otherwise.  When I say “everyone”, that includes you!There is life outside your apartmentI know it’s hard to conceive,but there’s life outside your apartment,and you’re only gonna see it if you leave.There is cool shit to do,but it can’t come to you.And who knows, dude,you might even score!There is life outside your apartment,but you’ve got to open the door!No, thanks, I’m staying in.Don’t tell me I gotta force you.Sorry!All right everyone! He’s resisting! —OKAY so if you follow me by now you know I really enjoy Kokichi. When I was looking for songs, @dykeenvy reminded me of this one and it fits Chapter 5 Kokichi so well, so shoutout to them! Last Midnight from Into the Woods for Kokichi. It’s the point where everyone’s arguments and blame (from the song Your Fault! which is ALSO a good V3 song, it’s like… every trial) turns to the witch and she’s done with them and it’s great, specifically this lyrical sequence! You’re so nice You’re not good You’re not bad You’re just nice I’m not good I’m not nice I’m just right I’m the witch You’re the world  I’m a hitch I’m what no one believes I’m the witch You’re all liars and thieves Like his father Like his son will be, too Oh, why bother? You’ll just do what you do

—

OKAY now onto some more dialogue heavy stuff! Non-Stop from Hamilton for Kokichi & Shuichi! Let me explain. Kokichi I find is very like Hamilton, making himself the center of it all, writing, not stopping, going at it all, making enemies but overall doing more and more ambitious. Meanwhile Shuichi is a lot more like Burr, says less, but knows what he’s doing, and bewildered by Hamilton’s methods. Keeps his cards close to his chest until he needs them. Kokichi writing like he’s running out of time is so very very in character. It just fits him SO WELL. It could even represent Kokichi’s attempt to partner with him in chapter 4 and being turned down. Some lyrics! Why do you always say what you believe?Why do you always say what you believe?Ev'ry proclamation guarantees free ammunition for your enemiesWhy do you write like it’sGoing out of style?Write day and night like it’sGoing out of style?Ev'ry day you fight like it’sGoing out of style—On a more somber note, I think The Story of Tonight from Hamilton has great post game VR AU feels for the survivors and maybe Rantaro too in the midst of causing Team Danganronpa some disastrous reactions to their forced ending. I love aus where they are getting legal repercussions and the cast is being held, the dead maybe even still under, until it’s worked out and I think this fits here

I may not live to see our glory! (I may not live to see our glory!)But I will gladly join the fight! (But I will gladly join the fight!)And when our children tell our story… (And when our children tell our story…)They’ll tell the story of tonightLet’s have another round tonight (Let’s have another round tonight)Let’s have another round tonightRaise a glass to freedomSomething they can never take awayNo matter what they tell youRaise a glass to the four of us Tomorrow there’ll be more of usTelling the story of tonightThey’ll tell the story of tonight —

Okay, another shoutout to @dykeenvy and the Yeehonk! server for this one since we chatted about it in there BUT - Take Me or Leave Me from Rent is an Oumota song. The energy, the stances, the stubborness. It is ALL THERE. A tiger in a cageCan never see the sunThis diva needs her stage, babyLets have funYou are the one I chooseFolks will kill to fill your shoesYou love the lime light to now babySo be mine but don’t waste my timeCryin’, “Oh, honey bear are you still my, my, my baby?”Take me for what I amWho I was meant to beAnd if you give a damnTake me baby or leave me —

I’d be remiss to not do another Tsumugi song, given who I am. So I’m bringing up Opening Night from The Producers for Tsumugi. For her ending disaster and the audience complaints during the PTA segment! I just… really like to think it was a all blamed on her sometimes hahah. Sorry mugi.He’s done it againHe’s done it againMax Bialystock has done it againWe can’t believe itYou can’t conceive itHow’d he achieve it?It’s the worst show in town!We sat there sighingGroaning and cryingThere’s no denyingIt’s the worst show in townOh, we wanted to stand up and hissWe’ve seen shit, but never like this

—

Okay for this one just… hear me out. The Other Side from The Greatest Showman for Oumota. A circus ringleader and a respectable patron of the arts walk into a bar, argue about their reputations a bit, make a deal and talk about living a little. Clowns are even mentioned. I mean come on! Don’t you know that I’m okay with this uptown part I get to play‘Cause I got what I need and I don’t want to take the rideI don’t need to see the other sideSo go and do like you doI’m good to do like meAin’t in a cage, so I don’t need to take the keyOh, damn! Can’t you see I’m doing fineI don’t need to see the other side

Now is this really how you like to spend your days?Whiskey and misery, and parties and plays

If I were mixed up with you, I’d be the talk of the townDisgraced and disowned, another one of the clowns

But you would finally live a little, finally laugh a littleJust let me give you the freedom to dream And it’ll wake you up and cure your achingTake your walls and start ‘em breakingNow that’s a deal that seems worth takingBut I guess I’ll leave that up to you —

Kokichi in ships is always a troublesome thing, as he’s got a lot of issues with himself too, so I think Leave from Once is very Kokichi. Oof. Sorry this one is mostly angst fodder. I can’t wait forever is all that you saidBefore you stood upAnd you won’t disappoint meI can do that myselfBut I’m glad that you’ve comeNow if you don’t mindLeave, leave,And free yourself at the same timeLeave, leave,I don’t understand, you’ve already goneAnd I hope you feel betterNow that it’s outWhat took you so longAnd the truth has a habitOf falling out of your mouthBut now that it’s comeIf you don’t mindLeave, leave,And please yourself at the same time

—

Now for something completely different! Meek Shall Inherit from Little Shop of Horrors for Shuichi! Moral dilemmas, biases and making terrible decisions for the sake of people liking him after his ‘success’ starts building. Oof. Sorry Shuichi, I know Seymour’s not the most moral character but the comparison is there a bit. My future’s startingI’ve got to let itStick with that plantAnd gee my bank account will thriveWhat am I saying?No way, forget itIt’s much too dangerous to keep that plant aliveI take these offersThat means more killingWho knew success would come with messy nasty strings?I sign these contractsThat means I’m willingTo keep on doing bloody, awful, evil things

—

Now for a different ship! My Freeze Ray from Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog for Saimtasu. I think it outlines Shuichi’s anxiety when trying to get close to Kaede pretty well, and also how little he knows about her at the start, but is still cute! With my freeze ray I will stop the worldWith my freeze ray I willFind the time to find the words to

Tell you howHow you makeMake me feelWhat’s the phrase?Like a foolKinda sickSpecial needsAnyways —

One more. This ship’s just one of my comfort ones and of course I’m giving it angst. Stop the World from Come From Away for Saiibo. Specifically at the end of trial 6, where they know everything;s coming down, shuichi and the survivors made their choice, and Kiibo’s going to self destruct, and everything;s going to end, but they all get one more goodbye. Agh Kiibo didn’t need to go then and it makes me sad.  Stop the worldSeize the momentBut the minute he goes you’re alone, and it’s through pinch yourselfTell yourself:“You’re just dreaming, that means he’ll forget about you”

But here we areWhere the continents once crashed togetherBefore they went their separate ways forever, so stop the world

—Sorry for rambling so very LONG anon. Hope you enjoy these, maybe you’ll find a new song today :’D

[marsdave]

Amnesty Musical Idea (Part 1/4)

So since I decided ultimately to do a Balance musical, I wanted to share my idea for what an Amnesty Musical could be on here! 

So ideally, and Amnesty musical would kind of be an indie, low-budget affair. Since Amnesty isnt as Game-Centric as Balance (in which you never quite forget that they're playing dungeons and dragons), none of the McElroys are making any appearances as characters.

We open on Mama saying goodbye to Thacker before he leaves for Sylvain to research the Quell. This is our first song, Old Friend, something quiet and understated with only a piano and an acoustic guitar and some airtight harmonies.

Mama: I wish you good luck, until we meet again.

Thacker: it's not a matter of if, Madeline, simply a matter of when

Mama: promise me you'll miss me, if only now and then

Together: goodbye, old friend.

At this point, the audience has no clue what just happened, only that Thacker is gone for a while and Mama knows who he is

I know that seeing Thacker for the first time was something of a big reveal in the podcast, but in a play, having him mentioned in a conversation isn't going to have the same impact as actually seeing him onstage

The stage goes dark and a single spotlight opens on Sherriff Owens. He gives the audience a grin and starts introducing the audience to Kepler, West Virginia. The soft, major-key version of the Amnesty theme plays in the background

He goes over Amnesty Lodge, the Monongahela National Park, and he ends his tour with an exasperated "And here's the cryptonomica. Bye." He quickly walks off stage.

Here's where we get our introduction to Ned Too Many Middle Names Chicane and our second song, "Come On Down To The Cryptonomica"

It should be pretty short, a minute at the most, but it's got the same vibe as Independence from Trail To Oregon as Ned tries to convince you (with some interjections from Kirby) to buy some of his wares and tune into his tv show, Saturday Night Dead. (Which he already has at this point because I do need to expedite some things)

Ned never sings alone

We then take a trip over to a childs bedroom. A teen Duck Newton sits up in bed, playing on a handheld video game console.

I know in the podcast Minerva is an ethereal, ageless entity, but I know that a lot of people's problem with Ducknerva was the age difference. So in the musical, she's gonna grow up with Duck

Also, it makes more sense that the mistakes she made on her home planet were the mistakes of a reckless teenager.

So with a bit of blueish lighting, Minerva appears at the foot of Duck's bed, appropriate confusion and humorous antics ensue

Then we get our third song, Destiny

It starts off somewhat orchestral, as Minerva slowly delivers her epic call to action, but she's so slow that she disappears in the middle of the speech.

"Pick up the sword and fulfill your desti-" and then she's gone.

Then we get a Do You Wanna Build A Snowman type age-up as both Duck and Minerva grow. Duck is shopping in Leo Tarkesian's store because I need to introduce Leo and having him appear right before/after Minerva draws an unconscious parallel between the two.

Also Leo's actor also plays Sheriff Owen's because I need to minimize just how many people are in the cast 

The next time, it's still orchestral, but faster, as Minerva needs to get the speech out fully this time. Duck answers with an anticlimactic "Nah."

The next time, it's still orchestral, but faster, as Minerva needs to get the speech out fully this time. Duck answers with an anticlimactic "Nah."

Another age-up. This time, we get the sense that this has happened a few times and Duck's overall answer has been a wholehearted "No thanks"

This time when Minerva delivers her speech Duck interjects and speaks over her, Farmer Refuted style, and as he grows more argumentative, Minerva's orchestra is drowned out by Duck's electric guitar. 

One more age-up. Maybe just a costume change. Minerva appears and Duck is turned around and can't see her. The piano motif plays. Time for Minerva to start her song. Duck still hasn't seen her. She opens her mouth-

And then closes it. No use in trying. She disappears.

We then go to what looks like a kid's birthday party. Aubrey is doing a series of (very bad) magic tricks. We see Mama watching her.

My least valid decision here is removing Dr. Harris Bonkers. I know, it sucks, I'm terrible, but there is no practical way to do it and it doesn't narratively work onstage like it does in the podcast

The tricks go badly until she does one successfully, her fire trick. 

When Aubrey is done with her show, Mama stands and we hear a few notes of "Old Friend" before launching into "Come On Down to Amnesty Lodge…ica" a clear reprise of "Come On Down to the Cryptonomica" but, you know, Amnesty Lodge based.

Aubrey: this song sounds really familiar 

Mama: no I don't think it does.

Aubrey decides to go, and, during the song we quickly transition to the Amnesty lodge, and alongside Aubrey, we meet Barclay (Boyd Moshe's actor, wink wink nudge nudge), Dani, and Jake Coolice (Kirby's actor).

They tune in at the end of the song, and the harmonies should be real pleasant over here.

Dani and Aubrey do in fact, měét cüte at this point. That part doesn't need to be changed at all from the podcast, it was perfect.

To the Cryptonomica, where Kirby and Ned are discussing dressing up in the bigfoot costume to make some more money, Ned agrees to head up to the Monongahela.

Mama, Barclay and Aubrey are taking a walk and Mama explains more about Sylvain and the Abominations before we come to the archway, which to symbolize being invisible is covered with a big tarp that read: "Nothin' to see here!"

There, they run into Ned, doing a very bad bigfoot impression 

Barclay is visibly distressed but we don't know why yet.

Cut to Duck in the middle of a conversation with Juno Divine (played by Dani's actor) 

Juno's not gonna be super big in the musical but I thought it would be a cute cameo for people who have listened to the podcast 

Duck then goes out on patrol. He hears some commotion and runs onto the scene 

Duck starts on a talk about how no one should be here and Why Are You Wearing A Bigfoot Suit?

Ned begins to explain, when two goat creatures come onto the scene. One of which is Billy (same actor as Kirby and Jake).

This launches into my second favorite song idea/narrative device from this musical: Wait, What The Fuck Is Going On?

Essentially, this song is an info-dump to get all of the characters up to speed, and is going to take several bullet points to explain.

So first, everyone freezes on stage (bonus points if it's on funny poses/faces) and we hear a familiar piano motif and the lights go blue.

That's right it's Minerva Babeeeeey. She gives her speech, throwing in some details about the danger of the situation. 

Minerva: Take up the sword and fulfill your destiny!

Duck: I don't have a sword?

Minerva:*pulls out sword*

Duck: How did you-?

Minerva, interrupting him: Take up the sword and fulfill your destiny!

Minerva disappears and Duck picks up Beacon while everyone unfreeze, they express confusion as to how Duck got the sword and why it's talking. There's a bit of fighting.

Then Aubrey gets attacked and kind of lights on fire a little bit while singing a solo interspersed with Ned and Duck not understanding What The Hell Is Happening 

Barclay turns into bigfoot and everyone except Mama is Alarmed.

At this point Mama is trying to calm everyone down.

Then, as they fight the two goat creatures, everyone sings in counterpoint, like at the end of Non-Stop from Hamilton or One Day More from Les Miserables or Tower of Babel from Godspell

Billy is taken but the other goat creature gets away with one large chorus of "What the fuck is going on!"

-End Pt. 1-

(Also, I cant emphasize this enough, my askbox is open! Please don't hesitate to ask me shit!)

[seynabri]

Tokyo in Tulsa 2018

It is time for the story of Tokyo in Tulsa 2018. It all starts on a Wednesday....

Wednesday

The Wednesday was where all the craziness started. Being newly married and living in a house I was the one whose place was best suited for everyone staying over before leaving the next day. So that meant my brother, Kelsey, and Dani sleeping at my place. But wait! There's more! Skyler and Erin decided the drive from Minnesota to Tulsa was not something they wanted to do again. So they drove down to Omaha on Wednesday as well. To also stay with me! Full house!

So fun story about the korok costumes. While I went to church that night Dani and Kelsey went outside and spray painted the three of them and left them laying on the lawn. When you drive into our neighborhood toward our house there’s a part of the street where you can see our backyard. I look over. What are those colorful things on our lawn??? Those skiiiiins???

Well Dani came over first and we spent the day working on cosplay. Since you know... we're so great at getting things done on time. Kelsey came over a little later and... worked on cosplay. Then I had to leave for a bit. But then I came back and Brock arrived and we ate dinner and... worked on cosplay. Until eventually Dani and were like. Okay. We HAVE to get the skit audio recorded. Because it's not just cosplay that we do last minute.

Enter. The Husband. Remember the mention of newly married? Said husband has a little mini studio. Recording equipment. Instruments. Recording software. Clearly I married him so our skit audio could be better than previous years. (Like the time we used the mic on a pair of iphone earbuds in the hotel room closet. Good times.) So he got that all set up. And we proceeded to take several hours to record a 3 minute skit...

It was just so scary! Dani and I, two can't get any whiter girls, trying to rap the Zelda/Hamilton parody we had written. But honestly. The rapping wasn't the worst. It was when we got to the singing. No one in our group could get past the auditions on American Idol. Let's just say that. But being the least worst I got stuck with the singing. Which was... super fun. I maybe cringe a bit every time I hear the audio. But that could just be one of those "you're your own worst critic" scenarios.

Eventually Skyler and Erin showed up and we all talked and worked on stuff and got stuff ready and passed out way later than we should've. But we were ready! To go to Tulsa. Not.. the cosplays. But they were ready to be brought down to get finished!

Thursday

So we got a later start than we usually do on Thursday. On purpose. We wanted sleep. And since Skyler and Erin came down and there were six of us we split between two cars. It was finally my year. Year nine of us going down and I was finally the one who had to drive. I mean. I did finally get a car last year. A Prius. With it's excellent gas milage. So naturally it was my turn. In my car we had myself... obviously, Kelsey, and Brock. So the other car was Skyler, Erin, and Dani.

Before leaving Omaha we hit up Walmart to get our groceries for the weekend. And then we were off! The usual, non eventful, drive down to Tulsa. Although Dani almost died so there was that. She was sitting in the back in the other car and Erin noticed the door open light was on. Dani's back there, leaning on the door, listening to music, no seatbelt, oblivious to the whistling from the door.... She survived though!

So we get to Tulsa, check into our hotel. Haul all our stuff up to the 3rd floor. And there was a lot of stuff. But the 3rd floor was great because it's only one floor above the floor that leads to the sky bridge that goes over to the convention center. So we basically got to avoid the elevators the whole weekend. Which if anyone here has been to a convention at a hotel with elevators you know how crazy those waits can get.

After getting a little settled Brock and I ran down to go pick up our badges. We were the only ones who happened to pre-register. Which ended up being not as convenient as it sounds because the line we ended up in because of our last names was the longest one. It took... a while. And then when the others got their badges the next morning they were back to fast. Jealous.

THIS MONSTROSITY

The rest of the night was working on cosplay. I still had my wig to finish but I pushed that one off until the next day and worked on some other miscellaneous things. Little things here and there with the other cosplays and painted the props for the skit with Erin. A few of our Tulsa friends also stopped by to say hello. Other than that it was a pretty chill night.

Friday

Friday morning, after waking up and treating ourselves to the free breakfast the hotel provided it was back to cosplay work! I actually worked on my wig this time and finally finished that monstrosity! When it was time to go down to the con I threw on my K-ON! uniform because it's comfy and I didn't know what else to bring for Friday. Dani was Tsukimi, Brock was Spider-Man, Kelsey was comfortable, and Skyler and Erin were casual Hawke and Fenris.

Aww yiss Fenris.

Friday was a lot of wandering and getting the lay of the land. We hit up the vendors room first and that might have been when I bought a couple of new phone charms. In the artist alley we found the cosplay contest sign up and went ahead and did that. Honestly I can't remember much of what we did on Friday at the convention center. I know there was a lot of finding each other, losing each other, and then window shopping. At one point, Kelsey, Brock and I spend a couple hours very slowly going through the artists alley making mental notes of what we liked.

The one picture I have of me from Friday.

After all that though we went back to the room to eat some food and continue our work on the costumes that needed to be ready for the next day. That's kinda how last minute we were. At some point we had to stop and go practice our skit. So it was down to our usual practice spot!

d’awwwww

I'd say this was the longest we spent practicing. We had a lot of blocking to do. We wanted to make sure we had movement and plenty of fun things to look at. Dani and I by the nature of our skit were mostly just standing to the sides for the whole thing so the two of us were the ones who stood back and did the blocking. I kind of felt like a crazy, demanding person telling people where to go and what to do. I'm sorry if I got a little bossy guys! But it was fun and I think it turned out very successful!

We were super mature about this way this looked...

Also I've heard that song we did so many times that I now sometimes mix the lyrics with the song it's actually based off of. Yikes. Afterwards we made sure we finished everything else that needed to be finished and then passed out so we could get up in time to go to pre-judging.

Saturday

So pre-judging! It was a mad dash getting ready in the morning. I had to get up particularly early because I hadn't had time to do a makeup practice. And my character had a mildly intricate design on the face. Which... mostly got covered up by the wig later. But it still looked cool, I promise! Our koroks got to get ready the quickest since they weren't going to be seen underneath the costume. On the flip side though because they were so covered they were dying from the heat the whole time they wore those things.

Paya is ready for her day!

Paya and Purah checking in!

Too much cute!

Selfie with the hero!

It was humid and boring while we waited. But we had our fun!

One of the few full body shots of me. All those layers killed any curves I have. I need to figure that out for next time. Paya most definitely has some definitive curves.

The Tator Jaegars!!!

So we go down to the convention center and... had to wait for a while before they opened it up. We get up to the room we'll be judged in and also where the contest will be and... more waiting. There was a shift in the cosplay staff this year and it definitely had some of those... transitioning feels. So not as smooth as we're used to but oh well. After a while the skits were called to go backstage and... guess what! More waiting! But eventually we did get to go on and perform and outside of a couple of timing issues it went pretty well!!

Practicing while we waited.

I love when we look nice and colorful!

Waiting backstage to perform.

Right afterwards we went back to the room. Our poor koroks were dying from the heat. We ate some food and our koroks changed to more comfortable clothes. And then... it's been a month since the con. I've been so busy that I've been writing this in little spurts. Stuff happened on Saturday! I know there was a lot of wandering around. I ordered a couple of commissions in the artist alley.

Caught!

Model alert!

Something about those eyes.....

Taking a quick break.

Hmm. What did we do. Mostly lots of walking around. We didn't go to a single panel. So we did a lot of shopping. Ate some Dippin' Dots at one point. Yum. Poor Dani wanted to go outside and take pictures but we kept getting distracted. And when we finally did make it outside we only got a couple of pictures in before. Dun dun DUUUUN. It started raining. And with the wigs Dani and I were wearing. Rain would have been disastrous. So we had to run inside. I'msorryDani.

The beautiful before the rain started pictures.

See! It exists!

So adorable!

Silly times in Hyrule....

Some pics from The photoshoot our Link and Purah did together!

Mmmmm.

I know we went to the hotel room then. I think we were hungry so we ate some food. And by then it was about time to be getting to the contest. After getting all ready we went down to the convention center and waited until we were let into the room. Unlike previous years the skits went backstage right away and got to hang out in this curtained off area. Which had a little bit of seating, which was nice. So we sat back there waiting to go on. Playing on our phones. Chatting. Peaking out at the walk on line every so often to see if it was getting close to the skits yet.

Speak no evil. Hear no evil. See no evil. :D

Guys! It’s picture time!

Yay!

Eventually it was time! As usual the time onstage was a bit of a blur. The thing I most distinctly remember was the clatter as Dani's chopsticks from her hair fell one by one and hit the stage. I don't think the audience heard it but I was definitely very confused for a minute there. Other than that though things went wonderfully! And after leaving stage we were pretty excited about getting through it and hearing the crowd cheer and laugh. After a bit we were escorted to the back of the room to watch the rest of the skits and the results.

They killed him. D:

No remorse.

Passionate pointing!

There he go.

git it gurl

YAAAAAH

Giving my to-do list to Link.

Link is not amused.

More pointing!

So we get to the results and as usual they announce the hall cosplay winners first and then get to the skits. This is where things got crazy! They announce third place and lo and behold it's the people who have won first place every year we've done this. We were shook. And let that little hope into our hearts. Although Dani and I kept looking at each other and saying not to get our hopes up. And then second place is announced. Not us. So we're like. Okay. There's no way. Right?? Right?!?!

BUT GUESS WHAT!!!!! WE GOT FIIIIIIIRST!!!! We were shooken as Dani says. We walk on upstage all smiles because OMGWEWON. And then we had to stand there for a while with our certificates but it was so awesome!!! Once they ended everything we had to go and get our prize (moniiies) and fill out forms for the best prize. Badges for next year!!! So that was pretty exciting!

So happy!!!

We went outside after to get some pictures of all of us. Finally got some outdoor pictures because it had stopped raining. Which was nice. After that we went up to the room to order our celebration pizza! Which we used the money we won to buy. And divided up the rest. Which... took me way longer than it should have. I'll admit that. Even with a calculator I was having a rough time. Mostly with how the bills were divided.

It’s research time!

Waiting for that hero to appear!

Creeeepyyyy.

FIRST PLAAAACE

Paya getting ready in the morning. :D

Some koroks are very close with each other..

Cuties. All of them.

fab

Super sneaky korok <_<

Oh boy. We all know what time it is! Climbing!

So now that’s it’s been announced officially online elsewhere. Kelsey is having a babyyyyyy!!!!!!! 

Anyway. We ate pizza. We watched tv. Our friends visited. We had a good time! By the end of the night I was exhausted. Somehow everyone else still had energy enough to go to the rave but I just couldn't. I really am the great grandma of the group. My age is showing! So I passed out while they went and did that.

The best my hair has ever looked after being under a wig all day. Plus a good shot of that makeup because I’m proud of it!

Sunday

Sunday, Sunday. The last day. I'll admit I was alone for most of Sunday. After getting all packed and checked out I wanted to do the last of my shopping. And I kept getting separated from everyone else so I kinda just wandered alone. I mostly bought stuff in the artist alley. Although I did get some stuff for my husband's birthday in the vendors room. I picked up a commission. Had some long, fun talks with some artists. Bought myself some more Dippin Dots. Just generally had a good time wandering around.

The Tator Jaegers about to say goodbye to Tulsa for another year!

I did eventually meet up with Dani and Brock. And we sat around in the hallway exhausted and people watching. By the time we found everyone else we were also finding our Oklahoma friends. So there was some meeting and talking and we figured while we had everyone we may as well say our goodbyes and get going. So there were hugs and well wishes and we were off!

TULSA FRIIIIEEENDS!!!

Well. Off to find lunch. At Arby's! And then really on the road! For the most part it was uneventful. Until we drove through a storm. Which happened to also be when we had to take a detour. So that was interesting. Driving through small towns on an unknown road while it's storming. Apparently the other car saw a mini tornado! We didn't get anything quite as scary.

Otherwise we made it home okay and all was well. Another year of Tokyo in Tulsa. It had a slightly different vibe than previous years what with the staff changes. But otherwise it was a blast! Winning the skit contest was most definitely the highlight of the weekend! Thanks to everyone who made that possible. And just thanks to all my friends for being the best and making the con such a good time. I love you all and until next year!

Our short shenanigans video! 

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Herbert Hoover Is the Model Republicans Need

New Post has been published on https://usnewsaggregator.com/herbert-hoover-is-the-model-republicans-need/

Herbert Hoover Is the Model Republicans Need

Never has the United States elected a more accomplished man to the presidency than Herbert Clark Hoover, whose organizational genius saved millions of lives from famine and destitution. Never has the ensuing presidency been marked by worse disasters.

That paradox has energized every biographer of Hoover, from William Leuchtenberg’s brilliant brief study to the massive six-volume collective effort headed by George Nash (which I must confess from the start to having “read in,” but never to have actually “read”).

The paradox again energizes the latest of the biographies, by Kenneth Whyte, released last month. (I should mention here that Whyte was the founding editor of a newspaper to which I contributed a column between 1998 and 2013.)

The central question in assessing a new contribution to Hoover studies is to ask, “What new contribution does it offer to resolving the Hoover paradox?”

Or perhaps I should say paradoxes, for there is more than one. Here’s the first:

Almost as soon as he entered office, Hoover was presented with the severest economic crisis of modern times, the Great Depression. The U.S. economy slipped into reverse in August 1929, not even five months after Hoover took office. Counter to later partisan mythmaking, Hoover did not passively submit to the crisis. He worked tirelessly and creatively to mitigate its pain and reignite economic growth. But his efforts largely failed, and often made things worse. The greatest problem-solver ever to enter the presidency miserably failed to solve the greatest problem ever presented to a president.

Now the second:

Few if any Americans have dedicated more of their lives to the service of others than Hoover. A wealthy man by age 40, he turned his back on opportunities to earn more—and dissipated much of what he had gained—to devote himself to humanitarian work. As a private citizen, he organized food relief for German-occupied Belgium during the First World War. He undertook an even more ambitious task of rescue in Russia and Ukraine during the civil war that followed the Bolshevik seizure of power. Then, as commerce secretary, he took charge of the response to the devastating flooding of the Mississippi valley in 1927: floods that drove hundreds of thousands from their home to temporary camps and left the region in economic shambles.

It wasn’t just that Hoover did these things well. He invented the idea that these things could be done at all, or at least done on any large scale.

Yet this hugely compassionate person was also a high-handed authoritarian, morbidly sensitive to criticism. Undemonstrative and withdrawn, the hyperactive Hoover perversely presented an image of indifference to a society that—thanks to the spread of radio—had just for the first time been introduced to the appearance of direct personal contact with its president.

Kenneth Whyte addresses both these paradoxes with scholarship, insight, and verve—even as he chafes against them. Whyte summons us to see Hoover as a human personality, more than just a walking embodiment of Great Depression studies. Hoover’s personality was the product of origins and early career that Whyte attentively details. Hoover lived for 30 productive years after losing office in 1932, and Whyte does just to those years too. Hoover would be called back into public service by President Truman to rationalize and reshape the U.S. government. The creation of the Department of Defense out of quarreling armed services owes much to Hoover, as does the Office of Management and Budget, a president’s most powerful tool for setting priorities. Hoover’s non-disaster work at the Commerce Department would constitute an honorable career in its own right. From the collection of unemployment statistics to the standardization of sizes for industrial parts, from the encouragement of aviation to the creation of property rights in radio frequencies—even had Hoover quit politics in 1928, he would still have shaped the modern American economy more than any cabinet secretary since Alexander Hamilton.

But the Great Depression is always there, at the center of the story. It’s critical to Hoover’s place in history—and his legacy to American politics.

Beneath the opening credits of the 1970s sitcom All in the Family, actors Carroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton sing a song that includes the lyric, “Mister, we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again.” In a big country, almost anything is statistically possible. But as a matter of probability, it’s exceedingly unlikely that a working-class New Yorker born in 1924, Archie Bunker’s biography, would have had anything good to say about Hoover. The political drama of the 1970s was the movement of people like Archie away from their inherited loyalty to Franklin Roosevelt’s party into Richard Nixon’s, Ronald Reagan’s—and now Donald Trump’s.

To encourage and hasten that movement, the conservative intellectual world of the time condemned Hoover fully as fiercely as any Democratic partisan had ever done. He had signed the Smoot-Hawley tariff. He had raised taxes in 1931. Calvin Coolidge and even the intensely mediocre Warren Harding were championed and rehabilitated. Hoover was blamed for wrecking their prosperous legacy. When Ronald Reagan, always conscious of himself as the great historic bookend to Franklin Roosevelt, ordered a portrait of a precursor for his Cabinet room, he selected Coolidge, not Hoover.

None of this made intellectual or historical sense. The Republicans of the 1920s had passed—and Warren Harding had signed—a much more burdensome tariff than Smoot-Hawley in 1922. It was the 1922 tariff that barred European exports from the U.S. marketplace. That tariff compelled nations rebuilding themselves from the First World War to obtain dollars by piling peacetime borrowing atop wartime borrowing, rather than by running trade surpluses, as economic theory would recommend. If tariffs caused the depression, Harding and Coolidge should have shared it.

Hoover did indeed raise taxes in 1931. He did so because the alternative was to quit the gold standard, as Britain would do in September 1931. Under the gold standard of the time, the United States promised to sell an ounce of gold for $20.67 to anyone who wanted to buy it. In times of budget deficits, more speculators would buy gold—confronting the United States with the risk of running out. The only way to stop such runs on the bank was by raising interest rates and balancing budgets. Hoover’s critics are right that this was precisely the wrong thing to do in 1931. But many of them also passionately championed a gold standard that required the policies they opposed. This was not tenable.

The conservative attack on Hoover in the 1970s originated not in his actual record, but by an ideological hunt for usable heroes. Since Harding and Coolidge occupied the presidency in sunnier days, they were adopted—even though their policies had much more to do with bringing on the Depression than anything Hoover did. Hoover was assigned the villain’s part, to punish him for his bad timing.

Yet it’s also true that the embittered post-presidential Hoover self-harmed his own reputation. Hoover commenced his political life as a progressive-leaning Republican. Terms like “progressive” and—worse, its antonyms like “Old Guard”—artificially impose an order that may have been lacking in real life. But speaking very broadly, progressives like Hoover championed scientific expertise and disliked patronage politics; accepted some increased government regulation of industry; preferred lower tariffs to higher; favored more U.S. involvement to keep the postwar peace rather than less; and were more open to forgiving war reparations and war debts rather than insisting on full payment. Hoover could fuse those attitudes with a very individualist appreciation of the free enterprise system. But—a truly self-made man—Hoover disliked hereditary advantages and endorsed heavier taxation of inheritances. In a different world somehow bypassed by the Great Depression, it’s possible to imagine a Hoover presidency that signed into law some kind of Social Security system—a concept endorsed by Theodore Roosevelt when he ran for president on a progressive line in 1912.

But the Depression did happen, and Hoover was left against the machinations and defamations of Franklin Roosevelt. Roosevelt was the last president to be inaugurated in March rather than January. Hoover sought to involve his successor in decision making over the five months between election and inauguration—in particular, in negotiations to resolve the international debt problem and to stop the competitive devaluations by which the major economies sought advantage over one another. Perhaps it was not yet too late to save German democracy.

Roosevelt refused all cooperation, while simultaneously sabotaging Hoover’s own ability to lead during the interim. Hoover and his wife Lou to the end believed that Roosevelt had intentionally sought to aggravate chaos over the winter to make himself look better in the spring. Via that resentment, Hoover reached more radical politics in his post-presidential years. He urged U.S. isolation from the coming war between Nazi Germany and the European democracies. He hoped for a war between Stalin and Hitler by which each would destroy the other—and half of Europe as well, presumably—without the United States having to involve itself. His economic individualism—hitherto balanced by his social conscience—became more extreme. Whyte calls Hoover “the father of the new conservatism” that was born after World War II, the conservatism of Bill Buckley and Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan and Paul Ryan, a conservatism that sustained the fight against the New Deal order through a second depression that could easily have proved as destructive as the first. The tribute seems both apt and ironic, given how those same conservatives would eventually defame him as badly as his Rooseveltian rival ever had.

But everything changes. Whatever else the Trump presidency is doing and has done, it has closed the book on that old “new conservatism.” It’s early to perceive what will succeed it, but it won’t be that. And when the time for succession comes, Hoover’s old party could learn things from his impressive career of public service. Among the great services of Ken Whyte’s elegant, lively, and witty biography is its unceasing reminder of this other Hoover. “If we want this civilization to march forward toward higher economic standards, to moral and spiritual ideals,” Hoover argued in a 1926 speech, “it will march only on the feet of healthy children.” The father of the new conservatism had earlier been also the founding president of the American Child Health Association, the exhorter of state governments to build state health clinics and hospitals for children, like Oregon’s Doernbecher hospital, established that same year.

Hoover’s astounding accomplishments and generous impulses have been effaced by polemical narratives written to serve polemical political purposes. Such distortions are offenses against historical memory. Yet it would prove an interesting irony if justice is finally done to Herbert Hoover not for historical reasons alone, but also because in the unceasing ideological quarrying of the American past, this great man and execrated president has proven himself useful again. To understand Hoover’s life, career, and his legacy in full, this rich new biography will certainly prove indispensable.

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