#fearless set has the best costumes maybe

[swiftie-sherlockian]

~THE ERAS TOUR (CORAL’S VERSION)~

This post is MASSIVE, so I’m putting a cut here

I changed the order of some of the sets lol

So hello! I came up with what I would have made the Eras Tour setlist look like!! Let’s get into it!!

Lover Set

1 - Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince

The Eras Tour still begins with this song, and the exact same intro.

2 - Cruel Summer

Changing this would be cruel. LOL.

3 - Afterglow

The first song that wasn’t here originally. I think, if done right, there could be a great transition. 4 - The Man

The Man speech follows Afterglow instead. Taylor puts on the sparkly jacket and there we go, back to what you’re used to!

5 - You Need To Calm Down

Still follows The Man, still has the first verse and chorus cut, still in the sparkly jacket.

6 - Lover

Do I have to really explain this? Just as normal, Lover follows. Jacket is taken off, Taylor gets a guitar.

7 - It’s Nice To Have A Friend

Taking the place of The Archer, I added this song instead. I just think The Archer makes a better surprise song than a main setlist song. 8 - Daylight

Finishing off the Lover Set, we have Daylight, on piano like in Paris.

Now onto…

Fearless Set

9 - Fearless

Still the first song, still shortened.

10 - The Best Day

One thing that I wanted to accomplish with remaking the setlist was making some unrightfully short sets longer, which I did with the Fearless Set and as you’ll see later, the Speak Now Set. Now, I love The Best Day, and I feel like it would follow Fearless really well.

11 - White Horse

I like this idea. I don’t know how to explain it, but I like this idea.

12 - You Belong With Me

Belongs here and always will, as a fan favorite. 13 - Love Story

I wanted this to be Track 13, so I made sure my decisions would make it that way.

Our first set that changed its spot comes next…

Speak Now Set

14 - Enchanted

There was no way I was gonna change this.

15 - Dear John

One thing I will never forgive Taylor for is making the Speak Now Set so short, so lengthening it was one of my priorities when remaking the setlist. I just feel like this would go well here.

16 - Mine

Hype everyone up again after depressing breakup song.

17 - Back To December

And bring them down again. Maybe give Taylor a piano for this one. I like this as a surprise song, but let’s still put it on the main setlist because I think it fits there. Make it clear that Speak Now is a rollercoaster of emotions about many exes.

18 - Speak Now

This just should’ve been there!

19 - Long Live

I can’t cut this. It was practically written to end the set.

Now, here’s mu favorite part of my rewritten tour. Something you would never expect, it’s…

1989/Debut Set

20 - Wildest Dreams

“Wait, you mean Style, right?” No, I do not. Style is in the set, but I decided I think Wildest Dreams should open instead. Don’t judge.

21 - This Love

Should’ve been on the real setlist and I stand by it.

22 - Style

Here we go. You wanted Style? Here’s Style.

I do like Style. I just actually genuinely prefer the mellower part of 1989 to the peppier side. Don’t judge, it’s my opinion!

23 - Blank Space

No explanation needed.

24 - Shake It Off

Still no explanation needed.

25 - Clean

But I bet you’re wondering, where’s Bad Blood? It should be next to the other 3 fan favorites, right?

26 - Bad Blood/Should’ve Said No

NO! Because this is the 1989/Debut Set, and I LOVED this on the Reputation Stadium Tour, so why not bring it back? During this, we probably have an iconic costume change (as a result, we probably have different outfits for 1989 part of it, sorry). This kicks off the Debut half of this set, and I knew I needed a Debut Set because there should’ve been one.

27 - Picture To Burn

Without question, this had to be there.

28 - Teardrops On My Guitar

Can we give Taylor an electric guitar for this one?

29 - Our Song

Has to end it.

reputation set

30 - …Ready For It?

No other song could open the Rep Set, except for maybe…

31 - I Did Something Bad

Should’ve been on the set.

No need to provide an explanation for the changeless…

32 - Delicate

33 - Don’t Blame Me

34 - Look What You Made Me Do

Would have put Getaway Car here, but it’s better as a piano surprise song. I would also want to add more costumes for this set. I’ve seen rumors of a version of the bodysuit where the snake is green instead of red, and I dunno if that’s an edit, but even if it is, it should be on my version.

🍂evermore set🍂

35 - willow

Here’s the evermore set!! Sorry for moving it, I just think I like it better later in the tour. Now, I cut ‘tis the damn season (no body, no crime still is before it when HAIM’s around) because I just don’t like it as part of the set. willow belongs as the opener.

36 - gold rush

Maybe shortened, but I think it’s good as a full song. Also, let’s keep the cloak for this one.

37 - marjorie

38 - champagne problems

39 - tolerate it

As they are on the real tour.

Red Set

40 - 22

Where’s the Red Set? Here’s the Red Set!

41 - Red

Why isn’t this song more popular? Add it!

42 - We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (Rock Version)

IT’S BACKKKKKKK

43 - I Knew You Were Trouble (Rock Version)

Yes!!!!

44 - All Too Well (10 Minute Version)

🪩folklore set🪩

45 - the 1

It’s always been here. But she stays on the roof because guess what was never removed?

46 - invisible string

Joe Alwyn don’t get her down!

47 - the last great american dynasty

Followed by the love triangle all in a row (RIP betty speech, you were a necessary sacrifice for this beautiful row)

48 - cardigan

49 - betty

50 - august

Don’t be mad, guys

But I cut the illicit affairs bridge

And my tears ricochet

It’s better as a surprise song!!!!!!!

In favor of…

51 - hoax

And

52 - the lakes (original version)

I just like this better!

Surprise Songs go here!

53 - Guitar Surprise Song

54 - Piano Surprise Song

Midnights Set

Alright, before we get into the Midnights Set, I wanna thank you guys for taking your time to read my version of The Eras Tour. I know you guys may not agree with every change I make, and in comments/reblogs, I would like you to BE RESPECTFUL!!! and not attack me over my changes. Thank you, and let’s get started!

55 - Lavender Haze

56 - Maroon

I do like the surprise song version, but I think it would sound far better as part of the set.

57 - Anti-Hero

58 - Midnight Rain

59 - Bejeweled

So wait, what happened to Vigilante Shit and Mastermind?

Ehhhhh… cut in favor of…

60 - Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve (shortened)

And

61 - Hits Different (shortened)

My reasoning being that those two songs would work great in mashups with songs from The Tortured Poets Department once that would have come out.

62 - Karma

Nothing else would do.

Thanks again!! Bye!!

@a-victorian-girl

[sitpwgs]

Omg have fun at the Barbie movie! I'm so curious about it if you wanna give a short review. Maybe I will see it later this week on a cheap day. I think I've heard good things so far. Unfortunately I'm not sure if either show is going to work out at this point..and they are on the same day anyway lol. But I found out they will show it in another city nearby in a few months if so hopefully I can make it work then. I love Les Mis sooo much and was really excited cuz I haven't seen it before but it's also a really popular show and the balcony was all sold out, which never happened before. I thought I would be able to still get tickets the day of since that's what I usually do. We'll see what happens with the Paramore show but I'm hoping it works out. For surprise songs, I'm not that picky..it's more that I have a few that I wouldn't want..which is maybe 3 of what's left lol. I Can See You would be cool since she never performed it and it's become a new favorite. I like anything from Lover and Rep and older stuff like debut and Fearless too. I would be happy with one older song and one newer since that makes it interesting but there's nothing I absolutely hate either. I'm more worried that I'll like the surprise songs of the other show better since I'm only going to one show lol. What about you? Was your show tonight? Can't wait to hear your review of the show!!!

hi friend!!!! i had the BEST time at barbie!!! i sobbed through so much of it (but i am a crier). my friends and i all held hands at one point and cried and it was just such a 🥺 moment for me. and just so, so special to watch it with some of my closest friends. i am such a like, pink, barbie girl and i just really, genuinely adored it. i didn't know much about what the movie was going to be about going in but it exceeded all my expectations. i never felt like the movie dragged or was too long or didn't hold my interest. the costumes were stunning. the set design is beautiful; it's just a visually beautiful movie, and you could tell how much care and thought was put into every detail. i'm a sucker for small things like that, and i know there's a lot of references i definitely missed. i'm thinking that i might go see it again at some point, but i think i'll be too busy this week and then i'm in chicago next week for lollapalooza, so it might have to wait till i'm back. i definitely want to see it with my mom. i just ... i loved it. america ferrera totally blew me away, as did margot robbie. i just ... genuinely really loved this movie. there were some bits that just made me laugh (some genuine laughter, some nervous "oh this hits too close to home" laughter). and the soundtrack is so good — billie eilish's, dua lipa's and charli xcx's songs in particular were standouts for me! trying to hold off buying the vinyl right now, because... well, pink (and also because i am on a vinyl buying ban for now). oh noooo :( i'm sorry to hear about les mis, but i really hope that the other city will work for you! i am keeping my fingers and toes crossed for you 🤍 it really is just such a special show and has such a special place in my heart (and i think it would have a special place in my heart even if i wasn't named after it). and this tour cast is so fun! i particularly loved gavorche; i left the theatre and was texting my friends about how phenomenal he was. and as i'm sure you've seen on my tumblr, i've been thinking about les mis a lot since. i started my reread/annotation project of it a little bit ago, and i'm trying to do "a book" a month, and then finish by the end of the year! i think i might rewatch the movie (or a bootleg of it) sometime soon, i definitely miss it. you'll have to let me know if you end up going to paramore! i definitely want to get into paramore's music more; i know some songs but i haven't done a discography deep dive yet. there's a lot of artists that i want to do that for and i used to be pretty good about listening to entire discographies while at work but i've mostly been lolla prepping and listening to the music of the artists we'll be seeing! i can see you is such a fun song! i'm really hoping she'll sing either foolish one or castles crumbling at my shows (i'm going both saturday and sunday) in terms of speak now songs, but i'll honestly be happy with anything and everything! i've been telling all my friends i'd love something from debut (especially since it isn't part of the setlist), but i'll genuinely be happy with anything she sings! i have a running joke with my friends that every surprise song we're like "i'm marked so unsafe :("/"this was such a loss for me" because we wanted to hear that song live — just a testament to taylor's discography, really! i hope you get songs that you love when you see her! are you going to the friday show or the saturday one? i'll be thinking of you next week! hope you have a good weekend, friend! 🤍 remember to drink some water + take it easy! hope you're enjoying your current read(s)!! x

[timobeechalamet]

dune thoughts!! (it’s 1:30am and i’m in bed so this is by no means a review lmao)

lots of spoilers ahead

[pretend this is a cut im on mobile]

ok for starters for my first imax experience it wasn’t at all worth the 4€ extra lmao it was just too big and too loud

the beginning was a bit choppy i have to say. the voice over and then the first few scenes are a bit patched up to introduce as many characters in as little time possible. but this is like the first 5-10mins only and then it settles into a good pace which leads me to

this film. is. so. long. maybe i’m just rusty from not going to the cinema ? but i was surprised at how it kept going lmao in saying that i was never bored for a second, nor did i think ‘come on hurry up’ a single time. this might be the most impressive thing actually, it keeps you engaged the whole time

PRODUCTION DESIGN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

COSTUME DESIGN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SCORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so haunting it stands as character/narrator of its own

A+ acting all across the board, actually impeccable. everyone is so good they make everyone seem average if that makes sense!!! the standard is so high and they all rise up to it

somehow it felt like timmy slipped into this role completely seamlessly, which is surprising considering it was his first time acting in a production this scale and given his background up to dune, it could’ve felt misplaced or heavy-handed (not that i was expecting it to) but it’s really just. he showed up one day as paul ? ik there was a learning curve w this role for him but that doesn’t show at all. natural. talented brilliant show stopping etc. basically i’m still in awe of his talent

desert mouse 🥺

never stops being funny to me how the main character is just a horny teen boy having horny dreams about a random girl and being like I Had A Vision

no ‘where are my feelings? i feel nothing’ quote. disappointed

timmy looks so young. this was shot in 2019 or am i wrong? his face has rly matured as of recently. he’s still baby in the film (probs exacerbated by makeup to make him look the characters age but still i was a little shocked at how different he looks vs now)

ok my FAVOURITE part was how futuristic sci-fi blends into medieval aesthetics into arabic visuals SO WELL. again, mostly production and costume design but it’s a marvel how the story feels set both in the past and in the future like it’s all happening at once, as well as also drawing from european, middle-eastern and african cultures and their clashes while having them complement each other

also love the portrayal of imperfect leaders. these sort of stories and film adaptations tend to adopt a black and white moral compass, ‘us vs them’, ‘good vs evil’ mentally. the villains are very clear, don’t get me wrong, and the baron is absolutely freaky, but the characters are allowed to be proudful and make mistakes regardless of where they stand. leto’s moral purity and trustfulness get him killed. yueh in spite being the catalyst for everything that ensues, is doing so to save his wife and also tries to minimise the damage of his actions. paul wants to be a fearless leader but when his mum tells him to run he runs. etc etc

this is hard to explain but i felt like i’d seen the film already? in the sense that the adaptation is incredibly faithful while still subtly cleaning up around the edges some stuff that would not translate to screen. i think this is where both the mastery lies and also where previous adaptations have failed. a too literal interpretation would make for a chaotic film that would be hard to understand and take seriously. they were able to pluck out those unintelligible bits of the book and either cut or translate them into something more digestible, while still sticking to the source material to the T. creative liberties were taken only where necessary. denis clearly know this story and this world by heart and had a very clear vision both of what it was like and how to best represent it on screen

overall!! really liked it and it lived up to the expectation. after so long waiting for it, it could’ve easily felt like the beat took long to drop and it’s disappointing, but absolutely not. i’m not an expert on sci-fi or this sort of big budget ‘action’ movies (aka marvel) by any means so i can’t say how it compares to other franchises/series out there but i know i liked it and am already plotting to see it again soon :) also timmy is beautiful but we already knew that xoxo off to sleep

[bosspigeon]

Carabosse et la Fee des Lilas

Prompt: 💋Drag

Pairing: Adam/Male Detective, Bonus Found Family Vibes~

Words: 5,346

Summary: Tina spends some quality time with Arlo and Unit Bravo as they prepare for Wayhaven's first real Pride festival, Tina torments her best friend and his maybe-boyfriend (as is her god-given right), and Arlo has a big think about his favorite role and what that role allowed him to explore~

CW for references to transmisogyny and implications of past trans/homophobia

Sometimes, Tina wonders if Arlo missed his true calling. His hands are surgeon-steady as he pencils delicate patterns onto Felix’s cheeks, outlining with white eyeliner in preparation to fill them in with bold colors and glitter. Tina almost can’t wait for her turn, even though Felix looks like he’s in real, physical pain with the effort of holding as still as possible. She’s no stranger to that struggle herself.

Neither is she a stranger to Arlo’s forceful, if toothless, threats, overcome as she is by fondness when he growls that he's going to draw a mustache on Felix’s face with permanent marker if he doesn’t stop bloody bouncing.

It’s pretty fun to watch from the outside. Sure, when you first sit down when he’s like this—all sharp and snappish and “stop moving or I’ll chuck you out the window”—it’s hard to keep still, but Arlo’s got this sort of quiet intensity to him when he’s focusing on something that’s oddly meditative. He’s just a soothing presence, really. Like a capybara or something. He’s friend-shaped.

Whatever weird magic it is, it’s definitely catching, because Felix looks less like he’s about to burst, like he did when Arlo was putting down the foundation, and more like he’s enjoying the attention. Tina’s not sure how long it’s going to last, seeing as Felix has given her a run for her money in the “manic energy” department, and he’s nowhere near as caffeinated as she is at any given time, but for the time being, he’s (mostly) still and quiet.

There’s music playing, quiet enough that the broody one (she knows his name, but it seems to bug him when she calls him "the broody one," which is funny, so—) only grumbled about it for a few minutes when Arlo turned it on, and even seems to enjoy sitting close enough to Arlo’s stupidly fancy stereo system to, she guesses, feel the rumble of the bass through the floor. Vampires are weird.

Anyway, it’s Arlo’s usual sad goth boy nonsense, but as quiet as it is, and with its intense instrumentals and rumbling vocals, it’s pleasant background noise more than anything.

Nate (the handsome and charming one, because of course all Arlo’s vampire friends are handsome, so she has to differentiate between them somehow) is rifling through Arlo’s bookshelf like it’s his job, and visibly struggling to pick something to read, because Arlo’s sitting room bookshelf (the one she found at a yard sale three hours away and lashed to the top of her sedan with every single bungee cord she could find at the local hardware store because it was coffin-shaped, for god's sake) is where he keeps all his weirdo occult stuff to, quote, “make people who pop by unannounced leave faster.”

And then there’s the big, handsome, stupidly fit blonde Arlo still won’t call his boyfriend, even though they’re so obvious it’s sickening, and she means that with all the love in her heart. He’s sitting in the armchair by the bookshelf, positioned so he can look like he’s reading one of Arlo’s old music magazines and totally isn’t taking advantage of the perfect line of sight of Arlo perched on the end of his coffee table so he’s not too tall to work on Felix, sitting in a chair from the kitchen. Tina sure hopes he doesn’t think he’s subtle, being a super special vampire secret agent and all.

He seems to notice her eyeing him, at least, and keeps his attention pinned firmly on the magazine, though he is definitely not reading a single word. Nate keeps browsing, the Broody One keeps brooding, Arlo keeps working, and Felix starts to hum. Arlo gives him a sharp look, but it doesn’t seem to be moving his face in any major way, so he just rolls his eyes and keeps tracing pretty patterns onto that unfairly smooth, dark skin. Do vampires do skin care? They probably don’t even need to, and that’s probably one of the reasons people like to villainize them. It always comes down to jealousy, doesn’t it?

She sighs, loudly enough that every eye in the room turns to her, and while she did not expect the sudden attention, she knows she can at least use it to entertain herself. She homes in on Adam, and smiles when she finally looks at the magazine he’s still valiantly pretending to read. There’s a familiar man on the cover, and while she can’t be bothered to remember his name, she grins. “Oh, hey! Arlo, he’s reading the one with the guy who looks like you!”

Arlo doesn’t even look up, but he huffs out a laugh and rolls his eyes again. He’s going to give himself a headache if he keeps that up.

The comment does exactly what she wants it to, which is draw the attention of all the other vampires. Arlo even begrudgingly pulls the pencil away from Felix’s cheek so he can take a look, and he immediately bursts out laughing.

“Arlo!” he exclaims, slapping at Arlo’s knee. “You didn’t tell us you had a twin!”

Nate chuckles (warm and rich and handsome, if a sound can be called handsome) and turns from the shelf to study the magazine curiously himself. Even the Broody One peers over to see, a little smirk curling his permanently-scowling mouth.

“Considering he was born in the sixties, I definitely don’t,” Arlo drawls. “Tina’s been making that joke since we were kids. She’s just happy she’s got an audience who hasn’t heard it twelve times a week since she first saw my old Type O Negative poster.”

“Some jokes just get better with time,” Tina says archly. “Like a fine wine.”

“And some jokes age like milk,” Arlo fires back.

Adam tilts the magazine so he can look for himself, and his dour expression clouds over even more, brows furrowing and mouth twisting. He peers up at Arlo, studying him, then down again.

Got you. “Yeah, you’re right,” Tina says, nodding sagely at him. “Arlo’s much prettier.”

It has exactly the reaction she was hoping for. Arlo drops his eyeliner pencil and makes a strangled noise, glowering at her with his cute freckly cheeks going all red, and Adam, who is a good bit paler than Arlo, goes pink from the crewneck of his just-this-side-of-too-tight tee shirt to his hairline. Tina wants to punch the air as the other vampires snicker at them. Well, except for Nate. Nate’s not a snickerer. He chortles. It’s adorable.

“Speaking of pretty!” Felix crows once they’ve all had a laugh at their fearless leader’s expense. He points to his own face with both hands, dancing in his chair, and Arlo sighs and rolls his eyes again, bending to pick up the dropped pencil. Luckily, the tip isn’t broken, so he can get right back to work, once he’s given the young vampire a moment to get his wiggles out. He settles, sitting on his hands and pursing his lips when Arlo gives him a dry look. He hovers back in with the pencil, and then Felix blurts out, “How’d you get so good at this anyway? Well, I assume you’re good at it. I haven’t seen it yet.”

Arlo doesn’t say anything. He just looks at him, pencil poised, until Felix pinches his mouth shut with a quick little apology. Once Arlo’s satisfied his canvas is actually going to hold still and keep quiet, he gets back to it. “My school was pretty small, especially compared to the bigger-name performing arts schools out there,” he says after a moment of quiet focus, tracing the outline of a heart around one of Felix’s eyes. “Our department didn’t really have a huge budget, and workspace was at a premium too. We didn’t have a lot of time to prepare for performances before someone else had to use the theatre, so we all did our own makeup at once, for the most part. Sometimes we’d help each other out, because we all had our strengths and weaknesses.”

He pulls back the pencil, squinting critically at the heart like it’s not completely perfect. “Demi was the best at laying the groundwork, and at matching colors to our costumes and complexions. Viv was the best at coming up with concepts and making sure we looked like a matching set. Wendi could do insane prosthetics, and was the best at bullying our department head into giving us the money for them. I had the steadiest hands, so I always did the eyes and the details.”

“Was Wendi the one who did your Dracula look?” Tina gasps. “That one was so cool!”

“Dracula?” Felix blurts. Tina doesn’t miss how the others perk up with interest too.

Arlo glares at him, and he shrinks back with a sheepish little grin. “Yeah, we did Dracula, uh… second year, I think? That was when Tilly transferred in and started doing our choreography. She’s the one who got Professor Dacey to let us do less classical stuff and start branching out a bit.” He glances briefly at Tina, staunchly ignoring the way Felix pouts at him for dividing his attention. “And, yeah, Wendi did the prosthetics for that one.”

“She’s got to be magic,” Tina asserts. “She managed to make your sweet, mopey face look so scary.”

Felix and Mason both snicker at that, and Arlo’s mouth goes all lemon-sour pinchy, like it always does when she calls him a sad puppy man, or any variation thereof.

“Take a lap,” Arlo says to Felix. “Don’t touch your face.” He jerks his head at Tina when Felix bolts to his feet and starts zooming around the flat to get out some of his energy. “Your turn, if you’re done being a comedian.”

“I’m never done,” she says with a sunny smile, but she bounces over to take Felix’s place in the chair and closes her eyes serenely so he can start on her makeup.

“And, God, do I know it,” he grumbles under his breath, knowing full well she can hear him, and so can everyone else in the room, too.

“Do you have pictures?” Felix hollers. He’s dipped into Arlo’s studio, and he’s making no secret of rifling through the desk in there, drawers slamming and paper rustling.

Arlo tips his head back so when he sighs, loud and dramatically long-suffering, he’s not blowing his breath right in Tina’s face. She appreciates the gesture. “Bottom right drawer,” he calls back, resignation thick in his voice. Given how long he’s been putting up with Tina—and Felix might just be Tina’s second platonic soulmate (Arlo, of course, being the first)—he already knows that keeping quiet is just prolonging the inevitable. Tina opens her eyes briefly to see Felix come sailing out of the studio with a thick leather-bound album held triumphantly over his head.

“Oh, I haven’t seen that in years!” she coos happily.

Arlo bops her on the forehead pointedly with a sponge covered in foundation, and she closes her eyes obediently.

She hears Arlo’s antique sofa creak as Felix plops down onto it, rifling through the plastic pages. “Aw,” he whines, “no baby pictures?”

“I can’t imagine him ever being a baby,” Mason snorts, and he sounds closer than he was before. Tina knows better than to open her eyes while Arlo’s in the zone, though. He’ll bop her with something less soft than a sponge next time. “I figured he’s just always been a giant.”

Felix laughs, high and chiming. “No wonder Agent Priestley’s always so sour, then,” he says. Tina giggles, and it becomes an inelegant snort when Arlo bops her again on the nose.

“Ask Rebecca if you want to see my baby pictures,” Arlo mutters blandly, and Tina can feel the weight of his attention. “I doubt she has many after age two, and the ones before I’ve barely seen.”

Tina’s not a super-special supernatural secret agent, but she tries with all her might to will someone to change the subject before things get weird. Now’s as good a time as any to learn telepathy.

Felix, heart of her heart, interrupts what’s shaping up to be a real prize winner of an awkward silence with a loud gasp. “Woah!” he exclaims, and pages crinkle as he presumably holds up the book for Arlo to see. “Who’s this? Did you do her makeup too?”

Arlo’s hair rustles as he turns his head away from her, and then the hand on her cheek freezes. Tension radiates through every inch of his body, practically leaching into hers. She cautiously opens one eye, and sees Arlo sitting up impeccably straight, stiff as a board and staring at Felix like a deer in the headlights. He swallows so hard she can see his throat move. “Um,” he says, stilted and strange. “Yeah. I did.”

Tina opens both eyes and squints at the photo album. Oh.

Felix looks at the sudden strain in the way Arlo is sitting, the tightness of his posture, and looks quizzically down at the picture again.

Tina remembers that performance. She remembers Arlo dancing (ha) around the subject when she asked him teasingly if he was going to be playing the prince, who was the lead, was he excited to kiss a pretty girl?

She can’t remember the character’s name, not so many years after the fact, especially since they were all weird classical nonsense, either Latin or French or some mishmash of the two. But she remembers the costume. She remembers waiting with bated breath to see Arlo onstage, to stand and scream and cheer obnoxiously loud in support of her best friend. She shot to her feet the second she saw his obvious silhouette rise from a feather-bedecked black chariot, head and shoulders taller than anyone else onstage. The music swelled, lightning flashed, and then when the spotlight hit him, she was so stunned she plopped right back into her seat with her jaw on the floor.

Arlo’s always been one of those guys that straddled the line between pretty and handsome. Long, lustrous hair and eyelashes she would kill for, cheekbones that could kill, a defined jaw, a proud nose, and intense eyes she could only call sultry—if she hadn’t known him since they were both weird, gawky brats, she’d probably be half in love with him before figuring out she wasn’t his cup of tea. But seeing him onstage was always an adventure. He threw himself into whatever character he played, put his everything into them, from the costume to the makeup to the performance. He just became the character, and in a way that was so very Arlo, all that intensity and focus channeled into an act that completely stole the show, in Tina’s humble and completely unbiased opinion.

Carabosse! That was her name!

Carabosse was no different.

Arlo’s makeup was flawless, ghost-white foundation giving him intense Morticia Addams vibes, contouring that made his cheekbones look absolutely unreal, bold black (or maybe really dark purple?) lipstick and shiny, smoky eyeshadow that made him look ethereal and wicked, with a daggerpoint cat-eye that she spent an hour begging him to teach her after the show. When he turned his head in a sharp, birdlike motion to look down his nose at the dancers playing the King and Queen, she gasped at the way his hair rippled down his back, shiny-black and woven with actual feathers that trailed back from the ornate metal circlet resting on his brow like a bird’s crest. The costume was breathtaking, too, a tightly corseted bodice and a high collar, a dramatically billowing skirt and trailing, feathered sleeves that flared like wings whenever he moved.

And the way he moved! Arlo’s dancing changed with every role, whatever he felt would suit the character. One of her favorites was always his Hans-Peter (she had a soft spot for that one, and had ever since she was little—one of the first Christmas gifts her stepmom had ever given her was little storybook version of The Nutcracker that came with a CD) because his dancing was so stiff and stridently mechanical, he looked like a real toy soldier come to life. But his villains moved with a slinking, predatory prowl she’d only ever seen in monster movies, and never in something like a ballet. His Carabosse was as beautiful as she was terrifying, and it was incredible to watch. She wanted to fling herself at him after the show and babble at him endlessly like she always did, but she spent a solid minute staring at him slack-jawed, until he shifted awkwardly and looked down, and the confident intimidation of the Wicked Fairy sloughed away to reveal Arlo underneath.

He almost melted into the floor with relief when she finally startled to babble.

She puts a hand on his shoulder and squeezes, and he takes a slow, deep breath, offering Felix a strained smile. “Take a closer look, mate,” he says quietly.

Felix does. He looks up and squints at Arlo, and then back down at the photo. Tina has to bite her lip so she doesn’t laugh when he looks over at Adam, still holding the magazine with that metal singer that kind of looks like Arlo on it, and then back at Arlo. His mouth drops open into a little o, and he shoots to his feet and shouts, “No way!”

Mason was allowed his name back briefly, but he goes right back to Broody One when he grimaces at Felix and slinks pettishly back to his corner.

Arlo’s shoulders are practically around his ears, but he tries to keep smiling. “Yeah. Sleeping Beauty. Fourth year. I was the Wicked Fairy.”

“He was amazing,” Tina declares, shoulders back and chin tipped up challengingly. “The costume was insane, but the way he played her was absolutely, ridiculously badass.”

“You look awesome!” Felix blurts, still gawking down at the photo. He flips to the next page, and squeaks happily when he finds more pictures, from different angles, showing off the costume, the way Arlo loomed over the other dancers, the way he commanded the stage. Tina should really find out who took the pictures and send them her thanks, because they really put in the work. “Your makeup, your dress, your hair! How’d you even do that?”

Arlo laughs, and it sounds so utterly relieved, Tina’s heart breaks a little. Arlo’s always been sensitive, and for someone who dresses and holds himself the way he does, he worries more than he lets on what people think of him. Especially people he cares about. She squeezes his shoulder again, and he bites his lip when he glances back at her and smiles hesitantly.

“A lot of wire, and enough hairspray to choke a bloody cow,” he says, twisting around and slinging his long legs over the coffee table so he can face the sofa. “I think we bought every bag of black feathers the craft store had, and then spent an entire weekend painting them with this stupidly expensive embossing powder. We had to get, like, ten pots of the stuff, because the craft store only had pots the size of a quarter.”

“I admire your dedication,” Nate says pleasantly, strolling over to peer over Arlo’s shoulder. They tighten just a bit before relaxing slowly. “That costuming is superb. I’ve seen professional productions that weren’t half so detailed.”

“That would be Viv’s work,” Arlo laughs, looking down at the pictures fondly. “She took whatever cheap garbage the department had for us, raided the nearest clearance fabric rack, and worked her magic. The employees at that little craft store loved and hated us in equal measure.”

Arlo is still tense, but he’s loosening up little by little, and with him Tina does too. The easy camaraderie is soothing, and she knows how much Arlo cares about his vampire friends, so it’s got to be a huge weight off his shoulders to be able to let his guard down around them. He deserves that. He deserves to be able to be himself.

Adam standing up draws Arlo’s attention like nothing else could, and he freezes like a startled rabbit again looking up at the burly blonde vampire as he approaches the sofa. He looks a split second from bolting. Tina sits up straighter and gives Adam her most daring look, squaring her shoulders to make it perfectly clear she's ready to fight the second he opens his mouth. She’ll definitely lose, sure, but she’ll make as much trouble as she can before she goes down.

He reaches out, his hand hesitating before it touches the album’s glossy page, and he looks up at Arlo with a questioning tilt to his brows. Arlo looks like he’s barely breathing, but he nods, and Adam slips one of the pictures from its sleeve. He straightens his spine, shoulders back, holding the photo and studying it carefully. His face is impossible to read, about as expressive as a bloody brick wall. Tina’s vibrating with nervous energy. She’ll fight a vampire, though. She will.

When Adam does finally speak, his voice comes out so softly Tina almost doesn’t hear it over the adrenaline rushing through her. “You look… striking.”

Striking. Oh my god.

She wants to laugh. They’re ridiculous.

“Thanks,” Arlo chokes out, his cheeks and ears going red this time.

Oh my god. Tina covers her mouth with both hands. Arlo glowers at her. It’s a lot less threatening when he’s blushing like that. “I didn’t say anything,” she mumbles against her palms.

“Your face,” he hisses, and she yelps.

“Oh! Shit!” She pulls her hands away, and he grabs her by the chin to check the damage with a click of his tongue.

Tina thought things would get better once Arlo actually kissed the man (and maybe got a leg over, but that’s only her business when she can finally get Arlo to actually talk about if the big, beefy Adonis is as missionary-with-the-lights-off as he looks) but at least they’re not just staring longingly at each other from across the room and then getting all sad about it anymore . Thankfully, Felix seems to be an old hand at clearing up the weird tension between the two of them, chiming in a delighted, “I’ve never seen you look so scary!” as he rifles through all the pictures from the Sleeping Beauty show. “I mean, you’re pretty scary when you go all furry, but also, you sort of just look like a big lanky puppy, because it’s just you, you know? This is someone else! Who is she! She's so cool!”

Arlo sighs and turns around to fix whatever Tina’s ruined with her foundation, and throws himself back into dolling her up. Thankfully, the actual festival’s not for a while yet. She complained about the unnecessarily early start when Arlo suggested the time, but now she’s glad he’s such a persnickety prick about scheduling. “I had a lot of fun with it,” he admits, shrugging his shoulders. “The original script notes said to get, y’know, sort of silly with it, but I wasn’t a big fan of that angle for a character like her. Yeah, I wanted to be campy, but not in the way…” He purses his lips. “Okay, well, Nate probably knows this, but a lot of classical ballets that have a female villains do this thing with them that I hate.” He frowns deeply, patting at Tina’s chin with gentle ferocity. “ An evil female character is supposed to be sort of… sort of a cautionary tale, I guess? Like your typical bitter spinster crone, the old hag, or the wicked stepsisters, things like that. So they’ll specifically cast a male dancer and put them in bright, gaudy facepaint and garish costumes that are supposed to be cartoonish and ugly, that you're supposed to find funny, to show you that this character is bad because she’s indelicate and mannish, and that’s why she’s evil.”

His mouth twists around the words, and he looks up, back at the vampires, leaving Tina a moment to really appreciate that Arlo’s comfortable enough with them to do what he’s only ever really done with her—which is ramble about something he’s passionate about. It’s always fun to watch. He turns back to her, and she just wishes his hands weren’t occupied, because he’s a big hand-talker otherwise. “I got the role because the professor thought it would be funny to stick me in a role like that, being so tall and, y’know,” he gestures vaguely to his faded old band tee and dark jeans, the thick leather cuff around his wrist. Tina doesn’t see what he really means, seeing as he looks cozy and content right now, but she gets what he’s going for. “He was expecting me to be awkward about it. The big, tough guy doing drag as the creepy crone caricature.” He huffs. “I talked with Demi about it, and we decided to say fuck that.” He sits up straighter, tilts up his chin, and looks down his nose at Tina.

She peers up at him, wide-eyed, and suddenly wonders if this is how Demi felt, playing Aurora when Carabosse looked down her nose at her like an insect under her heel.

“I thought Carabosse deserved better,” Arlo says fiercely. “If I was going to be a villain, I was going to be a damned good villain. I was going to tower over all the delicate, dainty little princesses and fairies, and I was going to be fierce. Professor Dacey wanted Aurora, and Candide, and Florine to be the epitome of sweet, delicate femininity, the ideal damsel in any classical show. Carabosse is supposed to be the complete opposite. You’re supposed to root against her, not want to be her. She’s a threat to the idea of womanhood, of the ideal feminine. She’s bold and selfish and she takes what she wants. I leaned into that. I even danced en pointe for parts of it, even though Carabosse isn't supposed to, and between the rehearsals and the actual performance, I thought my feet were gonna fall off, but it was worth it.”

Arlo smiles, and Tina is thrilled by the wickedness of it. She thinks she even sees just a hint of fang. Arlo’s been so careful about showing his teeth, ever since he told her what happened to him, why he disappeared for so long, so it's somehow special for him to feel like he can show her even a hint of what he’s become.

“Professor Dacey was pissed, afterwards, of course,” Arlo laughs, but there’s an edge to it. He seems to shrink. From Arlo to Carabosse to Arlo again. He looks down at his hands as they work on Tina more than at her face. “He didn’t, y’know, say anything he could have gotten fired over, but he did rail about being left out of planning and the budget and all that rot. Got even madder when Demi pointed out we’d spent our own money on the costumes. I think if he was tall enough to look down on me, he would have.” He snorts, a bitter curl to his mouth. Tina thinks of it painted bold, dark purple, thinks of how it would look with those teeth behind it. She wonders if he’d let her do his makeup for the festival. She’s not nearly as good at details as he is, but she’s no slouch either.

“You should have let me put raw fish in his hubcaps,” Tina mutters, just to make Arlo laugh. It works, and she beams at him.

“Would have been a waste of fish,” he mumbles, sucking his teeth. He finally picks up a bright eyeshadow palette and starts waffling over colors. He’s quiet while he deliberates, but after a while, he sighs. “I liked being Carabosse,” he says, like it’s a secret. Like he’s trying very hard not to be ashamed.

“I wish I could have seen it,” Adam says, almost dreamily. Tina could scream. “I— We could have, I mean. All of us. In solidarity.”

“Smooth,” Felix whispers.

“I’m sure it was a phenomenal performance,” Nate adds helpfully. He’s taken the album from Felix to flip through to some of Arlo’s other shows. “The passion you have for your characters shines through in just photos. It’s quite impressive.”

“You should have gone pro,” Tina mutters. “You’d be a household name by now.”

Arlo snorts and bops her with the brush. How many bops is that now? She’s certainly on a roll today. “And who’d keep you in line back here?” he teases.

Tina squints up at him and sticks out her tongue. “Like you’ve ever even tried to keep me in line, you big softie. You love the chaos, just admit it.”

“I’ll admit you to the hospital when you do something stupid and get yourself hurt again, how about that?”

They bicker like children back and forth while Arlo finishes her makeup, a wash of pink, purple, and blue eyeshadow and matching lipstick, overlaid with a lustrous sparkle to her cheekbones and a cute little black heart-shaped beauty mark under one eye. Felix gets a bi flag heart to match her eyeshadow around one eye, and then the rest is a sort of confetti splash of sparkly stars and hearts in every color. Even Nate goes for the bi eyeshadow (Bi-shadow? She should have been saying that this whole time!), making him, Tina, and Felix a matching set, and Mason consents to a very simple pan flag on his cheek. Tina suspects Adam only allows the eyeshadow treatment so he can have Arlo cup his face all tenderly, but she keeps the thought (mostly) to herself. He looks good in pastels, she thinks when she sees the finished blue, pink, and white.

Arlo draws a little heart under his eye too. The heart in Tina's chest almost explodes with warmth.

And then Arlo disappears into the bathroom, leaving the rest of them to entertain themselves while he gets ready on his own. They go through the album some more, and Tina tells them all about her favorite shows, because she went to every single one she could manage, and got Arlo’s school friends to send her videos of the ones she couldn’t. Tina Poname is Arlo Priestley’s number one fan, and that will never change. Not even now that she's got some competition.

When Arlo comes out of the bathroom, they all look up in sync, and he stands there, shifting anxiously from foot to foot under the attention, and lifts his hands in a stilted shrug. “So?” he asks, smiling nervously. He’s changed clothes, too. Tight pants, big boots, a mesh-sleeved black shirt underneath his patch-and-pin-covered denim vest. His wrists jingle with chunky bracelets, and his hair is braided neatly over one shoulder. But his makeup is what really steals the show. That insanely sharp cat-eye, of course, but one eye is done up in blue, pink, and white, and the other in yellow, white, purple, and black. He smiles timidly. “I, uh, I couldn’t really decide on just one,” he says, sticking his gloved hands into the pockets of his vest. “I’m, um, I’m not sure which one’s really right for me yet, I guess?” He shrugs again, and Tina watches delightedly as Adam stands up slowly, his eyes on Arlo with such an awed intensity she wonders if he even remembers there’s other people in the room. Arlo keeps babbling as he approaches, the words tumbling nervously from his black-painted lips. “I sort of like matching with you, Adam, and I know they’re both fine, but I—”

Adam grabs him by the lapels of his jacket, yanks him down to his level, and silences him with a kiss. Tina throws her arms up in the air with an impulsive shriek of “WOO!” that Felix echoes even louder. They high-five over Mason’s head, and he looks like he wants to throw them both out the window. Nate sits by with a pleasant little smile, which only fades when he takes note of the clock.

Adam and Arlo are still kissing, Arlo’s hands cupped around the vampire’s cheeks and Adam clinging to his vest like he'll drown if he lets go. Tina thinks she might see a hint of tongue when Nate loudly clears his throat.

They break apart with an indecent smacking noise, and Tina yelps out a sharp laugh when she sees Arlo’s black lipstick smeared all around Adam’s mouth.

Nate crosses his arms and smiles dryly at them. “Why don’t you two go fix your faces,” he suggests. “The rest of us will make sure the car is packed for the festival.”

“Um, yes. You— We—” Arlo fumbles for a bit, touching his smeared lips, his eyes just a bit dazed. He and Adam look at each other, and then flee for the bathroom together.

Tina’s never been more excited for a festival in her life.

[adrienscroissantx]

Music au

We know of the people who can play musical instruments. Luka plays guitar, ivan plays the drums, juleka plays bass, rose can sing, adrien can play the piano, etc. BUT WHAT IF. STAY WITH ME. WHAT IF. THERE WAS MORE.

Alya can ACTUALLY play the flute, she’s been in orchestra for 2/3s of her life. Nino’s been learning violin since he was 7 years old. Alix, shortest girl in class? Plays the fucking cello and is not afraid to hit a bitch with it.

 Kagami can play the drums like a beast (little side plot about how her mother sent her to like... piano lessons or something as a kid but she went to the wrong teacher on purpose bc piano was boring and now she can do epic drum solos and Ms Tsurugi just has to come to terms with it. Even funnier bc shes blind, Kagami would play recordings of piano in her room for her mom to hear and then she’d set up her electronic drum kit and play it w headphones on. Big Sneaky.)

Max plays the trumpet and Mylene plays the saxophone. Sabrina plays the tuba or the trombone or smthn. (look, max/mylene/sabrina being brass buddies ok) Meanwhile the biggest jock in school, Kim Le Chien, is an opera singer. 

Lila you may ask? Plays the oboe, aka one of the instruments that requires you to make faces like this:

(either that or maybe she’s like into ballet, also an interesting turn)

Bonus if they all go to one of those gifted kid schools with a killer arts program where everyone has to have like major talent to be there. Chloe got in because her dad is a generous donor to the school, doesn’t really have any talent w anything and plays it up all mean because she’s insecure.

And Marinette, you might ask? She doesn’t have a single damn musical bone in her body. She’s surrounded by musical skill, but she cant play anything. She’s there because she’s an extremely talented designer, and normally the school wouldn’t consider it, but she has references and recommendations tied to the Gabriel brand of all places, so she’s a special case. The only other person like her who she can relate to is Nathaniel, he got in because he’s really great at painting (classically trained n all that) so he looks good in exhibitions for the school n stuff. Basically, everyone is super fucking fancy and Classically trained at Everything they do and it makes Marinette feel insecure and left out.

And maybe at the end of the year the class has to put on a performance for the end of school (maybe for grades or they win a thing or whatever) and everyones like “ok we’ll do an orchestra piece or smthn” but everyones personalities clash together and nobody can agree on anything, they cant find a spot for marinette or chloe or Nath and its all going downhill. Lila likes it because she gets a spot in the limelight, but it ultimately falls apart and she doesnt like that. Until its one of those “well lets celebrate the individuality of the class instead of being boring as shit!” 

Kagami gets to do her epic drum solos that make your heart beat go 50000 bpm (and makes her mom proud of her in the process), Kitty Section in particular makes an appearance, whacko costumes and all (made and designed by marinette might i add) and they sing a rock/metal piece. Alix and Nino get to express they’re love for hip hop with their stringed instruments. Kim gets to play the opera role he’s always wanted to in some kind of epic mash up, the brass kids get to play a cool part maybe w jazz or something vibey (w set design made by Nath and Mari probably). And then Alya comes up with this light show/flute thing (AHEM reminscent of rena rouges mirage power, also all the visuals are put together and made by Nathaniel to show how he likes modern versions of art too, not just classic painting). Marinette designs all the costumes, and Chloe does what she does best. Bossing people around. 

She becomes the director of the whole show (she has some personal motivation, like wanting to make her parents proud or proving something to someone who said she couldn’t do anything). Lila is jealous and insecure and tries to sabotage the whole thing and make her classic orchestral piece (or do her ballet thing where she gets to be the star) the only good thing in the show. But CHLOE manages to save the day with her quick thinking skills, great improvisation, and fearlessness in the face of pressure and fixes everything! (See she works really hard... like a worker bee.... woah haha)

And then they win and its all great!! and Lila realizes she needs therapy!!! And she says sorry in the end and not everyone forgives her but its a start and then theyre on to their second year of Being A Gifted Kid school! MAYBE some romance subplot and tension, idk. 

The basic thing is the school is very obsessed with being a pretentious twat environment, even if the learners aren’t all interested in classic stuff (some are, like lila, but like. Nino’s into hiphop and Nathaniel wants to make comic books, not landscapes). Marinette is in an awkward position because they’re trying to put her in a Classical Box but,,,, its fashion design. The point is that it develops with the times. And shes the one who inspires everyone to do what they’re interested in rather than what the school expects them to do. And when the teachers pick up on this, they dont like it, and lila (who has some beef w marinette bc shes jealous n low self esteem or smthn) thinks that if she gets marinette in trouble for it she cld be expelled!! And she can be the star again!! And its like!! Classic private school drama!!! Ill shut up now!!!

[popculturebuffet]

Amphibia Weekly Reviews: Bessie and Mircroangelo/The Third Temple “The Things We’ve Set into Motion Cannot Be Stopped”

Hello all you happy people. It’s been a long road, with an even longer road trip, but the season’s almost over: just two more weeks of Amphibia.. and with all the build up weighing down on our heroes two things are clear: this cannot end well for Anne or anyone involved, and this is going to hurt. It’s going to hurt a LOT. it’s going to be some...

... how have I not used more MST3K gifs. Questions for later. Point is with emotional pain immient, a revolution on the way this episode only ratchets up the tension.. while also sparing some time for makeover jokes and a breather episode about snail mentorships, fashion montages and giant crabs. I do love me some giant crabs. And i’ll tell you allllll about it under the cut. 

Bessie and MicroAngelo:

This episode finds our heroes preparing for the third and final temple, loading up the wagon and preparing weapons, maps, potions, all that good stuff. 

We end up getting two plots out of this. The first is the titular one: so Polly can help prepare, Hop Pop gives Bessie the task of watchin gher snail and certified cutie MicroAngelo, that tiny Snail who I assumed would disappear forever after his intitial apperance because that’s usually what cartoons does. But much like One Piece, Al Ewing and that owl what watches me while I sleeps, Amphibia never forgets. 

It’s some Looney Tunes style shenanigans.. not the bugs or daffy, more on him later today, kind more the “Bigger more responsible party protects the smaller more vunerable or reckless one” kind you’d see eveyr so often. Tom and Jerry also really loved this. And Amphibia wears it well, with some good gags and really cute bonding and some really excellent animation on Bessie, giving the old girl plenty of life and animation. The only part I genuinely do not like is Hop Pop  blaming Bessie for.. running after micro angelo afte rhe ran off. Aka doing the job you assigned her. 

Someone i’m looking at. Regardless otherwise it’s just some fun, adorable slapstick with a downright precious ending. And hop pop DOES apologize.. and wish he was a cute snail. I do not have time to unpack all the implications there nor ponder what Hop Pop would look like in a snail costume. This week’s given my brain enough nightmares. 

So anyway, our subplot has Marcy trying to give Anne a Makeover... and her past attempts with Sasha have been objectively horrifying so Anne is rightly scared, though the armorer who comes to help with it has a blue crab so tha’ts where all my attention. I fucking love crabs.. they just look so neat. Some see the fact a spider crab being out and about in animal crossing as horrifying. I see it as oh look at my cool terrifying crab friend. About the only crab I don’t like is this asshole. 

And even then he can be VERY funny. .he’s just also an exploitative douchebag and having worked in food service, let me tell you I.. I get why Squidward is the way he is. That said Krabbyland is a masterpiece entirely because he’s such a terrible person, so it ballances out when the show’s doing it’s best. 

Point is I like crabs and I like this subplot.. though mostly because it says a LOT about who Anne and Marcy are and where there at. Part of why Marcy is so gung ho about helping Anne is she figures this is her last shot to be whoever she wants to be. But really she’s just projecting: it’s been obvious since we properly met her that Marcy.. likes living HERE more than earth. On earth she’s an outcast: her hyperfixations, her tendency to babble about things she likes, her smartness... alll things that just make people turn away from her or pick on her on earth, with only two people relaly understanding and appricating her.. maybe more but we don’t know the situation with her parents yet. As someone who is a lot of those things, I get where she’s coming from. 

So ending up in a world straight out of an rpg... she florished. Everything that made her life difficult at home suddenly made her florish: her skill with RPG’s meant she could blend in easily with the courtly high class of Newtopia, gave her a love of taking on missions, and allowed her to put her hyperfixation, knowledge and enthusasim to real world use, creating massive improvments in an already ritzy city. Everything that made her an outcast in our world made her a hero there. It’s why I worry about what’s to come: to both Grime and Andrias.. she’s the perfectly made pawn: too desperate to have Sasha back to see the kinfe he wants her to plant in Marcy’s, and too happy to be accepted to see the rpg convention, the benevolent ruler turning out ot be a puppet for the big bad, starring her in the face. Amphibia’s given her her freedom.. but it’s also left her very vunerable and may leave her alone. 

As for Anne.. she realizes how far she’s come: from selfish and kind of distructive to selfless and self reliant.. and still kind of destructive but hey, you can’t cahnge eveyrthing about yourself. It’s why when given heavy armor.. all she needs is the core of it.. something simple to guard her but nothing too complex. She’s fine with who she is.. and it’s why she’s in the best place of the three girls. And why she’s left smack in the middle of the war to come. A war she can’t stop and that will leave her having to choose one... or do the right , hard thing and choose neither and try and free them from the bad influences they’ve embded themselves in. Either way this is going to hurt both her and the audience. 

Final Thoughts: Bessie and Mircoangelo is good classic cartoon fun with a suprisingly deep subplot. Simple, but a nice pallete clensar, especially since the next episode is pretty tense and given it’s ending and eveyrthing that’s been building this season, it’s likely only going to get worse from here, so it’s nice to have a quick and breezy break before hell comes to frogtown. 

The Third Temple:

Before we get to the final temple we get a flashback showing how Sasha met Anne and Marcy. The other two were playing on the swings when two big dillholes pushed them off and Sasha selflessly and fearlessly stood up to them. And promptly beat herself up more than the bullies who dodged her and eventually got so freaked out by whatever the hell this was they ran and a friendship was born. But noticably she’s a lot diffrent 7 years ago, aproximately, than she is at 13: she’s every bit as fearless and willfull.. but the compassion she once had got buried under a need for control. It’s easy to see now WHY Marcy and Anne loved her so much: she was their friend, their protector, she cared about them.. and while she never STOPPED somewhere along the way it became less about doing the right thing for the women she loves and more about getting her way. 

And now the two have had time to heal from what their friend girlfriend became.. it’s time to rip that wound wide open as finally, after almost a season of waiting, Sasha reunites with Marcy for the first time and Anne for the second. 

Naturally her return is in time for her gem to be charged, though our heroes unware of that didn’t seek her out before going in. This time Frobo’s riding claw though weirdly dosen’t come inside. Which is a problem with Frobo’s addition to the cast as the whole: they’ve kept him out of any episode since his induction into the family and only properly explained it once. It just dosen’t make a lot of sense to me; Yes he is massively powerful but his childlike thought process counters that. He’s easy enough to write in but is left out becasue the writers don’t want to deal with an extra character. And I had more than enough of that shit when watching Ducktales. I don’t need it when your main cast isn’t NEARLY as large or hard to juggle. It’s just galling to have spent an entire season showing he was following them, give him a whole episode.. and then just forget about him because i’ts convient. Hopefully he’ll play a bigger role as things progress and we find out where he came from because his misuse is a dark spot on an otherwise great second half of the season. 

Frobo does get to prove himself useful though and open s the temple door he just weirdly dosen’t come along. But this does leave the door open for Sasha to come in as our heroes struggle with the first puzzle: Turns out this dungeon was built by a bro, seriously the temple languge is very broey and VERY hilarious contrasted with how normal for a fantasy setting the others were, as is fitting the strength gem, so our heroes have to compete feats of strength. Unfortunately this does not mean wrestling the ghost of Jerry Stiller to the ground but instead fighting some Lava Worms, and fighting just ONE of them and lifting the provided warhammers is a challenge for Anne.. and she’s the only one who can with Marcy not having enough upper body stregnth and the plantars all de-hydrated spongebob style. 

So naturally Sasha ends up being their savor, easily dispatching them and getting some help from grime who while also dehydrated, is still phsycially strong enough to be of some help. Marcy is overjoyed to see her.. and is the only one. Given Marcy hasn’t been on the wrong end of Sasha and Grime like they have, it’s understandable: while Marcy’s grappled with Sasha’s actions and grip on her and Anne, it’s been clear it hasn’t hit her as hard as it has for Anne and she likely dosen’t get the full scope of it like Anne does. To her Sasha just made a mistake and she’s back now and tha’ts what matters. To Anne and the Plantars... sasha and grime tried to kill them and Sasha then tried commiting suciide to save them. The scars of that haven’t really healed for them, nor should they. 

And given Sasha has spent the season clearly blamiing everything on Anne defying her and has been raising an army based on her resentment, and given she flew into a jealous blinding rage at finding her exes were fine and dandy without her she.. wholheartdly apologizes. 

Yeah she apologizes.. but tellingly while she talks about her and Grime being left homeless following the battle.. she leaves out everything after: The fight with Yuan, the growing rebellion, driving her friends away, the horrifying army Grime now commands. Something’s off. 

Anne naturally dosen’t trust her to do this herself and insists on coming along sitll. The next task is juts.. asking how much you lift bro, which Sasha easily passes by lifting, bro. 

The final test in Jim Crunch’s Temple of Fitness, I mean who else could’ve wrote this, is of course a big fight with a giant statue of a toad, fitting how each temple so far was built by one of the civlizations: there were frog statues and symbols in the first temple, the second was guarded by a newt and the last now has a toad guard.Though curiously.. the test itself is wholly designed for a human. Before it wasn’t 100% clear even with the hyroglyps if the chosen ones had to be human or not.. but now it’s impossible to argue otherwise. There were hints : The fact the guardian pegged her as a possible chosen one on sight , the ruins in the background of the title cards which also depict the watcher with a thousand eyes (which is what i’ll be calling him till we get his, her , they or it’s actually name. ).. but here the chamber includes a gravity increase dbz style, meaning our heroines are the only ones who can stand as the Plantars and Grimes frog and toad bodies respectively aren’t strong enough to stand anymore. And while Marcy tries it ends up falling on Anne and Sasha with Sasha being Angry Anne doesn’t trust her.. and Anne not refuting it, pointing out she has EVERY REASON not to. As she puts it “it’s not just toad tower”. For most of their lives Sasha has been controlling, caring about what she wants and not what the people she loves wants. It wasn’t just the fight there... it was simply the wakeup call to how bad a person Sasha had been. 

And for the first time in the episode.. Sasha is geniune, apologizing for what she did, and genuinely admitting how she treated Anne wasn’t wrong. it was something she coudln’t admit to herself episodes ago.. but faced with both loosing two more people due to her behavior, and having plenty of time to reflect on said behavhior.. she finally relaizes it’s her. Fuck man.. what else is there to say. 

Oh right the giant monster thing, which Anne trusts Sasha to finish.. and we get anothe rDBZ homage as Sasha removes part of her armor, which creates a CRATER, which lowers her weight enough to fight the thing. She gets a thumbs up and the honor of recharging it. 

Anne suggests opening the box.. but Marcy is VERY quick to shoot that down and suggest talking to the king. And while her reason SOUNDS good,, they don’t want to get warped somewhere ELSE at random.. it’s very clear from her actions and how quick she tried to stop it that she needs them to get to Andrias for whatever he’s talked her into. And I emphasis talked her into: Marcy trusts the king, and was in a very emotional place when he was about to talk to her at the end of season 2a... and he knew it. He knew she was at her most vunerable, most malable and trusted him completely.. and knew right then and there was his shot at getting vengance.. for him and his master. Whatever he has planned.. it’s not good. The mechancial lovecraftian horror he keeps in his creepy basement full of lost souls is a dead giveaway from that. But I don’t.. fault Marcy for it. It’s not just because I sympahtize.. to her Andrias is a good noble king trying to help her. He’s the kindly mentor she always wanted, a person who enjoys her skills dosen’t care how much she talks and has complete faith in her, something even Anne struggles with. 

But it’s VERY clear, to me at least he’s been likely using her from the moment they met: to her sh’es just an optomistic pawn, someone gullible enough to do whatever he says. I’ve always felt that her “missions” probably had some darker purpose she wasn’t aware of: getting Andrias things he needs for his army, an army she has no idea is opressing people. She’s insulated from that and instead surronded by adoring people who accept her for once. Even going to wartwood, she hasn’t yet made the connection between the toad towers and what their purpose is. I think deep down she might suspect this stuff.. but she can’t ACCEPT that the one person who every had nothing but faith in her.. is a horrible person who opresses others and somehow has even WORSE plans in store. 

Sasha likewise is facing the pressure of her parental figure.. while her patching it up with Anne was legitmate... her and Grime’s own plans rely on getting in there and Grime simply sees the other two as pawns , and just like the king he wants he wants to overthrow, their use expires once his plans in motion. 

But the thing is.. it’s clear despite assuring Grime she’s still all in.. her face in the last shot, as seen above.. says otherwise. Her apology was legitmate, not just an attempt to get close to the one thing in her way of power, but what she’s come to realize: she’s gone from blaming Anne for it.. to realizing it was her. But she’s also stuck: while Marcy is unaware of the strings her pupeteer is pulling her towards.. Sasha is all too aware of what her mentor is planning. And the thing was she was all too willing to go for it. She blamed Anne for what happened at the tower, blamed Anne for turning marcy against her and blamed the plantars and co for turning anne against her. But in the harsh light of day... none of that’s true. Marcy dosen’t hate her, neither does anne, they didn’t turn against her.. they were just tired of her shitty behavior and wanted the friend they found that day on the playground back, the woman they loved who’d go to hell and back for someone and not the bitter, manipultive person she became. She’s once again realized it was her fault.. the question is if that’s enough for her to do the right thing or not. And the hardest question of all is IF not reblling isn’t the right thing. Wfhile the Toad’s probably shoudln’t be in charge either, Andrias REALLY shouldn’t. There’s NO easy answers here, no happy outcome that makes everyone live’s better. There’s no easy way out, no shortcut home.. just the louder and louder drumbeats of war and one girl’s decision of whose side she’s going to take.

Final Thoughts on the Third Temple: As with the other four sasha episodes thus far, this was frogging brilliant. Shoudln’t be a suprise and it makes me both look forward and dread the war to come

Next Week: The plantars try to bury the hatchet with Sasha and Grime, the girls enter a battle of the bands, and the finale comes ever closer.

If you liked this review follow me for more, and join my patreon. At just 2 dollars a month you get acess to my discord, exclusive reviews, and get me closer to my stretch goals. See you at the next rainbow

[papenniesandbentoboxes]

Nancydrewnetwork Dream Game Challenge

Nancy Drew: Secret of the Circus

My entry into the @nancydrewnetwork​ Design Your Own Game Challenge! 

I’ve always wanted a circus-themed Nancy Drew game, so here goes! Since MID had a butt load of characters, I have a bit more than usual.

Summary:

Dare to play!

Join Nancy Drew on her next mystery at a traveling circus! When the Network has the Hardy Boys investigate a lead in a financial terrorism counterfeiting case, sabotage gets thrown into the mix, so they call in the big guns: Nancy Drew. While the Hardy Boys pose as trainees, Nancy poses as a crew member, giving her more time to investigate the circus while it’s stopped for a few performances in Idaho.

Play as both Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys to solve...

Secret of the Circus

Characters:

Antoine Rousseau -- Born in France and raised in the circus, Antoine runs the circus as the director. He inherited the circus at a young age, but filled the big shoes easily. Cleared by the Network. He helps Nancy and the Hardy Boys on the case.

Mara Torabi -- Quiet and standoffish, Mara keeps to herself while the other performers practice. The others perform death-defying stunts while she sits and reads. But when the show starts, she turns into a whole ‘nother person as the ringmistress. Could she be keeping a secret hidden beneath her flawless acting skills?

Danny Renteria -- One of the more daring performers, Danny seems to be fearless. When he’s at the circus, he’s either practicing the flying trapeze with his wife or training the new recruits. While he is friendly enough, he doesn’t like to talk much about himself. Could he be hiding something behind his bold exterior?

Morgan James-Renteria -- An aerialist and acrobat, Morgan spends her days flying through the air and tumbling in the center ring. She and her husband are the dream team of the circus and do acts together. She seems straightforward, but is she telling the truth?

Derek Ellis -- Derek has been with the circus for years and has gone from lowly junior crew member to the high wire walker. Jovial and perhaps a bit sweet on Nancy, he seems to be a sincere individual. Is he really that friendly, or is it all an act?

Kathy Sanders -- She spends all her time in the cook shack. When compared to the others at the circus, she seems out of place, since she isn’t in any act and seemingly has no reason to be there other than her job. What is the real reason she’s working there?

John McCarrell -- The oldest member of the circus. A lifelong performer in juggling and clowning, John has gone from circus to circus, traveling the United States and Canada and sometimes even Europe. But could he be using his many connections to support the counterfeiting?

Frank and Joe Hardy -- Old friends of Nancy’s. They were called in by the Network to work undercover as circus trainees to investigate. While Frank excels on the high wire and Joe focuses on the juggling act and fire, no one suspects them of being government agents. They’re able to get close to a few of the performers while training.

Phone Friends:

Bess Marvin and Henry Bolet -- When Nancy is at the circus and George is at a technology convention, Bess is in New Orleans visiting Henry and taking him shopping all over the city. The two of them provide both entertainment and helpful hints.

Professor Hotchkiss -- When historical and linguistic problems need solved, the best person to call is Professor Beatrice Hotchkiss.

Locations:

Main tent

High wire rigging

Maintenance wagon

Flying trapeze rigging

Aerials rigging

Bleachers

Cook shack

Kitchen

Tables under the tarp awning 

Makeup tent

Antoine’s Trailer/Office

High wire training area

Nancy’s personal tent

And more! (with spoilers)

Minigames:

Meal Cooking -- One of Nancy’s jobs as an undercover crew member is helping Kathy in the cook shack. She makes breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the performers and crew.

Souvenirs -- Nancy gets paid when she helps make souvenirs for the audience and customers.

Costumes and Makeup -- In different points in the game, Nancy gets to help the performers with costumes and makeup.

Nancy can spend her money earned making souvenirs to buy candy from the concessions booth. (Maybe even all of it.)

Plus a few more that have spoilers :)

Puzzles:

Setting up tents

Fixing ratchets and cables

No spoilers, so I’ll just say codes, secret compartments, and more!

Other notes:

This game would go kind of like ASH, where we have different people do different things. Nancy would be the main player, of course, but certain characters can get certain people to do things. For example, in ASH, Alexei won’t talk to Bess, but is very open with George, and Toni doesn’t talk to George, but talks a ton with Bess, you know?

Nancy would connect more with Morgan and Mara, Frank would connect more with Danny and Derek, and Joe would connect more with Kathy and John.

There will be many connected little mysteries within the big one.

If Nancy Drew can be an almost-stripper, dancing for money in a skin-tight cat suit, and if we can have Yanni Volkstaia in that skintight suit with that bubble butt, we can have people in leotards and tights.

If we didn’t have to worry about copyright claims, Joe would be constantly listening to “Circus” by Britney Spears.

There’s a lot of snooping in people’s stuff. I love snooping.

Here are some aesthetics for the game! 

[elareine]

59 JayTim?

Hi anon, I assume you meant the fluff/angst prompt list :) If not, let me know! 

Huh. Those sure are a lot of people.

It’s not that Jason didn’t expect that. It’s a Wayne Gala™, of course there. However, he didn’t anticipate how stressful it is to just be a regular guest after years of only ever attending this kind of do for a job. The sheer amount of smalltalk is wearying. If one person flirts with him, he’s going to have to break something.

“How’re you doing?” A quiet voice asks.

“Having the time of my life,” Jason replies, similarly quiet, but with much less inflection. “Do you always sneak up on your guests like that?”

“Only the important ones.” Tim smiles at him, and it would look superficially polite if not for the genuine concern in his eyes. “I was about to catch some fresh air, wanna join me?”

“Sure.”

They haven’t talked much recently. Tim is one of these people that you like a lot, but you don’t necessarily speak to every day; when you do, it feels like no time passed at all.

It’ll be nice to catch up, Jason thinks and lets himself be led away.

—

Jason’s sitting in a grimy alleyway, laughing, covered in soot and blood, without his helmet, without his guns, without even half of his costume still in place. He’s never felt better. “Fuck, that was awesome.”

“We were awesome,” Tim correct him, grinning so widely Jason thinks it’ll never stop. Except it does, mere seconds later: “Or, well—“

“Nope, we totally were.” Jason gives him two thumbs-up. “Five stars, ten out of ten, would ride with again.”

It’s totally unfair how Tim’s mask survived the ordeal because Jason is sure that he’s blushing. His smile is starting to make a comeback, though, and Jason would do a lot for that. So, high on adrenaline and fearless, he follows it up with: “In fact, I’m thinking I wanna take you out to dinner to celebrate. That alright with you?”

Tim gives him a thumbs-up in return. It’s so dorky, Jason starts laughing again.  

—

Tim stretches him with careful fingers, and Jason loves it, he does. It’s just… it’s been a while. Jason cannot remember ever having felt so open. The small, almost wounded sound he makes when Tim spreads his fingers experimentally isn’t about any physical sensation.

Tim notices, though. Tim notices everything. “Is this okay?”

It’s a whisper, but from the way Jason shudders, you’d think Tim shouted his eternal love from the rooftops.

He nods, unable to speak for once because Tim—Tim’s not opening him up to fuck him after. For maybe the first time in Jason’s life, it’s not the means to an end. He’s going to come just like this, he thinks, and that idea makes him moan and twitch and Tim’s eyes got hot and—Yeah. It’s okay.

—

It took him a while to figure it out. Jason isn’t exactly a conventional guy, and neither is Tim, for all intends and purposes. Neither of them has a ‘real’ job, they go out at night only marginally avoiding being furries, and Jason’s pretty sure that if he’d show up with roses for their anniversary, Tim would send him to Bruce to get checked for a head injury.

But Tim does like commitment. Needs it, even. So Jason’s determined to give that to him.

And, like, the symbol alone wouldn’t do much. From what Tim has told Jason about his parents, the other man knows that a ring doesn’t make for a loving relationship. Jason will have to back his words and symbols up with actions, and he’s ready to put in the work.

Of course, he needs to propose first. He doesn’t have any elaborate plans or anything; he’s just gonna take any opportunity he gets.

And then it comes. Over breakfast. Of course.

“So how long are you staying?” Tim asks. It’s not the best of set-ups, seeing how he’s talking about a specific cover of Jason’s, but it’ll do.

“I’m thinking the rest of our lives,” Jason says and slides over the small blue box he’s been keeping in his pocket for months. “That okay with you?”

(I’m taking prompts.)

[thechoir-roomhq]

LIMA COMMUNITY THEATER NEWSLETTER

the weather is getting colder and autumn is coming to a close! this means that auditions for the the lima players' winter production are right around the corner. auditions will be held wednesday, november 18th, but members can post their self-paras the entire week of november 16th-20th. (mon-fri). a cast and crew list will be posted on sunday, november 22nd. the lima players team have selected INTO THE WOODS for this year’s production. please read below the cut for more details!

auditions will be held between three and five pm on wednesday at the local theater. actors are expected to slate with their name, material, and desired role if they so wish to disclose that information. an audition consists of a song and monologue. Into The Woods is not a dance heavy show and therefore does not require choreography as part of the audition, but if characters want to showcase their dance ability, they are welcome to. get creative with your writing for this part! 

in addition to looking for talent, the lima players would like to open things up to a stage crew consisting of an assistant director, stage manager, lighting crew, sound crew, assistant choreographer, choreographer, and a costumer. those positions will be decided through an interview process of sorts. while those auditioning for roles will post self-paras of their auditions, we ask those interested in tech positions write a bulleted list, in character, of why they think they would be a good fit for a particular position. please do a minimum of three bullet points, but don’t exceed five. make sure they are detailed!

you can have as many or as little characters as you want audition for a part in the musical or a position on the crew.

CASTING INFORMATION

The cast/crew will be decided based on content of the self para/interviews, player surveys (see below) and activity.

In the essence of fairness, unless there are roles left over after we have casted one character per player who auditioned, we will not be casting one player’s characters in multiple big roles.

To give more characters an opportunity to play big roles, understudies and swings will be utilized in casting.

Once auditions are over, players who did not audition their characters will be able to add them to any open roles in the cast/crew on a first come, first served basis.

please note that just because you have your character audition for a certain role or apply for a certain tech crew position does not mean they will automatically get it. 

we also ask that you answer the below questions for each character you have auditioning/interviewing and submit into the main: 

WHAT ROLE/POSITION DOES YOUR CHARACTER WANT IN GAME?

WHAT ROLE/POSITION DO YOU WANT YOUR CHARACTER TO HAVE? (i.e. your character has their heart set on Sandy in Grease, but you actually want them cast as Rizzo)

ARE THERE ANY PLOT POINTS YOU MAY WANT TO EXPLORE THAT ARE DEPENDENT ON A ROLE/POSITION YOUR CHARACTER MAY GET? IF SO, PLEASE LIST.

PLEASE LEAVE 2-4 ALTERNATIVE CASTING/POSITION CHOICES FOR YOUR CHARACTER. PROVIDE AS MUCH OR AS LITTLE INFORMATION AS YOU’D LIKE. 

IF YOU HAVE MULTIPLE CHARACTERS AUDITIONING, PLEASE RANK THE ORDER IN WHICH YOU’D LIKE US TO CONSIDER THEM FOR CASTING:

ANYTHING ELSE?

members also please remember tag these auditions/interviews with crhq:woods and link them in the audition para channel in discord!

now some more information about the roles in into the woods!

NARRATOR:  An imaginative, but unhappy, kid who feels as though he’s been forgotten at home. He tries to make sense out of his own personal loss and alienation by imagining a world of characters straight from the Brothers Grimm.

CINDERELLA:  A young, earnest maiden who is constantly mistreated by her stepmother and stepsisters. She wants to break away and live her own life, but discovers maybe being rescued by a prince isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

JACK:  The feckless Giant-killer who is 'almost a man.' He is adventurous, naive, energetic, and bright-eyed. He is devastated by the loss of his best friend, the family cow.

JACK’S MOTHER:  Browbeating and weary, Jack's protective mother who is independent, bold, bitter, and strong-willed.

THE BAKER:  A harried and insecure baker who is simple and loving, yet protective of his family. He wants his wife to be happy and is willing to do anything to ensure her happiness but has old-fashioned views about the role of a wife.

THE BAKER’S WIFE:  Determined and bright woman who wishes to be a mother. She leads a simple, yet satisfying life and is very low-maintenance yet proactive in her endeavors. 

CINDERELLA’S STEP MOTHER:  The mean-spirited, demanding stepmother of Cinderella. She is a ruthless social climber.

FLORINDA AND LUCINDA:  Cinderella's stepsisters who are beautiful of face but black of heart. They follow in their mother's footsteps of abusing Cinderella.

LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD:  A young girl who is strong-willed, quick-witted, fearless, yet youthful and naive. She has a love of sweets.

THE WITCH:  Sarcastic, obsessive protector of Rapunzel who is straightforward and aggressive. She dislikes and mistrusts most people. 

CINDERELLA’S MOTHER:  A memory of a beloved mother, a ghost guarding and aiding her daughter from a tree.

MYSTERIOUS MAN:  A mischievous vagrant and father/grandfather figure. He is a good-natured protector and observer.

THE WOLF:  A hunter who enjoys the game. He is dapper and sophisticated.

RAPUNZEL:  A ditzy and deeply unsatisfied maiden who is sheltered by the Witch and terribly lonely. She yearns to experience the world.

CINDERELLA’S PRINCE:  Vain and gorgeous, he is a disloyal lover who is currently searching for the next new, exciting thing.

RAPUNZEL’S PRINCE:  Just as vain and gorgeous as his older and more jaded brother, he is always chasing the newest, most exiting endeavor.

THE STEWARD:  A nasty servant who dislikes his role and dislikes the peasantry even more.

THE GIANT:  Angry and vengeful, particularly because she shows kindness to a child who then kills her husband. She is seeking restitution for her loss.

[alarriefantasy]

                                 Halloween Fic Rec 2019

Demon

Trade Mistakes by ifancylou, Taayjaay

Words: 3k

Harry summons a crossroads demon without realizing that he'd be giving up his soul in exchange for the deal. He offers the demon something a little different instead.

Demons by CarlyLovesLarry

Words: 4k

or where Harry is a demon and Louis is a hunter, and Harry fuck Louis into oblivion  

Sealed With A Kiss by ty_madison

Words: 6k

Harry has been having dreams about a boy, every night since he turned sixteen and everytime he has opened his eyes in the past the boy has disappeared. But now he is awake, the boy is here and he has a deal to make with the innocent Harry.

Paper Planes by cathedralhearts

Words: 7k

Louis sold his soul to the Devil when he was sixteen, tear-stained and miserable, grief wracking his body as the doctors told him his mother had days to live. Lucifer prefers to go by the name Harry, wears Louis’ soul around his neck as a pendant, and spends the next five years following him around.

Shadow Holding Me Hostage by scribblewrite

Words: 26k

Harry's a demon, basically the king of hell and the source of all evil, and he needs an heir. Louis's a normal human, unsuspecting of what's in store for him.

The Devil's Angel by lilacsweaters_ivorylilies

Words: 86k

Ezekiel 28:13 - For Lucifer has been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was his covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of his tabrets and of his pipes was prepared in him in the day that he was created. 

Fantasy/Supernatural

got me losing every breath (i'm latching onto you) by kissingiscool

Words: 14k

(or an au where louis is a fairy with a fear of thunderstorms and a talent of knitting and harry is a vet with three cats and a lot of love.)

A Love So True You Don't Have To Be Afraid by homosociallyyours

Words: 14k

In a world long ago but not so far away, where true love is valued above all else, Louis and Harry have already found one another. Their lives are shaken by the arrival of Simon, whose heart is more than a bit shit, and who longs to sow unhappiness.

When Louis is changed into a dragon and Harry is the knight meant to vanquish him, it would appear that Simon has succeeded. But love wins, every time.

Waiting For Someone Who Needs Me by graceling_in_a_suit

Words: 17k

AU: Harry is a genie, and Louis doesn't think he needs anything.

The Prince Of Light by jacaranda_bloom

Words: 35k

Louis was found abandoned at a hospital at six months old and adopted by an older couple who raised him. Now twenty, he studies by night and by day works as a live-in au pair for a family with three little girls. One of the girls, Holly, swears there is a Garden Fairy coming and eating treats she leaves out in the cubby house each night.

When the family goes away for a two week holiday, Louis is secretly tasked with feeding the Fairy. While laying out the food one night he falls from the cubby house and is found by Harry. Harry is different and Louis is fascinated. But as Louis learns how different Harry really is, he discovers his own true home and a very surprising past he never knew.

Cue badgers, bananas and cookies, soulmates, a whole other world, and a future he’d never imagined.

like cabbages and kings by you_explode

Words: 60k

When Louis was a kid, he had a series of very vivid dreams about a place called Wonderland. There were rabbits wearing waistcoats and talking cats and ridiculous tea parties, and amidst all the absurdity, there was a boy. A boy with dimples, big green eyes and the sweetest soul Louis has ever known. Louis has always kept a place in his heart for that boy and for his funny dreamworld, and when he’s twenty-five and his life falls apart, it turns out Wonderland might not be so imaginary after all.

there's no fair in farewell by we_are_the_same

Words: 218k

When Harry and Louis, two Cupids who have been bringing people together for decades, are tasked with making Soulmates Liam and Zayn fall in love, it proves to be much harder than expected. But maybe, just maybe, that isn’t such a bad thing after all.

Ghost

The Haunting of Louis Tomlinson by HelloAmHere

Words: 31k

OR: Louis is a plucky Gothic Heroine, Harry is a Mournful Spirit, and Big Country Houses are full of mystery and suspense, as Big Country Houses ever are!

Close to Nowhere by angelichl

Words: 34k

Louis and Harry are psychics who kind of hate each other. They go to Tennessee to investigate a haunting.

you look so good in blue by patdkitten

Words: 20k

Or: Harry Styles hears about a perfect flat from his roommate Zayn's boyfriends and decides to sign the lease. The only problem is: the flat has a reputation for being haunted. It certainly doesn't help that Harry's cat is seeing things as soon as they move in...

The Case Of The (Definitely Not Haunted) Styles Mansion by BriaMaria

Words: 40k

Or the Nancy Drew AU where Marcel is a man of logic, Louis is a private detective who believes in ghosts, and the Styles Mansion is definitely, absolutely, positively *not* haunted.

Tied to Fate by littlelouishiccups

Words: 52k

After his estranged father’s death, Harry inherits a castle in England that has belonged to his family for generations and he knows nothing about. When he breaks up with his boyfriend, Harry decides England is the perfect place for a small vacation. He isn’t prepared to meet Louis Tomlinson, a ghost who once lived in the castle and has haunted it for over five hundred years. He’s even more unprepared to fall in love with him.

Through Eerie Chaos by MediaWhore

Words: 102k

The Ghost Hunter AU where Niall lives to prove ghosts are real, Zayn is a skeptical librarian and Harry gets caught up in a century-old mystery and catches feeling in the process

Halloween Themed

Trick-or-Treat (Cheer Up) by writingstylinson 

Words: 2k

Louis Tomlinson is the single father of a little girl named Finnley, and they’ve been living in Holmes Chapel for a year. This Halloween is the first one they will be celebrating without Louis’ younger siblings or his own mother. It’s because of this that his daughter, who is usually outgoing and fearless, starts to have some worries about going trick-or-treating alone with her father.

Then Louis comes up with the perfect solution.

This is Halloween, everybody make a scene by allwaswell16

Words: 2k

When Louis takes his son trick-or-treating in a stormtrooper costume, little does he know by the end of the night he will end up gaining a Luke Skywalker, a Chewbacca, and a Rey. He doesn't mind the additions, and if Rey's very hot dad wants to come along as well, he doesn't mind that too much either.

this kitten's got your tongue tied in knots by ballsdeepinjesus

Words: 3k

[it's halloween, harry is a kitten in a tree and louis is a (fake) firefighter.]

A gold and green Halloween by Tita

Words: 8k

Harry and Louis are strangers who, dressed as Drarry, compete on a Halloween couple's costume contest. It's exactly as much of a mess as it sounds.

Black Cats Steal Hearts, Not Souls by SLD24

Words: 9k

Harry finds a kitten in a pumpkin patch the day before Halloween but it turns out not to be a kitten at all.

Horror

All The Songs That You Sing In The Dark by pukeandcry

Words: 10k

What happened was that first people got sick.

What happened after that was that they died.

But the worst thing was what happened after that. After they died, they came back.

The Skeleton Key by photo41

Words: 18k

Harry Styles, a good-natured nurse living in Manchester, quits his job at a hospice to work for Violet Winston, an elderly woman whose husband, Ben, is in poor health following a stroke.

When Harry begins to explore the couple's rundown mansion, he discovers strange artifacts and learns the house has a mysterious past. As he continues to investigate, he realizes that Violet is keeping a sinister secret about the cause of Ben's illness- and tries to convince the Winston's estate lawyer, Louis Tomlinson, that he really isn't going insane.

Loosely based off the movie of the same name.

Insane by prideinlou

Words: 20k

Or in which Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles are two dim-witted, drunk teenage boys that take a Halloween night dare too far, and end up in a life or death situation in the clutches of a haunted mental asylum.

Will they make it out alive... or will they go insane?

Mermaid

seaside improvisation by tinyweirdloves

Words: 6k

[harry is a mermaid who has lost his tail and he lives in louis's bathtub for a month.]

at least as deep as the pacific ocean (i wanna be yours) by writtensoul 

Words: 9k

louis is the very entitled prince of the seven seas!! harry is a goofy sailor boy!!! a lot of hijinks ensue involving slippery mermaid tails and happy fun little sea creatures!!

Define Dancing by asphodelknox 

Words: 20k

Death has a way of making certain things crystal clear. After Jay’s death, Louis returns to the summer cottage he always considered home. Unbeknownst to him, he’s also returning to the merman who has been his best friend through everything and finds that maybe there’s a chance for more.

Don't Let the Tide Come and Take Me by kiwikero

Words: 28k

Or, the one where Louis decides to set a merman free and ends up finding his own freedom along the way.

Still Deep In Us by graceling_in_a_suit

Words: 41k

AU. The village Harry has called home his entire life sits on six shaky legs, held aloft from the ocean which claimed the entire world twenty years ago. Harry's just a grieving tinkerer trying to do his best, and Louis is a mermaid that ruins The Village's delicate balance of power (and perhaps, just maybe, wins the heart of a boy).

Pirates

Captain Harry Styles... And The Faerie by spaceboyharry

Words: 8k

“You have today been defeated. Remember this forever as the day you were bested by Captain Harry Styles.” Louis zoomed past, shouting “AND THE FAERIE!” I sighed, rolling my eyes. “And the bloody faerie.”

must be something in the water by hattalove

Words: 3k

They all remember, somewhere deep down, why they gave up everything they had for the Mermaid.

The last vestiges of kindness and bravery and everything that is good in the world are on board that ship. Louis’s heart is on it, moored by some nameless jetty.

In Your Black Heart (Is Where You'll Find Me) by graceling_in_a_suit

Words: 35k

Louis Tomlinson has been lying for five years. His crew sees him as a pirate, a Captain, and an alpha; only two of those are the truth. He was content to let the illusion go on forever, but an omega named Harry Styles just had to join his crew and get his warm-vanilla stink all over Louis' best laid plans.Or: the story of The Captain and The Carpenter.

Si Pudiera Volar by messofgorgeouschaos

Words: 68k

When Harry’s fiancé leaves him for his cousin, he looks the other way for the sake of his happiness. He’ll do anything to forget about him, including joining a monastery. It isn’t until his cousin’s former lover, a pirate, appears that he realizes everything is not as it appears, and an honest pirate might be the only person worthy of his heart.

Or, a fic loosely based on Corazon Salvaje.

Vampire

Call Me the End of Your World by captainsftlouis

Words: 3k

or, the vampire AU where Louis is addicted to vampire venom, and Harry is addicted to Louis.

Waiting On You: A Christmas Drabble by emma1234

Words: 5k

On their first Christmas Eve as a couple, Louis and Harry decide it would be a great idea to exchange one special gift with one another to mark a new tradition. Of course, things never go as smoothly as they planned.

I Wanna Do Bad Things With You by lesbianphrodite

Words: 7k

Harry goes to his favorite pub with the intention to drink and feel bad for himself after a terrible break-up. Instead, he ends up hitting it off with a handsome vampire.

Forever And Always by jacaranda_bloom 

Words: 25k

OR the one where Harry’s neighbour is a crotchety old witch who hates vampires, Niall is the unsuspecting human who ends up inhabiting Harry’s body, and Louis is the caseworker who is assigned to swap them back. How it ends up a love story is anyone’s guess.

we should open up (before it's all too much) by disgruntledkittenface

Words: 43k

Struggling with grieving and depression since his dad died, Harry has never felt so alone. It’s too much to cope with on his own, but he feels like a burden when he tries to open up with people.

Then he meets Louis.

For You I'd Bleed Myself Dry by amomentoflove

Words: 49k

Harry is cold. His bones ache. Every movement draws a whimper from his cracked lips. The stone underneath him is practically like ice. He’s numb, but can clearly feel the sharp pains on his neck every timeHe visits him. Below the icy cold, the achy bones, and the pain on his neck, Harry Styles is pissed. There’s a fire burning in his mind and the anger for the man who keeps him imprisoned is the fuel. He despises him, the man who feeds from him and is a daily reminder that Harry’s suffering won’t end. The man who keeps Harry so weak that he can barely move most days. Harry’s waiting for the day when his owner will go too far and finally kill him. Death must be better than this cold hell he is in.

It won’t happen, though. He has a way of keeping Harry’s heart beating. So for now, all Harry can do is wait for death to come.

He’s been waiting for years.

Witches

what's inside your imagination (is as real as anything else) by suspendrs

Words: 3k

Or, Harry's a witch who likes to pretend he's a human pretending he's a witch, and Louis's the human in a not-so-clever costume that keeps catching his eye.

A Kind Of Magic by mellagreens

Words: 12k

Louis feels the urge to tell Harry he's in love with him.

Spellbound by lovelarry10

Words: 22k

Louis’ a shifter. Harry’s a witch. The only problem is, they’re hiding those things from each other.Will they be able to keep their secrets hidden at the most spooky time of year?

Call It True by abrighteryellow

Words: 48k

With dreams of being a successful novelist, Harry’s been working so hard that he almost doesn’t notice the smoothie shop that just opened down the street. But he can’t miss the mysterious, irresistible boy who works there, nor the strange but entirely positive effect his drinks seem to have. Harry needs to know what’s going on and he wants to get close to Louis, though not necessarily in that order.

A Spell and A Spark by dinosaursmate

Words: 73k

Louis is a teenage witch, living and attending university among mortals. He has to keep his secret whilst studying on both his degree and his witch's licence. His friends don't suspect a thing, even as spell after spell goes awry.

Our Place By The Moon by PearlyDewdrops

Words: 108k/WIP

Or: a late 90's urban fantasy AU in which Louis wants to befriend the strange boy next door, Harry is just trying to keep his family together, and falling in love is most inconvenient for a witch that may have accidentally reignited a centuries old curseꟷone that kinda messes with that.

[misssunflowersandsangria]

The Arrangement

Chapter 6:  The Performance 

Welcome back, my wonderful readers!  We’re racing towards the end of this story!  Thank you for stopping by!  I'll be happy if this helps take your mind off of the world for a little bit.  Enjoy the chapter :D 

Summary:  They've danced around their feelings for long enough now. 

*

**

“Step 2, ugh this is the worst one yet.” Shikamaru waited with bated breath worried. 

“It’s a dinner followed by a dance.” 

He just stared for a moment waiting for more information.“Oh, that’s it?”

“Yup. This is where we need your mom and some Naras. The dinner is supposed to consist of food half from Suna and half traditional Konoha dishes.”  He nodded knowing that his mom would love to have a whole kitchen staff to boss around. 

He just shrugged.  “Doesn’t seem too bad.”

“I have to perform a dance.” 

Never in his life did he expect the cruelest kunoichi of their generation to make such a statement. Thus he couldn’t help the bubble of laughter. 

“Shut up! It’s not that funny!”

“Yes, actually it is.” He couldn’t imagine his murderous warrior prancing around on a stage. 

Temari just rolled her eyes annoyed, but her lips quirked into a smile at his laugh. He didn’t laugh often and she wished that he could do so much more. 

“Anyways, it’s a traditional dance girls are taught from a young age. It’s a way for Suna to share part of its culture with my suitor and his family.” 

“Do I have to do anything?”

“No, you just get to sit there and watch it like it’s the most incredible thing that you’ve ever seen.”

“I'm sure it will be.” He teased her and he should have expected her tackling him to the floor. 

Despite her best efforts, he continued to laugh amused while she half-heartedly pounded at his chest. That is until she fell into a fit of laughter herself. She wasn’t sure whether she was happy, tired or overwhelmed but it felt good. If Shikamaru never laughed she sure as hell didn’t but like so many other things he brought that joy out of her. 

Once the laughing spell had passed they laid there on the floor in warm familiarity her head tucked into his neck. 

“You think I can do this?”  She asked, feeling a little insecure. War, battles, missions were easy, but there was a kind of vulnerability inherent in all these rituals. This wasn’t the kind of attention she wanted. 

He kissed her forehead affectionately, his arm tightening around her.  “I know you can.” 

*

**

Shikamaru’s arm was wrapped casually around Temari while they laughed and joked along with their friends and clansmen.  It felt similar to some of the time that she’d spend in Konoha, carefree nights that would turn into mornings.  

All-day long Shikamaru had been affectionate, holding hands, kisses lingering on her head.  At first, she assumed that it was just to perpetuate the lie, but it seemed all the more sincere and he was seeking out those moments.  Whatever his reasoning she fell into it the comfort and warmth the safety of his arms gave her.  Even now she leaned into his chest as they enjoyed the company of friends and family.  

The dinner was more enjoyable than she expected.  She loved the food from Suna and enjoyed it being paired with the food from Konoha.  She’d spent many family dinners with the Naras and when she was home she’d often crave Yoshino’s home-cooked meals.  She could tell that her brothers and everyone else that had been invited were enjoying it as well. Yoshino had worked the kitchen to the bone wanting to make sure it was all perfect and their hard work paid off. The food was delicious and there were few things that she enjoyed more than feeding the people she cared about. 

Temari didn’t take for granted that they were able to eat a meal together like this.  People from different villages, clans, and places breaking bread together. Years ago this would not have been possible.  Years ago Shikamaru had been her enemy. How times had changed. 

Shikamaru’s hand was curved tightly around Temari’s waist.   His fingers lightly brushed over patches of exposed skin and he could feel goosebumps where their skin touched. He knew that he needed to talk to her about the feelings that he’d finally begun to accept, but his heart had been broken in so many ways. If she was to reject his feelings this was one heartbreak he wouldn’t survive. 

“Do you have to get ready soon?” He whispered over to her his fingers easily threading through her hair. Temari nodded solemnly knowing that her performance would be up soon. 

Shikamaru tapped the pendant of her necklace with a soft grin. A wordless and sweet reminder.

“I’m excited to see it.”

“Why? Do you want to see me embarrass myself?”

He sighed, she was still so stubborn.  “Of course not. I know it’s out of your comfort zone but I’m proud of you and I know it will go well. Tem, it means a lot to me that you’d do this. I’ve enjoyed being here and learning about Suna and your traditions.”  He was so damn sincere and it was making her hesitancy wane. 

Her hand went to cup his cheek warmth and affection in her eyes. “Okay, this is for you.” 

*

**

Temari paced back and forth behind the curtain trying to calm herself down.   

“Stop it!  You’re making me nervous!”  Ino scolded her pausing her movements.  

“Sorry, I just can't believe that I’m being forced to do this.” 

Ino just stared at her confused.  “For as long as I’ve known you no one has ever been able to make you do anything you didn’t want to. It’s okay to enjoy it.  I know that the rituals might seem a little outdated but you’re an actual princess living out a fairy tale.”

“You don’t think that it’s stupid?”

“No, I don’t think so, it’s kind of nice actually.”

“Why?”

“You’re welcoming Shikamaru into your village and culture.  There’s something sweet and timeless about it.  When Sai and I get married and he becomes a Yamanaka there are certain steps to it.  It’s not as elaborate but I’m excited about it.  When my mom married my dad she had to go through it so in a lot of ways going through these rituals honors his memory and everyone else that has come before us.”  Temari had never thought about it that way.

“As Kunoichi, we have a lot of different expectations placed on us.  We’re expected to be strong warriors, but also to carry on bloodlines by bringing new life to the village and caring for our families. There’s so much to live up to but in some ways, I think that we’re lucky because we found partners that would never force us to be just one thing.  I know in some ways it might feel like you’re losing your freedom but maybe in this case you’re actually gaining something.   Shikamaru can be a lot of things but he’s always been your biggest supporter.  He’d never force you to do anything or be anything you didn’t want.”

Temari couldn’t help but smile. She was right.  She was lucky to find someone that supported her goals in life, that never tried to change her. “Thank you Ino, and thank you for doing this for me.”  While she remained in Konoha she had enlisted Ino to help her. She needed a few women to dance along with her and the blonde jumped at the opportunity. Temari thought that it would be a nice way to integrate his life into their traditions. 

Ino just waved off her appreciation, throwing an arm around her. “Shikamaru is my brother so that makes you my sister.  We’re family now.  We’ve gotta stick together.”

A sister, it was a concept that she’d never considered but she couldn't help but like the idea.  Over the years she’d grown to appreciate and respect the blonde.  She was a strong, fearless and capable kunoichi that cared greatly for the people in her life.  Temari was thankful that she was counted amongst them.  This would only make it all the more difficult when they revealed the truth about their “relationship.”  Everyone in his life had welcomed her with open arms and she was terrified of disappointing them all. 

Ino began preparing the other girls while Temari peered from behind the curtain to where Shikamaru was sitting with her brothers, his mom and Choji. That was her family out there. The stability, sense of home and belonging she’d always wanted was there with them.  She was fearless, a storm and she was tired of being some kind of pawn. The council may have forced her hand, but she had still chosen Shikamaru and she knew that in all situations, times and places she’d always choose him.  In a twisted way, she was thankful for what they had done and caused her to realize. 

Why couldn’t they be together? What was the harm in making this relationship real? Was it so far-fetched for them to be a couple when everyone around them seemed to believe that they belonged together?  She was tired of hiding behind duty, and tradition. For blaming everyone else for what was happening. She needed to be honest with him because she finally felt like she was being honest with herself. He was only going to be in Suna for a few more days. She was working with borrowed time. 

For now, she tried to put those thoughts aside playing in her head the dance steps when Gaara and Kankuro appeared. Garra was set to introduce her but they both looked like there was something more to be said. 

“Come on Temari, let's have a moment before you go out there.”   They walked out of the large room into a private study.

They both stared at her for a moment. She’d been dressed in traditional Suna fashion, bright embroidered fabric, make-up done and adorned in priceless jewels.  Even now her costume was elaborately made with brilliant colored cloths. She very much looked like a princess. 

“Temari, are you sure about this.  You can still back out.  We will deal with the Council.  We know that you don’t like this kind of attention.” They wanted one last chance to intervene before she made a spectacle of herself unnecessarily. 

Temari knew that her brothers were still worried about her but as she reflected on the last few days and really the last few years she knew what she wanted.  Why she just “let” this happen the way that it did. 

She just shook her head. “No, I’m okay.  To be honest, I want this.  I want Shikamaru as my suitor, to really have him become part of our family one day.  It’s real to me now, all of it, as silly as it might be. If these rituals are what it takes then I’m all for it. ”  They both just smiled at her neither one surprised by the revelation.  It was nice to see her look determined and ready to take her life back in her hands. 

“Does he know this?”

“No, I wanted to get through this first.  I won’t ask for permission but I’d like your support?”  It had just been the three of them for so long now she was bringing someone else into the fold. 

Garra placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.  “You are our sister. We will always support you. If Shikamaru is who you want then he's good enough for us.”

“Hey if he’s crazy enough to take you on for the rest of his life and become a part of this family he’s pretty damn brave.” Kankuro teased her trying to keep the emotion out of his voice. Temari was his big sister and best friend, he was happy that she’d found someone worthy of her that would love and take care of her the way that she deserved.

She just hugged them both thankful that despite it all, through life, tragedy, and war she still had her baby brothers.  

*

**

The room fell silent as Gaara stood at the center to address the guests. 

“Shikamaru, it has been a great honor for us to have you and your family here in Suna. Now more than ever it’s important to show not only our familiar bonds but to strengthen the ones that we share with those miles away from us. You have shown us that love can cross the driest deserts to the deepest forests.  My people, the time for mourning and sadness has passed. We must look towards the desert sunrise to a new day. One filled with joy and laughter, of singing and dancing. And so it is an honor for me to present to you the crowned jewel of Suna, our Princess Temari.” 

The crowd watched enthralled as the women appeared on stage in gorgeous and elaborate costumes with fans in their hands.  Shikamaru’s eyes were glued on Temari’s form as she moved gracefully with the music.  She was incredible and he couldn’t understand her hesitance. She was a natural as her body moved fluidly through each step her hands waving the fans in elaborate gestures. He watched in a daze as each long and lean limb moved with intention through the air, his eyes following each line and curve. Her face was set in that familiar look of pure determination. She was there to prove herself capable and better than anyone could have ever expected. He didn’t doubt that the room was stunned by the level of precision and grace present. 

“She’s beautiful.”  He vaguely heard his mom remarked. Her eyes opened in wonder and pride. 

Temari while she complained and resisted this whole process had demonstrated the dignity and strength of her bloodline. She was truly Suna’s princess and he hoped she'd be his queen. 

Once the performance concluded the crowd erupted in loud cheers.  Shikamaru made his way towards Temari, pulling her into his arms.  Overwhelmed by love and emotion he couldn’t help but place a sweet, warm kiss against her lips.  He was not the least bit ashamed of being affectionate towards her in front of all these people. 

“You were amazing Tem.”  She just blushed embarrassed by the attention and impromptu kiss. 

Once the cheers had died down they faced their guests hand in hand.  As part of this event, he was supposed to make a statement to Suna.  Initially, he’d been nervous never being one for public speeches, preferring his work to be behind the scenes. After what he’d seen Temari do he no longer had that hesitation. 

“Thank you, Lord Gaara, the wonderful citizens of Suna and my Princess Temari for welcoming us to your village and home. Sunagakure is a strong, proud and wonderful country that we have been fortunate to learn more about. I am humbled by the kindness and friendship that we have been shown.”  Shikamaru looked down at the girl holding onto him so tightly.  “Temari, my love.  Thank you for choosing me.  I will spend the rest of our days together proving that I’m worthy of you.”  

Everyone was completely floored by the sincere love present between them. Their relationship represented a new chapter in Suna’s story, one that proved that the world had changed.   

The rest of the evening's festivities consisted of more food, drinks, and celebration.  The Konohagakure delegation would be leaving soon so it was an opportunity to enjoy each other’s company for a little while more. 

Shikamaru remained by Temari’s side for the rest of the night, not wanting to be more than a few feet away at any given moment.  Ever so often she’d reach up to place a chaste kiss against his lips and it made them both breathless with anticipation for when they could finally be alone.

They were finally going to have this conversation that was years in the making.

 The Arrangement:

Chapter 1:  The Set-Up

Chapter 2: The Proposition

Chapter 3: The Participants

Chapter 4:  The Declaration

Chapter 5: The Fear

Chapter 6: The Performance 

Important Notes:

Temari’s dance was inspired by traditional Japanese dances.  They are really pretty so look them up! 

There are maybe 3 more chapters to this story then it will be all done. 

Ino and Temari would totally get along and be good friends! 

**

The world is a crazy place right now.  Please be good to yourself and others. Do what you need to keep yourself happy, healthy and safe.  Good hygiene and good self-care right now! I don’t know when, or how but it will all be okay, I’m here and I love you! 

[moonwest]

Full Ben Whishaw Interview in Sunday Times Magazine

Ben Whishaw, the voice of Paddington, the millennial Q in the Bond films, the next generation of Mr Banks in Disney’s epic Mary Poppins reboot, is fresh off the plane from LA. He is wearing a navy shirt, dark wool trousers and a fluffy knitted hat over his lush curls. It’s a strange combination of quirkiness and elegance. At the start of the year he won a Golden Globe and a Critics’ Choice award for his captivating portrayal of Norman Scott opposite Hugh Grant’s Jeremy Thorpe in A Very English Scandal. Of course he says he didn’t expect to win, and of course he says it feels great, but when I ask if this recognition from Hollywood means he’ll spend more time out there, he says: “No idea. I don’t feel it’s my world. I just sort of dropped in and it was a lovely thing. I would like to drop in more often. Maybe it opens doors. I guess we’ll see.”

For now, it’s back to the day job. Whishaw, 38, is rehearsing a play called Norma Jeane Baker of Troy, in which he plays a man who likes to dress up as Marilyn Monroe. “We just got the costumes,” he says. “I wear a dress that’s a replica of the one she wore in The Seven Year Itch — the white one where the wind comes up. They’ve also given me the bum, hips and breasts. I don’t think they’re as big as Marilyn’s, but they’re proportionate to my body. It’s a strange thing. I’m not playing Marilyn, I’m playing a man who’s infatuated with her. The play is set in the year she died and he’s in mourning for her. Apparently there was a spate of copycat suicides that year.”

To research the role, Whishaw has been reading a book called Fragments. “It’s bits of Marilyn’s diary, notes on hotel paper, poetry,” he says. “She writes beautifully. Arthur Miller was here with her when they were doing the film The Prince and the Showgirl, and she opened his diary and read about how disappointed he was with her, how embarrassed he was being around his intellectual friends with her. Apparently this was devastating to Marilyn. All these men say how difficult she was. It makes you want to strangle them. But she really was amazing. She had a lot going on, a lot of sadness on her plate, poor darling. To be a star in that star system and those men.”

If she had been born 50 years later, does he think she would have been part of the #MeToo movement? “I’m sure she would have. I’ve been listening to interviews with her. She doesn’t seem afraid of anything.”

Fearless and vulnerable. It’s a contradiction that could possibly describe both of them. “Yes,” he smiles.

Almost 15 years have passed since Whishaw, fresh out of Rada, was acclaimed as one of the best ever Hamlets in the Trevor Nunn production at the Old Vic. His portrayal earned him an Olivier nomination and opened the door to film and television roles. He voiced Michael Bond’s Peruvian stowaway bear in the two recent Paddington films and is lined up for a third, as well as an animated TV series for Nickelodeon. Perhaps his best known role is Q in the Bond films Skyfall (2012) and Spectre (2015). As soon as he’s finished his Marilyn, he will begin shooting the next one, though no one in a Bond movie can tell you in advance what it’s going to be like. “I think they’re probably trying to figure out what to do with the storyline,” he says. “At least I know that my character is the same. Someone did tell me there might be a scene with Q’s cats.”

I immediately want to sort out an audition for my cat Roger Moore.

“Does Roger travel?” he asks. “Could he go to Pinewood? And can he cock an eyebrow?”

Yes, he can. That’s why he’s called Roger Moore.

“I’ll get onto Barbara Broccoli about it,” he says.

Whishaw has created an ever-widening niche for himself — he has made room in film, theatre and television for malleable, sensitive male characters that are sometimes described as androgynous, but what they really are is sexually ambiguous.

“Do you think I’m androgynous? I think I’m quite male-looking. Androgyny is different to non-binary, but I hate all these labels. I get mixed up.”

It’s true, there are many labels; nonetheless Whishaw is a 21st-century man. When you think of those macho actors of the last century, men like Rock Hudson, who revealed he was gay only when he was dying of Aids, it seems so different now.

Whishaw entered a civil partnership with the Australian composer Mark Bradshaw in 2012, but for a long time he did not discuss his private life. He would say things like, “An actor shouldn’t reveal their sexuality because it pigeonholes them.” Once he had come to terms with it himself, however, hiding it became difficult in a different way. “People assume there’s some juicy secret,” he says. “But I don’t agree any more with that statement [about being pigeonholed]. I don’t think it’s the be-all and end-all, and since revealing my sexuality I haven’t had any negative effects.”

Perhaps that’s because he is such a skilful actor, perhaps the pigeonholes aren’t as rigid as they used to be, or perhaps the revelation has actually helped him. He shrugs. He doesn’t mind talking about it now, it’s just he can’t be conclusive.

At one point, Whishaw was lined up to play Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, although he was never given a contract or confirmed officially. Various versions of the biopic had been on the cards for about 10 years. Sacha Baron Cohen was in the frame first of all, then Whishaw, and ultimately Rami Malek. The film has been accused of not being “gay enough”, but, for all the criticism, Malek’s career-defining role won him an Oscar.

We talk about how hard it was for Mercury to admit that he was gay and how he would refer to himself as bisexual. But then perhaps he was. He certainly had sexual relationships with women. “I think it’s very unfair when people say they’re bisexual and they’re accused of being gay really,” Whishaw says. “If we’re honest about these things, perhaps most people are on a spectrum.”

Whatever the risks he took in revealing his sexuality to the public, Whishaw found it much harder coming out to his family. “I’ve gone through a few difficult things,” he says. “There was a moment in my early twenties when I did not feel very good about myself. It was to do with my sexuality and not knowing how to be myself and hating myself. I did know [my sexuality], I just couldn’t tell anyone.”

When he eventually told his parents, they weren’t surprised, but he still struggled. He sought therapy. “It really did help,” he says.

He carries himself with such a sense of otherness that I am surprised to learn he is a twin. “We were born on the same day and we came out of the same place at the same time, but we are totally unalike,” he says. “Perhaps you can see we are related, but we don’t look alike. He’s blond. He came out first and was very pink and chubby. And I was this squashed, dark thing that popped out a few moments after. We were so different, but we were always dressed the same and taken everywhere together, even to things I was not interested in, like football. So I’ve always defined myself by him, but in opposition to him. I like everything different to him. There’s not a single thing we have in common, except we both liked the scary rides if we were taken to a park.”

Don’t twins normally have a kind of supernatural understanding? “No. No understanding, no telepathy. When I told him [about being gay], he wasn’t surprised, of course, but still.”

He notices a black crystal around my neck and I explain that it was given to me by my hypnotherapist.

“I’d like to try hypnotherapy,” he says. For what? “Smoking,” he says. “It’s so frowned upon. You feel ostracised from the world if you smoke. And there’s the hair twiddling thing.” He starts twiddling his hair. “I’ve probably been doing this for the whole interview.” He hasn’t, but apparently it’s been a lifelong habit. “I’ve done it since I was a baby. I don’t know why I do it.”

I recall the title of a Peter Cook anthology: Tragically, I Was an Only Twin. That’s what Whishaw seems like. I can’t imagine him with a brother. “My dad says if my brother and I were one person we would be an amazing, perfect human,” he replies.

It’s often reported that his father works in IT, but that’s not true. “He lives in the countryside and raises chickens behind a farm. He used to be a footballer and he now works in sports with young people. He’s not an IT person at all,” Whishaw laughs. His mother works in cosmetics. They split up when he was a young boy, but he has good relationships with both of them. He talks about them with love.

The last time we met, Whishaw told me he was afraid of meeting people. “I haven’t got over that,” he says. “I love people, but I’m just shy of meeting new people, especially when they’re famous.”

In particular, he was bashful around Meryl Streep, whom he starred alongside in Mary Poppins. “I’m so completely left speechless when I’m in the same room as her. Do you never feel that speechlessness come on you?” he asks sweetly. “Even though she seemed to be the nicest person, I was very timid and shy around her.”

It’s odd how someone so shy can look so confident — smouldering even — on screen.

He walks off in the furry hat that makes him look part man, part mole. It’s certainly a statement. But perhaps the most curious thing about Whishaw is we’ll never entirely know what that statement is.

Norma Jeane Baker of Troy is showing at the Shed’s Bloomberg Building, New York, April 6-May 19; theshed.org

[ourievamp]

Beetlejuice Musical fantasy

So, I fell in love with Beetlejuice the musical, the musical, the musical ever since I saw the Tony performance the cast did. It was a random YouTube click that sent me on a whirlwind of inspiration and near obsessive fandom. I immediately became a fan of Alex Brightman and have since seen Red Hook, his episode of Good Fight and any YouTube vid, soundtrack and bootleg I could find! His energy, talent and love of his work really shines in anything he does.

But this post isn’t about Brightman. It’s about the Beetlejuice show itself. If you have not seen it yet, I suggest going to Broadway and getting tickets now if you can. If not, it is not difficult to find someone with a bootleg. It is a fantastic show made by many fantastic people, but I have a few ideas for it that are a bit…out there.

My imagination runs wild with things like this. ‘How can this be different? How can it be better, go further?’ and this show was no different. I have a character in my head. Fearless and strong, able to do what she wants because she always finds a way. She wanted to perform School of Rock, but is stuck in a second shift manufacturing job. So she was able to convince her boss that she could rock the floor, while still getting her work done. Realistic? No, but when are fantasies based in reality.

So what would she do for Beetlejuice? How do you take a show like that to another level to satisfy her adrenaline needs? There is an interview towards the beginning of the show’s run where Alex and Sophia Ann-Caruso are speaking about the work put into the show and Alex points out ‘It’s stunts!’ and this makes my fantasy self laugh.

‘I’ll show you stunts!’

The start of the show would begin as it does on the Great White Way, but as if Brightman had actually taken cocaine in the wings….and speed. My fantasy self would run and jump over and off anything she could at a whim! Physically fit enough for the stunts, and understanding her body to an extreme degree to avoid injury. What she can do really tests the limits of what a person can do.

She really kicks it into high gear for Say My Name. When I first saw the show my thought about the set was ‘that ‘roof’ is way to small…and so low to the ground!’ So the fantasy would perform the number on a high wire (The strange thing is? I thought of this BEFORE I saw Alex’s interview for Pizza Your Mind https://youtu.be/8jctcvwmykM in which he mentions a talent for wire walking!) The two actors would move and jump over one another high above the audience!

The show would have to keep that kind of energy up, though. So how do you top a high wire act?

I don’t know how Tesla coils work, so it is possible that the things I describe here are dangerous, perhaps even impossible, but, like I said, it’s a fantasy.

Beetlejuice has some impressive power that he uses in the show, depicted by flash paper, lighting, moving sets, and bangs on the Winter Garden stage. My idea would be to use lightning! Tesla coils backstage and a chain mail jacket would aid in this (‘Bitchin’ resistance training.’ Is what she’s say when someone comments on her performing in such a costume). Act 1 would end with bolts of lightning generated from the coils, striking the actor, and being directed to targets like the light fixture, walls, and the pig!

Now, this would obviously be rather painful for my fantasy self, so she would have a rather high pain tolerance and utilize the intermission to recover from the electricity coursing through her body.

Act 2 would be the real test. That Beautiful Sound would best be performed while the actor was wearing the chain mail jacket. Her strength and endurance would have to be increased in order for this to work. She’s dance the number out of the jacket, then on, to develop both to the level needed. Lightning would be used sporadically, and strike near the actors who become possessed for the ‘dance break’, also the ‘She’s in for a shock’ line! It would make for one hell of a show!

Beetlejuice could not be the only one with the stunts, though. My fantasy world is a little self-centered. I want to play BJ, so most of the dream is from that perspective, but there is one exception: Barbara 2.0. It never felt right that only a few things were broken during this number so I always wondered how cool it would be for their past projects to whirl around them as they find their power together, destroying the past as they faced their future!

The séance would need another one up, and Beetlejuice’s hair was and inspiration for another element used on stage. What if the ghoul rose from that stage lit on fire? This jacket would have some kind of fuel on it, maybe gas. Something providing as much control of the element as possible. Beetlejuice in his fury would throw flames on stage, directing his power to the chains and such as needed. The flames would dissipate when Lydia leaves and instead, BJ would opt for throwing knives hurled at various targets (this will continue later).

I am sure that some more effects can be used in the Netherworld, especially for Lydia’s search for her mother. I thought that doubles of the actress would run through, sometimes having mirror images of the girl running about, adding to the otherworldly look of this scene!

The Wheel of Death is where more knife work would be added. Otho would spin on the wheel while Beetlejuice would throw knives at his body, but they would miss! BJ would comment on why his aim is so shit as he pushes the wheel away, leaving room for Lydia to reappear.

Lydia takes control of the show from now on, so my fantasy reverts back to the default of the Broadway show. Sometimes Lydia is hovered in mid-air, with no possible way of doing it, but that’s about it.

So…What do you guys think?

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis: Joker (Suicide Squad)

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

Boy oh boy, talking about the Joker is always fun! Who are we talking about this time? We’ve covered Ledger’s creepy anarchist and Nicholson’s unhinged mobster, so who do we have left? Romero’s madcap clown? Hamill’s multimedia masterpiece performance? Maybe Joaquin Phoenix’s fresh new take on the most iconic villain in comics?

No… sigh… we’re talking about Jared Leto. Might as well get him out of the way. And while this is certainly not a Joker I like dwelling on, I think there is a fair deal to discuss in regards to this incarnation the Joker, in particular why he fails as a take on Batman’s most famous enemy and what could have been done to fix him, because really, it would not have been hard to make this Joker work.

Actor: Jared Leto is not necessarily a bad actor, but he is certainly not the kind of guy you’d expect to play someone like the Joker. Sure, one of his most famous roles is in Fight Club where he gets his face pulverized, so we know he’s good at getting the crap kicked out of him (a requirement for being the archenemy of a superhero who loves to beat up criminals), but that was a minor role. Here he’s taking on the one comic book villain that even people who have never read a comic could probably name, and I just don’t think someone who is better in supporting roles could pull it off.

Not helping his case is his extremely creepy on-set behavior, where he method acted in incredibly disturbing ways to the point he harassed his costars. Even more baffling is that all the weird, edgy stories of his method acting showed he had no understanding of who Joker is as a character; Joker is not some weird, cringey stalker who sends people dead rats, he’s an unhinged madman who would probably bake a dead rat cake and send it to someone’s house with a bomb inside that would explode at their kid’s birthday, raining dead rats everywhere, all because the kid’s dad cut in front of him at the grocery store. 

In all honesty, Leto is probably the biggest problem because of this. It’s the same problem Eisenberg had as Lex Luthor: he doesn’t understand or care about the character he’s playing, and it shows, because it is almost entirely off the rails from what one would expect, and not in a good way.

Motivation/Goals: The Joker in film typically has the goal of causing a ruckus, overturning society in some way, or just being evil in general… but with a fun twist. Joker is always supposed to do stuff because it amuses him. Nicholson’s Joker got this down the best, but even Ledger’s anarchist take on the character got this down extremely well.  Here though, Joker is pretty much a bit player in the story, and his entire purpose in the narrative is showcasing Harley’s origin and then showing him coming to rescue her. That’s about the extent of his being in the film: he exists solely to help Harley break free from captivity, which he fails to do until the very end of the film.

This is disappointing in an extremely obvious way: this is THE JOKER. This is a character who demands to be the center of attention. This is a character who hijacked the plot of every single one of the best Batman video games ever made. This is a villain who just won’t die. This is the archenemy to end all archenemies, and yet here in this film he’s playing second fiddle to a CGI witch. A lot of his scenes were apparently cut, which makes things even worse, because we could have perhaps had a better grasp of who he is. As is, Joker is really nothing but a satellite love interest to Harley.

Personality: What little we see from this Joker is mostly unappealing. He’s creepy, he’s crazy, he’s strange, but a lot of it feels recycled from other Jokers and not a unique spin put on by Leto. However, there is one aspect of the character that is truly great and deserving of praise: this Joker almost certainly genuinely loves Harley Quinn, in his own demented way. Finally, an adaptation brings Joker and Harley’s relationship back from “romanticized domestic abuse” to the Mad Love it excelled at being. The director’s cut actually added in a little bit more to really showcase these two do love each other, as crazy as the two of them get. It’s like the saying goes: She was fearless, and crazier than him. She was his queen, and God help anyone who disrespected his queen.

Final Fate: They make it look like Joker dies in a helicopter crash… but it’s Joker. You can count on one hand the amount of times his death actually sticks in any continuity. He survived and busts Harley out at the end, ending the film on a kind of sweet note, honestly. 

Too bad it’s one that’s doomed to be undermined by later films, as Birds of Prey is almost certainly going to have Harley kicking Mr. J to the curb and Jared Leto is seemingly cut from the DCEU, and even if he wasn’t it’s doubtful he’d ever be able to get out of Joaquin Phoenix’s shadow at this point. I can’t even jokingly say “Press F to pay respects” here, because neither I nor anyone else respects Jared Leto in the slightest anyway. 

Best Scene: I’m a bit fond of the scene where he dives into the chemicals with Harley, if only because it really reinforces that their love, while utterly insane, is genuine in their own twisted way. I honestly really like this take on their relationship.

Best Quote: This entire exchange, because as corny and silly as it all is, again, it reinforces what I think worked with Joker:

The Joker: Question! Would you die for me?

Harley: Yes.

The Joker: That's too easy. Would you... Would you live for me? Hmm?

Harley: Yes.

The Joker: Careful. Do not say this oath thoughtlessly! Desire becomes surrender. Surrender becomes power. You want this?

Harley: I do.

The Joker: Say it. Say it. Say it. Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty...

Harley: ...Please?

The Joker: God, you're so... good.

Final Thoughts & Score: Jared Leto’s Joker gets a lot of flak for things such as his design, his mannerisms, the overall performance… and I can’t really argue with much of that. While the base design isn’t terrible, the overdone tattoos, particularly the infamous “Damaged” tattoo, really don’t feel much like the Joker. His mannerisms for the most part just don’t scream Joker either, or at least not a particularly new or interesting take on him. And, overall, the performance in general is weak, lackluster, and inconsequential to the film as a whole. I believe even the director has stated Joker would have made for a better antagonist than the magical Enchantress, and frankly I have to agree, especially since it would have given Leto’s Joker more screentime as well as a more grounded threat for the Squad to face on their first mission. Really, considering most of the characters are just normal people with highly trained skillsets or mild mutations, wouldn’t it make more sense for them to fight off an insane gang leader clown rather than an interdimensional witch demon bringing about the apocalypse?

Combine that with what little is good about him in the actual film – namely, his genuine affection for Harley – and it may have actually made for a good, compelling plotline, with a conflicted Harley forced to choose between an insane relationship she loves and her newfound ragtag group of wacky friends. Not only would it have strengthened Harley and Joker’s roles in the narrative, it would have almost certainly given a better lead in to Birds of Prey. Leto’s Joker could have had more of a chance to exert his charm over Harley and perhaps even be more of an intimidating presence on the screen, maybe even use some classic Joker gags. As I said at the start, this character would have been seriously easy to fix. Just clean up the costume, give some better direction, and let him have a more central role that naturally creates conflict while allowing the Squad to develop closer bonds with each other.

Joker shockingly gets a 2/10. Yeah, I don’t think this is the worst abomination ever put to film, and honestly, even among bad comic book villains he’s nowhere near as bad as someone like Malekith, Weapon XI, or Fant4astic Doom; at the very least, this Joker has some redeeming qualities to him that I can’t ignore. He’s certainly one of the worst adaptations of the characters ever, but still, credit where credit is due, he does some things right. It was all just mishandled, as often things were in regards to the DCEU at the time.

[gramilano]

Onegin with Roberto Bolle and Marianela Nuñez photo by Brescia and Amisano, Teatro alla Scala 2019

John Cranko’s ballet Onegin was brought to La Scala in 1993 as a vehicle for Carla Fracci with Rex Harrington in the title role. It wasn’t, however, Fracci’s first contact with the ballet. Her close ties with Cranko began before he became the director of the Stuttgart Ballet when she created Juliet in his production of Romeo and Juliet for La Scala; she was 21. The inimitable Marcia Haydée was the original Tatiana when Onegin was staged in Stuttgart in 1965, but Cranko first heard Tchaikovsky’s symphonic poem Francesca da Rimini, which he used as the music for the heart-breaking final duet, while at Fracci’s house in the early ‘60s. Tatiana was a role that she longed to dance, even though she had to wait until she was 56 before the opportunity arose.

The opening night Tatiana for this season’s run at La Scala was Marianela Nuñez, a dancer who has admired Fracci since she was a child, and there was a warm greeting between the two after the curtain came down on the night Fracci was in the audience.

Nuñez is beautiful in this role, and while her suitability for the last act is a given, she gives a satisfyingly credible and nuanced performance as the young Tatiana too – crunching up her dress with a hand when she feels awkward, shyly giving Onegin Princess Di looks, being simple and ingenuous while avoiding being silly and gullible. Her dancing is a marvel, with meticulous attention to the underlying expression of each placement of her foot, of every position of her hands, yet there is complete freedom and fearlessness in the athletic pas de deux with Onegin – poise giving way to passion.

Onegin with Roberto Bolle and Marianela Nuñez photo by Brescia and Amisano, Teatro alla Scala 2019

Pier Luigi Samaritani, who is well-known for designing Natalia Makarova’s La Bayadère for the American Ballet Theatre, designed this production for La Scala. Onegin was maybe his last project as he died just a year later at 51. However, the sets don’t seem to have come from a fifty-year-old in the 1990s as they creak under the weight of his old-fashioned approach, with lots of questionable perspective too. Roberta Guidi Di Bagno is credited as co-designing the fine costumes, and I would guess that most of the work is hers. The most striking differences with Jürgen Rose’s 1960’s designs are Titania’s ball dress for her duet with Gremin, which is black, not red, and her dress for the final scene which is royal blue. Both choices subtly tell their own story, with the importance and formality of her life as a general’s wife being shown in the black, and the strong, mature woman she has become is reflected in the blue, someone who doesn’t seem put upon and downcast as she can seem in Rose’s muted brown dress.

16 Onegin with Roberto Bolle and Marianela Nuñez photo by Brescia and Amisano, Teatro alla Scala 2019

17 Onegin with Roberto Bolle and Marianela Nuñez photo by Brescia and Amisano, Teatro alla Scala 2019

Inhabiting these two dresses was Nuñez, commanding and majestic, the tables now turned as Onegin crumples to the floor, desperate for her attention. Her rapid breathing as she builds her resolve to order him away is impeccably judged and typical of her believability in every moment. She is despairing but never hysterical. Of course, Nuñez cheats a little… she has Tatiana inbuilt. Her honesty and goodness have come across the footlights since she first stepped on to The Royal Opera House stage as a teenager – everyone loves Nela – and maybe, like Tatiana, she lacked some emotional maturity in her early years, which was why Aurora was such a perfect fit. Now, roles such as Tatiana, (Manon, for example), are ideal for her being, at 37, she can still infuse these young girls with convincing naiveté yet has the experience and depth to develop them fully until the final curtain. Yet Nuñez the woman takes her applause looking like a delighted teenager once more.

10 Onegin with Roberto Bolle and Marianela Nuñez photo by Brescia and Amisano, Teatro alla Scala 2019

13 Onegin with Roberto Bolle photo by Brescia and Amisano, Teatro alla Scala 2019

Similarly, Roberto Bolle retained a Peter Pan boyishness for years that made him an ideal Romeo but less convincing in such manly roles as Onegin until more recently. As his face caught up with his body, parts like this began to fit him like a glove. The contrast between the stuffed shirt Onegin when he first meets Tatiana, and the abandonment and joy he expresses when he appears in her dream, is spot on. Outside of Tatiana’s dream, Bolle’s Onegin is an almost totally dislikeable character, though his attractiveness to her is evident. His flirting is cruel, and his lack of maturity in confronting Lensky’s adolescent jealousy to avoid a duel is unforgivable.

Onegin with Martina Arduino and Nicola del Freo photo by Brescia and Amisano, Teatro alla Scala 2019

Nicola Del Freo’s Lensky was one of the best I have ever seen. Dreamy, fresh and handsome then confused, angry and petulant. His demanding solo before the duel was flawless technically, every step executed with ease, but also with great musicality and intention. Martina Arduino was Olga. She is blessed with a doll-like face which catches the light, and she radiated joy throughout the first scene. Her pas de deux with Lensky was delightful – she playful and vibrant, he ardent – with Lensky’s sensuous stage-level rond de jambe summing up perfectly their feelings of yearning and abandon.

Gabriele Corrado, another fine dancing actor from La Scala’s now impressive stable, was Prince Gremin. He has natural authority on stage, and with his strong build and care for detail, he must be every ballerina’s favourite partner.

Onegin with Marianela Nuñez and Gabriele Corrado photo by Brescia and Amisano, Teatro alla Scala 2019

Unfortunately, with only seven performances, and five taken by Nuñez and Bolle, there was only one opportunity to see another cast. Yet Corrado and the magnificent Emanuela Montanari were especially memorable two years ago, and it would have been good to see them again, and indeed showcase a new couple. This is always a problem with La Scala’s limited runs. The only other cast featured Nicoletta Manni as Tatiana and Marco Agostino as Onegin.

There were many differences between Manni’s interpretation and that of Nuñez, in both her characterisation and her dancing. Manni is excellent at finding every opportunity for holding a position for a microsecond longer than most ballerinas which has the same function as punctuation in a sentence, clarifying the meaning and structure. This was especially effective in her first solo when she is trying to catch Onegin’s eye and she played effectively with every step. Strangely, although a younger dancer, she was a more knowing Tatiana from curtain up.

Agostino was warmer than Bolle, which was fine but less effective, and he sometimes appeared to be putting on a ‘stern’ mask. It recalled Bolle playing these roles in his twenties. However, Agostino’s dancing is accomplished and expressive and he cuts a dashing figure on stage. Alessandra Vassallo was a delightful Olga dancing with Del Freo as Lensky, who impressed once again.

…further photos

01 Onegin with Marianela Nuñez Martina Arduino and il Corpo di Ballo photo by Brescia and Amisano, Teatro alla Scala 2019

02 Onegin with Martina Arduino and Nicola del Freo photo by Brescia and Amisano, Teatro alla Scala 2019

03 Onegin with Nicola Del Freo photo by Brescia and Amisano, Teatro alla Scala 2019

04 Onegin with Martina Arduino and Nicola del Freo photo by Brescia and Amisano, Teatro alla Scala 2019

05 Onegin with Nicola Del Freo photo by Brescia and Amisano, Teatro alla Scala 2019

06 Onegin with Martina Arduino and Nicola del Freo photo by Brescia and Amisano, Teatro alla Scala 2019

09 Onegin with Roberto Bolle and Marianela Nuñez photo by Brescia and Amisano, Teatro alla Scala 2019

11 Onegin with Roberto Bolle and Marianela Nuñez photo by Brescia and Amisano, Teatro alla Scala 2019

12 Onegin with Nicola Del Freo photo by Brescia and Amisano, Teatro alla Scala 2019

15 Onegin with Roberto Bolle and Marianela Nuñez photo by Brescia and Amisano, Teatro alla Scala 2019

18 Onegin with Roberto Bolle and Marianela Nuñez photo by Brescia and Amisano, Teatro alla Scala 2019

19 Onegin with Roberto Bolle and Marianela Nuñez photo by Brescia and Amisano, Teatro alla Scala 2019

21 Onegin with Marianela Nuñez photo by Brescia and Amisano, Teatro alla Scala 2019

Marianela Nuñez and Roberto Bolle lead an top-notch cast in Onegin at La Scala John Cranko’s ballet Onegin was brought to La Scala in 1993 as a vehicle for Carla Fracci with Rex Harrington in the title role.

[paintmeablueskye]

To 13 Years...

Tomorrow, I am going to go out to the city and buy one deluxe edition of Lover. I’m only going to buy one because it is literally all I can afford right now even though I desperately want them all--as an English major, teacher, and writer, I love to see Taylor’s writing process and personal thoughts/reflections on life.

BUT, there are a few things I have realized lately and I have to put it all somewhere. This may end up being a bit of a letter to @taylorswift and @taylornation, but really anyone is welcome to read it. I am so sorry that it’s so long.

I have been extremely down and depressed all summer after I didn’t land a teaching a job after graduating from college on May 15, 2019 with my English degree and teaching certification. I graduated with Scholastic University Honors and did a undergraduate thesis that explored how the invention of photography helped American literature move from the literary movement of Romanticism to Realism (including psychological realism). I took it further and also took my own photographs where I created all of the costumes, makeup, hair, etc. AND photo-shopped to create visual representations of the stories that I had discussed in my thesis. I gave artists statements in my thesis and explained why I did what I did in my artwork to give the viewer a chance to interact with and see the story in a different way. I thought I was extremely qualified, and I wouldn’t have much of a problem in getting a job. 

I was heavily optimistic--even though I knew my options were limited. I knew that I would have to live with my family for a while because I didn’t have the money to just move to the city and rent an apartment where teaching jobs would be more plentiful and where they are really struggling to get teachers. I know how desperately my parents wish they could help me--if only they had the means.

I didn’t want to bring this into any interview. I didn’t want to beg. I wanted to get the job because I earned it--because I was qualified for the job. Maybe I was too prideful and didn’t want to humiliate myself OR maybe I didn’t want to subject myself to their pity and get a “hand out”.

I applied to about 10+ different high schools at least an hour away from my parents’ house that had openings and only got interviews from 3 or 4 of them. Most of the interviews went well. But it was the very first one I ever had that has stuck with me and haunted me since.

When I applied, they called me immediately and seemed so excited. The principal tried to set up an interview for that Friday, but was unable because the superintendent was unable to join. So I waited 2+ weeks for an interview after he got back from vacation. I continued to search for openings and applied every chance I got. 

Then I finally got a call for the interview. 

I was nervous because I felt the pressure of paying off my $12,000 in student loans, but I pulled myself together and did my best. 30 minutes before I was supposed to go in, I suddenly got a text message from the principal telling me that they were also interviewing another candidate. I’m still not sure why he told me that when he did or even at all, but many of my colleges and mentor teachers I’ve had told me that it was a tactic principals tend to use around here to make you beg and plead for the job. I don’t beg. We know this.

I got into the interview and I wasn’t told that it had changed to being an interview with both the high school principal and the middle school principal. The middle school principal also wasn’t introduced to me as such so I had assumed she was the superintendent.

In the beginning, they complimented my knowledge of the subject area and that I knew what I was talking about. But, as the interview went on I was suddenly being persuaded to consider teaching at a middle school level by the principals when I had applied for the high school position. She had approached it as if she was concerned and was sharing a story about her daughter, who apparently is a teacher too, and started pointing out reasons why I may do better in middle school than high school. 

The reasons were the following: 1.) I am young--22 going on 23.  2.) I am single and don’t have kids. AND 3.) I am female.

So I’d “have trouble getting respect from the high school boys”. I felt so small--like everything I worked so hard for didn’t matter. I wanted to cry. I felt so disrespected. So when they finally asked if I would consider middle school, I was a little rude and resisted their suggestions, saying, “Honestly, I would prefer to teach at a high school level and most middle school-level classrooms I have observed have given me headaches. I tend to get too ambitious and feel more comfortable with high school-level content.” 

The moment I got to my car, I called my mom and told her what happened. I was unsure if it went well. I was so confused that I couldn’t sort out whether I wanted to work there or not if I were offered a job. I ultimately decided that I wouldn’t because why would I want to work somewhere that wants to tear me down for things about me that I can’t change and force me to do something I don’t want to do. I didn’t get offered the job.

Months later, even though I never got a job, I still went to some free professional development courses that were offered and I happened to meet the person who got that job. I never told him that I had been interviewed against him.

He was a man.

He was possibly in his 50s or 60s, obviously not married, and stated that he had never taught before. As he talked, I could tell that he didn’t know his stuff. I believe he mentioned that it was a career change, so he was more than likely alternatively certified. I went though the traditional route for certification. This was an even bigger blow to my confidence. My post-graduate depression got worse. I felt hopeless. I cried on the phone to my mom and cried again when I got back home to tell her more about it.

So, @taylorswift​. When I heard you say, “I’d be a fearless leader / I'd be an alpha type” AND “I’m so sick of running as fast as I can / Wondering if I'd get there quicker if I was a man / And I'm so sick of them coming at me again / 'Cause if I was a man, then I'd be the man” AND “They wouldn’t shake their heads and question how much of this I deserve” in “The Man” on Lover--I felt less alone. I felt confident in myself again.

Many other things have happened that have made me lose hope and feel depressed. For example, there’s now a restaurant I will never be able to go into again--even though I ate there once. I don’t think I could ever go there again because it was the place where I had a moment that made me realize I loved the person I was dating at the time. (This all happened and ended a few weeks before I graduated college) But then I did something and ruined it. I let myself get in too deep and was terrified to be too honest too soon--but I slipped up and accidentally showed my cards. I hadn’t seen him in a month because he had a bunch of events he had told me about and it was fine. Then our dates kept getting canceled and pushed back because of his job. He told me it hurt him... but he didn’t have the time for me. It’s been an extremely difficult thing to accept because I had never felt that way for someone before. I never felt so safe. I never felt more at home with a person before. Cornelia Street gave me hope. I could see myself in the song, and I cried. While I didn’t get that turning point, I was left with hope that someday it would happen--whether with him or someone else.

Lover has given me hope. Hope for that golden love. It has helped remind me how to see the different ways that the world sparkles--which has been hard since my first and only ex-boyfriend was so toxic and abusive (1989 helped me through that time). I believe that love is out there still--if I know it or not. I haven’t felt this happy in a while. But Lover has me feeling emotions that I haven't felt in forever.

So, thank you Taylor. Thank you for 13 years of music and memories. Thank you for being my best friend since I was 10. Thank you for being my only friend through your music when the girls I thought were my best friends had turned against me, bullied me, and called me every curse word in the book in 4th grade. Thank you for being you. Thank you for being so brutally and beautifully honest. Thank you for sharing your life with me--with us. I hope I’d manage to see you in concert this era--if you happen to tour. Either way, I’ll always find a way to be there for you like you have been there for me.

Stay Golden,

Skye