#and supplying adlibs

[orbitfalls]

Regulus likes to write with his headphones on, noise cancellation on, no music. when he does listen to music, it's with a really crusty old pair of wired headphones (i'm projecting) because the stores don't sell wired ones anymore and he refuses to buy airpods.

Pandora listens to the last thing you would've ever expected upon looking at her, some sort of aggressive instrumental hiphop, Phonk Walker or something like that. She always manages to hum along anyway.

Barty listens to crappy pop music with zero shame, blasted on his massive ass sticker-covered soundbox whenever they're cleaning the dorm. The more you complain the worse it gets. (also, number one britney spears fan). got into måneskin before eurovision and never misses an excuse to rub it in dorcas' face.

Evan listens to classical music, volume high enough for it to be outright absurd. he knows too much about the artist and WILL infodump morbid stories about them when it's least expected. will get into the wildest shit, running from the police with ridiculously loud classical playing in his headphones and barty grinning and panting next to him (they're sharing the music, barty has Zero clue what they're listening to but he shamelessly pretends he does)

Dorcas is a pop/softrock girlie and gives the Best music recs. she will FIGHT for that music control on a roadtrip (and win, she's the only one who can get a hold of barty lol). she likes tina turner and some whitney houston and fleetwood mac. discovered måneskin via eurovision and is so unbothered by barty teasing her for it. her fav album is il ballo della vita.

[cottonlemonade]

Night Routine

request: large Warm Milk with Honey to go for Tendou || fluffy-spicy night routine with boyfriend Tendou

warnings: spoilers, mdni, suggestive

One of the things you loved the most about your boyfriend was that he was never stingy with showing affection. As soon as you opened the door, Tendou was upon you with hugs and kisses, commenting on how gorgeous you looked - even if you only wore sweats and a shirt that had seen better days.

Coming straight from work, he always brought you something. You were the first (and quite frankly only) opinion he wanted whenever experimenting with something new and who were you to turn down handmade chocolate! So it wasn’t unusual for him to feed you something before you two got started on dinner. Having you sit on the kitchen counter, he would stand between your legs and make you close your eyes to get the full experience of the flavor. As the chocolate melted on your tongue, you’d feel his hands run up your plush thighs and give them a few sensuous squeezes, making you giggle.

“What do you think?”, he’d ask.

“Hm…”, you pondered, locking your hands behind his neck, “I love the twist of lemon you added.”

And your boyfriend’s face would light up that you caught his newest ingredient. He would kiss you, humming at how the chocolate added to your own sweet taste and then lift you off the counter so you could go on with dinner preparations.

When it was time to do the dishes, Tendou supplied a fresh playlist every week. You’d rock paper scissors to find out who would wash and who would do the drying and putting away and then begin the chore while dancing to his latest song choices. It always ended with you two loudly singing along to whatever was playing, let that be a disney song, an anime opening or like tonight Britney Spears “One More Time”.

“Oh baby baby, the reason I breathe is you”, he sang into your ear, his hands beginning a rather inappropriate journey over your hips down to your ass as you tried to focus on the sponge in your hand.

“Oh you got me blinded, oh pretty baby” and he ran his lips along your neck as he continued, “there’s nothing that I wouldn’t do” - and as quickly as his teasing began, it would stop. Next thing you knew he used the wooden cooking spoon as a microphone, holding it out to you whenever an adlib came up.

These silly games made the chore go by much faster and had you double over with laughter at his ridiculous performances, that got more over the top the longer the dish washing went on (to keep up morale).

When everything was tidied again, he’d put his arms around your waist and grin mischievously, “So, my delicious little praline. You wanna continue where we left off with our anime or…”, he put a finger under your chin, pulling you closer and said with a wink, “go straight to bed for some forbidden delights?”

a/n: ahhhh, the birthday boy! He is so silly and perfect ^^ I hope you enjoyed it 🫶🏻🌟 @ranscutedoll

[ace-does-words]

arrhythmia & fainting

hellllo ouran high school host club fandom, i bring you goodies, and by goodies i mean Kaoru Hitachiin going through it wordcount: 812 Ao3 Port: https://archiveofourown.org/works/65243488

Tamaki’s first thought when he sees the twins fall out of sync is that something is wrong.

It’s a subtle sort of thing, and none of the ladies notice it, but it immediately sets off alarms in Tamaki’s head. It’s not much more than a slight misstep, a slight sway of the torso when he shouldn’t— but that’s just a bit too much of a mistake to not fret about it.

Especially when as soon as the ladies flock elsewhere, and there’s the briefest pause, Kaoru is clutching his chest.

That is very much not right, at all.

“Kyoya,” Tamaki starts with.

“Yes?” Was Kyoya’s tact and swift answer.

“We need to cut today short.”

“And why do we need to do that?”

“Somethings wrong with Kaoru.”

Kyoya hums. “Alright, we’ll close the doors at lunch break and put up a sign.”

-/-/-/-

Kaoru’s head feels lighter than air as Hikaru leads him through the motions of their script.

His chest hurts. Badly. No matter how many times his heart starts to act up and go off beat it always hurts. Arguably this is the worst it’s ever hurt though. Maybe it has to do with the script he’s trying to recall and read off.

The adlibbing gets too suggestive, even for the club standards. Vomit inducing vertigo is sweeping through him just a bit too much to realize it until Haruhi is splitting them apart.

He struggles to lean on the couch and try to make it look casual while he does so. He bites back pained winces. It feels almost like something is inside of his chest that he needs to claw out, but he refrains. Can’t let it show.

And then Kaoru faints.

-/-/-/-

“And that brings us to todays early closing time!” As much as she tries to keep her composure calm, Haruhi can’t really hide the panic much because Kaoru just collapsed.

Full on. Entirely. He didn’t even fall on the couch, just onto the floor. Whole body contact with a loud thud.

“If you may please evacuate the premises now that’d be lovely! Doors will open the same time as usual tomorrow!” Tamaki tacks on as he tries to funnel people out of the room to the best of his ability.

-/-/-/-

Kaoru wakes up with a headache, a sore body, and Hikaru leaning over him. He looks distinctly worried, an odd sort of genuine concern that even Kaoru isn’t used to seeing.

“Good, you’ve woken up. Care to explain what that was about?”

“Did I faint?” Kaoru asked. When he sits up further a very specific type of pain makes itself known throughout his body. Definitely fainted again.

“Yes you fainted! Why did you faint?” In spite of the sheer exasperation on Tamaki’s voice, there is genuine worry.

“I don’t know, stress?” Kaoru supplied.

“Nobody just faints from stress! All you were doing was sweet talking Hikaru!” Again, Tamaki. His voice kind of grates when paired with a headache.

“Kaoru has arrhythmia.” The bluntness of Hikaru’s tone leaves Kaoru shook.

“Hikaru—!”

“You have arrhythmia and you didn’t think to tell us?” Kyoya questioned.

Kaoru falters. “It’s never really an issue, just a bit annoying.”

“Kaoru, you could go into cardiac arrest at any moment because of it. I think it might be at least a bit of an issue.”

“I have medication for it, it’s fine guys.”

“You fainted.”

“Did you forget to take your pills today or something?”

“No! I’ve never—”

“Then how come you fainted?”

“I don’t know!”

A sharp hiss rips through Kaoru, arguably, this is the worst possible time for it to act up. A lack of rhythm has him folding in two. Both hands come to clutch at his chest.

The panic in the air is thick enough to cut with a knife and he hates it. He’s fine! He’s been handling this for his entire life!

Hikaru places a hand on Kaoru’s shoulder and that’s all that Kaoru focuses on. Stay grounded, stay in reality, do not pass out. Not again. Not when everyone is watching.

Kaoru doesn’t move for a solid ten seconds after it’s over. He’s almost scared that it’ll start up again.

“Why don’t you get a surgery or something? I’m willing to bet you have enough money for it,” Haruhi asked.

Kaoru shook his head. “I’m fine. I just need some water.”

“And new meds.”

“He’s already burnt through most of the medication available,” Hikaru helpfully supplied.

Kaoru burns with shame.

“I don’t know why he doesn’t want to get surgery. I keep offering it, but he keeps saying no.”

“Well I don’t want you to forfeit your heart for my sake,” Kaoru spits.

“Please, you’d do the same.”

“And you’d refuse it too.”

A weighted silence bears down on everyone in the room.

Haruhi breaks it. “I’ll go, I’ll get some water for you.”

“Thank you, Haruhi.”

[mey-rin-is-fabulous]

None of that is lame at all and don't stress too much things get so much better after highschool and what happens in highschool doesn't matter no matter how much they want you to believe it does.

I do not miss highschool drama class at all. Like in grade 10 and 11 it was fine but my last year was awful mostly because my teacher sucked. It was so bad I walked out twice on days we had a supply because we were writing our own play and class was unstructured AF as a result.

Like there wasn't much for drama unless it involved me as far as I know.

The most bullcrap thing to happen was I lost my role for our end of semester play because I walked out.

I told our supply teacher I was going to the bathroom for 10 minutes(which I stuck to), we were playing an improv game and I didn't want to because last time I played this game with three people I wound up standing off to the side(improv isn't my strong suit and I'm really bad at it) I tried to explain why I didn't want to but I had three people all talking at me at the same time and so I left.

Came into class the next day and got told oh by the way we gave your role to Amanda(actual name redacted) no chance to explain my side of what happened. And as a result I wound up getting a role that was all adlibbing not in the script at all because they needed me to do something.

So off I went to bawl because I was alone and no one bothered to speak up for me. And that was basically how my last year went.

Same year I had a grade 9 tell me to act like an adult because I was using my friend as a crutch because I had two sprained ankles. We were on a field trip across the border. Look you try walking on two sprained ankles(tripped on a crack in the sidewalk after falling off a high step) after sitting on a bus for hours after sitting in a concrete stadium for like half an hour after a day of walking and then see how I felt(that's aimed at the grade 9.) And oh my god hearing my teacher say I was walking better once we got back to the school made me incredibly mad on top of me having to wait like an hour for my dad to show up to get me.

My last year of high school probably would have been okay if I didn't have that stupid teacher for the only classes I cared about. Yeah I had issues with my other teacher but that was a result of my own issues.

There was also this one teacher who was friends with the previous drama/music teacher who absolutely hated me.

She got mad at me once because I didn't want to walk around talking to people( I have anxiety and I get claustrophobic) she ran a co-op class and had the students do a career fair type thing and invited other classes to walk around and had people do stupid surveys. I actually had to leave the room and go into the hallway the one year because my claustrophobia kicked in(too many people in too small a room.)

And then there was the time where that teacher took on the role of librarian because our librarian retired I think and we were down there and she was freaking out about how nobody could leave after the bell rang until all the precious chrome books were back and I said something about how we'd all just leave any way and she went on the warpath trying to figure out who said it, she yelled at two other people before she figured out it was me and I got told off by both her and my teacher for setting such a bad example for the younger kids. To this day I still don't regret saying what I did and for my last year I avoided the library like the plague because of her.

Speaking of chrome books I read manga on one back in grade 9 English class, Pandora Hearts to be exact I finished our chapter reading for the day and would go read PH after.

And there was that time that I think my gym class trespassed. It was grade 9 and we were trying to figure out the route for the long distance Terry Fox run and we somehow found our way onto someone's property and they had like decent size boats back there kinda like mini tugboats/fishing boats.

And that time my classmates supposedly found an abandoned and spooky mine have no idea if they were telling the truth.

And there was also that time a friend got in a fight with our principal for a supposed dress code violation because her sleeves had like a hole design or something either way it was bull. Then we got new principals and our dress code was abolished so people can wear whatever within reason.

Cosplay was also legal in our school 2 friends and I did it while most of our school was at the staff vs student hockey game and oh this one girl and her friend got so mad at us because we were being loud and obnoxious in a stairwell meanwhile one of our teachers and the librarian(the retired one loved her) were just like have fun but please try to keep the noise down. And then there was that time I walked through the whole school to my locker during our lunch break with the mey-rin wig on which for some reason can pass for my actual hair despite me being a very obvious brunette.

where do TV shows get this idea that high school is constant drama, nothing even fucking happened to me in high school

[severingt]

Summertime Hits Show 31st August 2012

Born In The USA - Bruce Springsteen

Bang Bang - BA Robertson

Amazing - George Michael

All Night Long - Lionel Ritchie

Lonely Teardrops - Jackie Wilson

Jack and Jill - Raydio

Its My Life - Gwen Stefani and No Doubt

I Can Hear Music - Beach Boys

Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick - Ian Dury and the Blockheads

Hips Dont Lie - Shakira

Heart of Glass - Blondie

Dancin' In th City - Marshall Hain

Califonia Dreamin' - Mamas and the Papas

Bleedin' Love - Leona Lewis  

Travelin' Band - CCR

Crocodile Rock - Elton John

Cindy Incidently - Faces

Hot Love - T.Rex

Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head -BJ Thomas

Elusive Butterfly - Bob Lind

Sherry - Four Seasons

Is Anybody Out There? -K'Naan featuring Nellie Furtado

Stayin' Alive - BeeGees

Stuck - Caro Emerald

Baker Street - Gerry Rafferty

The Boy From NYC - AdLibs

Teenage Lament '74 - Alice Cooper

Hero - Enrique Englesias

All Out Of Love - Air Supply

Circles In The Sand - Belinda Carlisle

[encrypted-cryptid]

GIMME LAST LIFE HCS pick a character!!

martyn my boy martyn yknow it has to be him

realistic: he has a stiff shoulder/achey chest constantly from where scar shot him to death in 3rd life. over all it took 4 arrows to kill him which of course i hc to be shot basically all over his torso/exposed shoulder. it kind of affects his running ability with how he's able to catch his breath, which is why he's a lot more focused on sneaking around this season!

unrealistic but funny: plants fucking love him. i don't mean he has a green thumb or anything, i mean plants will literally grow up and on him if he stands still for too long. the reason he likes the southlands towers? he can sleep without waking up to a bush growing across his bed (although he did have to keep cutting back all the vines that were making their way up the tower toward him)

heartbreaking: after mumbo's death and his attempted murder of grian he took the time to bury both jimmy and mumbo just outside of the southlands walls because despite planning to betray them in the end, he truly did care for the group (especially since martyn retconned the grian kill attempt to be because he killed mumbo thank you for the canon angst mr littlewood) i think he wears mumbo's tie as a sort of belt and also has both their wedding rings on a necklace beneath his shirt (because they had wedding rings i promise)

fuck canon: this is more general southlands but they used to sing around the campfire at night. it was something of a bonding exercise started by martyn because despite everything he still vaguely remembers 3rd life and how the red army used to do the same thing. so he clears his throat one night and starts singing of war and of a king and his hand and his loyal army and impulse joins in tentatively, vague foggy memories supplying the words to him, and then grian starts up a round of something more lighthearted and mumbo adlibs a few lines that gets them all laughing and then jimmy is the one to drag the others up into shitty dancing and it just goes from there. the nights after grian and jimmy go, and then mumbo too, they still sing but it doesn't quite feel right without the others voices. martyn sings them one last song after burying them outside the southlands, of a group of 5 with their stone towers and mighty walls and the bond between them all

[professionalwork14]

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[miyacchis]

Notes from a Con Man - Musical Great Pretender Stage Report Act 1

This is a bit extremely rambly, but I want to give some description of the distinguishing features of the staged version of Great Pretender as compared to the anime, although my plan is not to give a complete recap of the plot, as I’m sure anyone who is choosing to read this has watched the anime - or so I assume, but you know you do you. I try to control myself and keep it just to what is relevant, but I’m also a wordy bitch and that will never change, so, reader beware, I guess.

 The stage is set up with three levels (the stage level, the second floor, and the third floor where the band is). Both the stage level and second floor have a couple of rooms that can be pulled out or opened, and backgrounds are projected onto the set to create different settings. With the exception of the opening theme, which is taken from the anime, all of the music is live, and there’s very good interplay between the band and the performers, and I don’t know if I’d ever been to another show that felt so vibrant/alive/idk?

First, the biggest change made for the sake of clear storytelling on the stage is the addition of a framing device: the plot is conveyed to the audience through Edamura’s (Miyata Toshiya) narration as he tells his story to a prosecutor after the events of LA Connection. The play opens where LA Connection ends with Edamura being questioned at a police station, where it’s clear that he has been attempting for hours to convince detectives to believe the team-confidence-wild-and-wacky-adventures ™  explanation as to how he came to be in possession of a bag stuffed with foreign currency. Detectives are fed up with him and ready to go berniewiththesteelchair.jpeg on his ass. Enter Kitaoji (Kato Ryo), an elite prosecutor who seems to be on track to become attorney general, although it is unclear to those at the police station why he would take interest in Edamura’s case. 

Edamura is initially reluctant to open up to Kitaoji (Kato Ryo), certain that he won’t be believed, but after Kitaoji quotes from Shakunetsu (side note: I had no idea that in English Shakunetsu was turned into Die Hot which is an absolutely incredible pun and I really commend the translator), Edamura thinks Kitaoji might be just the person to believe him and help him to make amends to all those he had harmed through his life of fraud. Kitaoji encourages Edamura to start at the beginning and goes to eat a piece of candy, prompting Edamura to question, “What would you do if this simple piece of candy was sold for $5 million?” at which point he begins telling his story, transporting us first to a club in Hollywood where we are introduced to the plot with Sakura Magic and, more importantly, Laurent (Miya Rurika, goddess, dressed devastatingly in green), who is identified in quick succession as a French trader, an arrogant Don Juan, and the “bastard who got me into this mess.” 

Edamura bumbles through Laurent’s plot to build hype and clinch a deal with Cassano (Otani Ryosuke) by having Abby (Yamamoto Chihiro) “test” the “drug,” while giving small asides to Kitaoji to explain the main players and reveal to him that this is all a con job, but when Edamura is called to sign the contract to supply Cassano with the drug for $5 million, he flips out, pulls Salazar’s (Mikami Ichiro) gun, and flees the club, without the excuse of believing that he had taken drugs as he did in the anime. It is also not at this point that Edamura makes the connection between Laurent and Kudo and realizes that he’s been set up (Miyata!Edamura is overall a bit less perceptive than Kobayashi!Edamura, as we shall see, although I think this was a function of simplifying aspects of the characters’ interactions for the sake of clarity for the stage). 

Kitaoji pops in and out of the story from this point, donning different costumes (an unhoused person, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Razzie from the Shakunetsu series, etc.) to illustrate different aspects of the main characters’ conversations, and he serves as a way to get into Edamame’s head, allowing him to express what he is thinking and feeling as events in the story play out. It is in the metanarrative that we get some of these more comedic scenes, as well as additional insight into Edamura’s character as he grapples with his own identity as a scam artist and the son of a child trafficker.

After escaping Cassano’s henchmen outside the club, Edamura rejoins Kitaoji to ask if he’s following the story so far, which of course he is not (lol), so Edamura dives into how he met Laurent and came to be in LA. From here we flashback three days, joining Edamura and Kudo (Fukumoto Shinichi) in Asakusa as they spy Laurent as a potential mark. Edamura pulls the wallet-switch trick, and this scene generally follows the anime, although parts, such as the scenes showing Edamura selling water filters and Edamura and Kudo being raided by what seems to be the police, have been cut. After realizing that Laurent pickpocketed him and saw through his grift, Edamura quickly follows and catches him as he is about to depart in a cab to the airport. Just a moment to talk about this cab because it was such a cute, clever idea; it was really just a little push car driven by one of the supporting cast, and it can be disconnected in the middle, so as the driver pulls off, the back seat can be left behind, allowing the audience to watch Laurent and Edamura’s conversation as they are taken to the airport. 

Similarly to the anime, the successive scenes are nominally delivered in English, so Edamura switches to a dialect of Japanese to represent his accented English, which I mention only because Miyata discussed Edamura’s code switching with Kobayashi (Edamura’s Japanese voice actor) in an interview in vol. 51 of Stage Square and how he was concerned that he might confuse Standard Japanese and the dialect during scenes where he has to go back and forth quickly. Kobayashi reassured him that as he got into the character of Edamura Miyata would naturally fall into dialect whenever speaking to Laurent and Abby, and I’m very biased, buuuttttt throughout the run of the show, Miyata performed this beautifully, and as someone who for several years lived in the Tohoku region, the dialect of which Edamura’s accent reminded me of, his accent made me really nostalgic. 

Anywayyyyyy

After Laurent and Edamura bet on the outcome of Laurent’s upcoming “business negotiations” and it’s agreed that they will travel to LA together, the opening theme plays, the main cast is introduced, with Edamura running up and down the set to give a sense of action, the title in massive letters is lowered onto the stage, and we rejoin the main plot with Edamura trying to elude Cassano’s gang on the streets of LA by hiding behind the title. The supporting cast gives us some great background color as like random people in LA, like we’ve got some girls with Starbucks cups, some people breakdancing while simultaneously mugging a Dodgers fan, a skateboarder shouting “STREET”...for some reason. Perfect encapsulation of America *chef’s kiss*

Laurent finds Edamura and tells him to come home because he’s a good boy (😳), and Edamura is then introduced to Abby who, just as in the anime, kicks and knocks him out, after which they collect him and take him to an upscale hotel where Cynthia/Paula Dickens (Senna Ayase) is performing as a jazz singer. Laurent greets her briefly, but we don’t properly get introduced to her character until a later, very frustrating scene, but I’m not going to get started on that yet (it’s not her that’s frustrating, but it’s how they chose to have her and Edamura meet, but anyway we’ll get there). She sings “Summertime,” and it’s a lovely performance; all of her acting choices are very clearly informed by her experience in Takarazuka - she has these really dynamic, almost over-the-top movements and she uses that to her advantage to be one of the more comedic actors - and it’s really entertaining to watch.

Laurent orders them drinks; Edamura has something pink in a little martini glass, and he splutters when he tries to take a sip because he can’t handle his alcohol, which makes Laurent laugh, giving a lot of credence to Laurent’s statement soon after that he derives a lot of pleasure out of toying with naive boys like Edamura who pretend to be tougher than they really are. There’s also some funny adlib with Abby at this point where she gets brought different plates of food like fake fruit on one day and a tower of donuts on another. Laurent explains who Cassano is and the plan to defraud him and gives Edamura a notebook with a fabricated recipe for Sakura Magic, so the notebook is not part of what Edamura prepares himself when he goes later to get himself captured by Cassano to negotiate with him. Edamura has a couple of outbursts accusing Laurent and Abby of putting on airs, pretending to be carrying out justice, repeatedly interrupting the band who give him dirty looks and Shi-won, dressed as one of the saxophonists, loudly blows the saxophone back at him, and this prompts Laurent to be like nah we’re getting too much attention here let’s continue this back at the hotel. 

The hotel scene is fairly similar to the anime, but once Edamura is left alone, we get the first instance of him thinking about his family as he reflect on what Laurent had to say about how people don’t always believe the truth that is in front of them as they would rather believe whatever is most convenient. He flashes back to his family going home together after his father finished a case (the hotel room is on the second floor with his mom and dad entering on the stage level; the younger version of Edamura is done in voice over), and of course they seem like a happy family, although it’s interesting that what his dad has to say about ethics was cut from the script. The scene focuses more on Edamura idolizing his father as a great lawyer.

Okay, so we’ve finally come to the scene I absolutely hated and did not think was necessary, after Edamura leaves the hotel room. He is approached by three unhoused persons, one of whom he at first thinks is Kitaoji coming to interrupt the narrative again, but he soon realizes that they are “real homeless.” It was really just a disgusting, cruel stereotype; one of them is playing with a rat they found, another is acting like a junkie, and the ringleader is trying to get money off of him because they haven’t eaten in three days and then they steal his little Toyotomi Hideyoshi figurine and play keepaway with it and don’t stop until Cynthia/Paula Dickens (at this point she’s Paula tho so I’m going to refer to her that way) enters and is like knock it off. So that’s how they meet. Cool. They could easily have come up with something else and they just didn’t.

But, anyway, since he got his figurine back, he explains to Paula that his hobby is collecting capsule toys, and during his explanation, a gacha machine is projected up on the stage, out of which comes Kitaoji dressed as Toyotomi, followed by a bunch of other figures from Japanese history. This part always got a pretty good laugh out of the audience, and I think it was a pretty cute way to stage it. Paula insists they go to dinner together, so she can hear more about Toyotomi, and the capsule toy figurines all follow to a diner (serving “breadfast” 24hrs lol) where Shi-won is dressed as someone named Ricardo. The figurines all start to get drunk, while “Ricardo” fixes Edamura and Paula some tacos; meanwhile Edamura explains that Toyotomi began as a simple peasant, but because of his hard work and study, he was able to climb all the way to the top and unite all of Japan as a powerful lord. 

Edamura asks why she decided to help him before and he despairs that he must seem like a beaten dog, but she explains that while she might seem confident, she faces tremendous anxiety getting on stage every day, particularly as she wants to make it big as a performer but can’t expect to get the attention of a label just because she can sing a bit. (In the background, Francis Xavier is completely sloshed and ends up drinking with Ricardo) Edamura suggests that she take inspiration from Toyotomi as someone who was able to trick even his enemies into working with him and represent herself as someone more important than she is to get music producers onto her side. She seems fired up by this proposal, and she says that she’ll follow the example of Toyotomi, “Japan’s best confidence man,” which gives Edamura his own motivation to get back to trying to win the bet with Laurent. He asks Paula to wish him good luck and runs off, and we get the first dance scene with Edamura and a number of samurai as he builds up to confronting Cassano. The scene ends with him running into a video shop, presumably to rent Cassano’s movies.

Laurent and Abby are called to Cassano’s mansion - they argue if Edamura is capable of pulling off a job like this, although Laurent insists that he has a natural talent - but they are certain that he must be dead when they hear from Salazar that Edamura was taken into their custody at the airport trying to run. However, Edamura bursts onto the scene, dressed in a new Hawaiian shirt, and at this point, Miyata looks as though he has been in a swimming pool, but it’s just sweat lmao. Cassano informs them that he’s made a new deal with Edamura for $10 million, and when they ask how, we get a flashback showing how he got onto Cassano’s good side by praising Shakunetsu with Kitaoji, as Razzie, acting out scenes from the Shakunetsu movies on the second floor of the stage. Whenever Cassano hugs Edamura in these scenes, it was really funny because his jacket would get just absolutely covered in Miyata’s sweat just ugh gross lol 

Cassano’s accountant joins them and they play out the whole bit about confirming Edamura’s credentials as a pharmaceutical scientist, at which point Edamura finally realizes that Kudo is working with Laurent, when he calls Kudo to thank him for deceiving Cassano’s attorneys. After Cassano has confirmed Edamura’s identity, he takes the crew to his factory and insists that Edamura make Sakura Magic for them right there and then so that they can be sure to properly replicate his recipe. She does this the whole play, but particularly during this scene, you can really see how well Miya Rurika portrays Laurent as always calm and and in control before Edamura but as quietly losing his shit whenever he feels like they’ve been backed into a corner, and we also get some very cute like Laurent clearly being exasperated with Edamura but the two of them starting to be able to play off one another as they convince Cassano that the factory isn’t up to snuff for making Sakura Magic. 

They have to clear out because they hear someone coming, but Cassano promises that he will build a new laboratory for Edamura and entrusts his care to Salazar. The police bust in after everyone has left; Anderson does the absolute most to show off to everyone that he’s properly securing the scene, but he’s clearly relieved that Cassano slipped through their fingers once again oh my how does this keep happening oh well better luck next time. We get a proper introduction to Paula and Shi-won as members of the FBI who have come to investigate Laurent and his organization (Paula has changed into this beautifully tailored brown tweed pantsuit and she pulls it off so well), and Paula threatens to expose Anderson’s connections to Cassano if he doesn’t follow her lead.

After the scene in the factory, we return to the present in the interrogation room with Kitaoji and Edamura. Detectives bring Kitaoji additional files on Edamura, asking if the prosecutor has heard of the attorney Ozaki. They inform him that Edamura is Ozaki’s son, and Kitaoji is a bit shocked; he leaves, saying that he will review the files. The detectives collect the money before exiting the room, but not without getting in a dig at Edamura, telling him that he clearly takes after his father. Edamura is stricken by this statement, and the act ends with Edamura battling with this internal conflict. 

I don’t think anyone would want to read all of this, but if you have, thank you so much. I hope some of it at least was interesting or informative. I’m going to end there for now, as I’ve already gone on for too long, and I’ll finish writing up the second act in another post.

[solari-writes-things]

Sons of Anarcy, r6s, or Star Wars?

So with each oc, I paired them with a canon because I'm a sucker for romance lol. Each of them have some pretty tough backstories, but I hope you enjoy them! I have adlibbed all of the major ones, but there are links attached if you want something more in depth.

SOA: Her name is Yvonne McCloud, a high school dropout with a criminal record. She's related to Bobby Munson and Nero Padilla and falls back into the Charming family after decades of being pried away from them. She's in a relationship with Happy by the end of it all.

R6S: I have four. But, the one I use for my fanfictions is named Zitali Garcia, who was an aspiring mariachera until she was orphaned as a teenager due to a crime that took place in Mexico. She falls into the CFE as an adult, and grows really close to Operator Goyo before she gets shipped to Rainbow. She ends up with Tachanka.

Star Wars: I have a lot of OCS, which you can find on this link. But, I have three major ocs all in one bloodline, so bear with me here:

Cyrril Tel-Naka: An orphaned Bounty Hunter who sets herself free on Tatooine during the events of Episode 1. Her story is built alongside Obi-Wan, whom becomes her husband. She later becomes a General during The Clone Wars, and sort of a wandering vigilante after Order 66. She has a set of twins (haha, ironic). One of which is force sensitive.

Xayah Kenobi: The force sensitive sister out of the set of twins. Once she becomes an adult, she ends up falling into supply running. Takes a job that ends up ferrying supplies to Cloud City, where she falls in with Lando Calrissian. Eventually, she helps out the Rebellion once Han, Luke, and Leia turn up on Bespin. They have a daughter first, and later on, a son.

Juna-Lei Calrissian: The daughter of Xayah and Lando. Taken as a toddler by The First Order. Her lineage and force power drew the attention of Snoke, and she was molded into a Praetorian Guard. But, an interaction with Kylo Ren sparked a dyad within the Force, that shocked her back into her independent state of mind. She escapes, crash landing on Takodana. Maz Kanata points her in the direction of the Resistance, and she becomes a pilot.

I hope this wasn't too much, and that you liked them all.

[unclejackworthing]

Uncle Jack peeks from his dressing room two minutes before show time. He wants to make sure, if nothing else, that at least there's someone prepared to work the teleprompter. But, no, that's apparently too much to ask today.

Fresh irritation boils within him. Why can't things ever just run smoothly around here? He didn't want this godawful position to begin with, and now it seems like he's the only one doing anything more often than not.

They've had Arthur on the teleprompter recently; the only other person who seems capable of functioning around here. He realizes he's been taking that for granted now that Arthur isn't here. He's probably been tasked with cleaning up someone else's mess, (god knows there's plenty of them,) probably lost track of time because of all the fucking Joy in his system.

It's fine. He's fine. It's a comedy segment- those are always easy. He could adlib Downer jokes in his sleep. He'll get through this with minimal effort. He swallows down his anger and touches up the concealer under his eyes in his makeup mirror before stepping out onto the set.

Lo and behold- Arthur is right where he belongs, in the nick of time. Even under the stage lights, Jack can see that he looks like shit. It's concerning, at least coupled with him being uncharacteristically late. He looks sick. Maybe it's just the recent low food supply- but, maybe it's something worse. There's been so many illnesses going around lately.

He smiles for the camera, remains mostly focused on the teleprompter. “What's the difference between a Downer and an onion? No one cries when you chop up a Downer.”

His gaze drifts to Arthur during all of his pauses, staring him down. Does he look worse? Downer jokes usually cheered people up- not that they really needed it. Why would he look so sad- Unless…

“What's pink and silver and runs into walls? A Downer with forks in its eyes!"

If Arthur's off his Joy, that's a problem. The only competent person left working in this god forsaken place is going to get himself killed. Great. That's perfect. That's what he needs today. He can't help but start laughing at the ridiculousness of it all, played off as laughing at his own joke. Why not? This might as well happen!

“How many Downers does it take to tile your kitchen? Depends on how thin you slice them!”

He doesn't know how many more jokes he tells after that; only that he continues to laugh just a little too hard at them in his overwhelmed state. This is bad. This is extremely bad. Arthur's wellbeing aside, which he only cares minimally about, this is going to bring suspicion to the whole broadcast station. Everyone knows Downers are like roaches; if you see one, there's a dozen more hidden in the walls.

He'd done so well hiding. He knew this day would come eventually- he just didn't think it would happen like this. He should've known the pretty teleprompter boy with the wavy hair would be his downfall. He laughs his way through the outro, wishes everyone a good day and reminds them to take their Joy.

The camera flicks off and his smile drops in an instant. He leans down like he's trying to find something in a desk drawer; really, he's taking a swig of whiskey out of Arthur's line of sight as he contemplates whether or not he's going to have to kill him before anyone else notices that he's off his Joy.

Instead of going straight back to his dressing room like usual, he quickly makes his way to the exit, blocking it before Arthur can slip away. “Are you feeling quite alright, my dear? You're lacking your usual glow.”

@unclejackworthing

When Arthur lost his job at the "O" Courant, he was hired on as a writer at the Wellington Wells Broadcast Corporation. Over the years, he ended up doing many things other than writing, but technically, his job was to come up with the fun, light topics Uncle Jack talked about. This segment was on the uses of a common flower in Wellington Wells, the Rose of Gilead.

Arthur was alone in the writers' room when he started working on it. He was often alone in the writers' room. Getting work done wasn't a strong suit for the people of Wellington Wells. It was one of the most quiet places in the studio and he often popped in there to get some ideas for upcoming shows written down.

That was the case with this Rose of Gilead show. Arthur usually had to do more research for these sort of segments, Arthur found that the words came easily. Soon he had written down a recipe for a medicinal balm that soothed minor wounds without even thinking.

Funny that he still remembered it. He'd never been much interested in flowers, but Percy had told him so many times he could never forget it. He would repeat it over and over again, any time he was thinking about it, and Arthur could hear every word of the instructions he'd written down in Percy's voice, clear as day. And with it came the memory of that same voice screaming out Arthur's name, over and over again, and Arthur became urgently aware that he needed to take his Joy.

But he didn't.

He still hadn't taken his Joy when one of his coworkers rushed in, demanding to know where he'd been. Arthur started some excuse about having his nose to the grindstone, and she interrupted him to say it didn't matter, didn't he know that filming was going to start any minute now? Uncle Jack would be furious if no one was operating the teleprompter, she said, and Arthur knew very well that that was his job, because Jack snapped when people took too long, and he wasn't going to put his colleagues like her through that, was he? Of course not.

She was so focused on her own ranting that she didn't seem to notice Arthur's haggard appearance. It was a good thing that no one would be looking at Arthur behind the teleprompter. When Jack was around, all eyes were on him. It was a small blessing. The last thing he wanted was to get chased out of the Broadcast Tower for being a Downer.

Was he a Downer now? Well, here he was, deliberately not taking his Joy. There weren't any other words for it.

Arthur managed to get behind the teleprompter controls just as Jack was coming out of his dressing room. Arthur was breathing a little too hard, partially from rushing but mostly from anxiety. He wasn't making any noise, but if someone looked at him, he didn't know what they'd see. For once it paid off that no one ever gave him a second glance.

Arthur operated the teleprompter so automatically he didn't even comprehend what the topic was until Jack was already reading it. Jack was wearing his Humor Hour costume. Arthur had time to think that the giant bowtie was really too ridiculous when you weren't on Joy when his eyes scanned ahead on the teleprompter and he realized the segment was a fan-favorite recurring topic. Downer jokes.

What's the difference between a Downer and an onion? read the first one. No one cries when you chop up a Downer.

Arthur was fairly certain all the color drained from his face. These jokes were about him, now. It made him seriously question whether it was the right decision to stop taking his Joy. The smart thing would be to go back on it and pop a Joy the instant he could leave the teleprompter.

But he wasn't going to do that, was he? He wanted too badly to remember. As Uncle Jack started to read the jokes and laugh too hard at them, Arthur began to shake. Had Jack always been that... Threatening? Was being off Joy making everything feel a lot more dangerous than it had a few hours prior, or had it always been that terrifying, and Arthur just didn't notice?

[rkdoyoung]

▶ COLLABORATION ☆ “갖고놀래” - BUMKEY feat. @rkseokwoo as dynamic duo

it's been about two weeks in the making, planning around schedules, picking songs, wardrobe, equipment. it's been quite a long time since he's been able to collaborate with seokwoo, and no one could blame him. from what he's heard, the life of a trainee is incredibly difficult, and it only makes him even more grateful that his old friend has made time to do this street performance with him in addition to putting it up on his youtube channel.

he draws inspiration from those heavily produced videos he sees on youtube, of artists and idols alike in a quiet setting like a coffee shop or a quaint, simple space with nothing to distract from the sounds of acoustic instruments and steady vocals. he's gotten three of his other friends to film from different angles so that later it can be edited into a cohesive video that can add a more dynamic feel to such a stripped down performance.

it's the last song of the night, the closer for his set. he's pulled his guitar strap over his shoulders and placed it in his lap, and a friend from work accompanies them on a third microphone to supply his beatboxing talents, making it an acoustic version of the song. with everything set up and all cameras ready to go, he glances at seokwoo and offers an excited grin before starting the song off with his guitar, his coworker's beatboxing joining in an 8-count later.

soon enough, his vocals are thrown into the mix as he starts off with the chorus, his voice as smooth as the lyrics, easy as the redone composition.

ma lady 나 널 갖고놀래 ma lady, i want to play with you 더 가까이와 널 꼭 안을래 come closer, i want to hug you tight 마침 딱 분위기좋아 두 눈은 감을래? the mood is just right, will you close your eyes?

he's been practicing the entire week, knows the song like the back of his hand, and knows exactly when he can throw in his own adlibs, when he can sing a different melody without disrupting the flow of the song. seokwoo's raps are a perfect accompaniment to his own voice, adapting well to the song and style. he can see how much his friend has improved over the past year and can't help but feel a swell of pride rise within him even though he's fully aware he hasn't done anything to help that development.

baby 걱정따윈 없어 너와 함께 있으면 baby, i have no worries when i'm with you i’ll let you know that you’re attraction이젠 알았으면 해 i'll let you know that you're attraction, i want you to know now tell me what i must do, tell me anything ill do my heart is true girl, i gotta make you mine tonight

once the bridge hits, he takes the opportunity to really play around with the melody, throwing in his own adlibs, adding more to the fairly simple vocals of the original song without overdoing it. the rest of the song is merely a repeat of the chorus, and he keeps that simple, strumming along with his guitar as his coworker raps up until the song's end.

once it's done, he stands, thanks the crowd, and especially those who have helped him for the night, and begins packing up.

"thanks again for doing this," he addresses seokwoo, throwing his guitar in its case over his shoulder and picking up his amp. "you know, being this big hotshot now. surprised you even remember my name." he's joking, of course, absolutely certain that he's still that same good guy he'd met several years ago. "wanna grab something to eat? i owe you that much."

he begins walking toward a nearby place, but pauses, turns back to his friend, and adds with a telling grin, "somewhere cheap, though. i ain't rich, you know."

[helloyoucreatives]

Actor-writer Zach Woods delivers some quick-witted reminders on why you should never settle, making his commercial directing debut with a pair of smartly imagined vignettes for Quill.com. 

Created by Denver-based agency Fear Not, the :45 spots amp up the levity by turning a little aggravation on its head. Playful and peppery, “Listen” recants one woman’s experience after using a coupon to book a session with an infuriatingly perplexing massage therapist.  Putting a fine point on the dangers of settling, the delightfully silly interplay between the actors highlights the value of having service representatives that actually listen to you.

“Coupon” is a story about the deceptive fine print, wherein a shady photographer specifies that a voucher for a free family portrait is actually valid only for a snap of a single family member. As three-fourths of the unit are dismissed in various ways, the point is driven home: there’s nothing misleading about the legitimate coupons offered daily via Quill.com.

Zach Woods is already familiar with the world of office supplies, known for his portrayal of Gabe on The Office, among dozens of other film and TV credits (Silicon Valley, Avenue 5, Veep, The Good Wife.) Woods says he was deep into his two-decades long career when he realized his interest in directing. Embracing his new passion behind the camera, Woods has served as co-writer and director of shorts featuring big-name actors like Will Ferrell and Michael Peña.

The experience working with Denver-based agency Fear Not and Founder/Chief Creative Officer Blake Ebel (who also wrote the spots) made for a seamless advertising debut. Knowing how best to create an environment of focused relaxation on set, combined with a rich improv background forged via the Upright Citizens Brigade, Woods made the actors feel safe enough to experiment and adlib within the scenes when called to it.

[severingt]

The GT Radio Show 12th July 2013

Born In The USA - Bruce Springsteen

Bang Bang - BA Robertson

Amazing - George Michael

All Night Long - Lionel Ritchie

Lonely Teardrops - Jackie Wilson

Jack and Jill - Raydio

Its My Life - Gwen Stefani and No Doubt

I Can Hear Music - Beach Boys

Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick - Ian Dury and the Blockheads

Hips Dont Lie - Shakira

Heart of Glass - Blondie

Dancin' In th City - Marshall Hain

Califonia Dreamin' - Mamas and the Papas

Bleedin' Love - Leona Lewis  

Travelin' Band - CCR

Crocodile Rock - Elton John

Cindy Incidently - Faces

Hot Love - T.Rex

Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head -BJ Thomas

Elusive Butterfly - Bob Lind

Sherry - Four Seasons

Is Anybody Out There? -K'Naan featuring Nellie Furtado

Stayin' Alive - BeeGees

Stuck - Caro Emerald

Baker Street - Gerry Rafferty

The Boy From NYC - AdLibs

Teenage Lament '74 - Alice Cooper

Hero - Enrique Englesias

All Out Of Love - Air Supply

Circles In The Sand - Belinda Carlisle

[thesinglesjukebox]

NCT 127 - REGULAR

[3.33]

If only they leaned into the comparisons you're about to read and called it "Regular Degular Schmegular"...

John Seroff: Welcome to 2018, the year that "Kidz Bop Migos" became an aesthetic that nabs 11 million views in three weeks. [3]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: So many things about the English version of "Regular" make it feel particularly unbearable in 2018. BTS, Blackpink, and Super Junior all participated in Western crossovers this year, and none of them found it necessary to forgo Korean. Seeing NCT 127 go the "(English Version)" route feels dated and unnecessary in comparison -- and if you have a never-ending supply of corny rap clichés, it might be a good idea to mask unconvincing deliveries with your native tongue. Even worse, "Regular" is generic from a Western pop, K-pop, and Korean rap angle. It's dime-a-dozen post-Migos pop rap that cautiously dips its toes into the Latin wave. The post-Desiigner "brrRRRAAAHH" adlibs are pathetic, and the post-"Mask Off" flute-like melody is equally diluted. It only sounds like K-pop because of its dramatically sung chorus and shoehorned harmonies, all of which grant it an antiseptic sheen that makes the braggadocio feel more market-tested, boardroom-approved. And compared to the non-idol rap songs filling up Melon's charts, "Regular" is joyless and indistinct, far from understanding what rapping should entail beyond its functional role in a topline. [0]

Alfred Soto: This track could use Cardi B and J Balvin. [4]

Camille Nibungco: Right off the bat, the flow and flurry of cheesy couplets are suspiciously similar to Migos. Complemented by a bridge I could easily envision Cardi B rapping perfectly, enough adlibs to make Lil Jon worried for his career, and the overall theme of excess materialism, it could easily pass as a K-pop cover of a leaked Culture III track. [4]

Anna Suiter: NCT 127 has been on a wild ride with this year's singles, from a love song, to a convoluted metaphor that could also be a love song, to this. "Regular" is a love letter, kind of, but only to money and showing off. For all of their posturing, the members still seem a little unsure of themselves in this element, as if they are trying to prove themselves a little too much, as if this is a little too urgent. At only two years in, though, they definitely have time to do something a bit better. [5]

Jessica Doyle: As with the last money-obsessed, audibly-processed single SM assigned to one of its younger guy groups, the English version of "Regular" is such a mess it gets you thinking. Namely about the group singing (in unison) I just made a million and I'm still not satisfied: who is the "I" here? Especially in translation, K-pop companies' financial customs are so opaque as to consist almost entirely of unverifiable rumor, and what facts do come out only prompt more eyebrow-raising (such as SM's CEO's base salary being equivalent to about US$130,000 in 2014). SM's organization might not be as convoluted as, say, Samsung's, but it's built up a respectable array of convoluted public deals and scattered subsidiaries. For any given million actually made by "Regular," some significant portion of it will likely be not publicly flaunted but quickly made, by design or simple bureaucratic momentum, untraceable. Meanwhile the NCT members get to strike all the poses of greedy individualism without actually having the freedom to be greedy or individualist. It's a boring song and a sham, but I'll put two points back for the queso / kkaeisseo pun. [2]

Ryo Miyauchi: This is the same group who recited "if you happy and you know it, clap your hands," so I don't look for inventive wordplay or convincing posturing from this branch of NCT. In fact, while it makes the song a chore to sit through, the relentless run of overused "icy" and "cheese" cliches is the exact way I expect this group to attempt to establish a sense of cool. I can only be charmed by their serious commitment. [5]

Will Adams: I'll always be here for a George Kranz sample, even if it's buried in a clamorous post-chorus. But apart from that, this is just J. Lo's "Dinero" with neither the playfulness nor Cardi B to enliven the proceedings. [4]

Iain Mew: The big-spending message could do with a track with matching diamonds and lux to at least make it a Statement, given how fantastically hard they're all trying. As it is, it's all a bit too regular, and it would only work if it there was any chance of believing that the banality of excess was the point. [3]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]

[updatesnews]

The Dating Show's Nina Conti on puppet dolls and life | Music | Entertainment

The Dating Show’s Nina Conti on puppet dolls and life | Music | Entertainment

Nina Conti’s The Dating Show returns to the West End this month (Image: Facebook/Nina Conti) That’s precisely the premise of Nina Conti’s The Dating Show – best described as “First Dates re-voiced” – which returns to the West End this month. The brilliant ventriloquist puts audience volunteers in masks and supplies the entire adlibbed conversation. Cupid’s arrows rarely strike but comedy chaos…

[messifrnd]

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